[ it's around mid morning when gu yun briefly makes his way out of his room and to the kitchen - he's following his nose, because something in here smells good...
[Omi is in the middle of making crepes. Nice, delicate little things that he can easily fold some delicious filling into. He definitely wouldn't have been able to do this last week.]
as he's leaning over, gu yun seems to make enough contact with omi enough that something clicks... ]
[ ... and the world fades around to the voice of a little girl.
big brother, the marquis is back!
when you blink, it's the cold of january, and you're standing at the front gates of a curled roof manor - the marquis manor, your manor. footsteps come clamoring down the front path, and for a moment, you're left confused, because when did a little girl move into your house? have you lost your mind? is the willow tree in the courtyard coming to life?
..that little girl is actually one of the three wards from yanhui town. cao niangzi, dressed up like a little lady at new years, beams at you when round the corner. "Big brother Chang Geng said that today is the marquis' birthday, he has told everyone to wait for you to come back! General Shen also came, just in time! We can all eat noodles together."
general shen stands beside you - your second in command, your closest friend. he snorts, low, and gives you a look that screams "feel guilty yet?" but you ignore it, because you are really good at ignoring that old maid when he wants to be a nag, and instead, make your way into the courtyard proper.
when was the last time you celebrated your birthday? you're too young to consider celebrations with large family (and all of your family is dead), and too old for the joy of a childish birthday party. you're never home for your birthday, either, and there are too many connotations that go with the date that make it anything worth celebrating. sometimes, your butler makes noodles, if you're there, but it's another january day like any.
but today, you're led into the courtyard, where a ridiculous sight awaits you. the iron sword training dummy in the courtyard - an automated, simple robot that has been around since you were a child - has been dressed up. it's covered in bright lights and flowers, with an old silk robe hanging around its iron arms; there are even two dots of rouge on its cheeks. it stares blankly at you, holding a bowl of noodles, and standing beside, proud of their work, are those three yanhui town kids. cao niangzi, ge ban xiao (as fat and round as a meatball, beaming the widest) and chang geng.
chang geng is fourteen. he still has traces of baby fat in his cheeks - you can still see the boy you rescued from the wolves when you look at him, sometimes. he looks more embarrassed at his work than the other two, especially because ge ban xiao immediately sells him out, chirping, "Marquis, sir! That fake girl helped apply the blushes, I helped make the fire for cooking the noodles, and big brother put in the egg!"
your eyes shift to chang geng. he looks away from you, trying to keep his frown in place, and for a moment, you're dumbfounded, because for the first time, this lonely old manor feels something like home.
you step forward. chang geng scoffs. "yifu, at least eat the noodles before you enter the door." ]
Alright. [ you say, quietly, and pick up the bowl of noodles from the hand of the iron puppets. you look between the three of them, and then specifically, you look at chang geng, as you grab a bite with egg in it and slurp it down.
the very first thing you bite is a crisp fragment of an eggshell.
you eat the entire bowl in one sitting, anyway, to the delight and amazement of cao niangzi and ge ban xiao, and when you look up again, even chang geng is smiling.
and for the first time in a long time, "coming back from the frontier" feels like "coming home". ]
[It feels rude to intrude upon a memory like that. Something so soft and personal. These are the kinds of things Omi keeps close to himself, that he doesn't really let people know. Or, more accurately, Omi keeps every single part of his history nice and guarded to be revealed at a certain friendship level later.]
[ there's a long pause between answers, almost like he's processing it - or, maybe gu yun just wants to hold onto the memory itself? either way, he's quiet, and after a while, he says. ]
... My ward, and his two companions. [ by way of explanation - so, that's a yes. ] That was some time ago - two or three years, now.
You have a strong memory of them... it seemed like a nice time.
[He doesn't know what Gu Yun was in the middle of, but there's always something to be said for the temporary reprieve of family. He's only been here a few weeks and sometimes he misses the familiar rowdiness. It's not bad on the base, but it's certainly different.]
Mn. [ the response is quiet, for a minute. there's warmth on his face, a sort of distant, far off softness...
and then he just has to ruin it before he feels like running away from having An Emotion, so he quips, immediately - ] Did you taste the eggshells, then, if it was from my point of view? Ha.
[The unfortunate thing about being so close to other people this week is the sharing of memories.
It's not a one way street.
You're with a group of guys, a sense of familiarity and fondness runs through you. This is your place to belong. Their motorcycles are all there, by the side of the road. A blonde haired boy calls out to you and the rest of the guys, "Hey, check me out! This suit makes me look badass, right?"
You think he looks like a kid dressed up for his first piano recital, it's godawful. But you and the rest of the group nod, like you don't want to hurt his feelings.
The boy doesn't notice, he comes and stands right in front of you, hands proudly on his hips.
"All right, come and get a good shot o' me in this!"
"Whaddya need a picture of you in a suit like that for?" Seriously, there have to be better outfits than this awful ensemble.
"Well... y'know!" He's not giving you a straight answer, but he's insisting upon a picture. You can't bring yourself to deny him, and so you borrowed your father's old camera.
This thing is so old and you don't know how to use it. You hit the shutter and hope for the best.
"There. I took one. Happy?" He asked for a picture, you took one. It's over now, isn't it?
"C'mon, man! Don't just half-ass it!" He's whining and you're so fond of him that you don't really want to argue.
"I can't help it. I don't even know how to use the damn thing."]
[ as the memory fades up, gu yun ends up finding himself smiling. it's a soft thing that warms up his face - a gentler expression than he usually wears. ]
That's your family, isn't it? Quite the rowdy bunch.
[ it reminds him of being home, a little bit - maybe moreso of the black iron camp than it does of the marquis manor, but one of those has been his family for longer than the other. ]
[ gu yun snorts, to that, because he starts thinking about the teenager he sees the most - chang geng is not a very rowdy person - so the mental image is pretty funny. he does seem fond with it, though. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w2, monday morning
this is it, this is the starter, im so sorry ]
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Good morning.
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Smells good. Omi, what are you cooking? [ that's omi, isn't it? he'll come up to his side, as if looking over his shoulder. ]
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[ delicious.
as he's leaning over, gu yun seems to make enough contact with omi enough that something clicks... ]
[ ... and the world fades around to the voice of a little girl.
big brother, the marquis is back!
when you blink, it's the cold of january, and you're standing at the front gates of a curled roof manor - the marquis manor, your manor. footsteps come clamoring down the front path, and for a moment, you're left confused, because when did a little girl move into your house? have you lost your mind? is the willow tree in the courtyard coming to life?
..that little girl is actually one of the three wards from yanhui town. cao niangzi, dressed up like a little lady at new years, beams at you when round the corner. "Big brother Chang Geng said that today is the marquis' birthday, he has told everyone to wait for you to come back! General Shen also came, just in time! We can all eat noodles together."
general shen stands beside you - your second in command, your closest friend. he snorts, low, and gives you a look that screams "feel guilty yet?" but you ignore it, because you are really good at ignoring that old maid when he wants to be a nag, and instead, make your way into the courtyard proper.
when was the last time you celebrated your birthday? you're too young to consider celebrations with large family (and all of your family is dead), and too old for the joy of a childish birthday party. you're never home for your birthday, either, and there are too many connotations that go with the date that make it anything worth celebrating. sometimes, your butler makes noodles, if you're there, but it's another january day like any.
but today, you're led into the courtyard, where a ridiculous sight awaits you. the iron sword training dummy in the courtyard - an automated, simple robot that has been around since you were a child - has been dressed up. it's covered in bright lights and flowers, with an old silk robe hanging around its iron arms; there are even two dots of rouge on its cheeks. it stares blankly at you, holding a bowl of noodles, and standing beside, proud of their work, are those three yanhui town kids. cao niangzi, ge ban xiao (as fat and round as a meatball, beaming the widest) and chang geng.
chang geng is fourteen. he still has traces of baby fat in his cheeks - you can still see the boy you rescued from the wolves when you look at him, sometimes. he looks more embarrassed at his work than the other two, especially because ge ban xiao immediately sells him out, chirping, "Marquis, sir! That fake girl helped apply the blushes, I helped make the fire for cooking the noodles, and big brother put in the egg!"
your eyes shift to chang geng. he looks away from you, trying to keep his frown in place, and for a moment, you're dumbfounded, because for the first time, this lonely old manor feels something like home.
you step forward. chang geng scoffs. "yifu, at least eat the noodles before you enter the door." ]
Alright. [ you say, quietly, and pick up the bowl of noodles from the hand of the iron puppets. you look between the three of them, and then specifically, you look at chang geng, as you grab a bite with egg in it and slurp it down.
the very first thing you bite is a crisp fragment of an eggshell.
you eat the entire bowl in one sitting, anyway, to the delight and amazement of cao niangzi and ge ban xiao, and when you look up again, even chang geng is smiling.
and for the first time in a long time, "coming back from the frontier" feels like "coming home". ]
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... Did you see that too?
[Was it just him?]
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... My ward, and his two companions. [ by way of explanation - so, that's a yes. ] That was some time ago - two or three years, now.
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[He doesn't know what Gu Yun was in the middle of, but there's always something to be said for the temporary reprieve of family. He's only been here a few weeks and sometimes he misses the familiar rowdiness. It's not bad on the base, but it's certainly different.]
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and then he just has to ruin it before he feels like running away from having An Emotion, so he quips, immediately - ] Did you taste the eggshells, then, if it was from my point of view? Ha.
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Yeah. I'm sure they were doing their best. Breaking eggs can be a bit difficult.
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Well, I suppose a little fiber never hurt anyone. [ haha. fond... ]
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[The unfortunate thing about being so close to other people this week is the sharing of memories.
It's not a one way street.
You're with a group of guys, a sense of familiarity and fondness runs through you. This is your place to belong. Their motorcycles are all there, by the side of the road. A blonde haired boy calls out to you and the rest of the guys, "Hey, check me out! This suit makes me look badass, right?"
You think he looks like a kid dressed up for his first piano recital, it's godawful. But you and the rest of the group nod, like you don't want to hurt his feelings.
The boy doesn't notice, he comes and stands right in front of you, hands proudly on his hips.
"All right, come and get a good shot o' me in this!"
"Whaddya need a picture of you in a suit like that for?" Seriously, there have to be better outfits than this awful ensemble.
"Well... y'know!" He's not giving you a straight answer, but he's insisting upon a picture. You can't bring yourself to deny him, and so you borrowed your father's old camera.
This thing is so old and you don't know how to use it. You hit the shutter and hope for the best.
"There. I took one. Happy?" He asked for a picture, you took one. It's over now, isn't it?
"C'mon, man! Don't just half-ass it!" He's whining and you're so fond of him that you don't really want to argue.
"I can't help it. I don't even know how to use the damn thing."]
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That's your family, isn't it? Quite the rowdy bunch.
[ it reminds him of being home, a little bit - maybe moreso of the black iron camp than it does of the marquis manor, but one of those has been his family for longer than the other. ]
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[They were close family, once. Before they all went their separate ways, and lead their different lives.]
We get together every once in a while for a big dinner these days.
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What are their names?
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Ryo, Nachi- [He lists out a name for each person in that memory.]
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anyway. nodding along. ] You said you only see each other every once in a while, now, is that right? The passing of time, or...?
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