[Open - Catch-all]

[cultivatingdisaster]

⌛ Who: Xie Lian
⌛ What: Just doing his thing.
⌛ When: Now.
⌛ Where: Several places.
⌛ Warnings: Unknown. Will edit if needed!



I: Scrap Collecting God Returns.

[This world became stranger and stranger, it seemed. It was only a blink of an eye since he was last there. He had returned home only to find himself within the same time loop and soon thrown back.

It was odd to say the least.

But now Xie Lian sat under the beautifully green leaves of a blossoming tree with a steamed bun in hand, contemplating his next move.

Beside him was a straw hat and a blade, a long and slender with a black mirrored finish. A silvery line ran through the centre of the blade. It seemed to hum with an old power. Xie Lian seemed not to notice, or care, as he bit happily into his bun.]


II: Is this scrap?

[Xie Lian, for all his years, was a surprisingly innocent soul. By way of his cultivation method he had avoided all worldly pleasures, drink and sexual encounters being the main. That didn't mean he was without knowledge!

So when he approached a shop to enquire if they had any scraps to offer him, he was surprised when he was offered what could only be called a phallus!]

Uhh this is... this isn't really what I was asking for...?

[But the elderly woman was already walking away from him, leaving Xie Lian stunned, holding a male shaped object in his hand, and blushing bright enough to put a tomato to shame.]


III: Feeling a certain kind of way.

[It had started off as a strange thought, at first. Just a mild urge that was easily pushed away.

But as the day went on, Xie Lian was undeniably in a bad spot.

There was something very wrong with himself and he knew it could only be caused by the strange world he now lived in. However what the cause was, he had no idea. All he knew was that it made him uncomfortable and, as strange as it would seem, craving of human company. He had just enough presence of mind to not go and attach himself to any old person, however, and instead found himself desperately attempting to make his way back home.

If he managed, he could barricade himself inside. Not that he thought for a second that might stop him should his urge grow in strength, but with luck...

Xie Lian took a shaky breath and wiped sweat from his brow.]

Why must this happen now... haha can anyone have worse luck than me?

Comments

I

[bythewaves]

[ A voice comes singing from somewhere down the road, and Xie Lian may remember that Maglor once promised to sing for him, but this song is more for walking than performing, the melody singing strength into walking feet and the love of far away places ]

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

[ Maglor comes walking up the road, hair braided back from his face and a fishing line slung over his shoulder, and he stops when he sees Xie Lian ]

Xie Lian! [ He smiles, dipping a polite bow ] I had not seen you for a while, and had thought you gone from here. Do you well?

[cultivatingdisaster]

[Of course he hears the singing long before he sees the man. Rather than calling to him, Xie Lian chooses to wait for Maglor to reach him. He was, after all, on his way over, if not for any direct purpose but out of humble coincidence.

By the time he's noticed, Xie Lian is smiling warmly. His bun is hidden away as he scrambles to his feet and finally offers a wave of greeting.]

I had. But have since returned. Seems I have unfinished business here.

[Or, more accurately, business hadn't finished back home and time was still a mess.

He grabbed up his sword which he put across his back and his hat which was placed atop his head before he stepped across he soft grass to join Maglor on the road.]

I'm well. And you? I'm unsure just how long it's been since I was here. For me it was moments...

[bythewaves]

It seems so. [ Maglor smiles as he matches his pace to his ]

I do well enough - it has been... mm, some months now, I think. This place has an odd hold on folk, I suppose. I hope you have not been too inconvenienced by the return?

[cultivatingdisaster]

Months...

[That was something of a surprise. Xie Lian looks genuinely surprised. Had it really been that long? He supposed he would have to take Maglor's word on it since time had blended together for himself.]

Hm? No, not inconvenienced... [Just a stress. The inconvenience wasn't the return but the point at which he'd left. If it had been on a lazy day doing nothing at all, that would have been fine. But to pull him away at such a critical juncture was really just his poor luck at work again.]

It's good to see you again. [A smile.] You enjoy fishing?

[bythewaves]

Aye. [ He is visibly counting in his head ] At least two, probably three, I think.

[ He laughs ]

Not so much enjoy as have found it useful for survival. I... lived a long time by the Sea, and had to learn to find my own supper, in time.

[ It had taken a very long time, in truth, and he has Strong Suspicions that in the early days when he was more than a little mad that he was... cared for. In some way. He's still a terrible fisherman, but he can keep himself alive, at least ]

[cultivatingdisaster]

[Really, even before the time loops, time didn't mean much to Xie Lian. Three months was a blink of the eye in the grand scheme of things. It didn't bother him so much as surprise him.

It made him wonder though, if time moved differently here, or where he was from?

However those were thoughts for a man far smarter than himself. So he switched gears and focused on the immediate. Fishing.]

So you aren't fishing for fun? Are you hungry? I have a meat bun... [And then there he is, ruffling around in his sleeve for the bun he had placed there earlier, as well as its twin. It had come in a pair! It was the whole bun he offered Maglor. The bun was still quite warm, too.]

[bythewaves]

Oh! [ He shakes his head ]

Thank you, but no - I am staying these days with my... fosterling, and his Captain of the Guard, and my father has but recently joined us. I had thought to see if I could bring some fresh caught fish home for supper, but tis not as if we are going hungry. [ He assures ]

[cultivatingdisaster]

[Xie Lian just smiled and placed the bun back in his sleeve. They were, after all, spelled to hold much larger items. And he used it to hold his meat buns!

He smoothly moved past the embarrassment of having misunderstood. It had been easily done, after all.]

My mistake. Fresh fish would be a delightful meal for your family.

[bythewaves]

Tis of no concern. [ Maglor assures him ]

I hope so! Provided I manage to catch some, of course - I am unfamiliar with the waterways here.

[cultivatingdisaster]

I'm not familiar myself. I haven't managed to make my way down this way before.

[Xie Lian admitted with an honest smile.]

But I am free and willing to explore and familiarise myself with them.

[bythewaves]

Do you enjoy fishing yourself? [ Maglor offers ]

I would not object to company!

[cultivatingdisaster]

It can be relaxing.

[Xie Lian smiled. Truth was he didn't always catch what he wanted. Even something as simple as fishing could be clouded by his misfortune.]

I'd be happy to keep you company. And maybe you can tell me about that song you were singing?

[bythewaves]

Then you are welcome to come.

[ He smiles ]

Ah, that? It is one of the Hobbit's walking songs - specifically, it was written by one Master Bilbo Baggins, who was somewhat notorious for being a bit odd amongst his kinsfolk, but had a keen touch for rhyme.

III

[pilot05]

Wufei was suffering similarly, wearing robes in green and gray as he made his way back from the market. His hair was down, and he was hugging himself with a basket hanging off of one arm.

He heard the voice before he saw the man, pausing in his walk and turning to see Xie Lian and found himself smiling, a cloud of yellow blooming behind him. "Master, how've you been?" he said warmly, offering a shallow bow, and not uncrossing his arms like he normally would have. He was afraid if he did, he might hug the poor man.

[cultivatingdisaster]

Xie Lian had hoped not to run into anyone while he was this way. He had been avoiding all. By rights he should have heard Wufei coming long before he appeared and made Xie Lian jump, but all of his senses had been internalised. All of them needing one thing; to find somewhere safe to hide.

He came to a shaky stop and turned his face to look toward Wufei. A small smile formed upon his lips. With his hair down like that, there was a softer look about Wufei. It was sweet to see. It made him so much prettier...

Warmth flooded through his cheeks again and Xie Lian took a deep, shuddering breath and made himself smile. "I have seen better days. And how are you, Wufei?"

[pilot05]

Wufei smiled in return, though it was a bit forced. "Likewise. This place seems determined to keep us on our toes," he agreed with a chuckle. "It has been quite some time since we met. Perhaps we could walk together and catch up?" He gestured in the direction he'd been heading when he came upon Xie Lian.

That was how friendship was supposed to work, right? It had been a long time since he'd been anything resembling normal, but he was putting in the effort because he and Duo both had a fresh start here, it was best not to make enemies if he could help it.

[cultivatingdisaster]

He wanted to say no... It was rude and he knew that he should do it. But he also liked Wufei. He was a friend and a good man. He could control himself for the duration of a walk.

"The catching up will have to be from you, my friend." Xie Lian made a little gesture and began walking, indicating that Wufei should follow. "I returned home. Right back to the point where I started, and straight into the same time loop. And when I return months have past. It's all very strange." And throw in the feeling he currently had...

He knew he hadn't been in contact with the Land of the Tender. So just why was he feeling this way?

[pilot05]

"Oh," his brows raised at the information. "That sounds quite unpleasant, I'm glad they were able to retrieve you," at least, the loop he'd been taken from had been unpleasant. Reliving the same miserable office party over and over again.

He fell into step with Xie Lian, shifting his arms over himself. "There's been a great deal," and his tone changes when he continues, going from warm and friendly to almost clinical as he went over the events of the last few months like a mission report. Going blind, moving in with 'oh-two', going to the floating cities via the new teleportation devices, flying, getting squished like a bug by a 'fellow soldier'. All very normal things, clearly.

"Which brings us to our current predicaments," Wufei sighed, and shifted his basket to the other arm. "It seems the heat Youkai experience here also extends to refugees."

[cultivatingdisaster]

"I will be glad when the issue is fixed." The time loop that brought him here, sent him back and brought him back again was nothing short of annoying. He at least knew first hand that when he was returned it would be right where he left off. Nothing was going forward without him. A new Supreme had not been created in his absence.

The change in tone does get Xie Lian to look at Wufei with a puzzled frown. It was an odd behaviour, one he hadn't seen in the younger man. But it was getting the information delivered and... it was a lot. Wufei had been through a great deal while he was away. It was unfortunate he wasn't there to help his friend through some of it.

Xie Lian was trying to come up with the right words, maybe offer a comforting pat on the shoulder, when Wufei dropped his bombshell.

Xie Lian came to a full stop.

His eyes were wide, face flushed and without thinking a hand had come up to cover half of his face.

"... That is what this is? Heat? Just some animal by-product is making me feel..." He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He almost wished for Land of the Tender to be the culprit, at least that was something he could physically deal with. But this? This was something beyond his scope. Xie Lian just wanted to hide himself away even more.

[pilot05]

Wufei stopped when Xie Lian did, and couldn't help laughing a little. "My apologies, I wasn't very please to discover the cause, either," but his reaction had been priceless.

He offered a bow by way of apology. "But that is my understanding, yes. I've been struck with the form that can be sated with only physical contact, but my boyfriend," and here he blushed, with a pink cloud developing around his head and just outside his line of sight, "is struck with a different form. He's become rather possessive," and from his tone that was not an unwelcome thing, but it was also as much detail as Wufei was willing to get into about that.

[cultivatingdisaster]

Xie Lian moved his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. He was listening to Wufei but he was also considering his own predicament. It truly was like the Land of the Tender, only he had a feeling he would be able to control this a little more easily. That was a relief.

He dropped his hand and sighed.

"Unfortunately I have no... boyfriend... to help me with this. Sealing myself in my home, that should help?" He asked with a hopeful look Wufei's way.

[pilot05]

"Well, it's... endurable, I suppose," Wufei agreed with a nod. "Assuming you're subjected to the same form that I experience, I found that anything that can simulate an embrace eases it, or perhaps you could find a friend to embrace you, without violating any vows you've taken." He remembered the path Xie Lian had claimed to be on last time they met, and he could only imagine how frustrating the feeling must've been.

[cultivatingdisaster]

"I think I am..." Xie Lian agreed a little uneasily. He wanted to be touched. He had no desire to force himself on Wufei. Beg to be held, yes. But he wasn't going to do that if he could help it.

Though being held wasn't going to betray his Path. Sexual encounters would.

As for a friend...

Xie Lian almost laughed. Did he have friends really? He thought maybe he could consider Wufei one. He thought Maglor might be a friend. Xie Lian didn't want to risk assuming too much of these nice people who had bothered to give him their time.

"I think home will be the best place for me. And to remain there for as long as this lasts. To be safe."

[pilot05]

Wufei tipped his head forward in a nod. "Good luck, I hope it's not too uncomfortable for you," he'd had quite a time dealing with it himself, at least until Duo had come home.

And he was sincerely hoping Duo would be home when he got there. He shifted his arms around himself, tightening his shirt a little more. "If you find it unbearable, give me a call." He'd help Xie Lian figure out a way to deal with it that wouldn't involve jeopardizing his chosen path. "With any luck it will only strike you on an annual basis, as it does the Youkai," but this was his second round with the damn sensation, and this time it was lasting a lot longer.

[cultivatingdisaster]

"I have experienced much worse." He flashed a weak smile and lightly rubbed a hand up and down his arm. The offer was a nice one, but he knew he couldn't bother Wufei with this, not when the poor boy was dealing with the same thing. Xie Lian would be able to handle it. So long as he made it to safety first.

"If you're able to stay with me until I am close to home, I would be grateful. That's all I'll need." He hoped this wasn't a common thing, however. This was not something he was willing to deal with every month.