[Closed to Four Seasons Manor residents + Ye Baiyi]

[yeoldmonster]

⌛ Who: Ye Baiyi and residents of the Four Seasons Manor
⌛ What: Missing arachnida (scorpion)
⌛ When: August 30
⌛ Where: Four Seasons Manor
⌛ Warnings:

He'd woken up to a strange but minor pain he couldn't identify. It lingers and he's not used to feeling something like this, but there are more important things to deal with. Namely, he can't find Xie Wang. It was odd given how the young man had been as glued to his side as a loyal hound the last week or so. It was also annoying, since that meant no breakfast. Fortunately, he knew where he could go that also had good food.

Like he has since he arrived, he shows up at the Four Seasons Manor and walks through the door like he owns the place. "Zhou Zishu? Brat?" He calls, making his way to the kitchen.

Comments

[yeoldmonster]

He eyes the tea in his hand and curls his nose in disgust. "Is this useless then?"

He dislikes this whole situation. It's already complicated with all of the social aspects of Xie'er leaving when he was on such poor footing with the others and now he must endure this indignity.

Since there's no reason to hide it now, he reaches up and rubs one of his temples. "He was a very troubled young man. He was an enemy of Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing back home and had arrived after his death, but he was attempting.. in a way.. to make amends." Although Ye Baiyi doubted that his sanity was intact. He would've had a very long road back through his grief and denial.

He shrugs. "It wasn't going well for him."

[dragonrising]

"I don't think it is useless if you are able to find any comfort in drinking it."

Medicinally? Likely useless. But sometimes the best medicine was the comfort of it in the first place. He would let the man decide what he felt would suit him the best though.

Quietly, he listened to the story of the young man. He considered it then lowered his gaze as he nodded. "Sometimes people are not so ready to forgive right away. Or at all. I know that well."

[yeoldmonster]

Looking quiet irritated, he takes a few moments to consider what he wanted to do with the tea. In the end, he doesn't want to waste the herbs and if there's even the slightest chance it would make him feel better he'll drink it.

"That's what I told him. You know as well as I how well the young do with patience." He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "They're all a pain in the ass, just like the 'lords' of this manor." There's a hint of fondness beneath that complaint.

In a lower tone, he adds, "We are old but we have not seen the end of our story yet. There is no absolute."

[dragonrising]

He smiled a little. It was so clear how fond of Zishu and Kexing this man was. They were family to him, that much was obvious. It honesty very heartwarming to see they had someone who cared about them like this.

"It's true. There is no telling what our stories will be until the day they have truly come to an end. Such can be said for everyone really."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi would prefer no one see that about his relationships, but it's the truth. Even if Zhou Zishu wasn't his direct descendant, he is close enough. For whatever reason, Zishu adores that brat, Kexing, so the immortal begrudgingly includes him as family as well as the little brat girl.

"Some people are more predictable than others," he remarks lightly, before smirking. "And some are more important." Which, obviously, included the two of them.

"Speaking of importance, since you live here and I don't shouldn't you be offering something to eat to go with our tea?" He admonishes in lieu of simply asking for food.

[dragonrising]

"This kitchen is not my domain. Nor do you want me preparing you food."

He was one who would visit certainly but use it? Or use it with any reasonable skill? That he could not do. If the guest wanted any food then Runyu was not the one who would be able to get him any.

"I am quite skilled at the brewing of tea but you do seem to have that covered."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi tsks and shakes his head like this is a great disappointment. "I had such high hopes for your usefulness."

With a chuckle, he looks down at his tea. "You never offered," he points out cheekily. "Do you sustain yourself on your spiritual energy?"

[dragonrising]

"I could if I needed to but I don't. I enjoy having meals. However I have no skill for cooking and as for where things are located in this kitchen? I lack all of that. So I never offered because fools offer what they're not able to."

Runyu gave him a smile and a sip of his tea. He hardly minded being called useless. After all, he knew his worth. It simply didn't rest within the kitchen.

[yeoldmonster]

The old man grins and nods, completely on Runyu's side about enjoying food over the discipline of abstaining from it. He chuckles at the confession of the dragon's skills. It suited the man well. He is clearly a nobleman and therefore his place shouldn't be in the kitchen.

If Baiyi is calling him names, Runyu has officially been befriended. "Do you rely on your lovers or do all of you wait for Wen Kexing to cook?"

[dragonrising]

Runyu laughed softly. It was rather fun having banter like this. He got it plenty with his loves but he did enjoy that he could have it with someone he just met. He'd found how much he valued gaining dear friendships here. And now he would include this man on that list.

"I would say it's less that I rely on them and more that Ya'er insists on cooking for his poor, helpless nobles. Since it makes him happy to take care of us, I don't want to take that from him. And, I do enjoy the meals he makes us from the meats he hunts."

[theatrics]

Gold cat eyes were wild and he held his wrist to his body as if wounded. He really despised being touched in ways he deemed unnecessary. But the words were enough to calm him and he exhaled slowly.

"I do not know what more they could want from me."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi feels a prickle of guilt as he watches the small man hold his arm. "Did I hurt you?" He finally asks. He hadn't thought his grip had been so hard, but harming this one had never been his intention. "Are you okay?"

That reminds him then of another aspect of the other's health he'd noticed. He looks and acts like he's older, but he hasn't matured as a man normally would. He wonders what that means.

"We can find out." Though he's less willing to act when the general is acting wounded by him.

[yeoldmonster]

"This is the only reason I put up with Zishu's husband," he says with a chuckle. He can admit to valuing Kexing for his cooking skills. He won't admit to anything else, but at least that.

He sighs and looks around the room. "Now that Xie'er is gone, I will likely be eating here more often. I should tell that brat to keep more cake on the counter since he has gentlemen staying here."

"Where around here does your lover hunt?"

[theatrics]

"I do not enjoy the touch of others," he explained. There's a mix of reasons for that, most revolving around a fraught past as a slave and reputation as the Great Yuan's eunuch general. Normally, he wouldn't bother to explain, but Baiyi meant no harm or insult. He deserved an explanation.

[dragonrising]

He could tell right away that wasn't the only reason. But he let the man have his way and just smiled. There was no need to correct him. He could see what the truth was and that was plenty for the dragon.

"In the forests outside the city. He's very accomplished with his bow. Other weapons too but he favors the bow for hunting."

[yeoldmonster]

It's not a direct apology, but Baiyi does have a brief look of contriteness before it fades. He regrets that his years in the mountain have resulted in forgetting some degree of social etiquette. On the other hand, those tend to be tedious, trivial, and obnoxious so he doesn't completely regret leaving some of those practices behind.

"Is it due to your condition?" He asks, his gaze lowering down the smaller man's torso before returning to his face. "You don't have the same energy as a grown man's."

[yeoldmonster]

He's allowed to lie if he's joking, right? It's an untruth they both enjoy playing up, so he doesn't feel guilty for it. The things Kexing says about him would be at least as rude as this.

"He's the one who does the falconry and has the horse, right?" He asks. That man had left a positive impression on Baiyi, even with their missteps. "Do you ever go with him on these hunts?"

cw: body dysmorphia

[theatrics]

His condition, all too obvious to those who've spent any time at all among the courts of nobles and their eunuch servants. The condition on which he was able to live after watching his entire family suffer the slow, lingering death of lingchi. That was the trade-off: he got to live but in shame. The line of his father ended. And all the while he endured the ridicule as he rose through the ranks of the Prince of Henan's army.

Ouyang bristled slightly. "It is due to being beaten as a slave."

[yeoldmonster]

Ah, that gives him enough clues to fill in the rest. This poor soul. It's no wonder why he dislikes to be touched then. He gives a small bow of his head. "I will not cross that line with you again without permission or in life or death. You have my word."

Now that he knows this, he wonders now if these people with him aren't because they need him but in solidarity for him.

"I'm assuming anyone involved in your suffering is no longer here. Otherwise, I may need their address." So he can introduce them to Dragon's Back.

[theatrics]

Baiyi's oath disarms him and he finds his discomfort quickly abating. This stranger could very well become a friend with an attitude like that. Ouyang greatly approves.

"There are none from my world here any longer."

[yeoldmonster]

"Let me know if they ever come back and need a lesson," he requests.

Turning his attention to the area around them, he remembers the other spot this small man talked about. "Show me your animals. How many can the stables here hold?" If he ever gets a horse again, he would certain keep it here. From what he's determined about this general, Baiyi would even let him take care of it. (What an honor!)

[theatrics]

Ouyang's relieved for the change in topic. He nods in the direction of the stables before walking that way. He's sure Baiyi will follow. His interest seems genuine. "We haven't acquired any hunting birds yet, and my horse is the only one here for now. There is space for more." He hoped that someone else, perhaps the lord of the manor, would get another horse to keep his company.

Once they arrive, Baiyi will find the place as tidy as a stable can be. The horse inside is a small creature, but lovely with black and white dappling. Ouyang beams with pride at the sight of him.

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi keeps pace with Ouyang tucking one hand behind his back and the other resting against his abdomen. Only once as they're walking does that hand flatten against his middle like there's some discomfort or pain. The old man tries to ignore it and hopes the other does too.

"Have you looked around for any falconries who might sell you a bird or are you going to get one in the wild and train it?" He asks, curious just how talented the general was.

He's impressed with how well-kept the stables are. It would do well to house the finest steeds in China. Instead, there's a little speckled one that is amusingly small. It fits Ouyang perfectly though and Baiyi doesn't doubt it has just as fierce a temperament. "What's his name?"

[dragonrising]

"He does. And sometimes. Though usually he tends to go out on his own. Which I think is good for him. As comforting as he finds us I'm sure he values the time he has to himself doing what comes naturally to him."

And he wasn't about to take that from him. Not at all. If that made his love happy then he was only ever going to support him in that. Every time. After all, if Ouyang was happy then so was he.

[yeoldmonster]

"I can appreciate that desire," Baiyi remarks thoughtfully. He'll have a lot more time to be alone now that Xie'er was gone. The prospect is confusingly both appealing and dreadful.

"I approve of him," he adds belatedly with a small smile, raising his glass to his new dragon/ god/ friend person.

With a sigh, he looks once more toward the hall leading to his descendants' rooms. He tosses back the rest of his tea. "It was nice meeting you Runyu, but I'm tired of waiting for them. I'm going to go drag them out of bed."