jikan_rpg | [Closed to Four Seasons Manor residents + Ye Baiyi]

Entry tags:

[Closed to Four Seasons Manor residents + Ye Baiyi]

⌛ 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.

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If Runyu was anyone lesser, he would've ordered him/ asked him to make the tea. As it was, he didn't want to draw attention to the fact he was self-medicating more than simply thirsty. Since, obviously, he's doing such an excellent job hiding his weakness so far.

As the tea heats- in a traditional way, not using his spiritual force- he turns back to the dragon. "What was your father? Was he a dragon?"

There was something off about the energies of this man. He couldn't put his finger on it without joining their energies together though. But he was noticing the traditional methods. A problem with his energies? He couldn't be sure...

Runyu was at least able to pretend like he wasn't thinking about things like that when the man faced him. "Our father was a dragon, yes."

"Your world seems quite interesting," he admits in a rare pseudo-compliment. "What's it like in this heavenly realm? Do you have any other family members here?"

Again, like he owns the place instead of being a guest, Baiyi takes a look in a few jars and cabinets until he finds the right herbs he wants in his tea cup. "Are you going to find any disciples here?"

"The matter of family is complicated. There is another from my world here but she and my brother are not aware that in their future they will be wed. So in their eyes she is not family yet. But in mine she is."

Was he making a more medicinal tea? Perhaps he was sick in some way. Runyu took note of everything he saw even as he continued to speak.

"I'm not going to take any disciples here. But to answer your other question, the Heavenly Realm is quiet these days. Were someone to visit though they would find it grander than the grandest palace in the Mortal Realm. There is peace there now though. I'm sure there will be for a number of years to come."

"Isn't it always?" He remarks.

As he waits for the water to warm, he turns so his back is to the cabinets. He leans back against them and centers his attention on Runyu. He nods as he listens. He too doubts he'll take on any disciples ever again. He doesn't have the heart after Rong Xu.

He pushes that thought away and works to picture this Heavenly Realm. He wishes he could see it some day. If he continued his isolation in his mountain, perhaps he would've eventually ascended. Now, his hair is turning gray and it'll only be a matter of time.

Forever is too long to be by himself though with only his soulmate's sword to talk to.

"How did you achieve this?"

Runyu's gaze fell then. He wasn't about to hide what he had done but he was also not proud of it.

"Through my own greed and arrogance I gave them someone to hate more than each other," he said simply. It didn't add details but it certainly said a great deal about what he had done to make an entire realm hate him above all else.

Baiyi frowns seeing the way Runyu reacts. He understands regret. Whether his crimes were as severe or not, guilt is a heavy burden to live with.

If he was closer, he might've rested a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder. As it was, he's quiet for a moment. "You're adopting new ways now, have you not? Learn from your mistakes, but don't drown in them."

"I have adopted new ways, yes. Even then the weight of all I have done will always be there with me." He would simply have to live with that. That was all there was to the matter. He'd accepted that long ago.

Runyu paused a moment then looked up again. "You are welcome to tell me to look the other way and I will. But I must ask... Are you ill? I have been noticing things with your energies. Though I would have to feel them to know for sure what is wrong I could offer some healing if you feel it would help."

"Of course." His tone was empathetic, knowing there's no real way to forgive oneself. In all honesty, if Runyu caused so much suffering then he shouldn't ever be rid of the guilt completely. It's the same way he feels about his brats. They both had so much blood on their hands and should remember the lives they hurt. However, he also believed in redemption and atonement.

While he's busy thinking that over, he's asked something he isn't expecting. The surprise on his face shifts to defensiveness and then a moment later to a more resigned look.

He turns his back to Runyu, supposedly to pour the now hot kettle water. "It's why I'm here to speak to Zhou Zishu. I haven't been ill or felt weak like this in a very long time. I suspect.." He reaches into his pocket and draws out a long ring. "Someone from our world has left. A troubled young man who I was taking care of and keeping away from this place."

He takes his teacup and the ring and returns to the table. Holding the ring out, he lets Runyu see it, though he knows it won't be of any significance to the dragon.

Leaning forward, he looked at the ring. It meant nothing to him but he knew that it meant something to this man. That was truly all that mattered in the end. When he sat back, he nodded slowly.

"It might be that you are experiencing a break in a kizuna bond. You may have bonded with this young man according to the magics of this place. So when he parted you experienced the break. It's something I've felt before myself."

A couple of times now.

"A kizuna bond can do this?" He asks with a frown. The idea that this might be because he had been 'bonding' with that foolish child irritates him immeasurably. Sharing the news of Xie'er vanishing is going to suck even more if those brats can tell he bonded with him.

Things were much simpler on his mountain where his only friends were dead or icicles.

"How long will this last?"

"Not long. You should feel it pass soon."

That didn't not bring comfort but it was the practical answer. There wasn't really a way to bring comfort for a lost bond really. He knew that from personal experience.

"You'll return to your full strength when it has passed."

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."

"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."

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."

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."

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.

"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."

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?"

"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.

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?"

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."

"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?"

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."

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?"

[Closed to Four Seasons Manor residents + Ye Baiyi]

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