November Catch-All

[outspokenlan]

⌛ Who: Lan Jingyi, Wen Qing, Ye Baiyi, and Tay
⌛ What: November catch-all
⌛ When: November
⌛ Where: Varies
⌛ Warnings: Will be marked on thread

Lan Jingyi
[Kizuna traits- Jingyi has a small streak of pink in his hair, his eyes turn a shiny emerald green color whenever he's around Jiang Cheng and a light blue whenever he's around Sizhui. New additions: Jingyi now has pale blonde ears and tail of a labrador.]

Wen Qing
[Kizuna traits- Wen Qing is slowly getting more noticeable owl feathers in her hair.]

Ye Baiyi
[Kizuna traits- Baiyi can and does usually hide this, but his chest/ abdomen is covered in thick, white bear fur. He's just gained a small, white nub of a tail too, but he also hides that.]

Tay
[Kizuna traits- Tay has cute cat ears, one white and one black, and a white, long-haired cat tail with black patches.]

Comments

cw: familial abuse

[safesex]

Vegas snorted. Pete's 'elders', his father at least, were a bunch of abusive garbage. Vegas would never have asked Pete's father for permission to marry him, even if were the type to do so. And Vegas' dad? That homophobic piece of shit would never have agreed. Thankfully, he's dead.

"It's not important to our culture. We eloped anyway. Asking anyone's permission would've defeated the purpose."

[yeoldmonster]

"Is it the permission part or the family part you have problems with?" Baiyi asks, looking over at the young man curiously.

[safesex]

"I don't have problems with either. It's just not important." Vegas paused and pressed his lips together thoughtfully. Family, the family he chose, is important to him. Blood ties? Other than Macau, no. "My father's dead anyway. There's no one to give permission."

[yeoldmonster]

These modern people were annoyingly confusing. He didn't understand their values at all and so far asking questions about it hasn't helped him get any closer.

At least, that's until Vegas speaks of his father. "Is this the same battle where you were injured?"

[safesex]

"Yeah," he answers slowly. His feelings about that are still... ambiguous. Could he acknowledge that Gun was a sack of shit in human skin? Yes. Did he still also crave his father's approval like his lungs craved air? Also yes.

[yeoldmonster]

Suddenly Vegas' reluctance over explaining if the battle was righteous or not makes a whole lot more sense. No one wanted to admit they were fighting on the wrong side if that was the side of their father.

"I barely remember mine," he admits. "I have few memories from back then. Besides knowing he was a respected member of the Martial Arts community I've forgotten much else about him." He suspects he hadn't been that close to the man if this was his attitude about his early years, but that was mostly a guess.

[safesex]

Gun was respected by many. Feared by many, too. But it was never enough because he wasn't number one. A belief he pushed off on his eldest son.

"No? Then who would you ask if you wanted to marry someone?"

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi side-eyes the idiot next to him. "I'm far too old to consider marriage, young man, but I did speak with Riley's foster father, Elrond, to tell him I was taking care of the boy. I would've done the same for Xie, but he has no family here or back home."

Marriage in general didn't make a whole lot of sense to him given this realm being so detached from his ancestors and gods.

"How does one have a wedding in a place like this?"

[safesex]

"I suppose it's different for everyone. Me and Pete found a Buddhist temple, made offerings, received the temple's blessings, and made merits together." All in all, it was a very short affair. They probably could've been wed at the temple they were staying at, but it was important for them to be married in their own nominal faith.

[yeoldmonster]

Of all things Baiyi expected to hear, this was far from it.

"You follow Buddha?" Is it possible these men with the questionable auras are Buddhists?

[safesex]

"We're not devout." They eat meat and, you know, murder people.

[yeoldmonster]

He breathes a soft laugh at that and nods. Of course they aren't.

"And you don't believe in righteousness."

[safesex]

"The First Noble Truth identifies the presence of suffering. The Second Truth seeks to determine the cause of suffering. The Third Truth is the end of suffering. And the Fourth Truth is the path to the end of suffering. Where in any of that is righteousness?" Vegas snorts. "Ever hear 'history is written by the victor'? That proves that 'righteous' men are simply the ones who subjugated others and get to tell their perspective."

[yeoldmonster]

"To identify the presence of suffering is to acknowledge a need of others. It's a matter of compassion and valuing life outside of your own. To seek the cause of suffering is about using your own time, strength, and courage to discover the darkness in the world and bring the truth to light. The other two are about bringing justice and battling the wicked who are causing harm." Baiyi doesn't disagree that those who are victorious often can slant history a certain way.

"Because others tarnish the name of the righteous doesn't mean they are, in fact, among the righteous. It's the difference between acknowledging there is a code of ethics or morality despite so few actually following it. You've obviously suffered at the hands of someone who has abused this word. In spite of that, I hope you find peace and a way to rise above it."

[safesex]

"All that shit is subjective. Truth, righteousness." Vegas cants his head and gives him a serious look. "Have you ever tried not being insufferable? Trying to be right about everything and everyone isn't a good look."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi smirks and there's a hint of jest in his tone. "I already know I'm right about everything and everyone. I don't have to try at that."

Still.. point taken. He takes a breath and thinks of Riley. "What I'm 'trying' here is to understand you but it isn't working. Your viewpoint makes no sense to me, why else would I be putting in the effort to discuss it with you?"

[safesex]

"You're never gonna understand anyone if you think you're right about everything." Vegas huffed a sigh. "If you're always right, that means everyone else -- everyone is wrong. That's no way to approach other people. In any time."

[yeoldmonster]

"Have you met people?" Baiyi asks. People are really, really dumb!

"But that was a joke, young man. Of course I know I can't be right about everything. I was wrong about who the host of that party was and I didn't know how attached Ley'er already was to you. Although, you were being terribly rude yourself."

[safesex]

"Rude? Because I wouldn't stand for the aspersions you were casting on my character without even knowing me for ten minutes? Not sorry, I don't deal with bullshit."

[yeoldmonster]

"Where I come from, there's a lot more respect given to a man's senior and guest." Baiyi frowns. "Also, I'd just found Riley in a vulnerable state in midst of strangers and I can sense a number of things about a person by the energy they give off. Like I can sense your strength is still taxed, but your wounds have healed. You have blood on your hands. And you were goading me."

He shakes his head. "I don't understand why you think I was attacking your character."

[safesex]

"You found Riley because I was good enough to tell you where he was. You found him safe and sound because me and mine were looking after him. Did it ever occur to you that I coulda just let him walk home like he was gonna do; left him alone to fend off whatever other monsters are out there? Fuck man, you're a piece of work."

Calm, Vegas, be calm. Your stop isn't for a while yet, shit.

"Where I come from respect is earned."

[yeoldmonster]

Baiyi nods and replies as calmly as he can. "It did occur to me. That was the only thing I could think about when I saw him. Why do you think I was so angry at him? And I was going to thank you too before things turned another direction."

He sighs at the last part. He could keep talking about how that was a miscommunication or.. and this really is only for Riley's sake..

"Thank you for calling me."

[safesex]

"You're welcome."

[yeoldmonster]

That's it?

This is a good example of why Baiyi has stopped saying things like 'please', 'thank you', or 'I'm sorry'. It hardly seems worth the effort.

He nods his head, acknowledging he heard the response before falling silent.

[safesex]

What does he want? A cookie? A 'thank you' is met with a 'you're welcome; where Vegas comes from. Even a very belated thank you. This could very well be the most uncomfortable train ride in the history of train rides.