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[ hang on she's. she's looking at her PHS. ]
...
[ oh. 827 ish. ]
Right. Okay, that makes more sense now.
...
[ oh. 827 ish. ]
Right. Okay, that makes more sense now.
You're, um... [ how to put it politely? ]
Quite old, huh?
Quite old, huh?
[ ... ]
I... [ xie lian you are literally like 40 times her age, she can’t comprehend this ] I mean, I should because some of them are right here in the profile but, also... no. I can’t really.
There are a lot of you here that are much older than the rest of us, huh? Do all of you have trouble with the technology here?
I... [ xie lian you are literally like 40 times her age, she can’t comprehend this ] I mean, I should because some of them are right here in the profile but, also... no. I can’t really.
There are a lot of you here that are much older than the rest of us, huh? Do all of you have trouble with the technology here?
It is rather difficult, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
[ xie lian smiles, a little sheepish. ] I haven't set anything on fire with the stove, or anything, and the PHS is a little hard for me to use sometimes, but I think I'm adapting well enough.
The last place that we visited was very exciting, though. I'd never even dreamed of so many of those things!
[ xie lian smiles, a little sheepish. ] I haven't set anything on fire with the stove, or anything, and the PHS is a little hard for me to use sometimes, but I think I'm adapting well enough.
The last place that we visited was very exciting, though. I'd never even dreamed of so many of those things!
... I think not setting anything on fire with the stove is a very good thing to do. [ although she remembers his Doom Stew from the first week and now she d o u b t s ]
Mm. That place was beyond what I'm used to as well. We don't have anything like that holodeck where I'm from.
Mm. That place was beyond what I'm used to as well. We don't have anything like that holodeck where I'm from.
[ well! that was fun. at least they caught the right person, i guess.
xie lian seems to be heading out when he spots alex! as ever, he has a friendly smile for her, and a polite bow. ] Good afternoon, Miss Alex. Would you like to come for a walk with me?
xie lian seems to be heading out when he spots alex! as ever, he has a friendly smile for her, and a polite bow. ] Good afternoon, Miss Alex. Would you like to come for a walk with me?
[ she seems a bit out of it, but does blink when xie lian calls her name. ]
...?
Oh hello, Xie Lian. [ ... well. she's out walking anyway, so... ] I'll join you.
...?
Oh hello, Xie Lian. [ ... well. she's out walking anyway, so... ] I'll join you.
It's... better than sitting around overthinking things.
[ hmm. she has her own arms folded across her chest, a little like she's cradling herself with her arms. ]
I'm holding up fine. I'm just... there's a lot happening. I'm not sure where to start or what to focus on first.
[ hmm. she has her own arms folded across her chest, a little like she's cradling herself with her arms. ]
I'm holding up fine. I'm just... there's a lot happening. I'm not sure where to start or what to focus on first.
It might not be a bad idea.
[ hmmmm. ]
I think... the biggest things for me are “what’s nova splintering” and “who told Shima to kill Laine because of it”.
[ hmmmm. ]
I think... the biggest things for me are “what’s nova splintering” and “who told Shima to kill Laine because of it”.
...
[ she doesn’t like that option, but... ]
I thought that too.
[ she sighs ]
But if we want to understand why they’d ask that, we need to know what the splintering is first. I think these pieces both go together.
[ she doesn’t like that option, but... ]
I thought that too.
[ she sighs ]
But if we want to understand why they’d ask that, we need to know what the splintering is first. I think these pieces both go together.
[ alex really should avoid the saloon, most of her memshares have been here. but she's hungry, so she wanders in, looking for some food. ]
[ and of course, waving to xie lian when she sees him. ]
Looking for lunch?
[ and of course, waving to xie lian when she sees him. ]
Looking for lunch?
[ wow can't believe it's time for alex to share another mem in the saloon!!
i mean. xie lian spots alex and brightens; as she waves, he gives her a little bow in greeting. ] Hello, Miss Alex - I was! Would you like to join me?
[ he loves... food. ]
i mean. xie lian spots alex and brightens; as she waves, he gives her a little bow in greeting. ] Hello, Miss Alex - I was! Would you like to join me?
[ he loves... food. ]
I'm getting flashbacks to the pirate inn-- what did you find this time?
[ he really does love food. can't wait for his lunchtime to be interrupted when the bubbles descend ]
[ he really does love food. can't wait for his lunchtime to be interrupted when the bubbles descend ]
[ yeah. boy howdy.
xie lian can't help but smile, as he holds up his mutton! ] This! it's delicious. Really, everything is... the tomatoes, too! You know, I just think they're the most interesting thing. It's a fruit! But, it tastes like it should be a vegetable? I'm not -
[ as he's reaching for his tomato to demonstrate, however, ruoye realizes that its Favorite Person is here, and comes disobediently wiggling out of xie lian's sleeve to say hello... and pops a bubble in the process. ]
...Ah.
[ uh oh. ]
xie lian can't help but smile, as he holds up his mutton! ] This! it's delicious. Really, everything is... the tomatoes, too! You know, I just think they're the most interesting thing. It's a fruit! But, it tastes like it should be a vegetable? I'm not -
[ as he's reaching for his tomato to demonstrate, however, ruoye realizes that its Favorite Person is here, and comes disobediently wiggling out of xie lian's sleeve to say hello... and pops a bubble in the process. ]
...Ah.
[ uh oh. ]
[ you are twenty years old, laying on a broken bed in a ramshackle house, feeling a torrent of emotions - misery, anger, paranoia - and have no rest.
you know this place as your temporary home. it is not - it is nothing like what you're used to, nothing like any of you are used to. nothing is anything like it used to be, and you have just finished trying to explain something to your former bodyguard - and you are angry. you've never been more angry, and bitter, and sad. this isn't you, your bodyguard told you, and you didn't care.
you don't get much time to stew today, though, because there is a knock at your door. you stay there, unmoving, for a moment, but eventually lift your exhausted head, and call out to whoever's on the other side.
"my son, it is your mother. let mother come in and take a look at you, alright?"
and no matter how angry, how miserable you are, you cannot refuse that request. you rise to your feet and answer the door, and she stands there.
she is beautiful, even now, though the weight of her exhaustion makes her seem older than she is. your beloved mother doesn't look like she fits in this place - she's too beautiful for it, ethereal, someone who has always been wealthy and now is poor, with a plate in her freshly weathered hands. she smiles at you, and you can see she's just as tired as you are. "My son, you haven't eaten yet, right?"
what she has on the plate looks terrible. it looks truly terrible, and smells foul, and the first thing you think is even if i haven't eaten, i don't want to eat what you've made, but the words die in your throat, because it is your mother, and you have stomached her cooking a thousand times since things became like this. you have begged her not to cook too much - you are a fine cook, so you do it, but right now, you just can't, and your mother...
you step to the side, to let her in the room.
"look," she says.
you feel a rise of bitterness again, and ask, "what's that?"
your mother gestures to the plate and says, in a serene voice, as if she is offering you treasure, "this is "Lovebirds Upon a Branch Meatballs", and this, is "Blooming Flowers and Full Moon Stew."
they both look absolutely horrendous. you interrupt her. "why did you name these things?"
"don't all dishes have names?"
"...that's for imperial dining, in the palace." you say, and the memory of your once charmed life touches the edges of your mind, the way your mother still looks like she will never belong, like a diamond placed in a coal mine, "Ordinary folks don't give names to dishes."
the queen falls silent for a moment. she watches you, then looks down at her dish, and then... she smiles at you, and you love your mother's smile. it feels like home. "Well, no one said you have to be dining imperially in order to give dishes names, so just take this as a wish for good fortune."
she hands you the chopsticks. you stare at her. you don't - you don't know what to say, and the memory fades away there.]
you know this place as your temporary home. it is not - it is nothing like what you're used to, nothing like any of you are used to. nothing is anything like it used to be, and you have just finished trying to explain something to your former bodyguard - and you are angry. you've never been more angry, and bitter, and sad. this isn't you, your bodyguard told you, and you didn't care.
you don't get much time to stew today, though, because there is a knock at your door. you stay there, unmoving, for a moment, but eventually lift your exhausted head, and call out to whoever's on the other side.
"my son, it is your mother. let mother come in and take a look at you, alright?"
and no matter how angry, how miserable you are, you cannot refuse that request. you rise to your feet and answer the door, and she stands there.
she is beautiful, even now, though the weight of her exhaustion makes her seem older than she is. your beloved mother doesn't look like she fits in this place - she's too beautiful for it, ethereal, someone who has always been wealthy and now is poor, with a plate in her freshly weathered hands. she smiles at you, and you can see she's just as tired as you are. "My son, you haven't eaten yet, right?"
what she has on the plate looks terrible. it looks truly terrible, and smells foul, and the first thing you think is even if i haven't eaten, i don't want to eat what you've made, but the words die in your throat, because it is your mother, and you have stomached her cooking a thousand times since things became like this. you have begged her not to cook too much - you are a fine cook, so you do it, but right now, you just can't, and your mother...
you step to the side, to let her in the room.
"look," she says.
you feel a rise of bitterness again, and ask, "what's that?"
your mother gestures to the plate and says, in a serene voice, as if she is offering you treasure, "this is "Lovebirds Upon a Branch Meatballs", and this, is "Blooming Flowers and Full Moon Stew."
they both look absolutely horrendous. you interrupt her. "why did you name these things?"
"don't all dishes have names?"
"...that's for imperial dining, in the palace." you say, and the memory of your once charmed life touches the edges of your mind, the way your mother still looks like she will never belong, like a diamond placed in a coal mine, "Ordinary folks don't give names to dishes."
the queen falls silent for a moment. she watches you, then looks down at her dish, and then... she smiles at you, and you love your mother's smile. it feels like home. "Well, no one said you have to be dining imperially in order to give dishes names, so just take this as a wish for good fortune."
she hands you the chopsticks. you stare at her. you don't - you don't know what to say, and the memory fades away there.]
[ she's about to respond to the tomato discourse, when ruoye pops out of xie lian's sleeve and tries to scurry at her-- ]
Hello there, Ruoy--
[ oh.
and there it goes. a memory bubble. this is where i am going to shame sisi's beautifully written long tag with one of alex just looking confused. because that's what she does -- she looks confused, and a little bewildered at what she's seeing, when everything is so very different to what she's used to, and isn't even being seen through her eyes. ]
...
[ oh. ]
Do you not get along with your mother, Xie Lian?
Hello there, Ruoy--
[ oh.
and there it goes. a memory bubble. this is where i am going to shame sisi's beautifully written long tag with one of alex just looking confused. because that's what she does -- she looks confused, and a little bewildered at what she's seeing, when everything is so very different to what she's used to, and isn't even being seen through her eyes. ]
...
[ oh. ]
Do you not get along with your mother, Xie Lian?
[ ....
that is not what he's expecting!
he blinks, surprised. ] What? I... Of course I did.
She was... my mother was incredibly precious to me. [ in fact, even more so than he ever really did his father. xie lian was a mama's boy through and through.
he glances down at his plate, and suddenly just feels a wave of quiet sadness, threatening to rise up in him, tied to something else, other memories of his mother. for a moment, he's thankful to the bubbles, that this was all they showed - perhaps it is a good thing to explain.
xie lian pushes it down, and huffs, a soft, near vulnerable noise. nostalgia threads into his voice. ] ...That... she was a terrible cook, my mother. Her food could make birds fall dead out of trees if you left the window open.
that is not what he's expecting!
he blinks, surprised. ] What? I... Of course I did.
She was... my mother was incredibly precious to me. [ in fact, even more so than he ever really did his father. xie lian was a mama's boy through and through.
he glances down at his plate, and suddenly just feels a wave of quiet sadness, threatening to rise up in him, tied to something else, other memories of his mother. for a moment, he's thankful to the bubbles, that this was all they showed - perhaps it is a good thing to explain.
xie lian pushes it down, and huffs, a soft, near vulnerable noise. nostalgia threads into his voice. ] ...That... she was a terrible cook, my mother. Her food could make birds fall dead out of trees if you left the window open.
It seemed.... well. You really just didn't want to eat her cooking?
[ xie lian... is this where your talents came from? ]
[ xie lian... is this where your talents came from? ]
[ he laughs, a little. ]
...I was certainly not in a very good place, at the time of that memory [ it was, actually, the worst time of his entire life; he was teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown. ] - but even before that, I did not want to.
...My mother was a queen. She had never had to cook a meal in her life, until we left the palace. But, she tried to learn all of the hard parts of common life the best that she could, sometimes successfully, and sometimes not. Even if it was horrible, it made her so happy when we ate her food, that I always ate it. We would, of course, try to convince her away from cooking somehow, but... I loved my mother, and we were miserable, so I would do anything to make sure she was happy, even that. Her food, with its silly names...
[ something in him softens, then, and he lifts his hand, touching his heart. ]
...You know, I used to be a pretty decent cook. I was naturally talented at most anything in my youth, so it wasn't difficult for me to figure out. [ that is probably hard to believe but.
it's about to make a lot more sense. ] ...my mother passed away not long after that memory, and so did my father. Naming food, and some of her conventions of cooking... I started off making her terrible recipes on purpose, and I still name dishes now. Of course, now, I'm unable to cook entirely, because that was a very, very long time ago... but that was how it began.
...I was certainly not in a very good place, at the time of that memory [ it was, actually, the worst time of his entire life; he was teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown. ] - but even before that, I did not want to.
...My mother was a queen. She had never had to cook a meal in her life, until we left the palace. But, she tried to learn all of the hard parts of common life the best that she could, sometimes successfully, and sometimes not. Even if it was horrible, it made her so happy when we ate her food, that I always ate it. We would, of course, try to convince her away from cooking somehow, but... I loved my mother, and we were miserable, so I would do anything to make sure she was happy, even that. Her food, with its silly names...
[ something in him softens, then, and he lifts his hand, touching his heart. ]
...You know, I used to be a pretty decent cook. I was naturally talented at most anything in my youth, so it wasn't difficult for me to figure out. [ that is probably hard to believe but.
it's about to make a lot more sense. ] ...my mother passed away not long after that memory, and so did my father. Naming food, and some of her conventions of cooking... I started off making her terrible recipes on purpose, and I still name dishes now. Of course, now, I'm unable to cook entirely, because that was a very, very long time ago... but that was how it began.
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