[UN: swordcandy | Video]

[cultivatingsin]

Fuck it. Considering we're all stuck here until further notice, being heroic and shit, tell me where you would rather be and what you would rather be doing. I'll go first.

I want to be in a city full of coffins, making dinner for...someone. And myself. No one else. [Take that A-Qing. Take that Song Zichen.] We just finished a successful Night Hunt and we're tired, hungry but happy.

[Is it sad that these are his favorite memories? A city full of coffins, really?]

Comments

[Video] un: brightmoon

[bright_moon]

[ Xingchen may or may not realize he has the setting on video in reply! ]

Does it have be an exact memory? If not...then...I suppose I would wish to be back on my master's mountain. With the...friends I have made since I initially left it.

[ With Zichen. A-Qing.

...Xue Yang. ]

[Video]

[cultivatingsin]

[That works just fine for him~ He gets to see his Daozhang's cute face this way!]

... [His smile fades at the wish, though he should have expected it. He tries not to lash out, digging his nails into his scarred leg and letting the pain calm him.]

You mean away from me.

[Video]

[bright_moon]

[ If he still had eyes, he'd be blinking! As it is, his brow furrows in dismay at that statement and he shakes his head. ]

That...I...No.

[ He takes a breath and tries to start again, to make himself clear. ]

Do you know...how I thought of you in Yi City? My nameless friend. I see how hard you're trying. That is the person I would see on my master's mountain.

[Video]

[cultivatingsin]

[The immediate reassurance - the emotion behind it - leaves him flushed. He barely dares to breathe; to think; to be. So he just listens.]

Daozhang... [His voice is hoarse.] I like being your friend. If I could be on your mountain with you...

I would go. Even...

Even with Daozhang Zichen there too.

[Video]

[bright_moon]

[ He relaxes just a little when his message seems to be heard and believed. He doesn't quite realize he smiles, but the little smile is there, if a bit sad. Especially at the additional mention of poor Zichen. ]

You make me laugh. I think Zichen... [ No. He wishes. He doesn't know. And that makes his heart ache. ]

If I had a wish, it would be that we'd brought you with us after catching you that day. Instead of sending you off.

[Video]

[cultivatingsin]

[He has no right to say Zichen's name. But he knows the man is dear to Xingchen and it's... It's important to include him. He never had the right to exclude anyone from his Daozhang's life.]

...you would've taken me with you? [He had assumed the pair saw him as nothing but a pest; that they had been glad to pawn him off on others.] Daozhang Zichen would've executed me.

[Video]

[bright_moon]

[ Xingchen doesn't even feel worthy of saying Zichen's name. What had happened to the man because of Xue Yang's obsession with Xingchen is...horrible. But to forget him, to pretend it didn't matter, that's also something he can't do. ]

We should have. We would have, if they hadn't suggested taking you to the Unclean Realm.

[ His lips thin at the supposition and he shakes his head. ]

No. He wouldn't have. Not then. He would have tried to help teach you to do better, as I would have.

UN: STARDUST has joined the video chat...

[bad_habit]

A city full of coffins? Are you fucking serious? [Is he from like, a different hell? Oh... Or maybe a vampire? But he thought they'd keep their coffins in houses, not like live in them.

He's totally not picturing a tiny little village with coffins and little white picket fences surrounding them in some sort of strange Truman Show town. Totally not.]

That does actually sound pretty good. I'd like to be cookin' for my friends too. I... Didn't really get the chance to before I 'left' and I didn't realise how much I'd regret not takin' the time. We just got a kick ass new kitchen and everythin'.

[cultivatingsin]

Yes. I'm dead serious. [He's hilarious, ha ha ha? And, no, he's not a vampire. Just a madman. And they absolutely made a few beds out of the coffins. As for the white picket fences, no, those didn't exist in the grey gloom of Yi City.]

Damn. When you get back, make up for it. Fix them a feast! I'd kill for a good kitchen with plenty of vegetables and meat stocked.

[bad_habit]

[So wrought iron. Got it~ Oh man and he thought his world was creepy, he can't imagine what a coffin city is like. He really wants to know...]

If we get back. [Sorry, but he's been thinking about that a lot lately.]

Brave of you to assume any of the shit we had IN the kitchen was any good. But I used to make it work. [Fun thing about cooking in hell? They had all the common ingredients but nothing was really all that... fresh. Half rotten vegetables, questionable meats. Like cooking with the contents of your hoarding grandmothers refrigerator.] What's your favourite thing to make?

[cultivatingsin]

[Empty, gloomy, fog-filled, dead. Especially after this fiend was done with it. He really should have put those left-over coffins to their proper use.]

Why wouldn't we? [He is much too miserable in Yi City and much too happy being here for this to last. Good things for him are always twisted and polluted.]

And whose fault was that? [Stock up on yummy things!] I make delicious dumplings.

[bad_habit]

[Yeah, that’s like a daily affair. Or it used to be at least, it’s pretty quiet here and admittedly he is kinda thankful for the breather.

Even if it is kinda boring.]

I dunno. Last time I got 'whisked' away somewhere it ain't like I got to go back.

[Hey they can only do so much, he's hoping here is better if he’s honest but he hasn’t had much time to explore it considering that he has been spending most of his time trying to chase down his douchebag doppelgänger.] Dumplings huh? What kind do you make? Like the bean ones or meat ones? I don't think I can ever say I've made dumplings.

[cultivatingsin]

[This place is much livelier and he is actually glad for that. The dead get boring after awhile. And sad.]

Where did you end up? [Some cages have no door, no lock, no windows.]

Meat! The bean ones are fine, but the meat ones keep you nice and full. [Plus a Cultivator needs the protein.] I could show you.

[bad_habit]

[Angel is used to being surrounded in life and in death. You're telling him, I mean he is from hell after all.]

It's kinda complicated... [He supposes if someone is used to a place full of coffins maybe he can actually tell the other without seeming insane. Mostly he's avoided it in conversation with anyone here.] I ended up in hell. You know eternal damnation, endless tortures. Whole nine yards.

Yeah, I would totally learn that! [He seems genuinely enthusiastic to learn.] And hey, this place has gotta have some good ingredients. Better than where I'm from.

video — un: willa

[infirmiere]

I was meant to be going to an exhibit of Caravaggio's last paintings with my boyfriend so I suppose I would rather be there.

[ she hums, considering. ] Actually, there was this club where we saw King Oliver play, I'd like to relive that.

video

[cultivatingsin]

Who is Cara...whatever? An artist, I guess? Are they any good?

[He gives her a skeptical look.]

Who the hell is King Oliver?

[infirmiere]

A painter, yes, and a very good one in my opinion but art is subjective.

[ and easy shrug lifts one shoulder and she sips a glass of water. ]

King Oliver is a jazz cornetist, a brass instrument I suspect you might not be familiar with either.

[cultivatingsin]

What subjects does he paint? Anything bloody or violent?

[His judgement of art might be a bit...skewed.]

Is he actually royalty? Musicians usually aren't even nobility.

[infirmiere]

No, he's not really a king. There's no monarchy or nobility where he is from.

[ hopefully she doesn't have to explain the american revolution. ]

Caravaggio though does have a lot of paintings that are bloody and violent. He has a very famous work called Judith Beheading Holofernes, [ she hums, smile slipping across her expression. ] That's my favorite. And there's a few with David holding Goliath's disembodied, still bleeding head.

[cultivatingsin]

So the name is just what, an ego boost?

[Well, why not?]

I could call myself an Emperor, then! [Emperor Yang doesn't have the worst ring to it.]

A beheading! Those can be really bloody. [He approves!] Why did he like beheadings so much? I suppose it is the quickest way to kill someone.

[infirmiere]

You could, who is going to contradict you?

[ go for it, dude! ]

video; un: michiho

[michiho]

Oohh, what's a night hunt?? That sounds cool! Is it like a ghost hunt?

[She considers the actual question though

I think I'd kinda want something similar though. A celebratory party with my teacher and my best friend. We just finished cracking another ghost mystery, it's super late at night, and my friend and i will have to sneak back into the dorms soon.

But our teacher looks so happy he helped save someone that it's hard to worry at all about what might come later. For now, it's just him, and us, and some drinks. [She trails off, a bit wistful and dreamy at the end there]

video

[cultivatingsin]

A hunt at night! Cultivators go after demons, monsters and ghosts at that time since they usually sleep during the day. Does that sound like a ghost hunt to you?

[He likes facing feisty enemies - and then finding a way to use them for his own benefit.]

Sounds fun~ You should drink as much as you can handle. Screw the consequences!

video;

[michiho]

[Shockingly, a night hunt is a hunt at night. Who knew!!} A little, yeah! Sounds about right. I wonder why they're more active at night, when there's fewer people to prey on... Maybe they get their energy from the residual energy places generate during the day...?

[She considers this, humming thoughtfully before she laughs brightly]

Right? That's what I'd say! Himeko would definitely scold me and tell me to do things in moderation! I feel like Sensei would be similar but he'd give in easier than Himeko would.

[She laughs again, expression going a bit wistful] I hope others I know show up soon, honestly.

video;

[cultivatingsin]

[Shock. Horror. Gasp.] Evil spirits dislike the sunlight. It bares all of their sins and their evil qi isn't nearly as powerful in it. For ghosts that could mean the difference between manifesting and...not.

[He cocks his head at the laughter, arching a brow.]

Don't listen to Himeko. A special occasion is a special occasion. If you want to keep celebrating here, I could keep you company.

[Worst idea ever.]

They might or they might not. You'll probably see them again if your world isn't destroyed.