[ nine sided... he likes mollymauk better, even if that's also a weird name, but that's fine. he can't judge.
there's a beat of silence; his other hand shifts over the back of molly's, and he covers the red eye with his calloused palm. ]
...Was that your first?
[ death. lucien, then.
you'll send me to my third grave, molly had said.
unfamiliar or not, it's easy to pick up the thread - and gu yun's watching, too, another pair of eyes watching for reaction, carefully observant, though neutral. maybe leaning towards concern, though, with the way his mouth pulls as he connects the dots. ]
[That's fine. There's another on the palm on the same hand. Hard to cover them all, isn't it?
mollymauk (mollymauk?) just studies gu yun's face for a moment, but he isn't really trying to hide what's obvious in the expression: he is weighing the calculus of whether or not to lie.
then he seems to come to a decision.]
My first what? Awkward introduction to someone? Far from it.
[ gu yun is clever. he's always been clever. and gu yun, who just had his past dug into and dumped onto the carpet in front of them, is more than capable of picking up on a lie. he's nearly a professional at them himself, at this point.
mollymauk is a bastion of mystery, still, and likely always will be - there are a thousand things he'd like to ask (he keeps thinking about that eye, even with the one he's covering, nine sided, nine eyes), but he is capable of reading a room, too.
to find out so quickly almost feels like cheating. like ripping open your red envelope hours before you're supposed to, just to see the amount of money inside - a brief moment of thrill that ends the build up to a surprise. similarly, gu yun doesn't try to hide his expression - the way his eyes search his face, briefly, dark and clever, brows a little furrowed.
but then, it eases out into something more easygoing. ] A charmer like you? I can't believe it.
[ there's much more to that then just sly talk. there's an allowance to it; of recognizing what's happening, and allowing it to happen, anyway. molly didn't ask about his vision, his hearing, didn't pry into something gu yun would rather die than spend a moment explaining to anyone, or admitting that it's real. he can afford molly the same.
(friendship--without rank, just friendship-- is such an interesting thing.) ]
I'm not-- I'm not Lucien. I'm not Nonagon or whatever he cares to call himself. I'm Molly. [he squeezes the hand on his, almost to the point of pain. insistent.] And I've only died the once.
[There's a frantic immediacy to that-- a little bit of guilt when you know you've taken someone's offered hand of kindness, and feel a bit dirty and wrong for it. others here have seen the truth, the whole of it. gu yun likely deserves that much too, but,]
Look-- I'll explain whatever you'd like to know in a bit. [ . . . ] I've just never been afforded the chance to explain this on my own. They [the nein, the ones sitting at the table and watching] put a truth spell on me right after that and I had to split my own gut open in front of them too early as well.
And the same thing is happening here. Can't say-- can't say there aren't others walking around just knowing all my little fucking truths now. But I just want one chance to say it on my own.
the tight, tight squeeze doesn't bother him much - the prick of nails, the almost pain. he lets it happen, watching the emotions fly across molly's face, and then the truth, the actual truth of it come out.
friendship is weird, because things like that start to really, really matter - he can't imagine telling anyone anything about his own, can't imagine having a single thing about his utter lack of senses given over just because. the significance of molly wanting to tell him is almost novel, and it's. the feeling he's coming upon is that it's touching, kind of, and that he cares, and that it's a gesture of trust in its own right, and one that gu yun has never, ever offered to anyone in return. molly's comfort matters to him, in ways that, when trying to learn things, comfort never mattered. he's never just made a relationship quite like the one he's built up here before. ji ping had always just been there.
there's a brief moment where he has to actually decide what to say, instead of just talking out of his ass like he normally does, and eventually gu yun lifts the hand on the outside and claps it down, once, affirming. a decisive gesture. ]
So then, wait. I'm not an impatient person. [ because ... molly might just tell him without being forced by the whims of this place. just because they get along. just because he wants to. and because he wants a chance to say it on his own - and gu yun is the one who he wants to say it to.
it's miniscule, but his eyes soften past his usual confident demeanor, just for a moment, a crinkling of affection at the corner of his smile, as he sorts through about thirty emotions all at once. ] When you're ready, I'll want to hear it, though don't leave anything out, hm? If it's the chance you've got to tell it, I expect a story.
[ hopefully... hopefully he can still hear it, at least.
there's a beat. ] Though, we may yet have to ignore each other all week, otherwise, should you want such a rendezvous. Who knows what triggers it short of rotten luck. [ :/ ]
Don't get all excited, it isn't that good of a story. Told much better ones already.
[he's never wanted to voluntarily tell another person a damn thing in his life. the first thing out of your mouth should always be a lie. don't give away a story for free. no point in wallowing in a past that wants nothing but pain from you. but he thinks, as he does with many other things with his new friend, might as well try it.
gu yun is eerily perceptive about these sorts of things though. he doesn't truly think he's able to hide that very well. at least now, when he looks up at him, he actually seems slightly more well-rested, the dark circles under his eyes receeding. he reaches up to put a hand over the one at his shoulder though, face twisting into less discomfort with the truth and more childish sulk.]
What, just ignore me? Well, I don't want that either.
[ a snort, and then, dryly: ] There was a talking, walking cat in that memory. Anything you tell me is going to be exciting.
[ yes, of course he noticed that. there are a million things just to unpack from that memory alone that have absolutely nothing to do with molly's actual tragic backstory and more to do with the world itself. he's turning into a huge nerd? this is terrible??? ji ping would have a field day.
anyway. he watches molly's expression shift into a sulk, childish and silly, so he cannot resist the urge to tilt his head, and look away, briefly, and - ]
[ WOW HIS BUTT!!! he yelps, and then grins like a little shit, pleased with himself and his terrible little joke, snickering. wehehehe.
what a great time for a horrible memory share! ]
[ you're maybe five or six years old, and you're sitting on the roof of your house, pulling tiles off of the roof for no reason and tossing them to the ground. no one knows how you got up there, but at this point, your exasperated mother and father are both over your misbehavior.
you beam down at your mother. her face is a little bit fuzzy - gu yun's memory of the first princess is scattered, after so many years - and she's got a feather duster in her hand. you know that's not actually a feather duster, because it's got some kind of horsehair instead of feathers, and when she swats you with it, it hurts. you really don't want to be hit with that, so you lock eyes with your mother for a long, long while.
and then, your lower lip starts to wobble.
your mother makes an aggrieved noise. "Xiao Shiliu-" she starts, and you jump down from the roof and land in front of her, feeling tears well up in your eyes. ]
Mom, don't you like me anymore? [ you whimper, and your mother makes a noise and reaches out to catch you by the collar -- you deftly duck out of the way, as slippery as a fish, and feel the mischief running through your bones. "Get back here, you know you aren't allowed up there!" ]
Am I not the flesh that came from your body?! [ you yell back, pitifully, pathetically, jumping over something in the courtyard. you are six years old and your terrible mouth says things like this, even now. your mother chases after you - you make three more steps before she snags the back of your robes, and when she catches you, there are tears running down your cheeks, and any sign of mischief is gone. ] Do...do you want to change me out, for a better son? I'll be better, I promise, I'll be good.
[ you sniffle. (you are a very good actor, at six.) ] I only have one mother... [ and rub at your eyes with your tiny fists - ] ...If you don't love me, then I'll become a stray child... [ and your mother GROANS, the most aggrieved noise, as she sweeps you up into her arms.
"Xiao Shiliu, who taught you this trick!" she scolds, and your crocodile tears dry up in a second - you squirm and wiggle and knock the feather duster out of your mom's hands, and she sighs, reaching out to pinch your cheeks. it's a warm memory, a happy one - one of the servants in the courtyard croons about poor, poor shiliu in the background, and fades a moment later.
...but that's not the end of this little trip down memory lane, either. a cw for child abuse
the next memory comes in hazy shades of brown and gray - your medicine isn't effective, yet, the dose not correct, and you can just barely see. all of a sudden, you feel the sun, hot on your face, and a hand wrapped tight around your arm as you're dragged out of your room and into the courtyard. it burns - your eyes are only freshly injured, now, just a few weeks after the accident at the black iron camp.
all you can do is stagger after your father, and this time, when you're crying, it's real. tears stream down your cheeks, but you don't say a word, this time, no wailing or shouting as your father drags you over to the small koi pond in the center of the courtyard, something you can't even really see. your head is pounding, your eyes are burning, and your father stops at the edge, and drops your arm.
he wraps the whip he uses on his horse around your neck. you feel it, then feel his hands on your head, forcing you down to your knees to look at the water's surface. the brightness make your eyes ache - his voice comes right next to your ear, and he's shouting. to you it sounds like he's barely talking. Look at you, the old marquis says, Look at your current appearance! Do you think you deserve to be named Gu?!
something seethes up in your heart. tiny, angry. your throat is constricted by the whip, and you take a huge, deep breath, grab at it with your tiny hands, and roar at the top of your lungs, "I can't see!"
your father doesn't appreciate your fury or the point you've made. he grabs the back of your head by the hair, and shoves you face first into the water. it fills your lungs, and you gasp, your senses flooded by it, choking you further - he holds you there, five seconds, ten, and then yanks your head back up. you gasp for air, your lungs heaving.
your father shouts, again, in your ear. "If you can't see, then submerge yourself until you figure out how to!" you're coughing and gasping, wheezing, and your father's voice snarls in your broken ears, "Either you will learn to stand up, or you will find a place to hang yourself. The Gu family would rather have no heir than raise a worthless child."
the whip's pulled back - you gasp for air, and your father drops his grip on you, leaving you soaking wet and coughing at the pond. your hands curl into fists, and you take a deep, trembling breath, and that phrase buries itself into your heart like an iron nail. ]
[So the having to avoid each other or face the ordeal of being known was really actually good advice, huh?
Molly has never been a child. So he doesn't understand, exactly, the nuances of parenthood, of a loving mother, of being beholden to a family name, but
he knows what pain and fear is. they're still pulled in close from earlier, so Molly just holds to him tightly - pressing his face to gu yun's torso. he doesn't say anything for the moment, not until the other does.]
there's that. there's a long pause, as molly suddenly presses in closer, and gu yun sighs and puts a hand on top of his head. ]
Well. I suppose that's the other thing I didn't want anyone else to see, so hopefully it'll all be battle victories and fine celebrations from here on out.
[ he's. surprisingly blase about this one. or maybe not so blase, who knows - either way, he's very good at hiding it. ]
[Well, he'll just match tone. (There's a moment where he can still feel horsewhip around his throat, water burning in his lungs). Gu Yun - who deserves his name more than any other bastard in the Universe - had paid him the same favor earlier.]
Fuck, we really do keep inviting disaster. [He stays pressed in close, arms around that tight waist. Mostly just muttering into his clothes.] I hate this week.
Agreed. My second in command always says I'm a crow in human form. [ because he tends to just say things and then they happen!! gu yun your crow mouth!!!!
eventually, he runs his fingers back into molly's hair. this position is becoming familiar, it seems; gu yun's quiet for a little longer, glancing out at the room at large. ]
...He'd be rolling over in his grave if he could see me right now, the old bastard. [ this is?? surprisingly lighthearted? after that??? his coping mechanisms, ] I learned to stand up perfectly fine, and now I'm here, lying back and thinking of Great Liang. How's that for service to your country?
[it's becoming familiar partially because mollymauk voice: jokes on you im into that shit. having his hair and horns toyed with while he gets to lounge in his seat.]
Lying back? Is that what you do? [is this an appropriate joke for the moment? well, it's fine.] Let him roll, the bastard. Let all bastards from our shite memories roll in their graves, while we're here, perfectly upright and alive.
[ if this is a death flag i'm going to destroy you
it's completely inappropriate, but that's why he made it in the first place. ] Wouldn't you know? [ gu yun's shitty grin turns to a laugh, softer and less gremlin, as he continues playing with those curls, fingers occasionally finding chains or baubles off of his horns, just for the sensation of the touch. all rather nice. ]
Cheers to that, though. [ time to box that old memory back up into the trauma shelf where it belongs! ] I've done rather enough reminiscing, but I've decided I'd also like to have the fish and the bear's paw all at once, so think I'll take my chances and stick around.
[ he ruffles up those purple curls a bit, just because he can. ruffle ruffle. ]
[imagine how funny it would be if he were like, okay gu yun, ill tell you my backstory but i need time, and then one of them just fucking dies instead]
Suppose I would. Though I thought you suggested you'd like to ride something . . . what was it again?
[Humming, content, letting some of the trauma and anxiety of the past few hours fade off, leaning into this feeling rather than submitting to the ordeal of being known. maybe a little reward of being loved, as a treat.]
Fish and-- Bear's paw? Sorry, I can normally follow your funny little twists of phrase, but you'll have to lay that one out for me.
Hmmm. Bear's paw is a delicacy, usually reserved for the wealthy. Fish is eaten for good fortune at the New Year. They're both expensive to the average family. [ gu yun explains, tilting his head to try to try and make the forced switch of language - ] Yú yǔ xióng zhǎng bù kě jiān dé. Can't have the fish and the bear's paw at the same time.
[ can't have your cake and eat it too! amazing.
there's a pause, still running his fingers through molly's hair, and in that same, i'm-teaching-something tone ] Riding your ass all the way to the grave, I believe? Can't remember every clever thing I always say. [ ufufufu. ]
Seems like you can have both if you've both coin and total disrespect for tradition. So, between us, think we can work something out.
[Looking up at him, putting on a very i am being taught face, though there's something a little mocking in it, suggesting perhaps he is a difficult student.]
Oh, yes, that's the one. [meanly, because now he knows this secret, shoving a hand to one of those ticklish spots recently discovered.] You want to? Most everyone here wants me to be on top, which is fine, but gets a bit . . . [clicks tongue.] Same-y?
[ gu yun doesn't even get a chance to respond before he yelps, a burst of laughter immediate as he tries to squirm away from the tickling, hands tightening in molly's hair and pulling like he can get him to not be a menace - ] Pfft - stop, paws off of me!
[ how dare you reduce him to giggles! he like can't even talk well when this happens!!!!!! talking well is his thing!!!! ] Fine, fine, yes, that's fine - hahaha --!!
[he will not be stopped by something as weak as a little hair pulling, snorting a laugh of mean, mean, asshole amusement and continuing. mr. marquis of order can't make one purple tiefling do as he says so easily. tilting his head . . . ?]
[ gu yun is like, wheezing with laughter at this point, trying not to double over or like, slam himself into the table with his attempts at getting away, nearly squealing when he hits a particularly ticklish spot at his ribs. this is gu yun, terrifying and scary marquis of order, commander of a thousand men, getting his ass kicked by a tiefling with ticklish fingers.
he pulls harder like a five year old, trying to break free of his grip. there are tears in his eyes at this point, shoulders shaking with laughter. this is the worst. ] Mollymauk! [ FREE HIM!!! ]
[instantly pulling his hands away and standing up, putting a leg up on the chair and his hands on his hips to pose.]
Dragon Emperor Mollymauk, first of his name, let it be known that while I am great and terrible and can slay my enemies with but a single glance, I also know the meaning of mercy.
[He was in the middle of laughing so it comes out like hahah- urk! but he doesn't really stop laughing either, just slightly doubling over and losing his balance on the chair - not quite falling over but he does have to catch himself on the counter.]
[ as he finally starts to catch his breath, gu yun can feel something nagging at the edge of his consciousness. the sensation is familiar - a low thrum of what's going to be a headache, and, a debilitating one. the pain comes in a wave, as the clarity of his vision immediately wavers, and he closes his eyes, briefly, trying to pass it off as just recovering from being tickled. an hour passes so quickly, in good company. ]
...I think I may have to rain check on that plan of ours. [ gotta schedule your top session around your medicine side effect. ] Believe me when I say, I don't want to put out a terrible showing. All of these memories are starting to make my head spin.
[ the first wave of pain comes about a second later, the brutal ice pick of a migraine. his fingers flex briefly where he's settled his hands, and gu yun forces himself to sit up, giving molly his most charming, reassuring smile. hopefully. ]
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there's a beat of silence; his other hand shifts over the back of molly's, and he covers the red eye with his calloused palm. ]
...Was that your first?
[ death. lucien, then.
you'll send me to my third grave, molly had said.
unfamiliar or not, it's easy to pick up the thread - and gu yun's watching, too, another pair of eyes watching for reaction, carefully observant, though neutral. maybe leaning towards concern, though, with the way his mouth pulls as he connects the dots. ]
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mollymauk (mollymauk?) just studies gu yun's face for a moment, but he isn't really trying to hide what's obvious in the expression: he is weighing the calculus of whether or not to lie.
then he seems to come to a decision.]
My first what? Awkward introduction to someone? Far from it.
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mollymauk is a bastion of mystery, still, and likely always will be - there are a thousand things he'd like to ask (he keeps thinking about that eye, even with the one he's covering, nine sided, nine eyes), but he is capable of reading a room, too.
to find out so quickly almost feels like cheating. like ripping open your red envelope hours before you're supposed to, just to see the amount of money inside - a brief moment of thrill that ends the build up to a surprise. similarly, gu yun doesn't try to hide his expression - the way his eyes search his face, briefly, dark and clever, brows a little furrowed.
but then, it eases out into something more easygoing. ] A charmer like you? I can't believe it.
[ there's much more to that then just sly talk. there's an allowance to it; of recognizing what's happening, and allowing it to happen, anyway. molly didn't ask about his vision, his hearing, didn't pry into something gu yun would rather die than spend a moment explaining to anyone, or admitting that it's real. he can afford molly the same.
(friendship--without rank, just friendship-- is such an interesting thing.) ]
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[There's a frantic immediacy to that-- a little bit of guilt when you know you've taken someone's offered hand of kindness, and feel a bit dirty and wrong for it. others here have seen the truth, the whole of it. gu yun likely deserves that much too, but,]
Look-- I'll explain whatever you'd like to know in a bit. [ . . . ] I've just never been afforded the chance to explain this on my own. They [the nein, the ones sitting at the table and watching] put a truth spell on me right after that and I had to split my own gut open in front of them too early as well.
And the same thing is happening here. Can't say-- can't say there aren't others walking around just knowing all my little fucking truths now. But I just want one chance to say it on my own.
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the tight, tight squeeze doesn't bother him much - the prick of nails, the almost pain. he lets it happen, watching the emotions fly across molly's face, and then the truth, the actual truth of it come out.
friendship is weird, because things like that start to really, really matter - he can't imagine telling anyone anything about his own, can't imagine having a single thing about his utter lack of senses given over just because. the significance of molly wanting to tell him is almost novel, and it's. the feeling he's coming upon is that it's touching, kind of, and that he cares, and that it's a gesture of trust in its own right, and one that gu yun has never, ever offered to anyone in return. molly's comfort matters to him, in ways that, when trying to learn things, comfort never mattered. he's never just made a relationship quite like the one he's built up here before. ji ping had always just been there.
there's a brief moment where he has to actually decide what to say, instead of just talking out of his ass like he normally does, and eventually gu yun lifts the hand on the outside and claps it down, once, affirming. a decisive gesture. ]
So then, wait. I'm not an impatient person. [ because ... molly might just tell him without being forced by the whims of this place. just because they get along. just because he wants to. and because he wants a chance to say it on his own - and gu yun is the one who he wants to say it to.
it's miniscule, but his eyes soften past his usual confident demeanor, just for a moment, a crinkling of affection at the corner of his smile, as he sorts through about thirty emotions all at once. ] When you're ready, I'll want to hear it, though don't leave anything out, hm? If it's the chance you've got to tell it, I expect a story.
[ hopefully... hopefully he can still hear it, at least.
there's a beat. ] Though, we may yet have to ignore each other all week, otherwise, should you want such a rendezvous. Who knows what triggers it short of rotten luck. [ :/ ]
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[he's never wanted to voluntarily tell another person a damn thing in his life. the first thing out of your mouth should always be a lie. don't give away a story for free. no point in wallowing in a past that wants nothing but pain from you. but he thinks, as he does with many other things with his new friend, might as well try it.
gu yun is eerily perceptive about these sorts of things though. he doesn't truly think he's able to hide that very well. at least now, when he looks up at him, he actually seems slightly more well-rested, the dark circles under his eyes receeding. he reaches up to put a hand over the one at his shoulder though, face twisting into less discomfort with the truth and more childish sulk.]
What, just ignore me? Well, I don't want that either.
[brat. you can't have both.]
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[ yes, of course he noticed that. there are a million things just to unpack from that memory alone that have absolutely nothing to do with molly's actual tragic backstory and more to do with the world itself. he's turning into a huge nerd? this is terrible??? ji ping would have a field day.
anyway. he watches molly's expression shift into a sulk, childish and silly, so he cannot resist the urge to tilt his head, and look away, briefly, and - ]
Mm?
[ DON'T PRETEND TO BE DEAF ]
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[Molly's tail whips around and smacks him
on the ass
for that little act]
[Mockingly:] Mm?
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what a great time for a horrible memory share! ]
[ you're maybe five or six years old, and you're sitting on the roof of your house, pulling tiles off of the roof for no reason and tossing them to the ground. no one knows how you got up there, but at this point, your exasperated mother and father are both over your misbehavior.
you beam down at your mother. her face is a little bit fuzzy - gu yun's memory of the first princess is scattered, after so many years - and she's got a feather duster in her hand. you know that's not actually a feather duster, because it's got some kind of horsehair instead of feathers, and when she swats you with it, it hurts. you really don't want to be hit with that, so you lock eyes with your mother for a long, long while.
and then, your lower lip starts to wobble.
your mother makes an aggrieved noise. "Xiao Shiliu-" she starts, and you jump down from the roof and land in front of her, feeling tears well up in your eyes. ]
Mom, don't you like me anymore? [ you whimper, and your mother makes a noise and reaches out to catch you by the collar -- you deftly duck out of the way, as slippery as a fish, and feel the mischief running through your bones. "Get back here, you know you aren't allowed up there!" ]
Am I not the flesh that came from your body?! [ you yell back, pitifully, pathetically, jumping over something in the courtyard. you are six years old and your terrible mouth says things like this, even now. your mother chases after you - you make three more steps before she snags the back of your robes, and when she catches you, there are tears running down your cheeks, and any sign of mischief is gone. ] Do...do you want to change me out, for a better son? I'll be better, I promise, I'll be good.
[ you sniffle. (you are a very good actor, at six.) ] I only have one mother... [ and rub at your eyes with your tiny fists - ] ...If you don't love me, then I'll become a stray child... [ and your mother GROANS, the most aggrieved noise, as she sweeps you up into her arms.
"Xiao Shiliu, who taught you this trick!" she scolds, and your crocodile tears dry up in a second - you squirm and wiggle and knock the feather duster out of your mom's hands, and she sighs, reaching out to pinch your cheeks. it's a warm memory, a happy one - one of the servants in the courtyard croons about poor, poor shiliu in the background, and fades a moment later.
...but that's not the end of this little trip down memory lane, either. a cw for child abuse
the next memory comes in hazy shades of brown and gray - your medicine isn't effective, yet, the dose not correct, and you can just barely see. all of a sudden, you feel the sun, hot on your face, and a hand wrapped tight around your arm as you're dragged out of your room and into the courtyard. it burns - your eyes are only freshly injured, now, just a few weeks after the accident at the black iron camp.
all you can do is stagger after your father, and this time, when you're crying, it's real. tears stream down your cheeks, but you don't say a word, this time, no wailing or shouting as your father drags you over to the small koi pond in the center of the courtyard, something you can't even really see. your head is pounding, your eyes are burning, and your father stops at the edge, and drops your arm.
he wraps the whip he uses on his horse around your neck. you feel it, then feel his hands on your head, forcing you down to your knees to look at the water's surface. the brightness make your eyes ache - his voice comes right next to your ear, and he's shouting. to you it sounds like he's barely talking. Look at you, the old marquis says, Look at your current appearance! Do you think you deserve to be named Gu?!
something seethes up in your heart. tiny, angry. your throat is constricted by the whip, and you take a huge, deep breath, grab at it with your tiny hands, and roar at the top of your lungs, "I can't see!"
your father doesn't appreciate your fury or the point you've made. he grabs the back of your head by the hair, and shoves you face first into the water. it fills your lungs, and you gasp, your senses flooded by it, choking you further - he holds you there, five seconds, ten, and then yanks your head back up. you gasp for air, your lungs heaving.
your father shouts, again, in your ear. "If you can't see, then submerge yourself until you figure out how to!" you're coughing and gasping, wheezing, and your father's voice snarls in your broken ears, "Either you will learn to stand up, or you will find a place to hang yourself. The Gu family would rather have no heir than raise a worthless child."
the whip's pulled back - you gasp for air, and your father drops his grip on you, leaving you soaking wet and coughing at the pond. your hands curl into fists, and you take a deep, trembling breath, and that phrase buries itself into your heart like an iron nail. ]
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Molly has never been a child. So he doesn't understand, exactly, the nuances of parenthood, of a loving mother, of being beholden to a family name, but
he knows what pain and fear is. they're still pulled in close from earlier, so Molly just holds to him tightly - pressing his face to gu yun's torso. he doesn't say anything for the moment, not until the other does.]
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there's that. there's a long pause, as molly suddenly presses in closer, and gu yun sighs and puts a hand on top of his head. ]
Well. I suppose that's the other thing I didn't want anyone else to see, so hopefully it'll all be battle victories and fine celebrations from here on out.
[ he's. surprisingly blase about this one. or maybe not so blase, who knows - either way, he's very good at hiding it. ]
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Fuck, we really do keep inviting disaster. [He stays pressed in close, arms around that tight waist. Mostly just muttering into his clothes.] I hate this week.
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eventually, he runs his fingers back into molly's hair. this position is becoming familiar, it seems; gu yun's quiet for a little longer, glancing out at the room at large. ]
...He'd be rolling over in his grave if he could see me right now, the old bastard. [ this is?? surprisingly lighthearted? after that??? his coping mechanisms, ] I learned to stand up perfectly fine, and now I'm here, lying back and thinking of Great Liang. How's that for service to your country?
[ terrible. ]
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Lying back? Is that what you do? [is this an appropriate joke for the moment? well, it's fine.] Let him roll, the bastard. Let all bastards from our shite memories roll in their graves, while we're here, perfectly upright and alive.
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it's completely inappropriate, but that's why he made it in the first place. ] Wouldn't you know? [ gu yun's shitty grin turns to a laugh, softer and less gremlin, as he continues playing with those curls, fingers occasionally finding chains or baubles off of his horns, just for the sensation of the touch. all rather nice. ]
Cheers to that, though. [ time to box that old memory back up into the trauma shelf where it belongs! ] I've done rather enough reminiscing, but I've decided I'd also like to have the fish and the bear's paw all at once, so think I'll take my chances and stick around.
[ he ruffles up those purple curls a bit, just because he can. ruffle ruffle. ]
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Suppose I would. Though I thought you suggested you'd like to ride something . . . what was it again?
[Humming, content, letting some of the trauma and anxiety of the past few hours fade off, leaning into this feeling rather than submitting to the ordeal of being known. maybe a little reward of being loved, as a treat.]
Fish and-- Bear's paw? Sorry, I can normally follow your funny little twists of phrase, but you'll have to lay that one out for me.
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Hmmm. Bear's paw is a delicacy, usually reserved for the wealthy. Fish is eaten for good fortune at the New Year. They're both expensive to the average family. [ gu yun explains, tilting his head to try to try and make the forced switch of language - ] Yú yǔ xióng zhǎng bù kě jiān dé. Can't have the fish and the bear's paw at the same time.
[ can't have your cake and eat it too! amazing.
there's a pause, still running his fingers through molly's hair, and in that same, i'm-teaching-something tone ] Riding your ass all the way to the grave, I believe? Can't remember every clever thing I always say. [ ufufufu. ]
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[Looking up at him, putting on a very i am being taught face, though there's something a little mocking in it, suggesting perhaps he is a difficult student.]
Oh, yes, that's the one. [meanly, because now he knows this secret, shoving a hand to one of those ticklish spots recently discovered.] You want to? Most everyone here wants me to be on top, which is fine, but gets a bit . . . [clicks tongue.] Same-y?
[thot,]
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[ how dare you reduce him to giggles! he like can't even talk well when this happens!!!!!! talking well is his thing!!!! ] Fine, fine, yes, that's fine - hahaha --!!
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[he will not be stopped by something as weak as a little hair pulling, snorting a laugh of mean, mean, asshole amusement and continuing. mr. marquis of order can't make one purple tiefling do as he says so easily. tilting his head . . . ?]
Mm?
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he pulls harder like a five year old, trying to break free of his grip. there are tears in his eyes at this point, shoulders shaking with laughter. this is the worst. ] Mollymauk! [ FREE HIM!!! ]
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[instantly pulling his hands away and standing up, putting a leg up on the chair and his hands on his hips to pose.]
Dragon Emperor Mollymauk, first of his name, let it be known that while I am great and terrible and can slay my enemies with but a single glance, I also know the meaning of mercy.
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gu yun immediately elbows him in the gut ]
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Fuck you! Sore loser.
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[ as he finally starts to catch his breath, gu yun can feel something nagging at the edge of his consciousness. the sensation is familiar - a low thrum of what's going to be a headache, and, a debilitating one. the pain comes in a wave, as the clarity of his vision immediately wavers, and he closes his eyes, briefly, trying to pass it off as just recovering from being tickled. an hour passes so quickly, in good company. ]
...I think I may have to rain check on that plan of ours. [ gotta schedule your top session around your medicine side effect. ] Believe me when I say, I don't want to put out a terrible showing. All of these memories are starting to make my head spin.
[ the first wave of pain comes about a second later, the brutal ice pick of a migraine. his fingers flex briefly where he's settled his hands, and gu yun forces himself to sit up, giving molly his most charming, reassuring smile. hopefully. ]
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