ringlorn

[ringlorn]

"Probably, but it depends on if I wanna teach."

He's played plenty of roles in his lifetime, but mentor is one thing Nezha feels like he'd pass on. Besides, judging from the kind of humans he's supposed to watch over, painful lessons from trying stunts out themselves is more up their alley.

"I should charge for my time. That'll be 30,000 Dust, night empress."

So speaking, their conversation trails into the day as they walked through the streets.

"Mmm," she hums with a nod. Nezha and his family lives...there are just things she knows too much of and honestly, if she so wished, could probably use it to her advantage.

"I guess you really couldn't rely on him all the time." Stepping on people to get to the top would only get you so far. Even she knows that. It's why she does a mix of both!

"Ahhh, people could sure learn a thing or two from you, couldn't they~." She steps forward, ahead of Nezha as she links her hands together behind her back.

[ringlorn]

"...good point, I'll text it to you."

"Their ears don't have eyes, right?"

Whipping out his cell phone, Nezha finds Sun topping his short list of preferred contacts easily and types out a cheesy one-liner to send him.

"...so now you type one back, and we'll check in with those lines next time we meet. All right?"

It'd help somewhat, in any rate.

That gets Sun laughing if only a little. If anyone has some trust issues it SURE as hell was Nezha. "If I was a faker, I think you'd have already noticed. The fake probably couldn't note down my entire assholery." One way or another, there'd be a slipup for sure.

Nezha brings up a code phrase and Sun tilts his head, "like a secret handshake but with words? You know the Six-Eared Macaque'd be able to hear this conversation right?"

[ringlorn]

"...hey, you sound pretty serious." Nezha tries for a smile to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, I've gotten plenty of experience mistrusting people these years."

"But you know we should do more than doubt each other blindly."

He straightens up, crossing his legs casually as he stares at the skies. "For all I know, I'm talking to a faker right now. So let's establish a code phrase. This way even if I run into multiple of you, at least I'll know which one I had this conversation with."

Sun's nose wiggles and eyebrows scrunch in thought. When Nezha shakes his head and mentions that there was nothing out of the ordinary, Sun only feels THAT much more nervous.

"Keep an eye out. Please," he nearly pleads, his head turning to look at his friend. "Be careful and I shouldn't have to say this, but don't trust anyone. Not even me. Knowing it, it'll shift into other beings." Who knows what abilities are unlocked anyway. He just finds it odd that he can't even pinpoint the six-eared Macaque.

[ringlorn]

“don’t burn me because i have a heart of fiery gold. i am ethereal to the skin, and i am breathing constellations, so you can not destroy stars. you can not destroy me.”

— i am a goddess in disguise / a.a.m.l (via astaroeis)

[ringlorn]

Strange feelings?

There's been a regular collection of oddballs, but no one he's run into that fits the bill. Honestly, the one person that consistently stirs up his feelings is...Sun himself.

So Nezha shakes his head, looking every bit as puzzled as Sun sounded.

"It's been normal...as normal as things can be, in this city." He almost wants to bring up Magnolia again, but pauses. No point in reminding Sun of vague ties to his past, even if she'd only brushed against Bentley once.

"I've met plenty of weirdos, but can't really judge people by their worlds, can I."

"I haven't," he says with ease. He looks to Nezha, his eyebrows knitted together and there's worry behind golden eyes, "the fact it hasn't made itself known yet makes me feel..." Sun shakes his head with a sigh.

"What is it planning?" He can never tell with Macaque. "You haven't met anyone that gives you any strange feelings?"

[ringlorn]

"You sure talk loud for someone who hasn't set off a single explosion yet."

"We'll see who's crying later."

There's some discussion about signals before both light the fuses on their respective minefields at the same time.

Boom boom bOOM BOOM BOOOOOOM!!

The sound is loud enough to echo around the rest of the Yesteryear ruins. When the dust and debris clear somewhat, Nezha flies up into the air first to inspect the damage with a low whistle.

"Whew...hey Arc, we tied."

"Well there you are! I was wondering if I should just wander on off and find a chair or something to wait in." Really it didn't take much longer then herself to get back. But acting like she was all prepared way beforehand was just a much more enjoyable experience then doing that.

"Ready to weep once I get my free tea after my beautiful ol' explosion rocks your socks off? "

[ringlorn]

A harsh bark of laughter escapes Nezha's throat—he can't help it, the irony's too thick.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure."

"I'm a great son."

So great, his father couldn't even tame him without some extra help. As for the human one, he's only met him a few times at family banquets.

"But I can't just rely on my old man. You make it sound easy, but it's better to invest in your own things." He hesitated thinking of MK. "And hope they use the money well."

"Babe, you're just an easy target for fun stuff~ ♥," words come out in a playful purr when she turns around to walk backward while facing him. A big smile stretches her lips and she claps her hands together, laughing lightly, because knowing him, he'll probably feel one way or another.

"your father's money will also always be your money. Don't you know, Nezha? That's what they are. Just a bank for all your needs." What did she know about parents though? Hm...Maybe she struck her own nerve. Whoops.

"But I have to say, for you to think like that, you are a great son, aren't you?"

[ringlorn]

Funny guy. And how's he supposed to transfer it all back without a name?

[ 1 / 3 ]: Sure thing, boss. You want it delivered? [ 2 / 3 ]: Name a time and place. [ 3/ 3 ]: Promise it'll get there within half an hour.

TO: LI NEZHA FROM: ANONYMOUS USER

[ 1 / 3 ] : Not at all. We could make a job if you really wanted. [ 2 / 3 ] : Just spreading some excess wealth. 10,000 DUST HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO YOUR ACCOUNT [ 3 / 3 ] : How about a little tip then?

[ringlorn]

MORALITY CHALLENGE. bold all the things your muse has done (will / would do is in italics, bolded italics means they’ve done it before and will probably do it again)

murder / manslaughter / assault / robbery / breaking & entering / theft / embezzlement / money-laundering / kidnapping / torture / blackmail / arson / trespassing / treason / libel or slander/ obstruction of justice / lying to law enforcement / creation of a weapon / espionage / riot / escape from lawful custody / contempt of court / public intoxication / conspiracy / accessory to a crime / harboring a fugitive / bribery / perjury under oath / resisting arrest / identity theft / corporate fraud / tax fraud /document forgery / destruction of evidence / assassination / counterfeiting / sale of a controlled substance / purchase of a controlled substance / failure to pay child support / hacking crimes / threat / pick-pocketing / shoplifting

tagged by: @sunsage

tagging: u on dash :D

[ringlorn]

"Huh, all right."

He takes the card and flips it back and forth, liking the font and lettering. Maybe he'd take a look himself sometime. Tucking it in a pocket, he scowls at her next.

"Come on, you make it sound like a big deal. It's not like it was even my money, I—" He stops there, realizing he's almost saying too much. "—I'm mooching off my old man, you know."

After all, a heir was still heir until the last head died. He had some time to go before taking over officially, thank Heaven.

"...sometimes I feel like you're having the time of your life making fun of me."

"Mhm! It's this place," and she holds out a card for a place called GANGSTAR. "They probably wouldn't need it, but we will see~." Maybe she can fix a time to meet the owner/founder of the establishment.

"ALL that hard earned money and you donated it," magnolia nods and then adds, "it's admirable truly."

Magnolia doesn't say anything yet in regards to his hiding and let's the sound of her heels hitting the pacement speak for itself. Eventually though, with a lazy tail movement and a pep in her elegant step, she snorts.

"A game of hide and seek doesn't sound bad."

[ringlorn]

That makes Nezha sit up, because there's a name he's heard of before—albeit from different universes.

"I don't suppose yours is as cute as the youngest one?" he tries. Honestly, both Macaque and Liu'er have been so easy to get along with (relatively speaking) that he forgets Sun's shadow isn't supposed to be friendly.

"You're not mixing their scent up with Liu'er, right? I mean..." Nezha trails off, scrunching his brows in thought. "I haven't exactly been disguising myself. If they know you, they should know me by name too."

"Someone we know," he corrects. Sun shakes his head, "no that isn't it. They're not someone that cowers. You..."He had picked up the scent before but being up here and being this close...the smell is...there's no mistake this time.

"I don't know what they look like," he admits, "it's the Six Eared Macaque. Nezha, they've been around you." He's relieved. Relieved to know that he hadn't been injured by it. Still, he can't help but feel an uneasiness. What was it trying to plan?

[ringlorn]

Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red.

(via bl-ossomed)

[ringlorn]

Chinese miniature building model

[ringlorn]

New guy was reaaalllly quiet. Not Macaque quiet—in the sense that he'd blend into shadows and suddenly appear in his room like nobody's business just to screw with him—but that vaguely restrained, controlled way that said he trained that way and probably needed conscious effort to make noise in the first place.

Not sure where the typing fit in—felt flashy and inconvnient compared to the rest of him, but all right—and anyways, Nezha didn't mind the silence. He could get lost his in own head this way and the roommate probably wouldn't care. Cool.

"Yeah, the monkeys are—" Nezha starts and stops, engrossed by the man's neat tricks with the knife. The song's definitely rawer than he'd like, but the slice, slice, slice of the blade is mercilessly fine.

Hm. Probably shouldn't startle this guy out of the blue.

"The monkeys are magical," he manages to continue a few moments later, ears still swimming in chopping noises and fragmented song as he carries an armful of vegetables to the sink. "There's like three—no, four of them I know? Though some of them can make copies of themselves, so that's not a stable number. And some of them can transform into other things entirely (me and you included), so they won't always show up as monkeys, but—"

"—they're friends and the most they do is prank your butt off. If you're not sure, just offer them peaches and see if they gobble it up."

Probably the biggest giveaway between those hairballs, to be honest.

He finds a colander from the shelves and dumps a bunch of greens in before running water over the lot. Nezha doesn't hum, but he does drum his fingers in time to pointy ears' song when it fits.

"Do you eat lotus roots?" he suddenly turns to ask out of the blue.

Perhaps Dirge should speak up on how not every vegetable present will be utilized, but it will be easier to store them all if they were reduced to bite-size pieces. Prep, short for preparation, it was called at the Bismarck. Vividly, he recalls walking back to the mythical back, a rare privilege for a patron, watching Lyngsath and the other culinarians chop up all kinds of ingredients for the day's—and future—shift. So many colors and smells mingling in a single room in a manner that was, surprising to northern palate, not nauseating, but salivating.

Dirge. No blood or mud. Understood.

The monkeys bit wrings a raised eyebrow out of Dirge, a gesture to extrapolate, if Nezha felt inclined. If not, that's fine too—there's plenty to do to get the stew going. Luckily someone, at some point, had the mind to stock this house with pots, pats, kitchen knives, kitchen spoons, and all sorts of cooking paraphernalia. Dirge absentmindedly thinks of what kind of person that must've been, to leave behind such useful tools.

Or perhaps, like him, they had no choice in the matter, brought and taken away at the whim of the eikons who run this place.

A chef's knife sings as he tests its sharpness on a whetstone built into the knife stand. His cuts to the meat, a chuck, are measured, professional—unnervingly so. It's not a culinarian's precision, rather a mien more mercenary, predatory.

At least he's humming a ditty—or trying to, whenever his throat lets him. It takes some of the edge away.

[ringlorn]

"You mean, outworlder models?" Nezha clarifies. "People like us, I mean."

"That'll be nice, you'd have common ground to chat up on."

He gives a big shrug to the rest of Magnolia's comments, not really taking them to heart.

"They transferred me too much Dust than I know what to do with. Ended up donating a bunch of it to...a charity cause," he corrects at the last minute, not wanting to rope MK into questionable contacts from his own world. "So keep your discounts, I'll pay what it deserves if I buy anything."

"And I told you, I'm keeping to myself. If you bother me all the time, I'll just hide somewhere annoying, yeah?"

"If it gives me more reason to see you, hotstuff." Her tone is light and teasing, "I'll even give you a discount." Honestly, Magnolia doesn't mind if Nezha were to nag her. It'd be cute, really!

"Now everyone can get things happening between them in style. I'm sure I can even collab with other people. Heard that there's a clothing store with models too."