week three | dates

[marriagebroker]

Here we go again.

You all better kiss.

Comments

[embellwish]

I'm not sure if they still have it in this day and age...

[ ...She actually has no idea if tanghulu still exists?! It's been a hundred years. But maybe they'll find a pleasant surprise! ]

I had a little bit of chocolate, when I tried a "fried oreo." Are there a lot of different kinds?

[crimsin]

Perhaps they have something similar? An evolution of the snack!

[ There’s going to be something similar at this fair I’ve decided. ]

Oh, yes! Absolutely. There are many, many different kinds of chocolate! I am not sure where to begin… are you fond of strawberries?

[ This is related, promise. ]

[embellwish]

Mm, I like them. They should be in season here in the competition, right...?

[ It's the spring/summer.... ish. She's already looking around for another stall, somewhere that might sell fruit or candied nuts. ]

Don't tell me there's something like a fried strawberry.

[crimsin]

I…

[ A beat, he really has to consider that. ]

You know, I think humans will deep fry anything, so it is possible! No, what I am referring to are strawberries dipped in chocolate. It is a nice balance of flavors so the sweetness is not so overwhelming.

[embellwish]

Dipped in chocolate...

[ She's trying to imagine it in her mind, with her limited knowledge.... strawberry covered in oreo cookie somehow... ]

I like those kinds of desserts, [ This is why she likes tanghulu too, after all, ] The kind that have a bit of freshness in them from fruit or nuts. We had a lot of different kinds in my hometown, so it feels a bit nostalgic. Not that I don't like all the fried things too...

[ And look at that!! There seems to be some stand giving out an amalgamation of all kinds of dipped fruits... frozen bananas... chocolate covered almonds... they've got everything here, help. And, very importantly-- ]

So they do have it, [ She points to some long wooden sticks with skewered fruit on them, each coated in a shiny, mirror like glaze. ] Tanghulu!

[crimsin]

Oh!! Chocolate covered strawberries, too.

[ They're covered in regular milk chocolate, not oreo cookie. Though that probably exists somewhere, let's be real. ]

Shall we get one of each? I can try your favorite treat and you can try one of mine!

[embellwish]

[ She hums in agreement — mercifully, there's not a huge line or anything like that, so it's easy for them to get what they want quickly. They'll even get a nice box to hold both of the treats!! ]

Sharing traditions and favorites like this... it's one of the things I like most. [ It might just be eating a treat that Nico likes, and it might just be showing him a small snippet of her hometown, but it's moments like these that keep memories alive, she thinks, in a poetic and sentimental type of way. It's things like this that stand the test of time. ] You must have a lot from your travels.

[ He's in exile, after all... there must be all kinds of things he's experienced in the wider world. ]

[crimsin]

[ Once they get their treats, they can walk for a bit. Nico keeps the box tucked under his arm while they look for someplace to sit. ]

Ah, I admit I love sharing things like this as well. It is one of the ways I like to keep those I care about close to my heart.

[ They’re of the same mind in that regard, at least.

Their wanderings take them to a little pavilion area, covered in string lights, where they can pretty easily find a place to sit. He’ll even pull her chair out for her. ]

I have collected quite a few in my time, it is true. I do not travel terribly far any more these days.

[embellwish]

[ Oh, what a gentleman!! Somewhere beyond the veil, Yingying's moms approve. She sits down gracefully, glad for a reprieve from walking... so much moving around for these dates, she's not used to it. ]

From where you live now, you mean.

[ Her head tilts. ]

What is your home like these days? If it's okay for me to ask. [ He did say he was exiled, but people can make a home anywhere, if they're with the right people. She learned that right from birth. ] It's not very often I meet men like you —

[ He has a sunny disposition that most lose after a few years of hardship; it's almost boyish, in a way. ]

So I have to admit I've been very curious.

[crimsin]

I live far beyond the fringes of what one might call polite society.

[ He gives a little chuckle, sliding into the seat across from her and opening their box of treats on the table between them. ]

There is a small colony of humans who have been fighting against the oppression of my people for generations. I have called that place home for a very long time now.

[embellwish]

[ She plucks the chocolate strawberry from the box, holding it between two fingers while he explains. Despite the general fun loving and flirtatious face she seems to show everyone all the time, here, she seems to easily conjure the degree of suffering those humans must be under in the world Nico describes. Her smile fades, not pitying — just understanding. ]

It must have been difficult when you first got there.

[ How could the humans trust him? If he's been there for a long time, she imagines there were years, perhaps generations themselves, of Nico integrating himself there. People so seldom forget their resent so quickly; they cling to it with all they have left, when it burns hot enough. ]

[crimsin]

They trusted me about as far as they could throw me.

[ Yingying has such keen insight into these things, and he easily confirms what she's thinking. ]

It has been a long and difficult road, and even now it is not always smooth. I hope when this is over, they can find it in their hearts to still accept me.

[embellwish]

[ Like she's offering a wise fortune: ]

They say one thought is enough to make someone a saint or a demon. Thought over and over again, for generations... I can imagine it's not so easy for them to change their minds completely.

[ That's understandable. And Nico seems to have a good attitude about it, not feeling ostracized or put out by the continuing wariness. But she continues, taking a bite of her treat when she's done. ]

You'll keep moving forward beside them regardless... so I would believe that one day, those feelings might fully be lifted by time.

[ Maybe not today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now. But time is fair to everything, even hate. ]

[crimsin]

I... thank you, Yingying. I appreciate the sentiment. It is not that, it...

[ He's not who they think he is, and the closer to the end of these four weeks they come, the closer he comes to needing to make that truth known. ]

How is the strawberry?

[ Smooth. ]

[embellwish]

[ Yes, very smooth. Totally unnoticeable. ]

Mm, [ She wipes an errant shard of chocolate from the corner of her lip with her thumb, smiling. ] It's good. Tart, but sweet, too.

[ Not like anything she's ever had before. Briefly, she contemplates grilling him more about what he just trailed off about, spinning the remainder of her treat between her fingers by the stem. ]

Don't tell me you have another huge, big secret you're hiding from me, sweetheart.

[ It's a joke, one he'll easily be able to evade if he chooses to. But, it also gives him a lighthearted opening, if he can be coaxed into it. ]

[crimsin]

[ She does give him an out, and he appreciates that, but he won’t take it. He’s been able to tell for some time now that she’s not quite as she appears. There’s no blood in her veins, no heartbeat that he can sense. ]

I am simply… not who they think me to be. It is something I would like to remedy with my wish, should we win this game. Either way, I think the truth will come out before our time here is done.

I do think you might know a thing or two about hiding one’s true self.

[embellwish]

[ The truth will come out eventually... well, then, she need not press it out of him now. Plus, he artfully shifts the focus back onto her, anyhow. ]

What do you mean by that?

[ She asks, feigning innocence — by this time, there's already quite a few people among the contestants who know the truth. It's not a problem having a few more... but she can't deny it's been fun to play at keeping it vague. ]

Starting to suspect me of being some wicked spirit, are you...

[crimsin]

Wicked? Never. If you are a fairy, you are the exceptionally helpful kind.

[ Yingying has always been one of the first to coax others to explore their feelings, to give input, and to check in. She's very good at making others feel at ease. ]

But there is no blood in your veins, mademoiselle.

[embellwish]

[ That gets her to blink owlishly. ]

You can tell something like that...?

[ like. she's gonna confirm it in a second. but first??? ]

It's true I don't have any... not in this form. [ a beat. ] I had no idea vampires had such keen senses.

[crimsin]

Oui. It took me a bit to realize at first. There are so many of us in that house in such close proximity, so many from different worlds that I could not make heads or tails of some things.

[ But yes, he knows. ]

My senses are quite keen. Keener still when it comes to blood.

[embellwish]

[ Well, that makes sense. It must be hard to tell, except when he's alone with someone. Letting out a tiny sigh, she bites off the remainder of the strawberry on the stem while she thinks of a way to explain this to him. ]

The me you see in front of you — you can think of it like an illusion. That's why you don't sense anything.

[ She doesn't have blood... she's not even physically there in front of him in the literal sense. ]

I do have a physical body, with blood and everything... in the wisteria. It's not possible to separate it from the wood, so I can only really interact with you all like this.

[crimsin]

[ You know, he thought there was also something weird about that tree, but he never really went poking around. That explains it, though. ]

You are… in the tree. How? Why?

[ Is it a curse? It sounds like a curse. ]

[embellwish]

[ ..... ]

...A long time ago, a star fell from the sky near my homeland.

[ Carefully, she places the stem down back in the still open box between them, expression sobering. ]

Everyone in the village gathered near our sacred wisteria, praying hard for salvation. But the star carried a strange substance from beyond. Most couldn't withstand being exposed to it... but the tree and I could. We became... intertwined, then.

[ She laces her fingers together, trying to communicate to him that amidst the chaos of the disaster, being exposed to that strange substance had allowed the tree to swallow her, in a sense, preserving her in the truck away from the rest of the carnage. ]

I'm not sure about the "why" it happened to me... [ of all people. ] But, I know that it was how I survived that night.

[crimsin]

Mademoiselle…

[ So, it was a curse, in a sense. A curse and a blessing all rolled into one. ]

I am so sorry. [ ... ] I am glad, for what it is worth, that you managed to survive. It means we could meet now. You and all the others, too.

[embellwish]

[ She lets out a soft puff of air, almost a chuckle at those words, chin coming to rest on her hand. ]

I didn't use to see things that way.

[ Being the only one to survive, well... some would say that was an extreme stroke of fate. It never felt much like a blessing, in the century that followed, though. Only now has her opinion started to shift. ]

Everything's gone, you know? The people, our customs, even our language. [ She's the only thing that's left, her and the wisteria. She keeps her tone distant and light, not wanting to do more than scratch the surface of the depth of the loss. ] Even though I survived, sometimes I would wonder why I couldn't have just stayed with everyone.

[ .... ]

Lately, though... I'm grateful to have this second chance at life. With all of you.