week four | mingle

[marriagebroker]

Final week at the estate! Final week with your friends. Final week with your beaus. Time to make the most of it, everyone!

In fact, to celebrate this fact, today there is a cake. It's nothing special, just a nice little cake to enjoy with your morning coffee or throughout the day. Yay, cake!

And when Wei Wuxian arrives that morning, he is going to call out once again for everyone to join him, near the cake.

"Everyone, I have another announcement!"

Hell yeah, announcements.

Boom Boom Room | Dates | Property Damage
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Voting

Comments

[gamboler]

[ Never better is the answer that immediately springs to his lips, but it gets no further. Such a hollow lie would feel grossly dishonest to Yi Sang in particular, after how often he indulged Aventurine's questions with the truth.

Instead, he's silent for a beat, a weight settling against his shoulders. ]

...Not in the least.

[ He never is. ]

Have you guessed which is mine? It's...rather obvious, unfortunately.

[poans]

[The honesty is inwardly met with appreciation from the knowledge that it's a sign of trust, or respect at the very least. Hence, he'll also be careful on his end.]

I may have deduced the truth from what has been made public knowledge . . . but I shan't give voice to it, for doing so would be superfluous in its callousness.

[gamboler]

[ A small smile. Well put. ]

...I'm not quite as cavalier with my own life as I used to be, but when backed into a corner...a gambler will consider all of his options. My "luck" works in...mysterious ways.

[ And rarely to his actual benefit. ]

[poans]

Is your luck rather like the rumors of which Miss Maya has spoken?

[Rumors once held untold power in her reality. Is his luck something paranormal, too, or has he simply led such a double-edged life . . . ?]

[gamboler]

[ He hasn't heard the details of Miss Maya's rumors, but he has a hunch... ]

A blessing, as it's told, from the Mother Goddess. Whether or not its a real supernatural ability...I'd say the results speak for themselves.

[ His smile weakens. He can't believe that everything in his life has simply been a coincidence — the blessing of the goddess has to amount to something real. ]

[poans]

[They do. He doesn't know Aventurine overly well, but he knows that the latter has suffered immensely. It's there in every self-effacing gesture and practiced word, as well as his hidden sentimentality.]

As it is told, you say . . .

If I may, how have you been blessed afore?

[Does it warrant the name, or is it more akin to a curse?]

[gamboler]

[ He's certainly got the right idea. A forlorn sort of smile etches his features now. ]

I'm the last surviving Avgin, for one. The only one of my people to escape an utter massacre. Lucky, right? For another, I was so very lucky to be recruited by the IPC after I killed my master, to be given unimaginable wealth when my value was only a handful of copper coins. Are you getting the idea, dear Yi Sang?

[ It's an unimaginable curse, the true chains he wears. ]

[poans]

[He looses a quiet sigh. The idea is a dreadfully lonely one cloaked in artificial affluence, never gained without excessive hardship.]

Your value is not determined by what others claim it to be.

[gamboler]

[ This notion...gives him pause. ]

Then...what does, if it's not the value I provide?

[poans]

[An investor to the last. He gives and gives, ignorant of the great bounty in his heart.]

It is endless, like the possibilities that stretch ahead of us. You need only step onto the path of your choice. And . . . should that step prove too cumbersome, you have beside you companions who are willing to shoulder that weight with you.

[gamboler]

[ His value...isn't counted in coins, but in...potential? In possibility? The way Yi Sang explains it, it's almost as though he should infer the only limit on his value is himself, and what he's willing to let himself have.

You need only step on the path of your choice.

... ]

Will you step with me, Yi Sang? I believe the paths we seek are not so different, and I'll help you shoulder it, if you do the same for me.

[ Neither of them want to return to where they came from, and if Yi Sang is encouraging Aventurine to take that step, then he must be willing to do the same for himself. ]

[poans]

[He has only just left the white square. Yi Sang has no intention of going back, and he wishes the same of Aventurine as he smiles warmly in return. The hand that was tentatively raised turns, facing its palm upward in invitation.]

Let us break the bird cage . . . and fly free, my friend.

[gamboler]

[ Break the cage. Fly free. If Yi Sang is willing to try, then...

So is he.

With a slanted smile, Aventurine reaches out and takes Yi Sang's hand in his own, giving it a squeeze. ]

It's true what they say about birds of a feather, hm? We can fly together.

[poans]

[As expected, Aventurine's hand is warm—as is his smile, no matter the slant.]

I would like that. A mutual investment has quite the pleasant ring to it, does it not?