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

[poans]

[It's difficult to miss the tension roiling within Edamura, so much so that one can feel it radiating off of him. When he very visibly freezes, Yi Sang turns to him and says lowly so as not to fight with the voice-over:]

Edamura?

[ordimame]

[his entire body jolts as that voice drags him back to the present, away from the wave of unpleasant recollections that have rendered him motionless]

Yi Sang. . .

[blinks a few times]

. . . what is it?

[poans]

. . . If you require a change in scenery, none shall begrudge you for it.

[In fact, he'll go, too.]

[ordimame]

I--

[for a brief moment, he thinks about refusing. deflecting. saying he is okay, and that he doesn't need to be anywhere else. but. . . no. that's not true]

[it might be nice to give himself and everyone else here a little bit of space]

. . . yeah. All right.

[. . .]

Are you coming?

[poans]

[He nods. He can always come back later, but it's not for Edamura to sit through something painful or uncomfortable in a place like this.]

Shall we go on a walk?

[Just like they did when the apparitions roamed.]

[ordimame]

Yeah. Let's.

. . . mind if I smoke while we do?

[it's a question, but he already has his cigarette. he ain't about to put it out]

[poans]

I do not mind.

[To the gardens, they go. After a few moments to let the silence settle, he pipes up:]

Does aught weigh on your mind?

[ordimame]

[Edamura has found the gardens to be a nice, soothing place to calm his mind when his thoughts begin to race out of control. now is no different, with his gaze drawn towards the blooming flowers. it almost seems like a shame to pollute the air around them with nicotine]

I-- . . . yeah. A lot does right now.

[. . . tilting his head towards Yi Sang]

Do you not feel the same way?

[poans]

[Smoking is bad . . .

This time, Yi Sang angles his head to meet Edamura's gaze.]

Indeed, I have thoughts of my own; however, if it would ease the burden on your heart, I would like to listen to yours.

[ordimame]

[SMOKING IS BAD. . .]

[for a moment, Edamura is quiet, simply content to stare at Yi Sang as his cigarette smolders between his lips. then. . . he sighs and tugs his own envelope out of his pocket, subsequently handing it to his companion]

[One of you killed your father. Or did you?]

[poans]

[He takes the envelope with care, then pulls out and peruses the card inside. A moment of thoughtful silence passes before he looks at Edamura, his expression devoid of judgment.]

. . . Could it be that you yourself are not aware of the answer?

[ordimame]

[THAT. . . IS AN INTERESTING SPIN ON IT. . . but Edamura shakes his head]

No. I know what incident the card is referring to.

The asshole is still very much alive.

[poans]

[So it's an ongoing feud.]

What could have transpired for you to bear such animosity toward him?

[ordimame]

[B. . . BOY]

That's a long story, Yi Sang.

[hah. . .]

I'm still pretty pissed at him, but I don't actually want him dead. For what that's worth.

[poans]

[After a beat, he offers the damning card and envelope back to Edamura.]

You need not explain yourself. But if it is a tale you wish to share, you shall have my ear.

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . . . gods]

[it takes a moment, but Edamura does think back to how Yi Sang had walked with him back during ghost week. how he had extended a listening ear-- a distraction-- from something that had yanked so painfully on Edamura's heart. strange and mysterious as Yi Sang may be. . . he is kind]

[and it is that kindness that sees Edamura opening up. just a little]

My old man left my mom and I back when I was in high school.

[he recounts, gaze turning away as he takes another drag of his cigarette]

. . . she got sick pretty soon after. With him gone, I was the one who had to take care of her.

[poans]

[The cigarette burns with the drag, a transient light in the dimness of the encroaching night despite the fixtures around the gardens. It fades and leaves behind a gloom that hearkens back to Edamura's stiff reaction upon seeing the woman in the bedroom.]

Then, your mother has already . . .

[ordimame]

[. . . he nods]

Yeah. Seven or eight years ago. . .? Time really flies.

[when you cope with your mother's death by becoming a scam artist]