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

[ordimame]

[affixes Rom with another Look (TM) at that, but he lets the joke die there. mostly because he has to take a moment and recollect each secret that isn't his own. most of them have leaked out of his brain already, but. . .]

[. . .]

. . . if it's the one about your parents abandoning you as a kid, then I'm going to feel a little crappy for complaining about my dad.

[phenomerom]

[ That earns an owlish blink. ]

Mm? They're completely different matters, though. There's no reason for you to feel bad.

[ Soft confirmation that yes, that one was his. Another small sip of coffee, letting that delicate scent and taste permeate his senses; Edamura really does know how to brew a good cup. His delivery remains casual: ]

I was young enough that I don't have very many memories of my parents. So it's rather different from being in conflict with someone who raised you.

[ordimame]

[nnnngh. . . it's true, they are two entirely separate matters. and yet, Edamura can't help the small pang of guilt he feels twisting in his stomach. sure, his dad was a capital-B Bastard, but. . . he at least had his mom]

[. . .]

Maybe. . . [. . .]

[no. he doesn't know what to say, here. what do you say to a man who never knew his parents because they never wanted him? so instead, he just. . . leans. rocks to the side until their shoulders are pressed together, lingering in that contact as he finally lifts his own mug for a sip of his freshly made brew]

. . . sorry that happened to you.

[phenomerom]

[ He glances over when he feels that gentle bump against his shoulder, the warmth pressed up against his side. And while he does lean into it, allowing that tactile sensation to soothe the strange, jittery sensation simmering in his gut ... his gaze is fixed down at the shimmering surface of the coffee cup in his hands. ]

There's nothing you need to apologize for.

[ Huh. Come to think of it, he's never talked about this with anyone. There's the quiet squeak of skin against ceramic as he rubs his fingers against the cup's side, thinking. ]

... my parents were normal people. Not spiritually sensitive in the least. I was the anomaly. [ When he speaks again, it's a little quieter, a little distant. ] I remember overhearing my mother talking to my father. Saying she felt like she was going to lose her mind because of me. ... they were never meant to take on the sort of burden I put on them.

[ordimame]

[NNNNNNNNGH]

You aren't a burden.

[his grip tightens around his mug, then loosens again as he fights back the wave of indignation that boils in his gut]

Maybe they couldn't. . . handle it. But you know what? That's their shitty problem. Not yours. So don't. . . call yourself a burden.

[he doesn't know why the mere thought pisses him off so much, but. . . it does. a burden. as if someone like Rom-- so willing to put himself in danger to help others, to isolate himself from humanity in order to carry out his work-- could be a burden. if that's truly what his parents thought, then. . . it's no wonder that Rom thought himself unsuitable for a game such as this one. even though Edamura thinks that's wrong, too]

[phenomerom]

[ Mm. He hadn't even meant that in a self-pitying fashion -- simply as a statement of facts. Normal people aren't built to tolerate the idiosyncrasies of those with spiritual sensitivity, hence it had been an objective burden. But even so, he can hear the indignity in Edamura's voice.

It's kind of him. The sort of kindness he never thought he'd receive from a regular human being.

Rom smiles to himself before gently nudging Edamura's side. ]

I know how it sounds, but my childhood wasn't too bad, you know. My Master always acts tough, but she's an endlessly kind woman and I'd like to think she raised me well. ... Towako-san gave me the chance at a proper life by putting me in her care, and I'll always be grateful for it.

[ordimame]

[. . . that heads off his next question. whether Rom's master and her mentor were the ones to take him in, after his parents had left him. it eases his anger somewhat, to know that at least someone was there to pick up where biological imperative had left off]

[. . .]

So. . . what was it like? Growing up with your Master. And I know Towako-san was with you for a while too, before. . .

[he remembers how that story goes]

[phenomerom]

Towako-san was the one who rescued me, but I didn't actually stay with her. She was famous on television, so she was often traveling -- Master Mitsue was the one who took me in upon Towako-san's request.

[ His responsibility for Towako's death will always haunt him, but at least he'd been given enough closure on the matter that he can speak of her like this without issue. Rom nurses his coffee in small sips between the placid explanation. ]

She taught me all of the basics -- what tools to use, when to act and when to feign blind, what to say and how to act. Her methods are a little old-fashioned, but they were more than enough to get me started down my path. Ah, and she gave me my name! It's tradition for a Master to grant their apprentice a working name, you see.

[ordimame]

[he is pretty pleased to see Rom talking about Towako so openly, with something other than guilt in his voice. it looks like he doesn't have to worry about that either, does he. . .?]

[a tiny li'l grin]

Which name? "Shindou Rom" or "Enigma Syndrome?" The second one could use a bit of work--

[A PLAYFUL JIBE]

[phenomerom]

[ HIDOI ...... Feigning more hurt than he really is: ]

How harsh ... It took me a while to come up with an online identity that worked for my purposes while still paying tribute to the name she gave me, you know?

[ But after another slow sip of coffee, ]

... I don't have much attachment to my legal identity. Things like my original surname and my actual age -- I lost them with my parents, and what's there now is just for the sake of paperwork. The name she gave me is the only one that matters.

[ordimame]

[a cheeky li'l grin, but it softens almost immediately afterwards]

It must feel weird, to not even know how old you really are.

[what did his profile say. . . ? around 30?]

But. . . I think you've got the right attitude. Hanging on to something given to you by someone who actually matters. [and not the people who had chosen to abandon him] For what it's worth. . .

. . . I really like the identity you've forged for yourself now.