perfectmatch | week four

[ There are, in fact, a lot of fireworks leftover. It's a little frightening, trying to feel optimistic about tomorrow, even if they should be able to puzzle things out. It's just... she's also one step from losing everything all over again, after working up the courage to feel hope again. It's a hard line to straddle. One she is going to try to smother with cope and fun for the rest of the evening.

Throughout the night, Yingying can be found at the base of her wisteria, a collection of small, purple sachets at her side to hand out, all adorned with lucky knots woven by yours truly. She's collected the materials necessary for these across all her dates over the last four weeks, and of course, sourced the wisteria that perfumes them on her own. ]

Are you having fun with the fireworks? They're the kind we had in my homeland... [ before it all got blown up by a meteor, which you all learned about yesterday. it's fine. ] But there's one more thing I wanted to share with you all.

[ ... It's maybe a little selfish of an ask, but she thinks it might set her heart at ease, before the big day tomorrow. Gesturing a hand before her, she smiles, distant and sweet. ]

If you'd like... I'd be happy to hear your wish, and give you my blessing in return. Making a wish under the sacred wisteria is for good fortune... and for fun. [ It's tradition, and all the talk of the loss yesterday makes her want to feel closer to home. And share that place with what she considers new parts of her family. ] Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your wish...~

[ This way, even if things go awry tomorrow... these wishes could be spoken and felt, materialized in everyone's hearts. This is, perhaps, the most precious ritual of all to Yingying, and granting the wishes of everyone has been her guiding light all competition. Now, they've come to the head!! ]

[ Mayhaps this is after Shoko has gotten a few drinks deep... but she approaches Yingying and just sort of drapes herself over her shoulders. ]

Yingying.~ What are these pouches? They're cute.

[ SHOKO CUDDLES.... SHUDDLES....

With Shoko draping herself around her shoulders, she reaches up a hand to hold onto her arm, letting a sprinkle of petals fall from the blooms above them to land in their hair. ]

They're sachets. They're for good fortune... there are a lot of different kinds, but of course, ours have wisteria in them. Carrying it around gives off a nice perfume...~

[ YINGYING CUDDLES... YUDDLES!!

She reaches with her free arm to take one of the sachets, holding it up to her face so she can breathe in its scent.

And then she turns her head, pressing her nose into Yingying's hair, as if to compare the scents. ]

Yeah. I'll say it does. I get to keep one, right?

[ She laughs at the sensation of Shoko breathing against her — she's not startled by it, but it's such a casual, unique display of affection that she's never quite experienced before, which makes it all the more charming. As ever, Yingying only ever smells of the blooms, floral and woody. ]

Hahaha... if you tell me your wish...~ That's how the tradition goes.

[ Shoko might already have one in hand, but she'll tell her about the rules, anyhow! ]

Okay, okay.

[ She stares down at the sachet for a moment. Truth to tell, she still hasn't quite settled on a real wish, but if she had to make one right now...? ]

I'll wish for a way for all of us to keep in touch after all of this. Even if it's something archaic like having to send each other letters or something. [ for the ye oldes... ] But I want to make sure everyone keeps being well after this. I'm a doctor, after all...

[ With that, she tightens her embrace just the slightest bit. ]

And that goes especially for you, you know. I have a feeling you're going to eat a loooot of fried fast foods after this. But you should make sure your diet is balanced.~

Worried about even my diet? I'm feeling so pampered.

[ ...It's a novel feeling. When was the last time anyone told her to mind her vegetables? Probably her moms, a very long time ago. How cute. ]

But that's a lovely wish... The blooms have heard it very clearly. I'm sure, especially with Poppy's help, your wish will come true.

[ Even if her wish from the production doesn't work out, it's one they can grant with their own hands, she believes. Yingying waits a beat, before rambling on. ]

She's been telling me that she's going to figure out some way for me to communicate with you all, if I can't make a full recovery. Isn't that amazing?

[ Some might admit this with some melancholy or strain, but Yingying simply seems genuinely touched and warmed by Poppy's efforts — that outweighs her concerns about her recovery not going as planned. After all... even if that ends up being the case, her world will be hundreds, if not thousands of times warmer, being able to talk to them all. ]

[ Good fortune, huh...maybe he should consider joining her in her efforts.

Even if he's got a good feeling about their choices for tomorrow, it's hard not to be a little nervous, isn't it? Like Yingying, he's only just allowed him to hope again after what feels like a lifetime. It's a fledgling, fragile little thing, and if things don't wind up working in their favor...

Well. He'd still go home with Nico. But his wish should make things much easier on the departure, and besides — his own wish is the one he's least concerned with ensuring comes true. Anything they can do to increase their chances, or just to take the nervous edge off, is certainly welcome.

Approaching the wisteria, Kakavasha leans against the trunk, glancing down at the sachets. She put a lot of work into those, didn't she? ]

Now I feel as though I jumped the gun in asking you what your wish would be the other night. I suppose the least I can do is return the favor.

[ He...think he's got it nailed down, now, barring some wording changes, so they don't have some kind of monkey's paw situation. ]

[ She raises her head to look at him leaning against the trunk, smiling knowingly. ]

The one you'll leave in the hands of someone else, you mean?

[ Playfully, while she lifts up a hand to catch one of the falling violet petals. ]

I can tell you more about my wish, if you're feeling shy, my dear. [ She only gave him the basics, after all, and like she had alluded to... it's a complicated matter. ] Or — are you feeling extra sure already?

Some of the wording is still in the workshop, to ensure there's no unintended snafus, but...I'm sure.

[ After speaking with everyone, and with Nico, it had become clear what he needed to do, what his wish should be. It's...rather simple, perhaps a little too simple, but that's not such a bad thing, really. He could use a little more simplicity in his life.

He moves to sit down under the tree next to her, propping himself up with one hand, the opposite elbow resting against a bent knee. ]

I'd like to hear more about your wish, too, if you don't mind, but I can go first. As a show of good faith. [ A beat, his expression growing a little softer. ] I intend to wish...to be in control of my own fate.

[ It doesn't have to be all or nothing anymore. This is what freedom really means to him; to make his choices, and to make them count. ]

[ After hearing about his inescapable fate with regards to his employment... the chains of his luck.... there's only one way in which she could see that wish. ]

...Heh. What a beautiful wish. [ She bumps her shoulder with his, then gestures with a hand to the cascading flowers around them. ] The blooms heard it — I'm sure it'll come true. Through one way or another.

[ Of course, she has no direct power to bless or grant such a wish. But there are more than a thousand ways for any one which to be granted, whether through divine powers or those simply from the earth and people around them. ]

Will you make it with your hands? Or leave it in Nico's care, perhaps?

[ How exactly it comes true will be a surprise even to him, and honestly, that's how he prefers it. Nothing should be set in stone and immovable, and he thrives on the thrill of unpredictability. Just knowing that the outcome is heading in the right direction is good enough for him.

The falling blossoms, floating on the whims of the air, seem to understand that, too. ]

That, I'm still figuring out. He has something important to use his wish for, too...but if he'll allow it, I'd like to make mine on his behalf. As a sign of...not trust, exactly. Rather...commitment, I suppose.

[ And it's an awfully romantic notion, isn't it? Each of them entrusting the will of their wishes to the other. ]

Commitment...

[ She hums, conspiratorial. ]

Could it be that you're betrothed already? And so fast, too...

[ Be...trothed...... ]

[ It takes a lot to fluster him, but this just does the trick, causing him to sputter wordlessly for a few moments before: ]

Good heavens, n-no! I barely let him call me his boyfriend, Miss Yingying!

[ COMMITMENT IS TERRIFYING OKAY!!!!! ]

[ oh... flustered aventurine unlocked..... yingying will remember this. ]

Oh? So you've only thought about it, then.... or, I wonder if he already has a ring?

[ They're going off together, and Aventurine's the one that said he found a star-crossed lovers' tale with a happy ending romantic. The jokes write themselves! ]

You "barely let him?" So, you don't want him to be your boyfriend, then?

[ He has a feeling that something very dangerous has happened just now...

He clears his throat, attempting (and failing) to regain some composure and dignity. ]

I only didn't want him rushing into something when he was still getting to know me. That's all! I've never...pursued a relationship like this before, you know. I intended to treat things delicately, as such.

[ Oh, he is still blushing very sincerely. ]

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embellwish - 2025-06-30 19:44 (UTC) - Expand

Ah ... thank you.

[ Rom may or may not be a bit tipsy by the time he ends up wandering over to the wisteria tree. And while he'd given a curious cant of the head -- very crow-like -- upon being given the sachet, he does keep it cradled gently in a hand as he looks back to her. ]

Do we get to hear your wish in return, Miss Yingying?

[ She purses her lips, pouting while she sets her gaze off somewhere distant. ]

Mm, interested in my wish? Feeling extra curious about me now, are you?

[ Teasingly. After Rom's big apology, leveling with her about spirits and ghosts, she's feeling extra motivated to tease and bother him more. Before, it'd seemed... well, his wariness was noticeable. ]

I can tell you — it's just for fun, after all.

Haha, who wouldn't be curious about one as charming as yourself?

[ Again, this would be a lot more flattering if his delivery didn't feel just kind of off with how casually and dead-pan he says it ...

But he gives a soft clear of the throat afterwards. A little more seriously: ]

And it only seems fair. We're fellow participants, after all. Everyone's wishes should be equally important, no?

Is that your way of saying you want me to go first? Hmph.

[ Not very traditional.... but, at the same time, Rom has spent the better part of this game looking at her in quite a grim light. She considers him for a moment, before relenting, leaning her back against the trunk of her tree. ]

...As you may already know, this form before you isn't physical.

[ He's sensitive to the supernatural, he said. It should've been easy for him to pick up on, if he could sense the spirits of her homeland to such an extent — even people who aren't blessed with his talents notice that there's something off about her. The relative coolness of her body, the ethereally soft and smooth skin, her hair longer than should be manageable... how she never seems to be seen out of sorts or disheveled. Anyone would find it strange after a while. ]

My physical form is too corrupted to be removed from the wisteria. You could say the star that fell caused "mutations," in a way. [ ..... ] Even I don't know what it may look like inside here...

[ She taps a hand on the trunk. The vision before Rom is only a replica created by Yingying from what she remembers she looks like. For all she knows, there's no longer anything resembling a person inside. But, as before, this is something she can relay calmly to Rom, who's only ever met her with casualness and a sort of grave seriousness hanging over their conversations. ]

I'd like to wish to allow my body to be separated from the wisteria and survive. That's the only way I can return to living in any normal sense.

[ Others have suggested she wish for a new body entirely... but this is the answer she's settled on, after a lot of deliberation. ]

Edited 2025-06-28 07:16 (UTC)

[ He understands that, he thinks. The desire to have her original body back, instead of a pristine new one, even if the wish might come with risks. She's been through so much, after all, and he can imagine her original form is what she links to her memories of that lost village -- her loved ones, who she carried for so long. He can understand the desire to be whole once more in the form for which she was loved and cherished, even if it might emerge scarred.

Rom had been listening quietly to Yingying's explanation, responding only with a small nod at first. But when he smiles afterward, it's a little gentler than that usual Cheshire grin he wears -- something a little softer and more genuine. ]

I see. I very much hope it comes true, Miss Yingying.

[ Pause, before he gives a low laugh, a little bittersweet. ]

I'm afraid I can't do anything as grand as offer you any sort of blessing. Unfortunately my skills are limited to dealing with the unpleasant and malicious ... [ A glance down at his hand, and a blink in thought before he looks back to her. ] ... I wouldn't want to jinx your wish. Preparing for a worst case scenario feels like asking for trouble, after all. But I've also been taught to prepare failsafes for every occasion, so. If you'd like me to try and craft something so that you can carry the wisteria's energy with you, I'd be happy to. I'd like to be able to help in any way I can.

[ But that's his own selfish desire. He won't foist it on her. ]

But otherwise -- I'll be sincerely wishing for your success. I think everyone would be overjoyed if your wish came true.

"Carry the wisteria's energy?"

[ She tilts her head, eyes lighting up with curiosity. Despite her deep connection with the tree, in her own world, very little is understood about it, so she only has her own innate knowledge to go off of with regards to how it's alive and dependent on her. ]

So you were a total sweetheart all along too, Rom, [ She reaches out to poke him gently in the chest, teasing. ] And you hid it from me all this time.

Hmm... but if we have to say it out loud, won't it be recorded?

[She's very fascinated by the little sachets, though, having taken one to turn over in her hands with a bright glint in her blue eyes.]

...You could say the wish quietly in your heart, instead.

[ There's no rule saying the wish has to be said aloud... they can't even write down the wishes like they normally would in the tradition. It's a new era. It's okay for things to be a little different. ]

I'm sure the blooms will hear your wish regardless.

week four | mingle

boom! prezzie!!! and fairy time!!

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shaking my cup for last minute wondershoy crumbs with this

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