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]

[honestly. . . each word feels even more off than the last. too distant. too impersonal. too. . . wrong. "partners" does get Edamura to pause, but even that one feels a little. . .]

[. . .]

[his fingers dip across Rom's jawline, tracing the sturdy lines with tender, focused affection]

Maybe. . .

[. . . he thinks back to the word Wei Wuxian had used with him. what was it again. . .? a little embarrassing, a little too strong, something he would never come up with on his own, but--]

. . . lovers?

1/2

[phenomerom]

[ He almost thinks he misheard that at first.

One more slow blink before Rom actually straightens up a little, a good chunk of his inebriation fleeing from him in his surprise. 'Lovers.' Edamura said 'lovers,' didn't he?

Lovers. ]

[phenomerom]

[ It must be a little terrifying for Edamura, the way Rom goes silent for a moment, just that usual owlish stare fixed on him. Then his gaze dips away.

Rom instead tentatively reaches a hand forth to skim down Edamura's forearm, then take that hand in his. Gentle, almost nervous. ]

... I'm not sure how well I could live up to that word, Makoto-san, no matter how hard I tried.

1/2

[ordimame]

[it is a little terrifying. far more nerve-wracking than literally anything he has done in the competition thus far. the match ceremony, the time spent together afterwards, their few moments of privacy in the room-that-shall-not-be-named. none of that compares to the way he feels now, with breath stalled in his lungs and heart hammering in his ears, completely drowning out his senses]

[it isn't until Rom takes that hand into his own that Edamura exhales, sharp and heavy, like a deflating balloon]

. . . yeah, well. I know I couldn't.

[. . .]

[ordimame]

[but. . .]

[he closes his fingers around Rom's, squeezing tightly, as a smile curves up the corners of his lips]

But some guy told me last week that he wasn't afraid of challenges. It feels like I could maybe learn a thing or two from him, yeah?

closes eyes, don't look at how long this got

[phenomerom]

[ Even when he feels the increasingly-familiar squeeze of Edamura's hand against his, the moment doesn't feel real. Rom doesn't dare raise his eyes at first even as he hears what Edamura is saying, gaze fixed upon the back of Edamura's hand, upon the gentle lines of tendons and the curve of knuckles, fingers firmly entwined with his. ]

I ...

[ It's rare for him to struggle with words. But this entire experience has been making him go through a lot of rare moments like this, hasn't it?

There's plenty he could say. Plenty that he should say. Like -- he's not sure he's ever 'loved' anyone in a way that could be labeled with that singular term. Family had abandoned him, his very nature had led to the death of the person he most looked up to, and even his closest relationship -- that with his Master -- had been fraught for long stretches. He knows what he is, and what he is simply isn't compatible with a word like 'love.' To say nothing of the inherent danger that he foists upon anyone too involved in his life, the way he constantly dances with the dangers of the other side. Somewhere in his core, he knows that he simply isn't meant to entangle himself with people in that idealistic, picturesque way. His jaunts masquerading as a normal person are meant to be brief and shallow; anything more would be greedy, and he should know better than that by now, after having already caused the death of his cherished savior, a woman who would have done so much good for the world were she still alive.

And yet.

(He remembers that very real indignity in Edamura's voice, telling him not to call himself a burden. The deep empathy in his voice, the resolve with which he'd decided to make decisions for himself, that determined light in his eyes, so very human and kind. It's all etched too vividly into his mind, now. He can't just let it go. Maybe it's greedy, maybe it's selfish -- but he'll just have to try and make up for that sin.)

Rom had fallen silent for another moment following that non-starter of an answer, a glimpse of quiet fear and unease in the narrow of his eyes and the thin purse of his lips. Then he takes a deep breath. Swallows thickly -- and grasps Edamura's hand tight, tight. Almost tight enough to hurt, though hopefully Edamura will tolerate for just this moment as he leans in to speak, quiet but firm. ]

I'll try. [ It's probably the sort of answer that would sound terribly unreliable coming from any normal person. But it's the best he can offer, and he has to hope Edamura will understand. (He probably will. Edamura is that sort of person, after all. That's how they've even come this far.) ] I ... can't promise anything. But if you're sure you'd like to give me this chance, then I'd like to try. I ... really would.

PERCEIVES

[ordimame]

[it's not as though their baggage is dissimilar on that front. despite his pretty words back during the first week of the competition. . . love has never been something Edamura could put much stock in. he knows, just from observing those around him, that it can be awfully. . . painful. love can hurt in ways that cut deep, leaving behind a nasty set of scars, the damage sometimes splashing over to those who weren't involved. no mater how many lies he told himself, no matter how hard he tried to believe in something idealistic and warm and perfect. . . that cynical part of his heart would never change. he would always be a skeptic. he would always be a bit guarded]

[but--]
.
[. . . maybe that's okay?]

[maybe that is what a "perfect match" meant to him all along. maybe it was never just a spark, or time spent together, or baggage shared. maybe it. . . really was simply opening oneself up to that pain? understanding that sometimes, it will hurt, and. . . knowing that he could still push through. knowing that he wanted to]

[I'll try is exactly what Edamura had expected. I'll try is all he can give in return, especially when this is all still so new to him. so when Rom clasps his knuckles so tightly that it hurts, when he leans in to speak his response, quiet but firm. . .]

. . . y-- yeah!

[Edamura's smile is bright, relief washing over his features like a balm. he rocks towards Rom himself, arm looping around his neck to draw him closer-- keep him close-- as he touches their foreheads together]

I'll try, too.

[genuinely, his smile softening just a tad]

. . . but I might kind of suck at it, you know? Try not to hold it against me too much.