Opening my eyes again in casted darkness... (January Catch-all)

[esurientabyss]

🌊Who: He Xuan, and anyone else.
🌊What: Things happening; they're self-explanatory.
🌊When: January.
🌊Where: Varies.
🌊Warnings: Kidnapping, mentions of suicide & forced induction into harems; involvement of violence/murder. Anything else that may occur will be added or adequately warned for in the thread. TGCF spoilers, but since this already deals with memories, that's a requirement, really.



i. gravitation

[ No matter where He Xuan finds himself, whereas it's on the beach or somewhere else, there seems to be some kind of nonsense afoot. Some...feline nonsense at that.

They're all congregating rudely around him and he is essentially helpless to their attacks (cuddles and piling around his feet.)

He practically glares at anyone who catches him in the midst of this. ]

What?

ii. displacement

[ Ghost kings do not get sick, not really. But it doesn't mean that coughing or sneezing is an impossibility for him.

It just so happens he had grabbed something spicy from a restaurant and for some reason found himself sneezing due to some kind of pepper and now he's in the middle of a lake. Soon enough, he's grumbling, extricating himself from the water. What a waste of food. ]

iii. uncharted waters

[ In addition to those, anyone is free to encounter someone who seems to, for all intents and purposes appear to look like He Xuan, and is essence definitely still him. Yet, his appearance clearly differs in subtle ways. His skin isn't so pale, and his ears are not so sharp and he appears a little lost. Feel free to run into him like this, though he will be scrutinizing most people, and there appears to be a sword at his hip, which his hand is hovering on the hilt of. ]

iv. wildcard

[ Self-explanatory...! Open to things that are also not necessarily the above. ]

If you would like to plot with me, I can be reached on plurk @ leyfi, discord @ seraphkingdhaos#8538 and my plotting comment will be here.

Comments

[graftage]

...

[He leans back with a little huff of a sigh, closing his eyes.]

I'll be real with you. It all gets me a little irritated, honestly.

[esurientabyss]

Hm. Having to deal with leading other people?

[ ...Immediately his first thought, yep. ]

[graftage]

Not as much as I thought. No, its just the reasons behind it.

[He makes a bit of a grimace.]

It wasn't like I was planning to. But I felt I had to. Nobody else would.

[esurientabyss]

Hmph. Most people can't be bothered to take any semblance of responsibility when the time comes.

[ But what does it say about Steinbeck that he took the weight on his shoulders?

It just means he has better work ethic. Maybe. ]

[graftage]

That's right. But you know, the way it all went down was not with a whimper, but a bang. I'm not surprised people wanted to wash their hands of everything.

[And yet, he stayed behind.]

[Maybe that was stupid of him.]

My boss...isn't the nicest guy, after all.

[esurientabyss]

A bang. And still, it remained somewhat in tact.

[ Enough for Steinbeck to assemble what is left of it underneath his leadership. ]

For suddenly leaving and disappearing?

[ Or, perhaps, it's a 'in general' thing. ]

[graftage]

It was a surprise to me, too. Felt like wrangling a bunch of cats, though.

[He makes a face.]

It's more than that. He's the type who thinks he has the world all to himself just because of his position in life. He uses money to control others just to grant his own wishes.

[esurientabyss]

[ Sounds like truly a nightmare of feline proportions. ]

How fortunate for scum like him, that he is allowed to persist in the first place.

[ Rich people who have never known a day of struggle and yet using their status to oppress people for selfish reasons...yeah he's not going to hide his opinion of such individuals. ]

[graftage]

You're telling me.

[And for all his initial cheerfulness, there's a real sense of bitterness, as sharp as a knife, that escapes through his words.]

Luck has to run out at some point, though. The bigger you are, the harder you'll fall, right?

[esurientabyss]

Correct. Those who think themselves so invincible after achieving a position of power are much more vulnerable than they believe.

[ He Xuan easily thinks back to the Water Tyrant, who posed as someone so great after the cruelty he exacted for his own selfish reasons.

Despite his power, he fell easily just the same, and became nothing. ]

[graftage]

Hm.

[He's looking over at the other.]

Know someone like that, yourself?

[esurientabyss]

Knew.

He thought himself as the perfect god, though he hadn't gotten to his position without destroying the lives of certain people in the process.

[ He remembers too when that man even turned on his own brother in the end. Truly a worthless piece of trash. ]

[graftage]

Ah, of course.

[Sounds just as expected.]

People like that with big egos let their heads blow up like balloons. Think they can look over the world. I can't stand it.

...What happened to him?

[esurientabyss]

Yes, pure utter scum.

[ There's a small pause. He Xuan doesn't exactly smile, because he isn't the type of person to do those very often, except for the brief sardonic smirk (or perhaps the rare approving one)

But if he was that type of person, he'd be doing one right now. ]

I took care of him before he could achieve his most desired goal.

[graftage]

...

[He knows he shouldn't. He should play nice. Not reveal that deep under the sunny disposition lies something very different, bitterness quelled into a chronic anger that sits in his bones.]

[He knows he shouldn't. And yet...he smiles.]

Good. I'm glad for you.

[esurientabyss]

[ . . .

That's the first time someone said that to him? What? And with a smile like that, he can tell that Steinbeck means every single word. The mild surprise leaves his face regardless. ]

...Good of you to say that.

[graftage]

Well, I'm saying it because its true.

[Good for him! EAT THE RICH AND POWERFUL!]

[His smile widens into a grin.]

Oh, man, I've been so rude. The name's John Steinbeck. Sorry for chatting your ear off, really.

[esurientabyss]

Of course it is.

[ The bastard did deserve it. If he could change one little thing it is just to make sure a certain someone wasn't there at the time... ]

He Xuan. [ ... ] There are worse things to talk about.

[ He then begins to turn and leave the beach. ]

Come with me, I still plan on giving you something from the farm.

[graftage]

He Xuan...

[He'll commit that to memory, even as he follows along, a little surprised.]

Oh? I mean, you don't have to...but alright.

[esurientabyss]

It'll work out for the both of us.

[ And then he gets like...some greens. He probably has like, some cucumbers. They grow well in warmer climates, probably beaches?? But they're decent and that is what matters.

He will hand them off to Steinbeck. Bonus is technically this is a type of food that automatically comes with seeds inside, like certain other plants, so there's that too. ]

Here.

[graftage]

Oh gee, thank you.

[He really means it, taking the cucumbers with a bright smile.]

I'll put these to good use. And then I'll bring some to you, as even more thanks.

[esurientabyss]

...I'll be looking forward to it.

[ Truly. It'll probably help their farm out, doing a mutual consistent exchange. ]

Feel free to do as you like.

[ Which, of course, is him saying good-bye. He Xuan will turn and begin to enter into his farm house proper now. Until next time, Steinbeck! ]

[graftage]

Thanks a bunch, He Xuan.

[What a nice guy.]

[Sometimes its wonderful to find someone on a similar wavelength as you.]

[Sometimes the bigger you are, the more people are wishing you're going to fall. That's just how it is.]

[Until next time, fellow rich eater-!]