pc catchall for wei wuxian (givethemhell)

[uncurtained]

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[uncurtained]

[She returns the smile, even if it stings when it tugs at her cheeks. After a moment:]

You don't have to sleep on the couch if you don't want to, you know.

[givethemhell]

[A COVETED SPOT ON THE BED?? At long last, he never thought he'd see the day--

No okay he reaches out for her hand, gently touching the back of it in a gesture meant to convey his gratitude.]

You're very kind! But I do tend to stay up to hours that I wouldn't want to subject anyone else to. I usually fall asleep in the middle of my work, too, so it's easier to just roll to the side where I shoved my other clothes.

[This is... this is how he lives his life... He hasn't even been sleeping on the couch, he's just been sleeping on the floor, god.]

[uncurtained]

[She gives his hand a little squeeze in return, glancing his way before looking down at the bed.]

Right. Still, though, if you wanted to tonight...

[It's a little less subtle this time, and she feels a little strange asking, but.]

[givethemhell]

[HE REALLY IS WONDERING IF SHE'S AFTER THE D FOR A HOT SECOND HERE BUT HE IS PRAYING.]

--I did have just a few things I wanted to take care of first. [He's a busy pre-trial bee with a few cats to herd.] It wouldn't wake you if I came to sleep a bit later, would it...? It shouldn't take much time.

[Mostly because if Beck is looking for the comfort of someone staying close, he doesn't want to stray too far for too long.]

[uncurtained]

[She shakes her head.]

No, of course not. Take your time.

[givethemhell]

Mm, alright. [A little nod! He gives her fresh injury a careful look-over again, though.]

...Shall I stay with you a bit longer for now, though?

[uncurtained]

As long as that's okay.

[...]

We could talk about something happier again.

[Because she is still || this close to losing her shit, probably.]

[givethemhell]

[BECK... IS REALLY DOING HER BEST TO HOLD HER SHIT TOGETHER.

After a second, he'll reach for both of her hands, turning to face her more straight-on.]

What do you want to talk about? Shall we plan out our trip to Costco...? Or I could tell you a good story about a lake near my home! You could tell me more about yours, too!

[uncurtained]

[She takes his hands with a small smile.]

I want to hear your story. I'll give you one in return.

[givethemhell]

[They're just gonna be holding hands now!!]

Mm, that sounds lovely! For my story - well, it's from when I was much younger, haha - just barely a teenager. All of the lakes in my hometown were owned by this person or that, not a single one was public property. But, you know, those lakes were where the lotuses grew! Have you ever eaten a lotus seed before?

[uncurtained]

No, I haven't. What do they taste like?

[givethemhell]

Oh, they're wonderful! You have to peel the outside bit off first, but the seed inside is nice and almost sweet. Very mild flavor - lovely and soft! I could eat a hundred of them in one sitting, without a doubt. [HE'S GETTING SO SIDETRACKED.]

Anyway-- Haha, well! I'm sure anyone who's ever met a teenager could guess where this is going. Private property with tons of lotuses, a bunch of hungry kids who want a nice snack... Needless to say, we made quite a bad habit of inviting ourselves into all of the nearby lakes to pick our fill! But one day, someone who was particularly upset with our thievery decided to set a horrible trap. Want to take a guess at what it was?

[uncurtained]

[She listens carefully, the smile staying on her face, until he gets to the question at the end. After a moment, she tilts her head slightly.]

What'd they do?

[givethemhell]

They had already harvested all of the lotus pods - but listen to this! They took the time to put them back after the seeds were plucked from them! Stalks jammed right back into the mud! Imagine our surprise as we started rowing through them, only for stalks to start coming loose and floating to the surface. We scooped a few out and it was all the same - empty! Not a seed in sight! To be honest, the entire lake seemed like it had been cursed or something and we rowed our boat out of there as fast as we could before we figured out what happened, haha.

[Honestly they deserved so much worse.]

Sometimes the lake owners would be out there and we'd get chased off personally, but that didn't happen quite as often.

[uncurtained]

...I have to almost respect that level of hard work.

[Just to mess with unruly teenagers.]

[givethemhell]

[Sometimes old people are really out there being that wild.]

Right? I'm sure they worked more that day than any others before it! I hope they felt it was worth the effort at the end. It didn't stop us from coming back, so maybe not...

[uncurtained]

It’s not like it was your fault all the lakes were private. You were bored.

[givethemhell]

Bored and hungry. A terrible combination! Anyway, I really have to get you some lotus seeds to try sometime, too.

[IMPORTANT THINGS: Loquats, lotus seeds, costco.]

Anyway! Let's hear your story, now!

[uncurtained]

I'd like that.

[She pauses to think about it for a second, before she smiles.]

Okay, so - do you know what college is?

[givethemhell]

Not the faintest!

[Don't say it so proudly... But he'll tilt his head forward a little, gesturing for her to explain. Enlighten him on the vast woes of higher education!]

[uncurtained]

It's basically like - a place you go to learn about something specialized. Like, I went to learn about how to write poetry and fiction, basically... But you can learn about pretty much anything you want. Science, math, things like that.

[givethemhell]

Oh! Ah, yes - I see! We have things like that where I come from, they just go by different names.

[Ancient China being out here on the cutting edge.]

[uncurtained]

Did you ever have parties while you were there? Because that's what this story is about.

[givethemhell]

Well! We weren't supposed to, but that didn't stop us.

[Some things... truly never change.]

[uncurtained]

I guess some things never change, no matter how far apart we were.

[She doesn't laugh, but she at least looks amused for a moment.]

Have I ever told you about Peach? She's my best friend.