[it actually startles her a little, and she jumps when she sees him. she doesn't try to hide the book or anything - and she doesn't seem very offended. point blank is never insensitive to her... it's direct, she likes direct.]
Rang. [first. and then:] I hadn't thought I'd find something like this here.
[the emotion coming off her is just mostly. void, right now.]
... It's about a monster who demanded that a village sacrifice a child to it. The village was too scared to do anything else but give in. While they argued, a little girl stepped up to the monster and declared she would be the one sacrificed. She concealed an exorcist's blade, as she walked into the monster's cave. And eventually, after a long and arduous battle, she was victorious.
[and then there's a little flicker of amusement. something wry.]
She was found worthy by the adepti. They adopted her as one of their own, but she was never to enter the mortal world again.
in contrast, rang's emotions are muted as he listens, quiet as he thinks on the story. as tales go, it's the sort of tragedy that he'd find entertaining if he'd seen it himself, but it takes on different color when Shenhe tells it.]
Would she have chosen to go back? To the mortal world that let her go in the first place?
Are you? [that same muted sort of amusement flickers again - easy to miss, muffled and contained.] And what will you do with the truth, if I tell it to you? Will you tell me a truth in return?
[she goes ??? so hard that there's actually less muted emotion this time, because she's never shook on something like this before. but she accepts it easily enough, pressing her thumb against his, and then letting go.]
A contract. [those are very important. she pauses, looking down at her book, and then, after a moment of trying to think how to word it:]
... The girl was not so brave as the story told. Her mother had died, the year before, and her father, lost in his grief, couldn't accept it. So instead, he summoned a monster, and he offered his child to it in exchange for his wife.
The child was a curse, after all, and even if it didn't bring his wife back, at least he'd be rid of a horrible calamity waiting to happen.
[there is a sudden spike of shock, punching through his ever present apathy, as Shenhe speaks, and it hangs in the air even though rang's expression remains casual except for the flash in his eyes. eventually curdling into not grief or pity, but anger,]
And what, exactly, did he think she'd do? Or was it simply because she was born in the first place that made her a curse?
[she's reasonably calm during this - like she doesn't feel anything at all about it, anymore. she notes the anger, though, and... holds it, a little, because that's always how she's felt, too.]
It was because she was born in the first place. [...] When she was born, she was marked by fate. She would bring ruin to the people around her. That was what was foretold.
[maybe that's what someone far kinder would say, but she's glad he doesn't. good riddance, his emotions say, and she lets out a soft hmph.
she'd been asked, once, if she hated her father. her answer had been that she didn't care one way or another. but sometimes, like now, feeling someone else be irritated - she feels like maybe she could.]
I don't know that I would have given him the mercy.
[rang would have, if only because he thinks violence is what he's owed on every occasion. and he thinks shenhe should have had that too. the option. evaluating that man and telling him that he wasn't worthy, much like he did her]
I'm surprised that the gods took notice in the first place.
[for once, he doesn't mean it sarcastically, maybe not all gods are so removed that all suffering blurs together, or maybe shenhe's case was so special that they had to notice.
the homesick feeling, however faint, makes him feel strange? for some reason. he ends up plucking a random book from the shelf]
But I like that story. [REALLY???] Mine hasn't inspired any operas, but... it starts the same way. With a parent and their child.
I was surprised too. [she says quietly, when he says that first part. her assumption was that they found it funny enough to keep watching - she's not exactly generous with her interpretations of most of them.
but when he takes a book, she glances at him. i like that story gets a small huff of amusement, because of course he does, the brat.]
I imagine that story goes just as well as the one I told. [she says, tilting her head. that's her saying continue - she's interested.]
[his smile is a little crooked in reply, though he feels hesitant. just for a second. if this wasn't a contract, and if that wasn't the story shenhe had told him...]
It's similar. But in this one, the only monster was the child she bore. She hated that he was half human and half fox, and she was afraid that he would devour her. He was already very strong for his age, even as a child. Normal methods wouldn't have worked on him.
So she led him deep into the Forest of Hungry Ghosts, and left him there for the spirts to finish off instead.
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Rang. [first. and then:] I hadn't thought I'd find something like this here.
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The Divine Damsel of Devastation. [he says it out loud, then] What a showy title.
[but clearly it has some kind of impact that goes beyond literary,]
What's it about?
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[the emotion coming off her is just mostly. void, right now.]
... It's about a monster who demanded that a village sacrifice a child to it. The village was too scared to do anything else but give in. While they argued, a little girl stepped up to the monster and declared she would be the one sacrificed. She concealed an exorcist's blade, as she walked into the monster's cave. And eventually, after a long and arduous battle, she was victorious.
[and then there's a little flicker of amusement. something wry.]
She was found worthy by the adepti. They adopted her as one of their own, but she was never to enter the mortal world again.
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in contrast, rang's emotions are muted as he listens, quiet as he thinks on the story. as tales go, it's the sort of tragedy that he'd find entertaining if he'd seen it himself, but it takes on different color when Shenhe tells it.]
Would she have chosen to go back? To the mortal world that let her go in the first place?
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[she glances at him, and - smiles, but it's small, and there's no warmth to it.]
I like this story, in any case. It's ideal. The truth is far less entertaining.
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Even so, I think I'm interested in hearing it. ['the truth'] I'd like to know the kinds of things you aren't entertained by.
[the words are light, but there is a pulse of curiosity that drives back his usual apathy, strengthened by the look of shenhe's smile]
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Contracts are important to keep.
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[hehehe]
I wouldn't ask anything of you without giving you something in return.
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Then yes. A truth for a truth. Try not to cheat me. It isn't at my side, currently, but I do still own my stop sign.
[a pause. and she'll like, hold a hand out to shake?? this is how you do this right]
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[the way his amusement grows at the promise of violence, and at the way Shenhe offers her hand..... he looks down at it, and then takes it in his own.
except instead of a handshake, he just makes it so that they're both pinky promising each other.... he presses their thumbs together,]
There, it's a deal then.
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A contract. [those are very important. she pauses, looking down at her book, and then, after a moment of trying to think how to word it:]
... The girl was not so brave as the story told. Her mother had died, the year before, and her father, lost in his grief, couldn't accept it. So instead, he summoned a monster, and he offered his child to it in exchange for his wife.
The child was a curse, after all, and even if it didn't bring his wife back, at least he'd be rid of a horrible calamity waiting to happen.
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And what, exactly, did he think she'd do? Or was it simply because she was born in the first place that made her a curse?
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It was because she was born in the first place. [...] When she was born, she was marked by fate. She would bring ruin to the people around her. That was what was foretold.
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the anger is still there inside of him, and in the corners of his lips as he smiles, humorless.]
I would bring ruin to the people around me too, if they sacrificed me to a monster.
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[she just. gives up the ghost, as far as pretending. she adjusts her ropes, absently.]
It didn't bring his wife back. He hung himself shortly after.
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The exchange wasn't equal in the first place. [thinly,] He should have given up his own life, if he wanted her back so badly.
[the vibe here is truly GOOD RIDDANCE, and to have died and deprived shenhe of an answer in the first place? that's annoying too,]
If he had to die at all, then it should have been by your hand.
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she'd been asked, once, if she hated her father. her answer had been that she didn't care one way or another. but sometimes, like now, feeling someone else be irritated - she feels like maybe she could.]
I don't know that I would have given him the mercy.
[she says, with a touch of ice to it.]
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What happened after?
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I got my Vision. [she puts the book down.] I killed the monster, and the gods awarded me Cryo. My Master found me in that cave and took me home.
[she runs her fingers over the top of her red ropes. there's a faint feeling of something just a little homesick.]
And now I'm here.
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[for once, he doesn't mean it sarcastically, maybe not all gods are so removed that all suffering blurs together, or maybe shenhe's case was so special that they had to notice.
the homesick feeling, however faint, makes him feel strange? for some reason. he ends up plucking a random book from the shelf]
But I like that story. [REALLY???] Mine hasn't inspired any operas, but... it starts the same way. With a parent and their child.
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but when he takes a book, she glances at him. i like that story gets a small huff of amusement, because of course he does, the brat.]
I imagine that story goes just as well as the one I told. [she says, tilting her head. that's her saying continue - she's interested.]
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It's similar. But in this one, the only monster was the child she bore. She hated that he was half human and half fox, and she was afraid that he would devour her. He was already very strong for his age, even as a child. Normal methods wouldn't have worked on him.
So she led him deep into the Forest of Hungry Ghosts, and left him there for the spirts to finish off instead.
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She hated him for that, despite having created him. [rude. a pause.] And what happened in the Forest?
[a quiet little bristle of anger.]