Chasma: Xie Lian

[aono]

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Week 0, Tuesday

[aono]

[We're going to start out this PC thread with Rin searching through the contents of a kitchen drawer, only to come out of it seething.]

Why the hell can't I find a single knife in this place?!

[Yep. But at least his irritation is loud so Xie Lian can easily find him? There will be free food eventually too, once Rin works out how to cut stuff with a fork.]

[yueshen]

[ oh, poor rin. xie lian is around the corner this fine day, san lang around his neck like a scarf, and he peers into the room when he hears the commotion. ]

Is everything alright, Rin...?

[aono]

Yeah, it's fine. I'm just gonna have a hard time making food without any knives.

[He's still a little grumpy, but only a little.]

[yueshen]

[ give it a couple days we'll all have swords ]

I'm sorry to hear that. [ xie lian, you also need to eat. ] ...It is a bit strange, that all the knives in this place have vanished, isn't it? Perhaps a daemon's claws could help...?

[aono]

[Imagine chopping onions with a wholeass sword.]

Do you really wanna eat something that got cut with claws?

[yueshen]

[ he just

makes a face. san lang chuffs unhappily from next to him - the sense of rude. ]

[aono]

[He sees that.]

I'm not saying animals can't be cooks! I'm saying that it's way harder to sanitize claws than it is a knife.

[yueshen]

No, I agree with you...

[ he reaches up to scritch san lang's head. there, there. ] ...Perhaps we'll at least receive back our items from home, at some point? Though, it seems especially sacrilegious to cut vegetables with a sword....

Week 0, Saturday

[aono]

[Well. This talk has to happen eventually.

Rin is going looking for Xie Lian. Where is he right now?]

[yueshen]

[ he's at the beach!

sitting cross legged in his white robes once more, xie lian has a small stack of papers next to him, and a small fire burning in front of him. he keeps taking the papers - they are blank - and burning them, slowly, until they crumble to ash.

hearing footsteps, he looks up. ]

Oh... hello, Rin.

[aono]

Hey.

[He's going to take a moment to sit down near Xie Lian. While he has thoughts on his mind, he is distracted by the fire.]

What's this all for? Some kind of funeral rite?

[yueshen]

[ he nods. ]

For Mr. Marius. At home, we burn paper money as offerings, so that the souls of the departed have the means to enjoy the afterlife. I only have the sentiment of paper money, right now, but... perhaps that will be enough.

[ he'll let rin see his papers! blank, yeah. tragique. ]

[aono]

Hmm...lemme see one of those?

[If Xie Lian lets him, Rin will pull out a pen and doodle on one of the papers to make it look like a 2,000 yen note. Or, well, the closest approximation he can get without a visual reference.]

[yueshen]

[ well xie lian has no idea what that looks like so

he peers over his shoulder - and makes a delighted little noise. ]

Oh! Is that what currency looks like, in your realm...? How clever!

[aono]

Yeah! This one is 2,000 yen. It's about enough to buy a fancy meal, or a day's worth of cheap street foods.

[yueshen]

[ xie lian who has only learned what money is at this age: how much does a banana cost? like ten dollars? ]

I see. [ he doesn't, but that's okay. ] Kind of you - it will surely make Mr. Marius happy, when he receives it, Rin.

[aono]

I hope so. Even if it's not real money it's the thought that counts, right?

If we were back at the church, we'd say a couple prayers for him. But I guess that doesn't matter as much here.

[yueshen]

Mm...

[ his smile lifts a little bit - there's something slightly knowing, if just a little sad, to it, as he reaches up and absently scratches at the bandages around his neck. ]

I think it still matters. You never know - A god could still be listening, even in a place like this.

I prayed for his soul to the Heavenly Emperor. Perhaps he will hear me.

[ after everything, though? he doubts it. ] But...it's the thought that counts.

[aono]

[Rin isn't so sure. He's felt like his prayers haven't been answered in a long, long time. And he wasn't exactly the most religious person before that either. But after a few seconds, he sighs.]

Well, I guess it couldn't hurt, yeah?

[So he does say a prayer finally. A Catholic prayer, one about God taking in the souls that have died traumatic deaths and helping them heal and find peace in the eternal rest of the afterlife.]

[yueshen]

[ xie lian is quiet and solemn as rin prays.

the part of him that was a god - that is, still, a god, in most capacities, whether he's been banished or otherwise - listens. he can't help himself - it's in his nature to help, to try and pick up on the sensitivities of others through things like this, like he always did before. it comes back to the simple joys he originally had from his godhood; though now, those joys seem almost impossible to reach.

as he finishes, xie lian ducks his head, and shifts to burn one last piece of 'paper money'. ]

Maybe Mr. Marius find peace.

[aono]

[Rin is quiet for a long time after he finishes praying, only going 'mhmm' in response to Xie Lian's words. It seems like he has a lot on his mind, even more than just this murder. But eventually he does speak again, with quiet words.]

You know, we use prayers in our exorcist work. It's how we can fight demons and all. But I don't think I've actually pray-prayed like that since before Dad died.

[yueshen]

[ in some ways, that makes sense. it's not all that different from using a talisman to dispel a demon in his realm, either. xie lian can tell he's got more to think about, though, so gently, he asks: ]

Because of your father's passing? Or for another reason...? [ to further the conversation along ]

[aono]

It was hard to find reasons to pray. I got bullied a lot in middle school and my temper's always been terrible. But Dad was a priest and would encourage us to join in on his priest-work. Once he died, there wasn't really anyone to tell me to do it anymore.

[His tone is somber, but not hurt. This is an old pain, one he can take reasonably well most of the time.]

[yueshen]

[ wtf i tagged this and dreamwidth ate it

xie lian listens to this quietly, thoughtful. ]

...so then - doing such a thing now. Perhaps it might be a way to connect with him, even if he has passed.

[aono]

[Sisi your tags.]

...maybe. I'd like that, if it were true. Don't know what kinda god would listen to the prayers of a half-demon though.