voidtreckerexpress | ( open ) i am so high, i can hear heaven

Entry tags:

( open ) i am so high, i can hear heaven

Who: Lan Jingyi (

jingyeets) & ( OPEN )
Where: Quiet Carriage; Garden Carriage; elsewhere in train carriages.
When: Merriment 16 to Merriment 21!
What: Arm wrestling; drunken/tipsy wanderings; memorial construction w/calligraphy/painting; etc.
Warnings: Alcohol consumption! Relationship discussions, including potential mentions of gay panic, depending. Will warn as applicable.

ready to rumble (closed to dennis)

Time on the train is a construct even more apparent than the time otherwise passing on worlds, when they're on worlds. He's only seen three platforms and two worlds, but there likely is another coming, and that's something nice to look forward to, assuming he gets to fly. He'd love to fly, he aches for it, having been minimal in application in the illusion world, and always caught and constrained on platform.

Anyway, that was for another day, and for tonight, he has other plans, involving Dennis, the unmarked bottle of alcohol he's ordered, and the two sauce sized ramekins. When he does manage to track Dennis down, he quirks up his brow, holds up both bottle and ramekins (go with him here, the teacups won't work right and no one has proper drinking bowls or cups in his opinion, and there's only so much alcohol in the bottle anyway). "Ready?"

For the talk they need to have, for the arm wrestling already promised, and for tiny, tiny shots of the best alcohol Jingyi could possibly have ordered from back home. A wine, technically... but don't be fooled. It's hard liquor.

arm wrestling and other shenanigans (ota, merriment 16)

Tipsy, Jingyi eases open the quiet car door, and makes a surprisingly upright drift throughout the train, made more chaotic by use of the transgates. For the most part, in human form, he can be found:

in the standard carriage, challenging anyone who feels like it to arm wrestling at the chairs facing each other over a fold down table where he will lose for any younger Voidtrecker who takes him up on it, and most the rest depending;

to the spa carriage where, after prodding at the ICP, he finds the tutorial video for massages and tries to nab a buddy for him to learn on (yes, while clearly inebriated, but don't worry, it'll be fine), after which he'll think going into the pool is the best idea. Which is the last time he'll be in clothing, after making sure no one around is... around, or asking them if they care; sometime in soaking in the hot water he decides he wants to swim, and ends up dragon, the fox-sized form he takes on capable of swimming sinuously through.

At some point he drags himself out and beelines in the air, bouncing himself off walls, ceilings, just about anything, aiming for an eventual stop in the Garden carriage, hoping to swim in the lotus pool there. He's hot.

memorial construction (merriment 16-merriment 21)

Starting from Merriment 16 onward, Jingyi can be found working on using spiritual energy to carve words into a stone in the garden; or sitting and using a bench to work on calligraphy of an odd alphabet that looks pointedly like something untranslated, shown on his SCA. He's using a calligraphy brush and black ink on paper to make sure he has the form right.

Only after he's finished perfecting that does he return to the stone, taking time in the days after to channel spiritual energy through his calligraphy brush to "carve" those letters into its face. He's taking quite a lot of time, because this is not the ideal way to do this (as far as he knows), and the concentration it takes is enough he gets through a few letters then stands up to walk around and be physically active, before returning to his work.

The day he finishes, he brings the censer he ordered and sets the first incense alight. To those who recognise the scent, it's clearly sandalwood based. Pressing his hands together before him, he says, "May you find what it is you're looking for."

On the stone, now automatically translated for all to read, it says:

'What is past I cannot reach again, and what is to come I cannot keep.
The candle has a heart—it too hates parting. In our place, it sheds a tear at dawn.
Dedicated to the Missing and the Lost.
You are remembered.'

wildcard

Hit me up OOC for a starter, or tag in anywhere on train with your own! Roommates, feel free to hit him up for shenanigans.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No, no, no, no!"

Yes, those 'no's are getting louder and louder each time they're repeated, and it's coupled with shakes of his head - even while he's still forcibly blinding himself.

"There is nothing wrong with your music! It's fine-- you're both fine! I promise I won't tell anyone else about you guys' love affair!" Look, why else would two dudes sitting together in a spa half-naked while being dangerously close to cuddling and serenading, all at the same time?

After all, everyone knows that two dudes who are chilling in a hot tub must be five feet apart because they're not gay.

Jingyi, still hugging his qin, doesn't process quite as fast as either Taiki or Inigo speak. "No?"

No, his music was terrible? No, it wasn't? He figures out they both aren't insulting his music and he feels less like he's let down his entire clan by somehow being atonal when drunk, meaning he's at least hunching his shoulders less.

"You both like my music!" He beams, going from distressed to incandescently, disproportionately happy like that.

Only then he finally parses what Inigo's saying, and both eyebrows lift.

What the legitimate, actual—

"You... you think I'd secretly hold a love affair? Oh, Inigo. I'd sing it from the top of the train, loudly. Very loudly! Very... love... loud? With love. Lots of love. Annoyingly."

He shakes his head, slow because of his lack of sobriety, and he looks almost sorry for this concept Inigo has that Jingyi is somehow, magically, subtle. Or dating. Cripes, Inigo, you just turned him down like, less than a week ago! (He has no concept of time while drunk, just. Just saying.) Even if that was all in Inigo's perception too... He blinks, looking to Taiki with bleary eyes, and a sopping wet tail starting to flop around more energetically.

"Xiao Ki." He points, shifting his qin to one arm. Jingyi may indeed be starting to pout. "Haven't you told him about kirin and romance?"

It doesn't occur to Jingyi that perhaps no one else is point blank asking people about their romance culture, when clearly, more people should. It's a confusing mess out here on train.

Edited 2021-09-13 06:00 (UTC)

Inigo. Oh Inigo... Taiki looks down, quite embarrassed at Inigo's sudden claim even as Jingyi begins to loudly protest the concept of him keeping love secret. Taiki can see how Inigo might have come to the conclusion. Inigo had a very... Inigo concept of such things.

He stepped forward and then shook his head, a breeze of wind later and there is a kirin beast in the spa. It's a little cramped but at least now Inigo only had one half naked teenager to deal with.

"We've spoken of it before." He tells Jingyi softly, though never in such a direct way. Because no one has ever spoken to him so direct as Jingyi about such things, about anything.

"Inigo, it's alright. Lan Jingyi was just helping me because I was foolish and let my emotions get the better of me."

A sort of accurate explanation of what all of this was.

Don't worry, Inigo very well has an idea of why (casual) romance isn't really in the cards for either of these two present half-naked boys. For a variety of reasons. But that's exactly why he was saying it was a secret love affair, okay, that clearly makes it all make more sense.

But while that misunderstanding is being solved, and half of the nudity problem here too, it still isn't fully solved. The latter part, anyway. It's why Inigo is still looking through his fingers (yes, his hands are still on his face, just with the fingers now spread out) as he stares at the other two.

Or mostly Taiki. Get your unholy naked chest away from him, Jingyi.

".. What do you mean? You're never foolish."

Will someone tell the drunk guy what the problem is here, because he can't figure it out on his own, what with Inigo looking more and more like the kid caught peering through his fingers because he can't not look, even when he's scared of what he might see. Which to Jingyi, means he should look around for ghosts, as that's what he ever did that for growing up. Are there ghosts other than the half-ghosts onboard?

He starts to look back over his shoulder, but there's a whole qilin, no, kirin sharing space with him now, and he blinks at the sudden presence of Taiki in kirin form.

Also, like what Inigo says, only from a slightly different angle, he loosens his hold on his qin which has been preventing Inigo from seeing all his wonderful chest, okay, small mercies granted entirely by accident to frown at Taiki.

"Feeling isn't foolish. You're allowed to cry if that's how you feel, okay, I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Just like you can laugh or smile or get mad or whatever you feel and that's fine. This isn't a formal banquet hall, you're not on formal business, you're Xiao Ki, and I'm Jingyi, and he's Inigo, and—"

He loses track of what he was thinking and saying, instead looking back at Inigo.

"Why're you peering through your fingers, anyway?" Wet spa rat Jingyi has Questions.

He shook his head, wet mane shaking droplets of water across the spa floor as he looked at both Inigo and Lan Jingyi. He had been foolish, letting memories get the better of him, thinking of things best left in the past.

But there is still confusion in the spa, Inigo peeking through his fingers, Jingyi drunk, confused but not so upset anymore.

"I think Inigo is embarrassed." He spoke quietly, gently over his shoulder to Jingyi, as if explaining to someone much younger. "But he does not need to be."

He turns back to Inigo and nudges him with a wet nose.

.. oh no, he's getting a wet-nose-kirin-nudge.

At least that does make Inigo look a little bit more, slowly pulling the hands from his gaze.. but part of the reason as to why he can suddenly look more is that he's looking entirely at Taiki right now, and not at Jingyi's magnificent man nips over there.

And that, in turn, at least keeps him from freaking out enough to properly explain too.

"Y-Yes, of course I'm embarrassed! Both of you are-- were.. are naked!"

.. maybe not entirely naked. But considering the sheer amount of skin being shown here, the nakedness might as well be complete in Inigo's mind.

Ah, bless, the confusion is addressed. Somewhat. After a whole, "You came by the bathing place and expected people to be clothed?"

Not accusatorily, Jingyi sounds entirely confused. Not to mention they'd started out massaging, would Inigo have been shrieking then, too? Is he allergic to nipple reveals?! Do backs and shoulders send him into fits?

It's slower processing that everyone has different sorts of modesty, and most of what Jingyi does when that thought appears to register is go, "Oooooooh. Got it." He tosses his qin back and to the side, sending it into his resting qiankun pouch and then shifting form without fanfare. Cue the silver light, and the intensifying of it as he goes from full adult human to tiny, wee dragon.

That hits the ground with an audible thump, mostly trapped in his sopping wet trousers.

"Nooooo I'm trapped!"

There is now a drunk tiny dragon attempting to roll and wrestle his way out of sopping wet pants. So far, the pants are winning.

"Ah." Of course Jingyi doesn't quite understand. Even Taiki is not as comfortable with nudity as Jingyi is and Inigo is not someone who loses his clothes due to shape shifting. Inigo of course would worry about such things, because he is Inigio.

But Taiki is relieved when Jingyi transforms, because that would be better for Inigo. Except then...

Jingyi is stuck. Taiki turns to him and tries to help, trying to take the trousers in his mouth to pull them off Jingyi, looking at Inigo...

They might need someone with hands...

Look what a comedy scene this has turned into. Jingyi, all curled up in his wet pants, and then Taiki truly to uselessly get him out of there while only having horse parts available to do the trick..

The only upside in the middle of all this chaos is the fact that Inigo can normally look around again, now he doesn't have to worry about seeing any accidental skin reveals. So it's not too much of a problem to walk over to the pants and gently pull the small dragon out of them, pulling it up and holding it. There, there, Jingyi. It's okay. You're free now.

".. Sorry to make the two of you transform for my sake," he at least says. At least Inigo has the decency to say that much, because he knows that this entire situation is his fault.

Jingyi dangles like a very damp noodle in Inigo's hands, giving him a baleful look, then an aggrieved one, tail lashing side to side below him.

"You never mentioned your modesty concerns." This clearly comes up in idle conversation. Clearly! "And why do you keep cursing my love life?"

He asks this, then cranes his neck around to look at Taiki.

"That's what he's doing, right? Claiming I want all the people who don't want me. That's a curse!"

His head flops down as Inigo gets full limp dragon weight. "At least chicken won't betray me. Chicken... I wonder if we have any..."

He perks up, tucking his paws up against his chest. "Do you think the kitchen has leftovers?"

Good luck keeping him on one mental track at all right now.

"I don't think Inigo is meaning to curse you." Inigo is far too sweet to be the kind to curse anyone.

This is just... cultural misunderstandings. Though he didn't know if Inigo had assumed Jingyi in a relationship before.

And then chicken? A chicken? Who wouldn't betray him.

It takes a moment to realise he's talking about eating chicken, which is a lot more sad than the idea the dragon had a chicken friend...

He looks at Inigo, who is far more likely to know the state of meat-based leftovers than Taiki is.

".. let's just go over to the kitchen," Inigo says as he turns towards Taiki. He doesn't think there's chicken at the moment, but.. there's at least other meat, and maybe they can just pass that off as chicken to Jingyi. Inigo might be catching on slowly as to what's going on with Jingyi, and he's pretty sure the other might not realise the difference in his current state.

And nothing else might calm down this angry little noodle dragon he's holding right now. "Are you going to manage that?"

That last part is mostly aimed at Taiki. He's not sure if he's going to be able to move over there as a kirin, not even if they use the transgates to not have to walk the entire way there.

.. but he still can't help but look down at the noodle dragon for a moment, just to add: "Besides, who says I didn't want you, huh? I said that I was already crushing on someone else! That's a difference!"

(Thankfully he can say that in the presence of Taiki, considering these are the exact two who have found out about his dumb secret crush in the first place.)

It's fine, they'll learn when they get there Jingyi is in fact very discerning about chicken... for a vegetarian. His head swivels to Taiki when Taiki speaks, then back to Inigo when Inigo speaks, blinking large, dark amber eyes.

"Inigo would never mean to curse anyone, except himself, on accident, to spare someone else, I bet. Right, Inigo?"

He turns his head back to Inigo to ask his nonsensical question. He has no idea what he's being asked to manage, but he nods anyway, because he thinks it has to do with chicken. (He's not actually being asked if he can manage anything. He just can't suss that's for Taiki to answer.) He's also trying to squirm closer to Inigo's chest, mostly with the hairbrained plan to drape over his neck.

"Noooo, it's the same thing," he says, at this point lifting his tail to try and wind it around Inigo's arm. This is not going to help Project Neck Draping, but he's also not thinking about that at the moment. "Don't want is don't want, good to be clear, clear is good, like water, and glass, and snow." He pauses, physically and mentally, to ask, tone very curious, "Is snow clear?" At present, he cannot remember.

It was true. Taiki knew about Inigo's crush. But he hadn't known that he had told Jingyi he isn't like him. Did Jingyi like Inigo like that? Why were humans (and dragons) so complicated? Or was it just the friends he had made?

"Um... If you two go ahead I can change back and catch up."

Rather than subject Inigo to more nudity. It wouldn't take long, and it would mean he wouldn't have to try and get through the train carriages in his kirin form, which was always difficult.

He leaves Inigo to answer the question about snow.

.. Jingyi, please. This is going much too far. Maybe some sort of intervention is needed, but Inigo is at present much too busy trying to juggle two of his animal form friends. Which means he glances back at Taiki first, nodding at him.

"I'll just wait outside of the spa with him for a moment until you're ready to come with us, so don't worry about it." The last thing he wants to do is rush Taiki - especially when he still feels a little bad about how emotional the other looked earlier.

So Inigo does as he says, moving out of the spa, standing out there while still holding Jingyi - though letting the little dragon crawl wherever he wants, pretty much. Even if it means that Inigo is currently being used as a jungle gym. ".. Are you sure you're alright?"

This time it's aimed at Jingyi.

You don't seem alright, dude. What's this about snow?!

Ah, yes, Jingyi doing his best to reverse wind his way up Inigo's arm to his shoulder. He does literally wind himself around his arm, though it's all still awkward to watch. The only blessing is how careful he is with his talons, which in turn is in part why he's moving slowly, determinedly, and still wet. At least he smells nice? Like clean air and a touch of petrichor. He's mildly confused when Taiki is not immediately there, but then he's being asked a question, and it's all fine, just fine.

"I'm fine," he says, making it almost singsong, and he pauses once he's backed up enough of Inigo's arm to have his hind legs on his shoulder. (We're so sorry, Inigo.) Turning his head and arching his neck toward his friend's face, he repeats his question:

"Are snowflakes clear?"

Crystals are, Jingyi, and really so are the flakes, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe one day they can be amazed watching snowflakes and ice crystals form.

The sad truth is there's not even enough alcohol in him for him to smell like he's had much, unless one has a sensitive nose, or he starts exhaling up their nostrils. Thankfully, Jingyi is not prone to such.

Though if Inigo doesn't move his face back, Jingyi has just enough reach to press a warm, velvet-soft, surprisingly not wet nose against his own in an unannounced boop.

Once they have left the spa Taiki transforms again, finding his original clothes, that aren't soaking wet from being dumped in the tub and pulling them on. He took the time also to wash his face to get rid of the remnants of tears.

Inigo had told him not to rush but he didn't want to take too long, especially since who knew what could happen with Jingyi and Inigo?

Jingyi is so not okay.

No matter what the other is trying to tell him right now, that fact is very much clear to Inigo. This is so not how Jingyi usually acts! Sure, the other is direct, but this is such a weird, cheery version of it. It's just too happy-go-lucky to be like Jingyi, and the way the dragon seems to be climbing up him is just a little too forward too..

.. all the way until that sudden noseboop, making Inigo's cheeks turn faintly pink. Dude! You have to warn him about these things, okay!

"Uh.." And then there's still that odd question. Does he look like a scientist? Does it even really matter?! "They probably are clear from up close enough.."

Because ice is clear too? Inigo figures? AGAIN, he has no idea! He's too dumb for this!

But he's being a good boy all the same, patiently answering Jingyi's odd, odd questions while waiting for Taiki out here.

Taiki gets to walk out and witness Jingyi actively draping himself around Inigo's neck... tail first. (We're so sorry, Inigo.) He's also pretty pleased with that answer, because it totally makes sense to him in his present state.

His very impulsive, over-friendly, mind-all-over-the-place state.

"Xiao Ki! You're here!" His tail gives a happy wag, and he lifts his head to bob it in equal pleasure. He barely has to turn his head to... bop his nose against Inigo's cheek, giving an imperious little, "Light pink looks better," he says, apropos of the faint blush but also because his eyes are looking right there, and then he adds, "Xiao Night, we can head to the kitchens now!"

Then waits, as damp deadweight around his friend's neck, looking expectantly between Inigo and Taiki.

He takes in the scene, looking between Inigo, who is now blushing, and the dragon around his neck.

"Yes... Um are you okay Inigo? Would you like me to carry Lan Jingyi?"

He has no doubt his friend can manage the weight of a small dragon, but maybe not his... behaviour. That might be too much for Inigo considering he's already flustered.

And this is all sort of his fault to begin with, getting upset leading to... all of this.

"No.. I'm fine.."

Which is clearly a very convincing answer. Obviously. Just the way his voice trails off is so confidence-inspiring, and the way he's using a tone that makes it sound like his soul is busy leaving his body only makes it even more clear that Inigo is just having the time of his life over here.

It's fine, Taiki. He's fine. Clearly. Obviously.

(Please help him.)

"Let's just quickly use the transgate to get to the kitchen."

So he can maybe put Jingyi down somewhere.

Edited 2021-09-22 20:36 (UTC)

Taiki, save Inigo. Save him. Especially since Jingyi, not helpfully, notes, "You smell nice," which is his opinion about Taiki too, and probably anyone who doesn't walk through smelling like smoke or murder.

So, hopefully, most the train at present for the murder, and still most the train for smoke.

Help Inigo, Taiki. At least Jingyi will offer zero resistance and instead either curl up in Taiki's arms or try to wind his way around his neck like a damp, scaly-furry scarf that nuzzles at his hair.

"It's okay." He puts his arm on Inigo's with a smile and then brings his other arm to scoop the small dragon off him, letting him crawl up him instead. "I carried Lan Jingyi before, he's not too heavy for me."

As if that was anywhere near the problem at the moment. His hand moves down Inigo's arm to hold his hand, reassuringly.

"Yes let's go through the gate to get their quickly." One friend in hand, another friend curled around him like a scarf. This is all normal...

Thank Naga for Taiki. Where would Inigo be without this boy?

(Stuck with a needy dragon clinging to his neck and embarrassing him, that's where.)

And while he's a little worried about Taiki potentially getting embarrassed by Jingyi too, he doesn't stop the other from taking the dragon from him like that. Especially when he's being rewarded with getting a hand to hold, which is how Inigo knows he's being a good boy. He doesn't get the hand if he's not being a good boy!

So rather than whining about it, he just moves over to the transgate, gently dragging Taiki - and therefore Jingyi - along by the hand to transport them over to the kitchen.

"Please be nice to Taiki while he's being kind enough to carry you, Jingyi."

Read: DO NOT EMBARRASS THE SOFT BOY, PLEASE... He doesn't even think Jingyi would be mean or ungrateful, more just that Jingyi could be.. weird. While he's like this, anyway.

( open ) i am so high, i can hear heaven

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