Huddled together with his friend, he peered down at the various wares the stalls we had to offer.
“An instrument, maybe. I quite enjoyed the duets we had together last time.”
“Hm…” His hand settled on a scarf, “Perhaps I should get something for Asder Ilsdor as well.”
"Can you even play an instrument?"
That statement was said in playful jest. A lopsided smirk on his normally scowling face.
The aforementioned friend craned his neck, taking a peek at some of the other goods they had on display, then at the scarf in hand.
"That would look terrible on him. Not like a pretty scarf would do his sorry appearance any good, anyway."
His finger landed on a small vial.
"I wish to poison him."(edited)
“We need him alive, for the sake of pursuing our jobs.”
His tone remained light.
“So as long as it isn’t deadly…”
“But, my friend,” He squinted down, “I believe that is perfume.”
“And even if I can not play, there is still room to learn!”
He grabbed ahold of a flute.
“Let’s see what everyone else thinks of my instrumental skill, then.”
“Thank you, I’ll be borrowing this for a bit.”
With that, he turned to the nearest stranger.
“Pardon me, may I borrow a moment of your time?”(edited)
Fan Wujiu blinked.
He took a look at the vial.
Then at his friend, who had turned his attention to someone new.
He smashed the vial onto a nearby table before walking off.
Hmph. Even perfume can be used as poison when discreetly slipped into food!
"Anything less than vehement agreement will be considered as evil in the eyes of Yanluo Wang. Choose your next words wisely."
Kokonhad slipped to the festival stalls to do some much needed shopping. Why? Friends. Fiance. Otōto. Mangonada...
And the deadline of that jolly holiday was looming overhead like the Old Man after a long day.. She shuddered, bouncing on the balls of her feet before her attention was turned elsewhere, namely to Xie Bi'an.She blinked. "Huh? Oh, sure, how can I help?"
She was oblivious to the prior conversation between the pair.
“I am in need of a judge for my flute playing skills, you see.”
He procured the flute.
“I have just started learning, hm…”
He glanced back at the stall, shooting a smile at the staff member manning it. Don’t sorry, good sir, it shall be returned!
“One minute ago.”
“Would you care to listen?”
"Ooh, a flute?" she nodded her head, setting down the trinket she had been holding so that he had her full attention.
"I dunno that I'm the best judge, but I'm more than happy to listen," Her head nodded, hands tucking into the pocket of the overly large hoody she was wearing.@felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳@squire | Sa, Wo, PF, XB, Ot
A deep breath.
The flute playing… was…
It could be better. His beginner skill was obvious. It wasn’t terrible, at least.
“Well? What do you think?”
@Koko/🐵/VH/💣/💀@felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳
A first performance? She looked impressed to be considered, genuinely, and nodded to Wujiu before her attention focused back fully on Xie Bi'an.
Everyone had tonstart somewhere, but she looked like she enjoyed the performance despite his beginner skill. She'd even stopped bouncing, holding still as she listened to him play.
"That was a very nice first performance, and if you have more performances I'd love to hear them," She nodded, more to herself than either of them. She couldn't play a flute, and her beatboxing, she'd been told, was obnoxious. So.
His already there smile widened.
“Is that so? That’s lovely to hear. Thank you very much. Perhaps I will pursue more performances. And you shall be one of the first to receive the invitation.”
His attention shifted from a moment, as he passed the flute to Wujiu.
“Go ahead then, my friend! I’m excited to listen to whatever you play.”
She matched the smile and then some, back to bouncing as she couldn't keep still.
"Double performances? Double honor, if you're alright with me listenin' in, that is,"
Koko still looked impressed.
"That was a lovely performance as well!"
The bad news was, now she wanted to try, and it was doubtful her own flute skills would be as tolerable. But oh, the longing look at that flute.. she did enjoy music.. but unless it was beatboxing or drums, she was usually out of luck.
"Do you two play any other instruments?"
The two were well acquanted with a variety of instruments, of course! The Heibai Wuchang, although known for blessing those who come across them, were also well known for how mischievous they could be, especially in their punishments.
And retribution requires very specific instruments to dole out.
"Instruments of torture, yes."
“Oh, I think it’s perfectly fine.”
Bi’an fell completely silent in response to Wujiu’s performance. His smile even faded.
Suddenly, and loudly, he burst into thunderous applause. He too, teared up.
“Bravo! Bravo! As expected of my dear friend!”
He caught the longing look.
“Would you like to try as well?” He asked her.
With his sweet face and tone, perhaps it was easier to associate Wujiu with torture than him.
Oh she'd seen plenty of faces that she associated with torture, or knew to, and the sweet faces were usually the worse ones. She'd settled for middle of the road praise, lest she get raked over the coals for lying, or be accused of lying.
But she didn't seem bothered by Wujia's preferred instruments. "Super skilled, huh? Favorite instrument then?" A general inquery, one with mild curiosity.
"I would but I am very not skilled with non-percussion instruments, so I doubt it would be a pleasant kinda addition to y'all's performances."
“I would appreciate any addition!” Bi’an insisted, “If you’d like to try it out, then you should go ahead!”
“My friend, let her try out the flute.”
He assumed the favorite instrument question was directed at his friend, so he didn’t reply. Instead, he waited for his friend’s response with a smile.
"The pot. We reserve that for the nastiest of evildoers. For boiling purposes."
At the mention of his favorite instrument, a very slight, almost invisible smile appeared on his face.
He passed the flute to this new stranger. No complaints this time around. Her interest in his hobbies seemed to have lightened him up a little bit!
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, but took the flute when offered. So be it... hooboy.. Kami help her..
"The pot?" She echoed, clearly stalling to work up her nerves. "Oil, water, broth?"
She looked to Bi'an, "What about you? Favorite instrument of any kind?" Not just torture, but torture was an art.
And then she took a breath.
“Ah?” His favorite?
He tilted his head.
“I like whatever my friend likes. I prefer oil to water, though.”
A laugh. What was so funny? Who knew.
Regardless, he settled down, listening to her performance.
“Indeed. That is quite good for a beginner! It seems… just like how you’d attend ours again, I would certainly attend yours again as well.”
“Thank you for allowing us to listen.”
He applauded.
“May I know your name?”
"Water and oil, it's the same to me. Boiling concludes with the same effect."
This one laughs as well. But it is more akin to a snort than anything. And his amused expression remained as he observed the stranger's performance.
He enjoyed it. He wouldn't admit it, though.
"My friend performed better." A deep breath. "...But if he enjoyed it, then I suppose it was... acceptable. For a beginner, that is."
He waited for her to state her name, though it wasn't as though he'd use it anyway.
She nodded, like both their answers made sense. "Toss the heat more and you can fry someone,"
She passed the flute back to Bi'an, "He sure did, and you did better than me, but thanks. Beginners luck and whatnot but," she inhaled, her cheeks puffing a little bit.
"Oh oh right, 'm Moriko, but everyone calls me Koko." She bowed politely to the two of them, oddly out of habit for her, but Chaldea stuff was weird, and she was getting into the habit of erring on the slightly more formal side of things.
"Nice to meet you both,"
@squire | Sa, Wo, PF, XB, Ot@felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳
Frying was good. So was grilling. Wujiu started to think he might have to change his answer from the pot to the grill.
"Hm. A pleasure."
The tone he used implied that he felt the opposite, and the fact that he didn't call her by her name was further proof of that.
He waited on his friend to see if he would like to introduce them both. Wujiu didn't like introductions unless they were absolutely necessary.
"It is nice to meet you as well, Moriko," Xie Bi'an caught the flute with ease, "And a pleasure to have listened to you, regardless."
He did not often refer to others as anything other than their full name, so instead, he settled on the entirety of her first. It was his natural instinct, to remain politely distant. If she insisted, he most likely would comply.
He returned the bow, the flute loose in his grasp.
"We are both Ruler, but you may refer to me as White and him as Black in order to distinguish us."
@Koko/🐵/VH/💣/💀@felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳
She caught the tone in Black's voice and the implication and wasn't unfamiliar with the sentiment. Her eyes gave away the turmoil behind them briefly at the memories that tone stoked, but it was gone after that moment.
"Ooh.. I don't think I've met a Ruler before.." She thought on it for a moment before she pulled out two wrapped sweets, red bean paste filled Daifuku, offering them out the them both. She wouldn't be offended if they didn't take them and half expected neither to want it.
"Nice to have names to put with the faces, but I've probably imposed on y'all's time too much. I'm sure there's things ya wanna get back to," most days she may have stuck around, made herself a cheery thorn in their sides, but there was so much to see here and pick through and she'd hardly scratched the surface..
@felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳@squire | Sa, Wo, PF, XB, Ot
Sweets. Daifuku, to be more precise. The Heibai Wuchang frequently received such delicacies as offerings for good luck, but to taste be able to taste one as he did back when he was a human...
When was the last time he was able to enjoy such a simple joy?
Wujiu hesitated before reaching out and taking a piece, letting out a soft 'hmph' in thanks.
"Correct. We have only inspected a third of the available stalls, and I haven't found a suitable gift."
For who? He didn't say. It was meant to be a surprise! But the answer was obvious enough, even if Wujiu, himself, didn't realize it.
“On the contrary,” The faintest of wrinkles between his brows, “It was us who imposed on you.”
The daifuku was accepted. One blink, and it was already good. Xie Bi’an stood there as if he hadn’t moved at all, smile still in place.
“Thank you,” He pocketed the flute in order to brush crumbs off his hands, “Red bean is one of my favorites.”
A glance to Wujiu, and another glance back to the stalls.
“But it seems it’s time for us to go our separate ways regardless.”
He already knew who he was shopping for and what he was getting, perhaps.
He clasped his hands and inclined his head.
“I wish you luck with your shopping.”
Following suit, the daifuku in Wujiu's hand disappeared as well, the only evidence of its existence being the smear of red bean on his bottom lip.
"Your offering is accepted, Yaoguai. Expect blessings to come."
This one only turned away, averting his attention back to the stalls.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle as both of them seemed to enjoy the simple treats, and she nodded, bowing to them once again.
"Maybe we'll cross paths again, good luck with your shopping,"
She knew who she was shopping for, but alwways got so anxious oicking out gifts.. but either way. "Merry shopping!"
And with that, she was back on her beat, moving to another stall to pick over the offerings.
( @felice | 🥜/🧓/👮🏻/🤺/💳@squire | Sa, Wo, PF, XB, Ot thanknyou for the threeeeaaaad)
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