Leaving Behind The Storms If The Past

[cursedsaber]

WHO: Nie Mingjue & Xiao Xingchen
WHAT: After managing to settle into Elipsa, Mingjue is offered to visit Xiao Xingchen to continue catching up.
WHEN: During the January Events
WHERE: Xiao Xingchens' cottage in Frostreign
WARNINGS: For now, just soft talks and cuddles to emotionally Ridgid men. May escalate and will update as it does so– Mingjue has some very important news that he still needs to tell Xingchen.



Years of hopping between worlds and fractured dimensions hadn’t made Mingjue any more accustomed to the jarring inconsistencies of time and identity. Comparing this version of Xingchen to the one from home—or the one he knew intimately in Reparacija—was a dizzying exercise that usually ended in a headache. ​Despite the mental strain, he was determined to bridge the gap and share what he knew.

After settling into his Nightwake apartment and finally mastering his "sword-phone" (because he had discovered that cell phones could be changed to any size and shape on pleases, and, of course, he had decided to turn it into a second sword), Mingjue reached out. To his relief, Xingchen’s home in Frostreign was accessible; Mingjue knew the snowy terrain well from his time exploring during the festival of the dead. ​Navigating via teleportation nodule and his trusty saber, Baxia, he made the short journey across the seasonal segments. Arriving at the designated coordinates, he hopped down from his blade and gave the door a sturdy, resolute knock.

Comments

[gentledawn]

His cabin is cozy, settled a short distance from his clinic. There is a small stable out front for Xingchen's furry horse - a well-heated shelter! Mingjue will likely hear the mare whickering now and then, having a soft conversation with what sounds like a pony. Xingchen would never leave her in there alone!

Barefoot, his hair loose from its usual ornamentations, Xingchen answers the knock at the door. Upon seeing Mingjue, he beams and steps back, opening the door wider.

"Please come inside. Shuanghua can keep Baxia company if you like." the bright sword is near the door, perpetually on guard, "I hope the journey wasn't too trying. There are naughty spirits in the trees."

[cursedsaber]

"Nothing troublesome about it," Mingjue's expression was as stoic as ever as Xingchen answered the door. His dark, serious eyes focused curiously on the casual dress of the other cultivator. He had been used to seeing the gentle man in such a casual state, but that was the other Xingchen, the one from the other world. So he was surprised that this Xingchen was willing to appear so casually before him, even though this was technically only their second time crossing paths.

Nonetheless, Mingjue nodded, letting out a soft mumble, as, almost on cue, Baxia lifted from his back and flew on its own to a proper space beside Shuanghua. Taking his own turn to step inside, he looked around curiously. "Do you and Xue Yang both live here?"

And the other one, how did Xingchen describe it to Mingjue when they first crossed paths? "And the god as well?"

[gentledawn]

He has embraced a more casual lifestyle in Ellipsa, that's true! Xiao Xingchen hadn't imagined himself settling down anytime soon and yet this cabin has been a blessing. He has a home and he doesn't want to lose it or exchange it for anything.

Except for maybe more time with Zichen.

A Fairy Dog or two will come to check out Mingjue - either flying or using their paws - but they have impeccable manners.

"We do. His name is Runyu." Xingchen walks to the table where he has prepared tea for Mingjue, "This is our home. If you see a small white deer, he is a Dream Beast. You needn't fear him; he is Runyu's companion." he pours the other man a steaming cup of tea and offers it to him, "You are welcome here."

[cursedsaber]

"'Runyu'," Nie Mingjue repeated back the name, doing his best to commit it to memory should he ever come across him, before nodding his head in response to the offer for tea. It was all so much, the large beautiful home, the strange frolicking pets, he had thought with all his years hopping between realms that he had grown accustomed to strange things happening casually. But there was something different about this world that the other two didn't have, something far more off-putting than anything else. A sense of comfort and peace.

So many people Nie Mingjue encountered seemed genuinely happy living in this realm. And so he sat down, taking the offered cup while bowing his head politely, sipping at it slowly, and relaxing his shoulders before finally deciding to speak up. "It seems like you've made quite a nice life for yourself."