november catch-all [open]

[reflexio]

WHO: (reflexio) & you!!
WHAT: November catch-all and obligatory "where tf am I" log
WHERE: Everywhere (Welcome Diner, your an apartment, city park, etc.)
WHEN: Early November
WARNINGS: adjusted as needed






a. diner.

[ Wandering about proves to be fruitless. Instead, Yi Sang retraces his steps to the station.

Only then does he notice the flyers with their bold headlines. "LOST? NEW?" Yes, those two adjectives certainly describe him. He glances at the message posted on the flyer, memorizes the directions printed on it, and follows them to --

He inspects the building before him. Definitely a diner, though he's not sure what he'd expected given the flyer's notation of "The Welcome Diner."

It's difficult to tell whether anyone's inside, but the restaurant gives off a warm vibe. It's just enough of a nudge to encourage him into pushing the door open. After all, a lead is a lead.

...something warm to eat would be nice too. ]

Excuse me. Is this The Welcome Diner?

[ The flyers said it would be The Welcome Diner. The sign outside also reads "THE WELCOME DINER." Ergo, this must be The Welcome Diner, but one can never be too cautious given the bizarre city. ]


b. your an apartment.

[ The first door he'd opened revealed an empty living room. Its white walls and freshly-vacuumed floor are welcoming, but there's something terribly unsettling about the empty room too.

Yi Sang shuts the door to avoid thinking about it too hard.

He leaves the building and tries the one next to it. Just like the previous apartment complex, there's no trace of a soul in the lobby. He wanders to one of its doors, slowly turning the door knob and it's... unlocked?

Perhaps there has been no need to install locks on these apartment doors.

He steps into the living room and, immediately, it's apparent someone lives here, or at the very least, someone had lived here. Should he have knocked? Well, too late for that. He spies a picture frame on the coffee table, lifting it into his hands. There's... nothing in it. Odd.

Something shifts behind him. The sudden noise catches Yi Sang off guard, picture frame slipping through his fingers and shattering on the hardwood floor. ]

...my apologies. The door was unlocked.

[ Which isn't really a proper excuse, but it's the truth. ]

... Do you live here?


c. city park.

[ The expanse of lush green feels a bit out of place compared to all the buildings Yi Sang passed on his way here. And despite all the life contained within the flora, the lack of birds chirping is troubling.

Nevertheless, he's developed an affinity for the park over the past few days. It's peaceful for the most part, allowing him to recount what he's discovered so far: City Hall's record rooms? Empty. Tourist Center? Nothing of note. Greenhouse at the poison garden? Bad. Stuffed full of carnivorous plants.

A bound notebook lies open in his lap, a pen resting in its spine to mark his spot. Yi Sang uses one of his hands to keep the notebook flat. The other one, bandaged a bit haphazardly, rests in his lap.

Perhaps if one were to yell, he would lift his head to see who is calling for him. Otherwise, he appears deep in thought, a pensive frown on his face. ]


d. wildcard.

[ if none of these work, feel free to hmu for something more tailored! A PM is good or you can lmk here o7 ]

Comments

[yyds]

[ oh, hong lu thinks.

it's true that death doesn't mean much to them. or it ought not. both hong lu and yi sang have come back so many times from the dead that it is merely another part of their job. hong lu thinks it's rather fun, to be honest. there's the pain, and the novelty of it, of seeing what new creative ways someone can crack him open and set him free. but he and yi sang are not fighting, not each other, not a peril beyond measure. it is merely a tower and a fall, and an entire waterfall's worth of hair.

but yi sang would catch him knowing that he'd die.

it's yi sang who is in motion first, for once. he is at the window, and looks back to hong lu. hong lu feels warm. his cheeks are warm, he thinks. ]

Okay. [ hong lu says, and walks to the ledge. he looks to yi sang for a moment first, as if committing the sight of him to memory. it's yi sang, framed by the window. the world outside looks boring, and bleak. but yi sang's image at the window is worth looking at; it gives value to that world. ]

Then, let me lower you down, first.

[ hong lu pulls at his hair. it's heavy, but nothing is too heavy for hong lu to move. he finds the end of it, and holds it out to yi sang. ] Don't lose your grip. If you die, I'd rather it be from catching me, than from dropping down the tower.

[reflexio]

[ It will take both of their efforts to succeed in this mission. While Yi Sang had asked whether Hong Lu believed he would catch him, it also requires Yi Sang to trust that Hong Lu will not suddenly let go of his hair and allow him to go careening towards the ground.

Yi Sang nods and takes the end of Hong Lu's hair in his hands. He holds it carefully because, even if he's about to use it like a common twist of rope, it's still a part of Hong Lu. As a result, it should be handled with care.

He grasps the thick strands in his hand and winds it around that hand before grabbing onto the rest with his other hand. Briefly, he wonders if this experience is painful to Hong Lu, and if that's the case, he will have to work expeditiously. ]

Then let us begin.

[ Yi Sang takes a seat on the windowsill before shifting both his legs out the window. He maintains his grip on Hong Lu's hair as he places both soles of his shoes against the side of the tower, allowing him to stand perpendicular to it.

He gazes up at Hong Lu and offers him another nod, prepared to be lowered to the ground. ]

[yyds]

[ yi sang holds his hair with care. he shifts both legs out of the window. hong lu waits until he is looking back. for a moment, hong lu realises it, the depth of this trust. or is it trust? is it that yi sang doesn't have a choice? but even in a scenario where someone doesn't have a choice to trust, they still must make that choice to trust - and perhaps that is where there is no difference between the real and the unreal. to live with the real, you must make the unreal real.

but yi sang is looking at him. hong lu smiles. he begins to let down his hair.

it's easier work than it looks, really. yi sang isn't heavy, and hong lu's hair is manageable. hong lu lets down length of it by length until he gauges that yi sang has touched the ground. ]

Are you ready to catch me now? [ hong lu calls down. ] If you're tired, I can give you a moment to rest and catch your breath!

[reflexio]

[ Slowly but surely, Hong Lu lowers his hair. He maintains a steady pace, allowing Yi Sang to walk carefully down the side of the tower, until his feet have touched the grass. Only when both of his feet are planted firmly on the floor does Yi Sang let go of Hong Lu's hair, letting out a sigh of relief. How precarious, to be suspended in midair by nothing more than a person's hair, relying on his own grip strength to ensure he didn't go careening down to his death.

Yi Sang takes Hong Lu's offer, taking that moment to do precisely that. He hadn't noticed his heart racing from the earlier ordeal. Eventually, it evens out, and Yi Sang gazes up towards the top of the tower. Hong Lu's window is so high up. Yi Sang can barely see him, but he knows he must be there because he can hear Hong Lu's voice.

He holds his arms out and nods, even though Hong Lu likely cannot see that gesture. ]

I am ready. You may jump whenever you are prepared.

[ And he will do his absolute best to catch him. ]

[yyds]

[ yi sang leaves the coil of hong lu's hair. hong lu watches him disembark. it's a bit sad, hong lu thinks, to see yi sang stand there beneath the tower. what if yi sang walks away, and never looks back? or what if hong lu never leaps? the two of them would forever be separated by this unmeasured distance, though hong lu isn't certain why that would be sad, or why he would feel that way. the world has always been at a distance, for hong lu. only the day that hong lu stepped on that bus did that world come just a fraction closer.

yi sang holds out his arms. hong lu looks at him do so. he is like a bird, hong lu suddenly thinks, with his wings outstretched. hong lu wants to say so. but yi sang is too far away.

if the world won't come to hong lu, hong lu thinks, then hong lu will go to the world. ]

Alright! [ hong lu calls down, and grins. if he dies, then he will die while flying to yi sang's wings. ] Make sure you catch me, okay?

[ hong lu steps onto the ledge. with a laugh, he jumps.

at first, the coil of hair is like a leash. the weight of it drags behind hong lu much in the way of something meant to chain. perhaps, hong lu suddenly thinks for just a heartbeat of a moment, the hair will drag him back, and he will be sucked back into that boring little room with nothing but the open window to keep him company. but hong lu looked down at yi sang's spread wings, and suddenly, the act of falling isn't a passive act so much as it becomes an act of reaching.

as if a spell were broken in motion, hong lu's hair dissolves behind him. dark, fragments of flitting, fractal stars spin out into the air in glimmering shards as he flies, an entire galaxy peeling away to leave behind just hong lu's silhouette in his red qipao and the flutter of long, silken sleeves. hong lu's reach had been true. it's simply hong lu and his hong lu-length hair that careens into yi sang's waiting arms. ]

[reflexio]

[ It's one thing for Yi Sang to say he will catch Hong Lu and another thing for him to actually do that. But it's too late to turn back, given that Hong Lu's already leaping out the tower's open window.

Yi Sang's too far down to see what exactly has occurred, but he sees the dark mane of Hong Lu's hair, the way it streams behind him like a banner before suddenly dissipating into the air. And then comes Hong Lu's silhouette slowly taking shape as he falls closer, closer, the red and black dot manifesting into an entire person --

Yi Sang doesn't remember catching Hong Lu. He does, however, remember the force of Hong Lu slamming into him. He must have caught Hong Lu, though "caught" is a generous description, given that Yi Sang's toppled over with Hong Lu on top of him. But his arms are wrapped around Hong Lu, so perhaps he's succeeded in his task.

He coughs, blinking as he recovers from the ordeal. With arms still wrapped around Hong Lu, he says: ]

I believe this qualifies as some manner of success.

[yyds]

[ yi sang catches hong lu.

what happens after is of no consequence. the world could end and the seas rend, or, more realistically, hong lu thinks, yi sang would die crumpled under hong lu's weight and hong lu's brain will be spilt across the grass, and they'll likely need to redo this story all over again. but hong lu doesn't think any of those things are terrible if they came to pass, because if he had to do it over again, he would choose to do the exact same thing. yi sang's arms are warm around him. hong lu's hairtie had dissipated on his way down; his black hair spills down much in the way of an endless waterfall, replete with the student stars of a faraway night sky.

hong lu is smiling. the flush is high on his cheeks. he says, ]

You caught me, Yi Sang. That is success, right?

[ around them, the world has begun to dissolve. the story is over. the book will shut soon. but hong lu only has attention for the man beneath him. ]

Thank you, for catching me.

[reflexio]

[ Well, neither of them are dead, Yi Sang thinks, and his arms are wrapped around Hong Lu too. It's about as close to success that he'll get. Given the fact that Hong Lu's tower is beginning to crumble behind them, stone walls trembling, the book must deem this a success as well.

And though he's already caught Hong Lu, Yi Sang's arms remain wrapped around Hong Lu. Hong Lu may be free of his tower, but perhaps he'd simply leapt from one form of confinement to another. ]

Of course.

[ Yi Sang says this readily, as though it were a simple statement of fact. ]

You leapt with faith in me. It is only right that I meet that faith to the best of my abilities.

[ This tower is not made of stone, and instead, remains ever earnest.

More of the world around them disintegrates into thin air, as it is a world that was not meant to be, not meant to stay. And though more of the world begins to disappear, Yi Sang stays on the floor with Hong Lu in his arms. It isn't quite clear where the book will place them, but he finds he is unafraid of that unknown.

After all, wherever one leaps next, the other will surely be there to catch him. ]