onceuponacomm | CHAPTER 5

Almost half of the non-fairy population of Aira Niluc is gone.

Some may be feeling the absence of their fellow participants in this story. Others will stay focused on the wish they want to get. What never changes is that the story goes on, bringing you closer to the end -- and to another chapter. What will it bring this time?

Snow!

Snow as far as the eye can see, a cold blanket covering the new area. Some winter amenities are now available, ready for perusal! But that's not all there's to find: everyone also will find reminders of their homes, of people they know, of happier times.

Of their wishes.

Who will try to reach their wish this time?

[[Welcome to Week 5! Feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. However, please try to keep investigations to Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday! You can also privately contact Hamelin at your leisure.

In addition, a reminder that any Murder Proposals for this week are due by Tuesday 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST! However, please note that you have the option of submitting murder proposals for a later week as well.]]

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[ ...Oh no. ]

Yes, you should. But, one more thing before you do...

[ Huaisang will just remove one of his scarves and then reach up, trying to put it around McGillis. Though the height difference is rather notable so there's maybe some standing on tippytoes as he does this. ]

Even inside you should maybe wear one of these to warm up faster. You really do look like you've been out for awhile. Next time you should be more careful...you're not invincible, after all.

[ Regardless of how this goes he'll wait for the other to come to some more before directing them in there. ]

[ McGillis looks down at Huaisang straining to reach up and wrap him in warm wool and for a split second he feels as though he's entered one of these fireballs and found himself in a warmer, softer memory. A world of caring friends who smile at him without knowing a thing about him, always trying their best for him and reaching out their hands...

It's not the first time Huaisang has evoked this association of a gentler lost world, but it is the first time the comparison has been made quite so... magically striking. And still, the past remains the past and this is the present. What is within the fireballs can never be regained, but this... well, it is happening in the murder realm. Isn't that something?

McGillis pulls the scarf up oer his mouth and follows Huaisang to one of the cabins. ]

... thank you. I've really lost track of time there, it was... well, I am sure you can understand the allure of such memories quite well.

[ At least the cabins are ten times more comfy than outside; harsh weather conditions are not an unknown to Huaisang anyway. Qinghe isn't exactly in a terrible place for weather to be unbearable, but when the heart of the Nie Clan is perched atop a rather tall mountain...

Well, you get accustomed to what harsh winters can be like.

Anyway, he's allowing himself a small smile at the expression of gratitude. ]

It's not a problem as I really do understand. If it weren't for the fact it'd be dangerous and a waste of my time and effort, I'd seriously consider slapping him.

[ It still wouldn't do much if he did. But after witnessing a time of when he had friends and family, he's more than a little offended. Okay, into the cabin they go... ]

I'm not surprised he'd stoop this low, but I think we're well within our rights to be offended or...or something.

[ That is an intense temperature difference and McGillis feels as though he's stepped into a sauna for a moment. He really needed to get inside quite badly, warming up is already a prickly process as it turns out. While still in the entrance area, he tries to shake some snow off his clothing and hair so the chair he'll sit down in soon won't instantly turn into a moist sponge. ]

This is not technically any worse than making us kill one another - it's not as though he's showing us anything we can't already conjure up in our mind if we try. And still... it caught me off guard.

I try not to think of these things, normally. It is hard to look forward if you do.

[ Huaisang hasn't been standing outside in the frigid weather as McGillis has been, so he luckily doesn't feel too uncomfy at needing to warm up, though it's still a necessity.

As McGillis speaks, he looks over at him, paying attention as they come further into the cabin. But already he's feeling something he doesn't feel very often as he recalls how long it appears the other man was out there. He probably almost ended up hurt out there because of the cold. Anyway, the feeling is distant, but it's definitely something like ire on the behalf of another. ]

It's insidious...

[ His voice is soft in the condemnation, but it is still one all the same. ]

...Just for that very reason. He's probably jumping for joy because of that, but I bet you he wouldn't be happy if he were in our position. [ ... ] Do you think if we talked about what we saw it might help? Or do you believe it'd just make us think about it too hard or something?

[ McGillis slowly takes off some of his layers of clothes and rubs at his hands and face a little, trying to get the blood circulation flowing again. ]

I don't know, truthfully. I've never been the type to talk about my feelings, for better or for worse.

[ What feelings did he have that weren't secrets that can't be whispered to anybody? That wouldn't debase him in the eyes of those who cared about him? ]

I saw my childhood friends. Both of them passed away two years ago. Carta and I... we were distant even before that, but Gaelio... he was my best friend.

[ There is a weirdly hollow quality to his voice as he relates this to Huaisang, like he isn't quite here and there is something more here that nobody else can hope to understand. ]

We used to spend a lot of time in my father's garden. They were both quite unbearable, chasing around a me who was closed off and did not desire company in the slightest...

[ Oh. He'll just watch for a bit, listening to him speak. Then he wonders about what it's like. Well, for a time he had known the feeling, until...he was 'brought' to this place, surrounded by people, and then experienced how fast things can go to hell in a handbasket.

Well, he and the rest of them are still experiencing that, he supposes.

Still, as McGillis recounts his story, the discord in the blond's voice reaches him. Maybe because he's usually observing the man closely, just because he's not really an open book, and yes he enjoys his presence. But there's also the fact he's kind of checking in at times. ]

I can imagine that, sort of.

Well, not the you as you are now, since you're kind of way too big and tall for that? But imagining you much smaller, yes.

But, I'm also sorry that you lost your childhood friends...it's always hard when you lose people who are that close to you. [ Speaking very much from experience. ] Do you mind telling me a little more about what they were like?

[ It's interesting, McGillis thinks, that Huaisang can imagine it at all. He'd liked to think he's locked every part of that sullen boy away behind smiles and leaderly demeanor, but still he lingers too close to the surface. ]

I don't mind at all.

Carta was a little older than us. She was my father's ward, so though she didn't live with us she spent a lot of time at the Fareed estate. A proper lady on all levels, haughty and prideful. She was the first person to look at me entirely without pity and tell me to hold my head high. Unfortunately, she was also obsessively in love with me. We drifted apart over the way she dealt with it.

Gaelio meanwhile... Sometimes you remind me of him, just by a little. He was bright and purehearted, a real nobleman in every regard. Stubborn when he put his mind to something, but happy to slack off on duties at any other time. He was always by my side, ever since we were children. Maybe we were stuck in each other's gravity.

[ And gravity is a dangerous thing. ]

[ ...Well, he sure ended up asking, so of course he's going to continue listening.

The part about Carta is straightforward.

But, he wonders idly if Gaelio also never wished to aim for the top. But that's enough wondering on the matter for now; though he supposes some of those qualities definitely do match up. Not many people have probably taken notice of his own stubbornness for that matter, however it is there in the right conditions.

(Stubbornness in running away from responsibilities is a key one!! For now.) ]

...Stuck in each other's gravity? I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Do you mean because you two had grown up as childhood friends?

[ McGillis pauses. He's said too much here already and he knows it. Matters between him and Gaelio are delicate and this isn't the place were he can discuss them freely. And still... ]

Something like that. I doubt we could have been without one another if death hadn't separated us.

[ His tether to the warm world of comfort and calm - the shackle at his foot, binding him, clipping his wings. ]

Well, it's all over and past now. Seeing them again was an unexpected sorrow. Did you want to tell me about your own visions as well? The least I can do is listen.

[ He'll let the topic shift onto his own visions easily enough; he may as well since he believes McGillis has given his fair share. And it's only fair. ]

I don't mind talking about them.

Mine involved...Jiang-xiong and Wei-xiong. It was just memories of our times over at the Cloud Recesses; the happier times, where we were young and had fun spending time being involved in pranks or breaking rules. Those sort of things.

You already know about Wei-xiong, but just imagine someone even more reckless and likely to cause a lot more trouble. He still always stood up for people when they were in trouble even back that, no matter what.

As for Jiang-xiong...well, he isn't so friendly like he used to be. Though even back then he was mostly barbs and sharp edges, and was pretty hesitant to show affection or weakness. But if you spent enough time with him you'd find out he had a soft and caring center. He's still like that, just more difficult to get through.

[ He pauses for a moment. He's been thinking that McGillis was like a certain someone else he once knew, but...maybe it's more than one person, now that he's thought about it again. ]

Edited 2021-07-02 15:53 (UTC)

[ McGillis had expected talk of Huaisang's family, so he is caught off-guard by hearing about another group of three friends in return for his own such story. Huaisang and himself are quite different as people, but maybe they are just not the people equivalent to each other in their group. It's an interesting thought, for a moment, and thinking about his dynamics in the present is far more pleasant to McGillis than dwelling on the past. ]

It seems like our fondest memories are rather similar in nature. Who would have thought?

Are you still friends with this Jiang-xiong now? [ ... ] And come to think of it, there seems to be a nickname pattern here. Does 'Xiong' carry a specific meaning?

It is kind of funny, really. But, personally I don't mind at all that they are.

[ He's sure that it's probably a common thing. Or, well, to be quite honest...as much as he loved/still loves his family, it's rare that he can point out fond memories there with ease. Not that things were terribly bad when he was young, but also a lot of loss happened there as well.

With his friends, it feels like it took some time before things got truly muddled. He pauses for a moment, about to say maybe no...but he remembers, when he was dragged into that temple, and even though Jiang Cheng could've stayed behind, he came for them still. All of them. Fiercely, protectively, and assuredly.

He'll look a bit sheepish. ]

...It's hard to say, since we've become distant, but I think personally, yes. He'd probably grumble about it if you asked, though.

[ Technically he should've called him 'Sect Leader Jiang', but old habits die hard. ]

But, -xiong is like something you'd call a good friend? It's like kind of like a term of endearment, you know? There's no official meaning [ So no translation! ], but that feeling is expressed in just attaching it to a friend's name.

Edited 2021-07-04 02:44 (UTC)

I see. So it's a term of endearment, a little like shortening one's name to a nickname. Almiria calls me 'Mackie'.

[ In her defense, she's known him since she was a literally infant. The nickname came about as a very sincere attempt to say his actual name, offset by Almiria having been barely 2 at the time.

Maybe he shouldn't have thought of Almiria though, even that is in itself a little painful. Ah... ]

You would be... Nie-xiong then, to those two? Or is it Huai-xiong?

[ Forgive him, his experience with Asian languages is zero... ]

Yes, it's kind of like shortening someone's name.

[ ...He really can't imagine calling McGillis 'Mackie', god. But he can understand for maybe younger people who may want to phrase other people's names more cutely? Or maybe considering her young age it was easier for her to give her name as such.

He starts a bit at "Nie-xiong" because in recent memory there's only been Wei Wuxian who had called him as such, and he kind of misses him still because that never stopped being a thing. But hearing McGillis say "Huai-xiong" brings the smile right back, with a tinge of amusement. ]

First, Huai-xiong wouldn't really be right. So it'd be just Nie-xiong to them...originally, anyway.

Jiang-xiong would probably try to be more formal these days and refer to me as "Sect Leader Nie", because of just how he is. So it'd have only been Wei-xiong.

Edited 2021-07-04 23:03 (UTC)

Ah, the trappings of adult life.

[ Though it sounds like there is a lot more going on with this group than merely growing up. McGillis had imagined Huaisang would have more close friends at home, considering how sociable he is in conversation. ]

And stop me if I'm asking too many questions now, but what precisely does being a sect leader entail aside from being head of the family? Your world is still a mystery to me in many regards....

[ And he'd rather hear about that than have his thought drift back to his own past uncontrolled. ]

I don't mind answering them. Though if I do, you'll know because then I might suddenly flick your nose. Then again, you are a bit too tall for me to do that easily.

[ He's not being serious either way...but he feels comfortable enough to be silly anyways. ]

Oh, well...

As Sect Leader I need to make sure that the Sect is running as it should be. You know by making sure that people are doing things for diplomacy, the disciples are doing their training, trade is going fine, finances are okay, and that I'm still getting my fan and paint collection, to name the most important parts. I guess holding consul with the Nie elders sometimes too, but I'd rather not.

Obviously I do have people who are in charge of many of those things and I just simply check in with them so I'm not overseeing all of that in person.

[ His brother was far more hands on than he was, suffice to say. ]

Edited 2021-07-05 01:25 (UTC)

I have full faith in your nose-flicking abilities.

[ If you're determined, the height difference means nothing! Not that McGillis hopes to deserve a nose flick anytime soon, but it is a matter of principle to associate with people who aren't so easily discouraged. ]

It sounds like you're basically running a small city-state there.

[ ...oh my god, he just laughed at that. ]

I'll remember you said that, you know.

[ But he will nod. ]

I guess so. It's a good amount of work sometimes, but not so much that I can't find some time to relax. [ Like for planning out vacations!! ] Especially after one of those conferences.

For music, art... and birds, I suppose? It feels like forever ago that we first spoke about free time for taking care of birds.

[ Their very first conversation in the palace courtyard... Seems more like it's been half a year rather than a month. ]

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CHAPTER 5

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