awashlogs | [open] It's a (very belated) birthday log!

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[open] It's a (very belated) birthday log!

WHO: Kaoru, Shiho and friends
WHERE: Town hall
WHEN: Last week of February
WHAT: It's Shiho's birthday
WARNINGS: None probably.

I: Food!

[What is a party without food? Kaoru can't cook but she happens to know people who can! There's even a cake! She may have borrowed a table from another house for the purpose of keeping the food.

Though, oddly enough, there's also a small card (all of them different colour and sizes, some of them looked like they'd been gently folded then ripped along the fold) beside each dish with a number on it. There's also a list (all handwritten in pink), with the same numbers all listed on one side and lines beside it like something you should fill out.

On the top it says: Guess Who Made This Dish!

Are you here to play or are you just here to eat?]

II: Games!

[There is a hastily written sign on one side that says: NO DANCING.

But every party needs entertainment so beside there is a sign with game suggestions like: Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever...or maybe you'd like to take your list from the food table and see if you got more correct than the person beside you!]

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[ And then she laughs, clapping her hands. ]

Oh, my...

If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a lot of practice glaring like that! Bravo!

Thank you.

[ He bows slightly. ]

This humble one can't always be the aloof, cold cultivator. Sometimes, a person can only learn what is right and wrong through force. [ Sometimes, you just gotta beat someone's ass into the ground. ]

But also, it helps against disciples that are out causing trouble.

[ Oooooh ]

Ehh? You have troublemaker disciples under your wing? [ That... that actually probably makes for a hilarious scene. Of course she's picturing something like him at the front of a lecture hall and students tossing paper airplanes in the back, which is probably completely inaccurate. ] I would have guessed they wouldn't even dare!

Well...

[ What can he say? The original Shen Qingqiu was a shit! He let his disciples bully and pick on others because it gave the villain a thrill to watch others being kicked down in the mud. Of course, he would have trouble with disciples from time to time until they learned there was a new sheriff in town! ]

Unfortunately, I was too lenient in the past and so they needed to be reigned in. They had gotten it in their heads that they could act as they pleased.

That's... rather surprising. [ If anyone was practicing cultivation and how to become immortal-- wouldn't they want to be learning? Wouldn't they behave? ] I would think that anyone being taught under you would be there because they wished to learn.

[ So! ]

Well? Are you going to tell me what you made them do? [ Because she's curious! Did he make them write on a chalk board a hundred times! Did he make them run up and down the mountain? ] Or will that be another truth?

No, no. I'll tell you for free.

They did wish to learn, but... [ Best explain that part, huh? ] The Peak that I command is the second most powerful in the sect. While disciples there wish to gain their own immorality, they could also feel ... self-important.

[ He let a sigh out. ] Since it caused bullying, occasionally, it would have to be running around the peak multiple times, writing down the rules of the sect, or stopping them from harming others with more physical means.

[ No, no, not abuse of disciples, okay?! ] Using a leaf filled with energy to leave a small cut on their hand or face just as they were going to strike someone else... that sort of thing.

[ Well, she trusts that he did teach his students appropriately! Which does include disciplining them, so. ]

Aah, I suppose it was foolish of me to think that there would be perfect students everywhere... But maybe that's part of the joy of you being their teacher?

You get to seem them grow and... change. Not only as students, but as people themselves. Young men [ Or, as she assumes it to be only men, because she's only heard him mention the students being male?? ] becoming scholars such as yourself. [ There's a quiet sigh in wonder at him. ] You are so... lucky, and talented... to not only see this change, but be the one to facilitate it.

[ That is giving me way too much fucking credit.

He just stopped them from being little shits as young pre-teens tend to be. They were at the age where they wanted to throw rocks at each other because pain to others is cool! He didn't think that he did anything too amazing other than have them shape up and see them slowly become less like hellions. ]

I wouldn't say that it was much joy in having to discipline. If I'm honest, I'd rather not discipline anyone at all. [ He lets out a small sigh. ] People are going to make mistakes and have to learn them. On a mountain, it's harder to find those lessons than when one is out in the world. It means the teacher has to be a cold person at times.

[ It's not really that glamorous! ] Certainly, it is good to see them grow, but ... if they were not with me, I'm sure they would have learned how to become such wonderful people on their own. [ Which is to say, I'm just the training wheels and they were the bike the entire time? I guess? This is an analogy I regret. ]

Isolating oneself from the world is good for cultivation but makes things strange for those growing up in it. [ Is pretty much the takeaway! ]

[ She glances at him, crossing her arms beneath her chest. Isolating oneself from the world is good for cultivation but makes things strange for those growing up in it... ]

Is that how you were taught?

If you think it strange or not... as ideal, then why perpetuate and continue the same method? [ NOT CRITICIZING! She's just honestly curious. Is it tradition? She doesn't know!

She does know what it's like to "grow" up separate and be isolated from the rest of the world, however. ]

[ That's a good fucking question. He doesn't know how the original Shen Qingqiu was taught. The backstory of a scum villain is rarely one anyone wants to hear. But he does know his own. ]

I was taught in a similar manner, yes. [ Private tutors FTW! The joys of being a rich kid. ] As for why perpetuate and continue ... it's the way of the sect. The sect wishes to cut a person off from the material world. It is a means to cut away the desires a person would have.

[ He shrugs. ] The path to a righteous, pure, and noble cultivator is not an easy one. Those that come into the sect are usually young ... around thirteen-years-old. To tell a young teenager that they should not be boastful, not hold status over others, not throw rocks at others... there are only a few children that are so good.

[ He chuckles. ] So, I don't blame them. It's quite a tall order to ask. But they shouldn't expect not to get scolded for it and set right.

Th—thirteen. [ She stammers, bringing her hand up to her lips as a gasp escapes her. Hey hey hearing of his backstory is absolutely something she will be asking about! ] So young....

[ How do they know they even want to be cultivators at that point?!

....Glory and immortality?

But then, being away from their homes... :C

She looks at him sympathetically. ] It sounds like some sort of... monastery, almost. Were you allowed to leave and see any of your family as you studied? [ Or was having family considered too much of the material world?? ]

It is the perfect age to begin cultivating. [ His hands open in light surrender as he continues to explain. It does seem rather young, right?! That's why the person looking after them has to be both firm and kind at the same time! If they aren't, those kids are going to grow up rotten! He feels a fiery determination to not let that happen to his precious disciples. ]

And generally speaking, no.

[ He lightly shakes his head. It sadly isn't like a private boarding school! ] That is why the relations in the sect are so ... close. It's why we call ourselves sect brothers and sisters when there is no blood necessarily shared between us. It's why the disciples call the other elders "uncle" and "aunt."

Their old life is not closed to them and many keep connections to their family, but also ... they've gained another family that loves and worries for them just as much.

[ This is downright fascinating. It's like she's being introduced to a whole different world!

Nevermind the fact that they are from different worlds, but still! It's--] It's remarkable, how so many different people can come together like that, and still call themselves family.

[ It's taken her far too long to realize that family doesn't necessarily mean relations by blood; and too late, because it was only after everyone had...

She blinks, catching herself, and then looks back to him. ]

So that means... you, too, have a very big family. [ She folds her hands in her lap. ] Hehe~ I've always wanted a big family. You'd be able to call others "little brother" or "little sister" too, mm?

In the sect, yes. There was only one person I called "older brother," but everyone else was "little brother" or "little sister." [ He laughs a little before letting out a little sigh. And for the sake of what he's saying, it's easiest to put it that way rather than explain all the naming schemes within the sect.

Besides, there is a much more important thing to say. ]

Family isn't always the one that you are born with but the one that you find.

[ Hearing her longing to have a big family, he can't help but want to offer her the small hope that something like that is not impossible. She could find her own family -- certainly, there will be people who would love to call her "big sister." ]

[ She folds her hands together in front of her, swaying slightly, happily. ]

You're... you're right about that.

[ There are also so many different sort of families as well! She can't help but think of the actual families she's met in her own world. There was Addam with his older brothers, and he had been the bastard child among them while they all had their eyes upon the kingdom. Then there was young Hugo, to whom the empire was passed down, bypassing his own elder brother because he had the aptitude for it.

And then there was Jin and Lora, and the child Mikhail they helped. Now that was an actual family. It was the one they found.

She brings a hand to her cheek. ] ...Ah, just talking about this... has me a bit nostalgic.

[ And then she realizes that-- she's not thinking about them with it feeling like grief and sorrow is about to overwhelm her. It's bittersweet... it's... nice. ]

Sorry-- ah. [ Right, right, they are talking about his family. ] You must miss them terribly. I hope that one day, I'd be able to meet your myself. [ Maybe they'll appear here, too! ]

I guess we're becoming a couple of old people reminiscing about our family.

[ He laughs a little -- it's warm and bright. His chin lifts just before his head tilts in confusion at her apology. Waving his hand dismissively, he can't say that he misses them but it isn't for a cold reason that he is not feel the pain of being separated. ]

No. I don't miss them at all, because we're still connected to one another. [ Ah, how to put it? ] It's a feeling like no matter how far apart that we are that we will one day be together. Rather than missing... I suppose there is an itchy feeling of anxiety at hoping to see them soon.

But ... I am enjoying myself here, too. I will have many stories to be able to tell them when I return of the wonderful people that I met. [ Another smile. ] But it would be nice if you were able to meet them, too. I wonder who would most likely travel through ... [ He frowns as he wonders if it would be Airplane. His fist clenches as his head drops as he finds the man to be overly shameless and embarrassing. All those warm feelings... give them back to me! ]

[ Pyra can definitely say that she dearly misses her found-family, because either they’re all dead, gone, or had their memories wiped upon awakening once more....

No, she can’t be like Shen Qingqiu where she doesn’t miss others; it must come with how keenly she feels for everyone. She likes to see them, and she likes to see them happy. She likes to be with others, and she will never, ever tell another to leave her.

...It’s odd, however, that right as he finishes speaking about wanting those of his world to come here so she and others might meet them, that he dips his head and his fist tenses. Since the man’s expression is usually passive, it gets her to pause. She can’t be sure, but— ]

We... can never know who of our worlds will appear here. [ A gentle, brief smile, given just in case he needs to collect himself, and she tilts her head. ] Is there someone in particular you’re concerned about?

[ .....Besides Luo Binghe. ]

Ah, it is my shidi that I am concerned about...

[ He clenches his fist like he means to punch through the dimensional walls that separate him from Airplane -- so he can land a strike right across the man's face! ]

A shidi is a martial younger brother. [ Shen Qingqiu almost launches into a lesson of words, but decides to scrap that to talk about Shang Qinghua, also known as Airplane-bro. ] He is someone that is ... without shame or dignity. This humble one cares about him as someone that understands the trials that I am going through... but as a fellow countryman, he sometimes leaves much to be desired.

[ A shidi... Hm. ]

It sounds like he is one of your ruckus-causing disciples? [ Does she detect a hint of frustration there? Does she??? Either way, she brings a hand to her chest. ] I still would like to meet him, even if he sounds like a handful.

And... you would have someone from your world here, to spend time with. Er-- that is, if Wei Wuxian and Xie Lian aren't from your world already.

No, he is also a Peak Lord...

[ Yes, she detects frustration from him. His hand touches his forehead as he cannot believe that Shang Qinghua cannot put on at least some airs to act like a proper Peak Lord. The man is an embarrassment! If I see him, I'm going to have to punch him first. I am just going to have to do it! ]

I would have someone from my world, yes. [ He stares hard at nothing as he can already imagine all the screaming and crying that Shang Qinghua would do if he was in Chroma. ] ... no, those two are not from my world. At least, I'm fairly certain that they are not.

[ Her eyes widen. ] Oh, my. [ The hand that had been upon her chest then goes up to cover her mouth as a small gasp escapes her.

A Peak Lord... who is not like you? I can hardly imagine it. [ A pause. ] Or, perhaps, you've simply set my expectations that high.

Even among those lords I know in my own world, you certain come off as... [ ............AND gonna stop herself there.

Because she doesn't want to come off as rude. ] W-well, when I first met you, let me put it this way: you were, ah, a bit intimidating. Dignified, still, but very not as I know you now. It's hard to picture a Peak Lord behaving any differently than how you do.

[ He tries not to look too shocked, but he is, honestly, shocked.

Wait, what? Could you finish your thought? I come off as what? Do I come off bad? Shen Qingqiu somehow keeps himself from asking as he controls his expression to hide his anxiety. Oh, was I? I was floundering so bad and bullshitting so hard that I didn't really know how I was coming off!

He wonders if he should feel pleased that he came off as intimidating and that the air around him remains elegant. ]

How should I put it? Every Peak Lord acts in their own way and this teacher thinks that is fine. [ A slight pause. ] It's not good to speak poorly of someone when they are not here... and so I apologize for giving you a bad impression of Shang Qinghua. [ Manners tell him that he should take back what he said! But he really wants to talk shit about Airplane-bro! He's so embarrassing! HE'S SO EMBARRASSING!! ]

Whether or not I approve of how he behaves is irrelevant... he is still my younger brother within the sect and also a Peak Lord. I should not speak as I please about him. [ Even though, status speaking, I have the higher status than him so I really could say whatever the fuck I want! But Airplane-bro has helped me out in the past so I'll relent! I'll relent! Look at me! I'm relenting! I've already relented!! ]

He's a good person with a good heart. That is what is always most important.

A good person with a good heart... [ If a little exasperating at times. Yes, she can understand the type! ] He's probably saying that about you, too.

But you also might as well have described yourself! [ Her smile is sweet as she clasps her hands in front of her. And just in case he tries to deny it, she quickly adds: ] I've been in your heart, after all, and I can say that I trust it is a good one.

[ That fucker better be!!

But, huh? ]

Described myself? [ He makes a soft "eh" sound as he does want to deny that he's a good person with a good heart. He really did put a pin in the issue of him not liking himself. He still sees the issue pinned up and is getting around to it, okay?! ]

Ah, I guess you have been. [ He laughs nervously as he gives a non-answer to the praise. ] Anyway! Back to the game, back to the game! I tangented us off in the worst kind of way. Let's return ... ah, whose turn of it?

[ Huh, she's never really seen him so quickly try to brush a topic aside before. Maybe she's hit a nerve. That.. wasn't her intention to bring up his heart in a bad context; she had meant it to be a compliment!

Ah, well. ] ...Mine.

[ Hm. ]

Truth.

[ Only fair, since she's asked a lot of questions of him just now and he volunteered all of his truths. ]

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[open] It's a (very belated) birthday log!

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