[ Runyu can’t help but choke on some of the cider with his friend’s emphatic declaration on his behalf, his smile wide and somewhat lopsided. He looks into his mug. It’s still halfway full. He wonders if he’s already slowing down and feels a twinge of regret in his chest. His free hand twitches in a minute rebellion, unwilling to do just that.
Perhaps in the past, he has deserved some sympathy for these details of his life, but after the destruction he had wrought, he hasn’t considered the previous life to be enough punishment. The absence of much around him had been enough to ground him a righteous life, but his strength had been brittle. When his balance tipped, so too did his emotions and his nature. After the destruction, he has wondered, if the stillness in his life had held back the monster inside him. ]
( Runyu tips his cup back for a deeper drink before tilting his head, a melancholy lights flickering in his eyes, a yearning for something in past. ) Perhaps I don’t need to justify this; however, the truth is that it didn’t belong to him in that sense, but that he already showed an aptitude for it and my attempts could jeopardize his chances of recognition. Or so she believed. To be honest, the competition would have prepared him for the future, if he had been so inclined.
[ It’s habit, this defending of Xufeng’s position in their childhood, and despite the bloom of envy that's strangles him from their short war, he’s largely returned to that acceptance, ever since his brother appeared before him afterwards. His naivety had condemned them but there were worse factors at play. And in the end, Xufeng was still his brother. The only relative he had that still embraced him.
Still, his protests are not enough to stop the ripples of joy from escaping his soul with Xingchen's confident words. As if nothing would change them.
And with his confession already between them, perhaps nothing would.
The pressure of the coin pendant warms against his heart where it rests. He lets another secret out. ]
My mother played the goqin and taught me at a young age. There … aren’t many moments I shared with her like those when she was guiding my fingers and watching me. ( He chuckles again and looks out the window. ) Perhaps that’s why I got the dizzi and tried to learned it. I wanted to surprise her. That … didn’t happen. ( He drained his cup again. ) I had forgotten that.
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Perhaps in the past, he has deserved some sympathy for these details of his life, but after the destruction he had wrought, he hasn’t considered the previous life to be enough punishment. The absence of much around him had been enough to ground him a righteous life, but his strength had been brittle. When his balance tipped, so too did his emotions and his nature. After the destruction, he has wondered, if the stillness in his life had held back the monster inside him. ]
( Runyu tips his cup back for a deeper drink before tilting his head, a melancholy lights flickering in his eyes, a yearning for something in past. ) Perhaps I don’t need to justify this; however, the truth is that it didn’t belong to him in that sense, but that he already showed an aptitude for it and my attempts could jeopardize his chances of recognition. Or so she believed. To be honest, the competition would have prepared him for the future, if he had been so inclined.
[ It’s habit, this defending of Xufeng’s position in their childhood, and despite the bloom of envy that's strangles him from their short war, he’s largely returned to that acceptance, ever since his brother appeared before him afterwards. His naivety had condemned them but there were worse factors at play. And in the end, Xufeng was still his brother. The only relative he had that still embraced him.
Still, his protests are not enough to stop the ripples of joy from escaping his soul with Xingchen's confident words. As if nothing would change them.
And with his confession already between them, perhaps nothing would.
The pressure of the coin pendant warms against his heart where it rests. He lets another secret out. ]
My mother played the goqin and taught me at a young age. There … aren’t many moments I shared with her like those when she was guiding my fingers and watching me. ( He chuckles again and looks out the window. ) Perhaps that’s why I got the dizzi and tried to learned it. I wanted to surprise her. That … didn’t happen. ( He drained his cup again. ) I had forgotten that.