She is the moon

     Though it was hardly a daring venture into a neighbouring country for the secret of immortality, it was better than sitting idle while this perfect night passed them by, so Mei was quick to follow on the empress’ heels ( and Xiao-Mei on hers ) . Honestly, the moonlight was so bright that the princess hardly thought a lantern necessary, but Wen Yue wasn’t as used to wandering the night as she was, so she said nothing. 

     “I am sure the pond will look beautiful tonight! I have heard that Yao Ling has taken to skipping stones there, even though he really shouldn’t. A duck will attack him one day, mark my words.” 

--- This was as much of an adventure as Yue was likely to get, and as such, she felt a little mischievous. It felt like fun, to sneak out at night. A real teenager thing. Well.. A boy teenager thing, maybe. Wen Yue knew no girls that had ever dared besmirch their family’s’ honour like that. So where she was excited, she also felt a little bad.

paleoflight replied to your post: “The stars are amazing tonight. Don’t you think?”

“But whatever do you mean, princess? Your room does have a balcony, does it not?” Yue looks somewhat puzzled. She wouldn’t know the ‘proper’ way to enjoy stars in any case. Being out at night is not something she had ever been allowed to do. Even now, or especially now, that she had married the emperor, and as empress.. Might become a target. “Would you like to step outside for a spell? It is warm tonight..”

     Honestly, Mei thought stepping outside would do little to enhance the beauty of the stars when the light from the surrounding city was so  bright, but it was a warm night, and to be completely frank, she bored quickly around here. She wouldn’t dream of passing up the opportunity to stretch her legs, if only for a gentle stroll around the gardens. 

     “I would love that, your highness.” 

She smiled. “I am sure if we are quiet about it we won’t even catch the guards’ eyes.” Mei would not, in any case. Wen Yue had been told about the girl’s nimbleness. A nightly stroll in the gardens. Such adventure.. The likes of which Wen Yue has never before seen, but to Mei Chang, might very well be like strolling down the palace halls compared to all she’d seen in her short life.

     The pads of her fingers made gentle dips along his jaw, and though her touch was soft, ( hesitating, conscious ) he still allowed his head to be turned by it. Allowed himself to be turned away from the firelight, to turn distant, feverish eyes to catch her own. She was so concerned for him- he could see it in the draw of her brows, the silent question in her gaze. She was a good wife, to worry for him like this. She would be so easy to lie to- he was good at lying- but for once, he didn’t want to. He wanted to TALK. He wanted to- to-

     ( this was the first time he’d been in Resembool, but the second time his body had. it was laughably surreal- he’d breathed this air and walked these roads but he hadn’t he hadn’t and he couldn’t even find it within himself to feel anything negative towards the creature that had worn him like a suit because he was too busy trying to breathe around the hole in his chest in his mind in his soul )

     Her fingers were warm and the weight of her hand on her forearm was real and for some strange reason he wanted to laugh but he couldn’t possibly conceive why he’d ever want to do such a thing in such a situation. How could he ever laugh about this? About the things he’d seen, the things he’d done, the things he’s become in order to end up here? 

     He heard himself exhale sharply, felt the motion in his chest, and realised he hadn’t been breathing for a good few moments there. And then, he heard himself talking. 

     “Do you ever feel as though you do not fit?” He wasn’t even sure what he was saying, really, but the words were there, on his tongue, and Ling figured if he’d been waiting to say them for so long then he might as well get them out now. “Like…. the world exists, as it should, but you are an inch to the left- out of alignment. And it is only an inch- barely even a perceptible amount of space, and yet everything has slipped, and the space may very well be miles.”

--- She slowly draws back her hand, brushing a lock of hair out of the way before settling her hand back in her lap. Her other hand remained atop Ling’s forearm, just for now. She needed to make sure he was steady and okay. He worried her still. She almost felt foolish or embarrassed for having touched him so freely. 

     Perhaps when he spoke his words worried her all the more, for they were strange and non-sensical to her. Misalignment with the universe? Her first thought was that perhaps there was a disturbance in his Ki. Stress, or the trauma of days past, perhaps. she’s read once that if your Ki was disturbed you could feel out of place with the energy of the rest of the world. People would even fall ill if their energies had suddenly shifted some way. She felt the urge to reach up and touch the back of her hand to his forehead as her mother might have done, but refrained. Nothing had indicated him being sick in any physical way.

     He allowed himself a crooked smile at Wen Yue’s ( slightest ) indignation, enjoying the air between them in such an informal setting. It was the company, he supposed, or the atmosphere, or maybe even the few drinks he had imbibed without much encouragement from the rowdy party-goers sometime earlier- but whatever it was, he was enjoying it. The party, the people, hell, even the fire itself was mesmerising and calming in a way that he hadn’t realised he had missed. It was nostalgic. He knew these people- his friends, his allies- and he knew this place- 

               -and it took him a moment to realise that the last time he’d been here he hadn’t even been himself. He’d been- he’d been-

          ( -there was an empty hole in his head in his mind in his soul and he could feel there, an absence, a space that he never would have even noticed had something SOMEONE not once inhabited it- )

     Subconsciously, he felt himself move, hand almost jerking from his lap to grasp Wen Yue’s in a tight grip. All of a sudden, things didn’t feel so nostalgic anymore- he remembered fire ( the heat of it, the screeching buckle of metal beneath claws that did not belong to him ) he remembered the faces around him ( bleeding, shouting, fighting, dying- lend me your power ) and- and- 

     Wen Yue’s hand was small, and soft, uncalloused by her peaceful life and so so breakable in his own ( carbon skin, blood dripping from the points of his claws ) that he couldn’t bear the thought of harming it. Gently, slowly, he felt his fingers unfurl, releasing his lifeline, his tether. Breathe. 

     “Yes,” his voice sounded far away, outside of his own head, as though it were not his own. A familiar feeling. “They marry for love.” 

--- She had expected more of a reaction from a man usually so quick and plentiful with his words, but he hardly replies to her at all, and he seems far off when her gaze lands back upon him. When he grasps her hand so firmly in his own an inkling of worry begins to bubble in her stomach. “My lord, --?” When he releases her she is quick -perhaps too quick- to resume contact with a soft hand atop her husband’s forearm. “Are you feeling alright?” He looked a little pale, although perhaps she was imagining it, what with the yellow-orange light dancing across their faces.

     Even so, his answer to her question, although given, was absentminded, and she wondered what he was thinking of to so suddenly seek support in a physical way. She cannot even rejoice in the fact that he had sought it with her for she worries too much about his well-being at the moment. She reaches up, although she is hesitant and almost she ceases her attempt, and touches her fingertips to his cheek, turning his face towards her own. Her small fingers curl around his arm -or as far as they go anyway- and she squeezes slightly, trying to get his eyes to focus. Her own dark eyes dance with the fire in them, studying him. Brows slightly knitted together.

“Really? You?” He hadn’t meant for the words to sound so incredulous, but, well, smoke and ash and the violent crackling of wood weren’t exactly sensations he would have thought to associate with his delicate wife. She was too…soft for such things. Too tame, like an indoor cat sheltered from the wilderness of its own backyard. Even bringing her here- to Resembool, the location of his best friend’s wedding- had felt like uprooting a flower from its garden and depositing it without care into the middle of the Amestrian boondocks.

    But still, she seemed to be taking things in stride, and for that he was actually rather proud. He’d feared that she, raised in propriety among the finery of Xingese high-class culture, would be unable to handle the rugged folkness of the little sheep-farming village, but her words and her expression and even her posture told him that he’d been wrong. He took comfort in in that, and turned his face back towards the flickering flames of the campfire that he, his wife, and a great many of the invited friends and relatives had gathered around as night fell. He didn’t think he’d felt this calm- this happy- in a long time.

    “They are rather nice, are they not?”

--- “Yes, me indeed.” She allowed soft laughter to sound privately between them. “Though before tonight I had never experienced something such as this, it is beautiful. Fire has always been something of a dangerous ally. Though we need it, it has also the potential to be indomitable and dangerous. But like this, in the darkness, its light and warmth are so welcome. People gather and bring food. They dance.. It is simply a wonderful experience.”

     She did feel like a lily amongst tulips. Not in any way more beautiful than the others there, but so obviously different. Her emperor had soon donned his more casual attire upon arrival, but she had failed to pack anything very informal. As the emperor’s wife she could not allow a bad reputation, and as such, she sat, legs neatly to one side and her hands folded in her lap. In all her royal glory. Flowy robes, shining jewellery and headdress.. Out of place indeed amongst these warm, open people. Though they certainly treated her and her husband with respect, they were also immensely friendly, their address of them was not practiced nor had it had any underlying intention. They were simply.. Friendly. and Wen Yue found that it was a breath of fresh air not to have to get involved in proper politics.

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“Oh.” She cannot decide whether she is disappointed or not, though she certainly sounds like it. It sounded like one of her stories, after all. The immortality, the fighting. Some sort of magic catalyst to make it all happen..

“So it was all a lie, or good politics?” She asked softly. “Does it exist at all..? Immortality? They say the sage of the West is immortal. They say he is still out there.” That is what the people like to believe in any case. But then, they also like to make up other stories, legends, and to idolise certain animals or objects for good luck. Wen Yue never really knew whether she should believe in that kind of thing.. Although she did adore her parents’ croaky calico cat, Lim. They were said to be the luckiest cats of all. 

It had amused her, at first, when the young emperor had started showing off. Doing acrobatics off of benches, running along a wall for the longest time he could manage, then braving the tall wall wrapped around the palace’s gardens. She had been walking below, watching anxiously as he balanced himself on the thin expanse of brick.

She did not underestimate his skill, but even so, her stomach rolled uncomfortably when he announced he could make the jump from one end of the wall, over the opening that allowed one to enter the park-like gardens, to the other end. It was a far leap, and though she had seen just how acrobatic her betrothed was, the mere thought of him plummeting to his death because he attempted a move she believed was meant to impress her had her filled with dread. 

BOLD any which apply to your muse ! remember to REPOST ! feel free to add to the list !

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--- However well-versed she may be when it came to social etiquette and speaking to those far more important than she, she did not in fact find it very easy. She was good at it, when pressed, but she always found it incredibly awkward, and it had her anxious always to have to be on her toes. Especially when it came ot men of stature. Women were often prepared to be somewhat lenient with a girl her age. Men, however, permitted no mistake, especially if they thought they were above you. And honestly.. Which man did not think they were above a young noblewoman?

     So, Wen Yue had thought, it would be easier to try and seem engaged conversing with someone her own age, someone young and closer to her distinction. Not to mention, she had wanted to meet and speak with Mei of the Chang clan for a while now. As she’s understood, she had been with the emperor for part of his journey, and perhaps she could shine a light on his personality that she could not ask of him.

     She smiled sweetly when the girl startled and rushed to bow low. She raised a hand, trying to calm the girl, but soon folded it in front of her with the other once again. “I didn’t mean to startle you, my apologies, please rise.” She spoke softly, though loud enough to be heard above the murmur of the festivities. 

   She talked, and talked, and Ling let her, knowing that any interruptions to her spiel may very well cause it to come to a premature end. And, while she talked, the young emperor listened, taking in whatever information he could about this mysterious woman he was to wed and enjoying himself in the process. She had siblings, and though she most certainly had less than he, that was one thing that they had in common. She was also, as far as he could tell, at least partial to animals, ( always a good trait in a person, he thought. he couldn’t stand the kinds of people that disliked animals; not for their disliking of animals, but because, for some reason, those kinds of people always possessed unpleasant personalities, as though the liking-animals part of someone’s psyche added an extra amount of likeability to their general demeanour ) and had a healthy taste for knowledge. She had also been raised properly, with great knowledge of etiquette; something she hadn’t needed to tell him. He’d been able to see it in every taught line in her body. How she sat, how she spoke- or, really, how she hadn’t spoken until he’d successfully cracked open the floodgates- which, evidently, he hadn’t cracked open enough.

    She’d caught herself, she’d apologised, and Ling found he really wished she hadn’t. Not for the awkwardness that settled over the silence between them once more, but for the fact that he’d found her rather charming when she’d forgotten, for that brief moment, who and where they were. Yes, she was breathtakingly beautiful and every inch as elegant a woman as the stories he’d been told boasted, but when she’d been talking, she’d been, for a moment, real. Not some idealised image of what the perfect woman supposedly was, but someone he could have imagined himself befriending. He’d befriended all sorts during his Amestrian travels, after all.

    “Not at all.” The cup in his hands was raised to his lips, and he took a generous sip before continuing. “If it is alchemy you are interested in, it may please you to learn that Edward Elric’s brother frequently visits my sister out east. I am sure he would be more than happy to pay us a visit, if I were to ask.”

--- Silently she chided herself, for speaking too much, for leaving no pause in her sentences to rest and breath. So spirited she had recalled happenings in her childhood and teachings that she had almost completely forgotten to politely return the favour in asking about one’s interests and family. Though she supposed, in a way, his situation was common knowledge. Even so, Yue thought, there was something to say about learning someone’s personal vantage-point to a situation.. And frankly, no one truly knew much about the mothers of all the princes and princesses, and neither did anyone really know all of them.. But then she wondered if it would fall into the category her mother had wished her not to intrude upon.. It would be extremely difficult to have a two-sided conversation if that were the case.

     Speaking freely was not something she was bad at, but it was something she had been reprimanded for again and again so that now, whenever she displayed such behaviour, she felt anxious and out of place, as though her presence were too great and her speech too long and lavish. The emperor, however, seemed not to mind. She was a little surprised to find that he was as casual as he was. Sure, he wore the robes and sat properly, addressed everyone the way he ought to, but there was an air about him that made him seem.. A little careless. Perhaps it was his age, or the novelty of being in a position of power, but the boyishness of his smiles and the twinkle in his eye, even the casual gestures every now and then made her think he was entirely non-ostentatious. 

     She did not lower her fan, wanting to wait until she was sure the heat in her cheeks had waned. But she gave a small bow when he didn’t reprimand her for her mistake. He seemed to appreciate her ramblings in fact. So, hesitantly, when he mentioned Edward Elric’s brother, whom she knew to be called Alphonse, though the name always lay awkwardly on her tongue, she hesitantly spoke up again. “He does..? Which sister would that be, if you do not mind my asking? And what does he think to find here, aside from his excellency’s great accompaniment, of course..” Her lashes fluttered as she payed him the compliment, though she could bear to look at him for that, at least. “And it is not that alchemy truly interests me much, my lord, it is the stories that come with it. All the legends of which I am not entirely sure which are true or false.. The mystery, I suppose. I have never been allowed to touch Alkehestry myself, even when my brother started to learn, but both artforms are truly wonderful, aren’t they?” She smiled a little behind her fan, and finally lowered it so that she could reach for her tea and take a small sip.