HOW FORTUNATE;

CONSPIRE: for our muses to hide with each other at a houseparty, sitting on the floor in a coat closet or bathroom.

HIGH: for our muses sit on top of a roof together, sharing a bottle of booze or a joint.

TRAP: for our muses to be stuck in an elevator alone together for several hours.

TRIP: our muses are on a roadtrip together and the car breaks down somewhere remote.

DARK: our muses spend the night in a haunted location trying to hunt ghosts.

TASTE: our muses share a cigarette on a swing set in an empty park.

EARLY: our muses spend all night at the beach until sunrise.

LATE: our muses are camping in the mountains together but hear noises outside their tent at midnight.

BALL: our muses dance together at a masquerade, not knowing the other's identity until the party is over.

SETUP: our muses have mutual friends who set them up on a blind date at an ice cream parlor.

FREE: our muses sneak into a skating rink together while its closed.

REALIZE: our muses are in an abandoned amusement park but discover a crime scene.

ACCIDENT: our muses hook up in a library but accidentally stay after its been closed and are locked in for the night.

PAINT: one muse goes to an art class and is surprised to find the other is the model for the day.

DISCOVERY: our muses are in a graveyard and find an emptied grave.

STUCK: our muses haven't seen each other in years and are assigned to the same room in a hostel.

Both the Google Translate-like voice and the complete, sensory-less blackness Shen Yuan was hanging in faded out for a swirling kaleidoscope of colours and a screaming unease.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrongwrong---

Shen Yuan flailed. In the middle of that flailing, he realized the sensation of something being wrong wasn't his opinion. Or feeling. Whatever. Which! was! frankly! a lot more unsettling than the sense of something being fucking wrong to begin with, thank you! Torn between fighting against that sensation of wrongness that wasn't his and trying to soothe it, smoothing out the wild, surging something that was starting to fucking hurt, Shen Yuan landed on the ground with a wet splat.

"Interesting," someone commented above them, while Shen Yuan was busy shuddering, hoping to fuck whatever he lay in was water, or, at worst, mud.

Wait. Them?

His legs were tangled with someone else's. Not whoever had spoken, because that man was already leaving, but there was someone else right beside him.

DISASTER WAS ABOUT TO STRIKE . shen jiu was always well - aware of when things were about to go to shit . perhaps it was a second sense he developed on the streets as a child , or perhaps it was beat into him by the qiu family . most likely , it was much simpler than that — wherever his shizun , if you could call him that , of his went ; disaster was bound to follow . he knew perfectly well the plan that wu yanzi was planning to execute at this immortal alliance conference , and that it was unlikely to end well . it was what found them huddling on the outskirts covered by the foliage of a tree , multiple explosion talismans snuck up their wrists .

the weather was not pleasant . the ground was still wet , and while shen jiu supposed most of the cultivators attending would be able to keep themselves dry , that was not something he was able to do , and the knowledge made him scowl uncomfortably . his master was just about to leave to scout the area where they could sneak their way in , when shen jiu heard a snap of branches , and then a body tumbled down .

he did not have that long to look and think about the issue — not at long as wu yanzi did , at least , as he was immediately grabbing the bundle by the collar with a quick, ❛   i will handle this. ❜ and dragging it — him ? — off to some more densely populated shrubbery , hand skilfully pressing a knife to his throat . if he was lucky , it would be some useless disciple having run off too far , and once shen jiu made quick work of him , he’d find that his pockets were lined nicely .

he deposited the bundle back to the ground , ready to scramble to press his arms down and slit his throat , when he — stopped stock still . in truth , shen jiu did not get to look in the mirror often . now that he was travelling and often sleeping out in the open with wu yanzi , as mirrors were hard to come by . but lake surfaces were not , and even before , shen jiu thought he knew the lines of his own face well enough . he was looking at him . at himself . small and shaking like a leaf and perhaps with slightly different eyes , but shen jiu was not blind .

Feel free to change pronouns/wordage and switch roles as necessary!

Things said:

"Come on, hit me harder."

"I know you can do better then that!"

"You wanna take a break?"

"Don't stop until you've pinned me, you hear?"

"Quit running away and hit me, coward!!"

"Don't underestimate me."

"I warn you- I don't really play nice."

"If this was a real fight, I'd have broken your arm twice by now."

"Ow!! Lucky shot..."

"Ha, you got me..."

"Ready for round 2?"

"Loser buys drinks/lunch/dinner."

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?"

"Come on, one more time, your forms getting better."

Things Done:

[PIN] Sender pins Receiver to the floor, ending a heated sparring session.

[SWAP] Sender and Receiver practice using the other persons signature weapon.

[OBSTACLE] Sender and Receiver run an obstacle course.

[RUN] Sender and Receiver run a few laps around a track.

[SLAM] Sender pins Receiver to the wall, hard.

[SHOT] Sender and Receiver go to a gun range to practice.

[TOSS] Sender throws Receiver during sparring.

[AID] Sender accidentally wounds Receiver during training and grabs the first-aid kit.

[MAGIC] Sender uses their powers during the sparring session to attack Receiver. (if applicable)

" perhaps now, we can both be human. "

" i forgive you. "

" while you are alive, what recourse do you have but to live ? "

" you only listen when i hurt you. "

" to be lost and to be found, that is the lifespan of love. "

" if you are not to award me love, then i will indulge in rage. "

" the miracle is not that i should speak, but that you would ever listen! "

" i am obscene to you, but to myself i simply am. "

" we can be monsters together. "

" come out of the shadows, if you are here. "

" in seeking life, i created death. "

" i have the most terrible feeling. "

" do you understand now why i was hesitant to share this with you? "

" pain is evidence of intelligence, is it not? "

" your heart is pure ? i assure you it isn't. "

" of all the human anatomy, the heart is the organ furthest from your understanding. "

" of all the parts that make that man, which one holds the soul ? "

" who hurt you ? "

" why would you be afraid of me ? "

" you lied to me. you lied. "

" believing something does not make it true. "

" i must confess something to you. "

" this hardly seems appropriate. "

" was it worth it? "

" how often a man believes he’s met an angel or a devil, only to find it is all an illusion. "

" now, cover your eyes. don't look until I tell you to. "

" where am i ? "