#grueviolette

May DWC 2025 Bonus Day - Snap/Armor

Mei stares at her quilen Guo, longingly. He's not normally this green, is he? How long has it been since she washed him? Questions pile up in her mind, frustration follows.

Right. No more thinking. Mei takes action. She grabs Guo and lifts him like a sack of potatoes into a small courtyard with a fountain. It's the perfect place to wash him.

But first, she has to tie him up. If she leaves him, Guo won't stay still. He'll wander right and left, even sprawl in a mud puddle. Mei is still mentally thanking the former monument restorer for advising her on what to use to clean the stone. It was a great help.

Of course, she attracts a few glances from curious passers-by. Quilen aren't exactly common. And even less so, a quilen that's friendly. Mei is well aware of this.

She washes him quickly and meticulously, using a hoof pick to remove the moss that had grown in the cracks. This has the effect of making him squirm on the spot, from one paw to the other, as if she were tickling him. The rest can easily be removed with a brush and soap.

To finish it off, she polishes him with a cloth. As soon as she loosens him, Guo dashes straight for a big mud cliff to spread out like a seal. It's a shame Mei couldn't stop him in time. Now she has to start all over again.

Send 💿 for my muse to choose a song that matches your muse's vibe

(Accepting!)

A Friend Like Me - the Interrupters

I know, You won't find a friend No, you won't find a friend, like me I know, You won't find a friend No, you won't find a friend, like me

May DWC 2025 Day 5 - Restless/Faith ( Continuation of this part HERE )

“You can sit there, there's tea and cupcakes. Help yourself, I bought them for you.” He said as he walked over to his large shelf.

He doesn't need to tell her twice, she'll wait quietly while she eats. To make his work easier, Soren usually classifies his finished work by numbers and symbols according to the customer. Mei is no exception. He has created three pieces of jewelry for her and takes them out of their corresponding drawers before placing them on the table.

May DWC 2025 Day 2 - Placate / Graceful

"Take a good look, I'll show them to you again." She said, unfurling her fan.

With music only she can hear. Mei starts dancing for him. She has her back to him, one hand raised while the other holds her fan close. Mei turns around, her fan hiding half her face. She waves the fan slightly in tandem as she slowly rocks her body back and forth. A pendulum movement that makes her clothes move like ripples on the surface of water. Mei suddenly closes her fan, at the same time as she crouches down. Then she unfurls it again as she rises to return to her initial position before she begins to dance. Back to him.

It's a lovely dance, a little clumsy at times, but still elegant. There's a reason it's been a while since she's danced like this.

As she danced, Lucien memorized her every move, noting Mei's agility with her fan. It's a detail he appreciates, and has even begun to imitate with his own. As a big fan of dance, he's never lost that passion, even when he became a demon hunter. Indeed, his fighting moves are seen by his companion as if he were dancing with his enemies. A pretty but deadly dance.

"This is a two-person dance, isn't it?" he asks, taking off his coat, which he folds and places on the wooden floor beside him. “A bit like a person's reflection in a mirror?"

Mei nods.

"Yes, I'd say it's more like your reflection in a body of water. Not something completely clear-cut, except when the dancers arrive perfectly matching their movement together." She replies.

"I see, so I'd like to try my hand at it. If you don't mind, I'd like you to accompany me, my friend." He offers, holding out a hand.

It's a surprise offer, but Mei doesn't refuse. She takes his hand and begins to dance with him. It's not until late afternoon that they manage to synchronize their movements. As they dance, they ignore the curious glances around them, enjoying each other's company without bothering anyone.

May DWC 2025 Day 1 - Beauty/Cruel The story continues HERE

"Can you turn around with your arms spread, please? I'd like to see how it looks now." She asks.

Mei obeys her request. As she turns slowly, Thora watches carefully as the whole outfit moves. After two weeks of sewing on it, she finds the result satisfactory. Everything is in perfect harmony, from the gradation of black that eventually turns dark purple, to the embroidery of a peach blossom branch at the bottom of the skirt, where a butterfly sits on the edge of a branch. Talking of the embroidery, her perfectionist eye noticed a detail that bothered her.

"Stop right there. Back to me," she orders in a firm tone, rummaging in her satchel. "I've seen something that needs correcting."

In Mei's eyes, there is no flaw. But she doesn't know much about sewing as a whole, plus she can't see herself completely. Thora has put away all the mirrors to avoid her seeing herself before the result. So Mei lets her do what she has to do.

With agility and a little magic, Thora undoes and corrects the detail that bothers her so much: a misplaced flower petal. Now that she's corrected it, she can finally say it's over.

"What do you think?" Thora pulled back a curtain to reveal a standing mirror in front of her, allowing her to look at herself. "I must admit I've done some good work this time."

Mei doesn't give her an answer immediately. At the moment, all her attention is focused on her reflection. For a brief moment, she has the impression of seeing herself when she was younger, when she should have been a lady-in-waiting to a noblewoman. This is the kind of outfit she was wearing. A fleeting memory that makes her smile.

"It's beautiful," she said softly, spinning around a little faster. "It's sublime, I love the peach branch and the little butterfly on it. It's my favourite detail of the whole thing."

Her compliments do not leave her indifferent, usually Thora remains almost inexpressive. But here, her smile widens all the way to her ears out of pride, and the tips of her ears twitch slightly. It boosts her confidence in her abilities.

"It's not every day I get to design outfits for Pandaren. I might as well make the most of it with the Rose and Butterfly Ball coming up, I'm planning to design something for Oryn too as well as Ezryn. It's going to be interesting." She replies, glancing down at one of her sketchbooks. "I've got a few ideas in mind…"

"I can only wish you good luck for the future. On my next trip to Pandaria, I promise to bring you back a roll of silk to thank you." She said as she jumped off the podium.

Mei wants to offer her something in return for her clothes. It's the least she can do for her work. Thora offers her a little bow, which she returns.

May DWC 2025 Day 6 Relic/Negative

“Good evening...”

His husky voice came out of nowhere and startled her. Concentrating as she had been, she was sure she was going to react like this. For a brief moment, she thought her heart would burst from her chest. She even nearly spilled the contents of her inkwell if she hadn't caught it at the last moment.

“ORYN!!” She turned back a hand on her chest to try and calm herself. To the source of his voice, a dark mass in the corner of the room. "I nearly had a heart attack! What had we said about that!? Especially at night!"

“Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you.” He said in a softer tone, while pulling his massive body out of the shadows. “I wanted to see you.”

The ceiling isn't high enough for him to stand; the horns of his mask even leave a slight trace. This forces him to crouch to get a better position. And even when crouched, he retains his imposing size. A size that would impress most people. But not Mei, who has known him for some time. She doesn't hesitate to scold him.

"You could have knocked on the door or gone out on the balcony," she says, waving a finger in front of his nose. "Or I don't know how to warn of your presence before speaking. Be a normal person."

Her reaction makes him smile slightly. It's something he appreciates about her.

“I'm making new talismans for Sha” She answers his question, before sitting down at her desk again. "Whether it's to hunt them or contain them. If many people think they're gone, they're not. As long as negative emotions exist, they can always materialize in us. Any monk should know, they can cause so much tragedy."

Oryn says nothing, just lets her speak and listens, as is often the case at such moments. He moves closer to her to play with the strands of her hair.

“Do you still remember what happened at the temple a few days ago?” He asks softly.

Mei stops writing for a moment, before sighing and nodding.

"Yes, but that's not all. There's also the incident in that house as a companion. If... If we'd been able to inform people better, if they'd listened to us, there wouldn't have been any tragedies." She said with a sigh. “And those people would still be alive.”

“You're not responsible for this kind of thing, Mei.” He starts braiding her hair.

"Maybe not." She mumbles. "Maybe you're right, we did our best."

She doesn't really agree with him, she tries to convince herself she does so she doesn't feel guilty.

May DWC 2025 Day 3 Linger/Gaze

A simple look can tell you a lot about someone's emotions. It's a truth for people like Herrick. He's a man of few words, really few. He's almost as quiet as Oryn, if not quieter. Joy. Anger. Surprise. Everything comes through his glassy eyes.

And this is no exception, when night falls. Settling into their little camp, she appears before him with a bowl of fish stew in hand. Herrick had seen her cooking in her corner as she liked to do. He hadn't expected her to cook for him. It wasn't the first time she'd offered him something to eat, but he'd refused. He's a knight of death, a living dead. He doesn't need to eat. At least, he doesn't eat in the conventional way.

He was about to refuse again, but as he met her gaze. Mei looked at him as if to say that this time would be different. And rather than refuse again, he decides to trust her and take the bowl. Nevertheless, Herrick doesn't eat right away.

He takes a brief moment to look and feel. Before removing his mask and taking a bite. And then the explosion in his mouth. Not only does he feel the texture on his tongue, he can taste the fish, the vegetables and even a pinch of cinnamon. He feels the taste. Herrick can't remember the last time this happened to him. Without even realizing it, he finishes the bowl.

All this under Mei's watchful and benevolent gaze. She can't help but feel joy at his reaction. She wasn't a hundred percent sure that the recipe would work, but it was a victory. Finally, using recipes from the Shadowlands was a good idea. She made a mental note to herself to try others for variety.

Of course, she let him help himself to the ragout as he wished. While she ate her own meal. No words may be spoken between them for the rest of the meal, but the glances they exchange are more than enough.

May DWC 2025 Day 4 - Tremendous/Dangerous (TW : violence, blood, indecent language.)