#trashgege

with an eye closed, he waits, waits for the sky to fall on him. 

but his wait is interrupted by a plea. a plea in his voice.

like a dog tracking his prey, he begins to move towards the source of the sound. pace quickening with every passing second, urgency increasing -- until he finally lays his eyes on him. it couldn’t be fake. it had to be real. 

“xielian!” he calls out among the chaos. the sky begins to fall again, but it doesn’t matter. renewed, energized, the traverses across the debris, pushed through the sky’s efforts to crush him--

he pulls xielian into his arms, holding him tightly. his reassuring warmth. his comforting presence instantly soothing his broken soul. 

“i’m so glad to see you, gege.” 

The water came in quicker than he expected. He’d been ankle deep only minutes ago, and now he was atop a light fixture as the dangerous flood water swept below him. He gripped the wooden sword he’d been given and looked up and down the street to get his bearings.

Unusual movement caught his attention. A flash of white, and--was that an arm?

Jumping on the flat of the wooden sword, Jiang Cheng zipped over the of the flood waters. He didn’t need anything more than a hover for this, skimming the surface and crouching down to try to see clearer.

The swirling white under the water was certainly attached to someone, who looked to be caught on something. His childhood at Lotus Pier had taught Jiang Cheng to be a good swimmer. He jumped off the sword and into the water without another thought. Navigating about the struggling man, he found the culprit: the man’s ankle was wedged into a bench at a bus stop. It only took a little bit of prying to that part of the bench loose and free the trapped stranger.

eyes twinkling with delight, hua cheng moves to xie lian’s side. he wears a wide, happy grin, leaning against the counter top with a laid back, but mischievous demeanor. 

“where did you find your special seasoning, gege?” he asks, watching xie lian and admiring his superb knife work (only part of cooking xielian genuinely excels at). 

“gege... you should be worrying about yourself, not me,” he chokes out, burying his face into xie lian’s shoulders. 

hua cheng’s grip tightens, then he finally lets go and sits back. avoiding xie lian’s gaze, his eyes sweep over the frostbitten skin of xie lian, cracked and broken from the fierce cold earlier. his expression downcast. he bites his lower lips, his brows knit with concern. he opens the palm of his hand, summoning a few butterflies who flutter over to the damaged skin. they land, lazily flapping their wings, and begin transferring their energy over to the injury. the injuries slowly begin to heal.

“is that better?” he asks weakly.

before he could hear a reply, chaos unleashes. the windows go black. what was once heavy snow suddenly showing nothing. voices begin to project their message, speaking of the imminent destruction by ‘null’ or ‘gpu’, and asking everyone to fight against the invaders and save the world as they know it. instinctively, hua cheng grabs xie lian’s hand.

the world is quiet after the final words are said. the peace breaks with the sound of the windows being slammed by bloodlusted creatures. cracking noises can be heard over the screams of the fearful citizens. 

hua cheng only holds xie lian tighter. 

@trashgege sent: “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“I-it’s okay, sniff.”

“Just promise we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend forever, okay? At least until I get married.”

The flick of white caught Jiang Cheng’s attention. He turned and it was already gone. Around a corner. He couldn’t place why it was familiar to him, so he followed, quickly whipping around the edge of the building after it. A brief flash of a memory--floodwaters and chaos--and Jiang Cheng immediately understood where he’d seen the white before.

FROM   -   INTERVIEW THE MUSE.

@trashgege​ said: ‘ do you need a hug? ’

           Kh..!!

           Damn, did he look that uncool right now? Siete took a quick glance at the nearest reflection. Well, his hair still looked like everything was in place. And he’s sure he didn’t get any bruises recently. So what gives?

           Wait, he had been sulking recently. He brought up the idea of a group chat to keep in touch with the other Eternals in the city, but they quickly dismissed the idea. You’d just keep spamming mail, they said. B-But what if he just wanted to show off cute cat pictures? Everyone loves cute cat pictures!

           The Eternal heaved out a sigh. Alright, maybe he could use one right now.

FROM   -   MISC SENTENCE STARTERS.

@trashgege said: “ you don’t have to talk, we can just sit together. ”

            “ Company, even in silence, is a wonderful thing to be shared. ” A serene smile adorns the god’s face, patting at the space right beside him. The sights upon this vantage point were beautiful, but the road to it was long and far away from the city proper. Not a lot of people would make the effort in climbing up here outside of special occasions.

          Such occasion was not present, yet this Arjuna has chosen to take this journey regardless. He came here with no expectations at all, but to see someone else around was a pleasant surprise regardless.

          Little words were exchanged between them at the time passed by. Neither of them were there for idle conversation, and there was no need to break the silence between them. Arjuna looked at nothing except for the horizon beyond them, his tail idly swinging by.

          And then - it finally came. The moment where the sky’s hues go from blue to orange, the sun slowly sinking down in the west. A sunset much like many others as the days go by, and yet it is still a sunset worth taking the trek towards this place.