[ It's actually good to hear her voice, even if their fight on Saturday spoke just as loudly - and Hua Cheng turns to greet it. There's a cloud of bubbles - only a few, but enough - that he's avoiding, like he's trying to outpace them without running, so he's careful much like her in her movements.
And then, the bubble pops, and the world shifts, just so.
Disorienting as it is, it gives way to the memory. And there's no stopping it, once it's started, so there's no attempt to intervene. Hua Cheng knows better, from collecting memories with his butterflies and replaying them - you can't stop the past.
(But he's always hated being an outside observer, for situations that he wish he could have stopped.)
He circles the scene as it plays out, recognizing Soo-won instantly. Understanding what's happened, what's happening. Perhaps many in the Realm would be shocked to see this, to hear the coldness in his voice, the blood on his blade. The blood on his hands, in reality. But he can't really say he is. Not with all the reminders of the Heavens that he's seen traces of in the young man since first meeting him.
But he doesn't want to see Yona's face in this scene. He can already see the one of now, reliving every second of a betrayal that clearly rocked her to her core. (The only reason he isn't vaguely considering Soo-won's neck being snapped is because they seem better off, now.)
Each step of the memory, he shifts, keeping an eye on Soo-won and his apparent retainer. (Where is Yin Yu, he wonders absently - perhaps tending to Ghost City in his stead, until he can return with news of the things that he and Dianxia faced in the Realm.) But as it ends, his steps bring him to the true Yona.
There aren't any words of comfort, as he waits for her to steady herself, watching as the scene fades. ]
It takes a little while, but after a few agonizingly long moments, Yona lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. That's... when she realized that these bubbles were showing people's memories, she'd started trying to avoid them.
[ Hua Cheng keeps his gaze forward, for a long time, as if seeing through where the memory once stood in front of them. Where Soo-won once was. He lets out a low, soft noise, in response to her question in that voice, so different from the anger behind even her very first kick.
But so very much like that crying little girl, that seems like it wasn't even that long ago. ]
All of it. [ Gently, but honestly. ] My condolences.
[ For the loss, for the betrayal, for the lies being cast off from her life to reveal an ugly truth beneath. ]
We don't have to talk about it, Yona. So long as Soo-won is no threat to you here.
[Do they have to talk about it if he is a threat to her here?
Yona takes a breath.]
...he isn't. There's more at stake here than the things that are between the two of us, and he knows that. He's not the kind of person who would put us all at risk just because of a grudge he held against my father.
[...]
Besides, I don't think he remembers it. I didn't, either, until recently.
[ A long silence, to consider that. Hua Cheng might go to Soo-won to discuss theories, strategy, their innate curiosity about the worlds they've seen.
But Hua Cheng does not trust Soo-won implicitly. There is too much of him that is like the Heavens, for him to put full faith in him - even with Yona's certainty of where his focus lies. He believes it, of course. So many have set aside their norms for the sake of getting out of the Realm.
Still. ]
Funny, how the Realm does that sort of thing, isn't it.
...maybe it thought I needed to forget about it, for the sake of fixing the problems with the nova here.
[Or maybe it was just a coincidence or a deliberate choice by a very rude writer.]
But I'm not... it makes me angry, remembering what he did. Angry, and sad, and... a lot of things. But I know our first priority has to be getting out of this situation.
[ Even without more to go off of, there's the knowledge that there's more to this. But he doesn't press, because, well - what would be the point? She's already been made to lose the memory, then remember it again, then relive it. ]
So you're using your anger wisely. [ Because he won't ever judge her for that. ] Once we reach the end, whatever's left between the two of you... you can resolve it then.
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dawnblushed) wrote2020-10-11 02:46 pm
no subject
And then, the bubble pops, and the world shifts, just so.
Disorienting as it is, it gives way to the memory. And there's no stopping it, once it's started, so there's no attempt to intervene. Hua Cheng knows better, from collecting memories with his butterflies and replaying them - you can't stop the past.
(But he's always hated being an outside observer, for situations that he wish he could have stopped.)
He circles the scene as it plays out, recognizing Soo-won instantly. Understanding what's happened, what's happening. Perhaps many in the Realm would be shocked to see this, to hear the coldness in his voice, the blood on his blade. The blood on his hands, in reality. But he can't really say he is. Not with all the reminders of the Heavens that he's seen traces of in the young man since first meeting him.
But he doesn't want to see Yona's face in this scene. He can already see the one of now, reliving every second of a betrayal that clearly rocked her to her core. (The only reason he isn't vaguely considering Soo-won's neck being snapped is because they seem better off, now.)
Each step of the memory, he shifts, keeping an eye on Soo-won and his apparent retainer. (Where is Yin Yu, he wonders absently - perhaps tending to Ghost City in his stead, until he can return with news of the things that he and Dianxia faced in the Realm.) But as it ends, his steps bring him to the true Yona.
There aren't any words of comfort, as he waits for her to steady herself, watching as the scene fades. ]
no subject
It takes a little while, but after a few agonizingly long moments, Yona lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. That's... when she realized that these bubbles were showing people's memories, she'd started trying to avoid them.
Memories like this are exactly why.]
...how much of that did you see?
[Her voice is small.]
no subject
But so very much like that crying little girl, that seems like it wasn't even that long ago. ]
All of it. [ Gently, but honestly. ] My condolences.
[ For the loss, for the betrayal, for the lies being cast off from her life to reveal an ugly truth beneath. ]
We don't have to talk about it, Yona. So long as Soo-won is no threat to you here.
no subject
Yona takes a breath.]
...he isn't. There's more at stake here than the things that are between the two of us, and he knows that. He's not the kind of person who would put us all at risk just because of a grudge he held against my father.
[...]
Besides, I don't think he remembers it. I didn't, either, until recently.
no subject
But Hua Cheng does not trust Soo-won implicitly. There is too much of him that is like the Heavens, for him to put full faith in him - even with Yona's certainty of where his focus lies. He believes it, of course. So many have set aside their norms for the sake of getting out of the Realm.
Still. ]
Funny, how the Realm does that sort of thing, isn't it.
no subject
[Or maybe it was just a coincidence
or a deliberate choice by a very rude writer.]But I'm not... it makes me angry, remembering what he did. Angry, and sad, and... a lot of things. But I know our first priority has to be getting out of this situation.
no subject
So you're using your anger wisely. [ Because he won't ever judge her for that. ] Once we reach the end, whatever's left between the two of you... you can resolve it then.
no subject
[That's putting it mildly, but it's fine.]
...I don't know what I'll do once this is over. I thought, once, that I wanted to kill him... but now I'm not so sure.