[Rang watches the memory unspool before him. This one isn't a brief memory, it's long -- but it doesn't feel very long to him, who's lived for centuries -- and it helps that it seems to revolve around the same people.
fei du and his mother. fei du and his father. fei du's mother with his father. it's true what they say about parents. their presence shapes the child, their influence does too. they can make a home feel like paradise, or make it feel like the cage that rang can see constricting around fei du as he grows up, ever present in all he does. cages are not breakable. and children aren't made to fly out on their own. what could fei du have done? he was set to the same wheel as his mother, turning endlessly upon him.
the memory finally unwinds to an end, rang notes the familiar face of wenzhou but he puts it aside as he takes in Fei Du sitting next to him, hand on his glass.]
And did you?
[he tilts his own glass in his hand and then sets it down on the counter]
[ of all of the horrific things fei du has had to relive over this long week, this is the one he hates seeing the most, and simultaneously - it's the one that he remembers with perfect clarity. fei du has relieved this moment a thousand, million times. the villa he lived in as a child is a mausoleum, with every single detail exactly the same as it was when the woman herself died. he used to curl up in her rocking chair when he was having a bad day, replaces flowers with fake flowers, keeps the place spotless and clean to remind himself every single day that he couldn't save her. at fifteen, he was already trying, and it was too late.
he's silent, for a long moment, looking at his wine glass. his fingertip taps against the surface - 1, 2, 3, 4. it must be obvious now, that it's the cadence of that familiar song? you raise me up, so i can stand on mountains.
fei du's voice is very calm, when he does finally speak up. ]
... My father was in a car accident when I was nineteen. [ he'll let rang interpret that however he likes. ] So, in some manners, yes.
[rang would like to interpret it as fei du finally having some hand in his father's fate, but then again, he'd like to think that all humans are capable of murder.
the alternative is that some god finally stretched their hand down to deliver justice where the law failed, and rang knows enough about gods that they're never that benevolent.]
How terrible. [in that it's not terrible at all? rang smiles,] Car crashes can grisly. I hope he suffered.
[ maybe he did. who knows. his healing did take the shape of a truck, didn't it?
the smile gets fei du to smile a little, too. it's not a super nice smile - there's something bitter to it, or maybe something just as meanly pleased. or maybe both. me dropping this lore into your lap and boomeranging you at 100mph ]
He's braindead. [ so. ] He's been on life support for three years.
[ no benevolence, really. just fei chengyu, who wanted to control every aspect of his life, who controls his own fate even when his brain isn't functioning, with a stack of medical paperwork that says keep me alive. ]
[boomerang me and ignore how i missed words in my own tag thank u sisi
also oh my god? he laughs at that, a little in disbelief, maybe a little in admiration at how audacious humans can be at wanting to control their fate,]
How obsessive. How many religions did he dabble in, just in case? Five? Ten? Or did he just pick whichever had the best afterlife?
help. that comment makes him snort, derisive - the look in his eyes is awfully cold, even if his expression is very composed, and he takes a sip of his wine. ]
None. A man who thinks he's above all doesn't believe he has any weaknesses, including the fact that he's a mortal being who could die.
[ not that he's. dead. just somewhere in between. ]
[what if we made that nowhere in between huh fei du huh]
That makes it funnier then, since he's reduced to that.
[he eyes fei du over the rim of his glass, he'd say more on the subject, but whatever grip fei du's father still has over him -- well, that's one man who simply doesn't deserve the attention they're giving him?
that doesn't mean rang disregards the memory completely, instead]
[ he's thought about it! don't worry! every day!!!!
the comment's a little out of left field, but fei du - laughs, this time, ducking his head and shaking it. ]
Oh, he remembered. His partner, the one with the messy hair - [ the baby makes everyone look at tao ran because he's perfect ] - more or less looked after me when my father was on business trips on weekends and holidays. Both of them were constantly in my orbit.
[ there's a beat - and then he smiles, this time more amused and genuine. ] I hated Luo Wenzhou, and it was mutual.
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no subject
fei du and his mother. fei du and his father. fei du's mother with his father. it's true what they say about parents. their presence shapes the child, their influence does too. they can make a home feel like paradise, or make it feel like the cage that rang can see constricting around fei du as he grows up, ever present in all he does. cages are not breakable. and children aren't made to fly out on their own. what could fei du have done? he was set to the same wheel as his mother, turning endlessly upon him.
the memory finally unwinds to an end, rang notes the familiar face of wenzhou but he puts it aside as he takes in Fei Du sitting next to him, hand on his glass.]
And did you?
[he tilts his own glass in his hand and then sets it down on the counter]
Save yourself.
no subject
he's silent, for a long moment, looking at his wine glass. his fingertip taps against the surface - 1, 2, 3, 4. it must be obvious now, that it's the cadence of that familiar song? you raise me up, so i can stand on mountains.
fei du's voice is very calm, when he does finally speak up. ]
... My father was in a car accident when I was nineteen. [ he'll let rang interpret that however he likes. ] So, in some manners, yes.
no subject
the alternative is that some god finally stretched their hand down to deliver justice where the law failed, and rang knows enough about gods that they're never that benevolent.]
How terrible. [in that it's not terrible at all? rang smiles,] Car crashes can grisly. I hope he suffered.
[thanks.............. rang............]
no subject
the smile gets fei du to smile a little, too. it's not a super nice smile - there's something bitter to it, or maybe something just as meanly pleased. or maybe both. me dropping this lore into your lap and boomeranging you at 100mph ]
He's braindead. [ so. ] He's been on life support for three years.
[ no benevolence, really. just fei chengyu, who wanted to control every aspect of his life, who controls his own fate even when his brain isn't functioning, with a stack of medical paperwork that says keep me alive. ]
no subject
also oh my god? he laughs at that, a little in disbelief, maybe a little in admiration at how audacious humans can be at wanting to control their fate,]
How obsessive. How many religions did he dabble in, just in case? Five? Ten? Or did he just pick whichever had the best afterlife?
no subject
help. that comment makes him snort, derisive - the look in his eyes is awfully cold, even if his expression is very composed, and he takes a sip of his wine. ]
None. A man who thinks he's above all doesn't believe he has any weaknesses, including the fact that he's a mortal being who could die.
[ not that he's. dead. just somewhere in between. ]
no subject
That makes it funnier then, since he's reduced to that.
[he eyes fei du over the rim of his glass, he'd say more on the subject, but whatever grip fei du's father still has over him -- well, that's one man who simply doesn't deserve the attention they're giving him?
that doesn't mean rang disregards the memory completely, instead]
Did Wenzhou remember you from back then?
no subject
the comment's a little out of left field, but fei du - laughs, this time, ducking his head and shaking it. ]
Oh, he remembered. His partner, the one with the messy hair - [ the baby makes everyone look at tao ran because he's perfect ] - more or less looked after me when my father was on business trips on weekends and holidays. Both of them were constantly in my orbit.
[ there's a beat - and then he smiles, this time more amused and genuine. ] I hated Luo Wenzhou, and it was mutual.