2018-04-09: Feiunion
- Log: Feiunion
- Cast: Fei Fong Wong, Xantia
- Where: Vane - Residential District
- Date: April 9th, 2018
- Summary: Fei returns to the Wolfsbane, and finds an unexpected familiar face tending bar.
======================<* Vane - Residential District *>======================= According to the histories, the Magic City of Vane once floated above the surface of Lunar, providing magicians with a vantage point like none other to study the mysteries of their art and world. Those days are gone. The Vane of today is a battered, ramshackle ruin, with all but a few houses crumbled into rubble and disrepair. The outskirts of the city would be a looter's paradise if there was anything left to loot; most residents are either scraping out a bare existence with the Magic Guild or simply taking advantage of free real estate to squat in the less-toppled buildings. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Vntv83fb8
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong was at Pendrago.
He's since come back. Something is bothering him but he is having difficulty qualifying it to himself. It's something about Lunar that puts him on edge but what is it? It feels like another shoe is about to drop.
Xantia has been one of his worries but he believes in Xantia's toughness so he didn't fret too much. He was more worried he wouldn't see his friend again. He looks positively exhausted by the time he makes it back to Vane and beelines it straight to the Wolfsbane, the Black Wolves' current hideout.
Of course he is a little worried about what living in an illegal pub is doing to him.
Nevertheless, the weird thing is that Fei's hair is down rather than tied up as normal. This is what happens when you lose your white hairties in an avalanche.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
It's fair to not worry too much about Xantia. She does have a habit of just suddenly turning up where you least expect it. Case in point: upon entering the Wolfsbane, one would be expecting a greeting - or at least solemn acknowledgement - from its proprietor, Argus. But instead...
"Welcooooome to the Wolfsbane! Would you like a drink?"
That's a lot more enthusiastic than Argus has ever been. Argus also doesn't look anything like Xantia, unlike the person currently tending bar, who looks exactly like Xantia. Because it is Xantia. Turned away from the door at first, but quickly whirling about as soon as she hears someone enter. Naturally, her demeanor quickly changes when she sees who it is.
"...Fei?! Feiiiii!"
Easily leaping across the counter, one can imagine her to launch straight into the mother of all bullrushes, except... she holds herself back, literally, grasping the edge of the bar with one hand. "Oh oh oh, wait wait wait..." And back she goes, leaping right back behind the bar, quick to reassume her bright smile.
"Sorry, I promised I wouldn't leave the bar unattended. So you'll have to come back here for a hug!" A practical solution, is it not? "But I'm so glad I've found you, or I guess, you found me, or we found each other? Never mind, I'm just happy we're both here!"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong blinks. He rubs at his eyes. He looks at Xantia. He rubs at his eyes again. He looks at Xantia again.
His eyes slowly widen. "X...Xantia!?" He braces himself for a tackle that never comes. Is this person really Xantia???
The smile clinches it. Fei starts laughing and crying at the same time. He rubs at his eyes furiously, like a child, but he can't help it. The sudden influx of relief is bypassing his controls. "Y...you're here." He manages. "Of course you're here." He smiles bigly in this moment as the weight of the world on his shoulders lightens. Xantia is very strong so that is to be expected.
He takes in a deep breath and says, "I'm sorry I...I am just so glad you're ok."
He manages to walk around the counter and he will give Xantia that big ol' hug. "I guess I couldn't lose you if I tried!" He remarks. "Not that I'm going to." He places his hands on Xantia's shoulders, looks into her eyes, and says, "You've grown." If nothing else in the past he doubts Xantia would've held off leaping the counter.
"Are you eating alright?" Fei begins the litany of dadlike queries. "Nobody hurt you? Did you run into any friends? Make some new ones?" He hasn't realized yet that she's a member of the Wolves even though he should have by now.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's smile fades just a tiny bit at Fei's emotional outburst. It's probably not even noticable that she's feeling a little confused about it. It's true that she's grown, at least in the sense that she thinks about things a little more than she used to. She wonders about emotions sometimes, especially extreme ones like this, feeling as if she's missing some kind of fundamental understanding about how they work. Why do people sometimes cry when they're not sad? ...Why doesn't she ever cry when she is sad?
But who would ever think questions like that would bother someone like Xantia, whose smile reinforces itself readily when Fei recomposes himself. "Of course I'm here," she parrots. "I was looking all over for you! But then they said all I had to do was stay here and you'd be coming around at some point, sooo... here I am!"
Once Fei crosses the boundary of the counter, he has officially left the Safe Zone, so Xantia quickly bridges the rest of the distance to rush into that hug. At least the forcefulness is more reasonable now than it otherwise would have been, but she clings for dear life. "You'd better believe you can't lose me, I'll find a way to follow you no matter where you go!" That's not a threat, but it is a promise. Because she only wishes she could be as sure of the reverse. Especially after the events at Lost July, losing Fei feels like a very real possibility, a possibility that she doesn't ever want to become reality.
Xantia's confusion is much more visible when Fei takes time to look into her eyes, which she fails to understand even after his conclusion that she's apparently grown. "...Really? I don't feel any taller." In the end, it's still the same old Xantia.
Dadlike though they may be, Xantia is at least very capable of handling rapid-fire questions with equally rapid-fire answers, "Not as well as I'd like, and a little bit, but I did meet friends in the end and made a few new ones!" Of course Xantia not eating as well as she'd like could just mean that she's only been eating two people's worth of meals. She's neglecting to go into any immediate details however, in favor of pointing out, "But it's alright now, I'm gonna help you and the rest of the Black Wolves out, and we'll find a way to go back to Filgaia together!"
A beat, and Xantia looks ever so slightly displeased when she adds, "...Well, we will once the vacation is over, I guess."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Not your body, you." Fei expected that counter. He aims to give Xantia a few reassuring pats on the back. Life isn't fair you know? You have to grab justice with your own hands because the world won't give it to you. "Well they were right. Here I am." He pauses for a moment before adding, "Lily told me you were around." She also said something else, but there's a lot to unpack here and Fei listens to Xantia explain everything else before he continues.
"That's good, that's good." He nods slowly, likely in answer to her making new friends. He seems a bit more at ease, but not entirely as he looks back to Xantia. "You're helping the Wolves?" He pauses. "Wait--did you join us?"
That is going to take precidence over what Lily said about what Xantia could do.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's curious headtilt makes it obvious enough that she has no idea how she could've grown in any way but height, but she doesn't ask about it further. It doesn't seem like growing could ever be a bad thing, so she'll take it as a compliment.
Once she's finally backed out of the hug, though, she volunteers some additional details. "Everything is fine now, but... I was all alone for... for weeks!" 'Weeks' sounds right. As usual she wasn't keep tracking of time, but she's pretty sure it was weeks. If she had any doubts before, she is now completely sure of one thing: "I don't... want to be alone again."
That moment past, she's quick to resume her usual exuberance. "So, yes, of course I joined! You're all my friends, and this way I can stay close to you, why wouldn't I join?" It also gives her a more steady place to sleep, more easy access to food... pretty much no downsides here, as far as she can tell!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I'm sorry," Fei says. "I had no idea that we'd be sent all over the place like that." He does feel some responsibility. He helped activate the dang thing after all. Sometimes trusting a blue haired woman blindly is a dangerous proposition. But that same blue haired woman did save Fei from an avalanche so...conflicted. Something seems not exactly familiar, but strangely powerful.
Doesn't want to be alone again. Is there someone who is alone out there? Someone he has to meet?
The strange feeling passes. "I'm...sorry." He says, less offhandedly. "I can't say we'll never be apart, but I'll be with you."
He doesn't explain this. But he does say, "Anyway, I guess... I mean it's fine, that you want to join." He glances away awkwardly. "I guess I know that sometimes this crew can get pretty violent. I know we're your friends but--I guess I figured that was something you wouldn't want to be involved with. We'll still be there for you even if you don't become a mercenary, you know?"
He pauses. "Lily mentioned you healed her."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Fei says strange things sometimes, Xantia is used to that much. Two seemingly opposite things that can be true at the same time? Not even going to try to have that make sense in her head. The other aspect of it, the one that's simpler to understand, that's easier to react to.
"Why are you sorry?" She genuinely doesn't understand. "You were trying to use that device to send the Lord of Calamity back to Lunar, right? How were you supposed to know it would send us all there?" ...But she has managed to understand that much, somehow. Every once in a while, Xantia makes it obvious that, at least on occasion, she notices a lot more of what's going on around her than most people would think she would. Either way, it was a pretty safe bet that she never once blamed any of her friends for what happened. That's just not in her character.
Another thing that she genuinely doesn't understand: "You thought that I wouldn't want to get involved with violence?" Since when has she ever run away from violence, rather than directly at it? But moreso than that, "I just want to be around friends, as much as possible, and help them whenever I can, however I can. That's all." It's really just that simple to her. It shows in her expression that she doesn't see how this could be any more complicated than that.
Until one possibility occurs to her, stepping around Fei so she can see his averted face more clearly. "Are you worried?" She chuckles, and makes a fist for emphasis. "I can handle it! I don't know how to do much, but I do know how to fight!"
As if to counteract the claim of not being able to do much, Fei brings up Lily's healing. Xantia blinks, needing a moment to shift mental gears, and then shrugs. "I guess, sort of... it was a bit more complicated than just healing." Now it's her turn to look away awkwardly. "I don't know how I did it, or how I knew how to do it, if that's what you want to ask me..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei smiles. "Heh. Well, I had a feeling...but I didn't think we'd be seperated in the process." Still he probably should have been more specific. Rather than violence he should've said 'murders'. He is trying to figure out how to express that while not being too discouraging when Xantia seems to recongize his feelings.
"Yeah I'm worried. I know you can handle a lot, but I still worry. It's how I am." He catches sight of himself in a glass and winces. "I need to get a new hairtie as soon as I can." He hasn't gotten around to it yet but he prefers to keep it tied back.
He fistbumps Xantia's hand. It's hard to be a cynic around this gal.
"No, no..." Fei says. "I'm not asking how you did it."
We have some ideas.
"I'm guessing it came naturally. Lily said you fixed her 'machines' somehow." Fei admits. "So I figure it's something worth being proud of. But what was it like? How are you...feeling? I'm sorry these mysteries keep...piling up."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
It is a valid worry. Given Xantia's reaction when she ended up almost murdering Fargo back in the Lacour tournament, one would think she wouldn't be too eager to get involved with that sort of thing. Then again, that was a while ago. Who knows how she'd handle it now. Either way, it might not stop her from getting involved to begin with.
The girl herself claims, "Well, if that's the way you are that's fine, as long as you know you don't have to!" She's hardly an authority on worry. She rarely realizes when she's doing it herself. But at least she speaks her mind. As evidenced by how she doesn't miss a beat in responding to Fei remarking that he needs a new hairtie. "You do." Savage. Actually it's just because she's used to seeing Fei like that. She values what little consistency there is in her life.
That much is easy to talk about. The topic of healing Lily, that makes her less comfortable. Crossing her left arm over her chest, she grabs hold of the opposite arm, her gaze drifting down towards her hand as well. "I was excited to try it, at first, but it was... not fun. I had to hurt her, a lot. And it made me really hungry, and... cold." She shivers at the recollection. It was the first time Xantia can remember feeling cold. She didn't like it very much.
But these are ultimately the lesser worries, and Fei knows it. It's a lot more difficult to put those feelings into words, however. But if she had to put it simply...
"...I'm scared, Fei. If I'm not careful, I could do... really bad things to people." Seeking Fei's eyes again, she looks to him with a melancholy expression, having seriously considered this possibility for quite some time now, and trying to somehow come to terms with it. "What if I was meant to do bad things to people? What if that's what I remember, and it makes me want to do bad things to people again? Would you... stop me?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Don't feel pressured to do anything you wouldn't do," Fei settles on that. He hopes preciously that she doesn't think he means, like, literal pressure. He can't help but laugh a little at Xantia's SAVAGE coldness regarding his hair. It keeps getting in his eyes so he can't really disagree on practical basis either.
She's just like her, he thinks. Selfless at her own expense. It's not an entirely absent quality even in this age. If anything, it feels more prevalent than ever in his friends, allies, and close ones.
He gives Xantia another hug as if to offset that cold memory.
"You helped her, you should be proud of that." Fei says. "And if a day comes when you lose control, the more people you help in the meantime...the better, right? Then whatever happens, all the people you helped--they'll fight for you instead of against you. And maybe...that'll be the difference between a happy story and a sad one someday."
He looks forward for a moment. He understands that fear. Some part of Fei feels that about himself too, but he doesn't want to give Xantia a frightened look like the people of Lahan gave to him. It was justified, of course, but he doesn't want to twist that dagger into anybody 's chest so long as he can help it. Especially if it's Xantia.
"I guess if something like that happened...I'd help you. I'd help you so you could stop yourself. I wouldn't want to hurt you. I ... believe that." He closes his eyes. "That part of you, though, if it's there..."
He pauses, trying to figure out how to phrase this in that moment to get his feelings across. "If it's there, well, so's the rest of you that doesn't want to be like that." He smiles. "Maybe you can convince that other you... Or maybe there isn't one." He adds. "And you are simply worried about the power you carry as any reasonable person would be. I won't stop being your friend regardless of what happens and if you find yourself lost, I will help you find your way."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia knows what some figures of speech mean, give her a little credit! Though admittedly it can't hurt to use the word 'figuratively' a lot. Either way, her nod in responds seems to suggest that she understands. It's probably harder to imagine Xantia not marching to the beat of her own drum, anyway.
Then again, in her current state, she doesn't much resemble her usual self-assured, optimistic, cheerful self. As confident as she usually is in her own strength, right now she feels weak and vulnerable. It just might be the top reason for never wanting to be alone for so long anymore. Being left with nothing but your own thoughts is awful. She had the right idea to prefer just doing things instead of thinking about them too much, she's more certain of that than ever.
For the moment, she is uncharacteristically calm, resting her head on Fei's shoulder. "Well, of course I'm happy I could help... but, I'd better not do it again unless it's absolutely necessary." So she says, knowing that she'd do it again in a heartbeat, without even thinking about it. There's no time to be scared in emergencies.
She stays still and silent after that, listening to Fei's words. It's hard to tell what she might think about them, given her complete lack of reaction even in her expression. But when Fei claims he won't stop being her friend, she suddenly chuckles, then smiles, then raises her head and softly nudges Fei in the shoulder with her fist.
"You're making things so complicated! Most people would just say something like 'sure, I'll punch you until you stop punching things!' I'd be reassured by that just fine!" She averts her gaze briefly, smiling more subduedly when she turns back to Fei. "But, when it's you... hearing this is a lot more reassuring. I always felt like you weren't like anybody else, and I wouldn't want you to be."
And then she nudges him in the shoulder again, a bit harder this time. "Still, you'd better punch me at least a little! You'd hurt me a lot more by not fighting me when I'm asking for it!" Because, in the end, this is still Xantia.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Heh," Fei chuckles. "I know, I know. I'm a complicated guy." It's hard to think of the world in simple terms anymore. With all the blood on his hands, he had to learn complexity quickly so he could look himself in the mirror.
He doesn't like looking in the mirror. It always feels a little more hideous, monstrouse even in that mirror. "I don't know. I guess I sympathize, and I'm saying what I wish I would hear. Or trying to."
He winces at the second nudge. He gives Xantia a quick headpat. "Alright, alright. I'll punch you. Since you asked nicely." He's doing you a favor!!
After that, he'll try to steer the conversation to more enjoyable topics, like the chicken skewers he found in Pendrago.