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[ He's been leaving the congee on a stool outside Shen Qingqiu's door each day since they parted ways after the kelpie king; today, however, he also leaves a small rounded stone, looking cracked to all appearances. With it is a note penned in neat calligraphy: ]

The stone is meant to summon even objects from places far from here. Please make use of this as you see fit.

[He'd ignored the first couple bowls of congee, but eventually took to silently leaving empty bowls on that stool outside, not giving any response or comment on the offerings. When he sees a stone instead, and the note that comes along with it, his first thought is—to try it out, of course.

He doesn't expect the stone to fall to pieces upon use though.

...Or the guqin he summoned to not actually appear...

Eventually he forces himself to show up and knock at Yue Qingyuan's door, looking as distant and closed-off as one can be when coming to dump rock fragments into somebody's hands.] Your "present".

[It was useless! He doesn't say, which is a good thing because the guqin in question is sitting in Yue Qingyuan's room.]

Edited 2020-08-07 11:31 (UTC)

[ Yue Qingyuan, who has just come back from thoroughly washing all the utensils and cooking gear necessary for making congee, is caught mid splashing his face with water from his basin. (It's the sink.) With a towel draped over his shoulders, hair loose, and only his inner robe on, he's worried enough to have rushed right for the door without shrugging into his outer robe when he felt who was coming: he blinks and stares down at the crumbled pieces of rock in his hands. ]

... The summoning didn't work?

[ The guqin is literally sitting visibly leaning against the wall, right where Shen Qingqiu can see. Also right where Yue Qingyuan would not have seen it in walking over. ]

[Catching Yue Qingyuan in a state of undress wasn't exactly in Shen Qingqiu's plans; he pauses uncertainly for a moment before pushing himself to charge ahead.]

It certainly seems— [There's another, much shorter pause, before he (not-too-roughly) pushes Yue Qingyuan out of the way and stalks over to the missing guqin.]

It seems it worked just fine. [Though his voice is as indifferent as ever, the way he picks up his instrument is somehow much more gentle than any action he's ever done towards his shixiong.]

[ Summarily shoved out of the way with bits of stone in his hand, he quizzical turns his head to follow Shen Qingqiu's progress through the room. His smile when he sees what his shidi is holding is warm and spontaneous and genuine, but he'd also seen how Shen QIngqiu had hesitated over his inadequate dressing, and so Yue Qingyuan good naturedly continues to make himself decent..

Seting the stone pieces on the narrow table with its two chairs, he heads for the water basin to wash his hands and finish patting his face dry. ]

It's been some time since I last heard you play.

[ The remark is casual, nonchalant. His heart isn't, because it's equal parts true and false. Of the many things that changed since Shen Qingqiu's fever and the qi deviation that left him forgetting his time before, his skill with the guqin was not part of it. But the particulars in how he played... what songs he chose to play, that had changed, just as so many other small things had.

His chest aches, and he sets aside the towel, chuckling as his hands lift to start working his brush through his hair. ]

I'm glad you found it, Xiao... Shen-shidi.

[He keeps his back to Yue Qingyuan, gaze focused on the instrument in his arms rather than on the source of the brushing noises behind him.]

You never did have good timing with your visits.

[As if there were any times at all that he was welcome on Qingjing Peak--but it's true that he rarely had the fortune to show up during guqin practice.]

Would you happen to know how it found its way to your room?

[ The combing continues on as he steps away, coming to rest on the foot of his tidy and well made bed. He watches Shen Qingqiu's back, and the sight of the instrument larger than he is broad. Nostalgia has a mixed bittersweet taste on his tongue, but he's been asked a question, and so he'll give his best in an answer. Shen Qingqiu talking with him at all is a concession that makes him smile. After all, he's not owed it in any way. ]

It may be possible that magical objects here imprint to some extent on each of those who handle them. If it traced to my qi signature, perhaps? Or it may simply be that magic here plays tricks. I don't actually know.

[ Does he bother with the hair crown today, or just a pin? It's an odd thought he continues to ask each day he pulls his hair up, because back home, it's no thought he had at all. ]

[Reasonable answers for a thoughtless question. He breathes out once, a quiet huff, then adjusts his hold on the guqin and finally turns around.

A long pause.]

...The gift was an acceptable one.

[Another, shorter pause as he looks at Yue Qingyuan with his unpinned hair.]

We'll speak again some other time.

[And with that! Shen Qingqiu heads for the exit, without a single backwards glance.]

[ His take away here being largely that his shidi is uncomfortable seeing him at anything less than his public best, which he'll keep in mind for the future. It's... a little sad on one level, but also oddly endearing how Shen Qingqiu can't even look at him not looking like the perfect sect head he never really was. ]

I look forward to it, Xiao Jiu.

[ Is his soft statement, paired with a smile that touched his lips as soon as Shen Qingqiu had said the gift was acceptable, his brush still for the moment as he watches his shidi leave. Then stares at the door when it shuts behind him, simply thinking, and glad in some way he doesn't know how to frame with words that Shen Qingqiu is willing to speak with him on his own initiative. At least once more.]

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