eastbound | video ► un: bluebird

( it's awkward enough that this is being conducted in the middle of a market, with a couple of teenagers that moiraine had managed to gather together but the fact that they're putting it to the group as a whole as well? atonement, it's a serious things. and she's not wanting to risk any ill effects of leaving this.

this is also going to be the most carefully worded psa you've heard -- she can't lie and what she's going to say goes against what she's done )

I've travelled to many cities, many villages, even before yours. Some of the people there have never travelled outside of their own village, may never even have dreamed of it but they as much as anyone appreciates hearing the stories of what the world is like. ( even if to them they are only stories, many of the events are disbelieved as true as they may be )

I suppose even before I travelled I was as unaware as they are, knowing little more of the places I would see than the stories I'd heard or the people I'd meet. ( and this is where she pauses, a careful look given to her partner before adding more ) It's the people that you meet on the way that tell you the most. Sometimes those offering your kindness would seek something crueller instead, whether it's immediately or revealed much later. Your trust is something to guard.

( their... trust, Lan Wangji does not reiterate, but for the northbound pull of his brows, and how he looks distinctly tortured by this educational moment. one of the nearby teenagers interrupts her mooning to briefly consult a giggling companion, mouthing, is he well? )

...trust. ( truly, martyrs have suffered less than lan wangji in this moment. ) Is sand caught by hungry hands. Slipped, it cannot be regained. Only lessens at each trade.

( another of the teenagers, scratching the top of his head, mutters fiendishly aside, wait, is this about merchantry ledgers? lan wangji’s eyes shutter to wish away the world. it has not excused itself, when he gazes at the children, again, then, helplessly, at moiraine: )

Soulmates, partners of merit. Entrust them alone your truth, sword and flesh.

( ...and ‘lo, the collective groan of the crowd indicates the teenagers have suddenly realised just what lecture they’ve stepped into.

there are small blessed mercies that he took her lead, that he said the words she's glad she now doesn't have to specify in detail. and what she might not have been quite able to say )

The people we can have around us are the ones we need to trust, to not need to question whether they should be with us, whether we can talk to them or be with them. ( she might not blush quite as easily as she did as a girl but that doesn't mean she really wants to get too descriptive about sex. though when some of the teenagers are starting to leave maybe that's better )

And what we do shouldn't be questioned, shouldn't be doubted. Are those you trust ones you completely trust? Or have you had doubts before. Certainty, honest knowledge is more blessed to have than you can know.

( it's at this moment thankfully the embarrassment for the two ends as they finish up, ending the network before dealing with any remaining teens.

none. there are none left )

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( And yet he cannot help but feel chided. )

Sword, truth, flesh. You have them.

My whole, and my truth. You have me.

( swords can break, shatter, bend, be lost, be found. flesh can weaken, can scar, can grow old even if at great lengths of time; is fallible. truth is not always what one wants, but it is worth the delivery, worth the navigation.

himself, he can offer. not selectively, or else he starts to compartmentalise what's allowed, what's allowable. once he does that, it's a slope that's difficult to maintain his footing on, step by step, going forward. he learned that, having slid down once before. )