video; un: peekaboo

[descendency]

[ the video feed flicks on to a young man's grim, steel-eyed gaze. he strikes as a man who might be more attractive were he not so severe and dour, a natural softness to his features that does not take easily to his fury. rosy lips pulled taut in displeasure, he stares out as though scrutinizing an audience he has not yet gathered, who yet remains unseen. ]

It's Gabriel.

[ he states his own name with distaste, as though he would rather be doing anything but giving his name to these circumstances and that much is the plain truth of the matter. ]

I require the statuses of Beitang Moran [ insufferable know it all ], Wei Wuxian [ insufferable busybody ], and Five [ insufferable ].

As for the rest of you, would someone like to kindly tell me where the fuck we are and what the hell we're doing here?

Comments

[weifinder]

No, nor anyone else who senses life or death. You can't within the city, but you're here now, so you've a specific reason to say what you say. What is it?

( There's a whole laundry list of wrong things he can and will say, because that's the nature of what needs to be said. Or shared. Or the multitude of wrongs that weave into a tapestry of what may or may not come next. )

[descendency]

The walls here are empty.

[ he gestures to his surroundings in the video, looking around again as lips pull taut. ]

I thought they might have some answers given their condition, but— [ he shakes his head, fixing wei wuxian with his gaze. ]

Some of them have a few years of memories in them at best, others... months, maybe, not even. I've never felt structures like this before. Nothing about this place is right.

[weifinder]

Here, in the Mouse House?

( he pauses in that consideration, eyes narrowing. )

Down here... it's only down here that I've felt any touch of life, or death. Once you're in the port, things become muddied... once in Serthica itself, either side or its slim neutral region, there's nothing. I can feel nothing.

There are magics of some kind sustaining whatever lies keep the city almost functional, and peopled. If stains down here too, but the saturation is less total, I suspect.

[descendency]

If this is as good as I gets, not looking forward to finding out what else this place has to offer.

[ mingyu makes a low noise of frustration, then gets up. ]

I have some business to handle. What's your current pet project, Xian-gege?

[weifinder]

A companion's curse, getting back to Zenobius, assisting in keeping Leonard McCoy from dying from the coal sickness of five years ago. Learning if the hatched dragons live, and freeing the citadel from the illusions that keep it hard to tell who lives, who lives in death, and who is made of dark water.

So, room for more.

[descendency]

That's too many projects. Put some back.

[ it's faint, but there's a hint of humor in mingyu's voice. ]

I'll lend a hand with one of them if I'm able to wrap my business up. Pick your favorite and I'll be back in touch.

[weifinder]

( he laughs, brief and short lived. )

By the time you are, perhaps I will. Take care.