(accidental) video; un: man's greatest treasure

[reparo]

[ -- and the camera starts transmitting, as someone pulls away from being very near Hermione. The talisman does not pick up the features of that person, at first, but what it does pick up is Hermione's faintly dazed murmur or:]

A-are you truly a witch?

[There is a brief pause, from the person - woman, you can see it's a woman (Miang-Si, if you've already met her) - in front of Hermione, before she darts forward again, darkening the view completely.

Before the trasmission cuts, from bodies pressing together too tightly, there is one audible clue: the sound of lips meeting lips in a surprisingly thorough kiss.]

- L A T E R -

[OH LOOK AT THAT, IT'S HERMIONE'S FACE. She looks a little more dishevelled than usual, a bit surprised.]

Th - [Clears her throat.] Did this thing turn on? [The indignity. Her first kiss in as long as she's been here, witnessed by the whole network. (Her first kiss with a girl, too! A woman even.) Earth swallow her up.

No, this is fine. She's going to grit her teeth and smile tensely.]

Right, so - on the bright side, I don't think Quangze suspects that I am one of her accomplices? The rest of the inhabitants still think I'm a writer of books on manners - there's something to be written about shoving your tongue in someone's mouth uninvited - regardless. I'm not - I've never met her before just now.

So, in light of that... Please all do me the favour of not mentioning to anyone that I am a you-know-what.

[ooc: Please consider this backdated to Miang-Si's parade on the 25th.]

Comments

[reparo]

[ There's a soft little laugh when he says that. Not to think ill of the dead - also, gods, the fact that he's dead not hasn't had the same emotional impact on her as other people she knew - but she'd rather not have to deal with Severus Snape in the party. ]

I'll let you know if he does.

Let us meet by the docks when you are ready.

1/2

[weifinder]

I'll call again once I've secured a boat!

[weifinder]

( AN INCENSE STICK LATER )

I've a boat that only leaks a little when it's overloaded, I'll find you at the main pier!

( lo and behold, he doth arrive in a boat big enough for three if pressed, maintained decently enough, with one plugged hole above the water line which will dip low under the right wrong circumstances. for his part, he beams, patting the bench across from him while the oars rest across his lap. )

Let's try heading along towards the wooded shoreline, ah?

ACTION, spontaneously

[reparo]

[As much as promised, she does join him. It's probably easier than sitting at home - granted the general consensus is for her to lay low, but she doesn't want to hide in fear.

She is a witch. If the villagers did accuse her of it after that... interaction with Miang-Si, they would not be far off.

And there's something about this whole thing that bothers her. The leader of the village being a man and dragging a potential witch around in bonding is a thing that bothers her. Immensely enough to go rowing with Wei Wuxian.]

I can fix that up for us when we're out of sight.

[ She gets in the boat, sitting across from him. ] And maybe a little bit of wind, to push us along, as we are further from the docks, mm?

[weifinder]

Wind along the water, why not? Can you coax your own current into being?

( more useful, he thinks, given it's a rowing boat instead of a proper sailing one. )

We've talismans for different things with boats back home, but the lack of familiarity I have with these rivers and lakes would make most ill advised.

( Though he rows then easily enough, body at first disjointed from the motion, then remembering, setting him in to an unhurried flow. )

I've put a repel dead energies talisman on the prow. Should give us an extra bit of time beyond what I do or don't feel, while we're out this way. Heading towards the woods, mm?

[reparo]

[ Well - if she sticks her wand inside the water, sitting at the back of the boat, and produces wind from the tip of it, it should propell them forward, shouldn't it? ]

Yes - We can try something.

[ But first, that concerning hole in the boat. It's not the first time - when they were crossing the seas from the Lighthouse, they certainly had to repair their boats in the middle of the voyage, and she's a swift hand at it. As soon as he's rowed them towards the woods, she slips her wand out of her sleeve and casts reparo at the hole. The plug disappears, the boat restored to new. ]

We're going to have to remember to break that spell when we return the boat.

[weifinder]

Or break the boat!

( breaking the spell sounds more sensible, but truly, let all possibilities be Known. he continues rowing, aiming them up along the shoreline, the village in its piecemeal island existence turning from view as the shore finally does. )

What did you have in mind?

( he asks, in all curious innocence, having settled into rowing with a surprisingly nice feeling to go along with it. )

[reparo]

I just want to see if I can give us a boost. [ Once sat towards the back, she sticks the tip of her wand in the water and entones very correctly: ] Ventus.

[ The boat lurches forward gently, the wind summoned from her wand in the water propelling them along. ]

I should stay here to keep it going - use the oars to steer us?

[weifinder]

( the sound of pleased surprise and interest he makes when they shift positions and Hermione inserts wand into water and the boat smoothly speeds forward. delightfully without sails!

he does, however, bring one oar down to curve the boat away from rocks ahead of them, getting a sense of how much pressure he needs to use... and how to switch sides.

ultimately, he shifts back to share the same bench, finding it easier to steer from the back of the boat. things this small don't usually have rudders, but he understands their concept and use from an the times on ships at sea by now. )

Going to work best from back here. What was this spell called? Ventus?

[reparo]

Yes - it creates wind. I have to cast it a few times, it's not an infinite kind of deal. [Honestly, she could be talking about magic all day long, so stop her if you need to be quiet.]

Unlike the reparo I used on the boat. That one's going to just stay fixed, unless I end it. It's one of my favourite spells to use, honestly.

[As predicted, she casts the ventus again, steering them towards the trees far faster than their very measly arms would handle.

Speaking of:]

Wei Wuxian, can I ask you an impertinent question? You mentioned you are not as plush as others here - do you not eat well?

[weifinder]

( there's much more he would ask about her magic, about the particulars of limitations, because it's very different sounding from the magic he's learned here, which is again different from the cultivation techniques he knows from home which aren't magic at all. knowing, knowledge, is one of his driving forces, exploring new avenues of thought, questioning assumptions.

then she asks something else, and he's redirected from where his thoughts had begun to wander. )

Ah? No, no, I eat! I'm not as thin as I was years ago, don't worry yourself! Moran hasn't had the history of not enough to eat the ways I did in the past, his husband keeps him in good health, they eat plenty of meat. Leads to bulk, ah? The same for my brother, Jiang Cheng, he's very well fed!

( the fact he matches his diet to a vegetarian one from his husband has kept it more lean, his weight gain slower, often set back by occurrences in their lives here. )

Not even Wen Qing can complain, ah?

[reparo]

[ Not that she has been paying attention to how bulky either Moran or Jiang Cheng were, mind you. Save for the accidental video, which she absolutely watched for too long, she hasn't observed anything regarding his brother's wellbeing.

But she lives with Wen Qing now. And she has just finished telling her, too, about her list... So the last name does prompt the tiniest of blushes to Hermione's cheeks. ]

She would be perfectly wonderful no matter how much bulk to her bones, I am sure.

[ She's not gonna talk about Wen Qing's weight here, buddy. It's a trap. ]

[weifinder]

( it's not what he means, but instead of clarify, he smiles, slow and feline, as he uses the oar to experimentally change direction around what might be a submerged tree )

You agree she's an attractive woman, I see.

( the answer given far more telling than him admitting she's got the longest medical history on him of everyone here who isn't his brother, and his brother never saw the worst. )

[reparo]

[ She gives him A Look, eyebrows raised. She does have eyes. ]

Wouldn't you? It would not take a genius to see it - she's a very beautiful woman.

[weifinder]

I always have, but I'll admit, I hadn't thought of kissing her.

( for many complicated reasons, and also because in ways it would have been too easy and too fatalistic in yiling after she returned jiang cheng his comb. he feels great affection for her, and great grief at her loss. her chosen, willing loss. yes, he loves her, he can admit that now.

that it wasn't romantic remained unimportant. she was family, in every way that mattered.

in playful tone, with a knowing look, he asks: )

Have you?

[reparo]

[ She sputters for a moment, like a fish out of water, and wonders if Wei Wuxian is so keenly observant, or if she's obvious, or if he's just guessing.

She wants to threaten to throw him in the water, but truth be told is that she would be as likely to physically manage that as he would be to do a push-up.

And then the worst thing happens. She squeaks.]

Well - I. I - not all the time - not - look, I am not objectifying anyone here.

[weifinder]

( oh, the day she actually gets to see he's very physically capable

... and still prone to swooning when he overextends himself, something that still happens in the worst moments here. )

What do objects have to do with appreciation of beauty, intelligence, skill?

( half his attention on the shore, half in his young companion in the boat. )

Knowing you recognise someone as attractive doesn't mean you also think less of them, or that you plan to act on that knowledge. More, the person you are, and the people worth respecting, won't. Things like that are mutual, ah? But things like knowing who you find beautiful, that's singular, that's yours.

( a pause, and a small grin: )

Emilia, too?

[reparo]

[ He's got her fooled into agreeing with his speech, over here, nodding along. Yes, it's distinctly different to admire someone, think them attractive, and have the courage to do something about it.

It sounds kind, too. In a way, it sounds like Wei Wuxian accepting and encouraging her (recently realised) interest in both men and women. In a way, maybe it even sounds a bit like ditto.

And then - Emilia, too?.

The sneaky bastard makes her choke a little. She hisses: ] Are you trying to guess my list?

[ Good job, Hermione: admitting there's a list is not denying that Emilia's on it any more than that Wen Qing is. ]

[weifinder]

( he has eyes and a healthy appreciation of women, Hermione, and one he's known since his world, and the other one he's known for years here, really. her spluttering is a touch amusing, and it shows in his eyes, but he shakes his head and laughs, guiding the boat closer in to shore as the shoreline starts curving away from them again. )

Only if you want me to, but I could guess that finding Wen Qing attractive for her many good qualities would potentially have some common feeling with Emilia and her own. I'll say nothing else! Beyond Wrath certainly agreeing.

( said with a wink, because to him it's funnier, and kinder, that couples do find themselves in positive emotional connections with spouses. it's not a guarantee in his world at the higher levels, and he suspects this is them beating odds stacked against them.

besides, he thinks people finding your spouse attractive is a compliment. more people should say that about his! (nevermind that lan zhan tends towards being a vinegar jar in the reversed situation.) )

[reparo]

[Ah yes, Wrath. The demon. The demon named Wrath. The General of Hell named Wrath, who is most definitely entangled, romantically, with Emilia. Who is also her house-mate at the moment, and possibly can tell that Hermione has a list.

She clears her throat very pointedly, in the way of let's not talk about Wrath and Emilia.]

I am very grateful to have your approval and support, Wei Wuxian, but please. Let's talk about literally anything else.

[weifinder]

( he smiles, still tending to the tiller they've made of an oar, and pulls a thoughtful expression. )

Do you think if we were ever turned into fish, we'd try to drink the water?

( literally anything else, right? )

[reparo]

[ That startles an incredulous laugh out of her, and she would ask if he's coming down with a fever, if not for the fact that it's a very decent change of subject.]

Do fish drink the water or do they just swim with their mouths closed?

[weifinder]

The fish I've seen go ( here he mimics a fish opening and closing it's mouth ) underwater even when not trying to eat, but not all the time. Think that's when they drink?

( or breathe the water, who knows, he's not a fish! )

[reparo]

[There is no reason for her to mimic the same mouth gesture as him, but there she is doing it anyway.]

I thought that they do it as part of their breathing cycle. Open to draw in the oxygen in water. [Another pointless gesticulation, she actually mimics sucking in air.] And then the expel water out through their gills.

[weifinder]

Couldn't they do both at once? Breathe in water, some gets swallowed, some goes out their gillaaah!

( in repeating the motion with his mouth, he reached up with one hand to mimic the water flowing into his mouth, and momentarily lifted the hand otherwise on the oar up to his neck to gesture to the gills he doesn't have, causing the whole boat to rock as a wave catches it and the oar. water splashes up and over the side as both his hands come down to grab the oar before it ends up pulled into the water, leaving them with only one.

splashed, thus now wet, and boat steadied, he wipes the back of his wrist across his face and shoots her a grin. )

Don't think we can ask a mermaid the next time we encounter one, do you?