Open | RIP Sebastian + catch all

[singlelogbridge]

CHARACTERS: Wei Wuxian, a giant dead crab, and you!
LOCATION: The kitchen/mess hall
DATE: September 17th
CONTENT: Eating crabs
WARNINGS: None at the moment



A

[The day after their return from Xrisora, Wei Wuxian can be found having taken over one of the stoves in the kitchen. Lying on the counter next to him are two crab legs—that is, two giant crab legs from a Titan Crab. How did he get them here? It is a mystery. Anyway, he’s taken over a part of the kitchen with his crab shenanigans and is slowly but surely beginning to cook one of the legs up. After a while, he makes the executive decision to freeze a leg and a half because there is absolutely no way they’ll be able to eat all of it.

Anyway, he is cooking so much crab.

At some point he is absolutely burning some of the crab. Maybe someone can supervise? Please come save the crab.]

B

[Somehow, most of the crab gets cooked without being burned or ruined in some other way, which means it is time to season it! Do you like your crab spicy? Obviously you do, why wouldn’t you? Who doesn’t like spice? Only crazy people, that’s who!

Thankfully, Wei Wuxian is friends with Itachi which means he’s aware that some people on the station can’t handle spice. This means that most of the crab is boring and only has some melted butter on it, and absolutely zero eye searing red flakes and spices.

Everyone should help themselves to crab. Their options are terrible, boring, (perfectly fine) normal crab, or delicious, stunning, wonderful (hope you didn’t need your tastebuds or your esophagus!) spicy crab.]

C
[And at some point, a text across the network.]

I’m making crab!

[That’s it, that’s the text, he doesn’t have time for this network nonsense, his pan is on fire!]

D

[Wildcard it! Crab related or other!]

Comments

[singlelogbridge]

[That gets a loud laugh out of him and he grins up at her after he's finally stopped laughing.]

Have I mentioned that I really like you? Because I do. [He's made a career out of saying the quiet part out loud, unfortunately, it didn't end too well for him. Still, it's always so nice when he meets other people who aren't afraid to speak their minds.]

Itachi showed me the basics a few months back. I wasn't sure if I wanted to learn it or not. It's...it's different. [More efficient in a way that its easy use unsettled him, but he's been coming around to them lately.] Recently, I decided to start practicing.

Do you use them often?

[oiorpata]

[ aha, success. she grins throughout his laugh as she helps herself to more spicy crab. ]

Now that you have, I'll never let you live it down. [ it's much easier for her to not give a shit when even the worst consequences don't stick. but she finds wei wuxian easy to get along with too. ]

I do. They have their ups and downs. They're quick and efficient, but they do run out of ammunition, and bullets can't be reused like arrows. I like to have a bladed back up, and guns don't always fit on the missions either.

[singlelogbridge]

[He laughs softly and then nods when she begins to speak in earnest about the pros and cons of firearms, some things that he himself has come to notice as well.]

It has been difficult finding something mission appropriate. Especially when it becomes necessary to appear unarmed. [A thought occurs to him and he seems to get distracted for a moment.]

Da-jie, how do you carry your weapons when we're on mission?

[oiorpata]

[ second crab helping accomplished, she takes another bite and chews it while she mulls over the question. ]

It really depends on the mission and the weapon. We're supposed to blend in, so I try to figure out what'll fit in best. Knives fit up sleeves pretty easily. A small gun can hide in a jacket. When I take my axe or a sword, it usually stays in the room unless I know I'm going to need it.

[ the axe definitely does not hide well. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[Without hesitation, Wei Wuxian reaches into his robes, rustling around until he finds what he's looking for. From his robes, he pulls a small black cloth pouch. It's just a little bigger than his palm and looks about the size to carry a few coins.]

Here, take this. [Aside from Gwen, he hasn't given any others away, but he still carries a few extra on him and he can make more anytime he'd like.]

It's a qiankun bag. It will carry anything up to about an entire person, and you won't feel the weight. [He smiles and then takes another bite of his neglected crab.]

It doesn't solve the problem of needing a weapon for stealth, but this way you can always carry it with you at least. Or use it for other things! [Mostly, he fills his with snacks these days. And things he'd like to bring back to the station from missions.]

[oiorpata]

[ there's a pause, where for a moment it might look like she's not sure she's going to take it, but mostly it's because she has no napkin and her hands are a mess. she does the gross thing of wiping them on her pants before she takes the bag with a curious dip in her mouth. ]

Is this like that ninja shit Itachi does? [ not very descriptive. ] He locked a copy of my axe in a fucking scroll or something, can pull it out of nowhere if need be.

[ she gives the bag a little squeeze, tosses it up. ] Are you sure I can have this? Seems like it'd be a rare gift.

[singlelogbridge]

[What else are pants even for???

Grinning, he waves off her concern, shakings his head back and forth.]

It's...hmm. Not exactly the same, though that concept exists in my world as well. Well. [He pauses to ponder.] Now I need to ask him the specifics. It's different but I couldn't tell you where the items in his scrolls technically go! Here they're still present in the bag, it's just the inside has been manipulated to be larger than it appears. I made this one myself!

And don't worry about it, I make them with the intentions of giving them to someone who might have use for them.

[oiorpata]

[ horseback riding, obviously. ]

You'd definitely be better off asking him. All I know is I have to track him down to get anything, so the pouch is already a leg up. [ you've been outdone, itachi. she seems pretty pleased for the bag, what a cool trick?? usually she thinks magic is stupid, but she's been warming up to some of the more useful things. ]

[ she reaches for one of the unused forks and drops in the bag, then pulls a knife out of her sleeve to do the same, before testing the weight of it in her hand and feeling the delight slip on her face. it reminds her of the old style pockets that would simply tie on. those should have never gone out of style, fuck modern women's pockets and lack thereof. ]

You just open it and close it as needed? No special tricks?

[singlelogbridge]

[He is absolutely going to ask him and he makes a mental note to do exactly that. There is little he enjoys more than picking Itachi's brain about how things work in their respective worlds.]

No special tricks. With cultivation, you can summon something out of it directly into your hands, but it still works just as well without it. I'd be mindful of putting anything sharp inside of it without a case though.

[oiorpata]

[ her delight grows more with his further explanation. she'll be able to take her axe anywhere now! ]

It's like the ultimate pocket. [ she can't wait to show joe. ]

[ sharp objects are not the same concern for her, but she supposes it wouldn't be very nice to get blood on the bag every time she reached in for a knife - if only because it's annoying to clean, and who knows how keeping a magic bag tidy works. she reaches in and pulls out the fork, just to witness it working. ]

This is one of the most useful magic tricks I've seen so far, for me personally.

[singlelogbridge]

[With an overly dramatic sigh, Wei Wuxian groans and shakes his head.]

Not you too, Dajie! [He whines, but whatever he's so pressed about clearly isn't actually as big of a deal as he's making it out to be because there's still a good natured humor in his eyes.]

Cultivation is not magic. [He is going to write a book about this. He is going to write a pamphlet and then he can hand it out to people whenever the subject comes up. He is going to make posters and pin them on the walls of every room in the station.]

All of these other worlds—they really only understand anything supernatural as magic, don't they? Aiya! cultivation is...it is supernatural, but where I'm from the supernatural and the natural don't have as many lines drawn between them.

We've spoken a little of qi I think, right? Everyone has it. You, me, any plant or animal. This is universal of everyone in the station. Cultivation is...it's using that qi to form ling qi—spiritual energy. Everyone is capable of it. From what I understand of magic, this is one of many things that sets it apart.

[oiorpata]

[ his reaction pulls a small grin out of her, almost a laugh, as she shoves another bite of crab in her mouth. ]

If they're capable of it, no one on my Earth has learned how to use it. [ she says it with a certainty that isn't particularly boastful so much as it just is. ]

Qi exists as a concept, and I'm pretty familiar with it compared to others, but the things you do with it? Don't happen. Therefore, the music lifting people into the air, control over corpses - it's like magic to me. [ she shakes the bag. ] Pockets only exist as big as you sew them. But I can see why it wouldn't be magic for you, so I'll try to get better about what I call it.

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Wuxian suspects that the art is merely lost, or kept concealed, if only because he can't fathom a world where people can't hone qi into spiritual energy. It isn't a magical ability, it's simply the way of nature. But perhaps no one had ever been taught how, or the secrets of cultivation have fallen into disuse.]

Ah, you misunderstand. I don't mean to say cultivation isn't supernatural. It's just...[He shakes his head and sighs.]

The...[It takes him a minute to remember the name] the Americans here. Most of them I've noticed...there is only magic and non magic. There is nothing else, nothing in between. That's...unbearably simple. Black and white, like a line can simply be drawn between two different worlds.

Cultivation isn't magic because the line is thinner if it exists at all. Qi is no more magical than blood, and spiritual energy is honed from qi. Everything living is made up of energy. All cultivators do is find a way to use it.

[oiorpata]

Don't get me started on Americans. [ perfect opportunity to crack a joke in the wake of all the spiritual talk. the ones here are perfectly nice but there's a reason she hasn't been back to the states in the last two decades. ]

[ there's no easy way to tell him how she knows it to be true of her world without outing just how long she's been alive. that's she's been to china repeatedly, in many different eras and different dynasties, and not once did she witness the kinds of things xichen and wu wexian can do. ]

You're right in a sense, about the black and white lines. Most assumed pieces of magic have ended up being science in the trajectory of my Earth, and I know I have a pretty dim view on the supernatural. [ she does not think of her immortality as magic, not anymore. it just is. ]

I don't disbelieve any of what you're saying. That anyone can learn it, that the line is thin. And I see more of what you mean now, about it not being magic. I've just never met a cultivator before coming here, and I've met a lot more people than your average person.