03 🐣 HYJ: Late January - February Catchall

[monsterdaddy]

Who: Yoojin monsterdaddy, open and closed prompts
When: Late January through February
Where: Hearthsong Salon/Stag's Rest Lounge (Castle), in or around the barracks (Castle); other locations TBA.
What: Help Yoojin figure out his gay feelings while he prepares for Budwake, meet a small pink child, show off your illusions for the Meramancers Wanted quest; other prompts TBA. One of them will definitely be a talk with Bulat on 2/7.
Warnings: Will warn in subject headers if the topic of how Yoojin ended up with a small pink child comes up! Also, as always, folks can opt into or out of Yoojin's annoyingly many skills, including the one where he sees your character sheet, here on his permissions page.

Comments

D(O IT SCARED). [CLOSED to Bulat] (Feb. 6th, Greenhouse)

[monsterdaddy]

[Shocking discovery! Working to the point of collapse is not actually a productive way to stop overthinking, because then he collapses, gets told off by healers who insists that he rest, and is forced to lie around for a day with nothing to do but think. No Imprintwork, no attempts to reverse-hack his own brain, no hard Budwake labor; he can't even distract himself reading without tiring out his temporarily weakened eyes. It's dumb and boring and he can't stop thinking about Bulat. As he hugs a pillow and waits for his temperature to go down, Yoojin goes over every interaction he can remember and wonders,

Was he serious? Is that possible?

A question that makes his heart race even faster: does Yoojin want Bulat to have meant all those sweet, teasing things? And if he wants it, how badly will it hurt if it turns out he's wrong after all, and Bulat was just joking?

No wonder it takes his fever forever to break.

It's well before dawn on the sixth day of Budwake, and for all his "rest," Yoojin's hardly slept a wink. Sighing at himself, he drags himself out of bed, puts on a loaned pair of glasses, and gets a few things ready.

A handwritten note slides under Bulat's door.]

Can you meet me in the greenhouse before heading out for Budwake today?
I have something to show you and something I want to ask.
- Han Yoojin

[Yoojin waits at his plot in the greenhouse, apparently busy tending to the flowers there, but really taking more comfort from the reminders of those they represent than doing anything useful.

He takes a deep breath in, lets it out, and turns off Resist Fear.

He's going to do this right, or he isn't going to do it at all.]

[steel_over_blood]

[ Up early by habit and skipping his usual workout on the grounds that he's been substituting proper work, Bulat wonders how Yoojin's fever is holding up, and if he should take a kitchen shift in order to make him soup.

There's an answer to that very question right there by the door.

A letter. A love letter, even?

Bulat has lived a life of bracing himself for the worst while never giving up hope for the best. Whatever the outcome, while he makes his way to the greenhouse in the gray of the early morning, he greatly enjoys imagining what he wants to hear.

He takes a little detour to check on the plot with the lush red tulips - the solitary viridiflora isn't as large, but seems quite at home in their company all the same.

His approach is stealthy by habit. A deliberate scuff of his boot against the floor gives Yoojin a heads up. He had something more heartfelt to say, but on eye contact - ]

What you wanted to show me - it's not the glasses, is it? Don't get me wrong, though, you look good. Take it from an expert in handsome men.

[ A broad wink, a glimmering smile. ]

[monsterdaddy]

[When he hears Bulat's footstep, he straightens and starts pulling off one of his gardening gloves. Then he pauses, blinks, and laughs, adjusting the glasses.]

Pfft, heheh. No. I've been overdoing it with the magic lately, and sometimes that messes with my eyes. They'll be back to normal in a day or two.

[His ungloved hand lingers up by his face for a moment; his eyes similarly linger on Bulat's expression, behind the lenses. Then Yoojin gently, deliberately takes Bulat's hand and turns towards his garden plot.]

This is what I wanted to show you, back here.

[Quite a lot of flowers grow in Yoojin's little patch. There's the display of blues, oranges, and golds at the heart of the plot, which have neither changed nor faded--the spray of colors that remind him of Yoohyun, Yerim, Peace, and the rest. His family, the center of his world.

But other seedlings have sprouted and grown. A climbing morning glory, stubborn forget-me-nots, lilies and geraniums. A showy bourbon rose is absolutely thriving, already halfway up its trellis and decked out in big, deeply fragrant ruffles of blossoms, all in the most vibrant shades of pink. But what Yoojin points out is a much smaller plant growing behind it, almost hidden. A single tulip topped with a still-green, still tightly-closed bud.]

...It's nothing special, but it wasn't growing at all, originally. I definitely didn't think it'd get this far. Doesn't it look like it's going to bloom soon?

[It looks, for all the world, a bit like it's reaching towards the nearest ruffled rose.

Yoojin isn't actually looking at it, though. Before he's finished speaking, his gaze has already returned to Bulat's face, as though there's something else to see that he couldn't before. It has nothing to do with his glasses' prescription and everything to do with a question.

Do you want to be?]

...It was mostly an excuse to ask you to come here, though.

[steel_over_blood]

Just don't overdo it so much you can't make out my face, all right? I know you'd miss it.

[ Said with less of a flirty trill than he might otherwise have used, given the atmosphere. The overload may have been a consequence of having an all-out mind fight, huh? ...Well, if Yoojin got enough out of it that he still felt pushing himself was worth it, Bulat certainly isn't sorry about his part.

His eyes fix fondly on the small tulip, doing its best. Full of potential. It wants to be more than just a sprout, huh? Wants to be right up there and open with its neighbors. The roses have exploded since the last time they stood here together, which seems right on the mark. He squeezes the hand in his, just enough pressure to give it some weight. ]

Sure does - I want to see it in full flower. You had something else on your mind, sweetheart?

[ He's doing some rapid tactical evaluations on whether he should slouch or not. On one hand, it might be convenient to have his face lower if all of his hopes are on point. On the other, he has picked up that Yoojin likes his height. ]