[when chang geng does come into the medbay, jiuqing is just putting away some bandages. she looks up when she hears his footsteps, and crosses over to greet him.
she does stop short of reaching for his hand - she starts to, but then realizes what she's doing and pulls her hand back. touch week. why? this is the worst urge to have around people that she doesn't think want to be touched.]
...Sir Chang, there you are. It's good to see you.
[ he offers her a wan smile, but doesn't bring attention to her aborted gesture. instead, chang geng ducks his head a little, taking a deep breath and coming in closer to her. touch week has been just as interesting for him as the week prior, but...
there is comfort, here, he finds. and at least no one is currently in the medbay besides them. ]
I wish better circumstances brought us to this point, Miss Su.
[that's certainly true - with no one here but the two of them, she can at least be sure that it won't be too awkward. even if one of them does end up giving into the urge to reach out and touch the other, they can just not acknowledge it later. it'll be like it never happened.
as long as they don't make it weird, it's fine.]
I do as well. [...] How are you holding up? ...and Miss Meteion?
I have seen worse, unfortunate as that is to say. [ he's doing alright. but he looks - his gaze drifts away for a second, thinking of meteion, and there's a brief moment of something sharp flashing through his expression.
and then it settles again. he does reach out, then, fingertips briefly against her elbow. ]
If you could help me - and others, I'm sure - in making sure she's not alone in this, I would appreciate it. She's not faring well.
[ah. that's not great - it's really a shame that the universe couldn't be a little kinder to people - and her expression softens a little with sympathy... until he touches her elbow, and her eyes widen slightly in surprise.
but it's not as uncomfortable as it might otherwise be, and she steps in a little closer to him.]
...of course. I'll go to see her after this, I think.
[ no further elaboration comes out of that, just chang geng giving her a nod in response to her answer. as far as he's concerned, there's nothing to worry about, for him, personally. meteion is young, and bright, and untarnished. and she has lost so much - ]
Thank you, Miss Su. [ quietly, softly, touch still there. ] We were with his body the entire ride, but could only see him on the way back down.
And that was all we could do. It's clear that Buzen meant a lot to her, so she will need the support.
[she makes a soft noise that's almost a growl, but a little more ladylike, as she imagines the two of them on the ride up, unknowing - and then they're horror, particularly meteion's, as buzen's body came into view and they were stuck with him on the ride down.
her hands clench into fists.]
...the way this place makes us find them is sick.
[the archways forcing them into where they want it to be, the way their surroundings shift so they can only focus on one thing, the way they just can't do anything but watch until the body vanishes--
finding ryunosuke in the medbay is still fresh in her mind. vanille collapsing into her arms afterwards is even fresher. and she can only imagine how upset meteion must be, now, after that ride in the ferris wheel.]
It should not have wanted her to. His death was already unkind to her, but that was the greatest cruelty it could pay.
[ for as calm as he continues to be, there's a sort of anger - the same source of the sharpness in his expression - that lies under the surface. beneath it all, chang geng is furious, and he doesn't even blink at the noise that she makes, or her own anger.
she found the body last week, after all.
but all he can think of is meteion, wracked with sobs, desperate with a promise that she and buzen had made to each other. heartbroken, every time her phone lit up to a smiling picture
his hand falls away, then, so as not to grab onto her when he balls the both of them into white knuckled fists, taking a slow and steady breath. ]
If it truly wanted her to see it... her specifically, and not simply anyone who happened to be passing through an archway at this time... then it is unspeakably cruel.
[fuck the prism, honestly.
the residents keep saying - it's not like that. they understand it, they can explain. but what sort of explanation can make this any better? she can't think of a single one that can make any sort of sense of this, or that justifies meteion having to see that.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week two, friday
she does stop short of reaching for his hand - she starts to, but then realizes what she's doing and pulls her hand back. touch week. why? this is the worst urge to have around people that she doesn't think want to be touched.]
...Sir Chang, there you are. It's good to see you.
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there is comfort, here, he finds. and at least no one is currently in the medbay besides them. ]
I wish better circumstances brought us to this point, Miss Su.
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as long as they don't make it weird, it's fine.]
I do as well. [...] How are you holding up? ...and Miss Meteion?
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and then it settles again. he does reach out, then, fingertips briefly against her elbow. ]
If you could help me - and others, I'm sure - in making sure she's not alone in this, I would appreciate it. She's not faring well.
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but it's not as uncomfortable as it might otherwise be, and she steps in a little closer to him.]
...of course. I'll go to see her after this, I think.
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Thank you, Miss Su. [ quietly, softly, touch still there. ] We were with his body the entire ride, but could only see him on the way back down.
And that was all we could do. It's clear that Buzen meant a lot to her, so she will need the support.
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her hands clench into fists.]
...the way this place makes us find them is sick.
[the archways forcing them into where they want it to be, the way their surroundings shift so they can only focus on one thing, the way they just can't do anything but watch until the body vanishes--
finding ryunosuke in the medbay is still fresh in her mind. vanille collapsing into her arms afterwards is even fresher. and she can only imagine how upset meteion must be, now, after that ride in the ferris wheel.]
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It should not have wanted her to. His death was already unkind to her, but that was the greatest cruelty it could pay.
[ for as calm as he continues to be, there's a sort of anger - the same source of the sharpness in his expression - that lies under the surface. beneath it all, chang geng is furious, and he doesn't even blink at the noise that she makes, or her own anger.
she found the body last week, after all.
but all he can think of is meteion, wracked with sobs, desperate with a promise that she and buzen had made to each other. heartbroken, every time her phone lit up to a smiling picture
his hand falls away, then, so as not to grab onto her when he balls the both of them into white knuckled fists, taking a slow and steady breath. ]
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[fuck the prism, honestly.
the residents keep saying - it's not like that. they understand it, they can explain. but what sort of explanation can make this any better? she can't think of a single one that can make any sort of sense of this, or that justifies meteion having to see that.]