jiaoqiu catch-all

[peripheries]

 

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week 0, monday

[peripheries]

[Sitting in the cafe, looking bored, and just stabbing one of the bear cupcakes over and over again with his fork.]

[fried]

[ this is such a mood

jiaoqiu wanders in, going for the coffee section, but he does pause, glancing over. he tilts his head, and then: ]

Ah, someone I haven't met yet, somehow. Hello.

[peripheries]

[Kaworu looks over and stops stabbing the poor cake, leaving the fork sticking out of the top. Talking is more interesting than food.]

We haven't. Who are you?

[fried]

[ hm! he watches the fork for a second, and then smiles, as usual. ]

My name is Jiaoqiu. Though you can call me Jiao, if you'd prefer. [ so many people here have trouble with his name and he doesn't know if that's the case here... ]

What did your food do to you?

[peripheries]

I'll call you what your choose to call yourself.

[who likes being called another name just for someone else's sake!! He glances down at the cake massacre he committed.]

It wasn't very good despite how fancy it looks.

[fried]

Then Jiaoqiu will do. [ he moves a little closer to examine said cake. ]

The food here is mediocre, it's true. You would think, being in paradise, that it would be perfect.

w2, MONDAY

[fried]

[ you can find jiaoqiu in... the garden! the olive garden.

he's busy planting something... ]

[peripheries]

[Wandering through the garden wearing a face mask and glasses. He pauses at Jiaoqiu doing something that will absolutely contribute to the pollen count in this area but he's curious all the same.]

What are you planting?

[fried]

[ sir your allergies

anyway kaworu's voice gets jiaoqiu to startle, and he looks over in his direction with floofy puffed out fur because he got surprised, like an idiot. a beat. ]

Tomatoes. But chili peppers are next on the list. Why, did you have a request?

[peripheries]

[he's never been outside and he's dying squirtle]

Not really. I've never seen a garden before or thought about what to grow in one.

[fried]

[ the more i learn about this canon the more i'm amazed ]

Not once? [ huh! ] Would you like to try?

w3, MONDAY

[fried]

[ hovers in here let me know if you have any cws to avoid!! for now, the doors have just led both jiaoqiu and kaworu inexplicably into the house of mirrors. jiaoqiu is instantly disoriented. ]

What --

[peripheries]

[I'm good with anything!

Kaworu is looking at his distorted reflection with extreme displeasure. At the noise, he turns to face Jiaoqiu to see what he's talking about.]

[fried]

[ the mirrors play a fun little story!

It's a difficult decision to make, leaving Rainsoar Forest, to join the frontlines of the war. You've worked so hard to join the Alchemy Commission, but. This is what you're called to do, you tell your master.

"While the Alchemy Commission is a good place to be, it is ultimately not compatible with my wish to practice medicine for the masses. The one place that requires a healer the most is undeniably the battlefield where the Yaoqing's forces are."

So - you leave your ship - the Xianzhou Yaoqing - and you head to the outer planets to join the efforts. All you've ever wanted to do is heal people, since you were small. This is what you wanted and you show up to the battleground with a vigor in your step, a determination to help. You improve your medicines - cauldron-based medicinal formulas that can be used in a multitude of ways, in order to adapt it to the increasingly challenging, complex, and unpredictable environments that the soldiers must brave. You win the trust of officers and soldiers alike, and your name is often uttered among the troops as someone worthy of respect, who knows what he's doing. You patch the dying, and they thank you, and then they march right back out to battle.

You patch them up. You save them from death. The bugle call for departure sounds off. And they march.

You patch them. They march. You patch them. They march.

Every day is the same, save for the number. Every night, there are less of the faces you know around your cauldron. You look up, and the foxian that called for you to give him an extra bowl last night is gone. One of the other soldiers, a quiet young woman with a bushy red tail, tells you he was found unresponsive on the battlefield yesterday evening, arms ripped from the sockets. The next evening, she's gone too. There wasn't enough of her left to bring back to the camp, they say. Terrible, terrible news. These young lives still end up lost in the endless, ravenous war. It doesn't matter what you do to stop it.

You do this for many years. Year after year, the faces were all different, yet they radiated the exact same vigor and hope. Year after year, only a handful ever make it back. It crawls up in your chest like a frost that will never melt. One day, as you're standing out in the middle of camp, trying to take in some fresh air, away from the smell of blood and rot, you hear screaming coming from one of the tents. Agonized wailing, calling for help, help me, help us, Jiaoqiu --

Before, you might have cried. It's only after blinking several times that you realize that both your eyes are dry. You no longer have any tears to shed. There's something comforting in the emptiness of it, and you sink down into it with relief. Nothing hurts if you don't have the energy to feel it.

Your General, a smart and fierce woman named Yueyu, brings you to her tent every night to discuss what's next. She tells you about a girl that she managed to rescue from a borisin camp, a ferocious former slave named Saran. She tells you that she wants you to look out for her. You tell her that you will do whatever Yueyu commands, even if something in you balks at the idea. It just sounds like... well, it sounds like Yueyu is giving you her will, that's all.

And then one day, the towering Cloudpeer Telescope that bore the wills of the trillions of living beings aboard the Xianzhou finally receives a response from THEM.

A searing blast appears out of nowhere, obliterating the weak Abominations of Abundance into a miasma of blood. A light so blindingly bright tears the sky dome asunder as the Reignbow Arbiter shows THEIR power against the Abundance. Mountains and hills that the light reaches turn into dust - abominations of Abundance and members of the Xianzhou Legion alike crumble and disintegrate, too slow to flee from the light of the arrow sent across the sky.

You heard about how the girl always by General Yueyu's side weaved in and out of the annihilated enemy ranks, attempting to bring the remaining soldiers back with her. Before the wave of light could reach them, you dash into the fray with every last ounce of your strength to save that young lady, before losing your consciousness in the afterglow of the obliterating light.

And in the chaos of the post battle healer's ground, this girl, the one from Yueyu's will, calls for you.

... ]

[peripheries]

[Kaworu doesn't know what to make of it. He's heard of war and how humanity claims to hate it, only to fall back into it so easily like an addict, but he doesn't know war. In his mind, the battle between humans and angels, is not war. It's something that has a start and an end. It's not endless and circular.

He looks at Jiaoqiu.]

So you were a healer. You saved thousands only for them to return to the battlefield once more...?

[Is that how it works?]

[fried]

I am a healer.

[ he corrects, but there's no heat to it. it's just a part of his identity. ]

... And yes. That is always how it's been. It's a healer's duty to make their soldiers fit to march again.

Week 4, Monday

[peripheries]

[Just coming and sitting by Jiaoqiu wherever he is. You seem nice and calm don't overwhelm him with emotions please.]

[fried]

[ help this poor boy

jiaoqiu is absolutely calm - the general emotion is serene, like to the point of being numb. he's chilling out somewhere drinking tea, his ear flicking when he hears kaworu coming. ]

Hello there. [ a flicker of amusement. ]

[peripheries]

Hi.

[Just flopping down onto his back. There's feelings of being OVERWHELMED and TIRED. Like a toddler who was brought to the mall and it's too much and he wants to throw a tantrum.]

[fried]

[ jiaoqiu is a little amused, under the serene. ]

Are you alright? [ ... ] Having a difficult time with feeling what everybody else does, I assume.

w6, SATURDAY

[fried]

[ he is in the kitchen tonight, kneading at his eyes with the heels of his palms... hello kaworu. ]

[peripheries]

[Just sneezing and looking defeated as he scrolls through cat pics on his phone looking upset. Which is the vibe. ]

[fried]

[ a slow exhale, and then: ]

You should take those allergy pills that Taair had, you know.

[peripheries]

I know. I didn't think about it in my haste and then...

[He had just wanted to try and help. But yes, Taair usually looks after him... now he's just dealing with the last of the aftermath.]

[fried]

[ he glances up in his direction. ]

... Are you alright otherwise? How are you handling all of this? [ you should apologize for trying to kill him, jiaoqiu. ]