bakerstreet | Red string

Red string

the red string of fate meme

Once upon a time, people believed in love and destiny because the string of fate lead them to it.

▶ HOW THIS WORKS

1. Post with your character, they now have a red string tied to their pinky, connecting them to someone else.
2. The string is unbreakable, and irremovable until something emotionally-laden happens in the thread.
3. Optional: Make an open tag to go with your post. It is encouraged, not forced.
4. Have fun, tag around! As a warning, things may become slightly sexual.

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He glances down at the thread on his finger for a moment, then looks at Shen Yuan again. "I... see. So you lied by omission." He's not sure what to think of this so far. It's odd, and more than a little unsettling.

"You took over someone's life—in my world?"

"I did." He confirms quietly before exhaling a breath. "I woke up in the body of Shen Qingqiu and...well, you recall when he changed in how he treated you."

Binghe stares in response. For a moment, his mind is a blank, his body frozen. He doesn't know what to think, how to think. It's as if his thoughts need to reset, to take in this new information. Once his mind starts to function again, he remembers. There had been a point when Shen Qingqiu's behavior had changed significantly, many years ago. Slowly, he nods.

"I was familiar with how societies like yours operated, so after a few false starts, I was able to live as the man who had been your Shizun, but I was able to change things. And I did."

Binghe nods again, even more slowly. His mind is functioning now, but not as efficiently as it usually does. Obviously, he'd always thought of Shizun as a single person, but yes, there were actually two distinct ways he had acted. He had put it down to more probable causes at the time. Clearly, he had been mistaken.

If this were true, it meant this was the person who had given him medicine, who had asked him to ride along in the carriage, who had allowed him to move out of the woodshed... and who had had so much faith in him when they'd faced adversaries. "I... see."

"...I know it's a lot to take in." His voice was quiet. "And I understand if you're angry with me for not introducing myself as your Shizun when I arrived, but I hadn't had a chance to look like myself and not have to maintain the behaviors of a peak lord."

What he says makes perfect sense. It is a lot of new and shocking information to take in, and it will probably take Binghe more time to fully absorb and process that information. Perhaps he will be angry, or at least upset with Shen Yuan, once he has time to think about it. But right now—

—Binghe lunges forward, managing to launch himself from a sitting position into a semi-flying tackle in Shen Yuan's direction, enveloping him in a tight embrace. Tears are already springing into his eyes, and he squeezes them shut. "Shizun—!"

"..I'm here." His voice is quiet and he'd steadied himself to take the impact, one hand smoothing over Binghe's hair, his eyes closing for a moment as his posture shifts slightly, straightens, where it'd been relaxed before.

"I told you I wouldn't leave you alone, didn't I?" Admittedly, he kind of had indirectly, but he'd still been there every time he'd been able to.

He buries his face in the place between Shen Yuan's neck and shoulder as tears slide down his cheeks. He presses his lips to Shen Yuan's throat and speaks against it. "You did, Shizun, but I missed you so much." He holds him tightly; he doesn't want to let him go.

His breath catches at the press of lips against his neck, fingers flexing in Binghe's hair, tugging without really being aware of it.

"I know you did." It's acknowledgment and acquiescene all at the same time.

His eyes red from both crying and demonic energy, he pulls back far enough to view Shen Yuan's face, studying it searchingly. Of course, it is different than the face of Shen Qingqiu, which has been so familiar to him for so long. He reaches up to rest his fingertips on Shen Yuan's cheek. "You're beautiful."

"You would say that." He manages after a moment, because of course he would.

"...Are you angry with me for wanting to...I guess start over in a way?"

"I did. Because it's true." He is in earnest; he's certainly biased, but he finds Shen Yuan's face a pleasure to look upon.

He pauses at the question. Impulsive as he can be, he takes the time to consider it. His expression is grave. He exhales heavily. "Shizun... Sometimes I don't understand why you do the things you do. Do you see me as an obstacle? Did you think I would stand in your way?"

"No, but I wanted you to know me without the facade of Shen Qingqiu. I know that probably seems odd to you, but..." He's quiet for a moment before he just exhales another breath.

"You fell in love with me as Shen Qingqiu, but this is my true face, even if I won't ever see it again once we return home. I was curious to see how things would happen without the history we already had between us. And I wanted to approach you as myself."

"I see. So you had to act a certain way to seem like Shen Qingqiu." He frowns thoughtfully. It does hurt that Shizun hadn't told him the truth right away, and that is difficult to bear. "But, now that I know what happened... in fact, I realize everyone thought you acted unlike him." Though yes, Shen Qingqiu had still done things like a Peak Lord. There must have been an act involved, especially if Shen Yuan's original world was more like the one they find themselves in currently.

"We cannot see how things would happen without our history, because I am already devoted to you." He still doesn't completely understand Shen Yuan's actions here, but he is trying.

"I fell in love with you for the things you did, and not your face." He would love Shizun no matter what he looked like. "Maybe I have experienced something similar. It is not the same, but once I changed in the Demon Realm— I wanted you to care for me again, even though I had become so different and could never be the same person I used to be."

"Yeah, going from a 27 year old with no real demands to being a peak lord was an adjustment." He admits after a second. "And I know you would have loved me either way, but I didn't want to wear that mantle for a while. I just wanted to be me. It's not that I didn't think you would accept me, but it was nice being Shen Yuan again."

Not that he minded being Shen Qingqiu but there was always a disconnect there. "I'm sorry for not being honest."

"You're resourceful." Regardless of his external identity, Binghe admires Shizun and his skills and intellect. Most people couldn't have done what he did—even if they were in their original body and life.

"It hurt to believe I was separated from you again. It always hurts. I only wanted to get back to you." The agony of being separated from Shizun is the worst experience he can imagine. Fortunately, he'd had the hope that there was a way back to keep him motivated. Tears sting his eyes again, and he blinks.

He rests against Shen Yuan, with a sigh. "You don't have to be a peak lord here. There's no peak."

He keeps running his fingers through Binghe's hair gently, his eyes closed. "I was already trying to decide how to tell you. I just didn't want..." He hadn't wanted to upset Binghe and they had been spending a fair amount of time together.

"I know. I'm not going to be Shen Qingqiu here. I've not even used that name since I found myself in the city."

He is upset, but it's balanced out by the relief of finding out that Shizun is here with him.

He enjoys the feeling of fingers moving through his hair; it has a calming effect on him. He finds himself smiling faintly. "All right. Don't be Shen Qingqiu, then. As long as you're mine."

"Have I been spending most of my time here with anyone else?" His fingers twist in Binghe's hair before he lets go, hand settling back at his side.

"I know who I'm meant to be with."

"No... not that I've seen." Fortunately not. He doesn't want to contend with a rival. He bites lightly at the side of Shen Yuan's neck. "I mean, you can be who you want to be, as long as you're with me."

Yuan tilts his head, offering more of his neck, hand moving to find one of Binghe's, entwining their fingers.

"I'm not going anywhere." But there was relief at being able to tell him part of the truth, although there were still things he needed to decide whether to address.

"No, you won't. I'm going to hold onto you from now." He bites again, a little harder, as squeezes Shen Yuan's hand. "I'll just stay like this."

"Binghe, you can't just hold me all the time." Although the bite has him shifting slightly.

"No more biting. We're still in public."

"Yes, I can. It will be easy to walk around like this. I'm very flexible." He's mostly joking. Well, half-joking. Probably.

"Why can't I? There's no one around. It doesn't matter what we do in public, if you're not a peak lord..."

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reviser - 2023-11-21 22:58 (UTC) - Expand

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discipleship - 2023-11-22 01:09 (UTC) - Expand

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