[The cold is a shock so sudden he almost forgot to breathe for a second...but that might have been better because when he did take a breath he sucked in water.
When he surfaced he was coughing and instinctively grabbed at the first person near him. He's pretty tall so he's not exactly light, and his grip is pretty strong before he loosens it to something more reasonable.
Surprisingly, despite the way he arrived he seemed pretty calm.]
Ah. This is unexpected.
[Understatement of the century.]
ii: Earbuds Hadn't Been Invented In Steampunk China
[He was still feeling a little lost emotionally even if he understood everything logically. So he looked for a distraction. In this case, this new technology he'd been given.
It truly was fascinating. As he played around with it in the caravan a pixiu with a dragon's head and a lion's body with wings to match her mostly grey-white body and two antlers on her head was laying her head on his lap.
Then he accidentally opened a video and nearly jumped when sound came out of the phone suddenly. He quickly tried to make it stop but well...he may be the competent and learned Yan Bei Wang but earbuds and phones don't exist where he's from. Help?]
iii: Healer In-Training (( CW: self-harm! ))
[He had been a little stunned to learn that he had healing magic. Given his cursed nature he thought...
But his gaze had slid to the pixiu that was his familiar and he thought, if his magic was tied to an auspicious creature then perhaps that is why he had such magic.
It didn't take him long to attempt to practise and that's reasonable enough, right?
Except he's sitting in the training area with a small knife and one sleeve rolled up and trying to cut into the back of his arm, where there are fewer arteries and won't be any trouble if he couldn't heal it. His pixiu makes a sound of distress or disapproval. It's hard to tell without more familiarity.
Either way, if no one tries to stop him he'll cut deeply enough into his arm to make it bleed. Then attempt to heal it.
There's indication that this hasn't been the first time he cut it based on the blood on the cloth he'd been using to clean the knife. Anyone who's been watching might have noticed that he's been making increasingly deep cuts to see how deep he can cut before he can't heal it properly.]
iv: Carving a Gift
[They mentioned a small gift would be required but not exactly what counted as good enough to be a courtesy.
In the end he picks up a palm sized stone and started to carve gear patterns onto it. He sits somewhere out of the way to work on the stone with slow, careful strokes. Sitting at his side is his familiar who looks interested in what he's doing but gives everyone who comes near them the stink eye.
Interrupt him and he'll pause and look up with a mild smile, calm and not at all bothered to be interrupted and invite more conversation.
Or, if when he finishes the last stroke he may look up with that same smile and stand up.]
Ah, would you mind accompanying me to complete the ritual? I already have a gift prepared.
Chang Geng/Li Min | Sha Po Lang ((CW: self-harm in prompt 3)
[The cold is a shock so sudden he almost forgot to breathe for a second...but that might have been better because when he did take a breath he sucked in water.
When he surfaced he was coughing and instinctively grabbed at the first person near him. He's pretty tall so he's not exactly light, and his grip is pretty strong before he loosens it to something more reasonable.
Surprisingly, despite the way he arrived he seemed pretty calm.]
Ah. This is unexpected.
[Understatement of the century.]
ii: Earbuds Hadn't Been Invented In Steampunk China
[He was still feeling a little lost emotionally even if he understood everything logically. So he looked for a distraction. In this case, this new technology he'd been given.
It truly was fascinating. As he played around with it in the caravan a pixiu with a dragon's head and a lion's body with wings to match her mostly grey-white body and two antlers on her head was laying her head on his lap.
Then he accidentally opened a video and nearly jumped when sound came out of the phone suddenly. He quickly tried to make it stop but well...he may be the competent and learned Yan Bei Wang but earbuds and phones don't exist where he's from. Help?]
iii: Healer In-Training (( CW: self-harm! ))
[He had been a little stunned to learn that he had healing magic. Given his cursed nature he thought...
But his gaze had slid to the pixiu that was his familiar and he thought, if his magic was tied to an auspicious creature then perhaps that is why he had such magic.
It didn't take him long to attempt to practise and that's reasonable enough, right?
Except he's sitting in the training area with a small knife and one sleeve rolled up and trying to cut into the back of his arm, where there are fewer arteries and won't be any trouble if he couldn't heal it. His pixiu makes a sound of distress or disapproval. It's hard to tell without more familiarity.
Either way, if no one tries to stop him he'll cut deeply enough into his arm to make it bleed. Then attempt to heal it.
There's indication that this hasn't been the first time he cut it based on the blood on the cloth he'd been using to clean the knife. Anyone who's been watching might have noticed that he's been making increasingly deep cuts to see how deep he can cut before he can't heal it properly.]
iv: Carving a Gift
[They mentioned a small gift would be required but not exactly what counted as good enough to be a courtesy.
In the end he picks up a palm sized stone and started to carve gear patterns onto it. He sits somewhere out of the way to work on the stone with slow, careful strokes. Sitting at his side is his familiar who looks interested in what he's doing but gives everyone who comes near them the stink eye.
Interrupt him and he'll pause and look up with a mild smile, calm and not at all bothered to be interrupted and invite more conversation.
Or, if when he finishes the last stroke he may look up with that same smile and stand up.]
Ah, would you mind accompanying me to complete the ritual? I already have a gift prepared.