armwriostle | peacockstop Overflow

[Shang Qinghua snorts, trying for just a moment to imagine how things might be easier with a bunch of prisoners instead of disciples, and he shakes his head.] Ah, teaching is supposed to feel like a more rewarding job, but my disciples sure do act like they're prisoners sometimes.

[For some reason, he feels like he wants wine. This feels like a drinking kind of day. Unfortunately, he's too paranoid to drink, so more tea it is.]

Mmm, you are right about that, we are at a disadvantage. [He hums, considering.] Winning Game 52 seems like such a daunting task, though.

I feel like that is merely how youth are. They wish to only enjoy their young days while they can. I cannot fault them for it. [There's something almost wistful in the way he speaks those words.

Not that he lets the moment linger as he continues to enjoy his tea and chat.]

It does sound like that even if we are to participate and make it to the end, one will find themselves spending an indefinite amount of time here. There are limits to the body and the passing of time will happen no matter how hurried you are to try and complete the game. [Ignore the fact that one would basically have to have sex at the minimum of 52 times and some might not be so willing to the idea.] It is best to take it a step at a time.

[Shang Qinghua hums noncommittally, not wanting to ruin his nostalgic moment with commentary about how An Ding Peak disciples are all just wanting to make the people around them as miserable as they are - because that's exactly what he was like when he was a teenager, too.

He chuckles.] Ah, sir, your advice is in the right place, but I don't do 'one step at a time'. [That'll get you killed or wife-plotted where he's from.] And the passage of time isn't much for an immortal, unless that immortal has very important things to get back to in his original world.

...A very important person, actually. I, uh, left him once and he overturned the whole border looking for me, so he's probably furious with me now.

[This does make him wonder a bit. He had never asked the Traveler and he doesn't think they would be able to tell him anyways.] How do you think the passing of time is like between here and home then? I have never considered it before, but I find I've thought about it now that we're here.

[Oh. Sounds rough buddy. Damn.] Well...let us hope for the best. For your sake and the rest of your world. [In his defense, what else can one say about that?]

Honestly, I couldn't say. I'm not sure that we'll ever find out unless we return home to see how long has passed. [And from what he's seen of some of the other 'guests', they've been here a long time, so maybe it isn't so easy a thing to do.

He shrugs. Practically speaking, there isn't much that can be done about it right at this moment, but it's at least an explanation for why he can't take things so casually.] It's... not ideal.

But, mm. If the only way to leave is through a wish, then I guess winning the game is the only way out.

Thinking it about it won't help us much, I suppose. [It's more like a nagging thought that won't leave. Like an itch that can't be scratched. Worrying about it all won't do them any good.

Of course, maybe Wriothesley is taking things too well. After all, it isn't like back home is doing too hot with a nation ending prophecy on the horizon. But hey, can't worry about water that might dissolve him if he's here, right? Through thick or think, they'll all manage after whatever comes.] Things will be handled as they come. In the meantime, I'm sure there are ways for us to prepare.

[Playing the game, but surely they can make some form of contingency plan. Plans.]

Probably not. [He agrees sympathetically, because he knows it's a thought that will bother him too at times. There is someone for him back home who doesn't want him to leave, after all, for the first time in his life.

But there isn't much that can be done.]

What sort of preparations? [He assumes he means... preparations for things that aren't sex. That kind of preparation seems obvious.]

A place like this? It must have its secrets. [And he was a guy who liked to snoop and know the ins and outs. He isn’t so complacent that he won’t go sniffing. He just is accepting of the whole idea of participating in a ridiculous game of sex.]

We don’t know what will happen and I don’t like the idea of not having some contingency plans for any scenario that might come up.

[Shang Qinghua huffs slightly in a little laugh as he reaches for another dish.] I guess you and I are a little more alike than I thought. It's always good to have plans.

[He absolutely plans to do some snooping around himself. He's been nosing about here and there, but the resort is frankly huge.]

I suppose we'll be finding out soon enough what kinds of scenarios might come up.

A lot of people rely on me. It would be irresponsible if I didn’t keep an ace up my sleeve when possible. [Haha get it? Because they’re at a casino-

Sorry.

He takes one of the bowls of soup and lifts it to his mouth to sip.]

Yes, that is true. It’s strange for so many people to seemingly arrive with the place unready to accommodate. I would think it isn’t possible to misplace this many people, so I wonder if we’re all really stuck here. Of course it’s better to assume the worse, but I’ve talked to enough people that overbooking this many is just a logistics I can’t see is possible.

[That does get a snort out of him. No one ever said Shang Qinghua was too snooty to laugh at a pun.]

Yeah, I did wonder about that. It's a lot of people to just show up randomly. I wonder if it was on purpose, and we'll see these numbers thin out before long, or if something really went wrong somewhere. [A thoughtful hum.] The longer-term guests either won't or can't give up much information about arrivals.

It is. We don’t know anything about the process though and I doubt they’ll so easily tell us. [Everything about this place was shrouded in mystery, but that didn’t mean it could be concealed from them forever. If the information exists, it meant they can find it.]

As for the guests, it feels like they don’t really care too much about us. Probably because we aren’t properly in the system. It seems the hierarchy here is strongly in place.

[He stabs a dumpling with his fork and frowns a little.] It seems that the higher ups aren’t the only one keeping their system in check.

They also don't seem to show the same desire to go home. I wonder if they've been here so long they've forgotten everything else. It would make sense why they keep to the hierarchy so strongly. [It's all pretty strange, when you really start to pick apart the logic of a place like this.

He sighs.] I love a good mystery novel, but not so much a real mystery, I think.

I'm sure many of them were like us before, but I can't imagine that at least some of them aren't native. I also haven't seen a way to leave the premises. [Which is also quite strange in itself. It's like this place exists in its own bubble. Even if he's used to the Fortress being its own entity from Fontaine, Fontaine still existed outside its walls.]

A real mystery is only truly enjoyable if you aren't the one affected by it. [A chuckle.]

...Maybe, but, ah... [His voice lowers a little as he continues, as if to keep this next bit of information between just them.] I met someone in the casino earlier with a finely tuned sense for spirits. Some of the long-term guests on the casino floor were ghosts. So I hope that they weren't like us before, because the idea of being here long enough to wind up haunting the place is... daunting.

[He takes another sip of his tea, pursing his lips as he sets the cup down.]

Yeah, that's the truth.

[Oh. This is information he definitely will tuck away for his knowledge. It makes this place, well, seem a little more dangerous.] Ah...if one were to pass away here... [It would make sense that they would be stuck in this place. That doesn't sit well with him.

He shakes his head.]

It makes me wonder if they think that if we're here long enough, we'd not want to leave after time. It feels like this place wishes to drown us in pleasures. [Falling into one's vices and getting stuck in them or something.]

Mm. Meaning that isn't a way out either, as morbid as that sounds. [Shang Qinghua would never go so far, but who knows how strongly others might be against their situation.]

That may be what happened with some of the long term guests. It's hard to say. It's something that we should all be looking out for.

Hm. [He wonders if elemental sight would have helped him see anything here, but he can't use that right now. What a shame.]

I imagine some people are more susceptible than others. There can be reasons why someone would rather be here than home, but I feel like we're getting off topic there. What matters is our own personal feelings. I have things I need to be home for, but there are things about this place that I can't help but want to unravel. [Call him a bleeding heart, but he also doesn't like the idea of people continuously pulled here either.]

Lucky for you, I imagine unraveling this place somehow might eventually be necessary. [Is it really as simple as fuck 52 people, win the game, go home? It could be, but it also might not be.

He's trying to hedge his bets here, getting to know people who might be good connections, playing the game, seeing what happens. Shang Qinghua is adaptable.

He reaches for one of the remaining dishes on the table, and picks up his chopsticks again.] Good luck to us both going forward.

Well, I think it would be impossible to not try and get to know the place intimately. [He pours out the remaining tea into both their cups.] With all the free time we'll have, people are bound to get bored.

[Hey. At least it'll be nice not to be doing paperwork for a bit. The only upside.]

Good luck to us. [A nod as he lifts his tea cup to drink.]

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