WEEK ZERO: WELCOME INTRO

[cluedin]

WELCOME

Even from behind your eyelids, the soft glowing light can be seen as you find yourself awakening. The slow swell of strings begins, and as you struggle to open your eyes, the sound of footsteps pass you by. You soon hear three feminine voices speak in unison.

"Master Blue wishes to welcome you all. We hope you enjoy your stay!"

Light temporarily blinds you as you look around, but the source of the voices has vanished. Whomever has greeted you seems to have disappeared without warning, leaving you all alone.

The music starts up and though no orchestra is present, the song can be heard all throughout the room. Crystal chandeliers hang above your head, and the waxed wooden floor gleams brightly. Floor to ceiling windows cover the back wall and a night sky full of stars twinkle back at you. The wall next to it, however, is covered by a thick crimson curtain. Those who attempt to move it will find they have little luck in their endeavor, but there are more pressing matters at hand.

Looking down you'll come to notice that you're wearing clothes that certainly aren't what you were previously wearing. You, and the guests around you, have been dressed appropriately in formal attire properly fitted for each individual.

Oh. That's right. Didn't we mention the other guests? Seated to your left, right, and across from you at the long banquet table are other people just like you. Perhaps it's a friend you know, though don't be surprised if it's a complete stranger. Each individual holds a blue and silver invitation with their name scrawled upon it, and a message to follow.

"Please respond to Master Blue's invitation at least one week prior to the event to secure your seat and accommodations.

This dinner is guaranteed to be an event to die for."

Strange, isn't it?

But rest assured! Nothing is stopping you from leaving the ballroom and exploring the other rooms of Master Blue's home. After all, you're an honored guest! It's with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that you're welcomed here tonight. Really, what's your hurry? It's not as though the front door will open for you. Don't bother with the windows either. They've all been locked tight to ensure you're all nice and cozy for your stay.

If you look under your seat, you'll find a special gift bag with your name on it. Opening these bags will reveal the following:

-A small spiral notebook
-A crayon in a specific shade of blue
-Three different candles
-A brass key (Design May Vary.)
-This cute toy

A welcome gift from the Master, of course.

Take some time to admire the decor, if you will. The house has been decorated for this special holiday with chains of paper hearts, miniature golden cupid statues, and confetti that rains down from the ceiling on occasion. Perhaps you'll get lucky tonight with love in the air, especially since Cupid's arrow seems to aim for you no matter where you go. For those of you who don't wish to partake in the lavish feast spread out in the ballroom, you're in luck. Boxes of chocolate and bowls of candy hearts can be found for all your snacking needs.

As the unseen orchestra plays on, it seems as though you've no choice but to get to know your fellow guests and make yourselves comfortable. Perhaps if you wait long enough, someone will come to greet you.

---

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Comments

[goldpeony]

I never asked to be treated so disrespectfully! Whoever our “host” is has nerve to think they can put me in something so ridiculous!

[He straightens up clutching the coat, lips twisting in a frown.]

Hem them! I... I don’t have any money here to pay you! My uncle will pay you back!

[kazokun]

I don't need money. I just need you to stop digging through trashcans. That will be our trade.

[ He holds his hand out for the coat. I guess Jin Ling will have to go around in just the crop top for the rest of his threads though ]

[goldpeony]

I was only doing that to make sure my things weren’t inside! I’m not a savage.

[He glances warily down at Ayabe’s hands. He has... to give up his shield... Fuck. Reluctantly, he hands over the coat, but doesn’t let it go yet.]

You better give it back...

[kazokun]

[ Mmhm. He won't say anything about that first bit. ]

Of course I'll give it back. I don't want to keep this.

[ Girly clothes. ]

[goldpeony]

[STOP HIS CLOTHES]

Shut up. [He lets go finally.] Tell me your name.

[kazokun]

[ THEY'RE GIRLY CLOTHES HE SAID IT HIMSELF

Ayabe takes the clothes back and properly refolds it again before draping it over his arm, because he's like that ig ]

Reito Ayabe. What's your name?

[goldpeony]

[He gets a thin-lipped, big frown. Well, he doesn't know THIS person. Stupid. It doesn't even sound normal.]

...Jin Ling.

[kazokun]

[ Don't frown at his name!!! Ayabe's not even rude enough to frown at Jin Ling's name. He's just frowning at him in general. ]

Ling.

[ Is this the name he uses. How does this name work. ]

[goldpeony]

[Well, he doesn't correct Ayabe because... honestly... everyone here is a lunatic to him, and no one seems to understand why the family and/or surname goes first... but his brows do furrow some.

Wow! It makes it sound like they are pretty close! Like--friends! It's one "ah" short of A-ling!]

Ayabe.

[Two can play at that game.]

[kazokun]

[ asfdlkjh every single app uses "first name, last name" and so he also introduces himself like that. Ayabe is his last name, it's what he's used to, so he's glad for the not-at-all friends name. ]

I'll see what I can do about this, Ling. For your dog, you can probably find something in the kitchen to bait her with.

[goldpeony]

[STOP I TYPED THE WRONG ONE I'M SO TIRED free me it's fine]

I don't have to bait her. She always listens to me.

[But this makes him glance around the kitchen skeptically. He doesn't know how a goddamn thing in here works, honestly, but he will not say that.]

[kazokun]

[ LMAO WE CAN PRETEND HE SAID REITO either way is fine, Ayabe will just make a face but other people have called him Reito here. ]

That's fine after you find her and call her to you, but you need help finding her first, right? Check the fridge for any meat. I can make hamburger steak or something, and she'll come running if she's hungry.

[goldpeony]

[it's funnier this way. let jl suffer]

...Fridge? [Yeah, okay. Which one of these fucking things is a fridge. Hilariously, he assumes a fridge is just a smokehouse.] Don't feed my dog weird things!

[He doesn't know what a hamburger steak is.]

[kazokun]

Fridge.

[ ...A moment passes, and he gestures at the white box standing there on the side. This boy lives under a rock, he can't expect anything from him. ]

It's not weird. If she doesn't like hamburger, then tell me what she does like, so I can make that instead.

[goldpeony]

[There's a pause, and then he wanders over to the white box on the side. Thankfully, he's not a complete dumbass, so he knows how to open it and--WOW. He looks startled by the fact a chill hits his front. He quickly shuts the door... only to open it carefully again afterward.]

She eats pheasant, or roast, or ham. [Hm. there's a lot of perishable shit in here. Wild. People not shopping for one day and having to cook stuff that can't be preserved with ice.] Are you a servant or something?

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe has to stand there and watch his reactions to literally everything. Ancient China was tough times. Who knows if Jin Ling can recognize already cut up meat and be able to tell bird from pig from cow, there are no whole animals in there. ]

No.

[ He sure feels like it most of the time, though. ]

I live on my own, so I cook for myself. It's a skill people should know.

[goldpeony]

[He.........would maybe not know the difference between meats because he has been spoiled all his life.] I guess. [There's some wild shit in the fridge, and he pokes and prods and spins some of the bottles so he can get tactile satisfaction.]

We just have servants do it. Except for when I was with the Lans when we were hunting. In Yi City, they made congee, but it was for the corpse poisoning.

[kazokun]

[ Yeah, he might as well let Ayabe do everything, because Ayabe is nudging him aside so he can grab the meat, milk, egg, minus a lot of the spices he would normally use since he has to be careful not to cook anything that will poison the dog. ]

I'll do it. The food will spoil if you keep the door open too long. Now what is corpse poisoning?

[ Like food poisoning except you're eating corpses?? what's going on over there ]

[goldpeony]

[He looks offended at being brushed aside regardless of whether he would even be able to fry an egg without burning it or the kitchen. But all he does it move out of the way while scowling.]

Corpse poisoning. [Said like Ayabe should know.] It’s when you die and then become a turned corpse because you’ve ingested a corpse’s blood. It happened to some of the disciples in Yi City—the corpses’ blood was powder, so when we fought them, it exploded in the air, and they inhaled it.

Rice can cure it if you put it on the wound, or if you eat it.

[He seems proud about knowing this! Even if stupid Wei Wuxian was the one who taught them about the congee. 😒]

[kazokun]

[ He could have said something like "move your fat ass, you're in the way" but he's a good boy, very polite, etc.

Anyways, Jin Ling gets tossed into his mental wastebasket of Chuunis that exist in this place, there are so many of them he can't believe it. ]

Uh huh. [ He just continues to pull out ingredients. Tofu, breadcrumbs, what can he substitute for onions... ]

What is it about rice that's so special?

[goldpeony]

It's... rice? [Said in that "duh" kind of way. He's not in the way, but he hasn't left. Instead, he's watching Ayabe take things out, trying to see what they are.] It soaks up all the toxins when you put it on a wound, if corpse blood got on it. But these disciples had inhaled it.

So we had to feed it to them. [He pokes the tofu.] What are you making?

[kazokun]

Uh huh. Like charcoal.

[ Rice as a miracle cure, amazing. He supposes it's bland enough to soak things up??? thank god actual real medicine exists though, he would rather squirt dishwashing liquid over a wound than rice. ]

Hamburger. With beef and egg, bread to make it soft. If she doesn't like it, you can eat it.

[ Just casually feeds Jin Ling dog food-- it's good food though, Ayabe's a good cook, it'll be good. ]

[goldpeony]

Like charcoal.

[pls let him put his chinese folk medicine rice on any of your wounds ayabe to get the toxins out it's fine]

Hmph. I'll eat it first so I know you're not trying to poison my dog. [Jin Ling's only good streak: risking his life for his pupper.] At least it isn't tasteless and soupy congee.

[Are the eggs in a carton? They are now because Jin Ling doesn't know what a fucking egg carton is, so he carefully picks it open with a finger to peek inside. WOW EGGS.]

Why are they cold? That's weird! Why is everything inside of that... fridge thing?

[kazokun]

[ Saturday-ish Meltryllis kicks him in the face and he gets a bloody nose if you want a PC of Jin Ling going !!! and throwing a handful of rice at Ayabe's face so he can be ??? ]

I wouldn't poison your dog. You would cry and I'd never hear the end of it. [ Jin Ling will probably cry? He looks like the person who would cry and hold an elaborate funeral for his dog if something happens to her. ]

Do you not own a fridge? Everything is kept cold so they last longer, and you only have to go to the market once a week. Fresh food is better, but this is more convenient.

[goldpeony]

[closes my fucking eyes AYABE. Also, yes, sort of. Jin Ling would cry. And then Jin Ling would kill Ayabe in a fit of rage before burying his dog with all rites and a service.]

Nn. [Ayabe asks like it's inadequate to not own a fridge, and so he is, of course, offended on behalf of his pride.] I've never heard of a stupid fridge, [he grinds out.] The only time things are kept cold is when jars are put down in the river or in the snow. [Ancient fridge.]

This is pointless. Just send servants to the market in the mornings to get the food for the day. Don't you get your eggs from chickens? Don't you hunt pheasants the day before for meals? Servants can pick the vegetables from the garden.