乙巳 004: 大寒

[singlemilletgrain]

[video broadcast]
Greetings again, Corsairs.

[As usual, following a bow, Shu addresses the video feed with perfect poise and elegance.]

After the... challenging events of the New Year's mission, I wish to call for some levity. In Yan, as the year changes, we visit the temples to have our fortunes told for the coming year. It is just for fun, of course. In Dahuang, I keep a place of worship to... [a faint pause] a Xian of agriculture, Shennong, and occasionally run the festivities.

Please come by. There will be traditional New Year's food, of course.

[If anyone has learned anything about Yan at this point, it is that they have Too Many Holiday Traditions and Too Much Food.]

[option 1: just for fun]
[Shu's doorway is vibrantly decorated in red and gold, and when she ushers you in, the most immediate sight is the table filled with plates and plates of food. Mostly dumplings, for dumplings are easiest for visitors, but also whole fish, noodle dishes, and sticky rice.

To the side, there is a little chest with two sets of burning incense at either side. Fortune seekers are invited to kneel, burn incense if they wish, pray for luck from whatever deity or the general karmic wheel of the universe, and then reach out for a container of what look like sticks. There is a little sign explaining this is the tradition of 'qiu qian,' beseeching insight from the gods.

One must ask a clear question, shake the container a few times, and pull out a stick.]

[option 2: the real thing]
[Shu sits at her 'priest's seat' and laughs lightly at the interpretation of the fortune received. Perhaps she sees something more ponderous in your eyes, for after a moment or two, she clasps her hands together and exhales lightly, bowing her head.

Her red pupils have constricted to tiny dots when she raises her head once more.]

...I could give you a better fortune, if you wish.

((If you pick option 2, Shu will either tell you in very vague prophetic terms something that may or may not happen in the future of your canon, something that happened in the past of your canon, or give you a random item that might be useful to you this year. If you pick option 1, it will be total nonsense.))

Comments

[purplexing]

Maybe because it was the only thing he knew how to teach us?

[Look, as much as Donnie loves his dad, said dad-ing was the bare minimum. He is 80% sure that his father didn't put that much thought into his reasons.

...but still, the suggestion that maybe his father would approve of the things he's been doing now, warms him.]

I hope he would...

[singlemilletgrain]

...Oh.

I do not have any children, so I suppose I cannot speak to proper parenting techniques. [Shu does not approve.] So he was unable to educate you or train you in other life skills? How was it that you picked up an interest in machinery and other mechanical gadgets, then?

[And how did you learn anything whatsoever.]

[purplexing]

I mean...he taught us how to talk and look out for each other?

[That's something, right?]

Mostly we just ran around doing our own thing so long as we didn't go too far from home.

Me, I just liked learning about things. Plants and how my brothers would react if they ate or touched something funny. There was an old Ether-powered lamp we had, and when it stopped working no one complained when I tried taking it apart. Dad ended up getting a new one eventually, so I took that one apart to to figure out why the other one wasn't working. And then sometimes there'd be bits of things that would wash up on the beach, in retrospect, I'm assuming were remnants from battles out over the seas.

Dad found me some tools at some point and I never thought to ask where because I was just happy to have them.

[singlemilletgrain]

[talking...
and how to look out for each other...
'how they would react if they ate something funny.'

what about like
pooping
and reading
and how to do the laundry

Shu alters her mental perception of what she might be escorting Donnie home to. It more closely resembles a run down hovel with three boys running around hitting each other with sticks now. One of them isn't yet potty trained at age 18 so he wears diapers.

...maybe she should just keep him here

There is a distant, haunted look in her eyes as she briefly dissociates.]

..........Er. Yes.

How wonderful that you were, ah, able to find interests to pursue, on your own. And without formal training of any kind. Indeed, that requires remarkable mental acuity and independent drive.

[One gets the sensation dispensing kind compliments is a sort of automatic response for her.]

And surely he tried to... foster and share your interests?

[say yes]

[purplexing]

[Certainly he's abridged a lot it. Reading though? Of course not, this is why Donnie's been struggling in the library but he feels like he's been making a lot of progress!!

And Laundry... haha that implies they wore clothes, Shu.]

Hello..?

[He looks about to wave a hand in front of her face when she seems to blank out. Was it something he'd said?

Automatic or not, Donnie absolutely beams at that. He will eat any compliments right up because adult validation, yay!!!]

Huh? I guess? I mean, he got mad when he caught us sneaking to Elysium after him, but then I found an old fan and fixed it up for him so he didn't mind much after.

[singlemilletgrain]

That is not what sharing an interest means.

[If Shu is snappy for the first time ever that Donnie has seen, it is not meant to be directed at him. She clears her throat as she realizes she responded a little too quickly.]

My apologies. I simply mean... one ought to receive encouragement in the fulfillment of one's passions. Only then can a child thrive.

[Now she sounds like a self-help book.]

I have decided our next course of action. [...our?] We will find you an apprenticeship as an airship mechanic or in an armor facility. [...we?]

[purplexing]

[It's such a drastically different tone from the usual that Donnie actually draws back. He fiddles with his empty teacup, avoiding eye contact even as she clarifies, but he's not really sure what he's supposed to say to that. There's nothing that Shu says then that he can't disagree with either, however.

It's only when she starts some sort of future planning that he lifts his gaze, blinking at her.]

Wait, what? "We?"

-but that's basically what I've already been doing, isn't it?

[singlemilletgrain]

Yes.

But not just informally. Officially. We will find you full certification and examination in any of these paths that you wish, such that you have the option of exploring a career path besides 'rebel tinkerer' once we have succeeded in our aims here.

After all, you are nearly an adult.

[She speaks with bold determination, conveying the sense of the Royal We and the possibility that Donnie's input may not be necessary for this decision.]

[purplexing]

[He's just kind of staring at Shu like she's grown a second head. Jumping into talk about actual jobs is not something he'd ever really thought about, mostly because he figures jobs are just things that happened to other people, and also... well. He'd never really thought about much past this whole Corsair business.]

Wh.... huh?

[singlemilletgrain]

Yes.

If you begin the apprenticeship now, you will likely be graduated in 3-4 years with full certification. That is the approximate range in Terra. Airship maintenance may require a specialization, though I'm only guessing, which would add a year.

Our work here will likely be concluded within two to three years, if all continues smoothly. This will coincide well with your options - you could transition into formal schooling if you prefer to study more theoretical applications of your skills or seek a career in the new, Empire-free world.

[After that, she will find him a nice turtleperson of the gender he prefers, preside over their nuptials (or their Friend Ceremony, she understood young people were disinclined to be married nowadays and preferred long term partnerships, particularly in towns native to Harvest Moon), buy them a nice house with a white picket fence and a pet... cow, and babysit for their ten turtle children.]

[purplexing]

[While normally he loves information and planning, this is a completely different thing than what he's used to, and it leaves him floundering because he can't figure out why it's all so overwhelming.

An apprenticeship sounds nice? Graduating- he has no idea what that is, what is she talking about? Certification is that whole 'official' thing she'd mentioned earlier but wait, years??

If he'd ever be asked about how long it would take them to free the world of the Empire's reign, Donnie would have no clue as to how to even go about estimating that. Two to three years sounds both so soon and incredibly long, no, too long, it's already been too long, why is it so hard to breathe?

He chokes on a breath as he manages to drag something of it in, his empty teacup dropping from his hands to roll onto the table as he abruptly pushes back in his seat.]

-but I don't want to- To whatever all that is! I can't stay away from home for that long, I've already been gone long enough!

[Ah, that's what was missing, that's what was wrong. His family wasn't factored into any of it. He barely seemed factored into it himself, and yet somehow Shu's suddenly laid out the plans for his future without batting an eye. He can't even begin to figure out what sort of emotions he's feeling right now, completely different from any of the worst he's experienced on the battlefield.]

I-I need to go.

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu's thought bubble of turtle children (and turtle grandchildren) is rudely interrupted by Donnie's outburst, which catches her off-guard enough that she needs to blink for a few moments to remember that none of this has actually happened yet.]

Oh? But -- of course you are going to go home. I thought you had decided.

[Hm. Was it something she said?]

It isn't as if your house needs to be far from where you grew up.

[...This will not make much sense as Shu had not mentioned that he was going to get married / partnered and buy a house out loud yet.]

[purplexing]

[Again she gets that baffled stare before the turtlekin shakes his head. Not thinking about it, can't think about it, too much to think about and he's not even sure what all he's trying to figure out of it all.

He gets up, trying to cap off his overthink but it's like trying to put a lid on an already boiling over pot. It's enough of a distraction that he neglects to say anything more to Shu as he makes a hasty retreat from the room.]

[singlemilletgrain]

[Shu blinks in mild confusion. And mollifies her disappointment by absentmindedly finishing an uneaten (cold) dumpling on Donnie's plate.]

...It is possible I should spend more time in the present. Perhaps the atmosphere of the fortunes...

But really, he is not too far from grown. I wonder that it so disturbs him.