catch-all | OPEN

[rootstalks]

Who: Jin Ling, Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, and HOUSEGUESTS (that's you!).
When: All times
Where: The Jin-Jiang classy house in the Haven
What: Catch-all for household events and visitors! Bolded sections are intentional prompts, but wildcard as you like!
Warnings: Probably some drama at some point. Also monster transformation body horror (harpy, turnskin, merrow). Definitely at least 2.5 discussions about murder. One really, really uncomfortable dinner party.

Entrance Hall

Now that the house’s new residents are more settled in, they’re ready to accept visitors. The first thing you will notice as you enter the door is the art hung on the wall: Intricately crafted wood carvings of the Jiang lotus and the Jin peony emblems, bookending a framed photograph of Jiang Yanli and her two brothers, only one of whom actually lives there, from the day of Wei Wuxian’s wedding the previous month.

There is room on the wall for more pictures to be hung, as now that Jin Zixuan has discovered the wonders of photography, he intends to immortalize all his loved ones in living color as often as possible. The Yunmeng Jiang clan is already honored, so the next step is to commission a father and son portrait to represent Lanling Jin.

In a small, round room off the entrance hall, memorial tablets have been set up for the Jiang parents, carved from a lacquered wood and set into a cabinet.

Courtyard

The spacious courtyard in the center of the house provides a perfect place for the cultivators in the house to continue their training. Sure, they don’t have golden cores anymore and are all turning into different kinds of monsters, but that is no excuse to allow their skills to deteriorate from lack of practice. Archery targets are set up along one wall, and there is plenty of space around the central fountain for sparring with swords or other weapons they may acquire. Of course, as the courtyard becomes repurposed into a training ground, the genteel furniture, ornate chairs and potted plants, get moved into storage in the basement to provide more room to move around. It may not give off the same level of elegance as other classy houses in the neighborhood, but for the cultivators? It begins to make this feel more like home.

Sometimes, and to her mild distress, Yanli is herded out into the courtyard and set in front of an archery target. There, she practises spells, mouth thin with nerves. It’s easier, as might be expected, when she’s accompanied by either a member of the household, or another witch. One target bears the scorch marks from her first and only attempt at evocation, but it’s clear she’s developing a preference for defensive spellcraft. With it being nearly impossible to convince any member of the household to shoot an arrow at her, there is now a small stack of little beanbags under one awning, in a wicker basket.

When she isn't required, or her master is working or training, Fairy the spiritual hound can be found lounging around the courtyard, keeping an eye on things, and barking.

Kitchen

The kitchen is walled with cabinets and shelves, the room airy enough that some storage is too high for Jiang Yanli to reach comfortably. Sometimes, when she feels brave, she plucks the ingredient or tool she wants with a polite gesture and a flick of magic. Mostly, she resorts to a short iron stepladder that doubles as a stool for casual visitors (or opportunistic scavengers).

It’s not what she’s used to, but working in the bakery is a crash course in the average Aefenglom kitchen, and it only takes a few days for her to arrange everything the way she likes it. The novelty of cooking in a kitchen of her own, rather than invading the space of the cooks, and apologising to servants as she got in their way (or, not apologising, because one shouldn’t, but smiling in a way that allowed it to go unsaid)... it’s heady. She prepares too much, spends her wages on interesting ingredients; one shelf at shoulder height fills with scraps of paper and borrowed books. If she finds herself looking over her shoulder before she carries a pile of bowls into the scullery… well, at least everyone is too polite to mention it.

And that much food means she has an easy excuse to do what she does best: feed her loved ones. Either by arranging a family meal, refamiliarising herself with their tastes and spending an enjoyable evening offering this and that into their bowls, basking in conversation, or by inviting a friend home, and spending an evening in conversations about other worlds, about magic, about the workings of the city and the developments of the mirrorbound.

'Music Room’

The upstairs loft is a large studio room with tall windows along the front wall to let lots of light into the space. Where normally one might expect to see a grand piano or other instruments (the space was obviously intended to be a music salon), there is instead a haphazard mess of materials, mostly branches and straw that have been pulled in from trees outside, mixed with some pillows and thick blankets. For a long time, it just looks like a mess, like whoever has gathered these mismatched items has a hoarding problem. But slowly, surely, it begins to take shape into a massive nest that takes up a good third of the room. Little by little, more pieces get added to the nest. More wood to expand the walls-- including several chairs stolen from the dining room-- more soft things to line the interior. As far as Jin Zixuan is concerned, it is a very respectable collection, not a nest, and the more refined he can make it look, the less embarrassed he is by his compulsion to build it.

(All the other members of the household know that it is a nest and call it such behind Jin Zixuan’s back, but to allow him to save face they refrain from mentioning that particular word in front of him.)

Bedrooms

Generally the bedrooms, all in the central floor of the house, are architecturally similar and decorated much alike, but each has begun to accumulate the detritus of their lives. Souvenirs, gifts, laundry, half-finished projects and belongings from home now set on the walls or on stands to be secured. And, occasionally, other things.

In Jin Ling’s room, the general paraphernalia of a teenager, along with a large dog bed, usually covered in kittens and their canine general.

In Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s room, on the day of the full moon, they awake to a truly alarming amount of feathers. But generally, their room is impeccable, a mix of pale woods, brass and soft furnishings - especially since they’ve started to spend time in the nest instead.

In Jiang Cheng’s room, it is for the most part neat and everything in its place, with most decor items either being purple or light green in color. The bed is usually occupied by a calico kitten with the ability to teleport.

Basement

The basement of the home comes equipped with a wine cellar, a dusty bottle or two of cabernet left over from the house’s previous occupants. However, the family now inhabiting the residence prefers rice wine or other grain based alcohols over wine made from grapes or other fruit. So as time goes on, the shelves of the wine cellar accumulate ceramic jugs of báijiǔ and other more familiar liquors. Until such time as they need to break out a bottle or five.

Comments

Jin Zixuan - OTA & closed

[disasterstraight]

Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard (open)

[ Having a house to themselves makes Jin Zixuan inordinately more comfortable in this city, in this world, than he has been since he stepped through that mirror. Sure, he's turning into some kind of monster along with his son and brother in law, and his timid wife is being forced to learn magic that she frankly isn't always suited to, and he's burdened with the knowledge that if the mirror ever decides to send him home, he's hours away from his death, but... Things are fine. He can manage all that worry and trouble when he's in their house, focusing on the small things like practicing his archery, building his nest collection, and enjoying his wife's cooking.

He can be found honing his martial skills in the courtyard, finding little knick knacks to decorate the front hall, or angrily and forcefully removing a teleporting kitten or two from his, okay, fine, it's his nest. ] A-Ling! I told you, keep your pets out of my things!

[ But before he can return the kitten to Jin Ling's room and properly admonish him, the little cat poofs out of his grip and away again to cause trouble who knows where. ]

Life used to be so hard, now everything is easy 'cause of you (closed to Jiang Yanli)

The big, heavy truth of what sort of monster Jin Zixuan is becoming remains a mystery to him until the morning of his first full moon. He wakes up as he does, every other morning, lying in bed with his wife, sleeping peacefully until he stretches himself awake, yawning as he greets the morning. Only this morning when he stretches, his hand lands upon an unfamiliar texture covering the bed. It feels like... "Feathers?" Did his down pillow rip open in the middle of the night?

He picks up a feather and finds that it is green, with a discernible eye-shaped pattern in its center. His eyes widen immediately and he bolts out of bed, too shocked to speak. Now that he's fully startled awake, he can see that the bed is covered in these green peacock feathers, and their source becomes apparent as soon as he looks in the mirror. His neck and shoulders are covered with the things, and there are even long feathers poking out of the crown of his head.

He makes an undignified noise that definitely sounds more squawk-like than he would prefer, and tries not to panic.

[ ooc: will match prose or brackets! if you want something else hmu @ millennialfalcon or Chris_#9103! ]

Re: Jin Zixuan - OTA & closed

[fairyherder]

[ he's in the middle of shooting an arrow at a target when his father yells, and he can't help but purse his lips and gripe back, though with less heat than he'd usually go at with anyone. though, who is he if he doesn't automatically take an argument on if there's potential for it? ]

I can't control where they go! They do what they want.

[disasterstraight]

[ Kitten now having disappeared from his grasp, Jin Zixuan braces his hands on the balcony railing that looks out over the courtyard where Jin Ling is practicing archery, still upset but at least proud that his son was able to shoot an arrow at the target while being berated from above. ]

You should--! Oh, this is ridiculous, I'm not going to shout at you from up here.

[ No, what he's going to do is storm over to the staircase and make his way down to the courtyard proper to shout at Jin Ling from level ground. ]

You should at least try to teach them what places are off limits! I know that cats are harder to train than dogs, but it isn't impossible to discipline them when they step out of line.

the open on-- just kidding let's get you some feathers.

[rootstalks]

Normally, Jiang Yanli is up early. Not that that means she's first to leave the bed, because the pure contentment of lying there with Zixuan's warmth beside her is enough to have her dozing for the time it takes him to wake up most mornings.

But she's been warned of the weakness affecting witches on the full moon, and it's that that comes to mind when she hazily surfaces from sleep, mind and body both unnervingly slow to respond to the commotion of... him diving out of the bed...?

It's the unfamiliar noise he makes that finally brings her fully awake, and she struggles to sit up amidst the disturbed covers and the cloud of feathers. The.

The what?

"Zixuan?"

[disasterstraight]

When he hears Yanli's voice, he turns, bringing his hands up to cover the feathers on his neck and shoulders. "Don't look at me, I'm hideous!"

It's too little, too late, though. Because not only does he have green feathers sprouting from his neck, shoulders, and head, but his long hair has turned a vibrant blue-green color as well. His ears have elongated, the tips of them pointing out past his hair. He can feel sharper teeth in his mouth, and he trembles as he runs his tongue over them.

"Why me...? Why is this happening to me?"

Jin Ling | OTA

[fairyherder]

Courtyard

[ to be honest, Jin Ling is far more comfortable here than at home even if he's not used to his family yet, not used the idea that his parents are alive and there for him to speak to, even if it takes a lot out of him still to work up the courage to. despite the troubles of actually being in another world and the fact that he's turning into a monster, he... he doesn't want to leave. leaving would mean he wouldn't see his parents again. it's a mix of loneliness and belonging, and it's strange. so he tries his best to go through his days one at a time, tries his best not to bicker with his uncle (and sometimes with his father because they are way too alike not to.)

so far, Jin Ling has spent the majority of his time in the courtyard, getting as much practice in with his bow as he possibly can muster, because his now clawed hands is making it harder and harder to handle archery overall, and it's a little frustrating. if not his bow, he's definitely doing swords training, mostly with his uncle, though he's been silently trying to muster up enough courage to ask his father to join him without them starting an argument instead.

if he isn't training, he's sitting around with Fairy, showering her in as much love as he can, or playing fetch, or running after teleporting kittens to try and catch them. (also if you're Wei Wuxian he's absolutely going to badger you into trying to say hi to Fairy, she won't bite! baby steps?) ]

Kitchen

[ owning teleporting kittens is a pain in the neck, and it's with ill concealed annoyance Jin Ling marches into the kitchen several days of the week with a frown, looking around the place. ]

"Jingyi? Jingyi! Come out!"

[ yes, he totally named his two cats Shizui and Jingyi. sorry in advance for the initial confusion to anyone who might know them and misses them as much as Jin Ling does. he will never admit to it, but it's kind of lonely without his fellow juniors, and he's not sure when he got to a point where he'd admit he has close friends and he misses them when they're not around.

that, or he's in the kitchen to spend time with his mother, trying not to hover around her as she cooks because he's still unsure, still fidgety around his parents and he just wants to expel that feeling. but the the fact that he gets to eat the food his mother makes is an indescribable feeling, and the first few times he's a little too overwhelmed by it to even speak. the permanent fixture of his dog ears betray his mood at every turn, however, perked or laying back or drooping sadly, even if he's trying his best to keep his facial expressions at bay. ]

Jin Ling's room

[ to be honest, Jin Ling doesn't spend a lot of time in his room on a good day, mostly because he's either trying to spend time with his family (or subtly avoid them when it gets overwhelming) or train or explore the city. he fills his room with weird knickknacks, decorations often in a golden or yellow color, with some stray purple her and there and photos once he figures out that's a thing he can acquire. he doesn't keep the door closed for Fairy's and the cats' sake and anyone can, if they want to, wander inside to take a look.

there is a day sometime closer to the end of the month however, where in the morning Jin Ling doesn't come down for breakfast. his door is locked and bolted, and Fairy's whining and pawing at it from the outside. ]

[ ooc: I can match prose or brackets. clockworks or Cesia#7939 for questions! ]

[weiward]

[he's not wei wuxian, he's the world's greatest dajiu. and he takes the role very seriously, always arriving with a gift. jiang cheng might argue that he's spoiling him but a) he has sixteen years to make up for and b) he's not even sure that jin ling likes half his gifts in the first place.

but be sure to thank lan wangji anyway, since it's his money.]

Jin Ling! Dajiu's come for a visit!

[he waves to him enthusiastically from the edge of the courtyard, and it really is a shame that the juniors aren't around to see it.]

[fairyherder]

[ he looks up from Fairy, raising an eyebrow, almost raising a hand to wave in return but thinks better of it and just keeps the arm down. Fairy gives a greeting bark, but Jin Ling is also keeping a good hold of her collar to keep her from running over to say hello. ]

It's not a visit if you won't even come inside. What do you want?

Courtyard

[lotus_of_rage]

[It was something that they both had to work on, trying to train when their hands were changing. The webbing was making it harder for Jiang Cheng to hold certain things, but he could still manage a bow, at least somewhat.

But if Jin Ling wanted to train (which Jiang Cheng of course encouraged), he was willing to train with him]

Sword or bow?

[Take your pick]

Re: Courtyard

[fairyherder]

Sword.

[ it's easier to hold, and he's been using his bow most of the day already. ]

his room

[rootstalks]

[ with her husband's encouragement, Jiang Yanli has pulled on a dressing gown, straightened her hair, and come to check on Jin Ling.

she finds Fairy, and directs her concerned frown first at the whining dog, and then at the door, which--

she knocks, first. even though it might not help, if Fairy hasn't gotten his attention by now. perhaps he's still asleep? she hopes so. ]

A-Ling?

Re: his room

[fairyherder]

[ he doesn't remember when he retreated to underneath the bed. all he recalls is locking his door and backing away from it, and then... a bit of pain, incredibly jitters, itching, the weirdness of his limbs changing into something different and— and suddenly he's closer to the floor, wobbling on unsteady legs while anxiety and agitation creeps along his spine and down to curl into a heavy lump in his gut.

the knock and the voice calling for him startles him enough that he instinctively crawls in under the bed and curls up into a ball as far away from the door as possible. ]

courtyard;

[weatherscience]

[ did someone say "teleporting kittens"? because there sure is one more in the house today, a little orange menace with bright brown eyes, who decides to suddenly blink into existence right on top of jin ling's head.

the kitten is followed by the sound of heels hitting the floor, and then an orange-haired woman whose eyes happen to match the kitten's exactly. ]

Tangerine! I told you to stay and play with Li Mei, not come out here!

[ tangerine, as she is called, promptly jumps down to jin ling's lap to hide. ]

Ah... Jin Ling-kun! [ nami blinks upon seeing him, and then, grinning at him sheepishly: ] Sorry for the disturbance.

Re: courtyard;

[fairyherder]

[ he barely has time to react before there's a cat on his head and then a cat in his lap, and he... automatically just blinks in confusion, before looking up to Nami and oh. it takes a moment for him to find his voice and he huffs. ]

... it's fine.

[ goes to pick up the kitten in his lap so he can get to his feet. ]

Ours do this all the time.

Jiang Cheng | OTA

[lotus_of_rage]

Courtyard

[It had always been Jiang Cheng's fashion to practice swordsmanship at least once a day and he still did that, standing out in the courtyard with Sandu practicing.

Of course, with all things there, somethings did change. Because of his transformation into a merrow, he had to take better care. For example, not getting too dehydrated as this was beginning to mess with him more and more. If he began to feel this way, he had to stop. No option.

The other part of it now was that he had to be far more cautious of water. Because he had recently hint the point where being in water now activated the transformation into a merrow.

Sure, he could survive it, but three cats in the house always seemed very curious when he did change...]

Jiang Cheng's Room
[It was a quiet sanctuary, having a room to himself. As was apparently normal for merrow, he had begun a collection of odd trinkets in the room. Shiny things that he had bought - and maybe in one case just taken even though he wouldn't admit and he would never say which one it was. Zidian was included in this. But he still wore Zidian even though it didn't work as it should have.

He left the door open for Li Mei and any other animals or people to come wandering through as he sat in his room reading with the window open for the sounds from outside]

his room

[disasterstraight]

[ After speaking with Jin Ling in the courtyard, it occurs to Zixuan that he hasn't properly thanked Jiang Cheng for raising his son after his death. He hadn't appreciated all the work his brother in law had done to ensure that Jin Ling grew up to be a fine young man and a strong cultivator.

He goes to find Jiang Cheng in his room, knocking on the open door frame. ]

May I come in?

[lotus_of_rage]

[Jiang Cheng glanced up at the knock on the door. Li Mei, who was currently taking up more space on the bed than a cat her size should have been able to, mewed happily and rolled around for a moment until Jiang Cheng gave her attention as well, petting her after closing his book]

Yes, of course. Come in.

courtyard

[weatherscience]

[ it's not the first time she's visiting, and not the first time she brings with her a companion — an orange kitten who is likely li mei's sister, one nami has given the name tangerine.

as it is, jiang cheng is informed of her arrival not by nami herself, but rather li mei and tangerine suddenly teleporting in the middle of the courtyard in a tangle.

running footsteps follow, high heels clicking against the floor of the house, and then nami too bursts out to the courtyard. ]

Sorry, sorry! I tried to keep them inside, but you know how that goes... [ marching up to the two kittens, she lifts both up. ] You two! Playing is fine, but be more careful than this!!

[ the kittens blink... and then meow rather pitifully. nami huffs and lets them go, turning to jiang cheng, sighing. ] I didn't mean to interrupt your training.

[lotus_of_rage]

[Jiang Cheng looked up from what he was doing, which was luckily practicing by himself and not very quickly, by two kittens suddenly teleporting having a kerfuffle and practically rolling around the courtyard together. He definitely recognized the orange cat, as close to Li Mei's sister as they'd ever figure out.

Soon followed by Nami]

It's fine. They are cats. There are two others here so we are used to teleporting cats.

[He smirked slightly, watching her picking up the two cats]

It is good to see you again.

Leanne | OTA

[song_princess]

Enterance Hall:

She had received the invitation from Jin Zixuan to come and visit the house at anytime, even for some food. But still, she felt shy... Far too shy to come and was worried that she would be a burden. She idly goes to scratch and itch at her scales before forcing herself to focus on the two small gifts she brought.

Yes, maybe bringing gifts will help ease any burdens she might be by coming here. Tea and ointment for feathers.

Leanne doesn't fully come in but does at least comes in just enough to admire the wall art hanging and the wood carvings. This was already taking all of her courage to enter this far, she will wait for any signs of the masters of the house to appear, at least for a few moments. Yes, she can at least do that.

[rootstalks]

The first master of the house to appear is a small, gangly cat, barely out of kittenhood, that zaps into existence at the other end of the entrance hall. Jiang Yanli, hurrying to the hall herself, almost trips over it. There's an, "--Oh!" from the woman, a mrowl from the cat, and then the latter blinks away.

This is a common enough occurrence that she just steadies herself and looks back up at Leanne. Even a week ago she might have actually fallen over. It's progress.

"I think A-Yi's on guard duty today," she decides, with a bit of a sheepish smile at the spot where the kitten vanished. "Welcome to our home. I'm Jiang Yanli. Are you Miss Leanne?"

Rikku | OTA, but she's going to be looking for Yanli first and foremost

[al_bhed]

Entrance Hall

[It's been awhile since Rikku has spent any time with Yanli outside of witching classes, so she figures that coming to see her and her family's new home is a great opportunity to do so. Treats from Karen's in-hand, she happily bounces her way toward the building and then stops just in front of it. She knew Yanli's husband's family was fancy, but she wasn't quite prepared to see it in person.

A quick dusting off of her clothes is in order before she makes her way inside. Hopefully she doesn't look too out of place.]

Hello? Yanli? Anybody? It's Rikku--I came over to say hi and bring you some housewarming food!

my girlllll

[rootstalks]

[Bargaining the Jin half of the family down to just this house took some work, honestly. Though, it's still very small, as far as any of them are concerned... but it's perfect for Yanli. It shows in the easy way she leans out of the small shrine just off the entrance hall at Rikku's shout, and the immediate, sincere glow of excitement.]

Really? That's so thoughtful! [Her manner in class versus her manner at home comes to a momentary conflict as she visibly wavers between casual friendship and responsible host.] Ah, welcome--

nami | guest ota

[weatherscience]

[ what with being so used to sharing a relatively small space (if one can call the thousand sunny small) with eight others, nami often finds her little cottage rather too quiet, too empty... and she makes up for it by visiting those she counts among her friends, here.

it just so happens that two of them conveniently share a house.

more often than not, she's accompanied by tangerine, who is always more than happy to get to play with her sibling, though whether it's a good thing there's yet another teleporting kitten in the house already full of them... well. oops?

this time, too, tangerine sits on her shoulder as she walks in — she's agreed to practice some spells with yanli, as studying together is much more fun than studying alone. with her miniskirt and heels, she looks rather out of place... not that she minds, though. ]

Hello? Anyone home? [ well, the door is open... she's not really the type to wait outside, so she just. waltzes in. ]

Excuse me, coming in..!

\o\

[rootstalks]

[ in-keeping with the proportions of the house she now calls home, yanli is used to spending almost an entire day without seeing anyone, engaged in tasks that take her away from the more martial spheres. it means that she always has an ear out for a call or anything out of place, whether that be a particularly violent kitten skirmish or a visitor.

or both. but luckily today it's only the latter; tangerine is quickly joined by two more kittens, who, upon confirming their sister's presence, then skid along the floors back towards the kitchen without blinking - for fun, maybe. ]

Come in-! [ she calls out as nami steps through into the courtyard, leaning out of the window that opens out onto it from the kitchen. ] Miss Nami, ah- welcome. Are you looking for A-Cheng?