deercountry | would the dreams in the black water drown us far from harm

He Xuan relies on the lamps perhaps more than he should, just as back home he overused the "distance shortening array" spell to get places quickly. Although in Trench it isn't just a shortcut: when he lays down his head it's in a dry little pocket of the cliffs, just his few possessions and his sleeping mats. Getting there originally involved a lot of exploration in the dark, wading through waist-high water, diving in caves that were full at the highest tides. But he's been a creature of the depths a long time now, and any difficulty was worth it to have a place safe from both people and monsters and yet so close to his one true love, the ocean. Besides, once he put down a lamp friend, he didn't need to bother with cave diving or rock climbing.

Only today, April Fools, He Xuan! His ability to feel his lamp, to know how to connect to it and bring himself to it, is gone. After countless attempts he manages to teleport to a different lamp, a public one in the city, and then he decides to stop trying.

Which is where you come into the picture:

1. SUDDEN GUEST
Fortunately, He Xuan has been to a few other people's places in the city, and he has a sharp memory. So without so much as a polite message in advance, there is a familiar face on your doorstep, fishing pole over one shoulder and portable cooler in hand. Hopefully if he shares his catch you'll be able to overlook the sheer audacity of his request to borrow the couch?

2. CATCH YOU SLIPPIN
Fortunately, there are a lot of places in Trench to sleep. Normally He Xuan is too paranoid for a public nap, but the city just feels safer lately, even after that business in Crenshaw.

So when he's fishing he might catch a few winks and hope a vigorous enough fish will wake him before snatching the rod from his hands. Or when he visits the men's bathhouse at the docks he relaxes enough to doze off in the steam. Or he finds a tree with a sturdy enough split and cradles himself there, one leg hanging down like a different kind of bait.

And even when he's not asleep, he lingers in public places, keeping himself occupied in Trench's many entertainments. It would be easy enough to notice he's been at the same shop/restaurant/bench/chapel for half the day or more. And this guy has an ominous aura, all dark robes and yellow eyes and pallid skin. Definitely up to no good.

Not to mention, in addition to all of this: his Trench-given Paleblood power is that of the human Xuanax, a gentle aura that dampens emotions. Except this month that's the blessing of every Paleblood, so his particular tendencies might be a little stronger and a little less controllable than normal. Maybe that's very relaxing, to take some time off from emotions and let him feel the anger or sadness or grief on your behalf. But maybe it's also a little intrusive, especially if he's just a stranger who's been darkening your doorstep all day long.

This is a catch-all top level for the bodyswapping from the March TDM.

Content Warnings: Body-swapping. Sexswap. Dysphoria. Demons (from three different cultures). High potential for accidental or deliberate violence.

He Xuan is bodyswapping with two people:

Makima (

overlies) - info/permissions
Paimon (

possessum) - info/permissions

Feel free to hit me up for threads or use this space to thread with someone else in HX's body, whatever!

[ He's revisiting Crenshaw when it happens. Specifically, he's come to look at the site where that kid managed to kick his demon ass, considering the way they've been cleaning up after the destruction. Doing a pretty good job of it. He wonders if the kid is all right.

Then a flash of gold distracts him, and he looks up in surprise, following its path with his eyes. What was that? An insect? He vaguely remembers Shen Yuan's post saying something about moths in April...

But he doesn't have time to be afraid. The moth brings a woman into his line of sight, one out walking her pack of dogs, and when gold eyes meet gold eyes there's a sudden whoosh! And gold energy pours out of his mouth.

He Xuan blinks, trying to adjust to the sudden strange feeling as everything hits him at once. The sensation of the dogs pulling at their leash where they're attached to his belt, agitated by this sudden exchange of energies. The different weight of his body, more like what he's used to feeling from his female form, something he hasn't used much in Trench. The sharp scents now invading his nostrils, the dogs, yes, but also the brine and necrosis of his own body. Which is what he's looking at, even if it's hard to recognize. Dark robes, long hair, the scent of fish...

Xuan looks down at himself. Yes, this body is definitely not his own. ]

Ah.

[ It's a woman's voice, too. He clears his throat, brushes a hand over his thighs, the dogs looking at him expectantly even though he isn't sure what they want. ]

Hello? It's seems I have something of yours.

Edited 2023-03-30 04:33 (UTC)

also going to write a starter here!! just organizing myself.

With the forecast report complete and several weeks to go before he needs to post the next one, Shen Yuan has more free time than he has in -- nearly a month, actually. He hadn't even realized how much he was neglecting his relationships in favor of work until he answers a knock on his door, recognizes He Xuan, and realizes it's been weeks since he saw or spoke to the other man.

"Oh wow," is the first thing to pop out of his mouth, flustered and a little aghast at his mistake. "Hi!" he quickly adds, and grins a little, embarrassed but very pleased to see Xuan-ge nonetheless. "Come in, come in!" he says delightedly, skipping right over whatever reason He Xuan might have had for coming to see him in favor of ushering him inside before he can change his mind and leave again. "How are you doing?" he asks once the door is shut behind him. "Would you like tea? I'm not sure when the last time I went grocery shopping was but I'm sure I have something we can share..."

People do not usually say 'wow' when they see He Xuan, but he'll let it pass with only a vague air of bafflement as he steps into the apartment.

Truth be told, he almost didn't come here out of an unbecoming shyness, though the weeks since their last interaction don't actually seem all that long to his immortal ass, just as happy to pick back up the easy camaraderie they had from their first meeting.

"I brought fish again," he says as he takes off his shoes and puts down his fishing gear, "I can prepare it for you, if you let me use your kitchen." Not that he's really any better about avoiding spoiled food, but at least he's more likely to be cautious about poisoning Shen Yuan's mortal body. Neither of them are allowed to get a stomach-ache this time!

Even if the sleepers have been kind about his mistake many of the people living in Crenshaw all their lives were not so kind.

Mob doesn't blame them. He thinks he's pretty lucky most don't know he's the one who caused the damage. Even still enough people saw that the bowl cut and his age make him easily pointed out, and in turn easily cornered to grill. It hasn't happened often, usually when people seemed to realize he might be the one they ran away. This little group doesn't.

They're angry. Master would say lashing out is immature and they need to grow up, but he never said that about people who lost their homes, their stuff. The buildings are mostly fixed by darkblood architects and his own, meager efforts but the injuries are still healing. He caused a lot of grief, a lot of stress. Probably corruption, and made sleepers look bad.

The little beast comes back here? To rampage again? (91%, 92%, 93%) You're really showing your face- it was you, wasn't it? (94%, 95%) Say something!

Mob opens his mouth and closes it, unable to find words. (Get a clue, 96%) They're still angry, scared, not really getting close but getting bolder, angrier with his lack of response. Freak, monster, things like that. If they had lilac hair and laughter they could be like Asagiri. He's alone in the world. (97%)

He's not alone in the world though.

Mob turns to run, heart beating too fast. His powers stretch under his skin, an overly full cup. He tries to feel nothing but the pressure is too big. He's not alone though, Miss Makima promised. He offered what she wanted and she promised. He slumps against a wall, hoping he isn't followed, and clutches his chest.

"Miss Makima," he exhales shakily, trying to reach into whatever part of him is connected to her now. She said she'd come. She promised she'd come and help him never lose control again.

Hmph, it's hardly Shen Yuan's fault that most people lack his good taste!

"By all means," he says happily, all too ready to surrender control of his lifelong nemesis to someone else. But he still fills the kettle and gets it going anyway, just to be hospitable.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he finally asks, belatedly acknowledging the elephant in the room in as low-key a manner as he can contrive. Perish the thought of He Xuan thinking Shen Yuan is somehow annoyed with him! As far as he's concerned the gap is entirely his fault, for not remembering to send him a freaking text now and then! If his little sister were here she'd be roasting him to a crisp, there's no doubt about it. "How have you been?"

Edited (hit post too soon lol) 2023-03-30 05:09 (UTC)

"Has it?" Unlike He Xuan's rude jokes, this is sincere, a couple of blinks as he counts back the days in his head, taking into account the period he spent in the ocean after his fight with Mob. "Just a few weeks." Maybe that's not very long to a man of his age, especially from a world without texting. It doesn't seem to have bothered him, at any rate.

He puts his cooler on the counter and opens it to retrieve the fish fillets, then wanders the kitchen opening cupboards and the refrigerator to see what Shen Yuan has. There's noodles here, and tea, they can't go bad. He's a little less certain about what's in the fridge...

"I've been," he starts, and is going to say 'fine' all dismissively, but then he pauses and shrugs. Shen Yuan deserves honesty from him, even if that means losing face by taking that question seriously. "In the ocean, for a while. And now I can't get back to my cave."

He Xuan is struggling with this body. It's not the female form, which he's used to; in fact, he's spent long enough puppeting and spying and changing his form that dysphoria can't really touch him, and he's already easily adapted to the differences in weight and height, in interacting with the world using someone else's hands. No, the trouble is something with her sight: he's completely face blind. He was able to pick out his own body through familiar scent alone, but other people in Trench could be friend or could be foe, he simply doesn't know.

And then it happens. One moment he's in the street, the next he's being pulled, summoned just as the Soul-Swapping had summoned him. Could he be returning to his body, wherever that woman has taken it?

No, this time it's his whole self, drawn into nothing and stepping back out of it somewhere else, almost like the Distance Shortening Array that he hasn't been able to get to work for him in Trench. There's someone here — he doesn't know who they are at first. Short, dark hair, that could be most of the kids in Trench. And connected to him somehow. Well, to Makima's body. He Xuan's mind works rapidly, trying to remember anything that might help him, but he hadn't really known anything about this woman before today.

She did come.

"Miss Makima," Mob says quietly, a very faint hint of relief to his tone. His voice is small, trying to hold in what feels like thrashing in his chest. He wishes he was strong enough to handle all this on his own but he was- he needed-

"I-I'm sorry. It's... it's getting bad again," he tries. "Not like before but-" But explosive, destructive. Robby must feel it. The thought makes the churning worse.

"The ocean?" Shen Yuan visibly startles, turning to look He Xuan over from crown to toe with sudden concern. "Are you okay? Did someone --" He cuts himself off, shaking his head a little. Isn't he being a little silly? Obviously He Xuan is fine, if he's back now, and even if he weren't, what does he, Shen Yuan, think he can do about it? But then he remembers that they're friends, and perhaps powerful as he is He Xuan will find his concern amusing?

So he raises his eyebrows instead, and in an exaggerated tone he says, "Do I need to kick someone's ass about this?" Making his concern into a joke for them both to laugh at.

[ well, that was strange. not argonaut’s presence along with his little people, that should be expected in april. it’s . . . this exchange. it’s easy to realize something has gone amiss, and the first thing she notices are her dogs, her seven furry babies at the hips of— herself? but she was here— ]

—Oh, my.

[ her voice has gone quite deep. the features of her face are sharper, longer, not her’s. she recognizes her dogs more than she recognizes people up ahead, but by the time she lifts her eyes and gets a good look—

people have detailed faces, not just defined by readable expressions. it almost distracts her from going up to . . . whoever this is. ]

And I take it this, [ he gestures to her new figure, ] is yours?

He Xuan has experience pretending to be other people, but that's with preparation. There's no point in pretending to be Makima when he doesn't know what her relationship is to this boy, how they are connected.

"I'm not her," he says immediately, crouching to peer at Mob's face, his own near expressionless. "We swapped. But I'm the demon who's here. What do you need." Because he thinks he knows what might be 'getting bad'; after all, he'd fought this little exorcist when he'd been all worked up. Whatever he has to do to prevent another explosion like that, he will.

[ He Xuan considers himself, before nodding. ]

Yes. My apologies for the inconvenience.

[ Not that it's his fault, but it feels polite to take responsibility for her having to use his wretched old form. ]

This one is Black Water Demon He Xuan. I hope you find my body accomodating; please do not spend too much blood, but you will find it quite malleable.

[ For his part, he's already missing that innate sense of himself, an awareness of his blood and corruption levels, his own meridians and essence, the shape of himself. This woman's body doesn't seem to have that same prioception, and neither does it have facial recognition. ]

That concern is very cute. He Xuan places a jar of something on the counter and looks over with a quirked brow, his eyes softened. "Don't be ridiculous." Sparing him no face.

Still, he does explain as he returns to his preparations. "I was caught up in the incident in Crenshaw," he says, assuming that Shen Yuan, who spends so much time cataloguing events and talking to locals, would at least be aware that something had happened. "The child exorcist was possessed by some greater entity." Or that's the explanation he's settled on, even if the truth is more like a qi deviation. "Regardless, I'm well enough now."

Hah, it's not embarrassing when he makes himself the butt of the joke, so there! Shen Yuan just grins and leans against the counter, lapsing into concerned frown for a moment as He Xuan describes what happened -- he not only heard about it, he also put in some time putting up new homes for the residents along with the rest of Outreach, which part of the reason why he hasn't been messaging any of his friends or buying groceries -- before nodding and saying softly, "I'm glad."

"That you're back, and in one piece," he explains, and now he is embarrassed, pink and flustered and frustrated with himself, because how dare he have feelings, this is so cringe. "I'd have missed you, once I realized you were gone," he adds, with an awkward little laugh -- wait.

That did not at all sound the way he meant it to.

"But you didn't notice," He Xuan observes, ice cold. Though really this is just his equivalent of the way some other people might whine and cry and shed crocodile tears over such cruel cruel words.

It surprises him that he's just the tiniest bit genuinely hurt, though he wouldn't actually have expected a follow up message in such a short time as a month. But it's different for humans, isn't it? Not to mention the tragic state of the vegetable crisper...

"Shen Yuan," he says, suddenly blackly foreboding. "What has you so neglectful, hm? Have you even been eating?" Jinx has started calling him "mom" sometimes and he's really channelling that energy right now, radiating disapproval and speeding up food preparation to inhuman levels.

"H-hey now..." Shen Yuan shrinks a little under that oppressive aura, wilting slightly -- until he notices the frankly ridiculous speed at which He Xuan is handling his cookware.

"I've been busy!" he squawks defensively. "You know, there was the forecast to write, and somebody blew up an entire street in Crenshaw, so there's been a lot of competition for my time! What was He Xuan doing with himself, hm, that he was too busy even to text me for a whole month??"

He crosses his arms and just barely resists the urge to stick his tongue out. Two can play at petty, you know!

"Swimming," says He Xuan, deadpan, though that only accounts for the last week or so. He tries to brush the lock of loose hair that falls over his face behind his ear using his wrist, fails. Glances over at Shen Yuan.

"A month isn't that long to me," he admits, perhaps a little callously. "But this isn't about me. Humans need to eat well and sleep every day." Or they die and transmigrate into webnovels.

Oh I'm sorry, does he want something? Like for Shen Yuan to reach over and tuck his hair out of the way? Well fine, he'll do that then! And he'll be really careful and gentle about it too, that'll show He Xuan what's what.

"What are you, my mom?" he grumps. "It's fine, I would've gone and gotten more food tomorrow if you turned up, probably." Or he'd have gone straight back to the library or the School of Mutter for another day of arguing with books and wrangling scholars, one of those.

"Did you even think of me at all?" he asks, treacly-sweet, and pets the sharp corner of He Xuan's jaw with his thumb. "Did Xuan-ge ever worry about me, while he was out 'swimming?'"

"Not once," He Xuan lies immediately, a little stricken by how much that charming wheedling reminds him of Shi Qingxuan.

The blur of his hands chopping ingredients came to a halt when Shen Yuan touched him, and he resumes at a more normal pace, frowning down at the chili he's mincing.

"I can go after dinner, if you want," he says to the chili, even though Shen Yuan is being so flirtatious right now. It's belatedly occurring to him that this could be an awkward imposition, that the silence between them could have been offensive or deliberate. "Find somewhere else to stay."

"Hey, who said that?" Shen Yuan demands. "Does Xuan-ge think I'm some kind of pushover? That I'd let just anyone walk into my home and put their stuff all over my table and sleep in my bed? Because I assure you, I wouldn't!"

He huffs, his hand sliding off He Xuan's chin to rest on his shoulder, which he gently squeezes. "You're always welcome here," he says firmly -- and then quickly turns away to ostentatiously check on the tea.

He Xuan is going to make the most delicious fish dinner he has ever cooked in his many centuries because that's the only response he can think of to that kind of friendship.

"Thanks," he says quietly, very unghostlike. Then, back to normal: "Now move over so I can use your stove. Where do you keep your salt?"

"'Move over,' he says," Shen Yuan repeats mockinly, even as he does exactly that. "The salt's in that cupboard there," he points. "What else do you need?"

Let's get this chili-show on the road. Hopefully it doesn't turn out like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel -- hm, He Xuan might like that movie, if he likes movies.

"Do you like movies?" he asks, taking himself over to the table so he can sit down out of the way and watch his ghost-friend cook.

would the dreams in the black water drown us far from harm

early april - a place to sleep - open!

early april - bodyswaps - open!

for makima.

for peter & paimon.

1. Sudden Guest

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he xuan (makima flavor) and mob | sometime in april

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