[center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/357353496057610242/610215749059084354/yullian2.png[/img][/center]
[center][hider=Second Header][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/611941566092804114/611985813223374878/9k.png?width=299&height=452[/img][/hider][/center]


“Urangtai?” 

Her voice was like a grind and a screech all rolled up into one. Urangtai winced, the metallic voice bouncing around his head and rattling his brain. He clenched his fist, “What!?” He snapped.

Zhong Meiyun, a slim woman was dark Xiaolian hair and a silver speckled nose, looked surprised at the sudden outburst. The two were standing in the street, a half eaten square of sweetgrass powdered flatbread in Urangtai’s hand and a basket of hot seconds and thirds in Li Meiyun’s. The woman cautioned a glance over Urangtai’s clearly irritated face, “I was just wondering if you liked my sweetbread?” She gave a weak smile.

 “Oh,” Urangtai tried to concentrate through her scraping voice. In truth, he had always enjoyed Meiyun’s food as well as her soft voice -- this was all new to him and in truth, the sweetbread was awful. It tasted rotten and smelt none too good either. Urangtai seemed to teetar for a moment, “Well...”

Meiyun cocked her head and Urangtai cleared his throat, “You’ve made better.” 

The woman’s eyes squinted and she huffed a breath, slapping the half eaten bread from Urangtai’s hands, “I don’t know what is with you today, but if you’re trying to hurt my--”

Urangtai seemed to flinch deeply under the assault of her ringing voice, a pained expression forming across his face, “Could you please stop talking?”

[i]SLAP![/i]

A wide eyed and furious Meiyun held her hand up, a red mark forming on Urangtai’s cheek. Her jaw was hanging in shock and hurt, she looked as if she was about to say something but instead clenched her jaw closed. She expelled a hot breath through her nose and stomped off, not granting Urangtai another glance. A single word hissed from under her breath as she turned the corner out of sight.

“Jerk.”

A lead ball fell in Urangtai’s stomach. Today had been a strange day, and now with an angry Meiyun added to it, he was ready to call it the worst day of his life. First he woke up with a twist in his stomach, as if his body was warning him about today -- then he was nearly sacked after snapping at his boss, a strong woman married to none other than Batbayaar. For some reason her voice just irritated him beyond belief today, a trait he was surprised to find repeating itself with every woman he had met that day -- even Meiyun’s. 

He swore under his breath, he had never seen Meiyun so angry, and the worst bit was he couldn’t help but still feel irritated at her voice. He knew he didn’t have the place or the right, but there it was  -- her screech just seemed to linger in his skull, same with all the others. A throb formed in the front of his head, a headache. It was as if he spent the whole night drinking, and it was getting under his skin.

His whole day was awry now. There was no walking Meiyun back to her place from the palace as he did every Li’s day, no helping Doctor Zhou by delivering her the herbs that grew alongside the fields, no helping set up and daydreaming about the smithies, nothing. He held his head, he was just glad his father wasn’t here -- he must look like a lazy slob. With dark ringed eyes, Urangtai decided it was probably for the best if he just went home to go to bed. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets and slouched as he walked down the empty streets. There weren't many people out right now, there wasn’t many people in general with the city being many times larger than the population that filled it. Urangtai didn’t always mind, sometimes the quiet was nice, it let him think.

Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighed, he really messed up today. He groaned loudly, his eyes shut and his knuckles white as he pinched his nose as he thought through his mistakes of the day, “Snap!”

“What ails you?” A kind voice like silk suddenly asked. Urangtai froze and slowly let go of his face. Opening his eyes he was met with the red striped face of a stranger. The stranger was a man maybe ten years older than him, with an attractive smile and kind eyes.

“I’m sorry?” Urangtai stood up straight.

“You were just swearing,” The man let out a friendly chortle, “I just assumed...”

“I didn’t think anyone was around,” Urangtai defended.

“Me either,” The stranger leaned against the wall of an empty building, and squinted, “You... you’re Li’s grandson, right?”

“I am... who are you?”

“Huang,” The stranger grinned, “You grandfather taught me the morin khuur.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Huang stood up straight, “Where ya heading? I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh!” Urangtai barely got the word out before he found himself walking alongside Huang, the man looking up at the sky, in search of birds. Urangtai cleared his throat, “I was just heading home?”

“Home?” Huang looked back down at the young man, “So early? Did you hear about the little get together in the palace courtyard today, why don’t you come? You look like you could use it.”

“Oh... no that’s okay,” Urangtai shook his head, “I have to work the fields tomorrow, plus I’m already nursing this headache.”

“Headache, huh?” Huang clicked his tongue, “Well you know the best cure for a drinking headache is a little more drink.” He winked and gave Urangtai a playful tap on the shoulder.

“Well, no, it’s not from drinking.”

“Ah,” Huang made an embarrassed face for a split second, “I just assumed again, I’m not prone to headaches myself.”

“Neither am I, usually,” Urangtai head his head and Huang pinched their own chin.

“Well, what’s it like?” Huang suggested, “Did you hit your head?”

“No, nothing like that-- I just woke up with it-- well no I didn’t really wake up with it, it started at work when my boss started talking to me.”

“Ah, was he chewing you out?”

“She, and no not really. Just every word she said seemed to cause my head to reel.”

“She, huh,” Huang bit his finger.

“Yeah, she,” Urangtai turned to Huang, “Why?”

“Well,” Huang tilted his head back and forth, reluctant, “Just an old tale comes to mind is all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah but it’s just a tale,” Huang defended, “What you should really focus on is drinking water, I hear that helps with headaches, maybe some meat.” Huang bit his finger, “Ever drink milk from the teet of a Tree-Eater?”

“Ew, no.” Urangtai made a disgusted face, “You’re a strange man.”

“Maybe, but it works,” Huang wagged a finger, “Not that we have any around here.”

“True,” Urangtai stuffed his hands back in his pocket and silence fell upon the group again. Huang made an uncomfortable face and started to turn to a different direction as the road split.

“Well I gotta make that get together,” Huang started, “Feel better.”

“Wait,” Urangtai stopped and turned to Huang, “What was the tale, anyways?”

Huang hummed and raised his brow, “Oh, something about... now stay with me on this one, but they say that when the heart has made up its mind, everyone but the one who captured your heart just seems to be in the way. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why married men seem so irritated.” Huang shrugged as he backpedaled, “Doesn’t make much sense though, but then again what does.” 

“What does,” Urangtai gave a single silent chuckle before shaking his head, “See you.”

With that he was all alone again, his head still throbbing as he walked. Hoping the fresh air would help, Urangtai decided to go a really roundabout way, only reaching his part of the city, perhaps an hour and a half later than expected. The roads in this part of the City of Dreams were wider, with more people hustling about -- it being so close to the palace. The new noise didn’t help much and before long Urangtai found himself holding his head with his eyes closed once more.

[i]THUMP![/i]

Urangtai’s eyes shot open, something warm and soft bouncing off of him. There on the ground in front of him was Song, the woman having fallen on her behind. Urangtai felt both a tinge of guilt for knocking her over as well as a thread of annoyance at bumping into her of all people. 

Momentarily, Song’s face betrayed similar annoyance up until the point where she looked up and recognised her assailant. She giggled and smiled from ear to ear. “Oh, hey, boo!”

Urangtai froze, something was different. It was as if a great stake was removed from his skull, if but momentarily. Song’s voice came in crystal and clear, subsequently dispelling his throbbing pain if but for a second. He blinked, eyes narrowing around Song, too frozen to even think about helping her up, “W-what did you say?”

Song cocked her head on the side and furrowed her brow at the reaction, her smile weakening a little. “I, uh, I said ‘hey, boo’, heh-heh. Is… Is that weird? I’m sorry, I’m on the ground and everything and--”

There it was again, her voice parting the seas of pain that crashed upon his mind. He felt it was almost dramatic, but the results were worth exploring. Urangtai’s head seemed to lift off his shoulders, slightly more free from the weight of the day’s headache, “Sorry, I guess I wasn’t feeling very well.” He held out his hand.

Song’s heart skipped a beat and she slowly stretched out her hand to take it. Her face flushed a light pink, and as she was hoisted to her feet again, she shuffled them awkwardly. “W-well… If you’re sick, you should rest, y’know. Wou-... Would you like me to make you some soup?”

“N-” Urangtai stopped as he stared at Song’s anticipating face, her eyes seemed more concerned than wild (as they usually looked) and her voice was a cool ointment. He felt he was going to regret this but, “Yeah, sure... if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah… Yeah, no, I understand. Kinda weird for me to--” Song froze and then visibly recoiled in surprise. “Did you just say yes?”

“Only if you meant it,” Urangtai took a step back, his headache slowly ringing back in his head as he did. Song’s eyes darted around.

“U-uhm-- Of course, I did! It’s just you’ve--” She shuffled her feet and and poked her fingers together sheepishly. “You’ve never said yes before…”

“Oh,” Urangtai looked down, her voice pushing his headache away once more, “Never, huh? Really?” He felt a little bad, as if a snake of guilt was worming its way into his stomach.

Song quickly grabbed his hand and shook her head. “No-no-no! I didn’t mean it like that! It’s okay, really. You said yes, so all is forgiven.”

Urangtai felt a certain relief, maybe in more ways than one, “Well, if you don’t mind then?” He didn’t realize he was still holding her hand as he tugged towards his house. He opened the door and the two stepped inside, hands still linked together sweetly. Song’s face was still that hot shade of pink and in a quivering, uncharacteristically timid voice, she said, “You, uhm… How about you just lay down and, uhm… And I’ll just get cooking, hmm?”

Urangtai nodded, ushering himself to his bedroom, his hand almost reluctantly leaving Song’s.

[hr]

Song gulped. Her heart was threatening to skip out of her chest and flutter to Heliopolis. Even as she reached for some dry scallions from a cabinet and some garlic. She prepared a cupful of oats and some water. She then lit a fire in the hearth and hung a clay pot over it. She filled the pot with water and sat staring awkwardly into the flames. Thoughts clogged her mind like thick sap. This -had- to be Yullian’s work. Something like this had never happened before and-- and what was she supposed to do? She had always asked - over and over and over again - and never once had he actually said hello.

Who could blame her for not actually planning for the next step?

Song timidly cut some garlic with a clay knife and shyly hummed to herself. “S-so… You, uhm… You come here often?”

"I- I live here," Urangtai's voice came from the room. There was rustling as if he was moving around.

“Oh! Heh! Right!” Song’s mouth flattened as she stared longingly at the knife in her hand. Snap her imagination. Another time passed. She asked, “Do yooouu liiiiike, uh, lots of garlic or not as much?”

Urangtai appeared in the doorway, the bags under his eyes seeming to have partially faded away. He pulled a chair out for himself and sat down, mere feet from Song, “I like it,” He answered.

Song pressed her lips together, the drumming in her heart rolling along uncontrollably. “S-so… Should I add, uh, a lot?”

Urangtai seemed to snap from a thought, “Oh, yes. Please.” he stammered, “Do you like garlic?”

“YEAH! I-I mean, uhm… Yeah, I suppose.” Another silence filled only by the dunk-dunk-dunk of the clay knife hitting the tabletop. “Urang, have you… N-no, never mind.”

The man flickered his eyes in confusion, “Have I what?”

“Nuh-nothing! It’s nothing, really. It’s stupid and dumb and stupid and oh God, I said stupid twice, and ugh! I cut the garlic too big, sorry, sorry, sorry!” She tried to aim her knife to properly part the already microscopic specks of garlic.

“Oh oh!” Urangtai’s eyes widened with worry, a hand reaching out to steady Song’s shoulder as she hastily chopped near her fingers, “You’ll cut yourself.”

“I--!” Song’s finger dodged the sharp blade as Urangtai’s hand clasped her shoulder. She blinked and turned around, staring into Urangtai’s eyes. Her lower lip quivered and her breathing flew in and out her mouth like bees around their hive. “H-how’re you feeling?”

Urangtai went to tell Song that he was actually feeling a little better, but as he did, Song’s eyes were pulled from him to right behind him. The wall of the kitchen seemed to shake for a moment, two black eyes appearing on it. With a wink the eyes disappeared back into the kitchen wall --

“Woah!” Urangtai was suddenly cut off as he lost his footing, the floor slipping out underneath him. He landed into Song, knocking them both to the floor. Remembering the knife, Urangtai squeezed Song close as he rolled them out of the way just in time for the blade to clatter against the floor tiles. Urangtai’s heart was pounding against Song, “I’m so sorry,” he was wide eyed, “I guess I just lost my footing.”

Song stared wide-eyed back at him. Part of her seemed to squirm lose, but the other slowly began to wrap a pair of arms around his back, locking the two together. Her cheeks were at this point practically glowing like two small stars and she swallowed. “It’s… It’s okay. It happens.”

Urangtai went to stand up, only to notice the tug of Song’s arms that gripped him, he gave her a nervous smile, “Um, Song --” Her voice seemed to keep him lingering despite his clear move to leave her grasp.

Song immediately let him go and looked away. “SORRY! Sorry, sorry, sorry - it was just the heat of the moment, andIjustreallywantedtototototo--” The girl looked over at the now boiling pot. “OH, look! The water’s boiling!” She rocketed to her feet, grabbed the minced garlic, oats and uncut scallions, sprinted to the hearth and dropped them into the boiling water. She stirred around chanting sheepish ‘dum-dee-dums’ and tried not to look at Urangtai.

“Oh-oh,” Urangtai sat up, face flushed as he thought on something, “Do you believe in myths and little tales?” He suddenly asked.

“Huh?! Oh, uh-- sure! Which? I mean, uhm, depends on which.”

Before he could answer, there was a sudden knock on the door. Urangtai scrambled to his feet and walked by Song to get it. A few steps more and he was pulling to door aside. 

Standing in the doorway was Meiyun, a slant tucked in her cheek and her hands folded in front of her, “Hey Urangtai, I just wanted to apologize for slapp- oh!” She leaned to the side and peaked in, “Hello, Song!” She looked back at Urangtai, “I didn’t know you had a guest, I’m sorry to intrude.”

“No it’s--” Urangtai held his head and blinked, “It’s fine. Really.”

Song shot Meiyun a venomous glare and faked the best smile she could, looking a little like a grinning tigress. “Heeeeeeeeeey, Meiyun! Wow, so nice of you to drop by. Look, reeeeeeeaaaally sorry to say this, but we were juuust in the middle of something. Could you come by a little later, maybe?”

“Oh,” Meiyun looked surprised, “If that’s what Urangtai wants...?”

The man was now holding his head in both hands, gritting his teeth. The woman in front of him twisted from side to side uncomfortably, “Urangtai?”

“Yup, hm?” He looked up and blinked, his eyes wide.

Meiyun let her brow fall, “Maybe I’ll come back l-later, then?” Her voice was more confused than anything else. 

“N-no,” Urangtai managed and shook his head, Meiyun mimicking the head shake in confusion, “I wanted to, uh...”

“Be alone with Song,” Song finished mercilessly and grabbed the door handle. “Have a nice evening, Meiyun!” Then she slammed the door shut.

Urangtai seemed to jump at this and turned to Song, his headache slowly fading once again as Song’s voice tickled his ear, “What are you doing!?”

“Wuh-uh-- I was just… We were busy and, y’know, I didn’t want her to interrupt.”

“Ugh,” Urangtai held his head, “I need to sit down...” The man lumbered over to the kitchen table and plopped defeated into the chair, head throbbing. A tendril of particles broke from the wall and out of sight, slithering alongside the floor and up Song’s back. The little hair of particles flicked at her ear.

“Tell him you just didn’t want him to exert himself, tell him you saw his pain coming back, tell him to relax... Let him soak in your voice... also,” The tendril flicked to the other ear, “Bring me a bowl after, that smells amazing.” The tendril slithered back down and snapped back into the wall.

Song swallowed. “It’s just… I didn’t want you to exert yourself… I saw your pain coming back, and, well… I just want you to relax, okay? You’re such a handsome, hardworking man, and you just need to take a day off on occasion, don’t you?” She found a bowl and scooped into it some of the shabby porridge.

Urangtai seemed to melt in his chair, the bags fading from his face as she spoke into his ear. He soon found himself nodding along and then eating her porridge. He didn’t say much, clearly exhausted until finally, “Thank you.”

Song gasped and had to look away as hot, wet tears moistened her eyes. “Y’know… You make me so happy.”

“Your voice...” Urangtai managed, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, “I never noticed how nice it was.”

Song gasped again and giggled. “R-really? Then…” She put her head on his shoulder. “Would you like me to sing for you, too?”

There was a soft bump against her head as Urangtai succumbed to sleep, a gentle snore rumbling from him -- the day proving to have been too much.

Song giggled and went over to the cupboard. She took the biggest bowl she could find and filled it with porridge.

Yullian would get the biggest tribute for this!

[hider=Might]

Yullian: 1MP and 4FP

None spent. Here we see Urangtai suffering the effects of the cookies... where female voices not of Song gives him growing headaches and ruins their food for his taste buds. Maybe more evil than tricky, but it is also tricky.

[/hider]

[hider=Summary]

Urangtai is suffering headaches brought by the voices of women and their food. He meets Huang who tells tricks him into thinking it could be because he likes Song, whose voice doesn’t cause headaches but rather lets them fade away. Song uses this to get him all alone and trick him into feeling like only Song cares and that she is an angel in disguise. Yullian plays back up, things get creepy. Onto step three...


[/hider]