love set you going like a fat gold watch (open)

[higginbottom]

Esther is being entrepreneurial. In fact, she has set up a small booth in the Mansion foyer with a sign that reads:

Let Me Write You a Poem (Or Equivalent Prose)

Of course, she hasn't had any takers yet, so she's feeling a little discouraged. But no matter! The point is, she's there, sitting and looking very prim and proper.




Looks can be deceiving, though she herself may not realize that yet.

Comments

[thepurpledanger]

Gu Xiang reaches for Esther's wrist, feeling her pulse. She isn't sure what she's supposed to be feeling there--maybe a texture, like silk or like pearls moving under skin?--but all she feels is the steady thump of Esther's heartbeat against her fingers, and the radiant warmth of her petal-soft skin. Her own heart beats a little faster; she swallows. "If you've been feeling depressed, you might be deficient in yang energy, too," she says, letting Esther's wrist drop. "What are you eating?"

[higginbottom]

"Eating?" Esther hadn't considered her diet to be a problem. "I eat well enough, I think. Perhaps I could eat more warm things; I tend to run a touch cold." She shrugs, and almost feels disappointed when Gu Xiang lets go of her wrist.

[thepurpledanger]

"So it is a yang deficiency," says Gu Xiang triumphantly. "Just like Gaheris! I've been trying to fix it by changing what I fed him, but that was before I knew he was cursed."

[higginbottom]

"You were feeding him?" she asks, amused by the mental image. "What did you cook?"

[ghostmaster]

"Never heard of them," says Wei Wuxian, cheerful in the face of her weariness. "Where did they learn? What were their primary themes?"

[thepurpledanger]

"Lots of meat! Lamb and kidneys especially--and onion and radish, and mussels, and walnuts. And plenty of garlic, ginger, and peppers, obviously. But it's like he's a sieve for yang energy. It just goes right through him." She sighs. "Something's probably wrong with his meridians, but I don't know how to fix that."

[higginbottom]

This is starting to feel like college all over again.

"Eliot was a modernist - he wrote of the alienation of modern man," she explains. "Dickinson and Whitman were earlier, in the 19th century. Dickinson is possibly the mother of modern lyric free verse, while Whitman wrote of the common people."

[higginbottom]

"Maybe he's not used to your style of cooking," she suggests, trying to sound as gentle and non-threatening as is possible for her.

Which is to say, completely bitchily.

[thepurpledanger]

"He isn't," Gu Xiang agrees readily. "He goes all red and starts leaking from his whole face when he eats anything spicier than garlic. It's very pathetic."

[higginbottom]

Esther can't help but laugh a little.

"Well, I can't really blame him - I can't eat much spicy food either," she replies, amused.

[thepurpledanger]

"Well, no wonder you're so feminine!" says Gu Xiang. "But you have to keep in balance! Even a pretty feminine girl like you needs to have some yang energy, or you'll waste away!"

[higginbottom]

"So I should eat spicier foods?" Esther asks.

[thepurpledanger]

"Or at least onions, garlic, and kidneys," says Gu Xiang. "And vinegar, too! I can stir-fry some mustard greens and kidneys in vinegar for you!"

[higginbottom]

That doesn't sound particularly appetizing to Esther.

"What about cake? Can I eat cake and get better?"

[thepurpledanger]

Gu Xiang considers. A cake is cooked, so that's good, and it's sweet, which will help; however, a bean cake would be no good at all. But Esther probably means the kind of cakes that Gu Xiang's seen in the cafe, not the kind that Gu Xiang is used to. Gu Xiang's on weaker territory there. "Maybe a spiced nut cake," she allows grudgingly. "But not very much unless it has a lot of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger."

[higginbottom]

"Hm." Esther considers this. "I like cinnamon and nutmeg, so I think I could do that."

She pauses a moment.

"Do you think fresh air could help, too? I'm asking because I tend to stay indoors writing."

[thepurpledanger]

"In summer--but in winter, it might make you worse. You need to stay warm, especially because you get cold easily." Gu Xiang tilts her head, then abruptly ducks a bow. "My name's Gu Xiang. What's yours?"

[higginbottom]

"I'm Esther Greenwood," she replies. "It's nice to meet you."

[ghostmaster]

"I don't know half of those words, either." His delight is mounting. There's really nothing better than learning new information from someone only grudgingly interested in sharing it.