[Down here, dangling above the void, Huaisang catches Jin Guangyao's conjuring trick in frantic glances and bursts of desperate scrambling. He does as he's told, he's not so terrified that he's lost the ability to move, but terrified enough that his own grip is... messy, compared to the steel trap of Guangyao's hand. One moment Huaisang has merely a handful of sleeve, then upper arm, then sleeve again—
For what it's worth, he isn't trying to make this rescue difficult, it's just. There's a void down there, and it's scrambled him somewhat. He's yanked up in the air and told to be conscious of what his feet are doing, okay, like he remembers how his legs work that quickly-!!]
What? What? Where?! I don't— [Ah, and he finds purchase on the blade with his foot entirely by accident, kicking around in a panic. It's a miracle he doesn't miss for even longer, given how little experience with this kind of travel he actually has. But he's handled it as deftly as he is able, which is to say, he put his foot where directed and is clinging to Guangyao like to lose even a pinky finger of his hold on him will bring death immediately.
There's no time to relax about it, but there's nothing Huaisang can do to, ah, contribute? His core is a useless dead end; it's all he can do to hold tight and hold still as they make their urgent flight up towards the (probable) exit. He keeps his gaze fixed up there, the top of the stairs, because to look sidelong at Guangyao's determination, pale and bleeding, would stir up too much- too much something in him that he cannot possibly put forth the mental effort for right now. He can't even put a name to it; he doesn't want to put a name to it.
(It's gratitude. It's gratitude bone-deep and coiled around the certainty not that a man should save his fellow man from falling into the void for moral goodness' sake, but that Jin Guangyao will go to such lengths for Nie Huaisang, that Guangyao will always come to Huaisang's rescue because he—
Well. He always has.)
Huaisang still dares not let go to point, but he exclaims with feverish relief once they've crested enough of the staircase to their mirror destination take shape as something they might actually reach.]
Ah, it's there! How do we-? Do we go through-? San-ge, do I break it open?!
[With what, well, probably the brand new string of beads rattling at his hip, which he will only concede to coil up and chuck at this mirror if the other option seems to be breaking it open with their faces.]
no subject
For what it's worth, he isn't trying to make this rescue difficult, it's just. There's a void down there, and it's scrambled him somewhat. He's yanked up in the air and told to be conscious of what his feet are doing, okay, like he remembers how his legs work that quickly-!!]
What? What? Where?! I don't— [Ah, and he finds purchase on the blade with his foot entirely by accident, kicking around in a panic. It's a miracle he doesn't miss for even longer, given how little experience with this kind of travel he actually has. But he's handled it as deftly as he is able, which is to say, he put his foot where directed and is clinging to Guangyao like to lose even a pinky finger of his hold on him will bring death immediately.
There's no time to relax about it, but there's nothing Huaisang can do to, ah, contribute? His core is a useless dead end; it's all he can do to hold tight and hold still as they make their urgent flight up towards the (probable) exit. He keeps his gaze fixed up there, the top of the stairs, because to look sidelong at Guangyao's determination, pale and bleeding, would stir up too much- too much something in him that he cannot possibly put forth the mental effort for right now. He can't even put a name to it; he doesn't want to put a name to it.
(It's gratitude. It's gratitude bone-deep and coiled around the certainty not that a man should save his fellow man from falling into the void for moral goodness' sake, but that Jin Guangyao will go to such lengths for Nie Huaisang, that Guangyao will always come to Huaisang's rescue because he—
Well. He always has.)
Huaisang still dares not let go to point, but he exclaims with feverish relief once they've crested enough of the staircase to their mirror destination take shape as something they might actually reach.]
Ah, it's there! How do we-? Do we go through-? San-ge, do I break it open?!
[With what, well, probably the brand new string of beads rattling at his hip, which he will only concede to coil up and chuck at this mirror if the other option seems to be breaking it open with their faces.]