sweetestsurrender | { The AU meme }

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{ The AU meme }

Ever played out something and then later wondered "What if?" Ever wondered what it'd be like to play your character a different way, but didn't feel like making a full thing dedicated to it? Now's your chance to play it out!

Using RNG you'll roll 1-3 for the level of the change, and 1-6 for the change itself, or if you want, pick your own based on what you wanted to do.

1)  Small Change: The flap of a butterfly's wings can cause tsunami's on the other side of the world.

-1: "A minute too late"- What if you missed something by a minute, or more? You missed the big meeting, the girl, helping that person, all because you were too late, what happens next?
-2: "The nick of time"- Just like the first, only that instead of missing something you got, that if you got something you missed because you were either too late, or just messed up? Congratulations! Let's just hope it's what you really wanted.
-3: "A little too early"- One more, what if you showed up early? It's suppose to be a good thing, is it this time?
-4: "The other choice"- You had two choices, left or right, heads or tails, Coke or Pepsi, now you get to see what would have happened with the other choice.
-5: "Oops!"- You slipped up, and made a mistake. Is it bad, or a blessing in disguise?
-6: Wild card/Pick your own- Thought of a slight change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

2)  Medium Change: Didn't really see that coming, did you?

-1: Turning point change- That one thing that would have turned things in your favor went against you, and vice versa. How will you handle this critical change?
-2: "A Razor's edge"- That one moment that could have went either way has gone the opposite way of before. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?
-3: Crossroads- You reached a point in your life where you had several choices before you, now's the time to go down another road and see where it leads.
-4: The Road less traveled- "Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled" Will it make all the difference?
-5: Interference- Something blocked you from getting something you were going for. What do you do once the moment is gone?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own-Thought of a medium change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

3)  Large Change: Why do all the people here have goatee's?

-1: Good/Evil- Use to be a good guy? Welcome to the dark side, here's your cookie. Former bad guy? Hand over the cookie tray and join the side of good. How will the change of moral compass change you?
-2: A different person- You're now a completely different person, literally. Are you taller? Shorter? A robot? A pony? Powers? No powers? Your call.
-3: The other sex- Rule!63 is in effect. Now how does this effect your relationships with the other?
-4: A change in history- Something that happened in the past now has completely change or is now gone. One domino toppling the rest. Now that you've changed your past, how will it effect your future?
-5: Giving up- You walked away from something important to you? Do you regret it? Are you happy?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own- Thought of a large change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Duo went a little still then. He could... Except those where his private ghosts. They weren't things that he had broadcast to others, nor told the story of. And he didn't think he wanted to have to explain it to people now. But more than that, he wasn't even sure what he could even use as memorials for them.

"Technically..." Duo spoke quietly. "I'm a living memorial to them..." Without quite meaning to he'd started to lightly rub and play with the fabric of Wufei's jacket at her waist. "I've no pictures of them. I've nothing I could use that wouldn't raise questions I don't wanna answer." From his perspective anyway. These days the Maxwell Church Massacre was part of history. There was a memorial plaque at the site where the church had once stood and even a day of mourning every year in memory. It was too little too late and Duo was more than a little bitter over the whole thing. And as for Solo... No one remembered him but Duo.

Wufei nodded. "Then perhaps something for just the two of us," she suggested, keeping her voice soft, to ensure no one would overhear. "I have a shrine, to honor my ancestors. If you'd like, we can have tablets made with their names and add them," she offered. "Give their memory a place in our home." She released his braid to rub her hand along his arm and shoulder.

He thought about that. Sometimes he'd considered doing that himself. Solo would have laughed and mocked him for being sappy. But the others probably would have liked to have something...

"Yeah, if you don't mind?" Duo blinked and gave his head a little shake before he turned his gaze to Wufei. "It's not like anyone else really remembered them but me. The only thing I have..." He set down his cup once more and brought his hand up to fish out that cross from around his neck. The golden crucifix he'd worn all through the war and that he still hadn't taken off. "... This is the only thing I have of them. Of any of them. My name and this. Maybe my braid too. I don't think there's really a unique thing about me." He was just a mishmash of painful memories in human form.

"I don't mind at all. Your family is my family now," she reminded him with a soft smile, and let her gaze linger on the cross. "We are all bits and pieces of the people we love, it doesn't make who you are any less distinct. It just means that when you've loved, you've given it everything you have," and she sounded a little breathless as she said it, as she felt it and understood it. "Adding them to the shrine means I will be able to give them my most profound gesture of gratitude for having helped you find your way to me."

He lightly brushed his thumb across the face of his cross before he let it drop upon his chest and he lowered his hand again. Once more letting it rest on Wufei's legs where they draped across his own.

"You're a bit of a romantic, huh? Or a poet." He smiled softly, there was no teasing in his voice, just warmth. "Maybe you're right. I wouldn't be me without them at my back. However I started, however I came to be, I'm me now." Duo lent his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, still smiling. "Alright. We'll add them... Solo. Sister Helen. Father Maxwell."

"Some days, I'm not sure what I am," she replied softly, but she smiled sweetly as she said it, and nodded as he agreed to add his family. Her heart ached with each name, and when he was done she leaned her head on his shoulder, whispering a few words in Chinese.

"You're whoever you want to be. And now you've the time and ability to find out." Duo curled his arms around her a little more. And when that head fell onto his shoulder, he took the initiative this time when he turned his head to press a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Thanks. Thanks for... for being you." And for giving a shit about him.

She hummed softly in agreement, her smile warming when he kissed her. She felt impossibly full in that moment, and had to take a moment to get her emotions under control before she replied. "I'd never dream of being anyone else," she promised, sliding her hand up his arm and onto his shoulder, rubbing gently there. "Well, except for your wife. I'm looking forward to being her."

It was more than a little comforting having her rubbing his arm, and then his shoulder like that. If he'd felt any tension before it was ebbing out of him with every gentle touch. After he'd kissed her forehead, Duo's eyes had closed again and he'd just rested his head against hers.

"I'm looking forward to being your husband." He answered with a smile. And he really was. He didn't know what kind of a husband he would be, but he hoped a good one. He hoped one worthy of Wufei, one she could be proud of.

Funnily enough the whole conversation had her calm and relaxed, too, her hand moving slowly over his shoulder. Two weeks ago this would've been her worst nightmare, and now that she was living it, she couldn't remember a time when she was happier.

"Wo xihuan ni," she said softly, closing her eyes and letting herself wallow in the quiet warmth of it. There was something so strange happening between them, and she hoped it never went away.

Duo had no idea what those quiet words meant. They sounded nice though. She could have been telling him to fuck off or she could smell his feet or anything, but there was just something about the Chinese language that made him want to smile. Especially when spoken of in her voice. She had a beautiful voice.

"Hm?" He hummed questioningly. Whether she answered or not was up to her. He didn't mind. But he was moments away from offering him his empty can of Mountain Dew to just read off the back to him in Chinese.

"It's an expression of affection," she replied with a smile. "As long as you use the right inflection, anyway. Mandarin can be a very dangerous language." Her hand finally slowed to a stop on his shoulder, and she pressed a gentle kiss to the other.

If only Quatre could see them like this, he'd have no reason at all to bother either of them.

"Oh yeah?" He should have been paying attention! He wasn't sure he could say the word back without making a fool of himself, or telling her that he wanted to make love to her goat or something equally messed up. "So learning it's gonna be tricky?"

If Quatre could see them now he'd have that dopey smile on his face that would make Duo want to get him in a headlock. But he was smiling as he was gifted to another kiss, even if it was on his shoulder. He could feel the touch even if he didn't see it.

She hummed in agreement. "I'll teach you," she promised. "It's all about the way you say things, the inflection," and so she started teaching him, one syllable at a time, lifting her head up after a few minutes to more easily make a gesture to help explain the way the word sounded.

Duo opened his eyes then and smiled as he listened to her talk, paying attention to her tone, the inflection, the way her lips moved when she spoke... Which was a bit of a mistaken and he quickly stopped doing that when he realised he wasn't paying nearly as much attention as he should have.

In the end he found himself nodding along and so he gave it a try.

"So... it's 'wo xihuan ni'? Like that?" He thought he was saying it the same way as her, but had the feeling his own accent might be working against him.

Her toes might have curled in her shoes when he said it correctly, and it certainly drew a flush to her cheeks. "Exactly," she agreed warmly. It was true enough that his accent was heavy, but other than that it was flawless. "I'll have to teach you a few more phrases, you're picking it up quickly," she grinned.

He looked so damn happy he'd gotten it right that he had to say it again, laughing after. He'd get better with repetition after all.

"I'd really like that. If you'd teach me more." He couldn't stop grinning. There was just something exciting about learning something new, and even better when that new thing was something connected to Wufei. "You're a good teacher."

She grinned in reply. "I'll teach you the fondest nicknames and the most vulgar insults," she promised with a giggle of her own. "And the subtle mispronunciations you can use to confuse Heero."

"Oh hell yes, teach me all of that!" All of it. Everything. He laughed and tried imagining the look on Heero's face if he rocked up chatting in chinese to him. He ended up laughing to himself and giving Wufei a gentle hug. "Teach me everything. I'm a quick study." He wanted to make her proud.

"All of it?" she laughed. "You want to learn the whole language?" she lifted her brows. "I know you don't do anything halfway, but you're throwing yourself into the deep end," she warned him, but she was laughing as she did.

"Sure, why the hell not? Not like we don't have the time. Probably won't be fluent but I'm open to a challenge." He'd learn those fun little words and phrases as promised, but being able to actually converse in chinese might be good for him. Especially if they ever did visit china. And especially if they ever ended up meeting with the elders. He'd want to know what they were talking about.

"Alright, then," she replied with an easy grin. "I'll teach you Mandarin," she promised. "And I'll start with the number five. Wu," because it was a funny little coincidence that the first half of her name happened to be the same number as her home cluster.

He raised a brow, he hadn't known that. Though it really was funny. "My name means two." He grinned. "Because Solo was one. I was a kid, it made sense at the time." But he'd remember that. Wu was five. Now he just needed to learn the rest of the numbers. And he was very happy to learn. All he had to do was try and be good and not just sit there listening to Wufei talking and actually concentrate.

She frowned a little at that, casting her gaze towards the ceiling as she thought it all over. "Oh, that's weird," she decided. "We've all got a number association in our names that matches our cluster," and there was something about it that made her a little uneasy, though she wasn't quite sure why. "I know Trowa and Heero took their names right before coming to earth, but it still seems..." she didn't have a word for it.

"Okay that's kinda weird..." Duo looked a little uncomfortable as well. There were coincidences and then there was whatever was happening now. But at the same home he could imagine it wss deliberate. Symbolism or some shit.

"Best not think about it. That way leads to conspiracy theories and madness."

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