Array
(
[text] =>
“For balance and strength.”
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
the zoldycks are undoubtedly some type of asian but i think Illumi is half chinese bc of his outfit in the movie and this mobage card 🙂 if I’m wrong pls correct me, I don’t want to offend anyone ^^
______________________________________________
Y/n POV
It wasn’t every day you’d get to see Illumi dressed up. He entered the room wearing a silky green changshan, carrying a box in his hands. He handed the box to me, gesturing for me to open it.
“Put this on, we’re going into the city today.”
When I removed the lid, I looked into the box to see a (favorite color) qipao. My jaw dropped at how elegant it looked as took it out the box and held it in front of me.
“Is it really okay for me to wear this?”
“Of course, it’s Lunar New Year,” he assured me before walking towards the door. “I’m going to get D/n ready, don’t take too long.”
I changed out of my house clothes and into the qipao, looking at myself in the mirror. It easily is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever worn. I quickly did my hair and makeup(if you wear it) and made my way down the stairs. Once I reached the bottom, D/n ran towards me in a vibrant red qipao and a pair flats to match. Illumi did a surprisingly good job doing her hair, it was in a braided half up half down style with 2 adorable hairpins.
The girl grabbed my hand and eagerly pulled me towards the main entrance of the estate, where her father stood waiting.
“Hurry up mommy, I wan’t to see the parade!”
{timeskip}
We made it into the city, looking around at all the hanging lanterns and street vendors lined up on either sides of the road. D/n was quick to try and run off in excitement, only to be scooped up by Illumi before she could go anywhere.
“Lets eat first, then we can look at other shops and watch the parade later.”
Illumi put D/n down and went to order food as I stood off to the side holding the girl’s hand, scanning over the different vendors. The little girl eagerly pulled on my sleeve, pointing over to a booth selling decorations and various other souvenirs.
“Lets go over there!”
I let D/n lead me over to the stand, owner greeting me while the little girl was marveling over all of the trinkets. The owner was an older woman, maybe around her mid-late 40s. She had shoulder length hair and wore a welcoming smile on her face.
“Is that your daughter?” she asked looking over at the child, who was too busy looking at some toys.
“Yeah,” I said with a small sigh. “She can be a handful sometimes.”
The lady let out a small laugh before D/n made her way over to where we were standing.
“Mommy can I get this pleaaassssseeeeeeee!”
She held a rattle drum in front of me with a pleading look on her face.
“Your dad is carrying all the money, you’re going to have to wait til he gets over here.”
“Don’t worry, you can have that for free little one,” the owner said, smiling down at D/n.
I turned to her, surprised. I know some of these street vendors really need the money they get from what they do.
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind us having to pay.”
“You two are so cute,” she said, turning to me. “It reminds me of when my own daughter was young, I can tell you guys have a strong bond. Just be sure to cherish these younger years.”
I smiled at her, thanking her. I looked over at D/n and before I could remind her to say ‘thank you’ she was hugging the shop owner.
“Thank you lady!”
_____
We met back with Illumi who had ended up buying some dumplings, egg rolls, and tangyuan for dessert. We sat down at a bench nearby, D/n preoccupied with violently spinning her rattle drum.
I gently took it from her hands and before she could protest, I handed her an egg roll.
“You can have this back after you eat, ok?”
{timeskip}
The loud thumping of a drum sounded as a group of people formed around the area. D/n immediately perked up before dragging both Illumi and I towards the crowd.
“I wanna see, I wanna see!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down in an attempt to see around the people.
Illumi picked her up and put her on his shoulders. In the center there was a line of people in lion costumes, performing and dancing to the sound of the drum and cymbals. They shook their heads, blinked, and jumped like no tomorrow. D/n cheered, her seven year old brain being easily entertained. The performance was very exciting, I was impressed on how much stamina these people must have. (as fun as it is lion dance is actually so tiring i be dying fr)
When the performance came to an end, the crowd had erupted into applause. The performance was almost magical for D/n, who started jumping up and down while talking about it once she came off Illumi’s shoulders.
“That was so cool!! I wanna do that, mommy can I!?”
I chuckled a little before answering, “of course you can sweetheart, just not today.”
{timeskip}
After all the excitement from the different performances, firecrackers and the parade, D/d was starting to get tired. Illumi was once again carrying the girl, placing her in the backseat of the car as we prepared to go home. After being buckled in, D/n fell asleep almost instantly. Illumi opened the passenger door for me before going around to sit in the drivers seat.
Before even putting on his own seatbelt he turned to look at me.
“What? Is there something on my face?” I asked.
“No,” he said before grabbing my left hand.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red cord bracelet with a little jade rabbit in the center. My eyes widened as he put it on for me. He looked me in the eyes and spoke once more.
“For balance and strength.”
Without another word, he let go of my hand and started the car. I brought my wrist in front of me with a small smile on my face.
“Thank you, Illumi.”
______________________________________________
happy lunar new year everyone!! i hope u got lots of li xi and ate good 🧧 🎊
[text_hash] => 2d77b217
)