aulteration | sangcheng zone

[Huaisang comes back... Jiang Cheng doesn't know what to call it much less say about it. Huaisang comes back different. There is already a gap they would need to navigate between being childhood gremlin friends, and now on top of it... something else.

Something wild.

At first, he didn't know if he wanted to discuss it. A woman named Beauregard, Jin Ling scaring the piss out of him, a vore house--was that it? he thinks, and the falling apart chaos that had been Jin Guangyao. What is happening to the fucking world anymore? He doesn't know. Everything makes no sense.

There had been a vore house, and Jin Ling was in it, is all he can keep thinking about. For now.

The chilly air of Qinghe's Unclean Realm doesn't seem to pierce Jiang Cheng's fiery spirit. He stands, hands clasped behind his back, firm and refusing any kind of hospitality until Huaisang arrives to greet him. He's not sure if that woman is here, but he makes an effort to dodge running into her if she happens to be.

It's been a little time. It's been enough time, and he wants to know every detail with a fervor that had already been there when they returned. That's the only reason he's here!]

[He's been busy, since returning-- since the incident with Jin Guangyao concluded. Nie Huaisang has overseen the coffin-sealing with surprising competence, worked a bit at actually making himself useful; there are things he needs to do now that he just can't, as a know-nothing Sect Leader, but these things change with time.

Speaking of time, he's said nothing of their visit to the house himself, volunteering exactly nothing. There's been work to do. There still is. Preparations to make, a Sect to run now that he's home.

A Nie Sect disciple stops by to politely inform Jiang Cheng that the Sect Leader sends his apologies, but hadn't had time to prepare for Sect Leader Jiang's unexpected arrival, if he wouldn't mind waiting just a little while longer--

And eventually, Nie Huaisang shows up, steps absolutely unhurried, fan over the lower half of his face.]

Sect Leader Jiang! Your visit was a surprise, I'm afraid, but not an unwelcome one-- come, come, I'll send for someone to bring you a drink-?

[It's said as if it's a question, but with a gesture he sends someone running off, and he nods in the direction of his own quarters. Join him, please, he is not doing this in public.]

Edited 2020-04-23 19:47 (UTC)

[Jiang Cheng is left on read (he deserves it), and he has too much pride and too much stubbornness not to wait. It's very much as if he's courting, being tested, being watched to see if he'll give up.

But he's not here for something like that--for now.

He waits with all the decreasing patience of a Jiang that takes after his mother. Trying to act like he's got some manners is a lot harder to do when he's half a minute to stomping to find Huaisang.]

That isn't why I'm here.

[His voice is firm, and he turns around in place, looking frazzled, dropping his arms by his sides. For whatever reason, the hard edges of his face soften ever so slightly even if his brows remain furrowed. And then he falls in line beside Huaisang to begin walking.]

Jin Ling told me, but I want to hear it from you.

[Ah, of course that's what it's about. That's part of why Huaisang left him to wait, testing to see how set he is on this; the answer is "enough", and Nie Huaisang walks just a little faster. Nobody else needs to hear this conversation.]

He told you about a recent trouble or two, I'm assuming... it's good that he has you to come to for such things, Jiang Cheng, in his other uncle's regrettable absence.

[He's fanning himself idly; this one is a new design, too. White, with painted cracks of gold and cobalt spidering over its surface.]

I really don't know that I have anything to tell you that he wouldn't already have said.

[No one needs to hear it, but Jiang Cheng has little patience. So that is why he is already talking about it without actually, like, talking about it.]

Stop pretending to have face.

[HIS OTHER UNCLE'S REGRETTABLE ABSENCE. Binch, you did that. Not that he isn't (looks away) seeing as how he'd probably vouch for stringing Mister Jin up, too.

His eyes look over the fan when they cut to the side at Huaisang. Hm.]

I want to verify what he said against another source.

Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng-!! I really didn't know what else I could add... Jin Ling was reliable enough, back there. I assumed he made a good report.

[Please, who's pretending to have any face! Not him!

They continue on toward his own quarters, where he breezes past a disciple or two lingering near the entrance and waves Jiang Cheng through with him. At the subtle motion of his fan, they seem to think of better things to do after a moment, staying just long enough to watch them both enter before they wander elsewhere.

Though-- they pass a room or two designed for entertaining guests, on to a smaller one. It's closer to Huaisang's own room, a little cozier, the decoration less fancy and more comfortable (though still tailored to his own elegant tastes.) He retrieves a couple of clay jars, setting them on the table and making himself comfortable.]

You wanted to verify what he said, didn't you-- what questions do you have?

[As if he's just going to start volunteering information.]

[His face says... he is proud of Jin Ling (did he tell Jin Ling this? no), but he trusts Jin Ling about as far as he can throw the boy.

The disciples get a glance, and they look as nervous as any in the presence of someone as volatile as Jiang Cheng. Though, he actually offers them a faint nod before he disappears with Huaisang.]

I want to hear what happened from the beginning.

[At first, he seems to reserved to fall into being comfortable, or, rather, getting comfortable. His eyes sweep the room, and then they sweep Huaisang and the clay jars. His sigh is quiet, under his breath, and begrudging. Finally, he "makes himself comfortable," which is just him sitting with stiff shoulders and a resting bitch face.]

[he opens the jars first, sliding one across to jiang cheng, sipping delicately from his own. nie huaisang has no intention of actually drinking much, but a little won't hurt... his tolerance at least is much better than lan wangji's.]

Ah, it's very long, though, we were there for several weeks-!

[please, he's not going to tell the entire story so easily, jiang cheng will still have to drag details from him at some points.]

It really didn't seem so bad at first, though... the hospitality may have been lacking, but at least the place we were trapped was quite nice. Nothing like home, of course, but if it hadn't been for the killing it might have been a nice place to spend some time. I suppose it still was, for the most part...

[A part of him wants to protest about how dismissive alcohol drinking seems to make the situation. But honestly? To hell with it. A nip or two can take the edge off, enough that if he yells, it's softly instead of with a hoarse throat.

So after a moment, he raises one of the jars like a hooligan and drinks from the lip of it rather than pour it in something more manageable. And then he pushes it somewhat out of reach of his long fingers, thinking he's finished.]

Are you trying to imply what happened would have been fine if not for those things?! A-Ling shouldn't be anywhere but in this land! A house attempted to devour you both!

Well, yes, it did, but it took some time for us to know that--!

[he nudges the jar toward jiang cheng once more, feigning a drink from his own.]

First, we only thought there were the monsters to deal with... every week, someone was transformed into one, and they would kill, and we never even knew who it was going to be-- it was terrifying, you know? Knowing that one was always hiding among us...

[he shudders, shaking his head.]

[Can't believe Huaisang and Jin Ling got trapped in ANOTHER dimension after already almost being eaten by a house. "Wei Wuxian was there, too?" Weh Wushyan who?

Despite things at the temple continuing pretty much as planned, it still wasn't very difficult to get the truth out of Jin Ling. Not when the kid flubs, and not when Uncle Jiang presses.

But nothing happens. Jiang Cheng doesn't run to either Wei Wuxian, or Nie Huaisang for anything (not that he'd be able to find either of them). No accusation, no clarification. It takes him a long time to brood and dwell on it in private at Lotus Pier, and the only time he sees anything of Huaisang is when they all have to briefly convene to decide what happens to the leadership. At Lotus Pier. Everyone wants to see how established Lotus Pier has become.

Of course.

No one exactly wants to be here for this. Not Nie Huaisang, but not Jiang Cheng either. He can't run home when he's already there, but he can find a place to squirrel away when they break. The gazebo connecting two docks isn't a bad location to broodily look out over the water with hands clasped behind.]

[The distance suits Nie Huaisang just fine.

He knows Wei Wuxian knows, and he doesn't know how much anyone told Jin Ling after the boy woke; while he feels sure Wei Wuxian wouldn't tell anyone beyond Lan Wangji, he's just as sure that if Jin Ling knows anything, his uncle has wrought it out of him somehow.

But beyond that-- he just doesn't want company. He'd spent multiple weeks dead, he'd had few people willing to speak with him, and that had suited him well enough at the time. There's business to handle as well, a welcome distraction from having his bed empty, and Huaisang throws himself into it. The sealing ceremony is a show of surprising competence, a first step in mending his reputation-- and it's one he follows up with participation in these conferences, with input no one really expected. It's a little satisfying, to prove he's more than a head-shaker.

It's a little tiring, not to dodge all his responsibilities, but he doesn't have anything else. His work is done, and now he's left with-- what? Waiting for Beau? There weren't any reunions for him, here.

That's what has him wandering in out of the way places, his steps slowing when he catches sight of Jiang Cheng already here. He must already know Huaisang is here; he wasn't trying to hide his steps. But he lightens them anyway as he walks closer, takes up a spot standing a short distance away from Jiang Cheng, his ever-present fan covering the lower half of his face.]

Sect Leader Jiang.

[The slightest little nod in greeting, his tone neutral. He does his best not to sound as tired as he feels.]

[It isn't difficult to hear Huaisang, or "feel" Huaisang. Jiang Cheng glances up with an expression that's more surprised than what's expected of him. It's easier to let his guard down in Lotus Pier when it's a home he's rebuilt and protected.

Quickly, his eyes look down, and then he turns his head away, not in disgust, but as if he feels out of place suddenly. It would be very fool of him to rush off in his own home.]

Sect Leader Nie. [Very briefly, he cuts his eyes toward Huaisang, not quiet polite so much as respectful. It's been a long time since Jiang Cheng's eyes have held any politeness.] ...I hope Lotus Pier is treating you well.

[For lack of... not knowing what else to say.]

As well as expected, yes.

[Which is to say that he doesn't expect politeness, really. Not with the way he is, with the connections there to be made even if Jiang Cheng wasn't told.

Guangyao killed his brother. The motive's obvious even if the methods are not.

But he concedes, after a moment-- an almost olive branch:]

It's as beautiful as I recall it.

[Before everything, before they all changed.]

[The stiff, awkward lines of Jiang Cheng's face soften into a frown. It's a compliment he hadn't expected, and it makes him desperately wish Yanli was here to see Lotus Pier now. Even if it was as simple as standing beside him in silence for a little while longer than she had before.

He's sure Yanli would know how to speak with Huaisang.]

I suppose I should offer you my thanks for looking at Jin Ling.

[He still knows less than he'd like if he realized how little he did know. Wei Wuxian wouldn't tell Jin Ling the nittier, grittier pieces, and so Jin Ling could only give him basics.]

What else was I to do, leave him to his own devices? That boy's entirely too good at finding trouble-- but you'd know that more than I do, wouldn't you?

[It doesn't reach his eyes, visible over the fan, but there's a little more lightness to his tone that suggests he may be smiling behind it.]

[His mouth opens, but he struggles to find the exact words to so blatantly agree with this. So he ends up making an exasperated face, not looking at Huaisang.

He can hear the teasing in Huaisang's voice.]

I am aware. He doesn't listen. Not to me, not to anyone. I'm sure he was only additional trouble.

[That exasperated look gets the faintest little laugh in turn, as Huaisang begins to fan himself idly.]

Ah, he was! But he tried to help, in his way.

He told you he met a girl, didn't he?

[This makes him finally glance at Huaisang, and! he's really not sure what to do with his face! A part of him is still, like, WHAT? and a part of him is trying desperately to... remember how Yanli and Zixuan were.]

Yes. [He reaches up to rub his forehead above the brows, lips a line.] Ana... stasia.

[The name sounds weird in his mouth.] Apparently, he wasn't the only one who met a girl, or so he says. [He peers pointedly at Huaisang.]

Does he? Well, I'm sure there must have been others...

[Nothing's that easy with Huaisang, of course. He just hums lightly, continuing to fan himself.]

There were a number of us, after all.

[Jiang Cheng's brows drop. If anything, he is ungodly amounts of stubborn.

But the refusal to engage is evident, and so he lets it go for now.]

We were introduced. [He looks away again.] Anastasia.

You didn't scare her off, did you, Jiang Cheng?

[A little more teasing, this time, but he quickly continues.]

She's very sweet. I think she's going to be good for him.

[He makes a face. It'll get stuck exactly like that one day, probably.]

She... is an outsider. [Surprisingly, he does not sound as vicious as usual. Hmmm. Someone likely has many Yanli qualities, and he's struggling.] I still have the right to judge her... merit for myself.

He cannot embarrass both of us by courting just anyone.

If you've met, you know she isn't just anyone. I'm sure she'll learn well.

[Unsurprisingly, even Huaisang likes her... the Yanli and Zixuan parallels aren't lost on him either.]

Yes, well.

[He has nothing to refute this. Anya is... a good girl. Maybe too good--too good for Jin Ling, he thinks, but then he remembers... thinking the very same thing about Jin Zixuan and his sister.

Jin Zixuan changed. Hopefully, he can get Jin Ling to do the same. To be both fierce and courageous, but also righteous.

And a little less like himself.]

...And you?

a gape and an olive

I was going to let you fix it and forgot and now it's funnier this way

lock this post immediately no one can see my shame A GAPE

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runs back here with an updated "gape and olive"

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