aulteration | sangcheng zone

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?

Hm? What about me-- ah, I thought I already gave you my opinion on her clearly enough-!

[His head tilts, peering curiously at Jiang Cheng over the edge of his fan.]

[When he glances at Huaisang, his expression is slightly tight. He can't tell, all things considering, if Huaisang doesn't know what he's talking about, or is just... playing stupid.

But he's thinking it's the latter.]

Jin Ling told me, Sect Leader Nie. About... [This name also feels very weird in his mouth.] Lionett Beauregard.

If he's already told you, then I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific about what you want to know.

[He wants to know what Jiang Cheng is already aware of. What's already been given, what would be new information; he's hesitant to offer too much, himself.]

He told me the two of you are close.

[It is perhaps slightly difficult to tell how much Jiang Cheng knows when he seems to be holding cards to his chest--or what he thinks are cards.

But it also seems as if he doesn't know the entire story; he doesn't sound certain with any details.]

We are.

[He answers that easily enough, with a slight shrug of his shoulders.]

But considering the way things have been lately, I don't really think there's a need to worry about who a Sect Leader associates with-- that must be your concern, isn't it?

[It's hard to say if he genuinely assumes so, or if he just wants to see if Jiang Cheng corrects him to offer a different reason for asking.]

Circumstances are already quite strange, after all.

[Jiang Cheng isn't sure if he should be concerned or not. It's none of his business. Or is it? If the sects are meant to co-exist, and now Jin Ling is bringing back a foreign girl--foreign in ethnicity, and in world.

And Huaisang...]

All the more reason not to fall in... with the wrong crowd, so to speak. Can either of you really know those people after only spending--what? A month or two with them?

Can we truly say we know people even after spending years around them? I might remind you that the late Chief Cultivator was, until recently, well-respected-- until recently I even knew him as San-ge.

["Recently" is, in this specific case, a stretch-- but Jiang Cheng doesn't need to know that. If he suspects, he doesn't need to have it confirmed at this moment.

His head cocks, in an idle yet very deliberate sort of way.]

I might also remind you, Jiang-xiong, that I don't know that the two of us have truly known each other since our time in Gusu.

[The switch to a more familiar address is fully intentional, and Huaisang is watching him in that same deliberately casual manner.]

[Visibly, he sort of bristles; both shoulders go stiff and up. Huaisang isn't wrong. About either point. Jin Guangyao was crafty. And the three of them...

Life happened to the three of them.

Quickly, he again looks away in the opposite direction. Both hands come to rest on the wooden banister in front of him, and the fingers grip it tightly for a second or two. When he pulls back, he twists Zidian around and around his finger.]

We were given different paths. There wasn't any room to continue to be children.

No, there wasn't.

[It's an easy agreement, a lock of hair spilling over his shoulder as he gives his head a little shake; he brushes it over to his back once more.]

Perhaps there wasn't any room to continue to be friends.

[Jiang Cheng had his own grief and rebuilding to contend with and Wei Wuxian was already lost, by the time Nie Huaisang experienced it himself. And in its wake-- no, there wasn't any room for it for him, not with what he needed to do.

Maybe it would have been different if any one of them chose to lean on each other. He thinks perhaps it could have gone worse if they did.]

[It's only an honest phrase, but it stings. So much of them had become lost because of the Wens, and it fills him again with a sour and bitter taste.

And then when the Wens were gone, even when things looked as if they might be relatively normal, they continued to not be at all.

He does not look back at Huaisang; instead, he lifts his head enough to peer out under the sharp curve of the gazebo roof.] Do you hate me for it? [There is no use pretending as if Huaisang is a no-good headshaker. Huaisang isn't.]

...I never came to you either, Jiang Cheng.

[It's not entirely an answer. On some level, maybe he hates everyone a little bit, for failing to see what he did-- for no one stopping the worst before it came to pass. Maybe that includes himself.

Maybe he can't judge anyone for never reaching out, when he was so unwilling to let anyone in. If Jiang Cheng had, Huaisang wouldn't have taken his hand.]

[They use to be thick as thieves. It's been a long time since he's thought about being conned into lying on the floor drunkenly with Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian at Gusu, listening to the two of them chatter away about something stupid while he almost falls asleep to their voices.

He didn't think he had the heart anymore to think about those times after everything that's happened.

Slowly, he turns back to Huaisang, and opens his mouth, but his eyes shift to the side as his face grows more formal and stern. His mouth shuts. A disciple in purple bows even before getting over halfway on the dock.

"Sect Leader Jiang," they say breathlessly, "the meeting will convene shortly."

Jiang Cheng glances at Huaisang, almost apologetic.] I'm coming. [Respectfully, he says,] Sect Leader Nie. [He moves by Huaisang and out over the dock after the disciple who hurries away.

But he stops suddenly as if he's debating, though he doesn't look back.]

[Huaisang has still thought of those days, sometimes. It would be a lie to say they had nothing to do with why he arranged Wei Wuxian's revival-- they were all close, once, and when he thought Wei Wuxian might be needed here it was for multiple reasons. By multiple people. He'd missed him a little too, though he supposes they won't be close again.

He watches, listening intently as Jiang Cheng opens his mouth... but then they're interrupted, and as he stands facing away from the disciple a flicker of annoyance shows on his face. Of course.

It strikes him that he could try to drag Jiang Cheng away. Wheedle him into skipping like he tried to do for studying. But they're both Sect Leaders, and he's no longer a head-shaker, and they can't afford not to be seen. He just lets himself be passed in silence, though when Jiang Cheng pauses--

Something seizes him.]

Jiang Cheng. After the meeting-

[Huaisang doesn't turn to fully face him, just looks his way.]

After the meeting... come drink with me.

[A part of him thinks he's too old to be drinking. He's too old, and he's too... himself, responsible, whatever. Then he realizes maybe being old, maybe now, is when he should be drinking really. After everything.

He is quiet for a long stretch of time, a little glad the disciple has gone on without waiting. Like Huaisang, he doesn't turn around, but tilts his head back to look over a shoulder.]

I'll meet you here. I have a few things to finish after, but later. I'll bring something to drink.

I'll be here.

[It still covers his face, but there may be a faint smile behind the fan. He waits an appropriate time, takes a different route back so the others don't immediately know they spoke together, and risk whispers of what Yunmeng and Qinghe may want with each other to have such private discussions now.

And after a long, tiring discussion--

Huaisang is at the gazebo as promised, looking out over the water just as Jiang Cheng had earlier. More relaxed, more contemplative; he's still paying attention though, still listening for the Sect Leader's steps.]

[Jiang Cheng hadn't lied when he said he had to do a few things afterward. Mostly, it was customary politics. Making arrangements for others, seeing people off, getting the order back among everyone in Lotus Pier who are boisterous because of the guests.

Huaisang can hear Jiang Cheng coming even at a distance. There are two clay jars gently clacking together; his walk is still so brisk and stern despite the fact everything is done, and it's late, and he should be relaxing.

If he had a sword instead of alcohol, he'd look exactly the same coming down the creaking boards of the pier.] Sect Leader Nie. [Like they're here for a war conference rather than a social drink.

But he? continues on down the dock and out the other side of the gazebo? He does glance over his shoulder at Huaisang, yet keeps going, one hand with the two jars and one with two cups.]

Ah, business as usual, I see-

[He teases, lightly-- but then he continues walking? Huaisang blinks over his fan, and when he's glanced back at, he exhales a little sigh and stands.]

Really, Jiang Cheng, you could have simply asked to meet elsewhere-!

[But he follows easily enough, fanning himself. It's hot here! He had to wait outside!!]

I see you still complain just as much as you did when we were at Gusu.

[He says this with a surprising lack of the venom he's use to dishing out.

He pauses long enough to wait for Huaisang to catch up, and then he continues again along the open dock. Huaisang isn't wrong; the air is temperate at this late hour, but the humidity from the surrounding water makes it worse.

At the end of the long stretch of pier is a square platform, the only exit being the direction they have come, and a slim row boat settled in the lotus on the water. Jiang Cheng lowers the jars down near one edge, and then sits with his boots hooked to the edge and his knees up.]

If I stopped complaining, would you be worried about me?

[Huaisang settles in as well, with a little effort spent to arrange his robes properly as he sits.]

I'm really not certain anyone would recognize me, then.

Is it so bad they wouldn't?

[His eyes appraise Huaisang when the man joins him at the edge. He notches one glass on Huaisang's side and one on his own, the jars between them.]

If you didn't complain, I think I would question if you were... unwell. It wouldn't be like you. Though I suppose you would tell me that is the Nie Huaisang you wanted everyone to see, too.

[The first question gets only a one-shouldered shrug, and Huaisang doesn't wait for him to be a good host-- he takes up one of those jars so he can pour his own glass.]

If you think I'm someone without complaints, you're very much mistaken-! I have several about these conferences, for one thing. One or two about the weather in Yunmeng. Possibly another about your taste, depending on what you've chosen...?

[Huaisang picks up his cup, wiggling it a little in his hand.]

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