lonelydream | INBOX (for eastbound)

And how much trouble will I get into if I travel via rooftops?

[ It's the fastest way to get a proper lay of the land, and also the most subtle. People tend not to look up. ]

Unfortunately you're not the first person to visit via window.

( Jacob Frye is allergic to doors. )

Besides, who could stop you? Don't dawdle, I'm very bored, and it's been hours since I last looked upon your lovely face.

( Did you think the flirting was dead and buried? Absolutely not. )

Wen Kexing, you incorrigible flirt. Don't speak like that where it might be so easily overheard.

[ A brief pause. ]

Who else, exactly, is crawling in through your windows at night?

[ Didn't Wen Kexing just say he isn't having sex with others? ]

Please, as if anyone who knows of me thinks I'm so straight laced. You can pretend if you like.

( And then, because he can take pity. )

Master Frye, don't worry, it's not what you think. He does errands for me. Also he's painfully closeted. I offered to set him up with a man from the other whore house and he looked like I'd told him I could disembowel him if he wanted. ( A sigh. ) It's been very boring.

[ Zishu snorts, not cutting off communications as he slips out the window. He takes a moment to gather his bearings, and then heads in the direction Wen Kexing told him. ]

Boring is peaceful.

Tch.

( He wonders if he should tell Zhou Zishu about the shapeshifter or his murder hand. ... Although, maybe he already knows about the second, he has been left unattended. )

You'd think so. He's good anyway, you just have to give him some coin and alcohol and he'll do whatever you ask.

A mercenary.

[ Though, admittedly, for some coin and a drink (or just a drink), Zhou Zishu could be potentially convinced to do a great many things as well. As long as he agrees with it, at least. ]

Or something similar. He tends to get himself into mischief. There's a heart under all that bluster, and he keeps following it.

( Wen Kexing does not worry, not at all. )

You'll probably meet him, I might need to avail of his skills at some point soon. Have you heard much about the vote, Ah-Xu? It's common gossip here.

I've heard the chatter. Not enough to understand what's going on, though. I need more information.

[ He's trying to be good and not get involved in politics beyond his control; he had enough of that for multiple lifetimes. However, he also can't quite help himself. ]

Mm, I can tell you what I know, though that's not quite enough either. There were more factions and fights before I came here and people have been tightlipped on the where and the whys. Mostly they expect you to agree with them.

( A sigh, the sound of a bottle uncorking. )

Messalina is the one they're debating. She's a figure with a host of the undead at her beck and call. She says she wants them to be given refuge and care, but she lets one of her own wander the streets and murder - no, eat - innocent women. ( Carefully, because he knows how it sounds, and he knows who he has been. ) I don't think a deal should be made with someone like that.

( He doesn't think a deal should be made with someone like him. But if he had his way nowadays he would have the Ghost Valley shut and silenced, and if he could go back he would not have freed them in the first place. )

Better that we keep her undead leashed, but unfortunately that is not how everyone else thinks.

Are you drinking without me?

[ He demands as soon as Wen Kexing pauses for air, indignant. He'll get to the information in a moment, but he's still processing it, turning it over in his mind. There were certain things in Wen Kexing's voice that he wants to poke at, but that'll be best when he can sit across from him and see his expressions as well. Meanwhile, Zishu chooses to focus on the more immediate thing--a very familiar sound of an uncorking bottle. ]

( There is a beat, and then a warm cackle of laughter. )

Ah-Xu! ( It is very hard to muffle the delight in his voice as it shifts, the sun coming out through the clouds. ) I'm pouring you a cup!

If a cup is all that's left by the time I arrive, Lao Wen, you're finding new lodgings for the night.

I am literally in a drinking establishment right now.

( Maybe he'll leave him just the cup for the fun of it. )

Do you think I'll have it run dry by the time you get here? Have you slowed down significantly in the last few months, Ah-Xu?

Bite your tongue.

[ And Wen Kexing hears it from both his device and his window, Zhou Zishu slipping soundlessly in. ]

Don't insult me.

( His smile goes wide, eager as he tosses his device down, angling the bottle Zhou Zishu's way. )

You started it.

Just because we haven't fought in a while does t mean I'm not more than a match for you.

[ he takes the bottle, tipping a large mouthful down his throat. ]

What are you working on, hm?

Oh, can we?

( The promise of a good fight, of fighting Zhou Zishu specifically, lights up something inside of Wen Kexing. There's an eager hunger there that has lurked since the very beginning in the orchard, the bright knowledge that someone else is his match. ) Obviously, not right now. As there is wine, but fight me, Ah-Xu.

( Giddy, a handful of the other man's robes snatched and tugged upon, a child begging for sweets before he goes back to the terribly boring task of paperwork. )

Mm. More demands from idiots, mostly. You introduce rights for whores and suddenly everyone's in your business.

[ He chuckles, passing a hand absently over Wen Kexing's hair. ]

I'll fight you after you've finished your work.

[ Leaning over Wen Kexing, he picks up some of the papers to look over. Wen Kexing will tell him, if he minds, but Zhou Zishu rather doubts he'll mind too much. ]

You're quite popular with the business owners, hm? Does this have to do with the situation at hand?

( He barely conceals the shiver that touch sends through his body, eyelashes drooping a little. It means he takes a moment to respond, startled into silence, an almost hungry gaze darting to Zhou Zishu and then back. )

Ah, not all? Some of it is just complaints about the things I've put in place. Guards to the doors and the halls, upping the price of the women and the wine, days off. ( He reaches out, offers Zhou Zishu a hastily scrawled missive that outlines just how much of a bastard Wen Kexing is for banning some local guard, grin sharp. ) The senator I'm meant to be working for doesn't seem to care much of what I do, as long as I keep the whores happy and the wine free of poisons, so I've just been doing what I want. I wasn't going to get involved, but -. Well, I could only imagine how cross Gu Xiang would be with me if I let any of the girls be harmed, so.

( It has nothing to do with his bleeding heart, no. )

Some of it is to do with the other business though. You and I know just how much can be done under the cover of sin, though I'm not exactly impartial so I don't know what they hope to achieve.

Tragicomic Ghost would be rather displeased too, I imagine.

[ He says it absently, reading over the papers he's just been handed. It's odd, to look at something and know he shouldn't be able to read the language, and yet still process it as easily as if it's neatly written out in careful calligraphy. ]

Do you need a spy or a guard, Lao Wen?

( There it is again, that stiffening of his shoulders, startled by Zhou Zishu's easy mentioning of Ghost Valley and it's inhabitants. )

I'm not scared of Luo-yi.

( ... Maybe ... )

When have I ever needed either? You shouldn't be worrying about all of this, Ah-Xu. It isn't important. ( It's the state of affairs in a place that's keeping them, he knows his attitude won't stick. Then, more carefully. ) If I knew the right way of things I'd tell you. But my opinion isn't that of the majority, I also haven't been here long enough. I just know what I think should matter. I could be wrong.

If it matters to you, it's important. Besides, it'd look terrible for you if I were to do nothing but drink all day. I may as well spend my time being productive.

[ And doing what Wen Kexing needs done is a very productive use of his time, in his opinion. ]

When have I ever cared about what the majority thinks?

I wouldn't care how it would look, you should do what you want.

( Oh, Wen Kexing would absolutely nag and bitch if he did spend his time drinking, but that's just because it's a Thing. He likes acting like a harried housewife. It makes him feel better.

But he's silent, for a beat, and then. )

I don't think we should trust Messalina, but I don't know if I'm wrong about that. I could be. There are people out there who believe siding with her is our best bet at getting home, and a part of me wonders if I should just ignore how I feel and agree. ( He rubs at his temples, weary. ) I don't have the head for politics, we both know that.

[ He thinks about this, propping his hip on the edge of the table and setting the papers in his hand down to pick up another set, reading over them. ]

What can she do for us, if she's trying to secure the proper rights for the undead? The dead are dead, no matter our regrets. Where is she getting them from, anyway?

[ Zhou Zishu shakes his head. ]

No, I believe you're right. Protecting the living should be the priority.

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