lonelydream | INBOX (for eastbound)

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.

You're very smart, Ah-Xu.

( He's strangely glad his worries are shared here, that he hadn't become all tangled up in his own head bad enough that he'd been making the wrong choice. It's very possible they're all wrong choices, but. He takes his wine, staring at the depths of his cup.

And then, seemingly apropos of nothing but also very much not -. )

You can't pretend to be the right choice if you let go of the monster's leash. Messalina holds herself responsible for the undead, therefore it's crimes are hers. I don't think we should forget that.

Stop.

[ His voice is quiet but sharp, a whip-crack that makes it abundantly clear just how he managed to hold so many men under his control. ]

You are not her.

( He looks up, startled, and then pulls a face. )

Aren't I? How many people are dead because of me, Ah-Xu? ( He set the ghosts out for a reason, to sow the seeds of chaos, to upheave the Jianghu. There would have been other ways to uproot his enemy, he's sure of it, but he had chosen the bloodiest, the cruellest. He had wanted the mayhem with a viciousness that clings even now, that desperate need to watch everything fall apart. Even after months and trying to rebuild himself he still craves it. He isn't a good man, not by a long shot. )

I can sit here and be appalled that someone else's monster has killed women and yet - I opened the door to men like Lovelace. I knew what I was doing, I knew what might happen. Your silly little disciple is an orphan, and that's my fault too. ( He knocks back the wine, the guilt acidic in his belly, but he keeps his voice impassive. ) I should have killed all the Devils when I had a chance, but I didn't. Because I needed them. So it makes me wonder what Messalina needs with her hers. That's all.

[ Zhou Zishu has, unfortunately, never been very good at comfort. He thinks too logically for that, most of the time, and is not quite compassionate enough, and right now, faced with Wen Kexing's pain, he feels it acutely. Reaching out, he takes the wine from Wen Kexing's hand and sets it on the table. ]

Lao Wen.

[ He says it softly, then, and then more gently: ]

Lao Wen. Philanthropist Wen. Would your stance change if you thought Messalina's goals were noble? If it turns out she is doing this for some greater good?

[ Zhou Zishu is not a good man. He's cold, ruthless, and though he regrets the innocent lives lost in the machinations of powerful men, he knows he would make all the same choices, do the same things. Wen Kexing is different though, ruthless as he may be, and Zishu loves that about him. ]

Maybe.

( A flicker of something, a frown. He looks at Zhou Zishu - or rather, his chin, not quite daring to meet his eyes. ) I might even sympathise with her, if I thought about it too for too long. I don't know, Ah-Xu.

( He is always ensnaring himself in his own thoughts. )

It made me angry, the first time I heard about it. It's entirely possibly I've reacted when I shouldn't. But they're making us choose either way. I don't know if we have the option to abstain. And I've - ( There, slightly shifty. ) - well, I may have pushed my weight around a bit with a senator. I'm involved, but you don't have to be.

If you're involved, I'm involved.

[ Said as though it's just simple fact--because it is. ]

Don't twist yourself up into knots about it. Ultimately, what happens will happen. If things go poorly... There are other ways to solve those problems as well.

( The relief that follows is surprising, Wen Kexing suddenly aware of a lack of anxiety he hadn't realised he was holding. )

If you find you disagree with me then tell me, mm? You've more a head for these kind of things. ( From what he knows of Zhou Zishu's time before him, anyway. It's not much, but with that and the growing up in a sect maybe he has more of a handle on things that Wen Kexing cannot comprehend. ) We can argue about it, it'll be fun.

Either way, until we get out of Ephes we're beholden to all the nonsense. I almost miss the jungle. No one was giving speeches there.

The...jungle.

[ That sounds sticky and gross, and while Zishu is perfectly fine being muddy, sweaty, and dusty if he needs to be, he does also like being able to clean off at the end of the day if it's possible. ]

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