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( 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. ]

Good for fishing.

( Look at your wife, he's adaptable! )

Less wine though, you'd have never survived.

Wine is very important.

Don't worry, I'll keep you well in your cups.

( The flash of a grin. )

At least the paperwork has it's uses. No one cares if I liberate the stock as long as I do what I'm here for.

It's yours, after all. So that makes it mine as well.

( He props his chin in the palm of his hand, eyeing Zhou Zishu. There's something different about the little dance they do, and it makes something go warm and enchanted in his stomach. Nervous, too. )

I suppose it does.

( A smile, softer than his usual mischievous ones. He's just so glad the other man is here, that they have each other now. )

[ He glances over, catching that look on Wen Kexing's face, and hurriedly raises the bottle to take another drink. Under that sort of gaze, his ears go pink. ]

( Oh?

Oh!

That's cute. He wonders if the reaction is new. Certainly any time Zhou Zishu has been flustered by him before he's reacted with far more angry bluster than this cute little display. It leaves Wen Kexing insanely jealous of the future him, which feels silly but he can't help it. That version of him knows what all of this means, knows how far he can go. Still, he lets Zhou Zishu off the proverbial hook, waving a hand. )

All right, help me get through this and we can abscond early. I can show you around. Or we can go downstairs and drink to our heart's content, who's going to stop us!

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