openmisc | Pagan/Huaisang

"A few days. Your home is too beautiful to take in one day."

Pagan is, above all other things, a sentimental man. He wants to talk to Huaisang's brother, to his father, in their land.

Nie Huaisang beams, and it’s not an act. “I’ve refinished a few of our gardens and pavilions. Surely a man of Min Zongzhu‘s good taste would like to tour them personally.”

And quite honestly would love to show them off. Nie Mingjue tolerated his love for gardens and decor, but it wasn’t highly appreciated. Lan Xichen loved the gardens too, but his flattery had grown stale and unwanted since his brother’s death.

"I would, but only if my guide is sufficiently entertaining about it."

He gives Huaisang a smile. He knows exactly where his strengths are. He knows where the gardens came from.

“If there’s one thing I can do it’s host,” laughs Nie Huaisang, picking up his cup and toasting Min Pagan with a bowing of his head. He drinks after a quiet toast to his health, food bringing brought out as he sets down his cup.

“Qinghe’s famous beef,” he smiles. “Enjoy.”

"I'm venturing next to Cloud Recesses, so this is much appreciated," he smiles, giving him a bit of a private wink, but he is more than happy to enjoy.

He entertains him with talks of gossip, sharing all of the rumors he's heard in a very - deliberate way. But he's enjoying himself, enjoying this mood.

He laughs conspiratorially with him. Lan food is fine for a day or two, but after that it’s just torture. All vegetables and steamed rice and early bedtimes!

He shares gossip of his own, frivolous things with no real merit in the cultivation world. Marriages and fights and snubs at banquets - stupid things that only the Headshaker would care about.

When they finish their meal Nie Huaisang invites Min Pagan to one of his gardens for a walk.

It's the best sort of gossip, really. Pagan enjoys every moment of it, grinning through his tea and his beef.

He nods and rises, walking along with him to the gardens, his hands by his sides. "Ah, now this is something to be proud of!" he exclaims. "You have transformed this place."

Min Pagan always did have a flair for the dramatic, but he believes there some sincerity behind the platitudes. He’d appreciated his work in the gardens before, and Nie Huaisang has seen his own gardens and admired them greatly.

“You’re very kind. Do you see the lotus pond? I had a difficult time getting them to grow at this altitude.”

Pagan is over the top, loud and colorful and brash. He always has been, even as a child. Min Gang had admonished his only son for so long, believing him to be different and odd and strange. And perhaps he was. But he's grown into someone who can lead with force and confidence and a light touch.

He still appreciates the finer arts.

"I did. What did you do?"

Nie Huaisang goes into details about his plant cultivation techniques, the various ways he'd needed to set up the garden to get his lotus to flourish. He walks him through to one of the pavilions where he'd set up some fine porcelain in the windows, pointing out some of his favorite pieces.

They pass a vase that's clearly been cracked and mended, and Nie Huaisang pauses just a beat before moving on.

Pagan notices it as he notices everything, but he continues walking, his hands clasped behind him. "Ah," he nods. "I will have to pass that technique along. Or perhaps I will have you over to give the directions yourself," he teases.

"I would like to travel to the Min ancestral home," he replies with a laugh. "It's been...how long? Da-ge must have just taken over as sect leader."

"Years!" he laughs. "I have no idea how many. Enough that it's changed for the better."

He smiles to himself, remembering. Huaisang had been so young then.

"I do miss your father sometimes."

Nie Huaisang falls quiet for a moment, his fan slipping back out from his sleeve. He opens it slowly and waves it in front of his face, thinking of those last moments with his father, the same moments echoed with his brother in the end.

"I miss him too. I think about him often. I never thought...I would be the sect leader. I never imagined it."

"You were never meant to be," he says and it's not an unkind statement. It's simply fact. A sad fact. "You were to grow your plants and watch your birds. Which - reminds me. I have a gift for you when we return."

It’s true, he was never meant to be in this position. His father and his Da-ge had died too young, far too young even for a Nie clan leader. He was allowed to paint and read poetry and be a gentleman, but when his father died Nie Mingjue started feeling the pressure.

Those Nie sabers and the war had made his brother so unstable, it just wasn’t fair.

“You brought me a gift?” he smiles, quite earnestly. “Oh, I want to see it!”

"It should be arriving now, if you'd like to go and see it," he says, gesturing for Huaisang to lead the way.

Pagan loves seeing that face on him again. That's the genuine Huaisang. That's the one he knows and he appreciates the most.

“Oh, you didn’t bring it with you!” Nie Huaisang laughs and swings them right back around, back through the pavilion and through the garden. “I’m excited to see whatever it is.”

Min Pagan has great taste, and he knows Nie Huaisang well.

"Of course not," he laughs. "It's far too bulky for that. But it was behind us. Meant to be a surprise."

He keeps up with him, laughing at the thought of it, and gestures to a covered cage. "Ah, there it is. Go on, go on. I don't know what to do with the damn thing."

Oh, there’s definitely a bird in there. His eyes grow wide - this time with excitement and a little bit of awe - and runs to the cage to listen to the little chirps and cheeps under the fabric. He doesn’t know this song, what on earth could this creature be?

He pulls off the drape and gasps softly. Inside is one of the most unique and beautiful crested birds he’s ever seen. “It’s gorgeous,” he marvels, cooing at it through the bars. “You brought this just for me! It’s so wonderful, look!”

Pagan stops against a pillar and smiles. "Ah, I had it brought from a neighboring territory. They are quite common there, you see. They're called 'hoopoe,'" he says, trying to recite the name from memory.

"Hoopoe," he says, barely tripping over the strangeness of the name. He smiles brightly at the little creature. "You'll be the prize of my aviary. All the other birds will be so jealous of your plumage."

He wants very much to take the bird himself up to his aviary right now, but that's no longer something he can afford to do. He motions to a couple of his servants and instructs them to carefully bring the bird up. "And don't startle them," he adds quietly, his servants nodding seriously.

"Thank you." He turns to Min Pagan and offers another low bow. "I'll treasure it."

Pagan watches every expression, every movement, entranced by the enthusiasm he knew was waiting behind the facade. He just needed to get to it.

"I know you will, A-Sang," he says softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now, I'm very old and very tired. Have someone show me to a room."

“Oh, not that old,” Nie Huaisang laughs. “But I can’t fight tired. Let Shu Biyu show you to your chambers.”

He gestures with his hand and one of his more comely servants steps out from the shadows, smiling prettily at Min Pagan.

He knows the tastes of his clan’s ally.

Pagan sighs happily. "So clever," he laughs, but follows Shu Biyu to his room.

He doesn't sleep right away, though. He flirts and he laughs and he tosses a bit of magic around, getting out whatever information he can with a charming smile.

It's late when he finally does rest, drunk and pleased, but it's early when he wakes and finds himself in the gardens, barefoot under the moonlight.

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