openmisc | Pagan/Huaisang

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.

Shu Biyu is a good servant, well-mannered and refined, and with Nie Huaisang's permission fully allowed to play host instead of just help. He leaves the two of them to their flirtations and heads back to the Nie family chambers, quiet as he walks with his fan through the empty rooms - his father's, his brother's, and then finally his own.

He steps inside and seals the room with a signal drawn on the doorway, leaving behind the high, splendid walls of the Nie's family wing and entering his own room. What was once airy and light has become dark and littered with talismans; there's an overwhelming feeling of dark energy emanating from a floorboard in the middle of the room. Nie Huaisang's youthful, cheerful face becomes gaunt and serious. He leaves the floorboard untouched, walking quickly around it and to his stacks of books, where he sits and reads for hours and hours.

But Da-ge is restless tonight, and Nie Huaisang finds that his mouth has begun to bleed after sitting so long with the fierce corpse. He leaves the oppressive rooms and takes the air, gasping softly as he tries to fill his lungs and clear the yang energy from his golden core.

Pagan rounds on the sound of someone stepping out, hoping against hope that it's not some sort of emergency that he has to try and take care of. Honestly, that isn't the sort of thing he wants to do while on a holiday of sorts.

He frowns when he recognizes the slight form and rushes over, arms outstretched.

"What's happened?" he asks, immediately looking for a foe.

Nie Huaisang's looks equally as startled, his own hands going up to strike. He isn't used to being accosted in his own gardens at this time of night, after all. He realizes the would-be assailant is Min Pagan though, and lowers his hands with wide and confused eyes.

"I--Min Zongzhu, you're out so late!"

Pagan isn't deterred. He reaches down, brushing blood from his face, and looks over his shoulder. "Tell me what's happened," he demands again, his hands squeezing his shoulders.

Nie Huaisang flinches at the touch, first the brush of blood from his lip - he'd forgotten it was there - then the hands to his shoulders. It's been so long since someone's concern has seemed so genuine to him.

"Min Zongzhu doesn't need to worry," he tells him, laughing softly, trying to put his mask back on. He was caught unawares - stupid, foolish Nie Huaisang. "I was reading and found an array I...I shouldn't have tried. It was too advanced for me."

That calms him, but only just, and there's something underneath Pagan's own mask. "If you're certain."

He looks over his shoulder again, but eventually releases him. "Well, you should see yourself off, then."

He nods, once, twice, then again. He's harried and frazzled, which isn't part of the act, though he certainly could have fainted to solidify things. "This one thanks you for your kindness and concern," he says, rushing away from him in a most undignified manner.

He doesn't stop running until he's back in his chambers, back in the oppressive air.

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