Pagan/Huaisang

[crab_rangoon]

"Ah! No, no. I don't need to send the messenger. Just let me go," he tells the guards at the gates, waving them away as he walks straight through with his sword at his side, his entourage behind him. They walks in with their white robes, though Pagan is in red and black, and he breathes in the Impure Realm. He hasn't been here since the death of the Nie clan leader, but he's been aiming to check on their newest leader. It's been a dark time for them, for all of them, but he still feels more than a twinge of affection for the boy.

Well, man. He's been a man for several years now, but it doesn't seem like anything has changed.

Still, he promised he'd continue to offer support, so he walks on, ignoring the protests of the guards.

Comments

[threedontknows]

“No more than a new outfit or a gilded sculpture,” he teases, then holds his hand out expectantly for another piece. He grins innocently.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan flips his sword over and smacks Huaisang's hand with the sheath. "Go and get your own. I showed you where the tree is." And he points.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang yelps and then pouts, big eyes wide and sad. He looks back at the tree and shakes his head. "The monkeys are nearby!"

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan's grin spreads.

"Guess you should be quick about it."

[threedontknows]

“I could get hurt,” he says, “or get my nice clothes dirty.” And that along with the fact that he wants to share what Pagan has, or it’s not any funny.

He clasps his hands behind his back and continues on stubbornly. He’s far worse than his brother or his father ever were.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan watches him in something like awe. This was the reason he had kissed him in the atrium. This exact sort of moment. He lingers for half a second before he hurries after him.

"I wouldn't let you get hurt," he points out. "But the clothes - hm. That's your problem."

[threedontknows]

"No, it would be your problem, because I would demand an equally as fine set as this." He stops and admires the fabric with a little half-turn. "I look handsome in this. It's a shame this isn't the fashion in the Jianghu. I'd quickly rise to the first position on that handsomest cultivators list."

[crab_rangoon]

"Ah, I have plenty for you, A-Sang. You simply have to ask." He points to a fork in the road and leads them to the left, along the mountain. "But you already have that position, I fear."

[threedontknows]

Oh, he doesn’t believe the flattery, but it is nice to hear. He reaches up the more tailored sleeve and produces his fan, opening it as he walks along the path.

“Did you guess my measurements, or do you have someone in your life that’s my size?”

[crab_rangoon]

"I guessed," he remarks lightly. "I have had a long time to admire you, after all."

[threedontknows]

He huffs softly and waves the fan in front of his face. "While you were seeing my brother, or after that?"

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan grins a little wickedly. "I never broke any promise or word to your brother," he says cryptically, but with that smile never changing.

[threedontknows]

"Oh, I don't doubt it, Da-ge wasn't the kind of person to take a broken oath lightly." Did Nie Mingjue know that Min Pagan wasn't just with him? Did he even care? He finds it hard to believe that he wouldn't care - but there's a lot he doesn't know about his elder brother.

"You wouldn't have a head."

[crab_rangoon]

He sucks air through his teeth. "Ah, and neither would he," he remarks lightly. "But I cared for him too much and - " He shrugs. "Well, there are some things a younger brother shouldn't know about his elder."

[threedontknows]

Both of them vicious when provoked. No wonder they got on so well. He makes a face behind his fan. "True, I don't think I want to hear any more than that." He knows they were close, that's all he needs to know.

[crab_rangoon]

He wanders up another path and grins behind him. "Good choice, A-Sang. But - you've always been different. You wouldn't have me beheaded, would you? No, no."

He continues walking, something of his true confidence shining now. "You would see me ruined, wouldn't you? You would ensure that my empire fell."

[threedontknows]

He knows that Pagan's seen him as he truly is, but it's difficult to completely drop the mask, even when called out directly.

"I could never compete with force," he says, because it's obvious and easier to admit. "Seeing my foe ruined is the only way I could ever ruin someone."

[crab_rangoon]

"Seeing them ruined and bringing them to ruin are very different things," he points out idly, pausing at the end of the path.

[threedontknows]

"And you're saying I'm capable of doing the latter." He pauses as well, idly closing his fan and tapping it against his chin.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan turns back to him, arms across his chest. "Aren't you?"

[threedontknows]

"I don't know," he says, smiling softly. Of course he's not going to give him a straight answer, he wouldn't be Nie Huaisang if he did.

"Where are we headed now?"

[crab_rangoon]

"The top of the mountain, as I said. The valley will stretch below us. I wanted you to see it. Do you need a break?" he wonders. "We can sit a while."

[threedontknows]

He taps the fan again, this time in his palm, and shakes his head. "No, I think I can keep going, as long as you're still up for it. You're an old man, after all."

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan eyes him, but if he gets too close, he's getting slapped on the wrist with the sword again.

"Keep up."

[threedontknows]

It's the third or fourth smack that finally earns Pagan a Nie Huaisang whine. "Aiya, stop hitting me! I'm not doing anything wrong!"

He huffs and stomps off the path, finding a nice rock to perch himself on top of to have a little rest.