openmisc | Pagan/Huaisang

"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."

"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."

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?”

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

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

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

"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."

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."

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.

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."

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."

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

"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.

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

"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?"

"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."

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."

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

"Keep up."

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.

Pagan laughs. "You are the one who is walking off in a huff," he reminds him, leaning against a nearby tree. "So you must suffer the wrath of it."

Nie Huaisang crosses a leg over a knee. He smooths his hands over his trousers and smiles primly. "I don't suffer. I can pay people to do that for me."

He pauses. There's a slight sound that echoes over his shoulder, but he doesn't think anything of it. There could be any manner of beasts in this place.

"I'm certain you - " He hears it, too, and turns, tilting his head. He doesn't hear that sound in this place very often. In fact, he can't remember hearing it at all.

"A-Sang," he mutters, gripping the other man's shirt.

The worry in Min Pagan's expression is worrying, and usually any sort of danger would lead to the typical Nie Huaisang panicked coward act, which typically threw most people off and led to them completely disregarding him. He never really concerned himself with actual danger; either the people around him would step in to save him, or he'd cleverly find a way to stay out of the crossfire.

But he doesn't want to act today. For whatever reason, and maybe it's Pagan's very firm insistence that he sees right through the mask, he decides that maybe a different Nie Huaisang can come out to play.

He hears the noise again, a growl this time, and stands up. He's far shorter than Pagan, but he doesn't try to hide behind him, rather choosing to stand side-by-side. "What is that?"

"Tiger, but - " He cocks his head to the side. "Her cubs, too."

Which means they are well and truly fucked. Pagan can easily defeat the fierce corpses that showed up at his doorstep.

An angry mother tigress and potential mate are far more deadly.

A tiger and her cubs - that's not the most encouraging answer. Nie Huaisang squares his jaw, the nerves finding him, and reaches for Pagan's arm.

"We could run, but she might give chase." And then they'd be even more fucked.

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