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]

Nie Huaisang gracefully lowers himself onto the ground, patting Pagan’s arm as he takes an exploratory step into the hut. It’s cozy, far removed from his or Pagan’s palaces, and he finds that he actually finds it charming.

He sits down in front of the table, looking for the chopsticks or spoon to eat the food before he remembers he needs to eat with his fingers.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan can't help a little bit of a smile as he joins him and reaches around the bowl of lentil soup to bring it up and drink. "Try the beer," he tells him. "It's my favorite."

[threedontknows]

“You’d better not be trying to get me drunk,” he says, going for the beer with a smile. “I’m not as weak as I look.”

He takes a sip and decides Pagan’s absolutely right - it’s delicious. He takes another sip and then eagerly has another bite, enjoying the meal with quiet little hums. “Do you have cooks in your home that make this?”

[crab_rangoon]

"Why would I get you drunk, Nie Huaisang?" he wonders, leaning forward as he reaches for the curry. "And of course I do. I hire them for a season, then pay them enough to no longer need me. And then I get new ones."

He places the curry on his tongue and sucks his thumb into his mouth.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang watches with a shrewd and rather pleased expression on his face. It’s easier now, allowing himself to flirt with Min Pagan like this, being himself for a change and not wearing the mask. He’s in the middle of nowhere - there’s no one to fool out here, no one to foil his plans or be manipulated for an end. Just this meal now, in this hut, with an old friend.

[crab_rangoon]

"If you want your own bed to sleep in, I can arrange for it," he tells him with a sly sort of smile, picking up the rice beer.

[threedontknows]

He shakes his head. “I think I can rough it for the night. It’ll be like back when I was a student.”

He smiles casually, looking at him across the table with half-lidded eyes. No act, just admiration. He finally looks his age.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan breathes in deeply, another bite of curry and sits back. "Come and sit closer to me. It's warmer here by the fire and the nights get dreadfully cold."

[threedontknows]

Now that Pagan mentions it, he is starting to feel a little cold. He picks up his mug of tea and moves to the other side of the table, sitting close to Pagan to take advantage of the warmth provided.

“This was one of the better trips I’ve had,” he remarks. If not the best since the death of his Da-ge.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan nods at that. "And it's only been a single day," he reminds him. "We arrived here just last night. And here we are in a foreign land."

[threedontknows]

“Anonymous,” he adds, smiling. “At least, it’s that way for me. I don’t have to be Nie here. There’s something very appealing about that.”

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan finishes off his wine. "Oh? And who do you want to be?"

[threedontknows]

He quiets, swirling his drink in his cup. Who would he want to be if he’d been given the choice? An artist, maybe? Someone that keeps birds? A true gentleman, instead of a pretender?

“A-Sang,” he says simply. He’d choose to be himself, his real self.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan's smile is subtle. "Yes," he says with a nod. "Yes, I'd like that for you. That's what you can be here. Right now, in this moment. We're so far away from home, your home, that you might as well no longer exist."

[threedontknows]

Would he want to be a nobody? Yes, maybe that’s exactly what he’s needed this entire time. Never the baby brother, never a sect heir or grieving, bumbling leader. Just A-Sang, a nobody.

He sips the tea again thoughtfully. “At least for an evening.”

[crab_rangoon]

"Then finish your meal and be yourself," he says with a smile. He drains the beer and the tea next, feeling full and happy with the meal.

[threedontknows]

He laughs to himself and leans forward to do exactly that, enjoying the food while it’s still warm. He keeps the beer for last, finishing off his final sip only when there’s one perfect mouthful of food left.

He groans happily as he sets the empty cup onto the table.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan laughs, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. "Well, shall we retire for the evening?" He can hear the wind picking up outside.

"I think it might snow tonight."

[threedontknows]

He leans back onto his arms, listening to the wind start its howling outside. The mountain wind isn't strange to Huaisang, but this does seem a bit more vicious than what he's used to.

"I'm going to be cold," he says with a quiet huff.

[crab_rangoon]

"You won't." He stands and opens a trunk nearby, pulling out two outfits made of the same thin material as what they're wearing, but they're much looser. "Wear these. And we have plenty of furs to put over ourselves. It does mean that we will need to share the bed, Xiao Nie."

[threedontknows]

"Of course we're going to need to share the bed," he replies. He stands up with a quiet, put-upon sigh that's clearly exaggerating because it tickles him. He starts undressing, considering briefly putting on a show until he actually feeling the chill on his skin. He yelps softly and quickly strips down and redresses himself in the looser clothes.

[crab_rangoon]

He snorts. "You can sleep on the floor. You're in my room, you know." He watches him dress in amusement before he does the same, bringing the furs and lying them over the bed.

[threedontknows]

“You wouldn’t make your strongest ally sleep on the floor. That would disrespect the ghost of my father.”

He sets his fan and talisman paper down onto the table and picks up a corner of the furs to help Min Pagan arrange the bed.

[crab_rangoon]

"The things I've done to disrespect your father number in the thousands," he remarks with a playful sort of laugh, retrieving the second set of furs just as the wind picks up. "Get in. Tell me if it's warm enough."

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang quickly picks up on the implications of that, and wrinkles his nose. He's smart enough to keep his mouth shut though and does as Pagan says, crawling into the furs and immediately feeling that all-encompassing warmth. It's perfect, though in true Nie Huaisang fashion he lets out a little shiver. "Could be warmer."