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]

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."

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan reaches over and brushes his fingers along his cheek just before he slips into bed with him. "Better?"

[threedontknows]

He shivers again, though not from the cold, and waits with baited breath for Pagan to get into the bed with him. He bunches the furs around his shoulder and peers across the bed at him, nodding slowly. "Better," he says quietly, and inches forward.

"Help me with the braids in my hair?" he asks, turning over to let Pagan have access to the piled braids pinned to his head.

[crab_rangoon]

"Are you certain?"

He raises his eyebrows a little. He knows the significance of those braids, and he won't touch them unless Huaisang truly does want him to.

[threedontknows]

He sits up slowly, loose-fitting tunic sliding off one shoulder. He nods; he can’t sleep with his hair pinned to his head, and more importantly, he wants him to.

He turns again and waits patiently. “Just try not to lose the pins. They’re made of jade.”

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan reaches up to undo the plaits, deft fingers along each one of them, pulling the pins out and setting them delicately to the side, on a low table beside them. "I'll get you ones made of ivory," he murmurs.

[threedontknows]

“Ivory,” repeats Nie Huaisang, closing his eyes as he feels Pagan’s fingers in his hair. He hasn’t had someone braid his hair since Mingjue.

“Do you intend to keep spoiling me? Showering me with lovely gifts?”