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

[crab_rangoon]

"It wouldn't be the first time I have been trapped in a room. At least you are pleasant company," he laughs.

But he will follow him up, saying not another word about it.

[threedontknows]

“That sounds like a story,” Nie Huaisang laughs, grabbing onto Min Pagan so he can stumble up the stairs with him. It’s not an act, he’s feeling fairly drunk and unstable on his feet.

The room is in the corner of the tavern, small but still spacious enough.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan follows him in, laughing as they stumble into the room. "There's no story. I often find myself alone with beautiful people. Usually it's simply a mirror," he laughs, leaning back against the desk.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang groans and immediately makes his way to the bed and flops down on it. "I'm not going to laugh at that. You have all of your court and advisors and friends to do that for you."

[crab_rangoon]

"I don't have advisors who laugh at my terrible jokes," he points out. "If they did, they would be terrible advisors."

He doesn't say anything about his friends, though.

He only has a few, but they all have the same terrible sense of humor.

"You simply have no sense of humor."

[threedontknows]

“Likely story,” replies Nie Huaisang, waving his hand dismissively. “I have a wonderful sense of humor. A better sense of humor than my brother or my father ever did!”

It’s his mother’s doing, he’s sure of that. From what he can tell the severity was passed through his father’s lineage, the Nie ancestors.

[crab_rangoon]

"Now that is the truth," he laughs, coming over to sit on the bed with a grin. "They never understood nor enjoyed my jokes, either. It's a shame that you don't."

He smiles to himself, stretching his legs out.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang sits up with a little happy wobble. "Maybe just that joke. You could tell another and I might laugh!"

[crab_rangoon]

He places a hand to his heart. "Oh no. You have wounded me. I fear I may never tell another joke again. Now look what you've done."

He is very drunk.

[threedontknows]

"You're going to let a younger man tell you what to do? You, Min the Merciless!" He snorts and gives Min Pagan a little push, jumping up to his feet to start undressing down to his inner layer.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan looks up to him with a smile, letting him push him a little. "Ah, that is the art of compromise, Xiao Nie."

He threads his fingers through his hair, watching him a moment before he has the decency to avert his eyes.

[threedontknows]

“I know all about that,” he says with a wink. He folds his clothes and then sits down beside Pagan on the bed, clad just in his inner robes and trousers. “You can compromise to your hearts content if you don’t make a decision on anything.”

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan leans over and trails his fingers along the sleeves of his robes. "I have something for you. Next time," he mutters, as if reminding himself.

"Is that your game?" he asks after a long moment.

[threedontknows]

He looks down at Min Pagan's hand, his face not his typical mask of wide-eyed disbelief. He's a little too drunk, a little too intrigued to fully play the part of naive fool.

He has something for him. It must be something fine, like clothes. Secretly he hopes the next time would come sooner rather than later, and he doesn't think it's just about the gift alone.

"It's not a game if I don't know," he tells him.

[crab_rangoon]

"Everyone always underestimated you, you know. Even you. You were your biggest fucking obstacle."

He stands up, shedding his own outer robe, letting it hang over the desk.

[threedontknows]

He laughs quietly. He doesn't like how close Min Pagan is to seeing him. He knows it's just by virtue of having known his family for so long, but it still makes him feel bare.

"I'm still weak when it comes to cultivation and martial arts. No one looks twice at me."

[crab_rangoon]

"Mm, that's because they only think strength is physical," he points out. "But you know better. I know better."

[threedontknows]

"Well...it's not not physical too," Nie Huaisang laughs, pulling off his boots and bringing his feet up onto the bed. "Just look at my father, and Da-ge."

[crab_rangoon]

And Huaisang is the one still alive.

Pagan doesn't say it, but there's a pause in how he turns around, how he looks at him, and then shrugs. "Go to sleep, A-Sang," he mutters. "You're drunk and so am I and we cannot make good decisions."

[threedontknows]

Good decisions? Nie Huaisang looks at him with big, round eyes, hair falling over his shoulder as he twists slightly. He knows exactly what he’s doing, but he needs to look innocent here, like he has absolutely no clue what Min Pagan means.

He remembers the rumors about the Min Sect Leader and his brother. Hell, he knows the rumors about his father and Min Pagan. Is he implying that they might fall in bed together too?

It’s not like Nie Huaisang hasn’t thought about it.

“What kind of decisions do you mean?”

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan doesn't fall for it. He's not quite sure what the issue is, what the actual story is, but this act, and he's certain it's an act, isn't working on him any longer.

But he grins.

"Nothing, never mind. Go to bed."

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang lays down with a quiet laugh. He burrows down into the blankets, leaving plenty of room for Min Pagan to settle into the empty space beside him.

Two sect leaders don't need to wish each other goodnight, so Nie Huaisang doesn't. He just closes his eyes and lets himself drift off to sleep.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan settles down beside him, but he also doesn't wish him goodnight. He simply stares up at the ceiling for a while, counting his breathing, counting Huaisang's. He doesn't sleep well, his mind still reeling from the drink, but when he finally does doze, it's fitful, enough that he wakes early and goes downstairs to wait on Huaisang.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang sleeps unusually hard with Min Pagan sharing his bed, so much so he wakes up slightly confused and frazzled. When he looks back on it later he'll realize it was being away from Da-ge's body, all that negative energy, that allowed him to sleep so well. But that morning he's confused, though well-rested, mask back on when he heads downstairs to meet with Min Pagan.

"You left me!"

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan recognizes the mask and puts one on himself.

"Ah! You snore," he says, waving a hand. "Good to see you up bright and early, though. Are you ready to depart?"