[The pressure earns a soft hiss, and his brows furrow.]
I... [It's a different reason entirely why his jaw clenches.] I don't know. I was chasing the one who escaped. I assume he did what he thought was best. They did try to attack us.
It's fine. I'll handle it with Xie Lian.
[AKA he will take the fall for Sephiroth....... Very Jiang Cheng of him.]
[Carefully, he shifts, taking up another, straighter position to get ready for when she continues with her work.]
I know he isn't a fan of lives being lost so carelessly. Not when he could have found more information.
[A frown creases his lips, his eyes low and thoughtfully looking through their legs and the floor.]
They're selling them. It's the only reason they'd do this--the money. The ones clinging to tradition. The ones not satisfied with how Xian Lian is running things. [He looks up again.] I don't think the ones trafficking people are the same as what happened at the auction. It was all of ours being changed, not just Xie Lian's.
He isn't, but it sounds like you're trying to cover for Sephiroth. You shouldn't have to.
[ She repeats that he shouldn't have to for emphasis.
When she's sure most of the bleeding is staunched, she works on cleaning all the blood up and disinfecting his wound before dressing it. She notices how he's not looking at her, and it's this confirmation that Xian Le does have some part in all this that she stops, bandage roll still in her hands, and takes a full step back from him. ]
... I heard it was outsiders doing the kidnapping despite the rumors. [ It's like a switch flips, and the usual warmth in her bedside manner becomes more clinical as she goes back to wrapping his shoulder in gauze. ] I knew there were a lot of Xian Le unhappy, but for them to go to so far as to commit atrocities, to cross that line— [ It's hard for her tamp down on her anger right now, but she shifts her focus on Jiang Cheng and treating him. It's important he doesn't suffer more, that he doesn't get infected, that he can heal.
He can feel her fingers curl into a fist against his skin before they move again. ]
I don't know if I can rule out their responsibility for the auction so soon. They could be doing it as a diversion or a distraction. If they're out for money more than anything else.... It makes me sick.
There could have been some others. Maybe he didn't--maybe some escaped, too. I didn't... question his judgment. They rushed in to attack us. [He knows Xie Lian would be disappointed in them, but:] I probably would have done the same thing. [He's sure his anger would get the better of him.
He had already been angry just chasing the man who fled from them. In sick glee, he was grateful when he came back to Sephiroth and saw them. Now he's a bit ashamed.]
I'll tell him.
[He glances up, lips pulling thin to match the crease to his brows when she starts working.] We dismissed two men from Xie Lian's old estate. They were guards. They--nn--had been discussing rumors of Xie Lian not caring about the people of Westside anymore. They didn't like how Westside was changing. Without the mayor-- [Not to toss up Xie Lian's parent's dirt.] --they're afraid of becoming destitute.
If you had done the same thing, I would tell you to be honest about it.
[ If Shinobu were against all murder, she would have never joined a mafia family. Anger is something she knows well. She won't excuse it, and she won't excuse whatever Jiang Cheng may be feeling or thinking, but he doesn't need to justify someone else's actions as his own. ]
You should stand Xie Lian's judgment for what you've done, whatever it is, not what other people have done. For letting that man go or for taking a life, whatever it is. He'd be happier knowing the truth even if the truth saddens him.
[ She steps back after bandaging him. ]
They're so afraid they'd stoop so low and make enemies of us and everyone just so they can stay rich. [ She sounds so sweet but so cold. ] If they're gaining so much dirty money, they need to repay all the families they've torn about for their own good.
[Her words are honest and right, but they still make his brows lower over his eyes, and he glances away. Both lips remain thin and together for a while.]
It will just keep building. But Xie Lian is already restless because he thinks he can't go out. That he's confined. If we're not wary, he'll be next.
[Which is to say, Jiang Cheng doesn't know what to do except be a bit harder on Xie Lian's whereabouts and his curfews. He hates it, being so restrictive, but he worries so much about something happening to Xie Lian like it did Xie Lian's parents, the mayor. In the end, he'll have to be the one Xie Lian hates the most, the rule overseer.
In the end, he wonders, if truly everyone is going to leave him standing on the Xian Le side alone.]
She considers for a few moments what to say. It's not like they both don't know what Xie Lian is like, how he prefers to take care of so much, shoulder all of it even when he shouldn't. ]
You should always be cautious, but I worry if he starts to feel too confined he'll act out. [ Give his bodyguards the slip. It'll be easier now that both he and Ookurikara are injured. ] I'd suggest giving him a little freedom every once in a while. He shouldn't do everything, but he can't do nothing. That would be better for him and the Xian Le in the long run. He needs to be able to grow stronger.
[ He needs to be kept from running wild everywhere, but they need to show he can do Something.
She keeps her voice gentle. ]
You need to let him. If we stay afraid, we'll only let the dissenters win. I believe you'll keep him safe.
He can't believe he's trying to do the right thing and executing it badly, that Kara and Shinobu both are giving him an earful about it. He hates, worse, seeing Xie Lian's soft and tightly smiling face, saying he wants to do something, he wants to get out.]
If something happens to him... [He bites back the rest of the words, not even wanting to hear them spoken. He doesn't know what he'd do. He'd hate himself. He'd never forgive himself.] I'll... think about it.
[He glances at Shinobu, and then quickly away to his shoulder.]
Just dig it out already. [A pause.] Do you have any alcohol? [Another pause.] The kind you drink.
She's worried, thinking about what will happen after she makes her announcement. Will he double down once she's not around as much? She wants Jiang Cheng to grow, too, with Xie Lian. She wants the whole family to grow into something they all can be proud of—not this sad and struggling core with crumbling edges of depravity that need to be cut off or stomped back into shape. ]
A flower needs sunlight to live, as do we. [ She could make a joke about poisoning him here, but she has enough mercy and compassion in her to get him a shot of vodka. She's not really a vodka person, but it has one of the highest proof, and sometimes, that's what you need. ]
[Don't proverb him. His lips pull thin, but he doesn't say anything to the wisdom, mostly because he knows she's not wrong.]
No. [It's stern, but not angry. There's something... He doesn't know what it is actually, though he doesn't take any time to think about it either. Something about... being asleep, about being asleep and having things... dug out? Whatever it is, it makes his skin crawl.] I want to be awake.
[ He's the patient, and if he wants to endure it, that's his right.
She fetches him vodka and pours him a tea cup full of it. All her medical tools are at the ready, so it's really up to him to indicate when he wants to endure that kind of pain. ]
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no subject
I... [It's a different reason entirely why his jaw clenches.] I don't know. I was chasing the one who escaped. I assume he did what he thought was best. They did try to attack us.
It's fine. I'll handle it with Xie Lian.
[AKA he will take the fall for Sephiroth....... Very Jiang Cheng of him.]
no subject
You shouldn't have to. It should be fine if you're honest about what happened.
[ She doesn't see why he should lie about it. ]
no subject
I know he isn't a fan of lives being lost so carelessly. Not when he could have found more information.
[A frown creases his lips, his eyes low and thoughtfully looking through their legs and the floor.]
They're selling them. It's the only reason they'd do this--the money. The ones clinging to tradition. The ones not satisfied with how Xian Lian is running things. [He looks up again.] I don't think the ones trafficking people are the same as what happened at the auction. It was all of ours being changed, not just Xie Lian's.
no subject
[ She repeats that he shouldn't have to for emphasis.
When she's sure most of the bleeding is staunched, she works on cleaning all the blood up and disinfecting his wound before dressing it. She notices how he's not looking at her, and it's this confirmation that Xian Le does have some part in all this that she stops, bandage roll still in her hands, and takes a full step back from him. ]
... I heard it was outsiders doing the kidnapping despite the rumors. [ It's like a switch flips, and the usual warmth in her bedside manner becomes more clinical as she goes back to wrapping his shoulder in gauze. ] I knew there were a lot of Xian Le unhappy, but for them to go to so far as to commit atrocities, to cross that line— [ It's hard for her tamp down on her anger right now, but she shifts her focus on Jiang Cheng and treating him. It's important he doesn't suffer more, that he doesn't get infected, that he can heal.
He can feel her fingers curl into a fist against his skin before they move again. ]
I don't know if I can rule out their responsibility for the auction so soon. They could be doing it as a diversion or a distraction. If they're out for money more than anything else.... It makes me sick.
no subject
He had already been angry just chasing the man who fled from them. In sick glee, he was grateful when he came back to Sephiroth and saw them. Now he's a bit ashamed.]
I'll tell him.
[He glances up, lips pulling thin to match the crease to his brows when she starts working.] We dismissed two men from Xie Lian's old estate. They were guards. They--nn--had been discussing rumors of Xie Lian not caring about the people of Westside anymore. They didn't like how Westside was changing. Without the mayor-- [Not to toss up Xie Lian's parent's dirt.] --they're afraid of becoming destitute.
no subject
[ If Shinobu were against all murder, she would have never joined a mafia family. Anger is something she knows well. She won't excuse it, and she won't excuse whatever Jiang Cheng may be feeling or thinking, but he doesn't need to justify someone else's actions as his own. ]
You should stand Xie Lian's judgment for what you've done, whatever it is, not what other people have done. For letting that man go or for taking a life, whatever it is. He'd be happier knowing the truth even if the truth saddens him.
[ She steps back after bandaging him. ]
They're so afraid they'd stoop so low and make enemies of us and everyone just so they can stay rich. [ She sounds so sweet but so cold. ] If they're gaining so much dirty money, they need to repay all the families they've torn about for their own good.
[ Reparations are in order. ]
no subject
It will just keep building. But Xie Lian is already restless because he thinks he can't go out. That he's confined. If we're not wary, he'll be next.
[Which is to say, Jiang Cheng doesn't know what to do except be a bit harder on Xie Lian's whereabouts and his curfews. He hates it, being so restrictive, but he worries so much about something happening to Xie Lian like it did Xie Lian's parents, the mayor. In the end, he'll have to be the one Xie Lian hates the most, the rule overseer.
In the end, he wonders, if truly everyone is going to leave him standing on the Xian Le side alone.]
no subject
She considers for a few moments what to say. It's not like they both don't know what Xie Lian is like, how he prefers to take care of so much, shoulder all of it even when he shouldn't. ]
You should always be cautious, but I worry if he starts to feel too confined he'll act out. [ Give his bodyguards the slip. It'll be easier now that both he and Ookurikara are injured. ] I'd suggest giving him a little freedom every once in a while. He shouldn't do everything, but he can't do nothing. That would be better for him and the Xian Le in the long run. He needs to be able to grow stronger.
[ He needs to be kept from running wild everywhere, but they need to show he can do Something.
She keeps her voice gentle. ]
You need to let him. If we stay afraid, we'll only let the dissenters win. I believe you'll keep him safe.
no subject
He can't believe he's trying to do the right thing and executing it badly, that Kara and Shinobu both are giving him an earful about it. He hates, worse, seeing Xie Lian's soft and tightly smiling face, saying he wants to do something, he wants to get out.]
If something happens to him... [He bites back the rest of the words, not even wanting to hear them spoken. He doesn't know what he'd do. He'd hate himself. He'd never forgive himself.] I'll... think about it.
[He glances at Shinobu, and then quickly away to his shoulder.]
Just dig it out already. [A pause.] Do you have any alcohol? [Another pause.] The kind you drink.
no subject
She's worried, thinking about what will happen after she makes her announcement. Will he double down once she's not around as much? She wants Jiang Cheng to grow, too, with Xie Lian. She wants the whole family to grow into something they all can be proud of—not this sad and struggling core with crumbling edges of depravity that need to be cut off or stomped back into shape. ]
A flower needs sunlight to live, as do we. [ She could make a joke about poisoning him here, but she has enough mercy and compassion in her to get him a shot of vodka. She's not really a vodka person, but it has one of the highest proof, and sometimes, that's what you need. ]
Are you sure? We can do this with you asleep.
no subject
No. [It's stern, but not angry. There's something... He doesn't know what it is actually, though he doesn't take any time to think about it either. Something about... being asleep, about being asleep and having things... dug out? Whatever it is, it makes his skin crawl.] I want to be awake.
Just give me some alcohol, and I can take it.
no subject
[ He's the patient, and if he wants to endure it, that's his right.
She fetches him vodka and pours him a tea cup full of it. All her medical tools are at the ready, so it's really up to him to indicate when he wants to endure that kind of pain. ]