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[baxiasprice]

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» Age: 22 » Species: Human Cultivator » A5 Card: Open » Seeking: Allies and those with interesting martial powers to spar with. » Preferences: N/A » Interests: Saber cultivation. Military strategy. » Bio: Sect leader of the Qinghe Nie and one of the primary generals of the Sunshot campaign. Thrust into leadership young, he has had very little life outside of that for the past three years. His seize-the-day approach applies to everything and everyone, particularly when there are mutual sparks. He especially loves to get worked up and worked out.

base code by photosynthesis

NIE MINGJUE

Comments

[illicitly]

[He hasn't faulted Mingjue for being focused on others. To say that this entire situation is awkward and uncomfortable for him is an understatement. After yesterday, Jin Guangyao forced his hand and Huaisang harbors no small amount of resentment over it. None of it is his brother's fault, though, and it makes this choice even more painful than it already was.]

I've chosen to step down from my position here. The Unclean Realm belongs to you now. ...Again.

[Despite looking like he might burst into tears at any given moment, he managed to keep his voice perfectly calm and steady. As much as he would've liked to have played the role of 'little brother' and maybe had a chance to live as a family again, he's ten years out of practice and Jin Guangyao's presence in their lives has made it clear to Huaisang that this, too, is an unattainable dream.]

[baxiasprice]

[It takes Mingjue a long moment to process that 'what's wrong' isn't necessarily something he's going to be able to hit with a saber. The moment of frozen surprise now past, he props Baxia on his shoulder and he loses his battle-ready tension. He's still alert, though, and the fact that Huaisang looks ready to cry makes his first question:]

Are you okay? [Followed swiftly by:] Why?

[illicitly]

[For a long moment, Huaisang stands there, completely frozen, hands wringing nervously - again, a very familar mannerism from his youth. His lip trembles a little at the simple question. He hadn't really thought this far into what he was going to say, only about all the places he might go after - each of them as far away as humanly possible from Jin Guangyao.]

I need a break, da ge. I've been leading for far too long.

[He's fumbling to find the words. For all his ease at lying to others, he's always hated lying to Nie Mingjue, especially about anything really important. His expression crumples and his finds himself staring down at the ground, shoulders slumping, as meek as he ever was.]

Some things... A lot of things happened and I need some time to myself for a while. I... I can't breathe in here, da ge. Not anymore. I need to go somewhere I can breathe again. At least, for a little bit.

[His eyes are wet as he says this, his face stark white. He doesn't want to leave. Leaving his brother's side is the last thing he wants but Jin Guangyao is forcing his hand. Any other choice will ultimately lead to a disruption of the peace inside these walls, maybe even further across the island. It's taking every ounce of his self-control not to just break down on the spot.]

[baxiasprice]

[Mingjue hates to see Huaisang like this, no matter what form he takes, and the urge to hunt down and destroy whatever is causing this rises steadily with every nervous gesture. Because the answer to 'why' is...not what he expected and he didn't understand it. The idea that one could lead for too long, would willingly set down the mantle when there was still work to be done, snarled in his head like a tangled skein.

But Mingjue's job had always been to shield his little brother and make sure he was prepared for whenever he was forced to take up leadership. Future-Mingjue did a shit job of preparing Hauisang, apparently, if present-Mingjue needed to start over and try again.]

You're not okay.

[He nodded, once, in acquiescence, something sharp and jagged and protective building in his chest. But he doesn't under Huaisang's fumbling words at all. His grip flexes on Baxia, and he tries to frame 'stuff happened, I need to run' into something that makes sense.]

You're injured. This is a tactical retreat.

[The words are growled out. He doesn't reach for Huaisang, even though this is his little brother looking so pale and unhappy, only because Mingjue's firmly on the 'more murdery' side of problem-solving at the moment.]

this tag wound up really long, oops

[illicitly]

[The Nie are the Nie. They have their own tells, their own language, and their own culture. Huaisang's always had an innate talent for reading people and attuning himself to their rhythm. Everyone has their own subtext, their unconscious tells and reveals. They'd been on their own for far too long after their father's death and Huaisang had sacrificed and invested too much of his own life in the aftermath of Jin Guangyao's treachery to simply turn a blind eye and pretend none of it had ever happened, no matter how much his former friend appears to want him to.

He and Jin Guangyao are former friends. How could he easily rush back into friendship with the man who'd destroyed his life and robbed him of his only family? No matter what messy feelings lingered on for the decade and more the pair have known each other or how much part of him wished to return to a time when they weren't enemies.

Huaisang's loyalty to his brother, regardless of form, will always come first. There's no way it cannot after so much blood shed and sacrifice done in his name. But he's still a man of honor and peace, a diplomat if no less ferocious than any other Nie on his battlefield of choice. As sharp and ruthless as his words might be, he'd agreed to a truce with his enemy and intends to honor it to the best of his ability.

At those words, another decision is made, his expression clearing. One that will hopefully help maintain peace in the home that he built with the help of others and only recently returned to himself.]

Yes, I am wounded. It is a tactical retreat.

[He pauses a moment, chewing his lip a moment as he figures out the best way to explain the situation to his brother that will not break the truce while appeasing his own conscience and rapidly growing fear and unease. He's clever and skilled with words, a gift honed even further in the years he's led the Qinghe Nie.]

My comrade and I took mortal blows during an ambush. He fell in battle but I survived. Still bleeding, I engaged in pursuit of the enemy alone and remained on the move for ten years. Eventually, I caught up to him and struck him down. I thought the enemy had been vanquished and the battle was over. But I have found him again in the stronghold. He claims he is no longer a threat and wishes to change but I do not believe him for his crimes are heinous. But in the interest of keeping peace from shattering into war once more... Against what I feel is my better judgment, I have chosen to give him the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to change.

[Huaisang swallows, lifting his gaze to meet Mingjue's directly in a way he'd never quite been able to manage in his youth. His eyes are filled with the tired, sorrowful wisdom born of seeing horrors on a battlefield: a shadow and darkness they'd never held before. The true face of Nie Huaisang he seldom trusts anyone enough to show but if he cannot trust Nie Mingjue, who else can be trusted to do anything?]

It is for the better for both of us if I am not here. But I wish my comrade well and hope he will keep himself safe in the days ahead. I cannot protect him as well as he's protected me in the past but if he calls upon me for aid or just to talk, I will answer him.

[The demon king can rot. He's not letting fear of Jin Guangyao steal away another day of his life.]

\o/ Beautimus (Also MAN this took me a bit to brain a proper response.)

[baxiasprice]

[Something in what Mingjue says makes more of an impact than he anticipates. That shift, from kid-brother to Sect Leader is visible and—Mingjue is not afraid to admit—startling, considering the Huaisang he left behind. His eyes widen and he rocks back on his heels when it happens. What Huaisang says to follow up that shift, however, is alarming, to say the least, and it draws him forward again. Sharply:]

This stronghold? Your enemy is here? And you're relinquishing territory against your better judgement?

[It's not an accusation, but an...honestly rather belligerent request for clarification. A prodigious frown overtakes his face as he hunts for visible wounds in the way Huaisang is holding himself. Though, no, no, already Mingjue had been grasping for something to put his brother's behavior into context, so this is an extension of that. And a summary of a decision that Huaisang obviously had not made lightly, considering his shaky approach. It is Huaisang's prerogative not to pursue further retribution, especially when the matter had already been settled in Nie victory.

But Huaisang meets his eyes and something in Mingjue settles with a quiet thank fuck somewhere deep inside of him, because in meeting his eyes at all now there's Nie steel there beneath the grime of having wading through a brutal task. There was nothing wrong with coming out the other end of conflict blood-spattered and in need of healing. And if he's going to act like a Nie, then Mingjue's going to treat him like Nie and not storm off with Baxia towards the threat.]

Nevermind. [He says that as roughly as he'd snarled the questions he'd wanted answered, but he is subsiding.] As the victor, it's your judgement, whatever judgement that is. We'll deal with the consequences.

[The problem is: Huaisang being cagey as hell. While it isn't out of the question that ten years was after Mingjue's own death by qi deviation, this island is out of the flow of time so that...didn't matter. He lets out his breath.]

Your comrade who fell. They're from a time before they fell?

this also took more brain than I've had all week orz

[illicitly]

They are. His death was... unexpected. Natural causes with unnatural timing.

[Another riddle but Nie Mingjue is a smart man, more than capable to puzzling out his meaning. Huaisang wouldn't give him information in this manner if he was not confident in his brother's ability to reason things out. He might not be quick about as Huaisang is after years and years of practice, honing his mind to the point he could compete with Jin Guangyao.]

Not all poisons go in wells or rivers. Some travel on the wind with a plucking of strings. Sometimes the most beautiful music can stir the deepest discord in one's heart. One might be wise to beware the song and those who love it the most.

[He's speaking borderline nonsense but it's difficult to be properly poetic and subtle on a subject so close to his heart, on a matter so painfully raw. For a long moment, Huaisang's eyes are filled with raw grief before he looks down again, voice dropping with a sad murmur.]

The melody brings much sorrow. Once heard, it won't soon be forgotten.

I feel it! :highfive:

[baxiasprice]

Riddles.

[It's a rough-voiced complaint, and he's still frowning, but he is listening. And he's agitated. Can't help but be agitated. Mostly it's worry directed at Huaisang. Because he can see the shape of what he's telling him, and he doesn't like it one bit.

That and the grief is what finally gets to him.]

Songs and melodies. Fine.

[The 'fine' is not dismissive but rather a firm acceptance, accompanied by a decisive nod. He'd not been training more than a moment, hasn't even broken a sweat, so with a quick seal he sends Baxia to rest against one of the racks at the edge of the courtyard.]

Warning received.

[Then, however, he hesitates, very much uncharacteristically. As much as they both have and have not been around each other since Mingjue first arrived, Mingjue knows he's partially to blame for that distance. This Huaisang is older, vastly more scarred, and different, and Mingjue cannot bring himself to treat him the same he would the barely sixteen-year-old brother he'd left behind. He's caught in a limbo between his instincts and the evidence of his eyes.

But what he wants is to hug is brother until that horrible look of grief goes away now that he know that this isn't an immediate thing, thathe has to puzzle over it later. His brother takes priority, and so after that little pause, he reaches roughly out to offer a hug.]

and he's crying again hahasob

[illicitly]

[Huaisang exhales a sigh of relief. He dares not say more than this. Not at this time, at least. If not for his promise, he'd reveal everything so that Nie Mingjue would be fully prepared when dealing with the viper he's in bed with. He can tell his brother understands enough by his agitation and hopefully, that'll be enough to keep him alive in the days ahead. In the end, not even Jin Guangyao's nephew he'd helped raise had been safe from him. What faith could Huaisang have that whatever impulsive fancy the man has for his older brother would be strong enough to protect him if things don't go well for him now?

He swallows hard before closing the distance between them, flinging his arms around Nie Mingjue just as he'd done that first day he'd seen him at the diner. He's trembling a bit; speaking of what had happened, even in cryptic metaphor still hadn't been easy on him. But if it helps his brother be any safer, bringing those painful memories back to the surface after finally starting to put them to rest will make this one last sacrifice on his behalf worth it.

He buries his face in Nie Mingjue's shoulder and lets himself cry. Maybe if he sheds enough tears, the horrible fear and anxiety he's lived with for so long will finally leave him. It was finished. He doesn't want to keep living in constant fear, turmoil, and misery here, too. After a bit, he pulls his head back, wiping at his eyes with a sleeve.]

Be careful, da ge. I don't think I could take losing you a third time. Not until it's time for either of us to go home again.

[The sea could call them home at any time, he's discovered, and he's already preparing himself for that eventuality.]

Ahha, whoops. /slides you a very short tag here, too. Tho now one might be done/almost done?

[baxiasprice]

[Mingjue squeezes him into the hug, all of his other concerns irrelevant in the face of a trembling Huaisang. He remains steady against the storm of tears like a mountain weathering a tempest, able and willing to be the stability Huaisang needs in the moment.]

I will. I promise.

[Huaisang will know he's good for a promise.]

Take care of yourself.

done now, I think!

[illicitly]

I will. I promise.

[He echoes, lingering a long moment. They're both different from the brothers they'd last seen but after living alone with only memories, both happy and horrible, to sustain him for so long, it's just nice to held by a version of his brother that isn't so consumed with rage that there's nothing left.

Once he feels steady enough to let go, he wipes his face with his sleeve. He gives one last worried look before turning to head back to his rooms.]