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[threedontknows]

 

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[creeksidealtarboy]

Not until you're paired. Then you can get your magic back from them.

[He grins.]

You can really do magic? Real magic?

[threedontknows]

[He shrugs.]

Protective talismans and Daoist magic. I was never any good with martial arts or swords.

[creeksidealtarboy]

Eh, that's alright. I can fight and it isn't as cool as magic.

[He settles back.]

Show me sometime, huh?

[threedontknows]

My mind’s my greatest asset — yours too.

[He leans forward to finish off the rest of the tea.]

The mistake of my peers was to rely on their spiritual powers and magic. They underestimated me because they thought I was frivolous. True — I like nice things! But they let it blind them to what I was capable of.

[creeksidealtarboy]

Yeah, and people hear my accent and think I'm some backwater hick. And shit, maybe I am. But that don't mean the whole 'uh, I just - just don't know what - what I'm doin' act should be as effective as it is.

They're easy to fool when they already make assumptions.

[threedontknows]

[He folds his fan and pokes Aaron in the chest.]

The assumptions continue here, am I right? How many people have you fooled?

[creeksidealtarboy]

Everyone. [He rubs his chest.]

Raylan. Tim. Dorian, probably. James, that idiot in our group. Norton. Lark.

Everyone I've fucking talked to. No one knows the truth.

[threedontknows]

[Only Huaisang knows the truth. He smiles behind his fan.]

How many of those have seen Roy?

[creeksidealtarboy]

Ah, now that's different. Dorian. The detective, Arthur. Lark. He ain't around no more, though.

No one pushes me here. I don't have to do shit.

[He laughs, unable to help the bit of playfulness in his tone. It's a goddamn good game.]

[threedontknows]

[That’s two people who had directly witnessed and interacted with ‘Roy’. That’s a good number to start off with —

Always best to be cautious.]

Until you get a warden.

[creeksidealtarboy]

Yeah, I don't plan on getting that close to anyone.

[He crosses his legs, lounging.]

Someone's it's random, but I've been reading the network.

People get close. They get to be friends. Then they get paired. Best way to stay away is not to get close to Wardens.

[threedontknows]

Aaaanyone?

[Huaisang grins and leans towards him, still fluttering his fan.]

[creeksidealtarboy]

[Aaron doesn't know why he dies it. In fact later, when he thinks about it, he's going to wonder if this place hasn't made him a little crazy.

But there's no time to think about any of that shit too much because he hesitates for half a second and then leans in to kiss him.]

[threedontknows]

Huaisang isn't expecting that at all. He pulls back quickly, eyes wide, fan dropped to one side as he stares back at Aaron.

"I didn't think you--"

Were one of us. Like me. It's difficult for Huaisang to classify himself as anything, being as secretive as he has for all those years. As a dandy people thought he was flamboyant, but no one would ever call him a cut-sleeves.

But he is, of a sort. He also likes brothels. But he's a collector of beautiful things, a lover of delicate, well-made pieces of art and fine fabrics and porcelain. He keeps birds, he paints trees and flowers. He admires pretty women, lovely men. None of that had been an act.

[creeksidealtarboy]

Aaron picks up the fan and presses it into Huaisang's palm.

"I ain't," he insists softly. "Like you." But his hand lingers there, the touch soft and gentle, nothing like Aaron's outward appearance.

"I ain't- I don't know what, but I like you. You're not like anyone I've ever met."

He mutters it as he says it, like it's a secret, like he can't actually make himself say the words aloud. He had liked Linda, sure, but she was no one important. She was just as bad as everyone else in the end.

And Alex -

Well fuck him.

Aaron only realized what he wanted, impulsive as it was, when he thought about Huaisang's plan. Why it burned him so much. This is why.

[threedontknows]

Labels. Huaisang understands entirely. Aaron isn't the first man he's kissed who's insisted that he wasn't 'like him'. Hell, some of them had their hand in his robe or his cock in their mouth and they were still adamant that they didn't like men that way.

Huaisang takes the fan with a brush of his thumb across Aaron's wrist.

"And I've never met anyone as good as an actor as me." He smiles a little playfully, opening up his fan again to wave his reddened face.

He likes Aaron, and he is beautiful. He'd make a fine addition to his collection.

He closes the space between them with his fan, covering their faces to the door as he leans forward to touch his lips to his.

[creeksidealtarboy]

He threads his fingers through his hair, brushing it from his face. "Yeah, that's how I knew." He admires the fan for a moment, not even noticing how close he is until he's kissing him again.

Ah.

Yeah, this is nice.

He lets it linger this time, putting a hand on his but nothing else. Nothing more. So when he pulls away, it's with a smirk.

"There. Now you got something better to think about when you're having to kiss that other guy."

[threedontknows]

“Ah! How could you be so cruel as to remind me!” Huaisang folds his fan and flops back onto the cushions on the floor, his broad sleeve covering his face. It’s easier to cover up the big grin that way.

“I hate him so much. I’m glad he’s here. I burned down the world just to get my revenge.”

[creeksidealtarboy]

Aaron sits back, quite pleased with himself. "Too bad he's got that nice thing going on the outside," he says with a breathless sort of laugh. "I don't have an excuse to punch him in the fucking face for you."

[threedontknows]

Jin Guangyao had been doing well keeping himself in the shadows, although--

"Oh!"

He sits up again quickly. It occurs to him that he'd given himself away publicly. "He tried to play a song on the network a day or so before the breach began. Do you remember? It might have made you feel uncomfortable. That's the song that drove my brother insane!"

[creeksidealtarboy]

"Songs can make people crazy?" he wonders, leaning over towards him. "I remember it. What a dick." He shakes his head. "Did he do that to fuck with you?"

[threedontknows]

"I wouldn't be surprised. He just enjoys causing harm in general though, little viper."

Though it is difficult to tell what goes on in Jin Guangyao's head sometimes. Who can really say why he does anything beyond expressing his spiteful, jealous little heart.

[creeksidealtarboy]

He really wants to wring that man's neck. Maybe he should, but it might fuck with Huaisang's plans, so - he squashes that idea.

"What happens if you get paired, huh? How fucked are you?"

[threedontknows]

He shrugs his shoulders. Getting paired doesn't intimidate him like it might with Aaron. "They'll know the outline of my plan, but there isn't anything I can't talk to death. Besides -- who could possibly argue with a brother seeking revenge?"

[creeksidealtarboy]

He nods, thinking it through. "That's clever. That's the angle I'm doing with the Bishop. No one would get pissed at me for wanting revenge."