ic inbox, ryslig.

[daozhangs]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, XIAO.XINGCHEN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** XIAO.XINGCHEN has joined 018.07.154.55 <XIAO.XINGCHEN> You have reached Xiao Xingchen. <XIAO.XINGCHEN> I am often away from my laptop, but I will do my best to answer as soon as I'm able.

Comments

[legbreakings]

You know what we are all capable of when the hunger overtakes us.

I would rather trust in your combat skills than in my own self-control.

[daozhangs]

Trust in those as well, then. I'm more than capable of protecting myself, if the need arises.

[legbreakings]

See that you use your skills if it becomes necessary. I don't want to be responsible for damage that could have been avoided. I have done enough damage here that couldn't stopped.

[daozhangs]

So you accept?

[legbreakings]

You offer me a way out. It would be irresponsible to refuse it, wouldn't it? Even my pride isn't boundless.

[daozhangs]

I'm glad for it.

I've done a bit of research, and were I entirely human, I'd be able able to spare a pint of blood per five or six days and still offer enough for . There are less-than-ideal long term effects, but seeing as I'm not entirely human and heal with each fog, that shouldn't be an issue.

If it is, we'll address that when it comes.

[legbreakings]

[ ??? ]

You have thought about this a lot.

[ That's putting it mildly. ]

[daozhangs]

I have.

[legbreakings]

I won't refuse your offer. It is very generous and I owe you a great debt of gratitude for it.

[ Even if he dislikes owing anyone, or relying on anyone. But this is not about him or his pride. ]

[daozhangs]

Repay me by never again claiming to owe me. I seek neither your debt nor your gratitude.

[legbreakings]

How can I not feel like I owe you both?

I owe you both for what you are doing for me. It is the least I can offer in return, in a place where I have nothing else to offer.

[daozhangs]

You truly wish to repay me?

[legbreakings]

Of course!

Not because I consider it a transaction. There can be no price be put to what you are offering to do for me. Simply because it is the right thing to do.

[ And because he doesn't like owing anyone, too. But it is the right thing. ]

[daozhangs]

In such a case, do me the equally priceless favor of believing me in the following:

In this, as is almost always the case, I seek only your happiness.

I know such a thing is impossible here. I’ve never quite gotten the hang of setting reasonable goals.

[legbreakings]

What you are doing is setting yourself up for disappointment then. But I appreciate the gesture for what it is.

[ He just... isn't someone who can simply say thank you and move on. He's bad at thank yous anyway. ]

[daozhangs]

It’s not a disappointment. Once in a while, I succeed.

You’ll tell me when you’d like to attempt to feed? I wonder if it wouldn’t be smarter to make the attempt during the fog.

[legbreakings]

It would. It should permit us both to heal as needed. And I'm not feeling the hunger yet so it should be easier to.keep from losing control.

[daozhangs]

Precisely my thoughts.

If my estimate is correct, the fog should linger for four more days.

[legbreakings]

Tomorrow? That leaves time for healing.

[daozhangs]

Tomorrow, then. I’ll come to you?

[legbreakings]

Very well. I will see about practicing beforehand.

[daozhangs]

( and so when the next day comes, he finds himself on the path to lotus pier (though of course, they worked out a time in their correspondence earlier this morning, so jiang wanyin knows he's coming). 'path' is a bit of a generous term - it's truly just his agile fox form cutting straight through the woods to lotus pier, proper roads be damned - but it's becoming a path at this point, what with how often he's traveling it.

one more thing they established this morning: xingchen is to skip the usual song and dance and just let himself in, make his way to the room (he knows quite well where it is, by now), and change of his own accord without making jiang-xiong waste such time as to meet him at the gate. and so that's what he does, as presumptuous as it may feel, and soon he's knocking lightly at the door of wherever it is that jiang wanyin told him they'd meet. ) My friend?

[legbreakings]

[ Jiang Cheng had thought long and hard where they should do this but couldn't come to a truly satisfying result since he simply doesn't know what to expect.

Will it turn into a battle when his hunger makes him not want to stop? Will he take so much blood that Xiao Xingchen is going to pass out? Maybe being attacked will trigger Xingchen's own transformation?

There are too many variables he doesn't know so he decides on meeting Xiao Xingchen in his own quarters, where they had had tea for his birthday. They can take the actual feeding to one of the many bedrooms currently empty, now that it is only A-Jie and him here. No harm done if there is a bloody mess and if someone passes out and needs a bed, it will be right there.

But for now, here is Jiang Cheng reading a book - a paperback book he had bought in Bavan, titled An Easy Guide to Fishing, a smaller blurb declaring it lists all the fish to be found in Ryslig's local waters.

His face doesn't light up as it usually does when his friend visits, instead slight unease flickering over it. ] So. It is time then, isn't it?

[daozhangs]

( though he can't see the interplay of emotions across jiang wanyin's face, it's more than evident enough in his tone for xingchen to notice. he enters regardless, head tilting just slightly as he comes to a stop not far from where his friend sits, to say - ) It doesn't have to be. ( it truly doesn't. jiang wanyin was the one who set the date and time, and he can just as easily postpone if he finds that his nerves won't be soothed.

lips curl to a slight smile (though it doesn't quite have the same reassuring effect, in the form he retains through the fog), evidence that the offer is genuine. that he isn't put out by it. ) I can just as easily sit here at the table and share in another pot of tea, if you'd prefer.

( but he makes no move to sit just yet. while the offer is likely to tempt him, jiang wanyin will almost certainly insist on making the attempt, if only to get it over with. )

[legbreakings]

[ For once, there is no tea or snacks already waiting for Xiao Xingchen, one of Jiang Cheng's nods to how serious he is about going through with it despite the qualms he is feeling right now - having cut himself off from the path of delaying by offering hospitality.

And indeed, he gets to his feet and shakes his head at Xingchen's offer, even though he is tense, his hands clenched around fistfuls of his outer robes. ] No. If there is going to be tea, I would rather it be afterward.

[ He doesn't think he will be able to stomach anything right now anyway - though his stomach isn't even involved anymore. He can still feel queasy, even if that is quite possibly all psychological.

So yes, he stands, and strides towards the door through which Xingchen had only just entered, determined to take him to the room he has in mind. ] Come along. Let's get this over with before I come to my senses.