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]

Yes. You would tell me if it affects your ability to be of use at the resort. You wouldn't tell me if it is any less than that.

[ Which, honestly, is fair. It is Xiao Xingchen's prerogative to keep his suffering to himself. He just doesn't have to like it. ]

[daozhangs]

( another pause, this one just considering. it seems obvious, what jiang wanyin is saying - of course that's when he would tell him. what use would it be to do so otherwise?

what a stupid question, xingchen realizes almost as soon as he's asked it, his amused huff fogging the moment it reaches the air. or if not stupid, then terribly hypocritical. because he would certainly want to know such a thing regardless of whether or not it affected jiang wanyin's capability. is it truly so different now?

and so, )

Would you like me to?

( to tell him such things, even when there's no practical reason for doing so. it goes against so much of the person xingchen has long since learned to be, but jiang wanyin has long since earned the right to choose whether or not he's burdened with something. )

Can't promise that I always will. But I can try

[legbreakings]

[ The response is so surprising and heartwarming all at once that it startles a sharp laugh from Jiang Cheng. In the little cranny he has hidden himself away in, he sits and laughs while staring at the screen in faint incredulity, and then finally gives an amused shake of his head. ]

I would like it if you tried.

[ Even if he can't quite explain why - or rather, why he should even permit himself to care about such matters. But he wants to. One indulgence for himself. Just one. ]

[daozhangs]

Alright.

( and that seems like that, at least for a few seconds - the duration of a half-dozen trudged steps through thigh-deep snow - but then, )

I can't quite feel my fingers, either.

[legbreakings]

[ Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He did ask for this.

He will not scream.

Okay. Maybe a little screaming on the inside. ]

I don't know how well the fog would heal frostbite. And you will need your hands when you get here.

[daozhangs]

Shouldn't get to that point. I've taken to warming one while the other carries the laptop.

I'll have to stop this evening, shelter permitting. Not for long. A couple of hours, three at most.

Just long enough to build a fire and dry my clothes. They're damp nearly all the way through now.

I'll make up the lost time once they've dried.

[legbreakings]

I understand. Make sure you arrive in a state which is suited to combat. There is no point in it otherwise.

[ As in: take care of yourself. Drive yourself hard, but not too hard. ]

We can hold out. It isn't pretty but nothing about this peninsula is pretty.

[daozhangs]

I intend to.

In return, please see that the burn is the worst of the damage you sustain.

[legbreakings]

You know I can't promise that.

But I can promise to try my best.

[daozhangs]

I suppose that will have to do.

[legbreakings]

Thank you.

For coming. For keeping me company.

[daozhangs]

Of course.

I told you that I would, didn't I? Simply not out of duty.

( if jiang wanyin hadn't expect such bold assurances to come to fruition, he might be as naive as xingchen. )

[legbreakings]

[ That's the thing, though, he doesn't expect much follow-up from words. Life has taught him it is better to give little weight to promises. ]

You did say so.

[daozhangs]

And you declared intent to break my legs.

( no matter how carefully he enunciates, these longer messages are getting increasingly tricky to compose - but he'll manage for just a bit longer. )

Unless you've reconsidered?

[legbreakings]

I always have intent to break your legs.

[ Even just minutes of this banter are a relief. A reminder that there is something beyond the paranoia of the hotel. ]

[daozhangs]

You understand how concerning that is.

[legbreakings]

I hope so! I would be alarmed if you weren't alarmed!

[daozhangs]

I'm not.

I'm concerned.

They're quite different, you know.

( the pauses between each text are slightly longer now - xingchen has made the mistake of smiling with wind-chapped lips, so now they're a bit less numb in exchange for stinging terribly at the spot where his upper lip has cracked a bit.

it's quite possible that he's still smiling, albeit a bit more carefully. )

[legbreakings]

[ The pauses between the messages don't go unnoticed and they have him frowning, remembering what Xingchen let slip before. ]


Can you shift into fox again?

[daozhangs]

I cannot.

[legbreakings]

Is the snow still too high?

[daozhangs]

More so by the hour.

[legbreakings]

Rest if you need to. I can hold out.

[daozhangs]

So can I.

( he doesn't plan to rest, not yet. not nearly. he'll rest as a fox while he dries his clothes, whenever that ends up being. and perhaps he might benefit from putting the laptop away so that he might tuck his hands somewhere warm, but he'd rather his fingers be numb than whatever sort of numb it is that sets in between jiang wanyin's messages. it's quite easy to lose grip on the world at large, at times such as those. to forget that anything exists beyond the concept of cold and the urgent need to keep moving onward. )

But should it

Should you need to return to the hunt, that's fine.

( he's decided he doesn't care quite enough to delete the misheard ones, anymore. choosing his battles and whatnot. )

[legbreakings]

[ Sloppy half sentences? This keeps getting more and more alarming and Jiang Cheng grits his teeth, glaring at the screen while helpless frustration bubbles uselessly away in him.

Too far away to do anything. Too busy with greater problems to focus on just one person. It's always the same story. He hates this story. ]

Soon. I have to return soon. Something needs to be done, though I'm not sure what level of organizing ourselves could hold out against the paranoia and dissent. It's difficult.