[OPEN BY APPOINTMENT.] And no storming the gates.

[ironrule]

Characters: The Snakes and YOU
Date: Throughout the month of July; specific dates in subject headers, please!
Location: Mainly Yunxu's mansion in Central Sector, but potential for all over Keeliai; again, specific locations in subject headers, please!
Situation: A lot of the Foreigners have a bone to pick with Yunxu. (Or if they don't, they will very soon.) On top of that, Meisheng doesn't seem to be recovering from her illness, Jintou's gone missing, and the Snakes as a whole are actually leaving Foreigners well enough alone for the month unless a Foreigner approaches them first.
Warnings/Rating: None for now; will be updated as they apply.

[OOC: If your character has a bone to pick with Yunxu or is planning to approach Meisheng or any of the other Snakes, please contact me either by PMing this account or on plurk at Amaraq. This is more for mod sanity than anything else, so don't be shy about requesting a thread!]

Comments

MEISHENG | July 7th?

[akito]

It had been more than long enough since Akito had last spoken with Meisheng, childishly upset with her for doing what she informed him she would. Just as he had promised Meisheng he would inform her of any attacks made against his person, she had informed him she would be required to tell Yunxu. And Akito was fine with that until it meant a man who sought to live his life out peacefully ended up dead with another apparently tortured.

His blame should have been solely on Yunxu - if not himself - because it was his choice to hurt the Chihuelans, even if he made Meisheng announce it on his behalf. Yet instead he blamed her for something that, over time, Akito wonders if she even wanted to do.

He should have realized after she risked so much to contact him, offering him the chance to save Malcil, that she might have regretted it too. Still, the choices she gave him made it hard to think of it that way. All Akito could think was that he was being manipulated, because she knew him well enough to know just what to offer him. A chance to free what was essentially an innocent pawn in the larger scheme of things in exchange for the life of the rook.

It all makes his opinion of her waver. He doesn't know if keeping in touch with her would be dangerous or disadvantageous. Akito feels stupid for ever putting so much trust in her hands in the first place...

Still, she was a good confidante about other, less important things. A friend, of sorts. Maybe, sometimes, he wondered if the time spent with her was what it might have been like to have a mother.

But those are all stupid thoughts that will end up making him screw things up even more. So Akito shoves them all away to the back of his mind, behind chains and bars and just outside where the light can reach. Meisheng is a friendly acquaintance with good connections who he enjoys conversing with. That's all she is.

If asked, Akito will come up with a good reason why he would track down someone who is just a 'friendly acquaintance' with such a determined look mixed with worry. Every time he's caught a glimpse of her she's had the same features but has looked more... sick. If it was the zhyris she would have been better by now, or at least still quarantined if not.

Maybe it's something he could help fix with his healing?

Nobody asks him too many questions when he pauses for information on where Meisheng is at the moment, for which he's grateful. Running a delivery service does have its perks. Even so, it takes him the better part of three hours to track her down and, once he has, Akito isn't sure how to approach her after all this time.

[ironrule]

When Akito finds Meisheng, she's returning home after visiting Milyn's clinic. She hasn't gotten very far away from the clinic, but she isn't bothering to conceal herself, either. She knows certain people are fully aware of where she's going. She doesn't care.

She just didn't expect them to happily tell anyone who asked.

"Akito," she says, and stops. "Can I help you with something?"

[akito]

Being faced with conversation, Akito realizes he hadn't really prepared for this - the talking to her part. He doesn't really know what to say, and so fidgets with his hands, taking the time to consider what to say.

"...I'm sorry I was so upset with you," he settles on, finally. "And I don't know what you're sick with, but I would like to help if there's anything I can do."

Which is part of why he wanted to see her in the first place. He holds out a small, neatly made byouki heyu omamori, with delicately stitched (and obviously handmade) embroidery.

"It's filled with wishes for good health and recovery. If you open it the wishes will go away..." He pauses, then continues. "Um... It's basically just a good luck amulet. They're popular where I'm from."

[ironrule]

Meisheng looks at him. She's not stunned; it takes much more than an unexpected apology and gift to stun her. But what she's feeling, she'll admit, certainly comes close. It takes her a moment to think of something to say in response.

"You didn't have to," she says quietly.

Almost immediately, she wants to take it back. It's ungrateful, a habit she's somehow managed to pick up from the Foreigners. A gift is a gift, regardless of the intent behind it; there's no reason on the turtle not to be ungrateful.

So she reaches out and takes it. "Thank you, Akito. I'm touched."

[akito]

Being a Foreigner, he doesn't find it ungrateful - just a statement of fact. He didn't have to, which is why it's important. It's a gift with no strings attached, only good wishes.

"Just make sure to get better, ne? If you die then there won't be any more nice Snakes to talk to."

[ironrule]

Meisheng laughs. "I'll do my best to avoid dying, I promise. Or, if I do, I'll be sure to leave behind someone nice enough for you to talk to."

That isn't quite as tall an order as it seems. There are all sorts of people in a family. The larger the family, the more types of people in it, and the Snakes are no exception. Like any ordinary street gang, there are plenty of kedan who join the Snakes simply because they don't believe they have any other option.

Although, to be fair, most of the time they're right.