He Xuan lets out a soft tsk, letting the tug drop that hand away from her face. The other stays there for a beat, two, three longer before he moves it down to cup her elbow, giving a tug to encourage her to step out of the pod properly. Whether she's gone colt-legged or not, he's going to guide her out. ]
Don't do those kinds of things by yourself. [ Which is as good as saying come to me, but he would never admit to it. ] You're not a martial god, and he was damaged by a power given to one of Pride's participants when you were stuck in there. Think of what would have happened, if you confronted him alone, even with a plan.
[Out of the pod she comes. She's unsteady on her feet - not from drink, but she also seems to be buckling under some kind of... pressure? Her brow furrows a little at it, but she holds onto his arm and squares her shoulders.]
What could have happened. [...she's not that useless, is he? He's talking like it's a given that she would have died.] I know what would have happened if he'd been left to pursue anyone on his list. They'd be dead.
[She shakes her head.]
I can't... I wouldn't want someone to get hurt or die because I wasn't willing to try and stop him. That would have been my fault as much as his, if I just let him do whatever he wanted because I was scared.
Then you go to people, Qingxuan. [ He doesn't snap, or raise his voice, but he's obviously agitated by the idea of her targeting a murderous mechanization that he'd spoken to, after the vote. That they all knew was a killer, but they had all been so focused on the evidence pointing towards Beau that it hadn't mattered - except his vote hadn't been because he thought she was guilty.
It'd been because he knew that it would make everyone upset. That Molly would grieve the result.
They really should've voted for the robot from the get-go. ]
Not - because I think you're not capable. Don't look at me like that. [ He hates that he knows her so well. ] But we're mortal, here, for whatever that means for us. Use what you do have here, even if that includes me. For once, you have my express permission to do that - especially if you're going to try to take out someone dangerous like that.
[Why are they arguing, oh my god. This is probably part of why their conversation on Monday starts off a little awkwardly, even leaving aside what they regained.
Anyway, Qingxuan is frowning.]
Why do you think I'm here? [She jabs a finger at his chest.] I told you, it's because I don't want you or His Highness to get hurt by that monster. So why would I involve you in an attempt like that when someone might vote for you at the trial for it? I won't stand for it! I'm not going to let something bad happen to you because of me!
[Even though it already has.
But she doesn't know about that. She's never known about that.]
[ She never has known about that, has she? The truth hasn't come out. But a few weeks of this - act, he hasn't decided how he wants to approach that truth. Hasn't decided what he's owed, or what needs to be done, when it comes to him and this Shi that he's been saddled with.
He stares her down, thinks of her wide-eyed fear at the sight of him and Shi Wudu while she - he was strung up in chains, divinity gone, a plan hundreds of years in the making finally coming to fruition. And for what? Finally, some retribution? Some bloodstained justice? Shi Wudu's head rests on a mantle, now, a trophy before four urns whose spirits had long since passed on while he was wallowing in rage and misery.
His grip tightens for a moment on her arm, but it's hard to say whether it's intentional or instinctual, if it's meant to support her. ]
Dream on. [ They're words he's said to her an innumerable amount of times in their shared history, but He Xuan does well to keep it from becoming scathing. His time in the Heavens didn't go unnoticed because he couldn't act, after all. He learned all the right things to say, how to say them, when to say them, just to skate under the radar. ] I know why you're here. But so am I, and I'm already entrenched in this the same as you are. The same as all these people are. Throwing yourself blindly into trusting them is a surefire way of getting yourself killed, but we all realized the risks of keeping HK-47 here too little, too late.
An entire room of people watched you get thrown around, Qingxuan, and they cared about it. They cared about you. Don't be an idiot.
It's strange to hear. For so much of her life, her brother had warned her - no one else would look out for them, not really. She'd depended on him, and he'd depended on her, and... that was it. She hadn't been happy living like that, exactly; even in the heavens, it had stuck with her. "Spreading merits works faster than speaking by a hundred times," she'd told Xie Lian, upon having returned to the heavens after "rescuing" the Earthmaster from Hua Cheng's clutches.
There are few people she can rely on to care, without getting something in return. She thinks, maybe, that Xie Lian is one of them. Her brother is, too.
But the man in front of her now, he was the first in the heavens, other than her brother, to even come close to caring without being paid for it in some way. She'd always wanted to rely on other people; he'd proven to her that it was possible to, despite what her brother had said.
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no subject
Ming-xiong wouldn't hurt her.
He Xuan lets out a soft tsk, letting the tug drop that hand away from her face. The other stays there for a beat, two, three longer before he moves it down to cup her elbow, giving a tug to encourage her to step out of the pod properly. Whether she's gone colt-legged or not, he's going to guide her out. ]
Don't do those kinds of things by yourself. [ Which is as good as saying come to me, but he would never admit to it. ] You're not a martial god, and he was damaged by a power given to one of Pride's participants when you were stuck in there. Think of what would have happened, if you confronted him alone, even with a plan.
no subject
What could have happened. [...she's not that useless, is he? He's talking like it's a given that she would have died.] I know what would have happened if he'd been left to pursue anyone on his list. They'd be dead.
[She shakes her head.]
I can't... I wouldn't want someone to get hurt or die because I wasn't willing to try and stop him. That would have been my fault as much as his, if I just let him do whatever he wanted because I was scared.
no subject
It'd been because he knew that it would make everyone upset. That Molly would grieve the result.
They really should've voted for the robot from the get-go. ]
Not - because I think you're not capable. Don't look at me like that. [ He hates that he knows her so well. ] But we're mortal, here, for whatever that means for us. Use what you do have here, even if that includes me. For once, you have my express permission to do that - especially if you're going to try to take out someone dangerous like that.
no subject
[Why are they arguing, oh my god. This is probably part of why their conversation on Monday starts off a little awkwardly, even leaving aside what they regained.
Anyway, Qingxuan is frowning.]
Why do you think I'm here? [She jabs a finger at his chest.] I told you, it's because I don't want you or His Highness to get hurt by that monster. So why would I involve you in an attempt like that when someone might vote for you at the trial for it? I won't stand for it! I'm not going to let something bad happen to you because of me!
[Even though it already has.
But she doesn't know about that. She's never known about that.]
no subject
He stares her down, thinks of her wide-eyed fear at the sight of him and Shi Wudu while she - he was strung up in chains, divinity gone, a plan hundreds of years in the making finally coming to fruition. And for what? Finally, some retribution? Some bloodstained justice? Shi Wudu's head rests on a mantle, now, a trophy before four urns whose spirits had long since passed on while he was wallowing in rage and misery.
His grip tightens for a moment on her arm, but it's hard to say whether it's intentional or instinctual, if it's meant to support her. ]
Dream on. [ They're words he's said to her an innumerable amount of times in their shared history, but He Xuan does well to keep it from becoming scathing. His time in the Heavens didn't go unnoticed because he couldn't act, after all. He learned all the right things to say, how to say them, when to say them, just to skate under the radar. ] I know why you're here. But so am I, and I'm already entrenched in this the same as you are. The same as all these people are. Throwing yourself blindly into trusting them is a surefire way of getting yourself killed, but we all realized the risks of keeping HK-47 here too little, too late.
An entire room of people watched you get thrown around, Qingxuan, and they cared about it. They cared about you. Don't be an idiot.
no subject
It's strange to hear. For so much of her life, her brother had warned her - no one else would look out for them, not really. She'd depended on him, and he'd depended on her, and... that was it. She hadn't been happy living like that, exactly; even in the heavens, it had stuck with her. "Spreading merits works faster than speaking by a hundred times," she'd told Xie Lian, upon having returned to the heavens after "rescuing" the Earthmaster from Hua Cheng's clutches.
There are few people she can rely on to care, without getting something in return. She thinks, maybe, that Xie Lian is one of them. Her brother is, too.
But the man in front of her now, he was the first in the heavens, other than her brother, to even come close to caring without being paid for it in some way. She'd always wanted to rely on other people; he'd proven to her that it was possible to, despite what her brother had said.
So, hearing this from him now...
She lowers her head.]
...I'm sorry.
[How can she do anything but believe him?]