by CarrieVS » Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:38 pm
For a moment Baozi is afraid that Liu Bei or one of his companions will call him out for his manipulation of the game. Surely it was obvious: the direction changed just after the only time he wavered over a move. But if anyone noticed, they make no mention of it. He is not disappointed to be dismissed soon after. It has been an enjoyable evening but these kinds of events always tire him and he is glad to get to his bed.
The next day is busy, with the preparations for war getting under way, and Baozi has no time to himself until the evening. He retires to his apartment, but as the sun sets he leaves again, in borrowed shape.
The cat patrols its regular paths. Across a garden, by the cover of a flower bed... Up a fence post in three swift bounds... Along the top of the fence, perfectly balanced... Below him is a bench set in a secluded spot - Baozi knows the place as a human too: it is a pleasant place to sit. It is currently occupied by a lone figure with his back to the fence. Unconcerned, the cat leaps and lands lightly on his feet. As he walks past he looks up at the man on the bench, and stops, surprised.
It is De Wang. He looks upset, and has obviously found this place for somewhere to be alone. Baozi is about to carry on and leave him when he notices the cat and reaches down to stroke it. That would not do. It would be quite improper, and his friend would never think of it if he knew who the cat really was. He keeps carefully out of reach.
He starts when De Wang addresses him as "Cat," but only momentarily. He begins talking, and Baozi knows he should leave. It is obvious he is saying this only because he supposes himself to be talking to an animal that cannot understand. It is wrong, very wrong, to take advantage of him like this. How will he face De Wang in his true shape, after listening to his secrets? But he is too curious, as ever, and cannot bring himself to leave.
It is quickly clear that De Wang is talking about Bei Ye. Baozi had heard a fuller story of the town's destruction from Junyou the day before, but had not realised that De Wang had taken part - for all that he is with the army, he is even less of a soldier than Baozi is. He reaches for Baozi again, but sits back down when the cat again refuses. After he does so, Baozi jumps up and sits on the bench, a little distance away from him - it appears the message is understood, as De Wang makes no more attempts to touch him.
It was a clever plan, very clever. He had learned that much from Junyou's telling. For the rebels to be defeated without a single loyal soldier being harmed is quite remarkable. But it is a terrible price, that an entire town should be destroyed, women and children slaughtered too - all but the handful of frightened orphans brought here to Ji - even if some of the people had been sheltering rebels, and therefore rebels themselves. De Wang paints a harrowing picture of it.
He is not very surprised to realise that De Wang is a sorcerer: he had wondered, when they first met and he talked of magic with such enthusiasm, but could not bring himself to ask. Even if he had not minded the question, he might then have asked Baozi the same thing, and he should have had to lie. A powerful sorcerer, by the sound of his description: Baozi stares at him in silence.
De Wang continues to lay bare his heart. His distress when they first met and Baozi so foolishly questioned him now makes sense. He looks just as upset now, if not more. He has closed his eyes, apparently reliving the moment he is describing now.
Baozi hesitates. The poor man is obviously suffering, and unburdening himself to an animal in an attempt to find comfort. It is terribly wrong of Baozi to be listening, and would be even more improper to allow himself to be petted like a real cat, but he cannot simply run off now, after listening to so much. He must keep up the pretence, and besides that he does truly want to comfort his friend, seeing him so distressed.
He pads silently across the bench and, letting the cat-spirit take control as he tries not to think about how improper this is, he leans against De Wang, rubbing the side of his face on his arm. De Wang strokes his head and the cat purrs and shifts slightly to move the touch to the spot behind his ears, where it feels really good. Really good. For a moment he forgets everything in the little cat's suffusion of pleasure.
He comes back to himself. This is undignified and completely wrong. He moves away and hops down from the bench with a soft miaow. Slowly and with his tail in the air, so as not to seem like he is fleeing, he walks away. Once he judges himself out of sight, he runs, and does not pause until he is back in his room. That was dreadful. He has behaved terribly. How will he be able to face De Wang again?
Last edited by
CarrieVS on Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.