sins of the father.

henry young. thirty. investigative reporter by day and spy for the chinese triad by night.

[henryxyoung]

xarabellaliliu‌:

Arabella had stolen a moment away from the many men and women who had swarmed to meet with her, having excused herself in pursuit of something to soothe her parched throat. It seemed as though Liling had already leaked the news of her attendance at the gala to some of the key investors she was to win over, and it had been countless hours of smiling and batting her eyelashes before she could politely make her escape, suffocating under their hungry and lustful stares. She felt like a prized doll, being pulled in any number of directions without any thoughts or considerations for what she wanted. Frankly, it was exhausting, and she had hardly any opportunity to truly appreciate the Golightly gala at all. No, it was simply another long night of work, sinking her mother’s talons deeper and deeper into the heart of New York City.

Well, if she was to play the role of a puppet all night, she might as well enjoy a drink.

She had been standing by the bar, resisting the urge to fiddle with her long styled hair and silently hoping that a small amount of liquid courage would make it easier to withstand the constant droning of businesmen who thought there wasn’t a functioning brain cell in her pretty little head. But a gentleman caught her eye just as the bartender passed her a flute half-filled with rosé wine, causing her to pause in her ruminations. Petal-soft lips parted in surprise as Henry Young appeared, all warmth and charm with a boyish grin and a dashing persona. Henry, who was not simply a member of the Triad, but a target handpicked by Liling herself. Someone that Arabella had been instructed to sway in her mother’s favour. She couldn’t help the slight flutter in her chest at the sight of him. Whether it was nervousness, worry or something else, it was neither the time nor place to think about it.

“Arabella, please. I-I don’t mind.“ Her voice was soft, timid as she stepped closer, returning his smile with a small one of her own as she looked up at him with wide, inquisitive eyes. “I’m afraid I haven’t had much of an opportunity to see much of it yet. I’ve spent most of the evening dancing and… networking.“ It felt like a dirty word on her tongue, knowing what the true intent was behind it. “I’ve always liked the gardens here, and I’ve heard there are animals?” There was a hopeful tone to her voice; an invitation, if he wanted to take it. “O-of course I would understand if you didn’t want to keep your date waiting or something. I’m just…talking is all. Are you enjoying your time here?”

Henry could have simply done nothing at all but gaze upon Arabella for hours on end, everything about the young heiress charmed him, from her soft doe eyes to her sweet mannerisms, she reminded him of a sika deer, elegant and docile and far more vulnerable than she seemed to be aware of. He wanted to protect her, to steal her away from her wicked witch of a mother and care for her in every way that he could, but she hardly knew him---hardly ever even glanced his way if he was being honest. It wasn’t something that Henry was used to at all, women had always come easily enough to him, it had even gotten to the point that he wasn’t even aware of leading someone on until they were half-certain he was about to propose. He had loved Lilianna for years now, every other woman aside from her had only been a distraction. Until ... Arabella. She was a distraction, that was for damn sure, but to the extent where he couldn’t think about anything but her so long as they were in the same room together. Or even when they weren’t.

Her soft, timid voice cut right to his heart, he was smiling at her before he could even help it. “Arabella, then,” he said gently, focused solely on her as he waited patiently for her to finish speaking. She had a beautiful mouth---like a velveteen rose. When she looked up at him with those large doe eyes of her, it was all the same, he was melting for her and she could have asked him for anything at all and he would have said yes in an instant. It was the same with Lilianna, he was hopeless when it came to the both of them. “Dancing and networking? It sounds like you’ve had your fill of the ballroom, in that case,” he continued with an easy smile, when she mentioned the gardens, and the animals, he could hear the hopeful tone of her voice and it made him want to do everything he could to please her.

“I came on my own, actually, and I have to say that I’ve only just begun enjoying myself from the moment I spotted you across the way. If you’ll have me, Arabella, I’d be thrilled to walk the gardens with you ... and play with the animals, of course. Whatever you’d like.” He offered her his arm, then, hoping she would tuck one of her graceful hands into its crook, what he wanted most was to splay his own fingers across the small of her back and pull her close, but he was nothing if not a gentleman. “Shall we disappear for a little bit?” 

[henryxyoung]

He would have been able to find her anywhere.

There were three women in his life that Henry was hopelessly drawn to, and all of their names just so happened to end with the letter ‘a’. There was Taika, of course, his first real love and the commander of his heart, and then there was Lilianna, his moon and stars and sun in the sky, and then---well, and then there was Arabella, too, though to be completely frank Henry wasn’t quite certain if she was even fully aware of his existence. She was beauty and grace personified, mysterious and elegant and incredibly unattainable even given his status and position within the Chinese Triad, and for so long now he had watched and admired her from afar. Her mother kept her locked tightly within a glass box, pretty to look at but never to touch, and Henry often felt as if he saw more of her on the television screen and in the news than he ever did in person.

She was here tonight though, as breathtaking as ever in her long white gown, and with Lilianna busy with Christian (her date for the evening, and no he wasn’t jealous at all), Henry couldn’t stop himself from gravitating towards Arabella. Not because she was a second choice, not because his mind was muddled with thoughts of both Taika and Lilianna (occasionally at the same time, though he would never shamefully admit it out loud), but because Arabella was so rarely approachable that he knew he needed to act on the chance he was being given while he still could. 

“Nǐ hǎo, Miss Liu,” he said with an incline of his head as he greeted her, a warm smile on his face as he moved to stand in front of her at the bar, he was surprised she wasn’t already fending off a thousand different proposals from a thousand different men. She was a sight to behold tonight indeed. “How is the Golightly gala treating you so far?” 

@xarabellaliliu

[henryxyoung]

taikalongwei‌:

It was nice seeing him again, not that they had ever really been apart from each other. If there was anyone that she spoke to at least ten times during the day it was Henry. Even if it was just to discuss his covert mission or other work details, she had that itch to speak to him. Do not get it twisted, Taika was a very strong independent leader that could function on her own. But Henry Young had always been a sort of safety net that she could fall back on. If there were any moments of doubt filled in her while she had been working on taking over the city, they were almost immediately eradicated if she got to speak to Henry. To put it simply, there was no one else in the world that was like him to her. And she couldn’t have been more thankful for it.

Taika felt all of the tension in her body release as soon as he had placed his hand on the small of her back. Tension she didn’t even realize she had until she had sank comfortably into his side, resting her head affectionately on his shoulder. There was always a sort of ease around Henry that she admired, there was no pressure to be perfect or to be cunning, she could just be. And that was probably her favorite thing about him. “Perhaps,” she mused for a moment continuing to look at the skyline or skyscrapers illuminated with a thin line of gold accenting them from the sun. “Or maybe it was because we were younger and smaller and we hadn’t known anything different,” pursing her lips for a moment before she brought the tea up for another sip. She held it out for Henry to have some, knowing that he very well could have his own cup but this one was hot and ready. She just wanted to stay there for a moment longer before they moved into talking about more serious things. It was a nice moment of reprieve for the girl who had been digging her claws into everything she could manage on her own.

She couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her mouth at his response. “No, I don’t believe I’ve ever even seen you on an off day. You’re always so…. You,” she grinned for a moment, peering up at him from her place on his shoulder. For a woman so sophisticated with a serpent’s tongue, even she was surprised at her lack of words to describe her best friend. There just wasn’t anything equivalent to the way Henry was. Taika pressed a quick kiss on his shoulder before she unlaced herself from his grip, that little grin still playing softly against her features. “You’re always starving, but don’t worry we have plenty of food. I’ll even let you take some of it home with you,” she teased before reaching up to pinch his cheeks. “I have a lot of work ahead of me to mold you into a xiǎo zhū like all of the Nǎinai’s wanted,” she scrunched her nose before laughing. “Come come, Xiǎo Lilianna isn’t here to steal your food,” she held out her hand so she could guide him to the dining room.

There was a scoff when he referred to her as Lady of Dragons, a quite silly nicknames all of the Americans had thought to be clever just made her seem crazy. “I am doing well, business as you can see is booming and everything has been functioning without hiccups. I say that now and in a few hours everything will be up in flames and I’ll have no control. But for now it’s smooth,” she told him before waiting for one of the staff to pull out a chair for her at the table. “The Irish have been useful in obtaining even just a little bit more of an edge on the rest of them, so far it’s been a sound choice of an alliance,” she settled into her seat at the table. “Of course, there is the whole matter of Lilianna that still needs to be taken care of. We’ve got a plan in the works, but we need you to… Encourage her to pursue it. I doubt it’ll take much, she seems eager to infiltrate the triad and extending an invitation to an audition at the Black Tea Room should be the perfect thing,” she noted. “Of course, she may not even tell you about it, but I want you to make sure she gets there safely, even if it’s from afar. Once she’s in, she’s under our protection and you can have a day to yourself.”

If storms were meant to be named after women, then every hurricane in the entire world should have born Taika’s resemblance. Having already conquered China almost entirely on her own she was now on her way to taking over New York City as well, it was incredibly admirable and---in the view of a weaker man, perhaps---even a little terrifying. The Triad had given everything to him, had taken him from an abandoned orphan and provided him with a home and a sense of family, and right at the heart of it had been Taika. It was why he would gladly do anything for her, would fight any war and attack any enemy, he’d lay down his life if it meant defending her own. He felt her relax against him as he brought one of his deft hands to the curve of her lower back and he smiled, it felt good to have her unwind at least for a moment, god only knew how hard she was constantly working. An entire empire at the tips of her fingers and she was still as serene and calm as a benevolent goddess. Henry had always been hopeless when it came to women, wrapped around their dainty wrists and unable to stop himself from falling for them, and it rang especially true for Taika and Lilianna both. They owned parts of him he’d never be able to take hold of again, nor would he ever want to. He would gladly belong to Taika for good. 

“You? Young and small? Here I thought that you were always the ferocious tigress of a woman that you are today, even when we were children,” Henry said with a quirk of his lips as he accepted the mug of tea she held out to him almost off-handedly, germs weren’t something to be concerned about between the two of them. He took a long, appreciative sip before passing it back to her, when she ducked her head to kiss the broad plane of his shoulder his smile only grew and in return he pressed his own lips briefly against her brow. Affection always came easily between them, running as swift and as fluidly as the blood in his veins. “Leftovers! Send me home with leftovers, lotus blossom, and you’ll end up with nothing left for dinner service. Work has me run so ragged some nights that all I can manage is scrounging through the bottom drawer of my refrigerator for scraps,” he admitted with a laugh, and when she mentioned fattening him up like all of the aunties had always tried to do---cursing his crazy fast metabolism all the while---he looked down at her again and chuckled. “You like me trim and toned, Taika---don’t try and deny it. One bit of flub on this body of mine and you’d be sending me off to boot camp as soon as you're able to.”

She led him inside and he followed suit, sitting down from her at the VIP table that she always arranged for them and eagerly looking at the menu in front of him. He was always hungry, he couldn’t help it, and the food served here in particular was better than anything else in the city. He hated that he hadn’t been able to bring Lilianna yet. “The Black Tea Room? Is that ... something she’s been pursuing? I’m afraid she can be a bit secretive, even with me,” he admitted sheepishly, running a hand through his dark brown locks before rubbing thoughtfully at the strong line of his jaw. “I know that she wants to start looking into the Triad more in-depth, I’ve been gently batting her away from it just so that she doesn’t think me of being too encouraging, but---believe me, the more you try to err Lilianna away from something, the more likely she is to do it. Stubborn girl,” he said fondly then, he really did wish that he could have introduced the two women---Lilianna and Taika would have gotten on like a forest fire. “But---audition? She’s not ... don’t tell me that she wants to be a dancer.” Now, his eyes were widening, and he looked incredulously at Taika from across the table. “Is that really---necessary? Or safe for that matter?” 

[tylerposey]

[taikalongwei]

@henryxyoung​ // meeting in the dragon’s den

If Taika had gone to all of the meetings and spoke with every person that wanted to speak to her, there would never be time for herself. Though she understood that she was highly sought after by many people looking for the dragon head, she was also fully aware that she had the power to pick and chose the meetings she would actually attend. This meeting however, was far more important than any other that was presented to her earlier in the day, and she would hardly consider it a meeting at all. Henry Young had been a favorite in the Triad since the pair were kids. Many had believed that he would have taken the place of the dragon head if Taika’s hold over the triad wasn’t so strong. But that was something she never worried about, not with Henry. His loyalty to her and the Triad was unyielding and he had done everything the way she wanted him to. If there was a single person with her in New York that she trusted with everything she could give other than her advisor that her father sent with her, it would be Henry Young. 

This meeting would not be like their usual ones though, while there would be a plethora of exquisite food (something she knew Henry would appreciate greatly) and tea to wash it all down with, there was a very important matter that they had to speak of. That matter being of Lilianna Shu Lei. Henry had been acting as an informant on her whereabouts and as an unofficial bodyguard to keep her out of any danger that may come her way. Taika had a full day of meetings planned with people that would help her extend her reaches throughout the city, but this was the one thing her father had asked her to do, and she had sworn every oath in the books to follow his words and fulfill that goal of bringing her back to the Triad. It would be tireless work, but she believed wholeheartedly that she would be able to sway her on the right direction. Especially with the help of Henry. 

They had arranged to meet at the Dragon’s Den, the first foothold the Triad had obtained in the city. While the main level had been booked out for months, she requested the VIP section remain empty for the pair of them to speak together. Taika silently drank her tea as she waited patiently for Henry to be escorted in. She looked out over the edge of the balcony at the city below and around her and knew that one day it would all belong to her. She only needed some time, but there was not a doubt in her mind that the Triad would reign supreme over all of the other mafia’s in the city. She heard his footsteps approach her, and without looking at him she started speaking. “It’s so much bigger than Hong Kong,” she mused for a moment, letting the tea warm her hands before pushing herself off of the balcony she had been leaning on. “Growing up I thought we had lived in the biggest city in the world,” finally she turned to him with a smile on her face and her arms opened up to bring him in for a hug. “How have you been, xīngān? Are you hungry?”

[henryxyoung]

Taika meant the world to him, she always had. They had known one another since they were children, when any one of the numerous aunts and grandmothers that were watching over him would encourage them to play together, he had grown up unbearably fond of her as a result. She had come so far, becoming the head of the entire Triad, and he was more proud of her with each day that passed. She might have been thought of as ruthless and domineering by those who didn’t appreciate the sight of a woman in power, but Henry knew better than anyone else that her heart was far bigger than she was ever given credit for. He looked forward to their meetings even when they only revolved around work and the task that he had been given, he made sure to dress nicely for her---just so that he wouldn’t give her any sort of arsenal when it came to making fun of him, of course. A blazer and dress pants, with his hair neatly coiffed and his shoes polished just that morning, Henry Young was every bit of the fine Chinese gentleman that all Nǎinai’s wanted their precious granddaughters to end up with. Taika was different, though---definitely not the sort of woman to allow anyone to make decisions regarding her love life. 

It felt good to be home. Working undercover as an investigative journalist kept him too far away from the Triad’s headquarters in New York City, and as he walked inside of the Dragon’s Den, he was filled with a sense of familial belonging. It didn’t matter that his own parents were dead, that he had no blood relatives of his own, the Triad had raised him and this was the only real habitat he had ever known. Taika, of course, had requested the VIP section just for the two of them, and Henry thanked the waiter kindly as he was ushered out onto the beautiful, sprawling balcony. Speaking of beauty---there was Taika, as graceful and ethereal as always, effortlessly gorgeous in the way that every other woman wished she could be. “Lotus blossom,” he said with a warm smile as he crossed the balcony with long, strong strides towards her, one large hand instinctively resting at the small of her back, he was always affectionate with her. 

“Ah, but there are less people living in Hong Kong than New York, believe it or not. Perhaps that is why it always seemed so huge to us,” he mused thoughtfully, moving to stand beside her at the balcony as she sipped her tea. He kept his hand at the small of her back, he rubbed the calloused pads of his fingers in small soothing circles against her skin. “I’ve been as good as always, Taika---would you ever expect anything less?” he asked with a light laugh, living in New York had muted his crisp British accent a tiny bit, but it was still present after years of boarding school in London. Those were the times that he had missed Taika the most. “And I’m starving, haven’t eaten since breakfast, and even then Lilianna picked at my dim sum until there was almost nothing left.” He smiled fondly at the mention of the girl they both had shared interests in, after all she was the only reason Henry had gone undercover to begin with. “And what about you, Lady of Dragons? Have you been taking care of yourself?” 

[henryxyoung]

liliannashulei‌:

Lilianna hadn’t forgotten about her lunch date with Henry - not again, of course - but there was some truth to be said in the fact that she was most definitely running a little behind schedule, especially considering the fact that a lead on her current story had come in mere moments before he was due to arrive at her apartment. As a result, Lilianna was still rushing around in her silk kimono robe as she tried to simultaneously brush her teeth and type at her laptop at the same time, her glossy dark hair piled haphazardly on top of her head with a set of jade chopsticks that hadn’t seen the inside of a rice bowl in months. “Aiyah! Two seconds, Henry!” She stood up in a flustered rush as she heard the telltale sound of the door unlocking, quickly followed by Mei Mei’s excited little pitter patter steps as the tiny pig rushed out into the foyer to greet her oldest and closest friend. Was he early? No - as per usual, he was perfectly on time, and it was Lilianna who had fallen behind schedule. “I’m here, I’m here! Stop bad-mouthing me to my pig,” she insisted with a breathless huff as she fluttered into the front room to greet him, uncaring of her state of undress as she knelt down to gather Mei Mei in her arms, kissing the oinking little creature on the top of his sweet little head before she looked up at Henry with a harried and somewhat apologetic smile. “Bàoqiàn. I got carried away chasing a new lead. Do you mind if I take a few moments to change before joining you for lunch?” 

Thankfully she was home, Henry couldn’t recall the number of instances where he had come to see Lilianna at their arranged meeting time and she had been nowhere to be found, almost certainly chasing a lead around town even when she wasn’t supposed to be working. She was the most dedicated and passionate reporter he had ever met, it was just one of the many things that he admired about her. She came out running though, in an elegant silk kimono robe that only covered the tops of her smooth, shapely thighs, and he allowed himself a moment to appreciate her in all of her graceful and feminine glory. She was beautiful, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, and it was effortless. Even with her hair piled up with chopsticks and in an errant state of undress, she was still prettier than any of the made-up supermodels the tabloids reported on week after week. “And what new lead is this, hmm? And why couldn’t it have waited until Monday morning?” he teased as she knelt to pick up her pet pig, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes playfully at the way she doted on the tiny creature. Little did he know that the steamed buns he had brought over were char siu bao ... “Not at all, little swan---go and get changed, and I’ll be here waiting for you. I’ve brought over enough food to feed an army, so you’d better be hungry---none of this ‘too busy to eat’ nonsense I’ve been hearing you say in the office.” He stepped towards her then, he couldn’t help himself as he slid one of his toned arms around her trim little waist and drew both her and Mei Mei close so that he could press his lips to her forehead. “I quite like you in this, actually,” he murmured as he reached down to rub the silk of her kimono between his two fingers, she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it and she was so warm. “Are you sure you can’t keep it on for me?”

[henryxyoung]

“Lilianna? Are you in?” He still wasn’t used to Lilianna having her own apartment again, for so long she had lived with Christian and the three of them had spent time together as a group---something that Henry had always enjoyed thoroughly before the untimely falling out of their relationship. Now, however, she lived in a pristine flat that she had decorated entirely to her tastes, and he used the key she had given him for emergencies to let himself in. Almost immediately he was greeted by Mei Mei---her tiny teacup pig whom he had no idea how she had managed to sneak past her landlord. Still, Henry set down the order of steamed buns he had brought over for the two of them so that he could kneel and scritch behind her ridiculously small pet’s ears, a fond and affectionate smile overtaking his face as he waited for Lilianna to make herself known. “Ah, such a good boy, aren’t you, Mei Mei? Where is xiǎo tiān'é? Is this to be like last week all over again, where she arranged to meet with me for lunch and was actually out covering yet another story halfway across town? Hmmm?” Lilianna was hardworking, almost to a fault, and so busy that finding any amount of time in her schedule to spend time with her seemed almost impossible---which was saying quite a bit, given the fact that they were co-workers.

@liliannashulei​