written for @apollonianism, who a while back requested Kun telling his family he wanted to go into Investigations rather than the Dai Li’s more traditional role of museum guard.
this turned out to be less of Kun-telling-his-family and more a snippet of Kun-after-the-family-is-already-aware, and also Kun & Hoang cuz I love those two. but I hope you still like it!
no plans for publishing this to AO3 or FFdotnet yet... hope you enjoy!
Kun went home early from the university that day instead of staying late to study, because one, studying was boring, and two, he really wasn’t in the mood to watch Sunan and Wenli flirt like dorks over ancient poetry instead of doing the proper thing and making out in the library’s farthest corner like normal people. Going home would probably be no less awkward, the way things were right now, but at least home would give him options beyond studying or groaning at his brother and probable-future-sister-in-law.
When he saw the familiar carriage parked outside his family’s front gate, however, Kun paused. Only for a moment, though, and then he turned and headed down the side alley, made sure his book bag was secure on his shoulders, and clambered up onto the roof as quickly and quietly as he could. He took another moment to glance down into his family’s front courtyard, found it empty, and considered his options. Back garden or formal receiving hall?
Formal receiving hall. Something told him this wasn’t a friendly social visit.
Also the raised voices coming from that part of the house were a dead giveaway. Kun sighed and carefully made his way to the receiving hall’s roof, and he carefully settled in beside a stone badgermole to listen to the two women below.
“Roulan, you cannot possibly be blaming me for this - ”
“Oh, of course I don’t blame you personally - ”
“And yet you still seem to be blaming me, Roulan!”
“I have seen your recruitment tactics, Director Touba. It’s one thing for you to reel in uneducated Lower Ring recruits with promises of glory and a better life - but it is quite another when you use those tactics on my son.”
“Watch your tone, Director Li. I was one of those uneducated Lower Ring recruits.”
“Until the Dai Li sponsored your education! Just as we sponsored Long Feng’s. And look how the two of you have repaid us!”
“By making the Dai Li the most powerful, farthest-reaching organization in the city?”
“That Serpents gang would disagree, I think. You’ve been chasing after them for, what, four years now? And those boys you’ve been recruiting - you’re not even bothering sending them to university! Half of them can’t even read!”
“It doesn’t stop them from being capable agents.”
“Oh, certainly, if you define being a capable agent as being an earthbender and nothing else! The Dai Li gave you an education - you won’t even pass that on to others!”
“With the way things are now our new agents do not need an academic education - that’s why we’re getting so many Lower Ring recruits now!”
“My son is from two old Dai Li families, he’s meant to have a proper education and to uphold Avatar Kyoshi’s decree, not go chasing down Lower Ring gangsters!”
“It is not my fault that your son has no interest in archaeology!”
“And when did you stop having an interest in archaeology, Feiyan? I did not challenge Long Feng to single combat so that my son could just go - go - gallivanting around the Lower Ring throwing rocks at criminals!”
“And I didn’t give up my chance to be Head of the Dai Li so that the organization could stay locked in the Upper Ring refusing to give a damn about the rest of the city! Your husband is half Nanyuese - your wife was a refugee! Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me the Dai Li haven’t been making a difference for people in the Lower Ring, Roulan?”
There was a long moment of silence. “The Dai Li are meant to protect and preserve Ba Sing Se’s cultural heritage. Not do the City Guard’s job.”
“Well someone has to do the City Guard’s job, and the City Guard have made it perfectly clear that they can’t be trusted to do it themselves. Half of them are corrupt and the other half are ineffectual.”
“And you think I want Kun down there dealing with that? The Lower Ring is a war zone!”
“I think the refugees who live there would beg to differ.”
“One of your trainees was killed last month, Feiyan!”
Silence.
“A trainee! Killed! Dai Li trainees are not supposed to be killed on the job!”
There was a scrambling noise on the tile behind him, and Kun jerked around in time to see his cousin Hoang hauling herself up onto the roof. “Hoang, be quiet!” he hissed, even as he reached down for her hand and pulled her up beside him.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
The women in the building below, though, hadn’t seemed to hear them in the midst of their arguing. “You are letting children die - ”
“He was an adult, Roulan, he was nineteen - ”
“Is that really supposed to make me feel better?!”
“It was an accident, it’s not like we sent him to die on purpose - ”
“And I’m just supposed to hope my son never has an accident?”
“How long has Director Feiyan been here?” Kun asked Hoang quietly.
“About half an hour,” she said, frowning over the edge of the roof.
“Have they been arguing the whole time?”
Hoang shrugged. “It started quieter. The arguing didn’t really heat up until ten minutes ago.”
Kun sighed.
“What’re you gonna do?” Hoang asked.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
Hoang leaned against him. “Y’know, Zan didn’t talk to me for a week when I finally told her I didn’t wanna be Dai Li, but...she accepted it. Eventually.”
Kun snorted as the voices below rose dangerously close to shouting. “Yeah...I think Mom’s gonna need more time than Zan did.”
