#rep.jianyu

[ashencranes]

@drownedichor continued.

Jianyu had found that there was a lot of fun in pushing his wife's buttons. He grew more and more interested in seeing what her reactions would be, how her body reacted, her little micro-moves, twitches, the way her eyes widened when she heard him speak and then narrowed as he irritated her once more. He wasn't aware before just how interesting she could be sometimes. In fact, he made an internal bet with himself that he would explore all the reactions her body could have to him before she finally gave up on the divorce and accepted that she was his wife forever.

His lips curled up as she spoke, that little crinkle in the corner of her eye showing how much she was controlling herself. "Do not worry yourself too much about my untimely death." Slowly he reached forward and straightened out a stray lock of hair on her forehead. "I've made arrangements and will to make sure you are not burdened by anything. I did however allow you to choose which charity you will have to give all my funds away to." A quick wink followed his words. "I wouldn't want you to deal with too much, you are, after all, so neglected and unloved it would be unfair to force you to deal with the ordeal of managing my affairs."

The threat of her ordering his assassination crossed his mind but he thought her both too gentle and too much of an honest person to actually go through with it. Sure, she entertained the thought but he saw her businesses. She cut profit to make sure the employees got a living wage, something that felt counter-intuitive for him and most of the BoD. He knew she despised him but not to the point of believing he was evil and so her conscience wouldn't let her do it.

"Do not bother yourself with morbid things like that. Your worry for me will shorten your lifespan. Do remember we're on this Earth for a limited time, try to enjoy the highs." Without asking, he pulled her for just a few seconds into his arms and twirled her around only to let go and step back. He took a full bow and looked up to see the anticipated anger in her eyes. "Now, my lovely wife, if you've got nothing else for me, I will retreat to my room. We will meet at out counselling later today."

[ashencranes]

@yiyiren sent in letter.

“How about you quit your job? Then, we pack our bags and move to one of those pretty small settlements in the midst of the grassland plains! I can open a calligraphy shop, you can open a stall, or teach people how to swing fists! I’d be a great wife! My cooking skills might need some improvement, but in all else, I am very good at!” Shūlán kept tugging on the long sleeves of his garments. “We can pick a new family name and start a little family line nobody cares for!”

"Is that all?" The man's smile was clear as day as he reached out forward to brush through the leaves of the rose bush beside them. "Just a small case of throwing out all I have worked for and leaving it behind to live a boring, unremarkable life with you?" He paused as if to make the words hang in the air for just a tiny bit too long, before he turned to face the woman, cheekily grabbing her wrist and pulling it slightly toward him, making sure she had to focus most, if not all, of her attention on him.

"Say that one more time." He spoke calmly. "Say it and promise me, you won't regret it." His tone was still light, but there was a serious undertone to it, one that left little to imagination. This would not have been the most unwise and spur-of-the-moment decision he had ever made, but it was one he would commit to without any hesitation, should Shulan truly wish so. "Bear in mind, if you accept that, you will never be rid of me again."

[ashencranes]

There were only a few situations that gave Jianyu a headache. In all fairness, he could divide it into three major areas: illness and any fever, lack of sleep and stress. The pounding pain present and drumming the Ride of the Valkyries between his temples was clearly there due to the last stress factor area. In fact, he could narrow it down even further, not to just general stress but to a specific source.

A very happy and surely currently snickering Source.

"What do you mean, you got your gifted subscriptions charged back and can't dispute them?" He asked, looking at his monitor, trying his best not to grit his teeth as in front of him an icon of - what he assumed was - a character in a video game with comically enlarged eyes. "This is exactly why I told you not to stream on that stupid platform. Do you even know what the tax laws for international services are? Did you care to check when you went and got yourself partnered?"

Oh, he regretted going on community sites and finding people with similar interests to him. What started as an innocent friendship with a faceless kid who was into horror now ended up as being tech, business and sometimes even tax support, for a young man who was always 'on the verge' of making it big. Sure, he had skill, but the game he chose was niche and honestly, Jianyu didn't get what was so good about something that was basically a graphically outdated game of tag. Not his taste, honestly.

"Listen to me." He spoke on the voice call, trying his best not to hiss. "Check the chargebacks, see if there is any hope of dispute and after that, go make sure that only verified people can gift you things. Also make sure to put a disclaimer that donations outside of the platform are non-refundable."

The man took off his reading glasses and slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oh and I can't make your stream today. I've got a meeting with a potential investor so... per our deal," he'd forever hate himself for this promise from a few years prior, "how do you want me to make up for it?"

[ashencranes]

@fateguardian sent:

Are you trying to scare me? [jingshu]

There were times when Jianyu was grateful that he could keep the mask on during work. It helped to keep his expression -- and intentions -- hidden, which made his strikes much more lethal. It also helped with anonymity many a time. This situation, however, required the mask for a third, much more important reason. It ate up the sounds of the exasperated sigh he let out at the woman's question.

His shoulders sloped, his inner cheek swollen from how harshly he bit himself to simply stifle the initial retort that came to his mind. The man shook his head and reached his arm out, backing himself in the process. "There. Our distance is of a safe and reputable amount. This way, you are free to leave, and I can barely do anything since we are still within the city gates." In fairness, Jianyu was an assassin, and there were many ways in which he could still hurt the woman, but in this particular case no such need was to arise.

"I merely suggested that you might want to find someone of better company than myself for this evening." He repeated his words slowly. "I thought of your reputation, dear Lady. I was not speaking of any dangers linked to myself -- not for you at least. But a widow such as yourself, spending the evening with a single masked man? You would be the talk of all the folk who'd see you." There were many scary things during the long nights in Hewu, truly. Still, Jianyu was usually employed to keep the darkness, with said scary things reduced to the smallest possible number. "The night is coming, people are moving back to their houses to sleep. Should you not do the same?"

[ashencranes]

@fateguardian sent in a letter.

Mere seconds after going live, Qingyu turned on his camera showing his beaming smile to everyone. "Listen guys, lock in. We have a new emote." A week ago he commissioned Jingshu in secret to create a little frowning man wearing a face mask. The likeness of Jianyu locked in that little creature wasn't entirely accidental. "If you could all just send dageangy in chat for our big mod. More, a little more. Yes, thank you." Still grinning, he turned off his camera and turned his attention to the loading screen as the match was about to start.

Jianyu sat in front of his monitor. If one came into the room, they'd think nothing was wrong -- he sat still, sure, but outside of that, there were no emotions on his face, he looked almost innocently serene with the peaceful expression on his face. His fingers, resting on the keyboard, seemed to hover over the keys, but gently so, almost as if in preparation to start a friendly conversation. His eyes were focused on the screen where the same animation of four cuts from skulls slowly cut by another line indicated the loading of the match. The offerings had shown themselves before, but if someone asked Jianyu, he would not be able to tell even one. Instead, his eyes were glued to the side of the screen were the chat was placed, now full of one singular emote made in that signature style of the boy's 'artistic' mod.

Finally, he moved. Or rather -- his face moved as he grit his teeth so harshly, the tearing of enamel made a sound that could easily bring up goosebumps. The atmosphere around him suddenly turned darker. In the back of his head, he was already beginning to form his revenge plan. For now though, he needed to know how many victims he had to take into consideration. Slowly, he took a deep breath and opened a direct chat with Jingshu.

>> Did he pay you for this?

[ashencranes]

@fateguardian sent in a letter.

I trust you. Completely. / qingyu to jianyu

Jianyu stood frozen, his eyes blinking rapidly as he just stared at the younger man with an expression that really put the 'dumb' in 'dumbfounded'. He could not believe what he had just heard. There were unwise decisions, and then there was whatever Qingyu was thinking, and in truth, Jianyu was unsure whether or not he wanted to know anything more about it. His gaze moved to Jingshu, who simply shrugged and shook her head, almost as if requesting not to be dragged into this.

"W-why?" He stammered out, finally, his tone sounding far more like that of a lost teenager than a man in his prime. "You barely know me, you've only met me face to face a few times, are you--" insane was the word that hopped onto Jianyu's lips, but he bit down on it. He was not one to speak on issues of the mind, he had enough self-awareness to know. Still though, the confession came as they were fighting over the new and updated rules that Qingyu wanted to enforce in his chat, ones that Jianyu felt were far too lax.

"Actually, don't answer that question. It doesn't matter. I'm just going to pretend that never happened and that I don't know that. In fact, I'm going to pretend you're smarter than that and that you don't actually trust me that much. Do you understand?"

A hair ran through his hair, messing up his well-combed hairdo, and he sighed once more, looking away from the other, trying not to look completely miserable. "Out of the three of us, the only person deserving of any sort of trust is maybe Jingshu." He glanced at her with the lightest suspicion in his eyes. "I'm not to be trusted and, honestly, with that sort of bad decision-making, you're probably the least trustworthy person around." Jianyu paused, hoping the silence would feel heavy and consequential to the young streamer. "I would really like you to take what you just said to me, run it back home and really think about what you did. Once you do, write me a short essay on why people like me should not be trusted by public figures."

That last sentence was a joke. Unless...?

[ashencranes]

@yiyiren sent in a letter.

❝ is it worth dying for? (from Shulan) ❞

The question came directly at the assassin, and he thanked the heavenly virtues that he was wearing his mask, which allowed him the grace of hiding the expression on his face. Multiple emotions flashed through it, and only his eyes offered glimpses of them. Surprise at the question, embarrassment at the notion of a sincere reply and finally, a certain disappointment that Shulan did not see him as one who would put his life where his beliefs rested. Did she see him as unwise? An opportunist? No matter the details of the truth, it seemed he held her in higher esteem than she did him.

It took him a few moments to cool his head as he simply stood there frozen, staring into the girl's face almost rudely with how unblinking his gaze was. When he gathered his thoughts in a way that felt organised, he cleared his throat and broke the silence. "Are you not loyal to the ideals of your people?" He knew she had a network she belonged to, yet he never asked for details - he respected her enough to know -- if she needed to and deemed it necessary, she would tell him. "Is your loyalty there also not complete?" He frowned, reminded of certain situations in the past where he'd seen her risk her life as if it meant nothing, and its loss would not affect anyone. A new wave of frustration washed over the man, and he moved his hand up to take off his mask. The cold air hit the lightly damp skin, making it tense up, forcing Jianyu's face into a solemn expression.

"From when I can remember, my life has had no worth. I am only as good as I am useful. If my mission requires me to die, then that is it." His muscles tensed up, and he felt his jaw clench. Before, it was easy, he knew where his loyalties lay, and he would not have to think twice about the risks. It was the last year that had... complicated things. He wondered...

"Would you miss me?"

[ashencranes]

@drownedichor sent in a letter.

❝ what's your excuse this time? (from Lianxin to Jiayu) ❞

As the man stood over the mess he had caused, a small smile showed up on his lips. He didn't look up toward his wife, nor did he even gesture to her. The broken glass and trampled bouquet of flowers were scattered on the ground under his shoes, and whenever he walked, the sounds would play a pleasant melody in his ears.

"Excuse? Why should I find any excuses for myself?" He asked. His eyes raised up, this time observing the ceiling above them. There was nothing special about it, no special carvings or anything, but the whiteness of the surface served now as a place for him to project images from his mind that had shown up before as he was destroying the gift that Lian Xin had received.

"You wish to make a fool of me - fine, that is completely okay. It is my responsibility to accept that this is who I wed." The tone of his voice betrayed an unnerving cheerfulness. "But make no mistake, I will not tolerate anything of lesser quality to be given to you. Whether it comes from your lover, whether it comes from a friend, or whether you buy it for yourself to annoy me. If it is trash, it will be treated as such." Calmly, he left the room. He cared little if she was angry with him, he cared even less whether she'd clean it up herself or call staff. He made his point.