(Untitled)
Day: 7
Characters: kingofdecisions & stedelweiss
Summary: In which the combination of unlocked cells and a new and restless patient results in some general investigation of the nearby area. Unclothed.
When: NIGHT, after 10pm.
Where: Level 1 cells/hallway
Status: OPEN; incomplete
( So much to see, so much to do )
Characters: kingofdecisions & stedelweiss
Summary: In which the combination of unlocked cells and a new and restless patient results in some general investigation of the nearby area. Unclothed.
When: NIGHT, after 10pm.
Where: Level 1 cells/hallway
Status: OPEN; incomplete
( So much to see, so much to do )
He examined the shape while it drew closer, taking note of the man's frame, his movements, these little things one had time to notice in this short amount of time. This stranger did not seem a threat immediately, but of course there was more to a man and what kind of danger he posed than just his physical appearance. Noting this calmly, he watched the man without moving an inch, assessing the possibility of the other carrying a weapon. He did not know who it was yet, if it was the man he had been waiting for, or somebody else.
Despite that risk, which came naturally with an unknown, but doubtlessly hostile environment, he was - and this was genuine - calm and relaxed. For reasons he could not (and had never cared to) explain, fear was something of a stranger to him; and in situations like this, there was usually no anxiousness in him, and the only way in which he experienced alarm was a feeling of readiness - and, more than that, of curiosity. Right now, this was probably for the best.
He waited for the other man to stop, and when he was actually close enough and his features slowly became recognisable, Cao Pi's expression, cold and condescending and guarded by arrogance, did not change - but his breath arrested for a split second.
There in front of him, ghostly and pale to his eyes in the darkness, framed by black hair and emanating an air of wicked, untouchable confidence, was a dead man's face, sly eyes and shallow smile mocking him in more ways than Guo Jia had even intended.
This man looked somewhat younger than Cao Pi remembered, although not much - Guo Jia had never looked particularly old - but there was no mistaking it. Even seven years after the man's death, it was plain as day. The accent, the face, everything in his voice and smile and this unmistakeable aura of self-confidence and biting wit - this was Guo Jia, just as he had lived.
A heartbeat later, Cao Pi crossed his arms and frowned, finally asking in a slightly subdued voice, "How is this possible?"
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Instead he merely replied, "Daren is satisfied that I am sincere?"
He darted his gaze to the box on the wall, then made the conscious decision to switch to their mother tongue.
"It was my Lord's illustrious father who said that one should not employ the questionable, nor question the employed. I serve Lord Cao faithfully until death. Shall it come today? Or in seven years' time?"
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He could not understand this, of course - magic was one thing, one that while he didn't necessarily believe in, he could accept. Ghosts were one thing, although he could not imagine what would have prompted the ghost of Guo Fengxiao to return to this world at a time like this if he had not even returned for the battle at the red cliffs. Cao Pi was not a man who believed in a fate that was this kind. And this man was, very obviously, not a ghost. With the information on the different origins in time that one of the other prisoners had given him (and that did not sound so mad any more now) on his mind, he dismissed the spooked feeling of recognition that still lingered, and chose to take the pragmatic route: accepting what was obviously, even if against all logic, true. It was not as if he had a choice.
"But now, Fengxiao, there is one question that you will have to answer me," he added, like an afterthought - it wasn't one, of course. He smiled thinly, eyes sharp and cold, and carrying a passive, silent threat, when he turned back to look at Guo Jia. "In the absence of my father, are you ready to serve me the same way as you do him? I warn you - don't answer lightly."
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Guo Jia knew that he was a dying man, so having an explicit year -- if he chose to believe it -- was not shocking. It was, however, a mixed blessing; It seemed at once to be both a long time and a short one. Perhaps there was a flicker of his bitter feelings towards his illness in his eyes, for a brief moment, but it was veiled by the shadows of night and quickly disappeared.
"You are Lord Cao, in the absence of your father, are you not?"
This was hardly the first time he'd been faced with a threat -- when he had first joined Cao Cao, many had looked at him that way. Xiahou Dun especially had wanted his death, until their collaboration at Tanxian won him over. While he had not been so bared or in such a precarious position back then, Guo Jia remained unfazed, and maybe even pleased by Cao Pi's air.
It suited him just as well as it would Cao Pi. Likely even more, when things became difficult. He could feel the cold creeping into his bones as things stood -- it was not a huge leap to anticipate frailer days ahead. It did not matter for now that he did not know what kind of man Cao Pi was, with their existing connections.
"If you do not fear to tread the dark path of war, I will gladly accompany my Lord with the very same dedication."
Somehow, he did not think that would be a problem.
He clasped his hands in a salute.
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Cao Pi had not expected Guo Jia to refuse, of course - but it was the way he wrapped up his support that made this pledge so characteristically surprising. And at the same time, it told him something about his new ally - something that said ally wanted to tell him, no doubt, but that was just as helpful. He could see why his father had relied on this man's advice for so long.
"Fear?" he asked with a faint trace of curiosity that was completely fake. Then he turned back to face the window, but he did not look pensive at all now; there was a faint smile on his lips that could have meant many things; content, anticipation - bitterness. Very slowly, almost as if carefully considering every word, he added, "Fengxiao... You are wise, but you understand nothing about me."
And for a moment, he was reminded of Sima Yi. There was more than one reason these men who were the most dangerous, the strangest - were also the most valuable.
He waved the notion off with silence instead of going deeper into it. It was not the point now, and perhaps, things were the best the way they were. Instead nodded at the foreign landscape outside and finally unfolded his arms, slowly. "Give me the enemy, and I will give you the war."
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"You have been here for two days... I wonder if you have observed more than you let on, earlier."
His casual tone suggested that he expected there was more. Cao Pi had obviously been working on two assumptions then: firstly, that the staff were listening in, and secondly, that he was engaging a stranger.
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A brief shrug, and he elaborated flatly, "He said that the prisoners here were not just taken from different places, but also from different times. I dismissed it as a madman's rambling at that point, of course."
He smirked. "Other than that, I can explain to you what all these things in this room are, or where you can wash. It's more fascinating than it sounds."
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"Hoo. It's all quite elaborate," he said. "If my Lord would."
Well, he had been curious about the strange features of his cell.
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"This is called a chair," he explained, substituting the term his language was lacking in this form with the English word. "The people here consider it more comfortable to sit like this. That is why their tables are so high. They will expect you to sit like this during the meals as well."
That explained enough, in his opinion, even if he could not get used to the idea so well yet either. He skipped the bed, assuming Guo Jia had an idea what it was (strange as it looked, it was rather self-explanatory), and proceeded to the toilet, crossing his arms and nodding at the object with a dry smile.
"Tell me, what do you think this is?"
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It wasn't a surprise to hear that they would enforce their customs, when the staff had already tried to prevent dicussions in a tongue foreign to their 'English'. It seemed strange, but not a hardship to adjust.
When faced with the toilet, Guo Jia stepped closer to it and eyed it critically. He had spent a brief few moments looking over the one in his own cell earlier, strange as it appeared, but with only half a mind on the task, if that. It looked like a cross between a 'chair' and a small, strange well, given the constant presence of stored water... but with the device that ran a controllable stream of water into a bowl right beside it, it's purpose was evidentally not...
His brow furrowed slightly.
"Could it be--" he cut himself off at the door's movement, and turned his attention instead to the newly arrived person, an odd shape, only partially distinct in the dark.
Was that a wheeled chair? He could guess at the need for it easily enough, at least. He glanced curiously back to Cao Pi.
“Does my Lord normally have company?”
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"I thought they were trying to placate me," he mused, in spite of Nunnally's presence. "I cannot say who she is. Except a blind, crippled girl.
"And this is a 'toilet'," he pointed out, back in English, as the use of the English word which he could not properly translate, he felt, with the same connotations in Chinese, made it clear what they were discussing, anyway. "This is where you relieve yourself."
Only then, he turned around and granted the new guest a look. "The girl's name is Nunnally."
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Not that he vocalised as much.
"Correct again. How pleasant to meet you in person, Nunnally; this is sooner than I expected. As you can hear, Cao Pi daren is so generously educating me."
He then reverted his attention back to Cao Pi.
"Daren will inform me, should I become a disruption?" he asked, not because it needed to be said for its own sake, but rather to make an unsubtle comment on the hierachy.
The quirk of his lips perhaps suggested that it went a step further: it also served as a conscious contrast to Nunnally's lack of recognition for Cao Pi's tone.
With the original matter at hand having been derailed enough, his gaze flicked back to the toilet. He considered it in a new light for a brief moment. "Our captors are certainly... inventive. What luxurious cells! Though they must back their front of good intentions somehow."
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He turned his attention back to Guo Jia and only remarked to the strategist's question, "You will know it."
He still did not know what to make of this, Guo Jia being alive, being there right in front of him, above all. But he wasn't fool enough to not understand how important and how fortunate it was to have the strategist here. He was not going to take this for granted - or let the chance pass without using it.
"Fengxiao is an old friend of my father's," he explained without a trace of emotion that would hint at irony in his voice. "You will meet him here occasionally."
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