[Even now Yanli remains calm. She's matured in the years since Jin Zixuan had reduced her to tears by taking a tone with her quite similar to this. The war she'd weathered much of in solitude and had battered her heart into breaking that day has been over for a long time. Even so, the youth's response makes her a little sad and it shows in her expression.]
No one sent me... This was my apartment. All I did was tell you my name, young master.
[She speaks slowly in a patent, hushed tone, placing her hands before her in a placating gesture as if she'd dealing with a nervous wild animal. Yanli does study him quietly though, gathering what information she can based off of his appearance alone.
Yellow robes and the tell-tale dot of cinnabar on his forehead - a youth of the Lanling Jin Sect but not one that Yanli herself is personally acquainted with. After a moment, she reaches down to grab the lotus bell dangling from her sash, lifting it up so he can see.]
My betrothed is Jin Zixuan, the heir to your sect. I can take you to him and Sect Leader Jiang as well if you wish to speak with them directly. They can confirm my identity.
[Since the boy seems to believe she's a imposter for reasons she doesn't yet know or understand.]
Everything that she's telling him is impossible, and yet there is a very strong piece of him, worming through his chest, that desperately wants to believe her. The moisture brimming his eyes is starting to make his vision blurry and he angrily blinks it away. ]
You--
[ His voice is thick and it catches in his throat, his knuckles bone white where they gripped around his father's sword. ]
You're dead. You're dead. My father is dead. What-- [ The little lotus bell makes him involuntarily grab at the tassel on his sword, gripping the lotus flower tight enough to make it cut into his palm. ]
Uncle knows you're both dead, he wouldn't -- Why would he lie and--
[A weaker woman than Jiang Yanli might have been paralyzed at the news. Perhaps been shocked into silence or broken down in tears. But she's a woman that's faced the emotional turmoil of being hunted by enemies seeking her death with only the shambles of a scattered, vulnerable sect willing to aid her, months of not knowing whether anyone within her family was alive or dead, and lived in solitude among strangers during a brutal war. She's survived worse news than this without anyone around to support her and come out stronger for it.
This situation is no different. After a startled gasp and moment of involuntary shock passes, Yanli puts aside her confusion, fear, and upset, hiding it all away into the mental compartment she stores all complicated feelings that might interfere with doing what has to be done. The only outward sign of disturbance at all are the trickle of tears at the corners of her eyes and her soft voice dropping into a near whisper.]
...Please come with me and I'll take you to your uncle. Would you like to see him? I promise no harm will come to you along the way.
[Jiang Yanli is smart with a mind like a steel trap and far more perceptive than the cultivation world will ever know. Just within that outburst, this young man's told her all she needs to know to deduce his identity on the spot, even if she still doesn't know his name.]
I won't allow it.
[Anyone that had ever heard her mother speak would recognize the traces of steel hidden just below her soft inflection.]
We can sort this all out then.
[Even as she speaks, Yanli's already going to work with the communicator on her wrist, sending messages to both Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan. If this boy won't go with her to see them, she's bringing them here. Either way, this matter is getting sorted and settled tonight.]
[ Jin Ling is at an utter loss. He stares at her like one might a ghost, only half seeing her through the tears, as she stands there and calmly offers to take him to see his Uncle and prove that not only is she his Mother but that his Father is here too.
That he has a family, here, one that he'd never really known.
He's not used to the kindness, to the evenness in her tone. Even Jin Guangyao's even temper always held a different note to it. Compliance, not kindness.
Jiang Cheng had never been what anyone would call kind.
But people had always called his mother kind. In every story he'd ever heard, it was this that won out: her kindness. Her compassion. The steel that slipped into her backbone when defending her family.
The tears that had been threatening to fall finally broke, and he crumpled down onto the floor, folding up and gripping his sword to his chest, sobbing.
He couldn't tell if he was heartbroken or happy - it was too overwhelming to even think about. ]
Watching him cry now reminds him of herself, of the way she'd felt upon learning just how much Jin Zixuan loves her here. It'd felt almost too good to be true, like her mind had snapped and she'd fallen enthralled into some inexplicable fantasy. It took a week for her to finally stop pinching herself and start to believe that maybe, just maybe this bizarre new world with its so many strange, impossible things could possibly be real.
Once she's sent her messages to let her brother and fiance know what's coming, Yanli kneels down next to the boy, reaching out to touch his shoulder carefully.]
Will you tell me your name? I... I'd like to know it, please. Times here are very strange. I do not yet know about you but that doesn't mean I don't want to or that none of this isn't real.
[A slight thoughtful pause before she continues, giving him a gentle pat.]
Your uncle and your father will want to see you, too, so.... please let me take you home.
[ She asks him his name, says she doesn’t know it, and he just sobs harder. Of course she wouldn’t - not if she hasn’t even married his father yet - but somehow it just makes him feel more alone than ever.
Like a ghost, but backwards.
Fairy trots over to him and sits down, gently licking the back of his hand as he sobs, unable to answer the question for several seconds. ]
Jin Ling. [ He manages to get out and not wail it. ]
Jin Rulan. [ Ah. There’s the wailing.
He doesn’t even answer about his father and uncle, just throws his free arm around fairy and hugs the dog tightly, pressing his face into her neck and sobbing into her fur. ]
[At least, she knows the boy's name now. That's progress even if the way he's carrying on is starting to fray Yanli's nerves and break down the edges of her calm. Tears are starting to fill her eyes as she just looks on at him helplessly, trying to figure out what it is she's supposed to do to alleviate this situation. It's not his fault, had their positions been reversed, she might have take in it just as badly. And even though rationally, Yanli knows that this meltdown isn't her fault. How could it be? She hadn't even know he existed at all until just a few minutes ago.
But Yanli's an older sister and now she's discovered that she's a mother as well. He's her son; taking care of him is her responsibilty now no matter how she looks at it.
Slowly and hesitantly, Yanll reaches out to put her arms around him and the dog both, rubbing her newfound's son's back like she'd do with a child. She's not sure if if this is the right way to go about comforting or consoling him but rising panic in her is compelling her to do something to try to help. It's all she can think of to do.]
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't know... But I know it now, A-Ling.
[The name flows from her lips naturally in a careful murmur without thinking.]
I know who you are now and I'm not going to leave you again.
[Because she and his father had died. But Yanli can't let herself dwell on that revelation right now. She needs to focus on their child right now.]
I'll take you home and you can stay with us. Your friend here can come, too.
[ He'll be mortified, later, to be acting like this, but he can't help it. Her arms circle around him and he is filled with such an immediate warmth and joy and longing that it just spawns another flood of tears and a dry, wracking sob.
He knows he needs to stop crying. He knows he's upsetting her. But it's too much and he can't handle it. So he just keeps crying until the sobs start to settle and the tears start to slow, his shoulders ceasing to shake. ]
Fairy.
[ It's the only thing he can trust himself to say, right now. Rather than voice how badly he wants to go home with her, how much he missed her, how much he loves her. He can't remember a thing about her, but he knows these two things more strongly than anything else in his life.
But he can't voice it, not right now, not like this. She doesn't even know him, and that's what hurts worst of all.
She doesn't even know him, and she's asking him to come home.
He sobs again, despite himself, but then pulls himself back from her arms and scrubs as his eyes. ]
[She said the exact same thing to her little brother each time he triumphantly showed off one of his puppies to her when they were children. Whether or not, she ever truly believed they were is just one more of the obscure facts lost to time about Yanli.
What is known, however, is that Yanli feels a weird pang and empty feeling she can't adequately explain when Jin Ling pulls away. She doesn't force it though, instead reaching down to skritch Fairy behind the ears.]
Miss Fairy seems like a very good friend to have. I can see that she's very loyal and cares about you a lot.
[Good dog, Fairy, taking care of her son. Yanli will sneak her table scraps later as a personal 'thank you'.]
[ Fairy's tail wags, sniffing at Yanli's wrist, as Jin Ling slowly gets himself under control enough to be able to watch them. He wonders if maybe Fairy recognizes her scent from his own. He doesn't know. ]
9 years. [ He sniffs again, thankful for being able to talk about something that isn't how badly he has no idea what to do with himself, right now. ]
She's special. My uncle - Jin Sect Leader - he got her for me. She's the best dog there ever was.
[It hurts to hear 'Jin Sect Leader', knowing now that it's not Jin Zixuan. For a brief moment, grief strongly surges within her and a couple of tears manage to slide down her cheeks before she can catch them. Yanli bows her head, feigning deep interest in the color patterning on Fairy's fur, as she tries to wipe her eyes as discreetly with her sleeve as possible. She starts to slip away inside herself and almost doesn't catch the connection Jin Ling had just made known.
Honestly, keeping her mind occupied with deductive reasoning is what's keeping Yanli from slowly degenerating into a crying mess herself right now. But she has to keep it together until she speak to her brother and her betrothed privately. Connecting the dots between these clues will keep her emotions under control.
So the one to replace Jin Zixuan was one of his illegitimate brothers then. Jin Guangshan's notorious for not recognizing his bastards - aside from one notable exception that is.]
...Your uncle. Is his name Jin Guangyao by chance? He is the one that gave Miss Fairy to you?
[ Now that he's no longer crying himself, he actually catches sight of her tears, this time, and a flood of shame fills him. He did this. He upset her. He should have been able to keep control of himself, but instead he made his mother--
His mother cry.
He swallows thickly, and then nods, looking incredibly guilty. He should be protecting her, not upsetting her.
It doesn't surprise him that she'd know his uncle, of course. Jin Guangyao has been the most prominent cultivator in the Jin Sect - any sect - as long as Jin Ling can remember. ]
Is he here too? You said... You said Father--
[ Ah, nope, couldn't get the sentence out without choking up again. ]
[Oh, little one. Yanli just puts her arm around him again, resting her head on top of his like it's the most natural thing in the world for her to do.]
If he is, I haven't seen him... But I haven't been here very long myself. I've spent most of my time at the house with your uncle, your father, and Sect Leader Nie. I haven't had a chance to go out and meet many people yet.
[Her life has been such a whirlwind of change; she's hardly had time to catch her breath from it all, much less make many social calls. And truth be told, Yanli's been a homebody and wallflower most of her life, anyway.]
But we'll be able to find out at home, A-Ling. I'm sure one of them would know if he's here or not.
[ It is way, way too easy to just let himself lean into her arm, that same warm pleasure flowing through him. It's almost unbearable, how wonderful it is, just to be here. Just to hear her say his name, her arm around him.
He's not too worried about his Uncle. They got along but he was confident he could cope without him. Maybe. He's most interested in being with her and meeting his father.
So, really, right now? He'll follow her anywhere. ]
We can go there. [ He murmurs his agreement, before he feels the careful press of her lips to his hair. It makes his eyes well up again, just from how happy he is. Is he allowed to feel like this?
He swallowed, and then suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face into her shoulder.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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No one sent me... This was my apartment. All I did was tell you my name, young master.
[She speaks slowly in a patent, hushed tone, placing her hands before her in a placating gesture as if she'd dealing with a nervous wild animal. Yanli does study him quietly though, gathering what information she can based off of his appearance alone.
Yellow robes and the tell-tale dot of cinnabar on his forehead - a youth of the Lanling Jin Sect but not one that Yanli herself is personally acquainted with. After a moment, she reaches down to grab the lotus bell dangling from her sash, lifting it up so he can see.]
My betrothed is Jin Zixuan, the heir to your sect. I can take you to him and Sect Leader Jiang as well if you wish to speak with them directly. They can confirm my identity.
[Since the boy seems to believe she's a imposter for reasons she doesn't yet know or understand.]
no subject
Everything that she's telling him is impossible, and yet there is a very strong piece of him, worming through his chest, that desperately wants to believe her. The moisture brimming his eyes is starting to make his vision blurry and he angrily blinks it away. ]
You--
[ His voice is thick and it catches in his throat, his knuckles bone white where they gripped around his father's sword. ]
You're dead. You're dead. My father is dead. What-- [ The little lotus bell makes him involuntarily grab at the tassel on his sword, gripping the lotus flower tight enough to make it cut into his palm. ]
Uncle knows you're both dead, he wouldn't -- Why would he lie and--
[ Jin Ling has encountered an error.exe ]
no subject
This situation is no different. After a startled gasp and moment of involuntary shock passes, Yanli puts aside her confusion, fear, and upset, hiding it all away into the mental compartment she stores all complicated feelings that might interfere with doing what has to be done. The only outward sign of disturbance at all are the trickle of tears at the corners of her eyes and her soft voice dropping into a near whisper.]
...Please come with me and I'll take you to your uncle. Would you like to see him? I promise no harm will come to you along the way.
[Jiang Yanli is smart with a mind like a steel trap and far more perceptive than the cultivation world will ever know. Just within that outburst, this young man's told her all she needs to know to deduce his identity on the spot, even if she still doesn't know his name.]
I won't allow it.
[Anyone that had ever heard her mother speak would recognize the traces of steel hidden just below her soft inflection.]
We can sort this all out then.
[Even as she speaks, Yanli's already going to work with the communicator on her wrist, sending messages to both Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan. If this boy won't go with her to see them, she's bringing them here. Either way, this matter is getting sorted and settled tonight.]
no subject
That he has a family, here, one that he'd never really known.
He's not used to the kindness, to the evenness in her tone. Even Jin Guangyao's even temper always held a different note to it. Compliance, not kindness.
Jiang Cheng had never been what anyone would call kind.
But people had always called his mother kind. In every story he'd ever heard, it was this that won out: her kindness. Her compassion. The steel that slipped into her backbone when defending her family.
The tears that had been threatening to fall finally broke, and he crumpled down onto the floor, folding up and gripping his sword to his chest, sobbing.
He couldn't tell if he was heartbroken or happy - it was too overwhelming to even think about. ]
no subject
Watching him cry now reminds him of herself, of the way she'd felt upon learning just how much Jin Zixuan loves her here. It'd felt almost too good to be true, like her mind had snapped and she'd fallen enthralled into some inexplicable fantasy. It took a week for her to finally stop pinching herself and start to believe that maybe, just maybe this bizarre new world with its so many strange, impossible things could possibly be real.
Once she's sent her messages to let her brother and fiance know what's coming, Yanli kneels down next to the boy, reaching out to touch his shoulder carefully.]
Will you tell me your name? I... I'd like to know it, please. Times here are very strange. I do not yet know about you but that doesn't mean I don't want to or that none of this isn't real.
[A slight thoughtful pause before she continues, giving him a gentle pat.]
Your uncle and your father will want to see you, too, so.... please let me take you home.
no subject
Like a ghost, but backwards.
Fairy trots over to him and sits down, gently licking the back of his hand as he sobs, unable to answer the question for several seconds. ]
Jin Ling. [ He manages to get out and not wail it. ]
Jin Rulan. [ Ah. There’s the wailing.
He doesn’t even answer about his father and uncle, just throws his free arm around fairy and hugs the dog tightly, pressing his face into her neck and sobbing into her fur. ]
no subject
But Yanli's an older sister and now she's discovered that she's a mother as well. He's her son; taking care of him is her responsibilty now no matter how she looks at it.
Slowly and hesitantly, Yanll reaches out to put her arms around him and the dog both, rubbing her newfound's son's back like she'd do with a child. She's not sure if if this is the right way to go about comforting or consoling him but rising panic in her is compelling her to do something to try to help. It's all she can think of to do.]
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't know... But I know it now, A-Ling.
[The name flows from her lips naturally in a careful murmur without thinking.]
I know who you are now and I'm not going to leave you again.
[Because she and his father had died. But Yanli can't let herself dwell on that revelation right now. She needs to focus on their child right now.]
I'll take you home and you can stay with us. Your friend here can come, too.
no subject
He knows he needs to stop crying. He knows he's upsetting her. But it's too much and he can't handle it. So he just keeps crying until the sobs start to settle and the tears start to slow, his shoulders ceasing to shake. ]
Fairy.
[ It's the only thing he can trust himself to say, right now. Rather than voice how badly he wants to go home with her, how much he missed her, how much he loves her. He can't remember a thing about her, but he knows these two things more strongly than anything else in his life.
But he can't voice it, not right now, not like this. She doesn't even know him, and that's what hurts worst of all.
She doesn't even know him, and she's asking him to come home.
He sobs again, despite himself, but then pulls himself back from her arms and scrubs as his eyes. ]
Her name is Fairy.
no subject
[She said the exact same thing to her little brother each time he triumphantly showed off one of his puppies to her when they were children. Whether or not, she ever truly believed they were is just one more of the obscure facts lost to time about Yanli.
What is known, however, is that Yanli feels a weird pang and empty feeling she can't adequately explain when Jin Ling pulls away. She doesn't force it though, instead reaching down to skritch Fairy behind the ears.]
Miss Fairy seems like a very good friend to have. I can see that she's very loyal and cares about you a lot.
[Good dog, Fairy, taking care of her son. Yanli will sneak her table scraps later as a personal 'thank you'.]
How long have you had her?
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9 years. [ He sniffs again, thankful for being able to talk about something that isn't how badly he has no idea what to do with himself, right now. ]
She's special. My uncle - Jin Sect Leader - he got her for me. She's the best dog there ever was.
no subject
[It hurts to hear 'Jin Sect Leader', knowing now that it's not Jin Zixuan. For a brief moment, grief strongly surges within her and a couple of tears manage to slide down her cheeks before she can catch them. Yanli bows her head, feigning deep interest in the color patterning on Fairy's fur, as she tries to wipe her eyes as discreetly with her sleeve as possible. She starts to slip away inside herself and almost doesn't catch the connection Jin Ling had just made known.
Honestly, keeping her mind occupied with deductive reasoning is what's keeping Yanli from slowly degenerating into a crying mess herself right now. But she has to keep it together until she speak to her brother and her betrothed privately. Connecting the dots between these clues will keep her emotions under control.
So the one to replace Jin Zixuan was one of his illegitimate brothers then. Jin Guangshan's notorious for not recognizing his bastards - aside from one notable exception that is.]
...Your uncle. Is his name Jin Guangyao by chance? He is the one that gave Miss Fairy to you?
no subject
His mother cry.
He swallows thickly, and then nods, looking incredibly guilty. He should be protecting her, not upsetting her.
It doesn't surprise him that she'd know his uncle, of course. Jin Guangyao has been the most prominent cultivator in the Jin Sect - any sect - as long as Jin Ling can remember. ]
Is he here too? You said... You said Father--
[ Ah, nope, couldn't get the sentence out without choking up again. ]
no subject
If he is, I haven't seen him... But I haven't been here very long myself. I've spent most of my time at the house with your uncle, your father, and Sect Leader Nie. I haven't had a chance to go out and meet many people yet.
[Her life has been such a whirlwind of change; she's hardly had time to catch her breath from it all, much less make many social calls. And truth be told, Yanli's been a homebody and wallflower most of her life, anyway.]
But we'll be able to find out at home, A-Ling. I'm sure one of them would know if he's here or not.
[Yanli pecks the top of his head.]
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He's not too worried about his Uncle. They got along but he was confident he could cope without him. Maybe. He's most interested in being with her and meeting his father.
So, really, right now? He'll follow her anywhere. ]
We can go there. [ He murmurs his agreement, before he feels the careful press of her lips to his hair. It makes his eyes well up again, just from how happy he is. Is he allowed to feel like this?
He swallowed, and then suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face into her shoulder.
Muffled: ]
We can go whenever you want.