marlowemuses | The Littlest Nie Heir

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The Littlest Nie Heir

Huaisang's desperate.

His brother's murderer seems to grow more powerful and prosperous with every passing year, and Huaisang has no proof, no progress, and no real defenses against the possibility of his own murder. All he can do is keep acting clueless, and even that defense has meant that his sect grows weaker and poorer as time goes on.

History had never been one of Huaisang's passions, but in reviewing old documents about the construction of Qinghe, he found some records that referenced even older documents. They claimed that more than two hundred years ago, while the deeper cellars and storage chambers had been built into the mountain, some of the Nie ancestors had bound a spirit to protect a weapon of great power. But the spirit would only allow its power to be used by someone worthy, and more than one generation had tried to use the spirit only to find themselves deemed unworthy, until the cavern where the spirit lived had been bricked up entirely.

Huaisang wasn't clear on why they needed to brick the spirit's cavern up like that, since it wasn't doing anything (it seemed like the whole problem was that it kept refusing to do anything), and he also couldn't imagine that there was any chance that he (the disappointment of his sect) would succeed at a measurement where his ancestors had failed. But maybe the spirit just really didn't like unyielding muscle-bound swordmen. Huaisang could be remarkably persuasive. And anyway, now he was curious.

The location of the spirit's cavern was quite straightforward, off a certain storage chamber, so it only took a pair of workmen a couple of hours to open the wall.

Huaisang went in alone, dismissing the workmen and telling his attendant to wait outside. He trusted his attendants, and knew that Toutong would worry, but if there was something dangerous in here, Huaisang didn't want anyone else put at risk for his curiosity. He'd learned that lesson once before.

The chamber was a simple round cave, with an intricate carved pattern on the floor made up of sigils that Huaisang didn't recognize. At the center was a short pillar with a little jade statuette.

Huaisang strode up to it, only a little bit wary, and picked up the statuette. It was solid jade, heavy in his hand and larger than both his fists together (not that he had particularly large hands). "Tiangou," he murmured, recognizing the stylized carving as representative of a monstrous dog-spirit. He tapped the little statuette on its nose, wondering why the eyes had been painted with some old and flaking red-brown paint.

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He takes the jar gratefully, though his eagerness is distracted by the vessel itself. He takes a moment to inspect it, turning it curiously around in his hands before he opens it. Huh... he can't remember the last time he'd seen anything like this. It makes him even more curious about whatever lies out there beyond this cave.

Speaking of which... Huaisang only rests for a few moments before the demon pauses in his drinking to consider him as he sits there. Hmm.

He hadn't been given an order, but he's feeling uncommonly generous. This little Nie has been agreeable enough, even going to far as to ask about his needs. That doesn't happen often. It doesn't take him long to decide that doing something nice in return seems worthwhile.

Besides, if he helps, it will get them out of these boring caves sooner rather than later.

After setting the jar beside Huaisang again, he moves a polite step backward before shrugging off his physical form once more. Hellfire flares out and the air warps, before quickly snapping back into place a second later. A big, black hound now stands in his place again.

Stepping close to Huaisang, he lowers his head and dips his shoulders down. Climb on, new friend.

Huaisang's surprised by how the spirit seems to bow before him. The dog form is a surprise, but it's not quite as alarming as the first appearance of the monster dog, and there are currently a manageable amount of teeth and eyes. Smiling as he realizes the offer that is being given to him, Huaisang tucks the liquor away again and rises.

"Thank you," he murmurs, gently scratching behind the spirit's ears for a moment, appreciative.

He settles carefully onto those shoulders, sitting side-saddle because of his long, layered robes. Huaisang's never liked horses, and is scared of them more often than not, but no horse has ever volunteered itself to be ridden like this.

Tangling his hands into the dog's fur, Huaisang holds on securely, trying not to be too scared. "All right. Let's go."

It is still so far up, and Huaisang's attendant slows a couple of times but continues without ever stopping. Huaisang finally tugs his mount to guide him out onto a beautiful pavilion with a wide balcony, looking out across his mountain city. He slides down, gesturing toward the balcony for the spirit to go and appreciate his fresh air while he sends his attendant off to fetch them some food.

Once they're finally up in open air and Huaisang is standing on his own feet again, the dog shakes out its pelt--and the motion continues through the transformation back into a man, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his arms out a couple times as he moves toward the balcony.

He might not have been trapped in that particular cave for two hundred years, but it had been what felt like ages since he'd last been able to walk around this plane at all. And he can't remember the last time he'd seen a view like this. It causes the same glimmer of confusion to run through him that he'd felt when looking at that clay jar.

"Wow..." A good few moments spent being awestruck, before something suddenly clicks in his head, and he shoots a glance over toward Huaisang. "--Hang on, where am I? Or... maybe, when am I?"

"Qinghe," Huaisang says, confused about what answers he's looking for. He comes over to stand by Dierke, leaning on the rail as he looks out across his lands. "We're ... effectively a self-governing province within Zhonguo, in the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzheng, though the emperor's control over the great sects is mostly nominal. I'm the Sect Leader of the QingheNie sect."

He's not sure if any of that will help his tiangou, but it's the best he can think to offer in order to give him some context.

"Dierke" nods along as if all of this makes sense to him, despite the fact that it absolutely does not. Every word that Huaisang adds onto his explanation further perplexes the demon. He'd really been expecting some of that to ring as familiar.

Some part of him seriously considers the fact that he might have accomplished the impossible by being knocked off the proper track of Time. His luck has always been off-kilter. After a minute more of consideration, however, he has to wonder how much it would actually matter one way or the other if it was true.

"...Huh." Drumming his fingers once on the railing, he ultimately offers a shrug. It's not like he'd been excited to see the future anyway. Maybe starting over a couple centuries back could be fun.

It does make him think, though. Glancing down at himself--furred collar and a lot of dark leather--and then taking a closer look at the others as if really seeing them for the first time, he laughs a little to himself. It has been a while since he has stood out this much in a crowd.

It makes him grin. "So... what now?"

"Lunch," Huaisang says, looking up at him with a completely guileless blink. "And I'd like to know more about you."

He goes to one of the tables in the room, taking a seat in front of it and then taking the clay jar back out. He pours some of the liquor into two cups, then sets the jar down on the table within reach. "The old records that led me to you said something about you guarding some great weapon. Is that true? Or are you the weapon?"

The demon's ears perk up along with the rest of his expression, at that. Despite marveling a little over how much this whole encounter continued to differ from the norm, he obediently follows Huaisang to the table.

Lunch? When was the last time that anybody--let alone his summoner--had invited him to lunch? It's an effort not to laugh to himself over it.

He manages to just stick to a crooked grin as he settles down, propping his elbows on the table and lazily leaning his weight forward on them as if he had never heard of propriety.

"Good question. There might be some big weapon down there, but... my money is on those records being about me."

Huaisang's definitely not surprised, considering that at this point it's clear that he's dealing with some shape-changing demon, who is at the very least terrifying, built like a massive direwolf out of legend. The lack of table manners doesn't surprise him either, and Huaisang's never been a stickler for rules or propriety. He already knows better than to bring this creature in front of anyone who is, unless he intentionally wants them offended.

He sips at his own liquor, grateful for it. Despite feeling good about how his handling of the creature is going so far, he's still terrified. He's pretty sure only someone very stupid would fail to be terrified by Dieke.

"What can you do?" Huaisang asks next. It's important for him to understand his weapon, after all, if it's going to be of any use to him.

The demon pauses in lifting his own drink to his mouth, and cocks his head to the side. It's a very canine expression.

"You summoned me, but you don't know?" That's not typically how it goes, with him. Summoners never entirely know what they're getting into when they call him, but they usually at least have some covetous, preconceived notion about what they're unleashing on the world. The few who had seemed more clueless or curious than anything had tended to find ruin much quicker than the others. He can't help but hope this doesn't end up being one of those cases.

"I mean... it's a long list." One that he honestly hasn't seen the end of yet. "Most of my skills fall under, you know--" He kind of waves his hand aimlessly while he finally sips some of his liquor. "--Hunting. Destroying. Burning. Scaring the shit out of people."

Given what the records already got wrong, Huaisang's not about to trust any of the information that he's learned from them. And things are going well enough so far doing things his own way.

"I guessed it was probably something along those lines, what with the whole scary burning dog thing you've got going on." Huaisang flattens his lips together. He's not at all sure how scary burning dog will help him achieve any of his goals, but it's the sort of ally that he doesn't think should be dismissed lightly. "And what is it that you want in return for the use of your skills?" He'd tried to ask that earlier but hadn't made any progress in getting an answer, which just means he needs to figure out the right way to ask it.

His attendant returns with a couple other servants carrying trays. The servants bow as they enter, coming to place the food on the table. Both servants give Dieke a wary glance, but they only hesitate for a moment before continuing their task. There are two bowls of rice, then several plates of marinated grilled meats, pickled vegetables, dumplings, and little bite-sized cakes. Huaisang gestures to encourage Dieke to help himself, then picks up his own chopsticks. He selects a couple of bites of meat and puts them atop the bowl of rice near Dieke, then takes a morsel for himself. "Here, try these. They're very good."

The way that this creature is distracted from the conversation by the arriving servants is a clear reminder that he truly is some animalistic demon in human form. He is in the middle of giving a funny, amused look at Huaisang's request as they enter, but the activity and scent of food pulls his attention away immediately.

He grins and leans more heavily on the arms he has crossed on the table, leering at them as if he's considering eating them instead of the dishes they're carrying.

He's just teasing, though. The prospect of lunch just has him excited.

The chopsticks are the next point of curiosity. He'd never played "person" long enough in the countries that use them to end up using them himself. He's a fast learner when it comes to physical matters, though. Attention shifting to Huaisang's hands, he leans a little further across the table to watch (and quickly copy with surprising success) while he finally remembers Huaisang's question.

"What do I want in return? Don't know if I've ever been asked that before. I'm a hound. You're holding my leash."

Huaisang's surprised by the information that he's metaphorically holding the creature's leash, though maybe he shouldn't be. It's here and cooperating, isn't it? But then what about the generations of his ancestors--at least two generations, according to the records--that had failed to get this creature to cooperate? Why hadn't they held the leash? Had Huaisang really somehow been deemed 'worthy'? But under what criteria?

He eats as he mulls this over, often adding morsels to Dieke's bowl in addition to taking some for himself, encouraging him to eat.

"I think I would expect an ordinary hound to want ... a comfortable bed, plenty of food, training and encouragement, hmm ... space to run?" Huaisang never had a pet dog before. He generally preferred birds. "What else?"

Something about his own answer to the question sticks in the back of the demon's mind. Some odd little irritation. An incongruency. He can't help but pick at it while he happily digs into his meal--using the chopsticks successfully enough to feed morsels into his mouth at the same rate that Huaisang loads up his bowl.

He can't help but fixate on the young Nie's face while he talks. His blood-wet eyes narrow a little... but the expression is quickly broken up with a laugh.

"Are you planning on turning me into a lapdog? Not that I hate the idea..." He says, as his grin turns a little smirk-y. "And if you're going to spoil me, throw some booze on the list."

"I don't know," Huaisang confesses, with a little shrug. "I don't want anything destroyed or burned. The records on what you can do are unclear at best--they indicated that you were the guardian of some weapon, when it seems that you are the weapon."

He'd been quiet while the other servants were in the room, some of the soft, shy nerves returning to him like the initial fright he'd shown with Dieke. But once they're alone again, except for the original attendant he had with him, Huaisang seems more confident and collected, his fear mostly having faded by now. "I have an army, I have defenses." He gestures the chopsticks in the general direction of the balcony. Dieke will have seen the massive walls around the city, covering the sides of the city not protected by steep cliffs. It could withstand years worth of siege. "I'm not interested in starting any wars. I might be interested in scaring the shit out of someone, though."

While that irritating little half-thought continues to circle in the back of his mind, he starts with the easiest thing to comment on and works backwards.

"Sometimes I'm called to lay waste to an advancing army; sometimes I'm called to get revenge on a cheating boyfriend." He's seen the full spectrum.

After eating another little piece of meat from his chopsticks, he keeps them there so he can gnaw on them thoughtfully. At first, he looks like he's going to speak up again, but he only watches Huaisang carefully in a silence that hangs. Chewing on that mental irritation like he's chewing on his chopstick.

Finally, something clicks. Wondering over how strange this summoning has been compared to the many, many others he has endured, he thinks back to the room he manifested in. He thinks about how clueless this summoner seems to be--compared to the complicated, powerful sigil that had been drawn in the cave. Almost as if he hadn't been the one to arrange the ritual.

All at once, the demon's eyes widen a little, and the chopsticks drop from his hand as he suddenly leans fully forward over the table, climbing, looming over the other man in a rush. Huaisang's lunch is interrupted by an ancient creature crawling over the table and lunging directly at him.

Huaisang squeaks in fear and winces as Dieke pounces at him. What control he had gotten over his nerves fractures as the creature comes close, but he doesn't try to flee, just freezes in place and starts trembling. He knows he probably can't escape, and has no hope of fighting back, but he also doesn't understand why the situation has so suddenly shifted. They'd been getting along nicely, and now this. Whatever this is. Huaisang whimpers, eyes starting to fill with frightened tears.

The demon grabs the fabric of Huaisang's collar, but doesn't end up having to drag him anywhere, as the other resists the urge to flee. So, the hold is there mostly just to keep him in one spot and prevent him from flinching away.

He holds him still so he can repeat the first thing he'd done back down in that cave--leer close to his face and neck, breathing in the other man's scent. Taking several long moments to be absolutely sure about what he's smelling, this time.

As he'd noticed before, this "summoner" smells weird. It's wrong, and now he knows why.

After a minute or two of bullying, the demon slowly looses his grip and moves back to his side of the table... chuckling to himself. Really, he has a good little laugh over it.

He's not devoured, or even hurt. The creature is just sniffing him again, breathing him in deeply. Huaisang pouts as he's released, giving his new pet a sulky little glare. "Well," he huffs, flushed and still spooked from whatever that was. He thought that he had control of the situation, that they were negotiating to some degree, but the demon clearly wanted to remind him that Huaisang had no control at all that wasn't for the demon's amusement. "That's no way to behave if you wanted to be spoiled."

Just as the demon is deciding what to do with the fact that his leash might be looser now than he has ever experienced before, his false master makes that comment. It makes him laugh.

It's not a mocking sound, though. Huaisang's sulky admonishment is a little more ballsy than he'd expected to hear from the man, and... honestly, he finds it kind of adorable.

It earns Huaisang some points that are probably very important for the demon deciding to hang around--at least for a little bit--instead of leaping right off the balcony and bolting for freedom. He holds up his hands in an apologetic gesture, then lowers them to steal a piece of meat off the dish with his fingers.

He's still grinning. "Sorry. I just get excited sometimes, you know?"

The demon is lying, but Huaisang doesn't have the first clue what he's lying about or why. "Oh?" he asks, archly, cheeks still flushed as he tries to recover his composure. He's lost his appetite, so he just refills his cup of liquor and sips at it, still sulky and skittish as he watches his dangerous guest. "And what were you excited about?"

Yeah, it's decided. That sulky expression on Huaisang is cute.

Like a dog ducking down into a play-bow, the demon's grin grows as he folds his arms on the table and rests his chin down, peering up at his pseudo-master with a horrible little playful expression. As if he himself is trying to look small and cute while knowing full well that he can't.

He's just playing. Everything is a joke now.

"I'm excited because I decided you smell good. I think this will be a good vacation."

'Vacation' strikes him as a strange choice of phrase for this, but he supposes it makes sense. Wherever Dieke was before coming here, whether in the cave or in the statuette or another realm entirely, this is now a more pleasant place to be.

"Hm," he responds, brow furrowed a little as he thinks. "Fine. You're to be my bodyguard for now, and we'll see about keeping you spoiled and entertained. I'll give you some rooms of your own. You're not to go wandering without asking permission, in case I need you, and you're not to harm any of my people. You may ask any of the servants for food or drink whenever you wish. Try not to destroy anything without confirming with me whether it's something that's okay to destroy. Would you rather have rooms that are colder and airier or rooms that are warmer and cozy? Both will have balconies with a view." He's noticed already that Dieke runs hot, so he's not sure what will make his demon more comfortable.

He keeps his chin resting down on his arms while Huaisang outlines the terms, grinning manically but attentive. How could he not grin at a description of exactly how lavish this trip to the mortal plane might turn out to be? And he didn't even have to do any conniving or convincing for it!

Finally, Huaisang ends on that question. The demon chuckles shortly.

"Is one option any less flammable than the other?"

"Hm," Huaisang says, flattening his lips as he thinks about that. After a moment he shrugs and looks to his poor attendant, who looks like he has several opinions that he very much wants to express. "Go and see to it, Toutong. Something near me."

The expression his attendant gives him is very nearly a glare, which Huaisang knows perfectly well is only a cover for his worry over Huaisang's safety. He knows he's being reckless, but he's not sure what else he can do, at this point. None of this is going as expected, and now it seems like his options are either to try and contain or defeat or drive off the demon--all of which seems likely to get some of his people killed in one way or the other--or to control the demon. And Huaisang has long since learned that the best way to control people is to find out what they want and then give that to them. He makes people like him, and then they do whatever he asks. It's always worked out well for him.

"What else?" he asks, refilling his cup yet again. He's starting to feel the liquor now, a looseness in his body and a blurring of his nerves, blunting the edge of his fear. "Have I forgotten anything?"

For a hedonistic demon, it's a very good way to convince him into playing nice. If he'd had a tail in that moment, it would be wagging.

Instead, he continues to grin and watch the details of his keeper's face while the man thinks and deliberates and orders his attendant around. Finally, he elbows himself more upright so he can join him in sipping his liquor.

Reaching the end of his cup, he nudges it toward Huaisang for a refill.

"...How about we add 'exploring together as new friends' onto the list? I get restless if I stay in one place too long, you know? And I'm sure you'd rather keep me company while I stretch my legs than leave me on my own, right?"

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