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[wife_material]

What if it's neither the indignity nor the prize that is causing the reactionary behavior? What if it's simple zest for life? The brief temptation is entirely transparent to Di Feisheng, and is met with a lashing tail and stately but boundless anticipation. But even if Li Lianhua pivots to amusement and familiar nonsense with typical speed, the moment of hesitation before all of that was genuine enough to be mollifying. He'd half expected to have his whiskers pulled, or be slapped on the nose, all too many little vulnerabilities on a panther's face as long as someone is audacious enough. Which someone undoubtedly is. What does he mean, expressive. These all seem like great arguments for wearing it less.

And what is so funny to Li Lianhua, anyway? The good humor is its own prize transfixing like sunlight to plants or panthers genuine despite the weight of performance behind it. A special Li Lianhua talent, as unique as Yangzhouman, as devastating recognizable as Xiangyi Taijian. It's just that Di Feisheng does not feel like he is in on the joke, when this seems like a time in particular he ought to be. The whole thing inspires considerable suspicion in him, which is surely one thing he excels at expressing regardless of shape.

But none of that suspicion is for the bone chime sorcery, despite Li Lianhua's questions. If it was a test of him, she probably would have brought a bigger knife. Whatever else she might have sought to test, he wishes her the best of luck in finding a way to do so quietly, but his curiosity would be perfectly happy to settle for hearing about it secondhand. One tiger or the other, or both. If goading Di Feisheng's alleged curiosity makes him feel better about his own, so be it; he's welcome to the thing, and Di Feisheng won't even make him stoop too far, though the thought of dropping it on his feet and metaphorically washing his hands of it does cross his mind. A trade does not seem to be forthcoming, anyway.

Instead he sits with his tail tucked neatly around his paws, like a well-executed statue except for the occasional slow shuttering of too-lively eyes. The picture of cooperative intent and not any kind of trick, because unlike some people he doesn't have to rely on mendacity every time. Never let it be said that Li Lianhua doesn't get anything for free.

[wife_material]

[If it's such a compelling argument, engage with it properly and pick up a shovel. It's not a free show, get out of the drawer.]

I'm not avoiding it, it's just too wrong to answer. And that's not how conversations work. Or wuxing, for that matter.

[fragmentaryblue]

Alright, how do you see this conversation working, then?

[wife_material]

The way conversations normally work, and not like an interrogation. You're familiar, I think. The other person's words are usually an important part of it.

[fragmentaryblue]

I'm familiar, yes. I don't entirely mean to interrogate, but asking how to answer my question is hardly much of a conversation either. I gave you the answer that I had, which is to say that I didn't have one. I'm not in the habit of telling others how they should feel.

And it seems strange for you to want to hear what I think about two men who have known each other far longer than I've known them. Do you plan to grade me on my guesses? Measure how closely they hit their marks? I'll feel very silly if I'm wrong, but you don't seem to have any consideration for that.

[doctor_uhh]

Although Li Lianhua has managed to shake off that moment of allure fascination with Di Feisheng's newest technique, and is able to gesture and speak freely once more, he now has to find out that it simply continues to be captivating. He is still interested in the wind chime's secrets, really, but it's hard to have eyes for anything but the panther's dancing tail and ear twitches of suspicion, shifting gracefully into an imperious sort of forbearance as he settles down. Li Lianhua is accustomed to Di Feisheng's unlikely air of elegance, obviously, but it's more unexpected in a big black cat.

The way the panther is presenting the prize now, it has a little of Huli Jing finding a particularly impressive stick and offering it up for praise in return. Probably not the kind of comparison Di-mengzhu would endorse, which is a thought that results in a sort of helpless little satisfied sigh from Li Lianhua as he tries not to laugh again. He's being so respectful for real.

"See, I knew you would be reasonable." Whether or not Di Feisheng cares about the sorcery, Li Lianhua is getting what he wants without even having to give up any favors this time. He bends closer to accept the prize, but at the very last second fails even this challenge. As the panther releases the mess into his hand, Li Lianhua's free hand darts forward and strokes the short silky fur atop his head, just gives him a really nice rub for a job so well done. That's not audacity, that's just-- habit. There's your trade.

And the speed with which he straightens up and takes a respectful step back has nothing to do with any likelihood of earning a swat for that, of course. Immediately he's busy examining the bones, tracing his fingertips over some of the holes, the very picture of being engrossed in a puzzle.

[During the April Intense Event]

[fragmentaryblue]

[Blue has snapped and sent a picture of the clinic, the edges framed with people bustling about--carrying supplies and tending to patients laid out on cots. But the patient in center focus is one familiar to Di Feisheng: An unconscious Li Lianhua deposited on a cot, looking less than well and being fussed over by some unknown helper.]

[The image comes first, without caption. Another message follows a few seconds later:]

A delivery for you. Feel free to retrieve it at your leisure.

[wife_material]

[If Iris thinks this is going to cause any kind of relevant consternation in him, relevant to her, that would be an unusually foolish assumption for her. Being so arch is wasted on him, preceded as the flippancy is by a picture that is anything but; now is not the time for the Why's She Like That puzzle except as it pertains to this less than enlightening picture. If he weren't competent at texting on the move she would likely be disappointed by the lack of engagement, but luckily for all he can multitask where delegation isn't an option, though he's likely to be on site anyway before he can get any real information.]

What do you mean, delivery? What happened?

[fragmentaryblue]

[It's a good thing then that she has none of that on her mind. Being so radically removed from her senses for several days has left both her attitude and humor in a poor state, the flippancy less directed at Di Feisheng himself and more at the irritation of finding a half-dead lotus in the hands of a latent psychopath. The least this awful man can do is keep it together when she's not of a mind to needle him about it.]

Delivery. The supply or provision of something to its proper recipient. My apologies for the lack of gift wrap; the arrangement was made on short notice.

I wasn't given many details. "Became ill" is hardly the explanation that you're looking for, I imagine.

[wife_material]

[The least that awful man can do is a bar that can only be cleared in hell. Still, she isn't wrong, that explanation stinks to heaven, which is also where he directs a quick eyeroll. But it's not her fault, the lunatic is working according to her nature, so being frustrated is on him. No doubt this has been a very trying time for apothecary apprentices everywhere and he should mind his manners.]

Aren't you a professional? Who found him?

[He doesn't have a lot of native faith in any clinic, but that's probably the best he can hope for in the absence of real professionals. That doesn't mean he can't demand answers elsewhere, regardless of how unlikely that is to help. Old habits, etc.]

[fragmentaryblue]

My profession is making and administering medicine, not diagnosing internal injuries under mysterious circumstances.

[And especially not with a liar for a patient and a liar for a witness. That's a lot of Not Her Problem.]

[The second question brings a slight delay to her texts. Given Akechi's nature, he won't want to be further contacted about this or have inquiries directed to him. On the other hand, Di Feisheng is unlikely to accept a non-answer gracefully... And ultimately she likes him better than Akechi anyway.]

I have to assume the boy Akechi found him. He was the one who contacted me. Network handle is the same as his name, though you're unlikely to get more out of him than I did. Try not to intimidate him too much.

I do recall him saying something strange, though... Does your lotus have healing abilities?

text; un: epiphyte

[fragmentaryblue]

I was basking in the return of the library, when I found this poem. It reminded me of you:

When the panther came
no belfrey rang alarums,
no cleric spat his tea.
When the panther came
the sky and lawn were still.
The panter came
through forest,
through field,
up to the wall
and my one blossoming cherry tree.

I had constructed
the world as it was
and had pared the body
from the customs of languor.
It pressed its nose against
the pane and its gears
ground me away into ribbons
of dissonance.

It turned and sauntered
into the shadows. Its
paw marks on the earth
like cherries too ripe in a white bowl.

[wife_material]

Very dramatic. It doesn't sound like the panther did anything wrong.

[Of all the 'no point' there is in the world, asking why this is in his messages is the most 'no point' there has ever been. So he won't.]

[fragmentaryblue]

[Is fun not allowed now?]

Won't you think of the poor cherry tree before coming to that conclusion? Your bias is showing.

[wife_material]

[To his great regret he does in fact understand that this is ""fun"" for her, if not exactly why, even now. But that, like so many things, isn't his business. He's not a fuckin, birdologist or w/e It's enough that he is more or less supportive.]

That's because I have no interest in being unbiased. But what about your bias? Trees are for climbing.

[fragmentaryblue]

At least you admit it. But for climbing, he says!

Trees are good for plenty of other things. Shade and fruits, chiefly among them. Do cherries also offend you? I was thinking of making a peace offering now that the forest has returned our homes to us.

[wife_material]

[Oh is that what this is, the preliminary to a peace offering? Who knows, maybe that's really it. Though saying "also" seems more like this is the 'not living down the panther shenanigans' than it is any kind of peace.]

I'm not so easily offended. Who's the peace offering for, me or the forest?

[fragmentaryblue]

If it was for the forest, would I be asking you about it?

Though it might need one as well. This is twice now we've been overrun.

[wife_material]

If you wanted my advice you would. You like asking people weird things.

The forest needs one more than I do.

[He hasn't overrun anything, after all. But if diplomacy roleplay keeps her out of the cabinets trouble, he can accept some fruit or whatever.]

[fragmentaryblue]

That is true. When I think of a means with which to appease the forest, you'll be the first to know.

In the meantime, have you had an ice pop yet?

[wife_material]

I'm honored.

No. Is that the peace offering or a weird question?

[The suspicion is as reflexive as it is unjustified.]

[fragmentaryblue]

The peace offering. Or a promise thereof, once I've acquired them.

[wife_material]

[But why were the circumstances mysterious? She couldn't ask? This Akechi he shouldn't intimidate too much wouldn't answer? Nevermind that the last question she asks falls just under having all his tendons broken for its ability to inspire dread, or maybe that's just a twinge of sense memory. Like hell 'his lotus' does. And yet.

The circumstances may not be so mysterious after all, is the bitter and shocking takeaway.]

Not here, he doesn't. Tell me or don't.

[fragmentaryblue]

I really meant it: I don't have much to tell you.

The boy said he used healing abilities, then collapsed. I took it as a lie. If anyone would know the truth of it, it would be you.

Regardless, he was nearly dead when I arrived. I didn't demand unnecessary details.

[wife_material]

It is audacity, and it was anticipated, but the form it takes is as impossible to expect and avert in this shape as in his natural one. The trade is acceptable, but Li Lianhua will not see the light of heaven and even his 2hp won't save him if he tries that in public. There's no gratitude, justice, or indeed anything else resembling righteousness in this world, but at least the well of irony never runs dry. This 'technique' is not a challenge, however spectacularly Li Lianhua failed something multiple times. It isn't any kind of solicitation for praise or pets either, and by rights should be pretty much the exact opposite, actually; certainly that would be more in line with Di Feisheng's original intent of cutting off things like arguments and opposition at the root. Li Lianhua's varied new definitions of respectful are all weird fruits or vegetables at best, even if Di Feisheng is tolerating all this with surprising aplomb. Not quite enough to lean into being pet, or not frown about it (panther brows are great for frowning), but there's something in the acceptance that sages could learn from nonetheless.

It isn't even precisely new, this 'technique,' but how would anyone blame him for using this shape sparingly and with a preference for solitude? In less than an hour he has suffered many offenses (headrubs notwithstanding) with poignant nobility that isn't funny at all, Li Lianhua. No one even put him up to this task. Di-mengzhu doesn't even have tasks. It was a sarcastic proffering of a stolen windchime. Being a panther has so little to recommend it sometimes. Even his swipe at Li Lianhua's retreating ankles is more woebegone and delicate than the threat of hamstringing he has earned and so clearly thinks is in the cards. Almost like the shift in attention is what deserves threats, and not the overbearing audacity. Nothing that would even risk catching a claw in his hems, though not the least because of his awareness of what an embarrassment having to be unhooked would be. On second thought, the distraction of the bones is almost welcome.

If Di Feisheng had thought at all past the hackle-raising noise to the mystery it represented, he could have predicted this outcome all too easily. Just because Li Lianhua is still putting on his little performances doesn't mean the absorption isn't wholly genuine, and despite his superior ability to prioritize in life Di Feisheng finds himself drawn in, watchful and awaiting some pronouncement with interest he is steadfastly refusing to express via any means but slow tail swishes. It may not be a door puzzle, and he may have forfeited his right to the initial inspection, but better judgment doesn't save him from curiosity...or confidence in Li Lianhua's abilities, either.