Yohoho and a bottle of rum

[scrapgege]

WHO: Xie Lian, OPEN
WHEN: All August except for the protest and the poison incident
WHERE: Around the seediest parts of Taravast
WHAT:Xi Lian is attempting to channel a Pirate King. Keyword : 'attempting'.
WARNINGS: drinking, gambling, stuff like that.


A.DARK ALLEYS

[So, Xie Lian is supposed to be a pirate, right?

Right.

What do pirates do, really? They are, supposedly, criminals who steal things that don't belong to them and resell them to other people or something like that. Honestly, he doesn't really know.

The only thing he has found as a way to pass for what he is supposed to be is to try and emulate Hua Cheng's clothing and mannerism. The clothing looks mostly fine. The mannerism... he's working on it. He simply does not have the swagger and air of superiority Hua Cheng can invoke in a second. He's also not very tall, and outwardly at least he looks pretty thin, so if not for his supposed reputation, he probably would have been mugged already.

And he decided to go to the taverns because, well it sounds like something a pirate would do.

Those alleys are dark and disreputable, and full of beggars and peddlers of all kinds, and if Xie Lian is a sucker for something, it's a person who looks like they need help. One sob story and he is taking out his money pouch to give some coin to the beggar.]

Here, have some. I know it's not much, but it will help.

[Someone please attempt to save him before he literally gets swindled out of all his money.]


B.GAMBLING

[So, once they are in taverns, pirates drink and they gamble, right? Right. This is just like in Ghost City.

And just like in Ghost City, Xie Lian's abysmal luck manifests, such as he keeps losing. A lot. Repeatedly.]

Haha, I don't think I really understand the rule of this game. Have I lost again? Really?

[Thankfully for him, the people around the table seems to be half frightened by his reputation, so his words might interpreted as vaguely threatening instead of the genuine inquiry they are, so no one has asked him to pay up yet... but they might soon.]


C.THE RUMOR

[Why oh why, did he have to go an invent that pining, unrequited love for Xiao-daozhang? He had only meant it as a soft way to discourage more female advances, and that had been the first name he thought of, but somehow the story seems to have take a life of its own, and now...]

Aaaaah, I'm going to need to apologize to Xiao-daozhang. I didn't mean to bring him such trouble.... I hope no one has been bothering him.

[Don't mind him, he's talking to himself while pacing in the garden of the palazzo.]

Comments

C. Duh.

[thesuspense]

You are the one bothering him.

[Maybe it is rude to interject himself into a conversation like this. Good. Xue Yang wants to be rude.

He is dressed in black, wears his mask and has a sword by his side, as befits his role as a champion swordsman. Coincidentally, it also befits his role as a jealously possessive man, currently glaring at Xie Lian.]

What's wrong with you, hussy?

A!

[sergeant_slick]

[The seedy parts of town aren't easy to navigate, but he'd wanted to check out what was going on off the main streets. Sure, it was probably dangerous, but it was worth knowing this stuff. See what was on offer where the law wasn't watching. And more importantly, just watch the places. After what'd happened on Christophsis, he was never gonna be without an escape route again. To do that, he had to get used to the unfamiliar logic of the streets.

But then he spots something vaguely familiar. Someone, rather. All he knows is that this one is an offworlder like him, and they're playing opposite sides right now. He'd memorized the assignments, then done his best to stay out of the spotlight, because he didn't have a damn clue how politics happened.

But one thing he did know was how to act innocent. He'd gotten good at that in the army, and that beggar over there was positively the most innocent son-of-a-hutt the galaxy had ever seen.

So obviously this offworlder was getting taken for a ride here.

Fortunately, he had another talent he could use right now: being a stern, unbendable sergeant.]

What are you up to? [He's all steely eyes and set jaw, and apparently he's done a thorough enough job to make the beggar pack up and leave. He stays focused on the offworlder.]

I knew we'd need to keep an eye on you. [A total lie.] A pirate like you can't be trusted.