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[bringingdowndisaster]

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[After Cho Gonou goes into a coma, not that Jedao is announcing that at all.]

[deuceoftears]

Xue Yang, right?

[He gets the pronunciation right; he looks Chinese, even though he isn't.]

I'm Jedao. Quick question. Do you like games?

[bringingdowndisaster]

Yeah?

[ Xue Yang raises an eyebrow, immediately wary. ]

Depends, I guess. What kinda game are we talking about?

[deuceoftears]

Anything from cards and dice and pattern stones up to tag in null gravity.

What kind would you like me to be talking about?

[bringingdowndisaster]

Why don't you just tell me what the hell you want?

[deuceoftears]

[He smiles, and shows off all his fox teeth, the smile that always made his Kel think he was about two breaths from slaughtering them all.]

Where's the fun in that?

I want to play a game with you. Any kind you like.

I don't think it's even too hard to figure out my other motives, but I'm betting you won't, because we probably think very differently. But I could be wrong.

But I'll give you another hint, if you win.

[bringingdowndisaster]

[ Xue Yang sneers at the other man. ]

Why should I indulge you when I don't know if it'll even be worth my time?

[deuceoftears]

[He laughs.]

Because we're all so short on time, here.

What do you consider worth your time?

[bringingdowndisaster]

I don't like to be fucked with.

Tell me what you want, or fuck off.

[deuceoftears]

I want to understand you better. That's what games are always about, for the Shuos.

[So true as to be a cliché, in the territories of the former Hexarchate. Not that Jedao is a true Shuos, but he's being a Shuos about this.]

And I am willing to make it worth your time, within certain parameters.

Anyway. Let me know if you think of anything.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Why do you want to understand me? I don't even know who you are.

[ Or what the hell the "Shuos" are. ]

What parameters?

[deuceoftears]

Firstly, I like to understand everyone, and you don't talk carelessly on the communicators like so many people here.

But at this particular moment, your warden is Cho Gonou, who is very dear to me, so it seemed like a good time to learn more.

I'm not willing to give you weapons to keep. Beyond that I'd have to know what you want to give you any clear ideas where the limits might be.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Yeah, I don't. There's a reason for that.

[ Xue Yang snorts derisively. ]

Oh, so that's it. You're his guard dog.

[ He chuckles a little, the sound sharp and lacking in humor. ]

What I want, you can't give me. No one can.

[deuceoftears]

[He imagines Mikodez's face, at the idea of Jedao as a reliable hound, or Zehun's face, and laughs softly, eventually managing to smooth his face back out.]

His curious little fox, maybe.

I certainly don't think I can get you want you want most. I'm not that arrogant.

But I'm also sure there are other things you'd like. Enclosure time, admiral requests, my extremely diverse candy stash. Anyway, like I said, think about it.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Nothing but that matters to me.

[ Xue Yang is still too, well, depressed to be enticed by any of those offers. Even candy doesn't excite him the way it used to. It just makes him think about Xiao Xingchen, and that last piece of candy he'd never eaten. ]

[deuceoftears]

Why not?

[It's not a challenge. It's a real question.]

[bringingdowndisaster]

[ Xue Yang snorts and rolls his eyes. ]

What kind of question is that? Don't you have something that's more important to you than anything else?

[deuceoftears]

The thing that was most important to me is...over.

But even when it wasn't, I still cared about other things. When I had any time to, anyway.

[bringingdowndisaster]

There's nothing else for me to really give a shit about.

[ No, he's lost everything else. Everything that was ever important to him. ]

[deuceoftears]

Once, the only thing anyone in the world had to offer me that I cared about was a way to die.

Things changed, though. I hope they do for you.

[bringingdowndisaster]

[ Xue Yang lets out a non-committal sound. The idea of change is complicated to say the least. ]

... Yeah.

[deuceoftears]

This is a place of...unexpected opportunities.

If you get bored, knock on my door.