after a moment of being a little shit, though: ] Kidding aside, I like to think a good apology comes from action, though, so I'll tell you anything you like. I tend to be rather private. Fair enough?
Not talking about here. I'm talking about with me.
[bright, sharp gold eyes are just barely visible under the hood.]
I am not here to make friends with. If you have information you want out of me, don't try to charm it out of me. It irritates me to know everything I say is very quickly regurgitated to whoever's ear you can find next.
the sharpness doesn't bother him much. gu yun sets his drink down, turning to look properly at pride; the mischief in his expression fades, though, he doesn't seem particularly upset. ]
Is that what you think is happening? [ an idle question. but - his expression is serious, and the words out of his mouth, for once, are very honest. gu yun puts on the front of the charming, easygoing zixi, but he's the marquis of order down to his core. pride wants his honesty, so he'll get it; his gaze is equally sharp as he regards the depth of pride's hood. ]
Like many of the others here, I'm looking out for myself. My end goal is in achieving my desire - one that I'm sure you're already aware of, since you know much about me. The more that I understand from this place, the more I am able to do so, and the faster I am able to do so, the better, so I may return back to Great Liang and my duties.
[ he's on a time limit, after all. one that's ticking away with every day that passes. one that has him wearing his liuli glass, this week. ]
There are few here whom I speak with in terms of what's to know, and what isn't. We've only known each other for two weeks, so trust is a careful thing to be exchanged, no matter who it is with, among those of us currently living here, and all of you. Even the information that you all have shared with me isn't necessarily vetted as true until I've had the chance to vet it myself, across different points of view, Avatars and participants alike. Were our situations reversed, I'm sure you'd do the same. [ it's careful, after all. cautious. good leadership is knowing who you are, where you stand, and making the best decision that you can. ] After all, to blindly trust someone who won't even show their face is to trust a fox who cries at the death of a rabbit.
...That being said. [ he pauses, here, and picks the glass back up, eyeing the liquid inside of it. ] I would like to get to know you, Pride. I have enjoyed your company so far, and I am curious to learn more about the world that you come from - and perhaps, most specifically, who you are. I've known two emperors in my lifetime, both entirely different characters, with their own unique complexities that changed my nation under their rule. One of the benefits of this place is the ability to learn about how different the world I have always known is from the ones others have experienced.
[ ... ] You want me to ask you things directly. I'm willing to do so. But, what reason do I have to believe that you'll tell me the truth, or even the whole story, if I do?
[ there's nothing particularly hostile in that, either; just that same serious, keen gaze. gu yun's point is less about motive and information, and more about trust. ]
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You should know I don't like wasting time.
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Think of it as you're expanding your palate, then. [ he taps the wine jar. ] Or, perhaps, indulging in something you wouldn't normally do.
Have I asked you too much? [ haha. ] I suppose I've been reticent in comparison. My apologies.
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Apologies are nothing with that sort of charm put behind them.
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[ wehehehehe
after a moment of being a little shit, though: ] Kidding aside, I like to think a good apology comes from action, though, so I'll tell you anything you like. I tend to be rather private. Fair enough?
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I think that you know how to use that charm to knock people off balance. [as for the rest:] I know most things about you already. I'm not interested.
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Oh, I do? [ honestly, pride's assessment of that is more interesting. ] Do you think I have ulterior motives...?
And besides, I thought you weren't interested in looking things up about us.
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[they put the wine glass down.] Everybody has ulterior motives. Especially smooth-talkers.
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anyway. he swirls the remaining drink in his glass, watching it move. ]
Isn't the point of being here to have a motive?
[ and as always, he's focused on his! ] But, I've learned to talk, sure. It's a skill like any other - but, I wouldn't say it's disingenuous, either.
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[bright, sharp gold eyes are just barely visible under the hood.]
I am not here to make friends with. If you have information you want out of me, don't try to charm it out of me. It irritates me to know everything I say is very quickly regurgitated to whoever's ear you can find next.
[wow, pride. chill.]
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the sharpness doesn't bother him much. gu yun sets his drink down, turning to look properly at pride; the mischief in his expression fades, though, he doesn't seem particularly upset. ]
Is that what you think is happening? [ an idle question. but - his expression is serious, and the words out of his mouth, for once, are very honest. gu yun puts on the front of the charming, easygoing zixi, but he's the marquis of order down to his core. pride wants his honesty, so he'll get it; his gaze is equally sharp as he regards the depth of pride's hood. ]
Like many of the others here, I'm looking out for myself. My end goal is in achieving my desire - one that I'm sure you're already aware of, since you know much about me. The more that I understand from this place, the more I am able to do so, and the faster I am able to do so, the better, so I may return back to Great Liang and my duties.
[ he's on a time limit, after all. one that's ticking away with every day that passes. one that has him wearing his liuli glass, this week. ]
There are few here whom I speak with in terms of what's to know, and what isn't. We've only known each other for two weeks, so trust is a careful thing to be exchanged, no matter who it is with, among those of us currently living here, and all of you. Even the information that you all have shared with me isn't necessarily vetted as true until I've had the chance to vet it myself, across different points of view, Avatars and participants alike. Were our situations reversed, I'm sure you'd do the same. [ it's careful, after all. cautious. good leadership is knowing who you are, where you stand, and making the best decision that you can. ] After all, to blindly trust someone who won't even show their face is to trust a fox who cries at the death of a rabbit.
...That being said. [ he pauses, here, and picks the glass back up, eyeing the liquid inside of it. ] I would like to get to know you, Pride. I have enjoyed your company so far, and I am curious to learn more about the world that you come from - and perhaps, most specifically, who you are. I've known two emperors in my lifetime, both entirely different characters, with their own unique complexities that changed my nation under their rule. One of the benefits of this place is the ability to learn about how different the world I have always known is from the ones others have experienced.
[ ... ] You want me to ask you things directly. I'm willing to do so. But, what reason do I have to believe that you'll tell me the truth, or even the whole story, if I do?
[ there's nothing particularly hostile in that, either; just that same serious, keen gaze. gu yun's point is less about motive and information, and more about trust. ]
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You don't.
[have any reason to believe they'll tell the truth, they mean. they push the glass away again, gold eyes glittering under the hood.]
Don't think of me as an emperor. [that almost sounds like they're spitting it. bitter.] And don't waste your time.
[and - for a moment, gu yun is blind. fifteen, twenty seconds. when he can see again, pride is gone.]
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