atowncalledtreffy

"I just came in at the end," Xie Lian demurs. "Though I suspect I can guess the outline of what came before. I would just like to hear your perspective. I couldn't tell you where Envy is at this moment."

"You let him go." The accusation comes out, sullen and tired.

"What else would you have me do?" The question is genuine, free from any defensiveness. He's not going to turn down hearing another's perspective or ideas. "I don't think he needs more lessons that suggest that being stronger than someone gives you a right to control them. Should I have written up a warning?"

"You could have beat his head in the way he was beating his poor animal half to death." He retorts, slumping back down to sit on the roof.

"Violence sometimes only understands violence."

"Perhaps, but does that help anyone? That animal is a part of himself, I think his actions demonstrate the limits of only understanding violence. If I broke his skull, would that show it's wrong to hurt people weaker than you, or would it be further justification of his reasoning?"

"If you broke his arm, he would have stopped punching her, and you'd have saved the animal." He retorts back. "But maybe that's why I'm not a fuck-off warden."

"I bound his arms and his daemon escaped. Why would breaking it have been better?"

"His daemon can't go far from him. He'll find her soon as you unbound him."

"The limit might be further than you think. I've watched him before." He also thinks Envy has less desire to hunt down his daemon than Trevor might think, but that's a more personal comment. "But you're correct, he could find her again, and he could try to hurt her again. But I hope if you saw me inflicting the amount of violence necessary to stop him from being able to act, you would think it a reason to stop me."

He looks up at the sky a moment, before back at Trevor.

"There are likely better solutions, that haven't come to me. But I don't believe hurting him is one of them."

He snorts, and disappears from view, crawling out of sight. It's likely he's lying on his back on the roof.

"Then we really don't have a lot to talk about."

"Perhaps not. But it didn't seem to me that your approach was working." There's no judgment to that. He rubs the back of his neck. "Also, I don't think it would be helpful to write up this 'incident', but it would feel like a dereliction of duty not try to talk about it."

"Do what you want." He calls back, irritated. At least Xie Lian has that privilege. And it really rubs him the wrong way to have his cursed handicap be dangled in his face.

"Write it up or don't. But I'm done talking."

Not talking is Trevor's choice. Xie Lian won't ask him to say more.

He does jump lightly from the deck to the roof, Hua Xie held protectively in his arms in case his bad luck takes his moment to strike. He's already fallen down the stairs several times.

Despite the remembered ache in his legs, it is nice to be up high. And it offers a nice view. Though, mainly, and most importantly, he's worried that Trevor will fall off.

Trevor is lying on his back. Listless, letting the stars wash over his gaze. Next to him is Sonia, his red-tailed hawk daemon, keeping a watchful eye on her charge. She eyes Xie Lian warily but neither says anything.

Once they reach the roof safely, Hua Xie returns to her favorite position on Xie Lian's shoulder. He leans back to enjoy the view, clearly not going to speak when Trevor has said he doesn't want to.

He's spent many happy hours losing himself in the beauty of the stars.

The silence lasts a while. Finally, Trevor glances over at Xie Lian, moody and tired.

"I came up here to be alone, you know. I don't want company."

Xie Lian had been mediating, but turns his attention back to Trevor when he speaks.

"I don't want to see you injure yourself. I can sit below, if you'd prefer."

"M'not going to injure myself." The hawk gives him a dubious glance and he waves her off.

"Might be a good lesson if I do. Christ, all right, fine. I'll get off the roof. Happy?"

Xie Lian doesn't go back to his argument against pain as a lesson. He never said it was completely without validity, after all, he rarely goes up on roofs these days.

"Less concerned, perhaps."

"Yeah. I'll bet. Wouldn't want a potential deal to go around slipping off the ship." Mutters Trevor, who sits up and starts scootching himself towards the edge. He can probably lose Xie Lian and his concern if he heads towards one of the cabins. Shame that he had to cut his star-gazing short tonight.

If that's how Trevor wants to see it.

Xie Lian stands and jumps from the roof to the deck, landing without appearing to experience any sort of impact. If Trevor slips at the end, he wants to be prepared to catch him.

Trevor slips a little but catches himself, swaying once he's back on solid ground. Fuck, he's beginning to hate boats now.

"Night." He tells the other man, gruffly and with finality: don't follow him.

"Goodnight."

Xie Lian goes to lean against the railing. He doesn't full trust that Trevor will escape injury, but it'd likely be a less dramatic fall. Besides, there's a point where following would just be counterproductive.

Trevor staggers a little but rights himself by placing his hand on the wall, leading downstairs. The hawk settles herself on his shoulder, chiding and worried and nuzzling his hair in a way that makes him wince.

He disappears below deck.

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