[ his ears flatten further against his hair, and he just - looks at her. really looks at her, as he takes that information in. but what would happen to emporio? would you really be safe? and what if any of her friends were still...
his expression crumples into something that hurts for her, not anything else. ]
... it's never fair, is it? [ hung can't help but ask it, because he comes from a dystopic world where you have to do what you can to find joy and live your life, but any day. any moment. you could find yourself facing death. he understands that, and he knows how hard it is to go it alone, but this is so much worse, somehow. ]
Would you... would you still take this as a second chance to keep living? [ please don't throw it away. please live. surely emporio would want that. surely all of her friends would.
having lost his own father, he knows that, surely, he would want that for his daughter. ]
[ that's the question isn't it? what would happen without her? she isn't exactly sure, and she's terrified to find out - but she's already said her goodbye, hasn't she? she's already sent herself to the waters. she just closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath before bringing herself to look at him again, this time with her expression, once strained, now softening up a bit more. ]
... I'm trying to, y'know?
[ just giving him as much of a smile as she can. it's hard... it feels herculean. but for hung, she can do it. ]
You don't need to force a smile for me, Jolyne. But I'll help you however I can.
[ here, or back home. he'd be willing to go with her, fight with her, no matter what it is. because it's - someone that he cares about. hung cares so much for her, and what happens to her, that he now can't imagine life without her.
whatever happiness she can have.
the only issue is that she gets to see another set of comic panels. ]
Hung.
It's been a while. I returned to Lungmen just to have another bite of your cooking. I took this hat when I escaped, because you'll look silly with it on your head. But you probably won't want it.
They say in Lungmen, to get by, you have to be clever and "flexible." You're not sure you can ever be the kind of flexible that they're asking for, but you'll certainly still do your best - that's what your dad would want. Maybe you'll see if Uncle Li will give you a job, maybe even your dad's old job, if you can't make it, here.
Things are already tough, living outside of a true city. But that's where you and the others find yourselves, traveling almost in a pack. At least you can all count on each other, nebulous as that trust might be in the long run for some, and they rely on you for making the meals - you have value and use here, even if you're reluctant to do some of the jobs that have been asked of your group.
None of them think you're cut out to be a mercenary. You agree.
She's there with you, though. Meng. You look out for everyone, of course, but she's always there to look out for you in return. You work well together, and have since the moment that you joined the group. Jobs feel easier - if still dangerous - when it's the two of you running point, and you become her shield as she lays waste to her opponents. A Liberi so small as her is a deceptive force to be reckoned with.
Especially when she starts to slip into something you have no explanation for.
Oripathy doesn't do this. Oripathy kills, slow and miserable or brutal and all at once. But it doesn't make someone lose their mind like this.
The others call her a monster. You could never. She's Meng - she's your friend. She's someone you love, someone that you've fought alongside, someone you trust. Whatever is happening to her, whatever's turning this strength into something dangerous, it doesn't make her a monster.
For a long time, it's directed at your enemies. The targets you're sent to infiltrate.
And, then... she attacks all of you. It's so sudden that you can't even predict it, but it is no less devastating in every way possible. Originium and rock shatter alike as she throws your companions around, sends one flying so hard through a spire that you're not even sure if he's made it to the other side, to the ground on a rough landing, alive. She even turns on you, her closest friend, and even you - even you, you struggle as you try to call out to her, head cracked into the hard rock ground beneath you, feeling the hands around your throat that'll surely bruise under your fur, trying to fight her off just as much as you're trying to fight for air.
You manage.
Barely.
And you have to get the worse off, the ones still alive, to Lungmen. You have to get them to a hospital. You have to leave.
You don't want to. It would mean leaving her, and doesn't she need help, too?
She tells you to, anyways, through lucid tears, looking at her hands for what she's done. Yells at you to take the others and go. To get away.
...
Meng stands on the dock as the small boat forges through the roiling waves of a storm, and you look back at her. You look back, and you refuse to look away even after she's nothing but a speck, until she's nothing but a memory, burned into your mind.
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no subject
his expression crumples into something that hurts for her, not anything else. ]
... it's never fair, is it? [ hung can't help but ask it, because he comes from a dystopic world where you have to do what you can to find joy and live your life, but any day. any moment. you could find yourself facing death. he understands that, and he knows how hard it is to go it alone, but this is so much worse, somehow. ]
Would you... would you still take this as a second chance to keep living? [ please don't throw it away. please live. surely emporio would want that. surely all of her friends would.
having lost his own father, he knows that, surely, he would want that for his daughter. ]
no subject
... I'm trying to, y'know?
[ just giving him as much of a smile as she can. it's hard... it feels herculean. but for hung, she can do it. ]
If anything. I'm enjoying it so far.
no subject
You don't need to force a smile for me, Jolyne. But I'll help you however I can.
[ here, or back home. he'd be willing to go with her, fight with her, no matter what it is. because it's - someone that he cares about. hung cares so much for her, and what happens to her, that he now can't imagine life without her.
whatever happiness she can have.
the only issue is that she gets to see another set of comic panels. ]