[ he should be used to it - inasmuch as anyone could be used to this, but then who else is better suited to face against the Yiling Patriarch than his shidi? the responsibility falls on him, as always - to put a collar around that neck, to bring him to a heel somehow in the eyes of the rest of the world who see Wei Wuxian as nothing more than some wild, buckling beast, some untamed force of nature that they cannot control. it is not an easy thing, to convince him of this. it is not an easy thing to convince Wei Wuxian of anything these days, of things that lie beyond the borders of his domain, to look past the lines that he had so clearly drawn between him and the rest of the world - some might say it is an impossible thing.

maybe this time, he could be someone worthy of that motto.

his steps slow down, as the other turn towards him; Jiang Cheng fancies that he sees the aura around him, crackling much in the same way as Zidian - a force that sparks black and red in the air between them, raising the hairs just by the sheer charged intensity of it. his hands tighten minutely, veins standing out in the back of his hands, before he forces himself to slacken his jaw and breathe out; a short, sharp huff of air. ]

Maybe if you stepped out of this grave mound every once in a while. [ the wording is harsh, careless as always, but there's a hint of regret in the way he trails his gaze down from Wei Wuxian's face to the fluttering hem of his sleeves. ]

She's fine.

[ back in the day, it would have been so easy to just reach out in the space between them and smack him, on the shoulder or on the head, and laugh; it is not so easy now, even to smile. ]

The foxes at the Koi Tower are more clever than you think they are. They are stalling, to see what we would do about it.