That's the thing about Nie Mingjue. He never saw someone unworthy of common decency when he had lifted Meng Yao up through the ranks of his sect. He'd watched how hard Meng Yao worked. Always with a smile - perhaps that should have been a clue?
How long he has wondered just when the other man had started to turn. The first indication he'd gotten of it was that first murder, and how Meng Yao had claimed at first it wasn't him, then that he'd been forced, then that he'd had no other choice. Which was the truth?
He doesn't stop the deep bow as Lan Xichen would. He doesn't have their sworn brother's heart and gentleness. But he does acknowledge it with a nod, gaze never far from Meng Yao.
"I am more clear of head than I have been in years." His gaze flicks briefly away as he verbalizes that observation. "My room is serviceable." Cramped. Small. Shared - and not with people he chose.
A breath.
"We should eat." Because Meng Yao is probably just as hungry, and he will not neglect such a base need. Not even here, and now, with this man who has, will, do so much ill.
no subject
How long he has wondered just when the other man had started to turn. The first indication he'd gotten of it was that first murder, and how Meng Yao had claimed at first it wasn't him, then that he'd been forced, then that he'd had no other choice. Which was the truth?
He doesn't stop the deep bow as Lan Xichen would. He doesn't have their sworn brother's heart and gentleness. But he does acknowledge it with a nod, gaze never far from Meng Yao.
"I am more clear of head than I have been in years." His gaze flicks briefly away as he verbalizes that observation. "My room is serviceable." Cramped. Small. Shared - and not with people he chose.
A breath.
"We should eat." Because Meng Yao is probably just as hungry, and he will not neglect such a base need. Not even here, and now, with this man who has, will, do so much ill.