A short, reflective chapter that features only Agent Yan and his longing thoughts. And a cute kitty. We all love cute kitties!
Cats love a warm lap to curl up on, and Guanghua, Hong's chocolate point Siamese tom, was no exception. Seated in his office, Hong turned his attention away from yet another scroll he was reading at the sound of the cat's strange, scratchy meow, looking down into the expectant blue eyes.
Smiling, Hong backed his chair a little way from his desk and invitingly pointed at his thighs. Guanghua needed no prompting, and sprung up into his caretaker's lap, the cat's warm weight settling against Hong's abdomen.
Hong softly smiled again as he lightly stroked the silky fur with a bare hand for a few moments. Then a slight pang of guilt seized the agent, and he let his fingers fall from a purring Guanghua's flank as his gaze uneasily shifted to the wall in front of him. He'd experienced these private moments of self-reproach fairly often during the past ten days.
Not that he would ever dare mention it to his patrol partner Guozhi, any other fellow agent-and certainly not Long Feng-but it'd always troubled him from the get go that they were deliberately not only preventing a twelve-year old boy from being reunited with his cherished animal mount and friend, but using the poor damn sky bison's welfare as a bargaining chip. An undeniably sick, and cruel thing to do. He certainly wouldn't have been happy if someone had done the same thing with the cat currently purring on his lap.
On the other stone-gloved hand though, anything that could keep the Avatar and his companions boxed in, under control, make sure that their gibbering about the war never reached the ears of the citizens-or Shu forbid, King Kuei-was fair game. So much depended on it at this crucial juncture.
It still made him feel like a total shit by association though.
He tried to return his attention to the scroll before him, containing a formal request for an operating permit for a possible new fish farm in the Agrarian Zone. It wasn't long though, before Guanghua lithely turned on his back and grabbed at Hong's left arm, claws hooking into the black silk.
Hong gave a tolerant smile as he looked back down at the cat and petted his apple-shaped head.
"You're going to make it rather difficult for me to get my work done tonight," he told the Siamese.
In truth though, Hong doubted that he was going to make much progress on the night's paperwork anyway, with or without Guanghua. Hells, even after another tough, ten-hour day shift, a filling dinner from Shan the cook, and the knowledge that he could be summoned by Long Feng or another superior at any time, he doubted that he'd be able to drift off to sleep.
He just could not get Rajata off his mind. Their first date had gone very well indeed, and he wanted more. He knew she did too.
Those sparkling, soft brown eyes. The way she lined them with kohl. Her buxom figure. That glossy black hair. Her graceful legs. That warm brown skin. The jewelry she wore. Her chiming laughter, the way her teeth shone like alabaster when she smiled.
Guanghua raised his blue eyes up towards Hong, and gave a curious meow.
"I've met a nice girl, Guanghua," he replied with a smile, feeling in no way silly for holding a one-way conversation with a mere cat. "That's what's on my mind."
The Siamese curled up again, and began purring with half-closed eyes, as if inviting the Dai Li agent to continue.
"She's an absolute beauty Guanghua, first of all. You should've seen her last night in that qujupao your aunt Lanying helped me buy for her. I love that nose ring she wears, and the shade of her skin, those soft round cheeks."
"And her personality-well, captures my heart. What else can I say? She's gentle and sweet, the type who's never met a stranger. There's nothing fake about her either. What you see with Rajata is what you get," he said as he smiled down at the cat on his lap, rubbing him between the shoulders.
"She's a pleasantly bold one too," he grinned. "The fact that I'm a member of this city's scary secret brainwasher police doesn't seem to rattle her all that much, hardly any more than it impresses you," he chuckled. "By Oma's mother, it actually wouldn't surprise me if she takes to clutching at my queue now and again like you do Guanghua, she takes such liberties!" he laughed.
"And she strikes me as very smart, both in being streetwise and factual knowledge. She's a quick study, figures things out fast. She's modest and humble, but also outgoing and willing to speak her mind."
Hong closed his green eyes and inhaled, thinking back to the events of last night at The Emerald Moon, especially when they'd been in the enclosed space of the carriage together. He vividly remembered the scent of the almond oil she'd used to adorn and shine her hair-and she suspected she remembered the odor of the coconut oil in his braided locks just as strongly. He could actually smell it again, feel her embracing him before she rejoined her family, and the phantom sensations quickened his heartbeat.
He was hardly deprived of opportunities to enjoy female company. For one thing, if he was so inclined, Hong could always go approach one of the Joo Dees and ask her if she wanted to have lunch or dinner with him at a certain place, to go for a walk with him in the Upper Ring, to listen to a concert together.
Through her manic grin, the Joo Dee could usually be relied upon-unless she already had orders that preempted Hong's request-to reply with that cultivated, singsong enthusiasm, "I would be honored to accompany you, Agent Yan! Just tell me the time."
And Hong had the sense that a large part of the Joo Dee-something which dimly endured from who she once had been-truly did take pleasure in his attentions, his company, the experience she was getting to participate in.
But Hong couldn't help but be bothered by the sheer artificialness of the whole get-together, by the constant awareness that the mindlessly grinning woman sitting across from him or at his side, beautiful and docile though she was, was a twisted, broken, domesticated parody of female company.
There was no free choice at work, no alternative options to counter his own for a restaurant or an activity, no considering mind or mutual, honest affection felt towards him. Hong knew that some of his fellow agents thought little of going as far as to take a Joo Dee into their bedchamber with them. Personally, he considered the practice both as revolting as and little different then doing the same thing with a she-orangutan.
Then there were what he and the other agents sometimes sardonically referred to as "The Dai Li groupies." Despite their emotionless demeanor-at least when on duty and in uniform-and strong quality of menace-or perhaps, paradoxically, because of it-there were a surprising number of teenage girls and young women, especially in both the Upper and Middle Rings, who all but worshipped the ground he and his fellow agents walked on and expertly bent with awesome force. In short, they viewed a member of the Dai Li as the perfect man-wealthy, intriguing, brave and strong, driven, sophisticated and elegant, as reliable of a protector as the immense walls of the city, respected by all, dependable, thrillingly threatening-and probably not half bad in the sack either.
Hong couldn't count the number of times he'd seen one or more young ladies on the streets, in a shop, at a party, staring at, or even respectfully following him and/or Guozhi, faces beaming with admiration and lust, giggling with nervous pleasure whenever he happened to even glance in their direction.
Singing traditional praise songs about the Dai Li-"Who's never at a loss? The magnificent Dai Li, of course!"-pretending to trip and fall in front of him, asking him for directions when he had every reason to suspect the lady knew the layout of the area perfectly well, flaunting their female assets, randomly offering him food or water-Hong had been subjected to all these and more when it came to ploys for his attention and affections.
Certainly, his colleagues didn't have much trouble getting girlfriends and wives when they were so inclined.
Rajata however, had never behaved in such a ridiculous, desperate, cringeworthy manner towards him. She was almost cheeky in her honest gestures of affection towards him, yes, but not in the tiresome, over the top way the "groupies" were. Yet another thing he found so attractive about her.
"Seeing her once isn't enough, no way," he commented, now not so much to the cat as to the quiet, empty air of his Upper Ring house, located not all that far from the royal palace proper. "Time to arrange another date. I might as well get it over with when it comes to meeting her family too," he added thoughtfully to himself. "After all, the sooner they come to trust me, the better."
Later that night, once the work in his office had somehow been completed, Hong was able to get himself to accept sleep as he laid his head into the down pillows, to dream of sitting with Rajata under the glittering stars.
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