Dirty Work
"Sit still." Tenpou's hand rested briefly on the back of his neck, as the other hand positioned a wad of tissues under his nose. "Now let it bleed till it's done."
"Hell of a thing," Kenren grumbled. "Having a nosebleed in front of all the soldiers. Not good for morale. General Kenren gets his nose smashed by a punk kid who he picked on in the first place . . ." He snorted blood into the tissues, and Tenpou wordlessly passed him a new handful. "Thanks."
"He's itan," Tenpou said, as though that explained everything. "Nobody's sure of what an itan can do. Your men will probably forget about it."
"He's a kid," Kenren said, trying to get the word through to Tenpou.
"Yes, I know." Tenpou adjusted his glasses, looked out at the room through them, came to the clear conclusion of these are dirty and took them off to wipe at them with the tail of his coat. The lamplight gleamed on them greasily.
"So." Another wad of tissues. The wastebasket next to him, filling up with soggy paper and cigarette butts, smelt of his own scorching blood. "Why is it so important that I go and beat up on this kid?"
"Anh." Tenpou looked at his glasses again, as though trying to work out how much cleaner they were. "Because I couldn't."
"Yo." The same as always, just the same as always . . . Kenren reached a long leg across and kicked the side of Tenpou's desk. Papers and books on the surface shivered and jumped. A couple of scrolls slid off, rattling down to the floor and lying there in the dust. "Hey, Marshal. It's your taishou talking to you here. You got a reason for me to do your dirty work, I like to hear what it is."
Tenpou looked at him, dark brown eyes soft and mild without the shield of his glasses, face shuttered and silent. He reached down to the pack next to him, extracted a cigarette, and lit it. "You might want to think about why I asked you to do it rather than do it myself," he said.
"Yeah, that one I can see. You don't want Litouten knowing you're interested in the kid." He accented the word again, trying to get a reaction out of Tenpou. "So tell me, is that to protect the kid, or you?"
"You know that there have been times when there was more than one toushin taishi at once?"
"Yeah, but --" He sat bolt upright in his chair. "Oh, shit, no, Tenpou. You have to be joking."
Tenpou looked at him, eyes dark and focused now. That look of concentration always got to him, made him tighten, made his breath catch. It was one thing to be lying with -- no, call it fucking, that was what it was -- Tenpou Gensui, Marshal of the Western Army. It was another and entirely different thing to be holding onto someone with that degree of edge. Be careful or I'll cut you and you'll bleed. "No. Not at all."
"So what are you trying to do, set yourself up opposite Litouten?" The words came out before he could really hear what he was saying.
Tenpou shook his head, once. "I need to weaken Litouten's powerbase. That is Nataku. If Nataku becomes less important, then so does Litouten. He's a cancer in Heaven, Taishou. You know that." Each word was paid out carefully, judged and measured to convince.
"And the kid?"
"He's an itan. He was strong enough to bloody your nose. He's not defenseless."
"Does he know what he's getting into?"
Tenpou resettled his glasses on the bridge of his nose, then ran one hand through his hair. "Not yet. We need to talk. That was why you arranged the meeting, after all. He could always say no."
The bleeding had stopped. Kenren dropped the last wad of tissue paper into the bin. "And if he does?"
"Well." Tenpou shrugged. "For a start, Konzen finds a way to have Gokuu sent down to Earth at once. Kanzeon Bosatsu can probably arrange something if Konzen can bring himself to ask hir."
"I'm not following," Kenren said, because he was afraid that he was. He remembered lifting Gokuu's chains and testing their weight, and his surprise at what that meant about Gokuu's strength.. A child, another child, Nataku too, they're all children.
"You are following and you do understand," Tenpou answered, clear-eyed and cold.
"I'm surprised that you can even fucking think it!"
"I think it because other people will. Not just Litouten. I've already had a few casual approaches from some other people who dislike him, who were just casually wondering if the reason for my acquaintance with that itan was, you know, not that we want to pre-empt you or anything, and really we quite appreciate that it might be the most convenient solution . . ." Tenpou broke off sharply. "We're running out of time and possibility."
"Then find another answer." Kenren hauled himself out of the chair, stalked across to Tenpou where he leant against the desk. "I did what you wanted, I tested the kid, fine, he's got muscle, he's got more power there than he knows or than he's ever bothered to use, but he's still a kid. He's still hurting over that girl. I don't even know who the hell she was, though you clearly do."
Tenpou looked up at him, tilting his head slightly. "If you're worried about what we're getting Homura into, consider what his life is going to be otherwise. He's itan, he's an outsider; the Emperor barely acknowledges his existence, he's spent most of his life kept out of the public view, and he's likely to be hidden away again the moment anything else happens. If Li actually considered him a threat, he'd already be dead. We're giving him a chance."
"Not much of one."
"No." Tenpou took his glasses off again, folded them, and put them beside him on the desk. His eyes still had that dark focus to them. "You've still got blood on your face."
"Fuck that. Are you serious about all this?"
"I have considered the alternatives. They . . . aren't preferable." Tenpou folded a corner of his lab coat, spat on it, and swabbed it against Kenren's cheek. The cloth was harsh, rougher than the usual silks of Heaven, and Tenpou's hand was warm through it.
Kenren brought his own hand up, to catch Tenpou by the wrist. "You aren't planning anything dangerous, Marshal? None of that shit about trying to keep the rest of us safe while you go out there on your own?"
"It won't be me out there on my own," Tenpou said, equably. "It'll be Homura."
"Anh. Just wanted to make sure that you realised that."
"I've realised that for a while."
"Like tonight?"
"I'm used to trusting you, General."
"Glad to hear it, Marshal." He kept hold of Tenpou's wrist, feeling the other's pulse.
"I have no plans to stop doing so."
"Yeah. Can't think why you would."
Tenpou sighed. "I didn't tell you because you wouldn't have been as hard on him if you knew."
"Not like you, then?"
"No." Tenpou touched his face again. "Not like me."
---
"Sit still." Tenpou's hand rested briefly on the back of his neck, as the other hand positioned a wad of tissues under his nose. "Now let it bleed till it's done."
"Hell of a thing," Kenren grumbled. "Having a nosebleed in front of all the soldiers. Not good for morale. General Kenren gets his nose smashed by a punk kid who he picked on in the first place . . ." He snorted blood into the tissues, and Tenpou wordlessly passed him a new handful. "Thanks."
"He's itan," Tenpou said, as though that explained everything. "Nobody's sure of what an itan can do. Your men will probably forget about it."
"He's a kid," Kenren said, trying to get the word through to Tenpou.
"Yes, I know." Tenpou adjusted his glasses, looked out at the room through them, came to the clear conclusion of these are dirty and took them off to wipe at them with the tail of his coat. The lamplight gleamed on them greasily.
"So." Another wad of tissues. The wastebasket next to him, filling up with soggy paper and cigarette butts, smelt of his own scorching blood. "Why is it so important that I go and beat up on this kid?"
"Anh." Tenpou looked at his glasses again, as though trying to work out how much cleaner they were. "Because I couldn't."
"Yo." The same as always, just the same as always . . . Kenren reached a long leg across and kicked the side of Tenpou's desk. Papers and books on the surface shivered and jumped. A couple of scrolls slid off, rattling down to the floor and lying there in the dust. "Hey, Marshal. It's your taishou talking to you here. You got a reason for me to do your dirty work, I like to hear what it is."
Tenpou looked at him, dark brown eyes soft and mild without the shield of his glasses, face shuttered and silent. He reached down to the pack next to him, extracted a cigarette, and lit it. "You might want to think about why I asked you to do it rather than do it myself," he said.
"Yeah, that one I can see. You don't want Litouten knowing you're interested in the kid." He accented the word again, trying to get a reaction out of Tenpou. "So tell me, is that to protect the kid, or you?"
"You know that there have been times when there was more than one toushin taishi at once?"
"Yeah, but --" He sat bolt upright in his chair. "Oh, shit, no, Tenpou. You have to be joking."
Tenpou looked at him, eyes dark and focused now. That look of concentration always got to him, made him tighten, made his breath catch. It was one thing to be lying with -- no, call it fucking, that was what it was -- Tenpou Gensui, Marshal of the Western Army. It was another and entirely different thing to be holding onto someone with that degree of edge. Be careful or I'll cut you and you'll bleed. "No. Not at all."
"So what are you trying to do, set yourself up opposite Litouten?" The words came out before he could really hear what he was saying.
Tenpou shook his head, once. "I need to weaken Litouten's powerbase. That is Nataku. If Nataku becomes less important, then so does Litouten. He's a cancer in Heaven, Taishou. You know that." Each word was paid out carefully, judged and measured to convince.
"And the kid?"
"He's an itan. He was strong enough to bloody your nose. He's not defenseless."
"Does he know what he's getting into?"
Tenpou resettled his glasses on the bridge of his nose, then ran one hand through his hair. "Not yet. We need to talk. That was why you arranged the meeting, after all. He could always say no."
The bleeding had stopped. Kenren dropped the last wad of tissue paper into the bin. "And if he does?"
"Well." Tenpou shrugged. "For a start, Konzen finds a way to have Gokuu sent down to Earth at once. Kanzeon Bosatsu can probably arrange something if Konzen can bring himself to ask hir."
"I'm not following," Kenren said, because he was afraid that he was. He remembered lifting Gokuu's chains and testing their weight, and his surprise at what that meant about Gokuu's strength.. A child, another child, Nataku too, they're all children.
"You are following and you do understand," Tenpou answered, clear-eyed and cold.
"I'm surprised that you can even fucking think it!"
"I think it because other people will. Not just Litouten. I've already had a few casual approaches from some other people who dislike him, who were just casually wondering if the reason for my acquaintance with that itan was, you know, not that we want to pre-empt you or anything, and really we quite appreciate that it might be the most convenient solution . . ." Tenpou broke off sharply. "We're running out of time and possibility."
"Then find another answer." Kenren hauled himself out of the chair, stalked across to Tenpou where he leant against the desk. "I did what you wanted, I tested the kid, fine, he's got muscle, he's got more power there than he knows or than he's ever bothered to use, but he's still a kid. He's still hurting over that girl. I don't even know who the hell she was, though you clearly do."
Tenpou looked up at him, tilting his head slightly. "If you're worried about what we're getting Homura into, consider what his life is going to be otherwise. He's itan, he's an outsider; the Emperor barely acknowledges his existence, he's spent most of his life kept out of the public view, and he's likely to be hidden away again the moment anything else happens. If Li actually considered him a threat, he'd already be dead. We're giving him a chance."
"Not much of one."
"No." Tenpou took his glasses off again, folded them, and put them beside him on the desk. His eyes still had that dark focus to them. "You've still got blood on your face."
"Fuck that. Are you serious about all this?"
"I have considered the alternatives. They . . . aren't preferable." Tenpou folded a corner of his lab coat, spat on it, and swabbed it against Kenren's cheek. The cloth was harsh, rougher than the usual silks of Heaven, and Tenpou's hand was warm through it.
Kenren brought his own hand up, to catch Tenpou by the wrist. "You aren't planning anything dangerous, Marshal? None of that shit about trying to keep the rest of us safe while you go out there on your own?"
"It won't be me out there on my own," Tenpou said, equably. "It'll be Homura."
"Anh. Just wanted to make sure that you realised that."
"I've realised that for a while."
"Like tonight?"
"I'm used to trusting you, General."
"Glad to hear it, Marshal." He kept hold of Tenpou's wrist, feeling the other's pulse.
"I have no plans to stop doing so."
"Yeah. Can't think why you would."
Tenpou sighed. "I didn't tell you because you wouldn't have been as hard on him if you knew."
"Not like you, then?"
"No." Tenpou touched his face again. "Not like me."
---
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