"Cassie said I'd find you sulking here." It is a bit of a jest, but also a tentative prod at his ever fiery friend, hoping to gauge his mood. He was positively simmering, Kuai could tell, but he wasn't sure whether in anger or indignation - there was a slim, but important difference them when it came to Hanzo Hasashi.
"I am not sulking." Hanzo huffs, his back still turned to the Lin Kuei Grandmaster. Ah, indignation it was. That would hopefully make things easier.
"Forgive me, I meant brooding." That does get a glare sent his way over Hanzo's shoulder, but it phases Kuai none, who instead takes it as an invitation to walk closer. "There is clearly something bothering you, either way. Care to talk about it?"
Hanzo's face is bitter, and his brows furrow just a twitch deeper as Kuai talks, but eventually, he relents even if with defensively crossed arms. "... They won't tell me where my Chujin is. Say it's... classified." His face only sours deeper at the word.
"I see." Kuai lets a few seconds of silence pass before he resumes talking, hoping to give Hanzo time to cool off and be rational about this. "Do not get me wrong, I understand your frustration… but if I recall correctly, you yourself said he was on a mission with his father. Is that not the case?"
"As far as I'm aware, that remains true." He had no reason to doubt Kenshi or Takeda's abilities, he had said so to their face, that he knew they would be able to face the challenges awaiting them but… "It has been nearly a month since he last managed to contact me, however."
Kuai hums in acknowledgment, tilting his head to the side as if in thought, looking out at the view in front of them as he passively worked on leeching the area of the heat Hanzo had raised. Eventually, however, he turns to face the ninja, who mirrors the movement, still with his displeased expression.
"Tell me, if they did tell you where he was, what would you do?"
"I'd seek him out." Now Hanzo's brows furrowed in confusion, as if the answer was obvious.
"So you would… potentially ruining months of their work, giving away their position?"
Heat flares up from where Hanzo stands, a self-aware embarrassment at being caught in one of his mental loops, his tunnel vision getting the best of him again. "I wouldn't give away their position." He tries to argue anyway, fully knowing Kuai had a point, but it's more of an attempt to save face than anything, and Kuai can't help the chuckle that leaves him - the offended scowl Hanzo gave him in return made it clear he didn't think it was that funny.
"I do not doubt that, Grandmaster Hasashi, I'm simply worried they wouldn't be able to contain their surprise at your sudden arrival." Hanzo only scowled at him harder, but when the Lin Kuei before only looked at him expectantly, the Shirai Ryu admitted defeat and sighed, his shoulders sagging as he uncrossed his arms.
"The Black Dragons are a formidable foe, I simply fear they could be in need of my help."
"Then you must trust them to ask for it." Kuai placed his hand on Hanzo's shoulder, intent on steering him outside the SF building, hoping the fresh air would do him well. "Perhaps it would ease your mind if you looked at this from another angle. Consider this as being as much of a test of Takeda's skill, as it is a test of your own sufferance." With a slight prod to Hanzo's shoulder, he got them walking. "And, perhaps I am bringing my own experiences into this situation, but I feel that letting him fight his own battles would be a great show of trust."
Hanzo for a few moments stayed silent, exhaling only a frustrated huff, but it was clear that he was listening to his friend, his expression softening considerably as they kept walking, now less of an indignant scowl and more of a petulant pout.
"I do hate how much sense you speak."
"Please, you have plenty of it yourself, you know so. That is why I ask that you stop hounding the Special Forces. I'm afraid they're starting to doubt me when I say you mean no harm." Hanzo gives him a side-eyed glance but says nothing else. Kuai frowned, genuinely caught off guard, thinking he'd gotten through to the other. "... Hanzo."
A smirk stretches itself across Hanzo's face, breaking his stubborn ruse, and he waved off Kuai's hand off his shoulder as he sped up his pace and walked ahead. "I have grown tired of talking at walls. There is no point in me asking further questions if the answers will remain the same. I guess I will have to heed your advice."
Always so predictably unpredictable… Kuai can barely contain an amused snort as he followed the ninja. He was glad he could help settle the situation before it devolved further.
...
Days later, however, when he hears that Fujin suddenly gained an interest in finding Takahashi Takeda at the request of Hanzo, Kuai Liang has to stop himself from slapping the older man upside the next time they meet. The man was and still is stubborn to a fault.
