Threads 230- Thunder 1

“You’re surprisingly pushy about this.” Yu Nuan hunched her shoulders under the fur-collared mantle she was wearing.

“You’re surprisingly shy about this,” Ling Qi retorted. They passed through the gates of the sect town without pause, staying off to one side of the street so as to not disrupt traffic too much as mortals moved to give them a respectful berth.

“I’m not shy,” Yu Nuan argued, sparks jumping between the row of metal studs that pierced her ears. “A little more warning would have been nice is all.”

“I think it’s more genuine if you don’t have a lot of prep time. Besides, I didn’t see you at the tournament at all. What were you up to?”

“Training and working on a new piece for the storm lord,” Yu Nuan replied. Their footsteps carried them swiftly through the outer part of the town and into the inner. “Not like I had anything to do there.”

“It doesn’t hurt to mingle a bit.” Ling Qi ignored Sixiang’s incredulous snort.

“Whole reason I’m doing this, isn’t it? I’m not cut out for that.”

“I’m not going to let you become a hermit.”

Yu Nuan grunted in reply as they passed down the cobbled streets just dusted with the winter’s first snows.

“Being serious, I did talk to a couple folks. I’m not hopeless,” Yu Nuan said, keeping her eyes ahead. “Got a few auditions in little courts. Nothing like what you deal in. It’s rough though since I’m up for deployment.”

Ling Qi hummed in reply as familiar gates came into view. “But you’re not looking to get out of that?”

“I’m not.” Yu Nuan grimaced. “I’m not some charity case. If you let me in, I’ll pull my weight.”

“There’s nothing wrong with charity,” Ling Qi said, but she didn’t press the issue. She understood pride and how important it was for a person to have theirs. The guards standing before the gates of her mother’s house saw her and bowed, turning to open the gates at a gesture from her.

Yu Nuan watched. “You really are just full in on this stuff, aren’t you?”

Ling Qi gave the guards a nod as they stepped through the gate onto the well kept path. “People like to see what they expect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ease them into accepting a different arrangement.”

She smiled at one of the girls sweeping the path as she stepped out of the way, and the young woman, something Min if she remembered, bowed low with a murmured “Lady Ling.”

No quiet panic or fear, just low level anxiety in the mortal. Ling Qi was getting better at this!

<It’s Fa Min, by the way,> Sixiang drawled.

Yu Nuan looked around with some curiosity, not lingering on the servant as they entered. “So, we’re just meeting your mother then? That’s it?”

Ling Qi hummed, opening the front door with a tap. “I’m sure we’ll see my little sister too, but she’s four, so I don’t think she’ll contribute much. You have your dog with you?”

“Course,” Yu Nuan replied, stepping hastily after her.

“Then I think you’ll have her approval,” Ling Qi said dryly. Tangent aside, she did understand what Yu Nuan was asking. “So just my mother, yes.”

“Sorry,” Yu Nuan ran a hand through her spiked hair anxiously. “Not good at this.”

“You’ll fit right in then. Dining room is this way.”

“I heard things got a bit crazy at the end of the tournament,” Yu Nuan commented.

Ling Qi paused, one hand resting on the wall. “Yes. Do you want to change your mind?”

She still didn’t know what to think of the revelations at the end of the tournament. That was one reason she was doing this now. She wanted to take her mind off of things until Renxiang was ready to talk.

“Nah, I don’t think the blast zones have changed much,” Yu Nuan said with a weak chuckle.

<Dark, but not wrong.> Sixiang snickered.

“Then, let’s have a chat with my mother. You can show me this revel of yours after.”

“Got it, Matriarch,” the older girl drawled, following as they resumed walking.

Ling Qi grimaced, shooting her a look. That was not going to be a thing.

Entering the dining room, she found that her mother had changed the layout. The previous table had been replaced with a more ornate one with more space for seating. Placed out on the table was a tea set, as well as plates and platters holding the sort of little snacks often served with it.

Her mother had picked out a nice, understated gown in dark blue and black. Ling Qi had told her that she didn’t need to stick to Ling Qi’s color scheme, but she’d ignored that. It was important for a clan to keep a theme apparently. Her mother had also taken well to her cultivation. Some of the lines on her mother’s face had smoothed, and the signs of hard living had lessened, if only a little.

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Biyu sat in her lap, fiddling with one of the tight pigtails that her mother had wound her hair into. She brightened up when she saw Ling Qi and blinked curiously at Yu Nuan.

“My daughter, welcome back to our home,” Ling Qingge said formally. “I see you have brought a guest.”

“I have,” Ling Qi replied, stepping forward. They’d actually rehearsed this bit! “I bring Yu Nuan, who approaches as a supplicant to the Ling clan, requesting adoption.

Yu Nuan nodded once, stepping forward beside her and bowing. “Yes, I am Yu Nuan, the only cultivator of the Yu family, and it is my wish to join my fortune to the Ling family.”

“I understand,” Ling Qingge said. She was proud of her mother; she came much more naturally to this sort of formality than Ling Qi did. “And what is it which you believe you may bring to the Ling clan?”

“I bring a strong and talented pair of hands and a talent which has reached the third realm. I bring skills in music and beast handling. I bring connection to the Argent Peak Sect,” Yu Nuan spoke with a practiced air, and that was fair. This was the formal bit. “And I bring a spirit beast of my own, the Storm Herding Hound Qiu, and the possibility of more of his like.”