[Edel PRP] Earth and Underground (Xun Jiang/Jin Huang)

[Ithiltari]

He nodded. "A most excellent sense of timing," Jin Huang commented dryly. He had come into his own, to borrow his brother's excellent phrasing, shortly after the ceremony that had restored the Crown's name. Which was, needless to say, hardly ideal. At least Xun Jiang had a better sense of the appropriate!

Jin Huang's eyes narrowed at the hint of annoyance. "Oh?" he asked, placing his elbows on the table while lacing his fingers together and leaning forward. "Is there anything in particular troubling you? Or," he added with a wry twist to his mouth, "Is it more of a general too much to do and not enough time to do it in?" That certainly seemed to be his problem, these days.

[A Wandering Esper]

"It was handy, I must admit..." Through if he had not, Lord Harmodius might have been able to compensate in another way. He had noticed that not all the dragons had gathered. Kheviel had been missing, and there had been no trace of Shen Lung and Great Chien-Tang, most notably.

"A bit of collumn A, a bit of column B." Ti Lung went silent as the waitress came to serve their teas, and he opted to let his steep a little more before he poured it from the kettle. Still he wanted once the woman was well out of earshot before continuing. "It bothers me that I cannot remember anything." He admitted. Jin Huang would understand - he had lived the same thing. Sometimes he actually forgot about that.

[Ithiltari]

Jin Huang felt his mouth quirk up in a rueful smile at his brother's initial response. It did often seem that problems that were unable to be resolved due to a lack of time to focus on them ended up becoming very specific concerns further down the road. Alas, he had yet to figure out a solution for that, other than learn how to delegate.

He could practically hear Delmin laughing at the thought.

The dragon lowered his head slightly in a nod of thanks as the tea was delivered, pouring himself a cup as he waited for Xun Jiang to continue. He had the cup raised halfway to his mouth when the comment about remembering caused him to pause and frown slightly. "About?" he asked neutrally. He had a very good idea what his brother was referring to, but he would be damned if he brought it up first. The fact that he had had a previous host wasn't something he wanted to have to think about, especially given what little he remembered.

In all, Jin Huang thought Yu Huang was best left where he belonged - in the past.

[A Wandering Esper]

Xun Jiang seemed just as willing to actually bring it up as his brother was - not because of Jin Huang, of course, but because of the current setting. He would have trusted Futs Lung with his life, if it came down to that.

But there were other people here, and as much as he wanted to form the words, they refused to come out. "You know what." He finally managed, biting back his sigh. "I get the feeling there is something I should remember, but I cannot figure out what it is."

Ngh. This was apparently all Jin Huang would get for now, through the other patrons seemed rather uninterested in them. Any glances sent their way was probably thanks to his rather... unusual appearance.

Maybe he could ask Tian Yue if he could recall anything. They were all brothers, and they had been close. Zhijian might remember some of the far away past, as well­. He truly had no idea - had never asked.

[Ithiltari]

"Mm," Jin Huang replied noncommittally. Personally, he felt that if you couldn't remember, you couldn't remember and it was time to move on with life. Then again, there had certainly been enough proof that memories of the ancient, not recent, past were useful; Gehenna was of course the obvious situation, one that stuck in everyone's thoughts. If more of them had remembered, would things have come to such a dreadful pass?

Shaking his head lightly as if to clear it of such useless speculation, he finally took a sip of his tea, pleased to find that it hadn't cooled off too much. "Perhaps," he continued slowly, "Because of the circumstances, you think there must be something to remember, something important." He looked at his brother intently and let out a small sigh. "What if there's not?"

[A Wandering Esper]

What if there weren't anything ? That was a valid point, he had to admit. There might not be, as far as he knew. If anyone he had known before the fading still lived, doubtlessly they would show up just like Lindita had. The demoness' nature did make him wonder if she had been a gift from this particular brother, a long time ago, but it did not matter. Likely neither of them would remember.

"That is a possibility." He admitted, staring down at his own cup before finally drinking from it. "Either way I will probably never know, and I need to accept that."

And he would... hopefully. What good would going down that path do for him ? That time was long, long gone. He was more bothered by the lack of pre-fading memory than anything he might have gotten from his first host. That/i] was not something he was tempted to figure out much about.

"I certainly have more important things to worry about, at any rate." He had a future to build, and so many things to figure out still.

[Ithiltari]

Making another noncommittal noise, Jin Huang stared at his own cup for a moment. Talking about the past, even in such a roundabout manner, had unexpectedly disturbed him more than he really wanted to think about. It was over and done with, and for the most part the dragon had a very hard time understanding why people continued to pick at it. With a small sigh, he absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair; it was obviously agesture he made often, as he managed to avoid getting his sleeve caught on his horn.

"Indeed," he commented, mind already nagging him with all of the things he had to worry about. "To the future," Jin Huang continued, raising his cup in a mock toast while smiling slightly.

[A Wandering Esper]

Xun Jiang could tell that there was something bothering his brother - and, well, he had a good idea that he probably had caused it. It was not something any of the dragons talked about often, to his knowledge, and this was exactly why.

So he decided that it was probably time to let the matter drop. Jin was right, anyway. It would take longer for him to truly convince himself, most likely. Or maybe he would never be able to fully convince himself.

But the future was more important than the past. The past could not be changed.

"Right." He raised his own cup with a grin.