Discussion [complete]

[Liang Jianyu]

Jianyu knew it was probably against some code to lie in the General's bed.

Granted, Yulin wasn't actually there to protest this: she'd told Jianyu to wait for her in her tent, and to make himself comfortable. He was just following orders, that was all. Besides, he always could hear her walking up, anyway. Well, at least he hoped none of the men in the army sashayed like that. They'd be in trouble, in that case.

As he heard that familiar flounce, he jumped to his feet, smoothing his hair back and straightening his uniform. As Yulin stepped in, he stood at attention with an easygoing smile. "Afternoon, General Kwok. Something you wanted to discuss?"

[Kwok Yulin]

She matched the expression smile for smile, the corners of her mouth curving so perfectly it was impossible to tell if there was any irritation in her voice when she answered, "Lieutenant General, next time you decide to lie down in my bed, it might be intelligent to also straighten out the sheets you ruffled as well as your uniform."

[Liang Jianyu]

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jianyu said without hesitation, smoothing out the sheets with his feet. "Really, though, what is it? I'm beginning to think the recruits know more about what goes on here than I do."

[Kwok Yulin]

She eyed him as he 'fixed' her bed with a seemingly disinterested gaze, saying nothing until he was done, merely making her way over to her desk so that she had something to lean on. She was tired, and the first blows hadn't even been exchanged yet.

"And rightfully, too," she responded, toying with the corner of some unimportant document. "Some of them are smarter than you anyway. I think I'll have to replace you with someone actually competent soon." She sighed dramatically, as if being offered a reprieve from an era of suffering.

"Maybe I'll get someone who can handle the larger workload we're about to get."

[Liang Jianyu]

"You couldn't replace me. Half the recruits are convinced you're going to eat them, anyway." Jianyu's eyebrows quirked upwards as he gave her a once-over, looking slightly concerned. "Larger workload? Something did happen, then?"

[Kwok Yulin]

"Well, they'd taste better than you, I bet," Yulin quipped, without skipping a beat. She smoothed her hands over the wings of the paper airplane in her hand, aimed it and threw it right at his forehead. "To cut a long story short, we're going to be taking command of half of Boya's army, and the other half will be given to Rie Chou. Boya will be taking a leave of absence soon. He will be accompanying the Japanese prince to Japan."

Once that party had left, there would be at most four people who knew of the real nature of General Sze's 'disappearance' - Yulin, Rie Chou, and their respective second-in-commands. She was not sure if Rie Chou even trusted his serving officers enough to tell them of a secret like that, but she certainly didn't want the hassle of hiding it from Jianyu. It wasn't that she was a bad secret-keeper - in fact, despite her apparent looseness of the tongue, she kept truly important information under metaphorical lock and key. She just suspected her Lieutenant General of being able to read her better than she would've liked, and figured he would've come to his own conclusions sooner or later anyway.

[Liang Jianyu]

Jianyu was ready to throw back a retort after her last shot, but the announcement surprised him so much that he was cut short, letting the paper plane bounce innocuously off his forehead. "... General Sze is leaving? With the prince?" He frowned. "Nice that we're giving the guy a hand and all... but what exactly do they plan on doing when they get there?"

[Kwok Yulin]

She waved a hand, shrugging slightly. "Oh, you know, the usual - buying souvenirs, picking up Japanese girls, actually becoming a man, getting rid of psychopathic dictators controlling the nation unjustly and bringing them into war. That sort of stuff."

[Liang Jianyu]

Jianyu nodded slowly, processing all that. "I hope he'll be becoming a man with the Japanese girls, not the prince... that'd be slightly awkward... psychopathic dictator, huh? Now that's just not fair." He grinned. "So what're we supposed to do around here? Sooner or later you're going to run out of paper, yeah?"

[Kwok Yulin]

"You can always fetch more for me," she mused, already half-turning to reach for another sheet. "Who knows what he's going to do. Frankly, I don't care either way, as long as he gets it done. It'll be a lot funner to tease him if he knows what I mean. Though, you know," she stopped the movement of her hands, looking up at him through her lashes with a devil's smirk, "It might not be just Japanese girls or the prince to choose from. Shen-shen is going too."

[Liang Jianyu]

"Shen is?" Jianyu laughed, twisting the paper airplane in his hands. "I wouldn't hold your breath on that one. I'm more likely to confess my undying love to General Sze than he is. Not that I would, of course," he added quickly. Not that it mattered what she thought, but he didn't want to give the wrong impression, anyway.

[Kwok Yulin]

"Actually, Shen-shen's been confessing for years. Repeatedly. It's just the matter of Boya understanding it." Yulin laughed, setting her half-completed airplane down on the desk and forgetting it as she found something else to occupy her idle attention. Her hands found the paperweight she had found on her desk the day she was promoted to the position of commanding general. It was a regal-looking lion, standing on its hind legs and roaring. She had long since used black ink to draw funny expressions and facial hair on the snarling visage.

"So, while they're off discovering whatever, we'll have to take charge of their troops. They can't very well go on general-less. They're scatter-brained enough already. However, we can't just very well say to them, 'Oh we sent General Sze back to Japan with the Prince - oh yes we did have the prince, oh yes I know that's why the war started oh my'. So we're going to have to tell them they've died. And for as long as they're in Japan, they might as well be, to China."

Her grin had dropped, and as she stroked her fingers over the ridges of the metal lion's mane, a brief flash of worry crossed her eyes.

[Liang Jianyu]

The smile was slowly disintegrating from Jianyu's face, as well, but he managed not to look as worried as he felt. "Ah, least they'll only be dead for a while," he said, catching her expression. "How many people can say that? Still... I feel bad for those kids. He's really good with them. Much better than you are, anyway," he jabbed, trying to smile at her again.

[Kwok Yulin]

She gave him a braved smile, as thanks for the attempt at lightening her humour, as meager as it was. "They just haven't seen a real woman before this. I bet the only experience they've had with a woman is looking at themselves in the mirror."

[Liang Jianyu]

"That's not nice, General," Jianyu chided. "I'm sure once they blossom properly, they'll have beautiful figures just like yours. And then you can give them a long, heartfelt talk about why their bodies do what they do. Although I'm going to have to abstain from that, subordinate or not."