Shen Wei answers the door promptly, perfectly put-together as always--deep blue suit with a faint check pattern, waistcoat in a coordinating shade and pattern, tie meticulously knotted, black half-boots polished to a mirror shine.
"Thank you for meeting me, please, come in." He smiles and dips his chin in greeting as he pulls the door open and steps back, gesturing towards the living area of Zhao Yunlan's rather compact living space.
Like his suit, the space is immaculately neat, and a tea set sits on the coffee table in front of the delightfully squashy black leather couch. If Fitz has ever been in Zhao Yunlan's space before, he might notice that the bed has been removed from its spot under the window directly opposite the door, a desk now in that space, with a neat stack of books on its surface as well as notebooks, some loose sheets of high quality paper, and a fastidiously arranged set of calligraphy brushes and ink cakes.
"Would you care for some tea?" He's entirely more anxious about this than he's sure is warranted, and tea will give him something to do with his hands... as well as Fitz, who likely has more cause than he does to be nervous at this meeting.
The phrase 'perfectly put-together' or, honestly, even the phrase 'reasonably put-together' can rarely be applied to Fitz. For the most part, if his clothes aren't rumpled he still manages to generate the impression they are, even when he's just wearing jeans, a leather jacket and boots to match. The hair that always suggests it's length is more a matter of not bothering to get it cut more than fashion and the far from precise shaving job just add to the whole impression.
"Kind of pointless to say no." Fitz doesn't smile back, or try to pretend this is a social meeting. He's not keen on having any warden, and Shen Wei isn't on the list of those who could make him see the positives. His opinion isn't improved by the general neatness. It's making his teeth itch.
"Tea would be great, thanks." He does have some manners, too ingrained to be thrown out. And tea is always welcome. Still, his tone remains on the dismissive side. He's not really one for channeling his anxiety in possitive ways.
Shen Wei wouldn't be involved with Zhao Yunlan if he was actually put off by untidily thrown together motorcycle chic, though Zhao Yunlan's hair and beard are always neatly trimmed and styled--almost fussily so--which is neither here nor there when dealing with Fitz, but there is certainly no judgment for his fashion choices involved.
He takes a seat on the room's sole armchair, leaving Fitz with the choice of wherever he wants to sit on the couch, and then pours tea with the same neat precision he does everything and sets the first cup and its saucer in front of Fitz. The cups are small and elegant, the tea pale and delicately fragrant, and there's no sign of cream or sugar or lemon, just the gently steaming tea. There's also a large file on the edge of the table nearest the armchair Shen Wei has chosen for himself.
"I was wondering if there is anything you would wish to tell me on your own before I read your file," Shen Wei offers with the same mild solicitousness he offers his students as he pours his own cup. "To give me more context than it might."
Fitz slouches on the couch, taking the tea with a nod that covers any other possible thanks. He has a special fondness for the tea of his child and young adulthood, but traveling the universe has exposed him to drinks far stranger and less pleasant. He's always had an adventurous palate, anyway. He gives the files a grim look.
"I don't know what the fucking thing says, so I'm not sure where I'd start with 'context'. Apart from the general one of finding this all complete bullshit." The solicitousness is really working to put his back even more up than it was from the beginning.
Shen Wei's posture, by contrast, is perfectly straight and upright, back not even touching his chair, though not in a stiff or tense sort of way, just in the manner of someone who habitually sits exactly like that.
He cradles his own cup in his hands, raised eyebrows the only reaction he allows to show to Fitz's poor manners and fairly obvious contempt. "And why is that?"
“Because I don’t recognize the legitimacy of this whole set up. It’s a prison, apparently, though it mostly seems the ‘guards’ saying that. But I didn’t get a trial. Hell, I wasn’t even told what wrong I’m supposed to have done. File doesn’t count when it’s this late in the game. I’ve been given no proof that there was jurisdiction. Maybe that’s all fine on your world, but it’s pretty damn illegal in my opinion.
“Ignoring all that, which you clearly are as we’re here, talking about context is pretty rich. Some powerful being has declared I should be in prison and you’ve agreed he’s right. So everything in there is information on someone who should be in prison. If details of your life were written up that way, how well would you come off?” Well, that’s certainly the most he’s ever said to Shen Wei.
Shen Wei tips his head slightly as he listens to Fitz's tirade, his expression remaining mild and unruffled.
"It's my understanding that inmates are brought here from the moments of their deaths," he points out. "Are you saying you would rather have been allowed to die than to have been given this second chance at life?" Which really seems the most pertinent fact to him. "Because I believe that by being here I have actually agreed that you should be allowed a chance to reclaim your life. As for the details of my life-" He shrugs- "I could not say, as I have no idea what the Admiral might choose as relevant information. But there are those back home who consider me heroic, and others who consider me a betrayer and criminal, which is part of why I would like to give you an opportunity to provide your own context to whatever is in your file."
Fitz shrugs. "Dying and staying dead aren't always the same thing." He has plenty of experience with that, both personal and observational. 'I have agreed that you should be allowed a chance to reclaim your life' is a sentence that really makes him want to throw his cup of tea in Shen Wei's face, but he doesn't go for violence, especially not when it's pointless.
Instead he just shrugs, brief almost anger as he'd laid out his point replaced by deep apathy. "Read it and make your own judgment. I don't care and I don't have any interest in giving you context." Or, as he thinks of it, in having to try to justify himself to someone he doesn't like.
"That can be true, yes," he agrees, though his only true experience of that phenomenon is here on the barge. "Do you believe that the Admiral has brought you here under false pretenses, without your death having actually occurred or been imminent?"
He'd have a problem with that being the case; it's the fact that the inmates are being allowed another chance at life that makes the extra-legal and coercive nature of the arrangement palatable to him.
Fitz shrugs. "No idea. I don't really remember most of it. I'd been arrested and "interviewed" so I'm grateful that my memory of the exact details of those days are on the fuzzier side. But death is generally pretty fucking imminent, so maybe the Admiral did exactly what he said."
He considers this for a moment, then backtracks slightly. "And if you do not care about the contents of your file, do you also not care to ascertain what the Admiral wishes of you in order to graduate and escape this place?"
"I didn't say I didn't care what's in the file, I said I didn't have any interest in giving you fucking 'context'. And from what I've heard, the Admiral doesn't exactly give you a list of what he wants so you can leave this fucking place. That would be useful."
"It would certainly be helpful, though I suspect the information is not provided, at least in part, because the requirements are as varied as the people they apply to, and perhaps difficult to itemize in any useful way." He doesn't imagine that telling someone 'learn to care about others,' or 'learn to take responsibility for your actions' would provide particularly helpful guidance.
He pauses for a moment and pushes his glasses up with his thumb and index finger. "My purpose here is to be of assistance to you in any way possible, so that you may leave this place. Is there some reason you've decided to consider our relationship adversarial?" he ask after a moment, just as mild as before.
“It might be difficult, but people are always telling me that’s no reason not to give them a try. Course I don’t believe them so I’m on the Admiral’s side for this one.”
Fitz shakes his head, expression could almost be mistaken for amused. “I learn from past experience. And your purpose here is to get something you want. ‘Helping’ me, or someone is more of a step for whatever more important thing you have to achieve.” From what he knows, he doesn’t doubt it’s likely a more righteous deal than helping him, but that’s not his point.
"And what if I would be pleased to help you regardless, simply because you need help?" he asks. "As I would be anyone here. In your case, I've simply been provided tools to, I hope, make that help more effective." Though he supposes that will depend on what he finds in the file once he reads it.
Fitz has finished his tea. Luckily, he always travels prepared. You never know when this sort of situation can come up. He pulls out his flask from his pocket, taking a drink. It's one of the politer ways he could respond to that, anyway. And like many situations, despite a brief attempt, he doesn't see any benefit in trying to last it out sober. "Yeah, sure. I love having help. It's my favorite thing."
Shen Wei makes himself breathe slowly, refusing to give in to impatience or frustration. He's not the prisoner here, his presence is a choice, and being short with Fitz Kreiner will not accomplish anything... though he wonders if being patient will either.
"How fortunate, then, that I am so eager to help you." He doesn't even sound sarcastic, though it's a trial.
Fitz would, perhaps too cheerfully, claim that his travels with the Doctor have allowed him to raise his natural talent for being extremely irritating to a whole new level. And he'd already been pretty good at it.
"Extremely." He imbues his tone with deep levels of sarcasm. "It's not how I'd chose to spend my afterlife, but I've picked up little hints that suggest we might have some differences."
Shen Wei doesn't let himself sigh, though he's tempted, and instead refills Fitz Kreiner's teacup, in case he'd like to refrain from consuming alcohol in favor of a more pleasant beverage.
"You said you're not indifferent to the contents of the file. Shall I ask the Admiral to provide a second copy for you to review at your leisure?"
“Sure, I’ll be able to go back over all my greatest hits. Or at least some of the mediocre hits, if the Admiral chooses to focus on boring shit. It’ll be a party.”
He doesn’t know if he wants his ‘file’. Actually, he’s almost certain he doesn’t. But facts have never gotten in the way of flippancy. He looks at the teacup, and takes another pull from his flask.
Well, it was worth a try. He takes another sip of his own tea, still warm through a subtle and almost absent application of his power. "I shall request a copy from the Admiral on your behalf." Because let no one say he isn't completely immune to sarcasm... when he wants to be.
"And we can meet again once I've had the opportunity to make a thorough study of your file." Because no matter what Fitz Kreiner thinks, it is his job and his duty to help him in whatever way he can, whether said help is welcome or not.
Shen Wei rises as well, resisting the urge to roll his eyes or sigh in exasperation.
"Thank you for your time, and please feel free to contact me if you are in need of anything a warden can provide you." It feels almost strange to realize he's been assigned an inmate with no powers whatsoever, so that, at least, is not a concern.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 12:37 am (UTC)"Thank you for meeting me, please, come in." He smiles and dips his chin in greeting as he pulls the door open and steps back, gesturing towards the living area of Zhao Yunlan's rather compact living space.
Like his suit, the space is immaculately neat, and a tea set sits on the coffee table in front of the delightfully squashy black leather couch. If Fitz has ever been in Zhao Yunlan's space before, he might notice that the bed has been removed from its spot under the window directly opposite the door, a desk now in that space, with a neat stack of books on its surface as well as notebooks, some loose sheets of high quality paper, and a fastidiously arranged set of calligraphy brushes and ink cakes.
"Would you care for some tea?" He's entirely more anxious about this than he's sure is warranted, and tea will give him something to do with his hands... as well as Fitz, who likely has more cause than he does to be nervous at this meeting.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 12:47 am (UTC)"Kind of pointless to say no." Fitz doesn't smile back, or try to pretend this is a social meeting. He's not keen on having any warden, and Shen Wei isn't on the list of those who could make him see the positives. His opinion isn't improved by the general neatness. It's making his teeth itch.
"Tea would be great, thanks." He does have some manners, too ingrained to be thrown out. And tea is always welcome. Still, his tone remains on the dismissive side. He's not really one for channeling his anxiety in possitive ways.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 02:00 am (UTC)He takes a seat on the room's sole armchair, leaving Fitz with the choice of wherever he wants to sit on the couch, and then pours tea with the same neat precision he does everything and sets the first cup and its saucer in front of Fitz. The cups are small and elegant, the tea pale and delicately fragrant, and there's no sign of cream or sugar or lemon, just the gently steaming tea. There's also a large file on the edge of the table nearest the armchair Shen Wei has chosen for himself.
"I was wondering if there is anything you would wish to tell me on your own before I read your file," Shen Wei offers with the same mild solicitousness he offers his students as he pours his own cup. "To give me more context than it might."
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 02:08 am (UTC)"I don't know what the fucking thing says, so I'm not sure where I'd start with 'context'. Apart from the general one of finding this all complete bullshit." The solicitousness is really working to put his back even more up than it was from the beginning.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 05:04 am (UTC)He cradles his own cup in his hands, raised eyebrows the only reaction he allows to show to Fitz's poor manners and fairly obvious contempt. "And why is that?"
no subject
Date: 2021-06-07 03:03 pm (UTC)“Ignoring all that, which you clearly are as we’re here, talking about context is pretty rich. Some powerful being has declared I should be in prison and you’ve agreed he’s right. So everything in there is information on someone who should be in prison. If details of your life were written up that way, how well would you come off?” Well, that’s certainly the most he’s ever said to Shen Wei.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 12:23 am (UTC)"It's my understanding that inmates are brought here from the moments of their deaths," he points out. "Are you saying you would rather have been allowed to die than to have been given this second chance at life?" Which really seems the most pertinent fact to him. "Because I believe that by being here I have actually agreed that you should be allowed a chance to reclaim your life. As for the details of my life-" He shrugs- "I could not say, as I have no idea what the Admiral might choose as relevant information. But there are those back home who consider me heroic, and others who consider me a betrayer and criminal, which is part of why I would like to give you an opportunity to provide your own context to whatever is in your file."
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 12:29 am (UTC)Instead he just shrugs, brief almost anger as he'd laid out his point replaced by deep apathy. "Read it and make your own judgment. I don't care and I don't have any interest in giving you context." Or, as he thinks of it, in having to try to justify himself to someone he doesn't like.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 12:46 am (UTC)He'd have a problem with that being the case; it's the fact that the inmates are being allowed another chance at life that makes the extra-legal and coercive nature of the arrangement palatable to him.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 12:52 am (UTC)He sounds skeptical, but he usually does.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-09 04:38 am (UTC)He pauses for a moment and pushes his glasses up with his thumb and index finger. "My purpose here is to be of assistance to you in any way possible, so that you may leave this place. Is there some reason you've decided to consider our relationship adversarial?" he ask after a moment, just as mild as before.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-10 06:36 am (UTC)Fitz shakes his head, expression could almost be mistaken for amused. “I learn from past experience. And your purpose here is to get something you want. ‘Helping’ me, or someone is more of a step for whatever more important thing you have to achieve.” From what he knows, he doesn’t doubt it’s likely a more righteous deal than helping him, but that’s not his point.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-11 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-11 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-11 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-11 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-27 12:46 am (UTC)"How fortunate, then, that I am so eager to help you." He doesn't even sound sarcastic, though it's a trial.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-27 01:18 am (UTC)"Extremely." He imbues his tone with deep levels of sarcasm. "It's not how I'd chose to spend my afterlife, but I've picked up little hints that suggest we might have some differences."
no subject
Date: 2021-06-30 12:57 am (UTC)"You said you're not indifferent to the contents of the file. Shall I ask the Admiral to provide a second copy for you to review at your leisure?"
no subject
Date: 2021-06-30 01:03 am (UTC)He doesn’t know if he wants his ‘file’. Actually, he’s almost certain he doesn’t. But facts have never gotten in the way of flippancy. He looks at the teacup, and takes another pull from his flask.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-30 05:41 am (UTC)"And we can meet again once I've had the opportunity to make a thorough study of your file." Because no matter what Fitz Kreiner thinks, it is his job and his duty to help him in whatever way he can, whether said help is welcome or not.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-30 12:50 pm (UTC)He stands up, flask disappearing back into his jacket. From ‘meet again’ he’s going to assume this uncomfortable meeting is over.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 11:11 pm (UTC)"Thank you for your time, and please feel free to contact me if you are in need of anything a warden can provide you." It feels almost strange to realize he's been assigned an inmate with no powers whatsoever, so that, at least, is not a concern.
(no subject)
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