Ricki Tarr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rickitikitarr) wrote2015-05-12 10:09 pm
rickitikitarr) wrote2015-05-12 10:09 pm
5. voice
[Ricki has been passed over in this week's event- he isn't nearly trustworthy enough for the powers this week to have to begun to reflect his way. So, in the absence of any other mayhem or hysteria, it's been sort of a dragging week for him.
His answer had been to ensconce himself firmly in one of the library back rooms, and to tear his way voraciously through another shelf of the history section. Which leads, quite late one evening, to him activating his feed to explain, in the hushed tones most appropriate for the small hours of the night;]
Some time in the early 1600s in Japan, a young woman had a rather illicit relationship with a Chinese pirate lord. The unlikely pair had a son who they christened Zhèng Chénggōng.
[His accent is so adept as to be potentially noteworthy.]
Our story finds him in the waters between Xiamen and Taiwan. At that time, Xiamen was a young port city, whose traded goods included silver, imported from Spain into China. This trade route was a ripe target for local pirates, in particular, for some reason, the Dutch. They snuck their boats in among the myriad of little islands at the mouth of the Nine Dragons, the Mekong River, or Cửu Long, we called it, where I was growing up. Zhèng Chénggōng, also known as Koxinga, succeeded in fighting about the nastiest kind of warfare you can imagine, for that era. The battles were nasty, but eventually the Dutch fled Taiwan, and the man himself had accomplished this while embroiled in some of the ugliest dynastic struggle imaginable.
A Ming loyalist, he had narrowly survived his own father's terrible betrayal to the Qing family- which I believe, though I haven't been able to ascertain this as being completely true- ended with his father's imprisonment and the then-Emperor being thrown into a well. Zhèng established a small province in the South of Taiwan, where his family held the territory for a little over twenty years, until some business with an illegitimate heir resulted in too much political instability, and the little province was reabsorbed into Taiwan proper.
Oh, here it is- it is rumoured that Koxinga's death was the result of a sudden fit of madness. He had ordered his guards to execute his son. The young man had apparently had an affair with a wet-nurse... of some relative or another, it isn't specific, and when he was disobeyed, Koxinga flew into the sort of rage that could stop a man's heart. He was only thirty seven. That's what one source says; the other just bluntly states malaria.
There was a statue of Koxinga in Xiamen when I was there last, though it may very well be torn down by now. I remember seeing the stonework, but never being aware of the proper story.
[And, now he is, and so is anyone else up late and listening on this drowsy, slow-drifting spacey night.]
It was whispered to me then, somewhat illicitly, that the man had been raised by freed Muslim slaves, and may have practiced that faith in secret, though the books all mention Confucianism.
I do wonder.
[He always feels most imaginative during the very witching hour of night.]
His answer had been to ensconce himself firmly in one of the library back rooms, and to tear his way voraciously through another shelf of the history section. Which leads, quite late one evening, to him activating his feed to explain, in the hushed tones most appropriate for the small hours of the night;]
Some time in the early 1600s in Japan, a young woman had a rather illicit relationship with a Chinese pirate lord. The unlikely pair had a son who they christened Zhèng Chénggōng.
[His accent is so adept as to be potentially noteworthy.]
Our story finds him in the waters between Xiamen and Taiwan. At that time, Xiamen was a young port city, whose traded goods included silver, imported from Spain into China. This trade route was a ripe target for local pirates, in particular, for some reason, the Dutch. They snuck their boats in among the myriad of little islands at the mouth of the Nine Dragons, the Mekong River, or Cửu Long, we called it, where I was growing up. Zhèng Chénggōng, also known as Koxinga, succeeded in fighting about the nastiest kind of warfare you can imagine, for that era. The battles were nasty, but eventually the Dutch fled Taiwan, and the man himself had accomplished this while embroiled in some of the ugliest dynastic struggle imaginable.
A Ming loyalist, he had narrowly survived his own father's terrible betrayal to the Qing family- which I believe, though I haven't been able to ascertain this as being completely true- ended with his father's imprisonment and the then-Emperor being thrown into a well. Zhèng established a small province in the South of Taiwan, where his family held the territory for a little over twenty years, until some business with an illegitimate heir resulted in too much political instability, and the little province was reabsorbed into Taiwan proper.
Oh, here it is- it is rumoured that Koxinga's death was the result of a sudden fit of madness. He had ordered his guards to execute his son. The young man had apparently had an affair with a wet-nurse... of some relative or another, it isn't specific, and when he was disobeyed, Koxinga flew into the sort of rage that could stop a man's heart. He was only thirty seven. That's what one source says; the other just bluntly states malaria.
There was a statue of Koxinga in Xiamen when I was there last, though it may very well be torn down by now. I remember seeing the stonework, but never being aware of the proper story.
[And, now he is, and so is anyone else up late and listening on this drowsy, slow-drifting spacey night.]
It was whispered to me then, somewhat illicitly, that the man had been raised by freed Muslim slaves, and may have practiced that faith in secret, though the books all mention Confucianism.
I do wonder.
[He always feels most imaginative during the very witching hour of night.]
no subject
[And the temper he's been keeping so tight a lid on finally goes.]
Sorry for missing my cue.
no subject
no subject
[He's lighting up a cigarette now, watching it instead of the camera.]
If I'd been different. If I had been less friendly, or if I had been a warden, or I hadn't been there to help- would you have asked first?
no subject
no subject
Not the end of the world, is it? It'll be fine.
no subject
Aye. You will be.
no subject
[This is in good humour, a compliment, even though it's an odd one. He's sure she'll recognize that.]
no subject
no subject
no subject
[You may have that one for free, Ricki, since she feels bad.]
no subject
no subject
...though if anything really dodgy 'appens to me Cain'll look after it.
no subject
[And then again, not, because she's so colourful.]
In case you go mad with power?
no subject
[She chuckles a little at that.]
I don't know that mad with power's quite my style, but I've 'ad floods send me straight-up mad before now.
(no subject)
private
That said, Cain's been there. More than once.]
Just consider that free intel's not something you'll normally get here, or anywhere else, but she's given you a good mountain of it.
private
[The tone is entirely 'fuck off.']
Re: private
Knock it the hell off, kid. You're too damn smart to be pouting over someone getting a look at how you feel. Could've been a lot worse and you know that if you've met some of the rest.
[He doesn't raise his voice, but whatever candy coating he's learned to use on the Barge is gone, too.]
Screw your brain back on and make use of an advantage when it falls on your lap.
private
Yes sir.
[It's so perfectly neutral, so utterly lacking in snide overtone or any inflection beyond passive acquiescence as to be a little startling.]
private
You do see the advantage, right?
private
[Testing, a little disconnectedly.]
Re: private
No. [Curt. He leans forward a tiny bit, habit.]
Think about it. If someone grabs you, it's just the same as if you've grabbed them, right? You've got one of their hands occupied and out of the way. Well, when she sees your mind, you can see hers. If you can teach yourself to calm the hell down. With enough work you can even organize your mind, make it harder for some of 'em to get in.
Re: private
Please stop. She's apologized, that's all I needed, and I can't explain it again. I won't bring it up any more.
Re: private
[He sighs, annoyed and contemptuous and--more than anything, and to his own irritation--disappointed at Ricki.]
When a real telepath shows up you just let me know if you're feeling a little more up to saving your own ass, kid.
Re: private
[He admits, badly shaken, and burning with frustration now. He'd only just accepted her apology and this, now, feels like having it ripped away again, like he should dismiss it, pretend it was nothing, or a training exercise or something.]
Re: private
I've been her- [boyfriend? he's in his 60's, that sounds absurd, like he wants to take her to the prom or something] -'significant other' for a couple of years now. She's done the empath thing to me, too, you know. And I hated it at first.
She feels bad when she steps over a line. I'm not worried about her abusing her power, you know? You're a good shot, you're calm when the ship's burning, and that's a rare combination around here. [He grimaces, fighting with himself a moment] And I guess it's just a real old habit to try to share intel if I do find someone who might make good use of it.
Re: private
private
private
Re: private