doublesmall | [INBOX] fractura.

[ peace negotiations were supposed to be put together around a wedding, a joyful occasion of unity. they were not supposed to be like this, with half of montevallo burned, and the whole world falling apart to the best of it's ability around xie lian's hands.

nonetheless, with details arranged and a meeting place set up, xie lian makes his way to meet chuuya nakahara alone. unarmed, and even without either of his constant presence bodyguards, he awaits chuuya in a truly neutral business in middleton, quietly sweeping into a back room without much fuss, ten minutes before their initial meeting time.

there's a teacup on the table, and a small notepad, but beyond that, the meeting place is sparse. xie lian's hands are on the table; he wants no pretense, as he waits for the head of the mori family to arrive. ]

[chuuya arrives alone too, careful to show up separately and without much notice that he's left at all. lan wangji will forgive this, probably. he's dressed down to stand out less, his usual overcoat abandoned, keeping his hands out of his pockets.

the situation has weighed on him too, but while he looks a bit tired, he's certainly not exhausted. xie lian has his full focus as chuuya settles in opposite to him, arms folding on the table to leave his hands visible.]

Xie Lian. [he gets a nod, there, though chuuya leaves his ever-present hat in place.] Good to see you could make it-- what with recent developments, I almost thought we'd have to reschedule.

[ the comment gets just the corner of xie lian's mouth lifting, a huff of a humorless laugh out of his mouth. reschedule... ]

If anything, things have just become more urgent. [ but he's all business, too. the polite airs of a young master never quite disappeared, but xie lian's got a note burning a hole in his pocket that says time is of the essence. ] I know you care about Montevallo as much as I do, enemies or otherwise. I'm glad you reached out to me: I wanted to do the same.

This has to stop. [ the kidnappings, the rising tensions... ] I'd never condone the actions of the members of Xian Le who have defected, and I want the chance to bring them to justice personally.

Personally, huh-- you'd rather get your hands on them before the law does?

[a little shrug of his shoulders, there.]

I won't pretend I wouldn't like the chance to nab them, either... they might be causing trouble on your side, but I'm sure you know they've been dragging my people into that, too. [his eyes narrow at the thought, just slightly.] Ones that shouldn't be a part of this-- older members know what they got into. Bringing kids into it, though...

[that's not something he'll forgive. he shakes his head before moving on.]

It's going to get worse on both ends. I know some of my boys have already gotten a little... heated, over the situation.

[ he doesn't deign the first part with an answer, just a hard, serious look. xie lian will not be handing the hobby horse police these criminals this time.

that expression furrows further at the mention of kids, and he looks away, something flashing across his eyes. ] It's a despicable expression of greed and desperation. I have some information on it, but more than I'd like has been destroyed. Each time I close in, they dance out of my reach.

[ a pause, and xie lian nods, ducking his head briefly. ] Mine as well. I know Jiang Cheng spoke with you: I apologize if he went too far.

[ because it wouldn't surprise him, but xie lian doesn't blame him. ] I don't know if I'd call it an alliance, but a temporary truce wouldn't hurt my pride. I want to avoid loss of life and limb any more than necessary.

[his nose wrinkles at the mention of his talk with jiang cheng, but he swallows whatever he might want to say about it. this isn't the time, probably.]

...if it'll put a stop to this mess, then I'm not opposed. I don't want to get any more reports of my people going missing, or worse.

I'll keep them in line in the meantime, though given the circumstances on your end... there's only so long I can restrain people who feel wronged, Xie Lian, without them acting on their own again. I'm doing what I can to avoid a second incident.

[his fingers lace together, there.]

...I don't think I have anything that'll help pin their identities, but I'm willing to share what I do know about what's been going on if you're willing to do the same. If you want both of us to get to the bottom of this, keeping all our information and resources separate isn't going to help.

I agree. [ good. good, at least there's that. it's nothing set in stone, which is better, but a combined force, hopefully as low key as possible. ] I'm willing to cooperate in any way possible.

[ before he does, though, he seems to reflect on the concept of restraint. ] If this goes well, the hope is that restraint won't be necessary. I'm going beyond avoiding. On my end, I'll cut this off at the pass.

[ that steel resilience said, xie lian exhales, and leans back in his chair to recount his information. ] As far as I've been made aware, the people committing the kidnappings are doing so in an attempt to regain the financial glory they had before the mayor passed away. I've thought that the two instances are related, to be honest, but finding proof of it has been difficult. Both instances tie back to a dislike of my family, though the latter, more specifically, has tied to me.

[ his finger taps against the desk, thoughtful. ] The kidnapping drop-offs were occurring in the warehouse district in Xian Le...which, as you're aware, is a trail that's been cleaned up. Initial chatter about this resentment came through that coffeeshop in Middleton, too.

The one where those bodies were, yeah? Pretty lucky that the guy you put there still seems to be alive... if it were someone who hated you behind it, you'd think they would try to hurt you there too. Then again, I heard a couple of the guys who died weren't your biggest fans either.

[he hums thoughtfully, there-- seems to him like they didn't care enough to target the guy though. oversight, or just not part of the message?]

I know one of ours managed to escape, but we haven't been able to locate her and we don't know if it's because they found her again or not... past that, I've had reports of some of your boys bragging about us taking losses in this kidnapping business. 'Putting us in our place'.

[and at that mention his fingers tense, reflexively; his hands don't form into fists, but it's a very near thing. the thought of it still riles him a little even now.]

If you think the whole incident has ties to the mayor, I'd sure like to find proof of it too. Seems some of your boys are also keen to pin that on us.

[ ugh. the thought makes xie lian's stomach churn too. "taking losses in the kidnapping business"... how completely un-xian-le-like. ] I'll distribute a description of the person who escaped to my bodyguards. With our forces combined, hopefully we can find them before something worse happens. [ and to a few other select parties, but only the kind of people xie lian really, truly trusts. ]

[ he doesn't seem to have much to say about the mayor, though. there's so much inconclusive evidence: the papers found on the east side about the death of the mayor were inconclusive, even if they involved his mother, too. which... ] I'm sure whatever coup is being planned has been around for a while. I found evidence of accusations even to my mother about 'hush money', from someone calling themselves "big brother" and "little brother". You wouldn't have heard anything about that, have you?

[ it's not accusatory--he's pretty sure the mori aren't actually involved, at least to chuuya's knowledge? who knows. ]

I heard about it, yeah-- I was told you were being given the same report, when somebody brought it to me.

[a slight shake of his head follows, though.]

We haven't turned up any potential identities, though, or what exactly it was referring to, so... it sounds like we're on the same page there. In general, maybe, not that that helps either of us much.

[info-wise, anyway. if their end goals match up, then that's fine, but he's not sure they'll learn much if they're working off roughly the same information.]

[ sigh... xie lian doesn't quite rub his temples, but his eyes close briefly. this has been a frustrating game of chess, for osmeone who would much rather just flip over the board. ]

No, it doesn't. [ for the most part, this talk has been rather cooperative. but, something sticks in the back of his mind... xie lian taps his fingers against his paper again, thoughtful. ] The financial problems we've faced are no excuse for this sort of behavior, but.... the retaliation has worried me as well. The longer this goes on, the worse actions underneath us will become. [ and his own are already pretty bad. he doesn't need to say that, though.

xie lian's eyes flick up, all serious, watching the other family leader carefully. ] Did you order the purchase of those gatling guns?

Considering the current climate, I don't think either of us could really be blamed for ensuring we're protected.

[he shrugs slightly, there, resting an elbow on the table and propping himself on it.]

I didn't authorize anything that happened with them, just like I'd expect you would say you didn't authorize the theft of any.

[because he knows both sides evidently had them, according to all of the reports he received on the incident.]

[ xie lian shakes his head. that's a no. his smile is small. his number one priority as ever is safety. ] I just wanted to be sure.

[ so that leaves them with the rest of this chaos. ] We've lost our best lead with the burning of the warehouse district, and the remaining witnesses I know of are incapacitated.

[ ....you know, tongueless. gross. ] What else do you know?

Not a hell of a lot that'd help. Whoever's behind this, they're good at covering their tracks... seems like they're used to this kind of thing.

[it's the kind of work he'd expect from someone with a criminal career, but-- it's frustrating to find they're this elusive.]

Arrest records in this town would be useless.

[ looks at the Baby Police...in reality they're the actual police here... ] It must be someone very familiar with the town, too, with a lot of experience, with access to the inner workings of the family. I'm not particularly forthcoming with information.

[ but maybe someone else is. after all, there are things no one tells xie lian. that's part of the problem. ]

Access to the inner workings of the family-? You feel like they've got someone on the inside leaking information, then?

[that's something troubling, and his brow knits. no wonder nobody's turned up much, if that's the case... having access to either family would give them some advantages, as opposed to someone completely separate.]

[INBOX] fractura.

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