“Arthur!”
Another call, louder this time by Mel. It startled Arthur out of his stupor and had him moving. First things first, he grabbed his pants and started pulling them on. Calling outwards, he asked her to wait. Once his pants was on, belt cinched, he kicked the bandages and bloody bits under the bed before walking over to the door.
Pulled it open, a little, keeping one foot behind and leaning around it.
"Yes?"
Immediately, her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You're being weird. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It’s just a mess in here, I was training," Arthur said, mostly truthfully. "What do you want?"
"I have the Chin's here."
"So, let Casey know."
"They're here for you." A slight pause, then Mel added. "Both of you."
"Ah, hmm..." he hummed for a moment, looking entirely unhappy about the idea of actually having to step outside. Then again... "Do they have our beast cores?"
"They do."
"Celaka." Arthur sighed, leaned back intending to close the door. "Just give-"
He never finished as Mel, seeing her opportunity, pushed the door open and bumped him, causing Arthur to scramble to get his balance as she squeezed in. And then froze.
"Arthur~!" her voice rose.
"It doesn't look like what you think it looks like?" Arthur tried.
"So you weren't playing surgery on yourself in here in an attempt to make your healing technique advance?" Mel said, spinning to glare at Arthur.
"I... actually, no, I wasn't." He expected more hysterics or anger, not an actual considered and plausible scenario coming out of her mouth. Which, to be fair to Mel, was always going to be her likely reaction if he had thought about it. Prone to hysterics was not something he had ever considered her to be. Then again, anyone prone to hysterics probably hadn't made it off the first floor.
"Then what were you doing?" she said.
"Working on my Yin mana."
Eyes scanned the room, alighted on the kris. She shook her head after a moment, muttering, "I should have guessed," before she fixed him with a disappointed look.
"I was being safe. Only cutting a little. I actually don't need a lot of the enchantment to work things out. It just... had to happen a lot."
"Masochist," she muttered.
That was the other reason he hadn't wanted anyone else involved. Once things like that got around, it was really hard to live down. Or squash. After all, John 'Poo Pants' Lee still hadn't squashed that name, even if it had been because he'd been kicked a little too hard during a bout.
"Look, it had to be done." Making sure the door was closed, Arthur leaned back on it. "I was nearly there too. Until, you know, you interrupted me."
"To making the poison?" now she was intrigued.
"Sort of? I think I can make a version of it, inside me. Problem is, I don't think I want the exact same thing."
"Why not?"
"Because the exact same poison attacks me. I want something that's like it, but doesn't hurt me.," Arthur explained.
"Oh, susah lah."
He sighed, agreeing with her. Troublesome indeed. But... "Anyway. Don't tell anyone. I don't need people learning about this, till I need it. Or figure it out." He raised a hand, before Mel could ask. "And yes, I'll talk to Uswah. But no one else. And none about..."
"You stabbing yourself like you're getting siew yok ready? Okay." Mel turned and waved him away from the door, glancing at the room one last time. "But make sure to clean up. I'll delay them."
It was when she was mostly out, that he remembered to say it. "Terima Kasih, eh."
"Tak paya."
***
Meeting the Chin entourage downstairs reminded Arthur once again how inconvenient using the flats were for a Clan building. Great for storing a bunch of people, but the lobby was the only place he could meet a group of individuals together, not without making friends in ways he wasn't ready for yet.
Especially considering how hard it was to bathe regularly.
One last glance, as he got close to the group, as he debated if he could remove any rooms to make space for a meeting room.
Probably. If he was willing to accept that. Then, it was time to focus on his allies. Or whatever this group was.
“Ms. Chin,” Arthur greeted the older woman standing there. Casey’s aunt, he assumed. She was in her forties maybe, though such things were hard to tell with the Tower messing up ages and aging and stats a little. It didn’t give people immortality, but the more you cultivated, the longer your lifespan. There were even a few formulas that had been created to estimate the lifespan of a Climber, though with only twenty years of data it was very much a series of competing hypotheses and formulas. “Welcome to the Benevolent Durian Clan house.”
“No need to welcome me. I’ve been here before,” the older woman said. “And it’s not Chin. It’s Wen.”
“Ah, my apologies Ms. Wen. Then, you married into the family?” After all, Chinese women generally did not take the last name of their husband’s family, keeping their own family name. Even if they were part of the husband’s family officially, they were – and would always be – a stranger too.
“I did. And then, when he died in the Tower, I was sent to take the place he was supposed to have had;” Ms. Wen said. “The Chin are nothing if not practical. And unforgiving of mistakes.”
A warning? Or just the complaints of an angry woman? He was beginning to understand a little of why she might have grown greedy. Without a fortune or power of her own, she was vulnerable to the whims of those above. Better, then, to take what one could.
“Casey’s been a decent companion so far,” Arthur said, diplomatically. “Can I offer you some tea? Cookies?” Looking around, he spotted Jan and raised an eyebrow, causing the woman to back off.
“About time,” Ms. Wen muttered under her breath even as he gestured for them to take a seat further back. He ignored the various guards and other personnel as he waited for his guest to sit, plopping down beside her as did Casey moments later.
Soon enough, a battered teapot and a handful of mildly smashed cookies graced the tiny tea table before them, Arthur gesturing for the woman to eat. They’d passed the time with basic small talk and enquiries to health, Casey silent and non-committal.
When refreshments had been consumed, only then did Arthur speak, barely even hesitating at the usage of the familiar as he did. “Did Auntie have a reason for visiting me, then?”
“I wanted to see my niece, of course. And meet the boy who had so charmed her.”
“Mmm, I fear it’s the other way.”
"Really? Little Casey seduced you?" An eye raked over the other girl's form critically, a light sneer appearing on her face. "I guess some people like their women thin and without a butt."
"Auntie!" Casey hissed, scandalized.
"It's true, though. All you Chin women have no bums. I know how hard you all work, but sometimes, ou just have to accept genetics for what it is. At least your sister has nice breasts though."
"They're fake!"
"But good ones, no?" Ms. Wen said.
Arthur's head turned from side-to-side, watching the pair speak. For all her initial outrage, it seemed that Casey was on the backfoot dealing with the older lady. And recalling which side the kaya was on in his toast, he spoke up.
"Eh, Casey's got a nice body. Very hourglass and Climber-hot you know?" What used to be a fitness model focused ideal for healthiness and sexiness had transformed, moving towards more practical level of fitness. Rather than staggered bodybuilder physical stereotypes of ideal male or female beauty, Climbers had become the focus. And the natural consequence of never having to eat, a Tower energy induced system and a combination of cultivation and genes had led towards a more practical - if strong - body image type. You were more likely to see barrel chested and legged men beng stared at than the body builder v of before; and with women, a slimmer but stronger climber or gymnasts build had become the default.
None of which helped Casey who glared at Arthur and his helpful addition.
"Auntie Wen. Did you bring Arthur's stones? In a bag perhaps?" the words were sweet and vicious.
A head turned, fingers crooking sideways. A man stepped forward, a literal briefcase offered and opened. Instead were plastic cases, dozens of beast stones sorted.
"As your man requested." Ms. Wen's lips turned up. "I'll want the cases returned, of course." Her eyes roamed over Arthur and then she leaned forward, propping a hand on her chin. "By the Clan Head himself."
"Why me?" he asked, curiously.
"Because I asked you to? Can you not indulge an old woman?" She gestured upstairs. "Not yet, of course. You need to cultivate, gain some strength." Eyes dropped lower. "And stamina."
"AUNTIE!"
"What!?" Ms. Wen said, standing up smoothly. She smoothed her dress down, wiggling a little sensuously in a way that made the men - and a few women - follow her hands and hips as she seated the dress. "You want to climb, you got to have stamina. This floor, it can be exhausting." Then, wickedly, she added. "As can I."
With those words, she slinked out, leaving a rather stunned group behind.
Yao Jing, watching her go, muttered. "What a woman."
And Arthur could only concur.