↷ palace

@兵∙max wen ᵃ Wen Fan could smell in the air, not literally, that things weren't going the way he wanted them to. His spine tingled with tension, forcing him to stand up straighter. The alpha had his guard up, he didn't mirror any of Wen Fan's actions and it made him a little nervous. His own smile stretched into a shadow of a smirk as the alpha finally, finally gave the tiniest of reactions. Ah. He was very direct, wasn't he. Two people completely inept at social pleasantries, the alpha and Yuliang suited each other in that regard. He sneered at the thought. Wen Fan hoped Yuliang would never be happy with his assigned mate. Okay, actually, that wasn't true- not completely. Wen Fan took his time before responding, eyes flashing in amusement as he sipped on his drink. He set the glass down and his lips. "To be frank, just being here makes my skin crawl.", he said matter-of-factly. "I'm hoping to make it crawl... less", he chuckled, "by engaging in conversation." Wen Fan smiled at the other.

@医∙wen fan ᵒ [H] Max was a lot of things, but an alpha easily baited by words he was not. He didn't smile back at the omega, not a man who was generous with such expressions, and tapped one finger absently on the side of his glass, pad of his finger quiet against the smooth surface. "I'm sure that Yuliang has his reasons," he responded dismissively, not one to rise to the worm on the hook. He knew that Wen Fan was fishing for something, he just didn't know what.

That was...

Not entirely true, but not entirely false either. The tiniest curve of Max's lips was secretive and an edge bitter, thinking of the few tense interactions he had had with his fiancé. In some of them, there had been no one forcing the two of them to interact, but perhaps that made the reality of the tension worse. Whatever the case, Max wasn't there to give Fan what he wanted.

"Let me ask you something, Wen Fan. What exactly are you fishing for here?"

@兵∙max wen ᵃ Wen Fan suppressed a fidget, caught by surprise when the alpha didn't immediately take the bait. He was a wary, private one too it seemed. Well, at least he hadn't been ignored. Wen Fan forced the corners of his lips up into a smile. Was he being tested? Maybe. Wen Fan smiled again, softly, more genuinely and let his gaze dart to the ground before jumping back up to the other's face. "You being left behind her says a lot.", he chuckled and picked up the drink he had not been able to comfortably enjoy, taking a sip himself. His eyes wrinkled into half-smiles behind the glass rim. "I bet he completely ignores you, unless someone", Wen Fan glanced at Ruohan's empty seat, "makes him."

@医∙wen fan ᵒ @二首∙wen yuliang ᵒ The last time Max Wen had been in the palace, it had been with his parents. That dinner had been quite an affair. That was the dinner where Max and his now-fiance, Wen Yuliang, had been engaged. It had been an awkward affair for Max—and so had their meetings after that. Yuliang was someone that Max had known briefly in their school years, who had later become a coworker. And then Max found himself engaged to him, in an altogether unsurprising twist of fate. His parents had always planned to arrange him a marriage with someone. Yuliang was the name he didn't expect.

This time, his parents weren't with him. Max entered the palace alone, the weight of expectations on his shoulders—his own weighed the heaviest. The alpha wanted nothing more than to build some kind of understanding between himself and his fiance, rather than the awkward tension that was present whenever they were together. The ball had been one such instance of tension, unpleasant and thick enough to cut with a knife.

Max spent the duration of the dinner at Yuliang's side, sitting together as was expected of them. There was some of that awkward tension surrounding them again, though Max tried to drive it away with bouts of conversation that ended back at square one, which was silence.

Ruohan was the first to retire from the gathering, and then Yuliang followed. With both the pack leader and his fiancé gone, Max spoke to no one, staring at his glass in thoughtful silence. He stood a distance from the table, alone, mulling things over in his head.

But as quickly as he was alone, he was alone no longer.

Wen Fan was an omega Max recognized easily; his attire and long, sleek black hair made him a countenance that was easy to pick out of a crowd. He was not, however, someone who Max was expecting to approach him, gathering or no gathering. They were less than acquaintances, perhaps not even more than strangers.

But Max was not rude, and so when the omega stopped before him the alpha stopped staring into his glass as though it contained the answers of the universe and instead looked at Wen Fan, one eyebrow quirked in silent question. What, exactly, was it that brought the fragile omega to him?

Ah.

So it was Yuliang.

Max could scarcely note that as a surprise.

Yuliang scarcely seemed to be an omega who had /friends/, but Max didn't voice that. Instead, he let the corner of his lips twitch in a secretive smile, restraining a blunt confession of the tension that existed between himself and his fiance. He sipped at his drink quietly, and shrugged.

"Since you know him so well, what would you think it's like?"

@兵∙max wen ᵃ @二首∙wen yuliang ᵒ Coming to the palace was suffocating experience for Wen Fan. The liberties he allowed himself at the university could get him killed here. There was no freedom for him here, no matter how much how much pain he caused with his healing. He had been summoned to the second in command. Wen Fan wore his usual elaborate gowns, layers of light red and black gauze falling down his frame in soft waves. His appearance was the only defence he could afford himself in these walls. The robes, his long flowing hair bound and decorated with elegant pins were his shield. It made him feel less... under the judging, dismissive looks his presence at the palace garnered. What had that mud-blood said? That he was clinging to his rank at a thread? He was and that reality hit him hardest most of all at the palace. With each step he felt threatened. By the pack leader, by the guards, the scholars, everyone who no doubt saw him as a nuisance. A half-blood? An omega? At the palace? Wen Fan kept his eyes down. Even as he treated Wen Yuliang, the one person he had ever considered a friend, he stayed silent. The sight of him hurt. He wondered, what did Yuliang feel when he saw him? Did he feel anything, after sending him away? The memory of that day made his cold heart clench. He remembered the day he had met the other, encouraged by his opportunistic grandparents. He had been so young then, a teenager but the heart of a child. A child with blood and death on his hands, but a child no less. Naive. Hopeful. When his heat hit him for the first time, it had been Yuliang he had ran to. Yuliang had taught him to fight, tried to at least. Wen Fan had been sure the other had cared for him then. Had that all been a lie? Why did he send him away? Time passed in a daze and before he knew it, he found himself at the family gathering of the pack leader. Wen Fan could barely breathe the whole time. Wen Ruohan was an existence that made him cower. He had been presented with food and drink but had not been able to bring himself to try any beyond what was polite. He didn't exist in that gathering and then... the pack leader retired. Wen Yuliang had gone somewhere, saying he was soon to return, and Wen Fan was left with Wen Max- his former... friends? fiancé. He wet his lips with a glass of plain water, a dangerous idea entering his mind. He wanted to hurt Yuliang. Somehow. In a different way than just letting the second in command feel the pain that came with Wen Fan's extraordinarily fast and effective healing. His gaze rose to meet the unfamiliar alphas. "I..." He paused. His heart raced, the familiar tingle of adrenaline that preceded all his shenanigans flowing through his veins. "What is it like? Being engaged to Wen Yuliang?" He could imagine. Wen Yuliang was... distant. It was his defence. Everyone had something. Every omega, at least. He continued. "I spent many years at his side." He smiled. "Does he open himself to you?"

@守护∙wen mew ᵃ Wen Fan was relieved to see that the protector was treating his existence like air and the moment the man stepped past him Wen Fan turned to walk away, a smile on his lips. His thoughts had already began to drift elsewhere when a hand latched onto his wrist. His heart jumped into his throat, red eyes avoiding the alpha's piercing gaze. What was happening? Not knowing what was happening gave Wen Fan room for expectation and hope. Was the protector interested in omegas as of late? Was he deciding to take a luna? Hm. Wen Fan knew he was getting ahead of himself and forced his thoughts to not completely derail. He would wait and see, and find out what this was about. He raised his gaze, his red eyes meeting the alpha's purple ones. "My Name is Wen Fan. I am a healer and have been called to the palace to treat a Strong One." He let words slip from his tongue delicately, carefully, his tone soft but reserved. Wen Fan stared at the man, watching him observantly. 'Why exactly do you want to know, hm?', the omega mused in his mind and forced the corners of his lips to stay down.

@医∙wen fan ᵒ With no classes left, Mew decided to take on his protector duty of the day, leaving the campus ground and travelled back to Qinshan city. 2 hours journey from the campus to the city seems so dull without his lover accompanied him but there was nothing he could do since Gulf still have some classes left. Without wasting anytime, the protector checked around the city as soon as he arrived. Some citizen greeted him in respect but omegas still keep their distance away in fear. Rumour about his hatred for an omega spreads faster with no one able to confirmed or denied. In that case, the alpha stay silent and accepting the way they treated him. Once done with protector's duty, Mew reported it to the head palace guard before able to go back to where he belongs.

Put on his straight and resting face mode on, some whispers and fingers pointed to him as he made his way back to the enterance. Passing through hallway, dark brown orbs caught a figure he has never seen around here. 'Must be an omega.' it's not hard to know his second gender the moment anyone saw him. Pale skin, feminime features with light make up and feminime attire no alpha or beta would like to wear. Mew didn't give a damn about that unknown omega, not until he passed him and inhaled a certain familiar scent. Like a broken movie, his painful memories of when his mother invited her friends to him replayed right in front of his eyes. The moment a crazy beta all over his body, an exact scent hit his nostril along with a soft voice called 'father' heard several times. Turning away in a speed of a light, the alpha unconsciously held onto her wrist, stopping him for walk any further.

"Who are you?" This time, his dark brown orbs changed into a purple one as his dark side recognized and curious of the omega.

@守护∙wen mew ᵃ Wen Fan had been looking for an excuse to enter the palace for weeks, following an unpleasant encounter with a warrior of the Wen pack. He had been collecting herbs in the forest when a beta warrior approached him boisterously. Apparently the man had been stalking him for a while, waiting for Wen Fan to notice him. The end result of this whole encounter was that Wen Fan was made to kneel before him and follow the warrior around for several hours like a common lackey. Naturally, this was not going to go unpunished. Wen Fan gathered information on the beta and his close friend. After weeks of gradually poisoning the beta's close friends finally, finally, his efforts had paid off and he was summoned to the palace to heal the man. Wen Fan's plan was simple. He would heal the friend and slip a little something to the beta that would make his heart stop in a week's time. He had everything prepared in his medicine box.

Bright red robes flowing almost to the floor, pitch black hair and deathly pale skin, the setting Sun made him appear drenched in blood. He wore a red veil to mask his features and walked quietly, soundlessly through the halls of the palace. The Palace of Sun and Flames... it made his skin crawl and his blood roar. He raised his chin and stopped for a moment, staring up at the ceiling that in this moment seemed taller than the heavens itself. He imagined the rumbling volcano beneath his feet and suddenly felt oh so insignificant. "..." Wen Fan looked ahead and kept moving, his gaze cold. If he wasn't born an omega, if he wasn't a half-blood, if he wasn't so weak, he would just claim it all. His mood soured at the thought. 'No matter', he thought and grit his teeth. He saw the protector of the clan approach from the opposite direction and smiled to himself, stepping to the side to clear the alpha's path and lowered his head just slightly in reverence. 'I will play the role the fates have assigned me.' The man was still several meters away, but Wen Fan stayed put. He knew better than to pick a fight with the man, he had heard rumours of his attitude towards omegas.