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The great army of Wu laid in wait for its prey, hidden among thin foliage. Ling Tong had absolutely nothing on his mind as he kneeled down low to the ground. Only a will to survive and defend remained in his head, his senses keen and body ready to take off at any second.
But he flinched as he heard a coarse whisper from his side - “ Psst, hey! ” And he quickly whipped his head to the side, staring down Gan Ning.
“ What do you want?! ” Ling Tong snapped, irritated at his sudden shock. “ Don’t you understand what we’re doing here? You need to be quiet! ”
“ I know, I know! I just need to tell you something! ”
“ ..Fine.. What is it? ”
Gan Ning stifled laughter, covering his mouth to suppress any noise. “ Your waist looks really snatched in those clothes! ”
“ …What? What does that— “
Gan Ning shot up and out of the hiding place, his flail jumping after him, leaving Ling Tong behind in his dust. The sound of bells followed him, and Ling Tong just stared. But after a few moments, he leapt up to go after him.
Seriously.. He must’ve just said that to throw me off! He thought, scowling and pushing past enemy soldiers to catch up with Gan Ning. He batted some soldiers in his path away with his nunchucks, ignoring them as they gave chase. When he reached Gan Ning, who was busy fending off enemies of his own, Ling Tong picked off a few so that Gan Ning would have an easier time.
“…Making me come all this way to find you.. What does that even mean?!” Ling Tong demanded. He exchanged blows with a soldier before kicking them away, tilting his head slightly to look over at Gan Ning. “Speaking nonsense to me to throw me off.. Come on!”
“You want to know what it means? It means you—“ Gan Ning stopped talking and turned on his heel suddenly, dashing off in the direction of some commotion.
“Hey! Don’t you use that as an excuse to not tell me!” Ling Tong yelled. As he tried to follow after Gan Ning, he realized he had to clean up the mess he’d made. The enemy soldiers grouped around Ling Tong, as he was alone, and he sighed.
After the successful ambush, the soldiers of Wu retired to their camp. Ling Tong hardly made any effort to look around for Gan Ning, but as he was nowhere to be found, he gave up. That whole snatched waist debacle would be for tomorrow, Ling Tong figured, laying back in some grass to enjoy the setting sun. He closed his eyes, leisurely crossing his legs and using his arms to cushion his head.
Ugh..
He couldn’t let it go. He sat up quickly, propping himself up with his arms, uncrossing his legs, and opening his eyes again. An unamused look crossed his face.
That Gan Ning got into my head again.
Ling Tong sighed deeply, annoyed that Gan Ning was recently dominating him in the little game between them. He got up, flicking an insect and grass off of his robes, and went on to look for the smartest man he knew - surely Lu Meng could tell him the meaning of Gan Ning’s words.
Ling Tong found Lu Meng sipping away at a drink by a fire. Lu Meng looked up at him as he approached, studying his face.
“Ling Tong. Would you like a drink?” He asked, setting his cup down beside himself. “You look upset.”
“No, thanks, I’m good,” Ling Tong settled down next to the other man. “I just need some help with something..”
“Alright. What is it?”
“That Gan Ning.. He said something to me, and I don’t know what in the world it means.”
“Are you two still arguing? I thought I saw you doing well enough together in battle.”
“Nah. I mean, we aren’t arguing much.” Ling Tong shrugged. “I don’t know if what he said to me was an insult though..”
“Well? Go on.”
“He said my waist looks ‘snatched’ in my clothing..” Ling Tong looked down to inspect his own figure. “..Whatever that’s supposed to mean. I thought I’d ask you.”
“…Hm.” Lu Meng looked thoughtful, shifting his position. “I don’t know what that could mean. I’ve heard it said, but I’ve never cared to learn about it further. Perhaps you’re better off asking Huang Gai or Zhou Tai about this? They may be more familiar with slang than I am.”
Ling Tong frowned with disappointment, but nodded. “Alright, thanks anyway.. Maybe Gan Ning’s right in calling you ‘old man.’”
“If not knowing these phrases makes me old, would you not be old too?” Lu Meng protested, his voice raising slightly.
“Nah, I’m not as old as you.” Ling Tong said casually, getting up and turning to leave. He considered going and seeking Huang Gai then and there, but instead decided to go and rest for the day.
In the morning, Ling Tong gathered the belongings he’d taken with him and prepared to move. He was rid of the stress that came with Gan Ning’s comment until he saw him in the corner of his eye. Ling Tong turned to look at him, shooting a glare at him; Gan Ning didn’t seem to notice, instead turning away to talk to Lu Meng next to him.
Annoyed that Gan Ning didn’t notice, Ling Tong turned back forward. He saw Huang Gai a bit ahead, and so he picked up his pace to go over to him, remembering that he may have the key to the mystery of Gan Ning’s words. Ling Tong tapped the older man on the shoulder, since he was talking to someone else.
“Hey, whippersnapper!” Huang Gai exclaimed, “Watch out, I nearly trampled you! What do you need?”
“Hey, sorry. I just need some of your veteran advice..”
“Well you’ve come to the right man! What’s up? Need some new techniques? Got an idea for a strategy?”
“No, nothing like that..” Ling Tong sighed. How many times would he have to tell this story? “Long story short, Gan Ning said something odd to me, but nobody seems to know what it means. Lu Meng said it might be some old man slang, so I figured I’d ask you..”
“You really have come to the right man! What’s this thing he said to you?”
“He said I have a ‘snatched waist.’” The words had to crawl themselves out of Ling Tong’s mouth. He was very over it by now.
“Hah, maybe he’s calling you wasteful?!” Huang Gai laughed loudly, but Ling Tong just looked at him weirdly. “But unfortunately, kid, I’ve got no idea what that means! So it’s probably just some pirate slang.”
Ling Tong sighed. “Ugh. Seriously.. Well, thanks. I’ll go ask Zhou Tai then, I guess.” And then he walked off, having given up for the day.
“Kids these days and their slang, am I right, Han Dang?!” Huang Gai turned back to Han Dang, who he’d been speaking to before Ling Tong interrupted. He slapped him on the back as he laughed again.
Han Dang just shrugged, looking down at the ground, frowning hard. “He didn’t even ask me. Maybe I know what that means..”
“Well, do ya?!”
“…No.” He admitted, “But it would’ve been nice if he asked anyway.”
A few hours later, the army was getting back home. Sun Quan, insistent on making sure everyone would get by safely, was on the tail end of the army’s marching line. Of course, a few guards and Zhou Tai kept watch on him. Ling Tong made his way to the back as the kingdom’s walls came into view, knowing that there was little risk of his distraction being lethal.
“Ling Tong? Is something wrong up ahead?” Sun Quan looked down at Ling Tong from atop his horse. “You should stand back, I don’t want to walk over you.”
“Oh, no, my lord, I just came to ask Zhou Tai a question..” Ling Tong said, walking alongside Sun Quan’s guards and horse. “I’ve asked around and nobody knows what a certain phrase means. I’ve been told it might be pirate slang.”
“Oh, alright. I’ll leave you to that, then.”
“Thanks, my lord.” Ling Tong turned to Zhou Tai, who looked as stoic as ever. “Hey.”
“Hello.”
“You were a pirate like that Gan Ning, right?”
“..I was.”
“Right, okay, and so you must know some slang?”
“I do.”
“Oh man, you’re just not talkative at all..” Ling Tong sighed before continuing, “So, can you tell me what a ‘snatched waist’ is?”
“..I don’t know.”
“..Oh, that’s what this is about? You want to know what that means?” Sun Quan piped up, “Sun Ce said things like that all the time.. I think I remember him saying that.”
“Do you, my lord?!” Ling Tong gave him a surprised look, “I didn’t know he said such things..”
“Yeah, he did sometimes. Anyway.. if I remember, that just means, uh..” Sun Quan paused, looking confused. “..You’ve got a small waist. It’s a compliment. Don’t you and Gan Ning frequently argue? So why is he saying things like that to you..?”
Ling Tong went deathly quiet, a scowl growing on his face. “That Gan Ning.. he really was trying to throw me off!” He said, mostly to himself, huffing and stalking back up to the front.
Sun Quan looked down at Zhou Tai, who just stared after Ling Tong. “Those two are odd ones, huh, Zhou Tai?”
Zhou Tai nodded. “..Yes, they are, my lord…”
After getting inside the kingdom and putting away his belongings, Ling Tong immediately went to find Gan Ning. He would either be back in his quarters or out drinking - and, considering that Ling Tong was a bit late due to his seeking of answers from Zhou Tai and Sun Quan, Gan Ning was most likely off drinking. Nonetheless, Ling Tong swung by Gan Ning’s quarters to make sure he really wasn’t there.
As expected, when Ling Tong peeked into Gan Ning’s living space, it was Gan Ning-less. He’d dumped his few items there and immediately ran off, Ling Tong figured, shaking his head at the messy space Gan Ning had made for himself.
That was one area out of the way. Then, Ling Tong realized that Gan Ning could possibly be out training. He didn’t doubt that someone as battle hungry as Gan Ning would instantly be attacking dummies and peers as soon as he got back. Someone like Ling Tong would simply go and relax, sleep the soreness off for a few good hours, but if he knew anything, Gan Ning was not like him.
Well. If Ling Tong wanted to find Gan Ning, he’d have to think like Gan Ning, wouldn’t he?
He sighed for perhaps the fifth time in this entire situation; the mere idea of acting like the ignorant Gan Ning annoyed him. It was between the training grounds and the place that he and Ling Tong always went to when they felt like tolerating each other. And Gan Ning was most definitely out training.
But, against his better judgment, Ling Tong strolled over to the clearing, their special area. And of course, it was empty, much like Gan Ning’s room, except for what was supposed to be there. A bench and crumbs from the last time they’d hung out there, probably getting drunk off their asses. He shrugged, as if to go ‘well, what did I expect,’ and then turned around to get to his next destination.
As he got closer to the training grounds, Ling Tong felt the relief of finally getting closure. But he was also quite annoyed that Gan Ning had sent him on this wild goose chase - not only for answers, but for him, himself. He considered ambushing Gan Ning, or maybe calling him something weird as payback, but his sensibility washed away as he finally found him. Gan Ning was sparring with a private, not noticing Ling Tong watching him until his opponent was on the floor.
“Ugh, I’ve finally found you!” Ling Tong snapped, walking over. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve spent looking for you?!”
Gan Ning slung his flail over his shoulder, looking nonchalant. “What? What’s got you so worked up?”
“You! You know what you did.”
“No I don’t! That’s why I’m asking you!”
“Don’t play stupid with me, you filthy pirate!” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “You know what you did!!”
“I really don’t!”
As the two went back and forth, the private got up, looked between them, and scurried off.
“Why don’t you just tell me?!” Gan Ning was shouting, but Ling Tong had started first.
“Because you know!”
“Just tell me!”
“Ugh, fine! Since you don’t remember apparently..” Ling Tong crossed his arms, lowering his tone. “That snatched waist thing.. I figured out what it means.”
“Oh! You’re still worried about that?!”
“Yeah.”
“ I don’t even know what it means!”
“ …What. ”
“Yeah, I heard someone else say it and I thought it’d be funny to say it to you!”
“You..”
“I got you good, didn’t I?!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”