[xiao xingchen has always viewed the world in such a simple way. there are actions that are correct, that contribute to the greater, good. and there are actions that are harmful, that disrupt everything and must be answered for. right and wrong, in essence. he doesn't cling to any of the things that he's been called, but he knows that he's been called a gentle man, a virtuous man. if asked if he was born one, he would say no. it was from his master's teachings that he learned everything.

what if a child doesn't have a master, or has the wrong sort. how long would it take to undo incorrect lessons, if they could be undone at all?

these are not questions he'd ever considered before. but having xue yang in his life, he's being faced with more and more of them.]

You are not a 'thing'. [he can say that much with certainty, even if his voice is soft. after another long moment, xiao xingchen reaches up to take his hand.] You have a reason. But you also must remember that you're someone else's reason. That...however much you're tempted, however easy it would be....

[there's suddenly a lump in xingchen's throat, hard to speak around and hard to swallow around. he spits out the words when he can, more directly than ever before.]

If I lose you, I will be angry and hurt and lost, the same way you were Xue Yang.

[he will damn his reason to his own painful beginning.]