ninthfeather | Hong Long Headcanons (Reply)

Happy Birthday @hawk-in-a-tree! I wasn’t sure what to do for your birthday at first, and then I remembered that one conversation we had right after you finished the show, during which we both screamed about poor Hong Long.

As the son of a very traditional family, Hong Long is well-versed in Chinese tea culture and is actually slightly better than Lui Mei at most types of tea preparation. However, she’s also the only family member that ever learned about his secret love for chai lattes–not the good kind, either, the kind one buys at restaurant chains and which have dubious amounts of actual chai in them.

Part of being his sister’s personal assistant/bodyguard is letting her pick his clothing, or at least guide his selections–it’s easiest if he either matches her, or wears something that otherwise blends into the background. If things were otherwise, he’d dress much less formally. His feelings on the whole matter are mixed–sometimes he chafes a bit at the lack of control, but sometimes he can’t help but think he wouldn’t dress near this nicely if he was the one making all the choices.

He’s actually a member of an internet forum where he occasionally vents–in extremely vague terms–about his position. Everyone else on the forum thinks he’s got the worst office job ever.

His initial training as a martial artist happened when he was still the heir of the family. He learned martial arts for philosophy and exhibitions, as part of being a well-rounded person with clear connections to his culture. When Liu Mei became heir, he had to go back to those teachers and ask for additional lessons, this time with an eye to practical self-defense.

He doesn’t voice personal opinions on the job, ever. It’s a standing policy, because there’s a conflict between his place as older sibling (which shouldn’t hold any weight anymore, he thinks, since he was passed over as heir, but–) and his place as his sister’s employee. Anything he says would either carry too much weight, or too little.

He does wonder, sometimes, if he should rein Lui Mei in. Or at least offer some kind of guidance. But he never quite gets up the courage to do it.