[quantal_goldfish]

The ends of the General's sentence tapered off into a tense silence. Suho opted not to answer, instead studying the man as he stood, cocking his head curiously. It wasn't like a General to bother telling incarcerated people things unless they were friends. 

Then again, it wasn't like a General either to show mercy and ask for repayment in the form of a scar across his face.

Suho let the silence stew for a while, contemplating the man before him. Each time they chanced upon each other, Suho's heart was seized by an overwhelming security. The steady thrum of a river pulsed gently in his ears, and he thought of a lake as clean and clear and deep as the reach of Do Kyungsoo's eyes. This was a man he could trust, a man whom he could differentiate easily from the rest of the Emperor's lot huddled up in the palace. That was proven the last time, when General Do chose of his own free will to disobey the Emperor, and when he asked for a punishment that he could never cover up. 

Now, again, when he came back to visit, without a sword, and gave away this precious information without caring what Suho might choose to do with it.

- and then suddenly the dancer's smile cracked and turned friendlier, as though he had been snapped out of a trance. It curled softer around the edges, eyes pushed up into little crescents, and he sat back on his knees, allowing himself to slouch just a little bit. His hands were splayed wide open by his side, pressed into the floor, and a playful giggle bubbled from his throat. It shattered the meniscus of tension holding the room hostage, and Suho sighed in relief as he felt the air began to flow again. 

"They've healed well," he remarked, lifting up an arm and pulling back the sleeve. The cuts have all but disappeared from his skin, the only sign of them ever having been there a small smattering of leftover scabs strewn carelessly about. "It is all due to your mercy and your command over the blade. I must thank you immensely. But about why I haven't been released?" Suho looked back up then, a grin lighting up his countenance. He beckoned the General closer and leaned up towards his ears. "Tell no one... but I spat a seed into the physician's eye." 

At that, he fell away giggling, muffled behind two hands clamped over his mouth, as though to prevent a secret being spilled.