You held the weapon in hand, delicately cleaning it and removing every spec of dust that your eyes could spot. Ne Zha had been more than agitated lately, and you, being his loyal retainer, of course did your best to tend to his needs.

But to say the loud banging of the front door closing shut didn’t make you jump would be an understatement—no doubt was it the Third Lotus Prince, seeming to be more angry than he had been.

His footsteps hurried through the halls, and you couldn’t help but pause your movements on the spear.

It was hard not to notice the sharp expression on Ne Zha’s face when he passed by the room you were in. Normally he wasn’t so stern with you, despite such a tough exterior, he had no direct reason to despise you so long as you didn’t do anything inherently wrong.

“Polishing my weapons?” It was spoken much more like a statement than a question. Ne Zha’s footfalls made clicking sounds against the polished white tile, they were slow at first, but gradually picked up speed the closer he got. Once he was in distance, the spear was yanked from your hands, “you’re doing it all wrong! These edges are crooked, you should keep your job to what I assign you to do!” It was tossed into its spot loosely onto the rack as your superior shouted at you.

He said no more, taking a step back.

Even with his knitted brows, he seemed to pause, ever so slightly softening his look with a plain sigh.

“I… apologize for my outburst. I didn’t mean—“ another hesitation, “that— idiot, Sun Wukong, has put me on edge.” The Third Lotus Prince was never was the greatest at easing someone’s mind, but you knew he was trying his best to, you could tell that much.

Ne Zha lifted his fist to his mouth, clearing his throat, “I’ll have someone come tend to the armory, you shouldn’t be taking part in work you don’t have to do, you know. Please, come with me.” He commanded, though it was a lot less aggressive than his previous tone, seems he was trying to ease any remaining worries you might’ve had from his outburst.