"All right then," Yunlan says with an inclination of his head. "I'll consider the entire territory open."

And he'll have to earn his giveaways from now on. He quirks a smile, and gathers himself back to his feet, scooping up the empty teacup to carry it back to the cluster of dirty dishes left of the sink it had so recently vacated. He may be able to do this, after all; there's a lot of reading to do, but with the ground rules set he's feeling a bit better. Every good improvisation needed a place to start, after all.