A Wen in Hiding

[drqingmedwoman]

She'd tried to get rid of the beasts herself, but couldn't risk drawing attention to herself. The subtle talismans and wards she'd tried had been noticed already and there were questions already floating around the village. Of course, those weren't the priority yet with the ghosts still plaguing this area. She knows when the ghosts are gone, if anyone here survives, there will be questions she won't be able to answer.

They only knew her as 'Qing' and that she was a doctor. She'd left and started anew several times in the last decade seeking a place she could live in peace, away from the eyes of the main clans. There had been times she'd thought about turning herself in just so her grief could finally end and the constant fear of being discovered over. However, she couldn't let her brother's sacrifice go to waste like that. She owed it to him and so much more.

Wen Qing mentally shakes herself out of her thoughts and puts another stalk of lavender in the basket next to her. There were a few townsfolk sitting nearby gossiping on this sunny hillside, but they'd long since gotten used to leaving the quiet doctor alone.

She sensed them before she saw him. It was a skilled she'd honed since being on the run. Looking up, her heart leaps into her throat as she recognizes a man in white. Well, not him specifically, but there's no missing what clan he's from based on the ribbon around his head. Drawing the hood of her cloak up over her head, she tries to look as unimportant as possible. She's just a woman in a dusty, gray wool robe picking herbs near the town well. No one worth noticing.

Comments

[drqingmedwoman]

Her frown deepens as she listens to him. As promising as the words are, there's a part of her that's afraid of all this news. What did it mean that her brother and Wei Wuxian were alive? She knows her heart has never left them, but it's been so dangerous and she knows she's been pursued a number of times by people who got suspicious of her. The threat against her wasn't gone just because they were back. Wouldn't the Jins require the blood debt be paid regardless of the time it's been?

"Wei Wuxian has been taking care of him? And you?" She asks. That's the important thing. If she can know for sure all the men in her life that need it are being taken care of, she didn't need to be emerge in the world. She could continue living as a ghost, eluding all those who wish to kill her or remind her of the rest of her family who she witnessed died.

[notaturnip]

Sizhui understands that the news might be difficult for her to process, that it might take some time - though, of course, he's still very much assuming they can bring her out of hiding, that she can reunite with the others as well. He doesn't realise she still intends to stay in hiding.

"He has," Sizhui nods firmly. Wei-Qianbei hasn't been back all that long, of course, and he knows the years that Wen Ning was a puppet were probably difficult for him - they don't speak about it much, because Sizhui doesn't want to push him - but they are well taken care of now, and that's the important part.

"Has... has anybody been taking care of you?" He asks softly - he knows the answer though, he can tell. It's not that she needs someone, obviously, but he remembers her always doing things for others, she deserves somebody to look after her.

[drqingmedwoman]

She smiles and his answer is all that she needs. "Good."

The next part though is a bit surprising and it wars with her desire to keep her distance- maybe not physically now but whenever her sweet baby A-Yuan has to go back to his life again. "I don't need anyone taking care of me. I'm safer and others are safer while I'm on my own."

Otherwise, she has the gods and their ancestors watching out for her. That's enough.

"Now you should sleep. I am going to step out of the room briefly, but I'll return shortly. I won't break my promise to you." She did, however, need a few minutes to herself.

[notaturnip]

Sizhui doesn't believe that for a moment - especially the part about others being safer. Okay, yes, if he showed up with another Wen in tow that he appeared to be close enough with to seem like family, people were going to start raising their eyebrows, and that is a bit intimidating - but he's always, always been taught to stand up for what's right, and he'd never dream of denying his family just to avoid some unpleasantness.

(Of course, that's exactly what she's talking about, but he doesn't see it that way. Besides, the main problem would be the Jin, and Sizhui isn't so worried about them anymore)

He nods at the instruction - both aware he does actually need to get some more sleep and understanding she might want some time to process all this news.

"Yes, gugu." He says, a soft smile at being able to say it, and settles back down on the bed. Sleep feels like it might come a little easier now, and he hopes he's feeling better when he wakes.

[drqingmedwoman]

Wen Qing goes outside to get some fresh air and try to sort through her feeling. She couldn't believe she had found A-Yuan! It is so dangerous for her to be connected to him now though and that was complicating things. She would forever be grateful to the Lan clan for saving A-Yuan, but she remembers Lan Xichen among the others watching on as she was set to burn. Sure, he looked distressed and unhappy about it, but he kept his mouth shut just like Jiang Cheng and the rest of the self-righteous bastards.

She sighs and goes to buy a few steamed buns for when A-Yuan wakes. She also talks to the innkeeper to make certain the Lan-gongzi isn't disturbed after he'd rescued them. She gets no arguments from him both because of who she is and who Sizhui is.

Whenever Sizhui wakes again, she'll be meditating nearby with fresh herbs in the incense burner for him and food on the table next to his bed.

[notaturnip]

Sizhui stirs, lured awake by the mingled scent of the fresh herbs and the buns - he still feels awful, his throat is sore and he's sweaty and miserable - but he does feel more coherent, and he knows that the buns making him feel hungry is a good sign as well.

His gaze goes to her first, though, as soon as he opens his eyes - a reassurance to himself that she's really real, and that she's still there.

"What time is it?" he asks groggily, wondering how much of the day he's slept away. It's hard to fight those feelings of doing something wrong when he's sick, even though he knows the best thing to do is to look after himself.

[drqingmedwoman]

Wen Qing slowly opens her eyes and looks over to the boy. She's given some of her energy to him while he slept but hopefully not enough for him to notice. Knowing how he used to be, he'd likely feel guilty for it and she didn't want that.

"It's afternoon." She gets up and crosses over to his bed. Briefly, she checks his forehead again and makes a point not to react to what she felt so he wouldn't worry. In truth, she's concerned that he still feels warm.

Picking up a new bowl of water with one hand, she slips her other behind his shoulders. "You need to drink again."

[notaturnip]

He frowns a little at having slept so late, reminding himself again that it can't be helped and that he needs the time to recover.

He has a tiny bit more strength this time, thanks to the energy she gave him (though he doesn't realise it), but he still mostly has to rely on her to help him up so he can drink.

"Thank you," he says, soft and polite and just a little bit ashamed that he needs so much help, but he dutifully sips the water, appreciating how refreshed it makes him feel.

"How long do you think it will be before I can travel?" He asks hesitantly after he's drunk "It's just... I may need to send a letter home if it's going to be a while, so that they don't start to worry..."

[drqingmedwoman]

She frowns unhappily at the question and reasoning, though she understands it. This is even more complications she doesn't need. Whether she likes it or not, if a letter isn't sent the boy's parents were likely to show up. Hell, they might still do that even if he urges them not to.

"It would be the right thing to do," she concludes with a sigh. "I can't predict just yet how long this will take you to recover from." She doesn't say it, but this is already a slower recovery than she'd hoped it would.

"If I get you ink and paper can you write the letter yourself or will you need me to do it?" Could she mask her calligraphy somehow? Sadly there were few in town who knew how to write.

[notaturnip]

"I think I can write," Sizhui says after a moment of thought. He'll at least try, he's not thinking about them recognising her calligraphy, but he is thinking that seeing a letter written by somebody else would make them suspicious and bring them here all the faster.

He just hopes his hand is steady enough for it.

And that he can phrase what's going on in a way that doesn't make them immediately worry anyway...

In the end, when she does bring him the ink and paper he manages to compose something reasonable - he explains that the trip is taking longer than expected and that he will be a few more days in town, but that he will write again in a couple of days with an update. He's deliberately vague about why it's taking longer, and hopes they'll interpret that as the night hunt itself taking the time, since they'll be less likely to come rushing into town if they think he still needs to complete his task so he can graduate. It feels a little too much like subterfuge for his liking, but at least it buys him some time.