❝Hold still.❞ There's no anger in Dan Heng's tone, more of a polite reprimand than anything else as he wraps a fresh bandage around Xie Lian's wrist.
At the first sight of the blood leaking through the original bandage he'd used the nearest space anchor to gather supplies from the Express, returning with clean bandages, disinfectant, and his homemade pain medication, the latter two now sitting by their feet. ❝Would... you like me to acquaint you with Lady Bailu? She's the best doctor on the Luofu.❞ He can't always be around for moments like this.
Tying off the bandage tightly enough to hopefully withstand intense movement without cutting off circulation (he will retie if necessary), teal eyes shift to Xie Lian's face, brows furrowed and mouth pulled thin. They've worn these bandages since he's known them, but he'd thought them merely for fashion or safety during their act until now because of that length of time. This is highly concerning if they've been injured that long.
kindness, xie lian has come to realize, is one of the rarest but most beautiful things in the universe. there have been days, years --- whole centuries, even --- wherein he's yearned to be treated gently, in much the same way that a drowning man longs for a buoy to cling to.
( sometimes, people are kinder when they learn the truth of his nature. sometimes, perhaps paradoxically, they very much aren't. )
dan heng is one of the good ones. xie lian wants to believe --- chooses to believe, in spite of ample evidence to the contrary --- that all people are basically good; how relieving it is to be directly presented with evidence that reinforces his chosen stance ! he sits complaisantly across from dan heng, making not so much as a peep of complaint --- even when discomfort is plainly written on his face as the bandages are removed and the wound redressed, inflamed edges leaking blood anew at the slightest provocation, the lightest touch.
( he heals quickly from wounds evoked by mortal souls and their weapons; those inflicted by divine beings, however, are a far more morbid affair. )
"if dan heng thinks i should meet the doctor, then this one is willing to do so," xie lian finally says, mimicking the formal speech pattern of someone he once knew, a dearly-departed beloved who --- much like dan heng is now --- would have gently tended to these wounds. "so long as it's not burdensome. surely this doctor must be busy ... ."
gingerly, he withdraws his arm, inspecting the bandages on his wrist. the dull, ever-present ache has abated; it feels much better now, and xie lian smiles softly at at the realization.
xie lian swallows thickly at the question, adam's apple heaving beneath the bandages on his neck. no one's asked before, so he'd never really bothered to craft a careful answer that tiptoes around the harshest realities of the situation; faced with the need to do so on the spot, he's quite certain that his expression momentarily betrays his reluctance to address the elephant in the room.
at long last, he begins to speak, his words slow and calculated.
"the universe must feel that i still need to learn some things, and so it's provided me with a ... a teacher of sorts. a being who ... shows me that the kindest words can belie the cruelest hearts."
@starlighttrain / @tellescope
