time-travelling xichen is king of the babies
Next Post »
+ Show First Post
Total: 834
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

"No. But we will travel further from here tonight; you will be safe."

Permalink

He weighs Meng Shi's possible discomfort roughing it against his mother's probable discomfort staying at an inn around people, and then considered the listening-for-rumors part of the plan. 

"We should be able to reach a small intermediate town tonight," he offered. "We could find an inn to sleep at and listen for possible rumors of Cangse-sanren's whereabouts." 

Permalink

!!! He's never slept in an INN before, wow.

Permalink

That's fine with her. Are they... all going to fly on this one sword?

Permalink

That's the plan. It will be crowded, but with each of them holding a baby it won't be too crowded.

(She's not thrilled about the inn plan, but she doesn't actually think it's dangerous. What's more of a risk at this point is probably her own exhaustion; she hasn't slept in over a day, and she has already collapsed twice. But she knows how far she can push herself; she ever went three days straight without sleep, as a rogue cultivator.)

Permalink

Having another sword for people to fly on is admittedly one of the reasons finding Cangse Sanren is next. 

He gently nudges his mommy though paying for room at the inn when she seems close to freezing up. 

Permalink

She is conveniently too distracted by being SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE to be appropriately ashamed of requiring supportive nudging from a five* year old.

Everything feels too loud and too close and she isn't used to filtering this much sensory information for potential threats; her head pounds. In the Cloud Recesses it was always quiet, unless she decided to scream, and the threats to her or her children only ever came in through one easily monitored door. 

A-Huan is very sweet. She pays for their room and an attendant takes them there. (She doesn't actually want to kill the attendant at all, but it really feels like she probably should, she should kill him and grab A-Huan and run before the door closes and they're trapped again --)

The attendant leaves them. Lihua passes a sleeping A-Zhan off to his brother and immediately sets about dragging furniture in front of the door.

Permalink

Uh.

"My lady, do you... think it's very likely that we're being followed?"

Permalink

Lihua is too focused on pushing this STUPID FUCKING WARDROBE that should be MUCH EASIER TO MOVE THAN THIS to notice that she's being addressed.

Permalink

"She was trapped inside for six years. She's not used to dealing with lots of people." 

Permalink

 

"I see." How very, very sad. "Can this one help in any way?"

Permalink

"Probably. But I'm not sure how." 

Permalink

She finishes shoving the wardrobe into place, her arms aching, and stumbles back away from it with her head spinning.

Permalink

Meng Shi haphazardly catches her before she can faint to the ground -- and then panics, and nearly drops her, because she's grabbing a cultivator -- doesn't drop her -- 

"My lady! Oh, we are so inconsiderate leaving you to move the furniture when you have already flown us this whole way -- apologies. My lady must be exhausted. May I help you to a bed?"

Permalink

"Mm," she says, closing her eyes and trying very hard not to faint. "Yes -- A-Huan, A-Zhan --"

Permalink

"Right here, Mommy," he says, holding out his baby brother. 

Permalink

She takes him, and allows Meng Shi to guide her bed-wards. Even deep in sleep, A-Zhan fastens himself to her shoulder like a limpet. She loves him. She loves him, no one is ever going to take her sons away from her again.

The bed is soft. Lihua hadn't been sure she would be capable of sleep, as on-edge as she felt, but already her eyelids feel weighted down. "Thank you, Meng-guniang," she mumbles. "A-Huan, baobei, 's everything alright? Do you... there's water in the bag, you should have some..."

Permalink

"Everything's alright, Mommy," he says, and pets her hair. 

Permalink

"Mmmm."

She sleeps like being pulled under water.

Permalink

Meng Shi turns away to tuck A-Yao into the other bed and give the family some privacy.

Permalink

 

"Thank you for believing me," he says, after a little while, when A-Yao seems to be asleep. 

Permalink

Small smile. "Perhaps I was too quick to," she says softly. "But you are quite a convincing young master, and you were offering to get us out... it all moved very fast. I don't believe I even know your names yet."

Permalink

"My name is Lan...Huan. I don't have my courtesy name yet in this timeline, but it's going to be Xichen." He shifts, and looks at A-Yao. "...In the future, your son was a very dear friend to me," he says softly. 

Permalink

Her eyes soften. "Oh? I'm glad he is meant to have dear friends. Did you practice cultivation together?"

Permalink

He nods, an odd faraway look coming into his eye. "I taught him a great deal about musical cultivation. He was an apt pupil." 

Total: 834
Posts Per Page: