Chapter Text
Trips to Caiyi Town are usually uneventful. Usually. And usually Sizhui is not trying to hide from people who look like the monsters from his dreams.
It was a normal trip: some disciples were going to pick up food or to see the goings-on in town. That was until he saw cultivators from a different sect, dressed in yellow and flowers, asking questions down the street. He knew they were people, that most of them were probably his own age, that there’s no way they could be the ones from his nightmares, but his body still reacted as if they were. He drops the basket he was holding and jumps into the closest boat, curling up on the floor and hoping to not be seen.
He hears some yelling over top the usual bustle of the town, but it goes down pretty quickly. Then someone steps in, the boat rocks and stomach curls almost as violently as the fear in his veins. He tries to stifle his whimpers, not wanting to be found, he has to stay hidden, he can’t be seen or else-
“Sizhui?” A safe voice whispers.
He whines pathetically, not relaxing, but not moving away.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” The voice gets closer, shaking the boat more with each step, making him choke as his body threatens to to hurl. “Shit, shit! Um..” There’s a thump by his back and the rocking starts to lessen, his body calming down with it. “Is that better?”
He makes a noise, trying to confirm that he appreciates it, but even that noise sounds weak to his ears. How is he supposed to be a good example when he’s afraid of strangers in yellow and sick on a boat?
“It’s okay, it’s okay, you don’t have to cry.” The familiar voices whispers. Was he crying? It was hard to tell with the sweat pooling down his exposed skin.
“Is something going on over there?” Sizhui stopped breathing. He doesn’t know that voice. What if they’re there to kill him? What if they’re going to take more people from him? Stay still and they won’t see him, stay still and keep quite. It’s like hide and seek. Don’t let them see you-
“Hey, don’t get any closer, you’re making this worse!” The familiar voice turned away from him, not moving away, but directing his anger to keep them away. “You two! One of you go get Hanguang-jun. You, make sure that no one comes closer.”
He thinks he hears them confirm, but the world was becoming harder to process.
“Sizhui, can you hear me? A-Yuan?” The voice sounded worried. “The others are away, can you push out your breath and inhale for me?”
Oh. He forgot that breathing was important.
He tries, but he can’t breathe out. In his panic, his body forgot how to breathe, now causing him to panic more.
A hand settles on his side, but he doesn’t shake it off. The nice voice was the only one close enough to touch him. After a few seconds, it slowly moves to rest just below his ribs. It carefully pushes into his stomach, forcing air to leave his mouth and lungs. “Breathe out.”
It stays like that for a few seconds, then the other moves his hand away, letting him intake more air. “Breath in.”
They continue like this, until the other seems to think that A-Yuan can breath on his own.
He feels bad and tired and, “I want rich gege…”
“Wh- Who is ‘rich gege’?” The voice asks.
“Rich gege is rich gege.” He whines. He knows that good boys should only cry when hurt or lost, but he does hurt and rich gege knows how to make him feel better!
“Okay! Okay, uhh... rich gege is on his way!” The voice says.
“I’m gonna throw up.” He mumbles, curling further into himself.
“Please don’t do that!” The other sounds frantic, then lifts him up, moving and jostling his stomach more.
He whines again, gripping onto the other’s clothes.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re almost off.” The other mutters, taking them off the boat and onto non-shaky land. “How’s that?”
A-Yuan responds by starting to puke.
“This way, this way!” The other sets him down on his knees, keeping an arm around his chest and pushing his body forward with the other. When the sound of splashing water got louder, the hand on his back momentarily moved to move his hair away from his mouth, then going back to rubbing his back. He could feel the tears running down his face this time.
“That’s it, just let it out.” The other encourages.
Once it finally stops, he sniffs. His nose is stuffy and his throat hurts and his mouth tastes awful. He wants his grandma.
“Do you feel better?”
A-Yuan shakes his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tastes bad.” He mumbles, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. They felt so nice, better than he remembers his clothes being. Softer and smoother than when jiejie cleans them. He finally opens his eyes again, blinking at how bright the white of his sleeve was. It was so pretty! He liked the clouds on his clothes! It looked liked rich-gege’s clothes!
But its all dirty from his snot now.
A-Yuan blinks as a cup is put in front of his face. “Here, drink this.”
He takes the cup with both hands, surprised that it looks so small in his hands. He sniffs it. Well, it doesn’t smell bad. He sips it, then starts drinking it in gulps. It tastes so good! He turns to the other and grins. “Thank you!”
“Ah! It’s no problem, Sizhui!” The other smiles, scratching the back of his head. He doesn’t know who this is, but he feels like he should. “Uh, do you know where you are?”
He looks around, this place was very nice. He hasn’t been somewhere this nice since….. since when? He rubs his head and tries to think, but his memories are fuzzy. “I don’t know.”
“Do you remember who I am?” The other shifts nervously.
A-Yuan looks at him, squinting hard. He was very familiar. Very familiar… “You’re Jingyi.”
The other beams, letting him know he’s right before being dragged into a hug. “You remember me!”
Sizhui laughs, wrapping a hand around the arm in front of him. Enjoying this moment as the last few minutes fade from his memory.
They stay like this until Jingyi bolts up and bows. “Hanguang-jun!”
He looks up to his father and stands up to bow.
Lan Zhan looks worried, looking over Sizhui as the other disciples follows after, though very few could tell the difference in his expression. “What happened?”
“I..” Sizhui thought for a bit, drawing up a blank. What had he been doing before the drink? “I don’t remember.”
“I think I know.” Jingyi says, looking around, then moves closer to whisper to the elder.
“Mm.” His father nods, relaxing slightly. “Let’s go back and take a visit to the healers, Sizhui.”
“Alright.” He agrees, not knowing what happened to cause a visit.
“Um, can I ask a question first? Before you leave?” Jingyi pipes up.
“Sure.”
“Who’s rich-gege?”
Lan Zhan sighs, guiding his son away.
“What did I say wrong?” Jingyi asks the retreating figures.
“You didn’t say anything wrong,” Sizhui could hear Xichen explain as they went up the mountain, “but it’s a bit complicated.”
Jingyi looks between the older men and Sizhui, thinks for a bit, then sighs. "… okay."