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Lan SiZhui’s eyes narrowed as a familiar bark came to his ears. There was no mistaking whose dog that was, or that the loud yips sounded more than a little distressed. He turned to Wen Ning. “Draw your sword, A-Ning! Hurry!”
The woods were darkening quickly now that the sun had set, but when they arrived at the clearing where the large dog was barking and nipping at the heels of a giant wood-wraith, SiZhui instantly recognized the robes of the young man who leaned heavily against an old tree trunk. His breath left him in a gasp when he saw splatters of dark red blood marring the gold fabric.
“Jin-gongzi I’m coming!” Wen Ning cried out beside him, lunging in to attack the wraith.
SiZhui raced toward Jin Ling, catching him just as Jin Ling’s legs gave out. There was a flash of relief across the pale face, and then Jin Ling went slack in his arms. “Jin Ling! Jin-gongzi!”
Ahead of them, Wen Ning made quick work of the wraith, slashing through it with his sword. SiZhui watched with grim satisfaction as it disintegrated into ashes. Wen Ning hurried toward him.
“A-Yuan, is he…?”
“He’s unconscious, but the situation isn’t desperate yet. We need to get him to some shelter so I can treat his wounds. His leg seems to be badly hurt.” Jin Ling’s dog, Fairy, bounded toward them now that the immediate danger was over, whining as he circled his injured master.
“I will carry him,” Wen Ning offered. SiZhui shook his head. Knowing Jin Ling and the history between him and Wen Ning, he had a feeling Jin Ling wouldn’t appreciate having to accept even more of Wen Ning’s assistance.
“I can carry him. We’re about the same size, so I should be able to handle it. I need you to be on the look-out for any more danger.”
Wen Ning didn’t argue, and SiZhui shifted to hoist Jin Ling’s body up so Jin Ling’s front was pressed to his back. Jin Ling’s limp arms dropped down to hang over his shoulders. In his unconscious state, he groaned and murmured something unintelligible, then set his head down on SiZhui’s shoulder.
SiZhui smiled, liking the warmth of Jin Ling’s body at his back. Somehow it felt different from the few times he’d carried a Sect brother when they were hurt during a night-hunt. Was it because Jin Ling wasn’t part of his sect?
Eventually they happened upon a cave. “It’ll have to be this one,” SiZhui said, eying it warily. It’s not very big, but it should do for the night. The temperature is dropping and I don’t want to walk much further without tending to his injuries.“
"I see. I’ll stay outside and keep watch. You two stay in there.”
SiZhui hesitated, but Wen Ning waved his hands, smiling deprecatingly. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t feel cold, remember? And if Jin Ling-gongzi wakes and sees me…” He trailed off again, but he didn’t need to finish the sentence for SiZhui to understand. He nodded, returning Wen Ning’s smile.
“Thank you, A-Ning.”
With Wen Ning gone to the entrance of the cave, SiZhui set Jin Ling down onto the floor and gently held him with one arm. With the other, he managed through some effort to remove his outer robes, which he folded up into a bundle and used to cushion Jin Ling’s head. Next, he proceeded with his inspection of Jin Ling’s person.
Jin Ling’s ankle seemed to be broken or at the very least sprained, and there was an unsightly gash on his upper thigh that would become infected if it wasn’t seen to soon. Luckily, HanGuang Jun always insisted SiZhui take several bottles of healing elixirs and ointments with him and he was still well-stocked from the last time he was at Cloud Recesses. The only problem lay in having to divest Jin Ling of his undergarments before he could apply the ointment.
Jin Ling stirred as SiZhui mentally weighed whether this breach of his friend’s personal space was justifiable. His eyes landed on SiZhui and his lashes fluttered in a way SiZhui couldn’t help but find endearing. “Si…Zhui?”
“Yes, it’s me,” SiZhui said, offering him a bright, reassuring smile. “Jin-gongzi, you were injured fighting a wood-wraith. Do you remember?”
A pause as Jin Ling continued to stare at him in some confusion. “Yes. I… I was coming up to Cloud Recesses. To see–” He shut his lips, his eyes widening a fraction.
SiZhui thought he could guess who Jin Ling came to see. “HanGuang Jun has gone down the mountain,” he told Jin Ling, knowing this would make it clear to him that Wei WuiXian had also gone down the mountain. But they will be back. If you need to see them, I still have a signal flare HanGuang Jun gave me. I could–“
"No, don’t bother,” Jin Ling blurted. “That kind of thing, it’s for you to use in dire straits, right? Don’t waste it on me. I don’t even know why I came. I just wanted to…” He didn’t finish his sentence, merely baring his white teeth in a grimace.
“Your wounds. I’m glad you’re awake. They need to be treated. Here.” SiZhui offered Jin Ling the bottle of healing elixir. “This will help restore some of your spiritual energy and speed up the healing process, but I also need to apply this ointment to your wounds, if you’ll allow me to remove your robes and undergarments.”
“M-my robes?” Jin Ling’s eyes grew large. “Can’t we do it with them on? I can do it myself.”
Jin Ling was always so proud and independent, even when they night-hunted together in the past with their other cohorts. SiZhui understood that was just the way the other man was, but he still found it sad that Jin Ling wasn’t able to accept an offer of help without reservation, even from an old friend. “It would be better to take them off. Your clothes are caked with mud, and we need to disinfect the wound before applying the ointment. I don’t want you to lose any function in this leg, if it were to become infected.”
Jin Ling’s face grew even paler than before. “Okay,” he said. Then, biting his lip, he muttered, “I don’t think I can take it off, though. I’m having trouble moving my limbs at all.”
“You will feel better once the elixir has kicked him, but we shouldn’t wait until then. Let me help you, Jin-gongzi.”
Jin Ling nodded silently, and SiZhui set about removing the necessary garments. He couldn’t help the hiss of sympathy that escaped him when he saw the full extent of Jin Ling’s wounds, and had to clench his jaw tight to continue washing the wounds and applying ointment when Jin Ling trembled with pain from even the light touches.
Eventually, it was done. Jin Ling lay with his head pillowed on SiZhui’s robes and dozed, and SiZhui tried his best not to nod off, because he still had to monitor Jin Ling’s fever in case it worsened.
He must have nodded off anyway, because some time in the middle of night he woke to the sound of Jin Ling’s arm scraping agains the cave floor as he tried to sit up. The fire SiZhui had started had dyed down into a tiny ember, and Jin Ling was reaching toward it with his hand outstretched, probably trying to feed it some of his power to keep it going.
“Apologies,” said SiZhui, sending a shot of energy into the fire and watching as it blazed back to life. The air warmed considerably after that.
“Were you cold?” he asked, then almost wanted to bite his tongue. Of course Jin Ling was cold, if he’d woken up to restart the fire. SiZhui wished they were back at Cloud Recesses, where it was warm and clean, and he could set Jin Ling onto a soft, comfortable bed.
“It’s fine,” Jin Ling said, looking anywhere but into SiZhui’s face. “I’m much better now. Thank you.” The thanks was muttered in a soft voice, and even softer still were the words that followed. “Outside of my uncle, one’s ever taken care of me like that before.”
SiZhui felt a peculiar warmth steal into his chest that had nothing to do with the now-roaring fire between them. He liked this side of Jin Ling the most. The boy, once he was stripped of his usual prickly pride, was endearingly grateful when anyone wanted to be kind to him.
“I was glad to do it,” SiZhui admitted.
“I bet you’re not glad to be here in a cold, uncomfortable cave, babysitting me. You could be up the mountain and at Cloud Recesses by now.”
“I could,” SiZhui agreed. He smiled and let himself hold Jin Ling’s shy gaze when Jin Ling finally turned it upward. “But then I wouldn’t have been there to help you with the ointment. And I’d like you to have all your limbs intact.”
To his surprise, Jin Ling’s face went red, and he dropped his gaze again. Swallowing, he glanced down at the bundle of white robes that lay on the ground beside him. He reached out as if to touch it, but stilled his arm before it went all the way. “Aren’t you cold? Even with the fire, it’s not exactly warm in here.”
“We’re too close to the mountains and it’s too late in the year for warmth,” SiZhui agreed. “But it doesn’t bother me. I’m used to the climate.”
“Thank you,” Jin Ling repeated. “Your robes are all dirty now, too.”
“I can wash them when we get to Cloud Recesses. We should be able to make it there before dark tomorrow. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay for a week or two to recuperate.”
“I don’t want to impose,” mumbled Jin Ling.
“You wouldn’t. I’m sure JingYi would be delighted to see you again.”
This made Jin Ling scowl. “I’m sure JingYi doesn’t like me enough for that.”
SiZhui remembered the boat journey to Lotus Pier and how contentious relations were with Jin Ling and the rest of them. But he thought JingYi would get over that. He had already gotten over it, after all. “It isn’t as bad as you think.”
Silence stretched between them for a few minutes, and then Jin Ling cleared his throat. His fingers played over the rocky indentations on the cave floor. “Do you still like me? After all of that?”
SiZhui smiled, loving how Jin Ling’s voice was soft and vulnerable. So hopeful. It seemed he cared more than SiZhui thought he had. SiZhui found himself caring right back. “I still like you, Jin-gongzi. Very much so.”
Jin Ling’s eyes snapped up. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
“SiZhui…”
“Yes?”
Jin Ling licked his lips. “You can call me Jin Ling. No need to bother with that gongzi stuff. Or even just…”
When Jin Ling didn’t continue after several moments, SiZhui ventured to finish for him. “What if I wanted to call you A-Ling? Or A-Lan?”
“Th-that’s fine. Whatever is fine. I’m not concerned with titles. We’re friends, aren’t we?” Jin Ling seemed almost irritated to have to say the sentence, but SiZhui couldn’t help beaming anyway.
“I would gladly call you A-Ling. But will you call me A-Zhui? No one else calls me that, but I think…” And here, SiZhui found himself having to gather up a tiny bit of courage. “… I think I’d like you to.”
Jin Ling’s face turned even redder, but SiZhui noticed that his lips were tugged up into a small smile, as though against his will. “All right. A-Zhui.”
For a moment, SiZhui wondered if this light, soaring feeling in his chest was what Wei WuXian felt whenever HanGuang Jun gave him one of those rare smiles.
He thought maybe it was.