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Shen Wei's staff dorm had a tiny balcony. Spring had come, so he ate dinner there on occasion, watching the university campus and city beyond. He had been born in the vast open plains and was happy with any relief, no matter how minute, from the tininess of his little dorm room.
One day, when he'd spent all day wrangling a funding application into shape, he brought his food out to the rickety table he ate on only to realize he'd left the burner on. He went in to turn it off.
When he came back, his bowl of noodles had all been slurped up. Discreet dark energy probing revealed traces of someone else's Dixing powers.
Shen Wei sighed, washed the bowl and chopsticks, and made himself another portion. He'd see if this repeated tomorrow – but today, he was hungry.
Shen Wei was a scientist, which meant experiments: he would leave out the plate of food, wait, and see if it had been eaten. His thief was omnivorous, caring not if the food was rice or noodles, meat or fish, mushrooms or tofu. Everything would be gobbled up in a matter of minutes. The thief was also shy, and wouldn't appear if Shen Wei was observing with dark energy. (As for the food taken up – well. Shen Wei had always enjoyed feeding other people.)
The thief was not, however, that observant with regards to the physical environment. Shen Wei had rigged up some mirrors with which he could watch the balcony.
What he saw was Ye Zun, gray hair and white robes and all, step onto the balcony. Ye Zun then lifted the bowl, inhaled the noodles all in one breath, burped, set the bowl back down again, and portaled out.
Shen Wei completed his part of the ritual by bringing the bowl indoors. As he ate his own noodles, he sank deep into thought.
The next day, Shen Wei opened the balcony door and said, "Your food is indoors, didi."
He retreated inside and paced. He was sure Ye Zun must be observing the balcony, but-
Ye Zun was at the door. "My food."
"I made it for you," Shen Wei said. "Please. Sit."
"After everything, you would still feed me?" Ye Zun asked, hissing, but he was walking in and eyeing the bowls of noodles.
"You know I'm a forgiver."
Ye Zun stared at him and sneered. "But it is not I who need to be forgiven."
Shen Wei was alone in this world, and all he wanted was his brother to stop hating him, stop trying to destroy the world, stop tearing apart all that was right and proper. "How many meals do I need to cook?" he asked, feeling all the ten thousand years since his birth in his bones.
Ye Zun was silent for a long time. "All of them," he finally declared, and sat down to eat his bowl of noodles.
Shen Wei sat opposite to him. They ate in silence, neither of them willing to disturb the fraught peace.
When both of them were finished, Ye Zun said, "Perhaps I can consider moving past your prior misdeeds if you continue feeding me."
"I'll continue feeding you as long as you tolerate it," Shen Wei said. He took the empty bowls to the sink. A firm believer in preparing for every eventuality, he still had food in the refrigerator, so he asked, "Would you like some baozi? I have some that only need reheating."
"Yes," Ye Zun declared, attempting imperious but coming across as happy instead.
Shen Wei smiled in secret. He'd missed his brother – not like he'd missed Kunlun, but missed him nonetheless. If they could reforge the brotherly bond cut by the rebel leader with Ye Zun eating Shen Wei's cooking ... Shen Wei could die a happy man.
He turned on the burner. Not that he planned on dying anytime soon. After all, he still had a beloved brother to feed.