Work Text:
Wei Chengxiang stumbled into their little house in the middle of the night, slamming the door shut behind her loud enough to wake up their elderly neighbour, much less Zhao Qindan.
Zhao Qindan fully intended to give her a piece of her mind; she had an entire speech prepared, one she composed earlier, instead of focusing on her usual tasks, when she realised that Wei Chengxiang did not come home at the usual time. The words got stuck in her throat, however, as she watched her companion shuffle slowly across the room, covered in dust, head lowered with hair hiding her face.
After some deliberation, Zhao Qindan settled on “You’re late.”
“I was delayed,” Wei Chengxiang responded, more curt than usual, her voice oddly nasally. Zhao Qindan followed her silently as she gingerly made her way over to pour herself some water, and sat down next to her. Even the way she held the cup seemed off, her swallow audible and laboured.
Zhao Qindan’s eyes widened as she finally got a decent look at Wei Chengxiang. “Are you hurt?”
In the low light, she could just make out a bruise blooming fresh on Wei Chengxiang’s cheek, blood smeared over the lower half of her face and some still trickling out of her nose.
Wei Chengxiang nonchalantly waved a hand, as if to shoo her away. Ignoring it, Zhao Qindan stubbornly cornered her to pull off her cloak, letting it drop to the ground as soon as she saw the red. Wei Chengxiang hissed, gripping the stained fabric on her bicep with trembling fingers.
“This…” Zhao Qindan started, then bit her lip and shook her head. “I will go see what we have in our stores.” She made sure that Wei Chengxiang’s hand was firmly pressed to the wound, then went off to look for medical supplies.
Wei Chengxiang quietly held her injury as she watched Zhao Qindan pace around, picking up this and that from different corners of the room. Once in a while she would glance back at her, her eyebrow creased in worry.
“How did this happen?” Zhao Qindan asked as she deftly peeled off pieces of torn robe, then wetted the wound with some water to wipe the blood. Wei Chengxiang grunted in pain, but did not otherwise dignify the question with a response. Zhao Qindan could hardly blame her; she soon became focused enough on taking care of the bleeding to stop paying any mind to anything else.
The wound on her arm turned out to be shallow, and looked worse than it actually turned out to be. Zhao Qindan was done with it quickly, and turned her attention to Wei Chengxiang’s other injuries. Her nose was swollen and still bleeding, the bruise on her cheek looked tender and painful.
Fortunately. Zhao Qindan was able to realign her nose with no issue. Wei Chengxiang hissed and turned her face away, hands raising to instinctively clutch at her face, but paused hovering over her nose without touching it. More blood poured out.
Wei Chengxiang suddenly coughed and spit to the side. Zhao Qindan glanced at the red puddle long enough to make sure there were no loose teeth, then averted her eyes. That seemed to amuse Wei Chengxiang.
“Anything wrong?” She grinned, her teeth stained a washed-out bloody pink. Zhao Qindan glanced down out of instinct, unsettled.
“Stop fooling around,” she scolded.
“But Dandan,” Wei Chengxiang said with a loud sniff. “There is so much blood. And it hurts.”
Zhao Qindan chewed on her lip. “You… can you tolerate it?”
“I could,” Wei Chengxiang said meaningfully. “If I had someone to take pity on me.”
Zhao Qindan gave her a flat look.
Wei Chengxiang huffed out a quiet laugh. Before Zhao Qindan could react, she laid a hand on her shoulder and leant in to kiss her.
The nosebleed had yet to dry, and Zhao Qindan tasted iron as she instinctively kissed back. Wei Chengxiang’s blood smeared all over her lips and streaked down her chin, dyeing the skin an oxidised red.
Wei Chengxiang pulled back, the corners of her lips lifting as she assessed her work. Zhao Qindan made defiant eye contact with her as she slowly licked her lips, Wei Chengxiang’s blood melting on her tongue. The taste was sharp, vaguely nauseating, yet she felt a pull to taste more.
Zhao Qindan slowly inched forward and licked a clean stripe on Wei Chengxiang’s chin, gathering up the blood coating it. Wei Chengxiang’s breath hitched, her eyes widening slightly; Zhao Qindan was close enough to catch the motion.
She sat back, swallowing down the blood. Wei Chengxiang’s gaze flicked down to her throat bobbing with the movement.
“You should get it cleaned up,” Zhao Qindan said, voice a little hoarse. “You cannot sleep in this state.”
“I’ve had worse,” Wei Chengxiang said.
“Fine.” Zhao Qindan rolled her eyes. “You cannot sleep with me in this state.”
This wording was much more effective. Wei Chengxiang started fussing around, shrugging off the stained robes. Zhao Qindan helped her along, reluctant to leave her to do it herself.
They laid down under several blankets, Wei Chengxiang curled up close to Zhao Qindan, resting her head on her chest.
“A-Xiang? Are you comfortable?” No response. Wei Chengxiang was already deeply asleep, trying to dig her nose into Zhao Qindan’s chest despite the injury.
Zhao Qindan sighed to herself. If she could fall asleep this quickly, then she was probably fine like this; and anyways, she did not dare to try moving her.
She gently stroked the side of Wei Chengxiang’s face, brushing hair strands away from the bruise. She wanted to know how she ended up like this. She wished she was there to protect her, help her. She wished she bled with her.
Next time.