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Jiaoqiu was awoken by the sensation of someone’s arms wrapped around his neck. While initially startled, he eventually calmed down when he realized that whoever it was wasn’t attempting to strangle him. Plus, Lingsha likely wouldn’t have let anyone she didn’t trust into the room, seeing as he was still in recovery, and he highly doubted that anyone else wanted him dead, well, of the people he knew at least. Hoolay was, as far as he knew, dead, or maybe, even absorbed by Feixiao, so no one else really put up flags of wanting him dead specifically which must mean that whoever’s arms were around his neck was someone he knew.
Though, the fact he couldn’t see who exactly was the culprit didn’t help.
Then, he felt the whoever shift slightly, and his ears twitched slightly. He knew that shifting sound, as ridiculous as that thought sounds, but now having to rely on his other senses did that to a fox. The shifting sound was multi-layered, leaning towards him feeling that the whoever must be wearing multiple layers, and that those specific layers were shifting against each other. Then, something brushed against his leg, or well, the part of the blanket where his leg was, and he recognized the feeling. The whoever’s tail was not as fluffy as his, smaller, and set out at more of an angle than Jiaoqiu’s own tail, which hung in a sort of upside down U-shape. The brushing sensation crawled up his leg until at last it settled beside his own tail.
Lingsha’s heels clicking on the floor as she walked distracted Jiaoqiu from trying to figure out who the whoever was in his still groggy state of mind. He was doing a lot better since the whole Hoolay thing, despite the lack of sight, and he’d had multiple visitors over the various weeks, though Lingsha had been a constant, which made perfect sense. She was his assigned healer, after all. Well, he thought she was at least. Those days when he’d been first put into her care were spotty. He had some memory of the events, which he could visualize in his now constant black abyss.
The vaguest of the memories being of whatever he’d experienced with Hoolay, mere flashes at this point. Maybe that was a good thing, that he didn’t have to experience such an event again. His memories of Feixiao and Moze visiting him were also quite spotty as well, but were coherent. And the memories of Tighnari..?
The imagining of Tighnari’s horrified expression, brought forth by how horrified his voice had been when he had found him in Lingsha’s care was burned into his brain.
Jiaoqiu hadn’t even seen Tighnari’s expression, he couldn’t have had, but he could imagine . And, great IX, upsetting Tighnari in the way he did, completely unintentionally, filled him with an unwarranted guilt he couldn’t shake. Tighnari would never blame him, he’d know it was an accident if anything at all, he knew that, completely, but it didn’t take away the guilt. And the consequence?
He’d never see him again.
Literally
Jiaoqiu was snapped out of his thoughts by whoever’s arms were wrapped around his neck tightening slightly, almost as if giving him a hug. Jiaoqiu smiled to himself, that was probably needed, as he could’ve easily started spiraling. Suddenly, he felt a new sensation, mainly one on his chest that he hadn’t been aware of previously. He had probably been distracted, and in his thoughts, and not realized that something was lying on his chest. His ear twitched and he looked in the direction of the sensation. To the side of him, Lingsha let out a small chuckle. “So you finally noticed,” she commented. Jiaoqiu swiveled his ears to find where her voice was coming from and then turned his head in her direction.
“Notice what?” He asked, dumbly. He could hear Lingsha click over to his bedside and then she moved something to the side of him and Jiaoqiu picked up on a scent coming from where the whoever’s torso probably was. That multi-layered shifting sound was heard again and he looked over at the whoever.
The whoever’s scent smelled vaguely of herbs, and grass that was freshly cut. They smelled like a damp forest after a rainstorm, also with a touch of lavender? Or maybe even Sumeru Rose? There was a slight hint of petrichor as well, which added to the overall damp forest scent. Also intermingled with the scent were herbs from other corners of the cosmos. Jiaoqiu looked at the whoever. The most strong scent was of…
Nilotpala Lotuses?
Jiaoqiu’s ears pricked without him knowing about it, and his tail started wagging involuntarily. His bandaged hand found Tighnari’s hair, after a little bit of a struggle, and then he started furring through it. He turned towards where he could hear Lingsha’s shoes clicking on the floor, and he’s sure she looked at him back. “You let him sleep here?” He asked, glancing back at Tighnari before looking back at Lingsha. “Isn’t that something you mustn’t do? Let the patient’s visitor sleep in their bed. One healer to another, I’d not do that.” Jiaoqiu then imagined Lingsha gazing at him for awhile.
“I just got back, so I didn’t see him here,” she explained, shoes clicking on the floor. “Plus, you were asleep already, so I didn’t want to wake you if I attempted to move him off of you. However, I do believe he must’ve been here along before I arrived. He’s been visiting you a lot these last few days.” Jiaoqiu heard her put something on the shelf, judging by the soft thud the item made. He looked back at Tighnari. He could hear him breathing softly, and he could hear his shifting clothes, and Lingsha’s shoes clicking every so often.
“I guess, he just wants to spend most of his time with me,” Jiaoqiu said, affection leaking into his voice, regarding wherever he thought his boyfriend was with a soft look. “I did give him a scare. I gave everyone a scare.” He ran his hand through Tighnari’s hair, and petted his gigantic ears, earning a subtle tail wag, which had Jiaoqiu’s smile softening. “We underestimated Hoolay’s strength,” he murmured. “The plan was doomed to fail from the start, we just failed to see it then. I… I… took the fall. Now I wish I hadn’t.” He stopped furring through Tighnari’s hair and placed a kiss on Tighnari’s forehead. “I wouldn’t have caused them all that stress. Feixiao deals well under pressure, but the others don’t.” He straightened up, and steeled his expression. “But enough about that sob story.” He looked back at where he thought Tighnari was. “I think he deserves to be a little clingy.” Lingsha didn’t answer but simply walked over.
“Well, I have to move him in order to check your wounds.” Jiaoqiu felt a slight breeze after that and assumed that she’d vigorously lifted her head up to signal to him. “Can you help me? Push him off the bed and I’ll catch him.” Lingsha presumably got into position and Jiaoqiu blinked at her. She then audibly sighed. “I won’t hurt him. Plus, I don’t want to patronize you now that you’ve lost one of your senses.” Jiaoqiu blinked again, as there were probably better ways to word that, but he helped her push Tighnari off, who groaned in response.
“Sorry, but I have to check Jiaoqiu’s wounds, and you’re blocking me on one side of him,” Lingsha added, unhelpfully, in Jiaoqiu’s opinion. Tighnari’s clothes shifted and Jiaoqiu then heard his shoes on the floor. Tighnari then appeared to walk over to a chair in the room and then sat down. Jiaoqiu wondered for a second if Tighnari had heard anything they’d been talking about while he was asleep. Lingsha, on the other hand, starting checking Jiaoqiu, catching him off guard.
“Ow!”
“Sorry,” said Lingsha. Jiaoqiu’s newly naked arm, after having the bandage removed, felt icy as Lingsha presumably checked the wound on the arm. “Hm. It’s scarred over nicely. Though, it’s still quite red… might be an infection.” She moved over onto his other arm and checked it, causing another icy sensation to move through him. “Hm, also quite red… might be an infection or it might not be. Maybe administer an antibiotic just in case. Then Lingsha moved over to his stomach scars, and her fingers felt icy on his skin. “These were the problems, let’s see how they’re doing…” Jiaoqiu then presumed that she looked over at Tighnari, judging by her next question. “You’ll be staring smack bang at your boyfriend’s chest, so if you don’t mind seeing that…”
“Don’t worry, I’ve seen it multiple times,” Tighnari said confidently and Jiaoqiu started laughing his head off. Jiaoqiu couldn’t see Lingsha’s expression but she went quiet almost immediately. He felt her icy fingers unwrap the well-used bandage, well-used in that it had dried blood on it, and then he could sense her eyes on him. She hummed to herself, and Jiaoqiu pricked his ears to see if he could pick up on what she was humming to herself.
“Wow, we actually have success,” the dragon lady almost purred, and Jiaoqiu heard Tighnari let out a curious hum. “It’s finally scarred over, tentatively, don’t be too vigorous with it. However, it does seem like you’re healing from your ordeal.” She straightened, Jiaoqiu assumed as much, and then walked over to the shelves. “Now, I’m going to rebandage you with some antibiotics to see if we can combat those possible infections, and then you just might be ready to leave.”
Jiaoqiu pricked his ears. Already? How long had he been bedridden? Had it already been just over a month? Would he remember how to walk again? He hadn’t walked for at least five weeks, so he’d need help with that at least. He was judging this assumption on some of his own patients that he’d had to deal with, them needing a bit of help after not walking for a while. Would that be the case with him?
Ignoring the most prevalent change of course
Lingsha started with rewrapping the major wound on Jiaoqiu’s stomach, causing him to wince slightly. “Hm, so it still hurts when you touch it. Understandable, seeing as it was the worst.” She then rubbed some cool substance on his stomach wound, probably a poultice, but that, combined with her icy finger tips, made Jiaoqiu shiver. Lingsha didn’t seem to notice though, and continued onto his arms. Jiaoqiu again shivered, leading him to wonder if Vidyadhara are cold blooded, as that would probably explain the icy fingers. Lingsha started wrapping up his left arm, and then did the same as what she did on his stomach. Jiaoqiu then heard Tighnari walk over.
“Maybe let me do his other arm? He seems to be shivering every time you touch him.” Lingsha’s heels clicked over to the shelf, and Tighnari’s shoes followed after her. “I know how to wrap a bandage, Lingsha,” Tighnari stated, sounding a bit offended. Jiaoqiu then heard him walk over to his bed, and Tighnari’s fingers were definitely a lot warmer than Lingsha’s, despite, presumably, being gloved. Tighnari was being quite careful with the bandage and wound as well, as if the scars had the strength of glass. Even when he eventually put on the poultice, his hands were still warm. Gently, he finished wrapping the bandage, and Jiaoqiu could imagine him looking triumphant and Lingsha just giving him a neutral expression. Lingsha’s heels then clicked over to him again.
“Hm. I think he’s ready to leave or take journeys out of my care,” she hummed to herself and Jiaoqiu’s ears pricked. “However, don’t be too strenuous while you’re out there, your scars could still very easily open again if you happen to turn a wrong corner and bump yourself on something, your stomach scars especially. Also, since the stomach scars were as deep as they were, I suggest only having soft foods for the time being. That way, there’s less chance of jerking in a way that could hurt yourself, and less possibility of undoing everything we’ve done up to this point. The infection is also worrying me, so I suggest coming back to me every so often to check up on you.” She then walked over to the bed and helped Jiaoqiu position himself in a way that he could leave the bed, and then stepped back, letting Jiaoqiu do the movement himself.
Jiaoqiu shifted himself carefully off the edge of the bed, and felt with his hand for some sort of support to help push himself up and onto his feet. He found some sort of side table and slowly pushed himself up. He couldn’t really see anything around him, but he still felt tall, though maybe that was because he could feel Tighnari’s breath on his chest. Standing up was all fine and dandy, his legs threw up no complaints, but when he tried to step forward, his legs felt like they were merely sticks holding up a stone brick and he stumbled. He had expected this, being bedridden means you aren’t working your muscles, after all.
Before he could cause any irreversible damage, Tighnari caught him. This earned a chuckle from him. “How about I help you walk until your legs get used to it again? I can also make you a few dishes that can promote muscle growth as well, I have learnt a thing or two from you. I’d probably have to crush them to a pulp for you to actually eat them for the time being, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be too difficult.” Jiaoqiu’s ears pricked and he tossed him a smirk.
“Is that so? Well then I guess I’ll look forward to it,” he hummed. “Some herbs are easier to crush than others, and some would likely have to be put through a blender, to exactly get them to a pulp. Ooh, I wonder if you could put spices in those strength dishes? They wouldn’t add anything to the original dish, but they would make it taste better? Qingxin, though ancient, certainly makes things a bit more pulpy, if you catch my drift.” Jiaoqiu could almost imagine Tighnari’s deadpan expression and he felt Tighnari slap him, softly, with his tail, causing him to laugh and Lingsha to sigh.
“You and your Qingxin. Of all ancient plants, Qingxin. It doesn’t even grow anywhere anymore,” Tighnari sighed, amused.
“You don’t know that,” Jiaoqiu hummed. “It could grow on some planet undiscovered by the Xianzhou. That traveling salesman got them from somewhere, and they were genuine Qingxin. Not some cotton plant that looks like a Qing-“
“Get out! I need to clean your sheets,” Lingsha murmured, not so subtly pushing them out of the room. Jiaoqiu’s ears swiveled back to where she had slammed the door after them.
“Wow, she must’ve been sick of me after looking after me for five weeks,” he commented, and Tighnari stopped abruptly, causing Jiaoqiu to bump into his side. “What?” He heard Tighnari’s clothes shift again.
“She’s been bringing you back from near death, for five weeks. Five weeks. You were basically touch and go for three of those five weeks. You seemed fine when I came to see you the first time, I thought that would just be there, but then, like three days later you crashed again and they struggled to revive you and it was so sudden too and I-“ Jiaoqiu sudden felt Tighnari hug him tightly, but not so tight as to hurt him or his scars. Immediately, the guilt was back. That unwarranted, unneeded guilt. Jiaoqiu knew that it wasn’t technically his fault, he didn’t think it even properly counted as his fault, but still the guilt remained. “Anyways,” Tighnari said, sniffing. “I’m surprised the Qingxins you got from that traveling salesman were even real, Dori is not known for doing that. You got lucky.”
“She had seemed trustworthy, but now I have heard of her scams and everything else. Those were Qingxins though, so I don’t exactly know where she even got them. They’re ancient plants.” Tighnari’s clothes shifted and Jiaoqiu could only guess that he was thinking.
“I also got my lotuses from a shady guy,” he said. “But he was… more eccentric. I don’t think he even knew they were the lotuses.” Tighnari then sighed. “The Alchemy Commission really has pretty foliage, I wish you could see it more than once. There’s an ocean that stretches out from the coast, and goes past the horizon.” He wrapped his arm around Jiaoqiu’s waist and then helped him towards the outlook where you could see the ocean. “Can you feel the breeze? You can’t see the ocean, but you can feel the breeze, can you not?”
The breeze washed through Jiaoqiu’s fur, and he felt calmed down, like he could just come down here and think about everything he has to deal with now, after everything with Hoolay. “It kind of reminds me of you,” Jiaoqiu murmured staring at the black abyss that was his vision. He closed his eyes, though it would make no difference. “Your eyes are a darker brown and and paler teal, but if I imagine we’re looking at cave where the sea comes in, then I can see your eyes.” Tighnari let out a snort.
“I think you’ve gone loopy from all the blood you’ve lost. I don’t see myself at all here. I’m from the Zhuming, which is different. Anyways on the topic of the Qingxins… do you want me to adopt them? Since you can’t see anymore, you probably wouldn’t be able to give them the best care, maybe accidentally giving them more water than needed. I can keep them with my Nilotpala Lotuses.” Jiaoqiu flicked an ear.
“You want to adopt my children?” He asked and he could almost sense Tighnari’s surprised reaction. “That’s basically the same as asking me to marry you,” he teased. Jiaoqiu couldn’t hold back a chuckle at his boyfriend’s spluttering. “I’m kidding.”
“Well it’s nice to know you’re feeling better, Jiao,” Tighnari said, and Jiaoqiu could almost sense the glare upon his face. “Anyways, yes, I want to adopt your Qingxin project. If you’ll allow me to.” Jiaoqiu smiled.
“You already count as one of their ‘dads’, no permission needed,” he hummed, and Tighnari went quiet. Tighnari was silent all the way to the Skyfaring Commission, and Jiaoqiu was almost worried that he had offended him, but then Tighnari spoke up again.
“I just remembered, Cyno was wondering about that friend of yours… Mo-zah? Moze?”
“Moze,” Jiaoqiu smiled. He never minded correcting his boyfriend when he’d be a little off on pronouncing certain names. Despite being from the Zhuming, Tighnari still had trouble pronouncing things. “What about Moze?” He asked curiously. He knew Cyno and Tighnari were close, so he was wondering what Cyno wanted with Moze. Tighnari’s tail brushed against his leg.
“He was wondering what he likes, for some reason, and why he rushes off every so often when he tried to talk to him.” Jiaoqiu’s ears pricked with interest.
“Well, Moze can get… well, I’m not sure if ‘shy’ is the correct term, but he can get anxious in social settings, especially with new people. As for what he likes, I’m not quite sure myself, he’s not particularly open with particular things, but he does like cleaning, if that’s anything.”
“Hm, interesting. I’ll pass that on.” He, presumably looked at him. “Oh! How about I take you to my favourite place?”
“You already have a favourite place on the Luofu? That was fast,” he teased, but Tighnari ignored him, taking him somewhere. Jiaoqiu had no clue where they were going, but he just let Tighnari drag him somewhere. It wasn’t long before Jiaoqiu started feeling stone under his feet and paused, Tighnari stopping himself.
“Now, this place is prone to ghost sightings, but the plants here are so interesting. They’re sort of ethereal looking and have a blue tone. Also there hasn’t been ghost sightings here since the Trailblazers dealt with it, so. We won’t stay here long, but I just wanted to tell you about it. How I wish you could see it. It almost reminds me of my home planet. Just less… spooky.” Jiaoqiu just smiled to himself, he loved when Tighnari rambled on about plants or his home planet, though he’d now never be able to see his home planet.
He and Tighnari hadn’t been dating all that long, and keeping it a secret had been a complete accident, but he was starting to feel like maybe this would last a fairly long time.
It was a pretty heavy thing to think, especially after basically being unavailable for five weeks and five sevenths, but the fact Tighnari had stayed with him through all that, worrying about him, and the fact Jiaoqiu felt guilty about causing him so much heartache, could be a good sign.
After everything that had happened with Hoolay, Tighnari was one of the good parts