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Wuxian was eating breakfast with his soulmate. He doesn't offer much in this soul-bond relationship so the least he can do is follow Wangji's weird obsession with the clan rules. If staying quiet during the meal makes him happy, then so be it. By nature, Wuxian likes to hear himself talk. In honesty, he talked enough for the both of them. But love is built on compromise and believe him, he compensates with verbal diarrhea the moment the meal is over.
He has noticed that recently Wangji has been expressing himself more with words than silent nods and sharp gazes. He smiles to himself when Wangji pushes the dishes he likes towards Wuxian as a silent request for him to eat more. Wuxian thought he knew what love is but Wangji keeps doing these small gestures that comforts his soul to a point where Wuxian feels like it's driving him insane.
Today was a day off. He had no plans so when Lan Ran requested his audience he had no reason to decline. In honesty, all he actually wants to do is go out and roam the city with Wangji without a care in the world. He grabs a strand from his hair and looks mournfully at it. The days when he can travel freely are over. People will recognize him the moment they look into his eyes or see his hair. He really wants to hate it but he knows that Wangji adores it. Like.. REALLY adore it. To the point where Wuxian sometimes wonders if he loves his hair more than him.
Wuxian laughs at that thought and when he looks up, sees Wangji looking at him strangely. He puts down his chopsticks and says: "I was wondering if I should put my hair in a braid like last night. Fu Shi did it so masterfully. Maybe I can ask her to teach me how."
Wangji pursed his lips and sat back avoiding eye contact.
Wuxian suppresses a laugh and asks: "What? You don't like it?"
Wangji: "I style your hair every morning. Is it not to your liking?"
Wuxian sighs: "It's too long. It feels more like a tail than hair!"
Wangji comes closer and gently takes a strand from Wuxian's hair and brings it close to kiss it: "It's part of what makes you special. Beautiful things shouldn't be contained or hidden."
Wuxian blushes when Wangji gazes at him when he says 'beautiful things' and mumbles: "Fine. I won't braid it unless it's necessary. Stop calling parts of me beautiful. I'm still not a girl."
Wangji smiled at him: "Beauty knows no gender. Truth is spoken when in need."
Wuxian groans and stands up going towards the door to avoid this embarrassing conversation: "I must have done something weird in my past life to get an overbearingly sentimental fool for a soul-bond."
He hears Wangji laugh quietly when he opens the door to leave.
He stops in his tracks when he sees Lan Ran and Fu Shi standing outside waiting for him.
Wuxian looks surprised: "Good morning Ladies, what can I do for you?"
Lan Ran smiled at him: "I would like to join you today to explore Da Ziran's capabilities. Healer Shi asked to join to observe and assess your energy flow as we practice."
Wuxian smiles at them and gestures with his hand: "Lead the way."
While they walked, Lan Ran turned to Wuxian: "Divine Oracle, I took the liberty of borrowing a book from your private library for today's practice. It has an extensive knowledge about different types of animals that I've never seen before."
Wuxian: "I see you've found one of the gifts I received when I was given the Oracle title. It fascinated me so I kept it. Maybe we can try to transform Da Ziran to one of the odd looking animals mentioned in the book."
Fu Shi walked behind the two and smiled warmly at how child-like their excitement was.
They found a secluded area in the training grounds and Lan Ran took out the book to comb through it: "Let's start with something simple. Try turning it into a horse again."
Wuxian scratched his head and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine a horse and heard Da Ziran chuckle: 'You can just ask. I will not deny you, young one.'
Da Ziran emits a golden glow and settles back into the white horse with golden mane. Wuxian pets her and says: "What's next?"
They went on for an hour, changing forms from time to time. They stuck to animals Wuxian has seen before and he was able to switch between forms with ease. With each transformation, he feels a little bit more tired. Until the bone deep exhaustion he felt when they were traveling back starts to threaten with a comeback.
Lan Ran: "So far, you've been able to transform Da Ziran to most of the animals you recognize. Should we try an animal from the book?"
Wuxian warily nods and she shows him a description of a lion. He knows of the creature but has never seen one in real life. After reading all the text related to the animal, he closes his eyes and asks Da Ziran to change shape. Da Ziran glows golden but the light flickers for a few seconds and she turns back to a snake instead. Wuxian sways and feels himself lose the battle with gravity. He feels hands catching him as he falls and once he feels steady enough he opens his eyes. He was partially lying in Wen Ning's lap while Lan Ran and Fu Shi were looking down at him with worry, the latter transferring energy through his hand. The healer smiles warmly at him and asks: "Do you feel any discomfort?"
Wuxian sighs: "No.. I just feel very tired."
He blinks slowly at them for a few seconds then falls into an exhausted sleep. Fu Shi looks at Wen Ning: "Master Wen, would you mind carrying him to the treatment quarter?" Wen Ning nods and scoops up Wuxian and heads towards the requested room. Lan Ran was feeling guilty for pushing Wuxian and not noticing his fatigue. Zewu Jun has downplayed how fragile the Treasure's health is. If she thought her job was easy before, this will sure complicate things. She will make sure that nothing like this will happen again under her watch. She observed as Wen Ning places the unconscious Wuxian on the bed in the middle of the room. Fu Shi checks his pulse and energy points and declares him stable for now. She looks at the snake that moves lethargically around Wuxian and checks it too.
Shi turns to Wen Ning: "Does Treasure Wei follow the same dietary restrictions as Lan Clan?"
Wen Ning shakes his head: "Grandmaster Qiren allows me to fetch him meat from the city from time to time. He eats it in secret so he doesn't offend the other clan members."
Shi nods her head and asks one of the disciples to relay what happened to Wangji. He shows up a few minutes later and rushes towards his sleeping soulmate: "What happened?"
Healer Shi answered: "He's just exhausted. A good nap and a hearty meal and he should be fine."
Wangji turns to glare at Lan Ran: "Explain!"
Lan Ran was taken back by the sharp demand but stood her ground: "We were practicing changing form with Da Ziran. He did not complain or show visible signs of fatigue until he suddenly fainted. I will keep a better eye on his health in the future. This will not happen again."
Wangji fixes her with one last glare then nods. He carries Wuxian to their room and stays with him until he wakes up a few hours later.
Wuxian sits up and rubs his eyes: "Why do I feel hungover?"
Wangji: "You passed out again."
Wuxian flops back into bed: "This is getting old."
Wangji sits next to him and caresses his cheeks: "Do you feel better?"
Wuxian looks up at him then down at his snake: "She says that we need to eat."
Wangji smiles and goes to fetch them food.
Fu Shi prides herself as a master in observation. For the last two days, her main focus has been the Divine Oracle. She has a deal with Qiren that will shape her future and nothing will stop her from curing him to repay her dues. Qiren has informed her of all Wuxian's medical related history and Zewu Jun has filled in the rest. She has never met a man with so many accumulated untreated injuries. From today's performance she can safely determine that his high tolerance for pain is causing most of his symptoms. A lesser man would just stay in bed to heal properly instead of soldiering on until they collapse.
She has documented her findings thoroughly and requested a family meeting tomorrow. He will need all the support he can get to get through her proposed treatment.
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