{Closed} I am a birdcage without any bird.

[thescorpionking]

⌛ Who: Xie Wang & Liu Qianqiao
⌛ What: Rescue and lots of comfort.
⌛ When: Not long after she is taken.
⌛ Where: The hospital and then their home.
⌛ Warnings: Past abuse might be mentioned.

She is nowhere to be found and the silence is deafening. Xie is tired of waiting, tired of presuming she is enjoying her freedom. He drinks something stiff before he leaves the apartment, well-armed with his poisoned blades. He will search this city - this world - top to bottom until he finds some trace of her. Doesn't he deserve an answer?

Doesn't she deserve to be safe?

Hours pass before he, at last, enters the hospital. Exhaustion and worry make him terse, but the news he is given is a relief. She is here. He doesn't wait for an explanation before running to her room - to her bed.

"A-Qiao?" he sits beside her and searches her for signs of wounds or trauma, "What happened? I couldn't find you."

Comments

[heartsgambler]

She hadn't resisted once deposited in the large room with too many people. Instead, Qian Qiao had waited, holding her poise and encouraging others around her to calm and quiet. They would be rescued. She didn't doubt it - and she'd been right!

They were all taken to the hospital for checking over and, when found cursed in a way to prevent healing, experimented on to find a way to break it.

Only when she's back in her room, curse broken so she can finally, blissfully, start to recover does she hear the familiar steps of Xie-er approach at a run. She only looks tired, they'd managed to start the process of rehydrating her.

Tired...in many ways. But his presence helps her breathe easier, enough she's even able to give him a gentle smile as she reaches out to cup his face. It doesn't quell the faint strain in her expression though.

"I do not know who took me. Many of us were caught. Some were tortured."

[thescorpionking]

His eyes harden at the revelation and he turns his head to kiss each of her hands. Then he, gently, wraps his arms around her, resting their foreheads together. Though it helps him immensely to see her, he can tell that the ordeal has hurt her.

That is unforgivable.

"Were you?" Xie has a difficult time caring for those outside of his circle. She isn't like him. So of course she would notice the pain of others.

"I've been looking." it is important, for some reason, that she know that, "I thought if you were just...out on your own, you would have told me. Or...someone."

[heartsgambler]

The sweet little kisses warm her, as does how gentle he is in curling around her. Qian Qiao settles against him, content to lean into his strength and warmth. His anger doesn't frighten her.

He is protective. Selectively, but still protective, and she's coming to love that about him.

Hearing he'd been looking for her though...her gaze drops and her cheeks would pink if she weren't hiding her scars. "I knew you would be," she admits softly. She shakes her head a little, lifting her gaze back to look earnestly at him.

"I wouldn't have left you in the dark. I would have told you so you wouldn't have to worry unless something happened." It's just as important he know that.

[thescorpionking]

Holding her helps him to breathe deeper. He never wants her to be harmed, but, for far too long, he had worried that she had been taken from him for good. Wouldn't that be fitting? The Scorpion King admits his feelings and then she disappears - like a puff of smoke. Like a ghost.

"I know." he answers quietly, firmly, kissing her cheek, "Did you see anyone responsible?"

He doesn't mind working with Kexing to see justice done. But there are matters to attend to first.

"Can you go home? I'll make sure you have everything you need."

Yes. Home. Their home. He will tuck her into bed and be her errand boy.

[heartsgambler]

Not the Scorpion King. Xie. Her Xie-er. Her sweet protector is allowing his heart to shine.

Her eyes flutter closed at the gentle kiss to her cheek and she presses into it a little, letting the affection sink in past the mask and into her heart.

"...Flashes. They didn't seem to like me watching them." So she'd made it hard for them to realize she was.

Qian Qiao nods a little, unable (unwilling!) to resist the quiet little smile at the question. "The people here removed the curse preventing healing. I'm free to go home." With her A-Xie.

[thescorpionking]

"You have a powerful gaze, my A-Qiao." Xie enjoys watching others squirm and he hopes her captors felt extremely uncomfortable. That will only be the beginning to how they will suffer.

"When you are healed, you and I will travel until we see them." he promises, kissing her lips tenderly, "Then I will see to the rest."

She has been through enough and seen enough. Which is why he smiles, warmly and genuinely, at the news. Slipping off of the bed, he gives her hand a little squeeze.

"I'll make arrangements. Stay here and I will order one of those cars to come around."

[heartsgambler]

It's a compliment that makes her smile, though her gaze drops again. Truth be told...she likes making others squirm too. And surprising them when they realize who they've been speaking with, eating beside, even fighting...hasn't been who they'd thought.

It's fun.

Qian Qiao feels her heart leap and lift at his promise, and she answers the sweet kiss in kind. "Only if it does not take you from me, A-Xie." If seeking revenge would only get him locked away...no. It wasn't important enough to risk losing him.

She settles back against the pillows when he pulls away, and nods at the instructions. "I will wait for you."

[thescorpionking]

She should have pride in her skills! Who else can wear the face of another and act the part so convincingly? If he is a Scorpion, she is a Changeling. Yet he knows and loves her true face. When she is wholly herself, she is a butterfly and he is entranced.

"I won't allow myself to be taken from you." his lips tingle and he smiles, rising smoothly, "Thank you."

Though it is difficult for him to leave her side to arrange for a car, he manages it. When he returns to her bedside, he is pushing a wheelchair. This way, she won't have to walk either.

"Don't strain yourself. I can lift you if you need it."

[heartsgambler]

He is her scorpion. She knows he won't sting her. Others? Oh yes. Especially if they hurt any of those he cares about.

He makes her want to be herself. A rare, precious gift.

She smiles at the promise and nods. Then her smile grows and she shakes her head a little. "See that you do not."

His return with the wheelchair has her blink, but to be told not to strain herself warms her all over again. She can't help it when he's being so sweet! Qian Qiao swings her legs over the edge of the bed.

"I can make it," she murmurs reassuringly. And she does! Only a little effort and she settles in the wheelchair.

[thescorpionking]

He has gladly given his heart to her and for the first time in...ever...he feels whole. Though he had doubted himself for a moment in the apartment, thinking what he offered wasn't enough for her, he now sees the truth. As long as she wants to be with him, she has a place at his side - and a home.

"Good." Xie bends and embraces her once she is seated in the wheelchair, "I won't behave recklessly with you."

No, quite the opposite. He pushes the wheelchair carefully, signing her out and taking her to the front of the building. A car is waiting for them and he opens the back door for her first.

"It isn't a long journey and these are smoother than a carriage."

[heartsgambler]

She wants to keep it safe, to nurture it. She can't help but be drawn to him - and truthfully she doesn't try.

Delicate hands come to rest over his arms when he embraces her and his voice washes reassuringly over her. "I know you won't," she murmurs, fond. She lets him take care of everything, only grateful to not have to spend too much more time in the hospital.

Qian Qiao is careful in getting into the car. She doesn't particularly like them, but it's another sign of care for her comfort, and she's not about to turn Xie away. And another sign to him that she trusts him.