Open!

[firefalling]

⌛ Who: Xufeng, open to Four Seasons Manor
⌛ What: Flailing over sudden canon update!
⌛ When: October 9thish
⌛ Where: Four Seasons Manor
⌛ Warnings: TRAUMA and BLOOD and brother talks andandand anything else will be added to thread headers



Early Morning
Dreams seem to plague Xufeng this night. He can't say if they're memories, caused by growing close to Jinmi or...something else entirely. He simply doesn't know.

Only that he jerks upright when he wakes, gasping for breath before pitching over to the side to spit out blood as suddenly his entire body seems to ache. Unpleasantly so until it ebbs into a dull pain that won't stop. So he shoves himself to his feet, pausing to stare at his own wings before shaking himself and stumbling out to the gardens of the Manor.

He absently wipes at the blood at his mouth before taking a seat beside the pool the lord of the manor has here. Memories seep in and he presses his eyes firmly shut as he focuses on everything he can figure out. He rests his head against a hand, rubbing at the ache to it.


Later
Not a joke, or a deception. He's had enough time to figure that much out. But to put it all together with what he's experienced here? That is taking longer, and the headache hasn't really eased. He's just stubbornly decided to ignore it. Only those who really know him would see the slight hints of discomfort. How his wings occasionally twitch for apparently no reason. How his temper is a little sharper than usual. How he's even quieter than before.

How much time he actually spends by the pond, rather than his rooms or the training yard.

How he feels older, and a little weaker, to those with that sense of his energies. More weary, but also, at the same time happier.

Comments

[watergrape]

She senses the weariness in the same way she senses that she loves him. The clues are right before her eyes, but it's in a language she doesn't understand. Not yet, at least. Still, both clues bring her straight to him, so she might be closer to the answer than she realizes.

Phoenix has always been good to her. Even when she was a silly fairy, pulling him into a foot bath and holding him under, he had forgiven her. She is very fond of Xufeng - aside from her attraction to him. He is a good immortal and he deserves happiness.

"Only if I gave you a headache." she then adds swiftly, "But I have a remedy for that now!"

Why does she tell him that? Maybe she wants his praise for the small feats she has managed.

The hairpin is always with her - either in her hair or in a pocket. She often takes it out to admire it.

"Really?" she blinks at the feather design and caresses it with her thumb, "If the pigeon army is after you, maybe you should keep it."

Oh she tries to keep a straight face after saying that. She tries.

[firefalling]

She doesn't have to understand it all yet. He knows it, he knows how she feels about him. How deep it goes.

Xufeng raises a brow at the claim, feigning disbelief. "Do you? Show me," as if he doubts her skill or her power.

He's glad to see her keep his feather close. He reaches out to stroke fingertips along it as well, as if greeting an old friend. Only to shake his head with another helpless little chuckle.

"I don't need it. You are more afraid of them than I am. Besides. It's rude to give gifts back."

A stab to his own heart. He'd tried to give her petal back.

[watergrape]

Show him? Show him?! Jin Mi does just that, calling forth the appropriate herb for a headache.

"You mix this little one in with a cup of hot tea." she hesitates and feels his cheek, "Something you could use right now? Does your head hurt?"

The little feather is her favorite hairpin, but she is careful with it. Since he gave it to her as a gift, she needs to give him something - besides a headache - in return! Tapping his lips with the hairpin, she makes a promise to herself to look for the perfect gift.

"I didn't say I wanted to give it back. But I also don't want you waking up so early like this."

[firefalling]

He loves seeing her use her power.

Xufeng leans a little into her gentle hand, gaze dropping only briefly before lifting back to her face, and he nods a little.

"Tea would be good."

He raises a brow as the feather is tapped against his lips, and he has to wonder what she's thinking. Maybe about giving it back still? No. She reassures him of that quickly.

"Waking early a few days won't hurt me, Mi'er. But I'll go to bed early tonight if it eases your mind."

[watergrape]

With a little more concentration, she summons a teapot and a cup. She looks to him to heat the water - heat is his specialty - and then she steeps the herbs. A little of her special honey is added for taste - and because it is healing too.

"Here, Phoenix." she lifts the cup to his lips after blowing on it, "Going to bed early would be good for you. If you like, I can tell you a story beforehand? Then your dreams will be good."

[firefalling]

She barely even has to look at him before he gestures at the water to let it come to the perfect temperature for steeping. The honey has him smile just a little, remembering just how healing it is.

She even makes sure his tea isn't too hot. Xufeng doesn't look at the cup or the liquid, only her sweet eyes as he obediently sips. Her offer to even tell him a story before bed makes him smile.

"What story would you tell me?"

[watergrape]

She purses her lips playfully - he is such a show off! - feeling the water heat the sides of the teapot with her fingertips. But then she adds her honey to the brew, proving that all she wants is for him to feel better. Look, she even makes sure the cup isn't too hot!

As he sips the brew, she tilts her head thoughtfully.

"I can tell you about the carrot and the flower!"