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 Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:01 am
 
In which Jianyu and Bataar are reunited with old feelings, old arguments, and new injuries.
Setting:
Cherry Tree Hill.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:02 am
Bataar sat on the top of Cherry Tree Hill, his green eyes grazing the horizon as he listlessly toyed with the grass and weeds he was pulling up. He didn’t like sitting here, pondering, but there wasn’t much else he felt he was capable of right now. He wasn’t sure that he was in the mood for killing anyone, even, which was irksome in and of itself. He liked trying to kill people!
It didn’t much help that he felt as if he’d been ripped apart by the seams. His chest was still bandaged from his recent run-in with the legionnaire, and too much movement meant that it would split right open again. So he was left to sit, sleep, and only chase rats that were in his range. The frustration this caused the Mongolian man was tremendous.
He was deeply pleased with the sword in his possession, but there was no way he’d actually be able to use the thing—not for a few weeks to a month, at least. He’d already learned that it was more than a little futile to open up his wound just to practice; it would take longer to heal if he did that. And so here was his dilemma, and he had no clue how to deal with it.
Not only that, but he didn’t really want anyone to know about it, either. He’d almost been killed, and he was deeply humiliated. He gritted his teeth, half-wishing at the moment that he’d died. It was better than this!
"Dammit!" he huffed.
The impractical Mongol would just have to deal with his lot.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:59 pm
Qian Jianyu was not exactly pleased. It was a week and a half since his encounter with Tenhou, and a week and a half of attempting to return to his everyday life. Only that everyday life now included being completely blinded in one eye. His whole left peripheral vision had been destroyed, no chance of recovering what he had lost. Jianyu reached up a hand, his fingers grazing the black cloth that covered his eye.
This was ridiculous. He was tired of simply sitting and thinking all day, suffocated by his own thoughts, his own musings, his own frustrations. Jianyu stood abruptly, grabbing his bow and arrow and swiftly exiting his room. He left his house, heading for a place he knew would be able to perhaps practice with the crossbow given to him by Tenhou. It was a place that was often left alone, and though it took him quite a bit longer than usual to reach it (he had to keep stopping to make sure he was going in the right direction) Jianyu reached his destination within a short amount of time. Cherry Tree Hill was exactly as he had left it.
With the very minor exception of a very familiar, dark-skinned man sitting with his back against the weathered trunk of the tree. A large sword sat in Bataar's lap, and he seemed to be irritated about something.
Jianyu's heart hammered unexpectedly in his chest - then cursed himself silently in his head. He had not seen Bataar since before being blinded. Their last encounter had been when he had discovered the Mongol dressed as a woman, and they had both gone back to Bataar's tent to fix him up. They had fought (naturally) and then...
Jianyu's face flushed and he shook his head hastily. No. He would not recall those memories right now. Nor did he want Bataar knowing he was even thinking of that night. Jianyu shoved the thoughts from his mind, stepping up to the Mongol with a wearied expression, sitting down beside him.
"Something on your mind, Bataar?" he asked.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:42 pm
Bataar was staring out into the distance, doing his best to ignore the sound of footsteps approaching until the very last minute, when a rather familiar voice sounded. He glanced up almost absently, expecting to see an image of stasis; a complete lack of change. He was stopped short, however, when he saw the black cloth tied over the legionnaire’s eye. ”What…?” he started to ask blankly, his tone a little breathy partially from the fact that normal breathing caused aches and pains in his chest and partially because he was nothing short of shocked.
He tried to revise his expression immediately, rearranging his features carefully in order to show off a perfectly doltish face. ”You ought to cover up the other eye, too.” he declared in a matter-of-fact tone, feeling that he was hiding his slight anxiety rather well as he addressed Jianyu. His memory wasn’t as damaged as his intelligence, and he could feel the traces of a flush creeping along his cheeks.
That wasn’t something he wanted to take into consideration right now, and he felt downright awkward thinking about it. It wasn’t like either of them had avoided each other after their last battle, but the time it had taken until they’d met again did make the Mongolian man feel a little odd. Bataar did his best not to concentrate on the alien feeling, and set his mouth into a friendly, curving line.
But he couldn’t help it when he blurted out. ”Have you been avoiding me, stupid?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:41 pm
Leave it to Bataar to not show any concern for my well-being, Jianyu thought dryly, one hand automatically reaching up to touch the black cloth again. It had become a habit over the past few days; sometimes he still could not grasp the fact that he was, in fact, half blind.
"I will not cover my other eye too." Jianyu answered, rather peevishly. Bataar's voice had sounded strange, somewhat strained, and he wondered why that was. Out of breath? ...or was it something else?
Jianyu studiously ignored the "something else." He opened his mouth to ask the Mongol something when he was interrupted - by a stupid question, no less.
"What?" Jianyu snapped, face flushing as he twisted his body sideways to look at Bataar. "No, of course not! I was a little busy getting my eye almost cut out of my head by a Noble ambush, but other than that I was not avoiding you."
He stopped for a moment, his breathing labored. He had not seen Bataar in almost two weeks. The distance had pained him (though he would never admit it, not in a thousand years), and he had wished the Mongol was there when he had been lying on his back, thinking he was going to die back at Tenjou's place. But he had also been back at home for nearly a week, and had not yet seen Bataar. He had been sleeping most of the time, attempting to stave off the pain that he still had.
"What about you, idiot?" Jianyu asked, somewhat snarkily. "You've been avoiding me, haven't you?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:01 pm
Bataar’s manner of showing concern wasn’t often considered to be very charming. He offered Jianyu a strained little grin as they started arguing, hoping that that meant things had gone back to normal as quickly as they’d changed. He was probably wrong, however, because there were definitely a few things they had yet to sort out. He shrugged at Jianyu’s reply, ignoring the fact that he was still feeling awkward and out-of-place with the other man and his injury. Bat simply wasn’t sure of what he ought to do.
Oh, Bat concluded, he was definitely being avoided. ”Is that so?” he huffed, choking on his breath a little as a stab of pain punched into his chest. Okay, one more thing not to do; no huffing! The Mongol made a face, hoping that his little slip-up hadn’t been terribly evident to the other man; he didn’t want to admit to nearly being sliced in half just recently.
Not seeing Jianyu had felt fundamentally wrong, as much as it humiliated Bat to admit it. He changed his mind the minute he was called an idiot, of course, and jumped to his feet, having already decided to punch Jianyu’s other eye out of his face when an odd look crossed his face and he flopped right back down, looking faintly green as he watched a spot of blood spread on his shirt. Obviously, his stitches weren’t worth s**t.
”Hmph. Why would I even waste my time avoiding you?” he demanded from his spot on the grass, annoyed that he was having to glare up to Jianyu.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:10 pm
"Yes, that's so." Jianyu replied testily, folding his arms across his chest. Though he still felt unusually awkward around the Mongol - an awkwardness that made his face flush annoyingly - the fact that Bataar was bickering with him was somewhat reassuring. Jianyu never thought he would have admitted it, but Bataar's indignant huff was familiar and comforting. Jianyu glanced up at the Mongol as he stood abruptly, raising an eyebrow.
"You realize what you just said means you don't want to avoid me, right? And it means you want to not avoid me?" he asked lightly, a small grin tugging at the corners of his lips. His smile faded, however, as his eyes drifted down the Mongol's chest, and rapidly turned into an expression of concern, then worry, then slight panic.
"Bataar!"
Moving around to sit in front of the Mongol, Jianyu's fingers moved quickly, yanking up his shirt. His eyes widened. There was a large, bloodied cloth wrapped several times around Bataar's stomach and chest, criscrossing around under his arm. Several small cuts dotted his midsection, and Jianyu could feel a growing horror rising in his throat.
"Bataar..." he said. "What happened to you?!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:42 pm
Bataar thought that he saw Jianyu’s face go red, but it was altogether likely that he’d just started to imagine things. He was, after all, slightly dizzy with pain. Still, he didn’t enjoy being in a dramatic situation, and so he chose to ignore it. He hardly cared about the technicality of his past statement; instead he was studying the diffusion of his blood throughout his shirt, a curious expression plastered on his face. He wasn’t used to being seriously interesting, and sometimes he found it downright entertaining.
He glanced up as the legionnaire cried his name out, blinking a little, and realizing at the last minute that he’d meant to hide his injury. Before he knew it, his muscular chest was bared to the world, although all that was really visible were the bandages over the large, stitched-up gash—bloodied bandages, at that. He really ought to change them sometimes, shouldn’t he?
”Nothing! I mean, just a scratch.” he muttered defensively, trying to scoot away from Jianyu. ”Geez, ripping my shirt off in public now? You ought to wait your turn in line!” He growled, hoping that his joke would cause the mood to lighten considerably. The fact that blood was dripping down his abdomen probably made said joke invalid, however.
Why was it that he never managed to hide things like this? He felt as if he had such a lack of stealth.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:49 pm
Jianyu ran his fingers very lightly over the thick bandages, his fingertips coming away tinged with blood. He didn't know what Bataar had gotten himself into this time, but regardless of the reason, the wound was a serious one. It seemed as if whoever he had fought had simply taken their sword and drawn a line from somewhere above his hip across his chest. Most obviously, it was deep, and the bandages were in dire need of being changed. More obviously was the fact that Bataar was still Bataar, even though the blatant pain. Jianyu scowled, his face turning red.
"You idiot." he snapped, dropping his hands as he crouched low in front of the Mongol. "Like I would ever do something like that in public. That's something you would do.
"And I better not have to be in 'line.'" Jianyu added darkly, glaring at him as he stood up, reaching down to grip Bataar's arms. "Stand up. I have to get you to my home. Your bandages need to be changed, otherwise you could get an infection."
Though you would probably find that fascinating, Jianyu thought in exasperation, seeing Bataar looking down at his stomach with an interested (yet still pained) expression.
"Stand up." he said again, yanking on Bataar's arms.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:55 pm
Bataar watched, slightly on edge, as Jianyu ran his fingers over the bandages on his chest. He tried to hide his active interest with the blood, but failed considerably. In the back of his mind, he wondered if maybe this was the sort of thing that people died from; that was kind of exciting, after all, wasn’t it? He grinned like an idiot for a moment before muting his expression, figuring he was probably in a serious situation, from the legionnaire’s standpoint at least.
He smirked a little at Jianyu’s retort, shaking his head. ”Then why’d you just do it?” he demanded, not even bothering to deny the fact that he’d rip his shirt, or anyone else’s shirt, for that matter, off in public. Besides, he didn’t like this sort of attention; it made him feel weak sometimes when people took care of him, and that was something that Bat happened to be vehemently opposed to.
So what if he let the other man think there was a line? As far as Bat was concerned, that only added to his own manliness, so he merely offered up a secretive little grin, standing rather unwillingly as Jianyu grabbed his arms. It hurt, admittedly, but he remained up in his determination to brush off the injury. He glanced up as Jianyu commented that it might get infected, his eyes wide with wonder as he shot a quick look down at his chest. Now something like that would look interesting!
”Well, aren’t you going to carry me?” he demanded, sizing up the slim Lunarian.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:21 pm
Jianyu was not particularly looking forward to making the long walk back to his house, but it was necessary. The Mongol's wounds would only get worse if they stayed here, and those filthy bandages had to be removed soon. "I did it to see what on earth happened to you, idiot!" Jianyu snapped, half inclined to jab a finger at Bataar's stomach just to be obnoxious. He restrained himself, however - but just barely. Instead, he slipped his arm around the Mongol's waist, pulling Bataar's arm across his shoulders.
"Like I could carry you." he spluttered. "In case you haven't noticed, you weigh at least twice as much as I do!"
Half walking, half dragging him, Jianyu hauled Bataar down the hill, and onto Main Street. He blatantly ignored the questioning stares being cast his direction, focusing only on keeping them both upright. Gritting his teeth, Jianyu swore inwardly. He had expected a quiet, peaceful day, perhaps with some bit of meditating, and a lot of training with the new crossbow tied to his waist. Instead, he was forced into taking care of an injured Bataar. Not that he hadn't wanted to see him (he had) but he had expected to at least have a bit more time beforehand (he hadn't).
They reached the Qian Household much later than it would have normally taken, since they were moving at such a slow pace. Once inside, Jianyu pulled Bataar down the hallway and into one of the spacious washrooms. He let go of the Mongol's waist, forcing him to sit on the floor. Then, rummaging around in the cabinets, Jianyu pulled out some wrappings and a wascloth, turning to face the Mongol with one eyebrow raised.
"Are you going to let me me bathe you so I can change those bandages?" he asked dryly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:05 am
Bataar made a small noise of objection as Jianyu informed him that the only reason he’d decided to look upon his garish bandages was because he’d wanted to see what had happened. He’d just have to try not to let this little fact make him feel any less manly; he was, after all, quite embarrassed. The Mongol glanced silently around, ignoring the humiliating flush making its way across the broad planes of his cheeks. ”Why does it matter?” he asked, his tone rather petulant.
At Jianyu’s next comment, though, Bat’s eyes immediately traveled down to the flat, muscled area of his abdomen, looking extremely self-conscious. ”I—I don’t weigh that much!” he spluttered, looking quite upset with his evident obesity. Jianyu didn’t have to bring something like that up here and now! He felt the lack of justice in the comment acutely. The legionnaire shouldn’t have pointed that out.
He set his mouth into a determined line as they started making their way down the hill, and suffered in silence all the way to Jianyu’s house. He sat down on the floor rather abruptly once Jianyu had let him go, his breathing labored. It was probably becoming increasingly clear that whatever lay beneath the bloodied bandages was not a simple cat’s scratch.
He was in pain, yes, but he didn’t see the point of switching out his bandages. ”Bathe me?” he demanded, staring at the other man as if he were clearly insane. ”I only take baths for food!” It was true that he’d given Yuudai his grudging trust as of late, if only because he didn’t want to starve to death. Still, he hadn’t bothered to go see the student since he’d gotten his injury, and was probably quite smelly: an infection waiting to happen.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:51 pm
Jianyu folded his arms across his chest, looking down at the Mongol with a sullen expression. Bataar's stubbornness was to be expected; after all, he was still Bataar, even if he was practically bleeding to death. The man was almost unbelievably resilient in his way of sticking to one thing, and many times that resilience was good, especially in his training and in battles.
However, when that "something" was a bath...well, Bataar's viewpoints on a bathing were a little less than satisfactory. Jianyu scowled, bristling at the mention of "food." He knew exactly where Bataar got his food from, and exactly who he got it from. The mere reference to that person did not make him particularly pleased.
"Food?" he repeated icily, wringing the wascloth in his hands. "I swear, Bataar, you are the most irritating man I have ever known."
Leaning over, Jianyu put both of his hands on Bataar's shoulders, his face inches away from the Mongol's. When it came to Bataar, aggression and a willfulness was what got through.
Most of the time.
"Either you take a bath willingly, or I'll make you." Jianyu growled.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:11 am
Bataar knew he could be ridiculously stubborn, but he hardly cared the majority of the time. When it came to bathing, he was proud to be fantastically mulish. Beyond that, he wasn’t particularly stealthy with his boyfriend; he honestly didn’t have a clue that anything between the legionnaire and Yuudai might be off-- but, coming from Bat, this sort of clueless nature was probably to be expected. Sure, he was better now when it came to his enemies, but he was still the same old Bat when it came to all those things that really mattered.
He made a face at Jianyu, rolling his eyes at the other man’s response. ”I‘m irritating because I get hungry?” he demanded, crossing his arms carefully over his injured chest. He was, of course, going for pity, although that might as well have been rather futile at this point. There was no way in hell Jianyu was going to pity him for not wanting to take a bath, and Bataar knew it. It wasn’t that he cared to be pitied; it was merely that he wanted food, because he was a smelly, insensitive sort of dolt.
Could someone honestly make him take a bath? Bat looked rather unconvinced as he observed the legionnaire, tilting his head in order to size the other man up. ”Oh, please!” he snorted rudely, waving his hand in dismissal. ”I bet I could probably sit on you and kill you.” That was right! His weight problem could come in handy sometimes!
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:55 am
"That's exactly why you're irritating, yes." Jianyu said, scowling. "When the only thing in that thick head of yours is sustenance, rather than something of value, yes, you are almost unbearably irritating!"
Of course, that was nearly all the time, so Jianyu really couldn't complain. This was the person he chose to spend his time with willingly (although stumbling into that sort of relationship with him had not been intentional), and he had grown used to Bataar's somewhat outrageous ways of thinking. However, this was a matter of health and Bataar's well being, so the fact that he still was unwilling to let him help was going to drive him...well, batty. Jianyu let out a sigh of frustration, his eyes narrowing.
"So, you're proud of your weight now, is it?" Jianyu scoffed, but inside he was wondering just how on earth he could convince the man to get into the bath. It was set into the floor of the washroom, long and wide, and only a few feet away from them, but no amount of tugging and pulling would probably work on the Mongol. Jianyu moved back, pinching the bridge of his nose. He moved around to sit behind Bataar, leaning his back against his. The space was narrow, but making his legs bend upwards, his feet against the wall. Jianyu grunted, his eyes traveling on the grains of the wood. Hmmm...
"You are too stubborn for your own good." Jianyu grumbled, then shoved hard, bracing his feet against the wall. The movement was unexpected, and Jianyu hoped it would catch Bataar off guard at least a little bit.
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