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Qiang Di watched as the boy moved to settle down next to Xiulong before he rose to his feet, moving to the door so that he could loo out, "Po Zei, come in and see that things are tidied up, don't bother either of them." He told the Doctor before his attention then went to Tian Mi, "I need a drink." He told her simply before he moved toward the front room of the place where his men were waiting to given them the status of the young dragon before he settled down at the head of the table to await his drink.

Po Zei watched his Master go, glad that the man was at least talking with him now, before he walked into the room and set to gathering up the bloodied clothes, wrapping them all up into one of the clean ones and tied them together into a bundle. Next he cleaned up his tools putting them into the bowl of red tinged water, the jars were covered up and put back into his bag aside from the painkiller that Xiulong was going to need. He gave the dark haired boy a glance as he spoke with the sleeping dragon but said nothing, merely going about his task as he'd been told to do. He wanted to talk with him, warn him, but decided to leave the pair well enough along at the moment.

He carried the rags out first, tossing them in with the laundry before returning again to gather the bowl, bringing it into one of the private back rooms where he could clean them later, then returned a final time to get his bag, "I will wait outside the door, if he needs me come and fetch me." He murmured to Qiu Di before he started toward the door again, closing it behind him before settled down on the floor side the door, resting back against it, going into a quiet state of deep though, going over all that had happened tonight.

It was until some time later, a few hours at least, before Xiulong started to stir, giving a weak groan, opening the eye on the unwrapped half of his face before he looked up at the ceiling for a moment, obviously confused upon how he'd gotten back before giving a soft sound in his throat, "Where...?" He murmured before turning his head slowly to the side and spotted Qiu Shui and was suddenly certain that he was dead... after all how else could he be here? Unless he was dreaming? Hard to tell with as fuzzy as everything seemed at the moment, "Q-Qiu... Shui...?" He whispered, voice sounding weak and a bit dry.

Xiulong smiled as he felt Qiu Shui's fingers brushing against his hair, allowing his eye to close for a moment, "You came... I called out for you." He murmured, that he had appeared before him was like a dream... then he found himself wondering if it were just that, a dream. He forced his eye open again, looking up at his companion, "Water, that would be nice."

For a moment he found himself wondering why he would need Po Zei, he felt fine after all, a little bit hazy around the edges and a little as though... as though he were floating. A strange sort of feeling that he'd never felt before as he'd never once needed to be given such a powerful drug in his life time. Lifting one hand to attempting to scratch at his itchy cheeks his fingers brushed against the bandage that was wrapped around his head and part of his face which made him jolt, "Ah... a bandage?" He asked, seeming to be trying to wrap his mind around why it was that he had a bandage wrapped around his face... then gave a gasp as it came back to him.

"Ahh... we were... were fighting in the woods... that guy with the sword, he was after Master Di... is he... is Master Di alright?" He asked in a rush, trying to sit up though he didn't get to far before he was sent reeling and fell back onto the bedding before low him, dragging in a shaky breath as suddenly he realized that while he might not be in pain he wasn't exactly so lucky that he'd gotten away from that battle whole and healthy... that strange and rather powerful swordsman had seen to that, "Ugh... I feel dizzy." He muttered, not wanting to complain but the words escaped unheeded from him when his head started to spin in protest of him trying to sit up so suddenly after losing so much blood. The worst thing about head wounds was the fact that they bleed out so heavily.

Xiulong was only to happy to have the water shared with him, sipping from it, swallowing slowly. He gave his companion a momentary smile before realizing that Qiu Shui wasn't exactly looking at him was he? He blinked a couple times, worried... what had happened? Was the other Lotus boy disappointed with him, "Qiu Shui...?" He murmured, wondering if he were suddenly disappointed in him, seeing him wounded like this... it would look bad, wouldn't it? He was struggling to take over for Qiang Di one day but he'd been hurt... did he no longer appeal to Qiu Shui as a guardian since he couldn't even protect himself or his Master? He could feel his heart sinking as the other rose up, letting his eye close again, not answering when he said he was going to get Po Zei.

The Doctor was sitting just outside, head bowed forward, white hair falling into his eyes. He was quiet at the moment either deep in thought or perhaps lightly dozing it was a touch hard to tell. When he felt the touch of Qiu Shui's hand on his shoulder he stirred, looking through his bangs toward the young man, "He's awake? Good." He murmured, rising up to feet, "How are you feeling? If you need something to eat or drink I am sure it can be provided to you by Tian Mi." He said, seeing that the young man looked a little frazzled and might been in need of a break where it came to the stress he was currently under, the same stress that seemed to be weighing down on the whole of the bathhouse.

Giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile he turned to head into the room of his bluenette patient, looking him over before moving to settle down beside, "I am glad to see that you have come to, Xiulong, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?" He asked, hands moving the blanket to check the bruising on his chest, it wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting given how hard he'd been kicked, he'd been lucky not to come away with any broken bones though he would likely have to keep calm for a while since the bruising might make breathing a touch difficult.

Xiulong opened his eye slowly, looking up at Po Zei for a long moment before he nodded, "What happened?" He asked, finding that he didn't remember anything after the kick from that swordsman, "Where is the man with the sword?"

There was a long silence from the white haired Doctor before he spoke, "He is... gone for now. Master Di and I were able to chase him off." The man was menace to Qiang Di and it had taken the boy of them to get rid of him, not that he wanted to go into detail about who the man was or why he had appeared last night, "For now don't worry about any of that, don't worry about Master Di as he is safe, you need only to worry about growing stronger. We will get you something to eat soon, broth to help you to get your strength back." He told him before looking him over, "Once your feeling better we will see about getting you into a bath to wash away the excess blood, unless your friend wouldn't mind helping out with that now?"

He glance over to see if Qiu Shui was still around or if he had gone to find something something to eat and drink.

Po Zei gave pause when he didn't see Qiu Shui standing there any longer, starring for a long moment before he gave a shake of his head and turned back to his patient, "He must be exhausted, he's been at your side for some time now, ever since he arrived." He said to Xiulong, smoothing back his blood stained hair, "How about you? Would you like some water, Xiulong?"

He gave a slight shake of his head, "Qiu Shui helped me to drink, but thank you Po Zei." He murmured before opening his eye once more, starring up at him for a long moment befoe giving a soft sound in his throat, "I feel terrible... I wasn't able to keep that man from going after our Master... all this training and I am still so weak." He murmured, sounding more then a little frustrated. How was he supposed to become the leader of the gang one day when he go knocked around so easily?

"Please, don't fret. You did well, you protected our Master at the cost of your own safety. I know you might not understand but it got the attention of the whole gang, they are awaiting news on you, to see how your fairing." He said, as he glanced toward the door, "What you did facing down that swordsman, being wounded for Master Di, it impressed them. Don't see it as a loss, its a victory in you battle Xiulong."

The bluenette looked over at the door for a long moment as Po Zei spoke, telling him that the same people who had been tormenting him before were now looking forward to seeing him again, eager for news on his health. He couldn't help but to give a smile, "Really...? Good, good." That was good he thought to himself as he let his eye sink closed, it meant that he would have their respect, that they would allow him to take over, to lead them one day so long as he continued to walk the path that was laid out before him, and that would mean that he would be able to take Qiu Shui, to protect him. The idea was one that made him more then a little happy, "Ahh... I feel really tired, Po Zei, can I sleep a bit longer before I go out to see them?"

The White haired doctor nodded, "Yes, rest for a while. It will be good for you to sleep as much as you need to so that you can start to feel better." He said, watching Xiulong for a moment more before he rose to his feet, walking over to the door to look out. When he didn't spot anyone straight away he returned to sitting next to Xiulong, deciding to wait with him until Qiu Shui returned.

*****

Tian Mi was heading for her Master's room, going to fetch him fresh clothing as his were still stained with blood when she came across the boy that was leaning against the wall, seeming to be in tears. It was something that made the woman give pause before she gave a soft sigh, "Are you in need of somewhere to rest Qiu Shui?" She asked, realizing that he was in quite a state, one that made him look a touch on the weak side which had her worrying for him strangely enough.

"I am going to get Master Di something fresh to wear, your free to come along with me and curl up for some rest there if you wish." She said, reaching a hand out to gently pat him on the head, borrowing the action that she'd seen mothers in town use with their own brats. It wasn't something she was familiar with herself but at least she could fake the emotions involved she decided.

Tian Mi starred down at the boy quietly before she merely nodded and led him forward, to her room which wasn't something that many people were allowed into. In fact the only one that came in aside from herself was Master Di, "You can curl up and rest for a while, I am sure that this has all been quite hard on you, not to mention that your Madame seemed to be giving you quite the hard time when I showed up at your home." She said, walking over to where her clothing was hanging, running her hands across the many ornate robes she had there before her hand brushed across something and she withdrew it from the closest, a simple robe meant from sleeping in which she handed over to Qiu Shui, "There you go, change and go to sleep for a while, the world will be waiting for you when you wake up."

She gave him a nod before moving toward the door, pausing as she reached it, "Its hard isn't it? You can always turn back you know, find yourself a boring old shop owner to put your faith in instead." She told him, knowing that it was tough to watch the one that you loved leave home each night leaving you to wonder if they were going to come home and in what condition, would they be fine or would they be wounded? It must be even harder since Qiu Shui was there since before Xiulong took over instead of being pulled into this world after his significant other was already the Boss for a long while.

"Master Di is in need of a bath and fresh clothing so I need to get it all ready for him, sleep well Qiu Shui." She said as she left the room, leaving the dark haired boy to sleep for as long as he needed.

The rest of the night was uneventful, Tian Mi came into her room once to check on Qiu Shui to see if he was asleep before heading out again, to tend to her Master's needs. Once the man had gotten himself a bath to wash himself clean of the old blood, was changed in the fresh clothing that Tian Mi had brought him, and after he'd eaten he was back to pacing around the front room like an angry tiger. Something to see because it was quite rare that he showed such an emotion, sure he could be quick to anger at times, he was passionate, but the seeing him show worry was different for everyone involved.

Nobody really did seem to get much in the way of sleep that night, instead it would seem that everyone wanted instead to wait for any updates from Po Zei which were mostly the same things over and over. There was nothing more to say other then that Xiulong was resting comfortably. He'd told them that he'd awoken once, long enough to get some water, then went back to sleep but had been sleeping since. That had caused a bit of relief to show on the features of their Master but knowing that the bluenette wasn't out of the woods yet hadn't allowed for him to really rest despite Tian Mi trying to get him to lay down, trying a couple times without success before she gave up and went to make some tea for him.

Light from the sun started to spill through the windows of the bathhouse when Xiulong came to again, looking around for a moment before he pushed himself to sitting up, "Un..." He was brought out of his deep slumber by the rays of the sun only to find himself in pain, his medication having faded as he slept. Lifted a hand to cover the bandaged side of his face the bluenette glanced over at where Po Zei was sitting, head leaning forward, seeming to have dozed off sitting up and he leaned over to give the white haired man a hand, "Ahh... Po Zei... hey..." He murmured, doing his best to wake the man up.

The man eyes opened up behind the white hair that seemed to be perpetually in his eyes before he gave a slight wince, "Ah, seems the sun is up." He murmured before he looked the boy over a moment, able to see the telltale signs of pain on his face, "I see." He said before rising to his feet, "Lay back and try to relax, I will get you some tea so we can mix some pain killer into it." It was easy to give him last night since he was unconscious but given that he was awake now he doubted he would want to deal with the bitter taste of the medicine that would make him feel better.

Xiulong gave a slight nod, watching through one eye as the Doctor rose to his feet and hurried off to fetch some tea before forcing himself to his feet, moving toward the window. He had to close the curtains, he knew the sunlight hurt Po Zei's eyes and skin, as such he wanted to make the room more comfortable for the man to be in since he didn't want him to leave since he was injured. It was a touch childish and nothing he wanted to admit but he was in pain... and more then a little scared.

Xiulong rested for a moment against the closed, covered window, and felt a touch of anger rising in him when he felt to weak to really do much more then close the window. This was horrible... how badly was he injured that such a thing exhausted him? He lifted a hand to lay it over the bandage again for a moment before he heard a familiar voice that caused him to turned to look over his shoulder with his uncovered eye, "Qiu Shui." He murmured before putting a smile on his face, pushing away from the window, "How am I feeling? I'm fine." A complete lie that even a child could figure out since it was a strain to stay on his feet at the moment but still he wanted to be strong for them both.

He took a step forward toward him before he reeled slightly, hand lifting once more to cover his aching wound, "At least I will be... Po Zei is getting some tea, hes going to prepare it so that it will help to ease the pain." He said, moving at an achingly slow pace toward his sleeping mat, wanting to lay down once more, to just rest a while longer. He didn't like that he was feeling this terrible... he should be resting at the moment because he'd had a rough night of training not because he was feeling terrible... it was such a pain. When he was able to get back to his makeshift bed he lowered himself down to sit on it, "I thought when I woke up, when you weren't here, that maybe I had dreamed that you had shown up."