"Who is that?"
"No one knows, he appeared out of thin air right after the emperor was crowned and hasn't left his side since,"
...
"It is that damned man again, isn't it?"
"How the fuck does he do that!"
...
"You know not of the rumors, do you?"
"W...
Inside of the house was small, minimally furnished, but clean and brightly lit amd airy with wide opened windows. The boy was lying on a cot, arranged in the sitting room, looking for all purpose and appearance, just sleeping.
Zihua walked closer, Yuray tagging on behind. The old man broke away to a woman kneeling on the floor by the other side of the cot, holding on the child's hand. She looked thin, wane and exhausted, dark cycles under her eyes and tear tracks visible on face.
"You said he wouldn't wake up?" Zihua asked, sitting down on the cot taking the boy's free wrist to check for pulse.
"Yes...yes...sir....he...he fainted...and...and...he..." the woman, probably the child's mother, stated, sobbing anew.
Yuray felt uncomfortable, not at the small house, nor the poor surrounding, but at her tears. How much does a mother love their child?
The old man put a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her, but he also appeared too choked on to speak.
"Please calm down madam, we will try our best to help," Yuray volunteered to speak, seeing as Zihua was too busy examining the boy. His pulse, eyes, tongue, and even head.
Yuray did not said 'its okay,' because it was not okay, he knew next to nothing of healing and had no idea whether the child could be healed or not. Giving no hope was better than giving false hope. Because when those hopes were crushed, the effort needed will be doubled to pull yourself together.
Zihua rose to his feet, an unreadable expression weighing on his face.
"Zihua?" Yuray asked.
"It's nothing," Zihua reassured him.
"Madam, did you see your son eating something suspicious yesterday? While you were at Dawn valley?" He turned to the old couple.
"Suspicious? Nn..no...why? Master Mehran,...can...can he...?" The man stuttered.
"No no, he will be fine, he must have eaten an Akasha cherry. I have medicine for that," Zihua assured them, rummaging through his satchel.
He pulled out three glass bottles, a small silver goblet and a silver spoon.
"Yuary," he beckoned him close, handing the goblet to him and started measuring out the liquids.
Two liquids, one a deep red, almost black and another a clear solution, went in the goblet and a yellowish powder from the third bottle added to it. Zihua sirled them all together and the mixture turned a slight swamp green.
'How did red and yellow turn to green? Where is the logic in that? What sort of black magic is this?' Yuray raised his curious eyes to Zihua, who only smiled and winked at him.
Yuray pursed his lips and scowled at him.
Repacking the bottles in, the young doctor took the goblet from the other's hand, involving far too much skin contact than necessary.
Yuray narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't said anything, in considerate of their present company.
"Can you raise him up?" Zihua asked. Yuray obliged, slipping behind the cot to carefully raise the child off it, keeping him elevated so he does not choke.
Zihua was gentle in his spoon feeding the medicine, checking to see that the boy had swallowed before another sip is given.
The child grimaced in sleep, possibly at the taste, but did not resisted.
"He will be okay, Madam, sir," Zihua said, rising to his feet and stuffing the other two equipment in his bag as well.
Yuray lowered the boy, pulling the blankets up higher. He glanced down at the small face, barely five or six years old, the palor slightly dimming with colour blooming on his cheeks.
"Make sure that he drinks a lot of water and that he..." Zihua was giving some more advice to the parents, but it had all faded into background noise for Yuray.
'Such innocence,' he wonderd to himself, still staring at the adorable little face. When had he ever been so innocent, when had he slept so peacefull? He did not knew whether he envied the little child, but it truly has come somewhere neat there. He should be ashamed of himself, but his mind has slowed down, thoughts slipping away like water on a lotus leaf.
"Yuray?" a light touch on his shoulder startled him, drawing him away from the abyss he was letting to be dragged into.
He looked up, meeting Zihua's concerned eyes. Eyes that held a promise, a warmth, safety, eyes that Yuray will never be worthy of, eyes that he should run far far away from, before he tainted this pure soul with the murky blackness inside him.
He blinked and shook his head.
"Nothing, let's go?" He asked.
...
"This wasn't how I planned for the day to go," Zihua muttered, cradling a goblet of ale.
Opposite him, Yuray was playing with a small ceramic wine glass, rolling it in between his long fingers. His nails were slightly long, filed to a point.
The small water bath was steaming between them, holding three pots of rice wine.
"At least there was a good thing' Yuray said, fishing out a pot a with a cloth.
"And what would that be?" Zihua asked, leaning on his palm with the elbow on the table.
"I found out you are a doctor, and your last name is Meharn," he poured the clear liquid, taking a sip straight up and freezing.
Yuray's free hand went up to his mouth, his eyes widened like a spooked baby deer.
"You burned your mouth, didn't you," Zihua leaned over the table top to grab at his hand.
He pulled the hand covering his mouth to find the tip of the pink tongue lightly poking in-between the rosy red lips.
Zihua swallowed, forcing his eyes from the lips back up to the eyes, only to burst out laughing at how shocked Yuray looked.
"Yuray, are you okay?" He asked, rubbing his thumb back and forth over Yuray's back hand.
Yuray blinked, staring at him for a couple seconds and dawning the entire cup with one swig.
"Yuray!" Zihua cried, alarmed that he would burn himself again, but rather, he looked incensed instead, scowling at him and yanked his hand back.
Zihua bit his lip, trying not to laugh, only to fail miserably when Yuray scowled harder and fell pray to a deep rambunctious laughter.
...
Hey,
Am I on a roll today......Whoop!! Ya bet I am. I'm so motivated....
Hope for another chapter in...half an hr maybe? I wrote it before this caz that part had been in my mind for days.....
Anyway, enjoy, we will get to the plot, soon, first, I need to build up the....team, per se,
See ya,
Arkhane.
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I don't have to say who they are, do I? The height difference is pretty accurate, but Zihua is a few shades darker in complexion.
