Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 3.16: BaiXue

LongFei appeared at the doorway in the next second. He saw that she was sitting on the bed and holding the bright red thick blanket against her chest with her fair slender bare back facing the doorway.

The scene looked very inviting. A random stray image of having his lips against her soft back popped into his mind.

Wham!

BaiXue jumped at the sudden sound and turned her head to look quizzically at LongFei.

"A spider." LongFei said as he dusted the slight dent he created on the door frame.

Could he be scared of spiders? Look at that dent in the frame. BaiXue talked to BaoBao. BaiXue did not notice the slightly red patch on LongFei's forehead.

Yes, that was quite a weird and violent reaction just for a small spider. BaoBao responded. He saw how LongFei had headbutted the wall.

LongFei coughed lightly then walked in calmly like nothing happened. Why am I having such thoughts about her... LongFei chided himself in his head. BaiXue turned to face the front again.

LongFei gently and carefully applied the salve on her wounds. Upon close inspection, he noticed that the wound was actually pretty deep but had not bled a lot because his ice fire had cauterized the wound slightly.

His heart ached when he remembered the scene from before. He bandaged her torso for her then helped her put on her robes. While he pulled her long hair out of her robes, he suddenly asked in a small voice, "Can you please let me help you next time?"

She turned her head and looked at him blankly.

"I don't want to see you hurt."

"Then don't see. Don't be there."

"You know that's not what I mean..." LongFei said in a depressed tone. He lightly sighed. "Ignore what I asked. As long as you're happy, I'll support you."

After a short silence, he continued talking while looking into her eyes, "You did incredibly well, your brother would be proud of you."

BaiXue's eyes widened slightly. "You heard everything."

"Sorry, did you want to keep it private?" LongFei cast his eyes down.

"...No. It's fine if you know." BaiXue withdrew into her thoughts for awhile as she stared off into a distance. 

Talking about an older brother and her recent emotional moment easily threw her into a nostalgic state. 

Desmond was really quite like the original soul's older brother, except that he had loved both her and Erica from the moment they were born. It was amazing how Desmond could remain both encouraging about their growth yet never stopped spoiling them as his baby sisters. He was usually the fastest person who would notice whenever she went missing to berate herself for not producing the expected results, so would often be the first one to be there for her before the rest of her family would join in. 

She could also no longer keep track of the number of times he made it clear to them how much he treasured them more than his life. Since he was in the military like their father, he knew of several life and death situations and situations where not everyone could be saved. Because of that, he has made his baby sisters promise him to always prioritise their lives over his otherwise he'd never be able to die peacefully. When they did, he laughed jovially and his smile was as if nothing better could have happened to him. 

"... You're right. My brother would probably be proud of me. For choosing to live on for him."

LongFei looked at her and was dazzled by what he saw. She had a bright carefree smile on her face with cute dimples on her cheeks and her beautiful grey eyes were curved into crescent moons. His breath got caught in his throat. He was afraid that even breathing would ruin this moment.