The Vicissitudes of Life - XiYao [EN]

3 | Eye of the storm

Meng Yao was out of it. As soon as Lan Xichen had grasped a handful of his robes, he began trashing around, so violently that Xichen nearly tumbled face-first into the snow. Still, his grasp never wavered, afraid that if he would let go, there would once more be nothing left for him to hold.

"Meng Yao!"

A second gloved hand came up, to touch the side of Meng Yao's face, to make him look at Xichen, bring him back to his senses. The wild glow in Meng Yao's eyes lost some of its fierceness as something like recognition flashed across his face. His lips opened, closed, then opened again, but if he'd said something, the words had been stolen from his lips and swallowed by the storm.

He looked absolutely wild. Disheveled hair, clumped together in wet strands, robes torn apart and dirtied by — Was that blood?
It was. Quite a lot. He couldn't say for sure if it was Meng Yao's blood or someone else's, but his stomach churned regardless.

An exceptionally strong push from the wind, caused Meng Yao to lose his footing, stumbling, as Lan Xichen flung both arms around his waist to stop the fall.

"To the cabin!" He doubted that any of it had reached Meng Yao's ear but as he began moving into the direction of the hut, Meng Yao moved with him, despite evidently struggling to keep on walking.

Every step was a battle, the way never ending. Meng Yao was lighter and smaller than him, but when they finally reached the cabin, after what felt like an eternity, Lan Xichen was trembling due to his efforts of keeping him upright. It was beyond him how he'd managed to single-handedly open the wooden door and maneuver them both inside. He sat Meng Yao down in front of the crackling fire and went back to close the door. In a hurry, Lan Xichen removed his boots and shed his outer layers, leaving them tossed beside the door. In the blink of an eye he was back at Meng Yao's side, kneeling.

It was a heart-wrenching image.
Meng Yao getting swallowed in a pile of soaking wet robes, small frame shaking like a trembling leaf, breath going shallow. His right arm was in a weird position, cradled against his chest and partially hidden by his other arm. A look on his face and Lan Xichen saw that he was crying, silent tears streaming over his reddened cheeks.
Was it relief or exhaustion? Pain?

"You need to change."

"Can't."

It was a fact as much as it was a plea and Lan Xichen understood. With one of his knifes, he carefully cut through the layers of Meng Yao's drenched robes, slowly shedding them to the ground, letting them pool around his lap. Despite being as gentle as he possibly could, Meng Yao flinched whenever Lan Xichen's hands would come into contact with his body, pained whimpers leaving his mouth. Only minutes later, Meng Yao's gaze became unfocused and he began to curl into himself, still cradling his arm.

Pealing away the last layer of his inner robe, it became painfully evident, why Meng Yao was hurting. His skin, a deep red because of the freezing cold, was over and over covered in cuts and bruises. Some cuts were fresh, others already building scar tissue. A sudden need to badly hurt the person who had caused these intentionally inflicted injuries overcame Xichen, leaving him lightheaded. Meng Yao's body suddenly going limp under his hands, caused another wave of lightheadedness, this time out of sheer panic. Checking his pulse, Lan Xichen could breathe a bit easier again. It was faint but steady in rhythm. Another moment passed, in which Lan Xichen took a deep breath, deciding what to do next.

His gaze grazed over the cut robes between them— A mistake.
Meng Yao's arms were limp now, hands folded in his lap on top of the fabric. Instead, that there was only one hand. Where his right hand should've been were instead bloodied up bandages.

Lan Xichen felt like he might throw up.

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a/n — Thank you for reading (:
Also, if you notice some horrendous spelling errors like "food prints" instead of "footprints" (oh God TT) please let me know and I'll fix them! English isn't my native language and apparently the grammar/spelling website I'm using isn't flawless as well....
See ya^^