Does It Matter

2

Wu Xie tossed his bag in the back of his sports car, closing the hatch with a dull thunk. He rolls his eyes as he sees his uncle give his car a disapproving stare; spending the majority of his time in ancient tombs didn't mean he had to resign himself to an ancient vehicle.
His uncle gave up his glare at the vehicle and turned back to his conversation with the newest member of their team, the subject of said conversation remaining unknown to the youngest since, frankly, he hadn't bothered to listen until he saw an exchange of nods, and the Zhang guy began to walk in his direction.
Is he being made to ride with me in my car then? He wondered,  well obviously what's the point of a bodyguard if he's not nearby.
Said dark personage had now come to a stop in front of him, staring wordlessly, probably waiting for an order of some sort.
Wu Xie sighed and gestured to the passenger side, and he quickly complied by entering the vehicle.
Wu Xie was quick to follow, after ensuring that he had all that he might(probably wouldn't) need.
He got in the driver's seat and started the engine, adjusted his mirrors, and sped off, ignoring the fact that his uncle was still loading the last of his own supplies.
There was probably no need to rush, but Wu Xie happened to love driving, and apparently the occasional speeding ticket that came with it. Also somewhere in the back of his mind, he sometimes felt the need to show off, for the sake of making a strong impression for certain people.
That way it was harder to be forgotten, he hoped.

Qiling gave no reaction to his speeding, or the early departure, he simply sat still in his seat, not touching anything that he didn't have to, watching him drive.
After a while the silence was becoming unbearable, and Wu Xie began to fidget uncomfortably, one hand playing absently with his hair as he drove.
"So, Brother Zhang, where do you come from?" He asked in an attempt to make some form of civil conversation.

"...."

"Okay..." he trailed off, disliking the silence. Seriously, what was this guy's problem?

"How old are you?"

"...."

"You can't even tell me that much?"

"...."

"Eh, seriously? I get that everyone has their secrets, but you could at least tell me something random like what foods you like. This is going to be a long drive and it'll be very boring if you continue to be such a menyouping."

"..." The man's expression twitched at the name calling, just slightly, most people wouldn't even notice, but wu Xie had always been pretty good at reading people. He smirked a little in triumph at getting a reaction.

"Well how about this, I'm 22, are you younger or older than me?"

The guy still didn't answer, just looked at him with a blank expression, like he couldn't understand the question.

"Not even that much then? Fine fine, continue to brood." He grumbled, turning back to the road, determined to ignore the other.
It was a few moments later that his slight cold decided to remind him of his bad decisions from the day before, throwing him into a coughing fit out of nowhere.

The weird mute reached over from the passenger side to steady the wheel so they didn't go over the edge of the railing on the highway they were currently on.

"Slow down!" His exclamation was quiet, barely audible over his coughing to be honest, but it still brought a slight amount of satisfaction that he had finally said something at all.

Wu Xie obeyed and eased on the breaks, not caring to have his funeral alongside this stuffy oil pots. They pulled over to the curb.

He was still coughing when he put the car in park, and his attempt to stifle it by drinking water from the case of bottles in the back seat only had the opposite effect as he choked on it. He was vaguely aware that someone was patting his back soothingly, but ignored it in favor of figuring out how to breath.

Finally he stopped coughing and he was able to slowly regain his breathe, feeling like he was on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen. What the fuck is with the timing? Seriously if I hadn't pulled over we both would've died just now. Damn Fatty stealing my umbrella and making me sick.

He sat there a few more minutes, letting his watery eyes clear up and sniffling a little, it seemed the rather violent outburst had caused all the stops to be pulled, and he really didn't feel good at all at the moment.
But, that could wait, he pulled a smirk on his face, laughing nonchalantly.
"Sorry, I don't always do so well in dry climates like this, " he half lied, it was true the climate they were in was very dry at the moment, but that hardly affected the air inside the car.
The other stayed silent, and Wu Xie half wondered why he bothered making an excuse, as if this stuffy person would care either way, if anything he was probably irritated that he had nearly run them off the road.

He put the car into gear and they started off again, both now relatively quiet, aside from the occasional sniffle from the driver.

Finally it was dark out, they had started early in the morning, and Wu Xie had been driving for nearly thirteen hours, aside from a brief stop for fuel and food, and he was feeling close to feverish by this point. He pulled over by a shabby inn in the middle of a small village.
He threw a brief glance at the other before exiting the vehicle and making his way towards the entrance, expecting the other to follow. The inside was a bit better than he had been expecting, and he smiled a little as he walked up to the door immediately inside with a sign indicating that it was the owners residence. He knocked a few times before it opened to reveal an old man in somewhat traditional clothing, glaring lightly at the disturber.
Wu Xie offered a polite smile, throwing together his most innocent face, watching the man slowly let his guard down as he looked over the seemingly harmless young man.
"Sorry, so sorry to disturb you uncle, I'm passing through your village, and I was wondering if you had any room available?"
The man stared at him a moment before retreating back into the depths of the room, returning a moment later with a ring of keys, a weird looking keychain hung off the ring with several keys, it looked to be something designed for a very different purpose than it's current one, but to each their own he supposed.
All of a sudden he realized that his quiet companion was not with him, and bid the owner wait a moment before running back to the car, only to find that the other was not there. He frowned in confusion, but shrugged it off for the time being; maybe he had gone to find a restroom? He went to retrieve his luggage and returned to the inn, the owner impatiently tapping his foot as he waited.
"Sorry, sorry." Wu Xie apologized, slightly bowing. The man grunted and continued to walk down a hallway, finally reaching a door at the end where he stopped and handed Wu Xie a key before walking away, talking over his shoulder as he went, spewing some outrageous price that Wu Xie had no energy to argue at the moment.
He entered his room and tossed his luggage on the floor, before throwing himself on one of the two beds in the room, he vaguely wondered where Qiling had gone, but not enough to go find him. But then again, maybe he should? He was about to get up to go look, but he was startled when he heard a rustling noise behind him, having not heard the door open after he closed it. He jumped up and looked behind him, pulling the large knife from his belt as he went, only to see the missing man himself, staring impassively at him.
"There you are! I was about to go look for you, where on earth did you disappear too?" He exclaimed, relieved that it wasn't an actual intruder.
"Inspecting." He said simply, and Wu Xie suppressed the urge to groan at his lack of speech.
"Okay, well, at least let me know next time you run off okay." He said before lying back down to sleep.
The other stood still for a moment, still watching him, before moving to the other bed and lying down as well. The rest of the night went by peacefully, both sleeping quietly, well, semi quietly, on Wu Xie's part, his cold symptoms causing his breathing to be a bit louder than usual.
At least he was sharing a room with someone who wouldn't complain, unlike the times when he would go on these trips with Fatty.