Does It Matter

26

The breeze is nice... Wu Xie smiled softly, relishing the feeling of the wind tousling his hair, it felt refreshing, and relieving, like a weight being lifted from your shoulders would, or a long sleep.
The sun flashed in his eyes as the bike crested a slope in the road, but he couldn't muster more than mild annoyance at it. He felt free, and by extension peaceful. who knew that all this time that he had felt so stressed and emotional about his life all he really needed was to be in the (above ground) outdoors.
"I should seriously consider a vacation soon." He muttered to himself absently.

He was torn from his thoughts by a second set of hands taking control and suddenly steering the bike sharply to the right.
"Wu Xie!"

The farm truck honked as it passed, the driver clearly annoyed. Whoops.
Wu Xie sighed as he realized the current situation was greatly reminiscent of a time not too long ago, where he had also nearly killed them both with careless driving. At least they weren't on a mountain side this time. Small mercies.
He glanced back briefly at the other. "Sorry." He said with a sheepish grin.
He didn't receive a verbal response, but felt the other tighten his hold, on the bike and him. He knew subconsciously that the other had some form of concern in his expression, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Although he could understand the sentiment considering how Wu Xie had nearly killed them both in a moment of stupidity. This is what happens when you relax. This is why you have to stay alert and ready dumbass, people get hurt if you don't.
"Qiling?"
"Hm?" The other responded—well, kinda.
"Would you like to drive?"
"No." The other stated in a firm tone. Which took Wu Xie a moment to process as the decision to continue leaving survival up to the younger seemed utterly foolish at the moment.
"Are you sure? Wait, do you know how to drive?"
The other didn't answer. Ah, so he has no choice but to trust me with it.
"Ah, Zhang Qiling, this is such a basic skill for survival, how do you not know it?" He smirked. "Eh your name is too long, it takes too long to say, how about we give you a nickname?"
"A nickname?" He could hear the head tilt in his tone, and resisted the urge to laugh.
"Yes, let's see...." He thought for a bit before a lightbulb went off in his head, his grin taking on a more mischievous note. "Ah, Xiaoge sounds right."
"Older." The other stated simply, the confusion was evident in his voice, and Wu Xie couldn't help but imagine the frown on his face.
"Xiaoge it is." He said, holding back a chuckle.

_____________________

"Aish these fools." Sanxing had almost had it with the foolishness being displayed daily by his new 'crew'. Three out of the original twenty he had hired had already gotten themselves into a hospital, and the rest grumbled incessantly about every little thing.
The middle aged man rubbed between his eyes with a sigh, in a fruitless attempt to ease his incoming headache.
He heard a short screech from the hole they had dug in the mountainside, and groaned in exasperation. "Pan Zi!" He bellowed.
"Yes?" He turned with a slight startle to see that the slightly younger man had been standing behind him for some time.
"Ah, there you are." He recovered quickly and took on an authoritative air. "Shut him up will you." He grumbled and walked away, the brush beneath his feet crunching out the dryest sounds of a dying forest.

His head had been aching consistently since they had started delving into the stone. It was exhausting by itself without the additional nausea from the constant boiling humidity and the whining of those idiots. Thank the heavens they'll all be gone soon enough.

  ________________________

The sun was setting in an array of bright pinks, oranges, and purple when Wu Xie pulled the bike in front of a small motel office, giving a quick but thorough once over to the whole area as he shoved the key in his pocket and walked inside.

The middle aged man at the desk looked up from his magazine with a long suffering gaze after hearing the bell hanging over the door ring out,
"How can I help you?" The man grumbled as he gave the young man in front of him a quick once over, and apparently came to the conclusion that he most likely didn't have enough spare cash to bother flattering.
 
Wu Xie's immediate opinion of the man was equally unfavorable, and when he paired that fact with how exhausted he found himself, he opted not to attempt small talk.
    "I need a room for tonight." He stated and heard the bell chime from behind him as his companion entered the building. 
   Xiaoge came to stand about a foot behind him and just to the left, which Wu Xie recognized as the other guarding his weak point.
He was subconsciously grateful for the small action, despite wanting to roll his eyes. 

  "Pay is upfront, our rates are listed there." The man shoved his thumb over his shoulder at the peeling sign on the wall without looking up from his magazine.

Wu Xie rolled his eyes intentionally at this and dropped a wad of cash on the counter without a glance at the aforementioned sign.

The balding man looked up, startled, and finally noticed the third person in the room as he did. "Ah, did you need two rooms then?" He asked as he counted the cash, while stealing glances at the taller companion, particularly lingering on the sword still strapped to the man's back.
  "No, one is fine, that should be enough to cover one night yes?" Wu Xie blew a stray strand of hair out of his eyes.
  The man nodded as he finally set the cash in a drawer under the counter and withdrew a set of keys. "Number 5, on your left when you exit the office."
  "Thank you." Wu Xie smiled at the man and left the room, ignoring the man as he craned his neck over the counter to watch them leave.

The man waited a moment after the strange pair had closed the door and quickly darted to the window to peer through a slit in the blinds, watching them count off the doors as they walked before finally unlocking one and walking inside.
  No sooner had the door closed behind them than he hurried back to his desk and snatched up his phone, looking at the unlocked screen he had set down when the customers entered the room. The photo was unmistakable, it was the same person, though the boy in the photo was grinning happily at whoever he was speaking to, while this one appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, it was undoubtedly the same. 
He swiftly closed the image and dialled a number with sweating hands.
"Hello? Yes! He's here. No, with a strange person. Yes. Yes. I'll do my best. "
The call ended with a click, and the man swiped his hand against his head with a sigh.
  This shouldn't be too hard, considering the limp he had happened to see that the younger man was sporting. Now he just had to wait.