Collide and Cry

decisions

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were once again alone. This seemed to happen more and more often as of late. He was grateful for SiZhui, and the fact that the other did not seem to hate him, but...he was just not sure that he was entirely ready for friends. At least, not yet. Lan Zhan was just so much more...calm, he supposed. He did not force conversation and Wei Ying could speak as much or as little as he wanted, which was a great relief if he was being entirely honest.

 "When is Sect Leader XiChen going to be back?" Wei Ying asked curiously, glancing up for a mere second, idly turning and twisting the coin in his fingers. He had been thinking about it for quite some time, contemplating, before he had settled upon his decision. Perhaps some may not necessarily understand it, and goodness knows that he would not be able to explain the reasons behind his choice, but it was his nonetheless. And he was determined to stand by it. 

He did not know how Lan Zhan would react, and his desire to tell him began to dwindle. What if they saw this as a form of cruelty, or disrespect to their Sect Leader? It was not what he meant, of course, but meaning did not always matter depending on the person and how they percieved it. What if it made him...angry? Wei Ying had not seen the other furious before, annoyed, frustrated, or even horribly confused but not angry, and he definitely had no desire to anytime soon.

"Soon, check on you." Lan Zhan replied in his normal standard fare of very few words. Even though he barely knew Lan Zhan he could tell that the other did not speak much. Perhaps he did not want to. Perhaps he did not feel the need to and so he did not. Wei Ying did not really know, and he did not particularly care anyways. He had seemed more of the silent type from the moment that Wei Ying had met him anyways.

Wei Ying nodded at his reply nonetheless, satisfied. At least he had answered him after all, even if it was a rather vague answer. He had seen Lan Zhan not answer the other members of the Sect before, so he should count himself lucky he supposed. He could return the coin that Lan Zhan had handed back recently to him once more to Lan Xichen then. He did not feel right keeping it. There could be a lot of reasons, but he was not entirely certain why, it just made him feel wrong about it. It had such...immense power, and it was not his to keep. Perhaps some may call him an idiot, but he was not one to take things he did not feel were his to take. 

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying spoke softly, and got quiet suddenly. Such a sudden reaction to a simple question caused Lan Zhan to look up at the other's soft words. He studied Wei Ying, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze, for some unknown reason. 

"Mhm" Wei Ying swallowed nervously as he glanced up at the other for just a moment, before quickly returning his gaze back to the coin he was currently twisting through his fingers.

"I need to return it." He stated, his voice perfectly resolute.

Lan Zhan, for his part showed nothing on the surface, but he was totally confused. He had literally just informed the boy that this coin in his possession could be an ideal safety guard for him, especially given his history with the Jiang clan, and their suspicions, and yet he wanted to return it to Brother? When Lan XiChen finally did return and more then likely immediately as well. It made no sense to him.

"Why?" Lan Zhan asked, as ever getting straight to the point of his confusion. It was somewhat amusing and a little endearing at times in his opinion. Wei Ying sighed biting his lower lip slightly, thoughts being heavy and difficult to really put into words.

"It is not mine." He said after a moment. "I should not even have it. Sect Leader Lan Xichen is kind, to have handed it to me, but...I do not know exactly why, it just feels wrong to keep it." He whispered carefully, still staring at his hands and the glinting metal in between his fingers instead of at Lan Zhan.

The other, simply could not understand this boy. He had been through hell with the Jiang Sect, and he had been held captive, kidnapped, tormented and put through the horrors that Lan Zhan would have nightmares over, then proceeded to be given freedom, only to be told he needed to go to the Cloud Recesses, and then he had been told that the coin that his older brother gave him was a safe guard to give him more freedom than he could ever want, and yet he wanted to return it? Return...the one thing that is keeping him from being hunted down. All because it feels wrong? In what world was that sensible? 

"Wei Ying," the other hummed, his voice just a tad harsh, scolding.

"I know, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said, his voice taking an edge of pleading that Lan Zhan was not too sure that he liked. "I know. It is just that...I cannot allow myself to keep this." He said, rolling the coin between his fingers an odd look in his eyes. "I get this...wrong feeling about it."

"Why?" Lan Zhan asked again, still totally confused.

"I don't really know Lan Zhan." He sighed quietly. Putting on a smile he moved to stand and get closer to Lan Zhan before suddenly pausing and blinking heavily.

"Lan Zhan, I'm tired." He said, body protesting his movements. He moved towards the elder, and just collapsed into the other.

He did not care. Wei Ying was tired, and his body was aching, and the rush of adrenaline was wearing off. Not to mention he had been trudging across the country with two young ones and they ended up having to fight off corpses.