Inbox: Ximilia

[singlelogbridge]

// Wei Wuxian

TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO

XIMILIA

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[construing]

[ wei wuxian was asleep when gwen started. he sleeps fitfully. back on the station, she realized he suffered from nightmares—top five ailment among orbers, and gwen is willing to bank on it being first. back then, he put a silencing talisman on himself. she only noticed because venom did. come morning, she told him she got them too. that was it. problem solved. they should turn their attention to world peace next.

seated beside wei wuxian in the bed, gwen plays with his hair. it was glossier in taeum, felt like silk in her hand that time she pulled it because he was being annoying. here, the flaws show. damage. split ends. wherever he was before coming to the station, it lacked both food and leave-in conditioners. mary jane would never stop complaining about the second.

they sleep even less now. somewhere in taeum, gwen can feel mccoy frowning. it a gentle thrum through her awareness informs her that wei wuxian is awake. whether because of her actions or their individual insomnia, she doesn't know. her fingers keep twisting. the activity is mindless, almost instinctive. it's nice. gwen has already put two dutch braids into the side of his head. she alternates pulling on the strands to give it a decorative look.

task complete, she sections off more of his hair, taking less care now that she does not need to worry about him waking. her fingers drift across his scalp. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[For what feels like the first time since arriving on this planet, Wei Wuxian doesn't wake with his heart in his throat and his body jumping to alertness. Instead he wakes slowly, stirred gently from unconsciousness by a soft touch. Even before he's opened his eyes or remembered himself, the touch registers as safe, and he doesn't move away from it. He doesn't want to.

Instead he allows wakefulness to return at a slow pace, quietly creeping into his senses, and even when he's returned to consciousness entirely, he doesn't pull away from Gwen's fingers.

For several minutes he says nothing as she works, reveling in the intimacy and affection of it. When he does find his voice it's scratchy with the remnants of sleep.]

Are you making me prettier?

[construing]

[ the question ekes a small smile. it bleeds faintly into her voice when she speaks. ]

I'm trying to make you pretty, Mr. Fifth Place. Move you up a slot.

[ yes, she remembers he got fourth place. yes, she's being mean. xoxo, gossip gwen 😌 ]

[singlelogbridge]

Fourth. [He corrects easily, humming softly under his breath as she continues to work carefully with his hair.]

And it's like you think I don't remember how much you enjoyed staring.

[construing]

Uh-huh. [ she takes one braid in hand. ] Hey, what color was my swimsuit?

[singlelogbridge]

[Innocent and unsuspecting] Red.

[He answers before he can even wonder at why she's asking that now. It's easy to remember on account of how that suit is burned into his memory. Gwen is pretty! And that was...It was a lot of skin. Wei Wuxian prides himself on being a gentleman and not a creep, but he can't do anything about how the shock factor means he will literally never forget.]

Wait. Why?

[construing]

You answered that a little… [ and here her hand sneaks to his side to a find a spot that is ticklish, ] quickly.

[singlelogbridge]

[He yelps and immediately tries to roll away.]

How am I supposed to forget it? It was so—[He snaps his mouth shut suddenly and turns very red.]

[construing]

[ wei wuxian tries roll. can't escape! ]

You want to finish that sentence?

[singlelogbridge]

[He turns his head back into the pillow so that he's lying on his face.]

No.

[construing]

[ gwen regards wei wuxian's prone, pitiful self for 0.8 seconds.



then her hands mercilessly flit to his sides in a tickle attack. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[No, no, no! This isn't allowed! He yelps again and skitters away from her reach, trying to catch her wrists in his hands to stop the assault.]

Can't you go back to playing with my hair? I liked that, it felt nice! Why are you attacking me!

[construing]

[ he gets no response but for her laughter. brief, quiet, and a laugh, nonetheless. the sound surprises even her. she hasn't felt much desire to laugh, or for anything, these days.

gwen could easily avoid his attempts, but where's the fun in that? they wrestle together playfully back onto the bed. her short hair fans out on the pillow behind her.

a little glimmer has returned to her blue eyes. she boops his nose, and drops her hand on the bed close to his. the pads of her fingers find his palm. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[At the sound of her laughter, Wei Wuxian's eyes widen and twinkle with mirth, but in honor of the game he keeps the distraught pout on his face while the wrestle, only allowing a smile to slip onto his face once they've settled again.

The bop to his nose is warm and familiar and he ducks his head, affection bleeding into his every pore. It's nothing to close his hand gently around hers and thread their fingers together.]

I can't believe you tickled me. I haven't been so harassed since I was three. [And then without thinking, his voice gone petulant] Xianxian is too old to tickle!

[construing]

[ and it was in that moment that wei wuxian was baptized ‘xianxian’. ]

Xianxian? [ 1) that is absurdly cute. and 2) ] That’s a big word for Elmo.

[singlelogbridge]

[He's not mad about it. His cheeks flush red at the slip-up (and there's a lot to say about Gwen pulling out that side of him) but he grins all the more for it.]

Yes, I am Xianxian! Xianxian is three! [Pause.] What's Elmo?

[construing]

[ gwen mock frowns. ]

Now, wait. Is Xianxian three or is Xianxian too old to tickle? Because I don’t think you can be both at the same time.

[ as she speaks, the hand in his briefly tightens its hold: crossing into uncomfortable, not enough to be painful. it coincides with her eyes flicking toward something (someone) in the room that only she can see. her legs pull closer into her body. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Wuxian is caught, his eyes growing larger as he realizes she has seen straight through the flaws in his logic. He could try to argue his way out but he'd seen that shift and he squeezes her hand instead, pouting harder.]

...the cut off for tickling is 2 years and 11 months, of course.

[construing]

Oh, of course. How silly of me. Gwennie would like to say “I’m sorry” to Xianxian.

[ it’s easier to keep the game going. she focuses on his face and his ridiculous pout and pretends like her life and sanity depend on it. (lately she fears they do.) ]

[singlelogbridge]

[He doesn't have to force himself to smile to keep up the distraction, the beaming grin he shoots her entirely sincere.]

Gwennie is forgiven because she is Xianxian's best friend. How old is Gwennie? [As he asks, he curls closer to her, turned into her like they're passing secrets between them.]

[construing]

Gwennie is three and a half.

[ she holds up three fingers. not two. not four. three. ]

The half is important.

[singlelogbridge]

[He nods very seriously.]

Then Gwennie is Xianxian's jie. [It only hurts a little and mostly it's a good hurt. Verbalizing what has been true for a while now doesn't change anything that he hasn't already accepted.]

That makes me your didi. And it means...it means we'll always look out for each other. [He pauses, eyes gone soft and shy. It's a lot to ask of her. Presumptuous to claim her as family. But he's dead and it's not like he has anything to lose. Here on the Ximilia and in all of the worlds it takes them too, aren't they all orphans of a sort?]

[construing]

[ her eyes, blue as a summer sky, do not move away from his hopeful face. her heart feels like it has been caught in a vise, but as is true for wei wuxian, it’s a strangely good ache…more because she too needed the reassurance.

more than once she has had to bite her tongue to stop herself encouraging him to leave. they have a mission, a purpose. he never signed up to play nurse to a girl vividly hallucinating. she hates being a source of worry. (she hates feeling so powerless.)

wei wuxian, though… he makes it easy. they just clicked. like they were always meant to know one another.

gwen reaches for him. ] Yeah. [ her fingers tenderly brush his jaw. ]

It means you can always count on me. No matter what.

[singlelogbridge]

[The slight hesitation in his face vanishes and his expression blossoms into unadulterated affection. He squeezes the hand still threaded with his own and curls closer to her.]

You too. You'll never have to face anything alone.

[construing]

I know. [ he doesn’t need to reassure her. he has proven it with every song he has sung, each time he speaks to her just so she can listen to a different voice, each time he returns with a rare treat or trinket he thought might amuse her. he has been proving it every day that he stays.

she settles her head against his shoulder. her hand drops from his face to his chest. his heart drums a steady beat beneath her fingers.

her voice is quiet, barely more than a whisper, when she says, ] Thank you.