@la-poderosa said: [ STEADY ] // peiwen !!
pinned against a wall prompts
[ STEADY ]: sender gently catches and guides the emotionally distressed receiver against a wall in order to physically steady them.
Why isn’t he answering? Ling Wen feels like an animal shoved into a cage far too small for it as she stares blankly at the scroll in front of her. Whatever it is, she can’t be bothered by it when there’s something more concerning at hand. Where was Pei Ming? There wasn’t any reports of danger or disturbances (she’d know, she’d been actively monitoring all the open communication arrays). Sometimes there were areas that could make the connection fragile or impossible. Logically, Pei Ming likely had just passed through or gone into one to fulfill an easy prayer and that was that. She shouldn’t make a big deal out of this.
But a chill still drags its claws down her spine in defiance of her rational logic.. Ling Wen is used to being winter, not having the fangs of anxiety pierce her. It doesn’t matter how different the situation is. The last time no one had answered, Shi Wudu had come back dead. He hadn’t even come back whole. They still didn’t have his head and they likely never would. It’s a memory that makes her feel sick and cold. But it brings on a GREATER thought of concern. Not Pei Ming. She’d take his spot if need be. The weight of her crimes far outweighed his.
Ling Wen only vaguely registers the fact she’s abandoned her work and is walking through the Heavenly Capital’s streets when she suddenly feels a wave of dizziness hit her. She can still remember the disbelief when they’d come back at the idea that Shi Wudu was dead. ( And not even by a trial. ) How it’d only truly hit her that night when she’d gone to his palace with its snuffed out lights. She’d stood in the vacant halls or a minute only to collapse to the cold tile and had cried for the first time over the loss. She can’t do that again. She can’t. The end of time would still be far too soon for her to lose someone so dear to her.
Her hands find the door to push open Pei Ming’s palace hall doors - no one would think twice about her appearing there given how often the three tumors had once visited each other. But the door feels impossibly heavy as she pushes it with all her effort and steps inside. Her blue eyes stare ahead, and despite being present, everything feels disorienting and far away. But an arm catches her, guides her, till her back is against the wall and giving her the support that it felt like her legs were about to stop giving her.
Ling Wen takes a moment to process that someone had grabbed and helped her - as if they knew before she did of what might be about to happen. Impossible. No one could do that except one now. She lifts her head to see.......Pei Ming. Relief rushes over her in a tidal wave that leaves her even more disoriented from the sudden shift of fear to pure relief.
And she promptly slaps him only to immediately sink into his chest, her hands clutching onto the fabric of his robes. She doesn’t cry, but her breath stutters, struggling to fill her lungs when she chokes on emotion. Surprise, joy, relief. He was okay. He was fine, he didn’t even seem to be injured. He must have just gotten back. Her eyes squeeze shut, forehead pressed against him as she lets the wall and Pei Ming himself support her.
She won’t have to see his corpse dragged in. She won’t see his palace destroyed. She won’t be the last one.
