Feixiao was completely unfazed by the quiet shadow lurking in the darkness on her tail. Under any other circumstances, she would’ve struck down this visitor without a second thought, but this assassin was far from being unwelcomed company. He was a close ally of hers, a friend even, one she would have no reason to shoo away. Feixiao’s ears rotated to pick up the sound of his footsteps skittering along the top of the buildings and through the side streets, though despite the full attention of her hearing being given to tracking his footsteps, they were still barely audible.
It was admittedly quite impressive; should Feixiao find herself distracted even for a split second, he may just have a shot at taking her by surprise. His skills, loyalty, and vigilance made him quite the reliable asset, acting as her right-hand man tackling the filth in the Xianzhou depths she dared not touch on the norm. But that wasn’t the reason she kept him around, per say.
She allowed her shadow to trail her further until she made her way to a more inconspicuous location: somewhere that the general public would not think to bat an eye at. The sudden appearance of an assassin directly by her side may falsely alarm those around her that she was under attack. Stirring up chaos on the surface is the last thing she needed after recent events anyways.
"Moze," she said, perking her ears up, "you don’t have to creep around if you want to talk to me about something."
In what seemed to be faster than a fraction of a second, Moze manifested directly beside her, his arms crossed and leaning up against the wall.
"Was the last bit of cleanup I asked of you successful?" she asked.
He nodded his head. His cloak was splattered with blood, and his silver claws were painted a crimson red. It was an unusual appearance for Moze, given the amount of care he invests in keeping both himself and the scene of the deceased tidy. Feixiao figured that perhaps, he had gotten himself into a bit of a scuffle in the process of taking out the remaining stray borisin.
"Got yourself caught in a bit of a situation, didn’t you?"
Moze sighed and looked down, as if he were saying "Yes, but I don’t want to admit it." Feixiao’s ears picked up on each of his breaths being a bit heavier than normal, even despite his best efforts to remain calm. If things were truly that bad down in the prison, even by Moze’s standards, then Feixiao felt bad about him taking such a heavy hit on something that was supposed to be routine.
Blood dripped from his face and splattered onto the stone at his feet. Feixiao grabbed his chin and nudged his face towards her to assess his injuries, but he quickly jerked away.
"You’ll stain yourself with my blood," he said.
"I’m one of the Arbiter-Generals, what’s a little blood gonna do to me?" Feixiao said. "Let me see your injuries."
He couldn’t exactly deny a general’s request, so he beguilingly allowed for her to nudge his face to the side towards her. A deep gash was below his eye, barely missing by a few centimeters. If he was cut any further up, he would have stricken with both blindness and a bloody wound.
"You didn’t head straight to a healer to get yourself patched up?"
Moze shook his head.
"Why not? I can’t have you bleeding out on me, now can I?"
"It is merely a scratch. Other things take priority at the moment."
"A scratch that is still bleeding out. Moze, you should still take care of yourself," Feixiao said, slipping her hand under his hood and ruffling his hair. "I’d rather my assassin come back in one piece rather than tattered up and bleeding."
Moze glanced at Feixiao with the slightest smile, then sighed and looked ahead into the distance once more.
"A cut is nothing. Your illness is cause for greater concern."
Feixiao looked at him with concerned eyes, but didn’t say anything.
"Which, reminds me. Has Jiaoqiu made any progress towards a cure?"
"No, unfortunately," she said, "He’s stumped. Bailu’s stumped. They’ve tried pretty much everything related that they could find in modern medical texts, all to no avail.
Moze sighed, with a regretful look in his eyes that said, "I wish I could do more for you."
"Don’t feel down," Feixiao said, patting him on the shoulder, "you’ll probably be dead long before me anyways, so it really doesn’t matter in the long run."
Feixiao’s words had the opposite effect, as Moze only looked more down and depressed than before. He had the look as if he were saying,"I have failed you,” despite her attempt at reassurance. He looked down as the blood continued dripping from his wound, like tears of blood running down his face.
" Foxians outlive humans regardless, Moze. There’s truly not much you can do yourself."
"...For as long as I am alive, I still wish to see you well.”
"Why are you so worried about my health anyways? This amount of concern certainly a bit odd for you," Feixiao said, ears perking up out of curiosity.
"Favoring a solo path does not mean I am negligent of my general," he said.
"I never said that you had such extensive obligations," Feixiao said, “those matters are usually left to the other knights anyways.”
She tilted her ears towards Moze, picking up on the sound of his blood pressure increasing.
"...Unless you are doing all of this because you want to?"
Moze said absolutely nothing and looked away from Feixiao. Come to think of it, he has been lingering around her considerably more compared to his other affiliates. But he never says anything, so it’s rather difficult for her to discern his motive.
She did wish that he stepped out of the shadows a little more frequently, though.
"Is something the matter?" Feixiao asked, gently pulling aside his hood with her finger.
Moze looked at Feixiao and kept his lips sealed tightly. He looked at his general as if he wanted to say something, but for some reason, couldn’t find the willpower to do so. Feixiao didn’t exactly have the easiest time reading his stoic expressions, either.
"Use your words, Moze," Feixiao said, lifting up his chin with her finger, a bit of his blood trickling onto her hand.
"I...want to be by your side for as long as I live, serving you as you see fit."
"Serving me?" Feixiao asked, leaning in closer to his face.
Moze leaned back in response, unable to keep his face from turning red. He attempted to hide his embarrassment by partially pulling his hood around the side of his face.
"Just...being with you, I suppose."
"You could’ve just told me so," Feixiao said, with an almost gentle smile.
“I mean more like…” Moze said, his words trailing off.
Feixiao knew she would never be able to pry the words out of his mouth, so her second best approach was to take a wild guess instead.
“You mean, you like me?”
He nodded his head slightly, refusing eye contact.
“You could’ve said something,” Feixiao said, “though I realize that’s asking a lot out of someone like you.”
He smiled a little as she pushed back his hood, revealing his silver-white hair under the sunlight.
The number of cuts on him were more than she initially thought. Some of his hair was stained red from blood, whether it was his own or another’s. Feixiao leaned in and licked the blood off of the cut under his eye and the side of his face, catching him off guard. Moze, whose face was already red with embarrassment, was wondering just what in Xianzhou she was thinking.
"Foxians lick their wounds to accelerate the healing process” she clarified, "it’ll help to keep you from getting infected."
Moze wanted to express his thanks, but he once again found himself at a loss for words. Perhaps it wasn’t a matter of wanting to remain silent, but having no choice simply due to not knowing what to say.
"You should still see a proper healer, though. Can’t let my favorite assassin fall over on me, now can I?" Feixiao said, brushing the hair to the side as her ears happily twitched.
"A-as you wish, General," he said, clearing his throat.
