heavensvanguard:
➹ || EASILY HE SHIFTS around back to where he can face her, sitting up & leaning against the wall. plenty of space for the other to rest right next to him if she desired. all his complaints & fuss went right through her. always did. she knew him better than he could ever know himself. their age wasn’t so distant after all. years spent as youths close nit. Xialiao knew when he was properly bothered. he slumps & huffs in irritation. ＂ that is exactly what i said. i find it hard to deal with people when they do not listen to me. ＂
he was good at adapting, surviving. his missing eye was proof enough that hardly anything could tear him down. ripping his own flesh from it’s socket & powering forward. of course it was all a show. adrenaline rushing through him powering a fire of anger at both the fool whom shot him & himself for being so careless. what none saw was the closed doors struggle to regain his sight, take back control. something that to this day his poor lone eye & stressed body struggle to cooperate. admitting such a weakness, however, was impossible. but it made him worry. knowing that was the only reason he agreed to even take these days off. a growl leaves him at his dear Lord Cousin who was absent from the room, ＂ i hyper extended my arm in battle, nearly tore something says the doctor. i didn’t push it but Mengde insisted i rest even as i said i was far more useful on standby than gone. hypocritical fool. ＂
And there it was, the truth. She knew it would come with time and patience, but he should have known better. As the admission rolled from his mouth in a discontent rumble, Xialiao shifted and her interest immediately focused on his primary limb. She was no qualified doctor, of course, however through years of living in close quarters with her brother and rolling with the best their rowdy cousins, Xialiao learned a thing or two in the medicinal field and with herbal remedies, and added to that over the years. She knew what kind of injuries Xiahou Dun sustained, the concerns of Xiahou Yuan, and the kind of trouble Cao Cao would drag them all into. Truly, nothing ever changed.
She reached forward and cupped both of her hands beneath his larger, far more muscular arm--one nestled gently under his bicep, and the other curled loosely around his wrist. Lifting it to gauge which muscle had been pulled and nearly torn, Xialiao began asking a series of questions as she turned and worked different muscles. She was digging for yes or no responses to isolate what exactly required needing tending to. But this was a common enough procedure, and he knew the drill. She’d concoct something and send him on his way, knowing full well that Cao Cao trusted her more than medical practitioners after Cao Chong’s untimely passing and Hua Tuo’s unusual methodology.
“Tell me what happened in more detail, and where exactly your arm is affected.” He wouldn’t admit to the pain, only the lack of use his arm currently served. She knew that, and that was why she never insinuated he was affected by it. "If I can determine a preventative measure and a temporary fix to placate Lord Cao Cao, you can extend that opinion to him personally.”
