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Fu Xuan looks down at her jade abacus, a new message from Jing Yuan coming through.
It's a secret, hehe.
She feels her eye twitch as she goes to immediately type back her reply: You are several centuries old. Stop talking like that. I will kill you. The line moves up, and she follows, the attendant taking drink orders at a practiced and fast pace.
The jade abacus buzzes again. She feels that if she reads his message, her blood pressure will spike.
Are you making a threat on my life? Do I need to file a report to the Cloud Knights?
No need. I will file the report myself when I get there in 10 minutes. After I kill you.
Sounds good to me. See you soon.
You can just come in when you get here.
Fu Xuan thanks the attendant as she grabs her order, startaro bubble tea for herself and and immortal's delight for Jing Yuan. It was rare they both had a day off on the same day, and Jing Yuan insisted on meeting. For what? She doesn't know because "it's a secret, hehe." She shakes her head as she boards the starskiff and takes a seat, feeling a headache already forming from the stress of wondering just what the heck Jing Yuan wanted to tell her.
The next ten minutes are spent rifling through their recent interactions. Surely he isn't thinking about retiring yet... right? He mentioned he had a few more centuries left in him, so it certainly couldn't be that. Is he giving her more responsibilities to prepare her for the general role? That would be good, she thinks to herself, but not right now. She and the other diviners have their hands full on a whole big batch of of intel that just came through. Then, a thought suddenly hits her. He better not ask me to marry him. She shudders at the thought as the starskiff docks and the door opens with a soft hiss, revealing Jing Yuan's quiet street.
As instructed, she pushes his front door open and she calls out, "I'm here, I brought you your drink! You better not be asking me to marry you or we're going to have an issue." Fu Xuan slips her shoes off and places them on the shelf, not wanting to crowd the entryway, and helps herself to the small pair of slippers that wait for her.
Jing Yuan peeks his head out from the kitchen down the hall, a frown on his face. "What? I would never ask that of you, no offense. Feixiao said something very similar. You two haven't been talking with each other recently, have you?" He disappears as soon as he appeared, and Fu Xuan takes that as invitation to follow him into the room, her slippers shuffling on the floor, headache disappearing with each step that takes her further into the house. Jing Yuan is at the counter, back to the doorway, and Fu Xuan lets out a sigh of relief, thankful she doesn't have to have an awkward conversation.
"Thank goodness," she says, placing the bag of drinks on the table. "This would have been a very awkward visit if you were going to ask that." They both let out a huff of laughter, the sound mingling with Jing Yuan's rhythmic chopping. "I haven't talked to Feixiao, actually. It's been a while."
He hums in acknowledgment, his focus on his task in front him. Fu Xuan makes herself comfortable as Jing Yuan asks, "I thought you were here to kill me."
"Well, now that I know that you aren't asking me to marry you, I have decided to let you live another day," she replies as she empties the contents of the bag; napkins are placed on the table to prevent the condensation from the cups soaking into the wooden tabletop.
Jing Yuan finally turns around, a plate of fruit in one hand and-. Fu Xuan does a double take; she's known for never missing a detail and is master diviner for a reason. Why is there a lump strapped to the general's chest?
"Jing Yuan, what is that?" She asks, eyebrows furrowed.
"This? It's a knife." He tilts his head. "I'd like to think the Master Diviner knows what a knife is."
"I know what a knife is, Jing Yuan," she huffs, voice strained and sentence short. This guy... "I am asking what is that," she points to his chest. He looks down.
"A... plate of... fruit...?" he replies (more like asks). Fu Xuan could tear her hair out.
"The OTHER thing. On your person." As she says this, the lump moves and lets out a small coo. Her eyes narrow.
"Ah," Jing Yuan says as he moves to place the plate on the table, the knife far -- very far -- from Fu Xuan's reach. He takes a seat across from her. "That."
The man turns his body and a hand gently moves to push the fabric back, the diviner following his every move. A tuft of blond hair pokes out, and then a chubby cheek, and then, finally, a face. A baby's face.
Fu Xuan stares and it feels like a million and no thoughts are in her brain at the same time, the silence between the two friends palpable. Jing Yuan stares back. Fu Xuan leans back in her chair. Jing Yuan follows.
"Care to tell me why you have a baby strapped to your chest?" she finally asks after processing everything.
"It's my baby," he replies, matter of fact.
"And when did you have a baby?"
Lady Fu is scary when she interrogates people. "It's been a few days."
"A few days?" the pink-haired woman exclaims. The baby stirs, and lets out a squeak. Jing Yuan brings a finger to his lips, signaling her to lower her volume, as the baby settles back against his chest. "You've been back and had a baby for a few days and didn't tell me? I really could kill you right now. Please tell me you didn't name it."
"It's been a bit busy, but simply put, yes." Jing Yuan shoots her a nervous smile, his hand coming to rest on the baby's round head. "And I don't think you would want to orphan this poor baby again." His eyes turn sad at this.
She stares at him again, her brain processing his choice of words. Orphan? Again?
"You adopted it?"
"Him."
"You adopted him?" Fu Xuan corrects herself as her eyes drop to the baby. Jing Yuan's most recent campaign... She sighs, a pang ringing through her chest, dissipating any anger and frustration from her body. How sad...
The general nods, as if he can read her thoughts. They're quiet as the information settles in for the diviner, drinks and snacks forgotten for the moment. Fu Xuan feels like her entire perception of her friend has changed within the past fifteen minutes with this news. General Jing Yuan of the Xianzhou Luofu is a dad now. How odd. She never thought her friend would be the type, to be honest. He was usually so busy, but... if anyone could do it, he could. He's proven to be capable of many things time and time again, if his current tenure as general is anything to go by.
"Can I see him?" she finally asks. He nods, and he moves to stand. Fu Xuan waves her hand, stopping him before he can get out of his seat, and makes her way to sit next to him. Jing Yuan reaches into the sling, taking the boy out carefully, and transfers him into the Fu Xuan's waiting arms.
He's so small, she thinks as the baby settles against her chest. Just a fragile little thing. He had such a rough start to his life, losing his parents at a young and vulnerable age. The tiniest coo falls from the baby's lips as he stretches, getting more comfortable in Fu Xuan's arms. She and Jing Yuan both smile, the cuteness too much to handle.
His voice breaks her out of her thoughts. "To answer your question: Technically, I haven't adopted him yet. I still have to fill out one last part and then file the paperwork." He reaches to smooth the collar of the baby's shirt out of the way.
"Hm, I see no need," she says with a teasing lilt in her voice. "I can tell you're already attached."
He lets out a non-committal hum as he continues to gaze at the boy in Fu Xuan's arms. "You are too, by the looks of it."
"No one asked you," she shoots back with a frown.
He laughs, the sound vibrating deep in his chest, as deep as his affection for the baby. "There are some things I am not sure about, but I'll figure it out."
Fu Xuan looks at her friend from the corner of her eye, knowing what he means. Her eyes flick back to the boy. "Well, I have no doubt that if you're raising him," she says letting the baby wrap his hand around her finger, a smile dancing on her lips, "then he's bound to turn out great." Jing Yuan practically beams, his eyes closed and smile wide.
The two friends sit and chat amongst themselves quietly, enjoying each other's company and picking at the fruit in front of them. That is until Fu Xuan asks him the dreaded question.
"You didn't answer my other question. Does he have a name?"
"Ah," Jing Yuan says, freezing. He moves the knife from Fu Xuan's end of the table to his, far from her reach. "That technically wasn't a question." She narrows her eyes at him. "His name..."
"You still don't have a name?" she asks, her head tilted and a small frown on her face. Jing Yuan doesn't have to be a diviner to know her next question. He braces himself. "What have you been calling him?"
He turns his head away. "...-òu."
"What?"
"Tǔdòu," he says louder, his head turning back towards Fu Xuan, his body leaning away from her.
Fu Xuan closes her eyes, a new headache forming. "I'm really going to kill you."