The day the ice melts away, is also the day Qi Xiaotian dies.
Only for a little bit. For just a few seconds, he swears, trying to downplay the whole ordeal when his caretakers worry about it, so Tang shifu would stop hyperventilating and chef Zhu and Sun shifu would stop frowning so much.
Long Xiaojiao has been kind enough not to prod about it much. After he told her that he isn't too scarred by it, reassured her a few times that he is serious, cautiously she admitted that it was sorta cool he died and then came back. "Way to spite the rules! Fuck the rules of life!" she cheered, making him laugh.
Red Son was a tad bit harder to deal with. Just on the account that the fire demon hadn't been showing signs of being worried on the outside. At least not so clearly as the others- Red Son may think he is sneaky, but Xiaotian has noticed the side glances, the frowns and glares when he thought Xiaotian wasn't paying enough attention. The Monkie Kid pulled the demon aside one day when he had enough indulging Red Son and they had a talk about it.
After all, Xiaotian is very observant. After all, he only plays being stupid- after all, he died and had a haunting conversation with a woman so damaged she got lost in her own goals. He is experienced and can deal with people around him as a result.
But he ...he hasn't told anybody about the conversation.
First, there wasn't really time to do so! He wanted to, but there just-! He remembers waking up in the rubble of the White Bone Spirit's mech. Buried pretty deep. It was hard to breathe, he had almost no energy left in his body after the finishing blow and he had just died.
"To pain..." echoed in his brain until the Monkey King found him, freed him of the debris, and hugged him somehow both unimaginably softly and fiercely at the same time. The last words of the bone demon ebbed away reluctantly as Xiaotian allowed himself to get lost in the warm embrace and the sensation of gentle claws running through his hair comfortingly.
But the words came back later when he felt better. They especially really liked sticking around his head before he managed to fall asleep.
To pain, to pain... To pain. It always repeated like a broken record as he tossed around in his bed, burying his face in his monkey plushie.
Xiaotian knows pain. From being smacked around by demons before and after he got his hands on Jīngū bàng, to the festering emotional hurt etched in his heart when it came to his original family situation. It bothers him that he doesn't know if the White Bone Spirit thought he never went through any pain ever or if her words were a warning of even more agony coming his way.
Because what if he ends up like her. What if he ends up agreeing with her. What if he breaks apart one day and gets lost in all of it and maybe nobody will be there when he will need someone to pull him out- what if he ends up hurting alone.
The Monkie Kid, of course, doesn't want to be in pain. But he isn't so scared of enduring it, as long as he has somebody by his side.
But Qi Xiaotian had died that day. For only a tiny bit, but the finity of life dawned on him along with the horrors of the White Bone Spirit's situation.
To an extent, he wants to pull her back from oblivion. He watched her fall into pieces and fade back into, presumably, the cycle of reincarnation, but he wants to find the pieces and stitch her back together. If only so he could get all in her face, fists clutching at the fabric of her hanfu as he'd demand something from her.
Something- something like reassurance. That he's going to be alright. That her warning was only a last attempt at scaring him- even though that little tired and genuine smile that found itself on her features before she corrected him made him feel kind of bad for doubting her like this. The smile was the most surprising thing that happened to him that day, which means quite a lot considering he was dead at the time he saw it.
But bringing her back is hardly something that he can do. Not entirely sure if it'd be such a great idea, either, but it still bothers him.
Who would've thought the answer to his plight would be within the hands of the people who suffered under her the most.
Unexpectedly, Qi Xiaotian turns to a little girl, a shady liar and a right hand man who lost everything he had and was ages ago.
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It'd be almost comical how she's able to blend in from an outside perspective...the parade seemed to be centering around people running around in strange outfits, and giving out candy, and kids around her age saying those words, "trick 'r treat". It was a lot to unpack for her. She squeezed his hand, not wanting to let go and get lost somehow. Not to mention, some of the costumes people wore seemed to spook her a good deal. She seemed amazed by the balloons atleast, even pointing to one in particular that sported a witch hat, just like he did!
"Ah!" She exclaims to get his attention so he could see it too. By the look of it, it didn't make him crack a smile.
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