Wild Creatures

Chapter 65

Excitement bubbles like frothing waves between them, as Wei Ying opens this, the last mysterious link to his mother.

It's not a letter, much to his crushing disappointment.

There's a drawing.

And by the looks of it, it is another puzzle.

The whole piece of paper fits within the space of his palm, soft, barely there, it's so light. Like one last kiss from someone no longer able to give them.

The edges are raw and jagged, as if it was a last thought. Something hurried, over and done quickly because there wasn't enough time.

No one ever had time for him.

Tears fall from his face, landing on the threadbare carpet under his feet, and Wei Ying dashes them away in frustration.

Lan Zhan cannot take this distance any longer, nor the grief he can sense through the smell of Wei Ying's blood, and he puts the items aside, wrapping his arms firmly around the young man.

Wei Ying whimpers, just feeling so terrible about this latest discovery.

"I thought, I-I thought, one last message. To remember me. You know, their kid." He sounds so heartbroken, Lan Zhan feels his own throat closing up.

So he speaks his mind.

"Wei Ying was loved then, and is loved now. I have no doubts that your parents loved you very much." He can sense that Wei Ying is listening intently, so he carries on. "They gave you the locket as a gift, something to remember them by, but when they left you, they did not know it was going to be the last time they would ever see you again, and I am sure that had they known, they would have said fuck you to Jin GuanShan." Lan Zhan is desperate enough to convey his meaning through crude language, knowing that it was what Wei Ying needed to hear.

At least he's stopped trembling.

Lan Zhan kisses the top of his head.

"Yeah." Wei Ying sighs, suddenly. It's a deep one, as if he's letting go of something. "Yeah, I know you're right. It's just...I began to hope, you know? And I didn't realise how much I wanted to talk to them. Just to hear their voices. To have them actually say it, even written down, that they didn't mean to leave me alone. That's all." He sits up, then. "I'm just being silly."

Lan Zhan shakes his head.

"It is NOT silly. It is perfectly natural to want to have contact. Especially because you were so young. A child does not have the capacity to parse through the trauma of being left behind, no matter how unintentionally. The act still remains, therefore the pain of suffering is valid, regardless of circumstances." Lan Zhan hugs him tightly. "Wei Ying matters."

Wei Ying wipes his eyes once more, for the last time. He needs to toughen up, he tells himself.

"Alright, now?" Lan Zhan looks at him anxiously.

Wei Ying nods.

"Ready for another mystery?"

"Mn."

Lan Zhan watches him take the piece of paper up from beside them, wishing he could take away anything that would hurt this lovely man. Even those feelings that threatened to upset him, manifesting through people who could no longer refute his fears.

"It's a circle. And there are more Glyphs."

Wei Ying's voice brings him out of his reverie.

With his finger and thumb wrapped around Wei Ying's wrist, he brings the paper in between them, and studies it.