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ratbones' support. <3 (These are lyrics from the Hamilton song Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.)This is an excerpt from the first Guardian fic I ever wrote... which, over a year later, is still unfinished. :// And since I'm not sure I'll ever get to finishing it, have this.
Shen Wei spreads his arms, gathering dark energy, he visualizes the portal he intends to summon, feels the pull and chill of the void between time and space, and… it fizzles out. He blinks. Tries again. Fails again. And realizes there’s no way this has gone unnoticed, so he clears his throat, makes an effort to sound apologetic as he makes for the door, “I really do have to go.”
“So summon your portal and go,” Zhao Yunlan calls after him and Shen Wei cringes. Probably visibly.
“As you saw, I can’t make that work right now; side-effect—”
“You said mildly poisoned. Brother Black, I need to know if I’ve accidentally killed you,” Zhao Yunlan interrupts him.
Snorting at the joke, Shen Wei says, “It’s really not as severe as—“ before a wave of heat passes through his body and distracts him from speaking. He reaches up to clutch at his pendant, in a last effort to hold onto something other than Zhao Yunlan himself. Except, he hears Zhao Yunlan coming closer, knows he means to help, and that——that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?
Shen Wei turns to face him, stepping back, trying to add distance between them. “Don’t come closer!” he warns, going for serious but he feels a smile—leer—spreading across his face. He lowers his head—both in shame and an attempt to hide—he shouldn’t be so weak.
