#weixin: sword brain :)

[feyweixin]

homecoming.

@feykijung

it’s not exactly a code, not entirely a ritual, but whenever cai yizhen visits his mother and his adopted brother, he always knocks twice on the door before letting himself in. he’s always invited, they’ve made that very clear in the past. and it’s always like coming home as if hardly any time has passed at all, kissing his mother’s cheek and wrapping kijung in a kind half-hug as good brothers do. this time there was someone new, someone unexpected who yizhen did not account for. he’s not mad that no one told him, just a bit guilty that he doesn’t have anything to give him on this visit.

his love language is giving gifts. he picks things up as he travels, from novelty items to expensive antiques, whatever happens to catch his eye at the time. the last several decades were spent in china, his first home. to mei, his mother, he gave a delicate jade tea set. they can’t really drink water and leaves the way they used to, but he knows they both try anyways. for kijung, it’s a stack of postcards from the various cities he’s visited, a panda-shaped thermos, and an ornate knife etched with the same animal. nothing for kyuhwan, who he didn’t know existed let alone joined the family since the last time he’s been here.

“you’ll have to share with him,” he apologizes to kijung, who was probably already counting on it. already yizhen has noticed the tender interactions between the pair. he says nothing about it, but he watches with interest regardless. it’s good for a vampire to have a companion; eternity gets quite lonely. “i’ll bring something for him next time i come. what does he like?” of course yizhen will get to know him before he moves onto his next destination again, but it’s not a bad idea to start somewhere.

he thinks about asking kijung about his sword. he doesn’t ask if he still has it, he already knows that answer, but has he practiced? has he taught his fledgling anything? yizhen likes to believe that they are not beasts, not monsters. if they’re going to defend themselves, they can do it with human tools and not their fangs. of course, blades are such a dated weapon in modern standards. but they’re much harder to master than a gun, much more elegant. he’ll offer to spar with kijung later, just to see if he’s practiced at all in the decades that they’ve been apart. but for now, it’s best they get reacquainted, introduced to the new member of the family.