A bam, a thunk and a crash.
Not the most auspicious way to meet someone and certainly not one Jin Fu shall ever forget. Roughly landing on his rear he brushes his hand against his chin to check for bleeding. Perhaps he was paying a bit too much attention to avoiding his guards and not enough to his immediate surroundings but really, who would dare run into such an esteemed personage as he?
“Ow, you motherfucker!”
Clearly, the one in front of him. About a year or two younger than Fu and with an unruly mop of blond hair atop his head the boy glares at him with brilliant blue eyes while clutching his nose. Fu wipes a tear out of his eyes and gulps as the boy in front of him resets his broken nose without so much as flinching.
Fu himself on the other hand does flinch at the sound. About to make an angry retort and demand an apology from his assailant he lets his eyes run over the boy’s frame first. Almost as tall as himself, the blond boy wears far nicer clothing than a street rat, peasant or even well off merchant would. Despite that his hair is scruffy, his nails are cracked at the ends and even the clothes themselves seem to be ill maintained.
Finding himself unable to detect the boy’s cultivation Fu decides caution is the better part of valor and stands back up without making a fuss. The thought occurs to him that he can’t spot the boy’s guards either. Perhaps their present circumstances are more similar than he imagined.
“Da fook are you looking at?” The blond haired boy angrily calls out when Fu stares at him just a little too long. Fu scoffs and glares back. Once he could forgive but to have such foul language aimed his way twice is not something he’ll let slide.
“Hmph, what is someone like you even doing out here?” He fires back, the implication of the boy being without guards clear in his words. A kernel of worry weighs heavy in his chest even as he shouts. He’s only recently stepped into the second stage of Qi Gathering and has hardly had the time to get used to it. Who can say whether he can hold out even with his life saving artifacts should the boy take offense and decide to lash out at him. Then again, Fu thinks, didn’t the kid get hurt far worse than he did when they ran into each other?
“Ya don’t hear me asking you that, do ya?”
With a grimace Fu concedes the pretty boy has a point. His breath catches. What was that thought he just had? Pretty? Shaking his head he pushes the thought away. Any further contemplations are cut off by the clattering sound of armed men rapidly approaching. Fu’s eyes widen and he casts a glance back, temporarily frozen in indecision. The last thing he wants to do is cut his adventure short when he’s finally managed to slip away from his guards but he has no idea where to go. He hears the boy snort.
“Ah well, sure ya’ve got your own circumstances. Wanna scram?” The boy asks with a radiant smile that makes Fu’s heart skip a beat, and extends his hand. Fu stands frozen for an entirely different reason. He’s only shaken out of his stupor when the boy surreptitiously clears his throat as the footsteps draw closer and closer to crossing the same corner they just met at.
“You coming or not?”
Without a further thought the young master of the Jin reaches out and accepts his offer. Fu can’t help but notice how soft his hand feels. With his heart thumping in his chest he bites the inside of his cheek and denies to himself that he swings that way. Instantly his arm feels like it’ll be torn out of its socket as the boy energetically turns around and rushes through the streets holding his hand.
“What’s your name?”
“Jin Fu. What is yours?”
“Su.” The boy laughs innocently sending another flutter through his chest.
As he’s tugged and pulled through alleys, shanty towns and into a wide variety of boltholes he quickly comes to regret going along with the boy. Little does he know that taking Su’s hand was the best decision he ever made.
Thanks for the chapter