Wen Qing, main bar

[herb_and_needle]

Time is fluid within Milliways and Wen Qing has yet to learn this. It's been hours, maybe a day--two at most--since she was rescued from the dungeons of the Jin clan, though it's been longer down in the main bar. The room she was given (after discovering the generous payment Jīliè Yùwǔshì* had left for the treatment Wen Qing had provided) was nice and left nothing to be desired, and quite frankly, she had no desire to leave it and face life, but she realized that by giving in to despair she would give the Jin clan their final victory and she could not abide that. She also owed it to those who'd rescued her--and to her dead family--to live, and she'd been raised to always pay her debts.

So now she sits at the bar with a bowl of congee and steam vegetables, and a mug of bone broth to regain her health and strength. She also has tablet (a very strange device for her) with a zhōngwén translation of aurebesh. There is a batch of Bacta she means to learn to keep alive and thriving, if she can learn how. And if she can figure out how to turn the page.

(*'Fierce Jade Warrior', Wen Qing's courtesy name for Gamora.)
[tiny tag: Fives, Lan Wangji, Gamora, Wen Qing.]

Comments

[5ame_heart]

"Wen Qing."

Fives heard that Wen Ning had died, but given that family names are meaningless to him, he doesn't make the connection with the doctor from the infirmary. He definitely heard nothing of her fate.

So when he sees her at the bar looking this pale, his worry is piqued.

"Is everything okay?"

[herb_and_needle]

"Trooper Fives, it is good to see you." She smiles, deflecting the question for a moment to gather a reply. "It is as well as it can be. I am recovering."

[5ame_heart]

"Yes, you too."

He joins her without asking for permission, and when Bar offers him a cup of some hot broth he scoops it up in both hands.

"Recovering from what?"

Tact is not one of the skills cloned from Jango Fett.

[herb_and_needle]

She takes a bite of her meal to buy time to decide how much to burden Trooper Fives with her pain, finally deciding he is a soldier and so does not need protecting.

"The loss of my family and clan, and my near death." She is willing to explain further if he asks, but she will give him the opportunity first.

[5ame_heart]

"I'm sorry," he says, genuine but also politely - he's lost family and nearly died plenty of times, and can't be really shocked by it.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

He considers what he just said and adds: "but if you think it might help, you don't need to worry about upsetting me."

[thesecondjade]

Lan Zhan knows the attraction of hiding in despair. He couldn't not do it, just after Wei Ying's death. Now, though, through the years -- he's back to himself. It will take time for Wen Qing to reach that point, he knows -- but he has things for her that might help her.

When he finds her, he bows in greeting. "Wen Qing. May I sit with you a moment? I would speak with you."

[herb_and_needle]

"Lan Wangji, please join me. I was just trying to decide on what tea to order. DO you have a suggestion?" She is happy to see him, even if she is still numb to all things. She does note signs of time on him, subtle but there if you look.

[thesecondjade]

"I will request tea," he said, and then turned to the nearest rat and waited for it's attention to get an order in. Then he turns back to Wen Qing and pulls something out of his sleeve.

"Abe no Seimei wished for this to be delivered to you." He hasn't invested the package or the letter, but he's not a nosy viper like some people. But once he sits down it's all hers.

[herb_and_needle]

She stares at the letter and package in confusion before tilting her head and looking to Lan Wangji.

"I do not know Abe no Seimei. Do you know why he is writing me?"

[thesecondjade]

"He is an ally of ours," Lan Zhan says as he waits for tea. "You do not know him, but he knew of you and your family."

He doesn't want to spell out he knew Wen Ning, but the implication is there.

[behind_me]

Jīliè Yùwǔshì - though she doesn't know the name - does her usual routine of standing at the door when she comes in and scanning the bar for everything she needs to be aware of. This is why she approaches Wen Qing directly from the door, just to pay her respects and to make sure her payment had been received.

"Hello," she says, as sociably as she gets. "Would you tolerate company?"

[herb_and_needle]

"Jīliè Yùwǔshì," Wen Qing says with a smile and a bow of her head, "Mistress Gamora. I would welcome your company. Have you healed well?"

A patient, even a former one, is a welcome distraction.

[behind_me]

The title, spoken in one of the known languages of Terra, filters though Gamora's translation chip, and es her pause, unsure if it is a sign of respect or fear, and doubly unsure about how to react to the former. She smiles anyway.

"Very well," she confirms. "I obeyed your instructions, and was able to continue the fight on my return."

She won, in case that needed to be said. "Thank you. I may have died without your assistance."

[herb_and_needle]

Wen Qing thinks she sees a momentary flicker of doubt or confusion and thinks back on her words. Then offers another slight smile.

"My apologies. Jīliè Yùwǔshì is a title of respect I thought of for you. A fierce warrior who is the color of jade. Jade is a very potent stone to my culture, so I mean it as an honor. I hope that is acceptable?"

"And thank you for your generous payment. I find it a very fortuitous windfall in a difficult time."

[behind_me]

Gamora nods: slowly and still unsure, but a definite nod.

"No, it is acceptable. I'm just not used to - " (being refered to in terms of genuine honor) " - it."

She pauses long enough to order a drink and what turns out to be a hamburger from Bar.

"I'm glad. Back home I would be under the knife of my father's surgeon. I guessed at a fair payment, but you did save my life."

[childofrebellion]

Cassian's tired and sore, he's completed a hard mission and is sipping at some caf when he notices the young woman with what looks like bacta. She looks confused and as if she's been through some hard times so he asks quietly, "Is something wrong?"

He's in his black leather jacket and there's a blaster at his hip and his hair is still slightly wet from the melting snow he had to deal with.

[herb_and_needle]

She turns to smile and nod at the stranger.

"I am unfamiliar with this device. Do you know how to turn the page?"

[childofrebellion]

"Usually you tap the screen but sometimes you have to move your finger,"

From the bag at his side, he pulls out his own datapad and shows her what he means.

[herb_and_needle]

She tries both motions and discovers the sweeping gesture most effective, though both work.

"Thank you! Are familiar with the Infirmary by chance? Do you know who maintains it?"

[childofrebellion]

"I've been in it but I know the doctors in charge rotate so I don't know the one in charge now. Bar might be able to tell you,"

Cassian nods as he sees her getting the movement down.

[hat_and_dimples]

There is another cultivator with a tablet computer, getting up and walking to the bar when he sees her.

From what she looks like, it must have been mere days for Wen Qing, while it has been several years for Jin Guangyao.

"It's nice to see you up and about, Wen-daifu," he greets her, with a polite bow, tablet computer in hand. "I see the bar has given you one of these as well."

[herb_and_needle]

She pauses in studying the device and offers Jin Guangyao a polite bow, deep enough to express honor and thanks.

"Do you know how to use one then? I am afraid I cannot turn the page."

[hat_and_dimples]

"Just swipe your finger across the screen, from left to right," Jin Guangyao says. "Or if it's more like a scroll than a book, push the text in the direction you want to go."

[herb_and_needle]

"So the device adapts to the kind of book is it displaying? How clever!"

[hat_and_dimples]

"Oh yes, but it does a lot more than that," Jin Guangyao says. "I use it to plan and calculate projects, too. It has an application to do that."