milliways_bar | Wen Qing, main bar

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.]

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"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.

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.

"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."

"I was more concerned with needlessly burdening you," she replies with a smile. As she thinks on his offer she finds she wants someone else to know of her Wens. "It is somewhat complicated but the simple matter is that my brother, Wen Ning, through accident or a fighting frenzy, killed a very important son of a powerful clan that had recently warred against our larger clan, killing all but our small sect. Wen Ning and I decided to turn ourselves over to the Jin clan in the hopes it would spare our small sect and our friend Wei Wuxian, but such was not to be."

"The Jin clan killed what remained of my small sect of the Wen clan. And my brother. I would be dead as well but was rescued by Lan Wangji and his friends."

"Your brother was Wen Ning."

Fives blinks, and shakes his head at his own head. "I should have made the connection, sorry. My brothers and I don't share names like that"

Jin clan might also be That Jin Bastard, and that doesn't surprise Fives in the least.

"That's awful, Wen Qing. Some bastards just always need to commit the worst atrocities, evebn in victory."

That's his way of sharing condolences.

"That is an accurate description of the Jin," she says and takes a sip of her bone broth. She is happy to learn Wen Ning had friends here. "Did you know my brother well?"

"Not well," Fives admits, unconsciously mirroring the sip of broth. "My friend knew him better, but what I did see I liked.

"He explained the whole cultivation thing to me - seems a lot like the Jedi from our Galaxy."

"I am glad he had a life beyond me. Like many older sisters, I tended to guard him too closely."

"I do not know these jedi." She also can't imagine galaxies, but everyone's experiences are different, yes?

"They're the warriors who lead the army I serve in," Fives explains. "Wielders of the Force, which is a mystical energy field that gives them magic powers to move things with their minds, perform extreme acts of physical agility, and stop blaster bolts with their laser swords.

"I think Wen Ning compared the Force to your, uh, qi?"

"Ah, this makes sense to me. Many developed their Qi in different ways. Some for battle, others, like me, for healing. I would not say Qi is an energy field, however. It is simply the energy of life. Everything living has Qi"

"Yeah," Fives confirms. "That's what the Jedi say. Flows through everything, created by all living things. All I know is they can leap really high and deflect blaster bolts."

"Cultivators have been known to leap very far, either into the air or across distances. I do not know of any that have deflected bolts from the air except for with a sword." She doesn't quite understand what a blaster is.

"It would be interesting to meet a Jedi and see where our similarities lay."

"I've heard a few come here," Fives says. "Look for someone carrying a sowrd hilt without a blade - their lightsabers only have blades when they turn them on."

"I shall do so, thank you." She takes a bit of her congee before continuing. "Are you doing well?"

"Yeah," he says cheerfully. "As well as I can be. A moment of rest between deployments at the moment - no need for your attentions yet."

"I shall be ready when you need them. I hope to learn more fo the devices and machines within the Infirmary as well, though I am used to using more organic methods for healing." She pauses to smile. "I expect not every patient will be comfortable with my methods, however, so I shall try and adapt."

"Why's that?"

He's surprised by that, and gives a small frown. "What's wrong with your methods?"

Edited 2021-03-12 18:30 (UTC)

"Absolutely nothing," she says all mock offended. She even little smacks his arm for saying such a thing. "I just assume if there are these machines here that some would prefer their use rather than my healing Qi or herbs and poultices."

Fives snorts a laugh when she hits him, his smile suddenly fond.

"I bet just as many would prefer the personal touch. Plenty of people with reasons not to trust machines."

"Good because I am not ready to give up all my skills and practices." Her slight lift in spirits deflates as the grief for her brother returns and she bows her head.

Taking the lead from her smacking him, Fives puts a hand out, resting his palm on top of her hands.

"You don't have to give up anything."

Wen Qing, main bar

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