Quan Yizhen「权一真」

He softly gasps at that.

Before nodding in agreement. He wasn't exactly scared of spiders, but...

"I don't like how they feel in my hands."

Ticklish and weird.

"But their webs are pretty. And so is the silk they make. And so is Ling Wen's hair."

Yizhen is quick to shake his head before he's pausing, considering, and then shaking his head again more confidently.

"No. It's like... Like spider silk. Pretty."

He falls silent as she instructs him how to care for his hair, nodding in understanding. Another slow task... This is miserable!

Yizhen agrees! Much better!

He leans back as she instructs, and as she starts to work the cleanser into his scalp, he watches her.

Mostly because there's not much else to look at leaned back like this.

"Ling Wen's hair is pretty too," he states suddenly.

Oh!

It was- actually really nice having someone concerned with his comfort. Trying to find better solutions to save him the pain.

With a delighted nod, he runs off to return shortly after with a small stool, placing it beside the tub and sitting.

He's smiling wide once more. Pleased.

He shakes his head to both those suggestions, looking back down at the water thoughtfully.

After a moment, he suggests, "I can kneel beside the tub and just lean forward over it."

It wouldn't be comfortable after a while, but Yizhen could deal with it.

He takes the pats with a huff and a pout before standing up and pulling Ling Wen up with him.

Not having any deputy gods under him means Yizhen has to go fetch the water himself to fill the wooden tub in his palace, though he doesn't seem to mind the work.

Once full, he looks to Ling Wen.

With a dramatic sigh, Yizhen relents and does start trying to pay attention to their surroundings.

It takes a while, and they've nearly made it to the outskirts of Ghost City when Yizhen catches a glimpse of something in an alley.

A shimmer of green amongst the red.

He alerts Yin Yu with a point.

He makes a face at the wiggling, oily fingers.

The traitors! They made his hair gross!

He lets out a sigh, reluctantly relenting because- yes, indeed- his hair does, in fact, feel too greasy...

"Fine... We can wash it..."

Yizhen was focusing, Shixiong!

Well, sort of. Mostly.

....

A little, at least!

But he was also watching the other's fluffy ears twisting this way and that, listening for any disturbances. It was distracting!

And when Yin Yu encouraged him to focus, Yizhen pouted, looking away sadly.

As she reaches up to touch his hair, he leans into her hand happily.

At the mention of washing, though, he's right back to pouting, nearly groaning at the idea.

"But it will be all wet again! And we just finished brushing it!"

Yizhen tried to pay attention to their patrol, he really did!

He even focused for a good 5 minutes! Before his attention was inevitably brought back to Yin Yu, watching the other for a few breaths before remembering he was on patrol and looking away again. Only to look back in another 5 minutes.

"En. I want to go with you."

When she announces they're done, he's near immediately running his hands through his hair, pleased when his fingers don't snag any knots or tangles.

He turns to look at Ling Wen with a wide smile.

"It didn't hurt! You were right!"

He turns back forward, falling quiet for a while in thought.

Someone to cut his hair nicely...

He pulls a curly strand over his shoulder from the side Ling Wen has already brushed out, inspecting it.

".... Yeah... I think I want a nice haircut."

Nice like how Ling Wen brushes his hair. Gentle.

digital illustration. Xie Lian with a baby Hua Cheng in a baby sling on his chest. is right hand is holding Fu Yao out, his left arm is holding Nan Feng, his left hand has a child leash - the leash is wrapped around his right leg and Quan Yizhen on the end of it. Banyue is peeking through Xie Lian's legs. Pei Xiu is holding Xie Lian's skirt and looking up at him. This is all sort of a metaphor for how Xie Lian sometimes has to be in charge of certain characters throughout the story

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#TGCF

He blinks, glancing at her over his shoulder in surprise.

No one has ever sounded so upset over his hair like that before. Well, not 𝘧𝘰𝘳 his hair, at least. Usually, they were upset 𝘢𝘵 his hair.

".... It's uneven?"

He tries to see, but that doesn't really work out for him.

He gives a low hum, shoulders slumping a bit. He knows she's right... When his hair is taken care of well, the curls are pretty, even he has to admit it.

"... They used to cut all of it off when it would get too tangled. And Shixiong didn't have curly hair to teach me this. It's a lot..."

He fiddles with his own fingers in his lap, nodding along as she tells him how to better care for his curls.

It just doesn't feel fair. Other people don't have to be all careful like this! Shixiong could brush his own hair in seconds and be fine.

Yet Yizhen was always battling knots and tangles...

Yizhen trusts Ling Wen won't hurt him. She's been kind to him thus far, so he has no reason to believe she'll start hurting him now.

He helps lift his hair so she can drape the towel over his shoulders easier, and when she starts applying hair oils, he relaxes into it, letting out a happy low hum.

#tgcf #quanyizhen #yinyu

He looks even more devastated at her small laugh, eyes watering slightly before he just deflates in defeat.

He's going to be bald...

With a heavy sigh, he turns to lead her to the seating area, practically pouting by the time they settle in to work on his hair.

He's about to direct her towards the seating area of his palace, starting to turn his back to lead her, when she says 'hair fall off'.

Instantly, he's turning back to her with such a distressed expression, looking ready to jump on her and cry.

"A lot of my hair will fall off??!!"

As the door opens, he stands at attention, lighting up with a smile and a nod as she points out how they match now.

A little big, but he thinks she looks nice!

Yizhen then holds out the hair supplies for her to take back, not really excited to be doing his hair next.

Taking the items, Yizhen...

Well, he just sort of stands awkwardly outside the bathroom door, blinking and holding a handful of hair care products.

He doesn't know where else he could possibly go anyway. Best just to stay where Ling Wen left him.

It doesn't take long for Yizhen to return.

He wears simple robes, nearly identical to what he usually wears- if not a bit dressed down without his usual armor- and another pair in his hands for Ling Wen.

When he returns to her, he holds out the extra clothes for her to take.

He nods, pointing her in the direction of the bathroom before starting to slowly pad off towards his room. A few steps away,he seems to remember something and looks back at Ling Wen.

"I'll bring you something dry and warm, too!"

That gets him moving a bit faster, not wanting his friend to be cold.

He looks upset as Ling Wen wrings out her clothes, clearly not wanting to do anything with his hair.

But he also trusts that she's telling him the truth and that it won't hurt this time, reluctantly giving in and taking her hand, standing as well.

"Okay..."

He looks to her with a little confusion, eyebrows furrowed.

"I brush it like Shixiong showed me when we were younger. At least once a day with my comb. And then tie it up properly."

He grimaces slightly before shaking his head again.

"But it hurts! So I only brush when it gets bad."

#quanyizhen #yinyu #quanyin #tgcf #权引

For the first time since they met in the rain, Yizhen gives a frown, reaching up to pat at his hair in genuine annoyance.

"It's just going to hurt brushing it. I don't want to."

Though he would like it dry again. The wet curls against his skin for too long always made him go a little crazy.

He blinks, tilting his head to allow her access to pat his head. The curls are still very much wet, and probably will be for hours to come.

"En. We should. I had fun."