Realistic or Modern Soul links [Artehauz+junedingo]

[junedingo]

It was an unusual day for Rufus.

The sky was dark with rain clouds, the light fall of water droplets making a musical cascade against the roof and windows of the car he rode in. He was watching the traffic passing the window with a blank stare, this thoughts occupying him too much to enjoy the ride. Like the sky above, his mood was murky and grey.

Thunderstorms like this were rare for California, about as rare as it was for Rufus to be riding in a car all alone, off to a destination that would take him away from the estate grounds for a while. As he sat in the back seat of the sedan - the driver in front ignoring the spirit guardian while he brooded angrily - he reflected on the events that had led up to this. He understood so little of the situation, and he had far more questions than answers. He hated working in this state, uncertainty was not a familiarity to Rufus. He liked being sure of himself, of his place, of what was expected of him, yet as the late summer rain came it brought him no solace in himself. While he'd resonated with the violent cracks of thunder the evening before, the morose patter of rain didn't comfort him in the slightest now.

Rufus only knew one thing for certain: that he needed help in finding answers.

Eventually, the car came up to his predetermined destination, a hospital. Rufus looked up at the large building, not knowing that he was being dropped off at one of the finest hospitals in the region. He had no frame of reference, never having been to a human hospital before, and having spent very little time outside the family's estate or associated property. He was a guardian of the family land, he didn't need to be traveling, and other than a little bit of curiosity now and then, he honestly didn't want to much either. The one that wanted to see the world wasn't him, but his twin sister. She was the one who was always going on about other countries, meeting spirits of all sorts.

Rufus felt his teeth grit as his jaw tensed at the memories.

The driver of the car stopped right in front of the hospital's main entrance, which had a covered car port luckily enough. Rufus wouldn't have to walk around in a soaking wet suit then. Without a word from the driver, Rufus let himself out the back seat, shutting the door behind himself before making his way into the building without a look back. He had only a second to be concerned with getting lost in the giant place, before his thoughts all halted as he made eye contact with a pair of matching green eyes.

"Mother."

The word was one he used often, but today it wasn't spoken with affection. Instead, there was a low pitched growl to his tone, perhaps even too low for the human ears around to hear. His mother gave no sign of emotion to his tone though, and instead turned, just expecting her son to follow. Of course he did so, like the well trained spirit he was, though he kept a distance between them, and made no attempt to converse. He was still beyond upset with her, for her indifference. The callousness cut Rufus to the bone, and it hurt yet made him angry at the same time.

Once they reached the right hall and stopped at the correct door, Rufus paused, because he recognized the voice of the estate Madam inside. Even for how much emotional turbulence he carried, the ingrained deference to authority held. His mother strode forward and gave the door a short knock to announce them, and once they were given permission to enter, she stood aside to let her son in without her. He gave her one last harsh glare before doing his best to hide the anger.

"Yes. Good. This is the one I've arranged for you," the Madam said, referring to the male spirit dressed in the staple family uniform of a simple black suit. The spirit himself inclined his head in respect to the woman, yet again going through the motions as his thoughts were occupied with questions on how exactly to get what he needed. He didn't care about the exchange between the humans.

"I'll leave him to you, then," the Madam said to Rufus after addressing her son, who once more nodded politely to the woman by stamping down his emotions as best he could. He waited until the door closed, and listened intently as the click of the high heels the Madam had been wearing faded down the hallway before he dropped the well trained act of an obedient spirit. Without the Madam or his mother around, he didn't have the patience to act like everything was hunky-dory.

Rolling back his shoulders, he bent his neck a bit and felt the vertebrae there audibly crack, and looked at the human he was now in charge of keeping safe. Most humans looked pretty pathetically weak to him, but he did sense a good amount of spiritual energy, which while it didn't impress him or anything, was fine enough.

"You haven't changed much, have you?" he asked, smirking a little meanly at the other man. He spoke in regards to their shared moments as youngsters, how he remembered Weilin was moody and never really held any presence in a room. He walked closer, the smirk fading into a scowl. "There's been a lot of fuss over you, a lot of talk back at the estate. Weird, that there's so much worry for someone who doesn't even want to be part of the family, but none for someone who has always worked hard for them."

 

[Artehauz]

Freedom from his oppressive family structure was so painfully close to being Weilin’s. He was able to live on his own. Not only that, he was in the city while his family remained in their own little world on the outskirts. It felt like he was always meant to live life that way. There was no mother to watch his every move and shake her head disapprovingly. Even better, he hadn’t heard a lecture from his father in months. From the way he was treated, one would probably assume Weilin was some loud mouth party animal who was always diving into trouble. He couldn’t be further from that, around his parents anyways. He was practically mute the moment he returned back home. Their actions might come from a place of love and care, but they were suffocating. He blamed his sheltered up bringing on why he was in the hospital now, but of course his parent’s thought it was something so much larger.

Two days prior, it was a Saturday Night. Being an adult of drinking age, Weilin decided to go out for the night. Something that was admittedly slightly out of character. Expressing himself was still something he had to gain confidence in, and when faced with the ability to actually have fun: he still thought of his parents and their judgmental eyes. Even when he didn’t have to return home to them at the end of the night, he would fear they would somehow know every move he made. That night though, he had the support of a couple of his friends. They were going out as a group, and the bubbly excitement of a group of college students pregaming for a night out had convinced him he could go out and have fun. Where Weilin placed the blame on his parents was here: he had no idea how to drink properly. Being so sheltered, his excitement took him further than he should have gone. Weilin got messy drunk. He didn’t do it often, so when he did, he was a lightweight. Alcohol gave him the confidence to act free of generational shame though, and so he was very social despite his usual personality.

Flush faced and with drunken, low, eyes Weilen spotted a very handsome stranger. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a sharp jaw. With his bubbly new drunk persona, Wei asked the man if he could buy him a drink. The memory made him mortified. Weilin was not out- and if he was sober he wouldn’t have done that. At the time though, he was thrilled because the man actually offered to buy him a drink instead. Was it all the soju Wei drank, or was the man actually handsome? He’d likely never know, because he couldn’t remember a thing past the drink the man got for him. He wound up in the hospital, from what he and his doctor’s believed to be alcohol poisoning, but if you asked Weilin’s parents: he’d survived an assassination attempt. It was honestly laughable. In what universe was he a target worthy of an assassination attempt, not to mention being strong enough to survive it? It was alcohol poisoning, and his parents were over reacting. Still, they insisted that they offer Weilin spiritual protection… in the form of Rufus.

Unfortunately, Weilin remembered Rufus. He was equally disappointed to hear he remembered Wei. Weilin was convinced no one from his past at home really truly knew him. Rufus was no exception, so his comment just made Wei smile sarcastically. His smile dropped though as Rufus kept on speaking “What are you even talking about?” Weilin asked him, confused how what the family talked about was his problem when Rufus knew he wanted nothing to do with it all. “I wish they’d stop fussing over me too… You’re saying what, that you’d wish they’d fuss over you instead?” Weilin pressed, unsure of what Rufus was talking about. He was in the hospital, after all, he wasn’t necessarily in the best condition to speak in a bunch of obscurities. “Believe me- you don’t want it.” He muttered, sinking further into the bed in annoyance. Rufus was barking up the wrong tree. Wei wanted nothing to do with this more than anyone in the world.

 

[junedingo]

Rufus balked at the accusation, his surprise to be taken for the one insinuating he needed more attention from the family was obvious in the way he lost his angered expression for a moment. It was briefly clear he was confused, before he lifted a lip in disgust at the very idea and gestured with his hands like he wanted to wring some invisible spirit’s neck for a moment.

“You- of course not!” He couldn’t help his voice raising, his emotions prone to getting the better of him. “It’s not me idiot, do you actually know nothing?”


It seemed to dawn on the guardian that Weilin was clueless perhaps, and not just willfully obtuse. The way others spoke of him made him sound like a spoiled brat- which Rufus was still sure he was- but he’d at least expected a little understanding.


“My sister, your-“ he stopped, because what was the exact relationship again? The family always referred to her as the illegitimate kid, and Rufus wasn’t one to always be bothered with the humans politics and drama. “Fang. You know? I thought you two got along. I thought you’d at least be a little worried.”


He recalled when they were younger and the girl and his sister would gang up on Rufus, teasing him in fun. They were good memories for Rufus, and they calmed him enough for him to stop pacing, not realizing he’d even started to do so.

 

[Artehauz]

The mention of Fang brought Weilin back, and truthfully he thought of her often. He was so young when he last saw her though, and it pained him to admit that his memories of her were fading. He had forgotten her face, and he distinct laugh was becoming less so. Weilin’s expression was pained, as he realized Rufus was previously talking about Fang. He wished they spoke about his sister. He’d tried so many times to have the conversation, only for his mother to start crying and to be dismissed by his father. “That’s why I want nothing to do with this.” Weilin tried to tell Rufus, hoping he would listen. He sat up in the hospital bed, leaning forward. “They act like she never existed- and I have no idea what happened to my own sister,” Wei tried to make eye contact with the spirit as if that would help them come to an understanding.

He sat back, sighing after a moment of quiet. “Of course I worry. But whatever their plan is, it involves never mentioning her again…” he went quiet again as he was thinking. Was Rufus just complaining, or did have have the answers to where Fang might be? “…What do you know?” He asked, his voice stern.

 

[junedingo]

Rufus didn't even flinch at Weilin's tone, instead, he couldn't help but to smirk in reply to the bed laiden human's change in demeanor. With that stern voice, the human seemed a bit more like his parents after all.

"So you do care?" the spirit asked, one of his brows quirking as he crossed his arms over his chest. Honestly, Rufus had been hoping for more information, but with Weilin being clueless that just meant he was the one with the answers at the moment. And Rufus was definitely not used to be the one with the answers. . .

"Shit, I was really hoping you'd know something," he grumbled, feeling some of his anger lose its sails. It didn't make sense to be mad at Weilin just for being out of the loop. "I guess that much is a start though. But, here's not really the place to explain."

He walked over to the side of the bed, staring down at the other man's body, trying to find the wound that was keeping him in this place. He'd been told that the young master was recovering, but from what exactly he didn't have an inkling. None of the stuff in the room made any sense to Rufus, as spirit ailments were treated very differently.

"What's wrong with you anyway?" The family knew very well that he wasn't suited to warding off illness inducing spirits. Those sly things were the types better suited to other protectors than a lion dog. Not that Rufus would be opposed to thoroughly thrashing one if he got his teeth on it.

 

[Artehauz]

The only time Weilin was taken seriously by his family was with conversations of his potential. They seemed to blow up his involvement with the family to be so hugely important. Yet any time he said something, it was disregarded. Ultimately, it wasn’t that he was important, it was only his heritage and psychic abilities that were. It wasn’t shocking that Rufus laughed him off. Everyone involved in the spiritual did this. Weilin rolled his eyes at Rufus’ tough act ending the moment he realized he’d been barking up the wrong tree. Wei crossed his arms, scoffing as he dismissed the topic all together. He felt his face warm as Rufus got closer, examining him as if any of this had to do with an assassination attempt. In reality, he got way too drunk. Was it really reason to have Rufus around? Considering what he knew about the spirit, Weilin would probably be wasting more energy trying to reason with him than he would actually save with his protection.

“I was poisoned… my parents say be some sort of mortal enemy of the family, but I think it was just alcohol.” It was embarrassing to admit. Not just because he thought his parents were insane, but also because he thought alcohol poisoning was extremely unflattering. He didn’t drink *that* often- that was why it happened in the first place. He felt like everyone would assume it was because he was a drunkard though. Maybe that was why his parents were so convinced he was purposely targeted, they didn’t want to admit to anyone their loser son couldn’t handle alcohol. Or, maybe they knew something else they refused to tell him about who could have possibly been targeting him and for what reason.

 

[junedingo]

The spirit was confused by the explanation. It seemed like he had to do more than act as a body guard, perhaps even a baby sitter? It was strange seeing a member of this family acting so uncertain, but then again that was pretty true to what he remembered of Weilin. The young master looked ashamed of all things, seeming to not want to make eye contact with the spirit as he spoke. If this was Weilin's father, well, the man would already be trying to hunt down and sue anyone he felt responsible (and if human lawsuits didn't work, that was where Rufus would be told to step in for a little extra 'convincing').

"So, what then? Are you fine or not? When can you leave? If you're still too weak to walk, I can just carry you."

His words held no sentiment for the human's poor condition, and any care for the other's dignity didn't even cross his mind. To say that Rufus was impatient was an understatement. For one, this location wasn't great for protecting the young master. He'd noticed spirits lingering outside, just waiting to latch onto someone when they were weak. Those parasitic types could be tiny or invisible to the naked eye, he didn't need one of them getting stuck to Weilin and draining him like a fat spiritual tick. Second, and most importantly to Rufus, the hospital was filled with strangers, which meant eavesdroppers. Rufus didn't like the idea of anyone but those that needed to knowing his sister was in over her head.