Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Time
After they arrived home, Ling Dong simply nodded curtly at Banxia and went into his apartment without a word. He looked exhausted.
When Banxia entered her own apartment, Xiao Lian, who had just returned from outside, also looked tired.
"Why do you smell like dirt? Where have you been?" Banxia picked him up, examined him carefully, and then cleaned his little paws and feet with a warm towel. When she reached his tail, he shied away shyly.
After his bath, Xiao Lian retreated into his terrarium and quickly fell asleep, as if completely drained.
The next morning, Banxia noticed something was wrong with Xiao Lian.
His back, usually covered in tiny, smooth scales, gleaming like a black gemstone, was now a pale, almost white color, as if covered in a thin layer of mist.
The pale film was peeling off, and Xiao Lian seemed agitated, trying to pull it off with his mouth and tail. But his frantic movements only made things worse.
The shedding skin clung to his body in patches, an unsightly mess.
Mid-struggle, Xiao Lian noticed Banxia crouching beside his terrarium, watching him with concern.
He quickly scurried under his towel, hiding himself completely.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious," his low voice came from under the towel. "I'll be fine soon. You should go to school."
His voice was calm and steady, as if nothing was wrong.
But Banxia didn't listen. She lifted the towel and gently picked him up, examining him closely.
He looked unwell, the patchy white film clinging to his usually sleek, black skin.
Like bits of plastic wrap stuck to his toes, tail, neck, and even his eyes.
His tiny toes were red and inflamed, and one of his eyes was half-closed, the shed skin stuck to his eyelid.
He turned his head away from her gaze, embarrassed.
He didn't want her to see him like this.
Banxia held him gently in her palm, her soft hand cupping his small body, her clear eyes filled with concern, not disgust.
Xiao Lian knew she cared about him.
On that first day, she had held him in her hand, taken him to the vet, cleaned his wounds, her voice filled with gentle concern. "How did you get so hurt?"
He had survived the harsh winter, but his heart had grown greedy, longing for something more than just pity in her eyes.
A longing he shouldn't have, not in this form.
He liked being Ling Dong when he was with her.
Meeting her in the hallway, hearing her call him "Senior" with a smile.
Playing music together, their souls resonating through the notes.
Seeing the admiration and awe in her eyes as she looked at him on stage.
He had wanted her to see him like that, to see him as Ling Dong. That's why, despite his efforts to control his emotions, he had let his true feelings pour out through his music on stage yesterday.
He had rushed off stage, overwhelmed, and halfway home, he had transformed uncontrollably, his clothes falling away as he shifted back into his gecko form. He had waited until he was stable, then shamefully retrieved his dirty clothes, hiding among the bushes, only to be discovered by Banxia, cycling home.
"Senior Ling Dong? What are you doing here?"
"Do you need a ride?"
She had seen him as a man then, a man she admired, a man she could look at as an equal.
He had cycled home with her on the back of his bicycle.
She had no idea how much effort it had taken to control the bike, his body trembling with the effort.
She had no idea how the warmth of her body against his back had burned through his clothes, a heat that even the cold night air couldn't dispel.
He had wished the road was endless, that he could stay in his human form, riding with her forever.
Banxia, seeing Xiao Lian's dejected state, grew more concerned. She took a few pictures with her phone and sent them to a contact on WeChat.
It was one of the reptile enthusiasts she had met at the pet hospital, nicknamed Little Dragon.
Though she had refused his requests to breed Xiao Lian with his geckos, she occasionally asked him for advice on gecko care.
Little Dragon looked at the pictures and replied, 【He's having trouble shedding. His toes and eyes look a bit inflamed.】
【Don't worry too much. Shedding is normal for geckos. It happens about once a month.】
【Give him a warm bath to help him loosen the skin.】
【I'll send you a video. Just be gentle, and it should be fine.】
Banxia watched the video several times, carefully studying the instructions.
She gave Xiao Lian a warm bath, then held him gently in her hand, carefully peeling the shed skin from his toes.
Her hand trembled slightly, afraid of hurting him.
"Tell me if it hurts, okay?"
Her face was so close, her warm breath on his skin, that Xiao Lian froze, his mouth opening slightly.
The thin film of shed skin peeled away from his delicate toes. Banxia, her own hand sweating, gently touched his tiny foot, making sure it wasn't injured, then applied some antiseptic ointment, as instructed in the video.
She carefully removed the shed skin from his eyelid and applied some ointment to his swollen eye.
Then, looking back at the video, she heard the narrator say, "When helping a gecko shed its tail, be very careful. If you're not gentle, you might cause an infection or damage the tail, and it might need to be amputated."
"Now, let's talk about how to safely amputate a gecko's tail, if necessary."
Both Banxia and Xiao Lian were horrified.
Banxia's movements became even more gentle, more cautious. Xiao Lian closed his eyes tightly, enduring the process.
When she was finally done, Xiao Lian quickly scrambled out of her hand and burrowed under his towel, only the tip of his tail visible, trembling uncontrollably.
Banxia sent a message to Little Dragon. 【Do you know what it means when a gecko keeps shaking its tail?】
Little Dragon replied almost instantly. 【Congratulations! If it's a male, tail wagging means he's in heat. 😉】
He followed it with a short video of his impressive collection of geckos, housed in a custom-built enclosure. "Look at all these beauties! Bring your little guy over for a visit! We can talk business. Price is negotiable."
That evening, as Banxia hurried upstairs, she bumped into Ling Dong in the hallway.
His skin, usually pale, seemed even whiter tonight, almost translucent, like a freshly peeled egg.
A white gauze pad covered his right eye, as if he had injured it and applied some ointment.
Before Banxia could greet him, he quickly averted his gaze and hurried into his apartment.
She could have sworn she saw a faint blush on his ears and neck.
Back in her apartment, a warm meal was waiting for her on the table, but Xiao Lian was gone.
It wasn't unusual for him to be out, but he usually returned soon after she arrived home.
He would curl up in his terrarium, listen to her play the violin, and they would chat, mostly her talking, him listening.
One perched on the windowsill, the other lying on the bed, the lights off, the moonlight streaming in, they would talk about everything and nothing, until Banxia drifted off to sleep.
But tonight, Xiao Lian didn't return.
Banxia sat on her bed, leaning against the wall, feeling restless.
Even the wall was unusually quiet. Her neighbor wasn't playing the piano.
Without the music to distract her, her restlessness grew.
She picked up her violin and began to play, the melody flowing effortlessly from her fingers.
The music sounded like rain, rain mixed with desire, desire tinged with fear, fear giving way to a secret pleasure.
After a while, she realized she was playing the melody Ling Dong had asked her to record.
For some reason, it felt… strangely fitting, perfectly capturing her current mood.
Is Xiao Lian avoiding me?
Banxia bit her lip, her unspoken question echoing in the small room, carried by the music.
She didn't know that just beyond the thin wall, a figure sat in the darkness, listening.
The man in white sat with his phone beside him, the screen glowing faintly.
A timer was running, the seconds ticking relentlessly.
When the timer reached fifty minutes,
The man closed his eyes and sighed. "It's getting shorter again."
As the mournful melody of the violin continued, the soft, white shirt fell to the floor, and a small, black gecko crawled out.
I'm scared
ReplyDeleteI can feel his anxiousness
And that bike ride
SO GOOD AND VERY PAINFUL