Dr. BaiBai 4 - (Honkai: Star Rail, Bailu!SI)
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"Alchemy Commission Collected Treatment Histories: Volume Ninety-One, Case Study 67
Presiding Physician: Bailu.
Patient: Jing Yuan, Male Xianzhou Human, aged seven-hundred and forty-six.
Complaint: Insomnia, forgetfulness.
Diagnosis: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Prescription: Frequent visits to mind-specialized healers (AND THIS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!).
Usage: Once a week, preferably on weekends.
Remarks: General Jing Yuan is a valuable element of the Xianzhou Alliance, but the years, the constant fighting and several similar visits (see 14-158, 29-44, 36-44, and 65-126) have confirmed he is suffering through an mistreated case of PTSD. Access to his files despite the worrisome situation has been restricted, but I can deduce this issue is galvanized by the events that led to the dissolution of the High Cloud Quintet. I require demand that Jing Yuan is given a proper mental examination, for him to be given a chance to retire from the position and for Marshal Hua to be given access to this documentation and more. (I can't save this one if you keep neglecting your duties!)
The day after that mind-blowing kinky love-making, I took the chance to let Tingyun rest and actually do some exercises to recover some of her bodily movements.
At the same time, I had been ordered to go through another round of medical check-ups through the few other cases that had yet to be treated. People had died despite my best efforts - people that worked at the Alchemy Commission - which means there was a medical shortage. Tragic.
Still, I refrained from outright bitch and moan through the hours of medical work, and I focused on just getting through the complaints with the flattest look possible. I braved the storm as I focused on that juicy ass that was my Foxian babe's, thinking of the many things I could do to her once we were back on dating terms and... And then I managed to outlast my chores. I just found myself sitting for a solid minutes without any new patient and...
Man, what the fuck am I doing?
I was done for the day as far as I was concerned, and I was relieved to get back to Jinyu as one of her neighbors confirmed that she had reincarnated yesterday. This meant she would be unapproachable for a few months as she rapidly grew up and re-learned her chores, leaving me to glare at the stack of paperwork sitting on my assistant's desk.
Growling at my bad luck, I sat my pretty butt on Jingyu's chair (cussing at her persisting decision to keep it as sturdy as it could get) and started to deal with the reports. Nothing too intense, but definitely felt myself closing in on death's doorstep with the way this mind-boggling shit was handled. I swear, I should take steps to avoid new crises if this was the kind of shit I was going to deal in the aftermath.
During crises? Kind of easy to handle. Post crises? Fuck that.
As I was asking for The Hunt to hunt the ass of those fucking me over with the documentation, I noticed that someone had stepped into my office.
"Lady Bailu."
I rolled my eyes, but showed a big grin at the dickhead that stepped through. "If it isn't the 'Savior General of the Luofu'."
Jing Yuan groaned in his immediate facepalm, but that didn't stop his smile. "Lady Bailu, not you too."
"Then stop calling me 'Lady'. You're what? My pseudo-uncle or something? I am not asking you to just call me Bai-Bai, but I am Bailu!"
...
"Nope, you're still Lady Bailu," He remarked mirthfully, making me groan in my hands. "Still, are you free?"
"Duh! Paperwork is the only thing I got left so... how bad is it?"
He tensed up at my sudden question and he bowed his head. "I am not sure."
I shifted out of my seat and gestured to me to follow me to my workroom. "So, pretty bad."
Jing Yuan flinched at my bluntness, and I added this as part of the Diagnosis. He was nervous, this much I could tell. In previous visits, he would hold just a hint of caution, but I could tell he was concerned by something and, as I had him sit by the stool, I could tell what it was from a closer look. It was fucking bad.
"Your lifespan got damaged," I announced quietly. "Your battle against Phantylia really did a trick on you."
"As I suspected-"
"No, maybe you don't get it," I snapped at him, with Jing Yuan giving me a surprised look at my angry tone. I hardly got angry around him, not to the level of seriousness I could muster. "You got a few years left. Not even a decade! And while I will not diminish the good work you did, both in this case and in the last centuries, I have to write a serious letter to Marshal Hua. You need to retire."
"I can't-"
"You will!" I slammed my tiny ferocious fist onto the table nearby, making it crack slightly. "I don't care that it isn't Yanqing, or if you don't want to drop the chore on Fu Xuan so suddenly. You are retiring within the next month, or there will be hell for you."
His eyes narrowed. "Bailu, I can't do that. I have much to do and-"
"I don't care. You had centuries to fix your shit," I snapped back, knowing I couldn't let him beat me back with some bullshit anger he could conjure due to his traumas. "I gave you the outlets, I gave you the way out, I gave you the means- you think I wanted to come to this?! That I have a choice now that you decided to fucking ruin it for yourself!? Pick a successor, there's no way out now and you can't be fixed."
I can deal with The Abundance, I am worthless when it comes to The Destruction. So yes, Jing Yuan couldn't be 'healed' since the damage was so extensive his body thought things were fine as they were. I can't do anything about it, and he clearly knew I couldn't do shit - and while I wasn't exactly a rule-stickler, there was a reason why the Succession Laws had remained unchanged since the creation of the Xianzhou Alliance: people can die fast if they were on the frontline, regardless of their ranks.
So, it was fair to say that Jing Yuan should have had a replacement by a century or two now.
And he didn't.
Yanqing was too young and brash, Fu Xuan was going to bitch a lot about this but... it was what it was. And I was done trying to play his waiting game. So, I sat up and walked up to the door.
"And we are done."
"...Bailu-"
"Nope." I stated to Jing Yuan. "I said my thing, I told you this would have come eventually, and you refused until it was too late. So, you got the news, what will happen- go home or whatever, but you are not convincing me and... I need a walk."
A long one at that.
Jingyuan didn't stop me as I really needed to get that fresh breath of air. I was out of the office, away from the paperwork, away from this kind of shitty stressful stuff.
Baibai was a miracle worker, but I wasn't going to drag myself to hell because a certain someone refused my help up until it was convenient for them. I wasn't a doormat, and I decided to drop the ball. Maybe I should have Jingyuan listed to another healer because... fucking hell was he was stressing bastard.
I decided that I deserved some ice cream. And I found quite the companion at the stand selling those.
"Hello Huohuo."
The green Foxian tensed up, giving me a shifty look and then relaxing as she realized it was me. "O-Oh, hi Bailu."
I nodded, sat beside her, spared another nod to her possessed tail, and then asked for something with chocolate.
"T-Tough day?" She asked and I nodded.
"That's one way to put it."
"I-I'm sorry to hear that."
"How about you? Any progress with your task?"
"N-Not much," Huohuo hummed shyly. "Ta-Tail has been helping me a lot but- but there's a lot of Heliobi that we have yet to- to find."
"I see," I replied with a sigh, delighted that I got my fresh cup of ice cream. "I hope you will succeed in this big task. You definitely deserve the praises for the hard work."
She blushed cutely, and she nodded. "T-Thank you. I hope you will be- be fine with your issues too."
The rest of the meeting was brief, and I was off the moment I was done eating my ice cream. It was still too early for me to go back to the office, and I found myself taking a few unplanned turns around the streets of the Luofu. I was about to just call it quits, go back home for a nap, and then bravely endure the paperwork when-
"Hi!"
I admit I almost shat myself when I stumbled upon... Bailu? Me? No, it wasn't me. It was...
"Oh, hello Heliobus. Fancy a walk?"
Luxie tensed up as her intended target realized who she was on the spot but... what ensued next was far from what she had expected a 'capture' to go.
After all, she was quite sure that being hired as a 'friend' should have not been a potential outcome of that entire plan of hers.
AN
Baibai gives the shit news to Jingyuan, goes for ice cream with Huohuo and... actually hires her clone/Luxie. While it is a bit illegal the last bit, that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions. Such as Luxie being her perfect clone and thus promising quite the kinky situation in the long run. No one expects the Double BaiBai Naughty combo.