“Are you sure about this?” Hongyan asked. “I mean, we could wait?”
“Groom me,” Jixue had said, and Hongyan wasn’t late to oblige, coating his fingers in oil and carding them through those beautifully iridescent feathers. However, he was soon interrupted though – first by Mingyue and then by⸺
“Frosty?!”
Truly, what awful deeds had Hongyan done in his current or previous lifetime to deserve being subjected to likes of Jiao Zilei?
“You⸺”
Also, what had Hongyan done to deserve having to deal with Bai Mingyue?
Granted, dealing with him was a sacrifice that he was perfectly willing to make, because whether grown or not, the other was still Jixue’s former ward.
“Me,” Hongyan said, unblinking in the face of the other’s aggression. “What of it?”
“You⸺”
Jixue pushed himself back up, prompting Hongyan to move aside just a bit. Then, Jixue turned his attention towards his onetime disciple, narrowing his eyes in obvious displeasure.
“I asked Àiyǎn to groom me. He knows what he’s doing.”
And indeed, Hongyan did know what he was doing – most of the time, at any rate.
“Why can’t I do it, Master?” the insolent brat insisted, as if the answer to that wasn’t already perfectly obvious.
“It’d be improper,” Jixue said, and Hongyan agreed. It had been one thing back then, before either of them had reached full on maturity, but now, the situation was entirely different.
Even the disembodied Jiao Zilei, that dense bastard, seemed to get it, going by the faces he was making – because Hongyan could obviously see him, if only as a faint outline. And he made a point to stare quite blatantly, drawing Mingyue’s attention towards the interloper in their midst – and it quickly paid off as well, with Mingyue going right on the offensive.
“Geez, people!” Jiao Zilei shouted. “Just a poor ghost passing through, looking for my ticket out of here! Stop trying to make me even deader!”
The other’s pleading fell largely onto deaf ears though. Because for whichever reason, Mingyue could hear nothing, and Hongyan was entirely too amused to put an end to it. No, if anything, then he wanted to see what happened if Mingyue succeeded.
Unfortunately, Jixue did not seem to feel quite the same way though. “Mingyue.”
Tch. Hongyan didn’t know why, but Jixue probably had his reasons and hopefully not entirely sentimental ones.
Heeding his onetime master’s warning, Mingyue did stop, even though the look he sent Jixue’s way was every bit that of a petulant child.
Jiao Zilei meanwhile looked at Jixue as though he had hung not just the sun and the moon but all the stars as well, then quickly averted his eyes. As for whether this was due to Jixue’s current state of undress or due to Hongyan’s openly hostile stare, that was up to interpretation.
“So...” Jiao Zilei shifted awkwardly. “I’m kind of lost? Could either of you tell me where⸺?”
Whatever the fool had been about to say next was lost as there was a surge of irritation from Jixue, who promptly proceeded to give the two interlopers firm instructions to ‘Fuck off and don’t come back’. Hongyan was a bit impressed actually.
Even more surprising was the fact that Mingyue did just that, although not before fixating his glacial eyes upon Hongyan, promising death and agony in his near future, to which Hongyan naturally smiled and motioned for him to get going.
And as he did, the incorporeal form of Jiao Zilei quickly followed suit. Knowing the two though, there was no real guarantee that they would stay away for long.
Hongyan would make sure to enjoy this moment for however long it lasted though, sliding his fingers right back in to those feathers, relishing in the gasp and noticeable arch this earned him as he gradually moved his hands inwards, against the natural direction of the feathers. Eventually, he reached the area where the wings connected to Jixue’s back. Only then did he pause, briefly.
“Are you sure about this?” Hongyan asked. “I mean, we could wait?”
At this, there was a noticeable surge of irritation, and then Jixue tore himself loose, twisting around to glare at him.
For a brief moment, Hongyan thought that he had managed to ruin the mood completely. But then, hands wrapped around his neck – not around his throat but around his neck – and pulled him down. And Hongyan certainly didn’t resist, completely transfixed by the intensity of that gaze.
“No,” Jixue said, so close now that their breaths intermingled. “They can wait.”
Oh. Well then⸺
Meanwhile, the incorporeal Jiao Zilei stood outside the door, still reeling. He quickly sobered up though, watching Mingyue stalk off angrily to wherever. Because seeing this reminded him of something far more urgent than the shock of recent revelations.
“Oh right,” he said, looking around. “I need to find System 403.”
And in the meantime, Mingyue walked. He returned to whence he had come, and upon entering, he found the room mostly vacated.
The Demon Bastard had undoubtedly sensed him coming and promptly decided to vacate the premises, bringing Yue along with him – and although Mingyue was quite annoyed by this, he was also relieved. He was relieved, because Yue was still recovering, and Mingyue would hate to scare or upset him any more than he already had, and even though he still considered Youming Jun unworthy, everything had not been for naught. Things might not have turned out as intended, but⸺
On the bed, Ziyu lay, still asleep. His rest did not appear wholly peaceful though, and Mingyue’s presence was undoubtedly the cause.
As such, Mingyue should go – he should leave and return only once his heart had calmed down again. But instead, he moved closer, and since there was no one watching, he released a shuddering breath and finally allowed the shimmering scales to spread across his skin. It both improved and soured his mood, because while it felt good now, putting them away later would feel terrible.
Master would probably be able to help him, but for now, Master was⸺
Annoyed, Mingyue shook his head to dispel the thought of such infuriating things. Instead, he focused on Ziyu – his Ziyu.
The mere thought made him move, and in no time, Mingyue stood at the side of the bed, looking down at the cultivator where he lay – and even without touching him, Mingyue knew that there was nothing to be concerned about, nothing save from the fact that Ziyu’s mental and physical exhaustion had landed him in such a state, which was already bad enough. Still⸺
He reached out, brushing Ziyu’s hair back from his forehead, keeping his hand there just briefly as he willed himself to calm down – because cultivator or not, Jiao Ziyu was only human after all, and thus unable to remain in his presence for long. But⸺
Ziyu’s eyelashes fluttered, his lips parting in a sleepy murmur. “Mingyue?”
Mingyue immediately drew back, then retreated even further as a hand reached out towards him. Because Mingyue’s own hand was adorned with not just scales but also claws, and the other still didn’t⸺
“...Sorry,” Ziyu mumbled, and the hand dropped back down.
Mingyue wanted to leave. But he also wanted to stay, even though he honestly shouldn’t.
Against better judgement, he once again reached out, willing his physical form back into a familiar human shape before finally reaching out to grasp that hand.
“Ziyu,” he said, picking it up and interlacing their fingers.
“Angry?” Ziyu asked, annoyingly perceptive.
“Exhausted.”
Brown eyes slid partially open, and a gentle tug brought him in – and although Mingyue could easily have resisted it, he didn’t.
“This is a very nice bed,” Ziyu sleepily murmured, and Mingyue felt inclined to agree. “There’s enough room for both of us.”
Yes. “It’d fit even more.”
At this, Ziyu just groaned, and before Mingyue knew it, he too was lying in bed, his mate hugging him from behind.
“It would,” Ziyu mumbled at last, and Mingyue tried not to shiver at the breaths against his nape. “We’re not having a threesome though.”
And with this said, his mate dozed off once more, leaving Mingyue far more mystified than angry. Because indeed, he did know what a threesome was. However, he was utterly confused about whom would have been their third. Mingyue tried wracking his brain for it, and recalling no such candidates in the vicinity, he inevitably turned his thoughts back to the Green Jade Peaks.
Maybe Yi Yeguang, he mused, frowning at the thought before deciding to ask about it at a later date.
Meanwhile, many miles away, the Sect Leader of the Windward Sect sneezed and then shivered violently, wondering what terrible catastrophe was about to unfold.
Definitely Mingyue, Yi Yeguang thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He should probably take a nap first and deal with the fallout later – and fervently hope that it would already be dealt with by the time he woke up. This was probably too much to ask for though.
“Honestly,” Yi Yeguang mumbled to himself, lying down and covering himself with a blanket. “I don’t want to deal with it...”
