A/N: hey. heyyy. how y’all doin

 

my excuse for just obliterating my writing schedule and Not Doing It For Quite a While amounts to “really fucking busy” so. take that as you will

 

this chapter was written in little bits and pieces over several nonconsecutive days so if it’s a wee bit choppy… that’s why!

 

updates will probably be sporadic for a while, but i will def try to work on this when i have the time :)

 

(bonus: a playlist i made for this story out of boredom a few weeks ago:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2HnXvUpTAlWrUxAIqDKg20?si=07e0b3071e524fd8 i had no intention of sharing this tbh but like… if u want some tunes while u read… LOL)

 

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“Uncle Hu!!” Lei Yirui cries, slamming into the man with all the speed of a bullet train and wrapping her arms around him. Hu Peng looks disgruntled, mouth twisting into a scowl as he places a hand on her shoulder and tries to shove her off of him. Jia Zhenzhen watches passively as she slinks inside after the other.

 

“Get the hell offa’ me, kid. We’re not that close.” he says, and Lei Yirui obliges, but her hands are folded like she’s begging as she bounces  up and down enthusiastically. 

 

“I’m so hungry.” she says, and Hu Peng scoffs, turning away from her to get back to work. 

 

“You can grab some fruit if it’s so important. I’m busy doing my job,” he says. “Besides, why are you even here? I’d think you’d be under lock and key.” 

 

“The majority of those who would take on that sort of duty are busy with interrogations. There are spies.” Jia Zhenzhen says plainly. Hu Peng scoffs. 

 

“You’re not a spy, right? That would suck.” Lei Yirui asks him, only half paying attention as she scoops up an apricot and sits down, biting into it.

 

“You think I have time to spy? Look at this. Fifteen midday snacks. Damn palace officials…” he grumbles, smacking some meat with the palm of his hand. 

 

“You’re getting juice all over your fingers.” Jia Zhenzhen says, approaching Lei Yirui with a rag she scoops up from one of the wooden counters. Lei Yirui yelps and scrambles out of the way as Jia Zhenzhen tries to dab at her with the offending cloth. She’s not a baby!! Don’t embarrass her!

“It’s fine!! I wash my hands after eating, I’m not an animal!” she whines. Jia Zhenzhen’s eye twitches. 

 

“You have a cast on. It’s going to get inside of it. Stop being a child.” she says, and grabs Lei Yirui by the shoulders to wrangle her properly. When Lei Yirui refuses to let go of the apricot, Jia Zhenzhen furrows her brow, snatches it from her hand, and shoves it in Lei Yirui’s mouth like she’s a horse with an apple.

 

“Mnghg,” Lei Yirui says, and Hu Peng shoots a marginally disgusted look in their direction. Jia Zhenzhen takes Lei Yirui’s hand and gently dabs at it with the rag. Lei Yirui, embarrassed, stares resolutely at the window. Any subtlety that had been in Jia Zhenzhen’s doting before the two of them began dating has vanished into the cosmos, and Jia Zhenzhen’s stickiness has increased a thousandfold. She acts like Lei Yirui is going to catch fire spontaneously if she isn’t cared for at all times.

 

… Not that Lei Yirui minds. She enjoys being spoiled, but it’s embarrassing in front of other people. Jia Zhenzhen, Lei Yirui, and God are the only ones who should know how much she likes being coddled!!

 

When Jia Zhenzhen is finished, Lei Yirui shoots her a glare as she dislodges the fruit from her maw, taking another bite of the thing. Satisfied that Lei Yirui isn’t going to eat in a way that makes juice waterfall through her fingers anymore, she nods approvingly. 

 

“What are you, a governess?” Lei Yirui gripes between bites. Jia Zhenzhen’s expression turns a little confused. 

 

“A… what? Is that another term for ‘girlfriend’?” she asks, and Lei Yirui has a brief coughing fit.

 

The day prior, there had been a little fiasco when Jia Zhenzhen had said Lei Yirui was her “lover” and then said they were engaging in fucking courtship. The term lover was intimate enough to make Lei Yirui nearly collapse into a worthless puddle, and she had vehemently protested against that. Not that she didn’t like it, but she liked it too much. She would probably have a brain hemorrhage before their relationship got anywhere if she had to endure being called Jia Zhenzhen’s lover all of the time.

 

She had then insisted that they were girlfriends instead, and something about the word friends being used to describe their relationship had made Jia Zhenzhen go ramrod straight, turn very pale, and say, “I believe I may have misunderstood something,” and Lei Yirui had to fight the urge to grab her and shake her back and forth.

 

My tongue has been inside of your mouth, dude! She thinks. What could she have possibly misunderstood??? Use context clues! (In hindsight, Lei Yirui kind of understands that this definitely could have been the result of language and culture development rather than Jia Zhenzhen’s inability to understand, but that’s neither here nor there.)

 

Still, after a brief bout of panic, Lei Yirui had managed to explain that yes, the term ‘girlfriend’ is romantic, and no, Jia Zhenzhen, you did not just get friendzoned.

 

“No!! It’s like a woman who’s hired to teach and nanny children. I’ve seen them in period dramas, but some of the wealthier people my age have said they had governesses as kids.” Lei Yirui says.  

 

“Period dramas?” Jia Zhenzhen parrots, and Lei Yirui snaps a finger in her face. 

 

“Not important. Do you want to go on a walk?” she asks. Jia Zhenzhen pauses, like the quick change in subject is taking a moment to process. 

 

“Why?” she asks after a moment, narrowing her eyes on Lei Yirui like she’s expecting it’s some sort of secretly devised plan to annoy her.

 

“Why?? Isn’t there any joy in your life?? It’s a nice sunny day, and it’s not hot as balls for once. Enjoy the sun! The grass!! Explore nature!!” she exclaims, throwing her arms into the air.

 

“You’re not allowed past the gates anymore.” Jia Zhenzhen points out, and Lei Yirui jabs her in the stomach. Jia Zhenzhen’s mouth twitches upwards like she’s about to laugh, but she quickly schools the expression before Lei Yirui can cherish how cute it is.

 

“Well, I’ll explore nature in the courtyard. Come on. Let’s go get our steps in!!” Lei Yirui says, tossing her fruit into the wastebasket and grabbing Jia Zhenzhen’s wrists and jumping up and down. 

 

Jia Zhenzhen is apparently resigned to listen to Lei Yirui as soon as she had reached out to touch her, because she’s staring down at Lei Yirui’s hands with a very serious look, but does allow Lei Yirui to drag her towards the door. 

 

“Bye, Uncle Hu!!” Lei Yirui calls over her shoulder, and she hears a grumble that might have been a proper response, if she’s lucky. 

 

Lei Yirui drags Jia Zhenzhen into the courtyard, dropping her wrists and stretching out her arms, sighing pleasantly. It’s definitely been hotter, and the sun is just warm enough that it’s pleasant without being uncomfortable. The two of them are being stared at a little by the few that are also out and enjoying the sun, which isn’t anything particularly new. 

 

When Jia Zhenzhen had to have her obligatory questioning, Lei Shunyuan had basically forced her to reveal that she was a woman.  As far as Lei Yirui could tell, Jia Zhenzhen seemed to be the only one in the palace who didn’t care that much. She still dressed, spoke, and acted exactly the same as before, and Lei Yirui can appreciate that she’s a tomboy at heart. 

 

Still, now that it’s been revealed that the palace guard Lei Yirui had been sort of suspiciously close to is a woman, everyone has changed their mind about Lei Yirui being kind of a whore, and simply decided that had they misunderstood and the two are just really good friends.

 

Like, okay, considering Limitless, Jia Zhenzhen is probably bisexual, so whatever, but Lei Yirui has never expressed interest in the opposite gender!! Ever!! Lei Yirui would grab Jia Zhenzhen and smack their mouths together until people got the idea if it wouldn’t send Jia Zhenzhen to her deathbed with embarrassment!! 

 

Lei Yirui shakes away the thought before that gets out of hand. Jia Zhenzhen is still staring kind of intensely at her hands even though she’s been let go of, so Lei Yirui rolls her eyes and slips her hand into Jia Zhenzhen’s, folding their fingers together. Jia Zhenzhen’s entire arm spasms in response, and she scowls when Lei Yirui releases a bark of laughter, before closing her own fingers around Jia Zhenzhen’s. It’s probably tight enough to bruise, but Lei Yirui is honestly alright with that.

 

“When’s it going to start getting colder?” Lei Yirui asks randomly, out of a desire to get her mind on literally anything else. Jia Zhenzhen blinks, turning her gaze to Lei Yirui thoughtfully. 

 

“Soon. Winters here are mild, aren’t they?” Jia Zhenzhen asks. 

 

“Yeah,” she replies, having no clue at all. She’s only been here for like, 6 months!! She hasn’t been around for winter yet! “Does your town get super cold? It wasn’t that far north.” she asks.

 

“Colder than here. It’s enough to give Yuxing aches, so he usually has to stay warm indoors during the winter,” she says, before a slight smile crosses her face. “It might actually be good for him to spend winter here, actually.” 

 

“Like a migratory bird!!” Lei Yirui exclaims, bouncing forward on her feet. Jia Zhenzhen raises a brow, but is clearly fighting an amused grin. 

 

“I suppose—” Jia Zhenzhen starts, but Lei Yirui suddenly yanks her hand out of Jia Zhenzhen’s to smack her arms like an excited child.

 

“Oh!! Speaking of birds! Come on!” she says, and clasps her hands down on Jia Zhenzhen’s shoulders, steering her around and towards the building where Lei Yirui’s room is. Jia Zhenzhen complies wordlessly, though she does direct a curious look towards Lei Yirui. When they arrive at her room, Lei Yirui has to give the guards 10 different justifications as to why Jia Zhenzhen should be allowed in a room alone with her. Lei Yirui knows they’re asking to make sure she doesn’t get stabbed after already having caused so much trouble, but the question makes her snicker, which makes Jia Zhenzhen glower at her and the guards exchange glances. 

 

“I hope you aren’t storing a bird in here.” Jia Zhenzhen says warily once they slip inside and Lei Yirui rockets over to open a drawer. 

 

“What? I wouldn’t do that.” she says, because she wouldn’t just pick up a bird from outside and hoard it in a drawer. She’d get it a nice cage, at least. And a flu shot. Jia Zhenzhen doesn’t answer, and Lei Yirui supposes it’s for the best. 

 

“A-ha!” she exclaims, and gently cups a group of little paper cranes from the drawer and sets them on her vanity, gesturing widely to them like a car salesman as she beams widely at Jia Zhenzhen. “Aren’t they cute??” 

 

Jia Zhenzhen stares at them, shooting a somewhat helpless look at Lei Yirui. 

 

“What… are they…” 

 

Lei Yirui’s eye twitches. What!! Okay, she hadn’t folded paper-cranes since she was in high school and the art club had to make a bunch to hang from the ceiling for an event, but they weren’t that bad!! Maybe they looked a little-fucked up and a little excessively creased where she made folding mistakes,  but they definitely still looked like cranes!!

 

“Okay, well, obviously birds! I was just talking about them,” she says critically, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Jia Zhenzhen, who has picked up one of the smaller ones and is turning it around to look at it. “They’re paper cranes!! See the wings and the beak?” she says, pointing. Jia Zhenzhen tilts her head, furrowing her brows. 

 

“...Cranes don’t look like this. This looks more like a swan.” she says, and Lei Yirui’s face goes utterly blank as she stares at her girlfriend who she sort of wants to unleash a furious swan upon, now. And honestly, while the idea of Jia Zhenzhen having a grand face-off against a swan is incredibly amusing to her, she also thinks Jia Zhenzhen would deliver an absolute beatdown on the animal.

 

Jia Zhenzhen glances over at Lei Yirui’s silence, and once she catches the displeased stare she looks a little startled and sort of waves the crane in her hand around like it’s bobbing through water in an action so cute Lei Yirui would squeal over it if she wasn’t trying to be annoyed. In fact, she has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from doing so, and she has to dig her nails into her palms to keep herself from grabbing Jia Zhenzhen’s cheeks and pulling them out like dough. (Gosh, Lei Yirui hasn’t baked anything for a while. She kind of wants to, now!!)

 

“They are cute,” Jia Zhenzhen assures her quickly, and Lei Yirui snaps out of her bread fantasies to level a critical look at the other woman. “I see it now, I just didn’t at first. Where’d you learn to make these?” she asks, looking over Lei Yirui’s collection of first, second, and third tries that look less like cranes and more like train wrecks  that progressively get more bird-like. Hey, at least she got it eventually!!

 

“An online tutorial,” she says without thinking, before coughing into her hand. “Er, friend… taught me.” she says. It’s kind of true. A friend was the one who made them watch the online tutorial.

 

It’s Jia Zhenzhen’s turn to give Lei Yirui a bland look, and though she delivers a lot of bland looks (it’s her default expression, honestly), this one is clearly because it’s obvious she’s lying. Lei Yirui wonders if this is the consequence of thinking critically about Jia Yuxing’s lying skills during their brief summer vacation to the Ritz Carlton Shen Tan Tang Xiaodan’s ex-palace.

 

Lei Yirui straightens out her posture. 

“Well, I’m proud of them.” she says, and Jia Zhenzhen breaks out a tiny smile. 

“That’s good,” she says, before pausing, her face going slightly pink. “I’m not… I’ve never been good at artistic things,” she says, embarrassed. Lei Yirui nearly nods as she remembers the elementary looking carvings on the cane she made her brother before realizing that might be rude. “Would you mind showing me how to make these?” she asks, and Lei Yirui jolts, sending her hands fluttering up beside her head in excitement. 

 

“Oh, really? Yes!! Sit down, sit down! I’ll grab the paper!” she says, ushering Jia Zhenzhen to settle down as she goes to fetch paper from her shelf. 

 

“Did you make these recently?” Jia Zhenzhen asks. 

 

“Sort of. I made these when the war first started and they would barely let me do anything. I have a lot of useless information in my brain, so I figured I could see if I remembered how to make these.” she explains, dropping the papers onto the table and sitting down beside Jia Zhenzhen, who startles when Lei Yirui’s body is pressed up against hers. Lei Yirui rolls her eyes, and moves to show Jia Zhenzhen the first steps.

 

… It turns out to be a hot mess.

 

Lei Yirui briefly remembers Jia Yuxing telling her that Jia Zhenzhen would simply stab the cane as she was working on it when she couldn’t get the carvings right, but she hadn’t really considered that the bursts of anger would return with a fury for simple arts and crafts. Jesus! is what Lei Yirui thinks when Jia Zhenzhen suddenly snarls and crumples her first attempt in her hands and hurls it across the room. Sigh, is what she thinks when Jia Zhenzhen smashes her 11th attempt into the table with her fist. The fact that Lei Yirui is managing to do it just fine with a broken hand doesn’t appear to be helping either.

 

“You know you can just refold it when you mess up, right?” Lei Yirui feebly points out to deaf ears. 

 

Lei Yirui is pretty good at making them at this point, and churns out a good 15 of them while Jia Zhenzhen is surrounded by a growing pile of crumpled paper. Jia Zhenzhen looks like she might run out of the room to go kill someone, actually, so Lei Yirui reaches over to settle a hand over Jia Zhenzhen’s fist as it crushes an attempt she folded unevenly. 

 

“Wanna try something easier?” she asks, and Jia Zhenzhen looks like she’s trying to light the room on fire with her eyes, but grunts in assent. 

 

Lei Yirui shows her how to make a boat instead, and Jia Zhenzhen actually manages to do it after three tries. When Jia Zhenzhen gasps and holds it up, gently cupped in her hands like something gentle and priceless, Lei Yirui feels a little breathless at the way she absolutely beams at her. Jia Zhenzhen hardly smiles, and rarely like this, and Lei Yirui cherishes the sight as much as she mourns the fact that the thing that warranted it was some stupid shit like an oragami boat.

 

“Is… it cute?” Jia Zhenzhen asks, lowering the boat in her hands and dipping her head to look at it as she looks at it like a child would look at a puppy. Lei Yirui smiles fondly. 

 

“Very cute.” 

 

…

 

One morning, just a few days later, Lei Yirui is dragged away from a boring lesson by Jia Yuxing, who had finageled his way into staying by effectively doing the same thing he’d done to the Shen Tan soldiers and begged to become a servant. What Lei Yirui had gaged from talking to Jia Zhenzhen was that Zheng Xiaosi was curious about him, and basically made him run around like a personal maid for the time being. This was her first time seeing him for the first time since they got back when he came for her, and Lei Yirui cooes at him when she sees his neat oversized uniform and his fluffy hair in disarray as he clutches a bunch of scrolls to his chest. 

 

“Your brother wants to have you over for tea.” he explains as he leads her across the courtyard to the building where her brother's room is.

 

“Alright. Did he say why? I haven’t seen him for a bit.” she wonders. 

 

“He didn’t say. Sort of just, um, accosted me when he saw I was in the room with the prince. He’s awfully mysterious, isn’t he?” he says. Lei Yirui hums.

 

“Sounds like him. Where’s your cane?” she asks, gesturing towards his occupied hands.

 

“Oh!” Jia Yuxing exclaims. “Um, well, I don’t have to use one all of the time. It — the canes, they help with the pain when I walk. It’s not so bad today, so I’m alright to walk without one for a while.” 

 

Lei Yirui nods, before grinning deviously and reaching over to ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks as she squeals over his scholarly appearance. Jia Yuxing swats at her, though he does start giggling when she pokes his side. 

 

He leads her to Lei Shunyuan’s room, which she belatedly realizes she’s never actually been inside of, and feels sort of jittery. She never had siblings in her… actual?? original??? life (She  really doesn’t know how to refer to it, and she’s going to avoid thinking too hard about it so she doesn’t have a crisis), so she has an urge to walk in, knock something over, and leave without closing the door just to make up for the lack of experience in being agitating.

 

Jia Yuxing leaves her, shuffling through the scrolls he’s holding as he scrambles off and out of the building. She rolls her eyes, before knocking on the doorframe, unlike some people, and slipping inside when Lei Shunyuan instructs her to come inside. 

 

His room is… well, it’s really fucking nice, is what it is. Lei Shunyuan’s room is nicer by virtue of his higher station than Lei Yirui’s, bigger by all means, with far more things. It has a few separate rooms in it, for one, and the one she walks into has no bed in sight, but she figures one of the doors to the right or to the left just lead to a bedroom.

 

While her own room is woody, mostly browns and the warm feelings of summer, his is pristine - soft bamboo furniture vs. the bulky hardwood furniture of Lei Yirui’s room, white and blue fabrics and decorations, and shelves displaying priceless looking vases and bowls, and shelves lined with books upon books and scrolls upon scrolls. There’s a very beautiful unfinished painting in the corner and a guqin stowed gently near it, and Lei Yirui didn’t even know he painted or played. What are these — fucking headcanons?? This wasn’t in the show at all!

 

While both of their rooms are expensive looking in their own rights, Lei Shunyuan’s is more open, natural feeling, and… well, scholarly. 

 

“Hi!!” Lei Yirui says after a moment of gawking, and Lei Shunyuan smiles gently at her from where he’s seated, already pouring her tea for her.

 

“Hello. You noticed my painting?” he asks, and Lei Yirui wonders if he was waiting for her to notice it and completely looked past her noticing every other fucking thing in the room.

 

“Yeah,” Lei Yirui says, turning to look at it. It really is pretty — it has the same white, wispy sort of feel that everything else in his room does. It’s of a natural scene — trees and a mountain and trickling, clear looking water flowing through, but the painting fades off into speculative strokes and unfinished sketches halfway through. “That’s so cool. When did you find the time to work on it?” she asks, turning her head towards him as she sits across from him. 

 

Lei Shunyuan’s smile twitches downwards into slight displeasure as he sighs softly, gazing into his tea.

 

“I haven’t. Not for some time, at least. I began it months ago, but things have just been so hectic that I’ve had no time to work on it as of late.” he says. Lei Yirui reaches over to give him a consoling pat on the arm, and he offers her a kind look. 

 

“You shouldn’t worry so much about work.” Lei Yirui says, blowing gently at the tea before she lifts the cup to her lips and sips gently. Her brother sighs, shaking his head.

 

“I wish it was that easy. But we are at war, and with Tang Xiaodan’s assassination, there’s a power struggle in Shen Tan that will likely create more problems than it will cause, and I am one of the chief logistics—”

 

“Bro!” Lei Yirui interrupts, and Lei Shunyuan blinks, tilting his head curiously at her. 

 

“The world isn’t going to fall apart if you take an hour to yourself!! Stress affects your immune system!! You’re going to worry yourself sick. As valuable as you are, you’re not the only person with a brain in this palace.” 

 

“While I appreciate your concern, regardless of that fact, Xiaosi still does nothing but neglect his duties —”

 

“The world doesn’t revolve around Zheng Xiaosi, you know.” she says, mouth quirking upwards in amusement. “He only acts like that because you’re always there to clean up his mess. You can relax. You shouldn’t constantly put your work before yourself. You don’t have to laze around like I do — Just some time to unwind between yelling at advisors will do you good. Probably help you work better, as well!” she says. Lei Shunyuan stares thoughtfully at her for a long moment, his fingers drumming softly against the table.r

 

“I suppose.” he says finally, his gaze remaining carefully on Lei Yirui’s face, and Lei Yirui shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. He’s clearly assessing something about her, and she’s not exactly a fan of not knowing what it is. Don’t think too hard about her, thank you!! Uncomfortable, Lei Yirui changes the subject with a sharp grin.

 

“So… you call him Xiaosi?” 

 

“… Drink your tea, Meimei.”