untamedbox | Brothel Meme: Part 3

Brothel Meme: Part 3

The first day of the tournament dawns bright and clear in Lanling - there's a chill in the air that speaks of the coming winter, but the sky is clear and the sun is bright and the day promises to warm long before any of the events actually start. It's an auspicious morning.

Officially, the tournament is being hosted by four clans - Jin, Jiang, Nie and Ouyang - but everybody knows this is Jin Ling's time to shine. This is the young clan leader's first official public appearance since the attempt on his life, and though his people have seen him several times, rumours have been rife amongst the cultivation community - the tournament is to be well attended, the visitors all expecting to confirm the rumours or dispel them.

There's talk, too, that Jiang Cheng's involvement in the planning is largely to try and repair his own damaged reputation, and Ouyang are there to strengthen their own ties with the Jin clan rather than improve their shaky relationship with the Jiang. Nobody's quite sure why the Nie clan are involved at all, though recently a few more rumours have surfaced about recent 'planning' trips to Lotus Pier...

In short, the gossip is everywhere and everybody who is anybody wants to be there to find out the truth.

It's the grandest tournament to have been held in quite some time - days of feasting and competition intended to bestow glory and accolades upon the greatest cultivators in the land. The Lan clan are not known, of course, to seek such things, but they similarly would not shy away from the chance to prove their worth and put their students to the test.

There are yet more rumours that Lan Xichen himself will be attending - it is known that the clan leader has come out of his seclusion, but he hasn't yet left Cloud Recesses, could this be his first public appearance as well? Not to mention the talk of Hanguang Jun's long lost son...

Those wishing to gawk, however, should have gotten up early, for the Lan delegation is one of the first to arrive. Xichen is indeed there, along with the chief cultivator and, of course, the incorrigible Wei Wuxian, and they climb the steps of Lanling followed by a column of young men, clad in pristine white and walking two by two in perfect step.

And at the head of that column, walking beside his sworn brother, is a young man whose serene expression perfectly hides the turmoil in his heart, and he can't help but be reminded that the last time he was here everything was different.

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"Exactly." Zizhen agrees, pleased that he's been able to soothe Jingyi's worries.

He's especially pleased when it earns him more kisses, and maybe he should have said something else or encouraged him to talk more but now they're kissing and why should they stop? They have a lot of kisses to make up for.

He sighs happily against Jingyi's lips and abandons himself to the sensation.

~~~

It takes Yuan a moment to register what the clicking noise even is, so when Ling suddenly appears, with Fairy at his side, his initial reaction is to gasp.

Well, now he understands why Fairy left.

He isn't sure how to react, exactly, it feels like the opposite of his intention in running away, but he can't bring himself to move, can't run away again knowing Jin Ling has come after him. He waits silently as the other boy sits next to him, searching for the right words.

It's clearly not a unique dilemma, but his resolve to put distance between himself and Ling crumbles the moment he says I'm sorry. Somehow knowing they're both struggling is all he really needs. His hand strays to his chest, to where the ring sits beneath the fabric, and he wonders if he did see what he thought he did, earlier, and if he should say something.

Then he's being yelled at and he blinks, startled.

"...Cloud recesses...?" He's been there the whole time. Did Jin Ling not... know? But surely he did, it was his idea to go!

Jin Ling ignores the dumb answer and wraps his arms around Yuan instead. He draws the other boy close, unable to resist one second longer.

“Yuan.. that’s not.. I just meant.. I’ve missed you.” This isn’t at all what a sect leader should say or do. If others overheard this then there would no doubt be gossip about him being weak and childish but he couldn’t keep fighting this- not when he’s finally gotten to see Yuan again.

There's a split second where Yuan is frozen in surprise, but then everything comes crashing down on him - the longing, the pain, the hurt and guilt and confusion, the one tiny piece of the puzzle that has been missing since the moment he left Lotus Pier and is now finally, finally clicking back into place.

Lan propriety can go to hell. He flings his arms around Jin Ling and buries his face in his shoulder (thankfully, quite by chance, the uninjured one) and feels the urge to cry. Again.

He doesn't, though, he holds it off in favour of just breathing in the familiar scent he's so dreadfully missed - it's silly, he thinks, to have gotten so attached so quickly, but at the same time it feels absolutely correct.

"I've missed you too. I'm so sorry." He says, muffled against Jin Ling's robes.

He isn't sure what he expected. There's certainly a part of him that thinks he might get shoved off or even slapped. There's that very brief pause, but it's hardly noticed. He's so busy being stunned by his own actions that he can't really blame Yuan for it either!

His world that has felt off ever since he left Yuan's side in Lotus Pier realigns as arms curl around him. The heart he'd felt might be shattered beyond repair heal the instant he speaks. He presses a kiss to the top of Yuan's head and his grip gets just a little tighter around the boy.

"I'm sorry, A-Yuan. I couldn't write for a while and when I could, I just, I thought about how you had this new life and new family and I didn't want you to have to remember your past. I thought it'd only make you sad or hurt.. or embarrassed to remember me. Then you were here today and.." His thoughts were reeling in his head making it difficult to find exactly what he was trying to say. "I'm still afraid you might get hurt because of me."

He almost laughs, it's so ridiculously familiar - stuck not being able to write and then too worried about hurting the other to do so, and all the while making them both miserable.

He pulls back a little, just enough so he can look at Ling, but barely loosening the grip of his arms - it made him feel anchored to be this close to him again, makes everything feel just a little steadier.

"I couldn't write either, for a bit," he thinks, perhaps, for the same reason - and he wishes those who knew had just told him. He understands they were just trying to help, but it's hard to think about how hurt Jin Ling might have been while he was off studying... and getting stabbed, just a little.

"Then I... you hadn't written and I thought... I thought it would hurt you, or burden you, if I wrote... I thought maybe if I worked hard on my cultivation I could... I could be..." he voice trails off slightly, the final word coming in a whisper as he gives voice to something he's barely even admitted to himself "worthy..."

Worthy of Jin Ling, of his parents, his new position, his friends...

"I was... I was scared, and I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you..."

The same absurd logic is dawning on Jin Ling too. They'd been so careful that they'd ended up staying away and not communicating for no reason at all! Neither of their feelings had changed, they were just being overly sensitive and trying to predict what the other one needed from them while being miserable and stupid in the meantime. He's not as disciplined as Yuan. He breathes a soft, exasperated laugh.

"Worthy?" The word catches his heart like a sharp fisherman's hook. It hurts to know that was a concern of the other boy's when even standing in those risqué blue robes and painted lips, Jin Ling had already been head over heels for him.

He remembers then what Zizhen told him to say. He couldn't. He shouldn't. He..

"I still love you. Will you marry me?"

Yuan shrugs awkwardly, about to try and explain himself when suddenly all coherent thought is robbed from his mind and his eyes get as wide as dinner plates. Did Ling actually just...???

"A-Ling..." he says breathlessly "I- Of course I want- But you're...." the leader of one of the most influential clans in the land, the single most eligible bachelor on the market right now, someone with allies, relatives and friends in almost every major clan...

Someone who can do what the hell he wants, really, when you think about it. Oh, there are limits, and it's going to have to be handled well to be looked upon favourably, but he has a lot of power, and Yuan... Yuan is a disciple of the Lan clan, the heir to the Lan clan, the Chief Cultivator's son. If he keeps repeating it to himself maybe one day he'll actually believe it, because despite his beginnings - no. Despite where he spent his childhood, that's who he is now, and he is a perfectly worthy match.

"I want to. I- could we really?" the self doubt that threatens his resolve struggles to hold up against those words. I still love you. If he has Ling's love, does anything else really matter?

Jin Ling's smile is brilliantly bright as he hears Yuan's response. He understands the uncertainty. It doesn't bother him at all. He can easily tell the difference between what Yuan wants and what he is worried about for propriety-sake. It's the same with his own, after all.

He shrugs and laughs. "We'll just make Zizhen figure out how we do this. He 'knows the story', but I'm pretty sure I just have to know you're interested and go talk to your fathers about properly courting you."

Sitting back a little more so he can appreciate the Lan's cute face. He traces his thumb gently along his cheek. Leaning in, he presses another kiss to soft lips he'd missed so terribly. As random a place as this was, it seems kind of perfect now that he thinks about it. Moonlight, a secluded but lovely part of the gardens, just the two of them.. maybe Zizhen really did know what he was talking about with those novels.

When he draws back again he's still smiling. "We should've warned you before. Jingyi and I always bicker when we're together. I don't know what it is and we are friends, but we just always end up arguing about something."

He sighs helplessly against that soft press of lips, hardly daring to believe it could be this simple. It's not, of course, it's terribly complicated, but right now it doesn't feel like it - it actually feels like everything just got easier.

He ducks his head a little sheepishly at the reassurance about him and Jingyi.

"I was so worried... people keep fighting because of me and I knew you were friends I thought..." he laughs slightly, embarrassed for thinking it was all about him "I'm relieved. I'm sorry, too, didi speaks without thinking sometimes... but I suppose you already know that."

He gasps, then, and pulls one of his hands away, reaching to his collar and fishing beneath it for the chain.

"Oh! He said I should- I noticed, earlier, when you looked for it and-" he tugs the chain out from under his robes so Jin Ling can see the ring hanging from it "I always wear it. Always. It's just... jewellery is against the rules..."

No, life with Jin Ling was never going to be that simple. They were going to be two sect leaders eventually and will have to split their time between their realms. There was going to be friction from some of the elders (again in both clans) over them selecting a male partner when they should have wives to produce children. There was going to continue to be attempts to get one or both of them out of the way because of their position. And there would always be family drama, particularly with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng in the mix.

All of that didn't matter though. It would be worth every headache as long as they were together. He's already thinking about what gift to bring to Yuan's fathers when asking for permission to court.

He rolls his eyes with a laugh at Yuan's understatement. Yes, he certainly knew of Jingyi's tendency to blurt out things. "It's fine. He thought he was protecting Zizhen." He's sure his Ouyang friend has straightened out whatever misunderstanding still remained there.

He's about to explain why he had asked/ demanded arrogantly Zizhen get the glasses when Yuan is suddenly distracted and moving. He moves back a bit to give him room and watching curiously. His jaw drops as he sees the ring- his mother's ring- appear out of no where. Yuan kept it? It wasn't lost or in a box or somewhere forgotten? It was right there next to Yuan's heart where he 'always wears it'.

"Fuck the rules! You should wear that proudly!" He finds himself saying before he can think of something smarter and better to say. He flushes as his brain catches up with his mouth. "Er.. I mean.. I can't believe you kept it! I thought maybe when I didn't see it that uh.. you know, you'd.. moved on?"

Yuan giggles at his exclamation, unable to resist leaning in to plant another quick kiss on his lips. Gods but he has missed this man.

He kisses him again at the uncertainty, soft and reassuring, his fingers curled around the ring on its chain.

"Never." he promises softly "There isn't anybody else, there couldn't be, I left my heart with you."

Oh! That giggle! He’s missed it so much! He doesn’t understand how it sounds so cute and innocent when anyone else would annoy him. Maybe all those spoiled ladies his clan has been parading in front of him just weren’t Yuan.

He can’t think of anything else that needs said. All the agonizing wait was over. Somehow the gods had answered his prayers. He kisses Yuan with no intentions of ever letting him go again.

As his hands slide greedily along Yuan’s back, one lifts to his shoulder. He doesn’t have the same luck yuan did earlier and his hand unfortunately lands right on his wound.

It doesn't really bother him as much these days, but it's been a long day of travelling and cold and stress and exerting himself and it's twinging just a little more than usual, so when Ling's hand presses against it in just the wrong spot he can't help it, he flinches - and the flinch triggers a quick flash of pain that makes him hiss between his teeth.

"I- I'm sorry," He apologises quickly, forcing himself to relax and lean back in, pressing his lips to Ling's again like he can make him forget what just happened.

He doesn't even think about it, and he doesn't mean it that way, but it's a trick he learned at the Golden Hare - if you ever accidentally let your real emotions show, find a way to brush it off and distract them.

“Hey,” he says gently, drawing back from the kiss- a very difficult feat! He’d felt the flinch under his hand and the change in breath against his lips. There was no hiding Ling had done something wrong, though it broke his heart a little that Yuan would try. “What is it, love? Did I hurt you?”

He looks at where his hands had been trying to clear his mind enough to guess where the injury was. “Talk to me.”

He realises, belatedly, what he'd tried to do, and feels a rush of emotion - shame, that he'd acted that way, mingled with a strange joy at the realisation that he didn't have to do that anymore. He could be honest with Ling. He feels a little hesitant, though, knowing that his love isn't going to like what he hears.

"It's not your fault..." he starts softly "It's just an injury... that's... that's the reason I couldn't write for a while. It's fine now, mostly, but sometimes it still twinges a little..."

He doesn't realise, yet, that it's almost a perfect mirror to Ling's own shoulder wound.

Jin Ling frowns as he listens, feeling a wave of nausea. How close had he come to losing Yuan? How could no one tell him?

His hands slip down to Yuan’s and laces their fingers together. “How did it happen? Who hurt you?” He tries to keep his tone even, but he’s going to tear whoever it was apart! Then he’s going to turn on whoever was responsible for keeping the previous boy safe and failed!

Yuan knows he won't rest until he hears the tale, so he squeezes Ling's hand gently and takes a moment to gather his thoughts to try and explain.

He tells him the story - sure to stress that he begged to be allowed to go - how he and Jingyi were split off together, how the villager tried to stop him sending up the signal talisman with his spear. He hurries on, knowing that Ling will probably want to rage at the villagers who dared to hurt him and wanting to cut that off before he starts.

He explains how it was all a plot to attack Jingyi - some of this he had to be re-told later himself - and how they'd dealt with the woman responsible, he makes sure to say that before he explains that the blade was poisoned.

It’s really hard to listen to, especially the fact there was no one to get vengeance upon. He might bring it up when he’s negotiating dowry and such with Yuan’s fathers but he can guess how hard it would be to tell Yuan no.

He’s quiet for a few minutes absorbing the story and eventually pushing it aside. In the end, he decides one story told deserves one given. He lets go of Yuan’s hands and carefully draws the fabric of his robes off his shoulder.

He slowly tells the story of the ambush as best he can. Almost all of it was secondhand too.

“I told Zizhen not to tell anyone. I was ashamed of being injured. I’ve been working on it but I can’t fight like I used to. I don’t know if I ever will.”

Yuan's eyes widen a little, reaching out his fingers hesitantly to gently trace over the wound as he listens to the story. It makes him feel a little sick, knowing just how precarious it was - even when his baba was making the talisman, he didn't really let on exactly how urgent it had been.

"You'll find another way. If anyone can, it's you." He says softly, looking up to Jin Ling's face and moving his hand to cup his cheek instead. "You're strong, A-Ling, strong and determined and smart, and a good leader. You are far, far more than your ability to fight."

He leans in to give him a soft kiss before smiling slightly.

"After all, I've barely seen you fight and I love you."

The burned skin was hideous, in Jin Ling's opinion. If anything should make Yuan sick, it was seeing that. It wasn't fair that his once perfect body with only tiny scars here and there was now marred like this forever. However, something in how Yuan looks at him even after seeing his shame speaks deeply to the young sect leader.

He was still seen as all those things? He breathes another laugh and a light pink touches his cheeks. Now that he thought about it, it was true. There were very few times he'd drawn his blade or bow around Yuan. Somehow he'd still gotten the boy to fall in love with him.

"I don't know if my clan thinks so yet, but thank you. It means a lot that you see me that way." He thinks for a moment before getting a sly smirk on his face. "Want to go kick Zizhen and Jingyi out of my room?"

Lan Sizhui is an upstanding young cultivator. He's the heir to the Lan clan, a pinnacle of their values and a shining example of the best of them.

He also has absolutely none of the usual Lan hang-ups about certain forms of intimacy, and he doesn't see any point in developing them, especially not with the love of his life, so recently regained.

He leans in for another kiss - fiercer this time - and when he draws back that Lan serenity is replaced by a wicked, hungry smile.

"Absolutely, yes."

He'd like a chance to show off his new cultivation skills - perhaps by demonstrating his ability to create silencing talismans.

It was tempting to forget the rest of this and just have his way with Yuan right here in the garden. However, the chances that there'd be enough noise to bring attention their way was high and Jin Ling reasons that once Yuan's in his bed, he might keep him there for a very, very long time.

He picks up his scepter and uses it to help him stand up. As he's about to offer his hand for Yuan, Fairy barges in and licks Ling's hand. "That wasn't for you!" He laughs, shaking his head.

As they make it back to Jin Ling's rooms, they walk in on a.. well, pretty predictable sight considering who they left behind. The two had ended up on a sofa with Jingyi sprawled on top of Zizhen, lost in their kisses, and a hand gripping his ass.

Ling rolls his eyes and looks back at Yuan. "Maybe we should just ignore them and go on into my bedroom."

Yuan smiles fondly at Fairy, ruffling her fur as he stands up.

Once they make it back to Ling's rooms, he has to stifle a laugh at the sight they find there - he's jaded enough, by now, to not be all that embarrassed about it, so he's mostly just happy for his brother and Zizhen, he knows how Jingyi's been waiting for this.

Zizhen, too, has been waiting for this, and he's not going to let a little thing like an audience distract him from finally geting what he's been dreaming about every night for months. That's if he even notices that they now have an audience, which is debatable.

"Mm, perhaps we should." He agrees - it's a little bit selfish. He knows there's a possibility that if they interrupt the other two, that Jingyi might get self-conscious and realise they should go back to their own rooms. This way, it's far less suspicious, because it seems like the four of them just lost track of time and all stayed overnight here, which is technically true, but not in the innocent way he hopes it'll come across.

Besides, he thinks Jingyi deserves this as well, he's happy to let him get carried away.

Jin Ling is a little surprised their voices, even whispered don't get the other two to notice them. With a snicker, he takes Yuan's hand and quietly guides him through the room to his bedroom. He keeps an eye on Zizhen, ready to encourage him to keep going but otherwise, he leaves them be.

He shuts the door quietly behind them and turns to the beautiful boy of his dreams. He draws Yuan into his arms and kisses him. He's hungry for their physical reunion but he also wants this to be special. He wants his love to feel just how appreciated and revered he truly was. Besides, he doubts too many in Yuan's past wanted to do this 'romantically'. (If he's wrong, just don't tell him. Ignorance is bliss!)

"If only I could keep you here from this moment on," he breathes softly against, as he kisses along Yuan's neck. "I'd never let you go. I'd be happy all the rest of my days because of you."

~~~

Jingyi hadn't heard a thing. Sure, his cultivation skills should've been able to detect something but he'd completely failed at it. His world centered around the boy he was practically smothering with kisses and was being so very provocative to touch him in a naughty place. He's not thinking about how far they're going to go or the fact this room happens to belong to a friend who should eventually come back to it. Some things just weren't important.

He remembers Yuan telling him that for this to happen, they'd need to both be naked. Reluctantly, he breaks his kiss and sits up, still straddling Zizhen. Biting his lip, he reaches down and unwraps the ribbon around his waist and shoulders out of his robes. "I-is this okay?" He asks, feeling breathless and almost like he wants to laugh but he doesn't even know why.

Yuan gives the other two one last backward glance before turning his attention entirely to Ling - and once they're inside the room there may as well not even be an outside world - though he's still aware, somewhere in the back of his mind, that they really should/i> put that talisman up.

Right now though, he's content to be pulled into Ling's arms, to kiss him back and revel in both the joy of the reunion and the surprisingly dizzying knowledge that he's doing this, all of this, because he wants to. No money has changed hands, no power beyond his own will and love is making this happen. Romance isn't completely new to him, but anything that came before was always a pale imitation of it, a mockery - this is true, and real, and that's what makes it special. Ling wants romance with Yuan, not romance for romance's sake.

He whimpers faintly at the words, tilting his head up and letting his hands rest on Ling's hips, holding him close.

"You can keep me. You can keep me forever. You never have to let me go."

~~~

Zizhen is dimly aware that somebody just passed through the room, but he can't really spare a moment to contemplate it much - especially not when his beautiful, beloved Jingyi sits up and starts undressing. He's still for a moment, watching with wide eyes as his fantasies come to life in front of him.

He only realises he's stilled so utterly when Jingyi speaks and for a second he struggles to make coherent words happen because it's so hard to snap out of his daze.

"Okay? It's more than okay, A-Yi. I've dreamt of this, thought about you every day, I- you're beautiful. I want to... can I touch?"

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