i will not ask you where you came from

[wifedup]

WHO: Wen Kexing & Zhou Zishu
WHEN: Shortly after the TDM
WHERE: Ephes ( a tavern )
WHAT: Just two awful men reuniting for the love affair of the century.
WARNINGS: No, unless a mass murderer being absolutely pathetic is something to warn for. We're retconning their tdm meeting with permission, however!

The tavern is already full and noisy by the time Wen Kexing arrives, brow furrowed and a bundle of papers in his arms. He slips in easy enough, ducking around patrons to make his way to the bar, gaining the servers attention just by rapping his knuckles against the wood of the counter. A smile, and his bundle is taken away, promises that they will be signed and returned given. A cup of wine placed in front of him that he knocks back with a grimace, his constant headache looming behind his eyes. The server, a broad shouldered man who knows Wen Kexing, tells him he's just missed someone buying a round, and he gives a wry smile, tossing down his coin just as easily. Another cup, and he tilts his head to listen to a group of girls gossiping about the handsome man in the corner, pulling his fan from his sleeve so he can wave it lazily in front of his face.

He's tired, too irritable to make conversation, too busy to leave. He just needs the papers signed by the man in charge and then he can go back to his rooms and drink himself into oblivion, that's all. It shouldn't take long. But still he leans on one elbow to scan the room, idle and bored. It takes him a full sweep before his mind catches up with him and that attention snaps to that very same corner, the handsome brooding man he'd just heard about. They don't do him justice, he thinks, sudden and hysterical. He almost opens his mouth to correct the group of girls when they chitter about the prospect of walking over, but instead he's snapping his fan shut and moving, feet clumsy and his tongue suddenly dry.

The robes are new, the robes are new but he'd recognise him anywhere.

"Ah-Xu."

That lovely face snaps up to look at him, Wen Kexing having to steady himself by placing a hand on the table in front of him. He's shaking a little, he can feel it all the way up to his shoulder. There is a pin in his hair that matches the one in Wen Kexing's own and he thinks wildly that it suits him, that it's unfair that it suits him, when he can't remember placing it there.

"Ah-Xu, we can't keep meeting like this."

Comments

[wifedup]

"I'd be a cockroach, it would serve me right."

The atrocities, you know. But his smile is back in place, teasing, "Would you be a bird too? You'd have to be something we could cohabit together."

[lonelydream]

He pinches Wen Kexing's cheek for that, admonishing.

"Don't speak about yourself so poorly. Knowing our luck, though, I'd probably be a fish of some sort. The kind you'd eat." That might not be so bad, though, to be kept warm and safe in Wen Kexing's gullet.

[wifedup]

"Ow."

He bats at Zhou Zishu, half-hearted. How nice it is to be bullied once more.

"Even if I were a bird and you a fish I'd never eat you. I'd guard your pond for you. Consume bugs. Scare away the other fish so you could swim in peace."

[lonelydream]

"Am I so useless that I can't take care of myself in this odd little fantasy?" He snorts. "Regardless. I can't swim, so I'd be a pretty terrible fish."

[wifedup]

"Oh, well. You'll have to live in my mouth then. Don't worry, I won't swallow."

And then, sly, because no matter what he still desperately wants to prod at Zhou Zishu, "Not at least until you ask me nicely."

[lonelydream]

"Lao Wen!"

It's really been too long, because the boldness startles him.

[wifedup]

His laugh is instantaneous, lighting him up from the inside out. He enjoys it, the bluster, the shock. If it truly, and he does mean truly, upset Zhou Zishu properly he might stop, but he doesn't think it does.

Plus, it's been so long, he can't help grinning at him.

"Too easy, too easy. Ah, Zhou Zishu, forgive this one his trespasses."

[lonelydream]

"Utterly shameless," he grumbles, looking away, feeling his ears burn.

[wifedup]

He's still laughing to himself, though quieter now, amusement like a warm balm over his shoulders. Zhou Zishu can probably feel the way it shakes through him where they're pressed, and Wen Kexing reaches out a hand to pat him cheerfully on the thigh, palm warm.

"Yes, yes. I'm wicked, I know."

He is, and he isn't. He's been well behaved these days!

"Ah-Xu, you should get some sleep. It won't have been easy coming here. And we'll still have time in the morning to talk."

[lonelydream]

Ah, that's right. He'll need to find a place to stay. Perhaps, if this place has another room. Or...

"Lao Wen," he says, then stops.

[wifedup]

"I'll keep my hands to myself, don't worry."

He holds the one not clutching the wine up as though in surrender, and then opts for movement, climbing off the bed, his back to Zhou Zishu as he picks across the room. "I have some robes that you can wear for now, they won't fit properly but it's better than sleeping in the only pair you have. You'll take the bed, obviously."

He's not letting Zhou Zishu out of his sights, if that means sleeping in his desk chair then so be it. The wine he places on the table, riffling through his own clothes until he can find the softest inner robe he has, brandishing it with a grin.

"Here."

[lonelydream]

He rises to his feet as well, placing a hand on Wen Kexing's forearm. "I'm not turning you out of your bed." It's a large bed.

[wifedup]

He pauses, gaze briefly flickering from the bed to Zhou Zishu, before he smiles, something playful.

"A dream come true!"

It's the lightest of jest, in comparison to some of the things he might say - even to his earlier joke - but he doesn't actually want to make the other man actively uncomfortable. He wants him close, and safe, and so they'll share.

"All right, do you want to get ready first?"

He can always hang out with his new friend the terrible hand for a minute or two.

[lonelydream]

"Help me?" His shoulders still ache, and besides, it'll give them both a valid reason to touch. "You haven't asked about these robes," he says, then, quiet.

They're heavy and elaborate, far more than anything else he's worn on their travels--and Wen Kexing chose those as well. If it was up to Zhou Zishu, he'd borrow something from a clothesline and call it done.

[wifedup]

He reaches out to smooth his hands gently over the front of the robes, thumb along the stitching.

"I chose them, didn't I?"

He's not completely dense, he knows the way he fantasises about dressing Zhou Zishu. Usually when he helps out with the clothing it's to the other man's taste, his comfort, but Wen Kexing is aware of his own greed and desires, how the prospect of draping Zhou Zishu in nicer fabrics is appealing. He looks a vision, even travel worn, he looks regal.

"You look good." His hands still have not left Zhou Zishu's chest, a pretence.

[lonelydream]

The look he levels over is exasperated. "Of course you did." They're heavy and luxurious, embroidery along the sleeves and collar, and most importantly, they matched Wen Kexing. For those who didn't know better, it looked almost like they were the ones getting married. Like Zishu was the Valley Master's furen, dressed in blue to match his red.

"You chose them for A-Xiang's wedding."

[wifedup]

"So soon?"

No, that makes sense. He'd want it to happen sooner rather than later, a chance for her to be safe before the follies of his past caught up with the both of them. She deserves a happy ending, he wants it so desperately for her that it hurts. The hand on Zhou Zishu's chest flattens above his heart, careful.

"Of course so soon. If that boy had any sense he'd snap her up and spirit her away. She's a good girl."

She's the best, his little girl.

"I'm glad you're going to be there. Someone's going to have to hold my hand while I cry. At least you'll be effortlessly handsome."

[lonelydream]

His pulse is an uncertain thing these days, sometimes strong and steady, and sometimes a quick, fluttering thing, fragile behind his ribs. He didn't let Wuxi touch him for a reason, doesn't let Wen Kexing's hands linger on his bare skin--it'll give him away.

Even now, he covers Wen Kexing's hand with his own, curling his fingers around that warm palm so that he can, in the most natural way possible, take Wen Kexing's hand off his chest.

"I'll look exactly like this," he points out, a smile teasing at the corners of his lips. "You dressed me like your bride." Especially with the jade zanzi pinned into his hair.

Zhou Zishu still wore it, knowingly.

[wifedup]

It feels a little silly to be critical of the stitching when it was his own choice, but he knows himself to understand that the future version of him probably fussed just as much. A wedding, his little girl, and a man standing tall and beautiful at his side. He wants it so much it aches behind his teeth, an old forgotten hunger. And then Zhou Zishu mentions looking like a bride and the dizzying rush of affection has him reaching out, gripping his sleeve, whiteknuckled.

"Aren't you?"

His, he means. Does it matter that he doesn't know what the future has held? He's been half in love since the beginning, a soul brushing against his and his own answering, Oh, it's you. They fight, yes, but that's what they do. But Zhou Zishu still held him, still cares for him, even after all he knows, still stands here with the armory key in his hair and clothes Wen Kexing chose.

"Ah-Xu, Zhou Zishu, you -." He is so bad with words when it matters for a man who throws them out at any other moment. And then, helplessly, "You made me want to be human again, doesn't that mean something? Don't you know?"

[lonelydream]

"Lao Wen," he says, just as fiercely. "You made me want to live when I'd given up on it." He reaches up, cupping Wen Kexing's cheek in one, sword-calloused hand. "I'll find a way to stay."

[wifedup]

Ah, his poor heart. He wants to wrap Zhou Zishu up in his arms and never let him go, tuck him away inside the hollow of his ribs for his own safety. Instead he smiles, covers the hand at his cheek with his own, pressing closer.

"You will. And then we'll have our whole lives together, mm? There'll be wine, and wandering, and grandchildren to teach bad habits, your silly disciple to settle down somewhere."

He feels a little like crying, if he's honest. But he squeezes those fingers and smiles instead. "Come on, it's late. You need rest. Let me take care of you a little."

[lonelydream]

It's true; he's practically swaying where he stands, the exhaustion hitting him suddenly. He leans into Wen Kexing, shoulders loose and relaxed. As long as his innermost layers stay where they're meant to be, Wen Kexing won't be able to see the holes where the Nails ought to be.

[wifedup]

"Sleep."

He lifts his spare robe up again, thrusting it Zhou Zishu's way. "We have time now, don't we?"

[lonelydream]

"We have time. Help me change, Lao Wen. Just-- The silks. They'll wrinkle."

Why does he care about wrinkles? But, these robes are special to him. They're a symbol of Wen Kexing's care and devotion, and where he stands at Wen Kexing's side.

[wifedup]

He is careful as he touches, his hands gentle and slow, easing the most outer layer off of Zhou Zishu's shoulders so he can take it. He's gotten a little better at folding his own robes, but he still takes this one to hang it over the adjoining door to his wardrobe, smiling as he comes back, fingers plucking at the belt. He likes them, likes it, the prospect of dressing the man before him in fabrics that are befitting - not because he was once important, but because Wen Kexing sees him as so.

"You'll wear them again, mm?"

His voice is low, a little huskier. Zhou Zishu might not have any choice in the matter considering he didn't exactly pack, but Wen Kexing still speaks, touch brushing his side, lingering.

"I could look at you in them forever."