Xie Yi-jun

1303 years after The Long Night

Hêi'àn City

It hurt. Well, not physically. Not anymore. What hurt was the tone of Jin Songcai's voice. Like he was disappointed. Angry-

Xie Yi-jun was lying there facedown on the straw mat that had been rolled out in the medical tent, trying to hold still as Songcai finished assessing his injuries. It hadn't been his fault! Or, perhaps it had... with such a huge battle looming ahead of them he'd spent every spare hour he had on the field; archery, swords, even refining his cultivation and powers to be at their best.

Today, after pushing himself past the point of exhaustion, he'd randomly fainted while at the top of a hill, rolling down all the way and hitting his back against a tethering post. Definitely not his finest moment...

"Stop moving!"

Yi-jun was only squirming so much because he was trying to look at Songcai's face. Sighing, the King relented, growing still and wincing again as he felt cool hands upon the huge bruise on his back.

He heard Songcai huff-

"Hot bath, herbal compress, and then no physical activity tomorrow!"

The King frowned but he could hardly argue now, what with the healer's hands moving over his skin, sending warming tingles through his whole body, untightening even his sorest muscles and making him almost purr with contentment...

"Mmmff," he ended up groaning. "Jin-cai-"

His lover pressed harder against his back, the pain mingling in Yi-jun's body along with the pleasure of the healing energies, causing every touch, whether or not Songcai was gentle or heavy-handed, to be something the King cherished.

Jin Songcai was angry at him for pushing himself too hard. For not taking care of his body, for in his words; "trying to take on the army alone..."

But in a way it was true. Xie Yi-jun was the leader, the highest power of their province. People looked to him for someone to believe in, and in return he gave them his own trust and believed in them...

I do have to fight as if I am taking on this war single handedly, for if I expect those that follow me to do their very best, I would be a hypocritical and elitist ruler if I did anything less than the same!

Trying to explain that to Jin-cai was like trying to tell someone why you were beating yourself over the head with a stick, when they couldn't feel the bee that had landed there.

All he sees is that I am endangering myself, which is accurate, but unavoidable. Going into battle was never meant to be pretty and painless...

"Jin Songcai," the King exhaled. "Will you let me sit up? Can I please look at you?"

He wanted to see inside Jin-cai's eyes. To somehow communicate to him that Yi-jun was doing everything in his power to ensure both their safety, as well as the continued safety of everyone in Hêi'àn City-

His lover pouted, Yi-jun could hear it in his voice as he mumbled;

"No."

Smiling at his cute stubbornness, Yi-jun ended up using all his strength to push himself up, gasping and wincing in pain as he rolled onto his back and finally was able to see Songcai kneeling beside him.

The man was indeed pouting, but it was more of a glare now. Before the healer could go on about how Yi-jun should not be lying on his back, the King reached out and took Songcai's hands in his...

Smiling, he watched as the flicker of frustration in Jin-cai's crystal-clear eyes faded somewhat. Yi-jun ran his thumbs across the back of the healer's hands, slowly, as if to communicate that everything was alright.

"Jin-cai," the King whispered gently.

He saw the way his lover was still trying to control his expression, like if he backed down now he was losing more than just pride. Yi-jun knew that before much else, Jin Songcai's sole focus was the King's health...

"Listen to me," Yi-jun smiled. "I cannot control everything that happens out there. There is only so much I can do when it comes to pain, death, anger. I can stand it. I can tolerate it, I can grit my teeth and think of you and bare it... but in here? In this space, this is the one place where you and I have a say in everything. Right here is our sanctuary, our home. Let's fill it with only good, yeah? Not everything has to be about our wounds."

Xie Yi-jun saw that the words he'd pulled from his heart were having an effect on Songcai. Instead of looking as if his frustration was just under the surface, the man's whole being seemed to draw in a deep breath, and then let it go.

When Songcai opened his eyes again, his expression called to some deeper portion of the King's soul. His lover understood. He agreed...

Without another word spoken or thought, Jin Songcai showed he understood by gently intertwining his aura with the King's, Yi-jun's eyes fluttering closed as he sighed.

There was something so comforting and yet exposing about feeling another's soul, mingling and meeting with your own. Because it was Jin-cai, every soft brush felt like the tenderest kiss, everywhere, all at once.

Xie Yi-jun didn't need Songcai to tell him that their souls were made of the same stuff. He could feel it, he knew it. Just like he knew that instead of sitting beside him, Songcai was now lying with his arms around the King, head on his shoulder, both of them talking silently as they felt each and every flutter of their auras combining.

There are no words invented or uninvented to describe this. The closest that I might get is saying that as of now, time does not exist... what a blessing-

Yi-jun didn't even realise he had opened his eyes, he was just suddenly staring into Songcai's, looking at all the shards of silver and sky-blue branching out from the center of black. Songcai really does have the most beautiful eyes-

I can be content with knowing that this moment is our moment; staring into those icy pools, falling deeper and deeper in love... even when we're out there, in the world with all its chaos lingering, this moment is ever-lasting. We are always in it. We are always here.

And it was the thought of that moment, that eternal togetherness, that got the King through several sleepless nights from then on.