fated_dance | Open Post

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Zishu had been told to expect his new bride on their wedding day - presumably to limit the chance of changing his mind and making this difficult. It didn't matter though, he had agreed to it. What kind of leader would he be if he couldn't go through with something he'd expect from his followers?

The ceremony is barely an hour away and he received word that his bride was being delivered. Of course he stepped to a window to peer out, no hint of emotions or thoughts cross his expression. Nerves can be suppressed. Calm is what is needed today.

But the sight below stuns him as the man in beautiful, perfect white wedding robes is helped down from the carriage. Stuns him just enough for his eyes to widen a touch and his lips to part, though no sound escapes. He gathers himself a moment later, allowing a faint smirk to touch his lips as he forces himself to pull away.

His heart races, and he marvels at himself. How rare it is these days for him to be affected so immediately!

He looks forward to the ceremony now though, despite all the ridiculous pomp and circumstance of the whole affair. Zishu lets attendants descend upon him and finish up before tugging him to where he is to stand.

He knew why he was here. The wife of his father and mother of his brother was trying to remove him as an obstacle. Ever since he'd learned who his real mother was, watched her be killed before his very eyes, she'd been testing him. Their last conversation still rang so clearly in his mind.

With the implication that his mother's people would be slaughtered if he didn't obey he'd agreed when his father had told him of the arrangement. Her doing. Runyu knew that. But he was powerless to stop it if he wanted to protect them.

Obviously sending an Immortal to marry a mortal was dangerous. However, his father had assured him that this man could handle it. Runyu had seethed with anger the entire way here before calming himself.

Throughout the ceremony he played his part well. A quiet and submissive bride. The feast after had grown tiresome fast and eventually he'd excused himself to his new rooms. Here he was able to grab something to throw it against a wall before summoning a bath. At least the water would be soothing since it was his natural element.

But his bath was interrupted by a knock on the door. Stepping from the water, he threw on a robe to hide his body, to hide the scars he hated so much. Still dripping wet, the inner robe clinging to his slender frame and hair down, he opened the door.

Only to find himself blinking at the sight of his now husband.

The ceremony and following feast had been another condition, expected from his position. Anyone who commented that his 'bride' had slipped out as soon as possible was answered with a hard stare before brushed away. He wishes he could slip away too, instead he stays so Runyu has the chance for at least some privacy.

Eventually though, Zishu leaves and changes into something more comfortable. Then goes to join his new husband, knocking and then waiting patiently, ignoring the guards who know better than to smile and chatter at him while on duty unless spoken to first. The door opens and he finds his husband...dripping in a rather distracting way. But at least covered where he might be seen by any but his husband.

He'd interrupted a bath. That makes sense. "May I join you?"

Nodding, Runyu let him in, closing the door behind them. Padding his way further inside, he watched his husband with mild curiosity. Was he ready for the wedding night then? It was likely since this was their wedding day, the required feast likely still going on in the hall.

Damp feet barely making a sound on the stone, he stepped closer to the man. "If you will give me a moment to dry off I can join you."

But for now, he was still quite soaked, the fabric clinging to his slender frame and leaving next to nothing to the imagination.

Only when the door closes them away from prying eyes does Zishu let out a breath, his shoulders easing just a hint of the strain that sets in with celebrations. He studies the beauty that is now his husband.

"I interrupted your bath," he chooses to murmur instead, lifting a hand up to brush fingertips over a pale cheek. "I would rather join you in returning to it."

They both know what is expected of them before this night is done, but that doesn't mean they have to rush it more than it already is.

The touch was a surprise but he didn't pull away from it. It was warm and affection wasn't something he was used to. It was...nice. Even if Runyu wasn't sure how to respond to it.

The bath though... His scars...

But the man would see them eventually wouldn't he. Runyu nodded that he could join him before leading the way back to the water.

"The water is still warm and this seems big enough for both of us."

Not pulling away is a good start. Zishu half expected him to pull away. But since he doesn't...Zishu lets the touch linger until his new husband agrees to returning to the bath. He has his own scars, but knows better than to believe they can be kept hidden from any lover for long. Possible? Yes. But that would be insulting.

Arranged marriages are hard enough.

He smiles a little at the comment and nods. "Good." He follows, hand dropping back to his side. Waiting until they're closer to the bath to untie the sash at his waist, his boots left at the door.

At the water, he shed his layer. The patches of hideous scars were revealed but he focused on stepping back into the water. His long hair settled into it and seemed to flow around him as he watched his husband with curiosity. Like he was sure that he was going to be rejected now that he'd seen the hideous parts of his body. Not that he was that beautiful to begin with. Nothing compared to others.

Caution. It was so ingrained in Runyu that he didn't now how to just let it go.

But, he did at least leave room for Zishu to join him in the water. He was still trying even if he wasn't sure what ground he was meant to stand on.

He blinks at the horrible burn scars that dot Runyu's body, but he doesn't feel they detract from the man's beauty. No. They scream of a hard life of silent suffering. Of surviving. He respects that.

Zishu steps into the water after the last layer is draped over a chair and frees his hair from the tight bun, shaking it out as he sinks into the bath. He feels that curious gaze settle on him but doesn't immediately meet it. Only when he's settled does he lift his gaze to meet it.

"I am sure you have questions. These rooms and my own are secure. No one will overhear anything said."

"Why don't you flinch at the sight of the my scars?"

Or ask about them. But he didn't ask that. Instead, he noted how the bath basically meant that his husband was behind him now. They were so close and yet far at the same time. The distance was something that he could feel so clearly now.

It would be easy to lean back against him. To have his warmth as well as the warmth of the bath. But he decided against that for now.

"You have plenty but mine..."

One of the many questions he'd expected. Zishu shakes his head a little, resisting the urge to close that distance between them just yet. Too easy.

"They only tell me you are a survivor. I do not find them disgusting." Or Runyu.

He scoops up some of the water and runs it over one of Runyu's shoulders. "Do you like water?" He wonders how to make this less of a burden.

"A survivor..."

Runyu's gaze turned distant. He wasn't a survivor. That wasn't how he'd gotten these scars. Even now as he ran his fingers over one that rested above his heart he knew that wasn't true.

"I did these to myself."

Then water flowed down his back and he glanced back. A moment later and he nodded. "Yes. Water is a part of me. It's in my nature. I'm a water dragon."

That startles him to silence. "Aah?" A quiet sound, gently curious. Willing to listen...only if Runyu wishes to tell him.

A water dragon. This has him even more curious. Then a moment of thought.

"I will have a pool made for you here, and at the Four Seasons Manor where I live when I can get away." Places just for his husband to escape and relax in his element.

Maybe he should be afraid. But he isn't - Runyu has made absolutely no sign of aggression to him. But it does bring another wary thought to his mind. "Who here knows what you are?"

"My childhood was not a charmed one. To hide what I was, I would cut pieces of myself off. My horns, my scales... Things I didn't have the power to hide. I never had the energy to fully heal them back then."

The mention of pools surprised him though and he turned to face the man more. He'd do that for him? Honestly he loved water, loved to be in it. Loved to be around it. But to have pools that were meant for him? He'd never truly had that before. Even the river at his home before hadn't been for that.

It meant a lot to him.

"My escort who will leave when the festivities are done. And you." No one else knew. He had no intention of telling anyone else either.

That decides it. Zishu decides to do everything in his power to protect this dragon. His dragon, though he knows better than to say that out loud. He rests that hand gently on that wet shoulder, meeting his husband's gaze as the other turns to better look at him.

There's a look of amazement that hurts in a way that firms his determination, and he nods. Two pools. That'll be easy enough to make happen.

And he's relieved that no one else should know - especially Prince Jin. "No one will hear it from me." There is a fierce promise in that statement.

He has no reason to believe this man. Zhou Zishu could betray him easily. Let his power be used by others when he didn't want that. It would be so easy for him to do that. Pathetically so.

And yet...

And yet Runyu believed him. This man was telling the truth. No one would know that he was a dragon. He was promising him in that moment. Turning around, he presented his back to him again. And then, he actually leaned back into him.

"You're not as cold as everyone says..."

Just as Zishu has no reason to trust Runyu. And yet he wants to. He could abuse the power of this knowledge, but he's growing less and less pleased with what he's been used to do.

What worse would his cousin do with a dragon?

He startles just a little when Runyu turns his back to him again, then leans back. Instinct makes it simple though and he curls an arm around the other's waist, legs parting to make resting against him simpler and more comfortable.

He laughs suddenly at those words. "You're not one of my targets, or one of my disciples. You are my husband, my equal."

Equal. He'd never been an equal to anyone. The words felt as good as the arms around his waist though. He found himself smiling a little, finally reaching up to let his own hair down completely. This was... This was nice.

"Could you...say that again? That I'm your equal?"

Runyu wanted to hear it. When Zishu said it it sounded so real.

He smiles softly and tightens his arms around his husband's waist.

"You are my equal, Runyu."

He dares to rest his cheek against that dark hair once it's loose.

"I have no reason to trust you at all but my heart wants to believe you."

It was a strange but welcome feeling. Much like the man holding him so closer. He felt as warm as the water around them and he found himself curling into that more. He couldn't stand the cold. Which meant that he was more drawn to the body he was pressed against now.

Maybe he could be happy here. Runyu couldn't say yet but he wanted to believe it possible at least.

"No, you don't," he agrees. But the fact Runyu wants to, warms him. "You have every right to see me as lesser, being only human." But his martial arts grows stronger every day, slowing his aging.

Feeling anyone curl into his embrace like this feels insanely good. He doesn't want to let go! So maybe he uses a bit of his power to encourage the water to stay warm, so they don't feel the need to get out too soon.

Can anyone really blame him?

"I want you to at least be content in your life with me."

"I've never viewed mortals as less than myself. I may be older than everyone here but I don't enjoy thinking that way."

True he would have a higher status here due to the fact that he was the leader's husband but he didn't mean that. Immortal...mortal... Did it really matter in the end? Of course mortals put more thought into it but only because they were working to achieve it generally compared to himself who had essentially been born into the life.

Leaning his head back against his shoulder, he hummed softly in thought. "Content? I think I would like a life like that."

He rests his cheek against Runyu's temple, allowing himself to enjoy this. What he hears, he believes. And likes. "That is more than some of those in the Window of Heaven believe."

But not Zishu himself. He's travelled amongst the people too much to believe otherwise.

"Good. Then I hope you will tell me if I can adjust anything to make that happen."

"So accommodating. You're going to spoil me, you know."

This was his first time really speaking with this man and already he was finding the banter easy. Comfortable even. It made it so much easier to relax with Zishu, he noticed. Something he so rarely allowed for himself.

To thank him, he lifted a hand up to move it over the water. It seemed to turn to a glittering jewel like the stars of the night sky as it rippled. Runyu smiled some and closed his eyes.

"We really haven't been bathing though have we..." He wasn't complaining though. He liked this.

Zishu chuckles. "I want to. Will you let me?"

He has a much better feeling about this marriage's prospects now. It helps that he feels Runyu actually relaxing with him.

The display of magic has him draw in a startled breath, watching how the water reflects the sky, and smiles, only to laugh again at the comment.

"No. We have been doing something equally important though." Getting to know a little bit about each other, in a way that was intimate as well as more practical. He drops his head to dare nuzzle a bare, wet shoulder, though doesn't bother wiping the smile from his lips beforehand.