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Melting under his husband, he relaxed his hold while still letting his hands rest on his strong back. It took time to control his breathing again but he didn't mind that so much. He just smiled and lazily traced little patterns against the warm skin.

After a time, he finally spoke softly.

"I'm glad you came to find me." So they could get to know each other. So they could have this moment together.

Zishu lets out a contented little sigh as he settles, and nuzzles at his husband's shoulder. The gentle motions of fingers over his back makes him smile as his breath smooths out.

Quiet words, but they say far more. He presses a kiss to pale skin and blinks slowly, peacefully at Runyu.

"Thank you for letting me in, and trusting me with yourself."

A good and kind man. One who could be like ice to the world but who would protect him from those who would hurt him or try to use him. Was he falling for him already? Runyu suspected that he was but also found he wanted to let his heart continue to do that.

Moving his fingers up his back, he traced the lines of that handsome face. He smiled at him.

"I want us to share chambers," he murmured softly. He knew it wasn't really done often among powerful people, at least not among Immortals, but he felt like he wanted to have that intimacy. To know that every time they went to sleep they would be there together.

Zishu doesn't want to be frozen with his husband. He likes the task to keep Runyu warm far more than any other. He's a man who knows his heart well enough to know there can be no one else for him now - he belongs to Runyu. First, above everyone and everything else.

He leans into those hands as they trace his face, and the spoken wish has his smile grow though it remains soft. He leans in to nudge their noses together. "Then we will." It's his preference as well, even without Runyu asking him to keep him warm.

Then we will.

Three simple words but they said so much. He'd taken in his desires and responded to them by letting him have them. It warmed him more than even the body heat of this man or the bath from earlier. It was all so simple to give him this much yet no one ever had before.

Runyu gazed up at him and didn't notice that a single tear slid down. To be so cared for and wanted... He just didn't know how to respond. This meant the world to him.

It was all he'd ever wanted in his entire life.

He doesn't comment on that tear. The amazement he sees in the gaze, in those eyes looking up at him is humbling. He'd put that expression there, just by accepting and welcoming his husband's wishes.

Zishu presses a soft kiss to Runyu's lips.

"I want to know all of your wishes and hopes," he murmurs against those soft lips. Not a single one is too small or insignificant in his eyes.

All of his wishes and hopes. When was the last time he'd even been allowed to have those. He couldn't remember. It had been so long and even as a child he'd been too afraid for them. Drawing in a slow breath, he let it out in a shaky laugh.

"I don't know what they are. My life was decided for me since my birth. I've never had the freedom to desire."

And it was only just sinking in now how that was the case.

He smiles at that laugh and lifts a hand up to smooth it over Runyu's hair, thumb brushing gently against his cheek.

"You have choices now. You have that freedom, as much of it that I can give you." He's not entirely free himself. But he's had more choices throughout his life than his dragon has.

Runyu felt another tear and this time he brought up a hand to cover his face. This man. He was utterly unreal. And yet here he was saying all of this things while resting right on top of him.

"You can't be real," he murmured around another laugh. "Yet I know you are and I don't know what to do with that."

He can't resist the grin and curls to press a kiss over Runyu's heart, nuzzling his chest a little since that handsome face is covered.

"I'm right here with you," he confirms. "You'll figure it out."

"If it weren't for the fact that I haven't gone to sleep yet I would think this a dream." Sighing gently, he lowered his hand after making sure there were no more tears. He was so used to having to hide those and most of his emotions in general that it was going to be hard habit to break to let himself be fully free with them alone with his husband.

"I'm falling for you. Just a night and I am."

Zishu is a patient man. He'll encourage Runyu to accept all of himself, to be free even if just when they are alone together.

He brushes his husband's hair back again, gaze following where his fingers move, tracing over a cheek, brushing along where those tears had fallen. Those words echo in his own heart and he marvels at them.

"I know myself," he murmurs, absently. "I saw you before the ceremony and started to fall for you even then. Now, starting to learn more about you...Now I am certain. There can be no one else for me but you."

"Before the ceremony?" He'd already been falling for him just upon seeing him? Before he'd ever known anything about him? Runyu watched him as he leaned into the touches, craving them and unable to hide the fact. Finally, he smiled and ran his fingers through Zishu's hair.

"You make us sound like soulmates."

Wouldn't that be nice. Them. Soulmates. Someone tied to the other through fate. Was that even possible? He didn't know but he knew he was enchanted by the idea.

He grins, mostly at himself, but isn't embarrassed by his admission. It's the truth, and he refuses to lie to this one person. Fingers through his hair have him humming a little, and he doesn't stop his own gentle little caresses to his husband. Anywhere he can touch, he'll happily lavish with attention and affection.

"Is that so strange? I've always thought that to find one's soulmate, the one person they are meant to walk beside in life, it would be a marvelous thing. I'd be content with life with my soulmate." His gaze doesn't leave Runyu's as he speaks.

He'd never been flustered in his entire life. Yet those words had his heart fluttering and he blinked in surprise before looking away. This man's soulmate. That would be nice actually. To have someone that was his and destiny had decided that for them.

If that was so then fate had truly been kind this time.

"My husband really had no shame for the things he says," Runyu finally stated but ended up smiling, happy regardless. "You know, we're going to have to bathe again before we can sleep."

He's starting to love flustering his husband. Watching Runyu look away has him grinning wider than before. He doesn't require any answer, it's enough he just waits patiently, content to watch.

"Should he be embarrassed by speaking his heart?" He answers in kind, unwilling to resist the playful little tease. "Aah," his eyes remain amusedly bright as he hums, as if the news of them needing to bathe a second time before bed is a novel one.

"Are you almost ready to sleep?"

"I am used to being awake at night. I think being awake more during the day will be the greater challenge." So he wasn't really that tired but sometimes it was easier to remember logistics than anything else. Runyu returned his gaze to him and gently tucked some of Zishu's hair behind his ear. Such a handsome man...

"When do you sleep, Zi'er?" he asked, the pet name slipping out easily again. He was liking it more and more as he kept using it. "I can make when I sleep when you do."

That way they could always be together.

He's starting to love that pet name.

"Usually later at night. I'm not what one would call a morning person, except by necessity."

To have someone who would adjust their sleep schedule to match his, just so they can always sleep together...to always be together...has him shiver. He can think of no better answer but to kiss his husband softly, lingering just a moment.

He hadn't expected his words to have that kind of effect. But he had to admit that he rather loved it. Sighing into the kiss, he threaded his fingers through his hair to hold him as it lingered on. A soft smile was on his lips when it ended. He'd never tire of this affection. That much he was certain of.

"Late at night. Rising in the morning only by necessity. I can do that."

He's content to keep kissing his husband, only breaking it for air before pressing in for another. Slow. Languid. It leaves him smiling, too.

"What do you like to do? If left to your own devices, what do you do?"

If left to his own devices? He thought about that a moment or so before realizing he'd also really never had free time before. They'd always made sure he was extremely busy at all times. Duties and such to keep him under their control.

"Read. But I also like to play Go when I have a partner. I suppose the rest of the time I would be so busy that if I had a moment I'd find somewhere I could just rest my eyes for a time."

Runyu gazed up at Zishu. "And you?"

Facts he's learning about his husband as time passes, even as little they've been together so far. Zishu carefully pulls out, biting his lip at the motion. Then slips from bed, reaching to help Runyu up to walk back to the bath tub as he waits for the answer.

Another reader. It makes him smile and he uses his inner force to heat the water back up to a comfortable temperature. "I'll show you to the library in the next few days," he promises. Stepping back into the water, he holds out his hands to his husband, to help him back in.

"I like to read, too. And take walks, or ride."

Gasping at the feel of him sliding from him, he frowned a little at how empty it left him. Still, he was pleased to hold his hand as they moved to the water, more so at Zishu helping him into it even though he didn't require the aid. Feeling bold, he let himself straddle him so that way he could face his husband while they spoke.

"I enjoy walking. Though, I have never ridden before," he informed him, resting his arms on his shoulders. Honestly, Runyu was loving how comfortable he could be just being able to sit like this with Zishu.

"Will you teach me?"

Help isn't required and they both know it. That isn't the point. What is, is showing his husband affection and care. How he intends their marriage to be based on, more than just an arrangement to control them, or keep them out of the way.

Zishu likes Runyu's boldness and wraps his arms around his waist, welcoming him close. Just to hold for a bit before he'll start washing him.

The arms around his shoulders is comfortable, as is just being with Runyu.

"Of course." No requirements need to be met. No need of an exchange. Just a desire expressed to learn, and he's happy to answer it.

That caused a warm and pleased smile to appear on his face as he pressed a soft kiss to Zishu's lips. It was brief but it was enough to let him know that he was grateful for the chance to learn. Much like he was to have his arms around him like this.

Just a few hours and he knew he was happier than he had ever been in his long life.

"Is there anything you'd like in return?" He was hardly trying to bargain with his husband. Rather, Runyu wanted to offer a gift to him in return. Simply because the thought of it made him happy.