"Yes... you heard it right," Kage Ou said, his voice dropping into a register that was both terrifyingly steady and devastatingly calm.
To Lìngxi, it was as if a mask had shattered, revealing a face he hadn't seen in years. The weight of the world, the titles, and the distance of their divergent paths seemed to melt away, leaving behind the old, mischievous soul he once knew—but with a new, predatory edge.
'It can't be serious... right?'
Lìngxi's thoughts raced, tripping over each other.
"S-shut up... what has gotten into you tonight? Saying... anything... right to my face?" Lìngxi mumbled. He tried to inject heat into his words, to sound authoritative or at least offended, but his voice betrayed him. It came out thick, stubborn, and hopelessly flushed.
Kage Ou didn't look deterred; instead, his smile widened, a flash of white teeth in the dim light as he stood up. "Don't believe me? And here I thought having three eyes now would help you see the truth more clearly."
Lìngxi's heart gave a violent jolt. He felt a sudden, primal sense of danger—not the kind that came from a blade, but an embarrassing, soul-baring danger. His heart hammered against his ribs with such force it was painful. He was far too naive for this; he had spent his life buried in scrolls and duty, leaving him completely defenseless against this kind of... intensity.
"Kage—!" Lìngxi bolted, or tried to.
But Kage Ou was faster. With a fluid, inescapable grace, he intercepted Lìngxi at the table. He didn't just stop him; he pulled him in, reeling him back until their chests pressed together. The contact was firm, a silent declaration of strength, yet handled with a gentleness that was far more unnerving than force.
Lìngxi felt his mind fracturing. The closeness was overwhelming, yet—infuriatingly—it felt like coming home. It had been years since he had allowed himself to be this physically vulnerable with another human being. He shut his eyes tight, his cheeks burning a shade of beet red that felt like it might actually catch fire.
"You didn't heard it wrong" Kage Ou's voice was now barely a vibration against Lìngxi's skin, tender and reserved for him alone. "You're... stuck in my bones, Lìngxi. Forever. Until these bones turn to sand and my entire existence is scattered to the wind."
Lìngxi was utterly speechless. The line between his feverish imagination and reality had blurred into a singular, charged point. It's messier than my study table, he thought dizzily, but... it feels like the spring of my youth, too.
He swallowed hard, his lips parting to break the suffocating, electrified silence, but before a single word could escape, the world tilted.
Kage Ou hoisted him up in one seamless motion. Lìngxi's eyes snapped wide, his hands instinctively flying up to wrap around Kage Ou's neck to keep from falling. And then came the ultimate indignity: Kage Ou adjusted him so that Lìngxi's legs were forced to hook around his waist.
"YOU'RE BEING SHAMELESS!!" Lìngxi practically shrieked, his dignity evaporating.
Kage Ou merely chuckled, a low, vibrating sound that Lìngxi felt in his own marrow. He carried him to the bed and laid him down with agonizing care. "Shh... do you want the children to see you like this? Screaming while pinned under me?"
Lìngxi froze, his breath hitching like a panicked bird. He shook his head sharply, eyes wide.
'Never! Not the children!'
"Then keep quiet," Kage Ou whispered, his eyes locking onto Lìngxi's with an intensity that felt like a physical weight. He bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "I won't do anything... unless you want it."
Lìngxi looked away, certain that this man had made a vow to paralyze him with sheer embarrassment. He couldn't move an inch. Kage Ou's gaze softened then, his focus shifting to the gem at Lìngxi's temple. His thumb traced the skin around it, checking the fine cracks with a doctor's precision and a lover's touch.
Lìngxi let out a soft gasp. It still hurt—a dull, stinging throb—but the pain was receding, eclipsed by the heat of the man above him.
"You're improving," Kage Ou murmured, tenderly brushing back Lìngxi's stray hairs. His palm lingered, wiping away the beads of sweat from Lìngxi's forehead. "Just don't be reckless again. You don't always have to prove you can carry the world alone."
He pulled Lìngxi closer, tucking the smaller man's head under his chin. Lìngxi's shoulders remained tense, but he didn't pull away. He listened to the steady thump-thump of Kage Ou's heart beneath his ear.
'He really proposed to me... Lìngxi thought, a strange ache blooming in his chest. Is it a sin to feel this way? Is it the poison in my system, or have I been seeking this all along? He's so demanding with everyone else, yet he has limitless patience for me.'
He realized then that he had spent so long mourning what he had lost that he had failed to see what had been standing right in front of him, waiting.
"I wonder when you'll finally ask something of me," Kage Ou said, his fingers playing with Lìngxi's long hair to dry it. "I'm all ears. Besides... I might have died by now from bottling this up for so many years."
Lìngxi blinked, his heart fluttering. "W-what is left to give? You've already done so much."
Kage Ou's gaze darkened with a playful, dangerous light. "Do you want the answer in words... or in practice?"
Lìngxi felt like he was playing a game of self-destruction. He scrambled for his last shred of common sense. "W-words. Words, of course!"
"Don't blush too hard then," Kage Ou teased, leaning in. "You're still recovering."
"Then don't say it!" Lìngxi tried to wiggle away, but Kage Ou anticipates the move.
"Um-hm... I have to. Because you asked." Kage Ou licked his lips, his eyes half-lidded. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled the heavy silk blanket over both of their heads.
"Wha—?"
The world vanished, replaced by a soft, warm darkness. The air became thick and intimate, scented with incense and the heat of their bodies.
"Shh," Kage Ou whispered, cocooning them in their own private universe. "Just focus on my voice. Imagine it... the history of why I'm like this, or the 'special treatment' I have planned for you."
Lìngxi's stomach did a somersault at the mention of special treatment. He remained silent, his heart racing in the dark. Kage Ou reached down, locking his fingers with Lìngxi's while his other arm served as Lìngxi's pillow.
"What would it feel like," Kage Ou's voice was a husky, silken thread against Lìngxi's ear, "to steal those lips? The ones you've saved for a life of propriety? To take them for myself instead?"
Lìngxi's eyes flew open in the dark. "Never! It's... it's improper!"
He tried to bolt again, but Kage Ou's weight shifted, pinning him gently but firmly to the mattress.
"Ah, Lìng Lìng... I was just teasing. It's not every day I find you so... pliable," Kage Ou chuckled, his breath hot against Lìngxi's neck.
Lìngxi went still, looking like a cat ready to spring the moment the grip loosened.
"No running away," Kage Ou warned, his voice dropping an octave, filled with a promise that made Lìngxi's knees weak even while lying down.
"KAGE!"
"Shh..."