DON’T GIVE ME THAT LOOK!!!!

{ ❀ } Lan Xianhua held the tiny basket securely as she walked down the unfamiliar pathway. How fortunate it was she had encountered this little happening so close to a diplomatic trip to Qishan Wen, that she was able to hitch a ride there along with some of her peers. 

The odd look she got now and again from the Wen sect cultivators was a bit unnerving; but nerve was something this Lan child had in abundance. She walked alone with confidence, cloud-emblazoned ribbon trailing behind her as she made her way to the place where Jinyu had mentioned he stayed when not at the Sun Palace or another of the Nightless City’s outposts.

The insolence of humans was something Tamamo had never forgotten. How could he? It was those who wielded their spiritual powers and carried with them a blind sense of ‘good versus evil’ that had left him alone in the first place.

He’d strayed far from that original place in order to quell his malevolence, knowing deep within his wife would have not wished him to become fully consumed by his ara-mitama. A different place, different experiences, perhaps he could calm himself...

Except those cultivators had made it damned near impossible!

As a powerful spirit normal dogs could not startle him, yet he had not expected humans in this time to utilize spirit beasts. The baying of the creature had startled even him into losing face and reverting to his true form. 

Struck with sealing talismans and his hide full of arrows he’d managed to flee, using tricks to dive into another sect’s territory. Surprisingly enough the hunters did not follow him here, perhaps some rule among humans, and he was able to continue strolling through the shadows of the moonlit forest without further incident.

So long as he could find a place to curl up he could peel off these talismans, pluck out the arrows and sleep until he recovered... it was a long walk however and eventually he settled for dropping down between the roots of a tree to rest.

Before he knew it the sun had begun to creep over the horizon and the sound of boots crunching on leaves reached his ears.

     Finding Jinyu focused on his work had come to be expected in the last few months - it might even have been half a year since they met, now that he thought about it. And, more often than not, the sect leader would find the medic with brush or book in hand, brows creased as something or other held his attention. Now, however, whenever he visited, Li Hua and Li Mei would titter away in their cage or perched on the edge of Jinyu’s desk, announcing his presence before he spoke.

     Today had been no different. However, today, he didn’t immediately settle across from the medic ( or next to him, as he occasionally did now ), instead pausing just inside the small home, words sticking in his throat before he finally found his voice. Nie Mingjue doesn’t know why that’s what he decides to say- well. Maybe he does. Things had been different at home the last little while, and his brother had noticed. Brought it up, even, in his own somewhat roundabout way. Huaisang mentioned he seemed happier lately - and that was when it really clicked. The sect leader had been happier, calmer too, and he doesn’t doubt Jinyu has something to do with that.

     His head cants to the side a bit when the shorter man stands and joins him by the door, standing just before him with hands hidden, a gentle smile lighting his face. Clearly, his words meant something quite dear to Jinyu, for which, he’d admit, he’s grateful. And relieved.

     Happier. That was really an understatement. Mingjue couldn’t remember the last time he smiled nearly as much, or as genuinely, as he had after meeting Jinyu. Something about his presence alone calmed his very soul - and yet, the brunet claimed that he’d been the one to do more for Jinyu? Mingjue couldn’t quite wrap his head around that. He knew well enough by now the path he was leading himself down with the life he led.

     The sect leader is jolted out of that dark train of thought by a hand grasping his robes, tugging him down.

     The kiss was enough to have the sect leader’s eyes widen in surprise, a soft smile quirking one corner of his mouth ( and there Jinyu went again, throwing the facade Mingjue kept up out the window! ). A hand raised to brush a strand of hair from Jinyu’s face, though he paused when the medic started speaking, brows tugging together and hand dropping back to his side. Had he really done that much for Jinyu? Nie Mingjue wasn’t about to ask for any details, not until Jinyu was ready to give them - but it did concern him.

     He follows a step and a half behind the medic as he heads for the kitchen, close enough to hear him continue to speak, and then the sect leader pauses again. He’s quick to catch back up, a hand resting on Jinyu’s arm to let him know where he was before carefully pulling him into a loose hug. ❝I don’t need the world.❞

     He sighed as Li Hua and Li Mei tittered a little louder once they saw him, smiling despite himself as he started walking towards the door, having paused in his tracks once the house came into view. Knocking once, he again is pulled into his thoughts - this time, about just how much time he now spent with the medic. This had come to be his preferred way to spend his days, really.

Nonverbal RP Prompts | Still accepting!

{ ❀ } “Your scars seem to be absorbing the medicine quite well, so we should see good improvement in the near future–…hm?”

Lan Xianhua blinked, drawing back from her examination of Jinyu’s scarring to better see what he was doing. His remaining arm had risen and placed something in her hair. She reached up to feel what it was, her fingertips brushing against soft, delicate petals… a flower?

She smiled behind her veil. Jinyu had more than once told her, ‘You may be a doctor, but don’t forget you can also be a woman too.’ A word of caution not to let her work eat her up completely, to take some time for herself now and again.

She gave a good-natured chuckle.