Chapter Text
The next day started at home with Zhao Yunlan doing last night's dishes and at work with Lin Jing's dark energy detector beeping at Dragon City University. It turned out that it was merely a stressed undergrad with no connection whatsoever to Professor Shen: She'd had no time to clean all semester and had then panicked upon the realization that she was living in grime and filth, and tried to use her power of telekinesis to clean the place with predictably ineffectual results. As she'd waited for everyone to be away before her attempt, Zhao Yunlan let her off with a warning and an impromptu lesson on cleaning disaster zones quickly.
On the way back, Zhao Yunlan ran into an inordinately happy Shen Wei. “Professor Shen! What has you so happy?”
“Ah… My experiments are going well,” Shen Wei hastily said.
Zhao Yunlan nodded sagely. “That's good to hear.”
“Is there another case at the university?” Shen Wei asked.
“Oh, nothing you need to worry about; it has all been taken care of.” Zhao Yunlan waved the matter off.
Before Zhao Yunlan could say more, however, Shen Wei said, “You look very happy as well, Chief Zhao. Is there a special occasion?”
What an excellent opportunity he'd been given to probe Shen Wei's reaction. Zhao Yunlan leaned over conspiratorially. “I have a date with the most wonderful man in the world this evening.” He winked.
Shen Wei flushed. “That – sounds nice.” Considering the sheer amount of flirting he and Zhao Yunlan had engaged in, the good professor should be looking crestfallen at being implicitly dumped, not as if he'd just been complimented by the love of his life. “I have a lecture to hold. I hope you have a good time on your date.”
“I'm sure we will,” Zhao Yunlan said to Shen Wei's retreating back. The man seemed to be overflowing with happiness. Zhao Yunlan shook his head. “Ah, Brother Black, you're terrible at this double identity thing,” he muttered under his breath.
When he arrived back at the SID and took off his motorbike helmet, Zhao Yunlan was greeted with a racket. “Do we have another case?”
“The Black-Cloaked Envoy has sent us a note,” Chu Shuzhi said. Given that he was from Dixing and the Envoy's number-one fan, it likely was an actual note from the Envoy and not a forgery.
“It's in some sort of code?” Lin Jing said. “Here, it appeared on your desk, maybe you can decipher it?”
Zhao Yunlan snatched the note from his hands. It was the shopping list the Envoy had promised to deliver. He folded it and stuffed it in his jacket pocket, amused at his soulmate's excessively dramatic means of delivering notes. He really should get his Envoy some sort of SMS-capable telephone. He could even put it on expenses if he claimed it was used for proactive Envoy-summoning.
“I know you modern youths live exclusively off takeout, but surely your parents wrote at least some shopping lists in your sight? How far humanity has fallen!” Zhao Yunlan lamented while he ignored Da Qing's snort. “The Black-Cloaked Envoy is a gentleman from nobler times. Of course he wants to engage in cooking from fresh ingredients.”
“Did he hate yesterday's takeout that much?” Da Qing asked. “Or did he simply come to the conclusion that you couldn't take care of yourself, and for the continued existence of the SID, he needed to feed you daily?”
“Don't be an idiot, he simply wants to feed his soulmate,” Zhao Yunlan said over the sounds of people gaping at him daring to invite the Black-Cloaked Envoy over for dinner.
“You're soulmates?!” Wang Zheng gasped.
“May your love last forever,” Guo Changcheng said, and okay, the boy might be useless, but he had at least some concept of appropriate flattery. With his connections, he'd go far.
“So what is written on your wrist?” Zhu Hong asked.
Since everyone at the SID was at least a bit special, Zhao Yunlan had shown his soulmark to them all and asked if they could read it, so they had all seen it before. “Veifþrkehtkvezdrk.”
“I can see why he goes by ‘the Black-Cloaked Envoy’,” Lin Jing said.
To the side, Chu Shuzhi had sat down on a chair and looked to be grappling with realizations. “Did the Lord Envoy not…”
“Apparently he only found out my name after we met, and then was very baffled by it all until I asked him to look at my soulmark the day before yesterday. We've only gone on one date, but I promise I won't singlehandedly cause the collapse of diplomatic relations with Dixing!”
“Will you finally stop talking about Professor Shen all the time?” Da Qing asked. Zhao Yunlan threw one of the couch pillows at him.
“W-will this herald a new, kinder age of interspecies relations?” Guo Changcheng asked.
That was a very good question. “Let's see what happens,” Zhao Yunlan said. A new era where Dixingians were public knowledge and could come to the surface as they pleased, as long as they obeyed the laws? An age where anyone could cross over the border, human, Yashou, and Dixingian alike? Zhao Yunlan wondered what Dixing was like. Perhaps he could entice the Envoy into bringing him there some day. “All right, that's enough. Go back to work or I'll cancel all your bonuses!”
With lots of grumbling, they scattered. Perhaps some work might even get done, though this gaggle of gossips would no doubt turn to whispering once Zhao Yunlan turned his back.
On the way home from work, Zhao Yunlan popped over to Wang Xiangyang's grocer's store, then drove around in a meandering zigzag to the butcher's and the supermarket to get the rest of the things necessary for whatever his soulmate would cook for him. He placed the things that needed refrigeration into his newly clean fridge after taking a moment to marvel at its cleanness. The rest of the apartment was also spectacularly clean, and there was nothing much to do at home – Zhao Yunlan usually just worked long days, or went out clubbing – so he tackled the laundry heap. He even read the dinky little washing instruction labels sewn into the seams as he sorted the clothes into piles.
He was done with his herculean task before the time the Envoy was supposed to turn up. In his utter bafflement at how easy this whole housework thing was being, he found the detergent and put on the first load. Perhaps one day he'd be laundering those black robes in this very washing machine. He hoped the Envoy knew the washing instructions for them.
The crackle of dark energy alerted him to his dear soulmate's arrival in the living room. Zhao Yunlan stepped out of the bathroom to find his soulmate standing about befuddled. “Welcome! I was just doing laundry. The dinner ingredients are in the fridge and on the counter.” He stepped into the Envoy's space and was greeted with an embrace and a kiss. His Envoy really was a fast study; this kiss was already toe-curlingly good.
When they broke apart, even the Envoy was panting a bit. “I – think I should start making dinner.”
“Sure.” Zhao Yunlan pecked his cheek. “Do you need help with anything? I'm not that good at it, but I'd like to help.”
“You could wash the vegetables?” the Envoy offered. Very reluctantly he walked to the kitchen with Zhao Yunlan on his heels. He seemed to do better when Zhao Yunlan actually had his hands on him. Perhaps it was a good thing the world had provided the touchy-feely Zhao Yunlan with a cuddly soulmate.
They started out in parallel, Zhao Yunlan bringing things from the fridge and then washing vegetables while the Envoy despairingly went over Zhao Yunlan's meager assortment of cooking implements and eventually gave up and chopped things with his Envoy's blade instead. Zhao Yunlan took out his phone and sneaked a picture of the Envoy chopping up vegetables with the blade on the only cutting board in the house and decided he'd make it his phone background picture later.
By the time things started going in the wok, Zhao Yunlan had run out of things to do. He washed his hands and went to hug his soulmate from behind. The Envoy kept at the excessively complicated cooking, but melted into Zhao Yunlan's embrace whenever he didn't have to actively do something.
Then the food was ready and on the table, and the Envoy was placing dumplings and pieces of chicken on Zhao Yunlan's plate. Zhao Yunlan bit into a soup dumpling and found it delicious. “Wow! Brother Black, this is the tastiest food I've ever eaten!”
The Envoy ducked his head. A smug expression erupted on his face. “Then shouldn't you eat more?”
“As my soulmate commands!” Zhao Yunlan said and dug in.
For a while, they ate in companionable silence occasionally punctuated by Zhao Yunlan complimenting the food and the Envoy blushing smugly. The soup dumplings were at exactly the right temperature, the honeyed chicken harmonized with the bamboo shoots and taro, and the cabbage salad tasted exquisite. Were the Envoy to open a restaurant, Zhao Yunlan would never order food from any other place.
Then the Envoy asked, “I heard about a disturbance at the University today. Was it serious?”
Zhao Yunlan shrugged. “Eh, just a student from Dixing panicking about dorm inspection and trying to use her powers to clean up the place. She only made a larger mess, of course, but since she'd picked a time when there'd be no witnesses, we let her off with a lesson on how to clean up.”
“Mm.” The corners of the Envoy's mouth twitched, but any further reply was cut off by Zhao Yunlan's phone ringing.
Zhao Yunlan swore and answered it. “What is it, damned cat?”
“We know you're on a date with the Envoy,” Da Qing began, “but there's a situation that urgently requires intervention. We got a new case and now the new kid's being held hostage by a Dixingian whose power is making things melt into flesh soup.”
“Understood. Try to stall the perp. Where are you, anyway?” Zhao Yunlan listened to Da Qing's route information, then shortly explained the situation to the Envoy.
“It seems we'll have to return to dinner later,” the Envoy said as he rose. “Where do you keep your motorcycle?”
“It's down in the basement parking space. Wait, let me grab a jacket.” Zhao Yunlan grabbed his jacket and helmet from where he'd placed them next to the door. He wondered where he could quickly get a second helmet for the Envoy, but before his thought process could get properly started, a warm hand appeared on his shoulder and suddenly he was being taken through a sea of tingles and his ears rang briefly.
The sensation abated and they were in the garage. “Wow!” he said. “My soulmate is the best.”
The Envoy appeared even more smug. “Which of these is your motorcycle?”
“That one in the corner.” They sat on the motorbike. The Envoy's arms wrapped tightly around Zhao Yunlan, who tried to reassure himself that perhaps the Envoy had some Dixing power that would protect him in lieu of a helmet as he revved the engine. “Are we going to drive there?”
“Just drive forwards; I'll take care of arrival.”
The Envoy sounded suspiciously smug against Zhao Yunlan's back, but sure, Zhao Yunlan could do that. He steered them so they were going along the main driveway of the parking hall and accelerated. The same sense of tingling enveloped him-
-and suddenly the motorbike was airborne, in the park in front of the rest of the SID, and Zhao Yunlan was pretty sure they were backlit by an explosion. Zhao Yunlan was very much wowed, and based on their expressions, so were the SID crew and the perp.
Mindful of the fact that they still had a job to do and that the Envoy likely didn't have much experience on motorcycles, based on the way he was clinging tight enough to make breathing difficult, Zhao Yunlan slowed down when they landed. He did a lazy clockwise arc around the scene so the Envoy's dominant hand would be towards the action at all times.
When they'd come to a stop, the Envoy summoned his blade and thunked its butt against the ground. Frost erupted and spread to the perp's feet, freezing her in place and encasing her in ice. She dropped an unharmed Guo Changcheng onto his butt.
“By using your powers to harm, you have broken the Treaty,” the Envoy said as he slowly and carefully got off the back of the motorbike. Zhao Yunlan put all his seductiveness into taking off his helmet so he could distract as many people as possible from any unfortunate clumsiness on the Envoy's part, but thankfully there was no tripping over any hems. “I must bring you back to Dixing for punishment.” He then brought both himself and the perp through a portal.
The silence was deafening. Guo Changcheng scampered to his feet, unhurt, but didn't say a thing. The crickets chirped and the trees' leaves rustled in the slight touch of wind.
“Da Qing, you're in charge of writing the report. I want it done by tomorrow morning. Chu, make sure the newbie is okay.”
“And you?” Da Qing asked.
“Why, I'm going to wait for my lovely soulmate to return from Dixing, and then we're going to go back home to finish dinner. I'll text you if it's okay for you to come home.”
“Stupid humans, acting like they're in heat every day,” Da Qing grumbled. Zhao Yunlan pretended not to hear him.
“The two really are well-suited for each other,” Lin Jing said. “I mean, the Envoy always arrives late with no explanation, nabs our perp, and doesn't even do his paperwork. Just like Chief Zhao!”
Zhao Yunlan dug out his phone and called the SID. When Wang Zheng answered, he said, “It's Zhao Yunlan. Please cancel Lin Jing's bonus.” He hung up.
“Hey!”
“You deserved that,” Chu Shuzhi said.
Any further argument was interrupted by the Envoy portaling back. “Chief Zhao, if you would?” he said, and then they were back on Zhao Yunlan's motorbike, the Envoy clearly taking the opportunity to cling to Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan waved to the SID members behind them.
Another trip through a portal of tingles, and they were back in the parking space. Their arrival was less dramatic this time. Zhao Yunlan parked the motorbike and let himself be teleported back to his apartment.
“Y'know, I could get used to this means of transit,” he said as he very intentionally bumped shoulders with the Envoy while he put his helmet back. “I should buy a second helmet for you, though. For safety.”
“Motorcycles are inherently unsafe,” the Envoy said. “Perhaps you should stick to your car instead.”
Zhao Yunlan was about to argue when he noticed the Envoy's legs shake slightly. “So, when you're along for the ride, motorbikes are only for dramatic entrances? I can live with that.”
The Envoy pursed his lips as if he weren't entirely happy with the conclusion, but changed the topic. “Let's finish dinner.”
There wasn't much left, and it had cooled to an unappetizing degree, but the Envoy simply waved his hand over it and suddenly everything was warm again. “Wow! Veifþrkehtkvezdrk, it's a good thing you're my soulmate; you've ruined me for everyone else.”
“Good,” the Envoy said, and okay, that was definitely smugness. As well as happiness; his little heart must be bursting with joy.
Zhao Yunlan sat down with a thunk and bit into another delicious soup dumpling. He knew he was being a bit of a barbarian, but it tasted excellent. As did the rest of the meal. He gave a few more compliments to set up the actual topic he wanted to talk about: “I take it food is important to you?”
The Envoy's fingers clenched around his chopsticks. The earlier ease slipped off him. “I enjoy cooking.”
“I can see that, and fully intend to enjoy your enjoyment of it!” Zhao Yunlan smiled and winked, but said nothing more. Perhaps silence would give his soulmate the space to open up.
It seemed to work. The Envoy swallowed and pondered his words, but said, “We didn't have enough food growing up.”
Of course. A teenager growing up in the immediate aftermath of an agriculture-disrupting meteor strike would've grown up hungry. Zhao Yunlan placed a hand atop the Envoy's and said, “You can cook whatever you like for me and have me buy the ingredients. Remember that fat bank account? It's got all the funds you need to feed us forever.”
“I'd rather cook foods you like,” the Envoy said, now relaxed again and looking relieved. “Were there any particular favorites, growing up?”
The rest of the meal was spent lightly chatting about favorite foods. They washed the dishes together, bumping shoulders much more often than necessary.
When the dishes were all dried, Zhao Yunlan put his arms around the Envoy's waist and stroked with his thumbs. “You're wonderful.” He was in the mood for more, but that likely wasn't on the cards yet.
The Envoy appeared a bit flustered and awfully happy. “You are the light that conquers darkness,” he said, earnest and a bit breathless. His hands crept to Zhao Yunlan's cheeks. Maintaining eye contact, he slowly licked his lips in a way that went straight to Zhao Yunlan's cock.
“I'm willing to do whatever you want, whenever you're ready,” Zhao Yunlan whispered. He wanted to push his soulmate against the counter and push his head into that hood to nibble at that pale throat while they rutted against each other, or perhaps they could make it to the couch, but the second date was much too early to take someone's virginity and the Envoy deserved a bed.
“Yunlan,” the Envoy whispered. He leaned into a kiss.
The kiss broke all of Zhao Yunlan's self-control, and he surged forwards to press the Envoy against the counter and push a leg between the Envoy's. The Envoy moved his hands so one grasped Zhao Yunlan's hair and the other pressed between his shoulderblades and used both of them to bring Yunlan closer, to claim his mouth in a ravenous kiss that stole the breath from his lungs and made his cock harden against the Envoy.
The Envoy pulled his head back. In a rough voice, he said, “There's a limit to the time I can stay.”
“Is there anything I can do to make it longer?” Zhao Yunlan asked as he let his hands drop and took a step back.
“Unfortunately not.” The Envoy closed the distance to Yunlan again and gave him one more brain-melting kiss. “I'll send you a message about my schedule tomorrow. Good night.”
“Good night,” Zhao Yunlan said, saddened by the departure and more than a bit aroused as he watched the Envoy reach out his hand and open a portal.
The portal fizzled into nothingness and the Envoy collapsed onto his knees and coughed. He'd also lost his Envoy's robes and was now in a blue suit.
“Don't look!” the Envoy hissed.
“No, it's okay, I figured out you were Shen Wei already,” Zhao Yunlan said. Shen Wei turned his head with a shocked expression, to which Zhao Yunlan explained, “It's pretty trivial that Šeǧndieþftervdršn Veifþrkehtkvezdrk would be sinicized to Shen Wei- Are you bleeding?”
“It's nothing,” Shen Wei said, wiping off the blood from his mouth but not able to hide the blood on the floor.
“No, it's not, you coughed up blood!” Zhao Yunlan said. “I'll bring you to the hospital.”
“They can't help,” Shen Wei snapped. “I'll be fine after a moment's rest.”
Zhao Yunlan took a deep breath, sat down next to Shen Wei, and put a hand on his shoulder. It was trembling with tension. “What happened?” he asked in a reassuring tone of voice.
“Aboveground, I'm limited not only by the Guardian Treaty, but also the nature of dark energy itself.” Shen Wei swallowed. “Maintaining my appearance as the Envoy requires a constant trickle of energy here. I used up too much and couldn't open a portal back home. I'll be fine after a moment to recharge.”
“So you absolutely must stay here to rest,” Zhao Yunlan said.
“I'll be fine. Let me clean the stain-”
“No, you're going to take off your shoes and jacket and laze on the bed,” Zhao Yunlan interrupted. “And I am going to make you tea and ruffle your hair.”
“The stain needs to be cleaned.”
“I will clean it after you tuck yourself into bed,” Zhao Yunlan sternly said.
Shen Wei frowned like a grumpy kitten, but decided Zhao Yunlan's floor was worth taking care of and unsteadily walked to the bed. Zhao Yunlan followed him the whole way and tucked him into bed once he'd shed and folded his suit jacket and shoes.
“Okay, now stay there and let your soulmate fuss over you,” Zhao Yunlan said and went back to the kitchen to make tea. While the water boiled he wiped the blood off the floor. There was much too much of it for Zhao Yunlan's comfort and he considered offering Shen Wei some of his gastritis medicine, but that might just make Shen Wei fuss over him instead, which was not the aim.
When he'd finished making tea, he brought the pot and cup over. “Here. Drink this.”
Shen Wei took the offered cup and saucer, took one prim sip, and said, “Your washing machine is done. Shouldn't you go deal with the laundry instead?”
Indeed, the washing machine had quieted down. Zhao Yunlan weighed his choices for a long while before acquiescing – Brother Black likely hadn't had many people fussing over him and would need time to adjust. “You're not allowed to run off, understood?”
The clothes were damp and not moldy, unlike that time Zhao Yunlan had completely forgotten about his clean laundry until he ran out of underwear again, then had to do emergency wash cycles to get the moldy smell out of his clothes and washing machine. It took him a while to find where he'd stashed the foldable clothes drying thingy, especially since he had a compulsion to check whether Shen Wei was still sipping tea beneath the covers every five minutes.
Despite the interruptions, he did eventually finish his task and could return to fussing over Shen Wei. He sat down sideways on the edge of the bed so he could converse with Shen Wei, spotted the teacup was empty, and filled it over Shen Wei's protestations that he was fine, thanks. “Drink your tea, Veifþrkehtkvezdrk.”
“How much do you insist on giving me?”
“Perhaps I can trust you to make it home after the whole pot is gone.” Zhao Yunlan sighed. “Where do you live, anyway? Do you have some place in Dixing?”
“I live in the university's staff dorms,” Shen Wei said. “It's cheap and convenient.”
“Ah yes, my beloved daylights as a professor of bioengineering.” He smiled fondly enough to make a smile creep up on Shen Wei's face as well. “Speaking of which, is the name Shen Wei merely an artefact of convenience, or do you actually like it as a name?”
“It's my name,” Shen Wei said. “I was – surprised when it wasn't what was written on your wrist.”
Zhao Yunlan nodded. “Poor you, jerked around by fate. I'm glad I summoned you with the incense.” He stroked Shen Wei's conveniently-located arm. “It's Friday tomorrow. Are you doing anything on the weekend?”
“I originally planned to spend it house hunting,” Shen Wei said. “You see, the Dean wants me to move out of the staff dorms due to the recent spate of SID activity on campus, and I need a roof over my head. Unless, of course, you could help me with that…” He ducked his head to hide an awkward smile.
“You can move in, no problem!” Zhao Yunlan said. He felt a grin blossom on his face at the thought of waking up to his soulmate daily. “Though, uh, remember what I said yesterday about dating on hard mode? Moving in after the second date definitely counts as dating on hard mode. Please bear with me even if you find it a bit awkward.”
“There's no place I'd rather live,” Shen Wei said. He looked at his empty teacup and sighed. “I really need to go pack.”
“How much stuff do you have? Do you need help?”
“I can fit my possessions into two suitcases and a few boxes for books. I've packed almost everything already.”
“Call me tomorrow and I'll come with the Jeep to help you move,” Zhao Yunlan said. He let Shen Wei put the cup and saucer on the nightstand without insisting on keeping him for another cupful.
“I'll do so.” Shen Wei squirmed past Zhao Yunlan to put on his shoes and jacket.
An amusing thought popped up in Zhao Yunlan's mind. “You know, Da Qing's been rejoicing the fact that I found my soulmate, because he thinks it'll make me shut up about Professor Shen and maybe ask the Envoy to bring him back to Dixing.”
“Has he.” Shen Wei tried to look impassive but was betrayed by an amused twitch of his lip.
“Oh, he has.” Zhao Yunlan leaned closer. “I can't wait to see his face when he discovers Professor Shen and the Envoy are one and the same, and living in our house to boot!”
Shen Wei snorted. “I suppose I will need to reintroduce myself to the rest of the SID as well.”
“Their faces will be a sight to behold!”
“Mm.” Shen Wei sighed. “I really should go, though.” Before he got off the bed, however, he leaned over and kissed Zhao Yunlan possessively. “Good night.”
“Good night, Professor Perfect!” Zhao Yunlan said, extremely aware of the stupid grin on his face.
Shen Wei waved and disappeared into a portal with a smile. Zhao Yunlan was left to stare at the empty space and comparative silence.
Well, there was only one thing to do. He grabbed his phone and texted Da Qing. The Envoy's gone home for the night, but he's moving in with us tomorrow!
That's it, I'm moving out, Da Qing soon texted back.
As if, Zhao Yunlan thought. The damned cat enjoyed the warmth and opportunity for pets much too much. Before long he'd be parking his fat ass on Shen Wei's chest, too.
Soulmates were meant to bring out the best in each other all their lives. Just by looking at his apartment and observing him before his acquaintance with Shen Wei and now, it was obvious that it was true: his apartment was a much better place to live and he himself had shed the prejudices his father had raised him with. On Shen Wei's side, it seemed he'd finally be getting someone who believed he, too, deserved to relax and be taken care of. No doubt even more positive effects would appear in the future. Zhao Yunlan eagerly anticipated them.