Work Text:
Zhao Yun Lan woke up warm and content. Shen Wei’s arms wound around his waist, legs twisted with his, and Shen Wei's soft breathing next to his ear. A large grin broke across his face.
They are alone together, booked into a hotel on a small island resort in the middle of nowhere. Supposedly for work, but there hasn't been a hint of the cursed ghost pirates that apparently appeared every thirty-three years to haunt this remote island, screaming for some god's blood. The last reported case was twenty-nine years ago, and Zhao Yun Lan might have read the case file and booked the first plane out of Dragon City with Shen Wei.
Zhao Yun Lan is anything but dumb, he wasn't about to let an all expense paid trip to an island resort go to waste. There might have been some screaming from the kids about abuse of power (no, it wasn't, he was being responsible and checking the site of a supernatural phenomenon before it happened), and Da Qing might have tried to hide himself in the luggage (there was bribes of dried fish treats). The kids were a bit more clingy since he came back, dragging a nearly half dead Shen Wei, they were a lot of screaming and crying. Now four months later everyone was a bit more settled, though the constant check ups was starting to become an old hat. Hell, even the old man had dropped by for a report but was really there to check on him. It was like the whole world just kept on expecting him to suddenly disappear. That wouldn't happen. Shen Wei was here.
Zhao Yun Lan was adamant, and Zhao Yun Lan was motivated, he wanted to see Shen Wei in some swim shorts and nothing else. He liked to think of it as their honeymoon.
He slowly turned around, making sure he doesn't wake up Shen Wei, and after a minute of wriggling he finally managed to see his lover's face, Shen Wei never let go of his waist. Shen Wei's hair was messy, falling onto his forehead, his long eyelashes cast a shadow on his pale skin, and his mouth was slightly open, lips wet and ready for the taking. Zhao Yun Lan was brought up to be a smart boy. He moved in for a kiss, and after a second felt Shen Wei's response. Arms tightened around his waist, legs pushed in between his, and Shen Wei deepened the kiss, and Zhao Yun Lan moaned into it. Shen Wei slowly pulled back, looking at him, mouth pulled up in a slight smirk.
"Good morning."
Yes, yes it was. Zhao Yun Lan dived back in.
---
They finally climb out of bed, showered together and made their way to brunch. Zhao Yun Lan let Shen Wei order for him, food was great but Zhao Yun Lan had never been known to be a healthy eater, and since coming back food has almost become an abstract. But he liked Shen Wei fussing, and food always tasted better when Shen Wei was involved. He absentmindedly sticked a lollipop in his mouth, checking his phone, and grinned as he sees the children has been active.
THOUSAND YR OLD CAT-LORD: Lao Zhao, where is the dried fish treat?!
TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS: Chief, it is impossible to create a watch that can shoot paralytic darts at ghosts. Who do you think you are, Detective Conan?!!!
GODDESS AMONGST MORTALS: You owe me for processing the forms so fast. Don't forget to get that bag you promised me! And also, what is your filing system?
XIAO GUO: Boss! I have gone through the files you set out to me, and I'm ready to move on to the next set an-
CHU WILL FUCK YOU UP: Ignore him. The Lord and you should have some peace.
LORD OF GUARDIANS: [PHOTO OF THE BEACH FROM THEIR HOTEL'S WINDOW, A PAIR OF SHOES IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAME.] My wife and I are having a great time! Take care of the fort while I'm gone, kids!
And with that Zhao Yun Lan turned his phone off, and looked up. Shen Wei was looking at him as if he was the only person alive.
"Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine, just the kids missing me." He knew he misspoke as soon he said the last word. Shen Wei looked away, a small frown appeared on his face. No, what happened was not going to spoil their time now, it was in the past. Zhao Yun Lan leaned back in his chair feeling himself slide a few centimetres down. His life motto: why sit when you can lay down, why stand when you can sit. Shen Wei's attention turned back to him, eyes followed his movement, tongue flicked out to lick his lips, and Zhao Yun Lan stared right back, and took Shen Wei in. Glasses off, hair hand brushed back, a white open collared shirt and dark formal shorts that just ended above his knees.
He has seen the man opposite him in pain, pleasure and all the emotions in between. He has seen him at different levels of undress and yet it still unsettled him to see Shen Wei so casual and relaxed. Even showing calves, and what amazing calves they are. Zhao Yun Lan felt like he was in a costume drama where every bit of skin Shen Wei revealed was done to drive him insane. And yes, he saw Shen Wei's ears turning red. Zhao Yun Lan grinned, and eased himself forward, nearly a third of his body sprawled over the top of the table. He moved his right hand out, and without hesitation Shen Wei grasped it. Their fingers interlock, and Zhao Yun Lan looked up. "So, after food we should go take a walk on the beach. It is off season, and the staff told me yesterday that there won't be too many people."
Shen Wei looked down at their locked hands, and then looked up at Zhao Yun Lan, "Yun Lan, are you still trying to get my shirt off in public?"
Zhao Yun Lan pouted. "You makes it sound so lewd. I, the honourable Lord of the Guardians only wants the love of my life to be comfortable on our first couples trip," going for the kill, Zhao Yun Lan sucked on the lollipop and grinned at Shen Wei. "We are at a beach resort, we should be wearing swimsuits."
Shen Wei looked away then looked back, ears bright red, face slightly exasperated, "Stop that. You look like an idiot."
He didn't let go of his hand, and he didn't say no. Zhao Yun Lan's grin widened.
---
Zhao Yun Lan couldn't talk Shen Wei out of the shirt completely, but he was down to his black undershirt and some shorts that went up half way up his thighs, and Zhao Yun Lan might be in heaven. Shen Wei’s appearance was always so deceptive, he wore clothing that purposely hide his strength. His build was more solid than his own; shoulders and arms lightly muscled. Zhao Yun Lan knew the strength in them, he knew that Shen Wei could ift him up and hold him inplace if he chose to. The muscles aren't decorative, they are made to fight and carry the weight of millions.
He looked back to Shen Wei, following the line of his body and took a photo of Shen Wei standing still, looking toward the calm ocean. He cropped the photo only showing Shen Wei's calves, the beach and posted it to his account.
His phone beeped almost instantly, notifications flashing. What was he paying these kids if they had the time to respond to a post when they should be working.
THOUSAND YR OLD CAT-LORD: WHERE IS THE FISH TREAT? AND STOP SHOWING OFF PROFESSOR SHEN!
GODDESS AMONGST MORTALS: Seriously? You know how busy I’m as the leader of Yshou and liaison to you, loser.
TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS: How come you get to go on a holiday, and my bonus next month is not guaranteed?!!!
THOUSAND YR OLD CAT-LORD: SERIOUSLY, WHERE'S THE FISH TREAT?!
LORD OF GUARDIANS: I'm cutting all of your bonuses next month if you don't get back to work. I'm shutting down my phone. I'm on break.
He powers down his phone and walks up to Shen Wei.
"I like this." Shen Wei said, looking back at him, "Walking with you."
Zhao Yun looked back and smiled, "I like walking with you too." He doesn't say I'm sorry that you had to walk the world alone, I'm sorry for leaving you behind, he doesn't say I'm sorry for taking so long to realise how I felt, he doesn't say I'm sorry I brought you back and I don't know what's going to happen to us. Instead Zhao Yun Lan walked into Shen Wei, arms around his waist, foreheads touching, and just breathes. He was with the most important person in his life.
...
They walked slowly along the beach, keeping pace with one another, hands grasped like children, not wanting to let go. Zhao Yun Lan did manage to get Shen Wei into the ocean, where his clothes clinged to his skin, and Zhao Yun Lan found himself gasping for breath as they kissed like they haven't done this every time they had the opportunity to, like it was their last, and Zhao Yun Lan would always regret that he almost lost the chance to do this. Zhao Yun Lan and Shen Wei laughs rang through the air, and the last of the residual tension from the past months slowly eased away.
They made their way back to the resort for some afternoon snack and hopefully another roll in those silk sheets when Shen Wei made an uncomfortable noise. Zhao Yun Lan kicked into sudden alertness and checked Shen Wei and then their surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and when he looked back at Shen Wei he realised that the red to Shen Wei's skin was not due to his embarrassment, it was sunburn. Shen Wei looked very uncomfortable.
"I should have thought of it,” said Zhao Yun Lan, softly touching Shen Wei's arm which was too hot and getting very red. Shen Wei's regeneration abilities has been unstable since his return, and while he still seemed to heal from life threatening injuries relatively fast it was no longer instantaneous, and smaller, human discomforts seem to take longer to recover from.
"It is OK. Just really uncomfortable and it stings," said Shen Wei, shifting in discomfort. "We can still go to the restaurant for those snacks."
"Nope. We are going back to our room, you are going to have a shower while I go talk to the staff to see if I can get some sunscreen and some lotion to help with the burn." Said Zhao Yun Lan, "Go, I'll be up in a bit."
Shen Wei didn't seemed to want to leave, lips thinned and brows dipped into a slight frown. With the red tinge to his skin, he looked like a annoyed lobster. Zhao Yun Lan cracked a smile and a small laugh, popped a quick kiss to Shen Wei's lips. "I'll be back soon. Honest."
Shen Wei lips turned into a small smile, "OK, I'll see you soon." And with that Shen Wei turned and walked towards the elevator. Zhao Yun Lan stood there and watched him go.
He has the best wife!
...
The staff were great, providing him a bottle of sunblock and several small bottles of different lotion that gave Zhao Yun Lan some great ideas.
And that's when the screaming started, the temperature dropped, and the sky cracked with thunder and lightning. Zhao Yun Lan looked at the bottles in his hands, and then looked through the windows where he could see guests running back into the hotel as a giant mass of black smoke slowly made its way towards the hotel.
Zhao Yun Lan carefully placed the bottles on the countertop, and looked at the stunned concierge, "Bro, you might want to start locking the windows and doors, and get the guests inside." With that Zhao Yun Lan turned towards the front entrance, shrugged his shoulders and started making his way towards the black smoke.
He has got a job to do. And Shen Wei will get there in time. He just wished he wasn't in shorts and flip flops. Running was going to be a bitch.
...
Shen Wei didn't mind being hurt in combat, he was used to it. But the tight pull and soft sting of his skin every time he moved was grating and he could feel himself getting more irritated. It wasn't the pain, it was the constant discomfort. If this was before he wouldn't even have gotten burnt, but while his offensive abilities are fairly stable, his regenerative ability has been anything but. He know Yun Lan thought he was just healing at a slower pace, but Shen Wei thought it was more that part of his ability was almost completely gone, and everytime his body tried tto heal itself it felt like it was drawing from his core, and that left him shaking and so very weak. He would love to conduct an actual experiment on how his powers has changed. He doubted Yun Lan would be pleased about him hurting himself on purpose to get some empirical evidence.
Small annoyances that he would just have to deal with. He has got Zhao Yun Lan now and no matter the difficulty he was not letting go.
He looked over to the freshly made bed and reminded himself that he would need to let the staff know not to disturb them tomorrow, with how Yun Lan could be Shen Wei wouldn't be surprised if they will be spending the whole day inside. He could feel the heat in his ears, and a small pleased smile appeared on his face.
The sudden screaming and the pressure of dark energy sent tension through his body. And Shen Wei knew instinctively that Zhao Yun Lan was going to be in the thick of it. He sometime wonders who Zhao Yun Lan offended in his previous life that these things always happened to him.
Summoning dark energy Shen Wei disappeared from the hotel room.
..
For the record this was not Zhao Yun Lan's fault. He wasn't aiming to get into a fight, he was just going to help the people into the hotel and then maybe try and talk to what he assumed were the ghost pirates, and basically wait till Shen Wei rocked up and saved the day. He had pushed a couple into the hotel room before tendrils of black smoke had came out of the moving mass to grab him and pull him back into them. He would like to say he fought but honestly there was no time. He lost air too fast and then consciousness had followed. His last thought was that Shen Wei was gonna be pissed.
Which led to his current predicament, sitting on something hard; arms and legs chained in place. He thanked his ancestors that he still had his clothes on. He looked around, and he appeared be in a stone chamber that reminded him of the tombs that they used to bury the Emperors in. The impression deepened with the two lines of what he presumed to be the pirates ghosts, standing straight, all the way to the entrance of the chamber. They were too many to count, and they were all looking at him.
"Wow. Hello,” said Zhao Yun Lan, waved his fingers at his audience, he couldn't do much else as his wrists were chained to what he thought might be a throne made out of rocks, mouth pulled into a slight grin. “There seems to be a misunderstanding.”
The figures, mostly dressed in what looks to be Ming style garb, though honestly Zhao Yun Lan has seen better cosplayers. They looked physical enough, not even slightly decayed, except for the dull green glow they emanated, and the bottom part of their body seemed to slowly fade away.
"You are here," said the figure at the front. "We have waited for you." And another voice joined the first. "Kun Lun, god of 10,000 mountains. You promised us. We would be released on your return."
Well, fuck. Most days Zhao Yun Lan was just a simple mortal, sure an extremely handsome and talented mortal but mortal nonetheless. Once in awhile though reality like to reminded him of his past sins. "Look, I really think you got the wrong person. It's a misunderstanding, I'm just your average salary man on a couples trip with his wife."
"We have waited." A third voice joined.
"You promised." A fourth voice joined.
"We will not be refused." Hundred of voices joined as one, vibrating into the depth of Zhao Yun Lan's bones.
The one that spoke first walked toward him, hands reaching out towards his face, Zhao Yun Lan pushed back against the seat. He doesn't know what would happen if it touched him but he really doesn't want to find out.
A thunderous crash, and the double doors at the entrance was sent flying, the air in the chamber became freezing. Standing at the entry was Shen Wei.
He hasn't changed; black singlet and shorts, guardian sword in his right hand, eyes furious.
"Shen Wei," said Zhao Yun Lan, it wasn't louder than a whisper but Shen Wei heard, eyes glanced over to him, seemed happy with the the state of him, he moved his eyes to the rest of the room.
"You have disrupted this land. You are the dead and the forgotten, there are no one to mourn for you, there is no ties to bind you. Why do you linger?" Said Shen Wei, his voice low.
"Little king ghost, we are here because it was promised," hissed the voices, "10,000 mountains, time and space bore witness. We are to be free on his return. The deeds we committed have been paid for."
"He did not promise. He does not remember. He is mortal."
"His mortality is irrelevant. He is, even if he does not perceive. He does not need to remember. He promised. His heart blood will let us sleep."
Shen Wei was not pleased at that. He flashed forward, sword swung across the air, taking down two rows of ghosts. "You don't get to touch him," and charged forward.
Zhao Yun Lan loved Shen Wei, he loved Shen Wei to the depth of his bone marrow, he sometime thought when he remade their bodies he wove his love for Shen Wei into his own DNA. Which seemed fair because Shen Wei loved him the same way. Watching Shen Wei cleave a pass through the hundreds of screaming ghosts with the goal of reaching him, Zhao Yun Lan knows he was safe. He was maybe, also, a little turned on.
..
The fight continued, and Shen Wei was deadly with his ever changing guardian blade. A wave of its spear form and nearly ten figures are sent into dispersed smoke, a stab of its sword form and two ghosts are speared. Shen Wei was hurting them, he danced through them, cutting a swathe, focused on getting to Zhao Yun Lan. Shen Wei was fast, he was powerful but it was also several hundred ghosts that seemed to will in and out of physical form, and Shen Wei's powers has been acting up. It probably wasn't surprising when the mass of hissing heaving bodies finally managed to hurt Shen Wei, a cut on his arm that Shen Wei hardly noticed.
Yeah, no, fuck that. Zhao Yun Lan was never allowing Shen Wei hurt again, not in front of him. He could suddenly feel the net flux lines of force, and the world lines to collapse, and he felt himself being pulled apart, consumed, holding back the darkness, and the pain was terrible and constant.
"Stop." His voice seeped through the chamber, he could feel the atoms in the air, he could feel the particles pressing down. "Kneel."
Soft moaning then screeching as one after the other the dead kneeled onto the ground. Zhao Yun Lan could hear the wind blowing against the grass on the mountains, and he knew if he wanted to he could keep these hundred of souls for another 10,000 years, dead and hopeless, locked into a region of space time, held by a world line, waiting for existence to wink out.
He looked at Shen Wei, blood on his arm, even breathing, guardian sword held loosely pointed toward the floor. He was looking straight at him, "Yun Lan, I'm OK, it is just a scratch,” he said, voice calm and soft. “Enough. Let them go."
He looked upon the man who loved him with everything he has, and let out a long sigh, "Leave. You are dismissed. Your sentence is done." Zhao Yun Lan wasn't special, he was just a guy who was in love, and he couldn't, wouldn't change the world because the person he loved lived in it. He doesn't feel himself slip in unconsciousness. Shen Wei was here.
...
Zhao Yun Lan woke up warm and content, there was a hand brushing through his hair, and another grasped around his hand. He opened his eyes. "Hey," Shen Wei was next to him in their hotel room. "Hi," said Shen Wei, soft smile in place, and still slightly sunburned. Zhao Yun Lan felt at peace, he couldn't hear the wind against trees and grass, and couldn't feel the width and breadth of time evolution of closed surfaces. He was in bed with the man he loved, the world was still turning, and he was at peace.
Zhao Yun Lan was one lucky guy.
- FIN -
Postscript.
Messages sent.
TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS: Boss, there's a electric storm coming your way. Doesn't look natural.
TECHNOLOGICAL GENIUS: Boss, check your phone. The storm is definitely not natural.
THOUSAND YR OLD CAT-LORD: ZHAO YUN LAN, PICK UP YOUR DAMN PHONE.
GODDESS AMONGST MORTALS: RUN.
CHU WILL FUCK YOU UP: I'm on my way.
OLD MAN: Can you handle it? The activity is off the scale. Respond.
LORD OF GUARDIANS: Handled.