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There had been rumors, words whispered just a tone beneath the wind- People loved to talk and no tragedy was great enough to stop them from doing so, thus as the years rolled by, many a hearsay turned into gossip, and gossip turned into legend. What was once only a sentence leaving the mouth of a commoner became the history of the great, whether they were willing or not: that was how Jin Ling himself had first gotten to hear of the allegedly true secret that came with his family, a considerably lighter, if not outright sillier one, especially when compared to everything else that hang upon his head, weighted down his shoulders.
His temper was quick and snappy, every emotional wound regarding his parents still so tender that something as little as an absent minded comment was enough to send him into a frenzy- No one had the right to speak of them. No one had the right to. The sound of their names against his ears felt as grating and annoying as that of those silly instruments the Lan Clan used (Qins, they were called, that much he knew. Not because he cared, of course, but because it was his job to know and nothing less than perfection was allowed for the Jin.), an annoyance he simply couldn’t bear to hear. That was probably why the first time he’d heard about this ridiculous little thing, Jin Ling’s first reaction was that of loudly scoffing and immediately forgetting anything was ever said- Or try, at least, seeing as every word was still etched into his brain.
“No wonder their son turned out the way he did. Jin Zixuan himself was so uncannily against spending time with his wife that it almost verged on being plain ridiculous. Did you hear of that time they were seen on the private pier, and he shoved himself away from her so fast he almost toppled into the water?”
The sound of his teeth gritting one against another was all the company he needed whenever those thoughts came resurfacing, his brows knitted so hard he wondered if lines would forever be etched into his forehead- Then again, his maternal uncle had a penchant for intense angry expressions and his face seemingly didn’t suffer all too much- Still, the heir of the richest clan in the land didn’t feel like gambling on that, of all things. That brought another interesting point to Jin Ling’s personal turmoil of the day: both of his uncles were fairly terrible when it came to personal lives. It was not his place to judge, not when he was so young, but at the same time he couldn’t help but notice the unfortunate, persistent thread that linked all the paternal figures in his life- That of being seemingly terrified of personal contact.
Perhaps he was spending way too much time mulling over something so silly, but whenever his parents came into play, the young man couldn’t help getting lost into whatever matter regarded them- As if that would somehow make him feel closer to them, or at least closer to knowing them a little better than before.
Jin Ling scoffed loudly in his own, empty room.
“How foolish.”
There was no use in getting closer to the dead. What good would it bring? And yet, why did the uncomfortable feeling at the pit of his stomach settle so badly whenever he tried to force his mind away?
“Young master?”
The new voice made him jolt up, his hand instinctively looking for his sword’s (his father’s sword’s) hilt because for some embarrassing reason, it always made him feel more at ease. ‘Sense of protection’, he told himself. ‘Knowing I am armed and ready is what makes me feel safer, nothing more.’
“What is it? Did you forget how to knock?!” His voice was entirely too high for the situation he found himself in, but there was no way to expect a sudden, unwanted visitor. “My apologies, young master, but it is quite urgent. Your departure for the Cloud Recesses is nigh and you’ve scarcely prepared, let alone had breakfast-!” “I am not hungry.” He immediately snapped back, barely letting the man finish his sentence. “Besides, I am ready! I need nothing else.” And that had nothing to do with the fact that his servants had already prepared his usual three packages worth of luggage for the journey.
“I’ll be off.”
Perhaps a good session fo night hunting with the ever so boring Gusu Lan Clan would help- Beating them at a fair game of hunt would ease his nerves, without a doubt.
---
The air in the Cloud Recesses was always fresh.
Be it for its favored position, in a natural nook perfectly hidden amongst the towering mountains, or because of its seemingly endless courses of water running through it, the crispy morning breeze truly had a way of lifting anyone’s spirits- Or that is what Lan Sizhui believed.
He had a way of waking up every morning feeling as grateful as the day before, a seemingly eternal flow of optimism filling his very being from the moment he opened his eyes to when he closed them at 9 pm sharp. Lan Jingy had commented about his fellow disciple’s irritating penchant of being a morning person times and times before, but as he faced the still quietly dark sky atop his head, the young Lan couldn’t truly recall what he had said- Not because he didn’t care, but because the birth of a new day was such a wonderful spectacle that he simply couldn’t think of anything else.
Or so he assumed.
For even in the distance, he could make out the unmistakable golden glow of the slowly approaching Jin Clan of Lanling, as if the small group in itself was casting natural light against the lazily retreating darkness of the night. An amusing thought, but one that left the road open for an onslaught of different conclusions being rapidly fired into existence, courtesy of his overthinking: if the Jin Clan was to be present, so would Jin Ling, which would mean having to put up with him and Lan Jingyi together, a feat that was nothing short of titanic at times. Far it be from him to be quick to judge a day by its start, but if he had to be entirely honest with himself, the morning was already shaping up to be… Different, to put it gently.
Still, there was no need to frown. For all his boasting and gloating, Lan Sizhui truly enjoyed the company of the young heir- Lan Jingyi often pestered him about it, saying that he was entirely too nice to the ‘spoiled brat’ that acted like a ‘young mistress’ rather than a proper cultivator should. ‘You’re too harsh with him’, he remembers saying. ‘You’re not that much more poised yourself, dear friend.’ The grumble that accompanied him right after was well enough to warn him that he’d won this first round, but it also came with the promise of many, many more to come throughout the day. It was with just a little bit of pride that he also remembered how he had won most of them, in the end.
As the memories stopped flowing, Lan Sizhui started his walk towards the entrance with a smile on his face.
---
His day at the Cloud Recesses starts with a sneeze.
And not just any small sneeze, not at all, Jin Ling of the Jin Clan introduces himself with an almost comically thunderous sneeze for someone his size, one that’s immediately followed by a small, mixed chorus of chuckles and snorts, because apparently everyone there forgot their manners all of a sudden.
“Ah, bless you, Jin Ling.”
Except for someone.
“Thank you, Lan Sizhui. I was starting to wonder if the disciples here had no space left to learn manners after being forced to engrain the 3000 rules in their heads…” He was just about to start puffing out his chest, he was immediately stopped by a second voice joining in and immediately rattling his spirits. “Pah, last time I checked, there was no rule that stated ‘thou must bless the sneezing peacock’…” Even without turning around, Jin Ling was painfully aware of Lan Jingyi’s presence behind him, but simply refused to grace him with any sort of attention- If he wanted to talk smack, he’d do so while looking at his back.
“Very, very funny, Lan Jingyi.” The bitterness was so painfully obvious that the recipient of such grace couldn’t help but cackle in a very un-Lan-ish way, dramatically putting a hand on his chest as if he’d just been stabbed right through the heart. “Such cold, cold shoulder, young master Jin! Am I not worth of your attention anymore~?” Jin Ling scoffed loudly, still not deigning to turn around, instead fixating his gaze on Lan Sizhui with such intensity, that he could swear he saw the Lan disciple fidget a bit before looking away- Which gave him an idea. “Not at all, Lan Jingyi. I simply find Lan Sizhui to be a far more pleasing sight for my sore eyes.”
The sputtering sound that came from behind his back was entirely too satisfying, but what truly filled the young master with glee was the surprised expression now cleanly evident on the student directly in front of him. Flustered even, if he dared go that way. “What is that supposed to mean?! If you’re trying to confuse Lan Yuan with your offhanded comments, trust me, it won’t work! We’ll still beat you during the night hunt!” Now it was Jin Ling’s turn to sputter, finally turning around to face the other Gusu Lan Clan disciple with an almost offended frown. “I need not use such lowly tricks to win! My expertise alone is far enough to leave you in the dust!”
“You wish, you peony wearing-!”
---
Thus it had started. A bit sooner than usual and in a slightly different manner than what he had gotten used to, but just as every day the sun rises and sets, so will Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi bicker whenever they get the chance- And truth to be told, Lan Sizhui would’ve already intervened, if it weren’t for the unexpected comment from a few moments before: whatever did Jin Ling mean when he said he was a pleasing sight? It wasn’t that he had any interest in appearances, he was mostly curious as to what prompted such a statement. Raking his brain proved useless, if not downright counterproductive, thus he decided to concentrate on the problem at hand: the increasingly loud arguing between the two disciples in front of him.
Or at least, he tried to, but apparently Jin Ling’s comment had set off something inside of him, some sort of slowly unraveling, profound truth that he’d never dared look at, or think of. He found himself looking, truly looking at the heir of the Jin sect as if he’d never seen him before, taking in details that would’ve normally slipped his attention because they would’ve been deemed frivolous or useless- Such as the way the way his hair framed his face almost perfectly, or how the red dot at the very center of his brows sometimes disappeared in his frowns, so deep were they.
“Ah, that is just rich!” Lan Jingyi’s voice rang out a tad louder than before, forcing him to focus on the whole image, rather than just on how strangely intriguing Jin Ling looked on that fine day. “Just because you’re a Jin, it doesn’t mean you’re any better than us! A name does not a good cultivator make!” Which was all too true, but he also knew how much his name weighted down on the yellow-clad disciple, who was entirely too fast in snapping back, perhaps just because of it. “I so happen to be better than you, though!” A weak retort, but he certainly wouldn’t be the one to say anything- Not when a quaint little piece of memory had resurfaced in his brain, perhaps juggled by the now growingly intense argument taking place right there.
Wei Wuxian had offhandedly mentioned to him once that his sister had found out a secret way of getting her husband, the ever so uptight Jin Zixuan, to relax almost immediately under her hands, but that such a mysterious technique should never been used without regard from someone outside of the Jiang family. ‘Well’, Lan Sizhui thought with just a little bit of mirth. ‘I can be considered a bit of a Jiang, now that master Wei has a stable relationship with Hanguang Jun.’ who so happened to be a father of sorts for him.
‘You see, A-yuan. My sister found out that whenever Jin Zixuan was too tense, too irritable, all she needed to do was gently coax him to sit next to her, so that she could gently scratch about his neck- It turned out that the peacock found that extremely relaxing! You should’ve seen him, smiling like a lazy cat whenever my jiejie treated him with it-! I remember once, she had somehow convinced him to get such treatment out on their personal pier, but someone walked by and that crazy peacock just jumped up in fear of being seen!’
Silly, so very silly, but seeing the occasion offered to him, the young Lan almost couldn’t help himself. He took a careful step forward, but seemingly neither of the two incandescent youths noticed his approach, thus giving him time and chance to slowly reach forward with his left hand: that was when Lan Jingyi’s eyes darted from Jin Ling’s face to his friend’s, but still kept quiet despite looking positively confused.
When his fingers finally came into contact with Jin Ling’s neck, Lan Sizhui started having some minor regrets, but it was all too late to stop there, wasn’t it? Almost on cue, the young master stiffened up visibly, which was all the push he needed to unleash the secret technique master Wei had talked about.
In front of a visibly dumbfounded Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui started gently scratching the back on the Jin heir’s neck, the gesture seemingly harmless enough, if not completely unexpected- But not as much as the reaction of the recipient of such treatment. For all his prior anger, Jin Ling was seemingly star struck, his eyes wide and his arms now stuck in an awkward angle, half raised around his chest- And there they stayed until Lan Sizhui slowly removed his hand.
Lan Jingyi had no idea as to what had just unfolded in front of him, but whatever question he (or Jin Ling) had would have to wait: Hanguang Jun had arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
---
Much to Jin Ling’s neverending displeasure, they simply do not find the time to stop and talk.
Because in his modest opinion, there truly is a lot to be talked about, concerning what had just happened.
First of all, how did Lan Sizhui dare to touch him in such a way, without even asking for permission? It was so uncharacteristically bold of a Lan disciple, but then again, having spent so much time with Wei Wuxian probably poisoned his mind with the same brand of crazy arrogance that so perfectly defined him. Could such an unbearable trait be rubbed off onto someone much kinder? He genuinely hoped that wouldn’t be the case, because he’d miss having around someone as gentle and caring and- No! He refused to think of that person in any sort of flattering light, especially after whatever had transpired upon his arrival to the Cloud Recesses. It was embarrassing, humiliating and-!
And.
And so incredibly nice.
Jin Ling groaned, letting his head fall back and collide with the wall right against his cot, because that had no right to be called a bed, not when compared to where he usually slept during the night- Why was the Gusu Lan clan so annoyingly spartan?! How was he supposed to sleep on such an uncomfortable slab of wood, with so much drafting and with the clear, painfully real feeling of Lan Sizhui’s fingers gently working on his neck?! There was no way he could catch a blink of sleep there, no chance at all.
What was that saying? Desperate times call for desperate measures?
Well, that was a desperate time and he had just thought of a desperate measure.
---
The Moon hang in the sky as the night rolls by quietly, unheard to all if not by the crickets still loudly letting themselves known in the garden.
It was 2 am and Lan Sizhui has been asleep for roughly 5 hours, exactly as per Lan rules, when he felt a quaint prodding against his side, strong enough to wrestle him out of sleep, but not enough to hurry him along: the young Lan took time to stretch his arms a little, making a small, confused sound when his eyes open and only the dark welcomes him. Well, the dark and the ever so familiar silhouette of someone sitting by his legs, right at the edge of his bed.
Groggily, Lan Sizhui forced himself to sit up, his eyes slowly getting used to the lack of light and allowing him to make out the details of the person sitting by. “… Jin Ling...?” That was entirely too surprising to be real. “Are- Are you alright? Is something amiss?” His presence there was enough for concern, for why would the Jin heir ever come to him at such a late hour of the night, if not for a dire situation? Then again, the now deep silence told him that nobody else was moving in there.
There was a small shuffling sound and he could feel the weight on the mattress shift a bit closer, followed by the unmistakable sound of an embarrassed young cultivator trying to clear his throat. “I couldn’t… I cannot sleep. This place feels… So foreign.” A pause, dictated only by uncertainty, or so it felt. “Can you… Do you think you can do what you did this morning?” Lan Sizhui briefly wondered if he had slipped into sleep once more, because that felt- Sounded just too unreal to be happening. Such a request, coming from anyone else would've sounded incredibly silly, foolish even, and exceptionally egoistical, considering the late hour. But not from Jin Ling. Not when he looked so tiny in the dark, hunched over and lacking all of that typically Jin flair that accompanied his every step.
Lan Sizhui didn’t have the heart to say no. In all honesty, he didn’t know who would’ve had the heart to say no.
And perhaps he should’ve been at the very least grumpy about having been awoken at such an unholy hour (at least in Lan Clan standards), but all he felt was an almost overwhelming sense of warmth that made him shift to the side, wordlessly inviting Jin Ling to lay down next to him: a far more intimate position if compared to that of that morning, but given the situation, it felt only right.
And perhaps he should’ve felt horribly embarrassed sharing his bed with someone else, but even as Jin Ling quietly laid down and tucked his head against his own chest, almost curling up next to him, Lan Sizhui could only think about the amount of trust he was being offered in that very moment.
His hand did not hesitate this time, it almost naturally found its spot against Jin Ling’s neck, which felt warm, so very warm- He smiled in the dark, wondering if the young master was blushing madly under the cover of the shadows. Still, as his fingers slowly stretched against Jin Ling’s skin for the sake of slowly starting massage it, all he could think of was how fine it all felt. How right, it all felt, for one reason or another.
Alas, he had no time to truly think about it. Just as Jin Ling slowly drifted into sleep, lulled by the almost rhythmical movement of Lan Sizhui’s fingers, so did he slip back into slumber, a small smile stretching his lips.
There would have to be a lot of explanations in the morning.
But never did the night feel so welcoming.