Work Text:
jiang shuo's perspective
the sound of qin er's words still echoing in my ears, reminding me of the time I struggled with tinnitus for a long time, my legs became wobbly. if that was not enough, the deadly sound of chains being dragged on the floor with every step did not aid much amid the chaos my small mind found itself in. since the day I met qin yi heng, since the moment we started this business in particular - I discerned how small a human's brain was, not capable of understanding, believing and trusting all the sanctity of the gods, the truthfulness of superstitions and real hazard of not fulfilled pledges. the only one whom I knew that could ably compensate for my lack of knowledge was my business partner, a partner in crime, lover, friend, or simply my qin er. he taught me new things every day, unveiled the layers of the world I was until now unaware of.
at that moment a chill ran down my spine but the cold sensation did not last long, for it was stifled by a sudden drip of red, warm liquid on my right side of the nose, splattering on my cheek as well. it was not easy for me to comprehend what has just happened, and why the fuck I noticed a few red blots on the floor.
I looked at the one standing in front of me, closer than before with a plan in his mind he had stated to me minutes ago. still the "quickly put your back down, but don't let it touch the floor" was not as significant to me as the first part "this is the sound of the yin prisoner whose legs had been tied with iron chains" so my mind, choosing this one more worthy of the attention, simply dismissed his orders. blood was trickling down yiheng's chin, staining his neck, painting the collar and lapels of his emerald-colored coat.
my eyes flew open, and I had no control over my body anymore. with one of my hands still, adhere to the backpack, the other reached up and I touched his face, smearing the blood a little with my finger.
he looked at me with impatience, but utmost worry, care, and fear were brimming in his orbits more. worry, care, and fear about me, and what would happen to me if he failed to take me out of this temple untouched.
"we go together or not at all qin er." I asserted, not allowing even a sliver of objection.
I quickly - or at least under such circumstances it could be called quickly - surmised that he must have bit his tongue so as to splash his blood on me, but because of the force he put into it, the blood fell incessantly out of his mouth, although not in troubling amount.
not even for a fleeting second came upon me to feel appalled or disgusted by his action. first of all, it has to be said that I had had more of his substances on my face before - start counting with spittle finish on something whiter - and I could just add blood to the list. second of all, I learned him fairly well already, being convinced that the action was intentional and supposed to save me from something terrible.
he used to make me do lots of things before, all of them just to save me from misery, plight, or death in a horrendous way. yes, this is how dangerous this job was, but it never made me afraid. or at least never, as long as I had him by my side.
after we broke the intense eye contact, he started scrambling with the backpack I had held, taking necessary things out of it.
we managed to escape thanks to both his and my efforts, our teamwork proved to be already concrete.
as I was the first to be pushed out of the window, I pulled qin er's hand to go down safely, land as smoothly on a grass outstretched under my feet now. only when both of us were relatively safe, I drew his body very close to mine and breathed his fragrance in.
sweat, herbs, blood, and scarce cologne water. that's what qin yi heng's body smelt like. and I wanted to breathe him deeply inside.
"don't do this ever again to me." I said, referring to the moment I lost sight of him when he was supposed to hold my hand right after I stood on the ground.
a pair of lips left a kiss on my head, probably along with a red dye, and he whispered an apology.
holding hands, we rushed out of the place, giving each other permission to stop only when passing by the entrance gate.
// ☆ //