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Yanqing has all but been used to hearing stories about Jingyuan and his multiple past lovers. Whether it comes from Jingyuan himself, or just from word of mouth around the Xianzhou natives, he’s heard quite a few tales.
He doesn’t even know how someone could fall in love with that many people. Not that he’s calling his father promiscuous, but he just can’t wrap his head around the concept of having more than one love. Then again, Jingyuan had a big heart so maybe that man really just had enough love in him to share.
Jingyuan had tried to set him up with someone - Yunli from the Zhuming. And while he appreciates the sentiment and effort, there’s just a bit too big of an ideological divide for him to consider Yunli in that light. Not to mention he does appreciate their banter for friendship.
Only a few seconds after that thought formed in his head, she makes her presence known by the violent shaking of a branch.
Yanqing looks up from the courtyard, raising an eyebrow at his visitor. “Yunli, come to nag me again?”
“Hah.” Yunli laughs lightly as she jumps down from the tree with such force. He doesn’t know how she could survive doing that with her bare feet. He knows if he ever attempted it, his ankles and sole would be sore for days.
She fixes her hair from the impact, rusting a few leaves out of it. “Don’t worry, I haven’t come here to nag. Nice work in the Wardance, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Yanqing finds himself smiling at the memory of the fight a few days prior. He’s no stranger to battles, duels to the death with only Xianzhou’s best swordmasters. But there is something about the fight with that particular Belobogian that doesn’t seem to leave his mind. “It was a tough match. Luka fought so well…”
He can see her eyebrows crease and the slightest bit of a pout starting to form on her face. Yunli is the type to let her thoughts be known, but he is glad she’s dialing back on it a bit. “You still won, buddy. Don’t think too much about it.”
He knows she’s trying hard to not send a bombastic side-eye. Normally they both prefer fighting with weapons and he knows she’s definitely judging his decision to forego them in the final round. “Hey, not all people fight with weapons. Plus I got to practice the martial arts techniques I keep procrastinating on.”
“He had a robot arm made by the IPC,” Yunli deadpans. “I don’t know if that’s an insult to the concept of weapons or an insult to you.”
“You really need to calm down sometimes, Yunli.” Yanqing laughs nervously.
She lightly rolls her eyes and shrugs him off. “Ah well. Just know that next year, I’m the one beating you up.”
He watches as she disappears into the streets of the Luofu. He looks around the courtyard, wondering whether he should practice some more, before deciding that he wouldn’t mind going on a quick walk as well.
Despite having grown here, he’s never really felt sentimental, save for the courtyard where Jingyuan trained him. But as he passes that one bridge, he smiles at the memory of Luka and him shouting out those declarations into the sky. He knew that they did attract quite a few stares. He’d normally not be roped into those kinds of stuff anymore. Luka did it anyway without a care. It’s amazing, really. It was hard to believe someone like him had his own share of self-doubts.
As he passes by a few shops he hasn’t bought from but knows the owners of, he finds a familiar red-headed person in the midst of the residents.
Yanqing reaches out before stopping in his tracks. He doesn’t know why he hesitates. It’s a bit surprising to not see Luka surrounded by fans. Maybe this was a guarded meeting? Is he even close enough to casually strike a conversation?
Despite the Luofu being busy, he knows it would be obvious if the General’s protege is just looking around like a lost puppy so he just decides to walk in Luka’s general direction, passing by the stall he’s at.
As if the Aeons answered his prayer, Luka turns his head and calls out to him with a smile. “Yanqing, hey!”
He jogs in step with him and Yanqing immediately feels a warm pleasant feeling filling him up. He wouldn’t really consider himself lonely but he supposes there’s only so many people he could meet on the Luofu without thinking ‘ I’m responsible for this person’ or ‘ I owe them my life’ It feels nice to meet someone from another planet that he also didn’t feel indebted to.
“Ah, hi, Luka.” Yanqing flashes him a smile, as if he didn’t try to deliberately walk past him. He finds himself watching as Luka walks.
He realises he feels like he’s just watching a movie he can’t be part of. Luka’s demeanor is unburdened. His arms swing in such a carefree way, he smiles without having anything in particular to smile about.
“Yanqing?” he asks, bringing him back to reality. “You okay? You look dazed.”
“Ah, sorry, just a little… um.” Yanqing bites his lip, trying to look for a good reason.
“Stressed?” Luka tilts his head.
“Ah yeah, stressed.”
Luka pats him on the back. “Must be. I don’t really know what you do but it seems you have a bigger role than I thought. What do you actually do?”
“Ah I’m–” What is he anyway? “... I’m a lieutenant for the Cloud Knights.”
Luka looks at him absentmindedly for a while.
“Did I say something wrong-?”
“Oh, sorry, it’s just that- wow.” Luka flashes him another smile. “I could never imagine being a lieutenant that young. Not even a small squad of the Silvermane Guards. That’s really impressive!”
Yanqing is caught a little off-guard by the comment. Possibly one of the few times his youth and size weren’t used against him.
“How about you?” Yanqing asks. Luka lives and breathes fighting every time someone glances at him, but there’s definitely something lurking beneath there. And he’s a bit excited to know more about other jobs on another planet.
“Ah not much different from what I did in the Wardance,” Luka says, scratching his head with an apologetic smile. Yanqing finds himself smiling too. The action is a little endearing. “I mean it’s nothing compared to what you do, but I do help keep the peace around my place. It’s actually been pretty abandoned by the main city, but we’re fixing it up. It’s a bit of a culture-shock to be on the Luofu. Everything’s so civilised and all.”
He thinks back to what Jingyuan told him regarding the Belobogians. They’re all tenacious people, he had said. Their planet faced disaster after disaster with barely any wealth or manpower. It’s a bit of a miracle, really. He supposes that’s also what helps Luka be so determined to throw out the punches. Anything for the survival of their people.
He feels a bit guilty. The Luofu is definitely in a much better state than a lot of other planets in the galaxy and yet its next general seems to be afraid of his own sword.
“That’s how it is on the surface,” Yanqing admits, thinking back to the two previous incidents. “Actually very recently we had an attack.”
“Oh.” It takes him a few seconds to register. “Oh is that why the Skysplitter ship wasn’t allowing us to board?”
“Yeah.” Yanqing tries hard not to sound dejected but living his life on the Luofu, every so often he actually realises the things he went through are real. He actually fought Blade, saw the reincarnation of Imbibitor Lunae, witnessed the escape of Jingliu then of Hoolay, the succumbing of General Feixiao to the power of the Borisin.
Luka’s face softens. “You did a good job then! I don’t see them causing any more trouble for the people in Xianzhou anymore.”
There had been losses for sure. He didn’t even register the passed out bodies in the battlefield when he went to fight Hoolay until after the fight. But Yanqing still finds himself smiling a little. Luka is right, they did stop the Borisin from causing any more losses. “Yeah. It’s just- well, hard.”
“Is that why you’re going on a walk? To clear your mind?” Luka asks.
“Actually I went on a walk to find you.” That slips out of Yanqing’s mouth so fast that he barely registers it.
“Oh! Wow, gee, that’s a big honour coming from you, honestly.”
Yanqing shakes his head, a bit embarrassed. “Don’t sweat it. I like talking to you. It’s easy.”
“I really doubt it.” Luka laughs.
“Okay, maybe there’s a cultural gap but still. I don’t really have that many people to talk to. My dad– Jingyuan’s always busy or skipping work with a nap, and the freer people are a bit more… judge-y.” He tries his best not to namedrop a particular swordsmith. “I mostly just train.”
“Oh you should come back to Jarilo-VI with me someday!” Luka says with a bright smile. “The kids would love playing with you, especially watching all your flying sword tricks."
"Maybe I will. Could use the break," Yanqing says with a tight-lipped smile. He knows Jingyuan wouldn't allow him to be so far so soon, not while there's so much to clean up in the Luofu. Not to mention: relations. So many things to fix, from how he upsetted the daughter of Zhuming's general to proving his own general's innocence.
“Yeah, I'm sure you'd have fun fighting with all of us! Though, uh, you really got thrust right into the Wardance after an attack?” Luka asks.
“Ah yeah…” Yanqing trails off. There’s too many things he wants to ask but not enough time. He wonders just how trainer Belobog is, if they really do just fight as a past time. It's a tempting prospect. “It’s a responsibility to fight either way.”
“Sure.” Luka shrugs. He chuckles. “Your people fight probably way more organised than ours, though, that’s for sure. Actual techniques and all. We're just a mishmash of people trying to survive there.”
He has half a mind to ask Luka when he could visit before realising theoretically he could send himself to Belobog as a Luofu envoy. Would Jingyuan even trust him enough for that yet? Maybe it’s less of a matter of trust, and more of would it even be a priority? Yukong had already taken a hold on Belobog and Fu Xuan herself already scheduled a trip to Belobog in the next month as the General’s right-hand gal. Theoretically they would want him to stay in the Luofu and prioritise getting familiar with the dealings here. With growing relations and alliances here.
Yanqing ignores that lingering worry in his mind. It’s not a big deal, he keeps telling himself. After all it’s not like he’s banned from going anywhere. It’s just that he’s expected to spend more time here.
He shudders at the thought. He doesn’t want to be stuck trying to chummy up with Yunli and strengthen relations with the Zhuming and Luofu. The Generals are already getting along, and he and Yunli found some sort of camaraderie already, so why should he even continue pursuing it?
Jingyuan was able to start one of the strongest Xianzhou unions in history. That was a fact. He has also forged quite a few interastral allies even as a young Cloudknight. Yanqing remembers hearing about his stories from the people at the Seat of Divine Foresight, and even sometimes as a bedtime story. Recently Jingyuan did recount his story with a strong-headed redhead from Belobog.
“Then why can’t I go there?’ he had asked him last night.
“The alliance is still blossoming. And while it’s been years, some don’t just forget someone who chose not to help them in their time of need. We need a little more time.” Jingyuan had answered.
Which is how he found himself just practicing throwing his swords at dummies today. While he really wants to be gentle with them - better to be delicate and precise than brash and impulsive, his father had told him– he finds himself throwing them at full force.
He’s more than a little frustrated at the decision. He’s starting to suspect that it’s not because Jingyaun didn’t trust him but because he didn’t trust himself to send someone so similar to him back to Belobog. Maybe he hasn’t completely forgiven himself for not helping.
If Yanqing had his suspicions months ago, he’d have immediately shutted it down without a second thought. He wouldn’t have believed that his General could ever let something as cowardly as that stop him. But now he does understand the sentiment, and it frustrates the hell out of him. He knows Jingyuan shouldn’t be that cowardly.
“Woah, Yanqing!”
Yanqing doesn’t even see Luka stand beside him as he narrowly throws another sword at the tree. Yanqing smiles apologetically. “Ah, sorry. Didn’t see you there.”
“Well at least you’re letting it out,” Luka says with a laugh. “Tough time with the Cloudknights today? Or maybe you fought a bunch of those Bori-stuff again?”
Yanqing shakes his head as he absentmindedly twirls his last sword in his hand. “It’s nothing worth getting riled up about, especially not when you’re here.”
“Oh!” Luka looks away a bit, a small smile creeping in his face. Yanqing cheers inside.
“Anything you wanna do today? I can teach you a few things. Training always helps me take my mind off things.”
Yanqing spends the better half of his afternoon just teaching Luka how Xianzhou martial arts work. He realised there isn’t much form in the Belobog style, but Luka had all the concepts and techniques down. Applying them to more focused practices shouldn’t be that hard.
“You’re open, Yanqing!” Luka calls out, giving him just a split second to dodge a punch.
Yanqing laughs. “You normally don’t tell your opponent that.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He shrugs.
“Whew. You do learn fast though.”
“I have a good teacher. I love Chief Oleg and all but he mostly taught me through pure experience.”
“That can’t be that good. You need to at least be able to grasp the basics first.” Yanqing sits down by the stream and Luka takes the spot to his left. “Your footwork is nice. Your entire body is- well, insanely balanced.”
Luka elbows him playfully. “I mean I wouldn’t call having a prosthetic ‘balanced.’”
“It’s heavy. Would definitely make it a bit harder to maneuver your body.”
“You get used to it.” Luka holds out his mechanical right arm. “See?”
Yanqing stares at it incredulously before taking it in his hands. A part of him wants to ask where he got it, but he knows it could be a bit rude considering they only knew each other for a few days. “It’s lighter than I thought.”
Luka takes his arm back. He forms a fist and punches him so lightly in the chest. “Not when I’m in a fight. It’s all in knowing how to swing and when to swing.”
“I guess you could think of it as a sword, too, huh?” Yanqing asks, summoning his own flying swords. They swirl around him, before immediately moving to swirl around Luka.
Yanqing smiles. They usually took a while to warm up to people. He tries not to think about what Yunli would say about that. He could already hear her teasing him about it.
“A sword stuck to your body, but yeH,” Luka laughs. He outstretches his flesh finger, poking the sword that approaches him. It retreats a bit before coming back even closer. It’s kind of like a dog.
Yanqing laughs at the sight before his own sword pokes him in the back. “Ow–”
Luka chuckles. “Looks like they don’t really like you.”
“They just want attention,” Yanqing says, rolling his eyes. As if it heard him, the same sword jabs him again on the back using the blunt end. He has no idea where the swords learned that sass because he sure as hell didn’t teach them. “Ow.”
“Hah, you seem to be having fun with them.” Luka laughs.
Yanqing hasn’t seen his own sword approach anyone else willingly, but one of them keeps shaking itself at Luka’s hand. “I think it wants to get to know you.”
Luka holds his palm out. The sword immediately flies into his hand, more obedient than Yanqing has ever seen it. Luka winks. “Must be an honour to have one of your swords acknowledge me.”
Yanqing scoffs. “I’ll have you know these swords don’t really care about ‘acknowledging’ people. They just love to mess around.”
“It’s still cool though.” Luka flips the sword in his hand. “We don’t have weapons like these in Belobog. And they seem to be good company for you!”
“I suppose you could say that,” Yanqing says with a small smile. He does appreciate his swords for what they’re worth. And usually they’re worth more than his life to him. His collections take out huge chunks of his day, hyperfixating on mixing and matching swords, deciding how he’d swing them. He supposes maybe he does lose out on companionship. Only a little bit.
“How do you fly on these things?” Luka asks, absentmindedly spinning his sword on his finger. “They look so… small.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate just because of size!” Yanqing finds himself saying. Then he’s struck with an idea, standing up and placing one of his swords on the ground. He reaches his hand out to Luka.
“What are we doing, Yanqing?” Luka asks, laughing nervously as he looks down at the sword. “I’ve never really flown on something before… Flying to the Luofu was my first time.”
“Really?” Yanqing asks, tilting his head. With all the technological advancements in the universe, he finds it hard to believe. Then again, Belobog has been stuck on its own for a while. He wonders what kind of transport they had there.
“Yeah.”
Yanqing holds both his hands out and Luka takes them. They both feel different, robot metal and human flesh, but both still felt like the hands of a warrior. “Just don’t panic. That’s the worst thing to do.”
“Haha, right, don’t panic.” Luka laughs nervously.
Yanqing shows him where to step, pointing to it with his foot. “You’ll do fine. I’ll make sure you won’t get hurt.”
“You always do.” Luka smiles at him, his gaze softening and all at once, he just jumps onto the sword, one foot resting on the hilt and the other on the blade. Part of him wonders if that’s all it takes to get him confident again.
“Hey, hey, slowly.” Yanqing finds it dumb that he, the teacher, is panicking. But he knows his swords could be unpredictable and Luka could be unpredictable and while he loves that about both of them, putting them together is not something he’s looking forward to.
“Relax! I have the world’s best teacher helping me. Woah–”
Luka wobbles a bit and Yanqing grips onto his hands even tighter, pulling him back into a more stable stance. “You really do change moods that quickly…”
“It’s not a good way to spend your time being that down in the dumps. Besides, it’s hard to be sad for that long with you around.”
Yanqing’s hit with the realisation that Luka is a short-life species. They both may adore fighting and do it under the same principles, but the backdrop against it are completely different. He’s suddenly struck with even more admiration for Luka. Risking it all to cut his life even shorter, if only for the happiness of the people around him.
Luka notices this slight shift in mood. He’s quite perceptive even if he doesn’t normally give off those vibes. “Yanqing? You okay?”
Yanqing shakes his head. “Sorry, I just, uh.” He turns back to him again with a smile. “You’re amazing, Luka.”
That seems to have caught him off-guard as he slips off the sword and his grip, falling butt-first onto the ground. Yanqing reaches out and helps him up, noticing a tiny speck of pink on his cheeks.
“Ah, geez.” Luka laughs as he scratches the back of his neck. The sword he fell off of immediately comes back towards them, patting the tuft of red hair resting on his head.
“It’s fine, it seems to really like you.” Yanqing chuckles as well, instructing the sword to go back to its previous position. He takes Luka’s hands again, helping him onto the sword. “You ready?”
“Even if I’m not, better to just do it!”
“Alright. I’ll fly beside you.” Yanqing lets go of one hand as he summons another sword, stepping onto it with ease. He hunches his shoulders and positions his legs. He realises it’s a bit harder finding the balance while holding onto someone else, but he’ll manage. “Just copy my movements, but most importantly, relax. You’re really good on your feet.”
It isn’t long before they start gliding around the courtyard, just a few inches off the ground for starters.
“Woah!” Luka chuckles as they breeze by, going at running speed now. His leg muscles have stopped tensing up, much to Yanqing’s relief. The swordmaster knows that he’d be fine without anyone holding his hand now, but he still doesn’t let go.
“Ready to go even higher?” Yanqing asks, already marking all his usual routes in his head.
Yanqing smiles at him as they finally descend back down to the ground.
“Hah, that was really fun.” Yanqing hugs Luka the moment they step off the sword, he barely even processes it. But it’s warm and he wouldn’t mind being stuck in that position for a while.
“Yeah, that was amazing! We should do that more often!”
From the hug, Luka picks Yanqing up with barely any struggle. Yanqing doesn’t even see himself fighting back, just tightening his grip onto his shoulders so Luka doesn’t accidentally drop him.
Luka finally sets him down and perhaps Yanqing spends a few seconds too long looking at his face. He had never been used to keeping eye contact but there’s something that’s just so reassuring when he looks at Luka.
“I, ah, do want to thank you though, Yanqing,” Luka says with a smile, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. “I don’t know if I would’ve survived going to the Luofu for the Wardance. It’s… really easy to chill out with you.”
Yanqing smiles. It must be absolutely terrifying being the first big representative of your own planet after who knows how many centuries. Maybe even millenia. “I’m glad you’re doing okay. You do seem a little spooked during the Wardance… I heard it was a medical condition?”
Yanqing hasn’t ever been put in a position to feign confidence. He prided himself on being more honest about his skills than the average swordmaster and while he was humbled when fighting the literal High Cloud Quintet, he spareed on anyway. If he let Blade lay a finger on Dan Heng…
But he supposes he knew the reason he fought despite knowing his opponents vastly outmatch him. He couldn’t turn back, and he supposes that’s why Luka pushed on despite whatever was happening in that head and body of his.
“Ah yeah…” Luka scratches the back of his neck. “That red girl from the doctor place helped a lot though. She gave me a little buddy that helps with the hallucinations.”
“Oh, the Tuskpir!” Yanqing’s eyes light up in recognition. He’s always been a healthy kid but he did receive some nightmares from time to time after the whole Ambrosial Arbor incident. And Jingyuan being Jingyuan, of course he took up every opportunity to introduce another pet to the household. Yanqing promptly returned it to the Alchemy Commission after he got better, much to his father’s dismay. “I had one, too. Though the cats at home also really help with calming me down. And Mimi.”
“Mimi?”
“Oh, um, he’s Jingyuan’... giant cat.” Mimi is in fact a giant lion but he doesn’t know how exactly to explain a lion to someone who’s never seen one.
“Ah I’m sorry but… who’s Jingyuan?”
“Oh he’s…” Yanqing trails off with a nervous smile. He supposes right now he doesn’t really have to worry about being associated with Jingyuan but how else was he supposed to describe him? The general he works for? The Arbiter-General of Luofu? The lazy old man who falls asleep with birds and wouldn’t be able to avoid taking in another cat? “My dad. He loves adopting strays. I’m one of them, actually.”
“Ah.” Luka’s face softens.
“But he’s really protective of them sometimes. He trusts me with a bunch of stuff now, I’ve grown up a bit, but there are still a lot of things he’d rather deal with on his own.” Yanqing hops onto his sword again as he flies above the courtyard.
Luka, not wasting a beat, immediately jumps onto the sword that approached him. The sword wobbles a bit from the force but he catches up to him in no time.
Yanqing doesn’t know why, but it’s hard not to smile whenever he’s with him. “Heh you should keep that as a memento.”
“Aw please, you’re acting as if we won't see each other again.” Luka circles around him. Yanqing wonders if he was this hyperactive when he started learning how to ride swords. “I’ll come visit if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do in this galaxy.”
“Well don’t let that be the last time we’ll meet,” Yanqing says with a small smile. “Though I don’t think I can visit Belobog any time soon.”
Luka finally stops his dizzying spins. “Why not?”
Yanqing knows the answer and he decides there’s no point in hiding most of it. “The alliance between our planets is pretty new. They wouldn’t trust some low-ranking Lieutenant there.”
“No way the Wardance ringmaster is just some low-ranking lieutenant here,” Luka says with a teasing smile, calling his bluff. He flies the slightest bit closer and suddenly Yanqing’s starting to regret teaching him a bit. “I’m sure Lieutenant Lengfeng’s well-trusted in the Xianzhou.”
Yanqing’s cheeks heat up at the title. It’s so easy to think he’s gotten used to it, but only until some pretty outsider calls him that. Then he melts a little bit inside all over again. “I mean it’s a bit more than that. Luofu's Arbiter-General is kinda-sorta… my dad.”
“Oh!” Luka’s jaw drops. He then giggles nervously. It’s kinda cute. “I can’t believe I missed that!”
Yanqing raises an eyebrow. “There’s quite a few things you missed, Luka.”
“Hey, come on! I caught up eventually, right?” Luka elbows him slightly, just rocking both their swords the tiniest bit. The slight touch makes Yanqing wonder whether they could just go cuddling in the sky, before he immediately brings the thought out of his head.
“Yeah, I suppose you did.” Yanqing's face drops a bit as he floats a little higher, getting a good view of all the Foxians and Viyahadras, natives and foreigners that he’s been responsible for. “But there’s still a lot for me to do here. My dad’s actually been trying to set me up with the neighbouring ship’s daughter, and he wants to send me as an envoy to the Yaoqing to continue helping clear his name. I don’t think he plans on letting me leave any time soon.”
Yanqing feels cold metal and the warmth of a human arm around his torso, taking a few seconds to realise Luka’s hugging him from behind. He tries not to think about how it’s been a genuine while since he was hugged like this. Jingyuan has only gotten busier now, something he never thought would happen. And his other friends are also busy with their own lives. It feels nice, he had to admit. He wouldn’t mind it everyday.
“You could really use a Tuskpir, Yanqing.” Luka says, laughing gently into his hair. “Or maybe we can go shouting again. It’s not good being this stressed.”
Yanqing leans back a bit, softly patting him back in response. “I’m kinda too tired to go shouting,” he admits. He subconsciously leans his head back a bit, letting some of his weight rest on Luka. “Maybe you can be my Tuskpir.”
“Sure, I’d love to be your Tuskpir.” Luka laughs and his hold on him tightens a bit more. Yanqing feels like he’s both heating up and being frozen on the spot.
What the actual hell are we doing, is a thought that crosses Yanqing’s mind, but he doesn’t spend too much time thinking about it. He sighs softly as he takes Luka’s hand and brings them back down towards the courtyard.
None of them speak for a while, Yanqing still trying to process everything that happened up there. He feels like he’s in a bit of a daze, just staring at him as the swords whirl around them, waiting for either one of them to make a move.
One of the swords eventually poke Yanqing hard on the back. “Ow, don’t you obey your master?”
The sword pushes towards him again, almost as if it’s sticking its tongue out. Then the sword flies towards Luka, patting his head with the hilt. He looks at Yanqing with a small teasing smile. “Looks like it found a new master.”
“Honestly I’d be pissed if it were anyone else, but I trust you with all of them.” Yanqing sighs as he sits down, hoping at least the other swords would follow after him instead of flying around everywhere else. It seems like they would never settle down until Luka finally sits down, and they all obediently line up beside him. “Hah wow, they love you.”
“I love them, too,” Luka says with a smile, almost petting the swords back. It almost wiggles like a pet. Yanqing wonders whether it’s normal to be jealous of a sword. His own, no less.
“They’ll miss you so much when you’re gone, you know,” Yanqing says, biting his lip. Clearly he’s not projecting. Not at all.
Luka’s face softens, his hand moving from the sword to pat Yanqing’s hair. “I’ll miss you, too.”
Yanqing shakes his head as he tries to will his face to a normal temperature, bringing his knees up to his chest as he pouts. “Hey, come on, I said the swords will miss you…”
Luka just laughs.
A few more days later, Luka leaves back for Belobog.
“... Yanqing, did you seriously make a cookie of Luka because you miss him-?”