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Wearing black robes in the middle of a sunny afternoon in Yunmeng was perhaps not one of his most brilliant choices.
In fact, as Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen passed many of the locals of the area through which they were travelling, he quickly took note that many of them had stripped down to either the barest of layers, or, in many cases of fellow men, had decided to forgo a top layer altogether.
They were in a heat wave, not only that, but from the chattering they were overhearing, it was the worst one the region had had in recent years, and it was certainly a telling bit of information, given how normal the hot weather was to the people of Yunmeng, but this was bordering in territory far outside the usual heat that many were accustomed to.
As it were, Song Lan was already feeling as though he was soon going to melt into a puddle, as he continued to glance around at the more practical dress of the people, growing somewhat envious of their sensible thinking to combat the heat. Yet, he would not dare to strip down any layers, nor could he even consider changing into lighter robes, for as he quickly took mental stock of all the robes he had carefully tucked in one of his qiankun pouches, he unfortunately noted that he was a man of habit and therefore tended to wear only robes of darker shades.
Shaking his head, he carefully took to casually adjusting his current robes away from clinging so closely to his skin, already growing quite uncomfortable with both the sticky sweat and the fabric's attempt to become one with him.
As he adjusted his own robes, he took the time to wonder how his travelling partner was faring under the heat. Perhaps, he was doing much better than Song Lan was, given his white robes were much more practical to ward off the sun’s rays to his skin, and the fabrics overall felt much lighter than the ones he himself preferred to wear.
Yet, as his eyes went to give a quick, cursory glance to check on the others' reaction to the summer heat, he was not at all prepared for the view just slightly in front of him, with his pace slowed to discreetly adjust his own robes.
His dark eyes widened and he quickly pressed his lips together lest he wanted to full on gape at the man in front of him, and whilst he was quite comfortable to do so in privacy, he would certainly not allow himself to slip up around others.
In that moment, he wished that Xiao Xingchen’s eyes did not rest in his own head and though it was not the first time he’d had the thought, this was perhaps one of the more scandalous reasons for it.
It would appear his fellow rogue cultivator wasn’t doing much better than he was with the heat, that is, if the way his robes were clinging to his back had anything to say about the situation, and that alone was enough to give Song Lan a small sight to the skin that lay beneath the robes.
Of course, this wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but there was something about being given a preview through what should have been layers of protection that truly made it more tantalizing and in fact, there was soon another growing heat in his body, that made him wish to claim further view upon the delicate jade-like skin that was peeking through, but now was not the time for such thoughts, and instead, the more pressing issue that he did not wish for others to see his partner like this.
Song Lan quickly closed the gap between the two of them and lifted his arm to cover him, not connecting the touch but simply hovering over, yet the action was still sensed by the other, and it caused the white-clothed cultivator to quickly turn his head to the side to face towards him, though he continued to walk forward.
“Is something wrong, Zichen?”Xiao Xingchen asks rather softly, in case something had raised the concern of the black-robed cultivator. His fingers took a moment to graze over the handle of Shuanghua to get a quick sense of the area around him, however, as nothing seemed to alert the blade, he turned his attention back to his partner.
Song Lan blinked at the face that was now turned to him, noting the way in which the bandage covering his eyes was clinging tightly, causing some light staining of blood to peak through the cloth, “Ah- it’s nothing serious, Xiao Xingchen… I think it might be wise of us to find somewhere to set up camp and perhaps bathe in a nearby river, the heat is starting to get to me”He speaks honestly, well, partially honest.
Xiao Xingchen nods, “That sounds good, it is getting late in the day, hopefully the heat will let up overnight”He muses as they pressed forward.
–
As they continued further along the road, it wasn’t long before a clearing came into sight just off to the side of the path. It was here that they decided to set up their camp, and upon further investigation of the area, it was an especially good find, as just in a short walking distance, they came across a quaint river.
Song Lan was now more than ever eager to descend into the waters, for the growing heat in his lower body was becoming more torturous the longer he had to spend observing the growing patch of temptation on his partner’s back. He was beginning to wonder how the man himself hadn’t seemed to register it at all, never once shifting his robes or so much as twitching with any discomfort.
That was until the white-robed man turned to him with a faint smile pressing up the corners of his lips, in a way that only presented itself when he was readying some sort of small mischief.
“Will we be washing up together, or would you rather keep watching?”The man asks, and at this, the smile curved further up on his face, and Song Lan felt himself nearly fall over as the beat of his heart picked up from the gesture.
That was, of course, until he picked up on the insinuation, “You’ve been teasing me the whole time, haven’t you?”He asked, mouth going agape as the other laughed in front of him.
“Well, not the whole time, it wasn’t until you almost pressed yourself against me that I even considered the unfortunate reality of wearing white robes on a particularly hot day, but even so, you have enjoyed the view quite a lot, haven’t you?”
Song Lan huffed, “The both of us have made rather poor clothing choices… But anyways, I shall join you, I can’t bear the feeling of this sweat on my skin any longer…”He says with a shake of his head, before he begins to carefully strip and fold his robes.
Though in reaching his pants, he suddenly became very aware that he was the only one doing so.
“Going to bathe in your robes?”He asks, which simply earns him a shake of the head and the man moving closer to him.
“I was wondering if you would be inclined to help me? If not, that’s alright…”
Song Lan wet his lips, “A-Ah… sure”He says breathlessly, touch aversion be damned, he felt like a starving man in this moment and thus reached out his hands to make quick work of Xiao Xingchen’s robes.
“Careful Zich- mm-!”The man in front of him began before he quickly shut him up with his own lips, as he continued to work. On any other day, he would eagerly listen to the man, earlier, he would have listened, but right now Song Lan was but a man who wanted his partner.
When his fingers brushed against Xiao Xingchen’s warm skin, he felt them unconsciously flinch back, a sigh pressing through his lips as he slowly broke the kiss.
“I’ll slip off my pants, you get in the water first…”Xiao Xingchen whispers, quite unnecessarily given where they were, and yet it made his heart flutter. He simply hummed in agreement, cursing his body's reaction as he turned away and slipped off his own before stepping into the cool river.
He took in a deep breath at the immediate relief, allowing the water to quickly pull away the stickiness pressing along his skin. He was close to dipping his hair into it until he heard the soft splashing of his partner wading into the water near the shore.
He turned to see the other fully stripped down… well, minus the cloth around his eyes, he seemed to be having a bit of trouble navigating the rocky riverbed, and just as he was about to move closer to aid, he watched in shock as he suddenly slipped.
“Xingchen!”He gasped, eyes going wide as he quickly rushed over, offering his hand to the man, and yet it was not taken as laughter began to slip out of the other’s lips.
“Oh my- that’s one way to cool the heat”He says with a shake of his head, “Apologies Zichen…”He adds.
“Hm? No need to apologize, are you alright?”He asks out of concern, quickly taking a cursory gaze over the other. No sooner than he’d begun his check over did he find himself suddenly pulled down beside his partner, a gasp escaped his lips before it was quickly silenced with a kiss.
Hands began to carefully roam along his body, causing him to shiver ever so slightly, but as they seemed to reel back, he quickly pulled them to him once more before he began to wander in the kiss, letting his lips explore lower and lower along the other’s body… jaw, neck, chest… as much as he could manage in the moment was quickly given a warm kiss.
Perhaps the heat wasn’t so bad after all…