Chapter Text
“How’s the osmanthus wine, Belle?” Ye Shunguang asks in her light and joyful tone.
Belle, chewing on a thick piece of meat, nods and swallows. “It’s really good! Reminds me of your osmanthus cakes!” She takes a sip, her cheeks already warm from a previous cup.
“That’s probably because we used part of Xiao’Guang’s recipe in the wine!” Pan Yinhu chortles.
“Sorry it isn’t the most aged alcohol,” Shunguang stirs her food with chopsticks. “But it’s made with love!”
“The power of Junior Yinhu and Junior Xiao’Guang’s culinary expertise combined!” Ju Fufu beams as bright as the moon above them. “Even if we aren’t celebrating anything in particular tonight, that alone is worth a lot!”
“Mhm!” Belle smiles on the brim of her cup.
“Belle, want to try my baijiu?” Yixuan looks at the girl wolfing down food on her left and pours a shot. “Just be careful, it’s rather strong. You don’t need to shoot it if you don’t want to.”
The spice alone emanating from the shot glass attacks Belle’s sinuses the moment she takes a whiff. It’s less like a drink and more like a liquefied pepper. “Bhough!” She widens her eyes at the strong sensory dosage, reeling her head back and coughing into her sleeve. “Shifu, you drink this?”
Yixuan laughs with a full heart. Belle could drown in that laugh, she thinks. “Only on occasions like this. I’m no lush. After all, that wouldn’t be a good example for my disciples.”
Belle touches her fingers to the glass, and after one second of hesitation, squeezes her eyes shut and holds her nose closed as she downs the shot. “Fueh!” She exhales, which journeys into a coughing fit toward which she shakily reaches for her water. “Whoofh!” Belle fans herself. “Th…that’s strong, Shifu!”
Again Yixuan laughs. Even as the shot burns through her system, Belle can’t help feeling her heart thump against the inside of her chest at the sight. Though Yixuan has a strong alcohol tolerance, the pink hues on her cheeks is something Belle isn’t used to seeing.
After a few lighthearted discussions between the denizens of suibian temple, the night begins to grow old.
“Ahaha!” Belle snorts. “Wise, you know that story stopped being funny 10 years ago!” As Belle doubles over in laughter, she woozily leans to her right, landing her head against Yixuan’s shoulder. “Ah! Sorry, Shifu, I’m too close…” She mumbles, wrapping her arms around Yixuan’s bicep and rubbing her cheek against her.
“My, Belle, maybe that baijiu was too strong for you after all.” Yixuan smiles, unwavering from Belle’s sudden close contact. “Seems like you need to get to bed.” She stands up, and Belle stumbles against her, still attached to her arm like a leech. Yixuan smiles at the rest. “Excuse me a moment.”
The other disciples wave Yixuan out as she hoists Belle up into her arms and takes her to her room.
A daze of dreams fill Belle’s drunken mind. She smiles and drools and giggles and talks to herself in her sleep, mumbling to characters in her head. At 2:01 AM she wakes up in a haze, reaching for her phone. She has no idea how long she’s been asleep, but she opens knock-knock and texts something to Yixuan that even she can’t comprehend. All she knows is her dreams flow through her fingers and onto the words on the screen. And as she hits send on the 18th message in a row, she immediately passes out again.
When she wakes, it’s to a gentle knocking at her door and to a pounding headache. She crawls out of bed and limps to the door, holding her hand against her forehead and groaning. Upon opening it, she shields the sun from her eyes and sees Yixuan standing there smiling at her. It’s a very specific smile, one that Belle had never seen before. It’s… smug?
“Belle, good morning. Do you remember texting me last night?”
Belle blinks. “I… texted you? Argh… sorry, I can’t really think right now—my head is pounding…”
“Hmm, perhaps I shouldn’t have offered you that baijiu last night. Though, if it weren’t for that, I may not have received such an enlightening series of messages from you.” Yixuan smiles and touches Belle’s forehead, a glowing golden light emanating from Yixuan’s fingertips. “Here, this won’t work right away, but it should help.”
Belle closes her eyes and hums at the feeling of Yixuan’s calming touch. When she pulls back, Belle opens her eyes again, looking worried. “Um… I didn’t say anything weird, right? in the text?”
Yixuan laughs. “You really don’t remember.” She takes her phone out. “Let’s see… it was rather difficult to decipher, but you said… ‘Shifu, please hand feed me.’ and ‘asdkjfdg I need you.’ and… ‘I want to feel your hands on—”
“O-okay! Okay, that’s enough! Um, bye!” Belle’s face turns bright red and she slams her door in Yixuan’s face, then runs and dives face first into her bed, screaming into her pillow. ‘This is the worst day of my life…’ She thinks. ‘I can’t believe everything in my dreams I texted to Shifu!!!’
The door creaks open and Yixuan steps inside, crossing her arms as she looks down at Belle crying. “Belle…”
“Please kill me…” Belle sobs, her voice muffled.
“I’m not going to kill you. After all, you’re my disciple.” Yixuan sits on the edge of the bed, and the two stay there, Belle moaning and whimpering as Yixuan watches for a while. “Would you like to go out? It’s my treat.”
Belle plants her hands on the bed and lifts herself up to her knees. With a start she turns to Yixuan, tears and snot dribbling from her face. “Bwuh…..?!”
Yixuan stands. “It’s only right I make up for pushing you to intoxicate yourself to such an extent last night. Go on, get dressed. I’ll meet you by the incense burner.”
As the door shuts behind Yixuan, Belle sits in disbelief, grabbing a few tissues for her face before scrambling for fresh clothes. She worries she still smells like booze and meat, and sprays her rarely used perfume as well as applying a generous dose of deodorant all over herself. After some additional haircare, Belle rushes out of the temple to see Yixuan turning toward her with a smile.
“H-hi, Shifu!” Belle’s eyes dart around. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s go to Yum Cha Sin. I’ve reserved a private room.” Yixuan walks out, and Belle skitters behind her through Failume Heights.
They reach the second floor of Yum Cha Sin, and in a private room they sit at a small table for two across from each other. As they look through the menu, Yixuan looks at Belle’s anxiety-ridden demeanor. “So… what exactly did you dream about?”
“H-huh?” Belle swallows and makes the mistake of glancing into Yixuan’s piercing gold eyes. “N-n-nothing! Wait, how did you know…?”
Yixuan opens her knock-knock and shows Belle the message history. It does indeed mention that Belle was dreaming about her, through the messy typing. “You said so yourself.”
“Waaah!!” Belle covers her face. Just as she stammers, Sweety comes by to take their orders before leaving them be again. “I’m so sorry, that’s not at all the behavior of a good disciple… but, well… it was basically what was in there, but… also getting praised, and you had a suit, too.”
“A suit, huh? I might have to get one tailored then.” Yixuan muses, watching Sweety deliver them tea. “Thank you.” Yixuan says, then leans on her hand as she lovingly watches Belle panic, all the while stirring her tea. “How’s your head?”
“Um, it’s better now. Thank you, Shifu.” Belle bows her head.
“Mmm. Right now, I’m not your Shifu. just Yixuan.”
“Oh, okay! Thank you, Yixuan.” Belle pours some cream into her tea.
“Now, about that praise…” Yixuan smiles, reaching over the small table and brushing a strand of Belle’s hair behind her ear.
“Whuh…?” Belle stops, looking up at Yixuan in the filtered sunlight of the private room as her cheeks turn warm and her heart hammers at her touch.
“Belle,” Yixuan’s voice turns a touch deeper, with a sultry tone underneath. “Did you know you’re the most beautiful girl in the world?”
A lump the size of the entire peninsula appears in Belle’s throat, her eyes widening. Yixuan’s gentle touch, her soft voice, her gorgeous eyes, all fill Belle’s chest over the brim. “M-mnngh…” Belle tears up, trying not to let the feelings overwhelm her. She knows all of this is just because of that text and her dream, but… if Yixuan didn’t want to do this, she wouldn’t have been so quick to ask her out earlier, right?
A slight knock on the door prompts Yixuan to take her hand back, and Sweety brings them their food before leaving with a bow.
“Want your dumplings?” Yixuan takes a pair of chopsticks to the tray of food.
“Y-yeah…” Belle mumbles.
“Here, close your eyes.” The stark-haired woman picks up one of the dumplings with her chopsticks, seeing Belle with her eyes shut. She moves the dumpling forward. “Open.”
“Aah…” Belle squeezes her eyes closed, her face burning as the smell of the food enters her local bubble. The hot dumpling passes her lips and she closes her mouth on what should be the tips of chopsticks. Instead of the taste and texture of cheap wood, instead it's soft, warm, and a touch salty. Confused, she opens her eyes to see Yixuan's fingertips pulling away from her mouth. “Mmh!?” She chews with wide eyes.
“You wanted to be hand-fed, right?” Yixuan smirks.
Belle swallows and stumbles over her words. “Y-you… b-but I…” She looks down at the chopsticks on the table.
“I swapped the dumpling into my fingers when you closed your eyes.” She explains.
“Shif—Y-Yixuan…!” Belle whines, not knowing where to look as it suddenly feels extremely steamy under her clothes. She watches Yixuan eat for a few monents before saying, “Yixuan… why are you doing all this for me?”
Yixuan’s teacup sets down on the table. “Because I wanted to. And… I didnt know that you thought of me that way until this morning.”
“You… how do you think of me?” Belle fiddles with her food until Yixuan takes another one of her dumplings between her fingers and puts it in front of Belle’s mouth. Belle smiles and eats it without a second thought.
“You're very sweet, and dedicated, and talented,” Yixuan lists, smiling at Belle’s full-cheeked fluster. “And you're cute. You make me want to pamper you and see you fulfilled.”
Belle swallows again and whimpers, tears falling down her face. “Yixuan… thank you.” Her voice is meek and quiet.
“I should be the one thanking you. After all,” Yixuan softly smiles as she touches the tip of Belle's nose. “You brought a beautiful girl into my life.”
The doors to Belle’s room open once again, and Belle whines. “I really wanted to hold your hand on the way back…”
“I know,” Yixuan hums, closing the windows in the room. “But it should be apparent that we can't make anyone else privy to this.”
“Thank you for taking me back to my room, at least.” Belle sits on her bed before noticing what Yixuan is doing. “W-why are you closing the windows…?”
“Didn’t you want to hold hands?”
“Huh? Uhm… y-yes…” Belle toys with her hair, watching Yixuan lower herself onto the bed.
“Give me your hand,” Yixuan coos, crawling beside Belle as the two lay against the pillows. “I’ll show you a special technique.”
Wordlessly, and with cheeks as hot as they’d been all day, Belle holds out her right hand. Softly Yixuan’s fingers touch the base of Belle’s wrist, the tips of her fingernails gliding up along her palm. Belle’s heart starts thumping against her chest, and the tingling sensation of Yixuan’s careful fingers tracing the lines in her palm causes her breath to catch.
Yixuan slowly rotates Belle’s hand, and three of her fingers smooth over the insides of Belle’s outer three fingers, up and down at a rhythmic pace. Her gaze is entirely fixated on their hands, but she can feel Belle’s eyes on them, too. “Close your eyes.” Yixuan whispers, turning on her side and guiding Belle’s hand against the space on the pillows between their faces.
Belle complies and her eyes slowly shut. Without sight, her mind compensates by enhancing her other senses. The feeling of Yixuan’s hand turning Belle’s hand palm-down, stroking her knuckles and tendons. The sound of hers and Yixuan’s breathing with the subtle backdrop of the ongoings of Suibian Temple. Yixuan explores each and every finger; like a massage, though she isn’t pressing or massaging. All she’s doing is a little more than grazing Belle’s skin, her own fingers wrapping and weaving around Belle’s thumb, then her index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers individually.
“Mmn…” Belle unconsciously lets out a small moan, drawing a quick glance from Yixuan toward the other woman’s lips. Again Yixuan turns Belle’s hand over, facing her palm up. She drags the back of her hand slowly against Belle’s palm, and every millimeter of skin crosses through Belle’s senses, from each tiny hair to the small scars that number on Yixuan’s body from decades of experience. Belle’s fingers instinctively twitch inward, almost trying to grab Yixuan’s hand.
A sly smile curves on Yixuan’s lips at that—she hadn’t given Belle any specific rules at all, only to close her eyes—and yet Belle seems to have made her own rules in her head for what she thinks is right for the situation. It’s charming, Yixuan finds, and her body shifts closer to Belle’s as she returns to tracing lines and patterns featherlike along Belle’s palm. Eventually, her fingers stroke in between Belle’s, curving downward in snaking maneuvers before gliding up and finally interlacing her hand with Belle’s. It’s only then that Belle makes a move of her own, and her fingers curl in between Yixuan’s knuckles as she locks their hands together. Her body shudders at the intense intimate pleasure, and, sensing finality, her eyes open.
“…That’s more or less the technique.” Yixuan whispers, smiling at Belle’s watery eyes.
The fact that this had supposedly been a “technique” flew out of Belle’s mind the moment her eyes closed earlier. If she didn’t know any better, from the way Yixuan so expertly meaneuvered Belle’s hand, she thinks she might have just gotten pregnant. “Th-that’s some technique, Shifu…”
A soft chuckle rises from Yixuan’s chest. “Maybe I can show you more another time.”
“Please…” Belle’s words come out breathlessly. “Um… Yixuan?” She blushes.
Yixuan smiles at the girl laying beside her, barely a foot of distance between their faces. “Yes?”
“Can you kiss me?”
This response should have been expected, but no matter how much Yixuan might have mentally prepared for it, it still takes her aback. A blush dusts Yixuan’s face and she slowly sits up. “…That will require some more training sessions like what we did today.”
Watching Yixuan stand up from the bed, Belle stammers, half let down by the rejection, but just as invigorated by the opportunity. “Y-yes, Shifu! Of course!”
“And remember, it needs to be in secret.” Yixuan gives another smug grin before turning the corner towards the door. “Now, I’m sure you have things to get to. I certainly have paperwork of my own.”
“Yes, Shifu!” Belle follows her to the door, opening it for her to the blinding reminder that it’s still day time. “I’ll… see you later!”
“Mm, I hope so, Belle.” Yixuan nods to her before taking her leave to the temple courtyard.
Now Belle closes the door and turns to the other side of her room, sitting at her computer. Even as she delves back into official proxy business, she can’t help but notice a massive difference between how tense her left hand feels, and how lax and soft her right feels. It’s hard to tell if Yixuan even used a real Yunkui Summit technique, or if she’s just that good with her hands.
In any case, Belle feels suddenly very motivated to continue this specific branch of training.