How To Polish A Pearl

Chapter 31 - Splashing

A/N: This chapter contains mild violence. Please don't continue reading if this is something that makes you uncomfortable.

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The only sound echoing within the bath chamber is the water moving around Wen Ke Xing, slowly descending the stair into the pool. Almost gliding towards the center, the waves ripple soothingly against the edges, he pauses less than a meter from where Zhou Xu stands. The red robe floating around him making him look like a rose bud starting to open.

Trying to ignore all the various reactions towards this man, who is now waist deep in the pool, wrestling to take control within him, Zhou Xu asks with a forced sarcastic tone, "Do you usually bathe with clothes on?"

Without responding Wen Ke Xing reaches out to touch the pearls, tracing each bead starting at the collar bone, slowly down over the chest until he reaches a stiff nipple. His cold hands leaving goosebumps along the wet skin. One eyebrow raised, his voice silky and with a slight quiver of longing, "Ah-Xu, do you want me to take my clothes off?"

Taking a step back, away from that hand, away from that scent, away from his own beating heart, his marble face carefully adjusted. "I know you have your own pool up in Jianchan. Why use mine?"

"Ah-Xu..." Studying the man slowly backing away, that smirk returns to the corners of his lips. "They have already told me that you bathed me and with me every day."

"You were injured and unconscious. Since the Ghost Valley is 'kill or be killed', I figured it would be better for me to keep you alive. You're welcome, by the way."

He had been trying to prepare for this moment. For eight days he had been thinking about how to explain his behavior. First, he had to rationalize and explain it to himself. Only after he had done that, and it sound reasonable, he had convinced himself that it was true. This was the story and he was sticking to it.

"So keeping me alive included bathing me and sleeping in my bed?"

"Considering you had assassins amongst your guards, I don't trust anyone." It sounded reasonable right?

Raising his eyebrows, the smirk spreading across his face, he continues to watch Zhou Xu dig himself into a hole, "And reading me poetry...?"

"..." Crap... "I don't know what you're talking about." Deny, deny, deny! He had been unconscious right? He can't prove anything.

"Ah-Xu..." Closing the gap between them he is finally close enough to feel the heat radiating from that warm and delicate body. Reaching out, placing the palm between the string of pearls, feeling the thump, thump, thump a little bit too quick, he stares into those walnut-colored ones. "... Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly." (1)

Unprepared, Zhou Xu's marble exterior faulters for a split second yet, however brief, the change is caught by the man who is standing too close observing him. Does he remember what he said?

That final morning before he had left, Zhou Xu had found the poem that Wen Ke Xing had mumbled when he was delirious. Not that he had been searching. The book had been hidden in a chest behind a few winter robes at the back of the closet. The book had many silk threads as bookmarks throughout the pages, which is what drew Zhou Xu's attention to it. It was clearly another favorite. This had been the third mark in that book. It had been the last poem he had read before leaving that morning.

"Ah-Xu..."

"..." turning around to put his hands against the edge of the pool, his body preparing to jump straight out, he feels a cold arms embrace him from behind to hold him in place. The body moving in to press against his.

Only closing his eyes for a short moment, he concentrates his internal force into his palm. He turns, his arm shooting straight out towards the other man's shoulder as he sidesteps.

The move had been predicted and the second arm is already there to greet him into its embrace. The instant Zhou Xu feels those slender fingers, he leans back, one leg raised to kick at Wen Ke Xing's wrist.

In just seconds, they trade so many moves back and forth it is a miracle there is any water left in the pool. The water splashing everywhere around the room has put out a few of the candles in the candelabras.

Zhou Xu feels that he is at a disadvantage since he is, well, naked if you don't count the single strand of pearls. However, with just candles casting a little bit of light around the room, most of him is concealed behind shadows and darkness. At least he is able to move freely without being restrained like the other, completely soaked with the robes clinging to his body, making his movements slightly restricted.

His spiritual core, however, was as fierce as it always had been. Out of nowhere, Wen Ke Xing's palm is close to his torso, but the man had suddenly stopped before hitting him with full force. Looking down to glimpse the fingers touch the pearls, his expression is as marble as ever. His thoughts, however, flash back to the fwopping sound those pearls could make.

His thoughts interrupted by those very fingers reaching up to touch his lips. Taking advantage of the momentary state of confusion, Wen Ke Xing moves in to brush a kiss against those warm lips, who are slightly parted as the body is currently in need of more oxygen.

"..."

Stepping back, they stare at each other, the challenge so potent they almost nod in agreement. The following ten minutes is a blur of water, sharp exhales and sounds of attack and defense, hands against hands, and kicks against arms. If you had listened carefully, you would have heard the soft clicking sounds of the pearls as they move with the fluent movements of their new master. Miraculously, the candles somehow manage to survive as well.

Coming from a day of full training, Zhou Xu fights through his already sore muscles. Using the beads flying around his neck and chest to distract Wen Ke Xing is unfortunately not enough. Pinned against the edge for a second time, his back against Wen Ke Xing's, both of their breaths are coming out in pants. Feeling a hand move down around his waist, he instantly stiffens. NO!

"Don't touch me!"

Struggling against the hold, he tries to jump out of the pool, but fails. The other person is still slightly stronger and with a grip around the string of pearls, he is yanked backward.

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Author's notes:

(1) Recap - this is a quote from 'The Butterfly as Companion: Meditations on the First Three Chapters of the Chuang-Tzu' by Zhuangzi. For full poem, check previous chapters.