Now and Forever

32 1 0
                                    


It was one of the hot July nights in the Qingan pavilion. This year's dog days heat hasn't yet given way to the evening coolness and even the bamboo grove couldn't help.

Yan Zhengming hugged Cheng Qian closer, inhaling the frosty aroma that always were encompassing his body. This little brick of ice gave him needed reprieve from the heat.

Yan Zhengming again caught himself staring at his little copper coin's darling face.

The sleeping man's features were relaxed, and he looked even more youthful than usual. Without cutting and sarcastic words coming out of his mouth, Cheng Qian gave out innocent and harmless aura. At least to his doting older brother's eyes, since others tend to look at him like he was crazy, when he had said as much before.

To the cultivator of sect master Yan's caliber, every faint breath and sound sleeping Cheng Qian made were loud and distinct.

He basked in all the sensory information he was receiving from Xiao Qian by his side. During the years of his absence, even the inner demon couldn't give Yan Zhengming this feelling of warm breath upon his skin and the sound of a heart beat under his ear.

Tenderness towards the person in his arms encompassed Yan Zhengming's whole being. His heart felt hot and raw, like his worst memories stubbed into it over and over, but that perfect human being made out of jade stone in front of him was instantly healing the appearing wounds. He even got scared by the fleeting thought that he was ready to go through all that again, if it meant that he would be able to hold Xiao Qian like this again, till the end of his days.

But he quickly told himself that if it all were to happen again, he would stop Cheng Qian from dying and then from ending up tangled in a romantic relationship with himself, as he ought to.

Willing his sudden frantic heartbeat to slow down, Yan Zhengming saw long dark eyelashes tremble and open. Eyes in front of him were still misty from sleep. Yan Zhengming were losing himself in those dark depths and were caught unawares by Cheng Qian's hands nimbly encircling his neck. Yan Zhengming was deep in his memories moments before, so those familiar and skillful caresses surprised him.

"You were beating yourself up over me again, weren't you?" Cheng Qian asked with a voice hoarse from sleep. "...Come here."

He tugged his older brother closer to himself, burying Yan Zhengming's face in his own chest and kissing the crown of his head. Cheng Qian continued this humiliating process of coaxing a frightened child by lightly stroking his hair. Yan Zhengming somehow didn't want to stop him from doing it. He obediently allowed himself to be patted and whispered into the cool skin of Cheng Qian's neck:

"No, not this time. I was merely... happy that I could hold you in my arms in this life."

With a finger under his chin, Cheng Qian made Yan Zhengming rise his head and look into his eyes.

"Now and forever."

Even though Cheng Qian's tone was even and flat like always, Yan Zhengming felt that he put a strong conviction into those words. He was very eager to be put under such a spell and allow himself to be convinced.

He nodded dazedly, staring at Cheng Qian's lips, slightly dry from sleep. He wanted to moisten them, and so he slowly closed the distance between them and licked Xiao Qian's mouth.

Cheng Qian hummed, letting him in. They passed some time in a familiar game of push and pull. This time they were slow and deliberate, just making sure the other can feel and remember their presence and warmth.

"Thank you, Xiao Qian, for being here. Now and forever."

Yan Zhengming kissed those words into the skin of Cheng Qian's smooth shoulders. The atmosphere got filled with electricity, and the short-lived coolness found by Yan Zhengming on this hot night vanished without a trace.

Now and ForeverWhere stories live. Discover now