"Lan Zhan? Do you know? When you finally decide 'this is it; I'm done', your whole world starts to get really quiet. I could hear the blood pumping through my veins louder than the battle going on around me. I could hear each tear drop as it fell of...
"Don't you dare apologize." Li MeiLi warned. "You kissed me; I kissed you back." She nodded towards his groin. "We both enjoyed it. It's not like I'm some shy wilting flower who is going to demand a marriage proposal because you dared to touch my lips with yours. Or that I'm some high muckety-muck's daughter, and you've soiled me or anything."
"Shouldn't you be upset that I kissed you like that?" How could she look so unfazed? His lips could still feel hers, he could still taste her. His heart felt like it was going to explode and his stomach was doing flip-flops.
"ZeWu-Jun, I grew up on a farm, not in some palace. I've spent the last decade wandering around trying to earn a living as a cultivator with no clan to assist me. Compared to not eating for a few days, a kiss is nothing to worry about. The only people who can complain about a mutually enjoyed kiss are those who can afford to."
"You are very forgiving. I've just never done that before. So I feel like I should apologize."
"What? Kissed a woman five minutes after you've met her?" Li MeiLi laughed. "I've never kissed a man on such a short acquaintance, either...."
"No. Not like this. I've never..." Lan XiChen admitted incoherently. He kept the truth firmly in his head. I've never kissed a woman before.
Li MeiLi stopped laughing. "Oh.... Do you... are you like your brother, then? Do you prefer men?"
"No!" Lan XiChen was horrified at that suggestion. "No, I'm not a... not that I'm against it, it's just I'm not..." he sputtered incoherently. He took a breath to center himself. "I'm not one of those. It's just that men and women do not usually intermingle at Cloud Recesses, and I..."
"Ahh. I understand. Was this your first kiss then?" Li MeiLi giggled at his strangled expression which pretty much confirmed her guess. "Perhaps I should apologize to you for stealing your first kiss!" She looked up at him coyly through her lashes. "But I won't! Since you kissed me first and not the other way around." She fluttered her lashes, boldly pretending to flirt. "That was pretty good for a first kiss, though...." Her pretense as flirting burst as she laughed again. "You look so conflicted there: you enjoyed it, are embarrassed over it, and you're dressed for a funeral."
Lan XiChen looked down at his white robes and then back at Li MeiLi in growing horror. "I'm supposed to be at a memorial service."
Li MeiLi stopped laughing. "Oh. Well, I suppose you should go then." She smiled. "I'll see you around then?"
"Come with me." Lan XiChen's eyes opened wide, hearing those words unexpectedly come out of his mouth. "It's for Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi. Half the cultivators will be there. You won't be an imposition."
"Wasn't Master Wei accused of their murders? I know he didn't do it, but I don't think a pretend Wei disciple would be welcomed...." she hedged.
"Jin ZiXuan would probably agree with that sentiment, but Jiang YanLi would have loved to have met you."
"Why? I'm loud. I laugh way too much, and I'm uneducated in every way the cultivation world deems important. I can play a flute and draw a few simple talismans. I'm nothing special."
"It is precisely because you laugh so much that Jiang YanLi would have loved you. Are you coming or not? We can discuss your song after if you'd like."
"I'll go with you. But I'll wait outside."
Lan XiChen nodded, feeling absurdly happy at this compromise. "Let's go?"
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