"Y... you can't be serious! You must be drunk!" Lìngxì mumbled, his voice muffled by his hands. He was so flushed that he could feel the radiating heat against his palms—hands that were now visibly trembling, slick with a cold, nervous sweat.
Kage Ou merely smiled, a gentle expression that looked like snow falling softly over a dying fire. "Lìng Lìng, why are you troubling yourself so?" His voice hummed with a quiet, genuine concern. With one hand, he reached up and gently pried Lìngxì's fingers away from his face. "Don't touch the gem too much... or it will only hurt more."
Lìngxì blinked as his shield was removed. He found he couldn't bring himself to meet Kage Ou's gaze, his eyes darting everywhere but those dark, knowing depths. "Y-you don't know what else you're going to make hurt!" he stammered.
As soon as the words left his lips and Kage Ou let out a low, melodic chuckle, Lìngxì realized the double meaning. His face burned a shade of red that rivaled the finest silk.
"Can I hear what else is hurting?" Kage Ou asked, his voice a velvet caress. "I'll try to remove the pain. I can't let you break." As he spoke, he reached out, his fingers tracing the line of Lìngxì's hair, tucking a stray white strand behind a pointed ear.
"I didn't mean it like that! Your head is just full of dirty things!" Lìngxì snapped, punctuated by a light, embarrassed thud of his fist against Kage Ou's chest. "I meant my arms... my... my head..."
"What about your heart? Your bones?" Kage Ou breathed, his single eye half-lidded and intensely focused. He caught Lìngxì's hand, holding it steady over his own heart, and leaned in closer. He pressed his forehead against Lìngxì's—careful, agonizingly careful, not to disturb the cracked gem. "Shh... relax."
The air between them was thick, charged with a thousand unspoken words. "Could you... let me stay like this for a while?" Kage Ou whispered. "I'll tell you everything you've forgotten today... later."
Lìngxì froze. His body was betraying him, reacting to every vibration of Kage Ou's voice, every thrum of the heart pounding beneath his palm. He could feel the ripple of life in the man before him. The warmth of Kage Ou's breath against his lips made his own heart squeeze with a localized, painful ache—a sensation he hadn't felt since the passing of his third wife.
W-why does he feel... excited and emotional all at once? Lìngxì wondered, his mind a chaotic whirl. But I need to know what happened to me. It's not a big request, is it? Just a little physical contact... something I've never truly given him as a friend.
He shifted slightly, perhaps seeking a modicum of distance or simply trying to find a more stable seat on the marble. But Kage Ou's hand slid to his waist, firm and possessive, pulling him flush against his body. It was an intimate contact, yet Kage Ou remained perfectly still, touching nothing more and nothing less than what was needed to hold him.
Lìngxì bit back a sound—a soft, broken intake of breath. He felt like a youth again, untouched and unburdened by the titles of Sect Leader or father. The heat of Kage Ou's body seeped through their robes. Their hip bones brushed, and Lìngxì's eyes grew glassy with a sudden, overwhelming vulnerability.
Kage Ou pulled back just an inch to look at him. "May I... embrace you?"
Lìngxì swallowed hard, his throat suddenly as dry as a desert. "Only... only a hug. Nothing more," he whispered, his voice barely a breath.
"Would you give more if I asked?" Kage Ou asked softly.
"No," Lìngxì said, the refusal immediate and instinctive.
This time, Kage Ou didn't push. He simply let out a tiny, gentle chuckle and pulled Lìngxì into his arms. It was a singular sight: Lìngxì perched on the table, Kage Ou standing between the cradle of his legs, one arm wrapped tight around his waist and the other cradling the back of his head.
It felt like far more than a "friendly hug." It felt like a collision of souls. Lìngxì's heart hammered against the left side of his ribs, while Kage Ou's thundered against the right. Slowly, Lìngxì let his guard drop, resting his chin on Kage Ou's shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed as the heat in his face began to settle into a deep, comfortable glow.
He tensed for a fleeting second when Kage Ou gave him a gentle, grounding squeeze—a silent invitation. Trembling slightly, Lìngxì finally lifted his arms and wrapped them around Kage Ou's upper back.
In that moment, the chaos of the world vanished. There was only peace.
Kage... you never changed, Lìngxì thought, his eyes stinging. You just grew up. Our roles have shifted so many times... and now, we are friends. Like family. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Family.
"Happy 'Only-Our-Friendship' Day," Kage Ou mumbled against his shoulder, his voice wavering with a rare tremor. "I wasn't able to say it earlier... with all the trouble."
Lìngxì opened his eyes, feeling a strange, heavy sleepiness wash over him in the safety of the embrace. "Hm?"
Kage Ou pulled away just enough to see his face. "This friendship... the way I, the fire, protect you, the ice... it will always be alive 'in my bones.'"
The weight of those words—in the bones—hit Lìngxì with the force of a tidal wave. They were words of absolute permanence, spoken with a gravity that left him entirely unprepared.
"I... I should have been the one to say that," Lìngxì whispered, moved by the raw honesty. "You've always been by my side. You saved me, you sacrificed for me... and you're thanking me? When I've mostly just received?"
"You exist," Kage Ou said, his voice dropping an octave. "Keep existing... like this. That's all I want. You once had a family; I watched you have it, and I watched you lose it. I never had one." He slowly sank to his knees, resting his head against Lìngxì's thigh, his hand reaching up to find Lìngxì's. "I can never have it."
Lìngxì's heart ached. Kage Ou was acting like a child again, demanding the silent comfort of a hand in his hair. He didn't like the finality in those words. Stroking Kage Ou's hair with a soft, rhythmic motion, Lìngxì murmured, "What do you mean you can't have it? You can. If you just stop acting like a pure evil... which you aren't. You're... you're also good-looking. Women will be lining up for you." He flushed again at his own bluntness.
Kage Ou looked up, his one eye sparkling. "Really?"
"Hm. Really."
"So... you really think I'm handsome?"
"Um... yes. Of course."
"And that's all that's needed? Nothing more?"
"Yes... you're already good the way you are."
"Then you'll be there? At my wedding?" Kage Ou asked, his voice purring with a dreamlike quality.
Lìngxì let out a light, relieved chuckle. "Of course. You were at my wedding with Méi Yè; you even walked me to the stage. Why wouldn't I be at yours?"
Kage Ou's expression shifted, a playful glint returning. "No, you're not allowed to guide me there. Your daughter and my nephew are enough for that."
Lìngxì frowned, a small spark of indignity rising. "No, why? I want to. I've never been to a wedding of yours. You just roam around with me."
"Yes, I'll roam around with you."
"Even after the wedding?"
"Especially then."
"Your wife will be upset," Lìngxì pointed out.
"He won't be," Kage Ou replied simply.
Lìngxì raised an eyebrow. "'He' won't? You mean 'she' won't."
"No, I'm correct. You've mistaken the person."
"I haven't mistaken anything. Girls are called 'she'."
Kage Ou chuckled, a low, vibrant sound. "I wasn't talking about a 'she'."
Lìngxì looked at him sharply, his suspicion finally catching up to the mood. "What do you mean?"
"You're not allowed to guide me to the stage because you'll be busy standing beside me on it," Kage Ou said. He paused dramatically, his gaze locking onto Lìngxì's stunned blue eyes. "My Birdie will be with me again. No 'she', no other 'he'... it's..."
"It's...?" Lìngxì prompted, his heart stopping.
"It's Jiǎng Lìngxì. The Dàozǔ of the Méi Rén Sect... and my beloved 'friend'."
Lìngxì froze, the world going silent. Did he just...?
"What?!"