[a light touch on Stephen's mind; Jin Guangyao doesn't wish to intrude if his, uh. intimate acquaintance? is very busy. but perhaps some of his caution has another source, too. they haven't had much cause to speak since the duchess's party.]
Strange-yisheng? [mild and quiet.] Forgive me if I am interrupting you. I only wished to let you know that my expedition has returned safely.
[ Oh. He isn't expecting him when he feels the gentle presence slip into mind. There's a brief, boyish beat-skip as he recognises to whom it belongs, and then Jin Guangyao speaks. ]
Hi. [ Hi? Okay, Stephen. ] No interruption. I'm glad to hear it— welcome back.
[the timbre of his voice, the immediacy of it in his thoughts, inspires a discreet shiver of pleasure, though Jin Guangyao is quick to tamp that down before he can embarrass himself. he marshals his composure and gets his shit together (though if he blushes up to the tips of ears, who cares, it's not like Stephen can tell. ...right?)]
I am the one who should be thanking you, yisheng. [a curl of warmth threading through his sending, despite his best efforts.] Your requirements for the expedition are undoubtedly why we encountered no serious hardship while in the caves.
I am in your debt.
[there's something... not quite coy about the way he deploys that last sentence, because Jin Guangyao is far too restrained in his comportment to flirt that overtly. still, there's a careful invitation wrapped up both in the words and his tone of voice; an offer to come up with a socially appropriate excuse for them to spend more time together.]
Don't mention it. You've paid whatever you might have owed by coming back in one piece.
[ Which seems almost to reject that open floor for manufacturing new opportunities to spend time, save for the answering warmth in it, the low coil of satisfaction laced in alongside his recognition of Jin Guangyao's intention. ]
Though I've been forgetting to mention - I have some space opening up on my training schedule. If you're still interested in portals.
[ There's more to ask about the expedition, and he will. But first, acknowledgement of an offer and an extension of his own - provision of a reason to spend time, and a new debt to owe beyond it. ]
[there's no one around him to see it, but still: he smiles. it is a rare pleasure--and a relief, culturally speaking--for Jin Guangyao to find someone who derives the same enjoyment from these discreet courtship games, who will pick up what he's putting down and allow the implications to speak for themselves.
softly, but with warmth:]
I would be very pleased to learn anything that yisheng wishes to teach me. When would be agreeable for you? I don't wish to impose.
[even though it's quite clear at this point that his company would not be an imposition.]
Give me a few days to prepare a suitable space and some materials and we can check our schedules.
[ Read: give him some time to make the treehouse not look like a neglected bachelor pad so he doesn't have to relegate them exclusively and earnestly to outdoor training activities. ]
— Did you, uh. Find what you were looking for out there?
[his restrained, answering sigh isn't one of disappointment about the outcome of his expedition, exactly, but it's nevertheless clear that it didn't solve all of his problems. Jin Guangyao's reply is delayed by a couple of seconds while he contemplates his predicament.]
I was able to retrieve a moderate quantity of cinnabar for my own personal use, but I will need more. [he settles down in front of the mirror in his bedroom to carefully begin loosening his braids and topknot, frowning thoughtfully at his reflection.] I'll need to find some way to safely progress past the myconids next time.
I don't know that there's any safe way short of destroying them and airing out the cave network somehow. Their spores are enough to put even my spellwork into disarray.
[ He can viscerally recall the moment he realised there was no easy exit. Portal opening only to the darkness of the Void. Though it sparks something in him, suddenly, the realisation that Jin Guangyao did at least secure some of what he was looking for. ]
If you can bring some to me when you visit, I might be able to help with your supply issue.
[the offer startles Jin Guangyao enough to still his fingers in his hair, just as he'd been startled by Stephen's initial, profoundly generous offer to transport his expedition to the base of the peaks. it's enough to make him flush with both gratitude and some uncertainty.]
Yisheng, I would be most grateful. [a beat, then,] The portal lessons, the help with my cinnabar supply--I don't know how to repay such generosity.
[he's careful to keep his tone free of innuendo here, but the sudden, cold dread that opens up inside him is difficult to mask. if all this kindness, all this service, is simply because of sex--]
[ — hm. There's a pause here, troubling the sentences over in his mind like a child might wobble a loose tooth with his tongue. But finally: ]
I respect the desire to learn. It's how I became a sorcerer, and why I'm constantly seeking to develop my craft. And I would hate to find my ability to act to my full potential here limited by a lack of resources.
[ So: lessons for somebody eager enough to learn to have asked for them in the first place. Resources for somebody who he does not wish the limitations he would dread for himself upon. ]
If it makes you feel better, I promise to call on you if I need help with something that sits in your fields of expertise.
[some of the tension that had coiled up inside him begins to ease at Stephen's words, and by the time he's finished speaking, it has relaxed almost completely. almost; Jin Guangyao will never fully be able to abandon the fear that drives him, but Stephen's assurance defangs the worst of it.
he loosens the last of his braids and sets his hair pin aside.] It would be my pleasure to help you in any way I can. Yisheng may always call on me.
Thank you. [ He'll keep that in mind. Tucks it away, ready for future consideration. ] I'll be in touch, then. A few days.
[ A few being just enough days for everything everywhere to start going to hell, but they can't know that yet. At least this can be said for the void-touched: they have little else here but time. ]
And I, uh— it's fine, if you prefer it. [ Strange-yisheng. ] I don't mind. But I think you can probably graduate to some variant of my given name now, if you like. Even if only in private.
[ Careful bids not to culturally overstep aside, the main point is this: they know one another a little too intimately now for it to not feel weird to be spoken to with a name that to him implies some distance along with its respect. ]
[the implication of distance, yes--and the desire to close it. an invitation towards further intimacy, in whatever shape it takes. Jin Guangyao knows better than to simply assume that what happened between them once might happen again. but the hope is there, and if this cursed place has been good for nothing else, it has at least granted Jin Guangyao the grace and freedom to explore this long neglected aspect of himself, free (more or less) from the shame that once dogged his heels.]
Stephen, then. [quiet, careful; testing it on his tongue, recalling breathing it, gasping it, when the doctor was inside him. he tries not to blush. a breath, and then,] You may call me A-Yao, if you wish.
[ Stephen, then. There's a little tug of pride to ground the sudden swell of memory, and it's only bolstered with what follows. He's heard the name before from other mouths. Given who, there's a certain honor in finding himself amongst the number. ]
A-Yao. [ Trying it on, testing it, settling pronunciation. Grappling with an odd turn of bashfulness at what seems somehow like a greater intimacy than he was expecting from this exchange. ] Good.
[said with a breath of almost shy laughter, before Jin Guangyao attempts to regain his composure. still, there's only so much he can do--or wishes to do--to mask how pleased he is by this change in the dynamic between them. eager to explore it, but in no rush to define it.
another pause, and then,] It's late, [he concedes the hour. this is where he would ordinarily say goodnight and politely excuse himself; now, he hesitates. to turn this into a booty call, or not to turn this into a booty call, that is the real question]
It is. [ He senses the hesitation. He can feel it, even, like static in the air. Like the promise of lightning. ] And you must have work early tomorrow.
[ Stephen, for his part, has exactly nothing early tomorrow. With Quentin gone, his routine waits to rediscover itself. But with the play he at least keeps the ball in the air, sends it over the net to the other side of the court again. ]
Mm. [a pleasant, utterly noncommittal sound of agreement, accompanied by the warmth of an amused, restrained smile, the gleam of brightness in his dark eyes. a moment's consideration, before Jin Guangyao grants Stephen a glimpse of what he can see in the mirror: of Jin Guangyao with his long black hair loose and unbound, his modesty preserved by his loose robe and the shift beneath it. a glimpse of his bed neatly made behind one narrow shoulder. via the most circuitous of routes imaginable, he manages to present the illusion that he is looking into Stephen's eyes.
a curl at the corners of his mouth; an invitation.] Not that early.
[ A snatched, shallow breath as he finds himself looking into Jin Guangyao's eyes, mind suddenly full of the picture he paints right now in this moment just a few short miles away. The sleek fall of his hair, the tuck of his smile. Made bed ready and waiting to be unmade. ]
Mm.
[ Echoes Stephen, a similar nothing-noise, a matching acknowledgement.
Then he stands, threads his fingers into his sling ring, and opens a portal to accept that unspoken invitation. Easy as that. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice (backdated to the night of july 1st or 2nd);
Strange-yisheng? [mild and quiet.] Forgive me if I am interrupting you. I only wished to let you know that my expedition has returned safely.
no subject
Hi. [ Hi? Okay, Stephen. ] No interruption. I'm glad to hear it— welcome back.
no subject
I am the one who should be thanking you, yisheng. [a curl of warmth threading through his sending, despite his best efforts.] Your requirements for the expedition are undoubtedly why we encountered no serious hardship while in the caves.
I am in your debt.
[there's something... not quite coy about the way he deploys that last sentence, because Jin Guangyao is far too restrained in his comportment to flirt that overtly. still, there's a careful invitation wrapped up both in the words and his tone of voice; an offer to come up with a socially appropriate excuse for them to spend more time together.]
no subject
[ Which seems almost to reject that open floor for manufacturing new opportunities to spend time, save for the answering warmth in it, the low coil of satisfaction laced in alongside his recognition of Jin Guangyao's intention. ]
Though I've been forgetting to mention - I have some space opening up on my training schedule. If you're still interested in portals.
[ There's more to ask about the expedition, and he will. But first, acknowledgement of an offer and an extension of his own - provision of a reason to spend time, and a new debt to owe beyond it. ]
no subject
softly, but with warmth:]
I would be very pleased to learn anything that yisheng wishes to teach me. When would be agreeable for you? I don't wish to impose.
[even though it's quite clear at this point that his company would not be an imposition.]
no subject
[ Read: give him some time to make the treehouse not look like a neglected bachelor pad so he doesn't have to relegate them exclusively and earnestly to outdoor training activities. ]
— Did you, uh. Find what you were looking for out there?
no subject
I was able to retrieve a moderate quantity of cinnabar for my own personal use, but I will need more. [he settles down in front of the mirror in his bedroom to carefully begin loosening his braids and topknot, frowning thoughtfully at his reflection.] I'll need to find some way to safely progress past the myconids next time.
no subject
[ He can viscerally recall the moment he realised there was no easy exit. Portal opening only to the darkness of the Void. Though it sparks something in him, suddenly, the realisation that Jin Guangyao did at least secure some of what he was looking for. ]
If you can bring some to me when you visit, I might be able to help with your supply issue.
no subject
Yisheng, I would be most grateful. [a beat, then,] The portal lessons, the help with my cinnabar supply--I don't know how to repay such generosity.
[he's careful to keep his tone free of innuendo here, but the sudden, cold dread that opens up inside him is difficult to mask. if all this kindness, all this service, is simply because of sex--]
cw: ref to loose teeth
I respect the desire to learn. It's how I became a sorcerer, and why I'm constantly seeking to develop my craft. And I would hate to find my ability to act to my full potential here limited by a lack of resources.
[ So: lessons for somebody eager enough to learn to have asked for them in the first place. Resources for somebody who he does not wish the limitations he would dread for himself upon. ]
If it makes you feel better, I promise to call on you if I need help with something that sits in your fields of expertise.
no subject
he loosens the last of his braids and sets his hair pin aside.] It would be my pleasure to help you in any way I can. Yisheng may always call on me.
no subject
[ A few being just enough days for everything everywhere to start going to hell, but they can't know that yet. At least this can be said for the void-touched: they have little else here but time. ]
And I, uh— it's fine, if you prefer it. [ Strange-yisheng. ] I don't mind. But I think you can probably graduate to some variant of my given name now, if you like. Even if only in private.
[ Careful bids not to culturally overstep aside, the main point is this: they know one another a little too intimately now for it to not feel weird to be spoken to with a name that to him implies some distance along with its respect. ]
no subject
Stephen, then. [quiet, careful; testing it on his tongue, recalling breathing it, gasping it, when the doctor was inside him. he tries not to blush. a breath, and then,] You may call me A-Yao, if you wish.
no subject
A-Yao. [ Trying it on, testing it, settling pronunciation. Grappling with an odd turn of bashfulness at what seems somehow like a greater intimacy than he was expecting from this exchange. ] Good.
[ A good trade. A name for a name. ]
no subject
[said with a breath of almost shy laughter, before Jin Guangyao attempts to regain his composure. still, there's only so much he can do--or wishes to do--to mask how pleased he is by this change in the dynamic between them. eager to explore it, but in no rush to define it.
another pause, and then,] It's late, [he concedes the hour. this is where he would ordinarily say goodnight and politely excuse himself; now, he hesitates.
to turn this into a booty call, or not to turn this into a booty call, that is the real question]no subject
[ Stephen, for his part, has exactly nothing early tomorrow. With Quentin gone, his routine waits to rediscover itself. But with the play he at least keeps the ball in the air, sends it over the net to the other side of the court again. ]
no subject
a curl at the corners of his mouth; an invitation.] Not that early.
no subject
Mm.
[ Echoes Stephen, a similar nothing-noise, a matching acknowledgement.
Then he stands, threads his fingers into his sling ring, and opens a portal to accept that unspoken invitation. Easy as that. ]