Archive of Our Own ^beta

In the most technical sense, this was exactly what Lin Jing had been sent to investigate. To find missing people. A small coastal town that didn't have much tourist presence but occasionally got visitors and a few of those visitors hadn't returned. He might argue in his report after the likely threats to his bonus from Zhao Yunlan that he had found someone missing and it required further investigation, however, this man, who stood on the other side of the street market in a light blue traditional hanfu with a white sash and belt, had not been who Lin Jing had intended to find. Long white hair—maybe even longer than Lin Jing remembered from those last moments—was held back with an elegant, silver pin and all the anguish and pain that Lin Jing remembered from those last moments before the explosion were gone as he spoke softly to an auntie running a food stall.

Peaceful. That was the best word Lin Jing could think of to describe it as the one he was watching closely finished the conversation and left with a bag in hand, walking through the simple, packed dirt road with a comfortable familiarity. Locals gestured greetings to him, but none stopped his walk. Despite the long hair that reached the ground and robes that trailed along the earth, there were no signs of either growing dirty. Like nature itself simply noticed him and let him slip past untouched. A being exactly where he belonged, moving in harmony with everything around him.

Lin Jing knew that small towns and villages like this often had that energy. Simpler lives that allowed a connection to oneself that big cities could easily drown out. It was something he'd always missed from his time growing up at the monastery even though he knew his place was with the Guardian Order. It was why he still always made an effort to visit when he could, to connect back to that feeling whenever possible before diving back into the ocean of noise and chaos. Was this something he'd been missing all along? A chance to be at peace with himself instead of being pushed down and shut away just because of what he is?

Seeing him like this was… captivating. He was always captivating to Lin Jing. It already felt impossible to look away before, keeping his eyes on the other even as an explosion filled his vision and the Hells grew unstable, but this… The ease in the other was unlike the confidence in his power he'd had in the past. That was a beast ready to go to war for what he believed… this was a creature in harmony. Flourishing. How could Lin Jing even begin to try to tear his eyes away?

Noises around him barely registered, nothing more than a faint buzz as he watched every footfall, every subtle movement, and every shift in fabric from the breeze that swept around the buildings from the not so distant sea, revealing hints to the form beneath. He should be working. There were more people to question and places to investigate, but even just a few more moments felt worth the delay. Local police weren't even that stumped over the case, but the chief was one of the brothers in liquor that Zhao Yunlan had made during his troublesome life before Professor Shen had entered it so when a favor had been asked, Lin Jing had been sent.

Lin Jing followed after the other, through the small market, past the meager downtown, and up along the paths that led away from the pebble beach and out of the small town. Should I say something? It's wrong to stalk an innocent man. Gui Mian is not involved in any of this. His mind tried to reason with him. Tried to pull his focus back to the task that was meant to be at hand, but it didn't work. I'll just keep my distance. Just to make sure he makes it to where he's going safely, his heart reasoned back. It felt like enough of a compromise for his feet to keep moving, one step after another as the path grew less traveled and the terrain rockier.

Gui Mian handled the shift with ease and familiarity, never setting a foot on loose soil or an unsteady stone. Lin Jing's body followed the other's movement without thinking. He moved like a second shadow. He grew closer, though he couldn't be sure if it was because he sped up his pace or if the other slowed down.

They walked—not quite together, yet Lin Jing moved as an echo of Gui Mian—through the sparse trees of the hillside. Nature moved and sang around the rhythm of their steps. Cool breeze cut through the heat of the sun like a counter-melody to the warmth that surrounded them. Tree branches and long fallen leaves from the autumn before shifted along like harmonies. Occasional chatter from wildlife accented the peace of the reality they had found themselves in. Throughout it all, their steps continued on, never wavering under the captivating baton of Gui Mian's presence.

When they finally neared the top of the hill, Gui Mian disappeared first. It was like the breath had been stolen from Lin Jing's lungs. Noises around him that had felt in order, instead stumbled into dissonance. The rhythm of his feet staggered as he struggled closer, desperate for a clear line of sight once more.

Lin Jing's life had been often void of many wants. The teachings that raised him still rang true to him, no matter how many times Zhao Yunlan called him fake. This want… it felt so sudden and intense—though hindsight could tell him that it had been steadily growing for many, many months since he last saw the other—that his body screamed that it was a need. After what felt both like an instant and an eternity, he reached far enough to break the cover the angle had provided, revealing not just the one Lin Jing had been following.

It was a clearing along a cliff that overlooked a more open part of the coast. In it stood a simple looking structure, a single-roomed home. A line was strung up between two trees to hang clothing to dry. A lingering place for firewood that had long since been depleted in the winter but had yet to be replenished was marked by stray logs. A few chickens wandered the area, scratching randomly at the earth and clucking happily to themselves. Two goats were nearby where the more forested part of the hilltop met the cliff, with one laying down looking unbothered as it chewed something and the other stood, watching everything around them. Basking in the sun on a sturdy table not far from the home was a white ball of fur, somehow as equally untouched by the dirt as Gui Mian's hair and clothing. Home, something deep within Lin Jing sang even as his eyes barely left the form of the one who stood in the middle of all of this.

As he stood there, the figure finally turned. The look on Gui Mian's face was not one of surprise or anger. Instead, he barely smiled, a subtle movement of the corner of his lips and slight crinkle in the corner of his eyes, but Lin Jing just knew it was a smile. A smile for me.

"You found me," Gui Mian's voice gently carried through the air, not a shout, but it moved far beyond what might be expected.

"I… I didn't mean to," he said, almost in apology.

"I know." Gui Mian didn't move, didn't turn away. He just stood there, watching Lin Jing from a distance.

"But I wanted to," Lin Jing quickly added, then took a careful step forward. Just one.

"And so you did."

Four simple words that alone weren't much to go on, but there was something about them that drew Lin Jing closer. Such a statement of fact with a gentility. This time, he didn't stop moving until he was within arms reach of the other. He stood there and just stared, waiting for Gui Mian. For anything the other might need.

Slowly, Gui Mian raised a hand to his face and brought his fingers barely close enough to ghost along Lin Jing's cheek. A hint of cold near Lin Jing's own too warm body that somehow wasn't sweating despite the hike. They moved up to his temple, then gently brushed along his forehead before slowly tracing down his nose, only pulling away enough to not dislodge his glasses. At the first barely there movement against his top lip, Lin Jing found his lips parting, warm breaths puffing out against a cool hand. Fingers slowly moved lower. His thumb caught the other's loose, lower lip, parting them further as Gui Mian rested his palm along Lin Jing's jaw.

"I dreamt," Gui Mian spoke up, but his words were so soft and quiet, "of you. After so long of sleep being needless and only memories plaguing me… You came to me in my dreams and made all of this better."

"Me?"

Gui Mian's smile grew just a fraction wider. "I don't know if I called you here somehow or if part of you could find me because of our connection or if this is all just a coincidence," he admitted with a small head tilt.

"I was sent here for work," Lin Jing started to explain. His lips kept brushing against Gui Mian's thumb as he spoke and he couldn't help but stare down into the other's eyes. "We have a connection?"

"I saved you. Healed you in the only way I knew how to bring life. To share a part of myself."

It was an explanation that Lin Jing didn't realize he needed. He had felt different after he'd been saved. His core was marked in a way that he could only make assumptions about. Very few knew the nature of the Gui King to have much insight on how this healing had worked. His old shifu could only tell him the facts: that Lin Jing had been fundamentally changed by his near death experience and his unlikely savior. "You did that… for me?"

"I did," Gui Mian confirmed, unaware of the deeper, unspoken question.

Lin Jing stared into those earnest eyes and part of him wanted to push for the why. Why save me? Why did you care? I mean nothing to you. Meant nothing to you? What do I mean to you? "You knew I was here?" he asked instead.

"Since the market. I thought you might follow… and you did." His head tilted the other way as his hand on Lin Jing's face absentmindedly fidgeted. "Why?"

"I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else." 

Gui Mian shifted closer, tilting his head back as he neared and barely moved his own thumb out of the way before his lips were pressing against Lin Jing's.

At first, he didn't react. Shocked. Mesmerized. Completely unsure of what to do. Then, his hands found Gui Mian's waist. It was small under the flowing clothing and Lin Jing had the instinct that he liked how it felt compared to his broad hands. He kissed back and all the details around them slipped away. The only thing that existed in that clearing, in Lin Jing's mind, was himself and Gui Mian.

That seemed to spur the other on, deepening the kiss and suddenly sharp teeth barely scraping against Lin Jing's lips. It felt like the best kiss he'd ever had. It felt like a claim and a promise and so much more. Tongue and teeth and lips. A blur of sensations as their bodies drew closer until they were pressed so closely that their forms almost appeared to be one. They kept kissing until Lin Jing's lungs burned with the need for air. If it wasn't for his eyes already being firmly closed, his vision would be overcome by darkness.

"Gui Mian," he gasped out in the briefest moment of reprieve as the other tilted his head and dived back into his claiming of the other's lips. When did his hands get under my shirt? Lin Jing's mind lagged behind what was happening. "Mianmian, please." He didn't know what he was asking—near begging— for, but Gui Mian seemed to at least pause for longer than a second and Lin Jing was left gasping for air. His forehead ended up resting against the other's and he wasn't even sure if he was even holding up his own body anymore or if somehow Gui Mian was keeping him upright with only those deceptively strong, small hands on him.

"Will you… be mine?" Gui Mian murmured after Lin Jing finally started to get his breathing back under control, though that alone was enough to make him stop breathing entirely and just stare at the other. "Can I be yours?" Gui Mian continued.

Lin Jing's mouth opened and closed a few times, uselessly saying nothing for once in his long life of being constantly told he spoke too much. How could words fail him now? During the most important moment!

Gui Mian's hand on his chin tightened. "Lin Jing, breathe," he commanded and Lin Jing's body immediately obeyed. The relief was instant, air rushing to fill his lungs and warmth flooded his heart. "Did you hear–"

Before the other could finish his question, Lin Jing was nodding. "Yes. Yes, I heard. Yes, you can. Yes, I will," he rushed to answer everything between rushed breaths.

The answers took a moment to be believable to Gui Mian, who studied him for a long moment before nodding back. "Good. My Lin Jing," he whispered, as if testing out the sound of it.

"My Mianmian," Lin Jing echoed. The logic in his own mind struggled to keep up, already so far behind. How?! How could this work? What does this mean for us? For work? Will I move here? Visit on my days off? How can I even begin to explain this in my report? But all those details didn't matter as Gui Mian pulled him down into another kiss. The details could wait. They could figure it all out together and the rest of the world could wait as long as Gui Mian was guiding him and claiming him like this.

The sun would eventually set on that small clear on the cliff outside of that small coastal town. Food would be prepared as chickens and goats were fed. A fluffy white cat would wind its way between Lin Jing's legs as he stood at the makeshift, outdoor kitchen. Gui Mian would place the cat out of the way before draping himself across Lin Jing's back. They would fall asleep together on a bed that Lin Jing would tease had no business being so comfortable in a place like this and for once, the dreams that come to Gui Mian would have nothing on the sight he would wake up to the next morning while still wrapped in Lin Jing's arms. But for now, the newly formed pair kiss and hold each other close as two lifetimes of melodies join together to form the perfect climax of their new symphony.