Title: Yuanfen
Author:
teru_bozu_ebi
Website:
http://teru-bozu-ebi.livejournal.com/
Pairings: Kenren/Tenpou
Rating: Hard R
Warnings: Yaoi. Extremely mild shibari.
Summary:
Tenpou brings something home from his trip.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer thingee. Kenren as dragon catnip is mine. Kanzeon's
song I pulled from Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress. Not sure if it's
traditional.
Series: Part 10 of the Dream of the Butterfly series. Follows after Water
Sports. This fic draws heavily on events in the previous series
stories, so it won't make too much sense if you haven't read the rest of them.
I'd strongly suggest getting yourself acquainted with it beforehand if you wish
to read it.
Notes: Yuanfen is a type of karma that binds the fate of souls to each
other throughout their reincarnations.
I wanted to get this out by October 17th but Tenpou wasn't being
cooperative. Why on that date? Because that was the 1st anniversary
of my first ever fan fic posting, over at the Anonymous Saiyuki Kink Meme,
that's why. I didn't even have an lj back then, nada, zilch, zip. Just a idea
for a creepy fic, and the gumption to actually try and write one for a change.
And here I am a year later, a little over a baker's dozen of tales to my credit
and a dragon king smexing away at the Ever_West rp. Who'da thunk?
I have to say this was one
hard fic to write. Not only is it in Tenpou's POV which gives me all sorts of
trouble, but it stalled just before the final few paragraphs and wouldn't budge
for months, because I don't do schmaltz well, and it gets a bit, well- romantic-like
at the end. Many thanks to macavitykitsune (my
E_W dragon's darling squeeze Tenpou) for being such a good sounding board about
that!
For you 10Gou fans who have complained I haven't done anything with those two-
it's the next fic in the series, guys. Your 10Gou wishes will be answered soon
enough.
It takes hundreds of reincarnations for two people to
ride in the same boat; it takes a thousand eons for two people to share the
same pillow.
He had never actually been in
this section of the royal archives before. The wing seemed to have been sitting
unused for centuries; even the floor and walls were covered in a thick layer of
dust. After rummaging about for awhile through an endless pile of bamboo
scrolls he found what looked to be a box hidden behind a set of old dynastic
histories, the dim glimmer of metal hinges winking at him from further back on
the shelf. Curiosity piqued, he pulled out the scrolls and counterbalanced them
in one arm before resetting his feet against the edges of the ladder,
stretching his arm in to pull it out. It indeed was a box, rather small and light,
and looked to be exceedingly old. The forgotten armload was unceremoniously
dropped as he turned the thing over in his hands. The dull clatter of bamboo
barely registered in his mind as the scrolls hit the floor; he was even less
aware of the cloud of dust they kicked up as they snaked their way open through
the darkness somewhere below his feet. After studying the thing for awhile he
noticed that the room had at some point darkened considerably, and looked about
briefly to see what was blocking the light before finally pulling off his
glasses to blow off the layer of dirt that had settled on the lenses.
Intriguing; after a brief
study of the carvings in the wood he had to admit he was totally stumped as to
their significance. They were strange, the style not consistent enough for any
definitive identification of period. Their oddity in and of itself might be
indicative of some mystical purpose, perhaps a protective spell that had been
carved into the wood; if so, it seemed further reinforced by additional paper
spells glued on cardinal points that were unfortunately no longer legible. The
wax seal over the largest of the papers was the only easily identifiable
feature; it seemed to have belonged to a royal house in a period of some
antiquity. As Imperial families hardly showed restraint in engaging in
conspicuous consumption the box presumably contained nothing of any great
monetary value. No, whatever was inside of it was more likely along the lines
of a state- or perhaps a family- secret. Too important to be destroyed, yet too
scandalous for it to fall into the wrong hands… which, if he was not mistaken,
was exactly what had just happened.
He climbed back down the
library ladder, searching for better light. A thin sunbeam from a small window
set high in the chamber seemed to be the room's sole illumination. He stepped
into it and brushed off more of the dust clinging stubbornly to the box's
surface. As he did an odorous substance came off on his fingers, its scent
somewhat reminiscent of machinery. Oily. Black. Sticky. He briefly rubbed it
between his fingers with a mild curiosity before wiping them off onto his lab
coat.
Besides the supernatural
protections, the box was wrapped with a thin chain, joined together with a
lock. Its metal was ancient and brittle, and gave easily enough with a few
solid jerks. Immediately upon its breaking a faint rustling could be heard
emanating from inside of the thing, a sound similar to hushed voices, but
unfortunately so faint it was nearly beyond his hearing entirely. He could
neither identify a language nor even a pattern or to it, but he had the
distinct impression that the noises were speaking to him directly. He suddenly
felt an overriding compulsion to break the paper seals and open up the box to
let them out. The warning bells began to sound in his head, reminding him that
the spells had been put there for a purpose and until he could divine the
reasons as to why it would be suicidal to rush into action. He should take it
back to his office, clean it… yet the voices he couldn't quite hear would have
none of it, they demanded immediate action and as he watched helplessly his
hands moved of their own volition, tearing at the bits of paper under his
fingertips.
He lifted the lid and found…
nothing. Not even a bottom was to be seen in it, merely a deep blackness which
seemed to stretch down into the lowest bowels of the palace. A sudden movement
near his head had him jumping in surprise; it was a butterfly, flittering about
in the small ray of sunlight. It seemed immensely out of place in this lifeless
tomb of forgotten knowledge. A stirring near his feet; he looked down to
discover that the darkness had escaped from the box and was there in the room
with him, palpable and malevolent. He tried to shut the box again, contain the
evil, but it had disappeared from his hands, the darkness had taken it. The
blackness spread across the floor as a number of vines erupted near his feet
and began twisting their way up his legs. He tried to pull himself free from
their encroachment, but try as he might he found he could not pry them off.
The darkness was growing about him, filling the room and contaminating
his lungs as he struggled against an evil that was trying to swallow him whole.
"Why, Marshal. You came
looking for this. Have you lost your taste for it so soon?"
The Bosatsu was standing there
to his right. She seemed far off, unfamiliar somehow. He tried to ask her for
assistance, but the blackness choked the words in his throat and nothing could
be said. Panic finally set in as the vines began to worm their way around his
neck. Kanzeon stood in front of him. Her nose crinkled as she dispassionately
studied his face.
"Huh. Well, I'd say your eyes
are as blind as ever. These haven't helped you to see in the least, have
they?"
Kanzeon plucked the glasses
off his nose as the vines began to force their way into his mouth. It felt as
if he were breathing underwater, thick and slow. He could hear the rhythmic
jingle of her bracelets as Kanzeon sang loud and clear, consecrating the pyre
of scrolls piled high in the middle of the floor.
"The life of a
man, burn it in the fire,
The life of an insect,
throw it into the fire…"
He felt himself being pulled
downward into the dust. Kanzeon lit the bonfire with his glasses, the flames
flaring high into the sun beam; he could see the little butterfly flittering
above it all before his vision was blacked out completely.
"Ponder and you
will see the world is dark,
And this floating world
is but a dream…"
He tried to scream, he tried,
but when he opened his mouth his lungs filled with dirt and he was swallowed
up. His last thought before he died was that the earth's odor was remarkably
reminiscent of Kenren's aftershave…
"Oi, Tenpou. Wake
up."
Tenpou started awake. It took
a moment to orient himself to the sudden change in surroundings. A dream; it
had been a dream, that explained it… he laid his head back down on Kenren's
chest a moment as he attempted to settle himself, working down the blind panic.
Kenren stirred underneath his head.
"You OK?"
"Yes. Yes."
He flipped himself onto his
back, laying his head down on the available shoulder as he took in a few more
deep breaths. He had just dreamed he was dying, that much he remembered. There
was the box, and then darkness… He struggled to recall more of it, but the more
he grasped at the particulars, the faster they faded. Someone was singing, and
a fire… Kenren stirred again.
"You sure you're
OK?"
"Yes, I'll be fine in a
moment."
"Then, would you mind
undoing me? I really need to take a piss."
What the… he lifted his head
and craned his neck about, blinking and squinting to bring things into better
focus. The blurry vision that greeted him was priceless. Oh, yes; of course.
Kenren was still tied to the bedpost. Tenpou snorted at the sight, dream
momentarily forgotten. That's right, that's what they had been doing
before the nap… He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake up faster.
"Yes, sorry about that. I
seemed to have fallen asleep rather quickly."
"Yeah, I know. I did too.
But unless you want to be doing the backstroke in the
Tenpou snickered again as he sat
up and leaned over the headboard to undo the knot. He worked at it for a few
moments before admitting defeat and got off the bed to approach it from a
better angle. He put on his glasses to better assess the problem before he
started to worry the ropes loose.
"You shouldn't have
pulled against it so much. You've gotten the knot rather tight."
Kenren squirmed, bringing his
knees up to relieve the strain on his bladder. His face tilted up towards him
in an attempt to glare; Tenpou moved a bit to ensure the headboard blocked the
effect.
"Well, if someone hadn't
been using the straight razor…"
"That is your own fault
entirely. If you had taken care of it before you came over, this whole thing
could have been avoided."
"Hey, that's your kink,
not mine."
"Hmmm, so you continue to
claim."
Tenpou leaned over the
headboard to look him pointedly. Kenren at least had the grace to blush before
turning away. He returned his attention to the knot. The man could protest all
he liked, but he still got hard as a rock whenever his groin was shaved. In
fact, Kenren had almost been badly cut earlier in the afternoon when he had
decided to clean some wayward shaving cream from the underside of Kenren's
erection by using the straight razor instead of his finger. The man had gotten
so turned on by it he had actually bucked up into the blade. It had taken some
lightning fast reflexes to avoid a castration.
"You're the one who
insists on my being clean shaven."
"And you're the one who
claims his hair keeps getting pulled out by the ropes. In any case, it's
starting to loosen. It should only be a moment."
"Yeah, well, hurry
up."
"Hm, well. Unless you say
the magic word, I just might stop right now and leave you as you are. To stew
in your own juices, so to speak. Magic word, pet."
There was a pause on Kenren's
end. Tenpou could tell he wasn't really into the game at the moment. Not a
surprise; insistent bladders tended to trump anything else.
"Please."
"Please what?"
"Please… baby?"
Tenpou shook his head and
laughed to himself. Wrong answer, willfully so. Kenren knew how much he hated
to be called that, though to be honest, what he truly hated about it was that
he enjoyed it so much. No one had ever dared to call him such rubbish before.
In any case, Kenren only called him 'baby' when he was feeling particularly
contrary. Alright, the point was dutifully noted, he'd hurry. He unwrapped the
rope from the headboard. Kenren moaned a bit as the stiff arms were suddenly
freed.
"There; go. Urinate in
freedom."
Bound wrists were presented to
him for further attention. It would have saved them both time and energy to
have started there, of course; but no use in thinking about that now. He undid
the bindings as quickly as he could.
"You're certainly the
needy one tonight. Next time, go lighter on the saké beforehand."
"Next time don't use
square knots on the bedpost."
"Now I ask you, where
would the fun be in that?"
The ropes fell off and Kenren
bolted for the door. Tenpou gathered up the length and hung it on the bedpost
before he threw himself back down onto the squeaky mattress. He rubbed his face
and yawned. A smoke, he could definitely use a smoke. Not wishing to move any
more than he absolutely had to he stretched himself over to the bed stand,
grabbing at the pack with the tips of his fingers. Empty. He got up anyway and
stole one of Kenren's. He flopped onto his back again, lungs gratefully
taking in the blessed nicotine.
After a few moments of bliss
his nose crinkled as he noticed the odor emanating from the sheets. Home for
less than 72 hours, and the bed already smelled like a cathouse. Kenren had
been rather… exuberant he guessed would be the word he'd use- in
welcoming him home. As a matter of fact, they were basically still engaged in
the welcoming party; as he'd been given vacation time for services rendered and
Goujun had obligingly given Kenren a week's leave, there'd been no actual work
hours to mar the three day fuck-fest. Only the occasional break for food and
their little visit from the "Monkey Shines Division"- Kenren's new
term for Konzen and Goku- had called them away from the conjugal bed. All in
all he had to say it had been quite the experience; as far as he could recall,
no one had ever 'missed' him quite this much before.
He caught a whiff of the
sheets again, quite a feat of odiferous strength above the tobacco smoke. They
really needed to be changed, but then that would require his actually getting
out of the bed and changing them. It seemed like far too much energy to expend
on such an undertaking, especially considering they were likely to be abused
again in the not too distant future. Not to mention he had absolutely no idea
where the second sheet set was at the moment. Usually they were somewhere in
the "clean" pile he kept in the corner chair, but Kenren had gone on
a cleaning spree while he had been away and he had to say that he now barely
recognized his own rooms. For the first time there was an official place for
everything and everything was in its place, only he had no idea which place was
what's or who went where, so at this point he could find nothing at all. He
looked around him, taking the time to marvel once again at his eerily
immaculate bedroom. Except for the bed itself, of course, the cathouse
description was definitely quite apropos there. But the rest of it was so
clean, so blindingly unsoiled… in fact, he was somewhat suspicious that the man
might have actually gone to the lengths of painting the place while he was
away. The walls looked far too white to be entirely his.
A kinder, happier Kenren came
waltzing back in through the door. Tenpou made room for him as the man plopped
back down onto the bed, sighing in an overdone contentment as he took the
cigarette from Tenpou's hand.
"Ah, the pause that
refreshes. I have to say I feel much better about myself and others now.
Tenpou raised up his head as
Kenren's arm moved above it, resting it back down as it slid underneath to wrap
around his shoulders. The move had become so automatic that he often found
himself in this very position with no memory of exactly how and when he had
actually gotten there. Kenren's hand started its usual wanderings across his
chest. It was such a soothing, familiar action that it began to finally sink in
that he truly was home again. He closed his eyes to the intensity of the
feeling. Kenren began to nuzzle his hair and he leaned into it, pressing
against the man's lips. There was a deep sigh underneath him.
"That was the third one
since you've been back, you know."
"Third what?"
"Nightmare."
"Ah. Yes. Those."
"Mind telling me what's
up?"
"Hn… well."
Tenpou took the cigarette back
and continued to smoke silently for awhile. Not that he truly wanted to talk
about them, but the obligation was there to at least make some sort of effort
since Kenren was bearing the brunt of their impact at the moment. He scratched
his forehead with his thumb, debating as to where to go with it. In all
honesty, he wasn't at all sure where to begin. He supposed he could claim- truthfully-
that he couldn't remember much about them, dribble out a few of the details and
put it to rest at that. But that wasn't altogether the truth of it. He might
not recall the particulars, but he knew something of what they were about, what
it was that was eating at him to the point it was worming its way straight into
his subconscious and spewing itself back out through his dreams. It had
something to do with the box.
"I don't remember all that
much of them, to be honest. I know that I invariably die in it."
He took a last drag before he
leaned over and stubbed it out in the frog, who was still staring at them
unabashedly openmouthed from the nightstand, apparently nonplussed over their
nudity. Tenpou hadn't mentioned the box to Kenren yet; he hadn't quite
made up his mind as to whether or not he ever would, or for that matter what
he'd say to the man if he eventually did decide to tell him. He was of half a
mind to simply add it to his collection and pretend it was something he picked
up randomly during the trip. The thought was tempting in more ways than one,
but he doubted that it would work completely to his satisfaction since it would
do little to silence his nagging subconscious. It had been easy enough to
ignore the damned thing while he was busy being nailed to the sheets, but it
kept popping back out, torturing him each time he fell asleep. If he were a
superstitious man he would assume it was because he had not followed through with
that woman's instructions about the thing and was now paying the price.
Thankfully, he was not a superstitious man (knock wood), so the more likely
culprit was that pesky moral compass he seemed to have recently acquired
somewhere along the way.
"You gonna tell me about
the trip?"
So the man was going for the
back door instead. Naturally Kenren would have noticed that correlation; it was
so obvious it screamed its presence to anyone within earshot. Yet Kenren would
have seen it in any case; the man was immensely good at making those types of
connections, though he often had the oddest of ways of voicing his
observations. Kenren just saw the world differently, which was a large part of
the man's appeal; only he could come up with such bizarre concepts as 'kite
people' and 'string people' that upon inspection made all the sense in the
world. Kenren impatiently shifted under him again. Having no cigarette to
occupy his fingers anymore Tenpou let his hand engage in its other favorite
activity, cradling Kenren's crotch. Legs spread ever so slightly to accommodate
him.
"What can I say? From
beginning to end the whole thing was an immensely painful experience. Trying to
incorporate an entire pantheon into an already bloated heavenly hierarchy is a
time-consuming process no matter who you're working with. Even given that, I
have to say local gods are particularly troublesome. After having spent
millennia as the sole object of worship they invariably end up with an overly
inflated sense of self-importance. Few of them wish to be demoted to a position
as uninspiring as 'the Jade Emperor's Stable Boy.'"
"Maybe their people
should have thought about that before declaring war."
"Few go to war with the
expectation that they will lose."
"True, true. So you what,
spent all that time smoothing out their ruffled little ass-kicked tail feathers
or something?"
"To be honest, most of it
was spent in marathon bouts of ceremonial camaraderie. The ritualistic taking
of food and drink at the home of their tribal leaders. The toasting of
allegiances. The reluctant-yet-firm turning down of offers of daughters in
marriage. Et cetera et cetera, ad infinitum. They also had a huge number of
tedious rituals that needed to be dealt with."
"And who knows more about
obscure and tedious rituals than Bookworm the Magnificent."
"Exactly. They are a
people who take offense quite easily, which I believe is how the war started in
the first place. Knowing something of their customs and the proper responses to
their rituals helped to smooth the way considerably. It's a wonder they don't
better train the diplomatic corps in these things. You would think it would be
part of their self-definition."
"I thought their
self-definition was 'second cousin to the Emperor, twice removed.'"
Tenpou snorted. He let his
eyes drift shut and played awhile with the slowly hardening penis in his hand.
It was times like this that Kenren's heritage truly came to the fore; only
someone with fertility god in their background would still be getting it up
after three days and however many bouts and continue to find any sort of
enjoyment out of it. Tenpou had no such stamina in his genetic code and was
hurting more than he would have thought possible, but for some reason that
didn't actually make him stop doing it. To be honest, it was rather flattering
to be getting this much attention. Not to mention he'd be damned before he let
the man best him in anything.
Kenren's hand had wandered up
to his hair, petting it softly. He could feel the slightest rocking to the
man's hips. Both were sure signs he was getting interested in another round. If
Tenpou pushed it a bit more, the whole box question could be redirected into
yet another role in the hay; Kenren seemed contented enough with the
conversation as it sat, at least for now. All in all it seemed that the whole
issue had been skirted yet again, which should have been the end of it but for
the sheer perversity that his conscience was exhibiting as of late, insisting
that he at least mention it to the man and let him come up with his own
conclusions. It had to be dealt with sometime, after all… Did it? Yes, it
did. Ignore it or lie about it and it would most likely eat at him until he
would be forced into confessing it in desperation, and then Kenren would
rightfully feel insulted over not being told of it sooner. So why was he
balking over it? What made it all seem so… well, frightening?
Kenren shifted and sighed
again. In another minute he would begin to complain about 'the gears' working,
hating to be left out of the internal dialogue. Yes, yes, understood. Tenpou
cuddled his head in closer, rubbing it against the man's shoulder to let him
know he wasn't forgotten in all of this. And again, it made him think about the
box. All that she claimed it signified. He felt it in every familiar movement
and action between them, every time he secretly enjoyed being called pet names.
Each time he knew exactly what the man was thinking, when all he had done was
to shift and sigh. The woman had been right, of course, even if he didn't want
to acknowledge it at the time. But then, he'd spent all these years in denying
it. There was bound to be some residual resistance to overcome.
"Kenren…"
"Hm?"
He sounded pleased. Happy to
be included again. It was the right thing to do, of course. This involved
Kenren, he should at least be told about it.
"I have something I need
to show you. Let me get it."
He sat up and padded over to
his rucksack. Home three days, and he still hadn't unpacked it yet. In fact, it
was lying in the very spot he had dropped it when Kenren tackled him onto the
bed and started stripping off his clothes. Tenpou unzipped the thing and began
to rummage about amongst the soiled laundry. It surprised him to realize he
hadn't cleaned any of it yet; as far as he could remember, every scrap of
underwear he owned was in the thing, and it had been three whole days after
all. Then again, it had been three whole days that he'd remained more or less
buck naked, so looking at it in that light, he supposed it wasn't all that
surprising. He found its square hard edges towards the bottom, wrapped in his
spare uniform pants. Added protection for the long journey home.
Kenren sat up and adjusted the
pillows as Tenpou returned and set it next to him on the bed. He sat on the
other side of it, one foot dangling off the edge. Grounding against the
oncoming flights of fancy, perhaps. Kenren smiled at him, and lifted an
eyebrow.
"More for the Tenpou
Collection, eh? Gonna give me the run-down on why this thing was a 'must
have'?"
"I didn't collect it,
actually. It was given to me."
Kenren picked it up, shook it
near his ear. The package inside moved about. Kenren looked at him again,
curious as to the contents. He turned it around in his hands to study the carvings
in the wood.
"Huh. OK, so what is
it?"
"It has the oddest story
attached to it, one I'm sure will entertain you- well, at least somewhat."
Tenpou took another of
Kenren's cigarettes, paused to light it. Maybe if he approached it as a bizarre
travel story, it would lessen its impact somewhat. If he showed a flippant
disregard, then Kenren should as well. And maybe, just maybe, that would be
enough to help convince himself that it was just some crazy old woman's
superstitious nonsense, and then it would stop bothering him at all hours of
the night when he was trying to get some sleep.
"It was a gift from their
shaman. She was an unusual woman, to say the least." He took another puff.
"Mostly a soothsayer, I'd say. The tribal leaders spent a great deal of
time consulting her as an oracle over virtually everything we did. It wasn't
uncommon for us to wait a day or two for answers to the simplest of questions
while she rattled the bones over it and such. It was rather interesting, all in
all. I mean, considering they themselves are the local gods, one wonders who it
was she was trying to supplicate for the answers. You'd think they'd be talking
to themselves."
Kenren shook it again,
glancing over at Tenpou before he took the cigarette from Tenpou's fingers and
drew in a lungful. Tenpou barely paused.
"Though I guess it's
really no different than Goujun's fascination with consulting the Yi Jing
all the time. Perhaps more of a meditative aid than an actual supernatural
oracle. But in any case, towards the end while we were getting the finalities
settled she started on some long and involved ritual that took days and who
knows how many psychotropic substances to complete. When she came out of
it, she called for me."
"For you? Really."
"Yes, me. Just me. And
she gave me that."
Tenpou took the cigarette back
as he nodded towards the box. At this point he had a number of options. He
could parcel out some bits and pieces, leaving the meat of the story behind- it
was fascinating enough with that much alone. He could play "mystery
box" and pretend not to know what was inside of it, let Kenren do the
discovery and they could make up some bogus conclusions over it together. Then
again, Kenren knew him well enough to know his curiosity would have gotten the
better of him before the end of the first day, so he doubted that particular
option would fly particularly well. Or, he supposed he could tell Kenren
everything. He wasn't quite sure yet which approach he was going to take; much
of it depended on how much of a poke in the ass his conscience was going to get
from that idiotic moral compass it still seemed to be sitting on.
"Did she say why?"
"In a way she did, yes.
Apparently I was the only member of the diplomatic party she saw in her
visions."
The only member of the party,
yes. The only god, no. He took another drag and eyed Kenren. It was nearing the
moment of truth. Or untruth, as the case may be. Or perhaps semi-truth. Then
again, it just might be a relative truth, he hadn't yet considered that particular
interpretation…
"Really. You lucky dog
you, but you do stand out in a crowd. So, what is it for?"
"Open it."
Kenren looked at him as if he
thought a snake spring might jump out at him if he should actually try opening
the lid.
"No, go ahead. Open
it."
Not looking particularly
convinced, Kenren tilted the box away from himself and closed his eyes before
cracking the lid. His look was priceless as one eye popped open to check the
results. Tenpou smiled to himself. No, the woman was right. He was becoming
more comfortable with what she had said with each passing moment. Funny, to
think that the predictions of death shook him much less than the yuanfen
did at the time. Now neither of them seemed all that disturbing while he
watched a sheepish, very naked Kenren peering into a box that seemed to be
filled with nothing but a silk handkerchief.
"Take it out. What she
was actually giving me is inside of that."
Kenren set the box on his lap
and pulled out the package. He looked rather baffled at the contents of
the silk.
"What, she gave you a
bracelet?"
"Yes. Two of them, to be
exact. They're rather pretty, don't you think? Lovely details on the carvings.
They seem to be almost exact replicas of each other. Apparently they were
originally taken off of a conquered general before he was executed, some sort
of talisman for success in battle. Obviously didn't work for him."
Kenren carefully picked up one
of the pieces of white jade, very much in the same manner he had done when the
shaman had originally given them to him. After a moment of study, the man even
came up with the exact same assessment he had originally given the woman.
"There's some qilin
carved on it."
"I thought that at first,
too. But they're not qilin. They're tigers."
Kenren looked to Tenpou with
something akin to mild shock. He looked back at the bracelet, and stared at it
for awhile in silence. Tenpou frowned. It wasn't exactly the response he was
expecting.
"Damn, Tenpou, that's
just plain creepy."
"Really? I thought it all
rather odd, but-"
"No no, not that."
Kenren blew out a long gust of air while he continued to turn the jade over in
his hands, studying it as if he thought he might have missed some important
clue to a great mystery. "I…well; I told you I went to see Jun-kun a
couple of times while you were gone…"
"You know, you really
shouldn't get into the habit of calling him that. Some day you'll slip and say
it to his face."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Anyway, I told you we did some sparring before we got into the down and dirty
that one time, but what I didn't tell you was he got sort of hopped up on the
nip during the spar. Got real aggressive. No biggie, Kuang used to get the same
way, but what's weird about it is that he kept calling me a tiger the whole
time he was high. It was the freakiest thing. And now this."
Now this, indeed. Tenpou could
see why Kenren had reacted the way he did. He was feeling quite the same at the
moment.
"He ever say anything to
you about tigers?"
"No, never. Not to my
recollection." His recollection was given him a poke, however. Though he
could truly say he didn't remember any conversation with Goujun that included
tigers, something in his memory was telling him that wasn't the whole truth of it.
"Weird, because I'm
pretty sure he said something about you in all that babbling. Like, 'Tenpou has
the tigers, too' or some crazy shit like that. I was gonna ask you about it,
but it slipped my mind until now. This chick tell you why she figured you
needed some dead general's tiger charms?"
Tenpou sat there, still
processing the new information. He had to stay that combined with the shaman's
predictions, it was a bit more disturbing than he was willing to let on. But
then again, he wasn't a superstitious man, so he wasn't going to let a simple
coincidence like this bother him, not at all (cross his heart). And he was
going to continue to tell himself that until he believed it.
"Actually, they're not
just mine. One of them belongs to you."
"What, you're giving me
one?"
"No, she gave you
one. In a manner of speaking."
He stubbed out the cigarette
and moved to pick up the twin from its silk cocoon. This whole act of
confession was proving to be much easier than originally anticipated. Once
started, it seemed to want to pour out all at once until he was totally emptied
of it. He was feeling considerably lighter already.
"She told me that one of
them belonged to me, but that the other belonged to the one with whom I share
the deepest of yuanfen."
There. It was out, he had said
it. Who would have guessed that in the end he would opt for the simple truth.
Well, at least most of it. What she had actually said was 'Give one to the
Other Half, the one with whom you share the deepest of yuanfen. Strike
at the root and meet your deaths with dignity, Oh Great Tiger General.' He
wasn't a superstitious man, no, but he had to admit that Kenren's story added
into the already bizarre tale was beginning to make him rethink that. That
wasn't to say it still couldn't be sheer coincidence, or that there wasn't some
sort of synchronicity at work in the moment, but the evidence was piling up to
the contrary. There was some deeper significance to the bracelets, he was quite
ready to admit that. He just wished he knew just what that that significance
was, because if there was one thing he hated it was the feeling of being left
in the dark about something. Especially when that something had to do directly
with him.
Kenren was staring at the jade
in Tenpou's hand, looking somewhat paler than usual. Probably trying to make
sense of it, just as he had once tried. But he already knew there was no sense
to be found, not unless one believed in superstition. The man's eyes flicked up
to his, holding his gaze briefly before going back to studying the bracelet. He
seemed pensive, tense. Reluctant to ask about what was on his mind.
"Are you sure she wasn't
talking about Goujun?"
He was being tested, just as
he knew he would be. Kenren hadn't failed to key in on the deeper significance
of the whole thing, the actual heart of the matter in their hands. This had
been what frightened Tenpou the most; to follow her words, he would have to
openly accept that which he already knew to be true, and worse still, finally
admit it to Kenren. It reminded him once again of that obscure volume of mythic
philosophy he had in his library, the one with the story of how people were
halves of a whole that had been split apart by an angry god, spending their
entire lives trying to rejoin with their missing half. He had always found it a
somewhat imaginative if amusingly naïve description of sexuality. Until he met
Kenren.
"Yes, I'm quite
sure."
Kenren turned it over again in
his hands.
"Are we supposed to wear
them or something? She say?"
"I would assume so, or
the protection wouldn't necessarily go into effect."
He knew it wasn't what Kenren
was actually asking about, but they had spent their entire relationship talking
around the 500 lb. gorilla in the middle of the room, so it was rather second
nature to continue at this point. Though now it seemed it wasn't so much of a
500 lb. gorilla as a 10,000 year-old tiger.
"So, do you wear it on
the left or the right arm?"
"As the general had two,
I would assume he had one for each side. I'm not sure if there is any great
significance to either."
After a few moments of
deliberation Kenren carefully pushed his hand through the jade circle. For
whatever reason he had chosen the right. Tenpou wasn't at all surprised to see
that it fit him perfectly. The man shook his wrist about, testing its feel. He
smiled, seemingly satisfied with the results.
"So, does it make me look
all hot and studly?"
Tenpou laughed. Trust the man
to feel the tension in the room and try to diffuse it as best he could. He
paused a minute before he quietly slipped his hand into its twin. He stared
down at fragile ring encircling his wrist, rather stunned that it had finally
happened. This was as close to a ritual as they would ever have between them,
as much of one as either of them would even want. One could argue it had been
far too long in coming and that someone had to push him into it, but now that
he'd finally made his bed he was going to happily lie in it- even if it did
smell like a cathouse at the moment. Now that it was over it made him wonder
why he balked over doing it in the first place. The whole thing seemed almost
predestined. Kenren looked up from the bracelet and smiled at him. He smiled
back.
"Well, if you ever see
that chick again, tell her thanks for the gift."
"I'll be sure to do
that."
Kenren showed it off again.
His eyebrows quirked in an overdone sexiness. Tenpou laughed as the man
rolled over and began to stalk over to him on his hands and knees. The box that
had given him so much pain tumbled off the edge of the mattress, forgotten.
"You know you want
me."
"A given."
Actually, not so much of a
given as he was hurting in more ways than he'd ever let on, but still not a
lie. He fell back onto the bed as Kenren moved to straddle his hips. Tenpou
stretched out underneath him and arched up a bit- funny; he hadn't realized how
much tension his body had been holding until his back complained when it hit
the sheets. As his spine gave a few loud cracks Kenren murmured appreciatively
at the show, letting his hands slide down Tenpou's torso then slowly back
again, up the arms, capturing the hands that were still thrown over his head.
Fingers pointedly interlaced one hand at a time before Kenren leaned into him,
the white tiger jade tumbling down his arm. Their kiss was tender, a tentative
brush of lips. Searching, new, the first kiss of young lovers. It was strange-
they had walked this path together hundreds of times before, yet where they
were going from this moment on was somehow different. For once, he felt happy
that it was not a path he had to walk alone.
Kenren stretched himself out
and drew Tenpou close. They moved together for awhile, touching, stroking,
rubbing up against each other, feeling each other's presence. Rediscovering it.
Sharing in it until it was cut short as Kenren suddenly pulled away. Tenpou
opened his eyes just as their rope was flung against his side in a snarled
mess. His eyebrows rose as Kenren began to wage a valiant one-armed battle with
the recalcitrant tangle of coils. Tenpou snickered while it continued unabated
for more time than seemed entirely necessary. In fact, it looked as if the rope
might actually be winning-
"Pet, I do believe I've
told you adult supervision is required when-"
"Shut it, you."
There were a few more moments
of struggle before Kenren finally gave a victorious "aha" at having
subdued the giant knot to his apparent satisfaction. He grabbed Tenpou's arm
and wound a few loose loops around it. Additional loops were quickly twisted
about Kenren's wrist as well, locking the two of them together before their
fingers again interlaced. Once more his arm was brought up over his head, bound
hand pressed firmly down into the smelly mattress. Tenpou had to admit the odd
little ritual had made the cat rather curious.
"So, what's this
about?"
"You're stuck with me.
Remember that."
Tenpou locked eyes with him
for a moment, utterly overwhelmed. He could do nothing but close his eyes and
kiss him at that; he did not trust himself not to break down altogether should
he try anything more. Their kiss deepened, selfless, intimate… Kenren slowly
sat up again, snaked over another length of rope. Looped it about his own chest
and shoulders and behind Tenpou's neck before ending the new connection in a spiral
around Tenpou's other arm- more decorative symbolism than sex toy. Kenren
shifted lower, his mouth wandering down Tenpou's chest and the twists of rope
trailed behind his movements, sliding against his skin, marking him with their yuanfen
as they wove their karma ever tighter together. The rope marks would eventually
fade but the yuanfen would not; it stretched out ahead of them towards a
future that could barely be guess at, a gift of their newly acquired mortality.
Living as gods they had no future, only an eternally stagnant present. Now, at
least he could say that they had something to look forward to.
Ropes and hands and then lips
moved further downward, wrapping him up in the heat of his lover's mouth.
Tenpou's hips began to rock in time with the soft strokes of tongue and the
slow bob of that beautiful mouth, sucking, teasing, bringing him over that edge
one more time. As he tensed and arched up into it the coils tightened about him
and he came harder than he had in days. He was still flying high as Kenren
shifted back up and drew him into a loose embrace. He plastered himself up
against the warm, welcoming body, clinging to the sensation of the ropes
joining them together, the gentleness of the hands petting him as he slowly
came down. The feel of Kenren's white tiger jade resting smooth and reassuring
against his back. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep, wrapped safely in the
folds of their yuanfen. The thought seemed strangely comforting; in the
end, it did not matter what the woman said would happen to them. Together, they
were stronger than death itself.
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