Zhao Yunlan nervously played with the key in his pocket as he impatiently waited for the workday to finally be over.
Please meet me at the other place tonight.
For what felt like the millionth time he read Shen Wei's text message. That he'd sent one at all was a miracle itself, but one that became more and more common as he got more used to his new, de-powered life. Normally, his formality in electronic communication was funny as hell but this one? Had Zhao Yunlan's stomach tying itself in knots like it hadn't since his last gastritis flare up.
The memory of that one - or rather Shen Wei's care of him during that time - distracted him from his twisting insides for a glorious moment or two.
The other place. Shen Wei's apartment, at least in name. In truth, he hadn't spent a single night there since the moment Zhao Yunlan and the rest of the SID had brought him back up to Haixing, half-dead. Brought him back home, according to his brother. He felt safe and comfortable in Zhao Yunlan's apartment, or so he'd confessed while he'd been still barely lucid, body weakened from the loss of dark energy, as well as multiple gruesome injuries, and his mind in turmoil from whatever Ye Zun had done to him. Zhao Yunlan still didn't know the details about that and he was too afraid to ask directly in fear of destroying the fragile peace Shen Wei had found with himself and his new circumstances.
For Shen Wei to tell him to meet in his own apartment was... not really concerning, but still unsettling. These days, not even his clothes resided in there, after all. Zhao Yunlan's fingers tightened around the key until the edges bit into his skin. His wonderful, great idea suddenly felt very real and even more scary.
He hissed when the metal actually broke the skin and he put his finger into his mouth, grimacing at the taste of blood and the memories it awoke. Grabbing a lollipop, unwrapping it and savoring the sweet taste to get the one of blood out of his mouth finally killed enough time for him to shut down his computer and grab his jacket without looking like he was running away.
A hasty wave, a quick reminder to Da Qing to stay the fuck away from any of the two apartments today, and he was out of the office and on the way home.
Home.
A concept that had taken a whole new meaning over the last few months. He was still thinking about that particular revelation when he squeezed the Jeep in the last available parking space. Hopefully, that was another one of those problems that would soon be a thing of the past.
Despite obsessing over Shen Wei's text for the past three hours he still almost walked into his own apartment out of habit. Only when he tried to put the wrong key into the lock he realized his mistake and laughed at himself before banging his head against the doorframe in frustration.
"I'm an idiot," he whispered against it, caught between annoyance and unwilling amusement. He was so fucking out of his depth with, well, fucking everything here. He wasn't built to take care of someone else, just like he wasn't built for sharing his life with another person. He knew that, had always done so, but that knowledge didn't keep him from desperately wanting to do all those things and so many more with Shen Wei.
"Zhao Yunlan."
It was a testament to how safe he felt when the sound of his name didn't make him whirl around. Instead, he let his head bang against the doorframe again. He could feel Shen Wei's shy yet indulgent smile and wasn't sure if he was strong enough to face it right now.
"Yunlan."
Shen Wei sounded so fond and it was impossible to not look at him.
"Hi," he whispered back, hating how his voice cracked. "Sorry about," He turned around and gestured towards the door, "this. Autopilot after a long day, you know?"
Shen Wei probably didn't but he nodded anyway, still smiling. "Please, come with me," he said and held out his right hand in invitation.
Zhao Yunlan followed it immediately.
The scar on his arm was still looking awful out but it had finally started to heal for real. In the future he would probably hide the injury when out in public, depriving Zhao Yunlan of the enticing picture of Shen Wei with his underarms bare and in sleeve garters, but at home Shen Wei didn't care anymore. He had also stopped wearing his glasses and sometimes it was still jarring to look at him like that. Without the disguise of professionality, together with the fact that Shen Wei was now being less guarded when they were alone, he reminded Zhao Yunlan so much about his younger self. The transformation was breathtaking to see.
Shen Wei's grip around his hand was strong and sure and he looked fit and healthy like he hadn't in far too long.
The immense loss he'd suffered was invisible, but Zhao Yunlan still found himself thinking about it often. Right now, confronted with a stunning vision of beauty and grace, it was easy to shove the unwelcome thoughts to the side.
"Always," he promised. Internally, he winced at how tacky this was but he just couldn't help himself when he was around Shen Wei. The pleased smile, followed by a quick ducking of his head, that was Shen Wei's reaction made the moment of embarrassment worthwhile.
"You've taken care of me so well," Shen Wei said as he led Zhao Yunlan towards the other apartment.
"It's not a competition!" he protested automatically, except that it totally was, of course, because Shen Wei needed someone to protect him at least as much as Zhao Yunlan did, if not more so. A rather hard squeeze of his hand made him fall silent before he could say more.
"So I thought it was time to return the favor," Shen Wei continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I've done some research and concluded that today would be a good day for it."
Valentine's day.
There was a reason why Zhao Yunlan had been holding on to that damn key for almost two weeks, twisting himself into panicked mess of insecurity during that time - he wanted to indulge his carefully hidden romantic side and have a truly spectacular gift for this day.
The first of hopefully many he'd get to spend with Shen Wei. The rest of his life sounded good. Hell, the rest of Shen Wei's life sounded good but Zhao Yunlan was pretty sure that his life expectancy wasn't as high as the one of the legendary Black Robed Envoy, even if he was almost completely depowered now.
It was one of the things he would be concerned about later, he'd decided months ago. When it became really relevant, which it wouldn't be for at least a couple of decades, if anything went according to his plans and wishes.
"Shen Wei!" he protested because the idea of Shen Wei being romantic was enough to make him want to curl up and whoop with joy. Or cry with happiness. It was a fifty/fifty chance, really.
Fuck, was that a blush on Shen Wei's beautiful face as he opened the door? Zhao Yunlan leaned closer, eager to investigate and maybe steal a kiss, when his eyes comprehended the picture before him and he froze on the spot.
"Is it too much?" Shen Wei asked and he shook himself out of his stupor, still clutching the key. It felt like the only real, solid thing in his life right now. "Zhao Yunlan?"
"Wow," he breathed after staring for a couple of moments longer.
Shen Wei had transformed the apartment into something out of this world and straight out of any trashy romance film ever.
Only… it wasn't trashy. Not at all.
It was beautiful and it was romantic and it made Zhao Yunlan melt in all the right places.
Candles, dozens - if not hundreds - of them, were the only light, apart from the bits and pieces of ambient light that filtered through from the street.
There was no other decoration, because that would really have been too much and neither of them were a teenage girl that lived and thrived and over-the-top kitsch, but there was a very nicely set table and the smell of Shen Wei's amazing cooking in the air.
"I'm glad you approve," Shen Wei whispered directly into his ear, almost making him jump. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as Shen Wei slowly turned him around to kiss him. "I wanted to give you something nice to show my appreciation."
Shen Wei had given him so much, over a span of time almost impossible to comprehend, so it was totally Zhao Yunlan's turn now. However, he also knew that saying any of this would be totally useless so he saved his breath and leaned in to claim the welcome home kiss he wanted.
Thank you, he wanted to say. "I love you," was what came out of his mouth. A moment later he felt himself flush like he hadn't in years. Shen Wei really tended to bring out his soft side in the worst way possible. "Ah, Shen Wei," he began, desperately trying to find a way to save the situation from devolving even further.
He didn't get the chance.
Shen Wei almost jumped him in his haste to kiss him back, herding him until his back hit the wall. The door to the hallway was still open but Shen Wei didn't seem to care, too busy devouring Zhao Yunlan's mouth.
It took him a gratifying long time to compose himself afterwards and Zhao Yunlan smirked when Shen Wei took a step back with a half-embarrassed, half-satisfied air. Zhao Yunlan was almost expecting an apology and almost had a quick denial on his lips when Shen Wei's lips quirked up in a smile.
"This was supposed to be dessert," he said and Zhao Yunlan almost choked on air.
"Shen Wei!" he protested. "I didn't think you had it in you!"
The embarrassment vanished and let only the satisfaction behind. Zhao Yunlan was absolutely sure that Shen Wei knew fully well what kind of picture he made when he looked up through half-lowered lashes und licked his lips slowly. He was getting freakishly good at his seduction game and Zhao Yunlan was helpless in resisting it, as he usually was in all things concerning Shen Wei.
"Dinner?" Shen Wei asked with an innocent blink, clearly willing to postpone dinner in favor of a round or two of sex.
Zhao Yunlan was half tempted to just go with it but the damn key had been burning one hole after another into his jeans for weeks and he couldn't wait any longer. Not even for Shen Wei's incredible cooking. Microwaves were a thing, they could always…
No! he told himself. He was going to do this right. Have a nice dinner, make some loving eye-contact, maybe hold Shen Wei's hand for an eternity or two because to his horror he'd discovered that he'd rather liked that.
"Dinner," he repeated dutifully and with a smirk of his own. Two could play this game, even if usually Zhao Yunlan was the eager one and Shen Wei played at being shy. 'Played at' being the important part here. He never could hold on to it for long, far too eager himself. This time, it was Zhao Yunlan who reached out and, after Shen Wei had taken his hand, led the way to the table.
"Shen Wei," he said some time later.
Dinner had been incredible - of course it had been, the love and care Shen Wei put into feeding Zhao Yunlan had been painfully obvious from the very first time he had done so - and his stomach had settled down from nervous anticipation into full but happy.
"Zhao Yunlan," came the immediate echo. Shen Wei looking at him without the barrier of his glasses, with the full force of his affection - and all the years he had carried it with him - on display, was a sight to behold.
A lesser man would never have been able to withstand it, Zhao Yunlan was sure of it. Instead of turning his eyes away he laughed, glad when it sounded only slightly nervous. He'd been trying to figure out what to say for ages. He still had no idea what would come out of his mouth now.
"I've got something for you. For us," he corrected quickly.
The slight widening of Shen Wei's eyes at that was cute but also heartbreaking. When had been the last time he'd been given a token of love? Zhao Yunlan was pretty sure he didn't want to know the answer to that, actually. He had always been a crappy gift giver but he'd promised himself to do better. For Shen Wei's sake. Because Shen Wei deserved all the nice and good things after all that crap he had to go through since, well, forever.
In the end, words failed him. He silently fished the key out of his back pocket and slid it over the table until it touched Shen Wei's fingers.
"I kind of bought us a house," he finally said when it became obvious that Shen Wei had no idea what it meant. How could he? They had never spoken about it, after all, and Shen Wei was still adorably clueless about so many things.
"A house?" Shen Wei didn't sound disappointed, he noted to his great relief. Only surprised. And maybe a little bit stunned. "For us?"
Fuck, this was supposed to be a happy occasion, so why did it feel like his heart was breaking?
Shen Wei looked at the simple key as if it held the wonders of the universe inside. "Zhao Yunlan, you really want to…?" He looked up and his eyes were glassy.
It was too much. Zhao Yunlan couldn't take it anymore. There was far too much distance between them. He stood up, quickly and forcefully enough to almost knock over his chair, and a second later he was in front of Shen Wei, on his knees, looking up that the most perfect and beautiful person he'd ever known.
"Let's build a home together," he begged, throwing any pretense of dignity overboard without a second thought. "Home is not supposed to be some crappy apartment that's not nearly big enough for us, let alone a fat cat, and where there is never any parking space when we need it."
Home was not supposed to be the place where he'd cut Shen Wei open until he'd almost bled to death to save him from light energy poisoning.
"A house. For us," Shen Wei repeated again, sliding out of his chair and going down to the floor right next to Zhao Yunlan with far more grace than the former's nearly uncontrolled fall.
His eyes were getting red and teary again but his stunning smile betrayed them for the happy tears they were. Zhao Yunlan still wiped them away carefully.
"A home, Xiao Wei," he corrected gently and leaned in for a kiss.
This time, Shen Wei let him have the lead and Zhao Yunlan used the opportunity to tease and play with him like he'd wanted since the moment he'd first seen him such a long time ago. Months, years, millennia - his concept of time had been thoroughly screwed with but he way okay with that since all the time travel stuff had given him Shen Wei in all his glorious incarnations. Finally, after so many months of healing and waiting, he was healthy enough for all the fun stuff Zhao Yunlan wanted to do to and with him.
"Yes," Shen Wei murmured when Zhao Yunlan eased off on his assault. "Let's build a home together." The yearning in his voice was loud enough to wake up the dead.
It was the last thing he got to say for a while, apart from some really nice whimpering and moaning, as Zhao Yunlan mercilessly continued with his 'make Shen Wei feel loved and cherished for the rest of time' plan.
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