Zhou Zishu idly twisted a strand of pure white around his fingers, giving up his self-chosen task of combing through Wen Kexing's hair for a moment to stare at it.
"A-Xu?", Wen Kexing asked after a moment, slowly waking up from the trance-like state he'd fallen into shortly after Zhou Zishu had started this new daily ritual of theirs. "Does it look so horrible then, that you still have to stare at it wordless despair?"
The words, mocking on the surface, but the insecurity beneath easy to hear if one knew what to listen for, tore him out of his own trance.
Wen Kexing's hands were still loosely clasped in his lap, his posture relaxed. He was still too depleted of energy to do much apart for some very light training designed to restore his strength, read through their newly acquired library, and sit still under Zhou Zishu's ministrations; but at least he was able to do all of that and, somehow even more importantly, talk.
Zhou Zishu wouldn't have thought it possible how much he could miss that voice, until it had fallen silent for months. Even when it was talking absolute nonsense.
"You could never look horrible, Lao Wen," he gave back, trying to give back a bit of the flirting he'd been subjected to himself once upon a time. It was a constant process but the small smiles and blushes it got him was worth the effort. In truth, he was marveling at finally being able to fully feel the fine strands wrapped around his fingers. Before, it had been Wen Kexing who had taken care of Zhou Zishu's hair, his own fingers too devoid of feeling to do it himself near the end, and, frankly, he had liked being cared for like that.
Judging by Wen Kexing's reactions he liked being pampered at least as much as he himself did. Plus, he deserved it, in Zhou Zishu's humble opinion. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud or he would never hear the end of it.
He carefully tugged on the strand of pure white. "It's striking," he allowed, "if we ever return to civilization we'll have to hide it." And probably hide his face, to keep him safe. Which would be a shame. No, better to just stay here, alone and safe from a world that had only hurt them over and over again.
Another contented smiled through half-closed eyes. "Already tired of being alone with me, A-Xu?"
He leaned down to press a light kiss on top of the knot he'd already styled. "Never," he said, infusing the word with all the promise he could, making it a vow, as he slid in a hairpin he'd found yesterday to finish the ritual. It was dark brown, almost black, and beautifully contrasted with Wen Kexing's white hair. "If I get to spend the rest of eternity with you on this frozen mountain I will be content."
"Only content?" Wen Kexing asked softly, tensing up.
Fuck. He put his hands on Wen Kexing's shoulders and squeezed them in silent apology. "I will only be truly happy when you're fully recovered and we can fly together over the snow." He wanted a true equal after all, just like they had been before, someone who wanted to be taken care of by him but had no actual need for it.
That put a beautiful smile on his Lao Wen's face and Zhou Zishu took a deep, relieved breath. Crisis averted. Hopefully. He quickly put a hand over Wen Kexing's mouth to keep yet another useless apology from falling out.
"Don't," he warned sharply. One more apology about how slow his recovery was going and he was going to go crazy and do something they both might regret. "You destroyed yourself to save me, and as much as I hate it I'm also thankful. So shut up and concentrate on getting better instead of regretting that it takes time."
Lots of it. It must have been over half a year now, as best as he could tell, and Wen Kexing had only able to stay up and awake the better part of a day for a few weeks now. He'd only just about started a - highly supervised, to keep the self-sacrificing idiot from hurting himself too much - training regime and was moving around with more of his old grace every day. Slowly, yes, but he was healing and he was getting better and that was all that mattered. They had all the time in the world now, after all, where before there had been almost none at all.
In what had become another of their new little rituals Wen Kexing offered his right hand for Zhou Zishu to grab and check his pulse and his energy levels. Shattered meridians were slowly rebuilding themselves, aided by what felt like an endless amount of energy poured into them by Zhou Zishu since the moment he'd woken up only to have a nearly depleted Wen Kexing first falling away from him and then collapsing into is arms.
The sheer terror of waking up and feeling healthy and good for the first time in far too long only to see snow-white hair and an expression of peace that only death could bring, followed by feeling of his other half slipping away, would stay with him forever. He'd started to reach out and just pushing all the energy he'd just received back out of instinct - just barely catching Wen Kexing before he was gone forever.
"I'm still here, A-Xu," Wen Kexing murmured, "thanks to your stubborn refusal to accept the inevitable we both can have this."
They both had been down the road of regrets a couple of times but somehow they still had always found their way back to each other. To life.
As of either of them would have wanted a life, yet alone an immortal one, without their soulmate at his side. Zhou Zishu was painfully aware of the fact that he hadn't been nearly as diligent in showing his devotion as Wen Kexing had been but he had promised - silently to himself and out loud to the object of his affections, first while he was still in a coma and later out loud when his vow could have been heard and understood - to do better in this frozen new life of theirs.
"You're the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on," Zhou Zishu said now, smiling and delighting in the small flush of pleasure his words evoked in his companion. Ah yes, now he'd gotten his flirting right.
"Beautiful enough to finally lay your hands on me?" Wen Kexing teased gently but with a hard look in his eyes.
Zhou Zishu tightened his grip around the fragile seeming wrist. "Careful," he warned, knowing very well his breath was wasted. This day had been long coming and he was out of arguments as well as patience. They both wanted it so badly after all.
It had been a point of discussion between them for a while now. Wen Kexing was slowly but surely getting better and more mobile and with his health his appetite for sex had also returned.
"A-Xu, you promised." The teasing tone had vanished and only a superficial hint of playfulness remained in Wen Kexing's voice. "I've been waiting long enough for you now, don't you think?"
Zhou Zishu winced at the unsubtle reminder. Wen Kexing saw it in the mirror and smirked, all teasing menace.
"Don't you love your poor wife? Poor me, with a husband who refuses to fulfill his marital duties…"
Once again he covered that tempting mouth with his hand - only to quickly snatch it back when Wen Kexing bit him. "If I fuck you will you shut up?" he asked more harshly then intended because the thought alone was enough to wake his own sex drive up and the bite didn't help in cooling it down.
Not yet, he told himself but knew it for the lie it was.
Wen Kexing - no, both of them, really - had been waiting for a long while, yes, and not because either one had wanted to. By the time their relationship had progressed to an intimate level Zhou Zishu's dying body hadn't been able to get it up anymore. Not that either of them had been unhappy with Wen Kexing fucking him but, well, they both liked it either way.
"See it as payback," Wen Kexing offered, ignoring the question completely, "I'm pretty sure I can't get it up right now either. Take me and enjoy it while you don't have to fight me for who's going to fuck who." His hungry gaze betrayed the haughty words. He wanted to be taken by Zhou Zishu, badly, had since the moment their deep emotional connection had tipped over into the physical world after one jug of wine too many.
Zhou Zishu grinned. He was actually looking forwards to discovering how their dynamic would work itself out now that they both were healthy. Or at least on the road there in Wen Kexing's case. "As if you're not getting off on the mere idea of lying back and having me worship you," he grumbled, grabbing a fistful of white hair and yanking on it rather harshly. His Lao Wen could be a shameless little whore, if he wanted to be, to Zhou Zishu endless delight. He would take everything he was offered and more and enjoy every moment of it.
Wen Kexing responded beautifully by craning his head back to expose his throat and grinned up at him in almost manic delight.
"So violent already, A-Xu? Are you going to throw me down on the bed and ravish me? Hold me down and make me beg?"
He would. Not today, but eventually. The mental picture alone was enough to almost make him come on the spot. He was pretty sure Wen Kexing had things in his repertoire that could put most professional courtesans to shame and he couldn't wait to discover them all. Over and over again.
"No," he said curtly, letting go of Wen Kexing's hair and stepping around to offer him a hand up. After moment of wary consideration Wen Kexing put his right hand into Zhou Zishu's offered one and let himself be pulled up. "Your first time shouldn't be so violent," Zhou Zishu murmured in the sweetest voice he could manage. "I don't want to frighten you off, after all. Plenty of time to do grab and fuck you against the nearest wall in the future. After you've gotten accustomed to being taken."
It didn't even take Wen Kexing the span of a heartbeat to get it. He tossed his head back and laughed, full of delighted surprise, obviously happy to play along. "Promises, promises. Are you trying to make this poor little virgin afraid of you?" His eyes shone with a new light, making him somehow look even more beautiful and ethereal than he already did with his new hair color. "I don't intent to lose," he said but dutifully followed Zhou Zishu's lead towards the chamber where they had made their bed.
"Who said the one getting fucked is the loser?" Zhou Zishu asked idly, grinning back at the lunatic idiot he fully intended to spend an eternity or two with. He halted and made sure to catch Wen Kexing's gaze. "Lao Wen," he said softly, putting all of what he felt into the name, "it's been a pale echo before. I can't wait to fully feel having you inside me." At odds with his previous aggressiveness he brushed back a strand of hair he'd left out of knot to frame Wen Kexing's face. He had more to say but his words were swallowed when his lips were captured in a kiss.
"My A-Xu, always saying the sweetest things when I least expect them," Wen Kexing whispered against his lips. "It will be my pleasure," he promised. "I will make you feel better than anyone else before ever did."
You already did, Zhou Zishu wanted to say. Even when I could barely feel it with my body you were the best lover I've ever had, igniting my soul in a way no one before ever managed to do.
"But first," he continued, "take me to our wedding bed and show me that the long wait was worth it."
He wouldn't be Wen Kexing's first, Zhou Zishu knew, just like Wen Kexing hadn't been his first male lover. Things had been hinted at but not yet spoken of because their time hadn't come yet and now they had the luxury of waiting for the perfect moment.
So, no, not the first but he would be the last to touch and worship this gorgeous body ever again and that knowledge had its own special kind of thrill.
"How did I find myself with such a demanding wife?" he lamented, for the first time acknowledging out loud what Wen Kexing had called himself so often before. "What have I done to deserve this?" Teasing like that was still unfamiliar, the words foreign on his tongue, but it was worth the try to see Wen Kexing choke on a laugh and blush at the same time.
He had the privilege of stunning Wen Kexing so much with his uncharacteristic words that there was nothing but a rather undignified squeak when Zhou Zishu finally pushed him down into their nest of blankets.
He laughed out loud and Wen Kexing looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes before he, too, laughed and reached out to yank him down before he proceeded to climb all over Zhou Zishu in his haste to get rid of their robes.