"They made it until the end!!" Sun squealed cheerfully, earning himself a raised eyebrow from his grandfather and a series of other reactions from others. For instance, while Maimai was openly chuckling, Merylin had a small smile upon her lips that seemed to translate into the words; 'I am tolerating your behaviour.' Carmen was less generous, simply rolling her eyes while not in the observation of her grandfather.
Still, while not impressed by his grandson's foolishness, he couldn't help but express how he was also feeling pleased; "As expected of my adopted grandson!"
"Oh?" Jian Juren, Jin Li's maternal grandfather, smiled, a glint of mischief in his black eyes. "And here was I under the impression that you'd yet to formalise such a relationship with the boy."
"Well, well," the General stuttered, slightly flustered by the other man's teasing, "that's really only a matter of time."
"I admire your confidence," Jian Juren replied in amusement. "Don't you, Jin Li? Jin Li?" But that wayward third grandson of his was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately Jian Juren had the face of a young man or his pout would look terribly out of place.
Carmen straightened her spine, not noticing that Merylin echoed her movement and both girls glanced about themselves hoping to see the missing youth only for both to be disappointed. "Where did he go?" Carmen blurted out.
Sun and Maimai exchanged knowing glances but said nothing.
*****
Sheltered on the back of the large griffin and surrounded by enchantments to make the journey easier on its passengers, Leon could forget that he had passed from a tropical warmth to a land still in the grip of winter, at least until landing. He tightened his thin cloak about him, glancing down at the people waiting to cheer for him, the only outer school student to enter the competition this time. The inner school students were not jealous, they would receive their own receptions in due time, thus Leon was allowed this moment uninterrupted.
After Leon climbed down the ladder leaning against the griffin's tall side, he was first met with his Teacher, who congratulated him and spoke of his pride. Leon thanked him, wearily, suddenly feeling the strain of the two tendays. Teacher Sagi was an observant man and although he wished to hear of Leon's adventures through his own words, he could see that now was not the time. Especially when Leon became distracted, his eyes focused on something or rather someone behind him.
Teacher Sagi wanted to sigh, with the weight of one jealous of the luminous world of two young lovers that outsiders simply could not breech. "Go," he told his student, "rest. Tomorrow begins the judging of your team's spoils, after that they'll hold the auction and individual battles. You'll be busy for a while. Once all is settled, we can talk then."
"Thank you, T-Teacher," Leon smiled, then accepted several words of praise from fellow students, most of whom he had little true connection with, before heading in the direction of home. 'Home' stood there with a scowl upon his face and arms crossed about his chest.
"This lord didn't give you permission to leave." The words were harsh, but there wasn't any heat behind them, just a touch of sourness.
As usual, Leon needed to translate Jin Li's words into their true meaning. "I m-missed you t-too," he replied with a warm smile. Jin Li's scowl softened and melted away, he even loosened his stance to reach for Leon's hands warming them, allowing Leon to forget how cold he was.
"Should have remained here instead of galavanting about," Jin Li mumbled in complaint, "would have missed less."
Leon wanted to point out that Jin Li had been in closed cultivation, no one could predict just how long such would take. However, he was too pleased to see him to wish to fall into argument with him. So he said instead; "N-Not a lot of ch-choice, T-Teacher Sagi insisted if I or m-m-my b-brothers were asked to j-join a t-team, then j-join."
"Pike asked for you?" Jin Li asked him.
Leon failed to here the sour note; "En."
His lover's scowling expression reformed and he found himself tugged forward at rapid pace towards the domiciles. "W-what's the m-matter?"
"You require a bath," Jin Li declared, startling Leon to question him.
"Why? I k-kept quite c-clean."
"This Lord feels it was not sufficient," Jin Li replied in a tone that brook no arguments. "This Lord can only rest assured once all places that others touched are washed thoroughly." Leon frowned, trying to understand for a moment, though it took him a while distracted as he was trying to ensure he did not trip over loose stones and tree roots as they made their way through the woodlands. But after a short time, he shook his head with a light sigh. It seemed Jin Li could drink vinegar even when the wine had not aged enough.
*****(18+)*****
In the small bathhouse within a wing room of his home, the coal in the wide stove was smouldering to ash, while the now empty pots cooled on top. The air was translucent with steam and small puddles of water coated the clay tiled floor. Water sloshed up the sides of the metal bath, spilling over the side to run down its length, creating new puddles.
Inside the bath, two men moved together ambiguously.
Leon groaned as his dark hole was stretched by two long fingers, the tight space resisting as it had been a while since it was last tempered into obedience. All the while, his hands moved over his tormentor's chest, coating the hard plains with soap as he'd been instructed. It was not easy to concentrate on the task. As he rinsed the body beneath him with water, he felt those fingers remove themselves from his body, instead coming to grip his pelvis. He was pulled forward and a new object invaded him, causing him to gasp aloud. If he'd forgotten how it felt to be so full, he was reminded now with full force.
Jin Li's face could also not hide how he felt about them reuniting in this most primal of ways. His eyes were filled with lust, love and satisfaction. He savoured the feeling of wholeness for a moment, allowing Leon's body to adjust to him, the tight resistance altering to become that familiar shelter to suit him and only him. As the tinge of pain in Leon's eyes faded, he reached for the soap sand in the jar beside them, pouring out a generous handful before laving it and smoothing the suds upon Leon's soft skin. He was not yet satisfied that he had removed the remnants of others yet, uncaring that only Leon's clothes had been touched, not beneath them.
The rose buds upon Leon's chest puckered as the man beneath him paid much attention to them, his mind assaulted by the teasing pleasure as well as the more demanding one between the cheeks of his bottom. Leon gripped the sides of the bath as Jin Li thrust his hips upward, deepening their connection over and over until Leon could barely tell where he began and Jin Li stopped. His body began to demand he partake in their wet dance and more water escaped the metal tub as their movements became more involved and frantic. Jin Li's hands stretched about Leon's back, their chests pressing together then sliding as the soap reduced the friction between them. Leon felt fingers grip his bottom pushing him upward, the member inside of him withdrawing to the bulbous head, but before he could moan in complaint, his mouth was blocked and his tongue became occupied.
They parted to gasp a breath and Leon soon found himself fully seated in the cradle of Jin Li's hips once more. He was tossed about some more, unable to form coherent thought as their bodies' needs overwhelmed them and all of the concentration poured into the task of reaching their completions. Leon came first, he couldn't do otherwise when his manhood became trapped in his lover's firm grip and he began receiving pleasure from inside and out. He wailed as he came, painting their previously clean bodies with his seed before flopping over Jin Li's body. But Jin Li was not yet done and his sensitive body had to endure riding out his orgasm until his already blurred vision turned white, only then did he feel the heat of the man pouring his release deep into his insides.
Jin Li wiped them both down, more than satisfied that he had marked Leon in more ways than one, claiming his lover's body and soul as he should. Leon dozed happily in his embrace. "Your performance, in the competition, was... not disgraceful," he heard Jin Li whisper into his ear an attempt of compliment.
"En."
Snow had begun falling in the night and continued to so, smatterings of light flakes drifted down towards the ground. Though the fall had not been substantial, it had been persistent enough to create a fresh coat of white here and there where the evergreen trees and bare branches of other tall species could not block them from reaching the mountain's surfaces. It would have created a silent beauty in the eyes of one small alchemist had it not been for the bitter wind that pierced through the shelter of the trees to sweep the otherwise gentle snowflakes into a frenzy, blinding the youth momentarily with its vision of winter.
Fortunately, for the small alchemist, he was snug within a thick, white coat made of foxbear pelt and fur and protected within a taller man's shadow from the worst of it. If it were not for the stripes of black within his hair, he would likely vanish into the scenery and only the martial artist beside him would be noticeable upon this path.
Leon's steps teetered slightly, his aching hips causing a disparity in his walk and two arms reached around him, one supporting his waist while the other reaching to hold his outstretched hands. Seemingly ungrateful, he glared at the attentive man, after all, what he was suffering could at least in part be blamed upon this person. Jin Li simply raised an eyebrow in response, his eyes languid and brimming with satisfaction suggesting the small alchemist's provocation was too weak to cause a reaction... a negative one anyway. That other type of reaction, well it couldn't be helped.
"Leon!"
The voice was charming and pleasing to hear so wasn't one that could be labelled as discordant, interrupting the ambiguous aura lazily circling the two men. Leon's lips curved upward in a warm smile, while Jin Li admitted to himself that the person calling his small lover was not completely unwelcome. He was a bit unhappy that his lover stepped out of his arms though. But overall, it could be said that Maimai's timing was not bad.
The girl stepped out of the shelter of her domicile within the outer school grounds, wrapped up in a hooded fur coat, hands tucked into a matching muff. It could be seen that she had been prepared to meet with them as they passed. Another girl followed in her wake; her sister, who had made excuses to stay with her the night before. Merylin glanced up through her long, dark lashes at the man she had heard would likely be found in the outer alchemist school yesterday. Her heart quickened and there was a note of hidden satisfaction within its beats as she also recalled how unhappy that girl looked to hear that she'd be unable to follow and win a similar opportunity to cross paths with him.
Maimai was not unaware of her elder sister's intentions, just chose to ignore them. Jin Li could sort out the mess of bees and butterflies himself, she just planned to interact with his lover, her best friend.
"Leon! Congratulations!" She told him, gleefully. "You were amazing!"
Leon felt a little heat in his cheeks, despite the cold winter air. "N-no, no," he denied, bashfully. "I d-didn't do m-much."
"Of course you did!" Maimai chided him for his humbleness. "We don't get to see everything that happened, but I did see that you discovered some uncommon herbs and didn't you help find some treasures in that first cave? Did you find a lot? Were there anything different from the initial samples? The mirrors focus on the team leaders the most, so as spectators, we couldn't follow you and that boy, Troy, plus they change perspective to other teams. Much was missed!"
Before Leon could say anything, a rush of cold air brushed passed them, causing them to all shiver with the exception of Jin Li. His step into the realm of Body Tempering had already improved his ability to resist little things such as low temperatures a bit. Sure, he would still feel it if he were not wearing a coat, but this little 'breeze' at this moment was not effective at all.
"Are you returning to the Martial Arts school, senior?" Merylin asked, softly. Her presence had surprised Leon a little bit, but she was Maimai's sister. It wasn't out of place for them to be together, despite studying in slightly different areas of the Institute.
"En," Leon responded, lightly. "The j-judges will g-g-give their scores soon."
"May we accompany you then, senior?" Merylin asked, causing Leon to hesitate. The small alchemist really wanted to sigh, inwardly, then glare at Jin Li behind him. She may have addressed the question to himself, but he was not naive enough to believe that it was he she wan't to accompany. Maimai had reassured him that her sister had given up chasing his man, but it seemed that wasn't so. Before he could deny her sulkily, the girl added; "I also wished to congratulate senior. Also to learn about seniors experiences. My Teachers hinted to my fellow students and I that we may well be chosen to enter the Isles during the Interschool Exchange next year, so we were instructed to learn well."
Leon had to hesitate, then agree to her wishes, less he seem petty. He did notice Maimai roll her eyes heavenward, though.
They headed towards the Griffin's nests as a group. Leon's body still refused to cooperate fully with himself, thanks to the exertion of overexercise the previous evening. Apparently, reunification during bodily cleansing was insufficient, they also need to join to stave off colds while the main room was being reheated via the stove and also to reduce excess energy after their nap and evening meal. Leon had fallen unconscious and didn't even dream before being woken by kisses, a glass of water and a soft ice pill (which reduces fevers). As his body was this worn, he easily slipped on icy ground, tumbling into the small layer of snow, causing Jin Li to sneer.
"So clumsy," he drawled and picked his small alchemist off of the ground, before carrying him a ways. "Since you can't walk sensibly, this Lord will lower himself this one time."
Maimai covered her mouth, swallowing her gleeful giggles, but Merylin felt slightly alarmed, but uncertain of the reason. "Did you hurt your ankle, senior?" She asked, worriedly.
Embarrassed, Leon could only respond; "Something l-like that."
Merylin began to rummage in the beautifully embroidered purse upon her hip. "Please, senior should take this Blood Pill..."
"No need," Jin Li waved off her offer, not willing to relinquish the youth in his arms as he strode onward.
Merylin looked at her sister, feeling unsettled in her heart, but Maimai just shrugged. In the end, she could only join her sister to hurry forward and catch up to the young men in front.
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