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Then why do I feel guilty for missing him?

[Scooting back to the edge of the tub, he pull Ouyang back with him and gently lets his fingers stroke over his heart.]

When I became Emperor I had to sacrifice my brother to do it. I tricked the woman I loved into believing he had killed her father. I loved my brother so much. He had I had been closer than anything growing up. Yet I stood there and watched her stab him in the back, watched him fall to the ground. I knew I had to what I had to in order to make change happen. That didn't stop me from setting up a cup for him at my table and talking to him as if we were having drinks like we used to.

[He kisses his hair.]

No matter our histories we still care. We still have those good feelings and memories mixed with the sour. You know the sour exist so you don't want to miss him. But it cannot change that the good exists.

(( He listens attentively, taking in the weight of the story Runyu shares with him. He knew that Runyu had a tumultuous past, but he never pried. He knows now that his beloved isn't trying to shift focus but to commiserate over the strangeness of conflicting feelings. ))

I arrived here after I betrayed him. I arranged his father's death and killed my Lord Esen, as well. I believed that was my fate.

Both of us arrived with the knowledge of our betrayals and the weight of the blood of those we care about on our shoulders. To believe we would serve our punishments.

[Runyu kisses the side of his head.]

Let yourself feel your emotions, Ya'er. I will be here for you through it. There is no wrong to what you feel and you are not alone. Not here. I'll never allow you that fate.

(( Ouyang exhales a slow breath, savoring the nearness of Runyu, both physically and emotionally. He knows, logically, that there's no point in regretting a past that cannot be changed... and yet. ))

I never feel alone since I found you and Mingye.

(( Not like he did with Esen. There would always be a gulf between them, it seemed. ))

Good. I know the power and weight of being alone. I never want you two to ever go through that.

[Leaning down, he presses a kiss to the side of his neck this time.]

I love you.

(( Ouyang sighs happily at those words. He leans back and shifts slightly to peer back at his beloved dragon. He's sure Runyu could stay in the water forever if he chose to, but Ouyang lifts a hand to reveal his wrinkling fingertips. ))

I am becoming a prune, beloved.

Mm. A very handsome and delicious prune.

[Playfully he nips at his ear before relenting and helping Ouyang to stand before standing himself so they can get out of the water. Even if his body craves lingering there.]

(( That earns an actual giggle and Ouyang wiggles a little. He adores the way Runyu showers affection on he and Mingye. Ouyang never feels anything but loved and welcomed by his dragon. It leaves him smiling as he rises from the water and reaches for a nearby towel to dry himself. ))

You don't have to get out if you don't want to. I will stay here with you.

[Runyu blinks then laughs softly at that.]

I've resisted so many of my desires as a water dragon for so long that I didn't even think of that. But bodies of water often call to me to rest in.

Perhaps we could build a pool for you. (( Then he can rest in it in whichever form pleases him. ))

Oh? Is that going to be another new project for you?

[He settles back into the water and rests his arms on the edge of the tub to make it easier to talk to Ouyang.]

Perhaps.

(( The word is teasing, offered with a soft smile. Once Ouyang toweled dry, he wrapped it around himself, unwilling to put his filthy underrobes back on now that he was clean. Closer to when Runyu was ready to leave the water, he could go fetch them some clean clothes. ))

You look very comfortable in the water.

When someone is surrounded by their natural element it is healing and comforting. It gives strength as well. I'm a water dragon which means that is my natural element.

[His tail rests on the surface of the water as his eyes close.]

I always feared to relax like this in my world. I like that I can here with those I love.

I understand that feeling. Any sign of weakness will be exploited. I didn't even keep servants out of fear of them seeing anything other than the Prince of Henan's General.

[It's not the easiest thing to admit to but he nods in the end.] Yes. That's exactly what life has been like for me in my world.

(( There's a soft hum of acknowledgment and Ouyang moves to kneel beside the bath. He lays a hand over one of Runyu's and gazes at him with a determined look. ))

I know it's difficult.

It was. I don't deny that. But that's there and this is here. Here I don't have to be that way.

[He tilt his head so he can kiss the fingers on his hand.]

Mm. (( While he agrees, Ouyang still acknowledges that, for him, it's still hard to separate certain habits of his previous life from his current one. He's certainly able to relax and let his guard down around his two lovers, but he's still driven by a need to be useful. At least, in caring for Runyu and Mingye, he enjoys being of service to them.

Speaking of being of service... Ouyang turns his attention to Runyu, lounging so comfortably in the water. He started by washing it, but now... Without a word of explanation, he rises from his place and moves to gather a comb and some scented oil. When he returns, he sits behind his dragon and nudges him to lean forward just enough for Ouyang to gather his hair from the water. ))

Here we can just be.

[Realizing what Ouyang wants, he turns around so he can lean against the edge of the tub with his hair outside for Ouyang to comb it. It rarely tangles but it's always nice to have it cared for regardless.]

Yes. Here we can just be. That's what I want.

(( Ouyang enjoys being able to care for his beloved. Though he was a child slave when he learned to bathe and care for another's hair, it's something he can reclaim and repurpose in tending to his lovers. As he dips the comb in the scented oil, he runs it carefully through the ends of Runyu's hair, working his way up until he can make long strokes from scalp to end without catching or tugging. ))

[Sighing, he melts under the attention, not even realizing that more of his body has changed, his dragon form taking over the lower half of his body as well as all of the bath. A sure sign of how relaxed he really is to have stopped paying attention this much.]

(( He can't help noticing the change, though Ouyang says nothing. If Runyu is comfortable enough to reveal a part of his true body, he isn't about to draw extra attention to it. He continues to work the comb and oil into Runyu's hair while admiring the silvery-white scales -- exactly like the one that hangs around Ouyang's neck. ))

May I braid your hair?

You may.

[He never actually braids his hair but he doesn't mind if it's done for him. Especially if it's done by someone he loves as much as he does Ouyang. This is relaxing and he likes the idea of those fingers continuing to play.]

(( Ouyang always wears braids in his hair, another habit he picked up being steeped in Mongolian culture. He didn't fail to notice that Mingye also wears braids in his hair. He wonders about putting even more braids in Mingye hair.

With a contented hum and a sharpened focus, he sets to work starting at Runyu's hairline and working what will be the first of several braids into it. The hair in his hands is still damp, making it easier to work with. The length of Runyu's hair will take some time to finish, but he enjoys every second of working through strands through his fingers. In the end, Runyu will have three large plaits atop his head that can easily be worked into some kind of hair ornament if he so chooses and two smaller braids behind his ears meant to hang free with the length of his hair. ))

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