Characters: Ryuu Jusetsu, Tan Kai, On Kei (mentioned)
A/N: This is a snippet for an AU that I've had in my drafts forever. Might as well post it since I really like what I wrote 😅
———
"What do you think you're doing?"
Jusetsu doesn't turn to acknowledge him, choosing instead to throw the dart in her hand at a well-worn board across the room. She misses by a wide margin, and Tan Kai couldn't help the petty smirk that crawls onto his face, but he wipes it off when she faces him, eyes in shadow.
"If you must know," Jusetsu says, the lazy tone only slightly affected. "I'm reclaiming the rest of my Saturday night. I advise you to do the same," she adds, offering the dart in her other hand.
He scoffs, but takes the offered dart anyway, if only to have something to hold on to. He stares at the board, imagining white numbers counting the seconds down, wishing he could throw the dart hard enough to shatter the board and the hot and wet feelings climbing into his throat.
He throws. He misses. Stupid game.
"He's not supposed to be here," he says.
"I know."
"You had an agreement."
"I know."
"He left us, for fuck's sake, and he has the gall to—"
"Tan Kai. I know." There's a weathered look in Jusetsu's eyes that gives him pause. He rarely sees it these days, not since the work started getting easier and being just the two of them slowly became enough. Did Jusetsu get better at hiding it, or did Tan Kai just not want to notice?
"Wait, what are you doing here, then?" Jusetsu asks, a divet forming between her brows. "You were supposed to go and see him. It's why I requested the kit in the first place."
Tan Kai huffs. "Left it outside the door. He could patch himself up for all I care."
"You... never mind, fine." Jusetsu deposits the rest of the darts in a wooden case, neatly lining them up before snapping the lid shut. Tan Kai doesn't miss the gold letters etched on the cover, bright and taunting despite how worn and weathered the case was. Tan Kai was sure he chucked it into the trash months ago, feeling the tiniest satisfaction in seeing it disappear down the chute. But when did she...
Well. She's always been a softie.
He snaps back to reality as Jusetsu roughly tugs him out of the rec room and into the muted lights of the hall. He quickens his pace to match hers—just to keep from tripping, and definitely not for that piece of shit that crawled back here—soon stopping outside a room. His room. (Because even the mangled meat pounding in his rib cage couldn't deny that it'll always be his room.)
Jusetsu places the first aid kit in Tan Kai's arms before gingerly turning the doorknob, slowly cracking the door open. Tan Kai notices then the dried drops of blood on the hardwood, a steady trail coming from the other side of the hall—from Jusetsu's office, most likely. He wills his heart not to stop and his mind not to race, but then Jusetsu pulls him in and flicks on one of the desk lamps.
Tan Kai has imagined this moment from the minute On Kei left. He'd make him cry, grovel at their feet, beg for forgiveness he'd never deserve. Sure, the fantasies always ended with Jusetsu flinging him back, throwing a withering glare his way before taking On Kei away until Tan Kai could cool his head long enough to have a proper conversation. But he'd at least have those five minutes of satisfaction, which would never truly be enough for all the grief he and Jusetsu went through because of him.
Still, he never thought he'd look like this.
He turns to Jusetsu and he doesn't see the Raven—the incarnation of the Living Moon, the only surviving member of the central Ran clan, and current head of the League in the Night. He remembers a girl from long ago, clad in the purest white, with eyes as clear and grand as a winter sky.
"What was I supposed to do?" she asks quietly, those same eyes cloudy and cold, the fight leaking out of her.
When he said that he wasn’t going to make her sleep on the floor, he didn’t think she would make him sleep in the bed.
It’s not like this kang has a lot of room, even with her tucked up against the wall and him lying on the other side with one leg practically dangling off the ledge. Yes, accommodations were tight in Bridle House, and he was jammed between bodies like a jarred pickle in the slaves’ quarters before that, but-
Well, the scent of whatever incense Jiujiu burns before bed is lingering in the space between them. There's not enough space. He’ll never get back to sleep.
Raven of The Inner Palace | 後宮の烏 | Kōkyū no Karasu
Saku Mizuno as Shouxue Liu
Masaaki Mizunaka as Gaojun Xia
Marika Kouno as Jiu-Jiu
Taku Yashiro as Wei Qing
Nobunaga Shimazaki as Wen Ying
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Dan Hai
Beyond all rules of reason, Jiujiu agrees. Her saying ‘yes’ is something that Dan Hai had not planned for. He’s not sure what precisely he had planned for aside from the sheer pleasure of her dismay (which, in retrospect, he did get). But now he’s stuck with all the responsibility of adult things like finding a place to live and finalizing the termination of his contract with the Palace before settling on a newer, somehow more complicated contract: Marriage.
“Take care of her.” Nyiang Nyiang is so fussy. She says that like Dan Hai hasn’t seen her literally pull down the power of a god on someone who threatened her precious Jiujiu. Multiple times.
Dan Hai, having already lost one head in his tender 32 years and not eager to lose the second, holds his rather clever tongue until the both of them are eligible to be released from their service to the Emperor.
“Hey,” he drawls, skiddling up alongside Jiujiu’s slim figure. To his delight, she shifts her focus away from the laundry long enough to eye him warily. It makes him wish he had a bug to drop down the back of her dress. “Wanna get hitched?”
Scratch that. He wishes he had a bug to throw into her gaping mouth.
