[ this is the best day of lu bixing's life. he has fantasized about this kind of thing. like. extensively. he kicks his lil dress shoe wearing feet a bit like he can't help himself, tucking in closer to lin and just - surveying. he could almost see zhanlu, puttering around. it feels so right to have lin jingheng here, again. this place has felt more like a tomb than a home, lately, and so to be here with lin is just...
he tucks his head a little against lin jingheng's and tries to tamp down on the urge to giggle again, though he is smiling like a fucking idiot as he stares out at their house. he's going to have to get popcorn, later. he'll be thrilled.
when lin jingheng looks down, lu bixing is just smiling at him with the most adoring look on his face you've ever seen in your entire life. he's feeling especially daring, too, and in love, so - ]
[ oh this... this is the face of love. his heart swells and beats too fast, or maybe this is normal-fast... or maybe normal-fast is lin jingheng's "heart aflutter." he squeezes him closer just a bit... puppy... ]
... I would like that.
[ a small curl to his lips as he glances around, wandering a slow path as he observes everything, gazes out windows with a semi-lost look in his eyes before he feels the threshold of the bedroom underfoot, as the door opens the familiar sight envelops the both of them. his fingers tighten enough against the angle of lu bixing's trousers that the fabric grows tense in his grip. ]
It's like I was never gone...
[ it feels untouched. it's artificial, it's not real, but the person beside him is real, and zhanlu, inactive as he is, is also just as real. as if adhering to an old rhythm, lin jingheng carries lu bixing to the bed and doesn't even allow him on his feet, rather, sits him down on the edge. as he turns, it's followed by a series of deft movements: releasing the clasps of zhanlu on his arm, someone that never leaves his side, and sets him on the nightstand, pulling off his gloves.
and that is when he gets down on a knee... and pulls one of lu bixing's dress shoes onto his knee, beginning to slowly undo the laces with bare fingers soundlessly. ]
[ it is untouched, really - in real life and in an silly, artificial little exhibit. there's a whole tidal wave of emotions that threatens to knock him over, between lin jingheng being like, unreasonably cute and the fact that they're standing in their house. even if it's fake, it's still home.
he never thought he'd get to have this again. in a fit of madness, he almost recreated it, and now it's here. it feels like he's dreaming. for a moment, he's just too emotional to really say anything, just tucking his head into lin jingheng's neck as he carries him up the stairs and nodding into his shoulder. it's like i was never gone.
they're different people, but at the same time, they aren't. it's still the home of commander lin and engineer 001, and they're still commander lin and engineer 001. by the time lin sets him down, he's managed to compose himself around all of his butterflies, watching lin jingheng go through the motions of a normal night. he closes his eye, just briefly, and when lin turns away, he pinches himself.
not dreaming.
which is good, because lin jingheng kneels down in front of him and he has an absolutely hysterical train of thoughts before he swallows, watching him and curling his hands in the soft blankets on their bed. fumbling, a little, breathlessly: ] You don't have to...
[ but also oh. okay. wow. what is happening. he's gonna die. ]
but yeah, the shoelaces are untied methodically and once his shoes are off, they are placed at the side at attention. he'll join him next, rising to his feet just to carefully pulls off his boots, and for a moment it does indeed feel like home. it's a place to feel safe, and where he's sure lu xin would say, it's a place to kick off your shoes. right?
but finally he'll just...
place a knee on the bed and very easily place a hand on lu bixing's chest, pushing him down onto his back. his dark hair falls a bit into his face at the angle. ]
[ see, like this, lu bixing is pretty sure lin jingheng could ask him for the entire world on a string and he'd say yes. he could ask him to kill someone and he'd probably do it. (he knows he wouldn't.) he's just completely and utterly bamboozled by it, the same way lin has, so many times, swept him off of his feet.
he exhales all of the breath in his lungs in a woosh as he's pushed backwards, dropping back against the bed, sprawled out and trying to remember where his limbs need to go. the light hits jingheng at the perfect angle, casting a shadow over his face, making his silvery eyes look like molten metal. it makes his heart skip a beat, sends a shiver down his spine, sends his frantic little scientist brain diving into two different categories, somewhere between i've-read-too-many-romance-novels and dopamine-adrenaline-cortisol-eyes-dilating-heart-racing-oh-hot-this-is-hot and not surfacing for air. the fact that he makes words with his mouth is a miracle that only an established relationship and alpha week allow for. ]
...Any way you want, my Commander. [ it's just as breathless, but his mouth curls into a smile, a twinkle in his eyes. he is just completely putty in lin's hands, arching up a little to the hand that pushed him down, starting to lift his hands to reach to pull lin down. ] Anytime.
the hands are welcome, and like a tired beast, he leans into them, releasing the tension in his own body that has made everything stilted and awkward for him in this position. instead, he swallows up the last syllable of "anytime" and kisses lu bixing on the mouth, a slow reunion in a space that could be home for the time being. same window, same sunset, same sounds and smells.
he pushes down with a hand, weighty, but reassuring. ]
Stay down... you don't have to go anywhere. I'm right here, Bixing.
[ as he lets fingers make slow work of undoing each button (this is a biome sir) EACH BUTTON, letting fingertips slowly skim up his chest with a small, satisfied smile, dipping low and hooking into his belt.
another kiss, slower, consuming this time. it's real. ]
anyway. it may be confidence week, it may be alpha week, but lu bixing is officially smothering down any single emotion he feels relating to needing to be Strong and Confident mostly because uh, he's in heaven. this is it. like. he has, quite literally, dreamed about this. he has fantasized about this exact situation in any number of oh-i'll-have-to-sell-lin-my-body fantasies that occupy his idle thoughts. he's already pinched himself once or he might do it again.
bixing has forgotten entirely about the situation of this biome and the fact that it's not actually their house because his brain is so completely occupied by lin jingheng out here doing lin jingheng things. that hand on his chest feels like a brand and a hearth all at once, and his lashes flutter as he watches jingheng unbutton his buttons on his nerdy little oxford shirt one by one and like, barely breathes. he doesn't know exactly where this is going - well, he does, kind of - but god damn is he along for the ride.
the noise he makes into lin jingheng's mouth is needy and a little desperate, and okay, he's probably supposed to stay down but he just threads his fingers into his hair and holds him there, kisses him back and exhales shakily when he pulls away, bright red in the cheeks, lashes fluttering. ]
...welcome home. [ he repeats, in that same breathless voice from before, drawing a knee up to rest against lin jingheng's hips, just for the sake of touching him in as many places as physically possible. ]
[ he won't get tired of hearing it, laughing, truly laughing at how out of breath lu bixing sounds beneath him. he brackets him with his knees and in one fell swoop, he cages lu bixing with his arms, braced on his elbows to easily be within kissing range.
there is a moment when he thinks that maybe, he ought to consider the fact that this entire place is supposed to be some kind of funny enclosure. at the same time, he can't bring himself to care. he hasn't seen their home on qiming in over a decade, his heart hurts like it's made of stone, split in two because half of him has always been with lu bixing. the safest place it could ever be.
the truth is, they will not be. Lewd In Pulic, but he does free lu bixing's chest to press against his. it's warm, and he can feel the cadence of their rushing heartbeats as he presses in close and tucks his nose into the curve of his shoulder. ]
I stared up at the stars and waiting for this... all of this... for so long.
[ lu bixing is faced with a dilemma, and that dilemma is this. he wants to kiss jingheng, the minute he gets into close kissing distance, but he also desperately wants to listen to him talk. it is a problem. he hopes that he looks cute sprawled out on this bed? he hopes he looks cute.
apparently, he does. lu bixing still has a hand in the back of his hair, curled through the silky strands, and his other arm reaches up to link around his shoulder. he loves how warm jingheng is, for someone who supposedly looks so cold; it's a reminder of the scorching warmth he gave off the first time they kissed, the way it felt like colorblindness melting away to see the world for all of its hues. bixing turns his head, kisses the side of lin jingheng's because it's next to him, and looks up at the ceiling and just smiles. he smiles so big his cheeks hurt. ]
Yeah. [ yeah. that's all he can say - there were no stars to stare at, for him. just the crushing misery of knowing he'd never have this again, only to have it returned. hell, of all places, has done bixing some good things.
he kisses the side of his head again, another, another, arches up a little to feel that heartbeat. ]
Was it everything you expected? [ soft, almost a little jokingly, lamely - even if he wants to know the answer. they're in hell, not actually home, but it doesn't matter. will it be everything you expect, when we're home? ]
It's better than anything I remembered... Even in hell.
[ he says this on the cusp of another kiss, turning to press in close, a hand sliding up to cup the side of lu bixing's face. there's a warmth that fills him, and he looks into his eyes, his heart swollen.
he thinks about all of thought years, weight on lu bixing's shoulders, the now fading track marks that he kisses along with his palm every night. lin jingheng wants to give him everything, every part of his life, the keys to his kingdom of nothing.
just bixing. he leans in and pressed their foreheads together, a smile curling onto his lips. ]
[ ehehehe. this is much easier than the very first time something like this happened, here, because this time, it just feels natural - it feels like home. it feels like all the right ways, like lin jingheng crankily staring at the fridge in his pajamas, like waking up curled together in bed, or, like sleeping in and knowing lin jingheng was just a few meters away. he's healed, here, even if it's just a little. he's found his way home.
so, it's easy for him to play along. it's confidence week, after all, and that cheesy, ear to ear grin returns, because he can't help himself, because he adores lin jingheng's smile, because if it weren't for the unnaturalness of the fact that this just a fake biome of their real house, he's home.
so, the flirtatious and playful headmaster lu returns, as he steals a kiss, and leans back a little, waggling his eyebrows. ] Here I am. All yours for the taking, my commander. ♥
[ always. in the way, happily, that he knows lin jingheng is his. ]
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he tucks his head a little against lin jingheng's and tries to tamp down on the urge to giggle again, though he is smiling like a fucking idiot as he stares out at their house. he's going to have to get popcorn, later. he'll be thrilled.
when lin jingheng looks down, lu bixing is just smiling at him with the most adoring look on his face you've ever seen in your entire life. he's feeling especially daring, too, and in love, so - ]
...Our room, maybe?
[ a place he hasn't slept in in fourteen years. ]
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... I would like that.
[ a small curl to his lips as he glances around, wandering a slow path as he observes everything, gazes out windows with a semi-lost look in his eyes before he feels the threshold of the bedroom underfoot, as the door opens the familiar sight envelops the both of them. his fingers tighten enough against the angle of lu bixing's trousers that the fabric grows tense in his grip. ]
It's like I was never gone...
[ it feels untouched. it's artificial, it's not real, but the person beside him is real, and zhanlu, inactive as he is, is also just as real. as if adhering to an old rhythm, lin jingheng carries lu bixing to the bed and doesn't even allow him on his feet, rather, sits him down on the edge. as he turns, it's followed by a series of deft movements: releasing the clasps of zhanlu on his arm, someone that never leaves his side, and sets him on the nightstand, pulling off his gloves.
and that is when he gets down on a knee... and pulls one of lu bixing's dress shoes onto his knee, beginning to slowly undo the laces with bare fingers soundlessly. ]
no subject
he never thought he'd get to have this again. in a fit of madness, he almost recreated it, and now it's here. it feels like he's dreaming. for a moment, he's just too emotional to really say anything, just tucking his head into lin jingheng's neck as he carries him up the stairs and nodding into his shoulder. it's like i was never gone.
they're different people, but at the same time, they aren't. it's still the home of commander lin and engineer 001, and they're still commander lin and engineer 001. by the time lin sets him down, he's managed to compose himself around all of his butterflies, watching lin jingheng go through the motions of a normal night. he closes his eye, just briefly, and when lin turns away, he pinches himself.
not dreaming.
which is good, because lin jingheng kneels down in front of him and he has an absolutely hysterical train of thoughts before he swallows, watching him and curling his hands in the soft blankets on their bed. fumbling, a little, breathlessly: ] You don't have to...
[ but also oh. okay. wow. what is happening. he's gonna die. ]
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[ he's treating u like a prince. incredible.
but yeah, the shoelaces are untied methodically and once his shoes are off, they are placed at the side at attention. he'll join him next, rising to his feet just to carefully pulls off his boots, and for a moment it does indeed feel like home. it's a place to feel safe, and where he's sure lu xin would say, it's a place to kick off your shoes. right?
but finally he'll just...
place a knee on the bed and very easily place a hand on lu bixing's chest, pushing him down onto his back. his dark hair falls a bit into his face at the angle. ]
Will you welcome me home?
no subject
he exhales all of the breath in his lungs in a woosh as he's pushed backwards, dropping back against the bed, sprawled out and trying to remember where his limbs need to go. the light hits jingheng at the perfect angle, casting a shadow over his face, making his silvery eyes look like molten metal. it makes his heart skip a beat, sends a shiver down his spine, sends his frantic little scientist brain diving into two different categories, somewhere between i've-read-too-many-romance-novels and dopamine-adrenaline-cortisol-eyes-dilating-heart-racing-oh-hot-this-is-hot and not surfacing for air. the fact that he makes words with his mouth is a miracle that only an established relationship and alpha week allow for. ]
...Any way you want, my Commander. [ it's just as breathless, but his mouth curls into a smile, a twinkle in his eyes. he is just completely putty in lin's hands, arching up a little to the hand that pushed him down, starting to lift his hands to reach to pull lin down. ] Anytime.
no subject
the hands are welcome, and like a tired beast, he leans into them, releasing the tension in his own body that has made everything stilted and awkward for him in this position. instead, he swallows up the last syllable of "anytime" and kisses lu bixing on the mouth, a slow reunion in a space that could be home for the time being. same window, same sunset, same sounds and smells.
he pushes down with a hand, weighty, but reassuring. ]
Stay down... you don't have to go anywhere. I'm right here, Bixing.
[ as he lets fingers make slow work of undoing each button (this is a biome sir) EACH BUTTON, letting fingertips slowly skim up his chest with a small, satisfied smile, dipping low and hooking into his belt.
another kiss, slower, consuming this time. it's real. ]
no subject
anyway. it may be confidence week, it may be alpha week, but lu bixing is officially smothering down any single emotion he feels relating to needing to be Strong and Confident mostly because uh, he's in heaven. this is it. like. he has, quite literally, dreamed about this. he has fantasized about this exact situation in any number of oh-i'll-have-to-sell-lin-my-body fantasies that occupy his idle thoughts. he's already pinched himself once or he might do it again.
bixing has forgotten entirely about the situation of this biome and the fact that it's not actually their house because his brain is so completely occupied by lin jingheng out here doing lin jingheng things. that hand on his chest feels like a brand and a hearth all at once, and his lashes flutter as he watches jingheng unbutton his buttons on his nerdy little oxford shirt one by one and like, barely breathes. he doesn't know exactly where this is going - well, he does, kind of - but god damn is he along for the ride.
the noise he makes into lin jingheng's mouth is needy and a little desperate, and okay, he's probably supposed to stay down but he just threads his fingers into his hair and holds him there, kisses him back and exhales shakily when he pulls away, bright red in the cheeks, lashes fluttering. ]
...welcome home. [ he repeats, in that same breathless voice from before, drawing a knee up to rest against lin jingheng's hips, just for the sake of touching him in as many places as physically possible. ]
no subject
there is a moment when he thinks that maybe, he ought to consider the fact that this entire place is supposed to be some kind of funny enclosure. at the same time, he can't bring himself to care. he hasn't seen their home on qiming in over a decade, his heart hurts like it's made of stone, split in two because half of him has always been with lu bixing. the safest place it could ever be.
the truth is, they will not be. Lewd In Pulic, but he does free lu bixing's chest to press against his. it's warm, and he can feel the cadence of their rushing heartbeats as he presses in close and tucks his nose into the curve of his shoulder. ]
I stared up at the stars and waiting for this... all of this... for so long.
no subject
apparently, he does. lu bixing still has a hand in the back of his hair, curled through the silky strands, and his other arm reaches up to link around his shoulder. he loves how warm jingheng is, for someone who supposedly looks so cold; it's a reminder of the scorching warmth he gave off the first time they kissed, the way it felt like colorblindness melting away to see the world for all of its hues. bixing turns his head, kisses the side of lin jingheng's because it's next to him, and looks up at the ceiling and just smiles. he smiles so big his cheeks hurt. ]
Yeah. [ yeah. that's all he can say - there were no stars to stare at, for him. just the crushing misery of knowing he'd never have this again, only to have it returned. hell, of all places, has done bixing some good things.
he kisses the side of his head again, another, another, arches up a little to feel that heartbeat. ]
Was it everything you expected? [ soft, almost a little jokingly, lamely - even if he wants to know the answer. they're in hell, not actually home, but it doesn't matter. will it be everything you expect, when we're home? ]
no subject
[ he says this on the cusp of another kiss, turning to press in close, a hand sliding up to cup the side of lu bixing's face. there's a warmth that fills him, and he looks into his eyes, his heart swollen.
he thinks about all of thought years, weight on lu bixing's shoulders, the now fading track marks that he kisses along with his palm every night. lin jingheng wants to give him everything, every part of his life, the keys to his kingdom of nothing.
just bixing. he leans in and pressed their foreheads together, a smile curling onto his lips. ]
Here you are...
no subject
so, it's easy for him to play along. it's confidence week, after all, and that cheesy, ear to ear grin returns, because he can't help himself, because he adores lin jingheng's smile, because if it weren't for the unnaturalness of the fact that this just a fake biome of their real house, he's home.
so, the flirtatious and playful headmaster lu returns, as he steals a kiss, and leans back a little, waggling his eyebrows. ] Here I am. All yours for the taking, my commander. ♥
[ always. in the way, happily, that he knows lin jingheng is his. ]