Jinde smiled even brighter when he saw Leng Jin Yu give pause. This was probably the moment when he should implement his next trick.
"Jin Yu."
"Mn?" Leng Jin Yu looked up and found himself faced by a brilliant smile.
"Would you mind if I tried to get rid of that petal, after all?"
"Of course not." Leng Jin Yu added some details to the pair of lips he had painted and tried to ignore the way Jinde looked at him.
Jinde didn't mind. He gently shook his head, making the petal fall down onto the daybed. Some strands of his hair slipped across his shoulder and gathered in a golden lake next to his body.
"Aiya. It tickles." Jinde shook his head again.
The green sleeve slipped down his arm and exposed his skin down until his elbow.
"Oops." Jinde's golden eyebrows raised. "Now that's unfortunate. Did you paint that part already?"
Leng Jin Yu's lips twitched. Did Jinde honestly think he wouldn't be able to tell that this had been intentional? He wasn't that gullible. "No, I didn't."
"Ah. Well … Would you mind if we left it like that? I'm afraid if I tried to adjust it now, it would make matters even worse."
Leng Jin Yu slowly took a deep breath and expelled it again. "You're certainly right. Just leave it at that."
Jinde's eyebrows lifted a little higher. He hadn't expected this. Shouldn't Leng Jin Yu feel troubled by this? Don't tell him this man was even more resilient than he had thought? Did he actually have to go further?
Leng Jin Yu, in fact, wasn't as unbothered as he seemed. Looking at that slender arm made his heart palpitate and his throat felt dry. But what was he supposed to do? Jinde obviously didn't intend to stop with this game and he only had himself to blame for that. After all, Jinde had already been very open about his feelings and since he had given in yesterday evening when Jinde asked him to lie down and then tried to wake him up quite intimately this morning it was understandable that Jinde was vexed now. Why shouldn't he vent a bit?
If that was the case, they should have a talk about this though. He definitely couldn't let it go on like this.
"Jinde."
"Mn?" Jinde gently rubbed his feet against each other. Could it be that his attempt was already making an impact?
"I was wondering … You've been in the mortal realm for quite some time if I understood correctly."
"Oh … It hasn't been that long."
"Ah. Well, you haven't been in contact with many humans in that time anyway. Isn't that right?"
"Mn, that's true."
"You probably don't understand the human customs very well."
Jinde examined Leng Jin Yu's expression and tried to gauge what he was getting at. "Well, I'm not human so … I guess that's to be expected. I do know quite a few things though. I've been to the mortal realm a couple of times before … those things happened."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "So it's like that."
Silence engulfed them. Jinde's gaze flickered. He knew Leng Jin Yu wanted to talk about something. He actually didn't mind. It was just … What would the subject be? Was it something he could live with? Leng Jin Yu had sounded as if it was something grave.
A few minutes went by and Leng Jin Yu slowly painted those shoulders and that exposed arm with the fabric surrounding his elbow. Mn, this also made for a very beautiful painting. Although it was something he wouldn't dare show somebody else. This was still too sensual, even though it wasn't as bad as the other painting of Jinde he had made.
Jinde sighed. There was no way around it. If he wanted to get his lover back, he couldn't shy away whenever he feared something serious. What kind of relationship would they have if he did? "Was there something about the mortal realm you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Mn." Leng Jin Yu nodded again. "I don't really know how to breach this topic. We haven't known each other for long." The brush stilled for a moment before he dipped it back into the ink and traced Jinde's form again, adding some more details to the image of Jinde's other arm.
"You don't have to worry about that. Whatever it is I'd like to hear it."
Leng Jin Yu kept quiet for a moment and concentrated on the painting. He really didn't know how to do this but he had to explain himself. "I … started out as a normal human. It might have been a coincidence that I finally ended up as a cultivator and practitioner that ended up ascending. Most of my life was spent according to what the mortals believed to be right and I didn't spend a lot of time in the Nine Heavens to be influenced by their beliefs very much."
"So the mortal customs are important to you."
"Mn. To a large degree, they are. I tend to think that I am quite open-minded. I've lived a rather long life for a human and I've seen a lot of things. Ascending has also opened my eyes to another world. There are still some beliefs I can't shake easily."
Jinde's lips quivered and he took a shaky breath. Here it came. "Did I do something that went against those beliefs?"
"No. Not … Not really."
"But a little?"
Leng Jin Yu shook his head. "Even if you did, I wouldn't hold it against you. You're of the dragon race. Things might be different there. That's natural and nothing to blame someone for. I just feel that I should explain some things to you so you won't feel slighted by the way I treat you."
"You're too courteous."
"I just … care for you." Leng Jin Yu smiled and took a moment to trace the curve of Jinde's legs with his eyes.
Feeling his lover's gaze on him Jinde moved, his legs rubbing together slowly. This time it wasn't conscious. He just felt … warm all over under this kind of gaze. With the way he was lying there, the fabric of the robe didn't help to cover that movement at all. In return, Leng Jin Yu didn't feel less hot than Jinde.
Ah, had the weather suddenly changed?