[ after the battle, exhaustion crept in her like tar, weighing her entire body down with aches and pains she never even knew existed. when she moves she feels like a doll whose strings are stretched a bit too tightly, and now slack; there are bruises where they ought not to be and she feels like she's been wound up too much. they tell her she's not in danger of overclocking and find it impressive. what a relief, she thinks, but it also doesn't explain anything else.
she's not hungry. she turned down the offer to eat, preferring to go back to their makeshift barracks in the barren lands. shower was a cold and short affair. it's late night, early morning, more likely dawn will come, and she glances at someone's room and figures, he's probably not there.
when she manages to track him down he's still out in the field, returning from giving orders. checking on his soldiers and leaders. rover's hair was still damp from the showers. ]
This isn't resting, General. [ just so he knows. ]
[After the battle- well, there's always more to be done, and as a general he has responsibilities. As for himself, Jiyan the man, well, later, later, there's always later. He can always put himself off until later. It's the same in medicine as it is in warfare. A doctor's first responsibility is to his patients; a general must take care of his men.
Even if it's late. Even if they had just been in a battle. Even if-
And then he's interrupted, and for Rover, for her? It's easy enough to give her a sheepish smile. Something genuine. Unforced. Sheepish, sure, but genuine.]
Rover. [If it seems like he perked up at the sight of her, like a puppy, well- Rover occupies a rare niche in all of Huanglong. She's one of the few people he feels like he can rely on, trust things to instead of trying to take care of as much as he can on his own. She's not someone who he needs to look after- well, not like that, not in the same way he would one of his soldiers. A rare quality.]
I know... [And here's another thing. Rover is one of the few people who can win the upcoming battle that he can practically taste in the air.] There's just always so much to do and never enough time to do it in.
I'm sure your soldiers can forgive you for not being able to manipulate time.
[ he asks too much of himself otherwise.
since jiyan is a problem unto himself, rover takes it upon her to take him away from the battlefield. the problems have abated for now; there isn't anything they can't take care of themselves, and everyone seems to be in high spirits despite the effects of war. so rover grabs his hand and leads him away - ]
[Jiyan exhales - an amused huff - and it's quiet and subtle and that's not such a bad thing, is it? He can laugh, but right now he doesn't have to put on a show because Rover's right there and she can hear it, and that's enough. But she's right. His Forte doesn't allow him to manipulate time.
Rover grabs his hand - Jiyan lets her take his hand, more importantly - and the two of them leave the battlefield together.]
Who am I to say no? [He even gives her hand a squeeze. Small. Gentle.] I'll never refuse you, Rover.
[ rover says, amused as she shoves him into his barracks. ]
Maybe I ought to take advantage of it. Authorize more snacks for everyone, because the General said he won't refuse me.
[ how terrible. she won't do it, of course, but it's funny to think about either way.
jiyan's room is a mess. it's clear he hasn't been there in a while. rover sighs as the light illuminates just what he's clearly left behind before going to his regular routine in the battlefield. ]
At least you have a bed.
[ and the bed is free of paperwork or anything. just an innocent bed, which rover turns to shove him towards. ] I order you to rest, General.
[He'd wince about the state of his room if it wasn't for the fact he had a very attractive woman hauling him into it. It's still winceable, but he can do it later, at leisure. Go fight some stuff, remember the time Rover saw his room, wince, get back to fighting.
For now? For now he's shoved towards his bed. He goes, with a laugh.]
Yes, ma'am. [It rolls off his tongue, but ma'am does sound rather frumpy, doesn't it?] Miss? Madame? [If Rover isn't going with him, he's catching her hand, pulling her - gently - with him.] What should I call you?
[ rover laughs, teasing him lightly as he fumbles through titles. her hand with his, she saddles her thighs between his hips. moves her body down with him onto the bed, letting both of them fall. jiyan is strong and firm beneath her, dependable.
she kisses his cheek gently. ] Perhaps I can be one of your junior officers, looking to get in trouble.
[The true, unsexy, horrible answer to that would be that Jiyan would gently turn down any of his junior officers who tried this and find an excuse to station them somewhere else. It's ridiculously unsexy. He'd immediately go flaccid if he said it; Rover would turn around and walk out the door, and they'd never speak about this again.
He doesn't do that. He's not an idiot. Instead, he kisses her cheek in exchange-]
If you were one of my junior officers...
[And her jaw.]
You wouldn't be my junior for long.
[Then, ear, and his hand wanders into her hair, down her back. Even if he could only have the savior of Jinzhou for a moment, well, it was a moment worth cherishing.]
My men would demand for you to be put in charge, which I suppose would leave me to do your paperwork for you.
[ rover laughs, a bit ticklish when she feels his mouth against her war, her neck. her thighs wrap around his waist firmly as she slips her arms around his neck. ]
.... my paperwork? You're not thinking of retiring, surely?
I'll take the responsibility if asked, but I won't let you rest at all.
[ how terrible of her. rover traces his tacet mark up the length of his back with her fingers, gently unbuttoning his uniform to peel it off his shoulders. ]
I want you by my side.
[ awful to be so honest, so sincere. even as she wants him. ]
[It's awful. The worst of it maybe that if they were two ordinary people - a man and a woman, somewhere far away, somewhere where the only people they had to worry about was each other - he'd say yes. Gladly. He wouldn't hesitate to promise forever, eternity, side by side, whatever she wanted, however she wanted it.
Now wasn't the time to be somber. Jiyan shivers at her fingers- always does. Grown general, yet still feels like a boy when he's with Rover. It makes him smile.]
As long as I can.
[A promise. A vow. A hope, knowing full well that any day now he might end up skewered by a tacet discord and everything would be over.
He shrugs off his uniform, rolling his shoulders to help her get it free as he goes for her belt. (So many buckles. He'd think he'd be quicker at this.) And it looks good. Rover's caught him staring more than once. So has his men.
The less said about that, the better.]
However you'd have me.
[Putting her before Jinzhou, how terrible, but his heart wants what it wants, and he can be selfish just this one time.]
[ at least it's easier to undress her than it is with him; rover laughs when his arm gets caught with one of his straps. too much for this impossible man. her clothes, in contrast, give way to his hands, slipping out of her shorts easily. ]
Mm, well, you're the one who needs to relax and be pampered. [ rover smiles. she kisses the corner of his mouth, and then his lips, again and again. ]
I'm here to take you away from work.
[ a noble cause nonetheless as rover pushes him down on the bed, his clothes gathered uselessly around his waist after undressing him. ]
[Rover laughs; he blushes ever so slightly and flashes her a slightly sheepish smile. Not too embarrassed. Not too sheepish. But it's at times like this that he's keenly aware that no matter how attention grabbing his uniform is in a fight, how (supposedly) morale boosting it is, how it helps him lead the vanguard into battle, it's also kind of terrible for moments like this? It's fabric upon fabric upon fabric. It's ridiculous.
But Rover kisses him and he kisses back, and all thoughts of clothes are gone from his head. He chases her lips like a sunflower chases the light, before he gets pushed down on the bed.
It's a nice place. It's a nice view.]
I'm not very good at relaxing.
[Rover has nice thighs. Has he said that enough to her? Probably not, he never could, but his fingers trace her skin, give them a nice squeeze. Appreciative. Respectful.]
[ what a demand! it's not like rover is keenly aware of it, more that she'd rather hear him say it. in any case, isn't that just another way of getting to know each other? what he likes, what he wants, what he could be greedy about ... the general is but a man, surely there are other things he wishes from her, from everything, more than just his duty. a man can't be kept warm by his duties, after all.
she's happy to feel his hands over her thighs. the press of metal against skin is exhilarating. she leads his hand over the hem of her pants, encouraging him to strip her down. ]
... then we can talk about how to relax. Friends should get to know each other better, after all.
[Well, what can he do in the face of that demand but laugh and give in.]
I want everything.
[A non-answer, but also a prelude to a real answer, and also an answer in itself. Bear with him. Jiyan's fingers take the hint and they slowly, gently pull down her pants- maybe they should go faster, but he wants to savor this. Savor her. She's someone worth savoring. It's almost...reverent. A form of worship, maybe.
She really does have nice thighs. (And eyes and arms and breasts and a nice smile and a nicer laugh, but right now his fingers are on her thighs, and his mind is as well.)]
Here's one wish of mine. Somehow, there's enough peace that I can leave the Borderlands for a season, and for three months I go somewhere as different as I can - a place by the ocean, perhaps? Would you come with me if I did?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
- jiyan. (nsfw)
she's not hungry. she turned down the offer to eat, preferring to go back to their makeshift barracks in the barren lands. shower was a cold and short affair. it's late night, early morning, more likely dawn will come, and she glances at someone's room and figures, he's probably not there.
when she manages to track him down he's still out in the field, returning from giving orders. checking on his soldiers and leaders. rover's hair was still damp from the showers. ]
This isn't resting, General. [ just so he knows. ]
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Even if it's late. Even if they had just been in a battle. Even if-
And then he's interrupted, and for Rover, for her? It's easy enough to give her a sheepish smile. Something genuine. Unforced. Sheepish, sure, but genuine.]
Rover. [If it seems like he perked up at the sight of her, like a puppy, well- Rover occupies a rare niche in all of Huanglong. She's one of the few people he feels like he can rely on, trust things to instead of trying to take care of as much as he can on his own. She's not someone who he needs to look after- well, not like that, not in the same way he would one of his soldiers. A rare quality.]
I know... [And here's another thing. Rover is one of the few people who can win the upcoming battle that he can practically taste in the air.] There's just always so much to do and never enough time to do it in.
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[ he asks too much of himself otherwise.
since jiyan is a problem unto himself, rover takes it upon her to take him away from the battlefield. the problems have abated for now; there isn't anything they can't take care of themselves, and everyone seems to be in high spirits despite the effects of war. so rover grabs his hand and leads him away - ]
Come. That's enough of that.
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Rover grabs his hand - Jiyan lets her take his hand, more importantly - and the two of them leave the battlefield together.]
Who am I to say no? [He even gives her hand a squeeze. Small. Gentle.] I'll never refuse you, Rover.
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[ rover says, amused as she shoves him into his barracks. ]
Maybe I ought to take advantage of it. Authorize more snacks for everyone, because the General said he won't refuse me.
[ how terrible. she won't do it, of course, but it's funny to think about either way.
jiyan's room is a mess. it's clear he hasn't been there in a while. rover sighs as the light illuminates just what he's clearly left behind before going to his regular routine in the battlefield. ]
At least you have a bed.
[ and the bed is free of paperwork or anything. just an innocent bed, which rover turns to shove him towards. ] I order you to rest, General.
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For now? For now he's shoved towards his bed. He goes, with a laugh.]
Yes, ma'am. [It rolls off his tongue, but ma'am does sound rather frumpy, doesn't it?] Miss? Madame? [If Rover isn't going with him, he's catching her hand, pulling her - gently - with him.] What should I call you?
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[ rover laughs, teasing him lightly as he fumbles through titles. her hand with his, she saddles her thighs between his hips. moves her body down with him onto the bed, letting both of them fall. jiyan is strong and firm beneath her, dependable.
she kisses his cheek gently. ] Perhaps I can be one of your junior officers, looking to get in trouble.
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He doesn't do that. He's not an idiot. Instead, he kisses her cheek in exchange-]
If you were one of my junior officers...
[And her jaw.]
You wouldn't be my junior for long.
[Then, ear, and his hand wanders into her hair, down her back. Even if he could only have the savior of Jinzhou for a moment, well, it was a moment worth cherishing.]
My men would demand for you to be put in charge, which I suppose would leave me to do your paperwork for you.
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.... my paperwork? You're not thinking of retiring, surely?
I'll take the responsibility if asked, but I won't let you rest at all.
[ how terrible of her. rover traces his tacet mark up the length of his back with her fingers, gently unbuttoning his uniform to peel it off his shoulders. ]
I want you by my side.
[ awful to be so honest, so sincere. even as she wants him. ]
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Now wasn't the time to be somber. Jiyan shivers at her fingers- always does. Grown general, yet still feels like a boy when he's with Rover. It makes him smile.]
As long as I can.
[A promise. A vow. A hope, knowing full well that any day now he might end up skewered by a tacet discord and everything would be over.
He shrugs off his uniform, rolling his shoulders to help her get it free as he goes for her belt. (So many buckles. He'd think he'd be quicker at this.) And it looks good. Rover's caught him staring more than once. So has his men.
The less said about that, the better.]
However you'd have me.
[Putting her before Jinzhou, how terrible, but his heart wants what it wants, and he can be selfish just this one time.]
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Mm, well, you're the one who needs to relax and be pampered. [ rover smiles. she kisses the corner of his mouth, and then his lips, again and again. ]
I'm here to take you away from work.
[ a noble cause nonetheless as rover pushes him down on the bed, his clothes gathered uselessly around his waist after undressing him. ]
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But Rover kisses him and he kisses back, and all thoughts of clothes are gone from his head. He chases her lips like a sunflower chases the light, before he gets pushed down on the bed.
It's a nice place. It's a nice view.]
I'm not very good at relaxing.
[Rover has nice thighs. Has he said that enough to her? Probably not, he never could, but his fingers trace her skin, give them a nice squeeze. Appreciative. Respectful.]
You'll have to show me how.
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[ what a demand! it's not like rover is keenly aware of it, more that she'd rather hear him say it. in any case, isn't that just another way of getting to know each other? what he likes, what he wants, what he could be greedy about ... the general is but a man, surely there are other things he wishes from her, from everything, more than just his duty. a man can't be kept warm by his duties, after all.
she's happy to feel his hands over her thighs. the press of metal against skin is exhilarating. she leads his hand over the hem of her pants, encouraging him to strip her down. ]
... then we can talk about how to relax. Friends should get to know each other better, after all.
no subject
I want everything.
[A non-answer, but also a prelude to a real answer, and also an answer in itself. Bear with him. Jiyan's fingers take the hint and they slowly, gently pull down her pants- maybe they should go faster, but he wants to savor this. Savor her. She's someone worth savoring. It's almost...reverent. A form of worship, maybe.
She really does have nice thighs. (And eyes and arms and breasts and a nice smile and a nicer laugh, but right now his fingers are on her thighs, and his mind is as well.)]
Here's one wish of mine. Somehow, there's enough peace that I can leave the Borderlands for a season, and for three months I go somewhere as different as I can - a place by the ocean, perhaps? Would you come with me if I did?