[M] Jianyu and Shi's First Night

[Tolvo]

1 AD, 22nd June

Jianyu was in his tent alone for the time being. It had been just earlier today that he both asked Shi out and if he could protect her. This would be their first night together as a couple and with Jianyu as her guardian. He was left to his own devices for the moment. Yet, General Shi would soon arrive. For it was bed time. There it was laid out before him, the awkward scenario he found himself within. His first night, with Shi.

[Minkasha]

Across a feather lined rug, the dyes colored the fluffy bristles in watery shades. Detailed across the painstakingly designed comfort were koi fish, one appearing to move as Jianyu brushed a hand across the feathery patterns. It was holding a short round table at His Fatal Grace’s height when on bent legs. Incense burned, the stand beside parchment stained with Jianyu’s quill drawings.

He and his table were off to the side, scattered by his need to find room for a cot – which now took center of his tent. Hanging ribbon strings of red, white, and gold strung from each side of his tent and were knot tied at the center pole above. The hanging display was simple but bold and filling his personal quarters. There was a full height dresser which had intricate fillings of silver for every dented detail of tigers into the dark wood. Their impressions were made noticeable only by the bright light of a hanging candle and the thin silver bordering the stripes and claws.

The bed was wide, far beyond his own personal needs. And yet it sat with ease in this room, layered with deep reds and curving streaks of white boldly showing in the fabric. Pillows were fluffed, softened by feathers within and pictured with the well-known red dot and circle of Jianyu’s plumage. The bedding laid cleanly on the ground, sheets spilling over evenly off the sides and bottom, waiting to be pulled back and used. The odd and ugly thing out was the cot which stood at the end of the bed with a very simple blanket to cover the odd furniture. Everything was calm and at ease, except for Jianyu of Nan.

His quill released a droplet, the inky black spot seeped into the bamboo paper, spoiling his image of the weeping elm he had patiently illustrated. The single dot canceled out the stitching line detail that defined some of the leaves. Jianyu furrowed his brows, the famed red mark upon the forehead washed off for the night and leaving instead very pale skin to lightly wrinkle in his protest to what he had allowed. The quill was wiped clean and set down.

He had been rather forward, now that he sat with retrospect. Lady Shi was minutes from arriving and nervousness tickled at his otherwise commanded foundations. He hadn’t had woman near him proximal a bed in over a century. Not that he was intending anything tonight or soon, but the dynamic was as new to him as the long-lived bird could consider. New, again. Yet the general found the wisdom of his logic and he was grateful. The darkness, the Deathborne, the unknown factor of murderers in the night sickened His Fatal Grace. Sycophants disgraced them all.

Jianyu remained seated at his table, his long plumage was curled around his bent legs to nearly circle him. The wisps of his feathers touched against his white yukata he wore in loose comfortable fit. Gone were all his accessories, including the headpiece which intricately held his hair. The weight of his hair was fully let go, pounds of white silk poured for feet. It rushed down his back, falling over itself and spreading out several feet more behind him. It concealed much of Jianyu’s feathery sitting rug, shining wondrously from candlelight. What most never saw of him were the twin threads of red which came down in tandem the snowy white.

A hand touched his cheekbone. His face was hot. It bothered him. In the meantime he waited for Shi to arrive His Fatal Grace practiced careful breaths and stared down at his drawn work, knowing it would have to be discarded.

[Tolvo]

The tent's opening parted. Shi walked in while taking in the sights around her. She seemed fascinated by a lot of what she saw. "Hello Jianyu, I didn't realize you traveled and rested in such style. My tent seems military by comparison." For a moment she paused. "Seeing as I'm a general that makes sense." Under her arm she had clothes which were folded neatly. it was her uniform robes which she normally wore about the camp. As she entered looking around she undid the front of her robes partially revealing her undergarments. "So where am I to sleep? Also when do you go to bed?" She wiped a bit of sweat from her brows.

[Minkasha]

His Fatal Grace kept himself hesitantly held in place as he caught the disturbance of his tent by ear. He did not greet her verbally, feeling the urge to wait and see what would become. Yet his lady was already here and it was unfitting to meet her entrance here with indifference. Shi finished speaking and the white, red streaked haired Nan eased his vision upon her.

‘Oh my.’ The lady had no sooner pushed past the flap of his tent she was losing her articles of clothes. The Greatest of Nan was not used to this direct interaction with women. He came to stand on his talons, and even at his full height his falls of hair rose with him and did not leave the ground from the greatness of its length. It fell so easily down his entire body, dressing him with a beauty not touched on by men, done effortlessly for not a hair was damaged or unpleasant. His fluttering red eyes honed in on her face.

“The bed is your till your word says otherwise. The cot is mine.” He slowly sauntered in his white folds, drawing his robes into his fingers with a tug on the closed flap in a slow, soothing motion that didn’t actually reveal the nervousness he was feeling. “Sleep varies from the events of the world around. Lately it has been early” The world was frustrating, and the Deathborne taxed him.

[Tolvo]

Shi finished removing her robes and sat them down beside her bed along with her uniform. She pushed down on it with her hand testing it. "Oh my I don't know if I've ever been on a bed quite this comfortable. And you sleep like this every night? I need to rethink my pragmatic military senses on the road I think." Lightly she laughed and looked over Jianyu. "You know you are quite a beautiful man Jianyu. Though you must already know that look at me saying such silly things." Her hand waved as her eyes closed for a second. Shi seemed very friendly. From her hair she pulled out pins letting her hair down and set them too beside her bed. "I usually get to sleep late and wake up early. Though I imagine on this bed I won't have trouble falling asleep."

"Jianyu I wanted to pick your brain a bit on something." The general turned to face him while seated in a cross legged position like a monkey, as she usually sat. "What would you do if I died and came back as one of them? One of the Deathborne? Do you think I'd just be gone, or do you think there'd be anything left of me? Would you be fine with my looks getting even worse?"

[Minkasha]

Jianyu kept quiet while his lady spoke, not having much opinion on the small matters she said. His Fatal Grace didn’t reflect much on his appearance, it was the craft of the Kami Peacock Spirit. How he looked was an act of the Burning Islands. His hair and yakata drew behind him as he stepped to the edge of the bed, listening to her new series of questions. The pale face of the man turned briefly angry, the muscles of his jaw tightening noticeably.

“If you died, you would be gone. What was left of you would become ash my lady. I would never let such disrespect become of your body.” He answered rather quickly, dominating the airs of the conversation with unspoken threats unintentionally directed at Shi and punishing her for even broaching such a subject. Jianyu turned his face away and rubbed his temple. “I would rather avoid thinking of your unnatural death. Let the Burning Spirits and the Dragons decide when it is time”

[Tolvo]

Her face turned from friendly to a bit concerned. "I'm sorry Jianyu, I didn't mean to upset you." Shi held out a hand towards him. "I have a different question then. One much less depressing." The general's face returned to a more friendly tone and she smiled with her eyes closed like children sometimes did. "So when exactly did you know Jianyu, that you had feelings for me? Was it there all along, or was it a bit more recent of a development? Though I'm not sure how you measure what is recent given how long you've lived." She laughed yet again. "A hundred years is probably pretty recent to you."

[Minkasha]

The Nan touched her hand with a small smile. Her humor had warmed him and eased his stress. The mannerisms she had were of a levity strange to him. Her mind thought, circled around the same affairs and was able to find ways to ask these casual questions. Jianyu admired Lady Shi for this, as he also admired other mental attributes she had.

“Twelve years ago Lady Shi. Your prowess of mind and expression of thought intrigued me. For a time I have watched you from afar…I did not come to think these ways of thought and feeling were things to follow. But I could not think of any greater dishonor for you than knowing your greatness in life and watching it be taken by death’s touch, and unlife, tainting everything you had done. It was in my heart’s interest to keep you safe. In this time of danger I saw wisdom to follow the path I had denied.” His lips press together as he took her in. “The Burning Spirits put upon me their power during Baigujing’s reign. Now they strengthen me rapidly. I feel the strength course through me, the fire in my spirit at times near melts my body. I am eternal yet change vibrantly. Is this sign that I am to destroy the Deathborne? Can you see fate?”

As she answered Jianyu turned away, hands clasped in front of him and stared at the flaps of his accommodating tent pensively.

[Tolvo]

"Twelve years ago really? Such a long time keeping this all to yourself. And to think I never noticed." She scoffed at herself. "I can notice so many details but I always miss little things like that. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner Jianyu." When they held hands she smiled but seemed surprised when he pulled away. Shi's eyes opened widely. "I'd actually been wondering about that, Burning Spirits. What are they like? I suppose I should doubt their existence but we live in a world with magic, the walking dead, and-" She motioned towards Jianyu himself. "-You clearly exist. What was it like meeting a Burning Spirit for the first time? If it's even describable."

[Minkasha]

Plumage brushed over feathered flooring, cloaked by white silken hair. Jianyu continued staring at the exit of his tent, taking slow steps in a semi-circle.

“Ephemeral, the flame of their heat touches your skin. You realize it isn’t of the fire you are accustom to, the burn runs deeper than the flesh. The skin remains unbothered, the soul is seared. It feels as if you wake from the deepest restful sleep you were to have in your life, the zest and spark for life sway your thoughts.” His path stopped, now facing Shi on his bed once again, at a distance. “It is not a meeting of one, through the Fire and Smoke you feel them. It is an essence and a collective. The fires of the Burning Islands bring all this, fleetingly each time I pass a fire on their lands. It is distinct, an encouragement tied to depth, sinking inside your heart. I never forget they have chosen me. The centuries pass and still those tell my soul to continue. The Burning Spirits serve culture and strength, order in what seems chaotic.”

Jianyu clasped his hands and looked down, closing his eyes.

“The burning fire, that has never come to me. Others on the Burning Islands live by the destructive elements of the Fire and Smoke. How that feels, I could never tell you. They learn by heat that harms, the heat I experience uplifts. The Fire and Smoke are multifaced. No one man or woman will have the complete answer you are looking for”