Stannis hadn’t expected the kiss.
He had expected a glare, maybe a clipped "what do you want," or at best, a sigh and a reluctant nod. That was the Jian Rui he knew—sharp edges, cold silences, and a spine of steel from that handso vixen.
But the mont their lips t, all of that shattered. Jian Rui kissed him like he was drowning and Stannis was the only breath left in the world. It was rough, sudden, and desperate. When they finally parted, Stannis was left blinking, breathless, his heart pounding like a war drum.
He stared, stunned, the bouquet of bioluminescent flowers forgotten on the floor. Jian Rui had kissed him. He had initiated the kiss.
Stannis had never seen him like this. Which ant... whatever happened in the palace had been that bad.
His informant had sent the ssage barely an hour ago: sothing had gone down between the prince and the Imperial Lord. Stannis hadn’t waited for details. He had stopped mid-training, his poor subordinate still wheezing on the mat, and rushed out. He’d grabbed the bouquet on impulse, rembering how these flowers had been the best recomndation tp calm a panicked epser during a psychic flare. A strange mix of star-orchids and crystal roses, genetically tuned to soothe Espers. He hadn’t even known they worked until he saw the results in the video on StarNet.
He had waited outside the palace, following Jian Rui’s hovercar discreetly, keeping his distance. And now here they were.
Jian Rui pushed him back gently, his voice low and composed. "Sit properly."
Stannis blinked, then grinned, sliding into the seat beside him like an obedient hound. He knew Jian Rui had strict boundaries. Jian Rui was like a cat. He was elegant, aloof, and easily spooked. Stannis, on the other hand, was a golden retriever in a warhound’s body—loyal, excitable, and terrible at hiding his emotions.
But today... today Jian Rui had let him in. He tried not to bounce in his seat in excitent. Well, he tried then he saw the cut. It was a thin, healing gash just above Jian Rui’s brow, still red and raw. Stannis’s smile vanished.
He leaned in without thinking, cupping Jian Rui’s face from the uninjured side. "What happened to you?"
Jian Rui stiffened, caught off guard—but he didn’t pull away. "He threw a glass at ," he said quietly. "It’s really nothing."
Stannis’s psychic field flared. Red light pulsed through the cabin, heat rising like a furnace. The air shimred with fury. The hovercar’s stabilizers whined under the pressure.
"I am going to kill him," Stannis growled. "I don’t care if he’s the Imperial Lord. I will burn that fucking palace to the ground." He absolutely ant it.
Despite being part of the Vanguard sworn to protect the Empire, Stannis would start a war for Jian Rui. For Jian Rui he would do anything.
Jian Rui reached out, placing a hand on his chest. "Baby," he said softly. "Calm down."
Stannis froze, his breath caught. Jian Rui never called him that. Never used anything so affectionate. It was always "Stannis," or "you," or—on rare, intimate nights—"idiot." But baby?
The red light dimd instantly. Stannis stared at him, wide-eyed, like a soldier who’d just been handed a dal he didn’t think he deserved.
Jian Rui’s voice was quieter now. "Let’s go to your place."
Stannis blinked. "Our place."
Jian Rui didn’t argue.
He leaned in and kissed him again—slower this ti, deliberate.
And Stannis, who had never believed in love, who had spent years treating affection like a ga, lted into it.
***
The room still slled faintly of sweat and sex, the air thick with the aftermath of their passion. Jian Rui lay on his back, one arm draped over his eyes, chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. Stannis, sprawled beside him, watched the ceiling with softness in his gaze, his fingers tracing idle circles along Jian Rui’s hip.
He thought they would stay like this—tangled in the sheets and cuddle.
But Jian Rui sat up abruptly, the sheets slipping from his shoulders. His eyes were sharp again, the softness gone, replaced by sothing darker.
"I’m going to the simulation room," he said, already swinging his legs off the bed.
Stannis asked, "Now?"
Jian Rui stood, already pulling on his combat gear. "I need to vent."
Stannis sat up, tousled and bare-chested. "You just did."
Jian Rui shot him a look over his shoulder.
Stannis sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. He knew that look. The one that said don’t argue with unless you want to bleed. He got up, grabbing his own gear. "Fine. I am coming with you."
—
The simulation room was a sleek, obsidian chamber lined with psychic dampeners and adaptive terrain nodes. The mont they stepped inside, the lights dimd, and the floor shimred, waiting for input.
Jian Rui stood at the center, arms crossed. "Give a challenge."
Stannis hesitated. "Baby..."
"Don’t hold back."
"I don’t want to fight you."
Jian Rui turned to him, eyes glowing faintly with suppressed power. "If you don’t, I will be pissed off."
Stannis exhaled slowly. He could feel the storm brewing in Jian Rui’s aura—tight, volatile, barely restrained. Whatever had happened at the palace had left him enraged, and this was the only way he knew how to bleed it out.
"Alright," Stannis said, stepping forward. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you."
The terrain shifted. Stone cracked underfoot, jagged cliffs rising around them like the ribs of so ancient beast.
Jian Rui’s stance dropped into a low guard, his psychic field flaring silver-blue.
Stannis summoned his own, red and pulsing like a heartbeat. They circled each other in silence and then they clashed.
Not as lovers but as warriors on the battlefield. And in every strike, every dodge, every surge of power, Jian Rui let go of all his pent up fury and Stannis, loyal to the end, took every blow.
Because sotis, love ant letting soone break against you—just so they wouldn’t break alone.
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