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[baxiasprice]

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Sexscape Navigator

» Age: 22 » Species: Human Cultivator » A5 Card: Open » Seeking: Allies and those with interesting martial powers to spar with. » Preferences: N/A » Interests: Saber cultivation. Military strategy. » Bio: Sect leader of the Qinghe Nie and one of the primary generals of the Sunshot campaign. Thrust into leadership young, he has had very little life outside of that for the past three years. His seize-the-day approach applies to everything and everyone, particularly when there are mutual sparks. He especially loves to get worked up and worked out.

base code by photosynthesis

NIE MINGJUE

Comments

[baxiasprice]

After a thoughtful nod, Mingjue declares, "Then the bed is definitely required. If you're not just going to be staying here, but—" he pauses. Well, it sounded better in his head. "But staying here."

He waves a hand. They know what he means.

"But I." And here he pauses again, but not because he's faltering, but because he's caught once more in a thought. The idea that expectations have simply been done away with is a strange one, and the fact that they were pulled here against their will and have no idea how to get back hits him all anew. "I."

Huh.

"Huh." Huh. "We don't have to think of those things here. Nobody's depending on us but us."

[taintedpeony]

"Get a big one, So you two can sprawl comfortably as well, I plan on using the both of you as mattresses." He smiles at him softly, from his perch on Xichen.

"No. No sect responsibilities, no war. Just us. Who is Nie Mingjue, the man? Not the leader or the hero or even the elder brother? Who is Lan Xichen the man? When he is not the first jade or Zewu-jun.

Who am I? When I'm not Jin Guangyao, Lianfang-zun, When I'm not even Meng Yao.

I don't know.

But I want to find out."

[unimpeachable]

While the talk of the bed has him almost smiling, it's the next part that has him sitting there, gaze focusing back on his meal, starting to eat again because leaving food isn't an acceptable behavior. But the words Jin Guangyao said are still repeating in his head, his grip tightening on the utensils until he has to put them down.

"...I need some air." His voice is quiet, Xichen moving from his chair before he turns toward the door.

"I'll be back."

[baxiasprice]

Mingjue rolls the concept around in his head and doesn't come up with anything as startling or stunning as the first idea that the only people he's responsible for here are the handful he chooses to be. It's a very strange absence of weight that comes with that thought, along with a gnawing sensation that he's missing something.

"I think I know who I am," Mingjue says. "It's what to do about it that I'm worried about."

But Xichen is leaving.

"Oh. Xichen—" He doesn't stop him, doesn't...quite pick up on the fact that it's their topic that pushed him to flee the room. So he looks at A-Yao in askance. "Breakfast over?"

[taintedpeony]

"..." He was sitting up looking worried.

"I think I said the wrong thing.

I am such an idiot sometimes. But I think maybe he needs some space and time to gather himself. This is all a lot for him."

It was a lot for all of them. Later on in the afternoon, he made a note to prepare the week's meals for the UC.

"Are you still hungry? There is still plenty of meat and eggs."

action, somewhere in the UC

[illicitly]

[OOC: Gonna say this is the morning after Huaisang's fight with JGY here since it's before the mingle.]

[First thing in the morning after his latest talk with Jin Guangyao, Huaisang roams through the Unclean Realm in search of Nie Mingjue. His body language is just as nervous as it had been when he was teenager, his expression just as pensive.

He'd made this choice a short while after his brother had appeared in this world but yesterday's talk only set the decision in stone and made it an immediate priority. As soon as he spots Nie Mingjue, he hurries over to him, tugging on his sleeve in the same timid, childish manner he's done all his life.]

Da ge, can we talk? It's really important.

[There's an unusual seriousness and urgency to his tone.]

[baxiasprice]

[Mingjue's need to explore his new territory has meant he hasn't been spending too much time around the Unclean Realm and, for that matter, his strange-older-version little brother. Interaction with him is odd. Not bad. Just odd. Especially when the last time he'd seen him he'd been so young.

To see Huaisang acting similarly young is jarring enough that Mingjue's attention snaps to him.]

What's wrong?

[They're in the training courtyard. It's empty but for Mingjue and Baxia, which he's already holding in one hand. The sparring stance he'd been holding gets shed for immediate alertness.]

[illicitly]

[He hasn't faulted Mingjue for being focused on others. To say that this entire situation is awkward and uncomfortable for him is an understatement. After yesterday, Jin Guangyao forced his hand and Huaisang harbors no small amount of resentment over it. None of it is his brother's fault, though, and it makes this choice even more painful than it already was.]

I've chosen to step down from my position here. The Unclean Realm belongs to you now. ...Again.

[Despite looking like he might burst into tears at any given moment, he managed to keep his voice perfectly calm and steady. As much as he would've liked to have played the role of 'little brother' and maybe had a chance to live as a family again, he's ten years out of practice and Jin Guangyao's presence in their lives has made it clear to Huaisang that this, too, is an unattainable dream.]

[baxiasprice]

"Don't call yourself an idiot," Mingjue orders him firmly, despite his focus on the door Xichen just exited. "You two did warn me that this place was overwhelming. As long as you don't think we need to go after him, then let him breathe and get his head cleared."

He chews over that as he shifts back to prod at his food. "Yeah. Pass them here." He gestures with a hand to load up his plate once more. Fuel for the kind of physical activity he kept up was all-important. After shoving a bit of egg in his mouth, he then offers, "I feel like a pebble dropped in a pond. You think having to run off or shut down is going to happen a lot?"

[taintedpeony]

"Sorry." he sat up straight on the bed. He moved forward to fill up his plate. He folded his legs together and hummed thoughtfully as he watched Mingjue eat, grabbing at his bowl and filling it up with some of the steamed fish and eating slowly.

"I can imagine. It must be really strange for you. You know him and you know Meng Yao at least, but we are different.

It may. People deal with difficulty differently and being able to open up when you don't know what you are feeling right away can be especially hard.

Back in our world, there was a certain way we had to present, for whatever reason, they vary. However, with sex and physical intimacy involved, there is a sense of emotional vulnerability that comes with it.

Some people use it to not think about everything else going on and just get wrapped in the feeling." Like Jin Guangshan who's whoring got so much worse after Jin Zixuan died. "Some shut down so the actions can be performed, and do what is needed to survive." like his mother who went through so much brutality so that she and her son could live.

"I imagine that this is the first time that Lan Xichen had to think about sex and sexuality as a more real concept than the vague thought of getting married and providing an heir someday. This must have been real and raw for him. As it was for us or at least me, I think.

He gave us his ribbon but there is still a rule against promiscuity in the Lan Doctrine. It'll take time to adjust.

All we can do is be there when he is ready and has figured out how he is feeling. Give each other space but know we can come to the others if we need to."

[baxiasprice]

[It takes Mingjue a long moment to process that 'what's wrong' isn't necessarily something he's going to be able to hit with a saber. The moment of frozen surprise now past, he props Baxia on his shoulder and he loses his battle-ready tension. He's still alert, though, and the fact that Huaisang looks ready to cry makes his first question:]

Are you okay? [Followed swiftly by:] Why?

[illicitly]

[For a long moment, Huaisang stands there, completely frozen, hands wringing nervously - again, a very familar mannerism from his youth. His lip trembles a little at the simple question. He hadn't really thought this far into what he was going to say, only about all the places he might go after - each of them as far away as humanly possible from Jin Guangyao.]

I need a break, da ge. I've been leading for far too long.

[He's fumbling to find the words. For all his ease at lying to others, he's always hated lying to Nie Mingjue, especially about anything really important. His expression crumples and his finds himself staring down at the ground, shoulders slumping, as meek as he ever was.]

Some things... A lot of things happened and I need some time to myself for a while. I... I can't breathe in here, da ge. Not anymore. I need to go somewhere I can breathe again. At least, for a little bit.

[His eyes are wet as he says this, his face stark white. He doesn't want to leave. Leaving his brother's side is the last thing he wants but Jin Guangyao is forcing his hand. Any other choice will ultimately lead to a disruption of the peace inside these walls, maybe even further across the island. It's taking every ounce of his self-control not to just break down on the spot.]

[baxiasprice]

Hrm. He'll have to watch A-Yao for that kind of self-deprecation coming out again. In the meantime, he does not eat slowly, though he does listen and hum in the right places to make sure that A-Yao knows he's listening.

He's not sure he can relate, but he's listening.

"You're strangers but not," Mingjue agrees eventually. "But even though the span is longer, change always happens at home when you go to war. That's how being away works. Just because I came back to more changes than I expected doesn't mean you are entirely foreign. Just a different person I need to get to know."

He considers.

"And I see what you mean about the sex, but I don't like to miss opportunities. Even if you're both different."

And then he shrugs, because it's really not that complicated.

[taintedpeony]

He chewed thoughtfully. This was bringing up some heavy topics. He breathed slowly before speaking.

“I don’t want to tell Er-ge this...but I died back home. He’s too fragile for it I think as he is now.
I’m only six and thirty. I spent my last life, worrying about what other people say, twisting myself into what they wanted so I missed the opportunity to have what I truly wanted. To even really explore what sex is.” He looked at him seriously.

“I don’t want to miss that again. Even if the two of you are different. You both were the first people to value me. I loved you for it. I loved having sex with you.

Life was short, I’m not wasting it again or making the same stupid mistakes I did in my last one. “

[baxiasprice]

[Mingjue hates to see Huaisang like this, no matter what form he takes, and the urge to hunt down and destroy whatever is causing this rises steadily with every nervous gesture. Because the answer to 'why' is...not what he expected and he didn't understand it. The idea that one could lead for too long, would willingly set down the mantle when there was still work to be done, snarled in his head like a tangled skein.

But Mingjue's job had always been to shield his little brother and make sure he was prepared for whenever he was forced to take up leadership. Future-Mingjue did a shit job of preparing Hauisang, apparently, if present-Mingjue needed to start over and try again.]

You're not okay.

[He nodded, once, in acquiescence, something sharp and jagged and protective building in his chest. But he doesn't under Huaisang's fumbling words at all. His grip flexes on Baxia, and he tries to frame 'stuff happened, I need to run' into something that makes sense.]

You're injured. This is a tactical retreat.

[The words are growled out. He doesn't reach for Huaisang, even though this is his little brother looking so pale and unhappy, only because Mingjue's firmly on the 'more murdery' side of problem-solving at the moment.]

this tag wound up really long, oops

[illicitly]

[The Nie are the Nie. They have their own tells, their own language, and their own culture. Huaisang's always had an innate talent for reading people and attuning himself to their rhythm. Everyone has their own subtext, their unconscious tells and reveals. They'd been on their own for far too long after their father's death and Huaisang had sacrificed and invested too much of his own life in the aftermath of Jin Guangyao's treachery to simply turn a blind eye and pretend none of it had ever happened, no matter how much his former friend appears to want him to.

He and Jin Guangyao are former friends. How could he easily rush back into friendship with the man who'd destroyed his life and robbed him of his only family? No matter what messy feelings lingered on for the decade and more the pair have known each other or how much part of him wished to return to a time when they weren't enemies.

Huaisang's loyalty to his brother, regardless of form, will always come first. There's no way it cannot after so much blood shed and sacrifice done in his name. But he's still a man of honor and peace, a diplomat if no less ferocious than any other Nie on his battlefield of choice. As sharp and ruthless as his words might be, he'd agreed to a truce with his enemy and intends to honor it to the best of his ability.

At those words, another decision is made, his expression clearing. One that will hopefully help maintain peace in the home that he built with the help of others and only recently returned to himself.]

Yes, I am wounded. It is a tactical retreat.

[He pauses a moment, chewing his lip a moment as he figures out the best way to explain the situation to his brother that will not break the truce while appeasing his own conscience and rapidly growing fear and unease. He's clever and skilled with words, a gift honed even further in the years he's led the Qinghe Nie.]

My comrade and I took mortal blows during an ambush. He fell in battle but I survived. Still bleeding, I engaged in pursuit of the enemy alone and remained on the move for ten years. Eventually, I caught up to him and struck him down. I thought the enemy had been vanquished and the battle was over. But I have found him again in the stronghold. He claims he is no longer a threat and wishes to change but I do not believe him for his crimes are heinous. But in the interest of keeping peace from shattering into war once more... Against what I feel is my better judgment, I have chosen to give him the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to change.

[Huaisang swallows, lifting his gaze to meet Mingjue's directly in a way he'd never quite been able to manage in his youth. His eyes are filled with the tired, sorrowful wisdom born of seeing horrors on a battlefield: a shadow and darkness they'd never held before. The true face of Nie Huaisang he seldom trusts anyone enough to show but if he cannot trust Nie Mingjue, who else can be trusted to do anything?]

It is for the better for both of us if I am not here. But I wish my comrade well and hope he will keep himself safe in the days ahead. I cannot protect him as well as he's protected me in the past but if he calls upon me for aid or just to talk, I will answer him.

[The demon king can rot. He's not letting fear of Jin Guangyao steal away another day of his life.]

\o/ Beautimus (Also MAN this took me a bit to brain a proper response.)

[baxiasprice]

[Something in what Mingjue says makes more of an impact than he anticipates. That shift, from kid-brother to Sect Leader is visible and—Mingjue is not afraid to admit—startling, considering the Huaisang he left behind. His eyes widen and he rocks back on his heels when it happens. What Huaisang says to follow up that shift, however, is alarming, to say the least, and it draws him forward again. Sharply:]

This stronghold? Your enemy is here? And you're relinquishing territory against your better judgement?

[It's not an accusation, but an...honestly rather belligerent request for clarification. A prodigious frown overtakes his face as he hunts for visible wounds in the way Huaisang is holding himself. Though, no, no, already Mingjue had been grasping for something to put his brother's behavior into context, so this is an extension of that. And a summary of a decision that Huaisang obviously had not made lightly, considering his shaky approach. It is Huaisang's prerogative not to pursue further retribution, especially when the matter had already been settled in Nie victory.

But Huaisang meets his eyes and something in Mingjue settles with a quiet thank fuck somewhere deep inside of him, because in meeting his eyes at all now there's Nie steel there beneath the grime of having wading through a brutal task. There was nothing wrong with coming out the other end of conflict blood-spattered and in need of healing. And if he's going to act like a Nie, then Mingjue's going to treat him like Nie and not storm off with Baxia towards the threat.]

Nevermind. [He says that as roughly as he'd snarled the questions he'd wanted answered, but he is subsiding.] As the victor, it's your judgement, whatever judgement that is. We'll deal with the consequences.

[The problem is: Huaisang being cagey as hell. While it isn't out of the question that ten years was after Mingjue's own death by qi deviation, this island is out of the flow of time so that...didn't matter. He lets out his breath.]

Your comrade who fell. They're from a time before they fell?

[baxiasprice]

"Yeah, he really did not take my dying well," Mingjue said, contemplating his near-empty bowl. "But since it hasn't happened yet for him, shouldn't be as bad. He's tough. And you're not dead here."

With that verdict, he reaches for one of the last bits of whatever, bound and determined to eat his fill despite the 'dangers' if he's decided to eat at all.

"You'll have your chance to explore sex, at least," Mingjue continues, as serious as he usually is, though he does flick his eyes over to A-Yao to acknowledge the amusement buried in that particular observation. "And whatever else. Make less mistakes."

He sets down his bowl, finally satisfied.

[taintedpeony]

"I know he is." He wonders though. Even the finest jade shatters easily enough. He put his food down and shifted over on the bed so that Nie Mingjue could sit if he wanted to.

He laughed softly.

"I think I've fucked more in the last month than I have done in my entire life. Which honestly wasn't a lot. A-Su and I did before we got married and had a son." He was going to omit some details here. He wasn't ready to open that can of worms with him yet.

"...Due to complications, we didn't after that. I never wanted to go outside our marriage, so I didn't for more than a decade.

And then this.

No wonder I was overwhelmed." He gave a soft laugh.

"Talk about coming off a dry spell.

Da-ge, what are sex things you've always wanted to explore? If the opportunities were presented to you?"

[baxiasprice]

Once Mingjue was done, he settled his bowl on the table, set down his chopsticks, and bailed to the bed so he could sit near A-Yao.

"No wonder," was his wry agreement. He let the rest of it drift off unremarked, however. What did one say to that? About a late wife and child and no sex for a decade? Nothing, apparently, though he did grunt sympathetically.

He kicked his feet out in front of himself and considered the final question, however. "Don't know. Sex in general, of course. With certain people." Another half-smile, just a quirk of the lips. "There's almost too much choice. You're asking for specifics?"

[taintedpeony]

He just settled himself onto Mingjue's lap. Like a cheerful housecat.

"Yes, I was asking for specifics, you ridiculous man.

Do you like giving or receiving? What are you comfortable doing? Do you like being tied up? Do you want to tie others up?

What do you fantasize about when you touch yourself?"

[baxiasprice]

Mingjue was surprised-but-not to suddenly have a lapful of A-Yao, and he rested his hands on him so that—like a housecat indeed—he could stroke his sides idly.

But for all the idle petting, he considered the question seriously enough. "I have only thought about giving, when I think about it at all. Who has time for more than that?" Another few moments of thought, and he offered, "Don't know what I'm comfortable with until I do it. Most things, probably, if I enjoy who I'm doing them with enough. Could be tied up, could tie others up. Might be nice."

He glossed over the "fantasize" question with a, "I'd like someone beg me for it, whatever it is." There was a flick of a smile after that. "Or maybe get us both a little messy, or to have someone's mouth. I know sex can get more complex than that, but." He shrugged, hands wandering A-Yao's sides. "I always start simple."

[taintedpeony]

He made himself rather comfortable, enjoying the feeling of Mingjue's large hands on him. It tickled a little bit but he didn't mind too much. The touch felt really nice.

He hummed thoughtfully as he spoke. "We have all the time now to explore. You can certainly give more if you like. I find that I can give or receive. I was reading it was called a switch because it implies someone switches positions.

I need to trust someone to allow them to take me at least on some level."

Guangyao squirmed a little bit in his hands and laughed. "You say it's simple but all of those things sound really fun. Have you had someone's mouth on you before?"

[baxiasprice]

Mingjue's hum of agreement was short, but thoughtful. He was warm and full and even though their discussions thus far that morning had been serious, he'd been well-exercised the night before and that sense of satisfaction had yet to leave him. With a considering look toward the door Xichen had fled through, he said, "I'd need to trust someone to receive also." He stroked A-Yao's side, amused by the squirming and trying not to let it show on his face. "Strange to think about. Not something I'd been curious about."

Then he snorted lightly. "When would I have had someone's mouth on me? Not before I got here, and you two have been my only real experience."

[taintedpeony]

It has been a strange couple of days. A myriad of emotions but right now he was feeling a bit more stable and in himself than he did before. He leaned back against him, looking up through lashes.

"It is a vulnerable position and I guess I would want a partner I know won't hurt me. It feels good when it's someone you like. Like being stretched and full. And there's a spot inside that makes the stars dance in front of your eyes.

That is surprising. With your shirtless morning workouts, I'm surprised you didn't awaken everyone's sexuality from Qinghe to Yunmeng."

he smiled and paused before speaking up again.

"You certainly awakened mine."