Author: Kanon

======

Ling Wen knew very well that the day had to come and, at some point, it did!
So there she was, meekly kneeling in front of Shi Wu Du as he vented his anger to her, speaking non stop with the most embarrassed face she had ever seen.
Who would have thought that the mere implication of someone writing novels about him and Pei Ming could have made him so flustered?

=======

Ling Wen knew very well that the day had to come and, at some point, it did!
So there she was, meekly kneeling in front of Shi Wu Du as he vented his anger to her, speaking non stop with the most embarrassed face she had ever seen. Who would have thought that the mere implication of someone writing novels about him and Pei Ming could have made him so flustered?

"Are you even listening, Ling Wen??" Shui-shi cried, furious.

"I am, I am"

She wasn't.

Ling Wen, from the bottom of her irrefutable preference for women, had always thought her two friends were both very good-looking and extremely fascinating in their own unique ways: Pei Ming was an undeniable hottie with the dumb charm of a gentleman dripping a trail of handsomeness behind him, as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

Shi Wu Du, on the other hand, was the kind of unreachable peerless beauty that can crush you and bury you in the depths of hell just by sparing you a disdainful glance.

One, a man that changes heart as the wind changes direction, the other a control freak.

What a pair, she thought once.

That thought would not have a sequel, if it wasn't for the two Gods being absolutely head over heels for each other; at first it seemed like a simple display of affection between two friends that went through a bunch of shit together. But witnessing Shi Wu Du thoroughly soothing Ol' Pei through his depression over a failed love affair, right in front of her tea, was an entirely other matter.

Having Pei Ming daring to make a dumb sexual joke to Shui-shi and stupidly stare at the other barely holding back a laughter - A LAUGHTER - was another thing too.

Ling Wen was many things, but never a fool. She kept a closer look, and in no time she came to the conclusion that both Shi Wu Du and Pei Ming had some sort of a huge gay crush for each other; nothing else could have explained how they especially cared for the other, their extra attentions to what the other liked or disliked, and the inhuman level of tolerance for the other's bullshits.

So, Ling Wen went back to her Palace that night, and wrote her first short and successful gay story about her two best friends.

But, back to the present-...

"AND NOW, AS IF IT WASN'T ALREADY TRAGIC THAT MY WORSHIPPERS THOUGHT I WAS DUMPED BY MY WIFE IN FAVOR OF THAT BLACK WATER DEMON, NOW EVERYONE THINKS THAT I'M A CUT-SLEEVE THAT SLEEPS WITH PEI MING!!!" screamed Shi Wu Du, his tone so hysterical that Ling Wen could not ignore him any further.

" Shui-shixiong , if you think about it, it could have been worse" pondered Ol' Pei from his spot against the wall. Ling Wen could already foreseen his idiotic attempt to tone down the situation, but the Water Master was too flared up to comply.

"How??" Wu Du inquired, as exasperated as he could.

Pei Ming, holding his own chin, flashed one of his sparkling, full-of-shit gaze. "She could have paired you with anyone, making you do all that sort of stuff with someone you really despise, let's say -I don't know- His Highness Tai Hua?"

At the mere thought Shi Wu Du shivered in disgust and Pei Ming felt prompted in going on. "See? Better to be with General Pei, right? At least I'd know how to make you feel good." Pei Ming, after this unhappy and absolutely shitty joke was ready to laugh as loud as he could, but the sudden flush on the Water Master's face, shut his mouth forever.

With the most flustered expression he's ever had, Shi Wu Du stuttered and yelled "WOULD YOU EVER SHUT THE HELL UP YOU MARTIAL IMBECILE!?" at him and, after searching in vain for something else to shout, he rushed outside, slamming the door.

Ling Wen was overjoyed.

--

Some days passed rather quietly, and Ling Wen easily noticed that Shi Wu Du was still grumbling at her, refusing to put together something to say but also holding back the insults.

Of course Ol' Pei got another kind of treatment from him: in no time, they went back to their usual dumb gay duo, and it surely took Pei Ming no more than his usual smooth talking to make Shui-shi's anger fade like a puff of steam.
Suddenly, one day, an unexpected surprise came to amaze her anew; it was Pei Ming, casually holding one of her novels between his hands and coming over with half a laughter already on his lips.
"Noble Jie, I have to tell you- despite this being quite interesting, you should have not push things that far and keep it more believable!"
Curious and intrigued, Ling Wen questioned: "What is Ol' Pei complaining about?"
"Not complaining! Just... come on. I'm not the type of man that would gently embrace a man's waist from behind to whisper in their ear something this sappy without a reason! I mean... " Pei Ming went on reciting the part, and barely finished the sentence before laughing out loud. Ling Wen simply joined him in his laughter, letting him press on his point.
"And Shui-shi's absolutely not the type of man that would fall for something like that! He'd never let someone manhandle him in that way, and he'd never in his immortal life blush at something so cringy - and even be so lovable in return, inconceivable!"
Ling Wen kept laughing cheerfully with him for a bit, then she put a hand on the General's shoulder and eventually responded.
"You know Pei, you're right. Or rather you would, if all that hadn't happened before, right in front of my own two eyes."
General Pei's face dropped.
"What..."
Ling Wen gave him another pat on the shoulder and grinned with a devilishly angelic smile.
"Think carefully Ol' Pei. A Mid-Autumn festival... a romantic walk lightened by the lanterns. The full moon brightening the waters ."

She was maybe being a little too subtle but Pei Ming was suddenly perceptive, extraordinarily so. When the memory dawned on him, Ling Wen calmly left him simmer in his own broth.

Honestly, thinking again about that specific episode, how could have she let slip such a chance when they were giving her so much material? Willingly and without even noticing, moreover. Pei Ming and Shi Wu Du probably dismissed that romantic night the very next day, but the way they were looking at each other as if there was nothing else around them, spoke too loud to be ignored. The way Ol' Pei's eyes kept lingering on the other's lips, how Shi Wu Du accepted the embrace and even leaned on him, searching for more - Ling Wen would certainly never forget all of that.

--

Unsurprisingly, Shi Wu Du had also tried to go through one of her novel and came to her at full force the day after.
"I've never-" he corrected his own lapsus "I'd never say something like this!" he claimed, pushing the opened book to her face.
Ah, dear Shui-shixiong, why are you being so dishonest with your heart? You already know the truth, don't you?
He went on: "...and absolutely for NO REASON I'd get this intimate with anyone, EVER."

Ling Wen scoffed, a small part of her was truly enjoying this situation but she forced back the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. She frowned instead.

"But is our Pei just anyone?" she questioned, pleased to see a Wu Du slightly taken aback.

"He's different, right? He helped you a lot when you ascended, always been by your side. He also protected your brother because you care so much for him. Wouldn't it be unfair to just call him anyone ?"

Shi Wu Du's breath stopped for a short moment, then he retorted.

"This is not what I meant and you know it!"

"But it is you that put him in the same league as anybody else! Are you saying you wouldn't make any exception for him? Or that you don't do that already every time he pulls you to lean against him and does that..." she slowly and languidly looked down at his hands, "... thing to your palms that makes you hum pleasantly for several minutes straight? Isn't that already intimate?"

The Water Master was half shocked, half confused, and it made his voice stutter.

"This is a completely different matter."

"How so? Isn't holding hands and sleep onto each other very much what you read in that book so far?" she made a gesture toward the volume with her head, and Shi Wu Du immediately looked at it again, speechless, seeming to be reconsidering.

While he was still too occupied trying to process and find something to retort, Ling Wen flee again out of the room.

--

Some days later, during a quiet evening, Ling Wen was sighing over a scroll when Shi Wu Du came in again like a storm.

He was holding another book she immediately recognized, his expression fighting to stay composed and unaffected but failing miserably.

"What does it mean that I'm the one being the woman ?? Do you think I can't do THAT?!" He shrieked, his tone way more flustered than he probably had originally planned.

Ah, so he got to that part, she thought.

Ling Wen slowly closed the scroll and joined her hands together in front of her face.

"It's not that I think you can't " she definitely did, "it's more like I'm sure you would enjoy it way more that way."

He frowned, deeply confused and slightly taken aback. "Why would you think that?"

The Goddess calmly raised to her feet and walked slowly towards him, almost theatrical in her movements.

"Shui-shixiong, my friend, in this kind of situation you should think of yourself as a... King" she luckily held back from saying Queen .

Shi Wu Du's frown seemed to deepen, failing to imagine what she was aiming to, so Ling Wen went on with no further hesitation. "Wouldn't you be pleased feeling adored and desired beyond anything else? Wouldn't it please you to be looked at as if there's nothing prettier in this world and being buried in loving devotion?"

Ling Wen sensed that he was trying hard not to imagine anything, she could see it in the Water Master's eyes as he diverted his glare and muttered under his breath.

"Such a nonsense."

"Nonsense?" she laughed lightly. "Everyone crave to feel loved, you're no exception Shi Wu Du! And then again, my narrative choices are only logical if you consider that Pei is pretty versed and experienced in that field.." she expected that annoyed flinch in his brows, so she didn't miss it, "while I'm sure you've never even considered the idea of laying down with someone."

Shi Wu Du was getting more and more annoyed as the conversation went on and he spat it out, slightly rising his voice.

"Who said I've never thought of it before, huh? Just because I don't go around hitting on every decent woman like Pei Ming does all the time?"

Ling Wen's smile, at this point, was almost vicious. "And this annoys you a lot, right shixiong?"

"That's not what I meant"

"But it's how you feel right? Who said I've never thought of it , well, you said it, not more than some days ago. But of course it was a lie. You're a possessive and controlling one... are you, perhaps, jealous of him? He's the-."

The Water Master jolted on the spot at the word jealous , and suddenly pointed his spiritual device to her face.

"Ling Wen ZhenJun, say no more!" he raised his voice in a warning tone but the Literature Goddess simply pushed away his hand. Shi Wu Du wanted to hear no more on the topic, and his contorted face spoke way louder than his shrieking threats about how vulnerable he was on the topic.

"So you're telling me you're not weak at the idea of him wanting you " as she marked the words, the Water Master's face flinched again. "You and only you. Have you ever dreamt about this? To have him all for yourself. To become his only one."

"Stop. Stop this. I'm warning you." He threatened, but Ling Wen was already determined to push him over the edge.

"Shui-shi, let's talk straight now, en? What's the point in spending days reading all the novels I wrote about you and Ol' Pei if not because you're enjoying them?" his eyes widened impossibly but his mouth failed to react.

"Of course it must be because it aroused you, to read of our Pei, drunk on desire, holding your robe and.." she casually fisted his robe with both hands, "...rip it off" she barely made the gesture, but the thought was so shocking for Shi Wu Du that he jumped back, his hand running to keep close a robe that was already as closed as possible.
"It must have made you shiver, reading of his strong hands holding you in place, giving you pleasure, taking away that stubborn control you constantly keep over everything. How he'd make you feel powerless but wanted and protected."
Shi Wu Du kept retreating 'till his back hit the wall, speechless but desperate to debate and even the outraged expression he wore at first was now replaced with one of lost disconcert.
"Did it make you dream of his sturdy body above yours? Maybe you even imagined how that smug and handsome face would look when lost in pleasure, hungry at the sight of you, drunk on your moans."

Shui-shi openly blushed at this, his expression unreadable and outraged.

"LING WEN!!" He shouted in a desperate attempt to shut her mouth from going any further. "The things you wrote are shameless and preposterous, how dare you trying to push them on me as if they were real!!"

Ling Wen tch -ed and mentally cracked her knuckles, ready to defeat him in a game she was so versed in while he was so foolish.

"Cut this farce Shi Wu Du, you want to talk about facts instead of novels? Fine. Should I remind you why you suddenly stopped wanting to descend into the human realm when we're going to drink? Or of how aggressively possessive you acted that one time we crossed path with one of his many lovers?"

The Water Master was so taken aback that he forgot anything he was ready to use as a rebuke.

"Can't you see how differently he treats you, how differently you treat him? I don't believe it. He likes to touch you, he loves to please you in any way he can, to spoil you even, and you ADORE it! How dare I? How dare you deny this in front of my face as if I'm blind and stupid. If you want to keep acting like a fool, go on. But I won't gouge out my eyes just to please your need to feign ignorance about your many years old's crush."

It was too much for Shi Wu Du, way too much.

Everything he could scream to her in that moment would have sound shaky and nothing more than a useless attempt to justify himself. So he glared at her, his head fuming, his body trembling, and then stormed out of her palace; Ling Wen watched from a window how his feet was naturally dragging him to the path for the Palace of Ming Guang, his basic instinct immediately pulling him to the person he liked and trusted the most.

But Shi Wu Du was a proud man and, when he noticed that, he immediately dashed in the opposite direction, making Ling Wen shakes her head and smile knowingly.

--

Days later Pei Ming asked Ling Wen to come over to his palace of Ming Guang for a tea; she was hardly surprised anymore to notice a couple of her novels among his scattered belongings.

"I see you're indulging in high-quality, entertaining literature, General Pei."

"Aren't we full of ourselves, noble Jie?" They both chuckled at the exchange, and lazily plopped on the cushions to enjoy their tea.

They talked about trivial matters for a while, updating each other on what they were doing and what they had heard in the recent days; however, in her heart Ling Wen knew too well that there was a certain topic his friend was aching to discuss, and she patiently waited for it, vaguely wondering how Pei Ming would pull it out.

She also wondered if Shi Wu Du had told him about their little argument, or how she had him cornered. After some thoughts, she decided that it was quite unlikely.

They spent some moments of quiet peace in silence, before the Martial God finally let out his insistent thoughts.

"You're right, you know? I've thought about it. He's really never called me Ming Guang ever again after I told him the story behind that name."

Ah, the MingGuang incident , she thought. One of her favorite moment in the whole story between them was certainly that: one night, many centuries before, Pei Ming had finally opened up about his past and Shi Wu Du took in so much antipathy towards his past acquaintances that he got almost feral in his defence, looking unusually tender, even cute. And then, how could Ling Wen -who was certainly not a fool- miss the visceral jealousy flashing in Wu Du's eyes, as he heard Pei Ming never forged another spiritual device after the one that had basically he and his best friend's couple name?

"I sincerely wonder why..." Pei Ming muttered after a while, still pensive.

Ling Wen could hardly believe how pleased she was feeling, as she quietly sipped the remnants of her tea.

"You wonder? Can't it be as I stated in my novel?"

Pei Ming's face was contemplative in an unusually serious way, but his eyes lightened up a tiny bit when she spoke. Shi Wu Du, all along those centuries, never called Ol' Pei 'Ming Guang' ever again, not even during formal meetings. Thinking about their petty and possessive Water Master, Ling Wen could hardly come up with a reason more befitting than simple, plain, ruthless jealousy.

"You truly think it's possible?" He inquired, still doubtful but showing a certain amount of desire to believe it was true. Seeing that hope in his eyes, the Literature Goddess couldn't help but smile.

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Would he answer?" He laughed and she smiled again.

"Probably no." she remained silent for a short moment."It pleases you, right? His jealousy."

Pei Ming fought hard the smile forming on his lips, but when it reached his eyes he could only surrender and let it spread.

"Yes." He began, taking his time to weight the words. "Makes me think that I'm different." He pauses again, cautious towards the thoughts he was voicing aloud. "That I'm special."

"Wouldn't it be just fair? He is special to you." The Martial God lifted his eyes to look at her, and she returned his gaze with eyes that says you can deny all you want, I already know everything .

"Am I wrong?" She asked with a smile, and Pei Ming laughed a little.

"As if it would make any good lying to that overconfident glare of yours, noble jie!"

The Goddess chuckled proudly, and calmly put the cup back on the table; Pei Ming poured her some other tea out of habit, and in that moment Ling Wen noticed a movement from the door behind him.

She hastily replied. "So it's true. That he's the reason why you've stopped hitting on random women."

The Martial God was dumbfounded at first, slightly taken aback by the sudden straightforwardness; he dumbly rubbed his own nape, trying to divert the question somehow.

"You know how these things work."

"No, I don't! Please, explain me, General Pei."

Ol' Pei seemed to finally sigh in defeat, crushed by the need to let those feelings breathe some fresh air.

"At some point hanging out with my lovers became uninteresting, later even making out with them wasn't attractive anymore. If it was like that with women I was kinda affectionate to, how intriguing could ever be hitting on a stranger? It's not that I didn't try either."

Ling Wen was as proud and pleased as an older sister about to see her scum little brother about to marry.

"And all of this because of Shi Wu Du?"

Pei Ming laughed an unpolished laughter. "When you live around such a despotic beauty, it's not like you can easily feel affected by others anymore."

She did it. He said it. And Shi Wu Du, the Shi Wu Du that she saw entering the room a minute before, heard it all.

"What did you just say...?" Shui-shi muttered with a voice so uncharacteristically delicate that it took a moment for Pei Ming to register it, and even to Ling Wen it was hard to believe such a sound came from that mouth; they both turned towards the new entry, Pei Ming's face losing a couple shades of colour, internally panicking.

At this point, Ling Wen knew it'd be commonly considered the right moment to leave the two men alone to talk, but she was unsure about trusting them on this; knowing the idiots, they could join forces to find a perfectly fitting justification to excuse their mutual feelings the moment she step out of the door.

The eventuality made her hesitate.

"Pei Ming, what did you say just now? What's the meaning of this?"

Pei Ming stood up but both him and Ling Wen were still deciding on what to say when Shi Wu Du startled them.

"Were you joking? Are you making fun of me, perhaps? You better not, General."

His words were normal, but the tone wasn't, the faltering eyes weren't either and Pei Ming reacted immediately.

"I'm not! Shixiong.. I wouldn't joke on this. I'd never."

Ling Wen's mouth slightly fell open; was she, at the very end, proven to be an actual fool? Had she spent so much time making up their love story to a point where she too had forgotten how much real has it been all along? Did she missed just how involved they were with each other?

Somehow, that short exchange made her suddenly feel the weight of their mutual feelings as if she could physically feel them on her shoulders. As if the air around them got drenched in a second, drenched in a love that asked nothing more than to be returned, finally, after so many years.

After so much writing, are you both leaving me speechless, in the end? , she thought with a soft smile.

The Literature Goddess raised to her feet, finally reassured that, among them, her two friends wanted for things to never go back as they were before way more than herself.

"I'll leave you two to talk." She patted Pei Ming's back as she walked to the door, and Shi Wu Du's shoulder as she walked out.

Maybe she'll just stay behind the door a short minute to check on them, after all.

The silence was heavy in the room, loaded with too much to say and the inability to handle it.

Pei Ming tried to play a little.

"So..." he attempted, "is there something true in all the things she wrote?"
Shi Wu Du got embarrassed and indignant in less than a second. "How can you ask me something like this?!" He retorted, stiffened, and Pei Ming chuckled softly and fell quiet for a bit, leaving him enough time to settle in a successfully lightened atmosphere.

The Water Master's shoulders slumped a little and, lightly biting his own lips in a gesture Pei Ming adored, impatiently asked.

"What was she rambling about? Did you... really dismissed all your lovers?"

Pei Ming was so enamored of this insecure side of him that didn't even noticed he was smiling so tenderly, but Wu Du did.

"It's been quite a while now."

"I saw you hitting on random women recently too." the diffidence in the Water Master's tone wasn't reflected on his clear eyes and, sensing it, he turned away to partially hide from Pei Ming's sight. Only partially though, to not deny himself of the chance to find answers and reassurances in the Martial God's transparent attitude.

"If I had truly wanted them you know I would have find my way. But I didn't."

Those words sent sparks through Shi Wu Du's heart and he battled himself between hiding his flamed up face and turn to look at the eyes he longed to see. Pei Ming solved it for him by getting closer and slightly lean on him, planting a kiss on his temple and gently cupping his cheek to turn him towards himself.

Shui-shi's face got warmer and his lips parted as he spoke with no trace of reprimand or reserve. "You.. you're so cocky-"

Pei Ming caught his lips, at first pressing his own on them, then nibbling and sucking until Shi Wu Du got a grasp of it and let him enter to possess his tongue.

Shui-shi grabbed his clothes, half to give assistance to his weakened knees, half to bear with the impossible speed of his heartbeats; never in his life he had experienced something so unbearable, feeling overwhelmed by a kind of touch he'd always refused to give and receive, leaving in the back of his throat the faint whisper of a promise for more.

Pei Ming was too damn good at this, he decided, and pushed harder against his chest to give himself space. When he opened his eyes to look at the Martial God, the light in his eyes and his wet, reddened lips made his face burn.

"I can't talk like this." He turned his back to him with the most affected face Pei Ming could ever remember seeing on him, one he would not forget.

The Martial God pretended to pout, embraced him and put the chin on his shoulder. He looked at his neck only few seconds before approaching it to feel the scent on his skin and the pulse of his rushing blood with his mouth.

"Talk Shui-shixiong, before I catch you again." He whispered with a smile, and the Water Master swallowed, trying to keep his composure. After a deep breath, he resolved himself to speak in the most unaffected tone he could pull out in that situation.

"You'll do for me what you've never done for any of your past lover." Shi Wu Du disposed in a tone that admits nothing less than what he asked for, tyrannical as for his nature but meanwhile letting the Martial God keep him caged in his hug and run his lips freely along his jaw, his earlobe and slowly down his neck, feeling for his weak spots.

As for his request, no, his order , it was hardly something Pei Ming would need to have some thoughts on. "I've always been doing that. I'll do more."

"Yes. You'll do more. I don't want to be special, I want to be unique." His tone stayed perfectly even, but his breath was quickly losing its rhythm.

Pei Ming couldn't believe Shi Wu Du was letting him touch him that way; his hands were running back and forth from the other's chest to the abdomen, and even if there were layers of clothes in the way, Shui-shi trembled in his hug just by that, and Pei Ming's heart started pounding crazily just by feeling that tremor.

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it's not a dream anymore.

He resolved his heart to say in response the only thing that had ever mattered between them.

"You can trust me. I've never, I'd never and I'll never betray you."

Shi Wu Du's breath stopped midway in his throat, and after a moment it came out as a quiet, relieved sigh. Pei Ming smiled at it, felt his body relaxing in his embrace and let him turn around in it, Shui-shi's eyes stunning him with a look of determination and a gentle, little smile of bashful entrustment.

"Then, you can have me."

--

Some nights later, after a full make-out session, Pei Ming thought that he couldn't hold back anymore, there was something he was itching to confirm.

"Shui-shi."

"Mh."

"Call me Ming Guang."

"I'd rather die."

With the dumbest and slightly reddened face he could ever have, Pei Ming squeezed him so tight he drew a tiny sound out of Wu Du, who didn't even protest.

The Martial God decided he was the happiest man in Heaven.

. Done .