Title: Merely Gorgeous
Summary: "Men grow old, pearls turn yellow. Beauty will fade, my silver-haired Kijin."
Time-fit: Seven years after the anime Season 1.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They and Saiunkoku Monogatari belong to Sai Yukino.
Rating : PG13
Genre : Humour
Warning : Yaoi
Pairing : Kijin/Reishin
Notes : Written in response to LiveJournal's Saiunpornium/Saiunkoku_Fic THE SUMMER SAIUNKOKU "SWELTER" WRITING CHALLENGE (Vuirneen's prompt : "his (Kijin's) looks have faded just enough to make him merely gorgeous.").
italics= thoughts
"Kijin, stop!"
Reishin placed both hands on Kijin's bare chest to make his point.
Kijin froze.
"Am I hurting you?"
In answer, Reishin caught his lover's face by the chin and tilted it to catch the morning sun.
"Oh my god, you've got silver hair!"
His voice quivering with suppressed mirth, Kijin intoned.
"Do I continue, or what?"
The only response he received was a withering glare, its effect somewhat diminished by the blushing cheeks. He decided that was an affirmation.
Much later, as he rolled off Reishin, he chuckled.
"So do you, Dumpling. Silver just doesn't show as starkly against your green hair."
He was surprised that there was no sarcastic rejoinder. He propped himself up on his elbows to look down at his Dumpling, all aglow in the morning sun. He let his breath out slowly.
"Forty-three, and you still take my breath away."
The hazel eyes looked back at him contemplatively.
"Kijin ... when was the last time you looked in the mirror?"
"What? I don't know, a couple of months ago, maybe."
Reishin rolled his eyes.
"A couple of months? How can you go to work everyday without even looking in the mirror?"
"I wear a mask, remember? So what does it matter what my face looks like?"
Kijin laughed at Reishin's expression.
"You shave me, AND comb my hair every morning. So again, I have no need for a mirror."
"I think it's time you looked in the mirror."
"Why?"
"Because you were forty-two when you last looked. Men grow old, pearls turn yellow. Beauty will fade, my silver-haired Kijin."
Kijin stared at the back of the mirror. His eyes absently scanned the jade and agate serpents, the matching gemstones evenly spaced out along the circular border, set between the blue bird motifs. He looked again at the blue birds. He'd never noticed before, that the brilliant blue inlay was not enamel, but kingfisher feathers. It was strange how anxiety heightened observational powers.
Anxiety?
Nooooo, surely not ...
How could I have aged that much in just two months?
Damn it, Reishin, turn the mirror around!
The suspense is killing me!
Slowly, deliberately, Reishin turned the mirror. In the unforgiving late morning light, Kijin examined his forty-three year old face minutely.
"How would you describe this face, Dumpling?"
"Oh ... merely gorgeous."
Reishin giggled.
"Happy birthday, Kijin."
[The End]
Notes:
(1) "Men grow old, pearls turn yellow"(人老珠黄rén lǎo zhū huánɡ) is a Chinese proverb describing the loss of beauty with age.
(2) The brilliant iridescent blue feathers of the kingfisher was used in ancient Chinese court jewellery and ornamental objects.