Title : Silk Pants
Disclaimer : I do not own Saiunkoku Monogatari. It belongs to Sai Yukino.
Rating : T for theme only
Genre : Humour
Warnings : Yaoi leanings.
Pairing : KoyuXShuei
Summary : Koyu "outgrows" his silk pants! ^_^
Notes :
(1) Italics = thoughts. Bold = flashback.
(2) The first 495 words were written in response to a LiveJournal Saiun_Challenge prompt "Awakening", which had a 500-word limit. The fic "grew" by the time I was ready to submit it here!
PLEASE REVIEW. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, I APPRECIATE YOUR NOT-LOGGED-IN COMMENTS (MY RESPONSE WILL BE ON THE REVIEW PAGE IF I CAN'T SEND YOU A PM).
Reishin, with a flourish, handed Kijin a sheet of paper.
Two seconds. Five seconds.
"Why am I looking at an order for twenty pairs of silk pants?"
"Not just silk pants, Kijin, but of the finest quality silk!"
"Rrrright."
Kijin paused.
"So why am I looking at an order for twenty pairs of the finest quality silk pants?"
Barely able to contain his smirk, Reishin announced triumphantly,
"That's Koyu's order!"
Kijin laughed in sudden understanding.
"So Koyu has learnt to feel his pants! Congratulations, Dumpling, your son has finally awakened."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Koyu fidgeted. Surreptitiously, he reached beneath his tunic and tugged at his pants.
Unbelievable. To think I've been wearing these pants all these years! How did they get so uncomfortable?
Ahhh … that's better.
Koyu sat more comfortably. He was too restless to read. And as was the case every afternoon at the Archives, Koyu had nothing to do, waiting for his emperor tutee that hadn't shown up for a month. Koyu hoped Shuei would arrive soon.
Shuei.
Koyu tingled all over. Just the THOUGHT of that name was enough to make his heart skip a beat. Koyu laughed at himself.
Whatever happened to the level-headed Li Koyu?
Koyu knew the precise moment the level-headed Li Koyu vanished.
Last night.
… when Shuei looked into his eyes.
… when he saw Shuei's eyes darken.
… when his own body responded to the desire in Shuei's eyes.
My own body. Strange. It's like I have a new body.
After that look into Shuei's eyes, all the way home, walking next to Shuei, Koyu's body was exceptionally sensitive. The friction against the coarse silk pants was close to painful. Hurting with every step, Koyu finally understood why Reishin had been hounding him to upgrade his underpants.
Koyu smiled ruefully.
As they say, parents knows best!
Was that desire in Shuei's eyes?
The charged moment was gone all too quickly. Shuei stepped back, turned, and resumed walking.
Perhaps I saw what I WANTED to see.
But, after two steps, Shuei stumbled, and fell. Koyu had never seen the sure-footed General so much as miss a step. Scrambling to his feet, Shuei grinned sheepishly. The hand he used to wipe away the beads of sweat on his upper lip was unsteady.
Arrghh! How does Shuei feel about this?
"Koyu?"
Koyu flushed and pulled his hand out from under his tunic. He felt he needed to explain why his hand was where it was.
"My pants. Uncomfortable."
"Uh-huh."
Shuei took the cloth-wrapped package from under his armpit.
"Here. You can borrow some of mine, until you get new pants."
"What? How?"
Shuei grinned, his cheeks turning pink.
"I noticed how you were walking last night. And also, how coarse the silk of your pants was."
Blushing, Koyu accepted the package wordlessly.
He noticed … oh! The humiliation!
And it still doesn't tell me how he feels!
Oh. My. God.
I'm going to be wearing SHUEI'S underpants!
Koyu's newly awakened senses went into overdrive.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Turn around. Slowly."
Koyu spun on his heels, in excruciatingly slow motion.
Shuei laughed.
"Hmm. Perfect fit. And you are like, two inches shorter than me? I guess your length is all in your pants."
"SHUEI !"
"What? OH! No, no, I didn't mean it that way! Honest! I meant, you have long legs. Nice."
Koyu blushed.
Is he paying me a compliment? That's new.
"Although, two inches would be about right, I guess, between yours and mine."
Koyu threw the only thing he had in his hands at Shuei. He regretted it immediately. He watched in mortification as his underpants, freshly stripped off his body, wrapped themselves around Shuei's head.
Shuei stiffened.
Warm. Fragrant. Cedar. Thyme. Koyu's sweat.
Koyu saw Shuei's hands reach towards his face. But instead of pulling off the pants, they bunched the folds of silk and pressed them into his face.
Koyu gasped. He couldn't breathe.
That's … intimate!
Or is it? I don't know!
Hearing Koyu gasp, Shuei snapped out of his warm cedar and thyme dream.
Good grief! What am I DOING?
Shuei mentally kicked himself. He had a long talk with himself the night before. He and himself had agreed on the following:
- We desire Koyu (badly!)
- It appears that Koyu feels the same.
- Koyu is inexperienced and vulnerable.
- We need to be certain that it's more than just lust on our part.
- So, for now, play it cool!
Play it cool – and what did I do?
Embarrass Koyu by telling him he's got NICE long legs!
Scandalize Koyu by sniffing at his underpants!
Shuei pulled the silk pants off his head.
Rrrright. I've just got to brazen this out.
He looked at Koyu, and promptly forgot his hastily prepared line.
Koyu was breathing fast, through slightly parted lips. His large pale grey eyes were fixed upon Shuei, uncertain, guileless.
I've got to get out of here!
Shuei spun around. Just before he disappeared through the doors of the Archives, he shouted back at Koyu.
"I'm going to get your dinner!"
Koyu sank slowly into a chair.
It's way too early to get dinner!
[Two hours later]
Koyu ate his dinner absently. Half his mind was listening to Shuei's light chatter. The other half of his mind was on the disappearance of his old silk pants. Shuei had left the Archives with it. He returned with the dinner tray. No pants. No explanation.
"Shuei, where are my old pants?"
"Did you want them back?"
"Uh, no … not really … "
"Good."
Shuei changed the subject.
[The End]
Notes :
(1) In terms of "fit", this fic goes between chapter 2 and chapter 3 of my fanfic Twin Irises.
(2) Shuei's POV on that "eyelock" that took place the night before is just before the end of chapter 2 of Twin Irises.
(3) The pants in this fic are NOT briefs/boxers! ^_^ They are long pants, that can be worn beneath outer clothings, but they are also decent enough to be seen by people. As Saiunkoku is more or less based on Chinese culture, I assume that the characters do not wear briefs beneath their long pants. As such, I refer to these pants as "underpants" because they are worn next to the skin. These pants are the white pants you see Koyu wearing beneath his aqua-green tunic. They are also the pants that peek out from Kijin's yellow tunic occasionally. Even for those who wear full skirts, eg Reishin and Shuei, it is assumed that they do wear such pants beneath! ^_^
