Ch.2
Disclaimer: "There are three kinds of people in this world: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what the hell just happened."
Zhang He tossed his hair cheerfully as he strolled down the hall. Things were going perfectly. He heard Ling Yi's hurried footsteps echo off the walls as the short young servant struggled to keep up with his lengthy strides, trying vainly to hold his attention all the while.
"You have a meeting with Lord Sima Yi in two hours, in which you will be reviewing the battle plan for Chi Bi. I trust you read the briefing I wrote up for you? …My lord? My lord? HELLOOOO? LORD ZHANG HE! THIS IS LING YI REQUESTING THAT YOU JOIN HER ON PLANET EARTH!"
"Hmm? Oh, hello, Ling Yi! Beautiful day isn't it?" Ling Yi fixed him with one of her patented "I'm-resisting-the-urge-to-throttle-the-life-out-of-you" stares that meant he had missed something important. "My Lord, am I to understand that you have not heard a word of what I have just said?" Zhang He grinned sheepishly at her before hastily changing the subject. "Do not scowl so, my dear. It's simply not beautiful." He might have been imagining it, but he thought he saw Ling Yi twitch slightly. She frowned harder. "With all due respect, my master, beauty is the last thing I am concerned with. Now, if you will please attend, there are matters of pressing urgency that desperately require your attention." And just like that, she went back into her thoroughly dull lecture. Zhang He tried to pay attention, he really did, but his heart just wasn't in it. He was preoccupied with thoughts of the man who was currently tied to his bed. Zhang He was obsessed with two things: beauty and danger. It was why he lived the way he did, balancing luxury and finery and excess with the blood and sweat and dirt of the battlefield.
He lived for the delicate brush of fine silk against his skin as much as for the delicate shredding of that same skin beneath a fine blade. It was duality, Yin and Yang, harmony and chaos, blood and wine. Gan Ning. There was a man who truly had the best of both worlds; feared pirate, enemy officer, formidable warrior, gorgeous hunk. Zhang He was fascinated by him. When they battled earlier, he felt he got a sense of the man's dangerous side, and he couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to see him be beautiful. The lips that formed a snarl could just as easily form a kiss, couldn't they? That's what he was thinking about as they fought; what Gan Ning's lips would feel like pressed against his own. It was what he was thinking about right now.
He had brought Gan Ning back with him purely on a whim. Initially, Ling Yi was quite vehemently against his decision, but once she realized he had made up his mind, she ceased her struggle and dutifully did as he bid her. Actually, he thought that she and Gan Ning had gotten along rather splendidly, and he felt quite sure that he could persuade Gan Ning to get along with him as well. He smiled to himself as he nodded at Ling Yi, not really hearing her at all. He was accustomed to her speeches, and could easily identify the points where he was supposed to nod if he wanted to look like he was listening. While Ling Yi talked of battle and dreamed of bloody victories, Zhang He smiled and nodded and dreamed of Gan Ning.
Well, that's it for Ch .2! I feel it's very important for me to tell you all how much fun it is to write Zhang He being ditzy, even though I'm positive it's out of character. OODLES OF NOODLES OF FUN. That's about two metric tons, that is. I tried to give you a sense of how clueless he really is. Which is very. I love how halfway through the story, he makes a transition from being a space case to being all deep and philosophical and smexy. I think I'll be working with the "duality" theme a lot in this here fic.
