#s4ray

[mythvoiced]

@s4ray | ♥

Xiao Xingchen is no foe of compliments. He advocates for praise to be a much better motivator, for words and reprimands to be a better teacher than mindless punishment - though he has been wrong before.

A person taken with gentleness, taught that improving, growing can and should only be associated with warmth, pleasure, a sense of pride, confidence, self-fulfillment, Xiao Xingchen will never understand an alternative when the benefit of the doubt has saved a lot more from the wrong path than cutting their hands off has - though he has been wrong before.

He's no stranger to compliments, as such. The praise of Baoshan Sanren had motivated him to keep training, after all, taught him justice, made of him a Daoist on a path even the darkness surrounding every aspect of his life in one way or another, can't make him stray from.

But... there are compliments, and then there are compliments.

Xiao Xingchen isn't a maiden. His appearance, his soft laughter, his even softer footfall, his penchant for kindness, it's easy to create an impression of a different man than the on he is... alas, his companion's words don't make him blush and hush.

But they do make him perk up.

There are only so many times he can be called all sorts of variations of 'beautiful' before Xiao Xingchen tilts his head, the pleased, gently amused smile maintaining its position on the canvas his companion had so meticulously and yet so easily worked to paint.

Smiling and laughing used to not come so easily. Now it seems easier than warming up to the thought of this potentially ending one day.

"Ah," an apologetic, but not meek tone wrapped around a single sound. "You know I'm no good with stories," he would, right? What odd kind of warmth, the warmth of knowing someone knows you. "At least not as good as you are at telling them."

The slightly off-kilter footfall, an injury to a leg not quite healed. Xiao Xingchen has memorized the way his companion walks, once upon a time because it was easier to precede him rather than burden someone with arranging themselves in a way that wouldn't startle him - because he liked his independence - and now... now it's a habit.

Now it's something to look forward to.

"Nor am I as good with words in general, as you are," his head moves at the slightest change, the slightest curve is accompanied by Xiao Xingchen's head adjusting to best capture it, a moon-pale beauty listening intently for the footsteps of a man he'll never truly know.

Though he has been wrong before.

"Nor particularly equipped to praise your looks as you seem keen on praising mine," and the corners of his lips sharpen ever so slightly.

His demeanour and the way he moves, some associating more years to his name than there are and assuming him an immortal deity has not been as rare an occurrence as he'd like it to be.

At the end of the day, though, he's not even quite 30 yet. At the end of the day, even he can tease.

"I'm sorry about the rabbit," he could hear how far away it was, "let me help carry those you've already caught. I insist."

[daczhang]

@s4ray — from here.

IT'S ALMOST SHAMEFUL, how easily he lets the words slip from his lips, daring, begging — the shroud of darkness makes whatever distance Xiao Xingchen managed to ensure between them almost palpable. Electric, warm breath brushing against his skin, so close until A-Qing's loud voice interrupted something he couldn't have even imagined before. But he could've relented. Could've pulled away, pretended it was nothing, an accident, a blind man is easy to forgive for standing too close, for yearning for someone's touch a little too much. He chooses to be a coward. He wouldn't be able to save face if they ever talked about it again — at least this way, his regret would be a sweet one.

The first brushing of lips tastes like warm caramel, and it's sweet indeed, it's sweet enough to unravel the tension that's been building up between them for weeks, gentle enough to leave him breathless. But the other doesn't relent either — a thief without a name who isn't stealing his first kiss because he asked for it, but it might be too late to try and give anything in this room a name. Lips part again, less awkward than expected, he can feel the warmth of a smile too close to his own... ❝ I like the sound of your voice, ❞ he exhales at last. Fingers trail slowly towards the other man's cheek, feeling their way up his neck — heated skin and raw, rushing pulse. He isn't leaving, he isn't running away. All Xiao Xingchen can do is offer his warm beating heart upon the palm of his hand.

❝ ... do it again? ❞

[dreams-of-fate]

"I've given up telling you to quiet down." It didn't help his headache either way. "Take this and eat over there." Tossed him a mung bean bun and bit into one of his own.

@s4ray

[cuckoo-among-beasts]

... 😏 from @s4ray . 💞

"Sorry, but anyone who does not think dage is great is completely off limits."

@s4ray

[tiianwens]

from @s4ray lol .....

❝ ... yours is not the kind of violence I find tolerable. Stay away. ❞

[2heir]

`  蓝忘机  ;   indie & selective blog for LAN WANGJI ( lan zhan ) of the untamed , as told by nassy . previous knowledge of the lore is not necessary to interact with him . side - blog : @s4ray

[wellfell]

i'm so so stressed and anxious and sad which makes me want to write tragic gays ; which means follow me on @2heir , @s4ray and also @6cular bc i will probably be there . ily .

[s4ray]

xue yang and lan zhan ( @s4ray / @2heir ) are moved to my mumu over ; @crue11 . 💞

[ironclammugopera]

i desperately need someone to fast with, message me on Kik my user is s4ray

[mythvoiced]

@s4ray | ♥

There's something about the way he talks that always leaves Xiao Xingchen a little lighter than he'd been a moment before.

He doesn't allow heaviness to shroud him, no, a darker world doesn't necessarily have to mean a darker heart. He only allows heaviness to drape itself over his shoulders in the form of responsibility, the pleasant weight of always, always choosing to do the right thing, extend a hand, pick up a beggar from the streets, dress the wound of a stranger, fill his enemy's stomach.

But sometimes, against all odds, against his own discipline, against the path up and down the mountain, and the teachings that make him what he is, the grief he carries around with the careful step he's always possessed, only slightly more cautious with the light gone from his eyesockets, some other kind of weight builds.

He only feels it when it dissipates at his voice, recognizes it via its absence.

At the snide words that barely mean any snide at all. Xingchen imagines to hear it, the real intentions behind the bite. The annoyance always hits Xingchen a little feigned, the demands just shy of aggressive enough that it becomes more than easy to give into them.

Would Xingchen have any stories to tell, if he didn't have such good listeners?

Would he even bother with remembering them, if he couldn't tell them?

Xingchen's head follows the sounds lightly. A blind man only turns as far as he needs to let his ear scout out the target of his interest. He smiles when the voice grows closer to it. Smiles sweetly and a touch too warm when he sways, smiles when he hands his meat over as if he was the one the favour was for.

"I do like snakes," an easy answer, Xingchen likes all kind of life. Misconceptions and bad reputations, isn't there a bit of good in anything and everyone?

"But why don't you tell me a story about yourself instead," soft-spoken like the moon they have associated him too, but never quite as weak as moonlight compared to the sun, because the moon makes the tides turn and Xingchen is handicapped, not dead.

Though he is most certainly a fool enough to warrant his handicap, his death.

"Eat. But do talk. I'd like to have something about you to remember down the line."

[daczhang]

@s4ray — from here.

NOTHING BUT A FRACTURE OF A MOMENT that lasted too long — he couldn't possibly explain the desire to know, something so simple, so unreachable to him. Beyond the thin white veil that covers his eyes, his companion must be silently mocking him. A-Qing indulged his curiosity with ease, beaming as fingers danced carefully around her gentle features ( 'daozhang is so pretty', she teased then, entrusted to a similar luxury; the blind leading the blind ). It's not too difficult to empathize with the staggering halt, and he is almost ready to step back when warm fingers wrap around his wrist — and Xiao Xingchen is more than grateful for the guidance, and the lenience.

❝ Young, ❞ he voices with a smile, shaking his head lightly at the remark. Fingertips brush softly across the gash that should have healed already, bringing a gentle frown to his features — he makes sure not to cross it again, nor cause any more discomfort, not with the tension building up, throbbing under his touch. He doesn't even know his friend's name. ❝ Charming, ❞ a smile grows wider. His thumb is too careless, straying off course, feeling its way towards the corners of lips — full and warm, softer than the words that fall from them. It brings him to a pause. It makes him want to linger. Feel that heated softness underneath his skin again, but it must be too close, too intimate. Close enough that it makes his breath hitch. The hand withdraws, if only to find a better angle — the back of his palm glides carefully over the sharper edges of the other's jawline, not too different from the image painted by his mind, but somehow more refined. Boyish and good-looking, underneath all that crudeness of a sharp tongue and a cutting rage of the damaged voice. It was agony that he heard, on some days. The hoarse screaming of something broken. Xiao Xingchen never pushed it, never asked, yet the fascination that came with the sound never failed to draw a smile at the most obvious jokes. ❝ I apologize if my curiosity brought you any discomfort. Now I can picture you a bit better. ❞

[wellfell]

what if u gave my @s4ray a xiao xingchen to pine after and like ,,, ruin his life ? 🔪