"The Little Things"

The tree

They were lying on the messy bed, resting. Yunlan's finger was slowly tracing the outline of Shen Wei's muscles on his toned chest. They sighed at the same time, and Zhao looked up. "Where are your thoughts, Brother Black?" he asked.

"At the same place yours are, probably," answered Shen Wei, looking at the ceiling.

"Oh, I was hoping that we could postpone it a bit." Yunlan's hand started moving slowly down, and Shen Wei caught it and turned his head to face him.

"Zhao Yunlan. You've already said it before. And we've postponed it. Three times. It's morning already. We need to go."

"I know." Zhao sighed. He put his head on Shen Wei's chest and closed his eyes, focusing on a steady heartbeat. His own heart was racing, and he did his best to slow it down. "It's just that, the moment we leave this bed, there is no coming back until..."

"I know. This is why we need enough time to prepare." Shen Wei sat up. Yunlan looked at him wistfully, and when the man rose to his feet, Zhao grabbed his hand.

"My Dark Lord, I am awfully tired. I don't think I will be able to walk to the bathroom on my own. Any chance you could help me?" Zhao grinned, looking hopefully into worried dark eyes. Shen Wei reached out his other hand, and Zhao took it. He leaned on his lover way more than it was necessary and steered them both happily straight to the shower cabin.

They emerged from the bathroom an hour later, and Zhao was grinning like an idiot. Shen Wei hastily put on his clothes and turned to him. "I'll prepare us something to eat."

At that moment, a phone rang, and Zhao reached for it.

"Yeah?" he listened to his deputy for a while. "No, stay there. Order food for everybody. We'll get there in half an hour." He looked somberly at Shen Wei. "Get ready, we're moving out in ten." 

They arrived at SID headquarters. Zhao, who was unnaturally silent all the way there, forced himself to put on a confident grin. "All right, you lot!" He clasped his hands as he reached the large table in the main room. "Yesterday, the fish caught the bait, so now we need to prepare for the final confrontation. Before that – we eat." He pointed at the different dishes ordered by Da Qing. "There's no better way of planning things than on a full stomach." He sat at his favourite spot and waited for Shen Wei to join him. They were all soon eating, the Chief of SID making sure that the atmosphere during the meal was light. Once they were full, however, and the leftovers got cleaned away, he frowned and stood up.

"OK, here's the plan. Me and Shen Wei are going to Mt Kunlun to set all the traps. You guys prepare for the confrontation and stay on stand-by. We'll get back to you when we're done."

"How do you plan to transport us all to the mountain?" asked Da Qing. "Lord Envoy won't be able to do it alone."

"Don't worry, there is someone who promised to provide a passage." Zhao had talked the issue through with Shen Wei. They both decided not to endanger his subordinates unless absolutely necessary. And this lot didn't have to know about it for now. "Ok, Computer Freak, what have you got for me?" he turned to Lin Jing expectantly. The tall man produced a sizable device.

"This is a satellite phone. I played with the settings a bit, so it should be in range wherever you are, provided the place isn't in a different dimension. Also, by tapping into the city's system, I think I managed to discover a wavelength that could potentially disrupt the portals. It could make it harder to open them in the city. I'm still working on it, though. I wasn't able to check it in action."

"Get back to work then, tell me when that theory of yours stops being only potentially possible. Zhu Hong, what is the official stand of the Yashou tribes on this situation?"