Lang Zhu returned just before dusk with light injuries.
There was blood on his shoulder. Not a lot but enough for Yin Yue to drop the basket of drying herbs and storm over, fuming.
"Are you.. are you bleeding?" he demanded.
Lang Zhu didn't answer.
Yin Yue circled him once, taking in the claw marks on his back, the ripped edge of one ear, the small gash across his bicep.
Lang Zhu stood still and silent. Like bleeding was something he did recreationally.
Yin Yue pointed to the den. "Inside. Now. Sit down and take your shirt off."
Lang Zhu raised one brow. "You just want to see me shirtless."
"I can do that any morning," Yin Yue snapped. "This is medical care. Don't get it twisted."
Lang Zhu didn't argue.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💢 HOST MOOD: Medic Mode Activated
💘 ML STATUS: Mildly Injured, Wildly Obedient
🫠 TENSION LEVEL: Above Normal Healing Range
Inside the den, Lang Zhu sat near the firepit while Yin Yue boiled water and unwrapped his emergency herb kit.
He worked quickly, hands steady until he got to the ear.
"Hold still," he said softly.
Lang Zhu didn't move. Yin Yue reached up and touched the torn edge of the ear carefully, gently.
Lang Zhu froze. Like completely. Every muscle locked. Tail still. Eyes sharp.
As if that small touch had done more damage than claws ever could.
"…Does that hurt?" Yin Yue asked.
Lang Zhu's voice was low.
"It's not pain."
Yin Yue's hand hesitated.
Hovered.
Then, before he could second-guess it..
He ran his fingers slowly along the base of the ear.
Lang Zhu inhaled sharply. Didn't move or didn't stop him.
Yin Yue's heartbeat was loud enough to echo in the den.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🐺 EAR GROOMING: INITIATED
💘 CULTURAL MEANING: Mating-level Intimacy
🫠 HOST STATUS: In Way Too Deep
He brushed once more, then again gently and focused.
Lang Zhu closed his eyes. His tail curled forward slowly, brushing lightly against Yin Yue's knee.
Yin Yue froze. Emotion and instinct crashing in his chest like thunder.
"I didn't mean..." he started.
"I know."
"I was just...patching you up."
"I know."
"…You didn't stop me."
Lang Zhu opened his eyes and looked straight at him.
And said, "I never want to."
> 💘 ML AFFECTION: Overwhelmed, Controlled
🧠 HOST RESPONSE: Catatonic with fluster
Yin Yue's fingers slipped away.
He stepped back quickly, stumbling a little, grabbing at the firewood pile like it could save him from drowning in his own emotions.
Lang Zhu stood. Didn't move closer or didn't tease.
Just whispered, "Thank you."
And Yin Yue had no words left only shaking hands.
Yin Yue woke up in a cold sweat not because of nightmares. But because of memory, the ear, the tail and the thank you.
He rolled over in the bedding, grabbed a pillow, and screamed into it for four full seconds.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🧠 HOST STATUS: Mentally Down Bad
🐺 EAR GROOMING DAMAGE: Permanent
💘 ML STATUS: Emotionally Serene, Touchier Than Ever
He dragged himself outside to get tea. A big mistake because Feng Xia was waiting like a fox at a hen party.
He took one look at Yin Yue's face and smiled like a predator.
"You look like someone who touched something culturally sacred and liked it."
Yin Yue dropped the tea cup.
Feng Xia gasped, delighted. "You did! You groomed him!"
"I was cleaning a wound!"
"You groomed his ear, Yin Yue! That's not first base. That's marriage."
"I don't want to be anyone's spirit husband!"
"Well it's too late. Did he lean into it?"
"…Yes."
Feng Xia clapped. Mi Mi, walking by, paused.
Then whispered, "So the wedding is next moon phase?"
Yin Yue let out a strangled sound and fled.
Worse still Lang Zhu started touching him. Not a lot just… enough.
Like a hand on his back when guiding him through the crowd. Fingers at his waist when they shared firewood.
One time, during the evening meal, he tugged Yin Yue closer by the back of the robe so that their knees touched.
Yin Yue dropped his spoon. No one else blinked. It was normal now.
Feng Xia: smug.
Shan Da: making flower chains and humming wedding songs.
The Elder: absolutely prepping the ceremonial blankets.
> 🫠 HOST STRESS LEVEL: 9000
💘 ML PHYSICAL CONTACT FREQUENCY: Increasing
🐾 VILLAGE STATUS: Already Married Them in Their Heads
By nightfall, Yin Yue was curled in his corner of the den, muttering, "It didn't mean anything. It was bandage proximity. Bandage proximity."
Lang Zhu walked in. Glanced at him and said nothing.
Then knelt, took Yin Yue's ankle in his hand. Rolled up his pant leg and pressed a warm herbal compress over a bruise Yin Yue hadn't even noticed.
Yin Yue stared at him and Lang Zhu looked up.
"You always take care of me," he said quietly.
"Let me do the same."
Yin Yue forgot how to breathe.
The entire village begins quietly and not-so-quietly preparing for Yin Yue and Lang Zhu's "inevitable" mating ceremony.
It started with the yarn.
Yin Yue stepped outside and tripped over a woven basket filled with dyed forest wool.
On top sat a carved sign:
> "For the mating blanket. May it be warm and soft like your future."
He stared at it for a solid minute then turned walked back inside and screamed into a pillow.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🧶 Mating Blanket Status: Under Construction
🧠 HOST STATUS: Spiraling
🐺 ML CONTRIBUTION: Donated fur scraps (?!)
Later that day, while helping Mi Mi sort herbs, Yin Yue saw two young rabbit beastmen stitching something behind the hut.
"Is that..."
"Your blanket," Mi Mi said cheerfully.
Yin Yue blinked. "What?"
"The Elder said you and the Chief will need it by next moonrise."
"I haven't agreed to anything."
Mi Mi blinked. "But… you touched his ears?"
"That's not a contract!"
Feng Xia appeared out of nowhere, sipping from a flask of berry wine.
"Oh darling, it's worse than a contract. It's sacred. It's sexy. It's basically a love confession embroidered in instinct."
Yin Yue grabbed his own hair. "I'm going to run into the woods and let a hawk take me."
Feng Xia nodded solemnly. "Please wait until after the ceremony. I already carved your names into a candle."
> 🫠 HOST STATUS: Flustered Beyond Fixing
💘 ML STATUS: Silent, Unbothered, Mysteriously Participating
🧵 Village Mood: Wedding Fever
That night, Yin Yue curled up at the edge of the fire pit in the den, trying not to think about wool, needles, and the fact that one of the square patches had little wolf ears embroidered into it.
Lang Zhu sat beside him still quiet as ever. Yin Yue turned to him slowly deadpan.
"Tell me you didn't give them your fur for a blanket."
Lang Zhu looked at him unblinking.
"I wanted it to be warm."
Yin Yue dropped his face into his hands.
"You're doing this on purpose."
Lang Zhu gently bumped his shoulder. "You sleep better with it."
"I'm going to fight everyone."
"I'll hold your earrings."
> 💘 ML AFFECTION: Tangible
💬 HOST EMOTIONAL CLARITY: Growing... grudgingly
🧶 Mating Blanket Completion: 57%
Yin Yue didn't speak again for a while.
Just sat in the flickering light of the fire, warmth pressed to his side, heart doing strange and stupid things.
The fire was low and the den was quiet.
Outside, the forest hummed with frogs and soft breezes, but inside it was all stillness and breath.
Lang Zhu was brushing Yin Yue's hair gently. Yin Yue let him.
Because apparently that's who he was now a man who let a wolf groom him while wrapped in a half-finished mating blanket, pretending none of it mattered.
He cleared his throat. Lang Zhu didn't stop.
Just said, "You're thinking too loudly."
Yin Yue muttered, "I wasn't thinking anything interesting."
Lang Zhu tugged gently on a tangle. "Liar."
They sat there a moment longer. Yin Yue shifted, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders.
Then very quietly he said, "I don't know how to do this."
Lang Zhu paused and waited.
Yin Yue added, "Not the blanket. Not the customs. You."
Lang Zhu set the brush down. Didn't touch him and didn't speak just let the silence stretch.
Yin Yue's voice came out small. "I might be in love with you. But don't quote me on that."
Lang Zhu reached out. Lifted the edge of the blanket and tucked it around them both.
And said, "Then I won't say it back yet. Not until you're ready to hear it."
> 💘 ML STATUS: Emotionally Lethal
🫠 HOST STATUS: Voluntarily Vulnerable
💬 INTIMACY LEVEL: Full Blanket, Full Feelings
Yin Yue turned toward him. Met his eyes.
And whispered, "That's cheating."
Lang Zhu smiled. "You taught me how."
It was done. The mating blanket.
Wide, soft, ridiculous, and stitched with every embarrassing detail of Yin Yue's emotional unraveling probably.
There was a fox tail pattern in one corner, rabbit ears on the hem, a badly drawn soup bowl near the center.
And a patch with two tiny wolves curled up together.
Yin Yue stared at it, stunned.
Then up at the entire village, which had somehow gathered in a perfect circle around him without him noticing.
Drums began somewhere and Feng Xia handed him a flower crown.
"I'm going to throw you into the river," Yin Yue muttered.
"I'll float," Feng Xia said cheerfully. "You, however, have to go get married."
Lang Zhu stepped forward. Wearing his best hunting sash, hair pulled back, ears high and eyes steady.
He didn't say anything. He just held out his hand.
Yin Yue stared at it then, finally... finally.... took it.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
💘 BOND STATUS: Complete
🫶 EMOTIONAL STATUS: Officially, Overwhelmingly Mated
🧠 HOST THOUGHTS: All Screaming, All the Time
Lang Zhu pulled him in and wrapped the blanket around both of them. Tucked Yin Yue into his side like he belonged there.
Then leaned down... and kissed him softly. The kind of kiss that didn't need to prove anything anymore.
The crowd burst into cheers. Someone (probably Shan Da) released flower petals from the roof.
Yin Yue didn't care. Didn't even flinch.
He just pressed his face to Lang Zhu's chest and whispered, "I hate it here."
Lang Zhu kissed the top of his head.
"You love it here."
Yin Yue grumbled. "I love you. That's worse."
Lang Zhu smiled.
"Not for me."