Boiling Point (Zixuan) [COMPLETED] | Silently Into the Night

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Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 12:12:31 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 12:12:31 GMT -8

((This thread is backdated to May 2020)

Yanli massaged her temples as her mother ranted at her. She wasn't sure she even knew what she was saying at this point.

"You're twenty-five and your clock is ticking. If you want children you need to start working towards that, you and Zixuan should be trying," her mother said. "Are you listening to me?" she started to get fired up seeing Yanli's disengaged body language.

"Mother, I appreciate that you want the best for me and my future, but why do you think that needs to involve Zixuan? I know you're constantly thinking about my future but what about his? I know he's not your child but you should care about him too. What about what he wants for himself?" Yanli said, trying to appeal to her mother's better nature, but it was hard to find sometimes.

"What are you talking about? You two are perfect for each other. What man wouldn't want you?" Ziyuan asked.

Yanli thought to herself, a gay one, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to out Zixuan, because apparently he hadn't come out to his family or this whole situation would have been avoided. "Mom..." she sighed.

She watched, alarmed as her mother went into her kitchen and started nosing about the cabinets. "Can I help you find something?" Yanli asked, defensive of her kitchen.

"The tea, we're brewing that tea for you now. Not only will is promote fertility but it'll make you frisky, his tea too." Ziyuan said still looking.

"We got rid of that ages ago, mother. Along with all your weird suggestive stuff. Do you know how awkward you made it for us?" Yanli asked, getting angrier. "I'm not his type and the idea of doing such things with me probably made living with me much harder for him. It's hard enough living with someone new, it's impossible with these expectations you're putting on us." she tried to explain.

"Why would he not want to have sex with you? Is there another woman he'd rather have sex with? Does he want to have sex with a man? You're here, dear. You'll do," her mother said.

"I'll do?" Yanli asked, incredulously. "Well that tells me exactly what sort of value you place on my worth. Unfortunately for you, I value myself more than just barely 'doing it' for someone. I want love and romance and understanding. I want to feel the butterflies and nervousness. I want more than the sham of a marriage you and dad keep up." She covered her mouth, eyes wide. She couldn't believe she'd just said that.

"You think you know what love is? You think you know what you need in your life? You're a stupid little girl who always comes running to me when you need help and I'm tired of not being appreciated for all I do for you." Her mother spat, voice rising.

"All you do for me? You want me to marry a gay man!" Yanli yelled back.

Jin Zixuan

edited Aug 12, 2020 9:19:56 GMT -8 by Redeim

Jin Zixuan

MDZS Character

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no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 12:28:03 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 12:28:03 GMT -8

Zixuan was running late on his way home from work. It was definitely adding to an already stressful day, and Yanli's mother was expected to be over that evening for dinner, and he wasn't looking forward to it. What he really wanted was to go home and ask Yanli for a hug and tell her what he could about the crisis with one of the kids at work today. Normally, he wasn't involved in these sorts of things, but this was one of the teens who liked to come sit in Zixuan's office to do his homework, and the kid had asked for Zixuan when they'd tried to figure out who he'd find comforting, so Zixuan's entire afternoon had been spent sitting with a kid who was panicking while the social workers talked with the kid, completely confused that he was apparently reassuring in this context. He'd managed to mostly keep his own cool with a lot of effort, but he was completely drained.

He sat in the car for a few minutes, not quite ready to go up, and then dragged himself up the stairs, not really ready for this and kind of wanting an excuse to go hide. That feeling did not improve when he heard indistinct yelling coming from inside his usually peaceful apartment. He let himself in quietly, slipping off his shoes and putting them on the rack and then stepped past the divider into his room, putting down his things and taking a few deep breaths.

Then he tentatively made his way out to the main space, saying, "I'm home."

Jiang Yanli

MDZS Character

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No

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Engaged

Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 12:38:03 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 12:38:03 GMT -8

Yanli at this point had become attuned to Zixuan when he came home, despite his quiet nature. "Welcome home," she said to him in a quieter, calmer tone, turning away from her mother.

Her mother rounded on him, fire in her eyes, "you're gay? Is that why you two aren't sleeping together yet? I need grandchildren and I'd like them to be from my best friend's son, could you make an exception and just put one baby inside her? Maybe two?"

The color drained from Yanli's face, only to be replaced with the red of anger. "Mother! How could you say such a thing? I swear if I ever do have children I won't let you and your toxic self near them!"

Ziyuan reached over and slapped Yanli. "You ungrateful girl!" she barked.

Yanli just stood there, part shocked and part mortified. Then to make things worse, she felt the tears start rolling down her face.

Jin Zixuan

MDZS Character

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no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 13:04:43 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 13:04:43 GMT -8

Zixuan's eyes widened and he froze as Yanli's mother yelled at him, but when she turned on Yanli, he stepped forward and caught her arm firmly before she could go for a second slap, angry at himself for not moving fast enough before she could land even one. His hand was firm, and he wasn't letting go, but he wasn't putting pressure on Yanli's mother's arm either.

Zixuan was seething, on top of this being completely cruel and unfair to Yanli, it reminded him far far too much of what had been going on for the poor kid at work. He spoke softly, and his voice wavered a little bit, but he was determined enough to get through what he had to say, "I am not, though if I was, asking me to make an exception of that nature would be incredibly rude and cruel of you. I would not have gone through with moving in with Yanli if I wasn't at least willing to give this relationship a try. But the only reason that I would sleep with someone, especially with children as the goal, is if both of us were in agreement that we wanted that, and were ready for that. You haven't given Yanli or me the space to figure this out and make our own decisions. Yanli has gone above and beyond by even considering this when we didn't know each other that well to begin with, and we have both seen just how badly arranged marriages can go through the examples of our parents. Do you want that for your daughter? I don't want to make that sort of commitment to someone until we're really truly sure."

He paused, nearly hyperventilating, and said voice shaking even further, "I think that you should leave."

He dropped her arm and stepped protectively beside Yanli, glaring down at Yanli's mother.

Jiang Yanli

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Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 13:14:52 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 13:14:52 GMT -8

Ziyuan was taken aback when Zixuan stepped between her and her daughter. She'd always known him to be, despite his stature, a timid man, so his standing between them, towering over her and holding her arm was a surprise to her. She'd have to tell Meinuan about this.

Despite his behavior, she was actually happy to see him being defensive of her daughter, it meant there was hope after all. She hated to back down from a fight but saw potential grandchildren in leaving now for Zixuan to comfort Yanli. "We will finish this conversation later, Yanli," she said, straightening her hair and exiting with her head held high.

Yanli turned into Zixuan and buried her face in his chest, crying. Her mother had never struck her before. She didn't know where this left them and their relationship. Though they we often at odds, her mother was her best friend, the thought of having damaged that relationship beyond repair scared her.

On top of that, she realized she'd outed Zixuan to her mother and Zixuan had denied it. She didn't know what to think at this point, she just knew she was overwhelmed.

Jin Zixuan

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no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 13:21:52 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 13:21:52 GMT -8

Zixuan started shaking a little bit as Yanli's mother left, but he wrapped comforting arms around Yanli, trying his best to not come to pieces from standing up to an angry adultier adult. He said softly, "I'm sorry she was like that. I hope I didn't make it worse, but I didn't want to see her hurting you."

He hesitated and added, "And, um, to clarify, I'm actually not gay. I wouldn't have agreed to all this if I was, that wouldn't have been fair to you. I am bi though, and like, out to some people, I don't know that my mom believed me, but I've told her, and Mianmian knows. Not that I've done anything with anyone, ever, woman or man."

He said, a little choked, "I did mean everything that I just said to her though."

Jiang Yanli

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Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 13:28:15 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 13:28:15 GMT -8

Yanli could feel Zixuan shaking and the fact that his voice was getting choked up and a part of her wanted to switch into strong jiejie mode and take care of him, but she didn't have it in her right now. She wanted to be selfish and needed Zixuan to hold it together for a few more minutes so she could pull herself back together.

"The only interest I've seen you show or voice was about my brother, Jiang Cheng." Yanli said into his chest, gripping at his shirt on either side of his waist like it was a lifeline. She sniffled, "I guess I should text A-cheng and say never mind about how he feels about you."

Jin Zixuan

MDZS Character

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no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 13:33:27 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 13:33:27 GMT -8

The comment was so utterly mind boggling that Zixuan stopped shaking, utterly confused. He kept holding Yanli, starting to gently rub circles into her back, and said, "I'm really not into Jiang Chen like that. I'm actually slightly afraid of your brother, though please don't tell him that. He's good looking, but like, angry, all the time, which is not my thing. I want to get to know your brothers better because they matter to you, and I feel like I got off on the wrong foot with them somehow."

He realized a second element to what she'd said, and he stuttered as he said, "Plus, you're definitely the most attractive of your sibling set, and you're nice. I want to give this a try, but on our terms, not our mothers' but only if you also want to."

He hoped that she wouldn't be angry at him for saying it like that, for how unclear he'd been, for the fact that she'd clearly somehow gotten the wrong idea.

Jiang Yanli

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Engaged

Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 13:42:02 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 13:42:02 GMT -8

Yanli changed her hold on Zixuan, letting go of his shirt by his waist and wrapping her arms around it instead. She couldn't look at him when she asked, so she kept her face buried in his chest, "so you do like me? At least a little bit? In the romantic way?"

She felt her face flush. She'd asked that question in just about the weirdest way possible, but she'd gotten it out there. She decided that they really had to work on communication in the future, because they were both bad at it.

Jin Zixuan

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no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 13:56:53 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 13:56:53 GMT -8

Zixuan nodded, blushing. Then he realized that Yanli couldn't see what he was doing with her face buried in his chest and her arms wrapped around him. He carefully and shyly said, "Yeah, I've, uh, had a crush on you since I was like ten. I'm sorry that didn't manage to make that clearer. I didn't want to push your boundaries, and I didn't know you well enough to know if you had any interest in me that way, and I really wanted to give you space to make your own calls after everything that our moms did right at the start."

He reached up and patted her hair gently, saying, "Do you want to sit on the couch so that we can actually talk? We can, um, cuddle? If you want?"

He was blushing furiously now and said quickly, deeply embarrassed, "I have no idea how this is supposed to go."

Jiang Yanli

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Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 14:09:28 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 14:09:28 GMT -8

Yanli felt a wave of relief crash over her. She hadn't known just how upset she'd been by Zixuan being gay. Not because he was gay but because it meant she was no longer an option. "Couch and cuddling sounds good," she said.

She was reluctant to let go, unsure if they'd really manage to cuddle on the couch. She figured they'd get caught up in awkwardness and never manage it. With that in mind she withdrew herself from his arms and grabbed his hand. She led him to the couch and looked him in the eyes, "for the record, I've had a crush on you since you were like sixteen."

She blushed and sat down on the couch, looking down and tugging his arm childishly to encourage him to sit as well. She didn't know what the most comfortable position to cuddle in would be and figured Zixuan would be just as confused. But because she figured he'd be the one more uncomfortable with the whole situation, she wanted him to feel like he could choose and set up the cuddle.

Jin Zixuan

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154 posts	0 likes

no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 14:18:32 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 14:18:32 GMT -8

Zixuan couldn't help smiling when she said that she was actually also interested. He was still blushing as he followed her to the couch, but the idea of cuddling was approximately as non-threatening as he could have possibly suggested. Yanli tugging him down to sit next to her was sweet and adorable, and he really really liked her.

He sat close beside her, since he had permission to touch in the sense of cuddling, and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her gently towards his chest though keeping his hold loose and trying to make it clear that he was happy with however she rearranged herself. He rested his cheek against her hair and said softly, "Is this OK?"

Cuddling was nice, cuddling was something that he'd done in a completely platonic sense, and while this was different, it was something that also knew the logistics of. With Yanli, he wanted to know what came after cuddling, and there was a part of him that wanted to pull her into his lap and cling closer, but he still didn't want to push those boundaries any further than Yanli was comfortable with.

Jiang Yanli

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Engaged

Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 14:27:41 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 14:27:41 GMT -8

Yanli tucked her legs underneath herself and leaned over, sort of pushing Zixuan back on the couch. The end result looked a lot like a sitting version of that sleeping position where your head rests on your partner's chest.

"This is fine," she said, smiling and turning redder. She enjoyed this feeling. She cleared her throat, hoping the next thing she said didn't cause him to tense up, "do you think we could do this more often? It's nice."

Jin Zixuan

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154 posts	0 likes

no

bisexual (prefers women)

engaged (but confused)

Etienne

Aug 9, 2020 14:37:42 GMT -8

Post by Jin Zixuan on Aug 9, 2020 14:37:42 GMT -8

Zixuan leaned back into the couch, letting as much of her weight rest on him as possible. It felt nice to have her there, in his arms. He tightened one of his arms around her a bit, drawing her even closer, but didn't squeeze hard. He ran the other hand gently down her back, starting from her hair and ending when it reached his own arm around her waist.

He nodded, hoping that she could feel it from where his cheek was resting on her hair and said, "Yeah, I'd like to do this more. I like cuddling, this isn't scary now that I know that it's something that we both want to do."

He said, voice serious and shy, "I'm not sure what else I'm ready for, but I think that we should take baby steps, thought that probably means making sure that we ask about things when we feel ready for them."

He said in a tiny tiny voice, acting on what he'd just said, but also scared, "I'd also be ok with lap, um cuddling, in lap."

He blushed even deeper, feeling vulnerable, and nervous about how Yanli would react.

Jiang Yanli

MDZS Character

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Straight

Engaged

Velexa

Aug 9, 2020 14:47:58 GMT -8

Post by Jiang Yanli on Aug 9, 2020 14:47:58 GMT -8

Yanli closed her eyes, sighing as Zixuan ran his hand down her back. She was glad she wasn't the only one who liked this and possibly even needed interactions like this.

She nodded as Zixuan said he didn't know what else he was ready for but sat up straight, looking at him wide-eyed when he said "baby steps." "Baby steps? You want to have a baby?" she was immediately tense on edge, then her mind finally caught up with her mouth. She turned red and buried her face in his chest again muttering, "small steps, like a baby's. I get it, please ignore that and save me some embarrassment."

She was not opposed to the idea of cuddling with him while sitting in his lap, but that seemed a lot more intimate and after her faux pas she couldn't bring herself to move there. She barely squeaked out, "lap cuddles would be okay."