Work Text:
It isn't as if she has never seen the demon lord Zhu Yan. When she was just a kit, her mother held her tight when the great demon sauntered through the fields of the wilderness, whispering about how she should be obedient and eat her vegetables, or else Zhu Yan would come to eat her in her sleep.
That had been a lifetime ago.
She would like to think that she has outgrown some of her more jumpier natural instincts, but the second her eyes meet Zhu Yan's beguiling gaze, she freezes up so completely that Jie Jie looks around her for a minute before realising the cause of it.
"He inspires such fear in you?" Jie Jie giggles, sliding their hands together when she quickly ducks behind her. It's a miracle she hadn't spilt any of the ink she was just grinding for Jie Jie in her haste to hide. "Alright, alright, the big scary demon isn't going to hurt you. He isn't even looking our way."
She quickly peeks at where Lord Zhu Yan has stalked off to, mildly placated when she sees him draping himself on the settee closest to the dour-looking beauty that is Zhuo Yichen in his morning coat. It's a less severe, stormy grey robe that catches in the mid-morning light and makes the man look his age.
Lord Zhu Yan smiles when his presence is finally acknowledged by the other man. A curious curl of his lips and undisguised glee invites Zhuo Yichen's quiet little huff and a slap to the back of a wandering hand that snakes too close to him. She is a little surprised to note that Lord Zhu Yan allows the mortal to react as such, even more so when the demon merely laughs, undeterred and reaching over again.
There is a pinch to the corners of Zhuo Yichen's rosebud lips. The kind that comes when someone is trying very hard not to smile.
He allows Lord Zhu Yan's second attempt to slide his hand over his wrist. Allows himself to be tugged closer into a conversation that was all hush and the soft rustling of their robes spilling over each other.
"It isn't polite to eavesdrop, Mei Mei." Jie Jie gently taps her finger to her wrist, smiling sweetly as she gestures to her inkwell. "Leave the lovebirds be."
She feels her cheeks warm a little, but obediently moves back to Jie Jie's side to resume her task of grinding ink for her. The tips of her ears twitch, picking up on the telltale sounds of lips on skin.
Maybe it's best that Jie Jie did not know what Lord Zhu Yan intends to do with his consort this afternoon in their quarters.