Chapter Text
Wylan held tightly onto Jesper’s hand the whole way to the jurda fields. Jesper figured he was probably nervous, though he didn’t understand why. He’d heard Wylan talk all about chemistry and biology and soil composition and photosyntha- whatever during the carriage ride to Novyi Zem. Jesper was intelligent by any measure of the word, but the way Wylan talked about chemistry, and different material reactions, Jesper couldn’t wrap his head around it all. He was sure Wylan would be the smartest person to ever step foot in the jurda fields and he was proud to be by his side when he did it.
It was only when they met the chemist and botanist, Alexei and Elijah, that Wylan shook off his nerves. Jesper stood obediently by as they talked and talked and talked. After twenty minutes of conversation Jes couldn’t follow, his mind instead wandering to other things (namely Wylan. Wylan’s lips, having Wylan curled up in bed beside him, Wylan’s smile, Wylan-Wylan-Wylan) Alexei invited them both to walk through the fields with him, so continue talking about all the important science things. Jes was happy to follow them, less to keep up with the conversation and more just to be close to Wylan. Alexei was pointing out all the breaks in the fields, stopping by patches that were worse for wear, puffing his chest out proudly at the more established plots. It reminded Jesper of what it was like when he would visit with his mother.
Jesper didn’t expect to be so overwhelmed by feelings. The memory of wandering these fields with her hit him so ferociously he thought he’d stop breathing. They’d spend many hours a day here while Colm talked with farmers and helped them with harvesting. Jesper knew that that’s not how most king and queen’s acted, during his visits to Shu Han in his youth he’d seen how most royalty acts, but that’s what he’d always known about his parents. Whether there was a community event, or a death, or a marriage, Colm would always be present with the rest of his citizens. Colm was strict, especially with Jesper, but he was endlessly caring and thoughtful.
Maybe that was what had attracted Jes to Wylan in the first place; both radiated this passionate air of caring about everything. He could feel the passion radiate off Wylan whenever they came upon something he cared about. It was why putting his father away in the jail below Shu Han was so difficult. But they were past that now, Jan would be stuck in jail forever and Wylan was here with him and Jesper would be his new family.
Jes patted his pocket subtly, keeping his eyes trained ahead on the pair moving before him. Wylan was talking animatedly with Alexei, his arms swinging in wild circles as he gestured at this and that around them. He wasn’t paying any attention to Jes, which was fine. Jes slipped his hands into the pocket of his pants. Inside was a little ring, shining gold and simple, with three small blue topaz’s inset in the thick band. The colour reminded Jes of Wylan’s eyes, which is why he’d picked it out of the jewellery box. The jewellery box housed all Jesper’s jewellery, including the rings he now wore on his fingers; but it also held the remnants of his mother’s jewellery collection. This ring wasn’t anything special, unlike the ring he’d given to Kuwei, but it suited Wylan very much. It was more masculine, simpler, but was still more than a normal ring. It still meant something to Jesper, another part of his mother and his past that he was entrusting in Wylan.
His hand was still in his pocket, fingers curled protectively around the ring, when they circled around the field to where the carriage was waiting. That morning, when Wylan had suggested Jesper take a second carriage in case he got bored and wanted to leave, Jesper had refused. He’d stay by Wylan’s side all day if he had to, taking in all the boring science stuff and melting under the summer sun. He’d done it before, anyway.
That’s why he was surprised when Alexei stuck out his hand to shake,
‘Thanks for this, Prince Jesper. I’m really looking forward to working with you and Mr—I mean, Wylan,’ he shot a smile at Wylan, ‘in the future.’ Jesper shook his hand,
‘Thank you, Alexei.’ He tried not to show his confusion then Alexei leaned in and quietly whispered,
‘congratulations, by the way.’ Now Jesper was even more confused and baffled, but he only smiled and watched as Alexei walked away. When he was out of sight, Jesper turned to Wylan.
‘What’s going on? I thought you’d need to be here all day. You said something about soil samples, and examining the plants and talking to—’
‘I do need to do all of those things, but I have plenty of time to do all of that. I figured we could do something else instead.’ Jesper’s heart hammered in his chest as he thought about the ring in his pocket.
Did Wylan know? Obviously, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Jesper had asked Wylan to marry him twice now, Jesper wasn’t exactly quiet about how he felt. But he wanted to do it properly. He’d realised this morning that though he’d asked Wylan to marry him, he’d never done it properly. One on knee, ring in hand, blathering on and on. Maybe that’s what Wylan was waiting for. Or… maybe Wylan just didn’t want to marry him. Well, Jesper would find out today and if Wylan said no then he’d leave well enough alone. He just wanted to be able to do it properly.
Jesper watched as Wylan moved to the carriage. The driver had walked the rest of the way into town and settled into a local eatery while the boys did their science thing. They had organised to return before sundown, which meant Jesper and Wylan had another good few hours to spend. Jesper thought Wylan was planning on moving the carriage but he only reached into the trunk and pulled out a basket.
It was a cliché, the wicker basket, with the checkered blanket cast over the top. It was entirely cliché and Wylan was blushing furiously, but Jesper couldn’t help the grin that split his face.
‘Merchling, you didn’t! A picnic. Why, I feel like a prince.’
‘Shut up,’ Wylan said, but he was smiling. ‘You know this place better than me, where’s a good place to have a picnic?’
Jesper knew exactly the place. He navigated his way through the fields, some of which were more barren and sparser than he remembered, some still full of the orange flower, until he found what he was looking for. It was a long swath of grass, land that was being kept and nourished for expansion, but was otherwise untouched by the farmers. He led Wylan to a spot of shade where a huge tree from the next block was extending a shadow and laid out the blanket. Wylan sat, opened the basket and begun pulling things out. There was bowls of fresh fruit, salted meats and what looked like raspberry tarts.
The food was spread out among them, and Wylan picked up a piece of cut fruit and held it in his hands, but neither ate it. Jesper felt nervous, both about the change of plans and the ring now burning in his pocket. Wylan had accidentally made the perfect opportunity for Jesper to propose, but Jesper still found himself hesitating. He didn’t know how to make it more clear to Wylan that he wanted to be with him, what words could he say? He should’ve practiced something, written it down maybe?
He was berating himself for his poor planning skills when Wylan spoke, ‘so your mother would come here with you often?’
It warmed Jesper’s heart to know Wylan remembered that from all the stories he told, and it melted the anxiety he was feeling. Sending out a silent sorry to the farmers, Jesper got to his feet and walked towards the closest patch of flowers, picking one. As he moved, he spoke,
‘Yeah, we’d come and Da would talk to all the farmers, check in on them and stuff. Ma and I would hang around here, sort of like I am now, and she’d sing or we’d play a game, chasing each other around the fields. Sometimes we’d be so loud, laughing and singing, but Da never asked us to be quiet.’ He’d found a perfect flower, snapped the stem and turned to face Wylan. ‘Wy, I know we’ve been over this, but I—’ and then stopped, dead in his tracks.
Wylan was on one knee, his hands slightly shaking as he held out a ring. Jesper rushed over, and Wylan began to spoke.
‘Jes! Jesper, I didn’t mean to interrupt your story, but it seemed like the perfect time. I also know it’s maybe silly of me to propose after you’ve asked so many times, but I wanted to. I wanted to do it properly.
‘When I first met you, I was shocked to see you. I thought you were so… beautiful. You looked exactly like how I imagined a prince. Stoic, handsome, strong. Perfect, basically. And I was so concentrated on pulling off this scheme during our first few encounters, that I didn’t let myself feel what it was like being with you. I wanted to stay shut out, to try to protect both my physical safety and my… my heart. But despite my best efforts, you still wormed your way in. I couldn’t imagine my life without you now, Jes, even though our meeting was completely coincidental. I don’t want to give you up. And I talked to your dad, I was so scared, Jes, and worried. But I think it’s okay. I think—I know, I want to marry you. I want everyone to know.’
If anyone had asked, Jesper would not say he was crying. But Wylan wiped a few tears from his cheek anyway. ‘Jes? Are you okay?’ Jesper’s response was pulling Wylan close and kissing him breathless.
Jesper kept kissing him until he thought he would faint from a lack of oxygen, then only pulled back enough to pull the ring out of his pocket and hold it out for Wylan to see. Wylan, who was also not-crying, laughed thickly.
‘Jesper,’ he shook his head, his ruddy curls bouncing around his head, ‘now we both have rings?’ The tradition with engagement rings, borne from the heteronormative history of marriage, was that only the askee was provided an engagement ring, and only when they got officially married did both parties get wedding rings. But Jesper’s mother had scorned tradition and gotten Colm an engagement ring, too. That was what Wylan held out to him right now. A gold ring with a long strip of smoky quartz running through it. Jesper realised with a start that Colm must’ve given it to him.
Wylan was looking at the ring in Jesper’s own hand and it spurred him into action. He slipped the ring onto Wylan’s left hand and let Wylan slip the other ring onto his own. They held hands, both knelt on the ground and staring at their interlinked fingers. Jesper finally found his voice.
‘Wy, are you sure?’
Wylan nodded resolutely, ‘Absolutely, yes. I’m sorry Jes, for the times I said no. I just needed… time.’
‘You don’t need to apologise. Saints, Wylan no, don’t apologise. I wouldn’t have wanted you to say yes if you didn’t mean it, if you weren’t ready. This is perfect, this is amazing.’
‘Jes,’ Wylan took a fortifying breath, ‘Jesper. I love you.’
‘I love you too, Wy.’ Jesper brought his free hand up and cupped Wylan’s cheek in his hand. ‘You’re so beautiful, and so smart, and so caring,’ Wylan whimpered at Jesper’s words, which were punctured by butterfly soft kisses over the freckles on Wylan’s face, ‘you’re so strong, you’re so amazing, you’re so smart.’ Wylan laughed thickly,
‘You said that one already,’
‘It needed saying again. Seriously, Wy,’ Jesper tilted Wylan’s head between his palms so Wylan was looking right at him. ‘whatever bullshit thoughts your father put in your head, I am going to spend the rest of my life unwriting them. I am going to stand by your side, every day, cheering you on, protecting you when you need me to. I’m going to love you the way your father should’ve.’
‘not really the way my father should’ve, right?’ Wylan crinkled his nose. Jesper laughed, pecked a kiss to Wylan’s lips.
‘No. Better than that.’
Jesper felt like he had so much more to say, but he wasn’t given the chance to say it. Wylan reconnected their lips, pulling Jesper down so he was laying over the top of Wylan on the blanket.
The kiss was sweet, slower than it had been before, Wylan’s soft lips brushing his. Jesper’s hands were holding him up above Wylan, the space only giving Wylan the chance to run his fingers down Jesper’s side. Jesper shivered, remembering the feeling of Wylan pressed against him in the bathroom of the Shu palace. The memory lit something hot inside of Jesper, and the kiss turned heated, searing both of their lips where they met. It felt like touching Wylan was Jesper’s oxygen, like Wylan was a warm fire when he was lost in an icy wasteland. He needed Wylan. Wylan apparently felt the same, because the hand that was running lanes down Jesper’s side was now tugging at his shirt where it was tucked into his pants, slipping his hands underneath the cloth. Jesper jumped at the contact, at Wylan’s warm fingers. Everything felt hot and charged like an active lightning storm in summer.
‘Jesper?’ Wylan pulled away to look at him, a question in his eyes.
‘Wylan- Saints, what do you—’ Wylan kissed him again, tugging the band of Jesper’s pants until their bodies were flush against each other. Jesper could feel the concentrated heat and hardness between them and broke like a wave against the shore, ‘Saints, Wylan.’
‘Please,’ Wylan practically mewled. Jesper’s answer was falling to his elbows, crowding Wylan closer, and connecting their lips again
_
They kissed and kissed until Jesper’s lips felt like they were tingling, zinging with electricity. Wylan’s hands were still under his shirt, nails scraping lightly on his back as they pressed their bodies together. Jesper’s erection was straining against his pants, pulling at the fabric to seek somewhere to go, some friction to ease the ache of want curling hot and heavy in his gut. Wylan was similarly affected underneath him if the bucking of his hips was anything to go by. Every time their erections brushed against each other’s, Wylan let out a breathy gasp. The noise made the layers of clothes between them even more difficult to accept.
Jesper ground down on Wylan, forcefully and without shame, and Wylan moaned against Jesper’s lips. It was too much, it was not enough. Desperate for more, Jesper manouvered himself so he was laying down beside Wylan, both on their side and hands still roaming. One of Jesper’s hands moved to tangle in Wylan’s curly hair and the other went to his waistband, silently asking. Wylan whined against Jesper and bucked into his hand, which seemed like an obvious yes.
With skillful fingers, Jesper flicked open the clasp of Wylan’s pants, slowly dragging down the zipper. He felt Wylan’s breath hitch when his fingers brushed his bulge. Jesper smiled against his mouth at the noise. He palmed the heat of Wylan, moving his lips from Wylan’s own to the skin at his neck so he could hear the noises Wylan made when he lightly squeezed the spot there.
Did they plan to have sex in the middle of jurda fields? No, but Jesper had to hope the men and women who worked the fields were otherwise preoccupied, because there was no chance they were stopping now. Wylan whined something that might’ve been his name or might’ve been please and Jesper slid Wylan’s underwear down with his pants, freeing his thighs and his dick from their restraints. Wylan dick immediately sprung up, free from the restrictions, and Jesper seized it in his hand.
Wylan’s skin was hot and already slick with precum so Jesper didn’t waste time. He picked up moisture from the tip of Wylan’s dick and jerked him once, twice, revelling in the way Wylan twitched under him, the way Wylan’s breath stuttered when he flicked his thumb over the tip of his dick. He picked up the pace slightly, more consistent pulls. Wylan was gripping his shoulders so tight he would probably have crescent shaped indents in it by the time they were done—Jesper didn’t mind one bit. He just kept kissing soft, wet kisses along the slope of Wylan’s neck, biting and sucking lightly at the skin which would be covered by a shirt. He didn’t want to think what Colm would say if they came back from the farms with hickey’s on their necks.
‘Jes, please—’ Wylan panted, ‘I wanna touch you, too. Please.’
‘Such good manners, Merchling.’ Jesper punctuated his words with a jerk of his wrist, causing Wylan to moan louder.
‘Shut up,’ Wylan hissed, which was immediately followed by another whimper, ‘should I just demand it instead?’
Jesper’s already straining dick twitched at the thought, but he only hummed against Wylan’s skin, keeping the pace. Wylan sucked in another sharp breath, but he gritted out, ‘This isn’t the time to play around, Jesper.’ The tone of his voice, commanding and completely serious, pushed Jesper’s own need over the edge. He stilled his hand, pulled back from attacking Wylan’s neck.
‘What do want to do?’ Jesper asked, meaning to come across seductive but just breathless. Wylan looked at him for a moment, chest still heaving. Then he sat up, Jesper following him, until they were both on their knees.
Wylan undid Jesper’s pants, not as graceful as Jesper did, but still effectively enough so that Jesper was exposed to the summer air, his pants around his knees. Wylan shuffled closer so they were pressed nearly together, knee to knee. He put one hand on the back of Jesper’s head and pulled him into a searing kiss. They started kissing again, Wylan’s tongue licking into the seam of Jesper’s mouth until Jesper opened for him. At the same time, Wylan was trailing his spare hand down Jesper’s hip bone until he found Jesper’s dick, standing proud and hot between them. He immediately begun jerking Jesper off, matching the actions Jesper had been using on Wylan before. Jesper’s own hands which had been tangled in Wylan’s hair moved to reach across to Wylan. Together, they jerked each other off, Jesper getting impossibly even more turned on by the noises Wylan was making; the stuttering breaths, the quiet moans when Jesper stroked him just right, the keening noise when Jesper’s hand slowed towards the top.
It was less than twenty minutes, a fast and sloppy and desperate affair, and then Jesper was gasping against Wylan’s mouth, and he was coming all over the blanket and Wylan’s hands and Wylan followed not ten seconds later. They knelt together, forehead to forehead while they caught their breath.
_
When they’d gotten themselves back together, pants done back up and hands washed with the skein of water Wylan had brought with them, they sat together on the ground, quietly eating from the picnic Wylan had packed for them. Jesper felt bad leaving it uneaten, considering he had derailed their original plans. When most of the picnic was eaten through and the afternoon sun was starting to cool, Jesper and Wylan packed their picnic up and walked back over to the carriage. The driver wasn’t back yet, so Wylan and Jesper settled into the seats in the back, tangled in each other. They kissed, completely over the clothes this time, until the driver returned.
On the carriage ride home, Jesper had Wylan’s hand in his lap and he was fiddling with the ring. The ring he’d put on Wylan, because Wylan had said yes. They were going to get married. Wylan loved him, loved him. It was all so much and Jesper couldn’t help the grin that spread onto his face. Wylan looked over from where he had been resting,
‘Jes?’
‘I love you.’ He said.
Wylan smiled softly, ‘I love you.’
‘We’re getting married’ Jesper said, just because he could.
‘Yes, we are.’
‘That makes you a prince, yknow.’
‘I don’t think it actually does, Jes. You’re a prince. I’m just a… prince’s husband, or something. When you become King I’ll still just be Wylan Van Eck.’
‘Uh-uh,’ Jesper said, ‘you’ll be Wylan Fahey.’
‘Will I?’ Wylan’s smile brightened. ‘Does that sound right?’
‘Sounds better than Jesper Van Eck.’
Wylan squeezed his hand, ‘you’re right. It does.’
Colm was waiting for them when they got back and Jesper was only mildly embarrassed to step out of the carriage to a court full of people. It seems Colm had called in any person Jesper had ever spoken to, including Alexei and Elijah who had left them only a few hours ago. Jesper tried not to be disappointed by the absence of Kaz, he'd only been making his way to Kerch yesterday and there wouldn't have been time for Colm to send a messenger to him. Nevertheless, Kaz would return and-- if Jesper was honest with himself-- be completely disinterested in the whole affair. Jesper put the thought aside to be present with his father.
At Colm’s behest, there was a banquet held, with Wylan and Jesper the centre of everyone’s attention.
It reminded Jesper a lot of his time at Shu Han, but so much better. When he looked over he saw Wylan’s familiar ruddy curls and freckled face, and it felt so right. When they tumbled into bed that night, they curled up beside each other, and Jesper didn’t have to look into Wylan’s eyes and see Kuwei looking back. It was all Wylan. It was everything Jesper could want, all he thought he could never have.
Wylan smiled back, soft and hazy under the moonlight from the curtained window.
‘I love you so much,’ Wylan said quietly.
‘I love you,’ Jesper wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t want to Wylan to stop smiling like that. Wylan ended up making the decision for him, pulling him into a kiss.
They didn’t do much more than kiss, exhausted from the celebration and the day, but they fell asleep tangled together, with their entire life stretched out ahead of them. Some day, they would solve the problems with the jurda fields, Jesper would form a military relationship with Shu Han, they would get married, Wylan would run the Van Eck business and thrive in Kerch. But for now, the most important thing, was the feeling of Wylan's body pressed against his.