Chapter Text
Back when they'd first gotten to know him Shen Wei's classmates had occasionally tried to talk him into going out with them. They'd soon given up in the face of Shen Wei's carefully maintained, and always polite, distance. Now, he feels some faint regret that he'd never taken them up on those invitations. If he'd gone at least once maybe then he'd have been more prepared for how overwhelming it is to be caught in among all these humans.
He's been trying to find Li Yun for weeks now. Tracking him down to this particular nightclub—he's embarrassed to admit—has been luck more than any skill on his part. The whispered rumours from his classmates had managed to catch Shen Wei's attention, where he'd usually steadfastly ignore the personal issues of the children he's surrounded with every day—anything else would drive him to distraction.
Shen Wei tries to concentrate through the overwhelming noise and heat and proximity of the humans all around him. He tries to reach out with his dark energy to find any trace of Li Yun. Someone bumps into him, and he loses his hard-won concentration. The girl looks up at him and smiles. Shen Wei wishes he could have strode in here in his robes and mask, the people dispersing in front of the Black Cloaked Envoy—keeping their distance. He ignores the girl and resigns himself to carefully shoving people out of his way as he moves to a slightly less crowded corner and tries again.
Nothing. He can find nothing. Maybe the rumours are just that, or maybe what he heard has nothing at all to do with Li Yun after all. Or maybe Shen Wei is just here at the wrong time. There's no way to tell.
If he doesn't find anything tonight he'll have to come back the next night. He'll just have to endure the place. Perhaps this time—just this once—he could hand the case over to the SID. The SID's penchant for ending every case with a dead suspect isn't something Shen Wei can easily accept, but for this particular one— He can't honestly say he would mind that end. And if Shen Wei isn't capable of finding—
There! Suddenly. He can feel it—through the distracting pulse of all this humanity—the steady flow of dark energy, growing ever so faintly stronger. It takes a moment for Shen Wei to figure out the right direction, even now that he has a taste of the dark energy, this mass of humanity is almost enough to drown it out. Once he gets his heading he strides forward with haste. He doesn't have time to care now, that he's forced to shove people out of his way. If this is Li Yun and he's using dark energy, then Shen Wei's speed might mean a great deal to whomever Li Yun has set his sights on.
Shen Wei pushes the door to the men's bathroom open. Time stops for the other occupants as Shen Wei calls his robes and weapon to him. He seals the bathroom door behind him. He quickly takes stock of the situation, not looking too carefully at the two people he's just stopped in their tracks at the urinal. Only one of the stalls is occupied, the thrum of dark energy unmistakable this close.
With a wave of Shen Wei's hand, the stall door is ripped open. Two people tumble out. The first person falls down to the floor, managing to catch himself on his hands and knees with a grunt—Shen Wei feels a flush of embarrassment, he hadn't meant to cause further harm to the human. Li Yun, on the other hand, manages to stay on his feet after a quick stumble, staring at the Black Cloaked Envoy in terror, one hand still holding on to his now flagging erection.
Shen Wei blinks and takes a breath and somehow manages to start on his speech. "Li Yun, you have—" There's a loud moan—more indecent than pained—from the human on the ground, and Shen Wei loses track of what he was about to say.
He glances down at the man, still braced on his hands and knees, where he'd fallen. He's right in front of Li Yun, his head is bent down and he's panting, his trousers pulled down halfway, his bare ass in the air like—
"He wanted it! I didn't— He wanted to, I didn't do anything— " Li Yun starts babbling, voice thready with panic. Shen Wei clenches his jaw and doesn't send a blast of dark energy at Li Yun. Instead, he bangs the haft of his guandao into the floor. Ice spreads from where it strikes the floor, quickly flowing toward Li Yun's feet, freezing him in place, and then covering him in ice. He'll live, for now.
Shen Wei crouches down in front of the human, sending his guandao away. He can't just leave him here like this. Not when he's still suffering the effects of Li Yun's power. Shen Wei can take him to the hospital maybe, or—
He stretches out a hand without thinking, about to tilt the man's chin up, to check if— He stops just before making contact. Shen Wei feels the heat rising to his ears, the flush spreading to his cheeks. He shouldn't be touching someone when they're— not when they can't choose. Before Shen Wei can pull his hand back the man butts his chin at Shen Wei's fingers—like a cat, he thinks distantly—and lifts his head to look at Shen Wei through his eyelashes. His cheeks are flushed, his mouth hanging slightly open. He looks like—
Memories flash through Shen Wei's mind. Kunlun looking at him. Kunlun's face flushed with passion. Kunlun moaning, breathing out a half ragged—
"...please," the man—the child—in front of him moans. Shen Wei snatches back his hand that has somehow ended up pressed against the man's cheek. The man whines in protest, his head making a small motion to follow Shen Wei's hand.
Shen Wei swallows, his throat is suddenly parched. This can't be— This child can't— Not—
Slowly, hesitantly, Shen Wei reaches his hand out—he looks at it, and wonders how his fingers aren't trembling—and gently touches the man's cheek. The man moans again and nuzzles his cheek into Shen Wei's palm. Shen Wei's skin burns where they touch.
Shen Wei draws in a ragged breath, and then whispers, "Sleep," sending a gentle touch of dark energy through his hand. He's almost too late to catch the boy—man—as he slumps to the floor.
Shen Wei pulls him to rest against himself, the thought of letting him down to the floor is less than appealing. He holds the boy in place with one arm wrapped around his middle, his head coming to rest against Shen Wei's chest. Shen Wei bends his head down and breathes in slowly—even under the smells of urine, sweat, lust, and the chemical scent of aftershave, he can still catch a familiar scent that makes his heart beat faster.
Shen Wei closes his eyes for a moment and tries to gather his fraying composure. Quickly, and efficiently, he uses his free hand to restore what dignity he can to the situation, pulling the boy's trousers up and tucking away his now thankfully near-flaccid cock. Rage batters at Shen Wei's self-control at the intimate reminder of what exactly he'd stopped from happening.
It was— a good thing Li Yun was already restrained.
Shen Wei rises from the floor, lifting the boy up in his arms. He opens a portal, shoving Li Yun through it with a burst of dark energy, and then follows after with the boy carefully cradled in his arms.