Work Text:
Hwei held his breath for some seconds before letting it out. It always felt like the first time, when he killed someone. He felt the same ecstasy every time, and it made him wonder when he would stop feeling it. Would he ever grow tired of the killing? Would he ever...feel disgust by his actions?
It didn't seem so, since he was the one who suggested they accept this job.
"Feel it, dear lotus. Do you smell it? Can you smell his soul leaving his body?" Jhin whispered in his ear, hands on his waist.
Hwei smiled. "Such bliss."
"Our customer will be very pleased, I'm sure of that." Jhin let go of him and tiptoed around the body. "The way your paint pierced through his heart was...breathtaking."
Hwei tilted his head down, embarrassed. "Please, your lotus trap was essential for us to catch him."
Jhin let out a chuckle, then he crouched down in front of the body. Hwei took a better look at his art piece: they had tied the man to a tree, and Hwei painted vines that pierced through his entire body.
"Come here, Hwei." He couldn't help but obey, sitting with Jhin. "Take a last look before we leave. Do you think our vision for him is clear? That even the uneducated audience will understand it?"
Hwei let his eyes examine the scene. He liked subjectivity in his pieces, to make people think, but their client had requested for something obvious.
"He was a gardener, and now he is one with his beloved garden." He finally answered after a moment.
The virtuoso nodded in agreement. "I normally don't think too much about the reasons as to why our clients require our services, but when they ask for something...more specific, I cannot lie," Jhin stood up and traced the wood. "I do get curious. I think our customer wanted this man's death to be a mocking scene. Don't you agree, my painter?"
He did, of course, he did. Hwei only nodded, too deep in thinking - he couldn't take his eyes off the man's torso, something felt wrong.
Jhin seemed to notice that too, and he offered a hand to Hwei, who accepted the help to stand up. "What bothers you?"
"It feels...incomplete, no, it feels too much." His eyes turned from blue to a deep, golden yellow. Hwei held his paintbrush tight.
Jhin walked around the piece, analyzing it. "He is too human."
Hwei's eyes turned to a bright red. "He can't be one with nature. Not yet." He smiled softly, waves of inspiration invading his mind.
"What is your suggestion, my Hwei?"
They started working again, and after minutes, that turned to hours ('You can't rush perfection', one of his elders at Koyehn said once), Hwei and Jhin opened their victim's chest and stomach bare open.
Hwei searched around the man's garden for flowers - he could just paint it and stuff the body with them, but it did not feel right. Using the man's own flowers felt as if Hwei were making justice for him - though, he was doing that more for himself than for the man: he had to calm down after helping Jhin remove their victim's organs from his body. Hopefully, Jhin hadn't noticed yet that Hwei was almost salivating just from holding the man's lungs.
In the end, he and Jhin had stuffed their victim with flowers of all colors and shapes.
"Is it...beautiful, Jhin."
"Our shared vision."
Jhin approached him and cupped his cheek. Hwei closed his eyes, letting the moment sink in.
"...I never felt like this before, not even at Koyehn. You opened my eyes to so much, thank you."
"I did not open your eyes, Hwei. I just removed the layers of protection your masters had painted."
They stayed like that for some time, before some steps and voices were heard. It was deep into the night, but someone could still find them. "We should leave already, our work here is done." Jhin grabbed his briefcase and the metal box he had used to store the man's organs.
Hwei took a last glance at their art. Tomorrow, someone would find it and think of it as disgusting - they always did. Still, that did not stop him and Jhin from sharing their art.
They were staying at an inn somewhere mainland Ionia under the disguise of a young couple traveling for their honeymoon.
He wished it weren't a lie - Hwei had been traveling with Jhin for quite some months, but their relationship was walking at slow steps. He did not expect it to be the same as it was back in Koyehn, where he and the virtuoso had started as friends, and the killer made his way into Hwei's heart. Where he gained his trust, only to destroy the place he called home.
It was for the best, though. It made his art evolve to something beautiful and pure.
Jhin served them wine, Hwei gladly accepted a glass. He glanced at the metal box, trying his best to not think too much - to not remember how he felt when he held their victim's organs.
"You keep looking at it, what's in your mind, darling?" Jhin sat by his side. He had taken his mask off, and Hwei felt a bit of confidence for being the only one to see Jhin's true face.
"I..." His eyes turned to a light blue. He shut himself up and hugged his own legs.
"Tell me."
How would Jhin react? Would he feel disgusted? Hwei's eyes were turning from red to blue to purple to gold. But, Jhin already accepted so much of him, he helped him discover and learn so many things. "I...wonder how it feels - no, I wonder how he tastes."
He wasn't ready for the creepy and big smile that came to Jhin's face. "I expected you to think of that sometime, my painter."
Hwei tilted his head in confusion. "You...did?"
Jhin grabbed the metal box and laid it on his own legs. "It is not uncommon for us, artists, to want to be even closer to our art. We want to experience it to the fullest, to grab it with our own hands."
"So..." Hwei started, only to be shut by Jhin's gentle finger.
"So you aren't the first to imagine how it tastes."
The painter slowly opened up, and rearranged himself on the couch. "Have you ever done this before?"
"Yes, you see, Hwei, some ancient cultures had the belief that by eating someone's organs, one can get the person's memories and experiences."
He bit his lip. "Did you get their memories?"
"No, but I felt even close to my art when I ate them. Helped me master it." Jhin laid the box on Hwei's thighs and opened it.
Why exactly did they store it? Jhin said that he would burn the organs, but why bring it home? They could just burn it on their way to the inn.
It became clear to him that Jhin had planned it from the start. Clever the way he was, he always planned everything and found ways to surprise Hwei every single time.
Hwei held the box, and the smell of blood almost made him nauseous. It wasn't bad, though, perhaps the wine was already affecting his senses. He would soon discover that the virtuoso had stored only the heart and lungs.
"The heart holds his emotions, the lungs his breath, his life." Jhin offered an explanation before he even asked for one. "Or the lack of it." He finished with a chuckle.
"How will we eat them? Are we going to eat it raw?"
Jhin grabbed the box and took it to the kitchen - perks of a premium room (if not for Jhin always choosing the best places, he would think that this truly was a honeymoon).
"Eat it raw? No, darling, we aren't savages. Come, sit there and watch."
Hwei sat on one of the stools and watched with fascination as Jhin rolled up his sleeves and started working.
Jhin had cooked for him before, yes, but Hwei never saw him so peaceful when doing it. His skilled hands knew exactly what to do, first he seasoned the heart, cut it in small pieces and made dumplings with the meat, then he fried the lungs as if they were normal beef.
Hwei felt embarrassed for thinking that they would eat it raw, Jhin always gave him only the best, and felt even sillier for thinking that the virtuoso would be disgusted by him.
"It is done." Jhin washed his hands and served plates for them both, before he sat with Hwei and offered him another glass of wine.
"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Hwei asked with a chuckle, but accepted it.
"I know you cannot get drunk this easily."
They ate silently, and Hwei had time to collect his thoughts while doing it. He had thought so, so many times about eating another person, spending hours wondering what flesh tasted like - but he had brushed it aside, ignoring it as if they were just annoying intrusive thoughts.
He knew they weren't only intrusive, no, they came from a dark place within his mind, only waiting for something to awake them. And truth be told, he should have known that Jhin would be the one to wake up this side of him.
The meat tasted amazing, maybe because of how good Jhin's cooking was, but still, it tasted great. After he finished eating, he kissed Jhin's cheek. "Thank you."
"I was right to think that you would like it. You did not disappoint me."
Hwei blushed, like he always did when Jhin complimented him. After the virtuoso burnt his home, and Hwei started searching for him, he tried his best to let all his feelings go away.
It didn't work, and after he joined Jhin, they became close again. But not close enough to the point of having sexual relations like they had back in Koyehn. It was disappointing, for Hwei, especially because they had shared such special moments in bed at the temple. Now, Jhin's lack of advances made him wonder if the virtuoso even felt something for him.
He would understand if not, he would even understand if Jhin had slept with him only to achieve his goals.
"Did it reach your expectations? Was it all you had dreamed for?" Jhin was smiling, waiting for his answer.
Hwei looked at the empty glass of wine, he wished he could say it was the alcohol speaking for him. But then he would be lying. "It was even better than I imagined."
He cleaned the dishes while Jhin prepared them a bath - so domestic, he never thought he would ever live this. Would they ever be a regular couple, though. Hwei tried to paint the picture: him working as a painter, and Jhin as a violinist. They could be teachers, maybe even open their own school. They could live somewhere in the countryside, maybe have their own children - someone to teach, to pass their art to.
But the scene that Hwei tried to paint aways ended unfinished.
Bathing together had become a ritual for them - after a long day of working, Jhin would prepare them a bath. They would only sit together and clean each other, and that was good - it made Hwei feel like he had a home to go back to.
Still, he felt bad for wishing more. In his dreams, when Jhin kissed him, the man would grab him with such gentleness and at the same time with a force that felt almost brute. He would make Hwei his again, and with each thrust he would bury himself deeper inside the painter - to the point they would eventually fuse together.
But it never happened.
Hwei played with the water, Jhin was unbraiding his hair, and that made the painter close his eyes, the hands on his scalp felt like heaven, and oh, being touched like that felt amazing.
Yet he yearned for more. He yearned for Jhin to claim him.
But it didn't feel like the virtuoso would act, and Hwei was becoming more and more unsatisfied. Eventually, he decided to try to take the first step. He took a deep breath before starting: "Jhin..."
"Yes, my lotus?" Jhin replied, a curious tone in his voice. Hwei knew he was raising his eyebrow.
"I..." He tried to make the words come out, but couldn't bring himself to do it. His lack of self esteem would be his doom. "We should head to bed."
"We should." There was no disappointment in Jhin's voice, and Hwei felt a bit of sadness for that.
Dressing for bed was hard. He couldn't shake off the uneasiness he was feeling. How would he even approach Jhin? He knew that by asking to be touched, he would sound desperate.
Wasn't he, though? He sure was desperate to be fucked, to be loved and cared for. He missed Jhin. All the time he spent alone after Koyehn, he missed Jhin.
Even now that he was with him, he missed him.
It felt weird, and Hwei had no idea what to make of that feeling. He never felt like that before, too used to being alone, but the virtuoso had shown him how good it was to be with someone.
He closed his eyes, trying to sleep.
"Do you want to go to the market tomorrow, darling?" Jhin's voice surprised him.
He needed to buy painting supplies, and also wanted to enjoy their last day in the city. "Yes." Hwei answered, opening his eyes to face Jhin.
He quickly regretted that. The soft breeze of Ionian summer was making the curtains open and it made the moon shine on top of Jhin. He looked too handsome, too ethereal - Hwei could paint that scene a million times.
Jhin was, after all, his muse.
He closed his eyes again, and tried to turn to his side, but the virtuoso grabbed his wrists, forcing Hwei to face him.
"Are you trying to run from me, my sweet Hwei?" Jhin held his wrists tight, making it imposing for him to get away.
"I...am not." He looked away from Jhin."
"You are. Don't you try to lie to me, Hwei. Your efforts will lead you nowhere."
Jhin got on top of him, and it made Hwei whimper. That was all he had been wishing for - to be held like a doll, to be used, but treated with care but with roughness at the same time.
"Your eyes are red, how interesting. You are squirming like you are in fear, but your eyes tell me that you want this. Some people say that the eyes are windows for our souls, others say that eyes can lie. Tell me, sweet painter, what do you want?"
How to even put it into words without sounding pathetic? He had no idea how to do that, but he knew he had to say something. "I want you, please."
Jhin's smile grew even wider.
Before meeting Jhin, Hwei never really cared for kissing. It felt weird, sometimes even boring, and the few lovers he had when young weren't really good at it.
Kissing Jhin, though, was a whole different experience. He knew exactly how to hold Hwei in place, how to roll his tongue and what to do with his hands.
Jhin lifted his nightgown, making Hwei moan as his thighs were touched.
"Jhin...Jhin..." He called, desperately.
"Yes?"
"I need you."
"I am here, you got me, my beautiful flower. You came after me just like I expected. You found me." Jhin raised his hands in surrender. "I am yours."
That made Hwei's heart beat way faster than it ever beat before.
Jhin's fingers made their way into his sex, and the painter gasped in surprise when he felt them gently rubbing his swollen dick.
The moans that he let out were more than embarrassing. But he couldn't feel bad for that, not when the pleasure he was feeling was so strong.
Hwei hid his face on the pillow when Jhin brushed his fingers against his wet, needy hole.
"You are burning inside. You have been wishing this for a long time, haven't you?" Jhin whispered in his ear, following with his kisses as his index and middle fingers pushed in and out of Hwei's cunt.
"Please...please." He begged for more, for anything.
"Please what, darling?"
He couldn't answer, too busy shaking from coming.
It had been quite some time since the last time he had climaxed that hard. He wrapped his legs against Jhin's waist, bringing the man even closer to him. Suddenly, he felt an urge to cry - not out of sadness, but out of joy, happiness for being loved like that.
"Let it all go out, my lovely painter, cry all you want." Jhin said as his cock slowly pushed inside Hwei. That feeling was like nothing else.
Even better were the soft moans that the virtuoso was letting out - they were music to Hwei's ears, proof that the man was enjoying it as much as him.
They kissed again, and the painter didn't hold his giggles back when Jhin licked his tears, his virtuoso always were obsessed with licking and kissing him.
Jhin bit his lip and started panting - and Hwei knew he was close, he had came to recognize the signals, after all they shared a bed more than once before.
"Inside." He urged.
"Of course."
The market was full of all sorts of people, and Hwei felt anxious, what if somebody knew? But, Jhin always said that there's no way they would get caught, and the public didn't even have the knowledge that he and Jhin worked together, since all reports spoke of only one murderer.
He was choosing new brushes when the owner of the shop, a nice looking elderly lady, spoke: "I don't think I have seen you here before, sweety."
"It's my first time here," He smiled and pointed to Jhin, who was looking for new strings for his violin. "We came here for our honeymoon."
The lady clapped her hands. "Newlyweds! Congratulations!" She leaned closer to him, and her smile turned to a look of worry. "Be careful, though, I heard that a body was discovered yesterday. A witness said that they saw two men leaving the scene. People were calling them the "murder husbands".
The laughter that Jhin let out was loud enough to fill a room.