Word Count: ~ 1 k

 

“God is it stifling in there,” Tao sighed when he finally met up with his best friend. “The palace is stifling and the lessons are stifling and most of all my mum is stifling.”

“Are you sure stifling is the right word? You live a pretty padded life up there Taozi,” Jongin replied.

“I know I shouldn’t complain, but sometimes it’s just so difficult to deal with her. I’m pretty sure that I’m getting bruises from those hugs. I’m not even sure they should be considered hugs at this point. Mayhaps they’re some sort of torture devised to make me behave.”

“Oh come off it Taozi.” Jongin slapped his arm playfully. “I’m sure you’d miss the empress more than you know if she weren’t in your life. You’d even miss the smothering and the abusive hugs.”

“You’re probably right, but at the moment I want to complain about her because of my bruised ribs.” They both laughed.

“Why don’t we go down to the river today. That’s always fun this time of year. I love seeing the plum blossoms on the water,” Jongin suggested. Tao nodded and the first time lock vaguely came to mind.

 

--

 

Tao and Jongin balanced themselves on slippery rocks as they crossed the river with plum blossoms twirling from smooth branches into the swirls of the river.

“This reminds me of that time all of those years ago, when the night stopped. Do you remember when I told you about that?”

“Mhm.” Jongin was following along behind with his arms held out for balance. “You were being really dramatic about it and saying, ‘And the river looked as if it had frozen in an instant. The petals forever falling but never reaching the ground.’ It was so poetic, but also just a little pretentious,” Jongin replied.

“You can be really annoying sometimes!” Tao replied, pulling a theatrical sad face. “I’ll just ignore that last comment. Coming down to the river just reminds me of that night. That’s all I wanted to say without being judged this hard.”

“I’m you best friend, despite what your mother would have you think, and as a best friend, I’m supposed to judge you like no other. I’m also here to make your life general misery.” They both laughed.

“The only thing that would make my life genuine misery is to be pent up at the palace for the rest of my life. You’re basically the one thing keeping me sane,” Tao said with more sincerity than jest.

“Aw, thanks Taozi, I love you too,” Jongin replied, hugging Tao and squishing his sensitive ribs.

“Aiya!” he sputtered as pain shot through the bones surrounding his lungs. After a minute of wrestling, he was finally able to free himself from the other’s grasp. “I think I take that back. You make my life just as miserable as my mother does,” He huffed, turning away in apparent annoyance.

“You don’t mean that, do you?” Jongin asked uncertainly.

“I really don’t,” Tao replied, turning with a smile on his face.

“You idiot!” Jongin laughed. “If anyone knew that this was how the prince and empress really were, I’m pretty sure that you’d all lose face. Good thing that the Emperor is still level headed,” he joked.

“No one would believe us that the empress is as crazy as she is. She’s basically an idol in the country. She’s kind and a good empress. If only they knew that she committed a form of child abuse,” he replied darkly.

“You forgot that she’s pretty,” Jongin added.

“You’re an idiot,” Tao retorted. “Besides, it’s weird saying that my mum is pretty. It’s weird hearing it from you.”

“I’m just going to say that she looks to young to be your mother.”

“And the conversation is getting even creepier as we go.”

“You know I’m only kidding, right Taozi?”

“I know, but it’s still weird hearing that.”

“What? You think I’m going to decide to bang your mum and create a stepbrother? That’d just be weird.”

“Don’t even say things like that! I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life about it! I can’t even imagine what would possess the two of you to try and come together and create life. Besides, you’re ‘beneath her in status’,” he quoted.

“Your mum is so pretentious, no offense.”

“None taken. She really is. I’m glad I at least have my father, the grounded member of the relationship.” Jongin merely laughed.

“You know what? This is the perfect weather for dancing,” Jongin mused out loud.

“You wanna go there?”

“Why not? It’s a perfect day and I’ve been working really hard. Soon your mother might entertain the thought of letting me become a court performer. Then I might not be looked down upon.”

“She doesn’t really believe those things she says,” Tao assured his friend. “You don’t need to sell yourself in order to gain her approval. That she lets me see you is her way of saying that you’re an acceptable person to be my friend.”

“Well then. I’ll do it for myself. I like doing it so why not gain status for it?”

“I guess that’s true. But you shouldn't sell yourself just for status. Remember you’re doing it because you like to do it.” Tao smiled at his friend, who returned it with a wide grin.

 

--

 

They hiked into the bamboo grove on the other side of the stream. At this point, they didn’t need to look for the little marks they had made on the bamboo to find the clearing. They could have navigated the endless, monotonous forest with their eyes closed. It was so long ago when they had discovered it, the perfect hiding place. It was a little oasis out of sight where they could do whatever they wanted without the fear of being spied upon. Jongin had taken to dancing for Tao because he loved to dance but he didn’t really want an audience, not yet. Because of this, he kept to the small audience composed only of his best friend.

 

--

A/N: So TaoKai is a thing that accidentally happened...