"Papa!" The voice arrived half a second before the person did. Ning Jia swept into the room with the energy of a sudden change in weather, her eyes finding him immediately.
Her face breaking into undisguised delight. She crossed the distance between them without hesitation and launched herself at his back, arms wrapping around his neck.
She was practically vibrating with the effort of containing her own excitement.
Luo He absorbed the impact without so much as shifting his footing.
Holding both women at once with the casual ease of a man who had never once considered that he might not be strong enough for whatever was asked of him.
"Hi, Princess," he said warmly. "Did you feel lonely without me?" Luo He asked casually. "Terribly," Ning Jia declared against his shoulder.
Then a beat of silence. Then a grin entered her voice. "Actually not terribly. Not even slightly, if I'm being honest." She said her voice changing wickedly.
"That is either very good news or very bad news for my pride." Lue He added calmly. "Sister Mulan kept me company," she continued. Entirely unbothered.
"We shared her bed last night. It was wonderful. You missed it entirely." She said with a seductive look. Luo He's eyebrow rose. He glanced sideways at Jin Mulan.
Something shifted briefly across his expression. Not quite simple curiosity, it was something else. The image itself assembled in his mind without invitation, and he did not rush to dismiss it.
A slight smirk settled at the corner of his mouth. "Is that so," he said with a wicked grin. Jin Mulan met his gaze with absolute composure. "Don't," she said.
"I haven't said anything." Luo He said innocently. "You were about to." Jin Mulan added qualickly. "I was simply listening." He said softly.
"You were smirking." She added with a weird smile. "I smile warmly at happy news. My wives spent a comfortable evening together. I am pleased for them."
He said in a saintly tone.
He paused.
"Delighted, even." Luo He slowly added afterwards. Jin Mulan pointed one finger at him. "Whatever is happening in your head right now, stop it." She said firmly.
"My mind is entirely clear." Luo He added smiling. "He, don't make me say this again." She added firmly. "Completely clear. Peaceful, even. Like still water." Luo He added calmly.
Ning Jia laughed brightly from behind his shoulder, now just holding on to his neck. "He's not going to stop." She added softly.
"I know he's not going to," Jin Mulan said flatly. But the corner of her mouth had betrayed her slightly. Despite her self even she liked in some twisted way.
Both women received a kiss afterwards. Jin Mulan went first, possessive and slow, the kind of kiss that communicated ownership as plainly as any spoken claim.
When he pulled back she exhaled quietly and looked away, composing herself with practiced dignity. Then Ning Jia, who had finally detached from his neck now come around to face him.
She received what began as something brief and affectionate, a soft kiss on her forehead.
But when it was her turn to return the gesture she took his face in both hands and held him there. She kissed him with a depth and duration that had nothing casual about it.
Her fingers pressing firmly into his jaw, her entire posture communicating a flat refusal to let the moment end.
He made a slight motion to pull back after a reasonable interval and she made a quiet sound of protest and kept him exactly where he was.
Nearly a full minute passed. When she finally released him she kept her forehead pressed to his for a breath longer, eyes still closed.
"Princess," he said quietly. "I know," she murmured. Her forehead was still pressed against his chest. "You have to go." She said coldly.
"No it is not that." A thread of amusement entered his voice, dry and deliberate. He pulled back just enough to look down at her eye.
"When did daughters get so aggressive in kissing their fathers?" He asked mockingly. The mockery was gentle but precise. The kind that knew exactly where to press.
Ning Jia opened her eyes. What was in them was raw and entirely unguarded something desperate, something hungry.
Something that had been building the entire time he was away and had not been fully relieved by his return, because his return was already ending before it had properly begun.
She hadn't managed to hide it in time and she knew it. She lifted her chin anyway. "When their fathers started leaving without proper warning," she said solemnly.
"And returning without proper explanation." Her voice was surrowfully.
"I explained sufficiently." Luo He added calmly.
"You explained nothing. You arrived, you charmed everyone in the room, and now you're leaving again." She held his gaze without flinching.
"How long this time?" She asked emotionally. "However long the work requires." He said calmely. "That is not an answer." She argued.
"No." He agreed, "but it is the truth. And the truth is worth more than comfortable answers." He said coldly. She pressed her lips together. The muscle in her jaw moved slightly.
"Come back quickly." She added.
"I always come back." He said happily. "That," she said quietly. "Is also not the answer I wanted." She said.
He looked at her for a long moment, this woman who loved him with an intensity she could never quite successfully conceal, who fought it and surrendered to it in equal measure.
Who kissed him like she was trying to hold him in place through sheer will. Something in his expression shifted briefly, before he closed it away again with practiced ease.
He touched her face one hand cupping her jaw, his thumb tracing briefly across her cheekbone. The gesture was gentle and final in equal measure.
Jin Mulan standing few paces to the side, had watched the entire exchange without comment. She said nothing now either. She simply observed, one arm folded loosely at her waist.
A small knowing smirk settled at the corner of her lips. The look of a woman who recognized desperation. Because she had felt versions of it herself, and had simply become better at hiding them.
"As much as I would love to stay..." Luo He said while stepping back from Ning Jia with the calm finality of a man who has made his decision.
"I have a war to attend to. So I don't have much time to linger." With that he began to head back. "You always say that." Ning Jia said.
"Because it is always true." Luo He bragged calmly. She folded her arms across her chest, as defensive gesture. Or perhaps a way of keeping her hands from reaching for him again.
"One day," she said. "I would like you to linger." He paused at that. Looked back at her over his shoulder. "One day," he replied.
With the particular tone of a man making a promise on his own terms and his own schedule. "I will." But for her it was not enough.
They both knew it was not enough. But it was what he offered, and she took it. Because with Luo He, you took what was offered.
And got to learn not to reach for more. Because both girls knew they wouldn't get it either way.
Then he moved through the mansion efficiently after that. The storerooms was his main target. With the help of the servants he packed up many ingredients needed to create a lavish meal.
Jin Mulan appeared in the doorway of the storeroom. She leaned against the frame, watching him work in silence for a long moment.
"You're taking the high-grade stock." She asked curiously. "Most of it." He said. She fell quiet. Her gaze tracking the precise, unhurried movements of his hands.
"That level of preparation usually means something serious." She added. "Most things I see worth doing are serious." He added proudly.
Another pause. Longer this time. "Be careful?" She said with concern. He stopped, not fully, just enough for the world to notice the hesitation.
A single breath of stillness before he looked back over his shoulder. The request had been simple. Plain. No edge, no deflection.
Just a wife asking her husband without disguise or armor to simply return intact.
"When am I not?" he asked calmely.
"Frequently," she replied.
"But I ask anyway." She added calmly. He held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary, then turned back to his work.
"Go wait by the shuttle. I'll join you shortly." He said.
She lingered. Not long. But long enough that he felt it. Then she left. The zooBlack Cloud Shuttle rested in the pale morning light.
Its' surface was nearly filled with cargo. Mostly cooking ingredients and boxes of medicinal supplies were also there.
These were enough to tip the balance between collapse and recovery, depending on who controlled their arrival.