it's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride

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"You would rather have me sober than willing."

"I told you, I don't use force. I think I can have both."

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Don't look at the bed don't look at the bed don't look at the bed Don't Think About The Bed.

"You are presumptuous and foul!!"

The beast tips his chin up and kisses him.

It seems like it shouldn't be possible for someone whose face is shaped like that to kiss well. And yet.

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Chu Wanning has never been kissed before.

Kissing a creature like this shouldn't be able to form a positive first impression. And yet.

It takes him about twenty seconds to process what is happening (and how much he likes it) and remember to be deeply insulted by it. Wanning makes a muffled furious noise and punches the Beast in the shoulder.

He breaks off the kiss and grins at him.

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Spluttering!!! "You dare!"

"You're cute when you're flustered."

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Now the Beast is just trying to make fun of him. Chu Wanning huffs and stomps back towards the door.

"Hang on," he says, and scoops up the magic mirror before following him.

"Show me Zhao Naisi."

The mirror's surface ripples and clears, showing a girl made of what looks like woven plants, sitting in a bedroom and frowning at a book.

"Show me Chen Daiyu."

The mirror's surface ripples again, showing a woman covered in what looks like an insect's exoskeleton in brilliantly jeweled colors, working in the garden.

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"...Thank you."

He hesitates. "Where did you get that mirror?"

"I made it. Or the castle made it, after I coaxed it long enough."

of-the-night-sky

"Have you always been able to affect the castle? Can anyone else?"

"It took me months from when I first woke up to get it to do anything on purpose. The others try, sometimes, but none of them have succeeded."

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"Hm."

He leaves.

The beast watches him go (damn, what an ass).

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Chu Wanning doesn't feel comfortable going to anyone else's bedroom. He seeks out the garden to find Chen Daiyu.

She's still right where she was in the mirror, wrangling a thorny bush of some kind. She stops and looks up when she hears him approach.

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"Chen Daiyu?"

"That's me. Do you want something?"

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"No. How long have you lived here?"

"Um, it's late spring now, so...between six and eight months, I think."

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"Do you reside here willingly?"

"Mmhm. If I wasn't willing, I'd still have normal skin. The beast doesn't bind anyone to the castle who isn't willing, he says there's no way it wouldn't be more trouble than it's worth in the long run."

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