The Snake Form

She didn't know what kind of snake Xing Yue was.

Bu Yao's sudden outburst wasn't entirely unwarranted. Xing Yue had been teasing her since their phone call, getting close to her in the office and keeping it up ever since.

After setting that kind of mood, Xing Yue had changed her mind at the last minute and decided to take her home. Bu Yao felt toyed with, and her temper began to show.

When Bu Yao fell silent and stopped demanding to get out of the car, Xing Yue changed direction and drove toward her own home.

Having a little furnace beside her wouldn't be so bad. She had slept alone for a long time, and the older she got, the more keenly she felt the loneliness.

But she didn't think she was lonely enough to sleep with a woman when their feelings hadn't reached that point. She didn't dislike Bu Yao; she liked her a little, though she wasn't deeply in love. Sleeping together without sex would be fine. Then again, if Bu Yao took the initiative again, she probably wouldn't refuse.

Xing Yue knew it, and so did Bu Yao.

When they got home, Xing Yue first checked the camellias planted in the courtyard. Shriveled leaves covered the ground, though the flowers were unharmed. Her heart ached at the sight.

"Don't wreck my flowers, hmm?" She drew Bu Yao close, pinched her cheek, and tugged. "They only bloom once every four years. Pull off any more leaves and I'll tie you to a tree."

This was obviously Bu Yao's handiwork from when Xing Yue had been on the phone.

She had only stripped off leaves, not lost her mind enough to attack the flowers, but the offense was just as serious. Xing Yue had pruned every camellia in the courtyard, leaving only healthy foliage. In half a day out of sight, Bu Yao had ravaged nearly half of it. For someone who tended flowers, it hurt.

A red mark ringed Bu Yao's pinched cheek, and tear tracks from her crying in the car still marked her face. She stepped forward and hugged Xing Yue, her bright eyes filled with the woman before her. "I'm sorry. Tie me up. I was awful."

Those eyes were far too deceptive. Even with that cool, beautiful face, her feigned innocence made it seem as if she truly understood her mistake and was begging Xing Yue to punish her. Anyone who saw her would be utterly taken in and call her a good girl.

Only Xing Yue knew better. How could Miss Bu ever be wrong? Even when she knew something was wrong, she would do it anyway. That was Bu Yao for you: she did whatever suited her mood.

Xing Yue stroked the long hair that was prettier than a red camellia, letting its strands slip through her fingers like the last rays of sunset. It was beautiful enough for her to forgive Bu Yao unconditionally for what she had done in the flower garden.

"If you change back into your snake form, Miss Bu, should I put you in a cage?" She bent closer, her forked tongue brushing Bu Yao's flushed cheek.

The moment she leaned in, the scent of Bu Yao's snake tail spread everywhere, saturating even the air.

Xing Yue's expression stiffened. The endless waves of fragrance reached into every corner of her senses. Every snake had a scent uniquely its own.

Xing Yue didn't. She hadn't shown her tail in decades, and all she carried was a clean, fresh scent, or the smell of perfume. Her eyes dimmed. Suddenly losing interest, she let the red strands fall from her hand. "It's late. Let's sleep."

Bu Yao stood frozen, the cool touch of Xing Yue's tongue lingering on her face. Other than Fire Snakes, all snake species had cool body temperatures.

Some liked dry places, while others preferred damp ones. She didn't know what kind of snake Xing Yue was. She had never seen her snake form. All she knew was that Xing Yue liked high temperatures and warmth.

She watched Xing Yue go upstairs without looking back or waiting for her. Xing Yue said nothing, but beneath the cover of night, her boundless loneliness seemed colder still.

Only then did Bu Yao truly admit something to herself. Xing Yue had no one she could confide in. And Bu Yao, one of the few people who knew her secret, had hurt her like this...

She saw it clearly now: Xing Yue had not been happy during their marriage. Even being loved by Bu Yao had brought her no joy. Bu Yao had hurt Xing Yue ten years ago, and she was hurting her now.

After working most of the day, getting home late at night, and arguing on the way, Xing Yue had found the leaves stripped from her beloved flowers. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't tired.

Xing Yue was exhausted in body and mind. She lay in the bathtub, soaking in water warm enough to let her mind go blank.

Once she calmed down, she wondered why she kept getting entangled with Bu Yao. If Bu Yao hadn't appeared, her moods wouldn't be such a mess every day.

Disgusted with herself, Xing Yue picked up the waist tie lying on the rack and covered her eyes with it. She sighed. For someone as helplessly drawn to pretty faces as she was, perhaps she would have to gouge out her eyes before she could live normally.

She shook her head at her own joke. With her vision completely dark, she spread her arms along the sides of the tub, tipped her head back, and relaxed completely.

She failed to notice a red python slip silently into the bathroom. It raised its body and climbed up the bathtub with ease despite being six meters long.

It sank into the water, then lifted its head and body above the surface as its tail slowly curled in after it. Water kept spilling over the rim. By the time its entire tail was inside, the tub had grown cramped.

Its body brushed Xing Yue's foot, startling her so badly that her leg jerked back.

Before she could remove the tie over her eyes, water drifted toward her. A warm snake body slid into her arms, and a wet Snake Tongue licked her chin.

Xing Yue gathered the Fire Snake into her arms. Feeling around from memory, she found the body wash, worked up a lather, and scrubbed the Little Fire Snake clean.

She had overestimated herself. Even with her eyes covered so she couldn't see Bu Yao, images still appeared in her mind. Wet Snake Scales would gleam, especially red ones. After soaking in water, the python's body would look even more vivid and magnificent, blazing with color.

She couldn't help flicking out her Snake Tongue. The steam filling the room had flushed her skin. Unable to see, she could only imagine, but she knew Bu Yao would be even more beautiful, even more radiant than she pictured.

Wet red hair fell across Xing Yue's shoulder, followed by Bu Yao's small hand. Xing Yue tilted her head back without moving, letting soft lips kiss hers. The two kissed in the bathroom.

Xing Yue didn't have to work tomorrow. They had three days together, but Bu Yao wasn't as forward as Xing Yue had expected. They tumbled into bed and simply held each other quietly.

Xing Yue stroked and patted Bu Yao's snake tail now and then. It soothed her exhausted body and mind a little.

"Xing Yue, what were you thinking about in the bathroom?" Bu Yao reclined against the headboard. Looking down, she could see Xing Yue resting her head on her tail.

Xing Yue answered honestly. "I was wondering if gouging out my eyes would stop me from being such a sucker for pretty faces."

"..."

Bu Yao covered Xing Yue's eyes with her hand and hugged her from behind. "No. I want to kiss them."

Her attitude made it clear that Xing Yue belonged to her. She liked kissing Xing Yue's eyes. If Xing Yue gouged them out, she wouldn't be able to anymore.

To her surprise, Xing Yue neither got angry nor minded what she had said. She turned around and pulled Bu Yao into her arms with an amused smile. "Then kiss them, kiss them. Come on..."

They played around on the bed. Bu Yao hid under the covers, and when Xing Yue slipped in after her, she pulled the blanket over their heads. Lying against Xing Yue's chest, she found it easier not to blush in the dark. She could say things she would normally be too embarrassed to voice.

"What I said in the car... you, Xing Yue, you..." She couldn't even get a complete sentence out.

She stumbled over her words for a long time before finally managing, her eyes red. "Y-you shouldn't take it seriously."

Xing Yue knew what expression Bu Yao was wearing without seeing her. She wasn't about to let her off so easily. Feeling around in the dark, she pinched Bu Yao's snake tail. "No. What if I did take it seriously? I believed every word. I even wanted to throw you out."

That part wasn't a lie. In the heat of the moment, she really had wanted to get rid of Bu Yao.

"Don't." Bu Yao protested in a soft, coaxing voice tinged with tears. "Even if you don't have a tail, I like you. More and more every day."

Bu Yao couldn't deny that she had blurted out words meant to cut deep, but she had spoken in anger. If she truly minded that Xing Yue's condition kept her from showing her tail, she wouldn't have loved her for so many years.

"Could've fooled me." Xing Yue brought up Bu Yao's own words again. "Didn't you say you didn't like doing it with me? How is that liking me more every day?"

The accusation made Bu Yao flush with indignation. How could Xing Yue not know whether she liked her? Even Bu Yao's snake tail liked clinging to Xing Yue more than it liked obeying her. Bu Yao couldn't fully control it despite being the owner of that body, but Xing Yue could. The answer was obvious.

"I do like you!" she insisted.

She had meant to coax Xing Yue, but somehow she had ended up angry herself.

Xing Yue couldn't help laughing. That low, languid laugh made Bu Yao's face burn, which only annoyed her more. She rubbed her forehead against Xing Yue again and again.

A sentence or two wasn't enough to satisfy Xing Yue. She pulled back the blanket with one hand, letting the bright light fall on Bu Yao's face. Even the fine fuzz on her cheeks was visible.

"That hardly sounds like an apology, Miss Bu. What do you like? If you don't say it, I can't feel how sorry you are."

Without the blanket to hide beneath, Bu Yao was even more embarrassed. How could she say it now? "I don't know how to say it..."

She spoke with rare softness, thinking Xing Yue would let her off if she showed some vulnerability.

She didn't know that it only brought out Xing Yue's wicked streak. "Say it the way you did in the car. Or is this the wrong place? Should we go to the parking garage?"

Xing Yue sounded perfectly serious, as though she had reached that conclusion after careful thought.

The mere suggestion made Bu Yao's face burn. She tried to cover Xing Yue's eyes. "I'll say it. Just don't look at me!"

Xing Yue stopped her hand. She deliberately caught Bu Yao by the wrist and held her fast, leaving her nowhere to hide. "If I don't look at you while you say it, how will I know you mean it?"

Bu Yao's face was hot enough to steam. With her hands caught, she couldn't even hide it. Her red lips formed the words that scorched her. "I like you, Xing Yue. I like... doing it with you..."

That one word seemed to disappear beneath the clamor in her head. Her pounding heart drowned out what she said, so she couldn't hear herself clearly. Xing Yue, however, heard every word.

Like a fox that had eaten its fill, Xing Yue still wanted more. She deliberately raised her voice. "Really?"

Miss Bu nodded vigorously.

The dark night no longer seemed so hard to bear. Xing Yue had indeed been coaxed into a better mood. She held the red snake tail close, cuddling and stroking it. Even their wedding night ten years ago hadn't been this sweet.

On the first day of their break, Xing Yue and Bu Yao planned to hike up a mountain, then eat barbecue by the sea that evening. If they liked the setting, they would rent a small yacht and spend two days out at sea.

The night before had greatly improved things between them. Before Bu Yao even mentioned it, Xing Yue offered to help her put on her shoes. She had also arranged for a comfortable pair suitable for hiking to be delivered early that morning.

In truth, Bu Yao didn't like hiking. It was no exaggeration to say she couldn't manage it at all. But Xing Yue hadn't watched a sunset in ages, and she had said, "If you can't keep going, I'll carry you."

Bu Yao had stared at her, stunned and flushed. If she had known Xing Yue liked hearing things like that, she would have said them eight or ten times a day. The sudden happiness felt almost unreal.

"You're not tricking me, are you? You won't lure me halfway up the mountain and then refuse to carry me?" she asked suspiciously.

Xing Yue slipped soft socks onto her feet. "If I don't carry you, you can change back into your snake form and climb. You could use the exercise. You're so delicate."

"No. I won't climb. I'll change back into my snake form, and you can carry me..."

They bickered the whole way after setting out. They had barely made it a fraction of the way up when Bu Yao said she was tired.

Xing Yue had Bu Yao sit and rest in a pavilion while she went to a nearby shop to buy water.

As she stood in line among the crowd, someone behind her called out—

"A Yue."

At the familiar voice, Xing Yue's chest tightened on instinct.

She turned. He Zhiwen was standing in line not far behind her, her petite figure topped with a fresh-looking hat that made her face appear even more delicate.

A little cluster of daisies adorned the hat. Someone must have picked them recently and tucked them there for her.

Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other in so long, He Zhiwen was a little excited. A rush of feelings passed through her, though all that showed on her face was a faint smile. "How's your snake tail?"

She spoke softly enough that only Xing Yue could hear.

Xing Yue didn't know why He Zhiwen had suddenly brought it up. In the seven years they had been together, He Zhiwen had rarely spoken of it.

Seeing Xing Yue's expression, He Zhiwen's face changed. An awful possibility seemed to occur to her, and she gave a bitter smile. "Did the treatment not work, or... did Madam Bu never have anyone treat your tail at all?"