Author's Note: There's not enough fanfiction out there featuring Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying. This is my (rather short) attempt to change that. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Dynasty Warriors or it's characters, and the information contained within this document is purely fictional.
She passed her hand over the cup; the tea was cold. The meal lay on the table, uneaten and untouched.
Zhuge Liang had not come to dinner last night, it appeared. Huang Yue Ying automatically knew where he was.
…Where he always was, anymore.
It wasn't a long walk to his study. They'd kept their home small and modest; even though they now had the funds to build a grand palace. There was something to be said for a life lived in modesty, in the country. And, she thought, who knows what that husband of mine would be up to had he more space for his experiments…
She opened the door to the study, and sighed. As expected, he had fallen asleep writing, from the look of things. His body splayed uncomfortably across the table; parchment was his pillow, and, she noted with some amusement, his quill still firmly clasped in his hand. How he had managed not to turn over the inkwell was something she couldn't figure out. Practice, her mind whispered, but she tried to brush such thoughts away.
She hated to wake him. He hadn't slept much recently; Shu Han had hit a rough time, and with it, her husband. He rarely slept, he rarely ate; he did nothing but work on strategies for the soon coming northern campaign. Despite this being likely the last time their entire family would be home in quite some time, Liang had shut himself away in their study and barely joined Zhan or her for anything. Zhan worried about his father; though she did not tell Zhan, she often worried about him, too. Shu Han and his work consumed him.
But if she did not, it would be far worse, in the long run. Liang would simply insist that, because he had fallen asleep, he would only have to work harder. She knew he would not take it as a sign that he needed rest, but only as a weakness. She stroked his long black hair, now streaked with silver.
"…Yue Ying?" Her train of thought derailed as her husband spoke, and she glanced down at her now-awake husband. He moaned, then pushed himself off of the table.
"You fell asleep writing again." She watched as he stretched, admiring the way the robe fell on his body. His face looked pained, and she knew he felt guilty for not returning to their bed.
"I apologize, Yue Ying. I did not realize…I hope I did not worry you."
"…I am not so worried about the fact that you did not come to bed last night as the fact that this is becoming an everyday occurrence, my husband. You have to rest…If you don't…"
"Please don't fret, Yue Ying." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. "I'm tired," He sighed. "I'm just…tired, that's all."
Feedback is most definately appreciated, especially constructive criticism. I apoligize for the shortness but between a nasty cold and finals, I didn't have a lot of time to write this week.