Piece Number One: The Sorrows of the Evening

It was cold.

Ma Dai shifted, turning on his side only to realise that the formerly occupied space beside him was now empty. Frowning, he let out a disgruntled mutter as he sat up, the cold night air hitting his shoulders and causing him to shudder violently. Just then, he realised he was still in his day clothes and he almost cursed as he took in their messed up state. Giving a light hearted shrug, he slipped out of bed, going towards the door which had been left slightly ajar, the light in the hallway pooling in through the gap yet it was dim, more akin to candle light than a lantern.

"Mengqi?" He called out tiredly, rubbing his eyes as he stepped out into the narrow corridor where he found the candle balancing dangerously in its holder atop the narrow neck of a large vase. Sighing, he took it up, using its feeble light to make his way towards the main room in search of his cousin.

Ma Chao was not there.

Sighing, Ma Dai scratched his chin, trudging further down the corridor till he reached the garden where he spotted a feeble flicker of light towards the small wooden shrine. "Mengqi" He called out, his voice much quieter now as he moved through the darkness towards the back of the garden. Ma Chao did not move from his kneeling position, head bowed forward and hands pressed together.

The strong scent of incense wafted through the cold night air and the smell of smoke invaded the younger man's senses just as his footsteps came to a halt behind Ma Chao.

Ma Dai stayed silent, watching as his cousin finished his little ritual.

"Why are you up now, Bozhan?" Ma Chao's firm voice sounded somewhat distant as he stood up, drawing the makeshift cover over the wooden structure which was meant to represent a memorial.

"I just woke up and couldn't find you, so I just wanted to check you were okay" Ma Dai answered, taking one last look of the small stone carving just as it disappeared behind the old cover that they used to share when they were younger. The tablet held the familiar characters of his uncle's name, Ma Teng.

"Are you alright?" He asked, tearing his gaze away to look at Ma Chao. Ma Chao looked tired; his sun kissed hair was ruffled back, bright eyes duller than usual. He could tell that something was wrong even though it was Ma Chao's habit to visit the memorial every day; it was not normally this late at night unless something was wrong. He understood the feeling of being pressured as though some heavy weight had been placed upon him, suffocating him so that he just desperately needed to get it off his chest.

This was Ma Chao's sanctuary. The old garden at the back of their little house which was actually a small clearing in a rarely visited forest, but Ma Dai had done everything he could to make it as usable as possible, planting some cheap to maintain herbs and vegetables to one side and erecting the rough memorial for his uncle as a sort of gift for his cousin.

Ma Chao turned to look back at him after a moment's contemplation. "It's nothing" He shrugged, leaving it at that.

Suddenly, Ma Chao's stomach gave a terribly loud roar, sounding very angry to his ears as he clutched it with a nervous laugh. "Sorry, I haven't eaten anything for a while"

Ma Dai laughed, pretending to scold him. "Mengqi, you must learn to feed yourself, otherwise you will go hungry when I'm away" Crossing his arms over his chest, Ma Dai let out a startled yelp as Ma Chao grasped him in a headlock, dragging him back into the house whilst laughing loudly.

"You won't ever leave my side, Ma Dai, so until then, I want you to look after me!" He decided, letting go of his cousin once they reached the open doorway of the living room.

Those words struck him deep for some reason and he could hardly pay attention to anything but the man in front of him for the next few hours even as they ate.

"This tastes great!" Ma Chao announced, as he did every time they sat down to have a meal together.

Ma Dai felt somewhat bad that all he could offer was rice but Ma Chao never once seemed to complain, whether he was being genuine or just trying to make him feel better Ma Dai had a feeling he would never really be able to tell. But ever since the Ma cousins had joined up with the Shu forces their income seemed to have risen significantly but it was still difficult to keep the money for long since most of it was used to maintain the worn old house and rarely were there any excessive spoils from the campaigns they participated in. During the summer they would be able to start work on the roof, but until then, they had to put up with the cold that crept in through the thatches and save up what they could to get enough timber to replace the roof with something less costly to preserve.

Putting his bowl down, the older of the two glanced across at his companion with concern evident on his face.

"Bozhan, are you feeling well?" He asked, his boisterous demeanour seeming temporarily with held.

Ma Dai snapped out of his musing, wondering why the other was asking until Ma Chao gestured towards his still full plate.

"I'm not really hungry, rice gets a little old after a while, don't you think?"

Ma Chao shook his head, taking the other's bowl and starting upon his quest to finish it. "Not really" He stated in between mouthfuls. "I grew up eating this stuff"

Giving up on trying to gauge Mengqi's emotions, Ma Dai cleared the table away, following his cousin back to their shared futon.

However, Ma Chao was suddenly startled by Ma Dai's fingers grasping the fabric of his sleeping robes much like a little child clinging to his mother. This caused a little bit of confusion for him since Ma Dai was always affectionate but it was rare for him to openly display his affection in any more than a hug probably because he was worried that it would annoy Ma Chao or that he would come off as too clingy.

"Dai..?" But Ma Chao couldn't finish his sentence.

"It's cold" Was the only excuse he received and so he in return gave up on questioning it, besides... Ma Chao felt that right now, he had no one in the world to treasure as much as he did Ma Dai and the other had gone through a lot to look after him and ensure his happiness.

"Goodnight, Bozhan" He whispered, feeling the younger man nod sleepily against his shoulder as he cuddled up to him.

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Thank you,

X Shay