Xie Lian woke up feeling toasty and comfy, and he almost didn't want to open his eyes. He did open them rather fast however, when he was awake enough to realise that he wasn't alone in his bed.
In fact, there was a whole body pressed right up against his back, as well as an arm wrapped around him, which… Xie Lian was clutching in his own hand. Knowing very well who this arm belonged to, Xie Lian blushed scarlet, and felt his whole body stiffen.
"You're awake?", Hua Cheng asked in a whisper from behind him.
"I'm asleep", Xie Lian whispered back, feeling mortified. He had a hazy memory of last night, when Hua Cheng had tried to leave, but Xie Lian had grabbed his arm, and asked him not to leave him alone. He remembered Hua Cheng tucking him in, and then rejoining him. And once he'd rejoined him, Xie Lian had grabbed his hand again.
He wished he didn't remember what he did in his half awake state, just so he wouldn't be embarrassed out of his mind!
Hua Cheng chuckled, but humoured him.
"Oh? So gege is a sleep talker?", he teased.
"He is", Xie Lian played along, willing his face to return to a normal shade.
"How interesting. Is gege sleeping well, then?"
"Very well, thank you."
"That's a relief. I was worried because gege kept my hand in a vice grip the whole night, and wouldn't let go no matter what. I was forced to cuddle with gege because of this, so I hope gege won't think I invaded his privacy too much."
Xie Lian sighed, and gave up his pretense. He turned onto his back, to get a better look at Hua Cheng, and only realised belatedly that he was still hugging the king's arm to his chest. He let go of it then, but Hua Cheng didn't move his arm away, almost as if he was afraid that Xie Lian would grab it again anyway if he tried, and just kept resting it on Xie Lian's chest. Xie Lian really didn't know how many times Hua Cheng had tried, before he decided to stay.
"I'm sorry San Lang", he said ruefully.
"Gege has nothing to apologise for. After all, the nights do get cold here, and if gege wants to snuggle up to keep warm, this San Lang is more than happy to comply."
Really, Hua Cheng was handing him all the excuses on a silver tablet.
"I… I'll keep that in mind for future references", Xie Lian mumbled, feeling embarrassed, but he also knew himself well enough that he could get used to cuddling with Hua Cheng like this.
The king laughed warmly. "Please do."
After that awkward situation upon waking up, they proceeded to have breakfast in much the same fashion as they had the previous day.
"I already had Yin Yu fetch some proper robes for you. You don't need to run around in dancer's garments all the time after all, and your old robes are a bit too heavy for this desert climate", Hua Cheng said offhandedly, while they were still eating.
"Really?", Xie Lian asked, feeling delighted.
"Of course."
After breakfast, Hua Cheng led Xie Lian into the main house, and showed him the robes Yin Yu had brought here, and told him to choose the ones he liked.
The robes were all much lighter than the ones he was used to wearing, but they also had several layers, which Xie Lian was incredibly happy about. While he had indeed gotten somewhat used to wearing only one layer with the dancer's garments, he felt much more comfortable wearing proper robes after all, even if they were much thinner.
After getting dressed properly in his new robes, he couldn't help but spin around himself for a while, fascinated by how non-restraining and flowy these robes were, by how nice they felt on his skin, and just the way they looked on him overall. They weren't exactly white, which was probably better in an environment where the sun was shining as harshly as it did here, but they were a somewhat off-white colour, still bright, but not enough to hurt the eyes when sunlight hit them directly.
"Thank you, San Lang!", he exclaimed enthusiastically, and skipped over to give the king a hug.
Hua Cheng hugged him back quickly, before Xie Lian came back to his senses and realised what he was even doing. When he did, he couldn't help but tense up a bit. He didn't let go though.
"If I get a hug every time I gift gege a robe, I will gift gege several robes throughout the day, every day", Hua Cheng decided, and Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end, he just sighed.
"San Lang…", he started but couldn't quite muster the courage to say what he wanted to say.
"Hm?"
"San Lang…", he tried again. "You don't need to keep gifting me robes if it's just a hug you want", he ended up saying instead.
"Oh? That sounds like gege wouldn't mind me just hugging him randomly throughout the day?", Hua Cheng teased.
"I'm hugging you right now, am I not?", Xie Lian retorted, and pinched the king's side for good measure.
Hua Cheng let go of him abruptly then, and looked at him like a wounded fox.
"Gege pinched me", he pouted.
"Just a bit. It can't have hurt", Xie Lian defended himself.
"It didn't hurt my body, but it definitely hurt my soul. Gege needs to take responsibility."
"Alright", Xie Lian sighed. "How does His ever so mighty Majesty want me to take responsibility then?"
Hua Cheng smirked, lifted his finger, and tapped his own cheek, his message instantly clear to Xie Lian, who again couldn't decide if he should laugh or cry.
"You're-... really so mischievous, San Lang", he said, but had to chuckle at the alpha's antics nevertheless.
Xie Lian then proceeded to stand up on his tiptoes, and pressed a quick kiss to Hua Cheng's cheek. Once he took a step back, he noticed Hua Cheng looked incredibly satisfied with himself, and belatedly realised he'd fallen into his trap. He couldn't do anything but sigh at his own stupidity. Still, he felt like he was perhaps starting to feel a little too comfortable around the king of WuYong, and decided that maybe some distance would help to clear his head, and enable him to think rationally again.
"San Lang… can I-... would it be possible for me to go and visit the city outside the palace walls? I'm really curious about, well… everything", he asked, and couldn't help but fidget a bit.
Hua Cheng blinked at him in surprise.
"If gege wants to explore the city outside the palace walls, he can naturally go. There's no need to ask me. However… not yet. Your ankle still needs rest."
"The swelling already went down significantly", Xie Lian argued, and tried to not show his surprise at not needing the king's approval to leave the palace.
"The swelling will also go up again, if gege isn't patient enough to let it heal completely."
While Xie Lian had to admit that this was true, he didn't like hearing it, and couldn't help but droop a little. He was still unwilling to admit defeat however, and he wasn't above using dirty tactics. So he stopped concealing his scent, and let some of his sadness become noticable.
Hua Cheng immediately stiffened, and narrowed his eye at Xie Lian.
"Gege… you're playing dirty."
"I don't know what you're talking about", Xie Lian sniffed, and turned to hop towards the direction of his room.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Hua Cheng's own eye twitching.
He let the sadness on his scent intensify a bit.
It was enough to make the king crack.
Hua Cheng sighed loudly.
"Gege… I can't believe you're bullying me like this", Hua Cheng complained.
"I'm not bullying you. I'm just sad. Will San Lang not even allow me to be sad when he forbids me to do what I like?"
Hua Cheng's eye widened, and he looked torn.
"Gege, I know that you know that this isn't true. I'm only telling you not to go for your own good. Gege's wellbeing is always my priority."
Xie Lian drooped some more.
"This gege thanks San Lang for his concern", he mumbled politely. Just by shooting a quick look at Hua Cheng he could feel that his strategy was working.
And sure enough, that was all it took for the king to cave.
"Gege… if you really must go today, then at least use a palanquin", the king said with a sigh.
Xie Lian immediately perked up, and turned around to face Hua Cheng with a bright smile on his face.
"San Lang is the best!", Xie Lian exclaimed happily.
Hua Cheng sighed once again, knowing full well he'd been played.
"Please tell me you'll use one."
"If San Lang will rest easy if I use a palanquin, then I'll naturally listen to him. But... I don't have one."
"That is not an issue, gege. You can just use one of mine."
"Won't you come along?", Xie Lian asked, and hoped that he didn't seem too clingy, while conveniently forgetting that this was supposed to be an attempt to create distance.
"I wish I could. But I already put off meeting the court for too long", Hua Cheng said with no small amount of regret. Which reassured Xie Lian greatly. At least he wasn't the only clingy one.
By the time Hua Cheng helped Xie Lian hop through his entry gates, a palanquin was already waiting for him there, and Hua Cheng helped him to take a seat inside.
The palanquin was more humble looking than Xie Lian would have expected, but he was secretly relieved that he wouldn't attract any attention because of it.
Once Hua Cheng was satisfied with the way Xie Lian was settled, he straightened up and called "Feng Xin!"
"Your Majesty?", came the voice of General NanYang from somewhere behind the palanquin. Xie Lian hadn't noticed he'd been standing there.
"Accompany my friend on his outing today, make sure no accidents happen", Hua Cheng ordered strictly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Hua Cheng nodded at General NanYang, before he turned back to Xie Lian.
"Have fun", he simply said, and left before Xie Lian could even answer.
Xie Lian did indeed have fun. It was true that General NanYang didn't allow him to leave the palanquin, but that was okay. He still got to experience the hustle and bustle of the striving city, and could even watch street performers! It was all very lively and the people seemed overall happy. He didn't see a single beggar or homeless person either, and wondered if it was because Hua Cheng was just that great of a ruler, or if he just didn't get to see the areas where they hung out.
At the market were a lot of stalls with exceedingly interesting merchandise, and Xie Lian spent hours just looking through them, as well as he could from inside the palanquin. Feng Xin, as he'd come to call the general over the course of the day, was very adamant about him not putting his foot outside the confines of the palanquin, and turned prissy the moment Xie Lian started arguing with him. Still, a sort of camaraderie had developed over the course of the afternoon, and they'd even exchanged opinions regarding battle strategies and discussed weapons.
Apparently, Feng Xin preferred archery, and while Xie Lian himselved preferred the sword a lot more, he'd very gladly accepted Feng Xin's proposal to a shoot off one of these days.
Despite all the distractions, Xie Lian did manage to get some shopping done, and had gotten himself a new headpiece to keep his hair in a bun with something nicer than the stick he'd been using for a while now. He'd also gotten himself a new pouch, as well as a box and a chest, to keep his earnings in, as well as a new place for his new robes Hua Cheng had given him. And the dancer's garments of course.
He'd also bought a small present for the king. It was a decorative hair clasp that Xie Lian thought would go very well with Hua Cheng's braids. It was made out of silver, and had the form of a butterfly, and while the alpha hadn't indicated any particular like or dislike towards those creatures, Xie Lian thought they just somehow fit him.
Xie Lian only realised he'd stayed outside the palace for much longer than originally intended, once he noticed the sun setting. They immediately returned to the palace, once Xie Lian had said the word, and he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.
Once they entered the inner palace, Xie Lian was a bit stumped to find that he was being carried to his own temporary quarters here, instead of to Hua Cheng's chambers. He got off the palanquin a little confused, a state which hadn't changed even after he'd bid everyone goodbye. For a few moments he contemplated just going over to the king's chambers himself, but Hua Cheng would probably have his head if he found out Xie Lian would walk such a distance with his ankle yet to heal completely, and he didn't want to make him upset like that.
Eventually, Xie Lian shook his head at himself. There was no reason for him to feel sad at all! He'd already seen Hua Cheng earlier in the day, surely he could go 24 hours without seeing him again. It was entirely unreasonable to be so clingy, he chided himself, and started hopping through his little courtyard, took a bath while still berating himself, and eventually laid down in bed.
He tried very hard to fall asleep, telling himself that not being able to see Hua Cheng again today wasn't a big deal, but he just… couldn't help but miss him. Just a little bit.
Xie Lian rolled around to his other side, and wondered why he hadn't been brought to Hua Cheng's chambers anyway. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to drop him off at the same place where he'd been picked up? Had Hua Cheng somehow indicated that Xie Lian was to be dropped off at his own quarters, without Xie Lian's knowledge? But if he was so busy that he couldn't host Xie Lian, surely there wouldn't be a need for that sort of secrecy, right?
Suddenly, an unbidden thought entered Xie Lian's mind. Maybe Hua Cheng had ordered for Xie Lian to be sent back to his own quarters because he was… otherwise engaged… with one of his concubines. The thought startled Xie Lian, for reasons he didn't want to think about, not yet, and he turned his back towards the room again, before hiding himself under his covers.
The thought that Hua Cheng was most likely doing… things… with whoever it was, maybe it was Tian Sheng, maybe it was Zhu An… the thought hurt. A lot. It wasn't even like it would be strange, or extraordinary for Hua Cheng to spend his evening like that; he obviously had a harem for a reason, but…
Xie Lian realised there was no but. There was no reason at all why Hua Cheng shouldn't do what he was doing right now. Xie Lian had thought that maybe the alpha had been dissatisfied with him, and hadn't had as much fun as Xie Lian had spending time with him, but that didn't even have anything to do with-... It wasn't like Xie Lian had any right to claim Hua Cheng's off time to only himself either; they'd only spent a few days together after all. Hadn't Hua Cheng called him a friend just today? What kind of friend was he, to get upset over his friend tending to his needs?
Despite his best efforts to reason with himself, a tear still made it down his cheek, and he was forced to admit that it wasn't really friendship, what he felt towards the king. Which was even more upsetting.
Xie Lian had always somewhat prided himself on being pure in body and mind. He had never cared much for what others were doing in their free time, how many different alphas other omegas courted for the sole purpose of spending their heats with them before marriage, but he'd always been so single mindedly focused on improving his fighting skills and protecting his country, that he severely lacked in experience when it came to matters of the heart. He'd only ever loved his parents, like a son was supposed to, and his friends and comrades, like a good friend was supposed to. He'd never felt this sort of attraction to another person, and he realised now that he was not well equipped to deal with the consequences of such unrequited affection.
Xie Lian was contemplating smashing his head against the wall, just to make himself stop thinking for the rest of the night at least, when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps crossing through his courtyard.
He tensed up immediately, wondering how in the world an intruder could possibly make it all the way here without having caused a huge commotion beforehand, when the doors to his room got thrown open, and the footsteps made their way straight towards his bed.
At this point, Xie Lian had already figured out just who was visiting him, but since he'd been crying, he didn't feel like showing his face, and thus didn't throw the blanket off.
The mattress dipped a bit behind him, and the smell of blatant worry wafted over him. It was the first time he got to smell the alpha, and he wasn't disappointed. It was a smoky sort of smell, mixed with what Xie Lian thought was cinnamon, but he wasn't sure; it was a very hard to describe scent, but inherently pleasant to him.
"Gege?", Hua Cheng called him, his voice sounding about as worried as his scent was.
"What?", he asked in return, mortified when he realised his voice sounded somewhat croaky.
Hua Cheng pulled the covers off of him, and with a push down on his shoulder, forced Xie Lian to turn and look at him.
"Gege, what's wrong?", Hua Cheng asked quietly, almost softly, and Xie Lian didn't have a doubt in his mind that he was raging under the surface. It was almost funny.
"Why are you here?", he wondered, having been rather successful at convincing himself that Hua Cheng should be having a good time with one of his concubines right this moment.
The king looked a little put out at having his own question blatantly ignored, but replied without making a fuss over it.
"I was waiting for you to come back, and got worried when it got dark and there still wasn't a sign of you anywhere. I asked if Feng Xin was back already, and I was told he'd been back for a while, so I got even more worried when you didn't come back to me. Which is why I came here to make sure you're okay, but when I entered the courtyard I could already smell that you're very upset. Did something happen in the city?"
"You were waiting for me to come back?", Xie Lian asked, just to make sure he hadn't misheard.
"Naturally. Why did you come here instead?", the king frowned in confusion.
"I don't know… I thought I was brought here because you ordered it", Xie Lian admitted.
Realisation dawned on Hua Cheng's face.
"Could it be… that's why you got upset?", he asked.
Xie Lian wondered if he should take that excuse and run with it, because it at least would leave him with a little bit of face, but he couldn't quite bring himself to lie to Hua Cheng in a situation like this, where the king was honestly worried about him.
"It's why I got confused", Xie Lian clarified after a short moment of hesitation.
"Then what got you so upset?", the king asked again, sounding rather upset himself.
However, in the end Xie Lian couldn't bring himself to be completely honest, so he replied "Just some stupid thoughts I had".
"None of gege's thoughts are stupid. If you thought it, you must've had a good reason for it", Hua Cheng claimed with full conviction, and carefully started to wipe away the traces the tears had left on Xie Lian's face.
"I just thought you were busy doing other things, with other people", Xie Lian eventually admitted.
It caused a rather amused look on Hua Cheng's face.
"Gege, I'm honoured you're thinking of me as such a hardworking king, but there's no more meetings to be had this late in the day", he explained patiently.
Xie Lian sighed.
"I know. I didn't think you were busy with official business."
Hua Cheng frowned for a moment, obviously confused as to what Xie Lian was trying to hint at, but realisation dawned on his face soon enough, and his expression turned complicated.
"With the prospect of having gege spend time with me, what need could I ever have for any other sort of entertainment? Get that ridiculous thought out of your head, it doesn't deserve to be in there", he demanded.
Xie Lian tried not to smile, but he couldn't quite suppress it either.
Hua Cheng's face lost some of his fierceness in turn, and turned a bit softer.
"There, that's more like it", he said quietly, and kept stroking Xie Lian's cheek, even though there couldn't possibly be any wetness left on his face.
Xie Lian yawned then, and realised he'd suddenly grown very exhausted.
"Will you stay here?", he couldn't help but ask, and even though he felt a bit shy about it, he really didn't want Hua Cheng to leave him alone again.
"If gege wants me to, then of course I will."
Xie Lian scooted over to make some space for Hua Cheng to join him, which the alpha did, before he pulled the covers up over both of them.
Last time, Xie Lian had been more asleep than awake when he'd done it, but this time he pulled on Hua Cheng's arm while being fully conscious.
"Hm? Does gege want to cuddle again?", Hua Cheng asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Xie Lian nodded, and the king promptly turned on his side to face him, before he pulled Xie Lian into his arms, his face now tightly pressed against Hua Cheng's chest.
Hua Cheng still hadn't bothered to conceal his scent again, and smelling it from this close had the most calming sensation on Xie Lian he'd ever felt in his life.
He was asleep within seconds.