Before Xie Lian even had the time to blink, Hua Cheng was already holding him in his arms, pressing Xie Lian's back to his chest firmly. He threw one leg over Xie Lian's hips, and nuzzled against his neck once more. This time Xie Lian made sure to keep in control of his thoughts, and relaxed into the embrace. The action caused Hua Cheng to hug him tighter, as well as a pleasant rumbling sound in the king's chest.
The room had already been full of Hua Cheng's smoky cinnamon smell when he entered, and the anxiousness in it was hard to miss. However, now that Hua Cheng was so close to him, and cuddling him, his smell slowly lost that sourness, which relieved Xie Lian to no end.
"San Lang… I'm not scared of you. Don't ever think I could be scared of you. Please. That won't ever happen", he tried to reassure Hua Cheng quietly, for which he got hugged even tighter.
Hua Cheng didn't reply verbally though, and Xie Lian figured it was because he simply couldn't. He could only speak from his own experiences with heats, but he knew he'd been overcome with all sorts of feelings and desires to the point where he had only been able to make the most primitive noises like whining, for example. He hadn't been able to form words, much less sentences, and he figured that Hua Cheng was facing the same issue.
Hua Cheng kept cuddling and nuzzling him for a while, which, honestly, did feel rather nice and put him in a much calmer state of mind. However, after some time Hua Cheng lifted one hand to loosen Xie Lian's collar, and pulled it over his shoulder in a rather rough manner, which startled Xie Lian a bit, but when Hua Cheng just kept nuzzling him afterwards, he saw no reason to become alarmed, and he let himself relax again.
Xie Lian wasn't naive enough to think that Hua Cheng would spend the rest of the time of his rut cuddling him like this; the alpha most definitely had other urges to take care of as well, but Xie Lian would deal with that situation when it happened. It wasn't like he could leave either; the chances of damaging their relationship if he did were too big for him to be willing to risk it. After all, to Hua Cheng it wouldn't just be him leaving, it would be him abandoning the alpha in his time of need. And even if the rational side of him would probably understand why Xie Lian would leave in a situation such as this, his innermost instinct would tell him for the rest of his life that Xie Lian couldn't be trusted, not completely, and couldn't be depended on, not in critical situations. And Xie Lian refused to have it come to that.
He did jump slightly however, when Hua Cheng stopped nuzzling him, and started kissing his exposed shoulder instead. Figuring that this was still okay, he didn't protest, and let Hua Cheng work on his shoulder as much as he wanted. It did… something to him though, and he started wondering if maybe he'd have to start reciting the ethics sutra at some point to keep his mind clear.
Hua Cheng proceeded to kiss his shoulder for what turned out to be quite a long while; the sky had grown completely dark in the meantime. Xie Lian would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the alpha's attention on him, which he felt a bit guilty for. Wasn't he taking advantage of Hua Cheng, just a little bit? The guilt was why he tried not to react much to Hua Cheng's actions, no matter how much of a challenge it was.
Eventually however, Hua Cheng's finger took the liberty of flicking Xie Lian's nipple, before he played with it, and after flinching in surprise at the sudden sensation, and that damned feeling in his gut, which had come back with a vengeance, Xie Lian knew that this was where he had to draw the line.
First he started reciting the ethics sutra in his head, then he grabbed Hua Cheng's wrist to pull his hand away from his chest, and then turned to lie on his back in order to see the alpha better.
Unfortunately, Hua Cheng seemed to take it as an invitation to sit up, and because his leg had already been thrown across both of Xie Lian's, it had the effect of him hovering above him. Once he was above Xie Lian, he leaned down again, no doubt in order to kiss Xie Lian again, only aiming for his lips this time.
Xie Lian had quick reflexes however, and managed to use his free hand to cover Hua Cheng's mouth before he'd reached his. It caused the alpha to look rather put out, and very confused. Xie Lian could understand that.
"San Lang… not like this", he said, knowing full well he wasn't going to get any sort of reasonable response.
True enough, Hua Cheng whined, and pressed his face forward again, though with much more hesitance than before. It was really more like a little nudge against his hand, and Xie Lian couldn't help but smile.
He let go of Hua Cheng's wrist, and used that hand to pat the side of the alpha's head gently, before he stroked his head, to show him that he wasn't rejecting him.
"You want to kiss me?", he asked, to which Hua Cheng nodded firmly.
"I want to kiss you, too", Xie Lian said, and promptly blushed scarlet. It wasn't a lie, but being this direct about it was a bit hard.
Hua Cheng titled his head to the side, looking confused. Which was fair.
"But this would be our first kiss, right?", he asked, to which Hua Cheng nodded rather eagerly.
"But you're having your rut. And you might not remember our first kiss afterwards", Xie Lian explained. He really didn't want that. If they kissed, both of them should be able to remember it.
Hearing this, Hua Cheng's whole countenance drooped, and he looked utterly dejected.
"You can still kiss my shoulders, San Lang. I don't mind that", he said in order to cheer him up again. It worked a bit too well, because as soon as Xie Lian had said he wouldn't mind, Hua Cheng had ripped his robes open, and exposed his whole stomach.
"Not- that doesn't mean- San Lang!", he chided, but couldn't help the whine that accompanied it. This man was really too much!
Realising he'd done something to displease the omega, Hua Cheng lowered himself on top of him, and went back to nuzzling his neck. Xie Lian couldn't help but sigh. Overall, Hua Cheng was behaving much more docile than he had expected. While Hua Cheng went back to nuzzling him again, Xie Lian kept himself busy by stroking through the alpha's hair, and reciting the sutra. He highly doubted that he had anything to fear from Hua Cheng, even during his rut, but it was still better if one of them was able to keep a clear mind.
Xie Lian knew there was no way around Hua Cheng having to-... to knot at some point, and no matter how much he thought about it, there was no way he'd be able to give Hua Cheng the privacy he deserved for it, not without leaving. Which he still refused to do. Also, given how clingy this alpha was during his rut, Xie Lian highly doubted he'd be allowed to go out of Hua Cheng's reach at any point for the next few days, which put him in a rather awkward position.
Xie Lian sighed, and decided to keep thinking about it tomorrow, once he couldn't suppress his yawns anymore. It was getting rather late after all.
Hua Cheng had noticed him yawning, and pouted, before he kissed Xie Lian's jaw, and climbed off of him. But only to pick Xie Lian up, in order to carry him over to the bed. Xie Lian didn't resist at all, until both of them were cuddled up under the blankets, in much the same position they had started in on the floor. The only difference was that Xie Lian was facing Hua Cheng's chest this time.
Xie Lian trusted Hua Cheng, mostly, but sleeping in the arms of an alpha who was in the middle of his rut, was still an extremely foolish thing to do. Which was why he felt the need to clarify things for Hua Cheng again. So he looked up, and gently put a hand on the alpha's cheek, stroking it a bit to keep the alpha's guard down while he talked.
"San Lang… I will sleep here… but you need to promise me something."
Hua Cheng's chest rumbled, which Xie Lian took as agreement, and his eye with the extremely wide blown pupil stared at Xie Lian intently.
"We can cuddle, and you can kiss my shoulder… just… don't do anything you haven't already done earlier, okay? Promise?"
The look in Hua Cheng's eye turned dejected, and he growled grumpily, but he also hugged Xie Lian to himself a bit tighter, so he figured it was still a sort of begrudging agreement.
Xie Lian smiled in relief, and, without thinking, kissed the exposed part of Hua Cheng's chest, before he immediately blushed purple, and hid his face in that very same chest, whining in embarrassment. At least with this, Hua Cheng's grumpy grumbling had turned into pleased purring, so Xie Lian thought that maybe it had at least been worth it.
The next day started peacefully enough.
Hua Cheng had stayed true to his word, and mostly just kept nuzzling Xie Lian, though this time with the addition of scenting. Xie Lian didn't mind that at all, and it seemed to make Hua Cheng a great deal more… relaxed.
It was only in the afternoon when things started to go downhill. Hua Cheng had ventured away from Xie Lian's shoulders, and started kissing his chest and stomach instead. Which would have still been okay, if it had stayed that way. It actually had taken a while before Xie Lian had picked up on it, but eventually even he had realised that the area Hua Cheng had been paying a lot of very gentle attention to, was around his belly button; exactly the area that would… swell… if he should ever get… pregnant.
Once Xie Lian had picked up on that tiny little detail, his face had turned incredibly dark, and he couldn't help but hide it. He knew that Hua Cheng was driven purely by instincts right now, with a slippery grasp on his self control, and he knew that for an alpha's instinct, there was nothing more natural than wanting to… breed. So Hua Cheng acting like this made a whole lot of sense, but still. They hadn't even kissed yet! And they wouldn't, not for the next few days at the very least!
Xie Lian didn't know how long Hua Cheng was busying himself with stroking and kissing his stomach, but eventually, maybe inevitably, he went lower, and nuzzled Xie Lian's groin. Xie Lian would have seen it coming if he hadn't been busy wallowing in his embarrassment behind his hands, but he hadn't seen it coming, so he jerked at the sudden touch, inadvertently hitting Hua Cheng's head with his knee, which, unsurprisingly, caused Hua Cheng to growl at him in extreme displeasure.
"Sorry!", Xie Lian exclaimed immediately, already sitting up. He stretched his hand out to check if he'd actually caused some damage, but the moment his hand approached Hua Cheng, he snapped at him. Xie Lian's eyes widened, and he pulled his arm close to his body immediately. He hadn't expected such a rapid change in attitude, but it did make sense. Alpha's during ruts were aggressive to begin with, it had probably taken all of Hua Cheng's willpower to keep as docile as he had been, but his control must have snapped the moment Xie Lian had accidentally kicked him. He'd really made a huge blunder.
"San Lang…", he said carefully, only to get growled at once more, in a rather threatening way.
He realised then that all rationality must've left the alpha for now, and so trying to talk to him would be completely futile. It really left him with only one choice. He wasn't sure if they knew each other well enough for this to work out, or if they would end up having even more misunderstandings, but it was the only choice he really had at this point.
So Xie Lian whined pitifully, dropped his head, lifted his shoulders, and let his eyes flutter all over the place, as if unable to look at Hua Cheng directly. For a moment, the growling ceased, but then it started again, and this time, Hua Cheng was even fletching his teeth at him. Startled, Xie Lian wondered what he'd done wrong, but it only took him a second to realise that, even though he was sorry for having hit Hua Cheng with his knee, he wasn't sorry enough for it to translate onto his scent. Which was normal, since under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be that big of an issue. But now he'd insulted Hua Cheng even more by seeming insincere, he realised.
This really wasn't going well , he thought bitterly.
And just as he'd thought it, Hua Cheng lunged forward, and pushed Xie Lian's shoulders down onto the mattress harshly, before he bit Xie Lian's nose none too gently, which wasn't nice, but Xie Lian guessed it was a fair punishment in this situation. However, Hua Cheng was apparently not done yet, he realised, and grew a bit concerned.
The alpha proceeded to rip his robes into two halves, which he then threw away carelessly, before he roughly pulled Xie Lian's pants down as well.
Realising what was happening, and why it was happening as well, Xie Lian didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry.
Hua Cheng must have done one hell of a job to hold himself back for so many hours, so now that his control had snapped, it must've snapped completely, and it would take nothing short of at least one knot for him to be able to regain his control. Even worse, not only had Xie Lian hit the alpha, he'd even insulted him with his seemingly insincere apology, so of course instincts were telling Hua Cheng to assert his dominance, to show who's boss, to put Xie Lian back into his place. Having realised all of this, Xie Lian understood what was happening very well.
However, while he was concerned and shocked and a bit afraid of just how far Hua Cheng would take this, he wasn't exactly scared, not even now that he was naked underneath the alpha. Which Xie Lian would consider a good thing under normal circumstances. However, he knew that deep down in this feral alpha, Hua Cheng was still himself. And from what he knew of Hua Cheng so far, there were few things he was more protective of than he was of Xie Lian. And, if memory served, he'd been beyond startled when he thought that Xie Lian was scared of him, back when he'd carried him to the infirmary for the first time. It was reinforced when Xie Lian had understood why Hua Cheng had left him in the bath yesterday, so Xie Lian really had good reason to believe that maybe, if he could bring an instinct driven Hua Cheng to believe he was scared of him, he would get his control back faster?
Which meant that, if Xie Lian wanted to prevent Hua Cheng from doing something he would no doubt regret immensely once his rut was over, he needed to fool him into thinking that Xie Lian was utterly terrified at the prospect of having sex with him like this.
By the time Xie Lian had come to this conclusion Hua Cheng was already pulling his own pants down, and Xie Lian knew he had to act fast.
So he started thinking of bonding, not with Hua Cheng, but he imagined himself in this exact same situation with another alpha who had gone feral, who he couldn't fight back against, who would not only breed him, but also forcibly bond him, who would be aggressive throughout all of it, and make the whole thing even more painful, physically and mentally, than it already was under normal circumstances.
Xie Lian had closed his eyes while imagining such a scenario, and thus hadn't noticed when Hua Cheng had paused in his actions, but when Xie Lian felt like he had instilled a rather healthy amount of fear into himself, he opened his eyes again hesitantly.
Seeing the situation now, Xie Lian almost wished he'd chosen the other alternative, and thought he just should've knocked Hua Cheng out. He really hadn't wanted to hurt Hua Cheng even more than he'd already done with that knock to his head, but right now it seemed like the better alternative. Xie Lian was honestly about to cry.
The alpha was nowhere to be seen on the bed, nor in his immediate surroundings.
Xie Lian knew that he hadn't left the room, because he would have definitely heard the commotion that created. Which meant the alpha was hiding. Most likely in shame, if Xie Lian knew Hua Cheng at all.
"S-San Lang?", he asked, but received no reply. No growling, no whining… nothing.
Growing very worried, Xie Lian made sure the window was still closed, which it was.
"San Lang… where are you?", he asked, even though he knew he wouldn't receive an answer.
But this was bad. Really, really bad.
Alphas were, despite the airs they put on, vulnerable during their rut. Everybody knew that. To drive an alpha into hiding during such a time was… rather damaging to the alpha's mental wellbeing.
"San Lang!", he called loudly, but it only had the effect of the door unlocking, and Senior General Pei poking his head through the small opening. Before Xie Lian even had the time to feel embarrassed, or before the general could even begin to say anything, there was a demonic growl, coming from behind the end of the bed, and Xie Lian didn't doubt that when Hua Cheng lunged at the general, he had the honest intent to kill.
Senior General Pei must have had the same thought, because he closed the door again rapidly, before Hua Cheng could get there, and locked it again just as quickly.
Xie Lian was trying very hard not to cry now.
Hua Cheng was having the worst rut any alpha could ever possibly have, and it was all because of him. He couldn't give him the release he really needed, he forced him to hold himself back, he had accidentally hit him, he had insulted him, he had damaged his self confidence so much he'd forced him into hiding by making him think he was scared of him, and now, because he'd called out for him, he'd even had another alpha invade his private, intimate space with his omega, and let that alpha see his omega naked as well. And now Hua Cheng pounded against the door so hard, Xie Lian was honestly worried he'd pound a hole into it with his fists alone. Which was hurting his hands, which Hua Cheng wasn't noticing right now, because he was going mad with jealousy.
Xie Lian couldn't take it, and burst into tears.
He really, really tried to stop as soon as he started, because he absolutely did not want to stress Hua Cheng even more than he already was in his vulnerable state, but he couldn't help it. The tears just wouldn't stop.
While Xie Lian was trying very hard to get a hold of himself again, Hua Cheng had already noticed his omega crying, and immediately stopped assaulting the door, though he didn't move to come closer to the bed. Which, Xie Lian knew, was also his fault. He felt so incredibly guilty, he cried even more. And he could see how visibly stressed Hua Cheng was becoming, though he was still not daring to approach Xie Lian, and only whined. It was a sound so distressed, it broke Xie Lian's heart, and he thought to hell with everything, and stretched his arms out towards Hua Cheng.
The alpha hesitated, but it only took another sob from Xie Lian before Hua Cheng came barrelling into his arms, and showered his head in kisses, though he did make sure not to kiss his lips. It caused a whole new bound of sobs to break out of Xie Lian because he realised again just how good Hua Cheng was to him, and he hugged the alpha as tightly as he possibly could.
"I'm sorry", he whispered, and he really was incredibly remorseful. He shouldn't have to worry about it not being obvious on his scent, and Hua Cheng should definitely pick up on his sincerity this time.
And sure enough, this time, Hua Cheng stayed peaceful, and even started rumbling in his chest, in a manner that was incredibly calming for Xie Lian. He buried his head into that chest, and forced himself to calm down. He really, really didn't want to make things any more stressful for Hua Cheng.
Once he managed to stop crying, Xie Lian pulled away from Hua Cheng's chest, and grabbed the alpha's head in his hands, in order to make him take a break from kissing his head. And then he leaned forward, and kissed Hua Cheng's forehead, because he really didn't know what else to do, and because he thought that should convey what he couldn't say with words right now.
It seemed to calm Hua Cheng down as well, because some of the tension in his shoulders eased, and he finally grabbed Xie Lian around the waist to hug him back as tightly as Xie Lian had hugged him previously.
It was only then that Xie Lian remembered that both of them were still stark naked, and the embarrassment that flooded him made him feel like his head was about to explode.
After all, they were touching… down there.
Xie Lian had to force himself not to escape Hua Cheng's embrace, because the damage that could cause would really be too great, but he did whine, and the alpha did pick up on what had Xie Lian distressed once again. So he let go of him, grabbed a layer of his own robes, and wrapped Xie Lian up in it tightly, and clumsily, using it more like a blanket than an actual piece of clothing. Once he was done, he pushed Xie Lian to lay down on his back, laid himself down on top of him, and proceeded to nuzzle into Xie Lian's neck again.
Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief, and wished his arms hadn't been wrapped up in the robe as well, just so that he could hug Hua Cheng and stroke his hair, but alas, he couldn't move his arms even the tiniest bit. So he gave up, and went to restart the ethics sutra in his head from the beginning, because he'd forgotten all about those once things had gone off the rails. He really needed to improve his mental stability, Xie Lian chided himself.
Hua Cheng kept nuzzling and kissing his neck for the rest of the day, and never so much as tried to touch him anywhere else, however Xie Lian could tell it was hard for him to keep restraining himself.
By the time it had turned dark outside, Hua Cheng was positively sweating with the effort it took him to hold himself back, and Xie Lian couldn't bear to watch it anymore.
"San Lang…", he started, but didn't know what to say either.
Hua Cheng pulled back to look at him then, and there was almost as much pain as there was determination in his eye. It broke Xie Lian's heart all over again.
"... you're in pain", he stated eventually.
Hua Cheng stubbornly shook his head.
"You could… I mean, would it help you to- to rut against the mattress? Or something?", he asked, and once again felt his face growing several shades darker.
Hua Cheng once again shook his head.
"Are you worried I'll be scared again if you do that?"
Hua Cheng's whole body tensed, but he nodded curtly.
"I promise I won't be scared. But if you keep suppressing your urges completely, I'll worry. Do you want me to worry about you?"
Hua Cheng pressed his lips together, but shook his head.
"Then please… do at least that, if you think it could help. I won't be scared. I'll swear it on my life."
Hua Cheng still looked torn, but in the end, he just moved his hips and legs off to the side, away from Xie Lian as far as possible, pressed his head against the side of Xie Lian's neck, and started rutting into the mattress. He was hesitant about it at first, but when Xie Lian's scent didn't change, he grew more confident, and let himself go.
Xie Lian was extremely relieved by that, because he'd never heard a story where an alpha suppressed his urges to such an extent, and he didn't know if it could be damaging not to release during a rut, or if it was like a heat. He wasn't willing to take the risk either way. While it was indeed an awkward situation, Xie Lian still much preferred this over the disaster that had happened before, and finally managed to relax a bit more.
Hua Cheng had indeed managed to release by just rutting against the mattress, but even after that he was still sweating, and, after an accidental look downwards, Xie Lian knew that it couldn't have helped all that much. The alpha had still managed to fall asleep afterwards, but now Xie Lian was wondering just how in the world they were supposed to get through tomorrow.