During the following day, it became clear that the mattress wouldn't cut it for Hua Cheng, which Xie Lian had expected. He had thought about what he could do to help the alpha, but the truth of the matter was, that a rut wasn't a good time for explorations. Alphas tended to be snappy and grumpy and impatient, so there wasn't much room for mistakes, as yesterday had proven to him rather painfully.

Xie Lian just didn't have much experience that he could offer to Hua Cheng; he'd only ever taken care of himself in such a manner once, and he doubted that a handjob would be enough for Hua Cheng to pop his knot. But looking at Hua Cheng panting and not getting anywhere, despite getting more and more exhausted because of his attempts with the mattress, he figured it was worth a try.

"San Lang", Xie Lian started, when he really couldn't stand by uselessly anymore. "Does it help at all?"

Hua Cheng buried his head deeper into Xie Lian's chest, refusing to answer. Xie Lian took that as a no.

"Should I-... Will you allow me to… help?", he asked nervously.

As expected, Hua Cheng tensed up, and shook his head with a whine.

"Why not?", he asked stupidly.

Hua Cheng just hugged him closer, so Xie Lian could guess.

"Because you're worried about me?"

Hua Cheng nodded.

"But I offered just now…"

Hua Cheng stayed still, his desire and his conscience probably raging war against each other inside his head.

"I… I'll be careful", he promised uselessly. Given the way Hua Cheng had treated the mattress, 'careful' was most likely not even going to help much.

It took a bit more coaxing, but eventually Hua Cheng rolled onto his back, not meeting Xie Lian's eyes.

The robe that was still wrapped around him had loosened significantly since the previous day, and Xie Lian had no trouble freeing his arms at all. Once he'd done that, he scooted closer to Hua Cheng, and cuddled up against his side, patting his chest in an attempt to not only calm Hua Cheng, but also himself, until the alpha relaxed enough to put his arm around Xie Lian again. Thinking of it as a success, Xie Lian let his hand wander down, until it bumped against the base of Hua Cheng's rather… sizeable… private parts. Once that had happened, Xie Lian recited the ethics sutra as loudly in his head as he could.

Xie Lian swallowed his nerves. He'd never done this to any other person, and only once to himself, so he was incredibly nervous about messing up. Though the logical side of his brain told him that, at this point, as long as he tried, Hua Cheng wouldn't care even if he did mess up. Hopefully.

Either way, it took him a lot of courage to wrap his hand around the base, but when he did, he realised that it was too small to wrap around it completely, and he felt even more flustered; he even messed up his recitation. He took a moment to calm his mind, and started reciting again.

Hua Cheng was shaking under him, no doubt trying not to throw Xie Lian on his back and have his way. So Xie Lian kicked himself into gear, and stroked along the length, forcing himself not to be too gentle, since that wasn't what Hua Cheng needed right now. He moved his hand faster than he'd done when he'd jerked himself off, but it seemed to have been the right decision, because Hua Cheng growled deep in his chest, and started moving his hips to meet the movements of Xie Lian's hand.

Eventually, Xie Lian's hand grew tired, and he sat up in order to use the other one, though he figured he could do it with both hands for a little while, just so he could wrap his hands around the girth completely. So that's what he ended up doing.

However, who could have thought that this was what would finally manage to get Hua Cheng over the edge? While the alpha rode out his orgasm, Xie Lian kept his hands around the growing knot at the base, surprised it had actually worked to this extent. However, now that the knot had popped, he didn't dare to take his hands off it. After all, Xie Lian had never heard of a situation like this, and didn't know the damage, be it mental or physical, it could do to an alpha to suddenly lose the thing he knotted into.

Hua Cheng obviously couldn't tell him, but since he didn't pull Xie Lian away from his dick, and started stroking his back instead, Xie Lian was very highly compelled to play it safe.

Xie Lian didn't know how long it had taken for the knot to deflate again, but when it did, it had once again turned dark outside. He only took his hands off of Hua Cheng, once his dick had grown soft again, too scared to risk any more mess ups, but as soon as he did, Hua Cheng pulled him into a tight hug on top of him, before he rolled them around until Xie Lian was on his back.

Hua Cheng cuddled him a good while, before he started scenting him again, his chest rumbling and purring without pause. It caused Xie Lian to feel dumbly proud of himself. He really hadn't done much as far as helping an alpha during his rut went, but apparently the little bit that he had done, he'd done well, even though it had been his first time.

Eventually they both fell asleep while cuddling.

Xie Lian woke up on the last day of Hua Cheng's rut to the alpha scenting him. He sighed, and indulged him, though he was honestly looking forward to this rut being over. It had really stressed him out a lot. Both of them, really.

At least Hua Cheng was much more relaxed in his whole countenance now. So Xie Lian guessed that he really had done one thing right by insisting on Hua Cheng knotting.

In fact, Hua Cheng was so relaxed, he fell asleep again some time before noon, right on top of Xie Lian. It was almost criminally lazy, but he also felt a bit relieved to get a break from being nuzzled constantly. His neck was feeling rather tender because of all the attention it had gotten.

But given the time, and depending on how long Hua Cheng was going to sleep for, it was entirely possible for him to be fully himself again by the time he woke up. Xie Lian really hoped for it.

And for once, it was exactly what happened. However, Hua Cheng looked beyond startled when he woke up on Xie Lian, naked, and with Xie Lian still mostly wrapped up in his robe.

"G-gege? How come- Why are you here?", he asked after he'd hurriedly gotten off of Xie Lian, and sat up beside him.

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, not quite knowing where to even start.

"I followed you here to explain to you that I wasn't scared of you, but… things went a bit off the rails…"

"If you weren't scared of me, then why did you smell utterly terrified?", Hua Cheng asked, and it was obvious that he didn't quite believe Xie Lian.

Xie Lia was about to answer his question, when suddenly all colour drained from Hua Cheng's face, and he looked like he was about to vomit.

"Did- did I do anything to you? Why aren't you wearing your own robes?! Have I-"

"No! San Lang, you didn't do anything! You were an exceptionally well behaved alpha, I promise. Please calm down", Xie Lian interrupted him when he thought that the king was really going to be sick. "I'll tell you everything that happened", he continued, and proceeded to do so.

When he was done recounting the last few days, Hua Cheng had a rather complicated look on his face.

"You shouldn't have come here, gege. I could have messed up really bad", Hua Cheng chided him gently.

"But you didn't. I was the one who put you through a lot of unnecessary stress, so… I… well, I guess I really shouldn't have come here. But I just wanted to help you. And I couldn't bear-..." couldn't bear the thought of someone else doing it instead. But he didn't have the courage to say that. "I'm sorry. I just created a mess by coming here."

Hua Cheng shook his head, smiling.

"I'm sure I was elated to have you by my side during the rut. I just hope you… I hope you didn't feel forced to… help me out the way you did", he said, and couldn't quite meet Xie Lian's eyes.

Xie Lian took a moment to gather his courage before he replied.

"I didn't feel forced. I- I just wasn't sure if-... if sober you would- would be opposed to- to me-... you know", Xie Lian stammered, and blushed scarlet, before he hid his face behind his hands.

"Gege", Hua Cheng sighed. "Sober me will always feel honoured whenever gege deigns to touch me in whichever way he pleases." There wasn't even a hint of irony or sarcasm in his voice! Hua Cheng sounded much too earnest saying something like this!

Xie Lian couldn't deal with it, and whined, turning to lie on his side, his back to Hua Cheng.

The king chuckled at his antics.

"Gege… I will go take a bath. I would be very happy if you're still here when I come back", he said quietly… almost… tenderly. Xie Lian's whole body shivered at that tone.

"I'll be here", he said equally as quietly, but couldn't quite meet his eye.

Hua Cheng hummed, and pulled the blanket up over Xie Lian, tucking him in properly, before he pressed a quick but soft kiss on his temple, and left, walking into the adjacent bathroom. Xie Lian had tried not to, really, but he couldn't help peeking at Hua Cheng's toned butt. However as soon as he saw it, he realised what a pervert he was being, and hid his head under the blanket in shame. What was wrong with him?! He'd just stopped reciting the sutra for a short while and he was already like this?! He was going to have to do some serious meditation later today.

In order to distract himself, Xie Lian forced his mind back to more important issues he'd been confronted with during Hua Cheng's rut.

Most importantly...

Why hadn't he been scared for real when Hua Cheng had turned feral? He had been tense, he had been afraid to some extent, he had definitely not been ready to go along with Hua Cheng at that moment, and he didn't think he'd be ready for quite a while yet. But… in a situation like this… how had he not been scared enough by the reality of the situation that he needed to imagine an alternate scenario?

Deep down Xie Lian already knew the answer, but he also realised didn't feel prepared to face it yet.

So instead, he tried to focus on a different issue.

Just how would their relationship progress from now on? He hadn't withheld any information when he told Hua Cheng what had happened during his rut, not even the fact that he'd touched him… there… and Hua Cheng had not given any sort of indication at all on what his feelings regarding that were. Well, apart from what he'd said just now, but Xie Lian still wasn't sure how seriously he was supposed to take that. Obviously Xie Lian had done what the situation had called for, and obviously Hua Cheng knew this. However, it didn't change the fact that it happened, and Xie Lian had never heard of friends touching each other in those places.

Hua Cheng's behaviour could all be explained by his instincts taking over during his rut, and him not thinking at all, but as for Xie Lian? It had been a conscious decision, fueled not only by the desire to help, but, if he was completely honest with himself, also a desire to touch. How was he supposed to even begin to explain that to the king? Xie Lian was usually in favour of speaking honestly about everything, but he thought that maybe, just this one time, it was a secret he wanted to take to the grave with him. It wasn't lying if he simply didn't talk about having wanted to touch Hua Cheng there, right?

Still, Xie Lian wasn't stupid, he remembered very well the information he'd overheard; that Hua Cheng had been calling for him. It really wasn't without meaning if a rutting alpha desired the company of a specific omega, Xie Lian was very aware of that fact. But even if he was aware of that fact, it didn't change the other fact that they still barely even knew each other! How in the world was it possible to be so mutually attached to one another after such a short amount of time!? Xie Lian really couldn't comprehend it, he'd never experienced anything like it before and he wasn't sure how to deal with his confusing feelings of affection, desire, hesitation, and fear of ending up like his parents.

In the end, he just succumbed to feeling overwhelmed, and pushed all those thoughts out of his mind. Maybe things would just slot into place by themselves, and he was driving himself into insanity for no reason at all.

Clearing his mind didn't come easy to him for once however, and he hoped Hua Cheng would come back to him soon. At least he'd be sufficiently distracted then.