After Hua Cheng had efficiently coddled Xie Lian for quite a while, he eventually asked "gege, should we have dinner in our room tonight, or would you prefer eating in the garden pavilion?"
Xie Lian thought for a moment, but since it had grown rather late, and therefore quite cold outside, he decided to have dinner in their room.
Their room.
Xie Lian felt giddy at having Hua Cheng so readily share his space with him, and couldn't help but give him a kiss on the cheek, before he pulled his pants up to cover him properly again.
Dinner was a rather quiet affair, though conversation still flowed easily between them, and somehow didn't feel awkward at all. Xie Lian had honestly expected to pretty much die of embarrassment after having done something like… that, but he felt strangely content, and not embarrassed at all. Though he still couldn't quite believe he'd really done something … that .
Once they were done eating, Hua Cheng showed Xie Lian into his bathroom. There wasn't a pool in the floor, obviously, since they were on the second floor. Instead, there were two steps leading up to a rather humongous bathtub. Xie Lian was convinced that 4 people could sit in there comfortably, without touching.
They didn't waste any time undressing and washing themselves off before entering the huge bathtub.
"Do you like it?", Hua Cheng asked cheekily when Xie Lian was still very obviously astounded by this thing.
"I think it's great!", he replied, and cuddled up against Hua Cheng's side.
"You're very cuddly today", his alpha called him out.
"I'm just happy", Xie Lian replied quietly, to which Hua Cheng hummed contently.
After the bath, Xie Lian wanted to put on his undergarments as usual, however Hua Cheng stopped him.
"How about we don't bother with this tonight?", he asked, and Xie Lian immediately blushed quite a dark shade. Though he had to admit that it did sound rather exciting. Still…
"We'll just cuddle, right? You- you don't want to…. already?"
Seeing Xie Lian's insecurity, Hua Cheng's face turned incredibly soft.
"Of course. The only thing I want to do is to repay gege for his efforts earlier. But only if you don't mind", his alpha added as soon as he saw some apprehension on Xie Lian's face.
If Xie Lian was honest, he didn't understand why he was nervous about the prospect either. It should be less nerve wracking to have Hua Cheng do something like this to him than vice versa. But despite feeling flustered, he still wanted to try it out.
"Of course I don't mind. I'm just nervous, don't mind me", he explained himself hastily, before Hua Cheng backtracked on his offer completely. "But… can I ask San Lang to take his eyepatch off before we go to bed?", he added hesitantly.
Now it was Hua Cheng's turn to hesitate, but it was only for a short moment, before he nodded, and did indeed take it off. This time, his right eye didn't startle Xie Lian nearly as much as the last time he'd seen it, and somehow, even though Hua Cheng had told him he could see slightly better with that eye, he felt less… vulnerable. Maybe it was because with the eyepatch off, Hua Cheng felt about as exposed as Xie Lian did.
After having climbed into bed, Hua Cheng didn't waste any time cuddling up to Xie Lian, kissing his forehead and holding him close. To Xie Lian, it was the first time to cuddle while being naked, and he had to admit that it indeed felt rather nice to have so much skin on skin contact with his alpha. It was a bit like his body was on fire, but in a good way.
And then there was the bonus of feeling all of Hua Cheng without any barriers as well. Xie Lian could trace all of his muscles and scars with his finger, and see all of them clearly as well; nothing was hidden and Xie Lian was finally able to properly appreciate his alpha's physique in its entirety.
"Gege seems to be enjoying himself", Hua Cheng eventually commented, when Xie Lian's finger was mostly done tracing his abdominal muscles, and accidentally dipped into his belly button. Of course Xie Lian immediately blushed scarlet, and hid his face in Hua Cheng's very naked and very toned chest.
His alpha laughed gently, but pushed Xie Lian away from him, and onto his back.
"None of that, gege. I'll distract you in a different way", he grinned, and gave Xie Lian's lips a soft kiss, before he trailed more kisses down along his neck, over the middle of his chest, and even further down, until he reached Xie Lian's own belly button. Once there, he threw a mischievous look up at him, before his alpha dipped his tongue into it, causing XIe Lian to jolt at the surprising feeling it created.
Hua Cheng chucked lightly, before he gave his stomach a proper kiss, and nuzzled him there for a bit, before he slid a bit further down, until he was on eye level with Xie Lian's own, in comparison, rather small dick. He couldn't help but swallow dryly at seeing Hua Cheng's face this close to his private parts.
"I'll repay the favour in the same way you did it to me, okay gege? Nothing more, nothing less", his alpha informed him, his face all tender and… loving. Xie Lian could do nothing but nod.
Hua Cheng gave him a soft smile, before he kissed Xie Lian's dick, in much the same way Xie Lian had done to him earlier. He couldn't help but throw an arm over his eyes in embarrassment, but he had to admit that it did indeed feel very nice.
"Gege… relax", his alpha told him in a low voice. "Come, give me your hands", he commanded gently, so Xie Lian could only obey, albeit hesitantly.
Hua Cheng squeezed his hands, before he went back to kissing Xie Lian's dick at every place he could reach. When he was done with that, he took him in his mouth, and Xie Lian just barely managed not to flat out scream at the sudden warmth that enveloped him. He couldn't suppress a mewl coming out of him however, but it only caused Hua Cheng to squeeze his hands again. It felt encouraging, so Xie Lian told himself not to hold his sounds back.
Unlike Xie Lian, Hua Cheng had no trouble at all taking Xie Lian's whole length into his mouth. He couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous at that fact, and told himself to practice more, before Hua Cheng started using his tongue to massage his dick, and his mind went completely blank.
"S-San Lang", he gasped in pure wonder. He hadn't known it was possible to feel this amazing to have someone do those things to him! Xie Lian's whole body was shaking already!
Hua Cheng only hummed in reply, but it was enough to send Xie Lian over the edge, and he could do nothing but cling to his alpha's hands when his back arched in pleasure.
Since Xie Lian wasn't an alpha, there was no white liquid coming out of him when he released, and thus Hua Cheng couldn't swallow anything either. However, he hadn't expected his alpha to lap up the wetness that had gathered and spilled from his… omega parts.
By the time Xie Lian had fully comprehended what had just happened, Hua Cheng was already done, and licked his lips as if he'd just had a tasty meal.
Xie Lian couldn't help it; his first reaction was to screech in sheer and utter shame.
"Gege?", Hua Cheng asked, and Xie Lian almost didn't want to look at him from behind his hands. He did though, and was faced with his alpha's confusion.
"Did I do something wrong?", he asked, and Xie Lian could kick himself for making his alpha feel this way.
"N-no… I just didn't expect… I didn't expect you to go… there", he admitted, and relised how utterly stupid it sounded. Hadn't Hua Cheng told him beforehand that he was going to do exactly what Xie Lian had done to him as well? It wasn't his alpha's fault that omega's released their… fluids… through a different hole than alphas!
"There's no need to feel so embarrassed, gege. I think you taste lovely", his alpha praised him again, and Xie Lian couldn't take it. He stretched his arms out towards Hua Cheng in an obvious demand for cuddles, to which his alpha obliged happily.
Despite his embarrassment, he was still beyond elated that he could finally label his relationship with Hua Cheng, and that his alpha was so incredibly attentive and sweet to him. He had never been able to picture himself getting mated to an alpha, or anyone really, but now he was intensely grateful to have Hua Cheng with him. He didn't even want to think about a future without him. Which he wouldn't have to, because Hua Cheng was right here, holding him in his arms tightly and stroking his back gently. Really, Xie Lian didn't think he'd ever felt safer than he did at this very moment.
Thus, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
During breakfast the next day, Hua Cheng looked somewhat troubled, but didn't bring anything worrying up while they were eating. However, once they were done, he looked at Xie Lian seriously, and he couldn't help but feel nervous about whatever issue Hua Cheng was going to address now.
"Gege… there's something I want to talk to you about", he started solemnly.
Xie Lian tried not to fidget, but he was rather unsuccessful.
"Of course. San Lang can talk to me about anything."
Hua Cheng gave him a soft smile at that, however it disappeared as quickly as it came, which put Xie Lian even more on edge.
"Yesterday at the hearing… there was something you said that worries me a lot."
"What did I say?", Xie Lian asked, because he really didn't know what could have caused Hua Cheng to look this troubled.
"You said you lost your freedom. I understand that that trash king captured you to bring you here, and that you were indeed not free during that time… but I want to make sure that you know that I've never intended to take away your freedom", Hua Cheng explained with a heavy frown.
Oh. So that was it?
Xie Lian let out a sigh of relief.
"If that's what San Lang is worried about, then there's no issue", he started, to which Hua Cheng raised his brows. "I have to admit that, well, I guess until somewhat recently, I didn't think I was free here. You know, when I first got here I thought everyone was keeping an eye out for signs I would try to escape. But now I realise that there were just a lot of misunderstandings. For example, I didn't believe Shi QingXuan at first when he chained me to that bed, but now that I know him better, I know it's really just something he'd do. I even thought the guards that are stationed outside the dancer's quarters were there to keep the concubines and dancers from escaping. But after talking to you, and finding out that you put me there because it was the safest place apart from your own… well, I realised I was wrong, and they were there to keep others out instead.
"I… to be honest, I already realised it to some degree when I could leave the dancer's quarters just like that, without any of the guards stopping me. At first I thought it may have been because Banyue was with me, but nothing of the sort happened even when I went alone. I guess it just didn't fully occur to me that I could go outside the palace walls… and even when I asked you I was worried you might find the question stupid.
"But when you not only sent me off, but even told me that I didn't need to ask you before I'd leave? That just proved the theory that I had developed. So when you allowed me to leave with such a small entourage, and with Feng Xin as the highest ranking general of the group… I thought that surely you had to know I would have no problem taking all of them out rather easily if I wanted to escape? We had already played go before that, and so I could guess that your strategic thinking couldn't be that bad. I never thought you were foolish enough to think I couldn't escape from them, so that really only left the scenario that you did in fact speak the truth, and that I was free to leave if I wanted to.
"I… I have to admit that I kept an eye out for more guards while I was out, but there were none. It was a bit hard to come to terms with, but with all that evidence…how could I not believe I wasn't being kept prisoner? To be completely honest… I did play with the thought of leaving at that time, because it really would have been too easy, but… after really thinking about it… I realised I didn't want to. What I really wanted was to-... to see you again. And to spend more time with you.
"And after I contemplated it some more, I realised there were no advantages to leaving; I wouldn't be able to see you anymore, nor Banyue or Pei Su or Shi QingXuan, and that was when I realised I could just do whatever I wanted anyway, even if I stayed. Frankly speaking, I even thought of having to dance for you as an argument, but it also fell flat when I had to admit to myself that I had actually started to enjoy dancing once I wasn't being taught by Miss Fang anymore, so… and then there was the thought of asking you if you would allow me to quit, and I was sure you would… but then I asked myself how I would want to earn my money instead, and couldn't come up with a better idea. After all, I can't simply join the military of a foreign country, and I truly wanted to improve my dancing skills as well.
"And that's when I fully realised that I was already free, and being kept prisoner was a construct of my own imagination, because of prejudice and fear and because I was too slow to pick up on all those obvious hints around me.
"So please San Lang, don't worry about it. I know I'm free here. Well, at least I realised by now", Xie Lian explained patiently, the relief on Hua Cheng's face at hearing his words beyond obvious.