Chapter Text
Xie Lian accidentally dropped the soap piece in the water basin, and slowly moved his gaze towards the man who was currently hanging HIS white robes to dry.
Xie Lian could only see Hua Cheng’s back, but his jaw dropped, at how toned his back was.
Hua Cheng’s shoulders were broad, and his back muscles were strong. Xie Lian could only imagine what the front would look like…
Wait what.
Xie Lian quickly looked away and collected himself, before his brain would wander off to places unreachable. He fished the soap back from the basin with a pink flush once again apparent on his cheeks, and continued washing the red robes enthusiastically, giving himself a mental slap for his drifting thoughts.
Suddenly there was a pair of legs covered with red pants in front of him.
Xie Lian raised his gaze and met with a bare waist and a ripped stomach.
Despite the visible interest in the toned body in front of him, Xie Lian raised his gaze to meet with the amused expression on Hua Cheng’s face.
Hua Cheng was leaning over a little, seemingly interested at what Xie Lian was doing.
“Gege, I think you’ve rubbed enough soap on my clothes already, they weren’t that dirty were they?”
He teased with a smile.
Xie Lian then looked back at the cloth he was washing and noticed the amount of soap foam that had formed on the fabric.
“Ah, no I was just distracted…”
Xie Lian said embarrassedly, and put the soap down on the wooden stool that served as a table for him. Then he dipped the robe in the water a few times, making sure to get all the excess soap off.
“I finished hanging gege’s clothes, though it’s likely going to rain later today so it’d be best to take them back inside before gege goes to bed.”
“Is San Lang not going to stay?”
Xie Lian asked suddenly, catching himself and Hua Cheng a little off guard with how disappointed he sounded.
Hua Cheng leaned down to Xie Lian’s level with a smirk.
“Does gege wish this San Lang to stay?”
He asked jokingly, as he picked up the wet clothes from Xie Lian’s hand and turned around to bring them to dry with Xie Lian’s clothes.
“If San Lang has time, then I would be glad if he stayed for a little longer.”
Xie Lian said in half a whisper, which surprised Hua Cheng who was not expecting an answer at all and made him turn around in surprise.
“Then forgive this San Lang for intruding.”
Was what he said before walking off and hanging the rest of the clothes. All with a wide smile he was hiding from his adorable gege.
Xie Lian had been cooking something that once again, to anyone else, would look like a poison to cause the most torturous death. But to Hua Cheng, it looked like a pot full of delicious love and affection, boiled especially for him.
Dinner went smoothly. Hua Cheng was happy to have eaten Xie Lian’s cooking again, and praised him for the significant improvement he had made since last time. Xie Lian proudly announced that he has been following Hua Cheng’s advice and he’d been learning how to cook better lately.
They then started washing the dishes, until they noticed the quiet pitter patter sound on the roof…
It had started raining, and they hadn’t noticed at all.
“Oh no! San Lang, our clothes”
Xie Lian ran outside to get the forgotten clothes, now wet once again.
“Aah, I’m so sorry San Lang, I totally forgot about the clothes!”
Xie Lian apologized sadly.
“Gege it’s not your fault, we can just let them dry inside overnight.”
Hua Cheng comforted.
“But San Lang, we need our clothes for the night, it’s going to be cold since it’s raining.”
Xie Lian complained, hanging them on a random nail on the wall.
“Don’t worry I don’t feel cold and I can just hug gege to keep him warm through the night.”
Hua Cheng said half jokingly, the image of him cuddling Xie Lian to sleep vividly in his mind.
Such a hopeless dreamer he sighed in his head.
“I-if San Lang is okay with it then?”
The smaller man agreed slightly shyly, causing hua cheng to smile, and of course, to internally scream and yell in his head, partly in surprise and partly in delight of getting permission to hold his beloved.
Xie Lian was slightly dazed, as he was setting down the thin mattress on the floor for the two to sleep on.
He’d be sleeping with Hua Cheng again tonight, but this time not only would he have acknowledged his feelings, but they would both be in minimal clothing, which made him flushtered.
Not that he was planning to do anything inappropriate, but he just felt it was very intimate to be like that. Not that he minded though. He actually kind of looked forward to it.
Hua Cheng was outside, fetching the soapy laundry basin that they had forgotten to bring inside earlier.
Both of their robes had been drying outside the whole day, and they had a very limited access to clothes, meaning only their legs were covered, which had caused quite a lot of trouble for Hua Cheng.
He found it was very hard to focus on cutting the vegetables and eating normally with the god he has been bowing to since hundreds of years running around with his chest bare, cooking and humming happily, asking Hua Cheng’s opinion on the food he was making.
It was nice, and Hua Cheng enjoyed it a lot, but good lord it was distracting he could’ve gone crazy.
It really tested his self control.
Uncountable times, he had felt like just poking Xie Lian’s soft sides, or wrapping his arms around his waist just to see how well they circled perfectly around him, or tracing his finger along Xie Lian’s straight spine, all the way from his neck to his lower back.
These ideas were dangerous, but he knew he couldn’t, nor did he want to do anything about it, now that he had been granted the access to hugging Xie Lian to sleep.
Night was falling, and the last light in Puqi shrine was extinguished for the night.
Xie Lian had bought another pillow, which was now just next to his own, waiting to be rested on.
He had bought that pillow for Hua Cheng specifically, not that he’d told anyone, it was his little secret gift to his San Lang.
Xie Lian waited for Hua Cheng to finish whatever he was doing so they could go to sleep.
Hua Cheng laid down next to Xie Lian, laying his head on the new pillow with his face facing Xie Lian’s.
Xie Lian was feeling bold, so he opened his arms
“San Lang, some here.”
He said softly, inviting Hua Cheng in a hug.
Hua Cheng seemed to hesitate for a moment, but before Xie Lian could lower his arms and apologize, Hua Cheng practically attacked his embrace and stuck there like honey.
He wrapped his arms around Xie Lian’s waist, and nuzzled his face against Xie Lian’s chest.
Unsure of where to put his hands, Xie Lian carefully placed his hands in Hua Cheng’s hair.
“I thought I was the one hugging gege, but this is better.”
Hua Cheng whispered from between them.
Xie Lian only hummed in response, already engrossed in inspecting and playing with Hua Cheng's black, soft hair.
“San Lang’s hair is very soft.”
He mumbled absentmindedly, fascinated by how well taken care of the ghost’s hair was.
“Gege can play with it if he wants to.”
Came a muffled answer after a moment, accompanied by more nuzzling, as hua Cheng adjusted himself better against Xie Lian’s chest, probably to give better access.
Xie Lian played with Hua Cheng’s hair, braiding it and just playing with it. At some point he had started rubbing Hua Cheng’s scalp, causing Hua Cheng to make noises of content.
“Does San Lang like it when I massage his head?”
Xie Lian asked when he noticed the way he leaned into the touch.
“Mhm…”
Xie Lian continued it for a while, but he started feeling too sleepy to continue so he gave up and closed his eyes.
Hua Cheng enjoyed Xie Lian’s embrace to the fullest, and when Xie Lian then stopped, he climbed closer and kissed Xie Lian’s cheek.
“Sleep well love.”
And went back to his original position, and also let himself be pulled in the realm of dreams.