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He didn’t know what had triggered Mo Xuanyu’s recent behavior but the small progress he’d thought they’d made on the way back to Qinghe seems to have been reversed. He’d gotten word from the kitchen staff that his meals were being eaten in his married quarters or in his mother’s rooms. The man hadn’t even gone to the stables liked they’d discussed.
I am the worst husband . Nie Huaisang thought as he looked across the low table at Mo Xuanyu. The man was quietly eating his dinner with no complaints. Not that there would be. Nie Huaisang knew that the man had liked the dishes that’d been served because the man had said so. Or maybe he didn’t and was just being polite. He really needed to be a better husband.
“I heard that you went to see waipo today?” Nie Huaisang asked, trying to get the man to talk.
Mo Xuanyu tensed up and stopped eating, making Nie Huaisang wince. That apparently had been the wrong thing to say. It wasn’t like he was keeping tabs on him. He could go anywhere he wanted. He had just gone to visit Madam Mo and she’d said that he’d just missed Mo Xuanyu. So they couldn’t have had lunch together. But he’d had a good lunch with his mother-in-law.
“She told me that I’d missed having you join us for lunch. I’m not…” Nie Huaisang said, trying to salvage the conversation but Mo Xuanyu’s only response was to slowly set his chopsticks down. Before Mo Xuanyu could dismiss himself and not eat dinner, Nie Huaisang set his own chopsticks down.
“...I’m already full. Since the night is a nice one, I think I’ll go walk some of it off with some fresh air.” Nie Huaisang said bowing his head, then left so that Mo Xuanyu would eat.
He knew that it was late when he came back from the aviary. The place that he liked to go to think about things. However, the side effect was that his little feathered friends liked to leave feathers on him. So when he walked through the door to their main room he was plucking feathers off. He stilled when he found Mo Xuanyu sitting at the desk in front of the open doors to their courtyard.
“Huaisang...I…” his eyes narrowed seeing the feathers, “...were you attacked by birds?”
“Uh no...I just went to the aviary.” Nie Huisang answered honestly, “There is a fountain there that was built for my mother. I got there to sit and see the birds.” He looked down on the desk to see his leather bound book. “Is that my..”
“I...need to talk to you about this.” Mo Xuanyu responded, cheeks flushing. Nie Huaisang’s heart started to race. His gift for Mo Xuanyu’s performance in the fall festival. was inside that one and by the way that Mo Xuanyu was acting he didn’t sound happy.
“Okay.” Nie Huaisang replied, releasing a small breath before moving to sit across from him. Mo Xuanyu licked his lips then opened the book. Nie Huaisang felt a pit form in his stomach when Mo Xuanyu took out the loose pages of the armor design he was going to gift Mo Xuanyu.
“I can explain…” Nie Huaisang stumbled but then Mo Xuanyu took out the body studies too. He clammed up and started blushing himself. He actually didn’t have any good excuse for those. He’d just wanted to draw his beautiful husband.
“...how you see me?” Mo Xuanyu asked carefully, looking at Nie Huaisang. His dark eyes staring at him. Nie Huaisang could tell he was looking for something. That there was a wrong answer to this question. He swallowed hard before answering. Nie Huaisang didn’t want to ruin their relationship by being careless with his words.
“Yes, that’s how I see you.” He reached forward for the sketches of Mo Xuanyu’s back and chest. “I see your strength, bravery, and self discipline.” His fingertips tracing the scars on the page.
Across from him, Mo Xuanyu’s heart was beating fast and were those fingers touched on the page it was like they were grazing his own flesh beneath the silk robes he wore. He thought for sure that Nie Huaisang would have said something like he was beautiful or described his body like an object. The fears that Mo Xuanyu had that Nie Huaisang had felt that way faded away. The blush that’d been faint deepened.
“Good.” Mo Xuanyu replied with a smile.