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“A-Cheeeeeng, where are we going? Home is the other way. We are going out into … nature.”
Jiang Cheng doesn’t look back, but he smiles, picturing Huaisang’s look of distaste as he says the word nature. Instead, he fishes a pack of dried fruit out of his backpack and tosses it over his shoulder to Huaisang. “Eat something. You’re cranky.”
“You’re cranky,” Huaisang mutters, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t hear the tell-tale sounds of someone stumbling in the tall grasses, and he smiles again. His beloved, far more capable than he wants anyone to know, must have caught the bag with ease. “Seriously,” he goes on, mouth full of the sweetened apple slices that Yunmeng’s cooks prepare each fall, “why are we wandering the wilds, A-Cheng? We’re not turning into rogue cultivators. Are we?” Huaisang is surprised by how excited by the idea he sounds.
Jiang Cheng stops and waits for Huaisang to catch up with him. “Foolish. As if we’d be allowed out of Yunmeng with anything less than full packs and half a dozen disciples following us, ‘just to be sure, Sect Leader, that you’re safe.’” He holds out a hand, and Huaisang takes it readily, thrilling Jiang Cheng still with his easy affection.
“Mmm, you’re probably right,” Huaisang says. He pauses, trying to decide the best way to get more snacks without letting go of Jiang Cheng’s hand. Jiang Cheng plucks a slice from the bag when Huaisang waves it at him. “Nie disciples, too. And your sister would commandeer a few Jins as well.” He opens his mouth, and Jiang Cheng obediently holds out the apple. Huaisang chews thoughtfully. “You’ve been planning this for some time,” he goes on after swallowing, “because you’d be too stressed about the work you’re leaving behind for this to be an impromptu walk.”
“My husband is so wise,” Jiang Cheng says. He takes an apple slice for himself.
“Shhhh!” Huaisang tries to clap his free hand over Jiang Cheng’s mouth. “That’s our little secret!”
Jiang Cheng nips at Huaisang’s fingers. “Not so. Not after your fearsome takedown of Jin Guangshan.”
“Psssh. I merely served as a liaison. Meng Yao and Jin Zixuan did most of the work. I simply whispered in the right ears and passed on a few bribes.”
“After you convinced Meng Yao that his revenge could be more neatly achieved with your help. Would you like some chocolate?”
“No,” Huaisang pouts, while making grabby hand motions. “But seriously. Where are we going? How much farther? I have to go to the bathroom.”
“A surprise,” Jiang Cheng says as he lets go of Huaisang’s hand to get into his backpack, “but nothing that requires any strenuous activity, aside from the walk. Not much farther. There are lots of trees and bushes.”
“Unseemly!” Huaisang says as he smacks Jiang Cheng’s shoulder.
“I have hand sanitizer in here,” Jiang Cheng replies, shouldering his bag again.
“You’re terrible.”
“It’s really not too much farther on. We’re going to that little spring. You know, the one we found that time Wei Ying and I decided to run away from home?”
“You mean when you chased Wei-xiong away and then felt guilty, and then Yanli-ji had to come rescue you?”
“Yeah, alright, if you want to be accurate,” Jiang Cheng grumbles. “I told everyone it was off limits today.”
“Oh ho?” Huaisang bumps Jiang Cheng with his shoulders. “We need privacy for this activity?”
“Not really, but I want some.”
“A-Cheng, how mysterious!” Huaisang takes Jiang Cheng’s hand again, and they walk on in comfortable silence for a bit. As they walk, however, Huaisang starts to feel like something is off. He rubs his eyes and looks out over the golden grasses. “I think I need to get my eyes checked,” he says, blinking hard and looking out at the landscape. The vista has lost some of its definition, as if he’s looking at a video of the world on an old television.
Jiang Cheng looks up at the sky. “Shit! Come on, we need to hurry.” He points ahead, to a now-visible clump of trees. “Hurry!”
A strange feeling pricks the back of Huaisang’s neck, and it doesn’t dissipate when he takes Jiang Cheng’s hand, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t seem worried. He seems eager, so Huaisang grips his hand tight and trusts that everything is going according to plan. They push through the ring of trees into the clearing. It’s been years since they last visited the place, but Huaisang still can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.
“Just in time!” Jiang Cheng says, releasing Huaisang’s hand. “If we set up right in the center, we’ll get the best view, I think.”
“View of what?”
Jiang Cheng looks at him, expression politely baffled. “The solar eclipse,” he says. “It’s been in the news for months, and the kiddos wouldn’t stop talking about it.” He reaches out and rests the back of his hand against Huaisang’s forehead. “Are you alright? It’s not like you to space something like this.”
“Heh, pun,” Huaisang says in an attempt to deflect Jiang Cheng’s worry. It doesn’t quite work, but the frown creasing Jiang Cheng’s forehead softens a little. “It completely slipped my mind. Though in my defense, for much of the last six months I’ve been focused on recovering from my agonies.” He doesn’t like to remind Jiang Cheng how close they came to losing everything that night in the warehouse, nor does he want to risk the teeny tiny bubble of panic that has sat in his chest since that night ballooning into something more difficult to conceal. “And then, of course, Yanli-ji roped me into talisman production and —“
Jiang Cheng cuts him off with a kiss.
“Hey. That’s my move.”
Jiang Cheng smiles and kisses him again, then kisses his hands. “I thought you’d like some time away from all the hovering and chaos, but we can go back to the house if you don’t feel safe out here.”
Damn perceptive husband. Huaisang settles into Jiang Cheng’s embrace.
“Of course I feel safe with you, A-Cheng. And I know the wards out here have recently been reinforced. I’m a little concerned that something as unusual as an eclipse escaped my notice,” he admits.
Jiang Cheng strokes his back and kindly doesn’t draw attention to this display of vulnerability and uncertainty from Huaisang.
“You might still need new glasses,” Jiang Cheng says, “but this is the start of the whole eclipse.” He kisses Huaisang once more and steps back. “I’ve got a blanket and more snacks, plus those cool glasses that let you look at the sun safely.”
“Oh, those silvery looking things the kids have been wearing?”
“Yep.”
“Wow.” Huaisang rubs his eyes. “I have been out of it!” He tries for a rueful grin, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t buy it, but neither does he push. “So we’ll be able to see the whole thing from here?”
“We should,” Jiang Cheng says. He beckons for Huaisang to follow him to the northern edge of the clearing. “I was a little worried about the trees blocking our view, but I think we’ll be able to see it really well. The best place to see it is south of Lotus Pier, actually, but it’s been choked with people for a week. Wei Ying and Zixuan took charge of setting things up for locals. There’re food carts and everything. But like I said, I thought you’d like a break from chaos.” He shakes out a blanket, spreads it over the grass, and flops down. “We’ll have to stand during the totality,” he says, shading his eyes as he looks toward the sun, “but that won’t be until two-ish?” He checks his watch. “Yeah, we’ve got time to chill.” He pats the blanket beside him, and Huaisang sits.
Jiang Cheng takes a paper bag from his pack. There are eclipse glasses, blank notecards, and a brochure from the science museum. Huaisang accepts the brochure and reads through it while Jiang Cheng digs around for snacks. He has the promised chocolate as well as a couple bottles of Huaisang’s favorite peach iced tea.
Now that he has time to just sit and be, Huaisang’s affections for his husband threaten to overwhelm him. It’s been too long since they could indulge in this — in time together, where neither of them are recuperating from what Jingyi has taken to calling their Adventures in an effort to cope with some of the more traumatic aspects of cultivation life. It’s also been too long since either of them could indulge in a hobby that wasn’t related to cultivation. Even Huaisang’s art has been co-opted for talismans. He’d almost forgotten what a giddy science nerd Jiang Cheng is, and he pushes down the pang of guilt. They’ve all been busy with Life, the Universe, and Everything After.
When was the last time he’d even read a book for fun?
“Hey? You okay?”
Huaisang blinks and the world has lost more of its definition. It’s getting colder, too.
“Sorry,” he says, “my brain went a little wiggly.” He flutters his fingers, and Jiang Cheng snatches his hand and kisses it.
“Anything I can do?”
“You can tell me what is going on with the shadows,” Huaisang says, suddenly distracted by the strangeness of the light on the ground under the trees behind them. Jiang Cheng grins.
“Oh, this is so cool! So okay, as the moon moves in front of the sun, it looks like a crescent, like when the earth is moving in front of the moon during its monthly cycle. It’s harder to see the effect in the sun itself because you don’t want to burn your retinas, but you can see it in the shadows!”
Jiang Cheng takes a safety pin from the strap of his bag, then takes one of the notecards and pokes a hole in it with the pin. He holds the pierced paper over an unblemished card, and after some adjustment, Huaisang can see a tiny, crescent shaped spotlight on the bottom card.
“See?” Jiang Cheng tilts the card until the little light is as crisp as he can make it. “You can track the progress of the eclipse like this. The crescent will get thinner and thinner. But the shadows under the trees basically give you the same idea, just less well defined because, you know, branches and leaves and shit.”
“Oooh, I want to take some pictures!” Huaisang takes his phone from his pocket. “Hold that card steady.”
They pass the next half hour or so in an impromptu photo shoot. Huaisang takes dozens of photos of the crescent shadows on the ground. As it turns out, Jiang Cheng’s broad, golden-skinned back is the perfect canvas, and Huaisang becomes thoroughly distracted as he directs his mostly-willing model to get some very artistic photos, only to have the tables turned as Jiang Cheng becomes the photographer. Which leads to more distractions, not that Huaisang is complaining. Their attention turns back to the eclipse when Huaisang begins to shiver.
“Here, put your shirt back on, and then come lie down with me. We can watch the progress through our glasses.”
Huaisang dons his shirt and cuddles up against Jiang Cheng’s side. “I don’t suppose you have a jacket or something in your bag?”
“I brought that purple wrap you stole from Jiejie,” he replies. “I didn’t expect it to get quite this chilly. I forgot to factor in the breeze.” He hands the wrap to Huaisang.
“Thanks.” Huaisang kisses Jiang Cheng’s shoulder and pulls the wrap around him. “It’s quiet.”
“Yeah. The eclipse tricks the animals into thinking it’s night, so they act like it’s bedtime. I read somewhere that some hippos were observed leaving their daytime river hangout to go to their nighttime feeding grounds during an eclipse, and when it was over and they were halfway to the grounds, the sun came out again, and they were all grumpy and like, ‘what the fuck?’ Can you imagine a pod of grumpy hippos? Is that what you call a group of hippos? A pod?”
“Maybe?” Huaisang puts the eclipse glasses on and looks up at the sky. “We should go to Africa someday.”
“Yeah?” Jiang Cheng puts his own glasses on. “That would be cool. I’ve always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt.”
“You think we’ll ever have time?”
“No, but we should do it anyway.” Jiang Cheng reaches for Huaisang’s hand. “Look! It’s getting close!”
They fall back into silence as the world around them grows darker, colder, and quieter. Huaisang shivers, and it’s only mostly due to the lack of sun. He leans into Jiang Cheng, and they watch with rapt attention as the sun is slowly devoured by darkness. At the moment of totality, the whole world seems to hold its breath. Huaisang is not afraid — he’s awed, and he’s grateful that he can witness this — but he holds Jiang Cheng tightly nonetheless.
And then the moment passes, the earth continues on, and the world floods with light again.
“Thank you,” Huaisang says, as the vista clears and the shadows provide contrast instead of cover. “This was. It was just so cool.”
Jiang Cheng smiles at him. “It really, really was. I’m glad I got to share it with you.”