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Xie Lian was missing.
He had to be home because his shoes were by the door still. His phone had been left in its charger so Hua Cheng couldn’t call him.
Instead he was left to wander their home, tail swishing, as he played a sudden game of hide and seek with his beloved.
Their apartment wasn’t that big so it really took no time at all to go through all the rooms calling for Xie Lian. When it became clear he was not anywhere obvious, Hua Cheng paused.
There was one other possibility to check before he started to worry.
Going up their linen closet, Hua Cheng opened the door to find Xie Lian had indeed moved the shelves to cram himself amidst what was now a pile of sheets and blankets and pillow cases.
Xie Lian could and did fall asleep anywhere as a ferret hybrid but sometimes, when he was really planning his naps, he did this. He could’ve taken the materials to their bed and drawn shut the canopy if he’d just wanted the extra fabric and the idea of an enclosed space, but no. In the closet. Sleeping at an angle that surely must have been anything but comfortable. Ferret hybrids had more flexibility than most, but Hua Cheng didn’t think that meant Xie Lian could just contort his body like that for hours. He wasn’t even sure his own back bent like that.
Kneeling down, Hua Cheng reached out to fix the nearly 90 degree angle of his beloved’s neck.
It seemed Xie Lian wasn’t sleeping too deeply though, because that touch was enough to wake him. “Welcome home.”
“Thank you, gege. Did you have a good nap?”
“Mhm,” Xie Lian yawned, worming his way out of the cramped space and ending up in Hua Cheng’s lap. Seeming more awake, he smiled wryly. “San Lang, I expected you to back up.”
“Why would I do that?” Hua Cheng smiled back, resting his hands on Xie Lian’s sides.
Shaking his head, Xie Lian kissed him and maneuvered off his lap.
Hua Cheng watched him get to his feet, unable to contain how helplessly adorable he found the sight of Xie Lian’s hair frizzed from the static of his closet time.
Xie Lian patted it down a bit, but that only revealed the deeper issue of tangles.
“I can brush it for you, gege.”
“Would you? I misplaced my comb again.”
Hua Cheng smiled. “Did you stash it somewhere?” Though Xie Lian wasn’t so absentminded as to constantly misplace things, he was rarely in his full mind when his instincts kicked in to stash something.
“Probably,” Xie Lian admitted, helping Hua Cheng up as they headed to their bedroom.
“Gege can use mine until he finds his.” After all, Hua Cheng had started keeping multiple combs after it became apparent they were one of things Xie Lian most easily stashed when he wasn’t paying attention.
Smiling his thanks, Xie Lian settled on the edge of their bed.
Hua Cheng settled cross legged on the bed behind him, carefully sectioning out his hair to begin the task of untangling it. There were few tasks as meditative and wonderful as this.
“Is gege sore anywhere?”
“I’ve told you before sleeping like that is no problem for me,” Xie Lian smiled, ears flicking as Hua Cheng’s fingers brushed them.
“If you change your mind I can give you a massage.”
“How about I give you a massage?” Xie Lian’s tail flipped onto Hua Cheng’s lap, just resting there.
“No need,” Hua Cheng couldn’t help but grin. “Unless gege was just offering because he wanted to play with my hands again.”
Xie Lian made a disgruntled noise, but really couldn’t argue that many of his offers to massage Hua Cheng’s hands had had very clearly self-interested motives.
Hua Cheng held back a laugh, focusing instead on the slow working of the comb up, up, up.
He held each section of hair firmly to prevent snags. Did not rush. Just worked at a pace that pulled time to a still hush between them. Something that flew by and yet was endless in this moment.
“You know, I don’t think you’ve ever tugged in a way that hurt when you brush my hair. You even avoid hurting my ears.”
“Of course, what sort of help would it be if it hurt you?” He knew Xie Lian was much quicker and less fussed when brushing his own hair, but he deserved this care, and Hua Cheng adored giving it to him.
Xie Lian hummed. “You know when I first saw your hands, I thought they looked beautiful. Powerful even.”
Hua Cheng smiled at the sudden mention of them, amused by his beloved’s apparent attraction to them.
“But I had never guessed how gentle they could be.”
All at once Hua Cheng felt the teasing line he’d been about to make vanish, melted under the force of Xie Lian’s sweet words.
“Of course I’d be gentle with someone so precious,” he brushed Xie Lian’s ears on purpose this time, pausing his brushing to caress them lightly. The fur there was soft, as though it was caressing him back.
“San Lang, I can bench press your weight.”
Hua Cheng hummed. “And it’s very sexy but just because you can withstand harsh treatment doesn’t mean you should.”
He let his fingers work open the knots he knew the comb would just snap. Let himself bask in this moment. It was just Xie Lian and him and the slow unraveling of the burdens his beloved carried. He was almost finished, but he couldn’t help but stretch out that sticky time for just a bit longer.
“San Lang shouldn’t either,” Xie Lian said at last.
“En.” Hua Cheng smiled. The discussion was an old one.
“Which is why I still would like to give you a massage. It doesn’t have to be your hands if something else is sore.”
“My chest.” He waited for Xie Lian to ask.
“Your chest?”
“En. It’s sore on account of how heavy my heart has grown filled with so much of gege’s love.”
Xie Lian laugh, leaning back into him as Hua Cheng wrapped around him from behind.
“I’m sure my San Lang is strong enough to carry it.”
“So much faith in me.”
“San Lang’s very reliable after all,” Xie Lian said, taking one of Hua Cheng’s hands into his own and beginning his massage.
His calluses felt like home against Hua Cheng’s own, firm but careful touch working out tension in his hand with well laid presses and soothing circles.
It always awed Hua Cheng how much Xie Lian seemed to openly enjoy this. Like touch between them was a wonderous thing for him too. Like easing pain for Hua Cheng was enjoyable for him too.
“I’m glad gege thinks so.”
Xie Lian pressed a kiss to his hand in response before going back to his massage. Wordless, and yet full of so much meaning.
Hua Cheng had only ever wanted to be a stable base for his love. Unwaveringly loyal and loving. But Xie Lian had been his stable grounding point for far longer, and he was more grateful than he could believe.
And with two people so loving, so loyal, so determined to be reliable for each other, there was no ground more sturdy than that which their relationship was built on.