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It's simple, really - this life of theirs.
Home-grown cups of tea, foraged berry pies and warm nights under knitted blankets. It's never been this nice, this warm in Puqi shrine.
Xie Lian always comes home to a boiling teapot and a bowl full of raspberries. He'd recently found a wild bush just a few minutes' hike from the wooden shrine, and after sharing this newfound treasure over a late night bowl of soup he'd found himself eating more than he could've imagined.
The culprit of this sweet tasting dietary infliction? None other than his great Hua Cheng. Although his husband does not enjoy hearing this name befall Xie Lian's mouth, the god can't help himself in moments like these, when the northern winds have torn him apart into an exhausted mud figure and the rain has soaked through to his bones, when he enters the shrine in silent footsteps, later than usual.
He is careful, even hopeful in quickly discarding his wet robes and finding a place in their bed, without waking up Hua Cheng. But his husband is no easy man to con. He is a ghost king after all!
So the night Xie Lian reached Puqi shrine way after the moon had waltzed up onto the spotlight - and after he quietly opened the door - there sat Hua Cheng, his husband, his lover, in his sleep robes, sharpening a kitchen knife Xie Lian had broken before.
Frightened by the sight of Hua Cheng's waking figure, Xie Lian jumps in surprise. "Hua Cheng!" He squeaks, quiet as the blades of grass beneath his feet. Hua Cheng is quick to raise his gaze, looking over his husband intently. He leaps to his feet and scurries over, clapping both hands onto his shoulders.
"Is my lord alright?" He asks, sounding almost like a plea. Xie Lian chuckles, suddenly even more tired from the added weight. "Yes San Lang, don't worry." He waves his mud covered hands. "The journey was easy and safe." Xie Lian nods to himself, already feeling the lack of sleep bang against his body as the stove's warmth wraps around him.
"En. You are dirtied. I will wash you." Hua Cheng pulls his husband inside and shuts the door locked behind him, finally throwing a curtain of privacy over the last. "No need for my dear San Lang to do so. I will wash myself tomorrow." Xie Lian murmurs, a little embarrassed by Hua Cheng's hurried undressing of his wet robes. "No. It is my pleasure. You need to rest, so San Lang wishes to take care of you." He smiles, unbuttoning the outermost layer. The gold buttons are cold to his ghostly touch, already half unslipped from the pouring rain's gentle patter.
Xie Lian sighs, trying to hide a smile that was beginning to take form on his face. "You are far too kind." He murmurs, pressing a kiss onto his husband's forehead as he drags off his wet sleeves. "My will is no match for yours my dearest. You are kind to those as lowly as me." Hua Cheng smiles, a pleasant bubble rising in his throat.
Xie Lian chuckles, watching Hua Cheng undo his waist wrap. "Your sweet words will poison me one day." He litters a few more kisses across Hua Cheng's pale face, making sure to place at least one right on his eyepatch. "En. I'm sure you aren't destined to perish by my praise." The ghost king howls, in a sing-song manner as he throws a big piece of cloth over his husband.
Slowly maneuvering them to the recently added porch paddock, Hua Cheng helps Xie Lian slip out of his bottom robes and leave them behind inside the warmth of their home.
He lets Xie Lian settle on the side of their wooden tub, while he slowly watches water fill it up. The night is windy and a tad cold, so to keep his highness toasty, he clings to him like a woolen blanket.
"San Lang-ah, isn't it pretty?" Xie Lian asks, disturbing their flowy silence as he points up at the shimmering sky. "En. It is beautiful." Hua Cheng purrs, setting his chin onto his husband's shoulder. "You're just like a cat!" Xie Lian exclaims, snaking his fingers up to one side of the ghost king's jaw and scratching it.
A quiet yawn falls from the depths of the god's throat as he watches the stars waltz in their prettiest dresses. "Do you think we'll be dancing in the sky one day too?" Xie Lian asks, fully aware of the truthful answer, yet still burrowing deep in the unfruitful potential of fairytales and beautiful things.
Hua Cheng hums, thinking for a moment. "If we don't ascend again - maybe." He sounds genuine, almost as if he believes the same sentiment as his beloved god. Xie Lian's face softens, his eyes creasing into half moons.
"I bet I will find San Lang first that time!" He proclaims, turning to look at his cat-like husband, practically lying on him. "I don't think so." Hua Cheng smiles sheepishly, showing off his very crooked teeth. Xie Lian pecks the corner of his mouth. "I know I will." He huffs, crossing his arms underneath the cloth.
"We may bet." Hua Cheng offers, letting his nose sink deeper into the crook of Xie Lian's shoulder. "If I do, you will let me dress you for five years. If you do-" He stops, waiting for his husband to lay out his own conditions.
Xie Lian's eyebrows wiggle together as his hand slips into the tub, feeling the warm touch of hot water. "Aye! The bath is full." He shouts, waking Hua Cheng from his lazy hug. The ghost king smiles, turning off the stream.
He watches Xie Lian discard the cloth and step into the water, shaking at the sudden change in temperature. "I think it's a bit too hot this time." Xie Lian giggles awkwardly, slowly easing himself into the water. As he does, he watches his husband stare back at him, such intense love and devotion compressed into his eyes that if not for the boiling water - he'd shiver, unable to figure out where to put it.
Settling down into the most comfortable position, Xie Lian feels Hua Cheng's nimble fingers work on his scalp. "I will wash your hair, en?" His husband offers, a growing smile plastered onto his lips.
Xie Lian smiles, leaning into the loving touch. He feels Hua Cheng work away tediously, massaging each little part of his roots. The smell of lavender soap soon fills the air, as tiny bubbles take form on Xie Lian's earthly hair.
It takes a while for either of them to speak again, but when they finally do, it's quiet and easy. "Your highness." Hua Cheng speaks up first, slowly washing the soap out, careful not to get any of the water into his husband's eyes.
"Yes, my San Lang?" Xie Lian murmurs, drowsy in this state of worship-like normalcy. "What are your conditions if you are to win the bet?" He hums, light and in tune with the early birds. "Ah." Xie Lian sighs, leaning into Hua Cheng's palms.
"I would have you wash me like this for the rest of eternity." He admits, almost as if he were sentencing himself for a crime - meek, quiet but very certain in his statement. Hua Cheng smiles, Xie Lian knows it even if he can't see it.
"Why not let me do this in this life too gege?" He asks, pressing a kiss against the martial god's temple. Xie Lian giggles into a whisper. "Mm, I'll think about it." He nods to himself, feeling the cool air circle his face.
"I'd love to be of such service to you." San Lang adds, half of the words coming out in a quiet gargle, stuck between his teeth, tattering the proclamation of love. But Xie Lian doesn't need it to be put into words. He feels it: in the way Hua Cheng washes his hair, in the way his husband undresses him, in the way his dear San Lang kisses him, in the cups of tea his beloved prepares, and in the quiet naps they both share. Just like now, asleep on the porch while the birds sing of the rising sun and falling moon.