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Every now and then they would have some time for themselves during their journey across Falan Continent to find the rest of the Seven God Beads, and Beiyue Shangchen would gather them all together for a good ol‘ bonding session someplace. Sometimes they would have dinner together, other times a little recreational activity or games they could all participate in—just for them to spend time together and get to know each other better.
This time, Beiyue Shangchen had organized a little trip up the mountains after their recent victory, staying in a remote inn for a few days to recuperate. Hongbao had opted to not come for some reason and so did Huo Zanji due to conflicting schedules, so they were slightly lacking in numbers, but that was alright.
“There‘s even a hot spring!” cried out Lan Ge with a bright laugh, sliding down the hallway. “It’s been ages since I went to one. Shangchen-ge, can we go there directly?”
Beiyue Shangchen chuckled, “Calm down, Xiao-ge. We’ll all go there together a little while after dinner.”
A little pout made its way to Lan Ge’s face before he grinned. “Okay, ge!”
Despite all the difficulty he went through and already having matured for years now, Lan Ge still retained the boyish and reverent attitude he had as a kid whenever he was with Beiyue Shangchen outside of duty, listening to his words and obediently following behind him like a duckling.
Fa Hua shook his head at this childish display, sighing exasperatedly.
“…Weh, Fa-duidui. What was that noise, huh?”
“What noise? Your hearing must have gone bad from all the yapping you do.”
“You—!”
As the two of them started bickering again, the rest of the team could only roll their eyes or ignore them, already used by now to the two masters of the Wushuang Bead’s constant bicker. Meanwhile Lu Guo’er and Lu Yuan glanced at each other and shared an amused look, the former hiding a snicker behind her hands.
Dinner was quite eventful, laughter growing louder towards the end as they raised their non-alcoholic drinks to cheer for their recent success, passing the time talking amongst each other as they waited for their food to go down.
“Aw man…I wish we could have had alcohol…” whined Lan Ge as he sauntered to the sauna, forehead plastered to Fa Hua’s back miserably.
“If you want to injure yourself by accident in the pool, then be my guest.”
“But you’ll be there too…” Lan Ge mumbled, the pleading in his voice unmistakeable.
“No.”
“Ugh, you’re no fun!”
Fa Hua rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips lifted in a small smile. “Childish.”
Slowly, each of the team started entering the sauna after a long time talking, Fa Hua being the first to dip in without anyone ever seeing him change out of his clothes.
Tang Yunqing laughed as he got in. “Even though we were both born and raised in Order Land, Fa Hua-xiong really is still the shyest to this day!”
“Right?! If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was a maiden,” said Lan Ge with a snort, water splashing around him as he plopped right next to Fa Hua, sticking his tongue out at the other’s glare.
“Stop teasing him, you two. We all have our principles after all,” Lu Yuan said with a smile, making himself comfortable across from them. He then turned to their youngest member: “Xiaoyu, isn’t this your first time in a hot bath?”
Ji Jiayu blinked and smiled brightly. “Yes! I didn’t think it would be so relaxing.”
And the night carried on, the five men talking about interesting things they encountered throughout their journey, sharing their experiences as the night grew darker and the cicadas started singing.
Fa Hua grew silent as the night progressed, Lan Ge more than enough to recount their shared experience as he kept chatting with the rest, Beiyue Shangchen having long excused himself to turn in. Eventually, Lu Yuan glanced at the clock and started to rise, waving good night at the remaining guys as he too left to go to sleep.
“Is he asleep?” Ji Jiayu asked a while later, pointing his head towards the silent Fa Hua who was as still as a statue. He couldn't help but be slightly concerned at the lack of movement from him safe for his breathing.
Lan Ge laughed. “Nah, he’s just meditating. Don’t worry about him.”
“Ah…and how long does he plan to meditate here? The whole night?”
“Who knows,” said Lan Ge carelessly with a shrug, submerging half his face and blowing bubbles on the surface. Suddenly he pulled himself back up the surface and said to Ji Jiayu with a smile: “I’ll keep him company, so you can go ahead and rest if you want. I’ll make sure he won't drown!”
“Oh no, it’s oka—”
A loud cough. They all turned to Tang Yunqing who immediately spluttered.
“It’s- uh, a method of cultivating when your mind is fully at ease, I can explain it to you on our way to the sleeping area if you want,” Tang Yunqing offered their youngest member with a pointed look, speaking so quickly he almost tripped over his own words.
Ji Jiayu stared at him for half a second before he nodded vigorously, “Ah! Y-yeah, I’d love to learn it from you, Yunqing-ge. Let’s…go?”
They both rose and said, “Good night you two,” and “Don’t stay up too late!” to the two remaining guys, and left. Lan Ge then went back to blowing bubbles and floating across the pool after waving them goodbye, missing the strange look Ji Jiayu gave the back of their heads.
Now that only the two of them were left, Lan Ge finally grew bored and slowly dragged his body closer to Fa Hua. He then sighed, resting his cheek against the other’s shoulder as he hummed contently, feeling the energy accumulated by his partner slowly seep into his body through their contact thanks to the Wushuang Bead.
Lan Ge felt so comfortable that he didn’t even realize his consciousness slipping, snapping wide awake when a hand gently caught his head from face-planting into the water.
“Idiot,” murmured into his ear. “I thought you were supposed to make sure I don’t drown.”
Groggily, Lan Ge raised his head to look at Fa Hua briefly with a pout before slumping against him and burying his face into the crook of the other’s neck, grumbling incoherent words in protest. The same hand that prevented his face from falling then slid comfortably onto his waist as Fa Hua sighed, eyes closing once more.
‘It won’t be long, I’m almost done,’ Fa Hua spoke clearly in his heart.
“Mm.”
The thing is, Lan Ge could practice with him…but they were on vacation—which meant neither of them were obligated to practice nor urge the other to practice with them during this time period. It was something both of them agreed on years ago, so when Lan Ge wanted to enjoy time to relax while Fa Hua wanted to use it to practice or vice versa, it wouldn’t put a strain on their relationship.
Besides, thanks to the nature of the Wushuang Bead, both of them would benefit from either one of their progress.
Now securely held against Fa Hua, Lan Ge continued to doze off, Fa Hua’s calm heartbeat, the warmth of the water around him and the energy transferred into him inadvertently lulling him back to sleep.
The next morning, Tang Yunqing refused to meet their eyes even though he kept glancing at them during breakfast, and Ji Jiayu would walk away when they approached him, a faint blush on his cheek. Lu Guo’er on the other hand seemed much too gleeful, winking at them before giggling while Ye Luyao had to drag her away.
Lu Yuan was the only one who seemed to have the nerve to ask them directly albeit unwillingly, awkwardly whispering to Lan Ge during lunch. “This is genuinely none of our business and I'm breaching your privacy, but…did you two really, um…last night…in the springs...?”
Lan Ge’s eyes twitched before he exploded, face red as a tomato, “Nothing happened! Ugh- What the hell you guys! You perverts!”
Fa Hua, despite the faint flush of his cheeks and ears, didn’t react at all and continued eating like normal. At this point…he was already too used to their teasing to even acknowledge his embarrassment. Ignoring the peels of laughter across the dining table and Lan Ge shouting and Lu Yuan trying to placate him, he continued to talk with Beiyue Shangchen (who unfortunately couldn’t suppress the amusement on his face) about their plans for the day, the loud noises filling the background familiar and comforting.