Work Text:
Xie Lian was the renown crown prince of Xianle.
The beautiful prince known for his elegance and his strength. All of his temples showed these two sides: a flower in one hand, and a sword in the second.
He was the legend of his time, and he ascended as early as the age of 17 years old.
Fast, so many temples were raised from nothing; many ordered by the royal family, but not only. He had so many followers.
But before everything, he was a simple human that ascended. So many people put their faith in him, believing he could deal with any kinds of problems. And he would truly try his best to do so.
After all, he wanted to save the common people.
Xie Lian was truly a prodigy. Loved by everyone, but also probably many people that envy him too. The emperor was fond of him, and words could be heard in the Heaven that he had a bias toward him.
After all, Xie Lian was truly a gift. The beloved of the Heaven.
As for Xie Lian himself? Of course, he was happy he ascended, after all it was his objective. The Heaven’s life was quite different, but it wasn’t bad either. He had his two attendants with him, and things were going well.
Also, Xie Lian himself was impressed; the emperor was the man he admired. When he was young, he remembered telling his Guoshi that he wanted to be as fantastic as the emperor for the Heavenly Court. He wanted to have as many followers as him and be as strong and beautiful as him. It was his dream, and being in the Court now, able to talk to him often? It was truly like a dream.
He was even invited to take tea with him a few times, and they talked about his kingdom, his life and simply who he was. Jun Wu reminded him often how proud he was of him, and truly, how he deserved to ascend for what he was able to do. And for Xie ian, Jun Wu was truly a role model he admired. He wanted to be as good as him.
But.
Even if he was born as the crown prince, being a god that needed to answer these prayers was a long job. The more followers he had, and more time he had to spend on it.
He got told that he didn’t need to take that much time for it, but it was important for him. People were believing in him, of course he had to at least listen to all of them!
He was listening to them, then making notes. Once he was done, he started working on his transcription and his manuscript…
His attendants weren’t with him at the moment, so Feng Xin couldn’t remind him to take a break. He just wanted to give a little push to finish what he wanted to do. It wasn’t that hard, just long. Even if his eyes were closing, he needed to finish. His calligraphy wasn’t as good as it was at the beginning, and he was truly tired, but he pushed through.
So tired that he ended up falling asleep on his working table, the brush still in his hand. He made a big stain on his paper with the residual ink, but his eyes were shut close, and his breathing was now regular. Simply sleeping.
Three knocks were heard. But no answer. Three more, and still nothing. The emperor waited at the door, but without any answer, he decided to slide the door to see if the younger god was in his working place.
When he saw him asleep, a smile appeared on his lips and he entered, and closed the door behind him.
“Xianle?” Jun Wu said.
He got no answers, Xie Lian was sleeping deeply.
“Xianle, you’re going to be even more tired after..” He moved toward him and put his hands on his shoulders, trying to wake him, but without startling him.
No. Nothing worked; Xie Lian was deeply asleep.
Jun Wu sighed. “You shouldn’t sleep here, Xianle, and you should get enough sleep when you can.”
Jun Wu cleaned his desk a bit: he closed the ink bottle and washed his brush. He then turned his attention to Xie Lian, still asleep. “What am I going to do with you?” He chuckled on his words.
He then lowered himself to move Xie Lian so he could rest against him. After that, he passed an arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders, making sure his head would rest against his chest and that he would be comfortable.
“You were truly tired. Maybe you should take care of yourself a bit more.” He started walking with the younger man in his arms. “You’ll need all the strength you can gather soon.” He kissed his forehead and continued to walk toward his bedroom.
The sleeping beauty slightly smiled under the touch, but he didn’t wake up. Jun Wu walked with him until he reached his room, and slowly laid him down in his bed.
Jun Wu looked at him, and closed his eyes, before leaving him alone in his room
It was the best sleep Xie Lian ever had.
* * * * * * * *
Years, years, yeeeeears later.
In Tonglu mountain.
“Your Highness?” Jun Wu said slowly, but he got no answer. “Xianle, is everything okay?” Still no answer. He then waited a few seconds. “Xianle?”
No answer again.
His heart started to beat faster. He stood up and went to the door. He was about to open it, but stopped himself.
Could he? Could he actually care that much about him? Xie Lian was probably too busy to answer him, nothing more, but Jun Wu simply wanted an answer!
Could he even worry about that? Was it even in his right? Wasn’t it ironic to care that much, knowing all he did in the past?
Somehow his subconscious was telling him to not taint him, but at the same time, he truly wanted an answer. He wasn't able to make a decision under these two conflicted thoughts.
He took a deep breath and decided to stop thinking. He opened the door.
Xie Lian was at the desk, with a book opened on the table and a parchemin in front of him. The brush he was using to write was still in his hand, and he was sleeping on his paper.
Jun Wu had to stop. He recalled all of his moments with Xianle, so of course he would remember this same situation that happened when he first ascended.
“Xianle, wake up, you fell asleep.” But again, no answers.
Jun Wu was lost at what he could do.
“You’ll have a bad neck pain if you keep sleeping in this position…” Jun Wu sighed. “You know you shouldn’t work that much, Mei Nianqing would have accepted if you finished tomorrow.”
But no matter what he was saying, he couldn’t wake him up. He must be tired of helping Mei Nianqing to transcribe some books.
Jun Wu finally decided to leave him alone… but he couldn’t help but look at him over his shoulders.
No, truly, he couldn’t let him finish his night on his desk. His instincts refused this conclusion.
He went back to him and raised his hand to put it on his shoulders in a last attempt to wake him, but he stopped his movement midway. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, calming himself.
His trembling hand stopped right before touching him, as if he knew he couldn’t… as if he felt his touch was going to taint him. “Wake up, Xianle.”
He finally understood that Xie Lian would only wake up if he was a bit more direct, but seeing him so calm and so serene, he couldn’t bring himself to do so.
He hesitated to ask Mei Nianqing for help… but he wasn’t near and Xianle would probably wake by the time he joined back.
Jun Wu hesitated a lot.
To reassure himself, he played with the string of the bamboo hat. He then moved towards him slowly.
He took him in his arms, the same way he did so many years ago and started waking to his bed; Xie Lian would be able to rest then. His touch was truly light, making sure he wouldn’t hurt him, or even mark him. His arm was holding his legs, and he had another one tenderly around his shoulders.
He went to kiss his forehead, but stopped himself before he could touch him. He simply continued to walk, forgetting this crazy idea that was in his mind.
He laid him down in his bed and looked at his peaceful expression.
“Sleep well, Xianle, you deserve it.”
And Jun Wu left the room as simply as that.