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“Ah- San Lang, you’re too tense. You need to be relaxed or this won’t go properly.” The old god said, adjusting Hua Cheng’s rigid position. His gentle hands trailed up to his husbands shoulders, easing the tension that lay there, thumbs pressed into where the muscles had gathered tightly.
With a light groan, Hua Cheng turned his head back and smiled like a sly cat. “Then by all means, Gege, help this reckless student loosen up.”
“Don’t be so vulgar!” Xie Lian cried in admonishment, his face a bright pink. The natural remedy to the sudden embarrassment, of course, was burrowing his face into the crook of his husband's neck.
Overwhelm never failed to dampen in this space. Warm and inviting, robes smelling of woody incense. He could almost forget that the owner of said space was at times the reason for hiding in the first place. Scoundrel!
“Who’s vulgar?” The space teased mercilessly. “I’m just asking for assistance and you’re the one going on and attaching ulterior meanings. Have I neglected you so much for those things to be so readily on your mind? This San Lang is scandalized by his husband’s stamina!”
We’ll see who’s scandalized when I… Oh. That was quite the image. Xie Lian could barely stand to even voice it in his own head, let alone let himself picture it so clearly. His mind spun, he needed to reroute, and fast.
“F-focus San Lang! You said the other song was too easy, so you have to try earnestly with this one. Plus, you’re the one who asked me to teach you in the first place!”
“Mm I did, didn’t I?” Hua Cheng’s voice was playful yet soft as he rested his head upon Xie Lian’s. He indulgently ran his fingers through the waterfall of his beloved’s hair, gently undoing any tangles as he spoke again. “Apologies, but remind me shifu, where do I put my hands? This distracted student forgot.” The distraction evidently being said teacher’s hair. Or rather, the teacher himself.
Xie Lian sighed out in response to the mischievous words and antics. “According to the qinpu, the first pressed note starts on the sixth string, 9th hui.”
Hua Cheng’s attention finally focused once again on the cinnabar lacquered guqin that laid before them. It was an exceptionally old and expensive zhongni, adorned with lacquer lines and swirling shades of crimson that replicated that of Hua Cheng’s late “cursed” eye.
When Xie Lian had first laid eyes on the nostalgic relic, he had become instantly enamored by it, asking why it had been hung with no playing table in sight.
As it (unfortunately) turned out, the qin was simply used as decoration for Hua Cheng’s extravagant library. Having acquired it from gamblers den as a hefty wager, the ghost king was intrigued by how attached its previous owner was to it, as if parting from a beloved companion, perhaps even a lover, the ghost thought amusedly. However, Hua Cheng never gained the right amount of motivation to tackle learning such a meditative instrument. Despite this, he still took a passive theoretical interest and amassed a large collection of manuals and notation. Which is what had brought the pair to their so far inefficient lesson.
Hua Cheng dragged his hand leisurely across the surface of the qin, muttering to himself the position that Xie Lian had instructed. “Sixth string ninth hui. Hmm… Here?” He asked, finally settling his index on the second string, 4th hui. An easy to follow mistake, though more than likely an intentional one. It seemed Hua Cheng’s mischief streak had yet to dissipate, or he had somehow forgotten the order of strings and hui within half a sichen.
“Ah no thats, here let me just—” Xie Lian wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng, layering his hands on top of the other’s and guided them to the correct positions. “First, you anchor your left ring finger on the idle string. This helps to keep your hands steady but it’s good to learn to pluck without anchoring too.”
Having gotten exactly what he wanted, Hua Cheng felt immensely smug. He opted to graciously hide it with an innocent smile, and only nodded diligently.
“Next, you pluck the third string with an inward motion using your middle finger, guo.” Xie Lian’s string adorned finger plucked once, and so Hua Cheng’s naturally followed suit.
As Xie Lian continued on instructing, his eyes became alight with a passionate gaze, lost in brilliant focus.
In teaching circumstances especially, his determination was addictively attractive and cool, how could Hua Cheng ever bring himself to stare at anything else? The thought was pathetically juvenile, but one he had all too often, no matter how hard he, on occasion, would genuinely try to focus. But it was only natural to give in to the pleasant inevitable.
“Then finally, tiao and cuo again on this last position. So in summary, the basics of the intro segment is: Guo, tiao, zhua qi. Move up, repeat. Guo, tiao, slide up into tiao, then cuo third and sixth, cuo again. You repeat this till hui five point six, then you repeat that entire segment, and then repeat it backwards after the second time. Got it?”
“Uh-huh.” Hua Cheng said eloquently, understanding not a single word. Nor had his head moved from its fixed position of observation. On the unintended subject.
Xie Lian snorted fondly. “This teacher is lucky to have such a diligent student.” He mocked, as Hua Cheng pouted at his half insincerity.
Though Xie Lian figured he was getting too ahead of himself by not taking time to fully explain the techniques. They had been long since ingrained in him as second nature, but were mostly still entirely new to Hua Cheng.
Contemplating for a moment on how to improve the lesson, several ideas struck him. “I think it’d be better if we focus on the very basics first. We’ll be switching this up.” Using Hua Cheng’s shoulders as support, he moved away from his seated position behind the ghost.
Before a forlorn plea for his return could be expressed, Xie Lian moved in front this time to take his rightful throne, directly in the ghost’s lap.
If Hua Cheng were to have a fox tail, there was no doubt it would be thwacking against the floor ecstatically.
Xie Lian’s face dawned a smug smile, or at least that’s what Hua Cheng assumed from the awkward angle of his regretfully limited vision. “There. Now my face won't be a distraction from the lesson.” He declared it with a humorous pride, taking clear joy in torturously depriving his beloved from his favorite sight.
“Nooo. Gege is as cruel as he is clever!” Hua Cheng lamented, burying his face in the god’s curtain of hair.
Just after Hua Cheng finished whining, Xie Lian could feel a crafty smile start to form against his shoulder. “Gege didn’t think through the other distraction this position brings.” Punctuating the sentence, Hua Cheng gave a lovingly greedy squeeze to the god’s newly accessible waist, causing him to squeak.
In the comfortable time of their marriage, this spot had acquired a delightful increase in soft padding. This physical evidence that his husband, beloved, god and Prince Taizi Dianxia was living a fulfilled immortal life made Hua Cheng's entire soul sing. He could knead at all of Xie Lian like a hungry kitten for the rest of his immortal existence and would be more than content, as long as that would serve Xie Lian. He was greedy for any servitude he could provide his love, even if all that meant was aiding in digestion by massaging away any stomach aches.
“Ahaha-ha- San Lang that tickles! Ha- ha, and you say I'm scandalous.”
Hua Cheng grinned. His wretched soul was blessed by this gracious, special someone. Xie Lian wanted him as a person in all his accursed entirety. Not just a stepping stone or a servant, but a friend. A lover, a life long partner, a person. Xie Lian’s person. These facts were still hard to face head on. He still wasn’t used to existing in this way, as beautiful as it was, but Xie Lian helped. Knowing that Xie Lian saw him as something human and not monstrous—like himself and so many others did—it helped.
Xie Lian kept laughing at the ticklish kneading, then batted the greedy fox paws away. “If you need somewhere to rest your hands- do it here, this part is important.” He said after finally catching his breath.
Redirecting Hua Cheng’s once paws now hands, Xie Lian laid them across the strings. “Now, drop the weight in your arms, feel how easily they weigh the strings down? If you tense up, you take away all of the weight, then you have to apply it all over again. This not only is redundant, but makes playing rougher and hard.”
“But I thought Gege especially likes it that way?” Hua Cheng asked innocently.
The strict and ever cruel teacher reached back to pinch his cheek in retaliation, blind aim perfect and practiced. “Quit, you. Or else I’ll force you to copy every notation book in this library three times!”
The ghost king let out an exaggerated sigh of disgruntlement. One of Crimson Rain Sought Flower's, many, and most disdained nemeses: calligraphy practice.
“Now.” Xie Lian huffed, and extended his hand to the far end of the qin. He slid it gracefully up the length, ring finger brushing across the surface of the string, he repeated the motion again with serenity. While no note played, the scratching of the silk against skin was oddly pleasant and gave a subtle weight to the pause in instruction.
“When you play, let your movements glide across the qin, like they’re rippling the surface of water.” He demonstrated for a moment more, then took Hua Cheng's hand in his, sculpting it to replicate his own form.
Once he was satisfied, hand over hand, he guided it up and down the length. Hua Cheng instinctively pressed in closer until he was flush to the strong back in front of him, then rested his chin on the shoulder. Plausibly, it was to view the lesson more closely, but he was fooling no one, least of all Xie Lian.
Light pressure was added on Hua Cheng's hand until together they pressed down on a string together, and continued their sliding.
This time, Hua Cheng’s ears twitched as he could swear the tone of the scratching had almost imperceptibly changed. However, he couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the mind or reality.
Up and down, Xie Lian let the sound linger before speaking once more. “Feel that? Let your hand relax down with its own weight, dipping just the tip of your finger into the water. Then all that’s left to do is pluck.” Xie Lian plucked with his right index finger, producing a warm note the ghost could feel resonate in his heart. Together, they plucked and swayed up and down the qin, resulting in a buoyant rise and fall of notes, eventually coming to alternate between two strings. It took little effort, only requiring the weight of their entwined and meditative breathing. It felt not unlike a romantic lover's dance.
Hua Cheng hadn't even realized when his breathing had begun functioning so intentionally, his entire body had fallen into a natural synchronization with Xie Lian's all on its own, instinctually following his lead with every step.
Xie Lian's gallant heartbeat was distinct even through the wall of relaxed muscle. And Hua Cheng could feel his own beat after it, a steady and rhythmic song of love and praise just for his beloved.
He took the opportunity to relish quietly in Xie Lian's glow, and how his own form came alight in his gracious wake. Pressed this close, he felt alive and real in a comfortable way. Such as that of a drunken sleepiness, as though they could drift off to their shared lullaby, and continue to play even as they dreamt.
“Another technique…” Xie Lian said in their own perfect bubble of the world. “Is to let your finger skip lightly, like stones across the water.” His finger barely skipped atop a dotted position with his left hand, and at the same time he plucked with his right. What followed was a sweetly light tone like silver bells.
Everyday fools would say it sounded like it ringed from the heavens itself, but Hua Cheng could feel different parts of Xie Lian in every vibration. The sound filled the canopied divan they had nestled in, and once again Hua Cheng felt himself lulled into a hazy, meditative state.
As Xie Lian idly demonstrated the technique further with different notes, all the important parts of the world became crystal clear. The ambrosial smell of Xie Lian's hair, the warmth of where their skin connected, the sound of Xie Lian's gentle timber, the weight of his breath. Hua Cheng wanted to analyze every part, and construct the pieces together into an all encompassing mural. A cohesive marrying of different textures and sensations, sounds even. Somehow, he would find a way to replicate the tenderness that was the experience of loving Xie Lian. A heart’s paradise.
“You know, each of the different sounds are intended to symbolize something different. San yin, open notes, are like the flowing rivers. An yin, pressed notes, are the grounded vibrations of the earth. And fan yin, harmonics, are the singing of the heavens. It's all really interesting. There's so much to learn, even as the qin appears unassuming at first glance.” For whatever reason, the image of Yin Yu popped into Xie Lian’s head.
Hua Cheng was about to pull his head out of his own ass to respond with questions and interest when Xie Lian unfortunately beat him to it.
“Ah, anyway if I start raving on about it I'll never stop.” Not that Hua Cheng would ever object. “We should get back to the song.. In fact I almost forgot what I meant to tell you about it in the first place. The song is named Drunken Delight, a tune about... well about being drunk and forgetting worries. I figured you'd like the name, it's a part of why I chose it.” His graceful hands never stopped fidgeting for a moment once separated from the qin, idle movements of rubbing and stretching. The charming tell of when he felt anxious that he was rambling.
This was best combated with genuine attention and interest. Something Hua Cheng had infinite reserves of when it came to Xie Lian. “Oh? What gives gege the impression?” An easy smile. I care.
Xie Lian’s voice audibly lightened up in that contained but passionate excitement of his. “Well it's kind of ironic, isn't it? Guqin is considered a scholar's instrument, and Drunken Delight is a drinking song that doesn't conform to the initially expected contemplative aesthetics. Or at least depending on how you play it… Anyway, it's very versatile! Not unlike that of being actually drunk, I suppose? A song to liven up a social gathering, or to lull into a sleepy stupor.”
He paused for a second, face slightly pink and hands coming up to rub repeatedly at the skin on his neck. “And besides… Being happy as a fool and forgetting worries is what especially stuck out to me. It’s kind of like love in a way, if you think about it. Just ah- less destructive, or well, I suppose love could also- but being with you isn’t- And feels like being drunk sometimes. In a good way! I- um. yeah.”
Hua Cheng breathed out a soft good natured chuckle, then pressed an encouraging kiss to Xie Lian’s hair. His beloved’s way of thinking was something he would never tire of. “I understand what you mean, and feel the same, Gege.”
Xie Lian still appeared embarrassed and unconvinced, so Hua Cheng went for taking the weight off of Xie Lian. “Plus, I'm just glad it's not because Dianxia thinks I'm a drunkard. In fact, I've actually never even been drunk before.” He tried to keep the joke casual, but in all honesty it fell out of him without any foresight. Kicking himself for blurting out such a useless, poorly made joke, he felt the urge to sew his mouth shut. It clearly dampened the atmosphere and could even be taken as petty accusation, much to his panic.
“I would never think something like- wait what!? But gamblers den.. I guess I just assumed at some point- Ah it's like the other surprise all over again.” Xie Lian shook his head, while pressing his hand to his forehead. The words had an easy humor to them, allowing Hua Cheng to breathe easy knowing he didn’t fuck up majorly.
He rested his forehead on the god's shoulder, greedily wrapping his arms around that cushioned waist while he was at it. The quiet luckily wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was obvious Xie Lian was waiting for him to say something. With a sigh and further self frustration, he spoke. “It's true, all those centuries I was just as celibate in those aspects as you. Any rare instance in which I had to have 'wine' with company—and still to this day—I have the servants switch mine for lukewarm tea.”
Knowing this secret made Xie Lian admittedly amused. The ghost king, ruler of ghost city and owner of gamblers den of debauchery, was secretly a goody two shoes not wanting to look uncool! Though the reason he did not allow himself to laugh and comment was the palpable and growing tension in Hua Cheng. Breathing only when it served need for speech, heart stuttering still, tone of voice ever so slightly restrained, even the manner in which he clung to Xie Lian. All tell tale signs that his body was shutting away vulnerability to pain and danger, even if he himself might not realize it.
Hua Cheng continued on, voice uncharacteristically meek, even embarrassed. “I just don't like anything about alcohol really. It doesn't taste that great, way worse than lukewarm tea. Not to mention the way it brings out the worst in people. The lowering of control over one's own body and mind. The idea of experiencing any of that disgusts me, and I swore off ever being intoxicated centuries ago.” He was not one to pathetically offer more information than asked, but words tended to spill out in the sole presence of his beloved. Especially when they weighed heavy. He hated it. He shouldn’t be so weak, pushing his problems onto Xie Lian. It was deplorable, he should have better control of himself.
Xie Lian nodded, staying quiet for a stretch of time. Then in a soft and knowing voice he asked, “You swore it off, eight centuries ago?” with that token, almost disturbing level of pseudo mind reading.
“Mhm.” Is all Hua Cheng could really bring himself to say. Fucking coward.
Xie Lian paused for a moment, leaning back to rest his head against Hua Cheng’s shoulder. He looked up at him with a quiet and compassionate expression. “You know, if it makes you feel any better, alcohol doesn't make one something they're not. It acts as an amplifier, giving people the confidence, or sometimes in their minds the excuse, to act their impulses. It can incentivize, but it does not create what is not there.”
Hua Cheng nodded, not sure what to say, his focus was divided on refraining from digging his nails into his skin.
Xie Lian twisted around to face him, looking directly at him with a fiery earnest. “You wouldn't ever become like that, San Lang. But I understand and respect why you never want to be drunk in the first place. At least in my experience, drinking is far from pleasant and I'm not very fond of it myself, either.” A soft hand brushed away the hair from where it covered the right side of Hua Cheng’s face. The stroking against his exposed cheek was soothing. Cold hands. Hua Cheng should warm him up.
Once the words processed, Hua Cheng’s stomach dropped with an unforeseen anxiety. Was Xie Lian thinking that his views on alcohol came from-“Dianxia, I didn't mean- I'm not judging you for that time, I wasn't even think-“
“Shh, I wasn’t thinking that, sweet boy. I know it has nothing to do with that.. And before you start thinking it: You're not needlessly violent in the first place. You've never hurt innocents, and you never would.”
“But I am- What if- How do-”
Wonderfully, infuriatingly, blissfully Xie Lian turned and interrupted him with a deep kiss. He left no room to think about anything else, the kiss was slow and deliberate, placating and tender. Hua Cheng wouldn’t allow his tear ducts to function. It was difficult when so scattered, but at least he could manage that.
“I just know. You're far better than you realize, A-Hong.” The soft smile accompanied made Hua Cheng's heart ache. He still wasn't convinced, perhaps never would be, but anytime Xie Lian told him such, he felt that much more inclined to try. If only for the fact that Xie Lian believed that he could be.
Eager and jittery to change the subject, Hua Cheng spoke the first thing that came to mind. “What if dian- Shifu plays a demonstration? I haven't even heard this song, how am I supposed to learn it?” He tried to make his voice lilt and teasing, but it only came out as the meager and worthless evasion it was.
Xie Lian blinked owlishly once, and then scratched his head, abashed. “That's an excellent point actually, I completely forgot. I used to play this song so much it's as ingrained in me as the ethics sutra.”
Hua Cheng silently thanked him for following along seamlessly and without even a hint of protest.
And thus it was his turn to watch over as his god performed, a privilege he greedily savored, cataloging every detail into his ever growing memory of his beloved.
As Xie Lian began to play, the strings came alive, and no matter if he slipped or played an off tune note, he would blaze forward with stubborn determination.
The music breathed with him, and with it so did Hua Cheng. Joyous and sweet in tone, it was a lighthearted, bouncing melody. In this moment Xie Lian became even more ethereal than usual. Posture upright and proud, hands and arms graceful as they danced across the body of the qin, and most of all each limb singed with unmistakable happiness.
He was the light of all things good, complex and contradictory in all the right ways. Hua Cheng loved it, damn near struck stupid with love at every moment of Xie Lian’s compassion and grace; His bossiness and annoyingly fast wit. It hurt sometimes, how much Hua Cheng ached with brimming love for his husband, and how it at times made him feel like a crazed and starved animal. The ghost king was obsessive, wicked, undeserving. And yet, Xie Lian accepted every piece of it. Not just polite tolerance, but love.
With an ending flourish of resolving notes, Xie Lian breathed in dulcetly, letting the last notes resonate in full. Only then did he finally speak. “Ahem, so, did you learn anything new?”
Hua Cheng reached out to massage Xie Lian’s defined knuckles. The fourth digit was slightly red from an odd string pressing technique. “Mm. Shifu has beautiful hands. But I already knew that in detail." They were one of the first and only things to teach him security from a cursed life, after all.
Xie Lian leaned back in the cradle of his arms, wrapping them around himself like a blanket. “Ayiah San Lang, you have such a talent for distraction. I don’t know how you do it.”
Hua Cheng's eagerness to praise was something that had taken a lot of getting accustomed to. Xie Lian loved it, was practically addicted to the fluttering feeling it gave him, but he was still not fully used to such undivided focus being placed on him. It was so intense that he could feel it at every moment they were together. He felt starved for it, yet overwhelmed all the same.
Searching for something to do with his jittery thoughts, he took the ghost king's red beaded braid in hand and fiddled with it. Even playing an inside joke to himself, pinching and rubbing the red pearl like a licentious lord teasing someone chaste.
Hua Cheng looked down at him and pouted, which looked incredibly funny from Xie Lian's angle. “I'm the most focused man you will ever meet. Gege is just most important to pay attention to in every circumstance. Most admirable and enchanting, too.” He declared it like a universal proverb. Such a charmer, it couldn't be helped.
Xie Lian smiled and scrunched his nose. “Hmm. What if I changed my form? I could make myself a vicious beast, something strange and scary!” He attacked Hua Cheng's face, affectionately pinching either cheek in a deathly bite.
Hua Cheng only narrowed his eye as it donned a mischievous glint. Oh no. Xie Lian was about to be teased. Mercilessly.
“That sounds exciting, Gege is welcome to become terrifying any time and teach this poor, helpless ghost a lesson. Also: 'it's not about your appearance.' You said so yourself, remember?” The little braggart rebutted.
Covering his face, Xie Lian groaned. “You- San Lang really you’re too much!” The crafty fox was using his own words against him! His mind reached for his own clever rebuttal. “What if I was something you couldn’t possibly want to focus on?”
...Xie Lian was gaining an increasing sense of inverse deja vu, and he didn't like it one bit.
The scoundrel's face compressed in restraint, before it fell in a sudden outburst of laughter, no doubt entertained by the visible inner suffering painted on Xie Lian's face. “Gege gege! Hahaha!” The familiar endearment was so pure and exuberant that Xie Lian had to steel his resolve to keep his defiant mood. “Do I even have to say what we're both thinking? Hahaha.”
Well now it was just a challenge. One Xie Lian was determined to worm his way out of. Thinking long and hard, he conjured one of the most instinctually unpleasant images he could think of. A category of things that had plagued his nightmares for his entire life “What about a maggot!? Wiggling around in the trash, giving you pointers on how to pluck strings properly, while I gorge myself on trash and rotten meat? Surely you’d rather pay attention to a pretty instrument in that case.” Xie Lian couldn't repress the disgusted shudder at even speaking such a thing into existence.
“If Gege was a maggot, then he’d be the best and prettiest maggot. I’d admire his pearlescent glow and determined love of recycling. I’d even gather the most delicious rotten meat for him to snack on, or maybe maggot-ge would like an open wound? I’ll gladly provide him with mine.”
Xie Lian gawked. He really couldn’t tell at times when Hua Cheng was being earnestly deranged or just simply joking. Either way… “I don’t think I should be nearly as charmed by that as I am, San Lang.”
Hua Cheng responded only with an affectionate kiss to his cheek. Maybe the ghost was freakish and disturbing, but he had successfully reminded Xie Lian of his unfettered devotion. Something he was always happy to do.
While letting Hua Cheng think he had won, Xie Lian plotted an impulsive, vengeful gamble with fate, and turned around.
Putting on his very best coy face, and ensuring he had the ghost's undivided attention, he slowly leaned in close. Eye swirling darkly, Hua Cheng's face stilled in seized anticipation...
The scrap collector lightly traced his fingers up the length of the man's arm, as if it were the cinnabar qin. Settling against the middle of his chest, Xie Lian let his hand rest as he felt the steady beats of a warm ghostly heart.
He pulled his hand back, then palm striked the chest, tackling his scoundrel husband to the ground!
Hua Cheng let out a half yelp of surprise, half laugh, as the air was forcefully pushed from his lungs. But Xie Lian, determined to not let him catch his breath, orchestrated his vicious revenge.
The martial god poked and prodded all over at Hua Cheng's stomach and sides, anywhere that had the most likelihood of garnering a response. And such, Hua Cheng’s initial yelp quickly dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable giggling! Xie Lian had no idea what he wagered off to fate, but whatever it was, it was well worth it.
“Gege! Gege! that-! Ahahaha!” He couldn't get a single word in. The fearsome god grinned sadistically. Good.
After adequate torture, the one sided battle came to a close via the mercy of the fearsome god. Hua Cheng simply panted for air he didn't technically need. It was a good look on him, Xie Lian smirked.
The fox licked his lips. “Maggot-ge is a formidable warrio- Hahaha!- Wait not again, mercy Dianxia! Mercy!”
.
.
.
With all their distractions and flirtations handled and over with, the disciple was cajoled into focusing on the original lesson. He was a remarkably…eclectic learner, forgoing the intended positions and choosing to form the fingerings in a manner that felt most natural to him. Xie Lian figured there was no harm in letting him, as he was dipping his toes in for fun, and it did seem to improve his playing.
Furthermore, it was entertaining, seeing all the ways in which Hua Cheng decided to maneuver his hands. The comparison that first came to mind was a great big tarantula tapping metal shoes in a ludicrous dance.
On second thought, that was terrifying and unpleasant, so Xie Lian rid it from his mind, then rewrote it. The visual replicated that of Hua Cheng's calligraphy. Well. He had a trademarked style in all areas!
Once Xie Lian had given the seal of approval for their first lesson, they concluded the evening with languid conversation all about the guqin and Xie Lian's various knowledge. Hua Cheng, as always, was attentive and eager to learn, asking a number of questions that came to mind.
One in particular had been at the back of his mind for half the lesson. “How did Gege get into playing?”
Xie Lian paused, then blushed as he remembered the answer. “As one of the four arts, guoshi thought it would be good for me, back when I was young and more defiant. Something about teaching me reflection and maturity, old wise man things. But… I was so particular in what and how I wanted to learn that eventually he gave up teaching me and told me to figure it out for myself.” He grinned at Hua Cheng with a mix of embarrassment and humor.
“Anyways. I didn’t realize how much I missed playing. Thank you for today, San Lang.”
“It was my pleasure, Dianxia. I will play everyday for you, or commission 100 of the highest quality qins if you’d rather have more to play yourself. All you need is to ask.”
Xie Lian smiled but then raised his finger in modest reproval. “Well technically the older and more played the qin, the higher the quality. Take this one for example, the lacquer has cracked with age in the pattern called 'snake belly'. It's a highly sought feature as it allows for richer resonation, and is a visual tell of its remarkable age. It's possible this one is just one or two hundred years younger than you and I.”
“Then I will search all of hell and earth, even heaven to find the best for Dianxia.”
Looking intently at Hua Cheng’s face, Xie Lian stroked the skin just under his eye patch. “That's alright, this one is already my favorite. Look how pretty the color is.” Whilst he completely ignored the qin.
Hua Cheng said nothing and only stared back fondly. Then once having his greedy fill of gazing at Xie Lian’s benevolent face, he leaned in, kissing him as soft and sweet as his beating heart felt.