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It happened far too soon to give Hua Cheng a chance to do anything. One moment, he looked over at Xie Lian, while they coordinated their attack - and the next the world seemed to spin, throwing him off balance so much it made him stumble.
He wasn’t sure what happened, but Xie Lian disappeared from his sight. The creature they were fighting started to run off, but he ignored it, because he could not seem to be able to control his butterflies and wasn’t that a perfect second thing to panic about, instead looking around for Xie Lian.
Except, it wasn’t Xie Lian meeting his gaze but a clearly confused and freaking out… himself. Then, Hua Cheng raised his hand in front of his face, sure enough wearing white robes that he knew far too well.
“Gege?” He crossed the distance with desperate ease, sure that his husband was the one looking at him. His hands wrapped around Xie Lian’s… his own body's… shoulders. “Are you alright?”
“I… San Lang? Yes.” Xie Lian stammered out. Looking down at Hua Cheng. The height difference was such a different experience this way. He was used to being the higher one, not the one having to look up. “What just happened?”
“The creature fled. It must have switched our minds between our bodies as a distraction.” Hua Cheng explained his first theory immediately.
“We should go find it again then.” Xie Lian proclaimed, getting over his initial surprise quickly. As always, they could work through this - it wasn’t the first time they ended in a not so pleasant (could it be called unpleasant however? Xie Lian had to acknowledge that he didn’t mind it that much) situation.
“But gege, it’s dangerous!” Hua Cheng protested immediately, his hands moving to hold Xie Lian’s gently. “It’d take too long for you to get used to fighting in my body!”
“San Lang…” Xie Lian sighed, though he didn’t move his hands away even by a millimetre. He wasn’t sure if Hua Cheng was being protective, or simply getting out of dealing with this for now. Xie Lian had to wonder if Hua Cheng liked this, but that was also a thought for later. “Someone needs to do it.”
“I’ll let Yin Yu know.” Announced Hua Cheng, confident. He quickly stole a kiss from Xie Lian (himself? It hadn’t been as strange as one would think.)
Hua Cheng’s hand then moved to his temple, contacting Yin Yu immediately, if only to soothe Xie Lian’s nerves on getting the work done. ‘ Yin Yu?’
‘Your Highness?’ Yin Yu’s reply came, with a minute delay, sounding confused enough by being contacted by Xie Lian. Hua Cheng might have forgotten that’s who Yin Yu would think is contacting him. In his defense, his husband was right in front of him, despite his different body.
‘It’s Hua Cheng.’ He decided on honesty. Yin Yu was someone he trusted and urgency would make the work done sooner. Whether they dealt with the… consequences immediately was a decision for later.
‘Hua Chengzhu? What happened?’ Yin Yu’s voice changed, barely hidden urgency and confusion, albeit far more proper than when he thought he was addressing Xie Lian. His husband did have a talent for making others go soft, Hua Cheng supposed.
‘There was a complication. I need you to track down the target, it escaped. Catch it alive, we’ll deal with it.’ Hua Cheng ordered him, not going into details. They’d get to him eventually, he thought as he looked up at Xie Lian again.
‘Of course, Hua Chengzhu.’
Not waiting for more, Hua Cheng ended the conversation, his hand falling from his temple, his whole attention on Xie Lian. “Yin Yu will handle it.” He announced.
“Good.” Xie Lian nodded, taking hold of Hua Cheng’s free hand quickly. “Should we get back to Ghost City then?”
“We should.” Hua Cheng agreed, but a mischievous glint passed through his eyes. “But gege, they liked to talk too much. It’d spread far too quickly.”
“And what does San Lang suggest we do then?” Xie Lian smiled, amused by his husband and so, so in love.
“Well gege, this San Lang wouldn’t dare if the situation was different.” By the smirk on his face, so foreign on Xie Lian’s but far too familiar to Hua Cheng, it spoke clearly otherwise. “But if gege would be willing to act as me… we could try by you calling me gege?”
“San Lang!” Xie Lian gasped in feigned offendance, but the pretense cracked too soon, followed by a smile. Suddenly being in Hua Cheng’s body was a saving grace to him, or he’d be blushing. “So cheeky. It won’t change a thing if they know.”
“Of course gege, this one was merely jesting.” Hua Cheng chuckled.
That was when Xie Lian leaned down, closer to him, just to catch him off guard and then - “Gege.” - he whispered, causing Hua Cheng to pretty much freeze. Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh, warmth clear in his eye, when Hua Cheng actually blushed. Perhaps it was useful to stay in each other's bodies, if only to see this.
“...we should head back.” Hua Cheng coughed, busying himself with taking out his dice from the robes Xie Lian was wearing now. He got them back to the Ghost City, specifically Paradise Manor, quickly after that, maybe wanting XIe Lian to forget what just happened. Not that it was going to work.
That was when the next problem showed itself. XIe Lian managed to walk by just fine, at first. But before they got to their bedroom, he stumbled, embarrassingly enough, then once more moments later. That caught Hua Cheng’s attention enough to worry.
“Gege?” He moved to Xie Lian’s side, worry in his gaze, arm supporting Xie Lian’s side.
“Ah, sorry. No need to worry. I’m just… having a bit of trouble because of the uhm, eye. It was alright when we were standing still! Just need to get used to it now…” Xie Lian almost started rambling more, but he caught himself and only cleared his throat.
“I’ll help gege then.” Hua Cheng smiled at him, starting to lead him towards the bedroom once more, keeping a hold on him this time. Still, he couldn’t help but tease. “Who would have thought so little could be an obstacle to gege.”
“San Lang!” Xie Lian lightly slapped Hua Cheng’s hand, but even he couldn’t help but laugh. At least they got to the bedroom fairly quickly, considering Hua Cheng slowed down for Xie Lian’s sake.
“Come lay with me.” Hua Cheng tugged him over to the bed the moment they stepped inside, not giving him a chance to argue. He was successful too, given that Xie Lian didn’t struggle. He laid down his head on Xie Lian’s chest the moment his husband settled.
Then, silence stretched between them, until Xie Lian broke it. “San Lang?”
“Yes, gege?” Hua Cheng’s voice was but a mere whisper.
“Yin Yu could return anytime.”
“If he does, he can wait. I wanna cuddle with gege now.” Hua Cheng replied, stubborn. A cute stubborn, Xie Lian had to note, carding his fingers through Hua Cheng’s hair.
“Alright then.”