Work Text:
Xing Zhi is only half-awake when he hears his A-Li’s voice from the direction of their cottage’s entrance. He almost doesn’t recognize it at first because it’s pitched low and menacing, the tone that Shen Li used to use when confronting a threat on the battlefield.
Nowadays, he’s accustomed to her relaxed lilt, or the occasional deadpan.
“I’ve already explained this nicely,” she says, and Xing Zhi knows without having to get up that her eyes are narrowing with annoyance. “He is retired. Free of the duties and restrictions you all love to shamelessly impose on him. How long will it take to get that through your thick skulls?”
When the unwelcome visitor (yet another Immortal Realm delegate, Xing Zhi presumes), tries to protest that the realms will suffer because of shenjun’s irresponsibility, Shen Li snaps.
“Irresponsible? He gave his life for the Three Realms, just so you all could enjoy the leisure you have now. He is the most selfless person the realms have ever had the fortune of knowing, and he deserves everything the universe can offer. Belittle his sacrifice again, and see if you make it out of here without being burned to a crisp.”
By the time Xing Zhi gets up and makes his way to the doorway, the delegate has already bolted, and the remnants of Shen Li’s fire blast are fizzling away in her hand, unused.
“Good morning, A-Zhi,” she says, in the soft tone that never fails to melt his heart. “Did I wake you?”
“You are remarkable,” he replies, without answering her question.
Her eyebrows quirk in mock-surprise. “Oh? How so?”
But before he can answer, she tenderly presses her lips against his, and then tiptoes to whisper in his ears: “I meant every word of it, A-Zhi. You deserve everything, from this gentle life we’ve made together to the stars of the highest heavens.”
Xing Zhi’s ears turn ever so slightly pink, and Shen Li picks up on it immediately. She kisses him again, a gentle peck on the cheek, and then walks away to chop firewood.