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Despite being a ghost, He Xuan kept the bed warm enough that it didn’t disturb Qingxuan’s sleep. It was only when he’d been gone from it for long enough that the bed began to grow cold that Qingxuan would wake up, bleary eyed and aching as they tried to source out exactly where the ghost king had slunk off to. Usually as their wits returned to them, they could parse out that he was in the kitchen or the study of their small home, or if he was out of the house entirely.
If it wasn’t the chill of the bed waking up Qingxuan, it was the ache in their bones on rainy days, or the soreness of winter causing them to groan and push themselves up on their elbows to see if their lover had woken yet.
Today, though, it seemed to be a mix of the two. The overcast skies provided an explanation for why their leg seemed to be protesting more than normal, and as they rubbed their eyes to find the bed devoid of anyone aside from themselves, they knew He Xuan had either gone to another room or gone out entirely.
As they forced themselves into a seated position and glanced at their crutch, knowing they’d need it today, they noticed a small piece of paper hanging from it- Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a note. The handwriting, as expected, was neat and tidy.
Needed in Ghost City. Left early. Will be home in the evening. -HX
Ah, so that explained it, then. Hua Cheng needed him to do something, and it’d likely take all day. It was with that knowledge that Qingxuan formed a plan– And motivated by it, got up and set off towards the kitchen.
The kitchen was small, but homely, and had two counters that were close enough together that Qingxuan could manage to get around without their crutch, if needed. So it was only a small hardship to move back and forth between the counters and the stove, chopping the vegetables and cubing up the meat that they had gotten the other day. It was an excellent day to use it– Rainy and chilly, perfect weather for a stew. And they knew that He Xuan would love it no matter what, but they wanted to put effort into it! They made sure that things would cook evenly as they simmered in the pot, and cooked the outsides of the meat before setting it into the pot to cook alongside everything else. The stock was, thankfully, the easiest part– They had some left over from their last foray into soup a few weeks ago on an equally dreary day.
The entire time they were cooking, they hummed a pleasant tune– It had been one they’d heard recently, on a trip to Ghost City they had accompanied He Xuan to. Some of the pretty ghosts at the brothel had been singing it and taught them the words, but being so focused on getting the cooking just right, they only had the spare brains for the melody. It still brought them joy to hum as they cooked, stirring the soup before adding some more salt, taking another taste, then repeating with a few other spices and humming between sips all the while.
It was only when they were mostly satisfied with the taste that they actually thought to rest on the stool, rubbing at their aching knee absentmindedly. Without realizing it, they’d been standing for a few hours, by that point– the pain was only just now setting in, but they knew they weren’t done yet!
In small bursts, they got up a few more times in the next few hours to stir the stew and to clean up, wincing more and more as the hours went on. Nevertheless, they ignored the pain– Even limping past the kitchen to set some wood into the fire to warm up the rest of the house, the kitchen now cozy with the heat of the boiling stew.
It was when Qingxuan was bent over the pot once more, stirring it and giving the vegetables a poke to see how they done they were that they failed to hear the door open, not even have noticed that the sun had begun to dip and cast the kitchen in gold, rather than the pale blues of the daylight.
The door widened to reveal He Xuan, eyes ever so slightly tired, but visibly widening as he smelt the air, nose crinkling slightly as he took a deeper inhale. The smell of spices and meat cooking brought him to the kitchen where he saw Qingxuan humming and pulling the ladle from the pot, a chopstick in hand to poke at a chunk of potato. They seemed to have not heard him enter, and so he drew closer without their notice, nearly getting to their back before they turned and jumped, a few drops of soup falling onto their robes- Which were already smeared with flour handprints and specks of spices. A gasp escaped their throat, before they laughed and smiled brightly at He Xuan.
“You’re back! How was Ghost City?” They asked, shoulders lowering as they relaxed now that he was home. “Oh! Here, sip! I’ve been working on this all day!” They didn’t give He Xuan much of a chance to argue, or speak at all for that matter, as they held up the ladle with a hand cupped underneath to catch any spills.
He Xuan, of course, bent and took a sip of the broth, humming appreciatively. “Tastes good,” was all he said on the matter, before taking the ladle from their hand and guiding them to sit on the stool. He had noticed the distinct absence of their crutch within grabbing distance, instead spotting it keeping space against the far wall. “Have you been hobbling around all day?” He asked, voice rougher than he intended– Though the sheepish grin on Qingxuan’s face made it worthwhile, anyhow.
“I was busy! And there’s not far to walk, so I thought it’d be fine… I am pretty sore now, though.” They mumbled with a pout, rubbing at their knee dramatically. It really did hurt, but they were being outwardly dramatic to keep He Xuan’s attention.
He Xuan rolled his eyes as he stepped behind them, taking their hair out of the braid that had mostly fallen out after so many hours of work, beginning to slowly rebraid it into a simple, but rather pretty style. “And what did you expect to happen, pushing your limits like that? Really, you should have known.” His words, however, had no real bite to them, instead coming out softened like the stewed vegetables. “Is it nearly done? I’m ready to eat.”
“Oh! It should be!” They exclaimed, turning to look at He Xuan as soon as his hands left their hair. “Let me dish it up!” Without any time for He Xuan to protest, they slipped off the stool and took hold of bowls, pouring the stew into them– Making sure to add extra into He Xuan’s bowl. As they did, and began to turn to place the bowls at the table, He Xuan’s hand caught their elbow– Endlessly soft, endlessly gentle in a way that he only ever could be with them, now, after everything– And it gave Qingxuan pause. Pause enough, that He Xuan took one of the bowls and set it on the table to keep a hand on Qingxuan and give them a hand to balance with. Before they could sit as well, though, he leaned down and pressed a brief, chaste kiss to their lips, catching them by surprise. They tasted of stew, and of home.
After guiding them to the table and the both of them settling down to eat, He Xuan’s bowl went by much quicker than Qingxuan’s did- This was nothing unusual. However, as he began to get to the last few mouthfuls of stew, he noticed something– A leaf, in the bottom of his bowl. He had just been about to question it when Qingxuan made a noise, causing him to look up– There was a leaf on their spoon, too.
“Aaish– I forgot to take the bay leaves out, you’d distracted me coming home!” They complained lightly, reaching over and tapping his arm. “There’s supposed to be two, though, is the other one still in the po– Oh! It’s in your bowl! We each got a leaf!” They plucked the leaf out with chopsticks, setting it aside, then their own– Not even noticing that as they did so, the leaves overlapped in an image of a simplistic heart.
With the gold of the setting sun illuminating the two as they ate, and shining on the still wet bay leaves, Qingxuan began to ask about He Xuan’s day– smiling and finishing their own bowl over the conversation, the same amount of love in their eyes as there was in He Xuan’s chest. Filling the space, overwhelming it even– But never too much.
Fin.