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Xie Lian finds it surreal that his husband is so incredibly beautiful. Hua Cheng always is: but when he paints, that beauty is especially ethereal. Xie Lian always needs time to drink in all that his husband is, frequently finding himself stuck into a daze upon the mere sight of his husband.

Deciding to simply watch him for a moment, Xie Lian stays in the doorway, leaning against it. It is very likely his husband already knows he's here: Supreme Ghosts have quite impeccable hearing, and Hua Cheng does have a third sense for Xie Lian, always knowing when Xie Lian is near or far. Even during the rare occasions where they are separated, Xie Lian often finds a tug on the red string and he happily pulls lightly back, reminding his husband he’s not going anywhere. 

Dressed down, Hua Cheng’s hair is loose and messy, still a bit tangled from the night before. It was one of their more … explorative escapades, but what are husbands for is not to experiment with what makes them feel the most loved? Xie Lian had been the lucky one, discovering that his husband really likes when Xie Lian nibbles upon the point of his ear, along with the tip of his tongue skimming along the edges. The growling noise Hua Cheng had let out had caused Xie Lian himself to blush and feel a bit shy, but he wants nothing more than to pleasure his husband in all the ways that he deserves. 

They’ve come a long way through their centuries of marriage — over three-hundred years ago, Xie Lian never could have thought he’d be the one disgracing his husband’s body in such a way! Since, though, Xie Lian has learnt that nothing about their intimacy is a disgrace and is just the opposite: an honour to worship the one you love with all that you are. Xie Lian is happy to give as much as his husband will take, even if sometimes his husband hesitates.

Xie Lian will continue to shower Hua Cheng in praises, adorations and sweet nothings until he finally wraps his head around the fact that he deserves exactly the same as he gives Xie Lian. Hua Cheng can be rather silly; Xie Lian is endeared, yet it does break his heart to understand why his husband feels that way. Their pasts have been cruel and brutal: but they’ve overcome them on their own, and now they can move forward together. 

Lost in his memories of the night before and his depths of love for his husband, Xie Lian shakes himself out of it. How a mere observation of his husband’s delicately tangled hair sent him into such a state! He really is quite weak to his husband in every single way. 

Returning his attention to the present, Xie Lian continues to observe. Hua Cheng must be especially focused, considering he has not greeted Xie Lian yet. That or he’s invoking his usual nonsense and waiting until Xie Lian comes to him, which is the more likely option.

Xie Lian knows his husband well enough to know his usual tricks, so he allows him to wait impatiently (the only time Hua Cheng truly is impatient with him, waiting for him to come back into his arms after even a single incense time apart), letting the tension build so the reunion is all the more sweet. Whether they’ve been apart for a second, a minute, an hour—every time he returns to his husband’s adoring face, that glint that shines in his eye and his toothy, fanged smile as he exclaims “Gege! You’re home!” and Xie Lian’s heart swims and his body is naturally pulled to his husband: the only home he’ll ever need. The only home he’ll ever want.  

His husband’s muscles strain through the sheer fabric of his sleeping robes and Xie Lian’s breath catches in his throat, remembering the strength yet sheer delicacy those hands always hold him with. Hua Cheng, though strong, is still lithe and light: dancing around his prey to clear the path all for Xie Lian to be safe, and those same gentle touches are the ones which soothe Xie Lian to sleep. Hua Cheng is dangerous but for good cause: and Xie Lian is never afraid. Why would he be? He’s the only one who knows how incredibly soft the Crimson Rain Sought Flower really is!

Smiling, Xie Lian tiptoes quietly, inching closer. Hua Cheng can hear him: he sees the tips of his ears perk up, barely noticeable yet Xie Lian notices everything about his husband. The brush stills in his hands for not even a second before it returns to the page. Even from behind, Xie Lian knows the strokes are as careful as ever. He can picture vividly the expression of concentration upon his husband’s face: his tongue stuck out ever so slightly, one of his fangs peeking quietly out of his mouth, the visual of which always causes desire to swirl within Xie Lian’s chest, never one to be able to resist his husband. 

Hua Cheng's skill with ink is wondrous: that his husband can create such stunning portraits, that he learnt only on his own, is yet another trait of his husband that he admires. Hua Cheng’s robe slides off his shoulder slightly, his skin glinting ever so faintly against the red hue of Ghost City that is peeking in through the curtained window. 

Finally, Xie Lian makes it to his husband, and in lieu of greeting, he instead rests both of his hands on Hua Cheng’s shoulders, placing a tender kiss to the crown of his husband’s head. Now, his hand truly does still, and Xie Lian can only hear the clink of the brush forgotten against the table as his husband leans back into his kiss. 

Massaging his shoulders gently, Hua Cheng leans back into him. Xie Lian almost laughs at the faint whine that comes from Hua Cheng’s mouth. “How’s your painting coming along, San Lang?”

“Gege, I’ve missed you.” Hua Cheng says, voice light. Xie Lian cannot see his face from this angle, but he knows for certain his husband definitely has a playful glint in his eye and a pout on his face, only to encourage Xie Lian to placate him further.

Xie Lian is never not one to indulge his husband! He really does spoil him too much. No wonder his nonsense seems to become grander by each day….granted, Xie Lian would be a liar if he said he didn’t enjoy it. Seeing his husband in such a state makes him feel rather dizzy. That someone loves him this much so misses him even when he’s right beside them? Xie Lian cannot quite believe it still.

Chuckling, Xie Lian pauses his massage to loops his arms instead around Hua Cheng’s neck, and Hua Cheng eagerly takes his hands in his own. “You’re rather silly, San Lang. It hasn’t even been two incense time!”

“Even one incense time is too long without Gege,” Hua Cheng states, as if it were fact. Xie Lian knows that to his husband, that it really is true.

Xie Lian begins to rub circles on the back of Hua Cheng’s hands and his husband practically purrs into his touch. Flushing pink at such a noise coming from his husband, Xie Lian stutters a bit, but continues playing along. “Is it? My sincerest apologies, San Lang. This one will be sure to never leave you alone for so long again. Even when his husband dutifully wanted to keep painting when this husband wanted to go get ingredients for our breakfast…and because this husband wanted his San Lang to keep painting ....”

Hua Cheng clicks his tongue, caught. Usually, the two of them did run all their errands together, simply enjoying doing all that is mundane by each other’s side. However, since they returned from Puqi Shrine to Ghost City just last night, his husband seemed distracted, even during their usual rounds that lasted well into the dawn. Upon waking, Xie Lian could tell his husband was itching for his brush, so he began to paint while Xie Lian went to make breakfast. Except, upon entering the kitchens, the ingredients were missing! Yin Yu had been otherwise occupied, and they do have servants, however Xie Lian truly enjoys venturing out to Ghost City and chatting to its citizens, even if they can be a tad overwhelming. 

It was one of the rare occasions that Hua Cheng did not come with Xie Lian: especially since Hua Cheng did almost join him, but Xie Lian thought he looked so focused and at ease with his paintbrush, Xie Lian himself convinced him to continue his painting! 

Feeling rather mischievous, Xie Lian goes on. “All San Lang did was as his husband asked. Is that so wrong? I could make some more requests if San Lang would like, but it appears he may not take them quite well…”

Hua Cheng may not need to breathe, yet sometimes Xie Lian knows just how to make him breathless. He makes a slight choking noise, and Xie Lian knows he’s won. A sigh, and his husband melts back into Xie Lian’s arms. “You wound me, Gege. Leaving me all alone in the dark…”

“There, there, San Lang. Your husband is back now,” Xie Lian comforts, feeling rather giddy that he is getting better at his husband’s games. 

Despite his pouting, Xie Lian knows his husband is not truly serious, and when Xie Lian laughs, Hua Cheng does, too. Hearing that laugh softens Xie Lian inside and out: it’s a reminder how lucky he is, to have Hua Cheng be his. 

“I missed you too, San Lang,” Xie Lian further soothes, knowing it’s unnecessary but he wants to do it anyway. If anything, it may encourage his husband even more, and Xie Lian is in quite the good mood today. However, he still has his own desires, and those lie in one place today. “How’s your painting coming along? I could tell San Lang really wanted to work on his portrait.”

Xie Lian drapes himself over Hua Cheng’s left shoulder so he can see his husband’s face. No surprise that a toothy grin is apparent at Xie Lian’s words: Xie Lian had no doubt they would work. 

 Hua Cheng’s cheek brushes against his as his husband turns towards him. “Gege can look all he wants. It is coming along rather nicely.”

Embarrassment washes over Xie Lian as he realizes that he’s been so distracted by his husband he neglected to glance a single time at his work! Flustering a bit, Xie Lian scrambles. “Oh! San Lang! I was so lost in our game that I didn’t even look yet.”

Hua Cheng quirks a brow, every present grin still on his face. “Oh? Is Gege saying that I’m distracting?”

Of course his husband would turn against him! Xie Lian, ever at his husband’s mercy, blushes yet again and exclaims, “I think it’s time I look at San Lang’s wonderful portrait now!!” 

When Xie Lian attempts to whirl around to release himself from his husband's grasp, Xie Lian should have known that it was an impossible feat as his husband is nothing but quick when it comes to him. Familiarly strong hands wrap around his waist and pull him in, depositing him securely onto Hua Cheng’s lap. Xie Lian squirms but his husband knows no relent, tucking him as close as possible and squeezing him tight against him. Xie Lian, never one to fight for too long, gives in, and ragdolls in his husband’s arms. 

“Gege will have the best view of the portrait from here,” Hua Cheng says, sounding especially proud of himself. Xie Lian can’t help smile fondly at his antics—despite his resistance, he really does enjoy playing with his husband, especially when it ends with Xie Lian wrapped in his loving embrace. 

Leaning back so that he can indeed get a good view at the portrait, Xie Lian lets Hua Cheng handle him to help see from the best angle. Once fixed, Xie Lian finally turns his eyes to his husband’s work. A slight gasp leaves him when he catches sight of it: seeing his husband’s paintings always knocks the wind out of him, but this portrait is a version of Xie Lian that Hua Cheng has not drawn in a while.

Hua Cheng’s hold only loosens so that Xie Lian can inch himself closer. If Xie Lian could see his own reflection, he would know that his eyes are sparkling. Speechless, Hua Cheng finds the words for him instead. “I take it Gege likes it?”

Whipping his head around, Xie Lian gawks at his husband’s phrasing. “Like! San Lang, that’s disrespectful to any of your paintings! I…I love all of them, more than words can even say.” 

It’s true: Xie Lian truly adores each portrait his husband paints, and to have such a talented husband be the one to paint him, with so much care and delicacy, over and over again to hang in each shrine is a constant declaration of his husband’s worship. It is never necessary and Xie Lian would never ask but Hua Cheng will do it regardless. His husband paints as his way of devotion, to immortalize all who Xie Lian was and is with his brushstrokes and ink. Hua Cheng worships him in many ways: the way their bodies come together, night after night, losing themselves in one another’s love. In the little things, such as making sure Xie Lian had eaten or picking a loose speck of dust off his robes, ensuring he takes care of himself in ways that are easily forgotten to him. His husband’s devotion runs deep as an ocean, perhaps even deeper, down to the depths that no one has seen yet Xie Lian has been the one to swim down and drown himself in all that his husband gives to him. 

Portraits are one of his husband’s many declarations of love: Xie Lian adores them all. But seeing himself painted in such a light, by the hand of someone he loves and loves him all the same in turn, ignites such an overwhelming feeling within Xie Lian’s chest, disbelief that he gets to call Hua Cheng his.

It’s silent for a moment too long, and Xie Lian nudges Hua Cheng’s shoulder to encourage him to speak. Though his husband truly adores praise, especially coming from Xie Lian, some words of such cause his husband to become a bit shy. Xie Lian thinks it rather adorable the way in which his husband’s eye glances downward, grin forming instead into a light smile and struggling to look Xie Lian’s way.

Xie Lian, of course, will have none of that! With a featherlight touch to his husband’s chin, Xie Lian tilts his husband’s head towards him. Still not meeting his gaze, Xie Lian waits for Hua Cheng to make the first move. 

It’s important to both of them to allow the other all the time they need to be the one to choose. During their pasts, so much of their agency had been taken away from them, by circumstance and those influencing it. In fleeting moments like this Xie Lian truly wants Hua Cheng to take as long as he wishes: his ghost is only bashful around him, and when these occasions do occur, all Xie Lian knows he needs is the slightest bit of patience and encouragement, and that Xie Lian will never run out of. 

It is always when Xie Lian compliments Hua Cheng in such a way: in which Xie Lian tells all of how much he adores every inch of his husband, his talents, and simply who he is. Though getting better at accepting all the love Xie Lian showers him with, Hua Cheng still struggles to wrap his head around it. 

For a final push, Xie Lian moves his fingers from Hua Cheng’s chin and traces faint, delicate patterns across his cheek. Gaze still downcast, Xie Lian rests his thumb below Hua Cheng’s right eye, currently exposed and no longer hidden. 

Finally, his husband meets his eye and Xie Lian smiles brilliantly. Hua Cheng, smiling in return, leans into Xie Lian’s touch. “This one cannot express how honoured he is that His Highness li—loves not only this portrait, but all. This one is unworthy.”

Xie Lian’s stomach twists and instantly quells that train of thought. “San Lang never has been, never will be, and never is unworthy. He is the most worthy of my love. All his wife will ever ask is nothing more than for San Lang to believe that.”

Eye widening ever so slightly, Hua Cheng appears as though he is about to rebuke, but changes his mind. A pause, and then, “Hearing His Highness say such words is still something this one cannot wrap his head around. But this husband will never not do all that he can for his wife, even if it means believing what is incomprehensible.”

“We’ll just have to learn how to make it comprehensible then, right?” Xie Lian says, affirming his husband with a light kiss to his nose. Hua Cheng’s lashes flutter in brief surprise, but he makes a slight purring noise and Xie Lian has to resist taking his lips in his own right then and there. 

“Gege always knows just the right thing to say. You’ll make this poor dead ghosts’ heart come to life and stop again,” his husband jests, voice light. 

Comfortable silence blankets them, and though they’ll likely have the same conversation again, it’s enough. For Xie Lian to be the one to fluster his husband—it’s a rare occurrence, but since he’s been more confident nowadays, it seems to be more frequent. Xie Lian feels delighted each time he makes his husband go shy, because his husband always puts on that wonderful air of confidence for all around him. Xie Lian is the one who gets to see the soft side of his husband, the side reserved for him. 

Touch lingering upon Hua Cheng’s skin, Xie Lian rubs one more soothing pattern against his husband’s cheek, before turning his attention back to the portrait. 

Able to now put his full attention towards it, Xie Lian is once again sent into a state of awe and wonderment. The brush strokes are ever so careful and precise, as if he himself had modeled for Hua Cheng to paint. Though Xie Lian has done so before, it is never needed: his husband’s attention to detail is impeccable, not a single jewel, freckle, or even a slight wrinkle of his clothing missed. Right down to the colour and sparkle of his eye, the adornments of his hair and his entire being: his husband never misses a single one. To have him memorized, to be painted in such exquisite detail by the one he loves, is one of many declarations of love Hua Cheng gives to him that frequently sends Xie Lian into a state of disbelief and overwhelming love. 

This particular one is not what he had expected Hua Cheng to have painted today, but it is a welcome surprise. It is yet another portrait of him from the Shangyuan Festival all those years ago, in his God-Pleasing Crown Prince Attire, the only difference is that he is without the mask. It would be a representation after his mask had fallen, when he had defied the rules and let his own beliefs guide him, to alter the parade at risk of bad luck to save a life. 

Xie Lian has never once regretted it. 

At a loss, Xie Lian can only stare lovingly at the portrait. As if entranced, he brings a hand to brush his fingers delicately over the paper, careful not to disrupt the ink. Seeing Hua Cheng’s portraits of him will never get old: especially knowing that this is something his husband loves to do. If he could spend each day watching Hua Cheng paint, again and again, while Xie Lian sits in his lap like this, easy domesticity and happiness in their home that they’ve made, Xie Lian would need nothing of sustenance except watching his husband indulge in one of the many things he loves doing, especially for him. 

Never needing words to show his graciousness, Xie Lian turns back to his husband and does not wait a second to capture Hua Cheng’s mouth in a kiss. It is needy and hungry and full of desire and longing, and Hua Cheng wastes no time in returning the kiss with the same vigour. Xie Lian returns his hand to cup the back of Hua Cheng’s head and pulls him as close as he can get, ensuring no air escapes from between them. Hua Cheng’s fang pokes his lower lip ever so slightly, and Xie Lian smiles into the kiss. 

Unfortunately, Xie Lian does need air, and in this moment he quite hates his body for its needs. He regretfully pulls away, but instead touches their foreheads together and sighs in blissful contentment. Hua Cheng takes the time to wind his fingers through Xie Lian’s hair, combing it through. 

“It is His Highness who has always kept me going,” Hua Cheng’s voice is raw, full of emotion from all that Xie Lian had given him with the kiss. It is an unexpected train of thought, but Xie Lian always welcomes any inkling of his husband’s past that he is willing to share. “Through life, through death, and in this afterlife now.”

Does his husband know how such words truly stun Xie Lian and make his heart ache? He feels malleable within his husband’s arms, able to be shaped by his hands and the knowledge that he’s helped Hua Cheng through it all even when he wasn’t right beside him. Xie Lian knows how his husband suffered through Mt. Tonglu, clinging onto each will and scrap of strength by carving and painting his likeness again and again, all to get back to his side. The remembrance of all his husband’s been through makes sadness wash over Xie Lian, but he will not let himself become too emotional at this moment, not today. They’ve talked about it time and time again, and Xie Lian will always listen. Today, however, is about his husband and his adoration of painting Xie Lian in an array of portraits. Something that had helped him through the most brutal times of his life, now changed into something of joy, something he gets to share with the very one whose likeness got him through those very trials. 

Knowing his husband had told him those words simply as a way of saying thank you, of letting him into a brief window of his past, but only in this moment of desire between them, another question comes to Xie Lian’s mind. It is about the very portrait he has drawn today itself, and his husband has given him an inch, a window, and Xie Lian will take the chance to step inside. 

“San Lang, will you tell me something?” Xie Lian asks, eyes flickering to the portrait.

“Always, Gege. You never need to ask,” Hua Cheng assures, looking him in the eye. His husband’s eyes are always so beautiful, shining as they always are with simple passion and adoration, never once wavering when he looks upon Xie Lian. It is consistently dizzying, to be looked upon with so much love, and Xie Lian feels nothing but that same love in return.

With the weight of his husband’s gaze, now Xie Lian is the one who feels a bit shy. Finding comfort in his husband’s cool skin, Xie Lian squeezes Hua Cheng’s shoulder and says, “Will you tell me about that day?”

Xie Lian does not need to be specific for Hua Cheng to know what day he is talking about. All he needs is to look towards the very portrait, which his husband’s eye flicks towards. He focuses on it for a moment, and Xie Lian waits as long as Hua Cheng will need to find the words he wants to say.

Once Hua Cheng’s gaze returns to Xie Lian’s, he smiles, willing Hua Cheng to speak. 

“His Highness risked the entire parade to save a worthless child, who hated the world and wanted to ruin everything else within it,” Hua Cheng begins, his hand coming to a rest upon the small of Xie Lian’s back. Hua Cheng tucks Xie Lian closer somehow, creating space that didn’t exist only so that he can close the distance. “His Highness is the first and only person to show that hopeless child kindness. How could he ever forget the very person who showed him how to live again? Who further went on to tell him how to live for him?”

Xie Lian dare not interrupt, and he dare not look away. His husband’s eye is shining: not with unshed tears, but with sheer, unadulterated love. Mindlessly, Xie Lian returns his hand once again to beneath Hua Cheng’s right eye, the pads of his thumb resting on the scars from a time long past. 

Hua Cheng closes his eye, letting himself melt into Xie Lian’s touch. Taking a moment to gather himself, Hua Cheng goes on. “His Highness never once hesitated to reach out a hand, even if it meant incurring Heaven’s wrath.”

“Heaven’s wrath has never scared me,” Xie Lian interrupts, needing to assure Hua Cheng that it was always worth it. Despite the shackles he has worn, despite how far he had fallen during his first banishment, he never once regretted going against Heaven to try and save his people. He had admitted it before: his only regret is his second ascension, and that is because of what he had almost done. That will forever be his only regret. “If it meant giving up my own beliefs, my own will, I did not care. If Heaven would punish me for saving a life, then Heaven is the one who is wrong.”

Being able to admit his feelings about Heaven feels freeing: for so long, especially as a Crown Prince, he had strived for ascension. Even being one to ascend so young: but now that he’s ascended thrice, been through the lowest points of his life and Heaven is to blame for so much strife, Heaven is not what it makes itself out to be. Even with the previous Heavenly Emperor fallen, Xie Lian has no desire to return. All Xie Lian needs is his husband, who is the only home he’ll ever need and ever want. 

Hua Cheng’s eye opens, blazing with a flurry of emotions at Xie Lian’s admittance. Xie Lian knows that Hua Cheng understands his feelings, he is the only one who ever will, but he needed to say it aloud. Xie Lian needed Hua Cheng to hear it, to speak it into existence, so his husband knows that Xie Lian will never regret anything he had ever done. Especially that which he has done for him. 

“Gege does too much for this one,” Hua Cheng whispers. “He always has.”

“I have always done as much as I wanted to. Never more, and never less,” Xie Lian says, rubbing circles upon Hua Cheng’s scars. “San Lang has always been worth more than life has handed him. But it’s all because of you that you are by my side today.”

Hua Cheng’s shoulders tense, but with a single squeeze of his shoulder by Xie Lian, he relaxes. His husband still struggles with accepting what Xie Lian gives him, but slowly, he is learning to accept it. Xie Lian is ever so proud of his husband for coming so far. In this moment, Hua Cheng further leans into Xie Lian, allowing himself to be at Xie Lian’s mercy. 

Xie Lian takes the chance to close the distance yet again, but this time, he does not capture his husband’s lips. No, this time, he plants a firm kiss right upon Hua Cheng’s right eye. Xie Lian forever adores kissing his husband, but for Hua Cheng to allow him to place his love against a part of himself that Hua Cheng only feels the opposite means more than Xie Lian could ever tell him. It is a part of him that only Xie Lian sees: where he is vulnerable, putty under Xie Lian’s touch, allowing him to mold him as he pleases. Xie Lian will only ever do as his husband asks, but Xie Lian knows whatever he wants, Hua Cheng will allow him to. It’s a representation of just how much they trust each other, a trust in which knows no bounds. 

“I know what it is like to fall, harder than I ever thought I could,” Xie Lian lifts his lips only to speak, keeping his touch brushing against Hua Cheng’s skin, unable to bear a single moment away. “You have done the opposite, San Lang. You have risen so far—all that you are today is because of you.”

“Gege is wrong for once,” Hua Cheng immediately says, shaking his head. “All that I am today is because of His Highness.”

“I may have helped you, but San Lang. You were the one who kept going. Who held on and persevered—all so that you could find me,” Xie Lian continues, voice so quiet that even if others were in the room, only Hua Cheng would be able to hear. “San Lang is the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

Hua Cheng does not reply right away, he has no need. He lets Xie Lian pepper more light kisses against his face, letting Xie Lian words sink deep into his skin. His hands clutch Xie Lian, still ever so tight, as if he had lost Xie Lian again and just found him. Xie Lian comforts him by trailing down his cheek, choosing to place several loving kisses along his neck before making his way back up, landing yet again on those scars that are a reminder of just how much his husband has overcome. 

With Xie Lian’s encouragement, ever so tender and gentle, Hua Cheng smiles softly. Tenderly, he brushes a strand of Xie Lian’s hair behind his ear, tucking it there. Hua Cheng does not let go as he says, “This one thinks His Highness is the strongest person I’ve ever known, but I think he will argue with me on that one, won’t he?”

Chuckling, Xie Lian answers, “San Lang knows His Highness very well. That is exactly what he was going to say.”

“Agree to disagree?”

“For now,” Xie Lian assents, feeling an overwhelming amount of love for his husband. Hua Cheng has truly been through so much—he only wishes that Hua Cheng would see that just as Xie Lian did. But that is a conversation for another day: today is about his wonderful husband, his portraits, and all that these portraits not only mean to him, but to Xie Lian, too.

They say nothing more, simply enjoying being held in each other’s arms and relishing in all that the other gives. Xie Lian hums, repeating the rhythm of a lullaby that Hua Cheng sometimes sings to help him sleep, and Hua Cheng wilts into his touch. Knowing that his husband truly adored painting his likeness, from over eight-hundred years ago and to who he was now, brings Xie Lian more delight than he could ever know how to express. Having spoken about his husband’s memories of that day, Xie Lian does not need to hear anymore to know all that his husband feels of it. Grateful, he places a last, lingering kiss upon Hua Cheng’s eyelid before pulling away, curious about the version of him his husband had decided to paint today.

“Why was San Lang drawing a portrait of the God Pleasing Crown Prince today? Recently your muse has been the new red robes you’ve gotten me,” Xie Lian asks, curious.

Hua Cheng’s expression darkens. “Some foolish mortals were not careful with their offerings. There is a small blemish from incense in the bottom left corner of His Highness portrait. Puqi Shrine requires a new one. The mortals should be dealt with accordingly.”

“Ah! San Lang! I’m sure it was an accident,” Xie Lian placates, soothing his husband by running his hands through his hair. This seems to do the trick, his husband relaxing into his touch. “

“Gege is sure? Nothing serious, perhaps only a scare,” Hua Cheng goads, but the smirk on his face tells Xie Lian he is not serious. Of course his husband will be back to his nonsense the first chance he gets! 

“Yes, I am sure, San Lang. Though I do very much appreciate you protecting my likeness. San Lang is truly a great husband to this wife,” Xie Lian states, matter of fact, but plays along.

Hua Cheng preens, always one to do so when it comes to being reminded that he is indeed Xie Lian’s husband. “Is he? Will this wife tell his husband more?”

Never one to miss a chance to tease, Xie Lian scolds lightly. “This wife would love to tell his husband all the ways in which he is the best, but first he needs to finish his portrait!”

Hua Cheng pouts, and Xie Lian gives him one last bit of encouragement. “If San Lang wants, I can sit on his lap while he does the finishing details? I am quite comfortable.”

The grin he gets in return is all the answer Xie Lian needs. He makes himself comfortable, and Hua Cheng angles himself so that he can wrap his arms on either side of Xie Lian and is still able to reach his canvas. Xie Lian hums, snug within his husband’s embrace, his forever favourite place to be.

“It would be an honour to have His Highness watch this one paint,” Hua Cheng says, choosing this moment before he picks up his brush to squeeze Xie Lian’s waist. 

Xie Lian squeaks and admonishes his husband, but he really is only teasing. “San Lang!!! That is not painting.”

“Mmm. Gege is going to make this a bit harder than expected,” Hua Cheng proceeds to then change his position so that Xie Lian falls in between his legs, causing Xie Lian to blush fiercely. “How’s this for Gege?”

One to adore his husband’s antics, Xie Lian can only laugh. “Very comfortable, San Lang. Now may I please watch you paint? I really would love to see you in action.”

Hua Cheng’s hand stills, and Xie Lian gives him a nudge by wrapping his own hand around his husband’s hand that is not holding the brush. Intertwining their fingers, Hua Cheng comes back to the present and laughs along with him.

“Always, Gege,” Hua Cheng says, placing a tender kiss on the back of his head. Xie Lian sighs happily and leans into his husband, feeling incredibly light. 

With that, Hua Cheng begins the final details of his painting, and Xie Lian watches happily, content, thinking how lucky he is that this is the life he gets to lead.