Chapter Text
Hua Cheng was in his bedchambers when the chaos first struck.
He was there for a simple task, merely fetching some papers for the day's work, but the next thing he knew with a crash and a bang (and an inconvenient roll of a pair of dice) two idiots had appeared in the entryway. The entryway to his PRIVATE chambers, mind you. And those ingrates were filthy; sopping wet and dripping water, mud, and various bodily fluids onto his lavish flooring. The ghost king whipped around with a snarl, brandishing E-ming, and had half a mind to cut down those pesky officials right where they stood for their transgressions before noticing one crucial detail: slumped over between the two (far inferior) heavenly officials, soaked and shivering, was Xie Lian, his white robes stained red.
E-ming clattered to the ground. "What happened?" he demanded coldly, rushing to the sides of a very uncomfortable and annoyed Mu Qing and Feng Xin, each of them supporting one of Xie Lian's arms over their shoulders. Gege was in pain, Gege was HURT, and once again where was he when everything went downhill? He gently moved Xie Lian's damp hair our of his face, caressing his cheek, the action prompting those light brown eyes to slowly crack open and meet his gaze. "Gege..."
Xie Lian's gaze instantly softened at the recognization of a familiar face, and he smiled slightly, clearly weak and tired. He could feel the wraith butterflies flitting across his body, examining for any wounds that were left untreated, anxiously concentrating near his side to check the earlier healing work. His San Lang was too good to him. Hua Cheng was pleased to find that the blood on his prince's robes was not from an open wound, at least the idiots had the decency to take care of that, but any blood spilled from his Gege still ignited his wrath, and so he sternly asked the pair again. "What. Happened." If it was their fault, he would make them pay.
"We suspect he is ill, and it has been interfering with his work," Feng Xin replied, handing over Xie Lian into the (over)protective grasp of Crimson Rain, who quickly picked him up in a bridal carry and held him close to his chest, giving himself the comforts of body heat and beating heart to soothe his lover. Xie Lian tucked his face into the other's neck with a groan, nuzzling into the newfound warmth.
"Quite the understatement, coming from someone who wasn't directly affected by said illness," Mu Qing muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. The events of the day had been... particularly unpleasant... and dealing with illness was not something anyone would prefer to do. Nor was dealing with Feng Xin, and even less Hua Cheng.
"We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if you had just protected His Highness' blind spots like you were supposed to!" the brunette retorted, looking all too much like he was about to throw hands in the bedchambers of Paradise Manor right in front of its lords. This threw Mu Qing into even more of a rage than before and he huffed angrily, raising his voice. Hua Cheng did not miss how Xie Lian flinched in his arms at the volume.
"His Highness barely has any blind spots--"
"Silence," Hua Cheng growled (but not too loudly), baring his teeth, and the room instantly fell quiet. He could hear the frantic thumping of the officials' heartbeats from across the room and inwardly smirked, immensely satisfied that they still knew fear. He briefly considered following with something more dramatic, more imposing, but that wouldn't get him anywhere. Silence pervaded for a few moments before Xie Lian shifted again, gently rubbing Hua Cheng's arm.
"Shh, it's okay San Lang," he weakly reassured, sensing the tension in his lover, before looking over at Feng Xin and Mu Qing as if in a daze. "I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused..." he whispered, face taut with barely concealed pain. "I--I am sorry."
"No--no need to apologize!" Feng Xin stuttered, bowing his head humbly and feeling mildly ashamed of himself. Mu Qing, however, was still not in the mood.
"If you want to repay us, perhaps try NOT to do that again?" he said sarcastically, but with a hint of lighthearted teasing that Xie Lian picked up on immediately. Hua Cheng did not, however, and was viciously picturing E-ming's removal of the idiot's voicebox with steaming rage while Xie Lian huffed out a weak laugh.
"Fair..."
"But please your Highness," Mu Qing continued, more seriously this time, "try to get some rest."
"Don't worry, I am in good hands." He looked up at the man who was holding him and smiled, and Hua Cheng smiled back with his eyes only, his mouth still set into a frown. "Let them leave peacefully now please, San Lang..."
"As His Highness wishes," he nodded, opening a portal with his dice back to the outskirts of the heavenly realm. Far enough away to be quite inconvenient, but still within the correct general area. If Mu Qing or Feng Xin noticed that the action itself was passive-aggressive, they didn't dare mention it. They straightened up, bowing their heads to the couple in a rare display of compliant behavior.
"We will take our leave now. Wishing you a speedy recovery," Feng Xin said awkwardly, before grabbing Mu Qing and half dragging him through the portal which Hua Cheng closed immediately, nearly grazing their coattails. As soon as they were gone the ghost king sighed, relaxing a bit. Now that those annoyances were gone, he could focus more on the matter at hand: taking care of his Gege. Xie Lian was pale and shaky, his eyes closed and his face tense in an uncharacteristic display of pain. He nearly whined when Hua Cheng shifted him ever so slightly to move towards the bed, changing him gently into dry clothes and laying him across his side of the bed. He tucked him under the covers with lingering touches, kissing away the tightness in his brow.
"Is Gege ill?" he asked softly, trying to force down the worry rising in his chest. He did not seem to have any sort of fever, and the flow of his spiritual energy denied the probability of a curse.
"Not exactly," Xie Lian replied with a whisper, swallowing thickly. "I'm fine, San Lang, it's just a headache..."
Xie Lian knew that 'just a headache' may have been the understatement of the literal century, and he was definitely not fine, but did San Lang really need to know that? His head throbbed angrily, every brief movement of his body or subtle change in sound and light sending a heightened wave of agony crashing over his skull. The pain burrowed deep, originally settling behind his right eye and radiating outwards through the rest of his head and even down into his neck and jaw, feeling all to similar to cracking bones every time he shifted. He didn't want to open his eyes, the dizziness and patches on the right side of his vision too disorienting for his tastes. But he'd rather not overly worry his San Lang, especially when he felt like he was in no state to offer comfort.
Hua Cheng was not pleased with this response, and was fairly suspicious that Xie Lian was lying, as much as he was loath to admit it. "But you shouldn't have to go through any pain if it can he helped. Will Gege accept any medicine?" Xie Lian considered it carefully, and considered the pleading look he knew was on his husband's face, before acquiescing. And maybe it would end up helping the pain for once, which was creeping closer to unbearable every second he was awake.
"That would be appreciated, thank you," he murmured, inadvertently setting off alarm bells in Hua Cheng's head. He wasn't usually that quick to accept help, and didn't offer a single comment on how it would 'inconvenience his San Lang'. The ghost king once again felt at a loss, not knowing what was ailing his Gege nor how to help other than basic painkillers, and clenched his fists. He was basically useless. Again. But he had to push that down for now.
"Anything for Gege. I will get some right away," he said, leaving another kiss on Xie Lian's forehead. The other man hummed weakly in response, listening to his husband's rapid footsteps as they faded into the distance. A few seconds passed before Xie Lian gathered the strength to raise an arm and drape it loosely over his eyes, shielding himself from the light that was still able to seep in from beneath his closed eyelids. Everything was far too bright, lights stabbing him like knives in his face, and he groaned. It had been so long since he'd been struck by a migraine of this magnitude, and it was embarassing that he had to share that moment with his husband! At least Feng Xin and Mu Qing had seen him like that before, even if they didn't connect it with their experience today. He laid there stewing in his misery and embarassment until Hua Cheng returned with a small cup of medicine, which he set on the bedside table.
"Do Gege's eyes hurt?"
Right. He was covering his eyes still, wasn't he? "S' too bright. Hurts," he managed to stammer, fighting the signs of inevitable tears. "And it's loud."
Hua Cheng cursed his stupidity, his general incompetence, how had he not clued in before? He violently berated himself as he immediately dimmed the lights and cast a sound-dampening charm on the bedroom, rubbing Xie Lian's arm soothingly. "This one apologizes for not noticing sooner," he implored, voice full of pain. "Please forgive me. Shhhh, Gege, it's alright..."
(The dam had broken, and Xie Lian's face was silently leaking tears.)
"Not San Lang's fault," Xie Lian whimpered, pressing tighter against his head. "He didn't know."
Due to knowing His Highness for as long as he did, Hua Cheng realized pretty quickly that, regretfully, his apology was not accepted. 'Why apologize for something that could not be helped?' is along the lines of what he knew would be said if Xie Lian was feeling better, and so he let the matter rest for now. Maybe he'd apologize again, later, in a different way. "I have medicine, let me help you sit and drink. Please."
With Xie Lian's hum of assent Hua Cheng set about slowly sitting up his husband, keeping him upright with a firm hand on his back and guiding him to grasp the cup. Their two hands combined raised the cup for him to drink, and the ghost king couldn't help but laugh when Xie Lian's face scrunched up in displeasure as he drunk the medicine, not entirely unlike a wet cat. "Ugh," he shuddered, falling gracelessly back against Hua Cheng, who gently lowered him back onto the bed. "San Lang 's so cruel. That was disgusting."
"It was necessary," he chuckled, rubbing soothing circles across Xie Lian's hand. "Does Gege need anything else for his head?"
"Cold helps sometimes..."
"Then I will get a cold cloth," Hua Cheng said with certainty, determined to get Xie Lian anything he could possibly need. A bowl of iced water and a soft cloth was fetched with efficiency, and just as quickly the wet rag was draped across His Highness' eyes and forehead. The man sighed with relief, mouth turning up into a small smile.
"Thank you," he murmured, giving Hua Cheng's hand a light squeeze.
"Anything for Gege," the ghost king replied once again, being careful not to jostle the bed as he crawled in next to his husband, laying a respectful distance away on his side. "You should rest now, I will be here when you awake." Xie Lian only gave a muffled, sleepy 'mmmnh' in response, not even bothering to put up a fight. Worry still wriggled in Hua Cheng's core, but he hoped that after painkillers and sleep his husband would feel much better and be able to explain in better detail what had happened. Like how he had come back to the manor covered in blood.
But all he could do for now was wait.