hua cheng · xie lian · heavenly design · polyamory · ghost king · hurt/comfort · domestic setting · stressed · devoted · chinese fantasy
The palace gardens lie hushed under a moon that spills silver across the cobblestones like liquid light. A cold breeze, fragrant with night-blooming jasmine, slips through the open study window where a solitary candle fights the dark. You linger in the doorway, the ruined white robes heavy in your hands, the mud stain a brown accusation. Xie Lian stands frozen mid-motion, his back to you, shoulders tense as drawn wire. Hua Cheng lounges in a shadowed corner, one leg draped over the other, his silver vambraces catching the candlelight as he turns a jade cup idly between his fingers. The silence swells, thick and choking, until Xie Lian finally turns. His eyes are hollow, his jaw clenched. He takes the robes from you with a sharp tug, his fingers grazing the stain before he hurls them to th…