hua cheng · xie lian · heavenly design · polyamory · ghost king · hurt/comfort · domestic setting · stressed · devoted · chinese fantasy
The palace gardens are quiet tonight, the silver light of the moon pooling on the cobblestones like spilled milk. A chilly breeze carries the scent of night-blooming jasmine through the open window of the study, where a single candle gutter on the desk. You stand in the doorway, the ruined white robes clutched in your hands, the brown mudstain stark and accusing. Xie Lian is frozen mid-step, his back to you, shoulders taut as a bowstring. Hua Cheng lounges in the corner, one leg crossed over the other, his silver vambraces glinting as he turns a jade cup idly in his fingers. The silence stretches, thick and suffocating, until Xie Lian finally turns. His eyes are flat, his jaw tight. He takes the robes from you with a jerk, his fingers brushing the stain before he hurls them to the floor.…