TGCF : HuaLian Oneshots ||√

12. Mischievous Foxes

It was a calm evening, the setting sun painted the sky in a kaleidoscope of red and orange. 

Xie Lian was returning to the Puqi shrine after a long day of helping the villagers in their fields. Although he was glad to be able to catch a break, he wasn't particularly looking forward to it as his lover and husband was away that day. 

Xie Lian knew being the ruler of Ghost City, Hua Cheng would be busy at times but that couldn't stop him from feeling blue when he thought that he wouldn't be able to embrace the man tonight.

As he arrived at the shrine, he was surprised to find a wild fox resting at the steps of his shrine. He smiled to himself, wondering how a wild creature came to pass by this populated side of the town but he wasn't complaining. Its thick red fur looked smooth and shiny and Xie Lian couldn't fight the urge to pet it. He had expected it to jump away in fright, yet to his surprise, the fox just lazily blinked open an eye and gave its pump tail a wave. 

He found it surprising but decided to not give it much thought. As he tried to enter the shrine, the fox followed, nudging closer to his legs. Xie Lian chuckled and picked it up in his arms. It- no, he was indeed very cute. 

"Did you get lost, little fox ?" 

As if in agreement, the fox let out a short, high-pitched bark and reached out to lick Xie Lian's nose. Xie Lian giggled and pulled him to his chest, letting his head rest against his shoulder. The fox froze for a bit before continuing to nudge against his neck, drawing out more giggles from the said man.

Finally, Xie Lian decided to give it a rest. He put the fox down which consequently made a sound akin to a whine.

"You must be hungry", Xie Lian remarked mostly to himself. He started for the kitchen and as expected, the fox followed. He even started rubbing his head against Xie Lian's leg, who couldn't help but sigh. At this, the fox seemed to stop and retract back. 

Xie Lian searched the shelves and dug out two steamed buns which were relatively fresh. He held out one to the little fox, unsure if wild animals eat this kind of thing. Once again, to his surprise, the fox reached out and took a bite. 

He noticed that the fox always kept its right eye closed. 

Friendly wild fox, smooth red coat, right eye closed and very very clingy...Suspicious was the first word that popped into his mind. But the Ghost King had many important things to do....right?

"Ahh I can't even go a day without longing for my lover", Xie Lian mused aloud. The fox's ears perked up and it edged closer to Xie Lian, resting his head on his lap. Xie Lian scratched its ears and it pressed even closer. Xie Lian barely managed to conceal his laughter before continuing, "I think I'm getting too clingy with him", he said and there was a lot of truth in that statement. 

These days he couldn't get along without seeing his San Lang's face and peppering it with kisses and hold him close and..ahem ahem...yeah. The fox fully climbed up into his lap and pressed its cold nose on his belly. 

Xie Lian picked it up in his arms and cradled him in his arms like a baby. Baby his foot! It was definitely San Lang.  He knew very well that San Lang wouldn't lie to him, over the years he had grown quite...sly, although it was his fault for spoiling his husband rotten to the core.

 The 'fox' seemed to have found Xie Lian's arms to be a very comfortable place to nap on and Xie Lian indulged him, occasionally rubbing his nose on that furry belly.

Soon enough, as the final confirmation to his suspicions, the lightweight in his arms turned comparatively heavier and the cute fox turned into his cute husband. Hua Cheng stared back at him with his lone eye, while still being held in his arms. His stare was lazy but filled with adoration, and his smile was smug with accomplishment. 

Xie Lian found himself getting lost in that stare. Noticing this, Hua Cheng flashed him a knowing smirk and Xie Lian coughed himself back to the situation at hand. He let down his lover, earning himself a disappointed groan. 

"I thought the Ghost King had important work to attend to?"

"Trust me Gege, it was very important.", Hua Cheng replied.

Xie Lian cocked his head, demanding a better explanation. Hua Cheng wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him into his lap. 

"I found an artifact which lets a person turn into their spirit animals for a few hours.", Hua Cheng said, "Gege should also give it a try."

"Maybe some other day", Xie Lian replied, pulling in his lover for a long-awaited kiss.

A/N: No beta we die like wu ming

so the thing is I want to finish some of the syllabus for the next grade, and there is a lot of other stuff to cover and i have a heck lot of homework and then extra classes and another exam in a month or less so I don't know when to write. This book will get one other chapter probably, for our dear ferret Dian Xia. After that, I will re-edit the book cus I want to enter it for a competition. I might remove this message then.

see ya guys later. <3