The Winter Boy's Novel (Xingyun FanFic)

Chapter 8

Xingqiu's POV

The truth was, I really was feeling much better. I guess I know why I wasn't feeling that well last night. It made sense, though little it was. And I don't know what got into me when I spoke to Chongyun in bed. My head wasn't working properly. "Apologies for the way I acted toward you, my liege. I didn't mean for it to be that way." I said. Chongyun laughed. "I know. It was the fever talking, not you. I know you well; you'd never say something like that." he said. I sighed. I know what I said was wrong, but I didn't quite remember what I'd said.

The book I was reading was... interesting, I figure, put in words. There was no true plot. No true character. No true protagonist or antagonist. It left me a bit confused. It also left me with a questioning of Chongyun's request to watch a movie. I set my confusing book down and went to find Chongyun; it wasn't difficult. I grabbed two blankets and headed outside, handing one to him. "Time, I guess, is flying. Christmas is four days away. Today's the Winter Solstice." Chongyun said, staring at the snow as it fell. "I see." I replied. Isn't it funny, how us mortals are very similar to snow? Each has a unique pattern and each has a different physique. As a bonus, they are close to the same percentage of water as mortals are. Though I knew that was not the reason why Chongyun marveled over snow.

"What movie do you plan on watching?" I asked, breaking the silence. Chongyun turned around and tilted his head at me. "I was going to let you pick." "Ah... I don't know the slightest thing about movies." I told him, and we both laughed. "Right, right. So how about one of the Legend of The Shattered Halberd movies? You liked the books, right?" "Ah. Sounds vaguely appealing. That's alright with me if it is with you, my liege." "Oh, yeah. It's good. Plus, if you want, it's the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year...so we can pretty much start at any time." "Alright. I will be in our room if you need anything."

I picked up the first book in the Legend of The Shattered Halberd series and began to read, sitting on my windowsill. I'd read this book so many times; I knew every page in every chapter word for word. Each line was magical. Like the breath of rain. Each line said something; something more than dialogue. Each and every word was sacred. Fragile. Afraid to let go. Just as I knew. I didn't know how long I'd been reading, but Chongyun came into our room when I was about three fourths of the way done with the book. "There you are. I've got everything set up for the movie when you're ready." "Oh. Okay. Thank you, my liege." I slipped my ribbon through the pages and set my book down. It would be interesting to see how the directors edited and adapted the book.

I sat down on the couch next to Chongyun, who had a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He had a bigger blanket for the two of us, which we could share, he explained. We sat next to each other, and I was very truly disappointed. They messed up the entire storyline, which brough distaste in my opinion. So I contemplated other things while Chongyun... About halfway into the movie, Chongyun had fallen asleep. I paused the movie so the noise wouldn't wake him and sank deeper into the blanket next to him. "I hope you enjoy your rest, my liege."

Chongyun's POV

It was very quiet when I woke up. Xingqiu was reading next to me, tranced into his book. Watching him then made me wonder what the heck I should get him for Christmas. Like I've said before, he's always just been there during everything and now it seems like he's having such a hard time between the Whooperflower attack and his father and everything else going on. And yet he's only broken down once. I would've cried for days if I were in his position. So what could I get Xingqiu that was like a condolence gift... but not too obvious?

"My liege, you're awake." Xingqiu closed his book in his lap. "Yes. I... well, sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep in the first place." I said. He laughed briefly. "There is no reason to apologize." he said, running his finger down the spine of his book. I noticed that there was a small stack of books on the ground next to us. He was reading the Legend of The Shattered Halberd again. There was a loud silence between us as he opened up his book and pulled out the ribbon in between the pages. I shifted closer to him and watched his eyes flit across the pages before he turned them. "Are you tired?" I asked him. He shook his head absentmindedly. "Not to an extent. Are you, my liege?" he replied. "Somewhat, I guess." "You can rest if you'd like to. I am just engrossing myself in fine literature." "Oh. Okay. Well... then, I guess I'll be in bed, then." "Good night, my liege."

The problem was: I couldn't sleep. After sleeping with Xingqiu once or twice, I found it hard to sleep without him. I tossed and turned for a while in the dark before Xingqiu walked in, pulling the ribbon out of his hair and setting his stack of books on his desk. He yawned quietly as he filed them back into his many bookshelves. He sat down at his desk and plugged his headphones in before putting them on, opening up a book. He turned his lamp on, though so dim that it looked completely off from my angle. I rolled over so that I was facing my window. There was an owl staring at me from one of the branches on a tree. It distracted me when I heard Xingqiu curse under his breath. I'd never heard him curse before. There was a shattering noise and I practically fell out of bed. "Xingqiu!?" Xingqiu had stood up so quickly that he'd knocked his chair over. He was staring down at it, his fists clenched and shaking. On the ground was his book, open and torn, with writing in pen covering the page. I didn't even have to ask to know what had happened. "Father... what have you done?"