A Blade and an Arrow

In The Midst Of Our Cries(2)

"It's somewhere around here-" Xie Lian turned to a spot, eyes scanning the grime as he looks at the scroll before looking back at the ground. Hua Cheng lazily removed a butterfly's wing, making sure his husband doesn't see.

The archer took the distraction as a chance, swiftly going behind the silverette who was mindlessly eyeing their surroundings for any sort of danger as he pulls out his extra cloak, quickly and not so gently drapping it over the man and hastily going back behind Xie Lian, pretending as if he hadn't left. He suppresses a smile that threatens to appear once he heard the light oooph from the other as he replies to whatever Xie Lian said, pointedly ignoring the smirk the Ghost King shot at him.

Mu Qing's eyes widened in surprise. Lifting a hand to grasp the cloak, lightly shaking the snow that had fallen on it as he glances at the man who blatantly refuses to look back at him. He smiles to himself, gently drooped the cloak around his shoulders before pulling the hood over his head. He clicks his tongue in annoyance when he remembers his left hand had been bandaged. Despite that, he still stubbornly tries to tie the lock, muttering to himself before tensing when he sees tanned fingers push his pale one gently away, fingers softly grazing over the exposed skin on his neck as he felt goosebumps all over his body. Neither of them said a word as Feng Xin tied the locks, avoiding to look at him in the eye. The silverette contemplates whether he should say thanks or push the other away but it seemed that the other had already decided, dropping his hands and casually walking back to the two who didn't appear to notice. His cheeks and ears were burning hot despite the cold, pulling the hood until it covers half his face as he was thankful that it covered his pale skin entirely.

"Ah! You brought an extra cloak! I was worried you had gotten cold! You don't wear enough layers for this types of conditions after all." Xie Lian chirps, clasping his hands with a smile. "Though, I assume you were now immune but I must've been wrong." He continues, fingers fiddling with the loose tie of his own cloak.

Mu Qing purses his lips into a flat line, cocking his head to the side to avoid their gazes as he shrugs mutely, his cheeks burning even more when he heard him say that he "brought an extra cloak" knowing full well who had the habit of bringing spare clothes on missions. Xie Lian fortunately averts his attention to Hua Cheng who said something that the silverette didn't bother listening to and instead wandered further away from the three.

Although he knew that he shouldn't think much about it, after having to recieve mixed signals from the archer, he couldn't help but think more about the small gestures. Over the course of six months, they never really interacted. The last actual conversation they had was that of when they seperated ways in the midst of the ruins, since then, they barely even look at each other in the eye. Mu Qing wasn't lying if he said that he tried to hold a full conversation and not just uttering one or two words but the archer would leave immediately, with an excuse that there was an emergency or he had something to do. That repeated for over five times until he just - not entirely - gave up, forcing himself to the sudden change of their relationship, if there even was one to begin with.

The Heavenly Officials immediately noticed this. Though, they were more happy of the fact they didn't have to waste another load of merits just to rebuild the newly built golden pavilions and palaces again so they didn't question what had happened to cause the change. There were, however, some that enjoys gossiping about the Upper Courts' relationships, and thus, shamelessly spread that Mu Qing and Feng Xin was dating - Mu Qing had wished multiple times that it wasn't just gossip - but was immediately punished by Xie Lian who didn't want his two bestfriends' relationship to be awkward and drive them further away from each other.

But saying that Mu Qing was confused will be an understatement. He was completely confused what he was to Feng Xin. There were times that he would notice the other blatantly avoiding him, leaving the room once he just entered and not even bothering to acknowledge his presence when Xie Lian asked them for help. He was heartbroken by those alone. Then there was those times that he felt like he was over the moon when Feng Xin ever do the smallest affections just the same of what he did earlier. Giving him a spare ribbon when his hair tie snapped randomly, the time when the archer grasped his arm to pull him away from a burning hut and hadn't let go even when they were far from it, offering to fix the little silver crown on his head.