The King's Dancer

Chapter 13

Xie Lian woke up feeling toasty and comfy, and he almost didn't want to open his eyes. He did open them rather fast however, when he was awake enough to realise that he wasn't alone in his bed.

In fact, there was a whole body pressed right up against his back, as well as an arm wrapped around him, which... Xie Lian was clutching in his own hand. Knowing very well who this arm belonged to, Xie Lian blushed scarlet, and felt his whole body stiffen.

"You're awake?", Hua Cheng asked in a whisper from behind him.

"I'm asleep", Xie Lian whispered back, feeling mortified. He had a hazy memory of last night, when Hua Cheng had tried to leave, but Xie Lian had grabbed his arm, and asked him not to leave him alone. He remembered Hua Cheng tucking him in, and then rejoining him. And once he'd rejoined him, Xie Lian had grabbed his hand again.

He wished he didn't remember what he did in his half awake state, just so he wouldn't be embarrassed out of his mind!

Hua Cheng chuckled, but humoured him.

"Oh? So gege is a sleep talker?", he teased.

"He is", Xie Lian played along, willing his face to return to a normal shade.

"How interesting. Is gege sleeping well, then?"

"Very well, thank you."

"That's a relief. I was worried because gege kept my hand in a vice grip the whole night, and wouldn't let go no matter what. I was forced to cuddle with gege because of this, so I hope gege won't think I invaded his privacy too much."

Xie Lian sighed, and gave up his pretense. He turned onto his back, to get a better look at Hua Cheng, and only realised belatedly that he was still hugging the king's arm to his chest. He let go of it then, but Hua Cheng didn't move his arm away, almost as if he was afraid that Xie Lian would grab it again anyway if he tried, and just kept resting it on Xie Lian's chest. Xie Lian really didn't know how many times Hua Cheng had tried, before he decided to stay.

"I'm sorry San Lang", he said ruefully.

"Gege has nothing to apologise for. After all, the nights do get cold here, and if gege wants to snuggle up to keep warm, this San Lang is more than happy to comply."

Really, Hua Cheng was handing him all the excuses on a silver tablet.

"I... I'll keep that in mind for future references", Xie Lian mumbled, feeling embarrassed, but he also knew himself well enough that he could get used to cuddling with Hua Cheng like this.

The king laughed warmly. "Please do."

After that awkward situation upon waking up, they proceeded to have breakfast in much the same fashion as they had the previous day.

"I already had Yin Yu fetch some proper robes for you. You don't need to run around in dancer's garments all the time after all, and your old robes are a bit too heavy for this desert climate", Hua Cheng said offhandedly, while they were still eating.

"Really?", Xie Lian asked, feeling delighted.

"Of course."

After breakfast, Hua Cheng led Xie Lian into the main house, and showed him the robes Yin Yu had brought here, and told him to choose the ones he liked.

The robes were all much lighter than the ones he was used to wearing, but they also had several layers, which Xie Lian was incredibly happy about. While he had indeed gotten somewhat used to wearing only one layer with the dancer's garments, he felt much more comfortable wearing proper robes after all, even if they were much thinner.