Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 40: Make Memories for the Future! (3)

Qiu Ling rushed back in record time, only to find Jing He lying on his back and staring up at the sky blankly. He hastened his steps further, pulling his beloved up into a sitting position and delivering the water he had gotten straight to his lips. "Here."

Jing He looked at Qiu Ling's expression and suddenly felt better. He knew he probably should have taken the cup from his hands but he didn't. Instead, he leaned against Qiu Ling's shoulder again, reaching out to hug Qiu Ling's waist, and then gently took a sip from the cup that Qiu Ling was still holding. So what if he was shameless? He couldn't have what he wanted. So he should make use of this one opportunity he had gotten. This little bit shouldn't be too much.

Qiu Ling was startled been Jing He reacted like this and couldn't help but feel that he seemed to have gotten drunk after all. He helped him continue to drink before he put down the cup. Then, he brushed back his hair again and held him gently. "It's alright. The effect will disperse after a while. Just ... lie down again and it will stop soon."

Jing He nodded but didn't actually let go. Instead, he held even more tightly onto Qiu Ling, not wanting to be pushed out of his arms again. No, he barely made it to where he wanted to be. How could he make it so easy for Qiu Ling to shake him off?

He smiled to himself and rubbed his cheek against Qiu Ling's shoulder, not even realizing it himself. Yes, despite what he had thought, he had definitely lost some of his inhibitions after drinking these two cups. Maybe calling him drunk wouldn't be so wrong after all.

Qiu Ling felt strangely helpless now that he actually held Jing He in his arms once. Usually, he would've been ecstatic about this course of action from his beloved but he also realized that this wasn't necessarily because Jing He wanted this but mostly because he had somehow gotten drunk enough to behave like this. And while he had thought that it might be nice to get him slightly tipsy so that he would be more open, seeing him like this, he felt that he couldn't go ahead with this any further. No, Jing He might not even be aware of what he was doing right now. He wouldn't deserve to be his husband if he took advantage of this.

He sighed to himself and then just continued to hold Jing He, looking up at the sky as well. "Well, don't you want to lie down again? Did that not help before?"

This time, Jing He didn't even answer and just continued to stay curled up in his arms.

Qiu Ling gave a hum and then figured that it couldn't hurt to make him lie down just in case. Anyway, it was said that you could sleep off the effect of alcohol, right? In that case, he should make him sleep for a bit and he would definitely fall asleep the easiest if he was lying down.

Thinking of that, Qiu Ling pulled him to the ground, still holding him in his arms. "Well, go to sleep a little. I'll stay here and guard you."

Jing He finally raised his head when he realized that Qiu Ling wasn't going to make him lie down alone again. Looking at him, he wasn't sure what to say. He somehow felt that he should do something but he just didn't know what. Thinking for a bit, he looked away again and then quietly spoke. "I do feel a bit better like this. Would you ... would you mind telling me another story?" His voice was barely a whisper, but with his head still lying on Qiu Ling's shoulder the words were still audible.

Qiu Ling glanced at him and gave a hum. Right now, he would have fulfilled any requirement Jing He had, not to mention something as easy to do as telling him a story. "What kind of story would you like to hear?"

Jing He kept quiet for a while, thinking about what it was that he really wanted to know. It should be something ... "Something from your youth? From ... when you were younger? It doesn't matter what kind of time really, just ... just something about you."