[ oh how feng xin hates this already. he's never enjoyed duplicity, and though he knows better than to take anything the ghost king says at face value, it's still a conscious effort on his part to take in those words and know they mean something else entirely.
he will handle it like he does most things — just kind of steamroll towards the point. ]
[ he knows because xie lian is, at present, asleep in the bed next to him, and because since he found xie lian in the game rooms downstairs hua cheng has barely left his side.
after a brief moment of internal conflict, hua cheng extracts himself from the tangle of limbs and climbs out of bed so he can move to the other part of xie lian's suite, where his voice is less likely to wake him up. ]
He's here with me. And he's asleep, so keep your voice down.
[ he's like fairly sure it doesn't work like that but needling feng xin is so much fun...... ]
[ WELL, feng xin sure is glad he didn't give into his second impulse upon finding hua cheng's alias, which was to call xia lian himself first. that would have been very awkward indeed. not that this is any less so, but thank god feng xin has yet to discover the video function, or it would be even more embarrassing having to deal with his blushing face and hua cheng's pleased smile. because, while he may be dense eight out of ten times, feng xin can still put two and two together. frankly, the idea of dianxia being intimate with the ghost king still catches him off-guard every now and then, even after having a year to come to terms with it.
still, the man makes xie lian happy...... somehow......... ]
Good. [ a pause, and then considerably quieter, ] Good. When he found me here, the last he'd seen you was roughly a year ago.
[ it's not feng xin's business to air out how poorly xie lian had cared for himself during that time. then again, that's just xie lian in general. ]
it's hard to overstate how deeply hua cheng hates the idea of ever leaving xie lian again. the very notion makes something curl unpleasantly in his gut, and he turns on instinct to look at xie lian across the room, as if taking his eyes off of him might cause him to disappear. ]
That was the last I'd seen him, too. [ he had drawn the shattered pieces of his soul back into physical form and made it to the shrine on mt. taicang, only to be plucked from the mountaintop and shoved into this place. ] —I promised I'll never leave him again. I intend to keep that promise.
[ hua cheng has no qualms about lying to feng xin, but he would never hurt xie lian. ]
[ feng xin, miracle of miracles, somehow manages not to blurt out isn't that what you told him the last time. but hey! what does he know... he was just there.... watching as xie lian sobbed into his empty hands as dozens of dramatic ass butterflies fluttered away...........
anyway. ]
I'm glad to hear it.
[ there's a pause. he definitely doesn't want to be having this conversation, but he also feels like not having it would be stupid of him. ]
Are you... [ ah. ] Have you both... [ hm. ]
Will you both be okay? Here.
[ knowing what's being "asked" of them all. feng xin has only ever been in love once before, and even though that love has long since run its course, he can't imagine being forced to do what they're meant to do here, while having promised his heart to jian lan. ]
[ it is what he told him last time... immediately before dissolving into hundreds of dramatic ass butterflies... but look! he came back, didn't he?
for a second, hua cheng doesn't actually understand what it is feng xin is asking. are you? have you? he surely can't be asking about xie lian's sex life, hua cheng can't imagine anything feng xin would want to know less about— ]
Ah. The game?
[ there it is. hua cheng can't pretend the idea thrills him—actually, the idea of anyone else putting their hands on xie lian makes him want to cut those hands right off—but he also can't abide the idea of xie lian stuck here forever. ]
We've... made an agreement, for the sake of getting out of this place. [ does feng xin want the details? too bad he's getting the details. ] We'll play, but he's asked that I be there for him and I've asked him to be there for me. So we'll rarely play alone, if ever.
[ a soft exhalation of breath — all the tension feng xin had been holding for the past few days, slowly just dissipating like the weight on his shoulders. not all of it, of course, but most. ]
That's — [ way more than he wanted to know but he supposes he did ask ] — good. Dianxia is strong. This resort and its game won't break him. I'm counting on you to be strong for him, too.
[ it probably speaks to how tense feng xin had been that he can't even summon an indignant noise for now knowing far too much about dianxia's sex life. and it makes sense—for all that hua cheng and feng xin have historically gotten along like oil and water, hua cheng knows that if nothing else, feng xin cares deeply for xie lian.
it's for that reason that, without any of the usual mockery or even amusement in his voice, hua cheng says, ]
I would never let him come to harm. On that you have my word.
[ a pause, and then he adds, ] I'm counting on you, too. He is strong, but he'll need friends here.
[ perfect, good. that was really all feng xin had reached out for, and now that that's accomplished he can move on with his life and go back to pretending the ghost king does not exist within his social circle, however adjacently that may be.
goddammit. ]
...Will you, too, Crimson Rain? [ need friends here, that is. ]
[ ...the question takes hua cheng enough by surprise that he doesn't immediately have a teasing comeback for it. feng xin, asking whether hua cheng needs friends? surely he doesn't intend to count himself among their number. ]
I guess we all do. [ need friends. what a weird thing to admit to.
oh, and speaking of friends(?): ] Black Water is here. I'm not sure if dianxia told you. He wears the Earth Master's form and may not yet know that his plot has been revealed.
[ hopefully someone else has already caught feng xin up on the timeline situation, because if not, that's probably going to be a deeply confusing thing to hear. ]
[ it's as weird to hear confirmed as it is to have asked in the first place, but they've already come this far. feng xin tries not to make a habit of regretting his choices. ]
He did tell me. I'd met him once, after. I... [ hm. ] Dianxia seemed to think it'd be wiser to play along, for now.
Did he say that? Dianxia told me he scolded Black Water, and revealed that he knew the truth of his disguise.
[ and he'd foolishly done so alone, at that. hua cheng doesn't think that he xuan will be a danger to anyone (...mostly because he doesn't know shi qingxuan is here), but that doesn't mean he wants xie lian alone in a room with him. ]
It still may be worth playing along for now, though.
anyway, feng xin is furious??? after all that talk about exercising caution?! but of course xie lian himself wouldn't think to be careful with himself. goddammit! ]
I don't intend on making any problems with you ghosts, so long as you don't endanger anyone else. [ he grunts through a sigh, pinching at the bridge of his nose. to be fair... it seems the gods are the one starting things this time around. ... well. one god in particular. ] I won't go out of my way to expose Black Water. But he should learn very quickly there's no point to it.
[ about that..... hua cheng looks up, but xie lian just rolls over and seems to continue sleeping. whew. ]
I asked him not to be alone with Black Water again, but you know as well as I do that dianxia is strong-willed. [ and independent, and uncautious with his own safety... ] It's better not to court trouble, even if I would never let anything happen to him.
[ although feng xin might not agree with this assessment, hua cheng promises he's the most stable of the calamities... even he knows when not to stir shit. and in the matter of keeping xie lian from throwing his own safety to the wind, who better to have on his(?) side than feng xin? ]
anyway, feng xin doesn't know if he'd agree with any of that, but especially that last bit, because so far his current track record of stopping xie lian from being his silly, self-sacrificing self has been... goose egg. but certainly not for a lack of trying. ]
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he will handle it like he does most things — just kind of steamroll towards the point. ]
Dianxia is here. Did you know?
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[ he knows because xie lian is, at present, asleep in the bed next to him, and because since he found xie lian in the game rooms downstairs hua cheng has barely left his side.
after a brief moment of internal conflict, hua cheng extracts himself from the tangle of limbs and climbs out of bed so he can move to the other part of xie lian's suite, where his voice is less likely to wake him up. ]
He's here with me. And he's asleep, so keep your voice down.
[ he's like fairly sure it doesn't work like that but needling feng xin is so much fun...... ]
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still, the man makes xie lian happy...... somehow......... ]
Good. [ a pause, and then considerably quieter, ] Good. When he found me here, the last he'd seen you was roughly a year ago.
[ it's not feng xin's business to air out how poorly xie lian had cared for himself during that time. then again, that's just xie lian in general. ]
Don't leave him again. Especially not here.
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it's hard to overstate how deeply hua cheng hates the idea of ever leaving xie lian again. the very notion makes something curl unpleasantly in his gut, and he turns on instinct to look at xie lian across the room, as if taking his eyes off of him might cause him to disappear. ]
That was the last I'd seen him, too. [ he had drawn the shattered pieces of his soul back into physical form and made it to the shrine on mt. taicang, only to be plucked from the mountaintop and shoved into this place. ] —I promised I'll never leave him again. I intend to keep that promise.
[ hua cheng has no qualms about lying to feng xin, but he would never hurt xie lian. ]
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anyway. ]
I'm glad to hear it.
[ there's a pause. he definitely doesn't want to be having this conversation, but he also feels like not having it would be stupid of him. ]
Are you... [ ah. ] Have you both... [ hm. ]
Will you both be okay? Here.
[ knowing what's being "asked" of them all. feng xin has only ever been in love once before, and even though that love has long since run its course, he can't imagine being forced to do what they're meant to do here, while having promised his heart to jian lan. ]
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for a second, hua cheng doesn't actually understand what it is feng xin is asking. are you? have you? he surely can't be asking about xie lian's sex life, hua cheng can't imagine anything feng xin would want to know less about— ]
Ah. The game?
[ there it is. hua cheng can't pretend the idea thrills him—actually, the idea of anyone else putting their hands on xie lian makes him want to cut those hands right off—but he also can't abide the idea of xie lian stuck here forever. ]
We've... made an agreement, for the sake of getting out of this place. [ does feng xin want the details? too bad he's getting the details. ] We'll play, but he's asked that I be there for him and I've asked him to be there for me. So we'll rarely play alone, if ever.
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That's — [ way more than he wanted to know but he supposes he did ask ] — good. Dianxia is strong. This resort and its game won't break him. I'm counting on you to be strong for him, too.
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it's for that reason that, without any of the usual mockery or even amusement in his voice, hua cheng says, ]
I would never let him come to harm. On that you have my word.
[ a pause, and then he adds, ] I'm counting on you, too. He is strong, but he'll need friends here.
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goddammit. ]
...Will you, too, Crimson Rain? [ need friends here, that is. ]
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I guess we all do. [ need friends. what a weird thing to admit to.
oh, and speaking of friends(?): ] Black Water is here. I'm not sure if dianxia told you. He wears the Earth Master's form and may not yet know that his plot has been revealed.
[ hopefully someone else has already caught feng xin up on the timeline situation, because if not, that's probably going to be a deeply confusing thing to hear. ]
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He did tell me. I'd met him once, after. I... [ hm. ] Dianxia seemed to think it'd be wiser to play along, for now.
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Did he say that? Dianxia told me he scolded Black Water, and revealed that he knew the truth of his disguise.
[ and he'd foolishly done so alone, at that. hua cheng doesn't think that he xuan will be a danger to anyone (...mostly because he doesn't know shi qingxuan is here), but that doesn't mean he wants xie lian alone in a room with him. ]
It still may be worth playing along for now, though.
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[ haha, yeah, so about keeping it down...
anyway, feng xin is furious??? after all that talk about exercising caution?! but of course xie lian himself wouldn't think to be careful with himself. goddammit! ]
I don't intend on making any problems with you ghosts, so long as you don't endanger anyone else. [ he grunts through a sigh, pinching at the bridge of his nose. to be fair... it seems the gods are the one starting things this time around. ... well. one god in particular. ] I won't go out of my way to expose Black Water. But he should learn very quickly there's no point to it.
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I asked him not to be alone with Black Water again, but you know as well as I do that dianxia is strong-willed. [ and independent, and uncautious with his own safety... ] It's better not to court trouble, even if I would never let anything happen to him.
[ although feng xin might not agree with this assessment, hua cheng promises he's the most stable of the calamities... even he knows when not to stir shit. and in the matter of keeping xie lian from throwing his own safety to the wind, who better to have on his(?) side than feng xin? ]
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anyway, feng xin doesn't know if he'd agree with any of that, but especially that last bit, because so far his current track record of stopping xie lian from being his silly, self-sacrificing self has been... goose egg. but certainly not for a lack of trying. ]
Alright. I leave the matter up to you.
[ AKA IT'S YOUR MESS TO MANAGE, HC :) ]
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[ FINE HE'LL MANAGE IT FX
and because he's said what he has to say, and assumes feng xin has also said what he has to say... hua cheng hangs up. time to go back to bed :> ]