from @flwrcrownd. β Β you didn't hear a word of what i just said, did you?Β β ( I hope it's Okai to send things !! I was gonna send something more angsty then I chickened out lololol ,, for mu qing )
mu qing shuts his mouth, xie lian's weary tone taking him off - guard. he's still not used to... this new xie lian. the one thrice - ascended, the one with an inexplicable weight behind his smiles, the one whose favored weapon is nothing but a band of silk that's still one of the most powerful devices mu qing has ever seen ( he'd gotten to observe its strange sentience during those long hours spent mending it, his finest silk thread upon his needle. his suspicions had been confirmed then β it isn't simply a strong spiritual tool, but one forged in blood ).
he may not know most of what transpired for xianle's former crown prince over the last eight - hundred years ( though the little he has heard is... concerning. thrilling, yes, but concerning ), but it's clear it was more than enough to wholly transform the man he once knew. yet, there remain threads of familiarity woven through, and mu qing still doesn't know how to reconcile the image of a naΓ―ve young royal with the humility he's seen this time around. he's been making an effort to lower his defenses since their agreement to be friends now that they stand on level ground, all the inequality between them lying firmly in their centuries - gone past, but it's hard. it's reflex, the way he assumes no one takes him in good faith, and xie lian is no exception to this.
but he pauses, turning xie lian's previous statement over in his mind, dissecting it for alternate meaning, and realizes, oh, i understood that completely wrong. an embarrassed flush rises to his pale face upon realizing he'd overreacted.
Β Β Β " f - fine, " he relents, the closest he can manage to admitting no, i didn't. he looks away from his... friend, he reminds himself, arms crossing over his chest. " never mind. "
