Note: can you tell when I left he overheated lecture hall and returned to my equally hot apartment? ...most of this is just Lahan being miserable in summer, cuz same. please let summer be over soon...anyways I want him
Warning: there's talk about food and forgetting to eat and drink, Lahan in general is miserable because I am miserable
Word around the Empire was that he had no interest in the allures of the flesh and to the outside that may be true, to everyone else he might only be interested in numbers and economic exploits, but behind closed doors he had his special someone, one he adored, one he cherished and according to him they were his perfect match, he enjoyed their company.
That special someone was you. When he met you, you weren't anything special, you were just a servant running around the palace fulfilling your duties, nothing of note, but you were quick and efficient, managed to do your tasks with a precision most other servants couldn't. That is what originally drew him to you, but the more he got to know you the deeper he fell, he wouldn't say it was love at first sight, rather it was a long and drawn out process of getting to know each other and a bit of bickering. Usually he hated bickering, he avoided it like the Plague but with you he enjoyed it, it was never useless nagging or fighting about mundane things, it was a constant one upping each other he found it endearing. You had great qualities, despite your unremarkable background you were smart, knew how to run things, knew how to play Go, not that it was one of his main priorities but it certainly helped, sure you weren't as calculating as he was and rather went with the flow of things, but even he himself sometimes needed someone to balance him out, while not directly giving him a headache.
Currently he was investigating, gods know what, for Jinshi, after a failed attempt of getting a raise, not that it bothered him, he was well situated enough to not need the extra money, it would have just been nice, afterall he valued his work worth more than what he got, however that was not to discourage him from doing his work, he found a certain kind of enjoyment in digging up dirt on people, but working well into the night was a lot even for him, even if he often stayed up late today was just somehow draining for him, maybe it was the heat that summer always brought or it might have been the fact that he didn’t see his beloved darling all day. He felt lonely and it was way to hot in his little office, so hot in fact that his spectacles refused to stay on his nose, they kept wanting to slide down forcing him to Interrupt his so he could push them back up, the skin on his nose started to burn, he felt like the first layer of his skin was already gone due to the amount of times he had to push the visual aid around. He also was hungry, he hadn't even noticed until now, he was so focused on his work but now that the discomfort was hitting it was hitting all at once.
Then knocking, only a soft knock, trying to be not too loud, not wanting to interrupt him. He only responded with a mumbled ‘come in’ thinking it was just someone else trying to put more work on him before he could finish up for the day, making his already torturous experience even worse. As much as he loved his work, he just couldn’t concentrate anymore, it was too warm, he felt too sticky, too hungry, too anything, concentration was just slipping, his mind felt fuzzy, his eyes couldn’t focus on the scroll in front of him anymore. The words just seemed to slip from the paper, everything on it just looked wobbly and wonky. His hands felt shaky and ached from writing all day, he could barely hold the brush anymore, his fingers were chafed from writing all day. All he wanted was a way out of his misery, maybe a cold bath to cool down his body after a long day stuck in a dark room illuminated by candles, while the sun outside was warming up the room as well.
So naturally when the door opened and it was you standing in the doorway he felt genuine relief, he didn’t think he would ever be released from this prison of his own making. To see you, holding a bowl with what he assumed was food felt like the heavens were reaching out to him personally and throwing him a bone. This whole time he had just felt like he was melting away due to the heat, seconds felt like hours, he thought he had been in this room for days. His throat felt dry, he felt dizzy, it’s probably also been a while since he drank something, he was getting a headache due to his own thoughts, it added to the fuzziness and thumping he was already experiencing due to being dehydrated.
“Thought you’d be in here. Have you eaten yet? or even drank anything? like anything at all?”
Your voice pulled him out of his own thoughts, it was like a saving grace. He was tempted to just nod, he could barely comprehend your questions. He watched you as you put down a cup of water in front of him, usually he would have tea with you but considering the heat outside some simple water was probably the better option for him. He just looked at you and then at the cup of water, almost as if expecting you to say something, he honestly couldn’t think.
“You need to drink something. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
As soon as some Water finally flowed down his throat he started feeling a little less dizzy, less fuzzy, mainly he felt a little less horrible. If it weren’t for you he probably would have long succumbed to his tendency to overwork himself and forget he still needs to eat and drink and even if he were to remember his basic needs, his day would still be brightened every time he saw you. He always looked at you as if you took the stars from the sky and presented them to him. His eyes met with yours again, this time with the same lovestruck expression he always looks at you with, his spectacles kind of slipping down again due to how moist his skin was. You moved your hand up to his face using your pointer finger to push the visual aid properly back onto his nose, Lahan, of course leaned into your touch, he kind of reminded you of a cat in this moment. You lean against the desk and softly kiss his forehead.
He was content with how his life turned out so far, after all he had a loving and caring partner, who would do anything to make sure he was alright, as much as he loved being independent it was nice to have someone one could rely on. He finally finds the energy to sit up properly and stretch a little, getting a bit of relief after sitting around all day and doing some tedious desk work. He looks at you and smiles, it was that smile that might have reminded you of a docile fox and you smile back, he was certainly nice to look at.
