Spoilers all over the place! Revision Progress: 4/31
Xie Lian has lost his parents, his country, his status in the army... and now his dignity.
After having been captured and gifted to the king of WuYong, he now has to work as a dancer in the foreig...
"Xie-gege", he started. "Do you perhaps dislike dancing for me in private?", the king asked, and he seemed indeed a little concerned.
"Not at all Your Majesty. I prefer this over dancing for you at banquets", Xie Lian answered honestly.
The king hummed.
"Then why is it that you can barely even look me in the eye today?"
Xie Lian couldn't help it, and smiled at the king cheekily.
"Can't I, or won't I?", he teased, to which the king raised his eyebrow, suddenly looking very much amused.
"Oh I see, so we're playing that sort of game. It's my fault for not noticing", he snickered. "Well then, now that I'm caught up, dance for me again. I'll enjoy your playing around more this time", the king promised, and even patted Xie Lian's head, which took him completely off guard.
For a moment, Xie Lian could only blink, because, well, what was that?!, but he came back to himself rather quickly, and nodded obediently before standing up. When he was about to go back to his space, the king suddenly grasped his hand, stopping him.
"Dance closer to me this time", the king ordered, before he let go of his hand again.
Thus, Xie Lian only walked three steps away from the divan, before he got into position again.
However dancing this close to the scrutinising eye of the king was a whole different feeling, Xie Lian immediately realised when he felt like the king's gaze was positively burning a hole through him. He didn't even have to pretend to be unable to look him in the eye this time, because he really was strangely intimidated by dancing with only such a short distance between them.
Still, Xie Lian stubbornly wanted to continue the narrative in his head, and to lose his shyness in front of the king, so he forced himself to keep eye contact with him for a little longer, every time he looked back at him.
The king also really didn't seem to mind humouring him, and gave him encouraging looks in the beginning, which turned to appreciative looks around the middle part, and Xie Lian decided that now would be a perfect time to tease His Majesty a little more, and therefore started using his hips a bit, the way Miss Fang had taught him.
The next time he looked at the king, his eyes seemed to have darkened, and so in turn, Xie Lian gave him a look through half lidded eyes, just before the music ended, and then he turned around completely, his back facing the king.
He hadn't actually planned for this last move, but the look the king had given him in turn had almost turned Xie Lian's insides to mush, and he didn't want the king to see him blush after he performed for him like this. It would ruin the entire dance!
Again, the king was silent for a few moments after his performance, and again, the king called him to come over and sit, so again, Xie Lian went to kneel beside his leg.
"Tell me, gege, what do you think of your new dance instructor?", he eventually asked languidly.
"He seems to be better suited for me to understand his instructions", Xie Lian answered.
"I agree, you seem much more... comfortable today. Perhaps less nervous?"
"That's because I only have Your Majesty judging my dancing today", Xie Lian teased him again, this time even going so far as to put his chin on top of the king's knee. He didn't know what had driven him to do this either, if maybe he'd inhaled something funny by accident, but dancing had indeed become something fun for him, and he couldn't help but feel a bit happy, maybe even giddy in this moment.
The king stiffened in surprise for a short moment, before he happily laughed out loud, and rested one of his hands on Xie Lian's head.
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