Xie Lian rocked himself slightly as he pressed his back into the corner of the coat closet, keeping Hong-er held tightly against his chest as he tried not to cry, his bare feet cold against the polished wood of the floor.
As long as they stayed silent, it would buy them more time until Jun Wu found them.
Wrapping the front of his pale blue cardigan around the little boy in his arms, the scrap god tried to keep them hidden, his ears straining for any sound of footsteps.
Feeling Hong-er press his head against the crook of his neck, Xie Lian kissed the top of his head, whispering, "I'll keep us safe, San Lang, we just have to stay quiet."
Time seemed to slow to a snailspace in the little coat closet, Xie Lian eventually feeling Hong-er's breathing even out as the little boy fell asleep in his arms.
Right as he began to feel his own eyelids start to grow heavy, footsteps could be heard approaching them from down the hallway.
Staring down at the light peeping in through the crack at the bottom of the doorframe, Xie Lian felt his heart drop when a shadow appeared right in the center of the light for a moment before the brass doorknob turned and the closet door opened.
There, standing in the way of his only escape, was Jun Wu; the Heavenly Emperor clad not in his elaborate robes but in a white button-up with black slacks, his feet covered with only black socks, and the blazer he had been wearing earlier nowhere to be seen.
Jun Wu did not comment about Xie Lian's hiding, just offering him a smile and saying, "There you both are, Xianle, dinner is ready."
"I'm not hungry." Xie Lian lied, just holding Hong-er close, pressing his face against the sleeping boy's head
"You both refused breakfast and lunch as well." The taller man said, "You should not skip dinner as well, it is not good for Hong-er as he is still growing."
Xie Lian wanted to bite back and point out that Hong-er was a grown man, that Hua Cheng was being forced back into childhood with no recollection of the truth, but he held his tongue.
Instead, the scrap immortal stood up with his friend still in his arms, reluctantly following Jun Wu to the small dining table in the back corner of the kitchen -behind them floor-to-ceiling windows showed they were thousands of feet in the air with a bustling city outside.
Setting the presumably three-year-old Ghost King onto the seat holding a booster seat, struggling with the unfamiliar straps, before sitting on the available chair beside him
Jun Wu seemed pleased by this, setting three plates on the table -the latter most one being on a colorful green plate that was made of a strange material Xie Lian had never seen before (that he would later learn was called 'plastic')- all holding beef and broccoli with rice, before sitting down in the final seat.
Slowly, Hong-er woke up and frowned at Jun Wu, taking Xie Lian's hand; the cursed shackle around the little boy's wrist was obvious as he wrapped his hand around the other's finger that also held a cursed shackle in the mockery of a wedding ring.
Neither Xie Lian nor Hong-er ate the offered dinner despite being hungry, not at all trusting the god that kidnapped them not to drug them.
"You should eat." The Heavenly Emperor said
Xie Lian did not meet his eyes, repeating himself, "I'm not hungry."
"Our son should eat then, you are being a bad mother." Jun Wu replied
Hong-er's frown turned into a scowl, grabbing a piece of broccoli and eating it, "There, I ate! Stop being mean to gege!"
The chestnut-haired man turned to Hong-er, waiting to see if the food had any ill effect on him; after nothing happened, the pair began to eat.
YOU ARE READING
No Rain, No Flowers: a Jun Wu x Xie Lian
FanfictionAU: Jun Wu kidnaps Xie Lian and Hua Cheng and forces them to be his family "This new world is my gift to you." After the meeting in which Xie Lian was accused of being the father of the fetus spirit, Jun Wu decides that he needs to make sure the sit...
