Shi Qingxuan đ ĺ¸éç (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
winepouring) wrote2024-02-09 03:27 pm
winepouring) wrote2024-02-09 03:27 pm
if only in my dreams
[ It was a little chilly.
That was the first thing Shi Qingxuan noticed before the rest of his mind caught up with him and recognition washed over him.
This was the inn on the main stretch in the Royal Capitalâand this was the private room on the third floor that he floor that he always rented when he came down to the mortal realm.
The smooth, dark, wooden floors polished to a glistening sheen that made the light of the lamps bounce around and illuminate the space, and the long table that ran the length of the space was filled with steaming plates of food. Somewhere in another room, musicians were playing a mellow tune he couldn't quite place.
But the window was open, and a cold breeze was flowing through. Outside, the moon overhead was dark.
Shi Qingxuan stared out at it for several long moments before scratching at his headâthen drew his hand back.
His nails were jagged and uneven, and there was dirt from his knuckles to his palms and up his arms to the worn-out hem of his sleeve. ]
Oh!
[ He must have made quite a sight, inspecting his own arm with wide, round eyes, as if he only recently discovered it attached to his body, but people always stared at him these days anywayâand besides, there was no way this wasn't a dream. His blanket must have fallen off of him in the real world, and, if he thought about it, it had been a while since he last ate. He could always count on his imagination to see him through!
A melancholy smile came to his face, but it was quickly restrained behind bright cheer. Ha, if this was a dream, then... ]
Ming-xiong!
[ He called out, peering around the table for his old friend. ]
Ming-xiong, come here, come here! Here, sit next me! I can't eat this by myself!
[ He patted the chair beside him as if doing so would summon the man into the spot. But, this was a dream, so it was worth a shot. ]
That was the first thing Shi Qingxuan noticed before the rest of his mind caught up with him and recognition washed over him.
This was the inn on the main stretch in the Royal Capitalâand this was the private room on the third floor that he floor that he always rented when he came down to the mortal realm.
The smooth, dark, wooden floors polished to a glistening sheen that made the light of the lamps bounce around and illuminate the space, and the long table that ran the length of the space was filled with steaming plates of food. Somewhere in another room, musicians were playing a mellow tune he couldn't quite place.
But the window was open, and a cold breeze was flowing through. Outside, the moon overhead was dark.
Shi Qingxuan stared out at it for several long moments before scratching at his headâthen drew his hand back.
His nails were jagged and uneven, and there was dirt from his knuckles to his palms and up his arms to the worn-out hem of his sleeve. ]
Oh!
[ He must have made quite a sight, inspecting his own arm with wide, round eyes, as if he only recently discovered it attached to his body, but people always stared at him these days anywayâand besides, there was no way this wasn't a dream. His blanket must have fallen off of him in the real world, and, if he thought about it, it had been a while since he last ate. He could always count on his imagination to see him through!
A melancholy smile came to his face, but it was quickly restrained behind bright cheer. Ha, if this was a dream, then... ]
Ming-xiong!
[ He called out, peering around the table for his old friend. ]
Ming-xiong, come here, come here! Here, sit next me! I can't eat this by myself!
[ He patted the chair beside him as if doing so would summon the man into the spot. But, this was a dream, so it was worth a shot. ]
no subject
Whoâs calling me? I'm trying to sleepâŚ
After that thought, suddenly, he could smell a dozen intermingling scents filling his olfactory senses. Food. And it smelled delicious, he had to admit.
âMing-xiong!â he heard again, followed by a string of demands for him to âcome here!" and âsit next to me!"
Then, Ming Yi could hear the faint sounds of instruments being played through the other side of a wall and his sleepy eyes cracked open to gaze towards the direction of the familiar voice.
Ming Yi could only see the back of the personâs head. He recognized it anywhere though. It was who he expected by the voice, but not where he expected.
He sat upright on the edge of the bed and took in the scenery. He wasâŚin a bed? In an inn? With Shi Qingxuan? He hadn't remembered coming to such a place recentlyâŚ
He rose from the bed and groaned at his noisy friend from behind, dressed head to toe in his signature black attire. ]
What do you want, and why are you here?
[ He questioned as if that were the only strange thing to be concerned about. As if waking up somewhere he didn't remember going to, and wearing shoes in bed, wasnât. ]
no subject
Hahaha!
[ And seeing him sitting there, clad in black with even his boots still on, Shi Qingxuan laughed harder. He really had conjured up Ming-xiong! And he looked as pleased to see him as ever. ]
Don't be so angry, come, look, the food's here!
[ Bracing himself against the back of his chair, he rose unsteadily to his feet and began hobbling over to the bedside, his weaker leg dragging behind him. ]
Sigh, you were so tired you didn't even take off your shoes before going to sleep? What did you get up to today that you knocked yourself out that well? Have you not been resting enough between missions?
[ He shook his head, resting his good hand on his hip. But really... Was he healthy? Was he happy? Was he lonely? In all his memories, Shi Qingxuan can't remember the last time he saw his friend...or why he can't remember seeing him in the last two years. ]