Chapter Text
The renowned laughingstock of the heavens, Xie Lian, had seen nothing but scorn and mockery from his peers after his most recent ascension. Many of the younger gods looked down on him if they even paid him any mind and any time people referred to him as ‘Your Highness’, it was clearly out of no place of respect. Of course, Xie Lian was used to it by now. He was quite an easygoing man after literal centuries of being a laughingstock with no allyship with other gods, but sometimes he still had it in him to feel a little shame. He could barely even recognise anybody there, and it led to a lot of awkward situations when he accidentally mixed up their names or fumbled over trying to find out who they were..
This is why he mentally made the loose target for himself ‘work hard and earn at least one person’s respect’. It was a vague criteria, and he had no deadline because he wasn’t exactly confident in his abilities. He was running short on ways to fulfil his goal for a few weeks, lingering about in the communication array and trying to offer help to other Heavenly Officials with their tasks. None of them wanted to hear it.
No matter, Xie Lian was used to having bad luck. It was just how things would be for him given the fact he had those cursed shackles feasting on his luck and spiritual power.
A few weeks of getting accustomed to living in heaven once again went by, and he was growing quite restless. He had gotten so used to living as a human in the mortal realm, and now he was back in his silly little Xianle palace replica, minus all of the company and vibrancy it had when he was the Crown Prince. If he was being nice, he’d say it was thoughtful for a replica to be made for a disgraced Crown Prince such as himself, but if he was being honest, he would say he hated it.
It didn’t take very long until he yearned for more than the sight of vast skies and monolithic golden structures. He sought out the mortal realm once more, reasoning that nobody in heaven would particularly mind if he departed for a bit. He briefly warned Ling Wen without giving her room to protest, before descending down upon the mortal realm in a flurry of billowing robes falling through the sky.
He reasoned to himself that he would be much more useful in the mortal realm, and mortals were usually a bit easier to impress. He could work on garnering their respect first, then tackle gods. After all, the power of a god is based on how the common people see them, not how other gods see them. So he settled himself in a shabby little hut which had been previously only visited by vagrants or untoward individuals and began his journey.
This dilapidated hut would be Puqi shrine - his first ‘temple’ in approximately 800 years. Very sad and a little pathetic, Xie Lian knew that much, but it was better to try than to be a sitting duck in his replica palace up in the heavens.
A few days went by as he settled into his new surroundings and began to make the alterations which he could with his limited resources. As expected, nobody from heaven was sent down to hound him about this, so it was relatively peaceful. The only visitors he got were locals of the village who were curious about what he was doing with the place, and giving him vaguely pitying glances and suggestions. They were nice enough to leave him to it, though.
One of these quiet days of renovating the shrine, Xie Lian found that he wanted to gather wood and explore the forest for anything that he could use. He had a propensity for scrap collecting, so he was at least confident about this aspect of himself.
Venturing into the surrounding trees, he was able to pick up quite a lot of wood. He did get a little carried away, but it would save him the hassle of coming back too soon.
A glimmer of red something caught his eye. Only briefly, but it stole his attention. He had all the time in the world, so he went to investigate, coming upon a cave structure which he hadn’t noticed beforehand. There was a strange sense of power concentrated in this cave, and it made Xie Lian’s skin prickle a little. It was completely unlike anything he had felt in recent memory, and it only egged him on. He was a curious soul, so he put down his wood pieces and ventured forth.
As he stepped into the cave and got a little deeper, his vision was becoming more impaired with the lack of light. There was no sign of anything in here, even though he had certainly seen something moving beforehand. With a sigh, he opted to turn around and leave.
…Only to walk right into something that most definitely wasn’t there before. Not to mention, it moved! He was already startled, and seeing the silhouette of a person of an impressive height with some strange features on their person wasn’t helpful. Ruoye was already itching to pounce on whoever this stranger was, but Xie Lian did not wish to start a fight with no direct provocation.
“Ah.. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you..” Xie Lian spoke, stepping back and squinting in the darkness.
There was a tense stretch of silence, and Xie Lian mentally winced. Even the awkward silences after he spoke in the communication array were better than this. However, the individual made a low humming sound and spoke after some time of peeling the poor Xie Lian apart with his gaze.
“His Highness has stumbled right into a monster’s den, does he know that?” The illusive individual spoke.
Oh.
“You know of my title?” Xie Lian asked, completely thrown off. A so-called monster in the middle of nowhere was calling him by his title. He sounded more serious than anybody in heaven did, too.
“Anybody educated on the gods should know that much, Your Highness. Why, are you surprised?” The man spoke with a teasing inflection.
Xie Lian was just about to respond, but that thought was quickly abandoned when he felt something strange brush against his hand in the relative darkness. Scales. Sturdy, large scales. A tail.. He automatically moved back a few paces at the realisation. This man had some kind of reptile affiliation.
“Is His Highness afraid of this monster?” The voice asked, sounding both hurt and playful. Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the situation. Now he had encountered an unknown variable on his peaceful little gathering stroll.
“No, no.. You just caught me off guard. Please could we have this discussion in daylight?” Xie Lian asked with a nervous little chuckle. He really wanted to see who he was speaking with.
There was another long pause. The stranger didn’t seem to want to readily accept the change of scenery. Xie Lian surmised that this could be for a variety of reasons, including a dislike of light, potentially losing the upper hand in this situation, or not being the kind to take up requests from potential catches.
However, after some heavy silence, the man chuckled and began to walk toward the entrance of the cave, expecting Xie Lian to follow.
“His Highness must be gentle about my appearance, or there’s no saying how I’ll react.” The man said, sounding playful but also giving the impression of thinly veiled insecurity. How unusual. Did this stranger really think Xie Lian was that judgemental? Why did he even care about his opinion? Nobody else did.
“Yes, of course.” Xie Lian mumbled, watching the man’s back now that they were out in the warm evening light. His eyes widened when he saw what really was a reptile tail.. And horns? A dragon in red robes with long black hair. Xie Lian had walked right into a dragon’s den!
Then the dragon turned around and Xie Lin went through a whole other crisis.
The dragon was very very beautiful!
Pale skin, sharp features, a single fierce red eye while the other was covered by an eye patch, a hint of sharp teeth peeking out from between his thin lips, and a mane of long black hair which was unrestrained apart from a thin braid tied with red ribbon and a red bead. His clothing was also very tasteful, in a way which reflected wealth and confidence.
He gaped blankly for a few tumultuous seconds, before he formulated some semblance of composure and coughed a little.
“You.. You have nothing to worry about regarding your appearance.” Xie Lian spoke a little lamely.
The dragon actually looked surprised. Xie Lian would have grabbed his shoulders and shook him if the man wasn’t of a bigger height than him and a potential threat.
“You really think so..?” The dragon asked, tilting his head in a way that was almost like a puppy which had heard its name called. Xie Lian wanted to shout and say ‘have you never seen yourself?!’ but he restrained himself and nodded with a polite smile.
“It’s true. Your appearance would be considered quite blessed by most.” He said before adding a question that had just struck his mind.
“Ah.. Also, what do you wish to be called?”
“Please call me San Lang, Your Highness” The dragon said with a smile back on his face. He looked very pleased. Maybe a bit too pleased..?
“Alright, San Lang. You can call me Xie Lian, there’s no need to be so..” He trailed off when he saw that the dragon was inching closer to him again.
“San Lang..?” He asked, but instead of an answer he received a strange feeling of being constrained. That strange dragon tail was back, and it suddenly wrapped him up. Of course, Ruoye immediately jumped into action, restraining the dragon in turn. They were now in an awkward limbo of restraining one another while also restrained.
“Gege caught me.” San Lang said, putting on an almost lamenting tone, though it was clear he was not one bit upset. Just surprised at most. The casual honorific made Xie Lian feel *very* weird.
“San Lang.. What are you trying to do?” Xie Lian asked a little warily, squirming a little as the restraint only tightened on him.
“I didn’t want you to leave yet.” The dragon said nonchalantly, as if he didn’t have a god wrapped up in his tail. He sounded like a spoiled child who didn’t want to part with a toy that he liked, rather than a fearsome dragon who could neutralise a god within seconds.
“I wasn’t going to leave.. San Lang, there is no need to hold me so tightly.” Xie Lian said a little bit pleadingly. Even a god preferred not having their soul squeezed out of their body. Ruoye wasn’t sure whether to focus on restraining the unbothered San Lang or to help its master.
The dragon did seem to have a bit of empathy, and let up his grip a little bit, but he was unwilling to unhand the god he had procured. Instead of going back to work on his little shrine, Xie Lian spent his evening with a clingy dragon.
He ended up being pulled back through the cave like a fly in a spider web. However, he couldn’t pretend he was a completely unwilling fly, because this dragon was giving him butterflies.
They were eventually right in the depths of San Lang’s den, where there was what could only be described as a big, dimly lit nest. Lots of soft fabrics and trinkets were strewn about to form a warm little nook. That was where San Lang settled, pulling his god down for cuddles.
“Gege should stay right here” The dragon murmured, intertwining his limbs with Xie Lian’s, still holding him with his tail as he partially covered the god with his firm body.
“Is San Lang this clingy with everybody?” Xie Lian huffed a laugh. His face had never felt so warm, and he was completely surrounded by the dragon’s own warmth. He was regrettably not very informed about dragons, so he wondered if they were all like this.
The dragon made a disapproving noise however, squeezing him again with his tail.
“No.” San Lang murmured more sharply, nuzzling into the god’s neck. Xie Lian really felt like he was being inhaled like a snack.
“Then.. why me?” He chanced asking, wanting to shy away from the ticklish feeling on his neck but being pretty much immobile. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was too much.
“I know gege is very strong. He can handle me.” The dragon whispered.
Xie Lian’s heart was ready to fall out of his chest. What the hell did that mean? Why did it make his stomach do strange things?
The dragon didn’t elaborate, and just curled around him even more. Xie Lian was pleased to have gotten over his claustrophobia a very long time ago, because this was a very tight situation.
“San Lang..?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. No response. Then he heard the dragon’s steady breathing. Asleep.. He was out like a light!
This god had a long, overly cuddly night ahead of him.