silvysartfulness:Chapter XVI - Dreamers of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D  (and who

silvysartfulness:Chapter XVI - Dreamers of Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It is up! :D  (and whooo, look, I managed to finish the illustration! What sleep?)Song Lan sat still in the dark, eyes closed but senses awake. Xingchen was a warm presence resting up against him, and by now it was hard to remember a time that he wouldn’t – he’d lie down at an entirely appropriate distance, and then slumping up against him, curling into him as soon as he was asleep.In the dark, he felt his lips twitch into a smile.A sense of wonder, still sending head and heart spinning, remembering the touch against those lips only hours earlier.Xingchen had come back downstairs after being gone only a few moments, a deeply thoughtful look on his face, and his own instant reaction had been vast relief. He had been deeply adverse to the idea of him going to face a murderous Xue Yang alone, but was forced to admit that coming along probably wouldn’t help settle any ruffled feathers. Reluctantly trusting Xingchen’s judgment in this.Xingchen sat down, still pensive, and Song Lan poured him a cup of tea, then one for himself.“Are you all right?”“Yes. It’s fine. I think.”“You shouldn’t have had to apologize,” he couldn’t help but state, disapproving - not of the gesture but the mere idea that it was demanded in the first place. “You did nothing wrong.”Xingchen smiled sadly and accepted his cup, taking a sip.“Sometimes you hurt people even when you don’t mean to. It doesn’t make the hurt less real. I was thoughtless and inadvertently tore at an old pain, shared in confidence. Of course I should apologize for that.”Song Lan remembered dark haze half lifting as one of the nails in his skull was ripped out, watching Xue Yang - wearing Xingchen’s face - play the wounded victim to perfection. Easily gaining the trust and sympathy of Wei Wuxian and the young masters of the various clans, knowing exactly how to play his act to get right to their hearts. Up against any performance like that, a soft, vulnerable heart like Xingchen’s never stood a chance.He chose not to speak his thoughts out loud, however, knowing it would only upset him. Only doubled down for the hundredth time on his own silent wow to keep wary vigil for them both.———A dash of angst, sure, but we’ve got some real sweetness in this one! ♥This is also a head’s up that I’m posting chapters faster than I’m writing them atm (because they’re constantly ending up longer than planned wtf ;_;) so I may not be able to update quite as frequently up ahead. Be sure to subscribe on ao3 or follow me so you don’t miss any updates!(You know what helps me write faster? You’ll never guess. Comments, questions, reblogs with fun tags! All those things delivering good chemicals straight to the writer-brain. ♥) -- source link

More pics about