Work Text:
The carriage was nice and cozy after Maomao was done covering the floor with a couple of thick blankets. They hadn’t brought much on this trip, but what they had was quite fine and durable – not to mention soft. She wouldn’t expect anything less lavish from Jinshi.
Not that it looked flashy. That was not his style, but he still had great taste, even in his practicalness. She preferred it that way, if she were being honest.
Maomao sighed, her butt sore from sitting on the hard carriage all day. She lay on the now fluffy floor of it, ready to get a bit of sleep. If she stayed up, she would no doubt start to worry about a potential bandit attack. That would not be a productive use of her time, so she simply opted to not care about it instead.
As soon as she closed her eyes, though, the door to the carriage flew open. “Ah, good, you’ve made the bed.”
The beautiful voice hit her ears before she could register who it belonged to. But of course, no one else had a voice quite as enchanting. “Yes, Master Jinshi, I’ve made my bed. So I can sleep.” She made sure to put the emphasis on those words, for she feared he would once again prove how little sense of boundaries he had.
Jinshi had decided to ride on horseback instead of staying in his carriage – hence why Maomao was now in here all by herself. The act implied that he would camp outside with the other riders when they stopped to sleep, but instead he would always come back to steal her bed. I guess he’s too important to sleep out in the open, even while disguised.
He did not seem to catch onto her subtle complaint, and he plopped down right next to her, sighing. “Oh, I’m quite tired. My whole body is sore from riding all day.”
Maomao glared at him, practically squished between him and the bench now. Does he not understand the meaning of personal space?! “If it’s sore, you should try to stretch your muscles. Lying here might only make it worse.” Meaning, get out of my bed!
But Jinshi did not understand her. Instead, he grabbed one of the spare blankets, covering himself with it. “I was hoping you’d have an ointment or something to help with that.”
Maomao did have a camphor salve in her stash somewhere, but she could not get up to get it with him blocking her. “I can only help if you let me go, sir.”
“Hm.” He pouted, as if that hadn’t been what he wanted to hear, but then he scooted ever so slightly closer. “You’re already helping.”
Maomao did her best to not scowl at him, peeved by the fact he was looking far too chipper for how uncertain this current leg of their trip was.
She had no idea why they were going so far into the west. Even more poignant than that was the fact that she didn’t know why she was going with them. She could only assume it had something to do with the locusts, but she could never be sure with Jinshi. He liked to hide important things from her.
She would usually not mind it, since knowing too much was always a lot of trouble, but she was in too deep already. At this point, he might as well just be completely honest with her.
Maomao was unfortunately reminded of a certain decently sized frog she’d touched in a certain cave last year. She tried not to show it, especially now that they were lying so close together. Maybe I’d rather continue to keep my distance…
Jinshi sighed again, and she noticed his eyes were a little sunken. The bags underneath them were visible even while he was wearing his burn disguise. “Do you not wish to take the makeup off?”
He shook his head. “It’s already getting somewhat wonky from the wind and the sand.” She had noticed some of the pigment had started to fade throughout the day. The sweat must not have been helping, either. “We are almost at our destination. I’m certain I can handle wearing this for a few more days.”
That’s optimistic of him. Maomao still wasn’t worried about the bandits, but an attack would certainly delay their journey by at least a couple of days, depending on the damage. But she would not argue with him, for that was not her place. “Whatever you say, Master Jinshi.”
Maomao was still in a rather uncomfortable position. The carriage wasn’t that spacious, and Jinshi was on the taller side. But she saw his eyes shift into a feeling she couldn’t name, and decided maybe she should let him try to sleep here.
His face had a slight tan from spending so much time outdoors, but his skin was still dry and dulled. The makeup only made it worse. It was a testament to his natural beauty that he was still gorgeous even while looking so obviously distressed.
But he would only damage his health by continuing to stay awake, and nobody wanted the Moon Prince to fall ill for such a preventable reason. “You should sleep, Master Jinshi.”
He turned to face her, a small smile appearing on his face. He turned to lie on his side, making it even harder for her to get away from him. The scent of his characteristic perfume was faded by now. “I haven’t been sleeping well these past few months,” he said.
“All the more reason you should sleep right now.”
“The only time I was able to sleep well was at the Verdigris House.”
“We are rather far from the pleasure district, sir.”
Jinshi’s face suddenly became one reminiscent of that of a wet dog. His cheeks slowly began to turn red. “Can you sing to me again?”
Maomao wanted to say no. She did not think her out of tune singing voice was one that should be heard by anyone, especially not by a person as important as Jinshi. But she worried about the way he would push himself so often. Someone had to reel him back in before he hurt himself.
That job always seemed to fall to her. For some reason. At least she had some idea of how to help with his insomnia. She sighed. “I fear I must warn you again I’m not a good singer.”
“And I fear I must remind you that I don’t care.”
Maomao did the same as she did back then, tapping her fingers on the blanket to keep time. She didn’t need to, but it was a good excuse to work up the courage to sing. She did not have the heart of a performer.
This lullaby never failed to make her stomach turn with a strange and cold feeling, but it was the only one she knew. Strange how she had memorized it, even if she’d never heard it sung to her as a way to soothe her to sleep. Maomao found that the song did not sound as bad when it was used for its intended purpose.
Besides, Jinshi’s eyes were now closed, his breathing slowly evening out. He must have been exhausted. If Maomao was sore and tired from staying in a rattling carriage, it must have been way worse out there in the beating sun.
On a horse, no less. Maomao could not say she was too eager to improve her horsemanship, so she would deal with the carriage.
Jinshi’s face relaxed, and he seemed to have dozed off. Maomao reached out to push his hair away from his eyes, her fingers lingering on his cheek for a moment. The scar was still there, albeit she had gotten used to seeing the supposed blight to his face.
She lightly traced it, always impressed by her father’s handiwork. Jinshi leaned into her touch, and she wondered if he was still awake.
Regardless, he looked almost human when his guard was down like this. If only he could be like this all the time.
She pulled away, the song coming to a close, but she had no way of escaping without waking him. There was nothing else she could do but lean closer and try to get under a bit of his blanket without disturbing him. It got rather cold at night this far west, so maybe having another body close to share warmth wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Not that Maomao had a choice. Jinshi stirred, but luckily didn’t open his eyes or say anything.
She sighed. “I hope you at least wake up refreshed,” she muttered, closing her eyes.