For a long time, Lan Yue did not move, a living statue with the world's most powerful monarch slumbering on her shoulder. The adrenaline from the kiss slowly faded, leaving a profound, humming warmth in its wake. Xue Lian was a surprisingly solid weight against her, her breathing a soft, steady rhythm that was the only sound in the quiet chamber. Her nine white tails lay in a magnificent, snowy pool around them on the bed, one resting possessively over Lan Yue's lap.
Practicality eventually won out over stunned paralysis. She couldn't let the Empress sleep sitting up all night. With painstaking slowness, Lan Yue began to shift, carefully taking Xue Lian's weight and maneuvering her until she was lying properly on the bed, her head resting on the silken pillows. Lan Yue gently extricated herself and pulled the covers over Xue Lian's form before hesitating. Leaving felt wrong. The thought of sleeping in a chair felt cold, and retreating to her own side of the massive bed felt… right. It was a shocking, instinctual decision.
She lay down on her side of the bed, the mattress dipping slightly, a respectable distance between them. She was a cultivator; sleep was a function she could control. She closed her eyes, seeking the calm, meditative state that had served her for years.
It refused to come.
The first distraction was the scent. The room was saturated with it now the intoxicating aroma of sun warmed peaches and jasmine. It wasn't overpowering, but it was pervasive, a constant, gentle pressure on her senses that kept her mind from settling. It was the scent of the woman beside her, and it kept Lan Yue acutely, thrillingly aware of her presence.
The second distraction was the tails. In her sleep, Xue Lian's tails would twitch and shift with her dreams. A soft plume of white fur brushed against Lan Yue's cheek, impossibly soft, startling her from a half trance. An hour later, a heavy, silken tail draped itself over her legs like a living blanket, warm and comforting. Every rustle, every soft thump against the mattress was a reminder of the incredible secret lying dormant beside her.
Sleep was a lost cause.
Giving up, Lan Yue shifted onto her side to face the sleeping Empress. In the dim light of the twin moons filtering through the window, Xue Lian looked younger, the hard lines of her authority smoothed away by sleep. Her magnificent white hair, no longer in its intricate imperial style, fanned out across the dark pillows like a spill of liquid moonlight.
An impulse, born of the night's impossible intimacy, guided Lan Yue's hand. She reached out, her fingers hesitating for a moment before sinking into the silken strands of Xue Lian's hair. It was softer than anything she had ever touched. She began to gently brush it back from Xue Lian's face, her fingers carding through the long, white locks in a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
Her gaze drifted to the fox ears, which were no longer alert and twitching but relaxed, nestled in the silver hair. Remembering their sensitivity, Lan Yue reached out with her other hand and began to stroke one with the lightest possible touch, her thumb rubbing in a slow circle at its base.
Xue Lian responded in her sleep. A soft, contented sigh escaped her lips, and she unconsciously leaned into the touch, a cat drawn to a comforting hand. The sight sent a strange, protective warmth blooming in Lan Yue's chest. For hours, she kept the quiet vigil, stroking Xue Lian's hair and petting her ears, finding a strange peace in the simple, caring act.
The moons began their descent, and the first, faint violet light of the Netherworld's dawn crept into the room. It was then that the rhythm of Xue Lian's breathing changed.
Her fox ears twitched, no longer a sleepy reflex but an alert, sensory response. Her brows furrowed slightly, and with a soft groan, her eyes fluttered open. They were hazy at first, unfocused amber pools. Then they found Lan Yue, who froze, her hand still resting on one of Xue Lian's ears.
Confusion flickered in Xue Lian's eyes, followed by a dawning, horrified awareness. The memories of the night the festival, the kiss, the reveal, falling asleep crashed into her. She bolted upright, scrambling back with a gasp, her ears flattening against her head and her nine tails flaring out in alarm.
"I I apologize," she stammered, the articulate Empress completely gone, replaced by someone flustered and mortified. She was in Lan Yue's bed. Her ears and tails were out. She was completely, utterly vulnerable. "I drank too much. I overstepped. I…"
She trailed off as Lan Yue simply watched her, her expression not one of anger or fear, but of profound calm. Lan Yue slowly retracted her hand and folded it in her lap.
"You were tired," Lan Yue said, her voice soft in the quiet of the dawn. "You slept."
The simple, non accusatory statement hung in the air between them. It was an absolution. It was an acceptance of everything that had happened. And in the awkward, charged silence of the morning after, it was the most intimate thing she could have possibly said.