Work Text:
"Oooh! What did you keep this for?"
Da Qing picks up Shen Wei's most prized possession and lifts it up, mouth open in curious delight. The golden wrapper glints in a ray of sunlight at the entrance of the tent.
Shen Wei is frozen in place, somewhere between the fear that Da Qing could accidentally damage it and the mortification that it has been discovered. It's not possible to properly safeguard anything this precious in his austere tent, so it's not as if Da Qing has rummaged through any secret hiding place — Shen Wei simply didn't expect that anyone would ever want to enter the Black-Cloaked Envoy's quarters and make themselves at home.
"It's so shiny. Do you want to make jewelry from it?" Da Qing keeps talking, unaware of the tangle of emotions in Shen Wei's heart. He holds up the wrapper against his chest next to his bells, compares how they sparkle in the light. "Do you think it's made of gold?"
"That's not why—" Shen Wei starts, not really sure how to continue.
"Oh! Do you want to buy more of these when you visit Kunlun's faraway lands? If you have it, you can make sure it's the same."
"No," Shen Wei says softly, and Da Qing finally looks at him.
If he was in his cat form, his ears would have flopped down even further than usual, along with his tail.
"Oh. Oh," Da Qing says, and hands it back to Shen Wei without another word. There must be something visible in Shen Wei's face. People being able to read his expressions even under his mask is another thing he never would have expected.
Shen Wei thanks him and blinks, wondering if a more elaborate reply will be necessary.
It's not.
Da Qing reaches out awkwardly, but thinks better of it before he touches Shen Wei's arm. Instead he says, earnest and a bit choked up, "I will miss him too."