Too Close for Comfort

As Ao Huli continued his exploration of the room, Liao Zhen settled cross-legged on his bed, watching the spirit with undisguised fascination.

"So..." Liao Zhen ventured after a moment, "are you going to tell me why you were being chased by a Jian? And why you're here in the mortal realm at all?"

Ao Huli paused in his examination of what appeared to be a collection of paper talismans (actual ones this time, not convenience store receipts) tucked between the pages of a textbook. He turned to face Liao Zhen, considering how much he could safely reveal.

"I am here on an important mission," he said carefully, his formal tone a stark contrast to Liao Zhen's casual curiosity.

"What kind of mission?" Liao Zhen leaned forward eagerly, his eyes bright with interest. "Does it have something to do with why that Jian was after you? I've never seen one act so aggressively before - they usually avoid confrontation unless-"

A sudden thump from elsewhere in the apartment made them both freeze. Footsteps could be heard in the hallway, approaching Liao Zhen's room.

"Hide!" Liao Zhen whispered urgently, already jumping up from his bed. "Quick!"

The footsteps grew closer. Liao Zhen looked frantically around the room before grabbing Ao Huli's arm and shoving him toward the closet. The divine being barely had time to register the indignity of being manhandled before he found himself squeezed between hanging clothes and stacked boxes.

"Just stay quiet," Liao Zhen whispered, sliding the door shut just as a knock sounded.

"Zhen? Are you still awake?" A woman's voice called out - his mother, Ao Huli presumed.

"Yeah, Mom!" Liao Zhen answered, his voice impressively steady despite his obvious nervousness. "Just studying!"

The door opened, and Ao Huli held perfectly still in his cramped hiding spot, acutely aware of how absurd this situation was. Through a crack in the closet door, he could see Liao Zhen's mother standing in the doorway, wearing a robe and looking concerned.

"I thought I heard voices," she said, glancing around the room suspiciously. "Mrs. Liu called to say..."

"Oh, that!" Liao Zhen laughed nervously. "She must have seen me talking to myself again. You know how I get when I'm memorizing stuff!"

"Hmm," his mother didn't sound entirely convinced. "Well, don't stay up too late. And Zhen?" Her voice took on a warning tone. "I better not find out you've been sneaking any girls in here."

"Mom!" Liao Zhen protested, his face flushing. "I wouldn't- I mean, that's not-"

From his hiding place, Ao Huli felt his own cheeks heat up, remembering Mrs. Liu's mistaken assumption earlier. This evening was proving to be one indignity after another.

Inside the closet, Ao Huli tried to shift into a more dignified position, only to freeze as something clattered behind him. His red-tipped ears twitched at the sound of Liao Zhen's mother pausing in her conversation.

"What was that?" she asked sharply.

"My textbooks!" Liao Zhen blurted out quickly. "I, uh, stacked them kind of precariously. They're always falling over!"

"You really should organize your room better," his mother sighed. "And why are you still in your outside clothes? It's late, you should be getting ready for bed."

"I will, I will," Liao Zhen assured her. "Just let me finish this chapter?"

There was another pause, during which Ao Huli barely dared to breathe. The soul-light pressed against his chest seemed to pulse in rhythm with Liao Zhen's obvious anxiety.

"Alright," his mother finally conceded. "But not too much longer. And remember - your father and I can hear everything that goes on in this apartment."

"Mom!" Liao Zhen protested again, sounding mortified.

After what felt like an eternity, the door finally closed. Ao Huli heard Liao Zhen's footsteps moving around the room, presumably checking that his mother had really gone. Then the closet door slid open, revealing Liao Zhen's relieved face.

"Sorry about that," he whispered, helping Ao Huli extract himself from between the hanging clothes. "My mom can be kind of... protective."

The moment Ao Huli emerged from the closet, he began meticulously straightening his robes, trying to restore some semblance of his usual dignity. A box of incense sticks had tumbled over during his confinement, and he carefully righted it, placing it back among the other hidden religious items stored in the closet.

"So," Liao Zhen said, keeping his voice low as he settled back onto his bed, "about that mission you mentioned..."

Before Ao Huli could respond, a loud growling sound filled the room. Liao Zhen blinked in surprise, then realized the noise had come from his own stomach. He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot to eat dinner with all the excitement." He glanced at Ao Huli curiously. "Do spirits need to eat? I mean, I could try to sneak something from the kitchen..."

The thought of a divine being of Ao Huli's standing requiring mortal food was almost offensive, but before he could say as much, his own stomach betrayed him with an answering rumble. His face flushed with embarrassment - apparently maintaining his celestial form in the mortal realm was more draining than he'd anticipated.

"I'll take that as a yes," Liao Zhen grinned, already moving toward the door. "Wait here - and try not to make any noise. I'll be right back!"

Liao Zhen carefully opened his door, peering both ways down the hallway before slipping out. Ao Huli was left alone in the cluttered room, still slightly disheveled from his time in the closet and feeling increasingly out of his depth.

He could hear Liao Zhen's careful footsteps moving through the apartment, followed by the quiet sound of cupboards opening and closing. Every small noise made his red-tipped ears twitch, his senses on high alert for any sign of the parents stirring.

Looking around the room again, Ao Huli's gaze fell on a small desk mirror. He moved closer, examining his reflection with dismay. His usually immaculate appearance was in disarray - his long hair had been mussed by the closet incident, and Liao Zhen's mortal jacket still hung awkwardly over his celestial robes.

As he attempted to restore order to his appearance, he couldn't help but reflect on the absurdity of his situation. Here he was, a prince of heaven, hiding in a mortal teenager's bedroom like some kind of fugitive, about to eat smuggled food. What would his family think if they could see him now?

While examining himself in the mirror, Ao Huli discovered a tear in his robes at the shoulder, likely from when he'd gotten caught during his earlier escape. He frowned, carefully pulling the fabric aside to inspect the damage. His celestial robes weren't mere clothing - they were part of his divine regalia, and seeing them damaged was distressing.

He was so absorbed in examining the tear that he didn't hear Liao Zhen's return until the door clicked shut. There was a small clatter as Liao Zhen nearly dropped his armful of snacks at the sight of Ao Huli with his robe pulled down over one shoulder.

"Sorry!" Liao Zhen squeaked, quickly averting his eyes. "I didn't mean to- I mean, I wasn't-"

Ao Huli quickly pulled his robe back into place, his face heating up at the mortal's reaction. "My robes were damaged during the incident with the Jian," he explained stiffly, trying to maintain his dignity. "I was merely assessing the extent of the tear."

"Oh! Right, of course," Liao Zhen said, still looking anywhere but at Ao Huli as he set the food down on his bed. His cheeks were distinctly pink as he busied himself arranging the snacks he'd brought.

They sat cross-legged on Liao Zhen's bed, surrounded by an array of snacks. Ao Huli examined each item with careful consideration before taking the smallest, most dignified bites possible. Despite his initial reservations about mortal food, he found the flavors surprisingly pleasant, if somewhat artificial compared to celestial fare.

Liao Zhen watched him with unconcealed fascination as he ate, clearly taking mental notes about everything. Finally, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he spoke up.

"So... you're not a cat spirit after all, are you?" he whispered, gesturing vaguely at Ao Huli. "I mean, no tail. And those horns are different from any spirit I've seen before." His eyes studied Ao Huli's features intently. "What exactly are you?"

"I am..." Ao Huli paused delicately to wipe a crumb from his lips, "a spirit of some significance."

"You said that before," Liao Zhen pointed out, popping open another bag of chips. "But that's not really an answer. I've never seen anything like you in any of the texts I've studied."

"And how do you know so much about spirits and deities?" Ao Huli asked, deftly redirecting the conversation away from himself.

Liao Zhen's enthusiasm dimmed slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck, a self-conscious gesture. "Ah, well... it's kind of my hobby, I guess? Though most people think it's weird nowadays." He gave a forced laugh. "They say people like me are crazy for believing in the old gods. Most people in China are Buddhist now, if they're religious at all."

"Buddhist?" Ao Huli repeated, his brow furrowing in genuine confusion.

"Yeah, you know, Buddhism?" Liao Zhen said, then caught himself as he noticed Ao Huli's blank expression. "Wait, you don't know about Buddhism?"

"I... do not typically venture into the mortal realm," Ao Huli admitted reluctantly, carefully choosing his words.

"Really?" Liao Zhen's eyes lit up at this small revelation. "Is that why you seem so lost? And why you needed someone else's magic to look human?" He leaned forward eagerly. "What realm do you usually stay in then? The celestial realm? The ghost realm? Or maybe-"

"I cannot discuss such matters," Ao Huli cut him off firmly, though he was impressed by how quickly the mortal's mind worked. He wondered if Liao Zhen's quick reasoning was part of why his soul had been chosen for such an important role.

"Right, sorry!" Liao Zhen said quickly, though his eyes still sparkled with curiosity. "I guess there must be rules about what spirits can tell mortals. Though..." He glanced at the various divine images scattered around his room. "It's kind of funny that I probably know more about some realms than you do, even if it's just from studying old texts."

Ao Huli took another careful bite of his snack to hide his expression. If only the mortal knew just how wrong he was about some of those "accurate" historical accounts.

"Do you..." Ao Huli began carefully, keeping his tone neutral, "know anything about the seventeen golden children of heaven?"

"The what?" Liao Zhen tilted his head, his endless enthusiasm for divine knowledge momentarily stumped. "Seventeen golden children? I've never heard of them." His eyes lit up with interest. "Are they some kind of divine beings? Which gods are their parents?"

"You have not heard of them?" Ao Huli asked, maintaining his composure even as he felt a strange mix of relief and something almost like disappointment. "In any of your texts?"

"No, and believe me, I've read pretty much everything I could find about the celestial realm," Liao Zhen said, already reaching for one of his books. "Though a lot of the older texts were lost, so maybe they're mentioned somewhere... seventeen children though? That's quite specific. Are they important?"

"It was merely something I had heard mentioned," Ao Huli said carefully, turning his attention back to his snack.

At the sound of footsteps approaching once more, Liao Zhen's eyes went wide with panic. Without warning, he grabbed Ao Huli's arm and yanked him down onto the bed.

"What are you-" Ao Huli started to protest, but Liao Zhen was already throwing the blanket over both of them, pressing a finger to his lips in a desperate plea for silence.

The door creaked open. Ao Huli lay frozen in complete mortification, acutely aware of how inappropriate this situation was. He, a prince of heaven, was hiding under blankets in a mortal's bed like some kind of... of... He couldn't even think of an appropriate comparison for this level of indignity.

"Zhen?" his mother's voice called softly. "Are you asleep?"

Liao Zhen let out a very convincing fake snore. Ao Huli could feel the mortal's heart racing where their chests were pressed together in the cramped space. A few snack wrappers crinkled beneath them, and Ao Huli prayed to every deity he knew (most of whom were his relatives) that Liao Zhen's mother wouldn't notice.

"At least he's finally getting some rest," she murmured to herself. The door clicked shut again.

They lay perfectly still for several more moments, until they were sure she was gone. When Liao Zhen finally pulled the blanket down, Ao Huli immediately shot up, putting as much distance between them as possible while still maintaining his usual grace.

The silence that followed was almost painful in its awkwardness. Ao Huli busied himself meticulously smoothing his robes once more, while Liao Zhen gathered the scattered snack wrappers with perhaps more concentration than the task required.

"Sorry about that," Liao Zhen whispered finally, rubbing the back of his neck. "I panicked."

Before Ao Huli could formulate an appropriately dignified response, a strange sensation rippled through him. The soul-light pressed against his chest pulsed with an urgency he hadn't felt before, its warmth turning almost uncomfortable.

His hand flew to his robes, pressing against the spot where he carried the precious light. Looking down, he could see a faint glow beginning to seep through the fabric.

"Is everything okay?" Liao Zhen asked, noticing his distress.

Ao Huli's mind raced. The soul was becoming unstable - he needed to act quickly, but how could he explain the situation to its rightful owner without causing panic?

"Liao Zhen," he began carefully, "there is something I must tell you. The reason I am here-"

With trembling fingers, Ao Huli reached into his robes and withdrew the soul-light. Its glow had intensified, casting strange shadows across both their faces. Liao Zhen's eyes widened as he stared at the pulsing orb, transfixed by its ethereal beauty.

"What... what is that?" Liao Zhen asked, staring at the glowing orb in Ao Huli's hands.

Ao Huli met Liao Zhen's gaze directly, his voice blunt as he replied, "Your soul."

Liao Zhen blinked. Once. Twice. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. "My... my what now?" he managed to stammer out, his expression a comical mix of confusion and disbelief.

Ao Huli sighed, his tone matter-of-fact. "Your soul. It has become untethered from your body, putting you in grave danger. If I do not return it soon, you could face a fate worse than death."

Liao Zhen stared at Ao Huli for a long moment, his brain visibly struggling to process this information. "Hold on, hold on," he said, holding up his hands. "You're telling me that my soul, the very essence of my being, is just... what, floating around outside my body?"

Ao Huli nodded, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "Yes."

Liao Zhen let out a slightly hysterical laugh. "And you're just... carrying it around in your pocket like spare change?"

Ao Huli frowned, looking mildly offended. "Of course not. It is securely stored within my celestial robes."

"Oh, well, that's a relief!" Liao Zhen exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

Ao Huli's frown deepened, not appreciating Liao Zhen's sarcasm. "This is a serious matter. If your soul remains separated from your body for too long, it can become corrupted, twisted into a ghost king - a being of immense power and evil that can threaten the balance of all realms."

Liao Zhen's eyes widened, his comedic frustration giving way to genuine fear. "A ghost king?"

"It is," Ao Huli confirmed bluntly. "That is why I must return your soul to your body as soon as possible."

Liao Zhen sat back, running his hands through his hair as he tried to wrap his mind around this revelation. "Okay, okay, let me get this straight," he said, speaking slowly as if to a child. "My soul, the thing that makes me... me, is currently not where it's supposed to be. And if you don't put it back soon, I could turn into some kind of super-powered evil ghost?"

Ao Huli nodded, looking mildly impressed that Liao Zhen had grasped the situation so quickly. "Essentially, yes."

Liao Zhen let out a long, slow breath.

He paused, then looked at Ao Huli with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. "So, uh... how exactly did my soul end up outside my body in the first place?"

Ao Huli hesitated, then spoke, 

"The specifics of how it happened are not important right now," Ao Huli said, his tone firm. "What matters is that we return your soul to your body as soon as possible. Once it is back where it belongs, it should reappear in the celestial realm, and the danger will be averted."

Liao Zhen blinked, still trying to process the bizarre situation. "Okay, okay," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I guess we should just... put it back then? I mean, that sounds simple enough, right?"

Ao Huli nodded, relieved that Liao Zhen was taking this so well. "Yes, it should be a straightforward process. I will need you to lie down and remain still."

Liao Zhen complied, stretching out on his bed with a nervous chuckle. "Alright, then, let's do this. Be gentle with me, alright?"

"It should be a relatively painless process." Ao Huli frowned, not quite understanding the joke but deciding to ignore it. He carefully reached into his robes and extracted the glowing soul-light. It pulsed warmly in his hands, casting a soft, ethereal glow over Liao Zhen's face.

"Now, hold still," Ao Huli instructed, his voice low and focused. "This should only take a moment."

He gently pressed the soul-light against Liao Zhen's chest, right over his heart. The mortal gasped, his eyes widening as a strange, tingling sensation spread through his body.

The soul-light's pulsing grew more rapid, its glow intensifying. But when Ao Huli tried to press it into Liao Zhen's body, something strange happened.

Instead of merging smoothly as it should have, the soul-light seemed to encounter resistance. It pressed against an invisible barrier, like two magnets pushing against each other. The more Ao Huli tried to force it, the stronger the resistance became.

"Is it... is it supposed to do that?" Liao Zhen asked nervously.

"No," Ao Huli admitted, his composure slipping slightly as concern crept into his voice. "This is not right at all."

He tried again, approaching from different angles, but each attempt met with the same mysterious resistance. The soul-light continued to pulse in his hands, but now its glow had taken on an almost distressed quality.

"Something is preventing the reunion," Ao Huli said finally, drawing back. His red-tipped ears twitched with agitation as he studied the soul-light. "There must be some interference... some force keeping your soul from properly reintegrating."

"That's... that's bad, right?" Liao Zhen asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

Ao Huli's silence spoke volumes.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"So... what do we have to do?" Liao Zhen asked, his voice trembling. 

Ao Huli remained silent, the soul-light flickering between them like a trapped firefly.

"Hey," Liao Zhen's voice rose with an edge of panic. "Don't just go quiet on me, what's our next move here?"

Ao Huli turned his head away, his perfect composure unable to mask the uncertainty in his expression.

Something in Liao Zhen snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing Ao Huli's shoulders with both hands. "Are you listening?" He shouted, shaking the divine being slightly. "Tell me what we have to do to fix this!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ao Huli roared back, shoving Liao Zhen away with enough force to send him stumbling backward. The soul-light flared brightly between them, casting wild shadows across the room. "I don't know what to do!"

They both froze, startled by the outburst. Ao Huli stood there, his chest heaving, all traces of his careful dignity shattered. His red-tipped ears were flat against his head, and his magenta eyes were wide with a mix of shock and embarrassment at his own loss of control.

Liao Zhen had caught himself against his desk, knocking several books to the floor. He stared at Ao Huli with equal surprise, as if seeing the divine being in an entirely new light.

The silence that followed was deafening. Somewhere in the apartment, they heard movement - Liao Zhen's parents probably stirring at the noise. But neither of them moved, both still processing what had just happened.

Finally, Liao Zhen spoke, "You really don't know what to do, do you?"

Ao Huli's shoulders slumped slightly, an admission of vulnerability that seemed to cost him greatly. "No," he said softly. "I do not."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​