Calmly.

Deliberately.

With the composed expression of a man who had considered his options and arrived at a decision.

The sound Guiying made was not dignified.

His foot connected with Liuxian’s shoulder before his brain had fully caught up with his body, not hard, more the instinctive recoil of someone whose entire nervous system had short-circuited and he scrambled upright against the headboard with his foot tucked protectively against his chest, staring at Liuxian with an expression somewhere between mortified and genuinely appalled.

"Why would you lick my feet?!" His voice came out higher than intended. "They’re dirty!"

"They’re not dirty," Liuxian said, with the calm certainty of someone stating something he’d already verified. He looked up at Guiying without a trace of embarrassment. "I don’t mind at all. Besides..." his eyes dropped briefly to Guiying’s feet "...they’re quite cute. Small and cute."

Guiying stared at him.

He looked at Liuxian’s face.

At the complete, unbothered sincerity sitting in his expression.

He had just licked his foot and was now describing it as cute with the composure of someone discussing the weather.

Something clicked into place in Guiying’s mind with quiet, irrefutable finality.

Liu Liuxian had a foot fetish.

This wasn’t speculation. This was a conclusion supported entirely by the evidence currently sitting in front of him, unashamed, waiting for Guiying’s next instruction.

He filed this information away carefully for future use.

"That," he said, pointing, "is not a normal thing to say."

Liuxian said nothing, which was somehow worse.

"Why did you lick my foot?" Guiying said again, as though saying it a second time might produce a more reasonable explanation than the first time had.

"You asked if I would," Liuxian said simply.

"I was joking!"

"Were you?"

Guiying opened his mouth.

Closed it.

The unbearable composure on Liuxian’s face suggested he already knew the answer and was simply enjoying this, which was its own kind of outrage.

"Don’t mm me again," Guiying warned.

"I didn’t say anything," Liuxian said.

"You were about to."

Liuxian reached over and tugged his ankle back toward him gently, resuming the massage like the last few minutes hadn’t happened at all.

Guiying let him, because his foot genuinely still hurt and he had some dignity left but not that much.

He sat against the headboard and stared at the ceiling and told himself very firmly that the warmth crawling up the back of his neck was from the suite heating and absolutely nothing else whatsoever.

Liuxian’s hands moved over his foot, steady and unhurried.

"You’re disgusting," Guiying looked at the ceiling but his words were directed to Liuxian.

"Mm," said Liuxian.

Liuxian moved closer.

Guiying’s hand came up immediately, flat against his chest, stopping him with the calm efficiency of someone who’d made a risk assessment and arrived at a firm conclusion.

"No," Guiying said.

Liuxian looked at the hand. Then at Guiying. "I’m not going to.m"

"You licked my foot," Guiying said simply. "I don’t know what you’re capable of anymore."

Liuxian had no immediate answer for that.

Guiying kept the hand where it was for another moment, just to make his position clear, then let it drop. He turned over and pulled the covers up and closed his eyes with the decisive energy of someone removing themselves from a situation.

Somehow, at some point, they’d ended up tangled together anyway.

Guiying wasn’t entirely sure how it had happened, there had been a conversation, and then a silence, and then Liuxian’s hand at his jaw and a kiss that had started unhurried and stayed that way for a long time.

When they finally pulled apart Liuxian’s forehead was resting against his.

"Vegas tomorrow," Liuxian said quietly. "We’ll go out. Party a little and gamble."

Guiying made a sound of agreement, his eyes already heavy. The day had been long in the particular way that meant his body had been keeping score and was now presenting the bill all at once.

"Don’t let me lose too much money," he murmured.

"Define too much," Liuxian said.

Guiying was already asleep.

Liuxian lay still for a long time after Guiying’s breathing evened out.

Then, carefully, he slid out from under the covers. He moved slowly, watching Guiying’s face until he was sure he hadn’t stirred, then straightened and walked to the balcony.

The city was still going. New York at this hour was quieter than it pretended to be but never actually silent, the lights spread out below him in every direction, restless and enormous. He leaned against the railing with his forearms resting on the cold metal and looked out at it and let the night air settle over him.

His phone buzzed.

He checked the screen.

It was Caldwell.

He answered.

"Mr. Liu." Caldwell’s voice had the slightly careful quality of someone who’d been thinking about this call for several hours. "I wanted to apologise again personally. What happened today was completely unacceptable and I want to assure you that steps have already been taken."

"I know," Liuxian said. "You handled it well."

A brief exhale of relief on the other end. "I’d like to send some gifts. As compensation. For you and your partner..."

"The most expensive ones," Liuxian said. "Whatever you’re considering, go one level above it. Talk to my assistant Zhang Wei about the details, he’ll give you the specifics."

"Of course. Of course, absolutely." Caldwell paused. "Again, Mr. Liu, I’m truly—"

"Goodnight, Caldwell," Liuxian said.

He hung up and set the phone on the railing.

Zhang Wei.

He wondered if the man had spent the night out. He’d mentioned he was with a man at some point earlier in the trip, in the distracted way Zhang Wei mentioned things he was actually thinking about quite seriously. Liuxian scratched the back of his head and looked out at the city and decided that was Zhang Wei’s business entirely.

The breeze came from the west, cool and steady, washing over him.

He stood there for a while.

He’d been turning something over since the car. Not consciously, it had just been there, the way things were there when you weren’t quite ready to look at them directly.

But standing here now, with the city spread below him and the suite quiet behind him and Guiying asleep on the other side of the glass, he found he didn’t have any particular reason not to look at it anymore.

He liked Guiying.