not to be a fucking nerd but like look at the exquisite acting here:
nmj slowly opens his eyes in the first gif, his gaze unfocused for a beat before flicking upward. you can see the moment he registers that it’s lxc who’s holding him in his chest in the way how, when he exhales heavily, he allows his whole body to sink down; this is especially apparent in his head as it tilts back when he releases the tension in his neck.
in the second gif, the way lxc’s expression starts off as concerned before he half-blinks it into one of hesitant relief - “hesitant” being evident in the brief pause as he swallows before breathing, “Mingjue-xiong” and in the way he holds the “M” in “Mingjue” for a few frames. and he’s still fighting off concern in that moment too - you can see it in how his brows flex downward and how his breath catches in his throat at the end of “xiong”. the whole time, there’s still a lot of stress in his eyes (you can see it in how his lower lids don’t really respond with his tiny smile).
in the third gif!!! THE WAY LXC’S FINGERS MOVE!! it’s both a readjustment and a comforting gesture. and the way! they tense!!! and get a little twitchy just at the end! that’s lxc’s worry/concern talking!! and also - watch how lxc’s breathing here. his chest is heaving pretty heavily throughout (you see it in the first and fifth gifs too) - which, again, shows just how worried/anxious he is - but watch!! how! the rhythm is thrown off when nmj whispers, “xichen”. ok so this is. maximum animation-nerd speaking. but. hear me out: in this gif, it takes him roughly 13 frames to go from the peak of his first inhale to the peak of his first exhale. by comparison, the second exhale (the one that comes after nmj speaks) takes only 8 frames!! my man is feeling EMOTIONS when nmj utters his name; his breath is punched out of his lungs by nmj’s “xichen”. (aaaa)
we see the quick “ha” of this sharp exhale in the fourth gif (look at his throat), and it is this that prompts his smile to finally travel to his eyes, where his lower lids crinkle extremely subtly upward for half a second - just long enough for us to read his relief and happiness that nmj is lucid and uninjured enough to still be able to recognize him and speak without coughing up blood, before his expression returns to one of concern.
and then! nmj in the fifth gif! oh, man. first, he slowly blinks, and his eyes close, he lets out an exhale, like he’s letting himself sink a little bit into lxc’s arms, then with his eyes still closed, his lips twitch into the smallest of smiles, answering lxc. he opens his eyes to stare up at his friend for a moment before his eyes extremely subtly lose focus and begin to drift downward, at which point, he closes them again, then exhales again, except this time!! with his second exhale, he tilts his head towards lxc, letting himself sink into his arms even more. (AAAA)
this scene, man……… i’m.
(they care about and trust each other so much 😭)