Work Text:
The air in QianDeng Temple is thick, weighing down on Xie Lian’s skin like a heated caress as he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth.
“San Lang,” he whispers, fingers grasping at the pillow beneath his head as he feels the whisper of ink over his skin, followed by a soft cooling breath to dry it. The sensation sends goosebumps racing over him as he swallows, keeping his gaze turned upward.
He’d promised not to touch, and not to peek, as the demon king worked but that was proving much harder to keep as all he yearned to do was return all of Hua Cheng’s caresses in kind.
“Yes, gege?” Xie Lan heard, the endearment wrapped in a devilish hush as he feels the brush of lips on the inside of his thigh, just below the drying ink. It’s a reverent touch, barely there but burning as it shoots straight to his core and pushes a small gasp from between his lips.
“Don’t tease,” he manages as he grits his teeth around another embarrassing sound. A smoky laugh, still warm from the heated desire it came from, answers him as the wet stroke of the brush returns to his skin. It’s soft bristles tickle higher now, just at his hip.
“What makes you think I’m teasing?” Hua Cheng whispers as Xie Lian feels the press of his thumb over the newly made mark, smearing the liquid line of paint and leaving fire in its wake. Tightening his grip on the pillow, Xie Lian traces the gilded ceiling of the temple— his temple— as he tries to control the way his hips want to roll in search of friction.
“You won’t,” he starts, only to be hushed by the return of the brush. Taking a steadying breath, he continues quietly, “you won’t let me see.”
With his eyes still trained on the intricate patterns of the gold set above him, he feels rather than hears the soft sound Hua Cheng makes as it shakes the air around them. The sound, a rumble almost like a purr caught in the demon king’s chest, makes the tip of the brush quake.
“It isn’t good enough for gege to see,” he hums thoughtfully in answer, offhand as he adds another stroke that follows the line of his hip.
“But San Lang, how will it ever get better if you don’t let the teacher see?” Xie Lian asks breathlessly, ignoring how it sounds more like a plea than an admonishment. Nevertheless, it stalls Hua Cheng for a nearly imperceptible moment before Xie Lian feels the huff of his breath on his skin. It’s followed by the slow drag of lips over his hip bone, sealing the inked character with a kiss.
“Ah, gege has caught me,” Hua Cheng breathes. “Maybe I do just want to tease. But, gege—” he pauses as he gently nips at Xie Lian’s hip. It makes his back arch in an obscene way, and he swears he can feel the ghost of Hua Cheng’s smile against his skin.
Above him, the gold seems to shine brighter as he hears the demon king whisper, “doesn’t it feel good?”
Yes, he wants to moan as he lets the heat take him.
Yes, he imagines himself pleading as he gets lost to the feel of Hua Cheng’s body against his.
Yes, he wants to say over and over until the words run dry from his mouth and all he can do is whimper his love’s name.
“San Lang, please,” Xie Lian begs as he pries his fingers loose from the pillow, reaching down toward Hua Cheng with shaky fingers to brush over the soft strands of his hair. He knows it means he’s breaking his promise, but it seems like such an infinitesimal sin in comparison to his thoughts.
“Just a little while longer, gege,” Hua Cheng soothes as he turns his cheek into Xie Lian’s reaching palm. “Allow this devoted one a moment to be selfish.”
The words brush over his pulse and steal away his thoughts as he nods, arching up into the touch of the brush once more as its soft tip traces further upward toward his stomach.
It’s a slow demise as Xie Lian lets his mind track the thoughtful strokes that Hua Cheng leaves on his body, connecting them into imaginary images he tries to find in the gold watching over them. Made by the same hands, he wouldn’t be shocked if he found the same words of devotion etched into the very beams supporting the temple’s walls.
Xie Lian had always found something poetic in the way Hua Cheng had built a house for his divinity with the strength of his own worship. Time and time again, he was reminded that there were many more gods with many more temples and followers, but Xie Lian couldn’t help but think that he’d only ever needed the one if it meant that one was Hua Cheng.
The wet drag of bristles catching his nipple pulls his from the depths of his thoughts with a gasp.
“San Lang!” He says sharply, his hips bucking up before he can tamp down on the movement. It fills his with guilty warmth that bleeds across his cheeks as he chews on the full of his lip in a vain attempt to swallow his whimper.
“Yes, gege?” Hua Cheng’s voice is still lilting with his teasing as he brushes over his nipple again, thickening the line he’s working on.
It’s suddenly all too much, but nowhere near enough as Xie Lian yearns for the feel of Hua Cheng’s hands in place of the brush and the feel of his teeth leaving more than just painted marks.
The breadth of his desire sinks deep into his bones and turns into a broiling ache that he’s sure will turn him to ash, and Xie Lian has to swallow the small, hysterical laugh at the thought that once upon a time, he thought he was above needing this.
Needing someone.
As if needing someone had made him less when all Hua Cheng has ever done was helped him become better and better.
The brush is almost painfully cold against Xie Lian’s heated skin, and yet not cold enough.
He needs a reprieve.
He needs, and he needs, and he needs.
“Please.”
It’s just one word that’s so quiet on his lips he isn’t sure Hua Cheng has even heard it until he hears the soft sound of the brush as its set down. The bed beneath him shifts as he feels Hua Cheng push away from him. It makes Xie Lian ache with the sudden loss of his presence.
“Okay,” he finally whispers after a weighty pause. “You can look.”
Slowly, with anticipation lighting his nerves, Xie Lian pulls his focus from the ceiling and down towards his skin. Sharp, shaky lines of black mark his skin like painted brands, and he can’t help but feel the way his breath catches as he takes in each carefully crafted word.
Gege. Dianxia. Beloved.
And just above his heart, mine.
A heated drop falls to his collar bone, shocking his senses before he realizes it’s just the careful touch of a tear. Sliding his gaze slowly away from the onyx marks of devotion that were etched on his skin, Xie Lian looks to Hua Cheng where he’s still kneeling between his legs.
Heat simmers low in his stomach as he sees the burning light deep in his eye as he looks over his handiwork.
“San Lang,” his name is a soft grace on his tongue, “it’s beautiful.”
Xie Lian means it. Has never meant anything quite in the same way as those two words. Even with the mistakes that almost turn Hua Cheng’s work illegible, they still carry the same weight as the most devout offering.
A small, lonesome smile plays at Hua Cheng’s mouth as he shakes his head slowly and pulls his gaze away from the dark characters to meet Xie Lian’s gaze.
“It still isn’t good enough,” he says, low and solemn in a way that makes Xie Lian’s chest ache as he thinks of the man before him, and all he’s been through.
All in his own name.
All for a love that he still didn’t think he was good enough to deserve.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian breathes before sitting up and reaching toward the demon king. Gently grabbing the soft white linen of Hua Cheng’s inner robes, Xie Lian pulls him close and presses a chaste kiss to his lips. The suddenness of it startles a small sound from him as Xie Lian lingers, brushing his nose gently against Hua Cheng’s before pressing forward once more.
Letting his arms find their way around Hua Cheng’s shoulders, Xie Lian chases the taste of his gasp as he runs his tongue across the full of his bottom lip.
“San Lang,” he repeats, pressing all the reverence of the name into Hua Cheng’s skin as he pulls him down with him. Humming at the solid press of his body against his own, Xie Lian places a barely there kiss to the bow of his demon king’s lips.
“My San Lang,” he whispers before letting his head fall back to the soft downy cushion of the pillow so he can look up at him. A pink flush colors Hua Cheng’s cheeks, the color a soft juxtaposition to the fiery darkness of the gaze he lets trace Xie Lian’s slightly parted lips.
It isn’t the first time Xie Lian has noticed how handsome Hua Cheng is, but it’s there, with gold hanging over his head and burning fires in his gaze, that he thinks there isn’t anything in this life that can truly rival his beauty.
This life, or the next, he thinks carefully to himself as he gently presses a kiss to the corner of Hua Cheng’s mouth. He feels it turn up beneath his touch as he hums.
With his own small smile, Xie Lian drags the soft flower petal crush of his lips across his skin, stopping only to press a kiss to his cheek.
Repeating the motion, he presses another soft kiss to his nose.
Moving further still, Xie Lian pauses for just a moment before pressing his lips lightly to the silk that covers Hua Cheng’s right eye.
He doesn’t miss the shuddering breath it elicits before he noses at his temple, stopping just at his ear.
“You’ll always be good enough,” Xie Lian whispers, biting down on his grin as he feels the shudder that skitters down Hua Cheng’s spine. Leaning back against the pillow once more, he can’t help but think about how once upon a time, he would have been mortified at his own assertiveness.
Yet all the embarrassment in the world seems worth it as the moment suspends between them, nothing but a pinpoint of pulsing heat between their chests before Hua Cheng captures his mouth in a hungry kiss.
The sharp prick of teeth pull a throaty moan from him as Xie Lian opens into the kiss, returning the demon king’s fervor in kind as he tangles his fingers in his hair. Lightning tickles Xie Lian’s bones and races through his body, culminating at his core and pressing against his lungs until he’s forced to pull away just to catch a breath.
“Gege,” Hua Cheng whispers, peppering his skin with small butterfly kisses. They brush along his face, before following the line of his throat. His attentions wander further still as his lips drag burning lines across his collar bones, and down his sternum.
“Gege,” he hums again as he continues his worship, following his own privately mapped path down the length of Xie Lian’s stomach, only pausing when he feels the way it flutters when his lips brush just below his navel.
Light catches in the obsidian of Hua Cheng’s eye as he flicks his gaze up to ensure Xie Lian is watching.
“Dianxia,” Hua Cheng breathes, before licking a filthy line up Xie Lian’s length. Stars shimmer against the back of his eyelids as the sensation knocks the breath from his lungs.
“I want,” Xie Lian stammers, tripping over himself as he feels the soft slide of Hua Cheng’s fingers over his thigh, “I want you, San Lang.”
The cooling huff of breath sets racing goosebumps along his skin as he feels Hua Cheng brush his nose along the v of his hip. The touch, full of teasing, is gone all too quickly as his presence disappears, explained only by the soft tinkering sounds of the demon king reaching for a small vial on the table.
“Gege has me,” he whispers low, letting his long fingers trace the collar of his robes before slowly pulling them off his shoulders. It’s a slow slide down the slope of his arms, revealing his alabaster skin.
Beautiful, Xie Lian thinks, mouth pooling as Hua Cheng pulls at the ties at his waist and lets the white robe fall to his feet.
“This devoted one has always been yours,” Hua Cheng continues, settling himself between Xie Lian’s legs as he pours some of the fragrant oil into his hand.
Flowers. It smells of flowers. Always flowers.
For a flower crown prince, the demon king had once soothed.
Hua Cheng caresses him, leaning further into him to swallow the sound of his moan before he carefully twists his wrist. Heat prickles at his navel, deepening into a feverish pitch as Hua Cheng nips at his lip.
“And I,” Xie Lian manages between kisses, “and I’m yours.”
The admission causes Hua Cheng pause as he pulls away, eye bright and color high on his cheeks before he tucks his face into the crook of Xie Lian’s neck.
“You truly will be the death of me,” he chuckles lowly. The words burn against his skin like a brand, and Xie Lian can’t help but smile at the way it matches the fire in his heart.
I love him, he thinks as Hua Cheng kisses him once more. Softer this time. Almost as if he wants to convey the very same words that make tracks around Xie Lian’s mind.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian gasps into the heat of the night as he hears the soft pop of the vial’s cap once more. A single drop of oil falls to the skin of his thigh as Hua Cheng spreads more oil across his fingers.
“Gege,” Hua Cheng returns, letting the endearment whisper across Xie Lian’s lips before brushing a finger gently at his entrance. It’s a featherlight touch, hesitant almost, as if it was the first time.
As if Xie Lian might break.
Hua Cheng works him open gently, but efficiently, until Xie Lian is writhing beneath him and mouthing nonsensical pleas. He’s helpless to the ever growing star that has made its home at his center, turning brighter and brighter with every careful press of Hua Cheng’s fingers.
“My San Lang,” Xie Lian moans thoughtlessly, drawing his palms over the strong build of Hua Cheng’s arms. A smile tugs mercilessly at his lips as he watches the goosebumps that appear in his wake.
“My San Lang,” he hushes as he lets his fingers brush across the expanse of Hua Cheng’s shoulders, smile only growing when he hears the demon moan.
“My San Lang,” Xie Lian purrs as he folds his arms behind Hua Cheng’s neck, murmuring his name over and over like a plea into his hair as he feel him line up with his entrance.
“Xie Lian,” Hua Cheng growls low as he pushes in. The full feeling knocks air from his lungs as Xie Lian arches against him, exposing the long line of his throat. He feels the soft brush of lips over his racing pulse before the gentle touch is followed by the pinch of teeth.
His moan is fire to gasoline as Hua Cheng begins to move in earnest, rolling his hips as he presses soft sounds into Xie Lian’s skin.
Some of the words are easy to make out, as Hua Cheng recites the words he’s so lovingly painted on his flesh. Others are harder to make out, almost as if the demon king is trying to keep them behind his teeth, but they all ring with the same sentiment.
I love you.
As he moves, the star sparks, and it bleeds, and it burns at his very core until there’s nothing left of the once crown prince, or the thrice ascendent god, but just him and all his desire. Hips rolling and breaths gasping, the sudden implosion of the star in his chest is sudden and blinding, and all Xie Lian can do is grasp at Hua Cheng’s shoulders.
Light still clings to the edges of his vision as he feels Hua Cheng shudder against him, the moan pressed to his temple making him smile as he holds him close through his pleasure.
They stay there for what feels like a small eternity before Hua Cheng carefully pulls away from him and falls down to the bed beside him. Soon, he’ll get up to grab a cloth, insistent on gently washing away the stickiness along Xie Lian’s skin.
But for now, Xie Lian scoots closer, settling against Hua Cheng’s chest. His breathing is a steady rise and fall as his arm circles Xie Lian’s shoulders to hold him close with a content sound.
Letting his gaze wander across the pale expanse of his skin, Xie Lian can’t help the small laugh that sneaks between his teeth as he sees a black smear across his chest.
Carefully, he reaches toward it, brushing at the ink stain while placing a gentle kiss over the hollow where Hua Cheng’s heart had used to beat.
“If San Lang should wish, we can continue these lessons,” Xie Lian says thoughtfully as he pulls his hand away from the dark mark and lets it stray toward Hua Cheng’s waist.
“After all, practice does make perfect.”
The world around him shakes with the sound of Hua Cheng’s laugh beneath his cheek before he feels a soft touch at the crown of his head.
“Your so wise, gege,” Hua Cheng soothes, pressing the words into his hair. A smile, bright and wide splits his lips as Xie Lian snuggles closer into Hua Cheng’s side.
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