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Jiang Cheng had reached the point of the evening when the mountain of paperwork became overwhelming. He tried, futilely, to push away the oncoming headache, massaging the bridge of his nose and then his temples in vain. The disciple who arrived with tea and a set of cups was a godsend. Jiang Cheng thanked them quietly, then raised an eyebrow at the pair of teacups placed on his desk.
“Wei-gongzi has arrived, Sect Leader,” the disciple said deferentially.
Wei Wuxian bounced through the doorway directly after. The disciple left with a small bow and smile that Jiang Cheng knew meant they would not be disturbed.
“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian fairly yelled. His—his Wei Wuxian had been many things across his lives, but quiet had never been one of them.
Jiang Cheng covered a wince and instead just scowled harder. Years from the night in the temple and at least they had this, Wei Wuxian returning late and unannounced from some nighthunt in Jiang sect territory or close enough to justify his visit. Arriving late and then sneaking away early, earlier than Jiang Cheng might have expected Wei Wuxian to ever be able to achieve. Then again, Wei Wuxian had always lived by the Jiang sect’s motto.
If Jiang Cheng allowed it, Wei Wuxian would drink with him and be merry, carefully skirting around old wounds, words light as butterflies. Years later and the fragile crumbs of what they might have been to each other, a simplistic pantomime, was all that was left.
Tonight, though, he was tired and dealing with a stack of fawning letters seeking a place for a daughter of fine breeding and couched in weirdly paternal concern for the next sect heir. He couldn’t deal with Wei Wuxian. Not when Wei Wuxian had left the Jiang sect so thoroughly behind, miring Jiang Cheng in this squabble disguised as concern for the future of the sect.
The silence had stretched too long, Jiang Cheng sunk into his own thoughts. Wei Wuxian’s smile faltered into something cautiously blank.
“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asked softly, setting his offering of questionable liquor on the desk with a gentle click.
Jiang Cheng just sighed too audibly for Wei Wuxian to miss. “I just—I don’t have time for you tonight,” he said finally. “There’s just me left.”
“You do have Jin Ling.”
“He can't be my heir. You know he’ll have the tower of snakes to tame when he reaches his majority and gets out from under his council, and that’s not guaranteed either,” Jiang Cheng laid it out so coldly political, even to his own ears.
For a moment, their eyes caught and held in a promise. Jin Ling would be seated on the peacock’s throne or his uncles would rain down hell.
“No, there must be some mistress of Lotus Pier, some promise of an heir.” Jiang Cheng bitterly did not think of someone else in the home he’d built out of rubble. “And it is high time, I followed my advisors’ counsel. It’s not like you can magic up an heir for me.” He picked up one of the prying letters pointedly.
Wei Wuxian rocked on his heels for a moment.
“Give me a month,” he said finally.
“What?” Jiang Cheng asked, rather hopelessly at Wei Wuxian’s already retreating back.
“Give me a month!” Wei Wuxian called over his shoulder, the bounce back in his step, and then he was gone.
___
The next time Wei Wuxian appeared at Lotus Pier, it was with his cultivation partner at his side. Lan Wangji had long avoided Lotus Pier in general and Jiang Cheng’s presence in particular. To see him now, trudging up the gates, steady beside Wei Wuxian’s endlessly varied pace, was still an uncommon thing to Jiang Cheng.
Lan Wangi gave Jiang Cheng the shallow bow that was his due as sect leader. Wei Wuxian bobbed only briefly before slinging an arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders.
“Okay, so it might have taken me more than a month—”
“You haven’t been back for three months,” Jiang Cheng interjected. “And I haven’t heard from you either.”
“Yes, fine.” Wei Wuxian flapped his hands to wave away what Jiang Cheng thought were perfectly reasonable concerns. “But! I have solved your sect heir problem.”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes slid to Lan Wangi for help or maybe an explanation. Lan Wangji’s face was as implacably unreadable as ever and completely unhelpful.
“What,” Jiang Cheng said, voice as flat as he could possibly make it.
“I’ll carry your sect heir!” Wei Wuxian said brightly.
For a moment, Jiang Cheng just stared with blank incomprehension. Then the way Wei Wuxian had framed his belly with his hands clicked together.
“What?” Jiang Cheng fairly shrieked. He looked to Lan Wangji thinking that perhaps here was an ally, another rational person swept up in Wei Wuxian’s madness. Instead, Lan Wangji’s blank face was useless. Worse, Jiang Cheng suspected the tucked up corner of his mouth was his way of showing open amusement.
“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng growled and started hauling Wei Wuxian to a less public place. He was alarmingly aware of the weight of his fingers wrapped around Wei Wuxian's wrist.
He did not let go until they’d arrived in his private receiving room. The path to his bedroom seemed lit up and too prominent, in a way it never had before.
“You can’t be serious,” Jiang Cheng started.
For a moment, Wei Wuxian’s mask slipped, enough to show how very seriously he had taken the matter. It was Jiang Cheng’s shixiong with all the authority of a head disciple who replied. “You need an heir without tying yourself to either an ambitious grandparent or the child’s mother. Legitimacy isn’t particularly an issue with your standing in the sect and the wider cultivation world.”
Jiang Cheng could not bear Wei Wuxian’s dry dissection of the politics around Jiang Cheng’s future child. Jiang Cheng swallowed hard. Unspoken was the way he’d so rarely thought of a woman with true interest. Once upon a time maybe, but nothing now. When he finally turned back to Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian was patiently waiting to catch his eyes, to smile in reassurance.
“You’re the last Jiang of the Jiang sect. You need a child of your blood.” Wei Wuxian paused before finishing, “Let me do this for you.”
Wei Wuxian stood steady and sure under Jiang Cheng’s searching gaze. There was so much between them already. Had he not screamed in Wei Wuxian’s face about the expected gratitude for the debts between them? They had done so much to and for each other. He was warmed by the core Wei Wuxian had forced upon him to replace the one he lost protecting Wei Wuxian. Already there was no repayment possible, no matter how Wei Wuxian spoke of leaving it all in the past. How could they bring a child into the mess between them? Jiang Cheng shook his head, backing away on numb legs, graceless.
Gods, but he wanted it. A child of his blood and his heart, freely offered. A child who would bind Wei Wuxian to the Jiang sect, to himself. Debts and sacrifices piled between them, and yet the promises they’d once made to each other still lay in tatters. Jiang Cheng imagined a child with Yanli’s kind eyes and Wei Wuxian’s brilliant laugh. Maybe one day that child would place a chubby hand in Wei Wuxian’s as he showed them the last light coming off the waters of Lotus Pier. The depth of his wanting for something that had been impossible three months ago was foreign to him.
“This is possible?” Jiang Cheng asked roughly. “Truly?”
“We tested it!” Wei Wuxian chirped, back to his endlessly moving self.
Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows rose as he eyed Lan Wangji’s still flat stomach. Land Wangji did not blush, but his ears turned a particular shade of red and he pointedly looked away.
“No! Ha, no,” Wei Wuxian fairly yelped. “Lan Zhan just has new bunnies hopping around.”
“Aren’t pets—”
“Fine! Cloud Recesses has new rabbits.” Wei Wuxian clapped his hands together. “Are we doing this?”
Jiang Cheng looked to Lan Wangji for approval or acceptance, though his presence implied it already. Lan Wangji was just as steady and sure as Wei Wuxian, nodding firmly to the unspoken question.
Huffing his displeasure at being ignored for all of a second, Wei Wuxian hauled Jiang Cheng around to smack a kiss on his temple, then caught his wrist to lead the way to the bedroom.
__
Too soon, Wei Wuxian dragged Jiang Cheng stumblingly to stand before the bed. With a shove, the back of Jiang Cheng’s knees met the edge, forcing him to sit down hard. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
He would need to disrobe presumably, and he had done that almost every day of his life. Still, his hands fumbled against his belt, searching for the catch. Then Wei Wuxian’s hands were there, making space for themselves against his own. The belt dropped to the floor and Wei Wuxian turned his attention to the ties of Jiang Cheng’s robes.
Jiang Cheng took the moment where Wei Wuxian’s concentration elsewhere to just look at him. Here he was alive and warm, smelling slightly of sandalwood. The callouses catching against the fabric and the spread of his fingers against Jiang Cheng’s ribs were unfamiliar. His presence though, that had always been inimitable.
Jiang Cheng let his head rest against Wei Wuxian’s belly, let his hands wrap around Wei Wuxian’s waist. When was the last time he was so close to his brother? All his worst regrets, most painful moments were sharp-toothed things, catching endlessly in his memories. Anything soft slipped through his mind as he grasped after it. Could he remember Yanli’s eyes? Or did he only know them by Jin Ling’s?
Wei Wuxian pushed Jiang Cheng’s robes open enough that the cool air brought him back to the here and now. Still, Jiang Cheng stayed in the shelter of his brother’s body. Wei Wuxian’s clever fingers moved to his hairpiece. Soon enough its weight was gone from the crown of Jiang Cheng’s head. Jiang Cheng supposed Wei Wuxian got enough practice with the needlessly intricate ones Lan Wangji always sported.
“Oh, shidi,” Wei Wuxian murmured. His hands were in Jiang Cheng’s hair, gently tipping his head back, so Jiang Cheng could catch Wei Wuxian’s endlessly fond grin. Affection between them had always been the still depths of their lives. Like the lake around Lotus Pier, rarely had the surface been calm enough to see it clearly. Wei Wuxian ruffled his hair before stepping back to avoid his instinctual swat, laughing all the while.
Lan Wangji must have been waiting, somewhat patiently. He caught hold of Wei Wuxian’s waist, looping an arm to pull them flush, back to chest.
“Husband!” Wei Wuxian called, voice going breathy as Lan Wangji nosed his way into Wei Wuxian’s neck.
Lan Wangji’s eyes were dark as he caught Jiang Cheng’s gaze across Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. As Wei Wuxian had done for Jiang Cheng, so Lan Wangji began the careful work at disrobing his husband. Jiang Cheng might have thought Lan Wangji would be one to fold and set each piece aside gently. Tonight though, he dropped Wei Wuxian’s belt deliberately to the floor, before dealing with the fastenings of his robes. Perhaps this was a familiar routine, for Wei Wuxian moved easily with his ministrations. A private routine, as Wei Wuxian’s cheeks were flaming red, and he would not meet Jiang Cheng’s eyes, his own eyes lowered almost decorously to the floor.
There was nothing decorous about Wei Wuxian’s wrists held before him as Lan Wangji’s long fingers worked at the laces of his vambraces. They joined the belt on the floor soon enough. Lan Wangji lifted each wrist for a kiss before urging Wei Wuxian to loop them about his neck.
Like this, stretched out, Wei Wuxian looked oddly delicate, for all that Jiang Cheng had sheltered in his strength just a moment ago. Wei Wuxian let his head fall back with a little moan, as Lan Wangji wrapped his arms once more around Wei Wuxian’s waist, right across where his belly would grow swollen with child. There was a fierceness, a challenge in Lan Wangji’s eyes.
A challenge that Jiang Cheng did not know how to answer. He busied himself fully stripping off his robes, placing them properly on the stand in the corner. Boots and socks followed swiftly. His hands hovered around the waistband of his trousers. He looked down at his wiggling toes and tried to convince himself that yes, this was truly happening. No fever dream, no mad thoughts.
The wood beneath his feet was worn smooth with age, the grain too complex a thing for him to be dreaming. Enough. He shoved his trousers down, stroked his dick once, twice, almost instinctively. He was used to solo ventures the past few years. Now, the desire for the result and the action was all a tangled thing.
He turned back to the bed and found Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian tangled up in each other. Wei Wuxian was still wearing his red under robe, unfastened and swinging open over his torso. Wei Wuxian’s attention was all on his husband, his quick words pitched low enough to not reach Jiang Cheng’s ears. They were a little universe, a closed system. Jiang Cheng felt awkward and cold and very naked.
Lan Wangji must have nudged him, as they both turned to stare at him with unabashed interest. Jiang Cheng raised his chin as arrogantly as he could. He could be proud of the strength of his body and he would not be ashamed of his performance either. Wei Wuxian only shifted around to face him fully, Lan Wangji’s hands at his waist balancing him in the cradle of their entwined legs.
“Come here, come here.” Wei Wuxian waved him in closer. Uncertain, but unhesitating, Jiang Cheng climbed into bed as gracefully as he could. He felt all limbs in a way he hadn’t for years.
Wei Wuxian kept waving him forward until he was nearly over top of them. Wei Wuxian hauled him even closer to press a smacking kiss to his cheek, and another on the other side. Perhaps, the kiss to his lips was meant to be the same, affectionate and loud and a little ridiculous. Instead, the kiss slowed into something gentle, something real. Jiang Cheng almost hesitantly licked at the seam of his lips, seeking entry.
Wei Wuxian yielded easily, open and wet, all offered in welcome. It was easy to kneel up and guide Wei Wuxian's head back, forcing Weu Wuxian to arch and clutch at him for balance. Forcing a moan from Wei Wuxian's panting mouth. He took his time, finding all the noises he could elicit. Finally, Jiang Cheng broke off to breathe, to take stock of Wei Wuxian's glassy eyes.
"Is he always like this?" Jiang Cheng asked Lan Wangji, caught by the way Wei Wuxian licked at his own lips lazily.
Lan Wangji looked like a satisfied cat, returned from hunting. "En, like this," he said, though that smile hinted at a wealth of experience with Wei Wuxian's yielding that Jiang Cheng would not get tonight.
"Hey! Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian's intended scolding sounded only petulant and sulky. "Don't—"
Jiang Cheng grabbed Wei Wuxian's ankle and yanked. With Lan Wangji's judicious help, Wei Wuxian ended up laid out beneath him, atop his own robes and the skirt of Lan Wangji's. Jiang Cheng wasted no time in catching Wei Wuxian's lips again. Jiang Cheng took his time exploring Wei Wuxian's mouth, relishing in the soft sounds between them.
Breaking free, Jiang Cheng kissed his way down Wei Wuxian's neck, dragging his teeth across skin and biting when it suited him. Each time, the minute jump of Wei Wuxian's reaction just incited more bites until faint bruises started forming.
Jiang Cheng stroked along one hip, comforting and yet unyielding, forcing Wei Wuxian's legs open, his own shoulders between them. He bit his way down one thigh, enjoying the way Wei Wuxian was trembling between them, the way Wei Wuxian's neglected cock was still hardening without being touched. And then, he paused.
Oil glistened on the insides of Wei Wuxian's thighs. Jiang Cheng followed the trail with his fingers back to Wei Wuxian’s hole, already prepared in welcome. Wei Wuxian had—what, flown in his husband’s arms ready to take a second lover? Or did they stop outside Lotus Pier?
“Oooh, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian whined. “You can’t just stop!” He squirmed beneath Jiang Cheng, trying to get either closer or further away. Jiang Cheng grabbed his hips to hold him still.
Cheekily, Wei Wuxian wriggled again. Jiang Cheng growled and tightened his hold.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji reprimanded, reaching down to pinch Wei Wuxian’s nipples. He pulled them far enough that Wei Wuxian arched back to reduce the strain. Lan Wangji let him hang for a second, then shoved him down, forcefully massaging across his chest. Wei Wuxian just groaned into the rough handling. “Be patient.”
Jiang Cheng tried to ignore their byplay, focusing instead on what they’d already prepared for him. Wei Wuxian’s hole opened easily, almost prettily. His two fingers slid right in, barely any resistance. Warm muscles around them, clenching as Wei Wuxian moved into the sensation.
Chasing friction, Wei Wuixan ground down. Jiang Cheng rotated his hand, playing with the way Wei Wuxian flexed into turn. Just as he was looking for a lubricant, something to ease his way, a bottle hovered into view. Lan Wangji presented it matter of factly. He seemed without embarrassment to have come prepared. Then again, this was the man who had presumably slicked Wei Wuxian beforehand.
“Thanks,” Jiang Cheng muttered, pouring a sizable amount into his hand to warm.
“Come on, already,” Wei Wuxian complained. He added a knee to Jiang Cheng’s side as encouragement.
Jiang Cheng gave up on trying to warm the oil properly. Wei Wuxian deserved the flinch he made when it met his skin. He shivered, and then, maturely, stuck his tongue out.
Quick as a snake, Lan Wangji pinched Wei Wuxian’s tongue between two fingers. Wei Wuxian only had long enough to squawk and flail wildly before Lan Wangji let him go. Wei Wuxian could barely hold an offended expression, before it melted back into his normal Lan Wangji adoration. Lan Wangji managed to somehow contort himself to give him a kiss, then stroked his cheek in satisfaction.
Jiang Cheng slicked up his dick and gave into the urge to roll his eyes at this ridiculous display. He patiently waited for Wei Wuxian to look back at him, then lined up and pushed in. That first breach had them both gasping.
Jiang Cheng paused to let Wei Wuxian adjust, trembling above him.
“Wanyin,” Lan Wangji said. Jiang Cheng’s head snapped up. “Move.”
Jiang Cheng rolled his hips forward, sliding further in. He didn’t wait for any more urging. Slowly, but without stopping, he worked himself in to the hilt.
It felt so mindlessly good, he couldn’t just stay still, shivery little thrusts to simply feel the way they slid together. Wei Wuxian was letting out these panting breaths every time he bottomed out. The way Wei Wuxian was out of control let Jiang Chang gain some of it back.
His strokes lengthened out, pulling nearly all the way out before a smooth slide back in. A slow rhythm with an equally slow grind at the end. Wei Wuxian changed to a low moan, wordless and wavering.
“C’mon Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian panted out. “Put your back into it.”
“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng grunted, snapping his hips harder. After that, it was just a race to completion for the both of them.
Wei Wuxian was flexing to meet him, legs wrapped around his waist to urge him on. Lan Wangji managed to reach down and pull one of Wei Wuxian’s legs up, making space for Jiang Cheng to deepen the angle. Wei Wuxian wasn't touching himself, though his cock was red and weeping. Lan Wangji let his own hand slide down Wei Wuxian's thigh to wrap loosely around it, giving him something to fuck up into.
"C'mon," Wei Wuxian whined, his one loose heel grinding meanly into Jiang Chen's back. "Give it to me, already."
"You want it?" Jiang Cheng managed to get out between breaths. "Tell me."
"Yes. Yes. Give it. I want your baby, I want you to fill me up-" He broke off to gasp wetly, moans rising to a wail. Jiang Cheng would say it was like Wei Wuxian had been stabbed, but he had actually been there for both times and this was nothing like that at all. This was something vulnerable and open, thrown fully over to pleasure.
"Please," Wei Wuxian begged as prettily as anything, head lolling back to Lan Wangji's lap. "Please."
Hips stuttering, Jiang Cheng almost wanted to slow down, to make this last a little longer. But Wei Wuxian was begging beneath him, wearing the marks of his teeth and hands. He fell over the edge after Wei Wuxian abruptly, strokes juddering into something slower, slicked by his own spend.
Wei Wuxian moaned and reached down with one hand, feeling blindly at the place where they joined. HIs fingers, playing gently over Jiang Cheng’s softening cock and the places where seed was starting to leak out was a startling sensation. Jiang Cheng fucked forward again, pressing deep in surprise. They both groaned, eyes catching, wide and heated. Wei Wuxian fell back in pleasure, neck arching in an obscene display, throwing an arm across his eyes.
The sweat on Jiang Cheng’s back was cooling and he felt awkward again. He pulled out as carefully as he could, fingers pressing in at the stretched skin around Wei Wuxian’s hole to make it easier. They slid a little, his fingers, in his leaking seed. It seemed natural to gather it up from Wei Wuxian’s skin and push the white fluid back in.
Wei Wuxian trembled in response, waves of shivers running up his flanks. He uncovered his eyes, but left his wrist above his head, vulnerable and inviting.
“Give me something— inside,” Wei Wuxian murmured indistinctly. “Please.”
Jiang Cheng froze, unsure if his touch was still welcome, even as his hands clenched on Wei Wuxian’s thighs. How long could he steal the intimacy that belonged between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji?
It seemed like an answer when Lan Wangji hauled Wei Wuxian further into his lap, his thick fingers sliding through Jiang Cheng’s mess to plug Wei Wuxian. His voice when he spoke to Wei Wuxian was low enough to be incomprehensible to Jiang Cheng.
JIang Cheng knelt back on his heels, scrubbing his hands on his thighs. He’d had this and he had a chance at an heir from him and Wei Wuxian both. Enough. Enough. The world lashed out when he got too greedy.
Mechanically, he left the bed to find a cloth and some water. He wiped himself off perfunctorily, but in a moment of softness, spent a bit of spiritual energy heating a clean, wet cloth. This he shoved at Lan Wangji, half turning away to get his clothing.
“Mn,” Lan Wangji hummed loudly enough that he probably meant to catch Jiang Cheng’s attention.
“What?” Jiang Cheng snapped irritably, feeling cold and lonely in his nakedness.
“You should make sure your seed has met fertile ground,” Lan Wangi said, cold in his own way and demandingly imperious.
Jiang Cheng snapped his jaw shut, refusing to keep repeating What like a mindless idiot. For his part, Wei Wuxian looked bright-eyed and interested enough, pushing himself up on all fours, and looking coyly over his shoulder at Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji was the one to flip the back of Wei Wuxian’s robes out of the way, revealing the pale skin of his ass.
The tableau was a little ridiculous, but it was Wei Wuxian there, his grin breaking slowly into something hurt at Jiang Cheng’s lack of reaction. So, of course, Jiang Cheng had to drift closer to put his hands on Wei Wuxian’s skin, to slide over relaxed muscles to Wei Wuxian’s hips once more. The passing flash of red following the pressure of his touch was fascinating. It made him want to grip harder or maybe strike at all that tempting skin, to bring rosy heat to its surface.
Lan Wangji’s face had that hidden grin again, like he could read Jiang Cheng’s thoughts, and, perhaps, that they matched his own. Jiang Cheng felt his own chin lift at the silent challenge, like a spirited stallion arcing up into guiding reins.
His hands went back over the muscle of Wei Wuxian’s buttocks, still too thin for all that Jiang Cheng could grudgingly admit that Lan Wangji was good for him. The first blow, exploratory as it was, knocked Wei Wuxian forward, sending him scrabbling to keep himself from falling as his hands slid on the bed. Helpfully, Lan Wangji tangled his hands in Wei Wuxian’s hair and pulled him up. Wei Wuxian made no move to free himself, instead arching his back in pleasure like a satisfied cat. It had the advantage of pushing his ass back out, just asking to be hit. Jiang Cheng repeated his strike, aiming a little lower. And then again. And again.
It was easy to fall into something of a pattern, varying speed and location. Wei Wuxian was making little ‘Ah, ah’, open-mouthed noises every time he swung forward against Lan Wangji’s hold. Jiang Cheng could feel himself hardening in counterpoint. He wanted to lick the sounds out of Wei Wuxian’s mouth. Lan Wangji was still sitting stiffly like he had a rod of steel in his spine. Instead of curling down over Wei Wuxian, he spread one broad palm across the back of Wei Wuxian’s neck and hauled him up into a kiss. The muffled sounds of Wei Wuxian’s whining were so good that Jiang Cheng shuddered in pleasure, scraping his nails against Wei Wuxian’s reddened skin.
Abruptly, he wanted to be inside Wei Wuxian. The oil had fallen to the floor, but the bottle was mercifully intact. Ignoring the spreading puddle, that would surely stain the wooden planks, Jiang Cheng poured what remained into his palm, slicking himself again. His oiled thumb pulled at where Wei Wuxian was still loose from the last round. It slipped in easily, so Jiang Cheng traded it for two fingers, sliding back in to the sound of Wei Wuxian pulling away to pant into the open air.
“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian demanded. He paused to pant for a moment as Jiang Cheng stretched his fingers wide. “A-Cheng, stop playing,” he finally snapped.
Lining himself up, Jiang Cheng pushed in. Lean Wangji’s gaze was hot on him, judging. Somehow it cooled off his urgency. His stroke slowed to something smooth and rolling. He aimed for a slow, consistent rhythm that got Lan Wangji’s regal nod of approval. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes in reaction, but could feel the heat of a blush in his cheeks.
Wei Wuxian tried to rock his hips back, but Jiang Cheng held him steady, giving him only this. Jiang Cheng sat back on his heels, changing the angle of his strokes. Wei Wuxian gasped, biting off the sounds he wanted to make. Lan Wangji finally let him drop down to lay his head in Lan Wangji’s lap.
Jiang Cheng could see the whole slope of Wei Wuxian’s back, the profile of his well-loved face as he turned to mouth at Lan Wangji. At the end of Jiang Cheng’s stroke, Wei Wuxian worried at the white Lan robes like a little terrier. Jiang Cheng’s own pleasure felt like a distant horizon as he ran fingers beneath the red robe still clinging to Wei Wuxian’s torso. Wei Wuxian’s noises now were muffled by the cloth and Jiang Cheng wanted all of them.
Lan Wangji must have agreed as he tenderly cupped Wei Wuxian’s face. He hooked his thumb far back in Wei Wuxian’s cheek, behind his teeth, unitil it must have barred his mouth from closing. The sounds became garbled, but louder, just a tide of noise that pitched higher into a whine as Wei Wuxian heard himself. He was shuddering again, trying to hide from Jiang Cheng’s gaze, but unwilling to deny Lan Wangji anything. Jiang Cheng slowed further, just keeping Wei Wuxian speared open as he begged his what— soulmate, lover, cultivation partner, husband— for mercy.
Lan Wangji granted it after a fashion, parting his robes just enough to slide his dick free. He guided Wei Wuxian’s down, controlling the pace with his thumb when Wei Wuxian would have gone for all of it.
Jiang Cheng slid out, matching Lan Wangji's pace, then back in as Lan Wangji pulled Wei Wuxian off. The slow rhythm sped up as they passed Wei Wuxian back and forth between them. Wei Wuxian had been so frantic for whatever sensations he could get. Pushing back into their hands, into the slide of their bodies together, seeking the pain and pleasure both. Now, he seemed to have left worldly matters behind, relaxing into the tide of their push and pull, taking each moment as it came, taking what he was given.
Lan Wangji came first, an orgasm behind the others. Jaing Cheng could read it in the way his head was thrown back in pleasure, his whole body tensing. His toes curled gently by Jiang Cheng’s knees.
Lan Wangji clutched Wei Wuxian close, curling over him. When he was released, Wei Wuxian fell to the side, pillowed on Lan Wangji’s thigh. The dark of his hair sprawled across the white Lan robes, framing his lips reddened by his exertions. Jiang Cheng wanted to be kissing that mouth.
He leaned down, chest to Wei Wuxian's back, sweat and heat gathering between their bodies. Then, he hauled them both upright, Wei Wuxian's old strength used for this joining between them.
Fucked out already, Wei Wuxian slid deeper as his legs spread wide across Jiang Cheng's thighs, losing his leverage. With one arm, Jiang Cheng held him tight, and with the other he stole the moans out of Wei Wuxian's mouth, taking the kiss he'd been longing for. Wei Wuxian broke the kiss to pant, head lolling back against Jiang Cheng's shoulder.
"Ah, so demanding A-Cheng!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed. "It's too much for your poor Xianxian."
For a moment, Jiang Cheng doubted his instincts. Perhaps it had been too much. He was trying to figure out a way to extricate himself when Lan Wangji intervened.
"Mn," Lan Wangji hummed. "It's exactly what you deserve."
Lan Wangji rejoined them, leaning to kiss the corner of each one of Wei Wuxian's dramatically pleading eyes. He met Jiang Cheng's own gaze squarely.
"Well?" Lan Wangji demanded. "Give him what he deserves."
Jiang Cheng grabbed Wei Ying's hips, lifting him. As he slid back down, they groaned in unison. Jiang Cheng's eyes closed as he tried to hold off his own orgasm, determined to see Wei Wuxian finish first.
"Good," Lan Wangji declared from too close.
Jiang Cheng's eyes flew open to see Lan Wangji frankly appraising him. He darted in for a quick kiss, just as frank in its offer. Jiang Cheng took it, opening his mouth to let Lan Wangji's tongue slip inside.
When they broke apart, Wei Wuxian was staring at them open-mouthed. Lan Wangji turned that overwhelming attention on him, broad hands sliding down Wei Wuxian's chest. His thumbs caught Wei Wuxian's nipples and Wei Wuxian shivered in reaction. Jiang Cheng lifted him again, his red robes bunching and shifting between them.
It was obvious that Jiang Cheng could only manage a ragged rhythm, hampered by Wei Wuxian's attempts to help and the way he was quickly coming up on his own limits. Lan Wangji hummed where he had been biting his way across Wei Wuxian's chest and neck.
Then Lan Wangji was bowed in half across his bent knees, suddenly supporting the majority of Wei Wuxian's weight by his hands on Wei Wuxian's ass. It was a feat of core and arm strength that only a Lan would try to pull off, but it gave Jiang Cheng enough space to properly fuck up into Wei Wuxian.
He wasn't going to last, but Wei Wuxian wasn't either, not when Lan Wangji closed his lips over Wei Wuxian's length. He was just letting Jiang Cheng's rhythm rock Wei Wuxian forward into his mouth, keeping his teeth carefully covered.
Wei Wuxian looked down for only the briefest moment, before he had to look away, body tense as he tried to hold off his pleasure for a little longer. It was such a Wei Wuxian thing, to fight for something sharp-edged and painful. All of his happiness tied into complex knots for all that he pretended at shallow waters, at easy pleasure.
Jiang Cheng tucked his smile into Wei Wuxian's neck, then he bit down. It wasn't hard enough to break skin, but it jolted Wei Wuxian just enough to unbalance him, to send him shuddering off into euphoria. Jiang Cheng could feel it, the way Wei Wuxian's body tensed and relaxed in waves. His own pleasure, once so distant, came easily now that he was ready to receive it.
Panting, Jiang Cheng gave himself a second to sit back on his heels, a little overwhelmed. Then he pulled free and guided them both to flop onto their sides, like fish reeled into the docks. He breathed deeply, instinctively seeking skinship, cuddling into Wei Wuxian's side, holding him as he rarely had the chance to.
Lan Wangji was sitting elegantly beside them when Jiang Cheng cracked his eyes open again. Another cloth was warm and ready and offered to Jiang Cheng mutely. Lan Wangji murmured to Wei Wuxian as he cleaned him, slow strokes of the cloth taking away the sweat and mess. Carefully Lan Wangji helped Wei Wuxian out of his ruined red robe.
Silently, Jiang Cheng cleaned himself and let his gaze linger. There. Now this could be tucked away, a memory to keep safe in a chest. On aching legs he tottered over to dump the cloth back by the pitcher and basin. Suddenly, he felt parched as though the presence of water was enough to make him crave it. He poured himself a cup and downed it almost without tasting it. He poured another cup and drank it more slowly.
Perhaps he should go out and find tea and food. Find better offerings than cool water. He was both host and recipient. He scowled, frustrated at falling into this cycle of gratitude again. Was he to be always so very thankful for Wei Wuxian's benevolence?
Annoyed, he stomped back to the bed with the cup, thrusting out his plain offering to Wei Wuxian as he lounged back against Lan Wangji once more.
"Oh!" Wei Wuxian said, bobbling the cup a little. His whole face brightened with his smile. "Thank you, shidi."
Jiang Cheng very much did not blush as he fussily pulled the coverlet from the foot of the bed where it had been pushed.
Taking back the cup, their fingers brushed and it was enough to cool his rising temper. He was grateful. That didn't mean he could meet Wei Wuxian's eyes easily.
"Wei Wuxian," he said, eyes tightening at the way it came out scolding. More softly, he added, "Thank you."
"Thank me again in nine months when our child is wailing," Wei Wuxian teased as he yawned. "No, no, no more thanks between us."
He blinked again, slowly, as though his eyes were already closing. Jiang Cheng left the cup in easy reach and turned to go.
"Come to bed," Lan Wangji said. There could be a million things hidden in that deep voice, but Jiang Cheng too was tired.
In the morning, Jiang Cheng was sure there would be Wei Wuxian's sharp elbows and his own sharp words. But they were tied together now; they could bear a little sharpness between them. Lan Wangji's expression did not waver, but it softened almost imperceptibly as Jiang Cheng came back.
They were too old to be curling together like puppies, but they somehow all managed to fit together.
"Good night," Wei Wuxian whispered, eyes already closed.
And it was.