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Liu Qingge wakes up. Tianlang-jun knows this because he follows a servant with a tray of foodstuffs. There is an absence of what he has long since learned are the characteristic sounds of property damage that accompany Liu Qingge in most of his moods. It's not until they close in on Liu Qingge's courtyard that Tianlang-jun realises the man must have woken and he bullies the tray out of his servant's hands. He doesn't need the excuse to visit his own husband and having it will not spare him any of Liu Qingge's ire, but the game is fun regardless. He's half convinced the man managed to sneak out of his room, though it's unlike him to avoid drawing attention to himself.
A vain thing, he thinks, chuckling under his breath.
He only gives the most cursory of greetings before pushing open the door to where Liu Qingge lies after his convalescence.
The window is open, but Liu Qingge hasn't escaped through it; he sits in his bed like the good patient he is decidedly not. The light spilling in from the window is bright and washes Liu Qingge in a glow. As Tianlang-jun lets himself in, Liu Qingge turns his head.
Tianlang-jun is examined by dark, narrowed eyes before Liu Qingge says, firmly: "Husband?"
---
"I don't believe your sect leader knows you're here."
Liu Qingge finishes hitting the minor demon with the hilt of his sword before kicking them away and letting them fall, unconscious, to the floor. There's a small pile of similarly insensate demons already at Liu Qingge's feet. With the smooth muscle memory of a man who has done this a thousand times, Liu Qingge wipes the flat of his blade before sheathing it. It is only then that he deigns to acknowledge Tianlang-jun.
"Have I trespassed?" He asks.
He stands, not a drop of demon blood nor dirt on the crisp white of his robes, in the center of one of Tianlang-jun's inner courtyards, far out of the way from the rooms Tianlang-jun had given to the visiting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect cultivators. The security Tianlang-jun keeps for show is laid flat under his boots. He still has not turned to face Tianlang-jun.
"You haven't." Liu Qingge finally turns to face him, sneer curdling on his face. His pretty features look sharper the more he twists them, a thrilling edge that the demon in Tianlang-jun appreciates.
"Then there's nothing to discuss."
Tianlang-jun watches his hair swing behind him as he stalks away.
---
"I do not let you refer to me as such!" Liu Qingge says, his face disbelieving. Tianlang-jun smiles, as disarmingly as he knows how.
"No, of course not. You told me to keep that to the bedroom."
Liu Qingge gasps, his face turning red from the roots of his hair, to the tips of his ears, and down disappearing into the collar of his robes. His dark eyes glance away from him, hidden by the long fan of his lashes, before he looks back up at Tianlang-jun. "So I shouldn't call you lover unless we are behind closed doors."
He isn't expecting it, but a flare of heat ignites in him, as Liu Qingge's mouth lifts in a satisfied smirk.
---
Yue Qingyan sighs heavily and closes his eyes. Tianlang-jun finds himself having to bite the inside of his cheek before his laughter spills into the pavilion he is using to entertain Cang Qiong's representatives. Another series of muffled thumps and clangs drift up to them.
"I apologize," Yue Qingyuan starts, resignation held on his tongue before Tianlang-jun raises his hand to wave the contrition away.
"It is a good time for a break anyways," he starts, "we've been at this for nearly two shichen now."
"As you say."
Tianlang-jun skips the necessary polite details and pushes the silk curtains aside. He's just in time to see Liu Qingge at the end of the path kicking the Three Horned Southern Demon he has on his payroll directly in the stomach, sending him flying across the path, through the meticulously gardened hedges, and crashing into one of the pretty nanmu partitions separating off a quiet picnic area from the rest of the gardens.
There's several dismayed gasps and shouts from the accompanying Cang Qiong delegation--and hoots from the other demon guards and visitors. Yue Qingyuan closes his eyes and tilts his head up to the sky when he reaches Tianlang-jun's side. Again, his first move is to apologize.
"Tianlang-jun, Cang Qiong will of course cover the cost--"
"That was a thousand year old golden thread folding screen with silk panels painted by the premiere artist of the Eastern Demon Clan, long since dead, and given to my household as a gift to my tragically departed wife."
Yue Qingyuan shuts his mouth.
One of the other lords of Cang Qiong grabs Liu Qingge by his shoulder and pulls him, scolding. Tianlang-jun watches as he barks at his fellow Peak Lord, yanking out of the grip and directing a truly chilling glare directly upon Tianlang-jun.
"Yue Qingyuan, I agree to the terms you outlined this morning under one condition," Tianlang-jun interrupts Yue Qingyuan from whatever laughably off mark apologies he can conjure.
"What, what condition?"
Tianlang-jun smiles.
---
"Here."
A hand lowers into his vision and he looks up to see Liu Qingge handing him a peeled segment of tangerine. His neat nails are stained just the barest bit by the pith and peel of the tangerine, fingertips tacky. Tianlang-jun cranes his head further just to see the rest of the tangerine, half mangled in Liu Qingge's grip. He's offering one of the only intact segments on his outstretched hand.
"If you don't want it--fine!" Before Liu Qingge can jerk back his hand Tianlang-jun captures his wrist to hold him there. He leans in and takes the fruit between his teeth right from Liu Qingge's palm, biting into it and letting the initial burst of juice drip onto Liu Qingge's hand. He twitches at the first drop, then stills as Tianlang-jun finishes chewing the sweet and tart fruit.
Liu Qingge tries drawing his hand back again, but Tianlang-jun holds fast. "What--do you want another piece?" Liu Qingge asks, voice flushed with confused embarrassment. Tianlang-jun smiles. He turns in his seat, so he can face Liu Qingge better, and looks up at him. Liu Qingge is pink, though not as flustered as Tianlang-jun knows he can get. When he meets Tianlang-jun's eyes, he goes just that bit pinker. Still not enough.
Without speaking, Tianlang-jun opens his mouth and drags the flat of his tongue across Liu Qingge's captive palm in a broad stroke. There, that does it. Liu Qingge flushes straight down his neck, red and fetching, making a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Not satisfied, Tianlang-jun dips the point of his tongue in the center of Liu Qingge's palm, moving it in tight circles before tracing his fate line down and following the crease of his life line back up . Keeping his eyes locked onto Liu Qingge's, he slides his tongue between Liu Qingge's index and middle fingers, lapping at the sensitive join and watching as Liu Qingge's breaths get heavier.
"That's--" Liu Qingge's breath cracks as Tianlang-jun opens his mouth to envelop Liu Qingge's thumb in the hot heat of him, making sure to press the edge of his fangs along the thin skin of Liu Qingge's joints. He indulges himself by swirling his tongue, savoring the tang of the tangerine over the salty taste of Liu Qingge's flesh. Then he hollows his cheeks and sucks, pressing his tongue flat against Liu Qingge as he does so.
Liu Qingge flinches, gasps, and Tianlang-jun is forced to blink as a fine spray hits him in the face, pools, and drips down to his chin. When he can open his eyes again, Liu Qingge is fiercely red and he's gripping the strangled and pulped remains of the tangerine in his fist, juice dripping down his wrist.
---
"Absolutely not!" Liu Qingge snarls. Yue Qingyuan's voice is quiet. If Tianlang-jun sharpens his hearing he would be able to make out the individual words Yue Qingyuan uses, but Tianlang-jun isn't so inclined. The sect leader of Cang Qiong won't be trying to persuade Liu Qingge into accepting the terms of Tianlang-jun's agreement to an alliance, is probably advising him not to, in fact, but Tianlang-jun knows how much Yue Qingyuan in particular wants the image of a cultivator demon alliance. Tianlang-jun supposes he has his son to thank for that.
Just as he knows this, he also knows Liu Qingge is a loyal dog who will end up talking himself into whatever he thinks is best for his sect and sect leader. This is the nature of the relationship between Sect Leader and Bai Zhan War God. The sect leader can be as diplomatic and placid as he wants to be, with the knowledge that he doesn't need a leash for Liu Qingge to enforce his wishes. Maybe without him at his side, Yue Qingyuan will have to start relying on that well of overwhelming power he pretends he doesn't have.
Liu Qingge's voice levels out and Tianlang-jun keeps walking at his leisurely pace, passing by the Cang Qiong delegation's quarters.
At the next morning's meeting, he is not surprised but pleased when Yue Qingyuan signs the new agreement with Liu Qingge standing stiff behind him.
---
"Demons court through invitations to violence and gifts that prove their strength?" Tianlang-jun stops reading to look up at Liu Qingge. Liu Qingge pauses his own work of going throw a stack of papers at Tianlang-jun's desk. "Did I misunderstand?"
"No, I suppose not," Tianlang-jun glances back down at the book he chose to read aloud. It's a collection of tawdry love stories featuring mostly demons and cultivators and he had chosen it specifically to get under Liu Qingge's skin. "You were listening?"
"Of course," Liu Qingge frowns at him. His ears are red, evidence that he's heard enough of the frankly unbelievably athletic sex scene to get bothered by it. No--not bothered, because he is making none of the outraged faces he is wont to make when Tianlang-jun is testing his patience. He's really just listening to Tianlang-jun read to him as he browses through his papers. "So I am correct. Have we fought many times, then?"
"Fought?" Tianlang-jun finds himself on unsure footing, not knowing whether to take a step forward or back.
"Mm. I've been looking through the ledger of the household assets. I don't see anything that could be counted as an appropriate courting gift, so we must have fought?" He tilts his head at Tianlang-jun's expression. "For you to have chosen me?"
They really haven't fought, at least not the way Liu Qingge means.
---
They marry like humans do. There is bowing, there is wine, there is a feast. There is Liu Qingge's only concession to tradition with his red veil, otherwise still clad in the crisp whites of his Peak Lord robes. There is the wedding chamber.
"There's no need for that," Tianlang-jun says as Liu Qingge bristles at the window. Tianlang-jun stretches out on what is meant to be their marital bed, his wedding robes discarded carelessly on the floor. "I may be a demon, but I'm not going to pounce on you... not unless you ask for it."
Tianlang-jun doesn't open his eyes or twitch when he hears the sound of steel drawn from sheath. The cold tip of Liu Qingge's Cheng Luan rests on the knot of his throat.
"You sound like you're asking for your death," Liu Qingge hisses.
"My husband is so keen to become a widower and deprive his sect the advantages of my household?" He asks, relaxing into the swathe of pillows and bedding beneath him.
"Tch." The blade doesn't waver even as Tianlang-jun can feel the ill intent roll off of Liu Qingge in waves.
"You don't have to act like you were forced into this. Don't try to tell me your beloved sect leader didn't have you sit by his side as he drew out the marriage contract."
Silence. Tianlang-jun finally opens his eyes to see Liu Qingge looking slightly chagrined. He sits up, surprised for the first time. Liu Qingge pulls back just a hair too late, Cheng Luan biting into the skin at Tianlang-jun's neck before the cultivator retreats and sheathes his blade.
"You didn't sit in? Do you know what the contract encompasses at all?" The way Liu Qingge's face tightens tells him all he needs to know even before he opens his mouth.
"I know what is expected in a marriage, and so does Yue Qingyuan. He wouldn't allow any untoward additions, no matter if they're traditional for demons or not."
But he doesn't know about the subtractions. Tianlang-jun blinks as the cut closes on his neck. Liu Qingge glares at him, stubborn and spine proud and rigid as a mountain as his eyes catch onto the blood at Tianlang-jun's throat and then jumps to the stain it left barely visible on the red of the pillowcase. His mouth lifts in a sneer. "There, the marital bed has been blooded. Even if not the way expected." Tianlang-jun does not correct him.
---
"We should fight." Liu Qingge has taken to following him around. It would be dog like but for the way he gets underfoot like a cat: with premeditated calculation.
Tianlang-jun doesn't even know why he is denying himself the pleasure of a proper battle with Liu Qingge. His claws itch with the desire slip under Liu Qingge's guard and find the vulnerable underbelly of him. His teeth ache for it. If Tianlang-jun's desire to fight Liu Qingge had been piqued by the common rumours about the illustrious Bai Zhan War God, the desire solidified the first time he laid eyes on him in person; a storm unto himself, arriving on the battlefield like the strike of lightning. Certainly with as much flash.
"Do demons no longer spar, after marriage?" Liu Qingge tries, after dinner. Tianlang-jun deflects, draws Liu Qingge back into the study to read him terrible romance novels and worse erotica. The flush on Liu Qingge's face is ever present, but he entertains even the worst of Tianlang-jun's indulgences, sometimes interjecting with his too literal line of thought. "Why doesn't the main character simply elope with the second male lead instead of entertain the nonsense the romantic interest keeps dragging with him" isn't particularly insightful criticism, but it charms Tianlang-jun anyways.
"Are you soft, for a demon?" Tianlang-jun pulls a wry smile at this.
"You know better than that," he says and leans into Liu Qingge's space, pressing his smile into Liu Qingge's shoulder. "There are many things I could be called, but I've never had to worry about rising to the occasion."
"Distracting." Liu Qingge admonishes leaning away but not breaking contact. This Liu Qingge is far too indulging. "I don't think you could be called a coward either and yet you run away each time I ask for a fight. Afraid you'll lose?"
"Aren't you recovering from a head injury?" Tianlang-jun asks, reaching up to cup Liu Qingge's face. His claws tuck right at the sharp line of his jaw, the vulnerable skin at his neck. Liu Qingge doesn't flinch. Tianlang-jun can't be sure it isn't because he's just forgotten how dangerous Tianlang-jun is.
"What, am I going to forget my marriage harder?" He turns his head to brush his lips against Tianlang-jun's wrist. "Fine, if it worries my husband."
---
"What are you doing?!" Liu Qingge shouts, his voice high and thin. He's red almost instantly as his eyes fall on Tianlang-jun's fast moving hand, jolt away to his face and then trace furtively back down the open lapels of Tianlang-jun's robes. He stares, stock still and wide eyed. This husband of Tianlang-jun's is so very pretty, his fine features only highlighted when he's flustered and doesn't know what to do with it.
"Don't--don't keep going!"
"But the weight of my husband's stare makes me burn all the hotter."
Liu Qingge whips his head around, finally tearing his gaze away and facing the wall. Not before Tianlang-jun sees his eyes glance down at where Tianlang-jun is still gripping his cock, taking in the way it jumps under his gaze. "Insolent wretch!" He yells, full of indignation as he faces away. Tianlang-jun can see the back of his ears and his neck go red. Cute.
"Is that any way to call your husband?" He says this, but he drips at the words, the tone of Liu Qingge's voice. He gathers the slick in his hand and redoubles his efforts, making it loud just to see Liu Qingge's shoulders shake.
His husband shouts wordlessly and makes a hasty retreat, leg getting caught on an unfortunate chair that is no match for the kick that renders it to splinters and kindling.
---
Liu Qingge has taken to practicing his sword forms wherever Tianlang-jun can happen across him. Whether it is in front of his study window as Tianlang-jun words or reads, or in one of the many curated garden spaces as Tianlang-jun wanders his home. If he didn't know better, he would assume his husband is trying to seduce him.
The husband in question glances up at him, then shrugs out of his outer robe.
Tianlang-jun sighs and abandons his silly game of self denial. He rarely has the patience for it.
"Fine, fine," he says, "I want it on record that I tried to follow the medical advice."
Liu Qingge finishes the full movement, his body graceful and precise, before sheathing Cheng Luan and spinning to face him. The warmth of his smile catches Tianlang-jun off guard, causing him to misstep.
"Alright?" Liu Qingge asks as he jogs to catch Tianlang-jun's elbow.
"Of course I am," Tianlang-jun says, "I have such a strapping young man taking care of me."
Liu Qingge rolls his eyes. "Take you down a notch, maybe."
"Oh?" Tianlang-jun snakes out his hand and grips Liu Qingge's arm. Liu Qingge doesn't have time to even widen his eyes before Tianlang-jun presses his advantage and pulls Liu Qingge's legs out from under him.
Liu Qingge finds himself flat on his back, Tianlang-jun seated on him. "Hey!" He shouts, "You cheat!"
"Cheat? But hasn't my husband been begging for me to pin him down this whole time?" Tianlang-jun settles in, taking shameless advantage of his blood and demonic abilities to make his center of gravity denser. Liu Qingge struggles under him, only managing to muss up his hair, tangling it in loops around his head and shoulders as he wriggles. Tianlang-jun slides his hands up Liu Qingge's stomach, chest, taking the opportunity to palm the swell of muscle there, before gripping Liu Qingge's shoulders and holding them.
Liu Qingge is so stunned his skin forgets to blush, staring up wide eyed at Tianlang-jun as he's held down. Tianlang-jun grins at him.
---
He really should think about replacing his security staff. They're mostly there for looks, Tianlang-jun can take care of any threat better than any demon he could hire, but people are going to start getting ideas if they keep folding like wet paper beneath Liu Qingge's boots.
Liu Qingge kicks aside the stupidest guard sending her careening through more of Tianlang-jun's landscaping. The guards who have a braincell between them bow hastily to their master's spouse and let Liu Qingge through uncontested even if he is dragging a wriggling burlap sack over his shoulder, dripping with oil slick ichor. His eyes cut across the open space to unerringly land on Tianlang-jun, his habitual scowl glittering with challenge. He isn't far enough away that Tianlang-jun doesn't see the way his eyes drop, just a moment, to steal a glance at Tianlang-jun's hips.
"Good, you're here." Liu Qingge cuts directly to Tianlang-jun, ignoring the path and stomping through the delicate bushes and flowers. He throws the sack on the ground with a heavy thump and dumps its contents on the dirt. There's a flash of quick silver scales before Liu Qingge stomps his boot on the creature's neck pinning the Greater Glass Envenomed Lizard to the ground. The scales of the lizard flash quickly; brown, green, grey, sand, it turns the color of Liu Qingge's boot and then flashes a dazzling display of pinks and reds and yellows as it tries to intimidate and confuse instead of hide. With the colors shifting so quickly, it's hard to see it's true shape but from what Tianlang-jun can make out it is an ugly creature. Bulbous and unsightly.
"There's no reason to kill it, husband," Tianlang-jun finds himself saying, "It's blood will prove neither deadly nor painful to me. Though this husband does admire your ability to catch it alive and bring it here."
It's true that the Greater Glass Envenomed Lizard's corrosive blood is more effective fresh, that it does release a vaporous gas upon death that burns the lungs. If Tianlang-jun were any other demon Liu Qingge's plan would work, even if it lacks elegance in its execution. However, Tianlang-jun is a Heavenly Demon, and the lizard's ichor merely bolsters his powers. Tianlang-jun is only distantly sad about ruining Liu Qingge's machinations, but there's no need for that thing to suffer when the outcome won't even be what Liu Qingge expects.
"Tch." Liu Qingge's face darkens, no doubt angered that his act of spousal violence has been foiled. "Do with it what you want, then." He lets up on the poor thing's neck and it lays there dazed for a moment. It's eyes are big, yellow, and Tianlang-jun does not like looking at it. Liu Qingge stomps and the lizard startles away, running to the enticing dark under the lifted porch of the house.
---
Tianlang-jun slides open the bath house door and drops his robe before he registers the noise already in the bath. When he peaks around the partition, Liu Qingge is already in the natural spring bath, head resting against the lip of the spring. His hair is down, floating on the water's surface in curls and loops of ink. His skin is flushed from the heat and steam rising from the water.
"Are you here to join me?" Liu Qingge asks, not opening his eyes, though his cheeks get redder.
Tianlang-jun may be a little vain himself. He decorates himself in simple blood jewelry, placed strategically.
"Who else will wash your back for you?" Tianlang-jun asks, hurrying through the motions of cleansing himself first before sliding into the spring. Liu Qingge opens his eyes as the water moves, watching as Tianlang-jun sinks into the water. It's warm and the deep aches in his muscles relax.
Liu Qingge stands, water sluicing off of him in rivulets that trace the contours of his muscles. Tianlang-jun's mouth goes dry as Liu Qingge gathers his hair wrings more water out of it, sending it pouring onto him and his tan skin, freckled with beauty marks in a constellation of enticement. The water only kisses the dips of his hip bones, the water churning as he crosses the pool, only offering distorted, disjointed glimpses of his body underneath the water's surface. Then he turns, in front of Tianlang-jun, pulling his hair out of the way. The wings of his shoulder blades flex as he moves, and the long sinuous curve of his spine leads Tianlang-jun's eye to a set of dimples at either side, cutely collecting beads of water before they drip down the swell of his ass. There's one dark mole sitting on the apex of his left cheek, flirting with the water's edge as it breaks against him.
Liu Qingge glances over his shoulder at Tianlang-jun, expression dark. "Well?"
---
Regrettably, Tianlang-jun cannot just stay sequestered in his sprawling estate reading bad erotica and bothering his caged tiger of a husband. He's agreed to the marriage contract and the political alliance with Cang Qiong, and through that, the cultivating world at broad. Through a convoluted trace of ties, that means he must be here at his son's little soiree.
He and his husband had separated soon after arriving, Tianlang-jun seeking out the feast tables and picking at the buffet and making sure his glass is full with wine. He assumes Liu Qingge is monopolizing Luo Binghe's husband, that charming cultivator Master Shen, but he assumes wrong because Master Shen is sitting at the head of the banquet tables holding his own captivated little court. Luo Binghe is not in sight.
He hears them before he sees them.
"How long did it take Shishu before he opened his mouth for demon blood?" Luo Binghe's voice sounds dark, in a foul mood.
"Don't be crude," Liu Qingge hisses, striking at Luo Binghe, Tianlang-jun infers as he hears a dull thump. "You don't get to be jealous now you miserable brat."
"I told you that Cang Qiong didn't need an alliance with that person, or anyone at all. As long as Shizun holds the sect dear, it's under my protection."
"Relying on one man's favor is a folly," Liu Qingge says, "Besides, he doesn't need the anxiety on top of having to deal with you."
"I assure you, shishu, he doesn't mind dealing with me at all."
Tianlang-jun peaks around a corner just to see Liu Qingge pull a disgusted face at Luo Binghe's. He walked into that one himself, Tianlang-jun doesn't quell his delighted smile. Liu Qingge excels at falling face first into innuendo he doesn't seem to see coming--hah, Tianlang-jun has to bite his lip to keep his laughter from interrupting them.
"Disgusting."
"You would know, since it seems you don't mind dealing with your husband." The leer slips out of Luo Binghe's voice, tinting again towards anger. Tianlang-jun had known his son to be the jealous type, but he didn't know how far his possessive nature ran. Would it be the same if Tianlang-jun had chosen any other Peak Lord? Perhaps, it may just be the son's inclination to disavow the father, unfillial thing that Luo Binghe is, but somehow Tianlang-jun has a hard time imagining Luo Binghe summon this ire if it was Yue Qingyuan carrying his blood--which...
"Your senses are really lost. If I never accepted your blood what makes you think I'd accept any other demon's?" Liu Qingge says, which is true. At least to Tianlang-jun's knowledge unless the man was far more sneaky than given credit for. But if Luo Binghe had thought so--Tianlang-jun reaches out just the barest of his senses and is surprised to feel an echo back, sitting neatly by Liu Qingge's breast.
"Then what--" Luo Binghe's hand flashes out, pushing aside his shishu's robes. Liu Qingge strikes out but is thwarted when Luo Binghe pulls back, a red square of folded fabric in his hand. "What is this?"
Tianlang-jun recognizes it: the wedding red silks, the discoloured stain of his blood.
"Mine," Liu Qingge snarls, snatching the fabric back from Luo Binghe, elbowing him in the gut for good measure.
Tianlang-jun decides to make his entrance. He makes a show of amusement as he watches Liu Qingge trying to straighten his robes, and looks pointedly at Luo Binghe's angry flush.
"Husband," he calls, "I've been looking for you."
"Well!" Liu Qingge huffs and finishes straightening his collar, "you found me."
"Don't sound so disappointed, dear. You'll make me think I was interrupting something."
He watches as Liu Qingge scrunches his face in confusion, looks down at his hands still smoothing his robes, then at Luo Binghe. He's rewarded as he's come to expect: Liu Qingge's face errupting with a furious blush, curling under his freshly neatened collar as he shouts.
"You-- he-- Absolutely not!" He shouts. He storms out, leaving only Tianlang-jun and his son in the semi-private alcove.
Luo Binghe opens his mouth, but Tianlang-jun decides he doesn't want to hear it, and turns to follow his husband.
"Wait," Luo Binghe says, "Shang Qinghua wanted me to tell you something about the Desert Beetle Clan."
Tianlang-jun raises an eyebrow.
"I don't remember the rest," Luo Binghe says and stomps off.
---
"Uh," Liu Qingge freezes, holding Tianlang-jun's arm in his hand. The arm is decidedly not connected to Tianlang-jun's body. "Is that supposed to happen?"
Tianlang-jun laughs, waving Liu Qingge closer. He grabs his arm and shoves it back where it goes, extending his blood to lace everything together. His husband doesn't know him well enough to see the pain Tianlang-jun masks under his easy smile. He doubts Liu Qingge would know it even with his memories intact. He finds himself giving his husband a brief, watered down version of his stay under the mountain and his new body that doesn't react well with demonic energy.
Liu Qingge has a considering frown on his face. The crease between his eyebrows is cute. Tianlang-jun wants to rub it away, remembers that this Liu Qingge may actually let him. "Then this is the reason we don't fight." He concludes. Before Tianlang-jun can act on his impulse, Liu Qingge's brow smooths of its own volition as he reaches out to catch Tianlang-jun's sleeve.
He pushes it up to see the ugly seam of Tianlang-jun's arm.
"Hm," His grip on Tianlang-jun's arm is strong and unfaltering, his face doesn't betray any unrest at the sight of the mottled bruising and irritated flesh. His thumb rubs a soft circle, light and comforting. "That's why you've got that lizard running around?"
"What lizard?"
"The color changing one," he frowns at Tianlang-jun's empty look. "It's normally dangerous, but to a Heavenly Demon it's fortifying. Did you not know that?"
Tianlang-jun shakes his head in disbelief and says, "How did you?"
Liu Qingge shrugs, uninterested. "Must've learned it somewhere."
Tianlang-jun's mouth flattens. Liu Qingge wouldn't be able to answer the question he wants to know anyways; why>.
Liu Qingge whistles, high and sharp, and the lizard comes crawling out to them. Had Liu Qingge tamed it somehow? When did he have time in between recovering from his injury and hounding Tianlang-jun for fights? The lizard scampers, edging around Tianlang-jun and then trying to scurry between Liu Qingge's legs, hiding in his shadow. Liu Qingge lifts a leg and Tianlang-jun reaches out to stop him, on instinct.
"Ah, that was a gift," he says in defense.
Liu Qingge looks at him, reads something on his face and frowns. "I'm not going to hurt your pet," he says, setting his leg back down. Tianlang-jun lets him go, wrong-footed and more than a little confused at his own feelings and not liking it. Liu Qingge has to shuffle a few more steps--the lizard seems to want to stay hiding under him--before he scoops the thing up under its scrabbling arms.
It flashes a few startled colors before settling on a shiny white, similar to the shade of Liu Qingge's robes. Liu Qingge grabs the creature's wrist and jerks his head for Tianlang-jun to come closer. Tianlang-jun does and Liu Qingge somehow gets the lizard's wrist over Tianlang-jun's arm. He watches Liu Qingge press his thumb against some scales, pushing out a white boney looking spur and then squeezing. The lizard seems content to lay limply in Liu Qingge's arms as he does so. A dark, oily liquid seeps out of the spur, landing in fat, round drops on Tianlang-jun's skin before seeping into his flesh without pain or much feeling at all. Just the few drops Liu Qingge coaxes out of the lizard's spur are enough to invigorate Tianlang-jun's body's natural healing and the bruising fades, the tear on his arm scarring before his eyes.
Liu Qingge drops the lizard and shakes his hand out. "He's a good gift," Liu Qingge says, voice knowing, as the lizard runs back to its favorite hiding space, yellow eyes disappearing into the dark.
Tianlang-jun's mouth opens, then he closes it. He thinks the Liu Qingge he married would roll over in his grave if he knew of this.
---
Tianlang-jun should maybe have investigated his son's warning more. That is to say, any amount. The Desert Beetle Clan rung very faint, nonthreatening bells in his mind. Now, after cresting the hilly path to his home and spying a giant scarab monster kicking down the walls of his estate, he realises that the bells ringing were related to an ill advised youthful campaign he'd pulled, perhaps creating some resentment a clan would like to capitalise on. He'd known not opposing Luo Binghe's claim on the demon realm as Junshang and then marrying a human would undermine some of the reputation he'd gained in his youth, but he'd really thought he'd have time to recover more before anyone tried a move this bold.
His useless guards are enough at least to hold their own against the Beetle Clan's infiltrators and raise the alarm--though it does seem rather a moot point by the time the first scarab monster kicks through a wall. Tianlang-jun winces and draws his blood out to form a sword. He can use some of his demonic energy, but it doesn't play very well with this body of his, so he would like very much to avoid that. Still, he can't let these demons flatten his estate, he has a marriage contract to uphold after all.
He approaches from behind, easily taking care of his conveniently color coded enemies clad in shiny blue armor as he goes. There's two scarabs gleefully kicking the walls of his home down now, and the exoskeletons look thick and difficult to pierce. Definitely not creatures his coplacent security staff are equipped to handle. The ugly lizard that lives under his house may not know to run from them, either.
Tianlang-jun prepares to form a demonic blast when a flash of white cuts through the enemy combatants like a lightning strike. Cheng-Luan's distinctive sword glare. Liu Qingge is like a beacon, dancing in his white robes across the battlefield leaving a wake of dead Beetle Demons behind him. Tianlang-jun's guards seem to rally around him, redoubling their efforts to guard their master's home and push the invaders out. Liu Qingge pauses long enough to size up one of the Scarab Beetles before leaping at it full force.
He keeps one eye trained on Liu Qingge as he pushes his way through the army on his end. He was right, the scarab's carapace is too thick to pierce with a sword, even such a fine one as Cheng Luan. Liu Qingge does not let this stop him, swing around to dodge the creature's large mandibles and aiming his blows at whatever weakness he can find. With one strong pull, he separates an antenna from the poor thing, making it flare its elytra in panic. Liu Qingge rides out the movement as the scarab's wings unfold and start drumming, a deep, stomach turning buzz filling the air. It must be deafening where Liu Qingge stands, but he simply grips the edge of the beetle's wing cover and throws Cheng Luan down its back, letting the beetle's own flapping wings wreck themselves upon the sharp edge of the blade.
Tianlang-jun almost gets distracted, watching Liu Qingge flip in a graceful arc to slide underneath the giant beetle and out of vision. He's forced to draw his attention back to his own battle, summoning a blade of blood to block a strike that almost got lucky, before diving fully into the battle. He'd forgotten the kind of thrill a good fight can bring. The way it forces the blood to move and body to heat. Somedays, Tianlang-jun feels so stiff, like a corpse. Now he feels like he's been well oiled and on his way to well used, fluidly dispatching the fools in his way. He wants to see Liu Qingge again.
He pushes through the wreckage of the eastern wall of his courtyard and is gifted with the sight of Liu Qingge stepping out of the remains of the scarab, the scant few Beetle Clan warriors still present immediately turning to flee as Liu Qingge rises from behind the iridescent blue wing covers. He's spotless, somehow. Like the gore of battle doesn't dare touch him. Close enough now, to see his face, Tianlang-jun can see the light in his eyes. That's a man who finds just as much joy in fighting as Tianlang-jun does. Tianlang-jun steps into the fleeing warriors, blood blade flashing and downing two before they realise they're pinned between Tianlang-jun and Liu Qingge.
"I thought he was supposed to be gone!" One of the warriors cries, backing away from Tianlang-jun.
"I don't think I'm the one you need to be worrying about," Tianlang-jun says, as Liu Qingge hops off the beetle and stalks behind the remaining warriors. He meets Liu Qingge's eyes. His husband has a fierce grin on his face, teeth bared. The expression falls off his face as his eyes flick to the space behind Tianlang-jun.
---
Liu Qingge puts up a good fight but on one of Tianlang-jun's good days, with the lizard's ichor bolstering his healing, he really doesn't stand a chance. Especially not when where he wants to be is underneath Tianlang-jun with his back against the ground. He's subtle about it at least, but Tianlang-jun can tell. It's the way he goes breathless once Tianlang-jun pins him, the way he tests his wrists against Tianlang-jun's hold but doesn't try to struggle free. The way he never calls for a yield first, content to act as Tianlang-jun's seat.
"Again?" Tianlang-jun asks. Sometimes they go until sunset.
"Mm," Liu Qingge hums, eyes half-lidded as he looks up at Tianlang-jun. The sun is still high in the sky, and Tianlang-jun's shadow falls across half of Liu Qingge's face. The contrast is beautiful, the shine of the sun in one of his eyes and the warm shadow over the other. Tianlang-jun lets go of his wrists and leans back.
Liu Qingge's hand darts out and grabs the front of his robes. Tianlang-jun flinches back in surprise before he finds himself yanked down. One of Liu Qingge's hands tangles in Tianlang-jun's hair as he pulls him into a kiss, only a little awkward for its eagerness. Tianlang-jun can't stop himself from pressing back, opening his mouth and herding Liu Qingge's mouthing into something open and heated and resembling a kiss more than a mauling. Liu Qingge groans, satisfaction oozing from him as his hand flexes and relaxes in his Tianlang-jun's hair. His mouth is soft and warm as Tianlang-jun slips his tongue between his lips, running it along the straight edges of Liu Qingge's flat human teeth.
Liu Qingge's other hand digs its way into Tianlang-jun's robe, flattening against his chest and groping in unhidden curiosity. Tianlang-jun leans further onto Liu Qingge who gasps against him. He can feel the stirring in Liu Qingge's pants, the half-hard readiness from fighting filling out as Tianlang-jun shifts his hips, grinds back against him.
"Ah, husband--" Liu Qingge says, and Tianlang-jun blinks.
He leans back, pulling away from Liu Qingge who tries to follow him.
"Where are you going?" Liu Qingge asks, his hands tightening their grip.
Tianlang-jun sits back, forcing Liu Qingge to let go or actually start pulling his hair. Liu Qingge lets go, but pouts at it. He's got no right looking like Tianlang-jun is the one dangling something just out of his reach. Intentional or not, it's Liu Qingge testing Tianlang-jun's control now. It really shouldn't be up to him, Tianlang-jun doesn't have experience denying himself, and he'd much rather not concern himself with silly things like whether giving his husband what he wants might actually be a bad idea.
Liu Qingge with his memories would not consent to this.
"Hey--what's wrong? Did I do something?"
Tianlang-jun sighs and rolls off of Liu Qingge, landing at his side. Liu Qingge pushes himself up and leans on his elbow to keep looking at Tianlang-jun's face. After Tianlang-jun lets the silence sit, Liu Qingge grabs onto his sleeve.
"You don't like me," Tianlang-jun says.
"Was I that bad at kissing?"
Tianlang-jun snorts and pats Liu Qingge's hand. "No, not at all. With some practice I think you'll be devastating at it."
"Then--demons and humans cannot be that different from each other."
"Not in most ways that I've found," Tianlang-jun agrees.
"Then explain why you think me kissing you means I don't like you."
"No, not. Not you," Tianlang-jun says. "When you remember things again, you'll hate me. You barely stop yourself from strangling me at dinner as it is. Was."
Tianlang-jun sits up, dislodging Liu Qingge's hand, who sits up right next to him.
"You don't know that," Liu Qingge says.
"I think I know that better than you do."
Liu Qingge fists his hands in Tianlang-jun's clothes again, stopping him from getting up and leaving. "I think I know myself just fine."
"Liu Qingge--"
"Husband," Liu Qingge interrupts, "your husband."
"It's a marriage in name only, for alliance," Tianlang-jun says.
"All marriages are for alliance," Liu Qingge dismisses. "Are you going to tell me I was coerced."
Tianlang-jun can't say that, but-- "You didn't even read the marriage contract yourself before taking your bows."
"I've read it now," Liu Qingge says, "Neither of us have broken the agreements, so it's still valid."
"You--" hated being in the same room as me on the wedding night, he can't say because Liu Qingge has pushes him to the ground before straddling him, frown on his face.
"Why are you trying to convince me. I don't like you? What about this--" he grinds himself against Tianlang-jun's body, sending a heated shiver straight through him "--feels like I do not like you?"
"Because you don't like me," Tianlang-jun says, bucking his hips and flipping them, shoving Liu Qingge back into the dirt. "You detest all demons."
"I married a demon." Liu Qingge says, struggling to release his wrists from Tianlang-jun's hold. "My best friend married a demon. I like some of them, at least."
"You'd sooner kill me than sleep with me."
Liu Qingge laughs and tightens his legs where he has them wrapped around Tianlang-jun's waist, pressing them together, the pressure hot and delicious. "That seems like it'd be a waste." He slips a hand free when Tianlang-jun is distracted with the friction in his pants, and uses it to lever himself up, toppling them over again.
"You have tried to kill me, I'll have you know," Tianlang-jun bites trying to buck up again. Liu Qingge anticipates his movement this time staying seated.
"But you aren't dead," he says simply.
"Not for lack of trying," Tianlang-jun thrusts his hips, watches Liu Qingge go cross-eyed, then rolls them over. "I don't know if I have enough fingers to count your attempts."
"Ahh," Liu Qingge focuses, strong hands gripping at where they can reach Tianlang-jun, "then I'm so dishonorable that I'd invalidate our marriage--our alliance then?"
Tianlang-jun frowns. "No." Really, most of the attempts were pre marriage, during active battle. Only the lizard living under Tianlang-jun's house could be counted afterwards and how well had that gone? It's now fat and happy, and comes when Liu Qingge whistles for it.
"So you're nobly suffering for the good of your sect." Tianlang-jun concludes, "That doesn't mean you like me."
"I do not think I'm very good at nobly suffering." Liu Qingge says, squeezing his thighs pointedly. Tianlang-jun, just as pointedly, ignores the twitch his dick makes in his pants. He's so busy ignoring it, Liu Qingge upends them again. "If I hate you, why did I give you that lizard."
"It's dangerous--"
"Not to Heavenly Demons," Liu Qingge interrupts, "not to you."
Tianlang-jun stops fighting, turning that over in his mind. Liu Qingge continues.
"I have letters from Shen Qingqiu offering his peak or palace for me to stay at if you get too much. He says he knows Heavenly Demons can be a handful. Yue Qingyuan writes me, to ask that if I get tired of nobly suffering I inform him so he can intercede. Luo Binghe is jealous of you for taking my time away, the jealous brat. I have had ample opportunity to leave you and yet, with all of my memories of hating you as you insist, I have not. Not even for the visitations our marriage contract allows."
"You didn't know about those."
"Everyone else did. Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua mention it in every letter, as if I could not read it the first time."
Tianlang-jun lets his head drop back.
"Do you think I'm some maiden trapped in your dark fortress, isolated from everything I've cared about? Liu Mingyan sent me half the books you insist on reading out loud."
"She does?"
"She's happy someone appreciates her work."
"Oh."
Liu Qingge leans down, resting his forehead against Tianlang-jun's. "If I hate you, why did I wake with a piece of our marital bed with your blood on it, in the pocket by my heart."
"... Trophy?"
"Idiot."
Liu Qingge presses his lips softly against Tianlang-jun's. Tianlang-jun lets his hands rest tentatively on Liu Qingge's hips. "Your idiot?" He asks, hopefully.
"Yeah," Liu Qingge says, "I think you are."