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Due to some kind of important business in Ghost City, Hua Cheng would be gone for a few weeks. Xie Lian had more than enough work of his own to keep occupied with - cleaning up around the shrine, seeing to some of the requests from the villagers - so it was ridiculous that he was, well, feeling bored and maybe...even a little bit lonely. It had only been two days! Even though Hua Cheng had already promised to keep in touch (somehow), at the moment, Xie Lian couldn’t help but miss him. He reaches for the familiar dice, even rolls them gently in his palm, their sides clacking together, but eventually he forces his hand still and sets them down again, turning away deliberately to get ready for sleep. He might as well.
So Xie Lian is luckily already lying down when suddenly his entire body feels odd, and his mouth says:
"Gege? Apologies for being forward. Is now a good time?"
"San Lang!" So, even though he hadn't actually rolled the dice, Hua Cheng had still known Xie Lian wanted him to appear. And this... Could this be the Soul Shifting spell? “I was just getting to sleep.”
"Then I won't disturb you for long. It's just so nice to hear Gege," Hua Cheng responds in Xie Lian's voice, his tone genuine enough that Xie Lian is already smiling happily in response the moment he has control of his own mouth again.
"How are things in Ghost City? Is everything going well? San Lang has to be careful not to overwork."
"Yes, yes, Gege need not worry." Xie Lian can feel Hua Cheng laughing in the back of his head, even if he was polite enough not to take control to express himself. "I can tell Gege has been busy as well."
Right. With the Soul Shifting spell, Hua Cheng could likely sense his current physical state. With that thought Xie Lian is newly conscious of all the little aches and pains of exertion of the past day - things he was long since used to ignoring - and then surprised at the answering wave of gentle concern. Hua Cheng noticed so many insignificant things about him when they were together, things that Xie Lian himself barely took notice of anymore; what was it like for him, being inside of-
His cheeks heat, even though he suddenly, desperately, wished for them not to.
"Gege, you should take better care of yourself," Hua Cheng says. Well, scolds, really, and then Xie Lian watches with mortified fascination as his own hands move, intertwine, press together and raise up over his head, his entire body moving into a long stretch from where he is lying down on the mat on the ground. "Relax," Hua Cheng adds, letting all his limbs settle back down again, limp, deliberately untensing Xie Lian's neck, shoulders, back…
Wow. Um.
"There, better," Hua Cheng notes with satisfaction, something that Xie Lian can feel. Literally. "I won't keep you from your rest, Gege," he murmurs with gentle solicitousness, and Xie Lian watches himself as he grasps his right hand gently with his left, raises it up to his lips…
Hua Cheng kisses the back of Xie Lian's hand, and gently settles the otherwise inert limb back onto the mat, shifting his entire body by minute degrees into just the sort of comfortable sprawl that Xie Lian struggled to fall into even on a good night.
"Goodnight, Gege," Hua Cheng adds, before the spell fades and Xie Lian is, once again, completely alone.
Xie Lian stares up at the ceiling, and reluctantly ruins all of Hua Cheng's painstaking work so he can cover his still-blushing face and muffle an embarrassed scream.
A week passes, and even though Hua Cheng doesn't do it again, just using the communication array instead, Xie Lian can't stop thinking about it.
It's not that Hua Cheng using the Soul Shifting spell to talk to him was uncomfortable or worrying - quite the contrary. Since Hua Cheng had promised to appear before him if Xie Lian used the dice, he probably thought it would be breaking a promise just to use the communication array. And it was also surprisingly efficient! Since Xie Lian didn't have anyone convenient around to borrow spiritual energy from just to chat. It actually made much more sense for Hua Cheng to contact Xie Lian this way if they wanted to talk for longer, rather than just using the communication array, very practical!
Except that… well, talking through the array - even with Hua Cheng - had gotten to be pretty commonplace. And he talked to the other heavenly officials all the time. Exchanging or requesting information, coordinating a meeting, reporting back (making apologies) - all of those were things that he associated with work (which usually meant a crisis of some kind) and the nearly insurmountable awkwardness of interacting with a group that he didn’t quite fit into anymore, if he ever had. But now that things had calmed down a little again, with very few exceptions, the only person who would constantly and consistently spend the spiritual energy just to casually talk to Xie Lian - and, frankly, had the power to even consider doing so by using the Soul Shifting spell - was… Hua Cheng.
And Xie Lian liked that.
He liked it a lot.
And, that time… it had been...strange, but not actually unpleasant. Mortifying, but in a weirdly exhilarating way? And now that the idea of it had become - not commonplace, but expected, familiar, comfortable - Xie Lian was being forced to examine the fact that it wasn’t just the conversation, or the connection, or the simple pleasure of (sort of) being in Hua Cheng’s company that he had enjoyed. He looked forward to every evening now, never completely sure whether or not Hua Cheng would be able to set time aside to talk with him through the communication array even though it happened more often than not, regular enough to be relied upon.
It was just... Well, maybe, he found himself hoping, it would be using the Soul Shifting spell, this time?
"What is Gege thinking about?" The communication array again!
“Ah! San Lang!” Even with the strange (embarrassing) direction his thoughts had been trending, and the oddest sense of mild disappointment, Xie Lian couldn't help but be happy to hear from Hua Cheng. "Just some stray thoughts, nothing to mind!"
"It seems that Gege was thinking about me," Hua Cheng remarks, and even just in the communication array, Xie Lian can hear the teasing note of amusement in his voice as he continues with a falsely mournful tone, "Can Gege still say that is 'nothing to mind'?"
"San Lang!" Xie Lian protests, but he doesn't actually have a response to this kind of attack, and Hua Cheng relents, only laughing a little inside the array. Xie Lian hastily tries to change the subject. "How is San Lang's business going?"
"It's only troublesome not to be able to see Gege in person, but it will be concluded soon." Hua Cheng waves it off, though based on what little Xie Lian understood, it was actually a very complicated state of affairs in Ghost City that was occupying Hua Cheng's time. Even though Hua Cheng could speak so airily and casually about it, Xie Lian remembered how concerned his expression had been when he'd been making his farewells, to the point where when he'd told Xie Lian he would have to be gone for a while, but Xie Lian should not hesitate to call on him if necessary, Xie Lian had gotten the feeling that even Hua Cheng would run into some problems if he had to get called away and determined not to disturb him unless absolutely necessary.
So Hua Cheng making time to talk to him almost every night, just to chat, was something Xie Lian didn't want to take for granted.
Which made his weird reaction to it kind of… Well, it wasn’t really appropriate, right?
"Gege?" It takes a long moment for Xie Lian to realize he had been so lost in thought that he hadn't responded in the communication array. "Have I been disturbing you, Gege?"
"No! No, not at all, my mind is just wandering." Xie Lian says apologetically, trying to refocus again. It would be strange to say that he was getting distracted from Hua Cheng by other thoughts of Hua Cheng, and even he didn't have the face to actually admit that out loud.
Right?
"I will have to think on how to keep Gege's attention then," Hua Cheng declares. "Since I cannot be there in person to see him."
This conversation really wasn't helping at all!
In the end, Xie Lian manages to carry on the rest of the conversation without blurting out all his weird thoughts, and Hua Cheng bids him goodnight, apparently without suspecting anything. Not that there was anything to suspect! But while his mouth keeps silence, his mind is far less biddable, and his sleep that night is restless with something he's not sure he entirely understands.
Halfway through a productive morning of helping to weed the vegetable patches on the outskirts of the village, Xie Lian catches himself humming a little, just under his breath. He reaches his hand up to adjust his hat so it more fully blocks the rays of sun streaming down from the sky. It was hard to pinpoint exactly why he was in such a good mood; he’d barely been aware of it himself...
Actually, that was a lie.
My business has almost been completed, so I will see you tomorrow. Get ready, Gege!
He was happy! Of course he was. Being able to see Hua Cheng in person again, to hear his voice out loud and not just in the private communication array, to reach out and touch him - it had only been a few weeks, but it seemed like a long time. After that first night, he’d restrained himself from even touching the dice again, no matter how often his thoughts had trended in that direction, but it had been a close thing, and even now, literally hours away from the promised reunion, he still can’t help wanting to speed things along somehow. He doesn’t have any doubt that Hua Cheng, for his part, is doing his utmost to finish whatever he’s doing so he can come back to see Xie Lian. That had never been in question.
It was just… he’d never really sorted out how he felt about… that.
And maybe now he was never going to? Which was fine! Having Hua Cheng there in person was definitely much better than just having his voice! And once he was back again, there was absolutely no need to bother him or give him the wrong idea by bringing up Xie Lian's very strange thoughts!
In fact, if he could just never think about this again, then so much the better!
The chime of his communication array interrupts his thoughts and he automatically answers before he can think better of it. It's Hua Cheng. Of course it was Hua Cheng using the array, right when Xie Lian was most distracted by that very subject… "Ah, I see Gege has been working very hard," Hua Cheng observes. “Maybe I should take over for a while?”
Xie Lian drops his hoe on his foot. “No need!” He yelps, both out loud and in the communication array, drawing only one or two perfunctory glances - the villagers were used to strange outbursts by now - and shaking his head as though that would dispel the blush of heat Hua Cheng’s completely innocent suggestion had brought to his face. “San Lang should focus on his own business, I am perfectly capable.” Xie Lian’s recent weirdness aside, it was also just a little embarrassing how quickly Hua Cheng volunteered himself for Xie Lian’s duties. He’d been doing things like this for nearly 800 years! He was used to it by now. Having the infamous Crimson Rain Sought Flower, richest of the Four Calamities, ruler of Ghost City, working next to him while he helped weed gardens and standing behind him while he happily accepted only-slightly-questionable offerings of food from the locals was…
Well, it was nice, but it was also just… Inappropriate?
Even without taking into account what other thoughts, far far worse, were rattling around in Xie Lian's mind!
"But my business is completed now, Gege," Hua Cheng says in a plaintive tone, though even in the communication array it is easy to imagine his pleased smile. "Haven't you wanted to see San Lang at all?"
How was he supposed to respond to that?!
"Of course I will be happy to see you," he manages eventually, finally bending to pick his hoe back up so he can - at least pretend - to continue working, instead of standing uselessly in the middle of the field while the villagers barely spare him a glance. "When will-?"
A thought suddenly occurs to him as Hua Cheng chuckles quietly in the array, and he spins around, the wooden handle of the hoe knocking against his ankle when he drops it again. No one says anything when a stray step presses it deeper into the dirt as Xie Lian goes running to the edge of the field, only barely managing to avoid trodding on any baby plants, calling out, “San Lang, San Lang!” as Hua Cheng waves at him and then catches him securely in his arms.
Even in the midst of joyful reunion, Xie Lian thinks, so this is what he actually meant, and firmly ignores the smoky curl of relief and disappointment that colors the stray observation.
Hua Cheng knew. He must, he had to. That was the only reasonable explanation for his knowing smile, the teasing comments out of the blue that almost never failed to make Xie Lian miss a step, eyes wide with surprise, suppressing the urge to turn his head to look at Hua Cheng in some astonishment.
(Actually, now that he really thought about it, that was pretty much a normal interaction between him and Hua Cheng, but Xie Lian is understandably distracted.)
With that conclusion (and some of the corresponding embarrassment) out of the way, Xie Lian had a much more pressing problem.
What exactly was he going to do about it?
His initial, instinctive reaction - ignore it for the rest of their (immortal) lives - is tempting. But the itch of unsatisfied curiosity (and the mortifying heat of imagination given free rein) continues to chafe at him, and Hua Cheng's gently pointed teasing eventually crumbles his resolve.
And really, what did he even have to be embarrassed about anymore? Was it insecurity? That was even more ridiculous. This was Hua Cheng. The one person who could genuinely be said to thoroughly understand him, through everything he'd ever done, every agonizing mistake and overconfident declaration and still chose to support him through it all. If he couldn’t confess this to him, then who?
"San Lang," he says finally, one evening, before he can change his own mind yet again. They are sitting together in one of the many rooms of the Paradise Manor, with Hua Cheng’s head pillowed in Xie Lian’s lap, his long legs dangling off the edge of the padded bench seat with no attempt at dignity. Looking down at his contented face from above, Xie Lian can’t help but smile, his fingers brushing at a few stray locks of hair that had long since escaped from the messy, uneven braid that Hua Cheng had cajoled him into fumbling together just that morning despite Xie Lian’s obvious lack of skill and then worn proudly through the entire day despite Xie Lian’s (now mostly resigned) protests. Every denizen of Ghost City had studiously refrained from even glancing askance at it within Hua Cheng’s line of sight, providing only general compliments on the “relaxed, youthful, and healthful appearance” of their lord in the presence of his special (and now almost ever-present) guest.
“Yes, Gege?” Hua Cheng replies immediately, his one visible eye closed, completely at ease in stillness, even as Xie Lian starts to pick absently at the knot of the braid to card the dark strands loose for him in preparation for going to bed.
“Do you remember...a few months ago? When I went back to Puji Shrine alone for a little while and you were here in Ghost City?” Ducking his head doesn’t do much to hide his face from Hua Cheng - even though his eye was closed - in this position, so he tries to distract himself by busying his fingers with gently disentangling the ends of Hua Cheng’s braid, taking great care not to tug too hard or suddenly. Hua Cheng makes a quietly affirmative noise, his closed eyelid fluttering with reaction, still completely relaxed.
“Mm. There were a few matters of business I had to take care of,” Hua Cheng says in airy, off-handed tones, enough to assure Xie Lian that he did remember, but not volunteering any details to ease the conversation along just yet. Xie Lian nods - only somewhat uselessly, since he has his own thoughts about how much Hua Cheng could still sense even without seeing him - and curls his fingers to comb through the slightly wavy section of hair in his hand. “It seemed like such a long time that I wasn’t able to be with Gege in person.” Hua Cheng continues in a mournful tone, his head tilting in an inquisitive gesture, bunching the cloth of Xie Lian’s robes against his thighs as Hua Cheng nuzzles at him, head turned inward towards Xie Lian, giving him more space to work. “So of course I remember. Why do you ask?” Now his eye blinks open lazily, but the usual knowingness in his dark gaze is there, his own way of encouraging and drawing out Xie Lian’s words.
“The first night we... when you used the Soul Shifting spell,” Xie Lian starts, and then stops. Despite having rehearsed at least this far in his mind, he still can't help but hesitate. "When you," kissed him, touched him, took over full control of his body," helped me get to sleep. I - " His hand stills, tangled in the shiny black fall of hair just at the nape of Hua Cheng's neck.
"Yes?" Hua Cheng prompts, when Xie Lian seems to stall again, distracted by the enormity of what he is suddenly asking for from Hua Cheng. And all to indulge such an unseemly, inappropriate whim; he really did trouble Hua Cheng too much, sometimes. "Whatever Gege is thinking, he should feel free to ask." The earnest sincerity of Hua Cheng's words makes him feel slightly guilty, considering the decidedly... unchaste nature of Xie Lian's request.
"Would San Lang be willing to do that again, sometime?" Xie Lian asks in a rush to get the words out before he thinks better of doing so.
Hua Cheng blinks, then turns so he is facing Xie Lian, looking directly up at him. It would be so easy for Xie Lian to just turn away to avoid his eyes, but he forces himself not to move, his cheeks hot with embarrassment at the curious, steady look in Hua Cheng's gaze. "I didn't know Gege was having trouble sleeping." His mouth quirks into a smile. "Should I be putting forth extra effort?"
"No-! It's not…" Xie Lian swallows and tries again. "Not for… That is, it's not because I'm having any trouble going to sleep." The thought of Hua Cheng putting forth any extra effort from their usual was terrifying and exhilarating to a degree Xie Lian didn't want to examine too closely.
He takes a deep breath, shaking his head as though to dislodge his words from where they'd been tightly shut up in his mind, squeezing his eyes closed for fear of being distracted as he confesses, "I just… I like the idea of… of San Lang being… being inside me that way. Taking care of me, even when you're not close by."
Silence. Hua Cheng is completely, utterly still in Xie Lian's lap, and as the moment drags on, Xie Lian finally works up the courage to crack his eyes open to look down at him and gauge the impact of his words.
Hua Cheng looks stunned, mouth parted slightly, a faint flush of color just starting to stain even his alabaster-pale skin, so light it would be easy to mistake for a mere reflection from his signature red clothing. There's no chance of mistaking his expression for disgust or reluctance, and Xie Lian feels a pleasant warmth at the thought that he can still manage to surprise the infamous Crimson Rain Sought Flower, even in this area to which he can claim very little expertise. A note of laughter sneaks into his own voice as he says, teasingly, "Of course, if San Lang is not interes-"
Hua Cheng surges up, interrupting his words with a thorough kiss, which Xie Lian happily returns.
As the kiss ends, Hua Cheng shifts to sit upright properly, and tugs Xie Lian to lean against him, not-quite reversing their earlier position. "Please, tell me. How do you want to do this?" Hua Cheng asks, a soft quaver of pleading in his usually steady voice. "I want to match Gege's thoughts exactly."
It starts in the bath.
Xie Lian glances around the already familiar, opulent room, the air redolent with fragrant steam, and shivers with anticipation. He's already half-submerged under the water, pretending to himself that his skin is only pink from heat, and not arousal and embarrassment. Mostly the latter, if he's being honest.
He only notices the spell taking effect because he's paying such close attention - Hua Cheng doesn't speak or take control of any of his movements immediately, the way the Windmaster - the way Shi Qingxuan had. There is a tentative quality to the feeling of his presence in Xie Lian's mind, as though nervous of trespassing where he does not belong, testing without actually intruding, and then finally, Xie Lian's mouth opens.
“Dian Xia.” It’s always going to be a little strange, feeling his lips move of their own volition, and hearing his own voice without already knowing what he’s meant to be saying, but Xie Lian has never sounded like that, has never spoken that rote phrase in such a tone, reverent and wondering, softly affectionate.
"San Lang," he responds out loud when control of his body passes briefly back to him, cheeks heating at the strangeness of the situation. The moment doesn’t last long though. Now that Hua Cheng seems satisfied with the success of the spell, with the confirmation of Xie Lian's permission and consent, he takes inventory of his entire new body, familiar and yet not. Xie Lian has the strangest sensation of being an outsider in his own body, present yet disconnected, as Hua Cheng experiments with minute shifts in every muscle, from the tips of his fingers and toes and all the way up to his shoulders and neck, giving every last inch of him his full attention.
"Dian Xia… you're so beautiful." If he had a body to blush with, Xie Lian would, hearing his own voice shamelessly compliment himself, but as it is, he just mentally stutters a protest while Hua Cheng stretches his arms up over his head, sinking a little deeper into the comfortably heated water of the bath. "To finally be able to touch you as you deserve… This one is so fortunate."
Without being able to physically protest (and with no real intent to do so), Xie Lian can only look on as his hands drag against his skin, fingertips dragging with unerring accuracy over the ghosts of centuries-old scars, giving as much attention to former wounds that had been reopened so often that even Xie Lian now barely recalled the initial injury as to the more recent bruising that Hua Cheng himself had put there, just the night before, the impress of his tightly gripping fingers at Xie Lian's hips, and the tease of his lips and tongue sucking gentle (and not-so-gentle) bites against his neck and shoulders.
"San Lang," Hua Cheng murmurs, obviously just relishing the sound of Xie Lian's voice, and then, more slowly, "Hua Cheng," and then, "Touch me more," with clear command, and Xie Lian regains just enough presence of mind to note the unfamiliar quickening of his own heartbeat in clear reaction to that familiar, though now seldom used tone, the shiver that runs down his spine as his hands move, unthinking, to obey, tracing a delicate path along the length of his collarbone to the hollow of his throat, the fragrant scented water easing the faint friction.
(It's almost ridiculous to even think it, but the evidence seems irrefutable. Did Hua Cheng really enjoy the sounds of Xie Lian bossing him around?)
"Please, touch me- ," Hua Cheng says, and then Xie Lian feels his lips rearrange into a frown that disappears as control passes back to him, his limbs settling back into the water while Hua Cheng curls respectfully within an out of the way corner of Xie Lian's mind, the meaning clear.
"San Lang should… San Lang should feel free." Xie Lian says in a whisper, his face heating again, but he continues, with more confidence, "I want to learn the things San Lang wants me to say, too." Feeling every sensation of his own body again feels suddenly strange and foreign, and he shivers again, suddenly very aware of how worked up he already was, the full details of the scenario they'd worked out between them settling into every nerve without the benefit of being at a slight remove from what Hua Cheng… what he… what they were doing, together. But instead of retreating, he holds steady, waiting for Hua Cheng's response, and feels the gentle tide of his presence rolling in again, sharing the sensations of his physical body fully with Xie Lian's own consciousness. Rather than being halved, it feels strangely magnified like this, and when Hua Cheng reaches down to stroke Xie Lian's fingers over the slippery tight nub of Xie Lian's right nipple, the gasp of reaction comes from both of them.
“That feels good,” Hua Cheng murmurs, and Xie Lian can’t help but agree. “Do it again, please.”
Xie Lian had never really thoroughly experimented with this kind of exploration on his own. For all the centuries before this, he'd seldom had the interest; in the times since, he had basically always been with Hua Cheng. The earnest, deliberately thorough way Hua Cheng had set about learning every inch of him, his preferences and reactions, the mere memories of which still almost never failed to fluster him, was utilized to absolutely devastating effect now. But he can now feel, to some degree, some difference in how Hua Cheng touches him like this, with Xie Lian's own hands. Of course, Hua Cheng is always confidently assured, goal-driven, wholeheartedly devoted to Xie Lian's pleasure, and an incredible tease, but Xie Lian can't help but think that there's usually a tentative quality to his touch that is now absent. As if, even now, some part of Hua Cheng still marveled at the privilege of touching Xie Lian with his own hands each and every time they were together...
"Dian Xia," his mouth says, gently drawing his full consciousness back into the moment, and then Xie Lian moans, too distracted to bite back the sounds as he watches his own fingers pinch and twist at his own nipples. The angle is slightly different, but Hua Cheng is adapting readily, given free rein. "I love to hear you like this, Dian Xia. Please?" That last is from both of them, and Xie Lian whimpers and stutters embarrassed encouragement as Hua Cheng directs his hands further, slidingly wetly down his chest, now and again teasing his fingertips over sensitive spots that Xie Lian only half-remembered, delirious with pleasure, but which Hua Cheng seemed able to unerringly seek out with purpose whenever it suited him. He is deliberately taking his time, and Xie Lian doesn't want to rush him, but he was going to go crazy if his… if his dick didn't get some attention soon…
Or perhaps it would be enough, this drawn out, excruciatingly thorough torment, and he'd come entirely untouched.
How shameless…
"San Lang, please," he begs - entirely him this time - and his hands freeze, Hua Cheng apparently caught off-guard by the tone of his plea. "Touch me, my… touch my… San Lang…" His tone is almost a sob, incoherent and flustered, but apparently it is enough to get his request across. His hands, which had been deliberately tracing along the lines of muscle at his abdomen, start to move again, tracing steadily down towards his thighs, which are already spread wide under the water.
The first touch of Xie Lian's own callused fingertips around the hard length of his long-ignored erection is a relief, and the slick slide of water eases the contact as his hand strokes slowly up and down. He doesn't do this often; he is more familiar with the touch of Hua Cheng's hands than his own. Hua Cheng's initial inventory of Xie Lian's body when the spell first started had, of course, included this particular area, and Xie Lian had already been aroused before he'd even gotten into the bath, but Xie Lian can definitely appreciate that Hua Cheng had taken his time getting here again, drawing out the anticipation.
Well, appreciate might not be the right word, but admitting that he was already just a couple strokes away from coming while touching himself (somewhat) was something he was planning to tightly bottle up, thank you very much.
So of course Hua Cheng doesn't even give him the opportunity.
"I'm so close," he hears himself admit truthfully, and then, with a quieter gasp, in tones utterly unlike himself, "Dian Xia, Gege, please, just… May this one take a further liberty?"
It's in the back of his mind to chide Hua Cheng for his wording, but he's too overwhelmed and distracted. "Yes, San Lang, you can, you may-"
And then he mentally shrieks in dismay when Hua Cheng pulls his own hand away, right on the edge of reaching his release, his suddenly bereft cock pulsing, the light pressure of water around him almost too much for oversensitized skin. It takes an enormous effort for him to not take over and chase that feeling himself, but Hua Cheng has more than enough willpower to withstand his initial protest. In the end, it is the sweetly anticipatory nature of Hua Cheng's steady patience as Xie Lian finally composes himself that decides him, and he nods an only half-reluctant assent in confirmation.
For a few more long, agonizing moments, even with his agreement, Hua Cheng is still, forcing Xie Lian to wait. The urgency of his thwarted orgasm fades, but his arousal does not. He's tempted to let his mind wander, seeking distraction, but the mystery of what Hua Cheng is trying to do disrupts all his attempts at thinking of something else. He notices belatedly that he is pleading, wordless sounds spilling freely from his mouth while every other part of his body is held firmly immobile by Hua Cheng's own self-control, his affectionate, yet implacable mental presence the only other comfort Xie Lian can lean on as he begs helplessly for him to finish what he'd started.
When Hua Cheng starts to shift again, Xie Lian barely notices at first. His movements are mostly innocent, gently rolling Xie Lian's tensed shoulders back against the wall of the bath, the palms of his hands stroking along his limbs and chest in sweeping motions, a soothing counterpoint to the urgency of Xie Lian's arousal, calming in the absence of more overt stimulation. Xie Lian takes a few slow breaths, as his hands slide under the surface of the water and over his abdomen, tracing steady circles against sensitized skin, coaxing his muscles back into relaxation.
"Does this feel good, Dian Xia?" Hua Cheng asks - completely unnecessarily, when he can feel for himself how Xie Lian's body is reacting - but Xie Lian is starting to understand a little better the intent of this game, and exactly what Hua Cheng is enjoying about this situation.
"San Lang, please," he whispers, as his hands settle on his bent knees and trace the lines of muscle cording his thighs up towards his neglected cock. His face heats with embarrassment, his breath catching with anticipation. "Will you… will San Lang please touch me, there?"
Hua Cheng chuckles faintly in the back of Xie Lian's head, and he can practically feel the sound of it, behind him, next to him, familiar and beloved, infuriatingly and arousingly knowing and smug. "Where?"
Xie Lian shakes his head (he knows what Hua Cheng wants him to say, but it's just too much to ask right now), squeezing his eyes shut, only for Hua Cheng to coax them open again. "I need to be able to see, Gege," he teases, rubbing his thumbs against the softer skin of Xie Lian's inner thighs, inching closer and closer to Xie Lian's… , but refusing to relent. "Where do you most want to touch, right now?"
"Lower...more…please, San Lang," Xie Lian says, voice shaky with the effort it takes to be coherent, taking back control to speak before yielding it once again. For a moment, it feels like Hua Cheng might relent, his hands skimming close to Xie Lian's cock and circling the base, paying it far more attention than Xie Lian ever had in the past himself, but then his hands actually slip lower, cupping between his legs and rolling his balls gently in one palm, drawing them out further into the warm water of the bath. Xie Lian groans, fights briefly for control while shifting to press more of himself into his own hands under Hua Cheng's direction, hips jerking awkwardly against the contact.
"Dian Xia, you look so good, so beautiful," Hua Cheng praises, and if it weren't his own voice saying those words, Xie Lian might be able to lose himself in sensations, imagining Hua Cheng there. "If I were there I'd get on my knees for you, see exactly how much of you I could fit into my mouth, pleasure you with my head under the water while you used me for as long as you wished, however you saw fit. Dian Xia…"
Xie Lian keens desperately, reaction overriding intent, as Hua Cheng continues his gentle assault, deliberately avoiding the jutting length of Xie Lian's erection, while lavishing attention on the softer skin underneath.
"These are so full, Dian Xia," he observes, and Xie Lian could never mistake that tone for his own, but the barely restrained hunger is familiar, and the genuine desire that colors the otherwise matter-of-fact declaration would be enough to make Xie Lian blush further if he were in full control of his own faculties. "You would come so much, fill all of my mouth so it leaked out of me, paint my face and my chest with your seed - I want it," Hua Cheng blurts out abruptly, as if overcome, and Xie Lian feels his own lips moving, tongue swiping over the plushness of his lips as though seeking out that taste already, despite the impossibility. Those hands, blunt-fingered and callused and so unused to this, tug gently on the sensitive skin, thumb almost tapping a rhythm. It feels so good, unbelievably so, and his thwarted orgasm seems to draw near again as Hua Cheng starts to stroke along the underside of his cock with his fingertips, lightly circling the head. "Do you trust me, Dian Xia? Xie...Xie Lian…" His mouth trips over the familiar syllables of his own name and Xie Lian would promise him anything, not least because of every moment between them where Hua Cheng threatens to do the same, and nods, wordless assent ringing in his head, loud enough he imagines Hua Cheng can physically hear it in the next room, despite the impossibility of such a feat.
Hua Cheng draws both his hands away again, once again abandoning Xie Lian's body right on the cusp of release, maintaining each limb absolutely, perfectly motionless as Xie Lian sobs wordlessly in the back of his mind.
"Once more," Hua Cheng says, as if girding himself for a confrontation, but Xie Lian is too far gone into incoherence. The head of his cock is dark, flushed with arousal, and his balls feel unbelievably tight and heavy. He doesn't even notice Hua Cheng slipping slightly away, isn't even aware of the moment when he is in full control of his mouth again, when the words he is thinking, throwing desperately against the seemingly implacable wall of Hua Cheng's willpower start to spill out loud in an incoherent stream:
"- want it, no, San Lang, I can't, it's too long, it's not possible, I need it, I need you, come here, San Lang, I need to- don't- pleasepleaseplease…"
Once more, Hua Cheng repeats, in his head only, but even in this state, something about the tone of Hua Cheng's mental voice gets through to Xie Lian - So, even he was affected by this - and he stops fighting for full control of his body, arousal now simmering just beneath the surface, somewhat banked, but far from being actually slaked.
It had been so long since they started - even Xie Lian's callused hands had softened under the effects of the long soak in warm water - but once he is assured that Xie Lian had calmed somewhat, Hua Cheng continues to touch Xie Lian with infinite patience, lavishing as much attention on the curve of his hip and the dimple in the bend of his elbow as on the sensitive nubs of his chest and the swollen head of his cock, as though learning everything again as new. This time, Xie Lian loses himself a little further in the contact, his mind awash with sensation rather than thought. Letting Hua Cheng take care of him completely. Even the urgency of his orgasm, held out of his reach twice now, is not something for him to chase after himself, but something he knows he'll reach in due time, as long as he trusts Hua Cheng.
"Gege," Hua Cheng whimpers, almost a sob, and Xie Lian shudders, snapping back into everything that is happening, his body's needs coming to the forefront of his attention again with a vengeance.
He is no longer sitting in the bath, leaning back against the wall of the tub. Instead, he is kneeling up, legs slightly apart, his hand braced against the edge, fingers digging into the smooth, polished stone, keeping careful balance. On each movement, his hips rise slightly out of the water so it cascades down over his skin, before thrusting forward into his other hand, wrapped around his cock under the surface of the water. He's so close, just a few more strokes would be enough, but this time, Hua Cheng is the one struggling with holding his orgasm back, desperate and pleading: "Dian Xia, just- come, please, this one promises it will be worth it, just a little more, I wish I could see you, be there, touch you, Dian Xia, Gege, Xie Lian, Xie Lian, please," and with a final cry between the two of them, Xie Lian finally does come with Hua Cheng's presence so tangled up in his mind that he's not entirely sure they are separate beings anymore, in that single moment.
Luckily, for all intents and purposes, they are, because Hua Cheng must be the one who keeps them both from collapsing against the tub, and probably risking a head injury, while Xie Lian recovers from the entire experience. He comes to with his head pillowed on his bent arm, resting on a towel folded against the edge of the tub. He takes a deep breath and lets it all out in a long contented sigh, and Hua Cheng chuckles in his mind.
"May this one watch you in person next time, Gege?" Hua Cheng asks out loud, in Xie Lian's voice, wistful and polite, steady despite the breathlessness that Xie Lian feels in the aftermath of such an intense orgasm. He's slightly regretting his original request now, longing for Hua Cheng's arms around him, his presence beside him, but he's not too far, might even now be hurrying to this room, except he was still in Xie Lian, and seemed to be waiting expectantly for…
The words finally register. "N-next time?" Would Hua Cheng really want to do this again? This wasn't just a one-time thing? The almost involuntary little sound of assent Hua Cheng makes using Xie Lian's throat is answer enough and he mentally sighs, and smiles to the last lingering traces of Hua Cheng's mental presence in himself, soon to be replaced by all of him. He can see it already - the door opening and the demon himself rushing in, looking flustered and guiltily aroused and completely elated as he reaches into the bath to draw a limp and happy Xie Lian up into his arms, heedless of the water's deleterious effects on his fine clothing as he pulls Xie Lian close...
He sighs in anticipation, and closes his eyes, nodding.
"All right, San Lang. Maybe next time."