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Qi Rong shrieked and dropped the platter he was holding, scattering beads all over the stone floor of his lair, his eyes wide as the baubles went rolling off across the uneven surface like so many lost marbles.
Martial God of the East, Crown prince of Yong'an, General Tai Hua, bent nearly double and started guffawing, clapping a hand to his mouth to silence himself as his shoulders shook.
Qi Rong hissed, fangs flashing in annoyance, and buried his fist in Qian Qiu's robes to shove the broader man back into the nearest wall, "What the fuck do you think you're doing??" He hissed, lips raising in a snarl, "You can't just fucking jump out at a guy!!"
Qian Qiu was still snickering, an annoying high pitched warble that sounded... well it sounded like he'd started picking up on Qi Rong's I-might-be-insane laugh.
"I didn't jump, I walked straight into your lair." He snorted, "Some Calamity you are, A-Rong!" He snorted again, trying to stop his shaking as Qi Rong slapped a hand over his mouth as footsteps sounded against the rough walls, coming toward them.
Qi Rong draped himself against Qian Qiu, using his long robes to cover the gold clad martial god and let out a warbly laugh of his own to cover Qian Qiu's snorts.
"What the fuck do you want?" He demanded as one of his subordinates rounded the corner. The lesser ghost gestured vaguely and Qi Rong snorted, faking a yawn. "What kind of stupid child died and spawned you? Obviously the only person out here is me, so get lost." He dismissed the ghost with a flippant wave of his hand, and sagged in relief as the lesser ghost fled away from them.
As common as their meetings were becoming, as much as he looked forward to seeing his god's pretty face, he was still an almost Supreme Level Ghost King with a reputation to uphold.
"Your fucker!" He yelped a moment later as Lang Qian Qiu's warm lips closed around the pointy tip of his ear. "What the fuck?!?!"
"Shhhh." Qian Qiu hissed him, thick hands on his slim hips, and gently turned the savage level ghost to face him fully. His eyes were warm as he gazed down at the furious little calamity in his hands. "I haven't seen you in two weeks and this is how you welcome me back??" He teased, bending down to drop a light kiss on Qi Rong's nose.
Qi Rong squirmed, knowing full well he couldn't get out of the god's hold if Qian Qiu really wanted to keep him there, and knowing just as well he didn't really want to get free. He huffed, leaning up to pull his stupid, stupid handsome god down by his fucking chin for a hot kiss.
"Fuck you." He whispered as their lips parted. "Can't the fucking manwhore Pei Ming figure his own fucking problems out??" He growled low in his throat and leaned up to nip lightly at Qian Qiu's jaw. "He doesn't need you to help!!"
The martial god hummed, the sound reverbaring in Qi Rong's own chest, and his hands inched higher on Qi Rong's waist possessively. "Jun Wu told me to go."
"Right." The heavenly emperor could go fuck himself sideways with a tree for all Qi Rong cared about him. "Little good golden boy, gotta go where daddy tells him."
"Qi Rong." Lang Qian Qiu sounded only slightly chiding, "You know I have to."
The ghost huffed, not willing to admit he'd felt lonelier in the last few weeks than ever before in his life, and just buried his face in General Tai Hua's tits. It was fast becoming his favorite place to hide from the world.
"Hey." Qian Qiu's warm fingers tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ears. "Do you wanna get out of here for a bit? I thought maybe we could go... do something?"
Qi Rong cracked an eye up at his god. Typically, with Qian Qiu, 'do something' was code for "bath" and he had no desire to get wet at the moment. At least not that way.
"I thought maybe we could... find a hill somewhere alone and ... I brought lunch." Qiu Qiu's cheeks were turning the cutest shade of pink, and Qi Rong perked up.
"You cooked??" He blinked up with more interest.
"No." Lang Qian Qiu confessed, a little flustered, "I had my deputies cook. I can't, actually. Cook."
Qi Rong snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Spoiled prince." He mumbled as he leaned away from Qian Qiu and inclined his head toward the passage leading to where his subordinates were clustered. "I'M GOING OUT. DON'T ANY OF YOU FUCKING BASTARDS MOVE BEFORE I GET BACK OR I'LL FRY YOU." He howled down the stone architecture, and listened to the echo bounce back to him with a grin.
Qian Qiu only rolled his eyes, apparently too satisfied with getting his way and sweeping his calamity away for the afternoon to pick at the idle threat in Qi Rong's words. Instead he just offered his arm to Qi Rong and walked arm in arm with him out of the stifling lair.
Qi Rong had forgotten how many corpses he'd hung up around his lair; honestly it had been a while since stealing Hua Cheng's thunder had even occurred to him, so he hadn't been paying attention. He bit his lip as they emerged into the afternoon light, glancing sideways at Lang Qian Qiu to see if the golden martial god would flinch. The smell was... certainly something a spoiled brat from heaven wasn't used to…
General Tai Hua merely glanced at him, shrugging, and then leaned down to sweep him off his feet up into his strong arms and Qi Rong squeaked, grabbing instinctively for Qian Qiu's shoulders.
He buried his face in Lang Qian Qiu's neck as the god called his sword down from his shoulder and stepped on, whisking them away from the lair.
"You...you're not gonna tell me to.. the dead people??" He mumbled after a moment, the wind nearly wiping his words completely away. He didn't dare raise his eyes to peek, he wasn't exactly great with heights.
Qian Qiu sighed, his arms tightening a little around Qi Rong's body. "Not today." He whispered back, his own voice nearly gone in the wind. "Today I just... I just want to be two people ... two people together."
Qi Rong exhaled slowly, his stomach both very warm and very tight at the same time, and hummed into Lang Qian Qiu's neck.
Qian Qiu set them down a few minutes later, stepping down off his blade onto the ground, and Qi Rong peeked out with one eye, inspecting the area briefly before he pulled his face away from the god's neck.
"How the fuck did you find this spot??" He demanded, glancing around the small valley between two mountain peaks where Lang Qian Qiu had landed them. He knew his own lair was under the one peak, but he'd never imagined a place like this existed above him.
A little creek trickled between a bed of wildflowers, a couple small trees casting gentle patches of shade across the grass and flowers as birds chirped around them.
Qi Rong wasn't blind. Willfully oblivious yes, sure. Sometimes to the point of obstence. But he wasn't stupid. This was... this was romantic.
He cut a quick glance at Lang Qian Qiu out of the corner of his eye as the god lowered him to the grass, biting his lip. Sure, they'd been fucking pretty much weekly for a while now. He might... he might be having feelings for the tall handsome Yong'an prince beside him, and he might have finally admitted to himself it was nice to be wanted for who he was. To know Qian Qiu knew who he was and still wanted him.
But...this .. this was a date.
Wasn't it?
He peeked up at Qian Qiu again from under his lashes and found the god gazing at him warmly.
"Missed you." The Yong'an brat had the audacity to smile at him - that soft warm one that made the sun feel like it was barely a candle flickering in the darkness compared to Qian Qiu's smile.
Qi Rong could feel the heat creeping on his cheeks and glanced away, mumbling a "Yeah" under his breath. He was grateful being dead had a few advantages like being unable to blush. Much.
Lang Qian Qiu chucked softly behind him and reached out to catch the heavy cloak Qi Rong squirmed himself out of, draping it over his arm as the ghost started picking his way over to the stream.
"Is...this my cloak?" He asked after a moment, following the little calamity as Qi Rong started tossing rocks into the soft bubbling of the creek.
Qi Rong hummed, shrugging, once again avoiding Qian Qiu's eyes. "You gave it to me the first time we fucked." He mumbled.
"Yeah, I did." Qian Qiu agreed. "You added fur."
"I like fur." Qi Rong huffed, tossing the last of the pebbles in his hand into the brook. "You gotta problem with that, General Tai Hua?"
"No." Qian Qiu's hand was on his back, finger spread posessively as he slowly turned the calamity to face him. "I like it." He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss between Qi Rong's eyebrows, right over his painted beauty mark.
Qi Rong blinked at him, not quite able to gather a reply, and just shoved his face back in Qian Qiu's tits. God, he was such a sap! Since when was he so fucking sappy!! He was supposed to be the great Night-Touring Green Lantern for fucking sake! Not some dumb fool overwhelmed with a crush....
He felt Qian Qiu's broad hands stroking up and down his back and sighed, tension slowly draining out of his shoulders.
"I missed you too." He mumbled into the white and gold robes against his face and Lang Qian Qiu hummed happily.
"Hungry?" He changed the subject, and Qi Rong was grateful.
"Yeah, actually. Haven't eaten yet today." He mumbled, pulling back a little and turning to walk along the edge of the creek toward the shade of the trees, arms out for balance as he clambered along the large rocks scattered over the bank.
Qian Qiu followed him, pulling a basket from whatever heavenly storage space he used and listing off the food collected inside. "Uh, I have dumplings, uh... duck, um.."
Qi Rong was only half listening, mostly hearing the cadence of Qian Qiu's voice as he finally hopped off the boulders and walked up to the trees, head back to peer up at the highest of the branches.
"Think that's a bird's nest." He mumbled in Lang Qian Qiu's general direction as he scratched his cheek, "Wonder what kind of bird?"
"They're blue." His god's supplied and Qi Rong turned to find the martial god of the east spreading a thin blanket on the ground for them under the shade of the trees. "I keep seeing them dart around." The Yong'an prince explained as he dropped down on the blanket with very little grace and reached out for Qi Rong.
Qi Rong let himself get pulled down into Qian Qiu's side, snorting as he settled in. "Your powers of observation are so astounding, General Tai Hua." He heard the cackle in his own voice, "It's no wonder you ascended."
Lang Qian Qiu started laughing, his big hands closing around Qi Rong's waist. "I know you're trying to be insulting but it's fucking cute." He snorted, and Qi Rong hissed at him.
Still, he felt... warm. Sappy. As Qian Qiu brought out the basket and settled it in front of them, spreading out their meal, he watched the soft breeze wafting through the god's fluffy hair.
He wondered, a little, sometimes, if this is what his mother felt with his father way back then. Before things got bad. Before he was around. If that happy, warm feeling in his chest was the same she felt when she looked at his father.
But then he'd think about the way Qian Qiu's eyes lit up when he laughed, or his little dimples when he smiled, the way his small fangs showed when he was angry or his fists felt when they fought, and he decided it wasn't the same thing at all.
Lang Qian Qiu was solid and stupid and open like a book, and Qi Rong was sure his father had never looked at his mother the way A-Qiu looked at him.
"You alright?" Qian Qiu's voice brought him back to the present, to the bird song flitting around them on the mountain, to the babbling of the brook, to the soft grass under his palm and the warm body pressed against his, and he swallowed.
"Yeah." He agreed quitely, reaching for some of the fruit Tai Hua had spread before them. "Never better."
Lang Qian Qiu's slit brow quirked but he didn't press it, only biting into his own apple and leaning his head against Qi Rong's shoulder as they ate, passing the dishes back and forth.
"I started counting the days." Qian Qiu confessed after a few minutes of silence between them. "After the first week apart."
Qi Rong's ears felt warm again and he scoffed to cover it, "That's sappy."
"Yeah." The Yong'an prince agreed, his hand snaking around Qi Rong's waist again. "You like it."
Qi Rong made another scoffing sound and wiped his hands on his robes, reaching over Qian Qiu's lap for the water skin the god had brought. "Sap." He accused lightly.
Qian Qiu didn't refute it, only caught the jug as he pulled it away from his face and replaced the rim with his own lips on the calamity's. He smiled into the kiss, Qi Rong could feel it, teasing a little spiritual energy on the tongue that prodded at his closed lips before pulling back.
Qi Rong cuffed him with his discarded outer robe, "Pervert." He huffed, his face warm, and Lang Qian Qiu started laughing, wrapping his arms around the little ghost and pulling him over backward so they were both lying on the blanket under the flowering trees.
Qian Qiu settled, his hands snuggled contentedly around Qi Rong and let out a soft sigh, eyes closed as he lay there, soaking in the world around them.
Qi Rong wiggled a little, not actually concerned with breaking free, and rolled over, long fingers picking at Qian Qiu's fluffy hair idly.
"Your hair's soft." He mumbled quietly.
"Mn." Qian Qiu hummed agreeably. "My sisters would braid it when we were all little. They liked to put flowers in it."
That image, with Lang Qian Qiu's beautiful dimpled smile under a crown of flowers braided into his soft hair, made Qi Rong's insides warm. "I bet you were the cutest fucking kid." He mumbled, his fingers finding the old familiar motions of braiding without thinking. "I bet you broke all the girl's hearts."
Qian Qiu flashed another laughing grin, one eye cracking open to peek at him, "And the boys."
"Cutsleeve." Qi Rong snickered, flicking his wrist so the tail of hair he was braiding fell over Qian Qui's nose.
The god laughed, brushing it away lightly, "I'd cut all my sleeves for you, ghosty."
Qi Rong's ears felt like they were burning and he huffed and focused on the next braid, waving them together in a familiar pattern. "So shameless, Tai Hua. What would the heaven's think of their golden martial god flirting with the green ghost?"
"Who cares?" Qian Qiu's eyes opened lazily to smile up at him, "Pei Ming has his girls, Yi Zhen beats up his followers. Shi QingXuan throws the biggest, most debauched parties in the world and Jun Wu's a virgin. What the heavens' do with their dicks shouldn't affect us."
Qi Rong's fingers fumbled for a moment and he swallowed, his stomach feeling oddly twisted even as his heart felt like it would melt between his ribs. "You're such a sap." He repeated instead, picking at Qian Qui's forehead ribbon until the knot came loose and he slid the ribbon free.
Lang Qian Qiu blinked up at him slowly, his face frozen for a moment, and then he sighed and let Qi Rong tie the silken ribbon into his hair for the braids.
"You always wear this thing??" Qi Rong snorted as he finished the ribbon tie, tapping Qian Qiu's forehead on the pale strip of skin where his ribbon usually sat.
Lang Qian Qiu hummed and propped himself up on one elbow. "Since I was a kid."
Qi Rong sat back, content with his work, eyeing the cascade of interwoven Xianlian braids in the Yong'an Prince's soft hair. "Oh? Why's that? You forget how to untie it, Qiu Qiu?" He snorted.
Qian Qiu shook his head lightly. "They're a sacred tradition." He replied, and Qi Rong felt himself still.
"A...what?" He repeated slowly, "What do you mean?"
Lang Qian Qiu's titled his head slightly, looking at Qi Rong with a soft sort of warmth in his eyes before he glanced away. "Only the royal family and our spouses can wear or touch them."
Qi Rong sat stock still for a moment, his breath coming short. "You... "
Qian Qiu slid his arm around the ghost's waist again and pulled him closer, his broad fingers rubbing slowly across Qi Rong's shoulders. "Yeah. It’s tradition, but so's chastity until marriage and yet, here we are. It's my choice, isn't it?" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can choose to follow my family's traditions, or I can choose to make some new ones with you."
Qi Rong swallowed slowly, his fingers clenching in his lap before Qian Qiu slowly took his hand and spread them for him. "I'm not a great person, Qiu Qiu...You know most people hate me, right? I might... hurt you. Someday."
"Well that's my choice too. To accept that or to work through it when it happens." Lang Qian Qiu sounded remarkably patient and calm as he threaded his fingers into Qi Rong's.
He stared at their laced fingers, Qian Qiu's tanned, caused fingers and his own, long pale ones, and gnawed the inside of his lip. "Qiu Qiu, I killed your family. Your country."
"Qi Rong. I know that. I fucking know that." Lang Qian Qiu's other hand cupped his chin, forcing him to meet the martial god's earnest eyes. "I stare at the ceiling every night for hours wrestling with my desire to avenge my family... and my desire to keep you tucked next to me."
"So...." Qi Rong swallowed heavily, feeling the weight of the words on his tongue for a moment before he let them slide out. "....You're picking me?"
Lang Qian Qiu's thumb traced down his cheekbone, the Yong'an prince humming softly. "I'm choosing to move forward and stop being so focused on changing the past that I miss the present and the things I can change here."
Qi Rong's brow furrowed, "Not sure that was a yes." He muttered, just a hair sulky, and Qian Qiu started laughing.
"That's essentially a yes, A-Rong." He snorted, hands sliding to Qi Rong's waist to scoop the slim ghost into his broad lap. "Stop pouting, there's a lot of daylight left, we should spend it doing something fun."
Qi Rong let Qian Qiu's hands settle on his ass and ground him as he squeezed. Falling for the crown prince of Yong'an wasn't where he'd ever expected to be after death, and having someone as righteous and dutiful as Tai Hua express the same sentiment was... a lot.
But like Qian Qiu said, here they were.
In his experience, good things didn't always last, and people who were supposed to care about you never did. But then again, no one else had ever chosen him over everything else. No one else had ever looked at him the way Lang Qian Qiu did now, warm eyes and bright smile and a solid body beneath him.
Maybe this wasn't a bad place to be after death.
He smirked, wiggling his ass a little in the golden martial god's grip and leaned in to wrap his arms around General Tai Hua's neck, arching his back seductively and fluttering his long lashes. "I can think of a few things we could do to pass the time, General..." He cooed, and Qian Qiu's wolfish grin almost matched his own.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
《Many years later》
"Hey." Lang Qian Qiu whispered as he spread himself across the bed sheets, big hands poking gently at the curled figure on the far side. "You awake?"
Qi Rong hissed, kicking out under the silken sheets without any intent to actually harm his fiance, and grumbled as the weight of Qian Qiu's head came to rest on his flank.
"Get off." He grumbled, nerves making him irritable even though he knew full well there was nothing to be irritated about. "Don't you know it's bad luck to see your groom before the wedding??"
Qian Qiu sighed, his hand closing around Qi Rong's ankle to still the thrashing of the legs under him. "Pretty sure that's only when you're in your robes, A-Jing."
Qi Rong grumbled and laid still, huffing out to make his annoyance known.
Martial God of the East, General Tai Hua sighed again and didn't rise to the bait. Instead he just ran his hand over the calamity's sheet covered leg and confessed quitely. "I can't sleep."
Qi Rong stilled again, the words carrying a deeper meaning than their surface, and finally wiggled over to his back to lace his fingers into his fiance's hair. "Yeah." He agreed quitely.
He was scared as fuck too. They'd only been back together for a few years after their huge breakup. Most of the heavens still made it abundantly clear the Night-Touring Green Lantern was not welcome in their circles or their space.
They'd spent more time on earth among various temples the past few years then they had since before Guzi passed away.
"It's....gonna be fine." Qi Rong found himself muttering into the dark canopy of their bed, unsure if he was speaking to himself or his husband to be. "We'll make it....it's gonna be fine."
"Yeah." Qian Qiu agreed slowly, his voice muffled in the sheets on Qi Rong's legs. "Yeah...I love you. It's gonna be fine."
The young god stirred, pushing himself off Qi Rong's thighs and sitting up, his bare shoulders silhouetted in the moonlight through their window. "I... I've been thinking a lot."
Qi Rong sat up, biting down on the inside of his lip and trying not to jump to conclusions before his god could finish.
Lang Qian Qiu twisted, wiggling around on the bed and fished for Qi Rong's hands among the sheets, scooping them up and pressing something soft into his palms. "I was gonna wait until tomorrow to give you this but.... I don't wanna wait."
Qi Rong's lip quirked to cover his nerves as he lifted his hands and splayed out the silk in his fingers, "A little late for a chastity belt, Qiu Qiu." He teased, the words dying on his lips as he realized what he was holding.
Qian Qiu's hands cupped his again, closing his slim fingers over the soft silken ribbon. "Wear it tomorrow?"
Qi Rong stared at the green ribbon still visible between their interlocked fingers, his breath stuttering. "A-Qiu..." He fumbled, words stuck in his throat. "A-Qiu...."
Lang Qian Qiu leaned forward, cupping his little ghost's face in his hands, forcing Qi Rong's eyes up to meet his own ones, dark against his face, washed pale in the moonlight. "I love you, A-Jing. I want the whole world to know it. No matter what happens, or how many times we fight, from this moment forward I choose you. You're my husband. I love you."
Qi Rong glanced away sharply, his eyes stinging with what he refused to call tears, and drew a shaky breath. "You're such a sap." He mumbled, cracked and wobbly and Qian Qiu huffed a soft laugh and scooped him into his lap.
"Mine." He muttered into the soft green hair, arms circling tightly around the little calamity. "Mine, mine, mine."
Qi Rong's fingers clenched on the ribbon as he let out a shaky little laugh. "Yeah, yours, you dumbass..."
Qian Qiu hummed and leaned down, drawing him into a sweet kiss, soft and warm and lingering in the night air.
He held up the ribbon between them as they parted, green eyes not quite meeting his fiance's. "Help me put it on??" He asked.
Lang Qian Qiu's calloused fingers were gentle as they brushed his, taking the ribbon. His touch was soft as the silk he wrapped around Qi Rong's forehead, light and warm. The knot he tied felt final, firm and solid, a choice behind them.
The Crown Prince of Yong'an leaned back, his dimples slowly deepening in the moonlight as he stared at his husband to be, his fingers tracing the green silk ribbon tied gently around Qi Rong's forehead, to the little seal that held his own name in the center of the ghost's forehead. "You're beautiful, A-Jing."
Qi Rong felt his ears flush and ducked his head, shoving his face into Qian Qiu's tits and humming, unable to find words. Lang Qian Qiu's big hands traced up and down his back slowly, softly. Like they had all the time in the world.
"No matter what happens tomorrow, A-Jing," the Yong'an boy's voice was soft like a whisper between them, but the promise in it rang solid like iron, "No matter who comes or doesn't come, no matter who approves or disapproves of us, no matter what my followers or your ghosts think, I choose you."
Qi Rong leaned into his fiance, his Qiu Qiu, his god, his man, his husband, and breathed in the smell that was so distinctly Lang Qian Qiu. "I choose you." He echoed softly, his fingers seeking out General Tai Hua's again, wrapping tightly together in the sheets of their soon to be shared bed. "I love you."
They sat there, soft and silent and wrapped in each other.
"We should sleep." Lang Qian Qiu muttered into his hair after a long time, the shadows in the room beginning to take forms in the growing light.
Qi Rong hummed again, his lips curving up in a smirk as he peeked up at his soon to be husband, "Or...we could... spend our last night fucking..." He suggested, and Lang Qian Qiu squeezed his ass tightly in response.
If he was limping a little at the ceremony the next day, that was nobody's business but their own.