Work Text:
Around 7pm Wei Ying comes home.
Lan Wangji tunes into the camera footage at around 6.30 as he finishes off work.
Jiang Cheng is usually in his room most of the night, too self conscious most of the time to be in the low lit living room where the webcam lives.
Just before seven, however, the man, hair freshly braided in a plait over his shoulder, saunters onto the couch, demurely avoids the camera’s eye, and lays across the cushions with a book as he begins to read.
Sometimes he will make tea in anticipation of his boyfriend’s return. He knows Lan Zhan is drinking tea in his hotel room at this hour. It will be like they are drinking tea together.
Tonight, Jiang Cheng is wearing only a loose jumper despite the cool of autumn. Lan Wangji scans his eyes over his figure, thumb twitching over his cup.
Jiang Cheng is wearing the white cable knit socks he’d gotten him last winter. The thigh-high ones he almost never wears. Earlier today, Wangji had mentioned briefly that meetings had been messy, that he’d had to talk to a lot more people than he would have liked.
Jiang Cheng rarely speaks words to comfort, even still he protects himself behind words of a sneer— but he’s always hyper aware of Wangji’s moods, and he notices. He listens. And he puts on the socks Wangji likes him in best, ones that hug around the muscles of his legs.
Lan Zhan smiles, takes a sip of his pu’er and gazes happily at Jiang Cheng’s pixel face.
It’s how he’s able to catch the microsecond in which Jiang Cheng’s eyes flit over to the webcam, meeting his so quickly and dashing away just as fast.
A blush forms over his cheeks as he stares at his page, and then he begins to read aloud.
Oh, Lan Zhan thinks. He’s reading poetry. Li Bai.
Jiang Cheng’s voice, when unfolded around a curse or provocation, is soothing and deep.
When it forms around words of loving poetry, it sways and wraps around Wangji’s chest, warm and inviting, doting and raw.
Wangji closes his eyes to appreciate the words, the tone, the meaning of it all, until the telltale tinkling of keys brings him back and Jiang Cheng stops too.
Jiang Cheng closes his book only slightly, holding it over his face to hide his growing smile. In seconds, Wei Ying’s voice is filling the entire living room.
“Jiang Cheng! It’s so dark in here, darling, are you a vampire? You’re reading in this light, too, oh, you’ll ruin your eyes like that! Oh, come here, come here, I missed your face.”
Wei Ying switches on a second lamp and dives for Jiang Cheng, putting away his book to kiss him everywhere on his face. Lan Zhan smiles, fondly watching both his boyfriends’ expressions warming amidst the other.
“I’m not a kid!” Jiang Cheng scowls, although his cheeks are pink.
“You’re my kid,” Wei Ying says, poking out his pink tongue.
Then he turns his head to look directly into the camera.
“And Lan Zhan, I missed your face too. I love you, baobei.”
He grins sheepishly and Lan Zhan can’t help but place a finger to his screen, caressing Wei Ying’s small face.
“Work was shit today, wasn’t it, ZhanZhan?” Wei Ying mimes an exaggerated sigh.
“It was shit for me too, to be honest. So why don’t we put on a little show for you, hm? That’d cheer us up!”
He turns to Jiang Cheng below him. “Whaddaya think, darling gorgeous?”
“Don’t get me involved,” the man grimaces.
“Don’t get you involved?? Well what’s this, then? You got your slutty socks on.” Wei Ying pulls and snaps the band of one white sock.
“They’re not slutty!” Jiang Cheng shrills.
“Well they’re giving me impure thoughts. I bet Lan Zhan’s got a few, too.”
Wei Ying jabs a thumb towards the camera and Jiang Cheng shrinks further away from it. Wei Ying chuckles and pinches his cheek.
“Why are you being so shy, honey dearest? The camera was your idea in the first place. One of your best, too.”
Jiang Cheng’s eyes widen and he prods a finger into Wei Ying’s chest.
“I said it as a joke and you know it!”
He prods a few more times before Wei Ying laughs again and takes Jiang Cheng’s finger, puts it into his mouth.
“Don’t!” says Jiang Cheng.
“Mmrphhmrmnnggmm,” says Wei Ying.
He relinquishes Jiang Cheng’s finger only to kiss his face again, trailing his kisses down to his neck until Jiang Cheng is melted into goo and giggles instead of his usual heated cool.
“Wei Ying,” he whines, now smiling.
“Baobei,” Wei Ying muffles.
“Just kiss me properly already.”
Wei Ying lifts off to meet Jiang Cheng face-to-face, hair falling over Jiang Cheng’s cheek.
“So bold, babygirl,” he quips.
Jiang Cheng blinks a few times.
“You said to give Wangji-ge a show…”
Wei Ying grins in absolute delight before giving his lover a fat kiss on the lips.
“So true, so true,” he says once he’s satisfied. Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes and places his fingers over Wei Ying’s cheeks.
It’s beautiful, seeing them like this.
Wangji looks at his two boyfriends look into each other’s eyes with such love and devotion and his heart pounds with the joy that knows it all belongs to him too.
“Wei Ying,” Jiang Cheng says softly, but loud enough for the webcam to pick up.
“Yes, my lovely thing?”
Jiang Cheng looks over to the camera properly for the first time in the night. He smiles weakly, face still speckled pink and tipsy with kiss-joy.
“Don’t you wish Wangji was here? I miss him.” He turns back to look at Wei Ying’s face. “I miss his face.”
Wei Ying hums in agreement. “He has the most handsome face.”
Jiang Cheng slides his hands under Wei Ying’s shirt, warming them on the other’s torso.
“And he’s so good to us, too. Generous and loving.”
Jiang Cheng smiles fondly as he speaks, but his voice is still a little shy, a little shaky.
“Oh, he’s very generous in his loving,” Wei Ying laughs.
Jiang Cheng pulls Wei Ying’s shirt up and kisses the middle of his chest. He closes his eyes, humming.
“I love him,” he says.
Wei Ying gasps, and it could be either from the soft tickle of Jiang Cheng’s lips or the fact that Jiang Cheng’s only ever said the word ‘love’ about five times in his entire life.
Wei Ying pulls Jiang Cheng up to face him, lets the other man tug the rest of his shirt off.
He throws it to the side, only then noticing the half empty wine bottle where the shirt lands. He chuckles and turns back to his boyfriend.
“What about me?” he decides to tease.
Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.
“Whatever,” he says.
“‘Whatever’?” Wei Ying raises his brows.
“Are you hearing this, Lan Zhan? Your boyfriend’s developing an attitude! You should come home and spank him right now.”
Jiang Cheng chuckles and places a kiss on Wei Ying’s shoulder.
“I love you,” he says into it.
Wei Ying clasps his hands around Jiang Cheng’s back.
“Hear that, ZhanZhan?” he calls out. “He says he loves us. Little ChengCheng loves us. Precious thing. Won’t you come home to your loving boyfriends already? We miss you so much.”
Wangji looks at his screen. Sets down his cup and looks at a melty Jiang Cheng and grinning Wei Ying. He picks up his phone and sends a text. He hears the notification sound through the computer screen.
Wei Ying picks up his phone. Grins even wider and kisses Jiang Cheng on top of his head.
“He’s coming home, ChengCheng,” he mumbles into his hair. “He says he wants to say ‘I love you’ back in person.”
Jiang Cheng hums, then smiles small. Three men smiling because of each other and one screen.