Chapter Text
Xie Lian loved his life in Ghost City, but there were times he missed the sun and vistas of the mortal world. When the longing grew to be too much, he and his husband would use the dice to go on a day trip to wander and pick up scrap.
It was on one such trip that Xie Lian saw them.
They were sitting at a teahouse, enjoying a late lunch, when in walked a couple. A young master, dressed well but soberly, was escorting a young lady. His stance was protective, expression alert. She had a sort of glow about her, a maternal softness, that drew the eye. In her arms was a baby.
Xie Lian craned his neck to see better.
The baby was round-cheeked and dark-haired. He was babbling seriously at his mother, who nodded along attentively, cuddling him close.
Xie Lian felt his heart crack open, just a bit.
“Gege? Is everything alright?”
Xie Lian turned his attention back to his husband. He smiled. “Everything is just perfect,” he said.
The thought, however, would not leave his mind. Even after they returned to Ghost City, Xie Lian found himself preoccupied.
What would Hua Cheng’s child look like?
Xie Lian could just picture them, small and dear and spoiled. They’d give them the type of childhood that Xie Lian’s husband had so cruelly been deprived of. For a moment, Xie Lian ached with want.
While he’d always liked children, Xie Lian had never let himself get too attached to the strays that had sometimes wandered into his life. His luck was too poor to make him any sort of fit guardian.
But it would be so nice, with Hua Cheng.
Xie Lian had no doubt that Hua Cheng would be an excellent father. He was caring, patient, and tender. He could be firm, but that firmness was steeped in love rather than cruelty. His strength and protectiveness were unmatched.
That night, as he got tumbled in their marital bed, Xie Lian found himself more desperate than usual. He needed the hot rush of his husband’s seed inside him, the flood of his spiritual power. “Inside, San Lang,” he begged.
Hua Cheng happily obliged him.
Afterwards, Xie Lian lay on his side and felt his hole clench down on nothing. This was his least favorite part – the emptiness after being so full. Hua Cheng molded himself to Xie Lian’s back and pulled him into an embrace.
“How is gege feeling?” he asked.
For once, Xie Lian whined his discomfort. “Empty.”
Hua Cheng clicked his tongue. He reached down between them and slid two fingers into Xie Lian’s twitching hole. “Gege wants to be stuffed full with his husband’s affection?” he asked indulgently.
Xie Lian nodded.
“I might have something that can help with that,” Hua Cheng said. Xie Lian felt something cold and hard press against his hole. It was as thick around as Hua Cheng’s thumb and unyielding. Xie Lian yelped as he felt it press in.
“A little plug,” Hua Cheng explained. “To keep you full.”
Satisfied, Xie Lian relaxed against the pillows. He could feel Hua Cheng’s spiritual energy swirling around inside him, hot and thick. One of his hands rested on his stomach.
I wish, he thought. It was an inchoate desire, barely formed. It was, however, enough.