Work Text:
Yue Qingyuan did not like caves.
Yue-zhangmen was not allowed to keep such preferences. When an issue of great magnitude required his direct involvement, he involved himself, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter. The matter currently at hand was of such great magnitude that it was not only Cang Qiong that had to step in, but also Huan Hua and Tian Yi. Yue Qingyuan could not neglect such a thing.
So, Yue Qingyuan was in a cave.
The winding, changing pathways of this place had long separated Yue Qingyuan from any of the other cultivators who had also come to subdue the mountain’s heart. This included Shen Qingqiu, who he had planned to cling to like a stubborn burr; Yue Qingyuan could imagine few things worse than Shen Qingqiu, trapped and alone in the bowels of the mountain. But Shen Qingqiu had turned away from him in disdain for a moment too long, and a wall had physically risen between them.
Truthfully, Yue Qingyuan was terrified for him. But Shen Qingqiu was not an impulsive young cultivator in over his head, and these were not the Lingxi caves. The disturbances would stop once their mission had been completed. He walked on.
It was pitch black. Yue Qingyuan could see just fine in the dark, and thus had not brought any extraneous sources of light.
Yue Qingyuan could see just fine in the dark, and thus there was no reason he should be getting lost, no matter how disorienting each cave segment was.
Yue Qingyuan turned the same corner three times before he forced himself to stop. He sighed. The arrays that had been drawn in, on, and around the mountain should have been allowing them smooth enough passage to descend properly, but they certainly weren’t enough to counteract the mountain entirely.
But they were plenty to have ensured that it was impossible for any of their cultivators to be trapped. That being the case, the most likely thing wasn't that Yue Qingyuan was trapped in a narrow catch of cave, but instead, that there was, most certainly, some way to move past this area hidden within the area.
Yue Qingyuan took a moment to himself to breathe, a thoughtless indulgence. Then he began to scan the walls more carefully. Searching for any gap or divot that was wider than it first appeared; a shifted stone, a widened crack...
Ah. Perhaps there. A little higher than waist level, there was a gap that seemed large enough for Yue Qingyuan to fit through.
...Barely. It was small, very small. He'd have to carefully squeeze through it, the cave walls pressing in on him the whole way. Yue Qingyuan eyed the tight gap with no small amount of dread.
Yue-zhangmen did not get to have preferences.
Yue Qingyuan squeezed through the hole.
The cave did not let him go.
Yue Qingyuan—
—did not panic. At present, he was wedged halfway through, hanging by his waist between two chambers. Despite the fact that Yue Qingyuan had been fairly certain that his shoulders were wider than his hips, he just couldn't seem to get through to the next chamber. Which was, of course, just as dark as the first.
Yue Qingyuan tried to shift back the other way. Perhaps he was wrong about this being the only exit, and there was another way out. Or another way out could have formed; the whole mountain was changing, after all. Yue Qingyuan hated the idea of waiting for an entrance to open up (for someone to let him out, please—) but the prospect of waiting in an even more restrictive space was even worse. So he tried to fit his shoulders back through the hole.
The cave did not let him go.
Yue Qingyuan did not—
Yue Qingyuan—
—did not panic. Yue-zhangmen was not— could not— be someone who acted recklessly out of fear. Working himself into a frenzy would help no one, least of all him. The cave would not stay this way forever. The mountain would shift, and he would be able to move further in. He should simply remain calm and level-headed until this happened.
Yue Qingyuan closed his eyes, willing himself to fall into mediation.
(Let me out, let me out, let me OUT—!)
He failed.
Yue Qingyuan's eyes opened in the darkness and he began to thrash.
He struck and clawed at the unforgiving stone.
The unforgiving stone was as it was as it was as it was as it—
He yelled, he shrieked, he screamed for help.
No one came. No one ever came.
He cried out for Shen Qingqiu.
He cried out for Xiao Jiu.
He begged.
The cave did not let him go.
Yue Qingyuan—
—could not afford to panic.
He heaved for breath, blood dripping down his fingers to the floor below. He swallowed. Watched his blood stain the ground and tried to remember that he hadn't been able to seen in the dark well enough for that last time.
This cave was not that one. Shen Qingqiu was safe. Yue Qingyuan was safe.
His fingers curled, scratching uselessly. He kicked the wall.
He couldn’t keep losing it like this. He knew this wasn’t the same at all, it was barely even dangerous, and it wouldn’t be good for anyone else to come across Cang Qiong's sect leader so dramatically losing his composure over something so small. And they would, because Yue Qingyuan was not alone here, had not been abandoned here to rot.
Yue Qingyuan took deep breaths, trying to convince himself. The walls of the cave remained oppressive around him.
His breathing had just begun to shallow into another round of hyperventilation when something touched his waist.
He flinched hard. It pressed more firmly in response, making it obvious that this was someone’s hand. Relief filled him—he didn't calm, not yet, but at least he was not alone here. A member of their group had found him. “Hello?” Yue Qingyuan's voice was hoarse. How long had he been hanging there? He cleared his throat, trying not to sound like he'd just finished screaming his head off. “Excuse me, can you pull me out?”
The hands grow more confident in their touch, encircling his waist, then sliding down to his hips—feeling for a good grip, it seemed.
The voice didn’t respond to Yue Qingyuan’s pleas. Even so, no one should have been in these caves except allies. Yue Qingyuan could rely on this person for help.
Just as he was reminding himself of this, the hands moved down to his ass and squeezed.
He flinched hard, having not expected it in the slightest. Just what did this person think they were doing? Who would be so bold? “That’s hardly necessary to pull me free.” Yue Qingyuan let ice fill his tone.
The person paused for a moment, but then smacked Yue Qingyuan’s ass and went right back to groping him.
Yue Qingyuan was so shocked by the audacity that he didn’t act further until the hands were moving under his robes. He thrashed, then, trying to stop them from displacing his trousers. “Excuse me— “
When the hands moved under his robes, he kicked out. Unfortunately, they were prepared for it, pinning his legs to the wall. Stuck through the impenetrable stone, Yue Qingyuan had no good leverage to bring his full strength against this person, and they were clearly a cultivator of considerable strength as well. In such a disadvantageous position, Yue Qingyuan was actually being overpowered. His heart dropped.
Hysterically and inaccurately, Yue Qingyuan thought, at least I'm not thinking about the cave anymore.
His eyes scanned the darkness for anything he could use to get out. Of course, there was nothing new. He could call Xuan Su out of its sheath, but he couldn't wield it with his arms trapped on the wrong side, and so would have to rely on sword seals and sheer power. How much life force would it cost him just to scare this person away?
They tugged Yue Qingyuan's pants down, revealing him entirely to his molester. Yue Qingyuan flushed in shame. Perhaps the price would be worth it.
The hands landed on his bare skin. They were more slender than Yue Qingyuan had expected, and softer, too. There was a catch at the fingertips, the slight calluses of a cultivator experienced with the guqin.
And perhaps the idea only crossed his mind because he had been so preoccupied with thoughts of him today, but…
This, this couldn’t be…
It couldn’t be Shen Qingqiu, right?
Yue Qingyuan flailed again, trying to trace the shape of the person behind him. his legs caught against the fabric of the person’s long sleeves, and as he pressed Yue Qingyuan against the wall with his body, three hard shapes made contact with Yue Qingyuan's thighs: a sword, a… pillar, and a fan, just where Yue Qingyuan had hoped.
This was Shen Qingqiu.
Abruptly, Yue Qingyuan’s view of the situation changed. The tension fled his body and he slumped in the wall’s hold like a puppet with its strings cut.
Thank the heavens, he’s safe, Yue Qingyuan thought. Shen Qingqiu’s fingers were ghosting over his hole.
…
Shen Qingqiu’s fingers were ghosting over his hole.
Yue Qingyuan's mind went blank. The fingers retreated before he could get his bearings. There’s a wet noise, then Shen Qingqiu’s—Shen Qingqiu's!—fingers returned covered in something slick.
Why would he do this? Here, or now, or at all? If this was something Shen Qingqiu wanted, then of course Yue Qingyuan would provide it to him. Yue Qingyuan certainly didn't mind, but did rather wish Shen Qingqiu had picked any other location for it—
Fingers curled into Yue Qingyuan's prostate and he muffled a wanton noise. He was already half hard from sheer adrenaline, but between the relief and the accuracy of Shen Qingqiu's slender fingers he was swiftly brought up to full mast. Yue Qingyuan wondered if he had done this before. To himself, or to someone else.
Did he even know? He must have known it was Yue Qingyuan, of course, but he had no idea if Shen Qingqiu knew that Yue Qingyuan knew whose fingers were inside him right now. He could have just asked to do this, and Yue Qingyuan would have agreed easily. At any time of day, in any place they could get away with it—
Yue Qingyuan had squeezed his eyes shut, trying to pretend he would see anything else if he opened his eyes. Maybe Shen Qingqiu didn't want to ask. Maybe he didn't want Yue Qingyuan to agree, or even to enjoy it. Maybe this was already better than Yue Qingyuan deserved, after Yue Qingyuan had left him to suffer for years while he was here, trapped, trapped—
Yue Qingyuan slammed his hand against the wall. Then as now, it did nothing.
Hands, there were hands on him. He focused on those, and the blunt pressure now nudging its way inside him. Yue Qingyuan's head dropped as it slid inside him, pleasure sparking up his spine.
His hands instinctively dropped to brace himself against the cave walls, sending renewed anxiety creeping up his spine with the feeling of the unforgiving rock around him. Yue Qingyuan fiddled with his bracers, loosening them until they dropped to the ground and freed his sleeves. When he let the fabric drape over his fingers, it didn't make him flinch when they curled against the rough stone.
Shen Qingqiu had shoved roughly inside him, sending heat racing in Yue Qingyuan's veins as he finally let himself enjoy the feeling without getting so lost in his own head. It crept through every inch of his body as Shen Qingqiu filled him over and over, grinding filthily against that perfect spot inside him. His hips would surely bruise from the grip Shen Qingqiu had on them. Still, Yue Qingyuan wanted more, wanted every inch of him to be plastered against Shen Qingqiu until they couldn't be separated again. (He wasn't thinking about it—) He pressed back into Shen Qingqiu, legs hooking around Shen Qingqiu's just for more contact.
Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu. Yue Qingyuan's cock ached, ignored. His mouth hung open, breathy, shameless noises punched out of him with every thrust. ...He really hoped no one was able to come from the other side. He wished Shen Qingqiu could be on both sides at once so he could see his face.
Yue Qingyuan tipped over the edge at the feeling of Shen Qingqiu releasing inside him.
He hung there, panting. After a long moment that Shen Qingqiu must also have taken to recover, he pulled out. he thumbed at the mess he had made of Yue Qingyuan.
To his own surprise, Yue Qingyuan felt... good, in the aftermath. Even here. Not so much because of Yue Qingyuan's... physical satisfaction, that wasn't— it wasn't important, though Shen Qingqiu's satisfaction was, in itself, extremely satisfying. But Yue Qingyuan felt far more settled than he had before Shen Qingqiu arrived just for his presence alone.
Shen Qingqiu was here, and he was fine, and so everything was fine.
Yue Qingyuan continued to repeat this to himself, lying limp and almost relaxed in the cave wall as Shen Qingqiu adjusted his robes back to decency.
Then Shen Qingqiu let go.
No part of him was left in contact with Yue Qingyuan.
Yue Qingyuan tensed all over. He waited for Shen Qingqiu to touch him again.
A sound came from the other side of the wall that could have been a footstep away.
All the composure that Yue Qingyuan had painstakingly gathered fled him in an instant. “Are you still there? Don't go, don't— don't leave me here.” He heard nothing from the other side of the wall. Had he already left? He couldn't, he couldn't have—“Please, Qingqiu-shidi, don't, just let me out of here, please?”
The sound echoed around him. He'd been shouting. “Hello? Please, will you let me out? Are you there?” It wasn't the first time Yue Qingyuan had gone ignored like this, but that wasn't now, that wasn't this. Shen Qingqiu was fine, he was safe, he was here.
Right?
“Xiao Jiu?” Yue Qingyuan cried, pleading.
Something wet dripped down his face. He couldn't have said if it was tears or blood.
Shen Qingqiu's hands landed back on his waist. “Ah,” Yue Qingyuan's relief had a sound to it, wheezing out of him like the last gasp of an old bellows.
He finally found himself being pulled backwards, the cave still trying to keep him caught by the shoulders.
Somehow, this time, he was let go. He toppled backwards onto Shen Qingqiu.
It took him a long moment to process anything that wasn't the sudden freedom of his limbs, or the warm weight of Shen Qingqiu underneath him. Eventually, though, he gathered himself and looked up at Shen Qingqiu.
His face was incredibly pale. Yue Qingyuan couldn't quite read the expression on his face—something that wasn't exactly horror, wasn't exactly fear.
Yue Qingyuan had no room for any of that. He clutched at Shen Qingqiu and did not let go.
“Thank you,” he said. His throat felt raw.
An incredulous noise escaped Shen Qingqiu. “Thank me?” He didn't seem to know what to do with Yue Qingyuan's response.
Yue Qingyuan couldn't explain it to him. In the end, after opening and closing his mouth a few times, he simply said, “I don't like caves.”
“...Is that all Zhangmen-shixiong has to say to me?”
“Yes,” Yue Qingyuan said. Then, “Actually, no. Please don't wander off again. I don't want to get separated.”
“How could we possibly be separated with Zhangmen-shixiong clinging to me like this?”
“Sorry,” said Yue Qingyuan, who did not let go.
Shen Qingqiu continued to stare at him. “That's it?”
“Shouldn't the time for discussion have come before the act?” Yue Qingyuan asked. Shen Qingqiu tensed further. “Whatever you have to say, you can say once we're out.”
“Whatever I have to say?” He looked with consternation down at where Yue Qingyuan was still sprawled over his lap like Yue Qingyuan was being intentionally obtuse. “There's nothing I have to say.” He looked for a moment like he might say more, but he bit it back to scoff instead. “Forget it. If Zhangmen-shixiong won't say anything on his own behalf, he shouldn't expect me to behave any differently in the future.”
“Just don't wander off again,” Yue Qingyuan said.
Confusion seemed to radiate off of Shen Qingqiu in waves. The tension didn't leave him, exactly, but eventually he seemed to accept that that was all he was going to get out of Yue Qingyuan, and his limbs loosened. “Fine. But you'll have to get up, at least, unless Zhangmen-shixiong wants to stay in this place forever.”
“No,” Yue Qingyuan said, quickly and vehemently. He rose, bringing Shen Qingqiu with him until they were both standing. Yue Qingyuan carefully moved his grip to Shen Qingqiu's wrist, not letting go of him completely for a single moment.
“Like this,” he said. Surely now that Shen Qingqiu had seen the dangers of the cave, of the horrors of getting trapped, he wouldn't try to shake Yue Qingyuan off like he was an overbearing babysitter.
Shen Qingqiu did in fact shake his wrist a couple times, testingly, before he laughed incredulously, no humor in the sound.
“Fine. If this is what Zhangmen-shixiong demands.” Yue Qingyuan ignored the first part of Shen Qingqiu's words for the second: “Let's get out of here already.”
Yue Qingyuan couldn't agree quickly enough.