Work Text:
Jiang Cheng’s eyes are burning, he is that tired. The candlelight doesn’t help, at all, and he knows he will have to admit defeat sooner or later.
Just one more report, he thinks and forces himself to reach out for the next paper on his never-ending stack.
Just one more. He can do that. And then, afterwards, he can finally climb into bed with Lan Xichen and sleep for the next two days.
The words on the paper are swimming in front of his eyes, and Jiang Cheng rubs his temples, determined to get this done today. At least this.
He is still in the Cloud Recesses, after he followed Lan Xichen here to finally clear the air between them, and he knows that his paperwork back in Lotus Pier must be piling up thrice as fast. Right now, he is only dealing with the most pressing matters, after all. Old man Yao alone will have bombarded him with demands, Jiang Cheng is sure of it.
He sighs again and then concentrates back on his report. Jiang Cheng barely has read one sentence when the fine hairs at the back of his neck stand up, letting him know that he is being watched.
He turns around, but he’s only met with a darkness so deep it seems unreal and he huffs out a laugh.
“Stop staring at me like that,” he mutters out and is rewarded by dozens of eyes blinking open at him.
Jiang Cheng gets the distinct impression that Lan Xichen is pouting at him, the ‘I didn’t even have my eyes open’ clear in every swish of his tentacles and Jiang Cheng throws him a fond glance.
“And yet you were staring,” he gives back and turns back around to his report, though concentrating just got a whole lot more difficult, now that he knows Lan Xichen is in the same room as him.
Reaching out and just falling into him has never seemed more tempting than in this moment.
Lan Xichen is silent in this form, always so silent, but Jiang Cheng still notices the darkness outside of the candlelight shift as Lan Xichen slowly makes his way forward.
Jiang Cheng protectively cages the report in with his arm, because he knows what’s coming. They have had this fight a few times already, Lan Xichen demanding he rests, while Jiang Cheng is determined to at least pretend to be the leader of his own sect.
Jiang Cheng never wins, in the end, not that he minds that terribly much.
The tentacles start moving up his body, caressing him as they go, and Jiang Cheng immediately relaxes at that.
He distantly wonders if Lan Xichen will ever stop having that effect on him, but he’s soon enough distracted by the wandering tentacles tugging at his report.
“Stop it,” Jiang Cheng complains and slaps the tentacle away, not that it’s doing much, since three more immediately follow.
“Just this one,” Jiang Cheng tries and the tentacles stop for a second, before their tugging gets more insistent.
The message is more than clear.
“I will come to bed once this report is dealt with,” Jiang Cheng says, though his words are almost swallowed by the huge yawn that overtakes him.
He swears Lan Xichen is laughing at him and Jiang Cheng musters up all his anger to send a glare in his direction.
“It’s not funny,” he complains but the black mass, and all its eyes, just cosies up to him, soothing his apparently hurt feelings and Jiang Cheng relaxes into Lan Xichen for a second.
He should have known that it was a second too long.
The tentacles immediately wrap around him, always so careful with him, and pull him away from the desk.
“Xichen!” Jiang Cheng complains, though all his struggling doesn’t help.
If Lan Xichen doesn’t want to let him go, then Jiang Cheng won’t get out of his hug, they both know that.
Still, Jiang Cheng puts up a token protest and he can feel Lan Xichen’s mischievous laugh, right before his tentacles extinguish all the candles in the room at once.
It’s pitch dark, and Jiang Cheng’s eyes are decidedly not trying to adjust to the sudden darkness, traitors that they are.
“Fine,” he eventually huffs with a sigh. “You win, you big bad monster. Take me to bed then,” he demands, and tries to ignore the smug feeling he gets from Lan Xichen.
Lan Xichen quickly brings him over to the bed, not even allowing him to walk there by himself, and he is gentle as he manoeuvres Jiang Cheng into bed.
“Rude,” Jiang Cheng complains when Lan Xichen pushes him down into the mattress harder than is maybe necessary. “Very rude of you, to handle your boyfriend like this.”
Lan Xichen’s from starts to change, and the pressure in the room lets Jiang Cheng know that he’s about to turn back into his human form, but he still doesn’t close his eyes.
He loves seeing his boyfriend change his forms, so Jiang Cheng doesn’t look away, no matter how much pressure it puts on his head.
“If you were even a bit more cooperative, I wouldn’t have to be so rude,” Lan Xichen informs him as soon as his mouth is fully formed and Jiang Cheng smiles at him.
“But then you wouldn’t get to manhandle me like that,” he gives back, knowing full well just how much Lan Xichen loves it that Jiang Cheng trusts his true form enough to handle him with care, no matter the situation and Lan Xichen only sighs as he slides into bed next to Jiang Cheng.
“You really shouldn’t stay up that long,” Lan Xichen says as he pulls Jiang Cheng close, who immediately cuddles into his chest. “It’s not healthy for you. You need rest.”
“Maybe I just need someone who keeps me in bed,” Jiang Cheng mutters back and he hides his smile in Lan Xichen’s neck when a few of his tentacles immediately wrap around him, just like he has hoped for.
“That can be arranged,” Lan Xichen tells him with a kiss to his head and Jiang Cheng goes boneless against him.
Jiang Cheng never sleeps as well as he does with Lan Xichen literally wrapped all around him and he just snuggles closer.
“You’re unbelievable,” Lan Xichen mutters, but Jiang Cheng knows that he is beyond happy, can feel it radiate from every single tentacle that’s hugging him close.
Jiang Cheng wriggles his fingers where his hand is resting on Lan Xichen’s waist and one tentacle immediately wraps around it, following Jiang Cheng’s silent demand to hold hands. He loves that he gets to do all the things with Lan Xichen at once.
“I love you,” Jiang Cheng mutters, already more asleep than awake, but he still fights being completely pulled under until he hears Lan Xichen say it back.
He doesn’t have to wait long at all.