Work Text:
Honorable Nie Huaisang, Greetings. This humble cultivator seeks your counsel on a matter of the strictest urgen--
“Blah blah blabbity blah!” Huaisang mutters. He tosses the scroll aside. It rolls off the table and joins a half dozen other scrolls. He knows he will have to answer these questions eventually, but he’s tired and hungry and fed up with the petty machinations of the minor sects. He’s fed up with machinations in general, especially now that his family is safe and prospering. And he’s really, really fed up with the traditions that dictate requests for mediation from the Chief Cultivator be submitted on a scroll. For fuck’s sake (he raged, often and at length to his patient husband), it’s the twenty-first century! Emails exist! He has to enter all the requests into a spreadsheet anyway, just to keep track.
It’s exhausting.
He’s about to sweep the whole pile off his desk and kick the scrolls under the bed when Jiang Cheng finds him.
“Still at it?” he asks, easing the door closed. “Did you have lunch?”
“Maybe?” Huaisang rubs his eyes. “Someone came by with a bowl of fruit.”
“That was me!” Jiang Cheng exclaims. “Six hours ago!”
“Oh.” Huaisang rolls his shoulders. “So it was.”
“Alright, you’re done for today. And possibly tomorrow.” He pushes Huaisang’s chair back and sits on the edge of the desk, facing him. He takes Huaisang’s right hand, kisses each finger, and massages it. “Here’s what I propose. I propose you choose one of the following actions, and I will make it happen.”
“Does it have to be ...active?” Huaisang asks, glaring as Jiang Cheng laughs.
“That depends on you.”
Huaisang sighs. “What are my options?”
“First, this,” Jiang Cheng says. He drops Huaisang’s hand so he can curl his own around the back of Huaisang’s neck and pulls him in for a kiss. It’s soft at first, and sweet, but Jiang Cheng deepens it, just enough to hint at things to come. Huiasing sighs again as Jiang Cheng pulls away.
“Tempting,” he says, offering Jiang Cheng a little smile. “What’s next?”
“Burgers, cheesy fries, and either a milkshake or a coke.”
Huaisang’s mouth waters. “Do I have to leave the house to get that?”
“I can have it delivered.”
“Extra tempting. Next?”
“Final option: hot bath and bed. We can watch a movie if you can stay awake, or you can sleep.”
“Mmm.” Huaisang taps a finger against his lips. “Those all sound delightful.” He leans forward and rests his arms on Jiang Cheng’s shoulders. “I need to think,” he says before kissing Jiang Cheng fervently. He would go on like that, but his stomach loudly made its preferences known, and they break apart, laughing.
“I think I know the winner,” Jiang Cheng says as he rests his forehead against Huaisang’s.
“Or,” Huaisang says, stealing another kiss, “I could choose option D.”
“Yeah?”
“All. Of the. Above,” he says, kissing Jiang Cheng’s cheeks and the tip of his nose.
Jiang Cheng rises suddenly and sweeps Huaisang up into his arms. “I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”