Work Text:
Shen Qingqiu stared at an empty piece of paper. His hand hasn’t moved from its spot where it held the brush dipped in ink for several minutes now. He lightly bit his lip. It wasn’t that hard, was it? A couple of sentences, maybe something cliche, maybe something sounding a bit stupid. His husband wouldn’t mind it, he knew. And yet he was frozen, staring at a page that was supposed to be filled with his words.
When he mentioned his problems with expressing his love towards Luo Binghe to Shang Qinghua, the hack of a writer suggested writing his feelings down and giving the paper to Binghe. Shen Qingqiu scoffed at him at the time.
“Cucumber-bro, don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I’m suggesting you write him a novel” Shang Qinghua grinned at him, leaning on the table. “More like a letter, but without the official sounding parts, if you can’t say the words to him, writing it down should be easier, right? I should know. I wouldn’t be able to speak about half of the things I’ve written.”
Shen Qingqiu just shook his head to clear it and focused again. He’d simply write the short sentence, surely, ‘I love you’ shouldn’t be too hard to write, right?
“Shizun, the dinner is almost ready, would you like some sweets after it?” The calm voice caused a short burst of panic in Shen Qingqiu, who quickly blotched out the beginning of the sentence.
“That… Yes.” He took a deep breath, realizing there was still some panic that seeped into his voice. “This master would happily eat some sweets after dinner.” He replied, trying to stick to his teacher voice.
“Is the letter giving you problems, shizun? I can always just fetch whoever this letter is addressed to directly.” Luo Binghe walked into the room, briefly hugging Shen Qingqiu from behind. “Seeing my husband so distressed, this disciple wishes to help.” He added, planting a small kiss on Shen Qingqiu’s ear.
The letter didn’t work out at all. Throughout multiple attempts Shen Qingqiu either couldn’t gather the courage or was interrupted and quickly destroyed the paper.
“I really should have written that valentine’s extra I had in mind, you’d just make him some chocolates and leave them in the bedroom for him to discover.” Mused Shang Qinghua, again fetched away from his work in the northern kingdom to help his friend. “Maybe if you get drunk enough?” He added.
Shen Qingqiu got himself some jars of strong wine while Luo Binghe was away. He knew his husband would be coming back in a couple of hours, so all he had to do was down all the alcohol and wait for it to work. He brought up a teacup instead of an alcohol cup to get this over with quicker.
When Luo Binghe came back to his house the thing he noticed first was the odd singing coming from the inside. Some words were in Chinese, others were in a language that he couldn’t understand, but he knew his shizun sometimes spoke it.
“Shizun?” He cautiously opened the door, immediately smelling the alcohol. The singing stopped and Shen Qingqiu entered the main room while holding onto the wall.
“Husband is home.” He murmured with a smile and then vomited.
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t exactly willing to find out the exact amount of alcohol that would make him less tight-lipped and wouldn’t make him sick, by trial and error. Binghe was concerned and almost scared, even by the next day and forced him to go see Mu Qingfang, who never showed how much he judged anyone, but everyone knew he did it anyway.
Alcohol was out of the question.
“Shen Qingqiu, Mobei-jun is getting increasingly annoyed by the fact that you keep kidnapping me away from my duties, please send a letter and setup a meeting beforehand, alright?” Shang Qinghua sighed, but as soon as Luo Binghe’s cookies were put on the table, he happily started eating the bribe.
“Alcohol didn’t work.” Shen Qingqiu said, looking at Shang Qinghua expectantly.
“Aren’t you a tragic case.” Shang Qinghua sighed. “Look I’m running out of ideas. Maybe just let it go, it’s not like my son doesn’t know that you love him.” He added.
“I want to be able to say it to him. He deserves it after what I’ve put him through.” Shen Qingqiu let himself sag on the chair. “I really want to tell him, I’m just… Embarrassed.”
“I don’t think there’s any artifact or talisman that can force you to say a specific thing.” Shang Qinghua shrugged, putting another cookie in his mouth. “At least I can’t remember any, but you are the walking encyclopedia, cucumber-bro.”
Shen Qingqiu abruptly stood up.
“There’s one thing.” He said, deep in thought. “Thanks, airplane-bro.” He said, before storming outside.
Luo Binghe noticed the kitchen door sliding open, but kept focused on the dish he was preparing.
“Shizun, this disciple will be done in a moment, please be patient.” He said and straightened out when he suddenly felt a warm pair of arms hugging him from behind.
“Husband…” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was muffled, because he was hiding his face in Luo Binghe’s robes. “… Ask me what I feel towards you.”
Binghe turned around to face Shen Qingqiu, he noticed that his husband seemed to blush a little bit at the request. He took a deep breath, but couldn’t notice any alcohol in his smell.
“Alright.” He said, with a smile. “What does shizun feel towards me?”
Shen Qingqiu’s blush darkened.
“T-this shizun… Loves his Binghe.” He murmured out, staring intensely at Binghe’s back.
Luo Binghe’s eyes have widened and his smile softened.
“This Binghe loves his husband too.” He answered, gathering the other into his arms. “A lot.” He added, closing his eyes.
They stood there in silence for a long while, until Binghe needed to shift his attention back to the boiling food.
“Then, what would my husband want for dinner?” He asked.
“You.” came the reply and after that an undignified squeak, as Shen Qingqiu covered his mouth. Luo Binghe stopped his movement and looked back.
“Ah, I will wait for you in the dining area.” Muttered the other.
“Shizun wait a moment.” Binghe smirked. “How would my husband want me for dinner?”
“N-naked.” came a high-pitched reply.
“Has shizun perhaps been poisoned by a truth serum?” Binghe asked, cornering Shen Qingqiu against the wall.
“Y-yes.” Shen Qingqiu replied and Binghe’s eyes glimmered.
“Then will shizun tell me which position in bed he likes the most?”
Shen Qingqiu covered his mouth again and closed his eyes, trying to hold the words back in. This might have not been the smartest decision after all.