Work Text:
“you’re terrible at expressing yourself”
qingqiu looks up from the scroll he had been reading, caught off guard by the sudden noise. he hadn’t been expecting any visitors, especially not airplane bro.
“what?”
“you heard me” qinghua sighs, “you don’t know how to express yourself without being a jerk about it or maybe you’re a little to insincere”
qingqiu tries not to get upset. he’s been working on getting his own shit in check and that includes speaking before lashing out even if that’s what he feels like doing because what the fuck is qinghua on about now?
“can i ask you something?”
he sighs but nods anyway. the quicker they got to the point, the faster he could finish his own work. he wanted to be home when binghe arrived. he had been in the demon realm for almost 3 weeks now and even though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he missed his husband and he could barely sleep at all.
“when was the last time you told binghe that you loved him?”
he freezes for a moment before looking up at qinghua again.
“i-" he doesn’t know how to answer that. binghe always told him he loved him and he never needed qinqgiu to reply or say it back but qingqiu was certain that the demon lord knew how he felt. they had been married for years already and he knows that they were both very happy. he knows for a fact that he’s never been this happy.
qinghua sighs, taking pity on him as if it wasn’t his fault that qingqiu was now having somewhat of a mental breakdown. perhaps this is why binghe had been gone so long? what was only meant to be a short visit to check on things, ended up being a 3 week stay which felt longer to qingqiu. was binghe finally over him? had he unintentionally pushed his binghe away?
he wasn’t much of a crier, at least not in this sense. he rarely ever showed how he truly felt outside his usual blank expression but he could feel the lump in his throat. he needed to go home.
✂️✂️✂️✂️
binghe returned sometime after the sun had set. it was already dark outside since it was winter and the sun seemed to set earlier, making the evenings colder than usual. he expected qingqiu to be asleep already or at least preparing for bed.
“a-yuan?” he called softly, startling him awake from where he had been sitting at their dinner table.
“binghe!”
he rushed to hug him, something that was also unexpected but always welcomed. being close to this shizun in any way made him happy.
“did shizun miss me?” he teased, gently rubbing his back
“husband…” qingqiu corrected, “yes, this mast-i missed binghe so much”
he tightened his hold around binghe’s neck and stayed like that for a while. it felt so good to finally have him back home and he never wanted to let go, not now or ever. he didn’t care if this was out of character for him, the system no longer had control over their lives for long time now and he wanted binghe to know just how much he loved him.
“shizun?”
“i never want to let binghe go” he whispered, “i don’t like being away from him”
“oh..” binghe inhaled sharply before holding him tighter, “husband-“
“binghe” he says softly and he’s aware that he’s crying now, “i love you so much”
binghe takes a shaky breath before moving so he can look qingqiu in the eyes.
“why are you crying?” he asks softly, wiping the corners of qingqiu’s eyes
“this husband.. doesn’t say it enough” he frowns, looking down so he doesn’t have to look at binghe. he feels shy all of a sudden.
binghe smiles and gently tips his head back. he leans down to kiss and wrap his arms around his waist again
“next time, i’ll use glue so you can’t leave my side” qingqiu warns, and he knows his pouting and binghe is just grinning down at him.
"a-yuan can use all the glue he wants" binghe teases, "this one would be more than happy to stay by your side"
this causes qingqiu to blush, as if his face wasn't already beet red due to his confession and the crying. he pouts, the same way binghe does when he wants to get his way with him and it always works.
“you’re so beautiful” binghe sighs and qingqiu scoffs
“binghe is the beautiful one”
luo binghe just chuckles, pressing their foreheads together.
“this one is happy to be home”