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“San Lang?” Xie Lian set down the scroll he had been reading, looking down at the Ghost King using his lap as a headrest.
“Yes gege?”
“Back before we were together… you said I did CPR wrong but I still don’t know how it’s meant to be done.”
Hua Cheng laughed, sitting up. “Does gege want to learn?”
Xie Lian nodded.
“Lay down, I’ll demonstrate on gege first.”
Xie Lian settled on his back, looking up at his husband.
“First things first, you should be pressing on the chest.”
“Oh?”
“En, like this.” Hua Cheng’s hands drifted across Xie Lian’s chest, no pressure at all, just lightly dragging over the muscles he knew were hidden beneath. Palms splaying out of Xie Lian’s pecs and nudging the ashes that hung there, Hua Cheng’s palms danced down to rest on his husband’s hips.
“San Lang, I’m fairly sure this isn’t how you do it.”
“This is the secret method, it only works between husbands. If gege did such a thing to me I would definitely wake up.”
Xie Lian snorted. “Show me properly.”
“Well if you’re helping out non-husbands—“
Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile.
“Then you lock your hands like this and use about this much strength to pump like this.” Hua Cheng demonstrated properly this time.
“So light?”
“Gege, imagine how hard that little press would be on a mortal.”
“Ah, I suppose so. But isn’t there a part where you put your lips together?”
Hua Cheng nodded. “Tilt the head to open their airways and then seal your lips together and blow twice like this.”
It felt a bit funny to have done on him when he was breathing fine already, but Xie Lian thought he got the idea.
“And then you just go between their chest and the breathing. Does gege want to try?”
“As long as San Lang doesn’t mind.”
“Of course not, gege.” Hua Cheng laid down, eyes closed, as Xie Lian got up.
Settling in beside him, Xie Lian counted the compressions, trying to match the pace Hua Cheng had set before. Easy enough.
Then it was tilt the head and seal the lips together and—
Hua Cheng’s arms shot up to ensnare him, turning the practice into a proper kiss and rolling Xie Lian under him.
With a surprised shout that turned into laughter, Xie Lian kissed his husband back.
“It’s a miracle, gege saved me,” Hua Cheng teased when their kiss broke.
“Did I now?” Xie Lian grinned.
“En, very impressive. Gege’s technique was flawless.”
Xie Lian shook his head, pulling his husband back down for another kiss.
This time when Hua Cheng broke away it was an innocent face Xie Lian knew meant he was about to cause a bit of mischief. “You know gege, there’s another way to do it. I could show you if you’d like since you mastered this form so quickly.”
Xie Lian knew whatever he was about to learn was in no way life saving. “Alright. Does this version also only work on husbands?”
“En. Sometimes Ghost Kings will faint from neglect and need handsome gods to help revive them.”
“How lucky it is that San Lang has never been affected by such a thing before I could learn to cure him.”
“It’s because gege is such an attentive husband.”
Rolling his eyes fondly, Xie Lian smiled up at him. “How is it done? I’ll have to pay close attention, I have a strange feeling San Lang is going to faint from neglect much more often in the future.”
“Is gege planning on neglecting me?”
How could Xie Lian neglect such a wonderful man?
“I’m afraid so. I’m terribly cruel after all.”
“Well if gege ever decides to be cruel and then regrets it, all he needs to do is get into position like this,” he swung his leg over Xie Lian’s waist, effectively straddling him. “And then it’s very important you check my hands for responsiveness,” he linked their fingers together, pinning Xie Lian’s hands up by his head.
Xie Lian allowed it easily, squeezing his husband’s hands as he nodded along to his antics as of this were all very serious and important.
“And then gege has to kiss me very gently, like this.” It was the lightest of touches. Hua Cheng nuzzled noses with him, squeezing their joined hands again. “And if this one still doesn’t wake up then gege must take drastic measures and kiss me like this.”
Xie Lian eagerly kissed him back as they deepened the kiss, time moving between them slow and sweet as honey.
Suddenly, just before Hua Cheng could pull back, he found himself slammed onto his back, hands pinned and starry-eyed as Xie Lian’s hair dropped down to frame them, a messy curtain. Xie Lian smiled as Hua Cheng’s legs dropped to either side of Xie Lian’s thighs.
“I’ve got a bit of my own technique I’ve been working on. Will San Lang rate it?”
“It’s perfect.”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh at the breathless way his husband said it. “I haven’t started yet. In my method I get very close so my San Lang is only focused on me.”
“Perfect score.”
Xie Lian nuzzled him. “And then I give him a kiss right here,” he shifted up to press a kiss to Hua Cheng’s widow’s peak. “And here,” his eye. “And of course here,” his lips.
“Perfect score,” he repeated, whispering as if he couldn’t manage anything louder.
Xie Lian squeezed his hands. “And then I tell my San Lang three things he did today to make me the happiest man in all the realms. Today’s would be the way San Lang held me while I was cooking so I didn’t have to be chilly. And the way San Lang taught me such a useful skill. And the way San Lang smiled at me so beautifully. Do you know how much I love your smile?”
Hua Cheng’s gaze was locked on him, an awed quality to his expression. “Perfect score.”
Xie Lian stole another kiss. “Would that wake San Lang up if he fainted of neglect?”
Hua Cheng nodded. “That would definitely do the trick, gege.”
“Hm. And if it didn’t then I could try this,” he leaned in to kiss him the way Hua Cheng had shown him before; slowly and chastely first, then deeply, like he could pour in love the way they exchanged spiritual energy.
Maybe he could. He sometimes swore he could feel love like a tangible thing between them, an aura overflowing from them both and mingling between each other. Loving his husband was easy. Loving his husband was fun. And more than anything he just wanted to make this perfect man understand even a quarter of the love he felt for him.
“If gege does all that, this husband would definitely be revived.”
Xie Lian hummed, resting their foreheads together for a moment, just enjoying sharing a space together. “I don’t want to risk San Lang fainting from neglect though. We may have to start doing this more often as a preventative measure.”
“Oh yes, gege, I think that might be safest,” Hua Cheng said with false gravity.
Laughing, Xie Lian stole another kiss. Just like Xie Lian knew his husband would never neglect him, his San Lang never need worry about being neglected himself. After all, how could he neglect his favorite person?