Work Text:
"Those village folk sure know how to throw a party, wouldn't you agree, Azure?" Erlang asks, stepping into their bedroom.
Azure follows in after him replying, "That they do! Though I'm surprised you were so hesitant to let them have their celebration in the place."
He yawns and takes a seat at the edge of the bed.
"You vanquished the demon who destroyed their dam, redirected the river's current, and saved their village! If you hadn’t been there, who knows how much more damage their home's might have suffered."
"Well, I can't take all the credit. You were the one who evacuated the village, after all! And can't a god be humble once in a while? I just feel there's no need for me to be thrown a banquet of some sort every time I save the day."
Erlang begins removing his armor—first his black and gold pauldrons, then his wrist guards.
Azure moves to lie on the bed, slumping down onto a pillow. He raises his head and looks up at Erlang.
"Heh, your modesty knows no bounds."
"Please! On any other day, I’d have welcomed a celebration in my honor without question. But today, the villagers' praise felt reward enough."
The water god gathered his pieces of armor and walked over to an armor stand by the wall. Now standing in front of the stand, he began placing each piece of armor onto it.
"You, however... YOUR modesty is truly boundless. It wouldn't kill you to be a touch more proud in regard to your accomplishments."
He removed both his boots, settling them at the base of the stand.
"You might even like it if you tr—"
Finishing putting away his armor and boots, Erlang turned around to find his partner fast asleep.
"And you're not even listening to me..."
He sighed a bit disappointedly but quickly laughed it off.
"Heh, so be it!"
He walks over to Azure's side, observing that he's still clad in his celestial guard armor.
"Well, I can't just allow you to sleep in all this heavy armor now, can I, Azzy?"
Erlang starts off small, unraveling the golden wrapping tied around a tuft of the lion's mane. As his golden locks fall back onto his pillow, he plants a kiss on his forehead. Moving on, he removes his golden wrist guards, belt, and armored skirt, settling them to the side. After that, he sets his sights on Azure's chest plate, Erlang's expression shifting to one of mild annoyance.
"Hm, it's a good thing you're a heavy sleeper, I guess."
With one swift motion, he sits Azure up and slips the chest plate off over his head. Grinning smugly, Erlang carried the clunky chestplate to the second armor stand beside his. He then gathers the remaining pieces of armor and puts them away.
Turning back to their bed, the wine god lets out a yawn and crawls into bed with his mate. He practically sinks in beside Azure, resting his head on the leonine's bosom. As he lies there for a moment or so, Erlang finds himself unable to fall asleep—and he could immediately tell why.
He sat up in bed, eyeing Azure's shirt. It was already loose from when he removed his belt, but the article of clothing still covered most of his chest and torso. Erlang grabbed both ends of the shirt, prepared to open it asunder, but hesitated.
"Azure might not be pleased to find me lying on his bare chest like this..." Erlang thought to himself.
Azure would get rather shy over little things like this, even if he was in a place as intimate as the bedroom. Hell, even if the god had seen every inch of the lion he could possibly see by now. Perhaps Azure's reserved nature came from his time as a Celestial steed to Buddhavista Manjushri—only made worse by his later role as a Celestial guard.
Either way, that didn't really matter to Erlang right now. He just desperately wanted to lie on his partner's large, fuzzy chest.
Azure's insecurities be damned!
So, that he did! Erlang pulled open Azure's shirt and nestled his face into the Celestial steed's firm bosom. And almost on contact, he was out like a light.
The two slept through the entire night, Erlang waking before his beloved mate by an hour. When Azure arose, he found the demon slayer leaning against him, his long, silky black hair splayed along Azure's chest. He was lazily reading a scroll with one hand, the other busy stoking the top of his trusty hunting hound's head.
"Erlang?" Azure called groggily.
Erlang paused, his hand held mid pet above Xiaotian Quan's head. He turned back and looked at Azure; they locked eyes, and in an instant, he was on top of him. Erlang's chin now rested at the center of Azure's pecs.
"Azzy, how did you sleep?"
If Azure was groggy just a second ago, he wasn't anymore—his partner's current position leaving him fully awake and blushing.
"Ah, uh, fine... and yourself?"
Erlang laid his head to the side and rubbed his face against the lion's fluffy chest.
"Hm, like a baby... Hey, Azure?"
"Um, yes?"
"Last night, I was trying to talk to you, but you fell asleep on me.
"Oh! My apologies. I suppose yesterday's events and last night's celebration wore me out far more than I expected. What was that we were discussing again?"
The wine god lifted his head from off of Azure's pec and replied, "Just that—us saving their village and that celebration they had in MY honor. We both assisted in helping them, yet I was the one rewarded for it. Doesn't that bother you?"
The question surprised Azure; he hadn't really thought much about it.
"Huh, no, not really! Besides, you did do far more than I."
"Be that as it may, you still helped a lot. The villagers were wrong to sideline you like that. You should've demanded your recognition."
He laughs.
"I mean, would it kill you to forgo being so humble all the time?"
Azure didn’t answer right away, turning over Erlang’s words in his mind. Truly, he didn’t really care—as long as the innocent mortals were safe, he was content to let his love take all the praise.
But… a simple "thank you" wouldn’t have hurt.
“I... no, it wouldn’t. I suppose I could try to be a little more arrogant.”
"Its all I ask! But don't go turning into a full on bastard on me, alright?"
"Heh, no promises!"
"You!"
Erlang lunged at Azure and kissed him, Azure lovingly wrapping his arms around him in an embrace.