Chapter Text
Liu Qingge felt very strange.
The situation was odd. He was aware of that too. Separate of how he was feeling, he was in a bed he didn’t recognize, in a room that seemed familiar but that he was also certain he had not been in before. It was more that something about the… the decor? The decor was familiar. He was lying down on top of blankets. Someone had taken off his boots and had taken away Cheng Luan.
Part of him thought that he ought to be more concerned about that, but he couldn’t manage it. He couldn’t manage to be very concerned about much of anything actually. The bed he was lying in was soft. His skin felt flushed. His cock was very hard and that perturbed him a little, but whenever he tried to move to do something about it his limbs didn’t really want to cooperate. They just flopped around as if Liu Qingge had not spent years upon years training them to do precisely what he wanted.
Insolent.
He tried to remember where he was or how he had gotten here. There had been a fight, he recalled. Well there usually was a fight somewhere in his day-to-day routines. This one had been boring. Some demonic beast he encountered unexpectedly out in the wilds while he was checking… something, some matter for… ah, for Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu. That was right. Because they were at their other house with their daughter and there was… something, some report of something, and Luo Binghe had mentioned it and so Liu Qingge had gone to make certain no one was causing trouble at their other house.
It killed some time. He had been hoping for a challenging fight but instead it was just some squabble with weaklings, nothing that Shang Qinghua person couldn’t handle even on his own. Nothing that needed a sword. Liu Qingge had gone and… right, he’d gone looking for a fight to vent his energy on. He had meant to hunt something specific but he couldn’t recall what. Anyway, it wasn’t what crossed his path. That ended up being the big plant-wolf-thing. With the green eyes and the venom dripping from its jaws.
He’d gotten a lot of venom on his skin.
That had been… unexpectedly bad. He’d imagined Shen Qingqiu’s voice in his mind. Why would you just let it get poison all over you?! Does Master Liu even know what that poison DOES?
Of course he didn’t. There were so many wretched creatures in both realms to fight, who could remember what all their various poisons and venoms and secretions did to a person? Anyway his cultivation was usually good enough that such things didn’t do much to him. Or they didn’t do much to him for long.
But this one…
He had felt… bad. Very bad. Like his skin was melting off, even though he could see that it wasn’t. And then everything had gone… not so bad. Light and fluffy. Like he was swimming in clouds. He had thought to himself that even though this did not technically feel bad, it probably still wasn’t good. So he… he had… gone…?
Hmm.
He couldn’t remember much of the details there except that… oh! He had decided to find Shen Qingqiu. Because his voice was still yelling at him in his head and so he had thought it would be better to let him do it in person. Because at least then he would be able to look at him as well. He didn’t mind being scolded by Shen Qingqiu as much as he probably should have, actually. In fact there were times when he even liked it. No one scolded a person they didn’t care about they just said ‘leave’ or hit them and then went on with the rest of their business. The scolding was a form of care. It was very obvious. Shen Qingqiu didn't think it was but it was.
Thinking of Shen Qingqiu, where was he?
Liu Qingge frowned and turned his head to the right.
Come to that, where was Luo Binghe? He had an impression that he’d run into the demon lord after he was poisoned too. Dim flashes of toppling over and then seeing that person look down at him came to him. Then he’d… been lifted? There had been a lot of Luo Binghe very close by for a while, he was distinctly recalling. Arms at his back and all that fluffy hair close by. Smelled nice.
Luo Binghe always smelled nice. Shen Qingqiu too.
Liu Qingge finally managed to turn his head left, and oh there they were. Both of them. That was good. Some part of him was trying to argue that in fact it was not good to be lying in an unfamiliar bed with these two men close by, but it sounded grouchy and unwelcome so he ignored it. Shen Qingqiu had his back mostly towards Liu Qingge and was facing Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe’s brow was furrowed. His hands were on Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders. Liu Qingge tried to call a greeting but his mouth didn’t want to cooperate. Instead he just watched as Luo Binghe said something he could not hear and then leaned in and kissed Shen Qingqiu’s forehead.
Shen Qingqiu turned to look in Liu Qingge’s direction.
He looked worried.
Why did he look worried?
If he was worried shouldn’t Luo Binghe be fixing that? Or Liu Qingge would. If it was something that needed to be fought, he could do that. Luo Binghe could too but whatever. Maybe it was a thing like that thing that had been especially dangerous to demons. The whatsit-bat-monster, with the harmonic frequencies that made Luo Binghe sick. Liu Qingge had killed that! It had exploded into chunks at the end. Very messy. But dead!
Did he need to fight another bat?
Tricky but doable he thought. He just had to figure out how to work his arms and legs again. And find his sword. Then he'd go see to it.
Where was his sword? Did Luo Binghe have it? He could borrow it, Liu Qingge supposed. Luo Binghe also borrowed Xiu Ya so he could borrow Cheng Luan too. Shen Qingqiu could also of course. If they needed to. So it was alright if that was where Cheng Luan was… oh no wait it was by the wall over there. Liu Qingge spotted his sword and nodded in satisfaction, and then decided he should go get it. He was halfway off of the bed when suddenly there were hands pushing him back.
Really strong hands, so strong even he couldn’t resist them. Luo Binghe?
Oh no it was Shen Qingqiu.
When did Shen Qingqiu get that strong? Not that he wasn’t strong but he was usually not as strong as Liu Qingge. Unless there was something wrong with Liu Qingge. Oh right there was! His arms and legs were all rebelling against his authority. Unfilial.
“Alright, Master Liu, how about lying back for now?” Shen Qingqiu suggested. His voice was nice. He was nice. Weird but nice. Bossy. Liu Qingge let him have his way and settled back down against the pillows. He drifted for a while. Shen Qingqiu was speaking or maybe he was singing? The words will all bleeding together into nonsense noise that he couldn’t decipher. After a while Luo Binghe came closer. He and Shen Qingqiu spoke again. They both looked worried.
Luo Binghe reached over and pressed a hand to the side of Liu Qingge’s face.
Warm.
Spiritual energy transferred to him. The world came a little bit back into focus.
“Qingge,” Luo Binghe said. “Can Qingge understand my words?”
Liu Qingge frowned. Of course he could. He opened his mouth to reply but his tongue was not up to the task. He managed - at length - a nod.
Luo Binghe smiled encouragingly at him.
That was nice.
“Good. Qingge should blink twice if he understands what is being said. He has been very badly poisoned. Does he remember?”
He did.
He blinked twice.
Shen Qingqiu patted his shoulder and also looked encouraging. That was nice. He was nice. Even when he wasn't nice Liu Qingge still liked him a lot.
“In order to help mitigate some of the poison’s effects, this lord will give Qingge some of his blood,” Luo Binghe explained. “We will help Qingge drink it. Or we can try and take him to Healer Mu, but the travel will be more difficult. If Qingge will drink the blood, blink twice.”
Liu Qingge didn’t see what all the fuss was about. He’d imbided Luo Binghe’s blood before. Of course, he had gotten really mad at that time. Oh right. There had been a fight about it and - he wasn’t truly angry because it had saved his life but it had been… there was… ehhh he didn’t remember. It pissed him off back then. And then Luo Binghe had taken the blood back out and it had been fine anyway.
He couldn’t find any inclination to fuss about it this time. He blinked twice.
Oh wait, right! Luo Binghe could control people with his blood! That was what made him mad. Not that he’d actually used his blood to control Liu Qingge but he could have so they'd fought about it. He'd won!
Well, Liu Qingge still didn’t care about that right now anyway. Luo Binghe wouldn’t hurt him. He knew that by now. And even if he would Shen Qingqiu was right there and he certainly wouldn’t approve and Luo Binghe didn’t do things that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t approve of. Especially not while he was watching. Liu Qingge was pretty sure that some of the moves he made in fights were things his husband would have disapproved of had he been there to witness them but that was different.
In some way.
Anyway Luo Binghe liked him pretty well so it was fine. He was still trying to say so around his reluctant tongue when he became aware of a cup. With blood in it. Hmm? Oh, right! Shen Qingqiu moved him to help sit up and Luo Binghe tipped his head back for him. Liu Qingge did not grimace at the disgusting taste and texture of blood running down his throat but it was a near thing.
“Good,” Shen Qingqiu told him, running a hand across his shoulders. “Good job.”
Liu Qingge felt warm all over at the praise. He was extremely, intimately pleased by it, which was also frustrating in a hazy sort of way. He wished Shen Qingqiu would touch him somewhere else.
That was very rude of him. Lewd. Someone really ought to scold him for having lewd thoughts. He couldn't even raise a hand and smack himself over it.
He was distracted very shortly again by the sensation of his veins becoming itchy.
Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe continued to sit with him and watch him. After a while Liu Qingge began to feel as though his entire body was covered in pins and needles. It was much less hazy and much more unpleasant. His vision swam. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and was relieved when several hands helped steady him. The firm touches felt like anchors. Bit by bit his mind began to clear but it felt as if happened with the precision of surgery. Like being cut out and sharpened, raw and naked but no longer lost in a daze.
A pained sound escaped him.
One of the hands on him moved to take his own.
“Master Liu,” Shen Qingqiu’s voice said. Liu Qingge had a premonition that opening his eyes was a terrible idea, so he did not do that.
“What happened?” he asked. His voice was a rough croak, barely intelligible.
He thought he heard someone let out a breath of relief.
“Master Liu has been saturated with Virile Swamp Wolf venom. It has several intoxicating effects and is a… it is classified among the ‘intimately receptive poisons’, which means it requires… complex cultivation techniques in order to cleanse from the system…”
Liu Qingge grunted.
“Surgery?” he guessed hazily. Was he going to have to go to Mu Qingfang after all? Well, it seemed like he was probably no longer in the demon realm at least, so the trip wouldn’t be too troublesome… if he could just figure out how to stand up...
“Erm,” Shen Qingqiu said.
The person on his other side shifted.
“Qingge will have to dual cultivate,” he said much more plainly. “This lord’s blood is helping fend off some of the effects for now but it will destabilize Qingge’s qi before it can excise the poison on its own. Fortunately any partner with high enough cultivation level can probably assist. The most practical choices right now would be either this lord or Shizun.”
What?
Liu Qingge tensed at this development for more reasons than he could name. He wanted… but…
…As incredibly awkward as it was, surely there were other options?
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu scolded. Then he sighed. “We can try and get Master Liu to someone else, but the longer the poison is in his system for the more disruptive it will become. The odds of a fatal qi deviation rise by the minute. It’s up to Master Liu - Binghe and I… we have discussed it, and we… either one of us is willing to help. Master Liu may choose. Or he may name someone else, perhaps… erm… Lord Yue? And if possible we will do everything in our power to get him to that person.”
Liu Qingge could not responsibly keep his eyes shut any longer. He opened them. Stabbing pain lanced through his temples, but he could push through pain. What arrested him more were the looks on Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe’s faces.
Despite his blithe tone, Luo Binghe was wearing an expression of deliberate neutrality. Shen Qingqiu had acquired his fan at some point and was hiding behind it. There was a furrow in his brow.
He was still holding Liu Qingge’s hand.
After a moment he squeezed it back.
“Really, Master Liu,” he said. “It… we would rather not see such a terrible thing happen. Master Liu is important to both of us. So…”
So…?
He was supposed to… choose one of them to…?
Somehow his gaze made its way over to Luo Binghe’s. The other man was staring placidly back at him with an expression that said he already knew what choice Liu Qingge would make, and that he was reconciling himself to it. And maybe that was obvious - it was an open secret that Liu Qingge was in love with Shen Qingqiu. That he had been in love with him for years, and that he did not show any signs of losing such feelings soon. Their circumstances were what they were and Liu Qingge had also resigned himself to Luo Binghe’s victory over Shen Qingqiu’s heart. It was known that Liu Qingge would never make any effort to steal away Shen Qingqiu, and it was also known that if Luo Binghe ever faltered in his promises or fell in battle, Liu Qingge would be there to make his own offers and promises to Shen Qingqiu.
What was less known was that over time… towards Luo Binghe, Liu Qingge’s feelings were… had grown…
…complicated.
If Liu Qingge picked Shen Qingqiu then Luo Binghe would leave and Shen Qingqiu would… help him… and it wouldn’t be anything of what Liu Qingge actually wanted. For the time they were together he would appreciate every moment, but it would be for the wrong reasons. He wasn’t strictly after the physical. He wasn’t interesting in stealing liberties or taking them on loan. The idea was still somewhat tempting but mostly this was unappealing.
And if he chose Luo Binghe then… what? He would get much the same. A single moment of physical acts that meant nothing. But it would be even worse because then he will have made Shen Qingqiu’s lord break his vows. He would be the reason for such a thing again.
He felt sick.
“Yue Qingyuan,” he decided. He was confident his ex-husband would do it to save his life, and the emotions between them had not been messy for a long time. He was fairly sure that he could have meaningless sex with that person and not have it tarnish anything that was not already tarnished between them.
Both Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe looked surprised.
“...Is Master Liu certain?” was all Shen Qingqiu said after a moment, however.
Liu Qingge’s pain was starting to get bad enough that he couldn’t push past it very well. He managed a nod.
Luo Binghe regarded him silently.
Then his eyes flashed and the nightmarish pins-and-needles sensations abated. Liu Qingge could tell that there was still something very wrong with himself. However, the clarity of his thoughts began to recede. The pain went away along with them. That seemed inarguably better. He returned to drifting incoherence, barely capable of moving but no longer actively suffering.
Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu spoke with one another again.
Liu Qingge was muzzily aware of them speaking to him too. He didn’t blink because he didn’t understand them. Shen Qingqiu squeezed his shoulder and Luo Binghe picked him up - why was he being picked up? He frowned a little but after a while he guessed he didn’t actually mind it either. There was a lot of blurring and moving. He wanted to walk. Failure. At some point he became aware of struggling to sit upright in a carriage until Shen Qingqiu settled beside him, and then he just flopped onto the other man’s shoulder.
Shen Qingqiu allowed it. He folded one of Liu Qingge’s arms into his and talked. It helped but it also sounded as if he was underwater. There was no water in the carriage.
There was no fire either but it felt hot.
It felt wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
“Master Liu? Master Liu?! Qingge!”
Shen Qingqiu was upset. There was blood on his clothing. How had that happened? Was he hurt? Liu Qingge’s mouth was wet and the wrongness was persisting, and he couldn’t manage to check. The world tilted and spun. The light changed, voices rose and fell.
“-expelled the blood, that shouldn’t happen-”
“-less it was actually a Vampire Swamp Wolf with the enhanced venom-”
“-do?!”
"-an idea-"
“Qingge. Qingge.”
Liu Qingge opened his eyes - when had he closed them? - just in time to see Luo Binghe’s face move in close. Then he was being kissed. Warm lips coaxed his own apart. The taste of iron filled his mouth, carried along as though someone had bitten their tongue and then shoved it in. Sharp teeth caught his own tongue. There was a prick of pain, then the bloodied tongue smoothed itself over his small wound. Liu Qingge was more confused than anything - he was aroused too but that still felt distant. The familiar warmth of spiritual energy transfer came along with it.
After a few moments the mouth moved away from his own. He drew in a breath.
Luo Binghe looked down at him. His lips were flushed. There was a smear of blood at the corner of his mouth. Liu Qingge’s breaths were ragged. He was surprised to find that Luo Binghe was… gently petting his hair…?
“Back with us?” Luo Binghe asked him.
Liu Qingge managed two blinks.
“I’m sorry, Qingge. We aren’t going to be able to reach anyone else in time. It has to be either Shizun or I who does it,” the face above him explained. Liu Qingge swallowed down more of the iron taste in his throat. There was open sky behind Luo Binghe’s head. They were outside. They’d… stopped the carriage, probably.
Out on a roadside.
Not a respectable place for… oh well. Liu Qingge had bigger things to worry about. Shen Qingqiu was beside him, he realized. Up over his head, a shield to block him and the view of the road. Luo Binghe leaned in closer.
“Just blink twice, Qingge. It’s alright. I will let Shizun,” he said, quietly.
Liu Qingge thought.
What would be worse? Torturing himself with an insincere encounter with Shen Qingqiu, or forcing another betrayal of promises onto two people he cared about?
That was an easier question than he would have thought.
He blinked twice.
Luo Binghe nodded. His expression was closed-off but Liu Qingge couldn’t fault him for that. At that point most of his attention was consumed with his pain and his deliberate efforts to try and control the flow of spiritual energy in his body. They were not very successful efforts. He heard Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu speaking but this time they sounded almost coherent.
“He chose Shizun, of course.”
“Binghe led him.”
“Shizun…”
“Really. Didn’t I say before? It’s fine. Of course he would choose Binghe, in the other world-”
“This isn’t that other world Shizun. He’s… Shizun is someone he cares about, so…”
“As if he doesn’t care about Binghe also-!”
“If Shizun doesn’t wish to do it then this lord will handle it but...”
Liu Qingge lost track of the conversation at that point. He turned his head and then there was more blood everywhere, and somehow he blinked and when he opened his eyes again Shen Qingqiu was helping to take off his belt.
‘Helping’ because Luo Binghe was… also undressing him…
A questioning sound escaped him.
Shen Qingqiu patted him.
“Master Liu, we know this isn’t ideal but since… it’s, ah, come to such things, how about letting Binghe and I both… how about we all work together on this?” he suggested. It looked like he wanted to hide behind something, but not in a terrible way. More like whenever he had to confront something he found embarrassing. Liu Qingge stared at Shen Qingqiu and then at Luo Binghe - who for once was not boldly meeting his gaze, but was instead staring at his hands.
Both…?
Both. Together. That…
That wasn’t much better. But it wasn’t much worse either, and at least… maybe it would somehow be more fitting, he thought. His cock was certainly interested, although even then he still felt uncommonly disconnected from his own arousal. He turned back to Shen Qingqiu and blinked twice.
Shen Qingqiu ducked his head.
“We’ll do our best,” he promised. “Master Liu will be alright.”
He’d called Liu Qingge by name earlier. In the carriage. Like Luo Binghe did, but without all the same air of playful cockiness. He wanted him to do that again. Call his name. If he was taking off Liu Qingge’s belt then they should be permitted that much, shouldn’t they? Liu Qingge had no hope of asking for such a thing and barely enough sense left to know it was addled thought. The cool air felt welcome on his bared skin as the couple finished taking off his pants. They left the rest of his clothes on him. Shen Qingqiu handed Luo Binghe a small shell-shaped jar.
The pair exchanged a meaningful look.
Then Shen Qingqiu rearranged himself and very very gently kissed Liu Qingge.
He barely felt it at first. It was like the brush of a butterfly’s wings. The kiss flitted away before it came back again a moment later, a little more confident the second time.
Shen Qingqiu was kissing him.
Liu Qingge had dared to dream of kissing Shen Qingqiu a few times. He had always imagined himself being much more able to reciprocate. In this case he did manage to press his lips back, but little else. That still seemed to be enough encouragement. Shen Qingqiu gently coaxed his lips apart and deepened the kiss. As he did Liu Qingge began to feel firm hands parting his legs. The touch withdrew for a moment. Then a slick palm stroked his cock.
He felt it but it wasn’t the usual rush of sensation at all. Detachment still had a firm and sickly hold over him. Sometimes his sex with Yue Qingyuan had felt a little… distant, but this was different. Right then having his cock stroked didn’t seem all that much different from having his hand held or his lips kissed. Even when another slick touch ventured towards his entrance there was that feverish disconnect. An unpleasant numbness all throughout his body.
The kissing was nice because he knew it was Shen Qingqiu, however. And the hands were nice because those were Luo Binghe’s hands.
It was gutting him for the same reasons.
Shen Qingqiu broke the kiss off and pulled back a breath. The flush in his face, the openness of his expression...
Liu Qingge swallowed.
“No,” he said quietly.
The touches halted. Shen Qingqiu moved back further. He paled.
“No to what?” he asked.
Liu Qingge couldn’t articulate his reply. One of Luo Binghe’s hands patted his thigh as if in reassurance.
“Perhaps Qingge would prefer Shizun’s touch here?” he suggested.
Liu Qingge shook his head a little. No. It didn’t matter. That wasn’t the problem.
“It’s not real…” he tried to explain.
Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe looked at one another.
After a breath Shen Qingqiu’s expression turned towards an unexpected sort of determination. He leaned over to Luo Binghe and said something in a quiet enough voice that Liu Qingge had no hope of discerning it. Whatever it was Luo Binghe opened his mouth as if to argue. But then Shen Qingqiu motioned and he stopped. His own expression changed.
He nodded instead.
“Let’s try trading places anyway and see if it helps. If Qingge needs us to stop then blink or say so again,” Luo Binghe told him. Liu Qingge did not feel heartened but there was little for it. He could have tried to stop them completely - he was not sure if they would take the risk of letting him die for it. He wasn’t sure that he would, either. He wasn’t such a romantic that he would die over something like this, but it felt worse than he would have ever imagined.
He was a little surprised when Luo Binghe settled on his side right next to Liu Qingge rather than leaning in as Shen Qingqiu had done. Shen Qingqiu’s hands were cooler than his lord's had been as they moved up along the inner skin of his thighs. They were narrow hands but the strength in them could still be felt as they moved Liu Qingge at their will. The heat from Luo Binghe’s body radiated all down his left. Luo Binghe settled an arm under Liu Qingge’s head - angling him up a little so that he could see Shen Qingqiu. His free hand wandered, stroking Liu Qingge’s hair and then moving down to his chest; rubbing gently at some spots as if he was trying to encourage circulation.
“It’s alright,” Luo Binghe said against his ear. “It’s only us. Shizun has us. Qingge can relax. What has happened is not his fault. We’ll take care of him - we’re happy to take of him. Qingge does so much for us, let us do this for him. There won’t be any debts. Aren’t we all too close for that by now?”
Liu Qingge swallowed. Luo Binghe was doing this on purpose he knew. The man rarely passed up a chance to goad or taunt to show off, but obviously he knew how to be kind. This wasn’t even the first time he had been generous in his kindness towards Liu Qingge. It used to bother him but lately… more and more… lately…
Despite himself he felt something in him gradually relaxing, even with the poison making everything either numb or painful by turns. Shen Qingqiu’s touch felt different on his skin. There was still a sense of detachment but the long, careful fingers made it seem less egregious. Almost like the muffled sensations were more of an act of mercy than a resounding emphasis to the fact that this was not the intimacy he desired. It was like he knew precisely how to touch to help with sensations both underwhelming and overwhelming.
Luo Binghe kept talking.
“Good,” he said. “Look at Shizun. Doesn’t he look handsome between Qingge’s thighs?”
Shen Qingqiu gave Luo Binghe a faintly exasperated look. His cheeks were flushed. The picture he painted was indeed… it was…
“Beautiful,” he managed.
Luo Binghe smiled approvingly.
“Mn. Shizun is very beautiful,” he agreed. “Watch him. Watch his hands on Qingge’s skin. Watch his face - he cannot hide from us right now.”
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu protested. But far more lightly than Liu Qingge would have guessed. Luo Binghe chuckled. The sound reverberated through Liu Qingge’s side.
“Watch. Good, Qingge is doing well, so well. We’ll watch Shizun work together, hm? And then we will look after him later. We can do that together as well.”
They were undoubtedly empty promises but Liu Qingge’s breath hitched as he imagined it. Imagined a ‘later’. As if this disaster could actually be a prelude to something else, as if the longing was not all on his own end. Shen Qingqiu’s fingers worked inside of him, slick and long and dexterous. Luo Binghe’s breath was warm against his cheek as the man continued to speak to him, talking him through and easing his discomfort with his wandering touch. Sometimes he leaned in closer and whispered far more lewd things; things about Shen Qingqiu’s hands and Liu Qingge’s cock and how pleased Luo Binghe was to confirm that his own cock was the biggest of the three, which was not something Liu Qingge had known but certain fit in with some unacknowledged fantasies he’d had…
“Would Qingge like to see this lord’s cock?” Luo Binghe asked him. “He can if he wants. When Shizun is done I can put it in him as well. Does that sound good? Or would it be better if this lord went first? Whatever Qingge wants he can have. Big or small, which does he prefer?”
Liu Qingge almost choked.
Shen Qingqiu’s face was still red but he raised an eyebrow at his lord.
“Small?” he asked.
“Aha, Husband, not small as in small... only smaller,” Luo Binghe insisted.
It was a poor attempt at backtracking. Shen Qingqiu pointedly hummed and turned back to Liu Qingge’s… to, ah, what he had been doing before, but far from seeming cowed Luo Binghe just looked excited at the response. It was a response that seemed to promise retribution at a later date, so Liu Qingge had no idea why would he be eager. He could scarcely think about it anyway.
The sense of distance was still there. He had been thoroughly worked open he knew, and his physical wrongness was growing by the minute. He realized that there was a timescale for these things.
Even so, Shen Qingqiu gave him a questioning look.
“Me or Binghe?” he checked again.
“...You…” Liu Qingge confirmed.
It turned out Shen Qingqiu really wasn’t actually ‘small’ regardless of what Luo Binghe had implied. His cock was about the same size as Liu Qingge’s. Liu Qingge confirmed this when the man undid his belt and pulled his pants down somewhat. It was flushed and red and almost… elegant, he would say, if such a descriptor could be applied to such an ungainly part of the body. Some part of him was coming undone at the thought of sharing this sort of act with Shen Qingqiu.
Most of him was still unfathomably torn at how it had come to pass.
Was he always going to be having sex with people who deemed it some kind of duty to him? An obligation, an act that might be enjoyed but never meant...?
His gaze found Luo Binghe’s.
Understanding passed between them.
Liu Qingge felt like he might break.
Luo Binghe leaned in unexpectedly and kissed him. It was not the same sort of urgent, bloody kiss they’d shared before, and it wasn’t like Shen Qingqiu’s gentler exploration either. This kiss felt like a brand. Sharp teeth scraped his bottom lip. Fingers curled firmly into his hair. All things being equal thanks to the poison in his veins, Luo Binghe’s kiss was as distracting as the feeling of Shen Qingqiu’s cock pushing into his body.
When it broke off Luo Binghe pressed another kiss to his cheek. The gentleness surprised him again.
“It’s alright,” the man assured him. “Qingge, Qingge… it’s alright. You won’t lose him. I promise.”
Liu Qingge was moved.
What about you? he wanted to ask. Would the next day come and the clouds of urgency recede, and leave Luo Binghe resenting him for this?
Somehow even as a reasonable fear it was hard to entertain that notion when Luo Binghe was still comforting him.
And then Shen Qingqiu slowly began to move and the nature of the sensations he was experiencing started to change as well. Liu Qingge almost didn’t notice it at first. The initial thrusts felt like pressure and the stretch and give of his body was familiar in its way, but the numbness lingered. After a few minutes however it started to recede. Fire replaced it but a different sort - not the perilous burn of fever or qi deviation, but the heat of impassioned touches. It spread out from where Shen Qingqiu’s hands were holding his thighs and from where Luo Binghe was lying at his side. It made him shiver underneath Luo Binghe’s wandering hand. But most of all it came from the place where he was penetrated, where Shen Qingqiu’s length was thrusting steadily in and out of him.
Inch by inch Liu Qingge began to fall into a different daze. His cock throbbed. His muscles twitched. He tilted his head back as the sensations began to overwhelm him instead and he couldn’t bring himself to watch Shen Qingqiu and overwhelm himself on that front too. He was already boneless from the poison but as the thrusting continued it began to feel different. Soft groans escaped him.
He turned his head towards Luo Binghe’s shoulder.
“Ah,” he breathed. “Ah, ah… aha…”
The hands on his thighs moved in soothing circles. One reached to stroke his cock for him, the touch electric but welcome and wanted but too much at the same time. His nerves were an ever-worsening mess. Luo Binghe lifted a hand and cradled his cheek, then helpfully settled his palm over one of Liu Qingge’s ears. With the other pressed to the man’s shoulder it blocked the sounds of his own shame and the ambient noise of the world… it helped.
Liu Qingge closed his eyes. He could still feel himself making the sort of moans he’d never- well. He’d never panted like this during sex before.
His arousal no longer felt distant. Instead it was swiftly becoming all-consuming. The touch of Shen Qingqiu’s hand moved in a rhythm with his thrusts and it was driving him mad. He wanted more. He wanted so many things. He wanted to roll them over and slide over Shen Qingqiu's prone figure and pleasure him back. Kiss him. Hold him. He wanted Luo Binghe to lift him up into his lap and lower him onto his reputedly large cock, bounce him in place and fuck him just like that. He wanted the both to have him, to take turns. He wanted to freeze Luo Binghe in place with a stare, just as he had seen Shen Qingqiu do on so many occasions, and order him to… tell him to… get on his knees, maybe. Or his back. Or fight him for it.
Oh, he wanted to fight Luo Binghe for it. For everything. For Shen Qingqiu, for himself, for Luo Binghe. A fight to see who would take and who would give. A fight to see who would warm whose bed. To see who would touch or be touched or hold or be held.
In the haze of his arousal he thought to himself that if he’d known… if he’d had the means... he should have challenged Luo Binghe and then taken both of them. If only he could have had that power, he’d have both of them, and he’d make them happy and they would… with him, they would...
It was a selfish delusion.
For these two being with one another and no one else was their dream. Liu Qingge’s desires had only ever infringed upon that.
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe said quietly.
Shen Qingqiu released Liu Qingge’s thighs but stayed inside of him. He moved up, Liu Qingge could feel him moving up, could feel himself being reach for. Lips pressed against the side of his jaw. Shen Qingqiu’s lips. The man’s hips moved and his mouth slid over.
“Qingge,” he sighed.
Liu Qingge did not remember lifting an arm to grasp Shen Qingqiu’s clothes. But it was there, fingers tangled in the silver fabric. Shen Qingqiu’s mouth slid over his own. His hands clutched Liu Qingge’s waist. Liu Qingge’s legs were splayed as he was taken, as he gave and wished and wanted until that seemed to burn as fiercely in him as anything else. Only Luo Binghe’s arm kept him from collapsing backwards.
Shen Qingqiu hummed against his lips.
“...Qingge,” he sighed again. This time it sounded like a revelation.
Then Shen Qingqiu came.
Liu Qingge felt it. Hot inside, keener than it should have been. He’d never really felt that kind of thing before. When Yue Qingyuan did it he usually only felt it trickling out. It was probably the poison but this one development he didn’t mind too much. His heart was hammering like a drum and his thoughts could no longer cling to anything. One of his hands was tangling in Shen Qingqiu’s clothes and the other was clutching Luo Binghe’s like a vice. His cock was still throbbing painfully.
Shen Qingqiu’s hips rolled just a little, as if he trying to savour every last sensation of being inside him.
That was enough.
Liu Qingge let out a shuddering gasp and came.