"Will you tell me if it is too much?" Xichen asks, breath ghosting over the spot he'd pressed his lips to moments before. He keeps his eyes on Jiang Cheng's face, has learned to read the man well enough and can sense the anxious energy he hopes to soothe.

Jiang Cheng has been honest with him in many things, has earned his trust in speaking the truth without coating it with sweetness at times. He reminds himself of this, of the fact that he has promised himself to stop second guessing the intensions of those who have proven themselves to him, this man in particular. So, before the answer is fully given he presses another kiss to Jiang Cheng's skin, then another below his scars.

He slides his hand down to the younger man's hip, rubs slow circles over the skin above the hem of his pants with his thumb.