And that earns a soft scoff, a gentle sound rarely heard and this time muffled by his husband's hair. Still, the man who it is intended for can surely hear it. "Shall we find a mirror?"
His arms slide firmly around his husband's frame, the fingers of his left hand stroking through the unbraided strands at his nape. This is a side of marriage that he flourishes in, this private part where they are allowed this type of unhindered intimacy of simple touch. Despite his upbringing, Lan Xichen is a tactile creature and there is nothing in Gusu Lan's precepts of marriage that dictates it is not allowed or discouraged. In truth, he is not sure he would follow those precepts if that is what they called for.
"Mine," spoken softly, the words are still possessive and a claim. "And I am yours, in this life and all others."
Xichen's laughter is a balm in his frustration and he welcomes it with the sort of fondness reserved for moments like this and nothing else - the kind that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle and something soft wrap around him like a warm drink.
Lifting his hand, he lets his palm rest against Xichen's back, drawing him closer and basking in the warmth and the moment. He turns his head, then, to leave a kiss against his jaw, to let himself bask in the tenderness before he has to go outside and become a Sect Leader again.
"I don't need a mirror. Yours is the only opinion that I care about, a-Huan." He shakes his head, turning his head so that he can try to steal a kiss. "You are all I care about."
It's hardly a kiss stolen when Xichen turns his head, meets him half-way and the kiss is freely given. It's soft, chaste. Perhaps to an outsider, the gentleness between them would be surprising, but Xichen does not care. It's not what he always wants, but it's fitting now. What they share together in their private moments and whatever form it takes is perfect to him, not meant for others to judge or understand.
"It's my opinion that I married the most handsome man in the cultivation world." It's against Gusu Lan's precepts to boast, to give into vanity, but Xichen would argue that he's only being honest. He says it with an almost impish smirk, because if his opinion is the only one that matters then his husband cannot argue the point.
Nie Mingjue might be built like a brick house, strong and almost dangerously powerful with or without his weapon in hand, but around Lan Xichen he is a husband and lover first and foremost. It means he allows himself to be kind, to be gentle, to be loving and tender in all the ways his spouse deserve and he'll not allow anything to change that.
This is theirs, safe and protected from the outside world; he does not need to be a Sect Leader here, full of bravado (if well earned) and powerful confidence.
"Ah, it seems I have fallen into a trap," he laughs. "I cannot contradict you without contradicting myself. Masterful, a-Huan."
"It was a trap you laid for yourself," Lan Xichen says softly, still letting the smirk tug the corners of his lips upward as he leans in to press his lips to the corner of his husband's mouth. "I will happily take this victory and it's reward."
Pleased as a cat with cream as he is, it would be against the precepts to be too boastful of it.
"I should be more wary in future, then," he says, voice as light and idle as Mingjue is capable of. Their kisses are a balm to any faux wounds to his pride, letting his gaze drag over Xichen before he forces himself to stop and calm down.
He can be rational and reasonable; no need to strip his spouse in the middle of their rooms here. Not yet, at least.
"There's no fun in that," Xichen says with a light chuckle, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. Neither of them are perhaps what most would consider the definition of fun, far from it, but Xichen isn't really taking the opinions of others on any matters concerning them.
"Plenty of rewards come to mind." Just like he catches Mingjue's gaze traveling over him, he makes sure that his own appreciative gaze is not missed. "But you are overdressed for all of them."
When it comes to his clothing there's something to be said about his fashion compared to his brother's; Huaisang is often saying that Mingjue could dress better, with nicer things, nicer fabrics, all the other things that the younger one cares about.
He doesn't.
What he does care about is his other half, and he leans in to steal a kiss.
"You know what I'd meant," Xichen chides, gentle and teasing. He knows he is being teased too, does not mind that he gets to see this side of Mingjue when others cannot dream of it. "Too many layers."
He loses himself in the stolen kiss for a moment, smiling as he presses his lips to Mingjue's again. This is something he had not dreamed of having, still finds it a wonder that he does. "For my prize, I want you to take me to bed. I want you naked." That's still one reward on technicality.
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His arms slide firmly around his husband's frame, the fingers of his left hand stroking through the unbraided strands at his nape. This is a side of marriage that he flourishes in, this private part where they are allowed this type of unhindered intimacy of simple touch. Despite his upbringing, Lan Xichen is a tactile creature and there is nothing in Gusu Lan's precepts of marriage that dictates it is not allowed or discouraged. In truth, he is not sure he would follow those precepts if that is what they called for.
"Mine," spoken softly, the words are still possessive and a claim. "And I am yours, in this life and all others."
no subject
Lifting his hand, he lets his palm rest against Xichen's back, drawing him closer and basking in the warmth and the moment. He turns his head, then, to leave a kiss against his jaw, to let himself bask in the tenderness before he has to go outside and become a Sect Leader again.
"I don't need a mirror. Yours is the only opinion that I care about, a-Huan." He shakes his head, turning his head so that he can try to steal a kiss. "You are all I care about."
no subject
"It's my opinion that I married the most handsome man in the cultivation world." It's against Gusu Lan's precepts to boast, to give into vanity, but Xichen would argue that he's only being honest. He says it with an almost impish smirk, because if his opinion is the only one that matters then his husband cannot argue the point.
no subject
This is theirs, safe and protected from the outside world; he does not need to be a Sect Leader here, full of bravado (if well earned) and powerful confidence.
"Ah, it seems I have fallen into a trap," he laughs. "I cannot contradict you without contradicting myself. Masterful, a-Huan."
no subject
Pleased as a cat with cream as he is, it would be against the precepts to be too boastful of it.
no subject
He can be rational and reasonable; no need to strip his spouse in the middle of their rooms here. Not yet, at least.
"No other reward comes to mind?"
no subject
"Plenty of rewards come to mind." Just like he catches Mingjue's gaze traveling over him, he makes sure that his own appreciative gaze is not missed. "But you are overdressed for all of them."
no subject
When it comes to his clothing there's something to be said about his fashion compared to his brother's; Huaisang is often saying that Mingjue could dress better, with nicer things, nicer fabrics, all the other things that the younger one cares about.
He doesn't.
What he does care about is his other half, and he leans in to steal a kiss.
"Ask me, then."
no subject
He loses himself in the stolen kiss for a moment, smiling as he presses his lips to Mingjue's again. This is something he had not dreamed of having, still finds it a wonder that he does. "For my prize, I want you to take me to bed. I want you naked." That's still one reward on technicality.