Chapter Text
Wei Wuxian has never regretted anything as much as he’s regretting letting Jiang Cheng set their pace right now. This includes even the time Lan Qiren came to Lotus Pier to take part in a sect conference and - through a series of truly unfortunate events - ended up in the lake, cursing Wei Wuxian’s name all the while.
He watches Jiang Cheng hovering over him with eyes darkened in desire as the other pauses yet again . Jiang Cheng licks his lips and cocks his head, looking a little like a very adorable cat. Unfortunately the image goes straight to Wei Wuxian’s dick, which is still very much unattended.
Yet he doesn’t dare to ask Jiang Cheng why he’s paused. Jiang Cheng has always been the most decisive person he’s known. Once he’s decided on something, he’ll go through with it no matter the cost or his own feelings about it. It’s something Wei Wuxian both admires and resents. He resents it especially right now, when he knows that decision is related to them - what they’re doing. He’s known his shidi for a long time, and he knows that what Jiang Cheng is doing now is essentially turning his own feelings and opinions on the matter of spending a heat with Wei Wuxian of all people off. There will be time later on for regrets, and he can’t bear to see Jiang Cheng regret. Not just for his own sake, but also for Wei Wuxian’s.
But he knows just as thoroughly that there will only be regrets later on. Even if Jiang Cheng has already said he doesn’t blame Wei Wuxian, it's only because he doesn’t know what Wei Wuxian does.
He thinks of Jiang-shushu’s - no, Sect Leader Jiang’s - question, how he has never been able to lie to the man who has all but brought him up. He thinks of the warmth in his heart every time he sees Jiang Cheng, of the way Jiang Cheng’s differentiation had triggered his own differentiation and his very first rut. Thinks of the way Sect Leader Jiang had looked at him, gaze heavy with knowledge.
He himself knows better than anyone else the secret he’s buried in his heart, under promises of companionship and fealty to each other. He knows, too, that Sect Leader Jiang has always favoured him. No matter how much he tries to convince himself that the other is harder on Jiang Cheng because Jiang Cheng is his own heir, in the depths of his heart he’s always known that’s not the reason the Jiang sect leader all but ignores his own son, speaking to him only to offer dry, stock phrases out of obligation or deliver his disappointment. It’s hard to accept for Wei Wuxian, who has been saved by the man and grown up knowing him as the closest thing to a parent. It’s hard, he suspects, to accept even for shijie . Even Jiang Cheng himself has never blamed his father despite his conviction that his father doesn’t like him which has only solidified over the years. Madame Yu is the only one who’s taken Jiang Cheng’s side in this, but she does it in a way that makes Jiang Cheng feel even worse, even less than what his father already makes him feel.
Wei Wuxian and shijie have always tried their best to ignore there were sides at all, yet it seems that by not choosing a side they’ve inadvertently chosen Sect Leader Jiang.
That’s not how it will be, he swears to himself. Whether it’s Sect Leader Jiang or Madame Yu or the gods themselves, this time he’ll choose Jiang Cheng. Always, forever.
“-xian.” Jiang Cheng snaps, bringing his attention back to them. His brows are furrowed in a truly impressive scowl and Wei Wuxian sort of wants to kiss it away. But there’s genuine concern in his voice as he asks. “Are you ok?”
“A-Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says, a little incredulous and a little in love as the name sends a blush splashing over Jiang Cheng’s face. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? You’re...well, this is your first time.”
Surely if Jiang Cheng had done anything of this sort before, Wei Wuxian would know. They spent practically their entire days together, when would Jiang Cheng even have time to find someone without Wei Wuxian knowing, far less be intimate with them? Still, the thought makes something ugly rear its head in his chest. He wants to flip them over and fuck the memory of anyone else out of Jiang Cheng. But there’s no reason for him to do that. Jiang Cheng does not belong to him, and he does not belong to Jiang Cheng. After today, they will probably go back to being the Yunmeng Twin Prides and never even talk about what happened here. Certainly with Jiang Cheng’s thin face he wouldn’t want to, either.
There’s an awkward silence before Jiang Cheng’s face darkens.
“Wei Wuxian, can you stop fooling around for once? So what if it’s my first or whatever, you didn’t agree to this either. We’re both in the same boat here. I know I said there’s no way we can get out of here before my heat breaks, but I’m asking you - are you sure you’re ok with this? If not, I can find a way to endure for a few hours. A-niang will probably look for me anyway if I don’t go to afternoon training.”
That’s not necessarily true, and they both know it. Madame Yu has been letting Jiang Cheng skip afternoon training as long as he’s with Sect Leader Jiang, and doubtless Sect Leader Jiang would make up an excuse to prevent her from looking for him.
And here’s the thing - Jiang Cheng is an omega. After today, if news of him having spent his heat with anyone else gets out, he’ll be considered ruined in the eyes of the world at large. Although he may still receive marriage offers due to being the Yunmeng Jiang heir and the sizable dowry that comes with it, he’ll be followed everywhere by whispers and sneers. Already, as an omega, Jiang Cheng has to do twice as much to get half the recognition as his counterparts. As a soiled omega… well.
But he’s worried about Wei Wuxian instead. Wei Wuxian, who due to his alpha status, can get away easily with sleeping with someone. There are probably even people who will congratulate him on being able to bag an unmarried, untouched omega during their heat. That doesn’t mean Wei Wuxian is alright with this.
He can never regret being afforded the honour of spending a night with Jiang Cheng - not because he’s an omega or in heat or beautiful, but simply because he’s Jiang Cheng and he’ll always hold Wei Wuxian’s heart in the palms of his hands without even knowing it. But he hates that it’s not their choice - hates that Jiang Cheng isn’t the one who offered, hates that he himself has no say in this. To be forced into an act that should have been born out of love and choice like this makes him sick. It feels like his agency has been ripped away. He’s been focusing on Jiang Cheng and how he must feel all this time, but that’s partly because if he tries to think of his own feelings - of how he is helpless to stop this, of how his own guardian betrayed not only him but also the person most precious to him - he feels nausea building in his throat and his eyes burn with tears. And yet he feels as if he doesn’t have the right to. In some sick, twisted way, he’s the one who stands to benefit from this. Even if it’s just once, he gets to know how Jiang Cheng feels and tastes and sounds. He gets to keep these memories forever.
But he also gets to keep the memory of this betrayal, of this helplessness, of this loss of agency.
Through blurry eyes, he sees Jiang Cheng shuffle before the younger man leans in, face only a few inches away from his own. Jiang Cheng’s hands - warm and calloused - come up between them to cradle his face like he’s something precious, something beloved. Something to be treasured.
“A-Xian.” He calls, and suddenly it’s hard to breathe. Wei Wuxian loves him so, so much. He doesn’t want to ruin this, the silly dream of being together forever, the promise of being by his side in any capacity possible.
He lets Jiang Cheng wipe his tears away, lets his kisses wash over his very being like a cleansing rain.
“I love you.” He says, and can’t stop even as he regrets it. “I love you, and that’s why we’re here. I love you, even though it ruined everything. Even if you can’t forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” Jiang Cheng murmurs into his cheek. “You’re not the one who needs to seek forgiveness. It doesn’t matter what happens here. We can talk about it later, Wei Wuxian. You said you’d stay by my side forever, that you’d be my right hand man when I’m sect leader. I’m going to hold you to that. You can’t break your promise. If you ever leave me, I’m going to find you and tie you up and drag you back here, you hear me?”
Wei Wuxian hiccups.
“If you’re going to threaten me, you should try not being naked.”
“I changed my mind. I’ll drown you myself as soon as we’re done here.” Jiang Cheng says, flushing violently, but his tone radiates fondness.
Wei Wuxian opens his mouth but Jiang Cheng must realise he’s going to say something sarcastic and so he doesn’t let him even start speaking before sinking down onto Wei Wuxian’s length, encasing the older man in warm, wet heat.
Wei Wuxian absolutely doesn’t let out a whimper at the suddenness, and Jiang Cheng absolutely doesn’t squeak. He’s still for a moment, adjusting to the length and girth of Wei Wuxian inside him, before he starts to gingerly move. This time, Wei Wuxian does whimper, and even though he’s more than adequately prepared Jiang Cheng there’s no way Jiang Cheng’s not overwhelmed.
His eyes are closed and his expression is caught halfway in between a frown and a pout, but as he hastens his pace and Wei Wuxian rocks up to meet his movements Jiang Cheng suddenly moans and immediately bites down on his own lips, looking positively scandalised. Wei Wuxian tries to replicate the angle, hands coming up to grip Jiang Cheng’s hips and to his utter delight he gets another bitten off moan.
“A-Cheng, you’re so beautiful.” He whispers as he thrusts up again and again at the same angle, making lovely little whimpers and moans fall from Jiang Cheng’s plump, kiss-swollen lips.
“Sh- aahn - shut up, uhn. Who ta-aught you - ahah - to be - um - so shameless?” Jiang Cheng snipes back, and Wei Wuxian marvels that he can even speak coherently through all that moaning. Then again, he supposes it wouldn’t really be Jiang Cheng without the thin skin and prickly attitude.
“Don’t you think we can be shameless?” He deadpans, “My dick is literally in your-”
Jiang Cheng punches him lightly on the chest, and lifts himself almost entirely off of Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian panics for a moment before Jiang Cheng lowers himself all the way down on his cock again and smirks triumphantly at the cry he can’t quite stop.
This time it’s his turn to try and string together a coherent sentence as Jiang Cheng sets a maddening pace, bouncing on his dick casually like he’s done this thousands of times before. Jerk, Wei Wuxian thinks. Who said omegas are defenseless creatures needing protection from alphas during heat? It’s clearly Jiang Cheng bullying him here. Wei Wuxian is the helpless creature being manhandled right now. The books and manuals are all full of lies.
“Caaahn you ple-ah-se...slow dowah.” He says through gritted teeth. He shouldn’t have been so pleased with wringing those sounds out of Jiang Cheng earlier. He’s clearly being punished by divine powers for being a bully.
Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow at him.
“Do you want me to slow down?” He asks, and it’s objectively unfair how devastating he looks right now - beads of sweat rolling down his soft skin, lips red and puffy from being kissed and bitten, marks Wei Wuxian left all over his neck and chest and thighs. His voice alone sends heat pooling in the pits of Wei Wuxian’s belly, and his words ruin Wei Wuxian completely. “Don’t you want to see me filled with your knot, A-Xian? Don’t you want to breed me?”
Wei Wuxian opens his mouth because - that’s something he has never considered before, but also something he realises he would very much like. He imagines their children - all he can conjure in his mind’s eye is grumpy little Jiang Chengs running around Lotus Pier, lighting it up with their smiles. His grip on Jiang Cheng’s hips turns bruising, and he thrusts up right at the angle he’s well familiar with by now.
“Yes.” He snarls, and his own voice sounds foreign and wrecked to his ears. “Yes, A-Cheng. Fill you with my seed, so that everyone can see who you belong to.”
Jiang Cheng smiles at him, his voice just as ferocious as Wei Wuxian’s and eyes glittering.
“And so that everyone can see who you belong to.”
“You, A-Cheng. Always you. Forever you.” Wei Wuxian keens desperately, rutting up into the soft embrace of Jiang Cheng’s core. His heart is so full it feels like it’ll burst.
“Me.” Jiang Cheng says, over him, around him, surrounding him like the very air he breathes in. “Don’t you dare forget that, Wei Wuxian. If I’m yours, it’s because you were mine first.”
He slows down then, as if testing Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian maintains his grip but doesn’t do anything except rock his hips up into the warmth waiting for him, meeting Jiang Cheng’s own suddenly languid pace. It’s torture, but it’s just as sweet. Perhaps even sweeter, because Jiang Cheng’s hands pull him up until he’s face to face with Jiang Cheng. The change in angle feels even better, allows him to penetrate even deeper inside Jiang Cheng, makes him feel even closer to Jiang Cheng. The best part is that he can kiss Jiang Cheng again, and nuzzle the hollow of Jiang Cheng’s throat as he whispers praises into the other’s ear, licking and nibbling on the reddened shell.
He tells Jiang Cheng all the secrets he’s carried close to his heart all these years, everything that got lost in their usual banter. He tells Jiang Cheng how much he admires his stubborn determination, how proud he is of the man Jiang Cheng has become, how honoured he is to stand by Jiang Cheng’s side any way he can. He tells Jiang Cheng how adorable his pouts are, how lovely his rare smiles are, how much he wants to kiss Jiang Cheng’s frowns and scowls and pouts away. He tells Jiang Cheng about the times he abandons his own training just to watch the elegant vision that is Jiang Cheng training with Sandu, of the lovely vision the other makes with Zidian crackling on his fingers when Madame Yu lends the ring to him for training. Most of all, he tells Jiang Cheng how much he loves him. Jiang Cheng trembles in his arms, but allows Wei Wuxian to kiss all his protests away. Wei Wuxian thinks, sadly, that he probably doesn’t believe him.
It’ll do for now, though, because Wei Wuxian has the rest of their lives to show him.
Later, with Jiang Cheng leaning on his chest while they wait for Wei Wuxian’s knot to recede, Wei Wuxian traces Jiang Cheng’s puffy and flushed rim thoughtfully. It does things to him, seeing Jiang Cheng stretched around his knot, strands of white leaking down the back of Jiang Cheng’s toned thighs from where they’re joined together and signs of his own release splayed across both his own and Wei Wuxian’s stomachs. He wonders, quite seriously, if he can plug Jiang Cheng up somehow so the other can feel Wei Wuxian’s release inside himself even after they’re no longer joined so intimately. A secret, known only to the two of them.
“Do you think,” He begins, before reconsidering. He’s only just confessed to Jiang Cheng and would dearly love to live long enough to hear an answer. “Do you think we’ll have some little young masters Wei and Jiang soon if we keep going like this?”
Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes at him. Wei Wuxian mentally notes that he can get away with saying the most shameless things when Jiang Cheng’s fucked out and pliant. He has no qualms about exploiting this mercilessly in the future.
“Wei Wuxian.” Jiang Cheng says, though his voice is quiet and unsure. Wei Wuxian immediately goes on alert. “If you think you have to take responsibility or something stupid -”
“A-Cheng.” Wei Wuxian cuts him off even though he feels woozy with disbelief. “I confessed to you.”
There’s a short pause before they both start speaking at the same time.
“Did you seriously not realise that was a-”
“Do you take me for a fool -”
“Jiang Wanyin.” Wei Wuxian says very firmly, and by some miracle Jiang Cheng actually shuts up at the use of his courtesy name. “You’re an actual idiot. I’ve loved you for years. I literally just told you this.”
Jiang Cheng opens his mouth again.
“No. Shut up.” Wei Wuxian says, and Jiang Cheng obediently - for once in his life - closes his mouth. “I love you. And you love me.”
“I didn’t say that.” Jiang Cheng mutters, mutinous, and Wei Wuxian gapes at him.
“You said- you said you’d drag me back if I left you!” He cries plaintively.
“But I didn’t actually say I lo- that.” Jiang Cheng points out, and Wei Wuxian stares at him with his mouth agape until Jiang Cheng’s eyes soften and he leans over to kiss the expression off Wei Wuxian’s face.
“But.” He begins hesitantly and ducks his head down before finishing the rest of his sentence in a whisper. “If you stick around, I might one day.”
Wei Wuxian very wisely doesn’t bring the topic of young masters Wei and Jiang up again. They have time, after all.
Epilogue
A mere five years later, Jiang Wanyin becomes the first omega to ascend to the status of Sect Leader.
Ever since the former Sect Leader Jiang went into seclusion under undisclosed circumstances, Madame Yu has been acting as the Deputy Sect Leader. There were rumours of a coup planned by the Yu family for a while, before she put them to rest by announcing Jiang Cheng as her heir. And then the rumours became even more vicious - who had ever heard of an omega Sect Leader? Surely Madame Yu was insane, to defy the will of the Heavens? How could Sect Leader Jiang have given his permission for this? Was this why Sect Leader Jiang went into seclusion?
There are whispers, too, about Jiang Wanyin’s husband. What kind of an alpha lets their omega reign supreme like Jiang Wanyin? Wei Wuxian is a brilliant alpha - and yet he’s complacent enough to let his omega order him around like some common disciple. What an insult. What sort of a temptress must Sect Leader Jiang be, to hold his alpha so firmly under his spell?
But if a single Yunmeng Jiang disciple catches wind of someone or a sect participating in this gossip mongering, they’ll be lucky to get away with a verbal tongue lashing and being banned from nearly all Yunmeng towns. It’s not, technically, an official ban, and so there’s no way to appeal. The inns in Yunmeng are merely always mysteriously full when these people need a room to spend the night in, the wares that catch their eyes in the market always reserved for someone else, Yunmeng Jiang is too busy to join them on a night hunt or help them with sect matters, traders from Yunmeng are always out of trade goods when the people from that sect want to peruse their stock. Sect Leader Jiang himself remains blissfully oblivious of these phenomena, and Wei Wuxian or any Jiang sect disciple will swear ignorance as well. After all, it’s not just the disciples of the Yunmeng Jiang sect who are loyal to Sect Leader Jiang. If the people of Yunmeng wish to penalize people who try to degrade their beloved sect leader with their dirty words in their own way, what can be done about it? You can’t force them to sell or provide services, because Sect Leader Jiang will descend upon anyone who dares as much as look at his people wrong with all the vengeful wrath of a scorned god.
There’s a reason all of Yunmeng is unquestioningly loyal to Jiang Wanyin.
Two decades later, the revered Sect Leader Jiang sits in a gazebo overlooking a private family pier with his husband and right hand man, Wei Wuxian. Four children play in the shallow waters near the pier, splashing each other to the accompaniment of raucous laughter and shrieks. Wei Wuxian pours them both some tea before sighing.
“It sure is nice to be young and carefree.” He comments, gazing out at the children.
“Since when have you not been carefree?” His husband retorts, blowing gently on his teacup.
“You wound me, A-Cheng.” Wei Wuxian whines, further cementing the comparison to the young children just out of hearing range. “All I was saying is that the kids sure are carefree.”
“A-Yue, A-Shui and A-Ling have all been training for hours until just now. A-Min is only exempt because she’s too young and jiefu doesn’t want her to start training yet. Where exactly do you see them being carefree?” Jiang Cheng replies sedately, making his husband pout.
“Why do you keep misunderstanding me, A-Cheng? All I’m saying is Madame Yu made us train way harder.” He says. Jiang Cheng only hums.
“I was thinking,” He begins, just as Wei Wuxian raises his cup to his lips. “We should probably have another Young Master Wei or Jiang soon.”
Wei Wuxian chokes on his tea while Jiang Cheng sympathetically pats his back.
“A-Cheng, you’ve really changed. What happened to that thin skin of yours?” Wei Wuxian wheezes.
“What happened to that thick skin of yours?” Jiang Cheng shoots back, before slyly glancing at him from under his lashes. “ Fujun ?”
Wei Wuxian stumbles to his feet, grips Jiang Cheng’s wrist and pulls him towards their rooms. Jiang YingYue groans when the two pass them, and Jin Ling dramatically covers Jin Min’s eyes, claiming he has to be responsible for preserving his sister’s innocence. Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes and pulls his husband to himself, swallowing his indignant sputtering of we aren’t even doing anything, you brat with a kiss. Exaggerated gags follow them to their room, but neither of them can bring themselves to care.