Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For the first time in Lan Huan’s life, he feels fear. He can hear the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears like war drums. The rush of wind from how fast he runs is exhilarating in its own right. He feels fear, but he feels the rush of adrenaline far stronger.

This night was between him and his future mate, and so far, it was the best night of his life.

- - -

“Your mate has been decided.” Lan Qiren states as if Xichen didn’t already know the outcome. He’d only responded well to one of the Alphas who finished the tournament. Nie Mingjue. A tall, strong willed, strong bodied Alpha who radiated confidence like the sun gave out heat. He was- simply put, everything Lan Huan had ever wanted from an Alpha.

He simply can’t help but smile at the thought of the man alone. They were acquaintances before Xichen’s presentation, almost friends even. The Gusu Lan Clan and the Qinghe Nie Clan had been allies for hundreds of years, so of course the two would be acquainted.

Nie Mingjue may have been almost 5 years older, but that just meant he was more knowledgeable in the ways of the world. He had seen more than the 18 year-old Lan Xichen had. The intelligence was just another thing that drew Lan to him.

He slowly nods, smiling to his Uncle. “Thank you. I shall prepare myself for the mating run this evening, then.” He bows deeply to him, standing up straight and preparing to leave before he sees what he swears are tears in his uncle’s eyes. He’s smiling. It shouldn’t unnerve him, but it does. Just a little. The Lans were very stoic and it required a lot for them to show much emotion at all. Lan Xichen was the outlier in that, always with his friendly smile.

“Uncle?” His head cocks slightly to one side, a fond look to the man who practically raised him.

Lan Qiren quickly clears his throat and blinks back any tears that had threatened to fall. “It’s nothing-” No one is truly immune from breaking at least one rule of the Cloud Recesses. “I will collect you at Sunset.”

They bow to each other once more and Lan Xichen makes his way towards his private quarters. ‘A mate… I’ll finally have my own mate…’ He thinks fondly as he shuts the paper door behind him. His heart drums against his ribcage, his ears tinting pink ever so slightly. He’s always wanted a mate.

- - -

The sound of heavy thudding footsteps draws ever closer. They’re still 10 or so metres behind, but they’re catching up, and Quickly. Lan’s instincts kick into overdrive and his legs burn with how fast his body carries him. He wants to be caught, wants to be held and embraced in those strong, caring arms… but his instincts prove difficult to suppress now. His body telling him if he doesn’t run he will die, even if his mind knows that is not the case.

His lungs ache as he gasps and pants for air, throat burning as it tries to suck in more oxygen. This is the most thrilling thing he thinks he’s ever felt. When the scent of pure, unbridled want and lust hits his nose from the Alpha chasing him, he can feel his nethers slick from his own want. He’s tempted to slow, tempted to let himself be caught - let it be all over with so he can finally mate with his true love… but he can already see the angry pout on his arranged’s face if he did that. Mingjue was a man of honour. Catching his omega without earning it wasn’t something he’d allow or ever live down. They both had to try their hardest.

The Sun has fully set, he doesn’t know how long he’s been running, 30, 40 minutes? It’s strange to be out this late. He’d normally be preparing for bed now, drinking a cup of soothing tea before disrobing and going to sleep. To be so active now… his body was struggling to keep up. Even with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he grew sluggish and tired, stumbling once or twice over roots or rocks before continuing to run.

Crunching of leaves and twigs behind him was close. So close. The heavy breathing of his Alpha was clear now. Lan Xichen had just a few metres of space. He was slowing down and his Alpha was catching up. Which was a good thing in theory, in practice, Lan had yet to decipher.

Lan Huan gets one last burst of adrenaline as he feels his ribbon slip through the grasp of Nie Mingjue’s fingers, a sudden burst of energy that gives him an additional metre of space between himself and his Alpha. It’s enough for just another 30 seconds before his Alpha is on him.

Hitting the ground didn’t hurt, not like it should’ve while going so fast. The sound of the Alpha beneath him growling right against his scent glands, hands gripping so tightly at his hips, his warm breath against Xichen’s skin.

He flipped them over just before hitting the ground so he would take the front of the blow, and not his mate. He protected Xichen even now when his lust was running rampant.

“My Mate.” Mingjue growls posessively against Xichen’s throat, pulling a needy whine from the white robed man. He can feel a fresh wave of slick coat his hole at the rumbling.

“Alpha! Please!” He doesn’t know what he’s begging for, be it his marking claim, his knot, his comfort, Xichen genuinely doesn’t know.

They’re supposed to mate right here, in the dirt and the mud. Nie Mingjue is supposed to howl to signify he’s caught his mate. Mingjue is supposed to strip Lan Huan down and claim him right here… there's so many things he’s supposed to be doing, but he doesn't.

Instead, he promptly sits up, keeping his arms tightly around Xichen, “Hold on to me.” Mingjue commands, and Xichen does so, legs wrapping tightly around his hips, arms around his shoulders.

The feeling of being lifted so suddenly startles Xichen, his short nails biting harshly into his soon-to-be mate’s shoulders. “I’ve got you” Mingjue coos softly against the side of his head. Lan Huan relaxes a little bit until he feels the rush of air again. He glances to the side and sees trees rushing by them. Nie is carrying him effortlessly as he runs through the thick forest.

Silently, he wonders where they’re going, but chooses to ignore that question and tuck his face into Nie’s chest. Listening to his heartbeat, savouring his scent.

He must’ve gotten lost in the scent and drifted off to sleep because the next thing he feels is his back sinking in to something soft. “Mn..?” he questions softly, looking around the room to see what looks like a small hut in the middle of nowhere. It’s vaguely familiar… maybe it was something he’d explored as a child, since he knew they were still in Gusu.

“Omega…” The word alone sends shivers up Xichen’s spine, a fresh wave of slick and want leaving his body. “So perfect .” Large hands slowly begin to explore his body, giving a small squeeze to still clothed thighs. “Look at you…”

Xichen feels his heart jump to his throat when their eyes meet. No longer does Nie Minjue only smell of lust. His eyes may sparkle with something Xichen can’t place, but his scent is unmistakable. Love. “A-Alpha…” he whispers, reaching up to his head slowly and removing his headband and reaching up to slowly wrap it around Mingjue’s neck, directly over his scent glands.

Mingjue flinches slightly at the direct contact, but he doesn’t pull away - he leans in to make it easier for Xichen to tie a loose ribbon near the end. They both know what this means.

Their first kiss is bruising, fast and rough, teeth clattering together. Xichen wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s perfect. It doesn’t last as long as he’d wanted, however. Nie’s started to move on. His lips ghosting along Lan’s jaw, down the side of his neck, under his ear. Purposely avoiding his sensitive scent glands.

“Alpha! Please! ” This feels like torture, all he wants is to feel his mate, feel his teeth feel his knot . He wants everything but it’s taking too long. He’d already had to deal with the horniness of bathing by himself; the thoughts of tonight running rampant through his mind like wildfire.

“Shhh, Calm.” Nie murmurs before he presses his tongue flat along Lan Huan’s scent glands and gives a long lick, shivering as he pulls back. His pupils blown and starting to swallow up the dark grey of his iris.

It’s hard to obey an order to stay calm when everything Mingjue does to his body sends him spiralling further and further down the rabbit hole of lust. His belt is removed far faster than he could’ve, his body shuddering as the front of his robes are pulled apart - skin bared to the cooled air.

“So perfect, Xichen..” he feels the breath along his chest more than he hears the words, mind muddled by the mixing of their scent that hangs heavy in the air. “The most honourable, just, kind omega to ever walk the lands” he continues to sing praises to his mate as his lips leave gentle kisses down Lan Huan’s body.

Being praised so heavily feels dirty. “There is a rule in Gusu Lan about over-praising.” Be rasps out, cheeks flushed as he glances down to the large man who’s made his way between milky, slender thighs.

“That would mean the words I’m saying are untrue. There’s a rule in Gusu Lan about lying.” Dark eyes flick up to meet Xichen’s. There’s an earnesty in his expression, proving to Lan Huan that his alpha truly means every word he speaks.

Chapter Text

They don’t break eye contact as Mingjue mouths over Xichen’s hip bones and bare expanse of his beautiful, milky thighs. When he opens his mouth and drags his tongue along the omega’s small cock, however, Xichen can’t dare keep the intense and lustful gaze. He throws his head back and squeezes his eyes shut, a whimper leaving his throat as he pushes his hips further into the new sensation. It’s such a weird sensation … He’d touched himself before but this feeling was on a completely different level.

The rumble that leaves Nie’s throat is also definitely new, but it provides Xichen with a fresh new wave of slickness that the alpha eagerly laps up from the hole just below his cock. “Omega…” his voice is somehow even deeper than normal, the rumble of his words reverberating in Lan’s soul.

“Alpha…” he whines, doing his best to ignore the embarrassment that’s now settling in with the weigned adrenaline. Seeing someone between his thighs is so… So shameful. The fact that someone sees all his most delicate bits makes Xichen squirm. His thighs try desperately to close and hips attempt to twist away.

He doesn’t make it very far, what with the Alpha’s hands tight on his hips and head between his thighs. “Shhh… Xichen…”

“H-Huan” he blurts out before he even has a chance to filter himself. He feels the way Mingjue
Pauses his tongue and slowly pulls away from slicked entrance.

“Huan…” he repeats, shifting their bodies so Lan Huan is on his belly, face in the mattress and hips in the air. “ Mine . Mate.”

Lan Huan keens, his hips up in the air and holes presented for his Alpha. He’s dripping slick down his folds and over his pretty little cocklet, but Nie Mingjue drinks up the sight like a starved man. “ Beautiful .” he praises as he leans in and drags his tongue across the slicked entrance, savouring every last drop of his soon-to-be mate’s sex. It takes so much restraint not to devour him whole, right here, right now.

“ Alpha! ”, and his restraint is being tested.

- - -

Lan Huan really didn’t expect his first time to be so… caring. He’d witnessed a mating run once or twice before, and they were always so visceral . Vicious and All-consuming Lust. He’d only been 15 when he’d watched it happen, but never-the-less it was something that never left his mind.

He’d expected to be shoved into the cold grass and dirt beneath where he’d be caught. He expected to be ravaged and rawed and be bleeding from several places - even more so when he found out his mate was going to be such a powerful and ruthless Alpha.

What he didn’t expect was to be whisked away and worshipped. The feeling of large, strong hands squeezing and massaging every centimetre of his body… It was making him leak slick like a faucet! And he wasn’t even in heat!

“ Please!” He begs, finally giving into everything his body demands, finally letting go of the need to be so well kept and well behaved. He wants it. Everything Nie Mingjue has to offer him he wants.

The feeling of two large fingers pressing into his tight heat has him yelping, though- they were so sudden, he was so tight . He’d never once pressed his fingers inside himself, even though the urge was hard to resist, and the heats definitely made him crave to be filled. He didn’t, he couldn’t . Not only was it a rule of Lan, it was a rule he’d made himself. The first thing to enter him would be his mate.

Now, with two thick fingers stretching out his walls, he couldn’t help but wish he had. At least once. Maybe this would be less painful if he had.

Just as quickly as the fingers came, however, they were drawing back. At first Xichen was relieved by the pain disappearing, but almost immediately after his body was begging to be filled again. He felt painfully empty without them inside.

“W-Wait! Alpha- No! Please!” He couldn’t verbalise everything he wanted, everything his body craved, he just didn’t have the words for it- nor would he find himself brave enough to state them if he had.

‘Is this what lust feels like?’ He wondered as his hole clenched desperately around air.

“Shhh, Calm , Omega. I can’t hurt my precious little mate.” Nie whispered, nipping a small mark into Xichen’s skin where his cheek met thigh.

Xichen was far from little , none of the Gusu Lan omegas were. It was the reason most people didn’t expect them to be omegas. They were all tall, lean, well built. Not many of them had the soft bodies and round faces expected of typical omegas.

He whines, curling his toes as he tries to push his hips back a little more. He could be ashamed about this tomorrow after their mating was officiated by a doctor in the Cloud Recesses.

Mingjue seemed to take pity on his poor mate, pressing a kiss to the slowly reddening mark as he pressed a single finger back in. He took his time this go around, just nudging in the tip slowly, wiggling it slightly to make sure Xichen felt no pain. From the desperate whimpers and keena he earned from his ministrations, he assumed he didn’t.

As his single digit sunk further and further into the tight heat, he cursed himself. There was no way he’d fit here. It would take hours to prep him enough to take his knot, let alone his cock. They didn’t have that kind of time. Nie was sure Gusu Lan was already searching for their heir.

He had to fulfil his duties, he had an obligation to meet, he wanted to breed his omega. He wanted to so badly, but he cared too deeply about his comfort.

Suddenly it dawned on him what he could do to help his mate relax.

Nie Mingjue pulling back, withdrawing his fingers and leaving Xichen bare and exposed to the chilled room. Lan Xichen whined, shifting onto his side so he could properly turn and see what the older man wandered about to do. What could possibly be more important than breeding and marking him?

Nie returned with a small cup filled with a foul smelling liquid. Xichen knew it was liquor. He knew it was forbidden, but when prompted by his mate, a kind and reassuring smile on his lips… How could Lan Huan say no?

He gently took the cup and stared at it for a moment, eyes flicking up to Nie Mingjue then back to the cup. He downed it in one quick gulp.

The feeling was instantaneous, his eyelids drooping and his body trying to sway. He felt even more exhausted than he had after running for so long. His smile, however, curled even more, and he giggled .

“Alpha~” he cooed in a singsong voice, reaching out to his future mate in a cute and clingy manner - fingers wiggling to prompt the man closer. “My Alpha~. So strong .” he praised, hands running down Nie Mingjue’s muscular arms to his wrists then back up to his shoulders. “So handsome .” he murmured.

This… this was a sight to behold. He had no idea Lan Huan would get wasted simply from a single cup of alcohol. It was amazing, but also very bad. He didn’t want his mate to get wasted, just wanted to loosen him up a little. Let his mind and body relax. He might as well have been in heat with the level of consent he could now give. That being: None.

Still, they had to finish their mating run. He had to sink his knot and fangs into the beautiful, now very giggly, omega below him. Xichen reached up to Mingjue’s face, gently brushing his fingers along the high cheekbones, then his strong jaw.

Something seemed to light up in his eyes, like he’d remembered something, and faster than lightning, he withdrew his headband from his forehead and shoved it against the Alpha’s chest.

Nie looked down to the hand on his chest, and slowly placed his own over it. The headband was pressed against his heart. He’d been told briefly about the meaning of the Lan’s headband, but… It felt wrong to receive it when he’d made his little omega so drunk. This definitely felt like taking advantage of him.

“Mate. Alpha. MingMing.” He started to ramble when there was a significant lack of reaction, pulling his hand back so Nie held the ribbon all on his own.

“Xichen…”

“Nuh-uh, Huan. ” he corrected, trying to wrap his arms around Nie’s neck and bring him down for a kiss. Unfortunately he was a bit too inebriated for that and just hung off his body like a sloth.

“ Lan Huan… ”

Lan Huan purred softly to the hearing of his birth name. He hadn’t heard it in… god, probably a decade. Well before his mother’s passing. “Claim me.” He threw his head to the side, completely exposing his neck to the alpha above him.

“I-...” His words falter. He’d wants to, god does he want to . But he’d gotten him drunk! How was Nie supposed to breed his mate if he’s this drunk!? He surely would get mad when he sobers up. Taking advantage of Xichen like this… it was despicable, even if they were arranged. Even if this had been their night.

Nie Mingjue’s so lost in thought, he doesn’t notice the way Lan Huan shifts around beneath him, the way he shuffles on the bed below to nestle him face right up against the Alpha’s slowly softening cock.

He does catch the feeling of thin lips mouthing at his cock through the fabric of his trousers. He’s hardening painfully fast when he glances down and sees Lan Huan mouthing at the outline of his bulge, the sight of dark brown eyes looking up to his own so lustfully. How someone so graceful and refined can look so downright sinful is beyond Nie Mingjue’s comprehension.

“ Fuck… ” He growls under his breath, cock twitching at the attention.

“ Alpha~ ” Lan Xichen’s voice is downright sinful, dripping with want and lust - his actions no longer bound by the need to think and fret over if it was right or wrong, if he was making a fool of himself or his Clan.

Maybe… Maybe this was what they’d need after all.

“Omega…” he takes the headband he still clutches to his chest and moves to affix it back to Xichen, but he’s stopped before he can. Xichen flops onto his back beneath Nie, taking the ribbon from his alpha and intertwining his fingers with Mingjue’s.

His own right hand in Nie Mingjue’s left. He struggles as he attempts to wrap their hands and wrists together with his head band, struggling even further to tie a knot in it- forcing them together.

After about 2 minutes of watching him struggle, Nie takes pity on the drunken man and helps. Together they tie a small, sloppy little bow at their wrists. Lan Huan looks so proud of himself, smiling unabashedly at their intertwined fingers.

Nie Mingjue swallows down three little words, and choses to lean in, sealing their lips in a passionate, lustful kiss instead.

Xichen purrs into the kiss, seeming to already have forgotten one of his hands was tied to his mate’s as he tries to push both of his arms around the Alpha’s neck, and only gets one there.

“Let me take care of you” Nie whispers against Lan’s lips, breaking their kiss only long enough to utter those words before he’s delving in again. Tongue tracing over his lower lip before it presses it’s way inside to meet Xichen’s own.

He can still taste the alcohol on his omega’s breath. That should not be as arousing as it is.

Xichen moans into the kiss, his nails biting into the back of the alpha’s neck desperately, his hips raising in attempts to meet the Alpha’s own. They don’t quite make it, but the attempt is noticed and rewarded by Nie Mingjue’s right hand reaching between them and slowly dragging his fingers between the wet folds.

Nie Mingjue swallows down the second moan, letting one of his fingers slip inside his mate. He’d never expected Lan Xichen to be so vocal, but then again… He never expected Lan Xichen to get drunk off a single cup of wine.