AN: This had been bothering me so I wrote this so I'd finally get some closure.

*****

The day Liang Fei finally proposed to Xieren, it was over dinner. Which, really, he should have seen coming. His master was not one to do anything he expected.

Worse, he proposed in the middle of dinner.

"Oh, that reminds me." He said, looking as if he'd just remembered something. "Xieren, would you mind if I asked you to marry me?"

Xieren choked on his drink, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face.

W-was this how he was going to do this?! It wasn't offensive, as his master was just the type to do things out of nowhere but really?! Over dinner?

One minute, they were discussing the organization of a meeting between the human cultivators and his advisors, and then boom! Proposal!

"What?!" Xieren couldn't help but blurt out. How could he not? Was this how anyone expected to be proposed to? Even though he knew it was coming, why wait so long? It had been days since he let it slip.

"My apologies. I thought it would be proper to ask now rather than in a crowd." He explained, looking serene. "I don't wish to pressure you by doing such a thing."

"So you ask me over dinner?!"

Liang Fei blinked at his partner innocently.

"Is that not how I should do it? That's how men did it when I was back home." He muttered to himself, his brow creased with thought. "Though, they knelt down on one knee with a ring. I could do the same but I feared it might be misunderstood."

"Misundersto- Oh!" Xieren suppressed a grin, realizing what he was saying. There were a few times Shizun had knelt down in front of Xieren and a proposal was never the reason. The only thing those lips could speak were moans as Xieren fed his shaft between his lips.

Admittedly, the thought of being proposed to like that was very arousing.

"So I decided to be straightforward." Shizun continued, staring down at his food.

"Yes." He huffed, smiling despite how his head was now full of fluff.

So straightforward, this human, Xieren wasn't sure what to do with this turn of events. Would he accept? Was that even a question?

"Are you accepting my proposal?" He asked, looking away in that shy way he did sometimes. It was so cute, Xieren couldn't stay seated.

Without a word, the king of the demon realm and soon-to-be husband of the human, Liang Fei, stood up and circled the table. Said human watched him as he walked, looking very confused.

"Xieren?"

Xieren drew his human close, pulling him into his lap and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. When kept silent, his master squirmed in his embrace, clearly unsure about what was happening.

Xieren was feeling overwhelmed and needed a moment to collect himself. Holding Shizun helped calm him down so could speak past the knot in his throat.

He thought he'd be calm since he knew it was coming but leave it to Shizun to blindside him so hard, he was lost for words.

As if sensing his struggle, Liang Fei reached up and stroked his cheek. The tiny nuzzle he got from the human, feeling his calm breath brushing his neck, set his heart racing and forced a sound from his chest.

"Shizun, have I mentioned how much I love you?" He growled, his embrace tightening. Gods, he loved this man!

"N-not recently, I think."

"I see." He usually confessed when they made love but he would have to do so outside of bed after this. "Then shouldn't you say it back if you're proposing to be my bride?"

"Husband." the elder man corrected, giving Xieren a stern look.

Xieren felt it was a bit strange to have a pair of husbands but nodded anyway. His master was a strange man so of course he would choose such a thing. Let he and his master be husbands then. Even if the world called it something else, he'd proudly call the man in his arms his.

"To be my husband," He conceded, smiling. "I think I should hear your heartfelt thoughts of me."

"It's a must?"

"I'll be marrying you regardless of anything you say." Xieren bared his teeth, a growl echoing deep in his chest. "Shizun is mine, now and forever. You gave yourself to me the day you showed me kindness where there was nothing else but despair. Even if you run from me, I will bring you back and make you accept my love."

"I'm still your master."

"Shizun is my master, yes but he also belongs to me." He swore, gazing down at his love. "As I belong to you."

Liang Fei felt a bit embarrassed, unsure how to respond at first. He had thought proposing would be simple but Xieren had said something very heartfelt and now Liang Fei felt a bit lacking.

Should he try saying the words he had practiced and discarded before? It was embarrassing but... Xieren had spoken his heart so it was only fair.

"I-I can't give you all the gifts a useful partner can give you." He said, burying his face in his partner's chest. His words were muffled but he knew Xieren could hear every word. "I have no political or even truly substantial power. I'm strong but you don't need my protection anymore. I'm smart but I don't have the kind of knowledge that would necessarily help you. Despite these failings, I want to give you what you give to me."

His heart raced as he tried to put his feelings into words. It was terrifying, exposing his heart like this. He'd never done this before but...

He had to if he wanted Xieren to understand him.

"I want to be the person you can sit beside and just relax with when you feel stressed. The gentle hand to hold when you sleep at night. Someone you can share your body with without fear. Someone whose smile sets their heart racing. Someone I can imagine waking up to every morning for the rest of my life."

Somehow, the words got easier as he pushed ahead, his expression softening as if he'd let go of some weight on his chest.

"It... It isn't much but if it's enough I-"

"Yes!"

Liang Fei looked up with surprise at the shout. "Eh?"

"Absolutely, yes!" Kisses rained down on the older man. "Shizun, I love you too."

"T-too? I never-"

"Shizun isn't one to say anything simply so I'll settle for this."

Ah, so that's how he was seen? It wasn't wrong, considering their relationship, but Liang Fei still felt a little bad.

"I-"

Whatever else was going to be said was cut off by Xieren's lips, his tongue wiping all thoughts from the elder's mind.

"Xieren."

"I love you, Shizun." He breathed, nuzzling close to the man he held close. "I love you as my master, my 'boyfriend', and as my soon-to-be husband."

Liang Fei felt the words in his chest yearning to break free but he couldn't make himself do it.

"I don't know if I can-"

"I won't expect you to say it back yet." Xieren assured, kissing his temple. "Shizun, I've waited years to hold you and show you how much you mean to me. I look forward to the day I can get you to speak those words to me out loud." While somber, he added in his head.

"Until then, I'm willing to wait for you." He promised, carrying the man out of the dining room. There were plans to be made but that could wait for later. "Because the Liang Fei I hold in my arms is the only person I will love in this life. Just as you'll only ever love me."

*****

AN: Okay. NOW it's finished. It took a long time for me to think of an epilogue cause there wasn't much else to finish.

After this, it's just extras, which won't all be complete 'tales' so much as scenarios that fell to the wayside for various reasons. Mostly because the plot changed and I couldn't fit it in.