Work Text:
“Are your fingers filled with lead? Move! ”
“I'm skimming as fast as I can! If it's not good enough for you then you do it!”
Shen Qingqiu really needs to stop getting himself involved in these situations. Especially with Shang Qinghua.
Said situation goes as follows: both himself and his reluctant nemesis/friend are sequestered in a small cave tucked into the side of a sheer cliff, desperately leafing through an old tome that looks more like it belongs in some discount western fantasy setting rather than the Xianxia world they're currently living in. It's an ancient manuscript that contains treatises on all manner of cultivation techniques, talismans, and curses, some even thought to have been lost to time. One they had been sent to recover after Airplane let it slip that he could read the ancient text it was written in. (English. It had been written in English of all things, Airplane you lazy, uninspired hack .)
Problem was that once someone took the damn thing off the suspiciously easy to access altar, it triggered the mountain spirit to awaken. What was the spirit guarding this particular Mcguffin, one might wonder?
A goddamn, honest to goodness hyper realistic Gyarados .
Which leads them to their current state. Chased out of the antechamber and into cover while a terrifying rendition of Shen Qingqiu’s favorite pokemon slammed its massive body against the rock face, trying to either cause a cave in to crush them to death and/or shake them out to be served for dinner.
“Really Airplane? Gyarados? You’re so fucking lucky PIDW never went mainstream or Nintendo would have sued your ass to the moon and back!”
“I never described it as actually being Gyarados, I was just using it as a reference! Besides Nintendo stole Gyarados’ design from Chinese dragons in the first place, I’m just reclaiming our culture!”
“Unbelievable. So you’re all about cultural restoration until it comes to magic tomes? That thing looks straight out of Lord of the Rings. Just admit you’ve never had an original idea in your life–!”
Shen Qingqiu’s cut off by the earth shattering impact of the aforementioned not-pokemon slamming its body into the side of the mountain again, causing their little cave to shudder like it might give in at any moment.
“Why the hell is it even a mountain spirit anyway? It’s water type!” Shen Qingqiu spits, shielding his head from debris as another spine snapping body slam connects.
“It’s flying type too! And with all the regional variations pokemon has been pumping out a dual rock-flying type Gyarados is totally—” Another shudder, this one so violent that Shang Qinghua tips over with a yelp, just barely managing to hang onto the ludicrously large book he’d been flipping through.
“Oh for the love of–-Quit complaining! just focus on finding the sealing spell! Or do you want us to be crushed to death!?” Shen Qingqiu shouts over the deafening roar that follows.
Ignoring Shang Qinghua's petulant mutter of “you started it”, he carefully peers out of the mouth of the cave, finally getting a good look at the beast that's been trying to kill them for the last 15 minutes. It really does look like Gyarados, from the huge open maw to the long sharp spines that flow down its weirdly segmented body. The only real difference he can see it's how huge the thing is, its open mouth able to swallow two men hole in a single bite. He tenses as it twists in the air, preparing to hurdle itself down into the mountain side again. He really, really doesn’t want to fight this thing, but if he lets it continue on its merry way he and Airplane are going to end up buried alive.
Just as he's about to draw Xiu Ya and go all in, lighting a candle in his heart for himself, a flash of steel blue streaks through the sky and slams into the dragon. The force of the blow sends it flying backwards in an arc from the center of impact, that center being a man dressed in Bai Zhan blues, black hair streaking out behind him like a banner amidst a battlefield.
Liu-shidi! This master is so glad to see you!!
They’d left Liu Qingge behind to handle the hordes of Spider-legged Moles guarding the entrance of the mountain, but his steady War God must have heard the commotion coming from the summit and finished them off just in time to come to the rescue. It’s just like Liu-shidi to show up exactly when he’s needed! Truly a man of duty and honor! How dare Airplane kill off a character this reliable so early on in the story, a true tragedy!
Shen Qingqiu watches as Liu Qingge engages the mountain spirit (Gyarados, it's actually just a Gyarados, he's trying to stay true to the setting but he isn’t blind ok!?). He always loves to watch Liu-shidi fight; it’s truly a feast for the eyes. His solid arms, bracing Cheng Luan against the quick succession of attacks, his legs tensing on the beast's scales as he pushes back against its blows, his solid chest expanding with breath as he prepares to retaliate. Watching his robes straining against his muscles as they threaten to rip through the very fabric that contains them.
He’s truly the pinnacle of martial prowess, his body resolving the movements of all its individual parts into a strike that hits with such force he's sure the backlash can be felt all the way at the bottom of the mountain.
Shen Qingqiu’s mouth feels dry. When did it start getting so hot up here?
The Gyarados reels from the blow, letting out an ear piercing shriek. It undulates its body in a whip-like motion, trying to launch Liu-shidi off its back and into the mountain. Of course Liu Qingge escapes on Cheng Luan before he can be smashed into the stone like a mosquito, turning his sword in a smooth arc that has him sailing straight back into the fray. As if anticipating this, the dragon swings its head back towards Liu Qingge (with one of its massive teeth missing, Shen Qingqiu notes with glee) and somehow opens its mouth even wider , a small core of energy starting to collect at the center. Shen Qingqiu leans out further, excited to see what move it will make next, and realizes a second too late exactly how far he’d ventured out of the safety of the cave.
A beam of pure energy shoots out from the beast's jaws, slamming into the cliff and cutting through the hard granite like hot butter. The whole mountain shakes with the impact and Shen Qingqiu tumbles straight over the edge into the open air.
He does not shriek when he drops into a free fall, but it's a near thing. He flails for a bit, disoriented as he tumbles head over heels in the whipping wind, but finally manages to get his wits about him enough to form a sword seal. Xiu Ya, ever true and loyal, swings out and slots itself firmly under his feet, allowing Shen Qingqiu to finally right himself.
Catching his breath, he glances in the distance at the monster and Liu-shidi. Sending a quiet prayer of thanks that neither one has noticed him yet he desperately shoots back up towards the cave. He's exposed out here and, unlike his battle hungry martial brother, Shen Qingqiu has no desire to go toe to toe with one of the coolest (and scariest) creations in pop culture.
He’s halfway back to his shelter when he feels the tell-tail wobble of Xiu Ya under his feet. His stomach swoops, fear filling him as he tries to urge his sword forward.
Without a Cure.
Goddamn it! Why does he always get flair ups at the most inconvenient times! He’s half sure it's just the consequence of living in Airplanes shitty world, which takes any and all opportunities to screw him over for the sake of drama. He’s almost reached the edge of the entrance when his sword finally gives out, sending him plummeting straight down like a stone.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
He’s panicking. He knows that that's exactly what he shouldn’t be doing in a situation like this, but he's never been good at controlling his inner emotions. He knows the minute he hits the ground he's going to be peak lord purée spread out all over the surrounding area. There's no way he’d survive the impact without his spiritual energy, and he really, really, doesn’t want to die yet! His spare body isn’t even done cooking!
Fuck you Airplane, this is all your fault!
He curses in his heart as he prepares to hit the ground, determined to blame all of his problems on his least favorite author until the very end. Like a true hater.
The impact comes, but instead of it instantly killing him like he expected it to, it ends up slamming into his side. Hard.
He's being lifted up, the whiplash from the sharp change in direction enough to make him nauseous. He finds himself being crushed to a solid chest, the arms holding him pressing him close to the point of pain. Looking up he finds sharp, dark eyes staring down at him.
“Liu-shidi,” He wheezes out, a smile coming to his face despite the pain.
“Shen Qingqiu, are you trying to die!?” Liu Qingge snarls, his face pulling into a truly frightening sneer. Despite the words his hands only tighten their grip, shifting to hold Shen Qingqiu even closer to the core of Liu Qingge’s body. Really, Shidi, you don’t need to hold him so tight. This master promises he's not going to wiggle away!
He really does admire this man, always saving him whenever he needs it. If anyone can prevent Shen Qingqiu’s horrible fate at the hands of the protagonist, it's him. Plus, those muscles! Wow! Shen Qingqiu’s never had the opportunity to feel them underneath his hands, and now he's got both palms pressed against his Shidi’s impressive pecs. They are solid, perfectly shaped, and large . It feels like stone beneath his fingers instead of flesh. He wants to spread his hands out, see if the rest of his shidi’s body is just as rock hard as his chest, but with the way his hands are pinned in place he’ll have to be happy with just this.
It isn’t weird, ok! Any man would want to admire another man’s strength! Gym bros feel each other's muscles all the time, Shen Qingqiu only wants to express his approval for Liu Qingge’s hard work! That's all!
The loud snap of jaws closing just beneath brings Shen Qingqiu out of his, completely platonic, focus on Liu Qingge’s body. He glances down to see the Gyarados hot on their heels, its mouth uncomfortably close to crunching them between its remaining teeth. He hears Liu Qingge let out a hiss above him before they’re suddenly falling into a nosedive, just narrowly passing past the jaws of the beast before twisting out of the plunge and shooting across the sky like a bullet.
Shen Qingqiu feels like he's on the world’s deadliest roller coaster, the constant up and down maneuvers Cheng Luan executes making him sure he's going to end up losing his lunch all over Liu Qingge. Just when he's sure there's no stopping it (he's sorry Liu-shidi, please forgive him!) He feels himself being hauled up, and—
Oh
Oh.
Liu Qingge, in another feat of strength, has shifted Shen Qingqiu’s entire body weight onto one single arm. Only one! Shen Qingqiu is not a slim flower by any means, almost being of height with Liu Qingge himself! He's always known he's never been able to compare to Liu Qingge when it comes to pure strength, but something about the way Liu Qingge hefts him up like he's no heavier than a sack of flour makes Shen Qingqiu hot under the collar in a way he's never felt before.
Then he feels the hand holding him slide from the backs of his knees down to grip his thighs and he—He—!
His brain blue screens.
By the time he's able to process anything other than that steel grip on his thighs he's being slid back into a bridal carry. The Gyarados, now headless, is falling down into the cloud line below.
Shen Qingqiu hasn't been the same since, what he's taken calling it in the privacy of his own mind, The Incident.
He’d been almost unresponsive their entire trip back, letting Liu Qingge’s reprimands and Shang Qinghua’s wailing go in one ear and out the other. That rat of a man was putting on a show of fraternal piety for Liu-shidi by crying that he ‘was so glad Shen-shixiong was alright!’. He knew the real reason Shang Qinghua was crying. It wasn’t because he was worried for Shen Qingqiu, but for himself. If he’d shown up on Qiong Ding with Shen Qingqiu dead, Yue Qingyuan would have had his hide. The mission had been assigned to him alone. Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge had only agreed to come along as backup.
If not even the opportunity to humiliate Shang Qinghua managed to shake Shen Qingqiu out of his stupor, he knew he was in trouble. Even so, He couldn’t bring himself to think of anything other than the feeling of being manhandled. It was all he could focus on, how good it had felt.
How much he wanted it to happen again.
He did not want to examine why exactly he wanted it to happen again.
It wasn’t until the following evening that he tried to shake himself out of his funk. He decided to do what he was best at. Bury! Bury! Bury! Everyone knows unwanted thoughts belong in the same place as the dead, six feet under!
He was just surprised, that's all! Any straight man would feel off kilter at being protected in the embrace of a stronger man! Totally normal!
It’s been a week since he's been back on Qing Jing, trying and failing to live his normal mundane life. Despite his best efforts, the memory of Liu Qingge's steel grip on his thighs hangs around his mind like the world's most intrusive thought. He’d even left bruises. Bruises! What in the world is Shen Qingqiu supposed to do with this information?
How was he expected to do his job properly if he couldn’t focus?
He’d even tried going to Bai Zhan in order to work out all these unresolved feelings in the way only two completely straight bros can: sparring.
It hadn’t helped.
While sparring with Liu Qingge had always been exhilarating, getting his ass beat hadn’t managed to shed any light on his current situation. In a way, it only made the problem worse . Whenever Liu Qingge grabbed him, Shen Qingqiu felt his heart jump into his throat, only for that feeling to crash back down to earth with the rest of him when Liu Qingge had inevitably sent him sprawling. He had wanted Liu-shidi to pull him closer, not beat him into the dirt.
That revelation scared him off Bai Zhan Peak for the foreseeable future.
After the fourth day in a row of forgetting to grade his disciples' poetry assignments Shen Qingqiu decided enough was enough. He had to sort this out if he ever wanted to go back to have any semblance of peace. If his brain was so obsessed with the idea of Liu Qingge being close to him, then maybe if he gave it what it wanted then he could put all this to rest.
It was clear what he had to do.
He had to ask Liu-shidi for a hug.
Nothing wrong with hugs between friends. Just a quick, friendly, no thigh touching hug and he’ll be right as rain in no time.
His next opportunity came sooner than expected, when Liu Qingge barged into Shen Qingqiu’s house the following day with his signature scowl.
“Good afternoon, Shidi. What can this Shixiong do for you?” Shen Qingqiu said from behind his fan, raising one delicate eyebrow at the state of his front door. He's going to need to get it replaced. Again.
Liu Qingge gave him a look that said he thought Shen Qingqiu was being particularly stupid. Shen Qingqiu simply waited, not rising to the bait. He was well versed in the strange way Liu Qingge preferred speaking, which mostly consisted of a wide variety of scowls that ranged from meaning ‘I’m going to rip your heart out through your ass’ to ‘I’m hungry’. He always preferred silence over words, letting his face and, when needed, fists do most of the talking.
“Your meridians,” He said, looking almost offended that Shen Qingqiu had not implicitly understood what he wanted from his face alone.
Shen Qingqiu blinked, feeling confused.
“Shidi cleared this master’s meridians less than a week ago,” He lets the implication sit between them, knowing Liu Qingge will pick up on it. He only needs them cleared monthly, it's far too soon for another session.
Liu Qingge's face goes on another emotional journey until it eventually settles on an expression Shen Qingqiu knows all too well. One that says ‘Do I really have to explain this to you?’. He always wears it with an air of exasperation, but today is different. Liu Qingge keeps fidgeting with his sword tassel, shifting his weight from foot to foot, almost as if he’s—
Ah.
“There's no need to be embarrassed about wanting to visit your favorite Shixiong, Liu-shidi.”
Liu Qingge’s reaction doesn’t disappoint.
“Presumptuous,” He spits, a light flush coming across his face as he stomps over to the low table and drops himself onto his usual seat.
Shen Qingqiu feels a wide smile break out from behind his fan. He really is embarrassed, how unexpectedly cute! Hopefully that will make asking for that hug easier.
Shen Qingqiu calls for Ming Fan to bring tea while he dutifully offers his wrist, not wanting to tease his Shidi too much by denying him his excuse for coming to visit. The visit goes as most do. Shen Qingqiu chatters on about the texts he's been reading recently, how his students have been progressing in their cultivation, ect. etc. Liu Qingge sits next to him in silence, his dark eyes fixed on Shen Qingqiu's face as he speaks. He’s doing a remarkable job pretending that everything is absolutely normal, if he does say so himself.
Too good a job.
He's been trying to find an organic opening to lead into asking for a hug, but can’t seem to manage it. It’s not like he can just say ‘Oh Liu-shidi, remember when you saved my life the other afternoon? I’ve been daydreaming about how you held me tight to your body ever since! Would you mind giving me a hug so that I can stop thinking about it?’
Like hell he’d ever say that! He’d sooner commit seppuku than admit to something that embarrassing, thank you very much!
Before he knows it he's bidding Liu Qingge a good evening, the entire day wasted without even managing to get one measly hug. Damn it! Why can’t this just be easy?
This is going to require drastic measures , Shen Qingqiu thought with despair while he lay awake for the ninth night in a row, unable to escape the strange dreams about his shidi’s touch.
Shen Qingqiu makes his way through the tall grass as loudly as he possibly can.
He’s made his way to the Glass Forest at the edge of Tian Yi Overlook’s territory. The forest sits close to the border with the demon realm, but it isn’t like the rest of the barren borderlands. It is instead made up almost entirely of unique flora called prism trees, whose leaves imitate the look and feel of stained glass.
The original text described the Glass Forest like it was the entrance to heaven itself. When sunlight filters down through dozens upon dozens of prism leaves, it bathes the ground below into beautiful layers of shimmering rainbow light. It was said that people who walked into the forest would never want to leave again.
To Shen Qingqiu it just looked like the rainbow bridges on Cang Qiong, but if they turned into trees instead of walkways.
While the sparkly scenery was nice to see, there was another reason Shen Qingqiu made the trek all the way out here.
The monster that lived within the Glass Forest. The Masked Sun Serpent.
A snake the size of a train, whose entire body was transparent. It was the real reason why no one who entered the Glass Forest ever returned. Unlike most monsters in PIDW, The Masked Sun Serpent fashioned itself more a god than a monster, trapping people under its thrall to serve it until they were inevitably devoured. Luo Binghe had come to the Glass Forest in order to save wife #229, who had fallen under the snake's spell.
Shen Qingqiu had made his way all the way out here to do the same thing as wife #229: Get himself kidnapped.
Normally, Shen Qingqiu hated characters that only existed to get kidnapped. Anyone with a normal IQ wouldn’t willingly walk into a death trap, but now the shoe was on the other foot.
Look, he's not here to cause trouble! He’s just really, really desperate!
He hasn’t had a good night's sleep in two weeks, and replacing rest with spiritual energy just wasn’t cutting it anymore. He’s tried to ask Liu Qingge twice more for a hug, only for him to go tongue tied each time. Hell, he’d even asked Zhangmen-shixiong for one, thinking that if all he needed was a hug from a buff guy then any guy would do. Zhangmen-shixiong was both buff and a guy, so bam! Requirements met! Plus, his warm big brother energy made him way easier to approach than Liu Qingge.
Yue Qingyuan had even gotten all misty eyed when he asked, which made things a bit awkward, but he had enthusiastically agreed. Shen Qingqiu had really thought his problems were coming to an end only to discover that the hug didn’t feel right. He held Shen Qingqiu too loosely, almost like Yue Qingyuan was afraid Shen Qingqiu would break apart if he held on any tighter. The heavy scent of incense clinging to the fabric instead the of light smell of sweat and iron felt out of place. When he glanced up to see Yue Qingyuan’s gentle eyes instead of sharp ones it all just felt.
Wrong.
It wasn’t what he wanted at all!
Shen Qingqiu’s face wasn’t thick enough to explain any of this to him though, so he just thanked him and beat a hasty retreat. He was eager to escape the strange atmosphere.
With that avenue exhausted, Shen Qingqiu only had one thing to turn to.
Science.
The scientific method states that the results of any experiment have to be reproducible in order for a hypothesis to be proven. The last time Liu Qingge held him, his life was in danger. Ergo, he would have to put his life in danger again in order to get Liu Qingge's hands on him. See, He’s not being an idiot entirely out of desperation, it's good sense too!
He’d left a note with Ming Fan the night before with instructions to deliver it to Liu Qingge the following day. By now he was sure Liu-shidi had gotten the request to meet Shen Qingqiu at the entrance to the Glass Forest in order to help him catalog the behavior of the Masked Sun Serpent. When he arrives to find Shen Qingqiu missing, he's sure to look for him.
Once Liu-shidi finds out he’s been kidnapped by the snake he will certainly come save him. Shen Qingqiu will then use Without a Cure as an excuse to cling to him and bam! Hug acquired!
It's a foolproof plan.
Or it would be foolproof, if that damn snake would show itself! Here Shen Qingqiu is, serving himself up on a platter for this thing and it can’t even be bothered to show its face.
Figures that when Shen Qingqiu wants to get kidnapped, nothing happens.
“Oh no, here I am, a golden core stage cultivator left all by his lonesome out in the open. It would truly be such a shame if a beast were to enchant me into worshiping it for the rest of my natural life!” Shen Qingqiu calls out, making sure to project his voice with spiritual energy.
He waits.
Nothing but the breeze answers him, leaving Shen Qingqiu frustratingly not kidnapped. This isn’t good! The sun has almost set, meaning Liu Qingge is surely almost here. If he rushes inside just to find Shen Qingqiu wandering around loudly shouting about how vulnerable he is it would be beyond embarrassing!
Just when he's about to give in and meet Liu Qingge by the entrance, the ground rumbles underneath him. He has a few seconds to spring away before a giant snake head breaks through the dirt and snaps its jaws shut, missing him by mere centimeters.
What’s going on? Master snake, why are you trying to skip the appetizer and go straight for dessert? Didn’t your mother teach you table manners!?
Why was this thing trying to kill him? There's no way he remembered this wrong, he knows it takes humans under its spell. Why is it skipping all the fun and just going straight to trying to eat him!?
Before he can focus his thoughts the giant animal is on him. He feints to the right, avoiding its next strike only to crash into its side. It really is disorienting to fight, its transparent skin making finding it among the bright glittering light annoyingly difficult. He draws Xiu Ya and rockets upwards, knowing that outside the canopy of prism trees it will be much easier to see. He's almost broken through when the snake's tail slams into him, sending him careening into the dirt.
Fuck! That really hurt!
Shen Qingqiu has enough time to lift his face out of his own personal dirt pit before he has to jump back, retreating at speed while the snake's head follows relentlessly. He knows it's only a matter of time before the tail strikes him again, and decides he needs to end things now. Channeling Qi into his hands, he forms a seal that sends a storm of sharp iridescent leaves raining down into the entire clearing. The serpent lets out a bellow as thousands of cuts carve into its hide, spraying blue blood all across its clear body.
With its camouflage destroyed it tries to bury itself back into the dirt, but Shen Qingqiu is faster. He summons Xiu Ya into his hands once more and musters up every ounce of strength he has in his scholar's body, striking out to cleave the thing's head from its torso. The slice only makes it halfway through the thick muscle before stopping, leaving Shen Qingqiu dangling at the wound. The snake screams as it thrashes, Shen Qingqiu desperately hanging onto where Xiu Ya is buried into its neck so that he isn’t crushed under its panicked spasms.
There's a loud sound, almost like an explosion from above, and then a massive impact almost dislodges his hold on the sword hilt. Then, all at once, the snake stops moving.
“Are you a Peak Lord or a butcher?”
Uncurling from his desperate hunch over his spirit blade, he looks up to see Liu Qingge standing atop the snake's head with Cheng Luan buried into its skull. He looks completely unaffected, arms crossed and robes pristine while Shen Qingqiu’s sure that he looks like he’s been through hell, covered in snake blood and grass stains. His dark eyes settle onto Shen Qingqiu like he’s the one who's done something wrong.
“Begging Liu-shidi’s pardon. I’ll be sure to make my kill cleaner next time I get attacked by a giant Serpent,” Shen Qingqiu snarks, feeling petty. While yes, this might technically be his fault, he never walked in here with the intent to get eaten, just kidnapped. Very different!
Liu Qingge’s eyes narrow, jaw working like he's literally chewing on his words. Let him chew! Shen Qingqiu doesn’t care anymore! His plan blew up in his face so fantastically that he not only lost any chance at getting the hug he's been so desperately needing, he also almost died!
Feeling sorry for himself, Shen Qingqiu straightens to drop down to the grass below only for his fingers to slip on the blood coating Xiu Ya’s hilt, falling off.
One second Shen Qingqiu is airborne, feeling extremely bitter. The next he's caught against that (Lovely, strong) chest, the tight grip around his limbs almost enough to make him cry in relief.
This! This is the feeling he's been missing for weeks!
Sleep deprived, exhausted, and covered in blood, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t think twice about wrapping his arms around Liu Qingge’s neck in a vice grip. Liu-shidi locks up at the action, going still as a statue.
He doesn’t care if Liu Qingge is three seconds away from tossing him to the ground, or that he's getting his nice clean robes filthy with blood. He’s worked way too hard for this not to savor it. He buries his face into Liu Qingge's neck, causing him to make some kind of odd, choking sound in response.
Pressed chest to chest, Shen Qingqiu can feel exactly how built Liu Qingge is. He, of course, already knew about his pecs, but now can feel the flex of his Shidi’s solid shoulders, the strong cords of his neck, the powerful muscles along his back that taper down to his slim waist. He can’t reach there, unfortunately, but Shen Qingqiu isn’t going to be greedy. He's already happy he managed to get this much.
He waits for Liu-shidi to call him shameless and throw him off. For him to, at the very least, bark at Shen Qingqiu to grow up and stop clinging to him like a child.
Nothing happens. All the Lord of Bai Zhan Peak does is stand stock still, the only sign that he hasn’t spontaneously turned to stone is the movement of his chest against Shen Qingqiu’s own. After a few moments he braves pulling his face away from his Shidi’s neck to take a glance at his face.
Red. His entire face is flushed a deep red, to the point of almost looking sunburnt. Not just his face, but the blush even travels down to cover his neck and ears. He looks like he’s either about to explode or faint. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t know what to do with this new information. He’d already known his Shidi flushed when embarrassed, but he’s never seen anything to this extent.
He’s resolutely staring straight ahead like the mutilated snake corpse in front of him has the answers to the universe. Even when Shen Qingqiu pulls fully away from Liu Qingge's neck, leaning in to try and catch his eye, he remains resolute in avoiding his gaze. Shen Qingqiu can’t help the smile that pulls at his lips.
Who would have thought Liu Qingge was so shy?
That's what this must be! The famous War God of Bai Zhan, so bashful that even a hug from a friend would put him in such a state. It makes sense, seeing as the only kind of physical contact Liu Qingge initiates with others is to incite violence. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen him receive so much as a friendly pat on the shoulder from another person.
Well, that just means it's up to Shen Qingqiu to get him used to it. It's a win-win situation! Liu-Shidi gets socialization and Shen Qingqiu gets to satisfy his urge to plaster himself wholly to Liu Qingge’s side.
“Is Shidi going to let this master down, or will he carry me back to the sect?” Shen Qingqiu teased, delighted at the way Liu Qingge’s gaze flickers down to his face only to skitter away again nervously.
“Do what you want,” He mutters, but still doesn’t make any move to place Shen Qingqiu back onto his feet.
Happy to take any chance to be lazy (and stay cuddled up with his favorite martial brother) Shen Qingqiu smiles even wider.
“Then this Shixiong will have to trouble Shidi.”
Things had improved immensely since Shen Qingqiu’s trip to the Glass Forest.
His strange obsession with Liu Qingge hadn’t lessened in the slightest, but his ability to touch him managed to free his mind enough so it could focus back on his day to day duties. Shen Qingqiu was eternally grateful that he wasn’t making a fool of himself on Qing Jing anymore because he couldn’t focus on a lesson plan.
He still didn’t have the face to cling to Liu Qingge the way he really wanted to, but he allowed himself small touches. Taking Liu Qingge’s hand into his own to guide him over to some beast or plant he found particularly interesting, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder to get his attention, even wrapping his arms around one of Liu-shidi’s own while they walked leisurely through his bamboo forest were all indulgences Shen Qingqiu allowed himself.
After all, it was Shen Qingqius duty as Liu Qingge’s shixiong to acclimate him to friendly touch. Imagine how embarrassing it would be for Liu-shidi if he were to turn into a tomato at an event like the Immortal Alliance Conference just because a friendly cultivator gave him a pat on the back! He wouldn’t allow it.
Don’t worry Shidi, this Shixiong will protect you from societal shame!
He recalls telling Shang Qinghua so, only to be irritated at his expression of open horror. Acting like Shen Qingqiu had lost his mind to even suggest that anyone would have the gall to lay their hands on the War God was far too dramatic.
Just because Airplane was terrified of Liu-shidi didn’t mean everyone else was!
“Once you get past his dour disposition and taciturn nature, he’s actually very sweet,” Shen Qingqiu sniffed, turning his nose up at Shang Qinghua’s gobsmacked face.
“Sweet!? Bro, did that serpent beat all the brains out of your head? Liu Qingge’s about a sweet as a rabid dog!” He cried in dismay.
“Don’t talk to me about brains! Which one of us conveniently left out of his story that the Masked Sun Serpent can’t call spiritual cultivators under its thrall if their cultivation is too high?” Shen Qingqiu sneered. “I almost died because of you!”
“It was implied! How else do you think Binghe was able to avoid its call?” Shang Qinghua argued hotly. “It’s not my fault that you're too stupid to understand subtext.”
Their argument had devolved into Shen Qingqiu attacking Shang Qinghua with his fan after that.
Well, who cares what Shang Qinghua thinks? Certainly not Shen Qingqiu. His exposure therapy has been working wonders on Liu Qingge. He’d even managed to stop freezing everytime Shen Qingqiu touched him. Progress! His blush was still pretty intense, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Shen Qingqiu was confident they’d get there eventually.
There was only one problem.
Shen Qingqiu’s imagination was starting to get out of control.
Instead of the free and easy contact they shared putting out the flames in his mind like he’d hoped, they instead dropped gasoline all over them. At first it wasn’t anything more than the vague impressions that had been haunting him since the beginning, but the longer time went on, the more outlandish his dreams became.
One dream stands out to him in particular.
it starts with the feeling of Liu Qingge's strong grip on the back of his neck, pinning him to the floor. His shidi’s solid chest pressed flush against his back. The sweat slicked slide of skin against skin as Liu Qingge’s hot breath caressed the shell of his ear, groaning “Shen Qingqiu” into his hair, tone deep and raw. One thing leads to another, until Shen Qingqiu is startled awake with a very particular ache between his legs.
Needless to say, Shen Qingqiu sheets have been ruined more than once.
He tried ignoring it again, only for him to go through seven sets of sheets in six days. He was getting tired of having to bundle up the evidence and burn it late at night, but he couldn’t tell his disciples why his bedding kept disappearing. It would be beyond humiliating. Having wet dreams, at his age! No, no one could know.
He was straight! Why in the hell was he having such horny dreams about his friend? Had he somehow overdosed on sex pollen without knowing it? Knowing Airplane’s porn obsessed world, it was possible.
It had come to a head at the most recent peak lord meeting, wherein he spent the entire time staring at the hand Liu Qingge was using to hold his tea, and wondered how much strength it would take for his shidi to snap his neck with his bare hands.
What the actual fuck was wrong with him!
He felt like he was starting to go insane. He felt like if he didn’t have Liu Qingge crushing him against either his chest or the floor soon he was going to have a stroke. He felt like a creep, having all these inappropriate thoughts about his poor straight martial brother, who would truly be disgusted if he ever found out.
I just need to feel it once more. Just one more time, then I’ll be off the stuff for good, no matter what.
He was starting to sound like an addict.
He was going to come up with an airtight plan to get kidnapped this time. No oversights. No mistakes.
It was guaranteed to work.
His plan did not work.
He was currently tied up in immortal binding cables, naked and left abandoned in the woods. He’s sure he couldn’t have failed any harder than this if he tried.
Finding a road known for bandit attacks was easy. Making himself look like an appealing target even easier. All he had to do was start a rumor that the cold immortal of Qing Jing was passing through the area and he was off to the races.
He hadn’t even been on the road for 30 minutes before he had a sack thrown over his head, being dragged off to who knows where.
Shen Qingqiu had learned well from his previous attempt. Never send a monster to do a human's job.
At least, that’s what he thought. Until the bandits who had kidnapped him ended up binding him with Immortal Binding Cables.
What the hell is this? How did these D level thugs even manage to get their hands on something this high grade? Making such a powerful special item available to the general public really devalues its narrative weight, Airplane you hack!
He had been (slightly) afraid for his life at first (fun fact: not having his cultivation really made rusty knives more threatening) only to realize that he was a fool for thinking the worst thing that could happen to him was being murdered.
When they’d started removing his clothes, he’d felt a terror so bone deep he thought that just the fear alone would kill him.
“My sect will pay you handsomely for my safe return, please think about this!” When that didn't get a reaction from his captors, Shen Qingqiu started to struggle in earnest.
“there's no need to go this far, surely you all aren’t this desperate!” He hiccuped, actual tears filling his eyes. He was going to have a panic attack.
“It's not a matter of desperation,” The bandit closest to him grunted, holding down one of Shen Qingqiu’s flailing legs so that his accomplice could slide off his boot. “Clothes of this quality will earn us a fortune.” He then leaned up and quickly smacked his bandit friend about the ear.
“Don’t yank you idiot! If you tear the leather we won’t even be able to get half the market price. That boot is worth more than your life!”
Shen Qingqiu paused at this, letting the statement sink in.
“You mean you aren’t going to…to…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say it. The bandit gave in a blank eyed stare, until realization dawned and his face twisted up in disgust.
“Who do you think we are, insulting us like this! As if we’d ever! I’ll have you know that we earn an honest living robbing folks on this road. Killing and rape is for criminals!”
His friends chimed in with a chorus of agreement, offended at Shen Qingqiu’s insinuation. He’d never met such a moral group of bandits.
He felt weak with relief, body going slack as the tension he hadn’t even realized he was holding drained from him. He was so grateful that he wasn’t even indignant that these men were robbing him blind instead of kidnapping him like he’d planned.
…
His plan! He forgot!
“Whoa, wait a minute! Why are you robbing me? Don’t you know who I am?” Shen Qingqiu tried very hard to not come across as desperate, but judging from the look the bandit holding his boot gave him, it didn't work.
“Lord of Qing Jing Peak. I’m familiar,” he said cooly, carefully placing the boot onto the cart next to his neatly folded outer robes.
“Well, why not just hold me for ransom? You’d be rewarded handsomely for half the trouble.”
“Cultivators,” The man muttered, like this wasn’t the first time he'd had this argument. How many times had he run into a cultivator wanting to get kidnapped?
“Listen up, the reward we’d get from ransoming you wouldn’t be enough to wipe my ass with compared to the haul we’re going to bring in off of your stuff. Down here the rich folk love to get their hands on anything a cultivator has worn. Hell, I could probably bottle your snot and sell it for a fortune. Carrying you around while we negotiated, when we’d have to feed and house you during, just isn’t good business. Cuts into our profit margin.”
Shen Qingqiu stares at the man with his mouth agape, feeling like he's back in economics class. Isn’t it against the rules of the world to have cannon fodder with an IQ this high!?
Left without any real argument to make, Shen Qingqiu was stripped of all his worldly possessions and left tied up in the woods naked as the day he was born. As if to add insult to injury they even left Xiu Ya behind, but tossed it up into a tree of all places. Completely out of reach.
Truly a spectacular defeat.
It was beyond humiliating. Trussed up like a peking duck and left out in the elements. Those assholes hadn’t even bothered to leave him out by the road so that someone would have eventually stumbled upon him.
He had no idea how long it would even take anyone to find him, considering he hadn’t left any note behind. It could be days, maybe even weeks before anyone found him out here. Moral bandits his ass! He’d rather get stabbed to death than be left to starve.
Maybe he’d get lucky and someone would discover him before things got too bad. He wasn’t picky. He’d take anyone!
Almost as if the universe had answered his prayer, he heard a voice calling out in the distance.
A person! Maybe Shen Qingqiu’s luck was finally turning around!
“Hello! Is someone out there? Hello!” Shen Qingqiu called, frustrated that he couldn’t use his cultivation to amplify his voice. He hoped the person managed to hear him anyway.
It seemed like they had, the voice becoming clearer the closer they came.
And they were coming in close. Very close. Holy shit, just how fast was this person?
“...qiu! Shen Qingqiu!”
His heart dropped into his stomach once the voice was close enough for his mortal ears to make out.
How the hell was Liu Qingge here!?
He was the absolute last person Shen Qingqiu wanted to catch him in this position. Why was his luck always so bad?
Shen Qingqiu might be desperate enough to humiliate himself in front of Liu Qingge by getting kidnapped, but to be found completely stripped and left outside like a bag of garbage?
There was no way. It was just too mortifying.
He was contemplating how hard he would have to ram his head into a tree for it to kill him when Liu Qingge appeared out of the foliage, as beautiful and angry looking as always.
He took about two steps forward before his eyes seemed to register what exactly he was looking at, face going blank with shock. Shen Qingqiu isn’t stupid, he knows what he looks like. Tied up, naked, and dirty. He’s almost certain that his eyes are still swollen from his earlier bout of crying.
He probably looked more pitiful than a puppy than had been abandoned out in the rain.
He wished that his legs weren’t tied up so that he could find the nearest body of water and drown himself in it.
He opens his mouth to say something. A greeting, maybe even a joke to lighten the mood, but he can’t find the words.
In the end all he can do is hang his head, the hot feeling of shame burning through him like a fever.
Liu-shidi’s quiet footfalls approach him after a long minute of silence, then the Immortal binding cables are cut in the blink of an eye. Shen Qingqiu keeps his head ducked so he doesn’t have to see what kind of face Liu Qingge is making at him.
Only for his world to suddenly go dark.
It takes him a second to realize that he hadn’t spontaneously died from embarrassment, but instead been covered with a soft over robe. He slides his arms though the sleeves quickly, glad to finally have something to cover himself with, only for the comforting scent of blood and musk that is so distinctly Liu Qingge to envelope him. He looks down at the heavy silver embroidery to confirm that this isn’t just some spare robe that Liu Qingge fished out of his qiankun pouch, but rather the very same outer robe he’d been wearing just a moment before.
Shen Qingqiu lifts his head to thank him, only for the words to get caught in his throat.
Liu Qingge's face is set in a way Shen Qingqiu has never seen before. It's a cold, distant mien, his dark eyes glaring at Shen Qingqiu with an intensity that makes the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. He’s crouching down in front of him, hand gripping the hilt of Cheng Luan so tight that the veins on the back of his hand are straining against his skin.
Liu-shidi, why do you look like you're about to cut my head from my shoulders?! I know that for the Qing Jing Peak Lord to be defeated so thoroughly is bad for Cang Qiong’s reputation, but using death as punishment really is too harsh!
“I will find the men who did this. Then I will bring you their heads. This I swear on my honor,” Liu Qingge says in a deceptively soft tone, like he's talking about some cute new creature that he wants to show Shen Qingqiu instead of beheading people .
Calm down, Liu-shidi! A righteous cultivator can’t be caught going around slaughtering mortals, even if they are bandits!
“No need. This master isn’t worth making such a fuss over,” Shen Qingqiu tries to placate, not liking how tense the atmosphere is becoming.
“Shen Qingqiu, You–!” Liu Qingge suddenly shouts, his face twisting with rage.
“You might not think yourself worthy, but to me you’re— You’re—!” He seems to choke on his own anger, voice taking on almost a desperate edge that Shen Qingqiu can’t understand. Before Shen Qingqiu can try and calm him further, Liu Qingge stands up and whirls away, stalking to the edge of the small grotto before stopping again abruptly.
“I refused to allow anyone to dishonor you like this. When I return, I will take responsibility. Wait for me.”
Dishonor? Take responsibility? Wait, wait, wait just a moment! Why does Shen Qingqiu get the feeling that some kind of giant misunderstanding is happening right now!
“Liu-shidi!” he cries out, stopping Liu Qingge before he can fly away on Cheng Luan and go on his murder spree.
“I’m not sure what you think happened, but I promise nothing untoward occurred. I was only robbed, I swear it!” He says out in a rush, anxious to convince Liu Qingge to not go around killing who knows how many villagers in some misguided quest to avenge Shen Qingqiu’s non-existent virtue. “It wasn’t even supposed to go this far in the first place! The plan was that they were only supposed to kidnap me, not tie me up and–!”
“You WHAT!?” Liu Qingge rounds on him at this, voice so loud that it even startles some birds out of the surrounding trees.
Shen Qingqiu chokes on his next breath, the slow crawl of horror running up his spine.
“You planned to be kidnapped!? What kind of foolish idiocy possessed you to do something like this!?” Liu Qingge was almost raving at him, a wild gleam in his eyes. Feeling cornered, Shen Qingqiu blurted out the first thing he could think of.
“To get your attention!”
The truth.
He yelled it without thinking, only realizing how deep a hole he’d dug himself into now that he was standing in it.
“The only time you ever held me was when my life was in danger, so I…I..” He trailed off, knowing there was no way to explain away what he’d done. There was no use hiding it now. He’d already been caught with his pants down, as it were. And Shirt. And, well, all his clothes, but that wasn’t really the point.
Liu Qingge stares at him, dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry, Liu-shidi. If you don’t want to associate with me anymore after this, this master would understand.”
A sharp, sudden grief clogged his throat. The thought of Liu Qingge treating him coldly again, after so many years of closeness, made tears start to burn in his eyes. He knew that he had no right to feel sad. It was his fault that he wasn’t satisfied with the easy friendship they shared.
He got greedy, and now he was paying for it.
He was startled out of his pity party when he felt two strong hands grip his shoulders, glancing up into familiar (beautiful, dear ) eyes. He hadn’t even realized that he'd been staring at his feet.
“Do you mean it?” Liu Qingge said, gaze so intense it felt like he was peering straight into Shen Qingqiu’s soul
“What?”
“Earlier. You said you wanted my attention. My touch. Do you mean it?”
Shen Qingqiu's mouth started to feel dry. He licked his lips, eyes not breaking away from Liu Qingge’s for even a moment.
“Yes.”
The next thing Shen Qingqiu knew, he was knocked flat on his back in the grass with Liu Qingge’s mouth crushed against his. He didn’t even think twice before pressing back desperately, hands reaching out to cling to any part of Liu Qingge he could reach.
Liu Qingge kissed like he fought, harsh and brutal, with a reckless abandon that left Shen Qingqiu scrambling to keep up. He cradled Shen Qingqiu’s head in his hands as he ran his tongue along the seam of his mouth, pulling his lower lip between his teeth and biting down hard enough to have Shen Qingqiu hissing at the pain. He let the tender skin slide through his teeth when Shen Qingqiu opened his mouth in a gasp, only to then soothe the abused flesh with his tongue. Shen Qingqiu moaned at the feeling, letting his legs slide open so that Liu Qingge could slot himself more firmly between them, pressing his whole body along Shen Qingqiu’s. It was only when he felt the almost painful slide of Cheng Luan’s sheath over his cock did he remember a very important fact.
Underneath the outer robe he lazily draped over himself he was completely naked.
Ok, that's enough! This is fun and all but I really don’t want my first time to be out in the middle of the woods!
Liu Qingge seemed to realize this at the same time as Shen Qingqiu, because he went from crushing Shen Qingqiu beneath himself like he was trying to absorb the other man into his skin, to flying half way across the clearing, face extremely red.
Shen Qingqiu sat up, arranging his robe in order to better hide his, ahem, situation .
“Well. I’m glad that Shidi. Um. Approves,” Shen Qingqiu said, suddenly feeling a bit shy. Liu Qingge just grunted in response, letting a comfortable silence settle between them.
“Next time, just tell me. Don’t do this again,” Liu Qingge said abruptly, fixing Shen Qingqiu with a serious look that looked almost comical combined with the furious blush on his cheeks.
“Anything you ask for, I’ll do it.”
Shen Qingqiu felt a smile split across his face, heart feeling light.
“I’ll be in your care then, Liu-shidi.”
“You are an absolute shit head, you know that Cucumber bro?”
Shen Qingqiu was currently lounging inside of Shang Qinghua’s office with his feet up on his desk, happily crunching away on his frienemies private stash of melon seeds.
“Do you have any idea how much extra work your wedding is adding on my plate? The catering, the decorations, not to mention that I have to find housing for the entire Liu clan! Do you know how many people that asshole is related to? I can’t just throw them all in the An Ding guest hall either, in case I offend one of them! Do you know that one of his aunts is apparently the cultivator who invented the core melting technique? Because I didn’t! I don’t want my core ripped out of my body just because some rich Liu cousin took offense that their pillows weren’t fluffy enough!!”
Shang Qinghua’s desperate rambling was like music to his ears. To be able to cause Airplane this much pain without having to lift a finger, it was really Shen Qingqiu's finest work yet.
“I don't know why you’re complaining, Airplane. You're the one who gave Liu-shidi such a big family in the first place.” He said airly, popping another seed into his mouth.
“The only thing I ever wrote about Liu Qingge’s family was that he was from a long line of esteemed cultivators! Not that he was related to every damn person in the Jianghu!” He wailed, pulling at his hair.
“I can’t even phone it in because you're Zhangmen-shixiong's favorite! He’ll kill me if everything isn’t perfect. Out of everyone on this mountain, why did you have to pick him !?”
“Because he’s the best, and that’s what I deserve,” Shen Qingqiu said haughtily.
He really meant it too. Liu Qingge was the best person he’d ever known. He’s beautiful, loyal, and sweet, not to mention his proverbial laundry list of amazing achievements. Him being hot as hell didn’t hurt things either. How could any man, nay, person resist his charms? Straight or not, It was only natural that Shen Qingqiu ended up falling for him.
Shang Qinghua gave him a dead eyed stare.
“You and the original goods really aren’t that different after all.”
“You know, Airplane, I could always send Liu-shidi to help you with wedding arrangements instead,” Shen Qingqiu threatened, examining his nails.
“That won’t be necessary, Lord Shen! This one lives to serve!!!”
He assisted (read: antagonized) Shang Qinghua for another few hours before he left for the bamboo house. The evening breeze was wonderful against his skin after being stuck inside for the better part of the day. As much as he liked to threaten Shang Qinghua with it, he’d never actually send Liu-shidi to replace him. His Qingge would chew through the walls being cooped up for that long.
As if summoned by his thoughts Shen Qingqiu arrived at home to find the man himself standing outside waiting for him.
“My treasure, you’re back early!” Shen Qingqiu cried as he descended, smiling wider as he saw Liu Qingge roll his eyes at the obnoxious pet name.
“I told you it wouldn’t take long. Zhangmen-Shixiong always exaggerates,” he said as he raised his arms to receive Shen Qingqiu into his embrace, placing a small kiss into his hair.
“Ah, well, Yue Qingyuan wouldn’t be our Sect Leader if he didn’t worry needlessly,” Shen Qingqiu said flippantly.
“But enough about him. You’ve had such a long day, Minghui, what would you like first? Food? A bath? Or perhaps…”Shen Qingqiu crooned, looking up at Liu Qingge from underneath his lashes with a coy smile.
Liu Qingge let out an inelegant snort at the audacious flirting. Ah, how he longed for the days when a display like this would have had his Shidi turning purple from embarrassment!
“I’m sure you’ll decide for me, like always,” He said blandly, leading Shen Qingqiu into the bamboo house with a hand splayed on his lower back.
“Of course. As the sect strategist, I always know best,” Shen Qingqiu boasted, heart soaring at the little chuckle Liu Qingge gave in response. Looking into his soon-to-be husband's beautiful eyes, soft with affection, he couldn’t help but think back to the conversation he’d had with Shang Qinghua earlier that day.
Liu Qingge really was the best.