Work Text:
Shen Qingqiu was at his limit. He was woken up by a system notification ordering him to go on a ‘mindful stroll’ or lose b-points, but no matter how much walking he did, the system didn’t seem to find it mindful enough. After four hours of wandering the forest near his house, the system suddenly pinged satisfactorily, and Shen Qingqiu never figured out what he had done right to make it go away. When he got home, hot and exhausted, Shang Qinghua was on his doorstep waiting to pester him. Add tedious admin work that Luo Binghe was too busy fawning over Shen Qingqiu to help with, and the perfect storm had been brewed.
Shen Qingqiu took some papers over to Yue Qingyuan with Luo Binghe hanging off his arm. As divine misfortune would have it, Liu Qingge was already there. When he and Luo Binghe locked eyes, their hair stood on end and they hissed at each other like feral cats. Shen Qingqiu could feel his blood pressure rising. “Behave.” Shen Qingqiu ordered Luo Binghe. Lately, Shen Qingqiu had been trying to avoid mediating between his husband and his martial brother. It simply wasn’t good for his mental health, and they always calmed down after tiring themselves out with a solid brawl. Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath, kept his expression neutral, and crossed over and set the papers down on Yue Qingyuan’s desk.
“Thanks,” Yue Qingyuan said. Even as Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe began squaring up, Yue Qingyuan was somehow in a conversational mood. “I just finished reading a most interesting book. I could lend it to you, if you’d like.”
Shen Qingqiu was beginning to prickle with anger as Luo Binghe grabbed Liu Qingge by the front of his tunic, yanking him close to growl at him, but he willed himself to stay in place and not intervene. “What’s it about?” he asked.
“It’s the compiled letters sent between two poets,” Yue Qingyuan began before Liu Qingge threw the first punch. This was ridiculous. They didn’t even have the decency to be civil in front of their superiors! Shen Qingqiu had failed them as an elder, and the chaos of fists flying and hair being pulled finally sent Shen Qingqiu over the edge.
Shen Qingqiu recalled that time in Shen Jiu’s past where he threw an ink stone at Young Master Qiu. Ink stones were truly a wonderfully destructive weapon that Shen Yuan had never had access to in modern times. As well as being heavy, solid objects, they made messes. Containing ink in a tiny pen ruined the lethality of it. Shen Jiu had been onto something when he threw that ink stone at Young Master Qiu. Shen Qingqiu’s hands itched as if Shen Jiu were possessing him. He picked up Yue Qingyuan’s ink stone and threw it, and this time he did not miss. There was a loud smack, and Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe broke apart in shock. Ink was smeared down Luo Binghe’s robes and splattered on Liu Qingge’s. With their stunned eyes on him, Shen Qingqiu blew up.
“Shame on you both! Can you not contain yourselves for even a second!? Did I teach you to be like this!? Fighting inside, in front of your superiors, while we’re trying to talk!?” Shen Qingqiu seethed. Everyone was surprised that the ever-tranquil Shen Qingqiu was capable of such anger. “Is it so hard for you to control yourselves that you have to make a scene every time you see each other!? So loud and annoying, completely inconsiderate!” Yue Qingyuan slowly raised his hands.
“Okay, let’s talk about this-”
“What! Liu-shidi can be angry all the time, but when I get mad it's a problem!? You’ve lost your calm privileges!” Shen Qingqiu yelled.
No one was used to seeing Shen Qingqiu this angry, not since before Shen Yuan took over as Shen Qingqiu. This could only lead them to believe that perhaps whatever happened to Shen Qingqiu all those years ago had just reversed. “He’s having a qi deviation!” Liu Qingge declared gravely. Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan immediately pounced on Shen Qingqiu, only enraging him further. Shen Qingqiu screeched furiously and struggled.
“Xiao-Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan called urgently as they tried to hold him still. “Let me stabilise you!”
“I’ve got it!” Liu Qingge protested.
“It’s alright, I’ll do it!” Yue Qingyuan assured him hastily. Shen Qingqiu cried out as an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy was channeled into him all at once. “Wait, wait!” His martial brothers paused. They must have both felt Shen Qingqiu’s energy when they touched him.
“His qi is stable…” Liu Qingge whispered with dread. In that moment, they realised Shen Qingqiu really was this angry, for reasons unrelated to his spiritual energy, and that they had just made things so much worse.
Shen Qingqiu broke free and swatted Liu Qingge hard over the head. “Shidi, I’m so sorry…” Yue Qingyuan began quickly.
“How dare you!” Shen Qingqiu roared, backing away from them. This was truly getting out of hand, like oil on a fire, but there was someone in the room who HAD seen Shen Qingqiu this angry before, and knew how to calm him down. As Shen Qingqiu continued to yell hysterically, Luo Binghe quickly grabbed him and whisked him away.
Shen Qingqiu wriggled and struck out at Luo Binghe, but he could hit this demon lord all he wanted with no results. Luo Binghe shut them into a quiet room, sat Shen Qingqiu on a couch and shut the curtains, reducing his stimulation as much as possible. He then pulled Shen Qingqiu into a tight hug, interrupting his lecture, and whispered. “Shhhh…” Of course, no one else dared to treat Shen Qingqiu this way, but when it was his (annoying) husband, the steady rise and fall of his rock hard chest, Shen Qingqiu felt the rage slowly leaving his body. The darkness made his skin stop crawling. Luo Binghe began stroking his hair, lightly and slowly. Shen Qingqiu’s next reprimand died in his throat and he began to settle down. It felt like he was sheltering from his anger. Of course, anger was actually unpleasant. It made Shen Qingqiu’s chest hurt and his stomach churn. He was relieved as his pulse slowed and his muscles relaxed. He settled tiredly against Luo Binghe, who didn’t dare speak.
Shen Qingqiu stayed like this for a while, Luo Binghe cautiously petting him as if he might explode at any second. Luo Binghe knew well enough to wait for Shen Qingqiu to be the first to break the silence. At last, Shen Qingqiu began quietly “Did you like that ink stone?”
“No…” Luo Binghe mumbled dejectedly.
“Then don't fight Liu-shidi indoors or in front of your elders ever again.” Although Shen Qingqiu had calmed down, the lingering venom in his voice made Luo Binghe nod his curly head furiously.
This incident humbled Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge for about two days. All Luo Binghe really learned was that he and Liu Qingge could fight for A BIT as long as they stopped and put Shen Qingqiu in a dark room afterwards. What a wonderful new way Luo Binghe had found to drive his shizun insane.