#shamelessly using random poisons for plot reasons bc canon does it too anyway

[ibijau]

1. liushen

“Come over here and make me.”

Took me for ever because much as I love these two, they have a voice that doesn’t come to me easily. Many excuses if this is wildly ooc... as I fear it must be... orz

Liu Qingge might have considered murdering Shen Qingqiu if it hadn’t been clear that the man did not need any help getting himself killed. He couldn’t go two days without being attacked by demons, or fall into a monsters’ nest, or be hit by a curse or. In at least one occurence, all three had happened at once.

Not that Liu Qingge cared. The man had chosen to have rotten luck when he had decided to continue associating with Luo Binghe. Everything that had happened since then, Shen Qingqiu had earned. Besides, that same Luo Binghe always managed to swoop in at exactly the right moment to save his teacher and husband from the latest deadly peril he had fallen into.

Still, when Yue Qingyuan had heavily hinted around him that it might be good to have someone keep an eye on their fellow Peak Lord whenever his annoying husband had to leave him behind and deal with demonic business, Liu Qingge had not hesitated. Someone had to make sure that Shen Qingqiu stayed alive, and that someone wasn’t going to be Shen Qingqiu himself.

Who else but that aloof Peak Lord would have so carelessly drunk tea brought to him by someone who looked so little like the other staff of the inn they were staying at? For a man who could go on endless rants about monsters and poisons and how stupid the people falling for them… he sure was the first to make that sort of mistakes.

Of course the would-be poisoner was long gone by the time they realised something was wrong although, just from the odd aftertaste in the tea, Shen Qingqiu was able to determine not only what poison was used, but also who had used it. Luo Binghe had many enemies, and they had all figured out that his main weakness was his husband. Shen Qingqiu was, on the whole, more annoyed than concerned by that state of affair.

“It will make this Shixiong feverish for a few hours,” he complained to Liu Qingge as he was dragged to his room. “On a demon it would be fatal. It seems that killer was wrongly informed about my nature.”

“How feverish?”

Shen Qingqiu opened his fan to hide his face, and he did sometimes when he needed to remember a precise piece of information. It was the sort of affectations that Liu Qingge had once found annoying, many years earlier. He no longer did. There was something almost charming to this man trying to hide the fact that he could not always instantly recall everything he had read or heard.

“Irritatingly so,” Shen Qingqiu announced at last. “But there will be no danger to my health. Shidi should return to their room, this Shixiong will be fine. There is no need for my Shidi to witness this."

Liu Qingge nodded, but rather than to leave, he sat on a chair. Shen Qingqiu closed his fan in an abrupt gesture, a slight frown on his ever elegant face. 

"This Shixiong just said…" 

"Yue Qingyuan will hear of this when we return, as will Mu Qingfang. How does Shixiong think they'll react if they hear I abandoned you?" 

"It's not that dire." 

"Even if it were, you wouldn't say it." 

Shen Qingqiu's eyes narrowed at the accusation, but he could not deny it. For all his aloofness and elegance, the man was at least as reckless as Liu Qingge himself.

With this settled, Shen Qingqiu gave in and started getting ready for the night. It was not the first time that the two of them had been forced to share a room at an inn. Yet seeing Shen Qingqiu let down his hair and remove the outer layers of his clothing was still more than Liu Qingge could bear with. It did not help that Shen Qingqiu often acted nearly shy about it, as if it had never happened before. 

This time though, there was something odd in Shen Qingqiu's manner as he undressed. The gestures weren't as elegant as usual (not that Liu Qingge was paying careful attention to that) and more impatient. Then, rather than to carefully fold his clothes, Shen Qingqiu let them fall to the floor, apparently not caring that they would get dirty or creased. 

"This is annoying," Shen Qingqiu complained as he was left only in his innermost layers. "Qingge, do you have some pyjamas? That stuff's so annoying to sleep in, it's worse than a hospital gown. At least my butt's not in the air though…" 

Liu Qingge blinked a few times, as if hoping the problem might be with his eyes rather than the truth, but… No. There could be no doubt. Shen Qingqiu had sat down on the bed in a position even a peasant might have found too casual for company, his back hunched forward, his hair flowing around his shoulders without any restraints. 

For reasons unclear, Liu Qingge's heart started beating faster at the sight of this relaxed and careless Shen Qingqiu. 

"How is Shixiong feeling?" he asked, suspecting some effects of the poison. 

"Bored and ready to kill for a mocha," Shen Qingqiu announced with a pout. "Qingge let's do something fun. Do you think they have clubs in this place? Always wanted to go clubbing at least once. Let's do that, just need to get dressed again…" 

"We are not going out." 

Shen Qingqiu had the audacity to grin at that comment. Looking at Liu Qingge right in the eyes, he bent forward, nearly falling from the bed as he picked up the close he had so negligently dropped before. 

“You are sick and need rest,” Liu Qingge snapped.

“You are pretty and annoying,” Shen Qingqiu retorted lightly, digging for his fan and using it as if he'd never held one in his life. 

Liu Qingge clenched his teeth. Annoying was an accusation he could easily take, but pretty was making his face burn with… anger. It had to be anger.

“Get on that bed and sleep!”

“Come over here and make me.”

The childish taunt was so unlike the other Peak Lord’s normal cool and distant personality that for a moment, Liu Qingge found himself staring. This poison's effect was clearly affecting Shen Qingqiu's behaviour to a great degree, but not in an irritating manner as the Peak Lord had predicted. 

This, for lack of a better word, was… cute.

What was less cute was the fact that Shen Qingqiu was now trying to dress himself, but seemed to have entirely forgotten how to tie his robes. Or perhaps this too was its own brand of adorable because it made him look like a child getting dressed on his own for the first time. Liu Qingge found that he could not look away. 

Still, he knew that Shen Qingqiu would have a fit if he were seen in that state by anyone. That ridiculous man gave too much importance to his appearance and his reputation. 

Finally rising from his chair, Liu Qingge walked to the bed and started pulling on the robes of his fellow Peak Lord so he could make him go to sleep. There was no other reason for him to undress Shen Qingqiu, it was done only to help the other man. Shen Qingqiu, however, appeared to take it the wrong way. 

"Qingge, I'm married !" he protested, a slight blush on his cheeks. "If you want to do something like that, we need to discuss it with Binghe first! Not that he'd mind. A stallion protagonist needs a harem and if he's into men now… and you're so pretty! If you ask, he'll say yes for sure." 

"Stop talking nonsense," Liu Qingge ordered, nearly tearing apart Shen Qingqiu's robes. 

The very last thing he'd ever do in life was to talk to Luo Binghe about… Anything, really, except maybe some exchanges of threats. And what was Shen Qingqiu trying to imply anyway? Liu Qingge would never have harboured such thoughts about his fellow Peak Lord. 

… 

Nope, not once, not ever. He owed Shen Qingqiu a life debt and that was it. 

“You are so forceful!” Shen Qingqiu complained as Liu Qingge forced him to lay down, then wrapped him tightly in the blankets so it would be hard for him to escape, should the fancy take him again. “I’m delicate! Please be nicer, Qingge, I’m not into that kinky violent stuff!”

“Just shut up already!” Liu Qingge hissed. 

Seeing that Shen Qingqiu was already opening his mouth to say more nonsense, Liu Qingge lost was little patience he had in the first place. He quickly pressed a few points on the other man’s body, forcing him into unconsciousness for a few hours. Hopefully by the time he woke up, Shen Qingqiu would be back to his normal ways of being irritating. Until then, Liu Qingge would keep watch over him, in case he regained consciousness early and decided to do something stupid again.

And he would not, under any circumstances, think about how pleasant it had been to hear his given name said so freely by this usually so formal Peak Lord.

#liushen #liu qingge #shen qingqiu #scum villain self saving system #scum villain #svsss #jau writes #shamelessly using random poisons for plot reasons bc canon does it too anyway #braidedribbon #jau answers