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Shen Qingqiu sits at the table inside his bamboo house. It truly is a beautiful morning - birds sing outside the window, the air smells fresh and carries the scent of spring blossoms with it and the cup of tea in Shen Qingqiu's hands has been steeped to perfection under Luo Binghe's care.
All in all, this morning promises to be tranquil and peaceful.
So of course, something has to happen.
Shen Qingqiu sighs mournfully into his tea when he hears noise from outside. Many young voices, all talking over each other, getting louder and louder until he can't make out anything anymore aside from a few words here and there.
Goodbye, peaceful morning! It was nice while it lasted.
Luo Binghe jumps to his feet, ever the dutiful student. "Shizun! This one will go and see what is going on!" He bows and runs outside before Shen Qingqiu even has a chance to hold him back. He looks at the door his diligent disciple vanished through and shrugs to himself.
Hopefully the issue will be resolved calmly and quietly.
"Shizun!!!"
… it would've been too much to hope.
Shen Qingqiu sets down his cup with a deep sigh. Collecting himself, he gets up to his feet, patting down his robes to make sure they're all in order. Whatever nonsense is going on outside will be met with peak scum villain energy!
He strides outside in a flurry of green and white, head held high and face set in a frown. He opens his mouth to give a verbal beating to whoever dared to disturb the tranquility of his beloved peak-
And promptly falters at the sight of Liu Qingge.
Now, to be perfectly honest, Liu Qingge being on his peak is nothing new anymore. Shen Qingqiu got used to him! The guy doesn't really train his disciples so much as beating them up, and it has become a habit that Liu Qingge comes by when he's not off-peak for a mission.
(Maybe Shen Qingqiu's heart still stutters in his chest whenever he sees Liu Qingge, each time completely dumbstruck for a second by how beautiful this man is, but that's something he is resolutely ignoring. So far it's been working. Liu Qingge absolutely doesn't make his heart beat faster or any nonsense like that!)
Except that maybe right now he is the reason Shen Qingqiu fears an early death due to a heart attack.
Because Liu Qingge stands stiff as a board but he's clearly favouring his left side. He has three Qing Jing disciples hanging off his right arm in a useless attempt to stop him. So far, this isn't out of the ordinary. What is concerning though are the dark red spots staining the white of his robes.
"Shen Qingqiu," he says. His voice sounds perfectly normal, like he isn't currently bleeding out right in front of Shen Qingqiu and a horde of terrified children. What the fuck! What the fuck!!
"You are bleeding!!," Shen Qingqiu blurts out the obvious, because his brain is frying itself at the amount of blood he sees. What is he supposed to do? He has no idea how to heal someone!
Liu Qingge frowns. He looks down at his stained robes, then back at Shen Qingqiu and says: "Most of it isn't mine."
That is not as reassuring as you might think, Liu-shidi!!!
"Have you seen Mu Qingfang?!" Because that would be the obvious course of action, right? But even before Liu Qingge scoffs and shakes his head, Shen Qingqiu knows he asks in vain. His lovely shidi is stubborn as a mule and sometimes a little dense when it comes to his own health. Shen Qingqiu shoos his disciples away and points his fan at Liu Qingge.
"Follow me. This master will patch you up."
Liu Qingge's frown deepens. "That is unnecessary-"
"That was not a suggestion, shidi."
Moments later, Shen Qingqiu has Liu Qingge sitting at his table and he's… actually not sure how to proceed. As previously stated, he's not a healer! He has no idea when a wound is fatal and what if he only realizes it when Liu Qingge already keels over?!
He wouldn't forgive himself. He didn't save Liu Qingge just to end him on accident!
"Liu-shidi should have gone to Mu-shidi," Shen Qingqiu mutters just loud enough to be heard. Judging by the huff he gets, a noise so full of annoyance that he has to mentally applaud for putting that much emotion into a single exhale of air, he is heard. And the sentiment is promptly disregarded.
Well, whatever.
Shen Qingqiu gathers the box of medical supplies he keeps around as well as a few jars of various tinctures and salves that he hopes will be useful in some ways. If one of these knock Liu Qingge out, maybe he can carry him to Mu Qingfang and rid himself of the responsibility.
"It's not my blood on my robes," Liu Qingge repeats when Shen Qingqiu walks back into the room, his pretty face set in a scowl. Shen Qingqiu almost wants to tell him to smile. (Your face will get stuck like that, shidi!)
"You said most of it is not your blood," he corrects him cooly, dropping the supplies he so painstakingly gathered onto the table. One of the bandages immediately rolls off and under a closet near the wall.
"Let me have a look."
It occurs to him far too late that taking a look means undressing but before Shen Qingqiu can go back on his words, Liu Qingge has already unfastened the top half of his robes and tugs them open. They fall apart almost in slow motion, revealing tanned skin with a healthy glow, only marred here and there by faded, silvery scars.
Shen Qingqiu stares slack-jawed at those muscular shoulders and the perfectly sculpted back, green eyes involuntarily tracking the bumps of Liu Qingge's spine all the way down to his hips. Suddenly his mouth feels dryer than any desert.
Holy shit .
He had known Liu Qingge was well-built and basically the wet dream of anyone alive. But seeing it in person, up close , is an experience Shen Qingqiu might not survive.
"Stop staring!," Liu Qingge barks at him, effectively startling him out of his messy thoughts. Right! He has a mission! He's supposed to prevent his shidi from dying of blood loss!!
Shen Qingqiu swallows the noise that's stuck in his throat and shuffles closer, suddenly embarrassed. This isn't even a situation to get embarrassed over!! He's only helping out! Any good sect siblings would do that!
… but Liu Qingge's ears are tinged red as well, when Shen Qingqiu chances a look. The other peak lord has his back to him and his face turned into his right shoulder, slightly hunched over as if trying to hide. It paints a picture of someone who is shy.
What the hell.
Shen Qingqiu decides then and there that he's going to ignore it . He's going to ignore the way Liu Qingge makes his heart beat faster, he's going to ignore the weird atmosphere, he's just going to patch his shidi up and then they can be on their separate ways! A foolproof plan!!
He clears his throat. Leaning in close, Shen Qingqiu inspects the skin that has been so trustfully revealed to him. There's a gash on Liu Qingge's shoulder that's mostly closed over already; the blood has already dried and flakes off when he tentatively rubs at it with a wet cloth. Silent, with his heart hammering against his ribs, Shen Qingqiu cleans away all the blood he finds.
Neither of them says anything when he has to lean forward more and wipes away a streak on Liu Qingge's chest - Shen Qingqiu swears to himself that he won't ever think about the feeling of firm muscle, warm under his hand, ever again.
He gathers Liu Qingge's ponytail in one hand and gently drapes it forward over his right shoulder. At the next little shift, the hair falls back and Shen Qingqiu frowns. He does it again, with the same result. He bites his lip.
"Shidi, I can't look at your back," Shen Qingqiu says quietly. Why is he whispering??
Liu Qingge doesn't say anything in response. He reaches up with his good hand, pulls the crown off and releases his hair, letting it fall smoothly down his back. Then he goes still again.
Dangerous, Shen Qingqiu thinks. Very dangerous. But he parts Liu Qingge's hair in two thick strands, marveling briefly at the soft and silky feeling of it, before he pushes the strands forward.
Lush, black hair, parted right in the middle, falling over each of Liu Qingge's shoulders and revealing the nape of his neck.
Shen Qingqiu forgets to breathe for a moment, suddenly hyper focused on that one bit of skin.
He… kind of wants to touch there. Would Liu Qingge allow that? He's been downright docile so far, not complaining once despite his earlier protests. All things considered, he's been a model patient for Shen Qingqiu so far - quiet and accepting.
Shen Qingqiu's mind wanders into dangerous territory.
If he were to put his lips right there, to the back of Liu Qingge's neck, would his shidi shiver? Would he blush more than he is right now and would Shen Qingqiu be able to see it going down to his neck, maybe even further?
Before he fully even processes what he's thinking, Shen Qingqiu already leans forward.
Liu Qingge's skin is hot under his lips.
A startled gasp tears through the silence between them and Shen Qingqiu nearly falls over backwards as his brain catches up. What the fuck did he do!! What was he thinking -
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, that was- That was very improper, this master apologises-"
Liu Qingge won't look at him. Gods, he can blush more and yeah, Shen Qingqiu sees a delightful flush of red travel all the way down to Liu Qingge's shoulders.
No, no, no, no thinking about that!!
"Liu-shidi-"
"Did you-" Christ , Liu Qingge sounds wrecked and it's unfortunately very much doing something for Shen Qingqiu. He's too tense to pay attention to what it is doing to him, though, straining his ears to listen. "Did you find any injuries?"
Ah, right. That's what they were doing, wasn't it?
Shen Qingqiu doesn't dare to breathe. "N-no. As you said, it seems it really wasn't your blood."
Liu Qingge nods once, a sharp, jerky motion and Shen Qingqiu thinks fuck , and he thinks I fucked up!! and then Liu Qingge turns towards him. He's absolutely gorgeous, half naked as he is, his hair undone and blushing. Shen Qingqiu might feel something for him.
"Kiss me properly," Liu Qingge says.
Shen Qingqiu blinks at him.
Sorry, what was that? Shidi, you might have to repeat yourself. No way you just asked me to kiss you!?
He's already cupping Liu Qingge's cheek with his hand and his poor, poor heart stumbles over the next beat when Liu Qingge leans into the touch. Any moment now, he'll either pass out or he'll wake up from whatever dream he's having.
He leans forward.
Liu Qingge's lips are warm under his.
"Not a dream," he says with a smile.
… Shen Qingqiu kisses him again, just to make sure.