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Shen Jiu didn't have much hope for the afterlife. Chances were that due to his past dabbling with demonic cultivation, he suspected that even if he'd ascended he wouldn't be welcome in the heavens anyway. If anything, waking up as a cat only reinforced his belief that the heavens scorned him. Once an immortal cultivator, the Qing Jing peak lord, now reduced to a mere cat, his white coat littered with mud.
That, on its own, was confusing. What made things ever more complicated was the strange world he found himself in. Everything looked different, and Shen Jiu knew it wasn't just because he was small now. Large towering buildings, loud metal carriages, people clothed in far too little and hair of varying lengths. At first he'd wondered if he simply ended up in a town of criminals, people with no honor and little care for propriety, but it became evident quickly that he wasn't in some random strange town. He was in an entirely different world.
Being back on the streets however, gave him some comfort. As much as he loathed it, the streets were something he knew deeply. Fighting for scraps, trusting no one and protecting his own space violently. While it was different as a cat, once he got used to walking on four legs and the damage his claws and teeth could do he found himself thriving. It wasn't necessarily the life he wanted but he was stubborn and if the heavens were going to curse him, he'd curse them back just as spitefully.
He'd survived on the streets in his new furry form just fine for six months when he was captured. He avoided humans in general, but the few times he had... communicated with the other cats around the neighborhood, he'd been warned about the "bad two legged creatures". Humans armed with strange tools and large carriages, trapping cats in cages and taking them away. While slavers were nothing new to Shen Jiu, he'd never heard of them going after cats. Still, he'd kept it in mind and thought he'd avoided them well.
It only took one mistake before he was caught and no matter how hard he fought, he still found himself crammed into a small cage, hissing and yowling at every face daring to look at him. From one cage to another, the humans would keep insisting on trying to "tame" him, until they finally realized it wouldn't happen. They left him alone after that, sending pitying glances at the "impossible" cat.
Shen Jiu watched many cats get adopted into families. He knew if he acted sweet, that could be him. But a part of him, a small small part of him still yearning for his once brother, just wanted someone to want him the way he was. More than that though, he wanted to be free of cages.
When Shen Yuan walked into the building to adopt him, he had little hope. Shen Jiu had hissed at him just like he would any other human, had swatted at his hand when it got too close to the bars and when the man insisted he "wanted this one" Shen Jiu made his displeasure known when the keepers of his prison wrestled him into another cage.
He would make Shen Yuan's life hell, he decided. No matter what.
~
That had been the plan. At the very least it started that way. Shen Jiu would scratch the furniture, leave brown little "gifts" around the apartment despite how he found it disgusting, refuse to be touched and wouldn't eat any of the catfoods Shen Yuan bought. Instead he'd steal Shen Yuan's meals if he looked away for a single moment. When Shen Yuan had a flare up of his strange disease, laying sick in bed for several days, he'd growl at him threateningly for not feeding him on time.
He could tell it was frustrating his... owner, but Shen Jiu refused to be treated like some animal.
He did enjoy the catbed though, when Shen Yuan was asleep. It was a big, soft and fluffy bed, where he'd sink into it and could stretch out his legs without issue. It was like sleeping on a cloud, or so he assumed.
Then, one day, after nearly driving Shen Yuan to tears, one of his siblings came by. An older brother – and Shen Jiu tried not to think of his own big brother, because he was gone, had died years ago and the person pretending to be him wasn't – who had looked baffled upon seeing the small angry ball of fluff that hissed at him from a kitchen counter.
He'd expected the disdain, the look of disgust, even the look of pity aimed at Shen Yuan. What he hadn't expected was for the older brother to question why he didn't simply declaw "that little monster". Why he didn't return him.
Shen Jiu had never seen Shen Yuan so angry. He'd defended Shen Jiu. Told his brother he'd never abuse a cat by tearing their fingers off, that he didn't care if his Xiǎo bái liked to hiss and swat at him. That he was learning to cook so he could make healthier food for Shen Jiu instead of the takeout they both lived off of. His older brother had looked stunned before noting that maybe the cat was having a positive effect after all.
Maybe he'd apologized too, Shen Jiu wasn't sure. He was too focused on his person, Shen Yuan, breathing heavily after his outburst. If Shen Yuan was confused by how docile Shen Jiu was the rest of the day, he didn't mention it - and Shen Yuan loved to talk to his "cat". The rants he'd go on about his favorite webnovel – Shen Yuan would insist he hated it but he kept reading, didn't he? - looking at Shen Jiu as if he expected a response were frequent.
The days after that were strange. Shen Jiu decided he'd give this one human a chance. He stopped scratching on furniture, unless he was really upset. He did his business in the box Shen Yuan got for him, despite how much he disliked it. When Shen Yuan presented him with a bowl of overcooked rice and slightly burnt chicken, Shen Jiu ate it. His person did cry that day, quiet sniffles of relief slipping out. He still flinched at touch and fast movements, but the next time Shen Yuan fell sick, Shen Jiu had snuck in when he was asleep, curling up on the pillow, not quite touching, but close enough to feel the warmth.
When he felt a hesitant hand gently run along his back later on, he let out a soft purr instead of hissing.
While Shen Jiu blamed some of his behavior on cat instincts, part of him couldn't deny that Shen Yuan was growing on him. Ever since he'd defended him, had practically fought for him, he'd slowly closed the distance between them.
He still bit his older brother when he visited again though. Shen Yuan had simply laughed and told his brother he shouldn't have insulted his Xiǎo bái and maybe he wouldn't get bit.
They became attached at the hip after that, Shen Jiu often falling asleep next to Shen Yuan or in his lap and eating dinner together in front of the strange contraption called a TV. Sure, others probably found it weird to have their cat eat on their couch, but Shen Jiu wasn't some messy mutt. Things were good, great even, and though Shen Jiu had days when he couldn't stop thinking about the past, Shen Yuan would always try to cheer him up.
So when Shen Jiu woke up in bed with human hands, a human face and legs, a whole body, he didn't even bother gtting up. Even when his person woke up and let out a screech, he just opened one eye grumpily, telling him to shut up and go back to sleep.
He did explain himself properly later that morning after he'd caught himself bumping his head into Shen Yuan's chest and letting out some demonic sounding purr, and frankly Shen Yuan was a bit too calm about it, but he wasn't complaining. He'd get to know Shen Yuan properly, and though the discussion of Shen Jiu's past would have to happen at some point, he was content to simply exist for now.
Exist with Shen Yuan, wherever that would lead.