#they do this like once every couple of weeks until Binghe comes back

[ineffectualdemon]

Shang Qinghua: I'm bored. Let me suck your dick

Shen Qingqiu: if I said yes wouldn't that make me gay?

Shang Qinghua about to explain queer theory: not necessa-

Shen Qingqiu interrupting the moment he has self-denial coverage: ok! Let me get my dick out

[hinadoria]

Title: like nobody’s business

Author: hinadoria / Twitter: @bunniepunk / AO3: bunnypunk

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Mild amounts of swearing

Summary: Shen Yuan had never known what to do about crying people, much less crying men asleep in his bed at ass o’clock in the middle of the night. God, if Jiu-ge knew about this, Shen Yuan would be six feet under. No, he’d be yeeted directly into hell’s abyss. Arguably though, this was all Jiu-ge’s fault.

AO3: Link

It started when his old roommate Shang Qinghua decided to get hitched at Shen Yuan’s 25th birthday party. Disregarding the fact that it was his birthday party in his apartment that he was paying for (Shang Qinghua was only there to keep an eye on him at Jiu-ge’s ever insistent demands), an increasingly hammered Shang Qinghua had decided it was the perfect time to propose to his disappointingly sober boyfriend.

“My LORd, have yOU EvEr ThoughT about Getting HitchED?!” he shouted in Mobei-Jun’s face. Shen Yuan saw the wince on Mobei-Jun’s face before he could smooth it away. Airplane-Bro had that effect on people. Even his boyfriend was no exception.

However, Mobei-Jun had silently pulled the biggest ring Shen Yuan had ever seen out of his pocket like it was a dimension to worlds unknown. Shang Qinghua yanked it out of his grasp, put it on, and immediately started sobbing loudly in his boyfriend's arms, effectively ruining the atmosphere.

If it wasn’t because Shen Yuan was already secretly plotting to escape to his room, he might have been significantly more miffed at this sequence of events.

After all, he had never been one for big, lavish events like a formal birthday party. He’d much rather spend it in the comfort of his room, maybe playing videogames with a few close friends. However, Jiu-ge had insisted, in that stubborn way of his, taking no arguments. As a result, Shen Yuan wasn’t sure he even knew half the people at his own party.

This all didn’t mean he was completely free of indignation, however. Shen Yuan cleared his throat pointedly, but was ignored by both the affectionate couple and the crowd of people politely applauding.

It was a testament to Mobei-Jun’s excitement, if he was a man that felt such emotions, that he leaped up onto the table, which creaked dangerously with his weight.

“I’d like to thank my dear friends and my soon-to-be best man who supported me through this time. Whom I wouldn’t have met without Shen Yuan’s recommendation to work at Cang Qiong’s internship program under Shen Jiu. So a heartfelt thanks to them both,” Mobei-Jun proclaimed.

The attention of the party turned to its host, who began to turn hot under all the attention.

Damn, it wasn’t as if he was Mother Teresa.

He had simply wanted to stop hearing Jiu-ge’s nagging complaints about a lack of competent interns at his company. And he knew that Airplane-bro’s boyfriend was just about to graduate. It was simple math.

Either way, he had to resolve this situation before Mobei-Jun broke the table or worse, made him give a speech. He quickly grabbed an abandoned glass from the table and raised it high. With raucous cheer, the party returned to full swing, and Shen Yuan strategically retreated to his bedroom.

The next day, Shang Qinghua had all but been moved out of his apartment (Mobei-Jun worked fast and efficiently. Shen Yuan had been begrudgingly impressed). In the midst of his soporific haze, a loud banging came from his front door. Reluctant to get up, Shen Yuan nevertheless used every last bit of his willpower to do so. When he opened the door however, he immediately found himself in deep regret.

A pale Jiu-ge, like Bloody Mary summoned from a dirty elementary school bathroom mirror, stood at his door, foot tapping a mile a minute. He stormed past Shen Yuan into his apartment and curled his mouth in distaste at the mess.

“This apartment is no longer acceptable. I’ve put up with it until now, but this is the last straw. It is imperative that you move out immediately to a place not infested by the stench of the poor,” Jiu-ge demanded. Shen Yuan would never tell him it was probably the week-old ramen stewing on his kitchen counter.

“But I don’t want to, Jiu-ge, please!” he whined. Like most things regarding his older brother, would eventually yield, but would put up a valiant effort nonetheless. No one had the right to accuse him of being a pushover, after all.

Jiu-ge sat down at his oily counter with a sigh, hands flying up to bury themselves in his messy hair.

Shen Yuan immediately felt guilty.

His brother looked a lot less put-together than he usually was, now that he was looking more closely. His shirt was unbuttoned and his makeup was smudged, both facets of his appearance he usually controlled with meticulous determination.

“Please don’t fight me on this, A-Yuan.” His brother looked back at him, and Shen Yuan could see the weariness in his eyes.

“Is everything okay?” asked Shen Yuan. He tapped his fingers nervously.

“It will be,” Jiu-ge answered immediately as if he had expected this question. “Once I get a good night’s sleep.” Shen Yuan moved to sit by his brother.

“Mobei-Jun proposed to Shang Qinghua yesterday,” he offered. This made the crease between Jiu-ge’s brows deeper further.

“At your birthday party?”

“I know, I was shocked too!”

“Rude bastard. I knew nothing good could come out of that tight-knit group of rascals the company foisted on me.”

“Don’t be like that. I bet you secretly appreciate their help, big softie.” Shen Yuan poked at his brother’s cheek, and giggled when Jiu-ge pretended to bite at him. A small smile appeared on his brother’s face, and Shen Yuan rejoiced at the sight. He felt like he deserved an award for Best Brother of the Year.

“I suppose they suffice at times.” Jiu-ge wrinkled his nose like he had thought of something particularly disgusting. “Well. Almost all of them,” he huffed. He shook his head when Shen Yuan looked at him in question. But Best Brother of the Year did not do things half-heartedly.

“I know how to cheer you up even more,” Shen Yuan decided then and there.

That was how Shen Yuan found himself moved into the expensive nouveau-riche apartment complex next door to his brother on the third floor. All things considered, it wasn’t too bad. Jiu-ge was too busy to check up on him more than once a week in person, although the daily calls to his office phone were still a requirement.

Shen Yuan had always been a homebody, there was no denying that. As long as he could coop up in his room reading and editing trashy novels, he didn’t care for the particulars of time or place, even if leaving his apartment and chancing upon another human made him feel like Oscar the Grouch having been caught outside of his trash can and committing a crime.

The point was: it had all been going just fine and dandy, until one day a shout disrupted Shen Yuan from his editing of one of Airplane’s terribly written papapa scenes. He roughly yanked open his curtains, hearing a rip in the plush blue velvet. Whatever, what Jiu-ge didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

The scene which greeted him was one of darkness, which okay, he wasn’t quite expecting that but fine, it wasn’t the first time he had lost track of time doing this and that. Shivering, Shen Yuan stepped out onto his balcony and peered over the rails to see a very attractive, very drunk man holding a broken bottle of what looked like Xin Mo liquor.

“Shen Jiu, there you are, you fucking bastard. Fucking coward! What, too afraid to come and see your disgusting student Binghe on this beautiful night? You always thought you were above us mere mortals, didn’t you? I hope both sides of your pillow are always ice!”

Yikes, Shen Yuan thought privately.

This dude was hammered. Despite everything a laugh bubbled its way up his chest. He didn’t know his brother was so unpopular at work but with a sour face like his, he should’ve expected. Briefly, the thought of pretending to be his brother just to hear more of the entertaining insults crossed his mind, but before he could open his mouth the man, probably named Binghe, went on.

“I bet you think you wake up just looking like an angel descended from the heavens! Well let me tell you, scumbag, that I curse you and your descendents to always have shaky eyeliner! Let’s see you keep up that hoity-toity look and scream at me when you come into work looking like a clown!”

Shen Yuan covered his eyes in horror. Not his eyeliner! He had to look sharp for the ladies.

“I fixed that stupid assignment one million times! Your nitpicking doesn’t even make sense anymore, you blind geezer! Come down here, if you’re not a coward and I’ll show you ...” Binghe paused, looking like he was gonna hurl.

“Show me what? You can’t leave me hanging like that, I won’t be able to sleep!” Shen Yuan shouted out, against his better judgement. He had already been collecting Binghe’s flavored insults to use against that traitor Shang Qinghua next time he saw him.

Binghe looked back up, with what seemed like confusion in his eyes, though it could have just been bleary drunkenness. To Shen Yuan’s horror, it looked like Binghe had tears in his eyes.

“All I wanted was for Laoshi to acknowledge me,” Binghe sobbed out. At this point Shen Yuan had missed his chance to tell the poor man that his brother was out of town on a business trip, and that Binghe was shouting at a stranger. He felt something in his chest squeeze at Binghe’s watery puppy dog eyes.

“Why does everyone look down on me?” Binghe cried. “I try so hard, over and over but all you do is scorn me … again and again! What do I have to do, just tell me, and I’ll do it. Anything! Just …” At this point the boy was choking on his sobs. Shen Yuan felt something shattering. He found himself walking down the stairs. He was going to go down and fetch him before the police were called, that was all, he told himself.

By the time he arrived on the cold grass ready to coax the drunkard, he found him passed out, clutching the broken bottle so hard his hand was bleeding. Shen Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.

“Alright buddy, let’s get you warmed up,” Shen Yuan said as he pried the glass from Binghe’s hand and used all his strength to haul him up and to the elevator.

He got several strange looks as he dragged an unconscious man across the fancy lobby, but Shen Yuan just snorted and ignored them. The people here had sticks so far up their ass they were getting free prostate massages. Shen Yuan stifled his laughter at his own wit in Binghe’s dead weighted shoulder and got a few more strange looks by the lady in the elevator. Halfway to Shen Yuan’s room, Binghe woke up and stared at Shen Yuan like he was an alien.

He struggled a bit and whined, “Laoshi, please don’t dropkick me into the Panama Canal, I promise I’ll be a good boy.”

Shen Yuan laughed and patted Binghe’s hair. “Go back to sleep, rowdy boy. We’ll talk in the morning.” It probably wasn’t because of his words, but Binghe managed to walk a few steps on his own before becoming dead weight on Shen Yuan again. He felt the breath knocked out of him.

“For someone who’s such a crybaby, you sure are … heavy!” Shen Yuan panted as he managed to drag Binghe into his apartment and throw him onto his bed. He shoddily wrapped up Binghe’s bleeding hand with several bandages. Novels may have taught him a lot, but he had surprisingly little practical knowledge when faced with a gash like Binghe’s in reality.

The fatigue of the night finally caught up with him as he saw Binghe’s peaceful sleeping face and he barely managed to do his nightly routine before sliding into his bed next to the unconscious person.

Shen Yuan was just about to drift away into sleep until he heard sniffling coming from the other man and turned around to see Binghe crying in his sleep.

And so was his current dilemma. Shen Yuan had no idea how to handle crying people. He stared dumbly for a few moments before kicking himself to do something, anything!

Shen Yuan wouldn’t do this for any random stranger that came knocking to his door, but luckily he had gleaned several useful tidbits of information from Binghe’s drunken speech. For example, he was likely one of Jiu-ge’s new interns at the large Cang Qiong Company he worked at, under the Qing Jing subsidiary. Second, Jiu-ge seemed to be giving the poor boy an extremely hard time, and Shen Yuan knew better than anyone just how sharp his brother’s acerbic tongue could be. Shen Yuan felt mildly responsible for cleaning up his brother’s mess.

Also, Binghe was terribly cute. He reminded Shen Yuan of the little puppy he used to play with in childhood, named Bingbing, after his favorite actress.

It was a combination of these facts, or none of them, that ultimately made Shen Yuan do what he did next; wrap his arms around Binghe and gently stroke his hair, murmuring comforting words to him until he stopped crying.

Somewhere along the way he found himself asleep as well.

Binghe awoke from his drunken stupor sometime between ass and fuck o’clock in the morning. His hand was covered in messily wrapped bandages.

When he saw the face of the person fast asleep next to him, he flinched backwards so hard he almost fell out of the bed.

What did I do last night? He wailed miserably in his head. A worst case scenario flashed through his head, and he made sure that both of them were clothed before exhaling a sigh of relief. That was the last time he let Mobei-Jun get him drunk, bachelor party be damned.

The last thing he remembered was accepting a glass full of alcohol in the bar he’d been dragged to, but everything afterwards was a blur. He didn’t remember how he walked all the way to his boss’s nouveau riche apartment, and he certainly didn’t remember how he ended up in bed with the man he was most fearful of.

There was one thing Binghe knew with full certainty, however; he had to escape this apartment immediately before he lost his job or worse: his life.

He had barely turned around and registered vaguely that the apartment was a lot sloppier than he’d expected of his avaricious boss before a sleepy hum made him freeze in his tracks.

“Mmm… Binghe?”

Binghe froze. Shen Jiu had never called him by name, it was always something along the lines of “scum” or “lad”.

Filled with trepidation, he turned to face his boss against his better judgement.

A sleepy smile stretched its way across the face of the person in front of him just as the morning’s rays peeked through the rip in the curtains and fell across his face.

Angelic, Binghe’s mind vaguely registered. Maybe he hadn’t come to his boss’s apartment after all. Maybe he had died and entered a realm different than the one he’d been in. Maybe he was already in heaven.

The angel’s face scrunched up cutely at the offending rays across his face. He glanced at the curtains before letting out a forlorn sigh.

“Jiu-ge’s gonna kill me for that …” sighed the angel across from Binghe.

Jiu-ge? Who’s that, I’ll fight him so you never have a frown on your pretty face ever again, Binghe thought blearily.

Mr. Angel noticed he was awake and smiled a crooked smile.

“Good morning. You were drunk and screaming outside my window last night, so I thought I’d do a public service and take you in before you hurt yourself, “ the angel laughed nervously. “Binghe is your name, right?”

Binghe nodded, feeling like his body was not his own. Then he had a thought.

“Wait … how do you know?”

The angel’s lips thinned, looking like he was trying really hard not to laugh. Oh, that was not a good sign.

“Well … You dropped your name in the middle of shouting about how you wished your boss’s food was too salty, among other things …”

The wave of relief that was about to pass through Binghe at realizing this person was likely not his boss aborted itself as it was overtaken by sheer waves of mortification.

Binghe covered his face with his hands, letting out an ungodly groan of embarrassment.

“Binghe… I’m saying this for your own good.” Mr. Angel looked into Binghe’s eyes seriously. “Do you know how to use swear words?”

Binghe immediately pouted, feeling like he was being made fun of. He couldn’t find it in himself to be truly annoyed, however, at the angel’s bell-like peals of laughter smothered by his hand. It was such a stark contrast to his boss’s restrained expressions.

“Ah! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu’s younger twin brother.”

And there was the horror again.

Just as Binghe was about to bid farewell to his short, inconsequential life, Shen Yuan continued chattering. “You’re lucky Jiu-ge’s out of town on a business trip, and that you weren’t actually serenading his window but mine. If he was here, I don’t know if I could have even stopped him from personally throwing you into a jail cell.”

Binghe felt like he had gotten off of a life-threatening roller coaster ride. Stiffly, he rose from the bed and bent ninety degrees into a bow.

“Thanking Shen Yuan for his kindness in rescuing this lowly one from his predicament!” Binghe grew so nervous he immediately started speaking as if he were in a period drama. “In order to repay my honorable benefactor, this one will prepare breakfast!” He rushed away before Shen Yuan could speak a single word.

Once Binghe found the kitchen, he allowed himself a mini-freakout session. He! Was in! His boss’s younger brother’s bed! And the younger brother was an angel! Even though Binghe was fairly certain nothing untoward had occurred between the two of them the night prior, he felt every inch of his nerves tingling. He was also fairly certain that any other person that lacked Shen Yuan’s generosity would have immediately called the police on him at the least.

This was the first time anyone had done something so selfless for his sake.

Unbidden, a flush streaked across his cheeks, and Binghe slapped at himself to get out of it. Shen Yuan was his benefactor, and it would be wrong to have indecent thoughts about someone so innocent. There may not be much Binghe was good at, as he had learned from his internship under Shen Jiu, but the least he could do was cook him a decent breakfast.

Shen Yuan was roused from his half-wakeful state by the smell of something good coming from the kitchen. Which was weird because last he checked, there was nothing in there but dust and half-eaten ramen. (Yes, he had a problem.)

Wait … Binghe!

It was a little belated, but the nagging voice in Shen Yuan’s head that sounded suspiciously like Jiu-ge berated himself for falling asleep again while a stranger was in his apartment. A cute stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.

Shen Yuan, the voice nagged. One of these days you’re going to get yourself murdered in cold blood …

Alright, shut up, you. No one wants to hear this in the early morning, Shen Yuan bickered back.

“Sir?” Binghe’s voice nervously called from the kitchen entrance.

Shen Yuan immediately relaxed back into what he thought was a cool pose.

“There’s no need for formalities, Binghe. After all, you’ve already slept in my bed.”

Binghe’s ears flushed red at his words, and he swayed back and forth like a maiden on the morning after her wedding night. Shen Yuan stopped this strange line of thinking once he realized how weird it was.

“I made you breakfast as a thank you for er… handling me last night,” Binghe said softly.

Well, that didn’t help his strange thoughts. The last conscious thought Shen Yuan had was that he’d better go and eat the poor shy guy’s food since he had made it already.

He didn’t recall getting up or sitting down at the kitchen table, but the next thing he knew he was staring down at an empty plate, stomach full of delicious food.

“I don’t know what to think. This is the first time this has happened to me.” It wasn’t, but Shen Yuan had always had a flair for the dramatic. “If you can cook so well, why are you wasting your time under my brother’s wing? You should go be a professional chef, and share this magic with the rest of the world.”

It wasn’t empty praise. Shen Yuan genuinely believed he’d be blessed if he could eat like this every day for the rest of his life. His terrible habit of crappy eating would be forever changed.

Binghe was so red he looked like a tomato.

Abruptly, the sounds of a phone ringing disrupted the nice atmosphere. Binghe’s face paled.

“Oh no, I left Mobei-Jun at the club last night. He must be wondering where I am. The bachelor party got kind of crazy.”

Hm? Mobei-Jun? Shen Yuan slapped his forehead in realization. Of course! Binghe was a part of Jiu-ge’s interns, of course he knew Mobei-Jun. Shen Yuan had no idea how he had failed to make that connection. He might even be the best man Mobei-Jun had mentioned, since he was pretty sure the third intern was a woman. Sha Hualing, he believed her name was?

Either way, Shen Yuan hadn’t realized he and Binghe were so closely connected. Besides, he hadn’t felt comfortable calling Binghe a stranger, now that they no longer were.

Maybe he’d get a chance to see Binghe in a tux at the wedding? That would be so cute! Of course, he’d have to help keep him away from the champagne, especially since Jiu-ge would also be there. That was a nightmare waiting to happen.

While Shen Yuan was off fantasizing, Binghe had gathered all his stuff and prepared to leave. He hovered nervously around the door.

Shen Yuan snapped out of it to bid him goodbye. Binghe smiled shyly.

“Maybe I’ll see you around again sometime?” he asked.

Shen Yuan hid a smile behind his hand, and adopted a lofty expression.

“This immortal does not often descend from his honorable peak. However, if fate wills it to be so, then so shall it be,” he said, imitating Binghe’s earlier style of speech.

Binghe laughed, but kept hovering near the door as if he was waiting for something.

“Alright, your friend must be wondering where you are. Go on, now.” A flash of disappointment crossed Binghe’s face, but he obediently left, looking back like a puppy several times as he did so.

It wasn’t until much later that Shen Yuan would realize he had forgotten to explain that he was friends with Shang Qinghua, and that they would likely see each other again at the wedding. By the time the wedding itself rolled around, it would prove to be an ordeal of its own.

But that would remain a story for another time.

[butterflydm]

2020 (what a weird year)

I did not get very much done this year at all. The business I work for got us all classified as essential workers which... tbh, I did not agree with as a categorization. It’s meant that hours per week stayed the same, but my anxiety levels at work skyrocketed. And most of the time, after getting home, I basically had enough energy to check some stuff online but I mostly needed to decompress by doing something familiar, which I’ve been doing by replaying FFX and FFX2, and my brain mostly hasn’t had room for anything new. Which is a shame for all the plans I had to watch tons of new media! I had a long list of things I wanted to check out and I haven’t really watched any of it.

I did get a chance to watch a few new things (as always, tbh, any recs of mine are basically ‘you will like this thing, if this is the kind of thing you like’):

The Old Guard: Really enjoyed this movie. It’s been out for a while now, but if you haven’t had a chance to watch it, it was a fun, easy watch that also made me think some interesting philosophical questions about life. A good time! It’s honestly the only movie I watched during the 2020 pandemic period, unless I get around to watching anything else in the next couple of days.

MXTX’s Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: I love love this story. I’ve watched the donghua (looking forward to S2!) and read the translation by BC Novels, and the story just has so many things that make my heart go ‘yes!’: it’s funny, with a charming PoV character who both doesn’t take himself too seriously and also seriously misunderstands himself in a lot of ways -- very relatable. It’s dramatic AF, with romantic lead Luo Binghe at the heart of a lot of that drama. It’s clever and I love the way the premise is used for both humor and pathos.

Tone-wise, it reminds me of works like Galaxy Quest or Northanger Abbey. Honestly, that light tone helps in some of the later chapters, which have content that is actually very dark and very heartbreaking if taken seriously, but because of the momentum of the story and the tone of the narrative, I didn’t feel like I got lost or bogged down in the darkness.

And I love the relationship between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe a whole heck of a lot. I think the way it’s structured is clever and sweet and sad and makes for an interesting story. There is an element of an unintentional romantic obsession that SQQ created by the way he flipped between kind and cruel (against his will, which is what makes it forgivable for the audience, imo, because SQQ wanted to always be kind, though not always for the most selfless of reasons) and how LBH had to try to mentally justify/rationalize how the same man could act in such completely opposing ways. And the narrative symmetry between how SQQ thinks of LBH as the center of the universe because he’s the OP Protagonist (!) but LBH thinks of SQQ as the one that everything revolves around and how that’s narratively true because, of course, in the story that we’re reading, SQQ is the protagonist and LBH is his love interest.

I also actually really appreciated the bad sex near the end of the novel -- sex-to-save-the-world is a trope that can easily get romanticized but here it’s (literally) painful and ugly instead, as all of LBH’s trauma pairs with the influence of Xin Mo on his mind. Even through the translation, it definitely feels like bad sex written well, rather than badly-written sex that is supposed to be good, if you know what I mean. Sex can be an important narrative tool in stories and I feel like MXTX uses it very effectively here.

I think I burnt through the entire translation in just a few days. I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic afterwards and I think my favorite so far is I Wish You Were My Husband by Feynite. It’s an AU but it keeps the same kind of vibe as the original story.

Bridgerton: Goodness, so enjoyable! Julia Quinn is not My Most Favorite of the various romance writers that I read but she was one of the first writers that really got me back into reading romance and it was delightful to see her world on screen. I don’t picture people when I’m reading novels; I have to have a visual first and then I can carry that into the reading, so it was nice to be able to assign faces to some of these characters that I’m already very fond of. Simon and Daphne had a nice amount of chemistry and I loved the Bridgerton family relationships.

I hope they get to cover all the romances in the series and continue to do some updating as well -- I generally liked the changes they made to Simon and Daphne’s romance (a few I wasn’t as into but could see why they’d done it -- mostly For The Drama). And I really loved what they did with Simon and Lady Danbury’s relationship. It took me some time to tell the three older Bridgerton brothers apart but that’s pretty much canon, lol. Anyway, I was invested enough in it all that I stayed up all night on Christmas eve to watch it all and I had no regrets afterward.

I started watching S2 of TharnType but then my work schedule changed and I was working on Fridays and (see above) I just didn’t have the energy to watch anything after work. I might wait and binge the rest of the series once it’s all out, now that it’s gone this long without me being caught up.

I do think I’ll take a break from Critical Role for a while, after it comes back. I’ve just come to an unfortunate place where the show literally cannot win with me re: the romances, as I’m annoyed when they happen but also, perversely, annoyed when they get ignored because my brain goes “they gutted beaujester for this limited amount of inferior romance? At least commit to giving an adequate amount of the romances that I dislike!”. And so it becomes a vicious circle. Good sign that it’s time to take a break. My unhappiness with one part of the show is overshadowing everything else and maybe some time away will change that. Or maybe I just need to pick it up again with campaign 3. I guess I’ll see how it goes. I also admit that I’d hate to pick up the show again only to have Lucien get killed off in a few episodes.

I want to try to watch some more shows in 2021, and maybe I’ll have time, if I’m freeing up several hours every Thursday.

I want to watch Heaven Official’s Blessing and I’ve had a translation of the novel on my phone for the entire year and I really do want to read it as well. I’d like to watch Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo’s new shows (The Wolf & The Legend of Fei) as the gifsets I’ve seen have been interesting and enjoyable, and there are a bunch of shows that I’d gotten recommendations about after watching TharnType that I still want to check out too. Plus, I have the new Stormlight Archives book and I want to read that as well. So, there’s quite a list.

It’s still probably gonna be quite stressful at work for a while, at least until I’ve had a chance to get the vaccine, but at least I am going back to Thursdays & Fridays as my days off at the start of the year, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m also hoping to get back to my detailed rewatch of The Untamed, because that was so much fun but I did not have enough brain this year to do any more of it.

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

94 You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.

okay, i know it’s supposed to be a drabble, but i went a bit overboard…? i hope it’s okay! i choose bingqiu for this prompt, it kinda fitted in my mind :3

Send me a number and i’ll write a drabble (or something longer)!

Rating: MaturePairing: BingqiuAdditional tags: canon universe, post-canon? sort of?Summary: In which Shen Qingqiu is sappy and he knows, Luo Binghe gets overprotective and Liu Qingge just wanted to help.

Read under the cut.

Shen Qingqiu knew that going through with that idea would eventually prove to be troublesome. He had considered it before leaving, of course, watching Luo Binghe fidget nervously in front of him when he told him he was needed elsewhere, away from Qing Jing Peak, together with Liu Qingge.

The idea of parting from his Shizun never appealed him, but knowing that Bai Zhan’s Peak Lord would accompany him… he didn’t like it. Convincing him  had been hard, and it took Shen Qingqiu a great deal of coaxing and indulging his disciple’s requests to let him set off for Lek Yuen City with Liu Qingge. Yulan Festival was still weeks apart but rich merchants and nobles won’t listen to reason until they knew they were well protected and ghost-proofed. Asking their Sect for help in the matter had been a preposterous move, but with a Demon Lord among their ranks Yue Qingyuan had wanted to keep everyone quiet and content.

Everyone but Shen Qingqiu. He was already quiet and content in his bamboo house, studying some plant’s side effect and experimenting around a bit, thank you very much! How come he was the only one available?!

Closing the door behind his back and moving a couple of steps into the room, he sighed. Another day away from his Peak was over, and all in all, he couldn’t deny that he had had fun, venturing in the market streets and strolling through the forest on the edge of the city.

(He had found lots of interesting items, and every time he turned to show them to Luo Binghe, he realised he was either alone or in the company of someone else. His discontentment was probably obvious, if the furrowed expression in Liu Qingge’s face had been anything to go by.)

He took off his outer robe, untied his hair, let his body ease in the calmness of the descending night, breathing in the silence and forcing his body to sit on the bed and pick up the hairbrush he left on the bedside table that morning.

Let his mind drift, to the previous night and those before it since he arrived there, and how odd the feeling that had pervaded him from that moment on was, like the impending silence waiting him once he found himself alone in that same room was far from being comforting and relaxing.

Maybe, he merely wasn’t accustomed to it anymore, with what living together with Luo Binghe had done to his humble routine. Maybe, he had started seeing his apprentice’s presence as part of his daily life at a far deeper level than he thought.

Or maybe, it was much simpler than that.

A hand brushed the object between his fingers away from his hold, and all his senses snapped in him like a bungee cord.

Shen Qingqiu tensed and his hand flew to his waist, only to remember that he didn’t have his fan when he came back -he probably displaced it somewhere at dinner, half sure Liu Qingge would eventually find it and give it back.

So he prepared to attack with his spiritual energy, but than the person in the room speak, and an intense wave of relaxation washed over him, taking him totally by surprise.

“Shizun.”

“…Binghe.”

It took him a while to formulate a reply, with his heart in his throat for the scare and his limbs trembling for the sudden rush of adrenaline.

That apprentice was crazy!! Demon Lord or not, you can’t sneak up your master’s back like this!! Do you want to have him killed?! Do you even know how to perform CPR?!?

He settled for something more intelligible while calming his racing heart. How could he not sense his presence in the room? When did Luo Binghe become so good at stealth operations?!

“What are you doing here?!”

There was a smile on Binghe’s face -Shen Qingqiu couldn’t see it, his back at him while he brushed his hair, treading his fingers between the locks a couple of times, but he could somehow feel it, especially when he opened his mouth.

“This disciple couldn’t handle solitude. He missed his Sizhun too much.”

Shen Qingqiu ignored how something constricted in his chest -how the longing in Binghe’s tone seemed to mirror that bitter feeling he had been fighting off for days. Instead, he sighed and turned, lifting his chin a bit to look at his apprentice, kneeling on his bed with placid demeanor, as if he was restraining himself. He recognised the glint in his dark irises right away.

Shen Qingqiu swallowed.

“Did this disciple scare his Husband?” Luo Binghe added, apologetic, leaning toward him without diverting his gaze from Shen Qingqiu’s eyes and lowering it only when he was too bent forward to manage it. His intention became clear only when his lips pressed lightly on his shoulder, nuzzling it a couple of seconds before withdrawing and fixing his robe -Shen Qingqiu hadn’t noticed his sleeve had slipped down. The action -the intimacy that gesture spoke of- almost made him blush.

And what was with that sudden title?! When had Binghe turned into a smooth, tricky charmer?!

He breathed deeply, thinly observing him, gradually aware of his tense posture, the way his hands tightened on his knees with Shen Qingqiu’s gaze carefully settled on him. He sighed again, fully knowing what the reason behind the impatient gleam in Luo Binghe’s wide eyes was. Could he even reject such a puppy face? He didn’t have his fan to help him dodge the upcoming attacks, so it was much more clever to store energy for when he will really need it.

(Binghe had really made him shameless, making him use the lack of a weapon as an excuse to cave in, for once, and reaching for his disciple’s face it almost looked like he was admitting that he had dearly missed this, too. Missed him.)

Shen Qingqiu patted his head, allowing himself to smile sublty when the young man closed his eyes and relaxed under his touch, trembling. He turned fully, placing himself on the bed in front of him, and every hunch on nervousness he had ever felt in moments like this assaulted him when a hand reached for his, trapping it against a cheek when Luo Binghe’s eyelids lifted again.

None of them spoke a word, and Shen Qingqiu gripped his disciple’s shoulder when Luo Binghe came for him, an arm sneaking around his waist as his lips reduced the space between them.

He kissed him like years had passed since the last time and his lips parted in response without excessive coaxing, a trilling news Luo Binghe welcomed with a moan. He pulled him in the same instant Shen Qingqiu pressed forward, legs caging the Demon Lord’s hips and breath stuck in his throat at the craved proximity.

Binghe’s fingers intertwined with his hair, forcing his head down, the palm of his other hand slipping under the robe and tracing every patch of skin he could find, possessively groping his back and waist as Shen Qingqiu quivered, overwhelmed, clinging to him and reluctantly giving in to his own body’s demand.

He unfastened the string that kept Binghe’s hair up, letting it fall untidily, scraping his nape in circular movements to dispel the remaining tension and drawing another groan from his apprentice, his hips snapping up in reflex and making Shen Qingqiu break of the kiss, hissing in pleasure at the friction. He panted, ashamed, forehead resting on Luo Binghe’s.

“Shizun’s body missed me too, this disciple is incredibly glad” he mused, murmuring against his lips and leaning forward to playfully bite one of them, distracting him.

Gleeful disciple, Shen Qingqiu wanted to smack the edge of his fan on his head once more, but he had to resort to his hands, ready to protest and ultimately gripping his shoulders again as Binghe’s palm brushed downward to tease his cock, hidden behind his slacks. He moaned in his ear, back arching, his body a shuddering net of burning nerves in his disciple’s hands.

Traitor! Was a bit of abstinence from sex all it took to reduce his body like this?! He felt betrayed, insulted, deceived!! Why didn’t the System place him somewhere easier to reason with?!

“Did Shizun? Did my Husband miss this foolish disciple, too?”

He couldn’t think, he couldn’t beat around the bush with Luo Binghe’s palms on him like that, pushing on all the right buttons and clashing their hips together to elicit whimper after whimper from him.

Binghe was losing his cool, Shizun’s reactions too good, too lovely and intoxicating for him to not do something about it. He almost had him under him, pressed on the mattress, when someone knocked at the door.

Both of them froze, their labored breathe the only thing causing noises in the room, aside from the occasional knocking and voice accompanying them.

“Shen Qingqiu? Are you awake?”

Luo Binghe’s hands fisted, arms closing around a vulnerable Shizun.

“Why is he here? It’s late. Why would he come to your room?” he hastily whispered, barely remaining calm enough not to shout at the door. Shen Qingqiu pulled away from him, moving backward to recover more quickly.

Shit. Okay, Liu Qinge was outside his room and Luo Binghe seemed ready to rip his head off, judging from the way he kept eyeing the direction where the other Peak Lord could come from at any given moment. The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene, perfectly knowing how it was living with those two emitting testosterone whenever they were in the same place. Moreover, Luo Binghe he, the Demon Lord, should be here!

“Hide” he managed to say under his breath, not looking in his direction to not gauge his current appearance. “Hide and don’t come out until he is gone.”

“No! I’m not leaving Shizun alone with him in the middle of the night! What if he touches Shizun-”

Another knock. Liu Qingge probably heard noises.

“Shen Qingqiu?”

“He won’t” he replied quickly, getting off of the bed and fixing his inner robe while for something to put on. “Now do as I say!” he hastened him, slipping into his outer robe before turning and promptly walking toward Luo Binghe, all the while saying out loud: “I’m awake! Let me put something on” in the general direction of the door.

“If he-”

“He won’t” Shen Qingqiu assured him again, pushing him under the bed and ordering him to stay quiet. Luo Binghe begrudgingly obeyed, frowning.

Shen Qingqiu straightened his clothes, breathing deeply and trying to dissipate the remaining fog caused by his and Binghe’s… previous activity. He ventured to the door, unceremoniously opening it and revealing his fellow Peak Lord’s garbled expression. He smiled apologetically to him, moving aside to invite him in, glancing nervously at his bed.

“What is Junior Brother doing here this late in the evening? Something happened?”

Liu Qingge looked around, frown deepening, before his eyes settled on the one who welcomed him. His lips thinned.

Shen Qingqiu had surely tried to make himself presentable, but when Liu Qingge came in, he had felt the strong impulse to look elsewhere. Bitten, plump, shiny lips and disarrayed hair and robe told him all he needed to know -the malevolent, familiar energy he had felt and its closeness to Shen Qingqiu finding its righteous cause at last.

Luo Binghe was there, no doubt. But where did he go? Did he hide? Liu Qingge found the situation ridiculous, as if he didn’t know what kind of relationship they had. They had never made a secret of it when it started, so why all this discretion now?

“Where you sleeping?”

“Almost” Shen Qingqiu swiftly retorted, hands hiding in his sleeves.

“You left your fan on the table while we were dining” he explained. A sound disturbed the quietness of the room and Shen Qingqiu coughed, hand flying up to cover his mouth, apologising with a half bow.

“Ah, that’s right, I noticed it before going to sleep, I’m sorry it inconvenienced Junior Brother to the point of coming here instead of resting in his room.”

But Liu Qingge, the almost burberous, chivalry Lord of Bai Zhan Peak, waved him off, telling him with that gesture he needn’t worry.

“It’s not a problem. You always lose it and we never know when it’ll come in handy, you should be more careful with your possessions” he admonished, eyebrow flying upward when the same sound from before followed.

“Yes, Junior Brother is completely right, this Lord is too forgetful! Thankfully Junior Brother always manages to help and return whatever possession of this Lord he finds” he commented rapidly, trying to keep his attention on him.

“Don’t count on it as if it’s something you’re giving for granted!” he protested, shaking his head immediately after when he didn’t even succeed in sounding truly irritated.

A hiss.

Liu Qingge handed him the fan.

“This Lord promises to be more careful” Shen Qingqiu reassured him, taking the object and tilting his head to the side to smile contrivedly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other continuously. Suddenly, Liu Qingge noticed a strange, colored item caught in his hair, something that looked like a feather, and he acted on impulse.

“You have something in your hair-”

“Uh? Where?”

“Here” he said, pointing at the red feather with his finger, but Shen Qinqiu kept missing the spot, so he intervened.

“Wait, let me-”

Like a hurricane, a shadow barged on them, wrapping Shen Qingqiu in protective arms and sneering menacingly at the intruder.

“Hands off! Don’t touch Shizun!” he roared, tightening his hold, fingers shielding Shen Qingqiu’s head and pinning it under his chin, eyes burning in anger and tempted to incinerate Liu Qingge’s raised arm.

He dropped it.

Shen Qingqiu hit his own forehead with an open palm, mumbling at Luo Binghe and to himself: “You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.”

Luo Binghe’s rage quelled, and the blush on his cheeks spoke of something entirely different.

“What did Shizun said?”

“That you’re an idiot! I told you to not come out!”

“No, after that! What did Shizun do to that idiot?” he persisted, eyes glinting again, holding Shen Qingqiu flush to his chest, and the Peak Lord’s frustration and embarrassment was so evident, irises ashamedly eyeing him and pleading him to do something or go away, that Liu Qingge cringed for him.

“I’m out of here” he just retorted, not wanting to witness anything his eyes weren’t ready for. He left the couple alone, returning to the room next to Shen Qingqiu’s and hoping the walls were thick enough to spare his ears.