#they're morails your honor

[muse-of-nothing]

they're morails your honor

(please use he, she or they for Kankri & he or they for Mituna on this post, thank you)

[btw: requests are open]

[othercat2]

molasses dark as pitch chapter 6 snippet

Shang Qinghua has almost gotten used to his king or Sha Hualing ambushing him with food or demands that he rest or take care of his appearance. Almost. He's been chivvied into taking care of himself and moving into the quarters provided him, at least. Their fussing and concern surprises him a little. It feels strange to think that he'd worried his king or the Saintess, and stranger to think that they might value him so highly that they'd go out of their way to coddle him the way they'd been doing.

He's more or less become used to the way that his king and now more recently Sha Hualing make appearances throughout the day. His king has often been a quiet, looming presence in the background when Shang Qinghua works for years. Mobei-Jun was an unreadable presence and he had wasted a great deal of time at first trying to placate his master before realizing that his king was simply bored or curious, not angry or suspicious. Sha Hualing was easier to to read: she played at being a brat while satisfying her curiosity with detailed interrogations.

(He had no idea why she played the brat. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her in battle or in the command tent building a strategy from information he'd provided. It wasn't because she was trying to seem unthreatening. She really wasn't fooling anyone at all.)

Thinking about her summons the sound of bells, and her eventual presence as she enters Shang Qinghua's work area. "Shang-shishu has a worried look," she says. "What's on his mind?"

"He's wondering how he became shishu to a Saintess," he says.

"This Saintess is surprised Shang Qinghua can't guess," Sha Hualing says with a sharp little grin. "How is Shen Qingqiu settling in?" she asks.

"He hasn't tried to kill anyone, and by anyone, I mean myself," Shang Qinghua says. He's not going to speculate on what Sha Hualing had meant about being able to guess. Maybe she was calling him "shishu" because Junshang had taken to calling him that. "I am right across the hall from him, so it's a matter of time."

"Is that really a danger?" Sha Hualing asks.

"Eh, not really. Shen-shixiong isn't in a comfortable position, and he usually handles not being comfortable by making everyone else even more uncomfortable," Shang Qinghua says. "I've ah, tried to approach him as a 'middle leaf' and I think I'm getting through to him."

If a shouting fight that had brought the guards running and his king turning up to investigate could be called "getting through to him." Shen Qingqiu had not liked the idea of having any form of relationship with Luo Binghe, even a relationship where the point was not having a relationship. Shang Qinghua had heard from the head of household that there was a joke that Shang Qinghua needed a middle leaf to be a middle leaf with Shen Qingqiu.

"You need to show Husband some attention as well, or he'll think you favor Shen Qingqiu over you!" Sha Hualing says.

Shang Qinghua's brain stutters a bit. "I could not be so forward as to 'give attention' to Junshang," says. "What would I even do?"

Sha Hualing rolls her eyes. "You're worse than da-ge," she says. "Mei-mei, what do I say to him? What would be an appropriate pale date?"

"My king does not call you mei-mei," Shang Qinghua says, with a smile he couldn't help. Another thing he had heard was that his king was apparently courting Junshang pale, which seemed a little strange to him. Junshang had defeated Mobei-jun in battle and subjugated him. It seemed like there would be resentment and a desire for rivalry there, but apparently not? They'd become friends instead, and somehow Mobei-jun found Luo Binghe (who was utterly terrifying) "pitiable." There were already some very exaggerated accounts of how his king had helped quell Luo Binghe's rampage, some of them in verse. Most of them brought up highly original metaphors involving snow, ice or winter.

"He absolutely should," Sha Hualing says. "And Husband should call me jie-jie."

Shang Qinghua choked a little at that. Luo Binghe was younger than both Sha Hualing and his king, but the implication here, that Luo Binghe would be called "didi" was horrifying. Terrifying heavenly demon emperors were not didi! He managed to say as much to Sha Hualing, who snickered at him. "This servant hardly knows what to do about the Saintess' suggestions," he says, attempting to model the familiar respect offered by Mobei-jun's head of household. The woman had a strange authority that could turn the most arrogant or aggressive demon noble or warrior into a cowed and foot-shuffling youth.

"Follow them, of course," Sha Hualing says, failing to be cowed. "It's a little early for him to come seeking you out, especially with Shen Qingqiu living just next door, so you have to go to him. You could watch him spar with the soldiers or his wives, or offer to play weiqi with him. You could tutor him in some subject you're knowledgeable in!" She pokes him. "You could tutor me!"

Shang Qinghua flails a little, trying to swipe away Sha Hualing's pointy claw without actually coming into contact with said claw or the finger and hand it was attached to. He wondered what about tutoring Sha Hualing could be considered ashen for Junshang or Shen-shixiong. "Surely this servant has no skill a demon lord would be interested in," Shang Qinghua says. Despite the protest he feels strangely pleased that Sha Hualing seemed to think his areas of expertise were worthy of learning.

"Ha," Sha Hualing says, looking pleased herself. "Stop being so scared of Husband," she says, like this were even a remote possibility. "And speaking of Junshang, we've a mission. And before that, we have to settle an issue with the harem."

"A mission?" Shang Qinghua asks.

"We're going to deliver everything we know about Huan Hua's actions to the major sects," Sha Hualing says. "Including a list of the cultivators who left or weren't present when Husband cleaned house. Last on the list is Cang Qiong Mountain, where we're going to hopefully interview the Sect Leader and found out what his connections are to Shen Qingqiu, and more information for Shen Qingqiu's case."

"That's still going on?" Shang Qinghua asks, a little nervously.

"It didn't stop going on," Sha Hualing says with a slight smirk. "We thought we knew one thing, and based on what we knew, Junshang was willing to act. Now we know that what we knew was obfuscated, and we have some time to poke at this fascinating borderland between human and demon law." She has the look of a hunting cat as she says this. Bright eyed and fascinated, as if the matter were a mouse to catch. It's a charming look, Shang Qinghua has had students with similar looks for narrow areas of interests--various organization disciplines, classification systems, abstract mathematical concepts (those kids could be the worst).