Work Text:
“Mmph! Liu-shidi, it hurts!” Shen Qingqiu whines, his dignity long since gone. “Please, be gentle!”
“Shut up. Stay still.” Liu Qingge raises his hands up to where his hair crown is tangled in each other’s hair, and carefully starts trying to untangle it. “You’ll be fine.”
“...If Liu-shidi says so. It— ah!” Shen Qingqiu can’t help but let the whimper of pain leak out. His hair is delicate, and with such a sharp tug so close to his scalp, it really does hurt. He squirms, needing to release the pain somehow. Liu Qingge freezes his motions at the sound. “It hurts…”
“We don’t have to. I can do something else.” Liu Qingge offers, but Shen Qingqiu simply huffs at the suggestion. What else could they do in such a situation? It’s not like they can cut off their hair or just rip it out. And they certainly can’t just leave it as is!
“Don’t be silly. Here, let me…” Shen Qingqiu reaches up as well, and the first order of business is to untie their hair. Seriously, Liu-shidi? Their hair is even more tangled than what he originally thought, and if Shen Qingqiu didn’t know better, he’d say that Liu Qingge actually made the situation worse. His breath comes a little faster from the work— Shen Qingqiu feels no shame in it. Keeping his hands up and trying to untie and undo knots that he can’t even see is hard work. Shen Qingqiu finally undoes his hair, and then reaches for Liu Qingge’s ribbon and (after an obscene amount of struggle) undoes that too. Liu Qingge chokes in surprise, but stays stock still. His voice is breathy as he speaks: “Really shidi, you’re lucky that this master knows what to do.”
“Now come here. This master does not want to wait so long.” Shen Qingqiu openly complains, more than eager to get these damn knots out. Is this karma, for wearing such excessive decorations? He doesn’t even know how the original goods dealt with this, because his hair has gotten knotted into the stupid crown and then gotten Liu Qingge knotted into it when he leaned over too far! To make things worse, his scalp is sensitive and delicate and it hurts whenever Liu Qingge tugs and yanks at the knots just a touch too hard.
”Liu-shidi, please… Have mercy!” Shen Qingqiu nearly begs after Liu Qingge growls and yanks at their tangled hair with no delicacy at all. With the way he tugs at the knot, Shen Qingqiu worries that the man will go bald early!
”Tsk, so delicate.” Liu Qingge grumbles. But when Shen Qingqiu whines justifiably complains, Liu Qingge responds with his normal grunts and softens his touch. The sheets rustle and the bed creaks underneath them as they both try their best to untangle hair and jewelry. Eventually, Shen Qingqiu gets tired, so Shen Qingqiu carefully reclines back into the soft plush of his bed, Liu Qingge closely following.
After a long and arduous process, they finally get that damned head crown out of their hair and manage to untangle themselves. He shoots a disgusted look to them, and makes a mental note to never wear that specific one ever again. They’re both out of breath, their cheeks flushed. Shen Qingqiu breathes a sigh of relief. He smiles up at Liu Qingge, who has frozen. Ah, is he perhaps embarrassed? Who could have guessed that the Bai Zhan War God was secretly so shy? If Shen Qingqiu were a woman, he would understand (the way he’s laid back with Liu Qingge hovering so close is certainly quite close after all). But this is two martial siblings, two guys just trying not to rip out each other’s hair. Liu Qingge pushes himself up and away before speaking gruffly.
“I should go now.” The bed shifts underneath them as Liu Qingge makes to stand up, already shifting his body to the edge of the bed but Shen Qingqiu grabs his hand before he can fully stand.
“Don’t!” Shen Qingqiu blurts out. “I— I want you to stay. Please?”
Liu Qingge hesitates, but Shen Qingqiu feels oddly wrong. Ah, he’s really too selfish. Of course, Liu Qingge didn’t ask to be entangled with the scum villain, and then for Shen Qingqiu to ask him to stay? Even if he enjoys Liu Qingge’s company, he really should practice some self-restraint…
“Ah, I shouldn’t ask for so much. Liu-shidi is busy, right? You can go—”
“No!” Liu Qingge nearly shouts, and even he looks surprised about his volume. He awkwardly coughs, before reigning in his voice.
“I’ll stay. I changed my mind.” Liu Qingge’s eyes burn with a fierce intensity, and Shen Qingqiu smiles.
“If shidi says so. Join me!” Shen Qingqiu shifts to the side as much as he can and generously pats some of the empty space next to him. Liu Qingge is probably tired, right? Shen Qingqiu’s bed is quite large for just one person, and Liu Qingge could definitely tuck himself right in, with ample room to spare. They hear quiet footsteps thump away, and Shen Qingqiu frowns. Who could have been at his door? Liu Qingge starts to say something, but Shen Qingqiu’s vision is suddenly flooded with messages from the System.
[Mission: Protagonist’s First Heartbreak completed! +1000 B-Points!]
[Mission: Shizun’s Secrets completed! +50 B-Points!]
[Optional Mission: Behind Closed Doors completed! +100 B-Points!]
[Protagonist’s Happiness Points Down! -300 B-Points!]
[Character Complexity Increased: Shen Qingqiu! +2500 B-Points!]
[Character Complexity Increased: Liu Qingge! +2500 B-Points!]
[Major Plot Deviance! -50000 B-Points!]
[Warning! Negative B-Point Balance!]
[Character: Liu Qingge has been promoted! +50000 B-Points!]
[Character: Shen Qingqiu has been promoted! +50000 B-Points!]
[Character: Luo Binghe has been demoted!]
Shen Qingqiu can barely comprehend what the hell the System is even referring to— and then error messages begin to assault his vision. His eyes go glassy, and he thinks he hears Liu Qingge let out a panicked shout.
[Error! Luo Binghe cannot be demoted!]
[Error! Luo Binghe does not fit the assigned role!]
[Error! Program cannot compute!]
[Error! Error! Error!]
More and more error messages begin to pop up, and the constant dinging noise makes his head throb in pain. And then, nothingness. The messages finally clear from his head, the notifications stop abruptly. It feels weirdly like the System has just… disappeared.
System? System??? Shen Qingqiu calls for the System inwardly, but gets no response.
“Shen Qingqiu!” Liu Qingge still hovers above him and maybe he looks worried, but Shen QIngqiu’s vision is far too blurry to see that. Why is his vision blurry? He weakly tugs at one stupidly muscular arm, and Liu Qingge’s face comes even closer than before. “Are you alright?”
Liu Qingge’s hand hesitates, before carefully swiping at his cheek. Is there something there? Shen Qingqiu lifts an unsteady hand to his cheek. It comes back wet. Oh, he thinks distantly. He’s crying. The tears stream down his cheeks, and just as fast as they came, they leave. They dry out quickly, and Shen Qingqiu simply stares back up at Liu Qingge.
Is the System truly gone? It seems too good to be true. The System has been insistent, demanding, always present. It has governed over his life ever since he transmigrated in. And yet, there is a blessed silence. The System’s robotic chirp is absent.
“Should I take you to Mu Qingfang?” Liu Qingge fusses, and if Shen Qingqiu concentrates, he thinks he sees pursed lips.
”No need,” Shen Qingqiu replies thoughtlessly. He blinks a few times more, and his vision clears a bit. Liu Qingge hasn’t moved an inch, and Shen Qingqiu just looks into his eyes. Inspiration strikes him as he looks into his eyes.
”Proud Immortal Demon’s Way. System. Coffee. Chocolate.” Shen Qingqiu lists off random things, and his heart feels lighter and lighter when he doesn’t hear a familiar voice taking away points. Just to make sure, he starts speaking in English: “There is a System. I am not Shen Qingqiu. I transmigrated.”
Nothing. Nothing! Shen Qingqiu breaks out into a wide smile, an almost feral grin. Liu Qingge’s face pinches, before settling into a rather fierce expression.
”You’re not acting right,” Liu Qingge says. A hand comes up to his forehead and begins to transfer qi between them. “I’m taking you to Qian Cao.”
”Wait, shidi. This shixiong is fine. More than fine.”
Oh gods. Shen Qingqiu’s head just whirls and whirls. He’s not bound to the System anymore— he doesn’t have to go through with the plot! He’s free to live like he wants, he can live! He can go explore this shitty world, can go eat and drink and play and…
“Fuck it,” Shen Qingqiu freely swears. Liu Qingge freezes in surprise, and Shen Qingqiu’s laughter bubbles up and releases. Still high on his giddiness, Shen Qingqiu wraps his arms around Liu Qingge’s neck and pulls him down. Liu Qingge grunts at the unexpected weight and goes down easily. Shen Qingqiu tightens his arms. It feels like a dream. God, he feels so free!
“Shen Qingqiu.” Liu Qingge grits out, and Shen Qingqiu suddenly has a bolt of realization that Liu Qingge just got pulled into his euphoria, without a single explanation. The Bai Zhan War God isn’t exactly affectionate with touches, and Shen Qingqiu withdraws his hands like he’s burned. His excitement really made him too shameless! ”You…”
”Ah, I didn’t mean to! Honest, I really didn’t realize it, which isn’t an excuse, I just… Mmfh?!”
His floundering excuses get cut off by Liu Qingge leaning in and, no way that’s a kiss? No, no, it can’t possibly be a kiss. Liu Qingge probably just lost his balance, or he accidentally leaned in a little too far? Except there’s a calloused finger that’s sweeping against his bottom lip and a gentle hand that’s tipping his head, and oh, Liu Qingge’s leaning in again with a soft sound against his lips and that’s definitely a kiss… Shen Qingqiu doesn’t whimper into his mouth, but he does make some small little sounds. It seems as if those little sounds encourage Liu Qingge, because Liu Qingge starts to transfer more weight over Shen Qingqiu until he’s pinning him down. Shen Qingqiu’s hands twitch, and Liu Qingge slides a hand into his (which is honestly quite sweet, who knew shidi could be a romantic like that?) as he continues his, ah, attack.
”Shidi, I, mm!” Shen Qingqiu tries to get out, but Liu Qingge has made it a mission to continue kissing him with a truly single-minded focus, and Shen Qingqiu loses track of anything that’s not Liu Qingge. But really, Liu Qingge is too powerful to not pay attention to so it’s fine! Shen Qingqiu can’t even count the amount of times that he’s lost focus because Liu Qingge happened to place himself just in view, or the amount of times he’s dropped something because Liu Qingge spoke with amusement curling at the end of his deep voice or because Liu Qingge let out that low chuckle that could actually kill… So Liu Qingge possessing his attention like this is completely normal. It’s totally fine.
”Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge says. Shen Qingqiu can feel the way Liu Qingge’s lips move against his own, and it makes sparks flutter in his stomach. Liu Qingge moves away, and Shen Qingqiu almost whines as he moves away, because Liu-shidi’s warmth was quite nice (and it has absolutely nothing to do with the devastating fact that Liu-shidi is a good, no, amazing kisser). He dazedly blinks, and tries to recover his breath. If Liu-shidi kisses him like that, the person that Liu Qingge actually marries won’t be able to do anything but beg for his kisses! Liu Qingge’s eyes darken.
”I’ve been wanting to do that since you got us tangled together,” Liu Qingge explains simply. Shen Qingqiu openly gawks. It feels like his brain has just blue-screened, has frozen and somehow caught on fire all at once. “Before that even. When you served us tea.”
Since they got tangled together??? No, since they had tea???? But then that would mean that Liu Qingge has wanted to kiss him for hours now. And now that he thinks about it, Liu Qingge had a rather intense look on his face during meridian cleansing (but doesn’t he always?) and then Shen Qingqiu had complained so much about being tired that Liu Qingge had given up and followed him into his bedroom where they got tangled together…
Oh. Oh heavens. Liu Qingge likes him. Liu Qingge likes likes him.
And sure, Shen Qingqiu is straight. Should be straight. Women are pretty, he thinks distantly. They have nice clothes and pretty smiles. They’re charming, he supposes.
But Liu Qingge is gorgeous. He’s handsome and pretty somehow, and he’s also strong enough to literally carry oxen on his back without breaking so much as a sweat, which is wow. His phoenix eyes sparkle, especially when the light of the night pearl dims as they get ready for bed. When he pulls his hair up, Shen Qingqiu sometimes catches sight of a frankly tempting mole placed perfectly on his nape (but Liu Qingge with his hair down is lethal to anyone who has a working pair of eyes)—
“Um,” Shen Qingqiu says, tongue tied. He can’t look away. Is this gay? It’s starting to feel a little gay. Maybe more than a little gay. “Hm.”
”You don’t have to say anything,” Liu Qingge huffs, and it makes Shen Qingqiu’s brain scramble just a bit. Liu Qingge brushes back a stray lock of hair. Before he can pull his hand away, Shen Qingqiu reaches up to catch it. Liu Qingge turns his eyes to him.
”Shixiong is, um. Oh heavens,” Shen Qingqiu says faintly. He moves his hand away, and tries to cover his face with his sleeve. He didn’t know it would be so embarrassing to be kissed silly by his loyal shidi! His face! His face! How is he supposed to walk out of his house today, and not act like he just learned that Liu Qingge’s an incredible kisser very thoroughly? With examples, even. “Shidi must take responsibility for his actions.”
”Naturally,” Liu Qingge nods decisively, as if there was any other choice.
Shen Qingqiu is definitely in over his head, isn’t he?