Chapter Text
It soon becomes a ritual.
The hairbrush glides over ink-black locks, soft and silky for the first time in a (two) lifetime(s). The bamboo stalks sway under the evening breeze, hiding the two disciples from view.
Shen Yuan has never cared much about his appearance. In his first life he was perpetually thin and pale from lack of sunlight. Washing his hair had been a two-minute affair and H&S hadn’t done it any favours.
In his second life… well. There’s a reason his brother clings so hard to his hair oils and silver pins. As children their hair had been permanently tangled and brittle from malnutrition. Really, it’s a miracle neither of them look like the street rats they once were.
Transmigration and cultivation truly cover a multitude of sins.
Birds chirp loudly, flitting among the stalks. Shen Jiu is precise with his brushstrokes. He’s also gentle in a way Shen Yuan wouldn’t have believed possible, back when he was just words on a screen.
Shen Yuan raises a hand to brush against his (third) brother’s wrist, eliciting a soft, annoyed huff.
He thinks he can be happy here, as long as he can hold on to this.