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“Xiao Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan’s voice carries well, even when the clearing is clouded from a fight. Shen Jiu feels a prickle in his chest when the other demon approaches, the trace of blood dripping down his face raising the hackles on the back of the fox’s neck. Ah, did he?.... Yes, it seems whatever attacked them threw some kind of pollen into the air. The dust settling to the ground is tinted a strange shade of purple and leaves blotches on his (new) green robes.
“Don’t touch me!” he snaps, mostly on instinct, but it stops the leopard in his tracks. That fluffy tail flicks once, twice, then the man seems to lose his patience and comes closer, though not holding his hands out this time. “I’m fine , go away.”
“Xiao Jiu, we should head home.” Home, the leopard demon says. He means his own palace. Not Shen Jiu’s bamboo forest and little house. Before he has time to scoff or sneer, the snow leopard scoops him up (in his noticeably muscular arms) and hurries off in some direction Shen Jiu hopes is the sedan. He doesn’t exactly want to be seen being carried back to the palace by the servants. The silk pillows in the sedan are forgiving against his slowly heating skin. This… isn’t as fast acting as he remembers these kinds of pollens to be. Perhaps he’s cultivated past it…. Or perhaps it’s his recent dual cultivation with his husband. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes the fox shudder.
“Don’t touch me.” he repeats, curling into the corner of the carriage. The empathy coming from the other demon nearly makes him retch. The shaking of the sedan doesn’t help either, the damn statues that carry the thing know nothing about delicacy and care-
“Xiao Jiu…” Yue Qingyuan comes closer, though he mercifully stays far enough away, not touching the fox. Ugh, Shen Jiu knows if he looked at the other man, those fluffy ears would be tilted back. “Do you need water? Come, take this soiled layer off, it will help you cool down.” His husband grows silent when he growls, taking the noise as a sign that he should probably stop. Thus, Yue Qingyuan stays nearby and watches him carefully the entire ride, as if any movement would startle him. Which, maybe it would. Shen Jiu feels as if he is about to jump out of his skin at any moment. Or perhaps vibrate out of his skin. His body has increasingly started buzzing through the entire ride, like he wants out of his skin this instant. The last time he felt that… He thinks it was too long ago, a time he doesn’t want to think about anymore.
“Xiao Jiu.” the demon lord’s voice calls to him again, this time from outside of the sedan. The rest of what he says is an unpleasant buzz, but Shen Jiu gets the gist of it. He climbs out of the sedan while ignoring the other’s hand and immediately heads inside, ignoring the way his husband trails behind him. The servants flee at the sight of them (or rather, at the sight of Shen Jiu). He doesn’t care. The moment he’s in their shared quarters, the fox demon sheds his outer layer and rips at his belt, nails catching on the fabric and making it hard to undo it. Judging by the way his pulse pounds in his ears, Shen Jiu would guess his markings are showing again, or even his eyes have reverted back to their unnatural vibrant green.
The leopard’s large hands gently pry his own away from the belt and work it open for him. HIs calmness simultaneously rankles the fox’s nerves and soothes him slightly. Once he’s shed his outer layers, Shen Jiu lets his tails unfurl and writhe around to inspect the area around him (though they mostly wrap around his husband).
“Let’s go take a bath.” Ah, so his coward of a husband isn’t going to jump him at the first chance he can? “You need to wash this off.” The hand that presses against his back makes his skin buzz, only the layers of fabric keeping it from burning like a raging fire. Luckily, the open air baths are just outside (as he would revile anything else), which he is reminded of as Yue Qingyuan uses his hand to lead him along. The breeze is somewhat nice, but the steam from the baths is far more inviting. He undresses with haste (and some help) before wading into the water. When he settles down, he focuses inward on the buzzing feeling and tries to force himself to relax. It’s even harder when the water near him ripples softly as Yue Qingyuan (presumably) gracefully lowers himself in. A single fluffy tail wraps around one of his own and is engulfed by his multiple remaining tails.
This… It’s all too domestic, isn’t it? Too calm? Isn’t he supposed to be lustful and needy? Unable to control himself? Not soaking in a hot bath with his husband, listening to the distant sounds of the forest… They’re both sitting apart, but still close enough to touch tails. Yue Qi makes no moves to come closer or to act, he’s just sitting there, soaking. They soak for a while, he doesn’t know how long but he does know it’s quite a while. A while of nothing. The fox only breaks the silence when he lets himself dip beneath the water. When he comes back up, he quickly scrubs himself, back turned to the other demon.
When he gets out, he wraps himself up and hurries back to their shared room. Whatever water the two of them leave trailing behind them will inevitably be cleaned up, so he doesn’t mind leaving this much of a mess. Not when their tails are dripping wet but still intertwined. Not when Yue Qi comes in closer to pull his wet robe off, shedding his own. The thrumming under Shen Jiu’s skin picks up again at the barest touch, shoulders tensing and his brow furrow. His body feels as if it wants the touch but… does he ? A large, warm hand envelopes his own and pulls him towards the bed, which he goes willingly to. And… They lay down. Together. The fox ends up tucked against the leopard’s chest despite his… needs.
“Qi-ge…” Shen Jiu ignores the tone of his own voice. Apparently his husband ignores it too.
“Shh, sleep, Xiao Jiu.”
“Aren’t you going to…”
“No. You said you didn’t want to be touched earlier.” The other’s refusal would normally sting but… Well, the leopard usually can read his moods, never bothers him when he doesn’t want to be touched. Hm… “Let’s rest, husband.”
“It’s midday.”
“Mn.” the leopard just smiles as he pulls the blankets over them. This could be worse, Shen Jiu thinks.