Work Text:
Shen Jiu is tired of Liu Qingge challenging him for spars and, in the heat of the moment, decides to put an end to it once and for all.
Weirdly enough, it seems to have the opposite effect.
It went like this:
It was common knowledge around the peaks that Liu Qingge loved to antagonize Shen Jiu, usually by asking him to spar so he could inevitably win and flaunt his sense of superiority since, in his eyes, Shen Jiu was lazy and spoiled.
Shen Jiu, on the contrary, was neither of those things, but rather than defend himself and correct the inconvenient brute of Bai Zhan, he opted for slinking away and licking his wounds, vowing to himself that he would train even harder and next time he would beat Liu Qingge for sure.
Unfortunately, he was never able to beat him, and the cycle kept repeating.
It was a vicious cycle, constantly deepening the animosity between them, but one day Shen Jiu decided to break it.
He was tired, Yue Qingyuan had annoyed him deeply not one shichen ago, and the prospect of going through yet another humiliating spar with Liu Qingge was anything but appealing.
He did it, though.
Spite fueled him, and if at first he hadn’t wanted to do it, eventually he was so invested in it that the only thing going through his mind was ‘I can’t lose, I have to win, I need to win’ (and really, he did). How many hours had he spent practicing, pushing himself past the point of exhaustion, only for Liu Qingge to beat him time and time again?
He needed to win, and he needed to show Liu Qingge that he wasn’t invincible.
But then Liu Qingge managed to pin him down, even if Shen Jiu was still able to squirm and surge up in an attempt to free himself, and the thoughts in his head became so muddled, so desperate for a single win, that before his brain had a chance to catch up he took advantage of a small opening and—
He bit Liu Qingge on the neck.
It wasn’t the first time he bit Liu Qingge. He’d bit him on the hand once, and Liu Qingge had become so enraged by the fact that he was using ‘dirty tricks’ that he’d sparred even more viciously.
This time, however, Liu Qingge froze, and his breath hitched audibly.
Success! , he thought victoriously.
Taking advantage of Liu Qingge’s surprise, he was quick to free himself from the brute’s grip and flip their positions around so he was pinning him instead.
Liu Qingge… didn’t struggle.
“Yield,” he demanded, expecting Liu Qingge to snap back into action and fight against his hold.
Instead, “okay,” was Liu Qingge’s answer, and he was looking a little bit dazed.
“What?” he asked, taken by surprise.
“I yield,” Liu Qingge said, sounding uncharacteristically breathless.
Shen Jiu’s eyes widened in surprise, and he found that, for some reason, it was hard to keep looking at Liu Qingge.
That day, when he went back to Qing Jing, having finally won against Liu Qingge, he couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied - he’d won, but he’d expected more.
What was up with Liu Qingge? Why hadn’t he fought back?
Still, he tried to tell himself as he soaked in a warm bath, washing away the dust and the grime from having rolled around on the forest with Liu Qingge, at least now that he’d won, Liu Qingge would surely not seek him out any time soon.
He was wrong.
Three days after their spar, Liu Qingge was back. Shen Jiu was making his way to a spot in the bamboo forest in Qing Jing to meditate by himself when Liu Qingge showed up.
“Spar with me,” he demanded.
“Leave me alone,” Shen Jiu said, walking past him.
“No!” Predictably, Liu Qingge followed him. “How else will you improve if we don’t spar?”
Shen Jiu stopped in his tracks and whirled around to glare at him. “Need I remind you who won our last spar?”
Liu Qingge’s expression changed, and Shen Jiu could see he was visibly flustered. Interesting. “You only won because you– because you–“
“Because I?” Shen Jiu prompted. “What did I do?”
“You know what you did,” Liu Qingge said, and Shen Jiu smirked as he watched the tips of his ears go from pink to red, and the blush slowly extended down to his neck.
Shen Jiu took out his fan and opened it methodically, before slowly starting to fan himself. “Is that what you want, then? You want us to spar again so I can bite your neck again? I didn’t know you were into that, but you could have just said so.”
Liu Qingge was so red at that point and so clearly flustered that Shen Jiu idly worried he would qi deviate.
“That’s not how it is!” he protested, but Shen Jiu was having too much fun, so he slowly walked closer to him, laughing to himself as Liu Qingge took as many steps back as he took forward, and he only stopped when Liu Qingge had unknowingly backed himself against a tree, having nowhere else to run to.
“Are you sure, Liu shidi?” he asked, fixing him with an intense gaze. “You certainly seem far more affected than you’re letting on.”
He was so close to Liu Qingge he could tell he wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t surprised; outside of spars, this was probably the closest anyone had ever gotten to Liu Qingge.
Still, Shen Jiu found he didn’t want to back down. Something about being able to bring Liu Qingge to this state where he was essentially so powerless, unlike their usual dynamic, was exhilarating.
He wanted to push and push and push and test the limits of Liu Qingge’s patience until he snapped, and he wanted to see what would happen when he did.
“Well, Liu shidi?” he asked, breaking the strange, tense silence between them, and leaning in so close that a whisper was almost too loud. He angled his head and moved closer to Liu Qingge’s neck, so close he could graze his teeth against it if he wanted to. “What is it you want?”
Liu Qingge was trembling, he realized. He could also do whatever he wanted, he realized as well.
Testing Liu Qingge’s limits once again, he moved his head closer and gently bit down on his neck, in the same spot as he had only three days earlier, letting saliva slightly pool in his mouth so he could lick at the bite spot once he let go. When he bit down a second time, he was harsher, rougher, though not as much as he’d been during their spar.
When he let go, he sucked on the bite mark, just enough that it would leave a mark.
(That idea shouldn’t excite him as much as it did.)
“You liked it,” he observed, taking in the way Liu Qingge’s trembling had intensified, and the way his hands had flown to grip Shen Jiu’s arms tightly, though they weren’t pushing him away. And yet, Liu Qingge looked scared, though he was willing to bet it wasn’t him he was scared of. “Am I wrong?”
Liu Qingge didn’t answer. Instead, he finally snapped out of his daze and used the grip he had on his arms to finally push him away.
He disappeared back to where he’d come from quickly enough, leaving a highly amused Shen Jiu behind.
Maybe now he would finally leave him alone?
The next day, there was a dead Red Striped Tiger at his door.