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             There was a dog.

            Shen Qingqiu sniffed in disgust, drawing up his hems as the large, muddied creature perked up from its place laying on his front porch, staring at him with large, baleful honey-brown eyes.

            “Disgusting,” the peak lord muttered, whipping his fan out to shoo the thing away.

            The dog didn’t seem to care too much about the intrinsic threat.

            “There you are! Shixiong, its up here!” came a sudden, high-pitched cry, followed by a sweaty Ning Yingying, who raced up to the steps of the Bamboo House with a bright smile and a flush high on her cheeks. “Shizun, you found him!”

            “Ning Yingying, explain,” Shen Qingqiu demanded coldly, not that the girl seemed to notice, even as Ming Fan, who had appeared behind her, grimaced at his tone.

            “This disciple was doing her chores, Shizun!” the youngest of his students proclaimed. “Ming Shixiong and I were sweeping the stairs, and then this sweet dog came wandering through the gates! I tried to catch him to see if he belonged to someone, but he ran off the paths and I lost him!”

            No wonder the thing was so filthy. Given the wild look in Ning Yingying’s adoring eyes, he couldn’t really blame the thing for running. The girl had hardly a single disciplined bone in her body, and if Shen Qingqiu didn’t find her the least repulsive of the children, he would be much harsher.

            “This is not a wild den like that beast peak down the mountain range,” Shen Qingqiu scolded, tucking his fan back into his belt. “Since Disciple Ning and Disciple Ming seem to have enough time to go gallivanting around chasing mutts, you can also see it taken to your Duan Shishu’s care- where dirty animals belong.”

            “But Shizun-!” Ning Yingying began to plead.

            “And then,” Shen Qingqiu continued, cutting her off, “you will both report to the discipline hall for punishment, since you seem to have no regard for completing your mandated work on this peak. Now get this beast off this Master’s porch.”

            The dog, silent up until this point, shifted up onto its muddied paws with a sharp whining sound, its floppy ears shifting back against its skull to make its large, brown eyes seem truly pathetic as it stared up at Shen Qingqiu.

            “Do not make this Master repeat himself!” he snapped as both children seemed to pause, his sharp tone causing them to lurch back into action with muttered, “yes, Shizun”s as they tried to close in on the disgusting beast.

            The dog backed away with another whine, before it suddenly barked, loud enough to make Ning Yingying stumble back, tripping over her own feet to tumble directly into Shen Qingqiu’s legs. As Ming Fan turned to try and catch his shimei, the dog also turned, slipping off the edge of the porch and bolting out into the tall, swaying stalks of bamboo.

            “You-!” Shen Qingqiu yelled, cuffing the boy on the back of the head with a snarl. “You dare stand in front of this Master when you can’t even handle such a simple thing? Get off! Ning Yingying, off!” He all but shoved the girl back up onto her feet where she turned to him with watery eyes. “Away, with both of you! Such blatant incompetence, see if this Master calls you his students by this time tomorrow!”

            “Shizun,” the girl simpered, a pout on her lips that only just managed to sway something in his hardened heart. “I didn’t mean to.”

           Shen Qingqiu felt a growl of his own worm up past his lips. He did not have time for such tomfoolery today.

            “To the discipline hall- both of you.”

            The children bowed, at last accepting the punishments, and moved back down the path. Shen Qingqiu watched them go for a while, before he smoothed down the front of his robes and resumed his plan for the day.

            Several of his more advanced students had been working on a project, overseen by the Hallmasters, but in the final stages now, they required Shen Qingqiu’s personal approval for the required materials for the next steps. Given that what they were asking for laid an abhorrent expense on the Qing Jing coffers, he of course had to attend to the matter in person before approving such funding.

            “All the mores the pity that they will probably fall short of this Master’s expectations,” he thought to himself as he made way across his peak, acting as though he was unaware of the brown shadow following him from the edge of the woods.

***

            As a child, Shen Qingqiu had known his share of dogs. Big muscled dogs, small growling dogs, starving dogs that would tear the fingers (or more) off an orphan slave, and doted upon dogs that were lead on fine velvet leashes by rich young ladies through the city streets as a show of luxury.

            The dog that haunted the shadows of his Qing Jing peak did not seem to easily fit into any of those categories. While covered in mud, the thick clots plastering its long brown fur together in clumps, it did not seem to be starving. Later on, after a seasonal rainstorm, it didn’t even seem particularly dirty. It also did not seem to be anything remarkable, in the few other instances Shen Qingqiu had caught sight of it in the days since Ning Yingying’s failed capture. As such, it was unlikely to be an escaped spirit dog from Ling You Peak.

            It wasn’t an impossible idea for a regular dog to have managed to climb the mountain, but it would be outside the norm. Most animals had some inherent sense for qi, as a survival instinct, and as such tended to avoid areas where it pooled too heavily. For a random dog to waltz into the middle of a cultivation sect of Cang Qiong’s caliber, it would either have to be stupid or desensitized.

            Given what he had seen, Shen Qingqiu had a suspicion it was probably both.

            Now, nearly a week after the first appearance, it was almost expected that Shen Qingqiu would open his door and find the mutt laying on his porch. It would look up at him with its big brown eyes, always so watchful, and tilt its head to the side with a lolling tongue and swishing tail.

            “Still disgusting,” Shen Qingqiu would sneer, and sweep past.

            He had attempted to have it removed again, of course, but the beast was a slippery thing when it wanted to be, dodging even his older students sent to catch it, and taking off to wherever it hid when it wasn’t lurking in Shen Qingqiu’s shadow. He had put his foot down at chasing the thing himself- he was above such things. He refused to stoop down to chasing stupid animals through the bamboo.

            It was as he was reluctantly listening to the younger class commit auditory murder upon their guqin strings that he finally got some brief respite, taking form in the strange appearance of one Mu Qingfang.

            “Continue,” he instructed the hopeless novices as he stepped down from his raised dais at the front of the open-walled teaching pavilion.

            “Shen Shixiong,” Mu Qingfang greeted him coolly, seeming as though he had already been through hardships, even so early in the morning.

            “This Master knows well enough that Mu Shidi has more than enough to keep his hands busy on Qian Cao,” the Qing Jing lord replied in lieu of greeting.

            “Yes, but this matter is rather sensitive. Does Shixiong have a moment to speak privately?”

            Shen Qingqiu tossed a piece of hair back behind his shoulder with a scoff, even as he lead them to a smaller side pavilion and drew a silencing talisman from his sleeve and set its area of effect around them. “Well? Speak. This Master has other matters to attend to.”

            “Has Shen Shixiong seen Zhangmen Shixiong in the last few days?” Mu Qingfang asked.
           “This Shixiong is blessed to tell Shidi that he has not,” Shen Qingqiu said with a sharp smile. “Why? It was this Master’s understanding that Zhangmen Shixiong was in seclusion for the time being.”

            Mu Qingfang turned, setting his back to the students obviously attempting to overhear. “There was an issue this one was called to treat, about a fortnight past. For his recovery, he indeed entered seclusion in the LingXi Caves. I had gone to check on him recently, as I have periodically since his entrance, but… He is no longer there, Shixiong.”

             Something cold welled in the pit of Shen Qingqiu’s stomach. “What?”

            “He is not there,” Mu Qingfang repeated. “I have swept the whole of the expanse, and he is no longer in the caves.” Mu Qingfang shifted, clearly uncomfortable. “I cannot say what all transpired on the evening I was called, but I have good reason to believe that if he were to reach out to anyone, it would be you, Shen Shixiong.”

            Shen Qingqiu could not stop himself from barking out a cruel, scathing chuckle, dark and unhappy. “Mu Shidi, perhaps it is you who might need to be treated for maladies, if you think that Yue Qingyuan would turn to me in his time of need.”

            “You are the second in command,” Mu Qingfang argued, “and it is abundantly clear he favors you among the lords. Just…” The man heaved a heavy sigh. “I will keep looking, and I pray that I am wrong. Just keep an eye out, will you? I will naturally inform the other lords, so we might all assist in the search moving forward.”

            Shen Qingqiu, for once, found himself without words, staring coldly at the man before him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. “You truly have no idea?” he finally managed to ask.

            Mu Qingfang shook his head, solemn. “There was only… Xuan Su.”

            This, more than anything, alarmed Shen Qingqiu, and he felt his spine straighten. “Where could Yue Qingyuan have gone that he would leave his sword behind?”  

            “I see,” Shen Qingqiu finally continued, pulling out his fan sharply to try and hide the trouble in his conflicted heart. “This Master will of course keep his eyes open, should Zhangmen Shixiong make an appearance.”

            “Thank you,” Mu Qingfang said with a slight bow. “Now, if you will excuse me, I must inform the others. I will report back to you with whatever I find, naturally.”

            “Naturally,” Shen Qingqiu agreed with a discontented hum, watching the lesser lord walk away.

***

            The night after Shen Qingqiu was informed that the sect leader was missing, the Heavens, of course, decided to mock him.

            Rain pelted the roof of his bamboo house, thunder rattling the skies even as his heart rattled in his chest, his bones aching in those places where he had never healed quite correctly in his youth.  

            He paced, his fan flicking irritably.  

            He had spent the remainder of his day on Qiong Ding with the other lords, combing through the caverns of the LingXi Caves, and down the perilous, unkempt sections of the mountainsides before the weather and darkness had set in.  

            It had been decided they would go out into the storm in shifts, so that no potential aggressors could cause problems while they were away on the hunt, leaving Shen Qingqiu to stew in his leisure house waiting for word on the progress of the search.

            Part of him was feeling rather gleeful about the whole thing, honestly. Yue Qingyuan loved to haunt him- to pester him with his petty shows of wealth and power disguised as favor. Loved to pit him against the other lords. So, for him to be out of the picture meant that only Shen Qingqiu himself could make final calls about all the nonsensical things that were surely to be pitched his way until the sect leader was found.

            But the greater, more frantic part of him despaired. He had wanted to be free of the invisible chains Yue Qingyuan had managed to ensnare him with- but that didn’t mean he wished for Yue Qingyuan to be gone!

            Unbidden, his memory provided the last words he had hurled at the sect leader after their most recent spat, when he’d banished the man from the Bamboo House once again.

            “Yue Qingyuan, you’re no more to me than a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Get out, you lying dog, and take your pathetic gifts with you!”

            His tumultuous thoughts were interrupted after a particularly booming strike of thunder, where yet another pathetic, whelping whine reverberated through his front door. The sound, so low and keening, had something in him snapping.

            Shen Qingqiu threw open the door with a snarl, just as another bout of lightning struck, and stared down at the mutt where it had curled against the door. It did not leap away from him, merely looking up with its baleful eyes and a small whine.

            “You pathetic beast,” Shen Qingqiu hissed. “Go away!”

            The dog whined again, laying its head on its paws with what could only be called a pleading look. While it was raining quite heavily, the animal seemed to have kept close to the door, its fur barely damp, and its big… pleading… eyes…

            “Fine,” Shen Qingqiu growled, reaching down and grabbing the thing by the scruff of its neck to haul it through the door.

            The beast gave a startled yelp, clearly not expecting to be handled so roughly, but once it was through the door, it sat up straight, its tongue once again rolling out of its mouth while it panted happily, watching Shen Qingqiu close the door with a snap.

            “Idiot creature,” the man groused. “Never let it be said this Master cannot show mercy.”  The dog huffed, its tail staring to wag slightly.  

            “Ugh,” Shen Qingqiu said, curling his lip in distaste as the slimy tongue flipped back and forth slightly with each pant. “Dogs really are disgusting. You had best behave yourself, lest this generous Master change his mind about letting you in.”

            Shen Qingqiu made to return to the main room, where his papers were laid out on a table being neglected. The dog happily trotted along after him, in spite of the muttered insults the peak lord continued to produce in regards to its long, fluffy golden fur and general composition.

            “At least,” Shen Qingqiu thought to himself as he turned through his work, “it finally stopped its pathetic noise making.”

***

            As soon as the storm broke, Shen Qingqiu had every intention of throwing the mutt back outside, but the thing seemed content to merely lay next to his desk, head on its paws, and make no sound, and seemed to have no need to exit for its own needs.

             …Shen Qingqiu looked down at the beast.

            …The beast looked back up at him with golden, honeyed eyes.

            “…if you make a mess in my house, I’ll skin you myself,” the peak lord promised, rising to make his way towards his bedroom.

            He felt his eye twitch as the creature slipped in with the swish of his silks, settling down in front of the foot of the bed with nary a sound, watching as the lord removed the qainkun bag that held the abandoned Xuan Su and tucked into a secret drawer in his wardrobe.

            Shen Qingqiu bared his teeth at the thing as he crawled into bed, making no move to expel it from his innermost space.

            “All the better to make sure it doesn’t make a mess somewhere I can’t see,” he thought to himself, huffing.  

            Sleep didn’t come to him easily on the best of nights, and so Shen Qingqiu stared out of the corner of his eye to where the dog laid on the floor, and the dog seemed to stare back, its big brown eyes in its stupid big brown head resting on its stupid big paws.

            Realizing that he was being ridiculous, having a staring contest with a dog of all creatures, Shen Qingqiu huffed and rolled over, glaring at the wall until he managed to catch the faint, flighty hand of slumber.

***

            The Qing Jing Peak Lord returned to the Bamboo House in a swirl of fine silks and fury, slamming the door shut behind him.

            “Yue Qingyuan!” he hissed to himself, throwing his fan on his desk and ignoring the way the dog’s head popped up in alarm. “You stupid fucking man!” Heaved a sigh, leaning against the table, his head hanging low. “I swear to the Gods when I find out where you’ve run off to…”

            A dark, ugly laugh bubbled up, and Shen Qingqiu ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands until the pain made the knot in his throat ease. “Of course,” he laughed horridly, “of course you would leave me. Again. You… horrible, horrible person… And who is left to clean up your mess? Me, as always!”

            The dog whimpered from its place by his desk, where it had made its comfort known in the few days since being permitted into the house.  

            “Oh, be quiet,” Shen Qingqiu snapped, although the heat of his anger was slowly leeching out of him. “It’s not like you understand the situation at all anyway.”

            The dog shifted up onto its paws, slowly moving towards the peak lord, until it was close enough to gently press its nose to the side of his hand, only to earn a smack on the head for its effort.  

            “Keep your disgusting wet nose off of me,” Shen Qingqiu ordered, recoiling from the touch. “Go! Shoo! Sit!”

            The dog turned in a circle at once, before it plopped it hindquarters back down on the floor with a happy pant, its head tilting to the side, one of its ears flopping over from the force of the motion.

            “… you really are stupid,” Shen Qingqiu said softly, reaching out to poke the animal between its stupid eyes.  

            The dog only closed its eyes and pressed up into the touch, as though any acknowledgment from Shen Qingqiu was enough to light up its whole world. It made him huff, slightly amused, but his foul temper failed to abate, and he sighed once more.  

            It would behoove him to finish the looming stack of paperwork waiting on his desk, but the more he stared at it, the less it felt like the world would care if a few measly pieces of paper got ink on them that night or the next morning. He had been out most of the day with the other lords in search, and his bones pulled tight against his skin.

            “Tomorrow then,” he finally sighed, turning towards his room.  

            The dog popped back up and made to follow him, yelping when the peak lord grabbed it by its neck and tossed it back into the hall. “Not tonight, mutt.”

            Shen Qingqiu shut the door with a decisive, fluid motion, and ignored the whimpering that ensued from the other side.

            The beast had done well enough alone, seeming to be trained on how to behave indoors, and so he no longer had an issue leaving it out in the hall while he shed his regalia, a feeling of great tiredness settling over him with each removed layer.

            It had been weeks since he’d been able to slip down the mountain to take solace in the arms of a sister or two at the Warm Red Pavillion, and his body’s temperamental fits against sleep were once again starting to grate on him.

            If Yue Qingyuan, the bastard, hadn’t gone off to heavens knew where, Shen Qingqiu would have no issue making the descent. But as things stood, and with the current atmosphere among the other peak lords, he couldn’t afford to go stirring up the hornets’ nest now.

            It was with heavy thoughts and the tune of the dog’s pitiful whimpers that Shen Qingqiu fell into a restless slumber.

*** 

            Fire. Pain. Blood. Pain. Running. Pain. Begging.

            Pain.

             Pain…

            PAIN!!!!

            Shen Qingqiu gasped, his eyes flying open as he heaved thrashing under his twisted sheets, the afterimages of fire and death searing on the backs of his eyelids as he scrambled away in fear.

            Hands curled around him, pressing on his neck, scratching against his bones as the harsh, goading voice of his masters past whispered in his ears, calling from beyond their graves.

             It hurt.  

             It hurt!

            He could feel his joints starting to lock up, the tendons of his muscles pulling tight as he tried to flee, curling up on himself in a desperate act of self-preservation.  

             It hurt… it wasn’t safe… he wasn’t safe… he had to run…runrunrunrnunrunrunrunrun!!!

            There was a loud sound, from the other side of the room, no doubt Qiu Jianluo come to give him his due for whatever slight he had managed this time, come to beat him until it all went dark, or worse…  

            Something heavy pressed against his legs, and he flinched away, but it followed, worming around him until it pressed against his thigh and over his curled belly, up until the cold tip pressed against the side of his neck.

            Something warm flickered against him, deeper than the touch of warm softness, something inside, and the rapid, staccato beating of Shen Qingqiu’s heart began to slow as he distantly put together the thought that it was familiar.

            …Qi…

            …Yue Qingyuan’s qi… that feeling of warmth he was so often bombarded with after a hiccup with his cultivation, much to his distain.

            Slowly, so slowly, Shen Qingqiu felt his body release its hold passing control back over to a more conscious mind as the all-too-familiar qi receded.  

            Shen Qingqiu looked at the door that had been forced open, and the large honey-brown dog curled around him, watching with big, knowing eyes. His hands had, at some point, curled into the thick strands of fluffy fur along its side, keeping the beast close.  

            Shen Qingqiu sniffed, the metallic, coppery scent of blood thick in his sinuses. “…Yue Qingyuan?”

            The dog whined softly, pressing its nose under his chin once more.

            “Yue Qingyuan?” Shen Qingqiu asked again, earning a firmer press under his jaw and a small huff. “What…?”

            There was a sudden, frantic knocking from out in the hall, echoing from the front door.

            “Shen Shixiong?!” came the muffled cry of Mu Qingfang. “This one is coming in!”

            Before he could even think to rebuke the entrance, the physician was tearing into the room, his qainkun bag of medical supplies already detached from his belt, and the dog- Yue Qingyuan- slipped to the side as the other lord rushed in, quickly taking over passing fresh, clean qi into Shen Qingqiu’s meridians.

            “You are lucky you were able to activate your alert talisman,” Mu Qingfang said after a few moments. “You seem to be bouncing back quickly.”

            Shen Qingqiu was only half listening; his eyes focused on the brown dog sitting by the foot of his bed. He most certainly had not been in the state of mind to ignite an alert talisman, and even if he had been, he would rather die than allow Mu Qingfang to see him in such a state.

            His thoughts continued to whirl as he stared at the watchful dog.

            “Shen Shixiong?” Mu Qingfang asked, leaning in to break his line of sight.

           “What?” Shen Qingqiu managed to ask, only then remembering to snatch his wrist away with a frown.

            “This Shidi asked if Shen Shixiong had taken any qi pills. Your levels are too high for the amount of damage I am detecting.”

            Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath, letting his head thud back against the wall. “Mu Shidi… this Master seems to have been mistaken. Mu Shidi truly did know where Zhangmen Shixiong might run off to.”

***

            “He’s WHAT?!” Qi Qingqi asked, spluttering into her teacup.  

            “This one has verified it himself,” Mu Qingfang said seriously, gesturing to the dog leaning against the Qing Jing lord’s seat at the conference table. “This… is Zhangmen Shixiong.”

             The gathered lords stared, the canine looking back placidly from his place at the feet of Shen Qingqiu.

            “Shen Qingqiu!” Liu Qingge said, standing from his seat, the wood screeching angrily at the sudden movement. “What have you done?”

             “Me?” Shen Qingqiu hissed. “What makes you think I had anything to do with this?”

             “You are the one to gain from his removal!” the Bai Zhan brute said, a hand on his hilt.

            “And I suppose my master plan must hinge greatly on revealing exactly where Zhangmen Shixiong went, of course.” He tossed a strand of hair back behind his shoulder. “Use your brain, for once, Liu Qingge. If I wanted him gone, I wouldn’t have been the one to sound the call.”

             “He’s been on Qing Jing for weeks! Why didn’t you say anything?”

            “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Shen Qingqiu invited with a wave of his hand, smiling behind his fan as the brute actually looked down at the dog.

            “It might be a difficult thing for you to understand, given that you prefer to communicate through grunts and violence, but not all of us speak like beasts.” Shen Qingqiu mocked. “Dogs also aren’t very articulate, Shidi. How was I to know the stray mutt was the sect leader?”

            Liu Qingge huffed, and looked away with a scowl.

            “What do we do now, then?” Shang Qinghua asked, toying with he end of his sash. “How do we, uh, un-dog-ify him?”

            “This seems to be the result of a qi deviation,” Mu Qingfang said seriously. “If he is to regain his natural form, he will need to adjust something within himself that is causing the imbalance. Until then, it would be best to share the workload and do all we can to ease his recovery.”

            “Naturally, we mustn’t let the disciples catch wind,” Shen Qingqiu added, looking down as Yue Qingyuan yawned, and settled to lay on his paws. “And Zhangmen Shixiong must of course have someone to look after him.”

            “He is welcome on Ling You, of course,” Duan Qingze said, shifting in his seat. “My beast peak would be able to care for all his needs in this form.”

             “He will stay with me,” Shen Qingqiu said, surprising even himself.

            “He will not!” Liu Qingge argued. “You could still be the one behind this! And we all know you have a foul heart for the sect leader. We can’t trust him with you.”

            “I’ve been the one taking care of things thus far, and I will continue to do so,” Shen Qingqiu stated coldly.  

            “You are not-!”

            Liu Qingge suddenly cut off as a low, dangerous growl reverberated off the stone floors. Shen Qingqiu looked down, his fan stilling as he caught sight of Yue Qingyuan staring directly at Liu Qingge from his place between the two peak lords, his ears pulled back and teeth barred.

             Liu Qingge attempted to take a step forward, “Zhangmen Shixiong.”

            The dog snarled again, snapping its teeth as though to say, “stay away!”, leaving something warm and jittery to swell in Shen Qingqiu’s chest.

             “Well,” the Qing Jing lord said with a smirk. “I do believe that settles that.”

***

            Yue Qingyuan wasn’t stupid. Shen Qingqiu could tell that at least some of his higher consciousness dwelled in that thick, dog-brained skull of his.  

             That didn’t mean he couldn’t have some of his own fun though.

            “Sit,” Shen Qingqiu ordered, smirking as the dog in front of him obediently lowered its haunches, eagerly watching the thin slice of meat Shen Qingqiu held between his chopsticks. “Mm, not bad. Now… lay down.”

            The dog launched down onto its forelegs, the fluff of its tail wagging back and forth as it watched the tempted treat.

             “…roll over.”

            A chaotic tumble followed, where the creature seemed to get momentarily stuck on its back, wiggling back and forth before finally righting itself again.

            “Heh.” Shen Qingqiu smirked, and finally tossed the scrap from his dinner, quirking a brow as the maws chomped it straight from the air. “You truly are pathetic like this, Yue Qingyuan.” He nudged the bowl his dinner had come in, contemplating before setting it on the ground. “Eat.”

            As the dog happily lapped at the scraps, Shen Qingqiu watched with a twisting sense of amusement. “Such behavior… you really cannot be compared to the lord of the sect like this, can you? Could you imagine what people would say if they knew the Xuan Su Sword himself deigned to eat slop off the floor?”

            He stood with a flourish, brushing nonexistent dust from the front of his robes as he turned away. “I don’t think you deserve any titles like this, do you?Hm?” He watched a moment longer before something took over his thoughts and he closed his fan with a decisive click! If Yue Qingyuan was stupid enough to get to this point, he really didn’t deserve any respect, did he?

            “Qi-Qi, come.”

             A deep amusement filled Shen Qingqiu as the dog immediately looked up at him, tilting its head as it abandoned the bowl and took its place by his side, looking up to watch the peak lord’s face as they moved.  

            “Really? You’ve become so stupid you’ll even let me call you like that?”

            Shen Qingqiu, feeling amiable, reached down and tapped the dog between the eyes with the tip of his finger. “…good, dog. Let’s go.”

            He hadn’t intended to allow the thing to keep sleeping in his room, especially once he’d figured out the situation he was in, but that first night after his almost-deviation, he had tossed and turned until a small nudge at the door had broken him. The mutt had slunk in, head low, like it knew what it was doing, at took up its post at the foot of the bed while something Shen Qingqiu refused to observe loosened in his chest.

             So…Yue Qingyuan slept in his room.

            And, given that he was now a dog, he couldn’t simply stay inside forever either. So, Shen Qingqiu would open the front door in the morning after giving him scraps from his bowl, at mock the sect leader as he ran around in circles for a while before darting to and fro, but always managing to return to the Qing Jing lord’s side.

            In the following days, it became somewhat common for Shen Qingqiu to be seen stalking his peak, a large, fluffy brown dog trailing dutifully at his hip, happily panting.

            Except, of course, when its master was angry. Whenever someone had the audacity to talk back to Shen Qingqiu, even Liu Qingge come to pick fights, the sweet, stupid beast that haunted Shen Qingqiu’s every step would peel back its lips, its teeth snapping as it growled at whoever dared to displease his master.

            It was very pleasing to the lord in question, and he made sure to reward the behavior with a soft tap on the head and an extra scrap of meat at their next meal.

***

            Shen Qingqiu laid in bed, staring at the white canopy overhead, silently begging for rest.  

            Ever since he’d permitted Yue Qingyuan to begin sleeping in his room, he had felt somewhat less restless (not that he would ever admit such a thing), but even then, he still struggled to find sleep in the hours of the night.

            He heaved a sigh, flicking the bedding off and swinging his legs over the edge of the mattress. Yue Qingyuan, naturally, perked up at the movement, watching him with a curious tilt of his head.

             “Dumb dog,” Shen Qingqiu groused, running a hand through his hair.  

            The dumb dog in question only stood with a slight stretch, padding its way over to sit next to the man. Shen Qingqiu simply sat there for a while, staring down at the floorboards, until a weight pressed against his leg.

             “Oh, get off, would you?” he snapped, nudging the dog to sit upright again.  

             The beast only shuffled close again, and put its head in his lap.

            It was lucky that Shen Qingqiu was so tired, otherwise he’d grasp it by the scruff and go lock it outside for disobedience. Yes…that was what he should have done… but the ache for rest made his bones weak.

            “You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he muttered darkly, even as his hand came to rest on the soft fur adorning its nape, slowly stroking down. “What could I expect, though? You’ve always been hopeless…”

            The dog sniffed, pressing its head further up into his hand. Something in his core yearned to take that head between his hands and squish it, bully it in all sorts of ways, but he stayed his hand, simply dragging the pad of his thumb up the ridge of its nose again and again.

            “Alright,” he eventually murmured, his shoulders sagging slightly.  

            He was so tired…

            Shen Qingqiu shifted back up onto his bed, scooting back a bit further than before.

            “Come on then,” he ordered, the words coming out much softer than he would ever admit.

            The dog took a hesitant step forward, tilting its head slightly until Shen Qingqiu tapped a finger to the open spot next to him. Yue Qingyuan lifted one paw, settling on the edge of the bedframe and paused, as though waiting to be scolded.

            When no rebuke came, the dog finally proceeded, gingerly crawling up onto the bed, and curling up against Shen Qingqiu’s side.  

            With the weight pressed against him and one hand loosely curled in his fur, Shen Qingqiu finally managed to fall asleep.

***

            Morning came with a haze, the space between dreams and waking clinging to Shen Qingqiu like a web. Warmth filled him, lazy and soft, and he turned his face in towards the solid heat under his cheek with a small sigh.

            The jiejie he laid with shifted as well, an arm coming to rest along his waist.

            A big… muscled… arm…?

            The haze rapidly receded as Shen Qingqiu bolted up in bed, the man accompanying him startling with him.

            “Wh’a’sit?” Yue Qingyuan slurred, sleepy eyes scanning the room before looking back at Shen Qingqiu.

            The other man stared back for a long moment, before blinking and shaking his head slightly, then descending on him with a scowl and repeated slaps.

            “What! Did! You! DO!?” the Qing Jing lord demanded, punctuating each word with a slap to the other’s chest. “Do you know how much chaos you’ve left me to deal with these past weeks?”

             “Xiao-Jiu, I-!”

            “I don’t care!” Shen Qingqiu yelled, shifting to pin the other down. “You owe me, Yue Qingyuan. Do you hear me? You owe me so much.”

            It was, at this point, that Shen Qingqiu realized that Yue Qingyuan’s chest was bare, leaving his nails to dig into his pectorals as he scolded him. Which was promptly followed by the realization that the sect leader of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect was in his bed, and presumably bare everywhere.  

            “This Yue Qi will repay his Xiao-Jiu however he can,” Yue Qingyuan said softly to the suddenly frozen and wide-eyed statue of his fellow lord above him.

            “…mind your words, Yue Qingyuan," Shen Qingqiu said in a daze. "Mind your words…”

***

             Shen Qingqiu opened the front door with an annoyed glare. “What is it?”

             “Shang Shishu is at the gate wondering if Zhangmen Shibo is visiting,” Ming Fan stated.

             “He is not,” Shen Qingqiu huffed. “Now, I am set to work. Do not disturb me for the remainder of the day.”

            “Yes, Shizun,” the boy said with an annoyingly groveling bow before retreating.  

            In the weeks since Yue Qingyuan’s return to human form, things had mostly gone back to normal among the peaks, with one decided difference that the lord of Qing Jing would not have interrupted.

            Shen Qingqiu hummed as he returned to his bedroom, where his favored pet was waiting, dutifully sitting on his haunches, even as a flush continued to work down his exposed chest in anticipation of what was to come.

            “They’re looking for Zhangmen Shixiong, but he’s not here,” Shen Qingqiu said in a soft voice as he hooked a finger through the fine brown velvet collar around the man’s neck. “Is he, Qi-Qi?”

            The man, eyes glassy and lidded, shook his head.

            “Mmm. Speak.”

            “Xiao-Jiu, please,” the once-sect leader begged, earning a smirk from his second in command. He’d don the title again when they were done, until Shen Qingqiu sent him their signal again, but for now, he was only a…

            “…Good dog.”