Work Text:
As Shen Qingqiu looks down at Luo Binghe sprawled out beneath her on the bed, all she can think is, Luo Binghe truly is perfect. Her curly hair frames her head like a dark halo, her chest heaving as she stares back up at Shen Qingqiu with a heated gaze in her eye.
It’s late at night and the silver moon is shining through the open window. Luo Binghe lays on the bed, her robes askew as a result of a passionate kiss full of tongues and teeth. Shen Qingqiu’s own robes are practically slipping off her shoulders, only covering the bare minimum. She’s sitting on the bed leaning over Luo Binghe, her long hair acting as a curtain shielding the two from the rest of the world. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes trail down her wife’s body, hungrily taking in every little bit.
“Perfect,” Shen Qingqiu murmurs aloud, because it’s true. Luo Binghe is the protagonist, and therefore she is objectively perfect.
Luo Binghe squirms beneath her, her expression tightening in a way that Shen Qingqiu recognizes. It breaks Shen Qingqiu’s heart; the gaze, after all, is one of disagreement.
Shen Qingqiu doesn’t know how Luo Binghe could disagree with her assessment.
“Shizun-” Luo Binghe tries.
Shen Qingqiu holds a hand up, fixing the half-demon with a stern look.
Luo Binghe swallows. “W-wife.” Her voice comes out breathy as her cheeks grow the beautiful rosy color that Shen Qingqiu oh-so adores.
“Correct,” Shen Qingqiu says with a smile. “You are my wife. And my wife is perfect.”
Luo Binghe bites her lip, turning her head to the side. “Shizun is too kind to this one…I-”
“My wife,” Shen Qingqiu continues, sitting up slightly as she brings one of her hands up to cup Luo Binghe’s cheek, “conquered the Endless Abyss at the age of twenty. She is the Empress of the Demon Realm, and she is the greatest fighter in all the lands.”
Luo Binghe’s face further reddens. “Sh-”
“Say it right.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice is commanding this time, because she needs Luo Binghe to understand what she’s saying.
“My wife is far more impressive than this lowly one,” Luo Binghe pushes back as her hand comes up to cover Shen Qingqiu’s. She leans into the touch. “My wife…she cheated death itself. She is the reason why the Human Realm and the Demon Realm work together in harmony. And she is the Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak.”
“Your wife sounds interesting,” Shen Qingqiu offers. “But my wife is perfect, and for some reason, she cannot get that through her head.”
Luo Binghe frowns and forgoes the flowery language. “I am not a saint, Shizun,” she mumbles. “I…I have done awful things. I’m a creature that thrives off of blood and violence.”
“Have I not fought in the past?” Shen Qingqiu asks rhetorically. “Have I not killed others? Are you saying that this one is also reprehensible?”
“No!” Luo Binghe blurts out, panicked. “No, of course not! But I…I’m not a good person.”
“No one is pure,” Shen Qingqiu says softly, leaning down and giving her wife a chaste kiss on the forehead, right on top of Luo Binghe’s zuiyin. “No one is without fault. No one is a good person—we are all merely trying our best to survive.”
“But…” Luo Binghe’s eyes water. She whispers wretchedly, “I hurt you, Shizun. I hurt you, my most precious person, and so…so I cannot be anything other than reprehensible.”
The words break Shen Qingqiu’s heart into pieces. “This one hurt you too, Binghe,” she reminds her. “This one…I pushed you into the Endless Abyss.”
“You had every right to-” Luo Binghe tries to argue, but Shen Qingqiu’s next words shut her protests down.
“You are my precious person too, Binghe, and I wish you would see that.” Shen Qingqiu’s thumb swipes away the few tears that have escaped her wife’s eyes. “That’s why I cannot let you continue to think about yourself like that. You’re the most important person in my life, and I will not let anyone talk about you like that. Not even you.”
With that, Shen Qingqiu pushes Luo Binghe’s robes aside, shrugging them off. Luo Binghe, still shocked at Shen Qingqiu’s words, doesn’t move to help—but that’s fine, because the purpose of tonight has made an abrupt change.
Tonight, Shen Qingqiu plans to worship Luo Binghe.
Shen Qingqiu stares down at her wife’s bare body, and she moves back. She starts at Luo Binghe’s legs. “These legs,” she whispers, her hands sliding up Luo Binghe’s feet, and then her shins, and then her knees, “were strong enough to carry you. Through every struggle you faced, these legs carried you; even when you were upset, or injured, or on the verge of giving up, your legs carried you to safety. They carried you back to me.”
Her hands trail up Luo Binghe’s muscular thighs, and then up her hips, coming to a stop at her lower dantian, where her core is. She leans down, pressing a feather-light kiss to Luo Binghe’s stomach right above her belly button. “My wife’s core is so, so strong,” she whispers into Luo Binghe’s skin. “You’re the most powerful person in all the realms.” She pulls back and smiles down.
“Shizun is exaggerating,” Luo Binghe replies, her voice coming out breathless.
“I would never exaggerate,” Shen Qingqiu says, and she’s telling the truth. Luo Binghe is, after all, the protagonist; it is only natural that she’s the most powerful person in the world. “My Binghe is strong.”
Her hands trail up Luo Binghe’s abs - her incredibly hard abs - and up her chest, going towards her shoulders. She then trails down Luo Binghe’s biceps, and then her elbows, and then her forearms, before finally interlocking her fingers with Luo Binghe’s.
“These hands have accomplished so much,” Shen Qingqiu says reverently. “These hands hold the sword that you use to protect your loved ones. These hands have shaped the world; they brought the three realms together.”
“They brought destruction,” Luo Binghe mutters darkly. “They…they wielded Xin Mo. They killed you, Shizun.”
“They don’t seem destructive right now,” Shen Qingqiu shoots back, squeezing her wife’s hands. “Look. I’m holding them, and nothing’s happening to me.” She then smirks. “Not to mention, these hands have brought me more pleasure than pain. The owner of these hands are very skilled.”
Luo Binghe flushes again at the compliment.
Shen Qingqiu then lets go of her hands, coming up to hold Luo Binghe’s face in a gentle cradle. “And, of course, my wife’s beautiful face. The most beautiful face in all the realms.”
Shen Qingqiu turns Luo Binghe’s face forwards, forcing Luo Binghe to maintain eye contact.
“Your crimson-red eyes.” Her thumbs brush the spot right underneath Luo Binghe’s eyes. “Your beautiful hair.” One hand softly cards through Luo Binghe’s locks. “Your perfect skin.” She plants a kiss on Luo Binghe’s skin. “Your striking zuiyin.”
“You can’t find that beautiful, Shizun,” Luo Binghe protests, this time only half-heartedly. “I’m a half-demon. I’m…I’m Tianlan-jun’s daughter. The demons, they’ve only brought pain to you.”
“Haven’t we settled this before?” Shen Qingqiu’s lips quirk up in a slight smile. “Demons aren’t inherently bad, Binghe. And you are, most certainly, the furthest thing one can be from bad. Didn’t I say it earlier?”
“Say what?” Luo Binghe asks quietly.
“You’re perfect.”
Luo Binghe whines. “Shizun,” she calls, her voice shaking vulnerably.
“Say it,” Shen Qingqiu says sternly. “You’re perfect.”
Luo Binghe’s lip trembles. “Shi-”
“Say it, Binghe.” Shen Qingqiu leans down, close enough for them to share a breath, but not close enough for Luo Binghe to reach up and kiss her. “Even if you don’t believe it. Even if you think I’m lying; I want you to say it. I want to hear you say it.”
Luo Binghe shakes her head. “I- I can’t, Shizun–”
“You can do anything, Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu says not unkindly. “If not for yourself, you can do it for me. Right, Binghe?”
Luo Binghe sobs out, “I’m p-perfect.” She spits it out like it’s a curse.
“Again.”
“I’m perfect…!”
Shen Qingqiu smiles. “Good.” And with that, she descends on her wife, capturing her lips in a searing kiss, giving Luo Binghe what she wanted.
Luo Binghe doesn’t believe it now. She thinks she’s a monster, unworthy of Shen Qingqiu’s love.
But Shen Qingqiu will repeat it. Over and over and over again, for as long as it takes for Luo Binghe to believe it.