Chapter Text
"Xiao Jiu."
The address carried with it none of its prior sharpness or contempt, nor the repulsive false courtesy reserved for Qiu Haitang's presence. There were no connotations to it whatsoever. They were mere sounds falling across his ears.
It was not barked like a command from a young lord. The words didn't bite into his skin.
Shen Jiu had the urge to laugh, as he did any time that this demon stepped into his sight. Who was he fooling? This, he would claim, was Qiu Jianluo?
Although he would admit, it was possible this creature was not a man at all. There was a woman's genteel bearing in every move he made, refined and respectable rather than self-important and haughty. He never stormed these days, only walked with measured steps. Every move was calculated yet benign.
If Shen Jiu did not lower himself to bow with the "appropriate" haste, the beast would have struck him with a palm or the whip hanging from his hip. His hands were quick to cause pain, as Shen Jiu's had been on the streets.
The demon never raised a hand to him. Not yet, at least.
His whip remained absent. It had for over a week, since the first time a servant flinched in his presence at what appeared to be a genuinely absentminded setting of his hand over his hip.
"This slave responds to his master." Shen Jiu did not bow or even lower his head, rudely staring him in the eye. Daring him to react.
The demon's face twitched in mild discomfort. His eyes betrayed the true amount of discomfort, none of the mildness of his face. He disliked being addressed as Master. "Walk with this one."
Shen Jiu could abandon his broom, as it was likely he would soon be assigned a task that required the use of both hands, but he kept it. One weapon is better than no weapon. It raised his confidence if only a touch.
He would not strike "Qiu Jianluo" if he did not make a move to strike him first. There was little point to it. If the demon could shapeshift or possess a human, what else was he capable of? That aside, there were guards stationed everywhere.
Some of the guards were different. The sadistic ones who beat on the servants or leered at the maids, gone from sight. Expelled. Replaced.
He observed and watched, knuckles white.
The demon nodded at the servants who greeted him instead of ignoring them as the beast would have in his better moods. Shen Jiu stopped at the doorframe leading inside, heart beating against his ribs. The demon paused when he did not hear footfalls and turned his body halfway, observing him through dark eyes.
Qiu Jianluo would call him privileged to be allowed to learn to read and write and call him ungrateful for dragging his feet. He would kick him down and kick him until his sides were tender and bruised, a favored pastime of his. This room... Shen Jiu held a distaste for it.
He held a distaste for any room that Qiu Jianluo beat him in, really.
This person lowered his eyes briefly, concern flashing across his face, coupled with displeasure and anger.
"What?" Shen Jiu found himself spitting out. Ice flooded his chest soon after. Hit me. He's going to hit me now.
Go ahead. Predictable, disappointing, undependable- even a demon is just another shitty excuse for a man-
The rest of him was hot and trembling with anger. The joints of his fingers ached from how tightly he gripped his broom.
Calm swept over the demon's face. His eyes were mournful.
Shen Jiu breathed out, seething. Confused. Afraid.
"The weather is pleasing. This young master fancies discussing literature in the garden." The demon stepped, and Shen Jiu stepped back, making way for him. He was patient even at the human's hesitation and only began walking once he was fully out of his way. No pushing. No shoving. No stern words.
Puzzling.
Shen Jiu followed, first behind, then at his side, keeping pace. Qiu Jianluo always made him step behind. The demon preferred to see him.
After having a maid arrange a pot of oolong tea and an array of snacks, Shen Jiu found himself seated across from the demon. Birdsong filled the air. The willow tree's leaves swayed in the midday breeze.
A plate of roasted chestnuts and peach slices was nudged in his direction while the demon looked away innocently, doing a poor job of being subtle. Shen Jiu cautiously poured the man tea first before selecting a thicker peach slice.
Juice burst over his tongue, slightly bitter.
Shen Jiu wanted to laugh again, morbidly amused by the thought of Qiu Jianluo rolling over in his grave at the thought of showing an iota of kindness to the slave he detested. To be able to eat from the same table as him without Haitang first suggesting it, how impossible.
He may not trust this demon, but that was nothing personal. He trusted no one. No one but himself and a naive brother.
This demon, Shen Jiu did like him. He was hilarious, making a mockery of all Qiu Jianluo lived for, stealing his life and his face, preventing funeral rites from ever being conducted. Yeah, that's funny. Real funny.
Instead of forcing Shen Jiu to read poetry he barely understood or copy characters until his wrist ached, the demon held up small rectangles of parchment with massive characters painted in the center. If he had trouble guessing, there was a hint in the form of the illustration on the other side.
He then was allowed to pick what book he wanted to read from. He received a copy to follow along with the demon as he read aloud.
"Next week, you may attempt reading this chapter back to me."
"This humble one understands."
They read. They finished the tea and snacks. Then the demon dismissed him.
Shen Jiu pretended to leave and circled back around again.
The guard nearby stared at him briefly before choosing to ignore him, sympathizing with his confusion. Qiu Jianluo was acting bizarrely. Many of the servants had taken to discreetly observing the demon that had replaced their unpleasant young master out of curiosity.
The demon was walking, face at rest and somber, until one of the servant boys assigned to cleaning the roof slipped on his way down the ladder.
Shen Jiu and the guard watched in bafflement as the demon wearing Qiu Jianluo's face flung his body forward, arms lifting to the heavens as if to catch him. And catch him he did!
"Y-Y-Young Master." The boy was reasonably terrified to be caught in this person's arms. It would be preferable, were the beast the one holding him, to suffer through a cracked skull or a broken limb than Qiu Jianluo's attentions.
"Hello there. Are you alright?" Then came the small smile, open and honest, not a hint of mockery. His eyes were bright and warm.
The boy gawped. "...Yes? This one is? Thank you?"
The demon lowered the shell-shocked boy to the ground and proceeded to dust him off, tutting like an overbearing mother before he remembered the role he was playing.
"Take care in the future, lest this young master take the fees required to clean his outfit from Xiao Cao's salary. Dust, all over the place." With the fakest offended look, he lifted his chin and continued on his way.
Shen Jiu shared a look with the servants. Really? That was supposed to be Qiu Jianluo?
Had to be a demon who hollowed him from the inside out and devoured his everything to live in his skin.
"If you think that's bad," the guard remarked, "you should have seen how he handled tea being spilt."
Oh, do tell.
"What happened was-"
"A-Jiu." Qiu Haitang came around the corner and caught his hand. "Is it true what A-Luo says? You haven't eaten lunch?"
Yeah... Shen Jiu wasn't sure he would ever get used to the demon taking the initiative to manipulate "his" sister into ensuring that her friend was well fed. He didn't... not... want to spend time with her. He nevertheless found it puzzling, as he did the demon's other benign gestures.
Weren't demons supposed to be beings of pure chaos and evil? Why was this one more normal than the actual Qiu Jianluo?
"This one had a snack, but he admits he did not eat his fill."
Qiu Haitang scolded him and brought him to the kitchen to pick something out.