Chapter Text
Qing Jin Peak was quiet.
Sunrise was brushing its soft hues in the sky, and dawn was slowly piercing through the bamboo sprinkled all over the mount. Early morning mist roamed around the bamboo house and the disciples dorms, above the muddy ground of the forest.
As the young hours of the day drew the veil of their modest show over the place, Liu Qingge felt like the only conscious soul on the Peak.
As Liu Qingge aroused in the quiet, familiar room once more.
Only soft breathings and the friction noises of the sheets could be heard within the bamboo house.
The calmness of the area left him restless.
It always had. And probably always would.
Bai Zhan was never silent.
The scent of blood, steel and leather oil easily dampened the natural odors of the morning. And the sound of clashing swords and wooden dummies being slashed was a relentless occurrence. It was easy to get used to this constant noise - especially after years of cultivation and with enhanced senses.
Liu Qingge didn’t like silence. It meant baits, traps or impending dooms.
It was always foreboding maelstroms.
It was deceiving.
Shen Qingqiu was silent most of the time.
Then, an unfortunate comment would unleash a wave of venomous words out of his cold lips. Always assessing, scrutinizing arguments, things and people before allowing his icy tongue to utter demeaning and spiteful sentences. Always quiet until he was unsatisfied enough to talk.
Or until he reached the breaking point.
And just as Liu Qingge found silence threatening, a part of him was still becoming wary anytime Shen Qingqiu’s sharp eyes would land on him. He had never managed to understand the schemes lying behind his shixiong’s dark gaze. And knew he’d probably never be able to. Nobody could. Nobody had ever tried.
It had been very irritating at first, and had maybe motivated most of Liu Qingge’s shameless comments on the other’s skills, his cultivation and charming personality.
Liu Qingge was often the source of his shixiong’s loss of composure. Even now, some things never change. It had brought him a lot of satisfaction at first, and Shen Qingqiu’s reactions had done an amazing job at confirming his shidi’s flawed assumptions over him. Everyone would take pride in making such a haughty person boil with anger.
Shen Qingqiu was arrogant, vile and deceiving.
Those statements were fact, and had never evolved over the years. Even after Liu Qingge had started to invite his martial sibling for nocturnal hunts. Even after Shen Qingqiu had allowed him inside the bamboo house for the first time.
What did have changed over the years was Liu Qingge’s opinions over the man.
‘A lazy and greedy, spoiled and unsympathetic man.’
Shen Qingqiu was arrogant, vile and deceiving; that much would never change.
But after weeks and months spent getting to know the other better, Liu Qingge had seen. He had witnessed. Even if the other was still to this day pointing out how slow the ‘Bai Zhan brute’ was, Liu Qingge still had a functioning brain.
He had seen the countless books and art pieces sprinkling the shelves of the bamboo house. Had heard Shen Qingqiu walk out of the bed at ungodly hours to finish reading some of his disciples' works. ‘A lazy man’ they had said. What a joke. A joke Liu Qingge had swallowed up easily, and one he had held onto for years.
Shen Qingqiu hadn’t miraculously changed his way of proceeding, or suddenly decided to be a decent Peak Lord. Liu Qingge had simply accepted the fact that those things he had deemed useless fallacies were in fact work and demanded skills.
Liu Qingge had simply seen what had laid before his eyes for years, and acknowledged them as a depiction of his own mistakes.
Maybe he should have opened his eyes sooner. But bearing regrets was a cause of instability for immortals, and bland apologies were not what Shen Qingqiu looked for. Not from him.
Hence, Liu Qingge had apologized once. And Shen Jiu had laughed away his words.
They had moved on quickly after this.
Something shifted by Liu Qingge’s side, dragging away his focused state.
He opened his eyes, breaking out of his meditation state. Shen Qingqiu was stirring awake.
Liu Qingge simply let his gaze roam over the man's skin, lingering a little longer on the reddened area covering his the start of his neck, down his collarbones - the discreet marks were barely noticeable hints of what they had both indulged into the night before.
A beat.
Then, the pale eyelids fluttered open, uncovering the immortal’s familiar sharp eyes. No hints of drowsiness lingered within them, and any remaining hint of his previous vulnerable, asleep state promptly subsided.
“This expression is unfitting for Liu-shidi.” had been Shen Qingqiu’s first words of the day. Liu Qingge wasn’t sure of what he meant by this. He didn’t know which expression he had observing his shixiong’s features twitch into consciousness. But knew for sure this wasn’t a compliment.
He didn’t mind. And seeing the lack of reaction, Shen Qingqiu just huffed. Then he turned away.
And Liu Qingge suddenly felt the need to huff himself.
It would be lying to say Shen Qingqiu was enjoyable to be around. He wasn’t someone pleasant to remain in the vicinity of and, sometimes - often - Liu Qingge would rather skip on nocturnal hunts for a week straight rather than listening any more of his shixiong’s biting remarks. Sometimes, Liu Qingge felt the need to kiss those sharp lips close.
And yet, the Bai Zhan Peak Lord kept on returning to the bamboo house at dusk; and on waking up in Shen Qingqiu’s bed at dawn.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t linger in the sheets for too long. While most immortals used morning’s calmness to meditate, Liu QIngge had noticed it wasn’t something Shen Qingqiu was prone to do.
He was never meditating in front of others. And Liu Qingge had eventually understood Shen Qingqiu was unable to focus with the presence of another person so close to him.
Shen Qingqiu was someone who needed space. A lot of space.
That too was something Liu Qingge had misinterpreted during their disciples years. And it had slowly poisoned their relationship into something he doubted would ever be curable.
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t offering Liu Qingge another chance by letting him closer - and Liu Qingge wasn’t looking for one anytime he was asking his shixiong to accompany him for nocturne hunts.
None of them entertained baseless illusions.
And another start wasn’t something any of the two Peak Lords were reaching for.
The past wasn’t mendable, and a relationship grown on a venomous soil would not thrive.
But Liu Qingge doubted it was necessary to merely indulge each of the odd, unnamed emotions the two of them gave in to.
It was a tacit arrangement both Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu seemed to find fitting enough not to seek for any kind of editing.
The other walked out his bed, adjusting the collar of his inner robes properly around his neck. He then put back on another layer of clothes, slipping his arms into the familiar green garments Liu Qingge had grown accustomed to pull off him during the past few months. The long, smooth strands of the immortal’s hair were swiftly pulled up in a traditional coiffure. It was a show Liu Qingge was now used to see after witnessing it so many times. But this morning, something troubled the well rehearsed ritual.
Shen Qingqiu’s hand froze mid-air as he realized something was lacking. Still holding his bun, his gaze found Liu Qingge’s. Then landed on the nightstand.
The jade pin the Bai Zhan Peak Lord had pulled off his shixiong’s hair the previous night was still lying there.
Shen Qingqiu reached out. Liu Qingge did too. Faster.
And with a cautiousness he had never believed himself capable of a couple of months ago, he gently took the expensive item in his hands.
Shen Qingqiu just stared at him quietly. And Liu Qingge felt something warm up in his chest, knowing very well his shixiong would have never allowed it a couple of months ago. He still remembered the anger the man had displayed the first time Liu Qingge had broken one of those by discarding it away after having pulled the pin out of Shen Qingqiu’s hair.
He knew his shixiong’s opinion of him hadn’t much evolved - Shen Qingqiu was still calling him a ‘brute’ every so often, after all. But this still was a little progress.
Feeling bold enough, Liu Qingge sat up and walked out the bed too, pulling himself out the silky sheets. Instead of handing the ornament out to Shen Qingqiu’s impatient hand, he stepped behind him.
His hand hadn’t been as cautious when he lifted it to the other’s bun. It was resolute, and straightforward. But in spite of the confident move, Liu Qingge knew very well the fragile peacefulness of the morning might as well shatter at any moment.
Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders tensed. And his hands twitched by his side.
Nonetheless, silence followed. And Liu Qingge slid the pin in the bun.
The other man didn’t stand still for long, and promptly moved to the golden mirror standing in the corner of the room to check the look of his shidi’s work. After some adjustment, he turned back to him, satisfied.
“This Master didn’t know Liu-shidi was able to style hair into anything other than a high ponytail. Maybe another hairstyle for himself would compliment his face better.”
Liu Qingge deadpanned him; setting aside the growing warmth blossoming in his chest and spreading up to his nape.
Progress, indeed.
“This hairstyle is more practical for sparring.” He simply replied, looking around for his own outer robes. Dawn time would soon reach its end, the young morning already taking its place slowly but steadily.
Liu Qingge shall be on his way soon.
“Of course Shidi would say something like this.” Shen Qingqiu calmly commented, pulling out of his shelves multiple art pieces to pile up on the table. Qing Jin disciples weren’t up yet, and Liu Qingge knew those were probably works the Peak Lord had planned on marking the evening before.
For the same odd reason that had coaxed Liu Qingge to accept the offer, Shen Qingqiu had invited him inside the bamboo house instead.
Liu Qingge’s gaze lingered on his shixiong’s elegant moves a little longer.
Shen Qingqiu put a tea preparation set on the table.
And the Bai Zhan Peak Lord exited the bamboo house.
The Sun was already high enough.