Work Text:
The sun was hiding between the heavy clouds, the air was cold with each breath, penetrating the bones like a damp sheet. Even though it was still the height of the morning, it felt like dusk because of the heavy, gray clouds, yet the market was vibrant and full of energy, like a flower that refused to give in to the rain and winter.
It was late autumn, so of course it was getting colder every day. It was also the perfect time when Ziran Hei's secret realm opened up and allowed cultivators to enter its territory.
It was a happy surprise for Shen Qingqiu to discover that he could personally visit the pocket realms of that world. PIDW could be a horror in terms of story development and many, many, many points, but Shen Qingqiu would always be totally in love with the incredible worldbuilding, everything was fascinating and incredible, even with the ridiculous amount of plants with sexual effects for cheap papapa.
The secret realm of Ziran Hei was described as beautiful, resembling an eternal night filled with otherworldly beauty, and Shen Yuan was excited to see it firsthand!
Shen Qingqiu generally preferred monsters that were phenomenal and full of mysteries and secrets, all their strengths and weaknesses and everything involved in the lore, but he was not an uneducated person who didn't know how to appreciate beautiful scenery!
A beautiful landscape like the one that his Liu-shidi gives him, he had to score. His recent artistic works as a scholar were generally aimed at the deadly and dangerous beasts and the beauty of Qing Jing, but Shen Qingqiu was an appreciator of more varied beauties than just still life, so it was inevitable to stop his imagination from becoming furious and unrestrained when it came to Liu Qingge!
It wasn't his fault that Liu Qingge was simply the most handsome man he had ever met! Simply an incomparable beauty! His face could belong to some fairytale prince that Shen Yuan would definitely find coherent, and if he were the princess, he would even let him give his one of those true love kisses to wake up from a curse!
I mean, it was just natural! Liu Qingge is beautiful! Shen Qingqiu was just a friend who was very enchanted by the overwhelming beauty of his shidi! It's a normal thing between two brothers! Shen Qingqiu is still very straight, he has no fragile sexuality! It's just that Liu Qingge is so handsome that it would be a crime not to talk about how handsome he is!
Shen Qingqiu is definitely no stranger to finding his shidi beautiful, or making poems and essays about his beauty, his beauty mark, his long dark hair that was unfairly soft and addictive to touch, flowing into Shen Qingqiu's fingers like fine silk, his sharp and vigorous fighting moves, full of elegance and power, or about how hot he looked shirtless and how Liu Qingge's entire body must be perfectly sculpted and there must be scars weaving stories of great adventures and monsters so deadly and powerful that were able to mark the skin of Bai Zhan's peerless war god! He is no stranger to praising his dear shidi too attractive for his own good! Either because I want the man's presence at any time possible or because I am particularly interested in making some fans with paintings based on Liu Qingge - nor because I already have fans that were painted inspired by Liu Qingge.
It was just a really cool idea! And that fan with Cheng Luan was beautiful so no one needed to know!
They are walking through the market, Shen Qingqiu wanted to stroll around and maybe eat some snacks before they go to the secret realm. Shen Qingqiu was gathering a small supply of paints for his future paintings, and the kingdom of Ziran Hei promised to bring him many inspirations.
In a dye shop for the most diverse types of art, absentmindedly listening to some gossip between the aunts and the shop owner about a monster somewhere nearby that Shen Qingqiu's brain filed away to find out more about it later and tell Liu- shidi, he chose a very beautiful shade called evening peach, reaching out to pull Liu Qingge, finding it strange when he couldn't find his shidi and looking up to look for Liu Qingge, but the man really disappeared!
With a jump of surprise, Shen Qingqiu looks around for his shidi, seeing him enter the store a few seconds later, keeping something in his cloak.
Perfect timing, Liu-shidi!
Relieved despite being curious, Shen Qingqiu lightly pulls Liu Qingge close, holding his wrist close to the ink. It's an almost similar tone! Shen Qingqiu will take it!
"Shidi is missing, did something interest Liu-shidi?" - He asks, casting an attentive look at the other man.
"I'm just keeping an eye on the surroundings. I bought an umbrella, it looks like it's going to rain." - In fact, there was a parasol made of red oiled paper with white flowers painted on it.
Shen Qingqiu smiled at him, unable to hide his smile behind his fan in time, staring into the gray eyes that looked at him with a feeling that Shen Qingqiu was unaware of, but that still stirred something inside him that Lord Qing Jing did not dare to name. or explore.
"Liu-shidi so trustworthy! I can always count on shidi to take care of this shixiong!" – Liu Qingge grunted lightly, nodding in acknowledgement.
"There's a restaurant at the end of the street, they have some dishes you might like." - Liu Qingge said, turning his face. The movement allowing Shen Qingqiu to see the beautiful shade of pink that colored his ears. Oh, he needed to find a color for it!
Unaware of his own body's movements, Shen Qingqiu realized too late that he was touching Liu Qingge's ear, the skin warm against his cold fingers. Liu Qingge's surprised look mirrored that of Shen Qingqiu himself, whose fan no longer hid his expression. Shen Qingqiu's cursed hand didn't stop, his thumb gently brushing across that beautiful beauty mark, the skin soft under his light touch, almost as if touching a delicate flower and not his bold shidi.
The blush spread even further across Liu Qingge's face, dyeing his cheeks an intense red, highlighting even more the small dot under his left eye.
So cute! Shen Qingqiu can't resist running his finger there once again in a gentle caress, even though his brain protests that he is using such an adjective for Liu Qingge of all people, which should never be cute, but he is! He's so adorably cute blushing just for such a silly affection... And that beauty mark under his eyes as gray as the storm clouds outside was even cuter! Your shidi could definitely be called cute! Oh, Shen Qingqiu would love to have a cell phone, just so he could capture that expression and revisit it whenever he needed a powerful dose of serotonin!
“Shen Qingqiu, you…!” - Liu Qingge was as helpless as Shen Qingqiu himself, Lord Qing Jing marveling at not being immediately pushed aside and beaten by the god of war, this silent permission only making Shen Qingqiu bolder.
"Why is Liu-shidi so red? I don't know if there is an existing color for your face, shidi. Should I call you Liu Hong?" - Shen Qingqiu teases, smiling broadly, his green eyes shining with sass as Liu Qingge's blush deepens.
"You...! Shameless!" - Still, Liu Qingge didn't push him away, even though Shen Qingqiu's indulgent caress made all his senses contained in the touch of that gentle hand.
Finally when Shen Qingqiu thought he was going to get a hard slap from his shidi, and that Liu Qingge had reached his tolerance limit, all Liu Qingge did was hold his wrist where it was, lightly pulling Shen Qingqiu closer, leaving them almost scandalously close to each other.
Liu Qingge's gray eyes shone, holding Shen Qingqiu's spring green ones, the colors of the storm converging into the softest and most intense tones of those irises completely focused on the scholar, an expression full of undisguised affection looking at him, stirring every cell in his body. Shen Qingqiu.
Oh, oh, Liu-shidi!!! Don't make an expression like that!! It's too strong for this master! This should be a crime!
It wasn't because Shen Qingqiu was straight that he would be immune to such a powerful gaze! His shidi was too pretty for his own good!
When they both finally opened their mouths to say something, a loud clearing of their throats made them jump in fright, the cultivators' faces turning several shades of red as the paint store owner looked at them.
“Are the immortal masters interested in anything else?” - Despite his serious expression, the old man was actively walking around the table to escape the two little aunts who were with him. Unlike them, the old man wasn't interested in having to swallow all that dog food before lunch! It's too early for that young people!!
"Y-yes! I would like some shades of blue too! And... And would you have some shades of gray? And white? Something close to that color!" - Shen Qingqiu forced his squeaky voice to return to the cold indifference of the distant immortal that he was, lightly pulling Liu Qingge's clothes to point out the colors he was looking for, opening his fan again to protect his embarrassed expression.
He wasn't embarrassed because he was caught in the act with his boyfriend, as if he were some maiden in love, he was just caught by surprise in a very intimate, no, private moment! In a very private moment of intense connection between two very connected martial brothers!
Finally, the two left the store and went to the teahouse, enjoying the hot tea in a comfortable (and slightly shy) silence, before finally heading to the secret realm.
Shen Qingqiu could simply say that he had a wonderful day, he would beat up Shang Qinghua a lot for not describing how amazing Ziran Hei was, but he would somewhat forgive Airplane-juju for that just because Liu Qingge looked really amazing under all those lights and that earned Shen Qingqiu an endless number of sketches and drawings and even some new paints. Of course, he also took all the rare plants for Mu Qingfang that naturally the Lord didn't know still existed due to plot factors, but Wei Qingwei asked Shen Qingqiu to bring it if he found it, as he intended to use them to give Mu Qingfang a gift. Of course Shen Qingqiu was surprised, but he wasn't going to miss the chance to help his martial brothers and spend time with Liu Qingge! All your knowledge of Lore was put to great use in these moments!
He even got a new fan as a gift! Shen Qingqiu didn't know when Liu Qingge had time to buy it, but it was absolutely beautiful! He loved the delicate willow painting on the landscape, as well as the delicately carved guard.
(No one needed to know that he looked at Liu Qingge a little longer with the closed fan pressed against his lips and they both blushed a lot because of that, they were just very close friends! And they like each other a lot! And they sleep hugging each other to keep warm! Just brothers being brothers!)
It was simply a wonderful trip!