Work Text:
Yue Qingyuan was on a very important mission, entrusted to him by his shizun (and then stolen out of his hands by his gremlin of a shidi, but that was a different matter entirely), and he remembered exactly none of its details once he got Xiao Jiu’s arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Not that he knew it was Xiao Jiu, at first. He grasped the delicate wrists to tug them away from himself, turning around so that he could reject the — he assumed — prostitute to her face-
And then froze. The face was faintly familiar, even though they hadn’t seen each other for so many years. That alone wouldn't have been enough to be certain of this person's identity, but the huadian on his face- That was a symbol Yue Qingyuan had only seen someone wear once, the day he was freed from slavery.
Realizing he was still holding the arms away from himself, he urgently wrapped them back around his shoulders.
Xiao Jiu grinned at that, pressing closer. "I'm glad to see Qi-ge hasn't forgotten me," he said.
"Of course not," Yue Qingyuan assured. "I've promised Xiao Jiu I'd remember."
Satisfied, Xiao Jiu pulled him along, guiding them towards a nearby establishment, and Yue Qingyuan was helpless to do anything but follow. He liked it; Following Xiao Jiu had never steered him wrong yet.
They ended up at a room in a brothel, just the two of them. It was nicer than an inn would have been, Yue Qingyuan thought. Perhaps using brothels for more than their intended purpose was a smart economic decision?
Such thoughts quickly left Yue Qingyuan’s mind, firmly replaced with Xiao Jiu. He’s grown so beautiful in the years they haven’t seen each other, so elegant when he poured the tea… Yue Qingyuan was content to listen as Xiao Jiu caught him up to speed on his life, and happily answered any questions asked of him.
Embarrassingly, it seemed like Xiao Jiu had been keeping far closer tabs on him than Yue Qingyuan had, though the bar was at “no intel whatsoever” so it wasn’t exactly hard to clear.
Xiao Jiu didn’t seem to hold it against him. The only thing he was holding against Yue Qingyuan was his own body, and that was exactly how Yue Qingyuan would be happy to spend the rest of his life.
“You’ve been a stationary target,” he explained. “And Father’s been getting information from Cang Qiong anyways. Me, however- I’m a very difficult person to track.”
He sounded proud of that; Yue Qingyuan felt proud of him, too.
“Then this one is very happy that Xiao Jiu allowed him to meet again.”
“Mhm,” Xiao Jiu leaned more into Yue Qingyuan’s chest, walking his fingers along the edge of his robes. “When I’ve heard you were out and about nearby, I just had to go see you. Most of the missions you’re sent out are in far less populated spots, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” It was getting hard to think with his attention being split in so many directions, but Yue Qingyuan pulled himself together to try and string a coherent sentence. “Ah, I’m here with a shidi, technically, but he’s run off somewhere. We’re supposed to-”
The doors to the room were violently kicked inwards, slamming against the wall in a way that left Yue Qingyuan’s money pouch hurting. As if summoned by the mention of him, Liu Qingge stood in the doorway, fuming as he raised his sword to point at Yue Qingyuan.
“We’re on a mission! How can you waste time in a brothel?!”
Idly, Yue Qingyuan wondered how he had found out, and how he could ensure he never did that again.
“I’m simply catching up with an old friend-”
“You’re friends with a prostitute?”
He could feel Xiao Jiu stiffening slightly, eyes shifting to surreptitiously watch Yue Qingyuan. Probably intending to treat it as an impromptu test, but he didn’t mind. He just hoped he would pass it.
Not putting in any particular effort to appear sincere, he smiled. “Perhaps it would be best if you left.”
“No!” Liu Qingge stepped further into the room. Yeah, Yue Qingyuan should have expected this. “Every minute you waste, he could be getting away-”
“Shidi,” Yue Qingyuan interrupted, grimacing. “We’re in a public space. Don’t disclose details.”
Liu Qingge kicked the doors closed. Well. At least it was just Xiao Jiu in the room; Yue Qingyuan was already going to tell him what the mission was.
“If we miss him because you’ve been too busy getting your dick wet, anything the Heavenly Prince gets up to, any blood spilt, will be on your hands-”
“The Heavenly Prince?” Xiao Jiu straightened, his expression oddly mischievous. “That’s who you’re looking for?”
“None of your business,” Liu Qingge spat out.
“Yes,” Yue Qingyuan ignored his shidi entirely. “I was tasked with locating and possibly apprehending the Heavenly Prince; Liu-shidi had decided to tag along on his own.”
His shidi spluttered something, but Yue Qingyuan didn’t care about that. Xiao Jiu was looking up at him, an edge of expectation on his face. Yue Qingyuan just used this opportunity to shamelessly stare at him.
Xiao Jiu tilted his head slightly, brows furrowing. It put a bit more emphasis on his huadian. The design was a bit more elaborate than the typical red dot, but Yue Qingyuan rather liked it. He had a strong urge to kiss it, but what if he smeared it? Xiao Jiu probably put a lot of effort into it…
“And?” He asked. Yue Qingyuan blinked, having missed any questions which could have been asked in the meantime. “Have you had any luck at locating him, yet?”
“Oh! No,” Yue Qingyuan smiled. “I was going to start asking around, before you found me.”
“How were you going to ask?”
The questions were a bit odd, but Yue Qingyuan guessed it was so that Xiao Jiu could give him advice on how to do it better. He was, after all, the master of gathering intel.
“There isn’t really a physical description,” he said, feeling apologetic on behalf of his shizun and whoever had compiled the information before. “We just know his title, and that he bears the mark of Heavenly Demons…”
Yue Qingyuan trailed off. It was an odd connection to make, but Xiao Jiu’s huadian… It did look a bit like the Heavenly Demons’ zuiyin, didn’t it?
“Qi-ge,” Xiao Jiu smiled at him. “Do you remember the day we first met?”
“Of course,” he answered instantly. Liu Qingge was making some impatient noises in the background, but that hardly mattered. “I would never forget it, as long as I live.”
“Then, do you remember who came to rescue us?”
Yue Qingyuan cast his mind back, replaying the events of that fateful day. The slavers had come back with a new child who, oddly, looked bored to be there. Usually, the kids would cry or throw angry tantrums, but Xiao Jiu had walked along calmly, looking around as if he were on a trip.
He said, later, that his father would come for him soon, so he didn’t have to be dramatic about it. Yue Qingyuan didn’t have the heart to tell him that many children expected their parents to come for them; And none ever did.
But Xiao Jiu was adamant, even two days later. He kept complaining about his dad being “too engrossed in his shitty bodice rippers” to notice that Xiao Jiu wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He tried to convince Yue Qingyuan to help him break a bone, to “give dad a poke”, which Yue Qingyuan vehemently refused to do.
The younger boy ended up stealing a knife off of a slaver, cutting a solid line through his arm.
Yue Qingyuan could remember the way he felt, back then: the helplessness, the confusion, thoughts running through his head uselessly. He regretted not convincing Xiao Jiu sooner that his dad wouldn’t come, regretted not stopping him from hurting himself-
And then the wound stopped bleeding. Xiao Jiu grinned, showing his arm off proudly as the wound visibly started closing itself, all on its own.
“He’s on his way now,” he said.
It wasn’t much longer until a man appeared, tearing at the gates with his bare hands and cutting down the slavers like they were paper dolls. He had moved in a straight line towards where Xiao Jiu was, regardless of any obstacles in his way.
Yue Qingyuan hadn’t remembered moving, but he found himself standing between Xiao Jiu and the man. He knew there was nothing he could do — he was only a child himself — but seeing someone making his way so violently-
Xiao Jiu gently pulled him aside, standing beside him. In the end, it turned out that Yue Qingyuan needn’t have worried; Once he was close enough, the mark on his forehead told him everything he needed to know. Xiao Jiu had roped him into helping re-ink his own, so Yue Qingyuan was certain the swirl were the same, even if the man’s design seemed to glow slightly.
The man fell to his knees as soon as he laid eyes on Xiao Jiu, patting him urgently as if to check for injuries. Yue Qingyuan remembered thinking it odd, considering that the man had healed the cut arm from many li away.
They had left shortly after that. Yue Qingyuan was the only one who was offered a lift wherever he wanted, the rest of the children left to disperse on their own. He had agreed, of course — he would have accepted anything if it meant spending more time with Xiao Jiu — and was promptly deposited in the town nearest Cang Qiong, exchanging promises of remembrance with Xiao Jiu.
But there was a purpose to remembering all that. “It was your father,” Yue Qingyuan answered. “He came for you.”
“Yes,” Xiao Jiu patiently pulled at his tongue. Metaphorically speaking, though Yue Qingyuan wouldn’t have minded it if he went literal. “He said something when he found me. Do you recall the words?”
Yue Qinguyan frowned, trying to remember. His memory wasn’t that good, but for Xiao Jiu, he would try. “Something about being worried about you? That- That Heavenly Demons were immortal, but if anyone figured out a way to kill one from sheer stress alone it would be…” He trailed off; The words which didn’t make much sense when he was a child finally clicked. His eyes trailed towards Xiao Jiu’s huadian. Or, should he say, his zuiyin? “...you.”
Finally giving into the urge, he pressed a kiss against it. If he smeared it, Xiao Jiu could just bully him into helping redraw it.
There was a weird choked noise, which reminded Yue Qingyuan that his shidi was still in the room.
“What does any of that matter?” Liu Qingge complained. “Can we go now?”
Xiao Jiu seemed happy, so Yue Qingyuan didn’t mind the complaining too much. He also seemed even more mischievous now, so Yue Qingyuan leaned back and let him take the full lead.
“It does matter,” Xiao Jiu said. “Your only lead is that the Heavenly Prince bears the mark, isn’t it? This-” He raised his hand to point at his own forehead, at the mark decorating it. “-is not just for decoration-”
He had to stop speaking very abruptly. A fan manifested in his hand out of nowhere, redirecting the blade Liu Qingge had sent at him, and pressing it down against the floor.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to cut someone off when they're talking?” Xiao Jiu continued, perfectly unruffled. If Yue Qingyuan wasn’t already enamoured with him, he would have fallen in love right then.
“You’re the Heavenly Prince!”
“Yes. I’m glad the best and brightest of Cang Qiong are capable of allowing themselves to be led straight to the point.”
Yue Qingyuan tried to cover a snort with a cough; He wasn’t sure if he had succeeded.
“FIGHT ME!”
“Please forgive my shidi,” Yue Qingyuan said. “He’s from Bai Zhan”
“Ah, yes, they do seem to think that fighting is everything over there, don’t they?”
“Stop ignoring me and fight me, demon scum!”
“Alright.” A sword manifested in Xiao Jiu hands, a glorious blade seemingly perfectly tailored to his needs. Yue Qingyuan wasn’t exactly sure where he had been storing it; He was sitting right next to him and he still hadn’t seen it. “So, what blade are you going to use?”
Liu Qingge outstretched his hand towards where his sword was lying. Nothing happened for a moment. Yue Qingyuan even craned his neck a little to see why; He found the sword jerking, but unable to escape the grip of Xiao Jiu’s fan.
“Hm,” Xiao Jiu idly twirled his own sword. “Seems to me like you’re not really prepared for a fight.”
Yue Qingyuan genuinely worried for his shidi’s health, considering the intense colour of his complexion.
“Yue-shixiong can fight you instead!”
On the other hand, though, he did bring this upon himself.
“Thank you for volunteering me,” he said, keeping his voice mild. It felt a bit odd of a moment to do this, but he supposed it was as good an opportunity as any. As much as he cared about Cang Qiong, as much as he owed to his shizun, he would have never had the opportunity to join the sect if he hadn’t been freed. He would have fought the Heavenly Prince for them; He wouldn’t fight Xiao Jiu. “However, I’ll have to refuse.”
Liu Qingge gaped at him. “What?”
“I’m not going to fight.”
“You’re siding with the Heavenly Demon?!”
“No,” Yue Qingyuan smiled. “I’m siding with Xiao Jiu.”
Frustrated, Liu Qingge growled. “GIVE ME BACK MY SWORD!” He barked.
Xiao Jiu paused, looking to be considering something. Yue Qingyuan had a strong urge to kiss him again. Perhaps someplace other than the mark, this time…
He tried to hide it, but a glance and a knowing smirk betrayed his lack of success. Busted, he grasped Xiao Jiu’s hand, pressing a kiss against his knuckles.
“You want your sword?” He told Liu Qingge, waving a hand to force it up into the air, still trapped in the fan. Then, he tossed both through the window. “Then go fetch.”
No cultivator would have left their own sword behind. Liu Qingge had no choice but to dive after it.
“Now,” Xiao Jiu dusted his hands off, his sword already hidden away somewhere. “While that brute owes me a new fan, I do hope he won’t interrupt us again-”
Yue Qingyuan’s patience ran out. He pressed his fingers against Xiao Jiu’s chin, lifting his face and pressing a kiss against his lips.
“I’ll buy you any fan you’d like,” he promised.
“Hm, what will your shizun say?” Xiao Jiu’s breath ghosted against his lips. “His head disciple, buying gifts for the Heavenly Prince…”
He’d worry about that later, he decided, and busied himself with pushing Xiao Jiu down onto the plush seat.
