Work Text:
Luo Binghe squirmed where he was kneeling on the floor, but didn't get up. Good. If he did and tried to help, Shen Qingqiu would lash out. The omega had already entered his preheat and was rather irritated by his nest. Really, he would prefer to just lay down and cuddle, his warm partner serving like a hot water bottle for his cramps.
But his nest still felt wrong. It was, somehow, his first time making a nest in Binghe's (“Ours, shizun!”) palace in the demon realm and it wasn't working out well. One would think that it would be a breeze, the giant bed’s canopy curtain aiding the intimate atmosphere, the bedding soft and luxurious, many soft pillows entrenched in his husband's scent, and if that wasn't enough, lightly used robes and blankets aplenty. And yet….
Shen Qingqiu was wringing a delicate scarf made from headspiders’ silk in his hands. Nearly indestructible, light and gauzy and holding their mixed scent, as they shared it the week before. Good to fill in holes left in pillow walls or to hold it close to one's nose for a reassuring sniff when Binghe goes to use the bathroom. Yet both of those places felt wrong! Shen Qingqiu whined and faceplanted onto the bed. Binghe squirmed in the background but he ignored that. He needed to think.
His previous heats… Well, after so many unplanned ones, they learned how important good nests are. In this fucked up universe Airplane made up, there were many aphrodisiacs but they generally fell into 2 categories: condition based and heat inducing. Of course both lead to instant papapa in the novel but after encountering both Shen Qingqiu can say there was a difference. Encountering a condition based aphrodisiac and suddenly needing Binghe to… release in him right in the open is embarrassing. Encountering heat inducers and begging his alpha to fill him right now, out in the open was embarrassing and distressing.There’s nowhere to hide! No comfy nest to shield him! Anyone could come and bother them! What if some asshole actually tried to fight Binghe for a claim? Watching him fight was sexy but not when he needed him! Shen Qingqiu may have…. spilled a few frustrated tears about the openness of the random flower fields he spent his spontaneous heats in. Thankfully they seem to have lessened in their quantity and in the last 2 years he could safely hide inside.
Accidentally, it seems they only got to do... that in the bamboo house on Qing Jing Peak or one of its copies. All the huts had the same floor plan and general design and so it was easy to just copy what he did… except sometimes the materials didn’t match up.
Binghe tried his best, but obviously only on Qing Jing Peak did his old uniforms still smell of him, the scent of a young unpresented adolescent mixing with what is Binghe's essence: caramel, almost burnt sugar, cinnamon, musk and warmth.
The isolated mountain hut had become their travelling base, and thus collected a lot of baubles and odd ends from their trips. Shen Qingqiu liked to arrange them not in his nest, but on the bedside table, so that he could look at them whenever he woke up. They were reminders of all the good times.
Try as he might, the demon realm weather affected the spiritual bamboo badly and it had to be exchanged in many places by its demonic counterpart, dark green or black. Some of the fabrics inside were changed to blacks and deep reds to match and Shen Qingqiu loved that too. This hut truly and fully smelled and looked like his husband, as he labored himself over every wooden joint and iron nail. Trully, nothing was impossible for the protagonist, even carpentry!
He turned onto his back and kept on ignoring Binghe. He's a properly educated alpha, he knew not to enter an omega's nest until invited. And Shen Qingqiu could not invite Binghe into this mess, no! The 3 houses, despite what intentions there may have been at the start are not the same! He made his nests differently! Why couldn’t he figure out what was wrong here? Why, he could even remember the last time he got hit with a heat inducer, Binghe quickly spirited him away to the nearest inn and even there he was fine! With just neutral, lower quality bedding the inn provided and their own robes scattered on the bed, just him safe in Binghe's arms, his husband covering his front away from the doors and the wall at his back-
Shen Qingqiu sat up suddenly. He looked to the right. There was the wall with doors leading to their drawing room, a wardrobe, changing screen, a bedside table, and on the floor a squirming, worried looking Binghe.
"Shizun? Can this disciple help?"
He didn't answer but looked to the left. A low dresser with a bronze mirror and their comb on it, a desk with some blank paper and a calligraphy set, a small library, a bedside table, a wall hanging of Shen Qingqiu’s own production. Finally he realized.
"Yes, Binghe, you can help this husband."
"How can this one help then?"
Shen Qingqiu got off the bed and helped him get up. Then he corrected Binghe's lapels, like someone would care that the emperor wore his underwear indecently. Binghe's eyes darkened with lust, probably expecting to be invited anyway. He would praise his shizun’s effort anytime and did not care much for the result, this alpha smoothtalker.
Finally when his correcting turned more to soft petting he said, "Binghe…"–he swallowed nervously, Binghe's eyes following the gesture–"can help this master disassemble the nest and start over."
It was a testament to how well trained Binghe is that he simply bit his lip before answering.
"Of course, shizun," And he goes for it
"And"–Binghe turned back–"move the furniture from this corner."
Shen Qingqiu gave a lazy wave at the wall hanging and the bronze mirror. Luo Binghe went over there at once. Of course as a proper alpha he wouldn't let his shizun move a finger if he could help it. Shen Qingqiu admired him bending over and moving the furniture for a hot second, before he destroyed the pitiful nest on the bed.
Once he was done Binghe looked over and with stars in his eyes said, "Shizun wants to move the bed to the corner!" He dipped his head in supplication. "Forgive me for not realizing! This disciple should have known, based on shizun's bed placement in the bamboo hut!"
Yes indeed! All 3 identical bamboo houses mean 3 identical beds, and the original goods had his against the wall! Shen Yuan didn't ever feel like moving it or even replacing it. Whenever he woke up Binghe either was in the kitchen finishing breakfast or wouldn't let him go out of the bed so easily anyway. As for the smaller size…. Well, Binghe was sticky anyway! They always ended up cuddling, Binghe arms tight around him and Binghe’s soft ample bosom serving as his pillow.
Shen Qingqiu for a lack of his fan, smacked Binghe with the nearby pillow. Gently.
"This master also did not think of the solution, so get up. The faster we get this done-"
Binghe lifted the whole bed up and over his head before quickly putting it in the prepared corner, back muscles clearly shifting through thin under robes. Shen Qingqiu was left speechless with rudy cheeks.
"Is this up to shizun's standards?" Binghe clasped his hands together like an innocent sheep, but on his face was a cheeky grin. Really, laughing at your master! No shame whatsoever. Shen Qingqiu threw a pillow at him
"Shizun, I thought you liked to put on bedsheets first-"
Another pillow. And another one. And one more! Binghe caught all of them perfectly before finally he succumbed to laughter and fell on his side. Shen Qingqiu gathered the rest of the materials into his hands only to drop them onto the laughing heap that was his husband and started working silently. Really, the nerve of him! They were about to have an almost week long papapa session and he still teased his own master!
"I’m sorry, shizun, for any disrespect." Ah, so he didnt work silently after all. "This Binghe will make reparations."
"If Binghe wants to help this master, then he can pass over the green pillow with the golden trim."
"Yes, shizun!" He replied mirthfully before passing over the red one. Brat. And it fit perfectly too.
And so Shen Qingqiu finally built his nest, with Binghe now resting his head on the edge of the bed frame, lazilly passing him over the materials. First a few bedsheets for quick changes, then pillow walls fortified by clothing and last, a heap of blankets at the bottom for snuggling up. Looking at his work Shen Qingqiu could finally feel satisfied.
Shen Qingqiu felt a tug on his robes. Binghe looked up at him, his eyes faux teary yet he couldn’t contain his mischievous grin.
"Shizun…." he started. "Won't you let your alpha in?" Shen Qingqiu sighed.
"Get in." He patted the space next to him.
Binghe didn't need more and quickly came in. They snuggled in together, Binghe's face nuzzled into his scent glands. His strong warm arms rested on his waist, finally soothing Shen Qingqiu's cramps. Resting so safe in his nest, his alpha protecting him he finally lets himself relax….
Well.
"Shi-shizun?" Binghe whispered.
He takes Binghe's hand from his waist and slowly takes it lower and lower…. stopping right at his navel.
"This master is cramping here, Binghe."
A mournful sigh.
"Yes, shizun."
And having the last laugh, Shen Qingqiu lets sleep take him.
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