Shen Yuan (peerlesscucumber)

Luo Binghe wraps his arms fully around Shen Yuan, burying his face in his neck. He fed Claudius his blood parasites because he feared that someone he trusted with such vulnerable feelings would hold too much power over him. It is laughable, now, that he thought to avoid it; the hold Shen Yuan has over him, the amount of power stored in his tall, slender body, is far more terrifying. He would let Shen Yuan do anything to him. He has even let others hurt him without consequences for Shen Yuan's benefit. No matter how fond of him Shen Yuan is, it is hard to believe he could possibly love Luo Binghe with the same consuming intensity. And yet the fear doesn't stop Luo Binghe—he only sinks deeper and deeper into the reverie.

Because no matter how much he must change to be with Shen Yuan, it is better than the alternative. Luo Binghe does not want to think about what he would be without him—and thinking it makes him remember Shen Yuan's disciple, the Binghe who had Shen Yuan all along, which means that Luo Binghe is already the version of himself that he would become without Shen Yuan. Already the tragic, damaged Luo Binghe, the monstrous figure that Shen Yuan's disciple would envision with pity.

Tears threaten again, the tip of his nose going hot. He casts around for a different subject, his fingers still feeling out the shape of Shen Yuan's haircut.

"Who helped you cut it? Magnus?"