The walk back to their pavilion was oddly quiet. His master wasn't one for frivolous talk, but unlike most times they'd walked in peace together, Zen could feel no calmness in the man.

Once they were close to their temporary home Zen hurried ahead and quickly got things ready for his master. He made the bed, got Qi's evening clothing ready, and even made sure that the soap he liked was of ample supply in the tray beside the water. By the time he'd stepped back into the main room, his master was there, removing his outer robes.

Confused that he hadn't been called to assist, Zen hurried forward and quickly helped him take off the clothing and put it where it went. When he turned back around, his master took hold of his belt and calmly began undoing the knot there.

Master?

Qi continued his work, nudging away Zen's one hesitant hand as it tried to relieve his master of the unnecessary work. Resigned and confused, he stood still and did as his master gestured of him. Pretty soon, his outer robes were off as well as his under robe, leaving only his loose pair of pants remaining.

At that point, Qi finally looked up, but it wasn't to meet his eyes. His gaze locked onto his chest instead, scouring the area for something that Zen didn't understand. He hadn't cut himself, and there were no curse marks or anything of that sort.

After seemingly content with his examination, Qi gently guided him until he turned around. He remained that way for a few moments before being turned back around as his master gave out a relieved sigh.

Do not fret, my lord. I am doing fine.

It seemed like Qi could almost read his mind, because he calmly reached up and pressed a warm palm to the side of Zen's face.

"I apologize. I do not know what has gotten into me. Are you well, my Zen?"

Nodding slowly, Zen reached forward and pressed his hand to his master's forehead, worried that he might not be feeling well, himself.

His gesture seemed to have earned him a bit of laughter from the man before him, making him even more unsure.

"I am fine, Zen. Let us forget this little bought as wariness and relax in the hot spring?"

Eager to put the strange situation behind himself, Zen quickly nodded and finished removing his pants before offering his master a warm smile. When Qi returned the expression, Zen turned to head out the back door, but his steps paused when his wrist was caught, drawing his attention back to his master.

"Zen Zen..."

Turning, Zen gave him a curious look. His master definitely wasn't acting normal. Adding to his worry, Qi just ended up shaking his head and tugging Zen outside and right into the warm water. Instead of beginning to wash himself right away, Qi pulled him into his chest once he'd found a rock formation beneath the water to sit on. When he didn't release him after a few moments, Zen let his head settle upon his master's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"You are too obedient, my Zen."

I will always be absolutely loyal and obedient to my master.

"I can feel that mind of yours telling me that you will never change your ways," Qi said with a light laugh.

Grinning, Zen lifted one hand between them and wrote, "Never. I will follow my master until the end."

Qi reached up and gently ran his fingers through Zen's hair, slowly removing it from the tie that had been restricting part of it until all of it flowed softly atop the water.

"There is nothing more beautiful," Qi whispered as he placed a kiss just above Zen's ear.

The praise had him snuggling a little closer, but it also made him uneasy. He wrote against his master's chest again.

"Are you truly feeling alright? I can help if something is not okay."

"Nothing could be more right..." yet he heard Qi sigh after speaking, then add in a quieter voice. "...and yet I am uneasy."

Zen straightened immediately, settling more comfortably in his master's lap so that he could hold the conversation better.

"What can I do to help? Your happiness is mine, always," Zen wrote, an excited smile on his face at the thought that he could make a difference for his master at that moment.

Leaning into the hand Qi raised to press against the side of his face, Zen listened as he began to speak.

"When we kissed each other before... you mentioned that you did not mind it, and that you would do it again if I'd requested it."

Zen quickly reached up and took his master's face gently between his hands. He absolutely could do such a thing again. He did not mind at all!

Instead of leaning forward to kiss the man before him, however, he hesitated and frowned when Qi pressed a finger to his lips, signaling that he absolutely did not want him to do such a thing.

I still do not understand.

Why was physical affection so complicated?

"I apologize profusely if my words are inappropriate, but Zen... is prince Yuen a person you would not mind assisting with physical needs, too?"

Instead of writing his response, Zen stuck his tongue out and made a disgusted face. The tense atmosphere seemed to disappear with that one simple gesture, earning him a strong hug and kiss on the cheek.

"I will never control such choices for you, so if your mind changes, all I ask is that you let me know, if you are comfortable doing so," Qi said, making Zen feel an odd sensation in his chest.

Reaching forward, he pressed his finger against Qi's chest.

"His highness is cocky, frustrating, and..." he felt his words die off as he remembered what prince Yuen had said the last time they had spoken.

The look on his master's face when he'd paused, unable to find the will in himself to continue bad-mouthing the other man, made him feel terrible.

"It is alright, sweetheart," Qi said as he ran his fingers through Zen's hair soothingly.

"I am sorry, I'm not used to sharing your attention with anyone so it makes me uneasy."

Zen lifted his hand to try and write upon his master's chest again, but when Qi pressed a finger to his lips a second time, he slowly lowered his arm. Except, after a few moments, and once his lips had been freed again, he reached forward and took his master's face in his warm, damp hands and leaned forward.

The kiss was nothing like the one they had first shared. He'd been paying attention when his master had ravaged his mouth. Had tasted his tongue with his own. Of course, he made sure to keep his grip loose and himself ready to be moved at any given moment, but when his master wrapped his arms around his shoulders and held him painfully close, deepening the kiss farther than Zen had thought possible, he suddenly felt as if he were losing his footing in the situation.

He was struggling with keeping his breathing even and, while he definitely didn't want to disrupt his master, he was considering requesting a moment to recuperate.

"I must say, I am quite jealous."

Your timing is normally terrible, but I could definitely use some air.

His master released his mouth after one more slow kiss, then turned his attention toward the far end of the pool of water. Prince Yuen was settled at the edge, his pants pulled up so that he could have his feet in the water.

"Hello, your highness. It is quite late. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Qi asked as he relaxed his hold on Zen just enough to be comfortable.

He had no intention of going over to the other man anyways, but it was interesting to see that his master was not releasing him completely, likely in case of such a thing. There was no other reason, that he could figure out, except that he did not wish for him to be physically close to the other prince.

The smirk that Zen could just-barely see on prince Yuen's face in the darkness made a shiver run down his spine, even though they were shoulder-deep in warm water.

"You two seemed to have had quiet enough pleasure going on between you two. I'm afraid that I have brought none to give... but I do have something you might be interested in," prince Yuen said as he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees.

Zen felt his master tense slightly at the man's words.

"At what cost?" he asked, earning a chuckle from the other prince as he pointed off toward the devil's koi pond.

"I brought your horses back, and your clothing should be washed and returned within the next day."

Qi nodded to his words, but they both knew that such information was meaningless. However...

"I thank you for returning our things," his master said with a nod.

When silence hung between them for an extended period of time, prince Yuen gave a tired sigh and slid down into the water, ignoring the fact that he had now soaked his clothing.

What are you doing?

The other prince leaned back against a length of smooth rock and yawned.

Avoiding my father.

Tapping his master's chest, Zen waited until Qi decided to release him, which took several moments, before he slowly swam closer to the other man, but still remained just out of reach.

"Did you ever tell your master what I told you earlier, little guard?" prince Yuen asked lazily, making Zen frown.

He had intended to tell him once they had both calmed down. Things seemed to have taken a much different turn once they'd gotten in the water, though.

"Zen?" came his master's questioning voice, making him immediately turn back around and return to his arms.

He lifted his hand to press a finger against Qi's chest to begin writing, but instead of allowing him to do so, his master gently grasped his fingers and looked up, past him to the other prince.

"We will speak in private later. If what you two discussed was something I needed to know right away, he would have relayed the information immediately."

Zen felt his insides twist, but when he thought over what he and the other prince had actually discussed, none of it was of such importance that it needed to be spoken of as soon as possible. The information could wait, as it currently was.

He nodded after a little more thought. His master was right, of course.

The other prince seemed to consider Qi's words, too, and surprisingly, he actually shrugged one shoulder and gave a slight nod.

"You are correct. It is of no consequence whether he speaks of it now, or later."

The tone of his voice did not seem to match his words, but Zen did not wish to pry into why the man sounded almost saddened. Instead, he turned and swam a little closer when he noticed something sitting on the edge of the pool of water.

My seal. I must have dropped it when I ran to master earlier.

He wanted to take it right away, but remembering their conversation, he hesitated and instead, turned his full attention to the man before him.

May I have it back?

Technically, he knew that it wasn't his, but its weight upon his belt had become quite familiar to him over the time he'd been allowed to use it. Even if the other man refused to refill it with his spiritual energy, he had truly come to appreciate the little trinket.

"I can return it to you... and I'll even put more energy into it," the prince said, making Zen nervous about the cost.

Prince Yuen lifted one hand above the water's surface, holding up two fingers as he looked past Zen toward his master.

"I'll give Zen back the seal, completely refilled, in return for two things."

He wanted to say no immediately, but it was not his choice. Turning, he swam back over to his master, who took him into his arms without a second thought as he began to address prince Yuen.

"What are your requests?"

Prince Yuen smiled and lazily swam toward them, making Zen reach up to wrap his arms around his master's shoulders, worried that he might try something.

"I will behave, little guard. My requests are simple," prince Yuen said as he came to rest a few feet away, taking the other underwater ledge so that he could sit.

"I want to rest in your pavilion tonight. My father has been after me constantly to do his bidding. I wish for a reprieve... even if it is only for one evening."

He didn't like it. Nor did he trust the man to sleep anywhere near his master, but again, it was not his decision. So, he reluctantly made himself relax and returned his head to his master's shoulder.

"That is a fair request. What is the second one?" Qi replied after a few moments of thought.

He seemed to have sensed Zen's unease, because one of his hands calmly began to rub up and down his back, soothing the stress he'd built up from his worrying.

"I want his highness to call me young master... when we are not around others."

At first, Zen was livid with the idea... but then he realized something. The request was not demeaning Qi by asking him to be considered lower than prince Yuen. It could, in fact, be considered demeaning to the other prince because he added the word young beforehand, insinuating that he was not quite grown up or mature enough to handle important matters yet.

Wait a minute...

His memory played with the two words as his master considered the request. He knew that he'd heard them somewhere before...

His eyes widened abruptly when he realized it.

The soul from your lair.

"I can accept both of those things, young master, Huang," Qi said with a tone of voice that Zen had only heard spoken for him before.

The addition of the man's first name seemed to catch him off guard, because prince Yuen looked up abruptly after having turned his attention to the surface of the water for some reason. His expression was one of surprise, of course, but there was also an exhausted need that barely made itself known as it peeked out from behind his wary eyes.

"I-I will excuse myself to get changed now," the prince said as he climbed out of the water and headed inside after quickly shedding his soaked clothing. Right before he disappeared into the building, however, he turned around and added one more thing.

"You may take the seal at the other end of the pool. Do not waste it this time, little guard."