He felt terrible. 

Xun would have gladly wrung Huli's little neck if the stubborn furball wasn't clearly feeling just as badly as he was. Even after two days of bedrest, both of them were barely functional besides simply eating their meals and relieving themselves where appropriate. 

Anything else was too much stress on their bodies. 

Rolling over onto his belly, Xun nuzzled into his sheets, having pushed aside his pillows a while ago to try and get his aching body more comfortable. 

Huli's little fox was stretched out beside him, his massive bed giving them plenty of space to not need to touch. Which was a good thing, because he would have absolutely tossed the little furbag off his bed if he could reach him!

Well, he technically could, but Huli was paying just enough attention to dodge well, as he'd demonstrated the last two times Xun had tried to grab him in order to lob him across the room.

As it were, it was likely somewhere in the early evening and Xun was scowling at the dozing fox just out of reach, snuggled up contently on one of his blankets. 

Four more hours...

His parents were holding a banquet to welcome to him home, and after having had to push it back for several days due to needing to pretend to be sick, Xun couldn't stall any longer without the royal doctor coming to examine him. 

He couldn't risk anyone figuring out what had happened. 

I need to get up now or I'm going to fall asleep again. 

Forcing himself to move, he pushed his aching body up with his arms, then scooted to the edge of the bed and sat up after swinging his legs over the side. 

He only got that far, though. 

Leaning his elbows on his knees, Xun slid his hands along his face, then up into his hair. He was absolutely exhausted. 

After sitting that way for a few minutes, holding his head in his hands, He felt something nudge beneath his left arm, drawing his eyes open and in that direction to see what it was. 

It was a Huli, looking up at him with messy fur and wide brown eyes. 

Without a second thought Xun grabbed the thing by the scruff and tossed it off the bed. 

The squeak that accompanied the end of that toss was the only sound in the room until little paws hurried back towards him and that same fox wiggled right up into his lap!

"You..." 

Xun grabbed him again, but before he could toss the aggravating sack of fur for a second time, he heard the door open. 

"Your highness, would you like some assistance getting ready today?" Ling offered as he walked in, his hands clasped calmly in front of him. 

Releasing Huli's scruff, Xun sighed and finally forced himself to his feet. 

Right off the bat, however, he knew that he was going to be too unsteady to make it out to his bathing spring. Pursing his lips, he silently gestured for Ling to come to his side. 

His servant obeyed immediately and ducked beneath his arm to help hold him up. They were soon on their way to the pool, but their pace was frustratingly slow. 

"Your highness, is there anything I can do for your illness? Surely there must have been a cause that we're missing?" Ling questioned as they hobbled along the stone path. 

Oh, there's a cause alright, and it's following right on our heels...

Huli seemed able to move a good bit better than him, though it was obvious that he wasn't anywhere near one-hundred percent, either. 

By the time they got through his back garden and up onto the bathing platform Xun was about ready to keel over. Ling helped him carefully to the floor, then got his bathing things ready. 

While Ling was busy, Huli snuck up again, and this time, instead of trying to act cute, he simply went right up to Xun, climbed into his lap, then nudged his cold nose against his lips!

Hell no!

He was promptly swatted away before he could try to drain any energy, because he literally had none left to give!

Huli gave a little whine as he rolled a little ways away. He tried to pout and act cute once he got back to his feet, but even if he did buy it, which he didn't, there was no way he could feed him any energy right now. 

"It seems like our little master is hungry. Without your extra energy, he seems to have lost a lot of strength, too," Ling noted. 

He got plenty of it the other day!

"There's not much I can do about it. He just needs to eat more food until I can get my strength back," Xun said, though he was seriously considering not feeding him anymore energy even anyways. 

"Perhaps he would like some of mine while you recuperate?" Ling said as he formed a small ball and in his hand and offered it to Huli. The man wasn't a very strong cultivator, but he knew enough to be able to perform basic things... like forming energy balls. 

Xun felt his heart fidget as Ling brought the little ball of energy over to Huli's mouth. 

To his surprise, and Ling's, evidently, Huli immediately denied the food and backed away with a nervous chirp until his fuzzy tails were pressed up against Xun's lower back. 

What do you think you're doing? He's the only one who's going to offer you anything now, he thought as he looked over his shoulder at the little mongrel. 

Huli didn't seem to mind his mental complaints, because as soon as he saw his attention back on him, he looked up and chirped hungrily. 

Inwardly rolling his eyes, Xun turned back to face the water and carefully undressed himself, then slid onto a submerged ledge. 

I need to get this exhaustion under control or I'm going to be an easy target tonight. 

"Your highness? Would it be alright if this servant asked something?" 

Xun blinked open his eyes, having not realized he'd even closed them, then looked over at the man kneeling near the edge of the hot spring pool. 

"Yes, what is it?" 

"Would your highness like to cultivate while I wipe off your body? This humble servant does not mind," Ling said respectfully. 

Come to think of it, the man had been with him since he were a child and had helped him bathe on many occasions when help was needed due to sickness or injury. 

"That would be very helpful, thank you," Xun said at the same time Huli squeaked out a protest and put himself squarely between them with a puff of his tiny chest. 

You think this body belongs to you now, huh? 

Without an ounce of hesitation, Xun reached over and grabbed Huli's scruff, intending to toss him into the water, but as he pulled up on it, his hand abruptly stopped being able to move further. The fox suddenly weighed much more than it should have. 

You little shit. Fine, stay there but don't get in the way!

Turning back around, Xun put his hands upside-down on his crossed knees and closed his eyes. He quickly settled into a meditative state, but every so often he would hear a frustrated squeak or angry grumble as Huli, no doubt, voiced his opinion of the washcloth that was methodically wiping away his sweat from the past few days. 

Tuning out the trivial mammal, Xun focused inwardly and soon began circulating his spiritual energy with the help of the warm water and clear air. He honestly should have done it sooner when he'd started to feel terrible, after they'd swapped bodies, but his old habit had reared its head at that moment, making him too lazy to bother getting out of bed. 

His strength gradually increased as he absorbed spiritual energy from his surroundings. Thankfully spring was right around the corner and several plants were already coming back quite well, offering what little they could to try and fill his request. 

At some point during the two hours he was meditating, he felt a faint brush against his bare back where it was leaning against the edge of the pool, but the pressure didn't feel anything like the cloth Ling had used on him earlier. 

Xun felt a faint scratching at the edge of his conscious, then heard a little whine break through his sound barrier. 

This stubborn thing...

Without moving a muscle, Xun allowed a tiny crack to form in his mental armor. He immediately felt Huli begin to pull at the miniscule amount of energy leaking from the crack, but didn't bother paying it much mind. He wouldn't do any damage taking that amount. 

They remained like that until Ling spoke up. 

"Your highness, it's time to get ready. Are you feeling alright now?" 

Xun blinked his eyes open and let out a long exhale of breath. He was still a little tired, but his body overall was definitely feeling much better. 

"Yes, thank you very much for your help, Ling," Xun said as he carefully turned around and got himself out of the water. 

A slight pain caught his attention as he fully straightened, drawing his attention to a small nick on his upper left back. 

Wasn't that where I felt Huli earlier? 

Perhaps that was how he'd managed to take some of his energy. Either way, it was a miniscule wound. With a swipe of his finger, he sealed it well enough to stop the bleeding. 

An excited chirp met his ears a moment later, drawing his attention down to a happy little fox... that looked quite a bit more rested, too. 

You're welcome... you little brat. 

With both of them feeling better, Xun hurried back to his bedroom and got himself dressed in one of his nicer light blue and pink robes. Huli, of course, watched him with rapped attention the entire time, but he'd gotten used to it by now and simply ignored the perverted ball of fur. 

Once his clothing was all set he partially tied his hair up into a ponytail using the white and red hairpin, then left the rest down. 

"I got master Huli ready, your highness," Ling said as he held up the little fox, its hairpin securely settled beside its fluffy left ear. 

Huli's three tails were slowly swishing together back and forth, the movement hypnotic until Xun realized that he wasn't hallucinating and reached out, snagging one of the tails with his left hand, then another with his right. 

There really was an extra one! 

"Why do you keep growing tails?!" 

Huli tilted his head and chirped as Ling held him up a little higher in order to see that he did, in fact, have three tails now.    

"Oh my, he did grow another, didn't he?" Ling noted, then seemed to mentally shrug it off as he handed Huli over to him, then clasped his hands together. 

"I believe we are all ready, your highness?" 

Holding up the fox he was given, Xun glared at the happy little problem. 

Are we really ready? he thought as he shoved the fox into the left side of his robe, then headed for the door. 

They arrived at the banquet just in time to not be late. His seat was the only one remaining, right in between both of his brothers. Normally, the crown prince would sit beside the emperor, but his mother wanted to view all of her sons as equals and requested that they sit together as often as possible at such gatherings. 

Xun greeted his brothers and parents respectfully before taking his seat, then waited as his father started off the banquet by toasting to him and welcoming him home from the border. He then went on about how well he did and how his reports were phenomenal. 

By the time they were finally being served, Xun wanted to return to bed. 

The spread of food was impressive, even for the emperor's standards. Colorful dishes swiftly populated the table, leaving little room for anything else... especially a grumbling fox who kept trying to reach a paw out towards the plate of spicy fish and tofu in front of Xun. 

"You even brought it to dinner?" Sun said from his left, drawing Xun's attention slowly towards him as he chewed a bite of his food. 

It was much hotter than the one Huli had eaten previously, but since the stubborn thing refused to relent, Xun cut a small piece off with his chopsticks and offered it to him before smiling up at his brother. 

"He can be a handful if left alone. Quite like you, Sun-er." 

His younger brother's eyebrow twitched, but he gave nothing else away. 

"Our quiet older brother has brought a sense of humor back with him from the border, Sun-er," Sen said from his right, drawing his attention to him as a maid set down a cup of his favorite green milk tea. 

Xun began to reach for it as he spoke. 

"I had to bring back so many souvenirs for mother and father, I do hope that this one thing is enough for my brothers to share."

Right as he was about to grasp the handle of the teacup, two paws suddenly grabbed his hand, accompanied by a growl, forcing it down at the last second.

Huli?

Xun looked at the fox now sitting in his lap, holding his hand against his fuzzy chest and staring up at him with soft caramel eyes.

"Is it no good?" he asked, his words meaning more than simply asking if the tea tasted alright. 

Huli had figured something out that was important enough to cause a scene, so he would wait and listen to him. 

When his fox looked back at the teacup and growled, pinning his ears in distaste, Xun motioned for the same servant who had just set it on the table to come forward. 

The young woman hurried over and reached for the little white porcelain cup and saucer, but before she could pick it up, Xun raised a hand, stopping her with the simple gesture. 

"Whose servant are you?"

The young women quickly straightened and bowed. 

"This servant belongs to his highness, master Song Sun." 

Nodding to the cup, Xun smiled and looked back up at her. 

"Please, my fox isn't quite fond of this tea you brought. Please try it and let me know what you think." 

The woman's expression quickly changed as her eyes widened and she began to look quite nervous. Yet still, she reached towards the cup, her hands shaking more and more the closer they got. 

"Also, why are you serving wearing gloves? Please remove them before touching the cup. They are meant only to be used when cleaning, if I am not mistaken?" 

Now the girl looked like she was about to faint. 

"Brother, my poor servant has burned her hands tending to the warming stove in my quarters, please stop harassing her. Mei-Lee? Remove the cup and return to my pavilion for the night. You don't deserve to be picked on," Sun said, his words a clear order that made the woman quickly nod and take the cup and saucer, then hurry away. 

Huli bristled as he watched her go, his paws on the edge of Xun's left leg and his three tails swishing unhappily, their movement chaos in slow motion. 

Yes, go ahead and dispose of the evidence. 

He didn't doubt that they haven't heard back about the terrible assassin he'd caught a while ago because of his brothers' handiwork, either. They would likely never see him again. 

Instead of bothering to stoke the fire anymore, for the moment, Xun simply ordered himself another tea, then pet Huli and gave him another bite of spicy fish as a reward. 

As soon as the new tea arrived he noted that the servant was not wearing gloves, and Huli quickly put his front paws up on the table so that he could lap from the cup, himself. 

"Better?" Xun asked as he reached around him and picked up another bit of food with his chopsticks. 

That didn't even make it halfway to his mouth before they were commandeered by Huli, the Glutton.

He really should have his own title. The Glutton, the Fatty, the Thick One...

An impatient chirp snapped him out of his thoughts and had him picking up another bite of food for his majesty. 

"Why are you taking care of that thing, brother? Surely it's of no use to you," Sen questioned before taking a bite of a strawberry pastry.  

He's already proved his worth with the tea, alone. It was clearly tampered with and he figured it out immediately. 

Of course, that didn't quite make up for having taken over his literal body, but it was a step forward. 

"He is worth enough to keep around. Besides, mother adores him," Xun replied moments before their mother walked over and promptly picked Huli right up out of his lap!

"Good evening sweet one, is my Xun-er treating you well?" she cooed as she hugged the fuzzy demon to her bosom and pat his head. 

"Oh? You have a new tail!" 

Huli swished his three tails for her, making his mother quite happy and the guests sitting around them rather astonished. 

"He really does have a demon!" 

"Is he allowed to keep that here?" 

"Surely it's fine, even her highness, the empress, is happy to have him." 

Xun ignored them as he allowed his now-empty plate to be taken away and a new clean one set it its place. 

"He might just end up with nine and become the legendary nine-tailed fox before long," Xun joked with a smile for his mother. 

"Mother, please do be careful. That is a demon, after all," Sun said as Ren nodded his agreement. 

"Yes, please be careful, mother. They are known tricksters and this one is clearly quite strong since it has already changed so much in such a short amount of time." 

You have no idea. 

Xun pushed the thought of the human version of Huli away. 

If his father knew that the demon was already able to transform, or at least, control someone else, he'd have him killed immediately. Whether his mother wished it to happen or not. 

"Nonsense, Xun-er will handle him if there's ever an issue. Let your poor old mother love on a little one every so often since none of my boys have given me a human one to spoil yet," she said, her words a jab at all three of them. 

Well, Sun was definitely trying, though it was likely to be a babe born from a brothel woman instead of anyone with decent lineage. Sen, on the other hand, wasn't all that interested in having children yet, though he had already taken two concubines at his father's behest. 

And here I am just wasting my days away getting ogled by a perverted fox demon. 

"I will look into getting a concubine soon, mother," he said, knowing that he needed to finally get on with that part of his life, whether he wanted to or not. 

Huli suddenly stopped acting all cute and abruptly swung his head around to glare daggers at him. 

"Oh? It seems like little Huli isn't too fond of that idea," his mother said with a light chuckle as she handed the now-wiggling fox back to him. 

"You'll just have to make sure that he approves."

I don't think he'll be approving much considering what's already happened. I doubt he wants another person to see us switching bodies, either. 

"I'll be sure to have a formal conversation with him about it later," he said as another course of their meal was brought out and a large roasted chicken was set in front of them. 

He expected Huli to begin drooling and try to take the whole thing, himself, but when his little fox actually yelped and darted into his robe, Xun frowned. 

"Huli? What's wrong?" 

Everyone around him stared at the left side of his robe for several moments, but when all they saw were the tips of Huli's three tails, they slowly returned to their own conversations. 

"I supposed something startled him," his mother said, earning a confused nod from Xun before the empress dismissed herself to go speak with some of the other guests. 

He didn't miss the looks his brothers gave him while Huli was darting for cover, and it didn't take them long to start scanning the table, and those around them, to try and figure out what had scared the demon so much. They needed ammunition to use against it. 

Xun considered trying to coax Huli out but quickly decided against it. If he was afraid of something that was brought out for some reason, he didn't want to give away what it might be. So, instead, he simply brought Huli bites of whatever he was eating with his chopsticks, sharing more than enough to make the fox quite plump by the end of the meal. 

The little guy especially liked the strawberries and whipped cream and honestly made a bit of a mess inside his robe because of his fervor for it.     

By the time the meal was over Huli was fast asleep, curled up with his little paws hugging his three tails. Xun stayed late at his parents' request and discussed more of what had happened during his two year deployment at the border. Thankfully, his brothers weren't asked to stay, allowing him to relax and enjoy the drinks. 

Although, by the time Ling finally led him from the great hall, Xun was thoroughly jealous of Huli's ability to curl up in his robe and pass out whenever he wanted. 

Why couldn't he just curl up somewhere and go to sleep without having to worry about looking foolish or losing his head? 

Shaking his head slowly as if to try and dispel the alcohol sloshing around in his skull, Xun followed Ling back to his home one careful step at a time. 

To his surprise, there were no unexpected guests waiting for them, allowing Xun to slump down into his desk chair and press his warm forehead to the cold wood. 

"Your highness, you're not heading right to bed?" Ling asked worriedly. 

Xun groaned quietly, tilting his head from side to side on the desk before slowly forcing himself to sit up. After taking a few steadying breaths, he reached forward and grabbed his brush, then dipped it in the ink. 

He then began writing on the piece of thick paper he'd left out on his desk a few days ago. For once, the information he was writing down wasn't for his father, or even for himself. They were questions... for Huli's human half. 

Why did you come here? 

What are your intentions? 

How did you end up in such bad shape?

And the last thing he wrote before getting himself up, undressed, and slipping into bed to pass out? 

What were you so afraid of at the banquet?