Delicious!

Xun happily dug into his birthday meal that his mother had made personally... even though he'd totally forgotten it was coming up at all. Cooking for them on their special day was another thing his mom demanded she be able to do for her sons, even though their father wasn't a big fan of such things... especially since they had phenomenal kitchen staff already.

While it was beneath her to cook for others, or at all, Xun would never decline a meal from his mother. It was always absolutely delicious!

She had even sent a special treat for Huli; Crunchy spicy fish cakes.

Xun honestly would have just eaten them, himself, if his mother hadn't personally come to deliver then and even handed one to the little psycho, too.

The love that shone in her eyes as the little fox happily sat down, his tails wrapped around his hindquarters, and crunched on the first big cake between his front paws...

He couldn't not give Huli the rest of the snack she's left specifically for him. No matter how much they were at odds recently.

Thankfully he hadn't seen the other man's human form in a bit, though that was probably because he was allowing his ethereal form to feed from him at night again.

He hadn't intended to let him do it, but at the same time, he didn't want to get held down again if it was just for some scraps of energy.

He knew that he should have just killed him that night after he'd reverted back to being a fox, but even after being treated roughly, he still hadn't feared for his life.

The thought made his face redden slightly as he shoved another bite of food into his mouth. They were eating at his normal table in his greeting hall, for once, since he wasn't sure if his mother would have wanted to join them or not.

She'd decided against it since his younger brother had gotten a cold and she wanted to visit him, too. That left Xun a large tray of food all to himse-a white paw soon claimed one of the freshly-steamed prawns and dragged it off to be devoured by a little demon...

Xun scowled at him and reached over to grab his nose with his chopsticks, eliciting a little sneeze of annoyance from Huli before he took his decimated prize and turned around, giving Xun his butt before settling back down to finish eating.

There was at least more than enough for the two of them, and then some, but he was still a bit annoyed every time Huli came back to steal something else from his tray, then saunter a few steps away to eat.

By the fifth time Xun was at his patience limit and grabbed Huli by the scruff, then held him up in front of him.

"If you're going to keep eating my food, at least sit at the table like a normal person," he grumbled before setting Huli down on the floor.

He'd intended to just drop him, but the memory of the man's strength, even while weakened, made him hesitate to mistreat him. At least, without a viable reason.

He went back to his food after Huli sauntered away, but he should have known that the fox wouldn't just give up on a good meal. As he was lifting one of the crispy spring rolls that were his mother's specialty to his mouth, he felt warm, slender fingers slide along his own until they commandeered it and changed its direction just enough to deliver the food to Huli's waiting mouth as the man leaned right over his shoulder.

Xun watched him as he leaned away a little, trying to get himself some distance.

"Your mother is an amazing cook, Xun-er."

Xun felt his ears burn as he turned to face the man after Huli leaned back up in order to chew his bite of food.

"Wh-what are you doing in that form?" he questioned, surprised that he'd burn his energy just to change while eating.

Huli tilted his head and swallowed his food, then raised an eyebrow.

"You told me that I should sit at the table like a normal person," Huli said, repeating the words that he had, in fact, said.

You seriously listened to me, though?

He totally expected the guy's fox to just start smacking things off his tray or grab at his chopsticks to intercept food so that he could have what he wanted and not give a damn, like usual.

"I decided to be a good boy for your birthday," Huli said as he dropped down into the seat right next to him... completely bare-ass naked!

Xun immediately averted his gaze at the same time he heard Huli's deep chuckle. Before he could find the words he wanted to say, which would have likely been along the lines of get your ass dressed, he felt Huli scoot closer and nudge his shoulder against his own as he reached towards his tray and took a piece of sweet orange peel chicken... with his fingers.

Xun whirled around to glare at Huli as the man popped the food into his mouth and began chewing. The demon, of course, didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, once he swallowed that bite he reached over to grab another, but Xun quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him right before he could get ahold of anything else.

"Xun-er? Am I not behaving?" Huli asked, his eyes narrowed slightly in warning.

Fighting himself not to stare directly at him, or his naked body, Xun awkwardly held up the hand he'd grabbed, then lifted his chopsticks with the other.

"It's dirty to grab food with your hands."

Huli gave him a deadpan look, making Xun quickly elaborate.

"H-here, I'll feed you," he said as he released Huli's hand, then picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and held it up to the man's lips.

The smile that spread across Huli's face in response made him a little nervous, but to his relief, his demon simply opened his mouth and accepted the morsel without complaint.

Alright, that works. Now just for the other... issue.

After offering him a particularly large piece, Xun set his chopsticks down and got up, then hurried into his bedroom to dig through a few chests. It only took a moment for him to find some of his older robes and he quickly pulled out a pretty black and silver one that would look great on Huli.

It had a set of pants that came with it, though the major color was reversed, with silver being the main one and black being the trim. Add a dark purple belt to it and it was a perfect outfit.

Holding the items in his arms, Xun happily walked back to the other room and stopped next to Huli, a smile on his face.

Except, the man didn't look nearly as excited about the aspect of clothing.

"Could you put these on?" Xun asked as he held up the items.

Huli remained seated, staring at him with an unimpressed look on his handsome face.

"It's only for when you're in your human form. In case someone comes in," Xun said, trying to coax him into agreeing.

Unfortunately, Huli's human form seemed just as stubborn as his fox one, because the man soon had an arm on top of the back of his chair and was looking quite put-off.

"It's a hassle."

You're my hassle! Xun groaned internally, but didn't dare speak aloud.

"How about this?" Huli said as he tilted his head, allowing his hair to slide in front of his darn eye, again.

Xun fought himself to keep from tucking it behind his ear.

"Let me take you out and I'll wear clothing."

Huh?

"You mean... as a human?" Xun questioned, surprise clear in his voice.

Huli grinned and nodded.

Huli is really going to go out with me today?

While he knew that he had plenty of birthday presents coming later that evening, this was now the present he was looking forward to the most!

"Alright! Let's go somewhere!" he said cheerfully, his mood lifted quite a bit by the man's suggestion.

Huli stood up, his grin never leaving his face as he walked over to him, then reached up. With his fingers settled on Xun's jaw, he leaned forward and the slightest bit up.

Figuring that Huli would need a bit more energy to maintain his human form for a longer period of time, Xun let him do as he pleased, but when his vision suddenly blurred and he felt his legs giving out, he realized his mistake... two seconds too late.

The next thing he knew he was waking up in Huli's arms... as a fox.

"Welcome back," the man said as he stared down at him, a satisfied smirk on his handsome face that Xun wanted to smack right off of it.

"What's that look for? I did say that I would take you out, so I did. Out of your body!"

He seemed so proud of himself.

He really tricked me, and on my birthday, of all days.

Xun felt all of his willpower leave his fuzzy body, making him slump in the man's arms.

"You'll be fine," Huli said before shoving him into the left side of his robe, then returning to the table.

Xun couldn't see what he was doing, but it was obvious by the sounds that he was eating what remained of his birthday lunch his mother had made.

His heart hurt.

"Here," Huli said as Xun smelled some of the spicy fish his mother had made.

He hadn't even bothered to face outward, not wanting to see or interact with the man at all. Even his mother's amazing cooking couldn't change that.

When he didn't respond, Huli seemed to shrug his shoulder and eat the piece, himself. He ate a few more things before offering something that smelled sweet and savory... likely a red bean treat.

Xun ignored him again, and didn't even move when he felt the chopsticks grab at one of his three tails that were sticking out of his robe and tug on it lightly.

That made him realize something that actually had a tear slip from one eye.

Huli knew how to use chopsticks perfectly fine.

Sniffling, Xun reached up and pressed his big ears down with his paws. He didn't want to hear Huli's heartbeat in his stolen body! He didn't want to hear or see the demon ever again!

"Fine, I'll eat the rest," Huli said as Xun felt him move a bit as if he were.

He finished quickly, then stood up and began walking around the grounds, speaking with the servants like he had before. Xun remained right where he'd been put, and even as Ling came up to them and Huli started asking about going out for a bit, he didn't move so much as a tail.

That is, until Ling said something he absolutely hadn't expected to hear.

"Master Huli, while I must respect your wishes to leave the property since you currently have control my master's body, I cannot let you go without your normal chaperone. This humble servant will accompany you."

Ling is going to come with us?

Slowly lifting his head, Xun got himself turned around, with some effort, then poked his fuzzy head out of Huli's robe.

When he looked up at Ling, the man's eyes widened in realization and relief.

"Young master," he all-but cried as he reached forward to retrieve Xun from the robe, then hug him to his own chest.

"Are you alright, my lord?" Ling questioned after they'd both calmed down a bit.

Xun leaned back a little and looked up at his most trusted servant. The man smiled back down at him. Things would be alright.

Reassured, Xun gave out a hesitant little chirp, earning a sigh of relief from Ling right as Huli huffed and began stalking off towards the front gates.

Xun immediately felt the static pull of the spiritual tether around his neck he'd placed on him previously and quickly gestured for Ling to follow.

That gesture mainly looked like a little paw flailing about, but it got the point across. Thankfully, his servant understood him easily, and had already intended to follow anyways. He quickly caught up to Huli and settled into a reasonable pace behind him and to the right.

With his anxiety moderately tempered for the moment, Xun finally relaxed a little and looked around from his safe cradle within Ling's arms.

Huli didn't bother taking the carriage and simply walked the short mile to town along the main trade road. Thankfully, he didn't normally dress excessively, leaving Huli with a simple light blue and gray robe and matching pants.

"It is quite a beautiful day today, your highness. There is also a large festival going on. Oh, I know! I'll get you some of those ginger sweets you like so much!" Ling said cheerfully.

Not wanting to make the man worry any further, and because he was honestly feeling a bit better, Xun wiggled his way a bit higher up and began to look around at the scenery.

To his surprise, Ling began pointing out little things about certain plants and animals they saw along the way. He evidently knew quite a bit about botany and even had some interesting facts about the birds that flew about, too.

He'd had no idea that the man had such a wealth of knowledge. All the random and fun facts took his mind off of the poor start to his day and actually made the walk feel like it had lasted only minutes.

Thankfully, Huli hadn't bothered them a single time, either, and instead simply walked onward in silence.

"Here we are, your highness!"

Xun looked around, a little taken-aback by the amount of people. There were easily twice as many as the last time, if not triple. Quite a few of those eyes were also on them, though that wasn't too surprising. He was currently a three-tailed fox, and they were standing next to the crown prince, too.

"Ah! Here is the candy vendor right up front!" Ling cheered as he hurried forward, not seeming to mind those eyes in the least.

Though, of course, Xun knew that he was paying attention. Anytime he went out was a chance for an assassination, and his brothers rarely declined to seize the opportunity.

"Oh, they have several different ginger ones this time?!"

Ling seemed more surprised than he did, but that was mainly because Xun was a fox and could only look so ecstatic without causing a scene.

As it were, his three tails were swishing quite animatedly as he looked over the small candy sticks, which were always a simple, yet delicious sweet ginger flavor. This time, however, there were a few extra little sticks and a few were even colored differently.

"Ah, your highness! I remembered that you liked my ginger candies and I thought that you'd be interested in trying some new flavors!" the vendor said as he gestured not to Xun, but to Huli, who was still clearly the crown prince.

Xun tucked his tails as he watched Huli walk up to the stall-keeper and look over the little candy sticks. He remembered that Huli had enjoyed the ones he'd given him before, but he had no idea how he'd react in their current situation.

"Here, a sample for his highness? This one is ginger and raspberry," the vendor said as he held out a little stick with a few pieces of crystalized ginger and sugar on it.

Xun's mouth watered at the sight, but he knew that he couldn't just take it. He'd let Huli do something like that, but he just wasn't raised that way. No matter how much he wanted to try the new flavors.

Huli accepted the little item and lifted it to his mouth, and for the life of him, Xun couldn't look away.

Is it good? Is it better than the normal ones?

He couldn't imagine anything being better than his favorite regular ginger candy, but he wanted to try the new ones just to be sure, too!

When Huli finished crunching the pieces, which he really shouldn't have because that's not how you savor them! He calmly swallowed, then looked back at the now-nervous vender.

"It's good. I'll take them all," Huli said, making Xun look up at Ling at the same time his servant glanced down at him.

They were both thinking the same thing.

Was he going to share or just keep them for himself?

Once the ecstatic booth owner bagged everything up for him and Huli paid with Xun's coin purse, they were on their way again.

Ling slowly fell back into step behind Huli, his expression clearly showing his displeasure.

"Your highness, will you not share any with my lord? Those are his favorites and it is his birthday..." he tried, though Xun couldn't even look. He could tell that Huli wasn't really in a good mood and he had no reason to share.

He'd honestly been oddly quiet since Ling had taken him away from him, but he hadn't commented or asked for him back, though, so that couldn't have been the main issue.

I don't understand him.

Well, he did understand that he eventually wanted to permanently steal his body and life, but that seemed to be a good ways off for the moment since he couldn't control him for too long just yet.

So why is he mad? Because I didn't eat when he tried to feed me? He just seemed like he wanted to tease me then. He didn't seem interested in any of the information Ling shared with them while on their walk, either.

He was so confused.

"Give him here."

Blinking, Xun looked over his shoulder where he still rested against Ling's chest.

"Why does your highness need my master?" Ling questioned, clearly not ready to simply hand him over.

Huli's eyes narrowed and he seemed about ready to reprimand Ling, but right as he opened his mouth to do so, he clamped his jaws shut and spun around, his hair whirling with the action before he started walking away at a brisk speed.

Ling furrowed his brow but hurried forward, not wanting to lose sight of his master's body, no doubt.

The demon took them to quite a few different stalls, and they even stopped in front of a band of fire-breathing street performers. Xun watched him off and on, though he couldn't quite keep his attention on him all the time. There was just too much going on and he was actually enjoying the show, too.

There was one thing he noticed that Huli hadn't done yet that he'd totally expected him too, though.

He hasn't eaten a single piece of the candy he bought.

Xun turned his attention back to the show, but before he could get engrossed again, Huli walked off, forcing them to follow. He expected him to head for another booth, perhaps for an early dinner, but when he suddenly jerked his left arm up and caught an arrow between his fingers, Xun squeaked, startled!

Ling gasped as well as he hurried to rush forward, but Huli didn't seem nearly as worried as his servant.

Another arrow appeared a second later, but the surprise had already been sprung and Huli simply used the first arrow to knock it away without so much as batting an eyelash.

"Child's play," he mused, seemingly bored, before he moved his arm back, then suddenly threw the first arrow off into the distance!

Xun followed the arrow as far as his eyes would allow, but he could never quite see the person who had attacked them. They were just too far away.

"He's dead, let's continue," Huli noted before simply turning back around and continuing in the direction they had been going.

I suppose...

They actually ended up hiking through a small wooded area, following a little overgrown pathway until it finally opened up at the top of a small outcropping. That, in turn, looked out over the massive lake where the floating lanterns were to be released a little later on.

In fact, they seemed to be getting them prepared right now, and as Huli sat down cross-legged near the edge, Ling mirrored his actions and held Xun up a little higher near his shoulder so that he could look down and see, too.

That's where they sat for nearly two hours before the sun finally began to dim and the lanterns boats were set upon the calm lake waters.

Xun found it quite beautiful, as it had been a long while since he'd gone to the festival and watched the lanterns, but from such a height it was almost magical. As the sun's light dwindled the lake was lit by a thousand lights, there was almost no difference between the heavens and earth.

There were stars in both places tonight.

"I used to come up here every year to see the lantern festival on the lake," Huli said quietly, his voice carrying on the gentle breeze rustling their clothing and fur.

Xun glanced over at him at the same time Ling did, both of them a little surprised to hear such words from a demon.

"I was only a fox then, of course, so I couldn't actually walk amongst the humans or get closer... but today I realized something," he said as he looked over at them, his pale face and silvery hair silhouetted against the dark sky.

"I didn't want to be around them. I thought I did, at least in order to see the lanterns closer, but..."

Xun tilted his head as he processed his words.

You don't really like people.

To be fair, most demons didn't, but it was interesting to know that Huli had intended to walk amongst them if only to see the boat lanterns better.

Wait a second... did he cultivate for so long just to be able to do that?

Xun knew that the festival had been going on for well over a hundred years. Could it even have existed back when Huli was born?

"Xun-er?"

Xun flicked an ear, then slowly wiggled free from Ling's arms and walked closer.

When Huli reached towards him, he stiffened a tiny bit, but then relaxed again when the demon simply settled his hand atop his head.

"Enjoy your treats, they are delicious."

Before Xun could figure out what he meant, he felt his vision blur, then resolidify abruptly.

They had swapped bodies again.

"Your highness!" Ling cried, relieved to see that he was finally back.

Xun offered him a tired smile, but he could tell that he wasn't the most exhausted one there, by a long shot.

Huli was already asleep, out cold slumped over in the grass beside him.

You really burned yourself out just to come see these, huh?

He would have gladly taken him if he'd explained why he'd wanted to go, but he figured that Huli wasn't that kind of demon. He'd decided to get there in a way that couldn't be declined.

At least my body has gotten used to switching a little bit. It doesn't ache as much now.

"You brat," Xun mumbled as he picked up the sleeping fox and settled it in his lap, then reached over and retrieved his full bag of candied ginger.

Since it truly was a beautiful night, he decided to stay and just relax, finally able to actually enjoy his birthday.

He shared a good portion of the candy Huli had bought him with Ling and simply watched the lanterns while intermittently petting the sleeping demon in his lap. They stayed on that little hill under the stars until the very last lantern had burned out. Then, and only then, did they quietly stand up, and after tucking Huli into his favorite spot in his robe, make their way back home.