Huli was flicking his left ear quite a bit...

Xun had just tugged off his regular robe in order to begin getting ready for the evening when he finally decided to take a look. 

Of course, the fox, noticing that he was walking over to where it had settled on the edge of his bed even though it wasn't supposed to be on it to begin with, immediately perked up with curiousity. 

"Let me see," Xun said as he settled beside the little ball of messy fuzz and reached over. 

The moment Xun grasped his ear Huli swiped a paw at him, startling Xun enough to make him let go. 

Furrowing his brow, unimpressed, Xun reached over again. He got another swat for his efforts, but this time he was ready and didn't to let go. Even as Huli flicked his ear constantly and added two more paw-swats, Xun refused to release him. 

"Just let me see. Maybe I can help your ear feel better," he said calmly as he leaned in and held the ear a little more firmly. 

As he finally got a good look through the messy fur covering part of its opening, Xun felt his stomach churn. 

...ticks. 

And fleas.

The ear itself was rather dirty inside, too. 

Wait. If he has fleas and ticks...

Bristling, Xun stood up and called for his servant. 

Ling appeared not one minute later. 

"Please clean all the bedding carefully and place some insecticide and tick dust near the base of the bed and walls. Huli has some fleas and ticks. I'm going to go bathe him," he said as he tied his hair up, then picked up the little fox before it could figure out what was about to happen. 

They were soon outside, heading towards his hot spring. 

Huli seemed a little confused, but when he saw the hot water he stiffened a bit and looked up at him, clearly a little worried. 

"What? You tried to drown yourself in it the other day. Surely you can handle a bath?" he told him as he stepped up onto the little platform surrounding the pool and grabbed a small container of soap paste that was already situated on a tray with a few other things he would need. 

It wasn't something he normally used, but it would likely work much better with the fox's fur over a general soap bar. He had no doubt that Huli was going to fight him in some way, so the paste would at least make it easier to spread. 

Now that he thought about the little thing try to actually run away from him...

After setting down the tray and slipping off his shoes, Xun reached down and made a circular gesture around Huli's neck. When the circle was completed, a little gold light flashed around his neck like a collar, then vanished into the air. 

There we go. Now you can't run too far. 

The emperor had trusted him with keeping an eye on the demon. He couldn't just let it run off now. 

With that taken care of, he slid his bare feet into the warm water and got himself situated on the edge of the pool. 

Huli did not look impressed with his upcoming trauma and began chirping and trying to get out of his arms. Xun fought him a little bit, but then just decided to let him do what he wanted... after shortening the spiritual tether he'd just fastened around his neck. 

Huli got a whole four feet away before feeling a sudden pressure around his neck , effectively slowing him to a stop right at the five foot mark. 

 When the little fox tried to go another direction with the same result, then even tried a third, yet failed to move an inch further than five feet from Xun, he slowly turned his head and glared over his shoulder at him. 

"Your ear has been bothering you. Let me help clean it out and I know you'll feel much better," Xun said as he slid a little further into the water after tossing away his simple robe. 

The reminder had Huli sitting down and reaching up a back leg to scratch at his left ear. 

"I can take those ticks out of your ear. Wouldn't that feel better?" Xun said, trying to entice the little guy closer. 

Of course, Huli and his newfound stubbornness simply looked at him and twitched his little black nose. 

I guess I'll just have to keep bribing him like usual. 

Inwardly rolling his eyes, Xun snapped his fingers together and generated a large ball of spiritual energy. 

That immediately had Huli running over to the edge of the pool right next to him and trying to reach for the ball, his eyes hungry for the large amount of energy. 

You little shit. 

Right as the darn fox was about to grab the energy ball, Xun snapped his fingers again and dispersed it right before snagging the frustrating midget by the scruff and dunking its ass under the water! 

It thrashed around a bit, allowing the water to soak through its ratty coat, then Xun yanked it back up and set it down on a ledge next to him that allowed the water to only got a few inches up the demon's legs. 

Of course, Huli immediately tried to get out of the water, but Xun had figured he might and had already shortened the tether to two feet. Thus, no matter how many times Huli put his paws on the edge of the pool and tried to hoist himself out, he could never complete the action. 

That left him with a sopping wet fox standing before him, glaring daggers with a little runny nose. 

"Just behave so I can get this done quickly, then you can go back inside," Xun told it as he opened the paste container and scooped out a good amount. 

Huli quickly pinned his ears and wrinkled his nose at the scent, but Xun knew it was more theatrics than anything. The paste didn't have a strong smell at all. It was just-barely infused with a little rose water. 

He began working as soon as he'd covered both his hands in the soap, working it into Huli's dirty coat with his nails. 

At first, the brat tried to fight him and even nipped his fingers a few times, but when he got the soap deep beneath his fur and started scratching the old dirt and grime free? 

A content squeak sounded from a partially-open mouth, making Xun's eyebrow raise. 

"That feel good?" he questioned as he continued to scrub the fox's coat. 

Huli chirped and wiggled his backside, clearly asking for more attention. 

"You want me to scratch your butt, huh? You're asking the crown prince of the kingdom to scratch your butt for you?" 

Of course, he'd been the one to actually start scratching him, so he was really just teasing. 

"Your highness?" 

Xun looked up as he continued to work the soap into Huli's wet fur. 

"Would you perhaps like this? It's an insecticide soap that is used on your mother's cats that she allows inside at times. They have been without fleas and ticks for some time now," Ling said as he stepped up onto the wooden platform, then knelt down next to his master to present the item in his hands. 

Xun rinsed his hands and took the proffered item, then set it down on the edge of the pool in order to open it. 

It had a rather strong scent, but it dissipated after a few moments. 

"If you scrub this into his fur, then leave it to sit for about ten minutes before rinsing, he shouldn't have nearly as many bug issues, your highness."

Surprised, Xun stared at the new soap, curious but hopeful. 

"Thank you for bringing it. I'll use it after I get him cleaned up," he told Ling, but then hesitated as a thought came to mind. 

"Would you please bring over my bottle of massage oil?" 

Ling immediately nodded and stood up to retrieve the item nearby, then bring it over to him. 

"Also, please close the drapes."

His servant did as told, pulling down the canvas drapes that covered both sides of the open portion of the bathing area, then hooked them to the floor to prevent the wind from blowing them about. 

It immediately began to warm in the makeshift room. 

Xun thanked him and poured a good amount of the oil into the tray that had held the regular soap container. Once that was ready, he quickly worked his way through scrubbing Huli's fur down. 

Thankfully, his hot spring pool had an inlet and an outlet, so he didn't have to worry about any of the fleas and ticks he was scrubbing off hanging around. The current pulled the water slowly but surely towards the outlet, taking the bugs away with it. 

Once he was content with the bath, he had Huli squat down on the ledge so that he could rinse the soap from his fur. It was clear that the fox was feeling much better when it straightened again and shook out its wet coat, splashing both him and Ling with a decent amount of water. 

Sensing that the room had warmed enough to be reasonably comfortable outside the water, Xun hopped out onto the edge, then lifted Huli out, too. 

With Ling holding the special paste up, Xun quickly but carefully covered as much of

 Huli as he safely could. 

The little fox looked quite funny with so much thick gunk in its coat, but it thankfully held still and didn't fight with him... even though it was clear that he highly disliked the strong scent. 

"Here," Xun said as he formed a small ball of energy and held it up to Huli. 

The fox actually turned his nose away, clearly not liking that his hand still smelled of the strong-scented soap. 

"Ah, I'll give you some right after we're done," Xun said as he dispelled the energy ball and picked up a pair of tweezers. 

"This part might be a little more frustrating. Please bare with me," he told the little fox as he gently took one of his ears in his hand and carefully began pulling ticks from the sensitive skin there. 

Huli flicked his ears more than a few times as Xun wrestled the ticks from within them and placed them in the thick oil on the tray to drown, but he knew that he had to get the job done. 

"Your highness, perhaps a numbing agent?" Ling said as he held out a little bottle. "It has some healing properties, too, so it should sooth the injuries left behind by the ticks." 

Xun raised an eyebrow at how caring his servant seemed to be towards his new little ward. 

Not bothering to comment, Xun accepted the medicine and used a cotton applicator to dab it into both of Huli's ears. 

The fox wasn't really a fan of the strange feeling, but as the areas numbed, it at least stopped flicking its ears so much and seemed to calm down a little more. 

With that he got busy removing the remainder of the ticks and fleas from his ears, eventually ending up with a few fleas and fifteen ticks saturated in the oil. 

"Alright, time to wash off the special soap," he said as he helped Huli back into the water, then scrubbed the soap from his fur until he was satisfied that it was gone. 

"Finally all done. You did well, Huli," he praised as he wrapped the little fox in a thick towel and lifted it up into his arms. 

That, however, left him in a pair of soaking wet pants... and he needed to walk back to his room through the cold.

"Would you like me to take the little master back while you change? Your spare set of clothing is here," Ling said as he hurried over to a small dresser and pulled out a nicely folded robe, pants, and shirt. 

That wasn't what caught Xun's attention, though. 

Little master? What little master?! 

Glaring down at the useless fuzznugget in his arms, Xun was about to start calling it all sorts of things besides little master, when his words suddenly got stuck in his throat. 

Huli was already contently snuggled up in the fluffy towel, his face barely visible from within the velvet-soft folds of white fabric. 

Scowling, Xun stomped over to Ling and shoved the bundled-up fox into his arms. 

His servant took the hint and quickly bowed, then scurried away with the little master. 

Shaking his head, he calmly changed into his clean clothing and set his wet pants on a drying rack for Ling to retrieve later. He then walked back to his room, only to pause the moment he walked in the door. 

Why... is it there? 

"Ah, master Xun. I put little master to bed since he fell asleep before we even got back," Ling said, making Xun's eyebrow twitch. 

He should have reprimanded his servant for putting the darn fox in his bed, but he just didn't have the energy to bother with it. After having bathed the little vagrant, he wasn't quite feeling like spending his night out now. 

"Cancel my previous plans. We will go out tomorrow." 

Ling looked a little surprised but immediately bowed. 

"Yes sir!" 

Staring at the fox fast asleep in his bed, Xun considered what he wanted to do for the remainder of his day. 

With his previous plans postponed, he'd normally get straight to work at his desk, but for some reason, he just didn't feel like working right then. 

"I'm going to take a nap. Don't let anyone disturb me until dinner."

His servant's face showed clear disbelief, since his master never napped. Not even when he was on the border and had to stay up for days at a time!

"Y-y-yes sir! Enjoy your rest and please call me if you need anything!" 

Xun watched the guy dart out of his room, surprised by the amount of energy the older man seemed to have all of a sudden. 

Settling down on the edge of his bed, Xun reached up and undid his hair from the topknot he'd tied it into earlier to keep it from getting wet. 

Feeling eyes on him, he slowly got himself into bed and pulled the blankets up to his waist before looking sideways at the little fox now awake and staring at him from its big fluffy towel. 

"Come here," Xun said quietly as he reached towards it. 

Huli hesitantly inched out of the towel, allowing Xun to take it and begin drying him off better. He used a bit of spiritual energy to warm the towel as he worked, feeding a few orbs to Huli as a reward for his good behavior.

Once the fox was mostly dry, he began brushing its fur out with a comb. That's how Huli drifted off to sleep, reclining against his chest with the stroking of the comb lulling him to sleep. 

Xun checked his ears again carefully, then, when everything looked good, he got himself settled back against his pillows. He intended to set Huli aside if he actually got tired enough to rest, but before he could, Xun drifted off, the fox curled up on his chest.