After getting the Elder to leave, Wang hurried off to find his little wife before the other did something stupid again. He'd finally gotten him to stop trying to flee, or so he had thought!
Ai was not willing to accommodate him, however. He would hurry off whenever he was close enough to find his hiding place.
Both Hubby and Wife were now in a game of 'hide and seek'. Their bond allowed one another to know when the opposite was close in range, thus leading this game to drag out for a week.
Ai avoided his own room, having used his small fox form to hide in small spaces at night to sleep, this was because Wang was unable to grab him when he was tucked away into a small space.
Wang was growing more annoyed as the days went on. He wanted to take his little wife and lock him away in a room so he'd never be able to hide from him again ah!
Finally, Wang was at his wit's end. He lectured the Elder that had caused this drama to come about several times. Even going as far as to beat the poor old man to an inch of his life one day when the coot had suggested to the young lord to just forget about the little fox!
Ai was very pleased with himself, he'd managed to keep himself free from Wang's clutches for so long ah! He felt like maybe this time he'd have the best chance of breaking free and leaving this little cage!
However, there was one issue... He was super dirty, his beautiful white fur covered in dirt and mud from the small crawl spaces he had been hiding in. His skin itched and he wanted so badly to take a bath. Plus his little tummy was starved! He was only able to get Hiu to bring him scraps of food! The other spirit beast only allowed the bare minimum himself.
Waiting until Wang would be busy with his affairs at work, Ai quickly hurried out from his hiding hole. He scurried to the bedroom and rushed to the bathing area. He found some servants and huffed at them, his fox form, a pitiful site that looked as if he were abused!
"I want a bath!" He said as if they were working for him, rather than Wang. Then again, the two he found were two of the group of servants Wang had ordered to look after his little wifey. So they were his servants, while only obeying the Lord, rather than the 'Madam'.
They looked down at the yapping filthy ball before them before nodding, the male hurrying off to get the water for the bath.
The female knelt down to leave the poor thing up and hurried to the smaller tub and sat him aside while grabbing some soaps and other products to wash the filthy thing up.
Just before the male who went to fetch the water returned he stopped to inform another servant that the 'Wife' would be bathing. And hinted that he should inform the lord that his wife was open to being 'caught'.
If Ai knew his wish for a bath would lead to this betrayal, he'd have tried to wash in the fish pond ah!
When the bath was filled and ready to go, Ai hurriedly hoped in, sitting in the shallow tub that Wang had gotten for his fox form to bathe in. He still refused to return to his human self.
For two reasons, one, He didn't want to be naked before these servants! Second, it was easier for him to flee in this form, plus he could easily get into a tight little hiding place where Wang wouldn't be able to grab him!
The female servant began to repeatedly scrub and wash off the fur of the fox. It took several attempts before the filthy fur returned to his beautiful white fluffy appearance.
Ai's mood was much better now that he wasn't so itchy and smelly. He let out a pleased sigh as his eyes closed.
He felt himself being lifted up with a towel wrapping around his body to dry the fur. Figuring it was just one of the servants, Ai let the others do as they pleased.
Still feeling pleased that he was now nice and clean. Now he just needed to figure out how to stock up on some food and flee!
Sadly, however, Ai felt his heart skip when he heard a soft chuckle. He opened his eyes and turned to look at who was drying his fur.
With widening eyes, Ai looked at Wang who held him with the towel, making sure to properly dry off his small wife's fur.
"So you finally come out of hiding just to take a bath ah? I would have gladly washed you up nice and cleanly if you'd just said something." he teased.
Clearly, Wang's mood had lifted when he'd heard his wife was no longer hiding! Finishing his meetings quickly, he hurried over to capture Ai before he could flee from him again!
Ai began to struggle but found that Wang's hold was rather iron tight, not hurting him, but not breaking free.
"Ah, Don't worry. I won't hurt you." Wang said, seeing the panic in Ai's eyes. He shifted the little body to his chest, petting it as he walked to the bedroom.
Ai gave up on struggling as he just rested against the other's chest, his heart was still thudding loudly as he tried to figure out why Wang was so calm.
It wasn't until Wang sat down, dropping the little fox onto the bed that Ai realized why Wang was so happy. The room had changed!
The windows no longer were free of obstruction, now they had bars blocking any escape paths from them. All small spaces he'd noticed before during his hiding stage, were now all blocked off!
What more, the doors leading to the garden or to Wang's office were now all guarded by two servants! There was no way for Ai to rush out and hide again!
Wang sat so he was leaning against the bedpost. His arms resting on his thigh as he watched the fox with a very pleased expression.
It wasn't hard to tell that Ai was surely struggling with the loss he was faced with. "Wife-" he began before Ai glared at him, fur puffing up in anger.
"I'm NOT your wife!" he said in a growl. This only made Wang sigh while shaking his head.
"Fine fine, We'll hold a proper wedding then ah!" he said while looking at the small thing before him "But if we do, then I get to enjoy you right after," he said raising a hand to poke the others butt with his finger.
Ai shuddered as he lowered himself, his ears falling against his head. "I won't marry you!" he said, though his voice was weak and it was more of a whisper than a declaration.
Wang smiled. "You belong to me, So of course I'll have you regardless of what you or anyone else says." It was with this comment that Ai realized that despite Wang's great mood, he held an odd coldness.
Clearly, Wang was still mad that he'd hidden away from him for so long!