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amaya777 · 4 years

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Trick or Treat | A Twisted Wonderland Oneshot

TwstOBer 16. Trick - Leech twins x reader

For this theme, it is definitely fitting to use the twins, especially considering the Octavinelle Halloween costumes too. So I hope you all enjoy this and remember to give out those treats….or else a trick will be played on you.

Warning: Bondage/almost full mummification, Claustrophobia, Nyctophobia, non-consent, blackmail, coercion

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It was Halloween and everyone was dressed up in costumes of all kinds, eating sweets and celebrating this spooky holiday. But you were the only one not in costume, treating this like an ordinary day and ignoring the festivities around you. No, it was not because you didn’t have a costume to wear, you just didn’t want to wear one after all.

“Boo! Trick or Treat!”

You jumped at the sudden words coming from right behind you, turning around to see that it was Jade and Floyd Leech as you sighed. They both smiled, dressed up as mummies since that was the theme for Octavinelle’s Halloween costumes this year.

“Don’t scare me like that!”

“Aw, come on Shrimpy! It’s Halloween! Now give us a treat!”

Floyd cheered before he tried to grab you into one of his ‘hugs’. But you just managed to move out of the way, shaking your head.

“Why should I? I don’t have any candy and aren’t you all too old for this sort of thing anyways?”

You scowl as Jade chuckles, keeping his composure like always.

“Too old? We’re all within the same age group besides Leona and even he is wearing a costume like the rest of us. Halloween is a time for spooky fun, there’s no need to be so serious.”

“Yeah, even Goldfish knows to have fun too!”

Listening to Jade’s reasoning and Floyd compare you to Riddle only made you roll your eyes.

“We’re still students and I don’t honestly care for Halloween anyways. So go bother someone else then.”

You just wanted to continue on with your day but then felt a hand on your shoulder, seeing that it was Jade looking down at you with a smile.

“I’m sure you know what Trick or Treat means, yes? We get a treat, or we get to trick you. I’m sure you would look cute as a maid.”

“Oh, what about a shrimp costume since they’re Shrimpy?!”

A blush crept up on your face at the thought of wearing an embarrassing maid outfit and being a shrimp was absolutely absurd too. You shrugged off his hand from your shoulder as you started to walk off.

“No way would I be a maid or even a shrimp! Try and trick me, see if I care,” you call out as you waved and kept going, quickly getting away from them. You just thought of that phrase as only a silly threat in order to get candy, that no one actually plays tricks because they didn’t get anything. But you would learn the hard way that you never refuse to give a treat to and challenge the Leech twins, Jade and Floyd looking at each other with big grins.

After classes ended and the day went by somewhat uneventfully in your case, it was dark out when one of the other students came up to you. They told you that the Headmaster Crowley wanted you to go clean up the mess someone had made in the graveyard right now. He figured that since you weren’t wearing a costume unlike everyone else, you were the only one suitable for the job. You grumbled and groaned, annoyed but knew that you couldn’t say no to him.

So you made your way towards the graveyard, your first time to this place and realizing just how big it was as you stepped inside through the gate. There was instantly a chill in the air, a light fog not helping either as you walked by rows and rows of gravestones with a few large mausoleums throughout too. You shivered, so creeped out right now and just wanted to get this over and done with. But you hadn’t spotted any signs of this mess Crowley talked about, going deeper into the graveyard before you noticed a shadowy figure. They were hidden due to the fog, thinking that could be the culprit as you step closer in order to find out who it was.

Once you were close enough to see through the fog, there was Jade sitting on top of one of the gravestones. You were very confused and worried, seeing a smile that looked creepy as he stared right at you.

“J-Jade, what are you doing here? Were you the one who made the mess?”

Silence was in the air for a couple of seconds before he started chuckling, revealing his sharp teeth and then taking out a bandage, holding it tight between his hands.

“How naive, did you really think that Headmaster Crowley would care about a mess in here of all places? But you fell for our trap so easily.”

You were shocked, gulping as immediately you were backing away from him. Unfortunately you then felt yourself bump right back into someone before feeling arms squeeze around your body tightly.

“Shrimpy! Now we got you! ...Don’t run away from me.”

Floyd held onto you tight, struggling and then shivering when his voice dropped to a deeper octave at that sentence before laughing. Jade then got off of the gravestone and walked towards you, grinning while still holding that bandage.

“You should know that one can never say no to us without consequences. So we wanted to make sure to really give you a Trick that you never forget after all. While wrapping you up and drying you out like a real mummy would be fatal, that doesn’t mean we can’t still wrap you all up. Perhaps we’ll place you in a tomb and leave you there alone all night long until morning.”

Jade chuckled louder as your eyes went wide, shaking your head no at the terrifying plans they had for you.

“But that’s boring Jade! How about we all sleep in the tomb together? That way we get our Treat too~”

“Oh, that sounds like a splendid idea Floyd. Both a Trick for you and a Treat for us.”

Jade had agreed with his brother, saying that last sentence to you with a sinister grin. You really did not want to become a mummy and spend the night in a tomb with the twins. But the moment Floyd weakened his hold to let Jade do his thing, you took the chance as you broke free and made a run for it. All you could hear was their chuckling and then silence, getting as far away from them as possible. The fog had come rolling back in again, much thicker than before as you could not see the path back to the gated entrance. So you kept going before hearing the most evil and loudest laughter possible, sounding like it was coming closer and closer.

“SHRIMPY! I TOLD YOU NOT TO RUN!!”

You screamed and ran even faster, knowing that now Floyd was chasing after you. Your heart was racing, so focused on not being caught by him that you were completely lost. Going off of pure adrenaline, you ran past gravestone after gravestone and feeling like you were trapped in a hazy maze. With the fog clouding your visions and only thinking of escape, you swore that you saw the familiar iron gates and ran towards it.

But instead there was Jade, standing in front of a mausoleum as he smirked at you. You screamed even louder, turning around and starting to run away. Having only gone a short distance before you suddenly felt something and fell forward onto the dirt face first. You cough and look back, stunned to see that your ankles were now bound together by bandages and were being pulled over to Jade with Floyd popping up beside him.

You struggled and screamed, using your hands to dig into the dirt to keep from moving but it was useless as Floyd helped pull you in too, their strength together too much for you. Once the two had you back in their grasp, Jade quickly used his magic to wrap you up fully in bandages from feet to your mouth. You couldn’t move at all, tightly bound and you couldn’t speak at all with your screams muffled. But at least you could still breathe through your nose, unluckily still able to see and hear too.

Jade found a tomb big enough for the three of you inside the mausoleum, gently laying you down in the center of it before he laid down to the left side of you. Then Floyd got in on the right side of you, grinning as he immediately was squeezing you tight like one would a body-length pillow.

“Good night and sweet dreams.”

Jade whispered with a smirk, hugging you too as he used his magic to close the lid of the tomb, plunging the three of you into utter darkness. But what he said was a lie as the twins weren’t going to let you sleep so easily. While almost all your body was bound in bandages; your hair, ears, eyes, forehead, nose and top half of your cheeks were still exposed as they took advantage of this.

They were biting your ears and breathing on you, running their fingers through your hair while laughing and whispering sweet nothings right into each ear at the same time, squeezing you tight in between them. Since you were completely blind in the dark, your sense of hearing and touch heightened which only made this even worse. You got major goosebumps all over with your heart beating so fast and you could feel your face turn at least cherry red, thankful that at least these two wouldn’t see it hopefully, unbeknownst to you as they chuckled. This went on for so very long, your muffled protests ignored and eventually stopping, having no way to tell time but it certainly felt like an eternity.

The next morning, you were shaken awake by Jade as the bright sunlight pouring in from outside the mausoleum blinded you, hardly having gotten any sleep. The two brothers pulled you out of the tomb as Jade magically undid all the bandages around you, but tied your arms behind your back with them while smirking as Floyd squeezed you again.

“That was certainly very enjoyable, wouldn’t you say? But now you know that you can never say no to us, unless you want this to get out to the whole school. You’re our little mummy.”

You were shocked as somehow he had gotten photos of you in your mummy state, thinking that you couldn’t let those be seen by anyone. To be honest, you were also beyond terrified of Jade and Floyd after all they did last night as from then on, you became their toy to play with whenever they feel like it.

#TwstOBer #twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #floyd leech #twst wonderland #twst jade #twst floyd #leech twins #twisted wonderland scenarios #fanfic #oneshot #twisted wonderland fanfic

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ibijau · 4 years

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It’s Bad Timeline time, y’all!

Warning for mentions of murder and for. Like. All the angst. All of it.

The first sign of trouble was a letter requesting his urgent return to the Unclean Realm. Mingjue was usually happy to let him roam the country freely, since there was little to do at home that others couldn't do better than Huaisang.

So when the letter reached him, Huaisang assumed that it had to be about the one thing only he could do for his brother: give him an heir.

It was something they had discussed before. Huaisang had offered to get married to a woman of Mingjue's choosing, and have a child for him. His brother had been conflicted at the proposition, but relieved too. Just like Huaisang, he remembered how their father's second marriage, however short, had ruined their childhoods and turned Madam Nie into a monster of resentment.

Huaisang had struggled to fake enthusiasm for what he was offering, but Mingjue had been so eager to accept that his weak performance had sufficed. All that remained was to find a woman of good background who would not mind a cold marriage, nor seeing her child raised by others. And judging by that letter calling him back, Mingjue might have found her. Why else call back Huaisang?

For the entirety of his trip back to Qingge, Huaisang steeled himself for what was to come. He reminded himself that once, in a different life, he would not have minded that arrangement. He had known back then that he would never marry for love. It had only been more of a certainty in this new life. Love was not for him. Even what he felt for Lan Xichen wasn't love. Not exactly. Not for this version of Lan Xichen, anyway, and he would never get his Xichen back because his husband had been rightfully disgusted by his actions and...

Huaisang had sacrificed so much for Mingjue and Lan Xichen. What would a little more change?

The second sign of trouble was something that broke his heart when Huaisang there was nothing left to break.

A white figure, waiting for him at the gates of the Unclean Realm.

He had sent word ahead of the day he expected to arrive, of course. He usually did. Some habits he had never managed to shake off, even when they'd become useless.

And yet that day, Lan Xichen was at the gate and Huaisang was glad he spotted him from far away, because the sight made him cry. Not a lot, and not long, but a few tears escaped him at that reminder of everything he used to have.

By the time he reached his brother-in-law, Huaisang's composure was perfect again. His eyes were a little red, but if asked he was ready to blame it on the dusty road.

His Xichen would have asked for sure.

This Lan Xichen did not. He gave no sign that he even noticed that redness. His posture was stiff, even by Gusu Lan standards, and his face so cold and inexpressive that he looked more like Lan Wangji than ever.

"Your brother wants you to come see him right away," Lan Xichen announced.

Even his voice distant.

This, Huaisang realised later, was the third sign of trouble.

"I really should go change first," Huaisang protested lightly. Lan Xichen's attitude was a little off, but he was mostly curious about whatever was so urgent. "I kind of stink right now."

Not that he expected Lan Xichen to sympathise. Lan cultivators never seemed bothered by something as lowly as heat and sweat, and remained pristine at all times.

"We'll bear with it," Lan Xichen replied shortly. "Come."

"We? It's a family meeting then?" Huaisang asked, trying to laugh it off in spite of the sense of wrongness he could sense mounting in his guts.

Even the disciples guarding the gate were avoiding to look at him. He'd never become close to them, not in this life, but usually they treated him a little more warmly than that and asked for gossip.

"What's going on?" Huaisang asked, following his brother-in-law through the courtyard and toward the main building.

"Mingjue will explain better than me," Lan Xichen just said.

At some other time, Huaisang might have laughed. Mingjue was many things, but he wasn't great at talking. Shouting, yes, maybe, but talking... And yet Huaisang didn't feel like pointing that out. Something had to be very wrong for Lan Xichen to be so angry.

Lan Xichen's cold anger was nothing compared to the burning anger in Mingjue's eyes when Huaisang entered his brother's office. In this life, his brother had never looked at him that way, but he had never forgotten the bouts of rages the other Mingjue had gone through toward the end. He'd born more or less the same expression when he had set fire to Huaisang's fans and paintings.

"How much do you know about poisons?" Mingjue barked, while Lan Xichen closed the door behind them.

Huaisang noted that his brother-in-law was staying right in front of that same door, rather than to go at his husband's side. Making sure he could not escape.

"Hello to you also, brother," Huaisang said as cheerfully as he could manage. "I've been gone almost a year and you welcome me with a face like that? I'm hurt, I'm wounded, I'm..."

"Answer the question," Mingjue growled.

"Fine, fine," Huaisang chuckled. "Poison, eh... I mean, about as much as the next person, right? If you have a specific question, I think we have a book or two in the library that could help more than me."

Mingjue's eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched where they laid on the desk.

"What about what's in your private library? If I go to look there, aside from your collection of vulgar prints, what will I find?"

"Nothing," Huaisang replied with absolute assurance.

The answer only served to further anger his brother who bent down to grab something at his feet. A cold sweat broke all over Huaisang's body. He looked away quickly, refusing to see the items his brother threw onto his desk.

He didn't need to see them to know what they were.

Why, though ? He'd hidden them well, and Mingjue never went into his room anyway.

"Explain," Mingjue ordered.

Huaisang pinched his lips, desperately looking for a convincing story. He'd just been caught lying, when he knew how much Mingjue hated it. Not only that, but he'd been caught lying about such a thing... If Mingjue had found the books about poisons, then he would have easily found the other things too. Descriptions of curses and rituals and all the arsenal he had accumulated in case he needed to eliminate more threats to his brother's safety. He had even written down the ritual that had given him this second chance, and if Mingjue had found that, he would absolutely have recognised his handwriting.

To make it short, things were not looking good.

"Brother, it's a little rude to go through my things this way," he complained meekly. "You know I like my privacy."

"Explain," Mingjue repeated, sounding on the verge of losing his patience.

"What's there to explain? It's stuff I found while travelling. I couldn't leave it behind, but I knew you might want to destroy it since some of it is a little dangerous. Only, to cure a wound you must know what caused it, right? So I kept them, in case."

"So you've never used those?" Lan Xichen asked from behind him, his voice as icy as a blizzard.

Huaisang, pointedly, did not turn to look at him. Mingjue's anger was a terrifying sight, but he'd rather face that than whatever he'd see on Lan Xichen's face.

"Why would I?" Huaisang scoffed. "What enemies do I have upon whom I could inflict such horrors?"

"Jin Guangshan," Mingjue replied.

The laugh that Huaisang forced out of his throat was nothing but awkward. It took all of his willpower not to check how well guarded the door was, but he couldn't stop his eyes from darting toward the window. No, he wouldn't make that either, Mingjue was in the way.

It had been a fucking decade since Jin Guangshan's death, he'd thought he was safe at this point.

"Brother, Mingjue, what are you even trying to say here? His excellency's death... Wasn't that an accident? A beast killed him and his retinue or... Or was it a demon? Anyway, it was a creature of some sort, I remember that much."

"The creature was never found," Lan Xichen said grimly behind them. "And with Jin Guangshan's body more than half devoured, nobody thought to check if the death could have been something else, did they?"

That question, Huaisang realised, was not directed at him. Mingjue, looking more furious by the second, turned to a corner of his office.

Huaisang had always hated this room. It was too big, too shadowy and full of places for someone to hide and spy. He knew that because he'd done it often. Normally he never came in without checking that nobody was listening in from the shadows, but not this time. He'd been too distracted by the sight of Mingjue's rage.

It was a shock to see someone step into the light, but for it to be that specific person...

"Jin Guangyao," Huaisang called with a calm he did not quite feel. "What a surprise. Am I to understand that you suspect foul play in your father's death? How awful!"

Jin Guangyao did not smile the way he would have in another life. As Jin Zixuan's right hand man, he had learned that he did not always need to be pleasant and mild to be accepted.

As he stared at Huaisang, he certainly was neither of these things.

"I have always been suspicious," Jin Guangyao announced. "It only took me a while to find out who could have found advantage in doing this." He paused, and smiled, almost warmly. "My apologies, that is inexact. Out of all the people who profited from Sect Leader Jin's death, I had to find who would actually take that risk, and who would be clever enough to orchestrate something so dramatic. I seem to recall, Huaisang, you always disliked my father, didn't you?"

"As would anyone with two ounces of good sense and moral," Huaisang pointed out, making himself shiver. "Surely... A-Yao, surely you wouldn't think that I could..."

"You weren't home when Jin Guangshan died," Mingjue said, making Huaisang jump in surprise. He'd almost forgotten Jin Guangyao and him were not alone.

His brother was angry, but not particularly shocked by the veiled accusations. So this wasn't new to him, neither the concept of a plot against Jin Guanghan nor the idea that Huaisang could be linked to it.

He really should have killed Jin Guangyao too.

"I wasn't home when a lot of people died!" Huaisang cried out. "I just travel a lot. Am I going to be blamed for those too? I wouldn't... What would I even gain by doing this?"

"Nothing," Jin Guangyao agreed. "But Sect Leader Jin and your brother did not often see eye to eye, did they?"

"So what?" Huaisang exclaimed, easily shedding a few tears. "I'm... You think I'd kill someone like that? My friend's father? A-Yao... Ah, Mingjue! Mingjue, tell him! You know I'd never do that?"

"Do I?" his brother growled. "The war changed you."

Huaisang stared at his brother, so shocked by the hatred in his voice that his mask dropped. He'd heard Mingjue used that tone before, in this life and in another, but never directed at him. To hear Mingjue speak that way and see Jin Guangyao stand at his side, his face disformed by righteous anger...

"Are you trusting him more than you trust me?" Huaisang hissed. "After what he did during the war?"

"He atoned for it," Lan Xichen said somewhere behind.

Only because I made sure he could! Huaisang thought.

"So you are all three against me," he said instead, the realisation so bitter he almost gagged. "You all three think I'm that sort of a person. At least now I know this. But to make such accusations, I hope you have proof? Or does it all rest on my personality and the fact all three of you hate me?"

Jin Guangyao's face hardened, but he saw pain flash on Mingjue's features. It was a comfort of sorts. Even the clever words of Jin Guangyao could not destroy the bond between them.

He had lost everything, but he still had his brother.

"I don't have proof, not exactly," Jin Guangyao conceded. "But the circumstantial evidence is... alarming. Brothers, if you allow me..."

Mingjue gestured for Jin Guangyao to go on, his eyes never leaving Huaisang.

What followed was nearly an hour of Jin Guangyao explaining in great detail how he had become suspicious over his father's death, and the investigation that followed, how he had discovered the traces of poison on the corpse, how he had figured the identity of the beast used to mask the crime. He had been thorough and methodical and so much more efficient than Huaisang had managed to be when he had been the one following leads. But of course, it helped that Jin Guangyao had not been alone in this. As soon as he had been sure his father was murdered, he had shared his suspicions with his sworn brothers who had set out to help him figure the truth.

The only reason they had not suspected Huaisang earlier was because in appearance, he had little to gain from the death of Jin Guangshan. Even at this point, the three men struggled to understand what might have pushed him to such extremes.

"So what you have," Huaisang concluded when Jin Guangyao was done exposing his crimes and methods, "is a lot of conjectures, some books that you found among my possessions, and a clear disdain for my person. Without even a motive, your theory is quite flimsy, A-Yao, and I'm more than a little hurt that my brother would consider it valid."

"You are right," Jin Guangyao conceded, and there was that mild smile again, the one Huaisang had learned to hate so much. "I do not have firm proof. But you must admit it is odd how so many details point in your direction. And, of course, the fact that you cannot seem to say where you were when this happened…"

"Am I to remember everything that I do, even after ten years? As I've said before, I travel a lot."

"But at the time you did not," Lan Xichen said, still standing guard near the door. "And your memory is usually excellent. I've heard you recall entire conversations years after they happened."

Huaisang ignored him, as he had ignored every previous intervention. Of all times for Lan Xichen to show he had been paying attention…

Still sitting at his desk, Mingjue sighed. His anger had given way to some emotion Huaisang had never seen from him before.

It might have been defeat.

"You're right that A-Yao's case is not strong enough," Mingjue said, "or we would have brought it to his Excellency Lan Qiren to give judgment. If I asked you to swear you didn't do this, could I trust you?"

"Even if you did, A-Yao wouldn't. Clearly he has it for me. After all the friendship I extended to him, too…"

"I was the one to first suggest your role," Lan Xichen calmly protested. "Do not blame A-Yao."

The words pierced Huaisang to his core. He turned around and finally faced his brother-in-law to find him glaring with the same fierceness he had showed in that Guanyin temple when Jin Guangyao had admitted to his crimes.

The difference was that Huaisang had not confessed to anything. It was only his word against Jin Guangyao’s, yet the winner was clear.

There was a twisted satisfaction in discovering this. It confirmed what Huaisang had always feared during their marriage: that faced with a choice between them, Lan Xichen would always pick Jin Guangyao.

"Brother Xichen, I did not realise you hated me so much," Huaisang sneered. "To accuse me of such a thing, what a low opinion of me you must have had all along."

"I had the highest opinion of you, once," Lan Xichen calmly countered. "But we both know there is nothing you wouldn't do for Mingjue."

The words startled Mingjue, but Huaisang did not turn to look at him. He understood his brother's rage if the other two had made him realise that Huaisang would go to those lengths for him. Perhaps he shouldn't have offered to have children and let Mingjue raise them. To him it had been natural to give anything and everything his brother could want, but he wondered if his insistence had led Lan Xichen to become suspicious. A man who could give away his own flesh and blood, what wouldn't he do?

In this life too, Lan Xichen turned out to be the person who understood him best.

"So you have all made up your minds," Huaisang noted bitterly, turning to face his brother again. "With or without proof, I am guilty. What happens now? You know as well as I do that this probably won't be enough for a trial. And even if I were tried, what would it accomplish? A feud between Lanling Jin and Qingge Nie? We're still recovering from our last war, this seems unwise."

The air of defeat on Mingjue's features only grew stronger at those words. Huaisang wondered if his brother would have preferred for him to protest his innocence, or say he had been forced to do those things. But Jin Guangyao had tried that in another life, so Huaisang knew already that appealing to his brother's trust and mercy would yield no result.

"I'm banishing you from the Unclean Realm," Mingjue announced, glancing behind Huaisang, toward Lan Xichen. His husband must have given some sign of encouragement. Mingjue took a deep breath, and pushed away any lingering hesitation. "Officially you'll still be part of Qingge Nie, because to expulse you would bring too many questions. We'll also make arrangements so you get money when you need it. But if you ever take come back here, I will have you treated as an intruder and eliminated. Am I clear?"

Fighting back tears (he wouldn't give Jin Guangyao the satisfaction of seeing him cry, not in this life) Huaisang smiled amicably.

"Am I supposed to be thankful I get such a light punishment for a crime that cannot be proven?" he sneered. "Fine. Thank you, brother. As your mother used to say, you are always too kind when I misbehave."

His brother looked struck. Huaisang regretted his words. The enemy here was Jin Guangyao, as it had always been, so to be this cruel to his brother was…

"A_Huan, A-Yao, out," Mingjue growled. "Now. Huaisang, stay."

Jin Gyangyao shot a glance at Lan Xichen. Behind Huaisang, the door opened, and the two men quickly exited. Huaisang did not spare a look for them, all his attention on his brother. When the door closed again, Mingjue rose from his seat and came to stand in front of his brother, his expression unreadable.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

"I've done nothing."

"I will break every bone in your body if you don't stop lying this instant."

Mingjue's tone was calm, almost nonchalant. Huaisang shivered. His brother's anger rarely scared him anymore, but this…

"I've done what needed to be done. Jin Guangshan was a threat to everyone. The Wens were gone, the Lans and Jiangs were broken, you were the only thing standing between him and domination of the cultivation world."

"He wouldn't have dared attack me."

Huaisang laughed at his brother's assurance. It was more nerves than anything else, but he could not contain it.

"You don't know what people like him will do for what they want, Mingjue."

"But you do."

The pain and disappointment in Mingjue's eyes was nearly unbearable. Huaisang had to look away. He'd spend a dozen years hoping this moment would never come, but Jin Guangyao had ruined everything. Some things could not be changed.

"I should have protected you better from mother," Mingjue sighed. "I should not have let her turn you into this."

Again Huaisang found himself laughing, if only so he wouldn't cry.

"Ah, Mingjue, brother… Don't blame yourself for this, please. I think if anything, Mother was right about me from the start. I'm rotten and I spoil everything I touch. Maybe it's best after all that I must leave. I'd have dragged you down, in the end."

Mingjue raised one hand. Huaisang closed his eyes, ready to take the blow he had more than earned.

Instead his brother grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close, wrapping his other arm around Huaisang's shoulder and hugging him tight.

"You were not always like that," Mingjue insisted, sounding as if he was crying. "We were not always like that. We used to be brothers. We used to trust each other. What happened?"

"There are things that can't be avoided," Huaisang whispered, clenching his fists. He wanted to return the hug, it had been so long since anyone had held him close. He did not. Perhaps if he made himself monstrous enough, Mingjue would forgive himself more easily for the way things had become. "It must have been written that you and I cannot be at each other's side, that I'll never be the brother you deserve."

"But you were the brother I wanted," Mingjue said, tightening his grip.

Huaisang laughed, and cried, and still refused to hug his brother back.

What the two of them had wanted and what they had actually gotten had always been wildly different things.

Still, he hoped Mingjue would manage to still be happy in spite of what he now knew, or else it would all have been for nothing.

#nie huaisang #nie mingjue #lan xichen #jin guangyao #mo dao zu shi #bad timeline #there's not much left to write in that timeline after this #I want more on xue yang and then I'll end it I guess #jau writes #mdzs

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