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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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This one's gonna take two asks, I'm incapable of making it more succinct. In Accurate description NHS said "I’m taking you back with me to the Nie sect when all this is over. If your parents want you back, they can come ask nicely.” Could we get that AU? And the Jiangs HAVE to ask nicely, because with the war on the horizon they can't risk alienating the Nies, but they are so bad at it? NHS's half assed plan to poach JC gets more and more solid the longer he has to watch this train wreck.(1/2)

How hard can it be to love your own flesh and blood? Even NMJ has stopped admonishing him for wanting to poach another sect's heir. What a political nightmare that would be. But JC is so relaxed with NHS's birds? And keeping up longer and longer when training with da-ge? And smiling more? And JYL said, she's never seen him so loose in the shoulders? NHS can make this work. JFM and YZY never valued JC anyway

Part 2 of Accurate Description (necessary to read that first)

“Absolutely not,” was the first thing Nie Huaisang’s brother said when Nie Huaisang first raised the idea of kidnapping Jiang Cheng for his own good. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“Nie sect principle three,” Nie Huaisang said.

“Well, shit,” his brother said.

This was because Nie Huaisang’s brother is the best.

“I’ve gotten other people involved in this,” Nie Huaisang added helpfully.

“You’d better have,” his brother said. “I am not dealing with the fallout from this on my own.”

Nie Huaisang nodded happily. That was about what he’d expected.

A few moments later, his brother asked, “Why are we kidnapping him, anyway?”

“This is temporary,” Nie Mingjue said gruffly.

“Very temporary,” Jiang Cheng agreed, sounding stiff and awkward. “I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“You know exactly why you’re here,” Nie Huaisang objected. “I told you why!”

Jiang Cheng gave him a dirty look.

“Also I have no idea how da-ge got you here, but you’re staying,” Nie Huaisang said firmly. “For as long as it takes for your parents to show that they deserve you returning to them. You’re not getting a choice.”

Jiang Cheng’s face was turning red.

“That’s not the deal, Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue interjected. “Jiang Wanyin can return home at any time he wishes.”

Nie Huaisang glared, but his brother ignored him.

“He can also stay as long as he wishes,” he said, and this time it was Jiang Cheng’s turn to stare. “If you want others to respect him, you must first pay him the respect he deserves yourself. Now, I have to go, but Jiang Wanyin – know that our home is always open to you.”

He put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, then ruffled Nie Huaisang’s hair, and left.

Jiang Cheng looked dazed.

Nie Huaisang smirked.

“…you said something about him giving out hugs?”

“Oh yeah,” Nie Huaisang said. “Great hugs.”

“I can’t believe you would betray me like this,” Nie Huaisang whined. “And after all I’ve done for you!”

“A little training’s not going to kill you,” Jiang Cheng said. “Come on already.”

“My brother put you up to this, didn’t he? You sold me out for a hug.”

“I sold you out for the opportunity to go on a proper night-hunt,” Jiang Cheng said. “Also, he said he was proud of the progress I’ve been making on my cultivation and sword training since I got here. And gave me a hug.”

Nie Huaisang grumbled but conceded that his brother was especially difficult to resist when he was in full big brother mode. If he wasn’t, Nie Huaisang wouldn’t have been nearly so willing to give up the neat new sword he’d found in the Xuanwu’s cave and store it down in their saber halls until his brother and Baxia could figure out how to suppress it - he hadn’t even realized it was full of resentful energy at first, and he still thought it was especially aesthetic.

“Besides, if you don’t practice something soon, he’ll come after you himself,” Jiang Cheng said. “Wouldn’t you rather train with me?”

“No. You’re just as crazy as he is.”

Jiang Cheng looked disturbingly complimented.

“I’ll come look at your birds later,” he offered.

“You’d do that anyway,” Nie Huaisang said. “You love my birds.”

Jiang Cheng did, too. Nearly as much as he loved all the feral cats that roamed the walls of the Unclean Realm, every single one of which seemed to have immediately pegged him as a soft touch and come nosing around for treats – Nie Huaisang had never seen Jiang Cheng look so calm and peaceful as when he had a cat under his palm.

It really put into perspective how stressed he looked the rest of the time.

“Oh, all right,” he groaned, and Jiang Cheng beamed. “Just know that I hate you.”

“Same to you, Nie-gongzi,” Jiang Cheng said, completely insincere. “Same to you.”

“You know, I’m surprised my parents haven’t shown up to demand me back yet,” Jiang Cheng said over lunch one day. “It’s not – it’s not a problem. It’s only – I thought – Mother at least –”

“Oh, they’re demanding all right,” Nie Huaisang sniggered.

“…Nie Huaisang, what have you done,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Conspired, that’s what,” Nie Mingjue said. “I don’t know if I should thank you for discovering my brother’s sole talent, namely for scheming and conspiracies, or to blame you for it, Wanyin – but you do have very loyal friends.”

Jiang Cheng blinked.

“Well, first your parents went to Lanling,” Nie Huaisang explained. “On account of Jin Zixuan and Mianmian very obviously sneaking food around and buying all sorts of things that you would like before smuggling them – very poorly and obviously, mind you – into Jinlin Tower, and of course they were also overheard talking about something that sounded an awful lot like ‘Wanyin’; everyone assumed they were hiding you. Turns out they weren’t, of course; it was just a stray dog they’d named something with similar tones. Not their fault everyone got the wrong idea!”

Jiang Cheng’s eye twitched.

“And then, of course, they went to Gusu, on account of Lan Wangji telling everyone you were his sworn brother –”

“His what?!”

“Well, close enough. On account of how you saved his life.”

“I did not!”

“I thought I heard something about how you carried him on your back as you fled from the Xuanwu’s cave and the Wen sect’s ambushes, when he was exhausted and could not walk,” Nie Mingjue said mildly, and Jiang Cheng spluttered. “Had I heard wrongly?”

“…well, no…but...”

“Of course, you weren’t at Gusu,” Nie Huaisang continued, ignoring them both. “Though there were some heavy implications for a little while that you’d gone off with Lan-gongzi –”

“Isn’t he missing?”

Nie Mingjue coughed and looked down at his plate.

“And none of you said anything?” Jiang Cheng asked, looking between them. “At any point? Did you just, what, not talk to them?”

“I have spoken with your parents several times since they have started looking for you,” Nie Mingjue said, and his voice was suddenly hot with roiling anger. “I have concluded that Huaisang had a point regarding the necessity of their learning how to ask for your return.”

Jiang Cheng blinked.

“Your parents are jerks,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “And you deserve better.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jiang Cheng said, a little strangled. “I think I – got that.”

“Good.”

“It’s just, my jiejie –”

“Supports you being here. She sent you a care package. It’s in your room.”

“…Wei Wuxian –”

“Sent a note along with the package. Says to keep up the good work.”

“How did you even get something like that?!”

“I have my ways.”

Nie Huaisang was staring blankly at the wall when Jiang Cheng walked in and did a double take.

“Okay,” he said to Nie Mingjue, sitting patiently nearby with a letter in his hands. “You broke him. How?”

“He just discovered that he inadvertently saved a great deal of lives,” Nie Mingjue said. “As did you, by agreeing to come here.”

“I only agreed to come here because you lied and told me it was necessary to help defend my sect,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, clearly not meaning it.

Nie Huaisang let out a high-pitched and somewhat hysterical giggle.

“It was,” Nie MIngjue said solemnly, offering him the letter. “It appears that Wen Chao was given permission to attack and crush the Jiang sect, but has been delaying in anticipation of your return on account of wanting to deal with all of you at once. The delay allowed our spies time to discover his plans, and to carry warnings to your parents. They were thus able to fortify the Lotus Pier’s defenses against invasion, and to hold it off until aid could arrive – which they wouldn’t have managed if he’d attacked at once, as he would have if you’d been there.”

Jiang Cheng stared.

“Would you like to sit down and stare at the wall?” Nie Mingjue offered kindly.

“…yes please.”

“How’d you convince him to let me come here, anyway?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang as he packed up his things. He was finally heading back to the Lotus Pier, albeit only long enough to collect soldiers and come back to join what they’d started calling the Sunshot Campaign – his parents had finally figured out where he was and sent word that had, in the view of the Nie, just barely qualified as sufficient to get some leeway.

Lan Wangji was waiting in the hallway to escort him there, and he’d sworn to Nie Huaisang that he would not allow either of Jiang Cheng’s parents to say anything untoward while they were there. He’d looked very serious while he said it, too, which pleased Nie Huaisang to no end and made Jiang Cheng look more than a bit nervous.

“You’re only asking that now?” Nie Huaisang asked, amused.

Jiang Cheng shrugged. “You going to tell me or not?”

“It was easy,” he said. “I just invoked Nie sect principle three.”

“…what’s that?”

“‘A fire burns all the same’,” Nie Huaisang said. “Variously interpreted as: ‘Treat your neighbor’s harm as your own’, ‘Do not stand idly by as your neighbor bleeds’, or ‘Indifference to evil is equivalent to evil’.”

Jiang Cheng stared.

“How about ‘if you see someone who needs you, you have an obligation to act’?”

Jiang Cheng blinked. “Okay,” he said. “And?”

“And what?”

“And what else did you say? You convinced him to literally kidnap the heir of another Great Sect; I can’t believe that you accomplished that simply by saying ‘hey principle three applies here, let’s do this’.”

“Maybe I did,” Nie Huaisang sniffed.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll get them out of you one day.”

“Maybe you will,” Nie Huaisang said.

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said. “If I wanted to keep Jiang Cheng permanently, what principle would I have to invoke for that?”

“Nineteen.”

“Nineteen?” Nie Huaisang frowned. “But, da-ge, principle nineteen is the one about marriage – oooooooh.”

#mdzs #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #nie mingjue #my fic #my fics #accurate description #wolveshowlatnight

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guqin-and-flute · 3 years

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nieyao or 3zun + prompt 64 with cat!baxia

64. “I think your cat wants to kill me.” [This got way away from me WHOOPS]

“So. This date is going fantastically. Do I make top 10?”

Meng Yao huffed a short, polite laugh through his nose at Mingjue’s rueful question. “Being nursed back to health by a handsome man is certainly adding back points lost in the cat attack,” he replied, and some of the frustrated dread bled from the ball in Mingjue’s chest. “I really could do this myself, you know,” he added.

Mingjue sighed. “Yeah, well, since it was my cat attack, I feel like I need to make reparations. I’ve also taken First Aid more times than I can count and cat scratches can get really nasty.”

If this were a one of the sappy romcoms Huaisang loved so much, standing at the sink together as he tended to the 2 gashes scoring down Meng Yao’s forearm with several antiseptic soaked cotton balls had the potential to be romantic. Except Mingjue had never liked those movies and he just felt like a fucking asshole who owned an unruly animal.

He had met Meng Yao at the grocery store. Mingjue had looked up from his phone at the sound of a sharp voice--a middle aged business man was snapping at a young man in front of him in line; "Fucking Christ, you're going to hold up everyone."

"You can go ahead of me if you'd like--"

"There's a whole line of people here! We all have places to go!"

The man being yelled at--(the very attractive man with round, dark eyes, he noted)--had grimaced placatingly, as the cashier was saying, "We can hold his groceries while he goes out, sir, you won't have to wait."

A the business man threw his hands into the air in disgust, Mingjue had slid his phone into his back pocket and interrupted in his 'is this guy bothering you' voice; "What's the problem?"

3 pairs of eyes had darted to him immediately and gone wide. The very good looking man had tensed completely, eyes darting to the door in a way that looked involuntary--and well, Mingjue had been struck by the completely overwhelming urge to tuck him back behind him and make this asshole between them shit his pants in fear. And anyone else that made him look that scared, for that matter. "I'm sorry," the scared, attractive, adorable, fragile-looking, harassed young man had said a tight smile, "I forgot my wallet in my car, we can just--"

"Here," Mingjue slid out his credit card handed it--pointedly--over Mr. Business-Asshole's head to the cashier. "I'll cover it. You know what," he had added, fixing the quickly wilting dickhead with his best 'I-can-bench-press-you-and-then-feed-you-your-own-esophagus-no-problem' stare, "Why don't you get the nice lady behind me, too. Once this guy is done running for the biggest jackass award. I'll wait."

And, you know, weirdly enough, Mr. Asshole had actually left the line, red faced and without his shitty little protein shakes. As the cashier bit back a grin and rung up the card, the harassed young man--who was even prettier up close, holy hell, it made his lower back sweat--had tried to insist that it wasn't necessary, that really, he had the money, he could just go get it, he appreciated it but didn't need Mingjue to put himself out. Mingjue had just shrugged and held out his hand. "It's the principle of the thing. Nie Mingjue."

The man had opened his mouth, looked down at his hand; then, he had smiled and holy goddamn fucking shitballs he had dimples. Shaking it firmly in a hand that was soft and cool and slim, he had said, "Then...thank you. Meng Yao. I'll have to pay you back. Do you have a cash app?"

"Don't bother."

"I insist."

"You can buy me dinner sometime, then," Mingjue's mouth had decided to say without permission, but luckily he agreed with the idea and so had been quite pleased to see Meng Yao's ears go pink.

"...That sounds fair," he replied, finally, those lovely dimples returning.

The cashier had cleared their throat, brightly. "Do you by chance have our loyalty card?"

They agreed on a first date in a public restaurant where they could verify that the other wasn’t some sort of serial killer. It had even been a nice one that Meng Yao had insisted on where they had also shared a bottle of wine and interesting conversation. Meng Yao was exceedingly smart and easy to talk to--the perfect conversational partner with a knack for solving many of the problems that Mingjue hadn't even realized he complained about. In return, he had made his attraction quite clear and Meng Yao had ducked his head.

"I'll have you know that I don't go home with anyone on the first date," he had said carefully, eyes on his fingertip as he ran it around the rim of his wineglass. "It's a personal rule of mine. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression."

"That's fine with me," Mingjue shrugged. "If you're up for it, I'll wait for as many dates outlasts your rule, 'cause I grill a mean steak."

Those dimples came back and he had sat back in his chair, voice light as he asked, "Oh? Won't you get bored?"

Mingjue had snorted and finished off his glass. "Just because I'd like to sleep with you doesn't mean I don't also want to get to know you, you know."

Mingjue was just getting to know the guy, so he couldn't be sure, but that answer seemed to please him.

The night of the cat disaster was the 4th on their run of dates--Mingjue had shooed Huaisang over to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s house for the night and invited Meng Yao over via text for dinner and a movie and also the option of sex, if he wanted.

Apparently, the bluntness had made Meng Yao laugh. Mingjue had texted back that he preferred honesty in all things and could handle a ‘no, thanks’ with plenty maturity. Meng Yao had replied, ‘I’m sure you can,’ which, he had very keenly noticed, was not a ‘no, thanks.’

Dinner had gone great--homemade meals always seemed to impress--and they had been preparing to split a chocolate lava cake in front of a shitty action movie they had both agreed on with the understanding that neither of them minded missing anything if they decided fooling around was more interesting.

But now, there was blood everywhere--on the dishes in the sink, on the towel they had hastily staunched it with, on the countertop and the mood was ruined because his giant, grumpy ass cat had decided to savage his date as they were cleaning up the table. Baxia had sniffed his leg suspiciously when he first came in, flinching away as he knelt down to offer his fingers. Then, she had fixed him with a glare, hissed, and turned around and stalked away, fluffy gray tail held high--which, for her, was practically a warm welcome. She had her boys--Huaisang and Mingjue--and hated pretty much everyone else (except for Wei Wuxian's older sister Jiang Yanli when she had dropped him off to hang out with Huaisang when his license got suspended. Which had happened a few times, now).

Everything had been fine with her while they ate--she had even spent it under the table, rubbing up against Mingjue's legs, staring up at Meng Yao without making so much as a peep. It was when they had risen that disaster struck. She had hopped up onto Meng Yao's chair and decided to take personal offense to his existence with absolutely no warning at all when he passed by with his hands full of silverware.

Now, Meng Yao’s long fingers curled into a fist as the cotton passed over a particularly deep part of the slice, though his face remained calm, so Mingjue winced for him. "Sorry. I swear, she's never done this before, I don't know what the hell her problem is."

Meng Yao shook his head, smile pressed and polite as he said, "Really, it's fine." He shifted on his feet to lean his hip against the cupboards and, immediately, Mingjue seized his elbows.

“Are you dizzy?”

The other man had stiffened at the sudden movement, staring up at him. Then, he blinked and smiled, shaking his head. “No, I'm alright.”

Mingjue eyed him suspiciously. “You’re sure?”

He laughed. “I’m not going into shock, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve had much worse, trust me. I’m not going to pass out.”

Mingjue remained unconvinced. Instead of arguing further, he simply lifted him by the waist to sit on the island across from the sink for lack of a chair. Meng Yao let out the beginning of a squeak, hands automatically flashing up to bunch in the front of his shirt for balance. He blinked down at Mingjue, then the ground, then back at him, eyes wide and nostrils flared. Mingjue couldn't tell if it was annoyance, horniness, or a combination of both--and that was all well and good except that he was still bleeding and he knew from experience what a bitch blood was to get out of clothing. So he just pulled Meng Yao's arm out again and went back to work, asking, "So what was the 'much worse'?"

"Pardon?"

"You said you knew you're not going to pass out because you've had 'much worse'. What's the story there?"

"Ah. No story. I broke my arm. Compound fracture. I stayed awake the whole time, so a cat scratch is fairly minor, in comparison."

Mingjue hissed in through his teeth reflexively in sympathy and scanned him. Either he healed fantastically or the scar was higher up on his arms, under the soft cream sweater sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows--luckily, they had been rolled up before the attack and had escaped blood thus far. "Fuck. How'd that happen?"

"Fell down some stairs."

Mingjue raised an eyebrow at the stark explanation. "Well, maybe you shouldn't fall down stairs. Ever thought of that?"

Meng Yao smiled thinly down at him, dark eyes glinting in the fluorescent lights. "Mm. I'll have to keep that in mind." The dimples he searched for avidly were there, faintly, and Mingjue found himself wanting to nibble on them.

They hadn't done much else besides a kiss goodnight in the shadows near the entrance to the parking garages of their dates, because Mingjue was being good and keeping his hands above the belt. And he should probably figure out whether or not this date was going to have the eject button pressed, first. There was blood everywhere, still.

"Why all the First Aid classes?" Meng Yao asked suddenly, keeping his arm extended out even as Mingjue released him to rummage for the antibacterial spray. "Was it because your demon cat kept attacking people?"

Mingjue barked out a laugh and sprayed down his arm--Meng Yao didn't flinch. "At first, it was for lifeguarding, every summer since I was 16 until I graduated college. Now, I take refresher courses because I run a martial arts studio and shit can get real real fast, especially with newbies who try to fuck around." Tearing open the packet of sterilized gauze with his teeth so he could still hold his arm, he situated it and held it with a gentle thumb. "Tape or gauze wrap?"

Meng Yao shrugged. "I have no preference. Surprise me."

Gauze wrap it was. It would hurt less than pulling tape off his arm later. Meng Yao watched him finish up quietly, ankles linked, posture straight and proper even sitting on a kitchen counter. On impulse, Mingjue lifted his now bandaged arm and kissed the skin of his wrist, just below where the gauze stopped and got a slight shiver for his trouble. He looked up at him, then, an angle he was not used to but was definitely enjoying. "This has been a piss poor date. I really am sorry."

"The dinner was lovely before it ended in bloodshed, I promise," Meng Yao assured him, smiling. Then, it grew a little sly and he leaned in, slowly, stretching his arms out over Mingjue's shoulders to link behind his neck. "Although, you could always kiss it better."

Well, there was no possible way to misinterpret that particular invitation and he heartily took it, snugging Meng Yao up against him with hands on his hips and devouring him just as indulgently as he would the forgotten lava cake cooling on the stove top. He hummed in appreciation as Meng Yao's arms wrapped tighter, his thighs squeezing around his hips as he kissed back with just as much enthusiasm. He tasted like the dry wine they had finished the meal with.

All at once, though, Meng Yao froze, hands stilling in his hair. Before Mingjue had time to be confused, he whispered against his mouth, "I think your cat wants to kill me," eyes fixed on something over Mingjue's shoulder.

Mingjue craned his neck around to find Baxia perched on the counter next to the sink, tail swishing, gaze locked with Meng Yao, ears flicked out to the sides. She let out a low, quiet growl.

"Oh, for fucks sake," Mingjue growled back. "That's it. You're going in Huaisang's room for the night."

#little-smartass #SO LIKE WRITING THINGS CHRONOLOGICALLY IS APPARENTLY DIFFICULT FOR ME #But this was fun!! Nice low stakes! Cat attack!#Nieyao #modern au #ask #prompt #my fic #my stuff #this became much longer than I anticipated

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immacaria · 3 years

Text

Crocodile

Hello there! So this is day 4 of Beetober 2021: Crocodile from @bloody-bee-tea and, sincerely, I just wanted a good laugh because these last days have been tiring and exhaustive and I will die in the hill that says that Nie Mingjue is good with kids and the Yunmeng people are crazy. Anyways, this day’s word count is 2890 words. That being said, I hope that you enjoy the fic and are safe and sound!

________________________________________________________________

When Nie Mingjue started visiting Yunmeng, he tried to get used to the differences between them as quickly as possible so as to not offend the new Sect Leader or, worse, make a fool of himself. The food and spices were easy to get accustomed to, though he was sure that the spice was being held back immensely because of him, and he even began appreciating some of the special dishes that the Jiang disciples brought him to taste. But there were some traditions that still managed to surprise him after this whole time.

Though he started visiting Yunmeng to help Jiang Wanyin with the rebuilding of the clan, the thing that he liked the most to observe were the people from Yunmeng, the common people and the younger disciples, and their habits. For example, when he walked around Lotus Pier with the first Jiang disciple showing him around and taking him to where his leader was, there were always people in the roofs and piers singing and laughing loudly at each other’s singing tones and he always found himself stuck in place to hear it. The first time it happened, Wanyin had taken offense to it and said that was the way they did things around there, that at least that his people could do that despite everything.

He had to explain that he had not meant to cause offense by stopping to hear and had only stopped because it was different from how his people worked. Constructions on the Unclean Realm were usually quieter and more sober, even if they did joked between them, but nothing like the loudness that he was seeing in Lotus Pier and he was simply amused by it. After that, he always stopped for at least some minutes to listen to the people singing and chatting everytime he was visiting.

Another thing that he too liked to observe was the way that, despite everyone in the cultivation world being so much afraid of Jiang Wanyin, they didn’t seem afraid of being ahead and poke him only to get reactions out of him. More than once, Nie Mingjue had witnessed one of the elders making jokes at him and only laughing when he snapped at him or one of the disciples playing a prank on him and he only rolled his eyes and told the poor kid to run around the fields until he told them to stop. They even started to joke with Nie Mingjue himself when they noticed that his visits were going to be regular and had no hidden intentions behind them.

It was funny to see the way that they acted so differently from his own people who, though they joked and fooled around too, were more serious in certain aspects than them, who expressed their feelings and opinions more openly. Even Jiang Wanyin himself, who was so feared and quiet, expressed himself immensely easier when he was near his people. The Yunmeng people were wild, loud and lived up to their clan motto in every single hour of the day.

But Nie Mingjue knew better than to think that they were fools like some people in the Jin clan thought they were. These people had suffered worst things that most of them all, had they entire culture and lifes stolen from them by arrogants fool, were killed and chased and, yet, they still fought in the war as much as the others, if not more, and rebuild their houses and redid their culture completely alone. Because, even if he offered help, they were as proud and tough-headed as their leader and didn't accept help easily.

Another thing he knew better than to trust them was in relation to pranks. He did not trust them with pranks. Not because they would take it too far and actually hurt people, but because he wasn't used to their pranks and more times than not he fell victim to them even if he didn't want to. Just like that time where they said he had to bow three times before passing under any door because the days were shorter than the nights that season and the spirits were restless and since he was an outsider they were going to think that he was a threat and go even more restless and end up attacking everyone in the sect. So he needed to bow three times before going by any door.

"Just like a wedding?" Nie Mingjue had asked because though he was pretty sure that they were pranking him, he didn't want to be disrespectful and risk getting haunted by some crazy ghosts. Or hurting anyone on Lotus Pier.

"Yes, just like a wedding. To show respect and protect yourself." One of Jiang Wanyin's Spiders, Zhou Min, said and, beside her, her twin sister nodded eagerly.

"Are you sure?" He said slowly. He wasn't superstitious, per se, but one can't never be too cautious with spirits.

"Yes, absolutely. Three bows, Nie-zongzhu." The twin sisters said and he decided to do it, even if later he discovered that it was all a prank. Better safe than sorry, after all.

So through the day, he kept bowing in front every door he passed under and tried to do it as quickly as possible so that no one would notice. Was it tiring? Yes. Was it humiliating? Yes, but he understood about restless spirits and what they could do when irritated and he was not risking it to happen to Yunmeng Jiang. Sometimes, from the corner of his eyes, he saw some disciple giggling behind their sleeves and he huffed every time before going on, and others, he would see the elders smiling in open plan, but looking at him strangely. It was only at the end of the day, when Jiang Wanyin and he were watching the disciples train from inside one building and they stepped out to dismiss them that he learned that that was a prank.

“Why the hell are you doing that?” Jiang Wanyin said, turning around to glare at him and crossing his arms. At some point of his visits, they stopped caring for the unnecessary formalities and niceties they had to endure with the other Sect Leaders and were slowly building a friendship between them. “What the hell is wrong with you?” His tone was harsh and for others it may sound like an accusation, but by now Mingjue knew better and knew that the younger Sect Leader was simply confused.

“The Zhou twins said that the spirits were restless since the nights were longer than the days now and since I’m an outsider, they could see me as a potential threat if I didn’t bow three times to show respect at every door I went through.” He sighed, running a hand over his face as the disciples near them started to laugh loudly. In front of him, Wanyin was looking at him with incredulous eyes before turning to where the twin Spiders were practically rolling down the ground with their laughter. They had pranked him. Again.

“Are you marrying the spirits, by any chance then?” He said, frowning at him.

“What? No! The twins said it had to be three times.” He pointed at them and saw him fighting to not lift the corner of his mouth.

"Unbelievable. The twins are well-known pranksters, Mingjue, you should know that." He rolled his eyes, turning away as his smile finally broke out and the sun had nothing to do with the way that the whole place seemed to illuminate suddenly. "Bow three times. Fucking unbelievable." By then, Wanyin was openly laughing and so were his disciples, but Nie Mingjue couldn't even say he was mad at being pranked again. Not when it managed to make Wanyin laugh so loudly as he was.

So, no, he did not trust the Jiang disciples when it came to pranks because even if he knew it was a prank, he knew that they knew that he would walk right in one with his arms wide open if it meant that Wanyin would laugh like that again and again and again. But didn't mind when he fell in one, that much either. There were so many pranks already that he always knew when one was about to happen.

Just like this time around. He was visiting Lotus Pier again when Wang Yin, the second disciple, ran to him with a wide and toothy smile on his face and greeted him way too happily. As the boy guided him to the lakes where Wanyin was helping build some a pier, he was told about how they were almost finishing the construction and that this pier was the last big project before they gave the final touches and the whole time Nie Mingjue was looking around and trying to see what was going to be the prank.

But all the thoughts about the prank were forgotten when they arrived at the pier and he saw Wanyin crunched down near the water and helping other people. He looked up and smiled, asking him how the hell he pretended to help if he was all dressed up like that and told him to get going. So that was what he did. He got rid of his outer robes and boots and put Baxia to the side before jumping next to Wanyin and immediately having a heavy wood log thrown in his hands.

He can’t say that they worked quickly, but he can say that there were enough laughs and jokes to make it look like it was quick. Wanyin explained to him that after they ended - “And take a bath.” He added after looking down at his wet and muddy robes. - there was going to have a party and if he wanted he could come too. Ignoring the expectants looks from the other workers and some menacing ones, Mingjue nodded and said that it was a pleasure.

“So, this was the last big project?” He asked, stepping away to see the pier better. Beside him, Jiang Wanyin smiled and nodded, throwing some tools up to one of his disciples.

“Yeah, after this there’s only some details to be added and then everything is ready again.” He shrugged, taking smaller steps away and looking around. “Mingjue, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?” He stopped in his backwards walking and put his head to the side when a wicked smile appeared in the other’s mouth.

“Turn around.” Slowly, he turned around with his eyebrows furrowed and looked around before carefully looking down when a low growling reached his ears. Near his legs and growling with all it’s might, there was a crocodile glaring up at him and opening his mouth at him. “Oh, shit!” He screamed, jumping away from him in haste. His back hit one of the pier’s pillars and everyone around him started howling in laughter as the crocodile growled again, closing its mouth and swimming to where Wanyin was giggling. “What the hell?” He whispered as the reptil circled Wanyin’s thighs and bumped his head against one of them, still making that horrible sound. It was only then that he noticed that the damned crocodile was laughing at him.

“I’m so sorry, Sect Leader Nie.” Wang Yin said between laughs. “But we had to. It was just too good to pass.”

“How come that you have never seen Baieyu around the lakes, Nie-zongzhu?” One of the workers, Hu Yitian, if he remembered right, said, holding another worker who was laughing too hard up.

“Believe it or not, Nie-zongzhu avoids looking at our lakes and ponds as much as he can.” Jiang Wanyin said, patting Baieyu’s head and smirking at him and putting his head to the side while Nie Mingjue narrowed his eyes at him before following the crocodile’s movements as it swimmed away.

“Why?” One of the youngest disciples that were helping them asked, putting his head between the railings of the handrail.

“That’s an answer that stays between me and your sect leader, kid.” Nie Mingjue swinged her nose gently and smiled at her giggles. “Move, move. I want to get out.”

“Afraid, Mingjue?” Wanyin asked, getting out of the water too and still smiling widely.

“Terrified. What if that Baieyu of yours decides that I’m a treat just like your spirits did last season? Thank you, but no, I prefer not to risk any of my limbs.” He shook his head, pretending to not hear the disciples’ laughs.

“You are ridiculous.” He rolled his eyes, walking past him and he could only shrug as he followed him. “Baieyu only bites who I tell him to.”

“I know that now, but I’m still not risking it.” They walked for some time until they were away from most of the disciples and non-cultivators.

“Why do you do that?” Jiang Wanyin asked suddenly, turning around and putting a hand on his chest to stop him.

“Do what?” Nie Mingjue asked back because he genuinely didn’t know. “Help you rebuild Lotus Pier? I thought we alre-...”

“No, no that! The pranks! Why do you always let the juniors prank you? Why do you always let me prank you? Surely, by now you can know when they are about to prank you!” He interrupted him, shaking his head and looking down. “Why do you always make a fool out of yourself?”

“Because I like it. It’s good.” He shrugged again, lifting his hands to rub them against Wanyin’s arms.

“But people always laugh at you in the end. How are you not ashamed by that or even bothered? Don’t you think He took a deep breath and Nie Mingjue only shrugged again.

“Because it makes people laugh and a good laugh it’s always good no matter what caused it. And because it makes you laugh too and I would do practically anything to make you laugh.” At that, Wanyin looked up at him with raised eyebrows and wide eyes.

"What?" He whispered and fisted Nie Minjue's robes with more force than necessary. "What does this mean?"

"It means that I like seeing you laughing, It means that I like being the reason why you are laughing." He cupped his face, caressing his cheek and smiling. He was sure that he was looking like a fool. Maybe a fool in love, but a fool still. "It means that I like you." Slowly, giving time for Wanyin to back off, he closed the distance between them and kissed his lips with only a barely there touch.

"Fuck!" Jiang Wanyin whispered heatedly before looking up to him and pulling him down to a more heated and heavier kiss. His hands fell down from his face to his waist and he pulled him against him, feeling his neck getting hugged. "Holy fuck!" He said, making Mingjue chuckle loudly. "I see what you mean about liking to make me laugh. It's a good sensation."

"It is, it is." He nodded, thumbing the side of his waist and watching as his cheeks got adorable red. "You're adorable."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. C'mon, we need a bath." He waved him off before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "Then we can kiss again and go to the dinner the elders are giving.”

“Alright!” He smiled, kissing his cheek quickly and laughing when Wanyin turned to him with narrowed eyes and cheeks aflame.

Later after the bath and the dinner, both of them would lay down on Jiang Cheng’s - because now he got to call him by his given name, even if he highly doubted he would stop calling him Wanyin. The name was simply too beautiful to not be called - bed and talk. They would talk about everything and nothing and see what they should expect from them and Nie Mingjue would say that he was planning on starting a courtship if Jiang Cheng wanted. Later, Jiang Cheng would laugh at him and say that yes, he wanted the courtship but only if Baieyu got to participate in the ceremony and, then, laugh some more at Nie Mingjue’s sour face.

♡

“It means that I like you.” Nie-zongzhu said and Zhou Min’s breath caught up on her throat as he leaned down to kiss their leader.

“Holy shit.” She whispered as her sister, Zhou Nuo, giggled beside her. “Finally.”

“Nie-gongzi is going to be so mad that he lost the bet to Wang-shixiong, of all people.” She giggled again and Wang Yin had to swallow down a cackle as Zhou Min shivered again.

“Oh, I’m going to win so much money on Nie-gongzi.” He cackled maddily and beside them all Zhao Shuhan, the first disciple, sighed heavily.

“I really think we shouldn’t be spying on our Sect Leader snogging with Nie-zongzhu.” Zhao Shuhan said, putting his hand on his face and sighing even more. “Especially if they are snogging.”

“Oh, mood-killer.” Zhou Min rolled her eyes and turned to him. “They took so long to get together. Let us enjoy this a little.” Zhao Shuhan took a deep breath before looking over at her to see them hugging and sighed again.

“Ok, just five more minutes.” He shook his head and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes.

Oh, Nie-gongzi was going to be so pissed that he lost the bet.

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bewareof12metersfrogs · 3 years

Text

Warning: long rant. Probably messed up grammar. Not LXC-friendly.

So Pinterest gave me this:

And I was like

Ah yes, Lan Xichen.

I mean, I love that guy, but oh gosh that man is BLIND. Like, man's so blind Xue Yang could use him to slaughter people.

(I'm so sorry for that joke)

I really loved him when I first read the book, esp pre-Nightless City, but then I read it for the second (and third) time and that love turned into "uhh, I guess I kinda like him?"

I mean, in Sunshot Campaign arc, NMJ just got freaking tortured. He just got beaten, made to watch his men die, and his former deputy "betrayed" him -- and then LXC was just like, "oh da-ge CALM down, this is all part of OUR plan, A-Yao's our spy lol put Baxia away don't shout at him smh"

Why didn't LXC say to NMJ that the whole thing had been orchestrated? Okay, I get it, maybe he couldn't risk JGY getting caught, but couldn't he just tell NMJ, "hey, this is the plan. You're gonna get caught at Yangquan by WRH and our spy will take care of the rest of it" ? I'm pretty sure NMJ was angrier about his men getting slaughtered than himself getting beaten. NMJ is kinda like WWX; they were both idiots, but they cared about their people. Pretty sure he cared more about his men than himself. If he knew about the "plan", he'd most likely bring the disciples who were ready to die.

THEN LXC just went to NMJ like, "Hey let's be sworn brothers!". Xichen, dude, his wounds aren't even healed. I mean, it's a bit insensitive right?? I think it is. The whole sworn-brotherhood-right-after-shunshot-campaign thing still bothers me. To me, it seems like no one cared about NMJ. I mean, he was the leader of SC, people used his skills, his men, his everything, and then he was just, like, casted aside?? Pretty sure man's got PTSD. Also, qi deviation. Oh gosh I forgot about qi deviation.

Anyway, yeah, LXC was blind throughout the novel. I won't talk about the scene where Wangxian tried to tell him that A-Yao = bad, but I will talk about the scene where NHS decided to "use" his er-ge to kill his san-ge. Was it intentional? Perhaps. Was NHS lying? Maybe. Was it bad? Absolutely. Was it expected? Of course.

Let's put ourselves in NHS' shoes for a second. Your big bro, who is also the one who raised you and the only family you have left, died. People are quacking "oh it's the Nie curse, and isn't it such a tragedy?" BUT NO! One day you be minding your own business and then BAM you found out that da-ge'd been murdered and mutilated AND betrayed. So you started scheming for like a decade. Everything was going great, as great as a 10 years revenge plan could ever be. You just gotta wait for a few more hours, you just gotta listen to your nemesis' retelling his sad background story, you just gotta endure the pain of seeing your dead big bro wrecking havoc, and you'd have your revenge.

Then of course your er-ge, your big bro's best friend, gotta help your big bro's killer. He just gotta treat his wounds, huh? Pretty sure NHS was unstable. He was desperate and maybe even full of wrath. I understand that, at least, the same way I understand that maybe LXC tried to treat JGY's wounds because he still saw him as his brother -- he didn't want to lose another brother. But how about NHS? He was watching the man whom he thought was his brother treating the man who betrayed and murdered his actual brother. NHS was being a dick, yeah, but it was expected.

Think about this for a second. NMJ's corpse was still right there (and gosh, NHS had to sew his big bro's corpse by himself). NHS was RIGHT there, and LXC had the audacity to tend to JGY's wounds after the man himself admitted to his crimes. I think it's understandable if NHS felt at least insulted.

Also, he was perhaps sick of people not thinking that his big brother was as important as other people, that he was also a human being instead of just a war machine or even a mere tool that can be casted aside whenever they want to. Why did his brother have to die because of other people's greed and selfish decisions? Why did he have to lose the only family he had left forever and why did he have to just sit back and accept it?

Most importantly, LXC had been too blind for more than a decade too long.

Also, the bit about "You're Wangji's only mistake":

Bruh.

If WWX is LWJ's only mistake, then (trusting) LXC is NMJ's only mistake. I mean, sure, WWX is as dumb and oblivious as a rock, but can you really blame him?? HE WAS TRYING TO KEEP HIMSELF, HIS FAMILY, AND THE WEN REMNANTS ALIVE, DUDE'S GOT NO TIME TO THINK ABOUT FKING ROMANCE.

Sorry, I got carried away.

Anyway, are we just gonna ignore the fact that LWJ had been acting like he hated WWX since, like, the first time they met?? I mean, I really love LWJ, but his only mistake is his communication skills (or lack thereof).

But LWJ never gave up on WWX. He learned to express himself way better. Man's got dedication and he's not afraid to learn. I really love that about him.

Also, I understand that LXC was angry because LWJ took beatings to protect WWX, but I don't think he had the right to blame WWX for that. Yes, I know WWX did plenty of things wrong; he was extremely reckless and untrusting, but he never asked LWJ to protect him. LWJ did everything voluntarily. Ffs Xichen WWX didn't even know that LWJ did that. You know why? CAUSE HE WAS FKING DYING THAT'S WHY.

TLDR: LWJ was a grown ass man.

Okay. So, do I hate LXC? No. But do I find him flawed? Yes. But that's why I like MXTX's characters, including WRH, JGY, and LXC (the only exception are perhaps JGS and MXY's fam, and I think we all know why). They all have flaws. For me, LXC is too naive and blind, JGY is too power-hungry and selfish, and NMJ is too stubborn and unyielding. NHS? Well, he's a lot of things. He's manipulative, unsympathetic, and IMO he's got a problem with obsession too. He and JGY are alike, in my opinion. The main difference is their goals: JGY seeks power, NHS seeks revenge.

Everyone has flaws. LWJ and WWX have flaws too; they're EXTREMELY flawed. Heck, even our lord and saviour Shijie also has flaws, as much as it hurts me to type that.

Then why do I get so worked up about LXC's flaws? Honestly I don't really know. Maybe it's because I'm tired of (almost) the entirety of fandom treating him like a god, maybe because I'm tired of people who treat NHS like the devil himself, or maybe because I'm disappointed in him. I mean, JGY's our main villain, but I still love him so much. Heck, I love him even more than I love LXC. Bruh, nowadays I even like WRH more. At least that guy is downright evil and he looks cool while doing whatever evil things WRH does (I'm talking about the novel and donghua mmkay).

Anyway, this is the end of my rant. I apologise if I'm offending you, this is just something that's been bothering me since the first time I re-read MDZS. This whole thing is like a plot bunny but instead of a "plot", the bunny is shaped like a "rant". This is a rant bunny. I need to get this outta my head. I've edited this thing like four times already because I keep finding errors and stuffs. I also added like two new paragraphs.

I'm sad now.

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elliethefroggy · 3 years

Text

Switching Souls

Sangchengmonth2020 (on ao3)

Day 22: rolesclothes swap

Staring at himself through someone else's eyes was perhaps the most bizarre thing to ever happen to Jiang Cheng. It was strange to watch his own face contort into expressions he was certain he’d never done before as Nie Huaisang got used to having control of Jiang Cheng’s body. Nie Huaisang somehow made his face look softer, less guarded, less strict. Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure he liked it.

The worst part was that he couldn’t even wholly blame Nie Huaisang for their predicament because the curse was both their faults, a moment of stupidity on their parts causing their souls to switch bodies.

“Oh, don’t look so glum, Jiang Cheng,” Nie Huaisang spoke, forming words from Jiang Cheng’s mouth in a carefree lilt, “It’ll be fine; the curse will wear off in a few days, a week at most.”

“I still think we should tell someone,” Jiang Cheng didn’t like how he made Nie Huaisang’s voice sound harsh and sharp.

“But where’s the fun in that? And think of all the lectures we’d have to suffer through if someone found out, think of all the extra saber practice Da-ge would force upon me.”

His mother’s lectures were always long and arduous; Jiang Cheng would rather avoid them if he could. Nor did he want to put up with the ridicule Wei Wuxian would make Jiang Cheng endure if he were to ever find out.

“Fine,” Jiang Cheng said.

Nie Huaisang howled in victory, grabbing onto Jiang Cheng and hugging him tight. Jiang Cheng tried not to feel weird about hugging his own body in someone else’s body.

“Also, You’re going to need to stop scowling so much if you want to pass off as me,” Nie Huaisang tapped a finger against Jiang Cheng’s frown which only made Jiang Cheng scowl more.

Jiang Cheng could already feel the stress of the situation growing within him; this was going to end terribly, he just knew it. Why did he always agree to Nie Huaisang’s absurd schemes?

Nie Mingjue noticed right away. Jiang Cheng hadn’t done more than step into the Unclean Realm that Nie Mingjue already had Baxia to his throat.

“You’re not my brother,” Nie Mingjue said, fury colouring every word. Jiang Cheng didn’t dare move lest Baxia harm Nie Huaisang’s body; Nie Huaisang would never let him live it down if Jiang Cheng dared leave a scar on his body. “Who are you and where’s Nie Huaisang?” Nie Mingjue demanded.

Few dared defy Nie Mingjue with Baxia’s sharp edge at their throats and Jiang Cheng wasn’t about to be one of the exceptions. The stress of the whole situation finally reached its peak, and he caved immediately, Nie Huaisang’s wants be damned.

Jiang Cheng told Nie Mingjue everything. About the curse and about Nie Huaisang’s scheme. He said he’d known it was a stupid idea from the start, but he’s agreed to it anyway because Nie Huaisang had asked. He added that he should never have gone along with the plan and that he thought Nie Huaisang’s idiocy was finally rubbing off on him. Later, he would regret saying such a thing to Nie Mingjue, but at that moment, he could do nothing but talk. At least Nie Mingjue had stopped holding Baxia to his throat.

By the end of it, his chest was heaving up and down as his lungs tried to suck in much needed air, Nie Huaisang’s body more unfit than Jiang Cheng was used to. The panic did nothing to help calm his breathing.

And then Nie Mingjue burst into laughter.

Having never seen Nie Mingjue laugh so heartedly, Jiang Cheng could do nothing but look on in alarm. As he watched Nie Mingjue clutching at his sides, letting out big whoops of laughter, Jiang Cheng started to frown, just like Nie Huaisang had told him not to.

Was Nie Mingjue going through some bizarre form of qi deviation? Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be surprised; it was the Nie Sect after all.

“Sect Leader Nie, are you alright? Should I get help?” He asked because Nie Mingjue was still laughing uncontrollably, and Jiang Cheng did not want to be the cause of Nie Mingjue’s untimely death.

“No, no, I’m fine.” Nie Mingjue straightened up, whipped a tear from his eye, and, most shockingly of all, threw his arm around Nie Huaisang’s borrowed shoulders. “Call me Da-ge,” he said, leading Jiang Cheng further into the Unclean Realm. Jiang Cheng was too confused to refuse.

Really, he was just happy he hadn’t been thrown in a cell.

Nie Huiasang had been wrong, the curse lasted a month before they found their way back into their respective bodies.

“Da-ge found out straight away,” Jiang Cheng admitted.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised; you’re a terrible liar.” Nie Huaisang said which was admittedly true.

“How did it go on your end?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“Fine. I think Jiang Yanli suspected something but was too polite to ask. Wei Wuxian was as oblivious as ever.”

None of them had noticed. Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Nothing good. His family hadn’t realised the person within Jiang Cheng’s body hadn’t been him for a whole month.

Nie Huaisang nudged his side lightly, “Hey, don’t take it to heart; I’m an incredible actor who happens to know you exceedingly well.”

That last comment definitely didn’t make Jiang Cheng feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Nie Huaisang got up to his feet only to fall back down, his legs having trouble holding his weight.

“What have you done to my body?” Nie Huaisang asked, voice full of accusation.

“Da-ge had me train with the saber,”Jiang Cheng said, “It was a lot of fun actually; he’s a really good teacher.”

“But the best part of this whole thing was that I could skip saber practice!” Nie Huaisang shouted, trying unsuccessfully to push Jiang Cheng, his body too exhausted to do much damage.

Nie Huaisang’s indignant shrieks could be heard far and wide.

#sangcheng #sangchengmonth2020 #sangchengber #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #mdzs #the untamed #jiang wanyin #bodyswap #role reversal (technically)#curses #they get cursed and their souls switch bodies #Jiang Cheng is not happy about this #But Nie Huaisang is ready to have a great time #And Jiang Cheng is not happy that Nie Huaisang is happy about this #soul swap #fic #my fic #mine

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satan-chillin · 3 years

Text

Preface

Wei Wuxian puffed up his cheeks, waving his words dismissively. “Still not fair.” He poked the stick on the same spot he burrowed. “If I’m to build a school, I won’t bother with a thousand rules, or even a hundred.” He sent Nie Mingjue a glance before his eyes darted back to the dirt. “For one thing, I won’t punish anyone who simply defended my family’s honor.”

Nie Mingjue was quiet for a while. “You heard.”

In retrospect, it's a bit of an odd start of a friendship.

(Or: in which Nie Minjue is the Second Young Master Nie)

Also available in Ao3

When Nie Mingjue marched straight to Lan Qiren to meet his punishment for his committed infraction, he did so with upright posture and squared shoulders.

The disciples who had witnessed the incident quickly avoided his path. The expression on his face that, frankly, Nie Mingjue had no idea what looked like either, was enough for them to turn away their shocked gazes to gape instead at the spot he just left.

Nie Mingjue had felt a peculiar sense of calm that he usually couldn’t achieve with hours of meditation. Baxia, who had been previously irritated to be left alone in his quarters, purred her satisfaction and glee through their shared connection like a faint thrum of strings at the back of his head.

He announced his presence to Lan Qiren and did not waste time to explain what happened once granted entry. Respectfully, Nie Mingjue ignored the bafflement from his usually stern instructor. Lan Qiren cleared his throat, recovering the next moment as he gestured for him to stand up from his bow and ordering him to spend the whole evening kneeling to mull over the Gusu Lan rule he had broken.

Nie Mingjue was prepared to copy the rules by hand, with a handstand or otherwise; it was as if he was being let off easily. Lan Qiren must have sensed his doubt, adding that it was simply a reflection for the both of them. He admitted that even he wasn’t certain what was the appropriate punishment to inflict, and if he understood that Nie Mingjue acted in righteous defense, he didn’t voice it. Nie Mingjue would know the following morning what was to be done with him.

He came across Lan Xichen on his way, bowed his greeting, and promptly excused himself to begin his reflection, tightlipped despite the warm and open, if a bit concerned, expression by Zewu-jun that was seemingly imploring him to talk to him. Nie Mingjue had no relationship with the older man to speak of, unlike his older brother who he might have been close friends with at some point, but he knew enough of Zewu-jun's character to believe that he would listen.

He was still in hearing distance to catch Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren discussing his visit when he went on his way.

Nie Mingjue hit the gravel resolutely, unminding as the points dug against his pristine disciple robes and the skin of his knees and legs. He folded his hands on his lap and began to meditate, mind carefully easing into a state of tranquility where he drifted back to the smell of pines, of ink, and of lemons and chai.

He thought of the few hours on a pleasant day spent on a low table across from his older brother, with a particularly aromatic tea between them, or, if Nie Mingjue was given the chance, his latest shabby attempt on the spicy braised pork. The latter was usually accompanied by his sullen recollection of the cook's fussy distress at his presence in the kitchen, much to his older brother's amusement time and time again.

Nie Mingjue tried not to think of the latest letter from home. A night hunt was all his brother said in his missive written in the special ink reserved for subjects only he was privy of. Although Nie Minjue took pride that he held his brother's confidence and was not being left in the dark with the pretense of protecting him from the truth, he couldn't help the same measure of apprehension for the message and the underlying meaning of it.

He knew what night hunt his brother spoke of.

It was a considerable number of hours later, with the dawn already at his back, when Nie Mingjue paused, looking past his shoulder at the slight noise. He heard someone sighing in disappointment at being discovered.

"Do you have eyes at the back of your head or something?" Wei Wuxian muttered as he went beside him to imitate his pose. At the noncommittal grunt he received in return, he pouted.

Nie Minjue was tempted to say that Wei Wuxian wasn't exactly the subtlest of people, but that could be taken as an invitation for mischief. Then again, if Lang Wangji's silence wasn't enough to deter Wei Wuxian, Nie Mingjue's wouldn't be an exception. The fact that Wei Wuxian was being punished, again, was already an omen.

He watched as Wei Wuxian's attention was immediately on the lying twig which he poked the gravel with, burrowing a hole on the ground.

“What is it this time?” Nie Mingjue asked; Wei Wuxian’s presence wasn’t a prelude to a quiet evening, after all. Certainly not when he would eventually lament missing dinner.

“Broke the barrier past curfew,” Wei Wuxian chirped. At Nie Mingjue’s scoff, he defensively added, “Hey, I’m only a minute late.”

“You don’t see the rule allowing a minute of grace period either.”

“Yeah, well, that’s inconsiderate.” Wei Wuxain crossed his arms defiantly. “What if you were supposed to get back right on time but got caught up with something important?”

“Like what exactly?”

“Oh, I don’t know, like when you lost your pass and you have to retrace your steps where you might have lost it.”

“That’s negligence,” Nie Mingjue said. “Hardly anyone’s fault but yours.”

Nie Mingjue was quiet for a while. “You heard.”

“It’s what everyone’s talking about when I came in,” Wei Wuxian said simply. “Ah, I didn’t believe it at first until I heard it from a Lan disciple. Be proud that you made someone break the no gossiping rule there. And good job decking that prat by the way. Just when I think pompousness is the only quality the Jins share.” He pointed the stick at him and grinned. “And just when I thought all you Nies are aggressive and hotheaded.”

There was no stopping Nie Mingjue’s snort at that. “I proved your point then.”

Wei Wuxian made a noncommittal noise. “I’m not sure you can call that fighting in the first place. He insulted your brother, a sect leader, and you knocked him out for it. It’s a clear-cut situation. If anything, I think he got off easy. If you are what the rumors said then he’d be crawling back to Jinlintai with broken legs.”

Well, that was new. Nie Mingjue was used to people believing he was a kettle nearing a boiling point, someone who was prone to lashing out and was slow to forgive. Their impression got better as he grew older, broader, and bigger. He was never out of place among cousins and distant kins. Nie Mingjue belonged with the men that served the Nie Sect. Instead, they called him proud—and he was—and someone quick to anger but fair; a young man who had the qualities that made a perfect Nie.

Just like his father before him and so unlike his older brother, they would say. Why wasn’t the second son born first?

Stifling down his ire at hearing those common words led to him developing longer patience and fewer thoughts on wanting to smack those who thought his older brother was any less of a man for being sickly and of a delicate constitution as they were led to believe. Because his older brother never made an appearance in public since his supposed qi deviation subsequent to the death of their father and his ascension as the sect leader behind closed doors, it was equated as having a weak leader.

A pushover, Nie Mingjue had called him when he hadn’t known any better, young and impatient as he had been. A boy grieving for his dead father and an older brother who no longer had the time to spare for him. He had had the mind to repeat the insulting names that he had heard in passing, words that he hadn’t initially believed until Wen Ruohan dared to establish a supervisory office in their border unhindered. Nie Mingjue remembered the fury at the slight, but what he remembered being furious for was Nie Huaisang letting the insult be.

It wasn’t until he stormed his older brother’s private chamber to personally bring his and the restless people’s grievance that he stopped and considered what he truly knew of the matter.

Nie Mingjue recalled that day with vivid clarity: his older brother sitting behind a low table with strewn papers and documents surrounding him. He looked older, his face sharper and withdrawn with dark circles underneath his eyes, eyes that were familiar to smiles and held gentleness for small animals and a younger brother who was rather tall for his age but who he called precious nonetheless.

There was a storm of anger for the brief moment that Nie Mingjue stood there to take the sight of Nie Huaisang, who, contrary to popular belief, was not bedridden and was moving about. Easily, his older brother smiled at Nie Mingjue brightly and melted whatever hurt and rage he might have in his chest. Nie Mingjue should have been mad, should have felt betrayed that his brother was hiding from him, but his brother was alright all along and wasn’t in imminent danger of leaving him alone and that was all that mattered to the lonely boy that was Nie Mingjue.

He had not understood then why he was asked for his secrecy of his brother’s true state, but he agreed. Pleased, Nie Huaisang embraced him tightly. “You’re the only one I can trust, A-Jue,” was whispered to him.

Then, on the third evening that followed, Nie Mingjue, in what he had thought was a lucid dream, was led by the hand by his older brother. They walked sedately, unminding of anyone who might recognize them in the middle of the night a good distance from the Qishan Wen border. When asked about their destination, Nie Huaisang smiled serenely at him and squeezed his hand.

Within the hour, the mountainside blazed in a fiery light that burned on Nie Mingjue’s sight and mind, as if a Fire God had come down to rain down its wrath that swallowed that damned supervisory office whole. Nie Mingjue returned to sleep dreaming of the fire and his older brother apologizing softly for missing out on his eleventh birthday.

No one knew. No one knew what Nie Huaisang truly was capable of. Oh, they were right that they were not alike despite their shared blood. Where Nie Mingjue would rather be direct and face an enemy head-on, his brother worked in the shadows to take revenge bit by bit at their father’s murderer and who never received credit for the victories he perpetrated as stepping stones to his ultimate goal.

“It’s enough for me that you know,” Nie Huaisang would say, and all the more Nie Mingjue loved and admired him for it.

Where Nie Mingjue began to make a name for himself in leading successful night hunts in haunted forests and abandoned villages, Nie Huaisang’s hunting ground was in Wen outposts and prison encampments. Where Nie Mingjue was famed for his skill with the saber at a young age, Nie Huaisang was capable of tricks and deception through his creativity with paints and expertise in subtle performance. He could appear either as a noble or a commoner, a local or a foreigner, or as an older man or a young woman. The latter which Nie Mingjue had admittedly taken the time to get used to.

Nie Mingjue could only wish he was half the man his older brother was, therefore striving to be the heir that Sect Leader Nie could be proud of. His older brother sent him to the Cloud Recesses to study with the very intention of letting Nie Mingjue have the experience of attending lectures with his peers ( you’re young, A-Jue, make friends and enjoy your youth while you still can ), and while he understood making connections who he could form alliances with later, now that war was seemingly inevitable in the near future, it didn’t mean that Nie Mingjue wouldn’t try to be the best of his generation. He was looking forward to sending a letter of his full marks to his brother soon—if a letter about what had transpired earlier wouldn’t reach him first.

At his periphery, he caught Wei Wuxian observing him, uncharacteristically silent. When Nie Mingjue raised an eyebrow, he sighed. “Shame I wasn’t there. I would have cheered for you.”

“Not worth the trouble,” Nie Mingjue muttered with a twitch of a smile. It was hard not to around Yungmeng Jiang’s head disciple, he found during his minimal interactions with him. The most notable perhaps was when he had invited him, drunk, for a ‘communal reading experience’ that Nie Mingjue had not bothered to find the meaning of before dumping him back to his shared quarters with Jiang Wanyin who had been utterly mortified that evening and had been relieved that it hadn’t been Lan Wangji who had found his foster brother.

“If it was me, they’d have to pry me from that bastard who badmouthed anyone from my family,” Wei Wuxian declared, hitting his fist with an open palm. “I don’t blame you. Lan Qiren shouldn’t either. And if Sect Leader Jin has sense, he won’t make much of a fuss about it. It wasn’t his peacock of a son at least, so there’s that.”

Peacock of a son… “Jin Zixuan?”

“Mmh. That one doesn’t know shijie’s worth. If he’s also the one who insulted your brother, all the more reason to kick his ass.”

Nie Mingjue doubted that Jin Guangshan’s son would lack propriety, but he was familiar with protectiveness over siblings, something he could empathize with Wei Wuxian.

"Of course," he humored.

Wei Wuxian proved to be a distraction from what started as an onerous mood with his jovial personality and penchant for mischief that he was determined to involve Nie Mingjue in. While Nie Mingjue would gladly take his punishment, he didn't have to particularly look forward to it. Perhaps, though, tomorrow wouldn't be so bad with Wei Wuxian who liked to run a commentary on almost everything about the Cloud Recesses, why Yunmeng was infinitely better, and why the Second Jade of Lan would benefit with smiling more. The last one was a peculiar subject that made way to Wei Wuxian's recollection of his antics so far in Gusu, which were a lot, as it turned out. Nie Mingjue barely knew and heard half of it.

His older brother might have meant to say that he was to get acquainted with responsible young masters and disciples and not troublemakers, but if this was a start of a friendship… then Nie Mingjue wasn't about to complain.

#mdzs fic #mdzs #cql fic #cql #untamed #fanfic #fanfiction #nie mingjue #nmj #cql nmj #mdzs nmj #wei ying #wei wuxain #mo dao su zhi #nie bros #nie brothers #wwx #cql wwx #nie huaisang

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unitatotato · 3 years

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I stop reading updates kinda. So these items updates ended like some surprise for me.

But not gonna lie I have been wishing for an anti-healing item for Tanks. So they actually added that effect on Dominance Ice, it took me a while to notice it. I kept seeing enemies getting anti-healing symbol without knowing why almost tho Hylos got somewhat passive update like Baxia.

So yeah, if you get Dominance Ice don't bother getting Necklace of Durance, waste of a slot. Same for if support gets defensive items, pick Dominance instead of NoD.

Radiant Armor, another addition to the Magic Resist/Magic Defense item. Haven't been using it, but definitely good if enemies are full of Magic Heroes.

Shadow Twinblades are certainly more suitable for heroes like Mage/Assassin like Karina, Harley, Guinevere, Silvana, etc...

Then War Axe, I am, not really sure, but most likely for any Tanky-Fighter should try it out. Like maybe Balmond, Hilda, Terizla, Thamuz, etc... Not sure about the new revamped Alpha tho.

#mobile legends #mlbb #updates #items #dominance ice #anti-healing

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Text

Fire and Light (ao3) - on tumblr: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

- Chapter 10 -

Nie Mingjue was starting to become accustomed to the routine of the cell.

Wen Ruohan would generally visit the Fire Palace twice weekly, sometimes more if he had had a very bad day and wanted to let off some steam. Nie Mingjue would get visited on at least one of those instances, whether for a short time and a bit of emotional devastation or for a longer and much more physically uncomfortable visit, and sometimes more often if Wen Ruohan was not doing well in war.

Wen Ruohan still enjoyed asking him questions, but Nie Mingjue didn’t think he had to answer them anymore. This was a subject that came up sometimes during some of those longer visits.

The rest of the time, he was left to recover and be bored. He was not given access to his saber – Baxia had been hidden away somewhere, he thought, he could feel that she was safe if unhappy – but his spiritual energy was not restrained, the way some other prisoners were.

He spent a great deal of time meditating. Sometimes, if his physical condition allowed for it, he would practice old techniques, trying to focus on a different muscle each time to try to avoid letting them atrophy. His empty hands bothered him, but he deemed it unlikely that anyone would give him equivalent to a saber something to wield, not even if he asked.

Food was twice a day, usually just a bowl of rice and vegetables that the kitchen would otherwise have thrown away, and it was brought by the same prison guard each time.

Nie Mingjue liked the prison guard.

Possibly it was because he was the only person Nie Mingjue saw on a regular basis, other than Wen Ruohan – Nie Mingjue’s cell was a little ways away from the other prisoners, lest they infect him with something and he die too quickly, although he was still within earshot of all the screams – or possibly it was the prison guard’s pleasant demeanor, friendly and calm like a lake of still water.

They were playing a long-running game of sorts.

Nie Mingjue had guessed that Meng Yao – that was the prison guard’s name – was an outsider, recently joined, and that he had previously spent time in both the Lan and Jin sects. This perspicacity had surprised Meng Yao, drawing his interest, and he had asked, very politely, for Nie Mingjue’s name.

Nie Mingjue had, just as politely, refused to give it.

Meng Yao, surprised yet again, had asked for his reasons.

Nie Mingjue had explained that he wasn’t sure if Wen Ruohan would react badly to other people knowing about him, and it would be a shame for Meng Yao to be murdered while he had yet to achieve whatever it was that he was seeking so strenuously to accomplish.

For some reason, Meng Yao saw this as a challenge.

“Gongzi, I have your dinner,” Meng Yao said. “Would you like me to ask the cook to give you some meat, next time? Just let me know. I would be more than happy to tell her to send more food to…?”

“Certainly,” Nie Mingjue said. “You can tell her that it’s on behalf of the last cell on the right.”

Meng Yao wrinkled his nose at him, and Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes back.

Their normal initial exchange of wits over, Meng Yao gave him the food and supervised him as he ate – a babysitter upon whose head the consequences would fall if Nie Mingjue misbehaved was the condition of giving him chopsticks. Wen Ruohan had a great deal of experience in keeping prisoners alive, and he knew Nie Mingjue’s character quite well.

“I heard that you were giving Sect Leader Wen advice on the war,” Meng Yao said casually as Nie Mingjue tried to guess what pickled vegetable he was eating, since neither taste nor appearance was definitive. “Gongzi must be very well-respected.”

“Did you hear about the part where I told him the best counterstrike would be to shove his troops up his own ass?”

“…and very brave.”

Nie Mingjue chuckled. “And you must be very competent to have made your way up to prominence in two separate sects, especially at such a young age.”

Meng Yao did not want to like him, Nie Mingjue could tell. He did anyway.

It wouldn’t help him if something more important to Meng Yao was at stake, of course – Nie Mingjue had lived too long with Qishan Wen cruelty, selfishness, and ruthlessness to miss seeing it reflected in others – but it was still nice to be liked.

“…how do you know?”

“Was that a direct question?” Nie Mingjue asked. “Be still my heart.”

“This humble servant has observed that gongzi does not answer anything else.”

“Humble,” Nie Mingjue drawled. “Yes, that’s the first thing I think of when I think of you.”

Meng Yao’s eyes were narrowing, though, so he stopped teasing.

“It’s your hair.”

“My – hair?”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “The way you set it. It’s clear that Xichen must have taught you how to arrange the braids personally, which means that you must have gotten fairly high up in the Lan sect – but Sect Leader Wen referred to you as being poached from the Jin sect.”

Meng Yao reached up touch his hair. “…I never made it that high in the Jin sect,” he finally said. “Not even lieutenant.”

“In the middle of a war, with how competent you are? Does Sect Leader Jin have something against you?” A small furrowing of Meng Yao’s brow. “Did you complain that he raped your sister or something?”

A long, slow blink. “Is that a problem he has?”

“Not liking people who try to make him responsible for his actions?” Nie Mingjue snorted. “Yes.”

Meng Yao looked contemplative.

“What are you thinking?” Nie Mingjue asked, finally giving up on the pickled vegetable and handing back the bowl.

“Only that you know a great deal of gossip –”

“Involuntarily, I assure you.”

“– and that you feel comfortable calling Lan-da-gongzi by name, and are familiar enough to know how he personally styles his hair.” Meng Yao smiled. “I’ll figure out who you are yet, gongzi.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Nie Mingjue said. “They’ve probably already forgotten me.”

“This is your fault,” Wen Ruohan murmured in his ear, and Nie Mingjue was too weak to refuse to listen. “You did this – to yourself, to them. Why couldn’t you have just been obedient?”

He didn’t know anymore.

“I’m Sect Leader Jin’s son,” Meng Yao said.

“Your mother must be a genius,” Nie Mingjue replied.

There was a moment of silence – probably Meng Yao staring at him.

It was probably not the response he had been expecting.

“I’ve met Sect Leader Jin,” Nie Mingjue said in explanation. He was lying face-down on the floor of the cell while Meng Yao tended to his wounds; the conversation, he knew, was only to distract him from the sting of the stitches. “He’s cunning, not smart, horribly self-absorbed, and ‘competent’ isn’t the word I’d use for him; he makes do mostly by paying enough to hire good help. Given the contrast with you, it follows that you must have gotten all the good traits from the other side…I hope he didn’t rape her. Sorry about making that joke, earlier. I didn’t realize.”

“You said sister, not mother.”

“Right,” Nie Mingjue said. “I forgot.”

“Anyway, he didn’t have to rape her. He bought her,” Meng Yao said. He was tightening the bandages now and his hands were perfectly steady. Too steady, the way Wen Qing’s were when she was having to control himself. “She was a whore.”

Nie Mingjue got the feeling that Meng Yao was expecting some sort of reaction. He wasn’t sure what, though.

“Okay,” he said. Out of lack of anything better to say, he added, “Was she nice?”

“What type of question is that?” Meng Yao demanded.

He’d picked the wrong reaction again, Nie Mingjue presumed.

“I don’t know,” he said. His eyes were closed and his forehead was pressed against the cool stone. “I don’t really remember my mother. All I know is that she was a rogue cultivator, and tall –”

“I would never have guessed the latter, gongzi.”

“Yeah, yeah. Like I’ve never heard that one before. My father raised me on his own – we don’t believe in using nursemaids to do it.” He exhaled. “I’m forgetting him, too.”

“He died?”

“Sect Leader Wen killed him.” He heard Meng Yao exhale. “I know. I’m not very filial, am I?”

“I don’t think that’s a consideration,” Meng Yao murmured. “Under the circumstances.”

Nie Mingjue didn’t want to talk about it. “So, your mother,” he said. “Was she nice?”

“…does it matter?”

“Why wouldn’t it matter? She’s your mother, isn’t she?”

Meng Yao chuckled. It was not a nice sound. “Most people don’t really care to listen past the part where they find out she’s a whore.”

“I’ve never actually met a whore,” Nie Mingjue confessed. He was starting to drift off again – it was hard to stay awake. “The closest I ever got to even talking about one was when we had to put the fear of brothels into A-Chao. Sect Leader Wen was trying to ruin him.”

“A-Chao?”

“Mm. Like – a little brother, almost. I’ve got a bunch.”

Meng Yao snickered. “Yes, gongzi does seem the type.”

Nie Mingjue smiled into the floor. He knew that tone – it was just the same as A-Chao’s, in fact. “You’re welcome to join in, if you like.”

Meng Yao’s hands stopped moving abruptly.

“Assuming I’m not dead, of course.”

After a moment, Meng Yao’s hands started moving again. They were gentler.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “After a promise like that, I’ll be sure not to let him kill you.”

“Need to get your money’s worth out of me?”

“Of course.” A pause. “Naturally, it would be easier if gongzi would tell me his name…”

Nie Mingjue huffed – like Meng Yao was going to get him that easily.

“No need for such formality, A-Yao,” he said. “Just call me da-ge.”

“You must have some hobbies.”

“Must I?”

“Everyone has hobbies.”

“I collect younger siblings. Does that count?”

“It does not.”

“It’s your fault,” Wen Ruohan crooned as Nie Mingjue’s shrieks split the air. “Your fault. You turned them against me. It’s because of you that I’m going to need to kill them…”

“I don’t think I would have liked you, in the normal course of things,” Meng Yao said conversationally. “I usually find righteous people boring. Most of the time, they’re arrogant hypocrites, as rigid like the stiff pole that must have gotten shoved up their asses at some point. No one looks down on you like the righteous, and usually for stupid reasons, too. For something as petty and as simple as just not being them. Not having their advantages from the moment you were born.”

He paused. Cleared his throat.

“Lan Xichen was the first one I met who wasn’t like that. He really – he’s nice, I think you would put it. Kind. Everything they say about what gentlemen ought to be, he is.”

A brief silence.

“Naïve, though. Almost painfully so. I twisted him around my little finger without even trying…even when I was trying not to.”

Nie Mingjue believed him. Manipulation seemed to come as second nature to Meng Yao, even when he was being sincere. Sometimes, even especially when he was being sincere.

It was a bit like Wen Xu, actually. It was hard to throw off the way you’d been raised.

“At first I thought the problem was with me, that I didn’t appreciate him enough, that I didn’t understand how to have a friendship with a person like that. A good one. Sometimes I thought, well, no, maybe the problem’s with him – he pities me too much to see what I’m really like, and that means he’s deceiving himself, it’s got nothing to do with me. In the end…I don’t know. I don’t think I ever resolved it.”

He sighed. It was a long, low sound, almost whistling in the dead air of the Fire Palace.

“You’re not like Lan Xichen at all. You really are unbending, rigid, inexorable…I ought to despise you. You ought to despise me. I torture people most of the day, you know. I even enjoy it.”

For all his poise, Meng Yao was younger even than Lan Xichen. He shouldn’t be anyone’s prison guard. Shouldn’t be torturing anyone. How could you blame children for doing something that would win them praise?

“It’s this place that makes me like you, I think. It’s just – it’s filthy, here. Disgusting. The more I’m in this prison the worse it gets. The more bad things I do, the more bad things I think. I barely dare recall my better memories, my mother, Lan Xichen. I’m too afraid that the filth and grime of this place will stain their purity even in my thoughts.”

Nie Mingjue didn’t understand, not really - maybe he’d been here so long that the stain had sunk in already, blackening everything it touched. But he tried as much as he could to sympathize.

“And then there’s you. You, all shining steel and stiff unbending morality, the sort of person I hate the most. But when I’m here knee-deep in the muck, trapped in the dark without any hope of surfacing, I look at you and I feel – it’s almost like I can see light again, reflected in you. As if I’m breathing clean air. For the first time in my life, I think I understand why people have ethics. That they’re not some stupid thing made up by someone to fool someone else into voluntarily crippling the hand they’ve been dealt to play.”

That was definitely not what ethics were.

“I don’t know if we’d get along outside this place. Where I’m still me, with all my flaws that make me all the worse, and you’re still you, with all your imperfections that only make you better, but without this place to make us get along. I really don’t know. For once in my life, I don’t have a goal, a target, a scheme. As far as I know, you’re nobody I can use, and keeping you close to me will only tie an anchor to my legs, weigh me down. But even with all that, even if nothing I do works out and it all blows up in my face…I’d still like to find out. Find out if we would get along, if you really would treat me like your little brother even though you know what I’m really like under the smile. Find out if someone like me really can get along with someone like you.”

Nie Mingjue felt Meng Yao squeeze his hand, and wished he could respond in kind.

“So you have to wake up, da-ge. You hear me? You have to wake up.”

“It’s done. They’re gone. And it’s all your fault.”

He lies, Nie Mingjue told himself. He lies, he lies, he lies –

#mdzs #nie mingjue #wen ruohan #jin guangyao #meng yao #my fic #my fics #fire and light

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guqin-and-flute · 4 years

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@theprettiestboy said: ok but now i want to know nhs's response to finding out da-ge beat him in the fashion race

[Well here you go, then!]

“And I’m a seven?” Huaisang asked, curiously, having overheard a snippet of conversation about fashion of all things in passing their door and decided to poke his head in.

Three sets of eyes traded slightly wary, confused looks and then they nodded, as one.

“Out of what?”

“Ten,” A-Fu replied obediently and Huaisang just had to hear this reasoning, stepping all the way in, leaning on the door.

“A seven? That’s...hmm. I suppose...that’s not terrible. I’m quite fashionable, so I think I would have to disagree with you. What about Er-ge?”

A-Yuan offered, helpfully, “Bobo got ten out of ten,” just as A-Ling and A-Fu held up all ten fingers.

Huaisang nodded, letting this prompt answer soothe his stung pride slightly, because he would have probably given the same. “And Da-ge?”

This time, all three of them raised their hands, each of their ten fingers splayed out and Huaisang nearly yelped in indignation, “Da-ge outranks me?” He scoffed and began fanning himself rapidly in agitation from his crossed arms. Then, he snapped the fan shut in realization. “Ah. It’s because they’re your father’s, isn’t it? You’ve all given your fathers--”

“No, they gave my die a five,” A-Yuan interrupted, raising up on his knees, clearly so aggrieved by this indignity that his polite Lan manners went out the window. “They said he was boring.”

While Huaisang had to agree that his fashion sense was a little on the simplistic side, they were always exquisitely tailored! With fantastic fabrics and kept spotless! That had to count for something! Huaisang was almost offended on his behalf before realizing that he was already offended on his own. “And San-ge?”

“Seven,” A-Fu supplied readily. “They didn’t like his hat but his belt is cool and he has sparkly embroidery.”

“I have sparkly embroidery!” Huaisang insisted, thumping his chest with the tip of the fan.

“You’re also a seven,” A-Ling reminded him and Huaisang scrunched his nose up in what was only partially a mock-scowl.

“Well! I don’t--! Why on earth does Da-ge get a 10?!”

“Baxia,” A-Fu and A-Ling said at once as A-Yuan nodded eagerly, then supplied, “And cool epaulets.”

Then, A-Fu gathered his hair in 2 hands and held them up. “His braids, too.”

“What the hell, child, I have braids!”

“Yeah, we gave you points for it!” A-Fu raised his voice right back as his brows drew down, hair still in bunches, jaw growing stubborn. “Your braids are cool!”

“Thank you!” Huaisang’s tone was practically aggressive before he remembered that he was, in fact, an adult, and they were, in fact, children and took a deep breath. “I--yes, thank you.”

A-Ling made a circle over his own little gold hairpiece with his fingers, staring up at him almost challengingly. “His ornaments are cooler.”

Huaisang deliberately bit his cheek to keep from insisting that his were also cool, so as not to sound like a sullen teenager. Again. “They are very nice,” he agreed through gritted teeth.

“But it was mostly Baxia. And the fact that you have fans instead of a sabre,” A-Fu concluded with a knowing nod, as if he were supposed to agree with them. “We don’t get it.”

By the gods, Huaisang was quickly being convinced to never have children if all of them could stab home quite so exactly and bluntly, staring at you with big innocent eyes. A-Yuan seemed to have caught onto the look on his face and quickly added, “But I like your fans. They’re very pretty. I give them nine out of ten!”

With as much dignity he could muster, Huaisang flipped open his fan, gathered himself up and declared, “My fans are ten out of ten! The highest quality!” and quickly fled the room before any more of his sense of self could be so casually decimated by these monsters who call themselves his nephews. Before he decamped completely, he yelled back down the hall, “I’m telling San-ge you rated him a seven!”

#theprettiestboy #reply #my fic #3zun raise jingyi au #My stuff #3zun raise jingyi au content #uncle rankings #to cross post

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