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skeptical-lynx · 1 year

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I rewatched Shrek Forever After yesterday, the one where Fiona is the rebellion leader lol, and I can’t stop thinking that the setting and plot would fit so perfectly for Weilan AU:

Imagine Zhao Yunlan having a steady wonderful life with Shen Wei, no hardcore cases at work, only delightful routine around him. So one day he starts to get bored. Only a little at first. But then the nagging feeling becomes more and more prominent.

And this is when he crosses paths with Shen Wei’s brother Ye Zun. And being a powerful magician, Ye Zun offers Zhao Yunlan a magical contract: to give Yunlan a day full of action and adventures.

Zhao Yunlan is no Shen Wei, so he doesn’t even bother to read all the points in small letters. Besides, it’s his husband’s twin brother, of course he can trust him. He sings up for a day full of adventures. What can possibly go wrong?

The very next moment Zhao Yunlan is swept away with the shimmer and taken to some place he has never seen before. There is a fight happening, people wear clothes of another era. And he has no other choice than to watch it unfold, holding a gun in his hand.

And then he sees him, his gorgeous husband in foreign clothing, with long hair, with a sharp guandao. Zhao Yunlan doesn’t think twice and shoots a man, who raised his sword behind Shen Wei’s back.

The shocked expression on Shen Wei’s face, but no sign of recognition.

Yunlan is confused. Shen Wei is his beloved, how come he has no memories of Zhao Yunlan now. Where the hell is Da Qing or his SID team. He will have no such thing as oblivious Shen Wei. So he seeks the audience with Ye Zun, only to learn that Shen Wei’s brother built a totalitarian regime.

Ye Zun is pleased to tell Zhao Yunlan that if he have read the contract thoroughly, he would have known the secret conditions of their bargain: one day for a day. Ye Zun robbed Zhao Yunlan of the day he was born. So with the first ray of sunlight Zhao Yunlan will vanish from existence.

Shocked Zhao Yunlan storms out of Ye Zun’s mansion, taking Da Qing (who happened to chill with Ye Zun) with him, although fat cat never wanted to be taken away from cozy pillows and food.

Luckily, fatty knows the secret condition to break the contract: true love’s kiss!

Here is the solution! They only have to find the rebellions, led by Shen Wei.

And they manage, posing as General Kunlun of foreign land and his magical talking cat. Zhao Yunlan only has time till sunrise, he has to be fast to charm his innocent beloved man.

But Shen Wei is not an open book, never was. And he doesn’t believe that Zhao Yunlan is his soulmate, even though the tips of his ears turn red after Yunlan’s confession.

Zhao Yunlan just grins and proceeds to train in sparring with his (maybe not yet) husband.

Later that evening he meets Chu Shuzhi, Shen Wei’s right hand in rebellion war. Lao Chu is skeptical at first, but believes Zhao Yunlan is indeed leader’s soulmate, since he knows the mystery of Shen Wei’s double identity: weak human at day, mighty Hei Pao Shi at night.

With time running out, the rebellion face defeat before Ye Zun’s army. Most people are captured. Zhao Yunlan drags Shen Wei to safety and begs him for just a one kiss, which will bring peace to all and save Shen Wei’s people.

Shen Wei hesitates, but gives in, kissing Zhao Yunlan. And… no magic happens.

Zhao Yunlan is met with Shen Wei’s heartbroken stare. Hei Pao Shi gathers himself, not meeting Yunlan’s gaze and tells he need to save his people without these fairytales.

Zhao Yunlan has nothing left, except his will to help Shen Wei no matter what and to save his beloved, even if their love is not a mutual feeling anymore.

They manage to burst into Ye Zun’s mansion. And Yunlan does the last thing he can: trades himself for Shen Wei’s people.

Ye Zun agrees, cause Zhao Yunlan is the only obstacle between him and unlimited power over his brother and the rebellion. He can tear them down later, when Yunlan is no longer a threat.

Zhao Yunlan sets his plan into motion and gathers his last strength to fight Ye Zun.

Shen Wei takes this opportunity to destroy the majority of Ye Zun’s army and generals from inside with the help of his people.

Zhao Yunlan succeeds in killing Ye Zun (somehow), but his wounds are incompatible with life.

He dies in Shen Wei’s hands, happy to see his beloved for the last time. Before he can vanish entirely, he sees Shen Wei’s tender eyes and feels the kiss on his lips.

Lao Chu and Da Qing are shocked to see Hei Pao Shi remaining himself even with the first rays of sunshine.

Zhao Yunlan finds himself in the middle of his flat, right where he was before heading to Ye Zun.

Shen Wei is standing there concerned. Yunlan gives out a laugh of relief and throws himself at his husband.

THE END

#镇魂 #weilan #zhen hun #镇魂 guardian #shen wei #zhao yunlan #沈巍 #赵云澜 #da qing #i’m putting here my thoughts from my twitter #weilan au

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mejomonster · 1 year

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Forgive me guys if I just start posting a bunch of silent reading fics. NOW on the list to write (maybe):

Continue the Guardian/Silent Reading crossover where Fe Du is a mutant, and the two couples are solving a murder mystery in Yan City while Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan mistakenly think they've actually run into 2 cases since Fei Du is so suspicious with a dead mom and dad in a coma, and likely not-human.

Another Guardian/Silent Reading crossover where Fei Du is a dixingren, but make it Ye Old Haixing and Luo Wenzhou is an investigator and Fei Du is a wealthy young man who inherited his father's questionable built fortune after dad "disappeared" and there's rumors in town "magic" caused his dad's accumulations and Fei Du clinging to the local Captain of the investigation bureau as an assistant isn't helping, Luo Wenzhou is more than aware they're technically at war with Dixingren and the only mutants spared the angry mobs nowadays are the ones in the alliance army so he's trying to keep Fei Du's nature hush hush (but the Fei family already got quite the baggage since another mutant killed Fei Dus father and is trying to usurp the local ruler with their own powers, and frame the still alive Fei Du for their collateral damage). Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan (as Kunlun) show up to investigate the local rumors of a dixingren trying to kill the royal family here (that the culprit is trying to frame on Fei Du) cause Shen Wei suspects 1. A hallow may be involved, 2. People are dying and he wants to stop it, 3. It's the alliances job to stop mutants from hurting people. (And yes in this Ye Old Haixing time of Guardian is like a few months or much more not lol like a week). Luo Wenzhous dad is a high ranking court official, Tao Ran had a more humble family background but passed the exams to get into this line of work with Luo Wenzhou his best friend. Lang Qiao is still there, Xiao Haiyang, cause I love them. And Da Qing <3

Dracula AU in republican era ish Yan City, Tao Ran is a real estate agent moving Fei Du into the area (Jonathan Harker), Luo Wenzhou is a police captain with a wealthy estate from family (a Mina and Van Helsing ish vibe) and his adopted sister Lang Qiao is looking to marry (Lucy). Xiao Haiyang is a family attendant that Luo Wenzhous mom keeps pushing towards our dear Lang Qiao who is distraught at the awful choice (and stuttering useless man), who would've married Luo Wenzhou for the money and to hide him being gay from hostile eyes but he's just Too Insufferable and when he forced his family to adopt her INSTEAD of marrying her she just decided this was better anyway, she sets her sights on the very pretty rich Young Man moved into town hoping he'll be an easy target to tell what to do (unlike Luo Wenzhou) and much sweeter of a time (Fei Du is quite the charmer after all), and Fei Du is happy to oblige her pursuing him since she's Passably Pretty and he's a Gentleman who can't possibly refuse an eager woman. So he plans to eat her. As he's invited over to the Luo estate, along with other eligible bachelor's for the evening party (maybe Zhang Donglan, and maybe Zhou etc lead up the party of murderers lmao), Luo Wenzhou catches Fei Du's eye. Because Luo Wenzhou seems oddly to pick up on Fei Du being an actual Threat to Lang Qiao... not having good intentions. Lang Qiao: "Well of course, he wants to sleep with me! Which I'm honestly not against, as long as we marry before there's a baby. And he's so rich, what could he even GET from us that he doesn't already have? Sure, he's not a local, our family has more political sway. But with the money he's flaunting I'm sure that won't be true for long. I don't even KNOW what bad intentions could be from him, you're being paranoid. You'd think a man with your tastes, you'd see what a catch he is." And Luo Wenzhou going, "are you just going to prattle on? And no I'm not going to steal him before you get the, are you listening to me? He's got a bad feel to him. I don't think it's romance or money he's thinking of. Or sex." Lang Qiao: "Then what? There's nothing else." And Luo Wenzhou wouldn't respond, not wanting to scare her Yet. Meanwhile Fei Du has been listening in, easy for a vampire to catch across the room, and thinking about how prey who knows to be wary of him... that might even fight back, struggle, be a real victory to possess... now that sounds a lot more delectable than the girl ready to throw herself onto him. So begins the hunt. It would be notably different in that they wouldn't know each other at all versus the novel years history (and while I love Dracula the Musical Japanese version where Mina is Draculas love from the past... I wouldn't do that, I like strangers meeting).

Dracula AU but older historical, with the whole Luo Wenzhou as emperor (or crown prince), Lang Qiao as one of the princesses (like their works joke but real), Tao Ran as an advisor only thanks to Luo Wenzhou taking a shining to him and thankfully not expecting Tao Ran to date him, Fei Du as a vampire come to the capital city to take power and investigate. (A little bit of a Scholar Who Walks the Night vibe). There's potential in this one for Luo Wenzhou to know Fei Du as a human child, then Fei Du turning as an adult into a vampire and leaving, then coming back some years later not aged. It would preserve some of their "knew each other for years before" novel dynamic in an interesting way.

Just an honest regular Silent Reading modern Vampire au, dark af. Fei Chengyu is a vampire, tortures Fei Dus mom until she dies, does all the same awful stuff as in novel, when Fei Du is an adult he turns Fei Du into the vampire monster he raised the human boy to be. Fei Du, for the first time overcome with bloodlust and lack of impulse control in many years, loses control and kills his father immediately. He covers it up as a missing persons situation. Silent Reading novel plot basically carries on as usual, except Fei Du actually DID kill his dad and is now an actual monster (not just a human often thinking he's monstrous). And maybe Fei Du had less interaction with Luo Wenzhou than in the novel as a teen, cause vampire dad had a tighter grip. Or maybe just as much interaction with Luo Wenzhou. But once he kills his dad, he really does distance, he considers flirting with Tao Ran to keep close to Luo Wenzhou but is horrified by the idea he might lose control and want to drink Tao Ran's blood. Or worse, kill him. And the more he argues with Luo Wenzhou, the occasions he says "if I'd kill someone, I'd do this" because Luo wenzhou PUSHED him and he sort of wants a cathartic emotional release and to just Be Honest somewhat to someone, when Luo Wenzhou yells back or tries to manhandle him? He wants so badly, a worse impulse than any of his old human instincts to want to hurt or kill, to drag Luo Wenzhou to him and hold him tight and watch him unable to fight back, and drink him. Have him. All his. Reveal everything, show it all to Luo Wenzhou, and possess him. And that in itself is horrifying so he flees more often, and of course Luo Wenzhou chases harder. And first is the eventual reveal... Fei Du really did probably kill his dad, his dad probably is dead, and for all Luo Wenzhou cares about him... fei du finally crossed the line and killed. He's not an innocent child anymore just saying awful things, and Luo Wenzhou has to handle that. Then the second reveal... not only has Fei Du killed, and is now much more worried about hurting others and wanting to and scared he does (and in contrast much quicker to be okay with violence to achieve his plot against the Organization that played with his dad), but Fei Du is a monster. A real honest creature of the night, a monster, a vampire, a corpse that's died and Luo Wenzhou can never bring him back to life. Luo Wenzhou never protected him, couldn't save him, couldn't even keep him alive... ouch my heart. This vampire au is the heavy one, the angst city one (my specialty).

More self indulgent, an au where most things are the same but Luo Wenzhou has to be bodyguard to Fei Du. The old whipping boy yaoi trope. Either he legit lost his job and got hired as his bodyguard (lmao) or its some secret identity thing to be Fei Du's bodyguard to investigate some rich resort off the beaten path without going as a cop (which could mean fun times bring Tao Ran too or he's nearby as backup on the cell phone interfacing between those two and the Bureau). Fei Du milks the ruse for absolutely all its worth, ordering Luo Wenzhou about and making up for ALL the times Luo Wenzhou tells him what to do.

#silent reading #lb #mejo writing

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fanning-out · 5 years

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My Favorite Guardian under-giffed moments: Shen Wei being perplexed at pinky promises.

[my first ever gifset hobbled together on mobile forgive my giffing noobness]

#guardian #镇魂 #guardian chinese drama #镇魂 guardian #zhu yilong #guardian 2018 #shen wei #guardian under-giffed #da qing #mine #i love that this is da qing’s threat #so cute #precious si mao #i finally figured out how to make gifs using just my phone #and i don’t care that this is square and the subs are from youtube lol

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imsorryandthankyou · 2 years

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I haven’t done much fanfic reading yet, but I’m loving the post-canon idea that Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan just sort of adopt Ye Zun and keep him in line, so he doesn’t do anything super duper evil.

But I also feel like Ye Zun is such a theatrical bitch and would be upset when Zhao Yunlan or any of the team don’t respond to his evil threats anymore. Like the hero that doesn’t respond appropriately to the villain’s taunting/pre-designed script.

Ye Zun comes striding into the kitchen, in full robe get-up...: “What a beautiful morning. Would be a shame if someone ruined it.”

Zhao Yunlan, sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s 8 in the morning. What are you gonna do? Murder the plants? Sit down and drink your orange juice.”

And then like Da Qing, in cat form, just like purrs and nuzzles his leg while he’s eating, and Ye Zun low-key loves it, but he’ll never admit it.

#guardian au things I think about, lol

#guardian #guardian au #ye zun #zhao yunlan #shen wei #da qing

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drwcn · 3 years

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Hello! I just read the whole Lan Yan AU and I have Feelings about it. Like damn I kinda want to cry. But also… bro do I feel bad.

I have a question tho. After it was clear that both JC and LWJ were wrong about each other, what happened then?

Ahhh hello friend! Many apologies for the feels >:){

Well... after the Guanyin Temple Drama Showdown, things... well, things didn't exactly go the way Lan Wangji thought it would.

(x) (x) these female rendition of Wuji inspired me lol. The first one is sung by A-Qing!

《midnight sun》 snippet 17 - f!wwx au. [original post]

The kite was flying away.

Wei Wuxian's aimless morning promenade stalled by the riverside training ground, her footsteps unconsciously carrying her to this familiar place she once loved. Along the boardwalk and concrete stairs, she saw the gathering of young folks carrying bows - Jiang Cheng's disciples in their uniforms of pale periwinkle and cerulean blue.

Gazing up, she watched the crane-shaped kite drift farther and farther with the morning breeze, out of the young archers' limited reach.

One of the taller, more muscular boys tried his hand at shooting it down, but missed by a foot. There was a chorus of groans that followed, signaling the disciples' disappointment.

Wei Wuxian chuckled.

"This isn't the training drill." Came a sudden voice from behind, calm but commanding.

The disciples quieted instantly, spinning around at once, startled gaze shifting between Wei Wuxian and the owner of the reprimand approaching them at a swift, even pace.

"Shi...shigu," the youngsters bowed, first at Wei Wuxian given that she was technically their senior and then at the fourteen-year-old who came to a stop at her side. "Da-shijie." (Shigu = martial aunt, since Jiang Cheng is their shifu).

Said girl bowed to Wei Wuxian in perfect form. "Niang."

"Yan'er, they were only practicing."

Jiang Yueqian - even after everything, she still refused to be called Lan Yueqian - grimaced, which for the usually unflappable First Disciple of Yunmng Jiang meant the smooth pale skin between her shapely brows dented ever so slightly.

"They're overextending themselves," replied Jiang Yan in displeasure. Then without hesitation, she reached into the quiver strapped at her side for an arrow, and in one smooth practiced motion, shot down the stowaway kite midflight.

Yan'er was not the oldest of Jiang Cheng's disciples by far, since ranking amongst martial siblings was dictated by order of admission into the sect and not by age, but she was certainly his most accomplished. The junior disciples stared in awe, before breaking into delighted hoots and cheers.

Go da-shijie! Da-shijie is the best!!

Jiang Yueqian huffed, the barest hint of blush dusting her cheeks. "Back to your assigned drills. Any more shenanigans and I will report all of you to shifu for punishment. Word has it that the floorboards need a desperate scrubbing."

At the threat of menial labour, the disciples quickly fell back into formation.

For a moment, the scene before Wei Wuxian melted into the waters, and the ground beneath her feet gave away. In her ears was the ringing of another group of disciples' cheers, another kite that was shot down, another lifetime ago when she still considered herself young, and innocent, and free.

At her side, Jiang Cheng would roll his eyes at her showing off again, but would smirk with pride nevertheless. Yet the affectionate eyes staring at her now didn't belong to her shidi, they...

They belonged to Lan Zhan.

Thirteen years, how Jiang Cheng had kept his promise, and kept Yan'er safe from the world. How frightening it must have been, thought Wei Wuxian, to keep a secret so dangerous so close to heart, when the evidence was this damningly obvious. Her hand drifted up towards her child's face before she could help herself.

Yan'er was her father's daughter.

"Niang?" Bright eyes stared at her curiously. "Is something the matter?"

"No." Wei Wuxian shook her head. She smoothed the fabric of her robes and changed the subject. "I - ah - wore the outfit you had picked out for me. How does it look?"

Yan'er smiled and then clung to Wei Wuxian's arm in an uncharacteristically juvenile display of affection, "Beautiful. Niang is always beautiful, but the robe is a nice change. Niang's hair too, it's refreshing to see it dressed. Shifu said back in the days, you rarely wore nuzhung because you were a rebel, but I think it's because Niang knew all the ladies would be too ashamed to show themselves because they knew they could never compare." (nuzhuang = female fashion).

Wei Wuxian laughed, pinching Jiang Yan's cheek. "That tongue of yours, what a rascal you are! Who taught you to sweet talk like that, couldn't possibly be Jiang Cheng!"

"Well, it's not sweet talking if it's true." Jiang Yan replied innocently, before suddenly realizing that her mother was not one to dress up for no reason. Releasing Wei Wuxian's arm, the smile on her face quickly faded. "He's visiting again, isn't he?"

Wei Wuxian sighed. "Yan'er..."

It's been two months since the Guanyin Temple incident, two months since Jin Guangyao's heinous crimes were made public knowledge, two months since Lan Wangji claimed the seat of Chief Cultivator.

A part of Wei Wuxian truly believed that if there had been no Yan'er, she would simply drift away into the world. The land was endless and the oceans unexplored. Her name may have been cleared, but her reputation could never be restored. Mo Xuanyu had resurrected her as she were; she still had no golden core. And whatever her reason for walking the dark path, whatever sacrifice she had made, it didn't change the fact that she was Yiling Laozu, the grandmaster of the demonic arts.

She never expected that she would ever be welcomed at Cloud Recesses, and she certainly didn't think she could ever set foot again in Lotus Pier, and yet -

— 娘，不要走。

— Niang, don't go.

Yan'er had clung to her in the golden morning light in front of the Guanyin Temple for everyone to see, and begged her to stay with those glassy hopeful eyes and flushed cheeks wet with tears.

— But I...

Then, over Jiang Yan's shoulder, Wei Wuxian saw Jiang Cheng's heavy, wistful expression as well.

— 回家吧。

Let's go home.

And really, how was she supposed to say no to that?

— Wei Ying. Yan'er.

All of Gusu Lan present had stared at Jiang Yan like she was some mystical creature, but she gave everything single one of them the cold shoulder, including Lan Wangji, who she refused to acknowledge no matter how much Wei Wuxian had coaxed.

Jiang Cheng must've learned more diplomacy than anyone gave him credit for, because to Wei Wuxian's absolute surprise, he had stepped up to Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren (who turned an alarming shade of green after learning the many revelations that came to light) and said, "Wei Wuxian is of Yunmeng Jiang and will be returning with myself and my disciples. If Hanguang-jun and Gusu Lan have honorable intents, then please act as customs demand. Yunmeng and Gusu are neighbours, and Lotus Pier has never turned away a friendly guest."

Which in 'Jiang Cheng Speech' meant: I don't give a flying fart if you bedded my sister and begot her with child, if you want to see her again, hoops you will hop, courtship you will do, bridewealth you will deliver in abundance to her front door, and then and only then will all of Yunmeng Jiang maybe consider parting with their Wei Wuxian. Until then kindly fuck off.

One day thereafter, Wei Wuxian overheard Yan'er complain to Jiang Cheng while he dealt with paperwork and nodded along to her rant half-heartedly.

— What's so great about that Hanguang-jun anyway, I can't believe Niang would forgive him after everything! She agreed to marry him?! Shifu, how could you let her do this!

—Let? Yatou, I think you don't exactly know how this works. (yatou = girlie, lass)

—If you forbid it, what can they do? Elope?!

Jiang Cheng had fixed his heiress with a look that said that was exactly what his idiot sister would do, and Jiang Yan had been extremely put out by this. The resulting pout that had ensued for the better part of the night was incredibly powerful - scaring off 95% of her fellow disciples - and an absolute mirror image of a young Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian sighed. If only her stubborn child knew how much she was like the father she claimed to despise.

"Lan Zhan is not what you think," Wei Wuxian reached for Yan'er's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Give him a chance, he is your diedie."

"He is Lan Sizhui's father."

"A-Yuan is - if you knew what it was like back then - yatou, he didn't know. I never told him and I made your shifu promise never to tell. Lan Zhan didn't abandon you."

"That is of no import." Jiang Yan's affect became blunted again, polite and cold. "He abandoned you, after he....after he sired me. Left you all alone to fend for the remaining Wens. That in itself is enough demonstration of his character."

"Yan'er -"

"Mother, I no longer wish to discuss this." Jiang Yueqian drew back. "There's much to do. I shall not take up any more of your time."

Turning to the disciples who were definitely eavesdropping and sneaking unsubtle glances their way, Jiang Yueqian said, "If you have the time to listen in on others' conversation, then it must mean you're all experts at this drill. Now, why don't you demonstrate for me."

#cql #the untamed #wangxian #corie fics #cql ficlet #midnight sun #lanyan #ly17 #all of lwj's attempt at courting wwx is just interrupted by their daughter's iceberg glare from 5 yards away behind a pillar

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scarletjedi · 3 years

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Untamed Time Travel Fix-It Fic But Make it Mingcheng part 3B

@piyo-13

Part 1: The Setup

Part 2A: Gusu Revisited

Part 2B: Gusu Unleashed!

Part 3A: The Return of the Plot

PART 3B: THE ROAD TO WAR

Things happen pretty quickly after that.

The Nie Soldiers accompany Lan Wangji back to Gusu, beating Wen Xu’s forces there, warning Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen of the coming attack. When Wen Zu arrives, Gusu Lan is ready. With help from the Nie and Lan Wangji, the Wen are beaten back at the gates. Wen Xu retreats to regroup - setting up a siege. The Cloud recesses don’t burn, but they are trapped.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian return to Lotus Pier, intending to begin building up subtle defences thinking it’s better to not tip their hand that they know an attack is coming. They are welcomed back, but find Lotus Pier preoccupied: Yanli had asked Madam Yu to arrange a date for the wedding, now that she had spent (supervised) time with Jin Zixuan and they found themselves to be most compatible. This puts Madame Yu into a good enough mood that she doesn’t scold them (much) for coming home the long way ‘round. With the piers distracted, it’s pretty easy for Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to begin to build their defenses. Wei Wuxian begins to worry about Lan Wangji - he was supposed to meet them in Lotus Pier once the Wens were defeated.

An auspicious date is picked for Yanli’s wedding — and then comes the summons for the Wen Indoctrination. Their defences aren’t finished, but it’s more than they had before — and with luck, they would have time after they return.

The circumstances are different, but the power dynamic is still very much the same. With Gusu under siege instead of burt, the threat is not so absolute, but it’s not enough yet to trigger a full on push back, no matter how much Nie Mingjue campaigns for it (and plans. He has no desire to end up without Baxia at Wen Ruohan’s feet again, no thank you — and no desire to let Meng Yao out of his sight).

Jiang Fengmain and Madame Yu fight over sending Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian again, but this time, when Wei Wuxian begins to sink into himself, Jiang Cheng grips his knee where they can’t see, offering his support — and warning him to be silent when it looks like he’d talk to defend Jiang Cheng.

“It’s an impossible situation,” Jiang Cheng says, voice level, and the steel in his voice is enough to make both of his parents stop. “If we go, we’re their hostages. If we stay, we draw their forces down on us like Gusu Lan — and as strong as our rivers are, we don’t have a mountain to keep them at bay. Are we ready to fight off the Wen army?” He looked between his parents. “I know we are strong, and I know we cause no offence enough to be a target, but we are a target. I am willing to go to Qishan, to buy us time at home to prepare.” He looked at Wei Wuxian, scowling when he saw how proud Wei Wuxian looked.

The night before they leave, Jiang Cheng is restless. He knows he’ll get little rest in the coming weeks, but he can’t seem to quiet his mind. So, he does what he has always done, and slips out to the end of the moonlit pier.

It’s not quiet on the water, but the sounds are gentle: water lapping at the pylons, dragonflies buzzing, a frog croaking. It settles him, and he sits with his feet dangling over the darkened water.

He hears his mother approach - a courtesy. She wants him to know she’s coming, and he decides to wait. She is alone, without Jinzou and Yinzou, and that is enough to make him pause.

He looked at her, curious, when she sits next to him, but she doesn’t say anything, eyes on the moon.

So, he says nothing either. They sit in silence for several minutes. Long enough that Jiang Cheng is getting ready to excuse himself, when his mother holds out her hand and waits.

Frowning, Jiang Cheng takes her hand. She grips him right, suddenly, and it’s a good thing because he tries to pull away in surprise when Zidian slides off of her hand and onto his.

“Mother?!” The word is choked between his teeth, his memory of the last time she had given him Zidian burning fresh in his memory. “I can’t—“

“You will,” she said, cutting him off. “And you will bring it home once more.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “I will.”

She nodded once, and wrapped her arms around him, pressing his cheek to her chest. His mother could be hot tempered, sharp to the point of cruelty, but she was his mother and she loved him fiercely. Jiang Cheng held on.

They go, with extra provisions hidden on them, trying to figure out a way around giving over their swords - in all of their planning about the war, that was a detail that they had missed.

Their arrival in Qishan is a little rougher, with the Wen Army engaged rather than victorious, but it still matches pretty evenly to their memories — including the moment when Wen guards drag Lan Wangji up the stairs, alone. Jiang Cheng has to hold Wei Wuxian back, because Gusu wasn’t supposed to have fallen.

When Lan Wangji is close enough, Wei Wuxian still leans in to whisper at him. “Lan Zhan!” But before he can say more than that, Lan Wangji reaches out and cups the side of Wei Wuxian’s face his his hand — it’s shockingly bold, and Jiang Cheng has to stamp down the knee-jerk reaction he has to watching his brother’s shameless romance with his husband - and it’s worth it to hear Jin Zixuan choke behind him, and watch Nie Huaisang hide his laughter behind a furiously moving fan.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, and that must have meant something to Wei Wuxian, because he smiled widely, even when the guards dragged them apart.

In the end, there was no way for them to get around it, and their swords were taken from them. Later that night, when the guards had passed, they gathered in the rooms Jiang Cheng shared with Wei Wuxian — all except Lan Wangji, who had been placed under guard, which made Wei Wuxian twitchier than normal. Jin Zixuan was the one pacing, however, clearly discomforted by his lack of sword, even though he had lived through this once before and knew exactly where they were being kept.

“Jin-xiong,” Nie Huaisang whined, “Please sit down, you are making me dizzy.”

Jin Zixuan barely spares him a glance. He hadn’t been any better about being without Suihua the first time around, but at least he wasn’t bothering poor Mianmian with it this time. The fact that she hadn’t strangled him before they made it to the Xanwu’s cave...

“Let him be,” Wei Wuxian said. He had finally collapsed backwards onto his bed, next to where Nie Huaisang was fanning himself. His arm was draped dramatically over his eyes and Nie Huaisang fanned him for a moment, in sympathy. “If he wants to waste his energy, that’s on him.”

“Oh?” Nie Huaisang asked, fake-innocent enough that Jiang Cheng turned to watch. “But Wei-xiong, didn’t you say that—”

Whatever “Wei-xiong” said, they would never know, because a knock sounded at the door. Almost as if they really were still teenagers, the four time travelers exchanged a panicked “oh shit!” look.

“Don’t just stand there, hide!” Jiang Cheng hissed, and the knock sounded again — this time, with an accompanying, low: “Wei-gonzi? It’s me!”

“Wen Ning!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, bounding off of the bed.

“Wei-gonzi?” Jiang Cheng protested, though there was little force behind it. “It’s my room too.”

Wei Wuxian ushered Wen Ning inside quickly, and shut the door behind him.

“I don’t have much time,” Wen Ning began, before Wei Wuxian could speak. “But I brought — ” He reached into his robes and pulled out a Qiankun pouch, pushing it into Wei Wuxian’s hands.

“Hey, food!” Wei Wuxian said, peering inside. He reached in as if to take something, and Jiang Cheng snatched it away. “Hey!”

“They’re feeding us now,” Jiang Cheng said. “We should save this for when they stop.” He turned to Wen Ning with a short bow. “Thank you, Wen Ning.”

Wen Ning nodded. “There’s medicine, too. Pills to restore qi, to stop bleeding and prevent infection.” He turned back to Wei Wuxian. “I spoke to Huanguan Jun,” he said, and that had Wei Wuxian’s full attention. “He’s not uninjured, but he has no broken bones. The official story is that he was captured outside of the Cloud Recesses and sent as a warning and as leverage, but he says it was a plan to get here, to help with the Xuanwu.”

“Does he have a plan to return our swords?” Jin Zixuan asked, and — well, it’s an understandable question. None of them had figured it out, after all, but Jiang Cheng’s hope lasted only the moment before Wen Ning shook his head.

“We did it last time,” Wei Wuxian said. “Injured and with makeshift weapons. We can do it again.”

“Speak for yourself,” Nie Huaisang said. “I want no part of that.”

Last time, Nie Huaisang managed to faint just before the night hunt that ended in the Xuanwu and their escape, and — well, to be honest, Jiang Cheng never actually found out how Nie Huaisang made it home. It wasn’t like the Wens would have sent him back after sending the other young masters to their deaths.

He didn’t escape it this time, marching sullenly along with them. He whined often enough that his feet hurt that Wen Qing managed to convince Wen Chao to call a halt so she could see to them. Judging by the way she paused when he took off his boots, his feet were not nearly in as poor condition as his complaints made them sound. Still — everyone would be better off for a break, and without Lan Wangji’s leg —

Ah.

“You’re a menace,” he murmured, leaning against he tree that Nie Huaisang sat beneath. Nie Huaisang flicked open his fan, holding it to shade his face.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said, and Jiang Cheng snorted in amusement.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jiang Cheng kept his voice low, barely letting his mouth move. “You weren’t here last time. How did you get home?”

“Oh, Meng Yao let me out,” Nie Huaisang said. Jiang Cheng stared at him, but Nie Huaisang didn’t look up. “It was before he came to Wen Ruohan’s attention. I’m sure, if he’d already been granted any sort of position within his court, I’d have been left there to rot until Da-ge came to get me.”

But, they had changed things. Meng Yao had never killed that general. He was never banished from the Unclean Realm, and never went to the Wen Sect. Nie Huaisang had no man on the inside, and therefore decided to face the Xanwu of Slaughter rather than find another way out of Nightless City.

Nie Huaisang was a little bit terrifying, and continued to be terrifying all the way until they were in the Xanwu’s cave and fighting both it and the Wens. Not that Jiang Cheng was paying that much attention to him, being that he was currently using Zidian to strangle the life out of Wen Zuhilu much more quickly than he would have liked given the threat-rich environment he was in — but he was aware enough to his surrounding to know that Nie Huaisang’s ever-present fan also doubled as a fucking battle fan which had to have been a later-in-life development for his pre-time-travel self because what the fuck Nie Huaisang!

Other bits of information flashed through his awareness — Mianmian disarming that terrible Wang Lingjiao — Jin Zixuan fighting surprisingly well with a sword taken from a fallen Wen disciple — Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian fighting back to back — the Xuanwu of Slaughter eating Wen Chao —

That was enough to make Jiang Cheng drop his hold on Zidian, dropping Wen Zuhilio to the ground as he stared at where the Xanwu of Slaughter had it’s head reared back as it gobbled up Wen Chao like a snake!

“Oh, gross...” Wei Wuxian muttered.

Wen Zuhilu’s sword lay at Jiang Cheng’s feet. It was, in the end, a simple thing to pick it up and drive it through Wen Zuhilu’s back, hopefully cutting his heart in two. If he wasn’t dead before, he was surely dead now. Jiang Cheng didn’t spare him another glance as he joined the others in hiding from the Xuanwu as they planned.

The Xanwu killing Wen Chao fixed one problem, and Jaing Cheng killing The Core Melting Hand solved another. So now, of course, they were faced with a new problem. Previously, Wen Chao’s cowardice meant that none of the Wens had remained in the cave with them to face an angry Xuanwu, and their escape was thus unhampered by the enemy. Now, they had Wang Lingjiao pouting under the influence of the Lan silencing spell, a handful of Wen Chao’s entourage, and Wen Qing - who wasn’t a problem herself, but keeping her sympathy for them a secret certainly was.

“Well, now what?” Nie Huaisang hissed, fanning himself with his damned war fan, Huaisang!

“We wait for that thing to calm down and then we leave,” Jin Zixuan said, like it was going to be that easy. It wasn’t like they could go back the way they—

Except they could. Wen Chao never gave the order to retreat and cut the ropes. They could, conceivably, get out the entrance of the cave and not have to deal with the Xanwu again.

Jiang Cheng met Wei Wuxian’s eyes, saw the same realization there, and then his features set in the same resolve that he had last seen in the burial mounds, when it was all falling to shit.

“Jiang Cheng—” Wei Wuxian started.

“I know, I know,” Jiang Cheng interrupted. “I got you the first time.”

“Then could you share with the rest of the class?” Nie Huaisang asked, only a little dry.

“We can not leave the Xuanwu here,” Lan Wangji said. Then, after a beat. “Alive.”

Wei Wuxian was already nodding. “Exactly Lan Zhan. It was sleeping before, and not a threat, but it’s awake now, and if it gets loose it could cause a lot of harm before it could be subdued. If it could be subdued, with everyone distracted by, you know, the war.”

Jiang Cheng noticed Wen Qing’s attention shoot to Wei Wuxian, and he remembered, belatedly, that they weren’t actually at war yet. Only Qinghe Nie was actively skirmishing, and the Sunshot Campaign wasn’t formed until after the fall of Lotus Pier. Luckily, She seemed to be the only one who noticed the slip — after all, one of their biggest arguments to get the campaign started was that they had already been at war, just not unified.

“You want to take out the Xuanwu of Slaughter?” aked one of the surviving Wen that Jiang Cheng didn’t know. “Without your swords?”

“They defeated us easily enough,” Wen Qing snapped. “Do you wish to provoke them? Or would you like to be first chosen as bait?”

Jiang Cheng exchanged a look with Wei Wuxian, who flashed a quick grin before stroking his chin in a clear impersonation of Lan Qiren. “You know, that’s not a half bad idea.”

“It was their plan for us,” Jiang Cheng added, playing into the bit. “It would only be fair to use it on them. We could even have Mianmian choose, since she was the first chosen.” He nodded at Mianmian, who seemed surprised to be addressed, but he focused his sharpest grin on Wang Lingjiao, who had paled considerably and no longer struggled against the spell.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said quietly, plaintively, and Wei Wuxian pouted at him.

“Fine,” he said, flouncing dramatically. “I guess we’re better than using live bait.

Jiang Cheng nodded. “I wouldn’t trust ‘em anyway. You need to only bring people you can rely on into a fight as dangerous as with the Xuanwu. Jin Zixuan,” he said, and didn’t bother repressing his smirk when Jin Zixuan stood a little taller at being addressed so suddenly. Turns out his Sect Leader voice was useful, even if his voice still hadn’t settled into it’s full register. “We need someone to lead everyone else away while the Xuanwu is distracted. Can you do that?”

Jin Zixuan nodded, resolved and not a little bit relieved at not having to fight the Xanwu without his sword.

“Good,” Jiang Cheng said. “Take Nie Huaisang with you.” He looked at Nie Husaisang. “I don’t want to be the one to tell your brother we took you anywhere near the Xuanwu, no matter how much he nags you to train.”

Nie Huaisang waved it off with his closed fan. “It’s alright. I have absolutely no desire to go anywhere near that thing. I’m not built for night hunts.”

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian said, voice quiet as he came up beside him, using the soft sounds of the others getting ready to leave as cover. “Last time, Lan Zhan and I could handle it. You should get out too.”

Jiang Cheng bit back his initial spike of anger, telling himself that this came from a place of concern not a dig at his skills — but, being back in this place, this time was dredging up a lot of dirt that he thought he had left behind, and he wasn’t surprised that Wei Wuxian was falling back into old habits as well.

“Last time, I didn’t have Zidian,” Jiang Cheng said. “And I know Lan Wangji didn’t have those guqin strings on him, either.” Blinking, Wei Wuxian looked over his shoulder to see Lan Wangji pull a coil of strings from his sleeve. “And more importantly, last time, you and Lan Wangji nearly died, and were out of commission for days. With the three of us, we might just walk away.” He gripped Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “And if you try to sacrifice yourself for me again, I’m telling A-Jie.”

That cracked a smile on Wei Wuxian’s face, and he nodded, pulling back to stand, arms behind his back as they watched the others make their way back out of the cave.

Before he left, Jin Zixuan paused and said, “How long should we wait for you?”

Jiang Cheng blinked and exchanged a look with Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji spoke: “Six hours.”

A bit surprised, perhaps by the specificity, Jin Zixuan nodded, and followed the others out.

They have the advantage, this time, of their own weapons — Zidian, the Chord Assassination, and Wei Wuxian’s knowledge of resentful energy.

“I need a dizi,” he muttered to himself as they crouched down to draw diagrams in the dirt.

“I will get you a dizi,” Lan Wangji said before Jiang Cheng could say they probably had some back at Lotus Pier. That caused Wei Wuxian to flush pink and protest quietly, hiding his face in his palms.

“If you’re going to flirt the entire time, I’m going to leave,” Jiang Cheng said. And, when Lan Wangji shot him a look that said “do it, bitch,” Jiang Cheng continued, “and I’m going to tell everybody you’ve eloped and you won’t be able to go anywhere without a chaperone until my mother and your uncle settle the marriage contract.”

That shut him up.

It’d eventually decided that they would take the same basic strategy as last time. Wei Wuxian would grab the sword pinning it in place, and Lan Wangji would strangle it to death with the Cord Assassination. Only this time, Wei Wuxian would not be crawling into the Xanwu shell, what the fuck, and would be summoning the sword to him from the outside using resentful energy. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng would both then strangle the beast, and hopefully between the two of them it wouldn’t take a full six hours.

And, well, that’s pretty much what happens. Wei Wuxian stands out of range while Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng take their place, and then he begins to whistle. The sound of it isn’t loud, but it fills the cavern with an awful pressure, and Jiang Cheng shook his head like there was water in his ear. Then, like a branch giving way, something small but dark and foul rockerted out of the Xanwu’s shell, the Xanwu’s head roaring after. Jiang Cheng reacted, and Zidian wrapped around the Xanwu’s neck in the same instant as Lan Wangji’s chord, and the Xanwu snapped its teeth mere feet away from Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian smirked, and shouted something that squirmed in Jiang Cheng’s ear, and the sword — the fifth piece of Yin Iron — embedded itself in the top of the Xuanwu’s head.

The Xanwu roared and Jiang Cheng pulled harder, sending a sharp pulse through Zidian, where it met a similar pulse from Lan Wangji—

And the head of the Xanwu popped clean off, falling to the water below, and sending a small wave up to soak Jiang Cheng’s boots. He kicked his foot, disgusted, and watched as drops of water flicked off. Great.

Jiang Cheng let Zidian curl back up, dormant, and stared down at the corpse of the Xuanwu. “That took you six hours?”

Wei Wuxian was blinking at the Xuanwu, equally surprised. “To be fair, Lan Zhan was injured, and we hadn’t eaten in days.”

“Mm,” Lan Wangji agreed, curling up his chord. “No proper weapons. Wei Ying was also injured, and did not yet have his understanding of resentful energy.”

“And you weren’t here!” Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng kicked off his rock and joined the other two. “No, I was running to get help, and I almost didn’t make it in time.” He clapped his hand on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “This is better.”

He turned his back, giving them a moment of privacy while he drew the talisman that would dry his boots. It wasn’t a talisman that he bothered to use often, being wet was part of living on a pier, but it was one that every disciple learned early and learned well. It had saved him from a weeks worth of blisters last time, and it would do the same now.

It didn’t do anything for the smell, however, and Jiang Cheng resigned himself to needing a new pair of boots. Again.

Climbing out of the cave wasn’t actually easier than leaving though the water, though if Jiang Cheng had to choose, he would choose not sneaking past the mythical murder beast without a weapon.

“What are we going to do about the Wens?” Wei Wuxian asked. “I mean, they can all die, as far as I am concerned — except Wen Qing, of course — but...”

“We can’t let them go back,” Jiang Cheng said. “Wen Chao is dead, and even though it’s not our fault, you know we’ll be blamed. We want to keep that information to ourselves as long as possible.”

“Hostages?” Wei Wuxian asked. “It’s just - I don’t want that woman anywhere near Lotus Pier and, sorry Lan Zhan, we don’t know if the Cloud Recesses is able to handle a hostage right now.”

Which left Jinlintai or the Unclean Realm. The Jins were closer, but Jiang Cheng knew better than to trust Jin Guangshan and with the Nies already fighting, he didn’t want to anything to make them a bigger target.

Not that it mattered anyway, because when they climbed out of the cave they found the area filled with Nie cultivators — and Nie Mingjue, who was holding Nie Huaisang while he hung like a limpet, crying about everything he had to endure. It’s only when they appear, and Nie MIngjue relaxes, that Jiang Cheng realized that Nie Huaisang was physically holding Nie Mingue back from rushing into the cave himself.

He so surprised that it takes Lan Wangji bowing in greeting before Jiang Cheng remembers to bow himself.

Apparently, Nie Huaisang had planned more than just escaping with them via the Xuanwu, and when they had first left on the hunt, had managed to sent message to Nie Mingjue - along with the other half of a tracking talisman that was attached to Nie Huaisang’s fan. The timing was simply happenstance, and with an actual sect leader present, the decision of what to do with their prisoners was technically no longer Jiang Cheng’s.

Jin Zixuan stared at them openly. “That was not six hours.”

“Thank the gods,” Jiang Cheng said, then paused. “How long was it?”

“About two,” Nie Huaisang said, miraculously no longer a sobbing mess. He joined them, pulling Nie Mingjue with him. Nie Mingjue eyed him sideways, as if aware Huaisang was plotting something, but not truly minding. “Dage said he’ll bring everyone back home, and send official word to Wen Ruohan once he’s sure you are home safe and can muster your defences.”

Jiang Cheng looked at Nie Mingjue. “Are you sure?” he asked. “That’ll put a lot of heat on you, and more quickly.”

Nie Mingjue shrugged. “I could execute them here.” Which - wasn’t a terrible plan, except that previous fighting had been on Nie land - an act of war, yes, but Nie killing Wen on Wen land was an act of war that Wen Ruohan would recognize.

“Not Wen Qing!” Wei Wuxian said quickly, which got him a look from Nie Mingjue. “She’s just as much a hostage as we were. She healed Nie Huaisang’s feet!”

Nie Huaisang nodded vigorously. “She did.” When Nie Mingjue looked at him to confirm, Jiang Cheng nodded.

There, in front of the Xanwu cave, Nie Mingjue and the Nie cultivators kill the remaining Wen, and Wen Qing is taken as hostage.

Later, the histories would mark this moment as the true beginning of the Sunshot Campaign.

Part 3A

Part 4: Sunshot!

#mingcheng #mincheng notefic #my fic #fic update #the untamed

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

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Three Gates - on ao3 (for content warnings check Ao3) - on tumblr: pt 1, pt 2, pt 3, pt 4, pt 5, pt 6, pt 7, pt 8, pt 9, pt 10, pt 11, pt 12

- Chapter 13 -

Meng Yao was extremely practiced in keeping his emotions under control.

He always had been, his mother’s inheritance to both him and Nie Huaisang. The brothel had taught him the basics of how to utilize his natural talent for it, while politics had refined the skill into an art. He could keep a smile on his face as he was being tortured, something he would have once said was theoretical but could now definitively attest to, though thankfully only briefly.

Even so, he had to briefly close his eyes when they dragged Nie Mingjue into the throne room and threw him to his knees at Wen Ruohan’s feet.

Wen Ruohan didn’t notice, of course – he only had eyes for his prize – and that gave Meng Yao the moment he needed to collect himself before stepping out to deal with matters, as was his right as the person whose scheming had achieved such a triumph.

The first one who saw him was Nie Mingjue. His eyes were hurt and confused, tender like a day-old bruise that was being pressed down on, but he said nothing, did nothing. He didn’t rage or spit or anything that might have reasonably been expected; he didn’t yell or try to lunge forward, even though he wouldn’t have been able to get very far even if he tried.

For the first time in his life, Meng Yao couldn’t tell what Nie Mingjue was thinking, whether he was cursing him or if he was simply mourning him, believing he had been betrayed in truth – he remained silent, remained on his knees, his arms bound tightly to his side; he was quietly terrified to the bone, the emotion just barely hidden behind his unbending pride, and Meng Yao’s chest hurt to look at him.

The other Nie cultivators looked hurt, too, when they saw him. After all, not long ago he’d been their second young master, their sect leader’s right hand –

But that had been before.

Before, as far as they knew, he betrayed them all.

Meng Yao approached Nie Mingjue, saying nothing. After all, what needed to be said? There was no mockery greater than the mere fact of his presence there, clad in Wen sect robes.

He was even wearing a sword.

(Chiwen remained safe, hidden in his room, snarling and uncontrollable in his hatred for everything about their lives right now, but how would they know that? For all they knew he had discarded it like trash, the Nie sect’s life and livelihood, all nothing but trash…)

Or at least, there wasn’t any mockery greater than that, right up until Meng Yao opened the box he was holding in his arms and showed Nie Mingjue that Baxia had fallen into his hands.

No Nie saber will ever voluntarily be held in the hands of a Wen – Meng Yao had remembered Nie Mingjue’s words and seized Baxia the very first instant he could, but right now he was a Wen, and wasn’t that the worst insult of all?

Nie Mingjue flinched when he saw his saber lying there in Meng Yao’s arms, in a box of Wen sect colors, the threat not needing to be spoken for it to be clear – he flinched, flinched away from Meng Yao as if Meng Yao were Wen Ruohan.

That was the step too far for the Nie disciples that had been captured alongside him. One of them spoke up, saying something crude, an insult to Wen Ruohan, and for all that Meng Yao agreed wholeheartedly, such a thing could not be borne.

He stepped forward and backhanded the man, knocking him to the ground, and ordered him to be taken to Fire Palace – ordered them all to be taken there, and told the guards to go fetch Wen Qing, saying with a vicious smile that her doctor’s services would undoubtedly be needed to prolong their experience.

They were dragged away. Some of them shouted curses at him, damning him in the filthiest of language; others only continued to look hurt, even shocked, as if they had still believed in him right up until that moment.

Wen Ruohan laughed. “Always so quick to defend my honor, my Meng Yao,” he said, his voice low and purring and overly intimate, and then he stood, coming down from his throne. “It feels good to have such loyal retainers…don’t you agree, Sect Leader Nie?”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Right verb,” Wen Ruohan said, and his smile was full of filth. “Wrong subject.”

He reached out and put his hands in Nie Mingjue’s hair, pulling out the few braids that remained intact and running his fingers against his scalp – it was something Nie Mingjue had always enjoyed when Meng Yao or Lan Xichen had done it for him, a little tidbit Meng Yao had unintentionally let slip during one of his storytelling sessions, and he could see Nie Mingjue shudder with disgust at the familiar action.

He probably wouldn’t like it again, in the future. Lan Xichen would undoubtedly mourn the loss.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Wen Ruohan said.

“Do you want to take him upstairs?” Meng Yao interjected, but Wen Ruohan waved him away.

��Later,” he said, impatiently, already forgetting that Meng Yao was even there. “All of that can come later. I have a prize to claim, and in front of my throne is as good a place as any.”

Nie Mingjue tried to struggle then, to free his arms, to reach for Baxia still held so close and yet far away from him in Meng Yao’s arms, to do something, but all of his struggles did him no good. Wen Ruohan was not in the mood to play games of cat and mouse, not after so many years of being denied: he unleashed the full force of his cultivation, dominating and overwhelming, and pushed Nie Mingjue onto his back before he could recover from the effect, forcing his legs open and kneeling between them.

“Ah – stop!” Nie Mingjue cried out, pushed beyond his limits into something like begging. It didn’t help, of course. Wen Ruohan pulled open the front of Nie Mingjue’s robes, pressing him down. Their hips slotted together, Wen Ruohan rocking back and forth, his face ecstatic with the pleasure of domination, of victory, his obsession of so many years finally on the verge of being satisfied for the first of what would undoubtedly be many times. One of his hands pressed Nie Mingjue down, the other slid down between his thighs. “No! Stop it, don’t – stop – Meng Yao!”

Wen Ruohan laughed in delight. “How stupid do you have to be to call out to him?” he asked, eyes bright with amusement even as he pressed their bodies together even closer. “Do you really think –” A bestial grunt, and a cry of pain. “- that he’ll help you? He belongs to me –”

Meng Yao took Wen Ruohan’s head off with Baxia.

It was a better death than the bastard deserved, far too quick and easy, but it was the only opportunity he had: Wen Ruohan had dropped every single one of his shields and protections to pull together the spiritual force he was using to keep Nie Mingjue pinned down and helpless, keep him writhing on the floor in spite of all his power; Wen Ruohan had been showing off his superior cultivation like a preening peacock, safe and unguarded, all his attention on memorizing Nie Mingjue’s every reaction. It wasn’t that he didn’t know Meng Yao was there, of course, but he hadn’t thought twice about him, thought of him as nothing but a prop, a mindless object allowed to remain close at hand only because it would enable him to wring out the maximum amount of misery and despair from Nie Mingjue.

Meng Yao could come up close, even with Baxia still clutched in his hands, and Wen Ruohan wouldn’t register his little loyal pawn, the one he’d seduced since childhood, as anything resembling a threat.

He should have.

Meng Yao checked to make sure he’d gotten the head fully off – he had, so quickly and cleanly that Wen Ruohan’s expression was still fixed in a look of triumph – and then turned back to Nie Mingjue, tensing when he saw that he hadn’t moved: he was still lying on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling, Wen Ruohan’s bloody corpse on top of him.

Meng Yao swallowed.

Had he acted too late? Had something fundamental been broken inside of Nie Mingjue?

“Da-ge?” he said hesitantly, not sure if he was still allowed to say that. “Da-ge, I got him – he’s dead.”

Nie Mingjue was shaking when Meng Yao pulled the corpse off of him, casting it aside, and then suddenly he was moving, up and towards Meng Yao and Meng Yao started to scramble away, not wanting Nie Mingjue to do something he’d regret in a moment of fury, but Nie Mingjue was faster than he was.

He wrapped his arms around Meng Yao and he – did nothing.

“Meng Yao,” Nie Mingjue murmured into his neck, his voice broken. “Meng Yao, A-Yao…”

He wasn’t trying to hurt him.

He was hugging him. He was –

Meng Yao’s knees went weak, weak enough that he couldn’t stand, and he collapsed down onto his own knees, suddenly hugging Nie Mingjue back as hard as he could. “You forgive me?” he croaked. “I thought – you didn’t even look at me. You didn’t say anything!”

Not in the throne room – not for months.

“How could I say anything?” Nie Mingjue asked, and Meng Yao could feel his tears against the side of his face. “You’re always telling me that I’m a terrible liar. If I said anything, everyone would know – I couldn’t ruin things for you, not when you were in such danger.”

“You – you worried –”

“You told me to trust you,” Nie Mingjue said, as if the world were that simple. As if it was black and white, justice and righteousness, as if he knew, deep in that shining steel core of his, that Meng Yao loved him and trusted him and would do anything for him. “I trusted you.”

Meng Yao closed his eyes, feeling tears drip down his own cheeks now.

“Huaisang, too,” Nie Mingjue added, as if he knew exactly what balm Meng Yao needed to heal the wounds the Nightless City had left in his soul. “He told me that if I saw you, I was to tell you that he’s very mad at you for breaking your promise to let him help.”

“I let him fight the war,” Meng Yao automatically protested, because he had – he would never have committed to actually crossing sides like this if he hadn’t known Nie Huaisang would be able to do the critical strategic and tactical work on the other side. “How is that not helping?!”

“He says you should think the highest number your brain can calculate, and then translate that into fans you need to buy to make it up to him,” Nie Mingjue said. “I told him there weren’t that many fans in the entire cultivation world, but he said that he had faith in you.”

He had faith in you.

I trusted you.

Meng Yao pressed his lips together, rocking back and forth, unable to speak for a long few moments because the joy in his chest was so intense that he felt it as pain, a blazing light as hot as a firebrand pressing down in on him.

What good thing had he done, in a previous life, to give him such a family? How could Wen Ruohan have believed, even for a minute, that he would have betrayed them for something as stupid and paltry as ambition?

“…let’s get you dressed again,” he finally said, because he couldn’t express his emotions in words right now. “Xichen-xiong should be here any moment with an army.”

“Convenient.” Nie Mingjue’s voice was a bit wet when he chuckled, but he pulled away to start doing up his robes without taking a single glance down at them – he got a few ties done the wrong way round, but Meng Yao didn’t correct him. He suspected these particular robes would be burnt as soon as they were somewhere safe anyway. “Always a second plan, isn’t that right?”

There was never any plan where I let him have you, Meng Yao thought, and perhaps when things had calmed down a little more he would one day even find a way to say that out loud.

But for the moment, they were together, him and Nie Mingjue and even Baxia – Chiwen was on his way, entirely self-directed, Meng Yao could feel his overwhelming excitement about finally getting out of this den of misery as he whistled straight down the hallways as Wen sect disciples leapt shouting out of his way – and then Lan Xichen burst through the doors and exclaimed in relief to see them, rushing forward to take them both into his arms.

“The Nie sect retainers,” Meng Yao said a few moments later, when he could speak again through the tears. “The ones you came in with – Wen Qing is helping me, she’s the doctor I called for. She’s probably setting up to smuggle them to the border as we speak; we should tell her she doesn’t have to bother now that Xichen-xiong’s here…she’s Wen Ning’s older sister, Wen Ning’s the one I sent to you to keep safe. She has some crimes to her name, who doesn’t here, but she’s one of the good ones. Can something be done for her and her kin?”

“We’ll deal with the details later,” Lan Xichen sniffed, nuzzling his hair. “Oh, Meng Yao, I missed you..!”

“We really should deal with it now,” Meng Yao insisted.

“He’s right,” Nie Mingjue said, though he made no move to let either of them go. “This is neither the place nor the time. We can reunite properly later.”

For the first time since that horrible day at the Cloud Recesses, Meng Yao found himself looking forward to something.

#mdzs #meng yao #jin guangyao #wen ruohan #nie mingjue #lan xichen #my fic #my fics #three gates

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songofclarity · 3 years

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more modern au nonsense ideas: the jin as in-universe herbalife. conspiracy theories about wwx on reddit. wen qing knowing too much about the dark web. jc is secretly a famous asmr creator. i have no further explanation for any of these.

Yeeeees, thank you, I love more modern AU nonsense ideas with all my heart!

The Jin as in-universe Herbalife??? I was so confused but now I'm down a rabbit hole on how Herbalife was using ephedrine in its weight loss products, because sure you'll look healthier on the outside, just ignore that pesky risk of heart attack, stroke, seizure, or death~! And the Herbalife's chief executive died after a four-day drinking binge!? Is there anything else I should know that makes this all an even better fit?? lol

Surely Wei WuXian has his own reddit community! I don't know what he's doing in this universe yet but it's something. A graduate student or young college professor who is definitely Up To Something. Although I'm picturing School Dean Lan QiRen (anti-no good tricks) vs. student Xue Yang (#1 Wei WuXian fanboy) getting into heated arguments over the latest conspiracy under pseudonyms. (Xue Yang's pseudonym changes all the times because he gets banned for making personal threats.)

Wen Qing and the dark web gives me Leonardo da Vinci illegally studying cadavers vibes. What are you looking for on the dark web, Wen Qing, what's down there that a nice doctor like you wants to know...

I'm so used to see Nie HuaiSang being the asmr guy in fandom that I'm especially delighted to see the status given to Jiang Cheng. I can just imagine him doing some sweet yet ridiculous ones like "I tell you what a good girl you are (You're a dog)" and it's him with a giant stuffed dog that he coos over and calls Princess.

But every once in a while he'll drop a video like "Aggressively peeling lotus seeds" where he also unloads in a vicious hush about a no good very bad family lunch. The comments are all a blend of "🥵🥵🥵" and "Are you OK????" (Meanwhile Wei WuXian, who swore to never watch Jiang Cheng's videos like a liar, shoots a text "Get your wetsuit on we're going surfing in 10!!" and it's like 2am.)

#asked from above #kumahoney #modern au

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i-like-plan-m · 3 years

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If youre still taking prompts!! Someone releases the diary of the yiling patriarch to the masses, and it becomes something like a diary of anne frank equivalent. Opinions are changed.

Instead of being oblivious about his feelings, wwx knows that he likes lwj but never does anything about it bc he’s accepted that lwj will never like him back or that he’ll never be good enough to for him. (more in next ch!)

[Posted to Ao3: weariness follows, and the infinite ache]

Necessity, they said, was the mother of invention.

Nie Huaisang disagreed. Genius was the root of invention, and his friend had been proof of that. Necessity was the mother of revenge. Of retribution.

Da-ge would have said justice.

Da-ge was not here anymore.

Nie Huaisang was all alone now, left with nothing but a role that had been meant for great men like his father and brother.

His father, assassinated by a man so evil he’d barely been human by the end of the war.

His brother, murdered by a monster of a different making. One they’d trusted, let into their home and treated like family. One who still smiled at Nie Huaisang and thought him too blind to see the looming, broad-shouldered shadow that stalked its killer’s steps.

His brother’s spirit always felt closest when Jin Guangyao was near. Even death could not stop Nie Mingjue’s overprotective hovering, it seemed. Somehow that hurt worse.

Necessity was the mother of revenge and genius the root of invention, whether that meant talismans or planning the downfall of a monster. Nie Huaisang was not a genius.

But Wei Wuxian had been. Before his own brutal death, anyway. Even when sequestered away in a place of nightmares, he’d been constantly creating.

Creating, and inventing, and filling dozens of notebooks with his usual disorganized ramblings. The notebooks had been seized by the Jins after the siege of the Burial Mounds. They didn’t notice when a handful went missing from their stores, snuck out of Lanling by a resentful servant with light fingers and a grudge against Jin Guangyao. He’d been easily bought off by a stranger in the city who’d never shown his face.

“He really was a genius,” Nie Huaisang mused, flipping through one of his dead friend’s journals in the solitude of his own personal library.

A scoff. “Demonic cultivation is demonic cultivation.”

“Not all of it is demonic,” he argued. “Just parts of it.”

He looked at the contents and reconsidered. “Actually, most of it is about farming and child raising and Lan Wangji. No wonder the Jins were so pissed.” Their treasure had turned out to be worthless, after all.

This particular journal of Wei Wuxian’s had six pages straight of complaints about Wen Qing bullying him into sleeping and eating. Lan Wangji was mentioned no less than eighty seven times. There were rabbits and a child planted next to radishes and dozens of lotus roots doodled all over the pages. A few lines of writing had been lazily scratched out-- by the looks of it, Wei Wuxian had started writing all his characters upside down and backwards. It was right before the whining about Wen Qing stabbing him to make him sleep, which suddenly made a lot more sense.

Nie Huaisang now owned eight of Wei Wuxian’s journals, relics of a young man who’d thrown his own life away for Wens, of all things. No surprise. He’d always had his own sense of justice.

“Justice?” His brother’s voice was full of incredulous disbelief. “A-Sang, he killed thousands.”

Nie Huaisang’s mouth twisted stubbornly. “They attacked him first,” he muttered.

“Oh, that’s what you’re going with? ‘They started it’?”

“Well, they did.”

The only response was Nie Mingjue grumbling under his breath. The familiarity of it made Nie Huaisang smile, but it was the contents of the next page that made him laugh aloud.

I don’t know why I keep wishing Lan Zhan was here. He’d hate this place. Just think: all the resentful energy everywhere, and Hanguang-Jun farming with the rest of us! Haha can you imagine?

Ah. Trouble is, I can imagine. He was my soulmate. Or at least I thought so.

> That’s gay.

Wen Qing!! Stop it!! Get your own journal!!

> You left it open on top of my medicines. You are clearly at fault.

You--!! I didn’t leave it there, I dropped it there when you STABBED ME with your damned needles!

> Don’t get all defensive just because I saw your love letters to Lan Wangji.

LOVE LETTERS?! You are the WORST, and I can’t believe-- wait, why am I writing this when I can just come yell at you instead?

> I dare you :)

(Don’t do it, Wei-gongzi!)

WEN NING, YOU TOO?! BETRAYAL ON ALL SIDES

“At least he had them, this time around,” Nie Huaisang said with a tired sigh. “What a terrible place to live.”

“Stop sympathizing with the enemy.”

“No,” Nie Huaisang said blithely. “Besides, he’s not the enemy. He’s dead.” For now.

“What do you mean, for now?” Nie Mingjue asked warily.

“Just some thoughts, da-ge, nothing to worry about.” He subtly tucked another journal under his cushion so it was out of sight. That one had been far more illuminating. Something for later-- for the beginning of the endgame.

A long silence while he read, and then... “You haven’t painted anything in months.”

“I’m too busy for those things.”

“You love those things.”

“I love you more.” Nie Huaisang paused, staring hard at the blurry page in front of him. “There’s no joy in anything anymore.”

“That can’t be true.”

“It is,” he snapped, abruptly furious. “How can I care about painting when you’re dead? How can I remember what happiness is when I’m all alone?”

“You aren’t all alone.”

“You are dead!” Nie Huaisang screamed, flinging the journal aside and shooting to his feet. His face was wet and his breath trembling, tears burning in his throat. “You left me. You are gone, and now I have no one. Not a single soul left in this god forsaken world; no one cares about me! I’m left with no family but your sworn brothers-- one who killed you, and the other who handed him the weapon to do it!” He whirled around to throw his brush against the wall, leaving a smear of black ink. “You are dead, and I am not, and there’s nothing I can do about it except kill the man who killed you.”

Silence. And then…

“S-Sect Leader?” A hesitant knock at the door. “Are you alright? Who are you talking to?”

Nie Huaisang swiped his eyes clear of tears and found an empty room. His heart lurched as reality returned. As the pain and grief and despair found him again.

“Just to myself, I guess,” he said distantly, unable to tear his eyes away from the place he’d imagined his brother to be. A ghost or a memory, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter either way. His brother was gone.

“I’m fine. Leave me.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.” Soft footsteps leading away, and then he was left with ringing silence and a hollow room.

“He’s gone,” Nie Huaisang repeated shakily. A reminder he needed, as much as it hurt to say aloud. “Da-ge is dead.”

He stared into the candle’s flame until his eyes burned. His brother was dead and he was alone. There was little he could do about it… except get revenge for his brother’s soul.

Nie Huaisang was not a genius. He was something better, something that would make his complex plans succeed: he was Nie Mingjue’s beloved little brother, whom no one considered a threat. They would never see him coming, would never realize his role or ruthlessness until his revenge was complete.

Jin Guangyao would die for his crimes. Nie Huaisang would make sure of it.

He sat back down. Took a breath before digging out the most important journal, and started taking notes. Nie Huaisang plotted with meticulous care long into the night, until his eyes drifted shut against his will. He staggered to his bed, sleep-drunk and heartsore, and collapsed onto it, too numb to bother dragging the blankets up the bed.

He was on the verge of sleep when the blankets draped gently over his body. “Thank you, da-ge,” he said sleepily, and drifted off as a hand brushed the hair from his face with utmost care.

#angst ahead!#nie huaisang #nie brothers #nie mingjue #grief #loss #canon compliant #mostly #my fics #my writing #the untamed #mdzs #prompts #asks #anon

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kinslayersadvocate · 4 years

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I am obsessed with the idea of some cultivators achieving immortality and spending their lives looking for (or running away from) the reincarnations of their loved ones/friends/family. Wangxian's canon already looks like this, and I'm sure everyone is familiar with the idea of Wangji meeting Wei Ying in the modern world (I refuse to believe that we doesn't have thousands of fics with this plot already), but I want share the ones that don't leave my mind (100% hoping someone will pity me and write/recommend something like this):

1. Sandu Shengshou achieving immortality on the basis of hatred to fight all the reincarnations of his shixiong - and probably having to face Hanguang-jun every time.

1.1. Alternatively, Sandu Shengshou may have started a line of warriors trained specifically to combat a single type of evil (demonic cultivation), and somehow Wei Ying's reincarnations (and their possible descendants) always end up getting involved.

2. QingheNie's cultivation techniques are "corrected" and his most brilliant warriors, my boys Nie Mingjue and Nie Zonghui achieve immortality, whether they like it or not. They now have a moral obligation to prevent Nie Huaisang's chaotic reincarnations from doing too much damage. (They aren't complaining at all.) (Da-ge cries every time he finds a new version, but Zonghui swears he won't tell anyone.) (Xichen knows, he doesn't really have to say.)

2.1. Eternal life is not just fun and games, they need to control other threats as well. Da-ge swears that Meng Yao's reincarnations are up to no good. Zonghui and Xichen bet on how many lives it will take for these two to resolve themselves, and how it will happen. Nobody can say that Xichen is not trying hard to help his friends (and win whatever the prize is. He says that the satisfaction of his friends is the only thing he wants and, to be honest, I don't doubt it.)

2.1.1. Poor Zonghui has been left TOO MANY times with the responsibility to control Huaisang. By himself.

3. The juniors quartet, with all their resources, good disposition and infinite supply of dumbass energy, achieve immortality. They (and poor Wen Ning) had plans to ensure the happiness of some people's reincarnations (Wen Qing, Jin Ling's parents, Jiang Cheng, Qin Su...), but all their plans are out of control for many, MANY centuries. (They never quite know who is a threat to be neutralized and who is a smol bean that needs to be protected).

(I must confess, all of these ideas developed simultaneously in my head, in a single, very messy timeline. It's really exciting.)

#mdzs #cql #the untanmed #random prompt?#there are a lot of people here for put in the tags #imortality does nor prevent stupidity #powerfull dumbasses has no chill

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ori-flails · 4 years

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Rewatching Guardian - Episode 03 Part 2/3

Episode List || Part 1 | Part 3

SPOILERS for upto episode 40, SPOILERS for the novel.

What do you mean by “what happened that day”??? Isn’t it meant to be “what we did that day”, you scumbag? Istg ugh

See that blurry red blob behind the pole in the last screenshot? That’s Wang Yike again. *GOOSEBUMPS*

Scum 2 (I’m numbering them in the order of their deaths heh), Wang Ziqian, was so close to death tonight and he had no idea.

Yeah Chu Shuzhi’s there, but the most that’d happen from that would be Wang Yike getting caught red handed, scum 2 probably would’ve still died since Wang Yike’s power seems to kill almost immediately.

Chu Shuzhi’s actor, Jiang Mingyang, has a very beautiful face and black suits him really REALLY well- hweeeee

... What impeccable timing, Zhao Yunlan. O_O

Chu Shuzhi was about to run after scum 2, but in that exact moment Zhao Yunlan texts him telling him not to.

Zhao Yunlan doesn’t have any devices in his ears, and he’s not watching what’s happening through a spy device or something either because he’s in front of Shen Wei at the moment. He’s also no where near any windows so he really isn’t watching what had been happening.

The timing is way too freaking perfect.

Zhao probably did end up at Shen Wei’s office because of the cases, but no one can convince me that Zhao Yunlan didn’t also just want to take the opportunity to hang around the pretty (suspicious) professor.

Why Shen Wei is saying this is either because 1) he can’t do any of Hei Pao Shi work or Dixing related work with Zhao Yunlan right in front of him. Pretty sure Hei Pao Shi also has his own fair share of sitting behind his desk and investigating to do before he dons his cloak and mask to apprehend Dixingren.

And also because 2) he can’t do any proper university related work either because Zhao Yunlan’s very existence is probably the best worst distraction for him. Poor thing.

No, “studies of human beings” is more Zhao Yunlan’s forte. I also like to think it would’ve been Ye Zun’s forte too if that fucker hadn’t destroyed his mind.

Shen Wei is Not Okay™.

This is about Ye Zun again.

But it could also be about be about his disappointment and hurt after realizing that the man that had been his anchor to life doesn’t remember him or the promises that were made, and is suspicious of Shen Wei.

Shen Wei is not a benevolent god/spirit, nor is he a saint. Not even drama!Shen-Wei. Thinking of him like that would be discrediting him. It’s only natural for him to be upset at the universe or even Zhao Yunlan at this point.

No matter how logical a person Shen Wei is, or how much he loves Zhao Yunlan, his feelings won’t listen to logic and there will be a lot of hurt there. Even if he’s figured out there being a possibility of time travel, my point still stands.

Though I still think this is more about Ye Zun than anything else. I was just throwing my ideas out there with the last three points lol. xD

QAQ

Shen Wei nooooo Q’n’Q

As much of a forshadow as this is,I think this sentence was his way of coming to terms with the beat-down that was his entire life up until this point. He wouldn’t have known about what was to happen in the future after all.

Like, he convinced himself that it wasn’t possible for him to have had a better life, and he was destined to suffer tragedy after tragedy like he did.

I wonder what Zhao Yunlan is thinking at this point. They just met a few days ago! And Shen Wei just drops a deep bombshell like that.

Btw, how is Bai Yu this beautiful from any and all angles??

Da Qing noooo! xD

Aaaaand scum 2 is dead. Good going, Da Qing. n_n;;

Zhang Ruonan deserved none of this. No one deserves what happened to her.

Zhang Ruonan knew Wang Yike was hunting them down. Her telling him to run could be seen as a threat. But that’s not how I see it.

This, to me, looks like she’s warning him to run far away so he doesn’t get killed.

She sought out one of the people that instigated her rape to save his life. The scum didn’t listen, that’s not on her.

She definitely wasn’t doing this for Wang Ziqian’s sake, it was so that Wang Yike doesn’t dirty her hands any further. But even so, this is proof of her strength and kindness.

She didn’t deserve this.

Also how dare scum 2 and 3 have the nerve to approach her, let alone ask for forgiveness after what they’ve done? And only now that their lives are in danger, ugh.

They reaped what they sowed. Both with their grades and their deaths.

Sorry, this makes my blood boil. o_o;;

Oh my god--

Are you freaking kidding me rn-- Shut the fuck up.

The audacity-- my brain can’t actually comprehend this---

What, you think she has something to hide? You think she won’t say anything because she’d be ashamed? Ashamed of what? Being unfortunate enough to be your teacher?

Hell, and I thought them shamelessly asking for forgiveness to save their crusty lives was infuriating. Ugh.

(I had forgotten all about this bit.)

Zhao Yunlan, that does not give off the right impression here.

It looks like he’s threatening Shen Wei, but he really doesn’t need to because he would’ve given him the file anyway.

Also, this looks pretty flirty from Zhao Yunlan’s end. He’s somewhat interested in Shen Wei and he stumbled in front of him here in this instance.

(When I first watched it, I didn’t think of this at all but after reading the novel, I got a better idea of how gone Zhao Yunlan was for Shen Wei from the very beginning and the goofy things he did to impress Shen Wei, not really thinking quite straight (hah!) when it comes to Shen Wei.)

(And yeah, I still stand by my opinion that novel!Zhao-Yunlan is different from drama!Zhao-Yunlan but drama!ZYL is still based off of novel!ZYL. Same goes for Shen Wei. Besides, the difference between the drama version and novel version is less drastic when it comes to Zhao Yunlan.)

Shen Wei is not impressed. He’s just a little fed up at this point. ^-^;;

This scum is so disgusting-- I can’t.

“Then who will spare me?” - She. Did not. Deserve. Any of this.

“I don’t want to die” - Well, tough. She also didn’t wanna get raped but no one listened then.

(Continues in part 3)

#镇魂 guardian #guardian rewatch #guardian episode 03 #Shen Wei #zhao yunlan #weilan #zhen hun

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mejomonster · 1 year

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Like. While I fully intend for my new fic to be (mostly) a fluff fest

You know I can't wait for Ye Zun to see Ghosts in a haunted village, jump into Da Qings arms, accidentally awaken his own powers and suck a ghost into himself cannibalism style to save them

Then freak the fuck out over WHAT THE FUCK that means for his powers and life and who he is, with the looming threat of people from his past life who might still Be Alive and not particularly want a person like him with his powers to Keep Existing (you know... cause I love that power related angst that only xmen like setups like Guardian allow me...)

Also despite my best efforts at Comedy, already I've happened to write Shen Wei instinctively somehow aware he lost Zhao Yunlan before (because inexplicably to his concious mind he can't figure out why he's So Irrationally Worried Zhao Yunlan will disappear now in the present), and Ye Zun is secretly hiding a lot from Shen Wei to try and protect him from having anyone burden him with expecting him to save the world (like in his last life) which is also a bit um Emotionally heavy

Meanwhile the only angst I Expected fully to be in this fic was Zhao Yunlan coming to grips with Shen Wei's past life over and his new life Technically a new person to a degree and wtf that Means, and the balance between grief and hope inherent in this kind of romance storyline type. Which is present as you would expect but like. I maybe didn't grasp how Much it was going to permeate the Zhao Yunlan pov parts

I think the the root of the matter is simply. I'm good at emotionally weighting plots lol. U can't expect fluff from me without Something tugging the heartstrings like a brick ToT

#rant #guardian #weilan #in my (pathetic) defensr #1. i write the fluff romcom ID want and I HAPPEN to love mystery suspense emotional drama #kinnporsche is romantic comedy to me so. let that explain a lot #so is History 3 Trapped. with its murder plot and gangs. still romcom to me. so #that explains a lot #2 ye zun was a villain in life one the angst just doesnt Magically get fixed lmao. hes got a History that isnt easily #passed #3 its not my fault Guardian drama made ye zuns power cannibalism. fucking guardian makes me put that #warnjng kn every ye zun fic thats canon compliant #guardian drama why did y have to put vore in ur fucking show ToT why did u make me watch that lol

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crimes-and-gelato · 4 years

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Title: Leave Room for the Unexpected Rating: M Pairing: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian Chapter: 1/5 Tags: Mpreg, A/B/O, Fake Dating, Modern Setting AU Summary: Wei Wuxian would be anything but ordinary. And being second gendered as an omega doesn’t stop him from bending the laws of society on what to expect from his kind. He might say he’s just applying his adopted family motto — “to attempt the impossible” — but many would say that, naturally, he’s just unrestrained for an omega. Sometimes he himself thinks that maybe in his past life he was an alpha, he clearly has the traits of one. That’s why some people call him unorthodox. But nonetheless, he will live his life as he likes: untamed by what is expected of him.

‘And having a baby is another attempt at defying society’s expectation. How exactly?’ Nie Huaisang, another omega, raises one delicate eyebrow at Wei Wuxian, taking a sip of his tea.

or Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to be his baby Daddy, but things go different from what he had planned.

Chapter 1: Starting at the Beginning with You

I tried to write you a love poem but it ended up looking like a grocery list

an inventory of all the things we’d need for breakfast. I tried to write you a love poem but it ended up looking like a thank you note tucked underneath the heart shape fridge magnet.

I still don’t know how your name found its way into my prayers

how your silence ripened into something this soft and pure

how this sky is no longer mine but ours.

-Mariah

***

Wei Wuxian would be anything but ordinary. And being second gendered as an omega doesn’t stop him from bending the laws of society on what to expect from his kind. He might say he’s just applying his adopted family motto — “to attempt the impossible” — but many would say that, naturally, he’s just unrestrained for an omega. Sometimes he himself thinks that maybe in his past life he was an alpha, he clearly has the traits of one. That’s why some people call him unorthodox. But nonetheless, he will live his life as he likes: untamed by what is expected of him.

‘And having a baby is another attempt at defying society’s expectation. How exactly?’ Nie Huaisang, another omega, raises one delicate eyebrow at Wei Wuxian, taking a sip of his tea. The four of them — Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning — are gathered outside of Wen Ning’s bakery, enjoying cupcakes and afternoon tea, and the rare sunshine of mid-Spring.

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes and licks his fingers free of chocolate icing from the cupcake he’s eaten. ‘By not having to tie myself to an alpha,’ he explains in between licks. ‘While having an offspring of my own.’ He wipes his hand on a napkin. ‘Just how many single parent omega is there? Most of them are widowed. There are no omegas — that I know of — that have kids just because they can and want to, since the rest of the world thinks an alpha is needed to be a parent. And don’t get me started on their endless praises on alphas who choose to be single parents. They act like it’s the world’s most heroic decision.’

‘So, you’re starting a propaganda,’ Wen Qing points, merely stating a fact and not at all condescending like most alphas. She supports Wei Wuxian’s progressive lifestyle as long as it’s not him being an idiot, which is often since Wei Wuxian has some complicated hero complex that gets him hurt for the sake of those he loves. Sometimes, she wants to either wrap him a blanket and protect him, or stick her needles into him so he cannot move and make rush decisions that would send him to an early grave. Not that she’s ever going to tell him of the first because she’s got a reputation to uphold, that’s why she often threatens him with the latter.

Wei Wuxian shrugs. ‘Not really.’ He takes a bite of his new cupcake. ‘I just want to have a baby without an alpha.’

‘How is that even possible?’ Wen Ning asks innocently, because he is their group’s youngest member and their sweet summer child. The beta looks very confuse as if he’s recalling what he learned in Biology class in case he has missed something about reproduction.

Wei Wuxian sighs and focuses on his cupcake instead of answering the question.

‘Wait a minute.’ Nie Huaisang stops Wei Wuxian mid-bite of his treat, hand clasps on Wei Wuxian’s wrist. ‘How _really _are you going to have a baby without an alpha?’

He glares for a second at Nie Huaisang and pulls his arm away to eat his dessert in peace. ‘I’m gonna have sex of course,’ he says in frustration and rewards himself with a bite of his cupcake.

‘That we know,’ Nie Huaisang points out. ‘To whom is the underlined question?’

All three pairs of eyes curiously focus on Wei Wuxian as he chews his cake. The father of Wei Wuxian’s child should be a big deal. He can’t just get someone despite him being one of the most sought after omega because of his family background and his genius brain.

‘To create an offspring that would put all other offspring to shame, because let’s be real, any child of mine would be the paragon of beauty and intelligence,’ he announces haughtily that has Wen Qing and Nie Huaisang rolling their eyes. Wen Ning gives a small nod because he’s supportive like that. ‘I have found the perfect seed to match mine. And together our offspring will be perfect.’

His three friends all wait with bated breath for Wei Wuxian to say who, only that the arrogant bastard keeps prolonging it too much.

‘Wei Wuxian, if you don’t say it this instance I will stick my needles in you,’ Wen Qing threats.

‘It’s Lan Zhan, okay?’ Wei Wuxian answers abruptly because he doesn’t doubt that she will surely follow through since she’s often with acupuncture needles on her person. Wei Wuxian believes she’s some sort of Black Widow spy in her past life. And if he leans away from Wen Qing it’s because he’s smart enough to be cautious than be sorry.

All three have their mouths gape at Wei Wuxian, he doesn’t notice, still wary of Wen Qing.

‘Lan Zhan as in Lan Wangji?’ Nie Huaisang inquires just to be sure he heard it right. ‘He agreed to be the father of your child?’

‘Only biologically,’ he explains. ‘I just need his genes.’

‘And he agreed?’ Wen Qing’s eyes are wide, eyebrows almost up to her hairline.

‘What are you implying?’ Wei Wuxian frowns at the question. ‘Lan Zhan and I are friends. Best of friends actually. He’s been very supportive of me since the beginning when people don’t see omegas beyond their second gender.’ He smiles at the memory of being rivals with Lan Zhan in high school and university. The other man had always been respectable to Wei Wuxian and other omegas, never seeing Wei Wuxian as someone who is beneath him or fragile like others do just because Wei Wuxian is an omega.

‘What exactly did he say?’ Nie Huaisang prompts, edging closer to Wei Wuxian. ‘And how did he take it?’

Wei Wuxian shrugs again. ‘He just agreed.’ He takes another cupcake from the plate. ‘We made a contract so it’s all professional and all that… Plus, I think I wore him down after whining to him about it for so long. I even had to make a back-up plan, if in case he doesn’t agree within my time stamp.’

‘And what exactly is your back-up plan?’ Nie Huaisang reaches for his tea blindly, still trying to absorb the news, and holding himself back from the other questions he wants to ask.

‘I’ll either ask Da-ge or Xichen-ge to make the baby with me.’ He ignores how Nie Huaisang chokes on the tea and the Wen siblings’ saucer eyes. ‘I told Lan Zhan this just so he doesn’t have to feel pressure, and also, so that he knows I’m serious about this whole pregnancy.’

None of Wei Wuxian’s three friends move, still processing the shock of their friend’s news. They dumbly blink at him as if to make sense of his existence and the insane information he’s sharing.

‘Lan Zhan agreed after that,’ Wei Wuxian states, ignorant of his friends’ current turmoil. ‘I believe he also realised that his genes and mine would be extraordinary.’ His lips form a smug grin. ‘He was my first choice to begin with. And he would know better how right I am since genetics is his field of expertise. Right?’

All three of Wei Wuxian’s friends groan in frustration on Lan Wangji’s behalf. And he ignores them, thinking that they’re mocking his brilliant idea and instead focuses on his third — fourth? fifth? oh, who cares — cupcake.

‘Oh, right.’ He wipes his fingers again and unlocks his phone. He’s quite pleased with himself that none of his friends have yet to notice the change in his scent. ‘Do you guys want to see the ultrasound?’

There’s a lot of screaming after that.

*****

6 months ago…

‘Lan Zhan,’ Wei Wuxian greets, all formal and business-like, sitting across Lan Zhan’s wooden desk. They’ve decided to do the contract signing in Lan Zhan’s home office because Wei Wuxian is often at the alpha’s estate than he is at his own penthouse.

‘Wei Ying.’ Lan Zhan’s eyes never leave his as he pulls the manila envelope closer to himself. He fishes the document inside: two A4 white paper, not quite filled with scribbles. He already knows what it contains but reads it thoroughly nonetheless.

‘My heat is coming next month,’ Wei Wuxian states as Lan Zhan reads, the man continues on but Wei Wuxian knows he’s heard him. Despite it being the end of their work day, Lan Zhan is still looking all pristine in his baby blue turtleneck and white blazer. Lan Zhan had always been unfazed since Wei Wuxian knew him in their youth. Not even his schedule at teaching in university and doing research in his lab seems to fluster his ever-so immaculate countenance. Wei Wuxian loves how sturdy Lan Zhan is all through the years he’s known him. Anyone would be lucky to have such a dependable alpha. ‘I think it’s the perfect time. Don’t you agree?’

Lan Zhan looks up to him, eyes wide but not in panic. There’s something in there that Wei Wuxian cannot fathom, he thinks it’s because of the low light in Lan Zhan’s study that’s only coming from the desk lamp which hinders his ability to read Lan Zhan fully. He’s sure it’s not because Lan Zhan is having second thoughts about their arrangements since the man’s usual scent of sandalwood and grapefruit remains pleasing. He fervently hopes not, because he really wants Lan Zhan’s baby and no one else, even when he did voice out before that he’s willing to try with Nie Mingjue or Lan Xichen. He’s not above begging the two older men. Wen Qing, despite being an alpha, is out of the question, she’ll probably skin him alive before he can even finish his request. Plus, she’s like a sister to him.

‘Lan Zhan?’ Wei Wuxian is slightly nervous, for reasons he doesn’t know of. He’s never felt so helpless in a boardroom full of alpha and beta who looks down on him for being an omega. ‘You’re not changing your mind, are you?’

Lan Zhan shakes his head slowly and composes himself, the unknown expression is changed into Lan Zhan’s normal jade-like profile that some would call: cold. He thought of it, too, before, when they weren’t close friends as they are now. But it’s just Lan Zhan’s normal face — well, if you can call an ethereal beauty normal, but that’s just Lan Zhan and his older brother, Lan Xichen — close off because he doesn’t say much or when he does it remains the same. People often brush things off that they don’t understand, or when it’s not in their taste of normal, not knowing that it creates a gap between individuals that turns into prejudices, or worse: hate.

Wei Wuxian’s quite intimate with these biases ever since he’d presented as an omega, and an orphan at that. He was luckier than others when he got adopted into the prominent Jiang family since his late father was close friends with Jiang Fengman.

Other orphaned omegas are usually wedded off immediately by eighteen to any capable alpha, that is if they’ve never gotten adopted. And most often they are not since it’s hard to raise an omega; too many responsibilities and they need a lot of taking care of especially that they have heats once every three months. They need suppressants, too, to keep off their smell and so that they don’t get pregnant.

So, maybe Madam Yu will never win Best Aunt Award — ever — but at least she tolerated Wei Wuxian’s and took him into her household, and never once complained about him being an inconvenience because he’s an omega. As an alpha, she has more power in the Jiang family than her beta husband and it would have been easy to kick Wei Wuxian out if she wished to. But she let him stay. And Wei Wuxian will forever be grateful for her benevolence, however little it may seem to others, it meant the world to him.

He’s not the one to look at the gift horse in the mouth, so he’d never actually asked Madam Yu why she never turned him away even when she clearly wasn’t happy with his presence since she’d always been jealous of his mother, Cangse Sanren, for being Jiang Fengman’s first love (as cheesy and childish as that sounds). But he’s heard of Madam Yu’s older brother, an omega, who was sent away by their parents — wed off to the richest alpha who proposed since these were the older days when omegas don’t have much rights. He’d like to think it’s because of that dear brother who had to leave because their parents were tired of having an omega child. Too difficult. Too needy. Too much.

‘Wei Ying?’ Lan Zhan calls.

‘Huh?’ He can’t believe he got lost in his own thoughts again. He needs to stop thinking of things that he can no longer change and focus on what he can do now. The sad reality of omegas before — and even until now — will only upset him and it certainly won’t aid him in fixing what he wants to improve.

‘Are you okay?’ Lan Zhan’s put down the contract, all his attention on Wei Wuxian.

He beams a smile at Lan Zhan. ‘Just thinking of who the baby will take after,’ he lies half-heartedly, wanting to erase what he’s been thinking and also realising that he’s quite curious about his baby with Lan Zhan. ‘What do you think, Lan Zhan?’ He puts both arms on the table, enjoying Lan Zhan’s startled expression at the topic. ‘Will they have your eyes? I wish they would... And your features? I would love that... Can you imagine how cute they will be if that happens? A mini you pouting about wanting sweets and whatever strikes their fancy that are totally bad for them.’ Wei Wuxian can already imagine them and can’t help the smile growing bigger on his face.

‘They’d look cuter if they have Wei Ying’s smile,’ Lan Zhan states seriously.

Wei Wuxian’s heart tripped thrice in his chest as he tried to process what Lan Zhan had said. Lan Zhan sounds genuine with his declaration, golden eyes focus on Wei Wuxian. Sometimes he forgets how honest Lan Zhan can be that often it does weird things to his chest. He had to visit a cardiologist thrice to be sure that there’s nothing wrong with his heart.

And his only excuse right now is that he’s making a big decision with his best friend, so it’s possible to be nervous and easily flustered over simple words. That’s it. He doesn’t need to be weird about it because that would be uncomfortable to Lan Zhan if Wei Wuxian thinks too much of it, the alpha is already doing him a big favour.

‘I think any kid of yours and mine would be cute,’ he adds casually because he’s not going to be weird about it, and missing to notice the reddening of Lan Zhan’s ears.

#wangxian #wangxian fic #lan wangji #wei wuxian #a/b/o #mpreg

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isa-iadel · 5 years

Text

The Break In (Guardian OneShot)

A short story about that time Zhao Yunlan broke into Shen Wei’s apartment.

Inspired by this giftset by @fuck-yeah-weilan :

https://ascended-fanboy-yuuri.tumblr.com/post/180928118908/what-we-find-in-a-soulmate-is-not-something

And the comment by @sarah-yyy at the bottom.

atm, I don’t plan to write anymore of this. I like the ending as it is :)

Shen Wei hesitated, the key mere inches from the lock. The knowledge that there were strangers in his apartment made him both wary and angry. He was upset at the intrusion and alarmed by the knowledge that someone might have made a connection between Shen Wei and the Envoy. What other possible reason could there be for someone to break into the apartment of a simple Professor?

Stepping into the apartment, Shen Wei put down his briefcase and reached out with his senses. He was ready to summon his weapon at a moment’s notice. But he stopped suddenly and ducked his head, smiling a little. There was no threat from the ones who had broken into his house. And the audaciousness amused him.

It was Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing and they were hiding from him on the balcony.

Shen Wei stood in the center of his apartment for a long moment, simply gazing in the direction of his balcony. He almost wanted to laugh. Instead he walked towards the bathroom, footsteps a little heavier than usual, opened the door and closed it. It took only a few moments for Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing to come out from the balcony, footsteps quiet as they tried to sneak across the apartment and out the front door without being noticed.

They both frozen when they saw Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan immediately took a step forward, partially shielding Da Qing with his body.

“Ah, Professor Shen. There’s a very good explanation for this.”

Though he would have loved to hear Zhao Yunlan try to talk his way out of being caught breaking into his apartment, Shen Wei suddenly had no patience to continue the charade.

“Da Qing,” Shen Wei said, looking around Zhao Yunlan. “You’re very tired, after such a long day. Go home and go to bed. Sleep well until morning and have good dreams.”

“What-” Zhao Yunlan began.

Da Qing yawned widely, smiling sheepishly. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought. Good night, boss.”

“Da Qing, what,” Zhao Yunlan began, but Da Qing ignored him and moved forward.

Zhao Yunlan stepped forward to go after him, but Shen Wei stepped in this path and stayed there until he heard the click of the door behind Da Qing as he left the apartment.

“So,” Zhao Yunlan said after a moment, “You aren’t going to hide anymore.”

“I don’t enjoy keeping the truth from you, Zhao Yunlan,” Shen Wei admitted. “And I don’t enjoy being under suspicion by a person I trust and respect.”

“And if I wanted to leave?” Zhao Yunlan challenged.

Shen Wei stepped to the side, giving him a clear path to the door, “I won’t force you to remain. However,” he continued when Zhao Yunlan didn’t immediately bolt in the direction of the door, “For the sake of our friendship, I hope you’ll allow me to explain myself.”

“Tell me then,” Zhao Yunlan invited. “All I’ve ever wanted from you is the truth. I’m not going to run away.”

“If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll make some tea.”

Zhao Yunlan hesitated, patience likely warring with politeness, but after a moment he nodded and moved in the direction of the couch. Shen Wei went to the kitchen to make the tea. It was a special blend, one he rarely drank himself. Making it now with the intention of serving it to Zhao Yunlan gave him goosebumps. Zhao Yunlan smiled in thanks when Shen Wei offered him the tea, taking the time to smell it before taking a small sip. Pure pleasure spread across his face at the first sip and Shen Wei smiled a little at the sight.

“It’s good.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Shen Wei replied. The blend was one he had designed himself, long ago, to suit the tastebuds of his lover. To serve it again to him was a pleasure Shen Wei would treasure forever.

“I have a question.”

“I think I’ve already clearly answered your question of how I know so much about Dixing,” Shen Wei said.

Zhao Yunlan nodded, “How have you avoided the attention of the Black Cloaked Envoy for so long? You never seen to be around when he comes. Is it just luck? Or…”

“What else do you suppose it might be?”

“It might be that your powers allow you to sense when he’s coming and make yourself scarce. Or…”

“Or?” Shen Wei prodded.

“Or maybe you’re the Envoy,” Zhao Yunlan said, his expression tightening.

“But that last theory displeases you,” Shen Wei observed, setting down his tea. “Why?”

“I don’t want things to change between us,” he admitted, his voice soft.

“And if I was the Envoy, it would change things?”

Zhao Yunlan sighed slowly, “Yes. You don’t think so?”

“No, I agree,” Shen Wei said, averting his gaze, “If you knew I was the Envoy, things would be different. I would have to hide less. I could be more open with you. It might bridge some of the space between us.”

“Shen Wei,” Zhao Yunlan said, his voice so soft and full of gentleness that Shen Wei couldn’t help but look back to him, “Is that something you want? Less space between us?”

Shen Wei nodded.

“Then let’s not beat around the bush,” Zhao Yunlan said. “Shen Wei, are you the Black Cloaked Envoy?”

“Yes.”

Shen Wei couldn’t quite work out Zhao Yunlan’s feelings about the revelation. The knowledge seemed to hang between them, neither of them speaking or reacting. Finally, Zhao Yunlan reached out to take another sip of his tea. It was something Kunlun had also done, when he needed a moment to gather his thoughts or wasn’t prepared to speak. Shen Wei was briefly distracted by the same question he’d been wondering about since the first time he saw Zhao Yunlan.

Was Zhao Yunlan the reincarnation of Kunlun or was he Kunlun himself?

“There’s something else I want to know.”

“What is it?” Shen Wei asked.

“When did we first meet?” Zhao Yunlan asked, his gaze sharp and focused.

“That’s a question I’ve also been wondering about,” Shen Wei admitted. “And I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

For a moment it seemed like Zhao Yunlan was going to argue with him, but instead he took another sip of his tea. Shen Wei knew that his answer wasn’t satisfactory. And despite how much he disliked concealing the truth the Zhao Yunlan, he genuinely wasn’t sure what to say.

How do you tell another man that he’s either the reincarnation of your husband or that he’s going to travel back in time and marry you?

Somehow, in the ten thousands years he spent waiting and desperately yearning for Kunlun, this exact scenario never occurred to him. And in the time since he met Zhao Yunlan, he hadn’t really thought of an adequate way to address the uncertainty with him. The chance that the entire thing would freak Zhao Yunlan out enough to make him just avoid Shen Wei was surely too high to risk.

“I often look at you and think I wish I knew what he was thinking,” Zhao Yunlan admitted, his attention still on his tea. “You say you want to explain yourself. You want less space between us, you don’t want to have to hide. If you really don’t enjoy keeping the truth from me, then tell it now. Tell me all of it.”

“It’s not so easy as that.”

“Why not?” Zhao Yunlan pressed.

Shen Wei hesitated for a long moment, pouring more tea and taking the time to smell it before taking a sip. Zhao Yunlan was also briefly distracted by the tea, a small smile spreading across his features at the flavor.

“Certain truths can be painful or unwelcome,” Shen Wei said. “And I value your company too much to so easily risk alienation.”

“Shen Wei,” Zhao Yunlan said, “Do you think I care for you so little that the simplest thing will sending me running?”

“It isn’t a simple thing, Zhao Yunlan,” Shen Wei admitted.

Zhao Yunlan sighed, taking another sip of his tea, “This tea really is wonderful. I like it a lot.”

“I knew how much you liked it before I made it for you,” Shen Wei admitted.

“What?” Zhao Yunlan asked, surprised, “But I’ve never had this before.”

“I met a man a long time ago.”

Zhao Yunlan leaned forward a little when Shen Wei trailed off, “And he had a supernatural ability to know what type of tea your future friend would like?”

Shen Wei couldn’t stop himself from smiling at comment. And seeing him amused pleased Zhao Yunlan and he relaxed a little, leaning back in his chair.

“This man I met a long time ago,” Shen Wei continued. “He was… He was either you as you are now who traveled back in time and or he was you in a past life.”

Zhao Yunlan’s eyes widened.

“I just haven’t been able to figure out which,” he admitted quietly.

“But he was important to you, this man?” Zhao Yunlan prodded.

Shen Wei nodded.

“How important?”

“Very.”

“Shen Wei,” Zhao Yunlan said shifting forward so their knees were touching. Reaching out, he took Shen Wei’s hands in his and squeezed gently, “How important?”

“Important enough that I spent ten thousand years waiting for him to come back,” Shen Wei admitted, meeting Zhao Yunlan’s gaze, “And I would do it again, if I had to. It was agony,” he admitted softly, “But it was well worth seeing you again.”

“I don’t deserve that.”

“That’s your opinion. But I don’t regret it. The only thing I would regret is if telling the truth were to drive you away from me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Zhao Yunlan admitted, “But I’m not angry with you.”

Shen Wei managed a small smile.

“So we were very close, back then?”

Shen Wei nodded.

“But how close? You still haven’t said. Close friends? Close as brothers? Close in a different way?”

“It’s not relevant to our current relationship,” Shen Wei said after a moment. “We don’t have to follow that same path.”

“So we were lovers.”

“I never said that,” Shen Wei exclaimed.

“You can learn a lot from what people don’t say,” Zhao Yunlan informed him. “We were lovers and you’re afraid of pressuring me.”

Shen Wei looked at him in surprise.

“I’ve always been at a disadvantage with you because I was never a stranger to you. You always knew me. But I didn’t know you. At first. But see,” Zhao Yunlan said, smiling a little and wiggling his finger in Shen Wei’s direction, “I’ve been paying close attention since we met. Maybe I don’t know you as you know me, but we’re not strangers anymore.”

Shen Wei exhaled slowly.

“You don’t want me to want you because I once wanted you. It’s not authentic, right? It wouldn’t feel real in the moment. You want me to look at you, as the man I am in the this moment, and want the man that you are in this moment. Am I right?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Shen Wei said, because Zhao Yunlan was entirely right and he didn’t want to admit it.

“You didn’t owe me anything either,” Zhao Yunlan said, “But here you are ten thousand years later tripping over yourself to make sure that I’m okay, that I’m not uncomfortable, that I don’t feel pressured.”

“I owe you everything,” Shen Wei objected. “And beyond that, I made certain promises to you. And I’ll never break those.”

“Promises,” Zhao Yunlan inquired, “Or vows?”

Shen Wei closed his eyes for a moment, “Both.”

#guardian #weilan #Shen Wei #zhao yunlan #shen wei/zhao yun lan

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asflowersfade · 6 years

Text

Ficlet: Curiosity Killed the Cat

Another ficlet set in my The Cop and His Professor Guardian AU where Zhao Yun Lan is still a cop and Shen Wei is still a professor but there’s nothing weird or supernatural going on.

And now it’s up to Shen Wei to explain things. Of course it is, of course...

Shen Wei loves his husband, he really does. But sometimes, very occasionally, once in a blue moon… he doesn’t like him much.

Shen Wei’s cooking dinner - it helps him relax and unwind after a long day and a proper meal at least once a day helps keeping Yun Lan’s gastritis in check - when there’s a rattle at the door, the-key-in-the-lock kind of a rattle, and then the door bursts open, admitting Yun Lan… and Da Qing.

That wouldn’t be all that surprising if his husband’s colleagues - “Minions, Shen Wei, they’re my minions!” - knew about their marriage. Which they don’t. But... lo and behold, Da Qing, his husband’s SIC, there, on the threshold. So...

Shen Wei stands there, a knife in one hand and a half-peeled apple in the other, eyebrows raised, eyes blinking. To which Da Qing responds pretty much in the same way, minus the cooking ware and half-processed food, that is.

This startled moment’s broken when Yun Lan groans and sways and Shen Wei finally notices that all that’s holding his husband upright is Da Qing’s shoulder and his strong arm around Yun Lan’s waist. It takes Shen Wei one glance to figure out what’s going on: Yun Lan’s pale, sweaty and he’s squinting hard against the soft afternoon light falling in through the kitchen window.

Migraine.

Shen Wei doesn’t exclaim his husband’s name - not only would that be rather undignified and more than a little unhelpful in this case, Yun Lan’s head would definitely not appreciate such a proclamation of concern - he simply sets the knife and the apple down, quickly washes his hands and heads across their open space apartment towards where Da Qing and Yun Lan are still standing, swaying slightly.

“I’ll take him from here, thank you,” Shen Wei say to Da Qing with quiet authority that leaves no room for objection and gently takes his husband out of the other cop’s hands.

Carefully, holding Yun Lan up with an arm around his shoulders, Shen Wei leads him towards the bedroom where he helps his husband sit down on the bed slowly, knowing that any fast movements might result in violent bodily reactions of the unpleasant kind.

When Yun Lan’s finally sitting down, Shen Wei crouches down in front of him and rests one hand, cold from washing, on Yun Lan’s forehead. Yun Lan moans softly and leans against the touch, closing his eyes gratefully.

“How bad?” Shen Wei asks.

“Ugh,” is the only answer he gets.

“Will a pill be enough or do you need something stronger?”

“Ugh.”

Shen Wei nods. “Alright,” he says and gets up to fetch his husband a glass of water and his medicine. Most of the time, he can read his husband like an open book which is really good in situations like this. Honestly, how did Yun Lan even survive before he met Shen Wei?

And all this time, he can feel Da Qing’s intent glare burning holes into his back. He will deal with the man, just not now. Later will be fine.

Pill swallowed and water sloshed all over Yun Lan’s trembling hand, Shen Wei helps him take off his jacket and his shoes and his jeans, while muttering very softly under his breath, “You’re a fool and if you weren’t so miserable, I would throttle you. Always waiting till the last possible second. Never taking care of yourself. Tired of living, that’s what you are!”

He helps Yun Lan lay down and as he covers him up to his chin, making him as comfortable as possible, Yun Lan cracks one eye open and catches his hand, holding it surprisingly firmly, considering. “But you like me anyway, right?” he croaks out, going for a smile and failing.

“No, I don’t,” Shen Wei mutters - but then, belying his own words, he bends down and kisses Yun Lan gently on the forehead, whispering, “Sleep now.”

And for once, his husband actually listens to him, and curling up on his side with his back to the rest of their apartment, he buries his face in his pillow with a soft moan. Shen Wei stands there for a moment longer, staring down at him. What to do with such a fool?

Then Shen Wei closes the blinds on the windows around the bed - and with a fortifying deep breath he turns around to face the other man in their apartment.

Yun Lan told him once that Da Qing reminded him of a cat: hissing and bristling, pretending not to care, but actually attached to you for life and with a surprising capacity for love. Shen Wei knows a little about their common past, Yun Lan and Da Qing’s, about how Yun Lan got Da Qing off the streets, how he helped the younger man finish high school, how he made sure Da Qing would be accepted to the police academy… Shen Wei knows some of that, so he can only imagine how hurt Da Qing will be when he finds out that Yun Lan got married without ever even mentioning dating anyone.

And now it’s up to him, Shen Wei, to explain all of that to Da Qing, of course. If Shen Wei weren’t certain that Yun Lan’s migraine isn’t faked, he would suspect his husband of setting this whole thing up. Like he said: sometimes, very occasionally, once in a blue moon… he doesn’t like Yun Lan all that much.

The moment Shen Wei turns around, Da Qing opens his mouth to say something, probably to demand what Shen Wei is doing in his boss’ apartment. But before he can do that, Shen Wei lifts a stern finger to stop him and beckons him towards the kitchen, away from where Yun Lan’s sleeping. Da Qing’s glare turns even darker but he goes.

“What are you doing in Chief Zhao’s apartment, Professor Shen?” Da Qing demands the moment they walk around the kitchen counter, making it as far away from the sleeping space as possible without actually leaving the apartment.

Yes, Shen Wei was reading his expression right. And yes, Da Qing obviously still remembers him from the murder investigation at the Dragon City university that’s now almost two years back. Well, at least Shen Wei won’t have to actually introduce himself again. That would make this whole thing even more awkward. As if this could be any more awkward.

Clearing his throat, Shen Wei decides to be frank. “Yun Lan and I got married last year,” he states in a surprisingly collected voice that seems to do the job and hide the fact that he would rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Please.

Da Qing gapes. “You did what when?” he asks in utter disbelief.

“We got married,” Shen Wei replies, though his seemingly calm posture is ruined slightly when he pushes his glasses up his nose in a fidgety tick that he simply cannot unlearn.

“I don’t believe you,” Da Qing states, crossing his arms over his chest.

Well, that’s… unexpected. Whatever reaction Shen Wei anticipated, being not believed wasn’t it. “I… I can show you our marriage certificate?” he offers, now almost blushing and maybe a little too wide-eyed.

“He would’ve told us!” Da Qing argues. “He would’ve told me!”

Yes, Yun Lan should have. Not that Shen Wei didn’t get why he decided to keep his marriage private - watching your mother die at the hands of a killer who took her life for no other reason than because she was your father’s, a cop’s, wife, messes with your head and gives you anxieties no one else can truly grasp - but not telling even your closest friends…

“Nobody knows,” Shen Wei explains. “Well, except for his father who found out on his own and who doesn’t exactly… agree. With us. Yun Lan and me.”

Da Qing narrows his eyes but Shen Wei can feel he scored some points with him for being on Old Zhao’s bad side. Yun Lan’s team respects his father, certainly, as a policeman, for everything that he achieved in his life, but there’s no love lost between them either. They might not know what exactly happened between Yun Lan and his father but if they had to choose, they would always take their chief’s side.

Da Qing stares at him for a very long time, so long actually, that Shen Wei starts fidgeting slightly. Then, with a surprising perceptiveness, Da Qing says quietly, “It’s because of his mom, right? She died because of his dad’s job and he doesn’t want anything like that to happen to you, right?”

His eyes look surprisingly old and wise for such a young man, Shen Wei thinks. But then, he can only guess what Da Qing has been through, out on the streets. He hasn’t probably been really young for a very, very long time now.

Shen Wei looks straight at him. “Yes,” he answers simply.

Da Qing nods to himself. “I’m still furious with him and I’ll make him pay for lying to me, I will, you can bet on that, but… I guess I can understand that-that need to protect someone you love.”

Then he takes a fast, belligerent step forward, getting all in Shen Wei’s face, making Shen Wei blink nervously and lean back a little - and push his glasses up his nose again. “You be good to him, you hear me?” he hisses at Shen Wei, eyes blazing. “I’ll keep my eyes on you. And if you hurt him, I’ll... do something very bad to you.”

As strange as it sounds, that threat warms Shen Wei’s heart, the fact that Yun Lan has people in his life who love him and who will fight for him. It makes Shen Wei… calmer, more certain that Yun Lan will always have someone to lean on, no matter what.

“I would never hurt him,” Shen Wei says earnestly. “I believe in protecting him as much as you do.”

Da Qing studies him suspiciously a moment longer, then he jerks his right hand up, just the pinky extended towards Shen Wei. “Pinky swear on that?”

Pinky… swear? Shen Wei thinks, blinking down at the hand stuck out in his direction. He has no idea what that means but if it convinces Da Qing of his honest intentions, then… why not?

Smiling a little, Shen Wei lifts his hand and hooks his pinky around Da Qing’s who shakes their hands a little. “Pinky swear on that,” Shen Wei promises.

Then Da Qing sprawls against the counter, steals a piece of fish from the platter that Shen Wei prepared for dinner, and munching on it, he demands, “Now, give me all the embarrassing details, I want to know everything. I really need to make him suffer for lying to me and I need ammunition!”

And really, what can you say to that? Curiosity killed the cat... but satisfaction brought it back, didn’t it?

#guardian #weilan #shen wei #da qing #asflowersfade #my fics #my guardian fics #guardian drama

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