#or nie bros it's up to you but i'm not tagging that one lest i attract people i don't want to

[jaggededges123]

i’ve only very minimally shaped this up for tumblr (replaced the names properly because there aren’t small character limits, capitalized sentences, etc), but it’s mostly just as is from twitter, so please don’t mind any minor errors. i hope you enjoy it! the whole ficlet is under the cut so it’s easy to skip if it’s not your bag <3

(oh, and i’ll probably shape this up even more and throw it on ao3 at some point but uh, who knows when that will be? not me!!)

niecest (though it can be read as nie bros, soulmates can be platonic!), soulmates, angst + canon major character death, hurt no comfort

AU where you see in black in white if 1) you’ve never met your soulmate or 2) your soulmate is dead, but if you know your soulmate and they’re alive, then you see in color.

Anyway, Nie Huaisang who’s never seen in black and white, and Nie Mingjue who suddenly got color vision in his parents’ bedroom when he was six years old, promptly freaked out at the change, and all of the adults in the room told him to keep it under wraps but also to always make sure to take the best care of his new didi he could manage.

As time goes on, the Nie brothers live freely in a colorful world that most of their peers can’t fully see yet, but then Nie-zongzhu dies and Nie Mingjue has to take over. He remembers what his parents told him but… sometimes there are compromises that have to be made. Nie Mingjue is the leader of the whole sect now, and he’s responsible for all of them, not just Nie Huaisang. They drift apart… and for a while, Nie Mingjue is content to just let his didi do whatever he wants, painting and birds and fans. frivolous things.

But… taking care of people doesn’t just mean letting them do whatever they want all the time, and Nie Mingjue can use his connections to the Lan sect heir to secure Nie Huaisang a spot at the Cloud Recesses to be tutored by Lan Qiren. So off Nie Huaisang goes.

And the thing is, when you try to do something to help someone, and they don’t take it seriously, it can be really frustrating. Even more so if it’s your soulmate and you really, really feel like they should be able to understand you on a fundamental level.

So… Nie Mingjue doesn’t take it very well when Nie Huaisang fails, is what I’m saying. Their relationship gets strained, even if Nie Mingjue is still trying to be a good brother, sect leader, soulmate. He’s just got way too much on his plate, and he doesn’t know which parts are most important.

And maybe because Nie Huaisang was born into it and has never known anything else, he takes for granted what they’re supposed to have. Maybe he doesn’t even know who his soulmate is.

Has anyone even given Nie Huaisang a lecture on this that he would understand, already seeing in color?

The war happens, and Nie Mingjue takes great comfort in his crystal clear color vision the entire time. He made a good choice, sending Nie Huaisang away from danger.

Nie Huaisang’s not good enough with a saber to be of use where Nie Mingjue is, anyway.

Anyway, after the war… it’s not the same all over again. Nie Mingjue is angrier, again, and he can feel himself dying even though he doesn’t want to believe it. It’s really only a matter of time before he qi deviates so badly that he’s gone permanently.

And of course he’s worried—soon he won’t be around to protect Nie Huaisang, at all.

Their relationship gets worse—in a fit of rage, desperation, and fear, Nie Mingjue burns all of the trinkets he’d encouraged earlier in life. Those things won’t help Nie Huaisang now. They won’t protect him from anyone who might harm him.

Nie Huaisang doesn’t speak to him, for nearly two months.

It breaks Nie Mingjue’s heart.

And then, the last thing he ever sees is Nie Huaisang’s injured arm, fear and horror on his face, calling out to Nie Mingjue that it’s okay, that Nie Huaisang’s there, and behind him the man Nie Mingjue had taken under his wing and now feared what he might do to his soulmate, his family, left behind without Nie Mingjue’s protection.

The moment Nie Mingjue slumps in Nie Huaisang’s arms is the first time he’s ever seen in black and white. He never really knew what it meant, that people who met their soulmate saw things differently.

He does now, because he’s lost his.

#niecest #or nie bros it's up to you but i'm not tagging that one lest i attract people i don't want to #mdzs/cql #i'm doing very minimal tagging but please do feel free to reblog and inflict the pain on others if you so wish <3 #cw mcd