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goldencorecrunches · 3 years

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Wei Ying doesn’t share the lease with Lan Zhan—his sister has very strong opinions on lease-signing before marriage, which Wen Ning has learned come from some unfortunate events in her past, and not from a moral prudishness—but he lives there in all practical terms. When Wen Ning coaxes Wei Ying out of the library at half-past two in the morning, it’s towards Lan Zhan’s apartment that he takes him. It’s a habit, walking Wei Ying home. Wei Ying can hold his own, but even if he weren’t wearing his Thinking Skirt (an ankle-length black denim monstrosity that he claims makes him “think better,” and refuses all attempts to replace) Wen Ning would still go with him. He doesn’t like the idea of anyone walking home alone, in the dark, especially not someone he cares about. Wei Ying stopped arguing with him about it years ago. “Wen Niiiing,” Wei Ying says, slumping theatrically under his backpack. “I’m dead. Linear II has killed me. You have to carry me or I’ll rot here.” “Campus police would probably collect you,” Wen Ning points out, as he bends down so Wei Ying can hop up onto his back. Wei Ying’s arms tighten uncomfortably around Wen Ning’s neck for a moment; Wen Ning hefts under his thighs, hiking up the skirt so Wei Ying can wrap his legs around Wen Ning’s waist. It’s a perfectly platonic best-friend thing to do if Wen Ning doesn’t think about it. “Or th-th, lawnmower people.”

“You’re evil,” Wei Ying says without heat. He didn’t mean his whining about his class, either; Wen Ning was there through Wei Ying deciding to go back to school, and held his hand when he hit submit on his applications. He’s also seen how much Wei Ying thrives, in the whirlwind of work and essays and complex mathematical theories that he’s plunged back into. It’s nice to see him so enthusiastic about something, again; really enthusiastic, not pretending because he doesn’t want people to be upset. Wen Ning has been his friend for over a decade, now, and the years after Wei Ying dropped out were some of his worst. There’s a lady out walking her dog. Wen Ning smiles at the pug’s stubby legs as they pass. The sidewalk underfoot is damp from the rain, glittering under the street lamps; it’s a quiet, comfortable kind of night, even with—especially with—Wei Ying mumbling increasingly incoherently against Wen Ning’s neck, the closer he gets to nodding off. Wen Ning has been over enough times that he knows the code to the building, but he has to jostle Wei Ying to wake him up when he gets to Lan Zhan’s door. “Key,” he says, when Wei Ying grumbles at him. It comes out fond; he can’t help it. “’S in pocket.” “I’d have to put you down.” With considerably more grumbling, Wei Ying wiggles around to dig the keys out of his jacket. It used to be terrifying how he trusted Wen Ning not to drop him. Now Wen Ning brings it up to tease him when his brother visits. The keys are warm from Wei Ying’s pocket, his hand. Wen Ning slides the right one into the lock and opens the door carefully, conscious of the creaky hinge; Wei Ying keeps saying he’s going to fix it. The lights are still on inside, yellow and bright after the nighttime darkness. Lan Zhan’s head pops up over the back of the couch, followed by the graceful unfolding of his body. It’s clear he stayed up to wait for Wei Ying, but it looks like he’d also been dozing; his hair is a mess and he looks very tired. Wen Ning is used to ignoring the clench of his heart. He lifts a hand from Wei Ying’s ankle to wave. “I brought home the scholar,” he says, which is obvious. Lan Zhan nods at him and comes to help pry Wei Ying off Wen Ning’s back; Wei Ying is refusing to let go. Eventually the two of them manage to unwrap him and get him onto his own two feet. Immediately Wei Ying slumps against Lan Zhan’s flannel-pajama shoulder, muffling a yawn. Lan Zhan gazes at him with such sleepy adoration that Wen Ning has to smile, seeing it. “I’ve got work tomorrow. Um, today,” he says, when Lan Zhan looks at him; his eyes carry lingering softness from looking at Wei Ying, and Wen Ning tries not to blush. “Sorry, I d-d, can’t stay.” His regret is real. Even though he only drinks tea, Lan Zhan’s coffeemaker is much fancier than the secondhand one in the apartment Wen Ning shares with A-Jie. Wen Ning and Wei Ying can go through three pots easy, in the morning. Lan Zhan blinks at him, swaying a little (it is far past his bedtime), and wraps an arm around Wei Ying’s waist with an instinct Wei Ying doesn’t need to keep him close. They have a way of melting into each other that makes Wen Ning’s chest go all liquid, inside, but in a good way. Like soup. Maybe he should go to sleep.

“Goodnight,” Wen Ning says, at the door. Remembering at the last minute, he hands Wei Ying’s keys to Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan takes them, maneuvering Wei Ying so he doesn’t knock into the wall, kisses Wen Ning on the mouth once gently, and turns to half-carry Wei Ying down the hall to bed.

Wen Ning stares at the closed door for a full minute. The inside of his skull keeps making a sound like a rebooting computer.

What.

Nie Huaisang 💃💃💃

lan zhan just kissed me????????????

like w tongue???

omg finally

no just??? goodnight???

I dropped wei ying off and he just

???????????????????????

hell ya 3some gettit

im really freaking out

oh shit

sry

ill b over in 30 w vodka

thank you <3

Wen Ning wakes up and wishes he hadn’t.

He’s curled up in the faux-leather armchair he and A-Jie dragged from the side of the road when they moved in, the one that’s just big enough to let him manipulate his spine into the worst position ever. Drunk him is a trick ass bitch who tends to forget about joint pain. Across the room, Nie Huaisang is cuddling the leg of the coffee table. They probably won’t even have trouble touching their toes, today, but they’re going to complain about it as if they aren’t as a dancer in better shape than the rest of them combined. He’s also wearing one of Huaisang’s bras, the lace pink one they always foist upon Wen Ning when they want “help hoe-ing it up tonight, let’s GO.” Since neither of them ventured beyond Wen Ning’s living room, he’s not sure what sequence of events led to said bra-wearing. The clasp is digging into Wen Ning’s skin. At least it fits better than it used to. Wen Ning’s boobs were, unfortunately, huge. His phone is at four percent. Wen Ning fumbles to plug it in—he got the charger plugged into the wall, before he passed out, but he has a vague recollection of deciding the cord was too short and taking his phone to chair with him untethered—and winces as he taps the scratched screen. He’s got messages. Did he text people last night? He really, really hopes not.

Lan Zhan’s Brother 🎼

Hi, I was wondering if you were free this afternoon?

Nothing’s wrong, don’t worry! I got an interesting call from Wangji?

Oh shit. Oh, fuck.

Wen Ning groans and buries his face in the cool oblivion of scuffed pleather.

#cql #the untamed #mdzs #wen ning #wangningxian #wangning #ningxian #eYYYYY #my fics #its gonna be ok dont worry #fic: thinking skirt au

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ibijau · 4 years

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Jin Rusong Lives / On AO3

Nie Huaisang says things nobody wants to hear, because someone has to.

As Jin Rulan explained how Jin Guangyao had faked the death of his son to put him in a magical sleep before still using the shock of that fake loss to eliminate enemies, Nie Huaisang was hit by an unkind thought. Of course, most of his thoughts were unkind these days, it was the sort of person he had become. Still this one, passing through his mind while a child he loved had found protection in his arms, struck him as particularly awful.

Nie Huaisang would have preferred for Jin Guangyao to have really murdered his own son.

It had made him so easy to hate after all. A man capable of eliminating such a sweet little boy could only be a monster. So finding that he had instead kept his son hidden, that he had secretly worked for years to try to save him, collecting piles and piles of information on the sickness that plagued his son… And although he hadn't performed the surgery, although he hadn't been there to see it, Jin Guangyao had saved his son.

"He didn't have the skill to perform the surgery himself," Wen Ning mumbled, his eyes darting again and again toward Jin Rusong. "But his notes were very clear and well organised. I… I've been training on animals since little Jin Gongzi was discovered. He'll still need to be monitored for a while but… but he should be fine now."

Nie Huaisang smiled at him.

He also liked it better when the dreaded Ghost General was just an abomination to be despised.

"Well, that's just amazing, Wen gongzi !" he laughed. "Such skill, you are truly worthy of being your sister's brother! SongSong, I know Wen gongzi looks a little scary, but you should say thank you. He worked very hard so you could be healthy again."

Jin Rusong shot a look at Wen Ning, then shook his head and hid his face against Nie Huaisang’s shoulder, bringing up the fan in his hand so he really wouldn't have to see the fierce corpse.

"I want mommy and daddy."

Unsure what else to do, Nie Huaisang pulled the child closer against his chest and exchanged a look with the other three.

Wen Ning, without surprise, only looked extremely uncomfortable and clearly wished he could be somewhere else now that he had played his role in this mess. Wei Wuxian still had one hand clenched on Chenqing, clearly expecting Nie Huaisang to be pulling a trick of some sort. Rude, considering the efforts Nie Huaisang had made to allow his return among the livings, but smart as well, all things considered. As for Jin Rulan…

Since the death of Jin Guangyao, Nie Huaisang had done his best to treat Jin Rulan like an adult. He remembered how Nie Mingjue, rising to power at a similar age, had hated the condescension of other sect leaders. After taking so much from him, it had felt fair to treat that young sect ruler as an equal and ignore his youth.

But right there and then, it would have taken too much effort to pretend that Jin Rulan was anything but a lost and confused teenager who clearly ached over yet another family secret. He was too young to deal with this, and Jin Rusong would have no reason to trust the other two, and…

Once, years before, Lan Xichen had confided to Jin Guangyao that he'd always resented the way his uncle had handled the news of his mother's death. Nie Huaisang had overheard that, present yet ignored as he often was. Something Lan Xichen had said had stuck with him: 'Children deserve the same honesty as adults, because they can feel pain no less intense as those older than them.'

Nie Huaisang looked down at the sobbing child in his arms, begging for his parents. Both the truth and a lie would hurt Jin Rusong, but only one would let him move on, and Nie Huaisang did not trust the others to give his nephew that cruel mercy.

Ah, well. He had little hopes of being allowed to see Jin Rusong again after that day, and they all hated him already.

Jin Rusong deserved the truth.

"SongSong, listen, you understand what dead means, right?"

Wei Wuxian glared at him, and hissed. "Nie-xiong, don't !"

Nie Huaisang ignored him. He had no lessons in honesty to receive from Wei Wuxian.

"It's when people are gone forever," Jin Rusong mumbled. "Like LingLing's mommy and daddy, and like grandma when she got sick. They go and you cannot see them again. Uncle Nie, I want mommy and daddy. I really want them now. It's scary here."

Nie Huaisang’s heart clenched.

"I'm sorry, SongSong,” he whispered. “But mommy and daddy have died. It's just you and LingLing now. But I know he loves SongSong a lot and will take good care of you."

"No! I don't want that!" Jin Rusong shouted, crying heavily and throwing away Nie Huaisang’s fan. "I want mommy and daddy! I want them now! Uncle Nie, I want them now!"

The child started hitting Nie Huaisang with surprising strength that would leave bruises, and pulling hard on his hair. It was an ugly tantrum from a usually placid boy, but those were ugly circumstances, so Nie Huaisang allowed him to let his anger explode against him.

Jin Rulan, more disturbed by this display, dared to come closer again. He put one hand on his cousin's shoulder, trying to soothe him.

"A-Song, calm down," he asked in a voice that reminded Nie Huaisang of Jiang Wanyin in his kinder moments. "It'll be okay. I'll take care of you, like when I was little."

Seeing that Jin Rusong wasn't rejecting his cousin's touch, Nie Huaisang tried to gently push him into Jin Rulan's arms. This backfired when Jin Rusong grasped his hair tighter so he could not be handed over to anyone.

"I don't know him!" Jin Rusong wailed. "I want mommy! I want my mommy, I want her now!"

Nie Huaisang grimaced, and pulled the child as tight against his chest as he dared, rocking him a little to calm him.

"I know SongSong. Your mommy would prefer to be here too. She was very sad that she couldn't see you anymore. Mommy loved SongSong so much!"

Qin Su had nearly broken when she'd lost her son. Nie Huaisang remembered how she had looked like a ghost for months afterward.

Maybe it was understanding how and why she had lost him that had broken her in the end. Nie Huaisang could still see her with that dagger in her chest, pale and bloodied, so much like her son had been years before… and it had been his own fault. He had known she wouldn't take well to the news, but as long as it could hurt Jin Guangyao… nothing else had mattered then.

Pushing away those thoughts, Nie Huaisang continued rocking the little boy in his arms and whispering whatever soothing nonsense passed his mind until, after what felt like an eternity, the crying and thrashing stopped. Jin Rusong had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Jin zongzhu should take him now," Nie Huaisang suggested, looking down at the little boy in his arms rather than the people around him. He looked so peaceful now, much more like the Jin Rusong of old.

He startled when Jin Rulan took him on that offer and quickly snatched his cousin.

The problem with those Jins was that they carried a strong family resemblance. Holding this child, the young sect leader looked like his father, and like his uncle… and neither were men Nie Huaisang wanted to think about at the moment.

"Well, that settles it for the time being," Nie Huaisang said with all the good humour he could muster. "Try not to lose him again."

"You shouldn't have told him about his parents," Jin Rulan hissed. "You had no right!"

Nie Huaisang shrugged. Someone had to say it. It wasn't going to be Wei Wuxian who liked secrets far too much, enough so that Nie Huaisang himself had never found out about his core until that night at the temple. And it shouldn't have been Jin Rulan either, who would already have a hard time getting his little cousin to trust him.

But for him to break his nephew's heart… well, he'd done enough wrong already, a little more was nothing.

"Get Zewu-Jun here," Nie Huaisang advised. "Jin Rusong adores him and it has always been mutual. Honestly, I don't know why you didn't think to bring him here already. That child needed to wake to a familiar face, not to his nearly adult cousin and two boogeymen!"

Wei Wuxian glared at him, while Wen Ning appeared unconcerned by the accusation. He'd heard worse, most likely.

"We thought of it," Wei Wuxian explained, "but he's still in seclusion, and Lan Zhan wasn't sure how he'd react to the news. It might come as a shock to you, but he didn't take well being tricked into becoming a murderer. You might be cold blooded enough to take it in stride that Jin Guangyao didn't murder his son, but Zewu-Jun actually has a heart."

"Wen gongzi, don't presume you know me," Nie Huaisang retorted coldly. "And apparently, you don't know Zewu-Jun either if you think he wouldn't overcome his grief for this child. But fine, it's your choice. Now tell me, having awakened this child and performed a miracle on him, what do you intend to do with him?"

Wei Wuxian glared harder, while Jin Rulan looked away and Wen Ning suddenly pretended he was busy tidying the room. Their silence was an answer in itself.

Suddenly, Nie Huaisang almost missed Jin Guangyao. At least he always had a plan, instead of just following whatever fancy passed his brain and hoping someone would clean up the mess if it went wrong.

"I see. Was Jin zongzhu planning to raise a child himself when he's not even of age, while also keeping together a sect that's tearing apart and will take any excuse to turn on him? If so, you should have left that boy to his sleep."

"I couldn't leave him like that!" Jin Rulan exploded, making the boy in his arms stir a little and whimper. All four of them froze, but Jin Rusong did not wake up, and Jin Rulan continued in a quieter voice. "We had all those notes on how to heal him, and he's family! What sort of person would I be if I didn't do everything I could to wake him up?"

A kind one, Nie Huaisang thought. Eternal sleep would have been less cruel than this mess. But of course, that was only his opinion as someone to whom the truth had never been kind. Jin Rusong might be luckier.

"He'll be in danger in Carp Tower," Nie Huaisang pointed out. "Your uncle had too many enemies and friends, and I'm not sure which ones will be worse. With the current political situation, I'm ready to bet a few people will try to use him to their advantage."

He was sure of that, because it had happened with Jin Rulan himself after the death of Jin Guangshan. Jiang Wanyin had been forced to steal him away to Lotus Piers until the situation had calmed down in Carp Tower, with Jin Guangyao coming on top of the struggle for power.

"Now that you've started this mess, try to get your uncle involved," Nie Huaisang advised. "He'll think of some way to help."

Jin Rulan scoffed. "Of course he will! I've written to him already and he's coming, we just didn't plan for A-Song to wake up so early!"

Hearing this, Wen Ning mumbled a pitiful 'sorry', but Nie Huaisang barely noticed. All his attention was on Jin Rulan. He was still mostly a child, but to be able to put aside his pride and ask for help at such a moment…

Up until then, Nie Huaisang’s opinion of the young sect leader had been decent, but not great. Finding out he had brought his cousin back among the living without a plan had lowered his opinion of Jin Rulan, in fact. But knowing when to turn to someone with more experience… that was a good quality to have for someone coming into power so young, as was the fact that Jin Rulan had known not to trust anyone within his own sect with this business, turning instead to his uncle and Wei Wuxian who were both crazy but reliable.

Jin Rulan might grow into a better sect leader than the rest of them, if nobody murdered him for being a little too smart and too just.

Nie Huaisang’s eyes then fell on Jin Rusong, still sleeping. He wondered what he would grow into. If Jiang Cheng ended up raising him, if Lan Xichen gave a hand as well… then Jin Rusong would become a fine young man one day. After all Jin Rulan and Lan Sizhui had turned out pretty well, in spite of circumstances.

But of course, none of that was Nie Huaisang’s problem.

"I think you don't need me anymore," he said with forced cheer. "I'll leave you to your business. Jin zongzhu, considering the circumstances, I think it's silly to continue pretending we'll be able to continue discussing sect business at present, so I think I'll be leaving Carp Tower now. Unless you think I can be of use again?"

"We'll manage without you," Jin Rulan retorted, holding his cousin closer, as if he feared Nie Huaisang might try to get him back.

A ridiculous notion.

Nie Huaisang wasn't stupid to let himself get close to anyone again, least of all this child he loved so much.

"Take good care of him," he still ordered as he went to pick up the fan Jin Rusong had thrown away earlier. It had suffered no damage, thankfully. "He is a sweet boy, and things won't be easy for him."

Without waiting for their reaction, Nie Huaisang left the building and walked away as fast as his legs would allow.

He couldn't wait to go home and pretend none of this had happened.

#nie huaisang #jin rusong #jin ling #wei wuxian #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #things should start to look up a bit in the next chapter but welp we gotta have hurt before we can have comfort right? :)#jin rusong lives

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