#// there's not too much improtant things to know aside from the first two | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pangzi · 4 years ago

Text

Otome Gay [Nielan] - Chapter 7

word count: 2785 other chapters: INTRO - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 [AO3]

Mingjue woke up around noon for the first time in years. He was still exhausted, having laid awake most of the night. His head still felt like it was going to burst, his chest heavy with emotions he couldn’t quite place yet.

He went through his morning routine first, before checking if he had any messages. Even as he was busying himself, his mind kept going back to the evening before, to how everything was perfect and then it wasn’t, to Meng Yao’s words. He got himself comfortable on the couch, before even daring to unlock his phone.

There were several messages, none from Xichen, though. His heart sank. Still, maybe Xichen just hadn’t gotten to replying yet, he shouldn’t worry about it. The other messages were from Huaisang and Zonghui. The latter just asking how the evening was and if he’d gotten laid, Mingjue decided to ignore it for now, not feeling like going over the entire evening with him at the moment. He clicked on Huaisang’s messages.

From: Huaisang nO wrories, dage!! 😘 Call me tomororow, is improtant!

To: Huaisang Let me know when you’re awake

He knew he’d had to tell Huaisang everything then, but at least he knew the people it was about better than Zonghui, maybe he could help Mingjue figure this all out. He knew that Huaisang wouldn’t be up any time soon, though. He was probably up until morning and would sleep all day.

He didn’t know what to do until then. He had taken the day off, so Zonghui probably wouldn’t even let him into the gym, even if it was just to work out. Going there also meant having to talk to Zonghui about everything that happened, that’s for another time. So he decided to go for a run, that always cleared his mind a bit, he jogged to the park where he did most of his daily workout, got baozi on his way back. Once back and showered, it was only two in the afternoon, still hours to go before he could talk to Huaisang. He hadn’t received a message from Xichen either yet, which only added to his nerves.

He stress cleaned the apartment, which was done way too fast as Huaisang usually was the one to mess up the place. Still no message from Xichen or Huaisang.

With a sigh he plopped down on the couch, going through every movie and drama both iQiyi and Tencent had to offer in the hope to find something to watch, but not even his favourite movie seemed interesting right now. Eventually he decided to give the otome game another try, at least there he could still talk to Xichen. He played for hours, carefully picking his actions, immersing himself in the story completely. He would get his happy ending with Xichen in this stupid game somehow, if he couldn’t get it in real life, then he’d get it in the game no matter what. As he was getting close to the end of the storyline, his phone buzzed, snapping him out of it.

A message from Xichen. His heart started racing, he almost didn’t dare to look, especially when his phone buzzed again with another message from him.

From: Xichen Wangji is okay. Why did you do it?

Mingjue’s stomach twisted. Do what? He didn’t do anything, did he?

To: Xichen I’m glad he’s okay, I was so worried Why did I do what?

He saw the speech bubble pop up. Xichen typed for a long time, speech bubble popping up and disappearing again every now and then. It was clear he was trying to choose his words carefully, constantly deleting what he was typing. It seemed like an eternity before he finally sent his reply.

From: Xichen You know what you did, Mingjue

To: Xichen I really don’t Xichen please tell me what I did so we can fix this

From: Xichen I can’t believe you… I thought you were different I should’ve known better

Mingjue’s heart dropped, tears already welling up in his eyes. This couldn’t be it. He couldn’t mean this. He didn’t even know what to reply, it was clear he did something wrong but he really had no idea what. He took a few breaths to calm himself down before replying.

To: Xichen Xichen, please I really wish I knew what I did so I could explain it to you Please tell me

No reply. He looked at his screen for a long time after sending, but Xichen didn’t even start to type a reply. In frustration he threw his phone to the side, slamming his hand down, hitting his laptop. What happened next didn’t help with what he was feeling… He got the negative ending for Xichen’s storyline once again by accidentally clicking something. He slammed his laptop closed, pushing it aside and curling into himself. He couldn’t stop the tears anymore. He tried so hard every time but he just kept screwing up. He always screwed up the good things in his life.

He didn’t know how long he sat there exactly, sobbing, hands clawing at his body angrily, chest heaving as he sucked in breaths between sobs. His mind was racing, that evil voice in his head taking over, telling him I told you so. What did he expect, he’d never been able to find anyone really interested in him, and then he’d think Xichen would be? Xichen who is so far out of his league, who is loved by everyone and could get whoever he wants. He can’t even get him interested in him in a stupid game after a million tries, why would real life be different.

His phone was buzzing next to him, it had been for a while but he hadn’t dare to look at the caller ID. Eventually he did, and he saw the foolish picture Huaisang had once set as his own caller ID. Mingjue would’ve laughed at it had he not been feeling so miserable. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down a bit before he answered.

“Dage, are you okay?” Huaisang insisted immediately, he knew it wasn’t normal for his brother to take so long to answer his phone.

“No”, Mingjue replied honestly, he couldn’t keep anything from Huaisang anyway so why bother lying. “Why can’t I just be with Xichen”, he whined, trying to hold back his sobs the best he could.

Huaisang sighed. “Because we made it impossible in the game, dage. I thought you’d figured it out by now.” Both of them were quiet for a while. Mingjue trying to process what he said. Any other time he would’ve been mad at Huaisang for making him waste his time like this, but now he was almost relieved. “You didn’t mean in the game, did you? Did something happen?”

“It’s over, I messed up”

Huaisang’s breath hitched on the other side. “What happened? Everything seemed to be going so well yesterday”

“I don’t know”, Mingjue admitted, “He’s mad at me, very mad, and disappointed and I don’t know why” He heard his brother sniffle softly on the other side.

After a moment of silence, Huaisang gasped loudly. “It’s all my fault”

“What do you mean?”

“When I heard someone spiked Wangji’s drink and he got into a fight, I immediately came to look for him, but Xichen had already taken him home”, Huaisang explained, “I heard what Meng Yao told you and…” He hesitated for a moment. “When you walked away I was so angry, he seemed so proud of himself, telling everyone what a pathetic crybaby you were and that you didn’t deserve Xichen… I punched him, the way you taught me” Ouch… Mingjue had tried to teach Huaisang self defense when people started picking on him in high school, but he never really needed it, tongue sharp enough to fend off any bullies. Still, he knew Huaisang could pack a punch. “I probably broke his nose, Zixuan had to take him to the hospital, my hand still hurts from it” Mingjue couldn’t help but feel proud of his brother for standing up for him. He wasn’t a fan of starting a fight or punching people just like that, but to be honest Meng Yao had deserved it. It took him a while to realise what Huaisang was trying to say though.

“You think he said I punched him”, Mingjue mumbled, of course he did. It was perfect… Meng Yao could play the victim and the more Mingjue claimed he did nothing or that it wasn’t him, the worse it’d be, because of course Xichen would believe his lifelong friend over some guy he just met.

Huaisang sniffled again. “I’m so sorry, dage. I shouldn’t have done that, I��ll fix it I promise, I’ll tell Xichen it was me”

“He deserved it”, Mingjue said, “I’m proud of you for standing up for me, A-Sang, it’s not your fault.” Huaisang just started crying harder, which made Mingjue angrier than he already was at Meng Yao. “I’m not sure Xichen will believe you if you say it was you”

“Then what can we do, we have to fix this”, Huaisang hiccupped, “You and Xichen need to be together”

Mingjue sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose trying to push aside all the negative thoughts and come up with something. “The only way is if Meng Yao exposes himself as the rat he is, which he won’t”

“Please don’t give up, dage”, Huaisang whispered, “you can’t let him win, Xichen is worth fighting for I promise”

“I know he is, Huaisang. I won’t give up” Mingjue promised, and then decided it was enough about that. “Come home somewhere this week? Bring your boyfriend, I’ll cook your favourite dinner”

Huaisang promised to come home Wednesday evening and stay until Sunday evening as it was a long weekend. It made Mingjue feel a bit better, at least now he had something to look forward to.

He didn’t hear from Xichen anymore. He had texted him a few times, asking if they could talk. Not that he knew what to say to him if he’d agree to meet, he couldn’t say anything. He wasn’t the person to apologize for something he didn’t do, it wouldn’t help anyway, as apologizing meant admitting guilt. Explaining what happened would also put him in a bad light, as it would just sound as excuses. The only thing he could hope for was that some way, somehow, Meng Yao would slip up. It sucked, though, knowing Xichen was mad at him and he couldn’t do anything about it.

The week suddenly seemed so much longer, even with super busy work days, the few days counting up to Wednesday felt like an eternity. He spent most of his free time sulking, trying to think of a way to make Xichen believe him. But as far as he knew only Huaisang had heard what Meng Yao had told him, and Huaisang said nobody had seen him punch Meng Yao either, at least nobody that wasn’t completely wasted at that moment and could still remember it.

At least tonight, for a few hours, maybe he could keep his mind off it. Hopefully Huaisang being home would help Mingjue to stop sulking. Actually, he had no doubt having his little brother around would help tremendously, the little Nie always had a way to make things better.

From the moment he burst into the apartment with his boyfriend in tow, Mingjue felt better. The entire place was immediately filled with chaotic energy that could only be described as Nie Huaisang. Shoes carelessly thrown off in the hallway, jackets and bags threw on the couch, loud chatter filled the otherwise quiet home. Finally it fully felt like home again.

Huaisang greeted his brother with a hug, complaining about being hungry immediately after. Jiang Cheng stood around awkwardly, greeting Mingjue politely before being forced to sit down by Huaisang.

The mood as they ate was comfortable and warm. Jiang Cheng seemed like a good guy, defensive and forward, but it was clear he held deep affection for Huaisang and was amused by his annoying antics. It was also very obvious how whipped his little brother was for this boy, how comfortable he felt around him. The last time Huaisang took someone home, he wasn’t himself, held himself back so much that it hurt Mingjue’s heart to see that his brother not seemed to be allowed to fully be his wonderful self around the person he loved. Luckily this time, nothing seemed to hold Huaisang back and Mingjue couldn’t be happier for him.

Before, this dinner would’ve been perfect, yet now he couldn’t help but think something was missing. Someone. He got a lump in his throat when he thought about how wonderful it would’ve been had Xichen only been here. He had never expected to be so affected by someone he’d known for only a few weeks. He was able to quickly get his thought back in order, though. Focusing on the ridiculous story Huaisang was telling, on how happy his brother was right now.

Things suddenly got tense when Huaisang disappeared to the bathroom for a moment. Mingjue stared at Jiang Cheng intensely for a moment, the boy clearly intimidated by his gaze but he tried his best not to show it. Mingjue admired that. However, the boy was clearly expecting some kind of shovel talk at the moment, so why not give it to him.

“Treat him well, hm”, Mingjue said.

Jiang Cheng nodded enthusiastically. “I will, I promise Mingjue-ge”

“Hm”, Mingjue pointed at him with his chopsticks. “If you hurt him, Huaisang will kill you”

This seemed to confuse Jiang Cheng, he clearly didn’t know his boyfriend as well as he seemed to think, not that Mingjue could blame him, Huaisang’s dangerous side only came out when he felt wronged. Jiang Cheng not knowing about this side was a good thing. “Don’t you mean you’ll kill me?” He stuttered.

“No, I don’t”, Mingjue said, taking a sip from his drink.

“Dage will help me get rid of the body”, Huaisang said casually as he walked back in, pressing a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s cheek as he sat down. The Jiang boy seemed distressed, but still grabbed Huaisang’s hand with an almost confident smile. “You saw what I did to Meng Yao”, Huaisang mumbled carefully, keeping an eye on his brother’s reaction as he referred to the evening of his birthday.

The lump was back immediately, the words ringing in his ears again, his mind back to making him believe that they were true. He wanted to say something, but all words suddenly lost.

“Have you heard anything?” Huaisang asked.

Mingjue shook his head. “I asked him to talk a few times, but I never got a reply”

“I’m sorry, dage”, Huaisang sighed. “I’ll try to talk to him during my next art class, I promise.”

After that they avoided the topic for the next few days, Huaisang trying his best to keep his brother’s mind occupied. On Thursday and Friday, Huaisang came to help out at the gym, taking on his pre-college job of secretary again as one of the employees had fallen ill, annoying both Zonghui and Mingjue in between calls and helping visitors with signing up and making appointments for personal training. Saturday they went to the art store together, Huaisang probably buying way more than he should, but his brother didn’t seem to mind. On Sunday morning Huaisang even woke up before his brother did, probably for the first time since he’d been a child, and went to fetch them breakfast.

He had hoped to make it quick and be back before Mingjue returned from his morning run, but as soon as he saw how busy the restaurant was he’d chosen for take-out, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. It took forever until it was his turn, getting more and more annoyed with the people around him with every passing second. He’d almost forgotten that he wasn’t really a morning person… Thankfully the people in this restaurant, complaining every single second of their time waiting or just plainly trying to skip the line, kindly reminded him of it.

When he finally received his order, an hour and a half had passed and Mingjue had already called him once asking him where he was. He hurried back, accidentally bumping into someone as he walked out. Annoyance spiking once again as he saw the bruised face in front of him, fist already itching to collide with it again.

“Meng Yao”, he hissed, “I was hoping to bump into you again, we have a lot to talk about”

#otome gay #nielan #nie mingjue #lan xichen #mirf writes #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #cql #next one SHOULD be the last... we'll see

18 notes · View notes

thewinterspy · 6 years ago

Text

i was looking for ‘cheaper by the dozen au’ notes for hours in my documents. and then i realized that i saved it as ‘yours mine and ours’. it’s basically a transcript of a conversation i had with @vermofftiss in the sherlolly chat

katie: I see Sherlock and Molly being more of a "Yours, Mine and Ours" type sam: aww, but that means they're both widows katie: Or they could be single people that decided to have kids on their own before they met sam: ooh, true. ... *whispers* what if widows for a moment. stay with me. what if molly was married to tom before sherlock, and all her kids are convinced she's only with sherlock because he looks like tom katie: hmmm. IDK I think that gives Tom too much improtance. I was thinking that Sherlock just keeps ending up with kids by finding them through the homeless network. sam: i was thinking something like that too. like it starts with maybe two or three he has doing bit of spywork for him katie: he means to just be a temporary waystation until something permenant comes along but then every person that tries to adopt them he deduce something that makes him go "nope!" sam: but maybe they don't take his money and they're like "we'd rather have a bed than be paid" so sherlock's like "alright, keep up though". but then they stay the night, and the next day, and the next day... katie: and it's not even major things it's that he falls for them. yes! maybe molly is raising her siblings. like she had young siblings that she was left to take care of after her dad died sam: ooh yeah, that could be it. oh my gosh are we thinking hard on this au katie: like they can work together and never know the other has kids~ we could totes collab on this fic! sam: oh my gosh that'd be so much fun! well, sherlock being sherlock, he'd probably notice something on molly and be like "are you a mother, molly?" katie: their kids go to the same school, they meet up at the Headmaster's office because they were fighting and it's like... "oh..." sam: "Oh no, i just take care of my siblings" "Oh. okk." katie: yeah! sam: and sherlock assumes that means like one or two -- ohhh no katie: lol Molly is Catholic of course sam: i'm just giggling about all the misunderstandings. like, when molly meets sherlock's kids, and none of them look the same, and he's like "they're all mine" and molly's thinking to herself "really, you must get around" katie: let's do. YES! and none of his kids call him dead. and she's like "my that's progressive" sam: and it's not just for a minute, imagine if it gets dragged out for days katie: i think there should be three each sam: and the kids are offhandedly mentioning the things that happened in their homes before they ended up on streets and molly's just completely bewildered katie: too many and then it's just madness. yeah! like maybe one of their mothers is an addict and still on the streets and she tries to come around for money or something sometimes sam: "my dad says eat your vegetables or you turn into a bird" "my dad didn't like vegetables" "my dad would *never( be able to pronounce vegetable!" can you imagine one of the kids being used as sherlock's pressure point katie: AHHH! sam: sit back and imagine the catatonic rage if one of them was taken. katie: yes that can tie in with the addict mom still on the street sam: can you imagine if one of molly's siblings was taken! katie: like they could be taken together. sam: what if they're all like "we don't like sherlock" but then he saves them and they're like "he's ok i guess" katie: they fight over whose fault it. YES! ok so here it is. the kid is a pressure point so the person in question basically uses the addict mom by getting her set up in a flat with an income and polishing her up to look like she's recovered and she wants her kid back and then they stage the kidnapping to make Sherlock look like an unsuitable guardian sam: OOOH, yes! ..... oh my god, what if moriarty katie: and the poor kid can be conflicted because he really loves his mom sam: because when moriarty was first trying to ruin sherlock, the most important thing to sherlock was the work. katie: but she's not interested in recovering sam: but now it's all about family for him katie: yes! so where will john fit in? or is this after he gets with mary? sam: i think he's probably with mary and baby watson katie: works! sam: but he and mary probably stop by to help with the kids/cases/etc. "uncle john" and "aunt mary" katie: yeah and he's their pediatrician as well or something sam: of course sherlock's like "they're not your aunt and uncle" "whatever you say, dad" "sherlock." "dad." "sherlock." dad." "sherlock." "dad." katie: yeah and toward the end he and Molly find out they're pregnant and when they announce it his kids are like "congratulations, Sherlock" and he's like "You should call me dad." sam: AHHHH that's so cute. ok i'm screencapping this, this is all too great katie: so it can be angst and smut and fluff and everything that is awesome in the universe sam: yessssss. all i really want is sherlock being sherlock-ish with a bunch of kids katie: definitely! sam: BUT there's one small one where he just can't help but be very caring and gentle around katie: no OOC and no crack. yes! like maybe he found that one and he or she doesn't speak. and he can use his skills of deduction to understand what he or she needs or wants sam: g osh i'm just squealing, that's so adorable katie: like it's trauma-related psychosematic mutism sam: of course, if anyone ever told sherlock he was adorable, he'd go into a sulk katie: right!? one big moment in the fic can be after molly and sherlock are together and they're all cohabiting like a real family the little one starts talking again sam: AWWW. ok, my brain gave me this katie: like something super innocuous like "pass the wheetabix. pelase" and everyone is like O.O sam: maybe sherlock's tucking in the little one. he usually doesn't tuck in the kids, but maybe something happens and they ask him to, so he does it. and the quiet one just sort of snuffles and asks about molly. "is molly gonna be our mummy?" katie: awww! sam: and the others just look at sherlock expectantly. im just katie: And they'll definitely need to rent out 221c. OMG all the Mrs. Hudson moments would be priceless. sam: lol, yes! they need plenty of room. katie: Like Mrs. Hudson always has treats for the little ones sam: awww katie: the older ones go in and raid her cupboards without asking and she doesn't mind. sam: by older ones you mean sherlock? katie: like they come straight home from school and instead of going up to 221b they go to Mrs. Hudson and she's always stuffing them with goodies. they sit around and watch jeremy kyle and one of the kids is looming yarn with her sam: what a small sherlolly moment where molly's feeling unsure about taking care of her siblings, because she misses her dad, and something's gone wrong? katie: yes! sam: and sherlock ends up comforting her. but it's sherlock, so he probably does it without realizing he's done it. katie: yeah he helps her realize she can do it. Sherlock's kids help Molly's siblings come to terms with the death of their parents sam: all the squabbles though, can you imagine katie: YEP! sam: sherlock's kids might think molly's siblings are snobbish and ungrateful because "at least you still have a home" katie: i imagine the older ones will get into a squabble and one of Molly's calsl one of Sherlock's street trash sam: ooof, what if one of hte kids say that in earshot of sherlock, who's hurt by it without realizing he's hurt katie: and Molly takes them aside and rails on them sam: because he thinks he's done alright by the kids, but the kids are assuming that sherlock's care is temporary, because they've never had anything permenant katie: aww yeah! yeah realize this will be about a bazillion chapters long! well we definitely need to write this. i know AO3 has a cowriting option I just don't know how it works sam: i'm sure we can figure it out. ao3's not that tricky katie: that's why i love it! of cousre we have to have an epilogue with molly and sherlock's "oops" baby being raised in this epic blended family sam: aww, yes! all these kids need names too katie: like looking at her life and all her awesome brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and how her family is different from everyone else's that makes her extra lucky. yep! sherlock's kids can have really urban sounding names sam: i think sherlock's kids would probably make something up. like, little nicknames. katie: yeah! sam: oooh, and for the quiet one, maybe the other kids give them a nickname? katie: like they call her Kitty because she likes to curl up in your lap sam: awwww katie: in the official paperwork they settle on "katherine" OMG the older ones prank mycroft whenever he comes round. but kitty is always sweet to him and wants to sit in his lap and hug him and he's just like uhm... sam: "Sherlock what do I do with the small one?" "If you rub her back she hums." *"Sherlock."* "No, honest to god, she does." katie: like maybe he found her hiding in a skip and he had to lure her out with sweeties sam: awww, and what if kitty actually doesn't want to get close to him at first, but maybe he does one of those small monologue things about "it's okay to be scared" and stuff like that katie: yeah!! sam: maybe he finds her on a case! katie: yes! he thinks she might have been a witness. but by the time she's able to talk about it it's too late to do anything about it... legally. so they go vigilante justice on their ass sam: oooh, yes! katie: ooh ok so he lures her out with food! sam: Yes! oooh, maybe he just happens to have a sweet in his pocket because mrs. hudson was handing candies to the other kids? katie: at first he's just trying to get her out but she won't so he and John get sandwiches and just sit by the skip and lay an extra sandwich a little bit away from them and start eating and are like "mmm sure its good!" and she kinda sneakily gets closer and closer and they pretend not to notice that she sat down beside them and started eating the other sandwich

#vermofftiss #sherlolly

15 notes · View notes