#anyway in my mind JC and NMJ met because NZH is a stunt coordinator

[heavymetalchemist]

MingCheng Week - Free day!

There's no prompt for today, so I stole a months-old prompt from someone's response to a comment I left on their fic, haha.

He's Mine (ao3)

Nie Mingjue took a deep, steadying breath and glanced again at his phone. Jiang Cheng had already told him that he was running late, which had been fine, but Nie Mingjue was starting to get desperate.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle attending events like this single. Jiang Cheng’s work schedule as an actor often had him out of town to shoot on location, and when he was in town he usually didn’t want to go to stuffy business dinners. That was usually just fine with Nie Mingjue, who either wanted to focus on getting business done or on putting in just enough of an appearance that he could leave. He preferred to bring Nie Huaisang to handle the socialization. Nie Huaisang was actually good at that sort of thing.

This time, however, he had asked Jiang Cheng to come with him, and Jiang Cheng had agreed. He was in pre-production for his next drama and had been doing practice wire work all day, so Nie Mingjue had been sure to hoard a plate of appetizers for him, but Nie Mingjue was about to start eating them himself just out of stress.

“I’ve told you, I am seeing someone!” he said, trying not to snap.

“Da-ge,” Meng Yao said, oozing reasonableness, “you’ve been saying that for months but you’ve never brought a date to anything!”

Nie Mingjue narrowed his eyes as Meng Yao blinked innocently up at him. “Like I said, he’s busy a lot. I don’t need to have a date to be comfortable at these things, anyway.”

That was a bit of a dig at Meng Yao, who was overly invested in appearances, in Nie Mingjue’s opinion. Meng Yao had refused to show up stag to events before, insisting that even if he went with Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen he’d still be a third wheel. Nie Mingjue didn’t see how it mattered, but on this subject they’d never been able to come to an agreement.

Meng Yao’s smile took on a brittle edge.

“We just want you to be happy, Da-ge,” Lan Xichen said, placing a soothing hand on Meng Yao’s shoulder. “After all, insisting that you have a partner, it’s…” he hesitated. “It’s okay to be a bit lonely, Da-ge, you don’t have to pretend with us.”

“Pretend?” This was new. “What, you think I’m lying about Cheng-er?” Nie Mingjue had assumed all their gentle pushing had been because they didn’t think his relationship was solid, not that they thought he made it up!

Meng Yao and Lan Xichen exchanged a glance and Nie Mingjue felt himself flush with anger. He shoved a fried wonton in his mouth before he could say something he regretted.

“Listen, just give him a chance, Da-ge!” Meng Yao said smoothly. “You’re here by yourself anyway, at least you could make a new friend, right? Oh, here he comes!”

Now Nie Mingjue was regretting having a mouth full of wonton. He tried to signal to Lan Xichen with his eyes — they’d known each other for so many years, surely Lan Xichen would understand! — but Lan Xichen only smiled at him encouragingly.

Dammit, Xichen! Nie Mingjue thought. He finally swallowed just as Qin Su arrived with, presumably, the man his so-called friends were trying to set him up with. He was taller than Meng Yao but shorter than Lan Xichen. He was handsome enough, Nie Mingjue supposed, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Jiang Cheng. Not that it would have mattered if he had been the most handsome man on earth.

“Da-ge, this is my friend, Su Minshan,” Meng Yao said, stepping forward to slip an arm around Qin Su’s waist, accepting her kiss on his cheek. “Minshan, this is Nie Mingjue.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Su Minshan said with a smile, extending a hand.

Trying not to glare but pretty sure he was failing, Nie Mingjue shifted the plate of appetizers to his other hand and accepted Su Minshan’s handshake. “Same,” he said around the remains of the wonton.

It was rude, he knew, but this was ridiculous.

Nie Mingjue swallowed and brushed at his mouth to knock away any crumbs. “Listen, I don’t know what A-Yao told you, but I’m already seeing someone.“

To his horror, Su Minshan and Meng Yao exchanged a knowing glance. “Sure. Could I get you a drink, Mingjue?”

“That’s so considerate,” Lan Xichen chimed in. “Isn’t that considerate, Da-ge?”

With an irritated huff of air through his, Nie Mingjue forced himself to act politely. Or at least, not completely rude. “Yes. Thank you for the offer, Mr. Su, however my boyfriend will be here soon and I’d rather wait for him. Please excuse me.”

Nie Mingjue turned on his heel and strode away, ignoring the protests he could hear behind him. At this point he’d rather talk to Old Man Yao than his so-called friends. Yes, they’d all been rather busy lately and he hadn’t had a chance to introduce Jiang Cheng to them, but that was no reason for them to think that he was making it up!

He went to the snack table so he could replace the food he’d eaten. And have a few more wontons, while he was at it.

“Da-ge—“ Lan Xichen said at his elbow.

“Xichen, what the hell?” Nie Mingjue interrupted before Lan Xichen could start. “I’ve told you I’m dating someone. I’ve sent you photos of us together! How could you try and set me up with someone when I’ve been clear about that?”

Lan Xichen sighed. “Da-ge, I don’t know why you’re insisting on this— this delusion. Is it because A-Yao and I are both in relationships now, so you’re the odd one out?”

Aghast, Nie Mingjue just stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“This all started after A-Yao and Qin Su got together, didn’t it?” Lan Xichen asked gently. “And I started seeing Wen Xu?”

“What’s that have to do with anything?”

“Well, before that you never seemed to be unhappy being single,” Lan Xichen said. “And now you’re, well. Da-ge, aren’t you a bit too old to pretend to be dating a famous actor? Pictures from a fanmeet and his social media, as if you were there, too?”

“I’m the one who took those pictures!” Nie Mingjue protested.

“Da-ge, please, just, try interacting with an actual person who’s actually available, hmm?” Lan Xichen pleaded. “We’re worried about you. Please.”

Nie Mingjue drew himself up to his full height. “You know, I was excited for you to finally meet him tonight. But now I think it would be best if you and A-Yao kept your distance,” he said stiffly. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and took it out to glance at it. Perfect timing. “Please excuse me.”

He walked quickly to the entrance of the large reception hall, irritation melting away as he caught sight of Jiang Cheng’s beloved face. Jiang Cheng was wearing a perfectly-fitted plum suit, his longish hair pulled back into a half-ponytail, and when he spotted Nie Mingjue his face lit up in a smile.

Nie Mingjue was so glad his latest role was a historical drama that he was going to wear hair extensions for instead of a wig. He loved Jiang Cheng’s long hair.

“Ming-ge!” Jiang Cheng greeted him. “Please tell me that food is all for me.”

Nie Mingjue grinned. “Of course it is,” he said, handing over the plate. “I got you a little of everything. How was training?”

“Mmph. Good,” Jiang Cheng said around a canapé. “They started us with weapons today, which is fun, but my arms are tired. I nailed the flip with the sword, though!”

“That’s great,” Nie Mingjue said, sliding an arm around Jiang Cheng’s waist. He leaned over to rest his cheek on top of Jiang Cheng’s head.

“Is everything all right?” Jiang Cheng said, leaning back into him. “I thought you were going to introduce me to your friends tonight. Did something happen?”

Nie Mingjue heaved a sigh and tightened his arm around Jiang Cheng’s waist. “Yeah. Turns out they thought I was making it all up.”

“Making what all up?” Jiang Cheng asked, nearly inhaling a wonton.

“Dating you. A-Yao actually tried to set me up with a friend of his tonight.”

Jiang Cheng froze. “What.”

“I know, I’ve told them plenty of times that—“

“Where are they,” Jiang Cheng snapped.

“I don’t know, I don’t really want to talk to them right now,” Nie Mingjue said.

“That’s fine. I’ll do the talking.” Shoving the last canapé in his mouth, Jiang Cheng set the now-empty plate on a table and laced their hands together. With an imperious jerk of his head he led Nie Mingjue towards the bar.

Nie Mingjue followed. He could tell he was smiling dopily, and he didn’t care. His Cheng-er was so beautiful all fired up like this.

It was, in fact, immensely satisfying to see Meng Yao’s eyes widen when he saw Jiang Cheng pulling Nie Mingjue by the hand. He saw Meng Yao’s mouth drop open in shock and nearly laughed.

“Excuse me,” Jiang Cheng said as they came to a stop. Lan Xichen finally turned and Nie Mingjue could see the way his face paled. “I heard that you tried to set someone up with my boyfriend, is that correct?”

Neither Meng Yao nor Lan Xichen seemed able to speak. Su Minshan slowly turned back to the bar, taking a sip of his drink and shielding his face.

Jiang Cheng smirked, and Nie Mingjue was struck all over again by just how sexy his boyfriend was. Never mind any of Jiang Cheng’s acting roles — this, who his Cheng-er actually was, was so much better than any wuxia hero.

“I may not have the time to come out to these events, but Nie Mingjue is mine, got it?” Jiang Cheng said. He let go of Nie Mingjue’s hand to slide his arm around Nie Mingjue’s waist, and Nie Mingjue happily laid his own arm over Jiang Cheng’s shoulders. “And I don’t appreciate you not believing him. If you’re really his friends, then you should trust what he says. Come on, Ming-ge,” he added, and steered Nie Mingjue away.

“Can we go home now?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“I just got here, are you sure you don’t want to show me off?” Jiang Cheng asked. “I hope that didn’t upset you, I just, I’m still a little hangry so—“

“No, no. That was hot. That was really hot, and I kinda want to do something about that,” Nie Mingjue said, tightening his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders and letting his voice go low.

He was rewarded with a light pink blush blooming across Jiang Cheng’s cheeks. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. Come on, let’s get out of here,” Nie Mingjue said.

Jiang Cheng grinned up at him. “Sounds perfect.”