#mxtx big bang teaser

[jadevalentine-writes]

Coming Soon - MXTX Big Bang Fic - Farfalle di Carta

Hello all!

I am pleased to announce that the reveal date for my long awaited MXTX Big Bang fic is Saturday, December 11th. Based on the current reveal trend, I believe the fic will be revealed at 8 PM EST. As soon as it's available, I'll post a link on here and reblog the post for a few days to advertise. :)

I did want to reveal the summary though in order to get people amped up. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of this challenge and really enjoyed getting this story down. I'm so excited to be able to showcase the art done by sofinch_wwx. A big thank you, as always, to my glorious beta @subtlybrilliant who not only wrangled my commas but also helped me with many roadblocks with this story.

Without further ado, the summary!

Xie Lian never judged a book’s contents by its cover. He had read plenty of good books over the years that had plain or uninteresting covers. Usually the title or summary compensated for the plain exterior and would be the reason Xie Lian pulled the book off of the shelf. Sometimes he’d take a book out of sheer curiosity, even if nothing drew his attention. Those were often the books where he would be pleasantly surprised. Underneath plain dust jackets could be hidden intricate gold leaf designs. Some may have folded maps in the back cover. Or, on rare occasions, Xie Lian would find the pages edged in gold, a feature that could not be seen until the book was pulled off the shelf to shimmer under the light.

One day while perusing the stacks at the library, he finds a book shelved apart from the others, as though peerless. The plain dust jacket was in taters, revealing the faded red cloth of the hardcover underneath.

And it was filled with paper butterflies.

OR a 90s nostalgia modern AU where Xie Lian randomly meets Hua Cheng over a poetry anthology and they fall in love (slowly) and get up to shenanigans with their friends.

[jadevalentine-writes]

MXTX Big Bang 2021 - Teaser # 3

Working Title: On the Wings of Paper Butterflies

Xie Lian had barely shut the door behind him when Feng Xin rounded the corner of the entrance hall.

“Where. The hell. WERE YOU?” Feng Xin snarled. His broad shoulders were drawn up to his ears and his fists were clenched at his sides as he stalked towards Xie Lian.

“Good evening, A-Xin. How was your day?” Xie Lian asked delicately with a sweet smile as he dropped his keys in the bowl on the hall table.

“You don’t just disappear for hours without letting someone know where you’re at!” Feng Xin barreled with emphatic hand gestures as Xie Lian began to toe off his sneakers.

Has it been hours? Xie Lian thought as he pulled his messenger bag strap over his head. He remembered running to get to the library by five, but everything after he met San Lang had been a blur.

“We thought you could have been abducted.” Feng Xin continued as Xie Lian side-stepped his gesticulations. “Or worse...dead!”

Xie Lian stopped at the end of the entrance hall as Mu Qing stepped into his path from the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest.

“He thought you were abducted or dead,” Mu Qing corrected evenly as he flicked his high black ponytail over one shoulder with a tilt of his head. “I thought you were fine.”

“You fucking LIAR!” Feng Xin growled from being Xie Lian. “You were just as freaked out as I was! Xie Lian can check his phone for proof! You messaged and called him just as much as I did, if not more.”

Mu Qing rolled his eyes with exasperation, but still refused to budge, leaving Xie Lian boxed between them.

Xie Lian gently cleared his throat. “Thank you, guys, for your, uh, concern. But as you can see, I’m fine!” Xie Lian grinned for good measure and hoped it came across as genuine and not manic.

Feng Xin blinked slowly. “Okay...but where were you?”

“Fuck, you’re so nosey,” Mu Qing scoffed.

Feng Xin opened his mouth but before he could boil over Xie Lian interrupted.

“Great question!” he said with his right index finger in the air. “Which I’ll answer with my own. How do you know when you’re on a date with someone?”

The question was followed by a thick beat of silence before Feng Xin and Mu Qing both began speaking at once.

“What the fuck-”

“You were on a date-”

“One at a time!” Xie Lian said forcefully, holding his hands up. He looked between them expectantly, waiting for one of them to go first. Finally Mu Qing spoke.

“You were on a date?” he repeated. When Xie Lian shrugged, he rolled his eyes. “Well, you typically know you’re on a date before you’re on it. Did you not?”

“Uhh, it was kind of…?” Xie Lian started but trailed off when he realized he did not know how to describe it. Calling whatever happened at the cafe “unplanned” would imply that he knew San Lang before that moment. At least that’s what Xie Lian thought.

“Who the hell were you with?” Feng Xin asked, taking Xie Lian’s silence as an indication that it was his turn to speak.

“A gentleman I met at the library,” Xie Lian said slowly. He blinked, unsure why he chose the term “gentleman” to describe San Lang. He may not have been in regal attire, but it seemed a better word to use than the phrase “some random guy”.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged looks over Xie Lian’s head while Xie Lian stared at his hands which had unconsciously snaked around the strap of his messenger bag.

“A gentleman you met at the library?” Feng Xin repeated at the same time Mu Qing asked, “You’re gay?”

Xie Lian nodded at Feng Xin then turned to shrug at Mu Qing. “I don’t know.”

Xie Lian had never really thought about his sexuality. It was likely expected from his parents that he would one day marry, preferably a woman if he had to guess, and have children. That thought aside, Xie Lian really did not feel strongly one way or another. Going to a private school, despite it being co-ed, did not provide him much time to explore dating, or so he told himself at the time. He always thought studying and passing exams to prepare for college was more important than wondering if a classmate’s boobs were real, as Feng Xin often mused during their homework sessions.

Once they moved and started college, Xie Lian had thought that perhaps he’d have time. Although his dance performance curriculum was strenuous, he still attended a handful of parties but could barely get behind the concept of talking to strangers let alone making out with them. He did note, however, that Feng Xin had no problem adapting to the exploratory collegiate lifestyle, if the number of women Xie Lian watched slink out of their apartment in the early morning hours was any indication.

Xie Lian had then thought that maybe things would line up after college and he’d wade into the courting pool, a bit late with water wings but finally ready. It had been almost a decade since he flipped his tassel and he’d yet to dip even a toe in. Now he was stranded on an island of other misfit thirty-something year olds who had never been on a date let alone been kissed. Feng Xin had kindly suggested online dating a few years prior, but Xie Lian froze during profile creation when asked about sexual preference.

“Is there an option for kind people?” Xie Lian had asked desperately.

Feng Xin raised his brows. “Kind people? You’re sexually attracted to kind people?”

Xie bit his bottom lip and tentatively answered, “Yes? I mean...I wouldn’t want to hang out with them if they were mean…”

Xie Lian remembered Mu Qing laughing for hours after.

“Sexual orientation aside,” Mu Qing continued, waving his right hand in the air dismissively as his ponytail bobbed back and forth, “are you telling us that you went on a random date with a stranger you met at the library? As in, you just met him today?”

“San Lang is not a stranger,” Xie Lian said quietly yet defensively. At least he would not consider him a stranger after, well, whatever their shared experience was that evening.

“Oh, I’m gonna creep on him,” Feng Xin said, pulling his phone out of his gym shorts pocket.

“Mmm, good call,” Mu Qing said nodding.

“Hey!” Xie Lian scolded.

“What?” Feng Xin growled, his thumbs already tapping furiously on his phone. “We gotta screen this guy. Who just asks random people out seconds after meeting them?”

“It wasn’t like that!” Xie Lian protested.

“Really?” Mu Qing asked sarcastically as he leaned against a wall, his arms still crossed over his chest. “Then please, regale us with the details.”

Xie Lian groaned and leaned his back against the wall opposite Mu Qing. He recounted the chain of events, from the butterflies in the poetry book, to the encounter in the library, to the origami butterflies that they made together. He even showed the picture on his phone, which half looked like a kaleidoscope of random colors on his screen, as proof. By the time he was done with his story, Xie Lian had slid down the wall and was sitting on the hardwood floor, his black legging clad legs stretched out in front of him with his mismatched socked feet against the baseboards.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were silent and Xie Lian hid his face in his hands to escape the weight of their judgemental looks.

“I know, I know...I’m an idiot, right?” Xie Lian asked, his voice muffled by his palms.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged a look which Xie Lian missed.

“No, you’re not an idiot,” Mu Qing began while Feng Xin said, “I think it’s kind of cute.” Mu Qing silenced Feng Xin with a glare before he continued.

“But you do need to be careful. Not everyone you meet will be a charming gentleman like this...San Lang.” If Mu Qing added a pinch of derision to San Lang’s name, Xie Lian did not notice.

“I’m thirty-one,” Xie Lian grumbled, dropping his hands into his lap as he leaned his head back against the wall. “I’m not a child.”

“Jury’s out on that, I think,” Mu Qing quipped.

Xie Lian narrowed his eyes at Mu Qing. Feng Xin let out a quiet whistle.

“This guy is a ghost,” Feng Xin said, his dark eyes wide and illuminated by the blue glow of his phone that he was currently holding close to his face. “I can’t find him on any social media platform.”

“Not everyone has social media,” Mu Qing said with a roll of his eyes.

Xie Lian raised his right hand slightly. “I don’t have any social media either. Does that make me a ghost?”

“You have a tumblr!” Feng Xin said with a quick glance away from his phone screen.

“To look at pictures of baby animals!” Xie Lian retorted, shaking his fists lightly.

“Alright, I’m done,” Mu Qing announced, swaying away from the wall as he unfolded his arms. “I’m going back to watching Ninja Warrior.”

“You better wait for me!” Feng Xin yelled, even though the living room was literally only ten steps away from the entrance hall. Feng Xin sighed and pocketed his phone then offered both of his hands to Xie Lian.

Xie Lian smiled as he let Feng Xin help pull him up.

“Seriously though,” Feng Xin said quietly once Xie Lian was upright, “please let at least me know if you’re going to go on any more weird dates. Especially with that guy.”

“I will,” Xie Lian said with a nod, “as long as I know about the dates beforehand, that is.”

Feng Xin sighed. “That’s the best I can hope for, I suppose.”

“I’m starting in five seconds!” Mu Qing said loudly.

Xie Lian snorted as Feng Xin rolled his eyes dramatically in an obvious impression of Feng Xin before he retreated to his end of the couch. Xie Lian took up his seat in the middle, sitting cross-legged as Feng Xin sprawled on his left and Mu Qing crossed his right leg over his left on his right. Together, they finished the episode of Ninja Warrior. Although Xie Lian always enjoyed watching it, Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s bickering over contestants or challenges always made it better.

[jadevalentine-writes]

MXTX Big Bang 2021 - Teaser # 4

I'm proud to bring ya'll a scene I've wanted to write for a very long time for this fic! Enjoy!

On a rare Sunday when Xie Lian did not have any classes to teach, San Lang and him decided to visit the local art museum. They met mid-morning and spent the rest of the morning perusing the galleries. When they completed the circuit, San Lang asked if Xie Lian was hungry, and suggested that they have lunch at the museum cafe when he said that he was.

It was early afternoon by the time that they left the museum, but Xie Lian did not want to go home. Instead, he was content to just walk the city with San Lang. It was a bright day with a few clouds on the horizon and the sun felt warm on Xie Lian’s face. They chatted when they felt like it and enjoyed the comfortable silence in between. Xie Lian did not pay attention to where they were headed, if anywhere in particular. Instead, he was content to stay in step with San Lang and did little to augment their direction.

When the low rumble of thunder echoed between the skyscrapers of downtown and Xie Lian stopped in his tracks.

San Lang held out his hand and frowned. It had not yet begun to rain, but the white fluffy clouds from earlier were quickly replaced by dark clouds which looked expectant with precipitation.

“The one day I don’t bring my umbrella,” San Lang mumbled as another rumble of thunder rolled between the buildings.

Xie Lian giggled. “Do you usually bring an umbrella? I never noticed.”

San Lang hummed. “Well, I typically bring it if I know it’s going to rain.”

Xie Lian chuckled. “Fair enough. But it’s difficult to predict anything on the lake.” In the time that Xie Lian had lived downtown, he had experienced numerous days where the weather would oscillate between sunshine, rain, and snow. Those days, though, were usually reserved for early spring or late fall, not late summer. However, Xie Lian began to have his doubts as thunder erupted again, this time much louder than before. The sound reverberated between the buildings and seemed to last twice as long as before.

Xie Lian saw San Lang’s frown deepen just before he heard the heaven’s open and rain began pelting the sidewalk like a spray of bullets. Xie Lian squealed and was just about to look for cover under perhaps an awning or in a building doorway when he felt San Lang’s long fingers curl around his wrist and tug. They broke into a run with San Lang leading the way. Xie Lian had no option but to follow and although he wanted to inquire as to their destination, he did not want to spare the energy as he had to take a step and a half for every one of San Lang’s long strides.

Eventually San Lang slowed after they had weaved down a few streets and he approached a singular metal man door with a small glass window interlaced with wire on the front of a building that was nestled between two skyscrapers. He only dropped Xie Lian’s hand when he pulled his keys out of his back jeans pocket and proceeded to unlock the door. Then he pulled the door open and ushered Xie Lian inside.

The first thing Xie Lian smelled was damp and mildew. Then he heard the metal door clang shut and the once deafening sound of the rain was completely muted. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized San Lang and him were at the base of a narrow stairwell that ascended between two brick walls. Amber sconces were placed intermittently along the walls and created a sense of age and foreboding.

“This way,” San Lang murmured as he started up the stairs, each step marked with the distinctive squelch of soaked Converse. Xie Lian carefully picked his way up the wooden stairs behind him, attempting to avoid the puddles San Lang left in his wake.

At the top of the stairs, a long hallway stretched before them. The walls were the same brick as the stairwell with the same amber sconces, casting the hall in a warm light with dark shadows. A threadbare runner rug ran the length of the hall in a design that Xie Lian could tell was intricate, even in the dim light, and left dark wood exposed along the edges along the walls.

There were a few doors made of dark wood on either side of the hallway. As San Lang walked down the hall and Xie Lian followed, he noted that the doors had brass numbers screwed into them.

Apartments. Of course, Xie Lian thought.

When San Lang came before the final door at the very end of the hall he paused and turned to Xie Lian. His black hair was plastered against his face and his glasses covered in water spots and slightly fogged and Xie Lian could not help but grin.

He looks cute.

“Apologies, gege, I was not planning on bringing you here today,” San Lang said softly, motioning to the door as he slid a key into the lock. “It may be a bit of a mess.”

“It’ll be fine, San Lang,” Xie Lian said. “I appreciate your quick thinking to get us out of the rain.”

San Lang grimaced and then jiggled the lock and turned the knob to open the door. As Xie Lian entered, he heard a light switch flip and squinted as the white walls of the apartment’s entry hall were bathed in the light from a naked incandescent bulb. After the front door was shut and, Xie Lian noted, locked, San Lang quickly clawed at the laces to his red high-top Converse.

“I’ll be right back,” San Lang grumbled as he balanced against the wall to peel his soaked socks off. “Let me grab a towel for you.” He stepped around the puddles they had created in his bare feet and then disappeared around the corner at the end of the entry hall.

Xie Lian supported himself against the wall as he pulled off his soaked ankle boots and placed them next to San Lang’s shoes. He then peeled off his soaks, which were not as soaked as San Lang’s, but definitely bore proof that his boots were not one-hundred percent waterproof, or at least not impervious to the deluge that they were caught in. He balled the socks in his right hand and crossed his arms over his chest to garner some warmth as he shivered.

As Xie Lian took a small step towards the end of the entry hall, San Lang rounded the corner. He was wringing the end of his hair in a grey towel, and had a dry one tucked underneath his arm.

And he was extremely shirtless.

Xie Lian saw pale skin and a dark smudge on San Lang’s left hip above the waistband on his black sweatpants before he forced his eyes to the floor, suddenly entranced with the water dripping off of the hem of his jeans and snaking its way in between the dark slates of wood on the floor, pulled by gravity to some unknown destination.

“Here, gege,” San Lang said as Xie Lian heard him shift to offer the towel into his field of vision.

Xie Lian nodded, his eyes still tracking the rain water’s journey across the floor, and took the towel from San Lang. He immediately unfolded the towel and buried his face in it.

“I put some dry clothes in the bathroom if you want to change,” San Lang continued casually, as though he was not standing shirtless a few feet in front of Xie Lian. “I have a clothes dryer. I can pop your clothes in there until they dry.”

“That would be great,” Xie Lian said, muffled by the towel. He pulled it away from his face and started to dry the ends of his hair, his eyes still cast down, this time focusing on San Lang’s bare feet.

“Is everything alright, gege?” San Lang asked.

Xie Lian could hear the smile in his voice and watched as his toes wiggled slightly in front of him. Xie Lian restrained a sigh as he looked up, determined to only look at San Lang’s face and was met with a smirk that made his face feel like it was warmed by a furnace blast.

Perhaps I caught a cold and I already have a fever? Xie Lian thought. He was thankful his mind would supply him a creative explanation instead of the truth.

“Bathroom?” Xie Lian asked, ignoring how his voice pitched slightly at the end.

“Past the kitchen, door is open,” San Lang replied, tilting his head to Xie Lian’s right to indicate the direction.

“Thank you,” Xie Lian mumbled, his gaze returning to the floor as he stepped in as wide a path as he could around San Lang.

Xie Lian felt like he could breathe once the bathroom door was shut behind him, though he could not explain why. As goosebumps prickled along his arms, Xie Lian mobilized, pushing away from the door. He saw the clothes San Lang had left out for him, a pair of grey sweatpants and what looked to be a red sweater.

Of course it’s red, Xie Lian thought with a smile as he peeled his wet clothes off and put them in a pile. Thankfully his boxer-briefs were mostly dry, though he knew he would have kept them on even if they were soaked.

Friends let friends borrow clothes, right? Xie Lian asked himself as he cuffed the bottoms of the sweatpants, as San Lang’s legs were quite longer than his. Once he pulled the sweater over his head, Xie Lian realized that it was too big as well. The sleeves were too long, resulting in perpetual sweater paws, and the wide collar threatened to fall off one shoulder unless he positioned it just right. After re-drying the ends of his hair, Xie Lian sighed. He scooped up his wet clothes and gently opened the bathroom door.

When Xie Lian exited the bathroom, he took the apartment in for the first time. To his left was a counter that opened into the kitchen with the stove and fridge shoved into the left-most corner. To his right were the aforementioned washer and dryer. In front of them was a small round table with two chairs. The right wall was entirely windows, a checkerboard of numerous squares that showcased the downpour still raging outside against the view of a back alley. Red sheer curtains were wrapped around a pipe at the top of the wall and dipped in waves across its length before trailing to the floor next to the washer. Further back in the far corner of the apartment was a sizable bed with strings of small lights hung above it. Xie Lian squinted but confirmed that origami paper butterflies were scattered across the exposed brick wall neck to the bed.

When Xie Lian’s gaze completed its circuit and came back to the kitchen, he found San Lang staring at him, his arms folded across his - thankfully - black sweater clad chest as he leaned against the back kitchen wall. He wore a soft smile and flicked his damp hair over his right shoulder.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” he supplied as he pushed off the wall and circled around the counter. “Here, let me through those in the dryer.”

“I like the curtains. And the lights,” Xie Lian commented as he handed his clothes over.

San Lang hummed. “Yes, the curtains were my friend’s partner’s idea. They claimed that bare windows were tacky and a wall of them needed some sort of treatment.”

Xie Lian nodded, as though he understood home decor. He was fairly certain Mu Qing was the one responsible for ninety percent of the decor in their apartment.

“And the lights?”

San Lang chuckled as he shut the dryer door. “Those were my idea. At night, with all the other lights off, it’s like sleeping under stars.”

Xie Lian felt his face soften as he imagined it. “That does sound lovely.”

A kettle started to squeal in the kitchen and San Lang crossed to the stove. “Would you like tea?”

Xie Lian nodded and watched as San Lang retrieved another mug from the cabinet and then offered him a small chest of tea to choose from. Once Xie Lian had picked something that promised notes of orange and spice and San Lang had filled the mugs, San Lang picked both of them up.

“So, seating options are limited,” he began as he walked into what was technically the living/dining/bedroom. “We either have the grand dining room table,” he grinned as he gestured to the small round table with his bare foot, “or the bed” he emphasized with a nod of his head to his right. “I did not have enough room for a couch,” he added.

The logical part of Xie Lian’s brain opted for the table. The instinctual part that had been exposed to rain and was still a bit chilled longed for the bed, which was covered in what looked to be a plush quilt in red and black plaid and more pillows that should be needed for one person.

“Bed sounds good,” Xie Lian answered and was proud when his voice sounded even and not alarmed at his choice.

“Excellent choice, gege,” San Lang grinned. “It’s the most comfortable way to watch TV.”

As San Lang crossed to set the tea mugs on the windowsill, Xie Lian noticed that on the wall at the foot of the bed was mounted a decent-sized flat screen TV. As he settled next to San Lang with a mountain of pillow supporting his back, San Lang dug the remote out from under the covers.

“I lose this thing more than I care to admit,” he mumbled as he flipped on the TV.

Xie Lian chuckled and folded his sweater paw hands over his stomach.

“What would you like to watch?”

“Oh, anything is fine with me,” Xie Lian said. He blinked slowly. The bed was quite comfy and he was glad he had decided on this instead of the table. He stretched his feet and let out a yawn. “I’m not picky.”

“Do you want to take a nap?” San Lang asked. There was a beat where Xie Lian raised his brows slightly and San Lang swallowed. “I mean, if you fall asleep, I would not be mad. I love to sleep during storms,” he added quickly.

“Mm, I’m okay,” Xie Lian said, though in reality a nap sounded divine. He pushed the thought away as he sat up slightly and retrieved their tea mugs from the bookshelf. “We have tea to drink, anyways.”

San Lang settled on turning to a channel that was playing How It’s Made non-stop. It was fascinating to watch how random things were, well, made, from playing cards to ice cream sandwiches. Xie Lian felt warmth return to his extremities as he sipped his tea and sunk further into the pillows at his back. When his mug was empty, he cradled it against his chest, letting the residual warmth sink through the sweater and into his sternum. Between the tea, the pillows, the warmth, and the soothing timbre of the show’s narrator, Xie Lian eventually fell asleep, somewhere between making trombones and house paint.

[jadevalentine-writes]

MXTX Big Bang 2021 - Teaser # 2

Working Title: On the Wings of Paper Butterflies

Xie Lian’s father imposed many rules when he was growing up. Most of them revolved around etiquette, as was required of a governor’s family. Smile when on camera. Sit up straight and always button your suit jacket when standing. Don’t speak unless spoken to at dinners and events. Do not drink alcohol, even when offered with dinner. Very few had to do with actually living. For those rules, Xie Lian had no primer, though he received a crash course in them when he packed up with Feng Xin and Mu Qing and moved to the city. Don’t eat leftovers that are more than three days old. Always say thank you to every person in customer service. Tip generously. Separate your laundry if you don’t want to turn all your whites a dingy grey-blue when washed with jeans. 

Somehow don’t go on random dates with strangers was not yet on Xie Lian’s list.

[jadevalentine-writes]

What’s this? Half of the first chapter of my MXTX Big Bang piece written? >_> N-no way!

Unbeta’d, of course, but just wanted to post a teaser preview! ^_^ More under the cut to dissuade MXTX Big Bang artists and betas from being biased! (and to save on dash space)

Working Title: On the Wings of Paper Butterflies

Xie Lian never judged a book’s contents by its cover. He had read plenty of good books over the years that had plain or uninteresting covers. Usually the title or summary compromised for the plain exterior and would be the reason Xie Lian pulled the book off of the shelf. Sometimes he’d take a book out of sheer curiosity, even if nothing drew his attention. Those were often the books where he would be pleasantly surprised. Underneath plain dust jackets could be hidden intricate gold leaf designs. Some may have folded maps in the back cover. Or, on rare occasions, Xie Lian would find the pages edged in gold, a feature that could not be seen until the book was pulled off the shelf to shimmer under the light.

As Xie Lian browsed the stacks in the local library, his fingers would trace the book spines, his head tilted to one side as he read titles and authors. Today he was pursuing the poetry section. Having just read five-book fantasy series back-to-back, he was looking for something smaller to consume. Poetry filled that requirement easily. Although the words were sparse, the meaning was plentiful, and Xie Lian could spend time digesting each poem completely before reading the next. 

Xie Lian had already gone down one side of the aisle and was making his way back along the other side, having yet to find something that piqued his interest. He was nearing the end and was preparing to go to the next aisle when a book caught his eye. It was shelved apart from the others, as though peerless, and as Xie Lian grew closer he could almost understand why. The dust jacket was in taters, revealing the faded red cloth of the hardcover underneath. No title or author was legible on the dust jacket. 

Intrigued, Xie Lian removed the book carefully from the shelf. After carefully peeling the dust cover away from the front cover, he discovered faded gold leaf writing on the front and spine. It was a poetry anthology from an author he had never read. 

Xie Lian shrugged, always open to reading something new, and held the book covers in his palms. Being so worn, he suspected the book would fall open to a well loved poem or page, something that has been invisibly bookmarked from many hands smoothing down the page. He’d read whatever was on that page to gauge if the rest of the book would be worth reading. As predicted, the book of poetry did fall open to a page easily in his hands. However, it was because there was something physically between the pages. 

It was a butterfly. 

Specifically, it was a paper butterfly that looked to be folded like origami. It was crimson with metallic silver details that looked to be drawn in marker. 

Xie Lian had seen many makeshift bookmarks left in library books. Everything from post-it notes to receipts, to random scraps of paper to an actual bookmark that had holographic frogs on it, which, in a moment of weakness, Xie Lian almost kept, but ultimately decided it brought him too much joy in finding it, so he wanted the next person that checked out Cooking for Dummies to find it. He had never seen paper butterflies, however, and was delighted as a result. 

Xie Lian gently plucked the paper butterfly from the page by it’s right wing, the poem he was supposed to read forgotten. As he brought it closer to his face to inspect the details, the book shifted slightly in his left hand. Other pages started to uncurl with a flutter, revealing another paper butterfly, this one made of blue brocade patterned paper. Xie Lian was about to reflexively pick up this butterfly when he paused. What if they were placed with purpose? They were likely bookmarks of favorite poems, and Xie Lian was curious to see what they marked. Or perhaps there were more or sets of the same color on certain pages. It would be a fun game to try to decode what they meant. He placed the red butterfly alongside the blue and gently closed the book. 

One thing was for certain. He was definitely checking out this particular book of poetry today. 

[jadevalentine-writes]

MXTX Big Bang - By The Numbers

Over 73k words and 13 chapters later, the big bang is submitted! 🤗 A big thank you to @subtlybrilliant who was my beta and confidant throughout its construction!

I should know my posting date shortly and when I do I will post a teaser or summary to ya'll.

Now the Big Question is this: what WIP do I work on now? The long neglected Demon Ink? Or You'll Always Be My Favoritr Ghost? 👀