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eleanorfenyxwrites · 3 years ago

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Research Is a Love Language

Sangcheng extra for chapter 7/8 of Soldier, Poet, King

Set during the week Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen are recovering from their Drift experiment.

[AO3]

-/-

Nie Huaisang is minding his own business and trying to stay awake for roughly the 34th hour in a row when he’s suddenly grabbed from behind, which is the excuse he’s going to use for why he whips around and sucker punches world-renowned Jaeger pilot Jiang Wanyin in the throat.

“I’m sorry!!” he gasps immediately, hurrying to wrap an arm around the man’s shoulders where he’s doubled over coughing and gagging, attempting to gasp in a breath. Nie Huaisang pats his back a little frantically. “I didn’t know it was you! But honestly, who the hell walks around just grabbing people from behind in a place like this?!”

Jiang Wanyin is incapable of answering at the moment - re: coughing, gagging, etc. - so Nie Huaisang just sighs and ushers him into the lab with tutting and clucking in disdain over the man’s general condition that would put his favorite childhood auntie to shame.

“Whoa - the hell did you do to him?” Mo Xuanyu asks but Nie Huaisang just waves him off in favor of dragging Jiang Wanyin over to the emergency cot. The thing’s seeing way more action lately than it has the entire time Nie Huaisang has been here, though sadly it hasn’t been the kind of action he’d been hoping for when he’d stuck it in here.

“Why are you investigating us?” is the first thing Jiang Wanyin manages to say when he can breathe again, though he still sounds like someone tried to choke him out. “Wei Wuxian said someone’s been digging around in our personnel files, and he traced it back to you. What the fuck do you want?”

Nie Huaisang blinks at that; it’s only been a couple days since he finally broke through Tokyo’s obnoxiously tight security to get at all the juicy, classified shit they don’t want anyone to see, and it’s been roughly 10 hours since he managed to track down and unencrypt all the studies and experiments done on and with the Yunmeng trio. Nie Huaisang puts on his best innocent eyes, the ones that fool everyone except for Jin Guangyao, and looks at Jiang Wanyin with a confused pout.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he lies smoothly. “I don’t do that kind of research, I’m on weapons duty and A-Yu is on Kaijus. Why would I look up pilots’ files?”

Jiang Wanyin’s resolve visibly wavers, slipping for just a moment into uncomfortable uncertainty, and Nie Huaisang personally thinks it does wonders for that handsome face of his that’s always far too angry to be at all welcoming. Nie Huaisang pulls his favorite fan from his sleeve and starts waving it quickly in front of his chin, aware that it usually makes him look more anxious than he is simply because the too-quick fluttering puts others on edge so they assume he must be as well.

“I don’t know why you would want to, but you’re not going to throw me off - you did, and I want to know what the fuck is going on!”

Nie Huaisang continues to pout as charmingly as he knows how and stops waving his fan in favor of snapping it shut and swatting Jiang Wanyin in the chest with it. “Are you always pissed off? I don’t think I’ve seen you look happy about anything since you got here.”

“Am I supposed to be happy about being investigated by my commander’s brother?”

“No one’s said anything about investigating except you,” Nie Huaisang sighs and stands up to retreat to his desk and plop down, using his reflection in the screen to redo his little half-ponytail. Jiang Wanyin stands and starts stalking across the room towards him, but Mo Xuanyu pushes off his desk to roll his chair in between them. Jiang Wanyin stops in his tracks, still glaring, and Nie Huaisang smirks to himself. Mo Xuanyu, for his part, looks like he hasn’t even noticed anything, just sitting in his chair with his knees pulled up to his chest reading something on a tablet and munching on the last of his favorite candy from the grocery shipment earlier in the week.

“Cut the bullshit,” Jiang Wanyin says, sounding…moderately calmer. Nie Huaisang looks up at him sidelong, an eyebrow raised. “No one’s better at this shit than my brother, and if he says he caught you red-handed then he caught you, that’s it. Just tell me why and I’ll leave you alone.”

Nie Huaisang sighs and leans back a bit, pulling one foot up onto his chair and resting his elbow on it, fan still dangling from his hand. “Down, A-Yu. Good guard dog,” he tells his friend and the boy rolls his eyes but returns to his desk anyway with much-less-suave scooching. Nie Huaisang gestures grandly to the rickety old wooden chair next to his setup. “Take a seat in my office, Jiang Wanyin. Come on.”

Jiang Wanyin looks a bit wary but he complies anyway after a moment, crossing behind him and settling down in the chair stiffly.

“Why does Wei Wuxian have a tracker on your files?”

“Because he’s a paranoid idiot.”

“Mhm. And he sent you down here to bully me instead of coming himself because…?” Nie Huaisang unfurls his fan and waves it a few times lazily as Jiang Wanyin blushes a splotchy red high on his unfairly perfect cheekbones.

“Is he too busy pestering Lan Wangji to come harass me in person?”

Jiang Wanyin scoffs hard and leans back, arms crossed tightly and his jaw (also unfairly perfect) tense as he clenches his teeth.

“Is it pestering if they’re both happy to keep everyone else on the corridor awake until the middle of the night with their bullshit?”

Nie Huaisang nods sagely, as if in agreement, only to say, “That’s hot.” It’s mostly to see Jiang Wanyin thoroughly flustered and he doesn’t disappoint, his upper lip curling in disgust and the bridge of his nose suddenly has the most adorable crinkle Nie Huaisang thinks he’s ever seen. He hides his mouth behind his fan as he laughs and waves his free hand at Jiang Wanyin as he tries to stop laughing long enough to get him to sit back down. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Sit down, here. Don’t go storming off, I’m just teasing. Obviously he sent you here to flirt with me since he knows he’s not my type.”

Nie Huaisang laughs harder and this time Jiang Wanyin actually does storm out, red from the top of his forehead all the way down his throat.

“Nice one,” Mo Xuanyu says once his laughter has died down to chuckles. “That’s probably enough to chase him away for at least a few days.”

“I know. What a shame though, he’s so handsome I wish he’d stick around just for me to look at, he’d make such a good trophy husband for me don’t you think?”

“Babe, we both know you’ll be the trophy wife for whatever meathead manages to tie you down.”

Nie Huaisang sighs in long-suffering and fans himself, as world weary as a Victorian maiden on her fainting couch. “Don’t I know it. Still, he’s fun to tease. Don’t try to keep him out if he comes back, alright? I like him.”

“Whatever you say, Laoshi.”

-/-

Jiang Cheng is absolutely not stepping foot in the research lab again. The only person in the entire world he can stand making a fool out of him is his dumbass brother, and even then it’s rare that he lets him get away with it. But Nie Huaisang?! The guy looks like he weighs 100 pounds soaking wet and he obviously relies on others to fight his battles for him (re: Mo Xuanyu sliding up to defend him and, he has to assume, Nie Mingjue’s reputation keeping anyone from messing with his brother in the first place).

“You like him though,” Wei Wuxian teases when Jiang Cheng finishes his ranting, pacing back and forth around their room like a caged tiger. “And he wasn’t wrong! I did send you down there to flirt with him! Why’d you run away when he started pulling your pigtails?”

Jiang Cheng tackles him down to the mattress and shoves a pillow over his face until he stops thrashing and obliges his irritation by playing dead.

“I don’t need your help to…do that!” he snaps, returning to his pacing. Wei Wuxian sits up with a sigh and looks up at the ceiling like he’s praying for strength. It’s actually a little disconcerting when it’s usually Jiang Cheng lamenting over having a brother like Wei Wuxian, and he’s not totally sure he likes even a momentary reversal of their usual roles.

“It’s flirting, A-Cheng. You can say it, I promise you won’t catch on fire.”

“I don’t flirt!”

“Yeah no shit!”

“You fucker-!!”

“Boys,” Jiang Yanli sighs a few minutes later when she finds them wrestling on the floor. “You can’t even get along while I’m gone for two hours?”

“Jieeee,” Wei Wuxian pouts from where he’s got Jiang Cheng pinned with a knee in his back, an arm and a leg each yanked up behind him in a too-tight hold. “I sent him downstairs to talk to that cute researcher he likes and he messed it up!”

“Oh dear,” Jiang Yanli tuts and shoos Wei Wuxian off his back. Jiang Cheng refuses to pout, because he’s not a fucking child, but he does accept Jiang Yanli fussing over him and brushing his hair back over his ears as Wei Wuxian is left to sort himself out - good, he doesn’t deserve to be coddled. “A-Cheng, what happened?”

“I went down there to ask why the fuck he’s investigating us, like you told me to!” That last is, of course, aimed at Wei Wuxian considering he’d never yell at their sister. “I didn’t know I was supposed to flirt, considering I’ve never done that in my entire fucking life!”

“Well…did he tell you why he’s looking into us?”

Jiang Cheng sighs and resists the urge to pinch at his nose. He knows from experience that it won’t do anything to alleviate the particular flavor of headache that is Wei Wuxian and all his chaos.

“I got..sidetracked and left before he answered.”

There’s a beat of silence to mutually lament his social skills - or lack thereof - and then, as usual, it’s Jiang Yanli who rallies first. “Alright, well then that’s just the perfect excuse to go back down there and try again! Right, A-Xian?”

“What? Oh! Yep, yes, absolutely, you should 100% try again. I can totally see this going better the second time around if you go back down there. And hey, I need the room tonight with Lan Zhan anyway so -”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Jiang Cheng snaps and storms out. He’s going to kill that little Jin Guangyao guy, he swears. Ever since Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji got their shit together during his experiment they’ve been nothing but absolutely unbearable, and if Jiang Cheng has to spend one more night bunking with the Jin cousins he’s going to murder one or both of them, no matter that Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan have now apparently settled their differences as well.

He heads down to the weight room to attempt to distract himself from..well, everything really, but he can’t do that all day and night. He stops for dinner and goes back right after, still too keyed up to even think about trying to find somewhere to bunk down for the night. He supposes, with some degree of irritation, that he could sleep on one of the weight benches and try to make Wei Wuxian feel guilty for sexiling him yet again, but he already knows that Wei Wuxian will just brush it off as Jiang Cheng being too lazy to go asking around for somewhere to crash.

He realizes belatedly that with Lan Wangji in his and Wei Wuxian’s room that the Lan brothers’ quarters will be empty. Everyone knows by now that Lan Xichen is holed up in Jin Guangyao’s room with him, and no one’s seen either of them in days though Nie Mingjue hasn’t made any comment about it one way or another so he’s assuming they’re fine. He should just ask to stay in the Lans’ room considering it’s Lan Wangji’s fault that he can’t sleep in his own bed anyway, but…he glances at the time only to realize it’s too late to ask, and it’s not like sleeping in another room will keep him from being able to hear what his stupid brother does with his downtime these days.

The more he thinks about going back to that fucking hallway the less he wants to, and so when he finally gives in and leaves the weightroom after a quick shower he finds himself heading back down to the research labs. Nie Huaisang has a bed down there, after all, and everyone knows that researchers don’t sleep. It’s worth a shot, and sure enough when he gets there he spots the man still sitting hunched at his computer, his features colorless and eyes dark in the acid-green glow of whatever he’s reading on the display.

There’s no sign of the little one, Mo Xuanyu, so Jiang Cheng steals his chair and sinks down into it with a sigh.

“A-Yu, you’re supposed to go get some sleep,” Nie Huaisang mumbles without looking up.

“Tell that to the bags under your eyes.”

“Fucking shit!” Nie Huaisang yelps, whipping around with wide eyes to stare at him. Jiang Cheng smirks in satisfaction for having startled him and put him on the back foot instead. “When did you - what -”

“Got sexiled again and I’m sick of trying to sleep in the same shoebox as Jin Zixun. And you never answered my question earlier.”

“That is so valid, you stay here as long as you want to, gorgeous,” Nie Huaisang huffs when he’s recovered. “And what question did I not answer?”

Jiang Cheng sighs heavily and tips his head back against the headrest. So they’re still playing this game that’s definitely more of a nuisance than a game. He rolls the chair over to Nie Huaisang’s workstation and pushes a haphazard pile of folders and loose papers out of the way enough to put his elbow on the desk and prop his chin in his palm, too tired to care about appearances.

“Come on, seriously. I just need to know that you’re not like…doing weird shit with our information. There’s personal stuff in there, and you wouldn’t be the first one to try to start something with our reputations.”

Nie Huaisang hums and his tired eyes light up briefly in recognition. “Am I planning a smear campaign against you guys in an attempt to turn the entire world against your brother, you mean?”

Jiang Cheng winces for the reminder of his mother’s most lasting legacy in the eyes of the world, and Nie Huaisang at least has the decency to look apologetic. “Yeah. That.”

“Nah, I don’t know how to do that even if I wanted to, which I don’t.” Nie Huaisang flicks his fan open and waves it a few times, the slight hint of a breeze a relief in the stale air of the shatterdome that’s even worse down here in the basement. “Can you be trusted with secrets or are you the type to get nervous and blurt out everything you know?”

Jiang Cheng blinks at that and actually thinks about it before ultimately deciding on, “Yeah, I can keep a secret. What’s up?”

“I need information on three-way Drifts, and you guys are pretty much it.”

Jiang Cheng blinks at that and then frowns, trying to find an example to prove that’s not the case only to realize that…there really isn’t one that comes to mind.

“No way. There have to be others. I know we’re the only triple-team in Asia, but there’s gotta be others elsewhere. The Americas? Oceania?”

“Nope. I guess they’ve probably experimented with it, but I mean, you’ve seen the level of mods Wei Wuxian had to make to your first Jaeger suit to get it to work with three consciousnesses controlling it. And now Violet Spider is completely unique, your repair crew had to be trained by Wei Wuxian himself to be able to maintain her, right? You think anyone else is willing to put in that kind of time and effort when Jaegers work just the same with two pilots?”

“...Huh.” Jiang Cheng takes a moment longer to consider it and then shakes himself a bit in an attempt to focus back on the task at hand. “Okay fine, so we’re the only three-way team in the Jaeger program. Why do you need to study us?”

Nie Huaisang shrugs in a way that looks just a little too practiced to be fully nonchalant. “I dunno, I just do what I’m asked.”

“You broke into Wen Ruohan’s security system and accessed extremely classified information on some of the top Jaeger pilots in Asia…because you were asked. And you don’t know or care why you were asked.”

Nie Huaisang shrugs again and picks up a half-empty cup of instant noodles to sip up some of the broth, though he makes a face and sticks his tongue out immediately after. “Eugh, that’s ice cold. How long have I been down here?”

“Pretty sure nobody wants to think about that. Listen - can I steal the cot over there for a few hours?”

“Hm? Oh - yeah sure,” Nie Huaisang waves him off and turns back to his computer, already hunkering down again and looking very much like he’s about to fall asleep right there in his chair. “A-Yu won’t be back for a while, he usually passes out pretty hard when I send him to sleep in a real bed. Should be pretty easy to sleep down here, I’ll stay quiet.”

Jiang Cheng nods and starts to stand up, but halfway there he pauses and takes a closer look at Nie Huaisang’s face, once again washed out and vaguely tinted green by his monitor. Even in such weak lighting, the shadows under his eyes are obvious, and his posture speaks of exhaustion. His little half-ponytail that Jiang Cheng refuses to acknowledge is cute is askew and short pieces are hanging loose around his face, as if pulled free by a few too many passes of his hands. Jiang Cheng sighs and finishes straightening up, crossing his arms and waiting for Nie Huaisang to look up and notice him again.

It takes Jiang Cheng kicking one of the wheels of his chair to knock him out of concentrating on what looks like weapon schematics that definitely have the Wen symbol in the top corner, startling him into blinking up at him and asking a confused, “What??”

“If Mo Xuanyu is off crashing somewhere and I’m sleeping in here, where are you going to sleep?”

“Uh…I just have to finish this one last -”

“Nope. I can’t sleep with lights on, your monitor will keep me up. Go to bed.”

“Well that’s not my problem, and you said it yourself that the alternative is the Jin boys -”

“Huaisang.” The use of just his given name stops him short, and Jiang Cheng forces himself to meet the other man’s wide eyes without blushing and without looking away. “Either find somewhere to sleep, or I’ll make you. You look like shit.”

Nie Huaisang’s mouth falls open and he reaches up suddenly to push the strands of his fringe back away from his face, his surprise turning into a pout that Jiang Cheng is already learning is his typical method of deflection. Not like he hasn’t seen that trick a million times.

“A-Cheng!!” he whines, and the diminutive is fair play but still makes Jiang Cheng’s neck go hot. Of course he’d found his family name in those fucking files. Damn it. “You can’t tell a man you barely know that he looks like shit! You’re so beautiful, don’t you know how soul-crushing that is??”

“Somehow I think you’ll recover,” Jiang Cheng snarks. “Come on, wrap it up and find somewhere to sleep for a while.”

Nie Huaisang whines the entire time he’s locking all his programs with layer upon layer of passwords, as he powers down the computer bank, as he gathers up the trash covering his desk and chucks it in a bin in the corner. Jiang Cheng stands nearby with his arms crossed over his chest and watches him drag himself through the motions. He tries not to smile at the display that’s…surprisingly far from infuriating for reasons he’s not going to examine closely.

“Will you still be here when I come back?” Nie Huaisang asks when he’s lingering in the doorway to the corridor, the entire room darkened save for a single table lamp near the cot for Jiang Cheng to see by.

“Dunno. How long are you going to sleep?”

“I usually can’t get more than about 5 hours. Sometimes 7 if I’m lucky.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t have high hopes for his own ability to sleep any longer than that, and normally he’d just get up and leave to go about his business, but..something a bit sad and a bit hopeful in Nie Huaisang’s eyes gives him pause. Before he can stop himself, he’s promising, “Yeah. I’ll be here whenever you get back.”

“Okay great, we need to talk about weapon upgrades for Violet Spider and I don’t feel like hunting you down tomorrow, it’s so much more convenient if you just stick around. Okay goodnight!”

Jiang Cheng is left standing in the doorway gaping stupidly at Nie Huaisang’s quickly-retreating back, unsure if he should feel like an idiot or…well no, he’s self-aware enough to recognize that he’s just going to feel like an idiot no matter what Nie Huaisang’s intentions are.

Still. He keeps his promise, and when Nie Huaisang walks in the following morning to find Jiang Cheng sitting up on the edge of the cot rubbing at his forehead Jiang Cheng hears his footsteps stutter.

“Oh. Hey, you really stayed!”

“Was I not supposed to?”

“No - I mean yes! I mean of course, I’m just..pleasantly surprised.”

Jiang Cheng grunts an acknowledgement and forces away the lingering wisps of his usual nightmares. Not that his mood is all that good most of the time anyway, and he’s not a morning person, but that’s all the more reason to not let the black mood of his dreams hang around and make things even worse. He stands up and stretches his arms above his head with a couple of satisfying clunks from his shoulders, and he frowns as he walks around the end of the computer bay to find Nie Huaisang already settling in in his chair.

“Breakfast?”

“Hm? Oh uhh…we’ve got ramen?”

Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow and Nie Huaisang snaps his fan open to hide behind. Jiang Cheng kind of wishes he found that slightly less endearing than he does.

“There’s a canteen full of hot, only slightly-shitty, freshly made food within a 3-minute walk from here. Why would we eat instant ramen cups?”

“Uhhhhh..”

“Morning. Oh! Good morning~”

Jiang Cheng sighs and turns around to find Mo Xuanyu shuffling through the door looking a little bleary-eyed but more well-rested than the couple of times Jiang Cheng has seen him. He points a finger in the boy’s direction and he stops short, eyebrows raised. “You. What are you eating for breakfast?”

“Oh no, are we out of ramen?”

“Fucking hell,” he mutters and turns back to Nie Huaisang to find the man blinking sweetly up at him, clearly pleased at having his argument backed up. “Well I’m not eating shitty instant ramen for breakfast, and if you want me to come back and talk about weapons you’ll come with me. Otherwise I might just forget where I’m supposed to be and go work out instead.”

“A-Cheng!” Nie Huaisang pouts. Jiang Cheng ignores the blush he can feel burning in his cheeks to turn and stride out of the research lab.

“Get going, both of you! The eggs are running out so they’re limiting portions and I want my fair share.”

Jiang Cheng makes it to the canteen quickly, and he’s just sitting down at an empty table with his tray when he’s joined by a handful of others. He glances up to find both his siblings settling down across from him, with Lan Wangji at Wei Wuxian’s side, of course, considering they never go anywhere without each other anymore. Luo Qingyang sits down on his left, and on his right -

“Nie Huaisang! How lovely, I didn’t know you’d be joining us this morning,” Jiang Yanli greets, her warm enthusiasm infectious.

“I got bullied out of my cave,” Nie Huaisang replies with a smile, and Jiang Cheng thoroughly ignores the meaningful stares from the peanut gallery on the other side of the table. “Wei Wuxian, I believe I have you to thank for my newest mother hen?”

Wei Wuxian, the fucking bastard, just laughs so hard he needs to lean against Lan Wangji’s side for support until he gets himself under control again.

Luo Qingyang asks, “Did A-Yu come up with you?” around a bite of soup and Nie Huaisang makes an elegant little gesture that manages to direct the eye without outright pointing.

“He’s sitting with his siblings over there, I told him only one of us needed to corral A-Cheng here and make sure he comes back downstairs after he eats.”

“ ‘A-Cheng’?” Wei Wuxian repeats with a frankly unholy level of glee. Jiang Cheng kicks his ankle under the table hard enough to make the man yelp and he ignores Lan Wangji’s glare to bare his teeth at his stupid meddling brother.

“Yes, he found my family name since someone’s encryptions on our files aren’t as effective as he said.”

“My encryptions are fine! No one else has ever gotten through them before anyway. But you’re trying to distract me - he found your name and you’re letting him use it?!”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t deign to rise to the bait, instead stabbing somewhat viciously at his eggs and taking a bite that’s probably a bit too aggressive but he doesn’t care. Everyone seems to get the hint and thankfully start their own meals, though Jiang Cheng can feel his siblings practically vibrating with the desire to ask him what the hell happened between yesterday afternoon and this morning. He desperately wants to tell them absolutely nothing, but knowing them they wouldn’t take his word for it. It’s easier to just let them indulge their imaginations rather than trying to convince them of the boring truth.

“By the way,” he pipes up when he’s nearly done. “I’m sick of getting sexiled since you two can’t keep it in your pants for a single damn night. Lan Wangji, congratulations, you can move into the room and I’ll go somewhere else. And I don’t want to hear you two going at it ever again in my entire life!”

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian yelps and Lan Wangji goes perfectly still; whatever his face is doing is something subtle enough that Jiang Cheng doesn’t feel like trying to decipher it.

“God I picked the wrong table this morning,” Luo Qingyang mourns into her smoothie. “I’d so much rather listen to A-Yu chattering about Kaiju guys or Zixuan reciting sappy poetry about Yanli into his congee.”

“Oh my god,” Nie Huaisang laughs behind his hand. “Are all pilots such good gossips? I definitely need to sit with you more often, the Jins have been so boring on their own!”

Before things can devolve too far into shouting and jostling, Nie Mingjue stops next to their table and everyone goes silent though their commander only has eyes for Nie Huaisang.

“Did you get it, A-Sang?”

“I’ve got it, da-ge. You wanna talk about it in the lab or should I find you later?”

“I��ll come to you after lunch.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes fall to the containers in Nie Mingjue’s hands and he’s just thinking that it’s an awful lot of food even for someone of Nie Mingjue’s stature when Nie Huaisang fills in the gap for him.

“You taking breakfast back to the other two?”

Nie Mingjue just grunts and Jiang Cheng catches the slightest softening of his features before he nods and moves on without so much as a goodbye.

“Huaisang,” Jiang Yanli starts in a conspiratorial whisper the moment Nie Mingjue is gone. She leans over the table and Nie Huaisang happily leans in to meet her, opening his fan up to hide their faces from the rest of the room, though naturally everyone at their table can hear them just fine. “We’ve heard a silly little rumor that perhaps you can clear up for us. Is Xichen living in Jin Guangyao’s rooms right now?”

“Is that really a rumor when Wangji told us he is himself?” Jiang Cheng snaps - he’s never much cared for gossip though everyone else seems to be determined to turn it into a full-time hobby.

“Hush, A-Cheng, it’s just a bit of fun. So - is he?”

“Ahhh Jiang-jie, I really don’t know! They were down in the lab for a few hours last Wednesday but I really don’t know anything about what’s happened since they left!”

It’s a blatant lie considering he’d just asked Nie Mingjue if he was taking breakfast to them, but he says it so convincingly that only himself and Lan Wangji seem to have noticed the dishonesty. Jiang Cheng doesn’t really care enough to call him out on it. Instead, he’s thinking about who the fuck would order Nie Huaisang to research three-way Drifts, and Nie Mingjue carrying breakfast to Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao who are, according to Lan Wangji’s extremely stilted and bare-bones report, recovering from a Drift experiment done in secret that had nearly ended very badly.

He waits until they’re on their way back to the research lab to say, “Chifeng-Zun wants to drift with Xichen and Jin Guangyao, doesn’t he?”

Nie Huaisang hums and waves his fan lazily as he practically saunters down the corridor, his soft, wide-legged trousers swishing quietly with each step. “I really don’t know, A-Cheng, I just do what he asks me to!”

“Bullshit, you know plenty,” he grumbles but lets it go. He supposes that eventually they’ll all know one way or another if the legendary Chifeng-Zun is going to make some sort of grand comeback, but Jiang Cheng…doubts it. The man’s more than earned a quiet retirement, as far as he’s concerned, and the fact that he’s the martial leader of Shanghai is enough of a surprise.

Anyway - he’s got his own problems to worry about. He settles in next to Nie Huaisang at his desk and looks away as the man types in all his passwords, only looking at the screen again when Nie Huaisang taps him on the knee.

“So, your files included plenty of video footage of you doing all sorts of different things: sparring, practicing on your own, fighting in your Jaeger - and that footage is both from inside the cockpit and from the helicopter feeds, so I can see how you move and how your Jaeger moves if I watch the footage side-by-side like this.”

Jiang Cheng forces his embarrassment down far enough to actually watch what Nie Huaisang is showing him, though his eyes are drawn to his siblings more often than not. He genuinely loves Drifting with them, fighting with them, working together as a unit that’s capable of protecting people (even if they hadn’t managed to save their loved ones from the destruction of Lotus Pier), and it’s interesting to watch them in action like this. But Nie Huaisang constantly draws his attention back to himself, pointing out quirks in his fighting style or things that are unique to him that he feels are important.

He’s never felt so…noticed.

“Look look look!” Nie Huaisang says with quick slaps to his arm a few hours in. “Look I loved this battle of yours! I can tell when it’s Wei Wuxian or Jiang Yanli on point and making the decisions and they’re great too, but this one was all you, I can see it.”

Jiang Cheng flushes at such brazen admiration, but he reminds himself forcefully that it’s just professional. It’s just research.

“Violet Spider isn’t fast enough to accommodate the things you try to do with her,” Nie Huaisang says as they watch the side-by-side footage. In the cockpit, Jiang Cheng watches himself (and Wei Wuxian) execute a flawlessly timed jump of the sort that he prefers, the pair of them landing the jump and punctuating it with a vicious downward swing of their sword that should have decapitated the Kaiju they’d fought no problem - except the footage from the helicopter feed shows Violet Spider executing the move a few beats late, and in those precious few seconds the Kaiju escapes their grip and turns on them. “It’s not your fault - it’s the tech. We’re not actually advanced enough to keep up with fighting styles like yours, you know? You’re so fast, and if your Jaeger could keep up with you you’d be unstoppable. I mean you basically already are, right? You guys are in third place in Asia, just behind the Jades and the Jin cousins, and the Jin cousins are only so high up because they’re fucking loaded and their Jaeger has so many mods it might as well be a new classification, it’s got nothing to do with them.”

Jiang Cheng frowns and refuses to be flattered by so much blunt praise of his martial skills. He’s been honing them since his childhood, of course he’s fast. Wei Wuxian is faster when they spar, but he refrains from saying so. “So what do you want me to do about it? We’re not rich, we can’t pay for the mods on Violet Spider that would make her like Sparks Amidst Snow, and something tells me Jin Guangshan wouldn’t go for it anyway considering no one else seems to be allowed to have a Jaeger or suits like theirs.”

“That’s where I come in,” Nie Huaisang says with a cheerful smile that makes Jiang Cheng’s heart do something highly unauthorized. “Your weapons are outdated compared to every other Jaeger in the field except for Immortal Mountain, and she’s not actually on active duty yet. Once again - not your fault! But I know Wen Ruohan doesn’t prioritize anybody in Tokyo except his children and their cronies, and obviously everyone in that ‘dome with any degree of influence whatsoever hates your brother, so why would they help you?

“But I’ve got clearance now to upgrade your weapons for you, and I thought you might like having something to use that’s purely your style for when you’re on point. What do you think?”

Jiang Cheng sits back for a moment to just..process. Obviously he’s going to agree to weapons upgrades, there isn’t a fool alive who wouldn’t. But the thought that Nie Huaisang had actually sat and analyzed their fights, had spotted the rare occasions that he gets to call the shots, and had then decided to ask for his input on the issue rather than going to world-famous tech genius Wei Wuxian…

“How the fuck did you even notice all of this?” he finally asks to stall for time, and Nie Huaisang instantly leans back to widen his eyes at him and start fluttering that fan under his chin again, clearly preparing to deflect. “And don’t tell me you don’t know or someone else told you to look for it! No one’s ever noticed this shit before, not even my siblings and they’re in there with me.”

He and Nie Huaisang stare at each other for a long, silent moment broken only by the slight ruffling of the fan between them. Nie Huaisang breaks the silence first to say, “Soooo is that a yes, you want to pick your weapons?”

“Hell yes I want to pick my weapons!” Jiang Cheng shouts and Nie Huaisang laughs, swats at his chest with the fan.

“Okay well that’s all you had to say! To answer your question , I noticed because I was watching for it, and I just thought you might like a treat considering how much of a shit deal you get the rest of the time, what with having to risk your life and everything. That’s all.”

Jiang Cheng keeps his arguments about that behind his teeth. Nie Huaisang says it like it’s not a big deal, like it’s not the first time in his life that someone has looked at Jiang Cheng right next to Wei Wuxian and noticed him first. Like it’s not the first time in a long time that someone besides his siblings can make him feel seen in a way that isn’t unnerving or miserable, but is instead like being appreciated. Wanted. Valued. Nie Huaisang doesn’t need to know all of that, but when the man pats his knee again he leaves his hand there for a second too long, and Jiang Cheng thinks maybe he knows anyway.

#the untamed fanfic #Sangcheng #Pacific Rim AU #Jiang Cheng #Nie Huaisang #In this universe I feel like JGY and NHS have similar fighting styles since they were both trained by NMJ #who taught them to accommodate for their statures and to use their opponents' weight/height against them #hence why they both go for throat punches when they feel threatened #Also I'm treating NHS's characterization like I would if Nie Mingjue had come close to dying in canon but hadn't actually died #i.e. he can't hide his intelligence and cunning anymore but he still wants to be lazy and uninvolved as much as possible #so he kind of walks that tightrope and only a handful of people can see through the vapid front #Also JC's love language is aggressively making people take care of themselves and NHS clocks that right away since it's NMJ's way too

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littlesmartart · 4 years ago

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Leverage AU thoughts

okay so I wanted to keep the worldbuilding for the AU in that specific photoset relatively short for the sake of how the post worked, but I've seen a lot of questions in the tags so here is some more information for you all, under the cut because it got LONG:

MORALITY: okay so I called this the "(sort of) Leverage AU" because it basically flips the Leverage concept of "criminals work together with one non-criminal for the greater good" into "one criminal persuades a bunch of non-criminals that law =/= morality and that sometimes to make sure the bad guys get justice you have to work around legality". Obviously some people are easier to persuade than others (Huaisang has always been pretty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about the law, but before he joins the team he insists all of his crimes have been Theoretical, and besides, pirating movies isn't real crime, da-ge, god), and some of them are a little troubled by it but have their own reasons for joining (Mingjue has a LOT of issues with it, but joins to protect Huaisang for That One Job, and then stays with the insistence that a. they don't kill anyone, b. they don't involve anyone who doesn't super deserve it, and c. that their goal is always to get evidence so the mark can be convicted and the mark is always handed over to the appropriate authorities at the end of the job. he has a little more moral flexibility than canon Mingjue because of his Complicated Past He Wants To Atone For, but he still has an incredibly strong internal moral code that he absolutely will not violate. Jiang Cheng cares more about the law in principle, rather than personally, and as soon as he sees that they can get Justice that the law can't, he's sold). Xichen has the hardest time of it; he jumps into the first job without protest because Meng Yao asks (and Meng Yao never ever asks for anything, so it... it must be important, right? And Jin Guangshan definitely deserves it). After that he has a lot of internal struggling going on, and he's usually the one in the team trying to steer them towards legal means, and going through the "correct" channels. He probably has a breakdown about it at the end of a season and spends the next season Travelling To Find Himself. He winds up coming back to the team when, on one of his travels, he watches a family he's staying with lose everything after being targeted by a conman, but because of a dirty police chief the evidence is destroyed. They refuse to take his money when he tries to help, and he realises that they only way to get them justice... is to call in the team. That's not to say he is 100% cool with everything from then on, and he definitely draws the line at certain criminal acts (stealing for the fun of it he is not okay with, for example, and he gives a Hard No on the suggestion of trying White Rabbit) but for the most part he accepts the concept of what they do as being for the greater good.

GRIFTER XICHEN: yeah it's ridiculous and implausible but hear me out... that just makes it better. Because this man is terrible at improv and can only lie when he's in character (you see that means it's not lying then, it's just ACTING) and doesn't drink and absolutely will not seduce a mark past the level of general flirting... and yet he's somehow a wildly successful grifter??? How??? I'll tell you how: he's so fucking handsome and kind and charming and cultured that pretty much everyone who meets him just... melts a little bit and, with some coaxing, gives him whatever he needs. IT'S LIKE A FREAKIN SUPERPOWER and it's absolutely ridiculous. With the added bonus that he's juuust famous enough that the average person might kind of think he looks familiar, which means he's very good at coming across like he totally belongs wherever he's seen. Of course he works here, he's been here for months... don't you recognise him?

NO WOMEN ON THE TEAM: look, in Meng Yao's defence, when he put together this team he thought it would only be for one job, he wasn't trying to future-proof it! But yes, it can sometimes be an issue if they don't have time to plan ahead, and he and Huaisang - as the most stereotypically feminine members of the team, and by far the best liars - will usually take on any female roles they need if they're in a pinch and can't call in outside help, although all of them are ready to take on roles of different genders if need be (female roles are actually the only way to persuade Huaisang to grift, and he has an extensive shoe collection for such roles that he likes to expand by billing to the company account... Meng Yao is deeply unimpressed by this).

OTHER CHARACTERS: when Meng Yao started this, he worked very very hard to keep his siblings and the rest of his family out of it, to keep them all away from any fallout in case it went wrong (and also to stop any pesky Moral Issues from getting in the way). When that was over and they started taking regular cases, he relaxed the rule a little - Mianmian will sometimes step in to help if she can be sold on how bad the person is they're taking down, Zonghui can be relied upon if they need extra muscle, and Wen Qing is their go-to Ask No Questions doctor. Wei Wuxian frequently gets roped in to consult, as, if you give him six packs of hot chips, ten cans of monster, twelve hours, and a laptop, he can become a specialist in almost anything. Jiang Cheng was very very resistant towards the idea of his brother being allowed in the team, even just as a consultant, but the MOMENT Wei Wuxian was given any access to Shenanigans there was no fucking stopping him. In the later jobs Qin Su accidentally gets pulled into one of the cons and turns out to be a WAY better grifter than anyone could have imagined, so she winds up on the "ally call list". Meng Yao is both perturbed and proud, but absolutely draws the line at teenage Mo Xuanyu being allowed to help.

PAIRINGS: flipping the "two parents + three kids" dynamic in Leverage, this AU has 3zun and Sangcheng - so "three gege + two didi". Xiyao have a One That Got Away sort of past, and Xichen joins the team SPECIFICALLY because Meng Yao expresses emotional vulnerability by asking for help fOr OnCe In HiS fUcKiNg LiFe. Nielan dated when they were teens, and are happy to be reunited, but Mingjue refuses to rekindle a romantic relationship until Xiyao sort their shit out because it's obvious to anyone with eyes how hung up on Meng Yao Xichen is. Nieyao have a certain amount of "I'll work with you towards a common cause but that doesn't mean I have to like you" vibe, but veeery slooowlyyy wind up bonding over doing stuff they're not proud of for something they were so sure was a worthy cause at the time, but now they just feel jaded and used (there's a lot of arguments along the lines of "oh, so my corporate espionage is worse than what you did in spec ops... because the military says that what you did was legal. RIGHT. OKAY. SURE."). After several years of will-they-won't-they struggle, 3zun do get together, and everyone is very relieved. As for Sangcheng... it starts off as Huaisang just flirting kind of obnoxiously with Jiang Cheng, who rolls his eyes and snarks back, and then naturally Huaisang winds up catching feelings and is like [meme voice] Haha, I'm In Danger! He is unwilling to act on his feelings because he doesn't believe that Jiang Cheng likes him that way, and continues to believe that right up until the day Jiang Cheng snaps, and grabs him and kisses him, and is like "if I didn't actually like you flirting with me I would have punched you in the face years ago" and Huaisang is like "huh. Yeah that's probably true."

#3zun #sangcheng #leverage AU #AUs #meng yao #lan xichen #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #the untamed

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demoiselledefortune · 4 years ago

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Post canon sangcheng fic recs for @runespoor7

(wooohoo that’s only 25 fics haha)

Silence by inberin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17441771

a conversation in the snow.

Wonderfully nuanced characterisation. It hints at whole relationship and dynamic with a lot of delicacy.

Windrose by offlight

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18997546

Nie Huaisang is forced into a coma to stop his qi deviation. Jiang Cheng is tasked with waking him up.

There’s a lot of intriguing dreamscapes in this one, and I love Jiang Cheng (and in the background Wei Wuxian)’s desperation and obstinacy.

All the innocence we give by shamiran

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18864910

Learning to renavigate the ground between them is easier than Nie HuaiSang expects. It's also harder than he could have imagined.

Just a sweet story.

Taste the wine off your lips by ExNihiIo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129245

A light pat lands against his back, and a cup of water is pushed in front of his face. “Not even Zi Shi, and you’re already tipsy?,” asks a teasing voice, while a thin hand puts down the cup. Jiang Cheng coughs a little more, shaking his head, and sends a dirty look at his host. “I am not tipsy.” “Hm, and yet your cheeks are all red. What would your disciples think, if they saw you in this state?” “They’d think about running away while they can. I can break legs more easily than I can drink alcohol.” A smile curves the edges of Nie Huaisang’s mouth, and he closes his fan with a curt jerk, sitting across the table. He’s wearing lighter clothes, Jiang Cheng notices, compared to the ones he had during the Discussion Conference. Where those had been tight and rigid against his body, these now fall softly on him, the large sleeves sweeping delicately as Nie Huaisang moves to pour himself a cup.

I like the melancholy tone of this one.

The light of autumn: you will not be spared by crooows

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19901467/chapters/47138221

Nie Huaisang arrives a week early for the conference which will be held in Yunmeng to discuss the position of chief cultivator.

[Title is from a poem called "October" by Louise Glück!]

A bit funny, a bit melancholy

You can run but you can’t hide by ThirtySixSaveFiles

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21119297

Nie Huaisang has noticed something about the way Jiang Cheng takes compliments; Nie Huaisang has a theory, and he intends to test it out.

Just Huaisang figuring out Jiang Cheng has a praise kink. Established pairing.

Evening Bloom by dragonofeternal

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958518

Jiang Cheng is spry and lithe well into his twilight years, living well off Wei Wuxian's stolen youth; Nie Huaisang's golden core, on the other hand, has always been poor- he blacks his hair with ink and dyes, hides the pudge of indolence and the wrinkles of age behind the latest fashions and the finest fans. Perhaps for their peers, finding the space to be vulnerable came easy, but for them it's taken this long to maybe think of letting someone in.

I have a big weakness for stories about old people falling in love and this is one delivers very sweetly.

Four Days in Lanling by Halotolerant

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21722695/chapters/51817036

Nie Huaisang looks at him. ‘You are confusing me, Clan Leader Jiang, perhaps I misunderstand, but…’

‘You didn’t misunderstand. You don’t misunderstand. You understand all of it.’ For six months Jiang Cheng has been mulling this over, and now with Nie Huaisang in front of him he can’t figure out if he most wants to knock him down or kneel at his feet. What he does is try and breathe. Clench his hands at his sides. ‘And now I am going to ask you to do something for me. You have to do something for me. You have to help Jin Ling.’

Ok so perhaps it’s misrepresentating to call this a post canon fic since most of the action is mid-13-years-of-WWX-death but the fairly important framing part is post canon. Also it’s one of the best sangcheng fic out there and a must read.

Shadow eternal by rynleaf

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23162944/chapters/55439032

“You want me to distract the Chief Cultivator from the Annual Cultivation Conference, so you and other sect leaders can… what. Sign contracts without adult supervision?”

“If Jiang-zongzhu is amenable,” Sect Leader Ouyang repeats with a nod.

Jiang Cheng pinches the bridge of his nose. The pressure he felt building behind his eyes all morning is swiftly coalescing into a bitch of a headache. “Just what do you all think I’m capable of?”

Sect Leader Ouyang bows with a cheerful smile. “We have utmost faith in Sandu Shengshou’s abilities.”

In which a night hunt ends in disaster, Jiang Cheng catches a glimpse of Nie Huaisang's heart, and feelings are discussed after a certain fashion.

One that’s between sweet and angsty.

The way is shut, and we cannot go back by saltedpin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23592523

One month since Guanyin Temple, and some people are coping better than others (or not).

This one is a mostly sad and bitter take on Jiang Cheng reacting to Nie Huaisang’s plot (and being very drunk).

Living memory by ghosthouses

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827980

Once Jin Guangyao has left, he gives himself two indulgences. The first, a day to scream in his rooms made soundproof with a talisman. The second, a physical list written in code, to keep his older self, who will have let the pain dull with time, accountable for what must be done.

It has only two commandments:

He will die.

and

He will know.

Nie Huaisang puts it in his sleeve with the intention of keeping it with him at all times, to be added to but never reduced, a living memory of his task.

This and its prequel which you should also read is quite short but probably one of my favorite depictions of their dynamic (and probably one I find most plausible).

What’s Left of us by cangse-sanren

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24979081

“Well,” Huaisang tries hesitantly, “both of us seem to have a rather fraught relationship with things like older brothers and the concept of betrayal. And regret,” he adds as an afterthought. "Perhaps you just understand me more than most."

Yet another that dwells into Jiang Cheng reacting to Nie Huaisang’s plan. I really like that take although it’s barely shippy (and quite short).

Descending by lightningwaltz

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296595

“I want to… to not be embarrassed.”

“To not be embarrassed during what?”

“During sex.” There. Jiang Cheng can say it. “In general. Also with you right now.”

“Very good.”

“When did you become so authoritative?” Jiang Cheng wants to sound irked, but can’t quite manage anything beyond nervous curiosity.

Very interesting fic and in many ways unusual. I’d say it’s hypnosis kink, but it’s much more character driven than that. With a context of established FWB arrangement between Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang.

Tell him that I miss our little talks by xiaolongbaobei

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232023

the post-canon fic where Jiang Cheng becomes the Chief Cultivator, realizes that it's not too late to fall in love and learns to ask for what he wants

Longish fic exploring Jiang Cheng as Chief cultivator working with Nie Huaisang and slowly falling in love with him. I adore this one, and not only because I love fics that explore the idea of Jiang Cheng as chief cultivator.

Blind for Love by manamune

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25760272

Jiang Cheng is poisoned with an aphrodisiac and needs to orgasm repeatedly in order to flush it from his system.

The first person he thinks of going to for help is Nie Huaisang, who does what any good friend would do: he shoves his three decades worth of feelings for Jiang Cheng deep into the recesses of his mind, locks them up so he can pretend they don’t exist, and then fucks him so hard that he passes out.

Mostly a long smutty piece, but with a lot of fun character bits along the way.

A Tight-Knit Family by aldalin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25500481/chapters/61862899

“Jing Ling, we need to talk.”

Jin Ling has too many uncles, and he’s about to get another.

Sect Leader Jiang announces his marriage to Sect Leader Nie.

A fairly different take, more focused on Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian reacting to Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang’s relationship.

A trip to Qinghe by Scorpiwriting

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26974741

An unexpected hunt forces Jiang Cheng to leave the Lotus Pier a bit earlier than he had anticipated, so he decides to send Jin Ling to Qinghe, for the sake of not sending him back to Lanling so soon: it turns into a learning experience for the young sect leader, who gets to peek into the life of the Headshaker.

or.

Jin Ling learns that not everything people say is true and that perhaps there is some merit to art. He also learns that loneliness is a dark beast and that his uncle should definitely do something about it.

Another one more focused on Jin Ling’s reaction to it. Honestly more of a gen piece about Jin Ling and Nie Huaisang, but an interesting one.

Silver bracelets on their wrists by mercurious

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797715

“Can’t I find excuses to visit an old friend?”

Ok so this one is a bit fucked up in interesting ways. It combines Chief Cultivator Jiang Cheng and explicit longing about Wei Wuxian, and BDSM as catharsis. It’s a fascinating piece.

Welcome to love by amphigoric

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412866/chapters/53549794

Desire, Jiang Cheng learned, flourished even in love’s absence. It surged hot and fast through his veins at the sight of Nie Huaisang’s spread thighs, marks still lingering from the last rendezvous they had. He felt it burning through his chest as Huaisang raked lines down his back, breaths coming in short, desperate gasps: “Jiang Wanyin, Jiang Wanyin, please, please.”

It’s a little bit clumsy at times, but also very passionate and intense in a way I still find compelling. Featuring a lot of self sabotaging Jiang Cheng.

When your stitch comes loose by heyninja

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27868454/chapters/68234434

Sometimes people see you for who you really are. Sometimes because you let them. Sometimes whether you like it or not.

A triptych of collisions between Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng.

Only the last part is post canon but it’s the most important part, isn’t it?

Peel your heart like a pomegranate by Izumi_silverleaf

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458974

"It's an extraordinary feeling when parts of your body are touched for the first time. I'm thinking of the sensations from sex and surgery."

Sometimes you just need to read a very hot guro fic. It’s a weird fic but it’s a cool one.

If you give a Nie a cushion by LesbianLazerOwl

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470236

Prompt: Long enough After Canon that everyone's mostly okay these days, Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang get drunk and wind up comparing masturbation habits; each is aghast at how the other spends their personal time.

Funny and hot

To Distraction by isozyme

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763816

It’s the third night of Yunmeng’s kite festival celebrations. Nie Huaisang has come visiting, eager to partake in the food, the arts, and Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng wants to forget. Nie Huaisang has some new lube and wants to see if he can put his whole fist in somebody’s ass.

Established pairing in which Nie Huaisang fists Jiang Cheng. It’s hot.

Safe in Your arms by Dragon_scribe

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070503/chapters/74058315

In the aftermath of a night hunt gone (very) wrong, Jiang Cheng wakes up to find himself in the Unclean Realm. As he recovers from his injuries, he and Nie Huaisang grow closer and as time passes, their friendship begins to shift to something more.

Very sweet/sappy and hurt/comfort orientated, with a small bit of reconciliation dimension too.

#mo dao zu shi #sangcheng #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #fic recs

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bloody-bee-tea · 4 years ago

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BeeTober 2020 Day 10

Chain - Rain

Day 10 of Beetober brings some Sangcheng feelings, where both of them are dumb pining boys but one accidental kiss solves all of their problems.

Jiang Cheng is very warm and comfortable, where he is resting. It doesn’t help with the general sleepiness, that Nie Huaisang is carding his fingers through Jiang Cheng’s hair in a steady and soothing manner, but Jiang Cheng knows that soon enough he’ll have to get up and get going, at least if he wants to be on time for dinner with his siblings.

And not being on time is simply not an option.

“I have to go,” Jiang Cheng complains, too comfortable to actually move though and Nie Huaisang doesn’t stop his ministrations either.

“Mh, sure,” Nie Huaisang absentmindedly says, his eyes glued to the screen and the fan that’s being painted at the moment and Jiang Cheng sighs.

He doesn’t want to leave, but Jiang Yanli is going to be so very disappointed if he’s late.

“Stop, Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng finally forces himself to say, and since he’s at it already, he sits up as well.

“Nooooo,” Nie Huaisang whines and Jiang Cheng pets his head.

“Make up your mind,” Jiang Cheng chides Nie Huaisang. “When I came over you told me to leave, because I didn’t bring Wei Wuxian and now that I am leaving you don’t want me to. Those are some strong mixed signals right there,” Jiang Cheng says, tries for easy and light, but the thought that Nie Huaisang had almost sent him away when he noticed that Wei Wuxian wasn’t with him still stings.

Jiang Cheng has noticed it in the past too, always tried not to pay too much attention to it, but it almost seemed like Nie Huaisang didn’t like spending time with just Jiang Cheng. At least at first. He always warmed up to Jiang Cheng over the course of their meeting but that initial disappointment is always there.

And it always stings.

Jiang Cheng tries to push those thoughts away, because right now Nie Huaisang doesn’t seem like he’s missing Wei Wuxian at all, and that has to count for something, right?

“Don’t leave,” Nie Huaisang mutters, still more a whine than anything else, and Jiang Cheng fondly shakes his head as he gathers his things.

“A-jie is gonna be disappointed if I’m late. You know that look she gives you if she’s disappointed,” Jiang Cheng says, still pleasantly sleepy, and Nie Huaisang nods his head.

“It’s the worst. She must have copied that one from da-ge, because they are the worst.”

“And you wouldn’t want to subject me to that, would you?” Jiang Cheng asks and he fondly watches as Nie Huaisang crosses his arms in front of his chest and pouts up at Jiang Cheng.

“No,” he petulantly says, and Jiang Cheng smiles softly at him.

“See,” he whispers and then—for reasons Jiang Cheng will never be able to understand—he leans down and lightly kisses Nie Huaisang. “See you tomorrow,” he says, forces himself to act as if nothing happened, and turns around to leave.

He goes through the motions, opens doors, closes the same doors behind him and goes down the stairs, but his mind is reeling.

When Jiang Cheng steps outside, he realizes that it’s raining and he finds it most fitting. He can try to drown himself in this rain, because he can never look at Nie Huaisang ever again.

Jiang Cheng just ruined the best friendship he has, and he doesn’t even have anyone to blame but himself.

“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng furiously mutters and tilts his head up, into the rain, because maybe, just maybe, he’ll get lucky.

When nothing happens, he finally forces himself to move, to walk away from Nie Huaisang and his monumentally huge mistake.

Jiang Cheng might as well wrap himself up in chains and throw himself into the next river; it would certainly be better than ever having to face Nie Huaisang again, that Jiang Cheng knows.

He thought he had himself better under control; he vowed to never let his stupid, unreciprocated feelings come in the way of their friendship and then he went and did that. Jiang Cheng knows that he can never apologize for it, can never make up for it, and the thought of not being able to spend time with Nie Huaisang anymore like they did today cuts him deep.

It’s just—Jiang Cheng is so comfortable around Nie Huaisang; he would never sleep with his head in someone else’s lap and he would never allow anyone else to touch him like Nie Huaisang does and now it’s all gone.

Because he ruined it.

“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng says again and he closes his eyes against the sting of tears.

He wonders if he can apologize for this; if they can move past this and pretend like it never happened, but Jiang Cheng knows the chances of that are slim to none.

Gods, Nie Mingjue is going to kill him when he finds out that Jiang Cheng kissed Nie Huaisang without his consent.

Jiang Cheng is in the process of imagining his very violent death at the hands of Nie Mingjue when his phone starts ringing.

He jerks in surprise, and almost drops it to the ground when he fumbles it out of his pocket, and when he sees who the caller is he has half a mind just smashing it down on purpose.

Nie Huaisang his phone says and Jiang Cheng wistfully thinks back to the chains and the river he thought about earlier. It’s time to do that now.

But again, his body betrays him when his thumb swipes to accept the call.

Jiang Cheng can’t bring himself to say anything to Nie Huaisang—doesn’t even know where to start, and even the apology is stuck inside his throat—but Nie Huaisang doesn’t seem to have that same problem.

“You stop right there,” he snaps and he’s using his da-ge voice.

Jiang Cheng still curses the day when Nie Huaisang picked up on that particular inflection, because even though he is not even half as imposing as Nie Mingjue, the voice has much the same effect on Jiang Cheng, mainly freezing him in whatever he is doing.

“Don’t move, Jiang Cheng, do you hear me?” Nie Huaisang demands to know and Jiang Cheng is so damn helpless against this tone of voice that he presses out an affirmative.

As soon as he agrees, Nie Huaisang hangs up, and Jiang Cheng is left staring at his now dark phone.

He wonders what that was all about.

It’s still raining, and to be honest, Jiang Cheng wouldn’t put it past Nie Huaisang to simply let him stand out here, until he catches a cold and dies.

Jiang Cheng thinks it would be what he deserves after what he did, anyway.

Jiang Cheng occupies himself with thinking about how his siblings are going to bicker over who gets to inherit what out of Jiang Cheng’s possession—and it’s a more entertaining thought than he imagined it to be, mostly because Jiang Yanli is just as bad as Wei Wuxian in his mind—but he startles out of his thoughts when someone crashes into his back.

“You idiot,” Nie Huaisang says as he slings his arms around Jiang Cheng’s middle and presses his face between his shoulder blades.

“Huaisang?” Jiang Cheng unsurely asks, lightly putting his hand on the ones desperately holding on to him.

He’s ready to let go of Nie Huaisang at a moment’s notice, if he should so much as stiffen with the contact, but when nothing happens, Jiang Cheng slightly relaxes.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng whispers when Nie Huaisang stays silent for too long and Jiang Cheng feels how Nie Huaisang shakes his head.

“No. No, you don’t get to do that,” Nie Huaisang decides and Jiang Cheng’s heart falls.

“I know,” Jiang Cheng mutters and tilts his head up, allowing the rain to hit him directly in the face again. “I know, I know I can never make up for it, Huaisang, but I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I never meant to do that,” Jiang Cheng admits, because he always knew that Nie Huaisang doesn’t feel the same for him.

And Jiang Cheng never wanted to force himself on Nie Huaisang like this.

“Shut up,” Nie Huaisang hisses and Jiang Cheng tenses. “Why the hell did you run?” Nie Huaisang demands to know and Jiang Cheng frowns, because he thinks it’s rather obvious.

“I kissed you against your will,” Jiang Cheng forces himself to say. “Of course I would run. I’m sorry.”

“Stop staying that!” Nie Huaisang yells into Jiang Cheng’s back and then takes several deep breaths. “It wasn’t against my will, so would you please just stop with this bullshit,” Nie Huaisang finally says and it only confuses Jiang Cheng further.

“It—what?”

“It wasn’t against my will,” Nie Huaisang repeats, a lot quieter this time, and he squeezes Jiang Cheng. “I’m in love with you.”

“No, you’re not,” Jiang Cheng says with a small, sad smile and pats Nie Huaisang’s hands. “But it’s okay.”

“Would you shut up with this bullshit?” Nie Huaisang bites out and Jiang Cheng has never known him to swear so much. “I’m in love with you, and you don’t get to tell me how I feel!”

“But—you always want Wei Wuxian to be with us,” Jiang Cheng haltingly says, because it doesn’t make sense. “You don’t want to spend time with me alone.”

Which Jiang Cheng gets, who would want that anyway, but Nie Huaisang is shaking his head again.

“I want Wei Wuxian there as a chaperone,” he admits. “Do you know how often I almost did something stupid like kiss you, and how it was only Wei Wuxian who stopped me?”

“Why would you need someone to stop you?” Jiang Cheng asks because it still doesn’t make any more sense and by now his head is spinning with the confusion.

Wei Wuxian has informed him several times just how obvious Jiang Cheng is with his crush on Nie Huaisang, after all.

“Because I thought you didn’t feel the same,” Nie Huaisang admits and Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

He breaks Nie Huaisang’s hold on him, but when Nie Huaisang makes an unhappy noise in the back of his throat, Jiang Cheng is quick to turn around to him.

“Wei Wuxian said I was obvious,” he tells Nie Huaisang who shakes his head.

“He said I was obvious, too,” Nie Huaisang tells him and Jiang Cheng allows himself to smile, just a little bit.

“Not to me,” Jiang Cheng admits and then he allows himself to believe this.

“I’m in love with you,” he tells Nie Huaisang, and Jiang Cheng watches as his eyes go wide and how the most beautiful smile takes over his face.

“I’m in love with you, too, so would you please kiss me again, so I can reciprocate this time?” Nie Huaisang asks, but he’s already leaning up, and it’s so easy to meet him in the kiss.

It’s better than before, so much better, because Jiang Cheng can enjoy this, doesn’t have to panic about ruining a good thing, and if he’s being honest, it feels like they have done this a thousand times, he just feels that comfortable with Nie Huaisang.

“Now would you please come back, so we can continue to cuddle on the couch?” Nie Huaisang asks once they part, and Jiang Cheng remembers with a start why he left in the first place.

“Fuck, I can’t, it’s siblings dinner tonight,” he tells Nie Huaisang who smiles cheekily at him.

“I have it on good authority that spending time with a newly acquired boyfriend is one of the very few cards that get you out of dinner,” he tells Jiang Cheng who narrows his eyes at him.

“You already told Yanli and Wei Wuxian?”

“Of course I did,” Nie Huaisang tells him with a huge smile and then fishes Jiang Cheng’s phone out of his pocket. “Check for yourself.”

Jiang Cheng does just that; he has two unread messages, and both tell him that he is excused this one time and to spend some quality time with Nie Huaisang.

“Fine,” Jiang Cheng says as if that is the worst thing that could ever happen to him. “But I need to change.”

“You need to shower,” Nie Huaisang corrects him. “And then you’re going to put on some comfy clothes from da-ge before you will put your head into my lap again so I can finally relax,” Nie Huaisang determinedly says and Jiang Cheng has to admit that it sounds tempting.

And he’s just in the mood to give in.

“Okay,” he agrees and presses a kiss to Nie Huaisang’s hand, before he laces their fingers together. “Deal.”

Nie Huaisang beams at him, and then drags him back home.

They spend the evening just like Nie Huaisang had said, except that there are a lot more kisses than either of them imagined.

It’s nothing to complain about, though.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

#bt writes #beetober 2020 #untamed fall fest #the untamed #mdzs #sangcheng #modern au #pining #two dumb boys pining #hurt/comfort #fluff #getting together #accidental kissing #love confessions

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enbyleighlines · 4 years ago

Note

wen qing/jiang cheng

and/or

nie huaisang/jiang cheng

Thanks for the ask!! Imma do both because why not? I love to gush about ships

ChengQing:

I ship it!

What made you ship it?

Watching the Untamed, primarily. But also I’ve read quite a few fics with background ChengQing, and those really sold me on the entire dynamic. I love how they’re so similar, to the point where they must butt heads, but I think they would also have enough respect for one another that they could hash things out and find ways to compromise.

Message me if you want some good ChengQing fic recs, because I know of some really critically underrated ones that deserve more love.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Well I think the first thing that drew me to it was the potential for it to like, change everything? Like, I have read so many arranged marriage fics, not all of them ChengQing, but the ChengQing ones are my favorite. I like the idea of them being pragmatic about their political marriage, while growing to genuinely care for one another. Plus, I think Jiang Cheng needs a woman who is able to put him in his place whenever he crosses a line. I’m still trying to decide what Wen Qing gets out of the deal, but I feel like she would develop a sort of exasperated but genuine fondness for him regardless.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don’t know if it’s unpopular, but I really like the idea that their needs require a different type of relationship. Like, Wen Qing’s first priority will always be her work, and Jiang Cheng is the same way. So they aren’t one of those couples that are always glued to each other’s side, because neither of them have the time for that. Nor could I see them being affectionate in public. In fact, if their marriage was political, it’s unlikely that anyone would find out that they ever developed actual feelings for each other, since they just don’t broadcast it. But that doesn’t mean that their bond isn’t strong; it’s just a relationship that best suits their individual needs and preferences. Everything that happens behind closed doors is very passionate to make up for lost time, anyway.

SangCheng:

I ship it!

What made you ship it?

I think it was the fanart that wore me down. I didn’t want to ship it, at first, just because I do not see Jiang Cheng as anything but a clueless cishet man, but visually, they do make for quite the attractive couple!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Their dynamic could be quite fun, I think, just because they are so different from one another, and yet they also have a bit of the childhood friends thing going on, although it was more like they were both Wei Wuxian’s friend, and so they just so happened to spend a lot of time together. But Nie Huaisang is such a fun character by himself, so dramatic and willfully lazy, but with a surprisingly intelligent side, while Jiang Cheng also has an off-the-walls big personality. They’re both the type of characters you could easily see in a sitcom. I like the idea of them being drawn to each other despite not completely understanding each other, and growing to admire the other person for the very traits that they lack. Plus I see Jiang Cheng as a very indulgent lover, prone to giving way too many gifts to compensate for being unable to spend as much time with his lover as he’d like, and Nie Huaisang loves being spoiled. So yeah, I think the main dynamic of their relationship would be Jiang Cheng as the manly breadwinner whose first love is his career and Nie Huaisang as the happy trophy wife.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

So like I’ve said, I see Jiang Cheng as cishet for the most part, or at least with a heavy preference for women. And I think the idea of being attracted to a man would threaten Jiang Cheng’s sense of masculinity, in a way that would be really hard for him to grapple with. So any SangCheng fic that doesn’t include a little gay panic moment vis a vis Jiang Cheng’s feelings for Nie Huaisang kind of take me out of the fic. And I understand that many people don’t want any references to homophobia in their fics — and that is very valid! I certainly do not want people to change those fics. They are simply not for me. I like homophobia to be acknowledged in fictional writing, because it’s very cathartic for me. And stories where homophobia doesn’t exist make me feel uncomfortable, because I’m keenly aware of what is not there, and it feels like I am being erased in some manner. Again, this is all my own personal preference. It’s no more or less valid than any other queer person’s opinion on the depiction of homophobia in fiction. But that being said, if anyone knows of any mdzs fic with some (but not too heavy) gaynst, I would be honored to receive a link to it.

#demoiselledefortune #mo dao zu shi #asks #chengqing #sangcheng

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roseclaw · 2 years ago

Note

Hello 👋

1, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 16 for the questions please 🥰

Hi nonny! Thanks for asking!

1: Do you have a word-count goal for the upcoming year?

I usually have a goal of writing about 500 words per day, plus NaNo. This comes out to about 200k. Some days I write 0 words, some days I write 5,000. I don't force myself to write, because that never ends well.

5: Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?

My first WIP to complete is for an exchange, and therefore hush-hush. I do have many other WIPS, though, and will end up having a whole bunch more. :D I am also considering doing ficlets for this challenge:

6: Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list?

Fic for the sangcheng mini bang. Neither exist at the moment, so I need to get a move on with both. XD

7: Will you change anything about the way you interact with other writers?

I'm trying to be more active on dreamwidth again. I've fallen out of the habit of blogging, and I miss the community of LJ, but that's never coming back.

8: Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

There are some ideas I have that are mostly just vibes? But I usually try to tackle any idea I have. If I can't, then WIP Amnesty it is.

16: Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?

Ugh. My winery AU. I want this fic to be finished, but every time I try to work on it, I'm distracted with another shiny idea. I have too many ideas. /o\

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captain-apostrophe · 3 years ago

Note

Hello, big longtime fan here! happy anniversary, and congrats on the massive amount of fic you’ve written this year alone! these prompts have all been so juicy and delightful to read. your SC is my #1 favorite, but I can’t decide between cherry magic, middle earth, or bodyguard, so whichever speaks to you most! or if some combination is more intriguing, please go for it! (sorry if this sent a bunch of times, tumblr was being weird when i tried to send it!)

Here it is, anon! I hope you like it, it's lovely to know you've been reading so much of what I've written! Thanks! <3

(and okay MAYBE keep an eye out for another in the not too distant future)

(also on ao3, if you prefer to read there)

[T; SangCheng; bodyguard au; wound care]

- Compensation -

Wanyin didn't relax until they were at the safe house - he cleared the apartment, hustled his charge inside, and locked them in. It wasn't the end of his duty but for the moment there was little he could do except wait to hear that the would-be assassin had been taken care of.

Nie Huaisang wasn't panicking, which was a surprise. Usually people who'd been shot at freaked out about it, went into shock, but he was almost suspiciously cooperative. Wanyin would have been suspicious about it if he hadn't been the one the bullet had hit.

"Stay where I can see you," he said. "Away from the door and windows. They shouldn't know we're here but that doesn't mean it's okay to be stupid."

Nie Huaisang trailed him into the bathroom.

"I'll be good," he said, almost breathlessly - maybe he was more affected than Wanyin had realised. He'd keep an eye on it. "You got hurt?"

"I did my job."

His shirt went into the hamper - it was destined for rags, now that it had bullet holes in it - and he didn't quite manage to hold back a pained hiss as the act of removing it pulled at the wounds.

Nie Huaisang's eyes were huge as he stared at Wanyin's chest.

"Oh," he said.

Most of the blood had been soaked up by his ruined shirt but moving had started the bleeding again and a thin trickle of it had run down Wanyin's side. Without seeming to even realise he was doing it Nie Huaisang reached out and traced his finger up through the blood, only pulling away when he reached the wound itself. Then he physically shook himself, as if coming out of a daze, and pushed Wanyin to sit on the edge of the tub.

"Let me," he said.

Wanyin watched with some amusement as Nie Huaisang knelt on the cold tile floor and opened out the first aid kit. He seemed only moderately familiar with the contents, poking tentatively through them, but he came up with the cleaning wipes before too long so he can't have been entirely clueless.

Nie Huaisang kneeled up in front of Wanyin (who tried not to think about what a good look that was), looking almost shyly up at him as he began to dab at the blood. He hindered his own progress by also seeming to be... leaning away.

"I can do it myself," Wanyin said, earning a glare in return.

"No, no," Nie Huaisang argued, taking a deep breath and then leaning in a little closer. He flinched, though, when holding the dressing against Wanyin's chest made him hiss in a breath. "Oh, I'm hurting you, though!"

"Not as badly as the guy with the gun did. Just hand me the tape."

Frowning, tentative but clearly fighting it, Nie Huaisang taped the dressing down himself.

"Do you know how many injuries I've patched up?" Wanyin asked, exasperated. "I don't need you to do it."

"Give me a break!" Nie Huaisang snapped. "I'm trying to homoerotically dress your wounds, okay!"

Wanyin blinked at him in startled confusion.

"... homoero- you're my employer!"

"Well, technically my brother is your employer. We're more like... colleagues."

Employer or not, there were definitely rules about sleeping with the person he'd been hired to guard. He said as much, and Nie Huaisang somehow managed to look both unimpressed and guileless.

"Who said anything about sleeping together?" he asked, blinking up through his lashes... and then smirking when he saw that Wanyin wasn't buying it. "Okay, fine, but we can, y'know. Dage doesn't have to know."

"I signed a contract when I took this job."

"Did the contract really say 'no having sex with Huaisang'?"

Nie Huaisang reached out again, resting his palm against Wanyin's chest.

"You got shot for me," he said. "Let me make it up to you."

And, well, Wanyin had gotten shot for him.

#prompt fill #fic-iversary prompts #the untamed #fanfic #sangcheng #bodyguard au #cap' writes

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pennysdrabbledump · 4 years ago

Text

baby, you hit me like a tidal wave

negotiations.

*** baby, you hit me like a tidal wave Characters: Nie Huaisang, Jiang Cheng I Jiang Wanyin Word Count: 1,066 Ratings/Warnings: General Audiences, please don't look too hard for mistakes because you will find them Notes: written for sangcheng week 2021 day 2: arranged marriage, still modern AU because apparently that's how we roll Alternative Reading Link: [Click here to read on AO3]

***

“Most of the details are negotiable,” Jiang Cheng says, sliding a file across the restaurant table, “but basically it’s a two year contract – ”

Huaisang pulls the file closer, idly flips through the contents. He lets Jiang Cheng’s voice (it’s a beautiful voice, don’t misunderstand, but whatever he is saying sounds so pedantic) wash over him.

“We’ll keep assets separate,” Jiang Cheng is saying, “and anything else that you want – ”

No exclusivity requirements, the contract stipulates in clear, bold font, but keep all side relationships quiet. Huaisang feels slightly sick.

Why didn’t you just ask Da-ge, he wants to say, if you were going to be this impersonal, if this was really going to be just a paper marriage. Why do you think I volunteered?

How foolish of him, Huaisang thinks, to have believed – however briefly – that he’d been chosen.

“A-sang?” Jiang Cheng says, rousing Huaisang from his reverie. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you listening?”

He looks genuinely concerned, almost like he cares about Huaisang as a person, instead of just a front to help prop up the failing family business he’s been forced to inherit too young.

Huaisang fiddles with the napkin in his lap, takes a sip from his too-cold drink, takes a deep breath. They were friends once, he reminds himself. Aren’t marriages – even those of convenience – built off of communication? He owes it to himself to speak now instead of waiting to be hurt, inevitably, later.

“Cheng-er,” he says, “do you like me?”

Confused is a beautiful expression on Jiang Cheng. If Huaisang is honest, most expressions are beautiful on Jiang Cheng, although that might be because he is absolutely whipped for Jiang Cheng, and has been since they were fifteen and meeting for the first time at boarding school (okay, Huaisang has a thing for grumpy pretty boys. Sue him). They’d been inseparable, then, the four of them: Huaisang and Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. Their friends have been happily settled for years – it was probably just Huaisang’s imagination but he’d always felt Jiang Cheng had the slightest soft spot for him, which is why he had been hoping –

“Like you,” Jiang Cheng repeats, “of course I like you. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“For someone as smart as you are you can be really stupid sometimes, Jiang Cheng,” Huaisang says, and steels himself for the inevitable pain at the end of this plunge. Let Da-ge call him a coward now, “because I like you. I like you a lot, and I don’t mean in a let’s get married for the sake of our respective family images and then part ways like it never happened because we’re friends way. So if this is just business to you let me know now so I can have the remittance for breaking my heart added to the terms and conditions.”

“Oh,” Jiang Cheng says, faintly. He looks like he’s going to add something else, probably something like I wasn’t expecting that, but then he keeps silent, still looking adorably bewildered. Huaisang wants to kiss him.

Instead, he stands up, tosses his napkin to the table. “Yeah,” he says, “if that’s all I’m going to be going now. You can reach me through my agent for any further communication about the contract.” He gives himself a mental pat on the head for keeping his voice steady.

Huaisang takes his coat from the maître d'on the way out of the restaurant, retrieves his keys from the valet with a I’ll get my car myself, thank you and is striding into the basement-level parking lot when a hand closes over his wrist.

Ah, cliches, how wonderful, the voice in his mind that sounds a lot like Jin Guangyao supplies. Shut up, he tells it.

“Wait,” Jiang Cheng sounds a little breathless – as if he’d run after Huaisang, as if he’d actually been afraid of missing him, “wait a minute, A-sang.”

Huaisang turns, schooling his face into a neutral expression. Jiang Cheng looks – nervous, Huaisang thinks. He isn’t sure, because he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Jiang Cheng nervous – he usually takes everything in stride – but this – his throat bobs, perceptibly, as he swallows, and is he biting his lip? He still hasn’t let go of Huaisang’s wrist.

“What?” Huaisang raises a pointed eyebrow at him.

“You didn’t let me speak,” Jiang Cheng says. His hand is burning a warm brand into Huaisang’s skin.

Huaisang tilts his chin. “So speak.”

There is a muscle twitching in Jiang Cheng’s flawless jaw. “You’ll tell me if I say something stupid,” he says, equal parts belligerent and anxious, so Huaisang nods, heart in his throat.

“Okay,” Jiang Cheng says, and then, “it was never just business for me. I care about you, A-sang, it’s just that I didn’t dare hope – ”

“You’re saying something stupid,” Huaisang tells him. “I’m not signing up to deal with your inferiority complex, A-cheng, you’ll have to do something about it if you really want to marry me.”

A beat, then –

“I’ll add it to the terms and conditions,” Jiang Cheng says, mock-serious.

Huaisang narrows his eyes. “Also – if I’m not misunderstanding – how truly ungentlemanly of you, Jiang Cheng,” with a playful whine, “to try to trap me in a contract marriage like this – were you just going to stay silent about your feelings – ”

He stops – Jiang Cheng has turned the wrist he is still holding and pressed a brief, open-mouthed kiss to Huaisang’s pulse point – gaze fixed steadily on Huaisang’s face.

“I promise to court you properly from now on, Nie-xiansheng,” he says, and there is a note in his voice that makes Huaisang’s toes curl in his shoes.

Huaisang has to remind himself it would not be the best idea to push Jiang Cheng against the wall and show him how he likes to be kissed – they are still in a public space, after all. If someone were to pass by – well, the internet rumor mill would have a field day with the headlines: idol-actor Nie Huaisang caught kissing Jiang Corp heir in underground parking lot, click for pictures! It would definitely throw a wrench into the whole image-rehabilitation aspect of this arrangement.

Instead, he reminds himself that some things are better taken slow – so in the meantime,

“Great,” Huaisang says, smiling widely, “you can start by taking me somewhere better than this place for dinner – the food here was awful.”

#nie huaisang #jiang cheng #sangcheng #mdzs #the untamed #sangchengweek 2021 #words: 1 to 5k #pennyfic

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mcgrillzdumpinc · 4 years ago

Text

It Takes a Few Steps

Summary: Jiang Cheng doesn't really know how his sexual attraction works. Nie Huaisang offers to help. Written for SangCheng Month day 14 - first kiss!

ao3 link

Pairing: Sangcheng, Wangxian in the background Rating: G Warnings: None apply Word count: 1208

“I don’t know who I’m attracted to.”

It’s a sunny autumn afternoon when Jiang Cheng says this. Crowded in Wei Wuxian’s one-bedroom apartment and its dying A/C, Jiang Cheng is laying down on the bargain bin couch with a porn magazine laying flat and unopened on his stomach.

Wei Wuxian, sitting a good ten feet away with his boyfriend and burger covered in hot sauce, asks through a full mouth, “What makes you say that?”

“Yeah, what brings this up?” Nie Huaisang asks from where he’s laying on the floor, exposing his belly to a fan.

Jiang Cheng waves the porn magazine. It’s one of Wei Wuxian’s, filled to the brim with naked and barely-clothed women. Lan Wangji is the jealous type, so these magazines need to go, thus why Jiang Cheng has been asked to peruse them to determine which ones he’ll take. On the floor next to the couch is a sizeable stack of magazines with men, women, and one fantastically queer collection of all body-types, presentations, and genitalia. Jiang Cheng, though, has only just picked up the first of the stack. “I don’t get off to any of this!”

“Then go to the next one!” Wei Wuxian exclaims. He expertly dodges when Jiang Cheng throws the magazine at him.

“I don’t like any of this!” Jiang Cheng retorts as he sits up. His trademark scowl curls into his face as he hunches over and plays with his spinner ring. “It’s stupid!”

“Are you trying to tell us that you’re ace?” Nie Huaisang asks. He’s sat up, as well, and gathers his long hair into a bun.

“I—I don’t know,” Jiang Cheng answers honestly. The fidgeting with his spinner ring turns into tight gripping of his hands, the sight of it painful even from a distance.

Wei Wuxian moves from Lan Wangji’s lap to sit beside Jiang Cheng, leaving the offending burger just shy of finished. He throws an arm over his brother’s shoulders and pulls him near. Jiang Cheng relaxes infinitesimally into the touch. “It’s fine if you are!” He throws his legs over Jiang Cheng’s thighs. In the awkward position, he tries to lay down and take Jiang Cheng with him, but his brother refuses. “It’d explain a lot.”

Jiang Cheng gives Wei Wuxian an indiscernible look, then meets eyes with Lan Wangji. Whatever silent conversation the two have, it prompts Lan Wangji to gather Wei Wuxian from the couch and sit on the floor with Wei Wuxian in his lap again. Jiang Cheng turns his attention to Nie Huaisang, completely ignoring the couple beside him. “How did you know?” he asks.

“That I’m pan?” Nie Huaisang responds. He thinks for a short while before answering, “I didn’t find anyone that I wouldn’t want to be with sexually minus, like, their personality.” He shrugs. “I think I always knew, though, like how I’m trans. I got lucky, I didn’t have to go through a novel’s worth of angst like somebody.”

“Shut up!” Wei Wuxian protests. “You know why I had trouble!”

Lan Wangji hums and hugs Wei Wuxian’s waist. “I would’ve waited longer.”

“Aww, babe!”

Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang share a look and scurry out of the apartment. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji notably do not follow them.

“I’m glad he figured out he’s bi, but…” Nie Huaisang makes a face at Jiang Cheng to portray his displeasure at the couple’s activities and how easily they’ll drop right to sex, regardless of who’s nearby.

Jiang Cheng only sighs as he and Nie Huaisang hurry down the steps. When they reach the first floor from the fifth, Jiang Cheng says, “I do actually want to… I don’t know… Have sex? With somebody?”

Nie Huaisang is quick to catch the tells that Jiang Cheng is about to bolt and grabs his friend’s arm, anchoring him to this conversation and the discomfort undeniably coursing through his body. “It’s not a bad thing, you know. It’s called the asexuality spectrum for a reason.” When Jiang Cheng doesn’t respond, Nie Huaisang restrains a sigh and pulls him in, sandwiching Jiang Cheng’s arm against his stomach as he drags the other man outside. The street is blissfully empty, as it should be on any weekday afternoon. It gives Nie Huaisang the courage to move his grip from Jiang Cheng’s arm to simply his hand. To his joy, Jiang Cheng returns the hold and they move to take a walk around the apartment block.

“Okay, so run me through your feelings. Is it, like, nobody sparks your interest? Like a general horny? Or are we ‘Anyone who’s seen my dick and met my parents needs to die’?”

Jiang Cheng actually laughs at the last joke, so good progress so far. “Just... I want somebody, I guess? I really don’t know, Huaisang.”

Nie Huaisang makes a hum to let him know he’s thinking. Knowing Jiang Cheng, the man is at significant disadvantage when it comes to learning about himself. So as they turn a corner, Nie Huaisang asks, “If you had to choose someone to experiment with so you could figure it out, who would it be?”

“…You, probably,” Jiang Cheng mutters.

Nie Huaisang knows his cheeks are burning the instant he hears Jiang Cheng’s response. In truth, he’s definitely considered Jiang Cheng for a potential partner more than a few times, but he’s kept his distance for the sake of maintaining a friendship. And while Nie Huaisang has always considered himself a coward, he’s also never been the type to miss a chance. So he stops walking and faces Jiang Cheng. With a smile he says, “Then kiss me.”

Jiang Cheng looks hesitant, at first. But before Nie Huaisang can lose his nerve, Jiang Cheng leans down and presses their lips together. It’s short. Sweet. Soft. When Jiang Cheng pulls back, Nie Huaisang has to fight back the urge to bring him back in. Instead he forces on a smile and asks, “How was that?”

Jiang Cheng is completely red as he answers, “Good. I think I liked it.”

“Great! Then you can consider me your partner as, um… Ah, hold on.” Nie Huaisang turns around, hiding his burning face in his hands.

“A-Are you okay?” Jiang Cheng inquires, his hand finding Nie Huaisang’s shoulder and tugging, encouraging him to turn back around.

“I’m fine!” Nie Huaisang promises. “It’s just so warm out, you know?”

There’s humored disbelief in Jiang Cheng’s tone as he says, “It’s the middle of autumn. C’mon, look at me, Huaisang.”

“Noooo! I’m embarrassed!” Despite his words, Nie Huaisang does turn back around and removes his hands, though he doesn’t look up.

Jiang Cheng laughs and throws his arm over Nie Huaisang’s shoulders. “It’s just me.”

Nie Huaisang puts his arm around Jiang Cheng’s waist. “Yeah, a super cute boy. I thought I’d be fine, but you’re too powerful.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t say anything. When Nie Huaisang finally looks up at him, he leans in to kiss him again. This time, the kiss lingers, and Nie Huaisang eagerly moves with Jiang Cheng, inviting both his hesitation and his courage. When they break apart, Jiang Cheng stumbles over his words a few times before ultimately shoving out, “Boyfriends?”

Nie Huaisang laughs. “Sure. Something like that.”

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #lan wangji #sangcheng #wangxian #sangchengber #sangchengmonth2020 #sometimes i write

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