dumbshow | highly new, slightly improved open post

highly new, slightly improved open post

assorted morons

optional prompts/ideas

☆ caught in the rain meme
☆ little steps meme
☆ affectionate physical contact meme
☆ picture prompt also acceptable but link them so it's tidy
☆ AU ideas: soulmates AU, reincarnation AU, Bad End AU, canon divergent/roleswap AU, dorky college AU, crossover AU, super indulgent high fantasy AU
☆ melodrama is ultimate tier
★ SHIPPING AND FUCC:
☆ non-fluffy relationship types I'm down for: codependent, master/servant power imbalance type ships, "we're bad for each other but worse for anyone else," other things I am failing to think of tbh
☆ things I am not into: noncon (includes "dubcon"), incest, tsundere shit if your tsundere is just verbally abusive, gratuitous torture porn, you'll probably have to ask me about harder kinks and they will vary by character
☆ I don't have a kink list so pitch me an idea if u thirsty
☆ if you would prefer a locked post I can also make that happen

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hey, what the fuck, that's an actually valid argument . . . damn it. Has he not suffered in life enough? Why must he be bullied into these things?]

I'm his junior in every sense. I'm sure he doesn't think much of me either way.

[But they don't have to go right this second, right? He's not due to see Mingjue til dinner, anyway, so why rush it.]

Ah . . . how long do you want to stay, anyway? [A beat, and then the world's lamest justification:] He'll want to know.

[The next difficult choice: right before dinner, or right after... Huaisang will workshop it. He shrugs, a little guiltily about that first thing— because it might be true? Jiang Cheng proved himself in battle, certainly, and saved Huaisang's life a handful of times, but Mingjue is who he is...

So, ah. The other thing.]

Well... as long as I can get away with it.

[Which is a convenient half-answer; as long as Jiang Cheng will put up with him, for one...]

So ask to stay for the rest of the season.

[Or: another six weeks. It's an impulsive answer, but not utterly shocking. Not when everyone is in that post-war feel-good stage, where everyone's friendly and no one wants to dive back into war so quickly. The Nie clan sending their second son on a social visit to the Jiang clan is a fairly good move, politically speaking-- there's no better time for cementing alliances.]

Even if he disapproves, he'll only reduce it to a month.

It sounds like you want to negotiate, Jiang-xiong.

[Ha... it's fine, it's fine - Huaisang will still do it. It's a good idea anyway, and six weeks sounds like a dream; six weeks of wandering around Lotus Pier, seeing the lake, the town... Jiang Cheng has a sect to run, but surely there will be plenty of quiet moments alone just like this one. Very enticing.

Mingjue is still Mingjue and that all can come later, so for now it's time to indulge.]

What will we do first when we get to Lotus Pier?

[Oh, that's the game they're playing . . . well, not that he minds. There are worse games to play.]

I told you: I'm dumping you in the water.

[He says it with a straight face. Did you want a blissful romantic fantasy? This is it: swimming around with a dude you're into and who might maybe be into you too, possibly.

Pros: seeing your crush shirtless and wet.

Cons: swimming in a lake.]

It's past time you learned how to swim.

Oh, then maybe I won't go.

[Concept: Jiang Cheng can slosh around in the lake and Huaisang can watch. That sounds better than this terrible suggestion, which sucks. Thanks for nothing, babe.]

I want to eat some lotus seeds, first. Then we'll see about your lake.

You can't refuse, it wasn't a suggestion. You're my guest, you have to abide by my rules.

[Just wait: he really will enforce this. Huaisang will look like a drowned cat by the end of this.]

You can have lotus seeds afterwards, as a reward, if you do well.

[This guy... the things Huaisang does for a pretty boy? Truly, he is weak.]

Still cruel. Don't leave me in the middle of the lake for six weeks, Jiang-xiong...

Besides tormenting me in the water— tell me what else you want to do.

[Hm, and his smile doesn't fade so much as quiets.]

I want you to see what Yunmeng has to offer. All of it: there's no finer teahouses, no better craftsmen, no cleverer blacksmiths. You're going to beggar yourself from how much you want to buy.

[Ah, see, there it is; Jiang Cheng does know how to play this little indulgent game. Good, good.]

I'm sure I will! I'll have to keep it all at Lotus Pier or my brother will complain...

[He'll just have to... spend more time there! Dang!]

And then?

And then . . . it'll be shooting star season. Midsummer's the best time for it. So when it's clear, we'll go watch the disciples make wishes.

[And mercilessly mock them? Maybe! Except he's not quite up to making a comment like that, not right now.]

Suit you?

[A little mean and a little romantic, that's the ticket. Huaisang makes a face like he needs to really think about it, because hmm, it doesn't sound perfect at all.]

Ah... yes, I can manage all that. It's early, [considerably,] but promise you'll make a wish with me when it's time.

[Then they can make fun of the kids.]

Depends on the wish.

[Wait, fuck, that's not what he meant, and he grimaces.]

I mean . . . we should probably come up with it now. If we're going to do it together.

Jiang-xiong, isn't doing it now the same as making another promise...?

[He needs at least a full week to come up with an adequate wish, please do not put him on the spot like this.]

Unless you already thought of something.

Like you're going to be able to come up with one on the spot! And you'll have to, because you'll say you'll do it, but then you'll get distracted, and then it'll be the night of and you won't have any idea.

[So there.]

How about a peaceful summer?

[It's dry, but it's not like he'd mind such a thing.]

None of that is true. [and yet it was all true, actually--] If you want a peaceful summer, you can't toss me in the lake.

[Hmph. Now he has to come up with a good wish on time out of spite.]

I'll think of something by midsummer!

[He probably will, honestly, now that Jiang Cheng has said it.]

Hmm. We'll see.

[What else . . . oh.]

I could teach you how to make a kite.

[Oh? Arts and crafts? From his number one not creative boy? Yes.]

Alright, but I have to know something important— how much can I paint a kite before it's too heavy to fly?

[Let him show you how to make a 3D cube, super nifty, he's an artist . . .]

I'm not telling you. If you get carried away painting and it doesn't fly, it's your own fault.

[Very impressive, perhaps the most impressive thing Jiang Cheng will ever do...]

That's such a waste! [Ugh! Babe!] If it doesn't wind up in the lake, I'll give it to you...

Paint enough to make it flashy, not details. It's a kite, Nie-xiong.

[A beat, and a strange look crosses his face. Because, see, he's actually already got something drawn by Huaisang in his possession, doesn't he? Except it's probably super weird he's kept that all these years, so, hm.]

Besides: if you're going to give me something . . . give it to me because you want to, not because it's a castoff.

It should still look nice...

[He's particular, please. Jiang Cheng should be used to this. But ah, that's... he didn't mean to imply that he's going to give Jiang Cheng his disappointing first drafts, but that does sound how it sounds, huh.]

I'll get you something when I beggar myself in town— a surprise.

You don't have to--

[This is how he gets: so tangled up in his own fussiness and perceived insult that he trips over himself, leaves himself stranded and alone because he ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Jiang Cheng scowls, exhales sharply, and then glances back over at him.]

Okay.

[He bites his lip, because god forbid he make an even larger fool of himself in this conversation. But hm, that's, what, three things Huaisang has offered him now: that fan, from a lifetime ago when they were in Gusu; his pin, a token that Jiang Cheng refused to think too deeply on, lest he balk at wearing it at all; and now this. Some unnamed present, something that will undoubtedly be artful and thoughtful and good.

So. Maybe it's past time for him to return the favor.]

Come on. Let's talk to your brother. We might as well do it before dinner, or else he'll be staring at us the entire time.

[He'll stare at them the entire time regardless, but at least they won't feel as though they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Also: there will be less liquor consumed, which can only help their chances.]

[Huaisang will get him something thoughtful and good and definitely too ostentatious for Jiang Cheng's taste, but he'll keep it anyway just like he wore the pin, and that will make it worth it. So, then— Talking to Mingjue, which doesn't go as uncomfortably as it could, although Jiang Cheng arrived with Huaisang's pin in his hair and then they showed up in Mingjue's presence with the pin in Huaisang's hair and Jiang Cheng's whole style changed, which earns them a well-deserved raised eyebrow.

Could have planned that one out better. But there isn't much to say other than Brother, I'm going to Lotus Pier until the end of the season, because Mingjue surprisingly doesn't argue. Glare at Jiang Cheng intermittently throughout dinner, yes, but that was probably going to happen anyway... In the end, little brother gets whatever he wants and he will take the judgmental looks about hair pins in stride.

The trip to Lotus Pier is... odd, perhaps. There's a tension between them that Huaisang half expects- Jiang Cheng rebuilt his home from nothing, and of course there's heavy significance in taking someone back to see it- but he doesn't enjoy it, really. Plus, there's sleeping outdoors. All in all, a terrible journey he's glad to see end when they reach the last leg of it, the part on a boat sailing to the eponymous pier. Huaisang stares appreciatively at the sights on the way in, and gushes over the town and, yes, the literal lake before they get to the house, and praises the house more solemnly when they arrive— he's a good guest!

And so passes the basic tour on that first day, nothing too exciting after days of traveling, and Huaisang is eager to get out and see the rest of the town in the days that follow. There are indeed many fine craftsmen and artists here, yes... love that...

It's a few days in, loitering around where the house overlooks the water, that Huaisang brings up the elephant in the room himself:]

You still haven't thrown me in the lake. I've been mentally preparing for nothing.

[Yes. That elephant. There are no others.]

[The past few days have been-- and he so rarely uses the word, but there's no other that fits-- blissful.

Not because everything is perfect. That would terrify him, frankly. But that's just it: things aren't perfect, and yet somehow they're good. They're enjoyable. Huaisang doesn't make everything perfect, but he does make everything easier. Even the dullest parts of Jiang Cheng's day are a little easier to bear, because he knows there's something wonderful waiting for him at the end of the day. It barely matters what they're doing; just sitting around eating lotus seeds at ten in the evening is enough.

He suits Yunmeng, too. Whether darting excitedly through the streets or sitting in a pavilion out on the lake, he looks like he fits here, so at home it's a wonder he's only lived here three days now. And if he looks so comfortable, so suited to Lotus Pier right now, why--

Well. Anyway. No sense in getting ahead of himself. The point is: things are going well, and it's all he can do not to instinctively distrust that state of affairs.]

Are you asking me to? I will.

[He glances over at him. They're secluded enough; it's not as if anyone will catch them. Sect Leader Jiang might not be able to throw the second son of Qinghe into a lake, but Jiang Cheng certainly can.]

Are you overheated? I told you to wear thinner robes.

[Perhaps purple robes? Hm.]

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