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

[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.]

[It's been three days but it feels like longer, and pleasantly so, at that. The people of Yunmeng are friendly, friendlier than at Qinghe— not that his own sect's people have ever been unkind to him, but Qinghe people don't stop him excitedly on the street, call him young master, young master! and hand him handfuls of steamed buns just to try. And yes, he's a rich little second son with coin to spare, but still! By the second day he knows half of their names like he's lived at Lotus Pier for a year already, and it's... fun.

Fun to be in town; relaxing to be with Jiang Cheng during times like this, when they're finally alone and free to unwind just a little. Huaisang hums and flutters his fan pointedly, because it is humid. If Jiang Cheng wanted to take him back to his room and give him something light and purple to wear, and touch his lips and fall asleep in his lap again, that would be another decision entirely - but as much as he enjoys Yunmeng, he can't actually run around in another sect's colors just for fun.]

It's colder in Qinghe! I brought the thinnest robes I have...

[Also they are very expensive like everything he owns, he can't handle lake stains on these robes, so please be considerate when throwing him anywhere. It's— okay, it's absurd at best, but it would be a lie to say that Huaisang hasn't put some... extensive thought into Jiang Cheng just lifting him up like it's nothing. He has definitely considered that more than once, and even bolder: how to provoke Jiang Cheng into picking him up...

But the lake part isn't so great!! He's stuck! A terrible, terrible fantasy.]

I'm just wondering if you've given up on throwing me around.

I don't give up on anything.

[Jiang Cheng is going to pick Huaisang up and they're going to both die, it'll be fantastic.]

I just want to wait for when you won't whine about it when I do. Fortunately for me, I've got the rest of the season. You'll give in sooner or later.

[About the lake. He'll give in and they'll go swimming, that's assuredly what this conversation is about.]

If you throw me in the lake like this, [that is, Fully Clothed, but he can't just say that,] I'm definitely going to whine!

[So! Give him something else to wear or no swimming. Huaisang hasn't spent time at a lake in... ever, really? Gusu had its little streams winding all around, but nothing like the lake here. Is it going to be all bugs and algae in there in the height of summer? Hmm.]

It's cooler at night. If you're going to shock me, do it then.

[The temperature is the only reason.]

You want me to do it at night.

[Was there a need for him to say that? Never mind to say it like that, his tone a little heavier than strictly necessary. In his defense: he was going for deadpan sarcasm, not . . . anything else, but like so often around Huaisang, what he means to happen and what truly happens are two different things entirely.]

You're absolutely sure about that.

[Be careful what you wish for, because he absolutely has a plan for if they're going to swim at night, and it doesn't involve adding clothes.]

[Well damn, if he wasn't sure a moment ago he is now, even if- sorry, but let's be honest- he assumes Jiang Cheng has absolutely no idea how his own words sound, as usual. Huaisang is just making an innocent request, that's all...

He shuts his fan, tapping it thoughtfully against his chin. Wow, what a difficult question!!]

Hmm, if I get to pick? Yes.

[It only makes sense, see. No one will catch them out there in the middle of the night. Truly, he has only Jiang Cheng's reputation as Sect Leader in mind, he is so considerate.]

[He's absolutely right to assume that.]

Then no complaining.

[It's not that far from evening anyway-- and sure, Huaisang hadn't meant tonight, specifically, but why wait?]

Do you know how to swim? That's an important part of this. Am I teaching you tonight?

[Oh good, there's still an element of surprise. Please don't ruin his expensive outfit, that's his only request.

And— hmm. A pause. Then, almost sheepishly:]

Well, how deep is your lake?

[He can probably not drown? Do not expect elegance. Qinghe doesn't have lakes!!]

[He stares at him for a long few seconds, then sighs. It's not Huaisang's fault he wasn't raised in a normal place on a lake, but still, honestly, what kind of childhood . . . ]

You'll be able to stand. But if you need to, you can hold onto me.

[He leans over, nudging him with one elbow.]

There's fish in the lake. Don't scream when one brushes against your leg.

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