love the idea of nie huaisang whining and whining and whining whenever he visits lotus pier and wei wuxian just laughs and lets it happen bc he’s so used to it everyone is used to it because it’s part of his gimmick
but jiang cheng has been acting weird
lately he’s not been getting as riled up as he should be
lately he’s been avoiding nie huaisang
lately he keeps looking angry and constipated when hausiang whines
they’re all so young and for some reason this hits huaisang harder than he’s expecting it to and he tries sitting with it, tries making himself a little less whiney tries to be quiet
it doesn’t work there’s no comfort there instead he just amps it up to an astronomical amount, there has to be a breaking point somewhere and he makes it his mission to find it out
it’s hot in yunmeng it’s so hot, he’s tagging along behind wuxian and wanyin as they walk back to lotus pier from the market. jiang cheng has a large silk bag he won’t let anyone open, no matter how many times huaisang hangs off his arm or wei wuxian tries to tickle him
at the beginning jiang cheng’s blush was enough to keep huaisang invested. he’s so generous with his reactions afterall, so inexplicably entertaining and beautiful that it’s no surprise nie huaisang is drawn to him.
but then, as they visited stall after stall, jiang cheng would disappear. an ink and dye shop, weaving through pretty young mistresses at the door. a crown and pin store. where most handsome young men of good stock bring their beloved.
huaisang remembers lingering at a lilac lotus hair crown, surrounded by the warm blooms of its leaves, teasing jiang cheng that it was perfect for him. his breath hitches as he comes to the only conclusion he can.
and nie huaisang’s stomach sinks in a way he’s not sure he likes
the lump in his throat is hard to laugh around, stinging in his eyes hard to blink away.
for a moment there’s ringing in his ears and he realises with horrible clarity that his heart hurts. the voices just ahead of him feel very far away.
he looks up from his feet, his head heavy. eyebrows drawn. for the life of him he can’t act the way he needs to, the way he absolutely has to. it makes him panic, like he’s small and da-ge is angry and-
Jiang Cheng is looking at him. Really looking at him after days and days of. Nothing at all.
“It’s hot,” he says, throat thick. where did a-xian go? Oh. they’re here already. his rooms, he should make his way to his rooms, find a scroll that dulled the fizzing of his nerves.
only jiang cheng’s fingers are gripping his sleeve, just one finger and his thumb.
AND CUT TO JIANG CHENG BEING A CUTEY WHO GOT HIM AN UMBRELLA TO HIDE HIS LOVELT FAIR FACE FEOM THE SUN, FRESH INKS SO THEY COULD PAINT TOGETHER, ANOTHER FAN ETC ETC every single complaint huaisang had uttered, in furious and unserious passing, jiang cheng had carefully catalogued and sought solutions
and huaisang realises that the performance actually hid a deep seated fear of being unheard, unwanted, and jiang cheng upends it all
snowghoul
vaporwave
romaincrisis
baratheonpilled
jacobvanloon
