An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The voices are too loud, so I'm doing some cute little angst to keep me motivated.
I wanted to write a Hwei/Sona story, with a little smattering of Hwei's complicated relationship with Jhin.
Taking place in the years before Khada Jhin's visit to Koyehn, Hwei is sent to Demacia for an art commission where he builds a sweet heart Summer fling with Sona Buvelle.
Years later when they reunite, is Hwei still the same young, reserved man that Sona fell in love with?
tl;dr
Teaser for Chapter 18, Hwei took Sett's instructions to "do whatever you can to stay out of trouble with Jhin" too literally????
Oooh boy. I fucking Love this story.
I think that the JhinHwei ship is cool and all, but I love the healing nuances of SettHwei.
In Our Golden Demons, we meet a version of Hwei who hasn't gone one way or the other toward darkness or light. He's just left in search of answers, meeting all sorts of people in Ionia and using his Ink Magic to soothe their own trauma. He hasn't found a cure or the strength to confront his own yet, and when he meets Sett he thinks he's found someone who might make those problems worth solving.
Spoiler: Yes he has!
Also Spoiler: In this story, Hwei chooses light, and gains a mastery over his darkness with guidance from people like his loving hunk of a boyfriend/mate, and Ma.
If you want a version of Hwei where the darkness envelops him, go read "My Mind, Your Mask" >:)
In Chapter 18 of Our Golden Demons, Sett and Ma have set off for Tuula, a small village on the absolute ass end of Ionia, which is - for all the lore junkies out there - is the Monastery where Jhin was incarcerated after Master Kusho apprehended him. Jhin has returned there with Hwei after a pretty sick kidnapping, and is using Hwei's power for some nefarious end that will be revealed.
I chose this specific piece to tease the chapter because it shows Hwei veering off the track that Sett had put him on. He starts to regress to a version of himself that Jhin recognizes, a version of Hwei which can be manipulated. So Jhin believes. When Sett wakes up from the nightmare, he realizes he might be running out of time to save Hwei.
Also because when I was writing this I had an intrusive thought to make a reference back to THIS little bit:
In the very first chapter of OGG, Hwei makes a bet. He'll go against one of Sett's fighters in his fighting pit, and if Hwei wins Sett has to cough up information about this person Hwei is searching for. If Sett's fighter wins, Hwei has to devote a year of servitude to Sett, including but not limited to that kind of servitude. Luckily Hwei wins, so that never gets realized, but my intrusive thoughts came in.
I played with the idea of making this dream sequence where Hwei is getting dressed up all slutty/provocative is actually his first night preparing to go to work for Sett. He comes down a sweeping staircase into the fight hall, and a bunch of Sett's investors/business partners immediately grab him, all while the real Sett watches a nightmare version of himself grab Hwei by the hair and remind him of bet he lost.
I decided against doing that cause I couldn't really justify it, but I might put it (along with some other intrusive JhinHwei smut I cooked) in its own story, because non-con is not part of this story.
Aaaaand that's it. Enjoy this snippet, and I'll be posting a link to chapter 18 once its done ^^.
I'm working on this story and towards its conclusion slowly, because my brainrot is demanding I do other stuff at the same time. But it's cooking, and it's gonna be delicious.
I'm flipping between all my works in progress right now, which are all nearing their climaxes. Today I'm focusing on my Sett/Hwei story, which I like to refer to as my "Good Hwei Ending" story, because Hwei finds it in himself to not spiral down the same perverse path that Jhin bid he follow.
Chapter 17 and 18 were heavy because I drew the differences in how Jhin and Sett treat my princess. In Ch18 we see Sett's nightmare, which I'm purposefully leaving vague on if it was a form of astral projection or just the Roads dealing psychic damage to Sett. He watches and is unable to touch Hwei as he paces around a beautiful room, dresses up in clothes that don't suit him, and paint a dis-associative mask with the makeup Jhin has provided. This is all part of Hwei's mission to stay out of that dark place so that Sett and Ma can continue to track him. What happens at that dinner the reader doesn't learn, but the implications are pretty clear that there is seduction at play. I listened to El Tango de Roxanne on a loop while writing Chapter 18.
(An excerpt from Ch18)
Chapter 19 is going to explore the differences in Sett's nightmare, as well as the different ways that Jhin and Sett treat and honor Hwei.
Below are pieces of the rough draft that I simply decided: Fuck it this is not the angle. Sett's confrontation with Jhin is meant to be meaningful, because Sett is stepping up to this as Hwei's champion. Through the stories that he's told Sett about the Golden Demon, even the moment when Jhin was able to successfully kidnap Hwei, Sett has realized what Hwei hasn't. That Hwei loves Jhin. Loves him like a rare piece of art, or more extremely (and accurately), a nuclear weapon. He recognizes the catastrophic power that Jhin holds. Khada Jhin is a goddamn criminal and threat to Ionia and maybe even the rest of Runeterra.
With enough alcohol in my system I could talk all day about this dynamic, but I got a story to write.
Chapter 19 is gonna focus on the differences between Sett and Jhin, and how they treat Hwei. I am going to rewrite a lot of the below scene, where we see the dining room that Hwei was stepping into in the nightmare. This is just one of the ways that Sett and Jhin are different. Sett has a small table so that he can always touch Hwei. Jhin uses a long one to embellish the anticipation of being so far away, looking but no touching.
The temptation to make Jhin a cry baby who was just big mad when Hwei stopped chasing him in earnest (cause he fell for Sett instead) is mighty, let me tell you. Jhin's the kind of man to play hard to get, then get mad when their pursuer gives up. I may still incorporate some of that into the confrontation, because petty is my love language.
I don't have a publish date for this chapter because its going to be hard to write. I want to give this arc the closure it deserves.
