NaNoWriMo 2020 #19
Not so angsty, because as said, LiangFeng deserves happiness.
And the boys too deserves to be happy.
Prompt: Found Family
Ship: Mingjue/Zonghui, Yue HuangShui/LiangFeng
Word Count: 1871
Nie mingjue was a fast learner, liángfēng discovered, in amusement. They were the one who said it first, that he had been raised to a golden light. It was no wonder in truth, with his desire to keep his lands and family safe. It was a bit more wondering when they discovered that the spirit who took his saber as "rightful residence" was none other than the demons' queen. But by the time they discovered she had already claimed the saber and her wielder as hers and had no intention of letting go. She was kind, nie mingjue said, and she had been with him ever since he picked the saber, a soft voice whispering in his mind, different from the voices liángfēng heard, but still a voice.
"it's probably your abilities that kept you safe from being possessed and overthrown by her." they said looking at the saber, but nie mingjue shook his head, a hand caressing the hilt fondly.
"she would never. Baxia is a strange demon, she doesn't want the destruction of the mortal realm, and she gets really pissed when someone tries to take it over. Probably because she too is a leader, she understands the meaning of keeping the balance."
"mistress… Your son is defending a demon!" liángfēng called as yue huangshui entered the training room.
"I'm defending baxia." he pointed out, careful no to point the saber too. "not a regular, random demon."
"mistress! - they called again, the shock clearly fake on their face. - young Master nie is defending the demons' queen!" they corrected themselves earning a little laugh from huangshui.
"as long as he doesn't invite her over for dinner."
"that would be an embarrassing dinner, mistress." liángfēng had to agree.
"speaking of dinners. - nie mingjue took a step toward both of them. - you have time for one? Huaisang will be really happy to see you again, and to meet liángfēng too. And so would zonghui." please don't say no. The younger part of him seemed to beg. It had been almost a year since he started moving between Qinghe and that timeless place, not wanting to stay there and learn while leaving his brother in charge, and his husband alone. All considering he picked the whole shifting between realms pretty fast, stopping feeling nauseous after the first month. A fast learner indeed, and liángfēng felt a pang of pride in that, they took a liking to the younger boy as soon as he showed up. He was more similar to huangshui than they both realized. They still called him young Master despite his insistent protests, his use of nicknames to prove his point and the fact that more than once he called them either Lao shi or, but rarely and not without some guilt, even shijie. He tried to avoid it, most of the time happening when he wasn't feeling completely himself, too tired and weakened by training or fighting. They never corrected him, knowing there was no malice or disrespect in the way he said it. Their body was feminine after all, nie mingjue tried to call them Da-ge once, they stared at each other for a long minute before shrugging off the feeling, it didn't feel right. Shijie had a different ring, it still felt strange, but not entirely unpleasant.
"young Master, I don't think it should--"
"why not? It's about time you meet huaisang. You're definitely going to love him, I know it."
"Mistress don't give him ideas!"
"then it's decided."
"no it's not! Young Master nie!!"
"shijie!" he carried the final letters a bit longer, pouted a little like a child, something that looked extremely strange on his face, especially considering he was towering on them pretty much of a head.
"don't shijie me, young Master."
"dinner. Dinner. Come have dinner with us, shijie. I'm going to have made the best dishes of all of Qinghe."
Yue HuángShuǐ took a step or two back, looked at the young man she had left behind that he still was a boy, he looked at the person that made her feel love again in the midst of her grief, he looked at her son excited eyes, at the way he smiled when calling them shijie, the small dimples on his cheeks. Looked at the way they didn't back away from a female nickname, how they embraced it because coming from mingjue, from someone who spoke it in a respectful way. She looked at them and smiled, a familiar warmth in her chest.
"young Master, please… This one doesn't even know how to behave in a dinner with a major sect." nie mingjue laughed and grabbed their hands.
"It's just dinner. Us three, brother and my husband. No big sects involved. Just family."
They looked away, a blush spreading over their cheeks.
"I shouldn't be there, then, if it's family."
“You have a Nie fan. And braids. - he paused a moment, it felt strange sometimes, not having to act like the Sect Leader all the time. He was no one in that place, and he was so much younger than many. It felt good not being in charge. - You have Mother too. I dare to say this counts as family enough, right?”
Yuè HuángShuǐ nodded smiling and the battle was over and won.
“You look happy.” Nie ZongHui had a particular way of doing things, a specific order in which to do them, and that included taking in whatever emotion Nie MingJue was feeling and putting it into words. They didn’t have to discuss it if they didn’t want to, but it would be out in the open and not stuck inside the Sect Leader, only for him to bear. “You are happy.” Nie MingJue hummed, fingers working fast on undoing ZongHui’s braids, he didn’t even have to turn to notice, the way his hands moved was enough.
“I convinced LiángFēng to come for dinner. With mother.” Well, it made sense he was happy, Nie ZongHui thought. Wait—
“Madame Yuè is coming? Does Huaisang—”
“Knows? - Nie MingJue hid a little laugh and burrowed his face against ZongHui’s shoulder. - He’s running around planning what to have for dinner. He’s more excited than I am, honestly.”
“But you are excited.” It was true, and they both knew it.
“Of course I am, why shouldn’t I? I will finally have my family back for one dinner. Why shouldn’t I be excited?”
There was something else Nie ZongHui felt, not in the words or in his voice, it didn’t change at all, but in the way his arms embraced him, the way MingJue's nose pressed against his back, the cold tip on his warm skin. He was happy, of course, he was excited, obviously. He was— sad. Neither of them spoke of that, nor of anything else, Nie ZongHui leaned his body back against him and covered MingJue's hands with his. That was the kind of feel they didn’t speak about. No reason to speak of it after all, everything was way too clear.
“I wish you could be like me.” Nie MingJue whispered when ZongHui was asleep by his side and he was staring at the ceiling wide awake. “Even the thought that one day I will lose you…” He curled up closer to him and soon enough ZongHui's arms moved to embrace him. He wouldn’t sleep but his warmth always made him feel a little better.
"I still don't believe it's proper for me to com--"
"we've talked about this already, liángfēng. It's not only proper since you're family, but mingjue already convinced you. Think of how sad he would be if you chose not to come." yue huangshui fixed the collar on their robe gently, her fingers brushing against their neck.
"young Master would understand…"
"liángfēng. - she called, and they bowed their head slightly only for Huangshui's fingers to lift it from the chin. - as a sect leader he's stern and strong and unbending, but here, with us, with you, he's a young man who can lay down all his responsibilities and just be himself. He's young, like you were when I first met you, he's uncertain and scared, he had to grow up so soon and so fast and I did him wrong by leaving him alone. But you… Oh my dear, you. You took him under your wing like an older sibling he never had, and he clings on that because no matter how old he may look or be, he's still too young. And in that world, being too young and in charge is a condemn."
LiángFēng melted under her touch, huangshui words only half heard. It was enough to imagine how disappointed and sad her new brother would be to make up their mind. They saw him sad, when he thought he wouldn't be able to return to the mortal realm, he saw him, tall, strong, big sect leader, eyes still glowing golden as tears fell down his cheeks, drop on his knees and grasp at yue huangshui robes with desperate hands, begging her to allow him to go back. To return to his little brother. To the man he loved. To his people.
When liángfēng ascended they thought the place was freedom itself. No voices, no father to order them around and disrespect them, no one to mock them. But they had no one in the other world, no one they would miss or that would miss them. He did. He had so many people, so important and precious. He looked so devastated that liángfēng felt their heart hurt for him. They wished to never see that expression ever again on his face, they swore they'll find a way to always keep a smile on him, no matter what. Just like they swore to always follow mistress Yuè.
He would be sad if they didn't come after he invited them, it would make him frown, probably even pout the next time they would see him. What older sibling would ever let their little brother get so upset on purpose?
Still, having dinner in the mortal realm felt strange. The food was good, it even looked nice, lot of meat and wild herbs and vegetables, coming, huaisang said, form the best parts of Qinghe. Except the meat.
"Da-ge went hunting. He does that sometimes."
LiángFēng looked up, the chopsticks held carefully, and looked straight at mingjue.
"you hunted that… - they stopped and looked back on their plate. - what was that again?"
"deer." It was zonghui who answered them, looking at them as he took a piece of meat from MingJue's plate instead of his own. "and yes, we do that sometimes. For special occasions. This sounded special enough, mis--master---" he looked around briefly, not finding a proper alternative and sighing.
"does Shijie not like it? -- zonghui! Stop stealing my dinner! You didn't even touch your plate!"
"no, no young Master… It's great!"
"we always share, and you don't complain."
"we have guests."
"that's family, Da-ge… Not just some random guests."
"besides,- he took another piece and held it to MingJue's mouth waiting for him to take it. - I did that while staring at sect leader Jin already, and you didn't seem to mind it too much."
