#mer!jc

[dionte-goethe]

It's mermay and I actually drew some mingcheng with pirate nmj and mer jc last year...

Here are some of the sketches

And then I needed color for them.

[strawbtea]

[satonthelotuspier]

XichenWeek day 3 - XiCheng with a pining Mer!JC and a Human!LXC. 3.5k fic. Tomorrow isn’t XiCheng!

Was It Sensible To Fall In Love With A Human?

Jiang Cheng clutched the rock as he peered around it, watching the figure on the pier with a careful gaze.

Lan Xichen he had heard him called, by the older man who sometimes visited the small house by the lotus lake. Jiang Cheng thought it might be his uncle. He was a stern, reserved man but he seemed to look at the dreamy, yet melancholy, Lan Xichen with genuine concern in his eyes when the other wasn’t looking.

Something had happened to cause that sadness in the gaze of Lan Xichen, and worry his uncle so.

Lan Xichen had the soul of an artist. He often sat outside in the warm, dry months to paint. And sometimes, late at night, he would wander to the edge of the pier, and look out over the lotus lake, with an expression on his face that said he might never smile again. Jiang Cheng hated that. He thought the other’s face was probably made to smile, that he would look devastating with a warm curve to his mouth that lighted his dark eyes.

Sometimes the other sat on the end of the pier and played a haunting, sombre tune on his instrument, one that spoke of loss and regret.

Jiang Cheng had spent a lot of time watching over the past year, longing for….something he didn’t really understand himself. Maybe it was love? Was it possible to fall in love with a human? Probably.

Was it sensible to fall in love with a human? Absolutely not.

Was love ever sensible?

The sky was darkening gently when he decided it was time to return to his home; and he slipped back under the water with barely a ripple.

He would no doubt have to suffer another lecture from his mother; his continued absences were increasingly a source of comment for her. Unfortunately for him when his mother commented she did it with a viciously lashing tongue. A talent he had undoubtedly inherited.

He must have been distracted, which was why the strong arms that wrapped around him  took him completely by surprise.

They were iron-like and kept him trapped; and the two forms were suddenly propelled through the water towards the lake bottom at an incredible speed. He was pinned to the rocky, silt-layered floor after a considerable amount of tail thrashing and struggling. The gloating, pleased-with-himself face of his (almost officially) adopted brother grinned down at him.

“Admit I won, give in” Wei Wuxian demanded.

“You cheated” Jiang Cheng struggled, but of course he couldn’t match Wei Wuxian for strength from a disadvantaged position.

“Admit you lost, Jiang Cheng, and I’ll give you a present”

“You know I can’t win!” he snapped, irritated.

“Then say it”

He pressed his lips together in annoyance, but eventually even his stubborn self had to comply, “Fine. You win, Wei Wuxian. Now let me go”

Wei Wuxian did so, patting his hair softly, “There’s a good boy, it didn’t hurt to say it did it?” Wei Wuxian mocked, knowing that to Jiang Cheng it would have grated.

“Shut up, you’re such a sore winner” he pushed his brother away, but Wei Wuxian moved back to him, throwing an arm across his shoulders and squeezing.

“I’m the best brother ever, Jiang Cheng, and you’re about to agree with me” he held an amulet out in front of Jiang Cheng’s face. It was a simple gold chain and had a small pendant shaped like a lotus flower attached to it.

He automatically took it as it was offered to him, “A necklace? What is it?”

“I stole it from Uncle Jiang’s treasure hoard. It’s an amulet that will let you walk out of water between sunset and sunrise every full wax and wane of the moon”

Jiang Cheng’s surprise made his hand clutch the amulet, but he didn’t believe the other; this had to be one of Wei Wuxian’s practical jokes.

“Really” he said flatly, trying to push it back at the other. He wouldn’t fall for that; it probably had some lure on it that would have him being chased by all the carp in the lake, or something equally as annoying.

“I am a good brother, Jiang Cheng. And while I don’t understand your obsession with the human, I assume that it’s because you can’t have him. Forbidden love is so exciting, yes? But I think if you actually meet him and spend time with him you’ll realise he’s just another horrible man and be cured of your lovesick longing” he held his clasped hands to his chest, fluttered his eyelashes and pretended to sigh.

“Shut up, Wei Wuxian, you don’t know anything” Jiang Cheng turned his back on Wei Wuxian, intending to return to their colony. Except Wei Wuxian grabbed him from behind again and fastened the necklace around his throat.

He was about to yell at his brother when he felt the oddest sensation run through his body, it was like a current. He felt a tingling pain along his tail; then it became two distinctly separate pains. He opened his mouth to tell Wei Wuxian, but grabbed his throat as he realised he couldn’t breathe.

He turned wide eyes on Wei Wuxian, and pointed to his neck where he clearly had no gills anymore because he couldn’t speak underwater anymore.

Wei Wuxian nodded, “It’s alright Jiang Cheng, don’t panic” he soothed as he wrapped his arms around Jiang Cheng again and sped upwards with strong, sweeping thrashes of his powerful tail.

Wei Wuxian ensured they reached the surface next to the pier of the small house by the lake.

He splashed around, ensuring they made a lot of noise as Jiang Cheng sucked in sweet lungfuls of air. It tasted so different, he realised as his panic subsided as he caught his breath.

Wei Wuxian squeezed his hand briefly as they heard a sound from the house, then he dived beneath the water and disappeared.

Jiang Cheng had had no idea how much of his natural balance and movement in the water had been ingrained; due to his tail and his various fins. Without Wei Wuxian’s support he began sinking like a stone, and he struggled wildly, unused to the thought but knowing submersion now was a death sentence. He kicked with his new legs, and splashed with his arms, but every time he managed to breach the surface he began to sink again.

A strong, firm hand caught hold of his wrist and yanked him bodily from the lake, dropping him without ceremony onto the wooden boards of the pier.

He lay there, literally like a fish out of water, while his panicked breathing calmed again.

Wei Wuxian had left him to die, he thought dramatically, some brother.

He felt that strong hand at his shoulder, and he was helped into a sitting position, “You’re fine now” Lan Xichen told him, his large, warm hand splayed on Jiang Cheng’s back. And the novelty of that touch, feeling the heat permeate his skin, was confusing and soothing all in one muddled sensation.

Jiang Cheng looked up, and he was caught in those dark, amber eyes, unable to look away.

The other was so much more breathtakingly beautiful from close up. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, and he didn’t even notice the expression of confusion on the other’s face, too caught up in drinking in every feature in high definition.

“So…” Lan Xichen prompted.

Jiang Cheng blinked, not understanding.

There was a soft sigh, “How did a naked, drowning man end up under my pier?”

Naked! He glanced down at himself, suddenly realising how out of place he was out of water, where naked obviously wasn’t an acceptable state to be in.

Wait. What was that….thing? He let out a strangled sound of shock, trying to make his limbs support him as he scrambled backwards across the pier, although his arms did most of the work. And the thing was attached to his body and of course went where he went.

This was what they looked like below their robes? His wobbly limbs collapsed from underneath him and he ended sprawled on his back again, eyes wide, chest rising and falling as severely as it had when Lan Xichen had first pulled him from the water.

“Don’t panic, come here” he was helped to his feet, and a body-warmed robe was placed around his shoulders. “Can you walk?” Lan Xichen asked him, and Jiang Cheng tried to put one foot in front of the other like he knew he needed to, but it just didn’t work and he would have fallen to his knees if the other hadn’t had a hand under his elbow.

“Alright, just relax. I’ll carry you” he was scooped up in the other’s surprisingly strong arms and carried towards the house before he even knew what was happening.

He was set down in the house, and the other bustled around busily, finding him a towel to dry off with, then vanished to make warm tea.

Instead of drying himself Jiang Cheng pushed himself to his feet: he had to master walking, and fast, or it would be so obvious he was something odd.

It looked so easy, and it really wasn’t. Trying to coordinate so that one leg worked while the other didn’t, when to move his weight from one to the other through his core. It took immense concentration, and even with that he had only managed to master a kind of forward shuffle by the time he heard Lan Xichen returning with a tray of tea things.

Jiang Cheng swiped the towel over himself cursorily, then put it on the floor besides him as Lan Xichen arrived and placed the tray on the small table between them.

He poured tea, his movements graceful and carefully measured, not a single excess of effort was wasted. He placed the first cup on the table in front of Jiang Cheng who murmured his thanks and reached out to touch it; it was warm.

“You’re quite the fish out of water” Lan Xichen murmured, and looked at him.

Jiang Cheng’s breath caught, yes, it must be so obvious he was out of his depth here.

“Perhaps you’d like to tell me who you are?” Again Lan Xichen had to prompt Jiang Cheng to talk.

Oh. Of course.

“Jiang Cheng. Thank you for saving my life”

“Lan Xichen, and you’re welcome. What were you doing to wash up by my house?”

“My brother is an irredeemable prankster” Jiang Cheng had decided that would be the best way to deal with the question if Lan Xichen asked it again; but not to expand upon it.

Lan Xichen lifted his own cup to his lips without comment, and Jiang Cheng watched him and followed suit.

It tasted...odd...bitter. But it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, and it warmed him from the inside as he sipped at it. He didn’t realise he’d made a soft humming sound of appreciation at the sensation until he saw the other’s eyes on him, a soft hint of amusement in them.

Jiang Cheng had been right, a smile, even the tiny one the other wore right now, became that face, and lit up his eyes with devastating effect.

“You’re welcome to stay until morning” Lan Xichen said eventually, “Do you need me to contact your brother to help you home?”

Jiang Cheng shook his head, “I’ll be fine. Thank you for your hospitality. I live in the other side of the lake. On. I live on the other side of the lake”

-***-

So Jiang Cheng stayed the night, his host, everything that was kindness, allowing him the use of the bed. It was hard, and uncomfortable to Jiang Cheng, however, and he didn’t sleep very well. But it was to his advantage, as he was able to sneak out past the softly sleeping Lan Xichen just before sunrise. He made his way to the end of the pier with his awkward shuffle, and, waiting on the edge, assumed he would feel something like that tingling pain he had felt on his first transformation.

He had been correct and once it started to travel though his legs he dived gracefully from the pier and into the lake, disappearing beneath the surface with a flash of purple tail.

He never noticed the just woken Lan Xichen in the doorway of the house watching as he sleepily folded himself into his outer robe.

-***-

Wei Wuxian wasn’t happy his plan hadn’t quite worked out how he wanted; and his family became even more annoyed as he began to disappear at every full lunar wax or wane.

Lan Xichen never questioned him when he arrived on the wooden pier of the house by the lotus lake, merely went to make him tea. They didn’t chat much. Sometimes Lan Xichen would play the guqin for him, more rarely Jiang Cheng would scour his memory for songs from his childhood, and he would sing them for the other.

He always arrived just after sunset, and always returned to the lake just before sunrise.

And so it continued for a few months.

Until the time he walked into the house and saw the scroll open on the table.

It depicted a merman, with a bold purple tail, resting his folded forearms on a rock, watching something with a careful, adoring gaze.

It froze Jiang Cheng in place as he absorbed the fact he had never fooled the other.

“You knew?” he demanded, distraught at the thought.

“I noticed you many months ago, Jiang Cheng. I knew who you were before I even pulled you from the lake” Lan Xichen assured him, putting the tray of tea things on the table next to the scroll, which he then folded, gently, like it was a greatly treasured possession.

That would certainly explain the comments Lan Xichen had made, and how unsurprised he had been at everything Jiang Cheng had done; something Jiang Cheng had initially put down to the other’s good manners.

Jiang Cheng sighed and moved to sit at the table as Lan Xichen indicated he should join him.

“Apparently I’m nowhere near as clever as I thought I was” Jiang Cheng muttered, picking up the cup as Lan Xichen set it in front of him. He had grown fond of the taste during his visits. But he supposed that was all over now.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you. I won’t bother you again” the words felt like solid weights in his chest as he uttered them.

“Did I say I didn’t want you to?” Lan Xichen asked as he sipped his own tea, “Do you like me, Jiang Cheng?”

“Did the longing stares and changing my own species to spend time with you not give it away?” he was of course embarrassed by the question, so he couldn’t help the touch of venom in his voice.

Lan Xichen smiled gently.

“A little. I wanted to hear you say it though”

“I do. I’m in love with you, Lan Xichen” at Lan Xichen’s soft chiding he had to give in and admit it out loud, no matter how brightly his cheeks burned.

He was rewarded as Lan Xichen reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it.

Did that mean Lan Xichen liked him? Or was it the equivalent of a consolatory pat on the head?

“You’re going to stay the night with me?” Lan Xichen asked softly, and Jiang Cheng nodded, if Lan Xichen wanted him to, of course he was going to, “And we’ll share a bed?”

The question caught Jiang Cheng off guard, and his pulse sped up; he was smart enough to know there were multiple layers to Lan Xichen’s enquiry.

Yes, share a bed, but there was more to it, did he want to be intimate with Lan Xichen? Did he want to experience intimacy as a human?

Trust gentle, kind, Lan Xichen to give him complete control over how far he was ready for their relationship to go.

“We’ll share a bed” he agreed, eyes downcast in embarrassment, “But…” at the core of it he was extremely nervous. He likely did want intimacy with the other; it was one of the  natural progressions a romantic relationship could take with a loved one. What that intimacy might look like he wasn’t sure; he was still finding his way in this human body to some extent.

Lan Xichen’s hand squeezed his again, “I want to hold you. We can do as much or as little else as you’re comfortable with. There’s no pressure or expectation, we have time to explore where we go, A-Cheng”

-***-

It went a little further than Jiang Cheng had thought he might be comfortable with initially; with soft, exploring kisses that turned more demanding as the night wore on, and some gentle, searching petting. That this human body was capable of feeling such physically stimulated pleasure from being held, from being kissed, and from certain, sensitive places being touched was a revelation.

Jiang Cheng thought he might very much enjoy their explorations into where their sexual relationship went after all as he became more used to this body in the future.

It was well into the night before they slept, tangled together in an embrace neither had wanted to break.

Unfortunately it caused Jiang Cheng to sleep past the sunrise.

He was woken by the horrible sensation of being unable to breathe, and although he tried not to panic it was a visceral fear for all creatures.

He reached out to shake at the sleeping Lan Xichen’s shoulder urgently.

The other woke up, took a brief second to assess what had happened, and rose, lifting Jiang Cheng up into his arms, as he had on that first evening. This time however he had a fully transformed merman to deal with. It didn’t seem to phase Lan Xichen at all however.

He strode quickly out of the house, and, with a burst of qi energy, leapt forward to the end of the pier.

“Hold on, A-Cheng” he ordered as he stepped off of the wooden boards.

They splashed into the lake, momentum taking them beneath the surface, and Jiang Cheng felt his panic calm as his breathing returned to normal.

Of course then he had a new worry, Lan Xichen had seen him from a distance, knew enough about him to know his scale colours, but he hadn’t ever seen Jiang Cheng up close, probably hadn’t ever realised how very different from a human he looked, even discounting the tail.

There was nothing to be done about it though; Lan Xichen would react how he would react.

Lan Xichen had continued to cradle him as they sank in the water, but now it was Jiang Cheng’s turn to support the other.

The look in Lan Xichen’s eyes was still tender as he reached out to touch Jiang Cheng’s face, on the left side where a small patch of purple scales marked his cheekbone.

He leaned in to place a brief, yet heart-achingly tender kiss against Jiang Cheng’s lips.

When Lan Xichen pulled back Jiang Cheng raised his own hand to touch Lan Xichen’s lips softly.

“I love you” he told the other, who smiled and nodded, unable to respond verbally.

And the thought was heart wrenching to Jiang Cheng as he held the other close and swam for the surface with lazy swishes of his tail. Until the next full waxing of the moon when the amulet worked its magic spell the two wouldn’t be able to converse again without great difficulty.

They breached the lake’s surface and Lan Xichen sucked in a breath, before placing another kiss, this time on Jiang Cheng’s forehead.

“I love you too, A-Cheng” he said, resting his chin on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder for a brief while. Eventually Jiang Cheng towed him back towards the pier, and helped him up.

He ducked back beneath the water to take a deep breath before rising one final time to pull himself up with the pier to demand a final kiss, which was duly bestowed.

Lan Xichen’s final move was to remove the headband he had always worn on his brow and tie it around Jiang Cheng’s right bicep.

“The forehead ribbon is sacred, it means to regulate oneself, and may only be touched by a Lan’s family, or cultivation partner. Look after it for me, A-Cheng, and come back to me quickly”

He made a single, firm nod of his head, wishing he could ask what a cultivation partner was. Or indeed what cultivation was.

He filed it as a question to be asked next time as he reluctantly drifted away from the other and lowered slowly beneath the lake’s surface, ready to return to his colony and await the time they could be together again.