#nice wreck

[vaccoi]

"You aren't Nice.. That wasn't his punch... I would know."

[porcelaintoybox23]

The Perfect Pair

Pairing: Nice x Wreck

Rating: Gen

Crafted from suggested prompts from this post.

Synopsis: I’m bad at synopses. Basically, how wrice meets and them dancing through the years. Since the show has yet to give us their real names, I opted to use their Chinese ones and the the anglicized ones as their superhero names.

Léi Kè inhales sharply as he rubs his sore ankle. Their first performance is only a week away, but working themselves into the ground won’t make it better. Then again, this may be what life is like in the city and in a seed school for professional dancing.

The city curfew isn’t much help. Some villain, Zero or Zeno, something like that, has threatened an attack and cut their rehearsal days from ten to five.

Léi Kè’s hometown had a few minor heroes and one villain, the type to do petty crime. There was never any real danger and he never seriously hurt anyone. Léi Kè tests his foot, rolling it around and flexing. Better.

“Is…is your foot okay?” The first thing that registers to Léi Kè is blue. The shaky eyes looking down at him are bluer than the morning sky. Contacts maybe?

The boy’s hair is pure white and plastered to his forehead in sweat. Léi Kè has seen glimpses of him in class, but they have different parts that don’t intersect in the ballet. His name is Nài Sī. From what he’s seen, Nài Sī is usually friendly and confident. What does he want with him?

Nài Sī’s face twitches in the ensuing silence.

Léi Kè coughs.“Ah, sorry. It’s better. The director worked us hard today.” What else is he supposed to say?

Nài Sī’s face brightens up. “He’s always like this before a show. You’ll get used to it. “ So it is a city thing. Léi Kè looks away. Nài Sī’s face radiates light.

Nài Sī sits down beside him. “You’re new to town, right? I’m Nài Sī.”

Léi Kè squints as he looks up again. “Léi Kè.” Another silence falls between them.

“Your 540 jump was beautiful.” The words tumble out of Nài Sī. His face red. “See you later!”

Léi Kè raises his hand to wave but stops. “See you.”

Nài Sī’s voice bounces around his head all night. His cheeks are so warm that his mother asks if he has a fever.

Nài Sī

Nài Sī sits on his hands ignoring the urge to shuffle his pens and ensure he doesn’t embarrass himself at rehearsal tonight. Your 540 jump was beautiful. He spent hours working up the nerve to speak to Léi Kè, and he screwed up. His cheeks warm. Why is he so nervous? He talks to people. He has friends. It’s just that Léi Kè…He’s really pretty.

Okay. Maybe he can move the red pen next to green.

The teacher raps her desk. “Attention, everyone. We have a new student.”

Fuck it. Nài Sī shuffles his pens until they’re in the correct order. Léi Kè stares at him from the front of the room, his sparkling eyes focused on him.

The teacher notices. “Oh, do you two know each other?” Léi Kè nods. The motion is stiff and jerky. Great.

She claps. “Wonderful. You can take the seat by Nài Sī.”

Nài Sī shuffles his pens again. If he gets the order right, he won’t freak Léi Kè out again. He shakes himself mentally. He can do this. The table shifts as Léi Kè sits down. Nài Sī turns to him and smiles.

Léi Kè looks surprised for a moment before a small smile forms. Nài Sī swears his heart stops.

“I didn’t think later meant the next day.”

What? Right, yesterday. Nài Sī chuckles. “I’m psychic, what can I say?”

“Got anymore predictions?”

Nài Sī scrunches his face into a look of concentration. He hums. “I think…we’ll be seeing each other more often.”

Léi Kè stifles his laugh with a fist. Their teacher clears her throat.

“I think you’ll be right, Nài Sī.”

***

Ballet on Monday and Wednesday, Jazz on Tuesday, tap on Friday and Thursday to hangout. Nài Sī isn’t saying that the pens worked, but he’s not not saying it either. They warm up and cool down together each class. They walk to and from school together.

They audition for a duet in the final show for their ballet class. It’s not a main role, the seniors got that, but it’s something. Léi Kè practically soars when he dances. He doesn’t seem real to Nài Sī, but he asks him for help. They perform in perfect sync.

Nài Sī has a ritual for each performance. Sometimes they’ll need to spin around a number of times or have to step on certain stones on the path. Léi Kè doesn’t understand but he humors Nài Sī and it warms his heart. Though these rituals can make practice last a lot longer than he’d like, Léi Kè still does them.

Like now. It’s 3 am and Nài Sī wants to run through the entire routine for the 20th time today.

Léi Kè collapses to the floor, breaking Nài Sī’s focus. “Nài Sī, can we stop? My ankle hurts.”

Nài Sī looks at Léi Kè, biting his lip. “It has to be perfect. I keep messing up.” The cloud of doom around them is looming and dangerous. It refuses to dissipate no matter what he does.

Léi Kè grabs his arm and pulls him down. His onyx eyes search his, widening in concern. “Nài Sī, what’s wrong? I haven’t seen you miss a step. It’s just a performance.”

“I know that objectively, but it feels-” How does he explain it? “When I step on certain stones or practice the same turn over and over it’s to make sure something bad doesn’t happen. If I don’t get this performance right, it feels like you’ll be hurt and I don’t want that.”

Léi Kè is his best friend and the thought of anything happening to him is terrifying.

Léi Kè mulls this over before cuffing Nài Sī on the head. “I will be hurt if I don’t take a break. Let’s stop for tonight and we can try tomorrow. We’ll get it then.”

Nài Sī mouth twists like he’s sucking on a lemon. The feeling of doom is still there, but he trusts Léi Kè. He huffs. “Let me see.” He pulls Léi Kè’s hands away from his ankle replacing them with his own. Léi Kè hisses as Nài Sī digs his fingers into the exact spot that hurts. His movements are sure and precise and Léi Kè soon relaxes into it.

It’s 3am and he’s exhausted but so happy. Everyone thinks Nài Sī is so perfect, they never see this version. The one that sticks his tongue out in concentration, who cares so much that the mere thought of his friend being hurt makes him dance until his feet bleed.

He really wants to kiss Léi Kè.

Nài Sī shakes his head. His thoughts run wild when he’s sleepy.

Léi Kè

Léi Kè loves vinyl records. Nài Sī loves karaoke. They both love superheroes and dream of joining The Commission. They volunteer during their summers. Each trust point gained is a point of celebration. They survive high school and entrance exams. Then, they’re scouted for an idol group.

Léi Kè leans back against the bench with a sigh. He pulls on his collar and debates ripping this corny vest off. He’s used to insanely long rehearsals but this comeback is killing him.

He tries to relax and let the breeze cool his sweaty head. As his thoughts float away and he listens to the ambient sounds around him, familiar footsteps come close. A shadow falls over him and he lazily opens an eye.

Nài Sī peers down at him with a sneaky look. He’s also in their ridiculous uniform though his is a bright cheery yellow and white to Léi Kè’s red and black.

Léi Kè looks him over and notices that his hands are hidden behind his back.

“A-Sī, you can just hand me the water instead of dumping it on me.” For someone so fastidious and tidy, he has no qualms about getting Léi Kè messy.

Nài Sī rolls his eyes. “You do look hot, but I got something better.” He steps back and shows what he’s holding, two scripts.

Léi Kè jolts upright. “Are those…”

Nài Sī grins wide and toothy. “Yep. We’re going to be heroes!”

Nài Sī

We’re going to be heroes. Nài Sī mentally rolls his eyes at his past self. No, he’s going to be a hero while Léi Kè is relegated to his nemesis. He sighs at the trust value on his wrist. He’s rank 17. Well-known and liked, he rakes in multiple sponsorships and fans. It’s not enough. Be perfect, be better, be Nice. His OCD had faded over the years but it’s back and worse than ever. Who knew that trust value changed your personality?

Ms. J’s newest order is another layer to this bullshit.

He sighs and walks to the living room where Léi Kè sits watching tv. They’ve been roommates since university and their apartment is a mix of them both. He sits beside him.

Nài Sī holds Léi Kè’s hand between his. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can ask Ms. J to think about giving you a heel face turn. People love a good redemption story.” He flashes his patented Nài Sī smile. It’s automatic now and he wonders if his old smile will ever return.

Léi Kè is already shaking his head. “It’s not that. I don’t mind supporting you, I’m worried. Everyone has such high expectations and I can see the pressure getting to you.”

Nài Sī taps a pattern on Léi Kè’s hands. If anyone should be the hero, it’s him. He always thinks of others before himself. How many times has he given in to Nài Sī’s idiosyncrasies and strange requests?

“Sometimes, I wish we were just normal, that it could be just us. No staged fights or brand deals. Our phones only ringing because our parents call or take out comes.”

Nài Sī sighs and leans against Léi Kè’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind that, it just being the two of us. Sharing the same space, seeing each other every day, arguing over dinner and who used all the hot water. Just us, not Nài Sī and Léi Kè, nemeses, but unknown nobodies who pay rent, do laundry and file our taxes jointly.”

Léi Kè

It’s routine at this point. Nài Sī is too busy with promotions and fan events for them to practice their “fights” but it’s no concern. They’ve been in sync for years and can practically read each other’s movements. Still, it unnerves Léi Kè. They spend less and less time together with Ms. J pushing him aside for Moon, their newest hero.

Are we drifting apart?

They trade blows. His sword sings against Nài Sī’s gauntlet. Parry, thrust, duck, dodge, distort a building to provide cover. A pas de deux, Chassé, box step, they dance around one another. The world fades away. A scream brings them back to Earth. They look and see a small boy clinging to the edge of a distorted building.

Shit. Wasn’t everyone evacuated from the designated area?

They share a look then spring into action. The show must go on.

Léi Kè reaches the child first and holds him against his chest. He points his sword at Nài Sī.

“Give up, you phony. Or will you prove me right?”

Nài Sī looks him dead in the eyes. They flash to the left and Léi Kè tenses. The boy starts crying.

Without a word, Nài Sī rushes him. Léi Kè tosses the kid away and summons a pillar to shield himself. The punch connects knocking him back.

Nài Sī catches the boy and floats down to Earth, gently handing him off to his mother.

“Unlike you, King of Destruction, I actually care about other people. I knew you’d toss your hostage away to save your own skin.”

He turns his back to the audience. The facade drops for a moment.

The doubts that have plagued him for so long are erased. They’re perfectly in sync, steps in time as they improvise the fight. The boy is saved from the distorted mess of the building and their act is solid.

Nài Sī catches his eye, a genuine smile on his face. No, he should’ve never doubted.