#and wwx tenderly kisses his tears away and presses his face against his heart so he can come listening to wwx's (beautiful alive) heartbeat

[i-like-plan-m]

LOVE THE NEW SOF CHAPTER. Can we please have the next chapter be the recovery and NMJ sitting wwx down to explain Why That Was Not Okay and You Do Not Owe Us Anything, Let Alone Be Expendable Holy Shit I Would Literally Cut Off Heads For You WTF. Wwx needs it. Also NMJ and WWX recovering together and LXC IS THERE BECAUSE HEALER! throw in lwj too let those two be coddled by Lan mother henning and let NHS fuss and bitch and Mengyao deal with the fact that this is his life now.

Like this? :)

[Ao3]

___________

He woke, and his first thought was of Wei Wuxian. 

Nie Mingjue peeled his eyes open, dismayed at the effort it took from him. He recognized his room-- the wide window casting the first rays of dawn across his face, Xichen’s scent lingering on the pillow beside him, the scorch marks on the wall where Wei Wuxian had once tried to use a fire talisman to kill a bug. 

He heard soft breaths by his bed, and for a long moment was too afraid to look, too afraid to go searching for his little brother and not ever find him again. 

He did not think he could survive losing anyone else.

Nie Mingjue was many things, but he was not a coward. He braced himself for heartbreak, turning his head in slow degrees towards the unmoving shape curled up in a chair in the corner. He could not tell if they were A-Sang’s dark green or A-Xian’s black robes. 

Pain demanded his attention, a razor-sharp ache in his ribs that made every breath both a monumental effort and an instant regret. He felt layered bandages enveloping his torso beneath the blankets, wrapped firmly for the broken ribs and the deep gouges on his chest left behind by the demon. 

He sat, so slowly that the sun had nearly risen in full before he managed to be completely upright. The gnawing pain made his vision go black, but he stubbornly fought his fading consciousness until he was able to see again. 

He rose slowly to his feet, a hand braced on the wall for support. His joints cracked and there was a stiffness in his body that made him wonder how long he’d been unconscious. 

He took a single, tiny step forwards and had to pause to blink back the tears of pain that rose unbidden to his eyes. 

And then the door opened, the figure in the shadowy corner startled awake, and Nie Mingjue felt one of the scabs on his chest crack open and bleed. 

“What are you doing?” Huaisang said, indignant. “You’re supposed to be in bed!” 

A-Sang was by the door, which meant…

Wei Wuxian yelped when Nie Mingjue grabbed him by the front of the robes and hauled him in, crushing him into a suffocating hug as tears of relief threatened to escape. He cupped his brother’s head with one hand, the other arm tight as a vise around his shoulders. 

Wei Wuxian pressed his face into Nie Mingjue’s shoulder and trembled. 

“Never again,” Nie Mingjue said harshly. “Do you hear me, A-Xian? Don’t you ever do something like that again.” 

“But you were going to--” 

“You are not replaceable,” he thundered. 

He heard a mutinous, “Neither are you,” mumbled into his shoulder and resisted the urge to shake his brother, if only because any more movement would probably make him pass out. 

“Da-ge,” Huaisang threatened, appearing at his side with a murderous look in his eyes. “The healer said you are not to move a muscle until you are fully healed.” 

“So she did,” Nie Zonghui said from the door. Nie Mingjue glanced at him, noting the dark circles beneath his friend’s eyes and the stark relief on his smiling face. 

“I’m fine,” he said. 

“Sure,” Nie Zonghui said agreeably. “For totally unrelated reasons, I’m going to find Nie Wenji.” 

Nie Mingjue huffed at him, annoyed, but let the boys bully him back into bed nonetheless. He snagged Wei Wuxian’s sleeve when he tried to move away, wanting to keep him close until the memory of the demon on his heels and the forest swallowing them both up had faded. 

Wei Wuxian cooperated for once by sitting on the bed beside him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a wide yawn and helpfully scooting over so Huaisang could join them.

“Are you hurt?” Nie Mingjue asked. 

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “Just scratches and stuff. Nie Wenji healed me pretty quick.”

“Where are Liu Rushi and Nie Huiyin? What happened?” 

“We got lucky, is what happened,” Nie Huiyin said as she limped into the room, bracing most of her weight on Liu Rushi. She shot them a wide smile. “Hey, Sect Leader. We heard you were awake.” 

“What…” 

“A tree fell on me,” she said cheerfully. “I broke my leg and had a few puncture wounds. No biggie.” 

“‘No biggie,’” Huaisang repeated incredulously. 

Nie Huiyin was unfazed. “Yeah, I’m fine with it. We’re all alive, and she thinks scars are hot.” 

Liu Rushi, bearing as many bandages as Nie Mingjue and a long-suffering expression, just sighed. “A-Yin set off the flare during the fight, which Nie Zonghui and half the sect responded to. They made it in time to stop the bleeding and address the internal injuries you had before you died.” 

She continued, shooting an affectionate glance at the boys. “A-Sang kept the pressure on your wounds so you didn’t bleed out, while A-Xian led the demon into the forest. The lure kept its focus entirely off of us, so we were able to finally bring it down.” 

Nie Wenji bustled into the room, scowling at Nie Huiyin and Liu Rushi. “I didn’t give you permission to get up! Go back to bed before you undo all my hard work.” 

Liu Rushi bowed for them both. “Yes, Nie-qianbei.” She helped Nie Huiyin hobble back out. 

Nie Wenji shooed the boys out of her way so she could check the bandages, handing them a few supplies to hold onto with a command to make themselves useful. Nie Mingjue tried not to blanch at the glare she gave him at the sight of the bloodied bandages on his chest. 

“Don’t even think about moving again,” she ordered. “It took all of my spiritual energy to keep you alive, Sect Leader, and I will be very offended if you ruin my efforts.” 

“Yes, Nie Wenji,” he said, knowing better than to pick a fight with the sect healer. They didn’t fight fair. 

As if hearing the thought, she turned back to Wei Wuxian and told him to give the small bowl of medicine to Nie Mingjue and ensure he drank it all while she left to retrieve new bandages.

Wei Wuxian cupped the bowl carefully between his hands and passed it to him. Nie Mingjue frowned down at it, wondering at its alarming shade of red. 

“I put some chili oil in there to help with the taste,” Wei Wuxian said earnestly, because of course he kept it stashed on him at all times. Nie Huaisang face-palmed behind him. 

Nie Mingjue decided he was too exhausted to give a fuck. He downed the whole thing at once and instantly regretted it, thinking that death might have been kinder, and then slipped back into sleep with his mouth on fire and his brothers bickering beside him. 

Soft fingers threading through his hair woke him later, along with the weight on the bed and gentle music in the background. 

Nie Mingjue made a sleepy questioning sound at the back of his throat, blinking his eyes open to find Lan Xichen smiling down at him. 

“Xichen?” He croaked, squinting blearily at him. He closed his eyes briefly as Xichen tenderly brushed the hair away from his eyes. 

“Huaisang wrote to me when you were hurt,” Xichen said, mouth curling. “He says you’re a terrible patient.” 

“He’s a much worse nurse, believe me,” Nie Mingjue assured him, hearing an offended “Hey!” from across the room. 

Xichen laughed. “Rest, Mingjue. I brought Wangji along to play Healing for you.” 

That would be the source of the music, he assumed, looking past Xichen to where Lan Wangji knelt in front of his guqin and played with single-minded intensity. Wei Wuxian was kneeling beside him, shuffling a little closer every time he thought Lan Wangji wasn’t paying attention to him, as though he simply couldn’t help himself.

Xichen’s smile faded as his fingers brushed the bandages on his chest. “This is…” 

“It looks worse than it is,” Nie Mingjue assured him. 

“No, it’s exactly as bad as it looks,” Huaisang said irritably from the corner chair. 

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes. “We have a saying in Qinghe,” he told Xichen, catching his hand and pressing it to his mouth. He watched a pretty pink flush spread across his cheeks and momentarily lost his focus. 

“And what is this saying of yours?” Lan Xichen prompted, threading their fingers together.

“It’s far from the heart,” Wei Wuxian piped up. 

Nie Minjue nodded seriously. “Exactly.” 

“This is… really not that far,” Xichen said doubtfully, eyes dropping to his chest. 

“Doesn’t matter!” Wei Wuxian chirped. “Still counts.” 

“It mostly just means that it won’t kill me,” Nie Mingjue explained when Xichen blinked back at Wei Wuxian, clearly baffled.

“Oh, I see. So it’s a motto for the way you Nies brush off fatal wounds on the regular?” Xichen teased, but his grip was tight. 

“Now you’re getting it,” Nie Mingjue said warmly. 

Xichen leaned in and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I was scared when I got the letter,” he admitted quietly, resting his forehead against Nie MIngjue’s. 

“I’m fine,” Nie Mingjue promised, and pretended he couldn’t hear Huaisang’s disbelieving scoff. He lifted the hand not already held in Xichen’s to touch his jaw with careful fingers. “I missed you.” 

“Ew,” Wei Wuxian said like the brat he was. 

“Would you perhaps like a new brother, Xichen?” Nie Mingjue asked with feigned sincerity. 

Wei Wuxian just laughed. “You said I was irreplaceable, da-ge. That means you’re never getting rid of me.” 

Yes, he supposed that was true, NIe Mingjue thought fondly. Now they just had to make A-Xian believe it.

But that would come later, when he could sit up on his own without the whole world spinning around him. He wouldn’t be chasing his brothers around for a while yet, but the spark of dread at being bed-ridden faded with Xichen’s soft touch, the mindless chatter from Wei Wuxian, Huaisang’s occasional commentary, and the music finally lulling him back to sleep.