#pangzi closes his eyes

[forerussake]

✨ weekend wip exposure club ✨

rules: post 7 sentences/a snippet of an unfinished work

I was tagged by both @dual-domination and @the-marron <3333 Thankssss

I'm giving you another snippet of unblinking :) This is from the second chapter:

[Shen Wei] sighs, leaning back against the bookcase behind him. His legs hurt, and he feels tired, shivery. He spots his own reflection in the window on the other side of the room, and he has to bite his tongue at what he sees there. A wan-looking face. His posture all wrong. Shen Wei closes his eyes, trying to draw himself up into something more resembling the celebrated academic, the ancient warrior he knows himself to be, but his knees and hips ache, slow hot flashes of it crawling up his spine and settling in his shoulders, in his chest, where he used to keep that lethal bundle of Zhao Yunlan’s light energy. It feels sometimes like that energy has left behind a physical hole inside his chest cavity. Like it has burnt out a space for itself in between his lungs, right next to his heart. He feels hollow. Like a tree that has died and has been slowly eaten away at from the inside, until nothing but an empty husk remains. Though maybe that’s just today. Some days are worse than others.

Shen Wei my love you are so hard on yourself :((((

Tagging: @hideyseek @pangzi @lucientelrunya @programmedradly @lungache @thedaughterofshadows @aredhel-of-doylkien if you want to <3

[hils79]

Title: Flavours of Love

Fandom:  盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei

Relationships: Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling

Summary: 

“Tianzhen, I want to teach you how to cook.”

This isn’t the first time Pangzi has made this attempt. It’s not even the twentieth. Pangzi lost count some time after that. But he clings to the hope that somehow this time will be different. That somehow retirement has magically removed Wu Xie’s ability to burn food just by looking at it.

“Focus,” Xiaoge says softly but firmly from where he’s perched on the counter near the door. It’s where he likes to sit when he’s watching Pangzi cook anyway, and if he happens to be close enough that he can intervene if Wu Xie does something stupid then that’s just a bonus as far as Pangzi is concerned.

“I am focusing,” Wu Xie replies with a pout. “Ooh, can we make steamed buns? Or noodles? Or, oh, I saw these really nice looking dumplings in a Douyin video and—”

Pangzi pokes him gently in the shoulder to bring his attention back to the lesson at hand. “You’re trying to run before you can walk. Now, just take a breath and listen to your Pang-ye. If you listen and do well I’ll reward you at the end.”

This is what he has been reduced to. Bribing one of his lovers as though he were a small child. And the sad thing is it works. Wu Xie’s eyes light up at the sound of reward and he immediately gives Pangzi all of his attention.

“Good boy,” Pangzi says and he doesn’t miss the way something flashes in Wu Xie’s eyes at the praise. That’s something for the three of them to revisit later. In the bedroom.

“The first thing you need to do,” Pangzi says as he sets a few things down on the counter in front of Wu Xie, “is familiarise yourself with your tools.”

He can already feel himself regretting everything about this venture when he picks up one of the kitchen knives. It’s not his best knife. He wouldn’t even let Xiaoge touch his best knife so he’s certainly not going to let Wu Xie near it.

“This is the most important utensil in the entire kitchen,” Pangzi says as he hands it over to Wu Xie.

“I know how to use a knife, Pangzi,” Wu Xie points out and then touches the blade with the tip of his finger to see how sharp it is. Blood wells immediately and Wu Xie hisses a curse.

Read the rest on AO3

[sunriseverse]

(busts through the wall) DID SOMEBODY ASK FOR DMBJ PROMPTS??

i want something sunrise but i want it to be dumb/silly. i know it's a serious au but it's about three fools so it should still be possible.

okay you said something silly. and i THINK "xiaoge who literally purrs" counts, but. i couldn't help but get feelings in it </3 wu xie's pov because i realised i'd done xiaoge AND pangzi's pov for sunrise but not wu xie's yet. (also this got LONG i am so sorry..........)

-

The first thing they do after they get Xiaoge back from that fucking rift in Changbaishan is fall into a tangle of limbs and sleep for ten hours straight.

Well, no. The first thing they do is bundle Xiaoge, who has somehow in the last decade lost the thick, fur-lined coat he’d been in when he and Wu Xie had come up here that last time, into a thick, heavy, coat that smells faintly of smoke, which had been shoved into one of the saddlebags to make it take up as little space as possible. The second thing they do is herd Xiaoge, who looks less and less distant and dazed as the moments pass, in front of a fire and ply him with the best food they can offer, here, so far from any city and proper kitchen amenities. The falling into a pile and sleeping for what feels like glorious, golden days is closer to the fifth or sixth thing that they do, but Wu Xie sort of loses track somewhere along the way, because Xiaoge’s presence, an absence rent into the very core of his being, of the world, for so, so long, is intoxicating, and Wu Xie keeps losing track of his thoughts.

“Tianzhen,” Pangzi says, knee knocking against his, warmer than the crackling fire between them, and doesn’t say anything more; just tilts his head towards Xiaoge, who’s half-buried in the voluminous folds of the coat they’d foisted on him. It makes Wu Xie’s throat lock, tight and painful, the way that, even now, after so long spent keeping him at arms length, Pangzi is still the man he loves; still one of two people who understand him in a way no other does, in a way that renders spoken communication unnecessary. With a shuddering sigh, Wu Xie lets his eyes slip closed. The threads between them—ones that Wu Xie had feared, for the past few years, would snap and break; leave Xiaoge stranded to a world Wu Xie couldn’t even imagine, to die with a mind slowly bending, breaking, shattering; leave Pangzi, one day, to snap to the horrifying awareness of it, of that break, of the bond between them, carefully nurtured, built on an aching, all-pervasive trust, not only fraying, but rent apart because of Wu Xie’s carelessness, because Wu Xie hadn’t been careful enough to keep it alive—flicker at the back of his mind. Glow, nearly, with an indescribable incandescence, a pulsing sense of warmth, of home. 

He spent long enough unable to see a way past the end of things, of a life beyond the plan; now, it’s time for him to try and make things right. He opens his eyes and smiles at Pangzi; lets his hand settle on his knee, and, for a moment, squeezes, just to let him know he’s there. And then, raising his voice, he says, “Ah, Xiaoge, come here. You’re going to freeze like that.”

Xiaoge blinks, slow. As if he hadn’t even realised he’d been sitting so far away. Then, gangly figure uncurling, he crosses the too-large distance—small as it is in reality—, and Wu Xie shifts to leave space between himself and Pangzi for Xiaoge to slot into. He does—easily, as if he’d never forgotten how; as if he’s coming home. The glance Wu Xie gets out of the side of his vision shows him Pangzi’s eyes are just as misty as his. 

So, no; sleeping together isn’t the first thing they do, technically. But it’s important enough that it feels like it.

The bedrolls they’d brought along are the type that can be combined together; Wu Xie does so while Pangzi tells Xiaoge about the terrible snowstorm they’d had to brave through on the way there, replete with taking care of a snow-blind Wu Xie in the cave they’d taken shelter in. “Our Tianzhen,” he says, with a smile and a shake of his head. “Terrible luck.” It makes Xiaoge smile, small and barely-there, and the image makes Wu Xie’s lungs burn with something he hasn’t felt in years.

Actually clambering into their makeshift bed is fairly anticlimactic; all of them are too tired to be prickly about space, or limbs, or anything besides curling close to each other. Wu Xie winds up on one side, Pangzi in the middle, and Xiaoge on the other. If this were a real bed, Pangzi would lovingly and dramatically bully Xiaoge into the middle, but a real bed is also safe in a way that being up in the mountains isn’t, and they’re both well-aware of Xiaoge’s vigilance, undulled by time. Well, no—if Wu Xie’s theories about the Hiveside are right, then he might be even more vigilant than he once was. And Wu Xie—he tries not to think too much about why Pangzi let him be on the outside.

The horses, settled down on the other side of the fire, whicker at each other, the sound a subtle hum in the night. Wu Xie lets out a breath, and settles; pillows his head on Pangzi’s chest, slings his arm across to brush fingers across Xiaoge’s side. Under him, Pangzi lets out a muffled laugh, but doesn’t comment. Xiaoge doesn’t sigh, but Wu Xie can feel the tension that bleeds out of him at the combined contact, and he curls inwards, so he’s facing them.

It’s not hard to fall asleep like that; ten years of vigilance are nothing in the face of the warmth and safety trickling down the slowly-widening bond between them. Once, Wu Xie had stood in the boiler room of a great, snaking black train. At the time, he’d been too busy thinking about other things, but right now, all he can remember is the warmth—and the heat of it pales in comparison to this, tenfold.

Some time later, he slowly swims to consciousness in the dawn light, pale, the world around them tinted a dilute blue. Under his head, Pangzi’s chest rises and falls, a slight wheezing snore drifting from his open mouth. Wu Xie’s own lips are wet with the beginnings of drool, and he reaches a clumsy hand to wipe the traces of it away. There’s a low, steady rumble that permeates the air, and his eyes snap open, his body already moving as his mind hurtles, full-speed, across a plan to get them all out of here, away from the impending avalanche—and then he catches sight of Xiaoge, long limbs pulled up and curled against Pangzi’s side, only one, slitted eye visible through the fringe of his hair, and he realises the sound is coming from him.

Pangzi, disturbed by the sudden scramble, cracks his eyes open and lets out a grumbling complaint. “Aiya, Tianzhen, you’re letting the cold in. Get back here, will you? You’re going to freeze our poor Xiaoge.”

Wu Xie blinks a couple times. “Right,” he says, hasty and belated, and gets back under the covers, only for Pangzi to drag him closer so he’s practically laying on top of him. “Hey!”

“Maybe that’ll teach you to move less,” Pangzi says, softly vindictive, and then yawns, eyes scrunching up. “...Xiaoge, is that you?” He drags Xiaoge closer, and the rumbling increases, both in intensity and pitch. The sound goes a little hitching as Xiaoge’s head lands on Pangzi’s chest, a mere hairsbreadth away from Wu Xie’s own. His eyes, no longer narrow, flash in the low-light. The rumbling is loud enough Wu Xie can feel it in his bones.

“Mn,” Xiaoge says, the sound overlaid over the rumbling. 

It takes a moment for Wu Xie to sift through his still sleep-addled thoughts to process it. “Are you...purring?” he manages, eventually, and reaches out a clumsy hand to press against Xiaoge’s chest. It rises and falls beneath his touch, rattling. “Since when can you do that?”

Xiaoge blinks at him. “Always,” he says, as if it should be obvious. Pangzi, beneath them, chokes on a laugh.

“Oh.” Wu Xie processes the words, blinking a few times. “Then why did you never...”

Xiaoge shrugs. “Forgot,” he says, the words quiet, and Wu Xie’s throat tightens. Under them, Pangzi stills, a quiet sigh slipping out. His hand comes up to card through Xiaoge’s hair, and Xiaoge’s eyes slip closed.

“Like a cat,” Pangzi says, fond and amused, after a long moment. Xiaoge doesn’t open his eyes, apparently content with the designation. Wu Xie’s lips twitch. “Who knew our Xiaoge’r was so cute.”

Xiaoge, clearly unbothered by the comment, keeps purring. Wu Xie’s mind is far too sleeplogged to figure out how the fuck that even works—is it a mechanical process that just sounds like purring? Is he tapping into the tech that lines his body? Is it instinctual? On purpose? 

“Your thoughts are too loud,” comes Xiaoge’s quiet voice. “Go to sleep.”

Wu Xie, for once obedient, surrenders. Surrounded by the warmth of the men he loves, he slips back into sleep.

[momosandlemonsoda]

Five Lines Fic Meme

Tagged by: @thesilversun Thanks for the tag!

Rules: find five lines in your fic based on the prompts you are given, then change one of the prompts at the end!

This ended up being all DMBJ, oddly enough.

A Line You Think is Hilarious

From Whooping it up til I die of the shivers, a DMBJ gen-fic. It's a few lines, but you need the set-up to see Xiaoge knock it down:

“What was the point of this venture,” he asked, stepping back from the altar, “if we can’t take any treasure with us?” Wu Xie smiled and patted his shoulder. “Si’Pangzi, the adventure is the point, of course.” He shouldered his pack, and started back toward the entrance. Behind him, Pangzi heard Xiaoge whisper, “And the architecture.” Pangzi burst into laughter as Xiaoge walked past him, then spent the first half hour of the walk dealing with a sulking Wu Xie when he wouldn’t tell him why.

A Line About anger

From Live like a knife blade, also DMBJ, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Liu Sang. His lovers' overprotectiveness comes to a head, and Liu Sang is furious.

“Xiao Sang,” Wu Xie says, “Mmm, when the doctor says it’s ok we’re going to have so much fun fucking you, Xiao Sang.” The words take a moment to penetrate-- he’s so used to Wu Xie talking that he doesn’t register the words immediately. He’s pulling Wu Xie closer when it hits, and then he is suddenly, blindingly angry, furious that he needs permission to fuck. Wu Xie’s weight is no longer soothing, Liu Sang too angry to lose himself in the way Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling can take him apart.  Liu Sang has always expected to fight bigger and stronger opponents-- he’s skinny and he’s no fighter, but what he’s learned he’s practiced until it’s become instinct. Now he lets that instinct take over-- going limp, then tensing and flipping Wu Xie. In a second Wu Xie is on his back, mouth open and gasping, and Liu Sang is sitting up on top of him, straddling his ribs. He catches Wu Xie’s wrists before he catches up to what’s happened, bearing down on them to hold him in place.  “My turn,” he snarls. “Keep your wrists there.”

A Line About Love

From Whatever our reckoning, DMBJ, Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen/Huo Xiuxiu

She glares at him. “Because I want everyone to know, everyone, that they cannot take you. They cannot take you from me, I will not, I will not do that ever—” “And what about me?” Xiazi’s voice cuts through them, “Whose funeral am I attending?” It stops her like little else can, the reminder of their differing lifespans painful to all of them, but somehow it cuts Xiuxiu deeper. The wound Xiao Hua dealt, forcing her to shoulder his death like that, it’s left scars.  She turns to Xiazi, tears streaming freely. But it’s Xiuxiu, fierce, brave Xiuxiu who Xiao Hua cannot remember ever not loving. With back straight and head high, she answers him. “No one’s. No one’s, not ever, not on my watch. No one here is dying.”

A Line About Dreams

From Reach for their scabbards, DMBJ, a Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling/Liu Sang first time.

Zhang Qiling is smiling, a small quirk of his lips. “We want you, Liu Sang,” he says. Then, seeming to consider further clarification necessary, adds bluntly, “We want to have sex with you.” Liu Sang stares at him. Turns back to look at Wu Xie, who still has anime eyes. “This is a dream, right? I fell asleep on the couch and this is all a dream?”

An Atmospheric Line

From An Unexpected Delight, DMBJ, Liu Sang/Wang Can. It is, I regret to inform you all, a Folgers Commercial AU.

Liu Sang lays in that hazy space between sleeping and waking, curled up in three extra blankets, eyes closed, just listening. There’d been a surprise snowfall in the night, and it feels like the city has been blanketed white, the snow softening the usual morning sounds. He’d spent part of last evening wandering around in the snow— rare in Hangzhou these days and cherished as a result. It had been an unexpected delight to nod at his neighbors, everyone dressed in warm coats and hats, as they all walked the streets, catching snowflakes and the children playing in the snow.  Now, though, he hears the crunch of car tires in the snow. It’s unexpected—he’d imagined the flights would be delayed and taxis unwilling, and had resigned himself to his brother’s delayed arrival. 

Tagging: @starstainedwings @foxofninetales @merinnan @cheetahing @acequinz if you want to that is, and any one else who wants to do it even if not tagged

Prompts:

A Line You Think is Hilarious

A Line About Fear

A Line About Love

A Line About Dreams

An Atmospheric Line

[onmyo-jin]

Heya, if you're still doing the kiss meme, either:

A-Ning/Wang Pangzi 35

or

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen 40

Thanks!

Ohhh both delicious ideas! I've been in a heihua mood since the heihua movie lately so I'm going for that one! So this is heihua 40: a kiss …because the world is ending.

(I'm still taking prompts! Feel free to join in, you can find the post with the complete list here) (edit: now with more non-kiss options here)

The distant clouds didn't seem so distant now.

Their size didn't help, of course: each singular cloud large enough to fill half the horizon, stacked on on top of the other until they ate the last of the blue sky with black-grey slate. Their inexorable progress carried a darkness imprenetrable even to Hei Xiazi's eyes. He'd come from the borderlands of that darkness, bearing dire warnings and orders to flee.

Few enough ever took Hei Xiazi seriously. Most of the time Xie Yuchen counted himself amongst them, but something about Hei Xiazi's urgency told him he should believe at least this much. The perfect stillness, as if waiting for battle, had replaced the man's usual sprawl of pointless movements. What was left behind was evidence of the coming end.

Xiao Hua hadn't bothered to ask questions. What answers he had Hei Xiazi did not seem to want to share.

On top of the lighthouse was not a good place to stay, if they had the option to stand and fight-- but how does one fight nature? So the lighthouse had been chosen as a watch tower. They might not be able to do anything about it, but they could see it coming at least, the encroaching darkness that seemed to leave nothing behind.

Xiao Hua felt the cold metal of the railing under his hands, pressing into his skin with icy frost and rusty teeth. Uncomfortable. Real.

"Hua'er?" Hei Xiazi's voice drifted up from the hatch. Xie Yuchen chose not to comment on the fear barely hiding itself in that question. Hei Xiazi might not talk about what those clouds brought, but he certainly knew more than he'd told him.

"Here."

The hatch squeaked open, and Hei Xiazi climbed up on there less-than-stellar balcony. The view was imposing, but Xiao Hua would give his whole fortune to be elsewhere- if any of that money had still been worth anything.

"So close already..." Too close to outrun, now, he didn't say.

The winds filled the silence around them, cloud cover advancing over land and over sea. Surrounded.

As if he'd heard that thought Hei Xiazi planted his hands on the icy metal railing, one on either side of Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua twisted around and realized his mistake even as he moved. Hei Xiazi now practically had him pinned against the railing.

"What-" Warm lips met his, a stark contrast to the cold air. Xiao Hua froze- he'd thought about this, at times, if he was honest with himself. Not that he'd tell Hei Xiazi about that. But now? Now, of all times?

Hell, why not now.

Xiao Hua wrapped his cold hands around Hei Xiazi, under his jacket, close to his skin, and pulled him flush against himself. Hei Xiazi kissed him messily, mouth open en lips inviting, and Xiao Hua allowed himself to be drawn in. He caught a bottom lip between his teeth, and savoured the pathetic whine Hei Xiazi made in response.

When released Hei Xiazi kissed his way away from those sharp teeth, the coward. Instead he trailed a sticky path of heated kisses down Xiao Hua's chin, down his neck, and finally nuzzling against his skin when his shirt finally blocked his path.

"Always wanted to do that," Hei Xiazi's grin could be felt against his skin.

"Jerk. Did you have to wait until the end of things to do that?"

[bladedweaponsandswishycoats]

writing patterns meme!

Ok I have now been tagged for this by @lunarriviera, @the-marron, and @rainsfalling so let's go!

rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern!

10) A Chance Encounter (Guardian, DMBJ)

"Stop! Don't tou—" Zhang Qiling shouted, too far away across the room to do more than warn.

9) just this once (Guardian, DMBJ (Explore with the Note))

Crackle

It took Shen Wei a little while to locate the source, even with his abilities.

8) pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow (Guardian)

At some point, Shen Wei realizes he is grieving.

7) paper covers rock (Guardian, DMBJ (Flowery Night))

The knock on the door was light, little more than a polite tapping.

6) Necessary Care (Guardian)

Chu Shuzhi stepped into the office, closing the door behind him and then leaning against it.

5) bitter thing (Guardian)

Lin Jing's call was garbled, "…weird—something, it's not human, or not anymore—"

4) Around and Around (Guardian)

Bells ring the court into mourning; from the imperial eunuch's eyes, Shennong's Bowl looks on silently.

3) soulweight (Guardian)

"You don't have enough bodies, do you?" Shen Wei asks.

2) Unwelcome News (Guardian, Modu)

"SIB? What the hell—?" Zhu Jiu watches from behind a tree across the street, frowning deeply.

1 ) Lessons Not Taught in Museum Collections Management (DMBJ):

“What do you mean, ‘it’s sad’?” Pangzi scoffed, his attention still mostly on his phone and the auction he was about to earn an obscene amount of money from.

Patterns: Almost equally divided between past and present tense, which surprised me. (I used to write in mostly past, but when I read Guardian I started writing in present more because the translation I read was in present.) About half start with dialogue, which feels about right. Numbers 1, 3, 4, and 8 all started with the first line coming to me, and then the rest of the fic being an attempt to follow that up. Lots of in media res starts, which doesn't surprise me. Fewer ambiguous starts than I expected (ambiguous in the sense of it not being immediately apparent who the pov is).

Ok I am coming to this meme late so I imagine it is likely most people have already seen it, and I have been very negligent about checking tumblr, so apologies! @iamwestiec @lacommunarde @foxofninetales

@thelaithlyworm @withbroombefore @vyther15

[lunarriviera]

Su Wan is supposed to come over the next night with takeout, but it’s the day when everything goes to hell. Su Wan goes and gets himself kidnapped, and Li Cu is losing his mind, pacing around his apartment and feeling like he’s going to rip something apart with his bare hands.

Wu Xie is first through the door.

“Are you okay,” says Wu Xie, looking shaken. Behind him are Wang Pangzi and a man Li Cu has never seen before, but he knows immediately it’s the mute one. Yaba Zhang, Hei Xiazi called him. He’s tall and slender in tight black jeans and a dark blue hoodie, and he should look ridiculous with a sword slung across his back but he doesn’t. His face and eyes are unnaturally calm and frankly, he looks terrifying. He also doesn’t look that much older than Li Cu. No wonder Wu Xie has boyfriend problems.

“I’m fine,” Li Cu tells him, and hates the way his voice wavers. “It’s Su Wan. They’ve got Su Wan.”

Wu Xie and the mute guy look at each other. Some complicated communication passes between them, and without a word the mute guy—Zhang Qiling—glides out of the room again.

“Did you call Xiazi?” Wu Xie asks. Li Cu sits down on his desk abruptly, nerveless.

“He’s out of the country. South Vietnam, Su Wan said. Like for a while now.”

Wu Xie sits down beside Li Cu and, after a moment’s hesitation, offers him a cigarette from the pack. Li Cu takes it, lets Wu Xie light it and takes a long shaky drag. Wang Pangzi crosses his arms and just stands there. “Okay, start from the beginning. Tell me what you know.”

In clipped sentences Li Cu gives him the gist: six men all in black, black masks, trained, armed, broad fucking daylight. Su Wan had been waiting for his car to pick him up and Li Cu was a few blocks away when he saw, and headed for them at a dead sprint, all but throwing his body towards them. Two black Range Rovers. They had the bag over Su Wan’s head and had muscled him into one of the cars and taken off before Li Cu could get anywhere near them. He’d bent over in the street, panting, trying not to throw up, mouth metallic with saliva, legs shaking.

Then he called Wu Xie.

“The Wangs haven’t had time to regroup,” Wu Xie says, looking at Pangzi. “We didn’t leave much.”

Li Cu sees it all over again: the explosions, the compound flying into pieces, chunks of rubble. Su Nan. Shen Qiong, her body rolling towards him in the fallen leaves, forehead streaked with blood. He closes his eyes, hard, then opens them again. He cannot, cannot think about her right now. He has to think about Su Wan.

“Maybe not,” he says, “but they were definitely Wangs. And they didn’t hurt him.” He looks at Wu Xie. “I think they want you.”

“I know,” says Wu Xie.

“It’s a trap,” Li Cu says.

“I know,” Wu Xie says again. “I happen to be pretty good at those.”

you bear the scars, you've done your time (10440 words) by lunarriviera chapters: 2/2 fandom: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei, 沙海 | Tomb of the Sea (TV) rating: explicit warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings relationships: Li Cu/Wu Xie, Li Cu/Yang Hao, Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling characters: Li Cu, Su Wan, Yang Hao, Wu Xie, Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling tags: Post-Canon, Age Difference, Mob Widow Wu Xie, Mob Boss Wu Xie, Consensual Sex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Canon-Typical Violence, Background Relationships, Past Child Abuse, Dark Wu Xie series: Part 2 of all your perfectly delivered lines

[daydreamorama]

For the New Year's Ask: 5, 8 and 13 please 💕

Thanks for the ask! the full list can be found here

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?

I am currently busily working on my lunar new year fic exchange treat, but that's no fun cause I can't talk about it. So after that I hope to buckle down and get more of the wip titled 'hei Xiazi bdsm verse' (which is funny cause Liu Sang is the main character) I started it over a year ago, it's a BDSM, Firefighter AU with no set pairing/group, just a mess of relationship lines.

Here's a bit of a snippet from what will be probably part of the first chapter

Liu Sang had not been anticipating Xiaoge showing up at the dorms with his motorcycle, and he really had to kick himself.  What had he expected? Xiaoge to drive Pangzi’s van? Liu Sang took a second to close his eyes and calm his nerves that had suddenly flared, he had been doing good at ignoring what was going to happen, then gingerly got on the back of the motorcycle.  He placed his arms gingerly on Xiaoge’s waist, not wanting to be creepy, or encroach on Xiaoge’s personal space, but Xiaoge grabbed his hand and pulled and said, “Tighter.”  So Liu Sang hugged him, and tried his best not to think about it as Xiaoge revved his engine and drove, slowly, off.  Xiaoge only ever touched people when it was necessary, and Liu Sang had definitely never been this close to him.  This felt way too intimate.

8 Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

Well I think after the dubcon Tentacle Porn I cowrote, bravery doesn't enter into it anymore :). (That said I do have a immoral slave owner Wu Xie (aka Liu Sang whump) piece... I have about 8k of it written aha).

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic?

Not really! I want to explore different styles of fanfic and different writings, but creating in other ways doesn't currently appeal to me. (though knitting something fannish does sound fun!)

[epicwalrus]

Xiao-Ge just wants to help 🥺

Wu Xie, Xiao-Ge and Wang Pangzi have fled Changsha, hiding out deep in the mountains in the original Wushanju. When Xiao-Ge awakens from his coma with no memories, Wu Xie promises to help him recover them. As they pass the winter in hiding, both Wu Xie and the now-amnesiac Xiao-Ge grow closer, Wu Xie resumes his hunt for the Wangs despite the distance between himself and his allies back home, and strangers flit between the trees.

Part 2 of the Blood and Gold series.

Snippet:

Xiao-Ge followed Wu Xie from the bathroom, keeping him in the corner of his eye. He was pale, and the shadows under his eyes had become permanent at some point during the last few weeks. Xiao-Ge swore he was losing weight, too, his appetite dwindling and his jumpers hanging slightly looser than he remembered.  Breakfast passed silently as he and Pangzi exchanged worried glances over Wu Xie’s half-hearted picking. Xiao-Ge placed a rolled jian bing in Wu Xie’s bowl. Wu Xie smiled weakly and ate it, but without the gusto he once had. After breakfast, Wu Xie drifted to the living room, and Xiao-Ge followed close behind. Wu Xie now checked the surveillance recordings every morning, searching for the two strangers who had appeared a month ago. Xiao-Ge sat at his side, scanning the footage for any hint of movement. There was none. The strangers hadn’t dared approach the house since Xiao-Ge’s confrontation with them. That knowledge calmed something inside Xiao-Ge. He had managed to keep Wu Xie and Pangzi safe, at least for now. Wu Xie’s scolding had been a worthy price in exchange for his safety. 

Read More on Ao3

[unforth]

(post UN Iron Triangle OT3)

"You can leave if you want to." Wu Xie stared into Xiaoge's eyes, trying to read his expression. They were so close that every time Xiaoge inhaled, their chests touched, yet Xiaoge didn't look like he wanted to be there - didn't look like he wanted to be with Wu Xie.

But he didn't look like he wanted to leave, either.

"Oi, Tianzhen," snapped Pangzi, coming up behind Xiaoge and wrapping his arms around Xiaoge's shoulders. "You think he'd be standing 5 cm from you if he wanted to leave? Just kiss already."

Grimacing, Wu Xie broke eye contact, but kept his hands on Xiaoge's hips. It'd been so long since they'd shared any intimacy. He missed Xiaoge so much it made him sick, so much that the guilt roiled him whenever he was alone with Pangzi, because shouldn't Pangzi be enough? But Pangzi alone wasn't enough, and Wu Xie knew that he alone wasn't enough for Pangzi, either. They were only complete as a threesome, would never have been together at all if not for Xiaoge.

But also he knew, without knowing a single detail, that too many people had forced Xiaoge to do too many things he didn't wish to over too many years. He'd never let himself become another person who used Zhang Qiling.

"You think he'd let me do this if he wanted to leave?" Pangzi grumbled; Wu Xie looked up to see Pangzi slathering open-mouthed kisses on Xiaoge's neck.

"I don't know..." Wu Xie murmured. "I don't know what to think." All he knew was that Xiaoge had come into the room and stopped before the bed, had leaned in when Wu Xie had touched him but not reached out in return, had invited everything but reciprocated nothing.

His gaze returned to Xiaoge, starting down where their hips were slotted together - and he could feel Xiaoge's interest, that much was undeniable! - and trailed up the black T-shirt like a thin second skin over his chest, to his neck where Pangzi's attentions were starting to leave red marks, to his lips that Wu Xie longed to kiss, to his deep, black eyes in which Wu Xie could lose himself forever, more thoroughly than ever he could get lost in a tomb. They were wide, beautiful, lost; light glimmered in the moisture gathered along their lower rims.

"I don't think he knows, either," added Wu Xie. The cues were small, subtle, but finally Wu Xie thought he understood. "You've forgotten, haven't you?" Xiaoge's lips quirked down in the slightest of responses. "You've forgotten here" - Wu Xie raised a hand, ran the fingers softly over Xiaoge's forehead, brushed errant strands of hair aside, felt the shiver, or maybe tremble, buzzing just beneath Xiaoge's skin - "but you remember here..." Wu Xie skimmed his fingers along the stark line of Xiaoge's cheek, down his perfect neck, along is clavicle, then dipped to settle, flat-palmed, on Xiaoge's chest.

Thu-thump resounded up his arm, thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump, so vibrant and alive and present.

Xiaoge gave the faintest nod.

No matter what happened happened now or in the future, Wu Xie was still in Xiaoge's heart. The problem was that in Xiaoge's head, he couldn't remember Wu Xie and Wang Pangzi beyond the events that had occurred after his last encounter with Chen Wenjin.

"Do you want us to stop?" Oh, Qiling, I hope you don't want to stop...I can only imagine how confusing, how scary, how different, this is for you...but stay with us, please...

Xiaoge gave the faintest shake of his head.

"Then let us help you remember," whispered Wu Xie, closing the distance between them to bring his lips to rest against Xiaoge's. They were as soft as Wu Xie remembered, as hot as he had craved, as perfect as he had longed for. Heat throbbed outward, billowing through Wu Xie's chest, pulsing in time the heartbeat hastening under the hand he yet had pressed to Xiaoge's chest.

And oh, did Xiaoge reciprocate, finally, with urgency, passion, desire, and - dare Wu Xie hope? - love.

"Finally," exclaimed Pangzi. "I swear you two. Why did this take so long? All you had to do was..."

Pangzi was still talking, but Wu Xie didn't care, couldn't listen.

Finally, Xiaoge was back.

[hils79]

Monday Fic Recs

Hei Xiazi/Wu Xie (DMBJ)

Remind Me to Kiss You When You Wake Up by angelofmusic46

Keeping Wu Xie alive was second nature at this point.

I am so weak for Sha Hai era fics and this is so wonderful.

Liu San/Iron Triangle (DMBJ)

Broken (Won't Someone Take Me Home) by asmadasa_hatter

In hindsight, Liu Sang really should have known he’d die alone.

I love Pangzi and the Pangsang undertones and how much the Triangle loves Liu Sang. This is soft and perfect and lovely.

Wu Xie/Wang Pangzi (DMBJ)

Spirometer by forerussake

Loving Pangzi is as easy as breathing. That is the comparison Wu Xie used to make, before his lungs started rotting away, before Thunder City and his miraculous recovery. Wu Xie’s lungs may be cured now, but other things take more time. In the aftermath of his illness, in the aftermath of almost dying, with fear and guilt like a constant weight pressing down on Wu Xie’s chest, comparing his love for Pangzi to breathing of all things doesn’t quite seem to work anymore. Not like it used to.

Perhaps Wu Xie has it all wrong though. Perhaps the comparison was never about the ease, but about the effort. Recovery is much the same in that respect. Luckily neither of them have to do it alone.

This is so soft and lovely. I legit cried.

always be my guiding light by ravenditefairylights

Pangzi stops at the nearest space rest station that's far too busy for his liking, meets a young man with bright eyes and a beautiful smile and gets more than he bargained for.

This is such a wonderful first meeting AU.

Gen (DMBJ)

enter this place in peace by dinomight

Liu Sang finds something unexpected in the ruins of an elven temple.

I can't believe there was a Dragon Age/DMBJ fusion and I somehow missed it. This is perfect.

All Your Blood and Your Curses by anonymous

In which the Iron Triangle makes their way out of Tamutuo and finds getting out nearly as difficult as getting in.

Some lovely hurt/comfort

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen (DMBJ)

blur out my periphery by lunarriviera

“You should order for me,” said Xiao Hua, so quietly no one else could have heard him.

Hei Xiazi felt his eyebrows climb. “You don’t drink when you work.”

Without looking away, Xiao Hua gestured to the room around them: dark-paneled, close, its few entrances and exits already marked out by both of them. “We’re not working, and this is safe. You,” he said, leaning in a little, enough that Hei Xiazi could see his eyelashes, “make me feel safe.”

This gave me so many feelings. Absolutely beautiful piece of writing.

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan (Guardian)

In which the Iron Triangle makes their way out of Tamutuo and finds getting out nearly as difficult as getting in.Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan

No Sweeter Innocence by missingnowrites

Shen Wei was raised in the temple as a devoted disciple to Kunlun. He is elated to be chosen as the sacrifice Kunlun's bride...

...if only he wasn't in love with Zhao Yunlan, the merchant boy from the next town over.

This is such a lovely AU

[sunriseverse]

kiss meme!!! 12!! in grief!!!

grief? you want a kiss of grief? woe! kiss of grief on ye!

-

Here, in this room, the air is quiet, weighty. Xiaoge's breaths seem louder than a roaring river. He can feel them circulate through him, his lungs expanding and compressing in time with Pangzi's form on the bed, his eyes closed and his chest raising and falling in a barely-visible tempo. His memories of Pangzi are layered over this reality; agile, loud, lively, a mirage-shimmer over the present.

"I can feel you staring," comes Pangzi's crackling, age-mellowed tone. His eyes have slipped open, and he's looking at Xiaoge through the cracks. "Am I really that alluring?" It's a joke, and his lips tremble faintly at the corners, as if he's laughing at himself.

Xiaoge crosses the small distance between them. "Always," he says, simply, because it's true. He loves this man as much now as he had loved him fifteen years ago, had loved him thirty years before. Still, it does nothing to dull the ache of loss—both of the past, and of the future. Wu Xie's ghost hangs in the threads between them; soon, only Xiaoge will carry the memory of him.

Pangzi sighs; raises a trembling hand to grasp at Xiaoge's. "Onto the next adventure, eh?" he says. "I'll give Tianzhen your regards, when I see him." When, he says, and Xiaoge isn't sure if he's certain, or reassuring. "Ah, Xiaoge'r, don't be sad. You'll still be around when we come back. Just don't laugh at us if we're ugly next time, eh?"

As if that were ever a concern. To Xiaoge, they will never be anything but beautiful, because he loves them. He turns his hand over, slips his fingers between Pangzi's. The other's eyes have already fluttered shut, and the rise and fall of his chest slows from almost imperceptible to entirely absent. Zhang Qiling knows the moment it happens—can sense the lively, energetic warmth of Pangzi slipping from his body. What's left behind is a hollow shell of a man, the heat of his body cooling already. Zhang Qiling swallows, and leans over; brushes a stray, silver curl away from the beloved, calm features of his face, and presses a kiss to his forehead, Pangzi's once-smooth skin papery beneath his lips. His throat is constricted with emotion; Zhang Qiling has never been one to cry over grief, but for the second time in his life, he wishes he were, because at least that would mark the importance of this occasion. Instead, he breathes, presses his eyes shut, and swallows. He should begin; they've had plans for this in place for years, and they need to be put into motion. But for the moment, he can't bear to move. "Next time," he says, and wills it to be a promise.

[justawanderingbabbit]

DrawTober 2023 - Day 04

I am behind on my drawtobers, so hopefully I'll be able to do two tomorrow. For now, have this...

"Really, I don't know why we're bothering." Wu Xie ignored Pangzi's grumbles, making his way up the long staircase of Leifeng Shan. And wasn't that a repetitive name? Feng and Shan weren't quite the same things but they were close enough.

Admittedly, where else would a priest of this region's thunder god - not the same one as the one down south - live but amongst the rains and storms of Thunder Peak Mountain. Looking at the pavilion at the top of the steps, Wu Xie could tell it hadn't been named for the pagoda back home in Hangzhou.

Thunder echoed around them, soft and constant drumrolls following thin bolts of lightning embroidering dark grey clouds. They swirled around the building, obscuring it briefly then parting to show grey stone covered in delicate carvings.

Wu Xie would have loved to stop and examine everything but they were there to meet the priest of the Thunder God, to find out if his uncle's search for the southern Thunder God's temple had taken him to this place.

According to what he'd been told, the priest wasn't there often, only during the rain season, for obvious reasons. "We're bothering because it might be important. That cult of Erjing's might have had ties to this one. I'd rather know about it than have something sneak up on us. Right Xiaoge?"

Xiaoge, who'd paused a half dozen steps ahead of them and was gazing into the pavilion with interest, gave a nod. "Someone we know," he said. "No surprise, really."

Someone they knew? Wu Xie hurried up the steps, dragging Pangzi along beside him. And when he reached the top to stand beside Xiaoge, he realized just how right he was.

The man hadn't noticed them yet, but he seemed busy, listening to the constant song of thunder surrounding them. Likely that was why. Even a talented soundmapper would be hard put to hear much over that noise. Not at this distance.

And talented soundmapper it was, a very familiar one. Red hair hanging loose, slender body covered in loose bright silks, large eyes closed, head tilted to catch every roll of thunder. His presence was unexpected and a revelation.

After all, if anyone had the talent and skill to be a proper priest of the thunder god, it was Liu Sang.

[tazzy-ace]

Ohh for the theoretical fic summary, how about this:

Wu Xie has seen a lot. In fact up until this very moment he would have argued that he had truly seen it all, but apparently not. Shadowy figures he had seen enough. Shadowy figures with black smoke for a face - maybe not something so specific, but it still wasn't anything wildly out of his scope of experience.

No, what he was truly unprepared for was such a figure to pop out of nowhere in the middle of a tomb and politely ask him to put back the artefact he just picked up.

From the Fic Summary Ask game. Oooo this is so good. Have a little stream of consciousness tidbit:

Xiaoge was on edge in this tomb. It wasn't uncommon but he nearly always right when he'd warn the others of the Iron Triangle not to tread to heavily. Pangzi was doing his due diligence, pointing things out to Xiaoge for approval before he dared touch. Wu Xie ... Well, Wu Xie had been trying his hardest to do the same, but sometimes he gets so wrapped up in the moment that he reaches before his brain fully catches up to him. A small chest with the lid already hanging open had taught his eye. It was cushioned to the perfect shape of the curved statue, almost making a full circle. Probably Jade. A dragon with it's horns curving upwards and small details in the face. It looked like each individual tooth had been carved, a detail that wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been tucked away out of reach of so many. But why would the lid already be open? Wu Xie should close the chest. It's a nearly overwhelming urge telling him to do so. Just one quick look before he did wouldn't hurt though. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation between Pangzi and Xiaoge in the background until it suddenly cut off. Wu Xie turns quickly to see what had caused such abrupt silence, the jade dragon still in hand, only to see Xiaoge and Pangzi frozen in place. Between them and Wu Xie was a shadowy figure. Not the weirdest thing Wu Xie had ever seen, even with the black smoke almost circling around where the figure's face should be, but his still companions was enough to make him concerned. He was about to demand what the figure wanted when a gentle voice came from it. "You need to put that back. Only horrible things come to those that attempt to remove that dragon from this place." That voice... Wu Xie knew that voice. It was one that he adored, still with that softness and care that was always directed towards him. "Shen Wei?"

I was originally going to have this be a stand alone little tidbit and just use the vibes as inspiration for a similar event in the Steady Lives & Steady Loves series on ao3 that you suggested in comments, but this is what happens when I just let my mind loose jksjs. So here's a sneak peek for another Shenxie fic to come! :D Thanks for the prompt. This was a great way to get the writing brain up and running (a struggle, as you know) 💙

[pangzi]

“The only thing is, why is there only one bed?” Wu Xie notes with a playful frown as he points at their new bed. “How do we sleep this way? You’re too big for the couch.”

“This bed is for both of us!” Pangzi replies, trying to hold back a grin at Wu Xie’s childish antics. 

Before he knows it, Wu Xie is throwing himself on the bed. “What do you mean, both of us?” He sits up straight and holds up a hand to shush Pangzi and his complaints. “Whoever sits on it first gets the bed. Now it’s mine.” 

He looked incredibly proud of his childish solution to their ‘problem’. Pangzi laughs and shakes his head. 

“Who made up those rules? Don’t we always split things evenly?” Then just as childish, Pangzi adds, “Actually, I should take two-thirds based on my size.”

Sadly, Wu Xie was prepared for this silly argument. Of course he was, there’s nobody in the world better at coming up with petty arguments than Wu Xie. 

“Exactly!” Wu Xie agrees at first. “Because of your size, neither of us can be comfortable here, right? So if you sleep on the couch and I sleep here…” 

“You want to be comfortable?” Pangzi grins mischievously. 

Wu Xie nods proudly, certain he has won.

“Well then, Tianzhen. You should cherish the time we have together. Who knows when I’ll move out!” 

“Move out?” Wu Xie asks, clearly confused. There was a pleading look in his eyes for a moment, sad at the mere thought of one day being separated from Pangzi.

In his confusion, Pangzi takes his chance and launches himself at him. 

A smile instantly appears on Wu Xie’s face again as he shakes his head and tries to hold Pangzi off. “No! Pangzi! I told you, whoever sits on it first gets it!” 

But Pangzi easily pushes him onto his back on the bed and straddles his waist. He grips Wu Xie’s wrists and presses them down against the mattress, completely immobilising Wu Xie.

Wu Xie squirms a bit under him, only stopping once Pangzi’s hands slide up and intertwines their fingers together. He bites his lip harshly when Pangzi leans down close with a grin and asks, “What was that again? Whoever sits on it first gets it?” Then Pangzi rolls his hips against Wu Xie’s. Wu Xie instantly starts squirming under him again, hips pressing back urgently. “Well I sat on this first, does that mean I get it?” 

He evades Wu Xie’s attempt to kiss him easily, urging him for an answer with a stern but playful look and another roll of his hips. 

Wu Xie lets his head fall back against the mattress and moans softly, both in arousal and despair from being denied a kiss. He nods decisively, though. “Yeah… Yes, you get it, Pangzi, it’s all yours.” 

“All mine?” Pangzi repeats. 

“I always have been,” Wu Xie replies softly.

Pangzi’s eyes soften immediately as he breathes in slowly, as if this information is news to him. 

Deftly, Wu Xie slips his hands out of Pangzi’s grip. He reaches up to cup his cheeks, fingers itching to curl into his neatly coiffed hair. Then he repeats himself, pressing the words into Pangzi’s skin with a kiss. Hoping he’ll believe it this time and will never forget.

[AO3]

[forerussake]

one line any fic! rules: pick ten of your fics, scroll to somewhere midpoint, pick a line chunk and share it, and then tag ten people

I was tagged by the amazing @lynne-monstr thank you!! this one was a lot of fun! most of these are quite recent. tt became hard to pick, at some point i wanted to just include everything i’ve ever written, but that wasn’t playing nice :( some of these got a little long too, but “chunk” wasn’t very specific so i’m saying not my problem xD

1. Spirometer (DMBJ, Reboot, Pangxie)

“The same nightmare?” Pangzi asks, his voice soft and deep and so very warm, still a little rough with sleep.

He steps around Wu Xie, sits down on the edge of the bathtub, still easily within reach, one hand still on Wu Xie’s shoulder, the other not stopping its gentle motions in his hair.

Wu Xie nods.

“I couldn’t breathe,” he whispers, and he hates it.

2. in tune (Guardian, Weilan)

“Dark energy is not alive in the biological sense. It’s not an organism comprised of living cells, and yet it does live in a way. I don’t know how else to describe it. It feels alive. It’s a life force. I wouldn’t exist without it. It’s as integral to my existence as my brain, my nerves, my heart, my DNA.”

He breathes in deeply, closing his eyes and tuning out the sound of the rain and the thunder outside, closer now, focusing on his own energy instead. He feels it humming under his skin, swirling around in his core and flowing through the rest of him, tingling at his fingertips.

“It’s almost like a symbiotic relationship,” he murmurs, opening his eyes and looking up Zhao Yunlan again, “except it really is a part of me. There’s patterns to it. Like energy signatures. Unique to every individual. Like frequencies of sound waves, or of light, except a thousand times more complicated than that. It’s– not uneven, but… it breathes. It’s alive. I can’t describe it any other way.”

3. As though the sun has come to call (Z1L RPF)

Zhu Yilong wishes sometimes that he had more time to spend with friends, and to visit his parents. He thinks he could probably make some more time for it if he tried. He doesn’t have to sprint from one project to the next, from filming to photoshoots to interviews and back to filming without end, at least until Chan-jie makes him take a break.

He doesn’t have to do that, but it is how he works. Choosing the noise to surround himself with instead of letting it wash over him until he drowns.

4. Kaleidoscope (Guardian)

“Why wouldn’t you?” one of them asks after a moment, and Deng Suyin looks back at her, then at her other friends, and then across the room at Li Qian and the professor, and then she bursts into tears.

Li Qian is frozen in place for a moment, wanting to come to xiao-Deng’s rescue but not quite knowing how. Professor Shen has no such doubts.

“Some people don’t,” he says, his voice firm and even, either consciously or unconsciously slipping into lecture tones, albeit a little softer, “and that is perfectly normal, and those people don’t have to have sex or get married anyway just to conform to what society has wrongfully deemed to be the norm.”

5. a hand within a hand (holding light), chapter 5 (Guardian)

Professor Shen looks frazzled. He looks exhausted and shaky and… upset? His jaw is clenched, lips pressed tightly together. There’s so much tension in his posture that it looks almost painful to Liu Chang. His fingers are clenched around the straps of his backpack in a white-knuckled grip, seemingly to keep them from shaking. He looks the most out of sorts Liu Chang has ever seen him. As if that sense of familiarity behind the concern Liu Chang saw in his eyes when he asked the professor for that extended deadline and the hidden tiredness he’s been observing for weeks and the sense of miserable restraint and longing he has seen in him during his conversations with chief Zhao, have all been combined into one and magnified by a factor of ten thousand.

from here on i was running out of space and had to start picking and choosing one thing from every fandom i’ve written for *wails*, under the cut!

6. With the changing of a thousand seasons (DMBJ, Mystic Nine, Fuba)

He can’t, because he’s the one who has to keep it together, who has to hold down the fort, until Foye is better and Erye is too, until Zhang Rishan has pulled himself together again, and madam Yin is able to stand still for long enough to take a proper breath for the first time since all of this nonsense started.

“He’s not going to die,” Qi Tiezui says, “he’s not going to die, he’s not going to die.”

And he’s aware his eyes are starting to fill up with tears and it’s making his glasses fog up, and every time he says those words they sound less like a statement and more like a question, more frantic, borderline hysterical, less and less like he actually believes them.

“He’s not going to die, he’s not going to die, he’s not going to die?”

7. A ballad of burning lungs and bated breath (Tolkien, Silmarillion)

“It’s always the same story, isn’t it?” Maglor scoffs. “It’s always time, or fate, there’s never a choice around here.”

Finrod looks like he wants to protest that statement, but Maglor doesn’t give him the chance to. Instead he mounts the brown horse, and leaves his cousin standing in the dust.

It takes a while for Finrod to catch up with him.

“You’re wrong, you know,” he says, as soon as he does, and Maglor wants to roll his eyes at him but can’t. Not when it’s that sentence. Not when it’s spoken in that tone. By a person with those curls in their hair.

8. Of stars and city lights and sun, of all the lights that lead us home (QZGS/TKA, Sun Xiang/XIao Shiqin)

“But how do you know?” Sun Xiang asks again, frustration seeping into his voice, frustration and fear, so much fear, and Xiao Shiqin can’t bear it. Just as much as he cannot say no to Sun Xiang anymore, he cannot bear to see him so afraid.

So Xiao Shiqin repeats:

“You just know. You look at them. Really look at them. And you know.”

Sun Xiang stares out the window some more, jaw clenched and throat bobbing as he swallows, his breath shaking as he exhales.

“You just look?”

Xiao Shiqin nods.

“You just look.”

9. In pieces yet at peace (YYM: DOE)

Killing Stone breathes in, a sharp gasping breath, surprised at the fire in Honey Bug’s words, the worry and pain and, yes, anger, anger not at him, but at the situation, at the darkness playing tricks on his mind. He can only nod.

“Then live,” she whispers, her voice shaky with tears, “Let me help you, and live.”

“Yes,” he says, “alright.”

10. Counting the promised as yet unbroken (MDZS/CQL, Nielan)

“Mingjue!” he howls, all thought of anything but his friend’s approaching death fleeing his mind.

He has never moved so fast in his entire life. Two steps he rushes up the hill, Baxia raised above his head, to kill, to save. He has never moved so fast in his life and yet he knows it is not enough. He wasn’t quick enough to get them to safety and now he won’t be quick enough to save his friend from being stabbed to death. He won’t be quick enough to keep his promise.

Time seems to slow as the soldier’s sword descends, getting ever closer to Mingjue’s chest, closer to the heart only barely still beating within it, closer to ending the life of one of the three people Xichen cares about the most in the entire world.

Tagging: @pangzi @stupid-lemon-eater @psychic-waffles @scaredysap @programmedradly @the-marron @lunarriviera @lucientelrunya @hils79 @sharkbeneaththelotus @elenothar if you want to do this :)