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“Nie Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue bellows and it effectively brings his brother running.
“What?” Nie Huaisang asks warily, flipping his fan open and close in a nervous gesture and Nie Mingjue holds up the letter he just read.
“What is this?” he demands to know and Nie Huaisang eyes it for a moment before he shrugs.
“A letter?” he says, hiding his cheeky grin behind his fan and Nie Mingjue rolls his eyes at him.
“A letter, he says,” Nie Mingjue grumbles, and then louder, “it’s a goddamn courtship proposal.”
“So not unlike the fifty other proposals you have gotten,” Nie Huaisang says and Nie Mingjue shakes the letter at him.
“It’s not signed,” Nie Mingjue growls out and Nie Huaisang’s eyes light up in understanding.
“Ah.”
“And there was a pressed flower in it,” Nie Mingjue goes on, because it doesn’t seem like his brother understands his plight at all.
“So?” Nie Huaisang wants to know and he puts the fan away to come closer, admiring the artfully arranged pressed flower on Nie Mingjue’s desk.
“So, every courtship has to go through you. So you know who this is from.”
“Yes, I do in fact know,” Nie Huaisang tells him and he doesn’t seem particularly eager to elaborate on that.
“Who is it?” Nie Mingjue demands to know but Nie Huaisang only shrugs.
“They want to stay anonymous for now,” he tells him and Nie Mingjue raises his eyebrows at him.
“And you’re allowing this?” he asks.
“Yes,” Nie Huaisang says with vehemence and it instantly puts something in Nie Mingjue at ease.
His little brother would never allow a total idiot to court Nie Mingjue, that’s why he asks for every courtship proposal to go through Nie Huaisang first, since he has the better insight into the human nature and he has no problems telling someone no, even though he likes pretending that he does.
“You approve of this person.”
“I like them,” Nie Huaisang agrees and that alone is something to win that mystery person some points.
Nie Mingjue could never accept a courtship if his brother was against the other person.
“Okay, fine,” Nie Mingjue huffs out after a while. “I will allow it.”
“How generous of you,” Nie Huaisang says, and Nie Mingjue hears the sarcasm in his voice, but he doesn’t comment on it.
“They better strive to impress me,” Nie Mingjue mutters as he carefully picks up the dried flower.
It’s really gorgeous, still a vibrant orange, and Nie Mingjue gently puts it down farther to the left, out of the way but still in his sight.
“They certainly will try their best,” Nie Huaisang calls over his shoulder, throwing a quick knowing glance at the flower and then dashing away.
Nie Mingjue shakes his head as he reads through the letter again. It’s pretty generic as courtship proposals go, but if they want to keep their identity secret for now, then Nie Mingjue guesses they don’t have a lot of other choices.
The flower itself is already a pretty remarkable gift in itself, Nie Mingjue figures. He never received any flowers before.
He wonders what this mystery person will come up with next.
~*~*~
“It’s oil,” Nie Mingjue flatly says as he holds the tiny vial this and that way.
“It’s a special sabre oil,” Nie Huaisang corrects and Nie Mingjue knows his brother well enough to know that he’s despairing over Nie Mingjue’s apparent ignorance of the finer things.
“And what do I do with a special sabre oil?” he asks, mostly to rile Nie Huaisang up.
“You use it on your sabre” Nie Huaisang presses out, voice carefully controlled as if he’s speaking to a particularly dumb child.
“You don’t say,” Nie Mingjue replies with wide eyes and watches in satisfaction how it still takes his brother a few seconds to understand that Nie Mingjue is teasing him.
“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang chides him and hits his arm with his fan. “It’s pretty expensive and especially made for our sabres. You should be grateful.”
“Tell me the name of my—,” Nie Mingjue trails off, because he doesn’t actually know how to refer to the person who is trying to court him.
“Beau?” Nie Huaisang proposes and Nie Mingjue shivers at hearing that word.
“Absolutely not,” he decides with a glare at Nie Huaisang who simply shrugs.
“Suitor then?” Nie Huaisang tries next, but Nie Mingjue can’t say he likes that any better.
“Secret admirer,” he finally slowly says, though it makes him feel like he’s a teenager again and by the grin on Nie Huaisang’s face he knows it, too, “and I can tell them how grateful I am.”
“Nice try, da-ge, but no. They are not ready for you to know them.”
Nie Mingjue doesn’t like that.
“Do they have to endear themselves to me that much?” Nie Mingjue asks and Nie Huaisang shrugs.
“You can be scary, so it’s no wonder they want to make sure that you like them before they make their appearance.”
“So I don’t know them,” Nie Mingjue summarizes and now it’s Nie Huaisang who rolls his eyes at him.
“Don’t even try to fish for information, I will not tell you anything.”
“Did they even send a letter with the oil this time?” he asks, but Nie Huaisang shakes his head.
“They just dropped of the vial, asking me to pass it to you. Which I now did. And I will leave now, so you can polish your sabre in peace,” Nie Huaisang cheekily says and it takes Nie Mingjue a moment to catch his meaning.
“Huaisang!” he yells, mortified by the implication, and he can feel himself flush bright red.
Nie Huaisang simply laughs and walks out, his fan open and barely hiding his mirth.
Nie Mingjue wonders just how long this will continue to go on.
~*~*~
“What’s the problem?” Nie Huaisang wants to know when Nie Mingjue simply continues to stare at the gift in front of him.
“What is this?” Nie Mingjue eventually gets out, and Nie Huaisang stares at him as if he fears that he lost his mind.
“It’s a hair ornament, da-ge. I know you know that, because you’re wearing one right now.”
“But it’s so delicate,” Nie Mingjue mutters, and he barely dares to touch a fingertip to it, too afraid of breaking it.
“And it will suit you wonderfully,” Nie Huaisang agrees, and Nie Mingjue throws him a glance.
“I can’t wear something like this,” he says, though his eyes are dragged back to the ornament.
It looks like a tree, delicate branches fanning out, little tiny leaves still attached to it, roots spanning in a way that will fit perfectly to his head, and Nie Mingjue is terrified it will crumble the moment he picks it up. It’s gorgeous.
“You can wear whatever you want,” Nie Huaisang quietly tells him and Nie Mingjue looks up at him.
“It’s from them, isn’t it?” he asks and Nie Huaisang nods.
“They thought it would please you,” he carefully says. “I can let them know if it didn’t, so they don’t send something like this again.”
“There’s no way something this delicate was sent here,” Nie Mingjue argues and Nie Huaisang’s eyes go wide, all the admission Nie Mingjue needs. “They were here.”
Nie Huaisang presses his lips together, his hands fumbling for the fan he didn’t bring today, and Nie Mingjue wonders if he actually saw his secret admirer.
He’s not sure, because he has been pretty pre-occupied with Lan Xichen today, who dropped by, a rare guest these days, and one whose visits Nie Mingjue treasures above anything.
He’s not sure if he would even recognize his secret admirer if he ran into him today, because Lan Xichen was the only thing on his mind.
“Yes,” Nie Huaisang admits, though he seems adamant to not give any more hints.
“Will I like them?” Nie Mingjue asks him, carefully prodding the ornament again, and wondering what kind of person was behind the gift.
“Yes, you will,” Nie Huaisang says with conviction and Nie Mingjue wonders how his brother can be this sure.
“I know them,” he says, because it’s the only thing that makes sense, but again, Nie Huaisang doesn’t answer him.
“How was Lan Xichen today?” Nie Huaisang asks in a clear attempt to distract Nie Mingjue and he shrugs.
“The Sect Leader training is taking a toll on him. He’s too gentle for it, and he knows it. He wants the best for his sect and he fears he isn’t it.”
“What do you think?” Nie Huaisang asks, because Nie Mingjue had to step up as Sect Leader way too young, and it taught him a thing or two.
“He is too soft for it. He needs someone in his corner.”
“He has you,” Nie Huaisang tells him and Nie Mingjue hopes that the qi deviation takes at least another decade to claim him, so that Lan Xichen can secure his position as Sect Leader and Nie Huaisang gets to enjoy the finer things of life for a while longer.
Nie Huaisang lets him brood for a minute and then pushes the ornament closer to Nie Mingjue. “Do you want me to help you with it?” he asks.
Nie Mingjue stares at the ornament for a few long moments before he nods. It really is gorgeous and the silver will look wonderful against his dark hair, Nie Mingjue knows it. If he’s being honest, it’s a rather thoughtful gift; he does love intricate and pretty hair ornaments, and he wonders just how well this person knows him to send him something like this.
Surely this is not the first gift that comes to mind when one looks at Nie Mingjue. The other courtship gifts certainly weren’t like this; chopped off heads of beasts, big and heavy weapons, armour. Mostly practical, fitting the image Nie Mingjue has in the cultivation world.
His secret admirer would have stood out with their gifts alone, without staying hidden. Nie Mingjue wonders how long it will take them to gather enough courage to reveal themselves to him.
~*~*~
“A picknick,” Nie Mingjue says flatly, though his heart beats fast in his chest. “They are asking for a picknick.”
“Yes, da-ge, are you going deaf. They are waiting in the back hill for you,” Nie Huaisang informs him and tries to push him forward, damn well knowing that his attempts to move Nie Mingjue are feeble.
“I’m going to meet them,” Nie Mingjue whispers and he can’t deny that he’s nervous all of a sudden.
It was all fun and games, receiving wonderfully thoughtful gifts, but meeting them, getting to know them, that’s a different story.
“Don’t you want to?” Nie Huaisang asks and Nie Mingjue wonders if he will be terribly disappointed that it won’t be Lan Xichen waiting for him.
The gifts he has gotten were rather thoughtful and sweet, not something Nie Mingjue would expect of anyone, and in his mind it was all Lan Xichen who gave them to him. It’s a pretty desperate hope, Nie Mingjue knows Lan Xichen is too busy with his lessons to even think about something like a courtship, and he certainly has better options than Nie Mingjue.
“I’m not sure,” Nie Mingjue belatedly says and Nie Huaisang walks around him to look him straight in the eye.
“Do you trust me?” he asks and Nie Mingjue nods immediately, because Nie Huaisang is his brother, he would trust him with his life, no matter his cultivation skills.
“Then trust me that you want to meet them,” he goes on and Nie Mingjue sighs.
“Fine. Get me my hairpiece,” he instructs, and it’s a testament to how well Nie Huaisang knows him that he doesn’t even ask which one.
He comes back with the tree ornament his secret admirer gave him.
Nie Huaisang silently helps him put it on and then he flicks his fingers against Baxia.
“Did you polish it with the oil, too?” he asks and Nie Mingjue still flushes at the reminder of the implication Nie Huaisang has made before.
“I did, brat,” he gives back and flicks his own fingers at Nie Huaisang’s forehead. “Where do I go to?”
“Just out the back, they are waiting under your tree,” Nie Huaisang tells him and Nie Mingjue shouldn’t even be surprised that Nie Huaisang knows that he has a favourite tree in their garden.
“Fine,” Nie Mingjue mutters and straightens his shoulders.
“You’re not going off to war,” Nie Huaisang calls after him, but he doesn’t stop him.
It certainly feels like going into battle for Nie Mingjue. He wonders, yet again, how his brother can be so sure that he will like whoever is waiting for him in the garden, but then Nie Mingjue pushes that thought away.
He trusts his brother. That wasn’t a lie. He better act like it.
Nie Mingjue makes his way to the garden rather quickly and he is not surprised to see a figure against the tree. He is surprised by the white robes he can see and he instinctively moves faster.
He stops dead in his tracks when he is close enough to recognize the person.
Nie Mingjue does know him, Nie Huaisang didn’t lie about that. He also didn’t mention that it is his own sworn brother.
“Xichen,” Nie Mingjue breathes out and Lan Xichen smiles at him, though he seems horribly nervous.
“Mingjue,” he replies and wrings his hands in front of his chest in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. “I hope you’re not mad.”
“Mad,” Nie Mingjue repeats, because that’s the farthest thing he is.
Try elated.
“That I’m the one who courted you,” Lan Xichen elaborates, like Nie Mingjue could have misunderstood this.
“You want to marry me,” Nie Mingjue blurts out and Lan Xichen flushes.
It’s a rather fetching sight on him, Nie Mingjue decides.
“I was aiming for a relationship first,” Lan Xichen gives back with a high laugh.
Nie Mingjue marches up to him and moves him backwards until Lan Xichen’s back hits the tree.
“You want to marry me,” Nie Mingjue says again, words barely more than whispers in Lan Xichen’s ear and Lan Xichen shivers against him.
“You’re wearing my gift,” Lan Xichen mumbles out and Nie Mingjue smirks at him.
“I also polished my sabre with your oil,” he says and watches in delight as Lan Xichen goes bright red, raising his hands to cover his eyes.
“I knew that was a bad idea the moment Nie Huaisang mentioned the many, varied uses of oil,” he gets out and Nie Mingjue laughs at that.
“My little brother can be a little pest,” he agrees. “But he approves of this,” he then goes on, and Lan Xichen takes his hands away from his eyes.
“And what about you?” Lan Xichen wants to know, naked hope in his eyes and Nie Mingjue smiles at him.
“I keep your flower in my office to make it worth the time I have to spend there, replying to stupid letters, your oil is the only thing I use on Baxia and whenever I don’t wear your hair ornament, people keep asking me where it went. What do you think my answer to your courtship is?” Nie Mingjue wants to know and his heart stutters in his chest when a slow, happy smile spreads out on Lan Xichen’s face.
“That your answer is yes,” he whispers and Nie Mingjue leans close for his next words, lips brushing against Lan Xichen’s.
“My answer is yes,” he agrees and then closes the last bit of distance.
He has imagined kissing Lan Xichen, more than once already, and it’s even better than he ever dared to hope.
Nie Mingjue vows to do it regularly for the rest of his life, if Lan Xichen should let him.
Going by the arms that wind around his back and pull him even closer, he might just get lucky.