Work Text:
Lotus Pier has fallen, and Jiang Cheng wants to fall with it. He collapses in the tall grasses, unable to take another step. He falls. He cannot make himself stand, cannot make himself walk. He sinks into shame and grief and despair. He sinks into the earth. He wills the rain to wash him away.
Wei Ying takes his hand. He will not allow his brother to fall so completely, but he neither can he pull him up, not alone.
Jiang Cheng’s gaze is wide and unmoving, fixed on the unbroken cover of clouds. He does not flinch at the sound of approaching footsteps. He sees only shadows.
“Jiang Cheng. Look at me.” The quiet command cuts through the haze of Jiang Cheng’s misery, and he obeys. Huaisang’s steady hands help him sit. He yields to gentle examination, the touch familiar and welcome as sun in winter. Soft hands trace the lines of his face. “Good, good,” Huaisang croons. “You’re alive, A-Cheng. You’re alive.”
Jiang Cheng starts to speak, to tell them leave me, let me die, but Huaisang’s leans in, mouth on Jiang Cheng’s until he yields against the insistent warmth and strength behind the kiss. When they break apart, Jiang Cheng doubles over with breathless, heaving sobs, and Huaisang’s strong hands run down his back and leave sparks of life along his limbs. Huaisang ducks under Jiang Cheng’s right arm, and Wei Ying takes his left side.
“You can close your eyes if you need to,” Huaisang says, “but you have to stand now. We have to go, A-Cheng. You and me, okay?”
“There’s nowhere to go!”
“We’ve got to get your sister,” Huaisang replies, “and then we’ll figure out what to do from there. We’ll get you somewhere safe.”
“Come on, A-Cheng.” Wei Ying’s voice cracks. “Come with us.”
Jiang Cheng looks at his brother and knows his face is a mirror of grief. He looks to Huaisang and finds a mirror to his own banked fury. Huaisang kisses him again, this time with fire.
“Come with me now, Jiang Cheng.”
“There’s nowhere left to go,” he says, sinking down again, but Huaisang hauls him upright, to his feet. Night has fallen, and stars shiver in the distance, but Huaisang’s fire is bright beside him.
“Come with me, just a bit farther on.” He kisses Jiang Cheng once more. “Just a bit farther on, and then we’ll rest.”
With the last of his strength, Jiang Cheng takes Huaisang’s hand, takes Wei Ying’s, and into the immense night they go.