Work Text:
The second best thing about the Wen Remnants coming to live in Qinghe at The Unclean Realm was that it got Nie Huaisang out of sabre practice.
What to do with the Wen Remnants had been highly debated and discussed, after the atrocities of what the Jin had done, and when both Hanguang-Jun and the New Sect Leader Jiang had given reports that the Burial Mounds Camp was primarily made up of elderly and children, something much more appropriate had to be done.
Both the Lan and the Jiang were rebuilding, especially the Jiang, and while the Nie had suffered losses as well during The Sunshot Campaign, it was clear that the responsibility would be on them.
Nie Mingjue had agreed, Jin Zixuan had taken over as Sect Leader with the help of Meng Yao, Wei Wuxian had gone home to Lotus Pier to recover and help, and Hanguang-Jun had followed him there.
Nie Huaisang knew all of that would happen, of course.
So with the new residents in Qinghe, Nie Mingjue had re-delegated a lot of tasks. Nie Zonghui had stepped up admirably as vice-general. Wen Qing, after a brief bout of tension, had earned the role of deputy and head doctor. Her strategies were thorough, clever, and clear. Huaisang liked to watch her argue with Nie Mingjue, and he even more liked to watch Nie Mingjue get flustered in her presence. That would take some time, but ultimately be very good for the both of them. Plus, Huaisang suspected that if it truly were possible, Wen Qing was the only one medically brilliant enough to end their family’s curse and stop Nie Mingjue from qi deviating.
And so, with all of that going on, Huaisang had managed to basically put Wen Qing ahead of him in the succession line and convinced everyone that he was best served by getting the rest of the Wens settled and acclimated, and accustomed to the cultures of Qinghe.
So what if he spent much longer than he needed to. So what if he had a heavy focus on art and birds. So what if half the time he left everyone to their own devices in the libraries.
This got him out of sabre practice. Which was the second best thing about the Wen Remnants coming to live in Qinghe.
The best thing about the Wens coming to live in Qinghe was Wen Ning.
He was so different now, black veins and dark robes and inhuman strength. But underneath all of that he was still the sweet and shy boy that Nie Huaisang had been harboring a crush for since their days at The Cloud Recesses.
He only hadn’t acted upon it yet, because it was fun to be wistful and pine a bit, and he wanted to bide his time until he knew if Wen Ning did or could ever return his feelings.
He was just…sweet. And kind. and lovely. Nie Huaisang always liked lovely things.
Now that Wen Ning was in Qinghe, it made Huaisang both patient and impatient simultaneously. He could observe Wen Ning more easily. Learn more about him. Test the waters. He saw him every day.
But that was what made him impatient as well. He could see Wen Ning every day, but he couldn’t say anything yet. Not yet. Not yet…
Nie Mingjue started letting Wen Ning come along on Night Hunts, because Nie Mingjue also understood Wen Ning’s value not only as a fighter, but also as a healer, a friend, and a calming presence.
Huaisang didn’t like it when Nie Mingjue left, and he didn’t like it when Wen Ning left either, but it helped a little, seeing Wen Ning so accepted and belonging with the other Nie. Huaisang wanted him to be happy.
And Wen Ning always made sure to say goodbye to him before they left.
They’d left for a Night Hunt early that afternoon, and Huaisang had decided that his time was best spent painting a fan for Wen Ning.
The edges of Dafan Mountain. Some of the plants that were only found in Qinghe. A bird that had a similar personality to Wen Ning.
Huaisang loved to paint, loved seeing his visions coming together.
There was an urgent knock at his door, startling Huaisang from his daydreams enough that one of the leaves he was outlining smudged. He sighed. He could probably fix it, but-
He looked up. The disciple in his doorway was in disarray: hair a mess, clothes torn, covered in scratches, eyes wild and terrified.
“What-” Huaisang’s blood ran cold. “Da-ge?”
The disciple shook his head. “Chifeng-zun is unharmed. Minor wounds. He’s helping Wen-daifu tend to Zonghui-ge, who has some broken ribs but he will recover.”
Huaisang nodded, his heart starting to calm. “Then…”
“It’s Wen-gongzi, he didn’t make it back.”
Huaisang’s ink pot fell over when his hand jumped and shook, streaks of black leaking across the fan, staining his work.
“What,” he said, voice coming out quiet and hoarse.
“We haven’t been able to locate him. The Night Hunt went badly. Chifeng-Zun was able to subdue the monsters in the end, but most of us got separated.”
Huaisang leapt up. He couldn’t hear anymore. He needed- He couldn’t-
He ran to the tops of the walls of The Unclean Realm, where he would always wave goodbye until their last disciple was out of sight, and stared out across the lands, looking for any movement, any sign.
Maybe it had been stupid of him, to wait on expressing his feelings. Biding his time and planning his confession only got him so far. If he never got to say it, never got to tell Wen Ning how he felt, then what was the point of it all?
He paced the top of the wall. And he waited.
A disciple brought him tea, that went cold on the ledge of the roof.
Nie Mingjue tried to get him to come down to dinner, to visit Nie Zonghui, but Huaisang couldn’t eat. Not yet.
He wasn’t sure how many hours passed. He was lost in his head, pacing and thinking and-
And there, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure all in black.
He could tell even from this distance that it was Wen Ning. And Huasiang ran. Across the wall, down the flights and flights of stairs, he ran, until he met Wen Ning outside the gates of Qinghe.
“Wen Ning!” Nie Huaisang cried, running at him, throwing himself at him. If he was any bigger, if Wen Ning was any smaller, he might have knocked him over. But Huaisang was used to throwing himself at people who would catch him, and Wen Ning would always catch him.
“Wen Ning!” he said again, once Wen Ning had stumbled back and caught himself and- “Oh, are you injured? Did I hurt you?” Huaisang cried, but didn’t let go, frantically patting his hands over whatever bits of Wen Ning that he could reach. “I was so worried, they said you got separated, and with everyone hurt, and- I never told you, I-“ Huaisang cut himself off. Wen Ning was watching him. And Huaisang, at a loss for words for what may have been the first time in his life, grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss.
Wen Ning’s arms tightened around him, dipping him back a little as he kissed him in return. Huaisang smiled into it, hands sliding up into Wen Ning’s hair and cupping his cheek, the back of his neck, wherever he could reach.
“Don’t scare me like that again,” Huaisang said as he leaned back, a little breathless.
“Never,” Wen Ning agreed, eyes wide and a little dazed looking.
Huaisang grinned as he laced their fingers together and led Wen Ning back inside the walls of The Unclean Realm.