Work Text:
Jin Ling is healthy, until one day he isn’t, and Jiang Cheng viscerally flashes back to his jiejie sick in bed all day for months, gut twisting as he remembers how she was unable to go outside and play with the youngest disciples, unable to take classes with their tutors.
“It’s just a cold,” his team of doctors assure him, but Jiang Cheng can’t help but run his entire sect ragged until it looks like Jin Ling is starting to recover. All at once, his fever breaks, and his spirit lifts. He eats more, but he isn’t allowed to leave his bed yet. Worse still, he keeps sniffling and his nose keeps running.
And running. And running.
Jiang Chang sits on the bed, bringing a silk embroidered handkerchief to Jin Ling's nose, determined to stop the drippage once and for all.
"Blow," Jiang Cheng says, and Jin Ling honks wildly into the fabric, so noisily that Jiang Cheng fears for a second that he’s somehow developed another health problem. Jiang Cheng stares down at Jin Ling. He stares back; his nose is still dripping.
"Blow just your left nostril," Jiang Cheng says, voice deliberately patient.
Jin Ling eyes the handkerchief, thinking before doing so.
Jiang Cheng sighs when he stops and does nothing else. "Now just your right," he says, and again, Jin Ling thinks for a second before obeying, the little brat.
"Better?" Jiang Cheng asks, once all the noise has died down, and this time, Jin Ling beams up at him.
"Better, jiujiu!" Jin Ling confirms, looking very proud of himself and also in awe at his jiujiu's wisdom. He sounds better than he has in days.
"Good," Jiang Cheng says gruffly, then brings out a still-steaming bowl of viscous brown medicine. He realizes as he does so that he should have made Jin Ling drink it before his nose was clear, not after, but it’s too late for regrets: Jin Ling recoils at the bitter smell. Jiang Cheng sighs and pulls out a giant candy from his sleeve, watching as Jin Ling's eyes go between the candy and the medicine.
"Jiujiu," Jin Ling starts whining, but Jiang Cheng puts the bowl firmly in front of him.
"Eat the bitter thing first, and then the candy will taste sweeter." Jiang Cheng's voice is unyielding, and he places the candy behind the medicine, out of reach of grasping toddler hands.
"I don't want it," Jin Ling pouts, and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.
"No one takes medicine because they want to! Now drink it or I'll break your legs,' Jiang Cheng says, scooping the bowl of medicine up and bringing it to Jin Ling's face, brow only unfurrowing when all of it manages to disappear, even the gross clumpy bits at the very bottom of the bowl.
Jin Ling makes a truly disgusted face when Jiang Cheng lowers the bowl, and Jiang Cheng snorts. "Your reward," he says, allowing Jin Ling to unstick the candy from the wrapper, holding it with all five fingers. He’ll have to remember to clean his nephew’s hand later.
"Thanks, jiujiu!" Jin Ling cries, shoving the candy in his mouth before cuddling up to Jiang Cheng.
How quick he is to forgive, Jiang Cheng thinks, stroking Jin Ling's brow and brushing his sweaty bangs away from his face. His nephew has a good heart. It's up to Jiang Cheng to make sure that the rest of Jin Ling is nurtured and developed properly. He drapes his arm around Jin Ling's shoulders, squeezing as gently as possible as he listens to the sounds of his nephew chewing.
He waits until Jin Ling’s wet smacking noises have stopped, until Jin Ling's weight sags into his side. Jin Ling is still tired, but he'll be back to normal soon.
As he rises from the side of Jin Ling’s bed, a sleepy noise of protest almost keeps him right there. A nap sounds so good, curled around his precious nephew.
Instead, he tucks Jin Ling in, soothing him further into sleep: the tray that held Jin Ling's medicine is also piled high with work that Jiang Cheng needs to get done today. He can sleep once it’s all finished, now that he no longer has to worry about Jin Ling’s every breath.
Casting one last look at a sleeping Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng bends his head and gets to work. He can't take Jin Ling's herbal medicine for him, but there are other things he can do to make Jin Ling's life easier.
He'll eat all the bitterness so that his nephew doesn't have to.