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“You’re not nearly as funny as you think you are.” Mingjue scowled, trying to focus on his paperwork and failing miserably as his brother valiantly distracted him with his antics.
“Really?” Huaisang grinned, the expression looking completely out of place on Lan Wangji’s face, as did the casual way he perched on Mingjue’s desk, “Because I think I’m hilarious.”
“Oh I know you do.” Mingjue snorted, “You’re aware, of course, that if anyone walks in right now I’m going to have some serious explaining to do?”
“That sounds like a you problem.” Huaisang chirped, and Mingjue shook his head, glancing warily at the door.
“Huaisang.” he injected some sternness into his voice, “Cut it out, really.” Huaisang rolled his eyes, but obediently shifted his form away from that of Lan Wangji. But to Mingjue’s exasperation, he didn’t revert to his own face, instead replacing Lan blue with Jiang violet as he took on the form of Jiang Wanyin, grinning and crossing his legs with a dramatic flourish.
“It’s okay, dage.” he waved dismissively, “I locked the door when I came in, no one’s gonna come in and think you’re fraternizing with Mister Grumpy.”
“Why, of all people, did you pick his face?” Mingjue sighed, feeling a headache coming on, “You make a piss poor Jiang Wanyin, brat.”
“Not true! He’s actually one of the easier ones.” Huaisang winked, “I just storm around a lot and yell about breaking legs, loving dogs, and kicking Wei Wuxian’s ass. No one ever glances twice at me.”
“That easy, huh?” Mingjue asked quietly, unable to keep the pensiveness out of his voice. It had been a rocky road coming to accept Huaisang’s nature, and despite him now being relatively alright with his beloved didi being a mutant, it was still disquieting to see firsthand how easy it was to steal someone’s identity, and the casualness with which Huaisang did so.
“That easy. No one ever looks too hard at a raging bitch.” he giggled, and Mingjue never wanted to see Jiang Wanyin giggle ever again, “Oh, what’s with that face, dage?”
“If you ever make me watch Jiang Wanyin act like a giggling maiden again, I’ll hurl you like a dart.” he replied, shaking off his discomfort with an exaggerated shudder, “Give me my didi back.”
“Come on, think of the prank potential.” Huaisang grinned, eyes glittering, “With this face I could give Wei Wuxian a conniption just by being really nice.”
“No.”
“I could sneak into Yunmeng and snag some of those pricey spices you like.”
“No way in hell.”
“I could bring the cultivation world to its knees just by doing this.” He gave a gentle smile, achingly sweet and kind, transforming Wanyin’s ever-scowling face into something almost fairy-like. Beautiful, even.
Mingjue shuddered.
“Absolutely not, and keep that smile off his face, it’s unnerving.” he said firmly, and Huaisang groaned.
“But dage, I wanna cause mischief.” he batted Wanyin’s eyes at him, pouting a pout that looked beyond wrong on that face, and Mingjue prayed he’d be able to look Wanyin in the eyes next time they met.
“What did we talk about?” he reached up to cuff him around the ears, “No using your powers for evil.” Huaisang whined, shifting again, and Mingjue fought the instinctive twist in his stomach as Jiang Wanyin’s form morphed and grew into Mingjue’s own form, tall and proud and sporting a theatrical scowl.
“I’m Nie Mingjue and I declare no fun allowed.” Huaisang said with an exaggerated expression of seriousness on his face, his voice a touch too gruff and grumpy, “Saber training hours are all hours, and Huaisang is my kickball. No retreat, no surrender, no amusement, and no seducing the cultivation world.”
“You just can’t get my nose right.” he deadpanned, and repressed a frown as he watched his own face fall into a childish pout.
“Lies and slander.” Huaisang turned said nose up, “I know your nose better than you do.”
“Uh huh.” Mingjue snorted, turning back to his paperwork, “You’ll never fool anyone with a nose like that. They’ll know immediately you’re an imposter.”
“They won’t!”
“They will.” he teased, making a conscious effort to push his discomfort aside, focusing on Huaisang’s presence, the trust he had earned since that day in the tent, “Xichen will take one look at you and go ‘hm, I don’t believe in that nose’.”
“Such little faith!” Huaisang laughed brightly.
“And the smile, if you smile that much while wearing my face, everyone will know it isn’t me.” Huaisang reached over and poked his cheek, his mirthful expression making Mingjue’s features seem softer, more approachable.
“When I smile, you complain, but when I don’t smile you complain even more.” he teased, “Who could have guessed Chifeng-Zun was so indecisive?”
“I like seeing your smile, not my own.” Mingjue said honestly, and Huaisang’s face did something complicated, rippling slightly like water before he wrested himself back under control. He was still wearing Mingjue’s face, but it was Huaisang’s eyes that sparkled with affection from within it.
“If you want to see me smile, can we go down to the market today?” he asked hopefully, blinking pleadingly at him in a way that looked completely out of place on Mingjue’s proud features, “I don’t feel like going alone, and there’s this wonderful new talisman shop you’ll like. Pretty please? I’ll be myself and everything.”
“Hm. Wipe that stupid expression off my face and I’ll consider it.” he rolled his eyes, the twitch of his lips betraying his amusement. Huaisang sighed, but obeyed. He seemed to shuffle between faces, Mingjue catches glimpses of Wanyin, Xichen, Lan Qiren, Wen Ruohan, and several others Mingjue didn’t recognize before finally settling on his own face. Mingjue’s favorite.
“Better?” Huaisang asked brattily, framing his face with his hands like an art showcase, and Mingjue felt a wave of fondness that threatened to bowl him over.
“Yeah.” he smiled softly, reaching out to place a hand atop his head, “Much better.” Huaisang blinked with slight surprise, but it melted away quickly in favor of a beaming smile, and Mingjue was helpless to do anything but smile back. Terrifying mutant or not, his brother hadn’t changed.