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Stealing Meng Yao had turned out to be an excellent decision on Nie Huaisang's part.
For one thing, he made a great excuse to be somewhere other than where he was supposed to be. If lessons or training got too tedious, Nie Huaisang could go visit his new shixiong, who was always grateful for a book from the library, or some treats from the kitchens, or just some friendly company. Meng Yao was eager to learn anything he could about things in the Impure Realm, from braid-reading to Nie Huaisang's informed and deeply considered personal opinions about various members of the sect. And he was doing something nice! It was probably more useful than training, too.
For another, Nie Huaisang could already tell that they were going to be terrific friends, and not just because Nie Huaisang was shamelessly bribing him. Meng Yao was funny when he stopped being so shy, and cleverer than most of the lumps of cousins and junior disciples who cluttered the Impure Realm. Enough to appreciate Nie Huaisang's jokes, anyway, which was obviously most important. Plus he had the most amazing ability to keep a straight face in front of grown-ups.
It had been strange to find out Meng Yao was so much older than him. Nie Huaisang thought about it, and decided he didn't mind having another older brother. He did like being the youngest.
In some ways, Meng Yao was awfully grown up already, like a little old man. But he hadn't been raised among cultivators, so there was lots he didn't know that Nie Huaisang could fill in from his own vast stores of knowledge.
"When is gujie going to let you out of here?" he whined, sagging against the shoulder of the arm not in the sling. "There's so much to show you! You must be dying of boredom stuck in here all day with nothing to do but meditate; I don't know how you can stand it."
"How else will I grow my core?" Meng Yao said reasonably; he was a little too reasonable sometimes.
Nie Huaisang waved that away with his fan. "I don't know; what's the use of immortality if all you do is meditate?"
"But with a strong core, I might've healed myself in a day." The fading bruises still made Meng Yao's smile look painful, but Nie Huaisang thought he also detected an edge of wistfulness. Like he was thinking that maybe if he'd been stronger, stupid Jin Guangshan would have let him stay in stupid Koi Tower.
Impulsively, he hugged Meng Yao around the ribs and rested his head on his stomach in his most comforting manner. "I'm glad Yao-ge is here with us," he said very firmly.
Meng Yao gave a soft little laugh and pet his hair: victory. "Thank you, Nie-er-gongzi."
"You'll like it here, you'll see," Nie Huaisang asserted positively.
Of course, it was getting so people knew to look for him here, too. Nie Mingjue scowled when he came for his usual visit around noon and found his brother playing kudang qi with Meng Yao instead of at his lessons, but he'd brought enough food for all three of them.
"Any news on when you'll be out of here?" he asked, and huffed grumpily when Nie Huaisang tittered.
Meng Yao lowered his sleeve, which he'd been using to politely hide his own smile. "Forgive us, Nie-gongzi—" Nie Mingjue gave him a look that Meng Yao pretended not to see. "—Nie-daifu said perhaps tomorrow."
That made Nie Mingjue perk up again. "Did she say if you'll be ready to train?"
Nie Huaisang's mouth fell open. "Da-ge, give him a minute to catch his breath," he objected, prodding him with his fan.
Nie Mingjue batted it away without any force. "Stop that."
"Truly, I don't mind," Meng Yao was quick to say. "I'm eager to learn. Only..." he touched Hensheng; A-Die had told him he could keep the soft sword, as long as he wore it openly. "It is not a sabre that I bear."
"Oh, plenty of people cultivate with jian," Nie Huaisang assured him.
Nie Mingjue grunted agreement. "Most cultivators who marry into the sect, and some of the outer disciples."
"A-Die will get one of our uncles to teach you, probably," Nie Huaisang put in. "One of the shibo, anyway."
"You'll train with the rest of us most of the time," Nie Mingjue added, clapping Meng Yao on his good shoulder in his version of reassurance.
"We'll look out for you." Behind his fan, Nie Huaisang winked.
Meng Yao returned him a tiny, uncertain smile.
He still looked uncertain when Nie Eshuang finally let him go the next day. Between the mourning white of his hanfu and the bruises, he looked very pale out in the light of day.
"Come on, come see your room!" Grabbing Meng Yao by the hand, Nie Huaisang towed him along towards the inner keep.
Meng Yao glanced at Nie Mingjue for help. "Is this the way to the disciples' dormitories?"
"No, they're over that way, by the practise yards," Nie Mingjue told him. "We'll show you later."
"Don't worry, you'll get the full tour," Nie Huaisang assured him brightly.
Trailing along perforce, Meng Yao asked, "But then where are we going?"
"So, this is the east wing," Nie Huaisang continued breezily. "The main entrance and the Sword Hall where A-Die holds audience are around south. This part is mostly personal chambers."
His insistent tug on Meng Yao's arm met resistance; Meng Yao's steps slowed. Nervously, he asked, "For whom?"
So far, the hardest part about stealing Meng Yao was that he got uncooperative about it at the weirdest times.
Nie Huaisang pouted at him in a show of confusion. "I don't know, whoever needs them, I guess. That sounds like boring stuff the seneschal works out."
"Family, mostly," Nie Mingjue added, which only made Meng Yao dig his heels in more. "Ours are attached to A-Die's apartments down there on the end. You'll be here, right next to Huaisang."
Alarmed, Meng Yao protested, "Nie-gongzi, surely there's been some mistake..."
It was Nie Mingjue's turn to frown in confusion. "It's where A-Die said to put you."
That was, as ever, the magic word. Meng Yao never argued with A-Die. At last, he yielded to Nie Huaisang's two-handed pull on his arm and came inside.
The room was pretty impersonal yet, but the kang was radiating a gentle warmth that took the edge of chill off the early spring air. Nie Huaisang pointed out the most important amenities, particularly the ink painting of craggy mountains on the privacy screen. A-Die had talked him into donating some of his precious books (he'd chosen several turgid classics), so the shelf didn't look so bare, and there were writing implements on the table, as well as furs piled up on the mattress and a patterned rug on the stone floor. A clothes chest held more garments in mourning white—Nie Mingjue had reclaimed his own doupeng and brought Meng Yao a snowy dachang in exchange that he was bundled up in now.
"Is it all right?" Nie Mingjue asked, misreading the look on Meng Yao's face.
"So much trouble... This one is quite undeserving," Meng Yao mumbled.
"A-Die says," Nie Huaisang repeated, wrapping his arms around Meng Yao's and bumping their shoulders together.
"Of course," Meng Yao sighed, the resistance draining out of him. He leaned back into Nie Huaisang a little, making him smile. "I'm very grateful."
Nie Mingjue clapped him heartily on the back. "Come on, we're just getting started."
They showed Meng Yao around the family wing and the main points of interest, including the library and (most especially) the aviary. Nie Huaisang wasn't even halfway through explaining the birds and which ones he'd caught all (mostly) by himself and which ones ate what when Nie Mingjue got bored. Before he could launch into full complaint, Nie Mingjue said the magic word kitchens and, okay, Nie Huaisang wouldn't mind a snack.
"Da-ge is basically a bottomless pit," he told Meng Yao, and ducked behind him with a squeak when Nie Mingjue pitched a piece of aiwowo at his head.
Meng Yao caught the little ball of rice pastry against his chest on reflex, then looked unsure of what to do with it, glancing between them in mild alarm as Nie Huaisang threw his arms over Meng Yao's shoulders and stuck his tongue out at his older brother.
Nie Mingjue put a palm to his forehead and unceremoniously pushed him away. "Get off him, you little beast."
"Da-geeee," Nie Huaisang whined, instead throwing his arms around one of the kitchen aunties, who dropped a noodle in his mouth with her cooking chopsticks like he was a baby bird and then went back to work. They were used to him here.
Eventually, they worked their way around to the Sword Hall, peeking in to see how busy A-Die was. He looked up when they came through the side entrance and smiled.
"Hello, boys," he said, tousling Nie Huaisang's hair when he came running up and ignoring his protests. "Yao'er, good to see you up and around. This is Meng Yao, by courtesy Quansheng," he introduced Meng Yao to his seneschal.
Meng Yao bowed very nicely, now he could use both arms, although he'd gone all big-eyed and tentative again as he looked up at A-Die. Nie Huaisang agreed: A-Die was the best.
"We've just been showing A-Yao around," Nie Mingjue explained.
"That's very kind of you," A-Die said, mostly to Nie Huaisang and laughed as he ducked away, glowering, from another ruffling of his meticulously arranged hair. "Have you been to the family shrine yet?"
"Not yet."
"Why don't I go with you, then?" A-Die suggested. "I'm sure I'm setting a bad example for all you young people. Your mothers will think I've forgotten them."
They circled back through the kitchens to collect appropriate offerings. The family shrine was familiar to Nie Huaisang; he remembered A-Niang guiding his hands to light incense for Dimu beside A-Die's and Nie Mingjue's. The space had seemed so huge and cavernous, echoing with grief.
It scarcely seemed smaller now. A-Die said that it came with a price, protecting people, and that was what their sect did. For all his joking, he was very dutiful; he never let any of them become lax in their observances. He'd even had a tablet made for Meng Yao's mother and set among the ranks of in-laws and other more loosely related persons connected with the clan. Meng Yao blinked hard as he stared at a pile of burning joss paper, lip wobbling like he was struggling not to cry. Nie Huaisang looked down at his hands, which had busied themselves folding a paper of his own into a flower shape. Maybe Meng Yao would like to learn.
A-Die put an arm around his shoulders, hugging him in to his side. Nie Huaisang found him here sometimes sharing a drink with their mothers and catching them up on things. He'd pull Nie Huaisang into his lap and tell him stories about them. Dimu had come from a family of unaffiliated cultivators in the northern mountains. A-Die had never quite said how they'd met A-Niang except that it had been on a night hunt; he thought the real story might have been a bit naughty.
She'd been like that, warm and fun and clever, good at comforting people and making them laugh. Nie Huaisang wondered if Meng Shi would be good company for her and Dimu, like A-Yao was for them. A-Niang would have told Nie Mingjue she was proud of him for rescuing Meng Yao who'd needed it. She'd have seen Nie Huaisang stealing him and laughed and reminded him there was no stopping his brother from being everyone's da-ge. He even da-ge'd A-Die sometimes. That was why Nie Huaisang had to make a special effort to xiao-di them all.
A-Die left them to continue their tour, but Meng Yao started flagging before they made it through more than a quarter of the larger compound. They stopped by a courtyard where several other juniors not assigned to other duties just now were idling in groups.
A few of them split off from watching an impromptu wrestling match to come over and greet—well, Nie Mingjue, they were all old like him.
"Da-ge!"
"So, is this your stray?"
"I don't know, he seems a little scrawny, maybe you should throw him back," one of them added and laughed, instantly putting Nie Huaisang's back up. Snapping open his fan, he squinted at the offender over the top of it.
Nie Mingjue put a hand on Meng Yao's shoulder, and Meng Yao looked a little less (but still a lot) like he wanted to run away. "Meet Meng Quansheng, Meng Yao. Be nice, yeah? He's had a rough time of it."
"Sure," they agreed casually, clapping Meng Yao on the shoulder, obviously more interested in bothering Nie Mingjue about stupid things. There was a mumble of general greeting amounting to welcome to the sect, kid.
Once he'd finished the round of introductions, Nie Mingjue predictably got sidetracked with training talk. Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes to himself, then remembered that he had someone to commiserate with now and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at Meng Yao.
He looked briefly startled to be noticed—even with Nie Mingjue making a place for him in the group, the conversation was going literally over his head—then did that thing where he looked down until his face stopped doing things, then snuck a curious glance back over at Nie Huaisang.
Leaning in behind his fan, he whispered very loudly, "Yaoyao, do you want to try and see the rock gardens before dinner or wait 'til tomorrow?"
Right on cue, Nie Mingjue broke off in the middle of miming a sabre swing in illustration of whatever point he was making. His head snapped around to level a stern look at Nie Huaisang. "A-Sang, you can't go dragging A-Yao halfway across the compound just because you're bored. Especially not if you're going to make us all late for dinner—A-Die is expecting us."
"Da-geeeee," Nie Huaisang complained to show he considered himself ill-used and objected to it.
"All right, come on." Unceremoniously, Nie Mingjue scooped him up and flung him like a sack over his shoulder. Turning to Meng Yao, he asked, "Hungry yet?" Meng Yao must have nodded or something, because he waved to his friends and said, "See you later."
"Da-ge," Nie Huaisang whined again, wriggling around (Nie Mingjue said bad words under his breath, but Nie Huaisang didn't actually knee him in the face) until he was riding piggyback. He snickered at Meng Yao's alarmed expression. Brandishing his fan in the air like a general, he commanded, "To dinner!"
Meng Yao was quiet at dinner, which they ate with A-Die on the big kang in his quarters. Hadn't he figured it out yet? Honestly. Nie Huaisang allowed himself to be persuaded to let Meng Yao retire to his chamber alone after and rest. A-Die had said he'd be starting lessons tomorrow with Nie Huaisang. Ugh, he wasn't going to be able to skip morning training, was he? Well, no one was going to expect him to keep Meng Yao company at sabre practice, since Meng Yao didn't cultivate the sabre, so there was that at least. Well, if that was the case, Nie Huaisang was going to need a rest.
It was the time of the night when Nie Huaisang snuck into A-Die's chambers. He tiptoed out into the corridor, lit only by the light spilling out from A-Die's door; he was staying up too late again.
A noise distracted him. Nie Huaisang paused, tilting his head like he was tracking a bird.
It came again, a muffled cry coming from Meng Yao's room. "—stop, I'll go, I'm sorry—"
He almost went to get A-Die, or at least Nie Mingjue, but gathered his courage and eased the door open, slipping inside. Carefully, he felt his way to the kang. A bit of moonlight filtered in through the windows. Meng Yao was a shadowy lump under his blankets, all curled up in a ball and trembling when Nie Huaisang reached out to give him a little shake. "Yaoyao. Yao-ge, it's just a nightmare. Come on, wake up."
Flinching violently, Meng Yao gave a loud gasp. It took a little while for his breathing to even out while Nie Huaisang made little distressed murmurs at him.
"A-Sang?" he mumbled in a sniffly voice.
"I'm here, Yaoyao," Nie Huaisang said, patting around until he found one of Meng Yao's hands. "It's okay. Come on."
He tugged, and Meng Yao, still half-asleep, trailed along rubbing his face with his sleeve and none of his usual deportment. His steps only faltered when they came to A-Die's lamp-lit chamber.
A-Die looked up from his desk, smiling crookedly. "Bedtime already, baobei? Aw, what's this?"
"He had a nightmare," Nie Huaisang explained.
A-Die was already getting up and striding over. He scooped Meng Yao—who really wasn't that much bigger than Nie Huaisang—up and carried him back to the kang. "Bad, huh?"
Meng Yao mumbled something indistinct into his shoulder. Nie Huaisang yipped in surprise as his own feet left the floor, craning his neck to make a face at Nie Mingjue, who grinned back like the horrible brute he was. In a low voice, he told Nie Huaisang, "You know, sometimes you're all right."
Nie Huaisang sniffed. "I'm the best."
"The worst," Nie Mingjue grumbled, snuffing the lamps on the way. Nie Huaisang pinched him; Nie Mingjue dumped him onto the bed wrong way around.
He did this more nights than not, and Nie Mingjue still joined them sometimes. In winter, it was common for whole families to pile up together on the kang. Not that Nie Huaisang's own room was ever let to get cold, but it was lonely all by himself in the dark. It was much nicer falling asleep with a lamp on and his parents talking softly over him, or now A-Die and Nie Mingjue.
Nie Huaisang crawled in beside Meng Yao, still worried about him. He didn't like that feeling. Meng Yao was supposed to be happy now. Whatever bad things had happened to him were supposed to be over. It wasn't fair for him still to be hurting now he was safe.
A-Die bent to kiss the tops of their heads, Nie Mingjue clambering up to take the other outside edge. Meng Yao looked like he might be about to cry again, so Nie Huaisang did like he had that first night and squirmed down to lay his head on Meng Yao's shoulder, hugging him. This time, Meng Yao hugged him back tight. It was nice. Nie Huaisang supposed he didn't mind sharing his A-Die and Da-ge if Meng Yao really needed it.