Work Text:
He was walking Fei to the door when she turned back to him and said, “You’re different. Did something happen?”
Niran didn’t know what she meant. Nothing about their interaction was out of the ordinary. She nagged him about wasting his potential and he threw out some cutting remark about the way she chose to use her powers. And in the end, he still did whatever she wanted. Like always.
But then she looked at him, and her eyes pierced straight through him. It was too fast for him to put his guard up, as if he was any match for her in the first place. When she got what she was looking for, she nodded slowly.
“I see.” A faint smile appeared on her face. “So you’ve met him.”
“Met who?”
“Your soulmate.” She said it so matter-of-factly, no hesitation. “How was it?”
Niran’s first impulse was to play dumb, pretend he had no idea what Fei was talking about. But as soon as she said it, his mind flashed to careless smiles, mischievous eyes, and the soft inside of a wrist. It was all over his face. And even if it wasn’t, she would’ve known anyway.
So he said, “Fine.”
“And how did it make you feel?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. He’d long perfected the facade of not caring. “I didn’t give it much thought. It has nothing to do with me.”
The look Fei gave him was truly pitying. “You don’t actually believe that, do you?”
“Send me the details of the plan when you get back,” Niran’s patience had run out. He refused to entertain this conversation any longer. “Get home safe.”
“Okay, I’ll mind my business.” Fei stared at him a little longer, then turned back to the door. “They’re your demons, after all.”
***
Niran knew who he was the moment he saw him.
He wasn’t expecting it. Of course he wasn’t. The only thing on his mind was the job he took from some two bit thugs working for a prominent crime boss. The seedy gambling den was crawling with yao, he just needed to scope the place out a couple of times to come up with a plan. That was how he’d been operating for a while now, moving from one job to the next.
But then he walked inside and saw him. He didn’t even have to look around. Niran stepped into the room and the first thing he saw was Pete sitting there in the distance, staring intently at the cards being dealt on the table. And for one second, Pete was the only one in the entire room. The lights dimmed, the building cleared, just for him. Then someone near him slammed their hand against the slot machine, and all the noise and stench of beer and bad decisions rushed back in.
What shocked him was how much it rocked him to his core. Like there was an earthquake beneath his feet, but he was the only one who could feel it. He thought all the things he heard growing up were fairytales, not worth taking seriously.
He remembered what his grandfather taught him though, back when he still believed that Niran had the potential to be Wu.
“First, we are connected to the heavens and the earth.” Grandpa drew the lines on paper to demonstrate. “Then, we are connected to each other. Just as every human is a part of heaven and Earth, there is a part of our soul resting in another, tied together by something indissoluble. Each person has a fated partner, someone without whom you will never be complete. Not just in this world, but every one before and every one after.”
Grandpa leaned forward. “Once you learn to quiet your mind and give yourself over to nature, you’ll be able to see these lines. And if you look close enough, you’ll even be able to see how far they stretch, all the way back to the past.”
Niran’s eyes went wide. “Are you saying you can time travel?”
Grandpa didn’t hesitate to flick his fingers against Niran’s forehead. “What nonsense are you saying now? How many times do I have to tell you we’re not sorcerers?”
Niran rubbed against the sore spot and pouted. It was far from the first time he’d been reprimanded for saying something stupid.
“No one can go back in time,” Grandpa said sternly. “But you’ll see that time is a circle, rather than a straight line. Some people are meant to cross paths forevermore.”
Niran understood once Pete knocked into him on his way out like he was nothing, just some faceless stranger. And it was true, they were nothing to each other. Except when Pete bumped him into, just from that split second of contact, he saw everything that they were and would be.
They would fall in love. They would become the center of each other’s universe. And then…Niran would lose him. Every time, every life. They might find their way back to each other eventually, or they might lose each other for good. But he would lose him. That was certain.
And that was fine. Niran’s whole life was a long line of people leaving him, so it was only natural that his soulmate follow down that same path as well. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he could change his fate, but he did have choices. So what if he met the other half of his soul? They didn’t have to know each other. He didn’t have to let Pete in. They had spent all their lives on separate roads, there was no reason not to continue.
But then Niran blinked, and his feet were following after Pete before his mind could catch up. He saw his own arm outstretched with a lighter like he was outside of himself, out of his own control. Pete’s eyes glowed amber in the reflection of the flame, and Niran allowed himself to fall into them. One look, and he felt all the air leave his chest.
He had to stay away from him. Or else he would fall headfirst into this doomed fate, no stopping. Of that, he was sure.
***
“The evil forces that you’ve encountered, felt, and unknowingly absorbed,” Niran leveled his gaze at him, unwavering. “Transfer them to me.”
When he looked at Pete, he saw him so clearly, clearer than anything he had ever encountered in life. His shock, his exhilaration. But underneath all of that, his fear. Niran noticed the tense line of his back, the cigarette trembling between his fingers, the way he jumped when Niran put a firm hand on his shoulder. Even as he whipped around and made it clear that he wasn’t scared, Niran saw the wobbling in his eyes. The fondness he felt for him in that moment was nearly overwhelming.
He wanted to protect him. That impulse rose up in him so sharply, it drowned out all his reservations. His hand reached up and pressed against Pete’s chest to calm him. Pete was warm and solid underneath his palm, his heart racing. He was so…human. Vulnerable. Pete looked down at his hand and then back up at him, startled. But he didn’t pull away. He let his guard completely down for Niran. Niran took his hand next, wrapping around his wrist and bringing it to his forehead. Pete’s skin was soft and supple, his touch felt like being bathed in a warm light. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Pete, and Pete looked right back at him just the same. He didn’t run away. They were locked on each other, and nothing on heaven and earth could pull them away.
“Just transfer them all to me,” Niran repeated once again.
Pete stared at him, still tense and resistant. But then, he sighed and closed his eyes. His muscles relaxed, and his heartbeat slowed. With total trust, he gave himself over to Niran. And Niran took him in, and all the things plaguing Pete with him. When he was done, he saw Pete’s shoulders slump and his eyes soften around the edges. For the first time in Niran’s life, his place in the world felt simple. He could do this, take on Pete’s pain always. He could take care of him.
“As long as you’re with me, I’ll look after you.” It was a seal, a promise.
Pete stared at him with such open faith, Niran had to turn away before he did something stupid, like pull him into his arms. Even then, he felt Pete’s eyes on his back like a brand the whole way back to his car. Only after he physically put some distance between them was Niran able to come back to himself.
This was exactly what he was afraid of. Pete shouldn’t even be here. There was no reason for Niran to bring him along, to have asked for his help in the first place. He should’ve left him alone. But for the first time in a long, long time, Niran found himself acting on impulse. He hadn’t been ready to let him go yet, so he didn’t. He kept telling himself one night, and then he’ll let him go forever. And then he kept not walking away.
But at the very least, he promised himself this: he would find out what was inside Pete, what made him able to see yao, and he would absolve him of it. He would make sure Pete was safe.
And after that, he would go. Maybe in this life, they'd find happiness that way.