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fandomweekly2021-11-05 04:42 am
curiosity) wrote in fandomweekly2021-11-05 04:42 am
Entry tags:
[#114] Unexpected Visitors Pt. 1 (MDZS)
Theme Prompt: #114 - Unexpected Visitors
Title: Unexpected Visitors Pt. 1
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: G / Modern AU, a little angst.
Word Count: 1,000
Bonus: No.
Summary: Nie Mingjue was making dinner when the doorbell rang.
Nie Mingjue was making dinner when the doorbell rang. Frowning, because everyone he would have expected at this time had a key and there weren’t any deliveries coming today, he went to the door. The peephole revealed Jiang Cheng, his younger brother’s best friend, standing on the front stoop.
The young man was absolutely soaked to the skin and had a pretty nice black eye forming. His t-shirt was torn at the collar and his jeans had a fresh tear across one knee. Jiang Cheng looked like a half-drowned cat with his hair sticking up in awkward spikes where it wasn’t plastered to his head.
Nie Mingjue went and got some towels, hurrying when the doorbell rang again. It took less than a minute but Jiang Cheng had already turned his back to the door and was stepping back out into the rain when Nie Mingjue opened the door.
“Jiang Cheng!” He had to raises his voice just a little to be heard over the downpour. “Get in here!”
Jiang Cheng hesitated, looking at him warily. But then a crack of thunder tore across the sky and the downpour became a miniature monsoon. He hurried to the door.
“Sorry, sorry,” he chanted, squeezing himself into a narrow wedge of soaked man to avoid brushing against Nie Mingjue as the older man closed and locked the door. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Why didn’t you use your key?” Nie Mingjue asked, directing Jiang Cheng to stand on one towel while he wrapped another around the too-thin shape of his brother’s friend. “Or call? I’d have come to get you.”
Jiang Cheng gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “I don’t have the key anymore. Or a phone. Sorry. I didn’t even think to stop somewhere and ask to use a phone.” He wrapped the towel around himself and stared at Nie Mingjue. “I’m sorry for being a bother, Mingjue-ge. I’ll leave if you want.”
“Mmm, no.” Nie Mingjue replied, taking a third towel and setting it over Jiang Cheng’s tripping hair. “Dry off enough so you don’t make a mess and then get a hot shower. There are emergency clothes in the cabinet next to the towels. Come back when you’re done and I’ll feed you while you explain what happened.”
The younger man stared at him with wide, startled eyes but then nodded, disappearing beneath the towel as he began squeezing the freezing rainwater from his hair. Nie Mingjue patted his shoulder once, pretending to ignore how Jiang Cheng instantly went taut with tension at the casual touch, and went back to preparing dinner. He was going to need more than he’d planned on making.
Once he heard the shower start, Nie Mingjue called his brother. Huaisang answered on the first ring.
“Da-ge?” He sounded slightly breathless. As if he’d been exercising.
Nie Mingjue grimaced, not needing the proof that ‘study sessions’ with Mo Xuanyu were more about hands on anatomy exploration than actually studying for their art history final.
He ignored the urge to turn Mo Xuanyu into a heavy bag and got to the point. “Do you know why Jiang Cheng would be showing up on my door in a monsoon with no coat, no phone, and no key?”
Nie Huaisang was all business that fast. “Give me five minutes.”
“He’s in the shower,” Nie Mingjue growled. “His lips were blue, Huaisang. I think he walked here from either the Jiang Estate or his apartment.”
“I’m on it. A-Yu and I will be there in thirty minutes,” Huaisang replied briskly. “A-Yu likes those shredded strips of pickled vegetables with his rice.”
“I’ll shred and pickle his vegetable if he’s not careful,” Nie Mingjue grumbled, and hung up on Nie Huaisang’s horrified gasp.
Nie Mingjue put his phone away and went back to preparing dinner. Apparently he needed to find a jar of Auntie Qingying’s pickled veggies and prepare a shovel talk on top of it. Huaisang didn’t share the Nie family’s traditional foods with anyone he didn’t want to keep.
The day was looking more and more complicated when all Nie Mingjue had wanted was to make an easy dinner and watch a game on TV. But that was the price of being Da-ge and honestly, he didn’t mind. He just worried about all these kids without anyone to look after them properly.
Jiang Cheng joined him twenty minutes later, looking much warmer in a pair of soft grey sweats that were just a little too big on him. He’d combed out and braided his hair back and put it up in his usual bun but it looked bare without his usual purple ribbon.
“Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu will be here for dinner in about ten minutes,” Nie Mingjue told him, watching carefully. “Unless you want them to stay at Xuanyu’s.”
Jiang Cheng looked startled. “Huaisang lives here. Why would I mind if he came home?”
Nie Mingjue shrugged. “If you wanted space, he wouldn’t mind. It would give him a chance to sleep over at his boyfriend’s place while granting me plausible deniability that they’re sleeping together. Sparing Xuanyu’s life one more day.”
Jiang Cheng gave an amused little huff. “You know they’re together?”
“Huaisang is devious. Not subtle,” Nie Mingjue explained, pouring his guest a cup of hot tea. He put the mug in front of Jiang Cheng. “Drink up. It’s good for you and will help fight off a cold.”
Obediently, Jiang Cheng drank, making an appreciative noise at the tart-bitter taste. Mingjue stared for a minute and then went back to dinner.
Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu appeared minutes later and Nie Mingjue made them drink Auntie’s tea as well. He watched his brother’s eyes widen at the implications of Nie Mingjue serving Mo Xuanyu a mug and hid his smile. They could have that talk once they helped Jiang Cheng.
“So A-Cheng, tell us how your day went,” Nie Huaisang suggested.
Jiang Cheng grimaced.
Title: Unexpected Visitors Pt. 1
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: G / Modern AU, a little angst.
Word Count: 1,000
Bonus: No.
Summary: Nie Mingjue was making dinner when the doorbell rang.
Nie Mingjue was making dinner when the doorbell rang. Frowning, because everyone he would have expected at this time had a key and there weren’t any deliveries coming today, he went to the door. The peephole revealed Jiang Cheng, his younger brother’s best friend, standing on the front stoop.
The young man was absolutely soaked to the skin and had a pretty nice black eye forming. His t-shirt was torn at the collar and his jeans had a fresh tear across one knee. Jiang Cheng looked like a half-drowned cat with his hair sticking up in awkward spikes where it wasn’t plastered to his head.
Nie Mingjue went and got some towels, hurrying when the doorbell rang again. It took less than a minute but Jiang Cheng had already turned his back to the door and was stepping back out into the rain when Nie Mingjue opened the door.
“Jiang Cheng!” He had to raises his voice just a little to be heard over the downpour. “Get in here!”
Jiang Cheng hesitated, looking at him warily. But then a crack of thunder tore across the sky and the downpour became a miniature monsoon. He hurried to the door.
“Sorry, sorry,” he chanted, squeezing himself into a narrow wedge of soaked man to avoid brushing against Nie Mingjue as the older man closed and locked the door. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Why didn’t you use your key?” Nie Mingjue asked, directing Jiang Cheng to stand on one towel while he wrapped another around the too-thin shape of his brother’s friend. “Or call? I’d have come to get you.”
Jiang Cheng gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “I don’t have the key anymore. Or a phone. Sorry. I didn’t even think to stop somewhere and ask to use a phone.” He wrapped the towel around himself and stared at Nie Mingjue. “I’m sorry for being a bother, Mingjue-ge. I’ll leave if you want.”
“Mmm, no.” Nie Mingjue replied, taking a third towel and setting it over Jiang Cheng’s tripping hair. “Dry off enough so you don’t make a mess and then get a hot shower. There are emergency clothes in the cabinet next to the towels. Come back when you’re done and I’ll feed you while you explain what happened.”
The younger man stared at him with wide, startled eyes but then nodded, disappearing beneath the towel as he began squeezing the freezing rainwater from his hair. Nie Mingjue patted his shoulder once, pretending to ignore how Jiang Cheng instantly went taut with tension at the casual touch, and went back to preparing dinner. He was going to need more than he’d planned on making.
Once he heard the shower start, Nie Mingjue called his brother. Huaisang answered on the first ring.
“Da-ge?” He sounded slightly breathless. As if he’d been exercising.
Nie Mingjue grimaced, not needing the proof that ‘study sessions’ with Mo Xuanyu were more about hands on anatomy exploration than actually studying for their art history final.
He ignored the urge to turn Mo Xuanyu into a heavy bag and got to the point. “Do you know why Jiang Cheng would be showing up on my door in a monsoon with no coat, no phone, and no key?”
Nie Huaisang was all business that fast. “Give me five minutes.”
“He’s in the shower,” Nie Mingjue growled. “His lips were blue, Huaisang. I think he walked here from either the Jiang Estate or his apartment.”
“I’m on it. A-Yu and I will be there in thirty minutes,” Huaisang replied briskly. “A-Yu likes those shredded strips of pickled vegetables with his rice.”
“I’ll shred and pickle his vegetable if he’s not careful,” Nie Mingjue grumbled, and hung up on Nie Huaisang’s horrified gasp.
Nie Mingjue put his phone away and went back to preparing dinner. Apparently he needed to find a jar of Auntie Qingying’s pickled veggies and prepare a shovel talk on top of it. Huaisang didn’t share the Nie family’s traditional foods with anyone he didn’t want to keep.
The day was looking more and more complicated when all Nie Mingjue had wanted was to make an easy dinner and watch a game on TV. But that was the price of being Da-ge and honestly, he didn’t mind. He just worried about all these kids without anyone to look after them properly.
Jiang Cheng joined him twenty minutes later, looking much warmer in a pair of soft grey sweats that were just a little too big on him. He’d combed out and braided his hair back and put it up in his usual bun but it looked bare without his usual purple ribbon.
“Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu will be here for dinner in about ten minutes,” Nie Mingjue told him, watching carefully. “Unless you want them to stay at Xuanyu’s.”
Jiang Cheng looked startled. “Huaisang lives here. Why would I mind if he came home?”
Nie Mingjue shrugged. “If you wanted space, he wouldn’t mind. It would give him a chance to sleep over at his boyfriend’s place while granting me plausible deniability that they’re sleeping together. Sparing Xuanyu’s life one more day.”
Jiang Cheng gave an amused little huff. “You know they’re together?”
“Huaisang is devious. Not subtle,” Nie Mingjue explained, pouring his guest a cup of hot tea. He put the mug in front of Jiang Cheng. “Drink up. It’s good for you and will help fight off a cold.”
Obediently, Jiang Cheng drank, making an appreciative noise at the tart-bitter taste. Mingjue stared for a minute and then went back to dinner.
Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu appeared minutes later and Nie Mingjue made them drink Auntie’s tea as well. He watched his brother’s eyes widen at the implications of Nie Mingjue serving Mo Xuanyu a mug and hid his smile. They could have that talk once they helped Jiang Cheng.
“So A-Cheng, tell us how your day went,” Nie Huaisang suggested.
Jiang Cheng grimaced.