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fandomweekly2022-07-25 07:11 am
curiosity) wrote in fandomweekly2022-07-25 07:11 am
Entry tags:
[#144] Moving Up (MDZS)
.
Theme Prompt: #144 - Invincible
Title: Moving Up
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: G. Fluff, for me!
Bonus: Yup.
Word Count: 1,000 words.
Summary: Jiang Cheng makes a positive change, after the accident. The Nies help him. Wei Wuxian isn't happy.
Jiang Cheng hummed as he set up his new office. Months of finagling, a solid week of negotiations, and one ultimatum later he was off field work. Permanently.
His new role as project manager for the entire Research and Development Division was a solid promotion, with a more than generous raise. Even his mother had acknowledged this accomplishment at family dinner. She’d also responded favorably to the addition of Nie Mingjue at dinner. Jiang Cheng’s father hadn’t really taken note of the promotion, but the novelty of Nie Mingjue at the table had at least prompted Jiang Fengmian to talk to someone besides Wei Wuxian.
He didn’t care if his dad noticed. Jiang Cheng’s goal was to prevent another situation that had gotten three people stranded and one killed. The Nie brothers were whole-heartedly on this agenda. Nie Mingjue backed him up at every board meeting.
In fact, Nie Mingjue had threatened Jin Guangshan with a lawsuit big enough to make the president and CEO sweat bullets for nearly getting his little brother killed. It was a viable threat. Nie Huaisang was the best navigations and communications technician in the country. His newly-minted department had instantly become the corporation’s gossip hub.
Only one person thought Jiang Cheng was making a mistake.
“Chengcheng!” Wei Wuxian burst in with a cheerful slam of the door against the wall. He made a show of looking around and wrinkling his nose. “They put you in a cage! You sure you don’t want to go back to the way it was before? Figuring it out on the fly with nothing but a schematic and a screwdriver?”
“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped. “Don’t slam the door.” He pointed to a chair. “Sit.”
Wei Wuxian laughed and dropped into a chair, putting his feet up on Jiang Cheng’s desk. “You’re getting soft, little brother.”
“We almost died!”
“But we didn’t.” Wei Wuxian shrugged and pulled some candy from a pocket. He began launching Skittles in the air and trying to catch them in his mouth. He missed, a lot.
Jiang Cheng went back to organizing, knowing his brother would crack sooner in silence. Manuals on the shelf behind his desk. Latest industry standard information in the top desk drawer. A pothos, a gift from his mother, on top of the file cabinet.
Wei Wuxian broke the quiet between them. “You’re really not going to do the first-flight tests anymore?”
“We almost died,” Jiang Cheng repeated wearily, fussing with the pothos. It's colorful, streaked leaves hanging down one side of the cabinet. “Because we were lied to. Fed half-truths. You knew about the fuel. Huaisang knew Jin Zixun was the pilot. I knew the final checklists had been fudged for the board’s visit.”
“None of that was our fault.”
Jiang Cheng turned to face Wei Wuxian, studying his brother. “That plane didn’t care if it was our fault or not. Planes don’t magically stay aloft if the crew are innocents, Wei Wuxian.”
“Huaisang is stepping back from the live test runs, too,” his brother muttered, taking his feet off Jiang Cheng’s desk and pouting. “You two turned into fuddy-duddies on me. Don’t expect me to become boring, too.”
Jiang Cheng felt so old. He went to his desk, sitting across from Wei Wuxian. He leaned in, meeting his brother's eyes.
“No one is asking you to change, Wei Wuxian. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you always come back. That we don’t lose our pilots or mechanics or navigators or genius engineers for stupid, easily preventable reasons. You annoy the shit out of me but I want you alive, do you understand me?”
Wei Wuxian blinked rapidly. Then Jiang Cheng was rocking back in his chair as his brother flung himself across the desk to cling like a monkey while he cried noisily against Jiang Cheng’s neck. What could he do but pat his brother’s back?
At least he had a spare shirt in his small closet.
A knock caught his attention. He looked up, still patting Wei Wuxian’s back, to see Nie Mingjue. The big man raised an eyebrow. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
Nie Mingjue came in, taking the chair Wei Wuxian had just vacated. He made himself at home as if it were perfectly normal to see a grown man sobbing in his brother’s lap. Then again, Nie Mingjue’s brother was Nie Huaisang, who was an unapologetic crybaby. Maybe it was normal for him.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Nie Mingjue said, coughing into his fist. “I wanted to see how you were settling in.”
“Just fine,” Jiang Cheng replied. “There’s a box on the floor, to the side of the desk right there can you - yeah, the tissues, thanks.”
Nie Mingjue retrieved the tissues, setting them on the desk. Just in time for Wei Wuxian to jump off Jiang Cheng and snatch a handful. The engineer blew his nose noisily and mopped his face.
“I’m just. I’m just going to go back to the shop,” he said, like tears weren’t still running down his face.
“See you at five,” Jiang Cheng agreed. “We’ll pick up a pizza on the way home, okay?”
“Sounds great, A-Cheng.”
Nie Mingjue watched, wide-eyed, as Wei Wuxian leaned down to hug his brother and then slink out of the office like a kid who’d just been given a whole sack of candy he wasn’t sure he was allowed to have.
“He’s invincible,” Jiang Cheng intoned, tossing the wad of tissues, that Wei Wuxian had wedged between his back and the chair while hugging, into the trash can. He pulled out hand sanitizer, using a quarter of the bottle. “He has no known weaknesses.”
“Dogs,” Nie Mingjue suggested.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Dogs, yes. And people being nice to him. Genuinely.”
Nie Mingjue raised both eyebrows. “What did you do? Give him permission to cook?”
A scoff. Another squirt of hand sanitizer. “I told him I preferred him alive instead of dead.”
Nie Mingjue laughed.
Theme Prompt: #144 - Invincible
Title: Moving Up
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: G. Fluff, for me!
Bonus: Yup.
Word Count: 1,000 words.
Summary: Jiang Cheng makes a positive change, after the accident. The Nies help him. Wei Wuxian isn't happy.
Jiang Cheng hummed as he set up his new office. Months of finagling, a solid week of negotiations, and one ultimatum later he was off field work. Permanently.
His new role as project manager for the entire Research and Development Division was a solid promotion, with a more than generous raise. Even his mother had acknowledged this accomplishment at family dinner. She’d also responded favorably to the addition of Nie Mingjue at dinner. Jiang Cheng’s father hadn’t really taken note of the promotion, but the novelty of Nie Mingjue at the table had at least prompted Jiang Fengmian to talk to someone besides Wei Wuxian.
He didn’t care if his dad noticed. Jiang Cheng’s goal was to prevent another situation that had gotten three people stranded and one killed. The Nie brothers were whole-heartedly on this agenda. Nie Mingjue backed him up at every board meeting.
In fact, Nie Mingjue had threatened Jin Guangshan with a lawsuit big enough to make the president and CEO sweat bullets for nearly getting his little brother killed. It was a viable threat. Nie Huaisang was the best navigations and communications technician in the country. His newly-minted department had instantly become the corporation’s gossip hub.
Only one person thought Jiang Cheng was making a mistake.
“Chengcheng!” Wei Wuxian burst in with a cheerful slam of the door against the wall. He made a show of looking around and wrinkling his nose. “They put you in a cage! You sure you don’t want to go back to the way it was before? Figuring it out on the fly with nothing but a schematic and a screwdriver?”
“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped. “Don’t slam the door.” He pointed to a chair. “Sit.”
Wei Wuxian laughed and dropped into a chair, putting his feet up on Jiang Cheng’s desk. “You’re getting soft, little brother.”
“We almost died!”
“But we didn’t.” Wei Wuxian shrugged and pulled some candy from a pocket. He began launching Skittles in the air and trying to catch them in his mouth. He missed, a lot.
Jiang Cheng went back to organizing, knowing his brother would crack sooner in silence. Manuals on the shelf behind his desk. Latest industry standard information in the top desk drawer. A pothos, a gift from his mother, on top of the file cabinet.
Wei Wuxian broke the quiet between them. “You’re really not going to do the first-flight tests anymore?”
“We almost died,” Jiang Cheng repeated wearily, fussing with the pothos. It's colorful, streaked leaves hanging down one side of the cabinet. “Because we were lied to. Fed half-truths. You knew about the fuel. Huaisang knew Jin Zixun was the pilot. I knew the final checklists had been fudged for the board’s visit.”
“None of that was our fault.”
Jiang Cheng turned to face Wei Wuxian, studying his brother. “That plane didn’t care if it was our fault or not. Planes don’t magically stay aloft if the crew are innocents, Wei Wuxian.”
“Huaisang is stepping back from the live test runs, too,” his brother muttered, taking his feet off Jiang Cheng’s desk and pouting. “You two turned into fuddy-duddies on me. Don’t expect me to become boring, too.”
Jiang Cheng felt so old. He went to his desk, sitting across from Wei Wuxian. He leaned in, meeting his brother's eyes.
“No one is asking you to change, Wei Wuxian. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you always come back. That we don’t lose our pilots or mechanics or navigators or genius engineers for stupid, easily preventable reasons. You annoy the shit out of me but I want you alive, do you understand me?”
Wei Wuxian blinked rapidly. Then Jiang Cheng was rocking back in his chair as his brother flung himself across the desk to cling like a monkey while he cried noisily against Jiang Cheng’s neck. What could he do but pat his brother’s back?
At least he had a spare shirt in his small closet.
A knock caught his attention. He looked up, still patting Wei Wuxian’s back, to see Nie Mingjue. The big man raised an eyebrow. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
Nie Mingjue came in, taking the chair Wei Wuxian had just vacated. He made himself at home as if it were perfectly normal to see a grown man sobbing in his brother’s lap. Then again, Nie Mingjue’s brother was Nie Huaisang, who was an unapologetic crybaby. Maybe it was normal for him.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Nie Mingjue said, coughing into his fist. “I wanted to see how you were settling in.”
“Just fine,” Jiang Cheng replied. “There’s a box on the floor, to the side of the desk right there can you - yeah, the tissues, thanks.”
Nie Mingjue retrieved the tissues, setting them on the desk. Just in time for Wei Wuxian to jump off Jiang Cheng and snatch a handful. The engineer blew his nose noisily and mopped his face.
“I’m just. I’m just going to go back to the shop,” he said, like tears weren’t still running down his face.
“See you at five,” Jiang Cheng agreed. “We’ll pick up a pizza on the way home, okay?”
“Sounds great, A-Cheng.”
Nie Mingjue watched, wide-eyed, as Wei Wuxian leaned down to hug his brother and then slink out of the office like a kid who’d just been given a whole sack of candy he wasn’t sure he was allowed to have.
“He’s invincible,” Jiang Cheng intoned, tossing the wad of tissues, that Wei Wuxian had wedged between his back and the chair while hugging, into the trash can. He pulled out hand sanitizer, using a quarter of the bottle. “He has no known weaknesses.”
“Dogs,” Nie Mingjue suggested.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Dogs, yes. And people being nice to him. Genuinely.”
Nie Mingjue raised both eyebrows. “What did you do? Give him permission to cook?”
A scoff. Another squirt of hand sanitizer. “I told him I preferred him alive instead of dead.”
Nie Mingjue laughed.
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Jiang Cheng also has self-worth issues, but for different reasons and it manifests differently. That clashing flaw pretty much pretty much overpowers their bond as brothers, in canon, and ruins it.
Not gonna happen in this AU!
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