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fandomweekly2022-12-31 02:45 am
curiosity) wrote in fandomweekly2022-12-31 02:45 am
Entry tags:
[#161] Gone Astray (MDZS)
.
Theme Prompt: #161 - Homecoming
Title: Gone Astray
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: Gen | Angst!
Bonus: Nope.
Word Count: 1,000
Summary: Random modern AU. Wei Wuxian comes back for the first time in ten years. I'm pretty sure it's almost impossible for me to write happy stuff. :P
Wei Wuxian rubbed his sweaty palms on the legs of his battered black jeans and stared at the door. It was just as intimidating as it had been the day Uncle Jiang first brought him home, twenty years ago. Nothing about the imposing manor had changed. Stone, wood, and glass blended to present a regal, imperious facade to the street.
The house was an impressive residence, perfect for a rich CEO and his industry-crushing lawyer wife. It was perfect for a wealthy couple whose bloodlines boasted the finest pedigrees and their brilliant children who would carry the bloodline on another generation.
It was no place for a scruffy urchin like Wei Wuxian. He knew that now as he’d known it then. But they’d asked him to come back. Jiang Yanli, his adopted sister, had tracked him down. She’d sent him message after message until he’d had to answer or risk waking up with her on his doorstep.
What could any of them possibly want with him? After ten years of separation, what they think he owed them? There was only one way to find out.
He raised his hand and hit the buzzer, standing straight. His beat-up backpack held all his worldly possessions. There was enough cash in his pocket to get him to a hotel. No matter what happened, he told himself, he had somewhere to go. He wouldn’t be spending a single night on the streets when everything went wrong and Madam Yu threw him out again.
As the front door flew open, a rush of fragrant air hit Wei Wuxian in the face. A promise of the feast of home cooking Jiang Yanli had promised him. She stood in the doorway, smaller than he remembered.
Her hair was pulled up in a tidy bun. She wore a lavender cashmere sweater with matching linen slacks. Gold jewelry in her ears, on her wrists, around her neck; far more than she’d ever worn as a child.
The purple socks with neon dinosaurs and the polka-dot house slippers ruined the grown-up woman image. Wei Wuxian almost collapsed from the relief of those last details. For a horrible moment he’d been afraid his former sister had turned into a miniature Madam Yu. He could almost hear the familiar shouts echoing in his ears.
“A-Xian,” she said, smiling. The ghostly echos dispersed like fog at sunrise at that. Her eyes were still worried, though. She looked around, rising up on her toes to peer over his shoulder. “Welcome home”
He shuffled nervously, rubbing his nose. “A-Jie, it’s been a long time.”
She focused on him, the smile becoming more real. She flung herself at him, wrapping him in a hug. He hugged her back, choking back a sob. She still smelled of the same mix of lotus perfume and soup. The only scent he’d ever associated with home.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered, too choked up to speak properly.
“Oh A-Xian, I missed you too,” she pulled away, holding his hands in hers, and smiled up at him. Tears glistened in her eyes. “It’s been so long. You never came back to visit.”
“A-Jie,” he protested, weakly, as she tugged him inside. “I wouldn’t have been welcome. Madam Yu told me to never come back or she’d do a lot worse than kick me out.”
Jiang Yanli’s eyes went wide as she stared up at him, her mouth forming a stunned ‘o’. Then she composed herself, squaring her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, A-Xian. I didn’t know that. She told us you ran away. The spare money she and A-Die kept in their offices was gone, your room was torn apart, and you were gone.”
Wei Wuxian felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. Madam Yu had lied? Had staged that?
“She died two years ago,” Jiang Yanli went on, turning away. “Cancer in her liver.”
“What? A-Jie, I had no idea! I’m so sorry,” Wei Wuxian reeled, legs wobbling like jelly. It was too much.
The house was the same, each framed picture placed on the wall with mathematic precision. Every piece of furniture posed exactingly. Even the same drapes, looking fresh and new, hung in precise folds on the tall, narrow windows.
But so much had changed. This grown-up Jiang Yanli. Madam Yu was gone. His head was spinning.
“A-Xian,” his sister said, turning around with a frown. “It’s okay, there was no way you would have known. But A-Xian, where is he?”
Wei Wuxian blinked rapidly, trying to gather his wits. He who? Lan Wangji had wanted to come, had insisted. Wei Wuxian’s honey-bunny had only relented at Wei Wuxian’s insistence. His honey-bunny was back home in California, waiting for a phone call. How did Jiang Yanli even know about him?
“He?” Wei Wuxian swallowed, rubbing his palms on his jeans again, just for the reassuring sensation. “Who, A-Jie?”
Her eyes went wide again, a hint of fear. “A-Cheng. A-Xian, where is A-Cheng? Why isn’t he with you?”
“Jiang Cheng,” he repeated, utterly bewildered. “What do you mean, A-Jie?”
She reached out, fingers catching in the cuff of his long-sleeved t-shirt. She clung, staring at him. “A-Xian, please tell me A-Cheng is with you. Now isn’t the time to tease Jiejie.”
“A-Jie, I haven’t seen Jiang Cheng since the night I left,” Wei Wuxian replied. “I haven’t seen any of you. She told me to leave China. I left. Dinner that night ten years ago is the last time I saw any of you.”
“Oh no,” she whispered. “That can’t be true, A-Xian. A-Cheng left the very next day, to find you. We haven’t heard from him since woke up to you gone and fought with Mom and Dad.”
“A-Jie, that can’t be true,” Wei Wuxian protested as ice pooled in his guts. “I never saw him.”
“Oh no.”
Theme Prompt: #161 - Homecoming
Title: Gone Astray
Fandom: MDZS
Rating/Warnings: Gen | Angst!
Bonus: Nope.
Word Count: 1,000
Summary: Random modern AU. Wei Wuxian comes back for the first time in ten years. I'm pretty sure it's almost impossible for me to write happy stuff. :P
Wei Wuxian rubbed his sweaty palms on the legs of his battered black jeans and stared at the door. It was just as intimidating as it had been the day Uncle Jiang first brought him home, twenty years ago. Nothing about the imposing manor had changed. Stone, wood, and glass blended to present a regal, imperious facade to the street.
The house was an impressive residence, perfect for a rich CEO and his industry-crushing lawyer wife. It was perfect for a wealthy couple whose bloodlines boasted the finest pedigrees and their brilliant children who would carry the bloodline on another generation.
It was no place for a scruffy urchin like Wei Wuxian. He knew that now as he’d known it then. But they’d asked him to come back. Jiang Yanli, his adopted sister, had tracked him down. She’d sent him message after message until he’d had to answer or risk waking up with her on his doorstep.
What could any of them possibly want with him? After ten years of separation, what they think he owed them? There was only one way to find out.
He raised his hand and hit the buzzer, standing straight. His beat-up backpack held all his worldly possessions. There was enough cash in his pocket to get him to a hotel. No matter what happened, he told himself, he had somewhere to go. He wouldn’t be spending a single night on the streets when everything went wrong and Madam Yu threw him out again.
As the front door flew open, a rush of fragrant air hit Wei Wuxian in the face. A promise of the feast of home cooking Jiang Yanli had promised him. She stood in the doorway, smaller than he remembered.
Her hair was pulled up in a tidy bun. She wore a lavender cashmere sweater with matching linen slacks. Gold jewelry in her ears, on her wrists, around her neck; far more than she’d ever worn as a child.
The purple socks with neon dinosaurs and the polka-dot house slippers ruined the grown-up woman image. Wei Wuxian almost collapsed from the relief of those last details. For a horrible moment he’d been afraid his former sister had turned into a miniature Madam Yu. He could almost hear the familiar shouts echoing in his ears.
“A-Xian,” she said, smiling. The ghostly echos dispersed like fog at sunrise at that. Her eyes were still worried, though. She looked around, rising up on her toes to peer over his shoulder. “Welcome home”
He shuffled nervously, rubbing his nose. “A-Jie, it’s been a long time.”
She focused on him, the smile becoming more real. She flung herself at him, wrapping him in a hug. He hugged her back, choking back a sob. She still smelled of the same mix of lotus perfume and soup. The only scent he’d ever associated with home.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered, too choked up to speak properly.
“Oh A-Xian, I missed you too,” she pulled away, holding his hands in hers, and smiled up at him. Tears glistened in her eyes. “It’s been so long. You never came back to visit.”
“A-Jie,” he protested, weakly, as she tugged him inside. “I wouldn’t have been welcome. Madam Yu told me to never come back or she’d do a lot worse than kick me out.”
Jiang Yanli’s eyes went wide as she stared up at him, her mouth forming a stunned ‘o’. Then she composed herself, squaring her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, A-Xian. I didn’t know that. She told us you ran away. The spare money she and A-Die kept in their offices was gone, your room was torn apart, and you were gone.”
Wei Wuxian felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. Madam Yu had lied? Had staged that?
“She died two years ago,” Jiang Yanli went on, turning away. “Cancer in her liver.”
“What? A-Jie, I had no idea! I’m so sorry,” Wei Wuxian reeled, legs wobbling like jelly. It was too much.
The house was the same, each framed picture placed on the wall with mathematic precision. Every piece of furniture posed exactingly. Even the same drapes, looking fresh and new, hung in precise folds on the tall, narrow windows.
But so much had changed. This grown-up Jiang Yanli. Madam Yu was gone. His head was spinning.
“A-Xian,” his sister said, turning around with a frown. “It’s okay, there was no way you would have known. But A-Xian, where is he?”
Wei Wuxian blinked rapidly, trying to gather his wits. He who? Lan Wangji had wanted to come, had insisted. Wei Wuxian’s honey-bunny had only relented at Wei Wuxian’s insistence. His honey-bunny was back home in California, waiting for a phone call. How did Jiang Yanli even know about him?
“He?” Wei Wuxian swallowed, rubbing his palms on his jeans again, just for the reassuring sensation. “Who, A-Jie?”
Her eyes went wide again, a hint of fear. “A-Cheng. A-Xian, where is A-Cheng? Why isn’t he with you?”
“Jiang Cheng,” he repeated, utterly bewildered. “What do you mean, A-Jie?”
She reached out, fingers catching in the cuff of his long-sleeved t-shirt. She clung, staring at him. “A-Xian, please tell me A-Cheng is with you. Now isn’t the time to tease Jiejie.”
“A-Jie, I haven’t seen Jiang Cheng since the night I left,” Wei Wuxian replied. “I haven’t seen any of you. She told me to leave China. I left. Dinner that night ten years ago is the last time I saw any of you.”
“Oh no,” she whispered. “That can’t be true, A-Xian. A-Cheng left the very next day, to find you. We haven’t heard from him since woke up to you gone and fought with Mom and Dad.”
“A-Jie, that can’t be true,” Wei Wuxian protested as ice pooled in his guts. “I never saw him.”
“Oh no.”
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