Work Text:
Jiang Cheng had always dreamed of magpies. He had never understood it, and beyond a sting of fierce obsessiveness over magpies in his childhood, he also never gave it much thought.
There was nothing special about the dreams anyway. Sometimes it was a swarm of the black and white birds floating above him like a sea in the sky. Sometimes it was a single bird watching over him in a field. Sometimes he would simply sit in silence with the birds. Sometimes there were hints of laughter in the wind. Sometimes he felt the brush of lips against his own.
Those dreams were the strangest. They always made him feel like a piece of himself was missing.
However, after a childhood plagued with questions over magpies and his parents’ quickly depleted energy on the subject, Jiang Cheng had given up trying to decipher the dreams long ago.
= = = =
Useless dreams from childhood did nothing for Jiang Cheng now, though, as he stared down at an entire page of unanswered questions on his exam, while the clock at the front counted down the seconds until the exam period ended.
Jiang Cheng wanted to slam his head into the desk. He’d been studying for weeks. He’d attended every single lecture and office hour, yet he still couldn’t answer basic calculus problems. He only had himself to blame for saving his math requirement until his last year of university.
“Hey,” someone next to him prodded, “We’re turning the exams in now.”
Jiang Cheng, exasperated with the exam, shoved it towards his neighbor. He watched as it shuffled toward the end of the row and was picked up by the TA.
“Even if we fail this, we can still graduate, right?”
Jiang Cheng startled back to the present and turned toward the guy next to him.
“What?”
The other man was gorgeous. There was no other way to describe him. Except maybe perfect, dazzling, glorious, stunning…
He was staring into the most vibrant green eyes he had ever seen. Paired with a smattering of light freckles across rounded cheeks and thick, black hair currently wrapped into a knot, the man’s face was soft despite its angles. His lips were a soft rose, and Jiang Cheng wanted to run his fingers along them to see what they felt like.
How had Jiang Cheng never noticed him in class before now?
Kicking himself for fantasizing over a stranger so easily, Jiang Cheng tuned back into the conversation and realized the stranger was still talking.
He interrupted, “I’m sorry, what? Repeat that.”
It came out as an order, not a question or comment, and Jiang Cheng bit back a wince at his own tone.
But the other man just laughed.
It sounded like happiness.
“That exam really took it out of you, huh?” He joked, all smiles and no bite. “I was saying, even if we fail the exam, it’s hard to actually fail this professor’s class. So we’ll still be able to graduate one way or another.”
Jiang Cheng just stares at him. Lost in his words - how can someone care so little about a midterm? - and lost in his eyes - how could something be so intensely green?
“I can’t fail this class.” Jiang Cheng responded dumbly.
The other man tilted his head and shrugged. “Can. Cannot. It’s all subjective.”
Before Jiang Cheng could even think of a response to that, the stranger picked up his bag, gave Jiang Cheng a parting wave, and strolled out of class, leaving Jiang Cheng as one of the few students behind.
He walked in a haze all the way back to his apartment, barely registering what he was doing until he was turning the key in the lock. His thoughts were overrun with derivatives and his classmate’s smile.
“Chengcheng!” snapped him out of his haze, as Wei Wuxian leaned backward over the back of the couch staring at him. “How was the midterm? You ended up staying the whole time. I didn’t think you’d need that much time. I remember finishing in like an hour back in freshman year!”
Jiang Cheng bit back a snarky comment, locking the door behind him.
“It was fine,” he managed, hoping Wei Wuxian would use the single brain cell he possessed to pick up on his bad mood.
Unfortunately, he didn’t.
“Aaaah, I bet you did great. I mean, who could fail basic math? Like we’ve had multivariable calc since we were kids!”
It took all of Jiang Cheng’s restraint to not tackle Wei Wuxian on the couch and smother him with a pillow.
“Fuck off,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, stalking past the couch towards his own room.
Wei Wuxian’s head swiveled like a cartoon, following Jiang Cheng through the small apartment.
“What’s your problem, Chengcheng?”
“Just fuck off, a-Xian!” Jiang Cheng yelled back, slamming his bedroom door closed with more force than intended.
Jiang Cheng huffed out a sigh and steadfastly ignored Wei Wuxian’s muted protests on the other side of the door. Jiang Cheng already felt like shit; he couldn’t be bothered to deal with anything else right now.
Allowing his brain to shut off completely, Jiang Cheng changed into his pajamas and threw himself into bed. Tomorrow he’d deal with the real world, apologize to his stupid brother, and talk to his professor about the exam.
But for now, Jiang Cheng didn’t want to think.
= = = =
Jiang Cheng woke up in the field. The same one he’d dreamed of his entire life.
He was used to strange dreams. Whenever he dreamed of the magpies, everything felt too real. When he was a kid, it had been hard for him to distinguish between reality and dreams. Now as an adult, he knew it was all a figment of his imagination- but that didn’t stop the feeling of contentment every time he was in the field.
He’d long since realized that few others dreamed as vividly as him.
He lay underneath a tree, grass tickling at his ear and a soft breeze playing with his hair. A magpie stared down at him from a branch above.
There was always at least one magpie in his dreams. For the most part, Jiang Cheng couldn’t tell them apart; they were all just birds. However, this one was different. It was almost always there when Jiang Cheng dreamed, bigger than the rest, and liked to yell at Jiang Cheng.
It cocked its head as if to say hello. Then with a loud cry, flew away.
Jiang Cheng rolled to his side and from the corner of his eye he saw a cow.
That was new.
Usually, the field was just him, a few birds, and nothingness. He’d lay there for seconds, minutes, days before eventually sleeping back to darkness and finding himself back in his own world.
When he was a kid, he’d tried exploring the forest, but after walking endlessly in circles a few times, he’d given up on it. It was easier to do nothing. If it wasn’t for the itching in his bones, he would have just assumed his subconscious was giving him a quiet place.
He sat up to watch the cow, intrigued by the change. It lumbered over to him.
“Who are you?” Jiang Cheng asked.
The cow stared back at him, choosing not to deign Jiang Cheng with an answer, and Jiang Cheng supposed he should be grateful his dreams didn’t include talking animals.
Just as he was about to sit down again, attempt to fall asleep, and peacefully wait out the rest of the dream- as per usual-, the cow nudged him.
“What do you want?” Jiang Cheng snarked.
The cow gave another forceful nudge, then started walking into the woods. Jiang Cheng stood rooted in place, watching the animal walk away. After a few steps, though, the cow turned back around and stared Jiang Cheng down, as if asking ‘why aren’t you coming?’
Jiang Cheng sighed and stepped forward to meet the cow, who jerked his head in a nod and continued forward.
“What are you doing?” he grumbled, following after the giant, imaginary animal. “What the fuck am I doing? Just following after you like I’ve got nothing better to do. Not that I do,” he grumbled, “but it’s the principle of the thing. I’ve gotten awfully used to meditating while I sleep, so this little trip is gonna throw my whole schedule off.”
Jiang Cheng sighed dramatically, as if anyone other than himself would even hear it. “Are you my subconscious in the form of a cow trying to take me on a life-changing journey, right now?”
At the continued lack of response from the cow, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
They didn’t walk long before Jiang Cheng heard voices in the distance. He perked up, “Are you leading me to people? That’s good. Let’s find the secret to inner peace quickly so that I can go back to sleep!”
Jiang Cheng’s hopefulness grew slowly as they neared the source of sound. However, once they got within sight of the noise, Jiang Cheng’s hope immediately caught fire and burned to a small, flaky crisp.
“You brought me to a nude swimming hole?” he whispered viciously, as if either the cow or dream people would actually hear him. “Ughhh,” he groaned, then began shoving at the cow’s hind quarters to turn it around, “This is not the life-changing journey I had in mind. I want a new dream.”
The pressure on his backside must’ve upset the animal, though, and before Jiang Cheng could process it, the cow was snorting up a storm and pawing at the ground – quite loudly.
“Heyyyyy,” Jiang Cheng waved his arms placatingly, checking over his shoulder if the swimmers had noticed, and of course, they had. One of the bigger men began walking out of the water towards the noise. Jiang Cheng quickly aborted his eyes when the man’s hips emerged from the water.
“Shhhh,” he tried. “Stop it, dummy. I don’t care if this is just a weird ass world of my subconscious, I do not need to get beaten up in my dreams for ogling a bunch of naked men!”
His efforts did nothing to calm the cow, instead riling it up further. Without notice, the cow ran towards the bushes, shaking its head wildly.
The animal threw its head around as it stomped in the greenery, breaking through a section of bushes – finally putting itself right in front of the swimming hole and the wide-eyed stares of seven gorgeous men – and taking off running. Jiang Cheng didn’t think before running after the cow, as well.
Distant shouts picked up behind him, but Jiang Cheng didn’t spare a moment to look.
The animal finally exhausted itself and stopped running in the middle of a meadow. It shook its head a final time, depositing a bundle of fabric it must have picked up from the swimming hole. Jiang Cheng ran up after it, completely breathless.
“I can’t believe you,” he panted, glaring at the animal who was now moseying around the clearing lazily.
“Ugh,” Jiang Cheng pulled himself together and picked up the jumble of fabric that had fallen from the cow’s horns.
Silky, light green fabric slipped through his fingers. Fuck . Not only had Jiang Cheng managed to ruin the privacy of innocent men, but he had also stolen a set of robes.
He ran a hand over the fabric, wishing he could just stumble back to his little field, drift to nothingness, and wake up in his own bed without having to deal with the whole mess. While he was contemplating the possibility of even finding his way back, a sharp thought cut through his mind.
Wings.
Wings ? Why was he suddenly having vivid flashes of fairies in his head? Had he watched too many dramas? Was this his subconscious telling him he needed to study more instead of watching T.V.?
Jiang Cheng tried his best not to think while he was in his strange dreamworld. He found it made the whole ordeal go by faster. But tonight’s dream had been entirely unprecedented, so he supposed it made sense that even weirder things could happen.
He had only just begun contemplating the intricacies of his subconscious-dreamworld-rule-system when another man stumbled into the meadow.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes shot up to investigate the newcomer, only to immediately drop the silky fabric in his hands and regret every choice he had ever made that had led him here.
A gorgeous, incredibly naked man stood at the other end of the clearing. But not just any man – the beautiful stranger from Calculus II.
Of course, Jiang Cheng would have a mental break in the form of a hyper-realistic dream in which he projects his fantasies for a stranger onto a poorly written fantasy drama plot.
“Excuse me,” pretty-calculus-boy said, his voice carrying easily across the grass, “you seem to have taken something that doesn’t belong to you.”
Jiang Cheng scrambled to pick the clothes back up and held them out in front of him as a peace offering. The stranger had already begun to walk towards him.
“I didn’t take these!”
The other man lifted a careful brow, a look of amusement clear on his face.
“Umm, I mean, obviously I have them right now. But I didn’t take them!” Jiang Cheng kicked his foot out to point at the cow. “He did!”
The man now stood directly in front of Jiang Cheng.
“Your cow stole my clothes?” he questioned sweetly, running his fingers over the silks in front of him.
Jiang Cheng just nodded, already knowing how ridiculous it all sounded and not wanting to dig himself a deeper hole.
But then, it felt as if the entire dream shifted.
Jiang Cheng was still himself, but there was something else prodding at him, pushing him to do something. It felt as if he was playing out a story, as if all he had to do was speak his predestined words on the proper cue.
So, the next words out of Jiang Cheng’s mouth felt entirely fitting, as well as horribly wrong.
“You have to marry me,” he proclaimed, then immediately stiffened.
Who the fuck was he to demand someone marry him??
The other man looked just as shocked as Jiang Cheng.
“Why would I do that?”
“I have your wings. Aren’t fairies supposed to marry whoever has their wings?” Jiang Cheng said, the words being pulled out of him.
The man continued to stare at him. “What makes you think my brothers won’t come here and kill you for me to get my wings back? Why would I let myself be forced into subjection?”
Jiang Cheng felt himself stiffen, “I don’t- I don’t want to imprison you,” the words fell from his mouth. “I want to marry you!”
“What’s the difference?”
While Jiang Cheng understood the pretty-calculus-boy’s contempt, he could also feel a lump of defeat settle in his stomach.
“It’s not-! Ugh,” Jiang Cheng threw the robes at the fairy, who scrambled to catch them. “I’m not going to force you to do anything! You can leave, go back home, do whatever!”
The fairy clutched his robes tightly, but hadn’t moved from where he stood.
“Why then? Why did you even bother taking my wings?”
Jiang Cheng – finally feeling both parts of his soul as one again – stared at him, watching the sunlight brush against the fairy’s hair.
“It just felt right.” He finally managed. “I saw you, and I… I just felt like. You’re it. You’re the only one for me. And I don’t know how to explain because I don’t even know you, but everything about you feels right to me.”
Fairy-dream-interpretation-of-cute-calculus-boy simply stared at Jiang Cheng for a moment.
“What’s your name?” he asked, flicking a lock of hair behind his shoulder. Jiang Cheng’s eyes followed the motion, and when he managed to drag his gaze along the man’s neck and back to his face, it was clear that he knew exactly what Jiang Cheng had been doing.
Jiang Cheng’s tongue felt thick in his throat. This is why he was eternally single – he had no idea how to talk to beautiful people.
“Hmmm,” the other man prompted, leaning forward even more into Jiang Cheng’s space. He met Jiang Cheng’s gaze, and Jiang Cheng could feel his heart skip a beat.
He was much closer to pretty-calculus-boy now than he had been in real life. Jiang Cheng was almost shocked at how clear the other man’s face appeared to him. But then again, if there was anyone worth committing perfectly to memory, it was pretty-calculus-boy.
The other man waved his fingers in front of Jiang Cheng, as if he’d been trying to get his attention for a while, and Jiang Cheng blushed at the knowledge he had been caught staring.
“Tongue tied?” he teased. “I just want to know what to call you.”
It took a moment, but Jiang Cheng finally managed to function, “Jiang Cheng.”
The other man smiled, his face seeming to light up with this new information. Jiang Cheng felt himself calming at the sight.
“Did you want me that badly, a-Cheng?”
“What?” Jiang Cheng squeaked, immediately tensing up again and turning an even deeper shade of red. He had not anticipated the drastic change in conversation. Clearing his throat and steadfastly keeping his eyes focused on pretty-calculus-boy’s face, he continued. “What did you say?”
The man stepped closer and ran a soft finger along Jiang Cheng’s jaw.
“You’re so cute,” he mused.
“Ummm, thanks,” Jiang Cheng choked out dumbly.
“What’s your name, then?” Jiang Cheng questioned, desperately wanting to move the attention off of himself.
The other man pulled his hand back delicately and smiled up at Jiang Cheng.
“Huaisang,” he said lightly, then added with a coy smile. “Nie Huaisang, the Headshaker to many, a-Sang to some, but you can call me baobei.”
Jiang Cheng once again floundered like a fish. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone tried to flirt with him in real life. Maybe that’s why he’d dreamt up such an elaborate fantasy for himself with such a beautiful man.
Huaisang laughed at Jiang Cheng’s reaction, and where Jiang Cheng would typically tense up and become defensive when others laughed at him – namely his stupid brother -, Huaisang’s laughter made Jiang Cheng feel lighter. He enjoyed making Huaisang happy.
Eventually, Jiang Cheng questioned, “You... You’re not mad at me?”
“Ooh, a-Cheng,” he mused, tapping a finger against his chin, “I really don’t know. Just a feeling, I suppose. It’s as if I’ve always known you.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t speak, but agreement lay easily on the tip of his tongue. Flashes of the other man’s eyes flitted through his mind; pieces of memories that he didn’t know how he had.
He dropped his gaze from Jiang Cheng, turning toward his bundle of clothes instead – finally, blessedly seeming to want to get dressed.
As he sorted the garments, Jiang Cheng poked at the ground with his shoe.
“Would you act like this with anyone who had run off with your robes?” he asked, voicing the insecurities he couldn’t seem to hold back.
The rustling stopped, and Jiang Cheng couldn’t help himself from looking down at Huaisang. The fierce gaze he shot back up at Jiang Cheng, surprised him into stumbling back a step.
“Believe me, I’m not often appreciative of strange men who attempt to seduce me or steal my belongings. I can- and gladly would- ruin you for your actions. Don’t discount my strength.”
Jiang Cheng gulped at the ferocity behind his words.
Then Huaisang’s expression softened, “Like I said, there’s just something about you. It also certainly helps that you gave my wings back to me with very little prompting.”
With a final light smile, Huaisang went back to his clothes, and Jiang Cheng couldn’t quite tear his eyes away.
The freckles from Huaisang’s face continued down his neck and scattered across his chest. Though Jiang Cheng didn’t doubt the truth behind his threats, Huaisang himself was just - soft . Jiang Cheng wanted nothing more than to pull him into his arms and never let go.
With that desire running through his mind, Jiang Cheng forced himself to pull his gaze away when Huaisang pulled a light, white robe out of the bundle, dropping the rest to the ground, and began dressing himself.
Jiang Cheng watched the breeze float through the trees as he waited. His mind was an absolute mess.
Huaisang was like a gravitational force that kept pulling Jiang Cheng in. Since the very first moment he’d seen him after the exam, Jiang Cheng had been drawn to him. Now, he felt another inexplicably strong pull to dream-Huaisang. For all Jiang Cheng knew, Huaisang was just a random name his subconscious pulled from a Xianxia drama.
Before Jiang Cheng could dwell on that thought any longer, there was an explosion of noise from the nearby trees, and six more unbelievably beautiful men appeared- thankfully, all of them were dressed. Along with them, a large magpie flew in from the trees and softly landed on Huaisang’s shoulder.
Jiang Cheng blinked at the bird. That was his dream bird; big boy who liked to yell.
The magpie nuzzled into Huaisang’s cheek, and Huaisang seemed pleased to see it.
Huaisang smiled, turning his shoulder- and the bird- to Jiang Cheng, “This is Wanwan!”
The magpie was Huaisang’s? The magpie. The bird that had plagued his dreams his entire life was Huaisang’s ?
An almost growl of a voice pulled Jiang Cheng away from his thoughts.
“Who is this, a-Sang?”
The biggest of the six, a man who looked like he could easily crush Jiang Cheng’s head between his fingers, had stepped forward and quickly focused his attention on Huaisang and Jiang Cheng.
Huaisang easily twirled around, wrapping his arms around one of Jiang Cheng’s and hugging him tightly – quite easily fulfilling Jiang Cheng’s internal wish, though it disrupted Wanwan’s perch. The bird flew off with a loud squawk, finding its way to Huaisang’s brothers.
“Da-ge,” Huaisang said cheerfully, “this is my fiancé!”
Da-ge had a coughing fit at those words.
The absurdity of the situation smacked Jiang Cheng directly in the face. However, his mind seemed to separate again, and Jiang Cheng lost himself in the flow of his dream. Jiang Cheng wrapped his arm around Huaisang’s waist to pull him close to his side.
“I am A-Sang’s fiancé,” he declared, with much more certainty than he actually felt.
Da-ge had composed himself and stepped forward with another growl, but Huaisang cut him off.
“He gave me back my wings, Da-ge!” This forced the man to stop, and a handful of small gasps came from the other brothers. Jiang Cheng could easily imagine the pain someone would face if they tried to force one of the fairies into an unwanted marriage.
Huaisang quickly beat back those thoughts from his brothers.
“He didn’t hide my wings from me or use them against me at all.” He snuggled close to Jiang Cheng. “I want this, Da-ge. I’m choosing this of my own free will. I want to marry Jiang Cheng.”
“Fairies don’t marry humans, Huaisang. That’s why they stoop to cowardly acts like stealing our wings to force us into marriage.”
“It doesn’t matter what fairies usually do. I want to marry him.” Huaisang squeezed Jiang Cheng tighter. “I’ve never felt at home in the heavens like the rest of you, anyway, Da-ge. You know that! This ,” he looked at Jiang Cheng again, “him, a-Cheng, it feels right.”
At that, Da-ge’s expression softened slightly, while the other men behind him all hid smiles behind their sleeves.
Then the moment shifted.
It was like taking a step forward and finding yourself a mile away, but somehow remembering every moment of the journey without experiencing it.
Jiang Cheng found himself in a small room, seated across from Huaisang at a short table. Candlelight flickered shadows on the walls.
It was peaceful.
Jiang Cheng could feel how flushed and hot his face was. The blurring of images in front of him was no longer just the haze of a dream; there was now an added layer of alcohol that seeped through his perception.
But the only thing that mattered was Huaisang sitting on the floor in front of him. His own robes were rumpled, hair askew, and cheeks a rosy red, yet Jiang Cheng thought he still looked absolutely beautiful.
Jiang Cheng moved closer, raising his hand to cup Huaisang’s face. In this moment, Jiang Cheng couldn’t quite tell what his own idea versus the preconceived action of his dream counterpart was. He just wanted to feel Huaisang. He wanted to be close to him.
Huaisang gave a surprised little start when Jiang Cheng’s hand made contact. He stared back at Jiang Cheng, tilting his head into Jiang Cheng’s hand.
“A-Cheng,” he whispered. “Are you happy?”
The words came easily. “I am irrevocably, overwhelmingly happy.”
At Huaisang’s pleased smile, Jiang Cheng continued, “You mean everything to me.”
It didn’t take any thought; Jiang Cheng leaned forward and captured Huaisang’s lips with his own. He would never tire of this. Even if it was all just a dream.
Huaisang melted into the touch, reaching up and digging his hands into Jiang Cheng’s hair. At one sharp tug, Jiang Cheng gasped, breaking contact with Huaisang for a moment.
He stared up at his lover, dazed, but Huaisang met him with a smirk. It was Jiang Cheng’s turn to melt as Huaisang leaned in, pushing him to the ground and kissing him deeply.
Jiang Cheng lost himself in Huaisang, his a-Sang, until the dream shifted on him once more.
Now they were outside.
It was a farmhouse Jiang Cheng had never seen before, yet it felt like home.
Plots of vegetables were scattered around the house, washing was hung out to dry, and a handful of small flower beds sat outside the front door. It was a beautiful home, and Jiang Cheng felt a sense of belonging everywhere he looked.
The feeling of home only increased when he noticed Huaisang.
The other man glared at Jiang Cheng with the most disdainful expression he had ever seen in his life. The chicken in Huaisang’s arms let out a loud screech, flapping its wings to be free, and Jiang Cheng couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“You’re so good with Wanwan,” Jiang Cheng wheezed, “How can you not handle a simple chicken?”
Huaisang frowned at him, holding the chicken as far away from his body as his arms would allow.
“Chickens are monsters,” he said. “Do we really need them?”
Jiang Cheng walked forward, plucking the chicken from Huaisang’s hold and cuddling it against his own chest.
“If you want fresh eggs every day, then yes, we really need them.”
Huaisang scowled, watching the chicken nestle itself into Jiang Cheng.
“I’m rethinking my stance on food necessities,” he said, glaring at the bird.
Jiang Cheng laughed again.
Happiness bubbled in his chest, following him from this moment into the next.
Jiang Cheng found himself in bed. He knew somehow it was the same house- his and Huaisang’s home.
That thought alone filled Jiang Cheng with joy. He and Huaisang shared a life.
He buried his head into Huaisang’s shoulder, snuggling close to the other man in an attempt to block out the sunlight leaking through the window. Huaisang easily pulled Jiang Cheng in, savoring the moment together.
Jiang Cheng wrapped an arm around Huaisang’s waist, tracing his fingers along a-Sang’s back.
Huaisang kissed at Jiang Cheng’s temple.
“Good morning, a-Cheng,” he whispered.
“Baobei,” Jiang Cheng murmured in response.
“There’s lots to do today.”
“Mmm hmmm.”
“We should probably get started on the chores.”
“Mmmm.”
“The day won’t get any longer.”
“Mmm.”
“Or we could take our time this morning,” Huaisang ran his fingers through Jiang Cheng’s hair. “I know a few ways we could occupy ourselves.”
Jiang Cheng responded easily to Huaisang’s words, leaning up to catch his lips in a kiss.
Huaisang matched him effortlessly; one hand still wrapped in Jiang Cheng’s hair, the other cupping his cheek softly.
The lazy kiss was disrupted by a loud squawk outside the window.
Jiang Cheng pulled back and sleepily stared at Huaisang. “Wanwan’s hungry.”
Huaisang sighed, “Wanwan is a fully capable bird who can find his own meals every now and then.”
Jiang Cheng raised a brow, “Are you abandoning your baby?”
Huaisang shot him a small glare. “Why is he only my baby when he’s annoying? Just yesterday, you claimed that you were his favorite parent.”
Jiang Cheng hid his smile by burying his head into Huaisang’s shoulder again.
The moment blurred at the edges.
Jiang Cheng clung to the happiness of the scene.
Moments continued to filter through his consciousness. Jiang Cheng could only observe as he took in more and more fragments of a life with Huaisang.
The happiness, the joy, the simplicity of life together.
Some stood out more than others, moments that turned into dreams for him to live, while others simply passed through him. It was overwhelming and peaceful all at once.
Then he was pulled into an entirely new moment.
Where the others had brought nothing but happiness, he now felt an immediate pit of dread in his stomach.
Somehow Jiang Cheng knew that years had passed, and as he looked over at Huaisang, graceful even as he knelt in the mud, he could feel the pit in his stomach grow. A part of him knew what was going to happen; he just didn’t have the words to explain it yet.
Jiang Cheng dropped to his knees next to Huaisang, ignoring the wetness quickly seeping through his pants.
“Please forgive us,” he pleaded. “A-Sang and I fell in love. That’s all there is. Is love a crime?”
The Goddess stared them down, her fiery expression clashing with the weather.
“How dare you disgrace your kind this way?” She snarled. “You have a duty in heaven that has been neglected.”
Though he kneeled in the dirt, robes askew and hair a mess, Huaisang radiated an aura of power. Even with dread seeping in his bones, Jiang Cheng felt a sense of pride watching his husband defy the Goddess.
“I made my choice years ago,” Huaisang said. “This is the life I choose, and this is the life I will always choose.”
The Goddess stared down at him.
“You don’t get a choice,” she said. “You defied me. You relinquished your duty. You dishonored your family.”
Her expression had calmed from its fiery vehemence and shifted into a cool fury.
“Now you must return.”
Jiang Cheng felt a stab of sorrow in his gut, and Huaisang stiffened in shock next to him.
There was no room for discussion or further pleas. The goddess gave Huaisang one last sharp look, then waved her hand at the soldiers behind her and flew back to the heavens, not once looking back.
Jiang Cheng didn’t have a moment to breathe before soldiers grabbed at Huaisang’s arms, pulling him up.
Jiang Cheng scrambled to Huaisang as well, gripping his mud-streaked robes.
“Please, no! Give us just a moment,” he begged.
Huaisang reached back to Jiang Cheng with the same fervor, but he was pulled back with force, already being lifted from the earth.
Overwhelming shock and panic clouded Jiang Cheng’s mind. A-Sang was being taken away, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had nothing against heaven’s power.
The gap between them slowly grew as Huaisang was pulled back into the heavens. Tears ran down Huaisang’s face, and Jiang Cheng hated every being the reason they were there.
A familiar loud squawk shattered the moment.
It pulled Jiang Cheng’s attention, getting him to look away from Huaisang for a moment, and he was speechless at the sight.
A flock of magpies, more birds than Jiang Cheng had ever seen, had gathered between them, creating a nebulous connection. It was beyond fantastical, but Jiang Cheng couldn’t be bothered to question it.
Jiang Cheng ran out onto the bridge of magpies to meet Huaisang, unable to wait another moment.
His a-Sang apparently felt the same, as he struggled against the soldiers, breaking their grip and then throwing himself onto the magpies.
He flew directly into Jiang Cheng’s open arms. Jiang Cheng staggered back only for a moment, before wrapping his arms around Huaisang and holding him up.
“Baobei,” Jiang Cheng whispered into Huaisang’s shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of summer peonies that always clung to Huaisang.
“A-Cheng!” Huaisang cried. He peppered kisses along Jiang Cheng’s temple, slowly making his way towards Jiang Cheng’s lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
The birds had cut off the path behind them and were attacking the soldiers, allowing them a moment together. Despite knowing their reunion was a finite affair, Jiang Cheng’s heart lightened slightly- they could at least say goodbye.
“You are the very best part of me,” Jiang Cheng said. “You brought me so much joy.”
“I would choose to love you a million times in a million different lives.” Huaisang clung to Jiang Cheng. “No matter what happens, I will never regret being with you.”
“This is… this is the last time we’ll see each other,” Jiang Cheng whispered.
Huaisang shook his head. “Don’t say that. We’ll find a way.” His eyes were fierce. “In this life or the next, we’ll find each other again.”
Jiang Cheng couldn’t do anything but nod, his throat tight with all the sorrow he held back.
Huaisang kissed him softly, and Jiang Cheng savored the touch.
The birds below them began to stir. Jiang Cheng grasped Huaisang tightly, and an immense sadness came back to him. Huaisang seemed to feel the same. Jiang Cheng could read the pain in his eyes.
“I’ll love you forever, a-Cheng.”
Soldiers grabbed at Huaisang again, pulling him away, and the magpies moved to protect Jiang Cheng.
No matter how the birds under his feet shifted, no matter that they pulled him back down to earth, Jiang Cheng kept his eyes on Huaisang.
Their hands were still tightly grasped as the distance between them once again grew. The moment had only prolonged the inevitable.
The sorrow written across both of their faces was clear as day, but so was the love. Jiang Cheng wanted the last thing Huaisang remembered of him to be more than pain. So, he forced himself to smile and watched Huaisang’s heart break a little more.
Their grip on each other finally broke, and Huaisang’s hand was taken from him.
In the last moment of connection, as Huaisang’s fingers slipped across his own, Huaisang smiled down at him.
That soft smile led Jiang Cheng to oblivion, and he was swallowed by the darkness of night.
Everything else faded.
= = = =
Brrring! Brrring! Brrring!
Jiang Cheng woke with a start, slamming his hand down on his alarm clock to shut it up.
He fell back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. The heartbroken look on Huaisang’s face from their last meeting was stuck in his mind.
It all felt so real.
Jiang Cheng forced himself to sit up. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, and he couldn’t understand anything. It felt as if everything in his life had been snapped into focus, but none of it made sense. He was missing something.
What the fuck had Jiang Cheng dreamed? Was he really so desperate that he had taken the cute stranger from his math class and created an entire, fantastical life with him in only one night??
He shook his head as if it could clear away the confusion.
Jiang Cheng pushed himself on autopilot to get out of bed, get dressed, and leave the house. No matter what haunted him in his dreams, he still had shit to do, especially if his exam yesterday was any indication.
No matter how much his heart hurt. No matter how many times green eyes flashed through his mind. No matter that it felt as if he’d aged a hundred years in a single night.
He detoured to a coffee shop before heading to the library. With his dreams still pulling at loose threads in his head, though, Jiang Cheng accepted that his study session wouldn’t be productive.
At the very least, coffee might give him an ounce of concentration.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed at the barista’s obvious pity when she handed him his coffee with three extra shots of espresso.
As Jiang Cheng left the shop with coffee in hand, he stumbled into someone else who was entering. The bell above him jingled and Jiang Cheng let out a loud curse when he dropped his cup, splattering his much needed caffeine across the pavement.
He looked up at the stranger, ready to give the other a piece of his mind, but was struck silent at the sight in front of him.
Pretty-calculus-boy.
Wide green eyes stared back up at Jiang Cheng, and the other man sucked in a sharp breath.
There was more than just normal recognition in pretty-calculus-boy’s eyes.
Jiang Cheng knew that face as well as his own, if not better. Jiang Cheng could see the hope, the questioning, and the prepared disappointment in his eyes.
So, he decided to take a chance and threw out the only name he knew for the other man.
“Huaisang?” Jiang Cheng questioned softly, desperately fighting back the quiver in his voice.
But in the end, it didn’t matter. The other man’s face instantly softened at the name, and he threw his arms around Jiang Cheng, hugging him tightly and burying his face into his chest
“You’re not just a dream,” Huaisang whispered into Jiang Cheng’s chest.
Jiang Cheng stood stiffly as Huaisang attached himself to his side, and it wasn’t until the tickle of Huaisang’s hair on Jiang Cheng’s chin that Jiang Cheng broke out of his shock. He slowly wrapped his own arms around Huaisang, wanting nothing more than to be close to his love.
The memories from last night washed over him.
Memories .
The thought settled in his bones as a fact. He hadn’t been dreaming of fairy tales; it was his life.
“I remember everything, a-Sang,” Jiang Cheng whispered into Huaisang’s hair.
Huaisang pulled back to stare up at Jiang Cheng, his eyes damp with unshed tears.
“We’ve been given another life, a-Cheng,” he said, voice full of awe. “We can be together again.”
Jiang Cheng pulled Huaisang back into an embrace, fighting back his own tears at the revelation. He pressed light kisses along Huaisang’s temple, softening as Huaisang melted into him with each kiss.
“Forever, a-Sang. We’ve been given a new forever.”
Jiang Cheng pulled back to stare at Huaisang. He couldn’t quite comprehend the magnitude of everything, but for the first time in his life, there was a sense of contentment deep in his bones.
Huaisang was staring back at him, probably filled with the same confusion and wonder, when his face suddenly screwed up.
Jiang Cheng immediately cupped Huaisang’s face with his hand, running his thumb along Huaisang’s cheek.
“What’s wrong?”
Huaisang sunk even lower into his pouty face.
“We’ve been in the same calculus class all semester. We’ve been at the same university for three years. And we only now find each other?”
Perhaps Jiang Cheng would have also been upset by the realization if he had discovered it on his own. But as it was, with the love he’d found after centuries without even knowing it’d been lost, staring down at a-Sang’s pouty glare, Jiang Cheng could only laugh.
He leaned down and kissed the discontent off Huaisang’s face.
“We have each other now,” he whispered. “That’s all that matters.”
= = = =
Wei Wuxian stumbled into the apartment loudly, talking before the door had even clicked shut
“Chengcheng! I see your shoes here. I know you’re home!”
Jiang Cheng sighed and let his head fall on Huaisang’s shoulder, accepting that their time alone in a bubble of just them two had come to an end. Wei Wuxian’s voice carried through the apartment, though, allowing Jiang Cheng no escape.
“I know I was shitty yesterday! You know numbers always come easy to me, so sometimes I forget you don’t do that shit.”
There’s more fumbling and Jiang Cheng hears the loud thumps of shoes being thrown off.
“But Lan Zhan said I should be better about putting myself in other people's shoes - like an old man !”
Jiang Cheng snorts at that.
“So, yea, I thought about it, and I was a dick, so I stopped by that bakery and got you your fav-“ Wei Wuxian suddenly cut off. “What?”
Jiang Cheng pulled his head off of Huaisang’s shoulder, though Huaisang’s arms stayed wrapped around him in a loose embrace.
Wei Wuxian stared dumbly at them, one hand clutching a plastic takeout bag the other pointing at Huaisang.
“Who are you?”
Huaisang gave Wei Wuxian a small wave and a bright smile.
“Hi! I’m Huaisang. I’m in a-Cheng’s math course.”
Wei Wuxian nodded slowly but didn’t drop the finger. “Okay, so this is…?” He let the question hang.
Huaisang smiled sweetly, teasing Jiang Cheng’s brother. “What do you mean?”
“Ugh,” Wei Wuxian groaned with a full body flair, “Are you dating ? Did Chengcheng get himself a boyfriend??”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, “No, idiot.” He turned back toward Huaisang, smiling softly. He was absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt, in love with this man, his a-Sang. They had found each other again after centuries and Jiang Cheng wouldn’t let them be torn apart again.
“Huaisang’s my fiancé.”
The brightness of Huaisang’s smile almost blocked out Wei Wuxian’s ear-splitting screech.