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ruensroad · 4 years

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toss a coin to my witcher (and a carrot for his horse)

You can all blame @this-solaris-life for enabling me to do this AU. Witcher!Jin Ling and bard!Jingyi, featuring Fairy the Ferghana warhorse.

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Jingyi had almost been disappointed the first time he’d crossed paths with a proper wupo. The silver hair, golden eyes, the gleaming sword his carried… all things considered, Jin Rulan was formidable, looking the part and playing it well. He had an eerie focus, impressive skill, and fought like a wild thing. His knowledge of the world’s monsters was more detailed than the entire collection of the Lan Library and his drive to kill all monsters was admirable. He had scared many, many people as they’d crossed country, superstitious as they were, because Jin Rulan was scary, in looks and trade, but there it actually ended.

Because Jin Rulan was actually oddly funny, and naive about the world. All he knew was fighting and his war craft, his horse, and his weapons. He knew how to survive on his own, but around people? He was about as socialized to the people as the people were to him. Which was to say not at all. Not even a little.

He was handsome too, which no one seemed to notice. Shy in ways that proved people’s fear of him actually hurt. He had a temper at times and got protective of stupid things, such as one of billions of knives he carried, or the odd red mark he bore on his forehead, which he refused to explain.

He hated being touched, was confused by music, couldn’t dance without toppling. He was ridiculous, truly, and Jingyi was maybe a little in love with how hopeless he actually was.

He was practical, but not much else. He had skills, but no socialization. In many ways he was the wolf he was often compared to, wild and dangerous alone, but once thrown into civilization, little more than a stray dog avoided like a plague.

Well, more for Jingyi then. All the better.

“How’s this?” he asked, tapping a new beat onto his yaogu drum, grinning as he did so. “For his hair was stark as starlight…”

“You already made a song about my hair,” Jin Rulan complained immediately from where he was grooming his horse, a formidable black and white painted creature that Jingyi was more afraid of than Jin Rulan himself. He’d yet to hear the horse’s name, but surely for a war stallion of the Ferghana breed, it had to be fearsome indeed! “Three, in fact.”

“Aw, and you said you hated my music,” Jingyi saw his opening and laughed when Jin Rulan glared and started grumbling under his breath. “Fine, then I won’t make another about your hair.” His fingers tapped on the drum, a quick little beat, and immediately he was inspired. Shizui would be so proud. Twenty-seven songs in a month, a new record! “Okay, then maybe one about your eyes?”

He didn’t get a response, which was rather typical, and Jingyi decided to take it as not a no. For about an hour he mused on different ways to describe Jin Rulan’s gorgeous eyes and managed a full melody set during that time. Three verses, four choruses, and a rather amazing hook about sunshine and peonies he was very proud of. Now all he had to do was get Jin Rulan to listen.

During all his musing and tapping out beats, Jin Rulan had kept up his muttering and Jingyi grinned, quickening his pace just to hear it. If he annoyed his wudo, then he stood a better chance of being heard once he had his attention. But what he heard had him pausing, because surely, surely that couldn’t be right.

“Maybe if we left him in a field somewhere, Fairy?” No, it was absolutely right. “Don’t look at me like that. He’s a shining beacon of loud and it’s a miracle all monsters within a mile radius haven’t come running.”

The horse tossed its head, snorting, and Jin Rulan looked immediately pained. Was he actually having an argument with his horse and losing?

“Fine, a tavern,” Jin Rulan bargained, only to be snorted at again. He very much was arguing and losing to a horse. Gods above, and just when Jingyi was sure his heart couldn’t love him any more! “I would give him coin, Fairy, come on.”

The great stallion - Fairy? Fairy?! - pinned him with a look then shook out its head and neck, making the golden bells on its bridle jingle merrily. Jin Rulan looked close to snapping, like that sound was his own war beast putting its foot down and not letting him leave Jingyi as warned. Which, maybe it was.

Ridiculous, ridiculous man!

“You named your horse, Fairy?!” Jingyi demanded, upset that such a creature had such a pathetic name. “Fairy!”

Jin Rulan flinched and immediately glared, golden eyes flashing. He’d gotten that into the song, thankfully. “What’s wrong with it,” he demanded right back, nose in the air. “It’s a dignified name!”

“It is not!” Jingyi laughed and shoved at Jin Rulan’s shoulder. He didn’t even budge, by the gods! “He’s a great, heavenly steed in service to a proper wudo! Give him a name like Painted Death, or Wicked Lightning!”

Fairy’s ears pricked towards him in interest and Jin Rulan looked further offended. “You said you liked my name for you,” he scoffed, this time to the horse, who just blinked. He threw his hands in the air. “Fine then, let him name you. Be his horse! I’ll find another who won’t mind my names.”

Jin Rulan was a beautiful man, cruelly so, even stomping away. Jingyi winked to the warhorse with a bold laugh as they both trotted after him. “Wait, Rulan! You haven’t heard my song yet!”

“I’ll shove it down your throat!” came the warning, more resigned than truly heated. So Jingyi, as always, did not heed him, and sang at the top of his lungs, wondering if it would, indeed, have monsters running for them. He’d just make another song out of that if so.

“Eyes of golden fire, delightful to behold~!”

#ruenwrites #jinyi #witcher au #jin ling #lan jingyi #fairy #this au is way too fun oh my gosh #and don't even get me started on the xicheng angle #huhuhu

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