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silverstark · 2 years

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Hua Cheng Amnesia ficlet Pt.2

Once again, this is fanfic of a fanfic: This is HEAVILY inspired by VampireFaun's beautiful wonderful Hua Cheng amnesia-curse fic,"Thousand Gold Come-And-Go Stew" on Ao3. Go read it I'm obsessed with it. This scene is fanfic of that fanfic.

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~Before~

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian were sitting by the lake in Ghost City having a picnic when suddenly an evil plume of smoke rose up from the Gambling Den cackling about victory.

Xie Lian frowned.

"I WON! I WON!" the ghost proclaimed.

Hua Cheng clicked his tongue in annoyance. Very soon after, the ghost cloud suddenly cleared as if it had been sucked back into the ground. Xie Lian stared at the space where it had been, contemplating.

"What an eyesore. I hope this hasn't upset gege's appetite," Hua Cheng said.

"No, no," Xie Lian said, drawing his attention back to their picnic.

There was a colorful array of snacks on a golden tray, a jaded tea set, and plenty of room for one of them to lay down with his head in the other's lap. Xie Lian wanted to show his appreciation.

Unfortunately, his preoccupation did not go unnoticed.

"Not to worry, gege," Hua Cheng said. "He only wants to sow chaos for a few irritating officials."

Xie Lian smiled. "I trust San Lang would never lend his power to any true evil."

Hua Cheng raised his eyebrows. Xie Lian pressed a grape against his lips so he wouldn't speak nonsense. Hua Cheng obediently took the grape into his mouth and ate it. However, once he was done, he still spoke.

"Then why is gege fretting?"

Xie Lian gave him a reproachful look. Hua Cheng cleared his throat.

"I meant to say- Then what is gege thinking about?"

Xie Lian fed him another grape, this time as a reward. He hummed as he considered how to answer.

"It's nothing we haven't talked about before. It's only…" Xie Lian blushed despite himself.

"Hm?" Hua Cheng prompted, his eye lighting up.

"I didn't feel I had the right to ask, at the time," Xie Lian explained.

"Gege has always been welcome to ask me anything," Hua Cheng said.

"En," Xie Lian accepted.

Hua Cheng smiled and held a grape before Xie Lian's lips. Xie Lian lowered his lashes to escape that warm gaze as he accepted the offering.

"So, what is gege's question?"

"The Gambling Den…is it really alright? How do you make sure…that things don't get out of hand?"

"Ah. Gege asked a good question," Hua Cheng said with a smile.

Xie Lian waited.

"I built the Gambler's Den once I had mastered the cultivation of luck," he explained. "Those who came in to play understood that if they won their bet, I would grant them their wish."

Xie Lian listened and considered.

"And so, when gambling in the Gambler's Den, every gambler plays against you. Which means, they can never win if it would be bad luck for you."

"Gege got it right," Hua Cheng confirmed.

"But…but don't you still need to pay attention to every bet?"

"Why does gege think that?"

"That time we played dice against Black Water, you said that we lost the roll because you forgot…San Lang, did you do that on purpose?"

Hua Cheng had begun laughing when he remembered the bet Xie Lian referenced. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Hua Cheng's past mischief and his lack of remorse about it now. He could only shake his head.

"San Lang…" he said helplessly. "You're so insincere."

Hua Cheng stopped laughing to try to make his face look solemn.

"Gege, I didn't lie to you!" Hua Cheng swore. "I promise, you will not-"

Xie Lian stuffed another grape in his mouth before he could deliver his usual promise. Hua Cheng swallowed it without chewing.

"Gege, believe me!"

"You just said-"

"Gege, it was my fault, but I didn't do it on purpose!"

Xie Lian raised his brows and waited.

"Didn't gege learn the first time you came to the Gambling Den? The high roll isn't always the luckier roll."

"We clearly agreed that the high roll was the winning roll," Xie Lian pointed out.

"If I wanted Black Water to talk," Hua Cheng agreed.

Xie Lian almost asked 'didn't you?' But then he considered. Hua Cheng knew that even if they won, Xie Lian's test would not work on Black Water.

"So, when it makes no difference, you can lose rolls?"

"…"

Hua Cheng's eyes were sparkling with mischievous delight.

Xie Lian: "???"

Hua Cheng hinted, "The prize for a high roll was the chance to interrogate Black Water. The prize for a low roll was-"

Xie Lian blushed again and hastily interrupted with, "I understand!!!"

Hua Cheng laughed again.

"So there really is nothing to worry about," Xie Lian said with an attempt at composure.

"En," Hua Cheng agreed.

"No matter what, the bets placed in the Gambler's Den can only end in San Lang's favor," Xie Lian continued.

"Unless I will it otherwise," Hua Cheng clarified.

"En. San Lang's powers are truly amazing."

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#TGCF #HuaLian #I heavily edited Part 1 but I'm lazy about posting it #if people seem interested I will #i'm not sure what to name this fic but it needs a tag #HC amnesia fic #myfanfic #novel spoilers #TGCF spoilers #maybe this should be a prologue but i like the idea of playing around with non-chronological storytelling #‘i’ll just write a little scene to get it out of my system’ i said

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pengiesama · 5 years

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The Care and Keeping of Your Sentient Saber (Fic, TGCF, HC/XL)

Title: The Care and Keeping of Your Sentient Saber Series: Heavenly Official’s Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu) Pairing: Hua Cheng/Xie Lian

Summary:

E-ming is a very tender and sensitive sword, and needs lots of love and attention that only one person is qualified to give.

Hua Cheng is a very tender and sensitive demon, and needs lots of love and attention that only one person is qualified to give.

Xie Lian is very qualified, and a very, very busy man.

Link: AO3

Check out my commission info here.

Read on Tumblr!

“So. I really am curious. What was it, precisely, that made you think it was a good idea to disrespect me? In my very own city, no less. It was quite the bold gambit, and as I’m sure you’ve realized, it didn’t pay off.”

The horned demon lolled around uselessly on the floor, howling pathetically, and making quite a mess -- really, Hua Cheng had only torn one arm off, and the floor was already slippery with blood. His heeled boots kept the bottom of his robes from dragging in the stuff as he casually strolled about the room, still speaking quite conversationally to his guest even as said guest continued to scream.

“I could have just left you upstairs, and let my employees take care of you,” Hua Cheng continued. “Dealing with rude guests is generally beneath me. But you’ve caught me at a bad time, I’m afraid. So here you are, and here I am. And I’m just dying to know a little more about you.”

“I ain’t mean any disrespect to the lord Chengzhu!” the demon desperately bellowed. “That waitress, she was askin’ for it, and if she’d just have come along quietly I wouldn’ta disturbed the lord’s game--”

“I work so hard to build a prosperous city, only to have scum like this slither in.” Hua Cheng sighed and clasped his fists together to murmur a brief prayer of repentance.

“Really? Even the lord Chengzhu is a dog of the heavens? Ain’t this the city of a thousand vices!?” the demon spat. “Where’s a demon gotta go to stop bein’ moralized at!?”

Hua Cheng was a very, very devout man, and did not like having his prayers interrupted. He let a slow, cruel smile twist his mouth as he turned to fully face his prisoner. He unsheathed his sword to end this tiresome interaction and -- and --

...

Let us try that again. He unsheathed his sword --

NO, E-ming’s voice snapped at him in his mind.

Hua Cheng grit his teeth. He unsheathed the obnoxious, whiny, clingy, useless, worthless piece of scrap metal that had the gall to call itself a sword --

NO. WILL NOT.

He did not like looking foolish in front of his captives. To ensure that word of this did not spread, Hua Cheng eschewed use of E-ming in favor of roundhouse kicking the demon’s head off. He snapped his fingers, and the black shadows disengaged from the walls; becoming a creeping, writhing wave of black caterpillars. They closed in to gorge themselves on the corpse’s flesh, and gnaw holes in the bones. Chrysalis season was fast approaching, and they did need their calcium, after all.

WANT GEGE., E-ming insisted.

Hua Cheng just about lost it then and there. To think that his sword had the unmitigated nerve to make demands on His Highness’ time!

“Oh, do you now?” Hua Cheng hissed. “And what makes you think gege wants to see you!? He has better things to do than to spend his time with a rusty, warped kitchen knife.”

HAVE NOT SEEN GEGE IN SO LONG. E-ming gave a long, drawn-out shiver, as if heaving a sigh born from a bottomless yearning. SO LONG!

Xie Lian had been in and out of Puji Shrine nearly every day lately; going back and forth to the nearby town to answer prayers, going back and forth to the heavens to gather holy herbs, blessed water, powdered qilin droppings -- or whatever other odd nonsense the humans were asking of him.

It was only right and proper that His Highness had worshippers again. And of course, with worshippers came prayers, and with prayers came requests, and with requests came a certain lack of availability. The quiet days spent at the shrine, just the two of them, were no more. And if all went as it should, they would be nevermore, never again. Xie Lian would be lifted up, beloved by all. This was as it should be. It was all as it should be.

MISS GEGE SO. MISS GEGE’S MOST BEAUTIFUL FACE. MISS GEGE’S SOFT SOFT HANDS. STRONG STRONG SOFT SOFT HANDS. MOST WONDERFUL. SEE GEGE NOW!

Hua Cheng grasped E-ming by the hilt and hoisted him up so they could hash this out face-to-face. He scowled, narrowing his eye at him. E-ming narrowed his eye right back.

“You’re not in a position to make demands,” Hua Cheng said, low.

IS. IS IN POSITION, E-ming replied. His eye curved upward, and he looked infuriatingly smug. IS IN POSITION AND WILL NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER AGAIN COME OUT.

Hua Cheng yanked on him with all his strength; one hand on the sheath, one hand on the hilt. E-ming, true to his word, would not budge.

Hua Cheng knew that he only had himself to blame for how stubborn the little shit was. He knew that, if E-ming said he wouldn’t be unsheathed until he saw Xie Lian again, he was sure as hell not going back on that promise.

Cursing, Hua Cheng paced back and forth, his heels clicking against the stone floor. The caterpillars had finished cleaning up; the room was spotless as they wriggled their fat bodies back into the shadows. How was he supposed to keep his city under control like this!? Yes, he had an entire armory of weapons at his disposal, and yes, he had an army of carnivorous butterflies and to-be-butterflies. And yes, he could level mountains and split the earth in twain with but a snap of his fingers. But, much as he hated to admit it, E-ming was very much his thing. A cursed scimitar that drinks blood and can reopen any wound that it’s ever inflicted -- that was burned into the collective unconscious as the Crimson Rain Brand(™). If he could no longer wield him, then he was that much less powerful. He was that much more useless at protecting Xie Lian.

He, unfortunately, had precious few options left.

Xie Lian didn’t often get visitors at his palace in Heaven -- well, not like he was often there anyway -- so the knock on his door took him by surprise. He sighed and trudged wearily to answer. He’d been so exhausted lately, and was lonelier that he’d ever admit aloud...he’d spent centuries alone, so what was a few weeks without Hua Cheng coming to call? What was it? Well, he’d tell you. It was, in a word, unbearable --

He opened the door. Hua Cheng was standing there, and wordlessly presented him with E-ming in his two outstretched hands.

“Please touch it,” Hua Cheng said.

“Oh, you poor thing.” Xie Lian made comforting noises as he cradled E-ming on his lap, patting his hilt and sheath with long, indulgent strokes. “Was San Lang being mean to you again? Poor thing...”

GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE, E-ming replied, shaking so hard that the movement registered as a blur to the naked eye. GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE.

E-ming was Hua Cheng’s thing, in that he was literally born from Hua Cheng. But Hua Cheng could confidently say that he would not react so shamelessly if he was in E-ming’s position right now. Lounging on Xie Lian’s lap. Being stroked and fussed over. And furthermore, he did not sound like that when saying “gege.”

“You don’t need to waste any more of your time on him, your highness,” Hua Cheng said. He reached out; not quite brave enough to venture close enough to Xie Lian’s lap to grab E-ming directly. “We’ve already imposed on your hospitality enough.”

Xie Lian shook his head, and lifted E-ming up just enough to press his cheek to his hilt. E-ming’s eye rolled wildly, and his shaking was beginning to make his sheath slide off. Hua Cheng fumed. Here they were, rudely demanding that Xie Lian entertain them as guests, and now E-ming was stripping down like a common brothel whore.

GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE GEGE. SILKY SOFT CHEEK. PILLOWY SOFT LAP. PET ME PET ME PET ME PET ME, said E-ming, like the wanton skank that he was.

“You’re not imposing. And we’re not done catching up,” Xie Lian said. “I haven’t seen the two of you in so long, after all. Have you been taking care of yourself?”

Hua Cheng forced a smile. “Of course. Gege doesn’t need to trouble his mind about this San Lang’s health.”

Xie Lian’s smile took on an air of sadness, and Hua Cheng felt the familiar string of self-loathing pierce his heart.

“I know. I know that San Lang is strong, and can take care of himself. But…if it’s not too much trouble, perhaps you could...”

“I could,” Hua Cheng assured him. I could, I would. I’ll do anything for you, just name it.

Xie Lian smiled at his little joke (haha, a little joke, yes), and settled E-ming back onto his lap -- E-ming, now completely sheathless, his blade flashing in the waning sunlight.

“Perhaps you could come see me, from time to time, just so I know you’re well.”

Ah. Now that the request had a name to it, Hua Cheng could hardly refuse.

“Of course, gege.”

Xie Lian dipped his head, hiding his red cheeks behind the fall of his hair. Hua Cheng’s fingers twitched at the thought of reaching out, of tucking it behind his ear to see the color on his beautiful face.

He saw Xie Lian’s wide eyes staring at him, felt the warmth of his skin and the softness of his hair on his cold hands.

Ah. Hua Cheng wasn’t as in control of himself as he thought. He’d made that thought into action. Perhaps E-ming’s poor behavior was contagious.

“...t-there’s a smudge!” Xie Lian suddenly announced, leaning in close to E-ming to inspect him, pulling away from Hua Cheng’s hand. “P-poor thing, you poor thing, E-ming, San Lang hasn’t been polishing you! Let me help--”

Xie Lian hiked up his robes on one arm, flashing the skin of his jade-white arm up to his elbow, and bunched it up in his hand. He breathed onto E-ming’s blade, a huff-puff of warm air, and polished out the smudge that he had spotted with his keen eye. E-ming’s eye went huge; the dark pupil dilating. He stopped shaking entirely, and lay completely still, as if dead.

“...E-ming?” Xie Lian waved his hand in front of his eye. “Are you alright?”

“He’ll be fine,” Hua Cheng assured.

Hua Cheng, for his part, was utterly out of his mind with jealousy. He would be hearing about this for months from E-ming. About how white and lovely gege’s arms were, about how gege’s sweet breath felt on his steel, about how gege polished him so skillfully. Hua Cheng wanted to march outside and dropkick the first heavenly official he saw. He glanced out the nearby window, and saw Mu Qing and Feng Xin choking each other out in the middle of the street. A two-for-one deal! Oh my, how convenient. Truly he was the luckiest man alive.

Before he could put this thought into action, he saw Xie Lian, inching close. In his hand he was wielding a handkerchief. He tapped it to his tongue to wet it (his cute pink tongue), and reached out to tap, tap it to Hua Cheng’s cheek.

“...just, ah, cleaning a smudge on you, too,” Xie Lian explained. “You and E-ming need to look out for each other. Keep each other smudge-free. You know?”

“...I don’t know if I can promise an entirely smudge-free existence,” Hua Cheng said. His cheek was tingling and still damp.

“Well…” Xie Lian gave him his hankie. “For now, you can keep that to help. I have a spare, but...bring it back to me the next time you visit, maybe?”

“Of course,” Hua Cheng said. “Of course.”

#天官赐福 #tgcf #heavenly official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #hualian #a tenderly crafted fanfiction

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