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bloody-bee-tea · 1 year

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Kissuary 2023 Day 12 + 26 ~ Breathless - Forehead

Nie Mingjue comes to with a gasp. The first thing he notices is that everything is hurting more than it probably should and that there are blessedly cool hands on his forehead.

“Stay still,” a more than familiar voice orders and despite the pain Nie Mingjue tries his best to follow along.

It’s a good thing too, because the longer he stays still the more the pain in his body receives and Nie Mingjue finally realizes that he’s being healed.

“Didn’t know you could do that,” he rasps out, when his eyes finally start to focus on Jiang Cheng.

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng mutters, his voice strained and Nie Mingjue huffs out a laugh, amazed by how easy that already is again, compared to the amount of pain he was in when he woke up.

The more the pain recedes the more he can focus on Jiang Cheng though and he doesn’t like what he sees at all.

“Wanyin, are you hurt?” Nie Mingjue asks and it would be so Jiang Cheng to heal him while he himself is still hurt and probably bleeding.

“I need to concentrate,” he presses out, closing his eyes as his face turns as white as paper and once Nie Mingjue notices the sweat on his forehead, he reaches for Jiang Cheng’s wrist.

“Stop it,” Nie Mingjue says, removing Jiang Cheng’s hands from his face and even though Jiang Cheng glares at him for it, he can’t put in any struggle at all.

His hands are shaking like leaves in the wind.

“What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?” Nie Mingjue demands to know, sitting up and marvelling at the fact that he can already do that without so much of a twinge in his side.

He had been sure he would die to this wound.

“Nothing is wrong,” Jiang Cheng tries to snap out but even his voice shakes. “Healing is difficult.”

Nie Mingjue narrows his eyes at that. He has seen the healers in Qinghe at work, and he saw the ones healing the soldiers here. Nie Mingjue would immediately agree that healing requires a lot of concentration and focus but it never leaves the healers he saw weak and exhausted like this.

“I didn’t know you could heal at all,” Nie Mingjue repeats the same sentiment from before and he sees the exact moment Jiang Cheng shuts down on him, even before he starts to talk.

“There are other people who need my help. If you feel fine, then let me go.” He tugs on his hand, still in Nie Mingjue’s grip and it scares Nie Mingjue how weak the motion is.

He has seen Jiang Cheng in action on the battlefield, he has sparred against him countless times and not once has he seen Jiang Cheng’s strength falter like that.

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” Nie Mingjue asks again, wondering if maybe Jiang Cheng is one of the rare people with two talents.

It usually comes at the cost of the quality of the talent’s level, so maybe that would explain why healing seems to take so much out of him. He is still a formidable fighter though, so clearly that talent isn’t impacted at all.

“Let go of me,” Jiang Cheng demands, not meeting Nie Mingjue’s eyes at all and the worry immediately sits deep.

“If you are hurt, you need to rest. You need to take care of yourself first. It’s not going to do anyone any good if you simply collapse.”

“I am not weak,” Jiang Cheng hisses at him and Nie Mingjue would love to argue that point because right now Jiang Cheng appears to be very weak but before he can even open his mouth a signal flare is being fired off.

“That’s a Lan one,” Jiang Cheng says. “The Gusu division calls for aid.”

Nie Mingjue looks around himself and a small, desperate part of himself thinks that they all need help. His division is nearly wiped out, and those that are still alive are injured or exhausted.

But they are still at war and there will be no real rest for any of them until Wen Ruohan is dead and so Nie Mingjue pushes himself to his feet.

“And we will answer,” Nie Mingjue decides and briefly squeezes Jiang Cheng’s hand.

It seems as if Jiang Cheng is waiting for him to tell him that he can’t come, that he isn’t fit to fight, but Nie Mingjue knows better than to do that. Besides, Jiang Cheng is a fighter Nie Mingjue wouldn’t want to miss on the battlefield and even exhausted like this he’s probably better than most of their soldiers.

And if he can heal them as well, he could be an invaluable trump card.

Between Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue they manage to rally at least a few dozen soldiers and before Nie Mingjue knows it they are back in battle. It’s just as messy as the fight shortly before with the only exception that no one is at full strength anymore.

Nie Mingjue feels his own strength fading after a few minutes of frenzy fighting but he knows that if he doesn’t give this his all, he’s going to die. And he cannot count on Jiang Cheng to bring him back from the brink again, not when he already did it and is currently fighting himself.

He would never admit it, but Nie Mingjue keeps half an eye on Jiang Cheng at all times when they fight together and Nie Zonghui has scolded him for it more than once already, but Nie Mingjue simply can’t help it.

He guesses love makes fools of them all, especially in a war.

The fight is messy and bloody and more than once Nie Mingjue fears that they are going to be mowed down but in the end they somehow prevail.

He lost sight of Jiang Cheng about halfway through the fight no matter how hard he tried to keep track of him but in the end he finds him with some injured soldier, clearly doing his best to heal them even though he himself looks like death warmed over.

“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says, and the concern must be clear in his voice, because Jiang Cheng immediately tenses. He never deals well when people are concerned about him, Nie Mingjue already learned that.

“I am busy,” Jiang Cheng gives back, a clear dismissal, and Nie Mingjue doesn’t want to disturb him any more.

It’s much more important that their fellow soldiers get healed anyway.

So Nie Mingjue makes the track back to the main camp after securing the area and it’s only when he comes past the infirmary tent that he makes a quick decision.

He ducks into the tent and searches for a healer from Qinghe. Nie Mingjue knows they are all on the same side here, but he doesn’t trust many people and at least like this he knows that he’ll get a truthful answer.

Nie Mingjue spots Nie Guiying treating a patient but when he straightens up and catches Nie Mingjue’s eyes he nods him over.

“Are you hurt?” Nie Guiying immediately asks and only marginally relaxes when Nie Mingjue shakes his head. “What is it then? I’m busy.”

Nie Guiying looks tired but not in the way Jiang Cheng had after healing. He looks tired in a way people tend to when they have been concentrating on their work for too long and it makes new worry spark in Nie Mingjue’s gut.

Something must be wrong with Jiang Cheng’s healing.

Nie Mingjue briefly describes the symptoms he observed on Jiang Cheng and Nie Guiying nods, clearly knowing what’s going on.

“The signs of an untrained healer. Whoever this is needs to stop. They are using their own lifeforce to heal and that only ever ends one way.”

“What?” Nie Mingjue breathes out, going ice-cold with fear and it must be audible in his voice because Nie Guiying immediately turns his full attention to him.

“They are drawing their energy to heal from their own core, their own lifeforce. It will kill them in the long run. We learn how to draw energy from our surroundings; it takes longer to heal that way but it’s much more gentle on both the patient and the healer. This is worrying and you should bring them here if you have the chance. We can train them. If they still have the power to heal after all of this then it’s not too late and they have significant talent.”

“I will,” Nie Mingjue promises and Nie Guiying clearly knows him well enough to see how impatient he suddenly is.

“Go then, you’ve kept me long enough,” Nie Guiying says with a roll of his eyes and Nie Mingjue doesn’t have to be asked twice.

He turns around and hurries back to the battlefield he just came from, clearly scaring a few of his soldiers, but he couldn’t care less.

All he can think about is that Jiang Cheng could die if he goes on like this.

Nie Mingjue is slightly out of breath by the time he arrives at the latest battlefield and he only breathes a little bit easier when his eyes spot Jiang Cheng, who is still healing people.

“Wanyin, stop,” Nie Mingjue calls out and runs up to Jiang Cheng almost rudely tearing him away from the soldier, before he pats Jiang Cheng down.

He’s ice cold and shivering and he’s swaying on his feet but Nie Mingjue is just so happy to see him alive and more or less well that he can’t help himself.

He presses a breathless kiss to his forehead, thanking all the gods he knows that hopefully it’s not too late for Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng freezes at Nie Mingjue’s action, clearly completely taken off guard and Nie Mingjue puts his hands to his shoulders.

“You need to stop healing,” he tells him and immediately fury flashes over Jiang Cheng’s face despite his clear exhaustion.

“Right, because what I do is not good enough,” he breathes out, moving away from Nie Mingjue. “It never is.”

“No, that’s not it, Wanyin, listen. I talked to a healer, okay, and what you’re doing is–”

“Wrong,” Jiang Cheng sneers. “I can’t even do that right, is that it?”

Nie Mingjue wants to rise to Jiang Cheng’s anger–though he’s pretty sure there’s more behind it than just anger–but he knows that’s not the right way right now, so he tugs Jiang Cheng to the side so they can talk more easily.

“Let me explain,” Nie Mingjue says and takes Jiang Cheng’s hands in his. “You’re using your life force to heal. That’s not how it’s normally done.” A thought passes his mind. “Did you not receive training?”

“Training,” Jiang Cheng scoffs. “Right. Because being a healer is worth getting training. You think my parents thought an heir who can only heal is worth it?”

His voice is lifeless as he says it, as if he’s repeating words he had to hear too often to ever forget and Nie Mingjue is horrified when he catches himself thinking for one split second that maybe it’s good that Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian are already dead.

“It is, Wanyin, it is! Being a healer is not worth less than being a fighter or anything else. But you’re hurting yourself with it. You’re using your own force when you should use something else.”

“You’re not mad,” Jiang Cheng mutters and Nie Mingjue barely catches him when his knees buckle.

“I’m not mad, of course not.”

“But you’re disappointed?” Jiang Cheng asks and his voice is slurring in a way that makes Nie Mingjue think that maybe he’s no longer in his right mind and that they should talk about this at a later point.

Preferably with someone knowledgeable to help explain some things to Jiang Cheng.

“I am concerned, my heart, but never disappointed,” Nie Mingjue softly says and Jiang Cheng sags against him.

“Couldn’t stand it if you were,” Jiang Cheng mutters and Nie Mingjue presses another kiss to his hair.

“You’ll never have to find out,” he promises. “But we’ll have to figure out your healing, okay? You can’t go on like this, it will kill you. And I need you to at least survive long enough for me to propose a courtship, you hear me?” Nie Mingjue urgently asks but all he gets is a soft hum.

It has to be enough for now, but Nie Mingjue will make sure they talk about this again once Jiang Cheng rested a bit.

And as soon as this damn war is over, Nie Mingjue is going to propose a courtship.

(Nie Guiying explains some very fundamental things to Jiang Cheng once he’s awake again. It’s not enough to count as training but it is enough to keep him from dying and that is all that matters to Nie Mingjue. And when Jiang Cheng finds him to heal his wounds after Wen Ruohan is killed Nie Mingjue does what he promised to do and offers his first courtship gift: a healer guide for beginners. Jiang Cheng whacks him over the head with it, but he also doesn’t give it back so Nie Mingjue counts it as a win.)

#bt writes #mingcheng #kissuary2023 #canon divergence #sunshot campaign #special powers #hurt/comfort #angst #getting together

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