kaisou | video; un: X_GoldenSword

WHO: Jin Ling and the network at large
WHERE: Zodiac.
WHEN: Feb. 9
WHAT: help my dog is not allowed in this motel room.
WARNINGS: some level of trauma. incoming MDZS cast feelings explosion, likely going to bring up family estrangement at least, will update if anything changes.

[The video turns on to a young man, slightly underfed, in clothes clearly hemmed in and altered to fit his slighter frame. Just in view at the bottom of the screen is the top of a shih-tzu's head.]

Well, I can't get this stupid app off my phone, so I might as well: anybody here know any place that lets you bring your dog in with you? The motel's not gonna let me bring Sunny in even though she's housebroken and well-trained and wearing a diaper, the assholes.

It better be a cheap place, too! I just got here, I'm still looking for a job.

[The dog barks, and Jin Ling's stormy face immediately softens as he glances down at the dog.]

Yeah, no, I know. Don't worry, I'll get us somewhere nice. [Pat pat.] Good girl.

Oh, and: best pet stores in the city? Cheap's not an option there, my dog deserves the best.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Jin Ling just sits there the whole time, his dog in his lap, licking his face gently so he doesn’t go too far inside his own head. Casper says nothing, but he feels the ghost’s presence like a comforting blanket over him, an assurance that it’ll be fine.

And Jiang Cheng might feel that, too—the presence of something long-dead, lurking around Jin Ling, friendly and gentle, worried.

He tugs the jacket a little tighter around himself, but looks up when Sunny yips at the presence of someone else. Then Sunny jumps off his lap and just runs up to Jiang Cheng to sniff his ankles.]

Sunny, come back. [The dog trots back and sits, leaning into the quick ruffle she gets for being such a good good girl. Jin Ling looks up.] Jiujiu…? You’re really here?

[ it is painfully familiar, he remembers another dog darting around Jin Ling's young heels. Fairy, he thinks, and he aches again. it is almost as comforting as it is distressing to see a different dog at his nephew's beck and call. but the dog is completely forgotten in favour of the boy's face, the presence of something lurking just on the edge of Jin Ling's form.

a question for another time, another place. this is not the place, nor the time.

Jiang Cheng kneels down and wraps his arms around the boy, pulling him in, pulling his close. ]

I didn't know... [ if he had nothing would have stopped him from finding Jin Ling, from ripping apart anyone who dare bring him harm. ] The Order. They had been hunting Lan Wangji and I for the past twenty years.

[That's fine because Sunny is butting up against Jiang Cheng's heels now. Do not ignore her. Give her pets. She did good she deserves pets this is how it works.

Jin Ling goes with barely any resistance, hugging back tightly and making a pained little noise in the back of his throat. Inside his head, Casper relaxes, the blanket of their presence slipping a touch. You'll be all right, kid. You've got a good uncle here.

The very best.]

You and—Hanguang-jun? [They're friends now?? He supposes he ought not to be so surprised. He doesn't recall a Jiang Cheng as his jiujiu in this life, but there is a picture of Uncle Ying in one of the old family photo albums. What was true then isn't quite the same now.

Still. Still. This is his jiujiu.]

...they never said anything to me. They never—the only other cultivator I knew for sure was from our past lives was Wen stupid fucking Chao. If I'd known you were out there I would've—I would've left sooner!

[And it would've been fine, because apparently, just a month or two after he clawed his way out of a burial he didn't want with a ghost riding in the back of his head, the rebellion had kicked right off in earnest.]

They—They picked me up when I was sixteen. I was sleeping over at a friend's and we were making a midnight bodega run. And—some yao, I don't remember what, came out at us and I just—I did the first thing that came to mind.

And one of them saw.

[ it's good that Jin Ling can't see the dark shadow that falls over his expression, nor how his knuckles turn white from the strain of his hands clenching tightly around his nephew's clothes. of all the people for him to be stuck with, of all the people in their past life, it had to be Wen Chao.

breathes in sharply, the smell of Lotus Pier burning (both times) filling his nose, the feel of a whip tearing at his flesh again and again, the sound of that bastard's laughter sharp in his hears. the scar on his chest throbs painfully from the memory, digging invisible claws deep into his skin with every intention of dragging him down, down, down, down into the deep depths of memory.

but Jiang Cheng breathes out, the warmth of his nephew holding dragging him back from the brink just as he had done so many times before in his past life. ]

Forgive me. [ his voice is barely a whisper, barely able to contain the rage that scours his veins. ] Forgive your foolish jiujiu for letting them get their hands on you. Forgive him for never knowing what they put you through.

[ it's with a great amount of effort that Jiang Cheng pulls away, his limbs trembling faintly. breathe in, breathe out. focus on other things, focus on getting him safe. ]

Yes, Hanguang-jun and I are friends. [ sometimes it still feels weird to say outloud, because he has never had to really say it out loud before. their friendship has always been one of those silent, agreed upon things that neither needed to speak on. ] We moved here recently. Wei Wuxian is here as well, he is living with us.

I won't force you to live with us if you don't want to, there are places you can go that will accommodate you and Sunny. [ finally, finally, he acknowledges Jin Ling's dog reaching down to scratch the top of her head. ] But you're staying with us for tonight.

[It really is a good thing. Jin Ling has only ever known Wen Chao in this life, and he doesn't know or remember much in the way of detail from any stories he might've been told in his past life. The only Wen he knew then was Wen Ning.

He deflates when he hears his jiujiu asking him for forgiveness, and just burrows in close, the way he would've when he was younger and he ran to his parents for comfort. The way he used to do with this same man a lifetime ago.]

...I just. I just missed you. 'M sorry. I don't blame you anymore. [A year away from the toxic environment that was the old Black Order's headquarters has really done wonders for him. Two years ago he'd be storming away from Jiang Cheng. He sniffles now, and with some reluctance pulls away too.]

Uncle Ying's living with you guys? I knew he was here, he texted me, but he's being evasive. You know, he made my mom cry when he pulled his stupid disappearing act? She misses him!

[There's a pause. He scrunches his face up as Sunny, absolutely gleeful over finally getting pets for being a good girl, goes up on her hind legs and puts her paws on Jiang Cheng's knee. Hello sir, pick her up.]

You're sure that's okay? Sunny's small and she'd never ever hurt anybody, but Fairy was a way smarter dog and he was still terrified of her.

Uncle Ying?

[ that's... surprising to hear him call Wei Wuxian, not as surprising in this life as it would be in the last, but the irony sits awkwardly on his shoulders. to think even this life he finds himself caught in the tangle of threads that surround Wei Wuxian, that he'd find himself with a mother--

his eyes widen at the mention of Jin Ling's mother, hope catching in his throat that dies as quickly as it is born. no, it isn't Yanli. if it was Wei Wuxian would have told him, if it was they wouldn't be searching for her desperately in hopes of finding her alive and well and utterly untouched by those who wished them ill. ]

You know Wei Wuxian, he often doesn't think how his actions will affect others. He convinces himself it'll be for the best even when it isn't.

[ o-oh, he can't just ignore that. not when she's looking up at him with those big eyes, begging silently to picked up. Jiang Cheng doesn't hesitate in scooping her up and holding her gently in his arms, giving her a scratch behind the ears. ]

It will be fine. She can go in the yard with Pixie and Daisy, they will love her.

Yeah, but nobody likes it when he's mentioned. I dunno. We used to guess what happened to him, me and my friends.

[Jin Ling thought he was in hiding from the mob. His friends had posited many different theories, ranging from amnesia to secret government work to someone who stoutly refused to back down from their alien abduction theory. And now he's...here. In this city. Very much alive and apparently a POKEGO researcher.

He's gonna yell at him so much later.]

Yeah? Dumbass uncle. I'm mad at him, he made Mom cry. [He never even met Uncle Ying before today. But he still worries for the guy, because at the same time, that's Senior Wei—Yi City flickers in his memory.]

You have dogs too? [GASP.] Can I meet them? I wanna meet them. Sunny'll get along great with them!

[Sunny is a devious and jealous little beast who will see Competition for her owner's affection and treatsies.]

video; un: X_GoldenSword_X

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