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rainbowfic2023-10-23 03:45 pm
ilthit) wrote in rainbowfic2023-10-23 03:45 pm
Blue Caravan #9, Cloudy Gray #3, Psychedelic Purple #5: Inventory (Lin Moniao Series)
Name: Inventory
Story: Lin Moniao Series (AO3 link)
Colors: Blue Caravan #9 (There's a reason not to want this but I forgot), Cloudy Gray #3 (classify), Psychedelic Purple #5 (I don't take what I don't want).
Supplies and Styles: gesso, graffiti (October mini-bingo prompt "fabric"), frame, resin (no_true_pair amnesty)
Word Count: 1955
Rating: teen
Warnings: n/a
Also contains: Mention of scarring, some innuendo, illicit use of another person's belongings.
Summary: Master Yuwen has sent her husband and a thief to sort out the previous sect leader's things. In her defense she did not Heng Wanxue is a thief. ...What's his excuse?
Note: This is really neither here nor there, but it's what I wanted to write today so here you are. Unbeta'd as always.
The sect leader's quarters were being put back together, but in all the haste to rebuild the walls and the awnings to keep rain and wind and sea-birds from having their way with all the fine things within, the Villa's newly proficient carpenters had not concerned themselves very much with what to do with all the furniture, clothes and treasures kept within. These fine, elegant rooms had become a mess of wood-shavings and footprints, with tables and cabinets and trunks pushed carelessly to the back of the room to make space for the workmen. The wide doors that led to the balcony over the lake view were pulled closed against the wind and the weather, partially boarded up where the frame splintered and the paper was flapping loose. Wind still came in through the partially mended hole to the left, but at least there was some protection against the elements.
Not everything was in the pile, of course. Mu Liqiang had picked up Sect Leader Lin's clothes, as well as blankets and writing implements and the fine oil lamp with a serpentine clasp, everything that the sect leader might need in his temporary rooms among the seniors' quarters. But Lin Moniao had not been the sect leader for long, and most of the things here were those of his predecessor, Niu Liling.
"This feels like snooping," Shen Shanwei complains.
"Is it not snooping?" said Heng Wanxue, stepping carefully over a stack of planks that has been laid down by the fixed partition with its tall papered frame, where the floor of the central room is raised to mark the division with the bedroom. "Cleaning and snooping go hand in hand."
"Once again, I can tell that you are speaking, but I can't hear you." Shen Shanwei picked up a wrought metal incense box and dusted it off with his sleeve. He was in a simple tunic today, as the long robes of the sect's uniform get in the way, and had even consented to pin his hair up.
"I was mostly musing to myself," Heng Wanxue muttered, but turned to her companion with a smile and an apologetic spreading of hands. She had his attention, so she used her hands to speak as best as she knew how. Pick things up. Move them to the bedroom. Sort them out there.
He nodded.
This was a task that might have been left to the juniors, were it not for the possibility of turning up something that the juniors should not see; also, it was something not very physically taxing. For these reasons Master Yuwen had assigned it to Shen Shanwei, who is still technically in recovery, and Heng Wanxue, who was technically a guest; and both of them were already in the inner circle of the sect's most recent secrets.
They left the low cabinet with its many drawers where it had been pushed away from the window, only moving it a little further so it would not be trampled by workmen. It was heavy with something that is none of their business, with some of the drawers locked. Heng Wanxue quietly pulled one open while her companion was not looking, only to find sheets of colourful paper. Hm.
Beautifully painted partitions were folded and set aside, mats rolls up and propped up out of the way. The two of them carried silver and bronze lamps, statuettes and incence bowls up to the bedroom along with small side-tables. The heavy, dusty curtains, too fine to be risked, required a little more trickery to bring down, but Wanxue had climbed more difficult walls than this, and in just a short while of work, they tumbled into Shen Shanwei's waiting arms.
With all that, the bedroom was getting crowded with things, but at least it was undamaged and unlikely to be violated.
Time for inventory. "The fun part!" Heng Wanxue exclaimed with a clap of her hands. Shen Shanwei shook his head at her with a wry smile, and she knew he understood that well enough.
But his smile turned into a frustrated huff when they climbed up, looking at so much stuff, and so disorganized. "We may need more trunks."
There was a tall closet for washing, a vanity by the small papered window, and a smaller writing table, with a box bed neatly made with a sturdy cover tucked tight around it and the curtains pulled, and three hefty trunks against the back wall. Everything was covered in displaced stuff--two more moveable partitions, one broken; a tea-set and tray placed willy-nilly on a trunk, vases and statuettes, seating pillows and piles of books from a shelf that was shattered on the right-hand room.
Heng Wanxue tapped his arm to get his attention. "Let's check those trunks first and see if we can't empty one for the bric-a-brac." Point to a trunk, mime opening it, shift palm to one side as if pushing something aside, open another trunk. "There may be some room in the closet, too."
He nodded. "You're right."
Heng Wanxue had been so, so good this whole time, but as he turned his back to start sorting out those trunks, her eye turned to the silver. The dull sheen, the carvings on the side, the delicate handle of a pitcher--it was in her hand before she'd even thought about it. She turned itt around, thinking of numbers, which grew wilder the longer she examined the thing.
She put the pitcher down.
She was going to take a few things, she knew it. She would tell Lin Moniao later, and he could say whether she should give this or that back, but--so many fine things... Beauty Niu wasn't even there anymore. Nobody would know anything had gone missing. She pocketed an ornate silver paper-knife without really even thinking about it.
Feeling guilty, she pushed all the silver together and padded up to Shen Shanwei, remembering at the last moment to thump her heels so he could feel her coming. He looked up, and she came down on her knees next to him. "What have we here?"
He quickly folded the robe he had been holding up and admiring, smoothed it down, and shifted it to the side. The trunk was full of silk and cotton clothing, dresses and robes and belts. She giggled, and he shifted away, embarrassed. "I'm making room." He snapped. "That's all."
"But it's so pretty." She reached out to run her fingers down the swirls of embroidery on one of the robes, and could feel him relax a little next to her. "Ah, I used to wear pretty things." Her face felt suddenly itchy, so she rubbed her cheek, fingers curling unconsciously to press lightly against the scar.
He was watching, and for some reason, she felt like she'd been caught at something she wasn't supposed to be doing. She touched her sleeve, where the paper-knife was secreted.
He looked back into the trunk, and then unfolded a forest-green dress decorated with copper beads and orange embroidery of birds. "Is this to your taste?" He held the fine fabric up to her skin.
Heng Wanxue found herself at a loss for words, let alone signs, and so said nothing before he pulled it back. "Not that," he said. "Not for your skin." The next dress was more orange and pale yellow and warm tones, like a flame mellowing into sunset. "Maybe," he said after a moment's calculating consideration, with the scratchy silk embroidery brushing gently against her skin.
She pushed the dress back towards him. "Aw, honey, this kind of thing's not for me anymore." She tapped her scar. "It'd just look silly. It's alright, I have other assets."
"Everybody has a flaw or two," he said flatly, though he folded up the dress and put it back. "If it's because you don't want to, then fine, you don't want to. But you can. Lin Moniao would like it, I think, if only because you put in the effort." He huffed a laugh. "Easy to please."
Heng Wanxue traced her scar again, her heart pounding all of a sudden, even though that was very silly. She wasn't thinking of Lin Moniao, though. He didn't mind the scar so much, she was sure, but even he might think, oh, what a pity, it's just like Peony from before, if only she didn't have that... That was enough to put her off even trying. But Yi Zifan liked the scar. Would Yi Zifan like her in a pretty dress? Or--maybe Zifan wouldn't care. She was so practical.
He grinned, and went back to the trunk. "Alright, let me look. Pale green and pale orange would work, I think, but we don't have that, so... well, here's a deep red..."
"Let me look, you meddler," Heng Wanxue cried and bumped him with her shoulder. Then she scooted up closer and dug in herself.
"We should be getting back, shouldn't we?" she said several dresses later. Most of the Villa's spirits and opium had been taken to the infirmary, but they'd stumbled upon a bottle among Niu Liling's things, and Wanxue had popped the seal around the time Shen Shanwei had rummaged up Niu Liling's makeup. She was feeling the drink pinking up her cheeks as he combed her hair back and twisted it into braids. She didn't want to move. He could keep doing that all day if he wanted.
"I never get to play with such nice things," she complained. "It's always just sold. I mean, I'd sell all this stuff too if it meant getting to eat, but-- but--"
"Still can't hear you," he reminded her with a sigh, tied up a braid, and rested his forehead on her shoulder. She patted his hand, twisted her head, and dropped a kiss on his cheek. He laughed. "I see. You're welcome. Do you like it?"
She adjusted the copper mirror in her direction and grinned at it, then touched her cheek again. "Stop that," he said. "Do you like it?"
Her hair and clothed looked so pretty, like a flower or a wrapped-up present. She shifted excitedly. Yes, she could stand being a wrapped-up present. Who would say no to that, even if there was a crack in it? She nodded and patted his hand again.
"You know, you're pretty nice when you're not busy scowling at everybody."
"I am going to assume you are complimenting me."
She nodded. "I am. Let's find a cloak. I want it to be a surprise." She mimed pulling a hood over her head and tying it around her neck, and climbed up on her feet.
"Wait, I still need to--" He looked around at the strewn-about clothes, and started to quickly gather them up and shove them hastily in the trunks. The silver still had not been put away. "We shouldn't have done this. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. These belong to someone else--"
"Oh, come on, you were doing so well!" Wanxue pulled at his shoulder. "You wrapped me up, now I need to be unwrapped. Come present me."
"Alright, alright--"
She threw him a flirtatious look as she pulled him along to the main room. "You could always stay for the unwrapping, too--"
"Please do not sign what you just said, I prefer not to know." His eyes darted back nervously at the bedroom and all the evidence of tomfoolery they'd left behind.
How scruples ruin people just as they start to get fun, Wanxue thought, but aloud she said, in good humour, "As it suits you. And maybe I'll get to wrap you up next time."
"Deafness is a blessing," he murmured as she laughed and opened the door.
Story: Lin Moniao Series (AO3 link)
Colors: Blue Caravan #9 (There's a reason not to want this but I forgot), Cloudy Gray #3 (classify), Psychedelic Purple #5 (I don't take what I don't want).
Supplies and Styles: gesso, graffiti (October mini-bingo prompt "fabric"), frame, resin (
no_true_pair amnesty)Word Count: 1955
Rating: teen
Warnings: n/a
Also contains: Mention of scarring, some innuendo, illicit use of another person's belongings.
Summary: Master Yuwen has sent her husband and a thief to sort out the previous sect leader's things. In her defense she did not Heng Wanxue is a thief. ...What's his excuse?
Note: This is really neither here nor there, but it's what I wanted to write today so here you are. Unbeta'd as always.
The sect leader's quarters were being put back together, but in all the haste to rebuild the walls and the awnings to keep rain and wind and sea-birds from having their way with all the fine things within, the Villa's newly proficient carpenters had not concerned themselves very much with what to do with all the furniture, clothes and treasures kept within. These fine, elegant rooms had become a mess of wood-shavings and footprints, with tables and cabinets and trunks pushed carelessly to the back of the room to make space for the workmen. The wide doors that led to the balcony over the lake view were pulled closed against the wind and the weather, partially boarded up where the frame splintered and the paper was flapping loose. Wind still came in through the partially mended hole to the left, but at least there was some protection against the elements.
Not everything was in the pile, of course. Mu Liqiang had picked up Sect Leader Lin's clothes, as well as blankets and writing implements and the fine oil lamp with a serpentine clasp, everything that the sect leader might need in his temporary rooms among the seniors' quarters. But Lin Moniao had not been the sect leader for long, and most of the things here were those of his predecessor, Niu Liling.
"This feels like snooping," Shen Shanwei complains.
"Is it not snooping?" said Heng Wanxue, stepping carefully over a stack of planks that has been laid down by the fixed partition with its tall papered frame, where the floor of the central room is raised to mark the division with the bedroom. "Cleaning and snooping go hand in hand."
"Once again, I can tell that you are speaking, but I can't hear you." Shen Shanwei picked up a wrought metal incense box and dusted it off with his sleeve. He was in a simple tunic today, as the long robes of the sect's uniform get in the way, and had even consented to pin his hair up.
"I was mostly musing to myself," Heng Wanxue muttered, but turned to her companion with a smile and an apologetic spreading of hands. She had his attention, so she used her hands to speak as best as she knew how. Pick things up. Move them to the bedroom. Sort them out there.
He nodded.
This was a task that might have been left to the juniors, were it not for the possibility of turning up something that the juniors should not see; also, it was something not very physically taxing. For these reasons Master Yuwen had assigned it to Shen Shanwei, who is still technically in recovery, and Heng Wanxue, who was technically a guest; and both of them were already in the inner circle of the sect's most recent secrets.
They left the low cabinet with its many drawers where it had been pushed away from the window, only moving it a little further so it would not be trampled by workmen. It was heavy with something that is none of their business, with some of the drawers locked. Heng Wanxue quietly pulled one open while her companion was not looking, only to find sheets of colourful paper. Hm.
Beautifully painted partitions were folded and set aside, mats rolls up and propped up out of the way. The two of them carried silver and bronze lamps, statuettes and incence bowls up to the bedroom along with small side-tables. The heavy, dusty curtains, too fine to be risked, required a little more trickery to bring down, but Wanxue had climbed more difficult walls than this, and in just a short while of work, they tumbled into Shen Shanwei's waiting arms.
With all that, the bedroom was getting crowded with things, but at least it was undamaged and unlikely to be violated.
Time for inventory. "The fun part!" Heng Wanxue exclaimed with a clap of her hands. Shen Shanwei shook his head at her with a wry smile, and she knew he understood that well enough.
But his smile turned into a frustrated huff when they climbed up, looking at so much stuff, and so disorganized. "We may need more trunks."
There was a tall closet for washing, a vanity by the small papered window, and a smaller writing table, with a box bed neatly made with a sturdy cover tucked tight around it and the curtains pulled, and three hefty trunks against the back wall. Everything was covered in displaced stuff--two more moveable partitions, one broken; a tea-set and tray placed willy-nilly on a trunk, vases and statuettes, seating pillows and piles of books from a shelf that was shattered on the right-hand room.
Heng Wanxue tapped his arm to get his attention. "Let's check those trunks first and see if we can't empty one for the bric-a-brac." Point to a trunk, mime opening it, shift palm to one side as if pushing something aside, open another trunk. "There may be some room in the closet, too."
He nodded. "You're right."
Heng Wanxue had been so, so good this whole time, but as he turned his back to start sorting out those trunks, her eye turned to the silver. The dull sheen, the carvings on the side, the delicate handle of a pitcher--it was in her hand before she'd even thought about it. She turned itt around, thinking of numbers, which grew wilder the longer she examined the thing.
She put the pitcher down.
She was going to take a few things, she knew it. She would tell Lin Moniao later, and he could say whether she should give this or that back, but--so many fine things... Beauty Niu wasn't even there anymore. Nobody would know anything had gone missing. She pocketed an ornate silver paper-knife without really even thinking about it.
Feeling guilty, she pushed all the silver together and padded up to Shen Shanwei, remembering at the last moment to thump her heels so he could feel her coming. He looked up, and she came down on her knees next to him. "What have we here?"
He quickly folded the robe he had been holding up and admiring, smoothed it down, and shifted it to the side. The trunk was full of silk and cotton clothing, dresses and robes and belts. She giggled, and he shifted away, embarrassed. "I'm making room." He snapped. "That's all."
"But it's so pretty." She reached out to run her fingers down the swirls of embroidery on one of the robes, and could feel him relax a little next to her. "Ah, I used to wear pretty things." Her face felt suddenly itchy, so she rubbed her cheek, fingers curling unconsciously to press lightly against the scar.
He was watching, and for some reason, she felt like she'd been caught at something she wasn't supposed to be doing. She touched her sleeve, where the paper-knife was secreted.
He looked back into the trunk, and then unfolded a forest-green dress decorated with copper beads and orange embroidery of birds. "Is this to your taste?" He held the fine fabric up to her skin.
Heng Wanxue found herself at a loss for words, let alone signs, and so said nothing before he pulled it back. "Not that," he said. "Not for your skin." The next dress was more orange and pale yellow and warm tones, like a flame mellowing into sunset. "Maybe," he said after a moment's calculating consideration, with the scratchy silk embroidery brushing gently against her skin.
She pushed the dress back towards him. "Aw, honey, this kind of thing's not for me anymore." She tapped her scar. "It'd just look silly. It's alright, I have other assets."
"Everybody has a flaw or two," he said flatly, though he folded up the dress and put it back. "If it's because you don't want to, then fine, you don't want to. But you can. Lin Moniao would like it, I think, if only because you put in the effort." He huffed a laugh. "Easy to please."
Heng Wanxue traced her scar again, her heart pounding all of a sudden, even though that was very silly. She wasn't thinking of Lin Moniao, though. He didn't mind the scar so much, she was sure, but even he might think, oh, what a pity, it's just like Peony from before, if only she didn't have that... That was enough to put her off even trying. But Yi Zifan liked the scar. Would Yi Zifan like her in a pretty dress? Or--maybe Zifan wouldn't care. She was so practical.
He grinned, and went back to the trunk. "Alright, let me look. Pale green and pale orange would work, I think, but we don't have that, so... well, here's a deep red..."
"Let me look, you meddler," Heng Wanxue cried and bumped him with her shoulder. Then she scooted up closer and dug in herself.
"We should be getting back, shouldn't we?" she said several dresses later. Most of the Villa's spirits and opium had been taken to the infirmary, but they'd stumbled upon a bottle among Niu Liling's things, and Wanxue had popped the seal around the time Shen Shanwei had rummaged up Niu Liling's makeup. She was feeling the drink pinking up her cheeks as he combed her hair back and twisted it into braids. She didn't want to move. He could keep doing that all day if he wanted.
"I never get to play with such nice things," she complained. "It's always just sold. I mean, I'd sell all this stuff too if it meant getting to eat, but-- but--"
"Still can't hear you," he reminded her with a sigh, tied up a braid, and rested his forehead on her shoulder. She patted his hand, twisted her head, and dropped a kiss on his cheek. He laughed. "I see. You're welcome. Do you like it?"
She adjusted the copper mirror in her direction and grinned at it, then touched her cheek again. "Stop that," he said. "Do you like it?"
Her hair and clothed looked so pretty, like a flower or a wrapped-up present. She shifted excitedly. Yes, she could stand being a wrapped-up present. Who would say no to that, even if there was a crack in it? She nodded and patted his hand again.
"You know, you're pretty nice when you're not busy scowling at everybody."
"I am going to assume you are complimenting me."
She nodded. "I am. Let's find a cloak. I want it to be a surprise." She mimed pulling a hood over her head and tying it around her neck, and climbed up on her feet.
"Wait, I still need to--" He looked around at the strewn-about clothes, and started to quickly gather them up and shove them hastily in the trunks. The silver still had not been put away. "We shouldn't have done this. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. These belong to someone else--"
"Oh, come on, you were doing so well!" Wanxue pulled at his shoulder. "You wrapped me up, now I need to be unwrapped. Come present me."
"Alright, alright--"
She threw him a flirtatious look as she pulled him along to the main room. "You could always stay for the unwrapping, too--"
"Please do not sign what you just said, I prefer not to know." His eyes darted back nervously at the bedroom and all the evidence of tomfoolery they'd left behind.
How scruples ruin people just as they start to get fun, Wanxue thought, but aloud she said, in good humour, "As it suits you. And maybe I'll get to wrap you up next time."
"Deafness is a blessing," he murmured as she laughed and opened the door.