Chapter Text
There’s movement in the bed, the wood creaking ever so slightly as weight is moved around. When the blanket gets brutally pulled away, Lan Xichen opens his eyes and finds Nie Huaisang entangled in the fabric, thrashing in his sleep. He reaches out for his lover and wraps his arms around him, pulling him close. As always Nie Huaisang fights him off at first, landing a few kicks on his shin. Lan Xichen holds on, whispering gentle nonsense and promises that he’s safe until the man in his arms finally relaxes, little by little.
“Sorry,” Nie Huaisang mumbles. “Were you sleeping?”
“Not really,” Lan Xichen replies. It’s not a lie. Not exactly. He was in the process of falling asleep, certainly, but not quite there yet. “How are you feeling?”
Rather than to answer right away, Nie Huaisang carefully untangles himself from the blanket and rearranges it over the both of them. There’s no way Lan Xichen could miss the way his lover’s hands are shaking, how he seems to struggle to control his fingers.
“Another bad one?” Lan Xichen whispers.
“Aren’t they all?” Nie Huaisang replies with a half smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine until morning. Let’s just sleep.”
Ignoring that request, Lan Xichen delicately takes one of his lover’s wrist and, after checking it, sends a small pulse of spiritual energy through it. He does the same on the other side, careful to keep it light. It’s enough to stop the trembling, at least for now, but they both know a more thorough treatment will be needed in the morning.
“Tomorrow, let’s go tell Wei Wuxian that this cure isn’t working,” Lan Xichen announces. “We’ve given it enough time.”
“He said it would take a few weeks for it to be fully effective,” Nie Huaisang meekly protests.
“And you’ve had nightmares so strong they block your meridians almost as much as the curse does, nearly evening since you started this treatment. There’s little point in trading one evil for another.”
Nie Huaisang curls up against his chest and nods quietly. He refuses to speak about his nightmares, but it’s easy enough to guess at their content. Lan Xichen knows the sort of horror his lover has witnessed, just as he knows what the other man has done, the guilt he carries with him still. Even if Wei Wuxian’s new treatment were working, which isn’t the case, Lan Xichen would want to consider another option just to spare Nie Huaisang from this pain. It’s not as if they need a cure that badly, anyway. Before they started this cure, it had been months since Nie Huaisang’s meridians had a chance to cause him problems.
They have this under control, cure or not.