#cluelesspigeons

Flowers?

A Hualian ficlet

word count: 717 prompt: tulip (big thx to @nelweensfic for the prompt)

“Gege, what are you doing?”

With his fingers still in the dirt, Xie Lian looked up at Hua Cheng. “I believe I’m planting flowers.”

“Flowers?” Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow. He glanced down at the small sprouts of green that peaked out of the earth.

“Yes.” Xie Lian nodded, wiping his dirty hands on his white robes. Hua Cheng sucked in a surprised breath.

“A travelling merchant came by the shrine a little bit ago,” Xie Lian continued, “He said he came from a faraway land, and showed me these.” He held up a little brown ball with small sprouts of green growing out of it. “He called them tulips. Some kind of flowers from his home land.”

“Flowers…” Hua Cheng mumbled. His eye narrowed suspiciously as he glanced at the planted flowers once more. “Gege’s sure they’re just flowers?”

Confused, Xie Lian furrowed his eyebrows. He stood from where he had been kneeling on the ground, Hua Cheng immediately reaching out to help him up. “Well… yes? The travelling merchant told me they were. I did not detect any malice behind his actions.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Hua Cheng looked thoughtful, though he didn’t ask any further. Instead, he took Xie Lian’s hands in his own, bringing them to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss on each one. “Gege shouldn’t be dirtying these precious hands,” he said softly, one corner of his mouth lifting up in a half-smile. “I know some better ways they could be useful instead.”

As those words left Hua Cheng’s mouth, Xie Lian could feel the tips of his ears burning hot. “San Lang!” he exclaimed, playfully smacking the side of Hua Cheng’s arm.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

~*~

They didn’t return to the shrine for a little while. It was only a couple of weeks later, after a rather stressful mission that had brought them to the desert once more, that they could finally go back to the tranquil haven Xie Lian had created over the years.

He took a deep breath, savouring the sweet smell of the blooming plum trees around them. “I feel like I could sleep for days.”

“Oh?” Hua Cheng turned to look at Xie Lian. His expression looked slightly concerned. “Does Gege need to borrow more spiritual power?”

Xie Lian chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine for a little longer.” He wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng’s waist. “This mission was just… mentally more taxing than usual.”

“Hmm.” Hua Cheng nodded, placing a gentle kiss on Xie Lian’s forehead. “We can rest for however long you want.”

Eyes closed, Xie Lian hummed happily. “That sounds heavenly.”

The two of them made their way further into the garden of the shrine. They passed the small patch of now blooming tulips. Xie Lian glanced down, frowning.

“San Lang,” he started, crouching down to inspect the flowers more closely, “do you notice there aren’t as many tulips here as I planted before or am I finally going crazy?”

“Ah…” Hua Cheng kneeled next to Xie Lian, scratching the back of his neck. “About that…”

Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng, confused. “Did something happen?”

“Some of those flowers weren’t real flowers,” Hua Cheng said. “They were ghosts disguised as tulips. But I had sensed them when you were planting them. So I got rid of them before they could do anything.”

“Ghosts?” Xie Lian tilted his head to the side, confusion written all over his face. “But I didn’t sense anything at all…”

“They were ghosts I had never seen before,” Hua Cheng continued. “They might have come from the travelling merchant’s home land. That might be why Gege couldn’t sense them. Their energy felt… different.”

“I see…” Xie Lian looked at the handful of tulips that remained. There weren’t many left but at least they were pretty.

Hua Cheng took one of Xie Lian’s hands in his and tangled their fingers together. “I can get more tulips if Gege still wants some?”

Xie Lian smiled, leaning closer and giving Hua Cheng a tender kiss on the cheek. “I appreciate the gesture, San Lang. Thank you.” He laid his head on Hua Cheng’s shoulder as he continued to admire the tulips. “We can get some another time. Now, I just really want to rest.”

Happy birthday to my dearest friends @cluelesspigeons!! 🥳🥳I wanted to write you a little fic as a gift just for you!✨ Thank you @purplehotmess for beta reading it on the last minute, you're an angel ❤️

"Where does this portkey go?" Draco asked with a curious frown. 

"You'll see, love." Harry simply answered, finishing to pack the last bag. "Ready?" 

Draco only nodded. This was their first vacation in months; both being so busy, Harry at Hogwarts for almost all the year and Draco at St Mungo's; their love life was really low. Almost nonexistent. So when Harry told Draco they would leave England for Draco's birthday, the blond couldn't be happier. He didn't care where they went. The mere thought of them being together for a week was enough. 

Harry took his hands, squeezing it with love and excitement shining through his eager expression. Draco snorted and squeezed back. Suddenly, they weren't at Grimmauld Place anymore but in a small room with a king sized bedroom. The smell of salt water and the noise of people chattering under their windows was enough for Draco to jump toward the nearest window to take a look. 

"Are we really—" 

"Yeah, the Square isn't far away from here." Harry cut off with a knowing smirk. 

Draco's eyes widened when he realised where they were. Without another second, he grabbed Harry's hand, and ran through the hotel. Harry laughed at his boyfriend's behaviour, but Draco couldn't care, Harry had chosen to go to Venice. He knew Draco's little obsession for that Square and all the pictures and the birds there. 

"Slow down, love," Harry tried to say but Draco didn't listen. He knew exactly where they were. "It took you literally a second to understand, you're a psycho, you know that?" 

"I don't care, Potter." Draco replied. 

"Oh, I'm Potter now?" Harry giggled. 

"It should be right next to that corner…" Draco mumbled. 

Suddenly, Draco stopped as soon as his body turned to face the biggest place he had seen. The architecture and all the people was exactly what he imagined but what gained his attention was : 

"You can run now, little bird." Harry whispered in Draco's ears. 

Draco didn't have to be said twice. He let go of Harry's hand and walked slowly at first, being careful to not scare off all of them. 

Saint Mark Square, Venice, Italy. 

Literally the Square of pigeons! Draco's little obsession. 

Like a child he started running through them, people looking at him like he was a child but in his head, it was a child's dream. Going there and running through those birds. And Harry made it true. Harry didn't judge him for this weird secret. Harry had realised Draco's wish for his birthday. 

He turned around and searched for his boyfriend, only to see him, in the middle of the Square, a muggle camera in hands, taking pictures with a fond smile. 

Hi Celina! Coming right up. Hope you enjoy. 🎄

Microfic: Sleepy

"Happy Christmas. We should leave for Molly's soon."

Harry yawns and stretches. "'S too early," he complains. When Harry lifts up the duvet, Draco only hesitates for a second before snuggling back under the covers.

"Only for ten more minutes," Draco says.

Word count: 197

Drarry microfic: poisonous

Cw: being poisoned

“I can’t believe you were that careless!” Draco exclaimed. He ran around the room, taking ingredients left and right and throwing them into his cauldron. “You know those plants are dangerous!”

Harry sighed from where he was sitting on the examination table. He had lost count of how many times he had been here. “I’ve been through worse.”

“You—” Draco turned around, his silver eyes ablaze. He pointed a long finger in Harry’s direction. “You are unbelievable.”

Harry huffed a laugh, a fond smile on his lips. He stood from the table and stumbled his way over to Draco. “I love you,” he said softly as he fell into Draco’s arms, ignoring the searing pain that shot up his back. “You’re amazing.”

“Oh, Merlin.” Draco sighed. “The poison must be spreading quicker than I thought when you’re spouting such nonsense.” He led Harry back to the examination table, making sure he was comfortable. “Hold on a little longer,” he continued. “The antidote is almost done.”

If Harry wasn’t currently fighting the side effects of the poison streaming through his veins, he would have thought he saw a deep blush on Draco cheeks when he turned back around.

Prompt from March 28th

<< previous microfic

Word count: 213

Drarry microfic: cancelled

Draco closed his laptop again, huffing angrily. He stomped out of his makeshift office at home and waltzed into the kitchen. Harry looked up from the Prophet he was reading. “Are you alright, love?”

Draco sighed deeply. “No.” He took an angry sip of the tea Harry had put under a Stasis charm earlier.

“What’s happened?”

Another sigh and then… “When I told them I can be flexible, I didn’t mean that they could cancel meetings minutes before they start! I mean, I had planned everything perfectly! I made sure all the tasks I needed to do were done. And now, when I was sitting there, waiting for the meeting to start, my stupid boss send me an ‘apologetic email’, telling me he couldn’t make it because his stupid electric car wasn’t fully charged so he couldn’t make it to the office and he can’t work from home like everybody else and—”

“Hey,” Harry cut in, standing from his chair and wrapping his arms around Draco’s waist. “Don’t forget to breathe, okay?”

Draco took a deep breath. He hadn’t realised he was panting until now. “Sorry.”

Harry shook his head. “No, it’s totally okay. I understand your frustration.”

Completely deflated, Draco laid his head on Harry’s shoulder. “My therapist will hear about this.”

Prompt from June 20th

<< previous microfic

Word count: 111

Drarry microfic: colourful mess

When it was Draco’s turn to order his drink, Harry’s smile grew a little wider. “Hello again, Draco,” he said happily. “How are you today?”

Draco playfully waved Harry’s words away, and Harry swore he could see the hints of a blush covering his cheeks. Just then, his eyes fell on Draco’s nails. They were a beautifully colourful mess of rainbow colours. “I like your nails.”

Draco followed his gaze, the blush on his cheeks darkening. “Thanks…”

When Draco walked away with his usual matcha latte in hand, Harry couldn’t help the fond smile that lifted the corners of his mouth. Next time, he would give Draco his number for sure.

Prompt from June 27th

<< previous microfic

Word count: 63

Drarry microfic: smooth sliding

Prompt from June 13th

<< previous microfic

Word count: 115

Drarry microfic: hold close

Cw: nightmares & implied PTSD

Carefully, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry’s shaking body next to him. Ever since his last Auror mission, he had been plagued with nightmares again. Every night, he would wake up screaming or crying for help. And Draco was the only person who managed to calm him down.

He held Harry in his arms all night, calming him. He whispered sweet nothings in his dark curls. He drew invisible patterns on his chest, feeling the wild rhythm of his heart slowing with every second.

He knew that Harry would be fine again. Eventually. Though he couldn’t help the sadness that clawed at his heart everytime Harry called his name in those terrible nightmares of his.

Prompt from June 9th

<< previous microfic