Hybrid Rainbow

Nie Huaisang knows that his Captain and friend has a soft side to him, something he only shows when he’s interacting with little animals, like Xiaoyu, or whenever he’s talking about his sister or eating her cooking.

Nie Huaisang isn’t quite prepared to see Jiang Cheng holding his baby nephew. He is now seeing a new kind of soft.

Jiang Yanli’s smile is brighter than sunshine as she guides her brother to hold her baby. And what an adorable baby it is! Nie Huaisang hardly managed to hold himself back from cooing and squealing, if only not to ruin the moment. He tries to be as quiet as possible, pretending to focus on drinking tea as the Jiang siblings catch up.

“I wish I could have visited sooner.” Jiang Cheng tells his sister, while he cradles the baby in his arms. “We’ve just been too busy over at Sixth.”

“Oh, A-Cheng, I understand. Don’t you worry about that anymore.” Jiang Yanli reassures him. “I’ve seen what you had to start with! I’m only happy to hear how much you’ve managed to rebuild in such a short time. A-Xuan told me the progress is truly remarkable.”

“Thank you, jiejie.” Jiang Cheng smiles, as little Jin Ling lets out a big yawn in his arms. “But still, I could have been telling you about the repairs myself…”

“Don’t beat yourself up over that, you were working so hard…” Jiang Yanli says. She then sends a smile in Nie Huaisang’s direction. “Besides, Young Master Nie has been so consistent on telling me how everything was going!”

At that, Jiang Cheng momentarily stops playing with Jin Ling and looks at Nie Huaisang as well. “You’ve been writing to my sister?”

“No, your sister has been writing to me.” Nie Huaisang answers, face half hidden behind his fan – the new one Jiang Cheng had given him. It’s wood and paper now, much lighter and definitely not as dangerous as the one tucked to his waist. “As a gentleman of a noble house, it was only proper that I reply to her.”

Jiang Yanli looks amused as she picks up her cup of tea. “Don’t you worry, Young Master Nie only ever talks about you in the most flattering ways.”

Nie Huaisang nods. “Yeah, I’m not heartless, A-Cheng. I didn’t tell your beloved sister about that time you were being mean to me and my innocent little pet bird.”

Jiang Cheng huffs. “I was never mean to Xiaoyu, only to you.”

“So you admit you’re mean to me!”

“Yes, if that’s what you call telling you to do something productive while at work-” He stops abruptly when he remembers that he is holding a baby in his arms. Before he could go on using a much quieter voice, though, he hears his sister giggling.

“Ah, it’s so good that you have a lieutenant you get along so well with!” Jiang Yanli says. “I was worried about who you would have on your side during all this…”

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes. “You wouldn’t say that if you work with him, jiejie. Half the time he’s just napping on the couch and the other half, he’s wandering around and gossiping.”

“And yet you haven’t replaced him. You could’ve done so, you’re the Captain.” Jiang Yanli points out.

“I-” Jiang Cheng starts, and he glances at Nie Huaisang, only to see the other looking down shyly, pretending to be more interested at the painted mountain designs in his fan. “Replacing him is more trouble than it’s worth.”

Nie Huaisang snorts, trying to hold back his laugh. “He is right, though. The older captains kinda installed me in his office by force.”

Jiang Yanli waves their dubious expressions off. “Well, at least good things came out of it! I was beginning to be concerned because no one has yet to catch my didi’s eye for the longest time… and now you have each other! It’s very sweet.”

Nie Huaisang almost drops his tea cup – thank goodness he didn’t, all items in the Jin Mansion probably costs a whole fortune.

Jiang Cheng, thankfully, has enough awareness to not fumble his hold on his newborn nephew. He shakes his head at his sister, cheeks slightly pink. “J-Jiejie, it’s not like that. I don’t-… We’re not-”

“I’m sorry, Young Madame Jin – you must have misunderstood…” Nie Huaisang says, calmer than his captain but trailing off into an awkward laugh.

“Oh?” Jiang Yanli blinks. “I thought you were courting… You came to visit me together, in your formal family robes. I was ready to give you my blessing…”

“Jiejie, really.” Jiang Cheng chuckles. “Of course we’d be in formal robes. We’re visiting Young Madame Jin and meeting her son- Wait, yeah, why are you here?” He raises an eyebrow, distractedly looking to Nie Huaisang.

“I…” Nie Huaisang starts, then stops, thinking. “I don’t know, you just brought me? You were like, ‘We’re visiting Jiejie, don’t come near my nephew with a live weapon or I’ll kill you.’ And now I’m here?”

Jiang Cheng stares at him.

Nie Huaisang stares back.

Jiang Yanli looks back and forth between the two, who both suddenly look lost, mentally trying to backtrack how exactly they got to this point-

“Oh, dear.” Nie Huaisang starts, shaky. “Am I here uninvited?”

“No, no, you came with me, it’s fine.” Jiang Cheng says. “Why did I take you, though?”

“I don’t know!” Nie Huaisang cries. “I just follow you around, because you tell me to! Well, we went to bring that one present to your aunt, then she made us stay for dinner. Then there was that meeting with da-ge, and he told you to come over the Nie compound instead, and I was there because I live there, and… we had dinner. Then you said I should come with you to Captain Ouyang’s because I don’t scare new recruits, and we couldn’t turn him down when he invited us for tea… Then when we got back you said we must go see your baby nephew before he turns a month old-”

“Dammit,” Jiang Cheng says, free hand nursing his temple. “I forgot to not bring you.”

“So it’s not my fault!”

“You didn’t even question it, though?”

Jiang Yanli lets out an amused laugh, used to the bickering of little brothers – hers and others’. “Now, now. It should all be fine. I’m happy to see you both, anyway. A friendly visit is never a bad thing. I’ve been growing bored just confined in here…”

“It is good to see you, really, Young Madame Jin.” Nie Huaisang says, turning to her with an earnest smile. “Please go visit the Sixth Division whenever you like! I’m sure the officers will be glad to see our amazing captain’s lovely sister!”

“As long as A-Cheng gives me the tour.” Jiang Yanli nods, grinning at her brother, who has gone back to playing with Jin Ling. “Now, I understand that I might have been reading into things too much, but I heard your retelling of what you two have been up to…”

“It’s not always like this, we just happened to need to visit so many people one after another this time.” Jiang Cheng agrees distractedly, wagging a finger at Jin Ling, who tries to grab it.

“And that’s just fine, I just think you two may consider clarifying things.” Jiang Yanli says. When the other two simply look at her in confusion, she patiently continues, “As in, you may given people the impression that you are courting, if you’ve been going around, wearing your family robes, visiting relatives and family friends, complete with gifts.”

“Shit.” Jiang Cheng says, realizing – then he remembers he is holding Jin Ling. “Sorry. Ship.”

Nie Huaisang, meanwhile, has buried his face in his hands. “Oh, nooooo, I hope da-ge hasn’t told Grandmother…”

“Just a suggestion.” Jiang Yanli says brightly, then sips her tea.

.

.

Jin Zixuan holds his son in his arms, doing silly faces and making the child laugh.

“I really am sorry to miss them. Father insisted I accompany him to his meetings today, and I couldn’t refuse.” he says, shaking his head. “It would have been good to catch up, outside of work. I know your brother might still hate me, but Nie-xiong has been good company, in Lieutenant meetings.”

“We can invite them to come over again.” Jiang Yanli says, looking up from her embroidery and appreciating the sight of her husband with their son. “They might be happy to come, they were in very good spirits earlier.”

“No wonder, the Sixth Division’s been doing so well lately.” Jin Zixuan nods. “So how long have they been courting, then?”

“They didn’t say. I don’t think they’ve been counting…” Jiang Yanli says. “A couple months, if I were to guess.” Then under her breath, she mumbles, “Though they don’t seem aware of it.”

“What was that?”

She shakes her head, smiling. “Nothing, dear. Oh, let’s pay a visit to Sixth one of these days, shall we?”