This is the one I'm working on the most at the moment. It's basically turning into an elaborate character study of Shen Wei (yes, I've got a bit of a one-track mind, why do you ask?). Originally I just wanted to explore how his unspecified learning ability actually works, but it's been ballooning ever since I decided to alternate NOW and THEN sections, where NOW is a happy post canon setting and THEN follows Shen Wei's life pre and into canon.
Here's a snippet from a NOW section:
At the end of a long, exhausting day spent mediating an argument over lecture hall allocations between two colleagues, talking a student through an exam-related nervous breakdown and being accosted by the Chancellor’s wife with a whole host of curious but nonetheless invasive questions about “his heritage”, Shen Wei lets himself into their shared flat, hoping for a little peace and quiet and maybe some gentle snuggling.
What he gets instead is this:
“Shen Wei, are you glowing?”
Shen Wei resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps you’re hallucinating,” he suggests mildly, ignoring the way the small aura of light hovering over his skin pulses in annoyance.
Zhao Yunlan squints at him for a moment, then wags a finger in Shen Wei’s direction. “I know I’m always the first to say that you’re a radiant beauty, Xiao Wei, but usually I mean that a little less literally.”
Tucking his dress shoes into their place by the door, Shen Wei bites back several unkind responses that want to slip from his tongue – it’s not Zhao Yunlan’s fault that he’s had a terrible day.
“Learning isn’t always without its challenges,” he finally says, a little stiffly. It’s not something he’s ever admitted to anyone else, not in either century of his conscious existence, but he’s tired of keeping secrets from Zhao Yunlan. And this is a secret that would benefit no one and nothing aside from Shen Wei’s dignity.
Zhao Yunlan blinks at him a couple of times, before his expression brightens. “You met a Dixingren with a new power?”
“I did,” Shen Wei agrees as he hangs his suit jacket on the designated hanger. Despite his mood, his lips curve fondly at the memory. It’s still a wonder to him, to have Dixingren students at the university without fear of detection or reprisal. Some even have the courage to seek him out, now that Hei Pao Shi’s duties no longer mandate him to return anyone to Dixing who hasn’t made serious trouble in Haixing.
Unfortunately, the meeting had been cut short by the Chancellor, and Shen Wei hadn’t had enough time to properly study how she controlled her light power. He’d had to maintain an illusion over himself for the rest of the day to avoid question about why Professor Shen was literally glowing.
In all honesty, he hadn’t actually intended to learn Lin Xia’s power. He already has several light powers at his disposal and these days he tries to be selective about which further powers he adds to his arsenal. Unfortunately, his learning power isn’t always… ruly. His unconscious mind soaks up everything around him like a particularly determined sponge and always has – learning is faster when he does it consciously, studying how someone else’s power moves through them, shapes in the air, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen accidentally when he’s in proximity to a new power.
Zhao Yunlan’s gaze is heavy on him when Shen Wei turns around, fixed on the play of light over Shen Wei’s skin.
“It’s not dangerous,” Shen Wei assures him. The last thing he wants to do is worry Zhao Yunlan. “And I should have it under control by tomorrow.”
The look Zhao Yunlan levels at him in response is so softly exasperated that Shen Wei feels a flush crawl up his neck. Not worried then.
“May I?” Zhao Yunlan asks quietly, gesturing with a hand.
Shen Wei isn’t generally in the habit of denying Zhao Yunlan’s touch when at home, even when he’s feeling a little off-kilter, so he nods. He doesn’t expect to feel anything when Zhao Yunlan moves his fingers into the halo of light, hovering just above Shen Wei’s skin and gasps quietly at the tingle that spreads outwards from Zhao Yunlan’s fingertip. The light billows and contracts, sending eddies of sensation along Shen Wei’s skin.
He blinks down at his arm. Clearly his understanding of this power had been… incomplete. How does light tangibly react to touch?
Zhao Yunlan, meanwhile, looks absolutely fascinated, the reflected glow making his eyes luminous as he continues doing things to Shen Wei’s arm that in another context would start a cascade of events that tend to lead straight to the bedroom.
“Can you feel this?” Zhao Yunlan asks, spanning his fingers as if to take Shen Wei’s wrist in a loose grip.
no subject
Here's a snippet from a NOW section:
At the end of a long, exhausting day spent mediating an argument over lecture hall allocations between two colleagues, talking a student through an exam-related nervous breakdown and being accosted by the Chancellor’s wife with a whole host of curious but nonetheless invasive questions about “his heritage”, Shen Wei lets himself into their shared flat, hoping for a little peace and quiet and maybe some gentle snuggling.
What he gets instead is this:
“Shen Wei, are you glowing?”
Shen Wei resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps you’re hallucinating,” he suggests mildly, ignoring the way the small aura of light hovering over his skin pulses in annoyance.
Zhao Yunlan squints at him for a moment, then wags a finger in Shen Wei’s direction. “I know I’m always the first to say that you’re a radiant beauty, Xiao Wei, but usually I mean that a little less literally.”
Tucking his dress shoes into their place by the door, Shen Wei bites back several unkind responses that want to slip from his tongue – it’s not Zhao Yunlan’s fault that he’s had a terrible day.
“Learning isn’t always without its challenges,” he finally says, a little stiffly. It’s not something he’s ever admitted to anyone else, not in either century of his conscious existence, but he’s tired of keeping secrets from Zhao Yunlan. And this is a secret that would benefit no one and nothing aside from Shen Wei’s dignity.
Zhao Yunlan blinks at him a couple of times, before his expression brightens. “You met a Dixingren with a new power?”
“I did,” Shen Wei agrees as he hangs his suit jacket on the designated hanger. Despite his mood, his lips curve fondly at the memory. It’s still a wonder to him, to have Dixingren students at the university without fear of detection or reprisal. Some even have the courage to seek him out, now that Hei Pao Shi’s duties no longer mandate him to return anyone to Dixing who hasn’t made serious trouble in Haixing.
Unfortunately, the meeting had been cut short by the Chancellor, and Shen Wei hadn’t had enough time to properly study how she controlled her light power. He’d had to maintain an illusion over himself for the rest of the day to avoid question about why Professor Shen was literally glowing.
In all honesty, he hadn’t actually intended to learn Lin Xia’s power. He already has several light powers at his disposal and these days he tries to be selective about which further powers he adds to his arsenal. Unfortunately, his learning power isn’t always… ruly. His unconscious mind soaks up everything around him like a particularly determined sponge and always has – learning is faster when he does it consciously, studying how someone else’s power moves through them, shapes in the air, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen accidentally when he’s in proximity to a new power.
Zhao Yunlan’s gaze is heavy on him when Shen Wei turns around, fixed on the play of light over Shen Wei’s skin.
“It’s not dangerous,” Shen Wei assures him. The last thing he wants to do is worry Zhao Yunlan. “And I should have it under control by tomorrow.”
The look Zhao Yunlan levels at him in response is so softly exasperated that Shen Wei feels a flush crawl up his neck. Not worried then.
“May I?” Zhao Yunlan asks quietly, gesturing with a hand.
Shen Wei isn’t generally in the habit of denying Zhao Yunlan’s touch when at home, even when he’s feeling a little off-kilter, so he nods. He doesn’t expect to feel anything when Zhao Yunlan moves his fingers into the halo of light, hovering just above Shen Wei’s skin and gasps quietly at the tingle that spreads outwards from Zhao Yunlan’s fingertip. The light billows and contracts, sending eddies of sensation along Shen Wei’s skin.
He blinks down at his arm. Clearly his understanding of this power had been… incomplete. How does light tangibly react to touch?
Zhao Yunlan, meanwhile, looks absolutely fascinated, the reflected glow making his eyes luminous as he continues doing things to Shen Wei’s arm that in another context would start a cascade of events that tend to lead straight to the bedroom.
“Can you feel this?” Zhao Yunlan asks, spanning his fingers as if to take Shen Wei’s wrist in a loose grip.