At one point of my life, I was hopelessly obsessed with this pairing
At one point of my life, I was hopelessly obsessed with this pairing. There were ideas and scenes that played in my head over and over and took over my brain and made me miserable and the only way to go was to get it all out. Since drawing would take AGES, the second alternative was to write.
On that note, I am not a writer. This fic – if it can be considered one – is the result of three days of straightforward, mindless brain regurgitation. Expect plot holes and BAD GRAMMAR and horrible spelling etc etc etc etc. Maybe one day I will look through this story and try to fix it. Maybe. But as it is, I've sort of given up on even trying, because I am not a writer, and there are better things to make use of my time with.
Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors belongs to Koei.
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Pale sunrays filter through the bamboo blinds behind him, and he gazes passively at his hand where the patterns dance across his knuckles.
Opposite him, Gan Ning quietly sips from a teacup. A very long sip, as he eyes Ling Tong's face intently.
More silent moments passed before Gan Ning finally set down his cup will a dull thud.
"Hey, Tong."
He blinks at the mention of his name, as if jerked from sleep.
"What?"
Gan Ning raises an eyebrow at him. "You okay? You've been too quiet these days. I thought you liked having these tea-drinking sessions, sissy as they are."
Ling Tong turns his gaze back to his hand resting on the table. "…I'm fine."
The taller man frowned. "I was expecting a retort, actually. Are you sick or something?"
He thinks he sees Ling Tong's hand clench stiffly; a blink later, and the fingers are resting as they were upon the table. They are nice fingers, he muses. Like a girl's, he continues amusedly, unconsciously tracing the outlines of long, slim digits boldly contrasted against the rich red tablecloth.
"I said I'm fine."
His eyes flit back to Ling Tong's face. Ling Tong does not look at him, but instead seems to have taken an interest in his pretty little hand too.
Gan Ning taps a finger against his teacup, biting his lower lip. Ling Tong being untalkative. Ling Tong not throwing insults back at him. Ling Tong not looking him in the eye.
Ling Tong was definitely sick. Or had something up his ass. Either way, it was no good, because Gan Ning hated having to sit through boring tea sessions when Ling Tong would not entertain him. In which case said tea sessions would regress from being boring to being completely pointless.
Throwing his arms behind his head and leaning back into the chair, he sighed loudly.
"I'm not gonna ask since you won't tell me. But if something's bothering you, go get rid of it, or stop inviting me to come all the way here to sip tea with you. Actually, I'm the only one here actually drinking any damn tea."
At that, Ling Tong glared at him. Gan Ning smirked inwardly, bracing himself for a retort. Finally, progress!
To his dismay, Ling Tong resumed staring at the table. This time, he looked…. Sad. Something inside Gan Ning twitched uncomfortably. The last time he saw Ling Tong make that face, he was still trying to protect his head from getting lobbed off by a pair of flying nunchucks. He instantly decided that he much preferred Ling Tong looking like a stuck up piece of ass.
"Sorry. I won't ask you to come here anymore."
Shit. Something was definitely up. And it was something big.
"Hey, now you've actually got me worried. Tell me, man, what's up your butt?" He leaned forward, frowning heavily.
Ling Tong flinched; he pretended not to notice. He held his gaze until Ling Tong gradually lifted his head. Their gazes locked, and he saw something that looked like despair in those dark almond eyes. For a moment Ling Tong looked prepared to speak; his lips parted, then closed. His gaze shifted, and the contact was broken.
"Look, it's nothing. Thanks for your concern but it's none of your business."
Gan Ning scratched his head violently, feeling exasperated enough to flip the table onto it's back.
"If you don't feel like staying, feel free to leave."
That was it. He stood up, the chair dragging loudly across the floor. "Fine, whatever! Waste of time to stay here anyway."
Ling Tong's eyes followed his back as Gan Ning stormed heavily out the door. When the figure turned out of sight, he brought both hands to his face.
"…………Damnit."
--
It had been a week since the day at the teahouse, and the situation had not improved. Ling Tong ignored him whenever Gan Ning passed him by around the palace grounds. It was getting on his nerves. Not like it was his fault that whatever was up Ling Tong's ass got up his ass. He had half a mind to grab the idiot by the shoulders and literally shake some sense into him.
He pondered over the thought for a while. It may actually be a good idea.
So one fine evening, when the golden rays were settling gently as they were a week ago on that eventful day, Gan Ning decided to carry out his plan when Ling Tong marched pass him at a corridor at the palace outskirts.
Ling Tong jolted as something closed around his shoulders. He winced silently as his back was roughly shoved against a pillar. Gan Ning was breathing down his neck when he recovered and opened his eyes.
"Okay, I've had it! Either you tell me what's bugging you, or I shake you till your head rolls off!" Ling Tong was beginning to struggle, but the hands tightened their grip. Gan Ning was vaguely aware that they would leave bruises tomorrow, but at this point Prissy could worry about his own ruined complexion.
Gan Ning was incredibly strong. Like a bloody buffalo. Ling Tong knew that. It was impossible to escape, so he decided to take the next best course of action.
He gathered up what remaining dignity was left, and shot Gan Ning a poisonous glare.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! This is ridiculous. Let go."
True to his word, Gan Ning shook him.
Ling Tong blinked clumsily. The world was spinning. He closed his eyes, it was better this way. At the very least, it also meant that he didn't have to see Gan Ning looking like an enraged wildboar.
"Listen here. I don't care about other people feeling depressed or shitty, they can deal with their own problems. But you, Mr. Prissy, are driving me mad with your fucking cold-shoulder tactics. Stop acting like a wuss, damn you!"
Yes, it was definitely better to have his eyes closed. He could feel Gan Ning's breath on his face, smell the smoke of a pipe, detect the scent of pinewood mixed with sweat. Gan Ning's fingers warm even through the fabric of his sleeves.
His own heartbeat thudding loudly in his ears.
Gan Ning gave him another shake. "Hey!"
He wasn't going to get out of this unscathed. No choice now.
Ling Tong opened his eyes slowly, the carvings on the pillars around them still swirling gently. Blinked once, twice. Gan Ning's eyes shone a pale gold under the setting sun.
"You wanna know?" He smiled bitterly. "I'll tell you."
Gan Ning snarled. "Good, finally! Spit it out."
"I think I'm in love with you."
"God damnit Tong, is this what it's about? Fucking love woes?"
"…I don't think you heard me."
"Yeah, I sure did! You're in love with some chick. Lemme guess, can't get her attention? Unusual for a thoroughbred like you!"
"...Even after all this while your idiocy still surprises me."
"Why'd you have to get mad at me? I don't recall stealing your girl or anything. Not any girls I know you're trying to hit, anyway."
"Dumbass, I'm mad at you because I can't stop thinking about you. It's driving me insane."
"…What?"
"Oh, so you heard me this time."
Gan Ning tightened his grip again. It was starting to get painful.
"What the hell are you talking about? Don't joke like that, man, it's disgusting!"
"Then I guess I'm disgusting."
He felt the hands on his shoulders slowly releasing themselves. Brushing them away, he stepped smoothly towards the corridor.
"I'm glad we had this talk."
Without looking back, he strode around the corner until he reached the palace's living quarters, shut the door firmly behind him, and collapsed onto the floor.
--
Notes.
First of all, formatting is a pain in the ass on here D:
Looking over this now, I want to bash my head on a wall. Then crawl into a hole and die D: What is this monstrosity?! Why did I even post this?! Why are you reading this?! OTL
It's been a few months since I've written this, and the characterizations of these two in my headcanon has undergone some significant changes since then. If I'm ever going to fix this, it will almost be a complete makeover osnap;;;