Gimme a Tax Break
By Rose Thorne
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or storyline of MDZS/The Untamed.
"You proposed," Madam Yu said, her voice devoid of emotion, "over taxes."
Wei Ying managed not to flinch in anticipation of imminent yelling, nodding to cover any accidental movement.
He hadn't been looking forward to telling his adoptive family. He'd caused them enough trouble, with his very existence threatening Madam Yu and Uncle Jiang's marriage, and had moved out as soon as he turned eighteen in the hopes that what he had broken could be mended through his absence.
Even though there was a standing family dinner every Sunday, he hadn't attended since he'd moved out. He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he showed up with Lan Zhan out of the blue, having only really talked with his siblings in all these years, but he absolutely hadn't expected that they'd have a place set at the table for him like they expected him to attend, or that they'd quickly set another place beside him for Lan Zhan.
If anything, it made him more anxious.
"Yep! I kind of borrowed his W2 to see what our taxes would look like if we were married and said we should get married, and he said 'yes' so fast, but then he was embarrassed."
He knew he was babbling, a ball of nervous energy, though thankfully he'd gotten through the I-might-puke stage of it. Now he had nothing in his stomach, having not touched anything on his plate yet, so it was safe.
Lan Zhan squeezed his hand in silent support under the dinner table.
"So he had to be embarrassed for a reason, right? So I told him how I felt and, well… I'd already proposed, so I should take responsibility!"
He could see Lan Zhan's ears turn red, the only indication that Wei Ying's retelling had flustered him. He loved seeing the signs that everyone else missed, thinking Lan Zhan was unflappable.
Madam Yu let out a long sigh, her fingers twitching, and Wei Ying braced himself.
"Well, we all lost the pool."
Wei Ying blinked. That… was not what he expected her to say.
"A-Li bet on last year. The rest of us figured you'd take at least another year."
"I bet on you never getting your head out of your ass," Jiang Cheng added helpfully. "I figured one of us would have to put you out of our misery and matchmake you."
Uncle Jiang smiled fondly.
"None of us thought you'd jump straight to marriage, of course."
"And over taxes!" Madam Yu muttered with a snort. "Guess the pool will go toward the wedding."
"Congratulations," Jiang Yanli said, looking thrilled. "I'm sorry it wasn't sooner. The way you talked about him, we've all known since you were thirteen."
Wei Ying couldn't think, could only stare at them uncomprehendingly. Had they even bet on how they would get together?
"You… bet on this?" he finally managed. "You're not mad?"
Madam Yu sighed again, and exchanged looks with Uncle Jiang.
"I've been in therapy, with your uncle, as a prerequisite for meeting A-Li's future children. I was, by unanimous vote, a terrible mother. And I treated you horribly enough that she didn't want to inflict trauma on the next generation. I drove you away with my treatment of you, and it was inexcusable."
He could only stare, open mouthed. She rolled her eyes.
"Really, you're going to wind up eating a bug doing that, A-Ying."
Calling him affectionately, even?
Wei Ying glanced at Lan Zhan, silently asking him if this was some sort of dream. His fiance, being himself, assured him it wasn't with a pinch on his thigh.
"Oh," he said hoarsely.
"No apology is enough," she continued. "We would have reached out, but our therapist thought it might trigger your trauma, and suggested we wait for you to be ready. I hope you'll resume coming to family dinners, with your fiance, of course."
"And A-Cheng and I have wedding ideas!" Jiang Yanli said, standing to ladle more soup into his bowl despite her growing baby bump and the fact that he hadn't yet touched it.
"Lan Xichen lost the pool, too, but he also has ideas. We've only been planning since high school," Jiang Cheng muttered, stealing a pork rib from Wei Ying's bowl.
"It will need to be at least as beautiful as A-Li's wedding," Uncle Jiang said.
"Absolutely," Madam Yu agreed. "Nothing less will do."
A sort of warmth spread through him, the kind that sent tears pricking at the backs of his eyes, as he realized this really wasn't a dream, that somehow they still wanted him to be a part of their family, even though he'd broken it.
It would take him much longer to realize he hadn't broken it at all, but tonight was a start.
This started on Discord, became a Tumblr post, and then adrian_kres on AO3 wrote "Friends with Tax Benefits," and this is the follow-up. We kind of all enable each other.