Wei Wuxian had been blackmailed into signing up for the art event by Lan Zhan's terrible older brother several weeks ago. So, he'd known several weeks ago that he'd needed good art for this art show. His sister had very dedicatedly been making very nice art pieces to display at this year's event ever since he'd cried about not wanting to go alone. She had also very dedicatedly been warning him against procrastinating. He, in turn, had promised that he wouldn't.
He had procrastinated.
There had been a pot of soup in the warmer for him when he'd gone looking for a midnight snack, along with a note telling him not to stay up too late. (He loved his sister so much.)
A glance at his now blurry analog clock told him that it was creeping up on five a.m..
Before him laid several pieces of art that he'd completed since the art show last year (which he'd also bee blackmailed into attending, damn you Lan Xichen) that he could use to pad out his collection. Unfortunately there weren't enough showstoppers to draw the kind of attention that Lan Xichen was looking for. His caffeine addled brain was running slowly, and he couldn't quite decide which pieces to use, or if it would be insensitive to use the drawing of Horrificator, which he'd technically drawn before Huaisang had gotten akumatized, but he didn't know if the timeline made it less insensitive.
Well, he knew enough to know that Huaisang was no doubt hunched over his own art table, working on the art he'd been blackmailed into doing as well.
WWX: Hey buddy, would it be weird or insensitive if I took my picture of Horrificator to the art show I kinda sorta maybe procrastinated.
His phone dinged at once, which was pretty much what he expected.
LWJ: I believe you intended this message for Nie Huaisang, but I don't think it would be. It is admirable of you to have gotten up early to finish up on time.
"Oh why, I really am sleep deprived," Wei Wuxian groaned, rubbing hard at his eyes.
Carefully, to avoid another mishap, he copied and pasted the message into his chat with Nie Huaisang, who also replied immediately.
NHS: It's only not insensitive if you draw me a really nice landscape. At least one duck must be present. Butterflies are strongly encouraged but not mandatory.
WWX: There will be two ducks and they will be in love. The butterflies will be fucking.
NHS: Perfect.
Wei Wuxian carefully tucked his horrificator drawing into his folder for the art show, then pulled up his chat with Lan Zhan again.
WWX: Bold of you to assume I have slept yet.
LWJ: :|
Wei Wuxian smiled and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Getting an idea, he carefully laid out all of his potential pieces for the show and snapped pictures of each one and sent them to Lan Zhan.
Wxx: Which do you think I should use? I need like three more but they all look terrible to me and also everything is blurry
He set his phone down while he waited, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses again, shuffling his art to the side and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. Headmaster Lan would no doubt expect a couple of really good pieces. Horrificator could count as one, but he'd need another, the problem was that he couldn't think of what to draw. Possibly because he hadn't slept much last night either and he was running on like three and a half hours from two days ago.
He glanced down at his phone impatiently. Lan Zhan was taking his sweet time in replying. Wei Wuxian was about to be annoyed, but then he was struck with the mental image of Lan Zhan peering very seriously at each piece, and he smiled.
Not much later Lan Zhan reacted to two pieces with little hearts.
LWJ: They are all stunning, but these two in particular I think are likely to draw the type of attention Xichen wanted for this event.
WWX: Thank you! Now, I just need an idea for another piece. Got any for me?
There was another pause where Lan Zhan was no doubt thinking very hard again.
LWJ: Could you draw a rabbit?
Wei Wuxian buried his face in his hands, it was too early/late to deal with this sort of cuteness.
WWX: Yes oh my god you're so cute I can draw a rabbit.
Rabbit art decided on, Wei Wuxian began looking up reference pictures and decided that a bunny sleeping, with its cute little nosey tucked back toward its paws would be absolutely adorable and manageable, certainly not photo realistic, but with enough details to be a nice drawing before the show started at one.
He hunched back over his art table, silencing his phone over so it wouldn't cause distraction, and entered a bunny drawing fugue state that he didn't emerge from until about twelve o'clock when his sister came to tell him to start getting ready.
"Yanli! Come look at my bunny!" He called, blinking painfully. His contacts had dried out and he'd had to remove them, they were sitting in their little cups now. He stumbled across the room to grab the eye drops from his dresser as Yanli entered.
"Oh, A-Xian," She scolded, crossing the room to look at his bunny. "It's so cute!"
"Thank you! It was Lan Zhan's idea! He likes to get up stupid early so I texted him to ask what I should put int he show. I thought I could give him this bunny after!"
"That would be very nice, I'm sure he'd appreciate it!" Wei Wuxian grinned, preening under the praise until his sister reached out and gently brushed his under eye bags. "You should take better care of yourself, A-Xian. You make me worry when you don't sleep enough."
"I'm sorry, Yanli, I'll get a full eight hours tonight, I promise."
"Twelve."
"Nine."
"Ten."
"Deal," he agreed, smiling when she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. She then picked her way across the room again to go through his clean clothes. "I suppose your contacts dried out and you'll have to wear the glasses today?" Wei Wuxian hummed in agreement.
Wei Wuxian allowed Yanli to pick out his outfit for the day and sat obediently while she wiped the charcoal off his face and hands, then he dressed himself and stepped out the door.
"You're so handsome," when he presented himself to her.
"Thank you!" He said, swaying gently on his feet.
"Oh, A-Xian," she said, taking his arm gently and leading him through the house.
"I see you procrastinated, A-Xian," Jiang Fengmian said warmly as they stepped into the foyer. Wei Wuxian laughed lightly as Jaing Fengmian patted him gently on the shoulder.
"A-Cheng said he'd come later once the show opened," Yanli told her father. He nodded, opening the door for the two of them.
"SEE YOU THERE JIANG CHENG," Wei Wuxian called before slamming the door.
Wangji agreed to go early to the art show, purely for setting up purposes, not at all for gremlin reasons like getting Wei Ying (mostly) to himself for a while before the show started. His eyes landed on Wei Ying the second he stepped through the door.
He felt an irrational flash of jealousy, wishing that he could be the one running his fingers through Wei Ying's hair before he quashed it, just in time to be stopped short by Wei Ying turning his head and revealing that he was wearing glasses. Wangji came to a full stop, staring for one long moment before being snapped out of it by his brother laughing at his expense. After taking a moment to compose himself, Wangji shot Xichen an annoyed look and approached Wei Ying's family.
Honestly Xichen was just being unfair, Wangji hadn't even known that Wei Ying wore glasses.
"Wei Ying." Wei Ying turned to look at him, flashing him a grin. Wangji pulled up short again, this time for an entirely different reason. "You look terrible," he said.
"Thanks, Lan Zhan, you always know what to say," Wei Ying replied dryly.
Wangji took in Wei Ying's pale face, red eyes, and the dark circles under his eyes with mounting concern. It seemed like last night was not the only night he had skipped sleep.
"He's right," Jiang Fengmian said, looking up from where he was idly hanging Wei Ying's art up at random. "It's not very professional to show up to an event looking like hell frozen over."
"It is if you're an artist! C'mon, Uncle Jiang, I'm cosplaying as a real starving artist!"
"You should take better care of yourself," Jiang Yanli scolded.
"I know, I know, I've already agreed to ten hours of sleep tonight!"
"Ten tomorrow as well," Lan Wangji put in, earning a chuckle from Jiang Fengmian and Lan Xichen.
"You two are being ridiculous! I'm still young! I can do stuff like this!"
"Jiang Yanli is right, lack of sleep will negatively affect your health in the long term." Jiang Yanli gave him a warm look that made him understand the way each of her brother's swelled with pride when she gave them this look. "Wei Ying should take better care of his health."
"See, even Lan Wangji agrees with me," his sister said, pulling his hair into a sleek ponytail.
"Okay, okay! I'll get ten hours tonight and tomorrow!"
Jiang Fengmian chuckled. "It's good to see that A-Xian has someone else in his life looking out for him. Maybe with your held we'll finally be able to bully him into being more responsible." Lan Wangji nodded. "We met before, right? You came over the other day to help A-Xian with his project?"
"Yes, sir," Wangji said, straightening his already straight posture as inconspicuously as he could, wanting to make a good impression on Wei Ying's caretaker. Unfortunately he could tell by the way Xichen turned his face away to school his expression that he not only noticed, but thought it was hilarious. Traitor.
He did not shoot Xichen an annoyed look while Jiang Fengmian was watching.
"I also recognize you from some news footage I believe," Jiang Fengmian said. Panic lanced through Wangji. Oh no! I'm already making a bad impression! "It was you that fought that akuma, right?"
"That was reckless and irresponsible of me," Wangji said immediately.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Xichen fix him with an incredulous and outraged look, clearly annoyed that Jiang Fengmian had been able to get Wangji to eat shit on that matter without even trying when he'd steadfastly refused to admit fault to Xichen for weeks.
"Don't be so lame! That was awesome!" Wei Ying said, closing his eyes as Jiang Yanli removed his glasses and began patting foundation over his dark circles.
Jiang Fengmian chuckled, and Wangji was relieved to see that he didn't appear to think Wangji was a dangerous bad influence on his adopted nephew.
"I must admit to a certain measure of relief upon finding out that the teenage boy fighting an akuma in the street wasn't one of mine." He shook his head and placed an affectionate hand on Wei Ying's shoulder. "I couldn't decide who I Thought it more likely to be, A-Cheng or A-Xian."
"I'm honored you think I've got what it takes to duke it out with an akuma!" Wei Ying said. "Now I just need to test out that theory!"
"No," Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Yanli, and Lan Xichen said all at once.
Wei Ying chuckled. "Alright, but I'm just saying for the record, Mister Pigeon had better hope he doesn't end up in a dark alley with me!" Wei Ying raised his fists and wiggled them in front of his face, grinning when Jiang Yanli giggled and pushed them out of her way so she could finish his makeup.
"A-Li, I'm going to set up your booth while you finish up with A-Xian," Jiang Fengmian said, picking up her portfolio.
"Thank you, Dad."
"Try not to fall asleep standing up this year," Xichen said once he'd left. That was him? Lan Zhan thought, remembering the story he'd heard when Xichen came home from last years art show.
"Don't worry, I've already texted Nie Huaisang, he's on his way over here with two large coffees with the most espresso he could convince the barista to give us."
"Ah, yes, that reminds me," Xichen said, stepping past Wei Wuxian and into his booth, carefully scanning his art with a suspicious look on his face. "We don't want a repeat of last year in any way."
"Headmaster Lan I'm offended! You think I wouldn't learn my lesson after the month of detention you gave me for the squirrel incident!"
Wei Ying's eyes were closed so he didn't see the skeptical look Xichen shot him.
"I'm on my best behavior! Lan Zhan said you wanted to make the right kind of impression this year!"
"What is the squirrel incident?" Wangji asked, with much trepidation. Xichen sighed heavily through his nose.
"Did I hear someone say 'Squirrel Incident?'" Nie Huaisang asked, appearing out of nowhere, holding two large coffees.
Nie Mingue stood grumpily behind him, holding Huaisang's bag and art portfolio.
"Where's your booth?" He asked.
"It's right over there," Nie Huaisang gestured vaguely at the entire courtyard. "I want to talk to Wuxian for a second."
"I'll show you where it is. I need to approve Nie Huaisang's art anyway."
"Ah! Headmaster Lan! What did I ever do wrong in my life?" Nie Huaisang asked as the two of them walked away, shoulder to shoulder. As they left Wangji thought he heard Xichen say "You're not going to believe what Wangji just said."
He frowned, but turned back to the conversation in front of him, Watching Nie Huaisang reorganize Wei Ying's art to his own liking.
"Excuse you, I think I deserve a place of honor!" Nie Huaisang said indignantly, moving the Horrificator drawing into a more prominent spot.
"I think the bunny is better," Wei Ying said stubbornly, putting his glasses back on and moving the bunny up higher.
"I agree," Lan Wangji said.
"See, even Lan Zhan thinks so!"
"All of Wei Ying's art is beautiful, but the bunny is especially nice."
Wei Ying looked taken aback, shifting slightly under Wangji's attention.
"Ah, you're giving me too much credit, Lan Zhan, I'm alright. I'm not as good as Yanli."
"Don't be silly, of course you are," she said, dusting a piece of lint off Wei Ying's coat.
"I should probably go help or my brother will have my head," Nia Huaisang said, though he didn't sound very worried. He drifted away, taking his sweet time and looking at every booth he passed by.
"I should probably stop hogging all your attention," Wei Ying said, "You promised you'd help your brother set up, didn't you?" Wei Ying asked as Jiang Yanli went to her own booth, leaving the two of them alone.
"I can stay. I would like to take a closer look at your art, if you don't mind."
"Of course not! You already saw most of them, but I bet the resolution on my pictures wasn't great."
"Not the best," Wangji agreed.
He started at one side of the booth and slowly worked his way around the perimeter, carefully observing each piece of art and complementing every one of them, emboldened by Wei Ying's growing smile and the blush showing up on his neck where no foundation had been applied.
"Breathtaking," he said when he got to a sketch of a lotus pond in the rain.
"Thank you," Wei Ying said shly. Lan Wangji had never seen Wei Ying look shy before, and he was enjoying that as much as he was the art. "You definitely think more of my art than anyone else, except maybe Yanli."
"Then your sister and I are the only two correct people in Paris," Wangji said simply.
Wei Ying shied away from the praise again in a way that suggested he hadn't had enough genuine compliments in his life, making Wangji want to remedy that at once.
Nathaniel Kurtzburg sat at his booth, alone, hoping his classmates would come to support him. He was feeling more than a little insecure. The show hadn't even started yet and already the kid whose booth shared a back wall with his had had a long line of visitors all singing his praises. That 'Lan Zhan' had spent a good twenty minutes detailing exactly how perfect Wei Wuxian's art was, all the while Nathaniel sat in his booth, feeling inferior, because all he could see in his art was mistakes.
He shrank down in his seat a bit, listening as the two boys continued to talk about how great this Wei Wuxian was and how sure Lan Wangji was he was going to win.
As much as Wangji hated to follow his brother's relationship advice, the surest way to endear himself to Wei Ying was to treat his sister kindly, so Wangji made sure to visit her booth and pay her proper compliments just before the opening of the show. It helped that her art was genuinely very good.
"See, Yanli, I told you! You're for sure going to win the art show! If you don't then the judges are stupid!"
"A-Xian," Yanli scolded, "everyone here is very talented, I'm not better than any of them."
"That is blatantly untrue, isn't that right, Lan Zhan?"
"Mn," Wangji responded. Jiang Yanli was, in fact, better than several of the artists present, though it would be rude to name them so he remained silent.
At the head of the room, Xichen caught all of their attention with an announcement. "Alright, everyone, if you could please return to your booths, the doors are about to open and the guests and judges will be here soon!"
He was flanked by what appeared to be the headmasters of all the schools present for the event, each of them giving stern looks to their own students. Xichen's eyes flicked between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in an obvious request. Keep him in line.
Wangji was glad for the excuse to remain by Wei Ying's side. He was also sure that Xichen was aware that he'd been intending to do that anyway. Wangji accompanied Wei Ying back to his booth and stood beside him, listening intently as Wei Ying prattled on about the piece he was planning for Nie Huaisang and how he was planning to draw mating butterflies in is, but couldn't decide how prominently he wanted to display them.
"What do you think, Lan Zhan?"
"I have no opinion on mating butterflies," he replied cooly.
"Are you going to look at the other's art booths?"
"I didn't intend too."
"Ah, but what about Huaisang? It'd be rude to not show support to your classmate!"
Lan Zhan frowned. He had no special relationship to Nie Huisang, but perhaps Wei Ying was right. They were classmates. "I will visit Nie Huaisang later," he amended.
"Now that's the spirit!" Wei Wuxian said, throwing his arm around Wangji. Wangji stiffened slightly as his heart skipped a beat, afraid that if they were too close Wei Ying would see his blush or feel his heart pounding.
"Would you stop harassing Lan Wangji? He doesn't want you hanging off him all the time," Jiang Cheng snapped.
Wei Ying spun around, drawing away from Lan Wangji as he did so, grinning at his brother.
"Jiang Cheng! You're finally here!" Wei Ying looked nervously past him to see Madam Yu idling at Jiang Yanli's booth. His eyes lingered on her for one nervous moment before he looked back to Jiang Cheng. "You should go look at Yanli's art! It's way better than mine!"
"I'll say," Jiang Cheng scoffed, turning on his heel to approach Yanli's booth and shower her with much deserved praise.
"With all of us here it's going to be crowded, so why don't you take this opportunity to visit Huaisang's booth?" Wei Ying said, turning to Wangji with a smile that was just a bit too wide for the sentiment.
"I can wait-"
"Ah, it's best you go see him now," Wei Ying said, planting his hands on Wangji's shoulders and pushing him away.
Wangji tried not to feel spurned as he was pushed away, following the sound of his brother's voice to Nie Huaisang's booth.
"Wangji," Xichen said, surprised. "I thought you'd be at Wei Wuxian's booth all day." Wangji glared at him, noticing the look that passed between Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingue exchanged out of the corner of his eyes.
"Wei Ying sent me away," he said, ignoring the little pang the words gave him.
"He what?"
"He said I should visit Nie Huaisang's booth while Madam Yu visit's his."
All three men in the booth gave an 'ah' of understanding.
"Wangji, have you ever met Madam Yu?" Mingue asked.
"No."
"Let's just say that she's not the most welcoming person in the world," Mingue said carefully.
"She's scary beyond all reason," Nie Huaisang butted in, taking great pains not to look too long at Madam Yu, like he was staring into the sun.
Wangji looked over at the stiff smile on Wei Ying's face, nothing at all like his normal one. Together the four of them watched as Madam Yu said something inaudible that wiped the smiles off Jiang Yanli and Jiang Wanyin faces, while Wei Ying only smiled broader and chuckled, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Wangji frowned.
Jiang Yanli said something that had Madam Yu snapping at her. Wei Ying's expression cracked for all the time it took him to formulate some (likely smart ass) comment and paste a mischievous grin back onto his face. Wangji felt himself come to love Wei Ying all the more as he purposefully drew the ire of his adopted aunt onto himself to spare his siblings.
Xichen looked from the love struck expression on Wangji's face to the anxious one on Nie Huaisang's and sighed.
"Perhaps we should intervene before she makes a scene," Xichen said, placing a hand gently on Nie Mingue's elbow.
Nie Huaisang's eyes lingered on the place where they touched, and the way Mingue hesitated to pull away.
"Might as well save the good for nothing rascal," Mingue said without venom. "Wangji, Huaisang, stay here."
Lan Wangji almost followed them, but was stopped by Nie Huaisang.
"Don't worry, Lan Wangji," he said, "they'll take care of it. Madam Yu likes to save face with others when she can."
"Is she… often harsh?"
"Nie Huaisang winced. "You could call it that."
"Lan Wangji digested that information. "He never said anything."
Nie Huaisang sighed dramatically and pulled a compact mirror from nowhere, peering carefully into the reflection. "Hm."
"What?"
"It's just that, that's not exactly true, is it?" He hummed, prodding at his eyelashes. "He quite frequently talks about Madam Yu being unfair to him, doesn't he?"
Wangji frowned, going over his carefully cataloged store of his interactions with Wei Ying and found that Nie Huaisang was right. He'd made a number of comments under the guise of humor multiple times that Lan Wangji had written off as exaggeration.
"You're right, I should have paid better attention. I will endeavor to do better in the future."
"Don't give yourself a hard time," Nie Huaisang said, seeming pleased. "He'd sooner cut out his own heart than admit it hurt. Our A-Xian is like that, he doesn't want to be a burden."
All of this was said with an air of carelessness, as if they were discussing no more than the weather, but he got the feeling he'd passed some sort of test. Wangji looked over to where Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian were holding a conversation with Lan Xichen and Nie Mingue.
"Best stop staring," Nie Huaisang said without looking up.
Lan Wangji immediately turned and started actually looking at Nie Huaisang's art, which turned out to be very good. No where near the quality of Wei Ying's of course, but still very nice.
"Your landscapes are very nice," Lan Wangji allowed. "And thank you, for your advice."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied breezily, finally tucking away his compact mirror. "Want to see the fucking animals that I got past your brother?" He pointed to two entangled otters in a drawing of a river. "He caught the rats in the cityscape, though perhaps those were too obvious."
"I see."
"A-Xian and I have this little competition to see who can get the most past him, look, Headmaster Lan is making a second pass over his art now. Must have made him paranoid by trying to sneak some in this year after the squirrel incident last year."
"The squirrel incident?"
"Yeah, I drew a picture of a farm last year and had some squirrels fucking in the barn window- really subtle stuff too- and one of the judges noticed and yelled at me for like ten minutes. Then he got to Wuxian's booth and saw his art and he blew up. We had detention for a month after that."
"Must you draw fornicating animals?"
"I must," he replied simply.
Nathaniel sat, waiting awkwardly for someone, anyone, to show up and comment on his art the way so many people had on that Wei kid's art. He'd yet to see the kids from his school who had promised to come by, meanwhile Wei Wuxian had had so many visitors all doting over his art like he was the next Picasso, it was ridiculous. Now that boy from earlier was back and he was being even sweeter than before. It set Nathaniel's teeth on edge.
To make matters worse, the building was now full of people who would give his booth a glance and move on, dismissing him because he was a comic artist. People were so quick to dismiss his style as less than other artistic disciplines, and he could see it in the eyes of the people around him. Just comic book drawings, he could practically hear them think as he ground his teeth together.
"Ahh, the jealous heart of an undervalued artist. So temperamental and passionate."
Hawkmoth flicked open the dome on top of his staff and closed his fist around the akuma, darkening it with his power. He released it, then stood on his tiptoes so he could reach the latch on the window with the end of his cane, then held it open for the akuma.
"Fly away my little akuma, and evilize him!"
Nathaniel sat, listening now to the girl in the aisle across from him brag shamelessly on his art to her friends and completely missed it when a little black butterfly landed on the pencil behind his ear and infused the item with black light.
"Evilustrator," a smooth and soothing voice said in his ears. "I am Hawkmoth. I can make them all see the power of your art, if only you can get me the Miraculouses of Mister Bug and Chat Noir."
"Sure thing, Hawkmoth," Nathaniel said.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan both looked up in alarm when they heard the boy in the booth sharing a wall with Wei Ying address Hawkmoth in a low growl. They spun around just in time to see him be engulfed in black light.
"Akuma!" Wei Ying shouted, grabbing Wangji by the wrist and running toward the door, grabbing his sister on the way out.
"Wei Wuxian!" The akuma called out.
"What the hell did I do?" He asked, glancing around briefly. "Jiang Cheng?"
"I'm here!" Jiang Wanyin responded, a few yards back. Something passed between the two of them and Wei Ying nodded, renewing his attempts to drag Lan Wangji and Jiang Yanli out of the building. He dragged them several streets away into a secluded alleyway.
"You two stay here, I'm going to go find Jiang Cheng and Uncle Jiang and let them know where you are. Lan Zhan, keep her safe."
Before either of them could protest Wei Ying had darted back out and around the corner into the next alley. He heard both of them calling out to him as he opened his pocket for Plagg to fly out.
"Plagg, Claws out!"
Chat Noir flipped into the courtyard, stick drawn.
"Where is Wei Wuxian?" The akuma shouted. "Come and face me, Evilustrator, so I can prove once and for all that I'm the better artist!"
"Who is this Wei Wuxian loser?" Chat Noir asked.
"Chat Noir!" Evilustrator said, spinning on the spot. The students he'd been tormenting got up and ran away to hide. Chat Noir saw Lan Xichen usher them into the science room and kept his eyes on Evilustrator until the door was shut so he wouldn't know where the civilians were hiding. "Give me your Miraculous!"
"Asking me for a ring on our first date? How forward of you!" Chat Noir leaned forward on his stick and gazed up at Evilustrator through his eye lashes, putting on his best shit eating grin.
"Surrender now! I don't have time for you, I need to find Wei Wuxian and teach him and everyone else here not to look down on comic book artists!"
"Well it's not hard to look down on when you throw it all over the floor," Chat Noir joked, straightening and prodding at some of the discarded papers nearby.
Evilustrator growled and brought his arm up in front of him, revealing a tablet strapped to his forearm. He scribbled something on it with his stylus and a massive hair dryer appeared before him. Chat Noir was about to laugh when the thing turned on, blowing air strong enough to lift Chat Noir off his feet. He had to drive his stick into the ground and hold on for dear life, being blown helplessly around like a flag.
The barriers that had separated the artists booths started to lift off the ground in the wind and art was thrown everywhere, blowing about the room and occasionally smacking Chat Noir in the face. He gritted his teeth, eyes flitting about the room as Evilustrator advanced on him with a smug look.
Chat Noir was just about to let go of his stick and allow himself to be thrown across the street when something red dropped from the ceiling and landed on the nozzle (?) of the hairdryer. Mister Bug wrapped his yoyo around the nozzle and yanked up as hard as he could, wrangling it like a horse. With the wind directed away from him Chat Noir dropped to the ground and was able to get to his feet and bolt away from Evilustrator to get his bearings.
"That's a cool looking tablet you got there, I wonder if perhaps you have a butterfly hidden somewhere in there?"
"Chat Noir, stop messing around," Mister Bug rotted out as he was tossed wildly around by the hairdryer, hair and headband tails flying madly about.
Chat Noir snorted, distracted, and pulled his stick out to record this rare moment of Mister Bug not looking like an ethereal god.
"Fight the akuma, Chat Noir!"
"I'm fighting!" Chat Noir said, separating the bottom half of his staff and extending it so he could swing at Evilustrator from where he was. His eyes flicked from one side of the room to another, trying to keep Mister Bug in frame while keeping Evilustrator occupied.
Oh he was so emailing this to Mianmian so she could put it on the Ladyblog. He could fight the akuma anytime, but when was he ever going to get this opportunity again?
"Chat Noir!" Mister Bug shouted, glaring as best he could while being thrown around like a ragdoll.
"Is there a problem, Bugaboo?"
"CHAT NOIR!" He snapped again, tightening his yoyo string and cutting through the hard plastic of the tip. The Hairdryer vanished in an instant and Mister Bug plummeted to the ground, landing in a perfect superhero pose. The got to his feet, flipping his hair out of his face and hitting Chat Noir with a look that sent shivers down his spine.
That was so sexy, he thought, I'm so glad I have that on video.
Mister Bug approached him and placed a hand on his stick, forcing the camera down ao that Chat Noir had to look him in his- very attractive, and very angry- eyes.
"Focus," he growled.
"S-sorry," Chat Noir said. He reconnected the two ends of his stick and tuned back to face the akuma, who had resumed his search of the school for Wei Wuxian while they were distracted.
It's not like he's actually going to find Wei Wuxian, he thought in his own defense.
"Come on, Evilustrator, give it up! You're never going to beat us!"
"I'm going to take your miraculouses and then find that Wei Wuxian and show him what real art looks like!"
"That threat is unsettling but not in the way you meant it, I think," Chat Noir said.
"What did Wei Wuxian do to anger you?" Mister Bug asked, circling around to Evilustrator's other side, trying to surround him.
"His art is way overhyped! His lame landscapes and animal drawings are totally basic! It wasn't even that good!"
"Wei Wuxian's art is good," Mister Bug said, wearing an adorable frown.
Chat Noir felt his cheeks heat up and was glad for the mask overing his face. Mister Bug likes my art oh my God I'm gonna die.
Evilustrator drew a boomerang and it went flying throughout the room, crashing into walls and shattering windows and forcing Mister Bug and Chat Noir onto their knees to keep their heads.
"He's getting away!" Chat Noir cried, watching the boomerang wreak havoc on his school. Mister Bug sent out his yoyo a few time to try and capture it, but it always slipped from his grasp. Chat Noir watched it's arc carefully, then waited for it to come his direction.
He leaped into the air and brought his stick down with all his might, shattering the boomerang into a dozen pieces that all vanished a moment later.
They chased Evilustrator out of the building, leaping across the rooftops in chase.
"Wei Wuxian!" Evilustrator shouted.
Mister Bug cast out his yoyo and wrapped it around Evilustrator's writing arm, yanking him around so forcefully the he spun around twice, becoming entangled in the string. Chat Noir bounded forward to take his tablet and pencil, but Evilustrator threw himself onto the ground, surprising the both of them. He then rolled off the roof, untangling himself and landing on his feet.
Chat Noir jumped after him and Evilustrator drew a large square on his tablet. A glass panel appeared floating in the air between them and Chat noir slammed into it with a loud thunk.
"Chat Noir!" Mister Bug shouted, jumping down and scraping him off the barrier before jumping to the ground as Evilustrator disappeared around the corner.
"Come on, we can't lose him!" Chat Noir said, only stumbling a little as Mister Bug helped him to his feet.
"Maybe you should rest," Mister Bug suggested.
"And let you have all the fun? No way! I'm fine!" Chat Noir ran forward, stumbling off course for several steps before correcting himself.
Mister Bug sighed in exasperation watching him, thinking of what Nie Huaisang said about Wei Ying earlier this morning. It seemed there was a lot of that going around.
The two of them turned the corner to see Evilustrator standing still at the end of a long lane, pencil poised readily over his tablet. Chat noir had enough time to think 'that's not a good sign' before he drew a large circle and large boulder appeared before him, filling the entire lane and barreling toward them so fast they barely had time to leap up onto the rooftops to avoid it.
As soon as his feet landed on the roof, Mister Bug was wiped out by a huge boxing glove. Stars exploded before his eyes on impact and he was thrown into the wall of the building next door, knocking all the wind out of his chest.
Dazedly he got to his feet, pressing a hand against his temple as he stumbled into a nearby mailbox.
"MISTER BUG!" He heard Chat Noir scream.
"I'm fine!" He called back, trying to blink the black spots out of his vision.
I guess it's not just Wei Ying and Chat Noir that do that, Mister Bug thought, with no small ammount of irony.
When Mister Bug got his balance back enough to swing back onto the roof he saw Chat noir and Evilustrator locked in combat, Chat Noir spinning his stick so fast it was nothing more than a blur of gray he was using to deflect the projectiles Evilustrator was sending his way, advancing steadily.
Evilustrator noticed Mister Bug almost at once and started directing attacks at the both of them, retreating steadily. If this progress continued, Mister Bug thought, he would be backed against a wall with no where to go.
A quick horizontal stoke across his tablet summoned a trip wire too quickly for the two battling heros to react. Both were sent tumbling to the ground, and an instant later Evilustrator spawned a massive circular saw, eyes locked on Mister Bug. Mister Bug tensed and leapt into the air in the exact moment Evilustrator sent the circular saw toward Chat Noir, whose eyes were locked on Mister Bug.
"Chat Noir!" Mister Bug cried out, throwing out his yoyo in midair, losing altitude from his failed jump as he made a last ditch effort to save his partner.
Mister Bug seemed to see the next events in slow motion: Chat Noir's body tensed at the sound of his name, reacting on instinct and preparing for a vertical jump as he turned to face Evilustrator. His eyes widened as his legs began to push him up-up-up as the circular saw drew closer. Chat Noir vaulted into the air, flipping over the saw, his wide eyed face reflected in the polished metal as it passed a mere inch from his nose. Chat Noir's long, flowing ponytai was not so fortunate. It streaked out behind his head, following his body's trajectory too slow, several inches were shorn off as the blade passed beneath him.
Chat Noir and Mister Bug hit the ground at the same time, Chat Noir with an indignat shreik as he looked at his fallen locks on the pavement and Mister Bug with a pained grunt as his knees hit the road. The circular saw went careening past them and embedded deeply in a red sedan.
"That was a close one," Chat Noir said, still looking horrified as he combed through the roughly shorn end of his ponytail.
"Too close," Mister Bug said, climbing painfully to his feet.
Chat Noir sprinted forward, stick raised for the attack, when Evilustrator erased the ground beneath his feet and Chat Noir flew forward, momentum carrying him far enough to hook his fingers on the edge of the bottomless hole in the road.
The purple butterfly outline appeared before Evilustrators face and Mister Bug assumed Hawkmoth must be reminding him to get the Miraculous before finishing them off. Mister Bug stood serval yards away, on the opposite side of the ravine and watched as Evilustrator closed in on the helpless Chat Noir. With his damaged knees he'd never make it in time.
"Lucky Charm!" He cried, throwing his yoyo into the air, nearly being taken out by the red and black spotted five gallon jug of water that plummeted from the aky above him.
He gazed frantically around the street for clues. Inspiration hit him when he saw the stick strapped to the small of Chat Noir's back. He hefted his water jub into his other arm and flicked out his yoyo, grabbing Chat Noir by the ankle and pulling him back to Mister Bug's side. Chat Noir hit the ground on his backside and bounced painfully.
"You sure do love doing that," Chat Noir winced.
"Sorry, but get ready."
Mister Bug reared back with all his strength and threw the five gallon jug as hard as he could over the ravine. Chat Noir's stick followed not long after, pelting through the air and impacting with the jug so hard that it burst. Water poured down over Evilustrator's head, shorting out his tablet.
"Damn it!" He screamed when he was unable to draw anything.
Mister Bug grabbed Chat Noir by the collar and yanked them both off the ground. "Now, Chat Noir!" He said.
"Catacylsm!" Chat Noir called.
Destructive energy manifested around Chat Noir's right fist, centered around his Miraculous, and Mister Bug let him go, casting him directly at Evilustrator. The two collided, Chat Noir slapping his hand down on the tablet and pen as the two crashed to the ground.
Mister Bug twisted in the air and caught the akuma that crawled out of the pen, landing in a crouch.
"Gotcha!" He said.
"That was so cool!" Chat Noir called out.
Mister Bug concealed a smile as he pressed the center spot on his yoyo and released a pure white butterfly.
"Bye-bye little butterfly," he said, watching breifly as the butterfly fluttered away. He crossed the street and threw the remains of the water jug into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Magical ladybugs engulfed the world around them, filling in the gaping hole in the road and repairing the sedan that had been obliterated by the circular saw. The ladybugs also circled around himself and Chat Noir and Mister Bug felt the pain in his head and his knees dissapear.
Chat Noir leapt to his feet and bounded across the street, offering his closed fist to Mister Bug. "Pound it!"
"Pound it," Mister Bug repeated, brushing their knuckles together.
He reached out and ran his fingers through the ends of Chat Noir's ponytail. "Your hair is back, you must be relieved."
"Oh, yeah, totally," Chat Noir said, chuckling nervously. If Mister Bug didn't know any better he'd have thought Chat Noir was blushing. "It takes forever to grow, you know?"
"I'm aware," Mister Bug said, pulling some of his ow nlong hair forward. Chat Noir made an abortive move like he wanted to run his fingers through it, but he was startled by the chirping of Mister Bug's earrings.
"Ah! Right, I've got more time left than you so I'll take this kid back to the school for you."
"Thank you, my brother will no doubt be looking for me."
"Try not to get in trouble again."
"I will," Mister Bug said, disappearing over the rooftops as Chat Noir approached the student.
"Oh no! I'm the last one back!" Wei Ying said, approaching his booth and all the people accumulated there.
"Yeah," Jiang Wanyin snapped, punching him on the arm. "Where the hell were you?"
"Ah, sorry, it took me a while to realize the fight was over! I went to hide on my own since he was looking for me, I didn't want any of you to get hurt because of me!" Wei Ying said, rubbing at his arm.
"Idiot, always playing the hero," Jiang Wanyin snapped.
Wei Ying ignored him, eyes landing on Wangji. "Lan Zhan! Here's your phone!"
Wangji blinked down at the device in shock, patting at his own pockets uselessly. "When did I?" He hadn't even realized it was gone.
"I pickpocketed you earlier and messed around with all your settings. I also added my face to your face ID."
"How?"
"I guessed your password, of course. And may I just say, your brother's birthday is not a secure password." Xichen and Mingue both snorted.
"How did you know my birthday?" Xichen asked.
"I know a lot of things," Wei Ying said mysteriously, turning his back to them, crossing his arms dramatically.
"So, first and second place, huh Headmaster?" Wei Ying said, brandishing his own second place ribbon. "Is that the kind of impression you were hoping to make to make up for last year?"
"Yes, Wei Wuxian, thank you for behaving yourself this year."
"You're very welcome!" He puffed his chest out proudly. "Of course, it's easy to behave when you've got Lan Zhan nearby all day, he's even stricter than you!"
"I know," Xichen said smugly, patting Nie Huaisang on the shoulder as he came bounding over, brandishing his first place ribbon.
Off to their side the boy, Nathaniel Kurtzburg, was being congradulated by a large group of his classmates for making third place.
"No way!" Wei Ying protested. "Are you telling me that was a plot! Lan Zhan was babysitting me all day?"
"I know a lot of things," Xichen teased, "including how to keep unruly students in line."
The assembled group enjoyed a hearty laugh at Wei Wuxian's expense.
"Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! I have a gift for you even though you were horribly mean to me and plotted with your brother behind my back to make me behave!"
"You do?"
"Yeah, here!" Wei Ying held out his picture of the sleeping bunny, a proud grin on his fcae. "For you!"
Wangji gazed at the drawing, shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Of course! You're my friend! You like bunnies, so I drew it for you!"
"Thank you," he said, reaching out and delicately accepting the drawing. "It's extraordinary."
"You've said that," Wei Ying said, looking pleased. "I'm glad you like it so much."
"I do. Thank you. I'll have it framed." Wei Ying's eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, filling Wangji's chest with warmth to be caught in the focus of it.
"A-Xian, we should get going," Jiang Fengmian said, setting a hand on his shoulder. Wei Ying looked over his shoulder at him, then back to Lan Zhan.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Lan Zhan."
"See you tomorrow," Lan Zhan said faintly. He watched Wei Ying go, chatting animatedly with his brother and sister.
"You know, I have a rame that could work for that," Xichen said warmly.
"Thank you," Wangji said, eyes still locked on the frame.
"It's too nice to go in your secret Wei Wuxian box that you think I don't know about." Wangji looked up at him in transparent horror, mouth gaping, face burning. "Don't worry, Wangji, Uncle doesn't know, but you've never been able to hide anything from me."
A sudden wash of guilt fell over him. "Right," he said.
Dinner was tense, as it had been ever since Wangji had fought Darkblade in the street.
"I trust that Wangji did not take it upon himself to play hero today?" He asked.
"No, Uncle," Wangji replied, eyes on his plate.
"Good, I hope this little rebellious phase of yours comes to an end soon." Wangji nodded, and didn't say another word for the rest of the meal.
Wangji and Tikki were sitting at his computer, watching the footage that Chat Noir had sent to Luo Qingyang after all of him being thrown around like a ragdoll when Xichen knocked on his door. Tikki zoomed away and Wangji closed the tab, pulling up the essay he was working on instead, lest Xichen think he was still entertaining ideas of heroism.
"Come in," he called.
Xichen entered his room carrying a picture frame and what appeared to be a small jewelry box.
"Your frame, I hope it's the right size," he said, offering it to Wangji.
"Thank you, Xichen."
"And I got you something else, too. I hope you like it."
Xichen handed him the jewelry box and Wangji took it curiously. He opened it to find a pair of small diamond stud earrings. Wangji's lips parted with shock.
"I wasn't sure if they were your style or not, the pair you're wearing are so plain- not that they're not nice- I just thought that it would be nice if you had something a little dressier, if you wanted."
"Thank you," Wangji said softly. His earrings had been such a point of contention between himself and his Uncle, and yet here Xichen was, blatantly supporting his decision by buying him a new set.
An expensive set.
As touched as he was, he felt his stomach sink.
"I know you can't wear them just yet, it hasn't been long enough for you to change those, but-" he hesitated. Wangji looked up at him. "I know Uncle's been giving you a hard time about the earrings. I'm going to talk to him again, but I wanted you to know that I'm on your side."
Wangji nodded. It was a lovely show of support from his brother. Very thoughtful. His throat and eyes were burning, in fact, even as his mind raced.
He could never wear them.
His earrings weren't a fashion statement, they were magical artifacts that possessed great power, and if he removed them then he wouldn't be able to tranform, or they could fall into the wrong hands.
But if he never wore the earrings it would hurt Xichen's feelings and he would think his offer of support had been rejected. That was also unnacceptable.
Oh no.
"I hope they're alright?" Xichen asked anxiously. "I can return them if you don't like them."
"They're perfect," Wangji said honestly. "I look forward to being able to wear them. Thank you." Xichen smiled, relieved. He turned to leave and Wangji called out after him.
"Xichen-" he began, swallowing. He couldn't believe he was about to do this.
"Yes?"
"Do you remember when you asked me to tell you if I was thinking of getting another peircing?"
Xichen turned to face him fully, looking at him like he was holding a snake.
"...Yes?"
"I would like a second ear peircing." He blinked blankly at Xichen's incredulous face. "You did say to let you know and, you gave me these, so-"
"I-yes. I did say that. I certainly did do that, are you sure?" He asked. "Your first one isn't even fully healed yet."
"I am certain."
"Okay then, thank you for letting me know. If you don't mind, I'd like some time to work on Uncle about it, and then I'll take you when he agrees."
"Of course, Xichen. I appreciate your support."
"Of course, Wangji."
Xichen walked out, looking halfway between amused and exasperated.
Once he was gone Wangji closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
"Did I just hear what I think I just heard."
"Yes," Wangji said tiredly. "I had to, I couldn't let him think I didn't like his gift."
"You maybe need to learn to communicate better," Tikki said, patting him gently on the head with her tiny hand.