Xichen catches his breath as he sees two figures staggering out of the debris: one taller, one short

Xichen catches his breath as he sees two figures staggering out of the debris: one taller, one shorter, and both apparently physically whole. Relief hits him like the first wave of a flash flood, washing him clean of the stress and anxiety of the last few days and leaving him almost sick with the joy of it. He rushes forwards towards them with an inarticulate cry. As he gets closer he can see that they’re a mess; both are covered in dirt and dust, hair in total disarray, da-ge’s braids half undone and A-Yao’s vermilion dot smudged - but they’re breathing and walking and smiling at him now, and as he reaches them he throws his arms around them both without a second thought. It occurs to Xichen, in the moment he feels them lift their arms to encircle him in return, that he’s never hugged his sworn brothers like this. Individually he is certain he must have hugged each of them - in his early years with da-ge, and during that strange intimacy of being on the run with A-Yao - but never like this, never has he disregarded propriety so far as to just lose himself in an embrace this way. And yet, despite their lack of practice, the three of them fit together as if they have been doing this for years. He feels A-Yao push up onto his toes so he can reach to loop his arm around da-ge’s neck, feels da-ge’s arm move against his back to reach up and clasp A-Yao’s other hand.Xichen doesn’t realise quite how much this - not just the feeling of his sworn brothers’ arms around him, not just the confirmation of their safety, but also experiencing a kind of unity and gentleness that he knows must have existed, once, but he himself has never seen between da-ge and A-Yao - means to him until he feels the warm line of the tear dripping down his cheek, and his chest begins to heave stutteringly.“Xichen?” Da-ge rumbles against his neck. A-Yao makes a questioning sound in his other ear. He feels both of them shift their weight to move away from him and tightens his arms around them. He’s not ready to let go just yet. For just a moment, he will allow himself to be selfish. AU where, early on in their sworn brotherhood, on a night hunt Mingjue and JGY get separated from Xichen and trapped inside a cursed temple. it turns out that several days of fighting for their lives against an external threat with no one but each other, and having frank and somewhat fraught conversations whilst genuinely believing that they’re going to die, is enough to kickstart the beginnings of a reconciliation.  -- source link

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