Fluffy WangXian Oneshots

A Stitch in Time Part 2

Blue orchids and gentian flowers.

It wasn't just the colour, though that vivid blue, stronger than baby blue but not as green as turquoise, it never failed to remind Wei Ying of a certain somebody. Why, he could not say, because Lan Zhan had never actually said he liked them, but Wei Ying had been particularly observant when it came to the second Jade of Gusu, and it wasn't his fault if he noticed that blue was Lan Zhan's favourite colour, nor that their emblem, the insignia for House of Lan was basically these two flowers.

Lan Zhan had told him ages ago that XiChen had added the gentian, to commemorate their mother, and Wei Ying had thought it so sweet, that the two boys remembered her that way.

He smacked himself.

The material now had wet patches on it and Wen Qing would yell at him, not for spoiling the fabric but because he had cried, again, over him.

He grabbed the pair of tailoring scissors and cut away at the fabric, ignoring the pattern papers scattered all over the floor. Half an hour later, the dress was almost finished, with just the inside stitching to do. His hand stitching was immaculate, something he had taken great pains to perfect. Wen Po Po had drummed it into his brain, saying over and over again, a stitch in time, saves nine.

She wasn't wrong, and many a time, Wei Ying had remembered her wise words as she taught him. At first, he used to accompany Wen Ning home, just so the boy got there safely, because Wen Chao had been looking to retaliate after that humiliating first fight. Wei Ying couldn't help but smile at the almost super human strength their new friend had displayed, crushing a violent fist with a single-handed determination, both literally and physically.

Something had happened to him that day, when he had looked into those stunning golden eyes, wanting to drown in them. Maybe after that, it was the reason he was always on the look out for Lan Zhan, sensing his loneliness, and of course his own. If Wen Ning tagged along, so what? The more, the merrier.

Po Po seemed to know why he came along, and decided to teach him something in return. After he had made his first pair of shorts, he was hooked. He spent every afternoon after school with the funny old lady, who was by turns, stern yet weirdly optimistic, her sharp humour adding to his wit. More often than not, she was content to just hear him prattle away as he told her about his day.

Wen Ning would sit in the corner with his laptop, ever watchful, waiting until his sister got home from work. Wen Qing worked in a supermarket then, with big dreams of owning her own shop, saving every penny. And Wei Ying tried to help, because Po Po used to take on work, mending and doing alterations on her little Singer sewing machine.

As her eyes became weaker, Wei Ying took over, claiming he had nothing better to do, and learning a skill set in return was rewarding enough. Wen Qing would feed him in return for all he was doing, and despite feeling guilty that he was encroaching on their food and their time, something he was smacked for mentioning, he used to love spending time with them like that.

It made him feel as if he belonged.

When they moved away, it was the single worst thing to happen to him.

And the first of many heartbreaks to come.

Wei Ying sighed and lifted up the dress. It was finally ready. This particular piece wasn't for anyone, unless he counted himself.

No one had asked him to make it, but it had called out to him, sitting on the shelf, barraging him with image after image on how great it would look in that style. It would have worked as a skirt too, but a dress...a dress was just a chef's kiss: magnificent.