"There is little of that with his other uncle," Jiang Cheng admits quietly. "I do not want him growing up thinking he is too superior to others - it did not do his father any good." He is better than others by nature of being the heir presumptive to two clans - Jin and Jiang - but that didn't mean that Jin Ling had the right to be too arrogant. Jiang Cheng planned to try and nurse that out of him as quickly as possible, even if Jin Guanyao might try to do the opposite.
Settling down, Jiang Cheng lets himself stare at the children as they look at the rabbits, Jin Ling's eyes wide and awed as the animals hop around. He remembers his own sense of awe and joy when he had first been given his dogs, first been allowed the puppies to raise as his own. It seemed more like another lifetime, now, an eternity ago, before Wei Wuxian came into his life. Even now there are no dogs hanging around the steps of Lotus Pier, and no Jiang disciples are permitted to own one.
Some promises cannot be broken.
Lifting a hand to touch at his chest, rubbing at the awkward, tense feeling that settles there, he breathes out and forces himself to calm down and relax. There is nothing he can do other than to breathe, to try and remain calm despite the warm, heady comfort of having Lan Xichen sitting at his side. It feels terrifyingly domestic, as if they are a family together rather than two uncles with their nephews, watching them with a sad fondness as they think of the departed.
"I do not have much to help Jin Ling know his mother," Jiang Cheng admits, voice low and quiet. He leaves the matter of Jin Zixuan to Jin Guangyao, but Yanli is his and his alone. He can still feel the weight of her in his arms at times. "I have tried to remake the soup she always made me and -" and Wei Wuxian, words that he can't quite manage to say "- but I've never been able to get it right. Perhaps by the time he's an adult I'll have mastered it for him."
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Settling down, Jiang Cheng lets himself stare at the children as they look at the rabbits, Jin Ling's eyes wide and awed as the animals hop around. He remembers his own sense of awe and joy when he had first been given his dogs, first been allowed the puppies to raise as his own. It seemed more like another lifetime, now, an eternity ago, before Wei Wuxian came into his life. Even now there are no dogs hanging around the steps of Lotus Pier, and no Jiang disciples are permitted to own one.
Some promises cannot be broken.
Lifting a hand to touch at his chest, rubbing at the awkward, tense feeling that settles there, he breathes out and forces himself to calm down and relax. There is nothing he can do other than to breathe, to try and remain calm despite the warm, heady comfort of having Lan Xichen sitting at his side. It feels terrifyingly domestic, as if they are a family together rather than two uncles with their nephews, watching them with a sad fondness as they think of the departed.
"I do not have much to help Jin Ling know his mother," Jiang Cheng admits, voice low and quiet. He leaves the matter of Jin Zixuan to Jin Guangyao, but Yanli is his and his alone. He can still feel the weight of her in his arms at times. "I have tried to remake the soup she always made me and -" and Wei Wuxian, words that he can't quite manage to say "- but I've never been able to get it right. Perhaps by the time he's an adult I'll have mastered it for him."