aroberuka | [WIP] sidequest (3/21)

Fandom: The Scum Villain Self-Saving System
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Shen Yuan & Shen Jiu & Yue Qingyuan
Summary: A Shen twins AU. When a botched ritual traps Yue Qingyuan into a dream made of his own memories, it’s up to Shen Yuan and his brother to dive into his mind to find him - and, maybe, reconcile with their shared past in the process.
Content Notes: Canon-typical child abuse and assorted backstory traumas.

first | previous

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They entered the nearest house and walked out into a rainy street.

Between two rows of red-fronted houses, thick ropes of rain carved rivulets into a dirt-packed road: broad enough for carriages; good for getting your hands on all kinds of fallen loot, if you were quick and clever about it. Here and there, dream constructs hurried by, their faces smooth and featureless. Sitting on the thin curb, under an awning, three familiar boys huddled against the cold, pressed against each other with the unselfconsciousness of children.
This, at least, was more in line with what Shen Yuan had been expecting. Whoever had rushed through that first set was finally doing a proper job setting the scene.

Yet for all this, the memory remained frustratingly generic. Dong Yinran had said they would have to follow the thread of Yue Qingyuan’s memories to reach him. It might be important, then, to keep track of where and when they ended up.

But this could have been anywhere, this could have been anywhen. Lao Yi had moved them from town to town whenever money started to dry; after reaching Cang Qiong, Shen Yuan had tried to find on a map all the places they’d been, but names and distances blurred in his memory - and for all he knew he had never set foot on this particular street at all: it belonged to that other him, the original goods, the backstory footnote who got to live his first nine years of life for him. It was hard to tell, from there, how old any of them were. He'd never been very good at telling, with children, and hunger had kept them all small anyway, at least until Qi-ge had left and shot up like a weed.
Even as the rain emptied the street, the three boys didn't move. There was no more coin to be earned that day, but going back early would only get them in trouble. As he quickly packed his wares, one of the street’s merchants handed them a leftover baozi. This was a rarity for them: warm, filling food that didn't have to be fought for. Shen Yuan watched as Yue Qi carefully split the bun in two and kept none for himself. He hadn't thought about it twice at the time - and why should he have? Qi-ge had been the oldest, the responsible one, the bleeding heart who rushed in to help people without a single thought for his own well-being, who would stand with them before Lao Yi just so they didn't have to face the switch alone. Later, he and Shen Jiu had started to insist they split everything in three and felt very grown up for it.
Funny, the kind of thing little kids hung their pride on.
He wanted it to be funny. The rain kept getting in his eyes though.
"What a promising start," Shen Jiu sneered, merciless.

***