#and made sure wwx was the one who answered the door

[imperfectpompom]

Lan Wangji finds Wei Wuxian's top secret and incredibly well hidden (open on his desk) diary one afternoon, reads a couple sentences and runs out of the Jiang household with burning ears.

Wei Wuxian calls out to Lan Wangji as he runs past him in the kitchen, but Lan Wangji doesn't reply, flings the door open and runs through it. Wei Wuxian shrugs and takes the snacks he was getting for him and Lan Wangji up to his room anyways, as he kicks the door to his room closed his eyes fall on his open diary on the desk.

'I want to kiss Lan Zhan so baddd~~. Why does he have to have such pretty lips?!?! And eyes, and hair, and nose, and ears, and shoulders, and his hands!!!!!! Notice me Lan Zhannn... I'm dying here...'

Haunted by his previous mistakes, Wei Wuxian gapes at the open diary before he drops everything and sprints out into an empty street. Oh, fuck.

Lan Wangji is gone already?!? So fast??? He sure is perfect.

Even when he's running away from Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian stares out into the empty street with a sinking stomach. As his Shijie reaches out a hand for his shoulder, he startles.

"Are you okay, A-Xian?"

Wei Wuxian bursts into tears. He knew Lan Zhan didn't feel the same way as him, but he didn't expect him to run away from him!!! Is Lan Zhan going to avoid him forever now? Is this how it will be from now on? Wei Wuxian doesn't want that!!! He'd be happy even if they could only remain friends.

Wei Wuxian wallows away the evening sobbing into the nook of his Shijie's shoulder, eating all of Jiang Cheng's ice cream from the freezer and being adamantly miserable.

Wei Wuxian opens the door the next morning to Lan Wangji with his arms full of flowers and chocolate. It feels like a dream. He pinches himself - it hurts.

"Lan Zhan?" His voice is croaky after a night of tears. "Why are you here?"

"Wei Ying... I panicked. I am sorry."

"Are these... For me?"

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan!!"

[gentil-minou]

Gosh I need to edit this more before I actually start posting but I'm just so excited so here's a preview of my wangxian OUAT au, featuring wwx as emma, lwj as regina, and ayuan as henry (though are veering far away from both canon in both cases so no need to be familiar with the show to enjoy)

----

The doorbell rings.

He blinks once, then twice. Wei Wuxian isn’t normally one to get visitors, especially at this time of night. He tries to remember if there’s a no-candle policy in his lease his landlord might nag him about when the doorbell rings again.

He scrambles to his feet and stumbles to the door, already preparing an apology for something he probably didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to do and another apology in case he did know. He opens the door and sees….nothing.

Until he hears a quiet cough and looks down to see a little boy.

At first, he thinks maybe he’s a trick-or-treater who got a bit lost, but Wei Wuxian’s building is secured with a key and callbox entry. Plus, although he’s been wandering streets alone since forever, he’s pretty sure a kid this young would have a chaperone with him. He looks behind the kid and doesn’t see anyone else there.

But instead of asking something sensible like where his chaperone may be or even if the kid’s lost, he blurts, “How did you get in?”

The boy tilts his head and replies, “The front door. It wasn’t locked, I just walked in.”

So much for secured entry. But that doesn’t really answer why there is a human child at his door at nearly midnight. There’s definitely a law somewhere that says that’s illegal, probably.

The kid, who can’t be more than ten years old and really should have learned about stranger danger by now, beams up at him, as if technical breaking and entering is something to be proud of. Which, okay, maybe Wei Wuxian is kind of impressed by that.

“Aren’t you going to let me in?” the boy asks, his smile so sweet and unassuming that before Wei Wuxian even realizes it, he’s turned to the side and let the boy in.

The kid is wearing a blue puffy coat and carrying a white backpack that has homemade floppy ears made of felt that make it look like a bunny. They bounce up and down as the boy walks inside and slips his shoes off. Wei Wuxian very maturely resists the urge to tug on those floppy bunny ears, though only just.

Shoes off, his socks patterned with fluffy white clouds, the boy turns back around to look up at Wei Wuxian. His entire face beams up at him as if he were a sunflower facing the sun, which wow what an ego-boost. He’s got dimples, little baby dimples that are very cute and look very pinchable but that doesn’t matter because there is a baby in his house! And okay he’s at least ten years old but regardless why is there a whole entire child in his apartment? What is one supposed to do when some random kid shows up at their doorstep and invites themselves in?

“Oh shit uh, wait not shit,” Wei Wuxian stammers. “Shit, sorry. Um. A drink, you want a drink?”

Ask the random child if they want something to drink, apparently. Perfect.

The kid nods, still giving him that doe-eyed look. Wei Wuxian doesn’t have much by way of child-friendly beverage options, but he wasn’t exactly expecting something like this tonight. He settles on milk that looks like it hasn't gone too bad yet. Besides, expired milk builds immunity and character in children, that's how it works, right? He pours a glass for the kid, making sure to give him the cleanest one even though there’s a tiny crack on the surface.

He guides the kid over to the coffee table and hands him the milk. The kid takes the glass and sinks onto the deflated beanbag while Wei Wuxian perches on the edge of the couch. He grabs a can of beer from the six-pack still on the floor beside the table and takes a sip. Wait, is that allowed? Can he drink alcohol in front of children?

The kid doesn’t seem to care. He takes a tentative sip of his milk and makes a very polite face that fails to mask his disgust, before putting the glass down on the table next to the forgotten cupcake. Fair, it’s nice to see him asserting boundaries and all that.

"Okay," Wei Wuxian says, amused despite the situation. "Who are you and why are you in my house at—" he checks his phone for the time"—five minutes to midnight on a Friday night?"

The kid doesn't answer right away. His eyes are still focused on the cupcake, but in a way he probably thinks is sneaky. Wei Wuxian tilts his head to get a better look and sure enough, there’s a furrow between his eyebrows like the kid is trying really hard to ask a difficult question. After a minute, it becomes clear he hasn’t worked out a nice enough way to ask, but it’s a good thing Wei Wuxian knows enough about being a hungry child to recognize one.

He nudges the cupcake over to him and says, "Help yourself." Immediately, the kid grabs the cupcake with all the care in the world, like it’s a priceless artifact and promptly devours it. Wei Wuxian can’t help but smile as he eats. Suddenly the cheap cupcake feels like an excellent choice.

When the kid finishes licking the last bits of frosting and crumbs off his fingers, he sits politely with his hands in his lap and looks longingly toward the kitchen. He’s still too nice to ask forthright, but Wei Wuxian knows better and he isn't a monster.

Wei Wuxian gets up and opens one of the cabinets to look for something that’s probably child-appropriate, pulling out a bag of his least spicy chips. Chips are made of potatoes which are vegetables which means it’s probably not that bad for kids. Either way, the kid takes the bag gratefully and eats the chips with relish, even though they’re definitely way too spicy for someone his age.

“Alright, alright. You’ve been fed. Now tell me, who are you?” he asks again, though he can’t stop the tiniest bit of fondness from creeping into his tone. It’s just that everything this kid does is so cute! He can’t help himself!

The kid stops eating and tries to speak, but what comes out instead are the quietest little coughs Wei Wuxian’s ever heard. He’s been eating these spicy snacks and slowly turning as red as they are, but he’s so polite he hasn’t said a thing about them.

All at once, Wei Wuxian realizes he likes this kid, despite knowing practically nothing about him. It’s strange. He hates the kids the customers at his job will bring sometimes, especially when their parents just let them loose like it's a daycare and not a coffee shop. Wei Wuxian isn’t mean or anything, it’s just that wrangling kids is way above his pay grade. He didn’t even get along with other kids when he was a kid. All the other foster kids stood clear of him pretty much as soon as the social worker told his foster parents he was known for being “emotionally dysregulated” and labeling him a problem child.

But this kid is different from all the others, even though Wei Wuxian can’t quite put his finger on what’s so special about him. He seems like the kind of kid who would politely ask for steamed oat milk and say thank you, then ask his parents to let him give Wei Wuxian the tip. When he finishes, he’d probably throw his trash out without anyone asking and call goodbye to him one last time before he leaves. Even just imagining it makes Wei Wuxian feel wistful for something he’s never really wanted before.

It doesn’t help that this kid’s got what must be the fluffiest hair he's ever seen, and those dimples! It takes all of Wei Wuxian’s self-control to keep himself from pinching those chubby cheeks.

He doesn’t quite succeed and leans forward anyway to ruffle the kid's hair. "Ask for water, you silly,” he says, already standing and heading back to the kitchen.

When he hands him the glass, the kid just looks up at Wei Wuxian with his big, bright brown eyes filled with wonder. He’s looking at Wei Wuxian like he has the answer to everything. Wei Wuxian doesn't, but it's nice to feel like someone thinks he knows what he's doing.

The kid drinks half the glass before clearing his throat and finally answering Wei Wuxian’s question. “I’m Sizhui, but you can call me A-Yuan. Or even Little Radish, if you want! You called me that before.” He says it all in one breath, practically vibrating with energy by the end.

Wei Wuxian pauses in the middle of taking a sip of his beer. He’s not sure why he would ever call anyone a radish, and he’s pretty sure he’s never met this kid before. Does A-Yuan have mistaken him for someone else? Could this kid have some weird memory loss, except one where he gains fake memories instead of losing them? It’s definitely not the strangest thing about this whole situation.

Like all problems Wei Wuxian doesn’t know how to deal with, he decides to ignore that for now and asks, “Okay, A-Yuan then, why are you here?”

“Because,” A-Yuan starts, leaning forward and looking at Wei Wuxian with all the seriousness someone pre-puberty could possibly possess. “I need your help.”

“…Okay…” Wei Wuxian replies. The world must truly be fucked if someone is coming to him for help. He hasn’t had a vegetable in a week, unless pizza actually does count. “What do you need help with?”

He’s expecting the kid to say something normal like “my homework” or “getting to the train station”, you know, normal things a kid would ask a stranger to help him with.

He’s not expecting A-Yuan to respond gravely, “To save the world and everyone we love.”

Wei Wuxian blinks, speechless. A-Yuan doesn’t seem to notice, continuing to speak as he lifts his backpack onto his lap and rummages through its contents. “My family’s in trouble, our family. Everyone we know is, and you’re the only one who can fix it. Look here, see, I’ve got this book, it’s all written here. There’s a curse that’s affecting everyone and we need to break it.”

He plops the book down on the coffee table. It’s not at all what Wei Wuxian expects. It’s hand-bound, with a simple red fabric cover that’s blank except for the title that’s written in Chinese calligraphy. It’s written entirely in Chinese, in fact, completely by hand with the same impeccable calligraphy. Inside are what appear to be a bunch of stories or folktales. There are beautiful gongbi illustrations on every other page, inked in bright colors with an incredible level of detail.

Wei Wuxian can’t help but be impressed. The book is something he would expect to see at a museum or in a period drama, not on his coffee table with its chipped surface and water stains.  

A-Yuan flips to a picture of a man with long hair dressed in black and red robes. He’s playing a flute as shadows dance and twist around his frame. Then tendrils lift high into the sky and block out the sun. He’s standing on a pile of human bones, to really sell the whole villain energy this guy’s got.

A-Yuan points at the guy. “That’s you, you see?”

Wei Wuxian does not see, he’s pretty sure he would have noticed if his body was covered in shadows. Also, he would need way more conditioner for that length of hair.

The kid continues, interpreting Wei Wuxian’s stunned silence as something else entirely. “You’re the only one who can help them, who can save us all.” A-Yuan thrusts the scroll out to Wei Wuxian, who’s too floored to do much more than take it from him. “So, I’m here to bring you back.”

Wei Wuxian has to admit, the guy in the picture does look pretty badass. But it’s still just a drawing, and there’s little to suggest this looks anything like him at all.

He glances up. A-Yuan smile is so bright and excited that Wei Wuxian wishes he could feel his excitement too. The guy in the picture does look super cool, like someone he’d want to dress up as when he was A-Yuan’s age.

But all he feels is concern and confusion. Before, he was actually starting to enjoy spending time with this kid, but something is wrong, though it’s not what A-Yuan thinks. There’s a random kid in his apartment late at night, making up stories. And whether he likes it or not, Wei Wuxian is the adult here. He has to remember that.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he says, and the smile slowly drops from A-Yuan’s face and Wei Wuxian feels like the absolute worst person on the planet for doing that to him. “But I don’t know what this is, or who you are. I want to help, you’ve just gotta give me some actual answers. Where are your parents? Do they know where you are?”

A-Yuan looks down and mumbles, “I was so sure you’d remember if you saw this, if you held it.” He tightens the hands on his knees into fists and looks up at him with a startling conviction. “But that doesn’t matter. I know it, I know who you are. You’re Wei Wuxian. This is you. And you’re the only person who can save us.”

Wei Wuxian rubs his temples and contemplates chugging the remainder of his beer. He holds it in his hand, wishing he’d gotten another pack. “Look, I don’t know how you know my name, maybe you saw it on some mail outside or something, but—"

"You're my dad!” A-Yuan hastily interrupts. “That’s why, that’s how I know!"

Wei Wuxian drops the can. There's a splash of something spilling all over the carpet and he should probably make sure it’s not too bad. He's too busy trying to figure out how he could have a ten-year-old at twenty-five when he was definitely still a virgin at fifteen.

The initial shock slips away, leaving him only more confused. He raises an eyebrow at A-Yuan, willing him to explain.

"Not my real dad," A-Yuan says, rolling his eyes like somehow Wei Wuxian is the one claiming something impossible. "But you're my dad in every way that counts."

Wei Wuxian wishes he hadn't dropped his drink. He'd really like to take a sip of it now. And several more, maybe the rest of the cans, too.

This day needs to end. He should have stayed home and drank his way to oblivion, so he’d have been too far gone to answer the door in the first place.

TBC

[truly-morgan]

[XianCheng helped by YLLZ (18+)]

ChengXian | Mo Dao Zu Shi 03-03-2022

[#xiancheng  feat yllz, nsfw]

what if jc and wwx were already a thing in their teenage years? of course, teen hormones kick in, and they have some steamy time behind everyone's back.

but neither of them are experienced and jc is a bit scared to really say that sometimes it doesn't really feel that good, as much as wwx tries his best.

then one day something unexpected and weird happened.

they were on a night hunt when they stumbled on a man looking a lot like wwx. Both teens were quickly on guard, unsure of what was happening, suspicious of the man who seemingly recognised them immediately.

It took some fighting and yllx!wwx telling something one they would know and even some of wwx secrets for them to believe him.

jc was still a bit sceptical, seeing how the man was using such unorthodox ways of fighting, yet wwx was only fascinated by his story of how he got there as he was tinkering on some invention.

They all went to an inn, as it was agreed to hide this older version of wwx until the man find a way to return it he's timeline. jc would lie if he said it wasn't nice seeing wwx so excited as he helped his older self work on something.

But also seeing how strong and even more ingenious wwx seem to be later. He nearly asks more than once what his older self looks like, but keeps himself from doing so, scared of the answer.

but once they are alone at night again, wwx is ready to be naughty and come onto jc who is happy to now have his full attention, not without scolding him at first about the other wwx being next door ("he went out to drink" he replied to him).

and so they go on like usual, wwx still being a bit rough sometimes even when he tries his best. he is about to ask jc how he is doing when he sees him frown like this, clearly gritting his teeth.

"Poor a-cheng, looking so uncomfortable, is your shixiong still so bad after so long?"

This makes both teen freeze, jc clenching hard on wwx who curses and pulls out the little he had put in. jc hide against his lovers, beet red at being found out as wwx glares at his older self.

the yllz was lazily leaning on the wall, drinking some wine he watched them, making them wonder for how long exactly e had been there watching in silence.

they were both a bit unsure when he walked to them, taking off his outer robes, leaving only a thin inner robe on.

"Does it hurt when a-xian gets in?" the man asks jc, sitting nonchalantly behind jc, leaning over him with a smirk. this makes wwx want to pull jc closer to him and away from himself. it feels weird to be defensive of himself.

jc takes a moment before nodding a little bit, not meeting wwx's eyes when he called out to him, surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?!" he asked. jc can't bring himself to say he was scared wwx would simply leave if he couldn't do it.

the yllz simply hummed sadly, moving to instead be sitting next to wwx who was still kneeling between his shidi's legs, taking a small bottle out of his robe.

he ignore his younger self's protest when he slowly made it drip on jc's entrance, adding to the nearly non-existent oil already here. "You have to be careful, you need to use a lot of oil to make sure he won't get hurt," he says close to wwx hear, the teen looking at the now slippery ass. jc could only blush at being looked at like this by the two of them.

"Did he prepare you" the older man ask jc, the young man nodding. "was it long?". this time he got a negative reply, making him ts-ts his young self. "You have to be patient or else jc won't want to be with you anymore".

this seemed to be enough to make wwx quite being mad he was being humiliated like this. Would jc really live him if he couldn't get better? he didn't want that.

he was quickly guided to jc's entrance again, his fingers teasing the rim at first before being encouraged to put two inside of him again. he followed attentively the instruction given to him, moving around like he was told. he was able to soon add more in as jc was relaxing, the oil clearly helping and making everything more slippery.

wwx was startled by a louder moan made by jc, stopping his fear of having hurt him, looking up at his shidi putting a hand over his mouth at the sound he made, flustered.

"oh~ you finally found his pleasure point" yllz hummed, "keep massaging that place, he will love it".

wwx wasn't sure at first, but kept doing it slowly, until he realised jc seemed to indeed be liking it, now doing it more enthusiastically. it was the first time jc seemed to be enjoying himself so much aside from when they were giving each other's handjobs.

he kept going until he made him cum, looking in amazement at how he managed to make jc cum like this.

"look at you, coming so good for him" the older man praised, making jc blush, "Do you want him now?"

"Yes please, I want a-xian in me now, stop teasing me" jc begged, leg weakly trying to pull his shixiong closer to him. wwx couldn't refuse such an invitation, especially with how painfully hard he was after hearing jc moan like this and look so good.

he was careful when sliding in, amazed at how much more easy it was and happy to not see jc's usual frown. soon he started moving in and out of him, bending down to kiss his shidi and loop his arm around his neck, keeping him close.

wwx was a bit startled when he felt his hand move his hips a little, angling him differently, only to have jc moan even more against his lips, making him realise he was hitting the same place as before.

he kept going roughly as jc kept asking him to be faster and deeper, only stopping once he came deep inside jc, panting heavily above his shidi.

wwx was startled again when he felt something being dumped on his ass, finger teasing him.

"Hey, what are you doing" he barked back at his older self, feeling himself being pushed forward a bit more once jc had sat up a little, his head in his shidi's lap.

he felt a body above him, finger still teasing him a voice sounded close to his ear "Look at our little chengcheng, still painfully hard too, don't you want to help him? I am sure he also wants to experience you"

this made wwx stop fighting against him, looking up at jc who was blushing, looking to the side. "Does a-cheng want to be on top?" he asked.

"I... would like to try" he admitted. wwx was quiet for a moment, then nodded, "Anything for my a-cheng then" he smile. he was a bit nervous, but really if it was for jc he could do anything.

he did tense a bit when he felt fingers getting in, trying to relax.

he decided to distract himself by grabbing jc's cock, deciding to suck on it. his shidi was surprised at first, as it was something he hadn't really let jc do since he thought it was dirty. yet there was nothing to really stop him, and it did feel really good.

he had to keep himself from coming too, looking at wwx who was shivering and moaning at what his older self was doing to him, making jc a bit jealous. he gently pushed him away, moving behind him.

the yllz didn't fight and step aside, watching the little shidi take over.

he was clearly more skilled with his hands and fingers, picking up quickly on how to pleasure wwx correctly. "A-cheng I want it now" wwx ended up asking after too long of being teased like this from behind, hip swaying a little bit.

the young man looked a bit unsure, but he felt a larger body behind him guiding him around. "Don't worry, he will love it" he heard whispered against his ear. he blushed at the sudden closeness, but instead focused on wwx. he was careful when he went in, cursing at how tight wwx was around him, hands on his hips, stopping him from moving around too much. wwx was surprised by the sensation, surprising himself by how much he liked it and how much more he wanted. he tried moving around, only to receive a slap on his ass, making him whine. "Don't hesitate to punish him if he doesn't obey you".

the older man said, having clearly understood that jc wanted to take it a bit more slowly. jc had been surprised by his moan, feeling him shake around him, even wwx seemed surprised by his moan of pleasure after the slap.

jc couldn't help but shot a glance toward the yllz. the man obviously understood what wwx like as it was also himself. this made him realise that it meant the man also liked this kind of treatment. he could only imagine this tall man moaning under an older version of himself while being punished for being disobedient.

it aroused him quite a lot actually, the idea of them in the future still being like this, wwx pliant under his hands, finally being an obedient boy.

he tentatively slapped wwx again when his shixiong tried to move again, something in his eyes flashing at the moan he gained from it.

soon he started fucking into wwx, every now and then slapping his ass when he wouldn't listen to him, like when he tried jerking himself off for example when he asked him not to do so.

soon they were completely lost in their own bubble, fucking like rabbits after learning just how good it could really be in the proper way.

They completely missed how the yllz was suddenly engulfed by a dark cloud, making him chuckle a little bit.

he thought it was too soon, but he did have enough fun, now he could go home, leaving these two to enjoy themselves.

next time he opened his eyes he was being held by familiar eyes, a cute frowning face looking back at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful when you do experience like this!" slj scolded him, helping him sit down on the side of the bed.

he then noticed how little robe he was wearing and the rather obvious tent in his pants.

"How shameless, do you dare cheat on me now?" he asked.

this made wwx chuckle, purposefully letting his robe slide off his shoulder. "I helping a little a-cheng and a little a-xian to be better lovers to each other" he replied.

"But I wouldn't mind letting my dear sect leader punish me for being away from him and behaving naughtily again" he cooed as jc put a knee on the bed between his legs, pushing him down.

"You better be ready for a good punishment then, I am not letting you go anytime soon" jc replied with a smirk, hand snaking until his undone robe as he bent down to kiss him.

====

well, this ended up being a switch xiancheng / chengxian I guess. the boys just enjoying themselves with a bit of help. also, this is a timeline where yllz!wwx stayed by jc's side and our dear purple sect leader didn't allow him to run away

we like some slight dom/sub dynamic where wwx is ready to submit only to his shidi

yllz!wwx has clearly awoken something in the young couple

Original

[robininthelabyrinth]

Light on the Door

- chapter 6 -

aka the WWX gets adopted by the Nie sect for everyone who’s forgotten about this one

-

“I’m not angry,” Nie Mingjue said when they sheepishly explained the demonic cultivation they’d been doing while on the Burial Mounds. “You were in a tight spot, and you did what you needed to do to survive.”

Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang both nodded furiously.

“I am, however, disappointed.”

Their shoulders slumped.

Not that it was going to stop them from proceeding, of course.

Nie Mingjue wasn’t going to delude himself here. He’d met his younger brothers.

“But da-ge, it can be so helpful,” Nie Huaisang said, almost on cue. “The way we’ve worked it out – well, mostly Wei Wuxian, he did most of the work –”

“Well, I am your shixiong, of course I did. Also, you like being lazy and useless.”

“Shut up, that’s not relevant here. The thing is, though, it’s really not that hard to make it work, and it’s really, really useful. The amount of power we can generate is exponentially greater –”

“I’m aware,” Nie Mingjue said, suppressing his temper through force of will. “That’s why demonic cultivation is considered to be so dangerous, and that’s why our Nie sect cultivation method, which is only barely orthodox, gives us strength that outstrips the other sects’. We all know it’s powerful, but equally so, we know that it’s bad for you. Did everything I said on the subject go in one ear and out the other?”

“No, we listened, really!” Wei Wuxian chirped, looking especially earnest. “But like you said, da-ge, we were in a tight spot…”

“And now you’re out of the tight spot and you can stop. And go through every single one of our rituals for cleansing resentful energy, too!”

“I see what you’re saying, da-ge,” Wei Wuxian said in a way that meant he disagreed. “But the Sunshot Campaign is also in a tight spot. You get what I’m saying?”

“No,” Nie Mingjue said, even though he did. “Absolutely not.”

“But da-ge –”

“Do you really think that I want to win this war at the cost of your lives?” Nie Mingjue demanded.

That made them both look abashed.

Abashed, but unfortunately not deterred.

“The way we’ve come up with is based in part on our Nie sect techniques and in part on the Jiang sect techniques I learned when I was at the Lotus Pier,” Wei Wuxian said. “I even relied a bit on what I learned at the Cloud Recesses. I’ve made it as safe as I possibly can – and it is safe, at least in the short term. You may not be willing to win the war at the cost of our lives, no, but would you really be willing to lose the war and potentially all our lives just to avoid a small increase in short-term risk?”

“Fuck,” Nie Mingjue said, with feeling. “Remind me what piece of trash taught you to debate again?”

Nie Huaisang happily pointed to himself.

“…that didn’t need an answer, Huaisang.”

“But you got one anyway, da-ge!” He beamed. “Does that mean you agree with us using it?”

“No, I don’t.”

“…but you’ll allow it?” Wei Wuxian asked, fishing for the answer he wanted.

“I’m not sold,” Nie Mingjue announced, even though he was, mostly. “Your point about risk and reward is a good one, but we don’t know enough to be sure if you have the balance between the two right. If you overestimate your capability on something like this, arrogantly assuming that you have it under control when you don’t, the consequences would be unthinkable. I think we need to take this in front of an expert.”

They both blinked at him.

“An expert?” Wei Wuxian asked. “In – demonic cultivation?”

“I didn’t know we had someone like that,” Nie Huaisang said.

“Me either,” Wei Wuxian said. “Who is it?”

Nie Mingjue smiled at both of them, and they blanched at the expression.

The first smart move they’d made all day, really.

-

“I’m sorry!” Wei Wuxian yelped. “I didn’t mean to!”

Baxia was incredibly unimpressed with him.

(Suibian was laughing at him.)

Like Suibian, she could not speak in words, but her feelings were startlingly clear and vivid – a demonstration, Wei Wuxian supposed, of Nie Mingjue’s exceptional cultivation. She was able to convey her thoughts on a given subject quite well.

Evil is as evil becomes was the feeling she conveyed right now. You are starting down a dangerous path.

“For good reasons!”

Each step forward you take will be infinitely harder to return from.

“You believe in revenge yourself! You told Suibian to break the Wen sect’s swords!”

I did. And I will allow you to proceed here.

Wei Wuxian blinked. “Wait,” he said. “You will?”

He hadn’t expected that, given the way she was radiating vicious cold rage at him.

I will, she said. And if you go too far, I will cut off your head.

“That seems fair,” Wei Wuxian said, and then yelped again when Suibian bit him.

Think about what you’re saying, moronic meat-man, his saber snapped at him. If Baxia kills you, that means her master will have to be the one who kills you. Don’t you meatsticks care about things like that?

Wei Wuxian grimaced, his enthusiasm for demonic cultivation and all its interesting challenges and mysteries abruptly diminished exponentially. He’d known Nie Mingjue for a long time – he’d known him back when he’d been an anxious teenager putting on a façade of knowing what he was doing, and he’d known him all the way through his development into the man he now was. How could he not know what being forced to execute Wei Wuxian, who he’d adopted as his own little brother, would do to him?

“I’ll be careful,” he said, much more solemn than before. “I won’t let it come to that. I promise.”

Good, Baxia said. Now: send Huaisang in here.

Wei Wuxian scarpered away at once, betraying his shidi without the slightest hint of guilt.

-

“So we’re allowed to use demonic cultivation to fight the Wen under very limited conditions,” Nie Huaisang explained to Jiang Cheng. “Very limited. Extremely limited. And we have to do a whole bunch of purifying and cleansing stuff after we do it, too. It’s going to be a pain.”

“I’m surprised they’re going to let you do it,” Jiang Cheng remarked, and ignored the way Nie Huaisang glared at him. “Seriously! At least Wei Wuxian has a proper golden core and a solid foundation in orthodox cultivation – you don’t.”

“I have a golden core!” Nie Huaisang argued back, but it wasn’t like Jiang Cheng wasn’t right. “Anyway, my situation is a bit…complicated. It’ll be fine.”

Ironically enough, according to Baxia and Suibian and Aituan – their local experts in demonic cultivation, and it was a little weird that they were actually opining on stuff rather than just reacting to things but whatever – Nie Huaisang was actually more suitable for demonic cultivation than Wei Wuxian was on account of how weak and piddly his golden core was. Without too much spiritual energy flowing through him, he would be able to channel more resentful energy through his already strengthened meridians – in fact, the ideal situation would probably be someone exceptionally powerful who had lost all of his cultivation somehow, as they would’ve had the strongest meridian pathways possible but no interference from purifying spiritual energy, but also that sounded awful so it was probably for the best that nothing like that had happened.

Anyway, they’d all put their heads together (sabers and humans alike) and determined that Nie Huaisang had enough of bond with Aituan that they could mitigate the effects of the demonic cultivation by doing, essentially, the reverse of the Nie sect cultivation approach: instead of Aituan cultivating with resentful energy and Nie Huaisang filtering it clean with spiritual energy, Nie Huaisang would be the one cultivating with resentful energy and Aituan would be filtering it out.

As a result, while Wei Wuxian was unquestionably the inventor and founder of this new type of demonic cultivation – they hadn’t come up with a name for it yet, since Wei Wuxian was enamored of calling it ‘The Path of Evil’ and that was just amazingly dumb – it was probably going to end up being Nie Huaisang who was going to be using more of it.

Perhaps predictably, the second they’d decided that, Wei Wuxian had lost the vast majority of his enthusiasm for the project. Self-sacrificing idiot!

“At least there’s that,” Jiang Cheng mused, and Nie Huaisang looked at him in question. “You’re not like Wei Wuxian; you don’t have a death wish and you’re not reckless, either. You like being comfortable and safe. If you say it’s fine and safe and not likely to kill you, then it probably is.”

Nie Huaisang spontaneously hugged him.

“What are you doing?!” Jiang Cheng howled. “Get your paws off of me! Do we look like Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji? No touching!”

Nie Huaisang hung on to his neck anyway and cackled.

The Wen sect, he thought happily, weren’t going to know what hit them.

-

“Brother has a spy among the Wen sect,” Lan Wangji told Wei Wuxian. “He does not wish to share any information regarding his identity, but he trusts him.”

“Well, that’s dumb,” Wei Wuxian said. “So what if he trusts him? We need to trust him! Even if the spy’s sincere, the information he receives could have been fed to him, and even putting aside reliability, how are we supposed to work with this person if we don’t know who he is? If we besiege the Nightless City and some random man or woman runs up to us claiming to be our spy, are we just supposed to believe them? What if we stab them just to be on the safe side? Wouldn’t your brother feel bad about that, if it happened?”

Lan Wangji shrugged.

“Let me talk to your brother about it,” Wei Wuxian decided. “I’ll talk some sense into him, even if da-ge won’t because he’s too honorable to press hard on his best friend – I’m not suggesting we tell everyone about it, but surely the important people need to be in the know…you agree with me, right Lan Zhan?”

“Mm,” Lan Wangji said.

“I thought so! You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

Lan Wangji hummed and pressed a kiss to Wei Wuxian’s temple.

“Careful,” Wei Wuxian said, snickering. “People might think I’m seducing you to the side of evil.”

There had been all sorts of rumors recently. The vast majority were nonsense, of course, and easily dispelled – but the one about Wei Wuxian being corrupted by his demonic cultivation seemed to be irrepressible in a way that suggested to Lan Wangji that someone might be pushing it deliberately.

Once, he had not cared for such things as rumor, and even less about the politics of who said what and why, but that had been before he had decided to unite his fate with Wei Wuxian’s for the rest of his life.

After the cave with the Xuanwu, where armed by Nie Huaisang’s timely revelations, they had declared their affections for each other and even kissed, Lan Wangji had wasted no time in informing his uncle of his decision. His uncle had taken it about as well as could be expected – a lot of sighing and suggestions that literally anyone else in the entire cultivation world might be better had been involved – but he’d also started teaching him more seriously about the challenges he might expect to face in such a situation.

At the time, Lan Wangji had been very busy with pulling their sect together to fight the Wen sect’s threat and had not listened with as much seriousness as perhaps he ought to have, so his uncle had demonstrated the importance of it to him with an experiment. He’d purposefully leaked a hint of a relationship to one person who had promptly told another, and another, and another, and soon enough Lan Wangji had been besieged with rumors (the vast majority miserably wrong) about who he was supposedly courting. And that had been in the Lan sect, where there were rules against gossip and he could silence anyone who was being disrespectful!

He’d started listening to his uncle’s warnings with a great deal more attention after that.

“There are those that say you are planning on leaving the Nie sect,” he told Wei Wuxian solemnly. “To start your own sect, focused on demonic cultivation.”

“That’s ridiculous. Why would I leave? The only reason I’m acting in such an ostentatious manner is to keep everyone from figuring out that Nie Huaisang is the one actually doing most of the work – I can handle the assassination attempts, he can’t.”

Lan Wangji arched his eyebrows.

“…okay, yes, I also kind of like the ostentation,” Wei Wuxian confessed. “It’s just so much fun go to around wearing creepy robes and calling everything I use evil – the ‘Devilish Hairbrush’, the ‘Compass of Evil’, the ‘Demon Slaughtering Pillow’ –”

“The child-consuming beast.”

“Hey, you leave Xiao Bai out of this! He’s a good dog! He just likes kids, that’s all…”

“Jumping on them, licking them, gnawing on them…”

“A good dog,” Wei Wuxian insisted. “A friendly dog.”

Lan Wangji just kissed him again. It wasn’t that he disagreed – certainly not about Xiao Bai, who was in fact an excellent dog, even if the ‘scary’ collar Wei Wuxian had fashioned for him was little short of ridiculous – but he knew he wasn’t getting his point across. If even as nice a dog as Xiao Bai could be so thoroughly misconstrued, then Wei Wuxian, who was deliberately putting himself out there as a target…

Lan Wangji would keep watch, he decided.

He wouldn’t let anyone get away with hurting Wei Wuxian.

Anyone.

[drwcn]

《Without Envy》 snippet 6 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

[story board 1]  [story board 2]  [story board 3]  [story board 4]  [story board 5]  [story board 6] [story board 7] [storyboard 8] snippets (non-chrono): [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

snippet #6 →

It was the soft persistent rain.

It made it too easy to excuse the low productivity, the haziness of one's mind, the slow trickling of time on a day when everything seemed so still, so fragile, as if one hurried movement or careless word spoken above a whisper would destroy this rare moment of peace.

"Dianxia, what should we do today?" Wei Ying had asked during breakfast, which he shared with Lan Wangji on most days now. It was not...strictly speaking, allowed, but Lan Wangji saw no harm in this small indulgence.

It felt... nice, when each day started with good food consumed quietly by two sets of chopsticks clinking against delicate china dishes. Lan Wangji tried not to stare at Wei Wuxian the whole time, but he was fairly sure that after six months of this master-servant charade, his initial fascination with Wei Wuxian had evolved into an urgent, uncontrollable - and frankly kind of terrifying - fever.

If he were honest with himself, he would call a spade a spade and admit it was love. But that was too ... much.

Everyday he wished a little more desperately that Wei Ying felt something too, that he wasn't simply playing along because it was his duty...

That particular rainy day was a day of rest, which meant no morning court assembly and nowhere immediate Lan Wangji he needed to be. He pondered on Wei Wuxian's question for a moment before answering, "Calligraphy. Wei Ying ought to practice."

Thus, the morning found the two of them sitting together back to chest, Wei Ying cradled between the bracket of his legs, his right hand gripped firmly by Lan Wangji as the prince guided the brush they jointly held across the parchment paper.

Lan Wangji's other hand fell instinctually to Wei Wuxian's slim waist, such that he was holding the other man completely in his arms. In turn, Wei Wuxian sunk a little more daringly against him, and smiled despite himself. This was hardly the first time the two of them enjoyed a stolen little embrace under the pretense of "calligraphy practice", but they won't talk about it. That was the understanding.

Wei Wuxian wasn't sure what Lan Wangji wanted from him, but at this point, he was fairly sure he was game for just about anything. Not only because of his mission, but because...well, because.

Wei Wuxian sighed at the beautiful strokes appearing beneath the ink brush, and felt a little terrible. He was naturally left handed, so his right-hand script was ugly to a fault. Of course, this did the job for fooling Lan Wangji into thinking he was an uneducated plebian, and the prince, ever so invested in Wei Wuxian's education, had been nothing but dedicated in helping Wei Wuxian improve his literacy and calligraphy.

Wei Wuxian would feel guilty for wasting Lan Wangji's time, but it was hard to feel anything negative when he was being embraced so warmly like this.

"Dianxia's calligraphy is so handsome," he teased, turning in Lan Wangji's arms to smile at him. "Just like dianxia himself!"

The tip of Lan Wangji's ears grew pink, just as he expected it would. "Wei Ying. Concentrate."

"But dianxia ~" Wei Wuxian whined again for effect. He was goddamn cute and he knew it.

Lan Wangji huffed. "I've said, when it's just us, you may call me Lan Zhan."

"Alright. Lan Zhan, my hand is tired. Can't we rest?"

The prince probably knew he was being coy, but he played along anyway. Putting down the brush, he picked up Wei Wuxian's hand, turned over the palm and kneaded his thumb into his thenar muscles.

"Is it sore here?"

- shit, that actually feels brilliant... Wei Wuxian bit his lips and tried not to moan pathetically.

"Lan Zhan ~ "

They were so enraptured with one another that they did not even notice they were no longer alone.

"I see you are in quite a good humour today, Wangji."

Lan Qiren stood at the door way, severe and regal, flanked by his entourage of guards. Yue-gongong, Lan Wangji's eunch wringed his hand to the side. He was probably ordered to not announce Lan Qiren's arrival to allow the other man to make his unexpected entrance.

"Huangshu -"

Well, it worked. Lan Wangji was clearly caught off guard.

Quickly, almost frantically, he and Wei Wuxian untangled themselves from each other and rose to their feet to greet the only man in the empire who still had the rank and the ability to scold the emperor.

Lan Wangji bent deeply at the waist into a bow and Wei Wuxian got on his knees.

"Wangji greets Huangshu."

"This lowly one greets Taishi."

For a dense, silent minute, Lan Qiren did not respond, and then slowly, Wei Wuxian felt the older man step closer. When he spoke, his tone could not be interpreted as anything less than threatening.

"So, you're the infamous 'A-Xian' who has the capital in a tither. Raise your head boy; let this old man see what kind of a great beauty you must be to drive my nephew to distraction."

Oh right, Wei Wuxian inwardly rolled his eyes. He'd almost forgotten about this part; the disapproving elder that came attached to every flourishing harem.

Wei Wuxian, you stupid son of a bitch, he admonished himself. You're really in the thick of it now.

[wangxianpromptsgenerator]

Thicker than blood

Part one available here __ She didn't know what she expected. A Jiang disciple perhaps. One with a heavy scowl and an awful temper. One similar to the Jiang sect leader, both in appearance and temperament. (What happened to Fengmian? That couldn't have been his son right? Little Jiang Cheng?) Instead, she was met with Jin Guangshan's splitting image, and her inquirer was wearing Lan colours (of all things). He was also grinning despite the sharpness of his gaze. "So, Cangse Sanren, right?" She nodded. "I'm Lan Wuxian. I'd say that I am pleased to meet you, gunian, but my sect forbids me from lying." __ He made her talk. She confessed being confused with her reception so far, asked once again after Fengmian and insisted once again that it was all a misunderstanding. That she really who she claimed to be, that they just had to ask any older disciples. That she was once promised that Lotus Pier's doors would always remain opened for her, and didn't understand where all of this groundless suspicion came for. All through her tirade Lan Wuxian kept an indecipherable look. "Tell me, what did you seek when you came here?"  "My son. I wanted to know what happened to my son.“ __ "Your son?" "Yes, my little Wei Ying." "...and you came to Lotus Pier?" "There were so many contradicting rumours. Since Fengmian is someone that I trust and counted on in the past, I thought-" "That you, a nameless and unknown Cultivator could barge unannounced and demand answers from the Jiang sect leader? That you could draw your sword without any repercussion? That we'd believe any of the nonsense your deranged mind could come up with? Well, you sure do have a thick face." She opened her mouth to protest but Lan Wuxian shut her up with a hard look. “You call Lotus Pier your home, yet you broke into the city and spilt blood once the disciples tried to make you leave. You mentioned names and a lifelong friendship with the Jiangs, yet all of those that could supposedly vouch for you conveniently died more than a decade ago. We have no reasons to doubt your words, gunian, but you’ll need to give us more than that I’m afraid.“ TBC __ Additional notes: Some people were confused in discord with WWX’s hostility toward CSSR.  Here’s some clarification. At this point,CSSR to him is just a stranger that is impersonating his mother that:  - Broke in the city and stole a Jiang clarity bell. You don’t steal a Lan forehead ribbon and you don’t steal a Jiang clarity bell. That is just not done. (What is a little ironic in this snippet is that WWX, the son, broke the wards surrounding his future husband's home when he was a teenager to buy alcohol in the middle in the night. And right here, right now, her son is reproaching her the exact same thing. And he also did tug on LWJ’s ribbon. But well, he must have gotten that rebellious steak from CSSR XD) - Demanded an audience with his brother. To be fair, as a nameless unknown person you can't demand anything from the sect leader. Like WTF. But she's used to taking liberties since JFM didn't refuse her anything. So she doesn't see any problem with it. - She drew her sword and spilled blood when she didn't get her way and lashed on the disciples at the gate. - Her impersonating his mother is just you know, the last straw. That is the point of this prompt. WWX won't remember her and will never remember her. So yes, until her identity is proven she’d just be that, an impersonator. (They will both grow past this and built a friendly relationship eventually. Nothing more, nothing less.)

[morifinwes]

Lauraa I finished all the fics, apart from decay (currently reading that now) and I love it sm! Especially the lip gloss one lmao the whole thing was so hilarious to me XD but also like the concept of lwj wearing lipgloss is >>> -yibobibo

@yibobibo then i'm going to rec you some more!! the lip gloss one was !!!!! ajsksks yes!! lwj wearing lipgloss is just so!! good!!

modern

this one is the painful one i talked about:

visitations by var_abelasan (12K, wip, divorced wangxian, post divorce, most of this is angst, uhm lowkey don't but also do want wangxian to end up together, it's messy, the jiangs & lans are shitty, wwx was in prison (brief mentions of that but it's kind of a major plot point), mxy & xy are the little brothers he never wanted but wwx picked them up anyways)

"Wei Ying-" Lan Zhan says, stutters, "I'm sorry." 

And now Wei Wuxian sees it, the red rimming Lan Zhan's eyes, the rumpled edges of his blazer. There is an old, familiar urge for him to reach over, to hold Lan Zhan's hand and smooth his hair, to tell him that everything will be fine. 

"We're all a bit sorry about this, I think," he says instead, and finds that he means it. For Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji and everyone else in that Guanyin temple, the pain must be unbearably fresh, like skin just flayed open. But Wei Wuxian's chest had been cracked open a long time ago, his wounds licked and cauterized and sewn shut over five long years - Ever hurting, but a dull, constant ache, "It's really alright, Lan Zhan."

 

Five years after being accused of corporate espionage and losing everything, the Guanyin Scandal breaks open and Wei Wuxian finds a familiar face at his door.

please don't let me be misunderstood by sysrae (3K, partly deaf!wwx, lwj notices, nobody else does though, idk wwx is like made out of fucking steel or some shit)

Lan Wangji has known Wei Ying for a fortnight, the first time he sees him get hit by a car.

light by redkosmos (10K, blind!lwj, which causes angst, but they manage it, best friends to lovers, fluff, lwj being insecure and feeling like a burden, college au kind of? but it doesn't matter too much)

The realization slowly dawns on him.

He can never again see the brightness of Wei Ying's eyes, the way they crescent when he smiles, never again see the rich black of his hair, the mess of it in the early mornings, never again see the beautiful tan of his skin, the beauty of the scars and marks adorned on it, how he wears his clothes, how it hugs his frame beautifully, how he looks like he's adorably swimming in cloth when he wears Lan Zhan's, and-

(Lan Zhan loses his vision in a car accident and learns to cope with it.)

don't leave me by trippinonskies (19K, brief very brief mention of lwj cheating, he doesn't but wwx is afraid lwj is cheating on him or just wants to break up with him, (he doesn't), marriage proposal, lwj acting distant = wwx's insecurities show up, fluff, angst and comfort)

Lan Zhan! Where are you lost today?” Wei Wuxian finally asks, at the end of his patience.

Lan Zhan looks a little guilty as he looks at Wei Wuxian, “Sorry, just a lot of work to deal with.”

Lie.

If there is one thing Lan Zhan can’t do, it’s lying. Especially to Wei Wuxian. But he doesn’t question Lan Zhan. He just accepts the reply, too scared to know that he is right. Too scared to know the truth.

// or where Lan Zhan is too hung up in planning the perfect proposal and ends up accidently ignoring Wei Wuxian making the other think that he wants to break up //

want you closer by xiaobucephalus ((3K, HORSES, only in the background tho, but wwx is an equestrian vet, which is so fucking valid bro, the lans own horses, a sick bunny, lwj the bunny parent!, super cute, dark bay throughoutbred chenqing is honestly so valid)

“Thank you,” Lan Zhan said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Don’t thank me, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying laughed again, his voice warming the chill of fear that had settled in his chest. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to get into your hutch for a while anyway.”

safe in your thoughts by anonymous (20K, it's a cherry magic au???? (i haven't watched it, but you have i think?), horny lwj but only for wwx (always for wwx))

Wei Wuxian learns three very important things on the night of his twenty-seventh birthday.

One, that Lan Wangji is ridiculously funny, which Wei Wuxian had known before but what Wei Wuxain hadn’t expected was Lan Wangji to be funny at his brother’s expense.

Two, that Wei Wuxian had finally gone mad, absolutely mental at the ripe age of twenty seven because nothing else would explain the third thing he had learnt.

Third, and the most unbelievable of the lot, that Lan Wangji wants to fuck him.

iura by yoo_im_finally_writing (1K, only added bcs op is right and wwx would've the cutest german accent, it's more fun if you understand german so hit me up if you want translations for the german sentences)

Wei Ying calls in the middle of the night to talk about German law, and Lan Zhan tries very hard not to fall asleep. Or at least, not to let Wei Ying notice he's falling asleep. (As best friends do.)

breathe in the air, the last of its kind by wereworm / @neverdoingmuch (27K, getting together, jealous!lwj, but also kind of supportive, brief mention of cheating bcs of miscommunication, no actual cheating tho, college au, lwj pov)

Following Wei Ying’s line of sight, Lan Wangji can barely prevent a smile from crossing his lips when he sees the short row of rabbit statuettes placed at the front of the display. Silver, with bright gems for eyes, they look elegant yet lively and animated.

“A-Yuan would love one of those,” Wei Ying murmurs, almost as if to himself.

Lan Wangji frowns; the rabbits, while cute, don’t seem like a suitable gift for Wei Ying’s A-Yuan.

...

It’s only when he glances back at the rabbits and notices what has been placed on display behind them, that the pieces fall into place. They’re engagement rings, there’s no doubt about it. Lan Wangji feels his heart sink – Wei Ying isn’t just dating A-Yuan, he wants to propose to him.

Or: the five times Lan Wangji thinks that A-Yuan is Wei Ying’s boyfriend and the one time he learns the truth.

paint smears on sunny days by snowshadowao3 / @angstsexual (53K, getting together, art teacher!wwx, single parent!lwj, they're rich if i remember right, wwx & lwj are both good with kids!!!, this is so good actually, fluff)

To say that he runs to his car would be incorrect, as he is a Lan, and running is both undignified and unnecessary unless in immediate danger. Nor does he slam his key into the ignition, or aggressively swerve around the cars on the freeway, or have a mild panic attack at the fact he is picking A-Yuan up late from school for the first time ever.

He comes close, though.

By the time he arrives, it’s 4:35PM, and he has imagined about fifty different worse-case scenarios. The door is partly open when he gets to it, a messy label of 104B—Art Room scrawled with chalk on a placard next to the faded wood. As he opens it fully, he expects to see a wailing, terrified child, or perhaps a scene of utter misery and betrayal.

What he finds is his son, hands covered in paint, being sung to by a beautiful, dark-haired stranger.

“Ducks live in the pond, yellow ducks, happy ducks!”

Lan Wangji stops in his tracks.

(Or: Falling in love with your son’s art teacher, in five parts)

no bunny compares by gusucloudbunny (4K, god this is cute, fluff)

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian cornered his friend one week before his birthday. “If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”

Lan Wangji furrowed his brow at Wei Wuxian, not exactly sure how to answer that question in a truthful manner that didn’t involve confessing his undying love for his best friend.

Wei Wuxian is on a mission to get Lan Wangji the perfect gift for his birthday. What Wei Wuxian doesn't know is that the only thing Lan Wangji truly wants is him.

wei wuxian's week of realizing things by photojenny (12K, i have read this multiple times, i always forget what happens, idk why but my notes say it's good, the tags say drunkji makes an appearance and i'm always up for that)

"Lan Zhan, do you like Mianmian?" asked Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji blinked, and stared. It was not the first time Lan Wangji had questioned the perceptiveness of the boy he had a crush on. Wei Wuxian had been smart in the class they had taken together. Yet time and time again, Wei Wuxian had tested the old wisdom that there are no stupid questions.

---

Lan Wangji must figure out how to confess when Wei Wuxian is the most oblivious person he's ever met.

are you my wisdom tooth? because i'd like to take you out by yellowcarnations (1K, crack, fluff, lwj stop flirting with a stranger, even if he is your husband, drunkji but make it to max level)

Lan Zhan wakes up and he has no idea where he is.

There are bright lights and his jaw hurts, he doesn't who this man next to his bed is but oh he might be in love, maybe, probably, definitely.

–

based off that guy-forgets-who-his-wife-is-and-hits-on-her vid but its wangxian.

beep! goes his heart by wearing_tearing (3K, fluff, lwj is like "he, he likes me right? he likes me" and everyone is like "yes, yes he does")

“Wei Ying’s heart monitor,” Lan Wangji starts.

Wen Qing blinks at him. “Yes?”

“It beeps.”

“That’s… what they generally do, yes.”

“The beeps change,” Lan Wangji continues, “when others are around.”

*

Wei Ying’s heart only sings for Lan Wangji.

canon

obedient and bellicose by thunderwear (19K, lwj is cursed by the lan elders, they notice too late, fix-it fic kind of?, lqr being a good uncle and lxc is a good brother, wwx accidentally uses the curse but he doesn't know about it)

It took Lan Wangji a long time to realize he was cursed. Too long really, anyone else would have noticed so much sooner. The problem was, he liked following the rules.

Ella Enchanted AU that no one needed but I wanted.

hello my old heart, how have you been? by ravenditefairylights (10K, amnesia, fluff, wwx taking care of lwj, so much fluff and softness, angst too but not that much)

The issue is, Lan Wangji brings his thoughts back before they stray too far, that it is impossible for someone to be in his bed, unless Lan Wangji himself invited them. He has not. He would remember doing so, and besides, all his night clothes are still on and there is no headache to imply that he was inebriated last night. No, the situation is simple.

There is someone in Lan Wangji’s bed. It is impossible for anyone to be in Lan Wangji’s bed, and yet that doesn’t seem to have stopped the stranger.

or lan wangji wakes up, and wei ying is there. he doesn't understand how or why, and he can understand even less why his hallucination of wei ying is so insistent on bathing him, and braiding his hair, on holding him and fixing his clothes. why the hallucination of wei ying seems so happy to see him.

teach me the way by likeafox (58K, rogue cultivator!wwx, horny wangxian, lwj wants wwx to teach him how to be a good lover, ....wwx is a virgin, the porn is the plot, but there's less of it than i thought)

"I do not wish to leave my future spouse… dissatisfied with my intimate knowledge,” Lan Zhan says, very seriously. “I am hoping to find an instructor, to better prepare myself for such matters."

Wei Ying feels his mouth drop open. He's pretty sure the Second Jade of Lan just told him he's a virgin who wants to learn how to do sex good.

Rogue Cultivator Wei Wuxian is the stuff of local legends. Some of those legends are even true! The ones about his tremendous experience in bed, on the other hand, are not so true. Which becomes a problem when Lan Wangji, on the verge of an arranged marriage and worried he won’t know how to please his future spouse, enlists Wei Ying's help to teach him the art of love-making. Wei Ying's great at improvisation, though, and is pretty sure he's got this sex mentor thing under control. What could possibly go wrong

other aus

of god: my love unholy by tunnelodfawn (3K, tw blood / war, dark!lwj, god!wwx, kind of poetry)

Lan Zhan takes everything as a sign from his god. The blood staining his fingertips—a holy anointment. He sanctifies himself through blood. The strings of his guqin gleam red in the sun—a divine blessing. This is an instrument of destruction. A single note—a cry of power—and in this note the voice of his god unravels the earthly threads tethering man to earth.

The Yiling Patriarch blesses Lan Zhan with war. Wei Wuxian blesses Lan Zhan with agility. Wei Ying blesses Lan Zhan with love.

The base of the Yiling Patriarch’s shrine is the home of Lan Zhan’s knees. He worships. There is something of the blasphemous and the unholy in his prayers. He prays not for victory but for the sight of Wei Ying. Bless me with your presence, he begs.

Or, wherein, Lan Zhan bridges the gap between the mortal and the divine—the worshipper and the god—with blood.

the river and the sea by sasamelons / @sasamelons (7K, soulmate au, arranged marriage (wangxian with each other), they're both kind of dumb but i love it)

Lan Wangji gritted his teeth, wishing to just be left alone. "I am looking for my soulmate," he ground out.

"Oh."

It took Lan Wangji a few moments to realize that Wei Wuxian had stopped following him. When he looked back, the other boy seemed to be frozen to the spot, eyes wide and lips still parted. He quickly looked away when he saw Lan Wangji looking back. "I see. Well, have a good trip!"

--

At six years old, Lan Zhan met his soulmate on the streets of Yiling and promptly lost him again.

At sixteen years old, Lan Wangji met his betrothed and was determined not to like him.

[neverdoingmuch]

now hear me out,,, an au where lan wangji is an editor who works for an erotica publisher and wei wuxian is essentially chuck tingle. (also lwj writes romance novels on the side)

wei wuxian didn’t plan to write erotica he wants to make that really clear, he was actually studying like biomed or something equally “oh wow my parents can brag to the other parents about this”

but, as frequently happens in wwx’s life, he got drunk with nhs, like really drunk and they woke up the next morning with a laptop on the floor beside them and loose paper strewn everywhere

they don’t really remember what they were doing or thinking last night but they’ve both drawn a bunch of really shitty and weird porn (the less said about the anthropomorphic version of wen chao’s pet turtle the better) and wei wuxian has like 20,000 words of an erotica story on his laptop

when he starts reading it, at first he’s like haha what the fuck this is so weird but then it turned out to be really good??? and nhs blushed at some of the ~sexy~ scenes so that’s how wwx knew he was writing the good stuff

anyway they’re sitting there, eating their hangover food and wei wuxian goes so uh my story was good right? and nhs is like yeah it was, top stuff i would buy it and wei wuxian goes what if i actually wrote it,,, haha just kidding,,,,, unless?

and in his defence he doesn’t actually write anything for the story for another like three months but then he finds himself in the middle of exam season and he’s like fuck it stress relief let’s write some erotica

he finishes the book and his exams (which he does well in but whatever) and then spends his summer holidays editing the book

when he comes back, he slaps down a paper copy on nhs’ desk and is like i finished it. nhs, thinking he meant his latest lab write up, opens it up to a random page and starts reading it out loud which was a Mistake

he trails off mid-sentence, and whips around to glare at wwx with all the wrath he can muster. it’s raunchy nhs says and just read it wwx tells him so nhs does

like 2 hours later nhs turns to him and says if it wasnt for you and the librarian staring at me the whole time i definitely would’ve felt something and wwx is like so it’s good? and nhs is like fuck yeah it is but i dont get what you want from me?

pretty much wwx passed out after exams, slept for like 20 hours and then woke up and went i should publish this and decided that nhs should draw the cover art.

nhs agrees of course and a month later wwx self-publishes bc there’s no way he can walk into a publishing house with his porn and not just combust on the spot and he decides to go by the name yiling patriarch

wwx clicks the final button to upload the fic and nhs just toasts him and goes yknow what,, this is the closest you’ve ever gotten to having sex and i’m proud of you

wei wuxian is the man who guarded his first kiss for the first twenty years of his life for someone special,,,, wwx definitely wants his first time to be special and there’s no way he’s putting out for someone he doesn’t think is important & despite having dated before, he’s never gotten close enough to someone to go yeah let’s do it so our boy is still a virgin

so wwx’s entire erotica writing inspiration comes from porn, nhs’ way too in-depth answers as to how his latest date went and uh more porn

wwx blusters about a bit bc how is he meant to respond to that and nhs is like maybe you’ll finally move on from reading those trashy romance novels and read something more exciting and wwx is like how dare you call them trashy!! hanguang-jun is a master of the romance novels!! he understands the heart in a way that no other person has ever!! 

and nhs just chugs a bunch of wine and is like yeah hon okay, do you still blush when the main characters hold hands? and wwx is like no! of course not! (it’s a lie, he blushes a lot)

so nothing really happens with the book at first and wwx forgets about it for the most part but then he wakes up one morning and he’s got an extra like RMB 1000 (i dont actually know much about currency so it’s roughly $200 if my quick interneting is legit)

wwx is like wtf? and once he finds out it’s from his novel he’s doubly like wtf? but then he finds out that someone had purchased his book and did a dramatic reading on youtube bc wwx decided that regular erotica was boring and decided to make it satirical or whatever and people loved it??

he’s got nothing better to do so he just goes hm yeah remember that Author i dated who had an “incredible idea that would absolutely amaze The Critics and helped explore his own convoluted mind” let’s make something of that and he writes another book kinda mocking that idea in a very horny way.

he publishes it and someone writes a review of his two books on their blog and now he’s actually starting to get popular - he’s got more money from those two books than he did by working at the local cafe for the whole week

wwx is poor and broke and semi-disowned anyway by this point so he goes fuck it and spends every moment he’s not studying writing erotica. 

he publishes another like five books by the time the year is out (i know the maths isnt working here but this is a book world where wwx can just do that via the power of loneliness and friends who egg you on)

also?? he varies his books. some of them are porn parody things a la chuck tingle and some of them are genuine porn and one book was just him writing a recipe book but making it sound as horny as possible

by the time he’s published his like 8th book or so he starts getting reviews that are critiquing his book and most of them boil down to the fact that he needs an editor or something 

he ends up asking nhs for help and he’s like oh sweet my brother’s boyfriend works for a publisher who does that sort of thing

cloud recesses actually specialises in erotica and i hate the idea that lqr has spent years reading and editing erotica but sacrifices must be made

(side note that i know nothing about the writing or publishing process so pls don’t judge me too harshly)

wwx goes in with his latest manuscript and ends up arriving like ten minutes late, he rushes into the room sweaty and hot, takes one look at the guy sitting on the other side of the desk, flushes an even brighter red and runs back out of the room. he checks the plaque on the door and walks back in slowly and goes hm i didnt expect you to be so hot

cue lan wangji

lwj has always enjoyed being an editor. what do editor do specifically? idk? edit? regardless, he enjoys it. 

while most of the time he’s happy working from this side of things he also likes writing

lwj fucks. he deserves it tbh. but, while he’s had a tonne of one night stands and fuckbuddies, he’s never actually dated someone. so the fact that he’s writing romance novels under the pseudonym hanguang-jun makes his friend jzx laugh a lot

he tried writing porn once and he just couldn’t do it. it was always too clinical or vague and lacked any actual passion bc he was always going oh okay mc sucks a dick but the guy i slept with last week was like a 6.4/10 when it came to sucking dick so maybe mc should also be bad at it or whatever and it just ends up falling apart,,,, but romance he can do

as an editor lwj has pretty high standards for good erotica but he’s really found himself enjoying yiling patriarch’s work even though he’s clearly just been editing himself so when the guy sent cloud recesses an email asking whether they’d be interested in his latest book lwj was ecstatic. 

he also didnt expect wwx to be so hot

anyway,,, we now get to enjoy a week of lwj thinking that wwx is super hot but even more annoying and then him deciding that annoying is hot and now wwx is just absolutely amazing and wwx is just panicking the entire time 

i want my publisher to rail me so hard wwx texts nhs and nhs just responds has he read the bdsm scene with the alien who has a tentacle dick and a knot yet? and wwx is like no??? nhs just goes shame, it will give him so ideas for if you ever grow a backbone and just ask him out

they publish one book together and nothing happened between them the entire time other than yearning and horniness,, of the heart and body. 

when wwx realises this means that he won’t get to see lwj again he immediately writes a new book and like a month later he’s back in lwj’s office, lying on his couch while whining about the cafeteria prices at university

lwj is very enamoured by the fact that wwx is writing erotica and studying biomed bc wow

they do this for like another three books and wwx’s eroticas evolve from here’s a dinosaur man fucking a politician while a mary sue watches on to be like here’s a dinosaur man with black hair and golden eyes and a stern look to his face fucking a politician while a mary sue watches on

and hanguang-jun’s latest book?? i dont want to say that this au’s version of wangxian is hanguang-jun finally finding inspiration to write porn (his muse is wwx of course) and writing the most amazing porn with feelings and plot novel ever,, but it is. 

wwx read it five times in the first week and when nhs finally tried to read it he was like uhhh wwx are you a narcissist, the love interest is exactly like you? and wwx is like ??? no???? he’s nothing like me??

anyway one day wwx gets called into lxc’s office and lxc is like so i’ve read your latest book (not the dinosaur man, a serious one with like normal people and not overly humorous thank fuck but still full of lwj yearning) and wwx is like okay? and lxc goes yes, see i was worried that you didn’t care very much for my brother but after reading your book i’m not so sure and wwx gets the weirdest shovel talk ever which is interspersed with like compliments for his porn writing skills

anyway lxc accidentally mentions that lwj writes books too and before he can take it back wwx is like who??? and lxc is like are you fucking stupid?? you told lwj to his face that you loved his books,,, he broke his theme of tender romance to write kinky sex with a character that’s a lot like you and wwx is like .,,,,,,,,, hanguang-jun??? HANGUANG-JUN???!!

lxc barely manages to confirm it before wwx is sprinting out of his office and across to find lwj.

regretfully for everyone else, lwj is in the lobby so thirty people get to hear it when wwx comes in and shouts LAN ZHAN!! back then, i really wanted write porn about you! ... i think i have actually? but i want to write porn about you and i want to be able to do the research to make it accurate! and i also want to go on dates and hold hands and feed each other food! and i love you a lot! 

lwj is dying inside bc his brother’s bf is there, his uncle is currently waiting for the elevators and a whole bunch of staff are also there but also wwx likes him??? dinosaur man was lwj??

he goes over and they make out for a really long time right there in the middle of the lobby but no one wants to get between them when they’ve been pining for so long

after that they start dating and they do all the romantic stuff but also,, let’s just say that the next book wwx publishes is a lot more creative than all of his previous books

and they become some writing power couple with horniness of the heart and body and sometimes wwx will be like hey lwj i don’t really know how the logistics of this sex scene will work and lwj will be like we could try it out ourselves? and wwx just pats him on the head and is like im sorry but you dont have enough dicks for it to work ),: better luck next time

[restingdomface]

Lan Wangji makes extremely deadpan videos of his daily life with Wei Wuxian and their kids and nephews (and nieces if JC and JYL had more). This would include:

*shows a video of LWJ staring out the window for a solid thirty seconds, face entirely unchanged and somewhat disappointed, turns camera around to show Wei Wuxian and the kiddos putting mentos in soda bottles and trying to chuck them at each other, camera pans back to his face, still entirely devoid of emotion*

That one time Jin Ling got stuck up a tree and Wei Wuxian tried to get him down and also got stuck up there and now the other kids are looking for a ladder while LWJ just watches them from the patio, drinking tea. The kids finally give up and shamefully come to LWJ and ask him for help, he gets his husband and nephew down without a word.

The one where he buried 5yo A-Yuan in a pile of bunnies and got scolded by Lan Xichen for it because they might bite him if they get annoyed with him.

There is an entire compilation of rabbits that won’t leave him alone. Climb into his lap. Follow him with every step. Get excited when he comes outside. Hear a guqin and start looking for him. Just. He’s the rabbit whisperer. One of the black ones is just about always with him.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian interacting in any capacity is going to involve a lot of hitting each other and pushing each other over. Only-child kids think they hate each other, but people with siblings are all ‘no no, siblings are just Like That’. People think Yanli is all innocent till they realize she def only tells them to stop when she thinks they might actually get on each other’s nerves. She’s in the ‘boys will rough house and probably only have one collective braincell’ category.

People won’t stop asking him if he speaks so he vaguely makes mentions of having extremely low verbility. They ask if he does sign and he’s not really sure how (lol cause words hard) to explain to them that sign doesn’t really help when the issue is more of him not having much to say tbh. This is apparently the wrong thing to say because then people start being all ‘yeah I get you, I’m pretty dumb too, at least you’re pretty’ and he’s just sorta sitting there with this smacked fish look on his face while WWX can’t stop laughing next to him at the very idea of someone calling his husband slow. Wow. LWJ just sorta finally gets out that he has like two degrees and teaches giqun lessons and it’s amazing. The kids find out about it and can’t stop laughing for hours.

“Hey, why did you name your son ‘sorrow and longing’?” *commense 10 minute video of that time Wei Wuxian got arrested for something to do with a satanic ritual and that’s when LWJ ended up with custody of his adopted son for the next three years and he was in a really angsty mood tbh so it just kinda happened* not a single commenter expected that, even less so when he mentions that they weren’t even together at that point

Films what the viewers think is a prank at first, where he pours a dangerous amount of chili powder into a mug of hot chocolate (with a completely straight face) and then brings it to WWX who takes a drink and makes a dreamy little sigh and goes ‘you always know how to make it just like I want it’ and no one is sure how to react to this video. It’s like watching someone peel and eat a lemon.

You know that video of the girl with the deadpan voice saying she went downstairs to take a shower and there was something brown in the bottom of the tub but it turned out to be potatoes and she’s all ‘not a problem I was expecting, but a problem I can handle’? Okay so that’s how he talks in every video. WWX hands him a baby and he talks to them exactly like that. People ask if he’s good with kids and WWX is all ‘yeah, he’s not just a rabbit whisperer, he’s a baby whisperer too, he’s super great with kids’ *shows LWJ talking to a baby in That Voice while the baby looks at him in utter adoration*

“What’s it like growing up gay? Do you ever get shit for it?” LWJ.exe has stopped working, he has only met one straight couple the same age as him and they’re his sister in law. His brother has three boyfriends, one of which is his brother-in-law. He doesn’t know what a het-er-o-sexual is and he doesn’t want to. Pretty sure his uncle is acearo and hasn’t seen his parents in like 20 years.

LWJ: ‘I apologize for being so emotional in my last video.’ *viewers scrambled to find what video he meant because they ain’t ever seen that man emotional before but end up finding a video where Sizhui told him he loved him and called him papa and gave him a hug while WWX filmed, you can barely see LWJ’s left eye twitching and he pets Sizhui’s head for a moment* viewers are very confused on how this constitutes emotionalism.

Viewers ask to see his brother ‘you know, the one who apparently has three boyfriends’ and LWJ posts a video of LXC passed out on a couch with like three fully grown men all in various states of sliding off onto the floor while the teens play a game of ‘who can stack the most random objects on uncle’s bodies without them waking’ because apparently LWJ and WWX were gone for a weekend and the uncles were supposed to watch the kids (like, all ten of them probably, there’s probably a lot of kids) and it’s Sizhui filming the whole thing cause he’s the ‘good one’ and never does bad things. But he’s also like Auntie Yanli and is totally gonna egg them on from the sidelines.

WWX hands LWJ literally any food and LWJ will eat it all with a completely straight face but as soon as WWX is turned around LWJ is chugging a glass of milk with a look of death on his face. The kiddos straight up can’t stomach his cooking.

😭 someone asks why their hair is all so long and LWJ puts up a video of chatty adorable Sizhui braiding WWX’s hair while he tells him about his day at school. It’s. Too. Cute.

The never ending debate on if LWJ’s deadpan personality/speech is acting or not. No matter how much everyone assures them he’s really just Like That people just aren’t convinced.

Someone points out several times that in their house they have a room with a satanic symbol on the door. That’s just WWX’s home office it’s all good. This is treated as ‘lol WWX is so dramatic’ for like four whole weeks before LWJ posts a video of Sizhui standing outside the office looking nervous. ‘What’s wrong?’ He says. ‘Dad called me into his office.’ Sizhui replies. ‘WWX must be a very strict father,’ the viewers think. That’s not it. That’s not it at all tbh. That video got flagged on like four different platforms and kept getting removed for graphic images and half their viewers don’t. Want. To know. What happened. In that office. (WWX doesn’t even see what the big deal was, that goat was dead when he bought it shut up.)

The others do videos sometimes too lol. Videos include

Jin Ling’s compilation of ‘Mom, what’s for dinner’ and the answer is Always Lotus root and pork rib soup. Someone asks ‘lol she must make that often’ and JL is all ‘lol often, fairly sure she got same-food syndrome, it’s always soup’.

Lan Sizhui at like 17 years old: The one true secret I’ve never told my dads? My most shameful lie? Rabbits aren’t my favorite. My favorite is butterflies. *proceeds to cuddle a bun* I’m sorry Mister Bun, but you just aren’t nearly as pretty as butterflies.

Shaky video of someone sitting on the couch, pointed at NMJ: Brother, while you’re away on vacation with your boyfriends, I don’t plan on leaving this spot for even a minute. NMJ: Oh yeah? What’ll you do when you have to use the bathroom? NHS: Listen, I found a guy on Craig’s List who’s exact fetish is lazy young men who refuse to move and also diapers exist and he’ll be my slave for the week if I let him change me. NMJ: ...I’m taking you with me on vacation. NHS: Yay! NMJ: I’m also taking your phone away. NHS: -wait, no- NMJ: Too late.

Jin Ling: JiuJiu, I spilt soda on your Valentino white belt. Jiang Cheng: *incomprehensible sputtering* -soda on my Valentino white belt-!

Sizhui: *brings Jingyi a bowl of food* Here. Jingyi: Thank you! *takes a bite, face falls in terror, gives Sizhui a betrayed look* Sizhui: Dad’s worried I’m getting sick, he said this would clear my chest cold up. He didn’t consider what horrible things it would do to my bowels instead. Please eat it, he gets sad when I don’t finish what he makes. Jingyi: *glaring* Just dump it down the garbage disposal! Sizhui: *def has a fever if he didn’t think of that* Oh. Good idea.

LWJ: *swaying in place* WWX: This bitch drunk as hell. LWJ: I’m. Gonna comit. A crime. WWX: *crying a little* I love drunk hubby times. A full shot of vodka and he’s not gonna remember any of this. Hey kids, I’m taking Papa on a walk! Sizhui’s in charge!

Zizhen: *sitting quietly on the couch while LSZ, LJY and JL all argue behind him somewhere, covering his mouth with a slightly horrified look* Jingyi: I mean, that’s not fair at all! Who HASNT made out with their cousin at one point or another? Ling: ... Sizhui: You said you’d never bring that up again please shut up. Ling: ...!!!!!! Zizhen: Amazing.

That one time the kiddos hypnotized Jin Ling into thinking he was a kitten. The adults all thought it was really weird that he was finally going through the whole ‘pretending to be an animal’ phase at like ten, but then the kiddos fessed up to learning how to hypnotize and they aren’t sure how to fix it. WWX instigated a rule that no brainwashing is allowed outside his office from now on.

People ask how WWX and LWJ met and it’s told from the POV of Lan Qiren who progressively getting drunker as he tells the story of the terrible high school romance that he had to watch between bad boy WWX and his precious baby angel nephew that made him consider quitting and how no one believed them when they insisted they didn’t get together till after WWX got out of jail for the cow incident.

[i-like-plan-m]

Lán Zhan has a fatal case of Hanahaki desease. He hides it from everyone while resigning himself to dying, and tries to get his affairs in order by the time he dies. Plot twist: Lwj’s father died by that same illness and Lan Qiren immediately recognizes the symptoms. He tries to do his best to help his nephew by matchmaking lwj and wwx together into confessing their love for each other.

this prompt made me laugh, thank you anon

Ao3: break the silence with these beating hearts

His brother had been a man of many virtues. The problem was that he had just as many faults, and improving most of them went ignored in favor of attending to those virtues. 

Which left Lan Qiren to watch his brother destroy himself, and then to deal with the consequences of his actions. Alone. He took on Qingheng-Jun’s responsibilities. His duties. Even his sons.

Resentment would have been an easy path to take. He might have even learned to hate his brother, had it not been for his nephews. They were a joy he had never expected, one he hadn’t earned, and yet his all the same. 

He raised them. Taught many of their lessons himself, occasionally even shirking his own duties when they were younger just to spend more time watching their little faces light up every time they accomplished something, every time they received a word of praise. 

The point was, Lan Qiren knew his nephews better than anyone else in the universe. 

So he took one look at A-Zhan and knew something was wrong. His nephew was utterly unreadable to the rest of the world, expressionless and emotionless to anyone who didn’t know better. Who didn’t know what to look for. 

Lan Qiren did. He paused in the doorway of the library, frozen in place as he took in his nephew’s unsteady hand, the tight lines around his eyes. The way he held himself like one wrong move would shatter him apart.

He watched in silent horror as a cough wracked Lan Zhan’s body. As his nephew coughed something up into his hand, closing it too fast for Lan Qiren to see what it was, and then carefully dab any drops of blood with a red-stained handkerchief. 

Lan Qiren didn’t need to see any more to know this curse— the Hanahaki Disease was a vicious, low-minded curse that killed with horrific slowness, drawing out the person’s pain and anguish. His own brother had died from it; there was no one more capable of recognizing the signs than Lan Qiren.

He backed away, heart pounding, throat tight, and went to find A-Huan. 

Lan Huan took the news as expected; an ink pot splashed over when he shot to his feet, spilling a pool of darkness over the scattered white papers on his desk. His face was pale, mouth drawn tight, and he looked at Lan Qiren with eyes that begged for answers. 

He had none to give. But he would not let his nephew succumb to such a fate, so he gestured for Lan Huan to follow him and returned to the library. 

Lan Zhan had not moved. He looked up when they entered and greeted them appropriately, setting aside this brush to blink at them both expectantly. 

“A-Zhan,” Lan Huan said, dismayed. He knelt beside his brother with tears in his eyes. Lan Qiren watched Lan Zhan stiffen in realization. “Why didn’t you say something?” 

“I am fine.” Lan Zhan would not meet either of their eyes. His breathing was shallow, his mouth stained red. 

“You are not,” Lan Qiren said harshly. Lan Zhan stared intently at the desk and did not respond. “You are dying, and I will not allow it.” As though he had any say in it.

One should not speak with arrogance. One should not speak harshly to others. Lan Qiren cared little for the rules he was breaking-- and those he was sure to break in the future, it it meant saving his nephew. 

“Who is it, Lan Zhan?” Lan Huan asked, carefully holding one of Lan Zhan’s hands between his own. 

“Irrelevant,” Lan Zhan bit out. “He does not feel the same.” 

He would damn well change his mind, or he’d find himself at the business end of Lan Qiren’s sword, he thought furiously. 

“Have you asked him?” Lan Huan asked gently. “How do you know for sure?” 

Lan Zhan was silent. It gave Lan Qiren an ember of hope, that his nephew hadn’t received any confirmation that he would die painfully from the curse of unrequited love. 

“Who is it?” Lan Qiren asked. 

Lan Zhan refused to answer, but Lan Huan gave his brother a knowing look. 

“Lan Huan? Do you know who it is?” Lan Qiren stared intently at his nephews.

“Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan said softly. Prompting. 

Lan Zhan did not answer… but his eyes flicked to the open window when raucous laughter burst through it as Lan Qiren’s resident headache sprinted past with the furious Jiang boy hot on his heels. Lan Zhan lowered his eyes quickly, but they’d both noticed his diverted attention. 

Oh no. Oh no. 

Lan Qiren sat down before he fell over from sheer horrified despair. Lan Huan bit the inside of his cheeks in a clear attempt to stave off a laugh; Lan Qiren was so thoroughly gripped by dread he didn’t even bother scolding him. 

Lan Qiren dropped his head into his hands. “It’s Wei Wuxian, isn’t it?” He asked in a defeated tone. Lan Zhan set his jaw, looking especially mulish, but his silence was answer enough. 

“I believe you are correct, Uncle,” Lan Huan said. He patted his brother’s hand, cheerfully unbothered when Lan Zhan snatched his hand back and ducked his head to hide his cherry-red ears. 

“Lan Zhan, I raised you better than this,” Lan Qiren said, dismayed. “How did this happen? How could you have fallen in love with that utterly untamed boy?” 

Lan Zhan frowned. “Wei Ying is an honorable, smart, and strong cultivator. He would be a worthy match for anyone.” 

There was an ominous crash somewhere outside, followed by a loud whoop and more running feet. Lan Qiren stared at Lan Zhan incredulously. Lan Zhan stared unblinking back at him like he hadn’t heard a thing. 

“Don’t forget lively,” Lan Huan added helpfully after a long moment of silence inside the library. Outside the library there were more sounds of imminent chaos, undoubtedly caused by the reprobate his nephew was apparently in love with. 

Well. He was already having a bad day. 

“Fine. If accepting Wei Wuxian into our sect means saving your life, I will… welcome him as family,” he choked out. Lan Huan looked between them with a wide smile like he was proud of them. Lan Qiren didn’t even have the energy to frown disapprovingly at him. 

“Wei Ying does not feel the same,” Lan Zhan insisted. “I will go into seclusion—“ 

Lan Qiren slammed a hand on the table, cutting him short. “Absolutely not.” This argument he would not lose; his nephew would not walk the same dark path as his father. 

“Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan said. “Why don’t you try talking to him?” 

Lan Zhan looked mortified at the very thought. Heavens above, it was looking more and more as though Lan Qiren would have to do all the work here. What heinous act had he committed in a past life to deserve this? 

Any doubts or misgivings he had evaporated the moment Lan Zhan began coughing again, struggling to breathe past the petals forcing their way out of his lungs. Lan Huan rested a hand on his back and fed him spiritual energy, visibly concerned as blood splattered over the desk with a few shredded flower petals. 

His nephew only looked frustrated at the ruined papers now decorated with splashes of red. He crumpled the petals in his hand and shoved them out of sight before turning his focus back to his work, ignoring them both when they stood and moved to the door to discuss the situation. 

“How should we proceed?” Lan Huan asked, casting a worried glance back at Lan Zhan. “We can’t force anyone to love against their will.” 

“He is already infatuated with Lan Zhan,” Lan Qiren griped. “Hardly a giant step to love, though we might have to shove the realization down his throat before he gets a clue.” 

“What do you suggest? Finding a way for them to spend time together?” 

“That should be easy enough,” Lan Qiren said dryly, reaching abruptly out the door and snatching Wei Wuxian by the collar as he dashed by, yanking him to a stop. Wei Wuxian looked between them with wide, guilty eyes. 

“Ah ha,” he laughed nervously. “Hi, Master Lan, Zewu-Jun. I didn’t realize you were…” 

“Close enough to hear you crashing through Cloud Recesses like a herd of elephants?” Lan Qiren scowled at him. “Go sit with Wangji. You can copy the rules on decorum and respect ten times over.” 

Lan Zhan looked up sharply and stared at him, looking deeply betrayed. 

“Ten times?!” Wei Wuxian squawked. “But that will take me weeks!” 

Exactly, Lan Qiren thought with reluctant satisfaction. “You should have thought about that before being such a nuisance. Now go.” 

He and Lan Huan watched as Wei Wuxian stumbled across the room, throwing himself down across from Lan Zhan to complain about unfair punishments. 

“There. That should do it..” Lan Qiren watched Lan Zhan bat Wei Ying’s hands away from his meticulous work and hiss, “Behave.” 

“I will start investigating who might have cursed Lan Zhan in the first place,” Lan Huan suggested, smiling indulgently as a playful Wei Ying and incensed Lan Zhan had a brief tug-of-war over Lan Zhan’s papers. 

Lan Qiren pressed two fingers to his forehead in a vain attempt to stave off a migraine. “And I will find more reasons for those two to spend time together,” he said, resigned. “Heavens help us both.” 

“Heavens help the person who cursed Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan corrected, a hard light in his eyes as he left the library. Lan Qiren watched him go, proud of the man he’d become. 

He was proud of the other one, too, just appalled at his taste in significant others. 

There was nothing he could do now but accept it, he thought grimly, and set off to plan a matchmaking scheme to save his nephew. 

[baoshan-sanren]

Chapter 41

of the wwx emperor au that’s back to being called Emperor Wei WuXian And His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Birthday

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 Part 1 | Chapter 8 Part 2 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 Part 1 | Chapter 15 Part 2 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 Part 1 | Chapter 22 Part 2 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 | Chapter 39 | Chapter 40

The South Lakes courtyard is wrapped in gloom.

Wei Ying feels guilty for his late arrival. For the second day in the row he had promised A-Yuan that he would visit, and had failed to show before the boy had been put to bed.

The lingering feeling of regret over placing Jin ZiXuan in the dungeons disappears completely. Had the ridiculous peacock not made a scene outside the council hall, Wei Ying would have gotten at least fifteen minutes with A-Yuan, even if those fifteen minutes only allowed him to put the kid to sleep with an obnoxious fairytale or two.

He comforts himself with the knowledge that tomorrow is the Gifting Ceremony, which means that every clan and sect should be preparing to leave the Immortal Mountain. Of course, having placed Jin ZiXuan in the dungeon, Wei Ying must bear Jin GuangShan’s presence a little longer. He is sorely tempted to release the brat just so he can see Jin GuangShan’s backside pass through the Five Phoenix Gate with all the other sect leaders.

He will not do so. He cannot show lenience to someone who had so blatantly disrespected him in front of half the Council. 

It does not bother Wei Ying so much that Jin ZiXuan had drawn his sword; they had seen each other compete mere days ago, and Young Master Jin had to know that he had no chance of winning, even if Wei Ying had been alone and unprotected. It does bother him that Jin ZiXuan had acted in such an unreasonable and stupid manner. Perhaps the engagement had meant a great deal to him. Perhaps Jin ZiXuan does care for shijie more than he is capable of displaying thought that thick veneer of narcissism and arrogance.

But despite his earlier words to uncle Jiang, Wei Ying has never truly believed Jin ZiXuan to be stupid. Smug and self-important, yes. Vain and haughty, heavens yes. But stupid enough to attack the Emperor in front of dozens of guards and Sect Leaders? Sect Leaders who may fawn over his father on good days, but are perfectly capable of turning on him the moment the Jin Sect fortune begins to decline?

Wei Ying does not think Jin ZiXuan stupid, but he does think the boy’s pride and arrogance are likely to leave him vulnerable to the wrong type of influence. He would wager that the true instigator of today’s events was not Jin ZiXuan, but someone standing directly behind him. 

But to what purpose?

“Finally,” Wen Qing’s voice comes from the darkness, “I was about to send guards in the search of you.”

Wei Ying pauses, half-way across the courtyard, his stomach twisting in anticipation, “Wen Ning is back? We have a response?”

“We do,” she says, and he can read nothing from her voice, or her vague silhouette near the pavilion door, “come inside. It has taken me nearly an hour to decode it; I had to ask Granny to help. She is very upset with you, by the way.”

Wei Ying grimaces. It is not that he does not trust her, or Granny Wen, or Wen Ning and Uncle Four, but the more there are of those who know a secret, the less likely it is to remain a secret. He supposes that all the years of Nie HuaiSang’s influence could be blamed for his overabundance of caution. A-Sang is a firm believer in telling people only those things that they absolutely needed to know.

“Jiang Cheng knew,” she says, her tone now accusing.

“I was not the one to tell him,” Wei Ying says.

He leaves out the part where he would have told him, regardless. He would have felt guilty about keeping anything of such magnitude from Jiang Cheng, but it had been A-Sang who had decided that Jiang Cheng should be informed. Wei Ying had simply... not questioned the decision.

“Get inside,” she says “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Wei Ying expects to meet Granny Wen’s accusing glare the moment he steps into the pavilion, but the only people waiting for him are Wen Ning and Jiang Cheng. He heaves a sigh of relief, even as he habitually moves to prevent Wen Ning from bowing.

“Uncle Four?” he says.

“Stayed behind,” Wen Ning says, then rushes to explain, “we were not sure what the message said, and he would not try and decode it in YiLing. We thought-- if things turned out badly, it may help to have him outside the Immortal Mountain.”

“The message,” Wei Ying says, impatient, “Where is it?”

Jiang Cheng hands him a piece of paper. Wen Qing’s lovely lines are obvious in each character, the ink still slightly damp in places. He takes care not to smudge it; A-Sang will want to see it as soon as possible.

It is an agreement. Wen RuoHan has agreed to his proposal.

Wei Ying’s knees feel weak; he fights the urge to sit down on the floor.

“Where is the original?”

Wen Qing is the one to hand it over, Wen RuoHan’s signature large and stark, his personal seal nestled next to the red Sun Seal of the Wen Sect.

He grins at Jiang Cheng, and finds Jiang Cheng grinning back. The grin is wide, making him look young and careless, the way he had not been since all of them were children together, hunting imaginary demons through Iron Palm Palace halls.

“Uncle Four has gotten two more messages from his men in the Nightless City,” Wen Ning says, “The rumor is that the Second Young Master of the Wen Sect has gotten himself into some trouble with the YingChuan Wang Sect. The Sect Leader’s youngest daughter. Some rumors say that he has already been married, quickly and quietly, as the trouble is-- uh-- time sensitive. Other rumors state that the wedding will take place soon."

“Granny thinks that Wen RuoHan will send an official letter to the Immortal Mountain,” Wen Qing says, “as a means of informing the Emperor of his youngest son’s indiscretion, apologizing for the Wen Sect absence, and asking for forbearance in these trying times.”

“That old fucker,” Wei Ying says in delight, and does not even mind when Wen Qing slaps him on the shoulder.

Even a year ago, he would have thought it impossible to feel even a grudging sort of respect for Wen RuoHan, but the man has managed to throughly impress him.

“He should be in prison for treason,” Wen Qing says, “Instead, you have provided him with everything he has ever wanted.”

She sounds vaguely disapproving; it is impossible to tell if she objects to the plan, the methods used, or the fact that he had not consulted her ahead of time. Still, Wei Ying is far too happy with the outcome to feel guilty for keeping secrets.  

“Good,” he retorts, tucking the letter into his sleeve, “and may we never see another war or a rebellion as a result. Where is Granny? I am more than prepared to be scolded now.”

“She is with Song Lan,” Jiang Cheng answers in Wen Qing’s place, “he arrived not long before you did.”

“Song Lan? Why is he here?”

Before anyone has had a chance to answer the question, the man himself is already hovering at the entrance to the receiving hall. Elated by their success with Wen RuoHan, Wei Ying does not immediately notice the tightness of Song Lan’s features, or the wary set of his shoulders. The moment he does, however, his earlier euphoria vanishes in an instant.

Between Lan Zhan, the Council, and Jin ZiXuan’s stupidity, he had forgotten the initial reason behind Song Lan and uncle XingChen’s arrival. Now, seeing the troubled expression on Song Lan’s face, he feels a heavy sense of foreboding.

“He is here,” Wei Ying says, “the person you are hunting. He is in the Immortal Mountain.”

It is not a question, and Song Lan’s curt nod does not fill him with surprise. It seems expected somehow, that this news would come at the heels of the other, as if the string of events was somehow predestined.

He grins humorlessly, and rubs the side of his nose.

Destiny is not set in stone. Perhaps in the course and culmination of human life, there exists some objective certainty that is both transcendent and beyond human control, but his approach has always been a rational one, and now that same rationality offers a different answer.

This is no preordination. Wei Ying has simply come to anticipate that any success, any accomplishment, any occasion in which he may find joy and contentment, will come with a cost.

The realization is bitter and unhappy, and he pushes it away.

“Tell me what you have discovered.”

[besanii]

wwx + lwj being isolated together on their (largely empty) campus after being forced to return early from their study-abroad trips, living across the hall from each other, bored out of their skulls; lwj's set to pass the time reading his online textbooks, meditating, playing guqin; wwx's going out of his mind without proper access to his dorm room, studio space, and novel stimulation; eventually they open their doors, tape out the space of 6 feet, & sit in their doorways swapping songs + bonding

[Read on AO3]

Tap-tap-tap

Lan Wangji takes out one earbud and frowns in the direction of his closed door. There is a long pause during which no sound is heard and Lan Wangji is about to put his earbuds back in when it starts again.

Taptap-tap-tap

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap…

Irritated, he storms over and yanks the door open, ready to snap at the offender, only to come face-to-face with…nothing. He blinks, confused, and moves to close the door again when he hears giggling from somewhere near the ground. He frowns.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

Wei Wuxian grins up at him from where he is splayed out on his stomach in the doorway across the hall and waves. His other hand is holding onto a long contraption made of a jumble of stationery haphazardly taped together that spans the entire width of the corridor, the end of which stops just short of Lan Wangji’s leg.

“Hiya, Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian chirps. “I’d come closer but we’re not allowed.”

Lan Wangji feels a headache already starting to develop in between his eyes. He pinches the bridge of his nose to ward it off and sighs.

“What do you want, Wei Ying?” he asks. “I’m busy.”

Wei Wuxian sits up on his knees with a wide grin.

“Can I borrow a pen?” He shrugs. “I seem to have used up all my spares.”

Lan Wangji stares at him, and then down at the long pole of taped stationery still lying on the ground by their feet. The throbbing in his head grows louder, more insistent. He has lectures to listen to, notes to take, and he needs to practice. He doesn’t have time to entertain Wei Wuxian and his flights of fancy.

“Ridiculous,” he says, and slams the door shut.

–

The next day, the tapping starts again. This time, Lan Wangji is in the middle of practicing a new song on his guqin and only hears it when he stops to make a note on the score. He’s half tempted to ignore it and return to his practice, but he finds himself instead opening the door again to see Wei Wuxian sprawled on the floor, lounging back against the door frame.

He perks up when he sees Lan Wangji.

“Lan Zhan! Hi!” He scrambles to sit back on his heels when Lan Wangji moves to shut the door again. “No, wait, don’t go!”

Lan Wangji pauses, one hand on the door, and sighs.

“What do you want, Wei Ying? I’m—”

“—busy, I know,” Wei Wuxian finishes for him. He scratches the side of his nose with a sheepish expression. “Sorry, I promise I won’t bother you for very long. I just…I’ve been working on a new piece for class and I really need a second opinion on this one part and you’re the only one on this floor who’s also doing Composition 4505 so…”

Lan Wangji feels a twinge of guilt at the hopefulness in his tone. It’s been three days since the beginning of their confinement and while Lan Wangji is used to silence, he knows it must be difficult for someone as sociable and energetic as Wei Wuxian, who is used to hanging out with others and thrives on social interactions. He sighs again.

“Give me a moment,” he says, and drags his desk chair over to the door. He takes a seat facing Wei Wuxian and folds his arms over his chest. “Alright, whenever you’re ready.”

Wei Wuxian beams.

-

The next day, Lan Wangji opens his door before the tapping even begins. Wei Wuxian’s door is already open and he’s crouching, stationery pole in hand, ready to begin tapping. Instead, the tip of the pole (one of those jumbo-sized Sharpies Lan Wangji’s seen him use to make markings on posters and charts) taps Lan Wangji on the chest and he raises an eyebrow.

“Oops? Sorry,” Wei Wuxian says with a nervous chuckle. He starts pulling the pole back when Lan Wangji makes a grab for it. “Hey!”

“I’m confiscating this,” Lan Wangji tells him sternly. “So you can stop damaging school property.”

“But how am I supposed to get your attention?” Wei Wuxian complains.

Lan Wangji sets the pole just inside the door of his room.

“The door’s open,” he says. “Just call me.”

-

Wei Wuxian takes his now constantly open door as an invitation to call on Lan Wangji at all hours of the day. He insists that they eat together (it’s one of the stranger experiences of Lan Wangji’s life, sitting cross-legged in his open doorway facing Wei Wuxian doing the same across the hall), and asks Lan Wangji to listen to him practice the dizi and give him feedback. He surprises Lan Wangji one day by pulling out a stack of flashcards he’d made to help him study for one of the subjects they didn’t share.

“I had too much time and I couldn’t sleep,” he admits, “so I looked up your course notes. You have a quiz on Monday right? Maybe this will help?”

His cheeks are tinged pink and he twirls a lock of hair between his fingers as he makes himself comfortable on the floor, not quite meeting Lan Wangji’s eyes. Bashfulness is a rather…charming look on him, Lan Wangji’s heart decides, and skips a beat. He’s still staring at Wei Wuxian, trying to process this new bit of information, when Wei Wuxian cocks his head to one side and blinks up at him with confusion in those big, gray eyes.

Lan Wangji’s heart skips again.

Oh.

-

Two weeks pass by in a blur of shared meals, study and practice sessions across the hall, and those newly-awakened feelings only grow the more time he spends with Wei Wuxian. He’s also started paying more attention to his little habits and thinking them cute, although he’s no longer sure if it’s because of the feelings or if the feelings are because of those habits.

Wei Wuxian is fidgety and restless by nature and if he has to sit still for long periods of time, he’ll start twirling things in his fingers. Like a pen, or his dizi, or his hair. He also likes to chew on the ends of his hair when he’s deep in thought, which Lan Wangji finds really quite distracting; his fingers itch to brush away the lock of hair from his mouth, and then maybe replacing it with his own—

His ears burn and he has to turn back to his book to stop himself from staring at Wei Wuxian’s mouth. Luckily, Wei Wuxian is too busy humming to himself as he scribbles on a piece of paper to notice.

They’re eating dinner on their last night of enforced isolation when Lan Wangji finally admits to himself that he almost doesn’t want this to end. He likes spending time with Wei Wuxian, just the two of them; he likes seeing him in his pyjamas, buried in his notes, reading glasses (reading glasses!) slipping off the bridge of his nose as he twirls a pen in his hand. He likes listening to him talk while they’re eating, even though Lan Wangji himself doesn’t contribute much to the conversation. He likes the way Wei Wuxian smiles at him over the top of his laptop, eyes crinkling at the corners and nose scrunched up as he makes faces.

He just…really likes Wei Wuxian. 

He doesn’t know what to do with this information.

“Hey Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says, completely oblivious to Lan Wangji’s internal conflict. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do once we’re allowed outside?”

He’s chewing on the ends of his chopsticks, lips pursed in thought and Lan Wangji is transfixed. He barely even registers the question before his mind supplies the answer.

I’m going to kiss you. 

It is only when Wei Wuxian squeaks, his chopsticks clattering to the floor as he turns bright red, does Lan Wangji realise he hadn’t spoken those words in his mind.

“Sorry,” he says, clearing his throat. His ears burn. “I didn’t mean—”

Wei Wuxian claps his hands over his ears and shakes his head.

“Nope, nope, stop talking,” he says loudly, his eyes squeezed shut. “You can’t say things like that, Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji’s heart sinks. He opens his mouth to apologise again, but Wei Wuxian interrupts him to waggle a finger in his direction.

“You can’t just say things like that,” he whines again. “That’s not fair. It just makes me want to run over there and kiss you, but we can’t until tomorrow and maybe not even then because of this social distancing thing and that’s—not—fair!”

He scrunches up his face in a way that makes him look stupidly adorable and Lan Wangji really, really wants to jump him. But he doesn’t, because he still has some semblance of self-control.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he says instead, louder, firmer, and feels a surge of satisfaction when Wei Wuxian wails and covers his face. “First thing tomorrow.”

-

(He does. Multiple times. Caution be damned.)

Notes:

Okay, so this is just for fun and isn’t mean to be a reflection of what it’s actually like to be in quarantine/isolation. I also haven’t had much dorm experience besides 6 months in Japan about 9 years ago, so none of this is accurate. The 14 day period is based on what Australia’s recommended as a safe isolation period, so that’s what I’m going with.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

// buy me a ko-fi //

[Read on AO3]

[carolyncaves]

It’s been three days since I posted a ficlet, but that’s because my hand Really slipped this time and I wrote a canon divergence ‘post-Burial Mounds Wei Wuxian actually goes to Gusu’ fic. I’ll call this Day 19: Journey, but it also includes days 17 and 18 Rest and Breath for bonus points. 3680 words, WWX, LXC, LWJ, JC. Alcohol, vague mental illness (it’s post-burial-mounds wwx), strong undercurrent of wangxian (it’s lwj), angst, tenderness, golden core reveal.

also on ao3

“You do not necessarily need to take up the sword at once,” Lan Xichen called after Wei Wuxian, perhaps too desperately, but it mercifully stopped him in his tracks. “You can come to Cloud Recesses and simply consider it further there.”

“So instead of agreeing to take up the sword, Zewu Jun would like me to agree to agree to it in time. A grand distinction.” Wei Wuxian tipped his head back and drained the rest of the jar of baijiu. When he drew it down and looked at it, the rigid arrogance etched into his profile was mixed very briefly with a desperate despondence. Lan Xichen might not have noticed it, were it not for his conversation with Wangji.

Wei Wuxian had been somewhere terrible for three months, and he was not well. Wei Wuxian needed help. Wangji was forbidden to come, so Lan Xichen had to do this in his place, and please, Xiongzhang, you must get him to agree to come to Gusu, whatever it takes.

After what he’d seen so far of Wei Wuxian’s state, Lan Xichen was not sure it would be within his power. But Wangji had placed his trust in him.

“You will not be required to do anything, if only you will come.”

“I do not recall when Zewu Jun gained the authority to require things of me.”

That hostility could bring them to failure. Lan Xichen needed to shift to his reserve approach. He thought, given the circumstances, Wangji would consent. “To speak even more plainly, it would please Wangji very much to see you. You were correct when you said so yourself. He has been anxious since the close of Sunshot, and lonely at Cloud Recesses. I am asking you for this favor, as his closest confidant, for the sake of my brother’s happiness – so I will not be easily discouraged.” Those words were all true; it had become clear Wangji’s happiness depended very much on Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian’s expression softened once again, this time toward affection. Lan Xichen gave his words time to sink in, and then followed them with a wager: “It will be an opportunity for you to rest.” Despite Wei Wuxian’s bright smile and earnest greeting when they’d met on the street, Lan Xichen had sensed underneath it that Wei Wuxian was haggard and worn.

Wei Wuxian finally turned and looked at him again, and his agitation had fully melted back away. Lan Xichen felt the gentle lift of hope.

“I’m a member of the Jiang sect, aren’t I?” Wei Wuxian asked. “My brother has been named Sect Leader, and needs me now more than ever in his life. How can I go to Gusu with you?”

“Please allow me to ask him,” Lan Xichen said immediately. “On my own behalf, please give me your leave to request of him that you come visit us.” He did not mention, and only barely allowed himself to think, that if Wei Wuxian was here in town drinking baijiu in the middle of the day, he was probably not giving his brother the support he needed regardless.

Wei Wuxian stared at the floor for a very long time. He gave a hollow laugh. “All right. If Jiang Cheng gives you his blessing, I’ll go to Gusu with you.”

Lan Xichen had swayed one immovable stone, only to find another in its shadow.

/

Jiang Cheng received him almost immediately in Lotus Pier’s Sword Hall. He sat on the carved lotus seat, looking every inch a Sect Leader despite his youthful face. Wei Wuxian stood slightly to one side, looking carefully at the opposite wall instead of either of them.

“Take Wei Wuxian to Cloud Recesses?” Jiang Cheng kept his voice even and respectful, for now, but his features clearly displayed his incredulous irritation. “And you want to go, I suppose,” he added, much more acidly, to Wei Wuxian. “You’d like to run off and see Hanguang Jun, nevermind Yunmeng Jiang.”

“Zewu Jun has asked it of me,” Wei Wuxian said lowly. “Should I just refuse him out of hand?”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, and Lan Xichen could almost hear his rejoinder – So you make me do it instead? “Have you been drinking? I needed you today. Look at you.”

“Sect Leader Jiang, I am asking this of you as a personal favor,” Zewu Jun said, hoping to coerce Jiang Cheng into discussing it with him instead. “I’m hopeful spending a measure of time together at Cloud Recesses will be beneficial for both my brother and yours.”

“Hanguang Jun is more than welcome to come to Yunmeng,” Jiang Cheng countered.

“Currently Wangji has sect matters he is required to attend to,” Zewu Jun answered, before immediately wincing.

“And Wei Wuxian doesn’t?” Jiang Cheng snapped. He looked incensed with a fire more furious than this one conversation would ignite, implying Wei Wuxian’s truancy today was not an isolated incident; this request was precisely the fuel to grow a smolder into a blaze. “Not that he’s been doing them. Are you planning to stand by my side and help me at any point, Wei Wuxian? Have you no sense of responsibility?”

Lan Xichen saw those words hit Wei Wuxian like a blow, but he was surprised when Jiang Cheng flinched as well. Perhaps he had not intended the second meaning – the implication of blame, as well as duty.

Jiang Cheng took a breath to recover, and apparently that gave him the time he needed to reconsider.

“Forget the thing I just said. You should go with him.”

Wei Wuxian looked right at him, then, for the first time in that conversation, and his face was masked with slow confusion and hurt. “Jiang Cheng …”

“Don’t argue with me! Go cheer up Lan Wangji and yourself, and come back. You’ve been impossible and stubborn since you got back from wherever on earth you were, and I need you to get your head back on straight.” Wei Wuxian’s face had gone blank again during that tirade. Jiang Cheng snorted in exasperation and added, “Don’t forget to take your sword with you, and see if you can come back riding it.”

Wei Wuxian stiffened, and Lan Xichen was briefly terrified the situation would collapse mere inches from success. He stepped forward, clamped a hand down hard on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, and said, “We will bring the sword with us.” He hoped Wei Wuxian would remember the assurances Lan Xichen had given him, so he wouldn’t have to repeat them in front of Jiang Cheng. “Where is it, Wei-gongzi?”

/

Lan Xichen escorted Wei Wuxian to collect the sword and some personal effects from his room – thankfully, Jiang Cheng remained behind. Suibian was tucked behind a chest of drawers, where Wei Wuxian would not see it as he went about his daily life. Wei Wuxian retrieved it and stared at it like it was alien in his own hand, in contrast to the dark flute he held as at his side as an extension of himself in the other.

He thrust his arm toward Lan Xichen.

This disturbed Lan Xichen, the way Wei Wuxian seemed actively averse to the sword’s presence, but he said nothing; he was on the verge of achieving his mission. All this could be discussed in the fullness of time once Wei Wuxian was safely at Cloud Recesses. He took Suibian in his own hand, for the time being. He would bear this person and his sword to Wangji.

Wei Wuxian was slow and lethargic in his movements, some combination of mood and intoxication. It took all of Lan Xichen’s discipline not to rush him. It felt as if every moment that elapsed could bring some unforeseen stimulus that would knock Wei Wuxian off this vital and fragile course. Eventually he was ready, and as soon as they had sky over their heads, Lan Xichen took him on Shuoyue and maneuvered them into the air.

Lan Xichen relaxed, since they were now underway, which seemed a significant milestone in making this more difficult to stop. Wei Wuxian clung to him in strange desperation with the arm that wasn’t holding Chenqing. He stared down and around and out, face wide and wild as they climbed into the dusky sky, and as the minutes passed he began to shake. Did he feel unsafe relying on someone else to maneuver the sword? Had something happened that had instilled in him a fear of heights?

“Hide your eyes, if you would be more at ease,” Lan Xichen told him. “I assure you, Wei-gongzi, I will deliver you safely.”

Wei Wuxian’s fingers tightened ever so slightly in Lan Xichen’s robes, like he was hesitating, fighting a silent battle. Finally, his head collapsed onto Lan Xichen’s shoulder, his face angled into the side of his neck. Otherwise he said nothing, and did nothing. It was so far distant from the buoyant young man who had come to Gusu for lectures and even the sharp, bright, terrible one he’d seen glimpses of during Sunshot. Wangji had been correct. Wei Wuxian was deeply not well. Lan Xichen had been moderately convinced by the end of their conversation at the inn; now he was beyond certain.

The flight was long, but at the end of it, the patch of garden in front of Wangji’s jingshi came up to meet them, and Lan Xichen set them safely down. Wei Wuxian had made the journey.

///

Lan Wangji heard a sound he quickly placed as Xichen maneuvering Shuoyue, and he was out the door of the jingshi as quickly as he could physically manage it. First, because Xichen would not maneuver the sword within Cloud Recesses if he were not on some urgent mission, and second, because Lan Wangji would not have been able to hear him if he were alone and unburdened.

Sure enough, he was met with the sight of Xichen ushering a rigid Wei Ying from the steel onto the grass. A relief so intense it threatened to send him to his knees expanded through Lan Wangji.

“Wei Ying,” he said reflexively, closing the space between them.

Wei Ying turned to him with glazed, hazy eyes.

“He may still be intoxicated,” Xichen said, “and he has been harrowed by the flight.”

Lan Wangji stopped just before he touched Wei Ying, remembering him step away from him at Yiling Supervisory Office, turn away at the cliffs at Nightless City. This time, Wei Ying let him slowly move in and take him by one wrist. It was hope, and forgiveness, and a plea.

“Let’s get him inside,” Xichen said, which meant Lan Wangji had to release him. He followed as Xichen escorted Wei Ying up the walk. By the time they reached the open doorway, Wei Ying had recovered some of his senses, and he pulled himself out of Xichen’s hold.

“You don’t have to … you didn’t have to,” Wei Ying said coldly. “I shouldn’t be here. I should go back.”

Lan Wangji’s stomach sank, but Xichen just said, “Wei-gongzi, surely you aren’t suggesting I fly you back to Lotus Pier by sword this very moment.”

Wei Ying flinched, even as he scowled at himself for it.

“You must at least take dinner with us, and stay the night,” Xichen continued. “We can discuss it further in the morning if you like. You’re no prisoner here, just a welcome guest.” Xichen extended his arm, gesturing for Wei Ying to continue into the jingshi.

At length, he did.

Wei Ying stopped in the center of the room, standing aimlessly as Xichen and Lan Wangji came in around him. “I’ll go have someone prepare us a meal,” Xichen said. He held out Suibian, which for the first time Lan Wangji noticed he was carrying.

Wei Ying stared at him. He made no move to take it.

Xichen smiled sadly and went to set the sword at one of the places at the table.

Lan Wangji said stepped forward and took Suibian from his hand. “Xiongzhang,” he said, bowing formally with Wei Ying’s sword clasped in his hands, “thank you for bringing Wei Ying here. Now I will speak with him.”

Xichen briefly looked taken aback. Then his gaze floated from Lan Wangji to Wei Ying before returning. “I told Wei-gongzi we would not force him to take up his sword if he came here. That we would not require anything of him if he was unwilling.”

Lan Wangji imagined how the conversation must have gone, for Xichen to make that assurance. “Thank you,” he said again, and he hoped Xichen understood him.

Xichen nodded. “I will have the meal sent over for you.” Xichen acknowledged Wei Ying and left, surrendering Wei Ying into Lan Wangji’s custody.

Wei Ying was here. He had come to Gusu, however tensely. Lan Wangji was not helpless any longer. He could do something. He looked at the sword in his hand. Wei Ying’s wild Suibian. “I will play Clarity for you until the dinner comes,” he said.

“Lan Zhan, you can’t help me.”

“You said you would allow me,” Lan Wangji pushed back, pacing around Wei Ying to face him. “You came here.”

“No, Lan Zhan. You can’t help me.” Wei Ying looked up at him, expression gaunt. He was still thin, from wherever he’d been when he was away. If he was intoxicated, it was the morose kind. “You can play Clarity for me until your fingers bleed. I still won’t take up the sword again.”

“Why not?” Lan Wangji bit out, clenching Suibian in his grip. “What happened, Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying’s gaze was heavy on the sword in Lan Wangji’s hand. He thought for a great, long silence. “You have to believe me this time,” he said, swaying a little on his feet. “If I tell you, you have to believe me.”

Lan Wangji had not believed him when he spun a tall tale about a book and a cave with a dark, haughty grin. He had been afraid to believe him when he mentioned the Burial Mounds with a smile. Now, with Wei Ying standing empty in the jingshi, a silent tear rolling down his face, having relented and left his home so Lan Wangji could help him, Lan Wangji was prepared to believe anything he had to say. Lan Wangji nodded.

“It’s a secret,” Wei Ying pressed instantly, and more tears followed the first. “You need to swear to me you’ll keep it a secret. From Zewu Jun, from your uncle, from everyone. I would die rather than have it be known. Do you understand, Lan Zhan? It’s a secret I was going to die to keep.”

That image, the one of Wei Ying dead, frightened Lan Wangji more than anything had previously in his life. A year ago, it would have seemed impossible – his overloud, overfamiliar other, taken by death. Now, it seemed possible. Now, Wei Ying was barely held together by resentful energy and thin wire.

Lan Wangji raised his head, decided. He crossed the room, to the sword stand where his own Bichen stood. He put Suibian to rest alongside it. Then he turned. Wei Ying had turned to watch him.

Lan Wangji held out his hand, palm up. “Then tell me. We will keep it together.”

Wei Ying looked at his hand like a man going to his death. He looked at it like a man who wanted to be saved. He barely took his eyes off it as he took the three steps sideways necessary to walk over and place Chenqing on the corner of the table. Then he took the three steps back – toward Lan Wangji – and Lan Wangji’s hand in his own.

He drew it toward him and pressed it against his lower abdomen.

It took Lan Wangji a second to process this strange action, and another to follow its implication. He controlled his spiritual energy, reached in to touch Wei Ying’s spiritual core.

Nothing.

Lan Wangji’s hand clenched, pulling in a handful of Wei Ying’s clothes. He could feel his own breath begin to accelerate. Wei Ying’s cultivation was a match for Lan Wangji’s own. How could Wei Ying lack a golden core?

Wei Ying had bit his lip so hard he bled. Lan Wangji raised his other hand instinctively, to wipe the blood and tears away.

“Hanguang Jun,” came a voice from outside, and the door slid open.

The junior disciple holding the tray with their dinner froze on the threshold. Fortunately, Wei Ying was facing away from the door, so the tears on his face would not be visible. Lan Wangji could not begin to imagine what his own showed.

The disciple opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“Place it quickly and go,” Lan Wangji said, his voice harsh even in his own ears. The disciple leapt forward to obey, practically diving across the room and setting the tray on the table. Her sleeve brushed against Chenqing as she withdrew, sending it clattering to the floor. She winced and reached for it.

“Leave it,” Lan Wangji commanded. The disciple gave the quickest bow he had ever seen and fled the jingshi, banging the door closed behind her.

Wei Ying gave a wet laugh. Lan Wangji’s hand was still on his face. “Lan Zhan, that disciple surely thought you were in the middle of ravishing me. By morning, every junior in the Lan sect will be talking about Hanguang Jun and his secret lover.”

Lan Wangji drew Wei Ying into the circle of his arms and crushed him to his chest.

“Wei Ying,” he said into the side of his head. He clutched at him, dug one hand into his hair. “Wei Ying.”

“It’s all right, Lan Zhan, really,” Wei Ying said, voice hollow. “It’s not so terribly bad. I’m practically used to it at this point. But you see why I can’t take up the sword anymore.” Wei Ying was still babbling. “Do you see, Lan Zhan?”

“Enough talking,” Lan Wangji said. His mind was beginning to seek causes and effects. “Wen Zhuliu?”

“I thought you said enough talking,” Wei Ying deflected.

The Wen soldiers had said things that hadn’t made sense to Lan Wangji. They’d said the heir to the Jiang sect had been burned down into a mediocre person. The pieces rearranged themselves, and Lan Wangji spat, “Jiang Cheng. Wen Zhuliu, and Jiang Cheng.”

“Enough talking,” Wei Ying whispered, but his hands finally came up and wrapped around him. He finally took hold of Lan Wangji. And he began to cry. It was quiet. Listless. Unlike everything Wei Ying was.

Lan Wangji held him until he stopped.

He didn’t realize tears were on his own face until they dampened Wei Ying’s shoulder and he felt the coolness.

When eventually they pulled back, Wei Ying was barely on his feet. Lan Wangji walked him over to the table. He food had gone cold, but he needed to eat. Wei Ying picked up Chenqing and placed it back on the corner of the table with a shaking hand. Lan Wangji sat beside him instead of across from him, an arm still wrapped around his waist. He did not know when he would be willing to let go of Wei Ying again.

When Wei Ying finished eating, he realized he would have to.

“I will play Clarity for you,” Lan Wangji said, though it came out more stifled than he intended.

Wei Ying shook his head ruefully. “I’ve taken you too off-guard, Lan Zhan. I’m sure you could if my life depended on it, but you don’t need to play it tonight.”

Perhaps that was best. Lan Wangji did not feel even remotely clear himself. He shifted so he could draw Wei Ying back against him, back pressed against Lan Wangji’s chest. As if it were possible to hold him close enough to make this all right.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, I didn’t know you were going to be quite so possessive of my spiritual power,” Wei Ying said – joking even now, joking already. He tipped his head back on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, showing his exhaustion. “Ah, well, now you know the truth. You can send me back to Lotus Pier tomorrow with a clear conscience.”

Lan Wangji shook his head. Slowly, several times. How could Wei Ying say such false things, even in jest? Lang Wangji cupped a hand under his chin, angling his face up slightly.

Wei Ying stared up at him. “Lan Zhan …”

Lan Wangji leaned down and kissed him.

It was brief and light. Lan Wangji could taste the whisper of baijiu on his breath. Then it was over.

Wei Ying stared up at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, lips hanging ever so slightly agape.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said. “You said you would allow me to help you.”

“Oh,” he said, as if he were truly surprised. His chin drifted back down, and he stared across the jingshi unseeing in thought. Then he took one of Lan Wangji’s hands in both of his own and raised the back of it to his lips. “Thank you, Lan Zhan.”

It was barely seven thirty, long before even the Lan sect’s curfew, but soon Wei Ying was starting to drowse in his arms. Lan Wangji wanted to continue to hold him, but he had been exhausted even when he stepped off Shuoyue. He needed to rest.

Lan Wangji might have carried him to the bed, but he woke and was already pulling himself up before Lan Wangji could arrange it. Instead, he walked at his side, supporting him.

Wei Ying slept the sleep of the bone-weary. Lan Wangji sat beside him and watched. This was worse than anything he’d imagined. But now he understood, and he could stop wasting energy on the false problem and help Wei Ying with the true one.

Wei Ying had dark circles under his eyes and alcohol in his blood and no golden core, but he was safe in Lan Wangji’s bed at Cloud Recesses. As long as that was true, hope was not gone.

part two

[bloody-bee-tea]

In every timeline

Asadbatman over on Twitter requested to see a fic where JC gets caught up in an experiment from WWX and wakes up in Lan Wanyin's body. Cue some shenanigans and unsettled feelings, that end up with him proposing marriage to Jiang Xichen. Even when JC gets back to his own timeline, he can't shake that thought. Lan Wanyin on the other hand, doesn't even know what hit him. It’s 8k long, so you can also read it here on AO3.

When Jiang Cheng is being allowed into the Cloud Recesses without even a little wait, he knows it’s serious. Sure, Lan Xichen asked him to be here, but usually someone announces his arrival.

But today Jiang Cheng is being led directly towards the Hanshi and Jiang Cheng can feel the worry grow in his gut.

It hasn’t been long since Lan Xichen left seclusion—just a few months now—but he always made a point to meet Jiang Cheng in a more official setting. Jiang Cheng has never stepped foot into the Hanshi and he was content with keeping it that way.

Jiang Cheng grumbles under his breath but he dutifully follows the disciple who leads him up the stairs and then gracefully bows out, right before Jiang Cheng knocks. It’s not long before Lan Xichen opens the door for him, and to Jiang Cheng’s relief he seems alright.

So it’s probably not a matter of life or death, then. Small mercies.

“You’re here,” Lan Xichen breathes out and he seems to relax at seeing Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes at him.

“What is wrong?” he immediately asks, because Lan Xichen didn’t send him an urgent invitation for nothing, and he certainly didn’t welcome him into the privacy of his own home because everything is alright.

“It’s Wei Wuxian,” Lan Xichen says and that alone is enough to make Jiang Cheng’s stomach drop out.

He just got his brother back, he cannot be losing him again already.

“What did he do now?” he bites out and Lan Xichen shakes his head.

He still looks pale and haunted, but Jiang Cheng is glad to see that he lost his sunken eyes and the panicked look in his eyes. Small steps, Jiang Cheng very well remembers that.

“He locked himself into the Jingshi. I think he’s experimenting with something, but no one can enter,” Lan Xichen explains and he seems genuinely worried about Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng is just glad that Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to be actively dying. Everything else, Jiang Cheng can deal with.

“Isn’t that something Lan Wangji should deal with?” Jiang Cheng still asks, because he does not want to walk in on the married couple.

Once was enough.

“Wangji is out on a night hunt with the juniors. I don’t know how long until he comes back, but I suspect that Wei Wuxian specifically waited until he was gone before he started with his experiment.”

“I’m not a marriage counsellor,” Jiang Cheng reminds Lan Xichen, who huffs out a laugh at that.

“No one is when it comes to those two,” he gives back and then turns a pleading look at Jiang Cheng. “Won’t you go and look what he’s doing?” Lan Xichen then asks and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“No need to act like that,” he snaps out and feels slightly bad when Lan Xichen flinches under his harsh words. “Of course I’ll go and see what my idiot brother is up to now,” Jiang Cheng is quick to reassure him and the smile that overtakes Lan Xichen’s face catches him off guard.

“Thank you,” he breathes out and Jiang Cheng wonders just how bad that experiment is going for Lan Xichen to be this worried about it.

The answer is very bad, Jiang Cheng realizes when Lan Xichen guides him to the Jingshi. There has been a barrier erected around it, keeping the swirling resentful energy inside, and no matter how much Jiang Cheng strains his ears, he can’t hear Wei Wuxian.

“Will you let me in?” Jiang Cheng lightly asks and taps the barrier, jolting Lan Xichen into action.

“Of course,” he immediately replies and lifts the barrier just enough that Jiang Cheng can step into it.

Dread settles in Jiang Cheng’s gut when it closes back down behind him.

“You’re going to let me out again, right?” Jiang Cheng asks, only half joking, but Lan Xichen nods. “Fine,” Jiang Cheng sighs and turns his back to Lan Xichen.

He walks up to the Jingshi, but the door won’t budge when he tries to slide it open.

“Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng hollers, banging his fist against the door, and it’s not long before he hears Wei Wuxian from the inside.

“Jiang Cheng, is that you?” he asks, just before the door opens and Jiang Cheng’s first thought is that he was fine with never seeing a walking corpse again.

“You look like shit,” is the first thing out of Jiang Cheng’s mouth as Wei Wuxian stares with sunken, bloodshot eyes at him.

“That’s because it won’t work,” Wei Wuxian whines after a beat and walks back into the Jingshi.

Jiang Cheng follows him, careful not to step onto any of the wayward papers on the ground, but he gives that up after about two steps. The floor is littered with discarded attempts of talismans, and Jiang Cheng is not about to dance through the Jingshi to protect Wei Wuxian’s work.

“What the fuck are you even working on?” Jiang Cheng wants to know and when Wei Wuxian turns around to him with a manic glint in his eyes, he knows he doesn’t really want to know the answer.

“Time travel,” Wei Wuxian excitedly tells Jiang Cheng, who simply stares at him.

“Time travel,” Jiang Cheng tonelessly repeats and Wei Wuxian’s hair flies when he nods.

“I thought, with everything that went wrong, why not go back and fix a few things? But I can’t seem to make it work, I don’t know where it’s wrong, my calculations should be right, but nothing is happening, why is nothing happening, Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian whines and Jiang Cheng can only let the ramble wash over him.

“Maybe because it’s better that nothing is happening?” he snaps out when Wei Wuxian finally falls silent. “You really want to fuck up another time-line?” he demands to know and Wei Wuxian’s gaze turns pained.

“I don’t want to fuck it up,” Wei Wuxian complaints. “I want to make it right!”

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng shouts and Zidian sparks on his finger, picking up on his mood. “Why would you even think that meddling with this would be a good idea?”

“It could all be better!” Wei Wuxian shouts right back, his resentful energy swirling around him, and when it comes into contact with Zidian, the papers on the floor start to glow.

“Oh fuck,” Wei Wuxian whispers and every last hair on the back of Jiang Cheng’s neck stands up.

“What now?”

“It’s working,” Wei Wuxian breathes out and then laughs. “It’s working! Oh, of course it needs two energy sources, I’m so stupid!”

While Wei Wuxian is turning around the Jingshi with glee, clearly delighted with the fact that his invention works, a whirlwind has started to appear around Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Cheng is not liking this at all.

“Wei Wuxian, make it stop,” he orders, effectively bringing Wei Wuxian to turn around to him and Jiang Cheng knows he’s fucked when Wei Wuxian’s eyes go wide.

“Oh no,” is the last thing Jiang Cheng hears, before everything goes dark.

~*~*~

When Jiang Cheng opens his eyes, he’s still in the Jingshi. But everything is orderly, no talismans laying around anywhere, and Wei Wuxian is nowhere to be seen.

This cannot be good, Jiang Cheng thinks and carefully sits up. It’s only when he’s about to push himself off the ground that he realizes the familiar weight of Zidian is missing from his finger and panic rushes through Jiang Cheng.

He scrambles to get off the floor, ready to search the whole Cloud Recesses until he gets Zidian back, but something tangles in his hand and when he tries to stand up, his head gets yanked back.

“What the fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters under his breath and he freezes when he looks down only to find the trailing ends of a forehead ribbon tangled around his hand.

He knows about the forehead ribbon and their significance. Wei Wuxian has told him often enough about that.

“Holy shit,” Jiang Cheng says, because if he just accidentally married anyone he’s going to lose it.

Upon closer inspection he realizes that the forehead ribbon is tied around his own head and Jiang Cheng has to blink a few times at that revelation.

When he finally does manage to get off the ground, he immediately goes in search of a mirror, only to freeze again when he lays eyes on his reflection.

“What. The actual. Fuck,” Jiang Cheng says loudly because the person in the mirror cannot possibly be him.

He looks young, possibly around sixteen, and he’s wearing the white robes of Gusu Lan, forehead ribbon and jade pendant and all.

Jiang Cheng realizes that he’s shaking, and a very small part of his brain is aware that he’s panicking, but the most prominent thoughts in his head are that he looks deadly pale in white and that the forehead ribbon looks incredibly strange on his head.

Jiang Cheng is still trying to make sense of this all, when a voice suddenly calls out for him.

“Wanyin?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng reflexively says, but then stops to frown at the door, because how dare someone use his name in a familiar manner like that.

“I’m coming in,” the voice says and now that Jiang Cheng thinks about it, it sounds familiar.

“Lan Wangji,” Jiang Cheng breathes out when the door slides open, because he will hopefully have an explanation for this.

“Wanyin, you missed the first class,” Lan Wangji says, and there’s real worry audible in his voice and Jiang Cheng frowns at him.

“What the hell is going on here?” he demands to know and if he wasn’t so high strung he would probably laugh at the shocked expression on Lan Wangji’s face.

“Wanyin?” Lan Wangji asks and Jiang Cheng shakes his head.

“Stop with that, how dare you even call me that?”

“You’re my younger brother, of course I can call you that,” Lan Wangji gives back, clearly stunned and his words effectively freeze Jiang Cheng on the spot.

“Your what?” he breathes out and then simply sits down where he stands, because this cannot be real.

“Fucking time-travel, my ass,” Jiang Cheng grumbles under his breath and presses his hands to his eyes.

“Brother, are you not feeling well?” Lan Wangji wants to know and Jiang Cheng lets out a sharp laugh.

“No, I am not feeling well, brother,” he bites out and then scolds himself, because there is no reason to be rude to Lan Wangji when they both don’t know what exactly is happening.

“Wanyin,” Lan Wangji starts again, and Jiang Cheng lifts his head so fast, he fears he might have sprained something.

“My name is Jiang Cheng,” he tells him and he sees the confusion on Lan Wangji’s face.

“You’re Lan Wanyin,” Lan Wangji carefully corrects him and Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath.

“Fuck,” he mutters and then motions for Lan Wangji to sit down.

Lan Wangji does, but hesitantly. Jiang Cheng suspects he would rather run for one of the healers.

“I’m not your—your brother,” Jiang Cheng starts with, and even just the thought that Lan Wangji is his big brother in this world, or time-line, is enough to make Jiang Cheng doubt his very own existence.

But in the end he powers through it and manages to explain to Lan Wangji as best as he can what happened. He sticks to the most basic story-line but even then Lan Wangji goes progressively paler as Jiang Cheng talks.

Jiang Cheng still thinks he gets his point across quite beautifully—he’s a thirty-something year old Jiang Sect Leader and not Lan Wangji’s younger brother.

“Where’s Wanyin?” Lan Wangji asks when Jiang Cheng falls silent, his voice carefully controlled and Jiang Cheng shrugs.

“My best guess is that he’s in my body right now, so probably safe and sound. Wei Wuxian and Lan Xichen won’t let anything happen to him.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agrees, but Jiang Cheng sees how he worries the hem of his robe and wonders if anyone has ever seen Lan Wangji this nervous.

Wei Wuxian probably, but Jiang Cheng pushes that thought away.

“We have to reverse this,” Jiang Cheng says and Lan Wangji nods immediately, clearly as desperate to get his brother back as Jiang Cheng is to return to his own world.

It’s only then that Jiang Cheng realizes how fucked up this isn’t just for him, but Lan Wangji as well. He just lost his brother to another person, has no clue if his brother is even fine or still alive, and yet his body is still running around like it used to.

Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be surprised if this whole experience leaves Lan Wangji a little fucked up and a lot over-protective.

“I will look into it,” Lan Wangji promises and Jiang Cheng realizes that if he’s the younger brother, then Lan Wangji must be the heir.

What a strange thought.

“Do we tell people?” Jiang Cheng carefully asks, even though he doesn’t think it would go over well if they announced that Lan Wanyin—and isn’t that a strange combination of names—is gone.

“We shouldn’t,” Lan Wangji says and Jiang Cheng nods. “But you have to behave differently,” he then tacks on, and Jiang Cheng sees the frown on his face when Lan Wangji looks at him.

“What, I’m not acting like your brother enough?” he bites out and Lan Wangji flinches before he shakes his head.

“You’re not. Brother is shy and mild-mannered,” he then says and Jiang Cheng groans as he puts his face in his hands.

Of fucking course Lan Wanyin would be the complete opposite of Jiang Cheng.

“He smiles a lot,” Lan Wangji tacks on and Jiang Cheng shoots him a glare.

“Fine,” he grumbles and forces a smile on his face. “Better?” he wants to know and Lan Wangji opens his mouth as if to protest but then falls silent.

The pain on his face is so clear that Jiang Cheng loses his bite and he gentles the smile into something he only barely remembers from when he was younger.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng sighs and lowers his gaze. “But I’m sure your brother is fine, Wei Wuxian will make sure of that, as will the others,” he tries to reassure Lan Wangji, but he’s not sure how successful he really is.

“I’m going to tell uncle that you’re sick,” Lan Wangji decides and Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow at him.

“Breaking your rules?” he wants to know but Lan Wangji shakes his head.

“You’re not yourself. It’s not a complete lie,” he says and Jiang Cheng can’t help the smirk.

Who knew Lan Wangji had it in him.

“Fine,” he agrees. “We’ll spend the day or two it will give us practicing. You’ll have to tell me exactly how Lan Wanyin behaves.”

Lan Wangji nods at that and when Jiang Cheng frowns, he’s yet again reminded of the forehead ribbon.

“I doubt there’s a way I could get away with not wearing the ribbon?” Jiang Cheng asks, though he doesn’t have much hope about that.

“No,” Lan Wangji says, sounding as affronted as Jiang Cheng has ever heard him and Jiang Cheng sighs.

“I thought so,” he mutters and then allows Lan Wangji to explain just how his younger brother normally behaves.

It is not a fun day, for neither of them.

~*~*~

Lan Wangji manages to get Jiang Cheng two days without anyone barging in on him. Lan Wangji all but moved into the Jingshi, doing nothing but talking about Lan Wanyin and telling Jiang Cheng how he is supposed to act.

Jiang Cheng wants to tear his hair out before the second day is over, but he dutifully listens and tries his best to behave like Lan Wangji describes.

He might hate this, but he doesn’t want to fuck Lan Wanyin’s life up more than he already has. He shouldn’t have to deal with some fallout when he comes back just because Jiang Cheng isn’t able to properly play his part.

On the third day, Lan Wangji decides that it’s time Jiang Cheng gets out there.

Jiang Cheng isn’t so sure this is the right course of action, but there isn’t much he can say so in the end he attends class like Lan Wanyin would have.

It’s the single most strange experience Jiang Cheng has ever made and given his life, that means a lot.

Everyone is nice to him; he other students clearly like Lan Wanyin a lot and Jiang Cheng finds himself being swept up in his act.

It’s easy to pretend to be someone different if everyone acts like they truly like him. Jiang Cheng decides not to think too much about that.

The first real test comes when Jiang Cheng runs across Lan Qiren. Jiang Cheng fears his act is up before he even opens his mouth but then Lan Qiren smiles slightly at him and something in Jiang Cheng goes all warm and pleased.

“Wanyin,” Lan Qiren greets him.

“Shufu,” Jiang Cheng gives back, the word strange and foreign from his mouth, and he falls into the appropriate bow to hide it.

“How are you feeling? Wangji sounded concerned when he said you were ill.”

“I’m feeling better now, shufu, thank you for your worry,” Jiang Cheng gives back, selling his words with a small smile and it seems to be enough to appease Lan Qiren.

“That is good to hear,” Lan Qiren says and he briefly puts his hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder.

Jiang Cheng didn’t know that Lan Qiren could be this soft but he guesses it’s only reserved for family. It would make sense.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, shufu,” Jiang Cheng says, bowing his head and when Lan Qiren lets out a relieved breath, he knows he made the right move.

“As long as you’re feeling better now,” Lan Qiren says, and then tugs on his beard once, clearly falling back into his usual, stern role. “Now off you go, don’t miss any more classes.”

“Yes, shufu,” Jiang Cheng mutters, and quickly bows again, before he swiftly walks away.

He makes sure not to run, breaking a rule would mess up his whole act—and he didn’t not spend every free minute of the past two days reading over the rules only to break one immediately—but he only relaxes when he turns a corner and he can be sure that Lan Qiren’s eyes are no longer on him.

Jiang Cheng wonders how he will ever look at Lan Qiren again, knowing that his face can go this soft, but he pushes that thought away for now. He can worry about that once Wei Wuxian manages to undo whatever it is he did in the first place and gets Jiang Cheng back into his own body.

Jiang Cheng manages to sit through classes and not fuck up Lan Wanyin’s grades—much to the clear astonishment of Lan Wangji—but he can’t say that he enjoys his days.

He fears he’s always one step away from being called out on his bullshit and Jiang Cheng cannot for the life of him get used to the feeling of the forehead ribbon around his head. It’s the first thing he always takes off when he goes back to the Jingshi and Lan Wangji stumbled over his bare forehead more than once already.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t care less.

On the fourth day of Jiang Cheng’s new, temporary life, Lan Qiren doesn’t open the class with his usual lecture but an announcement instead.

“Listen up,” he calls out, even though everyone is already silent and listening.

Jiang Cheng suspects he does it for the dramatics.

“Summer is upon us, and so the classes for the other young masters will start soon. They will arrive soon, and I expect all of you to be on your best behaviour. Every Sect will send a few students and you are going to act as a model example to all of them!”

There’s an excited murmur in the classroom that Lan Qiren allows for a few moments, while Jiang Cheng’s stomach drops with dread. He doesn’t know if he’s ready to see Wei Wuxian, to find out how life at Lotus Pier is without him present, but he guesses he doesn’t have a choice.

Jiang Cheng just hopes that Wei Wuxian manages to find a way back for Jiang Cheng before the other students arrive at the Cloud Recesses.

~*~*~

Wei Wuxian does not manage to get Jiang Cheng back to his own world before the other students arrive and Jiang Cheng has to take an hour in the cold springs to meditate on that before he feels ready to come into contact with any of them.

It has been a week since the announcement Lan Qiren made in class and with every passing day that Wei Wuxian didn’t manage to  get him back and that Jiang Cheng had to continue playing his act he got more and more stressed out.

By now Jiang Cheng is nothing more than a nervous wreck and he truly doesn’t know if he can come into contact with any of the students from different Sect without losing it.

Jiang Cheng is half afraid he’ll break down crying if he comes to face with Wei Wuxian, and he cannot do that.

The young masters arrived today, but thankfully Lan Wangji managed to find a reason keep Jiang Cheng far away from then for now. Jiang Cheng knows it can’t hold forever, but he’s thankful for the respite he got from this. If he only has to see them in class and not greet them personally, maybe Jiang Cheng will even make it through this whole mess.

Jiang Cheng takes one last deep breath, submerging himself in the ice-cold water of the springs, before he finally steps out of them. It’s almost dark by now, and Jiang Cheng is aware that their curfew is coming up rather quickly, but he still takes his time to dry himself and make himself presentable.

If he hurries back to the Jingshi shortly before curfew, he’s bound to run into fewer people, after all.

Jiang Cheng makes his way back up the hill swiftly and with his head lowered so that no one will talk to him, and he’s already cheering inwardly when he runs into another person.

Quite literally, since that person simply dropped from the sky and Jiang Cheng ran straight into their chest.

“What the hell,” Jiang Cheng grumbles, careful to keep his voice low, but when he raises his gaze—how can Lan Wanyin be this goddamn short—he can’t help the curse that leave his lips.

“Fuck,” he says with feeling and then immediately turns red when the other person smiles at him.

“And here I thought the Lan’s were not allowed to curse,” he says, his voice as smooth as a river and it takes Jiang Cheng a moment to place it.

“Lan Xichen,” Jiang Cheng says and realizes his mistake as soon as the frown appears on Lan Xichen’s face.

“You’re the Lan here,” Lan Xichen gives back and Jiang Cheng knows what’s coming before Lan Xichen even says it.

The purple robes are a dead give-away after all.

“My name is Jiang Xichen.”

“Of course it is,” Jiang Cheng bitterly mutters and Lan Xichen—no, Jiang Xichen—continues to frown at him.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asks, reaching out as if to stabilize Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Cheng slaps his hand away without thinking.

He regrets his action when Jiang Xichen smirks at him, but he holds his head high.

Jiang Cheng takes a moment to look Jiang Xichen over and he’s surprised to find how young he looks. It must have something to do with how empty his face looks without the forehead ribbon that normally adorns it, Jiang Cheng muses, and he can’t say that he likes it.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes then catch on the typical Jiang braids in Jiang Xichen’s hair and Jiang Cheng can’t help but think that this style really suits him. It certainly looks better than the open style of the Lan Sect, Jiang Cheng thinks and then shakes his head at his own foolish thoughts.

“Cat got your tongue?” Jiang Xichen asks, that infuriating smirk still on his lips, and Jiang Cheng didn’t know Jiang Xichen’s face could even move like that.

“There’s a curfew,” Jiang Cheng snaps at him and now Jiang Xichen’s smirk slides into a real grin.

“That is still a few minutes away,” he smoothly gives back. “And anyway, shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed? I heard the Lan’s all like to stick to a strict sleeping schedule.”

“My schedule is none of your business,” Jiang Cheng haughtily tells him but that only seems to amuse Jiang Xichen further.

“I see,” he says and scratches his chin. “What a pity,” he then adds with a very pointed look up and down Jiang Cheng’s body, and Jiang Cheng cannot believe that he actually flushes at that.

At least, until his gaze falls onto the ring on Jiang Xichen’s finger.

It’s Zidian, clear and unmistakably, and Jiang Cheng’s head spins with that revelation. In his world, Madam Yu only parted with it when it was clear she wouldn’t make it, and Jiang Cheng was not prepared to see it on Jiang Xichen’s finger.

“How dare you,” he hisses without thinking, instinct taking over because Zidian is his, but Jiang Xichen only stares in confusion at him.

“What,” he starts to ask but Jiang Cheng grabs for his hand and pulls it closer to himself, trying to slide the ring off in the process.

“Zidian is not yours,” Jiang Cheng tells him and now a spark of anger appears in Jiang Xichen’s eyes.

“It is!” he tells Jiang Cheng. “Mother gave it to me, it belongs to the Jiang-Yu-bloodline!”

“How did you even get this?” Jiang Cheng asks the blood rushing in his veins and Jiang Xichen wrenches his hand out of Jiang Cheng’s grip, Zidian sparking in the familiar purple light.

“Mother gave it to me as a reward when I beat Wei Wuxian in a competition,” Jiang Xichen tells him and all the fight leaves Jiang Cheng.

Of course. Of fucking course. Of course Jiang Xichen would be better than Wei Wuxian; of course his mother would be proud enough of him to give him Zidian early. Of course Lan Xichen still excels in everything he does, no matter what Sect he belongs to and who his brother is.

“Are you alright?” Jiang Xichen asks again when Jiang Cheng stays silent for too long. “I still don’t know your name.”

“It’s Ji—Lan Wanyin,” Jiang Cheng presses out, unable to meet Jiang Xichen’s eyes for now but a shudder runs down Jiang Cheng’s back when Jiang Xichen acknowledges him with a hum.

“Ah, the second young master,” Jiang Xichen says and falls into a bow.

Jiang Cheng works his jaw when he notices the sloppy form and the lax execution and anger sparks within him again.

“Mind your form,” he snaps out and is yet again confused when Jiang Xichen looks at him because the sight is just too strange without his forehead ribbon.

Just on cue a gust of wind picks up, making the ends of Jiang Cheng’s forehead ribbon flutter in the wind, and Jiang Cheng is yet again reminded of the restricting, itching feeling the ribbon always causes him.

Jiang Xichen is still smirking at him, Zidian still on his finger, and something in Jiang Cheng’s brain simply short-circuits.

He reaches up to undo the knot at the back of his head, before he throws the forehead ribbon at Jiang Xichen who catches it seemingly on reflex.

“Why would you give me this?” Jiang Xichen asks, his face a few shades paler than before and Jiang Cheng is so angry he feels like he’s going to explode.

“Because it belongs to you!” he yells right into his face and he has half a mind to forcefully fasten the ribbon around Jiang Xichen’s forehead.

Jiang Cheng cannot stand how strange he looks without it.

“This belongs to you and Zidian is mine,” Jiang Cheng goes on and he almost misses the calculating look in Jiang Xichen’s eyes.

“Is that so?” he asks, a sweet smile playing around his mouth and Jiang Cheng simply loses it.

“How dare you? How dare you be better than me, how dare you still smile like that even with Madam Yu as your mother and how dare you wear what is mine! And don’t be so damn suggestive about things!”

Jiang Cheng realizes that he’s being more than unreasonable, but he can’t help himself. Just the thought that life at Lotus Pier is harmonious and good simply because Jiang Cheng isn’t there opens up wounds in his soul he long thought healed over, insecurities he long thought dealt with rearing its head again, and Jiang Cheng has to bite back tears when he imagines how peaceful it must be without the constant fights between his parents.

Jiang Xichen probably got picked up more than five times by Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Cheng bitterly thinks and then forces his thoughts into another direction.

It’s not fair to blame Jiang Xichen for Jiang Cheng’s own shortcomings, after all, and he wills himself to calm down a bit.

At least until Jiang Xichen opens his mouth again.

“Which of these two do you mean now?” Jiang Xichen asks, raising his hand with Zidian but also the other one that is still holding Jiang Cheng’s forehead ribbon. “Because I might not be inclined to give either to you, now,” he says, a clearly suggestive tone to his voice and Jiang Cheng flushes bright red.

He reaches out to snatch his forehead ribbon from Jiang Xichen’s hand, but then he can’t seem to find his words when Jiang Xichen simply stares at him.

“Do not touch it,” Jiang Cheng eventually forces out and Jiang Xichen laughs, bright and happy and Jiang Cheng thinks that he could get lost in that sound.

He jerks his head, trying to get rid of that ridiculous thought, and by the time Jiang Cheng gets himself back under control Jiang Xichen has calmed down.

“You gave it to me,” he whispers to Jiang Cheng, and as he leans forward there’s a slight tingling sound, like two bowls clinking together.

Jiang Cheng frowns when he hears it.

“Did you bring alcohol into the Cloud Recesses?” he demands to know, and Jiang Xichen proudly lifts the two bottles.

“Of course I did!” Jiang Xichen says with a huge smile and Jiang Cheng distantly wonders if this is how Lan Wangji had felt when Wei Wuxian barged into the Cloud Recesses with alcohol in his own time-line.

“Do you want to join me for a drink?” Jiang Xichen cheekily asks and Jiang Cheng sees red.

“Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses,” he hisses at Jiang Xichen and snatches the bottles from his hand, before smashing them into the ground. “And there is a goddamn curfew in place!” he then adds for good measure and promptly storms off.

Jiang Cheng cannot believe that his mood got the better of him, and he clenches his hand that is still holding on to the forehead ribbon.

Jiang Cheng still remembers how Lan Wangji reiterated again and again in calm serious tones just what the forehead ribbon means to their Sect and Jiang Cheng flushes bright red at the memory.

He can just hope that Jiang Xichen doesn’t know what it means, or else Jiang Cheng truly fucked Lan Wanyin over right now.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng doesn’t know if Lan Wanyin’s face is just more expressive or if Lan Wangji simply knows how to read him better, but he knew that something was wrong the moment he came to collect Jiang Cheng for the first class with the other young masters.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t bring himself to explain in detail what happened during the night, but Lan Wangji seemed to understand that he was distressed anyway. Jiang Cheng doesn’t know how he did it, but when Lan Wangji comes to collect him halfway through the class, telling him that he is supposed to make a copy of a book in the library, Jiang Cheng lets out a long breath.

He quickly gets up, firmly ignoring Jiang Xichen’s eyes on him and follows Lan Wangji to safety.

Distantly, Jiang Cheng wonders if Wei Wuxian—who has been strangely quiet so far—will manage to get thrown out of the class as well, meaning Jiang Cheng would get to oversee his punishment, but all of those thoughts leave his head when Jiang Xichen steps into the library.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asks, desperately trying to keep his voice calm and even but he knows there’s no chance of that when Jiang Xichen smiles at him.

“I got thrown out of class,” he says with a shrug and settles down opposite of Jiang Cheng. “I’m supposed to come here for punishment. Copying the rules.”

“Then get to copying,” Jiang Cheng shortly tells him, intent on ignoring him, but when Jiang Xichen reaches out to play with the edge of Jiang Cheng’s scroll Jiang Cheng knows it won’t be that easy.

“But I want to spend more time with you,” Jiang Xichen pouts at Jiang Cheng, who tries his best not to blush.

“There’s no reason for that,” Jiang Cheng snaps at him but Jiang Xichen only gives him a blinding smile.

“But we’re engaged now, are we not?” Jiang Xichen innocently asks and blinks at Jiang Cheng. “We should take time to get to know each other.”

Jiang Cheng’s breath leaves him in a rush and he fights the urge to slam his head onto the table. So Jiang Xichen knows what the ribbons means.

Jiang Cheng can just hope that Lan Wanyin will forgive him for this.

“You’re mistaken,” Jiang Cheng tells him, but he can tell immediately that Jiang Xichen doesn’t believe him.

“But you gave me your ribbon,” he gives back, just as he reaches out to catch the ends of Jiang Cheng’s forehead ribbon. “That’s a marriage proposal, right?”

“It’s not,” Jiang Cheng lies straight through his teeth, but Jiang Xichen only seems to be delighted by that.

“But I got so used to calling you my fiancé in my head already,” he whines and Jiang Cheng can feel the flush creep up his face.

“It’s been a night,” Jiang Cheng hisses, “how used to it can you be?”

“Very,” Jiang Xichen immediately gives back. “Wei Wuxian will be planning our wedding. Did you know he’s really good at that? I wouldn’t have guessed but then he planned one for my father’s right hand and it was glorious,” Jiang Xichen muses and Jiang Cheng can barely believe his ears.

Wei Wuxian has never been good at planning anything, and he certainly won’t get to plan Jiang Cheng’s wedding.

“If anyone plans our wedding it will be Jiang Yanli,” Jiang Cheng informs Jiang Xichen, who instantly smiles at him.

“That is acceptable, too,” he agrees, and Jiang Cheng regrets his words almost immediately.

“But we’re not getting married!” Jiang Cheng rushes out, hopes to derail Jiang Xichen, but he doesn’t have much hope anymore.

“Not yet,” Jiang Xichen agrees. “We should wait until after the classes. You should definitely come to Lotus Pier first, too, meet my parents.”

“Absolutely not,” Jiang Cheng chokes out and gets up, scroll forgotten on the table. “Get out!” he then snaps at Jiang Xichen, who gets up as well but takes too long for Jiang Cheng’s liking until he starts to move.

“Until later then,” he calls over his shoulder, still a small smile on his face and he blows Jiang Cheng a kiss, before he vanishes from the library.

“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng whispers as he sinks back down.

He really fucked this one up, didn’t he.

~*~*~

No matter how much Jiang Cheng tries, he cannot escape Jiang Xichen. It doesn’t seem to matter where Jiang Cheng hides, Jiang Xichen always, always finds him and Jiang Cheng truly wonders how he manages that.

He doesn’t dare to ask though, tries to keep their interactions to the absolute minimum and despite knowing that Lan Wanyin will walk into a true mess when he comes back, Jiang Cheng cannot help the relieved sigh when his view suddenly goes all black during dinner.

Jiang Cheng quickly puts his bowl down, and takes the time to lay down for good measure too, because he doesn’t want Lan Wanyin to wake up with some kind of injury as well, and when he blinks his eyes back open, Wei Wuxian is staring down at him.

“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asks carefully and Jiang Cheng bares his teeth at him.

“What the fuck took you so long?” he demands to know, because it’s been almost three weeks now, and Wei Wuxian starts to laugh.

“Oh, it’s you,” he gets out between his laughter and Jiang Cheng fights the urge to strangle him.

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng bellows and scrambles to his feet, but Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to care; he’s still rolling on the ground, holding his stomach as he laughs and laughs and laughs.

“I’m so glad to have you back,” Wei Wuxian eventually whispers, wiping some tears away, and Jiang Cheng can’t hold on to his anger any longer, because he, too, is glad to be back.

“I’m glad to be back,” Jiang Cheng gives back lowly and then helps Wei Wuxian up when he holds out a hand. “What happened?”

“I made a slight mistake,” Wei Wuxian admits and Jiang Cheng levels him with a look.

That might be the understatement of the year.

“Okay, a big mistake,” Wei Wuxian corrects with raised hands. “But it’s alright now. Lan Wanyin is back where he belongs and you’re back here, so it’s all good.”

“Did something happen while I was away?” Jiang Cheng wants to know and he’s unprepared for the soft smile that flits over Wei Wuxian’s face.

“No. Lan Wanyin is incredibly mild-mannered, it was a whole lot to take,” Wei Wuxian says and he sounds sadder than he probably means to, before he shakes his head and looks at Jiang Cheng. “Did something happen on your end?”

The memory of Jiang Cheng throwing his forehead ribbon at Jiang Xichen crosses Jiang Cheng’s mind, and he can feel himself go bright red in the face.

“No,” he still lies straight through his teeth and Wei Wuxian hones in on that immediately.

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says and Jiang Cheng turns his back towards him.

“Nothing happened,” he snaps and then marches right out of the Jingshi, only to run straight into Lan Xichen.

“Ah, Wanyin,” Lan Xichen says, but then he takes a good look at Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng is unprepared for the relieved smile that flits over Lan Xichen’s smile. “Jiang Cheng. You’re back.”

“I am,” Jiang Cheng awkwardly says and he can’t help that his eyes are glued to the forehead ribbon that is rightly back on Lan Xichen’s head.

It looks so much more right to see Lan Xichen’s face with the forehead ribbon that Jiang Cheng has a hard time tearing his eyes away from the sight. He only manages when Lan Xichen speaks again.

“Are you alright?” Lan Xichen wants to know and Jiang Cheng curses himself when he flushes.

He still remembers the baffled look on Jiang Xichen’s face when Jiang Cheng threw the forehead ribbon at him and it makes Jiang Cheng’s stomach swoop dangerously.

“I am,” he curtly declares, and finally—finally—drags his eyes away from the white band around Lan Xichen’s head, only to let them fall on Lan Xichen’s hair.

Jiang Cheng is immediately flooded with the thought that Jiang Xichen looked so much better with his braided hair and Jiang Cheng doesn’t know where all these thoughts are coming from.

“Are you truly?” Lan Xichen asks, reaching out to lightly grab Jiang Cheng’s elbow, and the concern is more than clear on his face. “You look pale.”

Jiang Cheng feels like his face is on fire, but he’s glad it doesn’t show.

“Changing bodies—or time-lines—is not a comfortable thing,” Jiang Cheng says instead of explaining the real reason and he’s glad when that seems to appease Lan Xichen.

“I can only imagine,” Lan Xichen says and Jiang Cheng finds that his thoughts have turned into very dangerous directions.

“You should come visit Lotus Pier one of these days,” Jiang Cheng finds himself thinking, hearing Jiang Xichen’s voice offering him the same back in the Cloud Recesses, and Jiang Cheng is unable to do anything but imagine Lan Xichen in purple.

It truly was a look on him.

“I should,” Lan Xichen says, clearly caught off guard but without hesitation and Jiang Cheng tries not to think too hard on the warm feeling that spreads out in his stomach.

“Good,” he bites out and then pushes past Lan Xichen before he can say something else.

“Aiyo, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian calls after him and Jiang Cheng reluctantly turns around, trying his best to avoid looking at Lan Xichen, who seems almost as flustered as Jiang Cheng feels.

“What?” Jiang Cheng snaps out when Wei Wuxian doesn’t say anything, and he’s entirely unprepared for when Wei Wuxian crashes into his side.

“Why don’t you ever invite me back to Lotus Pier?” he then wants to know and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“Because you do whatever the hell you want. Lan Xichen is way too polite to come uninvited, unlike you.”

There’s a slight chuckle and Jiang Cheng is startled to find that it comes from Lan Xichen himself.

Jiang Cheng remembers the clear sound that rang out when Jiang Xichen laughed, loud and unrestrained, and Jiang Cheng finds himself thinking that he wants to hear it again.

And maybe he has good chances, he mentally adds when Lan Xichen hides his smile behind his sleeve.

“Ugh, you’re playing favourites,” Wei Wuxian complaints, and Jiang Cheng shoves him off with a hand to his face.

“And you’re not one of them,” he curtly says—though everyone present knows it’s a damn lie—and then finally turns around to flee.

Jiang Cheng needs some time to sort through his thoughts—and some time to push all of his feelings away—and he won’t get that here, with Wei Wuxian sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Lan Xichen’s voice suddenly rings out behind him, and Jiang Cheng has half a mind to remind him that yelling is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses, but he manages to swallow the words down.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t quite manage to bite back the smile, though.

~*~*~

“What has gotten into you lately?” Wei Wuxian wants to know when Jiang Xichen continues to smile down at Zidian.

“What do you mean?” Jiang Xichen gives back innocently but Wei Wuxian only rolls his eyes at him.

“Please, you’re behaving really strangely lately,” Wei Wuxian says and taps Zidian. “Is something wrong with it?” he asks but Jiang Xichen only smiles at him.

He can’t help but to fondly remember the way Lan Wanyin was yelling at him that first night and he goes a little bit hot all over when Jiang Xichen remembers just how magnificently Lan Wanyin had looked, all furious and flustered.

Jiang Xichen taps Zidian again and he can’t get out of his head how Lan Wanyin had said that Zidian was his, just like the forehead ribbon belonged to Jiang Xichen. Jiang Xichen finds himself imagining it more often than he would like to admit; Zidian, purple and dangerous on Lan Wanyin’s finger, while Lan Wanyin’s pristine white forehead ribbon was wrapped around Jiang Xichen’s armguard.

Jiang Xichen liked that image more than he probably should.

“No, but seriously, what the hell are you thinking about?” Wei Wuxian asks again, poking Jiang Xichen into the side and Jiang Xichen can’t help but tease Wei Wuxian a little bit.

“My fiancé,” he cheekily gives back and thoroughly enjoys the stunned look on Wei Wuxian’s face.

“Your what?” he squeaks out and Jiang Xichen laughs.

“Madam Yu is going to kill you,” Wei Wuxian prophesises when it becomes clear that Jiang Xichen won’t explain but Jiang Xichen shakes his head.

“She’s going to congratulate me,” he confidently gives back, certain that his mother will be very pleased with this match and then Jiang Xichen gets up. “I have to go now,” Jiang Xichen says, sure that by now Lan Wanyin must already be in the library again and Wei Wuxian turns puppy eyes on him.

“You’re always leaving me alone these days,” he complaints. “I’m bored.”

“Why don’t you find someone else to pester?” Jiang Xichen says, but his voice is not unkind.

Wei Wuxian thinks that over for a few moments and then his face lights up.

“Oh, I know,” he says and Jiang Xichen has a quick moment to pity whoever Wei Wuxian picked as his victim. “Lan Wangji seems like he would be fun to rile up.”

Jiang Xichen presses his lips together, briefly indulges himself in a scenario where he’s married to Lan Wanyin, while Wei Wuxian is married to Lan Wangji, and then he shakes his head.

“Just don’t get yourself killed,” he advises Wei Wuxian before he finally leaves, itching to get back to the library, to get back to his fiancé, and he leaves Wei Wuxian to his own devices.

Jiang Xichen can’t help the smile on his face when he finds Lan Wanyin in the library like he predicted and he’s quick to settle down opposite of him.

“What are you doing here?” Lan Wanyin asks, and Jiang Xichen frowns.

There’s a certain bite missing from his voice but Jiang Xichen shrugs it off.

“I’m here to see my wonderful fiancé,” Jiang Xichen easily gives back, delighting in the way that word feels on his lips and he stares in wonder as Lan Wanyin turns a bright red.

“Your what?” he squeaks out and Jiang Xichen tilts his head in consideration.

“My fiancé,” he repeats. “You,” he adds when Lan Wanyin stares in confusion at him.

“Me?” Lan Wanyin says, voice high with panic and then he grumbles under his breath, something that sounds suspiciously like “Why the hell did no one tell me about this?”

“I tell you all the time,” Jiang Xichen says and seems to startle Lan Wanyin, who meets his eyes for barely a second before he ducks his head.

“I don’t understand,” Lan Wanyin admits softly and Jiang Xichen finds that more endearing than he probably should.

“You gave me your forehead ribbon,” Jiang Xichen says and reaches out for the ends again.

His fingertips barely grazed them when Lan Wanyin snatches them up and presses them to his chest.

“What are you doing?” he asks, voice strangled and Jiang Xichen gives him his most winning smile.

“Touching what is mine,” Jiang Xichen gives back and watches as Lan Wanyin’s face goes slack.

There’s something off with him today—gone is the fiery, rude boy Jiang Xichen fell in love with—but Jiang Xichen can’t deny that Lan Wanyin still manages to make his heart beat quicker.

“Are you feeling alright?” Jiang Xichen can’t help but to ask and Lan Wanyin’s eyes focus on him again.

“Are you feeling alright?” he shoots back, only to get all flustered again when Jiang Xichen leans in close.

“I am more than fine, being in the presence of my wonderful fiancé,” Jiang Xichen whispers and then daringly brushes his lips over Lan Wanyin’s soft skin.

“Jiang Xichen,” Lan Wanyin says in outrage and Jiang Xichen smiles when he hears the bite to his voice.

“My dear fiancé,” Jiang Xichen gives back, and he can’t help but to reach out and trail his fingertips over the fetching flush on Lan Wanyin’s cheeks.

“You,” Lan Wanyin stammers, but he doesn’t move away and Jiang Xichen takes it as the victory it so clearly is.

He will enjoy getting Lan Wanyin used to all kinds of his touches, Jiang Xichen has no doubt about that.

And he’s looking forward to each and every single outraged yell of his name, as well.

On the other side - Part 2

{Buy me a kofi}

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: Wei Wuxian has achieved time travel! He's gonna fix so many broken things. Unfortunately, WWX has miscalculated a teensy tiny variable and instead of arriving in his original 15yo body in Lotus Pier, he's crash landed in MXY's tiny 7~8yo body at Mo Manor. But no problem, he can fix this if he can just find his real body. (Meanwhile, Yunmeng Jiang's head disciple is acting the wrong kind of childish, aka, Mo Xuanyu is having the weirdest day of his young life.)

Switcheroo - ao3

Mo Xuanyu thought that this Wei Wuxian person whose body he’d stolen must have been a really interesting person, mostly because he’d been here for three days so far and nobody’d noticed the switch yet.

Possibly it had to do with the fact that Mo Xuanyu still wasn’t exactly sure how he’d stolen the body – he’d just gone to sleep in the shed, same as always, and then he’d woken up in the softest bed he’d ever encountered in his life…no, softer than even his dreams! He’d thought it over and concluded that he must have died from cold out in the shed, turned into a fierce ghost out of resentment, grown powerful (somehow), then stolen some rich young master’s body when they weren’t paying close enough attention and, once he’d possessed the body, promptly lost all his memory of being a ghost.

It seemed like the only logical course of events.

He was very sorry about it, though. Wei Wuxian seemed like a nice, if very unusual person.

The first day, Mo Xuanyu had barely even noticed the body-switch, being quite so enamored of the soft bed he was in – he’d refused to get out of bed at all, declaring that he was going to lie in and sleep for a century or more, and the people who’d come to the door to get him didn’t beat him or anything over it, but rather just laughed or rolled their eyes and then left him to it. Luckily, at the time, he’d just assumed he was dead or something and proceeded to ignore everything in favor of napping.

He only acknowledged that he was alive later in the afternoon, when his stomach started growling – it seemed like a very unlikely thing for a dead man’s stomach to do.

Mo Xuanyu had by that point figured out that he wasn’t himself anymore, which was fine since he didn’t much like himself; he’d also figured out, through looking himself over, that he was old now. At least fifteen or sixteen, which was twice the age he last remembered himself being. That was fine, too, though: being older meant that he was stronger and faster and would be better able to handle it when people wanted to beat him or something. Most importantly, though, it meant he was old enough to enter the kitchen on his own!

Mo Xuanyu already knew that he wasn’t allowed to eat at the main table, being only the bastard son of the younger daughter, and the cook back at home was a fierce woman who didn’t allow anyone under the age of ten into her kitchen; as a result, he had to wait for his mother to bring him back some food, and it was always cold and not quite enough. Now, though, since he was older, he figured he might as well try to go to the kitchen and fill his belly that way.

Luckily, while his current body’s house was much bigger than the Mo house, all houses were generally built along the same lines, so it wasn’t hard to find the kitchen. Everyone there laughed when he showed up, even though he’d tried to be very quiet and sneak in and then screwed it up by tripping over his own feet – it seemed like everyone thought he was doing it on purpose to be funny – and then the cooks gave him a meal of his own that was hot and fresh and wonderful.

He'd wolfed it down.

“Honestly, Wei Wuxian, you eat like a hungry ghost, you’d think the Jiang clan starves you,” one of them scolded him, but with a smile, and from that Mo Xuanyu learned that the rich young master was called Wei Wuxian and that he lived with the Jiang clan. The different surnames confused him a little, but he didn’t dare ask any questions about it, so he just stuffed his mouth and pretended that was the reason he couldn’t answer.

No one questioned it.

No one questioned it when he went wandering all around instead of doing whatever chores or duties he’d been assigned, either. Someone had actually seen him hovering by a door and asked him to bring back a pheasant when he returned, so out of lack of better options he’d headed outside to try to go find one.

He had a pretty good time walking around the forest, then remembered what he���d been asked and chased the pheasants for a while, without success . Fortunately, he then got lucky and stumbled over an old snare that had three pheasants caught inside, so he’d picked up the whole box and carted it back home.

“Three,” one of the boys in purple-blue marveled as he saw Mo Xuanyu walking towards the kitchen. “You know, people say that the birds around the Lotus Pier have gotten too smart to be caught easily, but look at our da-shixiong; he makes it look easy!”

From this, Mo Xuanyu could figure out that Wei Wuxian was (apparently!) part of a cultivator clan, apparently located at a place called the Lotus Pier, and that he was the oldest or at least head disciple, to boot. He knew all about cultivator clans from his mother, since apparently his father had been a sect leader, and that meant he knew enough to call the other boy ‘shidi’ as he passed, making the other boy beam happily.

It also meant that when he chanced a guess and called the young woman in a pretty pink dress who waved at him ‘shijie’, she smiled and nodded, which meant to him that he’d done the right thing.

“I heard you slept even more of the morning away than usual,” she told him, but didn’t seem too upset about it. “I bet that means you’ll be skipping dinner and staying up all night, hmm?”

Mo Xuanyu had no intention of skipping dinner if it was anything like what the kitchens had given him earlier, actually, but while he was still trying to figure out a way to say that, she said, leaning in close to whisper, “It’s probably a good idea, anyway – Mother and Father are fighting again. Just go to the kitchens to grab something…I promise I’ll make it up to you with some soup tomorrow, pork ribs and lotus roots, your favorite. All right?”

“Shijie, you’re the best,” Mo Xuanyu said effusively, willing to die for her at once, and she laughed and tousled his hair.

“I am,” she said, looking happy. “And if my little A-Xian stays good and obedient, I may even feed him.”

She did, too, the next day when he finally tore himself out of the beautiful wonderful soft bed and went to go find her. She’d made him soup, just as he’d promised, and laughed and laughed for some reason: apparently, she interpreted him being quiet and not talking too much as his efforts to be ‘good and obedient’, which was apparently so out of the ordinary as to be a deliberate joke.

From this, Mo Xuanyu concluded that the young master he’d possessed, Wei Wuxian, was a jackass.

Well, perhaps that was a bit harsh. Arrogant and self-centered, talented and brave and probably brilliant, definitely charming and maybe even kind, but also spoiled and inclined to step on other people to get where he wanted to go, if Mo Xuanyu had to guess – why else would everyone constantly react as if him not being obnoxious was the world’s biggest stunt?

No one seemed to expect anything of him at all: he didn’t do any chores, and no one batted an eyelid; he didn’t go where he was told, and everyone just sighed…at one point the sect leader himself came and patted him on the head, scolding him in a joking tone that he hadn’t seen him leading any of the training the way he was supposed to – but when Mo Xuanyu quailed, he’d burst out laughing, telling ‘Wei Wuxian’ to stop pretending to be a scared little rabbit, that it was fine if he’d gotten distracted by some clever new invention or whatever, that someone else would handle it, that he should take as long as he needed.

Mo Xuanyu had pasted a great big smile on his face through force of effort and agreed cheerfully.

The sect leader had accepted it.

Probably a jackass, but clearly a beloved one, Mo Xuanyu thought to himself as he packed up clothing and a few small treasures that no one would miss, a little wistful. The scare of the whole encounter had put things in perspective – he wasn’t going to be able to keep up this sort of façade for long. In fact, he was shocked he’d managed it so long already; surely, no matter how many pranks this Wei Wuxian played, no matter how childishly he behaved, surely someone should’ve noticed that he was actually an eight-year-old masquerading as a sixteen-year-old?

Mo Xuanyu couldn’t decide whether it was sad that no one paid too much attention or something that this Wei Wuxian fellow had brought down on his own head by being so consistently annoying.

Either way, there was nothing for it – he was going to have to leave.

Now that part was really sad: he’d never in his life had such good food, or such a soft bed, or even so many people that just seemed plain old happy to see him as since he’d arrived in this place. But he wasn’t the one all those things were for; he was just a sad ghost possessing a person, and if he stayed, the cultivators would eventually figure out something was wrong and exorcise him.

Probably violently.

Mo Xuanyu probably deserved it, too, but despite that he wasn’t willing.

So he packed up what he could and headed out.

He got all the way to the gate before a new purple-clad disciple – about his age, if he had to guess, and holding a pack like he’d just come back from a trip, with a scowl on his face – called out for Wei Wuxian.

Mo Xuanyu waved a little, hoping that that would be enough.

For the first time, it wasn’t.

The boy’s face settled into an even deeper scowl.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” he demanded. “Wei Wuxian! You’re acting all weird – hey! Where are you going?”

Mo Xuanyu was running away, obviously. He wasn’t about to get tied up and exorcised, no thank you.

He didn’t think he’d make it, but it was still worth trying.

Sure enough, the purple-clad boy who was probably called Jiang Cheng, based on what everyone was calling out as they ran by, got tired of running and jumped on his sword, and there was no way Mo Xuanyu would be able to outrun a sword, not even if he tried as fast as he –

Someone picked him up.

It wasn’t Jiang Cheng.

Mo Xuanyu turned his head and stared.

It must be some sort of yao, he thought. Humans were definitely not that pretty.

“Lan Wangji!” Jiang Cheng howled. “What are you even doing in the Lotus Pier?! Put my shixiong down!”

The rescuer, Lan Wangji, frowned a little at Mo Xuanyu.

Mo Xuanyu didn’t know exactly what expression he ought to be making in return, and was a bit too dazed to even dare to guess. He’d just noticed that they were flying – flying! on a sword! – and he was clutching onto this Lan Wangji’s shoulders for dear life.

“You are not Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said. His voice sounded very definitive.

“Uh,” Mo Xuanyu said. “Sorry? Please don’t drop me.”

“I will not. What is your name?”

“Mo Xuanyu,” Mo Xuanyu admitted, and Lan Wangji’s eyes widened as if that meant something to him – except it couldn’t, of course, because Mo Xuanyu was sure he’d never met anyone even remotely like this Lan Wangji fellow in his life. “I don’t remember taking his body. I’m sorry. Can you not exorcise me? I don’t want to die.”

Lan Wangji was silent for a long moment.

He was still flying very fast, and Jiang Cheng was still following, shouting out curses and demands that he stop, not that Lan Wangji was listening.

“There will be no exorcism,” he finally said, and Mo Xuanyu exhaled in relief. “We will, however, fix this.”

“…we?”

“Wei Ying and myself.”

Mo Xuanyu nodded. That sounded more likely than anyone relying on his participation.

“Where are we going?” he asked. Jiang Cheng was falling further and further behind.

“Mo Village.”

Mo Xuanyu tensed up at once.

“You will not be left there,” Lan Wangji clarified, and – how did he know that Mo Xuanyu didn’t want to be left there? “But we must collect Wei Ying, who I suspect is currently in your body.”

“In my…I’m still alive?”

Lan Wangji was quiet again, and then said, “Yes. And you will remain so.”

That was reassuring, mostly.

“Okay,” Mo Xuanyu said, and found that he mostly felt relieved. He’d be very happy to have his normal body back again, if possible, especially if he didn’t have to stay in Mo Village…“Wait, if I don’t have to stay there, where will I go? I don’t have anywhere else to go, unless my father comes back for me. He's a sect leader –”

“He will not, and even if he did, you should not go with him. Once Wei Ying returns to his body, you will be able to stay at the Lotus Pier. If you do not wish to stay there, I will bring you back to the Cloud Recesses – that is my home – instead.”

“Oh,” Mo Xuanyu said, feeling bewildered. That was an awfully nice offer, even if Lan Wangji was feeling guilty about Wei Wuxian stealing his body by accident – which seemed like what had happened here rather than Mo Xuanyu being the one who did the stealing. Maybe he should go with Lan Wangji instead, he seemed much more responsible than Wei Wuxian was, rushing over to rescue him and explain things instead of throwing him into a body and leaving him all alone in a strange place. But on the other hand… “Is the Cloud Recesses…I mean…no offense, but…does it have…”

“Yes?”

“Does it have soft beds, too? And – and hot food?”

Mo Xuanyu didn’t need much, not really. He looked eagerly at Lan Wangji, who had an odd expression on his face briefly before wiping it back to neutral and nodding in confirmation.

“Okay,” Mo Xuanyu said, and curled up in Lan Wangji’s arms. “Then I’ll stay with you. You can take care of me.”

“I will,” Lan Wangji said, sounding strangely serious. “In return for the gift you last gave me – I will.”

[bettydice]

I didn’t expect you to be lonely (too)

Xicheng, Modern AU, JC&WWX reconciliation, E-Rated 

[Read on AO3]

Chapter 7

The night after their date, which was both a disaster and the best date he’s ever had, Jiang Cheng can't sleep. He keeps thinking about Lan Xichen’s shaking hands, the kiss, the kisses that followed, about not casually, about Wei Wuxian dating Lan Xichen's brother. About how if they're not casual, then he'll have to get over himself and at least be able to be in a room together with Wei Wuxian, or Lan Xichen will just be another person suffering from this stupid situation.

If they're… If they are something now. If it lasts. He wants it to last. Which is another thing keeping him awake. How much he already feels for Lan Xichen. How his brain has no problem providing him with… Domestic scenarios. That eventually turn into not so domestic ones. But he’s too tired to do anything about his arousal, so his brain instead comes up with scenarios where Lan Xichen tells him he regrets everything about yesterday and does not want to see him again. Those are… not fun.

Eventually, morning comes. Jiang Cheng stays in bed. He has nothing to do today, he’s tired, and there’s nothing waiting for him in his kitchen except for dirty dishes. So, he grabs his phone and watches some cute bunny compilations on YouTube. After the fifth video he does feel better, so when Wei Wuxian’s daily selfie arrives (Wei Wuxian holds up a very large mug of coffee, winking at the camera), Jiang Cheng doesn’t even get angry or sad. He actually has to smile.

He immediately gets up, gets dressed, doesn’t open the door to his kitchen, and takes the bus to his sister’s house.

Jiang Yanli doesn’t even question why he’s there, simply sets the breakfast table for one more person. Jin Zixuan also doesn’t question him, simply makes him some really strong coffee. After breakfast, he's handed Jin Ling, so his sister and her husband can do some chores, which suits him just fine, because Jin Ling is perfect and amazing and the only one who understands him. He's also a little tired and grumpy today - relatable - so Jiang Cheng ends up on the couch with Jin Ling napping on his chest. Which, alas, means he can't move because he'd wake his precious nephew. With Jin Ling’s reassuring weight keeping him glued to the couch, Jiang Cheng has no choice but to close his eyes.

"A-Cheng. Are you asleep?"

"Mhm."

"A-Cheng, wake up."

When he pries open his eyes, he sees his sister, sitting in the armchair next to the sofa, smiling at them.

"I can't move," Jiang Cheng explains.

"I understand." Of course she does, A-Jie always understands.

He does try to assume a sort of sitting position, so he can better look at her, making sure A-Ling still stays in prime napping position. She has That Look on her face, meaning she wants to Talk About Things, but won't necessarily push him.

"It's really nice that you stopped by today," Jiang Yanli says, and without calling in advance to make sure Wei Wuxian definitely won't be there goes unsaid but not unheard.

"I missed my nephew." Jiang Cheng looks down at A-Ling and smiles. He can’t see much more than one of his chubby cheeks smushed against Jiang Cheng’s chest, and it’s adorable.

"And he missed you." Jiang Yanli smiles and leans forward, so she can gently stroke A-Ling's head. "Did you have a good week?"

Jiang Cheng has to think about Lan Xichen and his kisses and his smile widens, grows impossibly soft, before he quickly tries to wipe it off his face. His sister notices it, of course, as evidenced by her slightly raised eyebrows." Yeah… It was good. "

Jiang Cheng hesitates, because he's not actually sure whether he wants to tell his sister about… All of that. For one, she's paying for his sessions. And it still doesn't feel quite real. Ten days ago he felt horrible and lonely and now Lan Xichen kissed him and is attracted to him and said "slowly, but not casually", which… Does this mean they're boyfriends? That's too quickly, isn't it? But they're not dating, because they both hate dating, but they’re not casual, so the logical conclusion…

"A-Cheng?" Apparently not the first time she's called his name.

"I think I have a boyfriend," is not what he wanted to say and yet his stupid mouth fucking betrays him. Jiang Yanli looks stunned for a few seconds - understandable - then a warm smile spreads over her face. Jiang Cheng lifts his hand, before she can say anything. "I'm… I'm not sure I want to talk about it. It's obviously a recent and surprising turn of events and who knows if anything will actually come of it, you know how I am with relationships, they end before they can start - "

"It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything, if you’re not ready yet."

Jiang Cheng gives her a grateful smile. It’s not that he doesn’t want to talk about it, but…

"How are your massage sessions going? How many have you had yet?" A seemingly random change of topic, but considering…

"Oh… Those are… Good. Relaxing." Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes at his sister who looks so unassuming and innocent… Fuck. She knows. Jiang Cheng's face immediately grows hot. He doesn't know why he ever even tries to keep a secret in this family. "A-jie, how did you.. It's not… He is…"

"As I said, you don't have to talk about it. But you can. You can always talk to me. About anything."

She doesn’t mean it as a reprimand, but Jiang Cheng immediately feels guilty. He has been … many things, these past few months. Has sometimes been unfairly angry at his sister, because she still meets with Wei Wuxian, because Wei Wuxian didn't abandon her, too. Has visited less, and not only because he didn't want to risk bumping into his brother. Hadn’t wanted his sister to know how poorly he was doing, to realise how shitty everything in his life was going.

"I know. Sorry, A-jie."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"Just… For being an idiot."

His sister’s smile stays warm, but her tone is a little stern when she says: "You're not an idiot." She leans forward and gently strokes his forehead. Just like she usually does with A-Ling. Just like...

The door opens and someone enters the room. Jiang Cheng turns towards the wall, mortified. Since his sister isn’t home, it must be Wei Wuxian.

“Fuck off.”

Wei Wuxian does not, of course, fuck off. Instead, he comes over and sits down on the edge of the bed.

“I really liked your poem. Which is saying a lot, because I barely made it through without screaming. Horrifying subject matter.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t answer, just squeezes his eyes shut and tries to get his tears to stop falling with the power of his mind.

“You described that dog in such vivid detail, I thought I’d have a heart attack!”

Is Wei Wuxian here to make fun of him? He knows it was just a stupid little poem that can’t compare to getting first place at that stupid science fair. Isn’t it enough to hear that from his mother - does his brother have to rub it in, too? He knows he’s pathetic, crying about this like a little boy.

“Huaisang was raving about it all afternoon. He really liked the… meter you used. Whatever that means.”

Jiang Cheng wipes his face and turns around. Just enough so he can see his brother out of the corner of his eye. “He said that?”

“Yeah! He also said ‘I didn’t realise Jiang Cheng was able to create such beautiful metaphors, I think I’m going to put him on my list of people I’d allow to give me a blowjob.”

Jiang Cheng groans and fully turns around, so he can throw a pillow at his brother. “He didn’t say that!”

Wei Wuxian easily catches the pillow and grins. “It was implied! Anyway… I thought, maybe you want to write some lyrics for Yiling Laozu? I feel like our metaphor game is really lacking at the moment.”

Jiang Cheng frowns. “If you’re just taking the piss…”

“I mean it!” Wei Wuxians reaches out like he wants to wipe Jiang Cheng’s tears, but seems to think better of it. Instead, he starts stroking Jiang Cheng’s forehead.

Jiang Cheng feels… like his tears are going to return. He frowns even harder. “I’m not a fucking baby. Stop that.”

“Aw, but that’s where you’re wrong! You’re my baby brother! Sweet little ChengCheng!”

“Fuck off!”

Jiang Cheng tries to shove Wei Wuxian from the bed with his foot, but Wei Wuxian tackles him instead, wraps his arms around him and squeezes him. Coos into his ear in a disgustingly sweet voice: “My talented Didi! My precious A-Di! Just a tiny, tiny baby with the heart of a poet!”

Jiang Cheng complains loudly and tries to free himself. But he can’t help but laugh.

"Wei Wuxian sends me a selfie every morning." Once again, his stupid mouth does things without his permission.

"Does he now." Jiang Yanli doesn’t even bat an eyelash at the fact Jiang Cheng’s word vomit jumps from possible boyfriend to Wei Wuxian’s selfies.

"He wouldn't do that if he didn't want anything to do with me… Right?"

"He wouldn't. He misses you.” Jiang Yanli, still stroking his head, hesitates, before she says: “Maybe you can consider it… an opening?"

Jiang Cheng closes his eyes for a while, as though that would help him sort the emotional chaos in his mind.

"Wei Wuxian is dating Lan Xichen's brother."

"Yes."

"Are they… Is it serious?"

Just like Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian never had relationships. But not because he was inherently unlovable or scared everyone off with his frown, or anything like that. He used to get crushes all the time that fizzled out just as quickly, said it would be too selfish to be tied down, everyone should be able to enjoy the wonders of being with Wei Wuxian. Though his brother also got way less action than he let people assume.

"Oh, they're… definitely serious." Jiang Yanli laughs.Jiang Cheng opens his eyes again. He wants to ask more, as though now he's fed the monster in his chest scraps of Wei Wuxian’s life, it has realised it’s been starving and craves more and more.

In comparison, it actually seems safer to talk about Lan Xichen. "Lan Xichen might be my boyfriend. Possibly. Hopefully?"

Jiang Yanli, once again, doesn’t comment on the topic change. She does pull back her hand and sits upright, a curious look on her face. "Might?"

"So, we went on a date and we concluded we both dislike dating but like each other and… And he said we should do this ‘slowly, but not casually’. And we… Well, the date ended very… It was nice. So. What do you think?"

He resolutely stares at a spot just above Jiang Yanli's shoulder, refusing to acknowledge his burning face. He's just hot because he's trapped under his nephew who is in the 93rd percentile of weight for toddlers his age. Jiang Cheng’s not sure what it means, but he chooses to believe that A-Ling is stronger and better than 92% of toddlers. And louder than 99%. He’s very proud of his nephew.

"It does sound as though you're both interested in pursuing a relationship with each other."

"So you don't think it's too early?"

"Too early for what?"

"Just… Thinking about him like that."

"You did already like him when you were a teenager."

"What the fuck?” Jiang Cheng does look at her then, mouth open in shock. ”How did you… Nie Huaisang told you, didn't he?"

"He didn't have to." Jiang Yanli tries to hide her smile behind her hand, but Jiang Cheng knows it's there.

Jiang Cheng is just… going to move past this. "But I didn't know him back then. I've not even known him for two weeks and already..."

I'm in love with him. It's not like it's not like him. Jiang Cheng doesn't fall for people often, but when he does, he falls hard. It's just that until now, none of them (none of the two people he’s liked like this before) had ever liked him back.

"Sometimes, two people just fit well together."

Jiang Cheng immediately wants to say "Nobody would fit well with me, I only have sharp edges" but his sister would disagree immediately. And… He can't deny it does feel like they… They just fit, somehow. Even if Jiang Cheng often feels like he doesn't even fit his own skin, like his life doesn't fit him. Spending time with Lan Xichen had been easy from the beginning, the only complications being the issues Jiang Cheng brings into every interaction with another human. And bunny pee.

Jiang Cheng can't help but laugh at the memory.

"Whatever is happening between you two... I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy, A-Cheng, no matter what you think." Jiang Yanli puts her hand on his shoulder, so he can’t help looking at her. Jiang Cheng does, even though his eyes are burning. His sister looks… intense. The way she looks when something is truly, deeply important to her. "You also deserve to find out that A-Xian doesn't hate you. That he loves and misses you. That he's just as scared he's lost you forever. One of you just has to be brave so you can both realize you still love each other."

Jiang Cheng is saved from having to give a response that's not just crying hysterically, by a very… specific sound coming from his nephew, followed by a very specific smell. Followed by A-Ling waking up and crying, loudly.

"Do you want to take care of this?" his sister asks, resigned to the fact he definitely won’t want to do that. Luckily, there's a solution.

"Jin Zixuan! Hey, come here! Your son is crying for you!" Jiang Cheng yells, sitting upright and carefully holds A-Ling away from his body.

Jin Zixuan does immediately come rushing into the living room, only to frown as soon as the smell hits him.

"Would you mind, A-Xuan…?" his sister asks with the sweetest smile and, of course, Jin Zixuan grabs A-Ling without any complaints, only sends a dark look in Jiang Cheng's direction, who smirks at him.

Jiang Cheng spends the entire day at their house. He helps his sister cook, takes A-Ling to the playground, takes another nap with A-Ling during the afternoon. When hehe falls into his bed at night, his mind feels much quieter and he can sleep peacefully.

Jiang Cheng’s next appointment isn’t until Tuesday, but they exchange a lot of messages in the meantime. Lan Xichen sends him pictures of the bunnies, of his plants, and of his meals. Jiang Cheng, who has neither pets nor meals worthy of taking pictures, suddenly finds himself going on a lot of walks, so he can send Lan Xichen pictures of trees and artsy shots of leaves in puddles. Lan Xichen told him to keep the scarf, so he wears it every time he leaves the house. It keeps him warm.

Now, standing in front of Lan Xichen’s door, Jiang Cheng suddenly feels nervous. They agreed to not mix business with pleasure, so to say. It will be just a very normal session. But Lan Xichen already invited him to stay for dinner after and Jiang Cheng enthusiastically agreed.

It's not a date, because they don't date, but… Will they kiss? He wouldn't mind more kisses…

Lan Xichen greets him with his usual smile and they stare awkwardly at each other for only about ten seconds before Lan Xichen asks him to come inside. He smiles when Jiang Cheng takes off the scarf.

They do manage to keep the session professional, except for one little moment. When Lan Xichen wraps Jiang Cheng in a towel and tucks in the edges, he also tucks a stray hair behind Jang Cheng’s ear. They share a soft look and a smile, then Lan Xichen clears his throat and leaves the room after turning on the music.

Later, they prepare dinner together, and his nervousness earlier turns out to be unfounded. It’s easy for them to just switch into… Jiang Cheng calls it ‘Boyfriend Mode’ in his head, though he’d never say it out loud. Lan Xichen is a very tactile person and Jiang Cheng finds he’s a person who… craves touch. Sometimes their hands will brush against each other, or Jiang Cheng will lean against Lan Xichen, or Lan Xichen will put his hand on Jiang Cheng’s waist or the small of his back. It just seems to come naturally for them and… He never knew or expected it could be this easy.

They kiss. It is simple, like their other touches. Lan Xichen is stirring the pot, while Jiang Cheng tells him about a cute dog he saw during one of his walks. Their eyes meet, Lan Xichen smiles, Jiang Cheng returns the smile. Lan Xichen leans towards him. They kiss. Short, but very tender. Lan Xichen smiles again, his whole face lights up and they kiss again, a little longer. It feels… like a habit. As though they’ve been doing this for a long time, as though they will be doing this for a long time. Which doesn’t mean it’s not also exciting. It makes him feel hot, but in a way that’s soothing… Like drinking hot cocoa after walking through the snow.

During dinner, Lan Xichen asks him about his weekend and Jiang Cheng tells him about the time he spent with A-Ling, which reminds him of the conversation he had with his sister. Jiang Cheng’s first instinct is to ignore that reminder… but Lan Xichen said honesty is very important to him. Jiang Cheng should be upfront. They need to talk about their families and how they want to tell them sooner or later anyway, if this is... And considering their brothers’ relationship… He doesn't want to be responsible for Lan Xichen getting in situations where he might have to lie to his brother or conceal something from him.

So Jiang Cheng spends the rest of the meal trying to mentally prepare himself for yet another conversation about their relationship, possibly about feelings, too. He’s had so many of those in the past few weeks. Maybe all the conversations he’s avoided over the past year can’t be pushed back anymore, and are now trying to break through all at once. Maybe it’s him being selfish… he knows he needs to sort out his life if he wants to be with Lan Xichen. Or maybe… when he cried in front of Lan Xichen and felt safe and understood instead of humiliated… maybe that helped him to stop running away from conversations that scared him.

"Lan-laoshi…There's something I wanted to talk about with you."

"Ah, maybe drop the laoshi when we're... like this?" Lan Xichen chuckles lightly, as he closes the dishwasher. Then he sits back down at the kitchen table and smiles warmly at Jiang Cheng. “What did you want to talk about?”

"Right, I can do that… anyway, I should tell you… I told my sister. About you. Us. This." Jiang Cheng takes a sip from his water, so he stops adding unnecessary words. "I hope that's okay? We didn't really discuss whether… and things are a little complicated right now anyway, with our families… "

Lan Xichen's eyes widen a little. He looks surprised, but not concerned. "Oh, of course. I don’t mind at all."

"Have you… have you told your brother yet?"

"Ah… Wangji knows that there is someone, but… “ Lan Xichen cocks his head, then says softly: “I understand your relationship with Wei Wuxian is somewhat tense at the moment, so… Would you want to tell your brother yourself?"

Jiang Cheng can't help the bitter laugh that escapes him. "I'm not talking to my brother at all these days."

"Oh, I didn't realise… That must be difficult, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, it's my fault."

Right. Lan Xichen doesn't know. Once he knows, he'll probably be disappointed in him. Maybe get second thoughts after all. He really shouldn't have told his sister, it's too early, too fragile, Nie Huaisang knows too… Soon, they'll both know when Jiang Cheng gets rightfully dumped and…

Lan Xichen rests his hand warmly on top of Jiang Cheng's. His eyes and his smile are just as warm. The gesture is both a reassurance and an invitation. Jiang Cheng doesn’t have to talk about it, doesn’t have to say anything, but he could.

And he really can. He could… tell Lan Xichen anything. Show him the worst parts of himself and… Even if it changes his opinion of Jiang Cheng, he wouldn’t make him feel worse than he already does.

It's not really a conversation that can be avoided, is it? So he should just go ahead and get it over with.

“I do want to tell you… it’s just…” Jiang Cheng sighs and drags a hand over his face. “I’m not sure I can do… I’ve never… So I don’t know how I would… I might be a mess.”

Lan Xichen simply smiles, nods, and says: “Alright.”

Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Cheng is sitting on the couch, a pot of tea is on the table in front of him, and the bunnies are exploring the living room. Lan Xichen places a box of tissues on the couch table, before sitting down next to him. Jiang Cheng can’t help but laugh at that.

He’s never actually tried to put into words what happened, because Jiang Yanli knows what happened. He assumes Wei Wuxian told her, anyway, and the rest she must’ve guessed correctly because she knows them so well… And he’s been ignoring anyone else who could ask about it. So now he has to find words to give to Lan Xichen, has to tell him about how horrible Jiang Chang has been, can be, when he wants to show him anything but.

Jiang Cheng is too scared to look at him while he talks. Scared to see the very moment Lan Xichen switches from sympathy to judgment. He doesn’t want to see Lan Xichen’s eyes when they start seeing him the same way Jiang Cheng sees himself.

He tries to stick to the facts: After Jiang Yanli moved in with Jin Zixuan, they sold their family home.Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were going to get a flat closer to uni together. They found one; Jiang Cheng paid for the deposit. A week after the move, the day before their moving in party, Wei Wuxian told him he was moving in with the Wens instead to help take care of A-Yuan, since Wen Ning’s hospital stay didn’t seem to be a short one. Jiang Cheng got angry. They had a fight (Jiang Cheng barely remembers what they said) that ended with Jiang Cheng telling Wei Wuxian he’s free to leave. Specifically told him to ‘go the fuck away and stay away’. And Wei Wuxian listened. In the past year, they’ve seen each other two times: Jiang Yanli’s birthday and Jin Ling’s birthday.

Saying it out loud, hearing it out loud…

“So, in conclusion: I’m a fucking asshole. Now you know.” Jiang Cheng laughs, a bitter sound, and his fingernails dig into his palms. He still can’t look at Lan Xichen.

Lan Xichen… doesn’t say anything. But he takes his hand.

“Thank you for telling me.”

Jiang Cheng closes his eyes. Will this be followed by ‘I didn’t realise this is the kind of person you are’ or ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t be doing this with you’? He knows Lan Xichen won’t actually say either of this, but…

“Wanyin… would you look at me?”

Jiang Cheng really doesn’t want to, but… Lan Xichen said his name so carefully, so gently… He opens his eyes and turns his head.

Lan Xichen’s eyes are still kind.

Jiang Cheng’s heart draws tight, so tight it hurts. And then… it softens.

Lan Xichen smiles. This is not unusual. After all, he’s very generous with his smiles. Jiang Cheng still finds himself surprised.

“You must have been very hurt.” Lan Xichen squeezes his hand when he says this. Which is good, because Jiang Cheng can focus on that instead. On the warmth of his hand, his elegant, long fingers covering his. Instead of… How Lan Xichen picked this to focus on, after everything he said.

Did he make it sound like it was Wei Wuxian’s fault? He’s been hiding behind his anger and blame for so long, maybe that has influenced his telling of the events. Maybe Lan Xichen got the wrong idea. “I… Yes, but… that’s no excuse. He was just helping… he was doing the right thing, even if I… and it’s been so long, so I should really… I should have apologized a long time ago, I’m the one who messed it all up.”

“Are you waiting for him to make the first step?”

He can’t hear any judgment in Lan Xichen’s voice. He’s not saying ‘this is your fault, so you should be the one apologizing’. He’s simply asking about Jiang Cheng’s feelings, because he thinks they matter. Though there’s nothing simple about his feelings.

Jiang Cheng has verbalized this part many times. Has said ‘he abandoned me, he should be the one who apologises’, and variations of it, to his sister. But deep down it’s not what he actually thinks. Because Lan Xichen’s eyes are still kind, because he’s holding his hand, because there’s no judgment, because he doesn’t expect him to answer a certain way… Jiang Cheng tries to be honest.

“I think I am. He’s always… Whenever we fought, he was always the one… Well, he didn’t apologise, but he just went back to teasing me, went back to normal… He knows I just get angry, no matter what I actually feel, he used to know that… I thought it’d be the same this time. But… So, maybe he doesn’t want to make up.”

Tears burn in his eyes and he’s not sure it’s even worth the effort trying to hold them back. They’ll spill sooner or later, just like these words are spilling from his mouth, now that he’s allowing them to. He’s still looking at Lan Xichen’s hand. At both their hands, resting on Lan Xichen’s thigh. Lan Xichen’s thumb strokes the back of his hand, so Jiang Cheng continues.

“If I went to him, he would come back. He’s always… I know he would. But I don’t want to be an obligation or a burden for him. I don’t want him to feel pity for me. If he doesn’t want to… And I understand, our relationship has never been easy. We always existed in comparison to each other and I know he held himself back sometimes, to make up for my lacking… I had thought, with my parents gone it would be - which is a horrible thought - but I thought it would get easier, gentler. But I guess I’m still me. So… I understand. And if he thinks I hate him, he’ll stay away. He seems happy with his life, so…”

Jiang Cheng is crying now, can’t even be bothered by it. And there’s still more words waiting to burst out of him, finally freed after a year of living only in the darkest corners of Jiang Cheng’s heart. Lan Xichen still isn’t saying anything, just listens to everything, holds his hand, shares his warmth with Jiang Cheng, so he doesn’t feel cold while baring himself.

“I can’t help it though, I’m still… I’m still angry. Not just at myself, at him. He said we’d always be brothers, would always be together… I know it’s childish, but he shouldn’t have said it if he didn’t mean it. If he was able to just leave like that, he shouldn’t have… They were my friends, too, I could have helped! He just made his choice and left! And fine, if he’s happier that way… Fine! But then he sends me his stupid selfies, every fucking day! Who does that? Why would he… He should just stay gone, if that’s what he wants!”

He draws in a shuddering breath and sinks back against the couch. There. He’s said everything he’s been holding in. He feels… He doesn’t know what he feels. Drained? Relieved?

Though there’s one more thing, one last thought that wants to escape: “I miss him so much.”

They’re both quiet for a while. Jiang Cheng, who is avoiding Lan Xichen’s eyes again, grabs a tissue and wipes his face. He’s thinking about making a ‘funny’ comment about how the tissues did come in handy after all to break the silence, but Lan Xichen is quicker: “Can I give you a hug?”

Jiang Cheng turns to look at him and… He doesn’t know what to make of Lan Xichen’s expression, his voice. There’s understanding and sympathy, but he also looks… sad, maybe, and it feels like he’s asking to be hugged just as much as he’s asking to give a hug. Jiang Cheng nods and immediately, Lan Xichen lets go of his hand, wraps his arms around him and pulls him close. Jiang Cheng returns the hug tightly, buries his face in Lan Xichen’s hair. Tightens his hold whenever Lan Xichen does the same.

The hug is maybe one of the best he’s ever received. Lan Xichen hugs without restraint. Doesn't hold back, doesn’t feel embarrassed about wanting to hold someone. Doesn't feel embarrassed about seeking such closeness.

Jiang Cheng feels warm and safe and… liked. Even after everything he just said. So he keeps holding on to him until Lan Xichen eventually draws back. He doesn’t fully let go of Jiang Cheng, he only pulls away enough to smile down at him.

“Thank you for telling me. That can’t have been easy.”

“Uh, well, thank you for listening. And it… well, actually it ended up being too easy. Sorry, I just kinda barfed up all those words.” Oh fuck, way to ruin a moment.

However, Lan Xichen simply laughs, before he turns more serious again. “Do you want to hear my thoughts? Or do you just want to rest now?”

Oh… He is exhausted. But simply the fact Lan Xichen gives him this choice is enough to makes him want to keep talking. “I’d like to hear what you think.”

Lan Xichen turns a little, so they can look at each other more comfortably. Jiang Cheng also adjusts his position, until they’re facing each other. Lan Xichen takes Jiang Cheng’s hand again, while the other rests on Jiang Cheng’s knee.

“I don’t think you’re an asshole.”

Jiang Cheng grimaces at such an obvious lie. Lan Xichen chuckles and lifts his hand to smooth out Jiang Cheng’s frown with his fingertips. “Don’t frown, let me finish talking.”

He rolls his eyes a little, but stops frowning and nods.

“I think your anger is very understandable. Your hurt, too. It’s easy to look back at this moment and see everything that went wrong, what you could have done better. But back then you were shocked and hurt, so you lashed out. It doesn’t matter if your brother had good intentions, or did ‘the right thing’... that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be upset how it affected you.”

Lan Xichen casually wipes away a tear that escaped Jiang Cheng’s eye and continues talking.

“It seems you’ve carried around this moment since then, have thought about it every day, have regretted it every day. And every additional day you weren’t talking made what you did worse in your eyes. So with every day that goes by, trying to fix it becomes even harder. But I don’t think it’s impossible, not at all. What you told me just now… you could tell it to Wei Wuxian.”

Jiang Cheng, who had been stunned into silence by Lan Xichen’s words simultaneously piercing his heart and soothing it, adamantly shakes his head. Probably frowns again. “ Fuck no. I can’t talk with him about this… I’m not good at talking about my feelings.”

“Oh?” Lan Xichen seems to be holding back a laugh. “But you just did it. Very well, in my opinion.”

“That’s different!”

“How?”

“Well… because you’re you. And Wei Wuxian and I… we never talked about the painful stuff because we knew it would end badly. And even if I would manage to talk about it without getting angry or saying hurtful things… Getting him to talk honestly about his feelings would be just as difficult.”

“Maybe he’s been thinking about this as much as you did and has his own regrets.”

Jiang Cheng's first instinct is, of course, to disagree, but… Lan Xichen has said so many things he wants to be true, has said things that felt true… “Yeah… maybe.”

“I know confronting the issue is scary. But maybe it’s more scary to think this… hm… this limbo you’re in will continue? You’re regretting, you’re missing him… but you’re also still hoping. I think so, anyway.”

“Yeah…” Jiang Cheng rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah… maybe… “

Lan Xichen looks at him fondly, eyes crinkling. He caresses his cheek again, wiping a few more tears in the process. Jiang Cheng would like to hug him again, would like to kiss him, to bury himself in his warmth. But he realises he really needs to blow his nose, so he does that instead of any of those much nicer things. “Ugh… sorry. Somehow I always end up crying all over you.”

“Ah, last time it was my turn, now you again… it can be our thing.”

Jiang Cheng gives him an incredulous look and they both laugh. “No thank you, that sounds exhausting. I’m sure we can think of something less emotionally draining.”

Lan Xichen hums, clearly amused and presses a kiss to the back of Jiang Cheng’s hand. “True, that would definitely be preferable. But… just for the record… I do not mind. Thank you for trusting me with this. I know how difficult it is to show someone… the parts of yourself you’re ashamed of. It’s something I’m still struggling with. ...As you know.”

Lan Xichen seems embarrassed, which Jiang Cheng cannot accept, so he lifts their hands and presses a kiss to Lan Xichen’s hand this time. “I do trust you. And I… you’re much better at all of this, of course, but you can trust me too, with stuff like that. I’ll try to be… you know... Uhm, anyway, I think I do feel catharsis now! So maybe that’s just our thing, haha.”

“Mhm, definitely sounds better than emotional devastation. Though I suppose they often are closely linked.”

They share another smile, and Jiang Cheng once again thinks how much he’d like to kiss him. But once again, he doesn’t. He suddenly becomes painfully aware of the dried tears on his cheeks, so he excuses himself to go wash his face. He returns to Lan Xichen sitting on the floor between the bunnies and joins him.

This time, Cloud doesn’t pee on him. Lan Xichen still drives him home later and they kiss in the car.

There’s an underlying tenderness every time Lan Xichen touches him. Jiang Cheng only hopes his own touch feels the same. But this kiss… It’s really… They’ve been good at kissing from the start. But this time…It leaves him breathless.

It’s a kiss like their hug earlier. Without embarrassment. Without the need to hold back or hide any feelings. Even though Lan Xichen would have every reason to be cautious.

Once they’ve caught their breath, Lan Xichen invites him over for Thursday afternoon. No massage this time. Just a walk, then tea and cake at his apartment after. Jiang Cheng agrees, obviously. Even if he had class or something, he’d probably still agree. After a kiss like that…

Later, he finds himself in bed with a notebook. It’s a present Wei Wuxian got him - made for him - for his 18th birthday. It has Jiang Cheng’s poems, in beautiful calligraphy… and with illustrations by Wei Wuxian. He even drew a dog for him.

Wei Wuxian… probably misses him, too.

Maybe they can be better brothers after all this. Maybe Jiang Cheng can be a better brother.

The thought of contacting him is still terrifying. But… it feels like the terror becomes smaller.

So, maybe soon…