#the worst part is jiang cheng KNEW | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

suspiciouscorpsicle · 1 month ago

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a decently-long (a bit over 46000 words), NSFW wangxian monsterfucker fic, in an alt canon-ish setting where the world is a kinder place, and lwj is an ancient, extra-dimensional being living in the mountain the Lan clan built their sect on. there's no war, and wwx has earned greater respect and a more stable place in the Jiang sect, either due to Madam Yu chilling out, or him inventing talismans that really help the sect out, or some combination of the two.

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Wei Wuxian woke in the guest quarters of the Cloud Recesses to a night filled with music.

For several long moments, he lay still and listened. The music flooded the peak, without origin or echo; a gentle current of sound with an undertow of mystery. A grin blossomed across his face as he let himself be drawn in.

Rising, he pulled on his outer robe without bothering to close it or tie up his hair. No one else would be awake to see him, aside from perhaps one of the younger disciples on their patrols, but they were easy enough to avoid. He took up his flute and slipped out of his room, ears perked just in case anyone else was stirring. It wasn't likely, not if this was the same phenomenon he'd encountered thirteen years previously. Although the song with all its unearthly beauty and inhuman harmonies was as clear to him as the rustling of the wind in the leaves or the chirping of crickets, he was fairly certain no one else could hear it.

Silently, he left the guest rooms behind. His sworn brother would threaten to break his legs if he knew. As Jiang Cheng's second, any mischief Wei Wuxian got up to would reflect on him, and potentially make the talks between Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan more difficult. It had been thirteen years since he had studied in the Cloud Recesses for a brief three months when he'd been fifteen. Since then, he hadn't been back until Jiang Cheng had been sent to handle a renewal of the alliance between the sects in his parents' stead. It was part of his training as the next sect leader, and Wei Wuxian had been strongly and repeatedly reminded to behave himself and not give anyone a reason to kick him out again. Being the sworn brother of the Jiang sect heir would make such a matter considerably thornier than it had been back when he was the head disciple at best, and a mere servant at worst.

Happily, he had no plans to make trouble that evening. He simply wanted to offer a greeting to an old friend of sorts.

In minutes, he had left the pristine paths and elegant buildings behind, robes flapping loose in the shadows of the forest. He was grinning, alight with freedom and a sense of adventure. There was a mystery in the Cloud Recesses, one that he hadn't been able to solve years ago. Even his faulty memory hadn't lost the curious quality of the music that sometimes filled the empty Gusu nights. It had stayed with him as if imprinted on his mind.

Now, older and more skilled, filled with excitement born of curiosity, and determined to discover at last who the unknown musician was, he raced through the deep blue Gusu night. The air was cold and crisp, full of the resinous scent of pine, and the warm, earthy odor of loam. He felt almost as if he flew, drawn on by the unearthly music that called to him even more strongly now than it had when he'd been a teenager.

Back then, he had chased after it, thinking to find a kindred spirit up at all hours, making music in direct defiance of the rules. The forest had always left him turned around and chasing shadows, however, never able to pin down the source of the melody. He had tried calling out, and when that had failed utterly, he had begun trying to communicate in a more creative way. Always keeping an ear out for the watchdog patrols that would drag him back for punishment if he was caught, Wei Wuxian had begun taking his flute with him into the forest to play. He'd hoped that if he answered a song with a song, that the musician would come out of hiding.

At first, his only answer had been immediate and unrelenting silence. The music he had followed into the depths of a Gusu forest had halted the moment Wei Wuxian had tried to join in with its unearthly beauty. He thought perhaps he had laughed at that. He thought he might have jokingly scolded the unseen musician for considering a dizi accompaniment too plain, an insult to their skill. It was hard to remember exactly what had passed, however. Harder than usual. Those nights when the mountains had sung to him retained a dreamlike quality. Mostly, he remembered the music...and the sense that someone was listening.

Eventually, his persistence had paid off. As he played a half-forgotten lullaby to the listening woods one night, his elusive musician had picked up the tune, filling in the holes that Wei Wuxian's shoddy memory had created. His mother had used to hum that song to him, but he'd lost parts of it over the years. Hearing it from an unseen stranger that night, as warm and soothing as if plucked directly from memories even Wei Wuxian could no longer reach, brought an unexpected sting of tears to his eyes. That moment, a stray drop of ink in the book of his life, had left an indelible mark on his memory.

After that, he had enjoyed a number of duets with the musician. Looking back, those nights had the feel of holding a conversation while caught in a fever dream. He could no longer recall if the give and take had held any deeper meaning, although it was certain he had felt it did at the time.

Perhaps this night would be no different—an exchange of song so close to conversation that he could simply fill in the words as he pleased, nonsensical though they might be. The night already felt dreamy. There was something in the air that shivered with potential, some quality to the moonlight that made everything stand out with striking clarity. He laughed as he ran, breathless and full of the joy that came from simply cutting loose in a place so forbidding of exuberance. The forest seemed to unfold before him as if sung into existence by some magic in the music, stronger than it had ever been before. An unending trill was the succession of trees, a deep, resonating note was the rise of a sheer rock face, a rolling hum was the twist in the openings between trees, a near invisible path that he followed as he let the melody guide his feet. He became part of the music as he ran, flowing from note to note, heart beating to keep time. Wei Wuxian lost all sense of where he was. If he'd paused to think, he wouldn't have been certain that he could get back. All he knew was the music singing in his blood, and the call in it that couldn't be ignored. He felt seen.

He felt as if he was being welcomed home.

Leaping a stream, his sense of the music faltered, nearly causing him to trip as his body stopped while his mind tried to rush onward. With barely a blink of hesitation, he turned back, bare feet splashing through the water, grin so wide it nearly hurt. He followed the stream until his feet were numb. Around him, the forest grew thick with ancient, looming trees. Moonlight caught in the canopy high above, like bright-scaled fish in a net. The stream was nothing but the soft burble of rushing water and the occasional glint of silver. And still the music swelled eagerly, filling his chest until he was drowning in it, and diving deeper still.

He plunged into darkness as impenetrable as kicked-up silt from the riverbeds back home. It wasn't his eyes that told him he'd entered a cave, but the echo of sound, the way the smell of cold stone overtook that of pine. Still, he didn't falter, not until the ground dropped out from beneath him, angling sharply downward and causing him to fall. The dreamy night had left his reflexes sluggish, and fiery pain bloomed in one ankle as it struck stone during his tumble. He yelped then, a sharp sound, so out of place that it broke the spell as it echoed back to him from the depths of the cave. Momentum kept him going, spilling him down the rocky incline to dump him unceremoniously into a pool of water where the ground leveled out once more.

Shaking his head to clear it, he looked around, taking stock as he got to his feet. There was actually more light there underground, coming from luminous growths along the wall—pearlescent lichen, and strings of something that looked unpleasantly slimy but glowed a beautiful, luna moth green. He realized that his heart was racing, and that he was gasping for breath. Slowly, he brought himself under control, distantly aware of his injured ankle. The sharp pain was a mere distraction against the conscious awareness that the music he'd been following had stopped.

He looked around, peering into every corner that he could see. He was alone in a stone grotto roughly three times the size of his room back at Lotus Pier. The stream he'd followed fed into a clear pool that took up half the space, and glimmered with reflected light. An incline across the expanse of the grotto led to a low-ceilinged, pitch black opening. Perhaps his musician was there?

“Hello?”

One step forward, and the pain in his ankle flared halfway up his leg. He halted, meaning to take a look at the damage, then froze as something moved in the darkness across the cavern.

All thoughts about his ankle fled as he heard a sound like sleet on stone, and looked up to see a huge creature flow over the top of the incline. It was insectoid, flat and rounded and, as it came fully into view, shaped much like a horseshoe crab with its plate shell and long spine-like tail. Rather than a deep, mottled brown, however, it was a nacreous white, gleaming in the cave as if someone had plucked the moon from the sky and given it life. Moss had taken hold on its back, a thick, carpet from which sprung fiddleheads that swayed with its every movement, slender mushrooms, fans of lichen, and strange, branching fungi. Sparks like pale blue fireflies danced above the moss, rising from the lush green and fading to darkness a hand-span or so above the mushrooms and ferns. The creature stood nearly as tall as Wei Wuxian, and was twice as long, not counting the tail, which whipped to and fro in apparent agitation.

Fear was never Wei Wuxian's first reaction. He had something of a deficit in that regard. As his brain failed to categorize the creature before him, however, as it advanced on him with its quick, insectoid scurry, as he saw what he thought must be a dark, prehensile tongue nearly as thick as his arm unfurl in his direction, he became very suddenly and sharply aware that he had neither weapons nor talismans. Never so proud that he wouldn't temporarily retreat from the few fights he'd faced that he couldn't win, he took another step back. Immediately he bit his tongue to keep from shouting in pain as his injured ankle screamed at him for relief and gave out.

Too late, he flooded his ankle with spiritual energy to block pain and strengthen injured flesh. He dropped gracelessly onto his ass in the freezing cold stream, and the creature surged forward through the pool, seizing its chance. With an involuntary shout, Wei Wuxian raised his arms to fight back...and found that they hung useless against an attack that never came. Instead, the creature had stopped just shy of his feet, stone-still except for the rustling of the plants on its back and the sway of something unseen that had nothing to do with the multiple, segmented legs beneath the bulk of its body. Two of the limbs hanging there were slightly shorter, and ended in claws twice the size of Wei Wuxian's hands. It had no eyes that he could see, but the weight of its attention was palpable. Then, adding one more shock to Wei Wuxian's already addled mind, it began to sing. The melody was entrancingly familiar.

“It's you,” Wei Wuxian breathed, relaxing all at once.

Then, because something about the sound was strange, he clapped his hands over his ears. It did nothing to mute the music which flowed directly into his brain where it formed a gentle current around his thoughts. The more he focused on it, the more he got the sense that he wasn't hearing any of it with his ears. Somehow, the creature was singing straight into his mind.

“I've been looking for you,” Wei Wuxian said absently, trying to listen harder without physically listening as he lowered his hands.

Feeling calmer, he could think more rationally about the situation. There had been no wards around the mouth of the cave, or even along the walls leading deeper. There was nothing trapping the creature here, and he didn't believe for a moment that the Gusu Lan sect was ignorant of such a being dwelling in the Cloud Recesses. If it hadn't been sealed or banished, then it wasn't malicious. That didn't mean it would be particularly friendly to a wandering outsider who probably shouldn't have found it in the first place, but at least Wei Wuxian was reasonably certain that it wasn't likely to try to kill him.

“I used to answer you,” he told it with a grin. “Did you ever hear me play? Sometimes it seemed like you tried to improvise with me, but it was hard to tell. Your song is very strange.” He laughed, then added: “Beautiful, though. Strange, but beautiful.”

Taking his flute from his waist, he put it to his lips and played a lively riff. It sent ripples through the melody in his head, and his eyes crinkled above his grin. He played a longer phrase, letting the notes dance around the creature's song. It would have sounded terribly odd to anyone listening in, a counterpoint without the accompanying piece, but he sensed in the ethereal melody that the creature was pleased, and Wei Wuxian very much wanted to please it. He wanted to charm it, and find out what it was and how it had come to be hidden in caverns beneath the Cloud Recesses. The discovery of such a secret delighted and intrigued him in equal measures.

I'm your friend, he thought as he played. I want to be your friend!

As the creature's song swelled to buoy the high, sweet notes of the flute, as it shuffled closer to nudge gently against Wei Wuxian's foot, he couldn't help but admire it, this strange coastal being dwelling in a mountain grotto. Where it should have been unwieldy, it was graceful. Where it should have been unnerving, it was serene. It was unique. It was beautiful.

Gradually, Wei Wuxian brought the song to a close. Lost in the moment, he had forgotten while he played that he sat in a shallow but icy stream. Wincing, he got to his feet. His injured ankle twinged, and he eased himself onto a dry boulder where he could set his flute aside and check on it. Aside from what he could tell was a mild sprain, he must have caught it against a sharp rock. He was bleeding quite a bit. Between the surge of spiritual energy he'd sent to lessen the pain and the numbing chill of the water, he hadn't noticed the extent of the injury. Now that he had, he realized that it needed to be wrapped and tended before it got worse.

Movement caught his eye. Looking away from his ankle, he saw something white glimmering underneath the creature. It billowed and swayed like the finest of sheer veils, catching the soft light of the cavern in mother-of-pearl flashes of pink and pale green. Gradually, they emerged completely: two translucent fronds, ruffled up as frothy as sea foam along their trailing edges. They glided just above the floor of the cavern, making their way to him with snake-like grace.

“Hello,” he said, as if the fronds were inquisitive kittens. “I never did introduce myself, did I? I'm Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian, but I've known you long enough that Wei Ying is fine.” He reached out a hand, index finger extended toward the closest frond. “Do you have a name?”

It brushed his finger, soft as a peony petal, and—

The clear ring of a bell burst across his mind, deafening all thought, banishing all sensation except for

Blue.

Blue, endless and ineffable. Deeper than the ocean, deeper than the cloudless sky. A vast and impossibly pure blue ringing with a clear, resonant chime.

He came back to himself gasping, vision still tinted with the color so that the entire cave seemed to be underwater. Reeling, it took him several long moments to realize that he had been given an answer to his question.

“That's you?” His own words sounded distant, garbled. “That was....” Closing his eyes, he tried and failed to recapture the barrage of sensation that had overwhelmed him. Unbidden, his lips quirked up in a smile. “I think I'd have a hard time calling you that. How does Lan Zhan sound?”

He opened his eyes, not really sure how Lan Zhan would signal a preference, and saw that the fronds were sweeping over his injured ankle. He hadn't noticed at first, but as he watched, he realized why. The first brush brought a moment of sensation—a soft tickle, a flare of pain if it caught against torn skin—then numbness set in. Something in Lan Zhan's fronds acted as a local anesthetic, working faster and more effectively than anything Wei Wuxian had encountered before. Where they touched his blood, they soaked it up, turning briefly a vivid crimson before the color dissolved away, absorbed into the strange substance of his flesh.

Before he could begin to worry if perhaps he shouldn't have allowed an unfamiliar creature to absorb his blood, the fronds retreated, revealing clean, unblemished skin where the gash had been only a moment before. There wasn't even a scar left, and Wei Wuxian reached down to touch his ankle in awe.

The brush of his fingers made him gasp. They were so warm, sending tingles up his leg. Experimentally, he trailed them lightly over the healed skin, and shivered at the sensations that echoed within him. Whether a result of the healing or something in the numbing agent, his ankle was startlingly sensitive. The barest touch sent pleasurable sparks up his leg, until he realized that if he didn't stop, he was in danger of actually getting turned on. His gaze snapped up to Lan Zhan and his fronds, curiosity burning bright and making him ache to touch and find out more.

“Did you do that on purpose? Does it happen any time you touch someone with those?”

Belatedly, he recalled that he'd reached out to poke one of the fronds. He examined his index finger, not noticing anything off. Then again, he'd touched the top of it, what seemed like a flexible structure similar to a cat's tail or a bug's antenna—Bone? Cartilage? Something entirely different altogether?—and the part that had made contact with his ankle was the lower half, the thin membrane that collected in ruffles so dense he could barely see through them. Was it something in that, then? A chemical they exuded?

He grabbed one of the fronds, twining his fingers in the crinkles and furrows. It felt like burrowing his hand into a mound of fine, warm silk...right up until the numbness set in. The frond was dry—not damp or greasy in the slightest. Probably not something that seeped from Lan Zhan's flesh into his, then.

Slowly, observing carefully, he pulled his hand back. He saw his skin prickle as if with goose flesh, tiny bumps rising where it was thinnest, less so where his training with sword and bow had left hard calluses. If he tilted his head just right, he could see light glint off of filaments finer than spider silk that stretched between them. They snapped as he pulled his hand further away, and his skin smoothed back out. Barbs, then? Hollow hairs or spines, almost too fine to be seen, carrying a numbing agent that warmed to something like a mild aphrodisiac?

He poked the palm that he'd thrust into the frond, and sucked in a sharp breath at the spike of pleasure that shot up his arm and straight down through his abdomen to his groin. Maybe not so mild.

“Wow,” he breathed. And then, as Lan Zhan sat attentively observing him, the echoes of that exclamation prompted the realization that he had been muttering his thoughts out loud to himself all through his examination. Taking care not to touch anywhere on his hand that had been in contact with the frond, he laid his wrist upon his knee.

“Haha...thanks for letting me study you a bit. You're really unique, you know? I've never met anything like you, and let me tell you, I've been all over the place on night hunts, and looked through all sorts of interesting old bestiaries. What are you, exactly?”

A single note sounded within his mind. To his surprise—and excitement—he realized that it sounded like a question. He was beginning to learn to draw meaning from Lan Zhan's singing...or, at the very least, Lan Zhan was finally willing to talk to him.

“I don't understand what you're asking, but go ahead and tell me about yourself anyway. We won't find out if we can learn to communicate if we don't try. I'll tell you about myself, too, once you're done. Fair is fair, after all.” Wriggling, he sat up a bit straighter, grinning to think he might be able to make himself look like a model student. “Whenever you're ready!”

Wei Wuxian came to in a heap on the stone where he had been sitting. His cheek was cold, and he could taste blood. Groaning, he sat up, wiping the back of his wrist over his face in a futile attempt to clean away the crusted mess from where his nose had bled.

“What happened?”

Even as he asked, he remembered his request. There was knowledge in his mind that hadn't been there before—centuries' worth of memories, tumbling together like crosscurrents and making him dizzy. Lan Zhan shuffled in place, looking—as much as a being such as himself could manage—contrite.

“God of the mountain, huh?” He chuckled. “And I just happen to be one of the few people who can hear you sing, which would make me pretty important to the sect if they knew. Maybe we should keep that between us.”

A sudden trill of birdsong cut sharply through his awareness. Twisting to look back the way he'd come, he saw watery, gray daylight filtering in from above.

“It's morning already? Ahh, Jiang Cheng might really break my legs this time! You'll come heal me if he does, right?”

He grinned at Lan Zhan as he got to his feet and dusted off his robes. Aside from some faint stiffness from having lain for so long on the rock, he felt fine. His ankle was good as new, as if he'd dreamed injuring it.

“Bye, Lan Zhan! I'll come back tonight so we can chat more!”

One of the fronds reached for him, tossed forward as if borne on a wave. It caught his hand, whether by accident or design, and fluttered briefly around his wrist before drifting away, leaving numbness in its wake.

“Aww, Lan Zhan! Don't tell me you're afraid I'll forget you! How could I when we're already so close?” With one final wave, he turned and began to climb the slope he'd tripped down the night before. “See you later!”

Emerging into a forest transformed by daylight, he was delighted to realize that, in addition to Lan Zhan's history in Gusu, he also now had an intimate knowledge of the mountain and all its secret places. Not only would he easily be able to find his way back, but he now knew of all sorts of places worth exploring. Suddenly, staying in Gusu no longer seemed like such a boring prospect.

--------[chapter 2]---------

The moment they stepped out of the meeting room, Jiang Cheng grabbed him by the upper arm and practically dragged him down an empty pathway where they could talk—quietly—without being overheard.

“Where were you?” he demanded. Wei Wuxian had shown up late to the talks, and it was the first chance he'd had to lay into him for his unexplained absence. “If you're causing trouble again, I swear I'm going to let Lan Qiren punish you however he sees fit. And stop fidgeting!” He gave Wei Wuxian a shake, then roughly released him. His eyes darted briefly down, then back up, and he asked with gruff but genuine concern: “What's wrong with your wrist?”

Wei Wuxian grinned. “Worried about me? You should be more honest and say so upfront instead of getting mad first!”

Jiang Cheng sneered. “I'm going to leave you here to be re-educated. So? Where were you this morning?”

“You know it's impossible for me to sleep at nine! I went for a walk out in the woods, where any noise I made wouldn't disturb our gracious hosts.” He put on his most innocent expression, and actually managed to get a smile out of Jiang Cheng following his snort of disbelief. Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Guess I nodded off.”

“Why do I put up with you?” He shoved Wei Wuxian's shoulder, but his irritation had abated, and it was practically playful. “Other sect leaders have seconds who actually support them. Look what I'm going to be stuck with.”

“Other sect leaders don't have my genius ingenuity to provide them with all sorts of useful magical tools before anyone else.”

“I should have just left you back home in that pit you call a workroom,” he said, setting off once more in the direction of the guest quarters. Wei Wuxian fell naturally into step at his side.

“Ah, but then you wouldn't have the benefit of my insights on everything they weren't saying this morning.”

“I don't have that now. You missed the first hour of the meeting.”

Wei Wuxian waved off the complaint. “Fill me in. We'll figure it out.”

As they talked, he was careful not to touch the wrist that was still pleasantly, distractingly hypersensitive from the brush of Lan Zhan's fronds. He'd been curious to know how long the reaction would last, and had been testing the feel of various touches all morning. It had left his blood heated and his body itching for some alone time, but he ignored those sensations as best he could in order to focus on how the talks were going and what should be said and expected over the next couple of days.

He was acutely aware of the hours left before nightfall.

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As it turned out, Wei Wuxian couldn't exactly wait. Badly in need of a release as afternoon waned into twilight, he was pathetically grateful for an hour to himself before dinner. He hurried to the room assigned to him, to the simple, barely comfortable bed he had yet to sleep in, and threw himself down face first on top of the sheets. The friction was delicious, and he rolled his hips against the bed as he felt the stiffness between his legs grow to full hardness. His wrist, which was almost entirely back to normal, tingled as he wriggled it between his body and the bed to palm himself. Letting out a shuddering breath, he rutted against his hand, trying to take the edge off, but only succeeding in making his need more immediate. Finally, he flung himself over onto his back, tearing at the ties that held his belt and robes closed. Biting his tongue as his fingers finally closed around his naked erection, the loud moan which might have spilled out into the hall and given him away was muffled into a groan. He pumped himself fast and hard, not even stopping to conjure some pleasant fantasy to shroud the movements of his fist. He didn't even realize that he was muttering pleas until he had to gasp for breath in the middle of them. Release eluded him, taunting him in revenge for how he'd teased himself throughout the late morning and afternoon.

So close...! So close...!

He just needed....

Almost unbidden, his wrist flew to cover his mouth, and he bit down, teeth catching on the knob of bone, pinching the skin and dragging out the last trace of the aphrodisiac properties of whatever Lan Zhan had touched him with. His cry as he came was muffled into his skin. As he puddled bonelessly on the bed afterward, he tasted blood. His wrist ached sharply, and he realized he'd broken the skin with his bite. A shiver ran through him, a combination of cool air and unpleasant memories.

Then...to his surprise...a snatch of melody came to him, concerned and inquisitive. Licking his dry lips, he tried to whistle. It came out as a poor imitation of the song he had played last night, but it seemed to do the trick. Lan Zhan joined in briefly, the feel of his song warm and comforting, making Wei Wuxian's heavy eyelids droop closed. Sleep seemed so inviting...

...but he was expected to be there at dinner. Although conversation was forbidden during mealtimes, and he therefore would have little to do in the way of his role as Jiang Cheng's adviser, his absence would still be noted. After having shown up late that morning, he really couldn't afford to make Yunmeng Jiang look bad again.

“Better clean up,” he muttered to himself, and heaved a sigh.

He would have to keep his wrist hidden. Teasing Jiang Cheng had made him leave off asking about it earlier, but Wei Wuxian wasn't going to count on distracting him again.

Quickly, he cleaned up and got changed. He was ready in plenty of time, although the temptation to nap until he could sneak off to visit Lan Zhan was undeniable. Despite Lan Zhan's unique form—which was hugely interesting in and of itself, with plenty more surprises in store, he was certain—to Wei Wuxian, it felt as if he'd known him for years. Little wonder, really, when he'd heard Lan Zhan's song in his mind almost every night during the months he'd spent at the Cloud Recesses. The history he'd been inundated with still sat churning in his brain, slowly integrating with his own memories. Lan Zhan's perception was foreign enough that Wei Wuxian felt no fear that he might ever confuse the two, but it was a bizarre sensation. It was almost like the feeling of having gorged himself on a large meal, and waiting for his body to digest everything.

Excitement had him tucking his flute into the sash around his waist, even though he was certainly not going to put it to any use at dinner. Being able to touch it helped hold his anticipation at bay. Soon, night would fall. Once curfew had passed, he would be free to slip away.

-----------------

The Gusu Lan sect believed that Lan Zhan was the god of the mountain. They called him Hanguang-Jun, asked advice of him, and followed what orders and warnings he sent them. Few had actually seen him, and he hadn't revealed himself in living memory. Instead, he spoke via his song to the handful of sect members born with the ability to hear him. Most couldn't, which was why Wei Wuxian had only ever gotten confused stares when he had asked during his school days who the mysterious, past-curfew musician was.

It was slightly disappointing to hear that he wasn't the only person who could hear Lan Zhan, but only slightly. Having been allowed to meet him in person more than made up for it.

Lan Zhan did not believe himself a god. He had known a place before coming to the mountains of Gusu, but his memories of it did not translate well between his consciousness and Wei Wuxian's. There were confused impressions of power flowing like currents, of lakes of magic and possibility, of some vast ocean where things like stars were born. It was dizzying, even in fragments and shadows. Lan Zhan did not miss it. He liked watching over his humans. They fascinated him, and he was proud of their strength and their righteousness. That had been an oddly human note in the totality of Wei Wuxian's impression of him, and he had found it absolutely adorable how Gusu Lan had worked an influence on Lan Zhan, even as he had protected and influenced them over the centuries.

As he made his way down into the cave, Wei WuXian suddenly regretted not having thought to steal a forehead ribbon to give to him.

...it would have had to be tied around one of the surprisingly dainty legs he'd caught glimpses of beneath Lan Zhan's shell, but still. He was very much a Lan. He deserved one of his own.

“Lan Zhan, I'm here! Come greet me!”

Exactly like the day before, Lan Zhan appeared as a spill of alabaster and clinging greenery from deeper within the cave. It was easier to watch his movements without the shock of taking him in all at once, and Wei Wuxian couldn't help but grin. The way he lifted his body as five pairs of legs picked their way down the slope was delightful to see. Although there was undeniable grace in the way he carried his bulky form—as if the air was thick as water and lent him buoyancy—it was also hard to look at so many appendages all acting in concert and not think that his swaying, tiptoe progress made him look very slightly drunk. Which was enormously silly for a creature that was, for all intents and purposes, a god.

Wei Wuxian suddenly wanted to hug him.

Instead, he settled for hurrying forward to meet Lan Zhan halfway, hands extended until they fetched up against his carapace. Expecting it to feel as hard and cold as it looked, he was startled by the warmth and almost silky texture. It gave just slightly under his touch, but then Lan Zhan was jerking back, tail lashing through the shallow pool in a spray of crystal droplets.

“What? You don't like being touched? But you were so eager to get your hands on me yesterday! This XianXian just couldn't stop thinking about you!”

Lan Zhan shuffled around until his back was to Wei Ying, then settled lower in the water. The ferns on his back rustled as if agitated. The pale lights leapt from him like silent firecrackers.

Laughing, Wei Wuxian sloshed through the water to circle him. “Lan Zhan! Zhan-er! Don't be like that! I've only just arrived!”

Even as he had nearly reached the front of Lan Zhan's body, the creature turned again, carapace swaying over the water, but never jostling Wei Wuxian in the slightest. It didn't deter him at all. He simply grinned wider and picked up his pace, cajoling as he tried to dash through the water fast enough to stand in front of his new friend.

“You can't ignore me! Aren't there rules against being rude to guests? You're just as much a Lan as the rest, right? You can't tell me that you're not. I know how you made the mountain safe when Lan An first came here. I know you helped inspire their use of musical cultivation, and that you warn them when dangerous things are passing through if you don't simply deal with those dangerous things, yourself. Don't go all stuffy on me over a bit of teasing! The talks are going well, so who knows if I'll be able to come visit you again? I'll probably be going back to Lotus Pier tomorrow at this rate, so at least spare me a glance tonight.”

At last, Lan Zhan stopped, and Wei Wuxian splashed to a halt in front of him. “I want to make music with you.”

Almost hesitantly, the fronds came out. They moved with a slow, underwater grace. Without touching him, their focus seemed to center on the wrist he'd bitten only a few hours ago, the last place Lan Zhan had touched him that morning.

“Hm? What, are you worried about me? This is nothing! I'm a cultivator, you know. Something like this isn't worth thinking about.”

Despite his words, he bared his entire forearm for Lan Zhan, holding it out for the fronds to hover over.

“Ah, be careful of my fingers! I need those to play the flute, and it would be a bit embarrassing if I started gasping halfway through. You can heal the bite mark, though, if it will make you feel better.”

He'd barely gotten the words out before he felt a faint brush of warmth and then numbness across the back of his wrist. Just like with his ankle, Lan Zhan had his wrist good as new in moments. But then, instead of withdrawing, the fronds came to hover higher over his forearm, above scars left from a wound long-healed.

“Don't mind that, Lan Zhan. I've had it for a long, long time.”

Usually, he didn't think about it. Having it be the target of Lan Zhan's curiosity stirred up the memories, though, and he shivered, still able to hear the frenzied barking, and feel the phantom pain of teeth sinking into his arm even decades later.

A familiar numbness swept away the wave of goose flesh. “Hey, Lan Zhan, what...?”

The fronds receded, leaving unblemished skin in their wake. Wei Wuxian blinked. He jerked his arm back and took a step away, studying his skin for any trace of a scar he'd borne for longer than he'd lived at Lotus Pier.

“I didn't know you could do that,” he said.

He'd thought he sounded normal, but Lan Zhan shied back. Perhaps there had been something in his voice...or perhaps Lan Zhan had simply sensed the torrent of conflicting feelings over the sudden disappearance of the scar. He had sensed Wei Wuxian's private activities earlier that evening, after all. And if he had picked up on the unease from Wei Wuxian's memories, he might have taken that as permission to act a moment ago.

With a few deep breaths, Wei Wuxian calmed his heart. He smiled, even though Lan Zhan had no eyes to see it.

“You were concerned for me, weren't you? Thanks, but old scars like that don't hurt any more. You should just leave them be.”

His mother had told him: “Always remember the good people do for you.” That scar had been a reminder of all that Jiang Fengmian had saved him from. It had been a reminder of what he owed to Yunmeng Jiang, and a reminder that he never, ever, ever wanted to be someone who needed saving again. It had been a part of him.

Breathing out once more, he let it go. It wasn't a necessary reminder, after all. He knew very well who he was. And he was sure that Lan Zhan had only meant to help.

Feeling returned to his arm with a warm, tingling sensation. His smile curved more naturally as he pulled out his flute and twirled it.

“You've been so quiet tonight, Lan Zhan. Won't you sing for me while I play?”

A series of chords rang through his mind like a succession of ripples upon still water. They spilled over, filling his heart with a wash of fondness. Every new note he heard was another piece of Lan Zhan's song, containing another fragment of his soul. Wei Wuxian already had a fair idea of what lay at his core, and it only left him wanting to discover more, knowing he would love what he found.

They played for hours, learning each other through music, the way they had before ever meeting in person. The otherworldly harmonics of Lan Zhan's song were beautiful, inspiring new melodies that blossomed within Wei Wuxian and came to life on his flute. Sometimes, feeling joyous and free, Wei Wuxian would break away from their duet with a different tune altogether, just so that Lan Zhan would have to follow his lead, to chase after him and twine their songs together once more.

He could tell that Lan Zhan was holding back. For all that he had lived alongside the Lan sect since its founding, Lan Zhan was not human and never would be. He could not speak directly with humans without consequence. He made himself understood through impressions, through glimpses of emotions that struck their targets like the shock waves of falling stars. To Wei Wuxian, playing music with him felt like being adrift in a boat on a wide river. The melody was only the surface, patterned with ripples, mirrored opaque and smoky translucent by turns. Beneath that, however, was a fathomless depth, and currents that would sweep him along as easily as a piece of grass. Lan Zhan's thoughts were like huge and ancient fish, nearly hidden beneath the surface, but capable of crushing Wei Wuxian with an accidental brush should he fall into their waters. He sensed them, occasionally. Music being a language all of its own, there was no way he wouldn't in the midst of such a sharing. Always, when he did there came a swell, a change in the melody that urged the thoughts back into the depths of Lan Zhan's consciousness, away from the shallows where Wei Wuxian trailed his fingers in the wake of his boat.

Fascinated as he was, entranced by Lan Zhan and loath to let the music go and end the fun, Wei Wuxian eventually lowered his flute. His arms felt weak, and he had to shake his head as if coming out of a long dream. Utterly relaxed, he wasn't startled in the slightest to notice that Lan Zhan seemed to have acquired more appendages at some point during their duet. Tendrils of a pale, translucent white, a bit wider around than his flute, had sprouted from the mossy hillock of Lan Zhan's back. They were slightly bulbous at their blunt ends, shading from white to red in a hand-span's width, and ringed near their tips with a vibrant blue that glowed very faintly. Like the fronds, they floated through the air as if underwater, buffeted by currents Wei Wuxian couldn't feel. As he stopped playing, they gathered closer to him, a small audience of what he assumed must be sensory organs of some sort. They glistened faintly, and when he held out a hand, one nudged his palm. It was warm and damp, lacking both the numbing agent and—as became apparent after a few moments—the aphrodisiac qualities of the fronds.

He smiled warmly at it, then lifted his gaze.

“You're so pretty, Lan Zhan!” The tendrils retreated. Lan Zhan shuffled, beginning to turn away again.

“Oh, no, no, no! Lan Zhan! Look at me! Don't hide! I mean it! It's not just idle flattery, it's a compliment. Surely your rules don't forbid you from accepting compliments!” When Lan Zhan paused and began to turn back, Wei Wuxian held out his hands and beckoned. “That's right. Come here. Good boy. Let me see.”

One of the tendrils nudged against his palm, followed quickly by another and another. They traced the creases and dips of his hand, squirmed between his fingers, curled around his wrist. They explored him with a gentle curiosity that wasn't far off from what he was feeling. When he used his free hand to stroke one, it arched into his touch like a friendly cat. The tendrils were warm and firm and very slightly slick, though they seemed to get slipperier the more they moved. The one that had curled around his wrist crept higher, sneaking up his sleeve until he could feel it tickling against the inside of his elbow.

Laughing, he tugged playfully against Lan Zhan's hold. “How forward! Slipping an appendage into a man's robe like that.... Lan Zhan, one might start to think you're getting ideas about me.”

When Lan Zhan drew him closer, Wei Wuxian let him, grinning as the fronds curled around his ankles.

“Ahh, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. I know you hate to see me go, but I do need to get some sleep tonight. The talks will probably be finished up tomorrow morning, and then Jiang Cheng is going to want to fly straight home after. You wouldn't want me trying to fly all that way without having slept, would you? I'm very delicate, you know.”

Music swelled around him, the now-familiar tones of Lan Zhan's consciousness. Peals of sound swept over Wei Wuxian as if strummed by a guqin as big as a storm front. The notes shivered with crystalline counterpoints. They sounded like tiny bells, and their reverberations swept out into the deeper thrum of melody, creating eddies within the sound. It wasn't a tune Wei Wuxian had heard Lan Zhan sing before. It was bold and a bit wild, filled with a shimmering delight. It made his heart race with the same exhilaration as flying. He gasped as it built up around him, washing over him with such pure happiness that his cheeks ached from the size of his grin. It dove and gentled, warming like lazy summer afternoons, flowing like the river that cradled Lotus Pier. Notes formed from the depths of the song and were carried along in it, then fell to the side as new phrases surfaced to take their place. He couldn't pin it down. It was never still, always changing as if challenging him to keep up, yet it felt intimately familiar. He knew the joy in it.

Lan Zhan lifted himself higher on his slender legs. He tipped forward, shell bumping into Wei Wuxian's chest as if he was a particularly large cat seeking affection. It was getting harder to remember that he was supposed to be leaving. Harder to remember that he wasn't exactly where he was meant to be.

“You're very persuasive,” Wei Wuxian murmured.

He rested his palms against Lan Zhan's shell, sliding them over the smooth surface until his arms were spread as wide as they could go. It was the best hug he could manage, and he rested his cheek against Lan Zhan.

“I'll come by again tomorrow if I have time. Just in case I don't, though...here.”

Turning his face, he kissed Lan Zhan's shell. Smiling, he tilted his head forward after, pressing his nose and forehead against it.

“Don't think I go giving out kisses to just anyone. Only rare beauties are lucky enough for that honor!” Reluctantly, he shifted, noticing that more of Lan Zhan's tendrils had curled around his back. “All right. Be a good boy and let me go now, okay?”

Lan Zhan's appendages didn't retreat, but neither did they cling to him as he stepped away.

For a moment, Wei Wuxian stood and smiled at him. He wished....

It would have been nice to stay a while longer with Lan Zhan, but he was Jiang Cheng's sworn brother, and duty called him back to his shidi's side. One day, sect business would bring them back to the Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian would be much more willing to make the journey next time.

He raised a hand and waved as he took the last step out of reach of the tendrils and fronds.

“Bye, Lan Zhan! See you again later!”

Then he turned on his heel and left.

-----------[chapter 3]------------

When he'd told Lan Zhan that he needed to sleep, Wei Wuxian hadn't been lying. He knew himself well enough to know that waking on time would be difficult, no matter how good his intentions. Even so, once he was curled up beneath the sheets, his mind remained active, chasing sleep away as if it were a timid rabbit. His body, too, was full of energy, warm from the walk back and the lingering side-effects of Lan Zhan's touch. In retrospect, he probably should have worn boots. As it was, every shift that caused the sheets to brush against his ankles and lower calves sent a frisson of pleasure along his nerves. It was all too easy to imagine Lan Zhan's fronds still wreathed affectionately around him. He could feel them as if even now their fluttering edges kissed his skin. It felt like the sparkle of sunlight broken upon the surface of a lake. It felt like the tickle of a lover's fingers. It felt as if Lan Zhan had left his mark permanently beneath Wei Wuxian's skin...and somehow, that thought didn't trouble him at all.

Separated by half the Cloud Recesses, Lan Zhan remained a distraction. Wei Wuxian pressed his lips together, playing a game with himself to see how long he could last. He held himself as still as he could until he simply couldn't take it, shifted to stir up the phantom feeling of silken fronds tightening around him, and, biting his lip as pleasant shivers ran up his spine, went rigid again.

...at least for a few moments.

He was going to miss such hypersensitivity when he returned home, but his thoughts were already working at the idea. If cultivators could focus qi to lessen pain—

Dragging the side of one foot over the other ankle, he sucked in a shuddering breath.

—then why couldn't they use it to enhance other sensations? How difficult could it be to work along similar channels, waking his body's receptiveness instead of deadening it?

He pressed his heel against the back of his other leg, massaging in tiny circles until the motion carried up to his hips, left them rolling forward with nothing to grind against.

What about tying it to something deeper? What if pleasurable stimulus could be linked directly into the meridians? What if the warm pulse of one's golden core—

He swallowed a moan as his heel slipped, drawing a line of heat straight down the back of his calf.

—if the pulse of the core could be made to lend itself to the process. If physical touch was the kindling for arousal, then the powerful energy of a golden core would be like pouring on oil to create a blaze.

Like an oyster snapping shut, he curled in on himself, knees drawing up, shoulders hunching in. One of his hands flew to his ankle, palm flattening out over it, fingers pressing in, nails dragging over heated skin and feeling so, so good. He pinched himself and flinched, imagining Lan Zhan's claws catching him by the ankles and holding him steady. A whimper escaped his throat, and his other hand flew to his neck. The delicate skin there was sheened with sweat, slippery beneath his touch as he rested thumb and middle finger over his quickening pulse. He dug the knuckle of his index finger in just beneath the curve of his jaw, squeezing briefly before his fingers drew in, gathering in the hollow of his throat, exploring the lines of his collar bones, the firm muscles of his chest. At the first brush against a nipple, he turned his face into his pillow to muffle any sounds that might escape him.

Skimming his fingers over his ankle, his nerves thrummed like plucked guqin strings. His whole body hummed with the resonance of touch, lighting up as Lan Zhan's aphrodisiac flooded his body via his bloodstream. Distantly, he realized that he could probably burn it out of his system, at least repress it until it broke down. He laughed, breath hitching as he drew a finger along the tendon of his ankle. Repression was a Lan value. He hardly saw the merit in it. Not if it meant giving up feeling like this, like his entire body was made for pleasure.

He wondered if Lan Zhan was Lan enough to consider him shameless.

He decided to find out.

It wasn't easy to whistle when his breath was coming in short, shallow gasps, but he managed. It was a pathetic attempt to recreate the music he had shared with Lan Zhan, faltering and off-key at first, but growing stronger as he got his breathing under control. As if caught in a compulsion, his hands never stopped moving. Control took the edge off his pleasure, but he could still feel it building, a lava flow beneath his skin that left him burning, burning, burning. Imagining the cool water of Lan Zhan's cave and the slippery-soft feel of his touch, Wei Wuxian's mouth fell open, interrupting the whistled melody with a moan. He wanted Lan Zhan to come to him, to touch him, drive him mad with more sensation than a human body was meant to take. He gasped, licked his lips, tried to pick up the tune once more. The hand that had been touching his ankles slipped up, up, in between his thighs, and he bucked against it with a cry. A trail of precome streaked the inside of his arm, and he rocked his hips, needing friction, craving release, but still trying to hold back, still waiting for Lan Zhan to hear him, to acknowledge, to take a little peek and look, look and see what he'd done.

Wei Wuxian thought of a blue so pure it resonated, a sonorous chime that was one and the same with the impression of color. Desperately, he pursed his lips and blew out a long, clear note—

Lan Zhan! Look at me!

—and then Lan Zhan was there. Not in the flesh, but in his mind, a presence so vast that Wei Wuxian's consciousness was briefly swamped and the world sang to him in colors he had no name for.

The moment passed, and he felt his consciousness cradled, held safely apart from the otherness that was Lan Zhan, so strange and alien and adorably concerned, singing gently to him as Wei Wuxian's restraint shattered and his fingers closed around his aching cock.

“Lan Zhan...!” he gasped. “Lan Zhan...look what you've done! Those fronds of yours....” He swallowed thickly, thrusting into his fist. “So good!”

He could feel Lan Zhan inside him, touching his innermost self. It felt like wading through water thick with lotus plants as they swayed with the currents and the wind, nodding to brush against him. Each touch brought with it a sense of what Lan Zhan was experiencing, watered down and filtered through Wei Wuxian's human perceptions. He grew dizzy with it. Already gasping as his body demanded friction and release, the addition of Lan Zhan's surprise, his curiosity and fascination left Wei Wuxian lightheaded and uncertain which of them was more responsible for urging his fist faster and faster as orgasm hovered tauntingly just out of reach.

His body was almost unbearably hot, as if he was submerged in a steaming bath. Warmth flowed up from his legs, igniting sensations that made him shiver, made his stomach flutter and his hands falter and his hurried breathing stumble over sharp gasps. Whatever compound Lan Zhan's touch secreted away beneath his skin seemed to come alive with his presence, flooding Wei Wuxian's body. He flung himself onto his back, hips thrusting up into his fist, movements growing increasingly frantic.

Through it all, Lan Zhan's presence enveloped him. He felt too big for his skin, he felt seen down to his very soul. It left him more vulnerable than he had ever been and yet...he felt safe. This was Lan Zhan, who sang to him. Lan Zhan, who touched him so gently. Lan Zhan, who was human enough to feel concern and compassion, to be embarrassed by Wei Wuxian's words.

Wei Wuxian couldn't focus his mind enough to summon a tune to whistle, nor could he spare the breath or control necessary. He jerked himself to completion with Lan Zhan's name bursting from his lips on a gasp, and collapsed in a sweating, panting, spent puddle. As he lay there catching his breath, Lan Zhan poured music into him.

The notes seeped into every nook and cranny of his body, revitalizing him. The echoes ran up against the fading aftershocks of orgasm, and he whimpered, body twitching from the way it amplified the pleasure. It was the same shifting melody from earlier, the one that Wei Wuxian was almost sure he should recognize. He felt like he'd known it all his life.

His eyes stung. He settled his arm across them, feeling the wetness that had collected on his lashes.

“Ahh, Lan Zhan...I hope I have time to come say goodbye to you before we leave tomorrow.”

--------------------

The rattle of the door being thrown open wasn't quite enough to wake Wei Wuxian, but he came to quickly when he was grabbed by the front of his robe and hauled into a sitting position. Suibian was in his hand before he registered that it was Jiang Cheng growling: “What did you do?” at him.

“Jiang Cheng? Are we late for the meeting?”

“There isn't going to be a meeting! They sent a servant to tell me that Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren are both indisposed and won't be meeting with us again until tomorrow at the earliest. This was supposed to be just a simple reaffirming of our ties to Gusu Lan, going over the treaty just to confirm that nothing's changed. So explain to me,” he forced through gritted teeth, “why they're refusing to see us.”

“How should I know?”

“You didn't do anything last night? Pull any pranks? Break a few rules just to rub it in their faces that you can?”

“No!” He couldn't believe Jiang Cheng would even suggest such a thing.

Well...he could kind of believe it. He did have a bit of a reputation for being...free-spirited.

“You know I wouldn't sabotage you like that,” he said earnestly.

Jiang Cheng studied him a moment longer, then heaved a sigh. He paced, scowled, kicked out at nothing, then dropped in a huff to sit at the table. “What did we do?” he demanded, though not of Wei Wuxian in particular. “What's changed since yesterday? The righteous Lan sect with all their rules and manners—they didn't even come to me in person!”

“Want me to go see what I can find out?”

“Yes. No! I don't know. I don't want you sneaking around spying on them.”

“Who said anything about spying?” Wei Wuxian had a hunch he knew exactly why the Lans had clammed up and made themselves scarce, and he intended to go directly to the one he thought responsible and ask outright. Jiang Cheng still looked like he'd swallowed a live lizard, though, so he tried to be reassuring. “It's probably nothing. Maybe Lan Qiren's got the runs and is too embarrassed about it to say.”

That suggestion earned him a snort and a grudging smile.

“Jiang Cheng, just go find Zewu-Jun. He seems pretty reasonable. Ask him what's going on. I'll do some fishing on my own, too. Just in case.”

After a moment's consideration, Jiang Cheng nodded. “Sure. Why not.” He got to his feet, and leveled a finger at Wei Wuxian. “Don't stir up any trouble.”

“Understood! This one hears and obeys!”

Rolling his eyes, Jiang Cheng took his leave much more calmly than he had entered. Wei Wuxian gave it to a count of five once he was gone, then threw on his outer robe, tied up his hair, and made a run for the forest.

Following the path to the cave entrance felt like second nature already. He thought he could probably walk it with his eyes closed. Had he not been in a hurry, he might have tried it. Lan Zhan—and through him, the mountains—were a part of him now. Perhaps they had been in some small way since he had first heard that mysterious song in the night, but asking for Lan Zhan's name, asking for his story, sharing his song...all of that had bound them closer together. As he approached the cave, he could feel Lan Zhan waiting for him, and his heart beat faster in response. He leapt down the incline, bare feet splashing through the stream. Momentum carried him into the shallow pool, on a collision course with Lan Zhan, who swayed with the impact, legs lifting and splashing as he shuffled back. His tendrils emerged to steady Wei Wuxian, curling around his back and sides.

The water was deeper where they stood, reaching the tops of Wei Wuxian's thighs. The surface caught the glow of the lichen and other growths clinging in patches to the roof of the cave, and threw it back in arcs of soft light. The firefly sparks that rose from Lan Zhan's back filled the dimness with stars.

“It was you, wasn't it, Lan Zhan? You made them halt the talks. Why?”

The tendrils stilled. Lan Zhan sank down until his shell touched stone.

“Lan Zhan?” When he got no response, he took a step back. The tendrils let him go, quickly disappearing back into the moss on top of Lan Zhan's shell. The ferns and mushrooms seemed to droop, and Wei Wuxian couldn't hold back an amused grin. “Lan Zhan, don't ignore me! If you won't come up, I'll come down. I'm very stubborn, you know.”

Wei Wuxian gave him a moment to give in, then shrugged. “All right. I guess I'll just have to make you acknowledge me.” He drew a deep breath, then dropped, submerging himself in the cool water.

It should have been almost impossible to see, but Lan Zhan shone faintly, a small moon hidden in the earth. Wei Wuxian swam around him, hands tugging at the bottom of his shell in search of any gap between it and the stone, any hold that might allow him to pry Lan Zhan up and reclaim his attention. Wasn't it rude to ignore a guest? And just how had Lan Zhan expected him to spend his day if his presence wasn't required?

He circled Lan Zhan again and again, all to no avail. Finally, he hooked his fingers under the lip of Lan Zhan's shell and simply anchored himself beneath the surface, waiting. Perhaps it was arrogant of him to think he could out-wait an almost-god, particularly when he'd never been much for patience. Still, he was certainly willing to give it a try. He'd always been the best at holding his breath back in Yunmeng. He'd just have to be a bit better than that, even. Lan Zhan would surely give in first. He was just a big softy underneath that shell, after all. Wei Wuxian knew he was. He had Lan Zhan's memories of caring for the mountain's rabbit colonies. He had Lan Zhan's impressions of various Lans through the centuries, humanizing historical figures with touches of fondness or curiosity or exasperation. And he had the short amount of time they'd shared together. Lan Zhan would definitely give in and pay attention to him!

Wei Wuxian refused to count the passing seconds. It had always seemed to him that he could stay under longer if he paid no attention to time. All that really mattered was his body, anyhow. He let his mind slip into a meditative state, focused on keeping his heartbeat slow and steady. Relaxing completely into the water's hold, he floated there, hair fanning out around him in the gentle currents. Any moment now, and Lan Zhan would see that he didn't mean to give up. Any moment now, and he'd stand up on all his little legs and totter around the cavern and they could play together and Wei Wuxian would sink into the music and let Lan Zhan's thoughts filter through until he gleaned some understanding. Any moment now....

Wei Wuxian let loose a stream of bubbles.

...any moment now, and Lan Zhan would stop being so stubborn.

His grip tightened around the edge of the shell.

Lan Zhan still hadn't moved. He knew humans couldn't breathe under water...didn't he?

His chest started to feel tight. His heart beat faster, despite his efforts to keep it calm.

Lan Zhan knew humans needed to breathe, didn't he?

Lan Zhan? Lan Zhan...!

Wei Wuxian tried knocking on the shell. He tried planting his feet to give himself more strength to lift with. For all his efforts, Lan Zhan might as well have been a stalagmite. He didn't so much as budge even as Wei Wuxian's attempts to make him pay attention grew more urgent. Wei Wuxian's lungs were reaching their limit. His body needed air.

He was going to lose the contest of wills.

Thrashing, Wei Wuxian raked his nails over Lan Zhan's shell. He flailed, let the last, used-up bubbles of the breath he'd taken escape his lips, then went limp, allowing his body to float face-down just at the surface. His heartbeat raced faster than the seconds that dragged by. It was probably frantic enough that Lan Zhan could hear it. Wei Wuxian imagined it beating hard enough to send ripples out through the water to fetch up against Lan Zhan's shell and give away his ruse.

His time was up. Just before he was forced to stand, however, something yanked him up out of the water. He gasped, as much out of surprise as need, then hung suspended in the air, water streaming from his clothes and hair as he gasped for breath in the steady hold of several of Lan Zhan's tendrils.

“Aha ha!” His laugh was breathless, and he coughed as it interrupted the rhythm of his heaving lungs. “Did I...fool you? Your fault...for ignoring me!”

The tendrils around his middle tightened, but not to the point of becoming uncomfortable. He was held perfectly steady, not swayed or jostled at all as Lan Zhan finally rose and moved out of the pool with his quick, dancing steps.

“Lan Zhan...? Will you answer my question now?” He petted the tendrils as he talked. “I don't really mind staying an extra day...but Jiang Cheng was beside himself this morning. He thought we'd messed up somehow.”

Rather than giving him the knowledge directly like he had with his name and his history, Lan Zhan began to sing. It was that same melody again, the cheerful one that beckoned, drawing Wei Wuxian in with the desire to play or sing along, then spun teasingly away the moment he jumped in, new melodies spawning like eddies in the flow of the music. And yet...and yet he could almost predict....

“What are you trying to tell me?” he asked as Lan Zhan set him gently down on his feet. “You sang this when I first came to you, too, didn't you?”

It had been there, woven so perfectly with a second melody that he hadn't even considered they might be two songs made into one. He pondered it, finding it easier to whistle along when he was half lost in thought. Bold and joyful, it put him in mind of birds bursting into song to greet the new day. It made him want to dive into his favorite lake back home, made him want to fly, made him want to grab Lan Zhan by his tendrils and dance him around the cavern.

The tendrils were still curled loosely around his waist. They tugged at him, gently enough that Wei Wuxian could easily have resisted or even stepped entirely out of their hold. Instead, he let Lan Zhan draw him near enough to reach out and lay a hand on his shell.

“Are you lonely?” he guessed. “I know there are Lans who can hear you, but I bet they don't talk to you much, do they? Is that why you caused the delay? Lan Zhan? What are you doing?”

More of the tendrils had appeared. There were roughly a dozen now, nudging at him as they explored. One of them had discovered that it could work its way into his robe, and had slipped in between silk and skin to press against his chest. The very tip of it rested over his heart, and on the next beat, his body came alive with music.

The song Lan Zhan had been singing fit perfectly beneath his skin, all red joy and overflowing life. It was flight and summer lightning storms, the gentle lapping of waves against a pier, and the ringing clash of swords. It trilled like laughter and his soul laughed along with it and suddenly Wei Wuxian knew, in the same way he had known Lan Zhan's name, that this song wasn't his but him.

“Lan Zhan....” Wonder made it hard to breathe. He had to force his lungs to take in air past the fullness of his heart. “Lan Zhan, this is...me? This is how you see me?”

The crescendo that answered him was sudden; a sweet, up-swelling of notes that put him in mind of sneaking out past curfew, of his arrows hitting their mark in a difficult target, of the first successful test of a new talisman. It soared, filled with pride and carrying on and on and on, a steady whistle far past anything human lungs could have managed. Drumming rippled through the ribbon of sound. Raindrops on water. Laughter. Beneath it was a low, droning hum carrying a sense of urgency, and feeling much like the focus he poured into his projects when inspiration took him.

Having finally realized why it seemed so intimately familiar, he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed sooner.

Perhaps it was the way Lan Zhan sang the song...as if it was precious, as if it was the most wonderful melody in the world.

“Ahh, Lan Zhan.... I really wish you could kiss me.”

Before he could think better of it, Wei Wuxian leaned forward and kissed Lan Zhan's shell. Bracing his hands against it, Wei Wuxian kissed him again and again. He'd always enjoyed attention, but for the first time, he felt truly seen. Realizing that, he laughed, and in laughing, let himself fall back. The tendrils caught him, and he sagged into their hold, trusting his weight to them. He felt seen by a creature with no eyes, that perceived the world mostly through the songs that resounded in all of creation.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. You're really great, you know? I like you a lot.”

Catching one of the wandering tendrils, he drew it up to his lips to kiss it. The ring of glowing blue near the tip flared violet at that, sending a wave of faint light chasing down the length of it. The others grew more restless, writhing against him and working their way into his robes with fresh determination. Laughing, Wei Wuxian loosened his belt and let it fall. He watched as the excited tendrils swarmed him, eager to touch. They slipped beneath his clothes, rubbing across his belly and chest, wriggling over his shoulders and down his arms, slipping his robes completely off of him as they went. At the sound of the cloth hitting the stone, however, they drew back—not entirely, not so that they weren't still nosing at his skin—but enough for Lan Zhan's sudden hesitation to be obvious.

“Come on, now. You can't just tease me and stop there, Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian spread his arms wider, motioning with his hands for Lan Zhan to come closer. “You can touch. I don't mind. Use those other ones, too. They only leave me numb for a few moments, but afterward I feel so good.” He grinned, showing teeth. “But you know that already, don't you? You were in my head last night, Lan Zhan, and it felt amazing...like you knew me inside and out...like you....”

He gasped as his song swelled inside him, channeled directly through touch as Lan Zhan's tendrils pressed against him, serenading him with the song of his soul. It overwhelmed him. He thought perhaps he called Lan Zhan's name, but the music was all he knew in that moment, and the joining of his song with the melody that he recognized as Lan Zhan's was all the world had room for. The notes wove through each other as if in a dance, a perfect compliment.

Wei Wuxian came back to himself with Lan Zhan's name falling in endless repetition from his lips, and tears cooling against his cheeks. Their song had gentled so that it felt as if he stood in the placid shallows of a broad river, instead of having been plunged into a churning sea. His heart was warm and full and galloping in his chest.

Distantly, he realized that he was not touching the ground at all, that at some point the tendrils curled around his back and thighs had scooped him up to cradle him. A few of them slipped down his trousers, easing his pants off in a careful series of movements that never for a moment let him feel as if he might fall. Curling in on himself around the crowd still exploring his chest with touches that were waking a slow, syrupy desire in him, he gathered a bundle of the tendrils in his arms and buried his face in them.

“Ahh, Lan Zhan...I really do like you so much.”

He felt a brush at his hip, right in the crease of his thigh, and the next thing he knew, sensation had faded. Looking down, he saw one of the fronds washing up against his skin like sea foam. It traveled up his side, leaving numbness over his ribs and his chest. The very tip of it ghosted over his collar bones and curled like a delicate scarf around the back of his neck. Wei Wuxian shivered. His skin prickled in a wave that fetched up against the places the frond had touched him, and tingled like sparks along the edges where sensation vanished.

“Yes, good boy, good boy. Just like that. Keep touching me. Here, see?” He guided one of the tendrils to his hip where the swathe of numbness started, keeping his hand lightly atop it as Lan Zhan caught on and stroked his skin. The frond around his neck stretched lower, chasing away the tendrils as it went until it brushed over his nipple. Wei Wuxian sucked in a sharp breath, then laughed as the numbness set in.

“Have you ever seen a human without their clothes, Lan Zhan? I bet not. Not here surrounded by Lans. Touch all you want. Touch everywhere. Don't stop even if I beg you, understand?” A tingling warmth was rising beneath his skin to replace the numbness, and his breathing grew light and quick as Lan Zhan's tendrils traced its progress as if urging his body to wake. “Let it be too much. I want it to be too much. I don't want to feel anything but you, okay?”

Wei Wuxian gathered control of himself even as his head began to swim in the warm sea of arousal. He licked his lips and began to whistle. Although he could only manage a tiny portion of the layered melody that made up Lan Zhan's song, it was enough. He felt every tendril touching him go perfectly still for a moment, then shiver. Violet light flared along their lengths as they swarmed him, and the melody faltered over shocks of pleasure originating from every touch against the places where the fronds had left their blessing.

Laughter broke up his whistling. A tendril rose to stroke the corner of his lips, and even if he hadn't sensed inquisitiveness in the gesture, Wei Wuxian would have spoken out anyhow.

“It's just funny, isn't it?” He gave the tendril a quick smooch. “The mountain god revered by the notoriously strict and regulated Lan sect has the ability to give such pleasure! Do they know?” He grinned, eyes glittering like jet in the dim cave. “Lan Zhan, do they know what you can do? Have you ever told them? Or is this secret just for me? Ahh, imagine if they ever found out! Old Lan Qiren might never recover! Haha! Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, should I keep it a secret for you? Is it not against the rules to keep secrets? I did promise to behave while in Gusu, so—mmph!”

Wei Wuxian had personally experienced the Lan silencing spell before, and he wouldn't have been surprised to know if Lan Zhan knew it. This, however, was a far preferable method of being forced to stop talking. He hummed agreeably around the tendril that had been thrust into his mouth, using his tongue to toy with it, and sucking on it to feel the flare of impulses that shot down the length in bursts of blue-violet light. Amusement left him smiling around his mouthful as he noticed that the tendril tasted faintly like watercress.

As he picked up the song, humming around the tendril gently thrusting into his mouth, the fronds wrapped around him. Eyes closed, he tracked their touch by the moments of a feather-light caress that ended with a complete deadening of sensation. Held securely in Lan Zhan's grip, he couldn't help but tremble as his thighs were lifted higher and spread apart. The fronds swept up his legs from calf to groin, and he couldn't help jerking in Lan Zhan's hold as they brushed up against his balls. The gasp that touch ripped from him broke his concentration on the song once again, and with his jaw opened wider, another tendril took the opportunity to slip into his mouth.

With his mouth twice as full, and his body waking and clamoring for touch, there was no longer any way Wei Wuxian could have continued humming. He moaned around the tendrils using his mouth, wondering if Lan Zhan was taking pleasure from him. The ones that moved across his skin left trails of heat in their wake that made his body jerk and his breath come in uneven huffs. He could feel where they had traced over his skin like brushes drawing an array. They were everywhere at once—chest and back, stomach and thighs—nuzzling him, coiling around him, exploring every inch of his body. It was intoxicating. Bliss was a field of blossoming flowers just beneath his skin. Pleasure poured in like the thick, honeyed light of sunset, and pooled molten within him. Lan Zhan's touches seemed to guide it, setting it to flow through his meridians, a sparkling energy like the best days of summer. Wei Wuxian felt it trickle in toward his golden core and then—

His back bowed, body nearly tearing free of Lan Zhan's gentle hold as orgasm ripped through him. Wei Wuxian choked on a scream at the intensity of it. He'd never felt it like that before, not when he'd only ever touched himself, not even when he'd had Lan Zhan's aphrodisiac in his blood and Lan Zhan's presence in his mind. He had much more of both, now, and touch to accompany them. Their songs rose to a crescendo, no longer just in his head, but nestled right around the core of him, warm and bright, impossible but undeniable. The music of his mated soul eased him through his breathlessness, calmed the painful thundering of his heart. Uncomprehending, he watched Lan Zhan's fronds brush across his stomach and chest, cleaning away the mess of seed as easily as they had wicked blood away from his wounds. He watched the white disappear and realized as he shuddered and watched the muscles in his stomach clench, that the numbness hadn't returned. His body still screamed for touch.

One of the fronds wrapped delicately around his spent cock. He'd come untouched, he realized, and the numbness was almost a relief for his oversensitive skin. But then he watched it caress his balls once more, felt them grow heavy, saw his cock flush and fill out, growing erect again in seconds, and a breathless, stunned laugh burst from his lips.

What had he told Lan Zhan? 'Don't stop even if I beg?'

Had his mouth gotten him into trouble once more?

A tendril slid across his forehead in a gentle caress. It was pleasantly cool against his heated skin, and he let it tip his head back, baring his throat and making it easier for two others to slip past his lips and delve deep, deep, deeper into him. He fought not to gag, then felt the tickle of a frond across his neck and beneath his jaw. The numbness sank in, easing the way.

It was easy to give himself over, to let Lan Zhan hold him and pleasure him. Take him. Love him.

He jolted as a tendril alighted in the crease at the top of his thigh. It moved down, lighting him up like a meteor shower. He nearly came a second time as it wormed its way beneath his balls, teasing deliberately at the sensitive skin there.

Wei Wuxian was writhing in Lan Zhan's hold, and the tendrils, having grown slicker as they touched, were having a harder time keeping him still. He managed to free one arm, and reached for his cock, ignored for too long and now slick again with precome as the aphrodisiac pumping through his veins turned even the slightest breath of air into a teasing caress. His wrist was caught, yanked back, and he groaned in frustration, head snapping up in time to see Lan Zhan's tongue emerge from beneath his shell.

It was long, like the tendrils, but half again as thick, deep red all along its length, and oddly scored near the tip. Slowly, it rose before him, dipping to lick from the base of his shaft up to his bellybutton. Wei Wuxian's hips snapped up automatically as he gasped. He tried to beg around the tendrils still tenderly thrusting into his mouth, and managed only a pitiful whine. He could only watch as the tongue reared snake-like, only to descend again over his heart...where it blossomed.

The lines scored into the tip split, and fleshy segments peeled back in one, two, three layers, like the opening of a lotus blossom. Thin filaments half the width of his pinky finger emerged, translucent and pale blue, blindly searching until they found his nipple and latched on. Wei Wuxian flung his head back and moaned. They were startlingly strong, squeezing and tugging at flesh already made extra sensitive by the compound in Lan Zhan's fronds. The tugging and teasing sent lightning bolts through him, made him buck and toss his head. A tendril coiled around his other pectoral, squeezing the muscle, and rubbing circles over his nipple. When another wrapped around his cock, it only took one pump for him to come. Once again, he was left seeing stars, dazed and twitching in Lan Zhan's hold as his body was played like a fine instrument in the hands of a master.

“Lan Zhan...” He gasped, as the tendrils withdrew from his mouth. “...are you sure you've never pleasured a human before? You're very...very good at it. I don't know how much more I can take! This is my first time, you know! You should go easy on me.”

The frond that had moved to refresh him did not even pause as it enveloped his length.

Helpless against his laughter, Wei Wuxian let himself sag in the shifting hold. “Ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look at you! So demanding! I'm only human, you know? I'm very delicate! You've already overwhelmed me twice with your godhood. How many more times do you think I can take? I—ah...what are you doing? Lan Zhan, where are you reaching?”

One of the tendrils, practically dripping from how much it had rubbed itself against him, was between his legs, circling the ring of muscle. Its blunt head pressed lightly, testing.

“Lan Zhan, that's.... Are you sure you should—? Ahh!”

The tendril breached him, entered him in a place he'd never even thought to touch when pleasuring himself. It went slowly, the slick coating helping to ease its way, even as Wei Wuxian twisted and squirmed.

“Ahh, I.... Lan Zhan, I know you...you want to know me inside and out, but...ah, Lan Zhan, this...this is....”

The initial stretch had burned, but that discomfort eased quickly. Lan Zhan was gentle with him, pressing forward in tiny increments as Wei Wuxian's body adjusted. His tongue found its way to Wei Wuxian's cock, filaments drawing the head in so that the tip of the tongue could close around it. The tight, wet heat went straight to Wei Wuxian's head, scrambling him and distracting him...right up until the tendril in his ass nudged up against a bundle of nerves that ripped a cry of pleasure from his throat.

“That...! Lan Zhan, that.... More! Please, Lan Zhan, more! Deeper!” He begged and pleaded as if he had no concept of pride whatsoever, anything if Lan Zhan would simply keep stimulating that spot which made his whole body flare like one enormous golden core.

With the tendril massaging that miraculous spot, and Lan Zhan's tongue apparently trying to swallow his cock, Wei Wuxian didn't last a minute more.

His head was spinning. His body felt like a pot of boiling water: roiling and overheated, bubbles of pleasure rising and bursting as the aftershocks ran through his system. The places where Lan Zhan had touched him with his fronds were still hypersensitive, making him gasp and shudder with the lightest touch. This time, however, Lan Zhan didn't wake him back to hardness, and the pleasure swirled aimlessly, crawling along his nerves, drowning his body in overwhelming sensation. He felt fevered, and when Lan Zhan gently, gently laid him to rest on the stone floor of the cavern, the chill was utter bliss against his skin. He sighed, then grabbed frantically for the retreating tendrils. His grip was weaker than a newborn baby's, but Lan Zhan didn't pull away once caught, and Wei Wuxian sighed again, deeply, and felt tension he hadn't noticed drain away.

He'd thought...for a moment, he'd thought that Lan Zhan might leave him. Fucked out and vulnerable, he couldn't stand the thought of being alone. A tendril caressed his cheek, feeling like Lan Zhan's promise to stay. Smiling, Wei Wuxian turned his head into the touch and let his eyes fall closed.

“That was my first time, Lan Zhan. You'd better take responsibility.”

He was joking, of course. It shouldn't have been Lan Zhan's place to take responsibility, anyhow, considering it was Wei Wuxian who had encouraged him every step of the way. Unfortunately, in Wei Wuxian's mind, being in Gusu equated 'taking responsibility' with 'taking punishment,' and since he hadn't done anything he felt he ought to be punished for, it seemed neither of them would actually be taking any responsibility. He laughed softly, not really knowing what was funny.

The tendrils began tugging at him again. He groaned faintly as they pulled him away from the blessedly cool stone, easing him into a sitting position. They remained curled around his back, and he slouched against them, craving the contact as much as he'd craved release earlier. Movement and friction still made him gasp, made him twitch and buck his hips up against nothing...but once he was still, the effects of a steady pressure were not unlike sitting just a bit too close to an active fire talisman. It was right on the edge of too much, but a minor shift would set off sparks of pleasure to scratch the itch, making him squirm and eventually settle and sit still until he couldn't bear it any longer and set off the cycle all over again. Distantly, he realized that if he kept it up, he was going to become hard again on his own eventually. The rest of him was much too pleased to be held to think of that as a problem.

Something cool and velvety soft touched his lips. Blinking his eyes open, he saw that Lan Zhan had broken the top off of one of the larger mushrooms that grew from the moss on his back, and was now holding it to Wei Wuxian's lips like a cup. It gleamed like mother-of-pearl beneath the sheen of the water, and Wei Wuxian realized suddenly that he was parched. His hands trembled as he tried to support the makeshift cup, and it was mostly thanks to Lan Zhan that he didn't spill more than he swallowed as he drank greedily. There was more water than he'd expected caught between the delicate gills of the mushroom, sweetly flavored, and the most refreshing drink he'd had in his life.

With Lan Zhan's help, he finished one cap-full of water and most of a second. By that time, Wei Wuxian was nodding in his hold, warm and sated and sleepy. He grumbled wordlessly as Lan Zhan laid him carefully down once more, and had nearly drifted off before remembering something.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...let me see one of your legs,” he murmured, flapping a hand lazily.

The request was met with a pause, then the sleet-on-leaves sound of Lan Zhan's many, rapid footsteps, and the sense of something weighty above him. Peeking out from half-closed eyes, Wei Wuxian found himself beneath the bulk of Lan Zhan's body, sheltered like a lover beneath that moonstone-and-moss shell. He smiled, feeling it crinkle in the corners of his eyes. It was too dark for details, but later, he thought...another time...he could make a light and explore the way Lan Zhan had explored him: lovingly, with soft touches and wandering kisses. For the moment, however....

Reaching back, Wei Wuxian tugged at the ribbon in his hair until it pulled free. He curled a hand around one of Lan Zhan's legs, and clumsily wrapped the ribbon several times around it before tying it off securely.

“There,” he said, giving his handiwork a pat. “We'll make do with this until I get an official Lan ribbon.” Lan Zhan was wonderful. Really the best. He deserved one of his sect's ribbons.

Sleep was not going to be denied much longer. Wei Wuxian sighed contentedly and curled up until he was comfortable enough on the stone. Above him, Lan Zhan shifted and settled lower, pleasantly warm. He felt a tickle against his hip, and he laughed quietly.

“Kisses...?” he murmured. He meant to tease, but then Lan Zhan was singing to him, and Wei Wuxian let his mind float away into the music. He sank easily into the depths of the melody, and, in the deep darkness, slept.

-----------[chapter 4]------------

Wei Wuxian woke with a start, the recollection of his duties having struck like a lightning bolt in his sleep. Disoriented, he shouted for Jiang Cheng, and promptly banged his head against something hard and unyielding as he jerked upright.

“Ow ow ow ow ow!” Clutching his head, he sensed movement a second before watery illumination poured in along the stone he'd been sleeping on. The faint light settled like mist over Lan Zhan's legs as they unfolded, lending them the gleam of fine jade. He lifted his body high off the ground, enough so that he could back off of Wei Wuxian with quick, swaying steps. The fronds emerged cautiously, hovering around Wei Wuxian's head without touching.

Memories of their tryst returned like the flow of a sluggish river, helped along by wakening sensation. He wasn't cold, but he was stiff from having fallen asleep on stone. His body ached in unfamiliar, but not entirely unpleasant ways. His skin still felt too warm, and he recognized by then that such was a sign of the aphrodisiac lingering in his system. As if possessed of a mind of their own, his fingers drew experimental lines up his sides, over his ribs. He shivered, feeling a stir of interest between his legs. One hand continued to toy aimlessly with his chest and nipples as he wiped the sleep from his eyes with the other.

“Ah, I'm okay, Lan Zhan.” He called up a smile as he waved off the fronds. It was going to be tricky enough getting back to his quarters without adding another dose of lust to the mix. Already, all he wanted was to lie back and let Lan Zhan take him again and again until he burned out the heat and left Wei Wuxian limp and loose and too fucked-out to think.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

“I told Jiang Cheng I'd look into things. He's probably wondering where I am.”

It took an effort of will to pull his hand away from his chest. He wanted to keep touching, to be touched. Touch felt good.

His stomach growled, reminding him of a more primal need than duty. He frowned down at it.

“Traitor,” he muttered. “I'll practice inedia, and you won't get anything and Lan Zhan can fuck me for a week!”

Lan Zhan stumbled suddenly, legs seeming to collapse beneath him as he plunged into the shallows. The water frothed around him, and he wobbled, drifting away before reeling himself back in.

Throwing his head back, Wei Wuxian laughed. “Lan Zhan! You're so funny! Absolutely the best divine creature I've ever met.”

Jumping to his feet, he found himself stumbling for a moment, body protesting the sudden movement after the new and exciting use he'd made of it. He gathered himself quickly, sloshing into the water to lay his hands on Lan Zhan's shell and lean in to give him a kiss.

“I've got to go assure Jiang Cheng that things haven't gone appallingly wrong on his first solo diplomatic mission, but I'll be back in a little while. Wait for me, Lan Zhan? I want to enjoy the rest of the day with you.” He scratched lightly right where the thick moss began growing from Lan Zhan's shell, and was rewarded when a tendril emerged to curl around his fingers for attention and kisses. He couldn't help grinning hugely over it.

“Lan Zhan, you are too cute! The cutest! Stay right here for me, okay?” he said, pulling away and hurrying to put his clothes back on. “Don't bother to get dressed!” His teasing came out only slightly strained by the moan that bubbled up in his throat courtesy of the cloth sliding against his skin like a lover's caress.

He definitely

definitely

needed to hurry and come back to Lan Zhan.

As he dashed through the forest, breath growing heavy with the heat of arousal rather than from exertion, Wei Wuxian remembered that he could probably purge Lan Zhan's aphrodisiac from his system. If he could concentrate long enough to isolate it, then it could be expelled. He had to stop for a moment, leaning against a tree and palming his aching cock through his robes as he considered the most effective way to expel it.

It took a practiced degree of self-restraint to pull his hand away and resume his walk back. Hard and burning with need, it was slow, uncomfortable going. He kept glancing back, hoping to see Lan Zhan emerge, come scuttling up to bowl him over, pin him to the loamy ground, and fuck him senseless under the afternoon sky. He was definitely going to make Lan Zhan work all the desires out of his system. It was his fault they were there, after all.

Somehow, he made it back to the guest quarters. By that time, there was no question of hiding the state he was in from Jiang Cheng, so he slipped first into the room that had been allotted to him for his stay, sinking down to sit on the floor, knees drawn up as soon as he closed the door behind himself. His legs fell open, one hand dipping into his pants to curl around his cock. Groaning, he let his head fall back against the door as he jerked himself off desperately, quick and rough and thinking all the while of strong, slippery, gentle tendrils winding about his body and setting him aflame with need.

Finishing brought him some small relief, but not satisfaction. He sagged, bringing his breathing quickly back under control. Oh, he was in trouble. He was in so much trouble. He really.... He really had....

He didn't let himself complete the thought. There were things he needed to do. After that, he could go back to Lan Zhan and indulge...make the most of what time they had together before the talks finished and he would have to leave.

Most importantly, he needed to let Jiang Cheng know that everything was all right. His sworn brother had an unfortunate tendency to get stressed when things weren't going perfectly, and when he got stressed, his temper frayed even more readily than normal. The thought made Wei Wuxian smile. Jiang Cheng was such a brat.

Wiping his hand off on his pants, he got to his feet, only to find that his knees were shakier than expected. His body ached in strange ways. It wasn't unpleasant so much as distracting. If he wanted to be with Lan Zhan again this badly after such a short time apart, his return to Lotus Pier was going to be miserable for at least a few days.

Or weeks.

Or forever unless Lan Zhan decided to pick up and move, but that didn't seem very likely and he really needed to stop thinking these things before Lan Zhan caught on. Wei Wuxian was mostly certain that Lan Zhan was privy to his thoughts and, while that was unbearably sexy while he was hot and hard and needing to be touched, it wouldn't do for any of his silly wishes to become an imposition.

“Focus, focus,” he muttered to himself. He needed to change his clothes, write a note to Jiang Cheng—that would probably be the most efficient way to avoid any awkward explanations for where he had been, and it would let him get back faster—maybe get some food. Maybe not. He'd be fine without eating for a while longer. He could eat any old time, but he could only visit with Lan Zhan while in the Cloud Recesses.

While hurrying to change, he ran through what he ought to leave in the note. By the time he was decent, he knew what to write, and dashed off a quick message which he slipped beneath the door to Jiang Cheng's room. He was grinning as he slipped out of the guest quarters, feeling like a fifteen-year-old up to mischief as he snuck off into the woods once more.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day. The urgency he'd felt to get back to Lan Zhan dwindled minutely beneath the shafts of pure sunlight that dappled the path, and he slowed his steps once he was mostly certain that no one would chance upon him. He plucked handfuls of berries and tender mushrooms to snack on, and enjoyed the beauty of the forest.

In high spirits, he even paused when he came across a patch of yarrow. The clusters of flowers looked so much like clouds atop their stalks that he plucked some, laughing at the thought of bringing flowers to Lan Zhan that resembled the crest of the sect he guarded. Wei Wuxian picked a stem here and a stem there each time he ran across them, until he had a fair-sized bouquet in his hands. He even tucked one cluster behind his ear, thoroughly amused by the idea of looking pretty for his Lan Zhan.

Soon, he found himself back at the entrance to the cave. The warmth of the sun, which had collected in this robes, faded as he descended. The coolness was not unpleasant, and he breathed in deeply, smelling water and stone. Beneath that, faintly, was Lan Zhan's sweet, earthy scent. Wei Ying called out as he went, and found a tendril reaching out to him even as he made it to the bottom of the slope. He set his hand upon it, and it curled gently up his arm, drawing him deeper into the cavern.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look! I've brought you a gift!”

Tendrils swarmed him like curious, darting fish, inspecting the bouquet of yarrow and the sprig in his hair. They curled around the stalks, taking the bouquet apart spray by spray. Some carried the clusters of flowers back to Lan Zhan's shell and planted them there, in among the moss and lichen and ferns. In the ethereal light of the cavern, they looked like the luminous mists that wreathed the mountains at dawn. Other tendrils delicately adorned Wei Wuxian with more of the blossoms—tucking stalks behind his other ear or into the simple, leather guan he'd used to tie up his hair. It made Wei Wuxian laugh.

“Am I pretty, Lan Zhan?” Shaking off the tendril wrapped around his arm, he practically danced back. He ducked and sidestepped and spun away from the tendrils that reached for him, grinning and laughing at the game. “Catch me, Lan Zhan! Can't you catch me?”

Lan Zhan could catch him, of that Wei Wuxian was certain. If Lan Zhan wanted to catch him, no amount of dodging would have kept Wei Wuxian out of reach of those tendrils. But, no...that wasn't quite correct. Lan Zhan did want to catch him. Wei Wuxian could feel it in the song; an undercurrent that ran deep and low, humming in a slow pulse that seemed to pluck at his muscles and tendons. Stronger than that, however, was the light and free melody that soared like a bird between them. Wei Wuxian heard the sweetness of his flute in it, playful trills that spoke very clearly to him. Lan Zhan wanted to catch him, yes, but more than that, he wanted to play this game Wei Wuxian had started. He wanted to make Wei Wuxian happy.

Skidding to a halt, Wei Wuxian spun on his heel and ran directly into a small swarm of tendrils. He held his arms out as they fetched up against him, wriggling immediately beneath his robes to nuzzle his skin.

“You caught me!” he said with a grin, and Lan Zhan reeled him in, stripping his clothes from him in a flash. The tendrils had apparently learned well the first time.

“Ah ha ha! So forceful already, Lan Zhan! You have to be gentle with this one, remember? Gentle! I'm only human. Very delicate, you know.”

As he spoke, Lan Zhan's tendrils had wrapped themselves snugly around his arms and legs. It was the fronds, however, that held Wei Wuxian's attention as they floated out from beneath Lan Zhan's shell, carrying a promise of pleasure with them. Traces of the aphrodisiac from earlier was still in his system, waiting to be stirred up like riverbed silt. He watched eagerly as the fronds drew near, tense with anticipation. The muscles of his stomach bunched and quivered at the first brush, and he gasped, not even having realized that he'd been holding his breath.

“Gentle,” he breathed, not meaning it at all. Lan Zhan lifted him, and the fronds swept across his body, their touch as faint as mist, the intention in their caress clear as day.

Wei Wuxian laughed. He couldn't help it. Happiness bubbled up in him like a spring and overflowed. Lan Zhan lowered him to the stone floor of the cavern, settling him into a nest arranged from his discarded clothes, and Wei Wuxian gathered in every bit of him that he could. He hugged the tendrils to his chest, laughing and nuzzling as sensation slowly returned, a glow and then a flare. Pleasure was a sunrise, a creeping rosiness beneath his skin heralding a burst of pure, glorious light. His laughter snagged on hitched breaths, on gasps. It stumbled and still continued on, pulling him along as Lan Zhan explored his body with gentle touches and deliberate tickles that stole his breath until his laughter was nothing but helpless shaking. Voiceless, he laughed until tears spilled from his eyes. He could barely stop smiling long enough to kiss the tendrils that traced backward along the salty trails.

This time around, Lan Zhan took his time. He'd found all those spots on Wei Wuxian's body most sensitive to touch—even with large swathes of his skin charged with an aphrodisiac—and unerringly targeted them again. His tendrils mapped the pleasure centers of Wei Wuxian's body, every stroke adding fuel to the all-consuming fire within. The only places he didn't touch immediately were those Wei Wuxian begged him to attend to—his cock, hard and red and leaking precome, and his hole.

“Please, Lan Zhan, please, please...! I know you know I want this...! Isn't it forbidden to tease others?” He squirmed, and was held down effortlessly. More, every movement set off sparks. Every grind of his shoulders or hips against his robes, every shift of Lan Zhan's tendrils against his skin, all of it tuned him with desire. “Isn't it forbidden to be so smug? Don't think I can't tell you are. You—ah! Just—oh, Lan Zhan...touch me like that again....”

It didn't take much longer for Wei Wuxian to come, cock still untouched. He sagged against the stone beneath his back, panting, stomach a mess of sweat and seed and the slick from Lan Zhan's writhing tendrils. This time, instead of using his fronds to freeze the afterglow and bring Wei Wuxian back to full hardness, Lan Zhan sent a tendril coiling snake-like around one of Wei Wuxian's legs. The moans that the continuous slide of slick flesh against his skin drew from him echoed off the walls and ceiling, filling the cavern with an ecstatic refrain. Wei Wuxian found himself on his side, body wound tight as a guqin string, and still thrumming with the wash of pleasure from his orgasm. The first slide of a tendril inside him whited out his vision and stole his voice, so that his mouth hung open on a wordless exclamation. Lan Zhan's song struck him like a wave, and he floundered, barely able to keep his head above water as warm currents of sensation rocked him.

In, in, deeper, and oh! Oh, there, just there! Lan Zhan's tendril fetched up against that most sensitive part of him deep inside, then receded like the tide. In, in, and washed away, in, in and out again. His rhythm was slow, inexorable, maddening. Wei Wuxian begged and pleaded. He tasted salt and choked on his own breath. More tendrils wound around him, dragging him closer, curling around his chest to fondle his nipples and guide his breathing with steadily increasing and decreasing pressure around his ribs.

Still trying to beg—whether for mercy or for more, he wasn't even sure, himself—Wei Wuxian found his words cut off as a tendril slid over top of his lolling tongue to fill his mouth. It was warm and silky against his tongue, using him in the same gentle, unstoppable way as the one thrusting steadily into his ass. One of his arms was pulled up behind his back, leaving his chest entirely exposed and at the mercy of Lan Zhan's unhurried touches. Barely able to move, Wei Wuxian relaxed into his lover's hold, letting Lan Zhan use him as he pleased.

He still whined, but only to express how well Lan Zhan was making him lose his mind, those measured thrusts gradually becoming overwhelming as his body was denied a chance to recover. He still struggled, but only reflexively as the pleasure became too much. The tug of Lan Zhan's tendrils restraining him was gratifying in a way unrelated to the bubbling, boiling pleasure rushing beneath his skin. He was outmatched, completely at Lan Zhan's mercy—

Safe. Wholly, utterly safe, as he rarely had been in his life.

—held down, posed, and used. The situation was outside his control. His mind, always active, always engaged in chains of observations, ideas, plans...

...grew quiet.

His thoughts became mired in the tangle of tendrils and lust that gripped him.

He rested in the rush and recede of Lan Zhan's attentions. Filled, emptied, filled and emptied.

So good, his Lan Zhan. So good to him.

A second tendril entered him, stretching him wider, and he moaned softly, arching his back to grant it better access. With two of them now targeting that place inside that made him see stars, he soon found himself overwhelmed. His limp cock was no help in channeling the waves of pleasure, so they merely surged along his nerves, sizzling and multiplying until he was trembling down to his very bones.

He couldn't even form coherent thoughts, but the continuous whine must have hit a pitch that conveyed his need. Or, perhaps Lan Zhan could simply tell from the state of his body—loose and pliant and feeling as if it might shudder itself to pieces beneath his ministrations. A frond emerged to curl like a young fern around his cock. Swiveling his eyes down, Wei Wuxian watched himself grow hard without being able to feel it. The frond pumped him, slow and gentle. His climax was nothing but a slight lessening of the pressure threatening to blow him apart, despite the fact that he came so hard seed splattered his chin and lower lip, and he could taste traces of it on the tendril fucking his mouth. Squeezing his eyes shut as needy, frustrated tears escaped them, he twisted futilely in Lan Zhan's grip.

All Wei Wuxian's struggling was for naught. He wasn't moved except by Lan Zhan's choice. Slowly, he was guided onto his knees, thighs tugged wide. He was forced to bend over, spine tugged taut in a balance of push and pull that held his face a hand-span away from the stone. Sweat dripped onto the rock, leaving dark spots. Drool puddled there as another tendril joined the one occupying his mouth.

Wrapped up in Lan Zhan's tendrils, he was held securely, in no danger of crashing face-first into the unforgiving rock. His arms had been gathered behind him, trussed wrist to elbow with a warm, living binding that nuzzled against his skin. His chest heaved, squeezed by the tendrils encircling him. His breath was ragged, coming twice as fast as the measured thrusts that were tenderly tearing him apart from the inside out.

And then, first one and then the other of the tendrils that had been lovingly, relentlessly fucking into him slipped out and did not return. Shuddering, Wei Wuxian whined and twisted weakly in Lan Zhan's grip. He felt empty and loose, feverish from the buildup of heat and the sudden loss that left him cold. He breathed, trying to gather his scattered wits. He was still hard—the fronds had finally receded and left him stiff and aching for another release—and the momentary respite was both blessing and curse. He tried to beg, but couldn't form words around the tendrils in his mouth. Pieces of his and Lan Zhan's song blew through his mind like petals caught in the wind. He lacked even the focus to join them into a melody.

Gently, Lan Zhan urged his legs even further apart. The tendrils pulled out of his mouth, trailing thick strings of saliva made viscous by mixing with the slick fluid they'd produced. Wei Wuxian gasped for air, body heaving with his breaths as roughly as if he was still being fucked. His lips were shaping Lan Zhan's name before he even had voice to speak it.

Something brushed against him. He jolted, startled by the ticklish touch on that sensitive bit of skin behind his balls. He choked on a gasp, caught his breath, called Lan Zhan's name desperately as the touch—a feeling like tiny tentacles searching out every nerve ending beneath his skin—grew more intense. He felt things squirming against him, felt warmth curl around his balls, felt something heated and slick squeeze between his cheeks and tease at his hole.

Wei Wuxian hung his head to look beneath himself, down the line of his body. The shadows writhed and swelled. He could barely make out any details, but he was fairly certain that what he felt was Lan Zhan's tongue. His guess was confirmed a moment later as it wormed its way up between his legs, tickled over his stomach and chest as if tasting him, and then lingered at his throat. He could feel the split sections curling carefully around his neck as the slender filaments explored his skin. Reflexively, his hips jerked, and before he knew it, he was humping the length of Lan Zhan's tongue in a rough, desperate rhythm. He shivered, gasping and twisting helplessly in Lan Zhan's hold, caught in the throes of aphrodisiac-heightened pleasure and the way his overused body lent every touch a crystalline sharpness—an edge of ecstasy upon the steel of too much, too much, too much.

“Lan Zhan, please!” His voice was wrecked, all rough edges and rust. “So forceful! You've made me come twice, and I'm still not satisfied! You have to take responsibility for what you've done, you know! Let me finish properly!”

The tongue retreated, closing as it pulled away as if leaving an open-mouthed kiss across his throat. Wei Wuxian whined as it squirmed its way down his too-sensitive body, rubbing up against him as much as possible. It was torture. It was exquisite.

“Lan Zhan...!” he gasped. “You tease...! You beast! What would all those stuffy Lan cultivators think to know how their revered god treats his lover? Ah, Lan Zhan, I really can't take it! Be nice to me, won't you? You—”

He felt the tip of Lan Zhan's tongue as it slipped past his cock and burrowed between his cheeks. His breath caught with sudden realization. Lan Zhan's tongue rubbed at him, catching on the rim of his hole, considerably bigger than a single tendril, bigger even than two, or maybe even three of them. His heart sped up again, racing in his chest. Lan Zhan's singing swelled, a sea of reassurance and affection and desire that encouraged his body to relax, to open for the pressure of the tongue against his hole. Slowly, firmly, Lan Zhan's tongue twisted and wormed its way inside. It forced the breath from his lungs, left his mouth open over a cry that died in his throat. He felt himself stretched wide, felt his muscles strain and burn, felt tremors race along his limbs.

Slick from the viscous compound excreted by the tendrils, Wei Wuxian felt a warm trickle down his thighs as the liquid was displaced by the halting, determined press of Lan Zhan's tongue. It tickled as it oozed over his skin, and even that was enough to make him gasp and squirm as if it was a teasing caress. He canted his hips up, trying to push back onto the tongue slowly working its way deeper into him. It was so much, so much, so big...! It felt so good.... The words fell from his lips, slurred and wet, puddling in the humid space beneath his trembling, over-stimulated body. At the first brush against that sweet spot inside him, he bucked, choking on a gasp. For a moment he was frozen, and then the wave passed, and he could move again, body grinding back against the impossible, wonderful intrusion, every straining muscle and creaking tendon a ringing plea for more, more, more...!

And then he was reminded

as he felt himself stretched to the limit, stretched like Lan Zhan meant to slowly break him apart from inside

that the tongue was able to open.

It blossomed inside him, forcing his passage wider, twisting to rub against him and drag overwhelming sensation in the wake of its touch. He felt it everywhere, felt it like a growing, branching vine spread throughout his body. It filled his stomach, braided itself around his spine, tangled in his nerves, and wound around his bones. He would have collapsed had Lan Zhan not been holding him up. As it was, his cheek dropped to press against the stone floor of the cavern, cold and solid and nowhere near enough to ground him against the sensation of the filaments emerging to tickle his inner walls and reach out to sample the deepest parts of him.

His breath caught, sounding like a sob, and the tongue pulled slowly back, still gaping wide, still stretching him around its fleshy petals. It pulled nearly entirely out of him, retreating until his hole burned with the size of it. Then, in a flash that flooded him with cold fire and forced the breath from his lungs, it snapped closed and surged forward.

Gentle tendrils lifted his head at the last moment to keep his cheek from scraping across the stone. His knees were not spared, and the pain was an exquisite, fiery counterpoint to the dull, delicious ache of being speared on Lan Zhan's tongue. Again, it flowered inside him, forcing him open as it dragged backward and left emptiness in its wake, and again it closed and drove forward. Lan Zhan knew his mind, and cradled his body, binding him tightly and driving him to ecstasy with the pleasure-pain of a slow, thorough, rough fucking. Lan Zhan braced him with tendrils that gave way just enough with every thrust. His tendrils chased Wei Wuxian's cries for mercy that both of them knew he didn't want. They flowed over his teasing tongue, muffled his cries, oozed their clear, thick slick down his throat in convulsive swallows that morphed into greedy moans. Lan Zhan took him on the cold stone floor of the cavern, and Wei Wuxian melted in his hold. Pleasure was heat lightning rolling through him in endless waves. His cock bounced heavily between his legs, aching as it never had before, red and drooling and ohhh release felt so close, so close, one more thrust of Lan Zhan's tongue, one more slide against that bundle of nerves, deeper, just a little deeper, more, more, he'd never be greedy again if he could just have this, just have more of Lan Zhan buried inside him, more ache, more fullness, more pleasure so hot that it burned cold and it was rising, rising, rupturing, spilling, Wei Wuxian was screaming as he came, seed marking his stomach and chest, dripping into the puddle beneath him, coming and coming and he was empty and shaking and, oh, Lan Zhan, don't tease, don't tease it's too much I can't take it, I can't please, mercy, mercy....

Wei Wuxian wasn't sure when his words had been freed to flood out into their cavern, wasn't sure when the tendrils holding him up had changed from restraining to comforting. They rubbed calming circles into his skin, chafed away the shivers that wracked his spent body. He was lifted, carried over the water and immersed up to his chin. There was no touch of hard stone, only the soft cradle of Lan Zhan's support. There was no chill from the pool fed by an icy mountain stream. It was warm against the side of Lan Zhan's body.

His head drooped. As he let himself be emptied and washed, let Lan Zhan bathe him with touches that soothed even as they set sparks to the kindling not yet burnt to ash beneath his skin, he felt himself nodding off. He fought sleep, murmuring praises to Lan Zhan that perhaps made no sense and were perhaps too honest with his wits scattered and his body pleasantly sore, marked inside and out by the way Lan Zhan had loved him. Determination alone kept him aware enough to notice when he was lifted from the water and laid down on a bed of soft moss that smelled of life and stone, of yarrow and Lan Zhan. He was plied with fresh water as tendrils curled like affectionate cats around his waist and ankles. They nuzzled his cheek as he thought 'Just a moment, just for a moment,' lying to himself again as he curled up among the ferns and the mushrooms, kissing empty air until a single tendril met his lips to claim the offered affection.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,” he sighed, as sleep tugged at his mind, and the warm silk of his robe was draped over him like a blanket. “I like you so much.”

He fell asleep to the lullaby of their paired hearts.

----------[chapter 5]---------

Wei Wuxian made it back to his guest room just in time to slip inside unseen before Jiang Cheng came knocking to be sure he was awake. Having enjoyed what was probably the best night of sleep of his life, he put a bit of extra good cheer into his voice as he called out that Jiang Cheng was welcome to come in, so long as it didn't matter that he wasn't decent yet. Jiang Cheng scolded him hotly through the door, and then stalked off, stomping rudely over the polished wooden walkway. Wei Wuxian's laughter rang out into the cool, morning air, mingling with birdsong and the first patter of a light rain shower.

He smiled as his laughter faded, smiled as he bathed and dressed and put up his hair. He smiled as he thought of Lan Zhan, who hadn't been there with him when he had woken, wrapped carefully in his robes, and arranged comfortably in a dip in the stone.

He was smiling still as he opened the door and stepped out. Today he would be leaving Gusu. He smiled, already missing Lan Zhan fiercely.

The hall where they had been meeting with Lan Xichen and the other representatives of the Lan sect was unusually empty. Wei Wuxian followed Jiang Cheng in, automatically thinking that something was up when he saw only Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren waiting for them. The expressions they wore only confirmed his hunch. While Lan Xichen merely seemed a bit bemused, Lan Qiren's face was thunderous, dark clouds of disapproval gathering in his furrowed brow. He looked a moment away from bursting. Worse, his gaze was fixed unnervingly on Wei Wuxian. So was Lan Xichen's.

That did not bode well.

“What did you do?” Jiang Cheng kept his voice low, but that didn't lessen the demand in his tone. Obviously, he had also noticed who their hosts' attention was focused on.

“Please, have a seat,” Lan Xichen said, waving them to their places. Tea was served. It was all very polite and refined and unnervingly quiet. Wei Wuxian couldn't keep his grin smothered for more than a breath or two at a time. He wondered what the punishment was for defiling a god. Jiang Cheng might try to protect him, but Madam Yu would certainly hand him over to the Lan to be dealt with as they saw fit.

“There has been...an unexpected development,” Lan Xichen said delicately, after a suitable period of time had passed, during which there was a marked lack of the trite, but well-mannered exchanges that demonstrated mutual respect. Lan Qiren made a noise that sounded like he was choking.

“A development,” Jiang Cheng said. He sounded like he had something caught in his throat. From the look he shot at Wei Wuxian out of the corner of his eye, that something was probably anger.

“We.... You perhaps have not heard. It is not often spoken of even within the sect. There is a god that resides deep within the mountain, one that was here before Lan An founded our sect. We know him by the title Hanguang-Jun. He has looked over us, guided us.... When he makes requests, they are always for the betterment of the sect.” He put a barely perceptible emphasis on 'always,' and his uncle's posture became somehow even stiffer than before. “Early this morning, those among us who are able to hear and understand Hanguang-Jun were made aware of a new request.”

Bowing his head, Lan Xichen saluted. Next to him, Lan Qiren's complexion was comparable to a plum.

“The magnanimous Jiang sect will please forgive the abruptness of this request, and the lack of proper ceremony. The most benevolent and wise Hanguang-Jun wishes to take the estimable Young Master Wei as his husband.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian spoke at the same time.

“Repeat that. I cannot have heard you properly.”

“Lan Zhan wants to marry me?”

Another beat of silence as all eyes fixed upon Wei Wuxian.

Lan Qiren, whose disapproval had apparently only been held in check by the thought that the god was working for the good of the sect, finally reached the end of his forbearance.

“You dare...!” His finger lashed out to point at Wei Wuxian with such wrath that it was a shock when divine punishment did not immediately follow.

“Lan Zhan...?” Lan Xichen murmured to himself, too confused to immediately attempt to calm his uncle.

“That someone like you should have the utter gall to call our venerable Hanguang-Jun in such a familiar way is—!”

“Is speaking ill of others not forbidden by your rules?” Jiang Cheng all but snarled the question, leaning forward to meet Lan Qiren's ire. “Who among us has the most gall? Or did you not just request my subordinate marry some god I've never heard of, then immediately speak to him as if he were lower than a dog?”

“Jiang Cheng, I don't—”

“You shut up! I knew you'd done something! Is that where you've been sneaking off to? Some hidden shrine for the secret god?”

“Not really a shrine,” Wei Wuxian said, leaning back in a way that made him appear lazy and unconcerned, but put him in an excellent position to be on his feet in a heartbeat should he need to run.

“I'm breaking your legs when we get home,” Jiang Cheng muttered, just as Lan Xichen finally shook off his stupor for a look of awe.

“You've actually met him, haven't you, Young Master Wei? You've met Hanguang-Jun.”

Cautiously, Wei Wuxian nodded. He'd expected Lan Qiren to object to that, as well. When nothing but a look of frustrated rage was forthcoming, he added: “I heard him singing, back when I was a guest disciple. When I arrived for this trip, I heard him again, and he allowed me to find him.”

“You can hear him,” Lan Xichen breathed. For a moment, Wei Wuxian was mystified as to why that should surprise him more than the fact that he'd met Lan Zhan. Then, from the ocean of Lan Zhan's memories that lay quiescent in him, one bright wave swept into the boat of conscious thought.

“Only people who can trace their ancestry back to Lan An can hear him,” Wei Wuxian muttered. He reached the logical conclusion to such a thought quicker than his gaze could rise to meet Lan Qiren's once more.

“Cangse Sanren,” Lan Qiren ground out through clenched teeth, “had connections to our clan.”

Wei Wuxian turned to his sworn brother with a mix of amazement and dismay. “Jiang Cheng, I'm a Lan!” he wailed.

“The hell you are!” Jiang Cheng snapped.

“You most certainly are not!” Lan Qiren said at the same time.

The sudden urge to laugh was almost unbearable. Wei Wuxian hid his face in his hands. Let them all draw what conclusions they would from his shaking shoulders.

“And,” Lan Qiren started to add, “when you marry in—”

“Stop right there!” Jiang Cheng demanded.

Zidian sat quiescent on Jiang Cheng's finger, on loan from Madam Yu as a token of status, but in that moment, Wei Wuxian could have sworn he heard its crackle in Jiang Cheng's voice.

“What do you mean 'when he marries in?'”

“It's obvious!” Lan Qiren insisted, puffing up. “Of course he would marry into our sect!”

“Oh no.” Jiang Cheng actually smiled, and Wei Wuxian's grin grew impossibly wider. That was never a good thing for anyone Jiang Cheng argued against. That meant he was about to be a supreme pain in the ass. “You just now denied that he was a member of your clan. In front of a Lan witness. You have no claim on him. However, Wei Wuxian is listed in my family registry at Lotus Pier.”

“I am?”

“Is your Hanguang-Jun in the Lan registry?”

Lan Qiren actually spluttered. Jiang Cheng had smiled, Wei Wuxian was in the Jiang family registry, and Lan Qiren was so angry he couldn't find words...!

And Lan Zhan wanted to get married!

Wei Wuxian was giddy. He was smiling so much it hurt. This had quickly become the best day of his life!

He needed to see Lan Zhan.

That impetus had him on his feet so quickly that he didn't even realize he'd moved until Jiang Cheng caught him by the robes and jerked him back down.

“Where do you think you're going?” he growled, still smirking vicious triumph at Lan Qiren.

“To see Lan Zhan,” he said. Shouldn't that have been obvious?

“About that,” Lan Xichen started, just as Jiang Cheng and Lan Qiren shouted:

“Oh no you're not!”

and

“Don't you dare!”

respectively.

“You,” Jiang Cheng commanded, fixing a scowl on Lan Xichen, who was still too shocked to even notice his rudeness. “Watch my brother.” There was a glint in his eyes as he turned back to Lan Qiren once more. “On behalf of Yunmeng Jiang, I will be more than happy to negotiate a bride price for your god.”

“Xichen!” Lan Qiren's furious glare didn't lift from Jiang Cheng for a moment as he spoke. “Take that boy out of here. And don't let him approach Hanguang-Jun!”

“Hey!”

Everyone ignored Wei Wuxian's protest, which was hugely unfair, considering all the uproar was about his soon-to-be husband.

Lan Xichen saluted his uncle. Jiang Cheng refused to let go of Wei Wuxian's robes until he saw Lan Xichen take him by the arm. The atmosphere in the room was like a bottled thunderstorm as Wei Wuxian found himself hurried out the door and out of earshot of the negotiations.

Not that he really needed to hear them. Lan Zhan wanted to marry him! Even if the entire cultivation world said no, Wei Wuxian would just elope with him, laughing all the way.

Lan Zhan! He called out with a joy the perfect blue of cloudless summer skies spilling into the name. Lan Zhan's song rose in him like the excitement fluttering in his elevated heart rate. It filled him so completely that his steps halted, and he came to a stop in the middle of the path, face tilted up to the pale, morning light as he whistled a call to his love.

Immediately, Lan Zhan answered him, presence sweeping through Wei Wuxian with the comfort of warm spring rains over a parched forest. Lan Zhan sang adoration with the deep, steadfast nature of his mountain home. The melody embraced him, and Wei Wuxian laughed aloud, dizzy with delight.

“Lan Zhan, you sneak! You sly beast! You let me think I was just going to be leaving you behind like a dream! Yes, I'm pleased, don't sound so worried! How could you doubt for a moment? Yes, I'll marry you! Yes! I want you, love you, all of it! Everything! Can't you feel it, Lan Zhan? You don't even have to wait for permission—I always want you inside me!”

A polite cough reminded him that he wasn't alone. His gaze snapped back down to Lan Xichen, still holding his arm. Then, a moment later, he began to notice other members of the sect—from servants to juniors to full-fledged cultivators to elders—all staring. Those closest had stopped, and now stood gaping, expressions running the gamut from confused to outright horrified. They'd clearly heard his shameless confession and—

Oh.

Oh no.

Wei Wuxian nearly choked trying to hold back a laugh.

The only Lan he could have been speaking to—so far as his unexpected audience could see—was Lan Xichen! Wei Wuxian couldn't hold back for long. He doubled over laughing, tears gathering thickly in his lashes as Lan Zhan's song hummed with an oddly sour note.

“Oh, no, no, no! No, Zewu-jun, I'm sorry! I forgot! Lan Zhan's with me, and I got caught up in the moment.” He looked up, dashing away tears of mirth, and had a sudden, vivid sense of Lan Zhan's desire to reach out a tendril and wipe the tears away for him.

Later, he promised silently. I'll cry plenty for you when you make me beg and scream.

The smugness that rang through him in the sonorous tones of a bell nearly bowled him over. He straightened, grinning brightly as Lan Xichen let go of his arm.

“You said that...Hanguang-jun is with you...?” He looked around, trying not to be too obvious about it, even though it was apparent that he was dying to see his sect's god. In a moment of crystal clarity, all of Lan Xichen's awed responses over the course of the morning suddenly made a different sort of sense.

“Zewu-jun...are you unable to hear him?”

Lan Xichen looked at him. The smile that graced his handsome features twisted bitterly, and he inclined his head.

“I had heard that Young Master Wei was perceptive.” He took a breath and sighed, and then began walking once more, leading Wei Wuxian further from where his future was being debated. “As you said before, only those who are of Lan An's bloodline can hear Hanguang-jun's voice. However, there is no guarantee that any of us will be born with such an ability. There are places that make it easier: a chamber where the listeners sit in meditation, a cottage in the forest on the back of the mountain. When I am in those places, I think that I can almost hear him...but his voice has never been clear to me. It is unbecoming, but I envy you.”

The way Lan Xichen spoke so frankly about a matter so close to his heart left Wei Wuxian briefly off-balance. He could not respond to sincerity with anything less, however.

“I'm honored to have been born with such a gift. As to Zewu-jun's feelings, a life lived without envies will certainly be happier than one with them.”

For a long moment, Lan Xichen was silent. “It is not an easy thing you recommend.”

“No,” Wei Wuxian agreed. Then he grinned. “But I can make a much simpler request, if you'd like.”

Lan Xichen glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and if his smile had not entirely lost its bitterness, at least it seemed to hold some measure of amusement as well. “And what request would that be?”

“Show me the cottage you mentioned. It's not where I've been meeting Lan Zhan, but I'm curious about places where it might be easier to hear him. He's very fascinating! I've never met anyone like him!”

Lan Zhan trilled at him over the praise, gentle as the ripples left in the wake of a feeding carp. He was not displeased, exactly, but he expressed the sentiment that it was not necessary.

Of course it's necessary! Wei Wuxian thought to him. When I see a beauty, I must pay compliments. When I come across a talisman of ingenious design, I must express appreciation. How could I keep quiet about you when you're so much more?

“I was instructed to keep you away from Hanguang-jun,” Lan Xichen was saying, dryly.

“Ah, but we both know that isn't exactly possible, is it? Lan Zhan lives and breathes this mountain. There's nowhere on it he can't go—even if he's too much of a gentleman to come into my thoughts until I've called him. He's been with me since I was kicked out of the discussion. What does it matter where I am physically?”

Lan Xichen gave him a look. Unused to interpreting meanings hidden behind bland smiles, Wei Wuxian simply grinned broadly in return. He knew he had won only when Lan Xichen turned off the path, walking into the forest alongside, and trusting Wei Wuxian to follow.

“Tell me,” Lan Xichen said, “what is Hanguang-jun like? Those who can hear him say that his thoughts sing to them, that it is sometimes hard to take his meaning because the touch of his mind is so overwhelming. Some have told me that it can be painful. I've read accounts of disciples losing consciousness and waking...changed. They tell me that Hanguang-jun shields those not attuned to him as best he can, but.... My apologies. I'm rambling. I simply meant to convey that I am curious, and find it hard to obtain answers that tell me much.”

“Hmmm.... You want to know what he's like, but where do I start? Ah,” He smiled, eyes going soft. “Lan Zhan is kind. He's almost unbearably kind. And gentle. And he loves you all so much. His home here—your sect and the mountain itself—is precious to him. Like you said, he doesn't speak in words, but he makes himself clear. He's very funny.” Wei Wuxian laughed, thinking of Lan Zhan chasing him around the cavern, wobbling like a top about to fall over. “He has a strong sense of righteousness, which grew as much from his relationship with your sect over the centuries as it did from within him.”

They had come upon a little-used trail, largely overgrown. A tree had fallen beside it, creating a walkway that looked to provide a shortcut around a shallow bend. Wei Wuxian jumped up upon it, walking backward without a care as he continued talking.

“And he's beautiful, of course! Ahh, Zewu-jun, he's so beautiful.... I can see why your sect calls him Hanguang-jun. He shines like the moon...!”

Because he was walking backward, he saw Lan Xichen stumble, saw his mouth drop open, and a look of shock come across his face that had Wei Wuxian reaching for Suibian, though he had left it in his room. Sensing his sudden alarm, Lan Zhan sang calm to him, sending waves of it along their bond even as Wei Wuxian spun to see what threat Lan Xichen had spotted.

He beamed.

“Lan Zhan!”

There on the path, in immaculate Gusu Lan robes that shimmered like fine pearls, stood Lan Zhan. He looked almost human, and entirely perfect.

“Lan Zhan!”

There was a brief tug at Wei Wuxian's robes. He heard Lan Xichen call his name, voice hoarse. Neither of these things gave him pause as he launched himself into Lan Zhan's arms. Excitement buzzed inside him like a beehive, and he was pulling back before he had even gotten a proper hug, trying to take in all of Lan Zhan's appearance without letting him go.

“Oh, look at you, look at you! Lan Zhan, you're....”

Words failed him. Lan Zhan's human form was stunning. His face was as flawless as a jade statue, fair-skinned and golden-eyed. His hair was pure white, and fell in a shining curtain, veiled down its length with the same dewy moss that covered his back in his true form, complete with the velvety mushrooms, curling fiddleheads, and leafy ferns. The small lights that rose from him were nearly invisible in the light of day, but Wei Wuxian noticed them winking like sun sparkles on water. In place of a god's celestial shawl, his fronds looped behind his head and around his elbows, glimmering as they floated gracefully. And around his right wrist, incongruous against his ethereal beauty, was Wei Wuxian's red ribbon.

Lan Zhan did not smile at him, but the look in his eyes stole Wei Wuxian's breath. The ocean of Lan Zhan's entire being surged behind those pale eyes, every drop a note in his endless melody, and all of it warm and welcoming and focused entirely on him. Wei Wuxian shivered and pressed closer.

“How did you get even lovelier, Lan Zhan?”

The answer came to him as Lan Zhan's song, subtly changed, swelled like the rising wind. For Wei Wuxian, for a heart perfectly attuned to his own, Lan Zhan could sing himself into any form. He opened his mouth, and a ribbon of music unfurled, sounding like a dizi calling in answer to the solemn inquiry of a guqin. It held the loneliness of endless solitary mountain nights, the high, clear voices of the stars, the whisper of budding leaves. It was a gale, bound together by the sweeping, flute-like trills that seemed to call out: 'Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!'

“Young Master Wei!” Lan Xichen shouted. “That—! It—!”

There was a sharp tug on the back of his robes, strong enough that he would have been yanked backward had Lan Zhan not tightened his hold. Turning to look over his shoulder, he saw Lan Xichen, pale and horrified, staring just past him at Lan Zhan. With his attention divided and his eyes trained elsewhere, Wei Wuxian could almost feel the hard edges of pincers around his waist where he had seen Lan Zhan's arms a moment ago. But that made sense, didn't it? Lan Zhan was still Lan Zhan, no matter what he told reality he looked like. His human form was an illusion, of sorts...a very strong, practically real sort of illusion, but it was all held together in his song. Without looking down, Wei Wuxian ran a hand over Lan Zhan's arm, unable now to feel the carapace beneath the appearance of silk and skin. Still with his head turned toward Lan Xichen, he leaned against Lan Zhan, melting into the embrace of his husband-to-be without an ounce of shame.

“It's okay,” he said, realizing that, since Lan Xichen had trouble hearing Lan Zhan's song, the illusion was probably not as convincing for him. Could he see Lan Zhan's true form? Or was he seeing the shape of a man, while sensing that his eyes lied to him? Eager to find out, Wei Wuxian smiled and started to introduce them, but in the next moment found himself plunged into darkness.

----------[chapter 6]---------

Startled, Wei Wuxian pulled away from Lan Zhan, reaching for a sword that he still didn't have, and swearing privately that he was never leaving Suibian behind again for any reason. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he relaxed. He was back in Lan Zhan's cave, safe and sound, if a bit confused.

Soft laughter tumbled from his lips as he turned back around and let Lan Zhan tug him close once more. His eyes were lambent in the dim light, glowing like the lichen that clung to the walls of his grotto. Wei Wuxian's smile curled larger with amusement and a deep, heavy fondness as he wondered what other small details Lan Zhan had gotten wrong about appearing human.

“And just what was that all about, hmm?” he asked, rubbing a finger beneath Lan Zhan's chin. “Whisking me away so suddenly! If we were anywhere else, I'd give it an hour before the entire sect was talking about how you carried me off to ravish me. Since gossip is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses, though...I'd guess we have maybe two hours before everyone's tongues are wagging with the news.” He laughed again, swaying forward and letting Lan Zhan take his weight as he joked, giddy with excitement. “No second thoughts now! You have to marry me! Think of the scandal otherwise!”

Music poured from Lan Zhan's parted lips. It seemed to stir the air with its power, making the previously steady light within the cavern flicker. Dim as it was, Wei Wuxian could still see Lan Zhan clearly. He was so very pale. The expression on his face was set as if carved from jade, but his eyes....

Gently, Wei Wuxian rested a hand against Lan Zhan's face, palm cupping his cheek. “Lan Zhan,” he whispered, “you're staring at me so intensely.”

Lan Zhan pressed his cheek more firmly into the warm hollow of Wei Wuxian's palm and sang to him. The music was palpable, a lover's caress against Wei Wuxian's skin. It spoke of the turning of leaves to the sun, the heating of stone as dawn swelled to daylight. It was an eternity of mornings upon the face of the mountain that would forever greet the break of each day. Lan Zhan would always be looking at him.

Even when Wei Wuxian grinned so broadly that his eyes squeezed closed, the warmth of Lan Zhan's regard remained heavily upon him. The song he sang flowed like an underground river into Wei Wuxian's ears, and from there into all the hidden channels of his body, pouring into his bloodstream, crashing into his heart. It filled his mouth, teasing the breath in his lungs that had no flute to form it into answering music. It found the spaces between the beats of his heart, and made itself at home in his pulse.

When he opened his eyes again, Wei Wuxian found Lan Zhan still gazing at him, just as he'd known he would.

“Can't you look away?” he murmured, teasing. He basked in the attention.

I can't, the song seemed to say.

I won't.

Why would I ever want to?

Lan Zhan let slip a few notes from the song of Wei Wuxian's soul. Sung with fascination and adoration, it danced through the music of his steadfast regard and the continuous melody that constructed his human seeming. His hands rose, slow and cautious. Carefully, he settled them on Wei Wuxian's cheeks. The very tips of his pinkie fingers pressed lightly at the corners of Wei Wuxian's jaw, putting just enough pressure to guide his face forward.

Their lips met. Lan Zhan was still watching him, the intensity of his gaze diluted by the blurriness of proximity. The first movement of the kiss was Wei Wuxian's laughter.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...you are a terrible kisser!” The words were slurred slightly, murmured against Lan Zhan's mouth. “Here,” Wei Wuxian murmured, slipping his arms around Lan Zhan's neck. “Let me show you. Close your eyes.” His own slid shut without waiting to see if Lan Zhan obeyed.

The brush of lips became a press, became small, exploratory movements. Wei Wuxian grew aware of how dry his lips were, how dry Lan Zhan's were against his. It tickled, this gentle touching, this hesitant shaping against each other. Reflexively, his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip, and then suddenly Lan Zhan's mouth was open to his, inviting him in. The hunger rounding out his desire made the deepening of the kiss come naturally, if clumsily.

Surging forward, Wei Wuxian licked into Lan Zhan's mouth. The illusion of humanity had apparently not carried over to the unseen, and Wei Wuxian shivered as Lan Zhan's tongue—smaller now, but still recognizably the same snakelike member that had stretched him open past what he would have thought his body could take—wound around his own tongue. It tugged, urging him to take even as it slipped free. Again and again it curled around Wei Wuxian's tongue, unable to keep a grip, unwilling to give up.

Lan Zhan's lips began to feel strange against his as they kissed. They caressed his mouth like fingers, like feathers. A hazy image formed in Wei Wuxian's mind of the mouths of horseshoe crabs, with their odd, grasping, comb-like appendages, and he laughed into the kiss to think that Lan Zhan might be so taken with him that it would cause his hold on his form to waver. He leaned back, hands resting lightly on Lan Zhan's shoulders, not quite holding him back, but the mere suggestion was enough. Watching Lan Zhan watch him, his smile grew.

“You're staring so intently. Am I that pretty, Lan Zhan? Do you think I'm handsome?”

After a pause, Lan Zhan nodded, hesitantly, as if unsure of the gesture. His gaze was as steady as his mountain, however, and with the nod came a wash of song like sunlight reflected off of water, bright and sparkling and endlessly enchanting.

Throwing his head back, Wei Wuxian laughed. He shoved at Lan Zhan's shoulders, playing at trying to get away in order to distract from the heat rising in his face.

“Lan Zhan! At least when I say too much, I know I'm being shameless! Someone should have taught you to warn people before thinking things like that at them. What a menace you are, being so sweet to your betrothed! How am I supposed to resist you? Ah, well.... You've already had your wicked way with me.”

Because he was watching, he caught a flicker in Lan Zhan's placid expression. And because it was his nature, he grinned and pushed for a bigger, better reaction.

“Ruined my prospects for any other marriage, I hope you know.”

The flicker became a shadow, a slight darkening of Lan Zhan's features, the barest crease between his brows, a tightening at the corners of his mouth.

“Even though I'm the son of a servant, I'm ranked third on the list of most eligible bachelors of my generation. Not bad, don't you think? I practically could have taken my pick of pretty girls—”

He broke off with a laugh as a swarm of tendrils invaded his robes from every available opening. The fabric bunched and strained as Lan Zhan sought out bare skin for rough, possessive caresses. Laughing, Wei Wuxian let himself be tugged closer.

“Ahh, I suppose a little more wickedness can't hurt.” He reached for his belt, keen on hurrying the disrobing process along before Lan Zhan's tendrils got too enthusiastic and tore his clothes apart. To his surprise, Lan Zhan's hands settled atop his, stilling the motions. “Lan Zhan?”

Had he ever worn a human seeming before? His expression was faintly pinched, difficult to read. The current of song that told Wei Wuxian's senses that his lover was human-shaped flowed steadily, but their bond had strengthened to the point where he could tell that Lan Zhan's focus had wandered far from it. Wei Wuxian slipped his hands free only to reverse their positions, settling them atop Lan Zhan's, and rubbing his wrists. His calluses caught against the edges of his ribbon, wrapped securely around Lan Zhan's right wrist, and Wei Wuxian broke off staring into Lan Zhan's eyes to look down at it, smiling foolishly, helplessly, at that small token. He'd meant it only as a stand-in until he could pilfer a proper Gusu Lan ribbon for Lan Zhan, but there was most certainly a part of him that wouldn't be sad to see Lan Zhan insist on keeping that incongruous shock of red.

Lan Zhan's hands crept along his waist. They found the knot where his sash was tied, and picked at it. His expression, vague enough to begin with, began to look even more distant. His tendrils drifted aimlessly beneath Wei Wuxian's clothes, swaying like aquatic plants caught in Lan Zhan's flowing song.

“Let me,” Wei Wuxian offered, amused by the clumsiness of Lan Zhan's fingers, and impatient to feel them against his skin. His hands were batted gently away, however, and he found himself grinning, charmed as he realized what Lan Zhan was up to.

“Determined to undress me yourself? Lan Zhan, has anyone ever told you that you are adorable? You are, you know. What are you getting so serious about this for?” He grinned and leaned in a bit closer, though Lan Zhan's eyes were fixed on the stubborn sash. “Shouldn't that sort of dedication be reserved for our wedding night?” he murmured, scratching gently beneath Lan Zhan's chin in an effort to coax him into looking up. “They'll be searching for us, don't you think? After you abducted me so boldly in front of Zewu-jun. Shouldn't you be in more of a hurry to ruin my reputation before we're found? Or maybe....”

He'd been watching as he spoke, and while Lan Zhan's expression hadn't shifted, the tips of his ears had brightened, glowing with a soft, rosy light. The delicate skin was heated as he leaned forward and nipped at it.

“Is that what you're thinking, Hanguang-jun? Draw things out so that you're still in the middle of ravishing me when they arrive? What will they see, do you think? If I'm right about Zewu-jun, then some of them are going to get more of an eyeful than others—ah! Lan Zhan!” He laughed as Lan Zhan left off working his sash loose just long enough to pinch his waist. “Am I right in thinking that the more attuned someone is to you, the more convincing this form is? Which means if a bunch of Lans who can't hear your song come storming into our little nest, aren't they going to see this helpless one crying for mercy from all your big, strong, dripping—”

With a sudden burst of strength, Lan Zhan gave up on the knot and simply ripped the sash into two pieces, tossing them aside without a second thought. His eyes were glowing like sunlight through amber, and Wei Wuxian felt himself stiffen as need suffused him. Lan Zhan crowded him up against the nearest wall, tugging at Wei Wuxian's robes with an endearing mix of clumsiness and haste. He was still perfectly attired in nacreous, glowing white, but it wasn't as if his fancy robes impeded his tongue or his tendrils, and Wei Wuxian decided that seeing Lan Zhan stripped bare could wait for the pause between one round and the next.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...you've ruined me, you know that, don't you? I like you so much. Love you, want you...it can't be anyone but you. I hope you're prepared. You're going to be stuck with me for the rest of my life!”

He laughed at that, and Lan Zhan kissed the smile from his lips. Lan Zhan's hands, broad and not quite as warm as a human's ought to be, had settled on Wei Wuxian's shoulders. Tendrils writhed behind Wei Wuxian's back, holding him in place. The cave wall was smooth, but uneven; not the most comfortable surface to be pressed against, but Wei Wuxian was too distracted to bother protesting. The kiss was a messy, clumsy, yearning tangle of desires. It should be something more, they should fit together more perfectly, should be able to move against each other with the grace of a perfectly played duet. Wei Wuxian could sense what the kiss should be, and he chased that sensation, licking into Lan Zhan's mouth, eager as he'd ever been in his life.

Perhaps emboldened by that, Lan Zhan's hands drew in and curled lightly around his neck. The touch barely lingered, pausing only long enough for him to realize, distantly, that Lan Zhan had noted the spike in his pulse. Then those sculpted fingers were slipping beneath the hem of his robes, parting them wide over his shoulders. Wei Wuxian wriggled, tearing his hands free from where they'd tangled in Lan Zhan's moonlight hair. He laughed out a garbled apology, but Lan Zhan was far more interested in kissing than listening to it. His laughter only continued, bubbling up like a spring, when his hands were batted away as he tried to help strip his clothes off. It was endearing the way Lan Zhan fumbled with the scant layers, slow, but determined to undress him with his own, newly-human hands. Fondness welled within Wei Wuxian, until he could only cling, letting Lan Zhan do as he pleased even as their closeness became a hindrance. In place of action, he focused on that fondness, allowed it to overflow like water displaced from a bathtub as he took in the golden gleam of Lan Zhan's downcast eyes, his careful movements, and the eagerness that made itself clear in the way his song kept gaining momentum as if sprinting, careening downhill.

It seemed to take ages. Lan Zhan sang to him the entire time, forcibly slowing the melody every time his desire quickened the living pulse of it. Wei Wuxian lost himself in melody and sensation. His head swam dizzily, his body was abuzz, nerves all tuned to the slightest touch. Needy sounds spilled from his throat, and his hips jerked uselessly into the scant and frustratingly empty sliver of space between them. He'd barely even touched the frond that served as Lan Zhan's shawl. Only his hands had brushed against it—and, oh, how that had turned the silken drag of Lan Zhan's hair between his fingers into the most delicious sensation. It hardly felt like it ought to have been enough to set his entire body alight, but maybe the aphrodisiac in Lan Zhan's fronds wasn't something that one could build up a tolerance to. Maybe it was the opposite, and he would become more sensitive to it the more they fucked.

The thought wasn't an unpleasant one.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan.... Next time, all right?”

He tried once more to assist when only his trousers and boots remained, but Lan Zhan caught his hands. A fine wrinkle appeared between his brows as he frowned at Wei Wuxian's captured wrists, looking from there to his free hand to the rest of his task. His confusion over how to proceed was so obvious, so adorable, that Wei Wuxian burst into laughter.

“See there, Lan Zhan? Let me. You can have your turn next time, I swear, but right now, I just want you touching me, Lan Zhan, please.” He pouted, doing his best to look small and alluring and wanton. “Don't you want to please your lovely husband-to-be, Lan Zhan? Don't you want to make me scream?”

Calmly, Lan Zhan transferred Wei Wuxian's hands into the secure hold of a pair of tendrils which raised them over his head and out of the way. Wei Wuxian huffed, considered for a moment, and then thought back to when Lan Zhan had given him his name, thought of the blue, the depth and sound and feel of it, thought it as hard as he could, and pushed the thought at Lan Zhan through their bond.

Lan Zhan froze. His hands, resting on Wei Wuxian's hips, trembled. He blurred, as if seen through a fog, human form flickering over the substantially larger reality.

Abruptly, his grip tightened. The song that tethered his illusion swelled loud, and the edges of him firmed up. He met Wei Wuxian's eyes, burning gold want sizzling against the teasing challenge of Wei Wuxian's grin. His fingertips dug bruises into Wei Wuxian's skin, then let go. They hooked into his trousers and yanked.

The rip of fabric was loud enough to echo. Delighted, Wei Wuxian threw his head back and laughed as Lan Zhan bore him to the ground. He barely noticed the loss of the last of his clothes, too distracted with triumph, the warmth of adoration, and the pleasant press of Lan Zhan's body against his own.

Then there was Lan Zhan's mouth on his neck, and Lan Zhan's teeth in his skin, and it hurt and it was wonderful all at once. Moaning, Wei Wuxian squirmed helplessly. He felt as if he'd grabbed a bolt of lightning, charging his body with clashing sensations, all of which were overwhelming.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...!” His mind flashed to the freedom of riding his sword through open skies, the utter bliss of diving into deep water. Focus eluded him beneath the onslaught of song and sensation, but he tried to call up experiences as pure and wondrous as the blue of Lan Zhan's name. Tried to make a poem of his feelings in the wordless language that flowed between them.

It took him by surprise when Lan Zhan's fingers wrapped around his cock. He shouted, hips bucking up of their own accord. Lan Zhan's hand was cool against his heated flesh, and his touch was almost hesitant at first. He sifted through Wei Wuxian's memories, particularly the recent ones, the times Wei Wuxian had pleasured himself to thoughts of Lan Zhan. Before long, his touches gained confidence, stroking Wei Wuxian just the way he liked. He was quick and a bit rough, rubbing his thumb over the head in a way that had Wei Wuxian fucking up reflexively into his hand.

Any more explicit instructions from Wei Wuxian were dissolved away in the wet, desperate give and take of their mouths. He could hardly speak with Lan Zhan's tongue practically fucking his throat. However, Wei Wuxian found that his desires were communicated quite clearly. Lan Zhan had become so attuned to Wei Wuxian's body, that he seemed able to anticipate how best to wring pleasure from it. The moment the pressure of his hand started to feel as if it wasn't quite enough, his grip tightened. He twisted his wrist just so even as Wei Wuxian began a wordless whine for more.

Then suddenly, the pressure of his hand was gone, and that was just unfair, it was—

“So unfair, Lan Zhan! Why did you stop?” He rolled his hips up, desire boiling the streams of his blood. He felt alive, electrified, desperate. “Lan Zhan, must I beg? Do you think I have any shame? Please—your hand, your mouth—anything will do! Just touch me!”

Lan Zhan was touching him, of course. His wrists were still held firmly against the stone by gently pulsing tendrils. One of Lan Zhan's hands rested lightly on his hip. Both points of contact only seemed to heighten his need, however. He squirmed again, feeling rock and grit abrade his shoulders and backside, and felt no shame over the needy whine that escaped him.

Immediately, more tendrils reared up from behind Lan Zhan, rooted somewhere in the moss veiling his starlight hair. They swarmed him, wrapping around his arms and thighs, slipping under the small of his back. Wei Wuxian found himself held fast, unable to grind his body against stone for leverage. He whined Lan Zhan's name, pairing it with what fractured thoughts of blue he could hold in his mind for even the length of a heartbeat.

Like a wave lapping against the shore, Lan Zhan flowed over him. There was the suggestion of movement beneath his robes, the sway of his spine like a sapling before the breeze, the slight tipping of his shoulders before they balanced again, level and perfect as Lan Zhan straddled his thighs.

Gently, gently, the tendrils tugged him forward, lifting him to sit until the space between their chests was filled with each deep breath Wei Wuxian took. His hands were drawn forward, and the tendrils around his wrists slipped from his skin like silk as Lan Zhan's fingers replaced them. He gazed into Wei Wuxian's eyes, lips parted as he sang softly, pouring his ancient heart out in love and devotion. Deliberately, he placed Wei Wuxian's hands upon his chest, guiding them to the hems of his robe, and from there, down, down to his sash. His request was clear.

Wei Wuxian surged forward, freeing his hands from Lan Zhan's loose hold in order to cup his cheeks and kiss him. Thoughts flew through his head—He'd never kissed anyone before Lan Zhan. He was so glad that he'd never kissed anyone before Lan Zhan. Was he awful at it, too? He surely must be, all enthusiasm and no experience. Lan Zhan didn't seem to mind, however. And it was so exciting, so wonderful, that it didn't really matter if they were awful to start. This was Lan Zhan's first time, too, after all. This relationship...this form...these desires...all firsts. All were new discoveries and sensations he wanted to share with no one except for Wei Wuxian. And now he wanted Wei Wuxian to undress him.

Lan Zhan drew back as the kiss sweetened and slowed, but only so that he could press his lips to Wei Wuxian's cheek. The touch was all adoration, pleasantly cool against Wei Wuxian's heated skin.

“You made this just for me, huh, Lan Zhan?” he asked softly, skimming his palms down Lan Zhan's cheeks and neck until he could bury his hands beneath his glistening outer robe.

The affirmative washed into him as Lan Zhan kissed his other cheek, and Wei Wuxian had to laugh as understanding came with it.

“You were jealous!” he cried, delighted. Lan Zhan kissed the tip of his nose, then his forehead, ignoring Wei Wuxian's teasing. “Is that why you made yourself look so much like Zewu-Jun? Because he was the person next to me for my shameless confession?”

The hem of Lan Zhan's outer robe sat heavily upon his wrists as he ran his hands over the curves of Lan Zhan's shoulders and down his arms, dislodging the silk. It collapsed slowly, settling like a snowdrift. He freed first one of Lan Zhan's hands and then the other, giving each a kiss as he did so. The robe blinked out of existence the moment it was no longer part of the illusion, which Wei Wuxian hadn't expected and hoped to have a chance to explore some time in the future. For the time being, however, he let it go.

“Lan Zhan...” he drawled, grinning as he raised both of Lan Zhan's hands to his lips. “Could you sense that I thought Zewu-Jun was handsome?”

Lan Zhan's hands twitched. He gripped Wei Ying's tighter.

“He is the number one cultivator of this generation, you know.” He peeked up from beneath his lashes as he dusted kisses over Lan Zhan's knuckles. “I took third, by the way. Did I tell you that? But Zewu-Jun is on another level, don't you think? All the Lans are so pretty.”

The gold of Lan Zhan's eyes was the bright flame of a campfire. Something in him burned for Wei Wuxian, and knowing that was dizzying. Wei Wuxian wanted to stoke it, wanted to see sparks fly.

His hands were trapped in Lan Zhan's grip, but he could lean forward to whisper into his ear. “Are you pretty because they are? Or are they pretty because you are, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Zhan shuddered. The song of his human seeming was whipped away as if by strong winds, and Wei Wuxian felt his name called in the wild melodies of cloudbursts and gales. For the blink of an eye, there were a pair of pincers holding his hands, a gleaming carapace hovering over him. Then, Lan Zhan regained his composure. His singing flowed elegantly back into the harmony that shaped his human appearance and, once more, Wei Wuxian found himself face-to-face with the unearthly beauty of his jade-like countenance. Lan Zhan's grip eased enough for Wei Wuxian to pull one hand free. He patted Lan Zhan's cheek.

“Has anyone ever told you that you are very cute? I bet they haven't. It's awful of them, Lan Zhan. Highly irresponsible. I'll have to make up for it on the Lans' behalf.”

As he spoke, Lan Zhan had taken hold of his hand again, and very deliberately moved both of them to his sash. He held on even after Wei Wuxian's fingers went to work loosening the silk.

“Aha, Lan Zhan, so impatient! Now you know how I felt! Maybe I want to savor this, though, did you consider that?” The sash, too, vanished the moment Wei Wuxian pulled it free. His hands were moving to drop it to the ground even as they suddenly emptied. “Maybe now I know a bit about how you were feeling. Did you want to savor me, too?”

He reached for the hem of Lan Zhan's robe, hardly sagging at all, even without the sash to hold it. It was soft beneath his palms, and he stroked the silk, thumbs barely dipping underneath. When he glanced up, Lan Zhan was watching him intently, and Wei Wuxian found himself trapped in that amber gaze.

“Maybe I just want to be devoured,” he whispered.

After that, the rest of Lan Zhan's layers were stripped away with no further teasing. Having initially meant to enjoy the honor of being allowed to undress his soon-to-be husband, Wei Wuxian found it exceedingly difficult to concentrate on getting him naked while being kissed senseless. He was distantly aware that his hands were shaking in his haste, and vaguely confused by how long it seemed to be taking, but most of his thoughts were burned away by the heat of the kiss. Somewhere along the way, he wound up lying back against the stone once more, with no memory of having done so.

The first tendril pressed into him at the same moment that he parted Lan Zhan's inner robe to touch him skin to skin. Wei Wuxian whined, canting his hips up to give Lan Zhan better access. The tendril moved slowly, barely stretching him at all. It flowed into him like water, made itself at home in his body. It felt right to be connected so intimately, but that sense of rightness didn't stop Wei Wuxian from wanting more.

“Ahh, so gentle with me, Lan Zhan.” Soft, exploratory kisses trailed along his jaw, allowing him to speak. “I would have—ahhh.... Would have thought you'd be more excited.” Managing to pull a hand away from the smooth skin of Lan Zhan's chest, Wei Wuxian reached out, groping blindly until a hovering tendril offered itself. He twined it around his fingers, then drew it down between their faces to kiss it gently.

Lan Zhan watched him, eyes luminous and intense. His lips pursed softly as his song cradled the two of them. The vastness of him filled the cavern, belying his appearance. Wei Wuxian found himself entranced, floating as if in a warm, calm sea. He held Lan Zhan's stare, rocking gently as the tendril worked him slowly, slowly open.

'Don't hold back,' he wanted to say. He was greedy, endlessly, insatiably greedy for every touch, for the feeling of Lan Zhan buried deep inside him, for the sensation of being seen—of being known—to the depths of his soul, for the chance to know Lan Zhan in turn. Wei Wuxian felt the shape of him, of his keen mind and his compassionate heart. He felt loved, completely and overwhelmingly. It took his breath away.

'Don't hold back,' he wanted to say. The words that slipped out like the caress of waves over the shore were: “I love you.”

His heart seemed to expand in his chest. His sentiments were matched and mirrored back to him—an entire ocean of feeling that existed within the two of them—and still Lan Zhan held his gaze. Even as he positioned himself over Wei Wuxian, even as his hands stroked reverently over Wei Wuxian's bare chest and stomach, even as gentle tendrils slipped between them, wrapping around Wei Wuxian's cock and guiding Lan Zhan's slow, sure movements, his gaze never wavered. Wei Wuxian had no air in his lungs to gasp as Lan Zhan sank down onto him, taking in his length in one long, measured slide. Reflexively, he tipped his head back, pressing it against the stone until tendrils wove around his skull, cushioning him as he writhed. His hips jerked, but were held down effortlessly. Even as he drew up his knees, feet seeking purchase to gain leverage to thrust, Lan Zhan's tendrils were winding around his thighs and calves, exploiting his movements to urge his legs open wider.

Gently, gently he was held, cradled in Lan Zhan's tendrils, surrounded, ensnared. All that strength brought to bear upon him so heart-wrenchingly carefully. He was helpless. He was safe, safer than he had ever felt except in the haziest of his memories. When Lan Zhan moved, lifting his hips with slow deliberation and sinking down again just as carefully, Wei Wuxian whined, tensing and struggling in his hold. It felt strange inside Lan Zhan, strange and wonderful. Muscles that weren't quite mimicking those of a human squeezed around him, trying to draw him deeper even as Lan Zhan held himself still and kept Wei Wuxian's straining body trapped and unable to chase his pleasure.

Again, Lan Zhan moved atop him, all patience and restraint. Without realizing it, Wei Wuxian had squeezed his eyes shut. He forced them open now, only to find Lan Zhan still watching him intently, studying him, taking in his reactions.

“Lan Zhan.... Hanguang-jun...! Gege, please! So mean to me, so mean to your Wei Ying.”

His squirming was held in check by more tendrils twining around his limbs and torso, petting soothingly over his skin. The places where Lan Zhan's fronds had touched him flared with white hot need, making the most embarrassing sound burst from his throat. His vision wavered, the world gone liquid.

“Please, Lan Zhan, please, aren't you bullying me too much? You feel so good. Does it feel good for you, too? Do you like having me inside you?”

A rumble of agreement almost too low to be heard rose from Lan Zhan's chest. He rolled his hips almost lazily, grinding down on Wei Wuxian's cock. Something moved inside him, something that felt like tiny fingers stroking against sensitive skin. It made Wei Wuxian's hips jerk, made him moan pitifully, even as his imagination once again conjured up images of the featherlike appendages around the mouths of horseshoe crabs.

“Don't play with your food, Lan Zhan. Isn't that one of the rules? Show some appetite, won't you? It's boring if you're too restrained!”

Lan Zhan's molten gaze called him on the shameless lie. Boring. As if he wasn't being gradually stretched open by Lan Zhan's tendrils. As if his heart wasn't practically beating out of his chest in anticipation. He could sense Lan Zhan's desire thrumming through his song. It was a deep, almost dizzying rumble, a magma flow ready to burst forth and consume. Wei Wuxian's hands twitched with the urge to reach up and cradle his face.

“Won't you take your pleasure from me, husband?”

For a heartbeat, he saw himself as Lan Zhan did: a glimpse of tangled black hair and sweat-beaded skin, fever-bright eyes and flushed cheeks, arms and chest bound and straining, lips curved in a bright, breathless, inviting grin. His vision swam, and he was forced to close his eyes.

Lan Zhan began to move in earnest.

He was still so deliberate and careful with his movements, savoring the sensations, perhaps, or learning them. Gradually, he picked up speed, worked himself on Wei Wuxian's cock faster, harder. The tendrils inside Wei Wuxian coiled and wriggled, tangling themselves together in slippery, uneven knots. His breathing grew ragged, his eyes lost focus. His song became as much prayer as plea, worshipful and begging.

As his rhythm quickened, his hold on Wei Wuxian grew slack. Babbling praise and encouragement, Wei Wuxian lifted a hand to his own face, pressing sloppy kisses to the tendrils loosely twined around his fingers. His other hand found Lan Zhan's where it rested at his waist, then followed it up, caressing his arm and shoulder. He reached for Lan Zhan's face, and felt his heart melt a bit as Lan Zhan instinctively nuzzled against his palm.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been so endearing, between his luminous eyes, his uncanny beauty, and the obscene, wet noises of their coupling, however Wei Wuxian found that he couldn't help but be endeared. His Lan Zhan was simply too cute! The wave of affection washed through him, bubbling over into gasping laughter. He felt it swirl into the whirlpool of feeling that was passing between them, and noticed the moment it washed up against Lan Zhan's awareness. Lan Zhan's rhythm faltered. His hips dropped and stilled, as he finally broke eye contact. Perhaps it was simply a trick of the light, but the tips of his ears seemed to be glowing red as coals.

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian did his best to thrust up into him. “Look at me. Gege, look. A-Zhan.”

The endearment did it. Lan Zhan's eyes snapped back up to meet his. There was a sheen to them, almost as if he was so overcome that he might cry. He allowed Wei Wuxian the freedom to lift his other hand, to cup his face and rub his cheeks.

“Good boy,” Wei Wuxian cooed, scratching under Lan Zhan's chin. “My cute A-Zhan. I like you so much, you know? More than anyone. I can't wait to be your husband.”

Lan Zhan surged forward, wrapping him in arms and tendrils as Wei Ying yelped in surprise and started laughing. A moment later, the world went topsy-turvy as Lan Zhan pulled, falling back so that he was the one pinned against stone for once. Wei Wuxian leaned over him. A swarm of tendrils had held him in place inside Lan Zhan through the tumble. Laughing, he rolled his hips forward, back curving languidly until the motion reached his shoulders, snapping them back as he drove in to the hilt. Slowly, Lan Zhan uncurled, relaxing fully back onto the cavern floor. He let himself go limp, perfectly still aside from the jostling of Wei Wuxian's thrusts. The look in his eyes was intense, glowing with heat and hunger.

“If you keep looking at me like that...I'm just going to get greedier and greedier.”

He barely pulled out as he spoke, simply ground his hips forward, needing to be deeper, deeper, deeper. Slipping an arm beneath, Wei Wuxian lifted one of Lan Zhan's legs, hiking it up onto his shoulder. He kissed along as much of the pale flesh as he could reach, nipping as he saw that it made Lan Zhan shiver pleasurably, then biting. His teeth left no lasting impression, but with every bite, he saw the same brilliant blue and red flares of sensation that lit up Lan Zhan's tendrils.

“Humans don't light up, you know,” he pointed out. “No, don't hide it, don't hide it!” He grinned against Lan Zhan's inner thigh. “I like it.”

With Lan Zhan's leg hanging over his shoulder, he could move more forcefully. Wei Wuxian threw his weight into lovemaking, chasing the hot, sweet pleasure of Lan Zhan's body tight around him, as an echoing thrum of satisfaction buzzed in his skull and dripped down his spine, swimming through his bones.

“You feel so good, gege. Pretty gege. Sweet gege. Do you like it? Like feeling me deep inside you?”

Lan Zhan opened his mouth, and music poured forth. The sound of it was like bird calls, but Wei Wuxian could feel how the pull of it could be shaped by guquin or xiao, how the coaxing power of the melody could change to soft reverberations or sweet trills. It reached into him, setting off sparks where it cradled his golden core. It tickled beneath his skin, made even the slightest breeze feel like a lover's caress. Where Lan Zhan's fronds had achieved a similar, localized result through chemicals, the aphrodisiac properties of the song were purely energetic. It was cultivation, he realized with a thrill—dual cultivation. He felt himself grow even harder inside Lan Zhan, excitement and arousal playing off each other. Reflexively, his hips snapped roughly forward.

“You want more?” he gasped. “Harder, gege? Deeper?” He moaned as the tendrils fucking him made a united thrust forward. “Should I ruin you like you've ruined me?”

Lan Zhan's reaction to such a question was immediate and enthusiastic. The tendrils inside Wei Wuxian redoubled their speed, thrusting deeper. Others twined around his arms and chest, yanking him forward so that he practically toppled face-first onto Lan Zhan, laughing breathlessly all the while.

It felt good. So good. More than just the physical act accounted for, more than the heightened sensations caused by the places Lan Zhan's tendrils had caressed him. He could feel energy rushing through him along his meridians, circulating throughout his body, building and building until he was dizzy with it. He could feel Lan Zhan's, too, like movement in water. The pressure of it lapped up against him, pulsing in sync with the cycling of his own energy. Without quite meaning to, his hips fell into the rhythm as well. His entire body was humming. It felt as if he should be glowing, lit up from inside by his core. His thoughts sloshed around in his skull like wine in a jar.

“Mercy, Lan Zhan! Mercy! Slow down!” His hips stuttered, but he was full, so full, and aching for release even as the energy poured into him like a geyser. “This one has never dual cultivated before. It's too much! Have mercy, Hanguang-jun!”

Dissolving, he babbled on, neither knowing nor caring if his words continued to hold any sense. All that mattered was the ocean of energy, the push and pull that stirred it up into a maelstrom. Compared to that, his voice was the patter of rain as heard from the depths of a stormy sea. It was so much, too much. He was only human. He would drown.

Wei Wuxian barely noticed when Lan Zhan went rigid everywhere they touched. What he did notice was the change in the energy. No longer circulating between them, it swirled fully into him, a flood of power that lit his golden core white hot inside him. It forced the breath from his lungs, left his jaw straining around a scream that had no sound. He lived fragments of Lan Zhan's memories: singing the concept of dual cultivation to those who listened for his voice; enjoying the blissful sensation of warm, summer rain upon his mossy back; feeling the vibrations like an itch in his soul as another rule was carved into the face of the mountain.

He was lost until some outside movement—a twitch of his animal body, a limit of physical sensation almost beneath his capacity to notice—brought him to completion. The energy—his, Lan Zhan's, the mountain's—spilled from him, dissipating. Gradually, he dwindled until he fit once more in his skin. Even dazed in the afterglow, however, he could tell that there had been a change. His core shone stronger. The knowledge Lan Zhan had given him on his first meeting felt clearer, less jumbled. There had been another merging between them. Laughing breathlessly, he butted his head against the underside of Lan Zhan's chin, nuzzling his skin and breathing in the rich, aquatic scent of him.

“Lan Zhan...I think you might be able to fuck me into immortality.” The idea made him giggle.

He meant only to be still for a moment, to get his breath back and allow his heart to slow to its resting rhythm. There were things to be done. He needed to speak with Jiang Cheng—with his brother!—and Lan Xichen might be expecting an apology for his sudden disappearance. But Lan Zhan was running his hands in long, soothing strokes down Wei Wuxian's back, and singing softly to him as he did so. Sated and content, Wei Wuxian couldn't help dozing off, cock still inside his husband-to-be.

------------[chapter 7]------------

“Lan Zhan...what's going to happen after we're married?”

In the cavern, there was no sunlight to mark time. Wei Wuxian couldn't guess how long it had been since Lan Zhan had stolen him away from his walk with Lan Xichen. His nap certainly hadn't helped any. He couldn't tell if he had slept for minutes or hours. All he knew was that he had woken up sore, but refreshed, held in a nest of tendrils that kept him secure and warm as he soaked. Lan Zhan had cleaned his body as he slept, and the moment he noticed that Wei Wuxian was awake, more tendrils came forth, offering cool water to drink, and mushrooms and greens to eat. Letting himself be fed and pampered, Wei Wuxian began talking about the first thing that came to mind.

“I've sworn to serve at Jiang Cheng's side, so I'll have to leave the Cloud Recesses eventually. I imagine he'll give me some time to consummate our marriage.” He winked lasciviously at Lan Zhan, then jumped as a tendril beneath him squeezed his ass.

“Hahaha! Lan Zhan! You beast! Ahh, well. Get your fill of me before I have to return to Lotus Pier. I'll visit as often as I can, but I do actually have responsibilities, you know.”

Lan Zhan's singing, a constant in his head now, turned low and monotonous. It took Wei Wuxian a moment to realize, but then—

“Are you pouting?” Grinning, he heaved himself out of the nest of clinging tendrils and splashed through the few hand-spans of water that separated them. “Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan...what am I going to do with you? You're really too cute!” He petted Lan Zhan's shell and gave him gentle scratches. “Are you such an impatient god? It should only be a season at most before I can return.”

Lan Zhan very nearly knocked him over as he scuttled forward to nuzzle against him. An image flooded Wei Wuxian's mind, as clear as if it was an actual memory. He saw Lan Zhan at Lotus Pier, an island amid the swaying blossoms and verdant leaves. Sunlight sparkled on his shell, making it gleam like mother-of-pearl, and the mushrooms and ferns sprouting from his back were all familiar varieties native to Yunmeng. The image—and Lan Zhan—were insistent enough to make Wei Wuxian's breath catch in his throat.

“You can leave? But you're....” He remembered what Jiang Cheng had said about family registries, but he really hadn't been paying much attention at the time. That had just been...attempting the impossible. But when he thought about it now...Lan Zhan wasn't a god. He never had been. He sang with the voice of the mountains because they were his home. He had grown along with them, but that didn't mean he was physically bound to them.

“You can leave,” Wei Wuxian breathed, and his voice shook with growing excitement over the realization. “Lan Zhan, you can leave!” He grasped two of the tendrils writhing around him, and they twined around his arms in turn. “You can come to Yunmeng! Lan Zhan, you'll love it there! The lakes are beautiful, and you've never tasted anything as good as my shijie's lotus and pork rib soup! I can show you around—ah, Lan Zhan, you're going to break so many hearts! There's lots of pretty girls in Yunmeng, and I'm very popular!”

He winked, and then started laughing. A froth of bubbles issued from beneath Lan Zhan's shell, and the tendrils that had been holding him so gently suddenly grew taut around him. He barely had time to notice either of those things before he was yanked off his feet, then shoved down against the stone where it sloped into the pool.

“Ow! So rough! Lan Zhan, I'm fragile! You have to be gentle with poor little me! This body just can't keep up with you!”

He squirmed playfully, not managing to budge Lan Zhan's hold on his arms in the slightest. Even as he spread his legs, however, more tendrils were wrapping around his calves and thighs. He found himself folded in half, legs spread wide, as a cluster of tendrils erupted from Lan Zhan's mossy carapace in a burst of tiny motes of light, shedding mushrooms and greenery as they descended upon him.

“Ah! Oh no!” He couldn't help grinning, so his shouting was unfortunately tinged with glee. “I've been subdued by this mysterious creature, with no one to save me! Please be—oww! Lan Zhan! Gently, gently! Not all at once! I'll break! You'll split me in half!”

His protests did nothing to halt the tendrils. In fact, they seemed to wriggle and writhe even more aggressively, almost fighting amongst themselves to be the first to sink into him. Warm and wet, they slipped inside, stretching him wider than before. Their vigor churned up wavelets across the surface of the lake. The water grew cloudy with slick.

Wei Wuxian voiced his warming pleasure in gasps, measured as a bird call, soft as the rustle of pine trees in the wind. Smiling, he arched his back, thrusting his chest up out of the water so that the waves lapped at his nipples.

“So greedy, Lan Zhan. What a beast I'm to be married off to. How shall I endure it?” He smirked, heavy-lidded. “Or will you ruin me, then lose interest once your prize is officially won?”

Lan Zhan slammed into him, and for a breathless, heart-stopping moment, Wei Wuxian was the eruption of mountains from the earth, the molten upheaval of the land Lan Zhan had long since made his home. He came back to himself gradually, hearing the rush of his pulse and every creak of muscle and tendon in his body like the rumble of magma in his ears. His spine was the curve of the earth, his veins deep rivers of life. His body grew upwards from there, soil and grass and trees, and his breath was the wind sweeping over the land. Lan Zhan filled him in every sense of the word, ancient and vital, alive in such an alien way from humans or animals or the sheltering earth of his home. He poured his being into Wei Wuxian along their bond, giving him the rhythms of the forest, the steadiness of the mountains, the vast depths of the waters. And in all of it: love, love, love.

It was overwhelming.

There was no telling how much time had passed before he was himself again. Lan Zhan's tendrils still moved inside him: slow, languorous, multitudinous. Wei Wuxian's cock was soft above the mass of them, recently spent, his orgasm lost beneath the overwhelming reverie of oneness. He smiled, and felt the artlessness in it, the sloppy, sleepy, adoring way it grew across his face like a creeping vine.

“Hello,” he croaked. His voice was hoarse. Lan Zhan cradled his shoulders, lifted him from the water that had covered all but his face, and helped him drink a few restorative mouthfuls from a mushroom cup. And all the while, his tendrils continued their gentle thrusting. They stretched and made room for one more tender shoot, and one more, until Wei Wuxian thought fleetingly that he might never be filled until Lan Zhan crawled fully inside him, made a home in the bones of his rib cage, made them one.

Fondness tickled him like sun-warmed grasses. Amusement fell like a patter of rain. Lan Zhan was not entirely opposed to the idea, but gently doubted its likelihood.

“I could find a way,” Wei Wuxian boasted idly. There was no real conviction in his words, no driving need. He reached out, fingers grasping in a childish demand, until Lan Zhan leaned close enough for Wei Wuxian to pepper the front curve of his carapace with kisses. A trailing fern fell low enough to touch, and he let it tickle over his fingers, bringing it to his lips as if kissing a lock of his lover's hair.

“You're so pretty, Lan Zhan. Really the most beautiful husband I could have asked for.”

He kept up his gentle assault of kisses as Lan Zhan tottered forward, looming over him until Wei Wuxian was kissing the bottom curve of the carapace, then the underside. The feeling changed beneath his lips, from mushroom velvet to fingernail smooth. Curious, he flicked his tongue out, and grinned to feel the barest of shivers originate in Lan Zhan's body. He licked again, more purposefully, gathering the warm, mildly acrid taste of Lan Zhan from beneath the cool water that beaded upon his surface.

“I like you,” he said, sealing the words in with a kiss. Tendrils darted in like fish to press briefly against his chest over his heart.

I like you.

“I like you so much.” A kiss. “I love you.” Another kiss. “I want you. Want to marry you. Want to cultivate to immortality and spend forever with you.” Another and another and another. A kiss for every truth.

And, like echoes, came the taps over his heart, and the resonant notes of Lan Zhan's agreement.

Love you. Want you. Forever together.

As he traced aimless patterns with the tip of his tongue, the faint throb of a pulse caught Wei Wuxian's attention. He followed it as Lan Zhan continued his careful lurch forward. Soon, Wei Wuxian was fully beneath him, immersed in his thick, mossy scent. Lan Zhan's body was insectile beneath his carapace, all smooth planes and organic segments. His mouth was a gaping darkness, flanked by diminutive claws, and ringed with a series of short, feathery protrusions that Wei Wuxian thought would tickle horrendously.

Just past his mouth was an additional set of four arms tipped with claws. Plenty of appendages to hold him down, Wei Wuxian thought with a frisson of excitement. He wiggled his hips against the insistent thrusting of the mass of tendrils readying him.

Slowly, Lan Zhan rose. He had been crouched low, holding himself so carefully at just the right height for kisses. Now, however, his joints began to straighten, and isolated details of him became the whole of his underbelly, alien and fascinating, gleaming with water from his pond. Trying to take in all of him, Wei Wuxian turned his head, and happened to catch a glimpse of red—the ruby of his hair ribbon darkened to garnet by the water that soaked it.

“The ribbon!” he exclaimed. Reflexively, he reached out to tug on it, but Lan Zhan was just as quick. A claw shot out and caught his wrist, pinning it to the rock above his head. No matter how he twisted and tugged, he couldn't pull free, and as laughing protests spilled over his lips, Lan Zhan caught his other arm just as easily, and pinned it neatly next to the first. His other claws came to bear, the tips of them scraping lightly over the skin of Wei Wuxian's ass, just barely tugging his cheeks even further apart around the mass of tendrils swarming him. They moved on, gliding up his thighs to catch behind his knees, and then they kept going. Wei Wuxian found himself folded in half, knees spread wide to either side of his body. He was fully on display, veiled only by the clear, shallow water that covered him up to his throat. His mouth went dry as anticipation flooded him.

“Lan Zhan,” he called, and his voice trembled with want. He struggled, and the futility of it struck sparks of heat in his belly. His cock twitched, swelling further with his excitement.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...! Won't you let me touch you some more? Can't I kiss you? I want you to feel good, too. Won't my husband allow me to please him?

It pleased Lan Zhan best to hold him in place. It pleased Lan Zhan to feel his need increase with his helplessness. It pleased Lan Zhan to use him, knowing how much he desired to be used thusly.

“Beast,” Wei Wuxian accused, grinning helplessly. “Do the Lan know how shameless their god is?”

Lan Zhan's tongue emerged like an indolent snake hanging from a tree. It descended to stroke along Wei Wuxian's belly and up his chest. It caressed his neck before meeting his waiting mouth, sinking into him and stoppering up his words. Moaning, Wei Wuxian worked his tongue around the shape of it, seeking out the seams where it could split, sucking and coaxing and trying to tease it open to suckle on his own tongue in turn.

It made Lan Zhan wonder which of them was truly shameless.

Obviously you are the most shameless between us, Wei Wuxian thought clearly at him. Pinning me down like this so you can see everything you do to me. What a perverted god!

The tendrils lost their dreamy languor, and thrust into him all at once, making a concerted attack on his prostate. Wei Wuxian nearly choked on his own saliva, thoughts scattered around the sudden burst of pleasure. He could only writhe, moaning around the tongue casually fucking his mouth as Lan Zhan's tendrils drove into him mercilessly.

The brief assault left him dazed enough that he didn't immediately notice that the tendrils were pulling out by ones and twos, and not forcing their way back in. When the sense of emptiness finally reached him, he struggled, trying to catch a glimpse past Lan Zhan's tongue to see why he had been so cruelly left wanting. What he glimpsed left his jaw slack and his eyes wide.

A sheath had parted low on Lan Zhan's body, and from it, something was emerging. It uncurled like a fiddlehead fern, spreading and plumping as its length became apparent. It was thicker than Wei Wuxian's arm, translucent like moonstone or fine agate, and speckled with dark spots like an inverted star-strewn sky. It throbbed, glistening and slick, as it hung suspended from Lan Zhan's body, and the knowledge of what he was looking at made Wei Wuxian's heart rabbit in his chest. He thrashed in Lan Zhan's hold, afire with want, and when Lan Zhan finally withdrew his tongue, words exploded from him in a torrent.

“Lan Zhan, I can't, it's so big! You'll break me for sure! Have mercy on this poor, weak man!”

Eyes locked upon Lan Zhan's member, Wei Wuxian gaped as pearly fluid seeped from the bulbous head. The fluid gathered, sagged, and finally lost to gravity, drooling down into the water of the pool. Kicking heedlessly, Wei Wuxian flexed his thighs and curled his back, lifting his hips even further, offering himself up as best he could in Lan Zhan's unrelenting grip.

“Lan Zhan, husband, beloved, please, you mustn't tease me! You've left me so empty, please!”

The tickle of Lan Zhan's amusement made him shudder. Hadn't he said a moment ago that it was too big?

“It is! It's much too big, I'm sure you'll split me right apart, but if it's a choice of wasting away empty and bereft or having you fill me till I burst, I'll take the latter!”

He wanted that inside him, wanted it with a wildness to match any tempest that had ever swept over the mountains.

“Lan Zhan. Please. I want you to fuck me properly. I need you to fuck me.”

The tendrils were back. They crept up upon him to stroke his brow and his wrists, to twine around his straining thighs, and weave a hammock beneath his back. They slid over his skin to probe at his empty, aching, twitching hole, teasing the rim of it before tugging him open. A whine escaped Wei Wuxian's throat as Lan Zhan's cock dipped down toward him.

The first nudge of the blunt head made him groan. The fluid leaking from it was too thick to wash away immediately, and he felt it being forced inside of him, warm and viscous. He rocked his hips as best he could, meeting the slow, driving grind as it tried to work its way inside him. Moaning like a wanton thing, he felt it breach him, and the girth of it, seen but not understood in this visceral way, stole his breath. It was all he could do to hang in Lan Zhan's grasp, shaking and willing himself to breathe, as the monstrous cock forced itself inside him.

It burned. It was tearing him as it pressed in. His hands were immobile, his legs held in an unbreakable grip. He could do nothing but feel as little by little his body was forced to make room for Lan Zhan.

After a small eternity, the pressure stopped growing. All grew still. His lungs unfroze, and he gasped, sucking in air greedily, and babbling the moment he had voice.

“Big, so big...! Lan Zhan's it's too big, you're so big, it hurts, Lan Zhan!” He felt tears running from the corners of his eyes to his temples, mingling with sweat and pond water. “Too much, too much.... How could I stand it, Lan Zhan? Be gentler with me! It's my first time taking something like that!”

He nearly bit through his tongue when, without warning, Lan Zhan pulled out.

“No! No, no, no! If you'd kept going, I'd have gotten used to it! Come back, Lan Zhan, come here, put it in again, gently, gently. Just put it in and move and it'll start to feel good, I'm sure...!”

There was a way for it to feel good immediately.

“Ah? Ah! Lan Zhan, no! You can't! How many times do you want to make me come today? I'll lose my mind if you do that!”

There was a flutter in his peripheral vision. Lan Zhan's fronds came to him over the water like scarves caught in a breeze. Wei Wuxian thrashed uselessly, reveling in his helplessness. The fronds reached his body, frothing around the backs of his thighs, bringing sudden, shocking numbness. He felt the numbness spread to his hole, taking away the burning and the ache of muscles stretched far past the point of comfort, and the loss of sensation ripped a groan from him. As he watched, dazed and horny beyond belief and fascinated, Lan Zhan's tendrils tangled themselves in the fronds and dragged them forward, fucking them deep into his body so that the numbness carried inside. It made him shiver, and a host of tendrils swarmed his face and neck, petting and soothing him through this last round of preparation.

He knew what would come after the numbness faded.

“Lan Zhan,” he sighed. “Lan Zhan, A-Zhan, husband...I....” His breaths were coming short and shallow, at odds with the lazy press of the tendrils. The numbing agent of Lan Zhan's fronds seemed to have infiltrated his bloodstream, leaving his body trembling weakly as his thoughts grew hazy as incense smoke. “I can feel...the space you're making inside me.... Lan Zhan, are you...are you going to...going to fuck a child into me?”

The tendrils were ripped from him with a suddenness that wrung a strangled cry of dismay from his throat. He had no chance to protest. The brief echoes of his surprise were still ringing from the walls when Lan Zhan's cock drove into him.

Wei Wuxian choked on his gasp. Even numbed, he had felt the searing thrust of it. How could he not? What could possibly numb him to such an intrusion? His head fell back, mouth open for a scream he lacked air to give voice to. Wei Wuxian felt his body shaking, muscles instinctively locking up even as Lan Zhan's fronds caressed him, soothing tension away into cool numbness. Still, he felt the stretch, felt his body giving way, being made to give way. Inexorably, it pushed deeper inside him, aided by the tendrils that pulled him bodily onto its massive, unforgiving length. And through it all, he felt

he felt

claimed.

Thoroughly, utterly, to the death of the sun, to the end of time. Fiercely, passionately, hungrily, Lan Zhan took what was offered and wanted, wanted, wanted like a yawning void. The endlessness of it sucked Wei Wuxian into the space between stars and for a moment he hung breathless and eternal, lost in darkness beyond imagining.

Then, he felt again the beating of his heart, the spinning of his core, and life flooded him like the birth of a star. The blue depths of Lan Zhan's consciousness burst within him, and there was love, love, so much love, Lan Zhan's and his own, mingling and merging and soothing that desperate, deathless wanting.

Tears were streaming down over Wei Wuxian's temples when he opened his eyes, overwhelmed with the vastness of Lan Zhan's existence and experiences and emotions. There was a galaxy within him, a bridge of stars, and the moment he found he could breathe again he laughed in mad, overwhelming, wondering joy. He laughed through the stretch of his body being forced to open for Lan Zhan, laughed in broken, hitching breaths as the dregs of numbness evaporated like morning mist, laughed as aching and sharp-edged pleasure crashed through him in such a wave that it swept him unexpectedly into orgasm, gasping and laughing, half out of his mind, and still feeling Lan Zhan pushing deeper and deeper. He laughed until his vision darkened and blurred, laughed until he couldn't breathe for laughing. Lan Zhan finally, horribly, mercifully paused, tendrils brushing delicately at Wei Wuxian's tears, inquiry and fondness lapping against Wei Wuxian's awareness.

“You—ah! Haha ha.... Ahh, Lan Zhan, you liked that, huh?” It was too much of a struggle to lift his head. Instead, he simply let himself feel, let it all run free into the currents that flowed between them. “You like the idea of fucking a little Lan Zhan into me?” He'd felt it so clearly in the joining of their consciousnesses. So clearly. He wanted it. “Ah! Don't get bigger!” He fought to raise his head, but the effort was too much. Easier to remain lax in Lan Zhan's hold, easier to let Lan Zhan do as he pleased, fuck him properly, mark him indelibly. “How much more of you am I supposed to take? Gently, Lan Zhan, gently! I can't bear you a child if you break me, ha ha!”

Shameless.

Fondness and desire and the thought that neither of them held much stock in the idea of impossibility rolled over Wei Wuxian. He let his eyes fall closed, blissfully content to let his husband-to-be use him as he would. Every movement was a heady mix of pain-pleasure, too close to too much, but Lan Zhan was there with him, in him, part of him, and Lan Zhan bore it with him, made sure Wei Wuxian's fragile human body could take the strain. Wei Wuxian teased him with the thought, and gasped, broken laughter falling from his lips as Lan Zhan thrust roughly against him in retaliation.

You like it.

And he did. He did like it. He liked everything Lan Zhan wanted to do to him. Every shared thought left him giddy. Every pulse of heat from Lan Zhan's cock made him shiver, made him ache, made him greedy for more. He could drown in the sensations that flooded him, and pass with a smile on his face.

A ripple ran through Lan Zhan in the wake of overwhelming fondness and amusement.

Foolishness.

As if Lan Zhan would ever do anything to harm him.

The long, inexorable push became a rocking motion. Lan Zhan's girth surged against him, the pressure eased, then rose once more. Wei Wuxian's breathing fell into rhythm with it. A gasp with every slow, forceful thrust. A shaky exhale. Another gasp. Somehow, he found voice enough for weak protests, but Lan Zhan listened only to the unspoken truth.

“Too rough!”

Harder!

“Can't take it...!”

More!

“Beast! Bully!”

Mine. My husband!

Yes.

The agreement swamped him.

Your ribbon. Your husband. Yours. Mine. Always.

“...ribbon?” he whispered. His mind was muddled, thoughts like silt churned up by every movement. His body was raw, overstimulated. His cock ached, grown hard again at some point without him having noticed. Precum drooled from the tip to join the mess of spend and sweat and slick already coating his stomach. The slow build of another orgasm was like the cold edge of a knife drawing along his nerves. He shivered weakly.

There had been a thought....

What had he...?

Lan Zhan's cock swelled against his rim, forcing a gasp from his lungs. It stretched him further, certain to split him apart. As he struggled for breath, Lan Zhan crouched closer over him, crooning his lovely, alien songs. His claws forced Wei Wuxian's knees further back, as tendrils petted and soothed him. There was a flash of red in the corner of Wei Wuxian's vision. A silk hair ribbon wound around and around an armored leg.

My ribbon? He thought, hazily.

Heat bloomed in his belly. Lan Zhan shivered above him, body trembling in his rigidness. His pleasure hit Wei Wuxian a moment after realization did.

Lan Zhan was coming inside him.

It wasn't the brief, overwhelming surge of Wei Wuxian's orgasm, triggered in tandem, but rather a steady flow of satisfaction and ecstasy as his cock worked, pumping his spend deep into Wei Wuxian's aching, used body. It went on and on, a river of sensation and liquid heat, far too much to contain. It was oozing out long before Lan Zhan finished, forced out from where their bodies were joined, and dribbling into the formerly pristine water of Lan Zhan's grotto.

Wei Wuxian was shaking, weak as the rabbits he'd seen in the meadows around the Cloud Recesses. He lacked even enough strength to clench around Lan Zhan, to try to hold anything in.

“Deeper,” he breathed, barely aware of his nonsense. “Deeper, Lan Zhan. How will I bear you a child if you let it spill out?” He cried out weakly as Lan Zhan took him at his word, grinding his massive cock further in with a wet squelch.

The sound left Wei Wuxian giggling drunkenly. His lower half had long since gone numb from their lovemaking. He wondered with giddy unconcern how long they'd been at it. Exhausted, drained, floating on echoes of pleasure, distantly aware of the soreness that would at some point overtake him, Wei Wuxian languidly took stock of himself as Lan Zhan continued to finish. He hadn't been so weak, so utterly helpless, since he was a child trying to survive on the streets. He was vulnerable, but as he hung limp in Lan Zhan's tendrils, he knew that he was safe. Nothing would harm him. Nothing would be demanded of him. All he needed to do was relax, soak in the warmth, and simply be.

Eventually, he found the strength to lift an arm. Pressing his palm against his side, he slowly slid his hand up until it rested atop his distended stomach. The pulsing of Lan Zhan's cock inside him was slowing. He could practically feel it like a second heartbeat.

“Lan Zhan,” he murmured, lifting his head to look down his body in an incredible feat of strength and determination. “Look at me. Everyone will think you're only marrying me so our child won't be a bastard.”

There was a pause. Then, with a terrible sucking feeling, Lan Zhan began to withdraw.

“Ah, no! Lan Zhan, A-Zhan, husband, don't be cruel to your Wei Ying!” He shivered as inch by slow inch, Lan Zhan slid free of his body, leaving a sense of hollowness behind. Wei Wuxian still lacked the strength in his legs to even try to hold him in.

When the tip emerged, it ripped a moan from him. His body shook and shuddered. He could feel Lan Zhan's spend dripping down between his ass cheeks, could hear it spilling into the water. He clenched around nothing, wondering wildly if his hole could ever go back to normal after that.

Hovering over his groin, Lan Zhan's cock let spill a small burst of semen. Slowly, it moved upwards along the length of Wei Wuxian's body, leaving a trail of pearly fluid behind. Its mass caught on his stomach, still rounded by the load within him, and smeared the slick mess into Wei Wuxian's skin. On it came, over his chest and neck. Tendrils supported Wei Wuxian's head as he tilted his chin up toward it, parting his lips, reaching with his tongue. He lapped at the slit, greedy, as the last of Lan Zhan's ejaculate dribbled onto his face. Only when Wei Wuxian had licked the broad head of it clean did it retreat, shrinking back into the sheath that hid it inside Lan Zhan's gleaming carapace.

Drawing a deep, shaky breath, Wei Wuxian sighed contentedly. For a minute, he was able to lay quiet and still, held in the loving tendrils of his husband-to-be. However, the smug satisfaction radiating from Lan Zhan simply could not go unremarked upon for long.

“I can hear you, you know. 'Mine, mine, mine!' You might as well be shouting it from the mountaintops. It wouldn't surprise me if those little Lans listening in can hear you, too. How shameless! What sorts of things do you think they picked up on while you were having your way with me? What must they think of their beast of a god who bullies his poor wife? Didn't I say it was too much? You've ruined me. If I'm too loose next time, it'll be your own fault.”

If Wei Ying is loose, then Wei Ying can take more.

“Lan Zhan!” he shouted gleefully. “You're insatiable! Think of my frail, weak body!”

The wordless agreement to his demand was accompanied by a wave of lust that made Wei Wuxian shriek with delighted laughter. He squirmed, using up a small burst of renewed energy, but sagged quickly back into Lan Zhan's hold.

“I'm still a mess from this time! At least clean me up first!”

He felt Lan Zhan studying him, and then his nest of tendrils lifted him higher and carried him away from the pool. Between one blink and the next, Wei Wuxian found himself cradled in a very human lap, with a very human-looking Lan Zhan staring down at him.

“Look at you,” Wei Wuxian said, reaching up to tug on a lock of moon-white hair. “So smug. It's written all over that face of yours. How dare you look like that, all proud and beautiful, when you've ruined me so thoroughly.”

Lan Zhan shifted. Nothing in his posture changed, but his outer robe was suddenly draped over his shoulders and trailing down over Wei Wuxian as well, cocooning him in a silken bubble of warmth. The ferns and fiddleheads sprouting from Lan Zhan's robe and hair seemed to curl protectively toward him, and the tiny lights constantly bubbling up from the moss hung like stars in the space between them. A few settled on locks of Wei Wuxian's hair, fading almost to nothingness, then brightening again in slow, rhythmic pulses.

“Not to say this isn't very comfortable—definitely one of the best places I've ever had the pleasure of napping—but I need a bath.” He yawned. “Before I fall asleep.”

The warmth in Lan Zhan's amber eyes was heartbreaking in the depth of its affection. His hand stroked Wei Wuxian's cheek with a gentle reverence at odds with the mess his thumb smeared across the skin.

Soon. Rest.

Wei Wuxian sighed. Let Lan Zhan have his way. When he had looked his fill, he would dutifully clean the fluids from Wei Wuxian's body, wash his hair, and massage his sore muscles. Everything would be taken care of. Wei Wuxian could let the exhaustion take him. He could sleep.

“Mm. All right.” Reaching up, he rubbed beneath Lan Zhan's chin. “Good boy. I'll let you take care of it.” He yawned again and snuggled in, unable to help smiling at the thought that Lan Zhan's robes would be stained with the evidence of their lovemaking. “See you soon, Lan Zhan.”

See you soon, Wei Ying.

--[chapter 8]--

When a god says he wishes to be married immediately, one does not delay for inconsequential things such as consulting experts on the most auspicious date, or for the arrival of the sect leader who had apparently recently added the groom-to-be to the family registry.

Wei Wuxian rejoined the mundane world to find that the usually placid Lan sect had transformed into a busy hive of activity as wedding preparations were hastily made. There was cleaning to be done, food to be cooked, decorations to be crafted and hung, a bridal chamber to be found. Amid the chaos of it all, Wei Wuxian gathered that it was expected that the ceremony itself would be symbolic, a mere formality, and that Wei Wuxian would, of course, go alone to the bridal chamber. Formality or not, however, the fact that his husband-to-be was a god meant that every care would be taken to make the ceremony as beautiful and perfect as possible. The food, he discovered with little surprise but plenty of disappointment, would be more of the same standard Lan fare, and he complained aloud about it until a harried-looking disciple hurried from the listening chambers and disappeared into the kitchen. Not long after, servants were sent to Caiyi, and Wei Wuxian felt a wave of pleased assurance from Lan Zhan that the wedding feast would be prepared to suit his palette.

“After all,” Wei Wuxian said with a grin, “it wouldn't do for me to pass out from hunger before the marriage can be consummated. Although, even if I did fall asleep, my esteemed husband should know that I certainly wouldn't mind him taking his pleasure anyhow.”

Wei Ying.

The reprimand shot through him like lightning, but the feelings trailing in its wake—desire, eagerness, possessiveness—told him that Lan Zhan was not at all averse to taking him at his word. Still aching from taking Lan Zhan's massive cock only hours ago, Wei Wuxian nevertheless felt his own arousal stir. He laughed, thinking that the two of them were going to need to go into seclusion until they'd sated themselves with each other somewhat, and could focus on other duties.

Despite being the person all this activity had been triggered over, Wei Wuxian found that he had little to do. Only three things required his direct involvement. The first was having a chat with Lan Xichen, who had been so shaken by glimpsing Lan Zhan's true form that he had been preparing to gather a search party, fearing that Wei Wuxian had been abducted by some sort of monster. It took a long talk over several cups of tea and many, many questions, but eventually, Wei Wuxian was able to explain, and even to make Lan Xichen understand that, despite the rather large difference between them, it was, in the end, a love match.

The second task was learning what the ceremony would entail, and what his role in it would be. Lan Qiren himself took on the task of describing it to him, and had also brought a text for Wei Wuxian to memorize.

“The situation is highly irregular,” he said, radiating disapproval, and stroking his beard in an absentminded way which Wei Wuxian had learned signaled irritation. “However, Hanguang-jun has guided our sect well since its founding, and none here will speak against his wishes in the matter. Our sect has no precedent for marrying someone to a god. Add in the rushed nature of the whole arrangement, and many of the usual customs and traditions will, of necessity, be omitted.”

Wei Wuxian listened dutifully to what was expected of him, which turned out to be relatively little. Disappointingly, there would be no door games. He would be escorted to the ancestral hall where Jiang Cheng and a select group of high-ranking members of the inner Lan family would witness the ceremony. As the Lan sect did not see it as their place to accept tea from Wei Wuxian in lieu of Hanguang-jun's parents, and a god would certainly not be serving them tea, that portion of the ceremony had been left out, as well. The entire thing had been paired down so much, in fact, that Wei Wuxian felt it almost resembled a sacrificial wedding to a god, rather than a true marriage.

'You've found yourself placed upon quite the pedestal, eh, Lan Zhan? I wonder if they would be more shocked by how roughly you use me, or how attentive you are afterwards. Old Lan Qiren might actually be mortally insulted if I suggested that you could serve him tea! Should I, do you think? Or maybe I should be selfish. You'll serve me tea when we're married, won't you Lan Zhan?'

If Wei Ying wishes.

He sang eager excitement in return. 'I do! I want to watch Lan Zhan prepare tea! I'm sure you'll be the most elegant—”

“Young Master Wei,” Lan Qiren cut in acidly, “is the subject of your imminent marriage to the god of the Lan sect boring you?”

“Apologies, teacher.” He bowed deeply, hiding his smile. “This undeserving one can think of nothing else.”

“Hmph.” He reached for a box set aside on the table, and placed it in front of Wei Wuxian. “This is for you. You may tie it onto your right wrist as a symbol of your betrothal.” He continued on as Wei Wuxian opened the box. “After you light the incense during the ceremony, you will—”

“Teacher Lan!” Wei Wuxian held up the ribbon, unable to tear his gaze from the pure, white silk. “You said a ribbon tied around one's wrist symbolizes betrothal?”

“It is our custom to propose with such a gesture. The groom will usually tie his ribbon around his bride's wrist. Obviously, in this case—”

Wei Wuxian stopped listening to him.

'Lan Zhan! Just when were you going to tell me that I was the one who proposed to you?'

Lan Zhan's song fluttered briefly, like a kite in a playful breeze. The music of it evened out quickly, conveying on the surface the thought that intent mattered. Beneath that, however, was a deep well of feeling that Wei Wuxian sank readily into. His red ribbon was precious to Lan Zhan. Although the gesture had been made in ignorance, it had struck a spark of hope and yearning that had blazed like a wildfire, leading to Lan Zhan setting the wheels in motion himself. It hadn't been a true betrothal when Wei Wuxian had tied it around his fore-claw, but it became one the moment he accepted Lan Zhan's proposal.

'See? Even before I realized you were the one, I knew you were the one.'

Lan Zhan hummed affectionate doubt at him, and nudged his attention back to Lan Qiren's lecture.

The third duty—and this was far less interesting than talking about his wonderful, amazing Lan Zhan, or discovering that he had technically proposed first, even if by accident—was being fitted for his wedding robes. There were so many layers, and it seemed each one needed some sort of adjustment that required him to stand still while tailors hovered around him like horseflies. He found himself wishing fervently that they could simply have the wedding that evening, if only so he wouldn't have to carefully undress and carefully be redressed, only to shed the miles of silk only a few hours later.

Lan Zhan made it clear that he could request the wedding be held that night, but Wei Wuxian shook his head.

“No. Everyone's making such a fuss on our account already. Wouldn't you feel bad making them stay up past their bedtimes as well? Tomorrow morning is soon enough.”

He had cause to regret his patience not long after, when Jiang Cheng insisted on sharing his room.

“If you try to slip out to see him, I'll break your legs,” he threatened.

“Jiang Cheeeeng! Don't be ridiculous! What virtue do you think I have left that he hasn't already besmirched?”

“Shut up!” He'd gone as red as Wei Wuxian's favorite peppers. “I don't need to hear about what you've been getting up to! It's one more night! Can you just, for once, save some face and behave?”

Wei Wuxian sighed long and loud, making it known that giving in was a huge sacrifice on his part, and that Jiang Cheng should be grateful for it.

'Come see me in my dreams?' He sent the invitation to Lan Zhan on a thought, knowing his almost-husband would be eager to oblige.

And Lan Zhan was eager. Wonderfully, ravenously eager. The dream was just getting good, Wei Wuxian's begging just about to earn him a writhing, braided rope of slick tendrils, when something smacked him in the face, jolting him back into the waking world.

Jiang Cheng stomped across the room to retrieve his pillow, giving Wei Wuxian a solid whack on the stomach with it for good measure.

“Quit having weird dreams,” he ordered. “I don't want to hear it.”

He was just climbing back into his bed when Wei Wuxian's pillow connected with the back of his head. Rather than dodge, he started to turn, and Wei Wuxian caught him in a tackle. They fell to the floor, in a tangle of laughter and threats and flailing limbs. The scuffle ended with Jiang Cheng sitting on Wei Wuxian's back.

“I won, so give it up!”

“You only beat me because I'm still sore from—”

“Shut up!” He was up and moving away so quickly that he almost tripped. “No details! Just go to sleep. And no dreaming this time!”

Wei Wuxian laughed. “All right, all right.” He laid back down, one hand behind his head as he stared up into the darkness, the other resting over his lower dantian. His golden core was a radiant sun, already so much stronger after just one round of dual cultivation. He could go one night without Lan Zhan making him come. They were going to share a long, long life together, after all.

Sleep came easily, and he dreamed of leaning against Lan Zhan's side, basking in the sun. A beautiful meadow dotted with flowers spread out around them, seeming to go on forever. They sang together in perfect harmony as rabbits frolicked in the grass, and Wei Wuxian wove flowers into a crown big enough for his beloved.

-----------------

The next morning, he was awoken on a Lan schedule—and an early one, at that.

“'s still dark,” he moaned around a yawn. He was mostly complaining to Lan Zhan, but he was far too tired to organize his thoughts coherently enough to simply think at him. Warm amusement washed though him, not quite a replacement for the blankets that had been so callously ripped away. As he yawned and stretched his way into wakefulness in the predawn darkness, servants brought in a wooden tub and filled it with water, then left him alone to bathe. He realized in the stillness they left behind that at some point, Jiang Cheng had left as well.

Lan Zhan sang to him as he bathed. Still too tired for giddiness, Wei Wuxian smiled as he hummed along and scrubbed himself clean. He was slow to consider the teasing potential of paying extra attention to certain parts of his anatomy that Lan Zhan had become intimately acquainted with. No sooner had the impulse to rile up his betrothed taken hold, than he heard footsteps approaching from outside.

He could tell from the gait that it was Jiang Cheng, and so remained in the tub when he heard the door open, although he checked the impulse to put on a little show. In the back of his mind, Lan Zhan sulked over the interruption, making Wei Wuxian laugh softly.

“What's so funny?” Jiang Cheng asked, sounding unfairly suspicious.

“It's my wedding day. Can't I just be happy?”

He snorted. “Are you done washing?”

“Yeah, yeah. I'm getting out now.” He moved to stand, but stopped as Jiang Cheng stepped around the privacy screen, ordering him to wait.

Jiang Cheng was frowning in that pinched way he had when he was sure he ought to know what to say, but was having difficulty finding the words. In his hands, he held a wooden basin. He scowled at the contents of the basin a moment longer before, with a huff, he strode forward and upended it over Wei Wuxian's head.

Cold water sluiced down over him, making him yelp. “Jiang Cheng! That's freezing!” He chafed his arms and sank lower into the tub, although the warmth had been greatly reduced. There were also a number of large leaves in the water.

“Get dressed,” Jiang Cheng ordered, and disappeared back around the screen.

“You're supposed to be nice to me today!” He could feel one of the leaves caught in his hair near the back of his neck, and plucked it free. It had a faint, but pleasant aroma, and he held it close to his nose to sniff it.

“I am being nice to you!”

Pomelo leaves, he realized, and burst into laughter.

“You're the worst,” Jiang Cheng muttered, once Wei Wuxian had quieted enough to hear him. “I don't have to do this, you know.”

“No, no, no! I want it! I want you to!”

Quickly, he got out of the bath, barely toweling off before throwing on the inner robe that had been left for him. He flung himself around the screen, delighted to see Jiang Cheng waiting for him, kneeling on the floor, a comb in hand. Without a thought for decorum, Wei Wuxian practically flung himself to the floor to kneel in front of Jiang Cheng. He wriggled, not quite able to contain himself.

“Hold still.” Jiang Cheng smacked his shoulder, then began gathering his hair. “...it ought to be A-jie doing this, but that bossy god of yours can't seem to wait long enough to observe the traditions, so you'll just have to make do. If you have any complaints, take them up with your husband.”

“No complaints!”

“And be grateful!”

“Thank you, shidi!”

Jiang Cheng sighed. As annoyed as he'd tried to sound, he was unusually careful as he began to comb Wei Wuxian's hair. He spoke the four blessings quietly, but unhesitatingly, not even stumbling over the third blessing wishing abundant offspring for the couple.

Wei Wuxian did laugh at that, and was swatted for his irreverence.

'Hear that, Lan Zhan?' he thought as Jiang Cheng finished the fourth comb. 'Jiang Cheng approves of me bearing your children!'

Lan Zhan's response conveyed that he had no need for Jiang Cheng's approval, but that he was eager to try again—as soon and as often as possible.

'Have mercy! I'll gladly tend to my wifely duties, but I can't take that every day!'

Wei Ying could.

'No, no, no! You'll break me! This frail body won't be able to keep up! Once a week! Even once every four days!'

….

'Lan Zhan?'

….

'Lan Zhan, don't ignore me! Every three days, then! How's that?'

“You're talking to him, aren't you?” Jiang Cheng asked. “You get this...” He waved a hand vaguely around his features, then scowled. “...stupid look on your face.”

“So mean, A-Cheng.” Twisting around, Wei Wuxian reached out and pinched his cheek. “We managed to be happy for shijie. Can't you pretend to be happy for me?”

“It's different,” he groused, knocking Wei Wuxian's hand aside. “We always knew she was going to leave, but you....”

“Me?” He turned fully around, cocking his head to the side. He leaned over, further and further still, trying to catch his shidi's averted eyes. “Jiang Cheng, you know I'm coming back to Lotus Pier, right?”

“You...? But you're marrying the Lan sect's god!”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Lan Zhan isn't technically a god. And he's not bound to the mountains. We talked about it, and he's going to come home with me.” He smiled, picturing sparkling, sunlit water, and nodding lotus flowers. “I'm sure he'll love the lakes.”

“Ugh. How are you suddenly so easy to read? I always wondered how you could flirt so casually with all the girls back home, but you never once made a face like that over any of them.”

Lan Zhan seemed conflicted over such a statement—torn between sulky jealousy, and smug satisfaction. Wei Wuxian cooed at him, and focused very hard on the mental image of himself skritching Lan Zhan's carapace. The images Lan Zhan returned to him were decidedly less innocent, forcing him to smother a laugh as he tried to bring his focus back to Jiang Cheng.

“Aww, A-Cheng. Just wait till you fall in love. Then you'll have an excuse to make all the stupid faces you want.”

“Some of us are capable of showing some dignity.”

“What's undignified about being in love with my husband? Lan Zhan, you think so, too, right?” He nodded seriously. “Lan Zhan is very dignified. A model Lan.”

Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow. “Is he? And you're happy with that? You're really looking forward to marrying 'a model Lan?'”

“Yeah,” he said softly. He couldn't have stopped smiling even if he'd wanted to. “Happier than I've ever been.”

It was everything he'd ever wanted, everything he'd dreamed of for himself. He would have his home in Lotus Pier, his position helping to guide the sect and train future generations, Jiang Cheng's trust and companionship, visits with shijie...and he'd have a spouse he loved to distraction and who loved him just as much, a cultivation partner he shared a soul-deep understanding with. How was it possible to be so blessed?

“Well.” Jiang Cheng shifted, gaze sliding off to the side once more, hiding away from whatever emotional intimacy he was preparing to offer now. “Congratulations, then. I'm happy for you.” And then, before Wei Wuxian could hug him, or something equally embarrassing, he added: “I can't believe they're letting you take away their god. I know he basically demanded to marry you, but you'd think they'd have put up more of a protest.”

“Huh. Yeah, that is a little strange.”

There was a pause.

“Wei Wuxian. They know he's leaving with you, right?”

“They have to, don't they?”

'Lan Zhan, didn't you tell them you'd be leaving?'

….

“Ask him!” Jiang Cheng demanded, shoving his shoulder.

“I am asking!” Wei Wuxian shoved back. “He's pretending he can't hear me again.”

Slapping his hands over his face, Jiang Cheng groaned. “You two really do deserve each other.”

“This one is honored by your words.”

“It wasn't a compliment,” he gritted out. “What do we do? I've spent all this time negotiating the marriage contract! They're building you a house!”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “I say we follow Lan Zhan's lead. What are they going to do—argue with their god? Just claim ignorance if anyone says anything to you.”

“I was ignorant of it! I was negotiating in good faith. The entire point of this visit was to renew ties of goodwill between us and the Lan sect! What do you think is going to happen to that goodwill when you run off with Hanguang-jun like a pig who stole the prized cabbage?”

The expression made him suddenly picture himself holding a miniature Lan Zhan, no bigger than a cabbage, in his arms, and he burst out laughing. He barely heard Jiang Cheng muttering about breaking his legs and disowning him, and disregarded the words easily. Such threats were tossed aside as carelessly as melon rinds, and Wei Wuxian hadn't minded them since he was a child.

“Don't worry, don't worry. I'm sure Lan Zhan and I will come back to visit plenty. The sect has had his guidance since it was founded. He's earned the right to see more of the world.”

“How much weight do you think logic like that will carry? You only sound so confident because you've never been forced to sit in on the discussion parts of discussion conferences.”

“It'll be fine. Lan Zhan and I will bring them around.”

“You're so—” He broke off with a grimace at the sound of approaching footsteps. “That'll be the servants coming to help you dress. We aren't finished talking about this.”

Jiang Cheng got to his feet and strode out, leaving the door open as he nodded to the three young men who had arrived. They wore forehead ribbons, marking them as sect disciples, rather than ordinary servants.

'Maybe I'll claim ignorance, too,' Wei Wuxian thought as the disciples carried in his wedding finery. 'After all, why shouldn't I be the cabbage? This one couldn't hope to prevent the unparalleled Hanguang-jun from carrying him off to be ravished!'

--[chapter 9]--

It took longer to get dressed than it should have. The little Lans who had been sent to assist him were very particular, and kept fussing over the way Wei Wuxian had tucked in his robe or tied a sash. He supposed it wasn't every day their god took a spouse, so eventually, he simply gave up trying to dress himself, and played doll for them, allowing the little flock to move him as they pleased. They wrapped him up in layer after layer of fine, shimmering silk dyed a joyous red. They combed and plaited and twisted his hair, hung gold and jade ornaments from his wrists, his sash, his guan, and around his neck. It was all beautiful, and very fine, certainly the highest quality silks he'd ever worn, and more jewelry than he'd ever wish to own. The outer robe, in particular, was a work of art. Elegant and subtle, it featured red-on-red embroidery, so that when the light shifted across it as he moved, dragons appeared among clouds, then swiftly vanished. Despite the number of layers and the weight, his movements were not particularly hampered, either. And he did take pride in his appearance, and was pleased to think that he would make a handsome groom for his Lan Zhan.

Even so, he couldn't help but feel buried in all the finery. He was covered from throat to toes, and was already beginning to feel warm. It probably didn't help matters that he kept imagining Lan Zhan holding him down as his tendrils wriggled their way up his arms and legs, squeezed themselves down the front of his robes from where the highest collar crossed just below his chin...and then ripping the silk right off his body. He could practically feel them nuzzling over his skin, and he squirmed where he stood, ignoring polite requests to stay still.

They could have eloped, but that would have meant no finery wrapping him up like a gift to a demanding god; no dim, red-lit bridal chamber where he would sit trembling upon the bed as a shadowy, inhuman shape took form in the corner of the room. He would plead and protest as he was dragged from the silk sheets to the hard floor, held fast by probing tendrils, stripped roughly and deflowered—

Wei Ying.

'Just suggestions, Lan Zhan! Just thinking aloud about our wedding night! Doesn't it please you that your blushing, virginal bride is already awestruck by what a strong, virile husband you are?'

Ridiculous.

'Oh? You aren't planning on taking me tonight? Not going to bully me even a little? Aren't you the one who's always so forceful? Aren't you already excited just thinking about it? I can hear it, you know. You sing deeper when you can't hold back anymore.'

A pointed cough interrupted his teasing, drawing his attention to one of the disciples. The young man's face was bright red, and he wasn't meeting Wei Wuxian's eyes. Belatedly, he noticed that, of the three, only this one wore a forehead ribbon with the Lan clan cloud embroidery.

“Ah. Are you one of the Lans who can hear Hanguang-jun?”

The young man bowed his head in acknowledgment. “This one has some affinity. Master Wei...this one means no disrespect, and will report for punishment for eavesdropping...but...but perhaps Master Wei is unaware?”

Wei Wuxian blinked. “Unaware? Of what?”

He bowed deeper. Even his little ears had gone scarlet. When he spoke, his voice was thick with embarrassment. “Master Wei's thoughts sing much like those of Hanguang-jun.”

He sounded like Lan Zhan to this boy? Moreover, those who could hear Lan Zhan could also hear his thoughts? Was it the bond? Were the Lans tapping into the energies exchanged between them? Had something fundamental about Wei Wuxian's thoughts changed? He had been hearing Lan Zhan's thoughts more literally, but he had assumed that was because they had gotten closer, or that he was getting more accurate at interpreting Lan Zhan's song, but what if that wasn't the case? Which of them was speaking more of the other's language? Had Wei Wuxian been lost in song through the whole exchange? The whole thing?

Stunned, he looked at the boy who hadn't lifted his head, still caught up in a mortified apology that must, Wei Wuxian slowly realized, also be an unvoiced plea for him to shut up.

There really was only one way to react.

He threw his head back and laughed.

Polite and dutiful, the little Lans waited until his laughter had subsided, then descended once more to fix the imperfections he had introduced to all their hard work. Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to question the one who had overheard him.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. What's your name?”

“This one is Lan Yufei,” he said with a bow.

“All right then, Yufei, what exactly did I sound like to you? Words? Songs?”

“It was the same as hearing Hanguang-jun: a melody that brings understanding of specific thoughts or intentions.”

'He's gone so red, poor thing,' Wei Wuxian thought, not caring to pretend he wasn't amused. 'Lan Zhan, can you pull your consciousness back for just a moment? I'd like to test something.'

“Did you hear that?” he asked the boy, feeling Lan Zhan retreating from his mind.

“Yes, Master Wei. This one understood that your intention was for Hanguang-jun to leave.”

“All right. How about now?”

With Lan Zhan no longer singing in the back of his mind, he thought as hard as he could about the lakes at Lotus Pier, about the beauty of the sparkling waters and abundant lotuses, the refreshing coolness of taking a swim on a hot summer day, the gleam of sunlight through murk and lotus leaves that turned the world a softly glowing green.

Lan Yufei closed his eyes, frowning in concentration, and eventually shook his head. “This one does not hear anything.”

“Keep listening.” He began mentally reciting every one of the Lan sect's rules that he could remember. “Anything?”

“No, Master Wei.”

'Lan Zhan? Come back. Let's muddy the waters again and see if that's how he's reading the current.'

The moment he felt Lan Zhan's song pour into him, he instructed Lan Yufei to listen once more. Again, he pictured Lotus Pier as clearly as he could, after which, he recited more rules as he remembered them. As he did, he watched the disciple's face. The furrow in Lan Yufei's brow eased as his head cocked to one side. Then, as Wei Wuxian began thinking of rules, his expression cleared. Seeing that, excitement rose in Wei Wuxian.

“Were you able to hear me this time?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Describe it.”

“It...it was a song. A beautiful song, lively and...forgive this one if he oversteps...it felt very precious. After that...I heard the rules.” He sounded almost like he wanted to laugh. “This one knows the songs for them almost as well as the actual words.”

Gleeful, Wei Wuxian clapped. “Very good, very good! Excellent! Lan Zhan, isn't this fascinating?” He began to pace, heedless of the disciples scurrying after him to put the finishing touches on his robes and hair. “I wonder how long they've been able to read my thoughts through our bond. Here's hoping I haven't scandalized too many of them! Do you think this is something that's changed as we've gotten closer? Is it static, I should say, or will it continue to evolve over time? Will your little Lans eventually be able to read my thoughts even when our bond isn't active? Oh! Zewu-jun told me of places where it's easier to hear you! Do you think it would work better there? Yufei, I want to try a few more experiments. Can you take me to the best places to listen for Hanguang-jun?”

“Apologies, Master Wei. It would be an honor to escort you, but...the ceremony....”

“Hm? Already? You Lans certainly don't waste time, do you?” He sighed dramatically. “All right, all right. Marriage first, experiments later. Lead on!”

--------------

There was a wedding procession.

The trio of juniors escorted Wei Wuxian to the foot of a mountain path where half a dozen of the most powerful members of the sect waited, dressed in their finest robes. Lan Xichen took up the lead, followed by two elders. Two more took up positions behind Wei Wuxian, and Lan Qiren brought up the rear. Faint chimes rose from Wei Wuxian's jewelry. The delicate silk of his outermost robe fluttered with every movement. Amid the blue-robed Lans, he was like a carp in a pure mountain lake.

The procession wended its way upward, quiet and solemn, flanked by towering pines that lent their scent to the air like incense. A constant, soft breeze rustled through the branches, like the murmuring of a distant crowd. It was early yet, and the day was chill. Pockets of mist remained tangled in the forest undergrowth. Spiraling fiddleheads and mushrooms like fat pearls caught Wei Wuxian's eye, reminding him of Lan Zhan's mossy carapace. He half-expected to see little lights rising from the green to follow them.

It all made for a very stately, picturesque procession, he thought. Perhaps a bit too much like the Lan sect was sacrificing him to their god, rather than facilitating a marriage, but it didn't much matter what they thought, in the end. Lan Zhan and he were beginning a new life together, and while that life would involve both the Lan and the Jiang, it was not their sects that would dictate their path. Looking inward, he probed again at the changes to his golden core with quiet wonder. Between his own efforts, and dual cultivation with Lan Zhan, the two of them would surely be walking their shared path for a very long time.

Winding ever upward, the trail curved gently around the mountain. Then, up ahead, at the end of the carved stone steps, the shrine came into view. It was built directly into the foggy cliff face, as if sitting in the clouds. Time had washed the color from the exposed wood, leaving it as gray as the surrounding stone, although the whitewashed walls were so clean that they gleamed faintly in the diffuse sunlight. It exuded serenity, and as Wei Wuxian took in the simple lines, the graceful slope of the roof, he recalled the sound of hammers, saws, and chisels, and remembered Lan Zhan watching over the construction to ensure neither life nor limb was lost to accidents.

There was a small group waiting for them just outside the doors. Lans, mostly, in their tranquil blues and white, but a splash of purple was Jiang Cheng, a bright bird against a winter sky.

Wei Wuxian barely had time to wonder where his groom was before Lan Zhan appeared front and center, wearing his human seeming, and dressed in wedding red.

There was an immediate outcry. Gasps and shouts shattered the peace of the morning, almost obscene in a place of such tranquility. Wei Wuxian could see the violet crackle of Zidian as Jiang Cheng stared aghast at Lan Zhan.

Two things occurred to him almost simultaneously.

Generally, when a person was married off to a god, one did not expect the god to actually attend the ceremony. These things were usually symbolic, and Wei Wuxian would have found the resulting shock highly amusing were it not for one other matter.

After taking the time to assure Lan Xichen that Lan Zhan was, despite appearances, Hanguang-jun, he had asked that anyone who would be present at the ceremony be told what to expect. Lan Xichen had agreed, but it seemed that being told one's god resembled a giant horseshoe crab, and actually seeing that giant horseshoe crab for oneself were two entirely different things. Based on the reactions, none of the elders present was gifted enough to be able to hear Lan Zhan's song, and so no one but Wei Wuxian could see the human form he had conjured for himself. Still only a hypothesis, to be fair, but the evidence was piling up in its favor.

And, of course, no one had warned Jiang Cheng.

Wei Wuxian was running even as Zidian crackled to life with a furious shower of purple sparks. The Lan escort gave way for him, too stunned to intervene one way or another. Jiang Cheng was closer to Lan Zhan, mere paces behind him. His arm seemed to move as if slowed by honey, rising through the air to strike. It was supposed to be a wedding. They were in the Cloud Recesses! No one had a sword, but Zidian...of course Jiang Cheng had worn Zidian.

Lan Zhan's eyes were fixed upon Wei Wuxian, warm and fond. He lifted his hands, palms outward, as if Wei Wuxian was rushing to leap into his arms, rather than defend him from Jiang Cheng's imminent attack.

Even as Wei Ying shouted for him to stop, he knew it was too late to halt the strike. It wasn't Lan Zhan that Jiang Cheng saw, but a monster. He was reacting on a cultivator's reflexes trained into him all his life.

The expression in Lan Zhan's eyes changed. A flurry of concern and confusion flowed into his song, swelling it like an ice-clogged river. Slowly, he started to turn.

Somehow, Wei Wuxian was quick enough, if only just. Zidian fell with the lightning crack of the gods' own judgment, striking Wei Wuxian's upraised arm rather than Lan Zhan's unprotected skull. The bite of it ripped through him, searing nerves and blacking out the world. He clamped his jaw shut against a scream that ripped free of him anyway.

A fury not his own swept through him, drowning out the agony. There was a confusion of noise and movement as his legs gave out—shouting and running, the feeling of being gathered up and held close, his name called by human voices in desperate disharmony with the song of his soul.

Suddenly, the world went quiet. Lan Zhan still held him, singing reassurance to him, undertones of rage turning the melody discordant. Hands—Pincers?—tore at his robes, hurriedly digging through the cumbersome layers to expose bare skin so that the fronds might do their work. Wei Wuxian's vision wavered, a violently boiling stew of too much light and not enough. He could make out the white of Lan Zhan's carapace—Robe?—shadows behind him, and red. So much red.

He had to concentrate to unclench his jaw. “Where...?”

Lan Zhan's response was a hectic chorus. Bridal chamber. Safety. Soft bed. Warmth. Bath. Human comforts. His fronds finally kissed skin, and Wei Wuxian groaned at the sweet numbness they brought. His very meridians still felt as if they were frying in oil—Jiang Cheng had been deadly serious, and the energy of his attack had done far more than skin-deep damage—but, now that the worst had passed, he could begin to gather himself. He sagged in Lan Zhan's hold, eyes closed.

“Ahh, he really didn't hold back at all, haha. Don't be mad, gege. It was my fault. With everything going on, I forgot to tell Jiang Cheng that you weren't going to look like what he expected. I just need to talk with him. Everything's fine.”

Lan Zhan's sullen melody insisted that everything was not fine. Laughing shakily, Wei Wuxian reached up, feeling around blindly until he could pat Lan Zhan's cheek.

“Don't be like that. You'll have me good as new in no time. Let everyone know where we are, okay? There must have been at least one person among the witnesses who can hear you. And have them tell Jiang Cheng I'm okay. I doubt he'll listen, but I can talk to him once he comes banging on the door.”

He felt Lan Zhan's hand cover his own, the skin cool and smooth, free of calluses. By now, Wei Wuxian had drifted so fully into the flow of his song that the illusion felt entirely solid, if not quite warm enough to truly mimic humanity. The moment he thought this, Lan Zhan's touch grew warmer. He held Wei Wuxian's hand in place, turning his face enough to kiss the center of his palm.

“It really is all right. Although...” He shifted his hips. “...once the numbness wears off and the aphrodisiac sets in, you're going to have to perform your husbandly duties so I don't make a mess of these nice robes when we go back to finish the ceremony.”

As it was going to be some time before Lan Zhan had him all healed up, Wei Wuxian snuggled in to wait comfortably. Or, at least as comfortably as he could manage while the remnants of Zidian's strike popped and sizzled along his meridians.

“Honestly,” he muttered. “He's such a hothead. He could have held back some. What sorts of creatures does he think the Lan sect just allows to roam freely in their territory?” He clicked his tongue. “Don't worry, Lan Zhan. I'll tease him about this until he's old and gray. He'll definitely regret it.”

He should already regret it.

“Haha...I'm sure he does. Or will, once Zewu-jun and your interpreter explain it to him. Ahhh, he's going to yell at me for not saying something to him, myself.” He curled up like a pill bug, rolling to hide his head against Lan Zhan's chest. “You have to protect me! It's part of a husband's duties. You can't let anyone else scold your wife!”

Lan Zhan's energy trickled through him like cool water, easing away pain, and leaving him immersed in reassurance, affection, and deep amusement. He uncurled, kicking out his legs carelessly, and looked up to see Lan Zhan staring right back at him. The room was dim, had been the whole time, lit only by a pair of red-shaded lanterns to either side of the bed. In the ruddy murk of shadows, Lan Zhan glowed like the finest of pearls. His eyes were as warm and golden as candle flames. Wei Wuxian felt as if he could watch him forever, marveling at his flawless skin, the sweep of his long lashes, the serenity of his expression. He really was beautiful. The most beautiful person Wei Wuxian had ever met.

His dear, beloved Lan Zhan. Accidental god to the upright and learned Gusu Lan, who had inspired a wall of rules as his treasured sect strove to surpass their failings and be wise and righteous like their Hanguang-jun. Lan Zhan, who sang the song of Wei Wuxian's own soul, who knew him fully and loved him. His kind, beautiful, silly Lan Zhan.

“I want to night hunt with you,” he said softly. “I want to travel to all sorts of places—see new things, meet new people, try new foods. I want to do that with you. And I want to go swimming in the lakes at Lotus Pier, and lay in the sun, and show you all my favorite places.” When Wei Wuxian reached up to cup his cheek, Lan Zhan leaned into it. “I like you, I fancy you, I whatever you. You're really great, Lan Zhan. I love you.”

Drawing Lan Zhan's face closer to his own, Wei Wuxian shifted once more on his lap. The feeling in his arm was returning, and with it a warm, syrupy pleasure had begun to spread through his body. His breathing grew quicker and more shallow, and every shift of his robes was a caress against his skin.

“And right now,” he said with a breathy laugh, “I really, really, really want you.”

As he tilted his head slightly to the side, the corners of Lan Zhan's lips turned up. It was sunlight on snow, that smile. All the promise and potential of a new dawn. The breath caught in Wei Wuxian's throat.

So beautiful.

They kissed, slow and lingering at first, and then with increasing hunger as Wei Wuxian rolled his hips and whined his need. Lan Zhan nipped him, teeth catching on his lower lip and tugging as he pulled away. He looked almost surprised at having done it, but obviously liked it well enough, and liked what he sensed of Wei Wuxian's reaction. He darted back in to bite again, sharper this time, and ready with sucking kisses to soothe the sting left behind. He bit the corner of Wei Wuxian's lips, then, licking into his mouth, even bit Wei Wuxian's tongue when the kiss grew passionate.

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but laugh. He fell giggling out of the kiss, going limp so that Lan Zhan had to grasp and tug to keep him close.

“Lan Zhan! You create a human mouth for yourself only to bite, bite, bite! What are you, a dog? Treat me more gently!”

Looking nonplussed, Lan Zhan bit his chin.

“Ow! Brute! Beast!” Wei Wuxian shouted and laughed as Lan Zhan nipped along the length of his jaw. When he shoved playfully at Lan Zhan's chest, he found himself caught, wrists held easily in one of Lan Zhan's hands. From beneath the gleaming silk of his husband's wedding robes, he could feel the frantic beating of Lan Zhan's heart. It pounded faster than the excited pace of their own twinned melody, which poured forth with such strength that Wei Wuxian felt it must surely be ringing from the mountainsides of all Gusu. It was complete now, no longer the lonely song that had called him from his bed into the forest. Paired with the song of his own soul, it was a harmony of soaring joy.

Gently, Lan Zhan ran his fingers down the bared skin of Wei Wuxian's freshly healed arm. It felt as if he had waved a candle past, but rather than fading, the warmth took root. It sank deeper into him with every heartbeat, heating his blood, and racing for parts further south. Each slow, teasing stroke of Lan Zhan's fingertips intensified it, until Wei Wuxian was squirming ceaselessly in his lap, wracked with a shivering, simmering pleasure. At this rate, he was going to ruin his trousers, and all Lan Zhan was doing was stroking his arm!

“Lan Zhan, husband, please! Aren't you going to touch your Wei Ying properly?

He inclined his head as if in agreement...

It is improper to hold Wei Ying in such a manner before we are wed.

...and then made as if to ease Wei Wuxian off his lap.

With a squawk of mock outrage, Wei Wuxian scrabbled to retain his seat, grabbing fistfuls of Lan Zhan's robes to cling to. “No, no, no! Lan Zhan, you can't treat me like that! I'm sure it's in your rules, too. Do not tease the injured!”

Lan Zhan looked pointedly at his bare, unmarked arm, and then at the bulge between his legs, obvious even beneath his trousers and rumpled robes.

“Since when are you such a bully? I know you believe there should be harmony between spouses.” Pouting, he crossed his arms and kicked his feet, even turning his face away from his beautiful husband. “Really! Denying me on our wedding day....”

Who is denying you?

All of a sudden, Lan Zhan heaved Wei Wuxian off his lap. Surprise made him yelp as his knees hit the floor, and he automatically looked back over one shoulder, mouth open to object to such treatment. Before he could even get a word out, the dim room went pitch black as Lan Zhan flung the end of Wei Wuxian's own wedding robe up over his back and head. In seconds, a horde of eager fingers and tendrils had loosened the sash around his waist. Crawling, tickling touches climbed his thighs and crept over his ribs, diving beneath layer after layer in order to reach his trousers and drag them down around his knees.

I am always pleased to give Wei Ying what he needs.

There was something in the music of his voice, like rolling thunder heralding a downpour, that sent a shiver coursing through Wei Wuxian. He started to speak, but Lan Zhan's full, more-than-human weight bore down upon him with surprising suddenness. He gasped, forgetting what he had meant to say, as his head was forced down until his cheek met the floor. Lan Zhan gathered his wrists easily in one hand, and pinned them, too. From beneath his robe, Wei Wuxian could see nothing of what was happening, but he could feel human fingers holding him. He felt the brush of silken sleeves, felt silk against the backs of his thighs as well, and against the bared curve of his ass. He felt a human shape draped over him, and had to concentrate to sense what lay beneath the illusion.

Lan Zhan pinched his hip.

“Ow!” Wei Wuxian squirmed, acutely aware that he was on display. “What was that for?”

Hush. Let me relieve you.

Slowly, but with irresistible strength, Lan Zhan pulled his freshly-healed arm up and back, twisting it behind Wei Wuxian. The pressure kept him locked in place, face down and ass up, and sent phantom sensations skimming along his arm. Not quite the pleasure of touch, but not quite the utter lack of it, either. Something delicate and teasing. He wriggled and whined Lan Zhan's name and arched his spine and—

—and—

—and Lan Zhan licked him.

Wei Wuxian jolted, hips jerking forward as he gasped. It came again—the feel of Lan Zhan's tongue on his skin, warm, wet, and firm. It struck sparks off the aphrodisiac in his blood, making his head swim and his insides quiver. His hips stuttered as his cock filled out, swelling with anticipation and euphoria. He struggled weakly, felt no give in Lan Zhan's hold on him, and was swamped by a wave of arousal.

You like this.

The hand around his wrist squeezed. The weight holding him down pressed a bit more insistently.

You like that you cannot break free.

“No....” He cleared his throat, tried to shake his thoughts free of muddying silt. “No, you can't. This one...this one is to be married.”

Lan Zhan paused. It nearly made Wei Wuxian laugh, to think he'd perplexed him. He squirmed provocatively, grinding his ass against the bulge beneath Lan Zhan's robes.

“Please! This one must remain a virgin! My husband would be furious otherwise!”

There was silence aside from the physical sounds of rustling silk and Wei Wuxian's quickened breath. Then:

A virgin.

It was the driest he'd ever heard Lan Zhan sound, and he couldn't help but laugh. Oh, how he wished he could see the expression his husband-to-be was wearing.

“Lan Zhan! That's a bit more than doubt, isn't it? Are you calling a lovely and demure flower such as myself a liar?”

Lan Zhan hummed noncommittally. A finger—

It felt like a finger. How many hands was he up to? One for each of Wei Wuxian's wrists, and now a third?

--circled the rim of his hole, then pressed inside with a soft, wet sound. Wei Wuxian's brain stopped questioning the number of hands Lan Zhan had, and simply enjoyed his good fortune as he was held down and fingered.

“Noooo!” he whined theatrically. “Only my husband can touch me like that!”

You are begging for it.

“I'm not! I'm not!” Wei Wuxian made a concentrated effort to stop rocking his hips along with the rhythm of Lan Zhan's fingers working him open. Teeth grazed his arm, making his breath hitch. He was growing harder by the moment, and getting increasingly desperate for something to grind against.

“How can you treat me like this?” he whined as Lan Zhan attacked his arm with a line of slow, sucking kisses. His soft lips, the gentle scrape of teeth—those felt human. His tongue, however.... Wei Wuxian gasped as it flicked along his arm, erasing his thoughts like a bolt of lightning whiting out the world. It split open against his skin, mouthing at him teasingly. It felt so good, so amazingly good. The amount of pleasure Lan Zhan could wring from him without even touching his cock left him dizzy and gasping for air. He wriggled wildly, a fish caught on a line, and found no release in his struggle.

He didn't realize he was begging until he felt Lan Zhan's amusement like drifting leaves upon the stream of his pleas. Remembering that he had meant to be playing a role—it was so hard pretending not to want anything and everything Lan Zhan could give him!—he tried again to protest.

“Stop! It hurts!” He clenched around the fingers in his ass. Then, because he had felt how much Lan Zhan had enjoyed such play: “It's my first time!”

The intoxicating kisses along his arm did not so much as pause. The weight holding him down did not shift. As the fingers pulled out of him, however, he felt down to his core the ripples in Lan Zhan's song, like the thunderous purring of a self-satisfied cat. The music took on an edge of desperate hunger, making the air between them seem as heavy as the humid pause of an imminent downpour promising soon, soon, soon to soak drought-parched earth.

I will make it a memorable first.

“That's not the—ah!”

Reflexively his spine bowed, hips canting to allow better access as Lan Zhan's cock bullied its way into him. He moaned lewdly as hands caught him around the waist, fingers digging in to hold him still. Two more grabbed his thighs, dragging his legs further apart. The weight of Lan Zhan's gaze was palpable. It made Wei Wuxian all the more aware of the stretch of his hole, the way it clenched so tightly around Lan Zhan's cock. It felt almost obscene.

“So big,” he gasped. “What'll I do...? You'll ruin me....”

Ridiculous.

“Ah! My—ah—my husband will—mm—be furious. He's very jealous, you know.”

Stop talking.

He was pulled—by hands on his waist, his thighs, his shoulders—pulled back to meet the next thrust, sharper than before. Lan Zhan's hips snapped forward, fucking him harder, deeper. His song bound them like silk ribbons, agreeing with Wei Wuxian. Yes, he was jealous. Yes, he wanted Wei Wuxian all to himself. They fit together. He didn't want to hear Wei Wuxian speak as if there was another. He would make him stop such ridiculous babble, would fuck him so well that Wei Wuxian couldn't continue speaking such nonsense.

'Ah, Lan Zhan,' Wei Wuxian couldn't help but think, 'you really are too cute!'

“Going so deep—ah! You! Are you—haaa—are you trying to get me pregnant?”

Lan Zhan's rhythm faltered, then picked up again in earnest. Somehow, Wei Wuxian found just enough breath to laugh. It was the same as before!

“Don't get bigger!”

The pain-pleasure had sharpened abruptly. He'd taken more from Lan Zhan just yesterday, of course. Being bigger only made it better. Gradually, the pain dulled into a deep, deliciously satisfying throbbing as his body acclimated.

As before, Wei Wuxian could feel his qi responding to their coupling. He tried to focus on the gathering energy, but it wasn't easy as Lan Zhan finally found just the right angle. Wei Wuxian's thoughts scattered with every thrust like fish fleeing a rock thrown into their midst. He could sense in flashes of clarity that Lan Zhan was aware of his failed attempts to concentrate. He sensed, too, that his adorable husband was smug about it. Eventually, they would have to find a compromise on this, if Lan Zhan intended to fuck him to immortality. For now, however, Wei Wuxian let go, let himself be taken apart. There would be many, many chances in the future to be more mindful during the act.

Although...he couldn't help but notice...was quite mindful, actually...of the fact that Lan Zhan seemed to be deliberately ignoring a particular part of his anatomy.

He couldn't outright call attention to it. Not after all his protests. Wasn't he playing the helpless bride-to-be, ravished by a stranger? Begging to have his cock stroked didn't really fit that scenario.

“Ah, gege, be nice to me?” he hedged. Maybe if he just hinted...? “Aren't I behaving? I haven't even screamed for anyone.”

Lan Zhan drew back, pulling almost all the way out.

You may scream.

He snapped his hips forward, burying himself deep, and continued on with a punishing pace. Wei Wuxian barely had breath to moan after that initial thrust, much less scream. He settled for whimpering, the sounds emerging small and broken, almost lost in the thick, wet noise of a good, sloppy fuck.

And yet....

His cock was throbbing, bouncing with every thrust, but lacking any friction. He squirmed and wriggled, earning only a sharp pinch to his thigh which made him yelp, and left him gasping after wasted air. He tried to draw his thighs in together, but Lan Zhan's tendrils yanked them further apart, dragging his knees across the floor.

“Beast!” he whined. He had to speak between thrusts or risk his jaw snapping closed on his tongue. “How—how can you—treat—treat me—like this?”

How should I treat you?

“Gently!”

Do not lie.

He liked this. He liked it rough, liked when Lan Zhan used him till he couldn't stand, liked being held down and made to take it. He liked all of it, and Lan Zhan knew he liked it.

“Bully!”

Amusement washed over Wei Wuxian. 'Bully' was hardly the right sort of term a ravished bride ought to be using.

“Okay, okay! Lan Zhan! Husband! I was—I was wrong! No more—pretending! Okay? So treat—treat me—nicely!”

Am I not?

“Touch me!”

Lan Zhan grew still. Every appendage that touched Wei Wuxian—the hands holding his wrists, the hands on his shoulders and waist, the tendrils around his thighs—all of them quivered. Slowly, deliberately, Lan Zhan rolled his hips, making him feel every bit of the length of cock seated inside him. Wei Wuxian moaned, and ground his forehead against the floor.

“So mean to me,” he whined softly. “I've chosen such a bully.”

You like it.

“I do. I do, but Lan Zhan, please. Have mercy. You can't think to leave me like this until after the ceremony...?”

There was a deep, reflective pause.

“Don't go getting any ideas!” Wei Wuxian shouted with a laugh. “Shameless! How many rules are you thinking of breaking?”

None that matter to us.

That made him laugh again, all bright delight. As he laughed, Lan Zhan slipped free. All his myriad hands and tendrils gathered Wei Wuxian up and rolled him over onto his back, caressing his face and stroking his hair. In a moment, Wei Wuxian found himself staring up into amber eyes warm with such fondness and affection that it prickled at his heart. He reached up to cup Lan Zhan's cheek, smiling as Lan Zhan mirrored the gesture.

“Better hurry up,” Wei Wuxian whispered. “We can't keep them waiting much longer.”

When Lan Zhan entered him this time, it was gentle. He slipped inside as if made to fit there. Rocking his hips, he built up his pace gradually, until Wei Wuxian was again calling out for mercy. This time, Lan Zhan granted his pleas. Opening his mouth, his tongue came snaking out. Not a human tongue to match his mostly human form, but the long, prehensile tongue with its grasping, four-lobed tip. It licked Wei Wuxian's cheek and the underside of his chin before drawing back up to dip between his parted lips. Reflexively, Wei Wuxian suckled at it, moaning softly.

Soon enough, however, it pulled back. It lapped its way down his throat, trailed briefly over his rumpled wedding robes, and found its target just past the sash only barely hanging around his waist. Coiling around Wei Wuxian's straining cock, Lan Zhan's tongue constricted and loosened in waves. The tip of it split open long enough for the lobes to close hungrily around the leaking head, slender tendrils exploring his slit. Within a few heartbeats, Wei Wuxian went rigid, back arching as he came with a choked cry.

“Good boy,” he murmured dreamily, after the tension had fled and he could find his voice. Shivers wracked him as Lan Zhan continued to thrust leisurely into him. In the afterglow, the pleasure was quickly taking on an edge of much-too-much. He moaned softly, and was shushed, kissed into submission as Lan Zhan's hands found his and held them down against the floor, fingers intertwined.

It wasn't long before he felt Lan Zhan swell within him, felt liquid heat bloom with his release. It was, again, that strange, steady flow, rather than a quick burst, but whether affected by the form he wore, or by some conscious control, it didn't last so long this time. Even so, Wei Wuxian felt almost uncomfortably full by the time Lan Zhan moved to pull out, although he whined reflexively in protest.

Hazily, Wei Wuxian watched as Lan Zhan reached up and back, plucking one of the plump, velvety mushrooms from the moss veiling his hair. He held Wei Wuxian's gaze, pleased and possessive and a touch mischievous as he pulled out and quickly replaced his cock with the mushroom. Feeling it so firm inside him, keeping him stretched, keeping him full, Wei Ying moaned, writhing weakly on the floor.

“What a shameless thing you are,” he murmured, smiling. When Lan Zhan stroked his cheek, he nuzzled into it. “You want me to go to our wedding ceremony like this? Debauched and full of your seed?”

Gently, Lan Zhan straightened out Wei Wuxian's legs, dropping light kisses onto his knees and thighs. Then, with a soft rustling sound, he stood. He looked perfect again, serene and unruffled, not a hair out of place. Wei Wuxian squinted at him.

“That's hardly fair,” he said, bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Your wedding attire is salvageable.

The heat in Lan Zhan's stare was heavy as midsummer sunlight on Wei Wuxian's skin.

No one but me needs to know the rest.

With a chuckle, Wei Wuxian let his head fall back onto the floor. “Salvageable, you say?” He lifted his arms, gesturing vaguely at the state he'd been left in, and then let them flop back down. “I think it might be too late for that.”

It is not. I will make Wei Ying presentable.

-----------[chapter 9]---------

“This is nice,” Wei Wuxian murmured. He was kneeling on the floor, feeling pleasantly lethargic as Lan Zhan methodically braided and twisted and pinned his hair back up into order after having finger-combed it smooth. Every few moments, he would wriggle, just to better feel the mushroom Lan Zhan had used in him as a plug. “Hanguang-jun is indeed skilled at everything he does.”

His robes had been arranged back into perfection, clean and shining without a wrinkle to be seen. Lan Zhan must have run his hands over every bit of Wei Wuxian's body, humming spells as he went. The charms woven into Lan sect cultivator robes which repelled dirt and mess had been inspired by the techniques Lan Zhan used to erase the evidence of their activities from the wedding silk. While being petted and stroked back into neatness, Wei Wuxian had idly wondered if he would be allowed to borrow a set of robes to compare the two methods: active musical cultivation versus a fixed woven enchantment. He wondered who had invented the spell, and if records of their method still existed. Perhaps being married to the Lan sect's god would grant him special library privileges.

“I almost don't want to go back out there,” he said. “There's already been such a fuss over this marriage. Surely eloping wouldn't add that much more scandal.”

We can.

“Lan Zhan!” He laughed softly, reaching back to pat Lan Zhan's thigh. “Responding so seriously when I'm joking. What am I going to do with you? If you spoil me too much, I'll turn into a lazy, indolent wife. You'll have to dress me and do my hair every morning. I'll make you carry me everywhere instead of walking.”

It would not be a hardship.

“Ah! There you go again!” He grinned, wanting to kick his legs, wanting to spin around and squeeze Lan Zhan's cheeks. “How am I supposed to joke around when you react like that?”

Wei Ying should consider his words carefully.

“It seems that I will have to be the voice of reason in this relationship. I still have my duties as first disciple, you know. See that you don't go using your wiles to seduce me away from my responsibilities and into debauchery.”

In answer, Lan Zhan laid a soft, lingering kiss upon the bared nape of his neck.

Wei Wuxian squawked. He whirled around, utterly unable to school his face into anything near serious. “Lan Zhan! I know you want to get married, but if you want to get married today, you had better behave yourself!” Settling his hands on Lan Zhan's shoulders, he let his smile stretch into something more teasing. “Much more of that, and we won't be leaving this room tonight.”

Affection made Lan Zhan's eyes shine like a pair of golden fireflies in the dimness. He was pleased. His melody grew lighter, quicker, like a playful spring breeze. He did want to get married. He wanted to conclude this part of his life as a member of the sect he had watched over and guarded for so very long. Wei Wuxian smiled at him, heart straining in his chest as he cupped his beloved's cheek.

“One more thing,” Wei Wuxian whispered. “Let me see your hand.”

Lan Zhan lifted his right hand between them. Reverently, Wei Wuxian untied the knot holding his red ribbon in place. Turn after turn, he unwound it from Lan Zhan's wrist.

“Turn around,” he urged once it was free. Once Lan Zhan was settled with his back to him, Wei Wuxian lifted the ribbon over his head, settling it by touch across his forehead. He tied it off with a simple knot this time, in the style of the Lan sect. Raising the trailing ends, he kissed them and then let them fall against the mossy curtain of Lan Zhan's hair.

“Perfect.” He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Lan Zhan's shoulders, and hugging him tight. “Let's go get married.”

#goofus and gallant

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