Chapter Text
.*.*.*.*.*.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said quietly the next morning.
“Mmrph,” Wei Wuxian replied.
He was laying on his stomach with an arm thrown over his pillow and his faced turned to the wall. His only other reaction to Lan Wangji’s voice was a twitch of the arm over his pillow.
“Wake up,” Lan Wangji said, tapping the back of Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian inhaled sharply at his touch.
“Huh?” he asked sleepily, and then he rose enough to turn his face and blink at Lan Wangji sleepily. “Lan Zhan? What are you doing here?”
“We are going to receive our punishment now,” he said.
Wei Wuxian groaned. The Lan Sect disciples who had been waiting to drag them away came closer.
“I’ll go! I’ll go. Let me put on shoes.”
They backed away and let him follow them to the door.
“Why did they send all of you to apprehend me?” Wei Wuxian asked them. “Did you think Lan-er-gongzi would go easy on me?”
None of them replied, of course. It wasn’t until they walked back out to the table that Wei Wuxian seemed to remember. He looked from Lan Wangji’s impassive face to the uncomfortable expressions of the Lan Sect disciples who were bringing them both to Lan Qiren.
“Oh,” he said in dismay. “Lan Zhan.”
Lan Wangji shook his head at him quickly. Wei Wuxian frowned unhappily. They walked through Cloud Recesses in silence and bowed to Lan Qiren before the Wall of Rules. Lan Qiren glared at them.
“Three hundred blows each,” he commanded.
The disciples moved to initiate the punishment.
“Wait!” Wei Wuxian said, “Each? Teacher Lan!” He knelt and called out, “Teacher Lan, Lan Zhan did nothing wrong. He was only there to take care of me.”
Lan Wangji’s hands curled tight. He wanted to tell Wei Wuxian to stop begging, that it would only anger Lan Qiren further, but if they both spoke, their joint offense would only be worse.
“Silence!” Lan Qiren said.
“Teacher Lan!” Wei Wuxian said again. “I’m the one who broke the rules. Lan Zhan only wanted to make sure I was safe.”
Lan Wangji held his arms out in a salute.
“Wangji acknowledges his disobedience and accepts his punishment.”
Wei Wuxian turned sharply in his direction. “What are you doing? Why are you asking for punishment?”
“Begin,” Lan Qiren said.
The paddles struck their backs. Wei Wuxian cried out.
On and on it went. His training included many things that inured him to physical pain and fatigue and injury. The distressing thing was that he was forbidden from even turning to look at Wei Wuxian, let alone offer the comfort of a word or a touch. Nobody else was allowed to speak to Wei Wuxian either: His friends were barred from the courtyard in anticipation of their disobedience. Wei Wuxian hated being alone like that.
When it was finally over, and Wei Wuxian’s cries had become quiet gasps or whimpers, the disciples walked away and Lan Wangji was finally able to turn to him.
Wei Wuxian was curled in on himself biting his lip, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Lan Wangji’s heart seized in concern. He held out his hand.
“Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian cringed away from him, his head hanging lower.
“I’m sorry,” Wei Wuxian said.
“What?”
“I didn’t mean to get us both punished. I’m sorry.”
“You did not.”
“Of course I did! You never would have broken a single rule if you hadn’t been trying to- t0-”
“I broke the rules,” Lan Wangji agreed. “It was my choice.”
“Because of me.”
Lan Wangji shook his head. “Because I wanted to be with you.”
Wei Wuxian laughed in some frustration.
“Well why didn’t you pick a better time? Like any other time you wouldn’t be hit three hundred times for being in my room?”
Lan Wangji got to his feet and offered Wei Wuxian his hand again. This time Wei Wuxian took it, only to release it as soon as he was on his feet again.
“Thank you,” Wei Wuxian mumbled.
He rolled his shoulders and winced.
“The Cold Spring,” Lan Wangji suggested.
Wei Wuxian groaned in complaint but followed Lan Wangji’s lead out of the courtyard. Their way was blocked by Jiang Wanyin and Nie Huiasang, who were staring at Lan Wangji in surprise. Lan Wangji realized that Wei Wuxian had drifted closer to him as they walked so that their shoulders were nearly brushing. Nie Huaisang skittered back a step. Jiang Wanyin narrowed his eyes and then turned his attention to Wei Wuxian.
“What, are you still under guard?”
“Of course not! Lan Zhan’s just taking me to the Cold Spring to heal.”
Wei Wuxian patted Lan Wangji’s shoulder. Nie Huaisang lifted his fan over his face and glanced between them. Jiang Wanyin raised an eyebrow.
“Since when do you take care of your injuries?” Jiang Wanyin asked.
Nie Huaisang’s hand shot out to grab Jiang Wanyin’s.
“Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang wheedled. “You said you would take me fishing today.”
Jiang Wanyin was temporarily distracted. Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to rush past him. Lan Wangji followed.
“Hey!” Jiang Wanyin called from behind them.
“See you later, okay?” Wei Wuxian called over his shoulder.
Nie Huaisang’s voice hurriedly spoke up again behind them. Wei Wuxian glanced over after a moment.
“Do you think there’s something going on between them?” Wei Wuxian asked.
Lan Wangji looked at him.
“I know, I know, gossip is forbidden, but Jiang Cheng never lets me off that easily.”
“…Mn,” Lan Wangji said after a lost moment.
“You’ve known Nie Huiasang a while, right? Because of your older brothers? What’s he like?”
Lan Wangji struggled against himself for a moment. It was wrong to gossip. It was against the rules. But Wei Wuxian was not asking out of malice or idle curiosity- he was asking as Jiang Wanyin’s shixiong. He tried to formulate a reply, and then Wei Wuxian laughed.
“It’s okay, Lan Zhan. I’ll find out myself. Anyway I think Nie-xiong is pretty fun. Jiang Cheng needs someone fun.”
He smirked at Lan Wangji as he said it. Lan Wangji was not sure whether he was simply delighting in a shared joke at his shidi’s expense or whether he was implying that there was someone else to whom that applied. Wei Wuxian was also fun, after all. Wei Wuxian laughed again.
“Lan Zhan, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“I am not embarrassed.”
Wei Wuxian tilted his head with a smile.
“Then you’re just cute for no reason.”
“Ridiculous.”
“Am I ridiculous? Then if you’re not embarrassed, why are your ears so red?”
Wei Wuxian playfully tapped a finger against the tip of Lan Wangji’s ear. Lan Wangji had swept his hair over one shoulder so that it would not be in the way of the discipline paddle. He shook it forward again to cover his ears as Wei Wuxian laughed some more.
“Hmm maybe….you are overheated? Then it’s a good thing we’re going to the Cold Spring!”
Lan Wangji exhaled heavily as he endured this teasing.
“Aww, Lan Zhan, don’t be annoyed with me. It’s just cute that you get so embarrassed anytime anyone talks about romance.”
“Hmph,” he said.
Wei Wuxian’s observation was by no means correct. He was indifferent to most anyone talking about romance. He only got…preoccupied…when it was Wei Wuxian talking to him about romance.
This was a good reminder of the conversation they needed to have. He took a deep breath and looked Wei Wuxian in the eye. Or, he tried. Wei Wuxian was peering ahead through the bamboo strands to try to see the the Cold Spring. The path curved as they got closer in order to afford bathers privacy in their state of undress. Because in order to make the most efficient use of their time in the Cold Spring, most bathers partially undressed.
Lan Wangji’s steps slowed. It took him too long to recognize that Wei Wuxian had also slowed down.
“It’s been so long since we’ve gone swimming together. I’m a little nervous, Lan Zhan,” he admitted.
“Mn.”
“It’s so cold! Yunmeng water is very warm by comparison.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence and then stood at the water’s edge. Wei Wuxian stared at the water and then turned a grin on Lan Wangji.
“Remember the first time we went swimming together? It was after I jumped in the lake at Caiyi Town.”
He snickered and began taking off his belt and outer robe. Lan Wangji followed suit.
“That’s the least composed I’ve ever seen Lan Xichen. But you know what I remember most?”
“What is it?”
“You were so upset with me. At first, I thought it was because I’d scared your xiongzhang. Then I realized, you were pouting because we’d jumped in the lake without you.”
Lan Wangji shot him a reproving glare, but that only gave him the opportunity to look at Wei Wuxian. The deep red color of his under robe was like nothing else in Cloud Recesses. The triangle of skin, framed in that deep red, emphasized the taper of Wei Wuxian’s broad shoulders down to his waist. Lan Wangji swallowed.
Wei Wuxian skipped closer and laughed.
“Lan Zhan, you’re embarrassed again. Don’t be. Why don’t we jump in together, this time?”
Wei Wuxian grinned and leaned forward as if to give Lan Wangji no choice but to look at him. His hand reached up toward the side of Lan Wangji’s face. Lan Wangji stopped breathing. Then he felt the light touch of Wei Wuxian’s finger against his ear.
“Let’s cool off, alright?”
Lan Wangji had had enough. He grabbed Wei Wuxian around the waist and leapt. Wei Wuxian hummed in surprised inquiry. Then they both plunged into the water.
Lan Wangji let go in the ensuing splash-filled confusion. Wei Wuxian resurfaced before he did and as soon as they were both above-water, he flung himself at Lan Wangji to cling to his shoulders and shiver.
“Cold! Cold cold cold! Lan Zhan, it’s so cold!”
“If you are cold,” Lan Wangji suggested, trying to keep his voice flat and indifferent even though Wei Wuxian’s breath was warm against his neck and Wei Wuxian’s nearly-bare chest was pressed against his. “use your spiritual energy.”
“How merciless!” Wei Wuxian cried, tucking his face more closely into the crook of Lan Wangji’s neck. “Is this the proper way to treat your dear Wei Ying?”
Lan Wangji required a long moment to brush past ‘your dear Wei Ying’ as if he had not heard it.
“Focus,” he said.
“I can’t focus! I’m too cold!”
He gave another full-bodied shiver. A rather theatrical full-bodied shiver. Lan Wangji suspected Wei Wuxian’s voice was shaking with laughter rather than from cold. Still, he pried Wei Wuxian’s hand off his shoulder so he could transfer spiritual energy. Wei Wuxian stopped him and began laughing against his shoulder.
Lan Wangji might have been unprepared. There was a very wet, very warm, and partially dressed Wei Ying, laughing right against his chest. It felt like his heart was trying to beat to that sound.
When Wei Wuxian looked up grinning, the loose strands of his hair framing his pink cheekbones, Lan Wangji could only swallow. Wei Wuxian blinked, and his eyes went wide. It was very unfair. His eyes already looked huge and dark with his soaked eyelashes spiked around them.
Wei Wuxian was the one to regain control of himself first. He shook his head slightly and paddled gently away with a laugh and a blush.
“Lan Zhan, when did you get so handsome? You just pulled a horrible prank on me and I’m not even angry at you.”
Lan Wangji’s ears were never going to have a chance to cool down. He swam deliberately away, to a part of the spring where he could stand instead of tread water. Wei Wuxian followed.
“It is not right for you to use your face like that,” Wei Wuxian continued.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said helplessly.
“Mn?” Wei Wuxian waited, but Lan Wangji could say nothing.
“Yes, Lan Zhan?” he teased. “Did your tongue get frozen?”
Lan Wangji exhaled and looked away.
“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, look at me. Or talk to me. I want to make sure your tongue isn’t frozen. Lan Zhan!”
“Ridiculous,” Lan Wangji said.
Wei Wuxian laughed. “Good boy.”
“Wei Ying. Focus.”
He closed his eyes and tried to settle his breathing and his attention so that he could use the Cold Spring for cultivation. Wei Wuxian began flicking water at his face with a finger. He accepted this. The water droplets hitting his face were less distracting the sight of Wei Wuxian.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said.
Lan Wangji breathed at a steady pace. Wei Wuxian made a discontented sound and moved silently closer. Lan Wangji could tell only by the slight shift in the water. Then he felt the brush of Wei Wuxian’s hair against his temple.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian whispered close to his ear.
Lan Wangji frowned slightly at the goosebumps that rose on his skin at that whisper, at the heat that he felt down his neck and across his cheekbones now. The picture took shape in his mind, of Wei Wuxian leaning close with a smirk. He was unable to keep his breathing steady.
Wei Wuxian laughed quietly in response. “Am I distracting you?”
There was a disarming hint of wonder to his voice, as if he couldn’t quite believe that he was succeeding. That disbelief, more than anything, made Lan Wangji exhale in exasperation. They really did need to talk. He just could not do it while they were in the Cold Spring together. Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian laughed quietly again in what sounded like pleasure and moved in the water again. Lan Wangji was exquisitely aware of Wei Wuxian’s movements as Wei Wuxian stopped in front of Lan Wangji.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian whispered close to his face.
Lan Wangji stopped breathing entirely. His entire being narrowed down to anticipation.
“I distracted you,” Wei Wuxian teased quietly.
Lan Wangji opened his eyes to Wei Wuxian’s face, smiling at him from inches away. It was not the smile he expected. There was no triumphant smirk. Instead, there was wonder in Wei Wuxian’s eyes.
Lan Wangji closed the space between them to kiss Wei Wuxian. He drew away to give Wei Wuxian a chance to respond. His eyes were wide again. And then he smiled, and returned Lan Wangji’s kiss. Lan Wangji discovered that the Cold Spring did not always have to feel cold. With Wei Wuxian's arms around him, he could not even feel the ache in his back from their punishment. He felt only Wei Wuxian- the sweep of his tongue, the press of his fingertips, and the feel of Wei Wuxian’s warm body against his own. His own hands were less delicate. He crumpled that red robe in his hands as he gripped Wei Wuxian’s hips and pulled him closer.
Wei Wuxian made a startled sound when their bodies were pressed together. Lan Wangji relaxed his grip but did not remove his hands just yet. He drew far away enough to try to see on Wei Wuxian’s face’s whether that was necessary.
Wei Wuxian’s eyes were hazy as if he were drunk again, his cheeks flushed like when he laughed too hard to breathe. His hips jerked reflexible against Lan Wangji when he let up the pressure, and then Wei Wuxian exhaled and lowered his gaze as if embarrassed. Lan Wangji gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and forced himself to slow down. He had never felt hunger like this before. He had never wanted to feel anyone’s body against his own like this. He found it hard to think through the overwhelming desire.
“Wei Ying,” he said.
He swallowed then. His voice had come out almost raspy. Entirely undisciplined and out of his control.
Wei Wuxian’s hands had turned tentative on his back. They fluttered to Lan Wangji’s chest, where they rested almost gingerly.
“I pushed too far,” Lan Wangji began, removing his hands. “Forgive me.”
“No, no,” Wei Wuxian said. He took two handfuls of fabric as if to prevent Lan Wangji from leaving. “I liked it. I liked it all. I just- I’ve never done this before.”
He mumbled the last part and ducked his head entirely. Lan Wangji took his hand.
“Neither have I. I did not think before I acted. We can stop, or we can kiss without any other-”
He stopped and felt himself flush this time.
“Lan Zhan, I mean it. I did like it all. But it’s just-”
He blushed again as he stuttered, and then his eyes widened with some unpleasant and sudden realization.
“It is fine,” Lan Wangji assured him. “There is no need to justify-”
Wei Wuxian splashed away and looked frantically around the banks of the Cold Spring. He only relaxed once he was sure that there was nobody there.
“Lan Zhan, your uncle will kill us if he finds out we kissed. He really doesn’t like me.”
“Uncle likes you,” Lan Wangji said.
He ignored the hyperbolic accusation.
“He used to! But ever since I came back, he’s been punishing me at every opportunity. You’ve noticed too, right?”
“Mn.”
“Then how can you say he likes me?”
“Punishment has nothing to do with personal opinions,” Lan Wangji said.
Wei Wuxian looked at him doubtfully. Then he smiled in something like fond exasperation.
“To you, it doesn’t,” he said.
Lan Wangji frowned. “Uncle is righteous.”
“Your uncle is human, despite his best efforts.”
Lan Wangji had no response to that. There was no contraction between their two statements even if Wei Wuxian seemed to think he’d argued his point.
“There is no reason to punish us for this,” he finally decided.
He leaned forward then to cup Wei Wuxian’s jaw. Wei Wuxian frowned at him. His hair was becoming wavy as it dried.
“That’s not true.”
Lan Wangji looked at Wei Wuxian in confused disagreement.
“Teacher Lan has expectations about the way you tie your forehead ribbon. You think he doesn’t have expectations about whom you kiss?”
Lan Wangji hesitated and shook his head.
“Cultivation partners can only find each other. Not even the elders can demand a marriage.”
Wei Wuxian suddenly placed his hand over Lan Wangji’s mouth.
“Lan Zhan! Don’t say that,” he said.
Lan Wangji raised a questioning eyebrow. Wei Wuxian hastily removed his hand.
“Your uncle hit you three hundred times just for taking care of me when I was drunk. What do you think he would do if he heard you say that?”
“He did not punish me for taking care of you.”
“Then does he think you did something else that’s forbidden last night?” Wei Wuxian joked.
Lan Wangji considered that possibility. He did not think that his uncle would suspect him of serious wrongdoing, but perhaps he was under the impression that they had behaved improperly in some way. Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian blushed and laughed.
“Lan Zhan! What kind of reputation have you earned while I’ve been away?”
“He knows how I feel about you,” Lan Wangji said in explanation.
“Oh yeah? How do you feel about me?”
Lan Wangji looked into Wei Wuxian’s eyes and Wei Wuxian seemed to realize what he’d asked.
“I was joking! You don’t have to tell me- It’s fine if you don’t-”
“I like you,” Lan Wangji said.
Wei Wuxian made a high-pitched sound of embarrassment and covered his eyes with his hands. Lan Wangji hesitated.
“Wei Ying?”
“I like you too,” Wei Wuxian said in one breath.
Something in Lan Wangji relaxed to hear it.
“Do you want to leave the Cold Spring?”
“Yes. I think this conversation would be easier if you were fully dressed. Do you know how pretty you are?”
He cautiously lowered his hands to look at Lan Wangji in accusation. In response, Lan Wangji simply ran his eyes over Wei Wuxian. The rumpled red robes, the wavy hair, and the blush across his face, all created a new sort of image in Lan Wangji’s mind. Wei Wuxian’s blush had gotten deeper by the time Lan Wangji met his eyes again.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian said, shocked.
He also grinned and skipped closer though, so Lan Wangji did not think he was displeased. They got dressed and walked up the path to the central courtyards blushing and smiling.
.*.*.*.*.*.