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“Let’s team up.”
Lan Zhan blinks over the top of his reading glasses and checks the time. It’s somewhere around 9 PM, and he should really be going to sleep, but Wei Ying had barged into his room without preamble and handed him a neatly stapled pile of documents.
“See, I even compiled my evidence for why teaming up would be better than trying to strike it out solo – it took me 5 hours to do this, Lan Zhan, don’t look away!”
The reading glasses are placed on the nightstand as Lan Zhan massages his forehead. It’s times like this when he regrets not having requested a room that isn’t right next to Wei Ying’s.
“I will look over it tomorrow.”
“You won’t have time tomorrow,” Wei Ying points out, “Because we have patrol until curfew.”
“The weekend.”
“You’ll be studying on the weekend.” He crosses his arms. “I’m staying in your room until you read it over.”
“You have an ulterior motive.”
“Yes, okay, I want to team up with you and you look good in your reading glasses.” Wei Ying admits, sending a shameless wink at Lan Zhan. Perhaps because it’s getting late, Lan Zhan hears himself agree.
He grabs the stack of papers and reclines on his bed, fully expecting it to be another prank of Wei Ying’s. Instead, he finds an assorted variety of graphs and statistics staring up at him, detailing the success and popularity rates of heroes who began their career solo versus heroes who teamed up, and the health benefits that come from having a partner.
He looks back up at Wei Ying, who’s staring at him expectantly. Twisting his fingers in the bottom of his shirt.
The numbers hurt his eyes, but it’s a small price to pay if reading them over will make a smile bloom on Wei Ying’s face.
And he can’t deny that the report is easy to read, even as it goes on and on about how the hero insurance companies will be more lenient on a team, and how more top agencies are willing to accept a team of newbies because there’s less risk of them failing when they can watch each other’s backs. At some point – when Lan Zhan is on the third page, which has little drawings of rabbits in the margins and absolutely melts his heart – Wei Ying makes his way into the room and onto Lan Zhan’s bed.
Wei Ying shuffles closer as Lan Zhan flips to the fourth page, a breakdown of the financial earnings of teams versus solo heroes, and lays his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder with an exhausted sigh.
“Lan Zhan, how’s my report? Ah, I barely had time to finish it between the homework and patrol, but I really do want to team up with you…”
He sounds so tired. Lan Zhan lets Wei Ying lean on him, even as every logical brain cell in his head screams that it’s a bad idea to let his longtime crush do this to him.
“Mn.” Lan Zhan murmurs, his hand finding its way into Wei Ying’s hair. It’s soft and silky and Wei Ying makes a noise of contentment as Lan Zhan runs his fingers through it and oh, he’s so screwed.
It’s 9:16 PM when Lan Zhan finishes reading the report. Wei Ying is practically sleeping in his lap by now, curled up like a rabbit, and Lan Zhan’s heart pounds against his ribs. In the quiet of the dorms, he’s sure that everybody can hear it.
The rustle of the papers as he puts the documents on the nightstand is what makes Wei Ying stir. “Are you done reading it, Lan Zhan? What do you think?”
He thinks it’s a great idea – their quirks are complimentary, they work excellently together, and based on the numbers Wei Ying had provided him with, they would definitely find success. Especially since they’d been spotlighted as some of the best students of their generation. It’s a great idea, until you take into account the fact that he’s irrevocably in love with Wei Ying and teaming up will do all sorts of bad things to his heart.
Wei Ying yawns and stretches on the bed, but makes no move to get off of Lan Zhan’s lap. “Please agree, Lan Zhan? I promise I’ll be the best partner ever!”
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Thinks of all the reasons why he should team up with Wei Ying (he’ll get to see Wei Ying every day in that unfairly hot costume, he’ll get to protect Wei Ying, did he mention he’ll get to see Wei Ying every day?).
“I can’t do this without you…” Wei Ying mutters, his eyes fluttering closed.
Lan Zhan sighs. In the end, he can’t say no to Wei Ying, especially not when Wei Ying is soft and warm and asking him so directly.
“Yes. We can team up. We can discuss the details tomorrow.”
“Oh! You – you actually agreed! Ah, I’m so glad, I get to keep fighting alongside you…” Wei Ying slides off the bed. “We have patrol tomorrow night, so I should get some sleep now – you should sleep too, Lan Zhan!”
Lan Zhan is about to ask why Wei Ying even wrote this report in the first place if he was so tired, when he sees Wei Ying wobble as he walks to the door, sees the shadows under his eyes that aren’t just a trick of the light, sees the tired slump of his shoulders.
Before he knows it, his hand is stretching out to grab Wei Ying’s wrist and pull him back into his embrace. With Wei Ying’s head nestled in the crook of his neck, his hands pressing firmly into Wei Ying’s back, their legs entangled on the bed – Lan Zhan really didn’t think this through.
“Lan Zhan! What –“
“Stay.” He says. “Rest.”
It doesn’t take long for Wei Ying to melt into his arms. Lan Zhan pulls the blanket over them and turns the light off with a clap of his hands, and then it’s just them, the scent of sandalwood mixing with Wei Ying’s jasmine and lotus, and the steady rise and fall of their breathing.
“Ah, Lan Zhan, thank you for letting me stay with you…” Wei Ying nuzzles his head into the underside of Lan Zhan’s jaw.
“Mn.” Lan Zhan says in lieu of any actual words, because the ability to speak has escaped him. “Stay.” He repeats.
Don’t leave just yet. He’s never been more aware of the fact that they’re third-years, that they’re graduating in one short semester, that they’ll be scattered all over China on their first missions as the new generation of superheroes. But at least this way, he gets to stay with Wei Ying as long as possible.
He falls asleep with a half-smile on his face, and no nightmares come for either of them that night. In the morning, Lan Zhan indulges himself in watching Wei Ying sleep peacefully for five minutes, before he gently prods him awake. His hair is mussed from sleep and from Lan Zhan’s hands last night, and Lan Zhan’s heart feels too big for his chest.
Wei Ying stays by Lan Zhan’s side the entire day, through lunch and through hero training and through patrol, and seems ready to go to bed with Lan Zhan before Lan Zhan shuts the door in his face. It takes 30 minutes for his heartbeat to return to normal, but oh, having Wei Ying stay by him all day more than makes up for that.
(Wei Ying ends up sleeping with Lan Zhan again, because they’d forgotten to discuss the details and by the time they were done, it was 9:30 PM and Lan Zhan couldn’t bring himself to kick Wei Ying out of his room.)
(He is so going to die one of these days, he thinks, as Wei Ying mumbles something in his sleep and winds his arms around Lan Zhan’s neck.)
~
The next time they mention their partnership is at the student-organized afterparty for their graduation.
It had been a formal event, solemn and dressy and very quiet, and Wei Ying had tossed off his black robes and cap the second they filed out of the ceremonial hall. Lan Qiren had nearly threatened to throw Wei Ying out of the academy for misconduct, until Wei Ying pointed out that 1: he wasn’t technically a student anymore and 2: the graduation was over, so nobody could accuse him of breaking any rules.
Even so, there are general rules that apply to anybody who’s on campus, and one of them is that no alcohol is allowed.
Actually, Lan Zhan suspects that several of those general rules are being broken with this afterparty, which is the exact opposite of their graduation, but the most pressing issue is this.
“Lan Zhaaaaan!” Wei Ying giggles. The tie of his suit is loose, his hair messy, his grey eyes reflecting the multicolored lights of the room. “Dance with me!”
There’s a cup of clear liquid in his hand that threatens to spill. Lan Zhan confiscates it, knowing from one whiff that it’s Emperor’s Smile.
“No. Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses.”
“Aww, let your hair down, won’t you? It’s our graduation, you gotta have some fun with it!” Wei Ying’s body sways along to the pounding beat of the music in the background, some Top 40 song that Lan Zhan vaguely recognizes. There’s a blush high on his cheeks, and his tie slips a little more to reveal a hint of smooth, creamy skin.
Lan Zhan fixes it for him before he can do something stupid. “Where is Jiang Wanyin?”
“Tch, I don’t know, he went off somewhere when I tried to get him to dance with me.” He spots Jiang Wanyin dancing with Nie Huaisang in the center of the room – or a more accurate description would be Nie Huaisang forcing Jiang Wanyin to dance with him – and sighs. “What a hypocrite.”
“And Wen Qionglin?”
“He said he’s skipping the afterparty, said it’s too – what’s the word, wild? Yeah, he said it’s too wild for him.”
Lan Zhan agrees with Wen Qionglin for once. He’s been skirting the sides of the room for most of the party, trying not to let the unbridled whoops and the pulsing music and the flashing lights exacerbate his headache. Is this the dark side of youth?
“Hey, Lan Zhan, dance with me! We can make Jiang Cheng so jealous!” Wei Ying tugs at his jacket and makes a grab for the cup of alcohol that Lan Zhan had confiscated. His smile is infectious, his tie slipping loose again, and Lan Zhan’s heart beats as loud as the music.
Is that all I am to you? He thinks. Just a tool to make your brother jealous?
“You are drunk, Wei Ying.” He says.
“Not drunk.” Wei Ying giggles. “Just a little tipsy! You should try drinking, Lan Zhan, you’re always so uptight. I want to see you let down your mask, just a little bit – I mean, I’ve seen you do it before, but you only do it for me, right? Nobody else?”
The cajoling tone of Wei Ying’s voice kindles a slow-burning heat in Lan Zhan’s body.
“Yes.” He chokes out. “Only – only for you, Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying pulls at his lapel, hard, and drags Lan Zhan down to his level. His lips brush the shell of Lan Zhan’s ear, and Lan Zhan shivers, digging his fingernails into his palms. “Good. You’re my partner, after all. My Lan Zhan.”
Lan Zhan stifles a gasp as Wei Ying’s breaths ghost over his sensitive skin. A part of him rumbles in excitement over how possessive Wei Ying is being – really, it’s scary how much Lan Zhan likes this.
“Dance with me.” Wei Ying murmurs, slipping his hands down to Lan Zhan’s chest. “Dance with me, Lan Er-gege.”
He wants to kiss Wei Ying right now. He wants to kiss him until they’re breathless, kiss him until the only things they know are the heat of their mouths and hands, until Wei Ying is gasping his name. He wants so bad, but Wei Ying is drunk and Lan Zhan can’t think straight with how Wei Ying is touching him, so he stumbles outside onto the balcony instead, dragging a laughing Wei Ying behind him.
The music fades to a more tolerable volume as the cold night air clears Lan Zhan’s head. The light from inside spills through the windows, mixing with the moonlight to cast a silvery glow over the balcony. He’s still carrying the glass of Emperor’s Smile in his hand, and when he turns around, Wei Ying is leaning on the railing, smirking at him.
“Is this part of your plan to get me all alone, Lan Zhan?”
“No.”
“You should really be more honest with yourself.” Wei Ying crosses the space between them before Lan Zhan can react, cupping one hand around Lan Zhan’s face. “At least dance with me, okay?”
The song changes to a slower, sharper one, and Wei Ying is dragging Lan Zhan to the middle of the balcony, his hand warm in Wei Ying’s.
“See, Lan Zhan? This isn’t so bad, is it?”
He doesn’t have the words to respond. At a spike in the music, Wei Ying dips Lan Zhan low, bringing their faces so close that their foreheads touch, before sauntering away and leaving Lan Zhan tongue-tied.
Well, two can play this game. With a flourish of his hand, starlight gathers around them, coalescing into floating spheres of gemstone-like lights that pulse with hidden brightness. He takes Wei Ying into a firm waltz hold without regards to the music in the background, leading their dance effortlessly. They spin on the white tiles, the night blurring around them, Wei Ying’s smile and the glint of happiness in his eyes the only thing that Lan Zhan cares about right now.
The smell of jasmine and lotus flowers mixes with the sweetness of Emperor’s Smile when he draws Wei Ying close, and Lan Zhan thinks that maybe this is what it’s like to be drunk. He’s drunk on their dance, drunk on Wei Ying, and he doesn’t want this to ever stop.
Somewhere in his mind, he knows that he’s just taking advantage of Wei Ying’s tipsiness to steal a dance – that this will never happen again – but that’s a problem for another day.
“Thanks for the dance, Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying bows to him as they separate and the song ends. “Ah, that was fun! You’re so good, Lan Zhan… hmm, maybe you should find a new partner, you’re too good for someone like me…”
“No.” He says. “Stay.”
“Stay? Like, stay here with you or stay my partner?”
“Both.” He doesn’t want Wei Ying to leave, and he doesn’t want to find a new partner. He only wants Wei Ying.
To his surprise, Wei Ying laughs. “Oh, Lan Zhan, alright! I’ll stay. Are you happy now?”
“Yes.”
He’s happy whenever Wei Ying is with him. Even if he’ll never be more than a friend for Wei Ying, as long as he can stay by his side and protect him, it’ll be okay.
“Silly Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying chuckles, his hand finding its way into Lan Zhan’s hair and ruffling it. “Of course I’ll stay! I was just thinking.”
“You are good, Wei Ying. Do not discredit yourself.” There’s so much more he wants to say - I like you, I think you’re amazing, wonderful, I love you – but the words won’t come.
Wei Ying just offers him a mysterious smile. “It’s cold out here, let’s go back inside! I’m sure Jiang Cheng and the others are wondering where we are.”
Lan Zhan calls more light towards him, letting it fill his body and make his skin glow a silver-moon color. It warms the air around him, and Wei Ying lets out a hum, moving closer to Lan Zhan. “You’re so kind, Lan Zhan… but don’t blame me when Jiang Cheng comes out and yells at you for stealing me away from the party.”
True to his word, Jiang Cheng does eventually find his way onto the balcony and sends a knife-sharp glare at them before dragging Wei Ying back inside, but even the coldest of words from Jiang Cheng can’t dispel the warmth that is having Wei Ying by his side.
~
They move in together after graduation.
In retrospect, this is one of the most terrible decisions Lan Zhan has ever made, because he has vastly overestimated his ability to resist Wei Ying’s cuteness, but at the time it seemed perfectly reasonable. It would be easier on their wallets and easier for hero agencies to reach both of them at once.
They’d found work immediately after graduating, employed under one of Shanghai’s top hero agencies, and it wasn’t long before their names started appearing in the news. But with more publicity came more responsibility, more work, harder cases, longer hours on the job – and even on precious days off, like this one, there’s always the risk of being called in for a sudden emergency.
Today has been peaceful so far, though. Sure, he might get a heart attack where he stands because Wei Ying is padding around their living room in Lan Zhan’s blue wool sweater, his hair still wet from the shower, but otherwise it’s blissfully peaceful. There’s the little fact that it’s only 9 in the morning, but, well.
He turns his attention back to the stove, where he’s sizzling four thick pieces of French toast. The scent of cinnamon sugar and butter wafts through the air as Lan Zhan flips the toast to reveal a crisp, golden crust.
“Ah, that smells heavenly! You’re doing a Western-style breakfast today, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Zhan simply gestures to the table, where he already has two plates with cheese, mushroom, and spinach omelets; fried potatoes (with extra spice, the way Wei Ying loves them); and two glasses of orange juice set out.
He doesn’t usually partake in indulgences like these, preferring to keep eating healthy, as is his responsibility as a hero, but today is one of their rare rest days, and he’s taking full advantage of it. The past week, too, they’d been handling a tougher case than usual, and he doesn’t miss the relief in Wei Ying’s voice as he sings the praises of Lan Zhan’s French toast.
Breakfast is a quiet affair, mostly because Lan Zhan still obeys the rule of no talking during mealtimes, but Wei Ying’s chatter fills the air, with a few delightful moans as he scarfs down the French toast.
He feels a bit foolish knowing that he made the French toast specifically to get that reaction out of Wei Ying, but he supposes that’s just his destiny, as a fool in love.
After breakfast, they go shopping to fill up the fridge. Between long work nights at the office, around the city or in the hospital, they don’t usually have time to cook dinner, so their pantry is stocked with mostly non-perishables, but Lan Zhan makes sure that they both eat as healthy as they can. Wei Ying complains when Lan Zhan tosses a few heads of broccoli and celery in the cart, and when Lan Zhan doesn’t let him buy the Calbee shrimp chips or the bao for sale at the front of the supermarket.
“Do you want to train today?” Wei Ying asks on the drive home.
They should probably train today. It’s good to be diligent as superheroes.
“Or should we just have a cozy night in and watch movies?”
“Cozy night in.” He doesn’t spare it a second thought.
“Oooh, yes! What movies should we watch? Maybe we can binge the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy? What about some romcoms, those are always classics…”
In the end, they decide to roll a dice when the time comes.
Lan Zhan ends up taking Wei Ying out to lunch after relaxing at home, and on the way back they stop an attempted grocery store robbery, and the resultant dealing with the police takes up an hour. They collapse on the sofa in a heap of limbs and clothes when they get home and they don’t get up for another hour. It’s all very normal.
“Can we just – watch the movies like this? I don’t wanna get up, my arm hurts. Those guy’s punches really hit home. Ugh, where’s the remote?” Wei Ying eventually grumbles, lifting his head from where it rested on Lan Zhan’s chest to grope around for the remote. He gives a little aha! when he finds it and turns the TV on, flicking through the channels until he opens Netflix.
“Mn. Which movie?”
Wei Ying yawns. “I’m thinking a romcom, I need something to laugh at. I hate it when we take care of one little thing and the police insist on keeping us for interrogations and everything! That guy wasn’t even trying to murder anybody.”
“It is their job. What about 13 Going on 30?”
“Oh, that sounds good – and yeah, I know, it’s just a bother, especially when you just wanna go home and spend some quality time with your best friend!” Wei Ying finds the movie and presses play.
They blast through three classic romcoms that way, Wei Ying lying on top of Lan Zhan and making the occasion comment about a character’s bad decision, Lan Zhan playing idly with the ends of Wei Ying’s hair. He’s watching Wei Ying more than he is the movie, but Wei Ying thankfully doesn’t notice this. The dull ache from where he hit his shin on the edge of the counter as he was fighting the robber fades into nothingness, and by the time Wei Ying is trying to extract himself from Lan Zhan’s arms (and failing), it’s dark outside.
“Shit, that hurts!” He hisses, pressing a hand to his arm. “Why is it that the most minor injuries hurt the most? What kind of unfairness is this?”
“Wait.” Lan Zhan says before he can think over his words, “Stay.”
“Huh?”
“Stay here.” Lan Zhan repeats like an idiot. It’s not like he has any other words at his disposal, not when he just spent 4 hours cuddling with Wei Ying on the couch. Being secretly in love with your best friend who insists on being very touchy with you tends to have that outcome.
“Eh? Are you going to heal me with your light powers?”
“Just – come here.” He grabs Wei Ying’s forearm and yanks him down, back into his arms. He likes how Wei Ying instantly snuggles into him, even as he complains about his bruise, and how their arms always find their way around each other’s body.
He likes Wei Ying very much. Too much. An unbelievable amount. It’s ridiculous, and yet here they are.
The darkened room glows softly with the light of Lan Zhan’s quirk as he wraps his arm around the bruise and focuses on pushing the healing energy of the light gathered into the bruise, feeling the damaged capillaries knit themselves back together. When the job is done, he flops backwards onto the couch. Healing takes a lot out of him – his quirk is more suited to offensive purposes.
The loss of energy is worth it, though, when Wei Ying buries his head in the crook of Lan Zhan’s neck and presses a tiny kiss to his collarbone. “Thanks, Lan Zhan.”
“Mn.”
Wait. That was a kiss.
“Let me stay like this for a few minutes?”
Wei Ying kissed me.
“Mn.”
Wei Ying. Kissed. Me.
“Ahh, it’s so warm…”
What?
It’s been a long time since he lost control of his quirk, but his ears start to glow with a rosy light as he processes what just happened before he can clamp down on his runaway quirk.
So yes, this was probably one of most terrible decisions in Lan Zhan’s life. He’s going to physically combust one of these days.
But, well – it’s not so bad, if he can keep doing things like this with Wei Ying.
~
“Wangji!” Wei Ying shouts. The flash of an explosion lights up the evening sky a second later, followed by the sound of feet running in Lan Zhan’s direction. It can’t be the civilians, since they’ve already evacuated the area, so this must be the start of the battle.
Lan Zhan touches his earpiece. “Mn. How many?”
“Three – I didn’t get a chance to see all of their quirks, but the first one has some kind of quadrupedal animal quirk with claws and a tail, and the second has a fire-type quirk.”
“Alright.” Lan Zhan gathers the light from the setting sun into his palm, letting the power sink into his skin and light up his veins. His quirk works best when the sun is high in the sky, but the light gathered from the setting or rising sun is volatile, flammable, and extremely useful in battle.
“Wait, Wangji – Lan Zhan – be careful, okay?”
“I will. Thank you – and you too.”
Right now, Wei Ying is operating as the spy in the shadows, the information gatherer who sees if they have any traps planned for Lan Zhan and what their quirks are. Sometimes, they work with Nie Huaisang as well, to come up with strategies and battle plans, but today it’s just the two of them, and if Lan Zhan can’t face the three escaped convicts alone, then Wei Ying will have to jump on the battlefield.
He prays that will not be the case.
The footsteps are growing closer to the alleyway he’s hiding in, and Lan Zhan quenches the light, keeping it hidden just under his skin as a backup weapon. The familiar rush of battle thrums through his body as he pulls his protective mask on and steps out of the alleyway.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the Lightbeam Hero Wangji. And how are you doing on this lovely day, sunshine?” The first criminal says. A quick overview of the trio shows that the one who spoke is the one with the animal quirk, probably a cat-based one if the ears and tails are any indication, the one in the middle possessing a body-modification quirk, which leaves the one on the right to be the fire wielder.
“Don’t call me that.” He growls. Only Wei Ying gets to call him that.
“You call us stupid nicknames like volcano,” the one on the right points out, “I think it’s perfectly fair to return the favor.”
“Volcano, volcano…” Wei Ying mutters through the earpiece. “Wait, Lan Zhan, that’s the notorious criminal Chihuo, this isn’t good – fuck.”
Chihuo. Lan Zhan recognizes the name very well, he’s the one who caused the series of train explosions two years ago and put one of the top heroes out of commission for a month after they fought him.
“Turn yourself in and I will not harm you.” Lan Zhan says.
“You’re so cute, Wangji! Aw, I just want to gobble you up – maybe I will!” Exclaims the one in the middle, and before any of them can move, muscles ripple and bulge as she grows into a 15-foot tall giant. A fist comes whistling down, and Lan Zhan jumps to the side just as it smashes into the pavement, sending bits of concrete flying.
“Oh my god,” Wei Ying whispers, “It’s the Hulk in real life!”
“Not helping.”
“Sorry, sorry – watch your left, cat-guy is attacking!”
Lan Zhan hisses as the claws of the cat-guy shred part of his cloak, barely missing his neck. His return attack, a thousand sharp daggers of light shooting outwards towards the three criminals, more than makes up for any damage caused. Five answering fireballs, each sizzling as hot as magma, have him trapped between five boiling craters in the middle of the street, and he has nowhere to go when he sees the giant bearing down on him, a fist flying down to meet Lan Zhan.
A shadowy veil covers the crater to his back left, seemingly incorporeal, but Lan Zhan knows better. He steps back onto it just enough to let the giant’s fist crash into the light barrier that Lan Zhan has erected, and takes the moment of confusion to turn that barrier into an unbreakable golden net that traps the giant.
He’s merciful enough not to throw the giant into one of the boiling lava craters, instead letting him roll to the side of the street with a groan of pain.
“Thank you, Wei Ying.” He whispers.
“No problem! I’ll try to support you as much as I can from where I am.”
The next second, a pair of steely grey claws is around his neck, the tips of them pressing into his jugular vein through the cloth of his hero suit. “So, you have backup. Tell me, Wangji, who are you working with?”
“No.” He bites out, coalescing the sunset light into a glowing blade that slices through the claws in one clean swoop.
He doesn’t miss the remote that peeks out from the criminal’s jacket pocket as he stumbles away from his grasp, and he’s about to turn back and make a desperate grab for it when flames scorch his back and he gasps in pain.
Chihuo laughs, low and mocking. “See, Wangji, here’s the thing. You heroes are always harming us like this in the name of justice, but when we do it to protect ourselves, it’s suddenly bad.”
He dodges another firebomb and sends a beam of light through the smoke it sends up, ignoring the way every step he takes twists the raw burns on his back. “You try to harm other people first.”
“Yeah!” Wei Ying huffs. “You start the fights!”
“And why do you think I do this?” Chihuo sends a wave of blue fire rippling outwards, making Lan Zhan retreat backwards. He barely avoids another attack from the cat villain and, feeling the searing heat of another fire attack bearing down upon them, grabs the villain and throws him into the path of the firebomb. “Heroes have no mercy. You don’t even let us have a chance! You see us and you see irredeemable villains.”
To his surprise, the cat villain is still standing after being hit directly by the firebomb. His tail and hair are singed, burns raw and red along his arms and neck, and he looks absolutely incensed. With a hiss, he charges at Lan Zhan just as the figure of Chihuo cuts through the smoke. Lan Zhan calls the fading light to him, from every source he can find – shop lights, sunlight, car headlights – and throws it outwards in a brilliant burst of white light.
His eyes remain protected by the mask and by his own quirk immunity. The cat villain and Chihuo are not so lucky, and Lan Zhan is pleased to see the cat villain quivering on the floor and clutching his face in agony.
He conjures up the same binding net that he used on the giant, effectively trapping the villain in place until it’s safe for the police to come and arrest them.
Two down, one to go. By the whoops he hears over his earpiece, Wei Ying has the same thought. He steps back further, letting some of his stockpiled light cover and heal the burns on his back as he watches Chihuo step forward. In a flash, Chihuo bends down and grabs something from his comrade’s body before darting towards Lan Zhan.
“You can do this, Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying cheers.
He dodges every blade of fire that Chihuo sends his way, every plume of fire and every flame licking at his feet, Wei Ying calling up wisps of shadows and dulling the heat of Chihuo’s attacks. His heart pounds dangerously as the battle drags on, and before he knows it, he finds himself leaning against a pillar on the ground floor of the three-story parking lot, catching his breath and recharging his light as Chihuo swaths the whole place in flames.
A flame sears at the edge of his unprotected hand and he hisses in pain. He’s not sure how long he can keep this up – Chihuo shows no signs of tiring, the sun is going down, and he’ll be near-powerless after he uses up his supply of light.
“Wait a minute, Lan Zhan. I’m coming down. Stay there, okay?” Wei Ying says.
The connection is dropped a second after that, leaving Lan Zhan no room to object.
He busies himself with shaping the sunset light he’d collecting into one iridescent sphere of light. If he can aim true and hit Chihuo with it, he’ll turn it into a capturing net, and if he doesn’t hit, he can turn it into a makeshift cluster bomb. The wounds on his back ache with every movement, and the healing depleted most of his energy reserve, reminding him constantly of the ticking clock.
The sphere pulsates with a dangerous orange energy, illuminating the ground floor with its light, and Lan Zhan lobs it at the advancing figure of Chihuo before Chihuo can figure out his position.
Hit, hit, hit –
It crashes to the ground just a few centimeters to the right of Chihuo, and Lan Zhan snaps his hands out, throwing the thousands of pinpricks of light out in a circle and activating the incendiary power. Chihuo screams with rage as the explosion rattles the building and cuts through the descending twilight, and Lan Zhan takes the moment to check his surroundings.
A good decision, in the end, because there are cleverly disguised packages attached to the tops of the columns that hold the second and third stories of the parking lot up, and he can see in the momentary light of his attack that they’re bombs – probably modified pipe bombs controlled by the remote.
“New priority, Wei Ying. Identify and remove the remote from Chihuo. They’ve planted bombs on the structure.” He warns, before remembering that Wei Ying dropped the connection. Before remembering that Wei Ying is coming down, that he has no way to warn Wei Ying, and concluding that this is a trap, meant to take down the top hero duo of Eastern China in one fell swoop.
The parking lot grows dark as Wei Ying’s shadow soldiers surround the perimeter, and the Master of Shadows himself steps onto the battlefield. Wisps of shadows swirl around the hem of his cloak with every step he takes, the eerie forms flickering on the concrete walls. Lan Zhan calls the fading light back to himself in an effort to conserve and consolidate the little battle power he has left.
He needs a way to warn Wei Ying of the danger without drawing Chihuo’s attention – perhaps he could project an image onto the wall, maybe he could send some of his light up a column to spotlight a bomb that Chihuo can’t see, maybe –
And then Chihuo speaks, a wreath of flames flickering around his head. “So you finally shadow us with your presence, Master of Shadows, Nightfall Hero Wuxian.”
“Are you here to make bad puns or to try and kill us?” Wei Ying quips. “Honestly, even Lan Zhan could make a better pun than that, I’m really disappointed –“
He grunts as a whip of flames lashes out at him. “Hey! You aren’t the only one who’s allowed to do their oooh-so-ominous speech, you know!”
Wei Ying dances just beyond the edges of the flames, calling up the shadows that pool on the floor to cut through the fire and hold Chihuo down. “Now, I expected a better battle than that! And here I was, thinking that the feared Chihuo of the Suzhou Train Bombing Incident would be super strong. Guess I was wrong.”
Lan Zhan sees Chihuo reach for the remote in his pocket before Wei Ying does, runs back into battle in a futile attempt to stop Chihuo, cries out a desperate warning for Wei Ying, who’s backing away from Chihuo’s enraged flames. He sees Chihuo smirking at him, holding the remote between two fingers as his flames chase Wei Ying into the same area as Lan Zhan, before Chihuo waves the remote – backs out of the parking lot – and presses the button.
The explosion echoes in Lan Zhan’s eardrums, and for a second he thinks that maybe the building won’t collapse after all, maybe they got lucky, before he hears the sound of concrete falling, sees the building falling down around them.
A shield, I need a shield, I need light!
Wei Ying is frozen from the noise of the explosion, standing a few meters away from him, and Lan Zhan makes a leap for him, calling all available light towards him. He knows already that the shield will falter under the pressure of the crumbling rock, because he only has weak starlight at his disposal, but as long as he can protect Wei Ying, it’s fine.
Rubble rains down on them as he pushes Wei Ying to the floor, and before he can conjure up the shield, a jagged piece of rock hits him on his back, reopening the blisters that he had healed. Lan Zhan can feel the blood soaking through his costume as he struggles to piece the scattered bits of light back together – there’s no time, no time, the building is falling and the cars are crashing to the floor and Chihuo’s flames are trapping them inside –
But flames are light, too. They’re pure energy, just in a different form.
Lan Zhan screams out as the rocks shatter around him, tendrils of power reaching out blindly and grasping at the flames, pulling the volatile flames towards him and turning it into a blazing shield. His body shakes with the effort of taking over somebody else’s quirk, of keeping the raging power of the flames under control, and maybe that’s why Wei Ying tumbles out of his grasp when the floor quakes.
There’s no time anymore. He can’t do anything but expand his shield as much as he can, pushing the limits of his quirk. He groans as a gigantic piece of concrete lands on his shield, feels his body breaking, feels his vision growing spotty. He doesn’t know how much of Wei Ying is covered by the shield, and he doesn’t dare look back.
The ground gives one final shudder as it folds in on itself. Wires and metal and glass windows twist and break, shrapnel pounding down upon the shield, and still Lan Zhan keeps the fire under control. The burns on his back and hand are nearly unbearable. And still Lan Zhan keeps the shield whole.
It’s only when he can no longer hear the sound of rocks falling that he lets it down, flames dissipating into nothingness.
Dust obscures the whole lot, and Lan Zhan can barely move without collapsing, but he gives his quirk one final push to light up his area and search frantically for Wei Ying.
He sees the body first, the torso lying prone on the ground, bruises and cuts littered across his face, his hair pooled beneath his head. He sees the rocks piled on top of Wei Ying’s legs, sees the unnatural stillness of his body, sees the blood that trickles out from under the pile of rocks.
And he screams.
“Wei Ying!” He yells. His voice is hoarse, his throat scraped raw and dry. The dust swirls.
“Wei Ying!” He yells again.
Lan Zhan claws his way over to cradle Wei Ying’s head in his lap, hands brushing over scrapes, over cuts, over matted hair and drops of blood. “No, no, no – Wei Ying, wake up, please –“
He leans over to check whether Wei Ying is breathing, and chokes out a sob when he feels weak breaths against his cheek.
“Lan… Zhan?” Wei Ying croaks.
Lan Zhan leans over Wei Ying to try and push the rubble off his legs. “I’m here, Wei Ying. I’m here.”
His hands are scraped, the burn brushing against the jagged edges of the rock. Wei Ying hisses in pain before his eyes flutter shut again. “We did it.”
“Yes, we did it – Wei Ying, please don’t close your eyes, stay awake, please –“
Wei Ying brushes one trembling hand against Lan Zhan’s cheek.
“I’ll be fine, Lan Zhan. Don’t cry.”
It’s rather hard to believe that, when the love of your life is lying prone in your arms and there are police sirens around them all, harsh lights shining through the dust.
“Wei Ying, no. Don’t go, please. Wei Ying, stay with me, don’t go!”
I can’t lose you here.
“Wangji! Wuxian!” He hears the calls of the medics in the background, faint, as if their voices are echoing through a tunnel.
“Stay.” He chants the word under his breath like it’s a prayer that can heal Wei Ying, because no matter how hard he tries, he can’t muster up any of the light around him to do the same thing.
“Lan Zhan… I’ll try, alright?’ Wei Ying mutters, and his eyes slip shut.
“No!” Lan Zhan’s breaths are coming in short pants, his heart pounding in his chest as his hands flit over Wei Ying’s face, searching for signs of life. “Wei Ying!”
It’s cold. Wei Ying is cold, the tears on his cheeks are cold, the night air is cold.
Stay with me, I can’t lose you, I love you –
“Stay…”
The medics get to them eventually, picking their way through the wires that poke out of the ground and the rubble that litters the area. Lan Zhan looks away when they push the rocks off of Wei Ying.
They tell him to sleep, to let them heal the burns on his back and his hand, to change into a hospital gown and to let his quirk recharge. He stumbles through the motions, barely acknowledges the police interrogations and the doctors’ questions, and falls into a restless sleep filled with dreams of fire and falling.
Stay.
~
The first thing Lan Zhan does when he wakes up is ask somebody where Wei Ying’s hospital room is. It’s just down the corridor of his own, and Lan Zhan completely disregards the still-sensitive burns and the ache in every joint of his body from quirk fatigue to make it to Wei Ying’s room.
Inside is quiet. Sunlight streams through the window, falling upon the snow-white blanket and Wei Ying’s peaceful face. It smells less like antiseptic in here and more like jasmine and lotus. Machines beep in the corner, monitoring Wei Ying’s vitals, and Lan Zhan is glad for the reminder that Wei Ying is alive. That he held on. That he stayed, in the end.
The nurse comes by and fills him in on the details. Apparently, Chihuo was found lying unconscious outside the building, and they speculate that his usage of Chihuo’s fire was what caused that. Their agency is giving them both two weeks off to heal and recover, and while Lan Zhan will be discharged today, he can visit Wei Ying any time. Wei Ying only suffered from a broken leg, several bone bruises on his other leg, and lacerations on both, and the injuries look worse than they are.
“When will he wake up?” He asks.
“Probably today, in the afternoon at the latest. You have quirk fatigue and multiple burns, too, you should go and rest.”
He does not. He stays in Wei Ying’s room all through lunch, only taking the necessary medicines to recover from his quirk fatigue. When Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli come to visit, they bring the chief of police Nie Mingjue with them, and Jiang Yanli thanks Lan Zhan enthusiastically for protecting her brother.
“I give you two my blessing!” She says, and Lan Zhan’s ears flush red as Jiang Wanyin scowls.
“Take care of this idiot.” Jiang Cheng grumbles.
Nie Mingjue insists on asking Lan Zhan a few questions about the battle and the bombing of the parking lot, saying that it would be better if Lan Zhan could go to the police station and help them sort out the documents and paperwork, but Lan Zhan refuses to leave Wei Ying’s side.
He knows that when he gets home, he’ll have to deal with the paperwork from his agency about the two-week leave they’re taking, but that’s a problem for another day.
In the afternoon, the nurse comes in to change the bandages on Wei Ying’s legs, and Lan Zhan sucks in a sharp breath when he sees the mottled bruising and cuts that decorate his shins. He nearly tries to use his quirk to heal Wei Ying before he’s reminded to conserve his energy and use his quirk with caution.
He spends the rest of the time waiting for Wei Ying to wake up, playing with the beams of light that stream through the windows, shaping them into incorporeal butterflies and bunnies that flit around Wei Ying’s room.
It’s almost 4 PM when he hears Wei Ying groan.
“God, I feel like I got run over by a truck…”
“You’re awake.” Lan Zhan whispers, immediately scooting his chair closer to Wei Ying’s bedside. “You stayed.”
“Yeah, I stayed – I wasn’t going to die from a broken leg! Though, I’m touched that you care that much about me, Lan Zhan!”
“Of course I care about you.” He says, voice choked with relief. “We are partners.”
Wei Ying tries to sit up and winces when he can’t. “That shield of fire was super awesome, Lan Zhan! It looked like the surface of the sun!”
“I couldn’t protect you.”
“Lan Zhan, it’s fine! I’ll be fine, okay? You did the most you could. And we beat them in the end with our awesome teamwork, anyways!” Wei Ying pats his head like he’s a child, but Lan Zhan isn’t complaining. He’s just glad to see Wei Ying smiling and laughing and joking.
“I will go get the nurse,” He says. “To check your wounds again and explain what happened.”
A hand tugging on his sleeve stops him as he tries to get up.
“Wait, Lan Zhan. Stay.”
His heart skips a beat at Wei Ying’s warm smile.
“Alright.”
They sit there for a while. Wei Ying’s hand makes its way on top of Lan Zhan’s, his fingers trailing delicate patterns onto the back of his hand, ghosting over the bandaged burn. He doesn’t notice that he’s using his quirk to form those dancing butterflies until Wei Ying points it out with a grin, and Wei Ying joins him with shadow birds of his own.
“Lan Zhan.”
“I am here.”
A sharp sigh. “You won’t leave, right? You’ll do whatever I say?”
“Yes.”
“Th – then, hold my hand properly.”
“Mn.” Their fingers slot together, and in the honeyed silence, Lan Zhan’s heartbeat might be the loudest it’s ever been.
“Hug me.”
He does. Wei Ying sighs into it, his hair tickling Lan Zhan’s jaw, arms solid and warm around Lan Zhan. When Lan Zhan tries to pull back, Wei Ying refuses to let him go for a few more minutes.
And when he finally does extract himself from Wei Ying’s grip, he’s caught off guard by the blush high on Wei Ying’s cheeks.
“Kiss me.” He says.
Lan Zhan blinks. “What.”
“Um. Kiss me, Lan Zhan. On the lips.”
“But –“
“Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying says. His voice is soft, kind, nervous enough to make Lan Zhan look up at him. “I really, really like you. I want to stay by your side forever. I like you so much, it’s crazy. I love you. And I hope you love me too.”
“Wei Ying,” he whispers. His hands are shaking and his heart is pounding so hard he thinks it’s bound to explode any time now and all he can think is I love you, I love you, I love you. “Yes. I also – I love you, I really like you, I love you –“
He’s cut off by Wei Ying slinging his arms around his neck, bringing their faces so close he can feel Wei Ying’s breath on his cheek, see the glimmer in Wei Ying’s grey eyes.
“So kiss me, Lan Zhan.”
He needs no further words. Wei Ying pulls him down onto the bed as their lips meet, and Lan Zhan thinks that this is the best type of fire. The sparks that fly from the warmth of their lips, Wei Ying’s hands pulling him close, the soft hum that Wei Ying makes as Lan Zhan turns his head to deepen the kiss.
Lan Zhan never wants to stop. Of course, they have to breathe, but as soon as they break apart he goes back in for another kiss, and another, and another, and Wei Ying doesn’t stop him. No, Wei Ying eagerly welcomes them, a smile playing across those maddeningly soft lips, with a tongue that flits over Lan Zhan’s lips.
It’s all very nice. Lan Zhan thinks that if he dies kissing Wei Ying, then that would be the best thing in the world. It’s all very nice until Lan Zhan’s teeth catch on Wei Ying’s bottom lip, Wei Ying breathes out a moan, and the last of Lan Zhan’s self-control withers away.
And then it’s just hands and mouth and tongue, hands tangling in hair and Wei Ying’s mouth tracing kisses down his jaw, on his neck, Lan Zhan’s tongue sampling the sweet taste of Wei Ying, his head spinning with the scent of jasmine and lotus and how Wei Ying tastes like honey and spice and home.
Wei Ying whimpers when Lan Zhan captures his lips in a passionate kiss and his hands tug at Lan Zhan’s hair, the heat of his mouth an intoxicating thing that Lan Zhan can’t get enough of. Soft moans spill from his lips when Lan Zhan leaves a trail of feather-light kisses down his neck. The way Wei Ying’s breath hitches and his body shudders when Lan Zhan bites, teeth scraping at smooth skin, is enough to drive him crazy.
The hiss of pain that Wei Ying lets out a second later drags him back down to earth, and he pushes himself away from Wei Ying, breaths coming out in short pants.
“Stupid leg!” Wei Ying groans. “Always hurting at the worst possible times!”
“Wei Ying. You like me.” He says.
“Yes, was that not obvious? I like you very much, Lan Zhan – now that I think about it, I’ve loved you for a while now. I can say it as many times as you want, I like you, I love you, I love you, Lan Er-gege –“
Lan Zhan pulls Wei Ying into another kiss.
“I like you too. Very, very much.” He says once they break apart, sincere and solemn.
He does not expect Wei Ying to turn red and bury his face in the pillow. “Argh, Lan Zhan!” He screeches, “That’s unfair! You can’t do that! My poor heart can’t take it!”
Eventually, the nurse comes in again to check the bandages, and this time she lets Lan Zhan use his quirk to heal the more minor cuts and scrapes. Wei Ying insists that Lan Zhan stay with him until he falls asleep, but they end up making out on the bed and traumatizing Jiang Wanyin, who came back to drop off some paperwork from their hero agency.
“I want to bleach my eyes.” He grumbles.
Wei Ying just laughs and takes the paperwork from Jiang Wanyin. “You’re just mad you don’t have a boyfriend!”
“Do you want me to break your other leg?”
Jiang Wanyin makes a tactical retreat at Lan Zhan’s frosty glare.
“You promise you’ll stay by me, right?” Wei Ying says, a minute after Jiang Wanyin leaves.
Lan Zhan pecks Wei Ying’s cheek, fighting the urge to smile when he realizes he can do this now. “Mn. Of course. Forever, Wei Ying.”
“And I’ll stay by you, too. I promise.”
They don’t really need to promise, Lan Zhan supposes, because they’ve always had this unspoken agreement between them. Since the night Wei Ying came to him and asked to be partners, they’ve stood by each other’s side.
But, well –
He smiles to himself as he brushes the bangs out of a sleeping Wei Ying’s face.
Hearing it in a promise is nice, too.
Lan Zhan, stay. Wei Ying had said.
I promise.
He will stay.