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Truthfully, Lan WangJi had never really dwelled on how well Wei WuXian and Lan XiChen could get along. How good they looked together. But now that Lan XiChen had joined them at Wei WuXian’s favorite restaurant for dinner and to devour some Emperor’s Smile, in Wei WuXian's case, Lan WangJi could not avoid the way the couple was shining in his face.
Lan XiChen sat beside Wei WuXian with Lan WangJi opposite them, and the two had been in a playful conversation ever since they finished eating.
Their smiles were a match made in heaven considering their brightness, their charming and cheerful personalities were very similar as well, and they seemed to enjoy each other’s presence.
Wei WuXian was still the loudest of all, but Lan XiChen reacted better to his antics than anyone else would beside Lan WangJi himself.
He even reacted positively to Wei WuXian ordering an entire jar of Emperor’s Smile which he was bound to drink on his own, and did not seem annoyed at his attempts to get him to drink as well.
“Come on, I want to see you drunk! Please?” Lan XiChen politely held his hands up, shaking his head.
“I am not sure that is what you want, Young Master Wei.” Indeed, Lan WangJi agreed inwardly, remembering the last time he had encountered his brother after consuming liquor, and he was not thrilled to have his husband witness such a thing. A single cup did the trick, they were both like that.
“He should not,” he agreed, but Wei WuXian did not react at all. Lan XiChen had his full attention.
“One sip then. Just one?” He held the cup before him with sparkling eyes, and he probed Lan XiChen playfully with his elbow. Lan WangJi felt his body run cold at the sight of the casual physical contact. Lan XiChen grabbed Wei WuXian’s shoulder, and Lan WangJi thought it was to push him away. Yet, the very little space between them remained the same. Why wasn’t he pushing him away?
“You’re no fun,” Wei WuXian whined with a cute pout, and he drank all of the wine he had tried to make Lan XiChen drink.
He then poured himself some more. Lan XiChen’s hand remained too long on Wei WuXian’s shoulder for Lan WangJi’s comfort, but he then finally let go of him.
“You can drink another in my place. Here,” he offered kindly, and he took the Emperor’s Smile from Wei WuXian to pour another glass for him. Lan WangJi couldn’t help but study each of their movements and reactions carefully.
He always came here with Wei Ying, just the two of them. It was because they had run into Lan XiChen right before their departure that Wei WuXian had promptly invited him for dinner and a drink. Of course, Lan WangJi did not mind, but now seeing the two interact so closely, he was feeling more and more irritated, and shamefully wished his brother had never joined.
The times when Lan WangJi would feel irritated because of his brother were rare, and could be counted on just two hands. This was definitely one of those times. He glared. As if sensing the negative energy coming from his way, Lan XiChen looked up, and their eyes locked. His expression looked neutral, but then Lan WangJi could see a small smirk.
Lan XiChen, “WangJi looks like he wants to have a drink.” Wei WuXian finally looked at him, and he smiled charmingly, yet his expression looked no different from when he smiled at Lan XiChen.
“Lan Zhan! You do? Will you drink with me? I can’t be the only one drinking here!” He took back the Emperor’s Smile, and Lan WangJi caught the slight touch of their hands as he did this. He frowned and quickly put his hand over his empty cup that originally had water in it.
“No.” Lan XiChen did not look surprised, but he just shrugged.
Of course Lan WangJi wasn’t going to drink. He only rarely joined Wei WuXian for a drink, and after a few remarkable occasions of waking up after some disastrous behavior, he preferred not to do it anywhere but at the Jingshi. One sip of liquor and Lan WangJi was definitely going to blurt out all of his pent up irritations of this evening, and no one would gain anything from that. So, it was a firm and definite ‘no’.
“Aw..” Wei WuXian pouted again, but then finally went back to drinking by himself. Lan WangJi was about to ask him to come home with him after finishing this drink, but then Wei WuXian turned back to Lan XiChen, the same flirtuous smile still lingering on his lips.
“Tell me, brother,” Wei WuXian said, sounding too casual for Lan WangJi’s liking.
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend yet?” Lan WangJi’s eyebrow twitched, and Lan XiChen looked taken aback by the direct question as well, but the charming smile of his own did not disappear.
“Well, Young Master Wei. That is...” His eyes flashed in Lan WangJi’s direction again. Lan XiChen was about to move his hand in a way to support the explanation that was to come, but accidentally bumped his hand against Wei WuXian’s, causing the wine to splash out of the cup onto Wei WuXian’s robes.
“I am deeply sorry,” Lan XiChen apologized as Wei WuXian squeaked, but the latter shook his head playfully.
“No problem! I will be right back.” Wei WuXian felt the need to add a wink in Lan WangJi’s direction, and he left the table to wipe his clothes in the bathroom. Lan WangJi stared at his brother. Without Wei WuXian here, the awkward silence between them felt even stronger.
“We get along,” Lan XiChen stated matter-of-factly.
“I see that.” Lan WangJi recognized the playful twinkle in his brother’s eyes, but he was unsure of the intention behind it. He held his breath.
“You seem uncomfortable,” Lan XiChen said, confirming Lan WangJi’s suspicions of seeing right through him.
“...Mn.” He could not go around it, so with few words, he confirmed. Lan XiChen chuckled, fueling Lan WangJi’s irritations, but he then said, “I never would have considered you to be the jealous type, WangJi. You can see we get along, but you don’t see the difference?”
“What difference?” Lan WangJi felt shocked to hear himself sound this cold towards his brother, but he did not apologize.
“The way Young Master Wei acts towards me, compared to how he is with you. If you look closely, there is no reason to feel any discomfort towards our relationship. We are supposed to be close. He is family, after all.” Lan WangJi felt reassured for a tiny percent, but still failed to get rid of the frown on his face.
“If you did not see, then your jealousy has blinded you. You’re better than that, WangJi.” The smile on his brother’s face was genuine, and he was not saying any of this to bully him, Lan WangJi knew that. He closed his eyes briefly, sighing.
“If my words do not comfort you, then why don’t you just ask him?” Lan WangJi opened his eyes again, staring down at the table.
“Ask Wei Ying?” ....whether he liked his brother? The thought of asking such a question concerned him, but he did agree with Lan XiChen that talking to his husband about it would seem the best thing.
“Mn.” At that moment, Wei WuXian returned, and the tense atmosphere was immediately gone again.
“There! That’s that. Let’s drink more!”
In the end, they did not drink more. Lan XiChen was the one to suggest they should leave or they would break their sect’s curfew rule. Wei WuXian whined and protested, but in the end they headed back to the Cloud Recesses and said their goodbyes.
On their way back to the Jingshi, Lan WangJi tried to ask the question, yet he realized that it was harder than he thought.
Back inside, Wei WuXian immediately attacked their hidden stash of Emperor’s Smile, complaining about not having had enough yet while he had definitely reserved tonight for drinkingー and that Lan XiChen ruined their little party by making them return so early. He poured himself a few cups and drank.
“Do you like my brother?” Lan WangJi finally decided to ask the question, interrupting Wei WuXian’s contentless chattering. Wei WuXian looked up, frowning in confusion.
“You ask me now?” Lan WangJi was not sure if that meant now, as in after all these years, now, at his precious moment of consuming his second batch of Emperor’s Smile, or now, that he had tried to make it so obvious that he preferred his brother over him? That last thought was very depressing.
Wei WuXian then answered without hesitating, “Of course!”
Lan WangJi’s heart sank.
“He is...” Wei WuXian thought for a moment. He lowered the wine he was about to drink and smiled with a dreamy look on his face, as if he was thinking very deeply. Lan WangJi’s chest tightened.
“...charming. Yes, he’s charming. He is like a prince charming!” Lan WangJi felt even more discomfort after hearing his answer.
Wei WuXian, “Why are you asking? Anyone would think your brother is nice.” He downed another cup of wine, and finally put away the cup and resumed drinking straight from the jar. He then finally looked up and stared intently at Lan WangJi’s face, and judging from his reaction, Lan WangJi had most likely failed to hide the dark look in his eyes.
“Wait, are you jealous?” They both stared at each other for a moment, neither of them saying anything.
The silence was long enough for Lan WangJi to have a tiny inner panic moment, wondering what was about to happen. Wei WuXian then laughed loudly.
“Haha! What! No!” More laughter, and Lan WangJi let out the long breath he realized he was holding in this whole time.
“What?” he asked, demanding explanation for the sudden burst of laughter.
“No way! Your brother is charming and nice, yes. But I don’t like him in that way! Were you really thinking that? Please don’t tell me you were?” Lan WangJi failed to answer, which was probably enough of a reply for Wei Ying.
“Haha! Seriously! I mean it, your brother is like a prince charming. It’s a fact. But he is not my prince. You, Lan Er-Gege, are the love of my life. Lives, I mean.” Wei WuXian playfully held up two fingers. No one could joke about dying once like the precious Wei WuXian.
He then continued, “You are sweet, hot and sexy. I enjoy making love to you every day. In fact, I still want you to fuck me today. It’s almost nine and we didn’t do it yet. I want you to do me, and when we are done, I want to stare at your naked body and nestle in your arms, listen to your heartbeat, tell you how much I love you. And hear you tell me the same. I want to go places with you, traveling with Lil’ Apple. And watch the sunset. I will admire you for your beauty and kindness, and love you lots. So yeah. I want to spend the rest of my days with you. Duh. How could that compare in any way to how I think about your brother?”
Wei WuXian seemed to think for a split second and then got a visible shudder, and he let out more laughter, “Eep! I wouldn’t want that with Brother XiChen!”
Lan WangJi’s ears were burning. Wei WuXian had said all of that so casually. It was like a second version of his first confession all over again. He gaped at him with big eyes.
“But.. Earlier... You asked..” He couldn’t finish his sentence, staring at Wei WuXian until he caught on.
“I asked what? You mean.. The girlfriend thing?” he asked, still giggling a little.
Lan WangJi nodded, “Mn.”
“Haha! But that is strange, isn’t it? For a prince charming like him to spend his time alone without a lover!” Wei WuXian put down his Emperor’s Smile and sighed loudly.
“It makes me wonder if he is even interested in marriage, or in women at all. In fact, I am wondering if he is not just... you know, like us.”
He winked at Lan WangJi, and continued his explanation, “I was thinking of matching him up with Jiang Cheng, for example. You see? Jiang Cheng is always frowning, and he is also still alone. He needs a sunshine in his life. I think your brother would turn his frown upside down. Don’t you agree?”
The overwhelming feeling of relief was still so strong that Lan WangJi couldn’t even worry about the ridiculous suggestion, and without even thinking he agreed, “Mn.”
“See! Geez, they could be made for each other! Who knows, they are wasting so many of their years apart, like we did. Here, you’re even smiling about it, Er-Gege! You think so too, right? What do you say? Shall we give them a hand?” Lan WangJi hadn’t even noticed he was smiling, and he was flustered enough to bring his hand up to cover his lips. Wei Ying however just continued to babble about his theories.
“Maybe next time we visit- no I mean barge into Lotus Pier. We could ask Brother XiChen to join us. And then, when the moment is there, weー”
Lan WangJi wasn’t interested in anything that would come after that. He held his lover close and kissed his lips intensely. He could feel Wei WuXian relax in his hold after remaining frozen for a little. Their lips moved against each other’s, and then their tongues added more passion to it.
“We....” Wei WuXian muttered breathlessly after a long and lustful kiss. They both smiled when they noticed Wei WuXian had forgotten what he was saying.
“We should go to bed,” Lan WangJi said, stroking Wei WuXian’s hair from his face. Wei WuXian nodded.
“You’re right. We should fuck.” Straightforward and direct as always, that was his Wei WuXian, and Lan WangJi swore to himself to never doubt him and his brother ever again.
For one evening, he really had been blind with jealousy because of both his husband and brother who were the very definition of ‘charming’.
It made him even forget that Wei WuXian might have taken another lifetime or have never found out about his feelings, if it wasn’t for his brother exposing this to him in the first place. Which was maybe one of the very few moments in his brother’s life where he wasn’t charming, and that all for Lan WangJi’s sake.
Lan WangJi’s lips curled slightly, smiling as they kissed, and he embraced this very thought: He really adored both of these two charming men, and jealousy was never going to get the better of him ever again.