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Wei Wuxian has no idea who allowed something like a Christmas party inside the Cloud Recesses of all places, but he will be forever grateful.
Technically, there is not supposed to be any alcohol, but of course a few students have smuggled some in and Wei Wuxian will be even longer grateful to them. It gives him something to fiddle with as he searches the room, yet again.
It might be a Christmas party, but it’s still a Gusu Lan Christmas party and Lan Qiren is standing in the corner, stroking his beard and levelling everyone with disapproving looks, but he must know the alcohol is there, and yet he still doesn’t say anything. Wei Wuxian is still sure he wants to yell at all of them.
Not that Wei Wuxian cares about that much, he’s quite used to the looks from Lan Qiren by now, but what does bother him is that Lan Qiren is the only Lan around.
Well, that’s not even true, because it seems like everyone is here, which means there are more Lans than not, but not the one Lan Wei Wuxian wants to see the most.
He knows Lan Zhan is still inside the Cloud Recesses, has seen him walk past a few times, but he never entered the room, and he certainly never joined the party.
And it makes Wei Wuxian sad.
Wei Wuxian scans the room again, still hoping against hope that Lan Zhan is now there, but of course he isn’t. Instead Wei Wuxian spots Lan Xichen and he bounds over to him, hoping to find out where Lan Zhan disappeared to.
“Xichen-ge, where is Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian almost whines, but Lan Xichen isn’t ruffled, neither by his tone not the overly-familiar nickname, and just smiles slightly at him.
“Wangji isn’t one for celebrations and parties,” Lan Xichen says and Wei Wuxian heaves out a sigh.
He knows it would take some truly impressive holiday magic to get Lan Zhan in here, but he can hope, alright?
“Hey, Wei Wuxian,” Nie Huaisang suddenly calls out and Wei Wuxian bows slightly to Lan Xichen before he darts off again.
“Wei Wuxian, tell me, how many people have you kissed?” Nie Huaisang wants to know and there’s a glint in his eyes that Wei Wuxian doesn’t like.
“Too many to count,” Wei Wuxian lies easily and Nie Huaisang narrows his eyes at him.
“Don’t believe him, he never kissed anyone, he’s a goddamn virgin, too,” Jiang Cheng shouts through the whole room and Wei Wuxian turns his head so fast he thinks he snapped something.
“Shut up,” he yells back, frantically checking the room to see if Lan Zhan chose this very unfortunate moment to join the party, but still, there is no sign of him.
Wei Wuxian lets out a relieved breath, that immediately turns into an angry huff when Jiang Cheng joins them.
“Scared your crush will find out you’re just a fumbling idiot?” Jiang Cheng wants to know and Wei Wuxian elbows him in the stomach.
“As if you’re any better,” Wei Wuxian hisses. “As far as I remember you never kissed anyone, either.”
At that, Jiang Cheng smiles at him, and it sends a cold shiver down Wei Wuxian’s back.
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” Jiang Cheng easily tells him and then walks off, straight towards Lan Xichen, who positively beams when Jiang Cheng joins him.
“What the hell?” Wei Wuxian mutters, eyes almost bulging out of his head, while Nie Huaisang snickers behind his fan.
“Did you not know?” he asks and Wei Wuxian turns betrayed eyes on him.
“He didn’t tell me. You didn’t tell me,” Wei Wuxian accuses and catches Nie Huaisang in a headlock, careful not to damage the fan.
He knows how Nie Huaisang loves it.
“Let me make it up to you,” Nie Huaisang wheezes out and Wei Wuxian considers it for a moment before he lets him go.
“You better make it worth my time,” Wei Wuxian threatens, but Nie Huaisang doesn’t seem particularly worried.
He points to something on the ceiling and when Wei Wuxian follows his gaze, he sees a mistletoe hanging there.
It’s a wonder no one has been caught under it yet, Wei Wuxian thinks just as Nie Huaisang pushes him forward, so that he comes to stand right under the mistletoe.
“What the hell are you doing?” Wei Wuxian demands to know and then he realizes that he’s standing in the doorway.
So the next person who wants to come in or leave, he’s going to have to kiss.
Wei Wuxian tries to step to the side, but Nie Huaisang points his fan at him and Wei Wuxian has never in his entire life felt this threatened.
“I’m helping you to lose that pesky kiss-virginity. So you can actually say that you kissed someone.”
“I don’t want to kiss anyone,” Wei Wuxian whines, though the lie tastes sour on his tongue.
He very desperately wants to kiss someone, but Lan Zhan isn’t even here, and Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to lose his first kiss to anyone else.
“So you want to tell me, that it’s okay for you to know that your brother has kissed someone, but you haven’t?” Nie Huisang asks and Wei Wuxian knows what he is doing, he knows, but he still can’t say yes.
Instead he keeps quiet for once.
“You want to tell me it’s okay for you that even your shijie is locking lips with someone?” Nie Huaisang asks with a look over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder and when he turns around he sees the most horrifying scene ever.
His shijie is kissing that peacock! How dare that unworthy bastard even lay a hand on her.
Wei Wuxian takes a step forward, but Nie Huaisang grabs his elbow.
“Think about it, Wei Wuxian,” he implores. “What if Jiang Cheng wants to leave and that’s the moment Lan Wangji decides to join the party?”
It’s not a pleasant thought, that. Jiang Cheng would complain, loudly, but he would do it, because traditions must be honoured. He would kiss Lan Zhan. He would kiss Wei Wuxian’s Lan Zhan, even though Jiang Cheng already has a Lan to snog with.
“Unacceptable,” Wei Wuxian decides and Nie Huaisang doesn’t hide his triumphant smile behind his fan fast enough.
Wei Wuxian pokes his tongue out at him.
“You have to kiss the first person who walks through this door,” Nie Huaisang instructs and Wei Wuxian levels the whole room with a glare, daring anyone to so much make a move in this direction. They are all trapped in here until he gets to kiss Lan Zhan.
“Even if that is Lan Qiren,” Nie Huaisang says with a smirk, and just on cue, Lan Qiren leaves his corner.
He doesn’t seem to care for Wei Wuxian’s plight, which isn’t something new, and Wei Wuxian panics.
He can’t kiss Lan Qiren. Not when he didn’t even yet kiss the only Lan he wants to kiss.
“Huaisang, what do I do?” Wei Wuxian whispers, horrified, because he promised.
He can’t move away from the doorway. It has to be the first person who walks through.
Wei Wuxian is so focused on Lan Qiren and his impending doom, that he stumbles when someone crashes into his back.
Big, strong hands steady him and Wei Wuxian’s heart immediately goes into overdrive. He knows those hands. He has watched them copy rules day after day, has watched them play the guqin quicker than he even knew was possible, and he has seen those hands wrap around the hilt of his sword.
“Lan Zhan,” he breathes out and only then does he turn around.
Lan Zhan is still holding him, but his gaze is wide and a little bit panicked and Wei Wuxian can see Nie Huaisang laugh in the background.
Wei Wuxian would bet anything he owns that Nie Huaisang was the one who shoved Lan Zhan towards him.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says again and he can feel Lan Zhan’s hands twitch on his arms.
“Wei Ying,” he replies just as quietly, just as softly, and instantly Wei Wuxian’s knees go weak.
“There’s a mistletoe,” Wei Wuxian mumbles rather dumbly and when Lan Zhan raises his gaze upwards, Wei Wuxian can see how he goes pale.
“We don’t have to,” Wei Wuxian says after a long moment, where he just watches Lan Zhan panic, though he never takes his hands off Wei Wuxian.
It gives Wei Wuxian the courage he needs to rest his own hands on Lan Zhan’s upper arms.
“Though I wouldn’t be opposed,” he lowly tells him, and Lan Zhan’s eyes go wide and he takes a half-step forward.
He’s not running from Wei Wuxian and it’s the only permission Wei Wuxian needs.
He raises up just the tiniest bit, still elated that Lan Zhan is taller than him, and then presses their lips together. Wei Wuxian can feel Lan Zhan freeze under his hands, but it only takes a second for him to move his hands from Wei Wuxian’s arms to his back, slinging them around him and pressing them close.
‘Thank the gods‘, Wei Wuxian thinks and then he darts his tongue out, gently asking for permission.
Lan Zhan opens up beautifully for him and soon enough there aren’t a lot of thoughts left in Wei Wuxian’s head. Everything is just Lan Zhan; his taste, the feeling of him so close, their bodies pressed together, the little sighing noise Lan Zhan lets out.
It all makes Wei Wuxian’s head spin.
“Gods, Lan Zhan, I love you,” he breathes out when they part, lips still brushing and every coherent thought still gone from his head.
It’s only Lan Zhan’s widening eyes and the way he slightly pulls back that brings Wei Wuxian back down again.
He fucked up.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian tries, heart sinking to his stomach, but he cannot go on, can’t lie to Lan Zhan like that, so he cannot take it back.
The statement hovers between them, for long, awkward moments, but when Wei Wuxian tries to take a step back, Lan Zhan tightens his grip on him.
“Wei Ying,” he says and leans forward to press a sweet, chaste kiss to his lips. “I love you, too,” Lan Zhan tells him and Wei Wuxian could fly he feels so light with happiness.
“Lan-er-gege, you really are the best,” he happily breathes out and watches in fascination as Lan Zhan blushes.
“No, Wei Ying is,” Lan Zhan gives back and Wei Wuxian laughs as he surges forward again to claim his lips once more.
Lan Qiren has to snap Wei Wuxian’s name for them to actually move out of the doorway and even then they just part for long enough to take two steps to the side.
Wei Wuxian still thinks it’s too much time, and he vows to never be separated from Lan Zhan again.