Work Text:
EDELWEISS
Wei Wuxian was four when his flowers begun to bloom.
Every person had a crown of plants and flowers atop their head, representing their own qualities and personality traits. Flower meanings had changed over time, different cultures having different flowers meaning different things. The universal meaning of flowers had been consolidated, a harmonization of meanings and cultures coming together. As the world grew closer, so did the flower meanings.
Wei Wuxian had a mix of thyme, lilac, and chrysanthemum flowers on his head. His lilac and chrysanthemum flowers symbolized cheerfulness, joy, and long life, and the thyme symbolized courage and strength.
He was so pleased with the purple and pink crown forming on his head, jumping up and down with joy. His siblings laughed, Jiang Yanli’s aster, white peony and white carnation (innocence, pure love, danitniness, and beauty) and Jiang Cheng’s amaryllis and dahlia (pride and dignity) crowns having formed when they were even younger.
Now, at nineteen, Wei Wuxian had a lot more flowers. None were strong enough to grow on his crown but for some edelweiss (courage and devotion) when he was sixteen and had beat up some kids for bullying Wen Ning; choosing to instead bloom on his skin. Some marjoram on his right tricep for happiness, sunflowers twisting up his right ankle for adoration, yellow tulips twining around his left wrist and looping around his thumb for his bright smile. Since they weren’t on his crown, they acted more like moving, living tattoos, growing and swirling on his skin.
Wei Wuxian pushed through the door to his new apartment. It was tiny, but it was bright and clean and far, far better than living on campus. Being a third year student, he thought it was probably for the best that he got his own place, away from three roommates and nights spent not sleeping.
Well, he probably still wouldn’t be sleeping too much.
Opening the doors to the small balcony, Wei Wuxian stepped out, stretching. Turning to his right, he gasped.
A beautiful man was standing serenely on the balcony, bathed in sunlight. He was tall, in a light blue shirt and black pants, hair cropped close to his face. And what a face...he looked like he was sculpted from marble, unreal and ethereal.
His flower crown was the most gorgeous one Wei Wuxian had ever seen, a mix of soft purples and whites. Magnolias, lavender, and white hyacinth...that meant he was devoted, virtuous, and beautiful (Wei Wuxian could confirm the last one).
Magnolias especially were so rare and precious; Wei Wuxian had never seen someone with them on their crown. They were beautiful on the man, adding to his elegance.
Wait, was that…
“Edelweiss.”
The beautiful stranger turned around. “Excuse me?”
A rush of heat flooded Wei Wuxian’s face. “Ah, it’s just...your flower crown has edelweiss in it. Mine too. Got it when I was sixteen.”
“Mm.” The other man looked at him for a long, long second. “Lilac, thyme, chrysanthemum?” His voice was so quiet, barely carried over the sounds of the city below them.
“Yep, that’s me! I’m Wei Wuxian, just moved in today.”
“Lan Wangji. Nice to meet you.” The man bowed his head slightly.
“Nice to meet you too, Lan Wangji,” Wei Wuxian said, “Oh, shit, gotta go! See you around, hopefully!”
He missed whatever Lan Wangji said next, darting into his room. Tomorrow was the start of the new semester, and he should at least try and get some sleep.
He dreamed of edelweiss.
MORNING GLORY
He didn’t get any sleep that night, and continued not to get much sleep.
Wei Wuxian had always been a child of the night, embracing the sun but thriving in the moonlight. He lit up the night, burned brightly like a thousand stars, burned like fire and sometimes, some nights, burned out.
It was three in the morning and Wei Wuxian could not sleep.
He didn’t need much sleep, six hours every two nights and maybe a few naps enough to keep his brain sharp and his smile fixed. Less than that, he would slip. More than that, he’d wake up screaming and not sleep for the next three nights.
It was three in the morning and Wei Wuxian could not sleep, standing on his tiny balcony above a silent city, moonless sky looking down at him.
“Wei Wuxian?”
“Lan Wangji!”
And who allowed Lan Wangji to look this beautiful at three in the morning? Wei Wuxian didn’t need the moon when Lan Wangji was standing before him.
“You’re not asleep?”
“Neither are you.”
As a response, Lan Wangji lifted his arms, a tiny rabbit curled up between his hands. “He woke up.”
“Oh my gosh, is that your rabbit?”
Lan Wangji smiled softly, and Wei Wuxian felt his heartbeat speed up, catch in his throat. He was no stranger to beautiful people, being friends with people like Wen Qing and Nie Huiasang, but there was something about Lan Wangji, something about the set of his shoulders and the softness of his voice, something about the way he held the rabbit as if it were the most precious thing in the world, something about the flower crown on his head. “I have three. This one is still a baby, and he cannot sleep through the night.”
Wei Wuxian sighed, “Well, little one, I can relate. Hopefully he gets better so you can get some rest.”
“You don’t sleep?”
“Not as much as I should. You?”
“Usually.” Lan Wangji looked out at the city.
“It;s pretty at night, right?” Wei Wuxian chuckled, leaning over the balcony. “All the pretty things come out at night.” Fuck it, it was three in the morning and his brain was half gone. “Here you are.”
Lan Wangji spluttered, ears turning red. “Shameless!”
“Yeah, well, are you going to do something about it?”
The other man just sighed. “Go to sleep, Wei Wuxian. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Lan Wangji.” Wei Wuxian turned his back to the railing, leaning backwards to look up at the sky. Something tingled on his hip, and he tugged his shirt up.
Three tiny morning glories on his right side. Affection.
Fuck.
CAMELLIA
Somehow, they had become friends.
Lan Wangji went to the same university, and was friends with some of his friends (Nie Huiasang knew everybody, apparently). Wei Wuxian got to know Lan Wangji’s subtleties, the things that the lavender and magnolias really meant.
Lan Wangji volunteered at animal shelters on Sundays. He woke up at five every morning, even on Saturdays, where he taught kids how to play the guqin. He was majoring in music theory and history, and wanted to become a teacher. Lan Wangji was kind, always buying food for a forgetful Nie Huiasang and helping Xiao Xingchen carry his books. Lan Wangji –
Lan Wangji was too good to be a real person, and yet he still made time for Wei Wuxian, inviting him over to dinner when Wei Wuxian was too exhausted to get food, cooking spicy food just the way Wei Wuxian liked it.
One night, when Wei Wuxian learned that Lan Wangji had never seen Lord of the Rings, Wei Wuxian forced him to watch the entire trilogy. Lan Wangji, being his angelic self, had agreed (just because he knew it would make Wei Wuxian happy, and that made the knife in his chest twist a little deeper). He hadn’t complained when Wei Wuxian fell asleep on his shoulder, not moving the entire night.
Wei Wuxian had woken up an embarrassed mess, but Lan Wangji offered him a soft smile and a gentle, “Wei Ying, it’s alright.”
Wei Ying, Lan Zhan. It made everything so much worse; his name coming out of Lan Wangji’s mouth, the way Lan Wangji looked into his eyes like he was the only star in the sky. It was bad for his heart, bad for the cluster of morning glory flowers on his hip, growing from three to four to over twenty.
The semester was rough on them both. Lan Wangji spent more time at the library, and Wei Wuxian spent less time sleeping than before. Wei Wuxian saw the exhaustion in his friend’s bones, the straight line of his shoulders shaking slightly. He wanted to hug Lan Wangji, wanted to tell him it would be alright.
He missed Lan Wangji, and one night, alone on the balcony with nothing but the city below him, the morning glories were overgrown by pink camellias.
Longing for someone.
Wei Wuxian knew who he was longing for.
The semester bled into exam season, which led Wei Wuxian practically living in Lan Wangji’s apartment so he could eat, trying to cram a semester’s worth of information into his head in a few short days. It was true that he probably didn’t need to study much, being one of the students with the highest grades in all his classes, but not everything was that easy all the time.
Lan Wangji even studied with grace and loveliness, two stacks of neatly written notes on either side of his laptop, one page in front of him, pens arranged on his left and water on his right. There was a subtle beauty in the way his eyes scanned paper, the loops of his Ls (black ink on white paper), the lovely purples and whites of his crown.
Yeah, maybe Wei Wuxian studied Lan Wangji more than his notes.
He still went through his finals with flying colours. Lan Wangji even smiled at him.
The camellias bloomed along his right side, like a reminder. As if Wei Wuxian could ever forget.
GARDENIA
“Let’s go to Disneyworld!”
Unsurprisingly, Wei Wuxian’s plan was not met with resounding happiness from his friends. Finals season had just ended, and most of his friend group was looking to just relax from the stress of the semester.
But Wei Wuxian really, really wanted to go to Disneyworld.
“Wait, Lan Zhan, you’ve never been to Disneyworld?” Wei Wuxian gasped. “You cannot be serious.”
And so, one week into their month-long break, Lan Wangji forwarded Wei Wuxian a full eight-day itinerary of a trip to Disneyworld.
Wei Wuxian ran out of his apartment, knocking on his neighbour’s door. “Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji opened the door, blinking in surprise. “Yes?”
“What’s this?” He held his phone up, itinerary on the screen.
“You wanted to go.”
“I – yeah, but no one wants to go.”
“I want to.”
Wei Wuxian blinked. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” Lan Wangji repeated, serenely.
“...okay, then.” It wasn’t fair to his heart – Lan Wangji was unfair for his heart.
And they did. They took turns driving all the way south, the air getting warmer as they passed coastal city after coastal city in Lan Wangji’s white car, windows down, Wei Wuxian’s driving playlist on at full blast.
Oh, and Wei Wuxian fell even deeper.
Lan Wangji followed him everywhere, from the rides to the attractions, all over the theme park. He bought Wei Wuxian enough plushes to fill his apartment, as well as matching mouse ears. They stayed up late to watch the fireworks, and Lan Wangji let Wei Wuxian curl up to him. His arms felt like home.
He was in so deep, so, so lost in Lan Wangji that it hurt sometimes. Wei Wuxian wanted to hold his hand, wanted to kiss him, wanted to touch his flowers and run his hands through his hair and tell Lan Wangji how much he meant to him.
Three months. He was this far gone in three months, and if he had his way, he would spend his life with Lan Wangji.
But Lan Wangji, with his lavender and magnolias, was far too good for Wei Wuxian.
The magnolias were so, so precious. Most people were lucky to get them on their skin, and Lan Wangji had them weaved into his crown. Wei Wuxian could swear he saw a red peony in there too, but couldn’t be sure.
“Lan Zhan, lean down a bit?” Wei Wuxian asked, one night, bounding onto Lan Wangji’s bed. Lan Wangji blinked (he was always adorable after 9pm, eyes a little softer, movements a little slower, as if the world was painted with a layer of translucent purple paint), but tipped his head down.
Yes, there, in between the purples and whites, above his left ear, was a single red peony.
“Oh, Lan Zhan, you really are good,” Wei Wuxian breathed out.
Lan Wangji breathed out, gently, and took his hand. “Wei Ying is good, too. Now, sleep.”
So Wei Wuxian went back to his own bed, when all he wanted was to stay in Lan Wangji’s and hold him as they both fell asleep to the soft sounds of their breaths in the cold night, but not dreams could be real.
Wei Wuxian did not sleep that night, watching gardenias bloom between his camellias. Secret love.
He was in love?
Lan Wangji let out a soft sound under his breath.
He was in love.
HYACINTH
Everything was so much harder after that.
Especially, especially, when he realized that Lan Wangji was in love with someone else, and that someone else was one of his closest childhood friends.
Xiao Xingchen was the only one possibly good enough for Lan Wangji, anyways. They were good together, good in a way that Wei Wuxian could never be anyway.
Wei Wuxian had to pretend it didn’t bother him, the way Xiao Xingchen would smile at Lan Wangji, the way Lan Wangji’s phone lit up with a message from Xiao Xingchen every fucking hour, the way his smile would freeze on his mouth when they looked at each other.
He knew Xiao Xingchen and Lan Wangji were close; they had always been close, but never like this. So Wei Wuxian did what Wei Wuxian did best; distract himself with work and school and anyone who’d look at him for longer than Lan Wangji did (no one else’s eyes on him ever felt the same, anyways, so why was he even trying? Nothing could ever make him forget Lan Wangji).
The winter bled into spring; Wei Wuxian’s heart had a gaping hole in it shaped like Lan Wangji, spilling blood onto the balcony.
Of course he was in love, and of course his heart was broken. It showed so strongly, yellow hyacinths of jealousy sprouting on his right side, but the gardenias and camellias did not wilt, and his love did not fade.
His entire body would be covered in flowers from Lan Wangji if this continued. Wei Wuxian couldn’t even care, he was still so in love with Lan Wangji’s warm eyes and soft smile. He was too far gone for someone who wouldn’t even look at him twice.
“Wei Ying.”
“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” Wei Wuxian turned to Lan Wangji, dressed in a white shirt and blue pyjama pants on his balcony at midnight. He looked so soft and warm and sleepy, it almost broke Wei Wuxian’s heart. He’d never get to wake up with Lan Wangji, never get to fall asleep in his arms, would he? The flowers would live forever on his body but never grow stronger. Lan Wangji would never have matching flowers.
“We’re both busy.”
“Yeah.” Both of them were busy with love, but one was blooming with it, and the other suffocating in it. “How are you?”
“Good. I missed you.”
And that’s not fair. It’s not fair that Lan Wangji sounded so sincere, it’s not fair that Wei Wuxian wanted to cry. “I missed you, too.”
“Been busy with Xiao Xingchen,” Lan Wangji said. “The proposal, and all.”
Proposal?
“What?” he said weakly.
“He is proposing.” Lan Wangji smiled, softly.
“Oh.” It would have hurt less if someone had stabbed him.
“Wei Ying?”
“No, I just – ” he smiled, softly. “Seemed a little fast, you know? I’m happy for everyone, of course – ”
“He is quite young, but he and Song Lan have been together for seven years now.”
“Song Lan?”
“His boyfriend?” Lan Wangji frowned. “Have you not met him?”
Wei Wuxian felt a rush of relief, a rush tingling down to the tips of his toes, “Don’t think I have.”
“He’s a nice man. Good for Xiao Xingchen.”
“I’m glad,” Wei Wuxian said.
Glad didn’t even begin to cover it. Wei Wuxian smiled as he watched the yellow carnations wilt and more gardenias overtake them, practically outgrowing each other with his love for Lan Wangji.
TULIP
“Just tell him.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Nie Huiasang huffed, curling his legs up on Wei Wuxian’s couch. “Do you think you’ll stop loving him?”
No. It had only been eight months, but Wei Wuxian could not imagine a world where he didn’t love Lan Wangji; could not imagine a world without gardenias on his skin for a man with a crown of lavender and magnolias.
“I’m scared.”
“You won’t lose him.”
“How do you know?”
Nie Huiasang scoffed, “Do you really think that Lan Wangji would think less of you for loving him?”
“No,” Wei Wuxian whispered.
“And, anyways, do you think he doesn’t love you back?”
“He can’t.”
Nie Huiasang threw himself onto Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “This month alone, you have gone out on twelve dates, spent half the nights at his apartment, and you hold his hand almost every time you go out.”
“I get lost easily,” Wei Wuxian said, weakly.
“You’re just being stupid.”
“Fair.”
“Tell him.”
Wei Wuxian didn’t know what to say, though. He didn’t know how to explain how happy Lan Wangji made him, couldn’t possibly express anything with words. Lan Wangji meant far too much for Wei Wuxian to ruin this.
Words.
He didn’t have to use words. He could use flowers!
It had to be the perfect bouquet. Flowers from both their crowns – magnolias and lilacs and chrysanthemums and lavender, some edelweiss, and, of course, right in the middle, some red tulips. A declaration of love.
Flowers were expensive, far too expensive for Wei Wuxian to order himself all in one bouquet. He’d have to make one by hand. Florists were everywhere, but all specialized in different types of flowers.
Magnolias from downtown, lavender from a tiny farm two hours south, a single red peony for far too much money – all worth it for Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian was going to make sure this was the best confession. He wanted it to feel like he had snipped the red tulips from his skin to give to Lan Wangji.
Red tulips. He was in love, and he was growing red tulips.
Finally, he finished the bouquet. It was a mess of colours and flower types, but it was somehow still beautiful.
It was now or never.
Wei Wuxian nervously knocked on Lan Wangji’s door.
“Wei Ying?”
“For you,” Wei Wuxian said, in a rush, thrusting the flowers forward; water sloshing in the glass vase. Lan Wangji’s hands, usually steady, were shaking slightly as he took the flowers.
“Our flowers.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s lovely, Wei Ying, thank you.”
He didn’t get it, did he?
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian hissed, lifting his shirt. Lan Wangji pressed his lips together, looking up. “No, please. Look.”
“Shameless,” Lan Wangji said, but his eyes grew wide at the flowers on Wei Wuxian’s right hip. Gardenias and red tulips and camellias and –
“Peony,” Lan Wangji whispered.
“Oh.” That one was new. “Well, I think it’s obvious, then.”
Lan Wangji stepped back into the apartment, gesturing for Wei Wuxian to follow him. In a trance, he walked forward, watching Lan Wangji place the vase carefully in the middle of his table, and tug his blue button up off his body in one fluid motion, turning around.
His back.
It was covered in flowers; gardenias and camellias, pink orchids and red carnations, and edelweiss. Wei Wuxian had never seen this big of a spread of flowers; it was beautiful.
“For me?”
“It’s always been for you,” Lan Wangji said, voice rough, and Wei Wuxian smiled as a single red tulip bloomed in between Lan Wangji’s shoulder blades.
Declaration of love.
HELIOTROPE
Heliotropes weren’t particularly beautiful.
They were small and purple, growing in clumps. They weren’t ugly, but they weren’t particularly beautiful either.
Heliotropes were one of the most desired flowers in the world.
Maybe red peonies and magnolias and lotuses too, but there was something about a heliotrope and what it meant.
Eternal love.
Wei Wuxian cried on their tenth anniversary when he saw heliotropes in Lan Wangji’s flower crown. Lan Wangji held his hands and drew him into his arms and whispered, “My love for you is forever.”
Wei Wuxian got his on his crown two days later.
Eternal love.
They balanced each other so perfectly; light and dark, day and night. Wei Wuxian encouraged Lan Wangji to chase his dreams, Lan Wangji helped Wei Wuxian come back down to earth. Wei Wuxian was sure no one could be as good as Lan Wangji, and Lan Wangji always responded with ‘Wei Ying is.’
They fought, like every couple, but then Wei Wuxian would look at the edelweiss on Lan Wangji’s crown and fall in love all over again; and Lan Wangji could not help but melt when Wei Wuxian said those three words.
Eternal love.
And when Lan Wangji proposed, it was with a ring and a bouquet of heliotropes because there was no world where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were not in love.