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An eternity stretched around the hovering figures that crossed the horizon. An eternity of sky above, the deep blue starting to blend with pink and orange as though dye had spilled over the clouds. An eternity of sea below, a mirror for the sun, the vast and mysterious ocean that sparkled like stars or like Wei Wuxian's excited eyes. The summer sun descended towards the skyline while the two men ascended. Not like it mattered to them that it was so far and small, as they both felt they were holding something large, warm, and important.
Lan Wangji was the one riding, but while he watched over the coastline he still had an arm put firmly around Wei Wuxian's waistline. That only improved Wei Ying's trip, who was having a great time overall. Sure, he was getting hit by Lan Zhan's long black mane that swayed in the wind, and whenever he tried to laugh he ended up with hair from either of them in his mouth. And maybe the toes of his left foot were beginning to cramp over the reduced width of the blade.
But oh, the speed! The views! The mixed scent of salt and sandalwood! The thrill!
"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!"
"Wei Ying," he heard close to his ear, a familiar melody and prayer.
"Having fun yet?"
"Mn, it is fun. With you, it's always fun."
Wei Wuxian blushed and then giggled. His ponytail whipped Lan Wangji's face right afterward. Oh well, he had hit his husband's face with far worse body parts. That was almost a caress, he figured.
"Aw, I'll kiss you better later," he teased over his shoulder.
"No need to do that later," Lan Wangji said before he grabbed Wei Ying's chin with his free hand and joined lips with his own. He even got some retribution by scraping them with his teeth. Wei Wuxian wanted to be mad for losing the upper hand, but this was too delightful. The strong hand on his waist shifted towards his hip.
As they lost themselves in the horizon of the kiss, Bichen's altitude lowered. The driver of this carriage was losing his concentration. So he broke it off, ignoring the pleading moan in Wei Wuxian’s throat, and stabilized the sword.
"No, hold on a second!" Wei Wuxian cried, his eyes lingering on the water. "I have a fun idea. Are you up to it?"
"I trust you. What is your idea?"
"Go lower."
The look he received contained a warning —and held back lust, which puffed Wei Ying’s chest with pride and victory.
"I mean the sword!" he chuckled. "Heavens, Lan Zhan, and I'm the shameless one? This idea was innocent this time. We have no space for that and we'll fall down and drown. I meant to say, glide lower in a vertical way."
They felt the familiar pressure in their ears and stomachs that came from the downwards movement. Lan Wangji rode careful and slow, with absolute control of the speed of Bichen. Wei Wuxian’s expression was serious as he instructed, yet he casually cupped their hands together.
“Lower. No, lower. Steady. Keep going. Lower. Just a bit lower.”
“On the surface?”
“A few thumbs above it.”
While its edge was still floating in the air, the spiritual sword’s glare could softly touch the ocean. The sparkling water parted in two and made a way for it, sending small waves which curled and rippled at both sides of the wake.
“Haha, yessss!” Wei Wuxian shook a fist and chuckled in victory. “Are you seeing this, Lan Zhan?”
“Mn,” he hummed and his eyes would move from the reflecting blue light over the sea to the excited wide smile on the most gorgeous man in the world. His lips twitched upwards, his heart filled with awe and love for the beauty around him.
“Now fly faster!” Wei Wuxian commanded after a moment of contemplation. “We can’t stay like a fishing boat.”
“You want fast?”
“Obviously! At full speed!”
Lan Wangji stared at him but had nothing to complain about. He directed a higher flow of spiritual energy towards his blade. Bichen smoothly ran among the surf like a galloping horse in a field of seafoam and stars. Waves rose much larger and more powerfully, splashing the men’s legs up to their knees and even taking drops to their faces.
Neither of them seemed to mind. The day was too warm and the ride too entertaining. Wei Wuxian howled, thrilled by the rush and the adventure and his soaked trousers. With every curve Bichen took, he made more excited noises and hollers. The pair was a comet zooming and buzzing around, light and sea following at their feet.
To break the monotony, Lan Wangji would make the sword take twists and turns, draw imaginary figures with the trajectory. That just made his husband more excited.
“Lan Zhan! Make noises, too!” Wei Ying yelled over the wind.
“Such as?”
“Yesssss! Whoo hooooooo! That sort of thing!”
He waited for a few seconds. He thought he wasn’t going to do that, perfectly aware that you couldn’t force the second Jade of Lan to be boisterous, not even in bed, when suddenly he heard a faint, stiff “whooooooo” coming from behind. Wei Wuxian contained his laughter.
“Put more emotion into it!”
After another pause, Lan Wangji attempted some ‘yes’ in his deep voice, with various results. The last one had added a moan, which made Wei Wuxian’s cheeks turn red.
“How obscene, Er-gege! Now are you just imitating orgasms or are you trying to tease me?”
“You wanted emotion.”
“...” Wei Wuxian decided to leave it be. “Hey, lean to the sides a bit when you turn. It makes the momentum more fluid.”
“Mn.”
The next curve, the sword inclined at a pronounced angle. Wei Wuxian rather liked this. Still holding to Lan Wangji, he lowered himself to the rhythm until his free hand touched the waves that the glare was cutting in its watery path. The water felt refreshing: barely cold, just sunkissed. Just the perfect temperature for a sunny day!
The sea splashed on their hair and soaked their robes’ hems, but neither of them seemed to mind as they did a few more laps in an eternity only for themselves.
“Is this what you called me for? Playing around?”
Jin Ling crossed his arms and looked defiant at the others ones present. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi were carefully sitting on their swords’ surface, their legs hanging in the air right above the surface of the ocean. Instead, Wei Wuxian stood on his own stupidly-named sword, balancing his own weight with little hops and graceful dance steps.
The three of them were only wearing their trousers and footwear on. The only one with a light robe on was Lan Wangji, who was keeping watch from afar. Jin Ling didn’t think it was for modesty, as he knew by now that Hanguang-Jun was as shameless as his devious husband. His first assumption, thanks to Jingyi’s shrimp-colored shoulders and back, was that the Lan clan easily sunburned.
Then he recalled something Zewu-Jun had said at that temple —in a conversation he had no choice but to eavesdrop— about a punishment and thirty-something lashes. He stopped wondering or assuming anything, as he didn’t want to see that back either.
The boy really wished that Wei Wuxian had also donned more clothes. It was hard to take his eyes off the faint scar on his stomach, caused by his own hand and the precious sword under his boots. While his eldest uncle paid it no mind, it was a source of embarrassment and guilt.
“It’s not playing around!” the man chirped with a mischievous smile. “I told you, it’s sword flight lessons.”
“We’re experts on flying by now and you know it,” Jin Ling tilted his head. “Don’t you mean it’s flight lessons for you, since you just regained that skill and all?”
“Nah, you never forget how to fly on a spiritual sword. It’s like riding a horse!”
“Senior Wei,” Jingyi raised his hand, “I’m all for fooling around at the beach, but the young mistress has a point. What are learning here?”
“I’m sure Senior Wei’s technique will be useful, like everything he’s taught us,” Sizhui intervened with a soft smile and tone. Was it Jin Ling’s impression or was that a polite jab at the man? Behind them, Lan Wangji almost seemed amused.
“...Absolutely!” Wei Wuxian nodded. “One day you might be night hunting for water spirits, and you’ll be glad I gave you the idea to glide low to uncover them.”
Jin Ling glared in disbelief.
“Oh, come on! Live a little, will you?” Wei Wuxian flew next to him and put his arm around his nephew, soaking golden robes with salt water and sending shivers down his spine. “Spend time with your friends and have fun.”
“We’ve been missing you lately. You’ve been pretty busy, right?” Sizhui intervened with a soft expression. Jin Ling’s irritation started to crumble.
“You need to unwind or you’ll end up an angry sour grape just like your Uncle Jiang,” Jingyi had the gall to say, as if he didn’t come from a bloodline of boring and repressed men.
“You!” Jin Ling warned him. “Uncle’s under a lot of stress, you know.”
“Exactly my point.”
Easy for them to say. None were leaders or even the heirs to their sect! Did the Lans even have one?
“Besides,” Wei Wuxian said as he squeezed his nephew’s arm, “haven’t you wished, in all your visits to the Lotus Pier, you could have run through the lakes freely with your sword?”
“What, and crash on the boats and lotus pods?”
“That’s my point! You can’t do that in Yunmeng, it’s full of obstacles. I tried it once, and your grandmother had me kneeling for a month for wrecking a merchant’s cargo.”
“...What is wrong with you? Anyway! Let me get ready already.”
Jin Ling shook him away and took off his robes, emulating the other juniors and Wei Ying. After putting the clothes in a safe place, he returned to Wei Wuxian making a somersault and landing on his sword like an adult. If Jiang Cheng knew this was the usage the guy gave to Suibian, he would have never returned the weapon to his master. Then again, after that childhood story, that was likely the sort of things his uncle would expect. Also, it was pretty cool.
“If you’re at this level,” Jingyi retorted, “why do you still usually fly on Hanguang-Jun’s Bichen?”
“I’m yet a delicate man! Brand new core and all! And Er-gege likes it, right?”
“Mn.” A deep voice agreed.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jin Ling sighed. “Teach us your damn thing.”
“Okay,” Wei Wuxian grinned. “Lan Zhan helped me come up with it last year. I call it… Well, I’m still choosing the name. The Divine Water Dragon Slide? The Sea-Splitting Soaring Sword? The Xuanwu of Fun? What do you guys think?”
“...I’m sure you’ll think of something good soon, Senior Wei,” Sizhui smiled ruthlessly.
“You boys have no taste,” the man pouted. “Okay, the technique consists of flying at the right distance to the surface. Look at me closely and then follow me.”
“Yes, sir!” they said.
“Wait a moment,” Jin Ling interrupted and looked at Sizhui. “Are you going to be alright? Won’t you get seasick?”
“Thank you for your concern,” Sizhui replied. “I’m not on a rocking boat but on my sword, so I’ll be okay.”
“Oh. Right.” They were all staring at Jin Ling with endearment. Suddenly he was embarrassed. “If that’s the case, let’s race. Last one has to cut the watermelons I brought.”
“You heard him, Lan Zhan? Be the judge.”
“You count in the race too, Wei Wuxian,” Jin Ling pointed out.
“Is that so?” A dangerous smirk was on his face. “First you’ll have to eat seafoam. Get ready. Set. Go!”
To the screams of the boys, he flew all of a sudden. Not wasting more seconds, three wakes shook the water behind him. In a rush of speed, fast breeze, hot sunshine, water drops, and laughter, Jin Ling didn’t regret coming over. Jingyi had to cut the watermelon with only mild complaints.