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Wei Wuxian hadn’t thought much on how a wedding between two men should go.
Their engagement had been short, courtship neglected in light of all the years between them and the unconventional nature of their marriage. Plenty of gifts had been exchanged between the two, but none in the name of their promised marriage. As it was, neither had offered a dowry in light of the union, either, Wei Wuxian without a Sect to provide one, and Lan Zhan offering all he had regardless of the wedding.
Still, the roles of bride and groom, of husband and wife, of man and woman, were set very clear and distinct in a marriage ceremony. He didn’t know how closely they were going to follow these roles, but he knew that if one of them took up the function of a bride in the ceremony, the duty would fall on him.
He who was smaller. He who was slenderer. He whose hands were soft and uncalloused. He whose fair skin was marred with neither scar nor blemish. He who was being offered a home, a Sect, a name.
Lan Zhan would never fit into that role, and Wei Wuxian had no qualms against it. As long as he got to marry his Lan Zhan, he didn’t care about the rest.
In light of this, naturally, Wei Wuxian assumed that if either of them were to wear a veil, it would be him.
He had been surprised when Lan Zhan brought up the idea of wearing one himself. Wei Wuxian made it clear that he would not expect Lan Zhan to take on the mantle of wife like that, to make a mockery of himself, but Lan Zhan insisted.
“What mockery is my love for you?”
So Wei Wuxian didn’t question it again.
Lan Qiren had been offended on Lan Zhan’s behalf, and Lan Xichen had hid a smile behind his sleeve at his brother’s insistence, but Lan Zhan never once backed down.
During the wedding itself, there had been one instance of the presiding guests gasping very obviously when Lan Zhan had paraded himself alongside Wei Wuxian, covered in a veil that obscured any prying eyes from his face. No doubt they had never expected the honorable and righteous Hanguang-jun to announce himself as wife during the ceremony. That one collective gasp had been the last of it, though. Not another word was said, manners taking over in place of shock and curiosity.
Wei Wuxian had only minded the veil because he hadn’t been able to see his Lan Zhan’s beautiful face since the night before. For as much as he missed it, however, the suspense was making his heart race.
By the time they had bowed once, twice, thrice, by the time they had wrapped their wrists in a red ribbon embroidered with clouds, by the time they had spent enough of their married life entertaining their guests, greeting and eating and then saying farewell, Wei Wuxian was almost aching to see those gentle golden eyes and soft, pink lips, and pale, smooth skin.
Still drenched in red, bound to Lan Zhan by the ribbon between their wrists, Wei Wuxian’s heart beat faster in anticipation as he stumbled across the threshold of the Jingshi.
Lan Zhan followed behind, still draped in his thick veil that was doing its job in hiding his features from even his new husband.
He’d kept it on as he bowed, as he tied the knots on the ribbon around their wrists, as he ate, as they walked together to their home. Tradition called for it to remain in place until the newlywed couple were sequestered alone in their room. Only then should the husband lift the veil and reveal his new wife’s beauty.
Wei Wuxian couldn't wait to see what beauty awaited him.
Both of their hands were trembling in excitement where they were tangled together. They walked to their bed, Wei Wuxian leading his husband by their bound hands, fearing he might trip with his view obscured, especially in the dark of the Jingshi.
He sat Lan Zhan onto the bed and then wasted no time in kneeling in Lan Zhan’s lap, straddling his thighs with one one smooth, practiced motion.
Lan Zhan’s unbound hand instinctively came to rest at his waist, and Wei Wuxian paused for a moment to take in the sight of his husband before him.
Wei Wuxian was almost reverent as he lifted away the thick veil, finally, finally revealing his husband's face to him.
Lan Zhan’s forehead was missing its usual ribbon, forgone in place of the ribbon around their wrists. The gold of his eyes was light and happy, shining with all the love Wei Wuxian had ever seen. His skin seemed to be glowing in the moonlight.
As Wei Wuxian continued glancing over his new husband’s face, what he found made his heart skip a beat in his chest.
Lan Zhan was smiling.
It wasn’t the typical quirk of the side of his mouth, not the gentle softening of the corners of his lips. Those smiles Wei Wuxian had seen many times, especially in the days since they had confessed in that temple and more so in the time leading up to their wedding. He was one of the few people who had seen Lan Zhan smile at all, and he treasured every one, no matter how small. He’d been privy to what he thought were all of Lan Zhan’s smiles, but this one was something new.
He was smiling wide and light, the corners of his lips stretching over his cheeks, pulling his eyes to crinkle in the corners. His smile was so wide that his teeth were showing, and he let out a small laugh as Wei Wuxian stared at him, awestruck. This was the kind of smile he’d never expected to see on his husband’s face, the kind of smile he himself was known for.
“Lan Zhan you’re—“
He cut himself off with an incredulous laugh. His unbound hand drifted up to Lan Zhan’s cheek where a dimple he’d never seen before had made itself known.
He thought he would never be able to be any more in love with this man, but here he was falling all over again.
Lan Zhan didn’t look away from Wei Wuxian’s face, eyes shining, lips never falling from the smile that threatened to tear his face in two. He lifted their bound hands to cradle Wei Wuxian’s own face in his palm so gently as he pulled their faces close to nuzzle against Wei Wuxian’s cheek.
“This is why,” Lan Zhan whispered as he nudged his smiling lips against the side of Wei Wuxian’s cheek.
“Why what?” Wei Wuxian breathed.
“The veil.”
Wei Wuxian had never been slow, and he had grown accustomed to knowing what Lan Zhan was trying to say in his few words.
Lan Zhan, ever stoic, had always been known for his blank expression. In front of so many people, most of whom had never seen even a hint of a crack in that jade visiage, he hadn’t wanted to give himself away.
“You wore a veil to hide your smile?”
It was so romantic, that it sent butterflies through Wei Wuxian’s stomach, the likes of which he hadn’t felt since Lan Zhan had first kissed him.
“Mn.” Lan Zhan huffed the slightest breath of a laugh over the corner of Wei Wuxian’s mouth. “Only for Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian’s heart fluttered, and he rubbed his thumb over that previously undiscovered dimple.
“What makes you smile like this?” Wei Wuxian asked.
He knew, of course, he knew, he had been smiling the same way all day.
“How could I not, my love?”
When Lan Zhan pulled back, he was still smiling so brightly that Wei Wuxian never wanted to look away.
“How could I not when today I am married to you?”
Wei Wuxian’s need to look at his husband’s smile was overcome with his need to kiss him.
Lan Zhan smiled still into the kiss, and Wei Wuxian found that he didn’t mind, even when his lips pressed mostly to teeth.
He broke the kiss to press his forehead to Lan Zhan’s, and for once, there was no ribbon pressed against his skin. He pulled back to see that smile again, trying to memorize it so that he could mark it down in ink when tomorrow came so that he could see it again on paper.
“Promise me you’ll smile for me like this every day,” he said, breath mingling with Lan Zhan’s exhale.
Lan Zhan, still smiling, still gripping Wei Wuxian’s waist, still holding their bound hands up to cradle Wie Wuxian’s face, huffed a soft laugh.
“If Wei Ying promises to marry me every day.”
And what could Wei Wuxian do but kiss him again?