Work Text:
Wei Wuxian is not a workaholic but he has a habit of falling deeply into projects - they're irregular enough that he can slack off during the off time - but when an idea launches across the horizon of his brain, he has to strike while the iron is hot, compulsively chase after momentary genius, work it bottom up into something cohesive and useful.
Which often means sleepless nights, tinkering and balancing as the sun comes up, and he has almost completed it, whatever it is - refining a yao reversing talisman or composing a new tune that would preserve spiritual energy or a compass that would point to the nearest and strongest source of resentful energy.
Lan Wangji knows him well at this point, enough to turn up at the break of dawn and gently yet firmly move Wei Wuxian away from his workplace, chiding tone and a firm hand that does not relent until Wei Wuxian stands up.
Wei Wuxian slumps against him for a moment, resting all his weight on Lan Wangji. "Hanguang-jun, XianXian is tired."
"Why don't you rest then?"
"If I rest, then who will finish this up?" He mumbles, slumping further into Lan Wangji, setting him aglow with an almost selfish kind of satisfaction as he holds Wei Wuxian's weight up easily.
It is an enlightening weight and Lan Wangji puffs up with the responsibility of it, the tenderness of how Wei Wuxian, at least in this moment, seems to be his to take care of.
He gently brushes back a wisp of unruly hair, tucking it behind Wei Wuxian's ear, and the motion causes the other man to peer up at him, eyes tired yet mischievously bright.
"Er-gege, if I fall asleep into my soup during breakfast, will Lan Qiren finally kick me out of the sect?"
Lan Wangji can refute it loudly and boldly, no one can kick Wei Wuxian out without also repudiating Second Master Lan by proxy, but he suspects Wei Wuxian already knows that. He settles for teasing him, the soft atmosphere lending itself to the mood.
"As long as Wei Ying sleeps quietly, Uncle cannot protest much."
Wei Wuxian blinks up at him - he's lovely in his feigned confusion and Lan Wangji wants to kiss his artfully open mouth more than he wants almost anything else - and says, "But your uncle likes to complain so much, wouldn't it be better to deprive him of this opportunity altogether? There has to be a Lan rule that forbids taking undue pleasure in other's weaknesses."
Lan Wangji rolls his eyes fondly as he gathers Wei Wuxian even closer and starts marching them towards the bedroom of the Jingshi. "If you wish to sleep in, then you need only say so."
Wei Wuxian settles close easily in response, like they're made to fit together, arms wrapping around Lan Wangji and face fitting neatly into the crevice of his neck. His lips brush the sensitive skin of Lan Wangji's throat as he jokes, self-deprecating as usual, "I must've done something really good in my previous life, to have Hanguang-jun spoil me like this."
Lan Wangji doesn't have any words in response to that. Everything he might say stops short at the end of his tongue awkwardly. He is no good at confessions and Wei Wuxian deserves better than his barely thought-out speech. Lan Wangji doesn't know how to sew up his heart into words, the whole of it red and bleeding and Wei Wuxian's since a long, long time.
It's a miracle that Wei Wuxian still does not know, isn't aware of how much sway he holds over Lan Wangji, how sometimes when he smiles Lan Wangji's heart wants to catapult outside his chest and throw itself right at Wei Wuxian's feet. How precious he is and how Lan Wangji sometimes cannot look straight at him for too long, how Lan Wangji always always touches him cautiously, carefully, like Wei Wuxian is a wild rabbit that must not be spooked lest it runs away.
The jingshi is quiet and so is Wei Wuxian when Lan Wangji finally deposits him into bed. His face when Lan Wangji looks at it is cleared of any emotions and his eyes are already drooping close when he tucks a blanket around his curled up exhausted form.
Wei Wuxian sleeps all sprawled out usually, taking as much space as his limbs can command but when he's especially tired, he curls up tight like a shrimp, face all exhausted lines. On these days, Lan Wangji wants to do nothing more than to stroke his hair. Draw him a bath for when he wakes up.
Lan Wangji stares at Wei Wuxian's beloved sleeping face for a moment, then two, before turning around to leave.
*
Lan Xichen's advice when Lan Wangji obliquely brings it up - and by that, he means, allows his face into a denomination of despair and longing that only his brother can read - is to let Wei Wuxian know.
"Wangji, Wei-gongzi is- he won't know unless you tell him."
"I don't want him to feel obliged," Lan Wangji confesses, slowly, each word pulled out painfully from inside him. "Gusu is his home now, regardless of whether or not he wants to be with me. He cannot be made uncomfortable."
Lan Xichen hums, closing his eyes. "Don't you think he deserves to know?"
Lan Wangji puzzles that over, the thought of his love for Wei Wuxian being received as a gift instead of a burden. For one single moment, he sees a future that he desperately wants: Wei Wuxian in all red beside him as they take their wedding bows.
Lan Wangji casts his eyes down, pouring tea for his brother and the defensive slope of his shoulders signal that the subject is effectively closed.
But when he's at the door of the Hanshi, Lan Xichen interrupts the quiet. "Wangji, you're Hanguang-jun, always where the chaos is. Is it so hard to believe that you might belong at Wei Wuxian's side? That he might want you too?"
*
Gusu, during summer when the temperature lends itself to excitability, is a veritable hub of scholarly activities. All Lan elders are expected to teach classes, take part in the development of their juniors and there is studying to be done from daylight to dusk.
Lan Wangji has chosen to teach music classes this year, all his students are practiced in the basics already, can strum out the Gusu clan tunes with an ease that comes from years of rigorous training. It's the sampling and parcelling of spiritual energy into the notes that they haven't mastered yet, and what he's supposed to teach them.
There are a dozen or so students in the airy, spacious room wide enough to fit all their guqins. The children, all between fourteen to sixteen, are concentrating on the initial exercises that is meditating while allowing yourself to feel your core, letting spiritual energy travel to your fingertips without releasing it. It's how he has learnt as a teenager, Lan Qiren emphasizing that control before mastery is necessary, essential. It's the Gusulan way. The students struggle with it as he had, but they do not give up, little faces and fists scrunched up in concentration.
Wei Wuxian enters the room, resembling the breath of fresh air that has been wafting in from the large, circular windows all morning.
Lan Wangji can feel himself softening at the sight of him. Wei Wuxian's robes are crumpled from where he's been spending his morning in the apothecary's gardens. There's a stray leaf in his hair and he walks in quietly, confidently, casting a quick look at the silently hardworking students who do not stir at the sight of him. Wei Wuxian in Lan Wangji's classrooms has become a common sight, he would sit in during less busier times, his presence a catalyst to offbeat discussions and fun.
He's in a hurry this time around, comes in close to whisper something to Lan Wangji and Lan Wangji turns towards him like a flower to the sun.
"There has been a missive from Yunmeng."
Lan Wangji does not frown but the mention of Yunmeng sparks a shoot of unexpected anxiety in him. "Is everything -alright with your brother?"
Wei Wuxian shakes his head, looking pensive. "The farms around Yunmeng are having an unexpected drought. Jiang Cheng mentioned that it was taking a lot of his time, he suspects that it's something dangerous, to suck as much water and life as it already has."
The obvious conclusion is, and Lan Wangji draws it himself, as if completing Wei Wuxian's sentence. "You're worried for him."
Wei Wuxian nods. "Yunmeng is beautiful around this time of the year, it would be good to go back and see what the fuss is about myself."
The stab of previously felt anxiety resurfaces. Lan Wangji keeps his face neutral. "We can have a boat to Yunmeng prepared by tomorrow morning at the earliest."
There's a pause as if Wei Wuxian is expecting him to say more, and Lan Wangji searches the recesses of his mind for something to say that isn't dripping with petulance at the thought of Wei Wuxian going away from him for an unspecified amount of time- to Yunmeng at that, which Wei Wuxian loves and whose bright piers and wide lakes are more suited to him than the coldness of Gusu.
"Does Wei Ying have any specific requirements?"
Wei Wuxian shakes his head, a little bit absent mindedly before bouncing on his toes. "I'll be off then. Bye, Lan Zhan." He raises his voice. "Bye, Baby Lans."
He waves cheerily at the solemnly focused Lan disciples and a few of them wave back.
He turns back to leave and Lan Wangji watches him walk to the door. Something in him makes him speak out, "Wei Ying! Wait!"
Wei Wuxian turns back around, eyes curious and Lan Wangji walks towards him until they're both situated on the two sides of the open door. His students can see him but they cannot see Wei Ying. It lends a certain intimacy, the liminal space of the doorway where people enter and leave from. Lan Wangji does not want Wei Wuxian to leave. Wei Wuxian leans close expectantly when he draws near and Lan Wangji can smell the earthy herbs on him. He takes a deep breath and neatly picks out the stray leaf from Wei Wuxian's hair.
"You had a leaf. In your hair."
Wei Wuxian laughs, bright and loud. "I always have things in my hair, Lan Zhan. You're fighting a losing battle."
Lan Wangji allows the corner of his mouth to tick up a little, soft, the way he always is in response to Wei Wuxian's smiling, shining face.
"It is not lost yet."
*
Next morning, earlier than Wei Wuxian is usually up, the boat to Yunmeng is prepared and ready to be set off.
Wei Wuxian stands on the deck next to Lan Wangji, watching a Gusulan disciple load yet another decorative box into the boat. There are small mountains of gifts already piled up inside, Gusu's fabrics and herbs and metalwork. Wei Wuxian frowns up at the Second Jade, remnants of sleep still visible in the set of his mouth. "Lan Zhan, this is excessive. The boat is going to sink before we ever reach Yunmeng."
"That won't happen."
Wei Wuxian continues whining. "It's not even an official visit. Is this even necessary?"
Lan Wangji stares off into the distance and does not reply. Wei Wuxian does not stop his needling. "Are you trying to impress Jiang Cheng? That won't do. He cannot overtake me as your favourite."
Lan Wangji rolls his eyes. "I am not trying to impress Jiang Wanyin."
Wei Wuxian raises an eyebrow at him, and Lan Wangji sighs, giving in. "It's so that Jiang Wanyin knows he can't mistreat you anymore. The Gusu clan won't stand for it."
"Ah?" Wei Wuxian looks dubious and a little bit startled. "Lan Qiren would definitely stand for it. He might even join Jiang Cheng. What a team they'll make."
"Wei Ying."
Wei Wuxian sighs before turning up a tired smile towards him. "Sorry, sorry. I know you mean well." Something unreadable flits across his face as he continues, "It's not like I am a Lan. All this ostentatiousness would just piss Jiang Cheng off coming from me."
Lan Wangji doesn't know what to do with the part of himself that wants to seize this opportunity and tell Wei Wuxian that he could be a Lan if he wants to be - if he deigns to be. He wants to throw open his arms and will Wei Wuxian close to himself, right above his heart. He cannot do any of those things so he swallows, gathering his thoughts to best assure Wei Wuxian, an approximation of truth that he hopes the other man could believe.
"You don't have to be a Lan to always have a place here for you." He looks into Wei Wuxian's eyes, willing him to understand the gravity, the veracity of his words. "Gusu is your home, if you want it to be."
Wei Wuxian's eyes are shiny as he laughs shakily in response. "Aiya, Lan Zhan, you are so good. What shall I do with you?"
Lan Wangji stands back, as Wei Wuxian gets into the boat and suddenly there's the water teeming between them, dark and swift, ready to carry him away. The boatman readies his oars but before he can start steering them away, Lan Wangji finds himself hurrying to say, overcome with the same nervousness that has appeared the day before, deep in his gut.
"Wei Ying, are you quite sure you're comfortable going alone? Wouldn't it be better if I accompany you?"
The boatman stares at him, askance, and so does Wei Ying.
Wei Ying recovers first, says patiently and good-naturedly, "Hanguang-jun is too good. It would be better but who will teach the little Lans? You worry too much. It's only Jiang Cheng anyway, I will be fine."
"If Wei Ying says so," he concedes begrudgingly.
He watches as the boat disappears downstream, resigned to his fate. The locals who're up at this time watch him curiously, and he can feel the resulting gossip already tangible in their gaze.
The Second Jade of Gusu is head over heels for the Yiling Patriarch. Could not bear to be parted from him, showering him with gifts and the ardent affections of his gaze and touch.
Lan Wangji does not care. It is old news anyway.
*
Lan Wangji does not spend the next three weeks moping. He gets a lot done: teaches class, helps his brother frame correspondence to tiresome sect leaders, goes on several nighthunts. So what if when evening comes, he can usually be found in the Jingshi, mournfully plucking the notes to Wangxian.
Lan Xichen has shot him several worried looks over the course of the days. "Wangji, Wei-gongzi would be back soon. You can always go to Yunmeng if you want."
Lan Qiren has commented positively on the silences during sect lunches but after taking one look at Wangji's face, he had magnanimously retreated, keeping quiet.
Wei Wuxian sends letters, notes full of rambling details and infectious cheer. Reading them becomes the highlight of Lan Wangji's days, Wei Wuxian's familiar scrawl embodying his easily recognised speaking style. It is good, but it is not enough.
Lan Wangji misses him, actively and ardently, and he does not parcel that longing away. He allows it to run it's neverending course until Wei Wuxian returns. If Wei Wuxian returns.
So.
Wangxian gets played a lot.
*
Lan Wangji is marking tests in the Jingshi, an assignment on the different methods of suppression. Admittedly it does not command a lot of his attention unless the answers are either particularly good or particularly bad.
It has been a tepid summer day but the night is cooler, all sweeping stillness that gets broken when someone loudly barges into the front door of the Jingshi.
His brother always knocks politely before coming in and no one except Lan Xichen visits him here, especially since Sizhui had left to go exploring with Wen Ning. Truthfully there's only one person who could enter and loudly at that.
Lan Wangji's heart is thumping in his chest as he stands up to check, walking up to the living room and sliding the door open.
Wei Wuxian is right there in the middle of the room in all his tired glory. When he turns to meet Lan Wangji's eye, there are dark circles under his eyes and his hair looks ruffled. His smile is still bright and happy and Lan Wangji feels at home at the sight of it, his heart steadier than it has been for weeks.
Lan Wangji takes a minute to just look at him, as he stands there, unexpected and dearly missed. "You're back."
Wei Wuxian nods, smiling. "Of course I am. Did you ever doubt that?"
He means it jokingly but Lan Wangji can't help it as his eyes drop at that, guilty as charged.
Wei Wuxian comes closer, Lan Wangji can hear the frown in his voice. "Lan Zhan! There's no place like home, is it? And Gusu has the most important thing." A dramatic pause as his tone turns wheedling. "Please say you still have the jars of Emperor's Smile here, I am parched."
Lan Wangji huffs out a tiny laugh at that, going to fetch the jars that are in fact present under his roof but he'd barely moved two steps before Wei Wuxian flings himself at him in a flurry of motion, arms going tight around Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian clutches him close, so close, burying his face into Lan Wangji's neck. Could it be that he has also spent the last three weeks missing Lan Wangji the way Lan Wangji had missed him?
Lan Wangji hugs him back tightly, the tension of the weeks apart leaking out and they sway together chest to chest for a minute that stretches into several more, both unwilling to let go.
Wei Wuxian shifts to speak and Lan Wangji can feel the vibrations of his speech reverberate through his own body. "Gusu also has my most favourite person ever."
Lan Wangji hums, eyes narrowed in pleasure even as he deadpans, "I'm afraid Sizhui is not present."
Wei Wuxian leans back and scrunches his face up at him, all mock outrage. "It's you, silly."
Lan Zhan has to smile at that, a curve that mirrors the crescent of moon in the night sky, emanating light that is as soothing as it is beautiful. "Wei Ying…...is also my favourite." The word 'favourite' doesn't quite encompass what he is but it is true, if not whole, and Wei Wuxian face lights up at the admission before he hides it in Lan Wangji's neck, the tops of his ears flushing red.
The rest of the night goes in a familiar yet almost dreamlike pattern. They finally disentangle and Lan Wangji fetches Emperor's Smile from the high shelf which is stacked with jars and jars of it. When Lan Wangji sits down at the low table to pour him a cup, Wei Wuxian sits next to him, close and warm, their knees touching.
Lan Wangji's gaze is warm on him when he slides the cup over to Wei Wuxian, watches him drink in his messy way, liquor dripping down his mouth and rending the skin of his throat glossy and wet. Lan Wangji wants to lick him.
He clears his throat, pouring another cup. "Are you hungry? There must be leftovers we can heat in the kitchens."
"I ate already." Wei Wuxian gulps down the second cup with one quick flick of his wrist, before standing up. "I got here earlier actually, Zewu-jun had them prepare a lavish feast for me."
"You ate with Brother?"
"Yes."
"When did you get here?"
"A couple of hours ago." Wei Wuxian pads into the bedroom, and Lan Wangji, puzzled beyond words, follows him. "Lan Xichen and I had a little talk."
Lan Wangji stands at the entrance of the room as Wei Wuxian takes off his outer robes, unties a sash and then another until all that's left is him in his red underclothes.
He sits on the edge of the bed and looks at Lan Wangji expectantly and Lan Wangji, always a fool for him, follows the beckoning of his gaze and goes to him.
They sit next to each other, the air between them charged with something that is the opposite of the comfortable domesticity that they've fallen into. That they've cultivated.
Lan Wangji, abruptly, is scared. What could his brother have said to Wei Ying? He can face down any demons, any monsters but he cannot face this: Wei Wuxian's back as he walks away from him.
Wei Wuxian is not looking at him, is actively avoiding his gaze, in fact, and when he speaks, Lan Wangji can barely hear him over the loud beating of his own heart. "In Yunmeng, Jiang Cheng had a lot to say. He called us stupid. You and me."
Lan Wangji frowns, wanting to snap his fingers at the irritant that is the thought of Jiang Wanyin and flick him away. "Jiang Wanyin looks at the world through a mirror that reflects nothing back but his own self."
Wei Wuxian tuts, mildly disapproving but he shifts closer and the thing between them that has been electric all evening becomes viscous, the pull to Wei Wuxian stronger than gravity. "Shush, Lan Zhan. He also said I came laden with more gifts than even Sect Leaders' spouses do."
Lan Wangji raises his chin defiantly up at that. "As long as he got the message."
"And what was the message, you scary big baby?"
Lan Wangji looks away but his gaze inevitably returns to Wei Wuxian, who looks stern but also a little bit undone, eyes reflecting back the same uncertainty that he's been feeling himself.
If Wei Wuxian is asking him, then Lan Wangji would not lie, would not hide.
Wei Wuxian does not deserve to be uncertain, and he should know that Lan Wangji's heart is his, to trample or cherish. Whatever he pleases to do.
He takes one last look at Wei Wuxian's beloved face before moving a careful distance away, till they're no longer touching. "Wei Ying." His heart is rabbiting in his chest and his hands want to dart out to take reassurance from Wei Wuxian's skin. "You are the one thing that I would stake my life on, my honour on. No one else is as important as you."
Wei Wuxian is staring at him, eyes wide like he's seen a ghost, the colour rushing to his cheeks in a splash of pink.
Lan Wangji thinks 'Fuck it' before letting it all out. "I love you. Wei Ying, I love you. Wei Ying. That is the message."
Wei Wuxian makes a strangled noise and buries his face into his hands, voice muffled as he says, "Lan Zhan! Warn me before saying things like that."
Lan Wangji looks down fixedly at his own hands, the slightest tremble running through them. He cannot speak. The world is thick and curdling around him and Wei Wuxian's voice seems as if it's coming from very far away.
Wei Wuxian stills and sits up straight, looking from Lan Wangji's face to his hands and the next second he has vaulted himself across the bed and into Lan Wangji's lap. It is indecent, his thighs on either side of Lan Wangji's legs as he rises up on his knees to make eye contact with the taller man.
"Lan Zhan. Hanguang-jun. Sweetheart." He tips Lan Wangji's face up with a gentle thumb, and suddenly Lan Wangji is staring straight into the sun that is Wei Ying's face. He will be blinded and it would be worth it. Wei Wuxian leans in and pecks Lan Wangji's face, once, twice, thrice. "I love you. Of course, I love you."
The fog around Lan Wangji dissipates slowly as joy takes up it's place. He still wants to ask 'Are you sure? Do you mean it?' but Wei Wuxian is peppering kisses all over his face, light butterfly ones that feel like an answer in themselves, like Lan Wangji is someone precious, someone beloved.
He sweeps a broad palm down Wei Wuxian's back before fitting both hands around Wei Wuxian's waist, holding on. Wei Wuxian's whole body stutters in response before going completely still and he kisses the apple of Lan Wangji's cheek one last time before drawing back. His eyes are dark and when Lan Wangji experimentally tightens his grip on Wei Wuxian's waist, they go half-lidded, his full mouth falling open.
Wei Wuxian's voice is low when he speaks. "Lan Zhan. You're so good, the best. You never take what you want."
He leans closer, arms looped behind Lan Wangji's head, until his lips are a breath away. Lan Wangji has to barely move and they'd be kissing, mouth to mouth. He holds still, taut, listening to what Wei Wuxian has to say to him.
"But you should know that if this Wei Ying is someone you want, then you should not hesitate."
Wei Wuxian slides a thumb between their lips, in the center of Lan Wangji's bottom lip, pushing it down, wet and open. "Not even for a second."
Kissing Wei Ying is unlike any of his fantasies, for one thing it is better, sweeter, headier than anything his imagination could come up with. For another, he could not have predicted the way Wei Wuxian moves, whines, pushing down until Lan Wangji falls onto the bed with Wei Wuxian atop him.
Wei Wuxian is joy incarnate, laughing as he shifts into a more comfortable position on top of him, hand on Lan Wangji's chest, right upon his heart.
"Lan Zhan, your ears are red." He giggles. A generous kiss fuller than most meals follows the observation, filling Lan Wangji up with warmth and satisfaction.
"You are so cute," he sighs. "My Lan Zhan."
Lan Wangji parts his legs and Wei Wuxian slides even closer, bodies fitting together. Lan Wangji cups the back of Wei Wuxian's head, kissing him harshly as the other man grinds closer, hip on hip igniting pleasure, igniting bliss.
Wei Wuxian's weight atop him is good but Lan Wangji needs to know what he would look like underneath him.
He flips them over easily, catching Wei Wuxian's wrists as he pins him down.
Wei Wuxian, breathless, blinks at him in surprise before grinning and stretching like a cat in a patch of sunlight. "Hanguang-jun! You have caught me. What are you going to do with me?"
"I am going to do as I wish." Lan Wangji kisses the curve of his smile, before tilting his head down to bite at his throat, teeth working to leave a mark.
Wei Wuxian moans in response, all breathy, but a glint of satisfaction is present in his eyes as he says, "Good boy."
*
Dear Jiang Wanyin,
You're cordially invited to the wedding of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian-