Chapter Text
“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian shouted. Most people on the streets that morning were rushing around, desperate for cover from the pouring rain. He, on the other hand, was trying to catch the attention of the handsome man walking by himself down the street ahead of him.
———————
“Ah- Lan Zhan, I was calling your name, why didn’t you look back at me?” He said when he finally caught up. “Oh, you must have not heard me. Haha, silly me, with all this rain and people how could you have heard me? Aiya- I’m getting too old for running after you, hahahaha,” he said, grinning as he took in some deep breaths.
He looked up at Lan Zhan and their eyes met. His mind stopped functioning and he stared for a good few seconds, trying to think of what to say when a raindrop hit him in the eye. Snapping out of his daze, he jerked his head down.
“Fuckkkkk, oww that hurtsss,” he whined under his breath, rubbing his irritated eye. Then he paused, he couldn’t feel the rain on his back anymore, had it stopped suddenly? No, he still saw rain splashing on the slick concrete. He couldn’t feel it was because Lan Zhan had silently brought his umbrella over him. Grateful for the cover, he stood up to thank him to find that as Lan Zhan moved the umbrella closer, he also had to step closer to cover the both of them. He quickly realized that as he ended up way too close for comfort. Not to him, he had been crushing on Lan Zhan since high school and was screaming internally from the close proximity but he knew that Lan Zhan was uncomfortable standing this close to anyone. He quickly stepped back into the rain, instinctively putting some distance between them. Trying to hide his pink cheeks from the close contact, he stammered a bit trying to organize his racing thoughts and heart. “Oh, er, sorry Lan Zhan. I haven’t seen you in so long. Feels like forever. Do you want to go somewhere and catch-up? Uh, w-where were you going?”
“Cafe.” Was the reply that Lan Zhan gave, his voice calm and soft.
“Let’s go together then! We can talk some more there.” Wei Ying shivered, now back in the rain, he soon grew cold. Eyeing Lan Zhan, he resisted the urge to duck under the pale blue umbrella again as they walked to their destination. Upon arriving at the small coffee shop at the end of the block, they stopped, both hesitant to take the initiative and open the door. “So, er - do you want to go in together and get a table?” Seeing no reply, he took the silence for a yes and quickly opened the door for him. “After you,” he said with a flick of his hair and a wink.
Without a reaction or reply, Lan Zhan calmly brought down his umbrella and after shaking excess water from it, walked into the bustling store and stood on the side, waiting in line for a table.
“So, Lan Zhan ah, why are you here?” Wei Wuxian asked as he hurried in to stand next to him.
“Work.”
Wei Wuxian paused at that. Jeez, when does this guy do anything fun?
They stood awkwardly in silence as they waited for service. Wei Wuxian desperately wanted to start some small talk again but his mind was abnormally blank of ways to break the ice between them. Ice that was 3 feet thick and seemed to be always present.
He was definitely grateful for the waiter that came over to lead them to a table. Never one to miss an opportunity to flirt, Wei Wuxian chatted with her on the way up to their table upstairs, laughing and smiling at her every word as he tried to ignore the awkward tension between him and Lan Zhan.
When they got up, he continued talking with her, now glancing over at Lan Zhan every so often to gauge a reaction. Like always, he gave none. Lan Zhan just stood there and watched the entire transaction with a frozen expression. After a minute or two of this, Wei Wuxian glanced over again and after still seeing no reaction at his shameless flirting, he gave up, taking the menus and thanked the waiter.
Lan Zhan sat down first, placing his bag down gently and sitting up straight and perfectly as he got out his computer to start working. Wei Wuxian pouted at the perfect mannerisms but then grinned, having the sudden urge to try and distract him. He pulled out his chair and sat down, swinging his feet up and dumping them on the table as he threw down his bag with no care. Now, he usually would never act this rudely. He wasn't that unruly, but whenever he was with Lan Zhan, he always had the urge to mess with him.
Lan Zhan paused and glanced up, his expression didn’t change but it felt like he was offended. “Sit properly.”
Rolling his eyes, he blew the strand of hair out of his eyes and took his legs off the table. After a second thought, he crossed them.
“...”
Laughing, he smiled at Lan Zhan. “Lan Zhan, you aren’t seriously going to make me uncross my legs as well right?”
“... no. ”
Again, awkward silence fell at the table as the conversation died (for like the thousandth time).
Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Zhan feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Lan Zhan sat there with no expression change, looking perfectly content with just ignoring him and typing. He put his hands on the table and rested his chin against them, staring up at Lan Zhan.
But, while externally he maintained a seemingly composed front, internally Wei Wuxian was running a shit show. He wasn’t even running it. He was just kind of in the middle of it, mentally shouting at other versions of himself which were, in turn, shouting back. His anxiety, morality, logic and fantastical sides all in a panic. Every from “fUcK HiS EYeS ArE PreTTY” to “WhY iS EvERyThINg AbOUt HIm sO gOdDaMN PeRFEcT” to “I wONdER WhAT HiS LiPS TaSTE LiKE”.
Wei Wuxian shook his head, mentally shouting back at himself to calm. The. Fuck. Down. Why did the universe have to create such a perfect human? Scratch that, Lan Zhan was a fucking angel.
As he pondered that question, his eyes fell on Lan Zhan’s. He had stopped typing and was watching him. Thinking that he got caught staring, he immediately broke eye contact, uncomfortably looking at his feet. “Sooo, Lan Zhan ah, are you hungry? Shall we order something?”
———————
Smiling, he waved at the waiter from earlier to come over. “MianMian, can we order now?” Wei Wuxian was distracted as he proceeded to charm the waitress, batting his eyelashes and giving her his winning smiles. He didn’t notice Lan Zhan watching silently behind him. He definitely didn’t notice as Lan Zhan’s hands tightened.