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Face made of jade and heart made of ice. Figure as magnificent as cold. Distance from the rest made him into more of ethereal imagine than real person.
Preserving this façade wasn’t easy, but it was something that had to be done. There were many expectations directed at him and every single one had to be fulfilled. Lan Wangji couldn’t do anything except comply.
At least, that’s what he had thought previously. Before everything happened.
***
Wei Wuxian’s stay at Gusu started like an earthquake and then somehow it got only worse. Not only has he put an end to everlasting peace, something Lan Wangji had no idea that it was even possible after living in Cloud Recesses for his whole life, but also same thing to Lan Wangji’s unsuspecting heart.
This situation was unacceptable. Lan Wangji has never agreed to something as scandalous as having feelings. Extremely strong, insufferable, hopeless, romantic feelings. This couldn’t be! But somehow, it clearly was.
It wasn’t even that much of unthinkable. Not when there were so many, many reasons to love Wei Wuxian. His as quick as sharp wit, unquestionable, strong sense of justice and selflessness, visible in all his actions directed at people he cares about. And yet, only his brighter than the sun smile would have been enough to do the trick. Truly, Lan Wangji should have known from the start that he stood no chance with fighting his emotions. Not that it took him too long to realise that. There are things in life that you can’t just ignore.
One of them being Wei Wuxian, nobody would argue with that. Especially not Lan Wangji. It was almost embarrassing how easy Wei Wuxian was able to grab his attention. To make it even worse, this boy made his first priority to nag Lan Wangji into becoming friends with their peers. It was hard to believe that a person famous for his discipline and ruthless righteousness would befriend the notorious troublemaker trio but that was exactly what has had taken place here.
It wasn’t easy at first, of course. Lan Wangji was still himself and a single cute boy couldn’t chance his entire personality after just one meeting. But eventually, something has begun to change. Walls, carefully crafted across all these years, were fading at slow, almost excruciating pace. And, not only wei Wuxian but Nie Huaisang as well, were always there for and with him. Even Jiang Cheng reluctantly welcomed him to their group after some time.
Everything was looking good, great even. Lan Wangji never before understood distinct between being content with your life and feeling happy. Now, the difference could not be more clear. Especially after Nie Huaisang made it their personal duty to teach him the fine art of enjoying life to its fullest.
Nie Huaisang. If Wei Wuxian barged into Lan Wangji’s life like a tornado, then Nie Huaisang presence was like nice breeze on a summer day. It was incredibly easy to do nothing but let yourself be around them. Relaxed. Completely at ease. They understood his need for occasional peace, however they also gently showed him thing out of his usual comfort zone that could also like. Their exceptional intelligence maybe didn’t show by shining on lectures but it other areas instead
To hold such affection, to fall in love with two people was not something that Lan Wangji’s heart was ready for. To devote one’s heart with so thoughtfully, so tenderly and so earnestly. To know that it was wholeheartedly and profoundly reciprocated. It was incredible. It was beautiful. Absolutely dazzling. Lan Wangji was never more mortified in his entire life.
How could he not? He never thought something like this would happen to him. He never thought he would deserve such care. There were times times when he still didn’t know what changed in that regard.
Luckily for all three of them, Nie Huaisang knew that something wasn’t all right before Lan Wangji himself was fully aware of it.
“Lan Zhan? Lan Zhan, are you here? Oh, that’s great. I finally found you,” saying that, Nie Huaisang closed their fan and walked up to Lan Wangji. They wanted to sit on his lap and kiss him senseless until all his baseless will be forgotten. Unfortunately, this place was already occupied by one of his bunnies. Nie Huaisang had to be satisfied with embracing him from behind and nuzzing their face into crook of his neck. “Even only a few hours without my you is too much, you know? I missed my Lan Zhan,” they muttered softly.
This seemed to work just as planned. Lan Wangji was no longer clenching his fists and became significantly less stiff. However, the discomfort was still visibly present if one knew how to look for it. Nie Huaisang knew. And he wouldn’t allow it.
“Lan Zhan,” a kiss on the neck. “Stop thinking,” another one, a little higher this time, just under his ear. “And relax here with me,” to emphasize, they turned Lan Zhan’s face just a little bit and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Understood?”
Before any replay had a chance of being voiced, a loud voice abruptly interrupted their conversation.
“A-Sang! Lan Zhan! There you are!” Wei Wuxian skipped to them and nearly threw himself into Lan Zhang’s, now free, lap. All rabbits fled in terror and he has shamelessly taken advance of this situation. It didn’t go unnoticed by neither Nie Huaisang or Lan Zhan.
“Not fair,” pouted Nie Huaisang. “I was here with Lan Zhan first.” They hugged him a little to make their point. Lan Wangji kissed them on the nose as an reply. And then once more, because he wanted to and could do it.
“Not fair,” Lan Zhan agreed earnestly. “You also scared away the rabbits. Chunky was sleeping,” he added in an accusatory tone.
This seemed to be satisfactory enough of an response to Nie Huaisang as they lightened again. However, that also made Wei Wuxian more determined to gain all the attention to himself once more. He grabbed Lan Wangji’s face and smacked their lips soundly.
“To kiss another when I’m there, right in front of you? You wound me, Lan Zhan. What I have done to deserve such a cruel punishment? Lan Zhan, You know how much I hate being ignored,” Wei Wuxian whined theatrically. “Well, I guess I’ll have to do everything myself,” saying that, he grabbed Lan Wangji’s face and started making out with him. Lan Wangji was visibly how the whole situacion turned out and happily obliged. They were both deep into it, when Lan Wangji put his hands on Wei Wuxian’s hips and moved him as close as possible.
Nie Huaisang simply couldn’t stand this injustice. He was there too and as hot watching their two boyfriends was, it would never compare to actually doing it. They rose slightly and tickled Wei Wuxian. Barely touched, really. Nevertheless, that was enough. Wei Wuxian broke into huge fit of laughter.
“A-Sang!” He uttered finally. “You're the one playing dirty now!”
Suddenly, a sparkle of mischief appeared in Wei Wuxian’s eyes. It could mean only one thing. A complete chaos. Nothing would be able to stop from whatever plan he was forming in his head now.
As it turned out, the idea itself was fairy simple. A tickle war. It should be noted only as natural response to Nie Huaisang’s first attack. The mess, however, that it created, was immense. Humongous even. Nobody could have been prepared.
First, Wei Wuxian jumped on his unsuspecting soon-to-be victim- Nie Huaisang. The sheer, brute force of their bodies crashing together made Nie Huaisang fall onto their back. As his next move, Wei Wuxian used it as an opportunity to sit down on their hips and properly start his ambush. He was tickling him ruthlessly before NIe Huaisang had any chance to comprehend fully what was happening. The victory was inevitable.
Except, Lan Wangji was still there. Watching. But not for long. As Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to announce his greatest triumph in life so far, Lan Wangji unexpectedly swoop into action. He stuck at Wei Wuxian side. The effect was immediate. Wei Wuxian nearly cried in laughter. Nie Huaisang wasted no time. They rolled both of them over, so they could be on the top of Wei Wuxian now. Nie Huaisang grabbed him by his wrists and hold them firmly on the ground, at the sides of his head. Wei Wuxian was trapped. Both of them were just breathing heavily for a moment and then started to giggle at the same time.
Nie Huaisang slowly leaned down until their noses touching. Their smile was radiant and their eyes were sparkling full of love.
“Looks like I won. Where is my reward?” They asked playfully. Then, not waiting for any reply, Nie Huaisang closed their eyes and slowly placed their lips on lips belonging to his “defeated opponent”. Wei Wuxian, despite losing, was more than glad for the final outcome. He kissed him enthusiastically and put his hands in their hair to prolong the moment.
Then, struck with realisation, Wei Wuxian abruptly stopped. To say that Nie Huaisang was confused was an a severe understatement. Seemingly nothing happened to cause this rather strange reaction.
“Wait! Lan Zhan hasn’t been tickled by any of us yet. We can’t let him get away with it!” He exclaimed like the mere thought of it offended him personally. Truth to be told, it probably did. If Lan Wangji had any scapes of hope that at least Nie Huaisang would spare him, he was very soon to be painfully mistaken.
And so, the war went on. In a split second, both, Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang, had only
a single goal in mind. To make Lan Wangji laugh. Loudly. Okay, maybe just a little snicker would have been enough. They would really settle for hear almost anything. Regardless, they were ready to attempt the impossible.
As it turned out, their fears were baseless. Lan Wangji, on of the Twin Jades of Lan, was, in fact, awfully ticklish. Maybe he didn’t had it as bad as Wei Wuxian but he was still a lost cause. He stood no chance of surviving ambush like that one. Not even a moment after Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian united their forces, Lan Wangji had tears in his eyes and begged them to stop. The whole thing seems simply unreal for his boyfriends. They discovered probably the greatest secret he kept hidden from them.
“Lan Zhan! How come you never told us you’re not immune to tickles!” Wei Wuxian asked in an accusatory tone. He and Nie Huaisang both frozen in their actions as soon as they saw Lan Wangji’s reaction, too deep in shock to continue. “How could you not tell us that! Do you not trust your boyfriends anymore? A-Sang, did you hear it? Lan Zhan doesn’t trust us. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Unbelievable.”
At this point, Wei Wuxian was just openly pouting and shaking his head slowly. This couldn’t be. Lan Wangji, on the other hand, was blushing viciously. He tried to bury his face in hands but it was pointless as his glowing red ears were clearly on display. Lan Wangji couldn’t remember the time he was more embarrassed. Maybe it was this one time everyone just came to attend lectures in Cloud Recess and he almost walked into a wall because he was too busy admiring his now boyfriends to be fully aware of his surroundings. After a quick reflection that didn’t help this particular situation in any way, Lan Wangji concluded that yes, it had to be this one.
Wei Wuxian was planning to tease Lan Wangji for a little longer as it seemed to be once in
a lifetime kind of opportunity. However, Nie Huaisang decided to intervene before he unintentionally killed their boyfriend. He was aware how rare of occasion that was but the risk of Lan Wangji accidentally dying from embarrassment right there was just a too great of
a price. Even if it was a little tempting to join in. It did seem to be a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity, after all.
“Hey, Wei Ying, stop bullying my boyfriend.” They interrupted him quickly. After that, they turned to look at Lan Wangji again and told him with a little too much sincerity to be entirely genuine. “You have nothing to worry of, Lan Zhan. I will cherish you forever, even if this idiot next to us won’t.”
“Thank you, A-Sang. I will do the same for you.” Muttered Lan Wangji, making no attempt to remove his hands from the face or move in any other way.
Satisfied with their breathtaking declaration of undying love, Nie Huaisang kissed Lan Wangji on the barely visible forehead. He was still very much embarrassed but maybe less mortified now. Wei Wuxian being himself, felt offended again, this time it was even slightly justified.
“A-Sang! What are you talking about! And Lan Zhan is my boyfriend too!”
“Not when you’re being so mean to him. I won’t allow it.”
In that exact moment, Wei Wuxian had an expression of a person who took a joke just a tad too seriously. He looked distressed at Lan Wangji, who haven’t yet gathered the courage required to face the world once more. In the end, he didn’t have to, as Wei Wuxian did it for him. Lan Wangji’s face hasn’t completely let go of the blush yet but it resembled much more his usual stoic expression already.
After being forcefully reintroduced to the harsh reality they were all living in, Lan Wangji had to finally act like he was part of it again. Before Wei Wuxian could do something as foolish as actually think Nie Huaisang broke up with him on Lan Wangji’s behalf or beg for forgiveness, Lan Wangji finally joined the discussion.
“Wei Ying, do not listen to A-Sang. I will never stop loving you.” He gave Wei Wuxian an unbearably soft yet serious look and squeezed his hands in reassurance. This made Wei Wuxian instantly relax. He grinned wildy and sticked his tongue at Nie Huaiang.
“See, A-Sang? I’m still one of his favourites.” He declared proudly, thriving on a new found attention. There was only one thing missing. Or two. He gave a quick kiss to both of his boyfriends. “Don’t worry, A-Sang. I forgive you for spreading nasty lies like this. But only this time.”
“Thank you, Wei Ying, for your generosity,” Nie Huaisang grinned in amusement. “But I’m not convinced entirely.”
Wei Wuxian was never the one to back down from the dare. He smiled wickedly and said, full of confidence.
“You are right, A-Sang. Let me fix my mistake.”
Nie Huaisang managed to only giggle quietly before Wei Wuxian started to showering them in small kisses, all across their face. When both of them were busy with kissing and laughing at the silliness of the whole scene, Lan Wangji changed his position to be able to lay on Nie Huaisang’s back. His head was resting on theirs and he was hugging him tightly.
This wasn’t how Lan Wangji imagined this afternoon to end at all but he could find no reason to complain.