Work Text:
Wei Wuxian stormed into Silence Hall the moment he was sure Lan Wangji was alone. “Lan Zhan! You tricked me!”
Lan Wangji barely raised an eyebrow and did not look up from the book on the table before him. “Oh?””
Wei Wuxian crossed his arms. “That song had a name all along.”
“I said what it was.”
“Exactly, you tricked me!” Wei Wuxian threw himself down next to Lan Wanji, sprawling out and propping himself up on one arm. “You’re mean spirited.”
“Wei Ying.”
“See? How was I supposed to know, with you chiding me like this all the time?”
Lan Wangji finally looked up. “Why are you here?”
“You have to ask?” Wei Wuxian laughed, but Lan Wangji only blinked. “Well, you wrote me a love song, didn’t you?”
Lan Wangji looked away again in two motions, first flicking his eyes to the middle distance, then down to the floor. “Yes.”
“That’s why I’m here.” He itched the side of his nose. “You, know, if you’re going to confess your feelings, you should do it outright. It’s not fair to be so subtle.”
“Is that what you would do?”
“Ah.” Wei Wuxian let out one nervous chuckle. “It’s a do as I say, not as I do thing, isn’t it?
“Is it?” Lan Wangji rose and stepped over to the door, staring into the night. “What would you do?”
“I wouldn’t confess my feelings at all. You should know that.”
Lan Wangji’s head turned, not enough to look back, but enough to see that he might.
“What, do you think I only came here to tease you?” Wei Wuxian stood. “You ought to be smarter than that. I thought you were my equal, after all.”
“Wei Ying,” he said, barely more than a breath.
“Okay, okay. No teasing.” Wei Wuxian stepped up beside him. “You said once that you regretted not being by my side all those years ago. I would regret not being by your side for all our years to come.”
Lan Wangji looked straight ahead, but his shoulders relaxed the slightest bit. He dropped his hands from behind his back, one coming to rest at his side so close to Wei Wuxian’s that he could feel the warmth. “And if I wanted you closer than at my side?”
“Lan Zhan, are you propositioning me?” He earned a very hard look, the sort he was certain Lan Wangji had not given him since their early days. “Right, right, no teasing.” But he couldn’t lose his smile. “I would like to be close to you. However close you will let me be.”
Lan Wangji turned, his eyes on the floor for a long moment before coming up to meet Wei Wuxian’s. He took his hand in his and brought it towards his face. Wei Wuxian tried to keep from trembling. It would be better if Lan Wangji would just kiss him, or more, anything where they didn’t have to look at each other and didn’t have to talk and could let their simpler desires take precedence over any deeper feeling. But Lan Wangji pressed We Wuxian’s hand to his cheek, letting his fingertips land on his headband, and Wei Wuxian could not hide.
“This isn’t me teasing,” he said, and it wasn’t, not entirely, “but does this mean we’re married now?” He stroked the band gently, to show he wasn’t saying no if it did.
“Yes,” said Lan Wangji, but the corners of his mouth turned up the slightest bit.
Wei Wuxian pouted. “Is it fair for you to tease me?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose that’s true.” He relaxed, leaning into Lan Wangji a little bit. “I didn’t think you’d ever let me be here.”
“I invited you. Repeatedly.”
“Lan Zhan, I don’t mean Cloud Recess. I meant--” But he caught Lan Wangji’s eye, and once again Wei Wuxian had played the fool. “Oh.”
“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji put one hand on the front of Wei Wuxian’s robes. Their faces were very close now. Wei Wuxian could feel the soft ghost-tickle of his breath. How many years had it been, since Wei Wuxian had first thought of kissing the smug look off Lan Wangji’s face? How many years had that smug look already disappeared when they were together? He tilted his head, just enough so that their foreheads touched. Wei Wuxian had kissed his fair share of people in his youth, and had done more, but this was different. This was Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji leaned just a little closer, the mere hair’s width left between their lips feeling like an impossible abyss. It made Wei Wuxian ache, his fingertips trembled against Lan Wangji’s cheek. “Lan Zhan,” he whispered. “Please.”
Lan Wangji’s breath hitched, his fingers curled tighter against Wei Wuxian’s chest, and at last he closed the distance between them.
His lips were unbearably soft and gentle. Wei Wuxian was torn between the impulse to respond in kind or to let loose all the rough hunger stored up inside him. He wanted to take all of Lan Wangji, to claim him as his own and never let him go, but he did not want to scare him away. He let his hand slide from Lan Wangji’s cheek to the back of his neck, letting his hand curl possessively to test the waters.
The response was immediate, Lan Wangji did not shy away but grabbed Wei Wuxian’s waist with both hands. He deepened the kiss, still gentle but more urgent, his lips parting to allow Wei Wuxian entrance. Wei Wuxian let his fingers tangle in Lan Wangji’s hair, clawing desperately for more closeness with every motion. He felt that if anything came between them he would die again. All he had of his soul would desert his body, be scattered to the four winds, never to be recovered. He needed Lan Wanji more than he needed air. He could not let go. He needed to be closer, he kissed harder, losing any grace he had to the sheer weight of need. Wei Wuxian tore his lips down to Lan Wangji’s neck, kissing a trail to just under the edge of his robes and biting down on the tender start of his shoulder muscle.
Lan Wangji gasped. His grip on Wei Wuxian’s waist loosened and for a moment the icy fear that he had gone too far gripped Wei Wuxian, but then Lan Wangji grabbed the back of his head and pressed his face firmly to the spot. Wei Wuxian sucked and bit at the skin, living for how Lan Wangi’s breath came in gasps, the way his hand felt in his hair, how his other hand slipped around his back to press him closer.
“Lan Zhan,” he murmured with the last sense left to him. “Should we move away from the door?”
Lan Wangji did not speak an answer, but hoisted Wei Wuxian up in his arms, sweeping them both to the side towards the bed. Wei Wuxian wrapped his legs around him and arched his back to keep kissing him-- kissing his mouth, his neck, a spot just behind his ear that nearly made Lan Wangji drop him. Wei Wuxian kept his mouth there until they tumbled onto the bed together, and the pace changed. Lan Wangji kissed down his neck, pulled aside his robe, his lips working along Wei Wuxian’s chest, down and down and--
“Wei Ying,” he said, his voice strained. “I want--”
“Yes.” It didn’t matter what he wanted, Wei Wuxian was nothing now but a pile of want strung up in the shape of a man, Lan Wangji could not offer anything he did not already desire. “Please.”
Lan Wangi’s hands made graceful work of the sash at Wei Wuxian’s waist, and Wei Wuxian made clumsier work of Lan Wangji’s. But Lan Wangji grew less graceful, more urgent with every piece of clothing thereafter. His mouth found its way to each exposed part of Wei Wuxian before a garment could even hit the ground. Wei Wuxian let his hands roam, over muscles and scars, his heart tightening at the latter even as it quickened for the former. He paused, holding Lan Wangji’s gaze for a moment before propping himself up to kiss just above his headband. It was too tender for the moment, he was sure, but he needed it just as badly.
Lan Wangji’s urgency fell away. He pressed his face into Wei Wuxian’s chest, and Wei Wuxian held him. Lan Wangji’s hands pressed against his back; Wei Wuxian rested his chin on his head. “You’ll stay?” Lan Wangji asked, soft and muffled against Wei Wuxian’s skin.
“Always, if you’ll let me.”
Lan Wangji began kissing him again, but slower now, his lips, eyes, and hands tracing patterns over Wei Wuxian’s body. Wei Wuxian lay back on the bed, holding any part of Lan Wangji he could reach. He felt almost that he might cry, or break into pieces. “Lan Zhan,” he whispered, and he came to lie beside him, their bodies pressed together. Wei Wuxian stroked his face. “You did not say if you will stay.”
Lan Wangji met his eyes and held his face. “You have me. Forever.” He untied his headband and wrapped it around their hands, binding them together, and kissed Wei Wuxian’s fingertips. “I am yours.”
Wei Wuxian pulled him closer, their bound hands the only thing between them. “I want to hear that song again, now that I know.”
“You’ve played it yourself many times.”
“That’s not the same.” He rested his head against Lan Wangji’s and closed his eyes. “I want to hear it from you.”
He felt Lan Wangji press his free hand against Wei Wuxian’s cheek, and the song began just as when Wei Wuxian had first heard it. Except now he understood, and could feel the warmth of Lan Wangji’s body pressed against him. The melody was no longer a mystery, but a home.