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On the last day of summer, Lan Zhan finds Wei Wuxian at the edge of the Northwest Inner Lake. This part of Cloud Recesses is restricted to outsiders, small gardens and training grounds lining the edge of one of their smallest lakes. A space for the most advanced benders of the clan to train and to experiment with their bending, a little removed from the main parts of the compound, for privacy and protection from accidental destruction or flooding. Wei Wuxian is not allowed to be here, but Lan Zhan is not exactly surprised to spot him. It has to be about the only space left in all of Cloud Recesses that he has not sneaked into at least once. Since tomorrow is the day when all the guest disciples will be returning home after their year of studies, it is his last chance to add this place to the list.
Not that Wei Wuxian seems to be making much of his ability to break into a secluded Lan training space. As he approaches, Lan Zhan can see that the other boy has gathered a small pile of stones from the pebbled beach, and is skipping them over the surface of the lake. It seems an unusually calm activity, by his standards. Nothing particularly troublesome about it at all.
That does not prevent Lan Zhan from putting himself between Wei Wuxian and the edge of the lake and announcing flatly: "You are out of bounds." He barely resists adding "again", because the number of times Lan Zhan has caught Wei Wuxian in exactly this position is truly staggering.
"Lan Zhan!", Wei Wuxian laughs, a grin spreading over his face as he clutches his chest dramatically. "Lan Zhan, you startled me, how rude to sneak up on someone like this!" He does not look startled, beyond his performative movements. He looks like he has been waiting for exactly this moment. Lan Zhan catches himself on that observation, and then firmly dismisses it as irrelevant. So what if Wei Wuxian has been waiting here, at the edge of the lake, waiting to be caught. It's probably somehow part of his little games. Lan Zhan is unfortunately aware that his own reaction is perfectly predictable, and that he is helpless not to react to the provocation.
"You are out of bounds", he repeats, and then steps back in the direction of the main compound. "Come back with me right now to receive your punishment." There is a rhythm to these exchanges of theirs, well established by now: Wei Wuxian will get up, and he will follow Lan Zhan back meekly enough, but he will not be quiet about it. There will be teasing, endless complaints and jokes and more teasing, on the entire way back, and then Wei Wuxian will throw himself down in the library and copy the assigned rules with very poor grace. At least Lan Zhan has not had to bodily drag him back after the first two times.
Today, Wei Wuxian sighs, slow and soft, instead of launching his usual litany of complaints about how strict and unfair the rules are. He stretches, languidly, as Lan Zhan blinks in shock at the deviation from the routine. Then he knocks over his pile of pebbles and stretches out on his back on the shore, face tilted up into the sun. "Lan Zhan, I'm not in the mood to be punished by you today", Wei Wuxian murmurs, with a small smile. "Don't you think sitting in the library is going to be a waste on such a nice afternoon? Why don't you sit down and keep me company here instead? I can teach you how to skip stones, I bet haven't ever done that, since no one here seems to understand the concept of fun and relaxation..."
Lan Zhan glares down at him, which unfortunately does not faze Wei Wuxian in the slightest. "Come back with me right now", he repeats. Wei Wuxian pouts, actually pouts up at him, as if Lan Zhan is being the completely unreasonable one in this situation. "Lan Zhan, but I don't want to", he says, and then his expression shifts into a smirk that Lan Zhan is also more familiar with than he would like. "What if...what if I was not out of bounds at all? This is a training space, isn't it? And you're here to train! So I'm only being a good friend, by meeting you here! To be your sparring partner!"
It's one of his better defenses when faced with rule-breaking, actually. Lan Zhan has certainly heard much more nonsensical things from him in the last few months. "Access to this lake is only granted to clan members", Lan Zhan points out calmly. Which Wei Wuxian is aware of and neglected to mention. He receives another dramatic, put-upon sigh in response, and Wei Wuxian crosses his arms behind his head to lie down in a more comfortable position. "Fine, fine, I'll go to the punishment ... later", Wei Wuxian answers brightly. "The sun will go down in about two hours anyway, I'll be all yours then, Lan Zhan."
In response to this, Lan Zhan moves in one swift motion and wraps a long thin coil of water around Wei Wuxian's wrist, and drags him up on his feet.
"Rude!", Wei Wuxian yelps, flailing and then flipping mid-air with a sudden gust of wind that forces Lan Zhan back two steps, and severs the water coil. Wei Wuxian jumps, twirls gracefully and touches down softly a little further away. "That was so mean of you, Lan Zhan", he admonishes, but his eyes are alight with mischief. "You should have just said that you want to do the sparring right now!"
Lan Zhan does not have any response to this except indignation, and he is not willing to verbalize it. Instead he forms two new water coils and whips them towards Wei Wuxian, much less carefully than in the previous attempt. If Wei Wuxian thinks he can play around here, of all places, where Lan Zhan has an entire lake to draw on, then he's a fool. Lan Zhan will make him copy extra lines once he's dragged him back to the library.
They have not fought since that first night, when Lan Zhan walked his patrol and was confronted with an unruly disciple sitting on a rooftop. Now, Wei Wuxian effortlessly evades the opening attack, and then touches down on the ground, shifting into a basic Earthbending stance. It is a little mocking, a deliberate callback to their first encounter. Lan Zhan had known him then as a member of Jiang clan, from their first meeting at the gates. And when he'd moved into fighting Wei Wuxian that night, this was what he had expected: a Jiang earthbender. Lan Zhan had not fought one of them before, but he had studied their style like those of the other major clans. He had known what to expect, right until the moment when Wei Wuxian shifted out of his stance in one swift motion and used a heavy gust of air to throw Lan Zhan on the ground, hard. Lan Zhan had been up in a second, but he still remembers his flash of furious, indignant shock. Now, almost a year later, Wei Wuxian uses that same movement, but it is almost playful. He knows that Lan Zhan will not fall for the same trick twice, that the element of surprise only worked for him once.
Lan Zhan has been turning their moonlight fight over and over in his mind, and had almost convinced himself Wei Wuxian only had an upper hand since Lan Zhan was still adjusting to the notion of an airbender fighting in a wild mixture of Jiang earthbending moves and his own, unique style. Within three moves at the edge of the lake, Lan Zhan realises that he might have been mistaken. Within ten moves, he is certain of it. Yes, Wei Wuxian's style is unusual and unpredictable, but it is not what makes him a devastatingly good warrior. He's fast, and ruthless about exploiting every tiny gap in Lan Zhan's defences, and all his teasing has been dropped in favour of single-minded focus. Lan Zhan matches him in every move, every attack and counter, as they move over the pebbled beach.
Lan Zhan has not sparred like this in a very long time, not since it became apparent that he outclasses most of the other Lan waterbenders, at least when it comes to pure fighting abilities. He still has much to learn when it comes to other aspects like healing. However, there has not been a bender in Gusu for almost two years who can beat the Second Jade of Lan in a duel. Xichen is far beyond him in terms of raw power and mastery, but his brother is, at heart, a healer and not a warrior.
And here is Wei Wuxian, dancing through the air and making it look almost effortless to challenge Lan Zhan to the point where he has to put almost everything he has into the fight, just to match his opponent. Lan Zhan has been absolutely wasting their entire year together – he should have been challenging Wei Wuxian to duels like this every day. to hone their skills. He is Lan Zhan's match, and the knowledge of that settles in his mind like a stone.
They cover the entire length of the beach, twisting and turning, both trying to provoke that single slip in defense, the tiny advantage that will win a duel like there, where the opponents are so closely aligned in terms of skill and power. Moving against Wei Wuxian, with Wei Wuxian, is exhilirating. Lan Zhan feels like he could do it all night, but then the fact remains that he also wants to win. Obviously, speed and clever moves will not help him, since Wei Wuxian is a master of both. However, Lan Zhan has not pushed the limits of his raw power, simply because he has never need to do so until this moment.
He steps back, deliberately losing ground when Wei Wuxian pushes him, hard. Soft waves are lapping around his shoes, and Lan Zhan allows himself a deep breath of satisfaction. He loves the water, and he loves the way he can feel it as an extension of himself, vast and still. Then he reaches out, out, for the entire lake, and raises all of it in one huge wave that crashes down on Wei Wuxian's head. There is nowhere for him to escape, no block to put up that stands against the raw pressure of the water. Lan Zhan moves with it, moves through it, and when Wei Wuxian falters, bows, Lan Zhan is there and throws him down on the ground. He holds Wei Wuxian down, and presses the two points in his shoulders that will briefly numb his arms and prevent him from bending. Simultaneously, he exerts his control to disperse the wave before it can crash against the nearest wall.
For a moment, all is quiet. They are both breathing hard. The entire beach is one slow flood of receding water, gurgling on its way back into the lake. Wei Wuxian is completely soaked, and blinking water out of his eyes with a slightly stunned expression. Then he looks up at Lan Zhan, who is still holding him down, and his expression resolves into incredulous delight, of all things. "Lan Zhan, that was, that was half of the entire lake! Amazing!", Wei Wuxian says, and the shock and excitement of it is still hiding in the corners of his smile. Lan Zhan likes this expression on him. "I didn't know you could even do that, I mean obviously you're the best waterbender I know, but the sheer power of that, just... wow. If I hadn't been busy being half-drowned by it, I'm pretty sure I would have swooned just at the sight of it. You're very attractive when you fight, you know."
Lan Zhan blinks at that. Perhaps it was too much to hope that losing would throw Wei Wuxian off his usual teasing. He is suddenly, horrifyingly aware that they are very close. Lan Zhan is still holding him down, kneeling above him and holding both of Wei Wuxian's wrists. He releases them, and Wei Wuxian blinks and actually stops talking, and also seems to really take stock of their positions for the first time. His grin turns soft. "You beat me", he admits, and relaxes back into the pebbles, making no attempt to move away from his trapped position. "That was fun, wasn't it, Lan Zhan? I wish we could do it again."
Lan Zhan nods in agreement, without thinking. He is not used to have Wei Wuxian's face so close to his own. His eyes are light brown and unexpectedly pretty. "You are an excellent fighter, Wei Ying", Lan Zhan says, because it is the truth, and because he has already broken the rules today and feels reckless enough to want the taste of Wei Wuxian's name on his tongue. He isn't expecting the blush that rises on Wei Wuxian's face, or the way that his eyes flick away, and then back again. "You... you can't just say nice things to me without warning", Wei Wuxian protests.
Lan Zhan does not feel like such a nonsensical statement is deserving of an answer. He should get up, and use the opportunity to drag Wei Wuxian to receive proper punishment – and then assign himself some copying, because it cannot be denied that Lan Zhan willingly participated in this fight, and enjoyed himself too. Still, he does not get back up. Wei Ying is watching him and Lan Zhan cannot move, cannot breathe with that singular focus trained on him. There is no laughter or teasing on Wei Wuxian's face now. Lan Zhan cannot read his expression at all, it such a strange and complicated thing. "Lan Zhan", Wei Ying says, and then again, "Lan Zhan, oh Lan Zhan." Wei Ying's fingers are cool and wet, and he leaves trails of water droplets on Lan Zhan's cheeks when he touches him.
Lan Zhan thought this would be hard, thought this would the thing that shatters all the brittle cracks he has been holding together for weeks, for months, into a thousand pieces. It isn't hard at all. It is the easiest thing in the world to kiss Wei Wuxian, to brush the wet hair away from his face, to hold him closer. It is as easy as fighting him, moving in and around each other like two rivers joining the sea.
Later, he will try to remember every one of the following moments, each one separate and precious and perfect. The little sigh Wei Wuxian makes when he buries his face in Lan Zhan's neck. How his fingertips feel against Lan Zhan's skin. Sitting up, and watching the last rivulets of water gurgle on the pebbles beneath their feet. Wei Wuxian's hair sticking up and out of his ponytail when Lan Zhan dispels the water from his hair and clothing. His laugh as Wei Wuxian shakes out his hair and then flops back down.
They sit on the beach, watching the lake. Wei Wuxian's head is on Lan Zhan's shoulder, and he is brushing his fingertips in little circles around the palm of Lan Zhan's hand. They do not speak, until the sun starts to set. Lan Zhan cannot even begin to put any of his thoughts into words, and Wei Wuxian is uncharacteristically silent. Possibly they are both thinking of what tomorrow will bring.
"I..can..can I write to you, sometimes, when I'm back home?", Wei Wuxian finally says, gaze fixed on their hands. "I know my penmanship is kind of awful, you've probably seen enough of it during the copying to last you a lifetime, but I can really try to write neatly, maybe Shije will help me, except I don't think I would want her to know the kind of things I want to write you, and oh heavens, that makes it sound like they're going to be love letters, which is not what I meant, I mean unless you wanted me to write those –"
"Yes", Lan Zhan interrupts him, and captures Wei Ying's nervously fluttering hands in his own. Wei Ying is blushing again, but he hides it better this time. The teasing tone in his voice would sound genuine if Lan Zhan's couldn't feel his rapid pulse. "Yes? I mean, yes what? Wait, are you agreeing to the letters in general, or did you just ask me to write you love letters? So shameless, Lan Zhan! Nobody will believe me if I tell them about this!"
He seems ready to launch into more wild rambling, or teasing, or both, and Lan Zhan is feeling exasperated and very fond, so he might just let him. He has had a quiet revelation, about Wei Wuxian's shaky fingers and that expression on his face, and his stunned smile when Lan Zhan first kissed him. All this time, Lan Zhan thought that he was the only one who felt this wild, fierce, untamed thing inside of him. Today he has learned that it is mirrored in Wei Ying, as perfectly matched as they are in their fighting. It means that they will figure everything out. It means everything will be alright.