Chapter Text
Xichen heard three soft knocks on the door and immediately looked at the watch on his wrist, confused. Wangji never went to his room at night. At nine o’clock all the three inhabitants of that house were already locked in their rooms after dinner, had said good night, and were getting ready to sleep. It was one of the many rules of their uncle, to which they had become used since childhood. There were no exceptions being at home. The only times boys were allowed to skip the rule was when they went out with their friends and stayed in someone else's houses, having asked for permission in advance. And Lan Qiren didn’t even like that very much.
Had something happened to make his brother look for him when it was about ten o'clock already? He immediately felt a wave of concern, the kind of concern that attacked him whenever he feared for his Wangji. The concern he felt when Wangji was just a small child who had fallen off his bicycle, when they were still in school and he found out that a classmate had been bullying him because of his quiet personality, when some food made him sick or he had a cold, the concern he felt when they went out to some public place with their friends and suddenly Wangji was lost in the crowd. His brother might not be a child anymore, but to him he would always be that little kid who clung tightly to his arm in public, and was silent while he was the one who interacted with others.
He opened the door of his bedroom, his heart pounding, to meet the impassive face of his younger brother, who showed no sign that something bad had happened. But no sign of something good either. He gave no sign of anything at all, not even to Xichen who knew him so well.
"Brother, are you busy?" asked Wangji with his usual calm.
"Eeeh...", Xichen seemed too surprised by that night visit to think properly what he was asking, so he reacted very slowly, "no, no, I was just preparing my things for tomorrow, then I was going to bed", he said at last, pointing to some documents and papers on his desk and his open briefcase. "Did something happen?"
"Wei Ying needs to ask you something, could you come with me?"
"Wangji, did something happen to you, guys?" Xichen repeated, leaving his room immediately, worried about the boys.
"Wei Ying will explain," his younger brother said, without resolving any of his doubts.
Why did they have to ask him something? Or rather: What did they have to ask him about?
He felt somewhat nervous and his mind immediately went to a particular topic. He asked himself if it was too late to have the talk. They had never discussed such things with Wangji, those were subjects that his uncle had implicitly forbidden under the standard of "there are certain matters on which you are not allowed to ask questions". He himself had never considered it necessary to explain either, considering his brother's disinterest in relationships of any kind. Xichen had always been worried about whether or not Wangji would find someone to fall in love with, but he never thought about what would come after that, he never stopped to think that if his brother found someone and was reciprocated, then the next stages would come. Not until that moment.
Maybe his brother and boyfriend had doubts about that and needed him to solve them. Would Wangji really ask him to resolve his doubts regarding sex? Guilt overwhelmed him for not having talked to his brother about that topic before he finally found a boyfriend. He had put it off too long, and now Wangji must be desperate to go looking for help with him.
But, if so, didn't Wei Wuxian also have experience in this regard? Wasn't the boy supposed to have dated other people before? And if he was inexperienced, would he really go to his new brother-in-law to answer his questions? Didn't young people turn to the internet for every little question?!
At least he had the consolation that it was better to consult a doctor like him than to find out on a website of dubious origin that might give them wrong information about it, but that did not calm him at all.
~
The situation was that the Lan's uncle had had to travel to another city for his work with the Jins, so his nephews would be home alone for two full weeks. It wasn’t the first time that happened.
Lan Qiren had taken care of them since the death of their father, and perhaps long before that, considering that after the death of the children's mother, the father had not done much for them, detaching himself from his responsibilities. Their uncle had taken charge of raising them, feeding them, helping them with their studies, teaching them, providing what they needed, going to their school events, and being with them basically in everything. But in order to raise two children and give them the life that he believed they deserved after so much pain, he had two jobs, he tried harder than anyone, and for the same reason he had been forced to leave them alone on several occasions, trusting that they would meet his requirements and standards. Xichen was good at taking care of the house, being the oldest, he had always been extremely responsible and had never disappointed his uncle. Wangji, on the other hand, obeyed every instruction and had never shown a desire to break even the smallest rule of home. For years everything had been like this. Lan Qiren's nephews were perfect, everyone knew that, and no one knew it more than him, distrusting their responsibility was something that didn’t even cross the mind of the boys' uncle.
Shockingly, this time it had only been half an hour since Lan Qiren had walked out the door for his new work travel, when the bell had rung and Wangji had literally jumped to go open and let a smiling Wei Wuxian inside the house.
Xichen had tried the best to hide his astonishment when he saw that the boy was carrying a very full backpack, and even more so when Wangji approached him to explain that his boyfriend would stay with them... For the two weeks that his uncle would not be there! And he would stay in his room! Not even in the guest room; in Wangji's, sharing a bed with him. His Wangji, his baby brother who respected the rules so much and who had never invited anyone to sleep in the house, suddenly appeared with his boyfriend, who would stay there for two full weeks, without asking permission, behind his uncle's back. Xichen hadn't known if he was proud or worried about this unusual rebellion. Perhaps he felt both at the same time, with the same intensity.
He had realized later that Wangji had thought it through very well before making that decision. Xichen had tried to remember every rule and demand his uncle had placed on him and his younger brother over the years. There didn't seem to be any regarding sleepovers, inviting friends, much less: boyfriend rules. He remembered that, when he was a teenager, their uncle told them he would never accept a girl, friend or girlfriend, sleeping under his roof. Girlfriend, so if Wangji brought Wei Wuxian he wasn't breaking any house rules.
He hadn't been able to help but smile as he realized that loophole in the rules of his uncle, who apparently had never thought that his nephews might choose to have a boyfriend, instead of choosing a girlfriend or celibacy.
Much less could he avoid smiling when he saw Wei Wuxian clinging to his brother's arm, looking with big eyes at all the immensity of that house, smiling radiantly, almost jumping when he saw the childhood photos where a little Wangji looked at the camera seriously, speaking very loudly, laughing at anything his brother said, and causing Wangji to look at him with little smiles on his lips as well.
The boy made Wangji happy, and therefore Xichen was happy too.
His baby brother looked as happy as when their mother was still alive.
~
The first night with Wei Wuxian at home had been slightly awkward. Xichen didn't quite know how to handle the whole new situation, and for the same reason it had been difficult for him to fall asleep. It was after midnight when he had gotten up to make tea in the kitchen.
The boys' rooms were on the first floor of the house, facing each other, in a wide hallway. Usually he heard nothing from Wangji's room, and yet Xichen had spent two hours tossing and turning in bed not knowing what to do and writing desperately in the WhatsApp group he had with Mingjue and Guangyao, asking them what was he supposed to do in a situation like that, hoping that the other two had gone through something similar at some point with Huaisang and Zixuan.
It had been Guangyao who had suggested the tea, telling him not to intervene, to trust Wangji, that he had never disappointed him and he wouldn’t do it now, and that he better calm down so he could sleep in peace and not be half sleep the next day in his job. Mingjue, on the other hand, had said to knock down the door to his brother's room by throwing himself against it if necessary, and drag Wei Wuxian to the guest room, by force. The tea idea had won.
He was on his way back to his room, steaming cup in his hands, when he heard noise from his brother's room. His fear was hearing something other than voices, however, what he heard was laughter, a very loud laugh followed by the muffled noise someone made when their mouth was covered by force.
"Don’t laugh so loud, brother is sleeping, Wei Ying," said his younger brother's voice from the room. Xichen stood in the middle of the hallway, fearing that if he took another step the whole house would creak and the boys would realize that he was awake.
And what if they found out? It was his own home, and he was walking around like a thief who had entered through a window. And he hadn't even come out with the intention of spying! If he had left the room with his phone he would have sent a "GUYS PLEASE HELP ME I'M TRAPPED IN MY CORRIDOR" to his friends.
“…”, there was a brief struggle noises and then he heard Wei Wuxian sucking in a breath of air, “You are such a good brother, I wish Jiang Cheng was like you, but he is a fool who never thinks of me. My Lan Zhan is the most considerate", upon hearing that Xichen thanked that he hadn’t sweetening his tea, that was already too sweet for a day, "If you don't want me to laugh so loud, then you shouldn't be so funny "
"I am not funny," Wangji assured. According to Xichen: he was, in a different way, an almost adorable way. Perhaps Wei Wuxian saw the same as him.
"You are the funniest, Lan Zhan, you always make me laugh," the boy reply. Although Xichen wasn't looking at them, he was sure his brother had red ears.
Xichen shook his head slightly, smiling, and took advantage of the fact that the boy was speaking again to keep going to his own room, trying not to make the slightest noise, and feeling that he could sleep after that small and involuntary intrusion into the boys' night.
I don't have to worry, he thought, as he got back into bed. His brother and his boyfriend were simply being two free young people, living the experience that they could not have had with their uncle at home, and he only had to fulfill the role of older brother for those two weeks, not worry as much as if Wangji were his son, let the boys laugh and do whatever they want.
If his uncle was not there, he would let Wangji enjoy everything that had been deprived for years.
~
It was the fourth night already when Wangji went to knock at his door and took him into the living room. Xichen felt the way even longer than usual, sweating with every step, and not from the ambient temperature. He was more anxiety than person. Maybe he had been too permissive and relaxed, maybe he should have cared like a parent.
"Xichen! You came!”, Wei Wuxian said cheerfully upon seeing the Lan brothers in the living room.
Wei Wuxian was on the couch in front of the television on. He was covered by a blanket, and from the sunken space next to him, it was easy to tell that he and Wangji had been cuddling together until moments ago. On the coffee table were cans of beer and a steaming mug of green tea. Xichen smiled when he saw that. Alcohol at home, that was a rule that Wangji had broken without question. For love, that must be the only explanation why his brother turned into some kind of rebel.
"Something happened? Do you need me to bring you something?”, he still didn’t understand why he had been called, but his own words echoed in his head and he felt a hint of shame and the urge to scream buried in a pillow. He only needed to quote: "I'm not a regular brother, I'm a cool brother", and maybe offer them some condoms. AH! He wanted to rip his head off to stop thinking such things. His baby brother! Condoms! He couldn't put those two ideas together.
“Come, come”, Wei Wuxian pointed to the sofa, “you too, Lan Zhan, come back”
The Lan brothers were left with no other choice, Wangji regained his space under the blanket, and Xichen settled in next to his brother. Once they were ready, Wei Wuxian took control of the television, rewound the movie they were about to see, and played it without saying anything else.
Watching the movie scene in front of him he was impressed. Wide-eyed, he tried to focus on the screen and not look at his brother, although he partly didn't even feel able to turn his head to the side because of the shock. When he could regain the use of his senses a little, he glanced at him. Wangji was as calm as ever. Did they just see the same thing? Did his brother enjoy those kinds of things? What things did he not know about Wangji?!
On the television screen in front of them a woman had just been literally split in half with an ax. And not even in the middle of the torso: in the middle from the head to toe. What the fuck?
What was happening and why were they torturing him by making him watch that?
Maybe it would have been better if they had to ask him about sex, all to erase that other scene from his head.
“Is that possible?”, Wei Wuxian's curious voice managed to pull Xichen out of his stupor. The boy had paused the movie again and was looking at him directly.
"Ah?"
“Is it possible to split a person like that? If I'm walking down the street and a... whatever these guys are, a zombie, mutant, or just a psychopath appears with an ax, could he cut me in half that easily?”, Wei Wuxian seemed really serious about his doubt, while Xichen still didn't understand what was going on, much less understand why Wangji didn't seem affected in the least!, “Lan Zhan says he doesn't think it's anatomically possible, but he didn't give me any valid arguments! Moreover, he said it would only be possible with a lightsaber, but we are not talking about science fiction, so I said his argument is discarded. You are a doctor, you must know if it can happen or not, so we need your knowledge to settle this debate"
So that was all about. Xichen was a doctor, of course, that's why they had come looking for him to answer a question about... anatomy? About anatomy in horrible and shocking movies that would live in his head forever without him being able to erase them from there.
He was silent for several seconds, his lips slightly parted, until he noticed that his brother was also staring at him, as if he was waiting to know what the truth was. Wangji always turned to him with academic doubts, since he was little, and this was like going back in time.
"Eeh... first of all, I’m pretty sure you are not going to meet zombies or mutants in the street, and I want to think that you are not going to find a psychopath with an ax in this city either, it’s a peaceful city," he said at last, outlining a amused smile, and immediately Wei Wuxian laughed a little. Xichen noticed how the boy leaned closer to Wangji when he laugh, as if they weren't extremely close to each other already. "And second, I think it is not possible, the weapon would have to be exaggeratedly sharp for that, and not even so"
Xichen watched as Wei Wuxian leaned forward, eager to know more, and Wangji gave a slight nod in seriousness, also very attentive to his explanation. He tried not to laugh when he saw that they looked like two kids, amazed and expectant at a professor's teachings, and he began to explain in more detail the anatomical and physical issues involved in such a ridiculous death.
He had never expected that this would be his plan for the night, giving an anatomy lesson to two young boys watching bad movies. But he wasn't complaining either, that was probably much better than having to give them the talk, much better than all the crazy ideas that had crossed his mind since Wangji had gone to find him in his room.
~
After explaining all to them in detail, and also solving many questions that Wei Wuxian had about other movies he had seen with deaths just as absurd or worse, Wangji told him that he could go back to his room, that they would continue to watch the movie, and to let him know if he needed them to turn down the TV volume if it interrupts his sleep.
Xichen stood up and prepared to leave, however, before exiting the living room he sneaked a glance back once more. As that terrible movie progressed, he could see how Wei Wuxian hugged his brother's body while still watching the TV, clinging like a koala, and how Wangji, with a sweetness that even Xichen himself did not know, left a soft kiss on the head of that boy and brought him closer to him, surrounding him by shoulders. They looked extremely calm and happy. So much that Xichen felt a sweet heat flooding his chest.
His brother was fine. His Wangji was more than fine.
He had always watched over his brother, hoping that he could be well and happy, but now he felt that at last he could be sure of it, he could really rest. His brother, with his crazy boyfriend and his strange movies, was now better than ever.
He would write to Guangyao and Mingjue once he got to the room, bid them good night saying that it was no longer necessary to break down doors and drag Wei Wuxian to the guest room, that he did not need to get up in the middle of the night to make tea for calm his nerves.
That night he would sleep better than ever.