Work Text:
lan xichen knew that while wei wuxian was sometimes silly, he was madly in love with wangji. he never doubted that wuxian was the only person right for his younger brother but nothing could’ve prepared him for the scene in front of him.
he usually would let wangji know beforehand that he was coming or he’d knock and wait outside but the jingshi was open. it was a cool summer night and it was quiet around this time.
wangji was laying on his stomach, eyes closed and xichen had never seen his brother that comfortable in the presence of anyone before but that’s not what tugged at his heart strings, causing his breath to hitch.
wuxian had a tiny vile of oil placed beside him as he gently rubbed wangji’s shoulders. he was always careful, not wanting to hurt his husband. he would lean down every now and then to place soft, lingering kisses over the scars and it was clear by the look on his face that he was hurting.
he never wanted wangji to endure that pain he went through and he doesn’t want to think about what it would be like if the roles had been reversed and he had been the one to lose wangji for so many years… he knows he wouldn’t be as strong as wangji was.
“have you fallen asleep?” wuxian asks, his voice uncharacteristically soft
he grins when he hears wangji make a small noise but makes no attempts to move.
xichen can’t help but watch. he feels like he’s interrupting something intimate and maybe it’s something he shouldn’t see but he can’t look away, can’t bring himself to leave. he’s always wanted his brother to be happy and seeing him like this makes everything worth it.
“wei ying”
there’s a pause before wuxian frowns.
“i know what you’re going to say” wuxian sighs, “i like doing this for you, i want to”
wangji doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t have to. wuxian smiles down at him but xichen can tell his eyes are still closed
“they don’t make you any less beautiful” wuxian tells him, “you’re the most beautiful man in the world”
“not brother?” wangji asks and there’s a teasing tone that xichen is also not used to that he has to cover his mouth with his sleeve so he doesn’t laugh
wuxian grins and shakes his head fondly. he seems to be used to this and xichen can’t help but wish wangji was always this carefree.
“wei ying”
“yes lan zhan?”
“baby…”
“lan zhan!” wuxian widens his eyes, blushing all the way down to his neck and xichen hears a chuckle from wangji. a rare sound.
“you can’t say things like that” wuxian frowns, but it’s so obvious that he likes it, “and you say i’m shameless”
“wei ying is shameless”
wuxian glances up and sees xichen. he smiles and xichen blushes, feeling like he’s been caught in a place he shouldn’t be.
“zewu-jun, you can have wangji now” wuxian teases
wangji glances up and his ears turn a lovely shade of red. he doesn’t know how long xichen has been there but he hopes it wasn’t too long. he wasn’t sure if he could handle his brother teasing him.
“take your time” xichen grins, “i’ll go get us something to eat”
wuxian laughs when he sees xichen give one last look at wangji before he walks away from the jingshi.
“shameless” wangji scoffs