Chapter Text
It was a chilly night as the two walked down the gravel path. Hua Cheng looked off to the side, desperately wishing that he was not there. As the leaves on a nearby tree fluttered in the wind, Hua Cheng plotted the idea of bursting into a thousand butterflies and escaping into the night. That plot immediately vanished from his mind when the person walking beside him reach for his hand. Xie Lian smiled up at him, with all the warmth and love in his eyes that made Hua Cheng's whole mental state stutter. He looked away, feeling immense guilt for even thinking about ditching Xie Lian for this event that he was so excited about.
Earlier that day, Hua Cheng was ignoring his calligraphy homework in Qiandeng temple, when Xie Lian excitedly crashed through the main entrance. Hua Cheng brushed away his bored expression and looked up, as Xie Lian, in all his glory, rushed up to him holding what appeared to be a flyer.
“Look at what I got!!!”
“What is it, Darling?” Hua Cheng smiled
“I found it in town while I was collecting trash”, Xie Lian, however, wouldn’t stop moving the flyer around as he talked expressively with his hands. It made it entirely impossible for Hua Cheng to try and glean what this whole business could be about. Although, as long as it was with Xie Lian, he couldn’t imagine a better situation. Not to mention, it was likely going to pull him away from having to complete his calligraphy homework. “I thought this would be the perfect thing for us. Or more so, you.”
“Darling, what in hells name are you talking about? I can’t see what’s on the flyer.”
“OH”, Xie Lian stopped flapping his arms around and laid the page down flat on the table.
On the front, in bright and annoying colors, the words “Truth or Dare Party! All are invited!!! FREE EVENT!!! BYOB!!!!!!!” were written. At the very bottom, an address was listed. This had wind god written all over it, and Hua Cheng’s face involuntarily grimaced.
“Truth or dare? This is what you want to do? We don’t have to go out to have fun, and I can provide any and all booze you could want here”
Xie Lian pursed his lips and said, “Look, Hun, I didn’t grab this for me, I grabbed it for you.”
“What? Why?”
“There is really no way to say this discretely, but you need friends”
“What, I.. I have frie…. I don’t need friends, especially when I can just spend all my time with you!”
“Honey, listen I love you, but you do need to get out and hang with people more. I have tried encouraging you to hang out with He Xuan more, but neither of you seems to understand that you are friends. Back when Yin Yu was here, you at least had someone to talk to, but he is not here anymore. What I am saying is, you need some other person to rely on for social bonding when I can’t be here. I need to keep up with Puqi shrine. What do you do while I hang out with Feng Xin, Mu Qing, and Shi Qingxuan?”
“Wait for you to get back”
“See, that’s the problem. So we’re gonna go to this fun little event, and we’re gonna get you some people to hang out with!”
Hua Cheng sighed, “Okay Love, whatever you want”
Xie Lian smiled
“Though, I’d like to contest the accusation that He Xuan and I are friends. We are NOT friends, he just owes me money.”
“Sure babe”
So, that is how Hua Cheng found himself climbing up a mountain holding Xie Lian’s warm hand. However, it seemed that their long travel was finally done as they crossed through the entrance gate. Signs, that appeared to have been written very quickly and with excited hands, pointed them through the large expanse that was this… household? Was this a sect? He tried thinking back to what the address called this place. Gusu? Hua Cheng hadn’t heard of any big groups over in this region. Although he never did focus on humans or their social structures.
It was at this point that Hua Cheng became aware of the fact that he wasn’t seeing any people. A sect this big should have people running all around. Sure, it was a little late into the night, but not absurdly late. Wasn’t this an event specifically for people? Could it be a trick? Hua Cheng snuck a glance at Xie Lian, trying to gauge if he was noticing anything weird. But he just had the same optimistic smile plastered on his face. To be fair, that didn’t mean that Xie Lian didn’t notice any weirdness at all, but that he was still choosing to go with the flow. Alright, Hua Cheng decided to follow his lead but still keep his guard up in case they found themselves in trouble.
The signs finally lead to a big set of dark wooden doors. Xie Lian looked up at him once more, gave a big smile, an encouraging squeeze of their hands, and then pushed open the doors. Inside was only five people. While Xie Lian looked a little disappointed at the turnout, Hua Cheng thought about how bad flyers were as an advertising tool. The organizers should’ve released thousands of lanterns into the sky and screamed to the heavens about the event, that would’ve gotten some attention. Just saying.
The five people sat on three long, cushioned couches that made a U-shape in the middle of the room. On the couch to the left, there were two people dressed in black and white. The one in black seemed to be very excited that Hua Cheng and Xie Lian were there. The one in white, honestly, looked like he was trying to stay awake. Though, it was hard to glean any information from his face. He looked a bit like porcelain in how unexpressive he was at the moment. Only one person sat on the middle couch. Actually, it was a child, which surprised Hua Cheng. He was dressed in all yellow. He didn’t even look up at Hua Cheng or Xie Lian entering the room. He just kept glaring at the white and black-clothed people. Lastly, the couch to the right, also held two people. One wearing an outfit of greens and whites. He just looked pissed. It was not very hard to predict that his sour attitude may have to do with the larger curly-haired man leaning into his space.
The man dressed in black suddenly jumped up from the left couch and ran over to them. The one in white seemed to get jolted out of his slumber by the sudden movement.
“Hello, Hello Party Peoples!!! My name is Wei Wuxian and I am the organizer for this night’s event! Come in come in, what’re you doing still standing at the door? Can I get you anything, any drinks, we were about to get some tea and start the fun. Oh, did you bring any booze? I know the flyer said to bring your own, but you just have to try some Emperor’s Smile! It’s a regional delicacy, and really the only reason to come here”
The man stopped talking and worriedly glanced at the man in white. When the second one showed no response, Wei Wuxian turned back towards them and whispered “Don’t tell him I said that. In fact, don’t tell anyone wearing a white headband I said that.”
“Oh! I am going to tell him”, the child from the middle couch spoke up.
Wei Wuxian stuck his tongue out at the kid and the kid responded with the same gesture.
Wei Wuxian then turned back around to them and said, “Oh right, introductions! You already know my name. The man who was beside me is my husband, Lan Zhan. The annoying BRAT is my nephew. Pay him no mind, it was my week on the custody agreement, and I couldn’t get my asshole brother to let up on the agreement for this party. And lastly, our other guests are also people who saw the flyer.” He turned to the couch on the right and asked, “Would you like to introduce yourselves?”
The pissed-off man actually seemed to lighten up when he turned toward Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. “Hello, my name is Shen Qingqiu, it is very nice to meet you. And this is….” He gestured to the large man beside him, his irritation returning in full swing.
“His lover, actually” The large man interrupted “Luo Binghe.”
Shen Qingqiu just rolled his eyes and shook his head a little.
Wei Wuxian promptly ignored the weird vibes coming from that side of the room and returned his attention to the two at the door. “Aaaand what are your names?”
“Oh!” Xie Lian bounced on his feet with the sudden attention that was placed more directly on the two of them. “My name is Xie Lian, and this is my husband, San Lang. We’re both very excited to join you tonight!”
Wei Wuxian smiled at this answer, and reach forward to grab their wrists. “Well, come on in then!” He pulled them to the middle couch and pushed the kid to the side with his foot. The kid responded with what was basically a hiss. After getting the two situated on the couch, Wei Wuxian turned to ruffle the kid's hair a little. The child in question was thoroughly unimpressed and just tried to slap his hand away.
“Alright, I’ll go get that promised tea I mentioned, as well as a little something else, if ya know what I mean……”
“WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, YOU GOD DAMN ALCOHOLIC” the kid shouted. Which once again, got Lan Zhan to jolt a little out of his slumbers.
“Alright Alright, you kids have fun!”
Wei Wuxian exited out of the main doorway. And while the quiet his absence left was peaceful, it also became incredibly awkward. Who knew his ramblings were what was needed for this type of social event?
Xie Lian turned to the kid and asked “So, what’s your name? I don’t think it was mentioned earlier”
“Jin Ling”, the kid was curt with his answer.
“Got it” Xie Lian backed off, and Hua Cheng side-eyed the kid for his rudeness.
Xie Lian, instead, focused his attention on Shen Qingqiu, who seemed to be the most polite and responsive so far. “So, how did you two hear about this event?”
Shen Qingqiu looked over and opened his mouth to respond, but Luo Binghe instead said “Oh it was my idea! Honestly, I haven’t been able to see Shizun as much as I would like to, ever since he went back to spending time at Cang Qiong Sect.”
Shen Qingqiu did not acknowledge any of the clearly pointed details in Luo Binghe’s comment. Xie Lian weakly smiled at the two of them and gave Hua Cheng a glance that said “You seeing this?”. Hua Cheng stared at the couple on the other couch, before returning a glance that said “Yeah no, I am seeing this”.
The room fell back into its uncomfortable silence. Xie Lian figured he’d try out a different avenue. He turned to Lan Zhan and asked “um, sir? Are you feeling okay? You look kind of out of it.”
Lan Zhan didn’t respond for a while. Until out of nowhere, he stated in a dull voice, “it’s after nine.”
“Yep, it certainly is.” Hua Cheng chirped in his fake polite tone. And Oh god, it started to dawn on Xie Lian that Hua Cheng was not having fun. This is not working. To be fair, this was a tough crowd. Maybe they could just get through the night, and then Xie Lian will start hosting more dinners where he invites He Xuan. Maybe he could invite others to these parties as well.
As he pondered on if Hua Cheng would get along well with Ling Wen, Hua Cheng turned to him and whispered. “Hey, you doing good? We can leave early if you want.”
“Uh no, darling, I’m doing fine. I’m just wondering how you’re doing?”
“Me? I’m good. Not much exactly happening here, but I am okay to go with whatever you feel comfortable with.” Hua Cheng smiled.
Xie Lian returned the smile. Gods, his husband was so good to him. He didn’t need to force him into this social event. They could just have fun together and with their little social circles. Honestly, the idea of leaving early hadn’t even occurred to him. Would be rude to leave before the event even starts? Does it matter? Xie Lian had been trying more to put his own needs first. Maybe this could be some practice for that.
He was about to tell Hua Cheng this when Wei Wuxian crashed through the front door. In one hand he had a rather large teapot and in the other, were a lot of small white alcohol vases tied together by rope. It was pretty clear that he might have already begun to dig into those bottles.
“Okay, okay, who wants to play a little spin the bottle to decide who goes first?”