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Wei Wuxian checks her trap to find an irritated wolf. She quickly realizes it's a werewolf because biologist/cultivator and she's like HOLY HECK OK OK OK because like no one ever catches werewolves?? they're super rare??? how this one got caught in her trap is beyond her, maybe it's sick?
(as it turns out wolf!Lan Wangji got distracted by a Very Good Smell and made a puppy mistake which she is very mad at herself for)
Since the spirit net/trap won't let the wolf shift, Wei Wuxian realizes she has a very special opportunity to study one up close! you'd think that since cultivators work with a variety of creatures they'd know more, but werewolves are VERY good at keeping hidden.
Wei Wuxian suspects they're related to one of the major cultivation sects because how else would they be so sneaky? Still. Wei Wuxian asks the wolf if she can look it over to make sure it's not sick, maybe take some samples? Help a lowly cultivator out? This might help her get grant funding!
wolf!Lan Wangji meanwhile has no interest in letting a cultivator study her except when Wei Wuxian crouches down to talk, Lan Wangji realizes that she is the source of the Very Good Smell. Which is annoying? But also intriguing.
Wei Wuxian manages to communicate and negotiate with the wolf. She'll let her take measurements, no samples, and will answer yes/no questions. Wei Wuxian, on a whim, lets her out of the net--and she doesn't run off! dang Wei Wuxian has great instincts!
(Wei Wuxian has always found werewolves super interesting because they're humans, not wolves, right? like..they're humans? and she loves humans, even if she's afraid of dogs. but they don't behave like dogs? this one isn't like a dog at all)
Wei Wuxian tries to be respectful of the wolf although her white fur is QUITE soft, it's hard not to just...pet. a little. as she measures ear distance (one of the main differences of werewolves vs wolves). The wolf doesn't seem to mind, though!
In fact the wolf sits quite nicely while Wei Wuxian measures her paws, spine length, tail length, even her teeth! Wei Wuxian thought that part would be the hardest but the wolf hardly complains, in fact Wei Wuxian would say she wags her tail a bit except wolves don't do that!
"It's too bad I can't measure your human form to compare," Wei Wuxian hums. She's stopped all pretense of scholarly intent and is just scritching the wolf behind the ear now because it makes her pink tongue stick out a little.
Lan Wangji is very annoyed at herself. First she lets this random cultivator measure her like a hooked fish and now she's seriously considering shifting in front of her because she pets good? What would her uncle say?? She snorts Wei Wuxian's smell out of her nose and shakes herself off.
She can't think clearly- better get back to home base. Wei Wuxian seems to be done with her measurements, anyway. Her voice sounds sad when she says goodbye, so Lan Wangji softens a little and licks her hand, then gets the fuck out of there before she does something super dumb.
When Lan Wangji gets home she asks her brother if he's ever encountered...weird smells as a wolf. His smile gets incrementally bigger but in an uncomfortable way, like he's hiding something. "Weird like how?" Lan Wangji shrugs. "Weird like...it smells good but you're not sure why?"
He looks thoughtful. "I think there's something like that in the family history section of the library", which is code for 'I feel uncomfortable talking about this with you, please do your own research'.
Lan Wangji spends an edifying afternoon in the family library and gets EVEN MORE ANNOYED, this time at her whole family? At biology? Like what the fuck is this, you mean to tell her that weird random cultivator doing research in the forest is her MATE? absolutely not
(based on her research though it's either that or Lan Wangji was drugged with a very specific kind of sap that doesn't grow anywhere near here, so...)
Lan Wangji will ignore this. it's dumb; she refuses. she doesn't even know if the girl was hot because she can't see very well as a wolf! She vows to avoid the area where they met and keep her shifting to remote places. luckily as a human she won't be able to detect that scent. It's FINE.
Her brother, of course, keeps dropping thinly veiled hints about her having a girlfriend, which he finds highly amusing and which makes Lan Wangji want to shift and bite his face off (somehow she manages to control herself).
Aside from her annoying brother, life is normal! Mostly. Lan Wangji gets a little restless when she's shifted, like something's missing, but aside from that it's no big deal.
Wei Wuxian meanwhile is having a helluva time trying to publish any results without *proof* that she actually caught a werewolf. It's fair because like, who does that, but also Wei Wuxian isn't lying! She doesn't have physical samples because the wolf didn't want her to take them!
Nie Huaisang is like, kiiinda interested but only if another paper goes through that he's working on. So in the meantime Wei Wuxian is picking up odd jobs, doing her old research, digging more into werewolf lore trying to figure out if she can ever tell who she caught.
Some time later, Lan Wangji is grocery shopping. She's doing her weekly cabbage comparison when a hand lands on her shoulder. "Found you!" says a woman with bright, amused eyes and a sharp grin. Lan Wangji's brain goes blank but she smells her wolf form? on that bag? it looks famil-oh fuck.
Lan Wangji grabs the woman's wrist and marches her right out of the store (luckily they're close to the entry and Lan Wangji's basket is empty). This must be the woods cultivator. She must have found Lan Wangji somehow? "How did you find me," Lan Wangji growls. She's close to losing her composure.
Wei Wuxian's jaw drops. What? She was just trying to return this woman's wallet--and like yeah maybe she was gonna hit on her a little, she's cute, but like... wait a second. Her eyes look familiar..."I, uh. You dropped your wallet outside? I was looking in the store for you."
Wei Wuxian watches the other woman’s demeanor go from looming and intimidating to pulled back and walled off, super fast. And Wei Wuxian keeps staring at her eyes-amber, just like… “Oh. My god. Oh my god.” Wei Wuxian immediately wishes she could take out her tape measure.
Lan Wangji realizes this situation has gotten away from her. “You can’t tell anyone,” she blurts out. The woman- the woods cultivator- is staring at her with the same grin, now. God. How did she not know who she was?
Wei Wuxian laughs. Full on belly laughs, head tilted back. “Lady. I don’t even know your name. Who would I tell?”
“Lan Zhan.”
“I don’t know who that is-“
“No. My name. Is Lan Zhan.”
Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen. Her initial instinct is to say I FUCKIN KNEW IT WAS THE LAN CLAN–
Instead, Wei Wuxian introduces herself. And invites Lan Wangji out for coffee. And somehow…she says yes. Even more miraculously, Wei Wuxian refrains from breaking out the measuring tape until after their third date. THE END
P.S. They live lesbians ever after, Lan Xichen is insufferably smug after Lan Wangji finally introduces him to her girlfriend, and Lan Wangji tries not to think too hard about how much she likes that Wei Wuxian is terrified of dogs but likes petting Lan Wangji’s wolf form for comfort sometimes.