Chapter Text
Chapter 1
To summon or not to summon
Summoning the Gods – Trobar de Morte
Witchy Woman - Eagles
"We're sorry. The demon your trying to summon is currently unavailable. Please try again later. We are sorry for any inconveniences this delay has caused. If you have any questions regarding your summoning please refer to the customer service centre."
"Not again!", Wangji groans as he blows out the candle in the middle of his room. The dark shadows that had creeped up on the walls, loomed over his head and lingered around his shoulders (like a very useless cape) disappear as does the ghostly voice. The room immediately feels less like a medieval torture chamber and more like the cozy nest Lan Wangji worked so hard on creating during his first few weeks at Gusu Academy. In his humble opinion the dark shadows and creepy voices had always felt a bit too theatrical, too performative even. All the spooky hocus-pocus was only meant to scare the occasional mortal and had absolutely no use whatsoever for the actual summoning. But demons are like that. Unnecessary little drama queens with no sympathy for poor little witches like Wangji, who just want to complete their assignments for Advanced Incantations on time and with minimal strain to their psyche.
He gets up from the old, kind of busted looking floors and brushes off the dust that had settled on his slacks during the demonic ritual. The hardwood moans in protest under his steps as he drags himself over to the crooked sink next to the door. He turns the tap on (At an exact right angle to the wall. Otherwise it will sprays water all over the place) and when the water hits his skin, it's ice cold as always. Still it does the job, removing the runes he painted on his forearms in black coal. The murky black remnants of his summoning attempt get washed down the drain, followed by his hopes and dreams of completing his project before it's due at the end of the semester.
For a few seconds Wangji does not move from his position, staring down at his own hands in the sink. They feel alien to him today. Like they do not belong. Maybe the immobility spell Mian Mian had cast on him in their shared Introduction to Defence Magic class yesterday had not quite worn off yet. At least that is what he tells himself as he tears his gaze away from the now naked looking limbs and shoots himself a wry look in the mirror. In all honesty it is probably the combination of sleep deprivation and stress. He appears just like he feels: tired, exhausted, drained. The rings under his eyes are a prominent, blueish grey, his skin seems a little ashen and very dull and his eyes look empty and hollow. Safe to say: Lan Wangji has looked and felt better in his 23 years on this earth. Midterms are always busy, but this time around is especially straining. So much in fact, that he has trouble keeping up with his perfectly functional schedule for the first time in his life. One would think being able to do magic would simplify some things, but alas life feels even more convoluted and chaotic now that he has progressed in his practice. Somehow things keep getting more complicated whenever magic is involved. There is just so much to learn and so little time to catch a breath. Maybe the “gifted kid burnout” Wei Ying keeps talking about has something to do with his exhaustion too. But he refuses to believe that he has a burnout, least of all a gifted kid one.
“So what if I am perhaby slightly overworked?”, Wei Ying would now say were he in Wangji’s stead, “It‘s totally because mercury in retrograde and not at all because I choose to study my grimoire instead of going to sleep most nights… Okay maybe it‘s also a little bit because I am an incorrigible workaholic without a sense of self preservation, but who knows. That seems like wild speculation. Mercury in retrograde sounds way likelier.”
Lan Wangji does not believe in blaming his problems on planetary constellations and he does usually get a normal amount of sleep. But he may be in denial about being overworked. At least a little bit.
He sighs once more, before walking back to the now lifeless looking summoning circle in front of his bed. It could not hurt to check the spell book again that lies opened on its back next to the precise (if he may say so himself without making himself guilty of excessive self-praise) lines he drew on the creaky floors. Even though Wangji knows he made no mistake. He never does, the perfectionism in him too strong, and if he did, he should not have reached the recording telling him he had been unsuccessful yet again.
Wangji crouches down and scans over the writing about this presumably very simple demonic ritual. The pages of his grimoire stare mockingly back at him, confirming that he had in fact been correct in his execution of the summoning. Unfortunately, that does not change the outcome of the summoning. Which had been nothing. He is about to get up again to stretch out his sore back, when the door suddenly bursts open with a loud bang and his best friend barges in.
"Lan Zhan, ah! Lan Zhan, you will never believe what happened in Telekinetic Energy Distribution today!"
He looks up from his spot on the floor and makes his peace with staying right where he is. No energy left to move his body somewhere a little more comfortable.
"Good day to you too, Wei Ying", he answers unperturbed, too fatigued to react to his friends antics with little more than a tired little sigh.
Wei Ying tsks at him before plopping down on his bed, immediately making himself at home by pulling the many fuzzy blankets around him and manhandling Lan Wangji’s throw pillows into submission.
"What's got your panties in a twist, princess?"
"Your general existence”, he deadpans, just because he know it will make Wei Yin grin at him and delight.
Wangji collects the bones from the circle, carefully places them back in their burgundy-velvet lined case and closes the little brass clasp on the outside.
"Naweee, I love you too", Wei Ying coos unimpressed by Wangji’s jabs as always.
Lan Wangji grants him a tiny little smile and picks up the offering for the demon (Who did not care to show. Thank you for nothing! Ungrateful bunch…) from the middle of the summoning circle. He holds the folded carton out to Wei Ying who takes it with both hands and the cockiest grin known to mankind.
"Nice. I love when your summonings go wrong and I get pizza for free."
Wangji lets out a sigh that feels a little too heavy for the banter they have got going and leans back against the edge of his bed. He will tidy up the pathetic remains of the ritual later. Maybe never, he quietly thinks to himself and knows it‘s lie, because he can never exist in a mess of his own making for more than a couple of minutes. It might be neurotic.
Wei Ying’s hands are in his hair immediately, softly massaging his scalp. Pizza forgotten and abandoned on Wangji’s comforter next to the giant pile of blankets, pillows and Wei Ying.
"That bad huh? What went wrong?", he asks Wangji, carding his long, elegant fingers through the witches hair. A shiver runs down the length of his spine, tingling down to his fingertips.
"The demon you're currently trying to summon is not available", he mocks the demonic voice from the holding line, "Which we both know just means they did not care to show themselves."
Wangji suppresses a moan when Wei Ying’s amble hands find their way to the knots in his shoulders and start working them out bit by bit. It is painful, because Wei Ying is too strong for his own good, but since it‘s the good kind of pain™️ Lan Wangji bears it without complaint.
"Maybe your offering wasn't interesting enough", Wei Ying offers up his opinion casually as if he was not about to kill Wangji with his mean little fingers. Fortunately, Wei Ying chooses this moment to get back to his hair and stop torturing his poor, tense shoulders.
"What do you mean? Pizza has always worked before. It always works on you."
"Hmmmm, yes it does. Especially the ones I don't have to pay for, because nobody shows up to snatch them from me." He pauses to get back to said Pizza, one hand still in Wangji’s hair. His soft fingertips graze the sensitive skin near the witches right ear and an involuntary little breath sneaks out from between his lips. Wei Ying snickers. 8
"What would you have me do then? What would you want as an offer?", he asks, stifling a yawn, eyes starting to droop under Wei Ying’s gentle ministrations. Hell, he has not slept through an entire night in ages.
"Me?", Wei Ying asks incredulous.
"No, the sage on my windowsill. Yes, you. You are half demon. What would you want as an offer besides pizza?"
"Yeah, but my parents and I haven't exactly been on speaking terms for the past... I don’t know. 22 years. Kinda hard to learn from them when they’re dead. I‘m not exactly in touch with the demon side of my biology. Well maybe except for my insanely good looks and unholy skills between the sheets."
Wangji snorts, albeit drowsily.
„And except for your constant overestimation of said skills.“
„Oh? What makes you the expert on such matters Mr. Lan? Have you sampled the goods yourself?“
Lan Wangji decisively does not think about sampling the goods.
„Shameless“, he says, but the yawning lessens the sharpness of the word considerably. He is once again unable to keep himself from showing any sings of his sleepiness to Wei Ying.
His hand has stopped moving, resting on the crown of Lan Wangji’s head now. The witch reaches up to tap against Wei Ying’s wrist in order to get him to keep up the massage.
"Well anyway…", his best friend slash demon slash telekinetic genius says, dropping the topic of his sex life, "If someone were to summon me I would be more than happy about Pizza, obviously. But you could always try offering up something a little more personal. Demons live for the spice of objects with emotions attached to them. Makes them taste extra delicious or so I‘m told."
"Hmn", Wangji forces out, trying his hardest to stay awake while Wei Ying’s hands do their best to drag him under the surface of consciousness.
"Oookay you big baby. Get up here. I'm gonna cuddle you to sleep now."
"Wei Ying. I can not", he protests, "I need to get this summoning done for my assignment and I need a good grade otherwise I will..."
"Shut up. I don't wanna hear it. Your assignment will not profit from you burning the fuck out. You need to sleep now! Or do you want to be completely useless by tomorrow?"
Wangji shakes his head, hair flopping into his eyes. Wei Ying pushes it out of the way, the pads of his fingertips warm and dry on the skin of the witch’s forehead.
„See? I know you know that I am right. I am always right.“
Experience tells Wangji that arguing Wei Ying on this is pointless, so he relents, crawling up into his bed and his best friend’s arms. The scorching heat emanating from Wei Ying’s not quite human body soothes the ache in his bones and he happily buries his face in the other man’s chest. Were he less drowsy he may have tried to do so with a little more dignity and elegance.
„See? My skills between the sheets are unmatched. You are like… immediately more relaxed, all because I am so awesome“, Wei Ying murmurs into his hair, but it lacks his usual bite.
„Mn”, Wangji mumbles, not really listening anymore and as he knocks out next to Wei Ying munching on the Pizza-that-was-not-a-good-enough-offering, he can not bring himself to feel anything but warmth and relief.