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The sky was grey, so heavy with clouds that the weak winter sun could barely get through them. A cold, wet, dreary day, so unlike what Wei Wuxian was used to from Lotus Pier or even the Burial Mounds, where water hadn't been in abundance.
This is home now, he thought as he stood on the terrace at the back of the Jingshi and stared up at the unfriendly sky. Cloud Recesses was beautiful, there was no denying that, and he had found his place within in, but occasionally there were days where everything felt off. He'd had too many places he had dared to call 'home' during his first lifetime and sometimes it was still hard to accept that this place had become his one and only home during his second.
He was feeling unusually bitter about that, but that very probably had to do with the fact that the one person who made the Cloud Recesses home wasn't within their boundaries at the moment.
I miss you, Lan Zhan.
That particular thought wasn't bitter, only full of longing. His beloved had accepted not only the position of sect leader - something he had been trained for since birth, despite there being little chance of him ever being called to that particular duty - but also the one of Chief Cultivator. All of that despite it going against his innermost nature just because it was the best way to protect him, Wei Wuxian.
It didn't sit well with him, but Lan Zhan had assured him over and over again that it was a worthwhile sacrifice and that he would far prefer being put into the center of public attention than risk losing Wei Wuxian to some stupid vendetta of some minor clan whose name he could barely remember.
The unconditional and selfless love Lan Zhan showed him on a daily basis him was something he would never really get used to, he feared, but he had learned to accept and take what was so freely given. Refusing to do so would hurt Lan Zhan and he had done enough of that for more than two lifetimes already.
"Wei Ying."
Lan Zhan called his name quietly, but in the silence around the Jingshi, so far removed from the center of the Cloud Recesses with its restrained bustle, it sounded loud and clear.
Wei Wuxian found himself smiling and closed his eyes in happy anticipation. He needed some time to acclimate himself to Lan Zhan's return before he could dare to look at him in all his breathtaking beauty or the way he looked at Wei Wuxian would make him faint.
He leaned back at exactly the right moment to fall into Lan Zhan's hold when he came up behind him. Strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him even closer.
"Lan Zhan," he echoed delighted as he snuggled into the embrace. "I didn't expect you back so soon." Two or three days more, or so the last letter had anticipated. Wei Wuxian had longed to join him but the weather wasn't good and his stamina for sword flying not yet what it once was.
His weak new core kept him from so many things and he was trying hard to rectify that. He wanted to stand at his husband's side as his equal once again, to be able to reciprocate everything Lan Zhan gave him and be able to fight him to a standstill once again.
He wanted to dance with Lan Zhan again, all over the rooftops of the Cloud Recesses, sword in hand, laughing and trying to find a way through impenetrable defenses while having to defend himself from a relentless assault.
He wanted so much, despite already having more than he could ever have imagined. It was still a strange feeling to have the luxury of wanting more than just bare survival. Lan Zhan encouraging his every whim and spoiling him rotten didn't help in the slightest.
"Too long," Lan Zhan said simply and pressed his face against the back of Wei Wuxian's neck. A light scrape of teeth over his pulse point made him shiver. "Missed Wei Ying too much to stay away another night."
Lan Zhan must have spent the day on his sword, to be here now, Wei Wuxian realized. He closed his eyes more tightly in an attempt to keep back his tears of love and gratitude. Lan Zhan had no idea what his words did to his poor heart and mind. Sometimes, it felt as if he had to melt from the sheer overload of emotions Lan Zhan evoked in him.
He grabbed Lan Zhan's right hand and brought it up to kiss the back of his hand.
"Welcome back," he said, fighting against the tightness in his throat. "If I had known I would have made our home and myself more presentable."
Lan Zhan simply held him tighter and pressed a kiss against the side of his neck, ending in a slightly harder bite. A reprimand for putting himself down. Lan Zhan had been trying to break him out of it but old habits die hard.
"Wei Ying is always presentable." Lan Zhan sounded almost drunk on pleasure by now, as if getting to hold and talk to Wei Wuxian was all he needed for absolute bliss.
Wei Wuxian opened his eyes and the grey sky didn't look so bleak anymore. Instead the clouds seemed to be more white than grey, reminding him of Lan Zhan's robes. He was still holding on to Lan Zhan's hand and sudden memory struck. He lowered their hands and pushed back the first to layers of wide sleeves to expose the tightly bound fabric of his inner robes. He put his hand over the pulse point and waited until a soft "mn" gave him permission to continue.
He carefully unwrapped the crossed-over strip of very light blue fabric tying the already tight sleeve fully down.
"You always imprison yourself within your robes when I'm not here to intercept," he commented softly.
"Without you by my side there is no need to keep myself accessible." Lan Zhan's voice had become soft, almost shy, and Wei Wuxian shivered at the implications and the reminder just how yielding Lan Zhan was towards him.
He put a little bit more of his weight on his husband as he unwrapped the last of the bindings and pushed back the sleeve.
He smiled at the sight of bright red silk against pale skin. Such a lovely contrast. Wei Wuxian's hair ribbon, securely tied around Hanguang-Jun's wrist. A reminder of whom he belonged to, even when he was far away and suffering through the hospitality of another clan.
Soon, he would be ready to turn around and face Lan Zhan. To hold him tightly like he was held now, to kiss him, to strip him bare - apart from the ribbon which would stay exactly where it had been for the last eight days - and indulge in their desires for each other.
Soon, but not quite yet.
"Mine," Wei Wuxian whispered and found a way to snuggle even deeper into his husband's embrace.
"Yours," Lan Zhan confirmed. "Always." He once again hid his face against Wei Wuxian's neck.
"Forever," he whispered against his skin.