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Lan Wangji felt an itch at the back of his neck, his eyes snapping up to scan the library from his desk.
But no, there was no obnoxious laugh to be heard. No giggle, no whines, no snores, only blissful quiet, like the Gusu University library had always been.
At least, before people from Yunmeng all of a sudden developed an interest in studying at the Cloud Recesses.
But before LWJ could return to the tome he had selected for some light reading, he saw the telltale flash of leather. His gremlin sensor had gotten quite accurate these days.
He braced himself, counting his afternoon wasted. When a whole second passed and a ball of energy didn't deposit itself beside him, he looked back toward the entrance.
Wei Wuxian was engrossed in some deep—and what looked like private—conversation with Luo Qingyang. He had his usual mischievous aura around him, but his face was soft and his eyes were on hers.
Lan Wangji was beginning to get annoyed. He tried focusing back on the infamous cultivation conference of 1178—which had seemed to him the most entertaining read seconds ago—but his eyes kept returning to the irritating alpha.
And the omega.
Lan Wangji scratched lightly at his wrist, his face hardening the more he looked at the conversation.
Wei Wuxian kept tugging at Luo Qingyang's sleeves, whispering what seemed to be a mix of complaints and flatterings. There was an eager, giddy look in his eyes that LWJ had only ever seen directed at himself previously.
Before he knew it, he was rising from the desk and storming over to the pair. Seeing his approach, Luo Qingyang straightened and offered him a friendly wave, which he answered with a stiff nod.
When he looked at WWX, a strange irritation boiled in him, making his breath come short.
Why was he so angry?
There was no time to think.
"Do not disturb omega cultivators," he breathed out in a level voice. "You have broken a rule while under detention. In addition to your existing punishment, you will reorganise the poetry section today."
Before he could turn with a full sweep, Wei Wuxian whistled.
"Wow, Lan Zhan, I think that's the most words you've ever spoken to me." He laughed, clear and bright.
Unrepentant.
"More like spoken at me, anyway. But I wasn't disturbing Mianmian here, was I?"
He placed an elbow on the omega's shoulder, looking down at her, wiggling his eyebrows. "Tell him, Mianmian."
LWJ distantly made a mental note to visit the health centre later. He could feel dragons breathe fire in his chest, snakes coiling and hissing about.
It was unnatural to get so offended on behalf of another omega, surely. But hadn't WWX behaved with him like this often? Wasn't he well within his rights to get angry at him bothering a fellow omega in such a manner?
When he turned to "Mianmian," he barely suppressed the growl rising in his throat. He berated himself for it mentally, bewildered all the while.
What was wrong with him?
The omega in question rolled her eyes, throwing an “it's fine, Lan Wangji, thanks though” his way before taking Wei Wuxian's hand in hers and tugging him along to disappear somewhere between the shelves.
Lan Wangji felt profoundly stupid as he returned to his seat.
Wei Wuxian didn't return to his usual place for the rest of his time in the library. Lan Wangji debated going through the shelves to ensure that the alpha was following through on his punishment.
Stubborn for no reason at all, he forced himself to read through no fewer than 13 chapters. By the time he was done reading about the 17th cultivation conference gone wrong, he had to admit himself that Wei Wuxian wasn't coming back.
He sighed and set the tome aside, pulling out his coursework. He had finished most of the day's work after lunch, as he'd started doing once detention afternoons had started to get… distracting. Now that he had free time with no one to disturb him, he might as well get one more week ahead on the syllabus.
The thought was far less pleasing than it would've been a month ago.
…
Over the next couple of days, Wei Wuxian didn't trouble him at all. He came in for detention, always his signature five minutes late (a progress from fifteen), and always accompanied by “Mianmian”.
To his chagrin, Wei Wuxian's detention work had never been better. His calligraphy, for one, became stable , if not completely legible. He considered it a huge victory to see that the alpha had stopped writing one letter multiple ways in the span of a single sentence.
There may yet be hope still, uncle.
Wei Wuxian had also been completing his maintenance tasks with minimum grumbling, things he would whine for hours on end initially. The alpha systematically combed through shelves, surprising Lan Wangji, who observed from a distance while pretending not to.
Wei Wuxian dusted and sorted and logged and cleaned, but never once bothered Lan Wangji with his complaints. Apparently, a certain Mianmian's presence was enough for Wei Wuxian to behave and fulfil his punishment with utmost sincerity.
His mood soured, as it had done for two afternoons. Was Wei Wuxian trying to impress this omega? He hadn’t imagined him to be the mating dance type of an alpha, strutting about in displays of competence and strength.
Ah well, who was he to comment on how other alphas asked other omegas—pretty, short, cool, funny, fashionable omegas , his mind supplied—out on dates? When the time came, he’d much prefer older customs of dating, beginning with a gift and ending with a knot.
Grey eyes flashed in his mind, a familiar face sweating, scrunched up in expressions of sweet agony—
He made a quick exit before his scent could broadcast his shame to the entire floor, stopping only once he was safely enclosed in a bathroom stall.
On the other end of the floor, Wei Wuxian whirled around, feeling weirdly as if someone had called his name. Feeling silly, he went back to coaching Mianmian on how to ask shijie out on a date.