Work Text:
Wei Ying was up to something. The man had never been subtle and, after years of marriage, Lan Zhan would have known immediately even if he had tried to be. Wei Ying’s mind tended to wander when it didn’t have an objective, but, for months, he had been focused to the point of neglecting his own wellbeing. After years of marriage, Lan Zhan was also used to having to coax his husband into eating, bathing, and sleeping when he was working on something. Unlike other times, Wei Ying hadn’t shared with him what his new project was.
It was this last part that worried him; even when Wei Ying worked on areas outside of Lan Zhan’s expertise, he liked to talk his ideas through with him, and Lan Zhan always listened and made questions at appropriate points that had helped him in the past. This time, though, he was clearly stuck, and, still, wouldn’t talk about it with his husband. Lan Zhan couldn’t even imagine what this new talisman that absorbed every waking minute of Wei Ying’s time could be about that he couldn’t share it with him.
Lan Zhan didn’t want to admit it, but it stung. He wouldn’t deny Wei Ying his autonomy or privacy, but it brought back painful memories and worries.
So when he coaxed Wei Ying away from his table and his piles of unintelligible notes and back into their bed, out of his clothes and into Lan Zhan’s embrace, he took care to love him thoroughly, to remind him with his kisses and caresses that he was not alone, would never be alone ever again. And Wei Ying responded in kind, clinging to him with arms and legs, kissing as ardently as Lan Zhan and moving to get him deep inside, not letting him go until he couldn’t move anymore, exhausted from their lovemaking.
While they lay in the bathtub, Wei Ying gave him a sweet smile and brought their joined hands over his stomach, sighing satisfied. Lan Zhan wanted to bite his neck, but he had already left enough marks all over his husband’s body that night; he pressed his lips against Wei Ying’s nape and hugged him closer to his chest. Wei Ying laughed, but let him handle him however Lan Zhan liked.
“Ah, Lan-er-gege, I think this one will take. You’ve fucked me so hard, so deep, I’ll be surprised if I’m not round as a melon in a few months.”
“Wei Ying would be beautiful,” Lan Zhan practically moaned, his free hand grabbing Wei Ying’s hip hard enough to leave marks. Thinking about Wei Ying with a big pregnant belly, carrying his child, woke the possessive beast that lived inside him. It was one of his favorite fantasies.
Lan Zhan had expected Wei Ying to continue describing this scenario but, instead, went quiet and clung to him tighter. The worry that followed him these days came back with fury and Lan Zhan turned his husband on his lap to look at his face.
“What is wrong?”
“It would be nice, right? To have another kid, one we can raise together,” Wei Ying didn’t look into his eyes so, quickly, Lan Zhan took his chin and raised his head to kiss him deeply, reassuring him in ways just words never would.
“I’d love to have more children with Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said because it was true and it made him happy to remind Wei Ying.
“Children? I don’t know if I’m ready to bear you twins,” he chuckled and kissed him again, clinging to Lan Zhan’s shoulders. “If I could, I’d give you as many children as you wanted, Lan Zhan. We could have a big family, a dozen baby Lans following us around. Our little ducklings. Ah, husband!”
Unavoidably, that talk gave way to another round and another broken tub. Lan Zhan should have taken them back to their sheets, but the only thought in his mind had been Wei Ying, Wei Ying, Wei Ying. In the aftermath, his husband laughed, safe and warm from their bed, while Lan Zhan cleaned their room.
That night, the thought of adding a bunch of little ones to their small family accompanied Lan Zhan in his dreams. It was a nice dream.
Then, he woke up in the middle of the night, knowing they couldn’t have been sleeping for more than a few hours. He heard Wei Ying slide out of their bed and tiptoe his way out of the Jingshi. Lan Zhan sighed; the past night, his husband had gone back to his usual teasing self, but whatever preoccupied him hadn’t left his mind for long.
Lan Zhan didn’t want to pry where he wasn’t invited to, but the situation was turning ridiculous. He put on his boots, covered his inner robe with a warm coat, and took Wei Ying’s coat with him before walking outside.
He didn’t have to walk far – Wei Ying was sitting on the low wall of the garden he kept on the side of their house. His frame was still and tense, huddled on himself. Lan Zhan’s heart broke a little; reproaching himself not having intervened before, he walked to his husband’s side and wrapped him in his coat.
“Lan Zhan!” He shouted and quickly covered his mouth with his hands. “Sorry, did I wake you up? I just needed some fresh air, you can go back inside.”
“Without your coat?” Lan Zhan reproached him and sat beside him, immediately sliding a hand around Wei Ying’s waist. There was something there, a paper hidden under his robe. Could it be a letter or more notes?
“Ah…” was all Wei Ying said when he felt Lan Zhan go still by his side.
After a moment of silence, Lan Zhan said “You need rest.”
“I know, I was just…” Wei Ying braced himself but, in the end, took the piece of paper from under his clothes and showed it to Lan Zhan. It was a talisman, one Lan Zhan had never seen before. Wei Ying traced a line at the bottom with a sad smile. “This means it didn’t work.”
“What were you trying to do?” Lan Zhan asked, because even trying to parse the individual components, he couldn’t guess what the use of this talisman could be. It was checking something inside Wei Ying’s body, but what? Cold pooled in the deep of his stomach. “Are you sick?”
“What? No, Gege, I’m fine!” He leaned in to kiss his cheek and squeeze his hand. “No, it’s… it’s a pregnancy test. I developed it first with the help of some women of Caiyi, they said it’s changed everything for them.”
“Why did Wei Ying…?” Lan Zhan didn’t know how to phrase his question, but it didn’t matter; Wei Ying blushed and kept on talking.
“I had read all I could find in the library about pregnancy, but I needed more than dry facts, you know? So I talked to someone, who talked to someone, and so on, and suddenly I had a whole group of women willing to share every detail of their pregnancy. And, let me tell you, some things are disturbing, but that’s the miracle of life, right? Anyway, I quickly found that a talisman that could check if the person is pregnant or not would be really useful for them to plan better, instead of having to wait for months to be sure. And, well, it would be useful for me too, right? So I created this, it wasn’t very difficult; it has 100% accuracy. Some of the women learned to write it, so they all have access to it and it’s been tried many times – it’s right every single one.”
“What didn’t work then?” Lan Zhan said and, without thinking about it, slid a hand under Wei Ying’s knees to cuddle him on his lap. Now he knew where his story was going and his heart was overflowing with love for his brilliant husband, and with pain for not having been with him at every step of the way, from the first spark of an idea.
“The… the pregnancy talisman. There isn't a book that can help me with that one and I can only try it on myself. So, I have to assume it’s the talisman that is not working and not… that it’s impossible for me. That no matter what I won’t be able to get pregnant.”
“Wei Ying…” Lan Zhan hugged him closer against him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up if it turned out it was impossible. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”
“Wei Ying couldn’t disappoint me,” he said and pressed a kiss on the top of his head. “That you’re willing to try… it makes me very happy.”
“I was so sure that this time…” Wei Ying sighed as he looked at the talisman in his hand. Then, he crumpled it and put it inside his sleeve. He threaded his fingers with Lan Zhan’s and curled their hands around his flat belly. “I can’t be too far off. Maybe it just needs new eyes looking over it, very pretty eyes belonging to a very handsome husband.”
“I will help,” Lan Zhan said quickly, unable to contain a smile. It was such an impossible idea, but he was also completely sure Wei Ying was just an epiphany away from making it work. If there was anyone in the world who could do it, it was his genius husband. “Soon, my husband will be carrying our children.”
“Ah, Lan-er-gege…” Wei Ying leaned his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, looking up at him through his long eyelashes. “Can’t you wait to get me big and round with babies? Everyone will see, you knew? Everyone will know that distinguished Hanguang-Jun has gotten his little husband knocked… achoo!”
Immediately, Lan Zhan was on his feet and carrying Wei Ying back inside, carrying him princess-style.
“Wei Ying needs to be warm and rest if he’s going to get pregnant.”
At that, Wei Ying could only laugh and hold tight to his husband’s neck. That night, they tried again, just in case.