Chapter Text
The first time they've met, Lan Zheng remembered thinking, he's never seen someone from the Magic Domain like this before. Long hair in a color resembling sunlight, bright hazel eyes, accented white robes— the top is half open, exposing the round of his shoulders, which would've been indecent if not for the nearly skin tight fabric covering his torso. The man would have been a true beauty if not for the cocky grin he sported, one that Lan Zheng would come to associate with disaster in their encounters later on.
“I have no interest in this conversation. Stay away.”
“Hm, quite bossy, aren't we?”
The man's eyes twinkled with mirth, and unfortunately, mischief. If Lan Zheng hadn't been so troubled by this encounter, he would've thought of a puppy being put off leash for the first time. Sensing some unease in his chest, Lan Zheng turned to leave, but was stopped in his tracks by golden chains shooting towards him. He sent the chains into a void with a wave of his hand, but a crack of a whip made him tilt his head just enough to look back.
“An aether element user? How curious..” And the whip, just as brilliant as the chains, shot towards Lan Zheng in a flash.
That was his first impression of Fa Yue from the City of Reason, who was anything but reasonable. He's heard of that particular city before— in the heart of the Magic Domain, where the largest and deepest underground prison in the three domains are.
When they met again for the tournament, Fa Yue sticks to Lan Zheng and teases him all the way through the Holy City, and when he's not teasing, he's drawn to everything the Holy City has to offer like a moth to a flame, marvelling at everything he laid his eyes on. Fa Yue is not a bad travelling partner, minus the constant teasings and nonstop chatters— Lan Zheng almost felt as though he was herding a little child just a bit too curious about the outside world.
When he wants Lan Zheng's attention, or when he simply wanted to annoy the living daylights out of Lan Zheng, he'd tug on his sleeve and poke at his shoulders, then act cute when Lan Zheng gets irritated. Fortunately, he does know when to stop his teasings, is relatively easy to satisfy, and knows how to backtrack and placate others (i.e. Lan Zheng) when needed.
Just when Lan Zheng thinks that, maybe he could work with this guy, Fa Yue truly outdoes himself every time, with each request getting more and more outrageous than the last.
Fa Yue insists on taking the bed for the tent Lan Zheng paid for and denies hogging the bed, because its not his fault Lan Zheng declined sharing beds. He then insists his meals be paid for, because he's apparently doing Lan Zheng a favor by staying for the tournament, claiming to not mind the influence of the Peerless Bead as much. Then, after winning the tournament, he demands the entirety of the prize money, because he's done such an amazing job at protecting Lan Zheng. Which Lan Zheng certainly didn't need— he said that much through their connection, but the menace, sent by the heavens to torment unfortunate people, ignored it with an evil quirk of his lips.
By the end of it, its admittedly hard for Lan Zheng to wrap his head around how someone like Fa Yue could be from a place called the City of Reason: carefree, playful, and absolutely unreasonable. When the seal fails to seperate them, Lan Zheng was just about to throw a fit. He had better things to do, he thought, and being stuck with a childish, unreasonable man is not how he wants to do said things.
“Aiyah, Lan badao, that hurts my feelings,” Fa Yue whines, wiping an invisible tear away from his cheek. “I also have stuff to do, so I'll be returning to the City of Reason first. Give me a shout when you think it through, okay?” With a wink, Fa Yue skips away without a care in the world, humming his silly little tune.
Frustrated, Lan Zheng summons a portal home. The Aether City is the least populated city in the Blue Domain, with aether being a somewhat scarce element nowadays. Most of the people are not of aether element, and those who are are usually elderly or simply uncultivated. He didn't blame them— Aether is one of the hardest elements to control, let alone master, thus falling into obscurity is inevitable. It didn't help that only a selected number of element seas have aether in them, and with how hard it is to actually get recognized by the element itself..
A blessing, everyone had said when Lan Zheng was chosen to inherit aether alongside light and wind elements, the aether lives on. A curse, some had said, a place of loneliness and isolation awaits him.
He doesn't go back to the palace first— there's no one there waiting for him. The last king of Aether City, his father, had passed not long after Lan Zheng's fourth birthday and Lan Zheng has been next in line ever since, although not exactly qualified just yet. Why he's still considered a prince is simply because the elders took pity on him and did not want to take Aether City for themselves.
A small graces his lips seeing Yongxian playing outside the cottage of elder Deng, which is a prominent place in Lan Zheng's own childhood. He's hid from his tutors in this very cottage when he was young, and always eavesdropped as elder Deng chased those pesky know-it-all's away. He's glad that Deng laoshi has managed to keep her pet project, the House of Hope, running until now, and other children now have the opportunity to make similarly good memories he had growing up here.
Elder Deng listens to his situation and happenings very seriously as Deng laoshi fills his bowl with steaming food, and they're the closest Lan Zheng had come to having a family along with the children. He had invited them to move into the palace on some occasions, but the palace is further from the sacred pool of aether, and it would be better for elder Deng to remain in this cottage due to his delicate age.
“So, the Peerless Bead..” Elder Deng starts, “Has bound you with a person from the City of Reason? I haven't heard from that city for years. How the lad even got sent out for a mission like this is a mystery by itself.”
“Is the City of Reason such a terrible place to be from?”
Shaking his head, “Those people need a reason for everything, and sometimes, it is the absolute need for reason that makes them unreasonable. When it comes to domain-wide affairs like the Peerless Bead, the city councilors probably had a reason benefitting the entire city to approve of this mission. But with the current state you're in, I'm sure the lad has much explaining to do when he returns to the City of Reason.”
Hearing this, Lan Zheng couldn't help but have a small tinge of worry for Fa Yue. Now that they've accepted that the Peerless Bead is not missing and instead been absorbed by the both of them, Fa Yue couldn't weasel his way out of questioning like he did before. He does have some self perseverance intact, but not much, and when Lan Zheng recalls the naivety and childish behavior he's been subjected to throughout their time in the Holy City..
— Hehe, don't worry Lan badao~ I have my ways, a sing-song voice calls out in his head, but I don't agree with what your elder said, ah! We're the most reasonable people in the land!
— Vexatious, Lan Zheng fires back, do not eavesdrop.
— Say, can I teleport over to your side? I'm so bored on the ship.. even though the seaview here is nice..
— No.
— I've never been to the Blue Domain before. In fact, I've never even seen the sea until they allowed me to retrieve the Peerless Bead! Please, Lan Zheng gege? Please, please, please?
Elder Deng chuckles, “Are you conversing with the lad?”
Lan Zheng is quick to cough and apologize, his cheeks going warm, but elder Deng waves it away. “My.. acquaintance wants to come here,” Lan Zheng explains, “But I don't think that's appropriate at a time like this.”
“A-Zheng, although I'm sure we wouldn't mind meeting him,” Deng laoshi smiles kindly, “Its up to you to decide.”
— Your family is so welcoming, unlike a certain bossy someone..
— You didn't give me any real reason to welcome you. Idiot. But his heart swells when Fa Yue called them his family.
Blocking out the offended gasp followed by what he's sure is a lecture on Fa Yue's many reasons to be welcomed, Lan Zheng ignores him all the way untill he's finished putting everything away, despite assurance from Deng laoshi that she will handle the cleanup. Not even a second after Lan Zheng goes outside to play with Yongxian, a flash of light brings his worst nightmare in the flesh.
Fa Yue looks around, his eyes growing more and more round with fascination with every inch of scenery he takes in, before turning to the duo, mostly Lan Zheng. “So this is your home!” He grins.
Yongxian, bless him, doesn't startle or have his wits scared out of him by the appearance of a (lunatic) man in the front yard.
“Strange gege, are you Lan Zheng gege's friend?”
“No, I am a magical beast summoned by your Lan Zheng gege!” Fa Yue says, crouching down to Yongxian's eye level, his smile widening when Yongxian giggles at his words, “And I have— let me see.. I didn't exactly think I would encounter children.. Aha! Ginger malt candy! It's sweet and also healthy, so children in the city are permitted to have one every two days.”
The piece of candy looks a bit.. sad, if Lan Zheng is being honest. The wrapping is drab, nothing like the bright coloured ones usually seen in the Blue Domain, and just the fact that a reason is needed to give children candy made Lan Zheng's lips twitch downwards. But he sees how Fa Yue's eyes soften further when Yongxian doesn't show any disdain towards the visibly lacklustre gift.
“Thank you, gege!”
“Ah, children are so cute. He reminds me of the little nibblings at home.” When he notices Lan Zheng's curious glance, he continues, “My parents own the school in the City of Reason, and sometimes I'd go teach the children on my off days so they can grow up to be good additions to the city.”
— Are you allowed to be a role model for children? Lan Zheng almost snorts at that, eyeing Fa Yue's mildly suggestive robes and the unkempt braids in his hair.
— Hey! I'm completely different when I'm back in the city, okay? Fa Yue huffs.
“Lan Zheng gege, and.. what's your name, strange gege?”
Grinning, Fa Yue ruffles Yongxian's hair playfully, “It's Fa Yue, what's yours?
“It's Yongxian, Fa Yue gege!”
“Alright! Yongxian, let gege teach you a game from the City of Reason!” Lan Zheng couldn't help but let a slight smile show on his lips, but it's immediately wiped off his face when his arm is snagged by Fa Yue, who has that evil grin™ on his face. “You too, Lan badao!”
After learning and playing multiple rounds of Fa Yue's version of tag, the two of them lay on the rooftop after tucking Yongxian into bed. Fa Yue gazes at the sky with the same fascination he gave the fruit trees surrounding the cottage, and it makes Lan Zheng wonder what his life was like before the Peerless Bead mission.
“Well,” Fa Yue suddenly said, “There's no sea or fruit trees, that's for sure.”
Lan Zheng clears his throat awkwardly, cursing himself inwardly for forgetting about the Peerless Bead's existence. And Fa Yue laughs, throwing his head back as he does so, bright and carefree. They sit in silence for a bit, before Fa Yue continues, “I've never had this much fun in my life. Thank you, Lan badao.”
“For putting up with your behavior? Save it.”
Lan Zheng can feel his face relax at Fa Yue's small chuckle, and he realized that he's never had this experience before— having someone to talk to as the rest of the world sleeps. In a way, they're more similar than they think, lacking something in life that would otherwise make them "normal". One seeing the world for the first time, the other feeling a comfort brought by companionship for the first time too.
“I'll be going back to the ship when the sun rises. There's still a lot I need to prepare.” Fa Yue stretches his arms up high like a lazy cat, before pulling his robes over his shoulders and bunching up his sleeves as a makeshift pillow, “But for now, I think I'll take a nap here..”
“You'll get cold. Idiot.” Lan Zheng chided quietly, but Fa Yue snuggles deeper into his sleeves, already breathing evenly.
The night is peaceful, still as ever. And when Fa Yue wakes up the next day, he's been moved to the bamboo hanging chair inside the cottage, covered by a soft blanket.
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