Work Text:
Wei Ying was nervous, and when he was nervous, he paced. Not back and forth from one end of the room to the other, oh no, that would have been too simple. No, when Ying paced, he actually sort of... walked. Away. For a long time.
Today, it was away from the beautiful home he loved and shared with his beautiful husband, whom he also loved. See, when he was a kid, he got nervous a lot. Being adopted did that to you, but being a huli jing adopted into a family of fuzhu (Madam Yu the Violet Spider notwithstanding) had made Wei Ying into the type of nervous wreck that never said anything to anyone. He would just walk. Away. And get into mischief, usually of his own making.
This hardly counted as mischief since he was supposed to get pregnant, but for some reason, it made him nervous. The reason was trauma, probably, and that was really the long and short of it, or however that phrase went.
It was good news. He and Lan Zhan hadn't been ready when they got married, since they met each other that same day, but the expectation was that Wei Ying would end up pregnant immediately. He needed to supply the Lan with an heir, and Lan Zhan was the only dragon of their generation that wasn't infertile. It was a lot of pressure! For him and for Lan Zhan! Who had just met!
How lucky that Lan Zhan was simply the best there ever was. Wei Ying was so happy that Shijie even cried about it once. She'd taken Lan Zhan's hand and patted his cheek and thanked him for making Wei Ying happier than she'd ever seen in all her life. Wei Ying stored that memory and brought it to the front of his mind when Lan Zhan cooked for him and used the spices he remembered his mom using, each time he took Wei Ying's hand as they ventured out together, every time Lan Zhan held him after a nightmare, every time Lan Zhan put himself between Wei Ying and the world.
Lan Zhan was upset about Shijie's comment for a long time. Not at her, never, but about the implication of it all, and worked to renegotiate some aspect of their marriage agreement after the fact. Some of it was about his inventions and talismans and their ownership, and some of it was about kids. They were somehow allowed to take their time. Lan Zhan bought them five years, somehow.
Five years they spent being completely inseparable, lovestruck fools. It was great! They traveled, they tried new things, learned new things, and fell more in love with each passing day. Then the clock ran out, but by then they felt ready.
Sort of.
They'd tried immediately, and when Wei Ying didn't end up pregnant, Wen Qing said it was likely because he'd been on suppressants for so long. It might take a few tries. That wasn't something they minded at all. The opposite, in fact. Or, perhaps, it was better to say they didn't mind a little too much.
Nonetheless, it had now been six months of no luck until today, so Wei Ying was nervous. And when he was nervous. He walked.
He walked to his favorite garden and fed the koi in one pond and picked lotus seeds from another. Then he walked to Lan Zhan's favorite garden and picked some gentians for a bouquet. Then, because he was nervous and needed to walk, but also happier than he'd ever been in all his life, he walked back home.
Lan Zhan was still teaching but would return soon. Wei Ying put the flowers in water, peeled the lotus seeds, and put the 17th positive pregnancy test he took that morning in a little box. Then it was time to wait. He was very nervous and wanted to walk, but he was so happy he was able to stay at home and pace.
That was sort of how Lan Zhan found him a few minutes later. Wei Ying had gone from their cute little dining area back into the kitchen to make tea and turned around to a teary-eyed Lan Zhan in the doorway.
He put the tea tray back down and hurried to Lan Zhan's side, ready to fight whoever or whatever it was that had made him cry.
Lan Zhan swept him up with one arm to kiss him very soundly.
“Is it true?” he asked, eyes sparkling, then held up the little box. Ah.
Wei Ying smiled, “So I'm the one who's made you cry, I see. Yeah. It's true. I think seventeen tests from five different brands might be fairly reliable, but they say—”
Lan Zhan cut him off with another kiss and carried him upstairs to try and put a second baby in him.
***
Wei Ying traced the faint marks across Lan Zhan's skin as they basked in the afterglow and let his mind run away with him.
“If we have a dragon, what would you like to name them?”
Lan Zhan ran his fingers through the fine fur of Wei Ying's tails and hummed, a deep rumble that Wei Ying felt across his whole body.
“If we have a dragon first, you mean,” he murmured.
Wei Ying blushed. If he let Lan Zhan keep talking like that, they'd never pick a name, but Wei Ying was nothing if not easily distracted by his amazing husband. He let himself indulge in the obvious diversion that was Lan Zhan's mouth for only a few minutes before shaking himself out of it.
“Lan Zhaaaaan,” Wei Ying pouted. “I'm serious! We have to have a good name.”
This time, Lan Zhan pouted at the loss of contact, drawing Wei Ying closer by the hips and chasing after his mouth.
“We will choose one that is appropriate,” he said then, very seriously. “It is more important to me that you are well taken care of during the pregnancy. When is your appointment with Wen-daifu?”
Wei Ying felt his face turn an incriminating shade of crimson, and Lan Zhan's grip at the base of his tails tightened.
“I see. I am the first you've told of the pregnancy, then?”
He nodded.
Lan Zhan smiled in that soft way of his and touched Wei Ying's face, and like the softest of domino effects, Wei Ying smiled in return, which made Lan Zhan smile just a little wider.
“I hope our child has your smile,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying's heart burst into a million butterflies.
“Lan Zhan—”
Lan Zhan touched his face and Wei Ying teared up at the absolute sincerity in his eyes.
“I hope they have the same zest for life as you,” his wonderful husband added.
He really was too much for Wei Ying to handle. In the best way. In the only way that should ever be allowed.
“Lan Zhan!”
“I hope to always make you happy, no matter what adventures lie before us, including this one.”
Five years of marriage were not enough time to grow accustomed to Lan Zhan's devastating effect on him, and Wei Ying hoped he never would.
Gathered tears finally fell from his eyes, and Lan Zhan wiped them away with gentle swipes of his thumbs.
“We're going to be awesome parents, Lan Zhan,” he said softly, and then it was his turn to wipe tears from Lan Zhan's eyes.
All of his life, Wei Ying had felt this need to pace, to walk, to move from one place to another. He’d walked and walked, not realizing he’d been searching for this life, the one he now shared with this dragon husband of his. This was going to be a new adventure for both of them, and for once, Wei Ying felt like staying put.