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“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhaaaaan, c’mon!!” Wei Wuxian’s tug on his hand brought Lan Wangji out of his thoughts.
His… boyfriend (Lan Wangji didn’t know how he was allowed to use that word to describe them now. Didn’t know how it had happened) was grinning at him, grey eyes crinkled at the corners with his delight. His hands wrapped around one of Lan Wangji’s own, warm and present.
“We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry,” Wei Wuxian said, bouncing up and down in his delight. “Baba and Father are so excited to meet you—they’ve been asking for a while now.” He scrunched his nose a little as he led them through the crowded streets. “They’ve been… persistent,” His back was to Lan Wangji as he zipped through the people, but he could hear the eye roll in his tone. “Everytime we talked Baba was like ‘we need to meet him, I need to make sure he’s good enough’, and all that. If he tries to scare you, just know that he’s just being dramatic.” Wei Wuxian sidestepped a suspicious puddle and led the duo into a dark alley between two larger buildings.
Lan Wangji heard someone catcall him from a window above, and Wei Wuxian looked up and yelled words Lan Wangji hadn’t ever expected to hear someone actually say–and he was pretty sure his Uncle would have suffered a qi deviation right then and there from.
They were out of the alley before Lan Wangji could blink more than a couple times, and back into another bustling street. Lan Wangji was finding that despite being continuously bumped into, shoved, and jostled by the crowds—the warm feel of Wei Wuxian’s hand wrapped around his own kept him from feeling perturbed.
The entire city was bathed in shades of red it seemed, golden light spilling out of shops and windows, and the market-goers bustling here and there constantly.
Lan Wangji had finally managed to get his uncle to allow them to leave Cloud Recess for a visit to Wei Wuxian’s family—Lan Wangji assuming that they were going to visit Lotus Pier. He’d been prepared to deal with the Jiang Clan.
When they’d left, he’d quickly realized they were not heading in the correct direction for that. He’d asked Wei Wuxian where they were going, and his love had only laughed and said that he’d see soon enough. The city was not one that Lan Wangji had ever seen before—and he wasn’t quite sure where it was on a map either, though Wei Wuxian clearly knew it intimately. The city was large, and he’d have to ask Uncle why he’d never learned of such a large area so close by before.
As they wove through the street, a few people called out to Wei Wuxian—friendly greetings, a few questions of who his companion was, and Wei Wuxian’s seemed to know all of the ones who called out to him, delightedly responding to them. Lan Wangji was a little overwhelmed.
He’d known Wei Wuxian was social, but that creeping doubt that he might not be enough—that he was too quiet, too dull—to be with someone as bright and cheerful as Wei Wuxian was creeping in on him again, curling around his heart like thorns.
“AH! Lan Zhan! The time!!” Wei Wuxian yelped and put on even more speed, basically just running now. He led them toward… Well, it was opulent to say the least. Beautiful, but more than a little over the top for what Lan Wangji was used to.
Lan Wangji stared at the manor, then at Wei Wuxian, who was waving wildly to a slight, dark-haired man standing in front of the entrance. Dressed in nice but plain dark robes, there was a white mask propped up on the side of his head. His arms were folded, and a neutral look on his rather-forgettable face.
“You’re late.” he murmured, swinging the entrance open.
“I know, I know! I wanted to show Lan Zhan some of the city!”
“Mhm.” The man turned his gaze on Lan Wangji, and he was struck with how pale and lifeless he seemed. However, the man only gave him a slight bow. “I am Yin Yu, or Waning Moon Officer. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Lan Wangji gave him a slight bow in return, his mind whirling. Wei Wuxian’s parents not only lived in this manor, but seemed to own it? Wei Wuxian had never mentioned his family having money before.
Yin Yu slipped in after then and closed the door, Wei Wuxian dragging Lan Wangji off into the main house before he could see where Yin Yu slipped away to. The manor itself was pretty quiet—it didn’t seem like there were a lot of servants, though the entire thing was clearly very well maintained. Wei Wuxian was chattering away, pointing out little things about this or that—like how he’d knocked over a vase that’d been sitting on that side table years ago, and any number of little stories like that.
Lan Wangji wanted to kiss his pretty mouth so badly.
It wasn’t long before Wei Wuxian pulled him into a dining room, a long table stretching out before them heaped with countless dishes. Quite a few of the dishes were startlingly red.
There wasn’t anybody actually in the room though. Lan Wangji had been expecting to run into Wei Wuxian’s parents by now, or at least having run into them now that they were in the dining hall.
Wei Wuxian didn’t seem too surprised or put out by this, happily leading them over to a couple seats and making Lan Wangji sit. He let go of his hand to sit in his own chair (cross-legged, very improper. Lan Wangji found he didn’t actually care) but quickly grabbed it again.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian squeezed his hand. “Whatever—don’t let them scare you. Okay? And uh, let me know if you get uncomfortable or what to leave, okay?” He looked at their joined hands. “I know I can be a lot—and my family is, er–” He gave a nervous laugh.
Lan Wangji put his free hand on top of Wei Wuxian’s. “I am very excited to meet them.”
He knew that was the right thing to say (despite the butterflies in his stomach) when Wei Wuxian lit up, beaming at Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji was about to lean forward and kiss him when the doors banged open, the two teens jolting in surprise.
“I see we arrived just in time then,” a deep male voice said. “Who knows what we might have walked into if we’d been a moment later.”
“Baba!” Wei Wuxian was up and out of his chair and leaping at the tall man draped in red before Lan Wangji had time to fully process what’d been said.
The man Wei Wuxian had called “baba” had wild black hair and a dangerously handsome look—an eyepatch covering one side of his face. He was clearly focused entirely upon returning Wei Wuxian’s crushing hug.
There was another man with the red-robed figure. Dressed in soft white cultivator robes, he was shorter than everyone else in the room with long brown hair and warm golden eyes. He seemed to be waiting for his turn to get a hug, and offered Lan Wangji a gentle smile.
Lan Wangji stood, walking toward the trio—feeling more nervous than he thought he’d ever felt before in his entire life. He wasn’t usually nervous at anything.
Wei Wuxian had disentangled himself from the red man, and turned to crush the golden-eyed man in a hug now. He was laughing as he separated, bouncing back to Lan Wangji’s side. “Baba, father, this is Lan Wangji! Lan Zhan, this is Baba,” He nodded toward the man dressed in red. “And this is father.” The man in white gave Lan Wangji a polite nod.
“My name is Xie Lian,” The shorter man said. “And my husband, Hua Cheng.”
Lan Wangji felt like his feet were rooted to the floor. He knew those names.
The Scrap Immortal and Crimson Rain Sought Flower.
A thrice-ascended god and a calamity-level ghost.
The legends surrounding them were too many to count, but it was agreed that if you met them, unless the Scrap Immortal was there, all you could do was pray you would survive Crimson Rain’s wrath.
Lan Wangji swallowed hard, sweeping into a low bow. The Scrap Immortal—Xie Lian—laughed lightly. “Oh, no no you don’t have to! It’s nice to meet you Lan Wangji. Thank you for making our son so happy.” He bowed back, a delighted look in his eyes.
Lan Wangji was pretty sure that it was the other way around, Wei Wuxian made him happy.
“Father!!” Wei Wuxian squawked, wrapping his arms around one of Lan Wangji’s. “I told you two to not be embarrassing!”
“Aw, but how can we pass up such a chance?” Hua Cheng’s teasing remark sent shivers down Lan Wangji’s spine, but all Wei Wuxian did was glare at him.
“Shall we eat?” Xie Lian offered, moving to go sit. Hua Cheng followed him like a bright red shadow.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were a little slower, letting them get to their seats first.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji whispered. “Next time, please warn me if your relatives are gods and ghosts.”