Chapter Text
It began one morning when Wei Wuxian woke up, painfully early as per Gusu standards, still half asleep and barely aware of what was going on around him. That was probably why the fact that he was no longer the sole presence in his mind did not alarm him in the slightest.
He said good morning to Jiang Cheng, who looked bleary eyed and miserable, had a bath, and tiredly trudged out of the room to the breakfast hall.
‘Good morning,’ said a voice that, even in his dazed state, knew was coming from inside his own head. Wei Wuxian decided that he was probably still half asleep, and didn’t think too much about it.
It wasn’t until he had finished half a bowl of his disgusting medicinal congee that he realised that no, having some strange voice talking in his head was not normal, no matter how early in the day it was.
“If I throw my food out the window over there, do you think anyone would notice?” Nie Huiasang whispered.
“No talking during meals,” snapped a nearby Lan disciple.
Jiang Cheng gave Nie Huaisang a pointed look.
Wei Wuxian silently panicked.
‘Who the hell are you?’ he thought, because either someone had found a way to invade his mind, or he was hallucinating right now. He wasn’t sure which one was preferable.
‘Well,’ the voice said, ‘this might sound really weird but…I’m you. From the future. A lot of really bad things happen, most of it centred around you, so I’m here to put a stop to all of them.’
Wei Wuxian silently took a mouthful of food and tried not to gag.
‘I’d say nice to meet you, but I’m technically you, so…’
Oh God, it was way too early for this.
…
So apparently the voice in his head truly believed that he was Wei Wuxian from the future. Wei Wuxian — the real Wei Wuxian, he thought, with some heat — found the whole thing ridiculous. However, he also didn’t know about any arrays or talismans that allowed people to directly talk to another person in their head, so he decided that this wasn’t some strange being invading his mind.
That meant that he could possibly be losing his mind, which definitely wasn’t a nice thought. There really wasn’t much time to ponder that thought though, what with Lan Qiren now droning on in front of class, and his supposed future self chattering on in his head about something or another.
“If you don’t start copying down some notes, Teacher Lan is going to kick you out of class again,” Jiang Cheng told him, like the good brother that he was. He sounded like the thought really might not bother him too much.
‘Aww, look at Jiang Cheng! He’s such a baby. A slightly less angry, purple baby.’
Wei Wuxian’s eye twitched.
…
His silence lasted until the end of class, and nearly an hour of listening to his supposed future self talk, and talk, and talk in his head, until Wei Wuxian finally snapped. Who cared what was going on here; if he hadn’t already lost his mind, he probably would soon. He didn’t talk this much, did he?
He couldn’t not say anything though, not when the voice had gone on and on about the supposed horror of the future. About the loss of his home, and his family, and oh god, Wei Wuxian had genuinely considered getting up and walking out of class at more than one point. Whether this was real or not, the thought of any of these things happening made him feel sick to his stomach.
‘I still don’t believe you, you know,’ he thought, not even sure if the voice would hear him, or reply.
‘You don’t need to,’ the voice said. So that worked then. ‘Just listen to me, and do what I say. Either way, you get to keep your family and friends safe.’
Wei Wuxian chewed on his lip uncomfortably, and looked away. He thought about what he had been told about the sheer horror of the future, and he didn’t know what to think. The tale was enough to make him feel nauseous. The Jiang Sect burning to the ground? Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu killed, the core transplant, the Wen Remnants, Shijie dying?
He didn’t know if he could trust the voice in his head just yet, but there was no way he could risk any of that happening.
‘Fine’ he thought, ‘say I trust you for now — what do I do?’
‘As soon as we get out of this class, we’re going back to our room, and you’re going to write EVERYTHING I say down. Okay?’
‘Okay, fine. Also — OUR room?’
‘I told you, I’m you.’
Wei Wuxian highly doubted that, but for now, the voice had mostly just talked. And as sceptical as he was, he couldn’t forget what he had just heard. Even if it was a lie, how could he just ignore the possibility that his family and home could all be taken away from him?
And if this was somehow some big, elaborate prank, he would be kicking someone’s ass very soon.
‘Look, just WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING I SAY. And listen! I mean it, things will get BAD with the Wens, and you need to warn Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu somehow. And we need to brainstorm a way for you to help the Wen remnants if anything happens to them, but we have to keep Shijie safe — ‘
‘Okay, okay, fine.’ No one had to tell him twice about the importance of keeping Jiang Yanli alive. He would not let his Shijie get hurt, and if whoever the hell this was wanted to keep her safe, then he wasn’t going to argue.
…
“Okay, so that’s everything,” he said aloud. He sat back on his bed, staring down at the messy script on the paper in front of him. The room was empty, and he wasn’t too worried about anyone overhearing and thinking he’d lost his mind.
‘Yes. I’ve given you details on everything I remember from that period of time — now as soon as you get back to Lotus Pier, you need to start setting things in motion, okay?’
“Yes.”
‘And stay away from — ’
“Away from demonic cultivation. I know.” He wasn’t that eager to delve into using resentful energy since his time in the forest anyway. He may have been initially curious, and the Waterborne Abyss had only piked that curiosity, but after what had followed that, he had no desire to continue playing around with it any further.
What his apparent future self had told him had only strengthen those beliefs.
‘I mean it. You won’t need it anyway, not as long as you can keep your core. Which is why you need to — ’
“Keep Jiang Cheng safe. Yes, I know.”
He slumped back, staring at the sheets of paper in front of him. He could do this. Honestly, it didn’t seem like the voice in his head was trying to lead him astray; the things he had told him — the Wens attacking, Shijie dying, his time in the burial mounds — didn’t seem like he was trying to set him up for disaster. There was no reason he shouldn’t try to be cautious and protect the ones he loved from these future disasters.
“Okay, that’s everything,” he said. “Are you going to leave me alone now?”
‘…Yeah, look, I’m not exactly sure how to do that.’
“What.”
‘Don’t worry! Look, I was working on this talisman that was supposed to let me travel back in time, and... something went wrong. And now I'm stuck in your head, which definitely wasn't supposed to happen. But don't worry, it was supposed to be for temporary time travel — and it’s not supposed to last long. So. I’m pretty sure I’ll eventually go back to my timeline.’
“And this won’t mess up your own timeline?” He still wasn't sure how much truth there was in all of this, but maybe lowering his guard a bit would be fine. If the voice - Future-him, whatever - was going to stick around for a while longer, he didn't want to spend the whole time tense and nervous.
‘Honestly? I’m pretty sure it’ll just cause another timeline to diverge. So for now I’m just going to sit back and relax. Oh and one more thing — Lan Zhan.’
Wei Wuxian’s brow furrowed. “Lan Zhan? What about him?” He had last seen the other boy during their sessions in the library pavilion, and Lan Wangji had been as cold and unmoving as ever. Wei Wuxian had laughed and teased him, and done everything to try and get a reaction out of him. The thought made him want to smile.
‘Okay, so do you know how I’ve just told you about all the awful things that will one day happen to you?’
Wei Wuxian didn’t even deem that with a response.
‘Yeah so…here’s some happy news! You get to marry and have very passionate sex with Lan Zhan, every day, for the rest of your life!’
Wei Wuxian didn’t think anyone could blame him for his response; he collapsed off the chair he’d been sitting on, landing on the floor with a loud yelp.
The door opened at that moment and Jiang Cheng walked in, looking confused when he saw his brother sitting wide-eyed on the floor.
“Wei Wuxian? What are you doing?”
‘WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!’
‘Yup, every day. And trust me, I mean EVERYDAY.'
Wei Wuxian stared blankly ahead of him, and decided that this had to be a huge joke. It had to be.
…
‘I’m not joking you know.’
‘Shut up,' he told his future self, as he walked to his class later that day. He'd decided that, if the guy was going to be sticking around, he needed to call him something other than 'the voice.' 'Future-him' worked just fine; Wei Wuxian didn't feel like being creative right now. Jiang Cheng had left him alone after declaring that Wei Wuxian was acting stranger than usual, and he was able to silently process this insanity as he headed to class.
He had agreed to listen to him about stopping all the bad things that would supposedly come to pass, but now he was just trying to trick him. This was obviously just a huge joke. As if Lan Zhan would ever want to marry him.
‘He does. Trust me, he does. Look, I’m trying to help you — it took us a LONG time to get to where we are because of heaps of misunderstandings and miscommunication, and you don’t need all of that! You can have him right away — ’
‘I’m not a cut-sleeve!’
‘Well, I actually like both, so I don’t know if cut-sleeve is the right word. But Lan Zhan? He’s the best thing thats ever happen to me. And he’s beautiful. Come on, I’m you, I KNOW you think that already.’
Wei Wuxian’s cheeks flushed bright red, and he shook his head. No, he wasn’t listening to this. Lan Wangji couldn’t stand him; he thought of Wei Wuxian as a pest, a nuisance, and nothing would ever change that.
No matter how much you want it to, a little voice told him, that for once didn’t sound like Future-him.
Wei Wuxian took a deep breath and tried to ignore the incessant chattering in his head. God, was he always this annoying? He ducked his head down, trying to hurry to class.
‘Hmm, I wonder if I can show you images. Okay, I’m going to focus for a second and — tell me if you can see this, okay?’
‘What the hell are you — OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT?!’
Wei Wuxian barely missed slamming straight into a nearby wall. A group of Gusu disciples shot him alarmed looks, and he lowered his head and hurried past.
‘It’s Lan Zhan naked.’
‘I CAN SEE THAT! Why are you showing that to me?’
‘Because that’s what I get to see EVERYDAY. And every night. And — ’
‘Oh my god, please stop. PLEASE stop.’
He tried to block out the voice, and thought, 'You don’t like Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan doesn’t like you, future-you doesn’t really know how Lan Zhan looks like naked.'
‘Do you need more angles?’
‘NO.’
He did not like Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan did not like him, Lan Zhan looked amazing when naked — but that was only to be expected from the esteemed, stunning Second Jade of Lan, and no, that did not make him a cut-sleeve, he was only making an observation. Lan Wangji was obviously beautiful. Even a man with multiple wives would be able to tell you that.
‘You don’t have multiple wives, you have one husband.’
He didn’t deem that with a response.
He continued his silent mantra, which wasn't nearly so silent, since their was now a voice living in his head. Future-him was wrong. Future-him was so, so wrong.
Future-him was also potentially a hallucination, because maybe his encounters with resentful energy had messed with his head more than he’d thought (and Teacher Lan would never be hearing about that). Or maybe he’d hit his head at some point; it’s not like he remembered everything that went on after a night of drinking, and god knew, he, Jiang Cheng, and Nie Huaisang had done enough of it.
The point was, he was willing to go out on a limb and trust what Future-him had said about the future, because there was no way he was risking any of that happening.
But he and Lan Zhan? Marrying? Most of the time, the other boy seemed to barely be able to stand him. And sure, he wanted to be friends with Lan Zhan, and he liked being around Lan Zhan, and, okay, maybe Lan Zhan made him really happy, but — but that didn’t make him a cut-sleeve!
He really wanted them to be friends, that was all. Best friends even. Lan Zhan didn’t seem to have many friends — or, no friends, really, and…and Wei Wuxian wanted to be one of them.
‘I thought so too,’ Future-him said. ‘But really, you’re in love with him.’
‘Oh my god, shut up.’
‘How can you not love Lan Zhan? He’s beautiful, talented, smart, the perfect gentleman, —‘
‘Go away.’
‘ — a skilled musician, an accomplished lover — ‘
‘GO — ’
‘ — a wonderful father — ’
‘Oh my god, would you — wait, WHAT?!’
…
So according to Future-him, he and Lan Zhan were married in the future. And they had a son together. And that son was adorable, and perfect, and somehow the perfect little Lan disciple even though he was partially raised by him, and apparently he had been buried in the ground like a radish, because that was how you raised a child.
His name was A-Yuan. Lan Yuan, to be more precise, courtesy name Lan Sizhui. He was, again, adorable, and perfect, and Future-him apparently felt like squishing his cheeks every time he saw him because he was just that damn cute.
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian wasn’t which one of them was delusional. He was also fairly certain that he was going to be very late to class, because he had plonked himself down against a nearby wall, and decided that if he kept walking, he was probably going to collapse at some point.
He tried to put the thoughts out of his mind. What did it really matter, if any of this was real or not. He had agreed to listen to his future self’s other warnings, because there was no way he wanted to even risk any of this happening but — there was no way he could actually start thinking about this like it was a real possibility. Lan Wangji would never have feelings for someone like him.
…And if there was a flash of disappointment there at the thought, then that was just ridiculous. He wasn’t hurt, or upset, or —
‘Heartbroken.’
— or heartbroken, or —
‘Miserable, sad, longing, utterly and completely in — ’
‘Oh my god, do you ever shut up?’
‘I am you, you know.’
He ignored the words, and resolutely stared forward. He did not like Lan Zhan that way. Alright, maybe he liked being around the other boy. Lan Wangji was fun to tease, and fun to get reactions out of, and he was just really good company. Everyone else would probably call him insane, but regardless of the other teen’s cold, unapproachable persona, Wei Wuxian still felt strangely comfortable around him.
That didn’t mean anything, though. He was comfortable around a lot of people. Shijie, for instance. He really, really loved being around his Shijie, but did that mean he was in love with her? Ugh, no, of course not.
‘Yes,’ his future self thought, ‘but there are different types of love. You love Shijie like a sister. You love Lan Zhan — ’
‘No I don’t!’
‘Oh, trust me, you do. I should know. I’m you, remember?’
Oh, he was trying very, very hard to forget that. This was torture. Is this how Lan Wangji felt, when Wei Wuxian would constantly tease him? If that was the case, then he might owe him an apology.
It does matter, he told himself again, as he finally pealed his back off the wall, and masde his way to class. He was very late, and Lan Qiren would definitely kill him, but he was too exhausted to care.
Forget what Future-him said, Lan Wangji was like…a friend. A really, really good friend, who probably hated his guts, but that didn’t have to stop Wei Wuxian from thinking of him as a friend.
Yes, Lan Wangji was just a very good friend. A friend who he loved being around, and who was admittedly very handsome, but that really didn’t mean anything. Lan Wangi was definitely the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his entire life, but just because he had noticed that didn’t mean he was a cut-sleeve. A blind person would probably know that Lan Wangji was stunning. He was perfect, and the name Jade of Lan had never seemed more appropriate. A peerless beauty indeed, unlike anyone else.
‘Oh my god, are you even hearing yourself right now?’
‘Shut up,’ he thought, narrowly missing walking straight into a nearby guest disciple, who gave him an annoyed glance as he passed by. ‘What I’m trying to say is, Lan Zhan is really attractive, but ANYONE would be able to see that! It’s just a fact! It doesn’t mean that I’M attracted to him.’
His future self didn’t say anything for a long while, and Wei Wuxian felt himself relax slightly. Of course that couldn’t last, and just as he walked reached the classroom and walked into it, the man chose that moment to speak again.
‘You know the first time Lan Zhan kissed me, I was blind folded? He just pressed me up against a tree, and started kissing me. I didn’t even know it was him for years.’
Wei Wuxian lost his balance, and stumbled forward. Lan Qiren, standing at the front of the room, shot him a sharp glance, which Wei Wuxian chose to ignore. He ducked his head, feeling his cheeks grow hot.
‘Why the hell would you tell me that?!’
‘And the first time we had sex, he took me right there in an open, grassy field. Anyone could have walked by.’
‘Just stop, oh my god, why are you saying this.’
‘I just want you to know, that Lan Zhan can be VERY enthusiastic about what he wants. It may not seem like it, but he is actually one of the most passionate people I know. So if you just go and tell him how you feel, I am sure — ’
“Wei Wuxian, you're late! And what do you think you're doing, standing in the doorway and distracting everyone?!"
“I don’t feel that way!”
Everyone stared at him. Lan Qiren looked like he was barely restraining himself from saying something he probably shouldn’t say in front of everyone.
And speaking of things you shouldn’t do in front of everyone…
‘Anyone could have walked by, oh my god.’
"Go to your seat," Lan Qiren said, his jaw clenched. "And you will be spending the evening copying the sect rules in the Library Pavillion."
If Wei Wuxian's heart picked up pace a bit at that, it had nothing to do with who would most likely be supervising that punishment. He nodded his head, and kept his eyes carefully averted as he walked over to the seat next to his brother, and sat down.
Jiang Cheng leaned over. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Stop acting weird!”
“Do you think Lan Zhan is beautiful?” Wei Wuxian murmured back. Jiang Cheng choked. “It’s just a fact, right? It’s not weird to think that?”
“What is wrong with you today?”
With his future self laughing in his head, Wei Wuxian leaned back in his seat and pouted.