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Wei Wuxian was late to the ball.

It was a launch event-slash-masquerade party, not a ball, and he really only missed the opening speeches, but — semantics.

Wei Wuxian was late, and what followed was all Nie Huaisang’s fault.

Nie Huaisang, up-and-coming fashion designer and brother’s best friend, had insisted on designing his costume.

Great idea! Past-Wei Wuxian had thought. Because Huaisang’s designs were, objectively, brilliant. I should take advantage before his brand really takes off and Huaisang stops offering his services in exchange for a little publicity.

Past-Wei Wuxian had not blinked when Huaisang insisted the design must be kept secret.

Past-Wei Wuxian was an idiot.

“With all due disrespect, Huaisang, what the fuck am I wearing?” Wei Wuxian barely recognized his own reflection in the full-length mirror that leaned haphazardly against the wall of Huaisang’s tornado of a studio. As he stepped closer, he almost slipped one of the scraps of excess fabric littered across the floor.

Huaisang had put him in green, of all colors. A forest green vest embroidered with red flowers, over a puff-sleeved white shirt that hung open so far it was nearly another vest. Wei Wuxian was fairly certain his abs were not supposed to be on display for a work event.

Which was not to mention the skin-tight leather pants that perfectly matched the vest in shade, or Victorian-style white boots detailed with vines. Or whatever Huaisang had sprayed his hair with to give it a slightly green sheen, before braiding in fresh flowers that matched the ones on his vest. Or the earrings with a clip-on chain that seemed to stretch the tips of his ears into points.

The all-important mask covered the entire upper half of his face. Carved, wooden leaves pained in a sparkling fern green spiraled out unevenly around his eyes, their veins in delicate gold. Antlers laden with more flowers curved out of the forehead and over the top of his head, distributing its weight enough that the ties kept it from slipping.

He had to admit Huaisang had outdone himself. But it looked more like something he would wear than something that belonged on Wei Wuxian.

And he’d been in such a good mood, after Lan Zhan sent him a photo of the results of his kindergarten class’s alphabet finger-painting activity. A selfie, with paint splattered across his clothes and a streak of red down his nose, captioned does this count as a costume? Because he was not only the most gorgeous person in existence, he was also the cutest.

(Except maybe A-Yuan.)

He was insanely curious what Lan Zhan would actually be wearing as his emotional support plus one, but apparently it was a surprise. Wei Wuxian was vibrating with anticipation.

“You, my ungrateful menace, are a Fae prince. Of Spring, to be precise.” Huaisang frowned as he reached up to stick another pin into his hair.

“I’m a what.” He said flatly.

“I know your aesthetic is gothic necromancer, but you can’t expect investors to trust you if you look like you have zombies at your beck and call. Looking like you walked off the cover of a romance novel will do wonders, I promise.” Huaisang slapped his hand as he attempted to button his vest for reasons of public decency. “Don’t tug on that! That vest is hand-stitched velvet.”

“What do the flowers mean?” He didn’t trust Huaisang not to somehow spell out this fool is in unrequited love with you, Lan Wangji in flower language.

“They’re colombines. Look it up.” Huaisang said, which did not inspire confidence. “Damn, I sized those vegan leather pants perfectly.”

If by sized perfectly, he meant ‘bulge on display whenever the vest parted’ then yes. “Vegan leather is full of microplastics, Huaisang.”

“It’s apple leather, I’m not a heathen.” He scoffed. “Much better for the environment and 100% animal free for the dashing spring prince.”

“I can see your mukluks right there. Lan Zhan’s still sad about the rabbit fur.” Wei Wuxian grimaced, remembering Lan Zhan’s sad, pouty expression when Huaisang had shown them off. “And why spring? Clearly I’m more of an autumn.”

“If you don’t know the difference between the work of indigenous artists and some random leather off the internet, I don’t know what to tell you.” Huaisang reached to fuss over something again, and Wei Wuxian pushed him away. “And because it is spring, you fool.”

He stared at Huaisang incredulously. “It’s July.”

“Oh. Well, it was spring when I came up with the idea then.” He shrugged. “Trust me, those investors Meng-xiong wants you to talk to? They’ll be licking your boots. And your Lan Wangji will drop to his knees on the spot.”

“Please. He’d never.” No matter how much Wei Wuxian wished he would. “I suppose if it makes flirting with the investor easier, I’ll do it.”

“Great! Now look brooding for Instagram.” Huaisang began snapping photos before he managed to pose.

When the head of Lanling Pharmaceuticals was tragically killed in a limousine crash, exactly no one was sad. And exactly no one was surprised when an exposé revealing his cover up of potentially side effects of the company’s landmark HIV vaccine hit the news the very next day.

Jin Guangshan had already been infamous for price gouging everything from insulin to anti-depressants. It was a short step for a billionaire from should-be criminal to blatant disregard for the law.

Jin Zixuan had, however, been surprised to learn that:

(1) The bio-dad his mom had been Vegas-married to for two days had appointed him CEO in his will

(2) The company board had signed off on it

(3) He had half a dozen half siblings, resulting from Jin Guangshan’s donation to a sperm bank during college. Paranoid a kid would come knocking, Jin Guangshan had bribed someone at the clinic to break confidentiality.

Not only that, but he already knew two of his newly discovered half-siblings, by mutual acquaintance.

All Jin Zixuan wanted to do, as Wei Wuxian’s sister had told him at the time, was get back to managing the business side of her café and playing with their kids.

But in what would prove to be the second-best decision the Peacock made in his life — after asking Jiang Yanli to marry him — he informed his two adult half-siblings of their shared sperm donor. Though the Peacock would have been happy to let the company fall apart, Meng Yao, an administrator for a global non-profit, and Qin Su, an engineering management consultant, convinced him to reform it instead.

Transforming one of the worst for-profit pharmaceutical companies in the world into an employee-owned business was a slow, labor intensive process. Even with all of Jin Guangshan’s money and shares in Jin Zixuan’s name, there were still quite a few of the old man’s friends to buy out (and have arrested).

Those investors needed to be replaced with ones who did not prioritize investment returns over people’s lives. But even with Meng Yao’s non-profit connections, few were willing to take their chances without evidence of a thorough company overhaul and an effective product.

But the only product in development with enough data to work with was the vaccine that had just flunked out of clinical trials. A new product could take a decade to develop.

Qin Su’s solution had been hiring Wei Wuxian.

Ostensibly, this was because he had developed a modified mRNA carrier during his Post Doc with the National Laboratory, which had just made headlines for causing almost no side effects in a stage 1 trial of an anti-Zika vaccine. Conveniently, the disgrace and reform of Lanling Pharmaceuticals coincided with the end of his post doc.

Wei Wuxian agreed with the company’s new goals, even if it meant working for the Peacock.

Qin Su stuck him at the head of an R&D team and told him to work his magic.

He’d laughed, made a joke about nepotism, and worked his science.

Now here they were, with a successful phase 1 trial freshly completed, ready to celebrate their employees and woo potential investors.

Lanling Pharmaceuticals had long been famous for its out-of-the-box launch events. That was the one tradition the Jin siblings had decided to keep – holding a masquerade to put their company back on the map.

With Wei Wuxian trotted out like a prize hog and expressly forbidden from informing any billionaires where they could stick their contribution to climate change.

At least, Wei Wuxian had thought beforehand, Lan Zhan would be there.

Clearly, he was his own worst enemy.

By the time he left Huaisang’s apartment — Huaisang in a steampunk bird mask with metal spikes in the place of beak and feathers, and a binocular eye piece that entirely contradicted his justification for Wei Wuxian’s costume — he had one hundred and seven texts and three vague tweets from Meng Yao waiting.

Boss Man^(TM) 🐍:

7:05 pm

I know you didn’t forget there are half a dozen donors here for you to shmooze.

7:32 pm

Be there in 20! Your honorary son has p much glued my hair in place so I’m even presentable

 I see. Please inform Huaisang that if he makes you miss the opening speeches at one more event, I will make sure his brother finds out how many of his personal training bookings are supposed to be first dates

I need that pretty face of yours here to charm Madam Ouyang. She keeps hitting on my husband

Before you say no, here’s your boyfriend covered in rabbits

 07072021_30242.jpg

I have more

You’re an evil, evil little man

 I’ll do it

7:45 pm

For the 1243093th time, Lan Zhan’s not my boyfriend!

🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

7:35 pm

I’m so sorry I’m held up Lan Zhan! If it’s too much the garden should be empty!

The Peacock’s probably hiding in a corner, he can let you in

I am all right. I knew you would be busy. Find me when you are done.

And/or need to vent.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Jin Zixuan was standing at the front of the entrance to the ballroom-sized reception room with A-Jie when they arrived, greeting latecomers as she rubbed encouraging circles into his back. The Peacock’s costume was typically boring - a Venetian eye mask, with two curving points over the left eye, and a shimmery gold cloak wrapped around his shoulders. For some reason, there were prosthetic puncture marks and fake blood dripping down his neck.

A-Jie, of course, was dressed to the nines, in a laser-cut bat-shaped metal mask and a floor length royal purple gown with a thigh slit, adorned with more bats made of black lace. A-Cheng had picked it out for her, insistent that he get to dress one of them since he was out of the country for work. She smiled as he approached with Nie Huaisang, revealing fangs.

Wei Wuxian was going to pretend those costume choices had nothing to do with the fact that A-Ling was with his paternal grandparents – Jin Zixuan’s mother and real dad — for the night. His adoptive parents would now be bugging A-Jie to let A-Ling stay with them until the couple’s next date night.

“Huaisang. Who is this?” Jin Zixuan asked with a distant politeness he’d certainly never used on Wei Wuxian before.

He snickered. Maybe there was an upside to this costume after all.

“A-Xian?” A-Jie gasped, reaching out to grab his arms. “Oh, my. You look so different!”

“You look too beautiful for the father of my nephew, as always.” He told her, to which Jin Zixuan shrugged, because he knew it was true. “I need to find Meng Yao before he murders anyone.”

“He should be near the podiums with his husband, talking to people.” The Peacock shivered, a horrified twist to his mouth.

A-Jie gave each of them an indulgent smile. “Go ahead. We’ll be out here until the dancing starts.”

Inside, the lights were on their highest setting, and people gathered in groups snacking on A-Jie’s canapes, the buffet tables already looted. Lan Zhan wasn’t anywhere to be found, but he couldn’t look for him yet anyway.

Wei Wuxian located them just in time to sweep in between Lan Xichen and Madame Ouyang’s latest attempt to breath down his neck. Considering Lan Xichen was literally dressed as a disco rainbow, she had some audacity. Using the flirtatious potential of science, he charmed her out of her wallet.

Once she was finally driven off, Meng Yao immediately popped up at his elbow, scaring the life out of his with his baroque Venetian devil mask.

Sure, Wei Wuxian wasn’t allowed to do the dark and sexy thing, but Meng Yao got to walk around looking like a Halloween monster in a golden suit.

“Come one, we’ve got more rich people’s pockets to empty.”

Though Qin Su was in a pretty, pink disnified fairy costume, her appearance was more terrifying than Meng Yao’s for being unexpected.

“You’re rich people.” Wei Wuxian pointed out.

Simultaneously, they gasped and smacked his arms hard enough to hurt.

“You take that back,” Qin Su said.

“You know I don’t keep any of what I’m paid,” Meng Yao said. Which was true, because Lan Xichen earned fifty grand a week headlining musicals, keeping them more than comfortable enough for Meng Yao to live his charitable dreams and have a pretentious art collection.

“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.” All he wanted to do was grab some snacks and find Lan Zhan’s corner and maybe gently bully him into dancing when the lights went down. He’d been so busy lately, helping out with A-Yuan during his off hours, that he had barely had time to see him.

He was going through Lan Zhan withdrawal.

But work had to come first, because work gave him enough financial stability that the adoption was likely to go through. And he did want his vaccine to get to the people who needed it.

He couldn’t help but scan the crowd as Meng Yao and Qin Su dragged him from person to person, hoping for a glimpse of a beautiful man in white. But there were too many Cinderellas, and Lan Zhan had probably already escaped to someplace quiet without him.

Finally, as they were wrapping up a conversation with a government representative, the lights went down, replaced with the rotating colors of a disco ball, and the music was turned up to a volume that belonged only in a nightclub.

Lan Xichen appeared to claim Meng Yao while he was trying to decide which corner to check first.

“Are you looking for Wangji?” Lan Xichen shouted over the music.

“Yes!” Wei Wuxian was always looking for Lan Zhan.

Lan Xichen said something, but the noise drowned him out. When Wei Wuxian only stared at him blankly, he leaned in to yell directly into his ear. “He’s over in that corner, in the bunny mask!”

Wei Wuxian craned his neck trying to spot him over the crowd, but some sort of bodybuilder taller than Lan Xichen was in the way.

“A-Yao doesn’t need you anymore. You can go!” Lan Xichen yelled again.

At that moment, the bodybuilder stepped to the side, and he caught a glimpse of silver bunny ears.

“Uh-huh.” He said, already beginning to push his way through the crowd.

“Perhaps this would be a good time to tell my brother you love him?” Lan Xichen called after him, during a hushed bar of the song.

Wei Wuxian ignored him as he dodged between an extremely spiky crinoline on a Queen of Hearts and a disco dancing medieval knight.

Finally, he popped out of the crowd and his mouth went dry.

When Lan Xichen had said bunny mask, Wei Wuxian’s mind had promptly conjured a white domino mask with ears attached. The concept of Lan Zhan in a leotard might have crossed his mind briefly before he shoved that image into the forbidden box of horniness where it belonged. But of course, Lan Zhan would never wear anything that basic.

The reality was so much worse.

Lan Zhan was a heavenly being straight out of a drama – except for the straight part. Gleaming silver robes clung from his shoulders to his waist, falling in lines that made it impossible to tell whether he wore pants beneath, though he could see the heeled silver boots that had made Wei Wuxian choke on his own saliva when Lan Zhan tried them on at the vintage store peaking out from beneath the hem. A delicate outer covering of white lace was in the process of falling off his shoulders.

All of that lace. Wei Wuxian was going to die.

The bunny mask that taunted him was silver filigree, with roses and butterflies around the ears. Beneath the mask, Lan Zhan’s hair was braided back and laced with a glittering rainbow of stones, the only splash of color on him. A silver chain wrapped around his head, a single diamond dangling on his forehead, making a matching set with his earrings. His eyelids and cheeks were dusted in glitter.

Wei Wuxian was cursed with the knowledge that Lan Zhan only used one hundred percent edible body glitter. He could have licked it off if Lan Zhan let him.

Someone elbowed him in the back, and Wei Wuxian had to catch himself against the wall to avoid stumbling into Lan Zhan.

“Hey, bunny.” He said, the breathless sound carried away by the noise of the crowd.

Lan Zhan looked him over critically, gaze seeming to linger on — Wei Wuxian looked down, and realized he’d allowed his vest to fall open. Embarrassed, he shifted so he was once again decently covered, afraid he’d made Lan Zhan uncomfortable.

When he met his eyes, Lan Zhan was looking at him like he was a surprise tub of lactose-free ube ice cream on a hot summer’s day. But more, like Lan Zhan wanted to devour him whole. It was an entire Lan Zhan expression that Wei Wuxian had never seen, in thirteen years of friendship.

A shiver raced down his spine.

Reaching a hand up, Lan Zhan traced the pink and red colombine flowers embroidered on his vest —Wei Wuxian had not yet had a chance to look up the meaning, but he was certain it was embarrassing — and skimmed lower along his side, over his hips and onto his thigh.

He drew a circle on his upper thigh, too close to Wei Wuxian’s dick for him to mistake the implications.

At least, he hoped.

Though Lan Zhan’s voice was too low to hear, Wei Wuxian was practiced in reading the shape of his lips. He certainly spent enough time staring at them. “Your pants. Leather?”

“The leather’s from apples!” He shouted over the sound of Lil Nas X giving the devil a lap dance. “That seems like something you’d appreciate.”

Lan Zhan appreciated it by resting the whole of his hand on Wei Wuxian’s thigh, nearly killing him in the process. “You. Me. Dance?” He squeaked.

And thankfully, this time Lan Zhan seemed to understand, pulling him a ways a way from the wall and onto the edge of the dance floor just as the song changed to Aly and AJ’s Slow Dancing.

How thematically terrible for his sanity.

He glanced over at the DJ booth, because this was all very high school. Lan Xichen was standing next to it, giving him a thumbs up. He held back a crazed giggle.

 Lan Zhan linked a hand with his, and stepped close enough that Wei Wuxian had to slip an arm around his waist to keep from stepping on his toes.

Lan Zhan had taken a few ballroom lessons years ago, but he seemed content to sway in his arms.

It’s only because it’s crowded, he told himself. Don’t get your hopes up.

But it was hard not to, with Lan Zhan’s firm chest pressed against his, each exhale of breath brushing his ear the way Lan Zhan’s eyes seemed glued to his lips. Every sway of his hips teasing against his, almost like a Lan Zhan version of grinding.

He gulped. All his usual boner-killing images were useless when Lan Zhan was this close.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t stop his own from roaming across Lan Zhan’s face, memorizing every detail, trying to decide which touch was his favorite.

It had to be the mask because it was so Lan Zhan. Expertly crafted and so damn cute his heart wouldn’t last the night.

The song came to an end, transitioning quickly into Bohemian Rhapsody — because apparently Lan Xichen had co-opted the DJ booth — but for a moment, they continued to sway.

“Punch me if I’m wrong, but do you want to…” Hesitantly, he reached out to cup Lan Zhan’s glitter-dusted cheek.

Before he could make contact, Lan Zhan pounced, crashing their lips together.

Just as quickly, he pulled back, leaving Wei Wuxian to chase after. But Lan Zhan pushed him away with a finger to his lips.

With a look that said follow me, he pulled Wei Wuxian along by the hand towards a door in the glass section of wall, behind which the dense foliage of the company’s gardens grew.

He tugged on the door to the gardens, but it stuck. “Ah.”

“Here.” Wei Wuxian bumped his hip against the door so it scanned the company ID in his wallet. The light turned from red to green, and he pulled it open, ushering Lan Zhan inside. The door slammed shut behind them.

It wasn’t much less noisy than outside, speakers blaring even in the locked gardens — someone must not have gotten the memo they were off limits, after a couple teenagers trashed Jin Zixuan’s prized lotus pond at the last office party — but that didn’t matter much.

Lan Zhan was kissing him again, walking backwards, leaving Wei Wuxian scrambling to keep up. Attempting to stay attached at the lips, without letting him step off the curving path into water or the loosely packed dirt of a flower bed. It wasn’t long before Lan Zhan bumped into a waist-high stone wall. Finally, he could press in close against him, cupping his chin as Lan Zhan wrapped his arms around his neck. It was messy, inexpert. Wei Wuxian, years out of practice. Lan Zhan — had possibly never kissed anyone before.

If that were true, he was learning quickly. Lan Zhan sucked on Wei Wuxian’s lower lip, teasing it into sensitivity before biting down. He groaned, hips jerking forward against his will, pants growing uncomfortably tight. As Lan Zhan arched into him, he felt an answering hardness press back.

He reached up for the ribbon of Lan Zhan’s mask, overwhelmed with the need to see him face to face. But Lan Zhan grabbed his wrist, and pulled back from his lips.

Afraid he’d ruined everything, Wei Wuxian froze. But Lan Zhan only pressed his hand against the bulge of Wei Wuxian’s cock, and leaned forward to whisper (shout) in his ear, “Fuck me.”

He had to grip the edge of the wall to keep his knees from collapsing. Every image he’d locked away in the forbidden box of horniness surged forward at once.

Untying his robes, Lan Zhan boosted himself up onto the wall, wrapping his legs around Wei Wuxian’s waist to draw him closer. Lan Zhan’s version of a smirk played along the corner of his mouth.

Had Lan Zhan planned this? Holy shit.

“Don’t we need…?”

Wei Wuxian’s brain shut down.

He had given dating a shot during undergrad, gotten in a bit of experience with his hands and mouth. But he’d never gotten around to penetrative sex.

(Or, more accurately, he’d realized he was in love with Lan Zhan, and then what was the point of anyone else?)

So he’d never actually done this before, but he had done his research. For masturbation purposes if nothing else. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined this.

Well — he’d certainly imagined Lan Zhan in an abundance of sexual scenarios.

Some of which had involved bunny costumes. Wei Wuxian had never claimed to be a strong man.

But the rare fantasy where he dared imagine his feelings returned was almost exclusively domestic. Coming home to Lan Zhan making dinner around A-Yuan’s attempts to help, picking him up from the school to whisk Lan Zhan and A-Yuan off on a weekend adventure. Things that weren’t too far off from reality, just with the Lan Zhan and A-Yuan parts of his life slotted together.

This was almost too much for Wei Wuxian to handle.

Lan Zhan was aware of the extent of Wei Wuxian’s decade-out-of-date experience (albeit not his feelings) because he had told him.

Last he’d checked, Lan Zhan was still waiting for the right time.

Apparently, Lan Zhan had decided now was the right time for both of them. And who was Wei Wuxian to ask questions?

Lan Zhan reached into the top of his corset and pulled out a pair of foil packets.

A condom. And.

Lube.

Wei Wuxian took the packets in a haze.

So what if this wasn’t exactly how he’d envisioned sleeping with Lan Zhan for the first time, when he dared to imagine it? He thought he might die if he didn’t get inside Lan Zhan right that second.

Before Wei Wuxian managed to tear open the packet of lube, Lan Zhan had untied his robe, revealing that all he was wearing underneath were a pair of  thigh-high stockings with bunnies circling the garters and lace panties that matched that devastating outer robe. His half-hard cock was already slipping out of containment.

It seemed Wei Wuxian was moving too slow for Lan Zhan’s tastes, because he shoved his panties aside and guided him through the first few probes of his finger inside him. Only when Wei Wuxian was brushing his prostate with every pulse of two fingers did Lan Zhan relinquish control. His freed cock bobbed in the air, weeping pre-come.

His head lolled back against his shoulders as he made helpless noises, utterly unconcerned that anyone might walk in on them. Wei Wuxian’s hips jerked forward at the thought, pushing into Lan Zhan’s thigh, stretching his wrist at an unnatural angle.

Still, it wasn’t long before Lan Zhan began fumbling with the buttons on his pants, mouthing at his neck as he did so. Wei Wuxian withdrew his fingers to help, and Lan Zhan scraped his teeth along the junction of his shoulder before biting down.

“Ah! Fuck,” he cried out, about to scold him. But then Lan Zhan was soothing the pain with his tongue, and sucking hard, and that felt great actually. He could certainly indulge Lan Zhan’s apparent biting kink if this came with.

Too soon, Lan Zhan pulled back, tilting his head in challenge. “Are you going to fuck me, or will I have to do it myself?”

Wei Wuxian did his best to comply, but it had been years since he last needed a condom. And he needed to take a moment to bring his dick back under control after Lan Zhan said that. Even barely audible over the music, Lan Zhan’s voice was enough to short circuit his brain.

As he finally rolled the condom on, Lan Zhan plucked the lube packet out of his hand, and used the rest to coat his length. He pumped his hand twice, and dug his heels into Wei Wuxian’s ass.

Lan Zhan slipped forward, nearly dropping off his perch before Wei Wuxian caught him. Grasping both of his thighs, he used the wall to hold Lan Zhan up. “Careful, bunny. Have a little patience. I won’t be able to fuck you if you break your tail bone.”

Rolling his eyes through the lattices of his mask, Lan Zhan trusted Wei Wuxian to hold him up and took hold of his cock to guide him inside. As heat began to envelop him, Wei Wuxian began to count backwards from seven hundred and eighty-three by tens, determined not to embarrass himself. Or worse, disappoint Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan let out a high-pitched whine, panting, at the stretch. But when Wei Wuxian tried to give him time to adjust, Lan Zhan tightened his legs around him to draw him closer. Wei Wuxian gave up on numbers, and kissed him through it.

He tasted like that Osmanthus tea he was always drinking, had probably smuggled in a thermos rather than risk the drinks when Wei Wuxian wouldn’t be able to check them for him. His Lan Zhan was so cute. He laughed into his mouth.

Lan Zhan pulled away, frowning. “What?”

He shook his head, smiling. “Just — this.”

“Then move.” Lan Zhan demanded, imperious as ever even with Wei Wuxian’s cock buried deep inside him.

“As the beautiful prince of bunnies commands.” He teased, though the bass of Hot Girl Summer seemed to drown him out because Lan Zhan didn’t bite him in retaliation.

He eased back slowly, trying to figure out how to balance Lan Zhan’s weight without slipping out, and slammed back in, speeding up his thrusts as he gained confidence. Lan Zhan clung to his shoulders at first, pulling his shirt and vest aside so they slipped off his shoulders.

Making an unsatisfied sound, he looped one arm around Wei Wuxian’s neck, and placed the other on the wall, using the leverage to change his angle. Lan Zhan’s noises gained in volume, and Wei Wuxian groaned, dropping his head onto Lan Zhan’s shoulder. With every sound he made, Wei Wuxian unraveled a bit more.

His felt his phone vibrated in his back pocket and ignored it. It could be an emergency, but this wouldn’t take much longer. His orgasm built in the base of his spine, and from the way Lan Zhan moaned, releasing his neck to stroke himself, he wasn’t far behind.

He hitched Lan Zhan up a little, changing his grip, and all of a sudden Lan Zhan was biting down on Wei Wuxian’s neck and shuddering. That was it for Wei Wuxian.

He came back to himself as Lan Zhan unwrapped his legs, dropping to the ground, and Wei Wuxian’s cock slipped out. He stumbled only slightly, in a demonstration of the gracefulness no one but Lan Zhan could hope to achieve. Lan Zhan’s panties had ripped at some point, and dropped to the ground when Wei Wuxian let go of his thighs, but his thigh highs and lace wrap were miraculously intact.

They stood there, panting, in each others arms until his phone vibrated again. Wei Wuxian stepped back to quickly tie off the condom and tuck himself away. As he fished his phone out of his pocket, Lan Zan began to retie his robes.

There was a missed call and voicemail from Wen Popo, and just now a message from Wen Qing. Who was supposed to be in the middle of a night shift in the ER. Fuck.

Qing-jie💅🩺✨

9:56 pm

Popo just called me at work you need to pick up A-Yuan ASAP

Oh shit is she all right?

He got into A-Ning’s candy stash and is running around like crazy

You know she can’t keep up

Fuck

It’s way past both their bedtimes

I’ll bend the laws of time and space to get there

The tension bled from his shoulders at the realization no one had died. Still, he couldn’t keep Popo waiting.

Since Wen Ning was out of the country building clean water systems, Uncle Four was laid up with a broken leg, and Wen Qing’s girlfriend ran a 10 pm kickboxing class, that left Wei Wuxian as the one most able to step in.

Wen Qing had been his best friend since high school, and though she’d gone away for undergrad, they’d stayed in touch. Popo kept inviting Wei Wuxian to a weekly dinner while she was gone, because she was convinced he didn’t feed himself. Wen Qing moved back home for her residency to find he’d become an unofficial member of the family.

When A-Yuan’s parents died shortly after he was born and Popo got custody, he immediately volunteered babysitting services for the best little radish in the world. And the moment they knew Popo’s decreasing mobility would make it difficult to remain his primary caregiver, Wei Wuxian asked nervously if they might let him adopt. The Wens’ agreement was so immediately unanimous that his heart grew three sizes.

All that remained was the legal paperwork.

He hadn’t exactly told Lan Zhan he was planning to adopt yet, planned to wait until it was official in case he jinxed it, but — if Lan Zhan wanted him, he should, right?

Lan Zhan, who he’d met in the university’s community orchestra, always seemed uncomfortable around Wen Qing for reasons he refused to explain. But Wei Wuxian knew he’d adore A-Yuan more than his entire class of pint-sized gremlins put together.

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to ask if he wanted to come with, but Lan Zhan pressed a final, dizzying kiss to his lips and vanished down the path before he regained the ability to speak.

Wei Wuxian meant to chase after him, to make sure they were really on the same page. But by the time he got back to the party, Lan Zhan was nowhere to be seen. And Popo was waiting.

He called an Uber, and only mildly rushed the driver on the ten-minute drive. He tipped extra when he was let off, hoping the driver wouldn’t completely tank his customer rating.

He unlocked Popo’s ground floor apartment and found A-Yuan roaring as he destroyed towers of carboard blocks. Wen Popo dozed in her ergonomic recliner nearby. Wei Wuxian paused to snap a picture on his phone before sneaking up on tip toes and lifting A-Yuan into the air.

A-Yuan shrieked and giggled, startling Wen Popo into alertness. “Oh good, you’re here. Goodnight.”

She leveraged herself slowly out of her chair, and trudged off to bed.

“What should we do with you, huh?” Wei Wuxian swung A-Yuan onto his hip, making his arms protest after all the weightlifting he’d just been doing, and tickled his belly. “Little monsters should be in bed.”

“I’m a big monster! Big!” A-Yuan insisted, succumbing to another fit of giggles.

“Oh, four-year-olds are big monsters. I see.” He nodded as though A-Yuan had said something very wise. “Well, big monsters get to come home with Baba.”

A-Yuan shrieked again with joy as Wei Wuxian carried him out of the apartment, locking it behind him. Half his things were already at Wei Wuxian’s place since he already spent most of his nights there.

Thankfully, A-Yuan tired out on the short walk over. He brushed his teeth blearily, and conked out halfway through a single bedtime story.

Wei Wuxian finally had space to breath, and a moment to text Lan Zhan an explanation, though he made sure to send Wen Qing a confirmation that Wens old and young were safely a-bed first.

Lan Zhan🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

10:33 pm

Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye! (heart emojis, plural)

Minor emergency!

All good now, hope you’re still having fun without me (more emojis)

The reply came almost immediately.

Lan Zhan 🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

10:34 pm

You were there?

His phone dropped from numb fingers, slapping the ground flat on its screen.

Wei Wuxian realized three things in quick succession:

(1) His late arrival meant Lan Zhan had not seen his costume before.

(2) He looked nothing like himself.

(3) It was loud as fuck.

The conclusion  was obvious: Lan Zhan had not recognized him. He danced and slept with some guy in a sexy costume for the thrill of it, and not because he had suddenly realized Wei Wuxian was the love of his life.

He had thought Lan Zhan would recognize him anywhere, but — how many times had Lan Zhan assumed he remembered something said in a moment of distraction? Wei Wuxian hadn’t found out where the song Lan Zhan played for him when he was sick came from for years.

Wei Wuxian hadn’t even called his name, too busy teasing him about his bunny costume. Lan Zhan must have thought his masked stranger was hitting on him, calling him that.

He was going to kill Nie Huaisang, resurrect him, and then kill him again. Just as soon as he finished having a breakdown in the shower.

His phone vibrated on the floor. Picking it up, he found a spiderweb crack fanning out from the center of the screen. There was another notification from Lan Zhan, and Meng Yao had sent along his photo bribe. A sob stuck in his throat.

 He dismissed Meng Yao’s notification, and pulled down on the screen to see Lan Zhan’s messages without setting off the read receipts.

Through the cracked screen, he read:

Lan Zhan 🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

10:35 pm

Do not worry, I already left.

Will I see you Sunday for brunch?

Wei Wuxian could not bring himself to reply, choosing to go have that breakdown under a spray of hot water, washing off the evidence of what he’d done. Only when Lan Zhan messaged again the next morning did he make his excuses, claiming Wen Qing needed his help with something, even though Lan Zhan usually used brunch to unwind after running youth programs at the community center on Saturdays.

He knew, very clearly, what he should do.

Instead, he changed Nie Huaisang’s contact name to Brutus👿🔪, and told him to pay his last respects.

Because if Lan Zhan had not wanted him in the first place, had only wanted a hookup with an anonymous stranger in tight pants, Wei Wuxian had committed an unforgivable betrayal. Though Wei Wuxian had not intentionally taken advantage of him, and Lan Zhan would say he forgave him, things between them could never be the same.

Lan Zhan would know of Wei Wuxian’s feelings and feel guilty for not returning them, because he was too good. And Wei Wuxian would never be able to look at him without feeling sick to his stomach over what he’d done.

He proceeded to dodge Lan Zhan’s invitations for the next three weeks.

Lan Zhan 🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

5:45 am

Did I do something wrong?

Sitting in the parking lot of A-Yuan’s preschool, Wei Wuxian stared at the message he’d woken up to. Just above the message were several adorable photos another teacher had taken of Lan Zhan leading library story time, wearing his reading glasses and a very serious expression as he showed the gathered kindergartners an illustration of the dog who wished to be a dragon. The messages were from two days ago, and Wei Wuxian had not replied.

He hadn’t done that since his worst slump in grad school. It was no wonder Lan Zhan was concerned. Yet every time he looked at the message, he froze, panic welling up in his chest.

As soon as he explained things to Lan Zhan, he would be left with irrefutable proof that Lan Zhan would be attracted to him - if only he weren’t himself.

While he was getting A-Yuan off to school, he had an excuse not to think about it.

But if he delayed any longer, he would chicken out again.

And he couldn’t leave Lan Zhan thinking he was angry, when the truth was that Wei Wuxian had destroyed everything good between them.

Lan Zhan 🐰💗🧡💛💚💙💜:

8:25 am

No, no, definitely not

You’re perfect

I fucked up

You’re off at noon on Fridays, right?

Lunch at the cafe near your school?

I owe you an explanation

Yes.

I miss you.

I miss you too

Wei Wuxian had a mini sob session on the way to work over I miss you, which set the tone for the morning. Qin Su walked into the lab for an informal update on his new project — now that the HIV vaccine had fully transitioned to the scale up team, in preparation for phase two trials — took one look at him, and told him to take the afternoon off.

(He also received a thinly veiled threat from Meng Yao, ordering him to fix things with Lan Zhan because it was upsetting his husband and words of encouragement from his sister. He had no idea how either of them found out.)

Though he was out the door at noon on the dot, and traffic was light, Lan Zhan was already sitting at his favorite corner table with the big soft armchairs when he arrived. An avocado tofu bowl and mug of green tea for him, and a jerk chicken bagel with a side of fresh baked sweet potato chips and a Mayan mocha for Wei Wuxian were already on the table.

His hair was up in a loose bun, and his unbearably hot reading glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose as he looked up from a novel with a pair of shirtless men intertwined on the cover. He wore a soft, flowing shirt in a gradient of white to dark blue that threatened to slip off his shoulder over a tank top to make it work-appropriate, with a pair of gray floral slacks that should not have looked that good on his thighs.

The cheesy chameleon from Tangled earrings Wei Wuxian had bought as a gag gift at Disney World (and Lan Zhan smiled softly and insisted on buying him the post version in return, because he knew Wei Wuxian was not to be trusted with dangling earrings) hung from his ears. One of his kids had probably squirted a glitter bottle at him, because there were streaks of dried red glitter-glue covering him from head to toe.

There was also a foam letter Z stuck to his shoulder.

Wei Wuxian was so in love he could feel cartoon hearts popping up around his face.

Forcing himself to stop staring, he dropped into his seat. “Lan Zhan! You’re looking particularly sparkly today.”

“We had an art docent today.” Lan Zhan said, and gestured at the food. “I ordered for you.”

“You’re too good, Lan Zhan.” He almost teared up again. He just wanted to keep this, so badly. “So, um.”

Lan Zhan shook his head. “Eat first.”

He wasn’t hungry, really, but if he didn’t try Lan Zhan would stare at him sadly. He didn’t want to give Lan Zhan more reasons to be upset. For once, Wei Wuxian did not ramble on about nothing as they ate, chewing mechanically as he stared at Lan Zhan’s face.

He wanted to soak up the last few minutes he had left before Lan Zhan’s opinion of him changed irrevocably.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t finish his bagel sandwich, but he managed to get down enough that he probably wouldn’t faint after having skipped breakfast.

When Lan Zhan finished eating, he set down his spoon, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said, “You have been avoiding me.”

He cringed, lowering his gaze to the coffee stain . “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Since the masquerade.” Lan Zhan said. “Did you. See something?”

See something? As in — his mind helpfully provided the image of Lan Zhan with his head thrown back, taking his cock like he was born to it.

“No! No, I didn’t —” He tripped over his own tongue. “I did something.”

The tension drained from Lan Zhan’s shoulders, as though nothing he could imagine would ruin things between them. “Oh. What was it?”

“Well. Um. I. You. Um.” His cheeks were lava.

Lan Zhan actually smiled at that. “Take your time.”

“Ok. Ok.” He took deep breaths, and took a fortifying sip of his mocha. “So that night. You know how Nie Huaisang designed my costume. Well, it wasn’t exactly what you might have expected —”

Wei Wuxian’s phone vibrated.

“Fuck.” He fished it out, and swore again. It was A-Yuan’s school. “I can’t ignore this, sorry.”

Lan Zhan nodded, because he was the most patient person on the planet.

He answered.

“Hello, Mr. Wei!” A woman with a bubblegum voice said.

Great, it was Cindy at the reception today. The conservative white lady with the 60s beehive who always acted fake-friendly even though he could feel her judging his queer Asian everything. She used to work at a Catholic school, and it showed.

“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. I’ll be right there.” He nodded along to her rambling explanation, and hung up when Cindy thanked him ‘kindly’ for his understanding. To Lan Zhan, he said, “So, um. You’ve been wondering what’s up. Do you want to meet my soon-to-be-adopted son? Apparently, he bit a kid for bullying. You’d like him.”

Lan Zhan nodded, following him out to his car. He waited until Wei Wuxian pulled out of the parking lot to ask. “You’re adopting?”

“It’s uh — he’s Wen Qing’s cousins’ kid. You remember he died?” He rambled on about Wen Popo’s medical issues before tapering off into awkward silence.

“It is admirable of you. I’m certain I’ll love him.” Lan Zhan paused, in the way that meant he was searching for words. “Why did you not tell me?”

“I, well — you don’t really like being around the Wens, and I didn’t know he was gonna be mine, at first.” He checked his mirrors before shifting to the left lane. “Then I was scared talking about it would take him away from me. Somehow.”

“You’ll be a wonderful father. I have no doubt your application will be approved.” He paused. “If it is not, I will go to the agency personally and fight them.”

“The whole agency? Lan Zhan I lo—” He cleared his throat. “You’re the best.”

“So you are not dating Wen Qing? If you are not adopting with her…” Lan Zhan asked like that was somehow a reasonable question.

“What the —” He slammed hard on the breaks ahead of an approaching stop sign at the entrance of A-Yuan’s pre-school. “What the fuck, Lan Zhan. She’s a lesbian.”

“Oh.” Lan Zhan said softly.

“She has a girlfriend. Mianmian, you know Mianmian. You’re in one of her classes.”  How did Lan Zhan not know Mianmian was Wen Qing’s girlfriend? One of them must have mentioned that. Right?

“Oh.”

“Wen Qing’s basically my sister. Oh my god.” The thought was horrifying. If he hadn’t been turning into the parking lot, he would have gagged.

“Oh.” Lan Zhan’s tone held something almost like hope. “So why have you been avoiding me?”

Right. He still needed to explain that. Which was probably best done without a pre-schooler around.

“Hold that thought.” He pulled into an empty spot in front of the office, and dialed Wen Qing. “Hey, Qing-jie. You’re off today, right?”

“And losing sleep as we speak.” She grumbled.

“Love you too. Can you take A-Yuan for a bit? I need to discuss something with Lan Zhan.” He was like, 80% certain she didn’t have a shift that night.

“Finally.” Wen Qing perked up. “Yes, drop him off. Mianmian doesn’t have any classes today. Go see if you can salvage your dumb ass.”

“Wei Ying is very intelligent.” Lan Zhan frowned at the speakers like Wen Qing could somehow see his disapproval.

“Oh god, he’s right there? Bye!” She hung up.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan slow blinked at him, wrecking havoc on the dregs of his resistance.

“After we drop him off, please? We’re already here.” He pouted a little, which usually worked.

Sure enough, Lan Zhan softened. “We should not keep your son waiting.”

A-Yuan ran up and hugged his leg the moment they walked through the doors.

“Oh, you’re here!” Cindy from reception said with a heavy dose of fake friendliness. She looked back and forth between him and Lan Zhan with a curl to her lip, clearly jumping to the wrong conclusions. “I hope you’ll be explaining to him why violence is wrong.”

“Sure will, Cindy!” He replied before turning his attention towards important people.

“Yuanyuan, let’s not bite any more bullies, Ok? You don’t know where they’ve been.” He patted his son’s hair as A-Yuan nodded into his knee.

Lan Zhan’s ears blushed furiously at that, for some reason.

Oh right, the reason his neck had been bruised for days after the masquerade.

He focused on prying A-Yuan off his leg.

A-Yuan took one look at Lan Zhan, and adored him. Which was only right. On the way to Wen Qing’s, he sat in the back with A-Yuan, teaching him a string game that would impress all the other kids in his class next week.

Thankfully, he wasn’t so attached after a fifteen-minute drive that he wasn’t easily tempted away by the promise of getting to throw some punches with Auntie Mianmian.

Wen Qing’s apartment was only two streets over from his place, so he suggested going there.

“That way, I can’t run away.” He tried to joke, but it fell flat.

Of course, he promptly contradicted himself by heading straight for the kitchen the moment he kicked off his shoes. “So, tea? Tea.” He busied his hands filling the kettle.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan said.

“I’m explaining, I swear!” He shut the water off, but continued to face the sink. He just couldn’t look at him while he did, couldn’t watch the shock and horror descend. “So, um, the thing is, I didn’t exactly look like myself at the masquerade. Nie Huaisang had this idea that I should look like —”

“A Fae prince?”

“Yeah, how did you —?” He turned around, and found Lan Zhan holding up the incriminating mask. The kettle dropped into the sink with a clang, water splashing onto the counter.

Wei Wuxian had left his mask on the kitchen table, and forgotten about it. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“I am an idiot.” Lan Zhan said.

People often thought Lan Zhan’s face was blank when he was obviously bored or angry or smug. Now, though, even he couldn’t read anything in the shape of the mouth he’d spent so many hours studying.

“What? No, of course not! I’m the idiot here!” Too late, it all came rushing out in one breath. “We had sex and I thought you knew but you didn’t I’m so sorry please don’t hate me!”

“We had sex.” Lan Zhan repeated. He stared, slow blinking, into Wei Wuxian’s eyes from across room. He didn’t seem disgusted, but maybe the knowledge just hadn’t settled in yet.

“Um. Yes.”

“You knew it was me.”

Definitely hadn’t settled in yet.

“Again, I am so, so sorry. I should have — Even Jie had a hard time recognizing me, and by the time I found you it was impossible to hear anything and —”

Lan Zhan cut him off. “Wei Ying.”

“Sorry.” He drooped, just barely resisting the childish urge to scuff his toes against the ground.

“Wei Ying. You wanted to sleep with me?” The desperation in Lan Zhan’s tone made him look up.

“Uh. Well, yeah, of course.” He shrugged, at a loss. He’d been pointing out how devastatingly attractive Lan Zhan was for years and somehow, he still didn’t understand that Wei Wuxian would have broken his own heart for the chance to kiss him once. “I thought —I stupidly thought we were. You know, getting together.”

Eyes widening, Lan Zhan sat down heavily on the floor, even though there was a chair right next to him.

“Lan Zhan! “A beat too late, he dove for him, patting his arms and shoulders for a nonexistent injury. But when he cupped Lan Zhan’s jaw and tilted his head up, he found a single, horrible tear dripping down his cheek. A second threatened to follow, but he wiped it away with his thumb. “Lan Zhan, it’s okay.” He said, though he knew it wasn’t.

Closing his eyes, Lan Zhan leaned into his touch. “Wei Ying. Wei Ying, do you have feelings for me?”

His voice was raw and vulnerable, and perhaps that was what finally gave him the strength to say, “I love you, Lan Zhan. I’m in love with you.”

With a ragged gasp, Lan Zhan pulled away, eyes wide and searching. Wei Wuxian’s heart skipped a beat. And then, as the silence stretched out, went into overdrive, hammering painfully in his chest.

Finally, Lan Zhan made a soft, guttural sound and tackled him onto his back, kissing him within an inch of his life. When he pulled back, he stayed on top of Wei Wuxian like a heavy Lan Zhan-blanket.

“I love you too.” Lan Zhan said, and his smile rivaled the sunrise.

 “What? But —” He glanced at the mask that was now lying on the floor.

“I. I was.” He sniffed, and Wei Wuxian realized he was still crying. That couldn’t be allowed. “I was trying to get over you.”

“Over me.” Wei Wuxian was dreaming. This was all just a weird, extended dream and he’d go back to pining at Lan Zhan’s side just as soon as he woke up.

“I thought. Wen Qing.” Lan Zhan wiped his eyes with Wei Wuxian’s dinosaur print sweater, a gift from ‘A-Yuan’. He’d stolen it off his body, somehow, leaving Wei Wuxian shirtless. “You were so busy lately with her family. I understand now I was wrong.”

Wei Wuxian was beginning to hope Lan Zhan would still be speaking to him tomorrow. They’d just been having one big, stupid misunderstanding.

Lan Zhan had kissed him.

He sat them both up, so he could pull Lan Zhan into his arms.

“We’ve already been over how ridiculous that idea was.” Joking usually helped lift Lan Zhan’s mood, even if these did miraculously seem to be happy tears. “Was your plan looking so beautiful that men would flock to you in your corner? It certainly worked with me. You looked like a heavenly being come to Earth. The god of bunnies.”

Lan Zhan huffed, a little wetly.

“I did not have a plan. I am not — good at flirting.” His ears were very red. “You were very handsome in your costume.”

“Not good at flirting? Darling, you just killed me.” Despite the confidence of his words, his face was so hot he felt sure he would burst into flames. “I don’t think handsome is the right word though. You seemed very interested in how tight my pants were.”

And caused them to become significantly tighter in the process.

“There was also a lot of skin. I am very gay.” Lan Zhan said, very seriously.

“Huaisang said I was supposed to look like the cover of a romance novel.”

Lan Zhan glanced at his bare abs and looked away, his flush darkening. “I read romance novels.”

Wei Wuxian took a moment to wonder if that fact might have had any bearing on Nie Huaisang’s design choices, but he could have had no way of knowing.  Lan Zhan was a very private person.

He cupped Lan Zhan’s chin, and gently turned his head back to face him. He kissed his forehead, his eyelids, his cheeks, before Lan Zhan surged forward to claim his mouth. They were both panting, by the time they parted.

“What do you want?” He asked, forehead pressed against Lan Zhan’s, his eye still closed as tried to savor the moment.

“I want to know it’s you.” Lan Zhan whispered. And then because he was secretly the funniest person in the world, “The table is convenient.”

Convenient. Fuck.

The slightest of smirks appeared the corner of Lan Zhan’s mouth as he watched Wei Wuxian’s expression do gymnastics. The idea was hot, but he was a responsible father now. And they were not having sex on his kitchen table.

Wei Wuxian wanted the romance they’d missed out on last time.

“I want you in my bed, sweetheart.” He kissed him lightly on the nose because he could, and it wrinkled adorably in response.

“Mn. Carry me there after. We will have time.”

“We will.” He said, laughing as his heart soared into the stratosphere at his words. “But we’re not having sex where my son eats.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Lan Zhan looked so disappointed that he caved. A bed could come later. They did have plenty of time. “We can use my desk if I can have you naked this time.”

Lan Zhan pretended to consider it. “Hmm. Deal.”

He laughed at that, and leaned forward to kiss him, losing himself in the assurance that this time, Lan Zhan really did want him back.

Lan Zhan made an impatient noise, and tugged him to his feet. They stumbled together to his home office, running into walls more than once as they tried to keep kissing along the way. He pushed Lan Zhan against the office door, but it swung open under their weight. As Lan Zhan caught himself, his teeth scraped against Wei Wuxian’s chin.

“Wei Ying!” Frantic, Lan Zhan pressed his thumb against the spot he’d bitten. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, don’t worry, Lan Zhan. You’ve done worse.” The stinging pain gave Wei Wuxian the clarity of mind he needed to remember what he didn’t keep in his office. “Ah, just a sec. I don’t have lube in here. Or condoms.”

“I do.” Lan Zhan fished out the little RFID anti-theft bag he kept his credit card in from under his shirt, and pulled out a half dozen foil packets. He dropped them onto Wei Wuxian’s wide, L-shaped desk.

“Do you just … carry those around?” Not that he was complaining. He was just screaming on the inside a little.

“It is for volunteering. At the community center. Some find it easier to ask me, than be seen taking from the basket.” The pauses between Lan Zhan’s phrases were longer than usual, the flush from his ears spreading across his cheeks. “I had not. Needed them myself. Before.”

“It wouldn’t matter to me if you had.” If anything, it just made him more determined to make this time better. “I believe I was promised nakedness. Will you strip for me?”

His jaw dropped open as Lan Zhan proceeded to do just that.

With a look that was more intense than sultry, Lan Zhan removed his shirt and tank top in one movement. He undid the buttons on his slacks methodically and shoved them down his legs, stepping out without tangling his feet in the legs. It wasn’t anything like a pornographic strip dance, but it had the same effect on him.

Because this was Lan Zhan, and he was standing before him. His ears still red under his scrutiny, as though Lan Zhan had anything to be worried about. All that yoga and running and martial arts had paid off. And Wei Wuxian had seen it all before, and he would never get tired of the view.

Now, he realized, he could tell him that. “You’re beautiful. Heartstopping. Gorgeous. Unbearably sexy —”

His attempt to become a thesaurus in the name of praising Lan Zhan’s beauty was stopped with a kiss. Then there were hands fumbling with his belt as Lan Zhan attempted to undo it blind, and was surprisingly successful. Wei Wuxian helped shove his skinny jeans down his legs, and had to hop to remove the legs.

No sooner had he regained his balance than Lan Zhan pushed him into his high back, cushioned desk chair and knelt between his legs.

“What was that f— oh.”

Lan Zhan attempted to take in his entire cock at once and got impressively far for a first try. He sucked cock artlessly, exploring what seemed to be every technique he’d read in a book one after the other, never lingering long enough for the pleasure to build. But the determined look on his face and the heat of his mouth had Wei Wuxian slumped into the fabric, panting and groaning.

Then Lan Zhan’s tongue circled his tip, and his eyes opened wide.

He pulled gently on Lan Zhan’s hair, trying to get him to stop, but that only seemed to encourage him. “Lan Zhan, stop.”

Lan Zhan pulled off with a wet popping noise. “Was that not okay?”

“You were perfect, bunny.” He assured him. “But we forgot the condom.”

The packets were on the desk, within arms length. They’d be fine based on sexual history, but that was still something they should have talked about.

Lan Zhan blinked up at him for a moment before his lips thinned into a sheepish smile. “… Do not tell the community center.”

He pulled Lan Zhan up so he could tug him into his lap, and kiss him on the forehead. The love of his life was naked in his lap, and he wanted to take his time.

As he skimmed his hands up Lan Zhan’s sides, Lan Zhan made a soft, impatient noise, pressing his hips forward so Wei Wuxian could feel how hard he was just from sucking cock. “Wei Ying.”

“Lan Zhan.” He pouted. “Bunny. Please?”

“Don’t take too long.” Lan Zhan looked away, flushing, so that was a definite yes on the pet names.

“Always so impatient.” He scolded, kissing his way down Lan Zhan’s throat. He experimented with a light scrape of his teeth, and was delighted by how it made Lan Zhan jump. Sucking lightly in each new spot, he traced Lan Zhan’s collar bones, rubbing circles into the too-tight muscle of Lan Zhan’s back all the while.

As he’d hoped, Lan Zhan relaxed into his touch, allowing Wei Wuxian to lavish him with attention - until he got to his nipples. Wei Wuxian sucked one into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, and Lan Zhan let out a startled moan, quickly stifled.

“Let me hear you.”

“Are you going to fuck me?”

I’ll consider it if you do was heavily implied.

Steam poured out of his ears, and Wei Wuxian was not entirely certain that was metaphorical.

 He pinched Lan Zhan’s ass in revenge. “I am absolutely going to fuck you.”

“Good.” Lan Zhan reached for a packet of lube and tore it open, messily coating his fingers. “I do not want to be able to walk.”

That was a lot to ask when Wei Wuxian was barely more experienced than he was, but — “I’ll do my best.”

“Keep going,” Lan Zhan said, as he began to finger himself open, biting his lip in concentration. So Wei Wuxian complied, biting and sucking on one nipple after the other as he massaged the small of Lan Zhan’s back, working his way down to knead his ass.

It was not long before Lan Zhan’s movements stilled.

“Ready?” He asked.

In answer, Lan Zhan grasped Wei Wuxian’s length with a slick hand and sank down. Wei Wuxian gasped, nearly losing it as Lan Zhan enveloped him with nothing between them. Lan Zhan’s mouth fell open as his head tilted back and this time, he didn’t try to suppress a needy whine.

It took a Herculean effort not to buck up into him immediately, but he used Lan Zhan’s ass as a stress ball, and waited. Starting with experimental rocking motions, Lan Zhan began to ride him.

Wei Wuxian leaned back in his chair to watch him. The shifts in his focused expression, accompanied by involuntary gasps that hitched as he found a motion he liked. “Do you have any idea what you look like, Lan Zhan? You take me so well, bouncing on my cock like you were made for it.”

Lan Zhan bit him for that, making his hips jerk upwards harder than he intended. An apology sprang to his lips, but Lan Zhan only called out his name and slammed his hips down. Hard enough that the wheel lock on the chair clicked off, sending it skidding across the carpet and nearly tipping them over.

He laughed. “Ok, I think that’s a sign we should move this to the desk.”

With an amused huff, Lan Zhan hopped off his dick and swept everything off one side of his desk. Thankfully sparing his desktop, on the other extension of the L-shape.

Wei Wuxian was on him in a second, pinning him lightly against the wood. “That’s going to take me forever to sort out, you know. How are you going to make it up to me?”

“Knowing you, it was already a mess. I will help you organize it.” Lan Zhan said.

The fact that he meant it was simultaneously the best and worst part.

“Lan Zhan,” he whined. “I was trying to be sexy!”

“You are already sexy, Wei Ying. Please return to fucking me.” Lan Zhan informed him. He bent over the desk, propping himself up on his elbows and reminding Wei Wuxian that he was still painfully hard.

“Are you trying to drive me to an early grave?” He demanded. And then, seriously, because Lan Zhan hated when he joked about things like that. “How did I get this lucky?”

He didn’t allow Lan Zhan to answer before parting his cheeks and entering him, because if he let him answer, Lan Zhan would never get what he wanted. The slide was a little rougher now, but the new position made it easy to get the right angle with every thrust.

“Harder, Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan demanded, and then he was muffling his cries into his arms and pushing his hips back as Wei Wuxian drove into him.

He felt his control begin to slip, and reached around Lan Zhan to pump his cock, determined to bring Lan Zhan over the edge with him.

But he’d barely started when Lan Zhan cried out, “Wei Ying, wait!”

He pulled out in a panic. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

Lan Zhan shook his head, turning around and perching on the desk. “I don’t want this to end so soon. I want to come like this, facing you.” He lifted one leg to rest on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, spread invitingly for him.

Rather than get lost in the overwhelming fondness that inspired, Wei Wuxian took the invitation, thrusting in to the hilt. “End? Darling, I don’t have to pick up A-Yuan for hours. You said I could carry you to my bed and I intend to keep that promise. I’m going to kiss every inch of you until I find all your most sensitive spots. And then fuck you again, but only when you beg for it.”

Lan Zhan arched into him, his eyes wide and filled with hope. “You want to keep me?”

Strange. He’d thought that was obvious. “Darling, I want to marry you.”

Lan Zhan wound his arms around Wei Wuxian’s neck and lay back, so he had to follow to kiss him. Somehow, Lan Zhan’s leg stretched with him, which did a number on his stamina. In that position, Wei Wuxian only had enough leverage to grind into him, but he seemed be hitting the right spot.

“Unh! Wei Ying!” Like this, with nothing to muffle him save Wei Wuxian’s mouth, where he could see the flush in his cheeks and the slightly glazed look his eyes whenever the parted for breath, Lan Zhan was all the more beautiful.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan repeated once more, before he was reduced to moans, chasing completion in his own hand.

“Zhanzhan, zhanzhan,” was all he could say in return.

He hitched Lan Zhan’s leg a little higher, ground into him a little harder, and Lan Zhan came with a wordless cry. His own orgasm took him by surprise, and he nearly fell to his knees with the force of it.

Lan Zhan moved his leg so he could draw him close, despite the mess on his belly and dripping down his thighs, humming a song Wei Wuxian couldn’t quite place. Suddenly, the difference between this Lan Zhan, humming in post-coital bliss, and the one who had practically run away from him hit him with a new clarity. He had never felt this warm and full in his chest before.

This must be why his sister always told him love was worth it.

Wei Wuxian dragged his fingers through the pool of drying cum, tracing the ridges of his abs. He knew he should get something to clean them up, but despite discomfort of half-lying on the desk, he really didn’t want to move.

“No take backs.” Lan Zhan said suddenly.

“Huh?” He wracked his brain for context, but it was still too foggy with sex to come up with anything other than Lan Zhan soft and warm.

“You have to marry me now.” Lan Zhan insisted.

Oh. Oh. He remembered now, his casual proposal mid-sex. How embarrassing. They could never, ever tell anyone the truth of how it happened, or neither of them would ever live it down.

But he’d meant it. And apparently, Lan Zhan did too. He kissed him for it, because that was what you did when you got engaged.

Engaged. Fuck.

He couldn’t wait. “The second you’re ready.”

Lan Zhan nodded. “Tomorrow, then.”

He choked.

“Uh. Actually, lets let our families plan the wedding first. So we don’t get murdered for eloping.” Much as he would like to, Wei Wuxian had no intention of dying when the best part of his life was just beginning.

“A valid point.” Lan Zhan grimaced. “Shufu would be displeased. Ge would cry, as would your brother. Your sister would make us redo it with no say in our own ceremony. I can’t have a wedding like hers.” The muscle beneath his eye twitched at the spot.

“I don’t think anyone but A-Jie would want that, my parents included.” It had been the family event of the century, and no one except the bride had come away with spoons remaining.

He’d found his adoptive mom sticking her head in the venue’s commercial freezer when he was trying to get an accidentally drunk Lan Zhan somewhere quiet to sober up. They’d stared at each other for a moment. Then, she’d said, when you two get married, you’re having a small ceremony, and stuck her head back in the freezer.

“You should probably get to know A-Yuan first, anyway.”

“The adoption should be approved before I put in a spousal adoption application. That makes sense.” And before Wei Wuxian could process that, he added, “Can I move in tomorrow?”

“Oh my god. I love you. Yes.” How had he gone from certain he was about to lose the love of his life forever to this in like, two hours max?

“I love you more.” Lan Zhan said with the utmost sincerity.

Wei Wuxian made a dying cat noise. “And we’re moving this to bed now.”

Lan Zhan hummed, winding his arms and legs around him.

 “My fiancé is a koala.” He teased.

In return, he received a soft, mischievous smile that murdered him with his beauty. “My fiancé has a promise to keep.”

Once, Lan Zhan had spent an hour resisting his help with a broken leg. But he didn’t move a muscle to help him on the way across the hall. Wei Wuxian made a mental note to make a personal training appointment with Nie Mingjue. He didn’t want to throw out his back if his new duties included carrying his fiancé to bed.

He tipped Lan Zhan back onto his bed, dark strands of his hair spilling across the comforter.  Scarcely believing Lan Zhan was his for the rest of his life, Wei Wuxian took a moment to admire the view before following him down.

Maybe Nie Huaisang didn’t have to die after all.