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"I'm not lying!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed as he desperately clung to his brother and friend's robes. "Lan Zhan is really acting strange!"
His brother, who had been about to leave after hearing Lan Zhan's name come out of his mouth as soon as he appeared, sat back down, but not before hitting his hand to make him release it.
Nie Huaisang on the other hand, didn't even bother with it. As soon as he sniffed a new (and juicy) gossip, he waved his fan enthusiastically in a gesture that urged him to continue.
Finally feeling a bit calmer after the terrifying situation he had just experienced in the library (and seeing that neither of them was going to run away), Wei Wuxian sighed.
"I think Lan Zhan... has been possessed", he concluded as he once collected his thoughts.
"Yes, sure". His brother exclaimed irritably before Nie Huaisang could even react. “Lan Wangji, Lan's second Jade was possessed here, in Cloud Recesses of all places”.
“I know it doesn't make sense”, Wei Wuxian muttered, ignoring his didi's sarcasm. "But it is true. He…was acting very different during the punishment”.
Recalling the few minutes he shared with the Lan before running away from the library to seek help, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. However, as someone who had gotten to know Lan Zhan, and had gotten used to his stony face (as well as various reactions), seeing him so… uninhibited and out of his element was terrifying (although a bit exciting).
“…sure… sense… cultivator… great Sect… Xian… Wuxian… Wei Wuxian!” Suddenly yelled the voice of his brother snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you listening to me?!"
“Ah, yes…” The Jiang Sect's chief disciple quickly replied. “Cheng Cheng, you have to believe me. If you want we can go see it together”.
Jiang Cheng was about to respond with another round of shouting about how he shouldn't call him that when Nie Huaisang (praise be) intervened.
"Wei-Xiong, you keep saying that he's acting weird, but what exactly does that mean?" He asked curiously as buried his face in his folding fan.
At that question, Wei Wuxian hesitated. He didn't know how to explain it, mainly because he still didn't quite believe it. Besides… how could it be explained without damaging Lan Zhan's reputation?
Seeing the troublemaker fall into an eerie silence, the other two boys couldn't help but worry a bit, finally sensing a bit of seriousness (and truth) in Wei Wuxian's words.
Emotion that vanished as soon as he opened his mouth again.
“Lan Zhan… is acting like me”, he finished saying.
Silence.
Stuck as he was in his head trying to find a better way to recount Lan Wangji's sudden descent into madness, Young Master Wei didn't realize there was something wrong with the atmosphere until a good few minutes had passed and there was no heard answer.
Turning around, he finally saw that both Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang were looking at him without emotion. Well, in his brother's case, as emotionless as could be, as his clenched fists seemed to spasm as he held back from starting to rain down on him.
"What's up with you guys?" Asked, confused, yet alert enough to put a subtle distance between them (despite already being separated by a table). "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Jiang Cheng was going to be the first to speak (yell) again, but the second young master Nie beat him to it.
“Wei-Xiong, are you saying… that Lan Wangji is acting like you?” He repeated with obvious mistrust.
Finally seeing the problem at hand, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but pout.
"He really is like me!" Exclaimed when that didn't work. “He… broke a lot of rules in just a few minutes. He not only spoke to me, but also approached and began to...”
'He started to... what? invade my personal space? touch me?'
He couldn't say that. Not only because no one would believe him, but also because he knew that if he wasn't careful and words reached Lan Qiren's ears, the old man, rules or not, would throw him down the mountain.
Although the most important reason was that… Wei Wuxian was not sure how to express what had happened, after all, Lan Zhan had not done anything extreme.
It's just that said behavior seemed extreme because it was coming from him.
To tell the truth, his friend had only gotten a little too close. But wasn't it normal for friends to be close?
He wrapped his arm around his brother and Nie Huaisang shoulders the whole time. Sure, Lan Zhan hadn't done that, but if he did, would be perfectly normal too (since they were already friends)... well, not really, but he would be more justified than what actually happened.
Seeing Lan Zhan suddenly approaching had been surprising, but thinking about it now… he had perhaps overreacted. Of course, his reaction was justified as well, after all, Lan Zhan had told him many times that he didn't like being touched, or people getting close to him.
Besides, at that time he had also smiled at him. Not a curve or something imperceptible, but a real smile.
Wei Wuxian, like every cultivator, was always aware of his surroundings. It was hard not to be with the senses maxed out and all thing.
BUT! No matter how alert he was, the sight of that sudden smile so close had caught him totally off guard. Frankly speaking, if his brain hadn't stopped, Wei Wuxian believed that he would have gone on his back with the chair and all...
Anyway, back to the main point, an approach and a smile was not something to make a fuss about... even if it came from a Lan.
Wei Wuxian believed that with a bit of strength and temperance of mind, it was also possible to overlook if said Lan was Lan Wangji, the second Jade of Cloud Recesses. Hardly.
The thing was… how could he not over-react and run away in a panic when Lan Zhan… stroked him? No, was it correct to even call it a caress? How do you call your friend's action by helping you tuck in a wild lock of your hair that got loose and interfered with a sudden intense staring contest?
Young Master Wei had always been prepared for Lan Zhan's amused reactions, and sure, he could have discussed with his brother and Nie Huaisang how happy he would be if Lan Zhan finally smiled at him and accepted his friendship, but... for love of everything sacred... couldn't there be at least one warning beforehand? some clue? If that had been the case, his poor and unsuspecting heart would not have accelerated to worrying levels. He, too, would not have been forced to leave the library with a red face ready to explode.
"He started what?" Said the voices of the other two people taking him out of his thoughts again, urging him to tell his concerns (the gossip) at once.
"N-no...nothing". Mouthed, trying to ignore the heat that rose up his cheeks as he recalled the scene again. “M-maybe I saw wrong hahaha. Lan Zhan… is not possessed at all”.
Seeing the pair's increasingly strange glances, Wei Wuxian looked around the dining room before laught.
“Hahaha… yes, now that I think about it, Lan Zhan must have been joking with me. Returning the favor after all this time".
“Lan Wangji? Joking?" Jiang Cheng snorted as he considered whether should get up and shake his Shixiong so that would say something that made sense.
Wei Wuxian, knowing him as he did, was naturally able to see through his intentions, so he got up and quickly invited them into the library with him to take a look.
It was in this way that Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang ended up hiding in the treetop by the library window while Wei Wuxian, still fearful (but certainly anxious and a little expectant) took the long way and returned to his place in front of the second Jade.
As soon as the head disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect plopped down on his seat, Lan Wangji gave him a questioning look, as if he had no idea why Wei Wuxian left his punishment behind and ran off like a soul that the devil carries.
Seeing him like this, so... normal, calm and unchanging, the troublemaker couldn't help but wonder if everything that had happened before was his imagination, or if Lan Wangji had really been possessed by a spirit (fox).
“Lan Zhan… are you alright?”
Lan Wangji did not answer him. After giving him a scolding look he reopened the book he had been reading and said.
"For leaving, another copy".
At that, Wei Wuxian brushed aside what had happened and jumped up.
“Lan Zhan! You can not do that!" He screamed in panic.
If he had to make one more copy of all those rules he could really die of boredom.
Unfortunately, Lan Wangji, as if it weren't the case with him, ignored him.
Seeing him sitting there emulating what a monk might look like in the midst of his meditation, Young Master Wei could only glance out the window, where Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang were clearly struggling to contain their schadenfreude laughter.
Wei Wuxian could already see them mocking him later, claiming that his prank had not been funny and that it served well to increase his punishment.
“Lan Zhaaaaan”, whimpered again as he sat back down. Outrage and confusion aside, it was concern (and slight disappointment?) that kicked in. “You really don't remember why I left the library? not a bit?"
Lan Wangji, perhaps sensing the strangeness in his behavior, lowered the book and honored him with a frown.
“You know… when uhm…”, he rambled. “Did we get closer?” He concluded without much confidence.
He wasn't sure how to explain to Lan Zhan that he had smiled at him and helped with his hair.
"Copy". Was all Lan Wangji said before picking up a brush and beginning to transcribe the book he had been reading.
Sighing, Wei Wuxian took the brush and continued his punishment, though not before watching Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang walk away and make gestures that he interpreted as 'You'll see later' and 'Too bad, Wei-Xiong', respectively.
After a few minutes, when Wei Wuxian put aside the page he had just finished and looked up again, he discovered that Lan Zhan had already stopped copying and was watching him.
As someone who was tasked with keeping an eye on him this was not strange. However, that he was hunched over, with his elbow on the table and his hand resting on his chin was almost as terrifying as what had happened a while ago.
“L-lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian stammered, trying to contain the urge to run for help again. And it is that the thought that Lan Zhan could take a long time in this way was a bit disturbing.
'Lan Zhan… had been possessed again? Or had he... lied and acted normally because he knew he was being watched? Maybe... from copying the rules so much his brain had finally fried and he was raving in the infirmary?'
The main disciple of the Jiang Sect was not sure which thought was more terrifying.
"Wei Ying", called Lan Wangji.
Wei Wuxian had heard Lan Zhan say (scream) his name many times. Sure, it had been hard at first, but when he couldn't contain himself at his teasing and it blew up, he had to call it something. Once he called out his name, obviously there was a second, a third and so on.
Regardless, depending on the degree of irritation Wei Wuxian was exerting, it would be uttered with different emotions: anger, frustration, embarrassment, etc.
However, the way Lan Zhan had said his name now was obviously different.
The way he seemed to taste the name with his tongue, as well as the tone of voice and the look in his eyes gave Wei Wuxian goosebumps.
Feeling the damned heat building up on his cheeks, and in a mood difficult to describe, the young disciple had to make a significant effort to resist the urge to cover his ears.
‘Why… why the way Lan Zhan was looking and talking to him now feel so lewd?!’ Yelled to himself in a panic.
It was Lan Wangji, for God's sake!
“L-lan Zhan…hahaha” Laughed hysterically Wei Wuxian, trying his best to try to investigate what was going on, either to seek help or to yell at all those idiots who said that Lan Wangji had'nt sense from the humor that he could clearly joke around and tease people. "What are you doing?"
As expected, Lan Wangji did not reply this time either. Or at least not with words. Still fixing him in his place with those intense golden eyes, he shooked him again with a deadly attack. He smiled at him.
A beautiful, dazzling, heavenly, and... so full of shit smile.
Being targeted by that immortal beauty, Wei Wuxian's tuned out. His brain, usually bright and overactive, shut down. As if his reason had gone on vacation, he found himself leaning across the table, trying to appreciate and drink that work of art a little more closely.
Lan Zhan, still caught up in whatever he was doing or suffering from, did not move. As if not bothered by his closeness, he stood there, waiting for what Wei Wuxian would do next.
The only change in him was that the already pretty smile widened.
"Is something wrong, Wei Ying?" Hefinally inquired, almost singing the 'Ying'.
To experience how Lan Zhan, who just a couple of hours ago was a cold and unapproachable jade smiled at him and tilted his face in anticipation of an answer to which he obviously knew the answer, was unreal. A part of him believed that it should have been a bit annoying or awkward (after all, while Wei Wuxian liked to make jokes, he wasn't thrilled to be on the receiving end), but no matter how he looked at it, it wasn't the case in absolute.
For some strange reason, witnessing the side of Lan Zhan's neck being exposed, and his shiny black hair falling over one shoulder with a few strands landing on the table, Wei Wuxian could only swallow.
His body, he noted, was out of control. His normally rational, quick and assertive thoughts were tangled, slow. His face felt on fire and his mouth dry. Even his hands had begun to sweat and shake.
Not only that. The cool mountain air that had always cooled him down from the window now felt hot and sticky, like Yunmeng air in midsummer.
“Lan Zhan…” Babbled Wei Wuxian, still caught up in the most bewitching expression he had seen on the Lan since he arrived. "You..."
'...Are you really messing with me?' Was what he would have liked to say.
His mouth, however, betrayed him.
"You are so handsome", he whispered instead.
The words embarrassed him a bit, but soon the embarrassment faded into the background. It was the truth anyway.
Besides, it was hard to be upset when Lan Zhan's eyes widened, and then curved with joy and, if Wei Wuxian wasn't imagining things, with pride.
The invited young disciple knew that conceit and pride must be prohibited somewhere in that hideous wall, so these must be another pair of rules that Lan Zhan had broken ever since he began supervising him.
This made it clear that his Lan Sect friend was not joking. As strange and peculiar as the Lan's sense of humor was, it shouldn't get to that point.
This only left two alternatives; Lan Zhan had been possessed, or…he wanted to break the rules.
Seeing the second Jade so relaxed and normal, Wei Wuxian felt that he could rule out the possession option, after all, just as Jiang Cheng had said, this was the heart of Cloud Recesses, one of the great Sects. Forget about being possessed, probably no evil spirit had existed here for centuries.
That left only one possibility: Lan Zhan wanted to break the rules.
Young Master Wei wasn't sure what had triggered such behavior, but having ruled out the dangerous options now he could actually feel excited.
It was in this way that the main disciple accepted this sudden change with open arms. His insane curiosity took control and he thought it would be wrong to miss the opportunity to probe and learn the new limits that this Lan Zhan seemed to have reached.
Caught in an intrepid and investigative mood, he jumped down from his seat and, rounding the table, approached Lan Zhan, wanting a closer look at the changes in the face that had always been closed to anyone other than Zewu-Jun.
Lan Zhan, contrary to the expectations that Wei Wuxian might have had deep in his heart, still did not bother with his approach. On the contrary, he almost seemed fascinated.
“Hey, Lan Zhan", called Wei Wuxian, resting his hip on the table next to Second Young Master Lan's chair. "If I invite you to Caiyi now, would you go with me?"
Sneaking out of Cloud Recesses and coaxing Lan Zhan into gambling and drinking sounded like a good plan to him.
“If that's what Wei Ying wants”, released the second Lan Jade snapping him out of his thoughts.
For a moment, Wei Wuxian thought he had misheard, but seeing how Lan Zhan was still leaning on the table looking down at him with what seemed to be approval, he had to convince himself that he had heard right.
He had accepted.
Excited as he had seldom been since he had to adjust to the Lan Sect's diet, the Jiang Sect's head disciple smiled, and, without giving Lan a chance to repent, he yelled.
"It's a deal! You can't take it back!"
“Mn”.
After getting a confirmation, Wei Wuxian forgot about all the admonitions he had received from his friend before today and patted his friend on the shoulder.
Patting that stopped when he realized that he, again, hadn't been pushed away or scolded.
Young Master Wei tried to ignore the sudden frantic beating of his heart, but it was hard to do so when it was the only thing he could hear in his ears.
Besides... what could he do about it? He was excited!
Very very happy.
Extremely happy.
It had to be that.
Laughing nervously at the emotional mess his head had become, Wei Wuxian reached out his hand, and, grabbing Lan Zhan's, pulled him for get out immediately.
He was afraid that Lan Zhan would change his mind or return to normal over time.
He hadn't counted on Lan Zhan starting to get up at that precise moment.
Caught off guard by the sudden jerk, the only Lan present there couldn't help but stumble.
Wei Wuxian naturally supported him, but because he had been leaning against the table his posture was not entirely correct and he ended up being dragged by him instead.
Flat on his back on the floor, the young troublemaker took a while to realize that he had somehow ended up being pressed under the body of his friend.
'This…feels familiar', he thought stupidly to himself, before remembering that this scene had happened before.
Although unlike now, back then he was the one who had been on top. Not to mention, the fall had been a bit more painful since it had come from one of the rooftops in one of his many attempts to avoid punishment.
In short... it was a similar situation. So why did he feel so different?
His heart, which had already been beating like crazy, seemed to stop as soon as his eyes met his friend's.
Eyes that, seen from so close, were much more beautiful and bewitching than he had given them credit for.
Wei Wuxian ignorantly always thought that Lan Zhan's eyes were golden. It was only now, when he was giving them his full attention, that he realized that there were actually two colors there.
It was hard to tell from a distance, but right now, given his privileged position (?), could see that at the end of the golden iris was a thin brown ring wrapped around it.
'How come I hadn't noticed?' He thought to himself in bewilderment.
The main disciple of the Jiang Sect would have liked to continue reflecting on his inattention to something as important as the color of Second Young Master Lan's eyes, however, said Young Master did not allow it.
Wei Wuxian (as well as the entire Lan Sect and invited disciples) knew that he had annoyed Lan Wangji a lot in his attempts to get his attention, but he never expected that the day would come when this situation would be reversed and it would be the latter who he would try to hog his.
Because yes. Lan Zhan, Lan's Second Jade, for some perplexing reason to him, clearly wanted he rest his own gray eyes on his.
Why would he if not be getting closer and closer instead of standing up and demanding back the deserved personal space ?
If Wei Wuxian's heart seemed to have stopped earlier, he now he was completely sure. And with it had gone also his ability to breathe.
“Wei Ying”, he heard Lan Zhan's voice from less than an inch away.
Responding to the call, Wei Ying opened his mouth to reply, but was unable to utter a word.
Second Young Master Lan, busy attending to his own thoughts, did not seem to notice, because instead of doing what Wei Wuxian expected, he preferred to direct his eyes to his mouth, probably waiting for him to go against the current and say something smart (for a change).
Well, he would be disappointed.
Forget something smart, Wei Wuxian wasn't even sure he could answer something that made sense. By now and intoxicated on whatever was going on, he probably couldn't even remember his own name.
Luckily for him, there was one he did remember, after all, it was always present in his head.
“Lan Zhan…” whispered, wanting to say something, but not sure what.
It didn't matter anyway. What Wei Wuxian didn't know, Lan Zhan always seemed to cover up. That's how amazing he was.
When his friend from the Lan Clan leaned in and pressed his lips together in a kiss, Wei Wuxian finally felt the air return to his nearly withered lungs.
Feeling the oxygen rush in and doing what it was supposed to do to make his eyes leave behind the black dots that had begun to dot his field of vision, and instead refocus on the one light he'd craved since he'd put a foot in this silent place... was much more overwhelming than one would think possible.
Wei Wuxian tried to convince himself that it was the brief suffocation that was driving him crazy, making him hallucinate and feel like he was about to ascend and leave the prison of his mortal body.
But in the end he couldn't do it.
Not when Lan Zhan, the perfect and relentless Lan Zhan, arbitrarily decided that he wasn't paying due attention and decided to use his tongue to force his mouth open and take what he needed.
It turned out that it was not an illusion. This was happening.
The feeling of a hot, impatient tongue trying to reach deeper and deeper into him was something that someone inexperienced like him couldn't summon in a million years.
'This is', he thought with the last thread of sanity he still retained.
This was what he wanted. What he always wanted.
Discovering it was a catharsis. Accepting it was easy.
Going from bewilderment to understanding, and from the latter to debauchery, Wei Wuxian let himself go.
With the same desperation as Lan Zhan, took his hand to the neck of the latter and pushed him to get even closer.
If he could, he'd probably want to merge it into him to never be two different entities again.
The young troublemaker never thought that this kind of feeling and sensations existed, although if he had known, he probably wouldn't have believed it.
Wei Wuxian didn't know how long they were there, discovering, experimenting, and getting better at satisfying each other's desires, but it must have been long enough because the light that poured in through the window had gradually dimmed to an orange that came with the sunset.
Much calmer, but uncomfortable and dissatisfied given the obvious reactions in their lower parts, they finally moved away.
Young Master Wei didn't know what kind of look was on his face, but if it was one as expressive and soft as Lan Zhan's, he wouldn't ask for anything more.
He loved him so much...
And Lan Zhan had to know, so he opened his mouth and said:
"I love you, Lan Zhan".
Lan Zhan, beautiful and perfect, opened his mouth and, after taking a few seconds to breathe in and calm the emotion that the other's words had surfaced in him, he answered what Wei Wuxian had been in charge of discovering very recently.
“I also… love Wei Ying”, finally expressed.
Wei Wuxian felt himself being hit. Not in a bad way. It was as if something in his stomach somersaulted and churned to trigger a reaction throughout his body and heart.
The face in front of him suddenly blurred, but it wasn't until Lan Zhan wiped away the tears that had flowed that he realized why.
He was crying.
Not wanting to worry to Lan, he smiled.
Not as a joke, and definitely not for show.
In his life, Wei Wuxian believed that he had never made such a bright and sincere smile.
Lan Zhan must have seen it too because he gave him the pleasure of witnessing, once again, the most beautiful thing he had seen in his life in that handsome and statuesque face.
The serious Lan Zhan was a beauty, but the smiling Lan Zhan was a natural disaster.
Young Master Wei felt his mind go blank. It was to such a degree that all bodily functions stopped working.
Collapsing, he was caught by a pair of strong arms.
“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan asked with obvious concern.
The main disciple of the Jiang Sect did not know why, but he sensed that there was something different in the tone. It was Lan Zhan, but not the same one that he had been playing with his head all day.
However, it didn't matter. Not when the look and emotions in his eyes were just as clear.
He didn't know what happened, but nothing had changed for him.
Lan Zhan would always be Lan Zhan.
And Wei Ying would always love any version of him.
“Hey, Lan Zhan”, he murmured, unable to stop appreciating every inch of the other. "You've convinced me".
Confused, Second Young Master Lan cocked his head.
“It turns out that learning is a good thing”.
"... it is?"
“Mn. It's just that until now I wasn't studying the right subject”, he smiled.
Lan Zhan still didn't seem to get it, so Wei Wuxian tried a little harder and reaching out his hand, smoothed out the wrinkles that had formed on Lan Zhan's
robes.
If he took the opportunity to touch his chest and abdomen a bit... well, no one had to know.
As an expert in non-verbal language, Lan's Second Jade did not need another clue to grasp what the other was trying to say.
From the way his gaze burned the naughty hand, anyone could tell.
Chuckling, Wei Wuxian further tightened in Lan Zhan's embrace and muttered.
“So, Lan Er Gege… do you want to study with this humble disciple tomorrow?”
Lan Wangji stared at him for a while before smiling the same cheeky smile as before and nodded.
“Mn”, he agreed. "Remember your words".