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It was supposed to be a simple night hunt.
Something that would spread the name of the Violet Spider with awe and bring respect to her name, so that everyone knew not to cross her. Including the memory of that woman and her thrice blasted child that her foolish husband had brought home. Someone, from the secluded backwater village, in the distance is howling their emotions to the night sky as the smell of wet, burned wood curls around her.
One of her girls calmly approaches her as she puts the Zidian to sleep. “Yu-furen, the villagers are asking for reparations to rebuild the damaged buildings and loss of lives. They are demanding that you-”
“That is not our concern.” Her lip curls disdainfully. “I care not about their petty needs, Yinzhu. We are going back to Lotus Pier.”
“Yes, Yu-furen.”
Though she does not know it, a plot begins with a simple drop of her blood left behind from her fight with the prey that had led her on a chase to the secluded village.
*
“He’s gone too far this time! I will make sure he knows his place is lower than dirt! I’ll make sure he pays for this slight!”
Jiang Fengmian remembers her snarled words after bringing Wei Wuxian back to Lotus Pier after the fighting and breaking his daughter's future marriage into the Jin Sect at the Cloud Recesses. A-Xian hadn't looked up at him as his shoulders, held tightly under the hands of the maid servants that served his wife, stiffened at the dark fury in her words as they made him kneel in the Jiang Sect's Ancestral Hall, his scarred back revealed for their all-seeing eyes to see. For his part, Jiang Fengmian turned and left the room, heading towards his office as Yu Ziyuan would no doubt turn the Zidian's whip on him if he attempted to seek leniency on Wei Wuxian's behalf.
The boy knows better than to beg for his help, especially when his Lady is in this sort of mood after a failed night hunt.
Flashes of light and burning ozone upon flesh accompany his senses as the Sect Leader sedately leaves the area and heads towards his office. It was late morning when the punishment began, and then choosing to work quietly on his correspondence while locked away in his office to wait for his wife to finish punishing their Head Disciple. The sun is high in the sky when the sound of the first sets of running feet rushing towards his location makes Jiang Fengmian look up with a light frown on his face.
The unlocked door opens roughly on the sliding frame with enough force applied by the sheepish disciples that stared at it. Fengmian privately wondered if it would ever close properly again and decided that he would examine it later as they hastily bowed.
He nods slightly to them as he keeps his attention on the door. “What is it?”
The three disciples look at each other with silent looks urging one of them to speak, though none of them wish to do so and become the unhappy news bearer, before young Jiang Fan, one of the older boys, steps forward with a nervous bow. “Jiang-zongzhu, we thought that you might wish to know that we brought them to the infirmary.”
“Hm, I see. Thank you, Jiang Fan.” The boy's stilted wording confuses him for a moment before Jiang Fengmian nods slightly, simply thinking that the boys had left another disciple to keep watch over a-Xian. It left him with the impression that his wife had left the grounds again. “Please inform Wei Wuxian that I will see him in the morning.”
“But Zongzhu..” Jiang Fan wrings his hands together, looking back over his shoulder at the other two boys, who encourage him to keep going. It must be enough for the boy to go on because he straightens his spine. “Yu-furen, is there too. She had a qi deviation while punishing Da-Shixiong in the Ancestral Hall.”
The news punches him roughly in the center of his chest, knocking the very air out of his lungs. What? How did this happen? His Lady had always been the picture of health despite her ill temperament towards everything in this life. Despite her unneeded hatred towards a dead woman and her son, there was no reason to think she could have ever been on the verge of a qi deviation. He choked on nothing and pushed himself past the lingering disciples in the doorway, heading towards the infirmary.
The sight that greets is one that shakes him down to his core; is his pale daughter with tear lines drying on her face while holding a-Xian's hand as the boy lays still and quiet on his stomach under the guise of sleep and his daughter is listening as the Jiang Sect’s healers shout orders around him while his wife is on another bed across the room being tended by several other healers. The mother of his children was bleeding from every orifice as the head healer spotted him and shouted at one of his acolytes.
“Get him and Jiang-guniang out of here! Neither of them need to see this.”
In a blink and the next one, the two of them end up on the other side of a closed door though he manages to inform the harried acolyte to inform Wei Wuxian that he will be back to see him when things are calmer. A-Li hides her face into his chest, attempting to hide her tears from sight as whispering spectators gather nearby before he gathers himself and leads his child to her room.
“Everything will be alright, a-Li. You’ll see. All shall be made right in the world.” He lightly kissed the top of his daughter's head and whispered words that echoed falsely in his mind. In his embrace, his daughter nodded quietly, though he wondered if she truly believed him in the wake of everything.
The next day, Jiang Fengmian is unsurprised to be denied entry into the Sect healing hall to speak with Wei Wuxian or his wife, both of whom are being kept unconscious because of their injuries. Apparently, in a-Xian's punishment at the Ancestral Shire, she had nearly gone too far with the Zidian before the deviation occurred. How distasteful. He didn't like the idea of his wife killing the son of dear friends and didn't look forward to the idea of training a new Head Disciple when they still had a-Xian.
Shaking his head, he turned to see his wife's maids on either side of the door, neither of them was looking directly at him, but he felt the weight of their combined attention. Making sure no one is around to hear their conversation, he asks. “Tell me what my Lady was doing before I returned home with Wei Wuxian.”
The two young women stir at the order before they silently look at each other before Jinzhu speaks. “Our Lady went on a night hunt and we accompanied her. It didn’t go as well as she hoped it would and she has been displeased ever since.”
Her sister nodded in agreement before she spoke. “Mm. And Wei-gongzi’s actions at the Cloud Recesses against Jin-gongzi himself only fueled our mistress’s loss of control when everyone returned.”
Jiang Fengmian sighed as he turned their words over in his mind. Something would have to be done swiftly to appease his wife's temper for what Wei Wuxian had done. And to appease the Jin Sect to keep their continued friendship solidified without the betrothal tying the children together. That problem would have to wait until he sorted out this mess to find the cause behind his wife's sudden health crisis.
Shaking his head slightly, he looks at the two girls before giving them an order. “When the healers allow him to leave, tell Wei Wuxian to come see me. And take some disciples with you to investigate why this happened to my Lady.”
They bow calmly. “At once, Jiang-zongzhu.”
A pale-faced Wei Wuxian comes to him two days after the healers release him from the healing halls, on the same day the group departs from Lotus Pier. Jiang Fengmian notes that most curiously on the boy's too-lean body is a single qiankun pouch, which no doubt hides any others that the boy might have with him, and Suibian. In the time that the boy has spent quietly resting in the ward, the gossiping vultures beyond his walls, have been circling and spreading false words about his wife's misfortunes, having grown far faster than her maids, and he can control them, and his irritation has grown with it. False rumors that said he cared more about the health of a servant’s child that didn’t understand his rightful place in the world over the health of his ill-tempered wife.
It was too much for Jiang Fengmian, and something would eventually give way.
“So, you wish to leave.” Jiang Fengmian scowls at Wei Wuxian. “And there is nothing I can do to make you stay?”
“If I wish to live then yes.” Wei Wuxian shrugs one shoulder, his calm tone matter of fact as he answers and achingly familiar silver eyes glance at him then away again. “I would prefer to leave and travel like my parents did, then stay here another day and perhaps not live to see the next seasons.”
That barb spears itself painfully into his heart, that this young bright cultivator standing before him, so clearly thought that he would allow the Third Lady to toss him aside like useless rubbish.
Annoyed, he takes the scroll from his friend's son and stamps it before sliding the paper back across the table with a bag of money. “Just like your father then. Leaving me behind to clean up a mess. Alone.”
Wei Wuxian frowned in response, but said nothing as he carefully takes both items and bows slightly before leaving the room, taking Jiang Fengmian's shriveling heart with him. Pity that he couldn't convince the boy to stay despite the tense relationship with his wife and continue growing his cultivation with the help of the Jiang Sect. In that regard, Wei Wuxian was like his parents, only caring where the wind might take them next.
Two weeks later, the group returns as the rumors surrounding the Jiang Sect grow beyond his control to silence them after his son returns from the Cloud Recesses due to fighting with the other guest disciples. Most likely, his son had been made aware of his mother's failing condition and wished to return home as soon as possible. As the party enters his office, he permits them to speak while he tries to figure out how best to please the other Sect leaders and Lan Qiren for the slights his only heir had wrought. His son was a good boy despite his attitude around others. Thoughts of finding a curse master to break the spell on his wife, ways to attract new disciples to fill the gaps of the ones following Wei Wuxian’s footsteps, replanting the crop fields that had mysteriously begun to fail, and how to get the local vendors around Lotus Pier to stay with their wares for dominance in his mind.
“Report.”
Jinzhu answers. Nothing about her quietness gives him a clue to her thoughts. “Several village children were killed during our Lady’s last night hunt by the Zidian. She refused to pay reparations for the lost lives, so the villagers rallied around the mothers of those lost children and cursed the Jiang Sect in return. They refuse to lift the curse despite offers of future reparation being made.”
That was not surprising to hear.
He sighed, shaking his head. “Keep working with them. We will do everything possible to lift the curse ourselves before seeking outside aid.”
“As you wish, Jiang-zonghzhu.”
The following weeks into the Spring months eventually began to make him rethink that stratagem as the villagers continued to refuse the Jiang Sect’s request to lift the curse as crops of lotus flowers that filled countless lakes in Yunmeng Jiang began dying faster than new seeds could be planted. Then his children began falling ill, a-Li with her lower constitution went to join their mother first by a-Cheng a week later, both of them falling into deep sleep that they couldn’t be roused from despite all attempts by the remaining Sect healers.
‘Enough was enough.’ Jiang Fengmian decided and went to the secluded village that had cursed his wife, along with their children and the Sect.
Angry gazing commoners meet at the mouth of the village entrance and as he surveys the out of the way area, Jiang Fengmian finds himself wondering just how Yu Ziyuan had managed to find this quietly secluded village.
“Why have you come here, Jiang-zongzhu?”
Desperation fluttered within his heart as Jiang Fengmian finally went to the village and kowtowed to them as he softly asked-begged-. “Is there any way that I can pay reparations to your family and convince you to break the curse on my wife? On my Sect?”
The man frowns deeply at him while the other villagers dare to wave their tools threateningly at himself and his remaining nervous disciples. “This humble one apologizes, Jiang-zongzhu, but I can not do as you ask. As your wife has destroyed my family, it is only fair that your family and the Sect be destroyed because of your wife’s actions. Begone and do not darken our home with your presence ever again.”
A year later, Jiang Fengmian is fighting to keep the Jiang Sect functional enough to survive another man's leadership without debts tying them to the other Sects. But he will find himself very unsurprised to hear gossip mongers mention a marriage between the Second Jade of Lan and Wei Wuxian. At least something good had come from his allowing Wei Wuxian to leave the Jiang Sect behind and finding a new life beyond them to live as his parents did.
——-------
“He’s gone too far this time! I will make sure he knows his place is lower than dirt! I’ll make sure he pays for this slight!”
To say that Wei Wuxian was surprised that this would happen is a lie. He'd known what would come from doing his duty to protect the Jiang Sect; from the very second, he chose to act as the Jin heir spewed his disdainful words instead of standing back. Or he could have let Jiang Cheng hit his fellow heir, which one would have damaged the face of the Jiang Sect more?
He had known it would come to this as he felt the sting fall upon his back.
Yu-furen screams at him loud enough to make herself heard over the Zidian’s sizzle. “Stupid son of a servant! How dare you reach above your station and break an important arrangement painstakingly set up with the Jin Sect! What do you have to do such a thing?! I knew that you would cause trouble for the Jiang Sect and ruin the face of my Sect! My husband should have never raised you up from the gutter filth he found you in!”
He had known that Jiang-zongzhu would quietly walk away from the Ancestral Shrine as Yu-furen's maidservants made him kneel as she beat him with the Zidian. As he always did. How very righteous he was in his actions. A distant part of his mind wonders if she will kill him this time as the scent of blood and charred flesh amongst lightning-scented ozone reaches his nose.
Four hits into the punishment, and then something odd happens. Yu-furen's angry shouting falls silent by the sound of someone choking, followed by something heavy hitting the floor. Wei Wuxian closed his eyes, breathing through the newly inflicted pain as he leaned forward to rest his sweaty forehead against the wooden floor of the Shrine.
“Yu-furen!”
At the sound of confused, jumbled shouting, he opens his eyes, turning his head to see Yu-furen lying limply on the ground nearby, the Zidian still sparking as blood leaked from her body. Her maids and his fellow disciples are trying to stop the bleeding as Third Shidi joins the commotion with a frown as he surveys the scene in front of him.
“Get them both to the healers!”
Wei Wuxian loses the fight to stay conscious as familiar hands gently touch him, carefully avoiding the new welts from the spiritual weapon. He regains consciousness in blurry fields of time to people gently quieting his groaning, and when he wakes up to find the all too familiar ceiling of the healing hall hanging over his bed. His body is sore and protesting the healers touching him as they gently smear healing salves on his back to speed up the healing process as he slips back under again.
As he lay sleeping in comforting darkness, Wei Wuxian dreamed of a brighter time full of laughter from children and the barely remembered softness of his parent's love for him. Of his dear, sweet, laughing mother holding him in her arms and lap as they rode on the back of a donkey led by his smiling father. As he lies sleeping, Wei Wuxian realizes that he longs to travel upon the open road as he did so long ago with his parents. This sweet dream of the past is the life he wants, instead of being part of a Cultivation Sect that twists the social narrative about his life for their benefit.
It seems that his heart and mind have found agreement on what decision he would need to make for himself.
When he wakes up sometime later, the healers tell him that it's been two days since the attempted beating, followed by one of Yu-furen's maids telling him that Jiang-zongzhu wished to see him. He wondered what false placations the man would try to say this time as Wei Wuxian went to his room first instead of seeing the Jiang Sect as first directed. He stuffs his meager possessions - that hadn't yet been destroyed by Yu-furen and her people - into a pouch before he heads toward Jiang-zongzhu's office.
By the end of the meeting, Wei Wuxian finds himself unsurprised that they reached the same conclusion while he was out cold in the healing hall. To be free of the supposed debts they used to weigh him down for so long is breathtakingly freeing as he steps through the doors of the Jiang Sect for the final time. The Aunties and Uncles in the villages around the Lotus Pier all too generously give him what supplies from their stores he can carry without taking his money and send him off with their demands that he come back for a visit whenever he can.
As Wei Wuxian stands on the edge of Jiang territory, he feels like a bird finally taking flight from a nest that was too small for it.
–
Sometimes while working on his new experimental talismans, Wei Wuxian accidentally thinks of beautiful honey-golden eyes hidden in the misty mountains. And wonders what Lan Zhan might be doing as the Lan Clan's current Lecture period winds down.
Has the Second Jade found a way to forget him and his irritating antics or has the news of Wei Wuxian being kicked from the Jiang Sect made the other boy start thinking of him again?
(Not that he would know this, but Wangji does think of him even as his Shufu tells him to not publicly approach Wei Wuxian if they cross paths as though rogue cultivators are an affront to Sect aligned Cultivators. Though they turn a blind eye to his eagerness to hear spy reports in distant locations about his movements.)
–
As he makes his way through the world, he ignores the rumors surrounding the Cultivation World and his former natal Sect as he travels to places with Sects so small. Most of the time, their larger counterparts often ignore the requests for help unless money and prestige around the hunts glint softly before their eyes.
The leader of secluded Hua village wrings his hands together nervously. “How can we ever repay you, Wei-gongzi? We don’t have much in the way of money, but we still want to pay for your services.”
Wei Wuxian knows this well enough, especially since he's been keeping to himself on the outskirts of the mountain village for two months, placing warding talismans to keep all manner of dark creatures away from the town proper. With the first frost on the ground signaling the approach of winter, finding a warm place to sleep sounded nice enough.
“I know. Food and shelter for a night or two is enough of a payment.”
The older man's brows came together in the middle as he quickly spoke. “Are you sure, honored Cultivator? I’m sure my people could put something together if you-”
“No. I don’t want to take anyone’s hard earned money.” Wei Wuxian quickly shakes his head with a slight frown. He smiles gently. “Food and shelter for the night are my only requirements of payment.”
The older man nods, looking relieved. “Very well. These terms are acceptable, honored Cultivator.”
"This humble one thanks you."
––—-
For the most part, Wei Wuxian manages to avoid Sect-aligned cultivators with relative ease because none of them are smart enough to change out of their robes to look like something lower than their assigned station within the organization. Their stupidity in the matter makes it all too easy for Wei Wuxian to spot them and to slip past their nets.
It gives him the practice to change out of his usual colors and slip into different colored robes to hide amongst the crowds of commoners and other rogue cultivators in the more remote villages. Especially when annoying disciples -like the ever-annoying Jin Clan- from the more well-known Sects hear of his current location and come looking for reasons he doesn't want to find out. He doesn't know if the Jiang Clan put a price on his head for some manner of return to the Sect or if another Clan has decided they want to make an example of him themselves. These appearances, however, put him on edge constantly and make him understand some of the reasons why his parents decided to always be on the move before they disappeared forever around Yiling.
For the past year and a half, Wei Wuxian has managed to successfully avoid the unwanted task of having any contact with the gentry of the Cultivation World. Though he thinks that Lan Zhan would be pleased that he can hold himself to their promise, all while selling his inventions cheaply to the commoners that need the help. That is until he stops in Caiyi Town to replenish some of his supplies during the waning days of the summer months while the Lan Clan is holding another Lecture cycle in their towering mountain among the clouds.
He's just finished haggling with one of the Emperor's Smile vendors and was mentally tallying up how much money he still had in his money pouch after buying some new talisman paper when he hears that lovely musical voice.
“Wei Ying.”
Partially startled out of his musings, he whirled around quickly to watch as the people in the market parted into two thin lines allowing Lan Zhan to pass unhindered between them. The ethereal, ever handsome Second Jade of the Lan Clan moved closer to him with his beautiful shimmering glass-like gaze. For no reason whatsoever -not a crush at all, nope- warmth bursts brightly within the confines of Wei Wuxian's soul at the sight of his once classmate.
“Ah..” He swallows around his suddenly dry throat, hoping it wouldn't betray him with any squeakiness. “Hey Lan Zhan. Long time no see. It’s good to see you.”
Lan Zhan inclined slightly, his eyes brightening with unknowable emotions. Wei Wuxian didn't know if he imagined it, but he thought he saw the corners of Lan Zhan's mouth quirked slightly in an attempt to smile before catching himself. “It is good to see Wei Ying too.”
Wei Wuxian smiled at him, trying to ignore the rapid beating of his heart, while Lan Zhan seemed content with watching him. Then, he noticed the line of quiet younger Lan disciples behind his former classmate; he tilted his head slightly to look at them before looking back to Lan Zhan. “Are you and your ducklings going somewhere?”
“First Nighthunt, I was assigned to guide them.” The answer is immediate from Lan Zhan as the younger disciples shift behind him before the fine brows on the Second Jade's face come together in the middle. “Are you staying in Caiyi Town for much longer?”
Wei Wuxian shakes his head lightly, his thoughts circling the Lan boy in front of him and the meandering path around the country. “Nope. Just replenishing my supplies and then I’ll be back on the road.”
Lan Zhan hums softly, his lovely brow remaining knitted together in the middle before he ducked his head -bashfully?- as he uttered a question. “Would Wei Ying like to join us? The juniors could benefit from your experiences.”
The invitation was somewhat startling because Wei Wuxian was confident that foreigners didn't join the coming-of-age traditions that the Lan Sect held for their soon-to-be cultivators going out into the world to help commoners with their requests. Then he also noticed that Lan Zhan's ears had turned from their usual snow pale white to bright red, which was a fascinating external reaction when you invited someone along.
Sighing thoughtfully, Wei Wuxian lightly drummed the side of his nose a few moments before shrugging. “I suppose I could if it doesn’t get you into trouble with your Shufu. I don’t have to immediately be anywhere else right now.”
Something that seemed a little like pleasure appeared in Lan Zhan's gaze before it slipped away as he nodded, looking away from him. “This one thanks Wei Ying for the assistance.”
It turns out that the Lan junior's night hunt is not a straightforward venture for them to handle on their own, even with Lan Zhan and him there to help. A local village in the area gave inaccurate statements to the Lan Sect because, in addition to a snake yao, there are also low-level walking corpses congregating. The younger disciples had dealt with the walking dead well enough and helped them find their rest. But the mutated serpent was above their combined level in cultivation abilities to eradicate on their own.
While his Golden Core works to flush away the poison of the snake's bite thrumming through his body, Wei Wuxian manages to help Lan Zhan get rid of the snake before collapsing as the world goes dark on him. He's not surprised to wake up two days later in the Lan Sect's healing pavilions or that he still feels weakened from the wound left by the monster's bite though he is somewhat surprised to discover that Lan Zhan was asleep at the side of his sickbed.
Lan Zhan gently cups his hand between his own. “Wei Ying, you’re awake.”
Despite how his head ached like he had been drinking and the soreness of his throat, he nodded carefully. “How long did I sleep? Are your juniors alright?”
Lan Zhan's lips pursed as he replied to Wei Wuxian's query. Warm spiritual energy gently fills his meridians, soothing away the achiness for a few moments more. “Two days. The younger disciples are fine, they learned much from your help in the hunt, Wei Ying. I brought you to the Cloud Recesses to heal.”
“Thank you for that. I don’t know how I’ll repay you for this kindness yet.” Carefully, Wei Wuxian sits up in the bed, breaking the point of contact between them, reclining against the pillow behind him. He frowned slightly at the other boy. “That doesn’t explain why you’ve apparently been sleeping at my bedside though, Lan Zhan.”
“No need for thank yous between us, Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan turned his gaze toward the white bedsheets where Wei Wuxian's hand -that he had been holding- now rested. “You needed help and I-”
“Hopefully you won’t leave before the Lan Clan can repay you, Wei-gongzi.”
Another voice joined the quiet conversation, causing their combined attention to pivot towards the entrance where a Lan healer stood with Lan Zhan's family. Neither Lan Xichen, now the Lan-zongzhu, nor Lan-xiansheng looked too ruffled by his presence within the Sect, but experience with the Jiang Sect had taught him better than to consider overstaying his welcome.
“That’s not necessary, Zewu-Jun.” Wei Wuxian shook his head, smiling slightly. “Even if I hadn’t run into your brother in Caiyi Town, I still would have helped his group. Just allow me a few days of rest and I’ll be out of your hair before you know it.”
“I’m afraid that we must insist, Wei-gongzi.” The young Zongzhu smiled softly. His eyes turn towards his younger brother with a teasing light. “I think Wangji would enjoy playing host while you’re here.”
That meeting had been two weeks past, and the crispness of fall was slowly giving way to the cold of the approaching winter months that locked down travel to and from the mountain Sect. Wei Wuxian found himself still in the Cloud Recesses because Wei Wuxian hadn't even consulted his map yet about where he might want to go next. But he also couldn't put together a good reason for leaving yet.
“Wei Ying?”
And the other reason for his sticking around -perhaps to the annoyance of Lan-xiansheng- was Lan Zhan. Ethereal, lovely Lan Zhan, who had accidentally captured his heart and attention during their brief time together in the Lecture cycle. Perhaps, his soul had understood that this boy was his soulmate before his mind had figured it out back then. A small part of him wondered if Lan Zhan might feel the same.
Turning away from the book of poems he was currently reading in the Library, Wei Wuxian smiles widely at Lan Zhan as the other cultivator kneels on the other side of his table. “Lan Zhan! What does the ever handsome gongzi need from this humble one today?”
Luminous honey-shaded eyes sweep over him before finding the book, then back to his face. Curiously, his ears were a soft coral pink as he asked his question. “If Wei Ying is not busy, would you like to go for a walk with me?”
“I always have time in my day for you, Lan Zhan. Just ask and Wei Wuxian will make time for you.” A giddy warmth flutters in his heart as Wei Wuxian closes the text and stands up.
An air of pleased satisfaction seems to curl around his friend. “Hm. Mark your words.”
Wei Wuxian grinned at his friend -crush or was Lan Zhan something more than that to his heart?- and spoke at length about nothing and everything that crossed his mind as they left the library together and walked across the grounds toward the back hills. Wei Wuxian feels his heartbeat quicken as they arrive at a secluded field full of rabbits. Wei Wuxian noted that it seemed to be a local warren that included two very familiar rabbits. He stopped at the edge and surveyed the area around them as he watched as Lan Zhan knelt in the middle of the place and allowed the rabbits to come to him for treats.
He grins softly at Lan Zhan. “You kept the two I gave and found them friends.”
“Yes.” Lan Zhan nodded slightly, with an almost smile on his pretty mouth, as he summoned his qugin. “If Wei Ying will listen, there is a song I would play for him.”
Shaking his head in amusement, Wei Wuxian moved to sit near his friend and laid back against the grass with his arms behind his head. It wasn't a position that would allow for immediate touching in case someone else was to find them together in the quiet location. But it was still close enough for him to be near his friend.
Gentle, soothing music filled the air around them. It was like a soothing balm to Wei Wuxian's tired mind as he closed his eyes and one of the bolder rabbits settled on his chest. When the sun is at the highest point in the sky, Lan Zhan stops playing the tune, and for a few more moments, silence falls comfortably between the music reverberates through their very being.
Wei Wuxian opens his eyes and smiles gently. He looks over at his friend. “That was beautiful, Lan Zhan. Am I right in assuming that you wrote it?”
“I did.” Soft honey-golden color eyes blink open slowly before they find him once more as Lan Zhan inclined his head, lips twitching. “I started composing it after our first meeting and after you were sent back to the Jiang Sect. It is written for you, Wei Ying.”
“Really?” Surprise filled Wei Wuxian's heart and mind upon hearing the admission.
“Yes.”
That was so unexpectedly long ago when things were different, and he had been so much more interested in bothering Lan Zhan than knowing the secret meaning behind his growing feelings towards his friend. Gently, he pushes the little rabbit off of his chest before sitting up and sliding across the grass towards this handsome boy in the white robes of the Lan Sect, who is calmly watching his approach.
Gently, Wei Wuxian cups Lan Zhan's face, privately marveling at how trustingly Lan Zhan leans into his touch and how right it feels to do this. “May I kiss you, Lan Zhan? It would be my way of thanking you for such a beautiful gift and practicing how to kiss my future husband.”
"Mm." Lan Zhan's subtle smile is blindingly bright, like a warm sun parting the clouds in front of it. He moves forward slightly in response as though to start his approach. "Please do, Wei Ying."
A few months later, their beautiful wedding happens in a private ceremony attended only by family, including the memorial tablets of their parents and a few close friends. Wei Wuxian finds it almost too difficult to believe that he had managed to find another good thing, such as his beautiful husband, after being unfairly kicked out of the Jiang Sect.
Indeed, life is full of the strangest adventures.