Closed - Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

[lan_wangji]

Who: Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian
What: Lan Wangji brings treats from home...
When: The night of the war announcement
Where: a random rooftop
Rating: PG-13 for boozing

Lan Wangji is pleased with himself. Even entertaining the sensation or notion of pleased with an accomplishment as ridiculous as this breaks seventeen different Lan Sect rules but he thinks it may be worth it. Finding Wei Ying, climbing onto the rooftop holding a jug and a bowl of spicy congee is markedly more difficult without his Core but he does it. Wei Ying's is a very definitive sprawl and from the curve of his spine, Lan Wangji suspects Wei Ying is already deep into his night of drinking.

"Wei Ying," he calls softly, walking carefully with his treasures. "Have something for you."

Comments

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan is unsure why he thought it would take more convincing but...that was incorrect.

He bends just enough to wrap his hands around the back of Wei Ying's knees and hoists him onto his back, carefully maneuvering one leg over the roof.

"Do not," he huffs, voice straining as he carefully puts both feet on the first rung, letting go one one leg to hold on to the ladder. "How would Wei Ying know?" he asks, wondering when on earth he would have smelled him. Also, Lan Wangji has never put much thought into how he smells and now it is all he can think about.

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian laughs against his ear. "How many nights did we spend together in the Tortoise's cave?" he asks, dizzy with memory. It was so long ago, the experience belonging to another's life, yet Lan Wangji is the same. Always the same, steady, steadfast Lan Wangji.

"You smell like snow, Lan Zhan. It's nice."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan's knuckles tighten to the point of cracking when warm breath ghosts over the shell of his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. He makes a vow to meditate for an extra hour, tonight.

"Thank you," he murmurs, closing his eyes for a moment before slowly starting his way down the ladder. It is only now he realizes how much Wei Ying's body weight is pressing against him. It can't be appropriate and he's thankful Wei Ying did not choose divination.

"Wei Ying smells nice as well. Often of alcohol."

[yiling_laozu]

"Then Lan Zhan has been clever," Wei Wuxian replies, taking little offense when his collar is soaked with vodka. As often as he does it, his aim never seems to improve when he simply points a bottle at his mouth. The thought makes him sigh, and he burrows into the pillow of Lan Wangji's thick hair. "Wei Wuxian will smell of Lan Zhan's liquor. Free publicity."

[lan_wangji]

He is not proud of the thrill that gives him, the idea of Wei Wuxian smelling of something he gave him. It is a possessive feeling he has felt many times before and knows is wrong. He's never been able to stop. If anything it has gotten worse with each passing year.

"Do not plan to give it to anyone but you," he states, bicep burning as he lowers him self with one hand to the next rung, now only a few feet from the ground.

"Wei Wuxian's liquor. Wei Wuxian should name it."

[yiling_laozu]

"Just mine?" Wei Wuxian asks, perking up from where he's begun to drift in the comfortable embrace of Lan Wangji's hair. "Then I must name it for you, Lan Zhan. Quiet Cloud," he muses. "No. Winter Storm. Something elegant and deadly."

He stifles a giggle against Lan Wangji's neck. "With such fine tasting wine, it will certainly be deadly."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan can feel his ears redden, even as he keeps his face steady and lowers them carefully to the ground. He makes no immediate move to put Wei Ying down, other hand simply coming down to grasp at Wei Ying's leg yet again.

He is happy to carry him as far as is needed. Wei Ying does not feel like a burden, at all.

"Jade Egg," he murmurs, hitching Wei Ying further up his back, wincing a little at the pull but only for a moment. He starts to walk. "Cloud. Winter Storm. Lan Wangji is like these things?" he asks, hoping it sounds like play but wanting to know. Wanting to know if he seems so cold to Wei Ying.

[yiling_laozu]

"HanGuang-Jun is these things," Wei Wuxian replies, not quite realizing they're on the ground yet. Lan Wangji hitches him higher, and he resettles, winding his arms around his chest. "That's why everyone respects him so much. But that's not why I respect Lan Zhan."

He falls silent for a time, almost to the point that he could be accused of falling asleep, but then Wei Wuxian speaks again. "Kind and strong. Indomitable. Generous. Faithful. That's Lan Zhan."

[lan_wangji]

He stops. Lan Wangji stops walking. He has to stop and breathe and be still as he absorbs Wei Ying's words. He should not have set Wei Ying up in that way, to be expected to say something to the contrary.

But he did not expect this. Praise based on his heart and not simply his mind. After so many years carefully cultivating walls to keep himself untouched by the world and his heart shielded, it is stunning to be seen. He wishes he were all of those things Wei Ying had listed but they are all the things he would like to be, at the very least.

"Thank you," he whispers, blinking carefully and evenly to keep his eyes dry and emotions at bay. He turns his head, cutting his eyes over to try and see Wei Ying.

"I respect Wei Ying, as well. Like who Wei Ying is."

[yiling_laozu]

"I know," Wei Wuxian answers, his voice nearly as soft. He doesn't know why, but Lan Wangji has never abandoned him, no matter what he thinks of the events at the Nightless City. Wei Wuxian had been past help then, not even himself anymore. Lan Wangji might have regrets, but Wei Wuxian doesn't resent him, even if his continued devotion is both a blessing and a mystery.

"Lan Zhan," he says, "I'll try very hard not to bring you ruin this time, even if it's my singular talent." He doesn't sound as if he's insulting himself, only stating what is. "I want good things for you now."

[lan_wangji]

"Wei Ying was good for me," he huffs, moving them along yet again, the road winding towards the river and the light starting to fade.

"No ruin. Wei Ying has to farm, now. No time for ruin."

He doesn't know how much this Wei Ying knows. It is maddening. But he cannot imagine telling him about the confinement or his back. He is unsure how well he hid it when they swam, but regardless, there would be no reason for the details to ever be revealed. The scars are not a regret.

[yiling_laozu]

"Unless I am very bad at farming," laughs Wei Wuxian, resting his head against Lan Wangji's shoulder. Wine soaked though they are, he means every word. Enough people have suffered for his mistakes, his hubris. Lan Wangji can no longer be one of them. Wei Wuxian will just...have to discover the way to stop getting into trouble.

"If I weren't here," he says, curious. "What would you do?" Lan Wangji surely wouldn't be making a rice paddy.

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan suspects they may both be very bad at farming but he does not reveal the thought. He will figure it out as he has figured out nearly every other problem presented to him. Hopefully, in the dark and without an audience.

He thinks on Wei Ying's question, weighing how honest he wants to be as they walk.

"Trying to go home. Sleeping outside until forced to pledge," he says, as he knows what he felt the first few days, before Wei Ying. Although perhaps Gusu Lan would prefer he stay in this place, considering how quickly he'd turned back to searching for Wei Ying, once he was able to leave his confinement. This may be his second chance, as well.

"Less happy," he admits.

[yiling_laozu]

Less happy.

The words stick in Wei Wuxian's throat like a bone, and he swallows, finding pinpricks of warmth within him despite the discomfort. He's ruined so much of what he touches, but somehow, not Lan Wangji. He's damaged him, yes, but somehow, whether by luck or providence or Lan Wangji's own resilience, he's not destroyed him.

"I'm glad you're here, too," he murmurs. "Life is never quite what it could be when you aren't."

[lan_wangji]

For the most part, Lan Wangji is happy rarely, if ever, speaking to most people. Aside from his own lack in the skills of communication, he does not have the impulse or desire.

Much less the impulse or desire to let his own feelings or heart be known.

However, those few and precious times he wants to articulate his heart, he wishes he had the easy way that Wei Ying does. Wei Ying tosses these statements out as if they cost him nothing.

"Same," he murmurs, leaning his head just a little to the right, to press lightly against Wei Ying's. It is precisely what he wishes he could say. He steps off the path, winding through a grassy field until the river comes into sight. It is even darker here, the stars half covered with cloud. "We're here."

[yiling_laozu]

The pressure of Lan Wangji's head is so comforting that Wei Wuxian's eyes slip closed, and he all but slithers to earth when his motion is abruptly halted. Here. They're here.

Wei Wuxian sets a hand to Lan Wangji's shoulder to steady himself, surveying the darkened patch of earth before the telltale burblings of the river. "So dark, Lan Zhan," he murmurs. "We should have brought a lantern."

[lan_wangji]

He turns, hand briefly on Wei Ying's back until he determines he is steady enough to stand on his own. The river moves past them, black as ink and quiet and the noise from the city is faint.

He brings both hands up and points the first two fingers on each towards the sky. His eyes close as he feels that weight inside him, small and weak compared to what he had been used to but still something other than the emptiness.

His fingers touch briefly before separating so his hands can open up and reveal four soft, glowing spheres. His eyes open as they each float to a corner, hovering over a piece of land. "Ours."

[yiling_laozu]

For a short moment, Wei Wuxian takes the motions to be quite ordinary. Lan Wangji has used spells and charms as long as he's known him, it's only when Wei Wuxian's wine sloshed mind catches up that he remembers neither of them have their old abilities here.

"Lan Zhan!" he cries in delight, following the nearest orb like a child might a firefly. He reaches out, framing it in his hands as if to hold it, but of course there's nothing to grip. "Odin, then?"

[lan_wangji]

"Mm," he confirms, resting his hands behind his back as he watches Wei Ying follow one of the orbs. He'd been unsure what type of spells he would be taught as the powers here seem personalized and varied.

There had been some delay which Lan Zhan had been fairly convinced was due to his own reticence to open his mind up, especially to an unknown God but he'd received what he can only think of as his Core and his pathway just a few hours ago.

Light. Hanguang-Jun. Seems fitting. However...

"Not as useful in battle as Wei Ying's."

[yiling_laozu]

"Of course it is," Wei Wuxian replies at once, poking at the orb now with long fingertips. "I was surprised. Imagine surprising your enemy with sudden, dazzling light! In some situations it might give away your position, yes, but also gives you the advantage of a clear view. It's very good, Lan Zhan."

Turning away from the light, Wei Wuxian blinks into the comparative darkness, walking forward towards Lan Wangji. "Can you do it more than once, or does it tire you as my magic does me?"

[lan_wangji]

He doubts these new monsters will be particularly drunk and therefore dazzled by a few floating lights but there is an advantage of a clear view. Wei Ying's power is much, much more impressive but pressing the matter will bring unnecessary attempts at flattery.

He blinks as Wei Ying turns back towards him again, wishing he could do more just to get the same reaction all over again. Shaking his head, he nods towards the four lights. "Can keep those burning for a time and again once they go out," he explains, face shifting to a brief scowl. "Tires me, eventually. Annoying."

It's embarrassing going from a cultivator of his standing to one who tires after making decorative lights. It's irritating.