[pfsb] sword forms by the lake

[lightamidchaos]

It is late afternoon by the time he makes his way outside.

Lan Wangji is well aware that Wei Ying would probably very much prefer him to be resting again at present, and in truth he likely should be, especially given what had just come to pass in the library not long before.

But. But. It has been three days, and he needs to know how much strength he can regain, how quickly, before he returns to Cold Pond Cave and faces his brother, tomorrow.

(He is fairly certain Shufu did not intend the injuries to be quite as severe this time, either. Fairly certain.)

Bichen flashes into his hand, gleaming along the blade with a faint, icy blue-white shine. Lan Wangji draws a deep breath, and begins to move through each of the Lan sword forms in a slow motion routine, his concentration absolute.

Comments

[acrookedpath]

"Mm. I am glad to hear it."

He's quiet a moment, focused on the soft rise and fall of Lan Zhan's chest, the quiet beat of his heart.

"And I am glad Zewu-jun was there for you." No louder. "That he made sure you did not -- lose yourself, after."

[lightamidchaos]

A surge of emotion rushes through him, and he buries his face in Wei Ying's hair as he pulls him closer, holding him tight.

He does not say anything. He cannot find words.

[acrookedpath]

He did not expect this vehemence to Lan Zhan's response, and it ekes out a tiny startled noise from him, but he does not protest; he only tightens his embrace in kind.

"I love you," he whispers against Lan Zhan's skin. "To know you're here, and you still live -- I wish I had not only been here a month. I wish it had been three years, so I could have seen you and spoken to you all this time."

[lightamidchaos]

"Wei Ying."

His voice is choked.

"Wei Ying. That you -- that you are here, that you love me, too -- it is more, more than I ever -- than I thought could ever--"

His voice cracks as words fail him, and a shudder runs through his body as he fights for control.

[acrookedpath]

"Lan Zhan -- "

He pulls himself higher in the embrace: no longer curled against Lan Zhan's chest, but eye to eye, hands cradling his face. "Ah, Lan Zhan, don't cry, it's all right."

He cannot remember seeing Lan Zhan cry before; at the cliff, maybe, but so much of that is a blur --

"It's all right," he repeats softly, brushing Lan Zhan's hair back with his fingertips.

[lightamidchaos]

He leans up and kisses him, shifting his hands on Wei Ying's back to coax him closer as he does.

"I love you," he whispers. "My Wei Ying."

[acrookedpath]

It does not take much coaxing at all; he goes willingly, returning the kiss, threading his fingers further into Lan Zhan's hair to keep him close.

"I love you, too." Another kiss, softer. "My zhiji."

[lightamidchaos]

Joy lights his eyes and softens his expression.

"Yes."

He kisses him again, leans their foreheads together, and just breathes.

[acrookedpath]

It has been so long since he could think of Lan Zhan as his zhiji. After Qiongqi Path, after the Burial Mounds, he assumed those days were behind him -- for how could he ever trust Lan Zhan as wholeheartedly as he once did?

But Lan Zhan loves him. Lan Zhan has never meant him harm, this entire time. If he did not always understand Wei Wuxian, in the days they were both still alive... he does now. He seeks to continue understanding.

He knows him best of anyone.

A few strands of Lan Zhan's hair catch on the emblem tied to Wei Wuxian's wrist. Gently, he frees them to continue running his fingers through his hair.

[lightamidchaos]

The slight tug draws his attention, and he reaches up to catch Wei Ying's hand, then turns his head to press a kiss to his wrist, over the ribbon.

"I will love you always," he says, softly. "Know that. For all my life, and after."

[acrookedpath]

Lan Zhan just might make him cry with the way things are going, he thinks.

"Lan Zhan, I give up." He's smiling, and definitely a bit misty-eyed already. "I will spend all of my afterlife, and your life, and your afterlife bright red and speechless. I will just accept it now. It will make things simpler."

[lightamidchaos]

He smiles back, small and gentle, and kisses him again.

"Good."

[acrookedpath]

"No pity for me? Ah, I see how it is." He puts a hand flat against Lan Zhan's chest. "You only wish to use me as a tea warmer. A quiet tea warmer. Don't worry, I was overdue to learn how to communicate by simply waving my arms around. If only I had figured that out when you kept casting Silence Spells on me! It would have saved me a lot of trouble."

Contrary to his earlier assertions, Wei Wuxian shows no signs of letting up his latest stream of babble.

[lightamidchaos]

He makes a soft encouraging sound and listens quietly, his smile undimmed.

[acrookedpath]

"On the other hand," he muses, "if I waved my arms around too much, I might upset the tea." He drums his fingers against Lan Zhan's chest, gently. "They will have to be small arm-waves. Or just hand waves. Or I could make faces -- you can read my face very well by now, I know! As I can read yours. To think I once thought you never made faces at all."

He pauses just long enough to kiss Lan Zhan's cheek.

"Stoic Lan Zhan. So much less stoic than anyone knows."

[lightamidchaos]

“Perhaps they are just unobservant,” he suggests, blandly.

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian lets out a deeply affronted noise. The one disadvantage of sharing a bed as they are: it makes it very easy for him to dig a gentle elbow into Lan Zhan's ribs.

"Lan Zhan! So cruel and so pitiless?"

Maybe the affronted posture would work better if he didn't start laughing midway through.

[lightamidchaos]

“Mn.”

As Wei Ying starts laughing, he puts both arms back around him and pulls him down for another kiss.

[acrookedpath]

Oh. Well, if Lan Zhan's going to kiss him, perhaps he'll reexamine his stance on him being cruel and pitiless.

He sinks into it with a quiet hum of contentment; follows it with another kiss as soon as it ends. If Lan Zhan wants a quiet tea warmer out of this arrangement, this seems like an extremely effective way to get it.

[lightamidchaos]

As he wraps one arm around Wei Ying's waist and slides his other hand into his hair, deepening the next kiss, he is tempted, very tempted, to roll them both over in the bed and spend the next shichen or so doing his best to demonstrate the full and complete extent of his feelings for Wei Ying.

Unfortunately, he suspects that doing so will mean he is not in Cold Pond Cave in time for Xichen's arrival.

He breaks the kiss, finally, and draws his hand slowly through Wei Ying's hair, instead.

"I will comb your hair," he murmurs. "Then I will bring you tea. You can warm it, if you wish."

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian, having barely succeeded in fighting off similar temptations, shivers slightly as Lan Zhan runs his fingers through his hair.

"Are you certain I can't get it?" Off Lan Zhan's look: "Ah, I know, I am fussing too much and it is a simple enough task. You can go if you wish."

[lightamidchaos]

“I like taking care of Wei Ying.”

Quietly said, and as matter of fact as though observing that the sun rises or water is wet.

He kisses him one more time, then twists to lean down by the bed and sort through his discarded robes for his qiankun bag and his comb.

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian's grin softens to a downright foolish smile. He sits up, the coverlet pooling around his waist, and stretches his arms high overhead; he twists from side to side with a satisfied groan before gathering his hair behind his shoulders.

It does not seem too terribly tangled. That's good. Much as both of them wish he could, Lan Zhan cannot afford to spend ages working out any truly stubborn knots in Wei Wuxian's hair.

[lightamidchaos]

He settles back on the bed behind Wei Ying and carefully gathers his hair into a long fall before beginning to run the comb through it, working downward from his scalp with gentle care.

Tonight, he will bring camellia oil, he promises himself.

[acrookedpath]

His hair could use it: he has been somewhat lackadaisical in its care, though not outright neglectful. Wei Wuxian closes his eyes, tips his head back as the comb moves downward, hums low and pleased; he folds his hands in his lap and absently runs his thumb over the Gusu Lan emblem at his wrist.

Already he can feel his mind drawing to stillness again. How can this be all it takes, to find a relative measure of peace? He should never have joked about it last night.