wuding | Date in Lotus Pier

[He sits down and cups his hands behind his head to recline part way and watch his husband take up the oar. Unlike before, he doesn’t offer to take it up. He’s feeling spent after their date and he knows Lan Zhan’s core will make it easy work. Meditative work if he doesn’t talk his ear off the whole time.]

Think it’ll please him?

[He reaches for the bracelet so he can inspect it, rolling each of the beads between his fingers. The craftsmanship is impressive and he’s already thinking of ways to alter it so that it could be more than just a trinket. Something like what he’d made for Jin Ling’s hundred day celebration.

The ghost of grief for a life he could have lived flashes across his features, but he hides it behind a smile shortly after.]

It’s a good bracelet, but I can make it a great one before I give it to him. His first word will definitely be mama after this.

[He slips the bracelet into his qiankun purse and takes out a few wind blowing talismans he’d prepped and offers one to Lan Zhan. They could both use some help drying their clothes before they get back to the pier.]

Baba. ( He corrects faintly, but doesn't press the point, in soft awe of the gentle — briefly shattered — smile that crosses his husband's lips. He wishes that Wei Ying may have his dearest want and that Lan Liang should treat him to the resplendent favor of his first word rewarding his mother's efforts.

Perhaps he will. They can never speak ill of children's innate knowing of what those around them truly desire.

As he takes the oar and starts striking at water, sun washing down on just the edge of discomfort, he clicks his tongue and affixes a sharp glance on Wei Ying's nape. The pretty curve of his collarbone. His back, begging the press. )

What will you add? ( A pause, then: ) Wards against beasts?

You’ll have to get your own bracelet to bribe him with if you want him to say baba first.

[He’s still smiling as he says it, though one could argue they use baba and mama interchangeably for him, so ‘baba’ would technically be acceptable too. Maybe preferable so they could argue playfully which baba their son addresses first.]

Wards against low level ghosts, too. There’s a limit of how much space I have to work with, otherwise I could increase the efficacy and range. It’ll keep him safe from most things he could come in contact with in town and we’ll be with him during travel to take care of anything stronger.

I’m parched. [Again. Wasn’t he just complaining of his thirst not long before? When they get back to town, they’ll have to stop somewhere for tea before they go find their children.

Thinking of their children, maybe he should send a quick note to Lan Sizhui to warn them they’re coming back in case he’s spending his time babysitting with the young clan leader. Maybe he’ll do it if he can get away with it without being noticed, otherwise he will simply cheer the boys up after Lan Zhan radiates his disappointment in their direction.]

( Of course Wei Ying would fleetingly mention a possibility, only to then emerge as having already devised an entire network of spells surrounding it. He wants this bracelet to perhaps vindicate the gift he once gave a different child; Lan Wangji has heard enough. He remembers that failure.

And so too must Wei Ying, whose hands ever sting. It will not be Lan Wangji who attempts to dictate the pace of his recovery from old wounds that bled him dead, sooner than healed. Instead, he nods along with Wei Ying's suggestion, accepting his terms, willing to make use of himself toward that purpose. Whatever his husband needs, let alone asks.

He makes quick work of their travel, now that his lover has expressed a want — no maudlin pace, no gentle saunter. Only a careful drift and their arrival ashore, where he surrenders the boat in fair condition to its rightful owner, their lender. Then, one hand held out, he offers to be led, sooner than lead, to the nearest tea house. )

It is your wedding day. You may be profligate. ( As if Wei Ying is denied anything, even outside of his marriage day. )

[Their meandering pace is left behind now that Lan Zhan has a mission. He hadn’t meant it as a push to move faster, but he doesn’t try to stop him from doing so once he’s started. Without an oar of his own, he is limited in what he can do, so he takes the time to appreciate his husband. The way he looks so majestic even as he sweats in the sun with damp robes clinging in some places and flowing in others.

He takes Lan Zhan’s hand and lets himself be pulled up to his feet and then out of the boat. He doesn’t need the help, but he likes it when Lan Zhan takes care of him.]

I’ll get some wine later. Tea sounds good right now. Want to send a butterfly to Sizhui to let him know where we’ll be? He can meet us as the tea shop with Liang. I’ll let Jiang Cheng know, too. Maybe we can all have a meal together later.

[It’s a selfish request to be surrounded by his family, but Lan Zhan’s the one that said he can be selfish today. He just hopes it isn’t too much to ask of his husband.]

( A butterfly — readily done, before Wei Ying has even completed the full extent of his ask. Restless and miscreant, the butterfly's born in a burst of excess qi, a by-product of Lan Wangji neglecting any of the work that so often balances and depletes him. It is tasked carefully, without concern.

...at least, until Wei Ying speaks the better part of his request, and Lan Wangji struggles with the instinct to shudder, to flinch away. A meal, with family: Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling. No less, on their wedding day. A cruel inquiry, but strategically timed and elegantly delivered.

Far from Lan Wangji to deny his bride, is that not his mantra? It is convenient, at least, to pretend the lion's share of his attention has been briefly captured by plotting their path toward a bustling tea house of exvessive prices boasted thrpugh the quality of cloth worn by milling patrons. A table is no easy find — but talk has long spread in Lotus Pier of the acting sect leafer Lan's arrival, and though they cannot attest he is Hanguang-Jun with surety, they do not take their chance.

They are ferried in to a quiet corner, distant from the worst of the footfall but still granted their view of other diners. For his part, Lan Wangji only requests jasmine tea. Wei Ying, as ever, may have his share of whatever fare.

Just in time, the butterfly returns, delivering Sizhui's message upon landing on Lan Wangji's fingertips. )

Your son apologises. Sect leader Jiang has abducted him and his brother to teach them... to fish.

[He doesn’t miss Lan Zhan’s impulse to cringe away at the mention of eating a meal with Jiang Cheng and, worse somehow, Jin Ling. Pretending not to notice, he follows after his husband through the crowd and the tea shop’s patrons to be rewarded with a semi-private table in the corner of the shop where he orders the same tea as Lan Zhan.

He perks up at the mention of Sizhui and grins widely at the news. If Jiang Cheng has taken Sizhui and Liang under his wing, it feels like a testimony of his willingness to accept them as family. Coming from Jiang Cheng, there is no greater praise.]

Liang will catch the biggest fish!

[Mostly because he knows Jiang Cheng, who is an accomplished fisher when he wants to be, will be the one doing the work for him. He takes the time to send a quick message to Jiang Cheng asking him to catch them some dinner for tonight, then he props his elbows on the table and puts his chin in his hands. ]

We could go back to our room while we wait for them to be done fishing. Unless you want to go to shopping some more? As long as it’s with you, I’m happy doing anything.

( Leaning over the table, demeanor light, Wei Ying seems... younger somehow even more so than Mo Xuanyu's barely there years. Untarnished by the wear and strain of time and war and a joyless life in the Yiling mounds. Content in a way Cloud Recesses never prevails to spark in him.

What ugliness it was of Lotus Puer to banish its most loving son. What injustice.

And Lan Wangji fights the instinct to sigh, compels himself to lean back and behold his husband and pretend not to consider the possibility of Jin Ling joining his sons for... fishing. Between sips of his tea, he murmurs: )

Shall we buy a pond?

( Every stretch of water here is owned, and a lake whole is unlikely to be released from local clutches. But a smaller eye of water...? )

A pond here in Lotus Pier?

[Will he go from owning nothing to owning his own house outside of Cloud Recesses and a pond in Lotus Pier? Would Jiang Cheng allow them to purchase land here? Before today, he might have doubted it more, but he thinks that it will work out well.

Grinning, he mirrors his husband and takes a sip of his own tea. After drinking so much wine earlier while sweating profusely, he’s still feeling thirsty. Maybe they can find a watermelon to share with the rest of the family for some sugar and fluids to revitalize them.]

We’ll need to hire someone to keep it in good shape when we’re back home.

[He moves his chin to one hand and reaches across the table with the other. He places his hand on Lan Zhan’s, rubbing at his knuckles with his thumb. It’s true that he’s in a good mood today and a lot of that is because he feels so accepted and wanted by the people he loves and cares about, but being back in Lotus Pier also feels good. He knows he won’t live here again, but being welcomed means the world to him.]

Let’s talk to Jiang Cheng about it. It’ll give the disciples somewhere to do mischief with an land owner who supports them. It’s important to nurture curiousity.

( It is important, Wei Ying does not say but intends to, to nurture the ability of pretty young things to scuttle and hide their mischief, as I once did. Ah, but it won't be Lan Wangji who betrays his husband with the truth in this.

More tea. More, and he waves the careful attendant closer to request the addition of a few sticky sweet treats for the sake who prefers savory — more choice ignorance of an obvious truth.

They're both in a good mood today, after all. )

Jiang Cheng will not refuse the acting sect leader of Gusu Lan such the gift of such tolerance. ( If anything, he might feel grudgingly compelled to cover it with his own coin. )

[Somehow, he doesn’t think Jiang Cheng would agree as easily as Lan Zhan thinks if it’s something he doesn’t want to do despite the political implications. Or maybe Wei Wuxian is simply biased by memories over a decade old. Still, he’s feeling optimistic about it after hearing Jiang Cheng chose to invite Sizhui and Liang out.

Though, it’s possible that he’s only including Sizhui as Jin Ling’s betrothed.]

He’ll agree.

[He squeezes Lan Zhan’s hand before sitting back and socializing briefly with the attendant as they’re supplied with snacks. As soon as they’re left alone again, he reaches for a pair of chopsticks with every intention of feeding some to Lan Zhan.]

Besides, wouldn’t it go against our clan’s precepts to encourage children to make noise and misbehave? It’ll be better if we ask him through me and not through you.

( He'll agree.

This much, Lan Wangji suspects is certain. For all his countless objections and easy rancor, even sector leader Jiang is an unwilling subject to the etiquette of governance. But Wei Ying's gentle hesitation gives him enough pause that he considers extending the sweetener of an exceedingly generous premium.

Their sweets once delivered, the attendant gone, he dips in instinctively to open his mouth and await the gift of a plump pastry. Very nice, very nice indeed. To think Hanguang-Jun is the wretchedly spoiled creature between them. )

You are certain you wish to face negotiations?

( The brothers have ever failed to see shared goals and reason when they've taken up against each other. )

[After feeding Lan Zhan one of the treats, he takes one for himself. It has a pleasantly sweet flavor without feeling too heavy and he thinks it’s the perfect snack for his beloved. He thinks it’s adorable that his esteemed Hanguang-Jun has such a sweet tooth.]

I… I want to do it. I want him to agree to it without the pressure of maintaining clan relations.

[Does he actually want to be the one doing the negotiations? Not really, but he feels like it’s important to him to do things this way.

He lifts the chopsticks up and offers another bite for Lan Zhan. If he thinks about going into negotiations with Jiang Cheng for too long, he will start to feel anxious about the whole thing.

Maybe things will go well and he can give his brother some peace. He doesn’t feel like Jiang Cheng owes him for the work he had done exorcising the spirits of the ghost cultivators that were tortured to death. He doesn’t want there to be anything unresolved between them, even if he personally doesn’t feel the need for it.]

Lan Zhan, I’m sure I want to do it this way. If I come out of it without a plot of land with a pond, I won’t let it get me down.

What about you? What are you going to do when I bring it up to Jiang Cheng? Maybe you can take the kids out somewhere while we negotiate. [Which may include Jin Ling, much to his husband’s displeasure.] I can give you some ideas if you want.

Sizhui, Liang and I may row across lakes.

( A second swim inevitable, a conclusion just as foregone as Lan Wangji's sheer pettiness to have explicitly named each of the two children invited. Is Jin Ling not a sect leader? Let him attend his correspondence for an evening. Let him pine and sulk and make orderly his seals.

Sat primly, hands folding neatly on his lap, Lan Wangji graduates from violently opposing the young man's presence to pettily conspiring against it. He will prevail, for all Wei Ying will never thank him this particular recourse. No matter. )

Wei Ying. Take dinner with your brother. Make your amends. ( Even Lan Wangji requests time with Zewu-Jun alone, from time to time, and they share the same stubbornly tight residential stretch. )

It is your chance. ( No. Gaze easing up to meet his husband's: ) Your right.

[He notices the missing name, but he doesn’t push to include Jin Ling. It would probably be better for everyone to keep Lan Zhan and Jin Ling separate. Still, he can’t help but think that Jin Ling will be displeased by the arrangement. Sizhui, too, but he’s not the type to have a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. Hopefully some of that maturity he’s so proud of his nephew for finding will be enough to let him take this with grace.]

It’s especially pretty at dusk this time of year, but the mosquitos are a nuisance. You can use talismans or some of the repellant I got from the healers.

[So he’ll be dining with Jiang Cheng alone. It isn’t just a meeting, but a meal in private. There was a time when Lan Zhan practically begged him to avoid this exact thing. Either his view of Jiang Cheng has improved or he’s no longer worried for his safety because of how much his golden core has developed. Either way, he feels like they’ve taken a big step in including his side of the family.]

My right… I think I gave those up when I defected from the Jiang clan. But maybe I can have my brother back, anyway. Not because of politics but because Jiang Cheng forgives me. I don’t know if he ever will, but I think this really is my best chance to confront it.

I’m prepared for whatever comes of it.

( Strange, to think there are yet wars Wei Ying must fight alone, where Lan Wangji's strength and companionship create a nuisance. To understand that he is husband's sword and shield, but, for lack of natural diplomacy, never his foremost asset in negotiation.

Handling Jiang Cheng requires a leash, a trained hand and a great deal of cajoling Lan Wangji is uniquely unequipped to deliver. Wei Ying alone must try.

And so he will, and Lan Wangji can only reach in to capture one of his hands in two of his own and transmit what scant reassurance is yet his to give. A pity. )

You will leave this battle unscathed. ( A wish, as much as a prophecy. If he puts it in the world, it must be so. ) You will win.

[He watches their hands, smiling at the comfort and reassurance a gesture so simple can create. Still, his eyebrows perk upwards at his husband’s words. Unscathed? Maybe, depending on Jiang Cheng’s reception. But he wants it to be true. Lan Zhan clearly wants the same. Surely, the heavens will bless them on the day of their matrimony.]

My victory isn’t written in stone, but I’ll prevail. One way or another, I’ll get that pond and we can have fresh lotus seeds whenever we’re here.

[As if they can’t just purchase them at the market. They’re especially good when plucked fresh, though.]

You’re not worried about me. That must mean you see it, too. It’s not my imagination that he’s been treating me differently.

[Jiang Cheng isn’t nice, but his edges can be blunted when he’s dealing with family. He hasn’t been sure where he fits in when it comes to that category since his resurrection, but maybe he’s managed to secure his position after the exorcisms.]

( It would be easier, he suspects, if there were any member of Wei Ying's family past the long departed Jiang Yanli who treated him fairly. As things stand, Lan Wangji must wrestle the matter of seeming at constant odds with his in-laws alone, between scowling at Jiang Cheng and grudgingly suffering Jin Ling.

He tries, now, to be the better man, delaying his answer amid careful sips as he calculates his diplomacy. Then, setting his cup down: )

What holds him back now is mere pride. ( And an ache, perhaps, of admitting, how much of his family Jin Guangyao had stolen. How much of Wei Ying's audacity and violence were innocence and a wounded animal's hurting response. )

He thaws now and will thaw further.

( Though Lan Wangji regrettably suspects they will nevet quite reach a point of bloodless amiability. )

[Pride is something he’s used to when it comes to Jiang Cheng. It’s always been one of his greatest assets and also one of his biggest detriments. It’s that pride that has left his brother in such a pitiful state after losing his golden core.]

I can handle that much. I’m just glad for this chance to be brothers again. Sizhui deserves to know his uncle.

[He catches Lan Zhan’s hand again and brings it up to his mouth to kiss. Just a couple small ones along his fingers. They may as well be in private with how much he cares about being seen by the other patrons.]

I think this will good for him, too. Jiang Cheng has always been a family first sort of man which means Sizhui will have someone looking after him whenever he’s in Yunmeng.

[One more squeeze of Lan Zhan’s hand before he lets it go and sits back with his tea. Now that he’s feeling less parched, he could order some wine to go with it, but he’s not sure how long they want to stay in the tea house.]

What should we do while we wait for the others to finish fishing?

( Truly, they're an embarrassment, whole. Thank the Heavens that do not heed them for the relative berth afforded to the Patriarch and his consort, still. With a sigh — aimed far too diligently at his own lack of standards — he draws his hand back once Wei Ying has finished, patiently waiting for the next moment when they both succumb to indecency.

...perhaps Uncle is right to call out their shamelessness. Perhaps, too, Lan Wangji is to blame.

With a soft cough, he looks away, seeking out but never snaging their attendant's attention. Very well — only their fee, paid in full, and no further orders, then. )

A good wife would visit a temple for good luck. ( But then, Wei Ying has worn the bridal reds countless times for him already. ) Perhaps you wish to rest before your wedding night.

( A careful gaze, measuring. After all, it has been some time since their coupling in the lake's enclosure. )

Hmm, I wouldn’t dream of being a poor spouse. There’s a temple not far from here if you want to come with me. We can have our bows at a proper temple instead of relying on the natural one from earlier.

[He likes the idea, but he likes the idea of “resting” with his husband, too. He grins his amusement, shaking his head at the way his thoughts wander to Jiang Cheng’s likely reaction to seeing him come to dinner with his hair still wet from the inevitable bath they’d have after sleeping together.]

You’re insatiable.

[But Lan Zhan isn’t the only one.]

I could be convinced to prove I’m a good wife in a different way if you’d like to go back to our rooms for some rest.

[His eyes drop down to Lan Zhan’s lips suggestively before he looks back up to make eye contact.]

( In truth, is he insatiable? The ghost of Jin Guangshan, returned to haunt an innocent maiden in full, unblemished depravity? Perhaps so. Though he dares any man, any creature, to find fault with him when Wei Ying presents himself so impeccably at ease, so wonderfully alluring.

Hair lightly wet still from their dip, skin readily kissed by the sun, his gaze softened by the lethargy of a man who has been tasting respite. Truly, a vision Lan Wangji feels only faintly, belatedly guilty to tarnish.

Beneath Wei Ying's gaze, his lips pucker, purse in a line. He flushes, as if he were no better than a fickle youth — and looks away first, reduced to fluster. )

The clan would breathe better to know I took a good wife.

( Yes, indeed. All at once, Lan Wangji's debauched hunger has become a matter of the sect. )

[Laughter bubbles out of him at the look on Lan Zhan’s face combined with those words. He almost feels bad to embarrass Lan Zhan so much. Almost. It’s just so fun to get this sort of reaction, so he reaches for his husband’s hand again. It takes him a moment to stop, but he finally calms himself down enough to speak.]

The whole of Cloud Recesses knows you’re a good husband. We didn’t make those noise dampening talismans until after we adopted Lan Liang. You liked knowing anyone who happens to be in the area could hear me screaming and moaning your name, didn’t you? Shameless!

[He makes a show of humming and thinking it over.]

But you’re so quiet in comparison. Then again, just hearing you make any noise at all should make them realize I can keep my husband… if not completely sated, then at least temporarily satisfied.

Wei Ying.

( He hisses it, gelid, with a sharpened look each way, finding and luckily failing to land on a listening ear. There is a time, a place for such talk, amid their sheets alone. Not open to the scrutiny of scoundrels. )

Shameless. ( This is Wei Ying, after all, a beast of the wretchedmost caliber when it comes to presenting their cheek pale and untouched by indecency. Between them, it is Wei Ying who ever courts the disaster of their discovery, Wei Ying who cries out too loudly, who bares himself too keenly.

And Lan Wangji, well then. He claims innocence in all things, slipping his hand beneath the table to pinch at his husband's thigh with impunity. )

Barely wedded, already requiring punishment.

[The pinch just makes him giggle again, finding the sensation not terribly unpleasant. It’s not like Lan Zhan is trying to leave a bruise. He does lean in closer so he can talk with a stage whisper so Lan Zhan can hear him but the people around them most likely cannot.]

So handsy and we’re still in public! Don’t punish me too much out here, Lan Zhan. You can take your frustrations out on me in our bed tonight instead.

[He leans back again and stretches his leg out so he can nudge Lan Zhan’s foot with his own, then he climbs the toes up Lan Zhan’s ankle. He could make an absolute nuisance of himself and keep going until his foot is in his husband’s lap if he wants to.]

That is, if you can wait that long.

[It’s payback for Lan Zhan being so sensible and taking them back to town after kissing him until he wanted to stay and have some more fun. Not that he’s holding a grudge over something trivial like that.]

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