Ah, my Xiao Ying, you want a story? Okay, Mama will tell you one.

Hmm... let’s see... this is one my shizun once told me.

Once upon a time, there was a lonely dragon who lived along a lonely river.

It starts at the river.

There should have been nothing to it, really. It’s the same river it has always been- the small one that runs down from some mountain neighbouring the one the Cloud Recesses is built on, and the one that meets with a dozen others to form the flooded canals of Caiyi Town.

Predictably, Wei Ying is late. Or, he had been on time, but had forgotten something back in the Jingshi, so he had said, and had left Lan Wangji by the riverside with a firm command of ‘stay put, darling, I’ll be back before you know it!’ and a wink before fluttering off. So, that leaves Lan Wangji there, by himself, waiting once again for a husband that he knows will surely come back to him now.

So he is late.

Well. It is some small consolation at least that Lan Wangji, ever meticulous, had decided that it would be best for them to leave early. So, assuming that Wei Ying returns in a timely fashion, they will, by all means, still make it to town on time.

So Wei Ying is late, but they will not be late.

Of a lack of more interesting things to look at, like husbands and their smiles, Lan Wangji casts his gaze to the river.

It’s more a brook than anything, clear water tumbling over grey stones and brown riverbed, flowing steadily down the mountain until it meets with the main one. Tiny river grass sprouts from between pebbles and fallen branches, stirring gently in the stream.

But as he stares, something there seems to take hold of him.

He stares.

And he stares.

Distantly, part of him knows that it’s simply water. Water, present everywhere at the turn of his head in any direction.

But the other, and the biggest part of him-

The burble of the creek sings to him, loud, clear, carrying the stories of upstream down to sea. It washes over him in a wave of icy coldness, but not something uncomfortable. Cold as the Cold Springs, soothing as the wrap of Wei Ying’s arms around him. Home, somehow, but-

All he knows is that there is something there that he must reach-

“Uh, Lan Zhan, care to explain why you’re standing in the middle of the river?”

-And it breaks.

He glances up with a jolt. Wei Ying has returned, and he stands on the shore, peering anxiously over at him, though there’s a twitch at the corner of his mouth that appears whenever he thinks Lan Wangji’s done something amusing, which is more often than not. With another jolt, he realises that he’s walked clean into the water, and it flows out and around his knees, leaving both his boots and the bottom of his robes soaking wet and vaguely brown with river silt.

He returns to shore, and Wei Ying huffs out a laugh, pecking him on the cheek. He doesn’t comment on the pink of his ears peeking through his hair, nor does he press any further, only trying and failing to hide his smile. Water sloshes in his shoes with every step he takes, and with practiced ease, Lan Wangji allows himself to silently sigh on the inside. This won’t dry on time.

They end up late after all.

It happens, and because Wei Ying doesn’t question it any further, he forgets it, like he does with everything else that doesn’t have to do with food, a particularly interesting corpse, his husband, his children, and his brother. Eventually, Lan Wangji does too.

So that should have been the last of it, except it isn’t.

A week later, or thereabouts, they leave Gusu on one of their extended night hunting trips.

“I wanted to take a trip! Just the two of us, just for a week or two, you know?” Wei Ying says to him loudly, from atop Little Apple. The donkey flicks one of its ears and brays disagreeably.

Lan Wangji acknowledges him with a slight tilt of his head and Wei Ying continues, “I love you, and I love the kids, but I miss just having the two of us, like- Wei Ying and Lan Zhan against the world!… Well,” he pauses. “If the world was every resentful spirit under the sun and not all of jianghu, because I’ve had enough of that for both lifetimes.”

Quite frankly, Lan Wangji is inclined to agree. After the first seven-odd times they had almost been interrupted, delayed or otherwise inconvenienced by ill-timed encounters with everything from junior disciples to the indignant yao, he had begun to develop a steadily growing urge to take time for the two of themselves, undisturbed. A second honeymoon would have been the most ideal, but that would require delegating their duties to others for far too long, and neither of them can afford that any currently.

Case in point, even though both of them had jumped to take this assignment for a particularly stubborn infestation of walking corpses a few villages over, it had come at the cost of several pointed remarks and incessantly subtle nagging courtesy of one Lan Qiren, up until Wei Ying had rightfully pointed out that he would at least have a few nights of peaceful sleep instead of being kept awake by… certain noises. His tune had changed very abruptly then, and the incessantly subtle nagging had gone into more of the direction of subtly nagging them to leave, already, and why were they still here, and so on.

So.

After a day of preparation and making sure that all homework was assigned and all rabbits and their caretaking of was accounted for, Lan Wangji and Wei Ying had left the Cloud Recesses.

“When was the last time we went out on a date like this?” Wei Ying says aloud, sending a sideways glance to Lan Wangji. Calling it a date seemed awfully reductive, and dealing with regular cultivator duties hardly seemed very romantic. But then again, whenever it was the both of them involved in things, there was always a certain shimmer of romance to it anyway. “Oh! Maybe that demon that one time? The one that was infecting the crops in that little village? We got so covered in plant guts after, and you told me I looked ridiculous, but you weren’t looking all that put together either.”

Had it really been that long ago? That had surely been months ago. Maybe they really were long overdue for this expedition then. Just as long as it didn’t end up in the two of them covered in melon innards again. The smell felt like it had clung to their clothes for days afterwards, even after Lan Wangji had painstakingly washed them clean. Though,there was something about that statement that he felt was somewhat… off.

“Hm,” He only says in response. “I find it hard to believe that I would find you any less than breathtaking, even as covered in plant matter as you so claim.”

“W-Well, I- Maybe I lied a little bit! Maybe you said something like that last time too! I- I don’t really remember!” Wei Ying says hurriedly, quickly turning away and hiding his face behind his sleeve. His husband is so adorable when he blushes. Fortunately, Lan Wangji knows exactly what to say to get him to do so. “Anyway, that’s not the point! Let’s take a break, okay? My back kinda hurts, so I want you to give me a massage too.”

“As you wish.” He replies indulgently, and lets Wei Ying lead the two of them and the donkey ahead to a nearby river. This is how it is meant to be- Lan Zhan, following Wei Ying, always and forever, to the ends of time and back, and nothing could ever change it.

Little Apple’s first order of business when they reach the riverbank is to lower its head and drink, and the two of them let it do so in peace. Though he really doesn’t need any help getting off the donkey’s back on his own, Wei Ying still lets Lan Wangji help him do so, and he gets rewarded with a quick kiss on the lips for his trouble.

“How very chivalrous of you, dear!” He says teasingly, and Lan Wangji allows a trace of a smile to slip onto his face.

A conveniently placed large rock by the riverbank makes the perfect place for them to rest, the two of them taking a seat on it with Wei Ying tucked up against Lan Wangji’s side as they share a few oranges Lan Wangji had produced from his sleeves. After a brief moment digging in his own sleeves, Wei Ying comes up with a small knife for him to cut the oranges with, and Lan Wangji accepts it with a nod of gratitude.

He looks out over the river as he works on slicing the oranges. It’s a little wider than usual, owing to light rainfall over the region in the past few days, but ultimately not something that most people would notice unless they were actively looking for it. Thankfully, there hadn’t been much accompanying winds, and the water was free of silt and dirt. Tiny, glittering fish dart just below the surface of the water, swimming in and out of the waving river-grasses while it flows steadily downward, and if Lan Wangji tries just a little more, there’s almost something like a voice calling-

“Lan Zhan!”

A sharp voice, lanced with concern cuts through his trance, and with a start, Lan Wangji glances down. Red gleams off the edge of the blade, and as if in reaction to his distraction, the pain hits him all at once- the sting of the orange juice seeping into his cut, and the pain of the cut itself.

Careful hands prise the knife from his fingers, and take the one with the cut into their own. Wei Ying glances across at him, worry etched into his brow as he tilts Lan Wangji’s hand around, looking at the cut from different angles. He sighs, and flicks his eyes up to Lan Wangji. The worry still hasn’t left his gaze.

“Well, it’s not deep, which is good.” He says, rising to his feet. He pulls Lan Wangji up with him, tugging him over to the side of the river. “Let’s clean it out and wrap it up.”

He directs Lan Wangji to rinse out the cut in a deeper part of the river where the water is a little more fast flowing while he busies himself with digging around in their supplies for bandages. The faintest streak of pink blooms in the water around his finger when Lan Wangji dips it in, and then the current carries it away. It stops bleeding after a short moment, and he pulls his hand out, shaking off the droplets.

Wei Ying flits over, a tiny roll of bandages in hand, and sets to dressing up the wound with far more urgency than Lan Wangji privately thinks is necessary, considering it had been only a minor cut and it would heal within the day anyway, but then again, it isn’t as if he would willingly turn down being doted on by his husband either.

Wei Ying presses a kiss atop the bandages as he ties it off.

“That’ll make it all better!” He says and Lan Wangji kisses him atop his head in return.

“But, uh… Lan Zhan… is everything alright?” Wei Ying asks, crossing his arms. “It’s not like you to get distracted like that. Is there something on your mind?”

Lan Wangji opens his mouth to answer, but stops. What… what had he been distracted by in the first place? Something…? With the… river?

No, that couldn’t have been it.

He shakes his head.

“No,” he says. “There is nothing. I was merely careless. Wei Ying need not worry himself.”

“Hm.” His husband doesn’t seem altogether convinced, but he otherwise drops it, chewing slightly on his lip. “I can’t help but worry over you though.”

“I am fine.“

“Well… alright then…”

His gaze drifts over Lan Wangji’s shoulder, and it suddenly morphs into outrage.

“Wh- Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing, you donkey?! Those are our oranges– Get away from them right now!”

Lan Wangji blinks.

In the entire incident with the cut on his fingers, he had almost forgotten about the oranges in the first place. However, it seemed as though the third member of their party hadn’t.

A loud and drawn out bray rings through the air, along with Wei Ying’s cursing, and Lan Wangji huffs out a tiny laugh before turning around to head over to the squabble himself.

The oranges were probably a lost cause, but that was alright. They could get plenty more another time.

A week later, they returned from their solo expedition. In the end, it really had been as minor an incident as it had been made out to be, and clearing up the infestation had taken little more than a single day. Be as it may, neither were that frantic to return to the Cloud Recesses all that soon, it had been a number of days until they actually did so- which was just as well, because if they had returned even half a day later, they would have been subject to even more of Lan Qiren’s incessant lecturing on responsibilities, and what sort of ideas they had about time, and all other sorts of incredibly naggy statements that neither of them particularly enjoyed.

By nightfall, they are both curled into each other’s arms, basking in the glow of simply being with the person they love the most, Wei Ying reaches up a hand to trace lightly over Lan Wangji’s jaw, coming to scritch under his chin. He hums contentedly to himself, tuneless but not discordant.

“What do you dream about?” Wei Ying asks him. His eyes are half lidded with sleep and contentment, and his hair is softer than silk under Lan Wangji’s hands when he combs through it to pick through the tangles left by their earlier bouts of passion.

“You,” Lan Wangji says, as easy as breathing. It’s not a lie. More often than not, that’s how it is. His husband’s sun-dappled smile haunts his dreams as much as it does his waking days, and he would much rather it be that than anything else. “What else?”

“You’re incorrigible.” Wei Ying laughs, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips. “What about rabbits? Do you dream about those?”

Lan Wangji considers it for a moment.

“Sometimes,” he says, and the gravity in which he says it makes Wei Ying laugh again, light and airy, and clamp his hands over Lan Wangji’s mouth.

“Don’t say anything else, gege, or I think my heart won’t be able to take it. Are you this cute on purpose, or are you just like this?” He says.

Lan Wangji, of course, continues to say nothing, only content to let his husband laugh to himself.

He dreams about the water.

This is what he had not told Wei Ying, earlier, when he had asked, in part because he did not know completely himself, in part because some small part of him is afraid of what it could mean.

There are things forgotten, which he remembers now, in the half remembered way that is true of dreams- fragmented, but with some parts as clear as a mountain brook and the rest as murky as churned up sand in the stream.

When he was younger, he used to dream of the water.

He could not have been more than five or six, bright eyed and innocent, unaware of everything that would come to befall him in the future. Back then, he still shared a room with his brother, and his mother was still alive to hold his hand and comb his hair.

It was hard to say what of the water he dreamed of exactly, only that he did. Most of the memories had been washed away in the current, leaving only vague impressions like grooves in a dried riverbed.

He must have told his mother about it at some point, because he remembers her laughing softly and kissing him on the top of his head. Is that so? My Zhanzhan, one day I’ll take you to Yunmeng, then, with all its rivers and lakes. It’s not quite like Gusu, but I’m sure you’d love it, she had said, listening to whatever he had to say with a warm embrace and an even warmer smile. She had indulged him then, because she had been around to do so.

Then she had died, and Lan Wangji had stopped dreaming of water. Someone else had taken him to see Yunmeng instead, and though he would never give up those moments for anything, he could only wonder how she’d known that he’d fall in love with someone who was Yunmeng itself, free-spirited and as capricious as its rivers. The dreaming had stopped entirely, until now.

When he dreams of it now, it feels like he is five again, and being taken down to the lakes and rivers of Caiyi and being shown the glittering water with the sun sparkling off the surface. A fish darts in between the waving fronds of lake grass, dipping in and out of the dark stems. A bird cries out in the distance, swooping down to the surface of the river to pluck out a feast for its chicks. The water laps at his feet, warmer than the Cold Springs but colder than cooling evening tea.

This is how you swim, says one of the senior disciples teaching the class of young children, maybe, though the sound of their voice is indistinct and distorted, blurry as though underwater.  Put your arms out like this, and move them like this, and kick your legs like this. Don’t be scared. You’ll always be able to float. If you can’t, we’re here to help you.

But I don’t need to do any of that to swim, he thinks, and is about to say so when he realises, and frowns.

If not like that to swim, then, how?

The water continues to flow around his ankles.

Silly child, someone’s voice says to him gently, but when he looks around, he sees nothing but flowing water around him. To teach a being of the river and of the water to swim is to teach a wolf to howl at the moon. There is nothing that is to be learned, only that which you know to do.

But how do I know how to do that? How do I know what it is that the water is trying to tell me?

That’s easy, the voice replies. All you need to do is take a deep breath, dive down deep, and open your-

“-eyes? Oi, Lan Zhan, wake up, you’re going to oversleep!”

Lan Wangji blinks open his eyes.

Wei Ying’s face is close to his own, eyes luminous against the silvery light of the morning. It’s far too early for him to usually be awake, and when Lan Wangji tells him that, a little dazedly owing to having just woken up, he laughs, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Don’t worry about me! I was just about to get some rest myself-” Which tells Lan Wangji all he needs to know about his husband’s bad sleeping habits, which is to say, he had fallen prey to them once again, and that later that night, he would have to use some… extreme measures to get him to sleep at night, rather than in the morning when quite arguably the entire rest of the clan was waking up for the day.

His displeasure must show on his face, because Wei Ying laughs again, shifting back to take hold of Lan Wangji’s hands and pull him upright into a sitting position.

“You need to get ready for class, otherwise the juniors are going to wonder what’s happened to their Hanguang-jun to have him arriving so late! Unless,” he smirks here, and quirks his eyebrows. A telltale heat rises to the tips of his ears. “You’d care to make that a certainty for sure? I can think of one reason why he might be a little… ah… delayed...”

Well.

Perhaps there was a little time before he had to get ready.

And he had been thinking about those… extreme measures after all.

If he remembers anything of his dream at all, he certainly doesn’t after he pulls a very willing Wei Ying into his lap and swallows down his laughs with fervent kisses.

Mama, that’s silly. How can a river be lonely?

Yingying, Yingying, shh. That’s just how it is, okay?

Once upon a time, there lived a lonely dragon along a lonely river.

This dragon lived alongside a small village of humans, making sure that there would be rains to water their crops and making sure that the river would never flood its banks. In return, once a year, they would present offerings to the dragon as thanks.

But what use did the dragon have for these offerings? Despite all that it was given, it was never given the one thing it truly desired.

If the dragon was not feared too much, then it was respected too much. If it was not respected too much, then it was feared too much. And so, the dragon continued to live, lonely by the lonely river.

Mama, that’s stupid. I would have been that dragon’s friend.

Yingying, Xiao Ying, settle down. Your Mama hasn’t finished the story yet.

One day, a clever young fox that was running away from wolves fell into the river. He had played a trick on them, you see, and all it was was simple fun to the fox. But the wolves felt otherwise.

Angered, they chased that fox from their den to the high cliffs above the water, and with one wrong step, the fox fell into the river, still freezing cold from the last remnants of winter. Ah! Thought the fox. So I am to die today, it seems. If only I could have seen the moon one last time!

This sorrowful regret swept down the river to the dragon. And, being as kind as it was, the dragon flew up the river at once and saved the drowning fox.

“Wait.”

Wei Ying suddenly stops in the middle of the road. He cuts himself off in the middle of a sentence, squeezes Lan Wangji’s hand where their fingers are twined together. Lan Wangji tilts his head at him, curious.

Wei Ying’s brows furrow for a moment, and he glances around.

They’re returning from a night hunt out on the Gusu border, and, on the principle of Wei Ying wanting to stretch his legs, or so he says, they had taken the time to start out the journey back on foot. Either way, Lan Wangji is simply content to indulge him in whatever he desires.

But the landscape around them isn’t much to be impressed by. It’s a fairly beaten farm road, and when he glances to the left, green rice paddies and hunched over farmers dot the fields. It’s nice, perhaps, but nothing he hasn’t seen before. Still, there’s a certain sort of tranquility to be had from wandering there with his husband at his side that sets him at ease. At least, it normally would, but...

He looks back at Wei Ying, who taps a finger to his chin, frowning slightly.

“Can you... can you hear that?”

Lan Wangji blinks. It’s indication enough to Wei Ying that whatever he had heard, Lan Wangji had not.

His husband slides his attention to the thick scrub to their right, tilting his head slightly.

“No no no, that’s not quite...” he mutters briefly to himself. In a few quick strides, he’s crossed the length of the road and slipped into the shrubbery that grows in abundance opposite the fields, giving Lan Wangji barely a moment to realise it before he follows after him. “-there!”

As always, Wei Ying doesn’t care much for neatness or care as he weaves through the brush, never mind the fact that the one picking the leaves out of his hair and clothes—as well as cleaning the tiny scratches on his face and hands—is always Lan Wangji himself. Still, whatever had caught his attention must have been important. It usually was.

The ends of Wei Ying’s hair ribbon is caught on a little tangle of bush, but he doesn’t seem to notice from where he’s crouched over something, hands held out placatingly. Lan Wangji untangles it for him when he catches up. He glances down to check what had caught Wei Ying’s attention, and blinks in surprise.

There’s a fox. One of its hind legs and its neck are caught in a nasty tangle of rope, which in itself is tangled around the base tree trunk and a squat little sapling. The more it strains against its restraints, the more the rope tightens, and it whines piteously with each passing moment.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Wei Ying murmurs, gazing unblinkingly at the fox. “Let’s get you out of that, shall we?”

He hovers his hands awkwardly over its little body for a moment, seemingly unsure of where to begin. The rope is wrapped around itself in a way that means that it can’t be easily untangled, and the way that the fox shrinks away from his hands and hisses as best as it can isn’t helping.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, and nothing else.

It’s likely part of a trap set by the local farmers to stop foxes like these from sneaking in at night and killing all their chickens. Unfortunate, but only just how things were. On principle, he still would set the fox free from its bindings, but who was to say it wouldn’t get stuck again in the future, or cause trouble for the local farmers?

Wei Ying inclines his head slightly as the only indication he’s heard. He gets like this when he’s focused and thinking, hundreds of ideas being built up and then discarded in his brain in the blink of an eye before it slowly settles on one or two that would work the best. It’s saved many a hide or hair in the heat of battle against resentful spirits and fierce corpses, but works just as well in planning his pranks, or even, helping injured and trapped animals it seems.

Out of the two of them, it’s usually Lan Wangji who’s the better one with animals, as his handling of Little Apple and the rabbits can attest to. Here though, it wouldn’t make a difference, and he’s sure that the presence of two very big presences isn’t doing much to calm down the poor little creature. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Wei Ying bites his lip.

“Well…” he mutters to himself, and pulls back one of his hands, hovering the other one over its flank- then, with a slight moment of hesitation, over to its snout, letting it sniff cautiously at his fingers.

It stares at him with narrowed eyes. Then, it licks tentatively at his fingers and stills. While there’s something still cautious in its eyes, it seems much more relaxed than before- or at least, less hostile. Tension melts off Wei Ying’s shoulders, and he sighs in relief.

“Good, good, that’s… good. Lan Zhan, Bichen, if you please. It’s about time we get this poor dear out of these ropes.”

That… was certainly a surprise. He had half expected the fox to bite at Wei Ying, as most distressed animals were fond of doing. For it to become so docile…

Either way, he puts it out of his mind and unsheathes his sword as requested, crouching down beside his husband to place the blade against the ropes. It cuts through the rough strands as easily as it does against fierce corpses, and once he lifts it away from the fox, the creature shakes off the severed pieces of its restraints.

“See? You’re perfectly fine!” Wei Ying says with a warm smile, holding his hand out to the fox, who then butts its head against his palm. “And cute, too! Hey, gege, who’s cuter? Me, or this little guy here?”

At this, he reaches out to pick up the fox, settling it into his arms not unlike how he would a baby or very young child. A warning that the fox wouldn’t appreciate being suddenly picked up like that dies in Lan Wangji’s throat when the fox instead only swishes its tail and squirms slightly in Wei Ying’s hold to get into a more comfortable position, tilting its head up to lick at his chin.

“Well?” Wei Ying asks him expectantly, quirking his eyebrows. Lan Wangji stares for a moment more before he shakes his head, sheathing his sword once more.

“You are.” He says simply, and Wei Ying puffs up his cheeks, though they’re tinged pink in slight embarrassment.

“How cruel! You’ll hurt his feelings! Come on, Lan Zhan, you have to admit, it’s a cute little thing, right?”

“It is a wild animal, Wei Ying. Not a pet.”

“Oh, psh.” Wei Ying scoffs lightly, raising a hand to scratch behind the fox’s ears. It purrs slightly in response. Lan Wangji stares at it doubtfully. Why did his husband have to do these things? It was all well and fine to free it from the ropes, but who knows where it had been? It probably had fleas. If those got into Wei Ying’s robes, it would get into Lan Wangji’s, and then the both of them would be itchy and miserable. “Don’t listen to him, Xiao-Huli. He’s a boring fuddy duddy and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying clamps his hands over the fox’s ears and sticks his tongue out at Lan Wangji. “Lalala, my name is Lan Zhan and I’m sooo hot and sooo sexy as fuck but I’m sooo boring and everything I say is just boring stuff, lalala~”

Lan Wangji stares at him flatly. He tries not to feel offended, but he does. Maybe. Just a little bit. The fox matches his own flat gaze with a glint in its dark eyes. The tip of its pink tongue pokes out from the side of its mouth.

 “Are you done?” He says after a moment, and Wei Ying huffs slightly, pulling his hands away to scratch under the fox’s chin. Its eyes crinkle shut in pleasure, and another set of low purrs rumble from it.

“I’ll be done when you say sorry to Xiao-Huli!”

As if on cue, the fox opens its eyes just a crack, and if he didn’t know better, Lan Wangji would almost swear it was winking at him. The irritation prickling at the back of his neck grows just a little bit more.

Calm down, take deep breaths, he thinks to himself. There were rules for these kinds of situations (Loosely. The rules also left many things up to interpretation. He’s sure this could be one of them.) and it would help to think of them now.

“I am… sorry,” he says a little stiffly. Gods. What on earth was he doing, apologising to a fox? Never let it be said the lengths he would go to for his husband. “I will… endeavour to be more compassionate in the future.”

Wei Ying beams. “There we go, er-gege! That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

If it meant seeing that smile, then Lan Wangji supposes, it really wasn’t. Just as long as he didn’t say-

“Oh, I know! Why don’t we take this little guy back to the Cloud Recesses with us? The rabbits could use a friend, don’t you think?”

-that.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, letting a little bit of despair seep into his voice. “Please, do not. You cannot just bring this fox home. You know this.”

There were a number of reasons that this was a bad idea, and he did not particularly want to have to say them all aloud.

At the top of that list was that having the fox anywhere near the docile, well-fed rabbits of the Cloud Recesses was bound to end in disaster, somewhere in the middle was that the fox’s red-brown fur would stand out awfully against pristine Lan-white, and somewhere near the bottom was that he didn’t particularly look forward to the prospect of having to vy for his husband’s attention against the fox, who, unfairly, he felt like was winning right now.

“But it’s so cute!” Wei Ying shifts his grip again and thrusts the fox up to Lan Wangji’s face. It yawns at him, pink tongue curling and flicking. He gently moves it aside with the back of his hand, staring down at his husband. “What happened to not denying me anything, huh? You wouldn’t do this for me?”

That… Well.

He really was becoming far too skilled at exploiting Lan Wangji’s weaknesses (Wei Ying himself) for his own good.

Fine, then.

Lan Wangji sighs. “If you truly insist, then the fox may accompany us until we reach the gates of the Cloud Recesses. But I cannot, in good conscience, allow it any further than that,” he states.

For a moment, he thinks that Wei Ying would continue to protest in his cutely over-dramatic way, but instead, he smiles wryly, and shrugs.

“Well, I tried,” he says, but he doesn’t sound particularly disappointed. “You’ll be fine by yourself though, hm, Xiao-Huli? Until then, Wei-gege’ll take care of you. And I’ll make this gege take care of you too!”

He kneels down then, and the fox leaps from his arms to land gently on the ground. It shakes out its fur, and looks back at him, barking once.

“We still have some time until we reach Caiyi, and the Cloud Recesses beyond that.” Lan Wangji says.

“It’ll be fine.” Wei Ying waves a hand dismissively. “You’re worrying too much!”

Worrying about what? That he wouldn’t know when to let the fox go, or that he would get too attached to a creature that would not stay? That the affection that he shows for it now would cause a dependency in it that would make it even harder for their eventual separation? All of those and more were extremely plausible.

“Trust me!”

Lan Wangji sighs again, but nods, if a little reluctantly.

Far be it for him to lose faith in his husband over something as simple a matter as this.

The fox continues to follow them even as night falls.

Luckily, they both manage to secure lodging for the night in a barn, lent to them by a kind old couple who apologised for how substandard it was, despite Wei Ying’s insistence that it really wasn’t, and that it was plenty and just having a roof over their heads was enough for both of them, who, on principle, shouldn’t be too occupied by comforts anyway.

Well, it was easy for him to say that. He could fall asleep just about anywhere, especially if that was on top of Lan Wangji, who, in situations like these, was treated as more of a mattress than a person. He only minded it a little bit. Love always required a little bit of sacrifice, after all. Even when his husband had been indulging himself with a little more food than was strictly allowed under the Lan Clan rules, and hadn’t been keeping up with his training. Not that Lan Wangji would ever admit that.

(If he makes their ‘everyday’ appropriately more intense as a result, then the only person who would ever know the reason why would be himself.)

“I think we’ll probably be home by tomorrow.” Wei Ying half says through a yawn, half dozing on Lan Wangji’s chest. A barn doesn’t nearly rank at the bottom of the list of most unusual, or the worst places to have sex, that they have, and with all things considered, it still could turn out to be a memorable experience in some strange, domestic homestead-y kind of way.

And at the very least, the fox hadn’t been there to see it. Rabbits were one thing, but that fox might have been too much, even for someone like them.

The fox itself had disappeared sometime after they had settled in for the night. Lan Wangji had suggested that it had decided to leave them to go on its own way, and Wei Ying was insistent that it hadn’t and had simply gone out for a night adventure. They had ended up making a bet on it, even though gambling was one of the things disallowed by the Lan Clan rules also.

Then again, it had been a long time since Lan Wangji had seen them as anything other than suggestions, something to be selective with, or wanted to use to prove a point to his husband.

Wei Ying had declared that if he won, Lan Wangji would make him whatever food he wanted for a week when they got back, and if Lan Wangji won…

Well. It had made Wei Ying stutter and go bright red, but he didn’t outright shoot down the idea, so even if Lan Wangji lost—which he wouldn’t—there was always the possibility of doing it in the future anyway.

He hopes he wins. If not for his reward, then at least to save him from his slow transformation into a jianbing via Wei Ying-ified flattening.

“What will you do about the fox?”

“So you’re acknowledging that I’m going to win our bet?” Wei Ying says a little smugly, and Lan Wangji rolls his eyes just the slightest amount. Here, in the dark and in between tall haystacks with only Wei Ying as witness, there isn’t anyone to care about impropriety.

“Hypothetical scenario.”

“Alright, if it makes you feel any better, keep telling yourself that, dear. Well, anyway… I was thinking we might kee-”

“We are not keeping the fox.”

Wei Ying huffs, but Lan Wangji refuses to let it sway him, even as slightly torn up as he felt about it. It really was for the best.

“Only until we reach the gates.” He reminds his husband, and Wei Ying pulls a face that might have had more effect if it wasn’t currently half squished against Lan Wangji’s bare chest. “Wei Ying should sleep now.”

“You’re no fun…” Wei Ying mumbles, but there isn’t any bite to it, and Lan Wangji knows it to be false otherwise, simply from the countless times where he had explicitly said that Lan Wangji was the most fun person to be around.

“Sleep.” He says again, a little firmer this time, and wraps his arms fully around Wei Ying’s waist.

“Fine… See you tomorrow, Lan Zhan…”

“Mm. Good night.”

Lan Wangji closes his eyes then, and lets himself drift off to the comfort of a warm weight on his chest.

In the morning, Lan Wangji wakes up early, as usual, and asks to borrow the old couple’s bathtub. He politely, but firmly declines their offer of settling it for him, and instead decides to draw the water and fill the tub himself, bringing the water to a hot, but not boiling, temperature with a few well placed heating talismans. It isn’t that he has something against the couple, but more of the fact that he doesn’t feel wholly comfortable taking advantage of their generosity more than they already have, considering what happened in the barn last night.

He does, however, accept their offer of providing them with breakfast before they set out once more, though he does have to somewhat apologetically let them know that that would depend on what time his husband wakes up.

It’s around the time where he starts to take the water back to the tub that something red slinks into the corner of the field of his view.

He turns, and sighs.

The fox looks back at him, licking at its paw idly. A dead bird is at its feet, and judging from the bite marks around its neck, it hadn’t been killed too long ago and had been carried over.

“Why did you come back?” he asks it. “Did you know I made a bet with Wei Ying? Were you determined to see me lose it?”

Idly, he considers the benefits of chasing it away, and then lying to Wei Ying by pretending that he had never saw it and thus, winning their bet, but the thought is dismissed as fast as he thinks of it. For one, it would never work. Something told him that the fox would come back later in the day anyway, and he would sooner collapse under the guilt of this particular lie than keep the secret.

So. Whatever happens… happens.

Predictably, because he’s talking to a fox, it doesn’t answer him, and continues to stare at him, gaze almost judgmental. For a split second, he considers the possibility of the fox being a mind-reader before common sense all but slams back into him, in more ways than one.

…What was he doing? Talking to foxes now? He doesn’t have time for this.

He picks up his buckets, hefting them over his shoulder and heads back to the barn. He doesn’t turn to check if the fox is following, but from the flashes of red at the corner of his eye, it seems as though it is.

The walk back to the barn is a quick one, and filling up the tub is just as quick. From his sleeve, he takes a few heating talismans and applies them to the tub, leaving it to gradually heat up.

Onto the next matter of business…

Lan Wangji eyes the fox, which has taken to sniffing curiously at one of the talismans stuck to the tub. At some point, it had gone on to eat some of the bird it had hunted, but hadn’t finished it. Evidently, it found the bathtub far more interesting.

“Could you please take that somewhere else?” He asks, gesturing to the half-eaten bird. The fox’s ear flicks, but it doesn’t look back towards Lan Wangji, and it continues inspecting the talisman.

Well, that was rude.

He begins to reconsider the merits of shooing it off. For one- no more strands of red sticking to their clothes. For another, no unwanted spectators for their morning bath.

But… he shakes his head and settles on neither.

Well, maybe except for the second part. He isn’t exactly keen on being what felt like judged, by the fox, again, for what he did or didn’t do with Wei Ying.

“Could you at least return later, then?” He tries again, and this time, the fox actually does turn its head to look at him. They stare at each other, unblinking, until the fox snuffs and turns away with a swish of its tail, picking up the last of its bird within its jaws.

It trots off somewhere in the general direction of the vegetables, and Lan Wangji breathes a quiet sigh of relief before heading over to retrieve his husband.

This part of the morning is rather the same as it usually is, with some minor differences owing to their unconventional location. Wei Ying starts coming back to himself sometime after the tenth kiss, and just about returns as Lan Wangji ties the last knot in his hair ribbon, combing out the slightly damp tresses.

“Good morning,” Lan Wangji begins, and Wei Ying opens his mouth to reply when something behind Lan Wangji seems to catch his attention, and he perks up. The kiss that Lan Wangji tries aiming for his lips goes sideways and lands on Wei Ying’s cheek instead, who, insultingly (in Lan Wangji’s entirely unbiased and correct, opinion) does not return it, instead bouncing forward.

“Ahaha! Lan Zhan! Look who it is!”

Wei Ying smirks.

“So much for your theory, huh?”

It’s the fox, of course, because who else could it be? The fox in question, ostensibly now finished with its bird, walks forward to twine around Wei Ying’s legs like an overlarge cat. He bends down slightly to scratch behind its ears.

“Yes,” He says a little stiffly. “It seems so, doesn’t it?”

Wei Ying looks up, and something seems to occur to him.

“Ah! You know what this means, then! I totally won our bet!”

“You did.”

“Ahaha!” Wei Ying walks back over to Lan Wangji, patting him on the head. Lan Wangji almost wants to protest that he isn’t a fox either, but instead averts his gaze. “You don’t have to sound like such a sore loser over it!”

“I am not.” He says. Wei Ying tilts his head back down at the fox.

“What do you think, Xiao-Huli? Do you think Lan-gege sounds like a sore loser?”

Lan Wangji would rather not stay and let this particular line of conversation continue. He turns away hurriedly, and starts making his way back to the old couple’s house.

“Breakfast is waiting.”

“Ahh! No- I was just making a joke! Lan Zhan, wait for me!!”

By late afternoon, Caiyi Town comes into view.

After a simple breakfast of rice with eggs and preserved vegetables provided to them by the couple, they parted ways and continued on back towards the Cloud Recesses, the fox following along, much to Lan Wangji’s chagrin.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem to want to cause too much trouble, nor did it get in the way too much, and other than Wei Ying now having two to chatter to rather than just one, things were relatively simple.

They pass through Caiyi, with the fox sniffing the air carefully but managing to avoid falling in the canals. A few of the townspeople call out to them in greeting, recognising them from their frequent trips down the mountain, and they get some number of curious looks at the fox accompanying them, but at long last, they approach the foot of the mountains at the Cloud Recesses, and it’s there that they finally stop for the moment. Wei Ying crouches down to face the fox, and it tilts its head back at him quizzically.

“This is where we say goodbye, Xiao-Huli. Though the time we spent together was short, it was also memorable.” He says a little solemnly, reaching out a hand to ruffle its fur and give it a scratch behind the ears. “Safe travels, my friend. Don’t get caught in any more traps now, you hear?”

He bounces back to his feet. The fox continues to look at him.

For a moment, Lan Wangji almost thinks that it would hardly know the meaning behind Wei Ying’s words, but a beat passes, and the fox barks once before turning away and bounding into the foliage, the red of its fur disappearing into the underbrush. He watches it go, and strangely, a strong sense of melancholy passes through him before it disappears, just as suddenly as it had come in the first place.

He shakes his head slightly, and holds out a hand to Wei Ying, who takes it, slotting his fingers between Lan Wangji’s own.

“You know, I felt like that fox was really smart. Like it knew what we were saying, right?” Wei Ying says to him a little later, as they climb the path up the mountain, tucking his hands behind his head. He gives a sideways glance towards Lan Wangji. “Did you think so too?”

Lan Wangji hums non-committedly. It hadn’t been as though he had been paying particular attention to it, nor had he had much experience with foxes, but he had to agree that there was something about it that made it seem especially intelligent. He says as much in his following hum, which is to say, less ‘saying’ and more ‘expressing’, though he hardly needs any words for his husband to understand his meaning.

Wei Ying sighs.

“Well, no use wondering about it any longer. It’s probably long gone by now, off chasing sparrows and the like. Let’s just chalk it up to another interesting day in the life of Lan Zhan and Wei Ying, okay?”

“Perhaps that is for the best,” Lan Wangji replies evenly, curling an arm around Wei Ying’s waist and pulling him a little closer.

“I’ll kind of miss it, I think,” Wei Ying pokes Lan Wangji in the ribs, gently. “And you can say you’ll miss it too! It’s only us here right now. You’re not gonna lose any face by admitting that.”

Lan Wangji chooses not to comment on the matter, but it seems Wei Ying doesn’t feel like dropping it just yet, and he pats Lan Wangji’s shoulder.

“Come on, gege,” he says coaxingly. “Make all the excuses you want, but don’t think I didn’t notice you going all soft on Xiao-Huli a few times, hm?”

Which were moments of weakness, and Lan Wangji has half a mind to tell him that, but thinks better of it in the end, and wisely decides to keep his mouth shut, instead humming something that could be taken as either agreement or denial. If it really were feasible, he would probably have let Wei Ying keep taking care of the fox, but there were too many things to account for that to happen. The rules that disallowed it, the rabbits… No, there were too many complications.

“Fine then, be that way,” Wei Ying says, but he sounds amused more than anything. He lets out a content sigh. “Ah, it’s nice to be home! Lan Zhan, make me something special tonight! I won our bet after all! We have to celebrate a little! I want…”

The topic of the fox dropped for the moment, his husband instead begins to detail a list of dishes he wants that a few days of travel on the road couldn’t provide. It was far too many to make on a single day, so of course, Lan Wangji would need to spend the next few days doing so, a week, at the very least, as was the conditions stipulated in their bet, and that there was a very willing taste tester present to make sure that his skills hadn’t deteriorated in the short time he had last used them, and so on; there is a practised ease where Wei Ying says anything and everything on his mind, and Lan Wangji listens, for no other reason than the fact that he loves to do so.

That, at the very least, is something Lan Wangji can do.

When the fox opened its eyes, the first thing it saw was something round and glowing brightly. Ah, how fortunate I am to have seen the moon, it thought. Now I can die in peace.

But this was not the moon, and the fox did not have to die. Grasped in the dragon’s claws, the fox had caught a glimpse of the dragon’s pearl- the same one that it had used to calm the raging river so that it could save the fox.

The dragon brought the fox back to its home, passing energy to the exhausted fox to heal it.

When the fox woke, it was amazed to find that it was still alive, and even more than that, its saviour was the dragon of the lonely river!

Master Dragon, I cannot thank you enough for saving this lowly one’s life! The fox
expressed
, arching into a bow in gratitude.

There is no need for thanks, returned the dragon. Go now, and be well. Be wary of the river in the future.

The fox did not leave just yet.

But Master Dragon, this one now owes you a life debt! How could I ever possibly repay it? Is there anything you wish for? This one shall provide as best as this one can!

But what could a fox give that the dragon did not already have?

Mama, didn’t the dragon want a friend?

Shh, I’m getting to that part, Xiao Ying.

Already, the dragon knew. Though it longed for a companion, how could it ever trap the fox here? How would it ever know that the fox wished to be here, or merely remained to pay off a debt? Thus, the fox could never stay.

There is nothing, said the dragon. I have no need and no desire but for your wellbeing.

There must be something! cried the fox. Whatever it is you desire, even if you believe you do not possess one, I will find it and give it to you!

The fox stayed with the dragon for a day longer until it departed.

On the night before it was to leave, the fox invited the dragon out to the river.

Carrying the fox on its back, the dragon followed the course of the river out to the part where it was the most still.

What did you wish to say? The dragon asked, and the fox would smile, pointing to the moon and the stars above, then to the surface of the water, on which the reflection of the night sky shone brightly.

The dragon was lost for words. In all its time living there, it had never seen a sight as beautiful as this- And yet, it should have been something that it had seen countless times.

I am to leave to-morrow, said the fox. But it is my sincerest desire for you to look up at this sky and remember the time we have spent together.

If you find yourself missing my presence, you need only to look up to the skies above and know that I too, am looking at the same sky and thinking of you.

They remained there for a while longer before returning to the dragon’s home.

And, in the morning, as it said it would, the fox left with a final farewell.

Although the dragon was saddened to see it go, it knew that it was for the best. And so, it resigned itself to its loneliness once again. The chance of the fox returning, it knew, was almost none.

Yet, could it not hope?

Wei Ying is out on a trip. He’s headed to Yunmeng, and the only reason Lan Wangji isn’t accompanying him this time is because with Lan Xichen still half in seclusion, he is, more or less, still Acting Sect Leader, and with the Discussion Conference looming on the horizon and the Lan Sect set to host it, responsibility falls to him to settle the last affairs.

Well, that, and the fact that he still hasn’t quite gotten over what had happened the last time he and Jiang Wanyin had been even remotely near each other. It had involved no less than five jars of wine, a string of dried chillies, a duck, a dog, and two bribes to Nie Huaisang to diffuse the political meltdown about to happen.

Wei Ying finds it endearing, if not a little frustrating, most of the time. Lan Wangji does not. This is one of a small number of things that they are still working on. It’ll be resolved one day. One day far, far in the future.

“Maybe it’s for the best that you’re staying here this time,” Wei Ying had said to him on the morning of his departure. Lan Wangji had given him a flat look, mixed with the ‘Wei Ying is Going Away Again (But Only For A Little While) and I Cannot See His Beautiful Face Until He Returns To Me’ look.

Wei Ying had only laughed at him, and leant up to pat him on the head. Lan Wangji had tried to maintain his composure, but the fluttering in his heart at the sound of his husband’s laugh does little to help.

“Oh, come on, er-gege, don’t look at me like that! If I give you a kiss, will you give me a smile? You look beautiful when you smile, you know.”

“I have nothing to smile about in my life,” he had said. “My husband is leaving me for another man.”

“Did you have to say it like that?” Wei Ying had replied, rolling his eyes and patting his head again. “It’s only for a few days. Well, a week. But it’ll be a really short week! I’ll be back before you know it!”

“Mn.”

“You’re being incredibly dramatic, dear.” Wei Ying had lifted his hand to cup Lan Wangji’s face. “Are you really that desperate to keep me here?”

He had taken hold of his husband’s hand in turn. “I miss you dearly for every moment that we are separated,” he had recited dutifully and truthfully. “Know that my heart yearns for your presence and that I will eagerly await the day that we will be reunited.”

Wei Ying’s face had gone quite a lovely shade of red at that, and he had snatched his hand back after a moment of dumbfounded silence to cover his face, only peeking out between his fingers to glance at Lan Wangji.  “I- uh- Lan Zhan!! You- I- why! I keep telling you!! You need to give me a warning!! When you say things like that!!”

He hadn’t resisted when Lan Wangji had pulled him closer to press a kiss to his temple though, instead giving a final sounding, fond sigh.

“I- oh, never mind. How about this? When I come back, you can…”

-and then he had turned his head to whisper certain things in Lan Wangji’s ear that had the tips of them assuredly turning bright red, and when he had reached out for his husband, Wei Ying had flounced away from his hands with a light peal of laughter and a blown kiss, tugging an irate Little Apple after him as he began his descent down the mountain.

So.

Husbandless, slightly brotherless, and also sonless, owing to an impromptu scheduled visit to Baling by invitation of the Ouyang heir, Lan Wangji finds himself at a little of a loss, which is odd, considering that he never was much of a people person, and yet-

Well. There was always his uncle. But moments spent between the two of them alone always seemed to devolve into some long-winded lecture on his uncle’s part on some obscure historical detail that left Lan Wangji wondering whether his uncle realised that he was grown now and not one of his students anymore, or worse, enough subtly unsubtle remarks about the inadequacy of Wei Ying as his spouse to leave him sufficiently incensed for the rest of the day, only now there would be no doting husband to lift his mood.

Because he was in Yunmeng. With another person who also had the tremendous power to leave him feeling more than slightly irritated.

He has the slightest inkling that this bad mood might persist for the rest of the day, and would quite certainly do so if he had to look over any more inane correspondence from allied sects beyond Gusu regarding the upcoming Discussion Conference.

Maybe he ought to take a break, like Wei Ying always pestered him about. Besides, fresh air might do him well.

With a sigh, he carefully cleans the last of the ink from his brush, setting it back into its place alongside the rest of the set. The last of the marking, and the dreaded correspondence could wait for later. From there, it’s only a matter of taking a quick moment to make sure his appearance is neat and orderly before stepping out of the Jingshi, shutting the door quietly behind him.

The sun is beginning to descend when he casts a brief glance up to the sky, a slight shadow of twilight already beginning to creep its way over the Cloud Recesses. He looks up to the sky, the setting sun, the drowned-blue of the sky and thinks of his husband- is he, too, watching the same sky, thinking also of Lan Wangji?

In Yunmeng, the waters of the rivers and lakes would burn a bright gold when the sun began to dip beneath the horizon. Then, at night, if the weather was clear and the moon was high, the stars would come out, and on the perfectly still waters it would mirror the divine skies above, a dark sheet of star speckled brilliance- transient, yet eternal at the same time.

There was nothing like that in Gusu.

It was one of the things Wei Ying had said he’d missed, early on in their marriage. He had spoken of it wistfully and fondly, and there had been a somewhat distant look in his eyes- the one that often was accompanied by thoughts of the late Jiang Yanli.

It had only been that one time that he had brought it up, because not long after that, he had said that there were other beautiful things in Gusu that he could let his eyes wander to, and he had directed a rather salacious smirk at Lan Wangji that left no question as to what ‘beautiful things’ he was referring to.

The thought sits a little oddly in his stomach now.

For all the times that he’d been to Lotus Pier since then, and Yunmeng as a whole, there had always been something that prevented Wei Ying from showing those star-stained rivers and lakes to him. He had eventually forgotten about that desperate longing to see it and share in something that Wei Ying cherished so deeply, because compared to the other bright memories that they were making in their day to day, it seemed like it was barely anything.

So, he still hadn’t seen what it was like at night.

But, for some reason, he could picture it perfectly in his mind’s eye.

It’s… more disconcerting that he cares to admit.

Perhaps it was because Wei Ying had that way with words. In another life, he could have been the finest storyteller, weaving words in exchange for coins. As it stands, all he does these days with that skill is to trick children into having them believe that made up monsters exist and to whine exaggeratedly to Lan Wangji about the smallest of inconveniences. But, it’s his skill to do as he pleases with, and as someone who has never been particularly verbose, Lan Wangji knows to appreciate it, even if isn’t used as it should be sometimes… most of the time.

It had been quite a while though. Was it truly the case that a description from once upon a time was enough for him to visualise it perfectly?

Lan Wangji’s foot catches on an uneven stone, and he blinks.

In front of him stands a familiar cottage. Lost in his musings, he hadn’t noticed that his feet had brought him to this spot until he found himself standing before it.

A slight breeze rustles the wisterias that hide away the little cottage from the rest of the Cloud Recesses. A moment caught in time, perhaps, he thinks- the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. It seemed like only yesterday that he was here, waiting for the day that that door would open up and his mother would usher him in. Eventually, that day would stop coming to pass.

Still, even if the cottage’s past resident no longer lived within its walls, he was sure that the door would still open up for him.

Perhaps this would be the first step to finding out some answers.

Or, at the very least, a place where he could begin to clear his head.

The walk up to the door is nostalgic, if a little bittersweet. The wisterias are smaller than he remembers, but back then, he was much smaller as well. There were simply too many memories associated with this place, both happy and sad, for it to be anything less.

Especially now.

Lan Wangji hesitates for a slight moment when he arrives at the door. Perhaps… Perhaps this was a bad time. It was out of their usual schedule after all, and for someone like him who was hardly prone to acts of spontaneity, it would only worry the person he meant to visit.

That’s no way to go about things, er-gege! The phantom of his husband’s voice speaks into his ear. Come on, just do it! You’re overthinking it too much! Unexpected or not, he’ll still be glad to see you!

Well.

That’s what Wei Ying would say if he were there.

So, before he can truly overthink it, and before he can leave and regret it, he raises his hand and raps neatly on the door.

For a moment, there’s no response. Then-

“Just a moment, I’ll be right there-!” A voice floats out from behind the door, and when it opens with a quiet rattle and a soft patter of footsteps, Lan Xichen peers out from behind it, blinking at him. “Oh, Wangji, it’s you?”

Lan Wangji pauses in his prepared response. “...Were you expecting someone different?” He finally says, tilting his head fractionally.

“Ah, oh no, not at all.” His brother says hurriedly, stepping aside and gesturing for Lan Wangji to come in with a small, slightly strained smile. “I just didn’t expect you to come by at this time. There’s still quite a few days before I was expecting you, but no matter. Please, come in, have a seat, I’ll get some tea ready. I’ll join you shortly.”

Lan Wangji steps in with a slight dip of his head in thanks, quietly stepping out of his shoes before heading further into the house.

After the incident at the Guanyin temple in Yunping all those years ago, and several unpleasant truths had come to light, Lan Xichen had formally announced he would be entering seclusion to reflect on the events that had come to pass. He at least had had the forethought to delay it until Lan Wangji had returned from his honeymoon, and gotten decently used to the duties of Sect Leader, though in name and in authority, the First Jade of Lan was still the leader of the sect.

He had moved into this little residence, where their mother used to live, away from the Hanshi, citing that it was geographically more secluded and therefore more peaceful and more conducive to his reflections, which wasn’t untrue, but did not exactly leave Lan Wangji brimming with confidence. This place, as much as he wished to deny it, still had been a prison, and the meaning of his brother moving into a place where things- or people- were left to wither and fade away, was not lost on him. Neither was the suspicion that this would also be quietly considered as a self-inflicted punishment for being too idle about the brewing animosity between his sworn brothers.

Either way, Lan Xichen had moved into their mother’s old home and begun to make it his. Progress had been slow, but the more time that passed, the more that Lan Xichen seemed to be doing better for himself, and Lan Wangji had let those concerns worrying away at his mind fade away to the background- not entirely gone, but not entirely accepted either. Only something to be aware of, and to prepare for if need be. Lan Xichen himself was already half out of seclusion now, and it was probably only a matter of time before he was ready to resume leadership fully, even if there were some things that couldn’t be healed.

As Lan Wangji walks into the main room, he notices that there’s a new wall scroll hanging on one of the far walls- an ink sprawl of some landscape or another. It’s tasteful, in a way, if not a little familiar in its strokes. He wonders where he’s seen the style before. His brother catches his curious gaze when he glances at him, emerging from the tiny kitchen area with a clay tea set on a small tray in his hands.

“Oh, that?” Lan Xichen smiles again, though it’s still a little strained. “A gift from Sect Leader Nie. It was only recently that I received it.”

Ah. That would explain it. He certainly had seen enough of the same style of paintings on  Nie Huaisang’s fans when he chose to flick them open during Discussion Conferences in order to avoid answering questions about how the sect was faring. For someone who was in talks to become the next Chief Cultivator, he was startlingly adept at being elusive.

He shrugs slightly as Lan Wangji busies himself with pouring out the tea. He starts the tiniest amount when he realises they’re the same cups that their mother used to use, but if his brother notices at all, he doesn’t comment on it, instead sighing slightly and folding his hands in his lap.

“It seemed like it would be rude to return it, especially since he said it was something he painted himself. All that wasted effort.” Lan Xichen shakes his head. “No, I thought it would have been better to simply hang it up. Goodness knows this house needs a little decoration, hm?”

Things like these still came in every now and then. Odd little trinkets or another that were sent over from Qinghe, usually addressed to either Lan Xichen or Wei Ying, and even rarer still to Lan Wangji himself, though that only extended to personal gifts and most assuredly not administrative correspondence, of which there was often far too much.

Wei Ying may have forgiven him for his tricks for the most part, and largely, so did his brother, but Lan Wangji has never been the best with grudges;it is only at his husband’s insistence and sometimes not so subtle reminders that were it not for him, they would likely not be enjoying their domestic marital bliss currently that he does not exude an aura of disdain as he does for Jiang Wanyin. He tolerates Nie Huaisang at the least, and can be cordial to him at the most, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking that the Nie Sect Leader is someone that should only be spoken to when necessary.

Unfortunately for the both of them, when necessary actually comes to mean ‘far too often’. Still, the painting had not been sent to him, so Lan Wangji says nothing and keeps his thoughts to himself. It’s his brother’s to do with as he sees fit, and he has to respect that.

“That’s enough about that, though.” Lan Xichen says brusquely, ending the discussion on the subject. He reaches for his own tea, bringing it up to his mouth to blow lightly across the surface to cool it. “Have you been well, Wangji? Are you taking proper care of yourself?”

These are the things that he asks every time. Lan Wangji shouldn’t be surprised though. At this point, it had to be instinctual- to check up on his baby brother’s wellbeing, because if he didn’t, then nobody else would. Only in the past few years had it started to become the other way around.

“Mn.” He gives a nod, and instead tilts his head slightly. Lan Xichen sees it for what it is- an inquiry after his own health, and he gives a short laugh, though it still sounds a little hollow.

“Ah, me? Well, as well as I could be I suppose…” He takes a sip of his tea, and glances away, pointedly avoiding making eye contact with Lan Wangji’s gaze. “I wouldn’t want you to worry about me though. I’m fine, really.”

Something in his posture must radiate disapproval though, because no sooner than he says that does his brother finally flick his gaze over to Lan Wangji. He smiles sheepishly.

“No, really, there’s no need for that look.” He says. Lan Wangji continues to look at him flatly. “I’ve been in good health lately, and the weather is pleasant enough. I’ve been taking small walks around the house in the morning and in the afternoon. Walking around in the sun every now and then really does feel more cleansing than some of the songs we play sometimes. Perhaps you should try it sometime with- ah?”

He blinks, as if only just noticing that Lan Wangji was in fact alone and not accompanied by his husband.

“Wei Ying is currently visiting Sect Leader Jiang in Yunmeng, but with the Discussion Conference approaching soon, he thought it would be more prudent for me to remain here and finalise the preparations.” Lan Wangji says smoothly, already anticipating the question about to emerge from his brother’s lips.

Lan Xichen smiles wryly. “Ah pity, I was hoping to hear some tales of what you’ve been up to since the last time we met that you’re too embarrassed to tell me yourself.” He says, and the tips of Lan Wangji’s ears heat up slightly. “But instead, you’re slacking off and visiting your brother, hm?”

Lan Wangji sends him another flat look, and his brother lifts a hand to his mouth, chuckling slightly. It does sound more genuine though, so Lan Wangji chooses not to comment on his teasing, if only for the sake of the slight happiness it brings him. For now.

“Ahaha, forgive me.” Lan Xichen waves a hand airily. “Your brother’s only teasing you a little, after all. You know you’re welcome to come by anytime. Just as long as you don’t tell the elders. I know this isn’t quite a normal seclusion, but it’s not like it’s in the rules, and I wouldn’t say they have the right to exactly enforce them either.”

It hadn’t been a normal seclusion from the start, where Wei Ying had stubbornly insisted on visiting at least once a week, despite the purpose of seclusion being that of retreating from the worries and woes of the mortal world in order to focus on oneself, because ‘Lan Zhan, we can’t just let him stew in his own sadness in there! Take it from me, who’s been there- nobody should have to be alone when they’ve gone through something like that!’ and had snuck in even when Lan Xichen had originally turned all visitors away aside from the people coming to bring his meals.

Sneaking in had ended up becoming a regular thing, and soon, Lan Xichen had been forced to accept that perhaps, Wei Ying wasn’t as bad an influence on his beloved baby brother as he previously thought, nor was he someone who was completely undeserving of him either, and with that, it had not only been Wei Ying who was sneaking in, but Lan Wangji as well, who had faced it with equal parts reluctance out of respecting the rules of seclusion but also an overwhelming concern to make sure that his brother was doing as well as he could with everything that had happened.

Conversation from there flows on to other mundane topics, like the state of affairs in the Cloud Recesses, how the juniors were doing, and other small numbers of things. It leaves Lan Wangji at a slight loss- between him, his brother, and his husband, he was the one that spoke the least, leaving Wei Ying and Lan Xichen to largely converse about things, with him only adding input when he felt necessary. Without Wei Ying there as a buffer though, he finds himself speaking more than he had done in quite a while.

“I was a little concerned to see you turn up so suddenly today at first, but I certainly won’t complain.” Lan Xichen eventually says. “I almost wondered if there was another emergency. Perhaps your husband’s experiments went wrong again and made all the rabbits ten times their normal size and now the entire Cloud Recesses is overrun with them.”

“Brother…” Lan Wangji returns, somewhat exasperatedly, and Lan Xichen waves a hand.

“In any case, I’m glad to see you’re doing well and that there aren't any pressing matters that require my attention or assistance.” He continues. “Being a little more impulsive, in your case, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Doing what you feel like doing isn’t a bad thing, Wangji. Maybe it’s something of Wei Wuxian’s that’s rubbed off on you.”

Was it? It would make sense if it did, though Lan Wangji can’t say that he feels especially like he’s become a more impulsive person. He’s content with leaving the risk-taking to his husband, and then for himself the inevitable dealing with the consequences of those said risks.

“Hm…”

“Was there anything else, Wangji? You’ve told me about how Sizhui is doing, and how the rabbits are, but I’m sure that there’s still more you haven’t told me.”

There really wasn’t that much more. Anything beyond that would end up devolving into aimless anecdotes about how Sect Leader Yao and Sect Leader Ouyang seemed to be going through a rough patch, as the latter’s son saw fit to relay to his friends, who then saw fit to relay it to Lan Wangji himself, or the slightly more mortifying anecdotes about the things that he and Wei Ying got up to in their spare time, which he would never tell anyone else about on principle and especially not his brother.

But then, he thinks back to earlier that day, and his doubts over the knowing the starlit Yunmeng, and even further back, to when he kept catching himself lingering over the river, and something within him whispers, you haven’t told anyone about this.

And he hasn’t. Maybe Wei Ying suspects, maybe he doesn’t, but Lan Xichen doesn’t know at all, and Lan Wangji did resolve to begin investigating what this newfound obsession was.

So at first, he hesitates slightly, but his need to know wins out in the end.

“Actually...”

His brother tilts his head quizzically at him. “Yes? What is it, Wangji?”

“...When I was younger,” he starts, and stops, somewhat at a loss for words. He’s certain that his brother would treat it with the gravity that he does any other thing between the two of them, as he has done all their lives, but Lan Wangji isn’t quite sure how to describe it in such a way that makes sense to himself, let alone his brother.

“When I was younger,” he tries again. “Was there anything unusual with… water? Or rivers? That happened to me?”

Lan Xichen blinks at him, gaze turning contemplative. He traces the rim of his now empty cup with the tip of his finger. It feels like an eternity before he speaks again, long enough for Lan Wangji to start thinking that perhaps asking was too foolish a question and that his brother would simply say that nothing like that ever happened-

“Ah… now that you mention it, I do seem to remember…” Lan Xichen says, and Lan Wangji blinks. His fists clench in his lap before he consciously exhales, unclenching them. “Well, I suppose it’s a little silly, but you’re asking about it, so you must want to know for a reason. My goodness, it really has been such a long time-”

“Brother, please.”

“Oh, yes, my apologies.” Lan Xichen coughs slightly. “You’ll have to forgive me if my memory of this isn’t quite accurate, but If I recall correctly, there was one such… ah, incident that seems to be what you’re asking about.”

Lan Wangji waits.

“Only, I wouldn’t quite call it an incident as more of an… observation.”

Lan Xichen folds his hands in his lap, gathering his thoughts.

“When you were younger…” He starts evenly,“You loved the rain, but you hated storms. You weren’t afraid of them, so it wasn’t hate in that sense, but there was always something about them that made you grievously upset, and you never told us why.”

Lan Wangji blinks.

He… hated storms?

How could that be the case? There was very little that Lan Wangji could say that he hated. When his rabbits fell sick, or when his husband was upset, but certainly not storms, and he could think of no particular reason why he would hate them so.

Lan Xichen hesitates slightly before he continues.

“Actually, on that night that Mother…”

Lan Wangji knows exactly which night he was talking about. He wouldn’t be able to forget it in any shape, way or form.

“You passed out not long before dawn broke.” Lan Xichen continues. He pauses, clearly deliberating his next words. “Uncle was furious, but he was worried too. We all were. You were so young, and even though your cultivation, as little as it was, was promising, there wasn’t any one of us who didn’t expect you would get sick after it.”

That made sense. There had been countless times in the past, after A-Yuan had fully recovered from his initial fever, where he had stayed out in the cold too long and had come down with a chill the day afterward. It had always worried him to no end every time it happened, and he took after his uncle more than they both cared to admit.

“But… you were fine.”

Lan Wangji stills.

“When we took you back inside, you weren’t cold at all. Even when we kept a careful eye on you for the next few days, there wasn’t even a sign that you had caught a chill of any kind, even when by all means, you should have.” Lan Xichen continues slowly.

That… certainly was unusual. He isn’t quite sure what to make of it just yet. He keeps hoping it might have been a fluke, even though a voice that sounds suspiciously like Wei Ying’s insists that from all the evidence, there must be a connection between it all that couldn’t be explained away by coincidence.

“On that day, it was like the snow just... chose not to fall on you. Or... if it did, it didn’t affect you. At all.”

Lan Xichen sighs, and sets down his teacup. He folds his hands in his lap.

“Maybe it had melted. Maybe it didn’t. There wasn’t any sign of water, I remember that clearly enough as well.” He says softly.

“When you woke up the next morning, and with everything else that happened with Mother, we didn’t have the heart to ask you about it, if you knew anything at all. I’d actually forgotten until just now, actually.”

He smiles then, a little wistful, a little bitter. It’s a look that Lan Wangji has come to greatly dislike seeing on him, especially since it seemed that every time he visited his brother lately, it had appeared at least once by the time the visit was over. Lan Xichen shakes his head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite remember if there was much else other than this one thing. You could ask Uncle though- he might remember something.”

If he could avoid it, he would rather not, but Lan Wangji supposes that it’s a logical course of action. He decides to take the advice for now and think on it.

“Mn. Thank you.” He says in response, offering a slow nod to his brother. A flash of thoughtful concern makes its way across Lan Xichen’s face, and he frowns slightly.

“It’s curious that you would bring this up now though, of all times.” He says. “Is everything alright?”

That… was a good question.

Was everything alright?

There was nothing wrong with his health, and he and Wei Ying were as happy as they ever were. The juniors were proceeding well with their studies and cultivation, and aside from the headaches that administrative work brought him and the perpetual worry that plagued him concerning his brother’s wellbeing, there was nothing that could constitute as not alright.

The only thing was the dreams, the way that his eyes and his thoughts lingered on the river, and...

“I… believe so.” He finally says. Lan Xichen doesn’t look convinced, but he sighs, and doesn’t push the issue further.

“You’d tell me if something wasn’t, yes?” He claps his hands together slightly. “If it’s within my power, I’ll help you how I can.”

“...Of course. Thank you, brother.”

Lan Xichen nods approvingly. “Good. Tell me if you need anything. I might not be completely out of seclusion yet, but there are a few things that I can do still. Now, it’s gotten to be somewhat later than I expected, so do you want to stay for dinner, or have I been boring you for too long?”

It’s with a small start that Lan Wangji realises the truth of the statement. Only a tiny sliver of daylight remains, with the night swallowing up the last dregs of the day. With all things considered, he doesn’t exactly feel very hungry either.

“Thank you for the offer, but I believe I should take my leave.” Lan Xichen seems to deflate slightly at his words, and Lan Wangji tries to push away the pang of regret that sweeps over him. “Thank you for the tea and for your insight. I will return again soon. Wei Ying will have returned by then as well.”

“...Of course, of course. Don’t let me keep you.” His brother waves a hand at him, and the regret intensifies. Lan Wangji resolves to make it up to him another time.

He makes to leave. His shoes are at the door, where he left them, and staring at them makes him almost wish he had accepted his brother’s offer of staying for dinner after all. Maybe it wasn’t too late-

“Ah, one more thing before you go.”

Lan Wangji pauses in the doorway, turning back to look one last time at his brother. Lan Xichen looks at him for a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

“Wangji... whatever it is you’re trying to find out... please be careful.” He says softly.

I don’t want to lose you too, goes unspoken.

Lan Wangji swallows.

“...I will.” He says, dipping his head in farewell before turning and quietly exiting the house amongst the wisterias.

He came looking for answers, but he’s found that he’s farther than ever from getting any. The only thing he had was even more questions, and no certain way of answering them.

What was it that his brother had said? To go ask his uncle about it?

The evening air is rather cool when he steps outside of the house and back into the Cloud Recesses. No doubt, it would be about the right time for most of the clan to be having dinner, and his uncle would be no exception. His brother hadn’t been, either. Now probably wasn’t the best time for him to go ask after his uncle then.

If Wei Ying was here, then the two of them would most certainly have been enjoying dinner together as well. Lan Wangji would have come up from the kitchens with the food for both of them, and simply from hearing the sounds of his footsteps coming up to their door, his husband would have called out his name enthusiastically.

“Lan Zhan!”

Something quite like that, he muses. Did he really miss Wei Ying so much that he was hallucinating his voice now?

“Lan Zhan! Hello? I know this is the Cloud Recesses, but that’s no reason to keep your head there too!”

Lan Wangji blinks. For a hallucination, it certainly sounded incredibly realistic.

So realistic, in fact, that he almost would have thought…

He looks up, and his breath catches in his throat.

“Wei… Ying?” He murmurs, and his husband beams back at him, the brightness of his grin seeming to cast away the shadows of dusk and outshine the stars themselves.

His arms are laden with large bags of various things, and his face only barely peeks out behind them, but undeniably, it’s him, and not any kind of illusion.

“Haha, surprise! I’m home early, can you believe it? I know you weren’t expecting me back so soon, but a couple of things came up at Lotus Pier and Jiang Cheng kicked me out, saying he couldn’t handle both those things and me at the same time. So rude!”

Wei Ying tries to blow a stray lock of hair out of his face. All it manages to do is make his cheeks puff up for a moment, and the lock of hair falls back onto his face. He huffs slightly, but doesn’t seem to try again. Quite frankly, it’s adorable, and Lan Wangji is suddenly struck with the thought that he gets to have this—that he gets to see this—and that it was for him.

“I can’t believe he doesn’t know that I’d help him with that even if he asked or not! But, I was missing you anyway, so I decided, fuck it, I’ll just go home now instead of later. I’ll see Jiang Cheng again when he comes for the Discussion Conference anyway, and I’ll let him know that his hospitality skills have gotten even shittier than they were before. Lan Zhan? Lan Zhan, are you okay? What are you doing, just standing there? Come on, help me with all this stuff! I said his hospitality skills are shit, but he still basically shoved all these lotus stems and the rest of this stuff onto me before I left- Oh!”

Lan Wangji sweeps him up into a crushing embrace, and his husband laughs, tossing aside the things he’s holding in favour of throwing his own arms around Lan Wangji and patting him on the back.

“You’re such a sap, er-gege.” He says teasingly, but he goes boneless in Lan Wangji’s hold all the same, hooking his chin over his shoulder. “I was only gone for a few days and look at you! Can’t keep your hands off me!”

“Wei Ying still owes me a promise.”

“What promise- Oh.” His husband giggles, the sounds clear and bright like the chimes of a bell. “That one, eh?”

He smirks, and taps a finger to his chin, casting a half-lidded gaze at Lan Wangji.

“Well, I wouldn’t break my promise to you, after all. Take me home, Lan Zhan, and let’s get started, shall we?”

Lan Wangji is all too eager to begin, and from the way that Wei Ying laughs as he’s hoisted up into Lan Wangji’s arms, his husband is all too happy to oblige.

Of course, it’s only later that they remember the things Wei Ying had brought back from Lotus Pier had been cruelly abandoned in the middle of one of the Cloud Recesses side paths, and the only reason that they do is because of the slightly red faced disciples that knock on their door the next morning to deliver them.

But it doesn’t actually hit him until later that week, halfway curled into Wei Ying’s arms-

His brother and uncle had the same colour eyes, and that colour ran in the Lan.

But he remembers.

His mother’s eyes were not gold.

And gold did not run in the Lan.

...Where did the gold come from? Certainly not from his father’s side. Perhaps, recessive on his mother’s, but even then, for such an uncommon colour, he can’t help but feel a little disquieted by this simple revelation.

Surely, it was nothing. But many of the things he had recently come to dismiss as nothings were growing into somethings, and he couldn’t be sure that this wouldn’t be one of them.

If something changes, he does not notice it himself, but his husband does, and sleepy eyes flick open in the moonlight to gaze down at him.

“...Everything okay...?” Wei Ying murmurs softly, and Lan Wangji forces himself to relax. He exhales, a long breath that tickles past the fine hairs at his husband’s neck and causes him to shiver slightly and tighten his arms around Lan Wangji. But it works, and the comforting weight of those arms around him seem to leach the last of the tension from him.

“It’s fine.” He says back quietly, pressing a soft kiss to the same spot. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe his grandparents or his mother’s side had golden eyes, and it simply skipped a generation.

It may well have been nothing after all.

“Go back to sleep, Wei Ying.”

“Mm... love you...” Wei Ying kisses the top of his head, and one of his hands slip their way into Lan Wangji’s robe to stroke over his back. As numb from the scar tissue as it is, the slight warmth of his hand there and the thought of gesture has Lan Wangji’s heart seizing up for a split second. Gods, he loves this man so much.

“I love you too.” He says, closes his eyes, and lets their intertwining scents of sandalwood and spice lull him into sleep.

Nothing to it, at all.