❃ 𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 ❃

🔹𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊🔹

That night Wei Wuxian could not sleep.

Instead, he dreamt.

In this dream he was a child again. He was in a snowbank with nothing but himself and his clothes to keep him warm, dogs the same color as the night air, both biting at his bare ankles.

He hadn't had a dream like that in a while. It took him by the collar and yanked him close, chattering at the shell of his ear with the fierceness of a specter. The dogs were unrelenting, the cold fitting snug into the pit of his stomach. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't, because those dreams—like many dreams he had—wouldn't allow him to.

Wei Wuxian woke up.

It was very late in the night and despite the hour, Wei Wuxian sat up on the bed, his red under robes loose about his shoulders as he leaned forward, hands wiping at the beads of sweat along his brow, and the wetness of his eyes. Another nightmare, memories of a life long past. He only hoped he hadn't woken Lan Wangji.

Exhaustion pulled at his bones that night, holding him deeply into his dreams. All of his warmth and positivity was replaced with clawing anxiety. It squeezed at his joints, rushed endlessly down his spine. The horrors of his life were coming. They were coming fast. Tragedy upon tragedy. So many things lost. His mind was unmerciful even in his sleep. Circling around his fears, his pain.

Resentful spirits teared at his mind, screaming at him, with him. Darkness and fury burrowed its way into the emptiness of his core, forcefully mending his broken body back together. Decaying flesh churned in his stomach. Fierce Corpses clawed at him, never letting him rest—Voices called out to him, asking what he wanted, if he could give them what they needed. Revenge. Justice.

Wei Wuxian was born on the road, the child of rogues and exiles, the eventual orphan of orphans.

The dusty streets and trash-built temporary huts of Yiling were his home. Lotus Pier, as it was and as it is, with all the anger and pain, was yet his home. Cloud Recesses, too, was home to him. The Burial Mounds were, still, home; the home that broke him, the home where he had built something, for a while now.

Wei Wuxian replayed Jiang Cheng's words from earlier that day. How the Jins had threatened to call off his Shijie's marriage. How Jiang Cheng had said him that Madam Yu was furious with him. How Jins had warned to take his Lan Wangji and the Wens captive.

Wei Wuxian did not know what was his fault. Why does life had to give him so many tragedies?

He had just wanted to protect the innocent but ws he not only putting his life at stake but also the one who loved him!

Trying to calm his breath, Wei Wuxian breathed deep; and it was then that the bed shifted, and a warm arm slipped around his waist. Shoulders sinking, Wei Wuxian sighed, guilt lining his posture for waking his husband.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji breathed against Wei Wuxian's bared shoulder, his concern clear in the soft tone in which he spoke.

"I didn't mean to wake you, Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian murmured, head dipping down guiltily, wetness still clinging to his lashes.

"It's alright." Lan Wangji said, holding his hand. "Wei Ying cannot sleep?" Lan Wangji asked then.

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath and held Lan Wangji's hand tight.

"No." He whispered.

"Nightmare?" Lan Wangji asked.

"I am fine." Wei Wuxian sighed. This was not the first time he was woken up by nightmares. He must have already got used to it but he just could not!

Lan Wangji couldn't see Wei Wuxian's expression in the dim light.

"It wasn't a bad dream. It was a memory. That's why it was so vivid." Wei Wuxian said in a low whisper.

Lan Wangji nodded a few times as he processed Wei Wuxian's answer. Those few words told him everything he needed to know. A memory from a past Wei Wuxian's wasn't fond of and probably didn't care for remembering. It must have been something truly hurtful to cause him to wake at the middle of the night.

Wei WuXian's life had been devastated by bad luck, loss, and danger again and again. It was like he couldn't stop suffering until the suffering ended him. Just thinking about the events of the past — the ones he was present and the ones he wasn't — caused his heart to ache. Lan Wangji was glad that he was there this time to help Wei Wuxian feel better.

Lan Wangji most definitely felt for his husband, as if he wanted to carry his pain away every time Wei Wuxian was reminded of its existence. He could see the willingness in his eyes even in the scarce light. He wondered if Lan Wangji would ever stop feeling that it was his responsibility to appease him.

Probably not.

Then again, it wasn't like Wei Wuxian didn't feel the same way about Lan Wangji pain and the suffering he goes through. He would jump at the first opportunity to comfort Lan Wangji and make him smile.

Sighing, Wei Wuxian untangled his hand from Lan Wangji's and moved a little closer. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder as he leaned his head against Lan Wangji's shoulder, still with his legs stretched on the wooden bed. Lan Wangji smiled and relaxed his body against his. Wei Wuxian resembled a child seeking comfort, and he was glad to console him for as long as he needed it.

"Lan Zhan..., kiss me... Make your Wei gege feel better." Wei Wuxian pouted, trying to ease the environment.

One hand cupping Wei Wuxian's cheek, Lan Zhan studied his face for a moment in the darkness.

"Mn."

And then he was pressing their lips together. Gentle, sweet, slow. It tasted salty, like Wei Wuxian's tears, but that was okay. Lan Wangji's other arm tightened around Wei Wuxian's neck as he kissed him, and Wei Wuxian felt like he might catch on fire. Or melt. Lan Wangji was holding him, Lan Wangji was kissing him, Lan Wangji loved him.

"Lan Zhan," he whispered, their lips still brushing together.

"Wei Ying," Lan Wangji murmured.

"Thank you."

"Wei Ying does not have to thank me for anything."

"But I want to. Thank you for being here with me when I have no one else. Thank you for being with me every time I need you."

"Wei Ying, you must sleep." Lan Wangji said instead.

"Lan er gege, you are being mean! Should you not say, Wei Ying, I love you so I will always stay by you or something like that?"

"Does Wei Ying not know that I love him and will always stay by him?"

"I know but still..."

"Then there is no need to say it."

"Lan Zhan, be romantic, will you?"

Lan Wangji studied his face again for another whole minute before nodding, "Mn."

Just when Wei Wuxian was about to laugh at Lan Wangji's seriousness when Lan Wangji stripped off his loose robes and kisses his neck and began sucking the spot.

"Lan Zhan, this is not romantic! This is erotic!" Wei Wuxian cried.

"Does Wei Ying not want?" Lan Wangji asked licking the mark he just made.

"Of course I like it. But HanGuang-Jun, aren't you afraid that the Yiling Patriarch will take advantage on you?"

"Yiling Patriach has already taken advantage of me."

"Lan Zh-... mmphhh..."

Wei Wuxian's mouth was silenced and Wei Wuxian pinched Lan Wangji's hips.

Well, the night was still long. They could still enjoy it.