Stubborn Attempts

9 - Waking

Consciousness slowly started to seep through a dreamless sleep, a throbbing headache greeting him as he prepared his eyes for light. There was something heavy laying on his chest. His arms were wrapped around it tightly too. He flew them open immediately in an almost deathly panic, and when he had caught sight of exactly what that something was, he swore he felt himself physically short circuit that he momentarily lost bearing of his meridians.

It was Wei Ying, sleeping soundly against his body. He was hugging him. They were hugging. The whole time they slept.

Lan Wangji wanted to fly into the void. There was a sudden click in his mind and it felt like a volcano had vomited its entire contents on to him, feeling like he was going to combust from the heat. His breathing was uneven, like he'd been hyperventilating and he was so afraid it'd wake Wei Ying up.
Trying to piece his sanity back together, he took deep breaths to calm himself and  mentally counted a few repetitive figures  to help him ease up. Once he was sure he was less of an utterly terrified mess, he'd garnered the courage to take a good look at the object of his meltdown.

Wei Ying was positioned rather comfortably within his arms, one of his hands curled up on his chest. The other's lips were only slightly parted, a few silent breaths escaping them one after the other. His long lashes gently grazed his squished cheeks, the shadow they casted only making them look thicker under the light of dawn.
Lan Wangji swallowed the lump he didn't know was in his throat.
His hand started moving shakily from the other's waist and lifting itself north to the back of his head, lightly combing through the other's hair with the tips of his fingers.
He didn't understand why he was doing what he was doing, and at this point, he was beginning to accept that maybe he didn't need to understand every single thing anymore. A lot had been astir with himself since he met Wei Wuxian and no matter how hard he tried wracking his brain for answers as to why these things were happening, no conclusion would arrive. He discerned that perhaps it was time he stopped seeking the outlying answers, and instead begin to cradle and marvel at the beauty of the questions he had, and just how exhilarating it felt like to be centered at an abundance of them.

He was about to raise his hand to sweep Wei Ying's hair off of his face and to the back of his ear when he heard footsteps approaching. It was likely his Xiong Zhang and it was likely he was here to check on them as it was 5 AM already.

He had two options; push Wei Ying off of the bed in favor of saving them both the embarrassment of being seen together like this by his older brother, or pretend to sleep and not disturb Wei Ying's peaceful slumber in such a harsh and cruel way.  

He chose the second one exactly as the door opened quietly.

"Wangji. It is 5, I assume you're-"
His brother's soft voice paused and he could so vividly imagine the expression of shock he had on his face right at that moment. Confused and then smiling. Because his brother always smiled.

He was so sure he was going to get softly woken up along with Wei Ying so they could start preparing for the investigation. But the sound of footsteps retreating and the door closing behind them betrayed his expectations. Of course. Zewu Jun would never let him nor anyone feel the need to be ashamed, never on purpose.
He took it to mind to thank his brother later for his thoughtfulness discreetly.

Sighing in relief, Lan Wangji opened his eyes again, glossing fondly over Wei Wuxian's lovely features for a last minute more before he readied himself to commit the crime of waking him up and destroying the moment he felt the most enamored and defeated he'd ever found himself to be.

Placing his raised hand on the other's shoulder and giving it a delicate shake, he watched as Wei Ying's nose gave a tiny twitch, and he'd caught himself gawking at how adorable that split second was.