Second Time Around

3. Koi Tower

"I dreamed it, you know. Her hair was curlier than a pig's tail, and shiny like polished gold." Was that all just a dream? Rescuing the Wen, living in the Burial Mounds, being A'Yuan's older brother, killing Jin ZiXuan, killing Shijie. Dying. Meeting Tiffany Waters and Ava?

"Wei Ying has strange dreams."

Wei Ying started laughing and sputtering over the meatball in his mouth. "I dreamed of you, too. Back when I was studying in the Cloud Recesses," he choked out once his mouth was clear. "I dreamed we retired from night hunting and lived in a cottage on a small farm together." He decided to keep quiet about Lan Zhan taking on the woman's role in that dream.

"You dreamed of me?"

"Of course! I dreamed about all my friends back then!" None of which were as cozy as his dreams of Lan Zhan, but they all showed up at various times. "I've even dreamed that I was an older brother to a little boy." He sobered up and took a long sip of his wine. "It made me realize how much I want to be a dad and how bad I'd be at it.

"Are you getting inundated with marriage offers? Jiang Cheng is. It seems like every clan in Yunmeng is sending marriage proposals for their daughters. So many of the disciples at Lotus Pier have gotten married in the last few months. Have to build up the Sect numbers somehow, right? If you can't recruit them, bear them." He took another gulp of wine, feeling dribbles running down his neck.

"Is Wei Ying getting marriage offers?"

"Nah.... I'm... not a good candidate. No family for one. Then there's my demonic cultivation and all that." Ha laughed trying to lighten the mood and only sounding bitter. "Lucky for me, there are a lot of orphans from the war. Once Lotus Pier is rebuilt, I'll adopt."

"Wei Ying is a good candidate," Lan Zhan countered angrily. "Smart, brave, connected to all the major Sects. The Hero of the Sunshot Campaign."

Wei WuXian looked down at the empty jar in his lap. "Since when was I connected to the GusuLan?" He tried to laugh again. "I remember being kicked out of there for being a nuisance."

Lan WangJi's gaze was almost physical. "XiongZhang thinks very highly of you. As does Nie ZhongZhu. When you talk seriously, they listen carefully. I think Jin ZiXuan also thinks favorably of you now. Jiang WanYin will argue with you over every point, but he does listen. To have the ear of the four great Sect leaders? Not many who aren't sect leaders themselves have that."

"And what does the second jade of Lan think of this demonic cultivator?" Wei Ying looked up to meet his friend's eyes. He wasn't really sure he wanted to hear the answer. He tried for so many years to become friends with this man. Only to be rebuffed again and again. Then again, he really did want to know since his previous assumption about being brought back to Gusu was wrong. Maybe his assumption that they had never become friends was also wrong?

"WangJi thinks highly of Wei WuXian, too."

"But you hated me!" he blurted out.

Lan Zhan shook his head. "Never hated.... Just didn't know..." The jade's eyes sank to his lap. "You were so different. Unlike anyone I had ever met. Like a typhoon: wild and unpredictable."

Another bitter laugh forced its way out of Wei WuXian's chest. "That's me! Utter chaos." He tossed the empty wine jug aside and uncorked a fresh one. "So how can someone like you think highly of chaos?"

"To be in a storm can be scary. To see one out to sea? It's wild and yet...."

"Ahhh." Wei WuXian drained the jug in three long gulps. "Maybe that's what fathers with unmarried daughters think, too. A storm viewed from afar is pretty to watch. But you don't want it in your house."

"Who would want a father-in-law so incapable of seeing the man you are? Wei Ying might be as powerful and unpredictable as a storm, but you would never harm your loved ones. You'd harm yourself before you could ever harm someone you cared about."

Wei WuXian fumbled with his next jar, food completely forgotten. How Lan Zhan, of all people, could see that so clearly and yet his own shidi had failed to remember that in their last lifetime? "You can't just say things like that, Lan Zhan! You have to give a man fair warning! Too many compliments is bad for the mind, you know. I might even start to believe them one day."

A few hours later, at the Lan's bedtime, Wei WuXian left the second jade to his own devices. His steps were more careful than normal as he tried to walk without appearing overly drunk. With no interest in either going to bed or returning to the banquet, he turned his steps to a garden. The Jin were apparently not expecting guests to walk there at night as there were no lanterns lit along the shadowed paths. Spying a tree with a low lying branch, he started giggling.

There had been a tree like this at the last Phoenix Mountain hunt. Did a kiss in that lifetime even count? Had that maiden stolen his first kiss? Or did he still have it? He sat on the branch, back against the tree and wondered again who she was. His outer robe had long flowing sleeves, so he couldn't recreate the moment with arm wrappings.... He pulled his hair ribbon out and blindfolded himself with it. He could feel his heartbeat rising a bit.

She had been strong. Strong enough to hold him still. He had felt... shocked. Exactly like this: shocked. Cool lips were pressed against his. You again! This time he was determined to see her. Once again, he reached for the blindfold and once again, she prevented him by holding his wrists and pressing them against the tree over his head. He felt light headed at being overpowered. Light headed as the kiss increased intensity. She pulled back a bit, and he found himself trying to chase after her lips. "Don't stop," he whispered. The hands holding his wrists fell away, one to hold his head and tilt it, the other to knead his shoulder. It was intoxicating. More intoxicating than wine! She kissed his lips wider and wider until she suddenly shoved her tongue in to caress his own. Blindfold forgotten, Wei Ying reached out to clutch at any body part that presented itself to his needy hands.

This was heaven. Except hot. Very hot. He felt feverish and shaky and more than slightly aroused. He never wanted it to end. He wanted more. They touched with their hands and lips and nowhere else, and his body ached for more. To be touched, to be embraced. To feel the press of her body against his. To feel her legs slide against his. To see what she looked like.

She had kissed him twice now, both times when he was blindfolded. She knew who he was. That was an unfair advantage. He swiftly reached back and pulled the blindfold off.