/*-+Jiang Cheng had felt spent. He couldn't bring himself up to retort, though he was still strict, but he did feel spent. He had no energy to be angry at others or even to swallow his own food. Zidian was not seen sparkling for over a month now and everyone was worried. In desperation, words had reached Jin Ling of his Uncle's state. Jin Ling had sent for his uncle then, asking to come back earlier than the conference so that he could be in Yunmeng for some days before taking up Jin duties completely.
But all this was unknown to the man sitting in a quiet meditative position at an inn in Caiyi town. Jin Ling was to meet him during lunch and it was already post breakfast. His nephew, no matter how temperamental was his only source of life at this point, so against his body and will, he headed out to wait for him at the restaurant below the inn.
The sound of laughter made him turn as he met a pair of red rimmed eyes turned upwards.
"Jiang Cheng what are you doing here?" Wei Wuxian laughed as if things were not awkward between them already. He grimaced at the perfect act.
"Waiting for Jin Ling."
"Come let's sit together." Wei Wuxian dragged Lan Wangi before his eyes and left him to follow. It was going to be a long wait, he realised, but at least he wouldn't have to pretend to be okay. That is the one thing he didn't have to pretend.
He paused reaching the table they picked. There was a very beautiful ornate box on the table. The memory was painfully thrust forward in his mind. The only memory about Lan Huan he refused to visit. Surely it can't be that. No. He reasoned with himself, taking a seat, eyes never leaving the box.
"Beautiful. Isn't it?" Wei Wuxian asked excitedly.
"Lan Wangji gift it to you?" said finally being able to peel his eyes away from the object. The memory was an assault to him. His heart was breaking as he saw them sitting together. He wanted it but he knew he couldn't have it. Wei Wuxian frowned at him and asked, "Why could it not be my gift to Lan Zhan?"
"You are broke." Jiang Cheng smirked at how easy it was to fall back into this pattern with Wei Wuxian.
"You know, I teach the kids, I earn too." he was crossing his arm with a huff.
"You have poor taste." Jiang Cheng couldn't help smirk wider.
"You..." Wei Wuxian had his eyes narrowed and he knew it was coming. He could see his brain working to make another insult. The one that could shut me up.
"Aish. You don't have someone you love, you wouldn't know how gifts work." Jiang Cheng felt a sting in his heart. He knew Wei Wuxian had meant it as a joke but with the turmoil going on in his life, it hit harder than it should have.
"True." he picked up the liquor that was placed between them at some point and drowned it.
"Aish. Cheng. I didn't mean it like that." Jiang Cheng knew it but couldn't being himself up to say anything. He pressed his lips together and the body burned under the assault of too much alcohol. The atmosphere between them was once again tense.
"This is my brother's gift. He lost it many years ago." Jiang Cheng's eyes snapped to the box. The familiarity, the look, the carvings. Lost it? Could it be? No. How could it be? He wanted to know but he couldn't ask. He didn't have to though. Wei Wuxian launched into an unasked explanation to dispel the awkwardness.
"Aish. I really what to know what is in it or who gave it to him for Jin Gunagyao to steal it and place it among his coveted possessions. Surely, not him or else he wouldn't have stolen it."
Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth. Meng Yao again. He stole it? He knew? He really knew? How could he? There was no one around when he gave it to ZeWu Jun. But he couldn't hold his thoughts on how and who and what's, like warmth after a long rainy season, his heart flew at a small realization.
"I have to go." he picked himself up, gave Wangji a courtesy, gave a small glare to Wei Wuxian, then he left. He didn't even pay heed to Wei Wuxian's hopeless tone as it faded behind him, "I wanted to thank him for the marriage talk with Master Lan."
Thank yous and sorries will be the death of this guy some day, he thought as he closed his room door. He tried to collect himself but failed again and again. One thought rang through his mind like a clarity bell and drowned him like empathy. He wasn't replaced. Lan Xichen never knew of his feelings to begin with.
All those times, he had thought Lan Xichen knew of his returned interests, then he began to think that he didn't care. He submitted to the fact that the ribbon held no meaning to Lan Xichen and the crown had been too loud an announcement to a man who didn't feel the same about him. When Lan Huan had confessed to him he had been angry and heartbroken, thinking, 'so, the ribbon did have a meaning. He was interested but why did I get replaced so quickly?'
He had always thought that Lan Xichen didn't feel as he did to begin with, which is why he was so easily replaced. But now, knowing Meng Yao saw the gift important enough to be stolen, to drive this gap between them, meant that there was something. Something more. What now? He had driven the very man he desperately wanted far away.
"Aaaah! What do I do now?" Zidan sparked.
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"ZeWu Jun." Lan Xichen's steps halted as he heard Master Wei from a distance. He turned to look at the endearing sight of his brother and Master Wei coming to him. A moment of jealousy passed in his heart before he told himself that he had no right to feel this way. Wangji had gotten a happy ending after going through the pain of dealing with death. He didn't. Because he was dense even when the one he loved was right before his eyes all through the years.
"ZeWu Jun." Master Wei bowed again and his brother addressed, "Brother."
"Wang..." his words were struck in his throat as his brother produced a familiar box from his lapels. He felt his body drain for some reason. He should be happy. But.. But he was anxious. When he reached out to take it, he could tell that his brother and Master Wei had seen his hands tremble.
"How? What?" He took a moment to compose himself into coherency but Master Wei had already began.
"I am really curious as to who gave ZeWu Jun a gift that is so precious to him. So very precious that.. It was.. Stolen by him." ZeWu Jun closed his eyes. He was grateful for people trying not to speak Jin Guangyao's name in front of him, but he wished people would stop doing that.
"Wanyin gave it to me." hearing no response for a while, he opened his eyes to watch the stunned expression of both his brother and his brother's partner. Master Wei was the first to recover.
"How long has this been going on? Why didn't I know of this?"
"Wanyin gave this to me around the beginning of Sunshot campaign."
"All those years ago?"
"Brother." he shifted his attention to Wangji who seemed to have finally recovered.
"Sect Leader Jiang is in Caiyi town."
He is here but did not come to see him? Is Wanyin that unwilling to see him? What could he do? He knew he didn't want to look the other way after knowing what he knew. He stroked the beautiful carvings on the box wanting to open it. It was too intimate to be opened out in the middle of people.
"Brother Xichen." he looked up in surprise at Master Wei's address. Instead of saying anything, he laughed, "I knew it."
"Brother. Go to Caiyi town. I will place this in your room." Wangji extended his hand and Xichen placed the box there, hesitant to part with it knowing what happened the last time he parted with it. Then he climbed Shuoyue, leaving no thoughts in his mind.
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"Uncle. When are we leaving?" Jiang Cheng knew that Jin Ling was ready and packed since he said they'd leave immediately but after the latest discovery, he was not.
"Sometime tomorrow." he didn't meet his nephew's questioning look but retrieved back to his room after a late lunch. Jiang Cheng was too busy finding ways to mend what he had broken. His foremost thought was courting. He knew that he'd be too poor at it, to begin with. Only someone like Lan Huan had the patience to deal with a temperament like his. He involuntarily smiled at his own thoughts and felt angry at himself for what he had done.
As if by miracle, his door burst open and a windblown Lan Xichen entered his room. It was clear that he was not dressed for flying and yet there was not a hair out of place, just the wide eyes that spoke of the sudden journey. He felt his heart surge up to feel that nothing stood between them, ever, but themselves. They were to blame for the distance between them, him more than Lan Xichen.
He simply saw Lan Xichen and a smile spread across his face, looking at the face he had missed ever since that night of undiluted aggressive passion. He had to take a long cold bath after that to calm himself. He cried himself to sleep too. For what? For nothing. Nothing at all. He was so foolish.
He could see Lan Huan hesitating, searching for something, afraid and awkward. He liked the image of an awkward ZeWu Jun in front of him as much as he like the image of the challenging, stormy, controlling one. If it was Lan Huan, he would like everything. He was too far gone, he scoffed at himself.
It was a mistake as Lan Huan flinched at the sound, "Give me a chance Wanyin. I know how you feel and you know how I feel. I know you are afraid, just let me prove to you that I will not leave. I will never leave you. I never left you to begin with. I never knew that you felt the same way, I just saw you suffering and recovering and so I kept my distance and braced for time. If anything I filled the loneliness, I knew only you could fill, with my sworn brothers. I never saw Jin Guangyao as anything more than my sworn brother, just like Da-Ge. You have to believe me Wanyin when I say that I love you."
In two stride, he saw as Lan Huan crossed the room and caught his arms in desperation. He felt pain string in his arm and welcomed the sensation as confirmation. This was not a hopeless wish or dream, it was real. He was here.
"Just.. just.. Give me a chan-"
Wanyin cut him off with his own lips. Embarrassment filled him up to the brim and he squeezed his eyes shut, loosing himself in the windblown warmth of Lan Huan. He snaked his arms around Lan huan's neck and breathed in the scent of wet earth after the rain. He breathed in as if he could keep it with him forever. Lan Huan did not respond, if anything his hands fell away. Jiang Cheng felt a little disappointed but what else did he expect after pushing someone away so harshly.
He was here and now Jiang Cheng vowed not to let go, not to push, never.
He pulled apart, knowing what he had to say, though finding it extremely embarrassing to push out the words, anyways. He turned his head to the side, pulling away, though not letting go.
"Lan Huan. I.. I love you." the breath that hitched besides him, gave him satisfaction.
"I.. I... Thank you. Thank you for this chance Wanyin." Jiang Cheng turned to him but before he could protest that it wasn't just a chance but reciprocation, he was kissed.
They were together. The thought made him ecstatic. He had not felt this happy since.. Since... Since a really long time. Well, he had been happy but he had never felt ecstatic, ever.
He laughed into the kiss and Lan Huan pulled away to look at him only for him to laugh harder. He saw the look in Lan Huan's eyes, all for him, so tender that he questi oned if he could hold on to it. No, no more doubts.
------
Lan Xichen looked at the bashful expression on the face of the person under him. Everytime he saw the look in Wanyin's eyes it unnerved him. It was the one thing he wanted to see and he saw it steadily. Not once did Wanyin close his eyes, taking him in as he took him in, watching each other's souls. The sight was truly breathtaking as his hair sprawled on the sheets, there was nothing sharp about his face now, as he moaned from pleasures that Lan Huan's hands gave his chest, his length, his buds. As he panted, eyes rolled and fluttered but never once did Wanyin look away or close his eyes.
Not until Lan Huan buried himself between the taunt thighs. He bit into the flesh, tasting Wanyin. He bit and sucked for Wanyin to hiss, then he licked the mark with joy. As he made his way up, slowly, savouring every moment until he came to the heavy, heady musk in between his legs did he see Wanyin's eyes closed as his chest rose and fell. He was sure to remember that this drove Wanyin over the edge.
"Open your eyes." Lan Xichen commanded and his heart melted with the way Wanyin looked back at him. The moment passed in a flash, interrupted by Wanyin's urgent hand that snaked through his head, pushed his face down on his cock and taunt legs capturing his neck, wrapped over his shoulder. His Wanyin likes it rough and so he did not wait but swallowed him whole until it hit the back of his throat. Choked.
He feasted until Wanyin came with a trembling shudder, all over his own stomach, Lan Huan's name was a moan on plush lips. Lan Xichen thought this was it, for now. He should be contended with this. He couldn't push Wanyin further and risk being pushed away. He was not going to ask for anything, just show his love and craving until Wanyin was willing to return those sentiments.
Besides, Wanyin breathed heavily, panting for air, eyes still wide open, locked on his, ever since he had entered the room was like a dream fulfilled in itself. He was ready to surrender to a cold shower if those eyes kept looking at him with such tenderness and love.
"Sleep. You are tired," he spoke, going in for a soft kiss and was met with a bite on his lips that made him groan. Wanyin looked irritated, "Like hell, I will."
He felt being flipped under the man of his longings before he saw it. Wanyin's eyes bore into him challengingly, urging him to say something. He lay still in anticipation of things he had not hoped to receive when he started this.
Wanyin kissed him and he willingly drowned, he anticipated the sharp fingers holding his jaw but they never came, instead, he felt slender fingers hooked into the soft, open and loose robes that were still on him and pulled it apart before Wanyin's hands moved over his nape, shoulders, ears, collars and everywhere. The feel of those hands, on him alone, made him close his eyes, not to mention the constant grinding despite Wanyin's body hovering in the air. Wanyin, was crouched around his body like an animal around his prey, ready to kill.
Then, the suppressed moan he had held back from touching and grinding escaped with a single harsh, painful flick on his sensitive nipples. Wanyin rubbed, pinched, pulled, plucked, flicked and did anything he could on both sides in utter unison, like an obsession until it was too painful to be touched, too sensitive. As the pain and pleasure began after long torture to his chest, he winched and burned with the need below. Wanyin's mouth meanwhile had travelled to his throat, licking his collar, bitting his shoulder until that mouth came down to his overly stimulated nipples. He licked each one softly soothing the pain, rolling his tongue around until the burning subsided but he was withering in another ecstasy of the wet mouth. Wanyin sure liked teasing him.
As Wanyin's tongue busied in flicking and stimulating his oversensitive nipples, nimble hands roamed his body, fingers, like a soft brush working on every inch until Lan Xichen couldn't take all the touching and teasing anymore. His hands, which lay quietly gripping the sheets pushed Wanyin shoulders to bring the man down to his throbbing member but Wanyin had other plans. He roled his tongue around his belly, licked down his trailed and kissed the base of his member and proceeded to hum, numbing his brains.
He knew he could come any moment now and Wanyin had not even touched him. What are you doing to me? Wanyin had him so wound up, on edge, not allowing him to fall, to release. It felt like a punishment, the most savoury punishment. Wanyin kept humming, licking, trialling bites and eventually, after a long time of being turned and twisted from the insides, Wanyin came upon his lips once again, lining both their members together. This time when Lan Xichen was kissed, the desire, the aggressive thrust of his lips, the grinding of Wanyin, hard for him again became one long low moan that was poured into Wanyin's mouth. It made him twitch uncontrollably, anything and everything that Wanyin did to him made him so. He shuddered. As if on cue, Wanyin slid his body low and flick the tip of his member with his hot, blazing tongue.
Finally, as if waiting for this moment, he pushed Wanyin as he came, barely saving the beautiful face from being smeared in his cum.
Lan Xichen's breathing was heavy and his eyes ready to close but he did not miss the beautiful smirk on Wanyin's face that slowly turned into a smoulder that twisted his stomach and made him weightless. He had felt his heart tuck before but he only read about the butterflies. So, this is how it felt?
Lan Xichen instantly pulled Wanyin into an embrace and laid him beside his own body, sharing simple warmth. None had spoken ever since their lips first touched. If he knew anything by now, he would be the first to speak because Wanyin would simply keep on going in silence.
"Wanyin. I love you." That was all Lan Xichen could say and he would say it over and over again. But he didn't expect the words to resonate.
"I love you Lan Huan." Barely a whisper but loud enough to be heard Lan Xichen had his arms under Wanyin's neck, holding the other's head in the crook of his neck, breathing softly at his shoulder, the nakedness, lined against his side. He had grown up to be handsome, different from the young man he remembered. He looked into Wanyin's eyes but he did not find what he was looking for, or rather, he happily did not find what he was looking for. Hesitation, fear, reservation or reluctance.
The returned words were utterly simple as they halted his heart. Did he mean them? He did, he did mean them even back then but did it mean that Wanyin would give his heart or did it mean that Wanyin would give him a chance? Where was the fear from just a few days ago? What had changed? He did not know nor he dared to ask, fearing the answer. More so, he was afraid, come next morning or even a few minutes later, he would be pushed away. He dare not break the blissful moment but his fear wouldn't let him enjoy it either.
Lan Xichen just wanted to be in the comfort of soft breathing by his side that spoke of reassurance when Wanyin spoke, "I need to clean up."
He sighed, a little fear snaking up to his throat. He didn't want to let it take over.
"A few more minutes." Lan Xichen found himself asking, something he had never dared before. If this moment broke, who knew when it would come if it would ever. Much to his relief, Wanyin did not get up, easing some of his worries. Then he felt Wanyin nose buried in his neck and a smile on his neck.