"Of course." Wei WuXian stood up, not quite as smoothly as he'd like, and drew Suibian from its sheath. He channeled his spiritual energy into the blade, feeling the blade's 'awareness' slide into himself, creating the intimate connection between cultivator and sword. In response, it glowed softly. "Hello, my friend," he crooned, feeling the connection reach deeper into his body... into his soul. "I missed you, too."
"Where is the Yin Tiger Seal?"
Jin ZiXuan stood, motioning to Lan XiChen. Abruptly, the Jin sect leader's mouth snapped closed. Muffled attempts to yell erupted from his nose. "Jiang ZongZhu, Wei Gongzi, esteemed guests," he bowed low, back parallel to the ground. Standing straight again, he continued, "I must apologize on behalf of my family. My father has a woman... friend in Lanling City who he likes to... spend time with and drink tea with. Unfortunately, one of her other male... friends she drinks tea with has a disease. He shared that disease with my father's friend and she, unfortunately, passed that disease onto my father. This disease is incurable at the moment, and even more unfortunately, it causes the... bearers to have... certain behavior changes. This obsession with the Yin Tiger Seal is just one of the issues to have arisen from this disease. Another, of course, is his belief that he should be named Xiandu. When I left Koi Tower a few nights ago to apologize to my wife's family for my father's actions, my mother insisted she would have my father under control; there is medication that keeps him... more aware of reality. Before she could give him the medicine, though, he overpowered her and sent her to the infirmary for treatment. I am ashamed of his actions, to my mother and to all of you here, and will be taking steps upon my return to Koi Tower to assume the sect leader position."
"Your father caught a disease from a whore?" One man brayed. Jin ZiXuan looked miserably embarrassed as he bowed again.
Jiang YanLi rose. "Come, Husband. Let's take your father home."
Still in a bow, Jin ZiXuan pleaded, "Please forgive my father's actions." He helped Jin GuangShan to stand and led him from the Hall. "Come, Father. Let's go home."
Wei WuXian wanted to laugh in delight. Jin ZiXuan, ostensibly 'assisting' his parent, had instead placed one of Wei WuXian's talismans on the man's shoulder. The talisman forced the wearer to be docile and only do exactly what he was told. Fortunately for him, he was still under Lan Zhan's Silencing spell, so could only shake silently in delight.
This scandal was sufficiently large enough that more people were interested in discussing it than remembering to inquire about the Seal. Which, Wei WuXian supposed, was one of the reasons Jin ZiXuan was willing to humiliate his father and sect like that. The other major reason, of course, being that he now had control over LanlingJin.
Wei WuXian was looking forward to celebrating all of the news he'd heard that night with Lan WangJi.
Except the GusuLan left Lotus Pier almost as quickly as the LanlingJin did.
~*~
Two months later, Wei WuXian dual cultivated with Jiang Cheng. The results were astounding. From one day to the next, he grew strong enough to be able to fly on his sword again. Not that he particularly wanted to fly on Suibian.... He did: he remembered how freeing it felt to be up in the air. He didn't: he remembered free falling.
~*~
A month after that, Jiang YanLi arrived at Lotus Pier for a sword lesson. "Shijie..." Wei WuXian looked closely at his martial sister. "Did you?"
"Dual cultivate with A'Xuan?" She giggled and ducked her head. "Yes. By the way... you're going to be an uncle again."
"You shouldn't be sword fighting while pregnant!"
"I'm pregnant, A'Xian. Not helpless."
~*~
After the second dual cultivation session, Wen Qing asked Wei WuXian to visit her for a check up. Walking down the road to her clan, he stopped upon seeing a man in white walking in the opposite direction. "Lan Zhan!"
"Wei Ying."
He ran up to his friend. "I'm on my way to Wen Daifu to have her check on my progress. Where are you headed? Can it wait a bit? You can come with me, and then I'll go with you!"
"Night hunt. Not urgent."
"Excellent!" Wei WuXian smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. He was pronounced progressing nicely by the doctor.
The night hunt was at a small village who was dealing with a mischievous ghost. It was easily settled, but by then, it was getting dark. As the village boasted no inns, the headmaster offered a room in his house for the night as recompense. "My daughters are grown and living in their own homes," he stated. "Their room is the only one available. We can't permit you to travel at night or to sleep on the road when there is a perfectly good room right here."
"Mmmm."
The daughter's room was small, but contained a rather large bed. "Four girls slept here," the headmaster announced proudly. "All grown now and married. All with children of their own." Wei WuXian mouthed the proper blessings and congratulations. "So you should have plenty of room to share it," the man continued.
"It's more than satisfactory," Lan WangJi gave a small bow and closed the door behind them.
Wei WuXian's eyes skittered all around the room, avoiding the bed. I want to kiss him. Does he want to kiss me? It's been months. I don't even know how to ask! Do you just blurt it out? Or... are there roundabout ways to hint 'hey kiss me until I can't remember my name'? He called me his zhiji.... But zhiji's are not just physical, right? It's a mental thing? I've read of zhijis who cultivate a celibate path, so.... Physical intimacy is obviously not necessary. He was startled from his self reflections by Lan WangJi throwing silencing talismans at the walls.
"The headmaster is still in the courtyard," Lan WangJi spoke from where he stood by a window. "I don't feel he needs to hear any conversation we might have."
"Good idea," Wei WuXian laughed, and cringed at how unnatural it sounded. Nervous. I sound nervous. I'm never nervous. What do I have to be nervous about? I'm babbling in my head. Stop, Wei Ying. There's nothing here to be nervous about. It's just Lan Zhan. And a bed. A large bed that we can definitely roll around on together.
Lan WangJi abandoned his position at the window to walk over to the privacy screen. "I'll just change for bed?"
"Sure."
With Lan WangJi on the other side of the screen, it made sense for Wei WuXian to disrobe on this side. He must have been slower, or Lan Zhan must have been faster as he was only partially undressed when Lan Zhan came back out. "Wei Ying...."
Wei Ying shrugged out of his inner robe to stand before his friend clad only in his shirt and trousers, bare feet curling against the wooden floor. "You're beautiful." With his hair down, even his forehead ribbon was missing, and clad only in a silk sleeping robe, Lan Zhan looked.... Wei Ying's brain couldn't come up with an appropriate description. 'Beautiful' was too bland. "Can I kiss you?" I didn't mean to say that!
The kiss was hungry. Four months of being separated seemed to mean they had to learn how to kiss all over again. Their lips and tongues apparently remembered how to act, but their teeth kept interfering.
Or maybe... maybe Lan Zhan's teeth knew exactly what they were doing. Wei Ying keened as those teeth bit down around his nipple. When did I take off my shirt? He woke up enough from being kissed senseless to realize neither of them had clothes on. There was sudden movement, and he found himself kneeling over his friend's hips. There was something wet and hard pulsing at the crack in his backside, and oh, that feels... weird. And good. And weird. And....
"Shift back a bit," a deep voice ordered.
He obeyed, because, how could he not? A hand sneaked between his thighs, there was a bit of fumbling and then a hand on his cock. "Fuck," he breathed. "Fuck that feels good." The hand slowly sliding up and down his length pulled a bit, forcing him to lower his hips. And then it let go. He whined in frustration, "Lan Zhan...."
"Together," his friend answered. "Watch."
Wei Ying looked down to see both of their cocks pulsing , one above the other. Then a large hand enveloped them both. "Fuck! Don't stop. Lan Zhan...." His hips shoved forward, pressing himself through the fist. "This feels...."
"Yes." Lan Zhan's face was screwed up, showing his own pleasure. "Wei Ying... I'm going to finish."
"Me, too." Stamina? What stamina? What was pride in being able to hold out for a long time worth when Lan Zhan's hand and cock was stroking him to release? He shuddered and made punched out, unintelligible noises as he released all over his friend's chest. Lan Zhan quickly followed, but he used his hand to cover the tip. Then with his clean hand, he wiped up some of the mess on his chest with a finger and licked it. "Lan Zhan! You ate it?"
"Mmm," the older one acknowledged the obvious. "Salty."
"Why would you do such a thing?" Wei WuXian allowed his wobbly arms to collapse, falling sideways onto the bed.
"Wanted to know what you tasted like."
"Why would you need to know what that tastes like? It's not like you're going to use your.... Lan Zhan.... Were you really?" Thinking of using your mouth on me? His brain finished what his mouth was too thin skinned to speak.
In response, Lan Zhan held out his hand, dripping with his own release, towards his friend's face. "I have thought about it." Unspoken was, 'have you?'
The honest answer was 'no'. The more complete answer was, 'I am now.' Wei Ying crunched up to better reach the hand. "You smell good," he offered before licking a swipe down the middle of the palm. "Salty, is right." It was getting cold and congealing, and wasn't exactly a pleasant taste. It also wasn't entirely unpleasant: he'd eaten far worse. Maybe it will taste better when it's still warm? Some foods are like that..... Not that this is food....
~*~
Wei WuXian returned to Lotus Pier via Koi Tower. "Shijie," he whined. "Why not?"
"Because you're not a disciple," she answered serenely. "You're a smart boy; I'm sure you can figure out how to make them."
"Just because I can figure it out eventually doesn't mean you shouldn't make my life easier by showing me how to make them," he continued his whine. "Someone already showed Nie HuaiSang how to make a butterfly." He pouted the most spectacular pout of his career.
"Then go bother Nie HuaiSang." She reached out to tussle his hair. "Silly boy to think I would give you proprietary spells."
~*~
He wanted to head straight to the Unclean Realm; Jiang WanYin ordered him home. "You have responsibilities here. Or have you forgotten you're my Head Disciple?"
"I haven't forgotten," he whined. "I just have other responsibilities."
"You can write to Lan WangJi using paper and a messenger like the rest of us," Jiang WangYin ordered and pointed his Head Disciple towards the training grounds. "Sword practice and then there's a group of juniors scheduled to attend a night hunt. The senior who was supposed to oversee them was injured when one of their talismans blew up. So you need to find a new senior."
"I can do it!" Wei WuXian shelved his whining for another time. "I can extend the hunt to the Unclean Realm. We can all learn the trick of making Jin butterflies." He grinned, completely unrepentant.
"You are hopeless," Jiang WanYin sighed. "Do as you will. Just bring them all home in one piece."
~*~
It was a successful hunt. And Nie HuaiSang was happy to share his knowledge.
The new problem, then, was that Jin butterflies were, obviously, Jin. And Nie HuaiSang's bird version was... a bird. He needed something that Lan Zhan would know meant 'Wei WuXian sent this!' But no one else would be able to guess. A lotus blossom was too obvious. "Lily," he mused. "Good fortune and happiness? Or should I make it a gentian? Like the flowers outside the Jingshi?" He shook his head. "Too obvious again." He altered the spell to create a lily, cast it with a whisper. "Lan Zhan.... Look what I learned how to do! We can send messages so easily now!" He sent it off, and then sent a more traditional letter containing the spell and instructions on how to modify it, so his friend could respond.
A few days later, a translucent white bunny wearing a Lan forehead ribbon hopped its way onto Wei WuXian's shoulder. "Hello, Zhiji."
Wei WuXian burst into laughter. "Lan Zhan... You are so adorable."
Dear readers.
Thanksgiving was quiet and a bit sad. I grew up eating turkey and fixings for dinner. I had a large family and we'd usually eat with the extended family, too. Big birds, lots of side dishes and desserts enough to put anyone into a sugar coma.
My family (small and no extended family nearby) now will eat turkey, but only on Thanksgiving. None of us appreciate the leftovers in any shape or form. So... cooking a turkey, even a turkey breast, was obviously not going to happen. Roast chicken is just not the same. Instead, I made a lasagna, which was really tasty.
I still miss that aroma of roasting turkey, though.
Thank you for reading, your comments, and votes.
- Aitch.