lastjinstanding | Brothel meme continued

No, clearly the only one traumatized by this whole thing was Lan Zhan. It's uncomfortable, but if the Lan leader had to choose, he would obviously select himself to endure a hardship over anyone else anyway. He breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed Yuan might be able to roll over and fall back asleep. If at all possible, he might even forget what he heard last night!

Unfortunately the Chief Cultivator has no luck today at all. He had almost made it to the table to start his tea when he heard Wei Wuxian call. Flustered, he hurries back to bed with the talisman in hand.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" He whispers, his cheeks coloring again now that he has to break the news to his husband. "We've already made our son suffer enough for one night with our indiscretions!"

Wuxian blinks sleepily at his husband, confused by how flustered he is.

"What?" His gaze flicks to the talisman as he sits up, running a hand through his messy hair. He has just woken up, so he can be forgiven for taking a little longer to put the pieces together, right? Understanding dawns after a second, though.

"...it didn't work?" He frowns "that doesn't make any sense, let me see that."

Because of course he's thinking about how he did the talisman wrong rather than the effects of doing so.

He normally is forgiven about these things, especially when he's so cute doing it. Lan Zhan would be so much more patient about it though if he wasn't so terribly embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Wei Ying!" He hisses. Fix this! This is social stuff and he's better at it. Except for the times when Wei Wuxian makes social things worse and then Lan Zhan regrets him ever allowing his husband to speak.

Either way, he hands over the talisman and then lights a candle for him to see.

Wuxian blinks at the scolding tone, pouting a little bit as he takes the talisman and gets a closer look at it.

"Oh I see what I did," he says after a moment "I put these two characters the wrong way round, so it wouldn't keep the noise in, instead it kept it ou-oooh... oh. Yes. I see... the problem."

He glances towards the screen and winces, looking up at Lan Zhan.

"How much did he hear, do you think? Did he say anything?"

It is everything he can do to keep from moving the candle to light the talisman on fire. Why wasn't his husband focused on the actual problem yet! The most Lan that ever Lan-ed was shamelessly un-Lan right in front of their brand new son!

It isn't physically possible to get any more red faced than Wangji as Wuxian finally connects the dots. "No but.." He looks back toward the screen and wants to cry. The boy's head was under his pillow! He must've heard everything.

"I need to meditate." I.e. He needs to go kneel for a while, but thankfully at his rank, he doesn't have to do it in such a public place anymore. He'd likely go to the Back Mountain alone and then end up in the cold springs for a ritually frigid and lengthy dip. It was unlikely they would see him again today though.

Wuxian sighs softly and gives his husband an impossibly fond look. He's embarrassed, yes, but he can see how difficult this is for somebody with Lan Zhan's level of propriety and self-control - he's never, ever going to see the funny side.

"I'll talk to him," he says softly - he'll apologise, they'll probably laugh about it, and then they can all move on. "You do what you need to do, it's okay."

Lan Zhan can spend the day metaphorically wringing his hands over it all and Wuxian will have smoothed everything over by dinner.

And next time he'll get the talisman right - though he resigns himself to no sex with Yuan in the Jingshi for the foreseeable future. He'll probably be staying with the other disciples soon anyway.

Embarrassing mishaps aside, he is looking forward to spending the day getting to know his son again.

Wangji is so grateful for his husband in this moment. There are many moments he has this feeling, but that doesn't make this time any less genuine. He leans in and kisses Wuxian softly. After that, he practically flees from the house.

Jingyi returns to his bed within minutes of the five o'clock bell. He greets everyone, including Zizhen with the utmost calm, though.. his eyes might have the slightest red tint to them. At least two of the other Lan boys keep looking in Zizhen's direction and whispering and giggling.

Jingyi's duties keep getting in the way of a chance for them to talk privately and by the time he middle of the afternoon rolls around, the young man surprises him to suggest they go check on Yuan.

After an apology from his father followed by a frank conversation about what Yuan was used to, and a firm assurance it wouldn't happen again, regardless, they had spent most of the morning just talking; filling in the years since they saw each other last. His father told him stories, too, of when he was younger, and Yuan uses them to flesh out the hints of memory he'd managed to cling to.

Zizhen is more than happy to go and visit Yuan - he's spent the morning alternating between trying to compose an embarrassingly earnest poem about Jingyi, and composing a letter to his father before deciding that the former was terrible and the latter unnecessary when he's going home in a few days anyway.

When the two arrive, Wei Wuxian and Yuan are sitting on the porch of the Jingshi, with Yuan giggling as his father tells another story of his childhood. He looks up and sees them approaching, lifting his hand in a wave.

"Jingyi, Zizhen, hello!"

Jingyi would've died of embarrassment from the poem, but secretly loved it.

It had seemed rude to leave Zizhen alone with the other disciples while he snuck off to talk to Yuan, so he'd had to bring him along. Unfortunately by bringing him along, Jingyi now wasn't sure how to steal a few minutes alone with Yuan to ask him a few questions. It was far from ideal and maybe if he'd been sleeping last night instead of plotting how to steal kisses, he might have thought this through better.

However, he sees renewed hope when he spots a wonderful distraction- er- a familiar face they are all very glad is home safe and sound. He quickens his step to come join them. "Hi Yuan! Hello Wei-qianbei! Welcome home! How did everything go?"

"A-Yuan! You're making friends!" Wuxian says brightly, nudging his son with his shoulder. Yuan smiles a little sheepishly and ducks his head with a nod.

"Everything is fine, all in hand." he answers Jingyi's question briskly - which is at least mostly true, and that's good enough right? No sense in worrying any of them, least of all Yuan. "Why don't I leave you boys to do whatever mischief I hope you're up to?" he adds, standing up with a grin.

"We can come back if you're busy, Wei-qianbei?" Zizhen adds politely, glancing between the two of them "We didn't mean to intrude."

(Not that he wants to sneak off with Jingyi on his own or anything)

~~~

In Qinghe, Huaisang sits down in his private rooms and stares at the comb in his hands. It's the first time he's really stopped - other than sleeping last night, poorly - since he left Jiang Cheng, the first time he's actually given himself a chance to feel what he's feeling.

The ride back from the fight was too hellishly unpleasant to think about much, and then it was a flurry of activity getting ready to travel back to Qinghe, and then he'd basically just collapsed into bed. This morning, he had been arranging spies - he'd taken most of his spies out of Lanling after Jin Guangyao had been dealt with, leaving only one or two to keep an eye on things. Clearly that hadn't been enough. Orders had been passed on for them to ferret out any remaining plotters who might wish Jin Ling harm, and to ingratiate themselves with the elders in order to prevent anything like this happening in the future.

He wishes he could say it was something nice he was doing for Jin Ling's sake, but in truth this is about protecting something Jiang Cheng cares about and he knows it. Which brings him to the comb.

Did Jiang Cheng even mean to give it to him? He doesn't know, he doesn't think so - or if he did he probably regrets it as much as he clearly regrets them sleeping together (could it still be euphemistically called 'sleeping together' if there wasn't even a bed involved?) Huaisang still isn't going to give it back, though, not unless he's asked for it. The bruises will fade and this will be all he has left of that shining, glorious moment where he had everything he wanted.

But it's over now.

Jingyi smiles glad everything had gone well back at Lotus Pier. He was just sorry he hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to Jin Ling like everyone else had. Stupid concussion. Now that he thinks about it though, why had Wei Wuxian been later than the rest of them? Huh.

Wait what? He looks at Zizhen with surprise. Hadn't he wanted to come visit Yuan? Oh, duh, he was just being polite. Jingyi is torn. He should also be polite, but he really wants to speak to Yuan. He sighs. He has to be polite. He bows to Wei Wuxian. "Of course! We'd be happy to come at a more convenient time. You've just come home, after all."

~~~

Jiang Cheng stares off in the distance through a large window in his nephew's bedchamber pretending to not hear his nephew cry. The fever is spiking again, making the young man's healing sleep turn into nightmares. His heart wrenches every time he hears a different dead relative called out, though his own name is far and away the most frequent on Ling's lips. Well, of the relatives. If he never had to hear the name 'Yuan' again, he just might die a happy man.

He is completely exhausted. He spends his nights and when his nephew gets feverish here in his tower. The first night, he even slept beside him. He's been doing all he can to play the role as surrogate sect leader and start his hunt for those who were loyal to Xiaowen. It's not lost on him that they're in a position now of both of their clans and homes being in vulnerable positions functioning on a reduced number of disciples and limited leadership. He forgave Wei Wuxian years ago for breaking his promise, but he could really have used a brother to watch over Lotus Pier about now.

As another sob escapes Ling's lips, Cheng closes his eyes and places his hand gently on the boy's head, stroking his hair. He feels so incredibly alone.

"Oh, no," Wuxian waves them off "A-Yuan and I have plenty of time to talk. I'll let you have fun. Ah, the things we used to get up to when we came to Cloud Recesses for studying..." his expression turns wistful, remembering that time - he much prefers Lan Zhan as his attentive and wonderful husband to the indifferent object of his pestering, but those were still good days and he does miss them.

Mostly he misses being so close with Jiang Cheng.

Yuan looks intrigued, but he doesn't want to set his father off talking again when he wants to talk to his friends - though he does intend to ask him about it later.

Zizhen has no such qualms, in fact he looks excited.

"Ah! That's when you and Hanguang Jun met, isn't it?"

Perfect! Yes! Get the romantic talking about romantic things!

"Yeah! It's a really great story, Zizhen! They get into a sword fight and everything! Hey Yuan! I- uh- I wanted to talk to you about something real quick. Just a little.. uh.. nothing important.." He looks at Yuan in the least subtle way possible.

He's trying to think just where they can sneak off to to talk and not get interrupted. A talisman will most definitely have to be used but where and how to be sure no one can see them. He knows he's going to be blushing!

"A sword fight?" Jingyi is the least subtle person in the entirety of Cloud Recesses (except, maybe, when Wei Wuxian is there), but Zizhen is easily distracted so he doesn't even notice - especially since Wuxian, glad to talk about himself (and also more observant than Zizhen and willing to throw Jingyi a bone), launches into a dramatic retelling of his and Lan Zhan's first meeting.

Yuan kind of wants to hear the story, but he gets the impression it won't be hard to get his father to tell it (maybe he'll ask both of them, and get a slightly more balanced retelling), so he nods his agreement and stands to join Jingyi.

"I wanted to take a little walk through the garden, stretch my legs a little, join me?" he offers, already stepping away from the porch - if they stayed within the gardens of the Jingshi, they're unlikely to be intruded upon, right?

Just for that, Jingyi is going to make Wei Wuxian the cinnamon rolls he knows the man likes. The recipe normally is only made with a hint of cinnamon, but when they make it for Wei Wuxian, they also double or triple the spices.

He smiles gratefully at Yuan for the very excellent suggestion. "I'd be glad to!" He glances back at the other two one more time to make sure they're okay before turning his whole focus to his companion. "The gardens here are well kept, aren't they? The white stone that's natural to this area. It helps keep the plants looking so healthy while discouraging pests."

Why was he talking about that? He supposes a person can't just jump in to suddenly asking how a fellow goes about getting another fellow to take his flower.

"How was your night?"

Yuan just nods politely, because it's very clear that well-kept gardens are not what Jingyi wants to talk about, but he's happy to let him meander through whatever subjects he wants to until he gets to the point he's actually trying to make.

"My sleep was a little interrupted," he says, his gaze flicking briefly to his father - whose story has now progressed to including wild gestures, but Zizhen is still enraptured - "but otherwise good. How was yours?"

He smiles expectantly, wondering if this will be enough to nudge Jingyi into what was bothering him - not that he minds if it isn't, he's more than happy to engage in small talk as they stroll through the garden until Jingyi's ready.

"Interrupted?" He asks with a concerned frown. "Did you have trouble with nightmares?"

If he had, it would be understandable given the new place and new bed. He knows a couple of ways to make that a little better but it was trickier if there were other people in the room who might not appreciate the qin being played! (Especially the qin being played by a less skilled player than themselves).

"Oh, no," Yuan shakes his head. He does get nightmares, occasionally, but he knows how to handle them.

(Or, more accurately, he knows how to be quiet about them)

"It was..ah.." he hesitates. Should he be putting this delicately? He probably should, right... "a mishap with a silencing talisman?"

That should get the message across, right? There's only one reason somebody would use a talisman like that late at night, surely.

That is a relief. Cloud Recesses is a peaceful place, he is glad it isn't causing Yuan nightmares! Although, maybe he wouldn't have been so quick to be happy if he knew the real reason instead.

He stops walking and stares at his new friend, shocked. He glances back toward the house and his face bursts with color, the realization hitting him like a slap. "NO!" He gasps, like this is the most scandalous thing he's ever heard. "W- while you were there? In the room? Not Hanguang Jun! He wouldn't.."

He starts to remember the handful of antics when the two men first reunited that might proof that yes, yes even his precious Hanguang Jun.

"They were behind the screen and they thought the talisman had worked," Yuan shrugs casually - he can certainly understand how the mistake happened, so he really isn't bothered by it.

"I've heard worse. I've seen worse." He adds, unperturbed "They love each other and they missed each other, it's only natural they wanted to express that."

If anything, to Yuan, it's actually quite wholesome.

"Yeah but.." It is so indecent. People weren't supposed to engage in that behavior! Except, that isn't exactly true when it comes to a married couple is it?

He thinks about that for a few minutes and decides that oddly enough brings up his own situation. "Well.. I guess.. um.. you really don't mind talking about stuff like that?" He asks, glancing over at Yuan cautiously. "It doesn't make you uncomfortable?"

"Jingyi," he says calmly, raising an eyebrow at his new friend "I used to do stuff like that. For money. Do you really think I'd have been able to do my job if I was uncomfortable talking about it?"

He knows enough about manners and propriety to know he shouldn't talk about it, but he feels like being a little blunt right now might be what Jingyi actually needs.

"Did you want to ask me something about such things?" He prompts gently

That is definitely not helping with the blush! He also feels terrible taking advantage of this knowledge that Yuan should never have had to build. However since it's there..

He takes a deep breath and blurts out, "I slept with Zizhen this morning but I think I did it wrong. We didn't get to the sleeping part, but I was under the covers with him. Then something really embarrassing happened and I think he could tell through my robes and um.. I don't know. Will he still want to marry me if I'm not a virgin anymore?"

Yuan bites back on his first response which is to point out that if not being a virgin stopped you from getting married he was, pun intended, fucked. Not that he wanted to marry anyone other than Jin Ling, anyway, and Yuan's lack of virginity was at the bottom (pun not intended) of a very long list of reasons that wasn't going to happen.

"Jingyi," he starts gently "it's quite common for young men to-" he stops, the key points of Jingyi's rambling explanation suddenly catching his attention.

"Hang on, through your robes? You were still dressed?"

Yuan's situation was so weird and unique, there was just no way it could compare to Jingyi's at all! Jingyi has all sorts of rules and who knew what Yuan was going to be expected to do or not do. It didn't seem like Jin Ling really cared. He was mad over the boy, so who cared? Never mind that the same logic could be applied to Jingyi's relationship with Zizhen and his 'not-weird or unique' situation.

He puts a hand on his chest, thrown off by even the question. "Yes, of course. I wouldn't be indecent in front of him! I mean.." He glances around, making absolute certain they weren't being overheard and lowers his voice. "I- I did remove my top few robes!" Snicker. He was so bad! "B- but I was in his bed. We kissed!"

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html! Sorry XD

No worries!

Re: No worries!

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MY HEART.

SOB Huaisang too!

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