Brothel meme continued

[lastjinstanding]

Continued from here

Jin Ling had really hoped he'd have A-Yuan at his side for this, but he didn't blame the sweet man for being ill one bit. In fact, he really enjoyed holding him as they finished traveling up to Lotus Pier. He sends servants off the boat to arrange a discreet delivery of his ill and subdued guest to private chambers following Ling's disembark. He instructed only Fu Geming to carry A-Yuan with Liling.

Sadly, after that, he had to leave his pets in his servants care. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped onto the pier. He bowed humbly to all of his relatives and gave them each a proper greeting- or in Wei Wuxian's case, a cheeky one.

He was brought into the main hall and given the seat next to Jiang Cheng's throne. Wei Wuxian was seated beside him with Lan Wangji at the next seat. And yes, Wangji had been offered the throne but had chosen to stay at Wuxian's side. It was Jiang Cheng's wedding, after all.

Jin Ling is happy sitting to a nice cup of tea and some wine after a long day of travel with promise of dinner coming.

~~~

"Jin-Guniang, is the young master Zheng in this room?" A young, unfamiliar male voice asks. "I have some medicine I wish to offer if you'd announce me."

"Of course. Let me ask for you," Liling says in a warm tone. She knocks on Yuan's door and peeks in. She smiles when she sees him awake. She comes in and shuts the door behind her. "Zheng-gongzi? How are you feeling? A friend of Jin-zongzhu from the Lan Clan is here to offer you some medicine. Would you feel up to seeing him?"

Comments

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is more than happy to shift around until they're pressed closer together. It's probably going to get a little embarrassing very quickly, but he can't quite bring himself to care, not when he's kissing Jingyi.

He is slightly more worldly (which is to say; he's seen some of those kinds of books), but he's still never actually done anything like this, and he's very excited to finally have some experience.

He's extremely conscious of the way his leg is trapped between Jingyi's thighs, of exactly what parts of Jingyi are touching which parts of him and his stomach flips just thinking about it.

[unlanylikebehavior]

It is similar to how it felt on Hanguang Jun's bed last night, Jingyi's ability to think rationally and make reasonable decisions short-circuited the longer he kissed Zizhen. His normally sharp mind is flooded with lust, drowning out common sense.

His hands cling to Zizhen's back and something really weird, really amazing, and getting kind of scary was happening below his waist. He hopes Zizhen knows what's happening!

[notaturnip]

Zizhen does know what's happening, and it's very much happening to him as well, and he should probably break away before this got very embarrassing but also... well... they were sort of courting, right? They wouldn't be kissing if they weren't, and even though he doesn't intend to do anything it was probably totally normal to be turned on by each other even before anything was official, because why would you only be turned on when it was appropriate?

He's a teenage boy living without the heavy restrictions of the Lan clan, he's dealt with inappropriate erections before.

Still, when he breaks away from the kiss to catch his breath, his cheeks are flushed and his smile is shy.

[unlanylikebehavior]

As Zizhen breaks the kiss, it's at that moment the spell seems to break too. Jingyi stares at him panting and slowly realizes the most inappropriate and humiliating thing! Well.. two things. His sacred and intimate part that is never supposed to be noticed, touched, looked at, or basically ~exist~ is hard and pressed against Zizhen's hip. Zizhen's sacred and intimate part that is never supposed to be noticed, touched, looked at, or basically ~exist~ is hard and pressed against his thigh.

Those things were happening! They were also in a room full of other boys who could easily start waking up and he had all sorts of naughty desires in his head like, he really wanted Zizhen to start touching him in bad places.

It's all so scary though. He's normally so brave. He doesn't know where the parts are supposed to end up and what the rules are, except the Lan rules of 'don't ever', that he's currently breaking. What if Zizhen sees any more of him and doesn't like what he sees? What if he's just not good at this or good enough?

He leans forward and presses another kiss to Zizhen's lips before bolting from the bed and the room as fast as his legs could carry him. He knows just where he can go to hide and cry and not be found.

[notaturnip]

"Hey-" Zizhen starts to say softly, seeing the panic begin to blossom in his beloved's eyes, but before he can finish speaking Jingyi is kissing him again and then bolting out of the bed like it's on fire.

"A-Yi!" Zizhen hisses, being careful to keep his voice low, sitting up abruptly and watching him flee the room. He hesitates, wondering if he should go after him again, but after a long moment of debating with himself he decides the kiss was Jingyi's way of saying he still wanted this he just needed to figure some things out.

Or maybe he just wanted to go and jerk off before they went too far, and while Zizhen kind of would like to see that, it's also a step too far even for him, so he flops back against the bed with a world-weary sigh and wonders if he could get away with taking care of his own problem in a room full of disciples.

Probably not.

[graceandguqin]

At precisely five, there's a deep clamor of bells announcing the start of the day. However, Lan Zhan doesn't stir like he normally would as he doesn't hear them. He's tired from the long, emotional journey and the late night of sex, incredibly cozy around his husband, and oddly he isn't hearing any of the normal cues to tell him morning has arrived like the morning lark's call.

At least an hour late, he wakes feeling disoriented. Sitting up he looks around the room confused as to why he wasn't hearing anything. He looks down at Wuxian, but he remembers his husband's condition so he leaves him alone. Carefully, he gets up and dresses so he doesn't wake his spouse.

As he steps around the wooden curtain, he winces. The abrupt wave of sound after the eerie quiet has him putting his hands to his ears. Puzzled, he takes a few steps back toward the other side of the room. Silence again.

Oh no.

He looks at the talisman more carefully and his cheeks flush crimson! He whirls around to look at their son.

[notaturnip]

Yuan is still asleep with the pillow over his head, but at the sound of Hanguang Jun moving around he stirs, pulling his head out and blinking at the older man with sleep-mussed hair. He fights back a yawn.

"Morning." he mumbles, already laying back down - this time with his head on top of the pillow - it's not so noisy he can't sleep through it. Unlike some things.

He's not going to comment on what he heard last night - as far as he's concerned it's their business, and it isn't like he hasn't heard worse. He's a little surprised they would still do it with him in the room, but only because he thought the Lans were more prudish than that, he thinks it's perfectly understandable a couple who've been away from one another, even for just a short amount of time, might want to reunite in such a fashion.

(Wei Ying is, of course, still obliviously snoring away)

[graceandguqin]

Lan Zhan stands rooted where he was utterly mortified with a hand over his mouth and a dark splash of color across his face. Wei Ying has done some things that have been humiliating but this wasn't something that could be blamed on him. Wangji had initiated things, after all. He was the one who hadn't stopped and let Wuxian make the talisman. It was Lan Zhan who had just embarrassed them in front of their son.

Still, he wasn't going to continue to do it. So mustering the shredded remains of his dignity, he bows. "Good morning, A-Yuan. If you need to rest longer, please feel welcome to it. I shall be careful not to bother you." He needed some tea for this..

[notaturnip]

Yuan mumbles something that sounds like an agreement, oblivious to the horrible embarrassment his poor father is going through - on the plus side, he doesn't seem to be traumatised, just sleepy, so that's something right?

On the other side of the screen the snoring stops as Wei Wuxian stirs and rolls over, pouting to himself when he finds the bed empty. It's not as though he isn't used to waking up alone considering his husband's sleep schedule, but that doesn't mean he has to be happy about it.

"Lan Zhan?" he calls out, noticing how unexpectedly quiet it is "A-Yuan? Are you here?"

Yuan mumbles something again, burrowing deeper into his blankets, it's not that loud but of course Wei Wuxian doesn't hear it anyway.

[graceandguqin]

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!"

[notaturnip]

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.

[graceandguqin]

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.

[notaturnip]

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?"

[graceandguqin]

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.

html! Sorry XD

[notaturnip]

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.

No worries!

[graceandguqin]

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.

Re: No worries!

[notaturnip]

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!"

[unlanylikebehavior]

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?"

[notaturnip]

"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.

[unlanylikebehavior]

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.

MY HEART.

[notaturnip]

"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?"

SOB Huaisang too!

[unlanylikebehavior]

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!

[notaturnip]

"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?

[unlanylikebehavior]

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?"

[notaturnip]

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.