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Chapter Text

“Lan Zhan!”

Lan Zhan paused and waited for Wei Wuxian to catch up, winding his way through the lunch crowd at the not-quite-running speed he’d perfected over the years.

“Lan Zhan!” said Wei Wuxian again, shooting him a huge smile. “Are you excited for the guest disciples to arrive tomorrow?”

“Mn,” said Lan Zhan disparagingly, and Wei Wuxian laughed.

“I know you’re not, you hate change. But I am! Nie-xiong will be back, and the Jiang and Jin heirs are old enough to come this year.”

Lan Zhan let out a small huff of air through his nose.

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll still be my favorite!” said Wei Wuxian, swinging an arm around his best friend’s shoulders and petting the scent gland on his neck. “You won’t have time to miss me at all.”

He was always careful, ever since the first year Nie Huaisang came and Wei Wuxian, delighted to have made a new friend, spent hours showing him the back hills and Gusu City. He’d spent a baffled couple of days with Lan Zhan giving him the cold shoulder before he’d figured out his friend was lonely and apologized. It was tricky, because it wasn’t as simple as inviting Lan Zhan to join them. He had his own comfort zone, and it did not include playing in the river or being buffeted by a crowd. Wei Wuxian had to portion his time out instead. But it was well worth it for Lan Zhan not to be sad.

“Let’s spar before there are so many people here you can’t swing a sword, eh? What do you say?”

Lan Zhan acquiesced with a nod of his head, and they made their way to one of the training fields.

They each summoned their sword from its sheath, and they were off, striking, dodging, blocking, flying up into the air to somersault over each other’s heads. Wei Wuxian was laughing with sheer delight by the time he got past Lan Zhan’s guard and stopped his sword’s point a finger’s breadth from Lan Zhan’s neck.

They sheathed their swords once more and began to walk toward the Cold Springs. One of Lan Zhan’s hands came to rest on Wei Wuxian’s lower back, getting him a delighted smile in return.

“Let’s do that for the rest of our lives, Lan Zhan,” sighed Wei Wuxian happily, knocking into Lan Zhan’s side and taking a moment to stick his face in Lan Zhan’s neck and breathe deep. He always smelled good, but now, after an intense workout? Heavenly.

The guest disciples for the Lan lectures started arriving in a steady trickle the next day. They missed the Jin arrival, but caught the Qin and Yao sects being ushered toward guest quarters. A little later in the afternoon, a group in teal-edged disciple robes emerged from the gate, and Wei Wuxian said, “Oh! Jiang sect!”

He dragged Lan Zhan with him to intercept the group.

“Greetings!” said Wei Wuxian, shaking out his sleeves to bow neatly. “I’m Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian, inner disciple of the Gusu Lan Clan.”

“Lan Zhan, Lan Wangji,” said Lan Zhan, bowing with perfect form and not bothering to explain who he was.

“Jiang Cheng, Jiang Wanyin of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan,” said the zhongyong boy leading the group, bowing back. “Son of Jiang-zongzhu. Honored to make your acquaintance.” He looked from Wei Wuxian to Lan Zhan, seeming confused, his nostrils flaring, but said nothing more. Wei Wuxian brushed it off.

“Are you headed to your guest quarters? We’ll walk you there!” As they started to walk, he added, “I was born in Yunmeng, you know! I could’ve been a Jiang disciple, if things had gone differently.”

“Really?” said Jiang Wanyin. “Where?”

“I don’t know where exactly. My parents were rogue cultivators! Lan-xiansheng took me in after they died, and that was in Yiling. I still have a taste for spice, though! I’ll show you where to get the closest thing we have to Yunmeng food when we’re in town.”

“Frivolous,” said Lan Zhan. Wei Wuxian only laughed at him.

“Don’t mind Lan Zhan, he’s a born Lan and doesn’t like flavor at all.” He snagged Lan Zhan’s hand with his own, a quiet counterpoint to the tease. Jiang Wanyin furrowed his brows.

“Wei-xiong!” came a voice from behind them. “Wei-xiong! Wait!”

Wei Wuxian stopped and turned. “Nie-xiong!” he called, grinning. “It’s good to see you!”

Nie Huaisang pulled up just before crashing into him and bowed to the group. “Lan-er-gongzi. Gongzi.” This was directed at Jiang Wanyin. “Nie Huaisang from Qinghe Nie Clan.”

“Jiang Cheng from Yunmeng Jiang.” Wei Wuxian mentally updated his form of reference.

“Lovely!” said Nie Huaisang. “I’m sure we’ll all be friends.”

Over the next few days, Wei Wuxian carefully divided his free time between Nie Huaisang and Lan Zhan, but it turned out Jiang Cheng actually cared about attending all the lectures and getting good grades, so it wasn’t until their first free day that Wei Wuxian found himself knee-deep in the river while Jiang Cheng taught them how to catch fish.

“Slow,” he instructed. “Don’t scare them away. Predict where they’re going to swim once they sense you and put your hands there.”

“Ah, Jiang-xiong,” sighed Nie Huaisang. “Are you sure you’re not having us on? Surely people don’t catch fish with their bare hands even in Yunmeng.”

“Well, not only,” said Jiang Cheng.

“No killing in Cloud Recesses,” said Lan Zhan, and Wei Wuxian spun around, grin already spreading across his face.

“Lan Zhan!” He jumped out of the river and spread his arms, letting the ambient spiritual energy carry him up to the bank and land in front of Lan Zhan, pulling him in for a hug. “Don’t worry, we’re not catching anything anyway, and if I do manage to catch one I’ll throw it right back!”

“You are damp,” said Lan Zhan, but he was hugging back, so Wei Wuxian just laughed and nosed his scent gland reassuringly.

“Sorry, er-gege. I feel like I haven’t seen you all day!”

“You woke up in my bed,” pointed out Lan Zhan. “And then we ate breakfast together.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t count, that was hours ago,” complained Wei Wuxian, releasing him. “Meet you for dinner?”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian watched him vanish from sight before he turned back to the others, only to find Jiang Cheng staring at him, brows furrowed and mouth slightly open.

“What?”

“Woke up in his bed?” repeated Jiang Cheng, slightly strangled.

“Yeah, we share beds sometimes,” answered Wei Wuxian, picking his way back into the river. “It’s nice. Everyone should have a friend they can sleep with.”

“It’s not your imagination, Jiang-xiong,” interjected Nie Huaisang. “They’re just like that. This is my third year here, and they were just as bad when I started.”

“What?” said Wei Wuxian again, crossing his arms a little defensively as Jiang Cheng sputtered. “What’s your problem?”

“Is my nose malfunctioning, or aren’t you both qianyuan?” Jiang Cheng finally exclaimed.

“It’s a little unusual, sure, but why should we let that get in the way of our friendship?” complained Wei Wuxian.

“I thought qianyuan didn’t like each other’s scents?”

“I don’t mind Lan Zhan’s scent.”

This was something of an understatement, Wei Wuxian had to admit. They scented each other so often that Lan Xichen had been known to address Lan Zhan before he got a good look and realized he was talking to Wei Wuxian instead.

“Let it go, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang advised. “It’s not worth bending your brain into knots over.”

They did meet Lan Zhan for dinner and had just knelt down at a table with their plates when the hairs stood up on the back of Wei Wuxian’s neck and he was standing and glaring before he even registered qianyuan. The guy was wearing robes with gold trim, so he must be a Jin, Wei Wuxian noted in the back of his mind. Lan Zhan had also turned to fix the new guy with a look that radiated unwelcome.

Any zhongyong or kunze, being stared down by two qianyuan like that, would have absented themselves immediately, but the qianyuan, being a qianyuan, lowered his tray slightly like he might be thinking of joining their table. He was staring back at them, less openly a glare but an expression of defiance.

You blink first, motherfucker, Wei Wuxian thought loudly at him.

“Jin-gongzi!” said a Jin disciple, a kunze woman, appearing at his elbow. “The disciples have set up at a table over here. Please, follow me.”

Jin-gongzi stared at them a moment longer before following his tactful disciple to the other side of the room. His scent faded from the air around them, and Wei Wuxian relaxed and knelt back down. Lan Zhan followed suit beside him.

“On the one hand, the qianyuan posturing is bullshit,” said Jiang Cheng, looking from one to the other and back again. “On the other, seeing Jin Zixuan get glared into submission was absolutely worth it.”

“Is that who that was? The Jin heir?” asked Wei Wuxian.

“He’s betrothed to my a-jie, who deserves so much better,” said Jiang Cheng by way of answer, digging into his meal.

“Yes,” agreed Wei Wuxian, who had never met Jiang-guniang but was already sure the other qianyuan did not deserve her.

Nie Huaisang was still staring at them in apparent delight, but before Wei Wuxian could ask him what he was so happy about, Lan Zhan said, “No talking during meals,” and they subsided into Lan meal silence.

The next day, Wei Ying woke up already in a bad mood, which did not subside. He picked angrily at his breakfast, sulked through class, and snapped at several fellow disciples who had done nothing to deserve it. He was able to work out some tension practicing sword forms, but it didn’t last.

He caught up to Lan Zhan at lunch and flung himself into his friend’s arms.

“Lan Zhaaaan,” he whined. “Everything is awful today and I don’t know why.”

Lan Zhan caught him and rubbed his hands soothingly up and down Wei Wuxian’s back. He leaned down to scent Wei Wuxian’s gland, which took a little contortion, since Wei Wuxian already had his own face pressed into Lan Zhan’s neck. Then he stiffened, just a tiny bit.

“Wei Ying,” he said slowly. “I believe you are in rut.”

“What?” That was so shocking Wei Wuxian removed his face and stared at Lan Zhan. His friend wasn’t joking, though, his expression an odd mixture of trepidation and concern. First rut. Wow. That was…a lot.

“Eat,” said Lan Zhan, apparently deciding to take charge. “You’ll need your strength, and it is still early stages. I will take you to the doctor afterward.”

He didn’t want to eat, but he forced down a meal under Lan Zhan’s watchful eyes. A warm buzzing was growing in his skin, a pulsing inside his pants, and by the time he finished his plate, he was downright uncomfortable. As promised, Lan Zhan walked Wei Wuxian to the doctor, who confirmed the diagnosis and assigned him one of the huts set aside for this exact purpose.

“I’ll speak to your instructors,” he promised, and quickly packed a basket that he handed to Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan nodded gravely, and they bowed.

Lan Zhan’s hands were full between his sword and the basket, so Wei Wuxian looped their elbows together on the way to the hut instead, suddenly needing to be touching. His heart was pounding in his chest.

When they reached the hut, Lan Zhan opened the door and ushered Wei Wuxian in, setting Bichen and the basket down on the floor next to a sizeable bed, and then divesting Wei Wuxian of his own sword and pulling him into a hug. Wei Wuxian clung to him, scenting him a little desperately.

“I’m scared, Lan Zhan,” he admitted quietly. “Please don’t go.”

“I won’t,” Lan Zhan promised at once. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

They stood there for what seemed like a long time while Wei Wuxian’s need grew and his body overheated.

“Let’s take your overrobe off,” Lan Zhan suggested, but made no move to let go.

Wei Wuxian choked out a laugh. “How scandalous a suggestion, Lan Zhan! You who once refused to look at me if I had less than three layers on.” This was an exaggeration. It was two layers. Also, neither of them slept in more than one layer, so it hadn’t been the case in years. Neither of them mentioned that.

“All right,” Wei Wuxian admitted. He didn’t want to let go of Lan Zhan, but he really was getting too hot. Lan Zhan seemed to know how he felt, because he helped Wei Wuxian disrobe without ever letting go of him for more than a breath, and then pulled him back in close immediately after. Wei Wuxian shoved his face back into Lan Zhan’s neck and breathed deeply, drawing comfort from Lan Zhan’s pheromones as much as his touch. He was hard in his pants, now, but Lan Zhan didn’t draw away, didn’t suggest that he should get going and leave Wei Wuxian to it. He stroked Wei Wuxian’s hair instead, brushing his wrist scent gland over Wei Wuxian’s neck.

Wei Wuxian finally lifted his head, and Lan Zhan pressed their cheeks together. Their lips were a handsbreadth apart.

Suddenly, there was nothing Wei Wuxian wanted in the world more than to turn and press their lips together.

So he did.

He was kissing Lan Zhan, and Lan Zhan was kissing him back, and it was like the sweetest relief as they figured out how to move together, and all of Wei Wuxian’s background wanting coalesced. He wanted to be touched, and he wanted Lan Zhan to be the one to do it.

Lan Zhan’s tongue poked between his lips and brushed Wei Wuxian’s own, and Wei Wuxian let out a garbled noise. This, unfortunately, caused Lan Zhan to pull away.

“Don’t go,” said Wei Wuxian mindlessly, instead of all the larger things he couldn’t bring himself to even think.

“Do you want me to share your rut?” asked Lan Zhan softly, so softly that a person standing a pace away wouldn’t have heard him. But Wei Wuxian did, and there, there was one of those larger things, and he nodded hard before he caught himself.

“Only if you want to,” he rushed to add. “I don’t—I don’t want you to do it just because I want it.”

“I want to,” Lan Zhan assured him. “And you? You want this with me, not just because I’m here?”

“It could only be you,” said Wei Wuxian, too honest, and Lan Zhan kissed him again, harder this time, and tugged him over to the bed. It was easier to let go of him, now that Wei Wuxian knew he wasn’t leaving, and they drew apart to take out their guans and kick off their shoes and for Lan Zhan to strip off his top layer. Their eyes met as they each untied their forehead ribbon, coiled it, and set it gently on a shelf by the bed.

And then Wei Wuxian was on the bed and Lan Zhan was on top of him, kissing him some more, on the lips and then down his neck to lick over his scent gland, and Wei Wuxian took in a breath that sounded more like a gasp at the feeling of it. Lan Zhan must have liked that noise, because he stayed there, laving his tongue over the gland until it started to over-sensitize. Wei Wuxian felt dizzy at the roughness of Lan Zhan's tongue he could feel with every stroke. Lan Zhan sat up to strip off his second layer, and Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to do the same. They were down to their pants, and Wei Wuxian was gratified to notice that Lan Zhan was also hard.

Lan Zhan caught one of his wrists and gave the gland there the same treatment, and then the other, by which point Wei Wuxian was absolutely writhing on the bed, his wrists apparently connected directly to his cock when he was this turned on. He caught Lan Zhan’s hand and pulled it down to his crotch, slowly enough that Lan Zhan could pull away, but still eager. Lan Zhan cupped him firmly without hesitation, and Wei Wuxian bucked up into the touch.

Lan Zhan let him rub off like that a few times before taking his hand away, and Wei Wuxian whined, but Lan Zhan was only pulling down Wei Wuxian’s pants enough to free his cock.

They locked eyes for a moment. Lan Zhan’s said, still okay? and Wei Wuxian was sure his said, yes, please.

Lan Zhan reached for the basket and rooted around a little before coming up with a jar of oil. He opened it, scooped some out with his hand, and slicked Wei Wuxian’s cock.

“Oh,” said Wei Wuxian.

Lan Zhan took him in hand and stroked deliberately, grip just tight enough, quick and efficient, wrapping a second hand around the base where Wei Wuxian’s knot was forming and squeezing gently—and Wei Wuxian shot off with a yelp, spattering seed across Lan Zhan’s hand and his own stomach. It was short and intense, shuddering through his entire body.

As the orgasm wound down, the wanting abated until it was hovering at the back of his consciousness.

“Drink,” said Lan Wangji, and handed him a canteen of water. Wei Wuxian drank, suddenly incredibly thirsty. He handed it back when he was done, and Lan Zhan took a sip for himself, then closed it and put it out of sight once more.

“Lan Zhan?” he asked, and he hated how uncertain his voice sounded. Lan Zhan’s eyes snapped to meet his own. “Was that…it? I mean, is that all we’re going to do?”

“Only if you want that,” said Lan Zhan, squeezing one of his thighs.

“I want you inside me,” admitted Wei Wuxian. “Can we?”

“Yes.” Lan Zhan’s eyes were intense, hungry. He leaned down to kiss Wei Wuxian some more and divest him of his trousers entirely, and then stood up long enough to strip off his own. They were naked with each other now, and Wei Wuxian felt horribly vulnerable.

But it was Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan had him.  

Lan Zhan draped his body over Wei Wuxian’s entirely, heedless of the mess, and they kissed almost lazily until the heat started to return and Wei Wuxian began to thrust up into him. Then he pulled away, ignoring the complaining sound Wei Wuxian let out, and retrieved the oil jar, slicking his fingers once more. Wei Wuxian hooked his heels over Lan Zhan’s shoulders to give him better access, and moaned as he felt slick fingers pressing at his hole. They massaged the outside for longer than he expected before a single digit slipped inside. He breathed through the intrusion while Lan Zhan fucked him with the finger, seemingly content to do nothing else until Wei Wuxian started to squirm. Then he added a second.

It was the same, but more, a larger presence thrusting in and out of him as he tried to relax, and then Lan Zhan did something with his fingers and Wei Wuxian came again out of nowhere with a choked, “What the fuck!”

Second orgasms were weird, he decided, unless it was just common to orgasms achieved back there. His dick didn’t paint his stomach white, just dribbled a little fluid, but the feeling was just as intense, even more all-encompassing, and it just kept going as Lan Zhan fucked him through it, on and on before it finally wound down and he gasped in a breath.

Lan Zhan didn’t remove his fingers, but handed him the canteen for another drink of water. Wei Wuxian finished it off and dumped the empty container on the floor.

“Are you actually going to get your dick in me this time, er-gege?” he teased, panting a little.

“Yes,” said Lan Zhan definitively, and added a third finger, making Wei Wuxian gasp.

By the time the rut had retaken him, Lan Zhan was pulling his fingers free and lining his hips up with Wei Wuxian’s. Slowly but steadily, he pressed inside. Wei Wuxian panted through it and thought very hard about relaxing, and eventually Lan Zhan’s hips were flush with his ass. Lan Zhan let one of Wei Wuxian’s legs slide down to his elbow and pressed the other up to his chest, almost bending him in half, and then he began to thrust.

Wei Wuxian was caged in, Lan Zhan’s arms on either side of him, Lan Zhan’s body pressing him down into the bed and inside him. He had never felt so safe.

“If someone had bet me this morning that I’d be spending the afternoon having sex with my er-gege, they would have won so much money,” he laughed, reaching up to stroke Lan Zhan’s face. Lan Zhan’s brow furrowed a little, but smoothed out when Wei Wuxian continued, “But who else could it ever have been? It feels a little obvious, in retrospect.”

Lan Zhan fucked into him harder, and Wei Wuxian lost his train of thought and just rode the sensations, the wave building steadily higher but more slowly than before, teetering on the edge for long moments before crashing down as he yelled. Lan Zhan followed him over with a long groan, and Wei Wuxian felt his knot expand inside him. Lan Zhan could probably have pulled out—Wei Wuxian’s anatomy wasn’t set up for locking a knotted dick inside him—but he didn’t, just carefully let Wei Wuxian’s legs come down to wrap around his waist and scented him, apparently content to wait until it went down again.

“Wow,” said Wei Wuxian eventually. Lan Zhan snorted and kissed his cheek.

They started hardening again while Lan Zhan was still inside him, (and wow, Lan Zhan’s libido was keeping up, meaning Wei Wuxian’s pheromones had tipped him into pseudo-rut) so they didn’t separate, just started moving together again until Wei Wuxian was having his fourth orgasm, and Lan Zhan his second. After that, Lan Zhan did pull out, giving them both a chance to stretch and change positions.

Someone knocked twice on the door eventually, and when they’d finished their current round, Lan Zhan got up, went to the door, and came back with two trays of food and a fresh canteen of water, and they knelt by a small table to eat.

“I guess they figured out you weren’t coming back, huh?” said Wei Wuxian, and Lan Zhan just looked at him.

It lasted two full days. They barely slept the first night, napping between rounds. The second night, they fell asleep with Lan Zhan still inside Wei Wuxian, spooned up behind him, and that let them rest for a good six hours. Wei Wuxian wasn’t even convinced that he woke up for the first resurgence of the rut after that and didn’t just have a realistic wet dream or two.

They fell asleep again in the early afternoon, and when they woke up to the knock of the servant with dinner and Wei Wuxian wasn’t even a little bit horny anymore, they knew it had to be over, and they each put on a robe before settling down with their food, kneeling side by side at the table.

“We going to talk about it?” asked Wei Wuxian. He felt like he should be nervous, but he wasn’t at all.

“No talking during meals,” said Lan Zhan, which could mean that he was nervous or could mean nothing at all. Wei Wuxian let him have his quiet until they had both put their chopsticks down.

“Now are we going to talk about it?”

Lan Zhan let out the smallest sigh. “If you wish.”

“I wish.” When Lan Zhan just stared at his plate, Wei Wuxian nudged him. “Hey. It’s going to be fine, okay? I don’t believe for a moment we’re not on the same page here. I just want to actually say it out loud.” Why was Lan Zhan making him be the responsible one here? On the other hand, why wasn’t Wei Wuxian just as reluctant? Everything was going to change, now.

Except, it wasn’t, was it? This was just them.

“I love you,” he said, reveling in the words and their truth. “You’ve been the one that knows me for almost as long as I can remember. I want to spar with you every day, and go night hunting, and spend all of our ruts together.” He took a breath, drinking in the mingled hope and terror on Lan Zhan’s face. “I want to mate with you.”

He’d never heard of two qianyuan living together as a mated pair. He didn’t care. He knew it could be done, and that was enough for him. They would be the first if they had to.

Lan Zhan reached out to thread their fingers together. His hand was shaking.

“Ask me,” he said, voice almost cracking.

Wei Wuxian smiled, hopelessly fond. Of course his Lan Zhan wanted to do this right.

“This Wei Wuxian requests permission to mate with this Lan Wangji and be bonded for life.” He squeezed the fingers held in his own.

“This Lan Wangji accepts,” said Lan Zhan in a whisper, and Wei Wuxian’s smile threatened to crack his face in two. He dropped Lan Zhan’s hand only to take his face in both and press kisses to his lips for as long as he could suppress his smile at a time, which wasn’t long.

“Do you want to do it now?” he asked between kisses, and Lan Zhan nodded hard and stood up, wrapping his arms around Wei Wuxian’s torso to drag him along with, and hustled him back onto the bed. He didn’t hesitate before lowering his head to Wei Wuxian’s scent gland and biting down hard. Wei Wuxian gasped, first with the sharp pain as Lan Zhan’s teeth broke skin, and then with the flood of pleasure as his body responded. Lan Zhan licked the wound a few times, then raised his head. Wei Wuxian reached up, threading a hand through his zhiji’s hair, and pulled him back down and to the side so he could sink his teeth into Lan Zhan’s gland in return. Lan Zhan let out a noise that was half gasp, half moan, and Wei Wuxian let go to lap at the mark until it stopped bleeding. He admired the crescent shape, smug and possessive at once. They belonged to each other now, in a way you could see on their skin.

The bite had made his dick twitch, but…

“I know this is traditionally done as part of sex, but I really don’t think I can get it up for another round, Lan Zhan,” he sighed, and Lan Zhan huffed a laugh at him. Wei Wuxian kissed him instead. “What I need is a bath.”

There were bathtubs in the house, which was built near a gentle section of stream for this exact reason. They drew a bath and heated it with a talisman, taking turns to wash the sweat off their skin and from the roots of their hair. The basket from the doctor contained soap, a hairbrush, and a change of generic clean disciple robes each.

“They really didn’t expect you to come back,” Wei Wuxian commented upon noticing this, and began to brush out Lan Zhan’s hair for him. Lan Zhan said nothing, but waited for him to finish, and then stood and crossed to the little shelf with their headbands, retrieved his own with its cloud pattern, and held it out to Wei Wuxian, who stared at it, dumbstruck. Of course, this was allowed now. He took it reverently and placed it against Lan Zhan’s forehead, carefully tying it into his normal hairstyle. He took his own, plain headband and proffered it to Lan Zhan in turn, who did the same for him.

It was almost more intimate than the sex, trusting someone to do this for him.

It was approaching curfew by the time they were presentable again. They went first to the doctor to report the rut finished. He said nothing about their fresh claiming marks, but smiled at them rather knowingly and told them that they were likely dehydrated and to drink extra water.

They passed fellow disciples, servants, and some guest disciples on their way back to their dormitory, but no one stopped to ask questions. Those that noticed them clocked the claiming bites, then simply smiled and kept walking.

“I would like to tell my brother and my uncle in person tomorrow,” said Lan Zhan out of nowhere. “Would you come with me?”

“Of course.”

At his acceptance, Lan Zhan addressed one of the nearby servants. “Please tell my brother and uncle that I request to join them both for breakfast tomorrow.”

The servant bowed and assured him that it would be done.

There was nothing new at all about preparing for bed and then sliding into the same one, except for the knowledge that they would soon, bar unforeseen circumstances, share quarters as a mated couple and only have one bed to sleep in.

The servant returned just before curfew to tell them that Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen had agreed, and Lan Qiren had requested that they join him at his usual breakfast place and time. That was only to be expected, as their elder, and they agreed readily.

They rose together on time, dressed, and, instead of heading directly to the dining hall, they went to Lan Qiren’s quarters. Lan Xichen met them in front, and his face broke into a smile.

“Wangji. Wei Wuxian. I’m glad to see you no worse for wear. And that you have…worked things out.” Wei Wuxian tried to bow to his usual degree, but Lan Xichen caught him by the forearms. “Please, Wei Wuxian. We are family now.”

“This one is honored, Zewu-jun,” said Wei Wuxian, touched by the gesture, and adjusted his form.

“Lan Xichen,” corrected Lan Xichen, and swept into the house. They followed.

Lan Qiren was already kneeling by the breakfast table, four places set out. Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian remembered, had said nothing about bringing company. He wondered if the servant had included him in the message, or if Lan Qiren simply already knew what was coming.

The three of them bowed, and Lan Qiren inclined his head.

“Be seated.”

They knelt, each at their own place setting. Lan Qiren regarded them sternly.

“You’ll be needing your own quarters, then.”

“Yes, Shufu,” said Lan Zhan.

“Hm,” said Lan Qiren, and nodded decisively. He picked up his chopsticks.

After breakfast, they rejoined classes, and ran into Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng at the first break. Wei Wuxian saw their eyes track the marks and their faces light up with glee (Nie Huaisang) and pleased satisfaction (Jiang Cheng).

“Congratulations, Wei-xiong, Lan-er-gongzi!” enthused Nie Huaisang.

“We thought this had to be happening, when neither of you showed up for class,” said Jiang Cheng triumphantly. Wei Wuxian thought he knew him well enough by now to conclude that this also meant “congratulations.”

“This?” said Wei Wuxian, waving at the bite. It was one thing to conclude they were both on rut leave, but…

“Well, of course,” said Nie Huaisang complacently. “In what reality would this not end in you two mated?”

Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Zhan, and immediately found himself lost in the soft look he found there. “I don’t know,” he murmured. “Not this one.”

Chapter Text

"everyone’s mental picture of LWJ includes WWX hanging off him like a particularly unwieldy handbag"

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