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eleanorfenyxwrites · 4 years ago

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After Each Midnight Begins A New Day

[Extra #7 - Pre-fic by roughly five years, so again the only people who know anything is different from before is Wangxian. I had an anonymous request for a look at A-Yuan living his best AU life, so here it is: a few snapshots of Wen Yuan/Sizhui’s summer school days making friends in Cloud Recesses. Enjoy <3]

[Masterpost]

“Dafan Wen Clan is presenting!”

Wen Sizhui takes a deep breath and steps around his desk, one of Wen Qing’s most highly favored apprentices - besides himself - at his side. They step to the center of the room and Wen Sizhui salutes the men seated on the dais at the front of the room.

“Wen Sizhui, Dafan Wen, here to learn from the Grandmaster,” he greets with his perpetual soft smile. He keeps his eyes trained on Qingheng-Jun and Grandmaster Lan, but it’s impossible not to notice the jarring note of black and red behind and a bit to the left of them. He ignores it for the moment - he’s positive that Wei Wuxian will find him later anyway to ask after Wen Qing and Wen Ning, and Wen Qing will kill him if he messes this up because he got distracted by her friend. He kneels to complete a kowtow and then straightens again. “I know that the Grandmaster values knowledge of all varieties. I present Grandmaster Lan with this book personally compiled by Wen-Zongzhu herself for the study of all as well as for practical use by the Gusu Lan healers. It details her latest research into medicinal practices using ingredients unique to Gusu Province, paired with innovative and varied methods of application. I hope the Grandmaster will find it suitable.”

A murmur sweeps briefly through the room around them, and Wen Sizhui stifles a wider smile, eyes still trained on the Lan Sect Leader and his brother who will be their teacher for the summer. Both of them are too well-mannered to show their surprise at such a highly-sought after gift, but Wen Sizhui breaks his own rule to allow himself a single glance at the men standing on the dais with them. He finds three different variations of similar reactions - Zewu-Jun is smiling gently at him and offers him a slight nod, Hanguang-Jun is practically radiating a pleased sort of smugness as he stares into the middle distance in his general direction, and Wei Wuxian is grinning openly from ear to ear. When he catches Wen Sizhui looking he shoots him a quick thumbs up and Wen Sizhui quickly returns his gaze to the two men seated in front, lest his attention wander too far or his amusement at Wei Wuxian’s antics show in his expression.

“A fitting gift,” Qingheng-Jun replies when the quick susurrus of whispered surprise from the other students has died down. “A treasure indeed, to benefit so from Wen-Zongzhu’s expertise.” He waves for the closest Lan attendant to step forward and take the tome from Wen Huali beside him.

The nervous tension leaves Wen Sizhui’s shoulders as he’s allowed to retreat behind his desk again, the attendant already calling for the next student.

“Lanling Jin is presenting!”

----

“I swear I thought I was going to puke that whole time - and I wasn’t even presenting anything! I’m glad I didn’t eat breakfast but I’m starving now,” Lan Jingyi exclaims that evening around a mouthful of rice and roasted vegetables.

“I thought Lans don’t talk during meals,” Jin Ling shoots back with a hint of a curl to his lip as he looks at the half-chewed food visible in Lan Jingyi’s open mouth with clear distaste.

“We don’t, but neither of you are Lan, and we’re not eating in the dining hall anyway so shut your mouth,” Lan Jingyi retorts, all lazy insolence that Wen Sizhui finds both funny and confusing, given the fact that this boy is a Lan.

“Why were you nervous watching the rest of us present our gifts to Grandmaster Lan, Lan Jingyi?” he asks before Jin Ling can turn a darker shade of red while he splutters for a retort - Wen Sizhui gets the feeling he’s used to being shown at least some level of deference as the oldest of his siblings and the Jin Sect Heir (deference which Lan Jingyi is pointedly not showing him), but he also gets the feeling that Jin Ling is just one of those people who’s generally easy to tease.

“All that pressure! Weren’t you scared you’d mess up in front of everybody?!”

“Who cares? It’s just Great-Uncle Lan you have to impress and he’s not scary at all!”

Wen Sizhui and Lan Jingyi both pause and look at him straight-on at that and Jin Ling blushes again, seeming suddenly surprised to have their full attention on him even though he’s been loud-mouthing since he stepped foot in Cloud Recesses the previous day, practically begging to be paid attention to.

“What?” he adds, defensive.

“I confess that I am not very educated in some of the intricacies of the Great Sect bloodlines, Aunt Qing doesn’t enforce learning it. You are related to Grandmaster Lan and Qingheng-Jun?”

Jin Ling huffs at that and scowls down at his bowl.

“We don’t have time for me to tell you who I’m related to, it’s easier to ask who I’m not related to I swear.”

“Oh is this gossip? Is this sweet, juicy gossip?” Lan Jingyi asks with far too much enthusiasm, leaning over the table to poke a finger into Jin Ling’s upper arm, which the Jin Heir instantly swats away with a glare.

“No it’s not gossip, idiot, and Lans aren’t supposed to gossip anyway! But everyone knows Uncle Chen is married to Uncle Yao and that Uncle Yao is my dad’s brother.”

“I thought Zewu-Jun is married to Chifeng-Zun of Qinghe Nie?”

“He’s married to both of them,” Lan Jingyi pipes up before Jin Ling can. “They all live here but I never really see them much. Well - Zewu-Jun I see slightly more often, of course, but Chifeng-Zun and Lianfang-Zun don’t interact with us disciples very much except for when we’re learning about the Nie Sect and they’re available to give lectures or demonstrations.”

“And Jin-gongzi - you visit your uncles enough to be familiar with Qingheng-Jun and the Grandmaster?”

“I don’t actually come here to Cloud Recesses very often anymore it happened more often when I was a kid, but Second Great-Uncle comes to see us in Lanling all the time, and Uncle Chen comes to see us at least a couple of times a year with Uncle Yao and Uncle Jue.”

Wen Sizhui’s head is beginning to hurt.

“Wei-Qianbei is married to Hanguang-Jun,” he points out next and Jin Ling rolls his eyes so hard it’s a wonder they don’t pop out of his skull.

“Believe me, I know.”

“So you are also related to them?”

“Twice over, yeah.”

“Wait what?” Lan Jingyi interjects, laughter already suffusing his voice. “How are you related to them twice?”

“My mom is Uncle Xian’s sister.”

“Wait whoa hold on that means you’re also related to Jiang-gongzi?!” Jingyi adds and now he’s definitely laughing - Jin Ling’s expression has gone positively pained which Wen Sizhui will admit is actually pretty funny. Jin Ling takes a deep breath in and lays his hands flat on the table, looking like he’s bracing for war.

“Alright, better to just get this all out of the way now. I’m only going to say this once, and you two had better keep up because I’m not repeating anything! I hate when I have to recite all of this, it’s ridiculous. But - okay. My dad’s second brother is Uncle Yao, who is married to Uncle Chen and Uncle Jue. So Uncle Ji is my Uncle once because he’s Uncle Chen’s brother, and then Uncle Xian is my Uncle once because he’s married to Uncle Ji. Lan-Zongzhu and Grandmaster Lan are my Great-Uncles, Madam Lan is my Great-Aunt.

“My mom’s youngest brother is Uncle Cheng, who is married to Uncle Sang who is Nie-Zongzhu, who is also my uncle because of Uncle Jue being married to Uncle Yao, so that’s twice related for both of them, too. My mom’s other brother is Uncle Xian, who is married to Uncle Ji so there’s the second time for both of them. Jiang-Zongzhu is my Great-Uncle and Madam Yu is my Great-Aunt. And then I have my Uncle Yu, but he’s just my dad’s youngest brother and he’s not married to anybody, and my Aunt Su is their sister but she isn’t married to anybody either.”

There’s a long silence while Wen Sizhui and Lan Jingyi stare at each other wide-eyed across the table.

“Remind me to send my Aunt Qing a thank you letter for not making me learn how all of this works,” Wen Sizhui finally says and Lan Jingyi bursts out laughing so loudly it startles a nearby flock of birds into flying off with a loud rustling of wings.

Wen Sizhui hides a smile behind a bite of his soup as Jin Ling shoves Lan Jingyi off his seat (only for him to keep laughing on the ground) with a snapped, “Shut up!”

As he watches his new friends he thinks to himself that he’ll have to remember to also thank her for allowing him to be the first Wen besides her and Uncle Ning to attend the Gusu Lan lectures in decades.

----

Wen Sizhui is doing his best to read Wen Qing’s return letter a few weeks later in the shade of a tree in the back hill. It would be easier without constant interruption, but he doesn’t mind the distraction in the end, and he’ll have plenty of time to finish reading the letter later. New friends are equally as important.

Ouyang Zizhen sighs again next to him and Wen Sizhui glances up from his letter to find him forlornly plucking the petals off a flower, a small pile of plucked blades of grass already neatly stacked in front of him.

“Zizhen,” he prompts, smiling indulgently when the other boy looks up at him with a truly impressive pout. It would work better on him had he not seen Wen Ning give Wen Qing some equally impressive doe-eyed pouts over the years (and perhaps learned how to do it himself from his uncle - it was the easiest way to be given extra sweets as a child). “You didn’t need to stay behind with me if you wanted to go to Caiyi with Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi.”

“Well I didn’t like the thought of you hanging out here by yourself on such a nice day! Are you sure you’re not a Lan with all this...meditating and quietly enjoying nature that you like to do?”

“Yes, I’m definitely a Wen,” he chuckles as he folds the letter up and tucks it into his sleeve. “My aunt says that we have to take good care of ourselves to be able to most effectively heal others, and meditation is good for you. The Lan Sect are masters at it, their lessons are extremely beneficial, and this weather is perfect for it.”

Ouyang Zizhen is grumbling something about how girls are extra flirty when the weather’s nice like this, and that Caiyi is apparently full of pretty girls just waiting to be flirted with, when a cheerful call suddenly rings out through the little field.

“Aiyah - Lan Zhan!! Look at these awful children stealing our favorite picnic spot!” Ouyang Zizhen scrambles to sit up and Wen Sizhui glances further up the ridge to see Wei Wuxian standing there with a wide grin and with his hands on his hips, Lan Wangji a silent pillar of icy white beside him.

“Wei-Qianbei!” Ouyang Zizhen squeaks, already nervous - it had become clear to the other three soon after the Ouyang heir had joined their friend group that authority figures make him nervous and they’ve been trying to help him with it, but it’s slow-going somewhere as tradition-bound as Cloud Recesses.

“Hello Wei-Qianbei, Hanguang-Jun,” Wen Sizhui greets politely for both of them, getting to his feet and helping Ouyang Zizhen to his so they can bow as the two men approach, though Wei Wuxian reaches them first by a long shot.

“What are two fine young gentlemen like yourselves doing hiding out in the back hills on such a nice day?” Wei Wuxian teases with narrowed eyes, a playful grin already tipping up the corners of his mouth.

“I was reading a letter from my aunt and Zizhen was keeping me company,” Wen Sizhui supplies before any assumptions can be made - he knows if anyone will jump to the most embarrassing assumptions it’ll be Wei Wuxian, even if he’s just doing it to tease.

“Ahh Wen Qing! How is she these days? Still terrifying?” Wei Wuxian laughs as Lan Wangji draws level with them - he had taken a much more sedate pace than his husband’s energetic bounding and sliding down the hillside to get to where the two teenagers are set up for their quiet afternoon.

“It depends on what frightens you, Wei-Qianbei,” Wen Sizhui replies sweetly with his most guileless smile. Between one blink and the next he’s got three long needles between his fingers, withdrawn from a pocket in his sleeve, and Wei Wuxian yelps, instantly ducking back a pace to half-hide behind Lan Wangji’s shoulder.

“Oohhhh I do not like how much you remind me of her!” he laughs, eyes bright. “Aiyah, put those away, Wen-gongzi! No one’s sick here, no need for your needles, put them away!”

Wen Sizhui tucks the needles back into his sleeve smoothly, still smiling. Ouyang Zizhen has, thankfully, relaxed marginally where he’s standing next to him. It’s difficult to be afraid of a man who goes around hiding behind his husband because of a silly little thing like a needle.

“Wen-Zongzhu sends her greetings to both of you along with a...not very gentle reminder that it is your turn to visit her in Dafan this year as she and Uncle Ning have visited you in your travels the past two years in a row,” he reports dutifully once Wei Wuxian has righted himself and straightened out his robes.

“Ah such a filial boy, passing along your Aunt’s messages! And I appreciate that you didn’t quote her word-for-word as I’m assuming there were threats involved,” Wei Wuxian praises with a grin and a nudge of his elbow against Lan Wangji, who’s watching their conversation with his usual stoicism. “I’ll write her back myself though, don’t worry about it. And Lan Zhan and I will find another spot to while away our afternoon, go back to enjoying yourselves!”

Wen Sizhui and Ouyang Zizhen stay standing even after parting salutes have been exchanged, the pair of them turning in place to watch Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji continue on their way further into the hill, hands subtly linked under the trailing material of their sleeves. Ouyang Zizhen eventually sighs again and drops back down into his spot to continue assaulting the poor flower he’s still picking apart, but Wen Sizhui can’t resist watching the pair of them a few moments longer.

They make for a striking couple, he’ll readily admit that much. The both of them are tall and broad-shouldered, Lan Wangji just slightly more so in both aspects. While Wei Wuxian’s dark wardrobe is a jarring contrast amongst the rest of the Lan Sect while in Cloud Recesses, out here in the mountain with no one around him but Lan Wangji they just look like two halves of a whole, light and dark, evenly matched. The tips of Lan Wangji’s silver guan glint in the sun, Wei Wuxian’s worn and time-dark leather band around the base of his ponytail its humble but equally elegant opposite.

Just before the pair has completely disappeared from sight between the trees, he sees them pause to embrace, Lan Wangji’s arms curling around Wei Wuxian’s waist and Wei Wuxian’s arms around his husband’s neck. He blushes slightly and averts his eyes to give them the privacy they seem to think they have and he returns to his seat next to Ouyang Zizhen, who sighs again but this time it sounds different. When Wen Sizhui glances down at him it’s to find a slightly dreamy expression on his face.

“Imagine having such gentlemen for uncles,” he supplies for an explanation when he notices Wen Sizhui looking at him curiously. “Jin Ling has nearly every major Sect Leader and Heir in his immediate family tree, do you think he’s immune to that...aura they all have around them by now?”

“You should ask him when he and Lan Jingyi get back,” Wen Sizhui teases with a smile, well aware by now of how such a question would be received by their prickly friend. “I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to answer yet more questions about his uncles.”

“A more important question to irritate the Young Mistress with is if Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s love story is true.”

“That depends on what version of it you’ve heard,” Wen Sizhui laughs as he gives up on any further meditation for the day and lays down in the grass beside his friend, eyes closed against the bright blue of the summer sky overhead. “All I’ve heard is the short version from my aunt, and she’s not what anyone would call a romantic - at least not that I’ve seen. Tell me the story?”

Ouyang Zizhen takes to telling it with relish, embellishing so many mundane things with such overly poetic language and dramatic sighs that Wen Sizhui can’t help but laugh occasionally, in the hazy way people laugh when they’re warm and content in the grass with a soft breeze stirring the scent of magnolias through the air.

By the time their friends find them in the evening Wen Sizhui has been treated to as many stories as Ouyang Zizhen can think to tell - romantic ones, funny ones, even folk tales he tells his sisters to help them sleep at night. Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling join them with little fanfare and only a little bit of roughhousing, and Wen Sizhui basks in both the golden hour and the presence of these boys who have somehow, over the course of mere weeks, become his closest friends.

----

“Why the pout so early in the morning, Young Mistress?” Lan Jingyi yawns behind his hand a few days later as Jin Ling joins the rest of them on the path to breakfast in the main dining hall for all the students.

“Uncle Ji stopped me to talk on my way out the door,” he replies around a yawn of his own, not even rising to the obvious bait of Lan Jingyi’s favorite nickname for him.

“What did he want to say?” Wen Sizhui prompts, genuinely curious to know what someone as aloof as Lan Wangji would want to say to his nephew at 6 in the morning that would also make said nephew so grumpy.

“ ‘Dinner’,” Jin Ling replies in such a good imitation of Lan Wangji’s cool, dispassionate tone that Ouyang Zizhen snorts.

“That’s it?” Lan Jingyi grumbles, likely irritated even by the prospect of being approached so early in the morning for something so simple.

“Yeah? He doesn’t usually say much if he doesn’t have to. It means he wants me to come have dinner with him and Uncle Xian tonight, probably so they can ask me how things are going with my classes.”

“And you just...know that. From one word.” The skepticism dripping from Lan Jingyi’s tone is too thick to be missed. Jin Ling makes a rude gesture in his direction.

“Yes, stupid. I’ve known him my whole life, of course I know how to talk to him, and my little brother talks like that too. Don’t judge me just because you’re too dumb to figure out what people are trying to say without it being spelled out for you.”

Lan Jingyi makes a half-hearted grab for him as if to pull him into a headlock and Ouyang Zizhen whines, shoving them both in different directions. “It’s too early for you two to start this, just drop it,” he pouts and Wen Sizhui is in full agreement with that. He doesn’t mind waking early, he actually enjoys it now that he’s used to it, but that doesn’t mean he wants to put up with his friends wrestling in the middle of Cloud Recesses when he could be eating breakfast.

“Is it strange for you to be attending lectures knowing that so much of your family is nearby when the rest of us are far from ours?” Wen Sizhui asks mainly to keep everyone awake and paying attention once the roughhousing has officially been put on hold and they’re all back to shuffling blearily along and yawning behind their hands as they go.

“Not really,” Jin Ling shrugs. “They’ve all been good about giving me space like any other disciple. I probably have Uncle Ji to thank for that, the rest of them are...clingy. Besides, pretty much everywhere I go I’m related to somebody. You get used to it.”

Wen Sizhui startles as Ouyang Zizhen nudges him in the side with a bony elbow and he glances at his friend first to see what he wants before following his gaze. The four of them stumble to a clumsy halt and dip into bows as they realize they’ve come face to face with Lan Xichen walking in the opposite direction back towards the residences, a basket from the kitchens in hand.

“Zewu-Jun,” they all greet and Lan Xichen smiles as he finishes closing the distance between them to return their bows with a nod - Wen Sizhui is determined to find out how the Lans (well..perhaps minus Lan Jingyi) can manage to turn every movement into something so regal.

“Wen-gongzi, Ouyang-gongzi, Lan Jingyi, A-Ling. I hope your morning is going well,” he greets in return, voice warm.

“Yes Zewu-Jun,” they chorus, only Lan Jingyi ruins it a bit with another wide yawn. Thankfully Lan Xichen just chuckles with what seems like understanding.

“I will not keep you from your breakfasts, then, nor would my husbands appreciate a delay in ours. A-Ling, shall I pass your greetings on to them?” There’s a distinct note of teasing under the polite question and Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen both stifle snorts behind their hands. Jin Ling, for once, has the grace to just sigh, seeming momentarily resigned to his lot in life.

“Yes Uncle Chen,” he mumbles, his attitude only making Lan Xichen smile wider. They exchange another round of salutes and step past each other, Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen instantly pulling further ahead. Wen Sizhui glances over his shoulder in time to see Lan Xichen pause to give Jin Ling a pat on the shoulder and murmur something quietly just for him, both of which Jin Ling accepts with an affectionate smile that transforms his whole face. For all that Jin Ling bemoans his truly convoluted family situation to his friends, Wen Sizhui thinks that, if it were him, it would be nice to know that he’s loved no matter where he goes - and looking at the smile on his friend’s face, he realizes it might be possible that he feels the same.

Jin Ling turns forward again to catch him looking and Wen Sizhui expects him to bluster and fuss at him to hide the moment of vulnerability, but instead all he does is blush a bit and duck his head, that pleased little smile still on his face, and step forward to join him so they can finish walking to the dining hall in peaceful quiet.

----

“A-Ling! Hey!!”

“Oh gods it’s Uncle day,” the nephew in question sighs with a roll of his eyes, tipping his head back as if the sky will have any reprieve to offer him from the affections of his family.

“Three out of five before lunch, that’s a decent lead going into the afternoon,” Ouyang Zizhen remarks with a put-upon accent and mannerisms, both of which Lan Jingyi instantly copies, stroking an imaginary beard as he leans his shoulder against Ouyang Zizhen’s and tips his head back to look down the length of his nose at Jin Ling.

“Indeed, will the Young Mistress attempt a full score today? It’s a tricky feat, but it seems the uncles themselves are more than willing to help by seeking Young Mistress out whenever he dares to step foot outside.”

“Shut up you two,” Jin Ling hisses as Wen Sizhui laughs into his sleeve. “You’re so annoying!”

“Shall we count the Great Uncles as double points if they make an appearance as well?” Lan Jingyi addresses the question to Ouyang Zizhen, ignoring Jin Ling entirely save for a hand raised in his face to block his angry glaring.

“No, at least triple, I would say. Sizhui?”

“Four points each for Great Uncles, they are both a rare sighting out in the wild,” he supplies dutifully, as serene as ever as Jin Ling splutters and starts throwing punches - not at him, never at him, which Wen Sizhui would be lying if he said he hasn’t noticed.

“Ah ah, hey!” Wei Wuxian laughs as he draws up next to them to put a restraining hand on Jin Ling’s shoulder. “While I fully support fighting while you’re young you’re supposed to save it for your enemies!”

“They are my enemies,” Jin Ling grumbles as Wei Wuxian waves off the attempts of the other three to stand and bow.

“Don’t get up, don’t get up! Aiyah your manners are too good, all of you. Where are yours, A-Ling?” Lan Jingyi’s eyes and grin both go wide with pure, mischievous delight as Wei Wuxian ruffles his free hand in Jin Ling’s hair, making him squawk and duck away from his grip.

“Da-jiu!!” Jin Ling snaps as Wei Wuxian throws his head back to laugh.

“Hush A-Ling, you can’t expect me to believe you haven’t missed getting teased by an uncle this last month since you left home, I’m just filling in for Mo Xuanyu! I have to go set up to teach the babies their archery basics so I’ll be on my way, but Lan Zhan asked you to come have dinner with us this evening, yes?”

“Yes,” Jin Ling mutters, still looking mutinous.

“Good! The invitation is actually for all four of you, I realized he probably didn’t make that clear.” Wen Sizhui looks up at that, surprise written as clearly on his face as it is on Ouyang Zizhen’s and Lan Jingyi’s. “Why are you all looking at me like that?” Wei Wuxian laughs.

“In the Jingshi? With you and Hanguang-Jun?” Lan Jingyi pipes up, looking starstruck.

“Of course! It’ll be nice, Lan Zhan’s going to cook and I’m going to sneak behind him and spice things properly. We want to see A-Ling and we thought it would be nice to have all of you over together since you’ve become such good friends.”

“Of course, Wei-qianbei,” Wen Sizhui replies with a smile. “Thank you for the invitation, we will be happy to accept.”

“Great! So polite! Jin Ling is so lucky to have such examples of gentlemanly behavior to learn from,” Wei Wuxian teases, ducking away from Jin Ling’s weak punch in his direction with another laugh. He offers them a jaunty parting salute before stepping back onto the main path.

“I’m telling er-jiu that you messed with me so he can come kick your ass!” Jin Ling shouts after his retreating back. Wei Wuxian just laughs again and waves a hand without even bothering to look back at them.

“Hey - Jin-gongzi,” Lan Jingyi says once Wei Wuxian has turned the corner and is out of sight. He smirks when Jin Ling turns to give him a wary look. “No shouting in Cloud Recesses.”

Wen Sizhui has to stand up and back away from the table to avoid several flailing limbs as Jin Ling goes in for a tackle, and he’s glad that the four of them had chosen to study far away from the main teaching pavilions as his laughter and his friends’ playful shouts echo off the trees around them.

----

“Lan Zhaaaan!” Wei Wuxian’s whining is audible as soon as the four junior disciples step through the gate that leads to the yard surrounding the Jingshi that evening. “Come on, they’ve been eating nothing but boring Lan food for a month! I’m sure they’ll appreciate some spice and flavor!”

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji’s quiet admonishment is only audible because their doors are already thrown open to the warm summer breeze.

“Okay fine, we can set out the chili oil and let them decide for themselves. But we already know that A-Ling will want it! Just let me spice my bowl and his at least!”

Wen Sizhui glances at Jin Ling to try to gauge his reaction but the back of his head doesn’t offer any answers. It feels strange to even be anywhere near the private home of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, let alone to approach it with the intention to go inside, but Jin Ling clearly feels right at home doing so - and leading his three friends to do so as well.

“Da-jiu!” he shouts now while they’re still crossing the yard and there’s a clatter from inside the house shortly followed by Wei Wuxian bounding up to the threshold to grin at them.

“A-Ling! My favorite first nephew!” he cries, flinging one arm wide. He seems, if possible, even more energetic than when he can be seen flitting around the public spaces of Cloud Recesses.

“You say that all the time, da-jiu, and it never stops being ridiculous.”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me A-Ling, you look just like your er-jiu when you do that, it’s creepy! Come in, come in, all four of you. Lan Zhan’s just finishing dinner.”

The four of them troop into the house and Wen Sizhui tries not to look around the space quite as obviously as Lan Jingyi is doing, but he can’t help but be curious. Their hosts at least don’t seem to notice, or if they do they don’t mind. Jin Ling gestures for them to settle at a table and begins to pour tea for them all as Wei Wuxian flits back to his husband’s side at the hearth on the other end of the main room.

“Where’s A-Xiao?” Jin Ling asks his uncles once the four of them are all settled in with tea and the silence threatens to creep in, thick and heavy. “My cousin,” he supplies quietly to the rest of them at the table.

“Dormitories,” Lan Wangji replies, his deep, steady voice instantly soothing some of the awkwardness curling through Wen Sizhui’s chest.

“Oh. When did he start taking classes with everyone else?”

“Two months ago, right after we gave him his courtesy name and his ribbon. He’s Lan Xiafeng now, so you know just in case you run into him, but it’s taking him a while to get used to it,” Wei Wuxian supplies as he starts bringing finished dishes over to the table with surprisingly good balance. “Honestly he’s been ready for his formal studies for longer than that from a teacher’s standpoint, but we wanted him to choose when to move to the dormitories and begin his lessons with everyone else. He’d love to see you sometime if you can spare him a minute, though,” he continues. Wen Sizhui wonders if he should feel uncomfortable that they’re discussing family business in front of them and a glance at Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen proves that they’re looking similarly at a loss.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji calls without looking up from whatever he’s stirring and Wei Wuxian immediately flaps his hands a bit (thankfully he’s not still holding any dishes when he does it). “Guests.”

“Aiyah, I know Lan Zhan, but A-Ling asked! But of course you’re right anyway, enough family talk,” he sighs as he plops down at one of the two remaining place settings to grin at all of them. “I may mostly teach the babies these days but I remember what it was like both to take and teach the lessons you four are in. Tell me about them, come on! Don’t be shy.”

Lan Wangji brings the rest of the dishes over in silence over the next few minutes as Jin Ling practically bullies Wen Sizhui, Ouyang Zizhen, and Lan Jingyi out of their nervousness to get them talking. It doesn’t take too long before Wei Wuxian’s natural charisma and questions have the conversation flowing more freely, even once they begin eating. Wen Sizhui notices about halfway through the meal that Lan Wangji seems to uphold the Lan rule of no speaking during meals - even when Wei Wuxian tries to get him to offer up an opinion or a potential solution to whatever scenario they’re discussing - but at the same time he makes no move to stop the others from chatting, not even Lan Jingyi.

He studies Lan Wangji as subtly as he can in glances and out of the corners of his eyes, looking for the things that Jin Ling had told them about that afternoon in preparation for dinner. Jin Ling had sworn that if you look close enough, Lan Wangji’s face is actually very expressive, much more so than he seems from a distance, and that his expressions can help with decoding what he says when he hardly uses words. ‘It’s just a matter of knowing what to look for and paying enough attention to spot it’, Jin Ling had said with all the confidence that comes from a lifetime of prior experience, as if it should be that easy for everyone else.

It takes most of the remainder of the meal for Wen Sizhui to begin to see it. Lan Jingyi has relaxed enough to start teasing everyone at the table (well, everyone who’s not Lan Wangji) and something he has just said makes Wei Wuxian throw his head back and laugh. While the eye would normally be drawn to Wei Wuxian’s boisterous character, Wen Sizhui glances at Lan Wangji beside the other man just in time to spot the ghost of a smile on his lips and the way his eyebrows relax marginally out of their perpetually stern set, somehow managing to soften not only his eyes but his entire countenance. It’s such a small, subtle change, but now that he’s noticed it he can’t help but feel like Lan Wangji is...glowing. Practically radiating silent contentment, like a cat sleeping curled in a beam of summer sunshine or on a hearth in front of a fire in the winter.

Wen Sizhui is still staring (on accident) when Lan Wangji turns his head and meets his eyes, his smile somehow managing to gentle even further until it becomes so unexpectedly tender that Wen Sizhui can’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed for getting caught looking. He offers his own smile back, an easy slip of a thing that feels right at home on his lips, and after a long moment Lan Wangji breaks the contact with a nod and a return of his gaze back to his husband at his side.

Wen Sizhui returns to the conversation at hand - something about talisman theory that is being hotly debated between Wei Wuxian, Jin Ling, and Ouyang Zizhen (who has also apparently relaxed in response to Wei Wuxian’s gregariousness). The conversation continues to fly quickly for the rest of the evening - witty and loud and fun - until they have to leave to make it back to their dorms for curfew.

They say their goodbyes and their thank you’s on the threshold of the porch and then step out of the warm light of the Jingshi into the dark hum of the evening, Wen Sizhui trailing behind his friends still chatting and laughing amongst themselves. At the last moment, he can’t quite resist turning to glance over his shoulder one more time, back towards the comfortable home tucked unobtrusively into its little copse of bamboo.

The sight of the warmly lit silhouettes of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian standing in the door to their home, Wei Wuxian leaning against his husband’s side with his head on his shoulder, imprints itself instantly into his mind like the bold strokes of a painting. He raises one hand in a tentative wave and instantly receives one in return from Wei Wuxian.

For propriety’s sake, he’s willing to pretend not to hear the gentle, “Be good, A-Yuan,” that follows after him onto the path, Lan Wangji’s mellow tones turning the goodbye into something so soft that it feels like a hug. Maybe, Wen Sizhui supposes as he gets ready for bed in the room he shares with Jin Ling a few minutes later, he’s loved here too.

#The untamed fanfic #the junior quartet #Jin Ling #Lan Jingyi #Ouyang Zizhen #Lan Sizhui #only he's Wen Sizhui this time around #Y'all I know the courtesy name was a product of LWJ missing WWX but I just do not have the energy to come up with something new for him #I already made courtesy names for Jin Ling's oc brothers and for Lan Xiafeng I'm done lol #If anyone wants to know any of my headcanons for these boys/how things are for them in this AU just let me know!#Anon I hope you like it ^_^#Also - Jin Ling has TOO MANY UNCLES I'M SORRY I CAN'T FIGURE OUT GOOD TITLES FOR ALL OF THEM #WHO IN THE WORLD HAS SO MANY UNCLES?! NOBODY #I'm sure it's probably not the greatest for JL to call them all by their names but I just. I can't #prompt fill

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