Another twt threadfic import!
Wangxian, 9k, post-CQL getting together
Explicit, No Warnings
POV switches wildly at will, and LWJ gets drunk but nothing happens at that point! Proceed for humor, tension, sweetness, and spice.
Anybody else think about what would happen if post-CQL, pre-relationship wangxian were traveling and Lan Do-Not-Indulge-In-Pleasure Wangji walked in on his very good friend Wei Wuxian...
...Indulging In Pleasure?
First, he would Run. Door slammed shut. Possibly colliding with a few walls while he tries to figure out how to Get Away to Meditate Immediately.
Wei Wuxian comes after him asap to apologize. There is a lot of overlapping apologizing, and little to no eye contact.
Maybe after, though, Wei Wuxian would feel a little...frisky. And a tiny bit defensive. "Lan Zhan, everybody does it!! It's not THAT upsetting!"
Lan Wangji cuts a glare at him. "Everyone does not do it."
Wei Wuxian suddenly has a lot of new things to think about.
(This is only ONE interpretation of Lan Wangji's relationship to self-pleasure...but it's a pretty fun one imo)
Wei Wuxian can't stop thinking about it. Has Lan Wangji really never...like NEVER never...is that. How could he even ask that? He can't, right? It'd be weird.
It Eats At Him. He loses sleep.
Coincidentally, so does Lan Wangji. They both lie awake at night in their shared room, very determinedly Not Thinking About the things they have learned.
Lan Wangji recites rules for hours trying to get the image of what Wei Wuxian looks like when he's doing THAT out of his mind.
Maybe, ages after Wei Wuxian thought Lan Wangji had fallen asleep, he hears him shift. It's a small sound but Wei Wuxian knows Lan Wangji doesn't move at all when he's really out.
"Can't sleep?" He says into the dark.
Lan Wangji takes a long time to answer. He's debating pretending not to hear. "No."
Wei Wuxian sort of thinks he knows why, but isn't sure exactly WHY why...like. Is Lan Wangji freaked out and disgusted? Is he confused? Is he...intrigued?
"It's because of the rules, right?" He asks instead. "It's a Lan thing."
Again, Lan Wangji takes a long time to answer.
It is only partly true. It is a rule, in a way. At least, that's how Lan Wangji had interpreted it when he was young. But it became a mixture of habit and shame, of self-disgust. And then after Nightless City, it simply did not occur to him. His body did not seem to work that way anymore.
He can't say any of that.
"Yes." It's not entirely a lie.
The horrible inconvenience of his body working that way, again, now, is another thing entirely. He does his best to ignore it. He does not want to address it. Meditation is his best friend once again.
"I really thought you'd started bending rules," Wei Wuxian muses aloud. "That's such a...specific one to stick to."
Lan Wangji has no answer for this. He honestly agrees.
After a pause Wei Wuxian goes on. "You never even thought about it? What about if you marry? Or what if you NEVER marry?"
Even in the oddly comforting unreality of the dead of night, Lan Wangji can't begin to discuss most of this.
"You said yourself no woman would want to marry me," he deflects.
"Ugh, did I?" Wei Wuxian says. "I suppose I did. Stupid. Anybody would be crazy not to want to marry you."
The silence after this declaration is particularly loud. Wei Wuxian covers it with an awkward laugh. "Anyway, I guess you probably think it's just another way the rest of the world is...gross. And...debaucherous. Huh."
Lan Wangji hears the self-effacement in his tone. "No. It is natural."
Wei Wuxian goes silent for a long moment. "Then why the rule?"
"It is...easier," Lan Wangji struggles to merge truth with the fib. "To deny one's—it is not a question of judgment. Do not worry, Wei Ying."
Wei Wuxian huffs. "I'm not worried, Lan Zhan." Well, he's not anymore. But then he processes the rest of it. "So. Then, it's less of a rule? And...more of...a...guideline?"
Lan Wangji says nothing. He's already said too much. He should be asleep. He should have pretended he was.
Wei Wuxian doesn't know why he's pushing this so hard. He can't make his mouth stop saying words, carried forward on a tide of morbid curiosity and an abstract sense of unjust wastefulness. If Lan Wangji is going to miss out on the natural pleasures of life, he at least wants to understand.
"That's a lot of years of dedication to a not-rule," he says.
Lan Wangji is silent, again.
"Must be difficult," Wei Wuxian insists.
Lan Wangji resists the urge to say both "it isn't" and "it is."
"You're not even curious?"
Lan Wangji is not. He understands the concept. Understands the truly unsettling ferocity of his own feelings, his own desire. Understands that some things, once begun, have a way of getting under one's skin and living there. The combination of these things is unthinkable.
"You could ask, if you were," Wei Wuxian goes on, unperturbed. "I don't mind."
This is not what Lan Wangji thought he meant. His mind is suddenly bursting with the most inappropriate of questions: mainly, horribly, "What do you think of, when you do it?"
"I would not," he manages to say.
"No, you wouldn't, would you," Wei Wuxian concedes. He is aware, distantly, that he is trying to cover up the acute awkwardness of being caught with his dick out with the hazier, less severe awkwardness of talking too much. It doesn't stop him. "You're not made of jade, but you do like to pretend you are."
He knows, immediately, even before Lan Wangji's sharp intake of breath, that he's said the wrong thing.
"Ah, Lan Zhan, I didn't mean that. I didn't." The silence is accusing, unforgiving. "I'm sorry. That was wrong."
Lan Wangji just lies there, silently blindsided. This is how Wei Wuxian sees him. Not as the bloodless statue of a man others see, but as a man desperately trying to realize that vision. And this...all of this, has only reinforced it.
"No," he says quietly. "You are right. It is easier."
"You keep saying that," Wei Wuxian says after a thoughtful silence. "Easier than what?"
This, Lan Wangji does not have the words to explain. There is no way to encompass the depth and breadth of it.
"It is time for sleep," he says.
Wei Wuxian chuckles darkly. "It was time for sleep ages ago. But alright. I can take a hint."
Neither of them sleep.
~~~
Days pass, and they do not speak of the incident again, though neither of them find themselves capable of forgetting it. The next time it comes up is completely by virtue of a series of accidents.
At dinner Wei Wuxian, in the habit of adding more food to Lan Wangji's bowl every time Lan Wangji adds some to his, does so without looking at what he is doing. When Lan Wangji hurries to douse the fire on his tongue with water, the nearest cup to his grasp contains something else entirely.
Wei Wuxian fortunately catches him before his head hits the table, this time.
When he wakes, bleary and unsteady, Wei Wuxian hustles him up and over to the stairs before he can get loose and wreak havoc. He learned his lesson the last time.
He helps Lan Wangji up to their room with an arm around his waist, and it's necessary but still feels a little bit like a violation. Lan Wangji does not like to be touched. It is probably a blessing that he won't remember this come morning.
Wei Wuxian is proud that they only stumble once before he figures out how to hold up the hems of both their robes with his one free hand, even with the distracting, warm weight of Lan Wangji's head on his shoulder. Once in the room, however, Wei Wuxian begins to regret his strategy of supervised confinement. There is nothing to do but sit while Lan Wangji stares at him, unfocused but intent.
"Lan Zhan...are you in there?"
Lan Wangji nods but doesn't break his stare. The room feels uncomfortably warm.
Wei Wuxian rolls his head back to look at the ceiling. Maybe a couple of petty crimes are worth ending this...but no. It wouldn't do to have rumors of Hanguang-jun vandalizing farms across the land. As funny as it would be, it wouldn't do at all. Wei Wuxian groans.
He stands and begins to putter around the room, pacing when that fails. Lan Wangji watches him with his silent, heavy gaze. The room really is far too warm.
Wei Wuxian unbuckles his belt to get rid of his thick outermost layer. Lan Wangji makes a small noise and laboriously turns himself around to face the wall.
"Lan Zhan? You alright?"
"Mn," comes the reply, with an exaggerated nod.
"What are you looking at over there?" He's irrationally half afraid Lan Wangji could start hallucinating.
"Away."
"A what?"
"Looking away."
"From?"
Lan Wangji glances over his shoulder, slow and shy, his heavy-lidded eyes falling on Wei Wuxian's hands at his belt.
The room gets warmer.
"Ah...hahaha...Lan Zhan. I'm just feeling a little hot, okay? Don't spit blood."
He takes off his belt. Lan Wangji faces the wall. When he shrugs off his long, thick vest, Lan Wangji starts wobbling, and it takes Wei Wuxian a confused minute before he realizes he's trying to stand up. He rushes to help.
"What now??"
"Leaving."
Wei Wuxian sighs. It has begun.
"You can't leave, Lan Zhan, it's late. Where will you go?"
"Outside." He's tugging insistently against the hand holding onto his arm.
"Okay," Wei Wuxian relents. He does sort of want to get out of this room. Get some fresh air. "Alright. Let's go."
Lan Wangji makes a distressed noise and tears his arm away. "Alone."
Wei Wuxian stares. "You can't—why?"
"Privacy."
"You—what do you need—" Wei Wuxian deliberately drops the question. "Sorry, Lan Zhan, you can have privacy in here, OR you can go outside. Not both."
Lan Wangji pouts. It's horrible. Wei Wuxian is not equipped to handle it. He opens his mouth to distract him.
Lan Wangji speaks first. "Not me. You."
"Me what?"
"Privacy."
Wei Wuxian's brain stalls, unable to follow Lan Wangji's logic. "What for?"
Lan Wangji makes a gesture at him that manages to be sloppy, elegant, and vaguely suggestive all at once. Wei Wuxian's face heats.
"I'm--I'm not. Doing. I wasn't going to do anything, Lan Zhan. I was just taking off one layer, see? To be more comfortable."
Lan Wangji blinks, unfocused, and sways. He's silent long enough that Wei Wuxian starts to relax and hope that he might just fall asleep. Which would be a blessing, given how difficult his heavy stare and softly parted lips are making it for Wei Wuxian not to Think Bad Thoughts.
Lan Wangji, however, is trying very hard to think thoughts with very limited success.
"Why?"
Wei Wuxian frowns at him. Which is bad.
"Why not?" He tries again. His words are not very good at present.
"Why am I not comfortable? It's a warm night."
Wei Wuxian is speaking slowly, like Lan Wangji is a child who does not understand such things. Lan Wangji frowns. He understands plenty.
He shakes his head and makes the motion again, the one Wei Wuxian understood. "Why not?"
Wei Wuxian is silent a long while, his face screwed up strangely. Lan Wangji wants to pat it smooth but knows he should not.
"It's..hah, Lan Zhan, it's not like people are always...you're not always...in the mood, you know?"
Lan Wangji does not know. He cannot, at this moment, conceive of not being at least slightly aroused. And besides there is nothing different now from the time he had seen—no, he does not think of that.
"Why?"
Wei Wuxian sighs. He almost looks sad. That's bad.
"Sometimes you're thinking of other things, or busy, or lonely, or..."
Wei Wuxian keeps speaking, but Lan Wangji has stopped listening. Wei Wuxian need not be lonely. He is here. He can help. He can help with this and Wei Wuxian will stop looking sad.
"Not alone," he says. "’M here."
Wei Wuxian stops talking, and smiles at him. Good.
"That's true."
Lan Wangji nods. Good. Wei Wuxian smiles some more, and shakes his head.
"Don't you think it's time to go to bed, Lan Zhan?"
Lan Wangji's ears heat. He would like to. He did not expect Wei Wuxian to ask. He nods and takes Wei Wuxian's wrist, pulling him toward the bed. Wei Wuxian makes an odd sound when they get there, and Lan Wangji looks down at where he's holding onto him, to make sure his grip is not too tight.
"Lan Zhan, I'm not sleepy," Wei Wuxian says. "You can...you can sleep though."
Lan Wangji stares at him with that same, open-mouthed stare. Wei Wuxian's own mouth is very dry.
"Not sleepy."
"Okay," says Wei Wuxian, jittery. "Maybe. You could just try lying down. And see if you get sleepy."
Lan Wangji looks at the bed. And then looks at Wei Wuxian.
"Not sleepy."
"...Okay."
Lan Wangji tugs on Wei Wuxian's wrist. Wei Wuxian's stomach lurches. He clears his throat.
"What is it?"
Unsteadily, Lan Wangji turns toward him. He reaches for the ties of Wei Wuxian's robes.
Wei Wuxian grabs his wrists and holds them away from himself as if they're on fire. A nervous laugh fights its way out of his mouth.
"Ah, Lan Zhan, I...I'm good. I'm not warm anymore. I'm fine. Happy. Like this. Okay?"
"Happy," Lan Wangji repeats.
"Yeah."
Lan Wangji seems to consider this.
Eventually, he relents, and goes to sleep.
Wei Wuxian sits up all night wondering if Lan Wangji was actually trying to do what it seemed like he was trying to do, and what it might mean if he was.
~~~
The time after that, it is Wei Wuxian's fault entirely.
It has been three days since Lan Wangji's accidental drunken night, and Wei Wuxian can't stop thinking about the intent in his drowsy gaze, or the brief second Lan Wangji's hands were at his waist. Every night when they go to bed, the room, the inn, are different. But the tension created in his spine by the memory of wanting and being so close but so far, is the same.
Wei Wuxian wants to drink.
But he knows that he probably should not under any circumstances get tipsy alone with Lan Wangji if he wants to preserve their friendship. So drinking is out. But he needs...he feels like he's going crazy. He needs some kind of...release. And it's been days, he's been too keyed up to try jerking off since The Incident. Plus Lan Wangji has just always been nearby. Which is great, actually, he would gladly go on forever this way, but it's also not ideal when being around him at all has been getting him half hard with no way to take care of it.
But they're two mature adults. They fight monsters every day. Wei Wuxian has been dead for crying out loud. It shouldn't be hard to ask for some privacy. It's understandable that he should need some, sometimes. Lan Wangji had seemed to understand even when he was drunk out of his mind. Of course he understands—Wei Wuxian has only gone a few days and he's starting to fray, imagine Lan Wangji going all these years without. Imagine if he ever did...it
would probably be. It'd probably be...really...
He doesn't think about it. He doesn't ask.
He decides to sneak off into the woods, instead. Except, when he gets up to leave, Lan Wangji gets up as well.
"Ah...are you. Going out too?" Wei Wuxian asks.
Lan Wangji blinks at him, and backs up a step in that unconscious way of his. "Apologies. I assumed, from the hour, that you had deemed it was time for us to eat."
"Oh. We could do that."
Lan Wangji shakes his head. "I would not infringe on your plans."
Wei Wuxian cringes internally. "You're not. I was just...I was just. Going. Out. To...to walk."
Lan Wangji stares at him with new suspicion. Wei Wuxian crumbles.
"I needed some privacy."
Lan Wangji's ears heat, and his eyes slip to the ground. "I see."
Wei Wuxian turns as if to leave again, and suddenly Lan Wangji realizes that he has nowhere to go.
"Stay. I will go."
"Ah, you don't have to, Lan Zhan, don't worry about it."
"Nonsense. It is more comfortable here."
He barely gets through the sentence once it registers what he is saying. What they are discussing happening in this room. His ears are on fire.
"Yeah which is why you should just stay here, comfortable."
Lan Wangji shakes his head and moves to brush past him.
"Or we could both say."
Wei Wuxian has no idea what makes him say it. He's playing with fire, and this was not the plan. But he keeps hearing Lan Wangji's sad voice saying it is easier. The loneliness in it. A twisted part of him doesn't want Lan Wangji to be left out in the cold. Literally or metaphorically.
Lan Wangji has frozen. He does not know what Wei Wuxian is suggesting. Does not want to assume. Does not want to even entertain the idea that he might mean—
"I don't mind if you don't," Wei Wuxian goes on.
Mind? Lan Wangji does not mind. That is not the cause of the white noise now roaring in his head.
"It's up to you. We both stay, or I can go,” says Wei Wuxian.
It is childishly manipulative, transparently so. On reflex, Lan Wangji cuts a glare at him, but quickly looks away. It feels lewd to look at him at all, just now.
"You could...play a song, or something, if..."
Lan Wangji has to look at him then. He wants him to play for him while he...while he...
Wei Wuxian's face scrunches up. "That...that's probably. This is probably weird. You probably don't want to be aware of—this was weird. Forget it. You can go, I can go. I just thought you might not mind, since—"
He cuts off as if he's said something he didn't mean to.
"Since?" Lan Wangji prompts. He has no idea where the sentence was meant to lead.
"Ah..." Wei Wuxian rubs the back of his head. "That night you drank my wine," he starts.
Lan Wangji's stomach drops.
"Ah, it's nothing bad!" Wei Wuxian hurries to say. "Don't look so upset."
"What did I say?"
Wei Wuxian has been acting distant the last few days. This explains everything. He must have said something untoward. Unacceptable.
"You didn't really say anything much."
Lan Wangji's alarm heightens.
"Did I—do—"
"Don't worry!" Wei Wuxian almost shouts. He can't handle the stricken expression on Lan Wangji's usually calm face. "You didn't do anything bad."
"Then what—"
"You...sort of. You. You wanted to help, is all."
Lan Wangji's eyes widen further. He looks absolutely horrified. Wei Wuxian wants to kick himself.
"I—it wasn't—"
Except it was sort of like that. But not in...not in a bad way. It was sort of...weirdly cute. He doesn't think he can say that. He takes a deep breath.
"It wasn't bad. Nothing happened. You just seemed...you weren't upset by the concept."
Lan Wangji stares at him.
"...But you clearly are now, so."
There is a long, awkward silence. Lan Wangji stares hard at the wall.
"It does not upset me," he hazards. He wants to be clear on this. Does not want Wei Wuxian to think him judgmental, or a prude.
"Okay."
"It is natural to require privacy for such things."
"Yes."
"Therefore I shall leave you."
"...If you like."
That strange opening, once again. The offer to...to share space, while he—
"What would you like?" Lan Wangji finds himself saying. His breath leaves him with the words.
"I'd like to know what really keeps you from doing it, even now."
Lan Wangji looks at him, shocked.
"If you just didn't want to, or didn't feel like it, that would be one thing," he goes on, "but that's not what you said."
Lan Wangji curses himself for speaking so freely, that night. "Why does it matter?"
Wei Wuxian frowns at him, thinking.
"Because sometimes, I think you find little ways to punish yourself. You don't deserve that. Especially not like this."
It feels like a physical strike, and Lan Wangji flinches from it. The worst part of it is that it might even be true.
"Pot. Kettle. Black," he counters.
Wei Wuxian huffs. "That's fair. Yeah, that's fair."
"So is your point," Lan Wangji is forced to concede. "Possibly."
Wei Wuxian's eyebrows shoot up. "Well, that...that's unfortunate."
"If you say so."
"We should do something about it."
The both of them go very still.
Wei Wuxian did not mean it to sound like such a pointed suggestion.
Lan Wangji does not know what to do with it.
Wei Wuxian laughs again, but it trails off pitifully.
"I didn't mean—" he starts at the same time Lan Wangji says,
"Alright."
They both snap their mouths shut.
Lan Wangji knows he has said the wrong thing, now. Knows he has given away a weakness, read the wrong thing into their situation, making it hopelessly awkward between them at last.
Wei Wuxian takes stock. It's rare for Lan Wangji to express himself like this. He can't shoot him down. He can't let that wounded look stay on his face.
"You could try it," he says. "I could...whatever you need." That sounds wrong. He tries again. "I could answer...questions. Or I could. Be moral support." Everything he says sounds stupid.
Lan Wangji is turning slowly pink. It's extremely fetching. Wei Wuxian can't help but try to deepen the shade, an old reflex.
"I could show you how."
It's a joke, and it's not. He meant to tease, probably. It did not come out that way at all. He can't take it back.
Lan Wangji thinks he should probably feel patronized, but his heart is thudding too hard for him to think clearly. He should say no. Of course he should. He knows what this would do to him, knows he would never be able to look at Wei Wuxian the same. He is already tortured constantly by the glimpse he accidentally stole. This would make things exponentially worse.
But at the same time, contrary to popular belief, he is only a man. How is he to deny something so close to what he has always wanted, freely given? No matter that it means nothing. He cannot quite refuse outright.
"I understand the mechanics," he says instead. Neither a yes nor a no.
Wei Wuxian smiles crookedly. "There's a little more to it than that."
This is somewhat of a genuine surprise. It must show on his face.
"Tips and tricks," Wei Wuxian says, "I know a few."
Lan Wangji can feel his face flushing now, hot and likely obvious. It is not a usual occurrence.
"I've had way more practice than you, you have to admit."
Lan Wangji generally tries not to think of it. "I suppose."
"Ah, Lan Zhan, are you mad there's something I'm better at than you?"
"Of course not," Lan Wangji replies, automatic. "You are very skilled at many things."
Wei Wuxian is grinning at him now. It feels more natural. He realizes he's been baited into relaxing somewhat.
"Alright," says Wei Wuxian, his grin fading a little, "if it's too awkward, then forget it. But the offer stands."
Lan Wangji feels very much pulled along by Wei Wuxian's current. It is a familiar feeling. He does the only thing he knows how to do any longer: he gives in.
"Alright."
Wei Wuxian blinks. In absolutely no part of his mind had he expected Lan Wangji to accept. He doesn't know what he thought. He wasn't actually thinking.
And now...
He. Well. Now he has to do as he said he would.
"Alright," he echoes back. "I...then. Alright."
It should be easy, in a sense. Once he'd become an official Jiang disciple and entered the dorms, it had become a necessity to tune out the presence of other people. But other people aren't Lan Wangji. And he can't remember anyone ever watching. That's certainly...something else.
He goes back into the bedroom, stripping off layers as he goes. He leaves most of them on—he's pretty sure this isn't supposed to be that kind of show.
Unless it is.
But it's not.
He turns to find Lan Wangji hovering, eyes averted, very much visibly embarrassed, and he has a very genius, very stupid idea.
As a teacher, he has come to appreciate that interactive learning is a powerful tool.
"Lan Zhan," he says, "learning by doing works best, sometimes."
"That is true," Lan Wangji says slowly.
Wei Wuxian shrugs. "Just an idea."
"Clarify." He does not want to misunderstand again.
Wei Wuxian fights his own blush at being made to say it. "We could do it at the same time. I could show you and you could try it. That way I could...you could. It might help."
Help what, he's not sure. He knows how all of this sounds. And yet here they are. He just can't stop himself.
Lan Wangji is having trouble deciding which of Wei Wuxian's suggestions should be accepted and which should be dismissed. He is unversed in what parts of this might cross the line of friendship.
But Wei Wuxian is offering. And in a deep, secret place, deeper even than his hopeless love, a part of him not only wants to see Wei Wuxian this way, but wants to be seen by him. He wants Wei Wuxian to have this part of him, whether he would care to keep it or not. He wants to give it to him more than he wants to have it himself.
"How?"
Wei Wuxian has once again not thought that far ahead. He scans the room, mind scrambling.
"Well. I...could sit. Here. And then you could also...you could sit."
He's staring at his bed, trying to think of a way this is not just him asking Lan Wangji to climb into bed with him. It occurs to him that's what he's been doing this entire time. He almost panics, but then...
Lan Wangji has been agreeing.
He looks at him again. Really looks. He's embarrassed, yes. A little lost. But underneath that, he looks determined.
For whatever reason, Lan Wangji wants this.
It settles the disquiet in Wei Wuxian. There's something Lan Wangji needs, here, and he's in a position to figure out how to let him have it. That's as worthy a cause as any.
"Get comfortable first," he says. "No Hanguang-jun allowed, this lesson is for Lan Zhan only."
Lan Wangji reaches up to take down his elaborate set of hair ornaments, and Wei Wuxian turns to consider the bed. It doesn't look very comfortable to lean on any part of it, so sitting is probably not ideal. It might be a hard sell, but he sees only one option.
"Lan Zhan—"
Lan Wangji is standing behind him, undone and soft. Smaller, without his tall hair and his billowing layers. Vulnerable. Wei Wuxian's heart does something complicated but familiar, and then picks up its pace. He'll have to tread carefully. To be careful with him.
"We'll just lie down first," he says. "Get used to that and go from there."
He expects A Look at the concept of getting used to lying down. But Lan Wangji only nods at the floorboards.
It's a little bit heartbreaking. Wei Wuxian is fairly certain a comforting touch wouldn't help. He stretches out and shimmies over to the side, as far as he can go to leave room. Lan Wangji only hesitates a moment before following suit. It's unfair how graceful he is, even in moments like this.
"Alright?" Wei Wuxian keeps his voice as soft and unobtrusive as he can.
Lan Wangji nods at the ceiling this time, his hands folded over his chest as if ready for sleep.
"It's really not a big deal, once you're used to it," he says, letting his mouth run. "It's like eating, or playing music. You figure out the ways you like to do it, and
try to get better at them."
He feels silly, giving a lecture on this, but he thinks the chatter is having the desired calming effect. Lan Wangji's breathing looks deeper. More even. But maybe he shouldn't be staring at him so much just now.
He turns to the ceiling, too.
"It's good to start slowly," he says. "Relax, get your body tuned into touch the way you want it to be. Don't just dive straight in."
There is a beat of silence, of stillness.
He actually has to do this now.
He takes a breath and pulls open his robes. Sets a hand on bare skin.
"Like this."
Lan Wangji can barely hear him over the rushing, pounding blood in his ears, in his mind, in his everywhere. He is aware of movement beside him, and the awareness that Wei Wuxian is undressing further, is bare, is touching himself, floods him with something like burning slush.
"Whenever you're ready," Wei Wuxian says, and the rustle of fabric sounds lewd in the silence. "Just touch your stomach or something. Ground yourself."
Hastily, jerkily, Lan Wangji unties his robes and tunic, opening them just enough to lay fingertips on flesh.
He cannot get enough air.
"When that feels nice, you can try something else. Like finding other places that feel particularly good. You know."
Lan Wangji has vague ideas. He does not really know. Does not think he could find them now, like this, strung so tightly.
"And whenever you feel like it, you can move on to more things. Or even The Thing, depending on how it feels."
Lan Wangji hears the slide of skin on skin. Hears Wei Wuxian's hand moving lower. The displacement of the waistband of his trousers.
He has never been so hard in his life. He wonders if it is possible to die from such a thing. He feels as if he might.
"How is it?" Wei Wuxian asks. His voice is breathier than it was a moment ago.
Lan Wangji feels dampness bloom in his own trousers. He clenches his fists and shuts his eyes.
"Lan Zhan?"
Wei Wuxian glances over, and sees the pained look on Lan Wangji's face. He stops the light, tentative touch he's been using on himself.
"What is it?"
Lan Wangji shakes his head. Wei Wuxian frowns.
"We can stop this right now," he says. "I'm sorry if I pushed it too far. I..."
"No," says Lan Wangji. "You did not. It is not your fault. I should not have agreed."
"Why not?"
Lan Wangji does not know where to begin.
"I should have known I would not be able to."
Wei Wuxian considers this. "There's nothing wrong with not being able to...perform. Under pressure. That—"
Reflexively, he glances down at him, and learns with immediate, brain-melting clarity that performance is not the issue. The sight chokes off the rest of his words. He tries to compose himself. He’s supposed to be helping, not panting like a dog. That's just taking advantage.
"Or. Ah...Do you feel like trying to tell me what the problem is?"
Lan Wangji shakes his head and blows out a frustrated breath. "I am sorry."
"Don't apologize," Wei Wuxian says, resisting the guilt that wants to spring on him. He can troubleshoot this. It's Lan Zhan. He deserves to feel good. "Is it just because I'm here? I can go."
"No," Lan Wangji says quickly. "I will go."
"Lan Zhan..." Wei Wuxian says gently. "You can't go out in public like that."
Lan Wangji knows this. And he has had this problem before, to a lesser extent. He is very good at getting rid of it. Only just now, with Wei Wuxian's warmth palpable beside him, he finds himself unable to concentrate.
Embarrassment and frustration are rolling off of Lan Wangji in waves. Wei Wuxian casts about, desperate for a solution to the distress he has inadvertently caused.
"Lan Zhan, relax. It's only me. We have time to figure it out. Take a deep breath."
Lan Wangji breathes. It shudders out of him.
"Can I help?" Wei Wuxian asks.
He means it in a general way.
Lan Wangji's eyes snap open and fix him with a disbelieving stare, and he hears, then, how it sounded.
But Lan Wangji looks so...helpless. Almost pleading.
He doubles down.
"Let me help."
Lan Wangji stares at him with confusion just on the edge of fear. Wei Wuxian reaches out to hover a hand over his arm.
"Can I touch you?"
He sees Lan Wangji's throat bob as he swallows hard. He gives the slightest of nods. Wei Wuxian presses down on his bicep in what he hopes is a comforting way, and sweeps his thumb back and forth. Lan Wangji is so warm, even through his remaining layers.
"It's only me," Wei Wuxian says again. He runs his hand down to the fist curled tightly on Lan Wangji's stomach and gently pries it open. He wraps his fingers around his hand and rubs the back of it with his thumb until it relaxes. "It's just us. You trust me, and I trust you, right? Nothing to worry about."
Every word Wei Wuxian says is like another blade to Lan Wangji's gut. He should not be allowing this. In the name of trust, he should not let Wei Wuxian touch him with kindness, with the assumption of pure friendship. He should stop this.
But Wei Wuxian's hand is warm on his. A gesture so simple, reducing Lan Wangji to a hopeless, lovestruck fool. He cannot pull away from it. He could not bear to.
But then Wei Wuxian is moving their hands to rest on the bed between them, and letting go. He slides his hand back up Lan Wangji's arm to his shoulder, then down just slightly. Almost to his chest. Lan Wangji cannot breathe.
Wei Wuxian goes up on an elbow, looking down at him. His robes fall open just slightly, revealing a slice of skin. Lan Wangji looks away.
"Can I show you?" Wei Wuxian asks softly. His hand is a heavy weight. He is asking...he is asking to...
Lan Wangji should say no.
He cannot say it.
He nods.
When Wei Wuxian's hand moves, when it slides to the center of his chest and beneath the fabric there, Lan Wangji closes his eyes. The first touch is a shock. With considerable effort, he does not flinch. He does not gasp. He keeps still and quiet as the small, shivery waves of sensation roll across his body, growing and fading as more of Wei Wuxian's hand comes in contact with his skin. It rests there, then, and Lan Wangji is grateful for the pause. He needs it to calm himself, to keep from shaking out of his body and into the ether.
But then it begins to move, a slow caress, and Lan Wangji feels all of his hair stand on end.
He did not know touch could feel like this.
"Alright?" Wei Wuxian asks, his hand petting up and down the center of Lan Wangji's chest, gradually widening into oblong circles.
The bright softness of it is beginning to overwhelm Lan Wangji, the sharp awareness it brings to his body unfamiliar and heady. He nods.
They have come this far. He does not know what it would do to him to stop, now. The only way out is through.
Wei Wuxian brushes his fingers out deliberately farther, catching across a nipple. Lan Wangji does not manage to stop his shocked intake of breath at the difference in feeling, at the very pointed, very intense pleasure. Wei Wuxian circles his fingertips almost casually, and does it again. As if it is directly connected, his cock jerks, the damp spot in his trouser spreading. Again, and he clenches his teeth against the sounds working up in his throat.
"Is that too much?" Wei Wuxian asks. He feels unsteady, jittery with adrenaline and determination. He can't believe Lan Wangji is letting him do this. He knows he has to make the most of this one chance.
Lan Wangji shakes his head, and Wei Wuxian gives his nipple a gentle squeeze. At that, Lan Wangji does gasp quietly, his hands fisting tight in the bedding.
"Enough," he forces out, hoarse.
Wei Wuxian's fingers still. "You want—you want me to—"
Lan Wangji nods, his skin flushed with embarrassment and arousal in equal parts. Wei Wuxian moves his hand to rest low on Lan Wangji's stomach, and all his muscles jump and tense in response. It is too intimate, this touch, somehow. More intimate than the others. His cock aches, and leaks, and he is nearly tempted to take it in hand himself. But he is paralyzed still by fearful embarrassment, and now also by his ferocious desire, empowered by all this unexpected fulfillment of distant, illicit hopes.
He waits.
"Lan Zhan, look at me," Wei Wuxian murmurs. He doesn't think he can do this without looking into his eyes and knowing he's really alright.
Lan Wangji's eyes open with a flutter of dark lashes, and their darkness, their intensity, shocks straight through to Wei Wuxian's own arousal. He had expected discomfort and uncertainty. The nerves are there, the slight fear, too, and the embarrassment, yes. But these are nearly subsumed by stormy, determined desire.
Wei Wuxian sees now, he thinks, what Lan Wangji meant. How simply not giving in to the slightest temptation might prove easier than keeping such fierce feeling leashed. He had not realized Lan Wangji might contain such heat, such extraordinary worldly needfulness.
It's insanely arousing. Wei Wuxian struggles not to fall upon him and ravish him on the best of days, but this...
He clears his throat. "Ready?"
Eyes still locked on Wei Wuxian's, Lan Wangji nods, clear and careful. Wei Wuxian slips his hand down, beneath his waistband, immediately hot and slick. He can feel Lan Wangji's hard muscles twitching beneath smooth skin and coarse hair. He lifts his fingers to skim his knuckles along his length, and holds back a shiver. Lan Wangji is hard, and hot, and smooth as silk. And big. Really big.
Wei Wuxian's mouth waters, and that is...a new response to this type of information. He files it away to think about never again.
Lan Wangji can only breathe in short, shallow pants. The light touch is driving him to distraction, too much and not nearly enough. His hips jerk unconsciously. His focus, his restraint, is beginning to drift out of his grasp.
Wei Wuxian wraps his hand around him loosely, and strokes him once from root to tip.
A long breath shudders out of him along with a small, pained sound he does not mean to make. He shuts his eyes tight, but then Wei Wuxian lets go. Lan Wangji makes another sound. Quieter, yet more embarrassing.
"Not enough room," Wei Wuxian says, his hand flat on Lan Wangji's stomach, between his hips.
Lan Wangji does not understand how a touch that was so overwhelming a moment ago could be so grounding now. He is able to fill his lungs easier, for a moment, even though he aches for the touch to return.
"These—can I—” Wei Wuxian tugs at his trousers.
Lan Wangji nods without looking, without thinking. He does not care. Not now.
Wei Wuxian shoves them down. Lan Wangji knows he is shifting, straining for him, but cannot do anything to stop. He is bare and pleading, and he finds he cannot mind at all.
Wei Wuxian knows he shouldn't stare, but it really is impossible not to. Lan Wangji's cock is huge, beautiful, and dark with need. It looks almost painful, honestly, and Wei Wuxian very purposely does not think about how that might be particularly turning him on. Instead he does what he's here to do. He helps.
He touches him gently at first, then more firmly, each stroke coaxing another pulse of precome from his tip. Wei Wuxian didn't even know you could get this wet. But then, he hasn't really taken stock of the state of his own trousers. All of this is very new. He's honestly happy to be surprised.
Lan Wangji is shifting under his hand, breath erratic and noisy, his face contracted in an ecstatic, agonized expression. It's so beautiful Wei Wuxian wishes he could paint it. Wishes he could paint it across the backs of his own eyes and look at it forever.
"Come on, Lan Zhan," he hears himself saying. His voice sounds like a stranger's. "That's good, just let go."
Lan Wangji groans. It's low, and quiet, but it makes Wei Wuxian's cock twitch so hard he gasps.
"Come on," he breathes. "That's right."
Lan Wangji tosses his head to the side and gasps, then visibly bites back another noise. Wei Wuxian tightens his grip and focuses on twisting his hand at the right time, adding and releasing pressure in the right places.
Lan Wangji cuts off a louder sound, sweat breaking out across his skin.
"Wei Ying," he murmurs then, as if dreaming.
Wei Wuxian knows he will be hearing it in his own dreams for the rest of his life.
With one more aborted cry, Lan Wangji's perfectly muscled stomach tenses up in a shallow crescent, and he comes. Head thrown back, throat working with the ragged sounds forced through it. He comes, and comes. Wei Wuxian has never seen this much come in his life. He strokes him, and pulls him through it for what seems like forever. Finally, he quiets, and the ribbons of white shorten and then cease entirely.
Lan Wangji's breaths come hitched and wet, almost like little sobs. Wei Wuxian stares. His mind is entirely, screamingly blank.
At length, Lan Wangji's eyes blink open and look at him with bleary shock. He looks drunk. He looks fucked out. He looks incredible. His eyes are big and damp, his mouth full and red and open. Wei Wuxian wants to—but no. He can't, because—but then Lan Wangji's gaze cuts down to Wei Wuxian's lips, and—
Wei Wuxian leans down and crashes their mouths together. No finesse, no care, no gentleness. He just needs to taste him, to feel him.
Lan Wangji makes a soft, wanting sound and kisses back, sluggish but no less enthusiastic for it. He grabs him with both hands and holds on tight. Wei Wuxian licks into his mouth, hot and soft and insistent, and Lan Wangji hears himself make another awful sound. He tries to keep up, wants distantly to be good at this, feels as if maybe, somehow, if he were, he might be allowed to have it again.
This need collides with the more present one to feel the give of Wei Wuxian's lower lip between his teeth.
Wei Wuxian is the one to make a sound now, sudden and cut-off but needful nonetheless. His fingers dig into Lan Wangji's waist, slippery with come. This combination reawakens Lan Wangji's briefly calmed desire. Now that the dam has burst, he finds himself wanting all sorts of filthy things, most urgently for Wei Wuxian's spend to mix with his own on his skin.
He tries to focus on the kiss. Tries to make Wei Wuxian make that sound again.
Wei Wuxian is losing the struggle not to rut against Lan Wangji's hip. This all started because he was already going out of his mind, and now that the barrier between them has crumbled, what he has wanted hopelessly and what he needs immediately have become the same thing.
"Lan Zhan," he pants against his open mouth, "I...I need. Can I—"
Lan Wangji's fingers dig into his arms. "Yes." His voice is low and shredded. It's so hot Wei Wuxian is surprised he doesn't just come from the sound. "Please."
"Oh, fuck," Wei Wuxian mumbles, and fumbles his trousers down.
He gets a hand around himself—the same hand, still wet, and fuck, oh fuck—but Lan Wangji puts an arm around him and pulls him close, against his side. He sees, out of the corner of his eye, that Lan Wangji is—he's still—
They lock eyes. Wei Wuxian swallows hard. "Do you...do you still need..."
Lan Wangji blinks rapidly, then nods mutely.
He does not actually know. He has no idea what he needs, other than to see what Wei Wuxian might do next.
What he does is push himself up, thighs astride Lan Wangji's hips.
Lan Wangji is not prepared for it. All his breath leaves him once more.
"Is this—too much?" Wei Wuxian asks, leaning over him, breathing hard, pink with his own flush.
Lan Wangji tries not to do anything too extreme, like gripping Wei Wuxian's bare, muscled thighs with both hands.
"It is not," he manages roughly.
Wei Wuxian grinds down against him, and his curse is drowned out by Lan Wangji's sudden, anguished oh.
"Is it—Lan Zhan—is it—"
Lan Wangji's hands are fisted tightly in the bedding, his eyes squeezed shut and turned away. The pale column of his throat is exposed, tense and lovely.
"Please," he breathes.
"Oh, Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian chides softly, an odd pang in his chest. "It's alright."
He brushes damp hair from Lan Wangji's face, careful not to touch his ribbon. He leans down close and kisses the corner of his mouth. He's so perfect. Wei Wuxian hates to see him seem so conflicted about something so good.
"You can let go," he says again. He doesn't know how to make him understand. "With me, you can, if you want to. I want you to. I really...if you need—whatever you want. I'm here."
As he speaks, he can't seem to stop his hips from moving, little catches of almost-friction between their cocks making Lan Wangji's breath hitch beneath him.
He doesn't know what he's doing. He could be ruining everything. But he can't stop. He's never been this close to anyone, or wanted anyone this much. And it's not anyone, it's Lan Zhan. He wants him. He wants to make him feel good. He wants to be the person to do that. Preferably forever, but he'll take just this for as long as he can have it.
He kisses Lan Wangji's jaw, his perfect throat.
"Is this good? Do you want it?" He has to ask.
"Yes."
Breathless, the both of them undone. He kisses farther down.
"Do you...do you want to touch me too?" He tries not to sound too hopeful.
A pause, then the hoarse reply. "Yes."
"Then touch me."
Another pause. Hesitant fingertips at his knee, sliding upward. The barest touch of a palm on his thigh. He places his own hand over it and presses it down.
"Hold on," he says.
Then he thrusts against him and bites down gently at the same time.
Lan Wangji grips him hard and gasps, chest heaving against Wei Wuxian's.
"Yeah," Wei Wuxian goads, thrusting again. It feels so good. It feels better than anything he's imagined. "Yeah, like this, Lan Zhan, oh fuck."
It's incredible, and yet he needs more. He does his best to line them up and take them both in hand, but his hand is only so big, and between the two of them he's pleased to say neither of them would be considered small. He tries though, and it's almost perfect. Lan Wangji beneath him, writhing and panting, his helpless little noises and upward thrusts. The slick drag between them as he holds them together. He knows he's not going to last, but he almost doesn't care. The best part is watching him.
Lan Wangji is coming apart. He is reduced to sensation, overcome entirely by the sharpness, the omnipresence of pleasure. The only thing anchoring him to the world is Wei Wuxian's soft voice in his ear, Wei Wuxian's hands on his body. He has no idea if a second release is possible, but for now he is blissfully, mindlessly tossed in the ceaseless current.
He is aware of Wei Wuxian taking his hand and moving it, and then the hot, slick mess of them pressed together in his hand.
"Ah," Wei Wuxian pants against him. "That's—good. Together, like this—oh, fuck, Lan Zhan, your hand is—I—"
He groans right under Lan Wangji's ear, and it's so obscene, so honest, that Lan Wangji's climax drags him under with no warning. It feels like every vein, every nerve bursting, filling his limbs, his mind, his mouth with something bittersweet. Like something breaking in him beyond repair.
Lan Wangji moans, long and low and pleading, as he comes. The sound, the sight, the tightening of his hand around them, are all too much. It sends Wei Wuxian over the edge after him, jolting and groaning. He looks down to watch, awed where he might've thought he should be disgusted. In the height of it, he wants to smear his hands through their spend on Lan Wangji's perfect skin, to paint their names in it.
He doesn't do that. This has already pushed through too many boundaries. He collapses into the mess instead, an unsubtle compromise, and then finds himself too weak to move.
When the euphoria fades, it hits him. What they've just done. What he's done, really. Mad with want and lacking any impulse control whatsoever, he may have just done what demonic cultivation and 16 years of absence couldn't manage. He may have just driven Lan Wangji out of his life for good. He...he thinks, probably, the effect won't be quite that drastic. But he's suddenly afraid it could be.
Lan Wangji comes back to himself warm and pleasantly weighed down. Slowly, as his breathing evens out, the comfort bleeds out of him leaving only exhaustion and nerves.
He is not sure how much he has given away, in this. How much of what he has just done can be excused. He tries to still the tremors that are still pulsing through his muscles. Tries to regain his footing, to think. It is nearly impossible with Wei Wuxian still draped over him, boneless and pliant. But he would not trade it away, not a single moment of it.
Eventually, unfortunately, Wei Wuxian lifts up and off. Lan Wangji feels a moment of stark, certain grief, and turns away from him.
"We should clean up," Wei Wuxian says quietly.
Lan Wangji nods. They should. There is...much to clean.
A hand grasps his arm, sudden and solid.
"Lan Zhan, we're okay, right? I didn't. I didn't...this wasn't wrong."
Lan Wangji shakes his head. It was far from wrong.
"Okay...okay. Then, are you okay?"
Lan Wangji does not want to lie. It is a difficult question. It is possible he is alright. He simply does not know.
"Did you know?" Lan Wangji asks suddenly, without premeditation of any sort.
He wishes he could shove the words back into his mouth. But he cannot help but wonder. How much of this was...a knowing kindness? How much of this was pity, born of his own horribly obvious desires?
"Know what?"
Lan Wangji takes a breath. As much as he wishes he could, he does not think he could go back. Back to before he had this, knew this, felt this.
"That I wanted you."
There is a stunned silence. The hand on his arm tightens painfully.
"No," Wei Wuxian says. "You—how long?"
Lan Wangji shakes his head. That, he is not sure he can make himself say.
"Did...did you know?"
"Know?" Lan Wangji repeats, confused. Of course he knew his own desires, as unfortunate as they were.
"That I wanted you."
The silence then is suspended. The moment before a fall. Lan Wangji turns.
"You what?"
Wei Wuxian blinks at him. He really is an unparalleled mess. Lan Wangji aches with how much he loves him.
"Lan Zhan," he says, covering sheepishness with a reprimanding tone. "You didn't really think you were the only one, after that?"
Lan Wangji feels as if he is making rather a habit of complete and utter breathlessness. He stares at him, at the earnestly hopeful look in Wei Wuxian's eyes.
"I did not know."
"Well," Wei Wuxian says. "You do now. In case...in case that matters."
Lan Wangji does not know what is happening inside him, but it is riotous. He shoves it down, out of the way. This is something, but it is not...he cannot. He has lied by omission, he feels, too much now. He cannot continue.
"Then you should know," he says, measured as he can, "that what I feel is more than wanting." Wei Wuxian continues to stare at him. Lan Wangji has to look away. "In case that matters."
"It matters," Wei Wuxian says, a thin croak. "It—Lan Zhan, how much more, exactly, could you be, ah, specific? Because I don't want to say the wrong thing, but—"
Lan Wangji cannot bear to speak of it anymore. He unties his ribbon and lays it across Wei Wuxian's palm, at which point Wei Wuxian stops speaking and stares at it, instead of him, for a long moment.
"Lan Zhan..."
Lan Wangji's heart is heavy even as anxiety sparks through his overtired veins. But then, suddenly, he is horizontal again, and there is a riot of a different sort, of heat and limbs and lips, and he is being kissed all over his face.
"How long?" Wei Wuxian is saying again, between sweet pecks and lingering presses. "You wouldn't say. How long?"
"Wei Ying?"
Wei Wuxian can tell Lan Wangji hasn't yet caught up, and it's adorable and sad at the same time. He takes pity.
"I'll go first. I think I've probably loved you since forever, but I didn't know until, well, until I thought I'd lost you, back then. How stupid is that? Now you. Tell me how stupid we both are, how long we could have been doing this."
Lan Wangji is staring at him with unadulterated awe. It's cute, but it also makes Wei Wuxian feel squirmy and uncomfortable. He kisses him again, deep and slow, a new way they haven't tried. It's extremely good.
He manages to tear himself away. "Tell me or I'll stop kissing you," he says. He doesn't even know if it's a good threat. He hopes it is. It'd get him to speak if their places were reversed.
"Always," Lan Wangji breathes, still awed, still wide-eyed and sweet. It gives Wei Wuxian pause.
Lan Wangji sees him looking back through his spotty memories, trying to fit this information into them. He feels a stab of regret that he never made it clear before now. He resolves to make it abundantly clear every moment from here on out. He surges up to kiss those memories away.
It takes a long, long time before they clean up and do anything else.
In the future, Lan Wangji still doesn't make a habit of engaging in self-pleasure. He doesn't have to. Except, of course, when Wei Wuxian realizes he's rather sad he missed out on watching.
~The End~
If you enjoyed this, you can keep up with new threads as they happen on my twitter. If you want to see me in Real Writing Mode, check out my works on ao3!
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Made of Iron, Born of Fire: The Fanmix
by @imgoingtocrash
Listen on Spotify and 8tracks
Read the series on Ao3
AKA: A labor of love for @savvysass’s birthday!!!!
What can I say that hasn’t already been said because we’re both incredibly sappy people in our Author’s Notes? Writing this series with you has brought me so much joy in the last two years, and I never could have hit over 100k words without you. Here’s to whatever we write next in the series...and all of the WIPs we’re working on right now...and only god knows what’s next for us personally and professionally...and most importantly, to you on your Birthday. Thank you for being such a good friend, in both fandom and outside of it. I’m so, so thankful to know you and love you. 🥰
Director’s Cut Below, because we all know I love talking about this series, and yes, that does extend to why I picked these songs. (And also maybe because these song choices only make sense in my brain and hopefully Savannah’s?? Who knows! Feel free to ask questions if you want but let’s be honest this series and fanmix are most importantly for us, because we love the series so dang much.)
My Wildest Dreams by Ron Pope
I spoke in riddles and in rhymes, but my time with you has taught me to simplify, you’re not quite what I pictured you would be, you’re better than my wildest dreams.
We’ve talked about this one before, and I’LL TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN!!!! Ron Pope is so good imo, and this song wowowow the father-child feels, but especially with Tony and newborn Peter a la A Foreign Feeling and A First Time For Everything.
Big & Scared by Raleigh Ritchie
I want to be better for you, let me do that now, you’re my favorite human, so you should be prepared, I’ll help you get through it, when you’re big and scared
We’ve mentioned Tony’s thoughts about legacy multiple times by now, and I think this song really represents Tony looking forward to the person Peter could be become and that “breaking the cycle” mentality of supporting Peter even when he’s not a perfect father.
Legacy of Sadness by Ron Pope
irrational as it may seem I guess I’m sorry, even though I know that none of it’s my fault, it is easier for me to count my blessings, than to cry for every single thing we’ve lost
I have 0 shame putting these two songs by Ron Pope almost back to back because they’re the opening and closing of an album dedicated to his child like...it’s so perfect for Tony and this theme of reflection on who he is and who Peter will become/is becoming and all that entails.
this is me trying by Taylor Swift
They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential, and my words shoot to kill when I'm mad, I have a lot of regrets about that
I wrote something...very sad but also soft recently??? and this is for That it’s about pre-CW Pepperony being separated and the road to them trying to come back together including Tony working on himself and I love it!!! It hurts really good!!! This whole song is perfect for it and I can’t wait until people get to read it.
Be Good When I’m Gone by Four Year Strong
I'm sorry I can't stop to listen, but I've got so much to do and I've got some place to be, the house looks like the aftermath of a hurricane, I hope it stays that way
Tony being a busy parent but doing his best to make time for Peter in his life and making that time count has been something super important to illustrate to us, especially the transition from being a CEO to being a superhero and how that changes how Peter sees Tony’s absence over time.
I Won’t Back Down by Johnnyswim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, and Penny and Sparrow
Tony puts on the original version by Tom Petty in Home Is Where The Heart Is, but I think this cover has a very slow, emotional undertone that’s really great too. The interludes, if you didn’t catch it, have all been featured in a fic previously.
Let It Matter by Johnnyswim
So if it matters let it matter, if your heart's breaking let it ache, catch those pieces as they scatter, know your hurt is not in vain
Pepper in Never Tell Me The Odds ALL DAYYYYY. She’s the emotional rock of that fic (and of our Ironfam TBH) and it’s all because she allows herself to feel her feelings and encourages the Stark boys to do so as well.
Simmer - Acoustic by Hayley Williams
And if my child, needed protection, from a fucker like that man, I’d sooner gut him, cause nothing cuts like a mother
Post-Home Is Where The Heart Is...y’all know Pepper’s not that mad about what happened to Obie. Also just Pepper when someone hurts her family?? I always write it as her sort of putting all of her emotion into something she can control and doing it well, so, this song is all about that.
Tightrope by Nia Hendricks
one step after another, keep holding on to each other, don’t look back, move on and let go, that’s how you walk on a tightrope
Pepperony trying to navigate their relationship and the insanity of superhero stuff and also co-parenting. It’s all excellent, I love them so much, I enjoy writing it so much!!!!
Dancing With Your Ghost by Sasha Sloan
Never got the chance, to say a last goodbye, I gotta move on, but it hurts to try, how do I love, how do I love again?
This song is tilted towards romance, but if you’ll remember, we’re a Pro-Tony Survives Endgame AU series, so it’s not about THAT...but well...Infinity War sure will hit something fierce for certain non-romantic relationships in this series, huh?
The Bones by Maren Morris
Call it dumb luck, but baby, you and I, can't even mess it up, although we both try, no, it don't always go the way we planned it, but the wolves came and went and we're still standing
Post-Endgame Ironfam!!! Tony and Pepper married with their kids, their family and HAPPY...THIS IS WHY WE DO ALL OF THE ANGST...FOR A FAMILY...WE LOVE THEM
Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas
Considered Pepper and Peter’s ‘song’, as it’s referenced multiple times in the series, and was one of the bigger solidifying moments of their mother-son relationship as a whole.
Mundane by Hardcastle
And I’ve been sinking into silence, dwelling on my thoughts, and in these months, I haven’t felt that most conversations have left me anything but blue
Peter’s selective mutism was something very special to us when we originally had the idea, and making sure we talk about it and utilize it in the right way is something we’re still working on, particularly with the Therapy Fic we’re brainstorming atm.
survivin’ (One Eyed Jack’s Session) by Bastille
What can I say? I'm survivin', crawling out these sheets to see another day, what can I say? I'm survivin', and I'm gonna be fine, I'm gonna be fine, I think I'll be fine
Spoiler Alert: Peter’s not fine, like, a decent amount of the time. But he’s sure trying, and we love him for that.
Jacob from the Bible by Jake Wesley Rogers
Mama, don't worry, it took me years, to say I'm sorry, to see your tears, Mama, forgive me, I grew up too fast, but it's not on you, it's in the past
Mostly part of Peter growing up to become a hero and realizing what his parents--particularly Pepper--have gone through for him to become the person he is today, but that sometimes he still doesn’t feel like he’s making them proud enough.
Compassion Is a German Word by To Kill A King
Don't be so arrogant, you ain't no different to anyone I've met, we're all the heroes in our own film, or maybe the villain in someone else's
Spider-Man being an excellent superhero boi!!! Being kind and good!!! We love it!! Also, I put a TKAK song on...a LOT of my playlists, because I think they’re great.
brutal by Olivia Rodrigo
And I'm so sick of seventeen, where's my fucking teenage dream?, if someone tells me one more time, "Enjoy your youth", I'm gonna cry
I mean...this song is such a Teenage Mood...I had to do it...
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning by Frank Sinatra
So, I had this cute little scene in my head that went with this song for SO LONG but there wasn’t really anything for it to fit into so...yeah that’s part 2 of Savannah’s Birthday Gift, a little soft Baby Peter drabble. Fluffy Goop from top to bottom. That can be read here.
Home by Phillip Phillips
Just know you're not alone, 'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home
...I know it’s not original, okay? It’s found family, it’s great, I don’t care!
Comes and Goes (In Waves) by Greg Laswell
And this part was for her, and this part was for her, this part was for her, does she remember?
This song is good family angst in general BUT these specific lyrics made me think of Mary and that they never forget her in their lives despite the other stuff going on (because we refuse to let them).
I Have Made Mistakes by The Oh Hellos
I have made mistakes, I continue to make them, the promises I've made, I continue to break them, and all the doubts I've faced, I continue to face them, but nothing is a waste if you learn from it
No one in the Ironfam is perfect, but they all do their best to try and grow even when they’re scared they’ll never be able to. The ups and downs are all par for the course of this series to us.
Easy Days - Demo by Bastille
Cause I don’t wanna fall back again, back into the easy days, everything was so simple then, little fires burned away
Strife is a part of life, and the family in this fic growing through their loss and struggles and moving ahead as a unit to get to a better place is super central to making the fic what it is...but it’s easy for them to remember the old days before being superheroes and wishing it was simple again.
North by Sleeping At Last
Let the years we’re here be kind, be kind, let our hearts like doors open wide, open wide, settle our bones like wood over time, over time, give us bread, give us salt, give us wine
The way Tony went from feeling so alone to having an entire built family that’s so full of love and everything he never dreamed of...*screams into my pillow* I love this series so much thank you and good night!!!
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