WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 12 Concerns

Dinner on the beach was a magical affair. Above them lay a canopy of stars shining brightly, the moon a distant light, illuminating the now darkened waters into an inky black. The sound of the waves as they ebbed and flowed was calming after their guest left.

Li XiWang collected their bowls and watched as her aunt cleaned up after everyone. Wei Ying flopped onto his back, looking up. Lan Zhan stiffened, and from that alone, Wei Ying knew Jiang Cheng was close by. His fingers reached over to tangle with Lan Zhan's, wanting to make him feel better.

Maybe one day Lan Zhan would not feel so concerned about his brother, but that day was far ahead into the future.

For now, Wei Ying sat up, yawning. He wished he wasn't so tired because Jiang Cheng obviously wanted to chat about something, or he would not have sought him out, but Lan Zhan was itching to put him to bed.

"Are you going to look for that stupid plant?" Jiang Cheng blurted out, looking anywhere but at him.

"Not right now." Wei Ying grinned at him.

Jiang Cheng gave him his best scowl.

Wei Ying smiled wider, sleep forgotten. He jumped onto his brother, giggling.

"Worried about me, Cheng Cheng?"

"Don't call me that!"

"What you gonna do about it..." He dragged it out, "Cheng Cheng?"

Jiang Cheng lunged and Wei Ying slipped out of his reach, still laughing, turning it into a reluctant game of tag.

Li XiWang crawled into Lan Zhan's lap, half asleep already.

"I miss Rumi." She whispered, closing her eyes.

"Mn. Hui Gai will return soon." Lan Zhan could smell lotus flowers on his daughter, and he smiled, patting her back.

It was a wonder how much two of their children were like their other father, and it made him happy to see Wei Ying being able to give himself over fully to the role of parent. When A-Yuan was still a baby, neither of them had given thoughts to being parents, and yet look at them now. Wei Ying was magical in his own way, and Lan Zhan felt blessed to be with him, to have this second chance. He smiled too when an exhausted Wei Ying returned to his side, still laughing.

Jiang Cheng returned to XiChen.

"So...you talked to him, then?" XiChen asked, smiling.

"I tried to." Jiang Cheng defended himself. "Look what he did! How am I supposed to talk to him when I can't even pin him down?"

"We'll have another go tomorrow." XiChen smoothed it over. "Let's sleep now and gather our strength."

Jiang Cheng softened, kissing his cheek.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better. I love you."

"As I love you. And," XiChen gave him a smouldering look. "I expect you to repay me in kind...when we're alone."

It was dark enough that Jiang Cheng grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him deeply.

"Oi! Get a room!" Wei Ying shouted out, unable to help himself. He added a wolf whistle.

"I swear I'm going to end him!" Jiang Cheng would have gotten up, but XiChen put his hand on Jiang Cheng's arm.

"He's just trying to get a rise out of you. Let him be."

XiChen had already laid out blankets for them, so Jiang Cheng rolled over and closed his eyes, thinking of ways to retaliate.

*********

Lan Zhan and XiChen were up early before anyone else. As they began their meditation, Li XiWang also joined them.

When sufficient hours had passed by, one by one people began to rise from slumber. This was possibly their last day by the seaside, and they wanted to make the most of it. After breakfast, they lay on the beach, just talking and relaxing. Jiang Cheng decided to seize his chance and try again. This time, XiChen joined him, hoping to add some leverage.

Wei Ying was resting his head in Lan Zhan's lap, looking up at the gorgeous man his husband was and wondering if life could get any better, when they were joined by their brothers.

Out of respect for his XiChen-Ge, Wei Ying sat up, smiling his welcome.

"So..." Jiang Cheng began...and then stopped talking, deciding that the sand looked very interesting suddenly.

"What?" Wei Ying asked suspiciously.

"Er...Brother Wei, WanYin has something he wants to talk to you about." XiChen supplied helpfully.

Wei Ying looked at his brother. He poked him.

"Last time I checked, you had a mouth of your own." His tone was warm, taking the bite out of his words.

"Yeah, but every time I want to talk to you, you don't take me seriously. Or you try and avoid the conversation." Jiang Cheng said, sulking.

"Me?" Wei Ying pointed at his own chest in surprise. "I avoid?"

"Yes, you!" Jiang Cheng shoved him lightly.

"Alright, then. I'm all ears, get it off your chest. What do you want to talk about?"

Jiang Cheng sighed and picked up an errant twig, drawing shapes in the sand.

"Don't laugh at me, okay?"

"I would nev-" he shut up when Jiang Cheng glared at him. "Alright. I won't." He added, quieter now.

"It's just that you go off on these adventures by yourself, and I mean both of you by that, but what about us? We're left waiting for days, sometimes months with not knowing what's happening with you. You rarely check in, and I...I HATE WORRYING ABOUT YOU!" He finished, red-faced and out of breath.

Wei Ying didn't know what to say.

"I guess...I guess that's on us. We do try to send regular butterflies, but maybe they weren't getting through." He looked at Lan Zhan.

"Mn. Always try, we did not know messages were not coming through." He looked at his brother.

"That's okay, Didi. But now that you know? How can we make this easier for everyone?" XiChen asked, kindly.

"Why don't you guys come with us?" Wei Ying asked, suddenly. "Then you can be in charge of messaging, and you'll be with us, so you won't have to waste time worrying, and you can make yourself useful!" Wei Ying nudged Jiang Cheng, making sure he knew that last bit was for him.

"Sure! Let's all go! Who cares about clan duties?" Jiang Cheng replied, sarcastically. "It's easy for you both to walk away without a care, but not for either of us."

"Why not?" Wei Ying demanded. "Think about it, first." He held up both of his hands in a placating manner, and continued. "You both have assistants, right? Plus we have both Jin Ling and SiZhui to keep an eye on things, and to be frank, what about the Elders? They can still advise if a situation crops up that the youngsters don't know how to deal with. Although SiZhui is very good like that. Hardly anything faces him now." He sat back, beaming.

"Jin Ling is also very capable." Jiang Cheng bit out.

"It's not a competition!" Wei Ying laughed out loud. "And I never said he wasn't." He stood up. "Anyway, think about it. Now though, it's time to play!"