WangXian Untamed

Chapter 3 - Invitation

Wei WuXian was never at a loss for words. Light, taunting repartee. Cheerful chatter. Business as usual. Nothing fazed him. Nothing and no one had ever taken away his capacity for speech and now, with his few words, twice in quick succession Lan WangJi had silenced him. Not the way he had grown so used to back in his days at Cloud Recesses, when his exuberance had often been forcibly hushed, but truly stolen his capacity to speak. His mind spun dizzily, trying to process what Lan WangJi had said, what it meant, what it could mean...silver eyes clung to gold for purchase in the whirl of shock. Gold eyes spoke their truth of love and the world began to steady as Wei WuXian found his rock in the madness.

This was unanticipated. Of all possibilities he had imagined, all the scenarios he had tried to predict to be ready for whatever might one day come, this had never been considered. It was too...too...he gave up trying to find a word to describe the multitude of emotions and ideas that kept tripping each other up in his mind as he tried to think.

"Well, my love, you ARE full of surprises today, aren't you? Here I had pinned my hopes to the idea you might one time wander past this old haunt and spare a thought for me, and now...." Wei WuXian's arm swept down their bodies holding each other and out to the wider world. "The dreams I wouldn't allow myself to dream are coming to life and they're real, you're here, and I...I don't know what to say."

"Say yes."

Again, with the instant response.

Wei WuXian knew Lan Zhan very well, indeed. Knew how he would ponder and think before saying anything, always in the fewest words possible, carefully chosen for precision and brevity. And so, he appreciated this must be an instinctive response from deep within Lan WangJi. He didn't need time to consider and choose his words because they were pieces of his soul, freely offered to his love with his whole heart. This careful, cautious man was able to blurt his response without pause only because the response required no thought whatsoever. The knowledge nearly undid Wei WuXian's show of composure, as he struggled to stop himself from screaming yes, yes, a thousand times yes! and pretend he had any face left at all.

Wei WuXian's mind and heart tumbled frantically together, seeking, searching, trying to sort through feelings that overwhelmed and drowned him as he realized Lan WangJi was serious. He truly wanted Wei WuXian to be with him. Well, that's certainly a dream come true, thought Wei WuXian. But to stay at Cloud Recesses was something else entirely.

Well, he thought, I suppose it could work for a short time... he'd been so alone for so long and Lan WangJi was the oasis for the desert that was his solitary life. A guest at Cloud Recesses could, of necessity from their Rules, count on being treated with respect. Respect. His nose wrinkled and a small snort escaped him as he thought of how he had always been treated in the past by Lan QiRen.

Lan WangJi raised an eyebrow in question, and Wei WuXian gently shook his head, declining to answer the unspoken question as he worked through his thoughts. And there were so many thoughts swirling around, clamouring for his attention.

Lan WangJi held Wei WuXian and watched as thoughts chased each other across his face. He enjoyed how Wei WuXian's face revealed so much and found the sight as mesmerizing as he always had, losing himself in the joy that his love was in his arms as he waited for an answer.

Wei WuXian had travelled far and wide during his absence, seeking out other Cultivators, gleaning knowledge from any source he could locate, willing to put up with any hardship that might lead to another kernel of truth, another means to perfect his control of the resentful energy ChenQing helped force to his will. Daily he worked and nightly he longed. Fevered dreams awoke him so often they became old friends, vaguely missed on the rare nights they did not visit. Endless amounts of liquor to dull the pain did nothing to clear his heart.