The Untamed Oneshots / CQL / WangXian

Perfect

Lan Wangji was drunk out of his mind.

One cup. It had only taken one cup of liquor and he was as useful as Nie Huaisang during lectures in Cloud Recesses.

He remembers going to bed. Or rather, Wei Ying putting him to bed. He thinks he fell asleep, he must have, considering he fell head first into a nightmare and woke with his soulmate's name falling from his lips like a plea only to find the room empty. Where had his Wei Ying gone? He had to find him.

Pulling on his robes, Wangji found that footwear was difficult to navigate when his mind was foggy and filled only with thoughts of Wei Ying Wei Ying Wei Ying. What was right and what was left? Was left right and right left? Did it even make a difference? Giving up, the Jade stalked outside to find a certain flute player. He was not barefoot, that's all that mattered. The rest were technicalities.

When he finally did manage to find his soulmate, it was with Wen Ning at his side. Everything inside of Lan Wangji was screaming that the sight was wrong and he swore to himself that if his tongue was strong enough to do so, then he probably would have cursed.

Stupid clan with their stupid rules and his stupid willingness to follow them so mindlessly.

The Second Jade's thoughts were wrapped in wool, all fluffy and completely impossible to make sense of. But, what he did know was that Wei Ying looked breathtaking. Under the moonlight with the soft glow of the lanterns bathing his countenance in warm hues of gold, the earth still wet and glistening after the bout of rain that had fallen earlier that evening surrounding him like a carpet of stars.

Wangji felt his heartbeat skip merrily at the sight.

Traitor, he thought to himself but to be honest, Lan Wangji didn't know if he was referring to the sight of Wen Ning - someone he saw as a rival for Wei Ying's attention - or if he was referring to his own heart for betraying his deep affections towards the younger male.

It struck him then what a life they have had together...

Wangji remembers meeting a filthy boy on the streets as a child, one with innocent eyes and a radiant smile despite his disposition. How could he have known back then that the same boy would waltz into his life over and over and rattle his heart countless times until his every thought was occupied with Wei Ying. Oh, to think that they were merely children when they fell in love, not yet knowing what the warm and fuzzy feeling was that threatened to swallow them whole, just as Wei Ying never seemed to know what the significance was of the Lan forehead ribbon. He had copied the scripts so many times and he was such a bright mind that it sometimes infuriated Wangji with how utterly mundane he felt in comparison. It was for that exact reason that he could not understand how his other half could never remember how important his ribbon was. Touching it, taking the powder cloth from its Lan owner, did he truly not know? Parents and children and...spouses. The special light in your life, the reason to get up and keep going, the definition of pure and unselfish love.

Wei Ying had danced into his life abruptly that day just before lectures at Cloud Recesses were supposed to begin. He had broken so many rules and in turn Wangji began breaking them as well. They had fought during the cover of night, so perfectly matched they appeared to be dancing underneath the stars.

His whole life, Lan Wangji felt like he was missing a part of himself, something or someone that would prove to be vital in who he was meant to be, in how his life was meant to unfold. Still, how could he, a rule abiding teenager with no care for worldly affairs have known that Wei Ying was the one he had been waiting for all that time?

He hated touch. Was in fact repulsed by the idea of physical contact with other people, and yet as the days and months and years ticked by, the Second Jade found himself breaking that rule more and more to feel Wei Ying. To be reassured that he was there and alive and real. But that one fateful day, so horrific that it sometimes still shook Wangji to his very core and violently ripped him from the throes of a nightmare, that was the day he had held him as tightly as he could. Watching his soulmate dangle from the edge of cliff in his weakening hold, no more fear present in his eyes - no, just eternal sadness and pure acceptance and resignation to his fate - he knew that the younger's survival depended on his ability to hold his hand and never let him go ever again. And just like time seemed to have passed them by in that lifetime, Wei Ying had slipped through his fingers and fell to his demise in the dark abyss of resentment...

Now, sixteen years after that dreadful time of pain and loss, Wangji knew he would not give the other up this time. He needed nothing. With Wei Ying in his life, he had all he could ever wish for and then some.

They are in a sense still children, despite their age. They had never truly moved on from their lives as youths, their time spent bickering with each other and protecting each other and just being in the presence of each other. They were still in love, if not more than before, their bond having strengthened after nearly two decades of separation and mourning.

Wangji had found a man, gentle and sweet yet stronger than anyone he had ever known. To have endured the distasteful sneers of Madam Yu, his back having tasted the wrath of Zidian. To have lost his parents and then his adopted family as well, taking the scorn of the cultivation world in stride and still managing to stand up for what is right. Being willing to give and give and give until he himself was given away and nothing but his dear memory remained. Wei Ying shared Lan Wangji's dreams, his hopes, and once the Jade was sober and could ask properly then he hopes Wei Ying might consider one day sharing his home as well.

They would somehow be alright this time. Yes, there was a dismembered corpse mystery to solve and the fact that the entire cultivation world was against the Yiling Patriarch, not to mention the mastermind that was leading them to the clues or Wei Ying's estranged and hateful family, but they were together, closer than ever. And because of that, Wangji was sure that they would get it right this second time around.

He was diving headfirst into a game of love, all or nothing, and for Wei Ying? Well, Lan Wangji would gladly give him the whole world; moon, stars and all. They were fighting against all odds, because why not? They loved each other. They would die for each other - one of them has died already, more than once - and they would live for each other, even if it was difficult at times, the concept of living without regrets because why were they alive and others did not have the same luxury when there were countless innocents that had fallen prey to the blade of injustice, having been collateral damage that no one spared a second thought for.

To the Jade, he could see his entire future reflected in Wei Ying's eyes. A future of peace where his darling was proved innocent of the world's misconceptions, travelling the world to see sights yet to be discovered, settling down amongst the cloud sect with bunnies and children and just learning how to be a normal - or as normal as they could be - happy couple as they played their favourite song for the whole world to hear. A cloud's longing, so unrestrained and free, unburdened by the past or present or future and basking in the glow of their love.

That love, it was everything to Wangji. He sometimes wondered if he even deserved it, to be on the receiving end of such affection and pure feelings of a heart, yet at the same time he knew he was nothing without his Wei Ying. There is no day without night, no warm without cold. In the same way, there is no Lan Wangji without Wei Wuxian. Sixteen years of being deprived of those warm smiles, fluttering red ribbon and teasing jabs was the solid proof that Hanguang-Jun could never reach his full potential without the Yiling Laozu by his side.

That night was an awfully strange one. Wangji supposed that alcohol does that to a person. Still, even if he would never fully remember what he had said or done, the most important parts would live in his memory until the end of time. Being with Wei Ying, loving Wei Ying, proposing a somewhat difficult-to-interpret wish for marriage to Wei Ying.

And if, perhaps, there was a forehead ribbon and stolen sweet kiss involved, showing his soulmate off to the world and bestowing a tender shower of love declarations onto his Wei Ying...well, that was their little secret to cherish.

It was perfect. All of it. Their rocky beginning. Their imperfect past. Their predestined fate. Their significant other. And their love. Perfect in every sense of the word. Because in Wangji's eyes, that's what his beloved was as well. With his scars, with his past life, with every single decision that he had made that had somehow led him back into Wangji's life time and time again. To the Second Jade of Gusu Lan...

Wei Ying was absolutely perfect.