WangXian Untamed

Chapter 44 - Transfer

Once more, Lan WangJi slipped carefully out of bed at 5:00 AM. He hoped Wei WuXian had slept better, but the incident in the night left him convinced it was unlikely. After he had finally settled Wei WuXian back into bed, he had found his icy hands and shivering body once more motionless. The rest of the night he had held his husband close, monitoring his breathing, ensuring he was well covered and hoping all the while that his normally restless husband would once more begin the tossing and turning that meant he was deeply asleep and being rested. Unfortunately, that had not proven to be the case and Wei WuXian had remained still for the rest of the night, even as Lan WangJi watched over him. The quaking had ceased, but Wei WuXian's hands had remained like blocks of ice, refusing to warm despite Lan WangJi's best efforts.

Quietly Lan WangJi followed his routine, using his meditation time to address his own fatigue. He wanted nothing to blunt his awareness while his husband attempted the impossible, yet again. Ready for the day, breakfast on the table, he sat on the bed and looked at his love as he lay asleep.

Terribly pale now, dark shadows lay like puddles of ink below Wei WuXian's eyes. The difficulty eating and sleeping had taken their toll on his body and his face was full of sharp angles. Lan WangJi clenched his jaw. There was no one else but his Wei Ying who could attempt what he would today, but when it was over... when his effort had been made, successful or not, Lan WangJi would insist he agree to see a Healer every day until he improved.

Lan WangJi took Wei WuXian's hand in his own, placed two fingertips above his wrist and gently sent a whisper of spiritual energy into his husband's pathways. He ignored the tang he felt from the increased traces of resentful energy still present within Wei WuXian, as he carefully tended his sleeping lover. He sat quietly and watched as tension in Wei WuXian's face slowly began to ease, his breathing to smooth out and gradually a slight colour returned to his cheeks. Finally, those lips he loved to kiss began to lose their death-like pallor and he felt some trace of warmth return to the cold hand he held.

Eyelids flickered until they rose, and two deep silver pools looked up.

Resting, Wei WuXian simply lay passively receiving his husband's gift of spiritual energy. He felt the warmth of it soothing the painful buzz in his nerves, coating all the sore connections and passageways that his own energy had failed to manage. Leaving his hand in his husband's, he reached up and cupped Lan WangJi's cheek with the other.

"Good morning, my love, my Lan Zhan," he whispered.

Lan WangJi bent forward and pressed a gentle kiss on lips still chill to the touch. "How did Wei Ying sleep?" he asked.

Wei WuXian shifted and sat up in the bed, keeping the covers close about his shoulders. "I don't really know," he replied. "The last thing I remember is laying my head on your shoulder, and barely a heartbeat or two later it's morning. I feel exhausted, but I must have been asleep all night." There was no way he was going to tell his husband he had the nightmare again. Or would that be still? I'm asleep when I have a nightmare, so it doesn't count as lying, he justified to himself.

"Mn. Wei Ying does not remember being up in the night?"

"No. I'm sure I wasn't... did something disturb you, Lan Zhan? Did you manage to sleep?"

"In the night. Wei Ying sat up but was not awake. Wei Ying was cold. Was breathing hard. Finally lay back to sleep."

"I don't remember that at all. I was awake, and now I'm awake again. I don't remember anything in between. Did I say anything? Do anything?"

"No. Just sat up. Breathing was hard, as if Wei Ying had been running. Eyes open. Said nothing."

"Well, if I wasn't running riot about Cloud Recesses, and had nothing to say – which, you know, is itself almost unbelievable – then I suppose we will have to just let it go, ah?