𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐚 ⚣︎ mo dao zu shi x male reader

thirty-six.

[unedited]

"drinking again?"

the doors to the chrysanthemum house opened, revealing lan wangji — older brother to lan y/n, the demonic cultivator and younger brother to lan xichen. his expression was as clear and serene as always even as he watched his younger brother sitting by the window sill, jar of emperor's smile in his hands. lan y/n ignored his older brother, too engrossed with the sight before him. wei wuxian on the other hand, was lying on the ground, giggling as he held a jar of emperor's smile close to his chest, but upon lan wangji's intrusion, he promptly sat straight.

"lan r/n." lan wangji called out.

y/n turned his head around at the sound of his name being called. "hanguang-jun! you're here!" y/n cheered as he smiled drunkenly, his face a soft shade of red.

lan wangji looked to wei wuxian, who was still in possession of mo xuanyu's body, then to his half-drunk, half-sober little brother. he was clearly very tipsy as he hummed a soft tune to himself while playing with the tips of his hair. his headband was crooked and even his clothes were a little wrinkled, but otherwise, he still looked decent. wangji walks over to him, passing over wei wuxian without a word, then he stops in front of his little brother.

"y/n." wangji whispers loud enough for his little brother to hear, but not for the other house guest. wei wuxian tossed his head to the side, curious as to what they were whispering about.

"let's go." wangji takes the jar out of y/n's hands before helping him to his feet.

y/n was promptly lifted from his spot in the windowsill, and quite easily at that. wangji places the half-finished jar of emperor's smile on the windowsill, while his other hand held onto y/n's slumped body. his little brother was struggling to hold himself up as he shuffled his feet trying to stand up. all he did was make things harder for lan wangji, who had accidentally dropped the jar on the wooden floor. thankfully, the contents weren't enough to spill over and the jar didn't shatter into a million pieces, nor did it even chip, so he could just clean that up later.

"ngghh... it's still so early..." y/n whined, leaning onto his brother's arm for support.

"it's noon." wangji tells him, the tone of his voice a little soft.

"shufu needs us in the mingshi. your erhu..." wangji bends down to pick up the item from its display table.

y/n only grumbles as he continues clinging to his older brother. "er-ge... i wanna sleep..." he whined, rubbing his cheek against wangji's arm.

he had a bit of a hard time reaching up to his older brother, partly because he was a head shorter than him, but mostly because he could barely stand on his own feet because of the alcohol. lan wangji didn't seem to mind though, which had wei wuxian curious. if he were the lan wangji he knew from sixteen years ago, he would've immediately pushed him away. unless... lan wangji was already aware that this drunken person clinging to his arm was actually his younger brother.

still, the sight was quite hilarious, so wei wuxian had to cover his mouth to prevent any giggles from escaping his lips.

"y/n, come on. we have to exorcise that demonic arm that you captured in mo village. we need you." wangji tells his little brother as he grabs him by the shoulders, straightening his body.

y/n blinked a couple times as he stared back into his brother's eyes. after a few moments, neither of the brothers would look away, until y/n did. he lowered his head and sighed. "fine." with a pout on his pink lips.

wangji gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he released him, allowing him to stand on his own two, wobbly feet, for a few moments. wangji then hands the mahogany erhu to his little brother, who lazily receives it with two hands. lan wangji quickly pulls out a small sachet from the inside of his sleeves, then he goes to support his little brother's body once more, keeping him steady as he slowly nears the sachet of sobering herbs to his brother's nose. y/n's shoulders tensed and his entire body stiffened as the bitter smell entered his nostrils. his brain wanted to move away, but y/n steeled himself and forced himself to smell the herbs until finally, his mind was clear of its intoxication.