for you only

Lan Wangji had always been seen as a desirable partner; someone who would make a noble and honourable husband. Yes, he was not the most open with his feelings and maintained quite a stoic, cold demeanour, but in the broader scheme of things, that was irrelevant. Or so the women of the general public seemed to claim, anyway. Wei Wuxian wouldn’t agree—these were just the rumours and pieces of gossip he’d overheard upon his travels.

What he did know, though, was that none of these gossipers actually knew the real Lan Wangji. The real Lan Zhan. Not the way Wei Wuxian did. His lips quirked up at the thought. He took great delight in such a privilege, to know Lan Zhan as well as he did. It was only a shame the man had to see to Chief Cultivator duties following the events of Guanyin Temple.

But it had been a full cycle of the seasons since Wei Wuxian had been alone on his travels with Little Apple and he was ready to re-emerge into the cultivational world. Or more specifically, see Lan Zhan in the Cloud Recesses and quickly whisk him away on an adventure of their own. It was something he had given more thought in recent months: his friendship with the man in question. It didn’t feel like a friendship; he wasn’t sure how to describe or define it. Rather, it was just him and Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. Taking on the world, hopefully together.

When Wei Wuxian reached Caiyi Town, he was thrilled to once again explore the markets the town offered. Given the warm sunny season, there were plenty of delicious fruits to be had. Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrowed in on the kumquats, bringing back memories of his mischievous self and an unamused Lan Zhan catching one of the fruits effortlessly. Wei Wuxian grinned and bought a couple before continuing his stroll.

His attention was caught, however, when a merchant called out. “Potions for sale! Come see my potions! I have all kinds, from strength to healing to even love potions!”

Normally, Wei Wuxian would just carry on his way, after all, potions like that were just a scam. But he noticed a young woman and man—presumably independent cultivators given their dark blue robes—purchasing one of the so-called love potions. That was well, whatever, but the real crime was the extortionate rate the merchant was selling them at. Wei Wuxian sighed, feeling compelled to do the right thing, he approached the merchant and oblivious customers.

“These seem a bit pricey, no?” Wei Wuxian asked the merchant, while pretending to take interest in his stock. The potions came in little tubes, all of which appeared to be liquids of different consistencies and colours. The love one was a soft pastel pink with a distinctive red heart painted on the tube.

The merchant huffed. “Not at all! These are a one-of-a-kind product, after all!”

“How exactly does this ‘love potion’ work?” Wei Wuxian asked.

“Ha! Like I’m giving away my trade secrets!” the merchant said. “If you’re not buying, get lost.”

The oblivious cultivators turned their attention to Wei Wuxian. “The love potions work, they really do! They make you fall in love with the first person you lay eyes on!” the woman said.

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow. “Do they now?”

The pair nodded their heads. “Yes, it worked to repair our relationship,” the man of the pair said, clutching the woman’s hand tightly in his own.

“See! Tested and proven results!” the merchant chirped.

Wei Wuxian stroked his chin. “Then why are you buying another… if I may ask?”

The man chuckled. “Oh, this one isn’t for us. It’s for our friend and his partner; they’re very interested after seeing it work for us.”

“I see,” Wei Wuxian said. He knew when to give up a lost cause. “Very well then. Good luck to your friends.”

The independent cultivators just nodded their thanks and handed over the extortionate price the merchant asked for in return for the love potion. Wei Wuxian shook his head but carried on with his stroll.

After getting some food and seeing enough of the markets and Caiyi Town, Wei Wuxian resumed his journey with Little Apple to Cloud Recesses. The sun was still high in the sky, not quite yet afternoon. By his estimate, they would definitely make it by evening.

He was right, of course. Once finally arriving at Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian approached the gate and was relieved to find a recognisable face had been tasked with guarding the entrance.

“Senior Wei! Little Apple!” Lan Jingyi greeted, accompanied by a bow.

Wei Wuxian bowed back. “Lan Jingyi,” he said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Lan Jingyi grinned. “Likewise! What brings you here, Senior Wei? Is it business with Hanguang-jun? Is something interesting happening somewhere? What have you been up to all this time? Have you seen Jin Ling? Did you know Lan Sizhui won at the last cultivation conference? Have you—”

“Woah there! That’s a lot of questions. We have plenty of time for talk later. But for now I should see Hanguang-jun.”

“Oh! Of course,” Lan Jingyi said, and then stepped aside to allow Wei Wuxian and Little Apple to enter.

Cloud Recesses was just like he remembered it—for the most part. It was maybe a little less snowy thanks to the warmer season, but needless to say, still cold enough. It was a sight to behold, though. Always had been with its picturesque landscape, partially cloaked by mist.

Wei Wuxian led Little Apple to the back mountain where he was kept at last time they were here, though sadly he couldn’t spot any of the bunnies. He ensured Little Apple had some food and water before patting the donkey and heading to Lan Zhan’s jingshi.

He took a deep breath before approaching the door. It had been a while since he had laid eyes on Lan Zhan after all, and likewise since Lan Zhan laid eyes on him. The latter thought left him feeling a bit self-conscious, as he quickly gave his robes a pat down.

When he went to knock on the door, though, it wasn’t Lan Zhan he heard.

“Senior Wei!” came a young, recognisable voice from behind him. He turned to see Lan Sizhui bowing at him.

Wei Wuxian grinned. “A-Yuan! Ahh, sorry, old habits! Lan Sizhui!” he said and bowed back. Seeing the young boy, basically a young man, made his heart feel whole. To think that this was the little A-Yuan he planted as a radish all those years ago! It was good seeing him again, even older now.

“If you’re looking for Hanguang-jun he’s in a meeting in the main hall now with some cultivators. But he will be out soon.”

“Oh, I see.”

“If you want, I can take you to the library or yashi so you can stay warm.”

Wei Wuxian smiled. “That’s okay. I have some friends I need to see first.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyebrows slightly pinched together, but he did not enquire further. “Very well,” he said, and with a final bow left. Such a respectful and courteous young man he was growing into! Wei Wuxian certainly wasn’t nearly as well-mannered back when he was that age.

With that said, Wei Wuxian made his way around the jingshi and just like he had predicted, there was a rather large rabbit pen at the back. It had its own sheltered hut, but the rabbits were free to come and go as they pleased. Grinning, Wei Wuxian stepped inside the pen and crouched down to pet the bunnies. They were still so adorable, but clearly spoiled if their size was anything to go by. Ah, Lan Zhan. He always did have a soft spot for these little critters.

— —

Something was off with these cultivators, Lan Wangji noticed. They were from a small sect and claimed they wanted to speak to the Chief Cultivator about sect business, trade agreements, the usual. However, they had insisted on the meeting being confidential—with only Lan Wangji involved. That was red flag number one, and if Lan Wangji was not as strong as he was he would probably be more wary about it. Red flag number two, though, was Wu Jingshu, the woman of the pair, was constantly glancing at her partner, Wang Bingde, as she poured tea for everyone. There was a nervous tremble to her hand as she did so.

Red flag number three was the way Wang Bingde treated Wu Jingshu. He had been all smiles initially but then progressed to reprimanding her constantly, for so much as tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear or spilling a drop of tea. For her part, Wu Jingshu just accepted the beratement. It all came to a head though when Wang Bingde raised his hand and looked to strike her. Predicting the movement, Lan Wangji quickly intervened before she could be struck.

“That is not becoming of a person, Wang Bingde. I request you leave. I will wrap up business here with Wu Jingshu.”

“Fine,” Wang Bingde said, snatching his wrist out of Lan Wangji’s hold. He shot Wu Jingshu a look. “Remember what you have to do,” he said, sounding somewhat ominous to Lan Wangji’s ears.

“Sorry about that,” Wu Jingshu said once Wang Bingde had left.

“Not at all,” Lan Wangji said, picking his freshly refilled tea cup up for a sip. However, it tasted slightly different. More sweeter than normal and the liquid consistency was slightly thicker than tea should be. He cleared his throat and searched the table and saw an empty glass tube with a red heart painted on it. She must have slipped it in while Lan Wangji was distracted with her partner. “What did you add to my tea?”

“Oh, just something to make it taste nicer!” Wu Jingshu said.

Lan Wangji looked up at her and something strange happened. A tight sensation in his chest and a hot flush. But his concern over his drink being drugged subsided. “Thank you. It does taste sweeter,” he said.

Wu Jingshu smiled. “Doesn’t it?”

— —

After ten minutes, Wei Wuxian headed to the yashi to warm up and wait. As he entered, however, he noticed the man from earlier, one half of the oblivious cultivator couple, thanking a Lan disciple.

“It’s you!” the cultivator said, pointing at Wei Wuxian upon spotting him.

“It’s me,” Wei Wuxian said, but something was amiss. The man was twitchy and beads of sweat ran down his head. “Where’s your uh.. partner?”

He hesitated before responding. “Busy,” he eventually decided on. “And so am I, so if you don’t mind, I will take my leave now.” He nodded his thanks at the Lan disciples and hurried past Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes at the man, tracking him as he left the yashi. That was weird, he thought. And then it dawned on him. They had bought those potions earlier… Was his partner the one in a meeting with Lan Zhan right now? Was she hoping to get Lan Zhan to swallow one of said potions? Wei Wuxian hadn’t a clue what was in them. They were definitely a scam, but he wasn’t sure how harmful the stuff actually was. Acting quickly and discreetly, Wei Wuxian summoned a talisman and sent it forward to land on the suspicious man’s back, just in case.

Without so much as a word to the Lan disciples, Wei Wuxian rushed out of the yashi and made his way over to the main hall, mentally thanking Lan Sizhui for revealing Lan Zhan’s whereabouts earlier.

He burst through the main hall, despite the Lan disciples’ efforts to try to stop him, and immediately his eyes spotted Lan Zhan. Perfect, ethereal Lan Zhan. Only, he looked uncomfortable and kind of flustered. Not himself. This wasn’t good; if it was simply alcohol, he would’ve been knocked out by now, but the ingredients could have contained who knows what.

As much as Wei Wuxian’s eyes were drawn to him, he saw the missing cultivator of the oblivious couple was sat opposite Lan Zhan, learning forward in his direction, all sultry like. Lan Zhan wasn’t looking at her, though, he was just looking down at the cup in front of him.

Wei Wuxian hurried over. “What the hell did you give him?”

The woman startled, obviously not having noticed Wei Wuxian’s entrance.

“Just something to make his tea taste nicer,” she said, regaining her composure. The confidence of her tone was completely different to the earnest one she had back in Caiyi Town.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian said, sitting next to the man. He waved his hand in front of him, but it took a moment for Lan Zhan to react.

“Wei Ying?” he said, lifting his head up to meet Wei Wuxian’s eyes. They were slightly bloodshot but he seemed conscious at least.

“Yeah, it’s me—”

But the independent cultivator interrupted with a cackle. “You’re too late,” she said, stepping to Lan Zhan’s other side. She placed a finger under his chin and guided his head to face her. “The chief cultivator is mine now.”

Lan Zhan didn’t respond, just stared at the woman. The tips of his ears were red. However, he wasn’t rejecting the woman, even though Wei Wuxian knew he hated to be touched especially by strangers.

And, well. Listen. Wei Wuxian hadn’t always been known to be fully rational, especially when the people he loved were in harm’s way.

Oh.

Loved.

It wasn’t as much of a surprise to realise that was how he felt for Lan Zhan. It was more like a final puzzle piece slotting into its place. It felt right, it felt whole and complete.

But he also… he also hadn’t experienced this feeling in a very long time, or at least not in a context like this. It was a mix of mostly concern but also a hint of something uglier. Something possessive and jealous. Which was stupid because Lan Zhan wasn’t his to own, but that’s how feelings worked. They didn’t need to make sense or be rational, they just existed.

But Wei Wuxian took a deep breath before doing something reckless. Get it together, he told himself. Lan Zhan’s been drugged.

“You really think he’s in love with you?” Wei Wuxian asked.

“Yes,” she said with unrivalled confidence. She dropped her hand from Lan Zhan’s chin. “Just look at all the physical signs.” She gestured. “He’s flustered around me and completely under my spell.”

“He looks drugged to me.”

The woman rolled her eyes and wriggled closer to Lan Zhan. “You love me, don’t you, Hanguang-jun?”

Lan Zhan didn’t reply, but that itself was enough of an indicator to know something wasn’t entirely right.

There was the sound of commotion coming from behind and Wei Wuxian turned to see Lan Xichen—he’d come out of seclusion just recently, according to rumours—followed by several other Lan disciples.

“Master Wei, what’s happened?” Lan Xichen said on approach.

“He’s been drugged. I thought his golden core would have expelled it from his system by now, but he’s not very responsive.”

Lan Xichen nodded. He turned to the independent cultivator, a wrath in his eyes like Wei Wuxian had never seen before. “You have a lot to answer for. What was in the drugged concoction?”

“Pure love,” she said, sounding truly delusional. “Ha. I don’t know, but it worked. He loves me. And I feel this bodes very well for my husband and our sect.”

Ah, so that was her motive. Of course. Fucking sect politics.

Wei Wuxian moved and sat across the table from Lan Zhan, managing to gain his attention. “If he’s so in love, then, Lan Zhan, why don’t you list five things you love about your destined one.”

The woman smirked. “Easy,” she said, leaning into Lan Wangji suggestively. “Go on, Hanguang-jun.”

Lan Zhan blinked. And then blinked again.

“I love…”

The woman smirked. “Yes?”

Lan Zhan cleared his throat. “I love the way he’s kind to the bunnies.”

The woman did the quickest double-take Wei Wuxian ever had seen. “He!?” she said, sounding confused and offended.

But Lan Zhan continued, unfazed. “I love the way he stands up for what’s right, even when the whole world is against him.”

Wei Wuxian was also very confused right now. He turned to Lan Xichen, who had a knowing smile on his lips. Lan Xichen just put a finger to his own lips. “Listen,” he mouthed.

So Wei Wuxian did.

“I love the way he can keep up with my music so effortlessly.”

The woman’s eyes widened, as realisation dawned on her face. She turned to Wei Wuxian. “You! He looked at you first didn’t he!? How dare—” But then her mouth was sealed shut, Lan sect style. Wei Wuxian frowned at her words. Could Lan Zhan really be speaking about him?

“I love the ingenuity of his mind. And I love the way he looks at me when I give him spicy food.”

Wei Wuxian swallowed, his throat feeling suddenly dry.

Lan Zhan looked up, right at Wei Wuxian. “There, five things,” he finished. His ears were still red but his face had returned to its neutral expression and his movements were more normal.

Wei Wuxian licked his lips. “Lan Zhan, are you okay? Did you look at me first…?”

“I looked at her first. I felt something for all of five seconds. My core expelled that part of the potion quickly. It was the rest that took a bit longer to expel. But I feel okay now.”

“The rest?”

“Mn. The rest made me sluggish, warm and flustered, but I remained quiet to draw out the truth.”

Wei Wuxian nodded; he trusted Lan Zhan would’ve had it under control, but his initial reaction was out of emotion, not logic. “Not sure about the sluggishness but the other symptoms sound like the effects of a potent aphrodisiac,” he said.

“Mn.”

“How do you feel now, Wangji?” Lan Xichen said, after organising the Lan disciples to apprehend the woman.

“Much clearer headed.”

“Good. We’ll leave you and Master Wei to catch up.”

“Oh, Zewu-jun!” Wei Wuxian called out, “I froze her accomplice with a talisman. You’ll find him near the yashi.”

Lan Xichen nodded. “Many thanks.”

“You will leave my husband alone!” the woman said. Her mouth was no longer sealed shut and her voice was erratic as she fought the hold the Lan disciple had on her. “He’s a good man who loves me!”

“He administered this potion to you, didn’t he?” Wei Wuxian said, crossing his arms. “Except, unlike Lan Zhan, your golden core hasn’t been strong enough to expel its effects. Your judgement is messed up.”

“Mn. I suspect Wu Jingshu was put up to this by her husband, Wang Bingde,” Lan Zhan said.

Lan Xichen cleared his throat. “I see. Whatever the case, we will get to the bottom of it. Thank you, Wangji, Senior Wei,” he said, followed by a bow.

After Lan Xichen cleared out of the main hall with the disciples and Wu Jingshu, Wei Wuxian moved around to sit next to Lan Zhan.

“You gave me a bit of a fright back then, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, fidgeting with the potion tube that was left on the table. “But good thinking listing those reasons with male pronouns. Haha.”

Lan Zhan’s hand suddenly moved to grab hold of Wei Wuxian’s, causing him to drop the potion tube.

“Wei Ying,” he said.

Wei Wuxian turned to face him. Lan Zhan’s face was pinched, like he was in turmoil. “Yeah, Lan Zhan?”

“Those things were true.” Lan Zhan’s ears flushed redder than before, but he maintained eye contact with Wei Wuxian. “Five things I love about my destined one. Five things I love about you, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened and he could feel his face heating up immediately. He had hoped those things were about him, but like, maybe Lan Zhan had met someone else who liked bunnies and spicy food too! It wouldn’t be unheard of! Receiving confirmation they were about him, though, felt like a firework going off in his chest.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t help himself as he turned and wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan’s shoulders. “Five things I love about my destined one,” he started.

“I love the way he—”

But then lips were on his own. Assertive yet soft lips. Wei Wuxian eagerly kissed back, letting Lan Zhan in, tasting him fully. It was addictive and sparked something deep within Wei Wuxian, as he moaned into it. It felt so right, like the way Lan Zhan’s lips fit on his was always meant to be. Lan Zhan pulled Wei Wuxian into his lap, deepening the kiss.

“Hey Lan Zhan, is that aphrodisiac still in effect?” Wei Wuxian asked when they parted for air.

“That wore off when brother left.”

“So you’re just happy to see me then?”

“Mn.”

“And you call me the shameless one!” Wei Wuxian said! But he was laughing, deep full-bellied laughs.

There were so many things Wei Wuxian loved about Lan Zhan. To list only five simply wouldn’t be enough.