farsickness | Arrival... reunion... things?

Even if no news about Wangji had been given or people insisting they haven't seen anyone like that, Wuxian's stubbornness and determination to find his husband outweighs any of the logical thinking he should be doing. Or sleep he should have been getting more of, and that exhaustion is clear on his face and in his eyes.

Until he sees that ever familiar white clothing in the inn. His heart skips a beat and he can't believe his eyes, he was told the man hadn't been seen, but there he is even with the white ribbon on his forehead. Before he knows it, his feet have brought him to the table, staring at those beautiful features.

"Lan Zhan... Is-- is it really you? Everyone said that you weren't here, but I didn't want to believe them."

Wangji looks up as the steps approach, then his eyes widen, and before the words have finished coming out, he has wrapped himself around his husband, the slight tremor of tension and relief barely felt.

"Wei Ying. How long...? I only arrived today."

No 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' between them, but he is sorry all the same.

The sudden embrace startles him, but he instinctively melts into it and feels comfort immediately wash over him and relaxes. It's him, it's really him and he's not imagining things, he could weep for joy at that very moment but stops himself since they're in public. He doesn't say anything for a few moments as he's buried himself as close as he can into Wangji's embrace, clinging tightly as he trembles a bit.

But he finally speaks, words level to most others, but had a quiver to them that only those that knew him could detect. "A few days, I think. I didn't want to believe that you weren't here." In return, Wuxian buries all the 'thank yous' deep down, knowing that wasn't necessary when actions spoke louder.

Wangji's arms tighten at that quiver, ever so slightly.

"I am here."

He wasn't, and now he is.

Then.

"Who said?"

That reassurance is all he needs to feel better, and to breathe easier.

"The locals did, but it doesn't matter anymore, I found you. You're here now and I don't care what any of them say." And he won't be letting him out of his sight for a while. 6 days was too long to be separated in his opinion, and his stress levels showed that as well.

"Mn." Wangji nods slightly, tightening his arms, then his eyes narrow.

"Did you get very wet?" The rain was hard, and while they are working on it, Wei Ying is far from being as safe from things like colds as Wangji is.

Wuxian shakes his head to the question, not having been as wet as he'd thought he would get. "Not too bad, but it's coming down out there. I don't need to worry though, I have you again to keep me warm even if I get cold."

He didn't feel cold, or that he'd noticed in Wangji's arms. It didn't really matter to him right then. What he wanted to do was curl up into his husband and lay down, and just be there with a good night's sleep for once.

"Room."

Which is all that Wangji says. It's not a question, and he doesn't feel like letting go enough to guide his husband where he has been shown earlier.

Which only leaves one option, and Wei Ying is being carried in Wangji's arms about two seconds later.

Somewhere more private is on his mind as well, but before he can say anything, he's being hoisted up in Wangji's arms.

"L-Lan Zhan! I can walk you know! Aaahh.. what am I going to do with you, tsk." Wuxian resigns himself to being carried after he gets over the startle, placing his arms around the other's neck and a kiss on his cheek.

"Mn."

Calm and composed and assured.

Except where Wangji's ears are feeling very, very hot.

His eyes glance to his husband's ears as he sighs before smirking and poking an earlobe.

"Or maybe I should have asked for the other way around, judging by your ears." He'd wanted to cuddle, but wouldn't protest, and would welcome, what else happens.

...

Wangji hesitates only a little. The words are measured and certain. However, there is still question in the pale eyes.

"Everyday means every day."

"Lan ZHAN! You can't just say that with people around!"

His face has gone bright red at those words uttered and the meaning behind them, not that he would ever say no. Especially not when it's been a week without him, and the fact the tail of Wangji's forehead ribbon was being wrapped gently in Wuxian's fingers.

"You better hope that room doesn't have thin walls or you'll have to silence me. You have lost time to make up for."

"Could silence you." No, no he won't. He even leans his head slightly towards the hold on his ribbon. It is right. Wei Ying's fingers is where it belongs.

Bold actions, though once the door of the private room is closed, Wangji doesn't set him down as much as sets him down in Wangji's own lap, holding tight.

"My Wei Ying." It is all right. Wangji is here.

"You could but I know you won't." He's never been silenced in their private time, he knows Wangji likes to hear him even if it means them getting stared at later. He's shameless enough to take pride in all of it.

Once seated in Wangji's lap, adjusted to be facing him and wrapping his legs around, Wuxian tugs at that ribbon and smirks as he rubs the tip of his nose against his husband's. "I missed you." His voice is soft and sweet, as is the kiss he places upon those lips he's missed.

"I will not." Definitely correct a guess. But still, he does hope the walls of the inn are thick enough that people won't... ... interrupt them.

But then the words. Three simple words. He doesn't often give Wei Ying reason to say them, but they sate a thirst that years of I don't want yous and more than a decade of hopeless solitude had made him feel as though it would be unquenchable... and forever getting worse.

Yet, here they are.

He kisses his husband back, soft at first, but then deeper. Not pressing for more just yet, despite the way they are tangled together. He wants... he wants to make sure Wei Ying is all right. That he won't vanish from his arms like a dream.

He kisses yet again, and then shifts his face to press his lips all over his face. "You are unharmed? By coming here, or anyone here?"

Ask first, and only start undressing him to check for himself after.

The deepened kiss ignites a blaze in his chest, warming his entire body, making him let out a hum -almost a purr- of delight. Not to mention calming the storm in his mind that he was only imagining Wangji there, and Wuxian doesn't dare to let go for fear of the other disappearing on him.

He pulls his face back a little, shaking his head at the questions, cupping one hand at the side of Wangji's face and lightly brushing his thumb on his cheek and nothing but adoration written on Wuxian's face as he spoke. "You worry too much, I wasn't hurt. When I showed up, all I did was search for you until I was tired. No one harmed me, but I was surprised to see someone we both know to be dead alive and well. Since you're the one that severed an arm and stabbed him." A snort and eye-roll before he continued, secretly grateful but a refusal to admit that gratitude simply because of who it had been. "Shockingly, he didn't hurt me, and instead stopped me from being monster food."

Wangji freezes.

"Xue Yang." He listens, though his eyes are still hard, and even nods lightly at the end, but his arms tighten slightly.

Then again, until Wei Ying refused him, Xue Yang did not harm an was even courteous to him, so perhaps this part isn't too surprising. That doesn't make it less suspicious.

"He wants what?"

A nod, confirming that the person he was referring to was the very same. Although he himself still doesn't know what Xue Yang wants from him, other than prodding at his sore spots.

"Yes, him, but I have no idea what he wants. I think we should keep an eye on him, just to be safe."

He lets out a small sigh, not really wanting to talk much about that, at least not at the moment. "Let's not talk about him, not tonight, okay? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"So long as he is unlikely to attack now," and in this storm, Wangji thinks that unlikely, indeed, "it can wait."

And his hands move again, gently exploring Wei Ying's body - for now through the robes, but touching all sorts of places - to begin reassuring them both that yes, they are both here. They are both all right. And they are both real.

"Anything that you do not want to wait?"

Another nod, then an amused noise. "Good, he's not important right now." Not to him, what was important was the person holding him. The touches makes him hum delightedly and sets that fire ablaze even more.

"Nothing else needs to wait, nothing else should." Wuxian gives Wangji a look filled with love, and one of longing. Even if it had only been a few days, that touch was deeply missed.

Wangji hums, and leans to claim another kiss, his fingers slipping along the side of Wei Ying's throat, guqin-callused fingers along smooth skin.

"No waiting."

His other hand moves to start undoing the ties and stays of the robes that Wei Ying is wearing, head dipping to start kissing the skin that is revealed.

He's hungry for that kiss and the touch, which makes shivers ripple across his body, making Wuxian elicit a muffled and quieter moan.

"Don't wait for anything."

Barely a whisper before a sharp, pleased, inhale with the kisses placed. Touch starved indeed, needy for every single kiss, as he fumbles around to undo Wangji's robes as well although isn't as successful with the kisses distracting him.

Wangji only delays the undressing to slip out a small jar of ointment from his sleeve and then shifts them around to remove all clothing. He lays down his husband on his back on the bed--

-- then gets distracted because the bed? has springs? He narrows his eyes, then returns his gaze to his husband, frowning slightly. This is what happens when you're used to very, very hard beds.

"Will such a bed be strong enough?"

He can otherwise move the mattress to the floor and not risk Wei Ying getting hurt if the bed breaks. And Wei Ying has a better idea about the beds, he's guessing, having been here for a few actual nights. Whether or not he has managed to sleep.

He lets himself be undressed and laid back, but the moment Wangji hesitates, Wuxian raises an eyebrow. And then starts giggling, turning into a laughing fit at the question, needing a couple minutes to breathe and get it out of his system.

"It'll be fine Lan Zhan, these beds are stronger than they seem. Even with your strength, it's nothing like the tubs back home you break."

Even though he hasn't slept much, he can confirm the beds are strong.

"But if you want to take me on the floor, I won't complain." He winks, teasingly poking at Wangji's nose.

... excuse him while he drinks in the sight of his husband, laughing. Amused, entertained, radiant. There are many laughs that Wei Ying gives, but when it is like this, surprised and free, it is almost as good as the laughing of sheer joy that is rarer. And the most right.

His eyes crinkle very slightly at the poke, and he avoids the finger to to claim a kiss, trying to drink the sound from Wei Ying's lips, just a little. And he picks his husband up, pressing him close, to shift the mattress to the floor.

"This time, no interruptions. Not for broken anything." Experimenting with the soft bed can wait.

He settles Wei Ying on the mattress, then reaches for the ointment, holding it up in question. Are you ready?

He rarely laughs so freely, but such an occasion he's glad to have Wangji be the one that hears it. It's his gift to his wonderful husband for loving him so much, regardless of how puzzled he still is about being deserving of such a thing.

His smile widens when a kiss is claimed, humming delightedly against those soft lips that he knows hunger for his body. "No interruptions, even if there's knocking on the door." He purrs alluringly, winking with a nod at the silent question. A little impatiently, even.

"With you? Always."

Xiao Xingchen is gone. Again.

Xue Yang knows he'd fall apart and fall back into bad habits...if not for Zichen. His husband is his saving grace. He can't fail him again, and slipping back into the monster he'd been would be doing just that.

The storm had lasted for days, but he'd been content to stay home and work on his relationships with Xingchen and Zichen - it had been working! He thought. Maybe. Definitely with Zichen.

He knows...logically that Xingchen hadn't left willingly. And only because he'd spoken with someone who'd been here, left, then came back and remembered her time in Gazin.

But he can't stay inside forever, so wanders off, Jiangzai strapped to his back and pace moderate - much as Zichen and Xingchen tend to walk, though he has a bit more swagger than them. He's trying to be more careful with his leg, but sometimes he just doesn't care.

For once, though, he wants a drink. So he heads for the inn, knowing they have decent food, drink, and sweets. Stepping inside though, he freezes when he spies a familiar figure. He grimaces a little, then brightens, then...wilts again.

Lan Wangji is here.

Lan Wangji is here! Senior will be happy!

Lan Wangji is here and probably doesn't remember their truce.

He'd stopped so suddenly just inside the door though that the person just behind him bumps into him, making him stumble. The exclamation of annoyance aimed at him has him turn with a huff, then...steps out of the way.

He can't let his temper explode. He can't.

Maybe Wangji won't have noticed the brief commotion? Maybe he won't be recognized? Doesn't matter. So he sighs and wanders over to Wangji's table, flashing a bit of a wary grin at the other man. He ducks his head in an aborted bow.

"Hanguang-Jun! Welcome back!"

Senior has been very, very happy for the duration of the storm. He's, ah, resting upstairs in the room.

Anyway. The voice and the man make the small softness to Wangji's features to frost over. Although, while his eyes narrow, he does not reach for his sword. Yet.

The people looking at Xue Yang do not show suspicion or distance. He doesn't seem to be a stranger here, and yet neither resentful energy or dead bodies litter the streets. It is enough for Wangji to consider.

But the words that he has heard have an immediate and firm response.

"Have not been here." Not before. He can vaguely understand that as people come, so might people go, and it doesn't have to be different people, but he doesn't remember that part so for all intents and purposes, he has not been here before.

"Only arrived the day of the storm."

So Wangji is doing his husbandly duties. Good.

Xue Yang notes the lack of reaching for Bichen with a sense of relief. His hands are just as empty. So he takes that as tacit invitation to plop down across from the other man, rubbing absently at his sore leg. He'll have to remember to mention it to Zichen later - his husband asked him to tell him about any and all pain.

The waitress bustles over to take his order - a mug of ale and whatever the cook recommends before rustling off. Yes, she got a smile to reassure her he's fine!

But then he returns his attention to Wangji, shaking his head with a wry sigh. "You were. Months and months ago. When I first got here, there were a bunch of us around. Then you and Senior Wei left. And Senior's brother. And Wen Qing."

He shrugs a little. "That happens sometimes. Some people come back, but don't remember, while others come back and do."

That does not mean he won't be watching you, Xue Yang. But no, innocent people are likely to be caught in the crossfire even if he did have a reason to attack him here.

"Mn. Are you sure - such people are the same people?"

He neither has memory of such a thing nor has he missed time in which such memories might have happened.

Oh he fully expects to be watched. It won't stop him from his new routine in Gazin though. Xue Yang might even be a little offended if Lan Wangji wasn't suspicious!

The question doesn't get an immediate answer. He taps a finger against the table as he gives it the attention it deserves, but after a moment he nods, short and sharp.

"Same people. Perhaps different timelines - if we can come here from different worlds, doesn't it make sense we can come from different points in time?"

"Come from different worlds?"

Wanji might have heard a little bit of other arrivals, but other than Wei Ying and now Xue Yang, he hasn't met anyone else who is not local, no. Asking about this, too, not that his source is the most reliable.

The question earns Wangji a mix of incredulous, disgust, and odd fascination. He bites back the barb at the tip of his tongue though, sitting on insults with a breath and picturing his husband's sweet face to remind himself of why he bothers to try and be nice.

Xue Yang huffs that breath back out, eyes rolling a little as he settles on mild exasperation. "Obviously." ...Well he tried...

"I can introduce you to some. But think about it." Try harder, he tells himself. "This isn't our world. We are here. Why can't there be people from others as well?"

Excuse you, he had most of a day before the storm hit, and after that he has not come out of their room much. Where would he learn all the things that Xue Yang expects him to know?

Not that Wangji's expression falters beyond a slight tightening of the lips. "Could be. Shouldn't be, any of us."

Which is correct, but the lack of particular glare makes it a statement of fact, not a jibe at Xue Yang's existence in this place specifically.

"Worlds, places, times. Is there a reason why here?"

This is Hanguang-Jun. He should know everything!

Xue Yang tilts his head, listening at the short comments. Then shrugs as his food and drink are brought over and set down before him. He spares the waitress a quick grin of thanks before refocusing on Wangji.

"You're not wrong. But I refuse to not make the most of it. Daozhang Zichen feels the same way. I think Daozhang Xingchen does too, when he's here."

The fact Xingchen is gone again could be indicated by the fact he...takes a drink of ale with a bitter twist of his lips. But he's holding up with this loss better than before, because Zichen is still here. The one constant.

"If there's a reason beyond us wanting to be somewhere else...I haven't found it. That's how we seem to be brought here - a wish to be anywhere else."

Yes, well, he knows because he reads and thinks, he hasn't quite had time for the first part here. He'll get around to it.

For now, he listens, and considers. He is still extremely suspicious of Xue Yang's motives, but the implications of what he is saying do not go unnoticed.

Instead of poking at the obvious vulnerability - yet - he offers a guess.

"If we come when we wish to be away, do we go when we wish to be here?" Most people, he knows, normally have at least some desire to be somewhere else. Even if that is in the next room. Would being content and wishing to be were they are not be the opposite of the wish that brings all of them in this place?

He's used to others being wary and suspicious of him. It won't change how he acts these days though. Zichen has made him an honest man!

And as such, Xue Yang notices Wangji not taking the obvious opening he'd given. Wonders about it, but sets it aside for now.

He gestures vaguely with the handle of his spoon at the question. "Merlan told me she didn't want to leave here. She wished to be away from where she was back home, but didn't wish to be away while here. She's the only one I know who has left only to return with their memories of Gazin. You can go to her forge and talk to her if you want." The fact he works for her now is just extra!

"She's nice."

Despite how savage Wangji can be, he is seldom cruel. Knowing the full story, he knows that losing Xiao Xingchen daozhang would be only causing pointless pain. And there is always plenty of that to go around without him adding to it.

"Mn." Thoughtful, as that is both similar and different as what he meant, but.

"She still left?"

It's a delicate line and he knows it. And from what Wangji has said so far, Xue Yang knows that he's also from his future. Which is just as well. Even better, perhaps, since Wangji hasn't attacked.

And that Wangji knows how losing Xingchen had destroyed him.

He hates that he's grateful for the lack of poking at that particular wound. But sets it aside. It's easier these days to set anger aside, to curb his sharp tongue and sharper weapon.

He nods, swallowing a bite of delicious stew. "She wasn't too happy when she came back, but at least her horse was happy to see her." Even with him dropping by to play with Thunder every so often and make sure he had food and water.

"You should try the food here, if you haven't already. It's good."

... "She was not happy, though she wanted to not leave?" He is losing some of the story here.

As for the food - he has been eating it, he arrived right ahead of the storm and so has been mostly stuck here. He knows the food.

So he nods a little, not willing to offend the people putting the effort in preparing him by saying it's a little too spicy for his taste - he knows it's his taste that is the exception, not their mastery. And Wei Ying also likes it.

There he goes, getting ahead of himself. Hm. So he takes another bite and sits on his impatience to get this odd meal over with and get back to his Daozhangs.

He swallows, takes a sip of ale, then tries again.

"She was not happy to find she'd left. When she was back in her world, she did not remember Gazin or her time here. Only when she came back did she remember."

Put this way, Wangji can see the sequence of events, and he nods carefully.

"No control over leaving aside, not remembering when returned is probably better. Being away with no means to come here would only make everything worse."

People wish they are somewhere else many times a day, after all. But they don't all come here.

Xue Yang nods to confirm, and agree.

"I hope to be different," he admits quietly, warily. "Because if I remember my time here, I will not make the same mistakes as before. I know I don't deserve it. But I would try."

Arrival... reunion... things?

3~ Someone's gonna be a LEECH (could lead into 4 possibly)

his very own leech!!!

ALL the rage of fashion accessories!

Wangji only needs one, if that one is Wei Ying

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III/V

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