"Can you really not accept it?" Lan WangJi repeated his question when met with silence.

"Accept what?"

"That I gave you a love letter."

Wei WuXian's stomach started misbehaving again. It was fluttering around while complaining that it was going to empty itself one way or the other. It almost sounds like Lan Zhan is saying he gave me the letter intentionally. But he met his love in the moonlight…. We met in the afternoon. What if the letter was for him anyways? Did he want Lan Zhan's love? And all of the things that came with accepting that love? To call you mine? That was a definite and resounding 'yes'. To be called yours? Very much a yes. To be able to spend my life night hunting with you? Yes. To share breakfasts and dinners and snacks? Yes. As long as it wasn't Cloud Recesses' food. To train with? Yes. To accept you into my body? That was a… he didn't know how he felt about that. To allow his body to be penetrated for someone else's pleasure was…. But to give Lan Zhan pleasure? Wasn't that different from just some random man? Could I allow Lan Zhan into my body? That was a 'maybe'. To sleep next to you? Maybe fall asleep in your arms? That was another resounding yes. He had very much enjoyed falling asleep with the scent of sandalwood surrounding him. To be wrapped in Lan Zhan's arms and have that scent permeate every part of his being? Yes. Absolutely, yes.

He mentally shook off his introspections. They were irrelevant since Lan Zhan loved his pale moonlit beauty. Whoever she was.

"It's not like I read the whole thing," he protested.

Lan WangJi sighed. "Sometimes I don't understand how you think. Do you now know who the letter was for?"

"If it's not Luo QingYang, then, no I don't."

Lan WangJi's face seemed to soften, a hint of a smile about his lips. Not an actual smile, of course, just a slight quirk that might be a precursor to a smile on someone who actually smiled. Wei WuXian suddenly felt a bit faint. "Even when I tell you plainly, you…." He took a deep breath. "Very well then. You are forgiven for those misunderstandings back in Koi Tower."

Wei WuXian pouted. "When did you tell me plainly? You never mentioned a name," he grumbled. "You never said." Louder, he added, "Do you want the strong tea or the flower one? The water's boiling, so if I'm going to make you tea, I should do it now before the water overboils and the tea tastes flat."

Lan WangJi made the tea after asking Wei WuXian to tell him everything he knew about the attempted murder. That segued into a telling of his injuries and how Wen Qing healed him. Dinner was brought in and he talked while they ate. After dinner, they took turns, Wei WuXian talking about his work or the settlement, Lan WangJi making observations about the people he'd left behind.

The sky was just starting to turn purple when Wen Ning knocked at the door. "HanGuang-Jun, are you going to be sleeping here tonight? JieJie sent over a pallet and blankets if you are." He was followed by a young boy who rushed to sit in Wei WuXian's lap.

"XianGege," the boy shouted and promptly stuck his fingers in his mouth upon seeing a stranger in the room.

"Lan WangJi, I'd like you to meet my young friend, Wen Yuan. A'Yuan, make a proper bow to HanGuang-Jun."

The boy looked at the man in white critically. "XianGege?" he whispered loudly, "I don't see him carrying any lights. Does he keep them in his sleeves during the day? Will he take them out soon since it's almost dark?"

Wei WuXian burst into laughter. "A'Yuan! It's his title. He doesn't actually carry light around with him all the time. His name is Lan WangJi. You can call him Lan Er'GongZi if you want."

Wen Yuan stood up and made a bobbing bow. "This A'Yuan greets Lan ErGongZi." Then he threw his arms around Wei WuXian's neck. "It's time for bed. Goodnight, XianGege."

"Goodnight, XiaoYuan," Wei WuXian responded with a hug of his own. "Pleasant dreams and be good for Grannie."

Once Wen Ning and Wen Yuan left, Lan WangJi asked, "The boy lives with his grandmother?"

Wei WuXian made himself busy preparing a second bed. "She's not actually his grandmother. No blood ties that I know of. His parents died during the war. He was shuttled around from one family to the next until the war ended. Wen Qing is his aunt. Well… his mother was Wen Qing's maternal cousin. He moved in with her when she went back to Dafan mountain. But she's too busy to be a full time mother, so Grannie took him in. Once I was well enough to sit up, I sort of became his teacher. I was the only one stuck in one place, so I listened to him practice reading and helped him with his calligraphy." He laughed hard at that. "I know you remember how bad my writing is. It's much, much better when I have to teach someone the characters. My own notes are still a mess."

"He seems like a good boy," Lan WangJi observed.

"He is most of the time. When he's not? He was being an annoying little shit last spring during planting. So I threatened to plant him right among the radishes. I told him he'd split and sprout just like onions and more kids would grow. He demanded older brothers and sisters to play with. Not babies. There aren't too many kids his age here, you see. One of the women had a baby over the winter, and A'Yuan was unimpressed with its lack of ability to do anything interesting."

"He sounds wonderful."

"If I ever get married and have a kid, I want one just like him."

Later that night, Wei WuXian lay on a pallet on the floor and did not think about Lan WangJi sleeping only a few meters away in his bed. He did not think about how feral his friend looked with his hair down and loose around his shoulders. He did not think about how form-fitting his friend's shirt was. How it showed off every bunch of muscle from chest to hips. He did not think about how ethereally beautiful his friend was in the light of the lanterns outside his house shining through the open windows. How pale his skin was. How still his body was, hands folded on his chest, moving gently with his breaths. And so he gave up not thinking about Lan WangJi and thought about how soft his lips looked. What would they feel like? Taste like? He wanted…. He burned with want. A few quick steps and he could finally know exactly what kissing was all about.

And maybe get hit for his troubles. Probably get hit. Lan Zhan, after all, was in love with another person. He didn't seem like the type of man who would fall in love with a woman and then have relations with someone different.

And then Lan WangJi turned his head to look into his eyes. Something seemed to settle down in Wei WuXian's body. An acknowledgement of some sorts? I could live like this forever if you'd stay with me. He was being selfish. He knew it and he wanted it anyway. You can stay with me. Forget about her and just… stay with me.

It was a wish not granted. Lan WangJi left for the Cloud Recesses immediately after breaking his fast. Wei WuXian returned to his fans and talismans.

Wen Qing left for the Unclean Realm right after the Autumn Festival for a Sect Leaders meeting. Apparently that was why Lan WangJi had visited that day; as the only healing Sect, Lan XiChen felt she was worthy of inclusion during the discussion conferences.

She returned spitting mad. "Mother said all men are idiots. I thought for a while that she was mostly right? Nope. All men are idiots. All of you."

"How am I an idiot this time?" Wei WuXian was genuinely puzzled as Wen Qing usually excluded him from the 'all men' category.

Wen Qing fiddled with her needles. "Lan ZongZhu is thoroughly impressed with your compass of evil. Except he doesn't know it's yours because you're 'dead'. He asked me to invite Yiling Laozu to give a series of lectures at the Cloud Recesses on spiritual devices next spring."

Wei WuXian could see the problem. "What else was I supposed to do?" he grumbled. "Grannie was killed because she didn't know that yao was there while she was gathering herbs!" Her death was so unnecessary; the compass of evil he'd designed allowed the other residents of the Dower House, as everyone was now calling the former Supervisory Office, to be alerted to where the fae were as they roamed outside of protected grounds. It was a big seller in Yiling City, too.

"I held him off for a year. Maybe. It would be rude for Yiling Laozu to not be a guest lecturer."

"So what excuse did you give him?"

"A half truth. That your grandmother died leaving you sole caretaker for your son. Oh, and you have a new name: Wen ZhiXin."

"Ah." Somehow, in the wake of Grannie dying, the powers that be (also known as Wen Qing) decided that Wei WuXian was the perfect caretaker for Wen Yuan. In the space of two weeks, Wei WuXian went from being called XianGege to Fuqin to Baba. "Maybe you can convince Lan ZongZhu to have the junior disciples who show a penchant for spiritual devices to come here instead."

Wen Qing was ignoring him. "You're going to need a disguise. I've never made a human skin face mask before. At least we have time to make one. Breaking half the bones in your body wasn't a bad thing, either, I suppose."

With his hips and spine realigned after his fall, he did have a slightly different gait, and he definitely walked more slowly. Even his fighting stance was more conservative than before. With a face mask and a voice changer, he would stop being Wei WuXian and become Wen ZhiXin. At least until his murderer was found.

"So who else is an idiot?" Wei WuXian was quite willing to throw every other man in the world in the path of Wen Qing's needles if it meant he was no longer a target.

It worked. "Do you know what that idiot did?" Wen Qing's fury was a beautiful thing to behold when not directed at him. "He kissed me!"

"Who?"

"He. Kissed. Me! Me! I was walking to my room after a long session, he grabbed me, and kissed me!"

"Is he dead?"

"What? No. Why would I kill him? He's an idiot, though. Bigger idiot than you. All 'please marry me' and 'I'll take care of you and your people at the Dower House'. I'm Wen RouHan's niece! And he kissed me!"

Wei WuXian nearly doubled over in laughter. "QingJie… I honestly thought you and I might go to our graves completely untouched. I didn't even know you liked someone like that!"

Wen Qing turned scarlet. "Who says I like anyone?" she whispered.

"He kissed you and isn't dead or disabled. I think you like him. He likes you back. Your uncle is dead. Wen Ning has grown into a fine young man and an excellent healer and will make a more than acceptable leader here in your place."

"He's an idiot! He hasn't thought this through. I'm the niece of the man who ordered his parents' deaths!"

Wei WuXian almost fell over in shock. "You like Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng likes you?" He smiled broadly. "I get to have you as my Jie for real and not for fun? My ShiDi's wife will be a shijie?" He started laughing. "I can't wait to have you as my sister-in-law! Poor Jiang Cheng. You'll make his life miserable and he'll love it! Did you say 'yes'? I hope you said 'yes'."

"I didn't say 'yes'. Or 'no'. I said I'd think about it. Well, I've thought about it and I say…. No."

Wen Qing continued to say no for almost a month. Then Jiang Cheng visited, and the following day, she said, "Yes, I'll marry you. Idiot." Jiang Cheng walked around the Dower House for the next few days with the largest, stupidest grin on his face (that would be wiped away with a scowl, only to have it pop back up seconds later) that Wei WuXian had ever seen. He had a sneaking suspicion that his shidi was no longer a virgin….

The wedding would be held in Lotus Pier at the beginning of summer when the water was warm enough to go swimming but the air had not yet turned muggy. Wen Qing perfected the face mask by the New Year which gave Wen Yuan plenty of time to adjust to his Baba's new name and face since 'Wen ZhiXin' refused to leave his son at home alone.

Yiling Laozu needed to look as different from Wei WuXian as possible. Which meant he was prohibited from wearing certain colors: black and red, even the Wen red, and Jiang purple. Wen Ning ordered him several sets of robes in varying shades of green and new headpieces in silver. For casual/at home occasions, he had white ribbons to hold his hair back and for formal ones, the headpiece was dotted with emeralds. Wen ZhiXin carried neither flute (openly) nor sword and looked as different from Wei WuXian as was possible.

Wen Yuan was now six and enthralled by the sheer number of children running through Lotus Pier. "Baba?" he asked, pulling on a mint green sleeve. "Can I play with them?"

Wei WuXian knelt down. "You may play. But stay out of the water. Even if they all go swimming, you need to stay on the docks." It was a shame that the streams at the Dower House were too shallow to swim in; Wen Yuan had not learned how. "I'll teach you later."

"But what if they call me a baby?" Wen Yuan whispered.

"You just tell them that babies don't know how to listen to their fathers. But you're a big boy and you do."

"I'll send a senior disciple to teach him," Jiang WanYin offered when A'Yuan had run off. "I can't believe I'm getting married before you and yet you're a father before me." Much more quietly he added, "Your scars are quite distinct. I think it's best if you keep your shirt on while you're here."

Wei WuXian nodded his thanks. "Yuan'Er should play here more often. There are so few children in the Dower House, and none close to him in age."

"As soon as we capture your murderer, you can come home."

Home. It was bittersweet to be once again strolling along the walkways and paths of his childhood. Home and yet not. This was not Wen ZhiXin's home. He passed by his old room, locked against casual passersby and did his best to keep his emotions in check. It would need some renovations should he return to live there with his son. He also walked past the family shrine; as a guest he was not welcome to enter and give his respects. Not that Madame Yu would want him to pay his respects anyways. His meanderings led him to a tree outside the compound but still within protected borders. He climbed it to sit as comfortably as one could in a vee where a large branch met the trunk. "It seemed much taller the last time I climbed this tree," he said almost idly to the man now standing at the base of the tree. They were the only two within hearing distance. "Uncle Jiang brought me here when I was nine. Not here to the tree, here to Lotus Pier.I told you that, right? He said that Jiang Cheng and I were to be best friends so he made us sleep in the same room. Except I'm petrified of dogs and Jiang Cheng had several puppies." He shuddered remembering those vicious, knee high, evil balls of fluff. "Uncle gave them away. Jiang Cheng and I fought about it, so I ran away. I'd lived on my own since I was four. I could do it again.

"I was a city boy, Lan Zhan. I didn't know the difference between an owl and a bear. Any noise scared me, so I climbed this tree to hide. ShiJie found me, and promised to catch me if I jumped down. She wasn't much bigger than me despite being three years older."

"Did she catch you?"

Wei WuXian looked down at the jade, dressed in a deeper blue than he'd ever worn before. "She did her best. I hurt myself so she carried me home. Then we found Jiang Cheng; he'd fallen into a hole chasing after me to get me to come back and hurt himself. So she carried him, too."

Wei WuXian leaned back to look through the tree canopy to the sky, hoping to hide his thoughts. If I jumped right now, would you catch me? He had no idea where that wondering came from. He had more than enough martial arts to get down to the ground without needing anyone to catch him or even steady him.

There was a world of difference between need and want. He didn't need Lan WangJi to catch him; but oh, how he wanted. Would you catch me and hold me safe and never let me go? The green leaves swaying above him gave him no answers. The blue sky and white clouds were equally silent. The man below would answer…. But how would he answer? You'd probably catch me if I fell, because that's who you are. The rest…. Lan WangJi was in love with his pale beauty. He'd have no desire to cradle a friend in his arms. I must be a cut sleeve, Wei WuXian admitted to himself for the first time. I want him the way a man wants a woman. Holding him, loving him.

Loving him. Wei WuXian looked down at his friend. I think I love you.

What a terrifying thought.