Notes:
Is it just me, or is CQL! LWJ so hopelessly in love with CQL!WWX that no amount of express friendzoning in his script could convince the audience otherwise? ('Dearest friend in my entire life', my ass).
CQL!WWX, meanwhile, seemed as though he saw LWJ as the bestest pal, so I thought that a sworn brothers what-if could be interesting.
Considering how bad at confessions LWJ was, though, the man could very well have brought his feelings about WWX to the grave if WWX hadn't confessed first (thanks, JGY). So here goes.
Canon geographical tidbits: Qinghe, Lanling and Gusu are located next to each to each other, which might explain why the three families had decided to take the oath and leave the Jiangs out of it lol. Yunmeng, on the other hand, was the unfortunate neighbour of the Wens, which means they will be the first to get annihilated no matter what Wei Wuxian actually does.
"Wangji, you're awake. Do you want breakfast?"
Lan Zhan woke to his brother's gentle prompting. He rose slowly, momentarily disoriented; Lan Xichen was sitting by his bedside, dark eyes twinkling with tender amusement as he tilted his head at him and continued wiping Liebing with a clean cloth. His brother had been looking after him for a while, then.
Lan Zhan cast his eyes around, cataloging every detail around him. This was the room he'd checked into, in the far east of Qishan; judging by the bright sunlight spilling across the room, the hour was already fast approaching noon. The Second Jade of Lan ran his qi across his body experimentally, feeling for injuries. There was nothing except for a pulsing ache at his temple.
His biological clock had failed him, and he didn't seem to have the slightest inkling of how he'd gone to bed the night before. Lan Zhan thought to his brother's teasing eyes and open amusement; none of this could bode well at all.
"Brother," he said, a silent enquiry, amber eyes unmoved as his elder brother's amusement escalated to soft, bell-like chuckles.
"Don't fret, Wangji, we're all safe here. It's just that…the innkeeper had been kind enough to serve us their specialty tea wine at dinner last night, as a compliment drink, without informing us. You know how it goes."
"Tea wine," Lan Zhan parroted, pressing one hand against his throbbing temple. The rest didn't have to be said. He'd no doubt finished the beverage under the wrong impression that it had been tea, and the alcohol had proceeded to knock him out for the rest of the night.
If Lan Xichen's radiant smile was anything to go by, though, that had not been the end of the matter.
"Brother," he insisted. Lan Xichen read mild petulance in his younger brother's monotone, and turned comforting eyes at him.
"You do remember dining with Big Brother and Young Master Wei, do you?"
Lan Zhan did.
"Do you remember what you said to Young Master Wei, then?"
He certainly didn't, and Lan Zhan couldn't help the faint dread that unfurled in his chest at that moment.
In the aftermaths of the Sunshot Campaign, the four clans had spent over half a month in the Nightless City, resting their fatigued forces and celebrating their hard-won victory against the tyrannical Wens.
To the Lans, however, the fall of the tyrant was not the only cause for celebration.
Their Sect Leader had decided to make Sect Leader Nie Mingjue of Qinghe Nie, and Jin Guangyao of Lanling Jin his sworn brothers. The three men, it transpired, had saved each other from the jaws of death enough times during the Campaign that when the dust finally settled, a pact of brotherhood had become inevitable.
Wangji was what Lan Xichen's sworn brothers had taken to calling him, after all had been done and the oath had been taken.
He was their younger sibling by extension, though in actuality both treated him as an esteemed equal rather than an adored younger brother. Lan Wangji, after all, was not of the same calibre as someone like Nie Huaisang, and did not require – or want – any coddling from a brother figure.
Lan Xichen's apparent joy in taking the oath in turn pleased Lan Zhan, though considering how fundamentally different Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao were by disposition, Lan Zhan had the distinct impression that his own brother – warm and accommodating as he was - was the only thing that cemented the three together.
The Gusu Lan had spent a month in Qishan, patiently grouping its disciples and gathering supplies. Once ready, the Lans trickled out of the Nightless City batch by batch, the twin Jades taking up the rear. Nie Mingjue, reluctant to part with his new brother, had insisted on accompanying the Lan brothers on their journey home.
"Both the Nies and the Lans march east. We're headed the same way anyway," Nie Mingjue snorted, by way of explanation, when Lan Xichen started demurring out of courtesy, "don't worry, my people can see themselves home."
"Then Wangji and I will rely on your protection during the journey, Big Brother," said Lan Xichen, playfulness in his voice, and Nie Mingjue eyed him with exasperated disbelief.
The Jins were marching east as well. Perhaps Jin Guangyao, newly returned to his ancestral roots, could not leave his father's side at this moment; perhaps he was held up by some other family matters. In any event, Nie Mingjue did not say anything edgewise. Lan Zhan could feel the tension keenly, a hairline fracture in the newly formed brotherhood. He wondered if Lan Xichen noticed the same.
But Lan Xichen had simply bowed to his sworn brother, his courtesy easy and amicable, and Lan Zhan followed suit.
Among the four major sects, Yunmeng Jiang was the only sect that didn't hail from the east.
Yunmeng lay directly south of Qishan, the Jiangs unwilling neighbours of the Wens. This, more than anything Wei Wuxian did or did not do, was why Lotus Pier had been the first to fall in this war, an example for all of the cultivation world to see.
Jiang Cheng had returned to Lotus Pier as soon as it was courteous to do so, no doubt feeling the urgent pressure to rebuild his Sect from scratch. Lan Zhan hadn't had the chance to personally see the Jiangs set off; but at least, he thought, Wei Wuxian would finally be able to return home.
He did not expect to find Wei Wuxian alone at a nondescript inn at the edge of the Qishan territory, perched precariously on the windowsill as the sun set before his eyes.
Alone, but not unaccompanied. A beautiful woman in red stood to his right, giggling demurely behind her sleeve as she poured him wine. Both looked up in slight surprise as Lan Zhan appeared at the top of the staircase.
Lan Zhan recognised this woman. He'd seen, with his own eyes, how she had tortured Wen Chao to death, a green-faced terror spurred on by Wei Wuxian's wrath; how she had buried her tapered nails into the man's flesh as he screamed and writhed in agony. No one deserved to die such a horrible death, not even a scum like Wen Chao. The woman wasn't half as attractive or harmless as she appeared to be, back then.
The undead thrived by ingesting its summoner's blood and feeding on his spirit. Sooner or later, this woman and her kind would spell Wei Ying's demise. Lan Zhan was certain of this. He would not – could not – let that happen on his guard.
Lan Zhan turned frosty amber eyes to the woman; at Wei Wuxian's nod, the woman curtsied and made her way down the stairs.
"Wei Ying, you shouldn't –"
"I already sent her away, Second Master Lan. Leave it," said Wei Wuxian curtly, having heard something along the same vein enough times be impressed. The demonic cultivator then turned to address Lan Zhan's companions, arms circling into a bow.
"Chifeng-zun, Zewu-jun. It is an honour. I did not expect to meet again so soon. Hanguang-jun, too."
Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen returned the bow. Despite his notoriety in rumours as an undisciplined rogue, it seemed that Wei Wuxian respected the two enough to be on his most decorous behaviour now.
If either man saw through the red woman's guise – and they must have – neither of them said anything.
"Well met indeed, Young Master Wei," said Nie Mingjue, lips quirking as Wei Wuxian offered him some of the wine he had been drinking. The love of alcohol, at least, was something he shared with the man before him. He accepted the cup briskly."What brings you to this little town?"
"Scouting," supplied Wei Wuxian with a shrug, "this place is where the Wen territory meet the Jiang's. We will need to rebuild our border defence, now that the war is done."
Nie Mingjue nodded, approving.
No one bothered to ask why Wei Wuxian had been assigned a scouting mission on his own. With his unique ability Wei Wuxian was a whole army unto himself; he could probably just sit there and mobilize his corpses to do all the scouting for him, without even moving a finger.
Lan Zhan imagined him lounging around the inn, pampered by a harem of female corpses as he waited for reports from his undead troops. It was not a particularly pleasant image. His brother threw him a look, silently contemplating."I see. Young Master Wei must be tired then." said Lan Xichen, soft smile on his lips as he stepped forward to address the Jiang disciple.
"We will be spending the night at this inn. Perhaps you would like to have dinner with us? I promise wine and spicy dishes to your taste."
Judging by the surreptitious glances Wei Wuxian had been throwing in Lan Zhan's general direction, Young Master Wei would like nothing better than to hightail from the inn altogether, before Lan Zhan inevitably tried to meddle in his cultivation again.
But Lan Xichen had strategically placed himself between Wei Wuxian and the stairwell, all good humour and benevolence; and Wei Wuxian could no sooner turn him down than kick a newborn kitten in the face. He sighed, admitting his defeat. Lan Huan, as always, was a dangerous man in more ways than one.
"Then I will accept your generous invitation, Zewu-jun."
(People gravitated towards his brother's kindness like moths to a flame. Lan Zhan envied his brother this ability: all he seemed to be doing was push Wei Ying further away with every word he said.)
The truth was that he didn't remember much of the dining part. Wei Ying, he recalled, had tried to put as much distance between them as realistically possible, he'd chosen to sit opposite Lan Zhan, the two Sect Leaders his barrier against the Second Jade's relentless pestering.
Lan Zhan had let him. It wasn't as if he intended to broach the subject in Chifeng-zun's presence, anyway. The Head Disciple of Jiang had then proceeded to studiously avoid his gaze for the rest of the meal, choosing instead to chitchat with the two elder cultivators on various matters.
Lan Zhan had picked up the cup before long. The rest, he supposed, was history.
"What did I do?"
"Ah," said Lan Xichen, his tone light, "you grabbed Young Master Wei by the wrist and told him what needs to be said."
Lan Zhan froze, the dread becoming something like true fear.
"Brother, I could not have…"
He sounded almost pitiful. Lan Xichen laid a hand against his arm; this was his little brother, always immaculate and calm against the world and its sundry happenings, and fearing only one thing, one person's rejection. He had seldom seen him so unsettled.
"You told him that you cared, but not why," the First Jade told him, soothing, "though perhaps you should have told him the reason as well."
"…there is no need."
Lan Xichen sighed. There was no convincing his little brother when he was like this. He patted his little brother on the arm, consoling.
"Do you want to know what happened afterwards?"
For a moment, Lan Zhan looked like he really didn't. Letting out a breath, he eventually nodded.
What happened was this: halfway through the meal, Wei Wuxian had found his right wrist locked in a vice grip without prior warning. Chopsticks clattering to the floor, he'd looked up from his meal in shock, expecting an attack.
Apparently, Lan Zhan had reached all across the table - and the various dishes on it – to restrain him. In the middle of a meal. In the presence of two of the Sect Leaders.
Wei Wuxian could not believe this.
"Lan Zhan!" he cried, struggling to free his arm, to no avail; the Second Jade's grip was simply inhuman, even when he was reaching across the length of an entire table. "What are you doing? Let go! Zewu-jun!"
It was clear, though, that Lan Xichen shared his surprise. He grabbed Lan Zhan by the back of his shoulders, alarmed.
"Wangji? What's wrong?"
"Wei Ying," said Lan Zhan calmly, as though Wei Wuxian wasn't jerking back and forth like a beached fish in his grip, as though he hadn't just managed to render both Sect Leaders dumbstruck, "Come back to Gusu with me."
"Oh my god, Lan Zhan, you're still on this?" Wei Wuxian howled. He would have kicked the table over Lan Zhan's stupid head, if Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen were not seated at either side of it.
"Which part of "no" didn't you understand? I told you the Gusu Lan has no right to punish or imprison me for whatever I choose to practise!"
Feeling no slack in the hold, the demonic cultivator reached towards his belt for Chenqing. Nie Mingjue made a placating gesture at his side, turning critical eyes at the Second Jade.
"Wangji, surely we can leave this discussion for another time."
Lan Zhan's grip did not relent, Nie Mingjue's warning going past his head like a missed shot. The Master of Nie quirked an affronted brow at his sworn brother; Lan Xichen, flabbergasted, craned to look his sibling in the eyes.
"Wangji. Look at me."
Wangji didn't so much as budge. Wei Wuxian barked out a laugh, thoroughly provoked. He leaned forward to grace Lan Zhan with a scimitar smile, eyes flashing a molten red.
"You know, Lan Zhan, I'd sooner fight you to the death than spend my whole life locked up at the Cloud Recesses."
Lan Zhan blinked slowly. If Wei Wuxian hadn't known better, he would have said that the Second Jade looked hurt.
"I don't want to fight you," Lan Zhan said earnestly, and added, almost as an afterthought, "Cloud Recesses is a nice place."
Lan Zhan's gaze at him was unfocused, those clear amber eyes flickering like broken glass. Something was fundamentally wrong here, and Wei Wuxian had to fumble around his mind before he could find his earlier indignation.
"…I suppose it won't be as nice if you're being imprisoned there."
"Not imprisonment," Lan Zhan clarified, nodding emphatically as he offered, "I kept your rabbits at the back of the mountain. They sell the Emperor's Smile at two other inns now."
Wei Wuxian frowned at him, nonplussed, before what Lan Zhan was trying to say hit him.
"You mean the two rabbits I gave you? You kept them?"
"Mn."
This took Wei Wuxian by surprise. At fifteen, he'd chucked the furballs at Lan Zhan, taken over by a childish whim to annoy, and would have forgotten about the whole episode if Lan Zhan hadn't brought it up again. At the time, he had totally expected Lan Zhan to throw them out the moment he turned his back on him.
And then the war had happened. It was apparent, though, that the creatures had managed to survive the burning of the Cloud Recesses long enough for Lan Zhan to reclaim them.
It seemed like a lifetime ago, now.
"You like rabbits."
"Mn."
"And what was it about the Emperor's Smile again?"
"You liked it."
In other circumstances, perhaps Wei Wuxian would have found this exchange endearing. But he was talking to the cold and unflappable Lan Wangji, of all people, and he found himself more concerned than amused at this sudden change in character.
Lan Zhan, Wei Ying knew, was a good person despite all his stuffiness. They'd killed the Xuanwu of Slaughter together, once, and Lan Zhan had cared for his injuries until help arrived. The man was an annoyance, not an enemy; even if they got along like oil and water now, he would hate to see the man hurt.
By now, Nie Mingjue had taken to watching the exchange with the morbid fascination of a man watching a crashing carriage. Lan Xichen, on the other hand, had brought Lan Zhan's teacup to his nose, his usually placid expression a cross between pained and embarrassed.
"Sect Leader Lan," Wei Wuxian began slowly, "possession, poison or medication?"
"…Alcohol. Please be at ease, Wangji is not in any danger. My oversight; I didn't realise that this was wine until now," Lan Xichen shook his head with a rueful smile, "Wangji has…no tolerance for alcohol at all."
From Nie Mingjue and Wei Wuxian's stupefied expressions, they hadn't realised the drink was alcoholic either. Even when heated, the beverage had smelled and tasted like regular jasmine tea. Why would anyone want to make wine that didn't taste or smell like alcohol in the first place?
Lan Zhan had gotten drunk on one cup of wine. Wei Wuxian didn't think he knew what to do with this information.
"Alright," Wei Wuxian sighed at a stoic Lan Zhan, who still had his arm in a death grip, "so you're just drunk. Good. What do you say you let me go, get some sleep, and we all pretend we haven't seen each other the next morning?"
"The loquats will be in season soon," Lan Zhan informed him.
"What are you, my Gusu tour guide?" the Jiang disciple gave one last exasperated yank of his restrained limb, and stood to walk across the table towards Lan Zhan so that they were no longer blocking all the food.
Lan Zhan, still seated, looked up at him with glassy-eyed confusion.
"Okay, change of plans. How about you tell me all about Gusu at your room, and we let Chifeng-zun and Zewu-jun have their dinner in peace?"
"Second room to the right," Lan Xichen helpfully supplied. The Sect Leader, it appeared, had quickly regained his warm humour when it became clear that his little brother was only drunk, not hurt. Now, he didn't seem to be in any particular hurry to put an end to his younger brother's drunken frolics.
Chifeng-zun gave Lan Zhan one last considering look, as if properly seeing him for the first time. An epitome of righteousness, the man was no doubt making plans to conveniently forget everything he'd ever seen come next morning.
Wei Wuxian had fully intended to coax Lan Zhan into his lodgings and leaving him to rot there. Without his golden core, he had no hopes of ever matching Lan Zhan's strength; Wei Wuxian had no interest in taking a blow to his own ego this late in the night. The best he could do was hope that Lan Zhan would keel over from the alcohol soon, at which point he would be free to teleport himself back to Lotus Pier and never ever see the other cultivator again.
Lan Zhan, it seemed, had other plans. The Lan cultivator brought himself – and Wei Wuxian – to a halt after a few steps, and lowered his head as though something just occurred to him.
"Going into my room," he said haltingly, as though he was shy, of all things, "would not be appropriate." That said, Lan Zhan decided on settling at another empty table only a few steps from the one they were originally dining at, a frustrated Wei Wuxian in tow.
What the hell.
Wei Wuxian briefly entertained the idea of punching Lan Zhan in his pretty face, then thought better of it. Not only would that not go over well with his elder brother, the chances that he could successfully land a hit, even with Lan Zhan royally drunk, was close to none.
The better plan, he guessed, would be to wait until nine, when the rules of the Lan Sect would decree that Lan Zhan (and Lan Xichen too, he supposed) went to sleep. He could entertain himself by drinking himself silly until then.
"Young Master Wei, perhaps I could help?" Lan Xichen called over, ever considerate, and Wei Wuxian waved him off. Lan Zhan, drunk out of his mind, would not be so easily persuaded; he was too tired to play tug-of-war with the Lan brothers right now. The First Jade graced him with an understanding smile, and ordered for wine and food to be delivered to their table.
"Lan Zhan, I swear, if you don't let go I am going to summon a bunch of corpses right now and make you."
Lan Zhan's brows drew together. When drunk, his disapproval lost all of its hard edges and icy judgment; instead, the Second Jade of Lan simply looked unhappy. He was so much more approachable this way, a human with true emotions.
"Can't. Civilian establishment," said Lan Zhan, and proceeded to hit him with what, by now, had become his familiar catchphrase.
"Demonic cultivation ruins your body and corrupts your spirit. Those who practise demonic cultivation will meet a bitter end; there has never been any exceptions."
In the past, this would have been Wei Wuxian's cue to fight the man for the unwarranted insult. Now, though, the alcohol had lent Lan Zhan a softer voice, and for the first time in their exchanges, Wei Wuxian could read lingering worry, not discrimination, between the lines.
Lan Zhan's concern was an unfamiliar thing, and Wei Wuxian wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
"Lan Zhan, you don't have to do this," he sighed eventually, "I'm sure your Sect and the Cloud Recesses would need a lot of rebuilding after the Campaign. Hell, Lotus Pier needs a lot of rebuilding right now. You're busy enough over there, so why concern yourself with some other person's cultivation too? I promise I won't slaughter a whole village or anything while Hanguang-jun is not looking."
Lan Zhan didn't look at him, lips thinning into a stubborn line. "Demonic cultivation will kill you, sooner or later. Ill-meaning people will persecute you for practising it."
He paused as if considering.
"Yunmeng is too far away. I cannot protect you if anything goes wrong."
Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian found, explained himself a lot more when he was drunk. He'd all along thought that Lan Zhan was worried about the collateral damages he might deal the cultivation world with his demonic cultivation; it had never occurred to him that Lan Zhan could actually be worried about him, instead of the world at large.
He propped his head on an elbow, suddenly seeing the man in a new light. Three tables over, Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen had seemingly forgotten about them, and had engaged themselves in a somewhat ponderous discussion on the taste and effects of the offending tea wine.
It was a good opportunity for some answers.
"Lan Zhan, why do you help me? I thought you hate the likes of me."
"No. Never."
"Why did you draw Bichen against me every time, then, if you didn't hate me?"
He could have sworn that Lan Wangji actually looked sullen at the question.
"You attacked me with Chenqing first. Every time."
"…."
Well, so maybe that much was true. Now that he thought about it, Lan Zhan had never once fought him in earnest during all these clashes.
"Okay, fair enough. Say I follow you back to Gusu. What will you have me do?" he raised his brows at Lan Zhan, who looked like he might start telling him about some other fun haunts at the Cloud Recesses, "You know I'm not talking about the bunnies, the wine or the loquats."
"The Song of Clarity will help guard your spirit. I have adapted it to the flute. The Cold Spring will calm your mind. Enough for you to build a barrier against the corruption."
Not force him to give up on practising demonic cultivation. Now that was a surprise. Lan Zhan had probably seen through the futility of convincing him to give up on the practice, and had considered the alternatives for him, even if that meant teaching him the secrets of the Gusu Lan.
He couldn't, in good conscience, say that he wasn't touched by the gesture.
"What if I want to leave Gusu halfway?"
"You are a guest. Not a prisoner."
"Lan Zhan, the Song of Clarity is a skill exclusive to the Gusu Lan," said Wei Wuxian, laying a hand against his forehead helplessly, "you can't just teach it to some other person outside of the Sect."
"Uncle and Brother have already given me their consent," was the ready reply, and Wei Wuxian winced; he could already picture Lan Qiren screaming at his nephew for his insolence, and Lan Zhan standing his ground, unshakable as ever. The Gusu Lan, after all, prohibited any association with the wicked and the evil.
"You are not some other person," said Lan Zhan.
Ah. So here came the crux of the question.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian began, not unkindly, "why do you go out of your way to look out for me? You don't have to. You know that."
For a moment, Lan Zhan went silent, looking down like a kicked puppy; it was as though this was the one question that he didn't want to answer. Wei Wuxian was about to take pity on him - it was, after all, not nice to force an answer when the man was this drunk - when his fellow cultivator let out a trembling breath.
"Xuanwu Cave," he offered, a non sequitur; Wei Wuxian was thrown off for a while before he seemingly caught on. He let out a short laugh, reminiscing.
"Thinking back, we did save each other from that fat turtle, huh?"
"Mn."
"You told me that you hated me, back then."
"...never."
"If I knew you wanted to be friends, we could have skipped all the fighting in between," said Wei Wuxian with affected cheer, eyes suspiciously damp before he took in a breath, moved to the core by Lan Zhan's benevolence, "I won't ever know if you didn't say anything. Hell, I won't know if you weren't drunk in the first place!"
Lan Zhan averted his eyes, endearingly contrite, and Wei Wuxian couldn't stop the impulsive idea that had taken shape and dominated his mind in that instance.
"Say, Lan Zhan, do you want to be brothers with me? We can make the pact and take on the world together. I'll be awesome as a brother. We can help each other out, go night hunting together, just like Chifeng-zun, Zewu-jun and Jin Guangyao. We'll be unstoppable. What do you think?"
Lan Zhan's expression went carefully blank, fine features unreadable as he let Wei Wuxian's question hang unanswered in the air. Wei Wuxian thought he felt soft hesitance emanating from the esteemed Jade. Maybe he'd misread Lan Zhan; maybe the timing itself was not ideal. His mouth, as usual, had gotten ahead of him, and he hurried to rectify the situation before it could get awkward.
"Sorry, Lan Zhan. I'll just take that – "
"Nine o'clock." Lan Zhan declared, abrupt, "Rest."
With that, the Second Jade released him and wandered back into his room, Wei Wuxian gaping behind his back in utter astonishment.
"What?"
"Young Master Wei, I will take my leave as well," Lan Xichen headed over at that juncture, entirely unfazed by the whole episode. Wei Wuxian had guessed right; both Lan brothers followed their biological clock like unerring clockwork. The First Jade bowed his way out after his brother, a bemused Nie Mingjue at his side.
"Zewu-jun," Wei Wuxian had no doubt that Lan Xichen had heard the entire exchange, but had simply turned a deaf ear just to be decorous. Cultivators did have excellent hearing, after all, "What would you think if I called you Elder Brother?"
Lan Xichen hesitated. When he responded, his smile was wry with many secrets. "I would have been happy for Wangji."
Notes:
Next up: LZ doesn't remember his drunken antics, but WWX sure does.