TOUCH [WEILAN FANFIC COMPLETED )

FATE

In the evening as he rested in the room he suddenly smelled earth and sage and he rushed to the door and yanked it open. "I'm glad you're here." Yunlan hadn't yet connected fist to wood, so his arm was raised in an aborted knock.

Come in." Shen Wei waved his hand forward. "We need to discuss your blood."

A smile slowly made its way up Yunlan's face. "As often as I've imagined you saying some version of that first sentence, not once in all my fantasies did you follow it with the second one."

He shrugged and walked into the room. "Ah well. Beggars and choosers and all that. How was your day?"

Shen Wei remained in place for several long seconds as he absorbed Yunlan's words. The shifter fantasized about him? Actually, that wasn't a surprise. After all, a then-teenaged Yunlan had traveled thousands of miles to visit him and the previous night, the now very much adult Yunlan had all but said he still harbored those feelings.

"Ehm." Shen Wei cleared his throat, closed and locked the door, and took a deep breath before turning around. "My day was fine."

Yunlan wore what looked to be the same faded jeans from the previous evening. They didn't sport a designer label and the edges of the pockets were frayed, but the best tailor money could buy wouldn't have been able to achieve a more flattering fit.

Shaking off the distraction, Shen Wei walked toward Yunlan. "I spoke with your uncle."

"Oh yeah?" Yunlan lowered himself into a chair, his motion unusually slow and his shoulders tense. "They didn't give you a hard time, did they?"

"No." Frowning at the uncharacteristic awkwardness in Yunlan's movement, Shen Wei flicked his gaze from the shifter's head to his feet. He was leaning just slightly toward his right side.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Yunlan sighed and stretched his strong legs in front of him. "Long, fucked-up day in an endless line of long, fucked-up days." He curled his arm around his stomach and just barely smoothed his fingers over that same side.

Heart picking up speed, Shen Wei 's gaze locked on that spot, and he stepped closer. "Are you injured?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Yunlan sighed and smiled tiredly. "That's enough of a pity party.

Although he had been waiting hours to talk to Yunlan about that very conversation, Shen Wei could no longer focus on anything but what Yunlan was hiding under his shirt. "Show me," he demanded, closing the distance between them.

"You worried about me, Shen Wei?" The shifter's face was drawn and tense, but despite that, a twinkle shone from his blue eyes and a genuine, if tired, smile graced his lips as he tipped his head back and gazed up at him.

Shen Wei was clenching his jaw too tightly to answer.

"I really am okay." Arm still draped protectively over his midsection, Yunlan tilted his chin toward the other empty chair. "And I'll be even better if you sit and talk to me for a bit."

Shen Wei peered intently at the shifter's broad, muscular body. The long-sleeved shirt and jeans hid most of his skin from view, but there was no mistaking the way he favored his left side or the tension in his posture. "Take off your shirt."

Yunlan's eyebrows shot up. "Now I'm sure you got a copy of my fantasy playlist."

"I'm serious."

"So am I." Yunlan chuckled. "Sit down."

"You're hurt. Show me." Clearly, Uncle Gu had been correct in his assessment of Yunlan's needs. "That's not the next line, Shen Weil. You really need to stop going off script."