Untamed oneshot/short stories

The warm embrace of those who love you

Lan Wangji is awoken to a whimper next to him. He sits up and looks down at Wei Wuxian's who's sleeping next to him. Even in the dark, Lan Wangji can see that the man's sleeping is far from peaceful. Lan Wangji reaches forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. The other's whimpering only grows louder followed by rapid breathing. Then the whimpers turn into screams.

"Wei Ying!" He tries to wake him up by shaking his shoulders, but flailing hands only push him away.

"Wei Ying!" He cries out again. The man finally jolts awake, his eyes wide and dilated.

Lan Wangji immediately wraps his arms around his lover, who's trembling under his grip and his breaths are coming out in choking gasps and sobs.

"Wei Ying, I'm here," Lan Wangji pulls him into his arms, his hands stroking the man's hair and back. Lan Wangji tugs Wei Wuxian's outer robes, which had previously been hanging off his shoulders back on to give him some warmth.

"Lan Z-Zhan." Wei Wuxian is still shaking, but his breathing has become slightly calmer as he sinks into his husband's embrace.

"Mn. I'm here. I've got you." He starts humming a song. Their song. He doesn't stop until the man in his arms stills and comes relaxed in his arms and his breath evens out.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Wei Wuxian pulls back slightly and blinks back at him as if confused.

"Your nightmare."

Wei Wuxian diverts his eyes, the way he always did whenever Lan Wangji had asked him certain questions in the past, any question that seemed to regard his own wellbeing.

" Wei Ying, " Lan Wangji says, his voice more firm.

"It was the same dream as last time," Wei Wuxian says at last. "Nightless City...bloodshed. Except...A-Yuan, A-Ling and the others were there too. Everyone I cared about. You as well. I saw everyone I care about die again." His voice trails off in quietness.

"You won't lose me," Lan Wangji says firmly. Wei Wuxian doesn't reply but simply rests his head against Lan Wangji's shoulders. As he does so, his head shifts in the direction of the door. The bedroom door. Lan Wangji's attention turns away from Wei Wuxian and towards the door as well and he is suddenly aware of another presence standing just outside of it. Lan Wangji tenses, his hand reaching for Bichen but Wei Wuxian speaks up,

"Jiang Cheng?"

This doesn't make Lan Wangji relax. Yes, Jiang Wanyin may have let the both of them stay at Lotus Pier, but that did not mean he trusted him. Not after everything he did. An exasperated sigh and grunt responds to Wei Wuxian's voice. Then the door opens.

"The disciples heard screaming. They wanted to know what was wrong." Jiang Cheng's shoulders are tense and his clothes looked disheveled as if he had put them on in a hurry. He's frowning into the room, his eyes fixed on Wei Wuxian with a mixture of annoyance, anger and something else Lan Wangji can't quite pick up on.

"Jiang Cheng...it was just a nightmare. Everything's fine. You can go back to sleep," Wei Wuxian says, giving him a reassuring smile. Lan Wangji only sets his mouth in a line as he stares at the man in purple.

This man had been the cause of Wei Wuxian's pain before. Why was he concerned about him now? Wei Wuxian may have forgiven him, longing to cling on to what little family he had left even if the latter didn't consider him as such, but Lan Wangji would not. He cannot .

"Your nightmares were never this bad," Jiang Cheng mutters under his breath, still not meeting Wei Wuxian's eyes. Wei Wuxian only smiles wider.

"It's okay, really. I-I can put up silencing talismans again. I don't want to keep all of Lotus Pier awake if it happens again."

Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes and scowls at this, his lips curling into snarl. Lan Wangji's hands tighten ever so slightly on Bichen again.

"'Again'"?" Lan Wangji asks. "What do you mean by 'again'?"

Wei Wuxian's eyes widen as if he realizes he had said something wrong and he just shakes his head frantically.

"No...what I mean is...well ah...I put them up when I lived in the Burial Mounds. Resentful energy made the nightmares worse and everything. It's nothing, Lan Zhan. They're not needed now."

Something flashes across Jiang Wanyin's face. Guilt? Fear?

"You-!" He begins, then stops. He turns and walks out from the room, closing the door behind him.

Maybe he realized the same thing I did. Wei Ying probably put up Silencing Talismans right after the war when he returned back to Lotus Pier. Being stuck for three months in the Burial Mounds would have certainly brought trauma. Additionally, he barely had a few days' rest before he returned to the war front.

"What were the silencing talismans for, Wei Ying?"

"I..I didn't want to worry anyone." Wei Wuxian swallows. "Can we just go back to sleep now?"

"Wei Ying," Lan Wangji says quietly. "Promise me you'll tell me if they get worse. I can play for you. It will help."

"Alright, Lan Zhan. I promise."

"Sleep now, my love." Lan Wangji lays Wei Wuxian back onto the bed and covers the blanket over him. He lies down next to him, beginning to hum their song again. He doesn't stop until his lover is fast asleep. Only then does he himself close his eyes.