Live Again, Love Anew

Chapter 6- Operation Save Aunty Yue: Start

Summary

A meeting. Planning to stop a murder. Poison. Wei Ying being Wei Ying. Lan Zhan having to keep Wei Wuxian from going full gremlin.

Beginning Note

Sorry for the delay! I had a killer headache yesterday and couldn't do the final editing till today.

Just a lot of talking and planning today, so not much action. We'll get some action in the next chapter, hopefully.

Wei Wuxian

Wei Wuxian expects to wake up alone. Well, not exactly alone, because Lan Zhan would just be all the way on the other side of the bed, but compared to the cuddling he's fallen asleep and woken up to for nearly two months now, he might as well be alone.

Except he isn't. An adult, completely aware Lan Zhan, wakes Wei Wuxian the same as he always does every morning: Detangling their limbs and shuffling from the bed to change and get ready for the day.

Wei Wuxian can't help but just lay and stare blankly at the ceiling for a few moments. His initial thought when he found out Lan Zhan liked cuddling was that it was a kid thing. Something he grew out of but liked when he was younger because he wasn't ever a touchy person in public, but craved affection in private.

But it seems like his guess was wrong. Maybe the cuddling was an adult Lan Zhan thing bleeding through his subconscious. Maybe adult Lan Zhan was the one who secretly liked to cuddle.

Or maybe Lan Zhan is just keeping to routine and Wei Wuxian is being introspective for nothing.

Well. He'd be the last person to ever say he isn't up for cuddles, so he'll just pointedly avert his gaze from this gift horse, and move on.

So, on to the agenda for today. They have four months to save Aunty Yue, and now that Lan Zhan is back in action, they need to start planning. Wei Wuxian has a basic outline of steps on how to save her, but he'll need Lan Zhan if the outline is to be of any help.

"Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian calls. The other boy pauses from where he's tying up his hair and turns to Wei Wuxian. "We only have four months." He doesn't need to say for what. "Let's plan everyday after meditation. We can implement whatever we come up with throughout the day, and plan more after dinner."

"Mn." Lan Zhan nods and finishes his hair, heading for the door without looking back.

Wei Wuxian blinks before scrambling to fix his own hair. "What-? Lan Zhan! Wait for me!"

-----

The morning passes at a crawl. Wei Wuxian gets a warning from Uncle that day during meditation. No matter how hard he tries to stay still, he can't help but fidget. His mind is busier than ever, but no matter how much he sorts through his plans and puts all his facts straight, his body decides it needs more of an outlet today: Hence, the fidgeting. When meditation is finally over he's on his feet and heading back to the Jingshi in the space between one blink and the next. Uncle doesn't reprimand him, because he isn't running, but he's sure to be questioned on it later; Preferably when he isn't a fidgety, nervous mess.

He knows he shouldn't be nervous. It's only Lan Zhan, and there isn't really much he can do today besides getting Lan Zhan caught up with his plans and seeing if Lan Zhan has any information from the future about Aunty Yue's death.

But the thing is, he's not really nervous about Lan Zhan or even the meeting itself. He's more nervous and anxious about what this meeting represents.

From this meeting forward, they have just under four months to save Aunty Yue. And they have to act like five year olds while they do it. Sure, they could blow their cover if there's no other option, but then any future plans would be out the window.