Pitched Normal

30

He was glad that he had managed to stay the whole day with Lan Zhan. They had managed to expertly, in his opinion, avoid Jiang Cheng. It was really very well planned on his part. By well planned, that meant he just went along with whatever Lan Zhan did. After all, considering their need to 'protect the sect reputation' Jiang Cheng would not drag him from Lan Zhan, not when it was obvious, especially now, that Lan Zhan wanted to be around him. The other would practically ruin the already tense relations between the Jiang and the Lan. Therefore, the safest place to avoid Jiang Cheng, was conveniently the place that he wanted to be around the most anyways. He just had to be careful, he did not want Jiang Cheng to get angry with him before he even bothered to manage to say anything. That would...sort of defeat the whole purpose. 

In the end, though, there was something called a curfew, which meant that he did need to face Jiang Cheng eventually, especially considering that they shared a room. Furthermore, he knew that Lan Wangji was going to need to speak with XiChen, which meant that they needed to leave each other just before curfew, so that they each had enough time to deal with their brothes. Despite that, Wei Ying...he did not want to leave. He kne wthat he had thought that Gusu would be different in practically every way to Lotus Pier, but he was glad for it, some part of him, he felt...refreshed, and jovial. Being around Lan Zhan was soothing, he did not want to leave the other. 

He knew that he needed to face Jiang Cheng, though, and he would not deter Lan Wangji from his own conversation that he needed to have with his own family. That would be...unbearably rude, and it was not something that Wei Ying felt as though he could force on Lan Zhan just because he wanted to avoid his own for a little longer. He could never do something like that to Lan Zhan. He paused, though, when they had agreed to leave, knowing that Lan Zhan would speak to his family. 

"Lan Zhan, you are going to tell your Uncle too?" Wei Ying whispered softly. "Tonight? Or...Or later?" Lan Zhan furrowed his brows, seemingly slightly confused. "It is just...well, I suppose it is no shocker, but...Teacher Qiren, well, he does not particularly like me very much." Wei Ying confessed softly. "I am worried that you may be given trouble due to this. I...I do not want you to get into trouble with your Uncle or anything close to that." Lan Zhan shook his head. 

"Will speak with brother, brother will intervene with Uncle." Lan Zhan explained gently. Wei Ying huffed a breath of relief at that. At least Lan Zhan would not have to face his Uncle's displeasure immediately then. He would still have to, but at the very least, it would not be tonight. 

"Lan Zhan, you do know, if you...if you are uncomfortable, you really don't have to go through with this." Wei Ying admitted softly. Lan Zhan grabbed Wei Ying, pulling him in for a very tense hug. Wei Ying laughed, and just circled his own arms around the other. "Lan Zhan, what is this?" 

"Want...Wei Ying." Lan Zhan said simply. Wei Ying gave a small smile. He already knew that, and he still could not really understand why it was that Lan Wangji, the Great Second Jade, wanted to court him. He knew that it was...well, the Jiang's were rather opportunistic. Or rather, Madam Yu was. She would revel in the courtship, even push for it. Jiang Fengmian, he would accept her desires, he always did. If he did not everything would go up in flames and the lord and lady would end up fighting, and the entire sect would be tense and Wei Ying was not stupid. He was not important, not really. That was Jiang Cheng, even Yanli. There was not much that he could offer the Jiang Sect. He knew that sooner or later, Madam Yu would do something about that. He would not be surprised if it ended in his demise, or his disappearance. She did, really truly, hate him beyond anything else. 

"I know, I just mean, if you are not ready to tell your family yet, that you want to court me, you do not have to. I would not push that onto you so soon." Lan Zhan shook his head. 

"Am ready. Xiongzhang's opinion is the most important either way." Wei Ying stared at him, not quite believing what Lan Wangji was telling him. 

"Lan Zhan," He said with a laugh. "You know, that is not very nice." Lan Zhan seemed somewhat guilty, but nodded. "Thank you," Lan Zhan did not smile, but Wei Ying could see his equivalent. "Oh, Lan Zhan, those texts that you had us reading earlier, they were from class were they not?" Lan Zhan did not say anything, just staring at Wei Ying who could not help but laugh softly. "I cannot believe you tricked me into reading the school books. That was brilliant." 

"Wei Ying, tomorrow, will get Wei Ying for breakfast." Wei Ying almost flushed. Who would have thought that of the two of them, it would be Lan Zhan that did the inviting. Well, Wei Ying could. Lan Zhan may seem cold, but he really wasn't, and it was just as Wei Ying who looked arrogant but was not. They all had their own masks. 

"Alright," Wei Ying said, refusing to let his cheeks flush red as they desperately wanted to. Though his eyes were bright and he was quite happy, for the first time in a very, very long time. He knew that no matter what the others said tomorrow, no matter what happened, he would allow himself to remember this moment, this joy, and he would carve it into his soul.

-
Lan Zhan walked Wei Ying to his dorm rooms, before leaving to speak with his brother. He swallowed, nervous a bit, as he knocked on the Hanshi. He waited, anxious that perhaps his brother would not let him in, or maybe he was busy with things before readying himself for bed. The longer that it took his brother to respond, the more anxious that Lan Zhan became. What was really only a few seconds, felt far longer, but in the end his brother did open the door, and Lan Zhan managed to relax slightly. 

"Xiongzhang," Lan Zhan greeted, bowing slightly. 

"Wangji, are you okay?" Lan Zhan wondered how to reply to that. He was not really sure at this point. There was much going on in his head. First and foremost was Wei Ying, as it had been since the boy had first showed up. "Why don't you come in? We have some time before curfew. Perhaps some tea, and a conversation may help you." Lan Zhan relaxed, grateful as ever that XiChen was able to read him so well. Come to think of it, Wei Ying was able to read him quite well too. While the other still had some second doubts, that mostly was due to his incredibly low self esteem than anything else. 

He sat at his brother's table, as Xichen poured their tea, giving him a small smile as he did so. "So, what is it?" XiChen questioned, his voice gentle as he did so, though XiChen's voice was always gentle. "Is it about that Jiang Sect boy that Uncle had you watch over?" Lan Zhan did not deny it, there was no point in doing so. 

"Xiongzhang, I have...many questions." Xichen hummed. 

"I would assume so."