Together

22. Gusu at night

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji walked through the town. Neither of them said a word, Lan Wangji since he has trouble expressing himself while Wei Wuxian since he's still broken. The town looked beautiful at night, filled with different kinds of people. Kids kept running around. Vendors kept selling. The smell of food filled the air. However, nothing seemed to cheer up the young men at the moment.

As they kept passing by the vendors, Wei Wuxian's eyes landed on a dizi, making him freeze in his spot and look at it longingly. It was a rather beautiful flute, it's body being ink black with blood red tassels hanging from it. Wei Wuxian never saw a black dizi before. He mostly saw it being white or made of bamboo. Wei Wuxian didn't know why, he wanted to have the dizi. He loves playing the flute out of all instruments. In fact, that was his mother's favorite instrument as well. He remembered his mother used to either sing him a lullaby or play the dizi for him to sleep when he was young. He didn't even realize how long he had been staring at the flute and only snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the vendor speak. "Young Master, do you want the dizi?" He asked. Wei Wuxian looked at the vendor, rather shocked once before shaking his head. He was about to walk towards Lan Wangji when he saw the boy in white stand in front of him, his face still unreadable, although Wei Wuxian could swear he could see pity in them. "Do you want it?" He asked, making Wei Wuxian stare at him for a second before slowly nodding his head.

Lan Wangji kept walking through the town along with Wei Wuxian, while keeping a close eye on the boy. He was sure a change in atmosphere would cheer up the boy, although he himself personally doesn't like crowded places. After walking in front for a while, Lan Wangji realized that Wei Wuxian didn't follow him. He turned around only to find the boy in black stare at an ink black flute having blood red tassels with longing eyes. Although he could say that Wei Wuxian was currently heart broken with betrayal, Lan Wangji got a feeling that he wanted that black flute. "Young Master, do you want the dizi?" The vendor asked Wei Wuxian, making him shake his head and turn towards Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji, however looked at him with pitiful eyes. Although he didn't know why Wei Wuxian wanted the flute, he was sure that there were bittersweet memories for it to him. "Do you want it?" Lan Wangji asked Wei Wuxian, only for him to be at a loss for one second before nodding his head slowly.

Lan Wangji smiled slightly before going towards Wei Wuxian's side and buying him the flute. As Lan Wangji handed the flute to Wei Wuxian, he realized that Wei Wuxian seemed lost as he looked at the flute. It broke Lan Wangji's heart, seeing him like this. But he could only ever so help. "Wei Ying?" Lan Wangji said, as softly as possible. Wei Wuxian slowly lifted his head and looked at him. Lan Wangji almost wanted to cry when he saw Wei Wuxian's face. If Lan Wangji's face is described as expressionless, the Wei Wuxian's current expression can be described as dead and broken at the same time.  Although it was more than obvious that Jiang Cheng's betrayal hit Wei Wuxian very hard, Lan Wangji couldn't bear seeing him like this.

"Wei Ying?" When Wei Wuxian heard Lan Wangji calling him, he looked at him, his mind still spinning from all the thinking it was doing. As he saw Lan Wangji, he was taken aback. If he was right, the Second Jade had an unreadable expression, but Wei Wuxian could swear he could see pain and sorrow. He wanted to speak and comfort him, but somehow the words just didn't reach his mouth. However, he so desperately wanted to make Lan Wangji feel better. Wei Wuxian knew Lan Wangji's pain and sorrow was for him and no one else. Hence, making up his mind, he walked away, searching for a quiet place while making sure Lan Wangji was following him.

Wei Wuxian kept walking randomly, not knowing where he was going. He was just searching for a quiet place for him to comfort Lan Wangji. Finally, he found a bush with sweetly intoxicating flowers far away from the hustle of the city. "Wei Ying?" Wei Wuxian heard his voice again, but didn't pay much attention to it. He breathed in deeply before he started playing a soft melody on his flute, a tune his mother taught him, hoping Lan Wangji could calm down.

Lan Wangji didn't know where Wei Wuxian was taking him. However, he decided not to ask and simply followed him. Also, it wasn't like Wei Wuxian would answer him at the moment. It was almost like he became mute ever since he woke up. When Wei Wuxian led him to a bush full of flowers and started playing a soft tune on his flute, he was taken aback. Lan Wangji didn't expect Wei Wuxian to play a tune like that. It was almost like the he wanted Lan Wangji to clam down instead of himself. However, he found himself enjoying the boy's tune, for it really was calming down his nerves. He slowly closed his eyes and continued listening, without caring for anything that is happening around him.

Wei Wuxian played the song and noticed Lan Wangji was slowly calming himself down, his expression become slightly less tense than before. That was good. Finally, Wei Wuxian felt less guilty than what he was a minute ago. 'Lan Zhan is feeling miserable. And it's all my fault. I really want to cheer him up. But, I myself am not a great mood. He really is being so nice to me.'

Wei Wuxian finished his song, lowered his flute and closed his eyes. Another  soft, cool breeze flew by swaying his robes and hair. Wei Wuxian breathed the fresh air in deeply. His eyes filled with tears again, but he forced himself not to cry. He can't cry. Especially in front of Lan Wangji. He felt the same, warm hand pat his head and slowly ruffle his hair. And that was the last straw for him. Wei Wuxian couldn't bear it anymore and wrapped his hands tightly around Lan Wangji, buried his face in his chest and bawled his eyes out like a baby. So many things happened since coming to The Cloud Recess. And right now... all he needed... was a break.

After Wei Wuxian finished his song, Lan Wangji observed the boy in black. A soft breeze flew by, swaying his ponytail and clothes. As he closed his eyes, Lan Wangji realized that Wei Wuxian was about to cry again, but was forcing himself not to. To Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian looked extremely fragile now. Almost like a glass doll which has already been broken and weakly fixed, ready to break at the slightest wrong touch. Wanting to console the boy, Lan Wangji slowly walked towards Wei Wuxian, making sure the latter didn't shriek and gently patted his head and stroked his hair. Wei Wuxian instantly spun around, making Lan Wangji panic. Did he perhaps do the wrong thing? That was obvious. Right now, Wei Wuxian was so fragile, it was heartbreaking. However, something completely out of his expectations happened. Before Lan Wangji's mind could wrap up what was happening, Wei Wuxian's hands were tightly wrapped around him while his head was buried deeply into his chest, and soon, his robes got wet with tears.

It took Lan Wangji a while to regain his senses and slowly wrapped his hands around the boy, while gently stroking his hair. Wei Wuxian shivered in his arms as Lan Wangji consoled him. It was truly a pitiful sight. Although The Second Jade personally didn't prefer physical contact, right now, he knew that the boy in black needed to be consoled. Also, for some reason, he didn't mind physical contact with Wei Wuxian.

The two men remained in the same position for a long time before Wei Wuxian moved away from Lan Wangji, making the latter feel slightly empty. "Wei Ying, let's go back." Lan Wangji finally said making Wei Wuxian nod. The young cultivators started walking back to The Cloud Recess, without another word.