Backlash Part 1

Chapter 97: Fun

The last time Wei Wuxian had participated in this competition he had followed Jiang Wanyin into the competition grounds, allowing him to pick the path. This time as he entered he immediately went to Lan Wangji's side. Seeing Wen Chao and his mistress had been unsettling. Wei Wuxian had managed it, but it didn't mean he did spend a few extra seconds holding Lan Wangji's hand, leaning a bit to rest his head on Lan Wangji's shoulder.
Wei Wuxian was pulled into a gentle embrace in response. Everyone else had already taken off running to try and find the targets. The two of them were alone and Wei Wuxian was relishing in that fact. Wei Wuxian had come to treasure time alone with Lan Wangji. Time when things felt quiet and safe. He still had not regained his previous love of crowds. He didn't like having so many eyes on him, so many people surrounding him.
Lan Wangji's hand stroked gently down his back and Wei Wuxian melted. The trip to Qishan had been unpleasant. Wei Wuxian felt awful was probably too strong a word for it. After all he had been in much worse conditions before, it seemed unfair to call a few unpleasant words and uncomfortable tension awful. Wei Wuxian had gotten used to Cloud Recesses. When he needed time and space it was freely given. He could seek comfort from Lan Wangji whenever he wanted, or even just demonstrate affection.
Wei Wuxian had always been a very tactile person. He expressed care and concern through touch and he craved that sort of affection and contact in return. His experiences in his last life had clashed with this drastically, but it had not changed this part of his nature. It had only restricted who it was directed towards. He was no longer comfortable with a casual hug or hand on his shoulder from just anyone.
While travelling he was already having to endure semi constant jabs of guilt and shame from Jiang Wanyin's commentary. Worst was when those jabs included Lan Wangji. The last thing Wei Wuxian wanted was to bring Lan Wangji shame. Lan Wangji's reputation had already taken a hit because of how Lan Wangji would defend Wei Wuxian from being overwhelmed by people who meant well.
As such Wei Wuxian had been a model of propriety during their travels during the day. He didn't hold his fiance's hand. He didn't flirt with Lan Wangji or tease him. They didn't hug or kiss. They would sit next to each other. Sometimes closer than was technically polite, but Wei Wuxian didn't even get to sit in Lan Wangji's lap unless they were alone in their room together. Wei Wuxian had been feeling the lack of that physical affection for the entire journey. Even though they could do all of those things at night in the inn, it did not really make up for the complete absence of them during the day.
"Better?" Lan Wangji inquired. Wei Wuxian sighed with a small smile on his face.
"Mn. Better enough. Long trip. Not enough hugs like this." Wei Wuxian said lazily.
"Ceremony?" Lan Wangji prodded. Wei Wuxian smirked. Of course Lan Wangji had noticed Wei Wuxian's tension during the ceremony.
"It was unsettling, but I'm alright now. Wen Chao is going to join part way through. Just make sure I don't shoot him. As long as I am not alone with him I should be alright. I don't know what emotion will win out when I am around him. I am both terrified of him, and deeply wish to give him a painful death. They aren't good feelings and they are attached to even worse memories." Wei Wuxian explained. Wei Wuxian's voice was still calm and slightly lazy, a sign of his contentment in being held like this.
"We do not have to compete." Lan Wangji stated gently. Wei Wuxian pulled back enough to frown playfully at his husband.
"Hmm... Is Lan-er-gongzi perhaps afraid that I will beat him?" Wei Wuxian questioned in an obvious teasing tone. A small smile rose on Lan Wangji's face. "Do we think we have given the rest enough of a head start?" Wei Wuxian asked playfully.
"Their participation is irrelevant." Lan Wangji said softly. 'I only care about competing against you.' Lan Wangji added silently. Wei Wuxian laughed. A slight squeeze of their joined hands and then both of them took off.
The grounds for the competition were filled with natural stone pillars. Some sloped up like thin mountains standing side by side, while others were jagged vertical surfaces standing like impossibly tall towers. Flat ground running between these formations made the grounds maze-like. It provided ample opportunity for the spirit possessed targets to fly out from seemingly nowhere or dive behind cover.
The targets were not unlike the kites used for archery practice by the YunmengJiang sect. Fluttering fabric flying through the air. Except these were not tethered by a string and moving back and forth in the wind. The targets they were meant to shoot contained malicious spirits trapped inside of them. They could dodge, hide, fly swiftly and stop whenever they chose. While they did not have claws to attack, there was nothing preventing them from knocking a cultivator off of one of the elevated stone formations.
Overhead the first fireworks were going off. Colourful bursts of light indicating successful hits of the respective sects. A flash of movement had Lan Wangji drawing back on his bow. An arrow whizzed past Lan Wangji's head striking the target. Wei Wuxian laughed happily as a purple lotus flower exploded in the sky above them. Lan Wangji felt a thrill in his chest that he had never experienced in a competition before.
The two of them were off again. The challenge was not only from hitting the targets. By competing beside one another they were also competing with each other over the same targets. Missing a target resulted in immediate disqualification from ongoing participation. Lan Wangji had vaguely noticed a few greyish fireworks going off, indicating some participants had been disqualified already.
Therefore Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were not only testing their abilities to find and hit the targets. They were testing their reflexes in their ability to stop themselves from shooting when the other was going to succeed to get the target first. They were testing their ability to realize when the other was going to be faster as much as they were testing their limits to try and be faster with one another. Every time Lan Wangji just barely managed to stop himself from releasing an error that was destined to find a target already claimed he felt a rush of energy and excitement.
After dozens of targets the two were taking a rest. Wei Wuxian had whined about how hot it was and they had found a small creek. It was barely wide enough for Wei Wuxian to lay down in it without touching the sides. Lan Wangji only knew it was wide enough to accommodate this because Wei Wuxian had immediately decided to do so. It was so shallow that Wei Wuxian was more sitting than floating. Wei Wuxian smiled up at the sky giggling happily.
"It feels like an eternity since I've gotten to have fun competing like this." Wei Wuxian said, staring up at the sky. Lan Wangji suddenly paused.
'Fun.' It was not something spoken of often in Cloud Recesses. Other words might be used. Such as enjoyment. You could enjoy practising your guqin, or appreciate the tranquility of reading. Lan Wangji had scoffed multiple times at the idea of doing something just because it was 'fun'. Lan Wangji felt heat creeping up his neck, no doubt tinting his ears a faint pink. The feeling when they were competing. That wonderful exhilarating feeling. Is that what fun was?
"Lan Zhan, I can see the blush on your ears from down here. Surely you are used to my shameless behaviour by now." Wei Wuxian teased. Lan Wangji felt his face grow hot. He was certain his ears had darkened another shade when he heard a soft chuckle come from Wei Wuxian's direction.
Lan Wangji considered saying nothing. Wei Wuxian wouldn't push. If he didn't want to speak, Wei Wuxian wouldn't take offence. Lan Wangji swallowed forcefully. He discovered he did not wish to withhold this though. It was embarrassing that a concept that seemed so simple had apparently been lost on Lan Wangji until now. He was seventeen years old, and only now did he actually understand the feeling of what it was to have fun.
"Competing with Wei Ying is fun." Lan Wangji said quietly. For anyone else this probably would be normal. Completely normal and uninteresting to say out loud. For Lan Wangji it was embarrassing, exciting, and oddly profound. "I didn't know that was the word for how this felt." Lan Wangji admitted.
Wei Wuxian was suddenly quiet. Lan Wangji risked a glance towards Wei Wuxian and saw a soft bewildered expression on his face. Wei Wuxian seemed to be processing those words, turning them over in his head to absorb them fully. A sound of splashing water accompanied Wei Wuxian's journey of standing up and approaching Lan Wangji calmly. Wei Wuxian searched Lan Wangji's eyes as though looking for something. Then the curious concerned expression transformed into a soft gentle look that made Lan Wangji feel warm all over. Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji in a secure embrace. Arms looped around Lan Wangji's neck as Wei Wuxian nuzzled Lan Wangji's shoulder.
"My Lan Zhan. I'll do my best to make sure you can have more fun in your life. Everyone deserves that." Wei Wuxian said softly.
Lan Wangji held Wei Wuxian in a tight embrace. He willed Wei Wuxian to understand the emotions rushing through him. Joy, excitement, embarrassment, appreciation, and that wonderful overwhelming feeling of being loved. Certainty that Wei Wuxian did not think less of him for not understanding a concept that small peasant children had likely mastered as toddlers. Wei Wuxian also did not find it shameful for Lan Wangji to desire to have this in his life now, even though he was seventeen and in a matter of months a war would be starting.
Wei Wuxian held him and promised to help him experience the feeling of what it was to have fun. A feeling Lan Wangji now knew had been rare and fleeting in his life. Lan Wangji found he agreed with Wei Wuxian. Fun was a wonderful feeling that he would wish everyone could experience. Probably it was why Lan Xichen had always tried to insist that he make friends. Lan Wangji held back a smirk. He had done better than making friends.
'Wei Ying is much better than just having a friend.' Lan Wangji thought happily.