WangXian Untamed - One Shots

Ribbons and Ties

Wei WuXian was frustrated. He knew perfectly well that Lan Zhan had purloined his new talisman designs and hidden them away to prevent him overworking. He coughed, stopping a moment to clutch and rub where a knife of pain had just stabbed him in the chest.

It was a cold, darn it. Just a cold. Just because his golden Core was baby-size and could as yet keep him neither well nor warm, was no reason to treat him like he was the infant!

Silly old fuddy-duddy worrywart, he muttered to himself, slamming yet another drawer closed. Wei WuXian huffed with aggravation. All he wanted was to sit and parse out the specifics of the tricky talisman he was working on, perfectly comfortable, in their own home, at his own desk. How dare Lan WangJi sneak it away like this!?

Wei WuXian scanned the Jingshi. Hmm... he'd already gone through all the baskets and drawers, plus the cupboards and boxes for storage. Where else would Lan WangJi think to hide something?

The large mattress on their over-size bed lifted with some strain but revealed nothing. Really, checking there had not been worth the coughing fit it induced.

The sitting cushions and several woven mats lifted more easily but concealed only a few stray dust bunnies.

Wei WuXian strode across the room toward the entrance, intent on interrupting Lan WangJi at his teaching to demand his talismans be returned. A squeak beneath his boot stilled his progress.

Could it be? Is my sweet, silly man still hiding things beneath the floorboards? Wei WuXian wondered, dropping to his knees. A moment of wrestling and the wooden plank lifted away, revealing the hidden compartment that Lan WangJi had used as his personal safe for so many years. Jars of Emperor's Smile had lain untouched within for years, before being swiftly quaffed when Wei WuXian finally took up residence in the Jingshi so very recently. Wei WuXian snapped a light into being and placed it to illuminate the recess. Yes, there were a few clearly empty jars of Emperor's Smile. A small stack of scrolls and some loose papers. He reached in and lifted a handful into the room.

Ah... a soft smile lit Wei WuXian's face. It appeared Lan WangJi had carefully squirrelled away all the many little sketches and cartoons Wei WuXian had done for or of him over the years of their acquaintance. There was the first portrait he'd ever done of Lan WangJi, classically beautiful, writing in the Library, a pretty but out of place peony tucked in the side of his forehead ribbon. Several studies of Lan QiRen, hardly flattering, another portrait of Lan WangJi, and another, another...Wei WuXian stopped flipping the pages and set them aside with a sigh. Something fun to review another time. Right now, he was a man on a mission. He just bet that Lan WangJi had slipped his talisman drafts in here when he wasn't looking. He reached further into the darkened space, tapping his hand over the base, running his fingers into the corners hidden from the light.

Something soft and silky slid between his fingers, and away. Odd; what could that be? Wei WuXian reached in again and made a point of pinching whatever it was more tightly, drawing it forth into the light. His hand came away into the room trailing a long scarlet length of ribbon, well-worn and with tattered ends. With a small cry, Wei WuXian sat back, cradling the fabric to his chest, tears running silently down his face as he wept, rocking back and forth in place above the opened hiding place.

Some hours later, this is how Lan WangJi found him.

Lan WangJi had intended to collect Wei WuXian for the evening meal together but was shocked when he opened the Jingshi door to the sight of Wei WuXian in visible distress, beside the gaping opening in the floor. In a moment he was beside Wei WuXian, gathering him into his arms, ignoring the rifled hidey-hole.

"Wei Ying! What's wrong?" asked Lan WangJi, horrified to see Wei WuXian's tear-stained face, with eyes swollen, and nose thoroughly reddened from tears. He pulled Wei WuXian more closely into his arms and that's when he saw the ribbon, trailing from his hands.