Courtship Rite

Flirting

Meng Yao had thought the last dinner had gone badly. It had, but the second was worse. Only a last-minute intervention prevented Huaisang from trying to bring a guest, one Xue Yang who, based on Meng Yao's later research, was a contractor for anything up to and including wet work. The guards wouldn't have let him up without Xichen's approval, but that Huaisang had thought to invite him along at all suggested he'd planned to stir up trouble.

At the start of the evening, before Huaisang's arrival, neither Lan Wangji nor Wei Ying would speak unless spoken to. Wei Ying wouldn't even look at Xichen or Meng Yao although he did stare at Lan Wangji with open adoration.

When Huaisang walked through the door, all of that changed. Wei Ying ran over and pulled him into a hug. "Huaisang. My friend! May I call you A-Sang? I've missed you. It feels like forever since we could talk." Wei Ying kept up the chatter as they each took seats in the living room, Wei Ying next to Lan Wangji and Huaisang on a nearby chair. When Wei Ying leaned towards Huaisang, Lan Wangji, looking highly affronted, pulled him back. "Ah, Wangji, so handsy. You won't even let me greet my bestie, the man who told you how to find me so we could be together. I see you every day, but Huaisang? I can't even tell you how long it's been."

Was Wei Ying trying to upset Lan Wangji? Meng Yao couldn't be sure, but whether it was deliberate or not, it was working. Lan Wangji looked distinctly pissed. Meng Yao jumped to his feet. "Dinner. I believe it's time we ate."

Somehow Huaisang ended up directly across from Wei Ying who continued to chatter at him unless asked a question by someone else. Then, as earlier, he wouldn't look at the speaker and responded with as few words as possible before turning his attention back to Huaisang. Wei Ying even went so far as to tap Huaisang on the hand or arm from time to time to emphasize a point.

After about five minutes, Lan Wangji had dropped his chopsticks to the table and had just sat there, staring at Huaisang, glaring knives. Xichen tried to distract him. "Wangji, weren't you having trouble with a contract for Koi Industries?"

Lan Wangji's gaze never wavered. Huaisang sat still, frozen like a mouse before a snake. He didn't seem to even hear Wei Ying. Meng Yao retreated to the kitchen to text Huaisang. Get out. Now.

When Meng Yao returned to the table, Huaisang was making a hasty retreat. Lan Wangji held Wei Ying's arm in such a vise-like grip that Meng Yao knew it'd leave bruises. As if unconcerned with the pain, Wei Ying called out to Huaisang, "It was great to see you, bestie. I hope we can do this again soon."

Once the door had closed behind Huaisang, Wei Ying turned his attention back to Lan Wangji. "My best beloved, why aren't you eating? Let go of my arm so I can put food in your bowl." It took a bit of convincing before Lan Wangji let go of Wei Ying's arm, but as soon as he did, Wei Ying started picking out choice pieces of food for him. "You have to keep up your strength. How are we going to make our goal of breaking my bed if you can't pound me into it?"

Xichen blushed and turned his head away. Meng Yao started talking, loudly, about a new art exhibit. He hadn't seen it yet and so kept reiterating the little he knew to keep Wei Ying from speaking. The two didn't stay long past the end of dinner, and Meng Yao found himself hoping that Lan Wangji would give the dinners up as a bad idea. The concept had seemed perfectly reasonable on paper but had failed in execution.

Within an hour, Mingjue stormed in. "What the hell did Wangji do to my didi?"

Xichen, who'd approved Mingjue's visit without thinking twice when the guards had called up, twitched back in surprise. "Nothing," he said. "Wangji was just angry."

"I saw the text," Mingjue thundered. "Get out. Now. Huaisang was terrified."

"A-Yao overreacted. He should never have sent that text. Wangji wouldn't hurt a fly."

"What about that guy in secondary school?" Mingjue asked. "Wangji broke two of his ribs before he could be pulled off."

"Really? You're bringing that up? Wangji lost his temper one time and hasn't been able to live it down. Uncle spoke to him after. He hasn't beaten anyone since then."

Meng Yao mentally flipped through the names of employees, dozens of them, loyal men and women whom Lan Wangji had either personally beaten or ordered executed. Of course, to Xichen, they didn't count.

"Just keep your psycho brother away from Huaisang."

Xichen jumped to his feet. "Wangji is not a psycho."

"He's marrying a fuck toy!"

Meng Yao's heart went cold. Mingjue's words weren't directed at him, but they hurt. It could have been him in that courtesan room. Meng Yao didn't like to think on it, but he knew it was true. A few years after he'd graduated, a scholarship student had gone missing, someone with no family to ask awkward questions, someone just like Meng Yao. He'd wondered when he'd heard, if he hadn't been dating Mingjue his junior year, would he have disappeared?

"You're all fucking crazy." The door slamming behind Mingjue sounded like a final crash of thunder.

Meng Yao shook off his thoughts. Nothing good would come of getting lost in old memories. He turned back to his work. "I'm sure it'll be alright," he told Xichen. "Just give him a few days to calm down."

Xichen looked at Meng Yao as if he were a bug."After what he said about Wangji, why would I ever forgive him?"