Jiang Cheng's Honest Feelings (Xicheng)

Chapter 6: Drinking Party

"Are you going to stop him?" Lan Xichen asked the scowling man beside him. His arms were crossed in disapproval as he stared at his brother and nephew from across the room.

"No. He needs to learn the hard way not to listen to Wei Ying." Jiang Wanyin wasn't planning on stepping in even as his nephew was becoming blackout drunk right in front of him. Wei Wuxian had coaxed him into participating in a competition about who could drink the most, but he had soon realized it was an unfair fight. So to even the playing field they were currently having a three vs one, and Wei Wuxian wasn't on the losing team. He showed no signs of even being tipsy whilst his opponents' faces were all colored a bright red.

But unlike his relatives Jiang Wanyin had no intention of drinking. He'd been watching them from a distance since the beginning. To start with this had made his nephew cautious of doing anything but when his uncle didn't do anything to stop him he'd started going along with what Wei Wuxian was telling him.

Lan Xichen yawned. It was far past the Lan curfew of nine pm at this point.

"Are you tired?" Jiang Wanyin diverted his attention from his nephew for the first time since he arrived earlier in the evening.

"Yeah" He replied with another yawn. Due to the strictness of the Lans' sleeping schedule his body was practically forcing him asleep. His eyelids were heavy and a thick cloud was filling his head. Usually before night hunts when they needed to stay up late he had time to mentally prepare for staying up for longer. But the Wei's notice had been far too late for him to be in any way prepared.

Scooting closer beside him Jiang Cheng looked the other way as he spoke. "I'll wake you when it's time to lug the drunks home"

"Thank you" Lan Huan said before resting his head against the shoulder which he had been offered. It was hard and uncomfortable, but you couldn't really expect someone with the personality of a pufferfish to be soft and squishy, even when not angered. Not that it mattered. Even if Jiang Cheng had been as soft as a cloud, he'd still not be able to fall asleep. That damn bell was too loud.

Pling Pling Pling

Reaching over Lan Xichen tried to untie the string to get it to stop. Getting it off would make it silent, that much he knew. But his efforts only worsened the bell's already deafening wailing. The knot had been tied awfully tight, Jiang Wanyin must have really gone out of his way to make sure it wouldn't accidentally fall off. And then with a metallic click everything fell silent. Finally Lan Huan could rest in peace, but before he could doze off he was brought back by another concerning sound.

"Z-Zewu-jun" Jiang Wanyin was stuttering. It sounded panicked, enough so that despite being practically asleep already Lan Xichen's eyes shot up to face a profusely blushing Jiang Wanyin. As soon as he realized the reason for the Jiang's reaction he was fully awake, any ounce of sleepiness had been ripped away.

His hand, which had been trying to get the bell to stop, was placed at the knot of the string. Which was still holding it in place. This coincidentally happened to be at the Jiang's hip. Not only that, but he hadn't actually managed to untie the bell. What he had done was unbuckling the belt which it was attached to. The line 'attempt the impossible' was now fully visible.

"..." How was he supposed to explain himself? This was really REALLY bad. "Jiang Wanyin..."

"For two people who likes to complain about us, you guys sure have made yourself comfortable" Wei Wuxian, with Lan Wangji in tow, came stumbling towards them. His eyes, although slightly glazed over, were still perfectly able to tell where the Lan was touching. "Should we perhaps end things early so that you two can be alone?"

The competition was over and his brother-in-law was unsurprisingly the last one standing. Both Lan Sizhui or Lan Jingyi had a very low tolerance for alcohol, so despite their greatest efforts, their participation hadn't helped the Jin particularly much.

"No, I'll leave. It seems like your opponents might need some help getting back home" and with that Lan Xichen let go of the Jiang and stood up. The defeated three were laying on the floor, but when looking more closely they were still conscious, barely. Grabbing onto young master Jin's arms he managed to get him leaning against a wall with a single heave.

"Jin Rulan, try to sober up. Your uncle will bring you back home, okay?" The Jin's eyes were fuzzy, but within them Lan Xichen felt he could spot them pleading to him. Hearing his uncle mentioned in conjunction with 'needing to sober up' had struck fear into him, unsurprisingly so. But the one which they all needed to fear was not Jiang Wanyin but his brother, who had also caught the Lan's words and decided to use it as ammunition.

"Uncle? You two have gone far enough for Jin Ling to have an additional uncle? Well done brother I didn't think you'd...."

Smack

Wei Wuxian's teasing had gone too far. So far that he'd earned himself a bruise. But his brother wasn't the only one affected by his words. Lan Huan could feel the heat rise on his face and ears. Which would undoubtedly get his brother-in-law going even more if he saw it. So with quick steps the embarrassed Lan instead reached for the two Lans, who surprisingly enough were more responsive than the Jin.

"Uncle!" Lan Yuan exclaimed with a bright smile as he wrapped his arms around his leg pulling it in for a hug. Luckily Wei Wuxian's attention was no longer focused on him which he could tell by the ever increasing clanging of the Jiang's bell. It was making sounds again, meaning the Jiang Wanyin had likely fastened the belt again... oh god the belt.

Reminded of what he had done, Lan Xichen quickly pulled Jingyi to his feet by the collar of his robes. The drunk Lan was unsteady on his feet, but with a supportive arm around his shoulder he'd manage to walk.

"Lan Yuan, could you please get up?" He pleaded, but all he received in return was a set of puppy eyes. "That might work on your fathers, but not on me. Now, get up" Lan Xichen did dote on his nephew, but he did not allow himself to be manipulated. It didn't matter how cute he made himself. Lan Xichen held out his hand which the man reluctantly took. He was meant to use it to heave himself up but instead of letting go once he got up he instead entwined their fingers. Lan Xichen sighed at his nephew's childish behavior, but it really didn't matter, as long as he could get out of Hanshi and away from this situation. That was all that mattered.

The cold evening air did wonders in cooling his face down. But his heart was still beating fast. It wasn't like he had expected to never slip up and accidentally reveal what he felt. But this had honestly been an accident! Hopefully the Jiang would be willing to hear him out after this. He needed to speak with him before he left tomorrow morning. This could not be left unresolved.

As soon as he had put the two Lans to bed, making sure they were both still doing okay, he rushed back towards Hanshi. What if Wanyin had already left to take young master Jin back? After what happened he would definitely not return to Hanshi afterwards. He might even depart early tomorrow to avoid saying goodbye. With those thoughts flying through his mind he hurried home.