Wuji: A Promise Kept

37

Lan Wangji was preparing food for dinner. While Wuxian was not an excellent cook, something he could do was help Wangji prep, so he cut the vegetables. After he cut the vegetables, he stood there watching Wangji cook.

"Who taught you how to cook?" Wuxian asked.

"I asked the cooks in the kitchen at the dining hall to teach me. I knew how to cook a little bit before we married but when you went into seclusion, I took more lessons so I can cook for you," Wangji replied.

Wuxian smiled and wrapped his arms around Wangji's waist from behind, "You are so sweet, Lan Zhan. How did I get so lucky to have you?" He asked, "You could have had anyone but you are with me."

"Wei Ying, I say think that same thing about you," Wangji said, "You are so kind and selfless. If anyone is lucky, it is me to have someone like you."

"Lan Zhan, you're going to make me cry again," Wuxian warned.

Wangji set the spoon down that he was using to stir the food in the pot and turned to Wuxian, wrapping his arms around him, "you are allowed. I will always be there to give you a shoulder to cry on or to be someone to listen to you if you need to talk," he told him and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Wuxian let out a small laugh and pecked him on the lips before letting him go back to cooking, "thank you," he said.

"I will do anything for you, Wei Ying," Wangji said.

"I know," Wuxian said, "I think you have proven that several times...one of them is evident on your back," Wuxian said quietly.

Wangji looked at him with soft eyes, "I have no regrets, Wei Ying," he said, "I may not have been able to save you from dying but I was able to protect some of your privacy. The only regret that I ever had was not being by your side from the beginning. I took that punishment because I hurt my fellow clan members. I would do it for you again if I had to."

"I know," Wuxian said.

"Let's not forget that you would do something similar," Wangji added.

Wuxian nodded, "Yeah," he said with a sigh and decided to change the subject, "About this dinner, have you ever spoken to Sizhui about...being an adult?"

Wangji's ears began to turn a shade of pink when he understood the meaning behind that question, "I never thought I had too because he was too focused on his cultivation...it seems that now that he is at that age, he needs that talk now...to be fair, I was never given that talk. I just knew about it as I read a lot of books."

Wuxian giggled, "I will help you through talking to him, I can even lead the conversation if you are not comfortable to do it," he said, "back then, yes I was a flirt but I never acted out in such a provocative way. I never really had an interest in anyone but Uncle Jiang sat Jiang Cheng and I down together and talked about it. Jiang Cheng pursued more women but I didn't. I think I was just too focused on making friends or fitting in. I would get into trouble a lot and it would get Jiang Cheng in trouble. A lot of times he'd get into trouble and I'd take the blame to save him some face. His mother only grew to despise me more. You are my first kiss, first love, and my only love. You are all that I will ever want."

Wangji wasn't expecting for Wuxian to open up to him about some of his childhood. He felt pain in his chest when he spoke of being in trouble a lot but his pain softened when Wuxian said he was Wuxian's first and only love. It made Wangji feel more special, "I appreciate you talking to me about that. And you are my first and only love as well," he said.

Wuxian smiled, "I can talk more about my childhood with you when I feel comfortable..only because he saw it in empathy, Shufu is the only one who knows what I went through. I promise you I will open up to you more but there is a lot to talk about," Wuxian said.

"And I will always be here to listen and never judge you," Wangji said, "You can open up to me at our own pace."

"Thank you," Wuxian said, "What do you think of Biyu? You have probably known her more than I have so what is her background? Do you know?"

"Her father is one of the respected elders of the sect. As she is from one of the more prominent members of the sect it is expected for her to be more educated. The sect has always been known for equality but I have long since noticed that is not the case. Some students struggle to understand while others do better. It's just because the more prominent are stricter with their children...as you have noticed with me and Xiongzhang," Wangji explained, "she is kind but her father will be someone we will have to work with. He may not like his daughter being with Sizhui because his identity has become public."

Wuxian sighed, "it seems that you and I will have to fix this equality issue," he said and grinned, "would you and your Ge be willing to sit and talk about that? Maybe try to find some sort of compromise?"

Wangji smiled, "I am sure he would," he said.

Wuxian chuckled, "as for Sizhui, he should not have to change for him to have a partner. If Biyu feels the same, we should find some way to help them. Sizhui has proven himself time and time again so we should meet this elder at some point too. See if we can work something out...but maybe we should focus on just Sizhui first. He is our son after all."

"We will talk to the elder, but you are correct, we should speak with Sizhui first," Wangji said, "we should hear what he has to say first before we completely interfere."

"Good idea," Wuxian said, "last time I jumped into trying to protect someone in a relationship it ended up killing them both and leaving an orphan behind."

"Wei Ying," Wangji said.

"It's okay," Wuxian said, "I am going to go prepare the table."

Wangji sighed as he watched Wuxian disappear into the other room. It was definitely going to take some time for Wuxian to get rid of that guilt with his Shijie.