Come Back To Gusu. Please

A handful of such...

You walk around, holding a dim lantern, wearing your thin robes. It was night. But not past bed time just yet, so you still have some time before the deadline. You usually sneak over to Lan Zhan's jingshi, to speak or just to spend time

Knocking on the door, Lan Zhan immediately opens it, dragging you in. You can sense that he's still mad about earlier, mad at Wei Ying, "A-Zhan.. are you-?"

"Yes." He immediately answers, as if he knows what you were about to ask. You sigh, placing the lantern down on the floor, sitting beside Lan Zhan on his bed, "He's a trouble maker, but I think he'll get better." You say, making him squint, "Nonsense."

You sigh heavily, lying back flat, "You doubt a lot, huh?" Lan Zhan just stares back at you, saying nothing, "Look, A-Zhan, he's surely something," "Something? He's shameless..." His response in no doubt, made you laugh, "Ah, Lan Zhan, I swear to life, you're going to be the death of me."

Lan Zhan blinks, clearly not getting it at first, "What do you mean?" You smile slightly, "I mean, you're the only one who can make me smile and laugh. I remember I laughed so hard, I was crying, and you thought I was hurt." He softly chuckles, turning away with flushed ears
"Mn..." It's all he can say for now, he's too... embarrassed and flustered

"Don't you think you should be heading back?" It was a few moments of silence- no- of you just talking, and him listening. You blink, surprised, "Hm? Really? It only felt like five minutes!" Lan Zhan nods his head, "It's almost nine." You blink, standing up from your position, "Oh, it is??" You pick up your lantern, walking over to the door, before you open it, he calls for you

"...A-Y/N." He hasn't called you that for weeks, or months.. No! Years

You took a double take, looking back, "Yeah?" His Adam's apple bops when he swallows the lump in his throat, "..Good night. Sleep."
You smile. Nodding your head off, it still caught you off guard, "A-ah. Good night, A-Zhan. Rest..- rest assured.."

And with that, you leave the room, silently closing the door behind you. As you tip toe back to your jingshi, a sweet tingling sensation in your heart.

_____________________
There were sightings of monsters called "Emerald Lake" monsters, possibly living deep in the waters. And now, you were sent off on a mission about these creatures, along with Jiang Cheng and... Wei Ying.

"Gege, why do we have to take them with us?" Lan Zhan asks Lan Xichen, his older brother, "Fighting monsters is no joke. And the Emerald Lake monsters are creepy. It's a dangerous journey." You stand beside Lan Zhan, and behind Lan Xichen
"Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have a good reputation in Yunmeng. They are highly capable. For Lan Y/N, they've insisted since they're close to you, but they're capable enough too. And, weren't you happy for them to go? I was aware of the impression that you wanted Wei Wuxian and Lan C/N to join us. That's why I agreed"

Lan Zhan looked surprised at first, narrowing his eyes over to Wei Ying who stands on a small boat, then he lets out a hmph, "That's not true." The only truth was that.. he was happy to have you along. It made you chuckle, just a little

You didn't expect for monsters to start attacking, opening your blade, you jump down from the bridge you earlier stood on along with the Lan Jade twins, swinging (S/N) around and easily slicing up the creatures who emerged from the waters. Landing on a the boat that Wei Ying was standing on

"I thought there were only monsters in Emerald Lake," Lan Zhan turns to his brother, who looks over at the mess the creatures made, "The situation is more serious than I expected.."
Wei Ying uses his sword and picks up some weed from the water, huffing a breath of air, "These monsters run so fast.."

"Keep your guard up," You calmly say, closing your blade

Rowing the boat, standing beside Wei Ying, he notices something under Lan Zhan's boat, and you realize too, "A-Zhan!-" Before Lan Zhan could turn to you when he hears your call, Wei Ying simply uses the bamboo stick he was holding and capsizes his boat, getting Lan Zhan to jump over to his brother's boat

"You..!" At first, Lan Zhan found it a misunderstanding, until he and Xichen realizes that there were water spirits under his boat, using a talisman to get rid of the creatures, "Wei-gongzi, how did you know there were sports under Wangji's boat?"
Lan Xichen gave Wei Ying a smile, and he smiles back, "Easy." He taps his bamboo stick on the boat, "It was sitting funny in the water. There was only one person on the boat, but it sat deeper than a boat with two people. So there must've been something at the bottom of the boat." He seems to be quite intelligent, you would be a liar if you denied it, "You really know your stuff." Lan Xichen praises, a warm smile on his face

For a long moment, Wei Ying was just calling for Lan Zhan's name, but he wouldn't listen, because in front of the boast was a shadow from beneath the waters, and waves immediately bursted, water splashing with waves of spiritual hands emerging out. The Jade Twins take charge first, drawing their blades and swinging it around with spiritual energy, stabbing into the waves of the hands that come out of the deep blue waters.
(S/N) flies through the waters, hitting and cutting up any of the creature's hands that were there

Swords clash into the waves, slicing up the hands of water that dare to come close, the situation died down, but the journey continued on

You land on Wei Ying's boat again, closing your blade for the moment, "Keep on guard." Is what you say, your hand clenching tightly to (S/N), it was a serious moment, and there's no need to joke around. The sky turns dark with gray clouds, "Lan Zhan. A-Y/N, something's not right." Wei Ying hums to you and Lan Zhan

Immediately, water bursts out, almost like tentacles, attacking the first boat of Lan disciples, "Oh no, it's Aqua Demon..!" Lan Xichen exclaims, voice full of stern and seriousness. You six hop on your swords, flying around above the disciples, "This kind of evil is more than we can handle," Lan Xichen says, "We need to focus on saving people. Jiang Gongzi, Wei Gongzi, and Y/N, you three form a team. Wangji, Jin Gongzi, and I are a team. Now let's split up.

"Yes, sir" Is what the five of you say in unison.

You, Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian, fly around the spiral of water, but something behind you follows. Strings of demonic power, they almost look like seaweed. It chases Wei Ying first, but you were quick enough to react, hopping off your blade before slicing the fleshy tentacles up, making it release him, but it still grabs him, pulling him down into the water, "Wei Ying..!" You exclaim his name, in a fleeting moment, you look down, and the monster's tentacles grab at your sword, forcing you down into the water too

It's dark, and you can barely hear, but you can faintly see the form of Wei Ying. Holding your breath, you grab (S/N), and swim towards the other, shaking him to either see if he's alive. He is, but the power of the demonic source of the demon seems to have engulfed him and his mind. Making him unable to move, but you take action, and roughly grab him, pulling him away.

But fate has changed your plans, and the tentacles grab you by the ankle, pulling you two down deeper into the water. But a strong, large hand reaches down and grasps on the back of your collar, and pulls you and Wei Ying up. It was Lan Zhan

Lan Zhan drags you and Wei Ying up on his boat, "Y/N.. are you okay?" He asks, though he was can the fact that Wei Ying is here too, he tries to ignore the feeling of concern for him, but the tingling feeling doesn't go away, the feeling of worry for the both of you

You cough up the water that stayed stranded in your throat and lungs, "I'm fine. I'm fine.." You just take a memory of how the monster grabbed you, and Wei Ying, together, pulling you down into the cold depths of the water, but you brush it off

Wei Ying seems to be just fine too, coughing out, he's alive, at least.