Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Twice As Much Part 2

Lan Zhan's golden eyes skim over the students entering through the ivory pillar gates and converging in the courtyard of the Cloud Recesses. They're still in the uniforms of their respective schools, and this is the best chance he has to identify the people in the emailing group...his new friends. It no longer frightens him, which is something new, though nobody has asked to reinstate the person from the Jin academy, and Lan Zhan refuses to bring it up. For reasons.

But he totally doesn't mind meeting the others.

It's exciting and he feels nervous because it's one thing to write messages to people you don't know in real life, and an extraordinarily frightening thing to actually meet them where they can see you for who you truly are. The only thing that helps Lan Zhan right now is the assurance that he and his new friends are on the exact same page.

There's no way to tell who anyone is from each other at this point, no way to pick out the person who likes fans over sabers, or the archery enthusiast, or the Spicy one, and he has the same amount of cover: nobody knows how much he loves bunnies, and since traditional musical instruments are commonly taught in GusuLan High school, no one will know who he is, even if he will uphold his view regarding bunnies over his beloved guqin.

The question he's been toying with is, does he wish it was not so?

The Nie High schoolers all wear varying shades of forest green, from the dark bottle tones to the lighter fennel and sage hues, and Lan Zhan's gaze zeroes in on the younger brother, Nie Huaisang, hovering around the Head Prefect, Nie MingJue. The latter has come for two reasons; his younger brother and his best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Lan Zhan's own older brother, Lan XiChen. But it's not his status that has drawn the sharpness of Lan Zhan's attention. No, it's the beautiful white paper fan in Nie Huaisang's hand currently fanning himself that makes Lan Zhan wonder if it is a deliberate move. The fan depicts a golden chaffinch, and that can't be a coincidence!

Some well-articulated questions should provide the truth, he thinks. As they spread out among the GusuLan students, the next to arrive are the QishanWen.

Their uniforms are a warning, red and white with the sun motif, and they embody every harsh quality of their emblem. Wen Xu is their Head Prefect, and his younger brother staggers around like a rich lord with wet sand bags in his head instead of brain matter, with a young lady on his arm. She seems to have forgotten vital pieces of her wardrobe, and Lan Zhan refuses to look at either of them. Instead, he is drawn to a young man quietly standing to one side. He looks content to watch everyone else, not actually engaging in conversation, but then he stands taller than most. And he's built well, the bulge of hidden muscles twitching under his thick arms. He has a pleasant face and a bow tucked over his shoulder, much like carrying a bag.

Lan Zhan glances around, looking for other possible candidates who might fit the bill but in the end and via a process of elimination, he decides that it's most likely this towering block of strength is his avid bird-watching online friend.

The Jins are next to pass through the gates and enter the Cloud Recesses. Their egg-yolk coloured uniform might win the category for most unpleasant to the eye, but as Lan Zhan watches them strutting around as if they owned the place, he realises that their attitude has a lot to do with his dislike. It's the posturing and exclamations of how everything is bigger and better in LanLing, which, good for them.

Lan Zhan could care less.

He's glad he doesn't have to work out which of these people are or were part of his initial group of email friends. He is in no way inclined to talk to any of them, but as Head Prefect and the Disciplinarian this year, he fears his interactions will be unavoidable.

XiChen comes to stand next to him, a delighted smile decorating his face as he peers into the crowd and waves enthusiastically to his boyfriend after picking him out. Nie MingJue gives him a curt but pleased nod in return, and then his attention is stolen away by his baby brother as he leans closer to hear what he wants to say. Both of their mouths are hidden by the fan, so it's impossible to even take a guess about the subject under discussion.