MDZS Oneshots | The Untamed | WangXian

Touch

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Request Summary: Wei Ying's aversion to touch after the Burial Mounds leaves Lan Zhan worried.

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Touch is the mother tongue of mankind. For some, it is a tender confession too strong to be contained in words; for others, it's a host to nurture and spread black-hearted evil.

For Wei WuXian, it is nothing.

Touch is a language he no longer speaks.

"A-Xian, water." Jiang YanLi sat down at the table, her voice like a flower bud, soft and tender, but refrained from full bloom. She pushed a cup towards Wei WuXian. The grate of pottery sliding over wood rumbled and he shifted uncomfortably.

Jiang Cheng was at the table too, and while Lan WangJi was in the room as well, he remained standing for fear of intruding.

"XianXian, you're really back." Jiang YanLi's mystified smile would make one believe she was beholding some great deity. "Where have you been... all this time?"

His feigned smile wavered.

He'd been dreading the question, and still, he was not prepared for it. Lan WangJi was observing him from his corner with eyes ready to judge and a voice ready to strike as a gavel.

"It... it's a long story, Shijie. I'm back now, that's all that matters."

Pacified by the answer, she rubbed his knee before looking at the awkward Jade. She frowned and asked, "Lan-Er Gongzi, why are you standing there? Surely you'd rather sit with us at the table."

"Lady Jiang, I do not wish to intrude too much."

Wei WuXian wondered if his ears were red, but he didn't look.

"Please, join us. After all, it's thanks to you and A-Cheng we are all together again."

"Then..." he invited himself to sit at Wei WuXian's side, sharing the same edge of the table, despite one side still empty. Jiang YanLi flashes a knowing look while Jiang Cheng simply scowls in his ignorance. 

It was then that a squawking voice descended upon the room.

"Wei-Xiong, Wei-Xiong!" Nie HuaiSang burst through the door in a mad dash, frantically looking every which way before spotting the four of them. He crashed to his knees at Wei WuXian's free side, now three men sharing one seat. "I don't believe it! Wei-Xiong, I knew you would come back! I knew-"

He reached to touch Wei WuXian as if to make sure he was real and not the subject of a cruel prank.

All Wei WuXian could see was the mutilated hand of a corpse digging into shoulder. He yanked back his vulnerable side, striking a broad chest. Two hands immediately steadied him from behind by the elbows. Lan Zhan...

Nie HuaiSang seemed frozen in time, petrified like wood.

Wei WuXian swallowed thickly before disguising himself in awkward laughter. "Sorry Nie-Xiong, I'm... I'm just tired. It's been a long day. If-if nobody minds, I'm going to go take a nap."

He stood and left before anyone could protest.

Nie HuaiSang shouted loud enough to be heard, "A-ah, Wei-Xiong, Wei-Xiong! I'm hosting a banquet tonight in honor of your return! Be there... there's free drinks!"

Lan WangJi was up and after him before anyone else could even give it thought.

He trailed behind Wei WuXian like a ghost. Catching up in the courtyard, he grabbed Wei WuXian's wrist as it swung back in his stride. Wei WuXian spun on his heels, clenching the man's wrist. Bones and swollen blue veins peered through his white skin, and his knuckles glowed red like jujube. His grip was strained with effort, but that effort was almost pathetically weak. Lan WangJi frowned thoughtfully.