Chapter Text
Wei Wuxian wasn’t having the best second life, he had already died once, fought thousands of people, been shunned and hunted, had his golden core removed, and lost basically all of his family except his brother. Having previously lost all his family and being adopted into his current family who had also died except Jiang Cheng who was previously mentioned.
He has a new family though, one he made, his loving husband Lan Zhan (Lan Wangji, or Second young master Lan) and his adopted son Lan Yuan (or Lan Sizhui) he should be happy and thankful for what he has and has been able to do, right?
He was in fact thankful for everyone around him, but he just didn’t think he deserved it. Wei Wuxian knows that he has done more good than bad, but his mind doesn’t agree with him, it knows all of his flaws and brings back all the things he regrets until he breaks down some days. He misses Jiang Yanli, he knows rationally that it wasn’t his fault they died, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t stop regretting everything that caused it. Every since the truth that Meng Yao had been behind it he had felt some of the weight fall off his shoulders, but not enough. He had gotten ptsd and on occasion depression and a few break downs both physically and mentally he has suffered.
Which brings us to today, a cold but wonderful snowy day in Cloud Recesses, sitting with his husband just inside the door of the Jingshi, enjoying the bright but cold day. He hasn’t felt this happy in a while, but Jiang Cheng was supposed to be visiting today with Jin Ling his nephew, and he was excited. He hasn’t stopped chatting about anything and everything to Lan Zhan. He was snuggling closer to him and staring at his face with as much love as the world could let him give. Lan Zhan was quietly listening and answering questions with light “mhm”s or “hm”s, just sitting with his Wei Ying was enough for him, he was never the best at showing emotions but he has made so much progress.
“Lan Zhan! Do you think that we’ll be able to build things in the snow?! Have you ever built a snowman before?! I bet you haven’t but I’d love to show you how, it’s amazing, you can make whatever you want with snow.” Wei Ying exclaimed excitedly while pulling away from his grasp to stare into his eyes and grab his hands to try and pull him to his feet.
“Mhn I have not made anything with snow before, maybe Wei Ying should show me.” He spoke slowly trying to slow his husband down with a small smile as Wei Ying ran to grab everything he needed to play outside taking no break to breathe.
Lan Zhan gently grabbed Wei Ying’s wrists so he would look at him, “We have all the time we could need, you can slow down,” he stated with a soft but patronizing tone as he lightly shook his head.
“You need to warm up first before we go husband, you are always so cold,” Lan Zhan stated while pulling an extra robe onto his husband.
“Of course, I know, but I’m just eager for Jiang Cheng to arrive, it must be cold for him to come here from Lotus Pier where it doesn’t snow too much,” he slowly started to drift into another topic as he searched for some gloves that wouldn’t soak up all the cold.
Lan Zhan softly smiled as his husband ignored his request to slow down and went back to hurrying around, he knew his brother in-law would come in a little while, no more than an hour, but he wasn’t as thrilled as Wei Ying was. He liked Jiang Cheng as much as was needed for him to get along with him and appease his husband.
Wei Ying on the other hand could not wait, he hadn’t seen his brother in two months due to clan leader stuff and the constant cold and snow in Cloud Recesses. He saw Lan Zhan’s brother all the time, he got along great, enjoyed teasing Lan Xichen about everything no matter how much he got scolded by his now uncle. If it made Lan Xichen or Lan Zhan smile he would do it no matter the consequences.
He however could wait to see fairy, his nephews dog, even if Jin Ling said fairy was an exceptionally trained spirit dog. He still could not help but slightly fear the dog no matter what. He could tell that Lan Yuan was also enthusiastic about seeing them again. He was so proud of his son and how much he has accomplished.
His thoughts wandered back to the present when he realized he had stopped talking and Lan Zhan was walking up to him with a slight frown, “Wei Ying? You stopped, and just stood there for a few minutes,” his husband supplied as an answer to what just happened.
“Ah. I’m sure I just got so excited I wasn’t paying attention, I was just thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve last seen him,” he said with a grin, Lan Zhan slightly relaxed to this and gave his hand a light squeeze.
“Second young master Lan, Master Wei the Jiang clan has arrived!” A loud voice of a junior yelled outside of the Jingshi, he must have been very excited to have yelled.
Wei Yings eyes lit up and he ran forward with his husband’s hand wrapped around his own as he causght sight of Jiang Cheng once he stepped out of the Jingshi.
“JIANG CHENG!” Wei Wuxian screamed, which seemed to get the attention of everyone within a fourth mile as he released his husband and ran to his brother.
“WEI WUXIAN! You do not yell, why do you always cause so much trouble,” Jiang Cheng exclaimed with a grin playing on his lips as he caught Wei Wuxian as he ran at him. They both toppled over into a mound of snow that was swept off the path.
Lan Zhan took his time walking over and standing slightly to the side as they pushed out of the snow pillow and started to catch up with each other on how much they have missed. They had only been talking for a few minutes when We Ying froze, then with wide eyes ran behind his husband with a command of “Save me,” as fairy, Jin Ling’s dog ran towards them with his master right behind them.
“Jin Ling! Remove it please, please,” he repeated while pointing at fairy who was sitting and staring at him.
“Fairy is the best trained spirit dog in all the land why are you so afraid,” he muttered the last part as he led fairy away to where he would be sleeping to make sure fairy was taken care of. And to probably catch up with a certain Lan Sizhui who was smiling widely in the background where Jin Ling was walking towards.
He turned towards Jiang Cheng and beamed as they started walking down the path to get to the Jingshi to warm up from the cold since they were freezing. Once they arrived he scurried across the room and started pouring the tea.
“So how has your stay in Cloud Recesses been so far Wei Wuxian, and why have you held out on visiting Lotus Pier for so long,” Jiang Cheng remarked as he sat down at the table and sipped his tea, looking over towards said person.
“Well it has been wonderful and magically snowy so far, I want all three of us to go build things in the snow since Lan Zhan has never ever played in the snow!” He exclaimed with a pointed look to his husband who was sitting next to him surveying the conversation but making no effort to join in.
“You avoided my question Wei Wuxian. But I suppose I can still beat you in the snow with whatever you throw at me later,” Juan Cheng threw a glare at him as he spoke, but still having a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“I have just been busy and the snow and cold from the mountain makes it hard to travel or stay outside for long without a certain someone,” he tried to gesture to Lan Zhan without him noticing, which was unsuccessful, “from dragging me back inside dying I’ll get sick or saying I’m too cold,” he stated with a small pout.
“I do it for Wei Ying’s safety and health, you are always too cold,” Lan Zhan observed while grabbing his husbands hand and holding it up like evidence.
“Fair enough, health does come first since we don’t need you dying another time, to spare us of having to take care of you more,” His brother mentioned, but as he did Lan Zhan noticed his husbands smile slightly dimming and his eyes getting sad for a second before it was right back to before.
“Ah, Jiang Cheng! Always teasing, you don’t have to take care of me. I’m perfectly capable of tending to myself without dying,” he said with a grin and a hand wave to himself, “see I’m still intact and here, I can do it.”
They continued with small talk and how the other has been doing for the next hour or so, with Lan Zhan occasionally adding small sounds as response or a small reply or remark, but still trying to stay out of the conversation. After some time they had already made a plan of what there was to do today. It was to be finish tea, then visit Lan Qiren to have Jiang Cheng properly aettled here for his visit, then build and play in the snow for a while but with small breaks on request of his
husband due to the cold.
They left for the main hall where they were to meet Lan Qiren the clan leader, where Lan Xichen is also. They arrived quite quickly to his uncle’s misery. He never really liked Wei Wuxian even before he married his nephew much to his discontent but he had to support Lan Zhan’s happiness. But all the same he must meet Jiang Cheng because he is a clan leader, even if Wei Wuxian ends up coming also.
“No running!” Lan Qiren exclaimed as his first greeting to Wei Wuxian as Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes at his brother and formally bows.
“Welcome to Cloud Recesses once again clan leader Jiang,” he commented.
“Thank you, I’m looking forward to my short stay, I will try to restrain my brother and all his tricks,” Jiang Cheng replied as he shot Wei Wuxian a glare. “We will be busy and out of you way mostly if possible, and try to keep to the rules, now we must leave to a prepared plan.”
“Bye uncle!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed as he hurried out the door with the sound of Lan Qiren shouting behind him with his husband in tow.
“You should be more formal and graceful husband, it will get you in trouble,” Lan Zhan stated behind him as he slowed down so Jiang Cheng caught up. He could swear he heard a sly ‘never ‘ whispered by his husband but he let it go in favor of turning to Jiang Cheng.
“I swear I won’t be surprised if he gets beaten for his behavior,” his brother remarked with a shake of his head. Lan Zhan replied with a “mhn” and went to pick his husband up out of the snow pile he was laying in.
Wei Wuxian gestures for Lan Zhan and his brother to join him in his snow escapade and threw some snow at both of them until his brother threw some back with a smile and started a snowball fight. At some point the brothers hanged up on Lan Zhan until he threw some back with a huff and small smile.
In the end they were covered in snow shivering on their way back to the Jingshi to warm them up so they don’t get sick. Lan Zhan looks like he wants to say something about being right about the snow but he didn’t say anything as he heated up some water for drinks. His husband grabbed extra blankets and new outer robes that were not soaked with snow and melted but cold water.
They went on their own ways when the sun sunk low in the sky and they said their goodbyes. “I’m cold Lan Zhan warm me up.” Wei Ying demanded as they laid down on their bed. “Mh does my Wei Ying want cuddles?” Lan Zhan teased as he wrapped his arms around his husband as he somehow curled in closer.
Lan Zhan was laying there thinking about today when he remembered when Jiang Cheng made a remarks about Wei Ying and his demeanor changed and looked sad, as he thought about this he didn’t notice the one he was thinking about sitting up to look at him. “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispered like he expected him to be asleep.
“Yes? What does my Wei Ying want,” Lan Zhan said slowly as he opened his eyes and sat up to be eye level with his husband. “I- do you...” he said with uncertainty, “do you think you have to take care of me?” He looked into his eyes with a hint of sadness.
“Of course not, I take care of my Wei Ying because I want to and it makes me happy to see Wei Ying happy,” he responded with a strong tone. “I love Wei Ying, I would never feel like I have to do anything for you.”
Wei Ying’s head lifted and he looked happier but still had some uncertainty and sadness behind his eyes, Lan Zhan knew he was insecure about it since he had come to Cloud Recesses among other things. He knew he had nightmares and flashback sometimes but he also knew his husband wasn’t the most untouchable person when it came to words.
He gave Lan Zhan a smile and wrapped around him to sleep while laying back down, “I love you too Lan Zhan.” He whispered as he fell into sleep once more. Lan Zhan looked out through his window and saw the soft white layer added to everything with a small sparkle making it look magical outside. He slipped into sleep with the same conversation on his mind.