Part 22 – Pillow Talk
Lying sprawled atop Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian traced his fingers lazily over his husband’s naked chest. When his fingertips brushed the brand that scarred him, Wei Wuxian frowned.
“Lan Zhan,” he murmured, “do you ever miss the old me?”
“What do you mean?”
“This new body of mine, do you find it lacking?”
“No.”
Wei Wuxian sat up. The dark curtain of his hair fell over them as he peered down. “Not even a little?”
Brushing Wei Wuxian’s hair from his mouth, Lan Wangji stonily replied, “If it is lacking in any way, it is only because you refuse to improve it.”
“But even so,” Wei Wuxian said, pursing his lips, “even if I attain a golden core, it still won’t be the same. It will never be the same. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“No,” Lan Wangji said again, gazing up at him. “It is your soul that I love.”
Wei Wuxian smiled. In his heart he was very glad. “Ah, Hanguang-Jun, it’s your soul that I love too! But,” he said with a glint in his eye, as he bumped his fingers down Lan Wangji’s chiseled stomach, “I would still miss this body of yours. Don’t hold it against me—has there ever been a man as gorgeous as you?” As Lan Wangji gave him a cool look, Wei Wuxian chuckled. “It’s really not fair. I was never in your league to begin with!”
Having had enough of Wei Wuxian’s teasing, Lan Wangji pulled him down and kissed him long and slow. It was a while before they broke away for air. With a tired sigh, Wei Wuxian relaxed against him. He resisted the impulse to soothe his tongue over that brand mark, and instigate another round.
As much as he wanted to keep playing around with Lan Wangji, the hour was quite late, and they both needed rest. It would be an annoyingly early morning for Wei Wuxian. He’d have to sneak back into Jiang Cheng’s room before that sleeping spell wore off. But to his surprise, it was Lan Wangji who kept fidgeting beside him, fiddling with the ribbon Wei Wuxian had flung away in heated abandon.
“Hanguang-Jun, what’s wrong? You can’t sleep?”
Lan Wangji shook his head. “Sizhui…I am concerned about him.”
“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan, he’s not alone. That Jin Ling is with him. They’re probably having a great time cutting it up out there.”
“You sound jealous,” Lan Wangji observed.
“Ha! Maybe I am. This discussion conference hasn’t even started yet, and being here already feels like a chore. I have such cherished memories of Lotus Pier, but Jiang Cheng has sucked all the fun right out of it. It seems his bad disposition is only getting worse.”
“He is lonesome and bitter,” Lan Wangji said. “I pity him.”
Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but wince at the harshness of this assessment. But in typical Hanguang-Jun fashion, his aim was true. A mercy Jiang Cheng wasn’t around to feel the sting of it.
“He needs a wife,” Wei Wuxian mused aloud. “That would solve everything. There’d be no question of rooming with him then, and he’d be too preoccupied with pleasing her to care at any rate. The only problem is, he’s terrible with women. A hopeless case. Always has been. Madam Yu would’ve handled everything for him. That’s what he needs—a matchmaker.” Nodding confidently to himself, Wei Wuxian grinned. “Well, Hanguang-Jun, perhaps there is still a way for me to keep my promise after all!”
“…”
“…Hanguang-Jun, are you asleep?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
It was then that the door to Lan Wangji’s room banged open. In the sudden spill of light from beyond, Jiang Cheng’s furious red face appeared. He stormed in like a demon flanked by the hounds of hell. Wei Wuxian bolted upright with a yelp, forgetting he was stark naked. Wearily, Lan Wangji sighed.
“You!” Jiang Cheng seethed at Wei Wuxian, hurling something at him like a dart. “Still up to your dirty tricks, I see!”
Wei Wuxian caught the projectile with ease. It was the feather sleeping talisman—wet and crumpled as though it’d been chewed-up as much as ripped-out. In equal parts fear and resentment, Wei Wuxian glared accusingly at Blossom and Cherry. Unfazed, the spirit dogs glared back.
Wei Wuxian held up his hands in surrender. “Now, now, Jiang Cheng, let’s be reasonable—”
“Shut up! Shut the hell up!” Jiang Cheng yelled, Zidian sparking on his finger. “I knew you’d cause some sort of scandalous scene—I just knew it!!”
As a drowsy, muttering crowd began to gather outside in the hall, Wei Wuxian dodged the purple crack of the lighting whip. “Jiang Cheng! Can’t you see? The one causing a scene right now is you!!”
Mo Dao Zu Shi © Mo Xiang Tong Xiu