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Lan Wangji stood in the rabbit field in the back mountains of Gusu Lan and stared in silence.
He could have been one of the trees for all that he moved, but around his feet, the soft white rabbits were content to exist.
Occasionally, one of the rabbits would settle against his feet and his eyes would track it.
Then, after several more unchanging moments, Lan Wangji shifted from his contemplation, nodded, and left the clearing as silently as he'd arrived.
Another few minutes passed, and the decidedly louder Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng emerged from their hiding places in the surrounding brush and stumbled into the clearing, disturbing several rabbits into darting for cover.
“I thought he'd never leave!” Wei Wuxian groaned, massaging his knees and stretching in exaggerated movements.
Jiang Cheng huffed, dusting off his robes before settling back to the ground and holding out a hand for one of the braver rabbits to approach.
“I still don't know why we didn't just come out when he was here,” he said in a grumble and pointed glare.
At his muttering, Wei Wuxian laughed and snagged one of the rabbits, holding it in a way that probably wasn't too comfortable if how it struggled was any indication. Jiang Cheng growled at him again for his rough handling and gestured sharply until Wei Wuxian plopped it into his waiting hands to be soothed.
“Yeah right!” Wei Wuxian said before laying back on the ground with his arms crossed over his stomach. “And get banned from the bunny field? It's better to just avoid that fuddy-dud.”
His gaze turned sly as he peered beneath his lashes at where Jiang Cheng gently ran a finger down a now sleeping rabbit.
“Besides,” he said, lips curling in a way that had Jiang Cheng tensing, “I know how much you love the little bunnies, and I'd hate to deprive my precious ChengCheng of his bunny time.”
“Shut the fuck up, Wei Wuxian, like you don't like them, too,” Jiang Cheng hissed, tearing grass up to throw it at the laughing brat next to him but unable to hide the flush in his cheeks or how he was incredibly careful not to jostle the rabbit in his arms.
Their bickering filled the otherwise silent clearing as they relaxed amongst the rabbits, Lan Wangji forgotten for the moment.
The urge to whistle had Wei Wuxian pursing his lips, the barest amount of breath already inhaled, before he flicked a subtle gaze towards his companion of the hour. Or should he say jailer? A man whose beautiful, jade-like face was utterly wasted on his personality; or lack of one.
As if sensing his attention shifting from his very important (agonizingly boring) punishment, cool golden eyes flashed his way and narrowed, daring Wei Wuxian to do something that wasn't breathing or copying rules.
Breathing was probably optional, too.
Still, Lan Wangji didn't know him very well if he thought a look was enough to keep him contained.
Ducking his head, Wei Wuxian hid a grin into the paper he dutifully filled with rules–as if by making him memorize them, he would somehow be more compelled to follow them than he was before.
He casually allowed his gaze to roam the silent room, everything still and unchanged from the day before, and the day before that, and probably as long as the famous Lan library had been in place, for that matter.
Only the rustle of pages from their tables saved Wei Wuxian from hearing the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears until he went insane.
Let's see, what could he do to endear himself to Lan ‘Never-Heard-Of-Fun’ Wangji this particular day?
It was when another shift of paper dragged his attention to the table that something new stood out.
A book.
Although, on the surface, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to see a book in the library, the one key feature about this particular one made it immediately spark Wei Wuxian’s attention.
Lan Wangji was clearly trying to hide his secret beneath other, less interesting things.
Everything else Lan Wangji had brought out for the day overseeing Wei Wuxian’s punishment was arranged as neatly as usual. Just the one book peeked out where it had been placed under several other boring musical theory and study materials.
A tantalizing sight if he ever saw one.
Nothing made Wei Wuxian perk up and pay attention like a mystery or a challenge, even better when it was a challenging mystery!
He had to get that book before Lan Wangji put it away.
“Oh,” he gave an exaggerated groan, ignoring the immediate suspicious glower formed by Lan Wangji’s perfect brows to stretch until his back popped.
“Sorry, sorry,” he began, continuing to stretch and pace a bit. “I've just been sitting for so long, I thought my body was going to go permanently numb.”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji growled.
From the looks of it, Wei Wuxian's time was running out to enact his impulsive scheme, so on the next turn, he bumped and stumbled over the corner of the table, sending everything–including himself–flying.
Silence echoed his landing. A loud silence, which was much different than the previous silence, in that Lan Wangji looked like he was about to reach anger levels only seen in his uncle when Wei Wuxian asked another innocent and definitely not heretical question in class.
“Ahaha, Lan-er-gongzi, here, let me help clean this up,” Wei Wuxian said as he launched himself into straightening the table and putting all the brushes and papers and books back in place.
The last, crucially, was the hidden book, tucked back beneath another as if Wei Wuxian were none the wiser.
“Sit,” Lan Wangji said in a voice void of humor.
Wei Wuxian sat and smiled and got back to work.
Later, he strolled out of the library and to dinner, where he suffered once again in silence while he ate painfully bland Lan food and nudged at Jiang Cheng from where they sat together until he got an irritated shoulder-check and Jiang Cheng snapping a glare his way that indicated he was going to get a mouthful when they could actually talk.
“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian started once they’d begun heading back to their room, preempting the berating. “You’ll never guess what I discovered today during my dates with Lan Wangji!”
A long-suffering sigh answered him, followed by Jiang Cheng, scrubbing his hands over his face–which was exactly what he’d known the reaction would be.
“Please don’t call it that out loud, or you’ll be sent home in a box for insinuating the Second Jade of Lan would ever date you.”
“I'm eligible!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed. “And anyway, not the point.”
An eye roll answered him. “What is the point?”
“I've discovered that our Lan-er-gongzi…” Wei Wuxian paused for dramatic effect, hands wide, “...has a sweet tooth.”
“How the hell would you know?” Jiang Cheng said in sheer exasperation.
“Because I peeked at a little book he had tucked away today,” Wei Wuxian said, grinning.
They'd reached the rooms and Jiang Cheng entered first to flop on the bed and send a dry frown back towards Wei Wuxian.
“And that little book was?”
He raised a finger, dropping to his own bed and leaning forward. “It was a cookbook, Jiang Cheng. Specifically, one for baking sweets–and! It looked like he was reading some kind of pudding recipe.”
Instead of being impressed by his sleuthing skills, Jiang Cheng let his head fall to the pillow with a scoff.
“So now you're snooping on him, too?” he said wryly. “Should I ever expect you to get out of punishment? Maybe you should just keep a copy of the rule book around all the time for when you inevitably have to copy more.”
The concept alone sent Wei Wuxian shuddering in mock horror, but he refused to relent on what he knew was juicy gossip if Jiang Cheng hadn’t shut him down completely.
Oh! But gossiping was forbidden in Gusu.
He snickered to himself, then stuck out his tongue at Jiang Cheng, teasing. “Aiya, Jiang Cheng, I didn’t know you felt this way.”
Another suspicious squint came from Jiang Cheng, and his grin widened. “Make sure to pick up something sweet in Caiyi town for Lan Wangji since you seem to like him so much, hm?”
Wei Wuxian dodged the boot flung his way with a laugh.
“You can thank me for my good relationship advice later!”
“Finally!” Wei Wuxian said and stretched, walking beside Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng as they left the gates of Gusu behind them and headed towards Caiyi Town.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but sigh his agreement to Wei Wuxian’s sentiment. After so long eating the same steamed vegetables and plain dishes, he could just about eat anything if it had some spice that wasn’t just salt and pepper and the occasional mild curry or turmeric.
Ponytail bobbing, Wei Wuxian wandered ahead of their group with his hands propped behind his head, idly filling the silence with promises to sneak chili oil back into Gusu–possibly to use as a prank on Lan Wangji until Nie Huaisang reminded him that it would only get confiscated that way, and then he’d be stuck without it the rest of the stay.
They’d just entered the town, and Wei Wuxian was already off pestering the pretty girls into giving him free food by flirting outrageously.
“Ah,” Nie Huaisang sighed good-naturedly, “would that we all had Wei-xiong’s daring. We might have our own delicate Gusu beauties bringing us treats.”
“What would I want that for, anyway?” Jiang Cheng said in a rush, not knowing why his face heated but already fighting to calm it again.
Unwittingly, a flash of Lan blue entered his thoughts and he crossed his arms in a huff, already turning his back to Nie Huaisang to go towards a nearby stall as if he’d planned it.
“He can have all the girls if he wants them so bad.”
“Ah?” Nie Huaisang said with a blink as he fluttered his fan, startled. “Jiang-xiong, wait, there’s no need for all that, I didn’t mean anything by it, ahah.”
He knew Nie Huaisang really didn't mean anything by his thoughtless comment, which made Jiang Cheng’s reaction make even less sense to himself, and he shrugged roughly to end the conversation.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wei Wuxian headed back their way with his hands full of loquats and what looked like dried fruits he popped into his mouth cheerily as he approached.
Jiang Cheng jerked his head around and spotted a row of baskets filled with various snacks and candies.
Without his say, he ducked forward and paid for a selection.
“Hey, what'd you get, Jiang Cheng?” Came the curious voice behind him from Wei Wuxian, muffled by whatever he'd stuffed in his mouth.
“Just something random,” he said, already moving to head to their next stop.
A voice in his head chided him for being ridiculous about buying some candies. As if it meant anything to anyone. Even Wei Wuxian had probably forgotten what he'd teased Jiang Cheng about already, knowing his attention span.
His gaze darted to the unassuming brown paper bag in his hand, and Jiang Cheng felt his fingers twitch their hold.
The bag seemed to burn in his grip throughout the rest of the trip. He was sure he’d sweated all over the rough paper, and he had to fight to keep from checking it every other moment.
But he succeeded, and they stepped through the barrier to the sect, Nie Huaisang waving off Wei Wuxian’s invitation to come hang out in their rooms until curfew with an excuse that he had to peruse his new rare finds in solitude first.
Jiang Cheng didn’t want to know what those rare finds were when he saw the devious smile shared between Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang, hiding his fluster and marching ahead.
He made it to around a corner when movement caught his eye and he froze.
Without Jiang Cheng’s say, his feet took him forward, and he raised the bag of candies in his hand to pause before the blank expression worn by Lan Wangji. It looked crinkled and sad.
Shit, he knew he should have gotten the gift wrapping. How could he think it was fine to present something like this to the Second Jade of Lan? One of the finest of their generation and surely used to getting things with a little more decorum from people who weren’t awkward dumbasses like Jiang Cheng?
Jiang Cheng coughed to clear his throat and desperately hoped all his clan heir upbringing would help him save face in this simple interaction.
Nodding towards the bag in his hands, he spoke, happy when his voice came out normally.
“I wanted to thank you for putting up with my shixiong over the course of our time here in Gusu Lan,” he began in explanation. “I picked these up in Caiyi today for you. I hope they’re to your liking.”
Then it all rapidly went downhill as Jiang Cheng’s traitorous mouth kept going the longer Lan Wangji didn’t make a sound.
“They’re um–they’re called White Rabbit milk candies. I’m not sure if you even like sweets, but these are nice and mild and should be good even if you want to bake with them–er, that is,” he sucked in a breath, cheeks reddening until even he could feel the heat radiating off them.
“I don’t know if you bake, but I thought if you did, they would taste good, but if not, they taste good normally!”
Oh, that was great, Jiang Cheng, just great. So smooth! Wei Wuixian and Nie Huaisang would surely congratulate him on his delivery, no pointers needed. He’ll just take himself out the gates of Gusu and toss himself down the mountain before anyone has to do it for him instead, thanks!
Hands came up, and he blinked, torn from his spiraling thoughts as Lan Wangji took the bag from him and bowed. When he rose again, Jiang Cheng noticed the tips of his ears had gone red, the color bright against the jade-like skin.
Lan Wangji left without a word and Jiang Cheng stood there, hand still out held, and wondered if he hadn’t screwed up after all.
A formless anxiety exerted itself on Jiang Cheng the entire long night and into the next morning as he dragged a bleary and still half-asleep Wei Wuxian through getting up and ready for classes.
Luckily, Wei Wuxian could barely stay awake long enough to get through breakfast and into their first class, let alone notice that the bags under Jiang Cheng’s eyes were as deep as his own after staying out past curfew to do who knew what around Caiyi.
His gaze darted around the breakfast hall as he only paid enough attention to his meal to not spill on himself. The majority of his attention went to the silent figure eating across the other side of the room.
Had Lan Wangji tried the candies? Did he like them? Was Jiang Cheng making a mountain out of a molehill?
Lan Wangji glanced at him and his breath caught.
Unfortunately, his breath caught at the same time he had been about to swallow his food and he choked, eyes squeezing shut around the involuntary tears as Wei Wuxian exclaimed and patted his back vigorously to the sound of various robes rustling from the rest of the room at their display.
He–no thanks to Wei Wuxian’s pulverizing–got through his coughing fit and gazed skyward, waiting for the earth to swallow him whole or perhaps for a bolt of judgment lightning to wipe him from existence. Either would be preferable.
When he finally worked up the nerve, he took a peek at the head table and fought not to wince.
The usual blank expression Lan Wangji wore was marred by a slight frown and furrow of his brows, which didn’t really tell Jiang Cheng anything but did make him incredibly self-conscious.
“Shut up,” he muttered under his breath at a teasing Wei Wuxian, who somehow managed to make silent laughter obnoxious.
They made it through breakfast and into the first lecture of the day, where Jiang Cheng couldn't help taking furtive looks at Lan Wangji when he thought he could get away with it. Meaning, whenever he knew Wei Wuxian was being a distraction by arguing with Lan Qiren about some subject or another while Lan Wangji tried to glare a hole through his skull.
Jiang Cheng's decision to get the candies for Lan Wangji had been spur of the moment, something driven by Wei Wuxian putting the idea in his head and random opportunity.
Having gone through with the impulsive gifting, though, he couldn't stop himself from wondering how it had been received.
The waiting was excruciating.
But the worst part was he seemed to be the only one affected, Wei Wuxian having clearly forgotten the entire thing and Lan Wangji not acknowledging the act at all outside of his hurried acceptance.
His sister would say he was overthinking it.
Wei Wuxian would have made some comment about when had Jiang Cheng ever not overthought everything?
For what must have been his entire life, he’d been warned that his overthinking would only hold him back from embodying his sect’s motto of achieving the impossible.
Well, Jiang Cheng hid a scoff into his rice, what he was attempting was surely right up there amongst the other impossible things like impressing his parents or getting Wei Wuxian to not cause trouble for once.
Seeing Wei Wuxian head off after class for his daily rule copying punishment with Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng didn’t have much hope for achieving that particular impossibility.
Especially–he sighed, watching the way Wei Wuxian teased and poked at the graceful Second Jade of Lan, who bore it with much more poise than Jiang Cheng ever had–especially not when Lan Wangji’s attention was clearly held by Wei Wuxian the same way everyone else’s always ended up.
“You’re sighing like one of the lovesick girls out of my favorite melodramas, Jiang-xiong,” piped up Nie Huaisang from his elbow, leading Jiang Cheng to curse and dig it into his side in retaliation.
“What does that even mean?” Jiang Cheng snapped as he collected his notes to review later and stomped towards the door, ignoring the pained yelp. “I’m pissed because even the Lans can’t seem to get Wei Wuxian to behave.”
“Ah, sure,” Nie Huaisang said, trailing off at his sharp look before shrugging and leaving him for his own dorm.
Jiang Cheng exhaled a long breath through his nose as he dropped his things off in his room, already knowing he’d be unable to focus on any studying.
He grabbed his sword and went to the training yard instead, going through forms until even the other various disciples sharing space with him left for other places. He ignored the odd stares from them and kept going until the sweat practically soaked through to his second layer of robes, even in the mountain-chilled air.
A sound startled him from the meditative forms he’d fallen into, and Jiang Cheng jerked around, stumbling and failing to catch himself in time.
“Shit,” he gasped out as he ended up in the dirt of the training yard, already knowing the knees of his pants would be stained and hurriedly standing again despite the shaking in his limbs he just noticed.
In front of him, at the edge of the yard, stood Lan Wangji wearing a light frown as he neared.
“What do you want?” Jiang Cheng said, then groaned internally at the rude words. What was wrong with him?
Instead of telling him off for being an ass like he deserved, Lan Wangji’s ears seemed to redden again, and he glanced down to what Jiang Cheng was only just noticing he carried in his hands.
Resting on a plate sat a lumpy blob, and it took Jiang Cheng a moment to realize it was some kind of pudding, but only because he was so hungry all of a sudden that the lightly sweet scent drifting over to him had his stomach immediately gurgling like the embarrassing creature he was.
Besides the questionable look of the pudding blob itself, the plate was a beautiful porcelain and had been arranged with what he thought were probably edible flowers and other decorative pieces–and why was it so nice?
“Is it…for me?” Jiang Cheng eventually asked, caught so utterly off-footed that he wondered if he had hit his head during training somehow and hadn’t noticed he’d begun to hallucinate.
“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, nodding and presenting a delicate spoon for Jiang Cheng to take. “It’s a new recipe I have been attempting. I hope you enjoy it.”
Slowly, blood rushing in his ears and heart pounding, Jiang Cheng reached forward with the spoon and gathered a bit of the pudding under Lan Wangji’s somehow anticipatory gaze.
Flavor burst on his tongue and a sound of pleasure escaped as he took a bite, blinking in surprise as he realized he recognized the flavor.
“I incorporated the candies into the recipe upon your suggestion and brought over the trial run to show my appreciation,” Lan Wangji said in explanation. “Please give me your honest opinion.”
He gave a light bow of his head, and when it rose, it almost looked like a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, a sight so inconceivable that Jiang Cheng’s body immediately flooded with an effusive warmth as a smile started to form on his own face in return.
“Hey! So this is where you ran off so fast, Lan Zhan!” A loud voice broke the atmosphere and sent Jiang Cheng fumbling the spoon in his hand until it dropped to the ground and chipped on the flat stone pavers that ringed the yard.
“Ahah, whoops!” Wei Wuxian laughed, coming over and shaking Jiang Cheng by his shoulder.
“Oh man, what’s that?” he asked as he peered down at the plate, though at Wei Wuxian’s notice, Lan Wangji pulled it towards himself defensively.
“Aiya, so stingy,” Wei Wuxian said with a pout and crossed arms. “You’re trying to make that pudding I saw in the library, right?”
At the slow nod in acknowledgment, Wei Wuxian grinned and poked a finger at the pudding, making it jiggle before Lan Wangji could tug it back into his chest with a glower, which only made Wei Wuxian laugh and try again.
“Come on,” he cajoled, “it’s so lumpy and sad anyway, you should just let me have it and work on the next one before you give it to anyone special.”
“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng hissed and slapped at his shoulder. His heart thudded at the insulting words because he could already see the blush Lan Wangji had worn earlier turning into what he could only assume was one of rage and embarrassment.
“Ah?” Wei Wuxian blinked at him and opened his mouth again to insert his foot. “It’s ok, Jiang Cheng, I’m helping! He can’t present that to someone he likes if he’s serious about them, so we can be his practice dummies and help him out.”
Someone he likes.
Jiang Cheng moved to throttle Wei Wuxian only to get interrupted as Lan Wangji turned and fled the clearing without a word, plate in hand and spoon forgotten on the ground.
“Where’s he going?” Wei Wuxian said, scratching at his head until Jiang Cheng turned and shoved at his shoulder.
“Dammit, Wei Wuxian, do you ever think about what you say?”
A yelp came from Wei Wuxian, and he pouted, rubbing at his abused shoulder, while Jiang Cheng picked up the spoon and dusted it off carefully.
He shot a sharp glare over his shoulder. “You have to apologize to Lan Wangji, that was an ass thing to say. He worked really hard on it, and it tasted good, but now he’s not gonna know that because you scared him off!”
The baffled look from Wei Wuxian fell into a wince of contrition, though Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure he fully understood, yet.
“I’m going to get ready for bed,” he said, leaving the yard to head to the baths and hoping Wei Wuxian actually listened to him this time, or he was going to be gifting a lot of apology candies to Lan Wangji for the rest of the Gusu lectures.
The next few days escaped Jiang Cheng.
He couldn’t quite seem to catch Lan Wangji any time they had classes, and he vanished entirely afterward, making the new batch of milk candies he’d gotten as gifts on another brief trip to Caiyi pointless unless he could actually get them to their recipient.
And for some reason, Wei Wuxian had been absent, too! And the times Jiang Cheng did see him at night or in class, he seemed to always be working on something and wouldn’t say where he’d been.
Jiang Cheng huffed as he made his way to the rabbit field–on his own–because who knew where Wei Wuxian even was right then, and he certainly hadn’t seen Lan Wangji anywhere after the last class that day.
After the clearing came into view, the tension grudgingly slipped away from his shoulders and he sighed, collapsing to the ground and waiting for the curious rabbits to approach when he made no further movements. Their little noses tickled as they nibbled at his fingers, and he huffed a laugh, lightly brushing the pads over soft fur.
The rabbits couldn’t compare to his dogs, but they were good all the same.
A startled inhale roused him from his relaxed state, and Jiang Cheng jolted upwards in immediate recognition.
Once again, the edge of the clearing revealed an equally startled Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng fought not to curse that he’d been discovered. Likely, he’d either be banned from the clearing or Lan Wangji would go out of his way to avoid him here, too.
Neither were good options.
Instead of doing any of that, Lan Wangji bowed swiftly and made to leave like he’d been the one caught.
“Wait,” Jiang Cheng said before he could think, already rising and dusting off the grass from his robes as he neared a frozen Lan Wangji.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you last time,” he began, then grumbled, “you ran off before I could say my honest opinion.”
His lips rose in a lopsided grin even as Lan Wangji seemed to shrink in on himself defensively, half-turned like he’d try to run again.
“It was really good. I liked it a lot with the milk candy flavor,” he said simply, shrugging at the shock that stole over Lan Wangji’s expression, difficult to parse through his usual stoic appearance though it was.
“Lan Zhan!”
The sudden call from a familiar voice made Jiang Cheng groan. His head dropped back, and he rubbed at his face before turning to scowl at a grinning Wei Wuxian entering the clearing.
“I swear, Wei Wuxian, turning up now when I’ve been trying to talk to you the whole last few days,” he said in a snarl of irritation as he squared his shoulders and blocked Lan Wangji from view. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of Wei Wuxian’s insult.
“No, no, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I said and came up with an apology!” Wei Wuxian said with a wave of his hands.
Jiang Cheng grunted and stepped to the side to check how Lan Wangji felt about accepting any apologies, seeing him standing there, still wary, but clearly okay to hear Wei Wuxian out.
“Well?” Jiang Cheng said, brows raised.
Laughter bubbled out of Wei Wuxian’s mouth as he presented Lan Wangji with a small pouch, beginning to explain while he opened it.
“I was thinking about your recipe, right?” Wei Wuxian said brightly, while Lan Wangji’s graceful musician’s fingers gently parted the drawstrings and removed a small ceramic object. “And the difficulty you had making it hold its shape.”
“So!” he said, bringing his fist down to his hand with a confident smack. “I went and made some molds for you to use for the pudding.”
Molds? Jiang Cheng peered closer and blinked, realizing the shape of the objects cradled in a now stunned Lan Wangji and fighting not to smile at it. Really, it was a good apology, as far as those went with Wei Wuxian.
“Rabbits,” Lan Wangji murmured as his thumb swept over one of the round bodies and little ears.
Abruptly, his own ears went red, and he gave a cut-off sound that could have been his customary ‘mn’ or just a strangled breath before turning on his heel and starting to leave.
Not again!
But when Lan Wangji glanced and saw they weren’t following, he gestured for them to follow.
Wei Wuxian smiled at Jiang Cheng’s confusion and darted to trail at Lan Wangji’s side, so he hurried along after with only a brief hope that they weren’t being led for punishment or something.
The trail took them to another part of the sect Jiang Cheng hadn’t been to yet, passing buildings and other homes until they went further down a long path. It opened up on a lone house surrounded by purple flowers and the sight calmed him almost as much as the rabbit meadow did–though he didn’t think it could compare to his lotus filled lake, it was still serene.
“Woah, whose place is this?” Wei Wuxian said as he peered around the clearing.
“Mine,” Lan Wangji answered, leading them inside where he directed them to the simple, yet elegant traditional kitchen to sit.
Then Jiang Cheng watched in stunned silence as Lan Wangji made tea for them like a host and continued to bustle around the kitchen as if he hadn’t just invited them into his actual home in Gusu, which Jiang Cheng knew others would kill to even see, let alone get invited into.
He pinched himself surreptitiously and hid a wince when it still hurt and proved he wasn’t somehow dreaming.
Not one to be bothered by social pressures, Wei Wuxian didn’t even pause, going through a running commentary on whatever crossed his mind first, while Jiang Cheng took several long breaths to scream internally.
Helplessly, his eyes tracked Lan Wangji as he pulled out various ingredients and set them on the counter, and it wasn’t until Jiang Cheng saw the mostly empty bag of candies he’d gifted that it clicked.
“Are you making the milk candy pudding again?” He quickly interrupted Wei Wuxian asking where Lan Wangji had gotten the candy from–as if he somehow knew it was from Jiang Cheng.
The warmth nestled in his stomach pulsed for a second when Lan Wangji nodded and flipped open a book he already had placed on the counter to a tagged page that revealed itself to be a pudding recipe when Jiang Cheng craned his head to look.
“I uh,” Jiang Cheng coughed, pulling out the bag he’d been carrying and presenting it to a waiting Lan Wangji. “I got some more, I wasn’t sure if you wanted them or not.”
A fission went through his body from his fingertips as Lan Wangji’s brushed his when he took the candies, and he fought not to shake them out afterward–like some kind of weirdo–though by the way Wei Wuxian’s mouth slowly curled in a smile, he most certainly failed.
He dropped back to the chair and diverted the conversation he could see forming. “So, how do you make them? It–the pudding, I mean?”
Lan Wangji looked like he would pull one of those not-smiles again and began gesturing to the ingredients he’d set out. On the counter sat milk, cream, water, what looked like a powder of some sort, and some kind of soft sugar, which Lan Wangji revealed to be gelatin and caster sugar, respectively.
“I believe my ratio was off, the last several times I attempted it. The recipe does not call for the candies, so I had to improvise,” Lan Wangji said in admittance.
Determination the likes not usually seen outside of a battlefield seemed to fill him next, and he tied back his sleeves to begin prepping.
“I will try once more with different levels of cream, milk, and candy. This time I will succeed.”
So saying, he took the gelatin and sprinkled a teaspoon out onto the water, leaving it to soak. Then he added equal parts milk and cream to a pan on the stove, followed by almost twenty of the candies and just under a tablespoon of sugar that began to melt down while he stirred.
Clearly he’d done the recipe enough times to be familiar with the steps, and already the room started to smell like the milk candies, almost overpowering the scent of sandalwood that Lan Wangji wore like a cloak.
The scents mixing might have been strange, but Jiang Cheng couldn’t help inhaling to take them in deeper.
“Wow, Lan Zhan, this smells great so far,” Wei Wuxian said, nosing into the cooking space and leaning over Lan Wangji’s shoulder while he stirred. It earned him an irritated glance and Lan Wangji holding a hand protectively over the pot.
“Do not contaminate it,” Lan Wangji said with emphasis to the pout Wei Wuxian wore.
“Have some damn patience,” Jiang Cheng growled, tugging Wei Wuxian back into his seat and trying to maintain any kind of proper guest decorum while Lan Wangji cooked for them.
Without Wei Wuxian hounding him, Lan Wangji was able to finish melting the candies in peace and pulled it off the heat, stirring in the gelatin right after until it, too, combined into the mixture.
Then, with careful movements, Lan Wangji poured the mixture into the rabbit molds and applied a cooling talisman.
“We must wait now,” Lan Wangji said and sat at the table with his own teacup.
Jiang Cheng didn’t know what came over him, but he hurried to pour the tea before Lan Wangji could, not quite able to meet his eyes until he’d finished and then ducking to focus on his own tea immediately after he met the tawny gold irises staring back.
Really, it wasn’t fair that such striking eyes happened to also rest below the thickest lashes he’d ever seen on a man.
“You know,” Wei Wuxian said, startling Jiang Cheng into sitting upright and nearly spilling his tea. “You should really come to Yunmeng one of these days.”
His arm came around Jiang Cheng as Wei Wuxian tugged him to his side and added, “You have to sample the local cuisine, right, Jiang Cheng?”
Local cuisine? Jiang Cheng wanted to groan. Surely Wei Wuxian had noticed the utter lack of spices in the food someone like Lan Wangji would be used to. One touch of his tongue to the chili oil laden dishes Wei Wuxian enjoyed would send him into a Qi deviation!
Still, he glanced at Lan Wangji and saw his gaze set on the arm Wei Wuxian had thrown around him, and spoke up with his own invitation.
“You should. Come, I mean,” Jiang Cheng said, letting a smile form and hoping it looked natural. “In the summer, if you want, so you can try fresh lotus seeds.”
“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, saving him from himself, “I would like that.”
The warmth that had made a home in his chest the last few weeks of their time in Gusu spread through his body and broadened his smile into a grin, even when Jiang Cheng saw the shit-eating grin on Wei Wuxian’s face that probably spelled trouble in the future.
After a while, the pudding rabbits were ready to come out, defrosting from their molds and plopped out on another beautifully arranged set of plates Lan Wangji prepared.
Jiang Cheng hummed around a bite of the pudding, eyes closing in pleasure.
“Perfect,” he said, just to see the hint of a smile on Lan Wangji's face again.
He basked in the moment, happy in the quiet of the room.
“Ahaha, look!” Wei Wuxian laughed, and, right before their eyes, brought his spoon down on the rounded part of the rabbit in a resounding smack that made the whole thing jiggle. “You can spank them!”
Unbelievable.
“Wei Wuxian!”