Brothers and bunnies

"WangJi!" Lan XiChen exclaimed. "How...? When did you arrive in Cloud Recesses?"

"Just now," Lan WangJi said and sat gracefully on the other side of the small table in front of his brother. "Wei Ying is taking Lil Apple to graze." The willful donkey was still their only beast of burden, and when in Cloud Recesses, only satisfied with the plants that grew in the rabbit cove.

"Welcome back," Lan XiChen said, the way his fingers were drumming against his thigh the only thing that betrayed his nervousness.

Lan WangJi smiled one of his rare smiles. "I came to get you to share midday meal with us. You spend too much time here alone."

"..."

"Lan Huan... Oh!" Xie XiYue stopped abruptly at the doorway.

Lan Zhan eyebrows almost shot off his face. He turned to look. He saw a flustered young disciple, dewy eyed and with a healthy warm glow, standing at the doorway, struck dumb. Lan Huan...?

Lan XiChen gave a strangled cough. "Xie XiYue... This is my brother, Lan WangJi. Xie XiYue is... a recent disciple."

"HanGuang-Jun took a group of us night hunting some time ago. Honored to see you again, HanGuang-Jun," Xie XiYue said and bowed deeply over the tray he still held in his hands.

Lan WangJi returned the bow and turned to look at his brother. Lan XiChen tried to look his usual, collected self, but it had all happened so fast.

Xie XiYue set two bowls and spoons on the table, and the pot with their meal. "I just happened to cook enough... by happy accident... there's enough for two."

Lan WangJi eyed the two bowls on the table, then his brother, who couldn't meet his eye. "I am intruding." Lan WangJi rose. 

His brother and Xie XiYue tripped over each others' words, from which Lan WangJi could only make out pleas for him to stay and eat. "Very well," he just said and sat back down.

Xie XiYue left, sending a helpless, apologetic look over his shoulder at Lan XiChen.

"Lan Huan?" Lan WangJi said expressionlessly.

"..."

"You take your meals together?"

"..."

"Brother..."

"Xie XiYue... He brought me my meals when I was in seclusion. He..." Lan XiChen couldn't continue, but took off the lid of the pot and started to ladle the soup into their bowls.

The fragrant scent of the food made Lan WangJi's eyebrows rise again, but he tasted a spoonful without a word. He put the spoon down. "The food in Cloud Recesses has changed. Wei Ying will be pleased."

Lan XiChen couldn't look him in the eye. "No... Xie XiYue... he... I was not eating well... and he surprised me with a meal he cooked himself..."

"When?"

Lan XiChen looked like he wanted to sink into the ground, but he couldn't lie to his brother. "Three months ago."

"I see," was all Lan WangJi said, and turned his attention back to the food. 

Their conversation turned to matters of Cloud Recesses, and Lan WangJi observed his brother through it. Lan XiChen looked better than he had when they had last visited, about six weeks earlier. Over a month ago... And Xie XiYue had been bringing him meals already for weeks by then. His brother had been keeping things from him. Lan WangJi grew thoughtful.

"I will stay in my rooms while you and Wei WuXian are here," Lan XiChen said as Lan WangJi stood up to leave.

"No need. It seems you need privacy more than we do."

Lan XiChen sputtered. "It is... not like that. He is... a disciple... It is not appropriate..."

Lan WangJi raised his eyebrows. He knew something of unwise love.

Lan XiChen bowed his head. "I do not even know if Xie XiYue... I saved his life during a night hunt... Maybe it is just... gratitude."

"Hm."

When Lan WangJi left, he saw Xie XiYue exiting the study hall with other disciples. "Xie XiYue..." All the disciples turned to look, and Lan WangJi scattered them with a look. Xie XiYue gulped.

"What is your clan?"

"I have no clan... My family comes from the south."

"When did you arrive in Cloud Recesses?"

"Seven months ago," Xie XiYue admitted.

"Disciples from other clans usually stay for only six months."

Xie XiYue spluttered. "I asked to stay another six months, before I decide..."

"And Lan XiChen?"

"He's teaching us so much. He's... the kindest... the wisest..." Xie XiYue whispered, then blushed.

The corners of Lan WangJi's lips twerked, too subtle for Xie XiYue to notice. "Dismissed," he just said and Xie XiYue fled. Lan WangJi looked after him, deep in thought. When he saw which direction Xie XiYue was going, he made a decision.

"WangJi?" Lan XiChen looked up when he saw his brother back at his door.

"Come," Lan WangJi said, and raised the bucket with rabbit food. Lan XiChen looked surprised, but rose and followed his brother.

When they neared the rabbit cove they heard a voice. "What should I do? His brother.... I just want to stay. What if he makes me leave?"

Lan XiChen recognised the voice and stepped forward involuntarily. Lan WangJi stopped him and shook his head.

Xie XiYue had lifted one of the rabbits to his face and nuzzled its soft fur with his lips. "I just want to be with him..."

Lan XiChen lit up from the inside and he drew a breath, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. Lan WangJi looked at his brother, his heart feeling lighter than it had since Jin GuangYao's treachery had been revealed.

Lan WangJi stepped forward and tread on a twig intentionally. Xie XiYue sprung up, he had been sitting on the ground, covered in bunnies. One fluffy ball of fur remained in his arms but the others fell to the ground, shook themselves indignantly and bounced off.

"HanGuang-Jun!" Xie XiYue gasped. He bowed awkwardly, holding the bunny with both hands. He then saw Lan XiChen who finally managed to step forward. "Lan Huan..." 

After that Lan WangJi might as well been air.

"Do you come here often?" Lan XiChen asked. Lan WangJi looked at him incredulously.

"When... when I need to be alone."

"We will leave you then," Lan XiChen said immediately, his ears still red, and turned slightly to leave.

"No! I mean, please. I don't mind you. I mean, I like you. No! I mean yes... I mean I would like you to stay," Xie XiYue stammered, and Lan WangYi's lips twitched. 

Lan XiChen stepped forward as if drawn by a magnet. Lan WangJi put the bucket down and left quietly, but neither noticed. Lan XiChen reached a hand to pet the bunny in Xie XiYue's arms. "Did you know that my brother raised them?"

"Han GuangJun?" Xie XiYue's eyes grow round.

"He's not as cold as he seems."

"I didn't mean—" Xie XiYue began and gasped when Lan XiChen's fingers brushed against his, still entangled in the soft bunny fur.

"I heard only later that it was Wei WuXian who brought them here from the Cold Cave. After he died, WangJi kept them. He comes here every day to feed them, even now, whenever he visits."

"That's... that's so romantic."

Lan XiChen smiled, his fingers growing bolder, intertwining with Xie XiYue's. Xie XiYue's breathing stuttered and he inched closer, then closer still. Lan XiChen bent his head a little toward him, and in a moment of bravery, Xie XiYue leaned his head against Lan XiChen's chest, breathless with nerves and excitement.

Lan XiChen stilled, and he took a few deep breaths. Then his arm wound around Xie XiYue's waist and pulled him even closer.

Xie XiYue snuggled closer, his eyes closed. "Your heart... it beats so fast."

"I have never held anyone like this," Lan XiChen said, his voice soft.

It was Xie XiYue's turn to take a few breaths, then he disentangled his fingers from Lan XiChen, who looked stricken. Xie XiYue put the bunny on the ground gently, then returned to where he had been, his head pressed against Lan XiChen's chest, one arm now circling Lan XiChen's waist, in imitation of Lan XiChen's arm around his own. He reached his now free hand to grasp Lan XiChen's and brought it to his own chest, over his heart. Lan XiChen swallowed when he felt the frantic beat.

"It is the first time for me, too," Xie XiYue whispered.

Lan WangJi turned to look and saw them, their bodies joined as one, lit by the warm rays of the setting sun, and he smiled, turning away again. In his mind he saw someone else who had come here and held the bunnies in his arms. His steps grew hurried. I'm coming, Wei Ying.

--

A/N:

If you find the idea that a man as attractive, competent and kind as Lan XiChen could still be inexperienced in love and sex in his thirties, you might consider these high cultivation types to be like the elves in Lord of the Rings. They mate for life. 

Also, Lan XiChen was in love with Creepy Dimples (aka Jin GuangYao - thanks nameless youtube commenter!) from the time he was about 20 years old until the present, only to be tragically betrayed along with everyone else. His fate parallels Lan WangJi's in some way, except the latter has a happy ending after some fortunate resurrection. 

How cute is Wei WuXian with that bunny? Lan WangJi certainly thinks so. Those blinks are a dead give away.  

Note: 'Lan Huan' is Lan XiChen's birth name, but no one in the novels calls him by this name (if I'm mistaken, please point it out below). They call him ZeWu-Jun, Sect Leader Lan, Lan XiChen, or brother XiChen. Lan WangJi calls him just 'brother', as did Creepy Dimples (they were 'sworn brothers'). So for this young disciple to call Lan XiChen 'Lan Huan' is huge. No wonder Lan WangJi's eyes almost popped out. :D