Chapter Text
THIS IS UNBETAD AND UNEDITED. I WILL COME BACK TO IT EVENTUALLY TO FIX
It’s no secret that Lan Zhan is a solitary person. He truly enjoys his space, but there's always a downside to living this type of lifestyle isn't there? He might love solitude, but deep down he craves affection.
Lan Zhan is chronically single and would rather die than go through the embarrassment of having to ask his few friends for physical touch or affection. And contrary to popular belief, he does indeed crave physical touch sometimes but generally speaking has no way to gratify his necessity. His genius new way to solve the problem? Hire a professional cuddler.
He recently heard about them on a talk show and now he simply can’t get the thought of hiring one out of his mind. There’s something about the idea of satiating his need for human contact with someone that has no expectations of him that is just appealing. It might be the lack of needing to keep up appearances, it may be the anonymity, but whatever it is, it's like a siren song to him. He’s never been much of a people person and ideally, this is a great way to cut out the “getting to know someone” part of the equation while still getting the payoff.
It’s slightly embarrassing but these people do it for a living so he’s sure they won’t judge him, right?
He sits down to open his laptop and has merely a few seconds of peace before he starts to second guess himself, which causes his good mood to drop and the doubts to immediately begin their assault on his confidence. He's not generally like this - he likes to think he's someone who makes clear cut decisions and has an unwaveringly strong personality, but everyone has their kryptonite don't they?
Within seconds he’s gone from confident to nervous and it’s with great reluctance that he types in the web address for the cuddling service and waits for the site to fully load. When it does he takes his time browsing and reading about the mission statement as well as the backstory for the founder. By the looks of it, this is a company that simply facilitates meeting cuddlers as they don’t technically work for the website, just list their services.
He notices some work out of hotels, some out of their homes, and some even come to you. The cuddlers all have hundreds of reviews and Lan Zhan thinks to himself that if this many people have left reviews and done cuddle therapy, this must actually be a lucrative business for those who have the stomach to soothe random strangers especially judging by the pricing per hour. Most of the cuddlers have rates that range from $30 to $100 per hour. He wonders what the difference in pricing is for.
After a couple minutes of fruitless results for what price range indicates, he decides to look for someone in the mid tier price range because that seems safe and he’s always gone with the safe option. $65 an hour has GOT to yield good service. He edits his search query, hits enter, and the results pop up. To his great dismay, there is only one man available to cuddle in this price range - the rest are all women.
He very purposely did not set a gendered preference in his search but he knew from the get-go that he wasn’t very interested in women on this particular search. His face heats the moment he starts to think about why he'd much rather cuddle with the one man available on the website than the dozens of women cuddlers. There’s a tiny voice in the back of his mind that tells him this must say something about him that he’s known for a long time, but he’s not quite ready to come to terms with yet. He files this information back in the correct filing cabinet in his mind and shuts it firmly with lock and key. Lan Zhan simply can’t afford to have a breakdown over his sexual orientation with the current state of his life.
He quickly puts it out of his mind and starts to click around the male cuddler's profile. He’s Lan Zhans age, and by the sound of his bio, this guy has a playful outgoing side, but also a shy and reserved side. He seems fun and his faceshot is cute. Lan Zhan could see himself cuddling this guy.
He considers giving the men in the other price ranges a shot because surely there's other equally suitable matches to choose from, but he moment Lan Zhan clicks the gallery it’s all over for him and he knows for sure that he won’t want anyone else on this site because ‘Wei Wuxian’ is possibly one of the most beautiful men Lan Zhan has ever laid eyes upon. Tall and lean but also muscular, with tanned skin and long black hair tied up in red ribbon. At that moment, Lan Zhan knows he will cuddle this man.
A few moments fumbling with his wallet, a couple hundred dollars, and some very embarrassing feelings that he absolutely refuses to address later, Lan Zhan has a four hour cuddle session booked with one professional cuddler named Wei Wuxian.
He wonders if Wei Wuxian is used to cuddling with strange men, or if his general clients are mostly women. Wei Wuxian had his availability set to both, so this must not be something new or unheard of for him. Thoughts about what the man is like in his real day to day life suddenly fill hLan Zhan’s mind and he has to stop himself before they can progress further. He shouldn't start wondering about the man's private life when they haven't even met yet, who does that?
He knows his decision to do this was rash, but it was CLEARLY necessary for his sanity.
Lan Zhan sighs, puts his wallet away, and shuts his laptop, hoping that he won't regret this.
He'll have to wait until the weekend to see.
The rest of the week rolls by in a blur and he functions on autopilot at work which is better than the usual misery of having to deal with his coworkers. He’s used to dealing with intense punch-in-the-gut feelings of loneliness every time he hears his coworkers mention their spouses on the daily and running on autopilot makes it all become background noise. It’s a blessing in disguise.
When the weekend comes around, Lan Zhan falls from his cloud and starts to doubt himself yet again. The closer the appointment time gets, the more he considers not showing up but he quickly remembers that this appointment is nonrefundable and it brings him back to the sobering reality of what he's done here. He curses himself for his impulsivity as he gets ready and wonders what his friends and family would think of what he's doing. They’d no doubt judge him, not that they don’t already.
Lan Zhan the quiet one. The one that always does things by the book. The buzzkill. The straight edge mom friend. He knows how his friends see him and that's why he can never let them know about this. They wouldn’t understand. Nobody can know.
He finishes getting ready, grabs his keys, takes a deep breath as he walks out door to face the consequences of his decisions.
The drive over to Wei Ying's is short, just a few miles down the road and Lan Zhan thinks to himself that the proximity might be more dangerous than he's willing to admit if he enjoys today's session. He's severely touch starved, and if they hit it off he might be inclined to do this again which doesn't bode well for his emotions or his wallet.
He arrives at a simple one story single family house next to a park with a small duck pond. It’s quiet and looks peaceful and he thinks cuddling on the grass by the water would be nice before remembering that’s not what he requested. He cringes slightly when he remembers what he typed in the special request box but what's done is done.
Lan Zhan straightens up and calms his nerves as he gets out of the car. This is what he signed up for. He's going to get what he paid for and there's nothing shameful about it. Wanting physical touch isn’t a crime and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeing it as a transaction vs letting it happen organically. People do this all around the world every day. He’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last.
It’s with false confidence and a wavering resolve that he walks up to the house that matches the address displayed on his phone screen and politely knocks on the door.
Wei Wuxian must have been waiting on the other side because not even five whole seconds pass before the door flies open and Lan Zhan is greeted by a beautiful man with the most dazzlingly bright smile he's ever seen. Wei Wuxian is standing there in worn black pajama bottoms and a comfy looking black t-shirt with red flowers on it. It’s very fitting for the type of personality Lan Zhan has assumed he has based on the bio about him on the website.
Lan Zhan gives Wei Wuxian a once over and stops dead when he sees a tiny sliver of tanned skin between his pants and shirt. He has a second to process just how nice that looks before his dick catches up and valiantly attempts to rise to greet the beautiful man before him.
This is bad. This is really bad. This is the man he's supposed to cuddle for exactly four whole hours and he can already feel the stirrings of arousal without having actually touched him. Lan Zhan is fucked.
It takes a few moments for Lan Zhan's brain to come back online and he realizes that Wei Wuxian has been talking to him this entire time. “Now that you’re here, you can actually call me Wei Ying!” he says cheerfully and Lan Zhan can’t help but respond honestly “Lan Wangji. Or Lan Zhan. Either works.”
His blush grows with every step towards the threshold and he feels like he's been given a horny death sentence as he sheepishly steps through the door into Wei Ying's home. How is he going to handle just how attracted he is to this man while clinging to him for the next four hours? Lan Zhan has to pause his thoughts to take a look around and he doesn't know what he expected, but the house still takes him by surprise. It fits Wei Ying's aesthetic perfectly. Light grey walls with minimalist decorations - just a few sculptures, a couple paintings and a glass case with a flute in it. It's....nice. He thinks he could actually relax here if he can ever get past the embarrassment of the moment he just had while staring at Wei Ying.
Right on cue, Wei Ying strides over with a smile on his face, opens his arms to display his home and asks "Well? Not too shabby right Lan Zhan?" with familiarity as if they've known each other forever and Lan Zhan almost falls in love right then and there. There’s something about this man's charm that will be the death of him and he can already smell the beginnings of infatuation. His credit card will almost certainly be taking a good beating again soon.
This is what being touch starved does to a man. This is what denying yourself of the experiences you've always wanted does to a man. And knowing that he made himself this way sours the already somewhat awkward moment.
Wei Ying notices a change in Lan Zhan's demeanor and the smile on his face drops a little. He quickly changes the subject to business by sing-songing "Lan Zhan, it said in your session request that you would prefer cuddling on a bed, correct? And your one personal request was ‘hold me tight’ right? I can hold you tight no problem! I've got the bed set up if you'd like to follow me." he says as he walks, motioning behind his head for Lan Zhan to follow. It takes every bit of willpower in his mind for Lan Zhan to pull himself together and ask "Set up?" puzzled at what that could mean.
His short question is met with another glorious laugh from Wei Ying, followed by his playful voice again “Did you think we'd lay on any old bed? Lan Zhan, I've got freshly laundered sheets, a selection of room sprays, incense, blankets, pillows, and all the stuffed animals we could ever want. The bed is basically a nest for us and it’s all about your comfort."
Lan Zhan can't see himself but he's sure his face is burning.
He manages to gasp out an extremely embarrassed "Thank you, Wei Ying" as he stops in the doorway of the bedroom.
True to his word, there's a huge bed in the middle of the room artfully piled up with pillows, blankets and other soft things that could best be described as a nest. Oh God, he's gonna cuddle this man in a fucking NEST? The embarrassment hits him full force again and Wei Ying is either used to seeing people with the wave of emotions flitting across his face and decides to take pity on him by not mentioning it, or he doesn't notice it at all. He happily clears a way onto the bed across the pillows and gets settled, snuggling himself into a nook among the blankets and pillows. Lan Zhan thinks it looks extremely comfortable, especially with the added bonus of Wei Ying being extremely sexy and waiting for him. Lan Zhan suddenly understands why Wei Ying has such a high rating. He could by all means be terrible at this job and Lan Zhan would still give him the highest rating because he is charming and beautiful.
After a few moments pass, Wei Ying gives him a shy smile and proceeds to extend an arm out to him while placing the other in the empty space on the bed, beckoning him to lay his head there. He follows the motion by saying "Come, Lan Zhan." softly and the sight and sound is so intimate that it actually hurts.
Lan Zhan tries hard to mask the immediate feelings of heartache that ram into him with full force as he climbs onto the bed, but he's sure the pain is visible on his face anyway. If this was another universe, maybe things would be different and he wouldn't have to resort to paying a stranger to cuddle him. Maybe someone would love him and maybe he’d be happy. In another universe, maybe he’d have seen Wei Ying out on the street and asked him out. Maybe in that universe, he’d be in Wei Ying’s bed not for business, but for pleasure.
And as Lan Zhan crawls onto the bed to lay his head on Wei Ying’s arm amidst the pillows and blankets, he laments that this isn’t another universe.