Chapter Text
Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji stayed true to their word. While Wei Wuxian stayed in the Gentian House recovering from his injuries, the Twin Jades of Lan went into the depths of the Lan Archives to locate something, anything, that resembled what Wei Wuxian heard in Nie Mingjue’s memories.
While he waited, Wei Wuxian stared at Suibian .
Lan Wangji managed to hold onto it for him when they’d escaped from Lanling. He was tempted to practice some of his sword forms, but the thought that it wouldn’t feel the same held him back even more than the threat of Lan Wangji returning and chewing him out for over-exerting himself while injured. Or worse, Lan Qiren coming in to check on him and delivering the same lecture.
He smiled ruefully at the blade. It wasn’t like he would get very far, anyway. His spiritual core was just too weak. Though, maybe he would have a chance someday… At least he had a golden core again.
He was lost in his musings when the door to the cottage opened.
Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen held a few books of sheet music each. There was a slight tension between them, but neither of them acknowledged it, so Wei Wuxian decided he wouldn’t, either.
“Did you find something?” He asked.
Lan Xichen’s usual, gentle demeanor returned, replacing the dour expression he’d worn upon entering the Gentian House. “We found a few things. But I wanted to hear what you say you heard in Mingjue-xiong’s memories again to be safe.”
Lan Wangji laid out a few books in front of Wei Wuxian. “Do any of these look familiar?”
Wei Wuxian looked over the sheets in front of him. “No. None of them. Well…” he tapped one sheet of paper. “This one is almost right.”
“That’s Cleansing.” Lan Xichen looked almost relieved.
“But it’s different right around here.” Wei Wuxian ran his fingers over one of the stanzas. Lan Wangji handed him the makeshift bamboo flute, which had long been polished up to produce a nicer sound. “Can you play what you remember?”
Wei Wuxian nodded. Lan Xichen had some paper ready to transcribe the notes.
He played the song from his memory. The beginning was nearly identical to the notes of Cleansing, but they deviated toward the end, taking on a new pattern wholly different from what they should have been.
Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji shared a look.
“What is it?” Wei Wuxian asked.
Rather than explaining, Lan Wangji placed another book in front of Wei Wuxian. This one had a torn page. “Play from here.” He pointed to the page before the rip, to the beginning of a different, unnamed melody.
Wei Wuxian did as he was asked, and immediately understood. The melody he played was a little similar to Cleansing, but much darker, more sinister. Wei Wuxian was careful not to touch any spiritual energy as he played, sensing that this song would do immediate harm to the listener. But even worse, the melody lined up a little too well with the misplaced verse in the fake Cleansing.
“What is this?” He asked when he finished.
“The Collection of Turmoil,” Lan Xichen explained. They were forbidden songs designed to curse the listener that had been locked away in the library pavilion. Lan Xichen already knew what they found when he and Lan Wangji stumbled upon it, but just to be absolutely sure, he’d convinced his brother to hide both cleansing and the Collection of Turmoil in a stack of other musical pieces. If Wei Wuxian were lying, surely he wouldn’t recognize them. But, he had.
Their running hypothesis, as Jin Guangyao had never stepped foot in the archives of the Library Pavilion, was that he, or whoever the culprit was, must have had help to retrieve the sheet music, not to steal the music itself, but to eliminate the evidence. Without the sheet music, there was no way to prove that Jin Guangyao had intentionally played a piece from the Collection of Turmoil with the intent to harm. He could still claim that he thought he played Cleansing.
“There is only one way to know for certain--the song must be tested on a willing volunteer.” Lan Xichen said.
“We can’t do that,” Wei Wuxian protested, “We don’t know what this could do to someone!”
“Then I will test it on myself.” Lan Xichen decided.
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian started to protest, but Lan Xichen wouldn’t hear of it. It was his duty to protect their sect from harm, and if their techniques were being stolen, he must know with full certainty. He couldn’t rely on speculation. He needed to feel the evidence. He had to know.
He warned his brother and Wei Wuxian off of telling Lan Qiren about his plan. He was glad to have had his uncle’s support with keeping Wei Wuxian safe, but if the man knew how deep this ran and how they planned to uncover it, he was sure it would be enough to send the man to an early grave.
“Thank you for your assistance, Wei- rougui,” Lan Xichen said. “Truly, it is much appreciated. I will leave you to heal.”
Wei Wuxian’s expression was gentle. “Take care of yourself, too. Don’t run yourself ragged over this. You aren’t alone.”
He appreciated the sentiment. Lan Xichen bid the two a good afternoon and retreated to his room, aptly called the “cold rooms”. They certainly felt cold lately.
Waiting on his desk was a stack of correspondence he would rather ignore, but he knew keeping himself occupied would be far better for him than sitting idle to ruminate on what this discovery could mean.
A stiff letter with golden edges sat at the top of the stack.
It was from Jin Guangyao.
***
Wei Wuxian tried not to let his mind linger on Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao. He didn’t consider himself a particularly comforting person, given his past. He wasn’t sure how to help Zewu-jun with this dramatic news.
In that way, he supposed he and Lan Wangji were alike. There wasn’t much they could do other than silently support the other person.
His eyes drifted to where Lan Wangji stood. He was carefully plating food for their meal, and Wei Wuxian’s heart warmed at the sight. He tried to tell himself to calm down, not to read too much into it, but it was hard not to. A Dominant Alpha was serving him a meal. He didn’t have to grow up as an Omega to feel the weight of such a thing.
Ever since his rebirth, Lan Wangji had sent his mind spinning. He broke tradition at every turn. Wei Wuxian’s belief that it was simply because Lan Wangji still saw him as a fellow Dominant Alpha and didn’t care to bother with propriety was giving way to the hope that maybe that wasn’t the case. He and Lan Wangji hadn’t been close enough to serve one another meals in his last life. They never discussed courting Omegas, or even scented each other--in a friendly way, of course. If such a thing existed. Could Alphas do things like that together?
The only thing that came to mind was a distant conversation he’d had with Jiang Fengmian in his youth. He couldn’t even really recall what had sparked the conversation, but the words always stuck with him.
Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli hadn’t been around. It was just Wei Wuxian and the man who had taken him in, and given him a warm bed and hot meals. He looked to Wei Wuxian with eyes that almost seemed a little sad, and said, “Alphas will always mate with Omegas. Betas like My Lady have more freedom. But, A-Ying, should you present as an Alpha, pray for the fortune that your love is an Omega. Love between two Alphas in a world like ours will always be doomed to fail.”
Why had he said such a thing?
Wei Wuxian wracked his brain, wishing he could remember more about that day. It had been so long ago, only a few short months after he’d begun training at Lotus Pier, long before his secondary gender even presented. He cursed his mind for leaving so many memories from his childhood to wither away.
He supposed he would never have a chance to learn if what Uncle Jiang said was true. He was a Dominant Omega now. Even if his identity was now exposed, he had none of the powerful yang energy he’d exuded from his first life. He would never have the privileges and status he might have earned as an Alpha in this world again--not that he’d had it in the first place. But it also meant if he chose to love an Alpha, if he was terribly lucky and the stars aligned in his favor, maybe his love wouldn’t be doomed to fail the way his uncle warned.
Wei Wuxian was lost in these thoughts as Lan Wangji placed the food at the low table, and missed the glassiness to his eyes.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said, never struggling to find a topic of conversation, “ Laotou has been weirdly nice to me lately. He didn’t even try to give me homework when he came over earlier. Not that I’m even of the age to be his student anymore. I just always get the feeling that he’s waiting for an excuse to make me write lines, or study-- Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji was always quiet, but something about his demeanor struck Wei Wuxian. There was a fine tension to his form that wasn’t normally present. His breathing was shallow, pupils dilated.
Wei Wuxian frowned. “Hanguang-jun?”
Lan Wangji’s cheek twitched, but he didn’t respond.
“ Er-gege,” he began to reach for Lan Wangji.
“Don’t--” Lan Wangji’s voice was coarse. “Don’t move.”
Wei Wuxian dropped his hand. “What is it? Are you unwell?” Had he missed some sign of injury while Lan Wangji allowed him to sit idly and recover?
“No.” His nostrils flared.
Wei Wuxian subtly sniffed. His breath hitched. “Wait. You’re--”
“I will manage.” He stood. “Stay. Eat. I will leave you. Uncle will return to check on things for you.”
Wei Wuxian blinked. “Wait, no! Lan Zhan, you’re--”
“I will manage.” His voice sounded final.
But Wei Wuxian was never one to obey easily. “Alone? What, will you go into isolation and try to meditate it away?”
Lan Wangji was quiet. Wei Wuxian had hit the nail on the head.
“I should leave,” he finally said.
Wei Wuxian’s stomach clenched at the prospect.
“You don’t have to!” He didn’t know what came over him. Maybe that little bead of hope overtook him. Maybe he was emboldened by the meal that had just been placed with such care in front of him. Maybe it was the memory of his first heat in Lan Wangji’s arms that had his heart aching. Whatever it was, the words burst forward before he could think about them. “Let me help you.”
If it were even possible, Lan Wangji became even more rigid.
Unable to take it back, Wei Wuxian pressed forward. “I don’t know how you were able to do what you did during my heat. I don’t think I can do the same thing if I tried. I’m just not as strong as you are, Lan Zhan. But I can…help the way normal Omegas help. I’m Dominant. My pheromones should…” He flushed.
Lan Wangji looked pained. “It is…not safe.”
“Are you saying you would hurt me?”
Lan Wangji turned to him with glassy eyes, his voice laced with conviction. “Never.”
Wei Wuxian was emboldened by that response. “Then don’t ask me to go.”
Lan Wangji’s mind was ablaze. He didn’t know where he went wrong. Did he miscalculate the date of his last rut? This felt…early.
Distantly, he remembered his uncle’s warnings that spending too much time around particular Dominant Omegas could affect his rut, especially if the Alpha were exposed to that Omega’s heat pheromones. He hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, and reactions like that were so uncommon that he hadn’t even considered that such a thing might occur. He had no suppressants on him, and Wei Wuxian’s pheromones--that scent of wild plum blossoms, blackberries, and the precious scent of rain that he thought lost to the ages-- were intoxicating. Mind numbing.
He had been careless, thoughtless, and now he walked a knife’s edge of control as he tried to break away from this hell. He couldn’t live with himself if he were to bring harm to Wei Wuxian, especially while he was still in recovery.
Only his ironclad resolve kept his pheromones in check. As usual, his well practiced habit kept Wei Wuxian safe.
For now, he thought, gritting his teeth.
He knew the power a Dominant Alpha’s pheromones held. While he’d never made any grand vows to keep such a power in check, never thought too deeply about the ways someone in his shoes could take advantage of an Omega, he certainly had no desire to abandon his principles, especially not with Wei Wuxian. He wanted to protect the other man, to ensure he continued to live and thrive. He couldn’t give in to his inner beast.
But that resolve was crumbling.
The worry in Wei Wuxian’s dark eyes was the first crack in his will.
The way his voice softened as he asked Lan Wangji to let him help had him shaking.
Then, there was his offer.
If Lan Wangji were a weaker man, he could have blamed such an offer on the pheromones, but a quick check ensured he had kept most of the rut-laced scent in check. Wei Wuxian had detected it, but only the barest trace. Not near enough to induce the animalistic lust that could leave him disoriented and entirely uninhibited. No, Wei Wuxian still had his wits about him, even when he told Lan Wangji that he would help the way normal Omegas help .
Lan Wangji tried to brush it off, but Wei Wuxian asked him not to let him go, and Lan Wangji was immediately lost in the depth of those eyes.
His iron will, that firm resolve, dissolved to dust.
Without another thought, Lan Wangji surged forward, circling Wei Wuxian with his arms and immediately devouring his lips in a searing kiss.
Wei Wuxian froze for only a moment, presumably in shock of the swiftness of Lan Wangji’s movements, but quickly melted into the other man.
Lan Wangji couldn’t take it any more. He couldn’t bear to hold back his pheromones for another moment. There was this need within him to feel the effects of his scent melding with Wei Wuxian’s. So, finally, he let go.
Wei Wuxian made a low, keening sound in the back of his throat, his pheromones bleeding out of him, and-- oh gods above!
Lan Wangji’s soul sang at the way their scents danced together, his increasingly hazy mind further intoxicated not just by the scent, but the fact that this was Wei Wuxian. Wei Ying was in his arms. He was there and he wasn’t leaving. Lan Wangji’s restraint snapped, and he wouldn’t allow this opportunity to pass.
It didn’t take long for Wei Wuxian to lose himself in Lan Wangji--his body, his scent, his kisses, his touch, all aspects of him.
He was burning--his entire sense of self was up in flames until all that remained was the desire he felt for this man.
Lan Wangji had clearly tried to maintain control, but it was a losing battle. As soon as Wei Wuxian offered himself, Lan Wangji acquiesced and allowed instinct to take over. They lost themselves in searing kisses, savoring the flavor of each others’ pheromones on their tongues.
Lan Wangji soon wrapped his arms fully around Wei Wuxian’s waist, pulling him flush against his chest. Wei Wuxian wrapped his legs around Lan Wangji, craving some way to be even closer to the man.
“You’re burning up,” Wei Wuxian murmured, rubbing his cheek against Lan Wangji’s neck.
“Mn,” Lan Wangji hummed. His arms locked around Wei Wuxian, he stood, bringing the other man up with him so effortlessly it was as if the slightly smaller body weighed nothing at all.
Wei Wuxian, for his part, barely noticed. The air was thick around him. Lan Wangji might be the one in estrus, but Wei Wuxian was practically dizzy with lust. He kissed the alpha on every bit of exposed skin he could reach as he was carried to their nest. He hadn’t even realized that was where they were headed until he felt the cool, soft fabric at his back.
Lan Wangji reached over Wei Wuxian’s head and adjusted something before his hands returned to the collar of his robe.
Cool air on bare skin did little to relieve the urgent heat boiling in their veins.
Lan Wangji’s eyes were fierce, but his touch was gentle. Wei Wuxian melted under his fingers, becoming entirely liquid from his heat and tenderness. He lost himself in the sensation, and he knew Lan Wangji was the same. The room and the world fell away from them. Soon, there were no sounds but that of slick skin against skin, heavy breath and gentle gasps, and the sweet music of each other’s voices. Their scents, heavy and warm, wrapped around their joined forms, insulating them from thoughts or worries about the outside world.
Wei Wuxian’s heat had been three tortuous days--long hours of agony, barely soothed by Lan Wangji’s care that left both of them exhausted.
This rut was nothing like that. For either of them.
Time was lost to them.
The only agony they suffered was the endless craving for each other’s bodies, ceaseless even when granted release. But it was an agony they endured gladly. It was an agony experienced in equal parts with bliss.
In some ways, Lan Wangji's desperation mirrored what Wei Wuxian remembered of his own ruts--inexplicable need for release, and the knowledge that one's partner was the key. Yet, there was something in the tenderness of his touch that was unlike anything Wei Wuxian had ever felt from another, or experienced himself. He had the desperation of a drowning man gasping for air, yet he held Wei Wuxian like a rare butterfly, as if the wrong move would send the delicate creature flying away, or grievously injured.
For his part, Wei Wuxian had never felt such a connection to another person. Between fervent breaths, in the brief moments of clarity in which Wei Wuxian had the presence of mind to think coherently, he was struck with awe at this connection, and a twinge of fear of what might happen when their coupling came to an end.
But he didn't want to think of the end, even in those fleeting moments.
They fit together in a way Wei Wuxian didn’t try to understand. Every touch, every kiss, every sigh called to their very souls in a way he’d never experienced before. He lost himself in Lan Wangji, and he never wanted it to end.