"If my lord husband is willing, I hope to visit frequently," Shen Yuan teases him affectionately. He's figured out by now, although he isn't sure why, that something about the idea of keeping him here in the Cloud Recesses troubles Lan Xichen somehow; that he wants Shen Yuan to have as much freedom of movement as their ranks and reputations allow, even to the point of ordering the construction of a carriage for him, something previously unheard of in the Cloud Recesses, after Shen Yuan had reluctantly confessed that his cultivation was too weak to allow swordflight over any great distance.
"But no, I don't think I will," he continues more seriously -- but also tenderly, pausing their progress for a moment to carefully pluck a scarlet leaf gone astray from of Lan Xichen's hair. He holds it between two fingers like a miniature fan, twirling it slowly and smiling at the light in his husband-to-be's eyes as he holds it up next to his face. "My brothers have many admirable qualities, but if it's a quiet life one prefers, they aren't perhaps the most desirable of housemates." His lips twisted slightly into a small, but rueful grin. "Especially since Qi-ge is to be 'Sect Leader Shen' soon...I can only assume the bustle and noise will get worse before it gets much better."
Gently patting Lan Xichen's hand, he added, "A quiet life with books and music, and someone who treats me tenderly...that's what I dream of."
"Of course I am --!" Xichen blurts, a blush high on his impressive cheekbones. "You'd be my spouse, not my prisoner."
His eyes dart to the side because really, for some there is no difference between two. His own mother could attest to that if she were still alive.
(And he does his damnedest not to think about why that might be, why his mother died so abruptly.)
His anxious mood settles quickly when Shen Yuan says what it is he wants out of their marriage - to hear such a thing warms Xichen's heart because it means they are of one mind about their desires.
"...I too wish for that kind of life," he says, idly thumbing Shen Yuan's knuckles, turning his soft gaze to his betrothed. "I'm happy it gets to be with you."
"As am I." Shen Yuan's smile grew for a moment before he modestly lowered his gaze, a blush coloring his own cheeks as he added, "And I hope one day...my husband will trust me enough to share his troubles with me, as well as his joys."
He turned away, abashed by his own boldness. Who did he think he was, speaking so to Zewu-jun...? But he meant it, though. His father and mother had always shared the burdens and triumphs of their business with each other -- and when they'd passed, his brothers Shen Jiu and Shen Qi had done just the same. It seemed only right and fair that he should support his own husband, in whatever way he needed.
He feels a rush of warmth and affection for the man next to him, and he ducks his head, cheeks still tinged red.
"Consider it far less a matter of trust, and more a matter of time," he says. "If things continue as they are, then I cannot imagine there will be anything I would not trust with you."
He turns so that he his facing his husband-to-be, taking his hands in his own.
"I hope too that you will find me to be as a friend, an ally, and confidant."
And that is no false promise. Even if marriages in the Cloud Recesses were leagues more egalitarian than their counterparts in the Jianghu, Xichen has no intention of letting Shen Yuan be viewed as subservient to him. This will be a partnership of equals.
He gives Shen Yuan's hands a gentle squeeze.
"I... have something I would like to give you, if it pleases...?"
Well, something other than than what Shen Yuan and the rest of his family received upon their arrival in the Cloud Recesses.
Shen Yuan's own smile grows at Lan Xichen's words, relieved and pleased beyond easy expression -- it sounds nearly fantastical, that someone like him could ever stand as equals with Zewu-jun -- but what can he do but believe his husband-to-be, especially when he says it so earnestly, with such clear eyes, a straightforward gaze, and those famously powerful hands clasped around Shen Yuan's own? It's nearly enough to make a man swoon!
And then Lan Xichen has to go and bring a gift into it, and Shen Yuan cannot even! He really can't with this man, how is he supposed to cope? It's all just too romantic, if Lan Xichen's goal is to make Shen Yuan fall inescapably deeply in love with him than mission accomplished!
Shen Yuan blushes terribly, ducking his head. "Zewu-jun didn't need to do that," he protests, flattered and flustered to the extreme. "Although...I actually brought him a gift too...it's just a trifle," he admitted nervously. "I can just leave it in the house and Zewu-jun can look at it later if he likes..."
"Nothing of you or yours is a trifle," Xichen's tone isn't scolding, but there's a firmness about it. Humility and modesty are fine virtues indeed, but he will not see this man devalue himself in any way. Shen Yuan will not be made to feel small, not here, not ever.
He brings Shen Yuan's knuckles to his lips - bold and forward compared to the hand-holding and walking arm-in-arm they had been maintaining for the sake of propriety.
"A-Yuan," he says, and then, quite emphatically; "husband."
His smile couldn't be warmer, more inviting, a gleam of solicitous mischief in his eyes.
"Husband..." Shen Yuan whispers softly, and his eyes sparkle with silent joy. How wonderful, this simply yet lovely picture Lan Xichen makes, of every gesture of affection, every piece of Shen Yuan's heart he's offered, being returned in kind. On impulse Shen Yuan turns his hand to gently cup Lan Xichen's cheek, and though he blushes terribly at the impudence still he leaves it there, his thumb poised mere centimeters of Lan Xichen's lovely, bow-like lips.
What will it be like to kiss those lips, he finally allows himself to wonder in his waking hours. Surely it will be even more thrilling than the press of those lips against his hand -- and that warmed him all the way through, and left his skin tingling with the desire for more.
"As Lan Lang means the world to me," he says softly, using the very same simple, informal mode of address that his mother had always used for his father when they had no company but their children and a few servants around. Formality was for strangers and business associates; family should be intimate with each other, and he wanted so badly to be part of Lan Xichen's family.
"If husband looks in my left sleeve, he may find his gift there," he says sweetly, still blushing but enboldened by Lan Xichen's own sweetness. "I hope it brings him happiness."
It's nothing, really: a single scroll, suitable for hanging on the wall, on which a few lines of poetry have been written in an artistic but legible hand:
Soft is the sonnet of willows Wavering winds form the streams Blowing so that you may welcome my peace Singing the songs of your dreams
And in one corner had been painted a few willow vines, sweetly dipping their tips in a rippling pool of water. Nothing special -- except for the fact that every speck of ink had been laid down with Shen Yuan's own hand, and the sincerity that lived in his heart.
Xichen feels a soft tug on his heart when Shen Yuan invites something so intimate. Not one to refuse any reason to touch his betrothed, Xichen's long, delicate fingers glide along Shen Yuan's fine-boned wrist, caressing his forearm as they coax Shen Yuan to do the same to him.
There is a qiankun bag tied to Xichen's wrist - one he picked out for his betrothed in shades of sage green and made of the softest silks. It contains a black lacquer box decorated with golden cranes (a beautiful artisanal piece imported from Dongying) filled with new brushes, ink sticks, little glass pots of powdered pigments, rich in both depth and breadth of colour, and a Taohe inkstone inscribed with leaf patterns and a short poem about soppy things like spring and love and a more subtle-than-usual euphemism. He tilts his wrist just so that the silk drawstring slides onto Shen Yuan's fingers.
The scroll, to him, is better than even the finest masterwork. He reads Shen Yuan's brushwork with ever growing admiration, and he knows this poem will hang in the Hanshi from this day on.
"A-Yuan," he breathes, finally rolling up the scroll, a flush vibrant on his cheeks, "this is wonderful."
Shen Yuan is also touched to the core by his own gift. "Lan Lang," he murmurs, holding the laquered box in his hands, "this is so much, I -- I don't know what to say..." A single tear slips from one eye and down his cheek, but not out of sadness. Rather his gratitude, his feelings of tenderness, they've all conspired to overwhelm him, surely as a spring flood washes the riverbanks clean.
"I will think of my loving husband every time I use these beautiful tools he gave me," he finally gathers himself to promise. "Every time, no matter I'm using them for...it will all be a tribute to you..." Although he tries to blink his tears away, another slips down that blushing cheek, followed by another. He quickly bows his head to hide them from Lan Xichen's sight, murmuring, "Thank you..."
His heart drums in his chest, hands reaching to cradle Shen Yuan's wet cheeks (though Xichen cannot claim his own are particularly dry), and he leans forward pressing the cool clasp of his hair ribbon to his betrothed's brow.
"A-Yuan," he breathes, thumbing away his tears. The wedding really can't come soon enough, can it? He almost, almost suggests just taking off and eloping now, if the ensuing fallout and drama wouldn't be considerably more trouble than simply being patient and waiting the few months left to their marriage. And, of course, getting through the tedium of the ceremony.
Instead, he tilts is head just so to press a shy, soft kiss to the corner of Shen Yuan's mouth.
Oh...oh Lan Lang, his sweet fiance. Shen Yuan has half a mind to ask Lan Xichen to run away with him right now, consequences be damned...or, even more inappropriately, carry him into that little house that Shen Yuan still hasn't seen, but trusts will be perfect, and stake a claim on his body and heart that can never be erased. It's powerfully tempting. If Shen Yuan were even slightly less dutiful, he'd really say it. But...
Augh, no. He can't. His brothers don't deserve that! Lan Xichen doesn't deserve that, he deserves...he deserves a calm, temperate spouse, who will bring out all of his best qualities, not the most base. Besides, it's only three more months.
Still, Shen Yuan can't resist turning his head ever so slightly to return the kiss with one of his own, its shyness and lack of experience a poor cover for his longing. And then he quickly takes two steps back, before either of them does something foolish.
And it's a good thing too, because that's how Lan Qiren finds them: standing in the middle of the path, each of them blushing hard with tear streaks on their faces, but still with an appropriate distance between them. So he only hurrumphs a little bit, stroking his beard.
"How long does it take to show someone a house?" he asks.
Xichen's flushed cheeks and sweet smile cannot hide how much he would like to simply pick Shen Yuan up and, well, break in the new furniture, so to speak. So it is a good thing they have the self-control to, well, not do that.
He very nearly jumps out of his skin when his uncle interrupts.
Quickly stepping between Shen Yuan and his uncle's line of sight to save his fiance some face that they were both openly crying tears of joy, he surreptitiously slides his beloved a handkerchief while drying his own eyes on the hem of his sleeve.
"We, ah, found ourselves lost in conversation, shufu. My apologies."
He rounds his arms and bows apologetically to a rather skeptical 'hmm' from Lan Qiren. He saw that little kiss, nephew, he knows what young men - especially young men madly in love - are like.
"Well then, bid your goodbyes for the evening. You have duties to attend to," the older Lan scolds, but there's not much force to it, and he turns to head down the path to wait for Xichen at the gate. It's good to see his nephews happy, even if the younger one's happiness is going to cost him a lot of sleep.
Xichen turns to Shen Yuan, beaming with warmth.
"Good night, A-Yuan. Tomorrow, if you like, would you care to accompany on a walk around the peak...?"
"Take your brother with you!" his uncle calls over his shoulder. Just because he's happy about this arrangement doesn't mean he's letting Xichen and Shen Yuan scurry about unsupervised.
Oh thank heavens, Lan Xichen doesn't seem to be in trouble! Still, that was much, much too close, and the last thing Shen Yuan wants is to get on the bad side of his in-laws. So while he says, "A walk with Zewu-jun and Hanguang-jun would be lovely," and smiles sweetly, what he means is, 'I solemly swear I will stay on my best behavior for the rest of this visit.'
Which lasts all the way through meeting up with Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, and all the way through a polite but enthusiastic conversation about how much he liked the little house Lan Xichen built for him, and which pieces of furniture he'd like to bring with him from Shen Manor and which could bought new, and which species of bird are native to the Gusu mountains and how they might be induced to sing outside his window without breaking the strictures against keeping pets. (That last one is perhaps less polite than it could be, but it's not like Lan Wangji is in any place to judge.)
But when Shen Yuan looks up to check that Lan Wangji really doesn't mind, he's surprised to find him -- gone! And when he looks over at Lan Xichen, well! He's met with a twinkling smile that's altogether too mischievous and knowing.
"Lan Lang!" he admonishes him, this time remembering to hide his blushing face behind an unfolded fan. "Where did your brother go? We're not supposed to be alone, you know."
Lan Wangji is a man who loves his older brother very dearly. He would also rather be literally anywhere else in the world at the moment than playing third wheel to an impromptu date between said besotted older brother and said besotted older brother's equally besotted betrothed!
So he gives Lan Xichen a pained look that, clear as day (or at least clear as day to Xichen who is fluent in Wangji's microexpressions), reads just promise me you won't go fucking him in a field somewhere, to which Xichen smiled ambiguously, which was good enough for Wangji to turn on his heel to take off to Caiyi Town. That the Jiang siblings are there probably has absolutely nothing to do with his need to get out of the Cloud Recesses.
"My brother is a young man now," Xichen says sagely, giving Shen Yuan's arm a light squeeze. "He has exciting pursuits of his own and has little time to be trailing after this dull old gege like he did when he was a boy."
He is a little sad for his brother's absence. He does enjoy Wangji's company, and his quiet, straightforward words are refreshing after spending hours upon hours dealing with sect politics and all the honeyed doublespeak that comes with it.
"I am sure we can behave ourselves, yes?" His eyes sparkle with a most wicked intent to wine (well, tea), dine, and woo his betrothed. "There's a lovely meadow just down the path. We can picnic there, if it pleases?"
"Tsk," is all Shen Yuan says for a moment, torn between the two equal yet opposing urges to protest that there is nothing dull about Lan Xichen, and to keep in mind that indeed, they are supposed to be just a little dull, right now. At least until the wedding, which has never seemed so far away.
Still...Shen Yuan is a little hungry...and his husband is so lovely when he smiles...surely a simple picnic wouldn't hurt. They just need to be sure not to touch each other too much, ahem.
"...A picnic would be acceptable," he finally says, still not coming out from behind his fan. He offers Lan Xichen his arm instead, and tries not to shiver at his fiance's warm, yet gentle grip.
He takes his betrothed's arm, beaming at him. Autumn is in full swing, the air crisp and clear and the leaves an explosion of colour. The meadow is small, surrounded by a thick copse of bamboo, with a babbling stream cutting through it. There is a singular tree in its midst; an ancient gnarled willow under which Xichen procures a qiankun bag full of this afternoon's picnic supplies.
He had anticipated Wangji staying on a little longer, so there is quite a bit more than for just two, but it is a lovely spread, laid out on little trays with a blanket and cushions so they can enjoy the weather under the shade of the willow tree.
The food itself is, as expected, vegetarian fare. There is no meat served inside the bounds of the Cloud Recesses. Luckily, none of it is the bitter or bland medicinal dishes for which his sect is known for. Plump bao stuffed with mixed vegetables and rich sauces steam in their basket, fresh pulled noodles and sliced bamboo shoots simmer in savory broth, and there are even sweets shaped into little bunnies are on display.
"Alas," he says, offering one of the rabbit sweets to Shen Yuan, "didi will have to have his later."
A proper young master would never allow himself to engage in behaviors that might give him a reputation for gluttony, but Shen Yuan still can't quite hide his delight on the spread Lan Xichen lays out for him both, even lowering his fan and putting it away so he can better appreciate the gastronomical gifts on offer. Everything looked and smelled so delicious, he didn't even notice the lack of meat!
Still, he can't let his betrothed think he's gotten off the hook that easily (he totally has, but that doesn't mean he needs to know it). "What a shame," he says blandly, accepting the adorable sweet from Lan Xichen's hand. "Perhaps next time he won't be so quick to forget his duties." He arches his eyebrow knowingly before taking a nibble off the rabbit.
Immediately all pretense of annoyance melts away as the sugary flavor spreads across his tongue. "Lan Lang," he says, covering his mouth with his other hand. "This is delightful! Wherever did you get it?" Could there really be a shop in Gusu that makes such delicacies? If so Shen Yuan is going to become their number one customer!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Gifts for the Betrothed
Date: 2023-05-25 07:46 pm (UTC)"But no, I don't think I will," he continues more seriously -- but also tenderly, pausing their progress for a moment to carefully pluck a scarlet leaf gone astray from of Lan Xichen's hair. He holds it between two fingers like a miniature fan, twirling it slowly and smiling at the light in his husband-to-be's eyes as he holds it up next to his face. "My brothers have many admirable qualities, but if it's a quiet life one prefers, they aren't perhaps the most desirable of housemates." His lips twisted slightly into a small, but rueful grin. "Especially since Qi-ge is to be 'Sect Leader Shen' soon...I can only assume the bustle and noise will get worse before it gets much better."
Gently patting Lan Xichen's hand, he added, "A quiet life with books and music, and someone who treats me tenderly...that's what I dream of."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 11:19 pm (UTC)His eyes dart to the side because really, for some there is no difference between two. His own mother could attest to that if she were still alive.
(And he does his damnedest not to think about why that might be, why his mother died so abruptly.)
His anxious mood settles quickly when Shen Yuan says what it is he wants out of their marriage - to hear such a thing warms Xichen's heart because it means they are of one mind about their desires.
"...I too wish for that kind of life," he says, idly thumbing Shen Yuan's knuckles, turning his soft gaze to his betrothed. "I'm happy it gets to be with you."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 11:42 pm (UTC)He turned away, abashed by his own boldness. Who did he think he was, speaking so to Zewu-jun...? But he meant it, though. His father and mother had always shared the burdens and triumphs of their business with each other -- and when they'd passed, his brothers Shen Jiu and Shen Qi had done just the same. It seemed only right and fair that he should support his own husband, in whatever way he needed.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-26 02:16 pm (UTC)"Consider it far less a matter of trust, and more a matter of time," he says. "If things continue as they are, then I cannot imagine there will be anything I would not trust with you."
He turns so that he his facing his husband-to-be, taking his hands in his own.
"I hope too that you will find me to be as a friend, an ally, and confidant."
And that is no false promise. Even if marriages in the Cloud Recesses were leagues more egalitarian than their counterparts in the Jianghu, Xichen has no intention of letting Shen Yuan be viewed as subservient to him. This will be a partnership of equals.
He gives Shen Yuan's hands a gentle squeeze.
"I... have something I would like to give you, if it pleases...?"
Well, something other than than what Shen Yuan and the rest of his family received upon their arrival in the Cloud Recesses.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-31 03:40 am (UTC)And then Lan Xichen has to go and bring a gift into it, and Shen Yuan cannot even! He really can't with this man, how is he supposed to cope? It's all just too romantic, if Lan Xichen's goal is to make Shen Yuan fall inescapably deeply in love with him than mission accomplished!
Shen Yuan blushes terribly, ducking his head. "Zewu-jun didn't need to do that," he protests, flattered and flustered to the extreme. "Although...I actually brought him a gift too...it's just a trifle," he admitted nervously. "I can just leave it in the house and Zewu-jun can look at it later if he likes..."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-31 08:53 pm (UTC)He brings Shen Yuan's knuckles to his lips - bold and forward compared to the hand-holding and walking arm-in-arm they had been maintaining for the sake of propriety.
"A-Yuan," he says, and then, quite emphatically; "husband."
His smile couldn't be warmer, more inviting, a gleam of solicitous mischief in his eyes.
"You mean the world to me."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 05:41 am (UTC)What will it be like to kiss those lips, he finally allows himself to wonder in his waking hours. Surely it will be even more thrilling than the press of those lips against his hand -- and that warmed him all the way through, and left his skin tingling with the desire for more.
"As Lan Lang means the world to me," he says softly, using the very same simple, informal mode of address that his mother had always used for his father when they had no company but their children and a few servants around. Formality was for strangers and business associates; family should be intimate with each other, and he wanted so badly to be part of Lan Xichen's family.
"If husband looks in my left sleeve, he may find his gift there," he says sweetly, still blushing but enboldened by Lan Xichen's own sweetness. "I hope it brings him happiness."
It's nothing, really: a single scroll, suitable for hanging on the wall, on which a few lines of poetry have been written in an artistic but legible hand:
Soft is the sonnet of willows
Wavering winds form the streams
Blowing so that you may welcome my peace
Singing the songs of your dreams
And in one corner had been painted a few willow vines, sweetly dipping their tips in a rippling pool of water. Nothing special -- except for the fact that every speck of ink had been laid down with Shen Yuan's own hand, and the sincerity that lived in his heart.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 08:42 pm (UTC)There is a qiankun bag tied to Xichen's wrist - one he picked out for his betrothed in shades of sage green and made of the softest silks. It contains a black lacquer box decorated with golden cranes (a beautiful artisanal piece imported from Dongying) filled with new brushes, ink sticks, little glass pots of powdered pigments, rich in both depth and breadth of colour, and a Taohe inkstone inscribed with leaf patterns and a short poem about soppy things like spring and love and a more subtle-than-usual euphemism. He tilts his wrist just so that the silk drawstring slides onto Shen Yuan's fingers.
The scroll, to him, is better than even the finest masterwork. He reads Shen Yuan's brushwork with ever growing admiration, and he knows this poem will hang in the Hanshi from this day on.
"A-Yuan," he breathes, finally rolling up the scroll, a flush vibrant on his cheeks, "this is wonderful."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 02:10 am (UTC)"I will think of my loving husband every time I use these beautiful tools he gave me," he finally gathers himself to promise. "Every time, no matter I'm using them for...it will all be a tribute to you..." Although he tries to blink his tears away, another slips down that blushing cheek, followed by another. He quickly bows his head to hide them from Lan Xichen's sight, murmuring, "Thank you..."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 04:34 pm (UTC)"A-Yuan," he breathes, thumbing away his tears. The wedding really can't come soon enough, can it? He almost, almost suggests just taking off and eloping now, if the ensuing fallout and drama wouldn't be considerably more trouble than simply being patient and waiting the few months left to their marriage. And, of course, getting through the tedium of the ceremony.
Instead, he tilts is head just so to press a shy, soft kiss to the corner of Shen Yuan's mouth.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 05:06 pm (UTC)Augh, no. He can't. His brothers don't deserve that! Lan Xichen doesn't deserve that, he deserves...he deserves a calm, temperate spouse, who will bring out all of his best qualities, not the most base. Besides, it's only three more months.
Still, Shen Yuan can't resist turning his head ever so slightly to return the kiss with one of his own, its shyness and lack of experience a poor cover for his longing. And then he quickly takes two steps back, before either of them does something foolish.
And it's a good thing too, because that's how Lan Qiren finds them: standing in the middle of the path, each of them blushing hard with tear streaks on their faces, but still with an appropriate distance between them. So he only hurrumphs a little bit, stroking his beard.
"How long does it take to show someone a house?" he asks.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 12:57 am (UTC)He very nearly jumps out of his skin when his uncle interrupts.
Quickly stepping between Shen Yuan and his uncle's line of sight to save his fiance some face that they were both openly crying tears of joy, he surreptitiously slides his beloved a handkerchief while drying his own eyes on the hem of his sleeve.
"We, ah, found ourselves lost in conversation, shufu. My apologies."
He rounds his arms and bows apologetically to a rather skeptical 'hmm' from Lan Qiren. He saw that little kiss, nephew, he knows what young men - especially young men madly in love - are like.
"Well then, bid your goodbyes for the evening. You have duties to attend to," the older Lan scolds, but there's not much force to it, and he turns to head down the path to wait for Xichen at the gate. It's good to see his nephews happy, even if the younger one's happiness is going to cost him a lot of sleep.
Xichen turns to Shen Yuan, beaming with warmth.
"Good night, A-Yuan. Tomorrow, if you like, would you care to accompany on a walk around the peak...?"
"Take your brother with you!" his uncle calls over his shoulder. Just because he's happy about this arrangement doesn't mean he's letting Xichen and Shen Yuan scurry about unsupervised.
"...Er... accompany Wangji and me, I mean."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 05:48 am (UTC)Which lasts all the way through meeting up with Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, and all the way through a polite but enthusiastic conversation about how much he liked the little house Lan Xichen built for him, and which pieces of furniture he'd like to bring with him from Shen Manor and which could bought new, and which species of bird are native to the Gusu mountains and how they might be induced to sing outside his window without breaking the strictures against keeping pets. (That last one is perhaps less polite than it could be, but it's not like Lan Wangji is in any place to judge.)
But when Shen Yuan looks up to check that Lan Wangji really doesn't mind, he's surprised to find him -- gone! And when he looks over at Lan Xichen, well! He's met with a twinkling smile that's altogether too mischievous and knowing.
"Lan Lang!" he admonishes him, this time remembering to hide his blushing face behind an unfolded fan. "Where did your brother go? We're not supposed to be alone, you know."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 06:13 am (UTC)So he gives Lan Xichen a pained look that, clear as day (or at least clear as day to Xichen who is fluent in Wangji's microexpressions), reads just promise me you won't go fucking him in a field somewhere, to which Xichen smiled ambiguously, which was good enough for Wangji to turn on his heel to take off to Caiyi Town. That the Jiang siblings are there probably has absolutely nothing to do with his need to get out of the Cloud Recesses.
"My brother is a young man now," Xichen says sagely, giving Shen Yuan's arm a light squeeze. "He has exciting pursuits of his own and has little time to be trailing after this dull old gege like he did when he was a boy."
He is a little sad for his brother's absence. He does enjoy Wangji's company, and his quiet, straightforward words are refreshing after spending hours upon hours dealing with sect politics and all the honeyed doublespeak that comes with it.
"I am sure we can behave ourselves, yes?" His eyes sparkle with a most wicked intent to wine (well, tea), dine, and woo his betrothed. "There's a lovely meadow just down the path. We can picnic there, if it pleases?"
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 07:51 am (UTC)Still...Shen Yuan is a little hungry...and his husband is so lovely when he smiles...surely a simple picnic wouldn't hurt. They just need to be sure not to touch each other too much, ahem.
"...A picnic would be acceptable," he finally says, still not coming out from behind his fan. He offers Lan Xichen his arm instead, and tries not to shiver at his fiance's warm, yet gentle grip.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-04 09:57 pm (UTC)He had anticipated Wangji staying on a little longer, so there is quite a bit more than for just two, but it is a lovely spread, laid out on little trays with a blanket and cushions so they can enjoy the weather under the shade of the willow tree.
The food itself is, as expected, vegetarian fare. There is no meat served inside the bounds of the Cloud Recesses. Luckily, none of it is the bitter or bland medicinal dishes for which his sect is known for. Plump bao stuffed with mixed vegetables and rich sauces steam in their basket, fresh pulled noodles and sliced bamboo shoots simmer in savory broth, and there are even sweets shaped into little bunnies are on display.
"Alas," he says, offering one of the rabbit sweets to Shen Yuan, "didi will have to have his later."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-06 05:57 am (UTC)Still, he can't let his betrothed think he's gotten off the hook that easily (he totally has, but that doesn't mean he needs to know it). "What a shame," he says blandly, accepting the adorable sweet from Lan Xichen's hand. "Perhaps next time he won't be so quick to forget his duties." He arches his eyebrow knowingly before taking a nibble off the rabbit.
Immediately all pretense of annoyance melts away as the sugary flavor spreads across his tongue. "Lan Lang," he says, covering his mouth with his other hand. "This is delightful! Wherever did you get it?" Could there really be a shop in Gusu that makes such delicacies? If so Shen Yuan is going to become their number one customer!