Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

All I Want

WINTER

Lan Zhan stands at the circular window, watching the snowflakes fall onto a carpet of snow, relishing the bite of the wind and hearing the crunch of ice already forming on the ground outside, before he steps outside the Jingshi.

He knows exactly what it will feel like.

Winter in Cloud Recesses is nothing to be laughed at; it certainly isn't for the fainthearted.

The cold comes first, a warning in the chilly breeze, a whisper of the coming storms. Folks that have lived in the mountains always seem to know when a particularly bad one is about to hit, and he doesn't know if it is because the knowledge is instinctual, handed down through generation after generation within the hardiness of their bloodline, or whether it is the mountains themselves that give out a warning through some misplaced kind of benevolence.

After that first sign, the icicles come next.

Hanging like stalactites on the branches of the pine trees stubbornly clinging on to their green cloaks, even though their peers have long become bare and barren, shedding their leaves through the fall. Those who know, steer clear of walking too closely under them, ever wary of a possible impending doom.

Then, it is the miracle of the first snow, celebrated and rejoiced in, as if it were something new, something good.

Lan Zhan wonders how he can forget it is so beautiful. That first glimpse upon waking after a night of snowfall, one that muffles the day and renders the world outside the Jingshi sparkling and magical, a place full of possibilities where anything can happen.

The door slams open and Wei Ying enters, stamping his boots in an effort to rid them of the loose snow before he discards them.

There he is, Lan Zhan's own personal miracle, and the reason why Lan Zhan can forget about anything else being beautiful, because nothing can beat Wei Ying.

Snowflakes cling to his long lashes, curling on his reddened cheeks, his nose cutely matching and more snow melting in his hair. That one lock of hair, wild and untameable, stubbornly sticking up in the air no matter how much both he and Wei Ying try to pin it down.

His shimmering silver eyes lighting up, sparkling like frost caught in the quiet moonlight, his beautiful red lips already upturned in a gorgeous smile, the one Wei Ying saves for only him. He takes Lan Zhan's breath away simply by existing.

He is here.

Wei Ying kicks off his boots, shivering as he bends to put them upright and out of the way, his feet rushing towards Lan Zhan before he can think about it. To reach the arms that are always open for only him. Wei Ying slides his cold hands inside the first layer of Lan Zhan's robes, not right next to his skin because Wei Ying isn't a monster, and anyway, Lan Zhan always runs hot which is just even luckier for him.

He presses himself closer to his husband, delighting in how those strong arms pull him closer.

"Did you miss me, my love?" He asks, searching Lan Zhan's face for any elusive answers.

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan replies, "I am always missing you."

*****************

The brazier keeps the Jingshi warm so that Wei Ying is not constantly trembling. With no golden core to keep him internally warm enough, this is the best way to get through the long winter days and nights.

Lan Zhan kept dinner waiting, heated with talismans until Wei Ying returned from visiting Uncle Qiren.

They eat quietly as is the custom of the Lan Clan, and Lan Zhan finds his gaze constantly drifting towards the moon of his midnight sky.