Chapter Text
It had become a thing for them.
Meeting up at the library, that is.
It wasn’t their intention to turn this into a thing, but Jiang Cheng wanted to take advantage of his access to the Gusu Lan library for the time that he got to be here, and Lan Wangji just so happened to also be there, reading. They stayed out of each other’s way that first time. Or, more like it was Jiang Cheng staying out of Lan Wangji’s way, trying to be as quiet as possible as he browsed and looked through the collection, trying to choose what to read first.
And they continued that way every time they happened upon each other in the library. Sometimes he got there before Lan Wangji. Most times, Lan Wangji was already there. They didn’t always end up meeting there every time he went though. It wasn’t like he went to the library every day, there were other things to do, better things to do, than to spend all his time cooped up in a room.
Or at least, it stayed that way until Jiang Cheng found himself stuck on a passage that he couldn’t really fully understand. Like he was missing something, and, well, Lan Wangji was right there . And he was Lan Qiren’s favorite, right? One of the favored students, considering how Lan-xiansheng often used Lan Wangji as an example to them all when none of them knew an answer to some of his questions.
So? He might as well use the resources available to him.
All in all, it went better than he expected it to. For all that Nie Huaisang warned them about the wrath of the Second Jade of Gusu Lan, Second Young Master Lan, there was no wrath to be found when Jiang Cheng interrupted his reading to ask for help. Or maybe that was because he wasn’t being disruptive, and it was about their studies. Through Lan Wangji’s guidance, Jiang Cheng could really see and understand why Lan Qiren was so famous for his teaching. He could almost see Lan Wangji taking Lan-xiansheng’s place when they’re all grown up.
Thanking Lan Wangji for his help, Jiang Cheng tried to get out of his hair as soon as possible, but the book in front of Lan Wangji caught his eye and he ended up asking about it, forgetting his original goal. Lan Wangji was silent for so long Jiang Cheng thought he’d actually managed to offend him, finally. But he eventually answered. It turned out to be the book that he was looking for, and forgetting himself, he sat back down and asked Lan Wangji for his opinion on the book, telling him that he was also interested in reading.
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Lan Wangji actually humored him and answered.
Jiang Cheng smacked himself with his pillow that night, when he realized he’d kept himself from studying, and worse, kept Lan Wangji from going back to his reading with his chatter.
He had decided, vowed really, to himself that he would not bother the Lan again.
That vow was immediately broken the next day when Lan Wangji came over to where he was sitting at the library, with the book he was reading in hand and handed it to Jiang Cheng. He was too startled then, to say anything other than thanks, to which Lan Wangji nodded and left to his own table.
Jiang Cheng later found a slip of paper filled with notes and observations. Lan Wangji’s thoughts, made tangible in impeccable perfect handwriting.
It became a thing .
He’d assumed that it would eventually come to an end, or something. He wasn’t exactly sure why Lan Wangji kept approaching him, and kept tolerating him when Jiang Cheng was the one initiating. But a thing it became.
As regular as their thing was, there were times that didn’t happen.
First was when Lan-xiansheng finally caught on to Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian’s schemes and had Lan Wangji monitor the rules copying Wei Wuxian was supposed to be doing. And if there was something Jiang Cheng learnt growing up, it was the fact that being around Wei Wuxian was not conducive to him getting his homework and studying done. So he stopped going there for a while. Sometimes he would go in to get a book or scroll that he needed, either for casual reading or for actual studying. Those were the times that Lan Wangji would stare intensely at him with betrayal in his eyes as Jiang Cheng did his best to get out of the library without Wei Wuxian noticing him.
Obviously, they got back to their thing after the debacle with Jin Zixuan insulting his sister. Or well, kind of, with the occasional Nie Huaisang joining them. Which somehow made it not their thing anymore. Not that Jiang Cheng knew how to explain why that was the case. It wasn’t as bad as when Wei Wuxian was doing his punishment though (Jiang Cheng made a mistake of feeling guilty of leaving Lan Wangji to deal with Wei Wuxian once and had to stay up all night finishing his homework because as always Wei Wuxian got his attention and next he knew, they were arguing and chatting). At least when Nie Huaisang was there, Jiang Cheng could actually get the guy to actually study. Sometimes Lan Wangji even joined in to help explain some things.
Nie Huaisang eventually refused to go to the library with him again after a while though, spouting out some nonsense about how Lan Wangji would kill and dismember him so no one could ever find the evidence.
Nie Huaisang could be stubborn as a mule if he wanted to, there was no point trying to convince the guy when he’s decided on something, so Jiang Cheng just helped him with his studies elsewhere instead, whenever he had the time.
Anyways, he and Lan Wangji have this thing .
Which was why he was at the library, and so was Lan Wangji. He’d actually finished his homework an hour ago, and he was pretty sure Lan Wangji wasn’t really studying at all, but just reading for leisure.
It was nice.
It’s been a while since he got to spend time with Lan Wangji, doing their thing , if this counted as doing anything and ‘spending time with.’ Regardless, Jiang Cheng does enjoy existing in the same space as Lan Wangji. He was reading a collection of poems that Lan Wangji had recommended to him a while back, but he found that he couldn’t really focus on the text.
He’d been spending his time studying, working, helping Nie Huaisang, memorizing whatever information he thought might be useful. Jiang Cheng felt like his head was actually quite light and empty at the moment, possibly filled with fog and clouds.
It was probably why his eyes kept drifting over to look at Lan Wangji, who’s always been pleasant to the eyes, and most importantly right now, not made of words. He tried not to stare, to refocus on the book, but Jiang Cheng didn’t think he quite succeeded with how stiffly Lan Wangji kept still and unmoving at times. Maybe he should’ve tried looking at something else, but it was hard when Lan Wangji was pretty much the most interesting ‘thing’ to look at here, that wasn’t full of text.
He was staring again.
Sometimes he wondered about the Lan ribbon. He knew the rules around it of course. No one’s allowed to touch it, unless given permission, and if that happened, then you’re pretty much being courted. At least that’s what it sounded like when he read the rules. Who knows, maybe he interpreted it wrong. He could ask Lan Wangji. But there wasn’t really any reason to, considering that it wasn’t like he was interested in touching the ribbon.
Jiang Cheng was just confused why they even needed to wear it in the first place.
Sure, it wasn’t like his sect didn’t have a distinct accessory of their own, but at least their bells had a specific purpose linked to their practice as cultivators. From what he could understand, the Lan ribbon was just that. A simple ribbon. Sometimes with decorated detailed patterns, if one is of the direct bloodline. He’s read that it was supposed to represent and symbolize self regulation, or self-restraint? Something like that?
It sounded pretty stupid to Jiang Cheng.
Shouldn’t you know how to have restraint without needing a flimsy piece of fabric to remind you? Maybe he was being too critical and judgemental, but the fact that this was one of the identifiable things about a sect made it mean something. Because Jiang Cheng was absolutely thinking about how maybe the Lans are just a bunch of people with no self control whatsoever and the only reason they’re so dignified was due to their flimsy little ribbons.
Maybe he really should just ask.
“Lan Wangji?”
“Mn?”
Golden eyes peered up at him.
“Your ribbon,” Jiang Cheng said, and Lan Wangji stiffened, “it carries the meaning of ‘regulating oneself’, right?”
And Lan Wangji relaxed. Jiang Cheng wondered what he thought he was going to say.
Lan Wangji nodded.
“Is it enchanted? Like, is the meaning symbolic or is there actual enchantment to help with that ‘regulation’ of oneself?” He asked, because it was one of the things he actually wondered about.
Lan Wangji shook his head.
“No enchantments. It’s a reminder,” he said simply.
“So, if you took off the ribbon, you wouldn’t be any different than you are right now with the ribbon on?”
Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
Jiang Cheng said nothing as well. He asked a question.
Lan Wangji closed his eyes, his long eyelashes brushing against his cheek, and sighed.
“No, I would not be different.”
“So why wear it at all?”
Lan Wangji opened his eyes to scowl at him.
Jiang Cheng shrugged.
“Since you wouldn’t be any different with or without the ribbon, why wear it? If it’s really about a reminder of having self-restraint, then shouldn’t you already be able to have restraint without relying on it? I mean, the rest of us had to,” he said, shrugging again.
“The ribbon can only be touched by family members or our fated ones,” Lan Wangji spoke slowly, like Jiang Cheng was a particularly stupid child and not someone asking a valid question. “It represents the lack of need for self-restraint around them.”
Jiang Cheng blinked, taking in the new information, the new perspective really. He’d never thought of it that way. He probably should’ve. The Lan clan’s story about their founder was basically a story of love and romance and soulmates. He should’ve known the ribbon that only a soulmate was allowed to touch would have some kind of romantic symbolic meaning to it. Still…
“Okay, so it’s not like people struggle with self control. It’s just that it’s not needed around people close to you?” He asked, to make sure he actually understood what Lan Wangji explained.
Lan Wangji stared at him.
Jiang Cheng raised his eyebrow. He was pretty sure he understood it properly. It was just about being able to be yourself around people you’re close to, wasn’t it?
Lan Wangji continued to not say anything. In fact, he was looking a little tense.
“So,” Jiang Cheng said, and Lan Wangji stiffened up further, “you do struggle with self-restraint without the presence of the ribbon.”
Lan Wangji said nothing. And stared.
Jiang Cheng brought a hand up to his face and sighed. Well at least the guy was self-aware.
He took his hand away from his face, Lan Wangji looked like he was about to go back to his book.
“So do you practice or something?”
“Practice?”
Lan Wangji looked up at him again, with questions in his voice.
“Well you say you struggle with self-restraint,” at what Jiang Cheng said, he felt like could see a shadow of a twitch by Lan Wangji’s eye, “so do you do practice or something to manage it?”
“I meditate.”
“That’s not practicing, that’s avoidance.”
Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes at him.
Jiang Cheng shrugged.
“I’m not saying I don’t do it too, I’m just saying that’s not practice,” he said, just in case Lan Wangji thought he was being dismissive.
Lan Wangji sighed heavily through his nose, and turned back to his book.
Jiang Cheng placed his arms on the table, letting his face rest on his left hand, and contemplated dropping the subject. He already got his answer. He also got more information that he initially aimed for. Still, there was just something bothering him that he couldn’t stop thinking about.
“What if you try practicing NOT being restraint?” He asked, looking at Lan Wangji again.
Lan Wangji blinked at his book, then looked up at him.
Jiang Cheng felt like there hadn’t been a situation where Lan Wangji was ever confused, and he could only assume this expression was that.
He thought about it. It would probably be better to provide an example, they both always worked better when they have an example to go off of.
“Lan Wangji,” he said, “is it against the rules to lean back or lie down right here, in the library?”
Lan Wangji frowned, but didn’t answer right away.
“There is no rule prohibiting such actions,” Lan Wangji eventually answered.
“Okay, then, would you feel uncomfortable, or feel negatively in any way if I did that?” Jiang Cheng asked
Lan Wangji shook his head.
So, he leaned back, and laid down. Jiang Cheng could immediately feel how his back relaxed, as the tension from sitting down was eased off, and rolled his shoulders a little to relieve a bit more of the tension. Maybe he should just spend his time at the library like this from now on, when he didn’t have to write anything down.
Blinking his eyes back open, Jiang Cheng hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes, he could see Lan Wangji staring down at him.
Jiang Cheng noticed he’d do that sometimes. Stare, that is.
Then again, it wasn’t like he didn’t stare as well.
“Your turn,” he said, “try it.”
Lan Wangji looked confused again.
“Look, I don’t want to be rude, but since lying is also prohibited and all, I just think it’s a bit silly that you have to rely on a piece of cloth for self-control. That just sounds like things waiting to go wrong,” he said, “so you might as well practice like,”
He gestured at Lan Wangji’s face.
Lan Wangji backed away from his gesturing hand, and squinted at Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
“I wasn’t going to touch it,” he said, because he wasn’t.
Lan Wangji continued to stare back at him, still frowning.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch your ribbon, I’m not even going to try to,” he said. “But there’s no rules about not wearing the ribbon around non-family members, right? If you take it off yourself.” Jiang Cheng asked.
Lan Wangji blinked, then had this faraway look to his eyes, like he always does when he was thinking of something. Then slowly, shook his head.
Jiang Cheng gestured at him with his hand again.
“Well? Go on?” He said. “I mean how else are you supposed to learn self-restraint without needing the ribbon if you’re always wearing it.”
Lan Wangji looked at him. Then looked past him.
Jiang Cheng laid there, waiting to see what he would do next. It was just them in the library anyways, it wasn’t like anyone one ever comes here.
Then Lan Wangji moved. Jiang Cheng blinked and focused his eyes on him again. Lan Wangji raised his hands and tugged at the knot that held his ribbon together. He wondered if it felt any different for Lan Wangji to be taking it off here, as he watched him carefully roll the ribbon neatly in his hand, paused, then tucked it away inside his sleeve. And then Lan Wangji turned to look at him.
Jiang Cheng smiled at him.
Lan Wangji didn’t look much different, honestly. Obviously, he could see more of his forehead than before. But it wasn’t like the ribbon was hiding away some mark or anything. Still pleasant to the eyes.
Nothing really changed all that much. Lan Wangji didn’t start behaving wildly, or anything that Jiang Cheng expected when the guy said he struggled with self-restraint. Well, maybe it was time for more?
“Well, Lan Wangji,” Jiang Cheng said, “what do you want to do right now?”
Lan Wangji blinked at him. And through him.
Maybe he needed more proding?
“What do you desire?” Jiang Cheng asked, hoping that would help him narrow down ideas.
Lan Wangji blinked back to attention, and stared at Jiang Cheng. His pale eyes looked darker than they did before. Jiang Cheng wondered if it was getting late, but the room still looked pretty light.
Then, Lan Wangji frowned.
He still wasn’t saying anything.
Maybe Jiang Cheng pushed him too much?
“Was that hard?” he asked Lan Wangji. “You can just put the ribbon back on if you want, you know?”
He put his hand against the floor, and pushed himself back up to sit again. He could see Lan Wangji’s face better this way.
Now that he was closer to Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng could hear breathed in, like he was startled.
Was he sitting too close?
Before he could ask, Lan Wangji moved towards him, and he felt a slight pressure against his lips.
Soft .
This time, Jiang Cheng was the one startled. He gasped, and before he could do anything, Lan Wangji had already jumped away, moving back with jerky motions. He wasn’t looking at Jiang Cheng. Hand reaching into his sleeve, pulling out the ribbon and Lan Wangji lifted his hands, like he was about to put the ribbon back on.
“Wait.”
Lan Wangji froze.
Jiang Cheng blinked rapidly, processing what just happened. His entire body felt almost too warm, and his lips-
It was barely a second, barely a touch.
“Wait, was that what you wanted to do?”
Lan Wangji still wasn’t looking at him, ears bright red. But he nodded.
Jiang Cheng thought, or tried to, he couldn’t think about anything. His mind was numbed and blank. He felt stupid.
“Well, there’s no rule that forbids that, right? I didn’t mind.”
Now he sounded stupid too.
Lan Wangji unfroze, was the only way he could describe the change, and slowly, turned to look back up at him.
Jiang Cheng smiled at him. He was trying to go for reassuring, but somehow, he felt like the smile must have come off looking stupid.
He still felt stupid.
“But uh, well, you probably shouldn't go around kissing people,” his mouth said, in an attempt to joke.
He certainly also still sounded stupid.
“Not people,” Lan Wangji said, so quietly he almost missed it, “just you.”
Oh.
Oh, wow .
Jiang Cheng felt like he might just end up staying stupid.
“Oh, okay,” his mouth answered for him, while his mind remained numbingly blank, “well, I really don’t mind.”
Lan Wangji hummed.
Jiang Cheng still felt stupid.
And his lips still tingled.
And he kept staring.
They were supposed to be something, he felt. Then, it came back to him like a slap in the face. Right. Self-restraint. He was trying to help Lan Wangji be less reliant on the ribbon.
Well, at least now he knew what Lan Wangji meant when he said he struggled.
“Um,” Jiang Cheng said, and Lan Wangji’s darkened eyes focused on him, and, oh , “well, if it’s not something that’s forbidden, and it’s not wrong, and I don’t mind, then there’s no need to restrain yourself, right?”
Lan Wangji blinked slowly at him.
For some reason, he felt obligated to keep talking.
“You should try this more,” Jiang Cheng babbled, “figure out what actually requires self-restraint and what doesn’t. Like for example, this didn’t-”
“I can kiss you again?”
Uh.
He blinked. And he’s pretty sure he looked stupid too as well now, with how heated his face felt.
Lan Wangji looked at him with the same darkened eyes.
“Well,” Jiang Cheng said, swallowing the dryness in his throat away, “I did say I didn’t mind.”
This time, he knew what was coming.
Lan Wangji leaned in towards him, and Jiang Cheng leaned into him.
He felt Lan Wangji’s hand against his face before he felt his lips against his. Lan Wangji’s hand was featherlight against his cheek, like he was scared to do more than this, but his lips .
Jiang Cheng didn’t realize when he’d closed his eyes.
He pressed back against Lan Wangji, he meant it when he said he didn’t mind.
This was nice.
He let his arms come to rest on Lan Wangji’s shoulders, and felt Lan Wangji wrapping his arms around him, pulling him in closer . He wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji’s neck.
His lips are so solf .
Lan Wangji was still pulling him closer. Jiang Cheng could feel his thigh brushing against Lan Wangji’s and realized, feeling his face heated up as he did, that he was practically sitting on him. All this while Lan Wangji was still leaning into him, further into his space, pressing insistently.
He didn’t mind it.
He did lose his balance.
Falling backward onto the table behind him as Lan Wangji continued to hold Jiang Cheng close against him, now leaning over Jiang Cheng as he continued to kiss him. They haven’t parted once. Lan Wangji pressed his lips against him with an urgency that almost made Jiang Cheng wonder. But he was feeling breathless, he didn’t know what he was wondering about anymore. He could feel Lan Wangji against him from his lips to chest and more.
His hair was soft too. Jiang Cheng could feel the strands fall over and surround him like a silk curtain, some of them brushing against his face.
The wetness against his lips startled a gasp out of him.
Lan Wangji pressed on.
Ah.
That was his tongue.
He squirmed a little, the spark of pleasure had grown into something more. Jiang Cheng was starting to feel a little overwhelmed as he panted against Lan Wangji’s lips. The hard edge of the table dug into his lower back and reminded him of where they were.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes snapped open.
Then blinked a few times. The room was getting dark.
Oh no, the curfew.
He tapped Lan Wangji’s shoulder twice.
Jiang Cheng highly doubted they would be able to get away with breaking curfew. Especially when he was breaking curfew to make out with the Second Jade of Gusu Lan in the library.
Lan Wangji pressed himself ever closer against him and Jiang Cheng was pretty sure he made a horribly embarrassing noise just then. But they needed to stop. He kept tapping at Lan Wangji’s shoulder, no matter how nice his lips felt against Jiang Cheng’s.
Finally , Lan Wangji stopped, and moved away from their kissing, but remained close. If he wanted to, Jiang Cheng could probably count every one of his eyelashes.
He wanted to tell Lan Wangji about the time, but it was only after they separated that Jiang Cheng noticed how hard he was panting. He said nothing for a while, trying to catch his breath.
Lan Wangji didn’t move away. Still pressing his body against Jiang Cheng, keeping him there, pressed against the table. Behind Lan Wangji, he could see the sky completely darkened, only lit up by the moon.
“Uh,” he swallowed the dryness in his throat, “we should probably head back. Before curfew.”
When he turned to look at Lan Wangji again, Jiang Cheng got to see how quickly his darkened eyes quickly turned back to it’s usual pale color.
Then, Lan Wangji pushed himself away from the table, from him. Reaching into his sleeve in jerky movements to pull out the ribbon, and tied it back on. It all happened very quickly, the ribbon resting a little crookedly on Lan Wangji’s forehead.
It made him look a bit like a mess.
Jiang Cheng’s eyes drifted downwards and realized very quickly that even if the ribbon didn’t give things away, the redness of Lan Wangji’s lips would be a dead give away. That and all the wrinkles Jiang Cheng had somehow managed to give Lan Wangji’s robes. He didn’t even remember grabbing on to them. At least not so much to pull them all out of place like that.
He felt his face flushed.
Then realized that he was still half lying down on the table, and quickly pushed himself off of the table too. Looking down at his own robes and feeling a little startled at how messy his robes also looked. As he adjusted his robes, he could feel his hair fall against his face, more than usual. Jiang Cheng didn’t even want to know what his hair bun looked like right now.
He tried to tuck some of the strands back into his bun, but they kept falling back down. It was probably pointless to try. But he kept trying, as he felt Lan Wangji’s gaze on him, and felt flushed all over again.
He could still feel remnants of Lan Wangji’s touch all over him.
Jiang Cheng cleared his throat.
“We should probably clean up,” he said, turning to the table to put the books into a neat pile.
He busied himself with clearing the space for a while, before hearing Lan Wangji’s “mn.”
As they went around making sure nothing in the library was out of place, things began to feel like it went back to normal again.
Not that it was.
Not that he minded.
They walked out of the library together, like they usually would at the end of their thing . Stopping in front of the pavilion, where they usually part ways, Jiang Cheng turned to look at Lan Wangji.
The forehead ribbon was still a little crooked.
It made Jiang Cheng smile a little.
Lan Wangji looked exactly like he normally does, not a hair out of place, not that Jiang Cheng could see anyways. The impeccable Second Jade. With only the crooked ribbon as proof of what had occurred just before.
“See you tomorrow, Lan Wangji,” he said, as he always does.
“Jiang Wanyin,” Lan Wangji said, nodding his farewell, as he always does.
It was probably a good thing that no one was around anymore, that late in the evening. Or they might have just seen how stupid Jiang Cheng looked, walking back to his dorm, with a dazed smile on his face.