Work Text:
Wei Wuxian liked hoarding shiny things.
It was a habit that came with being a crow. The only other crow shifter that the cultivation world had heard of in centuries had been his mother, so not much was known. But Cangse Sanren had the same tendencies — or so he was told — so it was safe to assume.
His stash in Lotus Pier was full of colorful pebbles, engraved pieces of polished metal, vibrant ribbons, crystals that spread the light of the sun in a beautiful rainbow. All little trinkets that caught his eye and instantly had him obsessed until they were safely inside the wooden chest he kept under his bed.
Looking for shiny things to hoard was a habit that Wei Wuxian was very familiar with. The intense urge to give them to someone else was not.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
Wei Wuxian had to put some effort into getting that particular rock. It was white and smooth, iridescent colors reflecting from its surface when it was moved against the light. It was located on a tricky spot, next to a fox den right outside the boundaries of the Cloud Recesses. He had been fast and silent like an owl, though. He successfully took flight with the pretty rock secured in his beak and not a single feather inside the fox’s mouth. He even cackled in victory, his caws echoing as he flew back to the Cloud Recesses.
Wei Wuxian had a small box in his guest room to keep his provisory stash during their stay. He just had to go back, fly through the window, maybe give Jiang Cheng a scare if he was there — he was a tiger, but Wei Wuxian had a special talent for pranking him into hissing like a cat —, then dropping his new treasure in the box.
A very reasonable plan, which he apparently wasn’t following, because why the hell was he flying straight to the Library Pavillion.
Before he could take a detour, Wei Wuxian came in through an open window and landed steadily on one of the tables. The flapping of his wings attracted the attention of the only person in the library at the moment, and Wei Wuxian promptly forgot about everything else.
Lan Wangji’s clear eyes stared at him with suspicion written all over that handsome face. He had a brush in his grasp, his sleeve neatly held back as he wrote, probably transcribing ancient texts — which, somehow, was one of his free time activities, to Wei Wuxian’s eternal puzzlement —, but his movements stopped as soon as the crow flew inside the library.
Wei Wuxian cawed in greeting, hopping over to the dragon’s desk and messing the paper with his feet. Any lingering doubt if that might be a regular crow or not was certainly erased from Lan Wangji’s mind.
“Wei Ying,” he said, his voice still overall neutral but Wei Wuxian could hear an underlying annoyance, like the metallic scent of a storm on a nebulous day. “Don’t mess around.”
Wei Wuxian ignored him and hopped all over the desk, exploring. There really was nothing more than paper and a regular calligraphy set. Too boring, this desk needed something more shiny! He leaned down and dropped his white rock on the table. They both stared at it, Lan Wangji doubtfully and Wei Wuxian in contemplation, until the latter, unsatisfied, picked it up again and tried placing it in different spots.
“What are you doing?” Lan Wangji asked, his tone flat in disbelief. Wei Wuxian ignored him again. It didn’t feel right…
After thinking for a moment, he eventually decided to drop the rock directly on Lan Wangji’s lap.
Reflexively, Lan Wangji caught it in his hands. He raised the rock to his eye level and analyzed it carefully, his posture guarded. Was he expecting a prank? Wei Wuxian always took his shiny rocks seriously!
That one in particular suited Lan Wangji well, he realized. The iridescent white was similar to his horns — much less mesmerizing, though, nothing could be more mesmerizing than Lan Wangji. Finally, Wei Wuxian felt at ease.
He cawed again, making Lan Wangji’s hypnotizing eyes turn to him. He looked more confused than anything now. Wei Wuxian ruffled his feathers and preened his wings without leaving his spot.
Realizing he was waiting for compliments, Lan Wangji’s annoyance came back.
“Frivolous,” he murmured. Wei Wuxian flopped on the desk, trying to whine, but sounding like he was being strangled. That made the ink on the paper under him smudge. “Get. Off,” Lan Wangji ordered through gritted teeth.
Before he could pull his sword on him, Wei Wuxian cawed once before taking flight.
It was only when he was inside his room — Jiang Cheng unfortunately wasn’t there for him to scare off — that he remembered there was something wrong.
He had given away his new treasure!
Wei Wuxian shifted back to human form, took his box from under his bed and opened it. His treasures didn’t… feel like usual. It somehow seemed like every single thing had a new meaning in his eyes. That blue ribbon would go well against Lan Wangji’s silky dark hair. And that silver thread would be nice to hold his jade pendant to his sash. And wouldn’t that clear tiny crystal he found in a cave the other day be pretty in Lan Wangji’s headpiece?
He closed the box. Wei Wuxian had never thought about giving away those things. Of course, he had gifted jewels and hairpins and colorful ribbons to the girls he flirted with or to his shijie, but they weren’t his treasures. Now, his mind was full of the idea of showering Lan Wangji with the shiniest things he could find.
Thinking back on Lan Wangji’s annoyance, Wei Wuxian snickered. If he got to tease him more in the process, even better!
(Lan Wangji stared at the white rock for a long, long time. Then, he slipped it carefully into his sleeve, picked up the brush and set to clear the mess that Wei Wuxian made of his desk. The pieces of paper that got little crow footprints were quickly slipped inside his sleeve as well.)
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan! Look what I found!" Wei Wuxian would say as he dropped a faded metal clothing ornament on Lan Wangji’s lap.
"Here, Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian would skip to him after a visit to the waterfalls in the back mountains and put an azure blue pebble on Lan Wangji's hands.
"For you, Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian would loop a white ribbon around one of Lan Wangji’s horns and tie a neat bow.
At the beginning, Lan Wangji acted defensively. No one dared to act as shamelessly around him as Wei Wuxian did; he didn't take his clan's rules seriously, didn't care about property, didn't pay any heed to Lan Wangji’s pointed rebuttals.
Lan Wangji had grown up listening that he was beautiful but unapproachable, like a frozen lake. No one had ever tried to be his friend. Why else would Wei Wuxian try so hard to invade his space other than to mock and make fun of him?
But Lan Wangji couldn’t bring himself to throw the little trinkets away. He selfishly kept them all, every single thing that held a trace of Wei Wuxian, because he could always show a cold face to the world, but couldn’t trick his own helpless heart.
After a while, though, Lan Wangji’s anger and hurt faded into confusion, because… Wei Wuxian continued to give him things. Even when he stopped acting annoyed, which always seemed to be Wei Wuxian's goal when he teased, he didn't stop. Lan Wangji saw that even his friends were confused. That was it? The joke had no punchline?
"But what kind of gifts does Wei-gongzi give you, exactly?" Lan Xichen asked over tea one day, when Lan Wangji visited the Hanshi to express his bewilderment.
"Rocks, ribbons, crystals, pieces of metal." Lan Wangji pulled the last item of his growing collection out of his sleeve, a broken shard that probably was once a teacup, painted golden leaves decorating the white ceramic. When Wei Wuxian put this in his hands earlier that day, he did so very delicately and smiled. "Careful, Lan Zhan, don't hurt yourself!"
Lan Wangji wondered if Lan Xichen would ask to hold the ceramic shard and was momentarily stricken with dread. He didn't want to. The irrational unwillingness came as a surprise, making him feel embarrassed. Dragons were possessive creatures by nature, but Lan Wangji was raised to be better than his most primal instincts.
Fortunately, Lan Xichen only hummed and sipped his own tea. Lan Wangji put it away quickly before his ears could heat up and then his brother would definitely notice.
"I once heard that crows have a preference for shiny objects," Lan Xichen commented. "Perhaps Wei-gongzi is the same."
It made sense, but it didn’t explain why he was giving them to Lan Wangji.
"You could ask him," Lan Xichen suggested. "It doesn't seem like he has bad intentions."
Lan Wangji was unsure. What if he asked and Wei Wuxian laughed at him? He could picture it in his mind: Wei Wuxian's chuckle and a "can't you see I'm teasing you, silly?" .
He hummed noncommittally. Lan Xichen soon changed the subject, to his relief.
Later that night, Lan Wangji put the ceramic shard carefully among the other gifts in a box and took a moment to stare at them. What did they mean?
No matter. Wei Wuxian wouldn't stay in Gusu forever, the gifts would stop at some point. Lan Wangji put the box back under a loose floorboard in his room and tried not to feel so mournful about it.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
"So, what's the deal with Lan Wangji?" asked Jiang Cheng out of nowhere. He, Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang were (illegally) playing cards in the latter's room at night, after curfew. Hearing Lan Wangji’s name, Nie Huaisang instinctively looked around in fear, as if that would summon him to drag them to receive punishment.
"What about Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian asked with a confused tilt of his head.
"Why are you giving your stash away to him? At first I thought you were stupidly teasing him as always, but at this point it's starting to get embarrassing."
"I didn’t give away my stash!" Not only, at least. Some things didn't even get to be put inside his box, he got so excited he flew straight to Lan Wangji to give them to him. "And what do you mean by embarrassing ?"
"Wei Wuxian, you never even let us touch your stash. Not even a-jie."
"Well…" Wei Wuxian usually was good with his words, but suddenly found himself tongue-tied. What was he supposed to say? That he had started this as a way of teasing Lan Wangji, but suddenly became obsessed with seeing him in possession of every shiny thing he could find? That Lan Wangji never showed any indication that he kept them, and the mere thought that he might be throwing them away made Wei Wuxian sick to his stomach?
He had thick skin, but not that thick.
"I don't know, okay?" Wei Wuxian ended up saying, because he really didn't know.
"Maybe it's a crow thing you don't know about?" Nie Huaisang suggested, fanning himself with his cards as if it was a folding fan.
Wei Wuxian had considered that, but it's not like he could ask anyone. Jiang-shushu was the only one who knew his mother and was minimally willing to answer his questions. Wei Wuxian wouldn't trouble him with a letter just because of that.
"I can't ask Jiang-shushu about it now, maybe when we come back."
"Why would you ask Jiang-zongzhu?" Nie Huaisang raised his eyebrows. "He isn't the only one that knew Cangse Sanren."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Cheng asked, confused, but Wei Wuxian's brain had already caught up.
"You don't mean… Nie-xiong, what the hell? Lan-laotou will kick me out of the room if I try to speak to him!"
"It's just an idea, Wei-xiong." Nie Huaisang waved his hand dismissively. "If you don't want to, don't do it."
"It is a terrible idea," Jiang Cheng stated, and Wei Wuxian agreed wholeheartedly.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
The next day, Wei Wuxian found himself waiting inside the Lanshi, ignoring the puzzled glances from his friends leaving the classroom.
Lan Wangji was the last disciple to leave. He stopped for a moment as their eyes met. Wei Wuxian smiled brightly, a little regretful that he didn't have any gift at hand to give him now. Lan Wangji’s eyes narrowed slightly but he said nothing, disappearing in the distance. Wei Wuxian did nothing for him to be angry, why that face?
(Lan Wangji walked away as briskly as the rules allowed. He couldn't believe he had stopped to wait for a gift from Wei Wuxian. How embarrassing. When did he become so superfluous?
(His smile was way shinier than any of his previous gifts.))
As soon as Lan Wangji left, Wei Wuxian walked to Lan Qiren, who was organizing his desk. The dragon raised his eyes and his face instantly contorted in displeasure.
"Excuse me Lan-lao— ahem, ahem, Lan-xiansheng." Wei Wuxian gave his most charming smile. "I was wondering if xiansheng could assist me with something."
"What is it?" Lan Qiren stared at him with suspicion written all over his face. It bore an uncanny resemblance to his younger nephew's, it was almost fascinating — although being under Lan Wangji’s cold stare was way more exciting.
"It's about my mom…"
Lan Qiren organized the scrolls on his desk, seeming to be deep in thought. Wei Wuxian tried not to squirm impatiently as he waited. Jiang Cheng was right, that was a terrible idea.
"Sit," he ordered eventually. Wei Wuxian complied and kneeled in front of the desk. "What do you want to know?"
Wei Wuxian blinked. Simple as that? Well, Lan Qiren was a teacher, after all, and his question was perfectly reasonable. Even his dislike for Wei Wuxian — or his mother, for that matter — apparently wasn’t enough reason to refuse giving an answer.
"Is xiansheng aware of a crow's habit of hoarding?"
"Of course." Lan Qiren huffed. "Your mother spent all of her time that should be used to studying and meditation flying around and looking for useless objects that striked her fancy."
Wei Wuxian coughed to disguise a laugh. He was really very much like his mother, huh?
"Did she… has she ever given something from her stash to someone?"
Lan Qiren frowned.
"There was one time she dropped a box full of those things on someone's desk before class. It caused an unnecessary uproar, absolutely ridiculous."
"Who did she give her things to?"
"Wei Changze."
Wei Wuxian blinked.
"My… my father?"
"Who else? She explicitly stated this is a courting habit for crows, of course it would be her future husband."
Wei Wuxian's head was spinning. Courting? Courting?
Who was courting? Not him! No way!
Lan Wangji’s usual desk in the Library Pavilion, covered in his shiny things. Lan Wangji's guan full of shiny jewels. Lan Wangji wearing red robes stitched with shiny gold.
No way… right?
"Of course… It makes sense…" Wei Wuxian managed to say with a barely even voice. "Thank you for the enlightenment, Lan-xiansheng."
He stood up, bowed and walked away in composed steps. As soon as he was out the door, he shifted and took flight.
Wei Wuxian thought there must be some kind of misunderstanding. Was he actually courting Lan Wangji without realizing? How could he not notice his intent of wooing the Second Jade of Lan ?
His thought process was interrupted by something capturing his attention: a long silvery line floating in the horizon, far away from him. Wei Wuxian’s crow instincts chanted shiny, shiny, shiny, so he naturally flew that way.
The thin line turned out to be a dragon.
He watched as the dragon graciously floated to the ground, landing on the grassy field. Wei Wuxian wanted to take a better look, so he flew closer — until the dragon’s head tilted up at him.
Ah, Wei Wuxian though, landing on a nearby tree branch and cawing once in greeting. It's Lan Zhan.
He wouldn't get those crystal clear eyes wrong.
Lan Wangji huffed in response. Wei Wuxian, not wanting him to shift just to scold him and make him miss that sight, flapped his wings until he landed gently on the dragon’s snout, minding his claws.
Wei Wuxian found himself battling with a primitive desire to drag the whole dragon away to his stash. He couldn't do it, of course — their difference in size was almost comical —, but he playfully pecked one of Lan Wangji’s horns with his beak to convey the sentiment. Lan Wangji huffed again, but didn't shake him off.
The idea that Wei Wuxian had been courting Lan Wangji this whole time seemed absurd before. But now, looking at this giant, grumpy dragon, all his mind could think of, with surprising clarity, was "it's him".
Lan Wangji's scaly body suddenly started shifting. Wei Wuxian flapped his wings with an indignant caw, trying not to lose his balance. He soon found himself precariously perched up on Lan Wangji’s headpiece.
"Get down," he said. Was it Wei Wuxian's love-addled brain or his voice sounded gentle? Wei Wuxian didn't go down. If he did, Lan Wangji would want him to shift, and if he shifted, he wasn't sure he wouldn't just blurt out an embarrassing confession. He wasn't ready!
Lan Wangji sighed.
"You will fall."
Wei Wuxian rearranged himself to be more stable.
"... do you like it that much?"
What? Wei Wuxian was confused for a moment. Ah, did Lan Wangji think he liked his headpiece? Well, it was indeed shiny and beautiful… Normally, Wei Wuxian would like it more. But, now that he thought about it, hoarding his usual shiny things never passed through his mind when he was around Lan Wangji. All of Wei Wuxian's attention was turned solely to him.
He has been head over heels for far longer than he expected, huh?
Wei Wuxian hopped off his head to his shoulder and pecked his cheek. Lan Wangji glared at him as much as he could in that position.
"Shameless," he muttered. Wei Wuxian only noticed that his ear reddened because he was right next to it. He felt like his heart could explode from sheer affection.
Wei Wuxian nuzzled his cheek once before flying away. He needed to plan a proper confession, he couldn't concentrate at all with Lan Wangji so close!
(Lan Wangji watched the dark spot disappear in the distance. No gift again. Maybe Wei Wuxian had grown bored of his own antics. It hurt more than he wanted to acknowledge.)
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
Lan Wangji hadn’t seen Wei Wuxian outside of class in days.
He watched the yulan magnolia branches sway at the wind, his thoughts far away from the text he was supposed to copy. The Library Pavilion used to be a place he would go to rest his mind, but ever since the guest disciples arrived, he would never look at it the same way; every little detail would remind him of Wei Wuxian in one way or another.
He sighed as he made another mistake in copying the text. Perhaps Lan Wangji should take a break and meditate properly at the Jingshi. Nothing would be accomplished if he kept being so distracted.
Lan Wangji was cleaning his table to leave when someone hopped up on the windowsill next to him.
“Wait, Lan Zhan, are you leaving?” Of course it was Wei Wuxian.
“Sit properly,” he said, out of habit; his tone couldn’t match the chiding words. He was way too relieved that Wei Wuxian was there, talking and smiling sunnily at him, for that.
“Scold me later, please?” Wei Wuxian stuck out his lower lip in a pout that got Lan Wangji’s heart thumping loudly. “I went through a lot of trouble.”
Reading Lan Wangji’s gaze, he laughed.
“I swear, I wasn’t up to anything bad.” His eyes softened as he reached inside his robes. “I have a gift for you.”
Lan Wangji’s eyes widened a fraction. He thought Wei Wuxian had grown tired of messing around. His stomach swooped pathetically when Wei Wuxian carefully placed something small on his palms, which he had opened reflexively.
It was a rabbit.
A rabbit made of smooth white jade, tiny but incredibly detailed. Its eyes were made of clear crystal and a thin silver-colored string was tied around its head.
“I’m sorry I hadn’t been bringing gifts recently, I was learning how to do this.” Wei Wuxian scratched his head. “It took longer than I expected. Trying to settle for the right materials too, you know how picky I am, haha!”
Lan Wangji swallowed, containing his emotions. There was no way…
“Wei Ying,” his voice came out steadier than he expected. “Are you aware that—”
“—that handmade gifts are a dragon courting tradition?” Lan Wangji looked up to see Wei Wuxian with the softest of smiles on his face. “I am very aware, Lan-ergongzi. Just as gifting one’s hoarded treasures is a courting tradition for crows.”
Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side, pouting again.
“But it is clear my attempts went unnoticed, so I had to switch tactics. How cruel of you, Lan-ergege.”
(Wei Wuxian conveniently left out that he also had realized just recently, like the menace he was.
(Lan Wangji was too utterly distracted by his pouting lips and the recent revelation to feel any sort of guilt.))
“You… are courting me?”
“Of course.” Wei Wuxian’s beautiful face grew serious. His dark eyes gazed straight at Lan Wangji’s when he said, clearly: “I like you very much, Lan Zhan.”
No matter how free-spirited and mischievous this boy was; there was no way for Lan Wangji to pretend that Wei Wuxian wasn’t being sincere. There was no way for him to pretend that his own feelings weren’t there, pulsating in chest.
“I…” He closed his hands delicately around the small rabbit. Lan Wangji was a person of few, concise words; it was so hard to find the right ones to describe just how head over heels he was for Wei Wuxian. His infuriating, charming, handsome, sweet, teasing, genius, lovely Wei Ying.
His first love.
His first and only love.
A dragon’s heart was an incredibly difficult thing to steal, but once it was done, dragons loved for life.
They were both young, there was no rush for promises of a proper marriage and a bond for eternity. But Lan Wangji knew. As he, in an unusual burst of impulsiveness, tucked the rabbit safely inside his sleeve, grabbed Wei Wuxian’s robes and crushed their lips together, sending both toppling to the library floor, Lan Wangji knew that there would be no one else for him.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
Wei Wuxian giggled in delight, rolling on the floor until he was under Lan Wangji, hugging him. He didn’t know that kissing would be this fun! Or maybe it was because it was Lan Wangji specifically.
“Okay, okay, we need to stop,” he said between kisses and chuckles. “You are being shameless! Anyone could walk in!”
“... I apologize,” Lan Wangji muttered, averting his gaze. Wei Wuxian eyed his scaly tail thumping quietly on the floor and grinned. He didn’t know Lan Wangji could act like an excited puppy, but without the horrific detail of being a dog. He tightened his arms and legs around him, causing Lan Wangji’s weight to press him down completely and his face to be buried on Wei Wuxian’s chest.
“Stop being cute like that! My heart can’t handle it! Can’t you hear how fast it’s beating?”
(Lan Wangji stayed very still, willing his own heart to calm down. He wasn’t expecting that much physical contact at once.)
“I caught you, you are part of my treasure now,” Wei Wuxian declared, then chuckled. “I’m kidding, I can’t put you in my stash, you’re too big.”
“I can get small,” Lan Wangji muttered, his voice muffled by Wei Wuxian’s robes.
“What?”
Without warning, the weight on Wei Wuxian’s body vanished. He looked down and found… a tiny, silvery snake-like creature sitting on his chest.
Tiny and shiny.
Wei Wuxian’s instincts kicked in immediately.
He shifted into a crow and gently picked the little dragon up, delighted. Lan Wangji pretended to be a wet noodle in his beak, letting Wei Wuxian fly away with his newfound treasure.
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
(When Jiang Cheng came back to their shared room later, he did hiss like a cat, seeing a crow and a noodle-dragon cuddling next to a jade rabbit inside Wei Wuxian’s hoarding box.)