Lessons

[diditmywei]

Wei Wuxian had lost hope, but his pride had yet to falter.

The Wen Sect had attacked the Lotus Pier, using Wei Wuxian’s bad attitude as their excuse. He’d lost his home and his foster parents, such as they were, and Jiang Cheng had been bent on revenge. It had ended with them here, branded as traitors to the government. He didn’t know what had happened to Jiang Chen, but he assumed that his fate was much the same.

Time had blurred for him, though the unmarked stretches of time formed a pattern. There was the cold gray cell with the propaganda television upon the wall, proclaiming virtues and sins, and the Wen Sect’s superiority over all. There was the processing room, with the bureaucrat who explained his situation. He was now the property of the state. Because of his youth and his appearance (“Oh, are you saying I’m pretty? You’re not really my type, I don’t really go for lump-faced brown-nosers like you…”), he had the opportunity to be a helpmeet, if he would agree to yield to the training.

Wei Wuxian expressed that he was enjoying their hospitality so very much, he could not possibly wish to leave.

And then there was the torture, which went on for hours, until he wept and screamed. They explained to him that this was still a merciful torture, which left no damage. He still had the opportunity to become a helpmeet. He could serve an honorable clan and be well-treated. (“Oh, are you saying I can be someone’s bitch? I hope they’re prettier than you.”)

After the third round of this, they had informed him that this was his last chance. His last offer. If he would yield to the training and accept his role as a helpmeet, he would be fed and given soft clothes and allowed to rest. If he did not yield, he would suffer far more excruciating torture, and then he would be given the opportunity to enter a work camp or to labor in a mine. The more painful torture would leave him capable of work, but it would leave marks. He would no longer be pretty. (“You really are fixated on me being pretty! I understand that you are in love with me, but really this is no way to go about a courtship!”)

They threw him back in the cell.

Wei Wuxian had some regrets about his insubordination. It would perhaps not be the worst thing to be a helpmeet (especially if he was given to a pretty girl who wanted him as a stud!), but he could not endure yielding his pride and kneeling before some stranger. He did not want to become some mindless, simpering automaton. But the alternative was being tortured until he broke or died. Wei Wuxian was shameless, but he was very proud. He decided that he would be tortured to death before he broke and pleaded for mercy.

The next day, he was brought to a new cell. It was not at all what he expected. It was very large and very white, with a great many lights beaming down from the ceiling. There, they made him kneel in the middle of the floor, and chained his cuffs to a ring in the floor behind him so that he could not slump or stand. Wei Wuxian did not mind this so much. He was accustomed to kneeling.

In front of him was a large mirror that took up the whole wall. He suspected that it was a one-way mirror, so that whoever was on the other side of the glass could watch what happened in the room. Probably Wen Chao, he thought. It would be just like him to want to watch Wei Wuxian’s humiliation and torture, and to not do it himself.

He was left there for a long period of time. At least an hour, but he yet again had no way to tell how much time was passing. This seemed strange to him. Surely this was not the new, worse torture they had promised, and he had not yielded or agreed to cooperate, so there was no reason that they would take mercy on him.

Eventually, the door opened behind him. Wei Wuxian was very curious, so he twisted around to look. It was Lan Zhan!

This was a surprise. Lan Zhan was as flawless as ever, in his white GusuLan Sect clothes that looked like he was in mourning. He looked upright and dignified, so he was certainly not a prisoner here. As far as Wei Wuxian knew, the Lan Sect was still held in esteem by the Wen Sect and the government.

They were not exactly friends. Lan Wangji had never liked him, even though Wei Wuxian was always friendly to him and they had even fought together. Lan Zhan was still too uptight, and Wei Wuxian supposed that Lan Zhan found him inappropriate and annoying. He’d said as much! Almost half the words that Lan Zhan had ever said to him were things like ‘ridiculous’ and ‘pathetic’. Wei Wuxian considered him an ally, and would even have trusted Lan Zhan in most situations, but this was not a good situation. He couldn’t think of any good reason why Lan Zhan would be here, unless he had come to take part in Wei Wuxian’s humiliation.

“Do you work for the Department of Re-Education now, Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian asked, making his voice light and flippant, as though he had not been exhausted, starved, and tortured for days.

Comments

[inquiryguqin]

Lan Zhan is getting worried that Wei Ying is becoming less of himself the more they stayed here, and slowly by the day, becomes broken by the brainwashing programs. He remembers him as a free-spirited young man who loves to laugh and play around. That's the spirit of Wei Ying that he fell in love with.

Lan Zhan himself is slowly being chipped away as he becomes numb and detached. It was a habit he learned since he was a young child. What grounds him to his identity is his centuries old traditions laid by the foundations of his ancestors. Lan Zhan's memories of the knowledge he learns from those scrolls in the library is what kept him calm and centered, and that's something no government or party of the state can't take that away.

Lan Zhan decide not to use him again as they lay together on the small bed. He strokes through his hair, rubbing his forehead against his to calm him, and touches and kisses him wherever he could. Gently, "Wei Ying, I am here. Rest now. Go to sleep. Nobody will take you away from me." He lay his head on his chest. "Listen to the heartbeat. I am here and you are here. I will protect you."

[diditmywei]

Wei Ying nestled close, sighing with contentment at the sound of Lan Zhan's heartbeat under his ear. It was soothing, especially combined with the promises of safety and affection. "Er-Gege," he mumbled, curling his hand over Lan Zhan's shoulder. He loved sleeping like this, with Lan Zhan as his mattress. It was far more comfortable than sleeping on the hard, cold bed. He barely needed a blanket when he had Lan Zhan beneath him and Lan Zhan's arms around him.

Everything else was awful, and Wei Ying felt like a fractured shell of a person, no longer certain of anything but his trust in his master. But in these moments alone, sleeping in Lan Zhan's arms, he at least felt safe.

[inquiryguqin]

It's a small bed in a small cell, so it's going to be a long uncomfortable night. Sleep is hard to come by, but Lan Zhan tries his best. He kept on stroking Wei Ying through his hair and back until he has no strength left, and in time, he slept off. As long Wei Ying felt safe in his arms, Lan Zhan will utilize every strength he has for the both of them. "Wei Ying..." He murmured softly. Despite how unreal and trapped their situation is, Lan Zhan is quite sure his love for him is real. It's his single driving force to find him, his other half.

Like every other night, it's another quiet night, as Lan Zhan followed suit, drifting off to yet another dreamless sleep.