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It was really the most pleasant cursed and haunted forest Wei Wuxian had ever visited.

He swung his flute by his hip as he walked, relishing the pleasure of the warm sunshine dappled through the leaves. Birds and squirrels moved through the upper branches, seeming to be unbothered by the supposed legendary beast that stalked the forest.

In the village, the waiter at the inn had told him that everyone in the region feared the ancient forest, which was the home of a ravenous beast. It was a gigantic monster, twenty feet tall and covered in spikes, and it regularly stole and ate both babies and virgins. (Of course, the waiter didn't know anyone personally who had been eaten, but his cousin's mother-in-law had it on very good authority.) Even renowned cultivators who had come to vanquish the beast had been driven away or never been seen again.

Wei Wuxian had thanked the waiter and then made his way straight to the monster's forest. So far, no monsters. No people, either. Just a nice, quiet forest stroll up the slope of the mountainside.

After Wei Wuxian had walked for an hour or so without seeing anything but gentle wild animals, he caught a glimpse of a rooftop through the trees. It was a pagoda rooftop like a temple, carved of pale and delicate stone that looked like jade, though the expense of jade on a rooftop was unimaginable. Wei Wuxian guessed that this was the retreat of some reclusive cultivator who did not wish to be disturbed by the petty bumbling of common folk, and that was why they had created the rumors.

It would have been polite, he supposed, to go away at that point. He was not invited. But he was very curious, and the glimpse he had of the rooftop made him curious. As he climbed further, he found a wall and followed it for some time without finding a gate.

His curiosity was greater than his caution. Climbing the wall, he swung up over the top of it and dropped into the mysterious castle complex.

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"I don't mind long and perilous," Wei Ying promises, grinning cheerfully at the prospect. "We will have adventures! I would like that very much. Please accept me as a traveling companion, whenever you go."

Exploring the palace is enough for now. Wei Ying looks around in delight at all the wonders, fascinated and curious. When they reach the library, he gives a little cry of awe and wanders forward to explore. Much of it is in languages he doesn't know, from the foreign lands Lan Zhan has visited. His heart aches with longing to learn the languages and read the books.

"Ah, Lan Zhan. It's wonderful." Selecting a book filled with intricate maps and illustrations, Wei Ying takes it to a table, laying it out as he looks through it. "I am envious, Lan Zhan. I want to read every book in your library."

"You don't mind joining me as my companion? It will be a while before I go on an expedition. I need to make plans and preparations. I was thinking of going to Tibet where the mountainous areas is my next destination. It's quiet though, but it's the best place to go study cultivation in meditation and solitude. Or perhaps I go to India and their cities to simply eat their spicy curries and join in their festivals."

Lan Zhan realized he was rambling openly to a friend he just met, but as Wei Ying studies his collection of books, some in foreign languages written in words that he couldn't understand. "Are you envious...?" He said quietly. "If you want to read every book in the library, you're welcome to it. I had been alone for a long time." His golden eyes darted to him.

"Wei Ying, if we are to be companions, then you must know. I'm not an ordinary man." Reaching up, he reached for a book with a leather-bound cover on the shelf. "You might like this book. It's called One Thousand and One Arabian nights. This volume is translated in mandarin, so you could read it."

As Lan Zhan, handed the book to Wei Ying. A few moments ago, he looks like an ordinary man, and now he truly looks like a fox with a pair of pointed fox ears, almost elf-like, and wisps of foxtails begin to unravel, almost ethereal like with a glow to his tails in puffs of ethereal light and snow-white fur.

"Wei Ying, I'm a fox fairy. I do not have mortal like yourself for a companion before. If you don't find me unsightly...but I find you are very handsome. When I heard your wish, I would like to show you the world." And he didn't want Wei Ying to go be alone in the world, so he has made up his mind to be his companion and grant his wishes as long Wei Ying never tires of him.

As he spoke, a warm, wispy tail reaches playfully brushed against his cheek. Gently, "Wei Ying, do you want to stay with me in this castle? If you're tired of wandering from town to town, I might have some work for you if you want to work here as well."

Wei Ying keeps a polite face at the trip of solitude and meditation, but he perks up immediately at the opposite suggestion. "Spicy curries and festivals! Let's do that, Lan Wangji, please. I want to see India."

He accepted the offered book, immediately starting to look through it, and then laughing in surprise when he sees Lan Zhan's transformation. "Lan Zhan!" He forgets to be courteous for a moment, delighted by how cute the ears are on this dignified and respectable man.

The tail tickles his cheek and Wei Ying catches it between his fingertips, giving Lan Zhan a playful smile. "Lan Zhan, look how cute you are. How can I resist ruffling your ears? I will be constantly tempted if I stay here, whenever I see those ears, that I will desire to ruffle them. Is that really a risk you want to take?"

Hearing what he's more interested in. "It will take planning, but we will go together someday if the season permits." While keeping a cool expression, he playfully brushed a tail against his soft cheek while he reaches another book to read. He pretends to appear bored, but he's more interested in brushing his soft tails against his cheek and then against his hips.

"...Ears." With a book in hand, he then turns around to look at him, gazing at him seriously as he took his words as a request.

He leans forward to bend his head so that Wei Ying could reach to pet him. "You may ruffle them. There's no risk if you wish to feel them for yourself." The pair of real fox ears are within reach if Wei Ying reaches for it.

Wei Ying pressed his lips together, amused and touched by the offer. Lan Zhan was so adorably earnest that it was almost painful. Gently, he put both of his hands over Lan Zhan's fox ears, gently rubbing them between his fingertips. "You're so soft, Lan Zhan. Did you really think you are unsightly? You are cute and lovely."

Standing very close while he plays with Lan Zhan's ears, Wei Ying catches one of those teasing tails and rubs his cheek against it. "What an adorable fox you are, Lan Zhan. You make me want to scoop you up in my arms and press my face against your ears. No one would chase you out of a chicken coop. Do you turn into other things, or is it just a matter of hiding your ears? Can you look like a real fox?"

"Mm, just mind the headband. I can't let anyone pull it until I meet the One." Although Lan Zhan's expression remains stoic, his tail wags back and forth. Pets, he likes them from him. Perhaps more than he can admit since he never lets anyone pet him. Wei Ying is the first.

Lan Zhan realized he was flirting with him and admiring him, and he really soaks it up, feeling a flutter of warmth. He flirts back because he does fancy him, but before he considers him as a companion and a mate...

With a serious expression, though his eyes light up, perhaps with anticipation and expectancy, "I can be a real fox if you wish. If I do, are you going to do that? Would you scoop me up and play with me?"

The book he hold is no longer interesting and he puts it back on the shelf.

Wei Ying laughs, charmed by the excited look on Lan Zhan's face. He'd seemed so impassive at first, but now Wei Ying was learning that his expressions were simply subtle. There was plenty of intensity in his expression once Wei Ying paid attention. "I am now," he promised, giving Lan Zhan's ear another little tweak. "So cute, Lan Zhan. Turn into a fox, I want to see. I will cuddle you lots. All these rumors about scary monsters in these woods, and it turns out you're actually cute and fluffy and need your ears ruffled! Don't worry, Lan Zhan, I will keep your secret."

All the words of flattery and physical touches slowly reaches into his lonely heart. As Lan Zhan realized no one makes a simple request of him before. To him, to change and shift is a simple thing he does every day.

"Those scary rumors, I send nightmares to make humans stay away from my castle." Tilting his head, hopeful. "Remember to keep your promise."

It only takes a few moments and in a soft glow of blue, and before Wei Ying's eyes, he's a fox of snow-white fur with golden eyes as he barks and yips and shakes off his robes, dangling loosely from his multiple tails.

In his fox form, he makes a pounce toward Wei Ying, making fox cries wanting those physical affections of cuddles and hugs, almost demanding it playfully, his snout sniffing and licking at his hand like a real fox.

Edited 2019-12-01 03:49 (UTC)

Wei Ying laughs at the antics of the beautiful little fox. Almost in tears from how cute and funny he is, Wei Ying gathers him up into his arms, cradling him like a baby and hugging him close. "Ah, Lan Zhan!" Laughing, Wei Ying fell back into the nearest chair, curling up with the little fox cradled against his chest. He rubbed his cheek against Lan Zhan's ears, then kissed his muzzle.

Wei Ying's heart ached with loneliness and longing as he cuddled the fox, shameless about this affection even though he knew that Lan Zhan had been an elegant and honorable man just a moment before. He'd never had anything to cuddle before. Animals never seemed to like him that much, and he had a dread of dogs, and the only gentle physical contact he'd ever had from anyone was the occasional gentle touch or hug from his shijie.

Starved for affection, Wei Ying petted the fox gently, soothed by the soft, warm body in his arms.

Pretending to be a fox, he gives him licks on his cheeks and pressed his fox body close to him, giving him comfort, allowing him to feel his soft fur and have him hold him close. He can sense the young man has experienced a lack of love, fear, and terror before, and Lan Zhan finds in his heart wanting to comfort him, sensing his wish for affection, which he happily gives without any expectation at all.

All the hugs and kisses stirred a feeling of fondness and affection in his heart for him, if anything an ache, wanting to be closer, but he wants to be patient and nurture his trust first. He lets Wei Ying hold him, letting him play and gradually becomes comfortable in his form, being a soft and warm animal. He makes yips and barks, as he licks him on the cheek and rubs his head and fox ears against his touches.

Wei Ying laughed as the two of them cuddled, especially when Lan Zhan made his little fox yipping noises, and kept on petting and ruffling Lan Zhan. He tickled the soft fur of his chest and belly, scratching under his chin and laughing again at how cute his face looked.

Relaxing as they cuddled, Wei Ying watched him, soothed by his presence and the warm weight against his chest. He scratched at Lan Zhan's ears and trace his fingertip around the lines of his face, admiring the pristine beauty of his white fur. "You're so beautiful, Lan Zhan. Fox or man. So pretty. So cute." He tapped his fingertip against Lan Zhan's nose, then laughed. "Lan Zhaaan. My little fox."

Lan Zhan curls up with him, if anything, given the indulgence to be treated like a pet and let Wei Ying explored his fox body, like a puff of cloud on his lap, feeling comfortable.

It feels different to share a side of himself with someone he trusts, and he learns to trusts him. It's this castle and form that is his simple secret. Wei Ying is no longer his guest anymore, but a friend.

After a while, the fox hopped off to collect his robes and in a glow of blue light, transforms back into a man so he could speak properly using vocal cords.

"Do you really mean that? That you found me beautiful in both forms...?"

Wei Ying felt a little bit of an ache in his heart when the fox jumped down. He felt lonely and cold, even though the cuddling had been soothing. It had just made all the more apparent to him that he was painfully lonely, and he wanted to clutch Lan Zhan back again.

Sitting up, he bent one knee up and rested his arms on it, then propped his chin on his arms. "Of course, Lan Zhan. Don't you know? You are unfairly pretty. It is like I said, if you went into town you'd be buried in a shower of flowers. People would fall in love with you on sight. And as a fox, everyone would be overcome by the desire to pick you up and ruffle your little ears."

Lan Zhan knows of his beauty. He sees himself in the mirror every day, but mirrors don't talk. Mirrors don't admire. Each word he says fills the loneliness and emptiness inside. He noticed Wei Ying has a gift and talent. He's not above vain and selfish, as he truly wanted to admire and be affectionate to Wei Ying in return without much expectation. But now he's overcoming by the desire to claim him as his own.

He wants him to keep on talking. "Ridiculous...a shower of flowers indeed." However, upon putting on his robes, he didn't bother tying it up, letting it open loosely to show his bare chest.

"I don't want people." He stated simply as he sauntered, slow and relaxed, to Wei Ying sitting on the chair. "I want you. To do that to me and you on my bed of flowers."

Leaning forward, titling aside as he's closing the distance between them. "I want you on my bed as my lover." He said and then claims his lips in a kiss.

Wei Ying did his best to keep his eyes on Lan Zhan's face as he dressed, though he couldn't help noticing that Lan Zhan's body was as beautiful as his face. It was a relief once he had his clothes back on, though the bare chest was still a distraction.

His lips parted in surprise as Lan Zhan came closer, speaking such intense things to him, that he wanted only Wei Ying, and on a bed of flowers. Sitting up a little straighter, Wei Ying stared at him, eyes going wide when Lan Zhan said he wanted him as a lover.

Thrills went through Wei Ying's body at the sudden kiss. Surprised and aroused but not quite sure how he felt about any of it, Wei Ying pulled back from the kiss, staring at Lan Zhan in confusion.

The feeling of his warm, soft lips when he pressed against them softly stirred a desire within him, a rush of emotion, passion and intense rush to his belly and to his loins.

But then seeing he was sitting stiffly with eyes wide in reaction and confusion, Lan Zhan pulled away to break the kiss and felt rejected. He sees the uncertainty in his eyes and didn't want to force or press it. If anything, he feels hurt and angry at himself for giving him such a kiss without asking. It's happened too fast.

"...My apologies." Then turning aside, he backs away and fastens his robes.

Wei Wuxian has never been kissed before, and he never expected his first kiss to be stolen by a beautiful and immortal fox spirit. It’s deeply flattering and sweet, even if the kiss was stolen.

Lan Wangji apologizes and turns away, and the moment is past. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know what to say, and he’s always been better at dismissing complicated things rather than dwelling on them. Lan Zhan apologized, so he’s not going to immediately do it again, so there’s no need to worry about it. Wei Ying pushes it all from his mind and stands. “Lan Zhan, I’m hungry. What’s for lunch? What do you eat, anyway? Is it people? Don’t eat me, Lan Zhan.” He goes over to Lan Zhan’s side, standing close. He has no fear of his host, even though he’s a powerful immortal and despite the unwanted kiss.

Lan Zhan inwardly feels more rejected and depressed as Wei Ying pretended the kiss didn't happen and didn't acknowledge it nor did he picked up his cues to seduce him. His heartbeat slowed and Lan Zhan's fixes his robe neatly to the best that he could. The mood is killed and thus, the romance dies.

Going too fast, he wanted Wei Ying to be ready and be certain of his feelings. But he didn't bolt from fear or ran away from him yet. He wanted food, so Lan Zhan quickly collects himself, still pink to the tip of his ears.

"Dinner...going to cook dinner in the kitchen." He said distantly as he tries to head over to one of the bathrooms to take a quick cold shower to relieve the growing heat that suddenly overcame him, then heads over to the kitchen eventually. "You can explore the castle in the meantime."

Wei Ying stayed in the library instead, wondering. Lan Zhan had been so distant as he left, and it left Wei Ying feeling lonely.

He curled up in the chair with a book, wishing he had Lan Zhan's soft fox body in his arms. He imagined the fox lifting its head to lick his lips, and then shifting into Lan Zhan in his lap, naked and warm, claiming Wei Ying's mouth with his own.

Flushed and embarrassed at his own thoughts, Wei Ying tried to focus on the book but could only think of Lan Zhan. He wondered why Lan Zhan had gone to cook now, when meals had seemed to appear magically before, and suspected it was only that Lan Zhan wanted to be away from him.

Lan Zhan initially felt embarrassed for feeling that way toward a human to steal a kiss from him and ask him to share a bed, hinting he wanted him as a mate. He didn't word it properly. In his shyness, he forgotten to will away his fox ears and tail while he hurries to the kitchen to make dinner. His heart racing, wanting badly to impress him with his good cooking. Wei Ying likes his dinner and his belly full, doesn't he?

Lan Zhan set up dinner just like before on the table. When he goes to search for Wei Ying and found him in the library, hopefully, the dinner and liquor will make up for the kiss and this dreadful misunderstanding, and make Wei Ying like him more. Cooking in the kitchen and setting up an elaborate meal helps feel better, and Wei Ying will be impressed with him.

As he stood by the door of his library, gently in a soft tone, inviting. "Wei Ying...? Wei Ying. Come eat dinner with me. I make it for you. I don't eat people. I eat chickens and dinner that I cook. I have liquor too."

Wei Ying smiled as he looked up to see Lan Zhan in the doorway, looking almost shy and being so polite. “Lan Wangji,” he said, setting aside his reading and getting up. He came over to stand before Lan Zhan, smiling fondly up at him. “How you spoil me! Chicken and liquor. You still have your ears. I’m going to be tempted to ruffle them.” Lifting his hands, he made playful little grabby motions as if he was going to tweak the ears, which was partly a way to ask permission to touch them again.

Being a fox, he sees Wei Ying doesn't fear him or at least be at all the upset and screaming in terror. He is in fact, smiling and happy to see him again. He thought he'll be running away by now, heading for the hills, grabbing that promised horse outside and will tell wild tales of his one night stay in a mysterious castle.

Seeing he still remains and wanted to stay, golden eyes gazing fixed and almost with a yearning look for his company, for he found this human warm radiating from him. "...Mn." So he bends over, willingly lets Wei Ying to reach for his ears and pets him as his ears are pointy with tuffs of white fair against his black hair.

While he was bowing, "Dinner is being served in the dining room, Wei Ying. Liquor for you. It's called Emperor Smiles." He said, still polite, perhaps stiffly so, and then offers his hand to take his.

Wei Ying gladly took the opportunity to ruffle his ears, enjoying how someone as elegant and proper as Lan Wangji could look so silly when his ears were played with. Letting go after a moment, Wei Ying accepted the hand he was offered so that they could go to the dining room. "You're going to spoil me, Lan Zhan," he flirted. "Dinner and liquor, and good company. Are you trying to make sure that I never want to leave? It's working."

He gasped and remarked with awe as he saw the dinner, letting go of Lan Zhan's hand and going forward to the table so that he could admire all the dishes. Sitting down, he helped himself at once, making noises of pleasure as he tasted the delicious food and liquor. "Ah, Lan Zhan! You really are an excellent cook, and this liquor is the best I have ever tasted."

It finally dawn upon Lan Zhan that in order to warm Wei Ying up to him, he must be in his fox form or appearing as a outworldly human, he must have his fox ears and tail out, so that Wei Ying can pet him as much as he likes. While he's certainly not a pet, but perhaps his softness and tenderness that is most pleasing to him.

He made up his mind if he could gently convince Wei Ying to be his mate, but must do so slowly. "I want you to stay with me." He answered, as he takes his hand to lead him the way to the dining room, where the room is warm with glowing candlelight. On the banquet, a feast fit for the imperial nobles awaits him. Just like the night before and just as grand.

He sat next to him. Pours liquor in his cup whenever he wishes for a drink. As Wei Ying dine and feasted, Lan Zhan summons his guqin and the instrument appears in a flash of blue light with just a wave of his hand. Each time his slender fingers pluck a string, a note vibrates as he entertains him with his song, hoping he finds his music pleasing.

"This is the song of rain falling in spring. I composed this myself when I find the rain refreshing."

All this care and generosity is like nothing Wei Ying has ever experienced before. Though his shijie was always kind and generous, taking care of him, she was always limited by what she could do without their parents noticing, and she was always careful never to show favoritism between him and Jiang Cheng. Lan Zhan has no such limitations to his generosity, and there is no one to compete for his attention.

He eats gratefully, enjoying the exquisite food and drink, and Lan Zhan plays music for him, which is so lovely that it makes Wei Ying's heart ache.

Lan Zhan wants him as a lover, and in the face of all this food and the delicious liquor, with Lan Zhan close to him playing the guqin to please him, Wei Ying is sorely tempted. He can stay here. He can have this all the time. A beautiful immortal wants to court him.

"Drink with me, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying coaxes, once the song has finished.