你还在问吗？

         Though still hesitant, Mo Xuanyu finds himself nodding, hoping that there are still some good people left in Koi Tower. Wringing his hands, he moves to sit at the base of one of the opulent fountains. “Do you think I’m odd? Surely you’ve heard things by now. It wasn’t always this way, not when father was still alive but— now it’s all changed.”

          Nodding, Mo Xuanyu plucks one from the counter, twirling it carefully in his fingers. Pretty and dainty, not too ornate, but fancy nonetheless. In a way, it reminds him of himself. Currently, he isn’t sure whether or not that is a good thing. “I think they’re pretty.” The pin in his fingers is gently placed back where he found it, and he moves on to examine another one. “I’ve always thought they were pretty, but I wasn’t allowed such things in Mo Village. Here, everyone dresses so pretty, so no one cares what I wear.”

“I’m afraid much of life loses its sense of adventure when you get to my age,” Azrael lamented. 

Actually, now that Azrael thought about it, she had never felt a sense of adventure. She was just going through the motions, doing her duty as defined by the Heavens. Then the exhaustion set in and existence itself became a trial. But Azrael did enjoy seeing the innocence, the curiousity and the hope glimmering in the eyes of the young. She saw it in Sizhui, so pure of heart that the corners of her thin lips almost twitched into a faint smile. 

“Let us seek out danger and suffer the consequences, then,” She sighed. 

    𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐙𝐇𝐔𝐈 𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐄, but suddenly thinks about how rude that might be. if he had to guess, not older than his teachers, but one could never guess with those of GREAT SPIRITUALITY and foreboding auras. he bows his head slightly before he hears the approval. 

WEI WUXIAN FLINCHES, feeling goosebumps grip his back and something squeezing his heart. Yes, I do. I do know how you feel. His sympathy was natural. It was impossible not to feel for those who lost their core to Wen Zhuliu and here, before him, watching the aftermath - of a family member in their grief, yielded a different sort of sympathy. Wei Wuxian had to resist the urge to pat his roommate on the shoulder, turning his gaze downwards as if to avoid Ruizhuo’s eyes and avoiding feeling guilty altogether. ❝I didn’t mean to humiliate you. I’m just terrible in situations like these. Sorry if anything I said sounded offensive.❞

He thinks for a moment, rubbing his shoulder before looking back up, honesty lit in his eyes. ❝Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?❞

    𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐙𝐇𝐔𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐈 𝐖𝐔𝐗𝐈𝐀𝐍 as a joking person, someone who doesn’t take anything seriously. that’s all ANYONE has ever really known him as—HERO COMPLEX, boisterous, troublemaker. who knew this kid could also be generous, kind, and compassionate? his demeanor calmed ruizhuo, even as he crosses his arms over his chest and pouts.

         Brain screeching to a halt, Wei Wuxian can do nothing but stare dumbly at Lan Zhan’s back. ‘Be a good boy’. That deep voice right at his ear, almost teasing, has rendered him useless, those words going right to the pit of his stomach where butterflies have begun to flutter. This is hardly the first time Lan Zhan’s tone wove into a teasing edge, yet it’s the first time it’s stopped him in his tracks.

          Swallowing thickly, he can feel his cheeks heating up, and the realization is almost mortifying. How could Lan Zhan’s words affect him so? At the moment he is like a swooning maiden, legs nearly as weak as they were earlier, after being pinned and kissed senseless by some shy, strong force. 

          Doing his best to shake himself from this haze, he forces himself to move forward, though it isn’t the boulder his gaze nor his thoughts lock onto. “Lan Zhan! To think they call me the shameless one!” he admonishes with a nervous little chuckle, unable to resist the challenge of returning a tease.

    𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒? would a phrase like that be considered shameless? part of wangji wants to smile. it’s satisfying to hear wei wuxian freeze up and become flustered. how amazing was he to bring the most shameless of cultivators, THE GREAT JOKESTER wei wuxian who dared sputter nonsense in the esteemed lan qiren’s class and openly defy gusu lan’s sacred traditions and rules! but another part of him kicks himself in the rear.

    𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬 𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑫 𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺.

    wei wuxian must be quite used to being called such, BUT NOT LAN WANGJI. his ears burn up as he remembers the press of soft lips against his own, the skin there tingling and burning from that way he had forced himself on wei wuxian. that… that was truly shameless, but he mustn’t let wei wuxian find that out, lest he be ridiculed and POSSIBLY REJECTED.

          minan seemed to think highly of him. which, yes, in minan’s defense, huaisang had been bending over backwards to make sure he did in an attempt to get his attention and win minan’s affection, maybe… hopefully… if he’s lucky… but huaisang might be digging himself into a hole here. 

          ( his brother had figured out that he only ever really try at practice when minan’s around and has started stationing him there as often as possible. this also meant he’s been missing less and less training. huaisang had made more progress in the last few months than he had in the last few years, and his brother kept sending him discreet smug looks, one which wouldn’t be apparent to anyone but huaisang. it’s really starting to get on his nerves.) 

          “ well, that’s fine and all but… do it for yourself, too. at the end of the day a knowledge is only beneficial to the person holding it.”  he remarked, the warmth underneath his skin remaining constant as long as minan’s smile persisted. 

          and ah, the last comment was — pure flattery. in between the wording and the small voice minan said it in, all he could do in response was blink owlishly and hummed out a confused noise. huaisang spent most of the time in their first lesson struggling to teach minan how to hold the brush properly, because at this point it’s muscle memory and he couldn’t for the life of him remember how his own teacher taught him all those years ago. the fact that he had to actually touch minan’s hand to correct him obviously didn’t help. every task completed, every achievement made, a professional tutor would’ve done it in half the time, and it made huaisang feel guilty because he’s wasting a lot of minan’s time.

THE OTHER NIE SERVANTS had told minan that there was something special about him. they say they’ve never seen nie gongzi work as hard as he had in the months since minan had arrived. minan hasn’t been TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS either. sect leader nie had specifically instructed minan to do this sewing or other chores by the courtyard, just within view of 𝑵𝑰𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑵𝑮𝒁𝑰.

( minan thought that maybe this is SECT LEADER NIE’S way of politely telling him that he’s not interested in minan—by keeping him as FAR AWAY from the sect leader as possible. minan can’t blame him. he’s not desirable; he’s not a woman; 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔; and the sect leader can’t afford any distractions, especially not when their sect was vulnerable. ) 

NEVERTHELESS, minan enjoys his time with the young master and watching him perform his routines. minan can’t imagine the stories that the other servants tell—of how nie gongzi is the  L A Z I E S T  person on the planet  ( maybe next to the infamous wei wuxian ).  he’s heard so many stories of nie gongzi who only whines and complains, who would rather be laying in the sun than doing practices—and that it was only sect leader nie’s instructions keeping nie gongzi in study and routine, but apparently something had shifted when minan came, and everyone seemed to know EXCEPT for him.