Log -- Lan Zhan || Wei Ying ‣ WHO: Lan Zhan || Wei Ying ‣ WHAT: Surfing as discussed in these text messages ‣ WHEN: August 8th, 2020 ‣ WHERE: The beach ‣ RATING | WARNINGS: Low || No warnings applicable ‣ STATUS: Complete || Log
One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surf-board, and a wave
Lan Zhan & Wei Ying
Wei Ying was not quite sure what had convinced him that taking Lan Zhan surfing would be a good idea. He had gotten somewhat caught up in the excitement of it all, the giddiness that accompanied the other man deciding to spend time with him had made his brother’s eyes roll and that familiar scoff to echo in his ears. Unperturbed, however, Wei Ying had gone along making plans.
On Saturday morning, he was awake and dressed before nine, showered and ready to head out for a day of surfing. Being awake so early meant that he was also early arriving at the expensive apartment Lan Zhan and his brother, Lan Huan, lived in. The doorman was kind enough to let him in, and he texted his friend after waiting in the lobby for almost half an hour, until boredom got the better of him and he could feel the edges of mischief and destruction making his fingers itch.
He was dressed, today, in a baggy, white t-shirt and board shorts. He had a bag with him which held his towel and something for underneath the wet suit he would be renting, as he did not have the same amount of money that he could expend on such things (though he knew if he truly wanted something, his sister would find a way of making their parents pay for it, she was too good to him like that). His baseball cap, which flattened his hair, also had the benefit of keeping his sunglasses perched on his face, and he waited, legs outstretched and head tipped back for the indomitable Lan Zhan to join him.
Lan Zhan much like Wei Ying was beginning to question the sensibility of his request to go surfing as after some thought and reflection it wouldn't add anything to his experience, he didn't think his uncle would look too kindly on his frivolous expense, but Lan Huan had seemed supportive and so he'd packed a bag and was ready for whatever the day had to offer. His outfit for the day consisted of jeans, board shorts beneath the denim, a t-shirt and trainers in place of boots. Not Converse, but Nike. He had very limited patience for the need to lace Converse so tightly to your feet in order to keep them on and Nike provided more support.
Sun lotion was also packed as a precaution more than anything else as was a pair of sunglasses that he placed into hair which was tied, loosely, not tightly secured at the middle of his head. It was a more casual look for Lan Zhan, but then, it was going to be a day spent surfing and it didn't feel appropriate to be dressed up. He knew he was not running late. He was if anything running exactly on time. You would be forgiven for not thinking that this was the case given the dramatic sprawled out display being put on for all to see by Wei Ying as he monopolized a vast portion of the lobby.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, annoyed at himself for feeling a twinge of something at the sight in question, and promptly stamped down on it, whatever it was and approached.
"Wei Ying," he greeted.
Wei Ying visibly jumped as his name was called, whole body twitching as though he had been caught dozing somewhere he shouldn’t have been. And honestly, perhaps that was precisely what had happened. It was not a habit that his siblings shared, but Wei Ying had always been able to fall asleep anywhere, it was a carry over from the time he couldn’t remember, he was sure, along with a number of other habits that he worked hard to hide from respectable company.
He tugged his sunglasses off and blinked up at Lan Zhan, a beaming, bright, genuine smile breaking out over his face. “Zhan-ge!”
Scrambling to his feet, he bowed a little in greeting, scooping his bag up and only then giving his friend a slow, appraising once over. “You look very nice today.”
There was not a flicker of a smile at the corner of Lan Zhan’s mouth at the visible jump he had managed to elicit from the other. In fact you would have needed to have had a microscope fixed on his face to even notice the slight change.
The strangest thing occurred in response to that bright beaming smile and it was unsettling. It involved his stomach and the feeling he associated with feeling sick. It wasn’t exactly pleasant and he did his best to put it out of mind.
The compliment was not readily or quickly accepted. It was inspected, assessed, and when found to be genuine acknowledged with a small movement of Lan Zhan’s head. “Thank you.” He gestured. “Shall we?”
“You’re welcome, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said with a warm grin, hooking his arm around the other man’s and tugging him towards the door. Since the day was nice and they had some time, he had not ordered an Uber to collect them. This very nice apartment building was well placed, so it would not take them long to get to the beach. “I’ve been looking forward to today.”
That was not a lie either: he had been excited since they had made their agreement to meet. It had only been a few days, but he had been prepared to be told never to talk to Lan Zhan again, since his brother was convinced he would be a nuisance.
“Surfing is good for the mind, I hear.”
Touching. He was touching again. Why did he insist on touching?
Lan Zhan was very particular about who he did or did not let touch him. Maybe due to how he had been raised by his uncle who had been very strict and not particularly affectionate so he had limited understanding of why touch was so important. Wei Ying, however, had no such difficulty.
He said nothing, allowed himself to be tugged towards the door, and out into the heat of Orange County.
“Are there places to buy wetsuits at the beach?”
Wei Ying was, as his sister often said, touch-starved. Affection was the measure by which he understood his place in the world and found himself often adrift if he was not able to touch. In lieu of someone, he often had something, small gadgets or items to keep his hands occupied so he did not end up destroying or shredding paper or napkins, whatever happened to be on hand.
“There are a few surf shops near the beachfront, yes,” Wei Ying responded quietly, chewing on the inside of his lower lip as he took a moment to get his bearings. He noticed that Lan Zhan had not roughly shoved his hand away, nor had he done anything aside from arch an eyebrow delicately at him in a way that caused a thrill to run along Wei Ying’s spine.
He tugged on the arm he was holding once more and then letting go, falling into step next to the indomitable other man. He cut an impressive figure.
“Don’t worry, Zhan-ge, I’ll make sure we go to a nice one.”
“Good.” A succinct answer but Lan Zhan did not believe in using extraneous words if only a few would suffice. He felt quite strongly that people said too much and did not do enough. Actions were better, they were clearer, less ambiguous and not as easy to fake.
As Wei Ying let go of his arm he ignored the chill that accompanied the newly vacated space and brushed it off as nothing, reaching upwards to pull his sunglasses into place.
“Are you really going to rent a suit?”
Wei Ying tipped his head up to look at (admire) the sharp line of Lan Zhan’s jaw and he just nodded, mimicking him in putting his sunglasses back on and adjusting his cap.
“I always do. I haven’t caught anything yet.”
The grin is irreverent. As the sort-of-adopted son (ward, Yu Ziyuan’s voice reminded him sharply, not son) of Jiang Fengmian he should have been able to afford whatever he wanted, but he did not dare abuse the generosity shown to him. So he had always done his best to survive on what he could get for himself, supplemented subtly by what Jiang Fengmian could give to him through his other children.
“Besides, the person behind the counter at the rental shop is very beautiful.” That smile was sharp around the edges, it fooled everyone else in his life. “Not as beautiful as you, of course, but still.”
“Stop being silly,” Lan Zhan admonished with a turn of his head. “I am not in the mood to be teased today, Wei Ying.” What else could it be? Wei Ying was known for his mischievous nature and the things he did to get certain reactions out of people were legendary.
He grimaced at the idea of renting a wetsuit that had clung to another person’s wet and sweaty body for however long and felt a shudder run the length of his spine. That would not do. Not in the slightest. He would somehow orchestrate it so that Wei Ying walked away with a wetsuit of his own. His mind was made up.
“The ‘yet’ part of that sentence worries me.”
“Ai-ya!” Wei Ying covered his chest with his hand, pressed his palm over his heart as though he had been severely wounded. “Lan Zhan you wound me. Why would you say I was teasing? Do you presume to know what is in my mind when I look at you?” He let out another melodramatic sigh and bumped Lan Zhan with his shoulder. “You must be used to people telling you that you are more handsome than a sunrise.”
The dreamy sigh might have been too much, but the rest of it seemed at least a little sincere, Wei Ying’s eyes wide and honest behind his sunglasses. Of course, the conversation turning to a joke - or something close to one - had Wei Ying letting out a surprised laugh.
“Did you just make a sarcastic comment?” He clutched his chest again. “You must warn me before you do that, so I do not have a heart attack and faint!” But he lifted his shoulder. “Yet has worked out for me so far.”
The dramatics were not needed. Or they weren’t as far as Lan Zhan was concerned. He might have believed Wei Ying a little if not for the dreamy sigh so a glower followed the shoulder bump. He was not used to people telling him that. Possibly because he was quite intimidating and had a resting face which didn’t suggest but told everybody that he did not favor fools. That tended to put people off.
“You seem to be fine,” he noted dryly and with a withering look that could be felt through the reflective lenses of his sunglasses.
He shook his head. “Until it doesn’t.”
“Just because I look fine doesn’t mean that I am. The worst wounds are the ones that leave no marks behind.” Wei Ying clutched at his shirt and pouted up at Lan Zhan, lower lip jutting out like a sad child that had been chastised by an angry friend. “Besides, I refuse to believe that you have not received several very attractive marriage proposals from women who would like to be able to say they are married to such a handsome man.”
Seemingly utterly unperturbed by the withering glare that he could definitely feel, he waved a hand and hitched his bag on his shoulder, hopping around a streetlight before returning to bump Lan Zhan’s shoulder again. “Careful, it almost sounds like you care about me not catching some kind of venereal disease.”
He had, but that was not the point. He had no interest in marriage proposals especially when he could barely stand being around a lot of people without being committed like that. He chose not to say anything either affirmative or dismissive.
“Almost,” was the pointed comment as he swayed in response to the shoulder nudge.
If anything, Wei Ying seemed encouraged by the deadpan response than anything else, that blindingly bright grin being aimed at Lan Zhan again.
“Aah, underneath all that seriousness you have a sense of humor. I am relieved! After all, if I was to be the only funny one, our friendship would be dull indeed.”
Though the walk was not silent, the conversation was certainly one-sided as Wei Ying talked about his siblings and about an incident in his old job where he had fallen out with a customer who had been harassing a young woman and saying cruel things but his manager had taken the wrong side and Wei Ying had ended up getting himself fired for standing up to him. The impassioned storytelling took them to the beachfront, and to a shop that looked far too expensive for Wei Ying to even normally look at.
But it was not Wei Ying shopping today. So, he gestured with a broad sweep of his hand and bowed low. “After you.”
Lan Zhan did what he did best, he listened. You could learn a lot about pretty much everything and everyone if you opened your ears rather than your mouth. Wei Ying did like to talk and he had experiences to share so Lan Zhan did him the benefit of active listening.
He entered the shop and cast his eyes around it, noting that it had two levels, and it was definitely a shop that would be more than sufficient for their needs. Not his, theirs. He had made up his mind already after all.
“Are you coming?” He asked, twisting at the hip to look back at Wei Ying.
“Of course,” Wei Ying responded, that broad smile still on his face, “this one was merely respecting his elder to let him pass through first.”
He winked and tugged off his glasses, hooking them in the front of his t-shirt and then pulled off his cap. He folded it and stuffed it into his back pocket, rocking up onto his toes as he ruffled his hair to try and flatten it but only made it look more messy and stepped inside.
“Ai,” he breathed, “this is a big shop, Lan Zhan, we’re sure to find what you are looking for. Come on,” he grabbed Lan Zhan’s arm again, tugging him over towards where he could see the wetsuits lined up, “this way!”
This grabbing and tugging thing was becoming a habit. A casual one. Honestly, Lan Zhan wasn’t sure how to feel about that. For now he focused past that and instead on the many wetsuits that were available. His eye was drawn to the blue and black in particular though he quite liked the idea of red and black for Wei Ying.
“You gentlemen need any help?” A distinctly American voice asked to the right of them.
Lan Zhan turned his head and briefly assessed the tanned blond who had come over and was called ‘Chris’ if the nametag was to be believed. “We’re looking for wetsuits that will keep us warm and dry during surfing lessons. Do you have any recommendations?”
Chris’ face lit up or rather dollar signs could almost be seen in the blue of his eyes. “Thankfully for you I happen to have a lot of experience with that sort of thing.” He leaned into the rack of wetsuits and pulled out a couple options after having mentally and physically checked out the height of both men. “Here,” he said with an armful of wetsuits. “These should set you up well.”
There could be no mistaking the sheer confusion on Wei Ying’s face as a pile of wetsuits were dumped not only into Lan Zhan’s arms, but his own. He bent his knees, slightly, exaggerating how heavy they were in what was a signature display of melodrama. He frowned.
“Lan Zhan, there is no need to try on all of these, the ones with blue along the side would look good on you. Why do I-”
“He said ‘we’,” Chris, the salesman pointed out, gently indicating that they should head towards the changing area. “So I’ve grabbed enough for both of you. Let me know if you need any more help after trying them on, guys!”
“But I am not buying a wetsuit today…” Even so, he did sort of trail after Lan Zhan towards the changing rooms.
Lan Zhan didn’t smirk. Not at all. Except he totally did. It was amusing to him when Wei Ying was caught off guard, it didn’t happen often. He thanked Chris for the selection of wetsuits and disappeared into one of the cubicles. Quite honestly they were slightly intimidating.
He placed the wetsuits to one side and began to strip until he was down to his board shorts and then he pulled on the first wetsuit that was definitely snug but he was certain that was the point. It wasn’t blue and black, but the touch of design on the side and leg was quite nice.
He managed to catch the zip and tugged it up before he adjusted how the suit was sitting. Once comfortable he stepped out.
Though Wei Ying had caught the smirk, before he could comment on it or respond in any way other than smiling a little, Lan Zhan had disappeared with his bundle of wet suits. He did the same, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to humor the other man while they were here, even if he would just end up longingly looking at what would, inevitably, be the perfect suit.
“Hǎo xīnkǔ,” he complained, wriggling around as he stripped out of his own clothes and stepped into the first wet-suit. He didn’t like it, so it only got halfway up him and then he squirmed out of it and tried to put it back on the hanger but it fell onto the floor. “Lan Zhan I hope this is as hard for you as it is for me,” he said, able to hear the quiet and almost serene sounds of Lan Zhan changing next door. It made his ears feel warm.
His third suit was around his waist when he heard the curtain be pushed back and he stuck his head out, shoulders visibly bare to look at the wetsuit as Lan Zhan emerged. That suit fitted him well. Wei Ying choked on his own inward breath.
“That suits you,” he managed, coughing a little and forcing his eyes to lift from where the suit clung to... assets. “You look very handsome indeed.”
Lan Zhan turned his head to look at Wei Ying as he stuck his head out from within the changing room, a brief glance at the bare shoulders until he caught himself. “It’s not black and blue but I think I like it.”
He was very fortunate in that he could and did make decisions quickly about trivial things that didn’t matter. For those decisions that did matter, however, he took his time and made sure to weigh everything up.
“Do you not like your suit?”
“It is worth liking,” Wei Ying responded quietly. “You look very good in it. Is that the one you would like?”
He gave an uneasy smile, a flash of self-consciousness as he shrugged a bare shoulder. “I haven’t finished putting it on yet,” he admitted. One hand appeared, long finger lifted in the universal ‘wait there’ gesture before he disappeared behind the curtain again. A few grunts later, he reappeared.
The suit was a three-quarter length one that cut off mid-shin. It was pure black, with a gray panel that ran down the side and had piping in a deep, vibrant red along the seams, almost like a ribbon. He’d done it up, but hadn’t had time to look at himself in the mirror inside the changing room before he stepped out. It clung to him a lot more closely than the rental ones.
“What do you think?” he asked, still blithely unaware that the suit may have ended up being given to him. Or, perhaps, bought for him.
Lan Zhan gave the store a cursory look as he waited for Wei Ying to finish and was blissfully unaware of what exactly the suit would look like once on. That ignorance was shattered into a million pieces when Wei Ying stepped out and immediately his attention was drawn to how the suit clung and in particular accentuated certain aspects of the other’s body that clothes did no service to.
Was it hot in here or was it just him?
“It looks very good,” he managed after a beat and pause, a slow gathering breath. “It suits you.”
Though he would vehemently, and loudly, deny it if someone were to point it out, Wei Ying’s cheeks visibly flushed at the compliment. He glanced down at himself, turned on the spot and rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, Lan Zhan is too kind.”
He cleared his throat. “Is that the suit you want to buy?” he asked, wetting his lower lip. “You will be very popular on the beach today, I promise you that.”
Lan Zhan could feel Chris hovering obviously hoping for a sale. “I think so,” he said, nod given a moment later. Sometimes the first choice was the best choice. He glanced over at Chris. “I will take both, but is there anything else we will need?”
“You have your own boards, right?” Chris asked, mouth open to ask about buying something else when Wei Ying cleared his throat.
“You need to let him try surfing first before he buys his own board.”
“A wetsu-”
“Aiyah, he’s buying a suit from you. What else would you want from him today?” There was a moment, and then Wei Ying’s head turned to look at Lan Zhan, that puzzled-confusion expression on his face once more. “Wait, both? I didn’t see you try on another suit, Lan Zhan. So cruel, only letting me see one.”
Lan Zhan simply turned and gave Wei Ying that same exasperated expression as before. “I am not buying another suit. I am buying this suit that I am wearing and the suit you are wearing.” His tone brokered no room for disagreement or argument.
He turned to Chris. “We will change and purchase these suits.”
If it was possible to hear the sound of somebody’s brain imploding, that is the sound that would have come from Wei Ying’s head. As it was, the loud young man was merely stunned into a silence that was preceded by a small squeak as he retreated behind the curtain to change.
Chris waited patiently, calling “just leave the other ones there, I’ll get someone to put them back” which was a good thing, as far as Wei Ying was concerned as it looked as though a small chaos bomb had imploded inside the changing room he was using.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, tugging his shirt on over his head and then standing on the stool, clearing his throat and then peeking over the top of the cubicle, fingers gripping the plyboard to keep his balance. He was relieved - mostly - to see that the other man was already dressed. How did he do that so fast? “Psst, Lan Zhan! You know you do not have to do this?”
Silence, how unusual. A mental note was made, something to remember for future interactions. He stepped back into his cubicle and thankfully by the time Wei Ying stuck his head over he was fully clothed again.
He tipped his head to look up at Wei Ying. “I know.” Simple straight to the point with no overabundance of dialogue. “But I am so get dressed.” A final look and then he was departing the cubicle, passing his chosen wetsuit to Chris who glanced at Wei Ying’s cubicle.
“He will be out shortly.”
The wetsuit came out first, dangled in an impatient way until Chris appeared to take it and then he retreated back into the cubicle to dress. Wei Ying had never done anything quietly, and he was not about to start now, humming to himself as he quickly got dressed.
Even so, when he re-emerged, Lan Zhan had been led over to the counter by Chris who was looking like he might want to try a hard sales tactic to convince the man to buy something else.
Wei Ying slid over, right up into Lan Zhan’s space and linked their arms together, tugging playfully. “Tā xiǎng zuò gèng duō de shēngy!” He said, bumping their shoulders together. “Bùyào liǎn!”
“Tā xiǎnrán bù zhīdào yǔ shéi dǎjiāodào.” Lan Zhan regarded Chris passively and tipped his head in slight assessment, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. That seemed enough to put the sales assistant off whatever he had been thinking.
“Kàn dào?”
The total rang up on the till and Lan Zhan handed over his credit card.
Wei Ying snorted and shook his head, clearly amused and also secretly pleased that he hadn’t been pushed away from the other man where he was sort of hanging off his arm. He looked up at Lan Zhan with a softer smile that flickered over his expression until he let go and rubbed his hand through his hair.
“You did not have to buy something for me,” he said, minorly uncomfortable with the display of generosity that he clearly wasn’t used to. “But thank you. I will be sure to take even more care teaching you to surf today!”
Once the card had been swiped and presented for signature, Wei Ying took the bag before Lan Zhan could, twirling out of the way so the other man couldn’t take it from him. “Is there anything else you want to do before we go to the beach?”
“I wanted to and I did.” Lan Zhan came from an affluent but also highly generous family that believed that wealth should be shared and others taken care of. It was this upbringing that had made him into the man he was today.
He shook his head. “No, nothing else.” The beach was their next logical location and Lan Zhan fell in step beside Wei Ying as he led the way. “Where do we change?” He assumed there would be some sort of changing space available. Or at least he hoped there would be.
Wei Ying snickered, “We change on the beach, of course!” Though he did not allow Lan Zhan too much time to worry about having to strip in public, he waved his hand. “There are places on the beach where we can change. Even places to lock up your belongings. I keep most of mine on me, the wet suits have pockets to secure your valuables so they do not get lost.”
He hummed. “I think we just need to go and rent our boards, then we will be ready.”
It was a good thing that Wei Ying did not allow Lan Zhan to worry for too long as if he had then Lan Zhan would have changed his mind. He didn’t want to learn to surf that badly.
He glanced around and spotted what looked to be a place to rent boards. “We should do that before we get changed.”
Wei Ying beamed again, bright and delighted and nodded his head, yanking his wallet out of his pocket - attached to his board shorts by a chain. “We should, I am excited, Lan Zhan!”
He barely let Lan Zhan talk - not that the man was wordy anyway - and half spoke, half flirted with the man behind the counter as he arranged for two boards to be rented for them. He also spared a wink for the woman who handed the boards over.
“You are showing lots of trust in me, Zhan-ge,” he said, “I could be a terrible surfer!”
Lan Zhan watched with some bemusement as Wei Ying shamelessly flirted with both the man and woman behind the counter and barely repressed the roll of his eyes that followed.
“If you are bluffing then we will find out soon enough.” It was Wei Ying break or make it moment as they were soon to be surfing. “And then you shall not hear the end of it from me.” He took one of the boards and made for the changing rooms that were available.
As was the way with him getting undressed didn’t take long and was done quietly until he was clad in his wetsuit and his hair that had previously been secured at the base of his neck was now fixed in a messy top knot.
“Are you ready?”
Wei Ying’s breath visibly hitched when Lan Zhan appeared and he clutched his chest, fingers against his snug new wetsuit. He cleared his throat. “You will not be allowed to blame me should I fall,” he said, poking Lan Zhan’s chest. “With you looking so distracting.”
He cleared his throat. “I could always go out first, show you that I can surf and then we can go out together? It takes a while to be able to stand so today we will likely just get used to the waves.”
Lan Zhan shook off the compliment with a movement of his head. “Boring.” He gave the other man’s shoulder a shove before agreeing to the plan. It made sense and would certainly give him a perspective on how Wei Ying could or could not surf, whatever the case may be.
“After you.”
With belongings secured and board tucked beneath his arm he followed Wei Ying onto the beach.
“You wound me!” Wei Ying cried dramatically, even as he led the way to the beach. Any anxiety he might have felt at Lan Zhan on the sand behind him melted away as soon as he hit the water, laying his board down and paddling his way out to the water. When he hit the depths and was bobbing, waiting for a wave to roll over to bring him back in, he waved at Lan Zhan, able to pick the other man out of the crowd in an instant.
With the waves that came, he skipped the first one because it wasn’t big enough, and swam out deeper to catch the next one, letting it roll him in as he lay flat on the board and paddled towards shore, hopping to his feet as he hit the crest of the wave and surfed back into the shallows. Once he was close enough to the shore, he allowed himself to flop off the board and popped up with that trademark bright smile, tossing his hair back out of his face and raking his fingers through it.
Board stabbed into the sand, water licking at his heels, he waved his hand again and beckoned Lan Zhan closer.
Lan Zhan planted his feet in the sand and stuck his board in as deep as he could manage before simply clasping his hands behind his back as Wei Ying headed out into the water. He arched his eyebrow ever so slightly when Wei Ying waved at him, attention soon drifting to the way in which the wave crept up on the other.
As expected Wei Ying had played off his apparent competency as far as surfing was concerned. He handled board and waves easily, seamlessly, with style and confidence that was difficult to miss.
He was still, unbeckoned by the hand, for the time being. It took a further moment before he stepped closer, board under arm. “You are better than you claimed to be.”
“Ah now, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, reproachfully, as he was approached, “if I were not at least a little bit good, I would not have made much of a teacher.”
He tilted his head and looked back at the waves before allowing his gaze to slide to Lan Zhan. “What did you see?” he asked, then gestured to the people out on the waves, “what can you see them doing that might be important to remember?”
“Hm.” Lan Zhan turned his focus away from Wei Ying and back to the people out in the surf, letting his full attention settle there. “They are staying at the center of the board and shifting their weight on their feet, using their knees to accommodate for the movement of the board.”
Others were also riding a wave and then flattening their bodies against the board, using their arms and hands to paddle themselves back into the surf to catch the next wave.
“They seem to be chasing the waves.”
“Mmhm,” Wei Ying said, leaning back on his heels, half watching the surfers and half watching his friend. “There’s a lot about balance that helps keep you upright when you’re surfing, need to keep the front of the board higher than the back and lower your own center of gravity. A lot of core strength and it’s all in your knees.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “And you need to be a good, strong swimmer. But that is hardly a problem, I think.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We should at least get you out on the board, even if we do not get to actual surfing today.”
Lan Zhan was thankful for all the martial arts lessons he had been taking since a very young age because that helped you with balance, core strength and gave you a good foundation in many ways.
“Okay,” he replied with a nod. “I’m ready.”
He glanced at Wei Ying and reached for his board.
They headed down the beach a little towards where the waves were a little softer, an area that was better for beginners and instead of getting Lan Zhan to practice on the sand, he supposed it was better to just go into the water and hope for the best. It was always better to just do, rather than to endlessly stay on dry land.
He tucked his own board under his arm, pausing only to dig it into the sand and drop to his knees in front of Lan Zhan. He grinned up cheekily, reaching for the band and securing it presumptuously around Lan Zhan’s ankle. It looked for all the world like he wanted to say something else, but he stopped himself.
“Okay, now you are good.”
He led the way into the water, board tucked up until they reached chest-deep water, at which point he put his hands on the board and hauled himself up, straddling it comfortably with one leg on either side.
Lan Zhan eyebrows lifted ever so slightly when Wei Ying dropped to his knees in front of him and busied himself with securing the band around his ankle. He cleared his throat and returned his focus to grabbing his board and following Wei Ying into the ocean, it was cold but that was to be expected. It was why they’d purchased wetsuits.
Similarly to his friend he waited until they were in deeper water before he hauled himself atop his board that he also straddled, making himself comfortable.
“What now?”
Wei Ying put his hands into the water and lightly splashed Lan Zhan before he shrugged his shoulders. “Well, this is the starting point. You do not immediately start surfing on your feet, we work with the waves and get used to the feel of the tide as it moves beneath you.”
He pushed his fingers through his hair and then reached out, hand touching the edge of Lan Zhan’s board. “We will start by paddling out deeper, and then you can learn to feel the way the ocean moves beneath you.” His eyebrows wiggled a little. “You have to learn to anticipate it, like a lover, so you can move accordingly.”
Without removing his hand, he tipped his head. “You should lie on your stomach. When you paddle out deeper, use alternating strokes, as though you are swimming using the front crawl technique. I will be right behind you.”
Lan Zhan leaned back, an attempt to avoid being splashed, but failed miserably. He looked away purposefully when Wei Ying put his fingers in his hair and was thankful for the chance to roll his eyes at the words that followed.
He had limited exposure and experience with the movements of lovers but felt no need to express that given that he had no desire to be teased for lack of experience.
“Fine.” He shifted his weight relatively smoothly and moved to rest himself on his stomach before doing as he had been told, using long powerful strokes of his arms to paddle out deeper.
Wei Ying just watched the way Lan Zhan’s arms moved as he paddled out deeper, being caught off guard by another surfer who wasn’t watching where they were going and he was knocked off his board, plunged underneath it and when he surfaced he caught his head on the edge. “Aiyo,” he complained, rubbing at his temple and climbing back onto the board. He belatedly followed Lan Zhan out deeper, popping up over a small cresting wave.
He grinned, aware the edge of his temple was red, paddling closer and putting himself back up into a seated position, using Lan Zhan’s ankle to pull himself nearer. “You beat me.”
Lan Zhan turned his head as he felt more than heard the altercation between Wei Ying and the other surfer, frown marring his brow and dark gaze tracking the surfer responsible with a look to rival thunder. He straddled his board to ease into a seated position and without much thought or worry he reached out to catch Wei Ying’s jaw, thumb resting there to help him tip the other man’s head so he could take a much closer look at his temple.
“Are you okay?”
Wei Ying was quite confident that the touch of someone’s hand to his face was not supposed to make the pain in his head intensify but the blood rushed up to color his cheeks as he found himself leaning into the touch, eyes half closing until he caught himself.
He cleared his throat. “Oh, haha,” he gave an uneasy laugh, lifting his hand to curl his fingers around Lan Zhan’s slim wrist, “I am fine. You- you get used to injuries when you are surfing. Sometimes people do not watch where they are going.”
And sometimes you got distracted watching the way a wetsuit pulled tight across someone’s shoulders and missed the cry for you to get out of the way of someone coming towards the beach. These things happened.
Lan Zhan’s eyes flicked briefly to where long fingers enveloped his wrist and swallowed, hoping that the lump which had formed at the back of his throat would dislodge to allow him to breathe properly. “Rude,” was his simple retort to the statement that not everybody watched where they were going.
“How many fingers?”
With his other hand he extended three fingers.
Wei Ying chuckled a little and found himself leaning into the touch a little more. “Three, Lan Zhan,” he said, deciding that now would not be a good time to play games. He squeezed the hand around his wrist. “Wǒ hěn hǎo,” he reassured. “Nuòyán.”
“Hǎo. Wǒ bù huì zàishuōle.” Lan Zhan was reassured, both by the fact that Wei Ying had answered with the correct number of fingers but also by his assertions that he was truly okay.
“So, what do we do now?”
When the hand dropped away from his cheek, Wei Ying shuddered a little, feeling a sudden sense of the cold which had him reaching his hands into the water, feeling the waves moving beneath his fingers to try and distract himself.
“Do you feel that?” He asked, “the way the water is pulling back a little? This is the first sign that a wave worth riding is on the way.”
He looked up at Lan Zhan with a little smile. “Hm?”
His head tipped to watch Wei Ying’s hands dipped into the ocean and his actions were mimicked, a note made to the way in which the current pulled beneath them and away. It was a sign or so Wei Ying said that a wave worth riding was coming. He would take Wei Ying’s word on that as he was the expert in this and he would be a fool not to.
“I can feel it.”
He turned his head to look over at Wei Ying. “What happens next?
The water bobbed underneath them and Wei Ying grinned. “Okay, so when the water is like this, you start paddling to move forward to the beach, so that when the wave hits you are moving in the right direction.” He inclined his head, there were a few surfers doing just what he had said, paddling a little deeper and then starting to paddle back towards shore.
“I think we will sit this one out,” he said. “We can get the next one. Just pay attention to how the water moves. How you have to-“ he paused, frowning a little, struggling to find the words in English, “-tíqián yùjiàn shuǐ jiàng rúhé liúdòng.
“The next wave we can copy the others. Stay low to the board and keep your stomach on it. Paddle to the beach and then let the wave do the rest.”
Lan Zhan looked out to where the other surfers were, to observe what their actions were and they were doing exactly what Wei Ying was describing. It was fascinating. Or it was to him. He understood how sometimes despite being fluent in the English language it was easier to revert to Mandarin, some descriptors did not have a fitting phrase in English.
He returned his hands to the water and tipped his head, feeling the water as it moved beneath him and then he also closed his eyes as both hearing and concentration was better when he removed visual simulation.
It would allow him to really understand how the water moved.
Wei Ying let his feet hang in the water and watched as Lan Zhan closed his eyes, felt the way the water moved beneath him. Something in his chest clenched painfully. He drew his lower lip between his teeth and passed a hand through his hair, ruffling it up and smoothing it down to make himself feel a bit better. Having something to do with his hands always tended to help settle him down. Lan Zhan really was a beautiful man. It was unfair.
The wave passed them by, their boards bobbing them closer to the shore only marginally, so it was easy for Wei Ying to move them back into the deeper water.
The swell pulled backwards again. “Would you like to try with this wave, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Zhan exhaled, slow, steady and peaceful, eyes opening a few moments later. He might even have a small trace of a smile on his lips but you would need to lean in very close to see it.
“Yes,” he replied with a nod of his head. “I would.”
He positioned himself on his board as Wei Ying had instructed and then waited for the other to signal when he should begin to paddle.
Wei Ying was so distracted watching Lan Zhan move that he almost missed the sign, but flung himself flat down and nodded as the wave crept up behind them, “When you hit the shallows,” he said, “let yourself fall off the board rather than hit the beach. It is far kinder to fall into the water than onto the shore.”
He grinned and then started paddling, knowing that Lan Zhan was watching him closely enough (which gave him a little thrill, if he was honest) that he would be following as they rode the wave to shore.
Lan Zhan was a good listener. An even better student. Wei Ying’s advice was not falling on deaf ears, it was being cataloged and would be put to good use. He was however a little more distracted than he might have been if he didn’t have a particular view of Wei Ying from his angle on the board.
He was able to pull himself back on track before the wave hit and he began to paddle, feeling the swell of the wave beneath the expanse of his board and the rush of adrenaline was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It could understand how this could become a sport that people did on a regular basis and perhaps it would become his past time.
As the shallows rapidly approached he did let himself fall off the board so he was cushioned by the water rather than slammed by the beach.
Wei Ying did much the same, letting the water rush forward and take him with it, flinging himself off the board before Lan Zhan, even, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by the roaring silence of the ocean. He surfaced and threw his head back to clear his bangs from his face.
He caught his surfboard and rested his palm on it, watching as Lan Zhan surfaced and finding, for one terrifying moment, that he couldn’t breathe, openly staring.
Given Lan Zhan’s height it was easy for him to find a secure footing which allowed him to surface confidently in a movement that was smooth, fingers buried in dark strands of hair, pulling them back and through the gaps between his fingers with his eyes shut and head tipped ever so slightly for the sun to pick out the beads of water as they rolled down his face.
He opened his eyes and his gaze rested on Wei Ying who was staring, openly so.
The moment felt heavy, air imbued with some sort of electricity, and it did feel as though something had reached into and curled a tight grip around his heart.
Even as time slowed around them, Wei Ying was aware that he had been busted. His cheeks flushed and he shook his head, water droplets flying everywhere and messing up his previously slicked back hair.
He cleared his throat and grinned, it was easy to do so, broad and bright. “You did so well, Zhan-ge! How did you find it?”
The question was to deflect the fact that he really wanted to clamber over their boards and stand, waist deep in the ocean, to catch the water drops that fell down Lan Zhan’s temple before they hit the curve of his cheek.
Lan Zhan’s lips inched upwards into the smallest of smirks at the sight of Wei Ying’s hair in its crazier state. “It was fun.” That was an understatement but he had always been the master of less is more. “And I think I would like to do it again.”
He reached out to capture his board and rested his folded arms on top of him.
“Hopefully not fall off when I try to stand up.”
“Well, you must not rush standing up,” Wei Ying points out, stumbling through the water to bring his board in line with Lan Zhan’s. “But if you would like, we can go out again?”
He would like that, very much.
Lan Zhan turned his head to regard the expanse of the ocean and straightened his back. “Yes, let us go out again.” He caught his board and pulled himself atop of it, replicating the movement that had taken them out further in order to catch the next wave.
“A few more times and then we can get something to eat.”
Wei Wuxian hauled himself up onto his board and watched Lan Zhan paddle out, following him a moment later.
“It’s a date,” he said to himself. “This is the best day ever.”