In Wei Wuxian’s defense, he didn’t realize it was one in the morning. He knew it was late, of course, he had come out here after Lan Zhan had already fallen asleep to get some testing done in the days approaching his plan.
But he ended up doing some on-hand tweaking, sitting on the pier with fireworks and talismans all around him, with only the sound of nature and water all around him. It had taken longer than expected, with his meticulous planning and obsessive nature.
Then it was time to do more testing, and one had come out louder than expected, the firework that was meant to be near silent exploded in the air in a glittery confection. “Well, at least it looks pretty,” Wei Wuxian mumbled to himself and he sat back down on the pier to try, try again. But fatigue was getting the best of him, Lan Zhan had been getting him up to practice his cultivation before his classes, and he had been trying to fit in time at the Burial Mounds, and with his siblings-- it was a lot, and he needed sleep.
Which was his only excuse as to why the next firework started going off in his lap. He jumped up and out of the way just in time, vulgar exclamations rolling off of his tongue as he put it out with the emergency bucket of water he’d put nearby. “Oy-- this is a disaster.”
Jiang Cheng wasn't always a light sleeper. But with everything that had happened and the rebuilding of his clan, it had turned into a necessity. Five months in this place hadn't changed anything. How could it? Every other day there was some new threat, animals rampaging, or witches stealing people. He was constantly on edge. And now George was unreachable, camping in the forest, while that Maleficent creature made threats and curses.
It was almost a relief to be annoyed about something as mundane as his brother being inconsiderate. He walked out onto the pier and used the water totem constantly around his neck to flick a spray of water at the side of Wei Wuxian's face.
"Your time awareness is a disaster," he mumbled, no real heat to it. His eyes took in the talismans and fireworks around his brother and he frowned. "Is this what I think it is? I thought for sure you'd have this all planned in an afternoon."
"Hey, heyhey!" The words came out of Wei Wuxian’s mouth quicker than they could have even formed, mashed together a dozen times over as he swatted the water away. As if that would do something. In an instant, he sent a talisman back - one of his personal favorites, a blue and white spray of jumping bunnies. It was harmless, but hopefully an annoyance to Jiang Cheng.
“What? It isn’t that--” It was that late, and he cut off as he realized just how much time passed. Wei Wuxian clamped his mouth shut for almost a full second, pressed into a thin line. That didn’t last, it never did, as he rambled on. “Lan Zhan hasn’t made it easy, you know. He is worried and knows I’m hiding something, and so I can only do things here or at the school, and I can’t just do that. So--” Wei Wuxian gestured to the controlled chaos around him as if that was explanation enough.
Jiang Cheng's frown sharpened. His brother looked worn around the edges. He hadn't been very good at noticing such things as a teenager, but he was trying to learn from his mistakes. That didn't make him the world's best support by any means, though. It just meant he only rolled his eyes at the bunnies as he lowered himself to sit next to Wei Wuxian.
"You should just tell him you are working on something private. He is a Lan. He will respect that." He picked up a firework and examined it with the eye of a man who knew next to nothing about fireworks but was really determined to pretend he did. Unfortunately, it just looked like a firework and not a puzzle he could solve to save the day. "What are you having trouble with?"
Wei Wuxian made another noise of complaint. Not at Jiang Cheng sitting down - though that surprised him - but at telling Lan Zhan he was working on something private. He had, in a way, and had asked his lover and soulmate to trust him, and he did, but there was still something sinister about saying it.
It was silly. Wei Wuxian could lie to anyone in the world with no remorse or second guessing. He was good at lying, but this still felt strange, even if it was for a good cause. Because it was Lan Zhan.
“Ugh.” Wei Wuxian tossed Jiang Cheng a firework, the tube closed but incomplete. It hummed with magic. “The ones George made are perfect, and I wanted something extra but I can’t get the combination right to make them silent. I’m not trying to burst eardrums for this.”
Jiang Cheng caught the firework with a tsk. It looked no different than the first one he'd examined but he gave it a good once over anyway. There were at least two talismans for smothering sound but Wei Wuxian was - begrudgingly - far better with such things than Jiang Cheng. If his brother had tried all of his cultivation tricks, there was likely little Jiang Cheng could do.
"It's a little ironic. One of the first things Hanguang-Jun did was silence you." He smirked, tossing the firework into the air lightly and catching it. "The person most capable of helping you with your proposal problem might actually be the man being proposed to." He tossed the firework back at Wei Wuxian and cocked his head to the side. "It is not such a terrible crime if fireworks are loud, you know. I think you are nitpicking."
“Oh!” It was like a lightbulb just went off over Wei Wuxian’s head, as it just snapped into place. It was a common enough thing, to just suddenly puzzle it together in his head, though it was more rare that Jiang Cheng was someone that helped with that. “You’re a genius, Jiang Cheng! That’s it.”
The mute button that Lan Zhan was so fond of - now it was more of a joke, at least. Sometimes. Wei Wuxian knew the cultivation behind it, but was not nearly as good at it as his lover. Still, he settled in to do some testing and looked over at Jiang Cheng with an easy grin. “I know they can be loud, but Lan Zhan likes quiet, and silence. I’m trying to tailor this to him as much as I can. Then I will be irresistible and even he won’t be able to turn me down.”
In an unsurprising turn of events, Jiang Cheng hated how much he liked hearing his brother call him a genius. He couldn't quite keep a smile off of his face about it. But he did roll his eyes to balance it out. He adjusted his robes around his legs in a manufactured attempt at casual disinterest.
His words, however, were anything but.
"He likes you and you are the opposite of quiet." He sliced a thoughtful glance over at Wei Wuxian, pausing in his movements. "You're not actually worried he'll say no, are you? That's ridiculous."
This was where Wei Wuxian should have puffed up with confidence and beamed brightly, it’s what he did. His amount of false boasting was through the roof often enough. And he did start to, brought his shoulders up in a slightly defensive move before sulking back down with a shrug.
“He might not want to, here. Without his brother? Away from Lan Sect. Part of it’s here, but it’s not the same, you know?” Wei Wuxian knew Lan Zhan’s feelings for him, that part he was confident about. But sometimes knowing what the man was thinking was the more difficult. “It’s easier for me, to have Yanli and Wen Qing here, for you to not hate me--” He avoided Jiang Cheng’s eyes for that part. “He might want to wait, is all.”
Jiang Cheng sighed. It was unnerving to realize he preferred when Wei Wuxian was full of himself and coasting by on earned, and unearned, confidence. His nerves made Jiang Cheng nervous for him. But his emotions always surfaced first as annoyance and disbelief.
"So what if he does? Waiting is not saying no." He couldn't imagine a world where Lan Wangji didn't want to stay by Wei Wuxian until they died together in some dramatic battle and were entombed side by side. But he couldn't argue that the absence of Lan Wangji's brother might put a halt to any ceremony. Jiang Cheng scowled and bumped his shoulder against Wei Wuxian's. "He knows who you have here. He knows what it means. If…" He swallowed painfully and glanced out over the water. "If we're sent home, you can always have another ceremony for Lan Xichen. But maybe he will just want to wait a few months here, to give his brother a little more time to catch up."
Wei Wuxian wasn’t used to Jiang Cheng’s pep-talks. Or rather he hadn’t heard them since he was a child. All three of them used to go through stages of talking each other up and… teasing each other right back down, as siblings often did. To have that again made his heart warm and the smile that blossomed across Wei Wuxian’s face was nothing less than genuine.
It made him look a little ridiculous, since Jiang Cheng was being heartfelt and scowling over there, but Wei Wuxian kept on that large grin and turned it to his brother. “You need to stop being so wise, Jiang Cheng! You still aren’t the oldest sibling.” But he had grown up, that much was true. “Okay okay I’m not so worried! But you know what would make me less worried? Talk about your friend George.”
Wei Wuxian's stupid face and stupid prying made Jiang Cheng wrinkle his nose petulantly. It looked angry, at least to anyone who didn't know him better. But an embarrassing part of him was pleased. To be called wise. To feel like he'd helped. To be a little involved in this thing that was important to Wei Wuxian and have it feel, just a little bit, like when they were close.
"Ugh. You are truly sleep-deprived if you think I am going to let you turn this around on me." He collected another firework and pointed it at his brother. "I would rather light this on fire and eat it." His brow furrowed and he shrugged, looking uncertain for a change. "Besides, there is little to say. He took off into the woods to get some peace days ago."
Wei Wuxian pulled the firework back, just in case his brother was rash enough to actually follow through on that threat. He wanted to assume he wouldn’t be that stubborn, but truly, he had seen Jiang Cheng at his most stubborn before. He couldn’t be too sure.
But he was pleased that even with the complaints, he’d gotten the topic on George, even if the answer made him scowl. “What do you mean to get peace? Peace from you? Jiang Cheng, did you do something?” He tapped his brother with the end of the firework now, and readied himself to dispose of his own brand of advice. “You should be less stingy with your feelings, you know. He likes you a lot.”
Jiang Cheng made an affronted noise and smacked Wei Wuxian's shoulder with the back of his hand. "I didn't do anything. It's not about me. I think...it might be about that school of his, I don't know. It doesn't matter. He's allowed privacy and peace."
He pushed to his feet, glancing back towards the village. No one lingered outside at this hour.
"I might go off by myself too. Get a break from you." He didn't sound serious, more like he was trying to rile up Wei Wuxian. He nudged his brother with a foot. "But then who would watch you stress over a question you already know the answer to, ah?"
Wei Wuxian made an offended noise right back, and then reached up to rub his shoulder as if it hurt now. It didn’t, but to play things up in an exaggerated fashion was very Wei Wuxian of him. “You should make him a care package.” Jiang Cheng didn’t need his advice, but he continued giving it anyway. Sometimes he hit a gold nugget. “And be prepared with a hug!”
Also it was fun to troll his brother just a little.
He pretended he could think about Jiang Cheng’s question. Pretended, but it didn’t last long, and he just shrugged so very casually. “Shijie.” She’d already heard a little of his anxiety as it was. Wei Wuxian yawned dramatically. “I do need to get back to bed before dawn, though. Lan Zhan will notice I was gone.”
Jiang Cheng puffed up his chest like the overdramatic little brother that he was – no matter that almost everyone from their world was younger than him now. “Stop telling me what to do with George! I’m doing just fine on my own!”
Pushing down a swell of disappointment at Wei Wuxian saying he would go their sister instead, he reached down and collected the box of fireworks on the pier. He didn’t dump Wei Wuxian into the lake while he was at it, despite the urge. Could that be considered character growth? Gods, he hoped not. “You may as well keep these here. With Yanli.” He rolled his eyes and turned with a swish of his robes. “Go home, Wei Wuxian. Sleep. Annoy me at a more reasonable hour tomorrow.”
“Aiya--” Wei Wuxian protested loudly, and then immediately realized how late it was and that he might be waking someone else up. Or annoying them. Annoying Jiang Cheng was one thing, but he didn’t want to have others chasing him down with pitchforks, again.
He pouted after quieting down. “Fine, fine. I know when I’m being dismissed.” He winked at Jiang Cheng and made a quick escape, before his brother could push him into the lake. “Tell her I love her and thank you!”