WHO: Jiang Cheng & Lan Wangji WHAT: JC welcomes LWJ to the family WHEN: Sometime after the proposal WARNINGS: none! It's shockingly civil! Almost soft!! STATUS: Complete
Wei Wuxian had made no secret of his proposal - besides keeping it from the man being proposed to - and he made even less of a secret of it now that it was done. Jiang Cheng was not surprised, of course. He wasn't really all that annoyed about it. He rolled his eyes plenty though. And sighed. But occasionally, he smiled too. He caught himself watching his brother wear happiness and it left him feeling soft in a way he'd almost forgotten.
He blamed that feeling for how the sight of Lan Wangji passing through Lotus Pier made him want to intercept his future brother-in-law, rather than avoid him. But he'd been doing less and less of that anyway, to be fair.
Dodging around a few shopkeepers near the dock, Jiang Cheng hurried to catch Lan Wangji just as he was entering a quiet courtyard. "Hanguang-Jun," he called out. "If I may have a moment of your time."
Lan Wangji had spotted Wei Ying’s brother, a blot of white against the natural wood tones of Lotus Pier, but he hadn’t intended to interrupt him. It was partly out of politeness - he had only come here to ask Wei Ying a question about wedding planning - and partly out of habit, for he and Jiang Cheng had never historically gotten along. Truth be told, he had barely looked at the man for the sixteen years that Wei Ying had been dead.
But their relationship had to be different here at Vallo. Lan Wangji, upon reflection, did not mind it being different. A grudge was unseemly to bear, and a great deal of his past anger at Jiang Cheng had been misplaced and should have been aimed at himself. He slowed his pace and turned, his hands behind him, his back straight, as he waited for Jiang Cheng to approach, his face unreadable, but not forbidding.
Now that he’d caught up, Jiang Cheng was a little uncertain what to say. He should’ve planned this. There were family traditions to follow, even if his mother might riot in her crypt about it. But there he stood empty-handed and apparently empty-headed as well.
“I—I just wanted to say…” He scowled, feeling exposed. This was not one of his skills. Not when it was real. When he needed to appease other cultivators at home or calm an angry Outlander here, he could say what needed to be said. But this was different. He huffed out a breath. “I know you have been Wei Wuxian’s family for many years. Even when you couldn’t be. I just…wanted to properly welcome you to ours.” He paused and stood up a little straighter. “For what it’s worth.”
Someone who didn’t know Lan Wangji might have said that his face was carved from stone, an expressionless mask that betrayed nothing. But someone like Jiang Cheng, who had the history if not the intimacy that allowed him insight into the various slight ticks of Lan Wangji’s expression, might have seen a gradual softening, hesitation turning into something kinder.
He regarded Jiang Cheng a moment more, mulling his possible replies, and then put his hands together, bowing in acceptance. “Thank you for your consideration,” he said once his back was straight again. “I am honored to become a part of your family. Lan Xichen’s absence in Vallo was weighing on me. It will be good to have you as a brother in his stead.”
It wasn’t just words; Lan Wangji wasn’t the type to just say things he hadn’t considered. The truth was, this unease between them was a relic of a time when they had been on opposing sides of perception. Jiang Cheng was trying. He may not become one of Lan Wangji’s closest friends, but that was fine. Lan Wangji was willing to move forward if the other man was.
He inclined his chin toward the series of buildings dotting the lake. “I’m looking for Wei Ying. Walk with me?”
Something uncoiled in Jiang Cheng’s chest as Lan Wangji bowed and he quickly followed suit. It would’ve been easy – and frankly, fair - if Lan Wangji had rejected this overture. It would have stung and Jiang Cheng knew his own faults well enough to know his anger would have been less than helpful. So it was a relief that wasn’t the case. But it was also alarming to find himself suddenly feeling sympathy for this man who had inspired more jealousy than most.
“Wei Wuxian was concerned your brother’s absence might cause you to hesitate,” he offered quietly as they started to walk. “I told him wanting to wait wouldn’t be the same as saying no.” He frowned and smoothed a hand over the front of his robes. “Don’t tell him I told you that.”
Lan Wangji inclined his chin in a silent ‘of course’, his robes draped gracefully as he walked. “My brother has been absent in a matter of feeling before we were separated,” he said, his words even despite the pit of sorrow that accompanied them. No one had taken the betrayal of Jin Guangyao harder than Lan Xichen; the man had all but disappeared from the public in his sorrow, and had put walls up from his family. “I will not wait on a possibility when happiness is standing in front of me, even if it grieves me.”
It was a mistake he wasn’t going to make twice.
“I do have a question of some delicacy,” he said after a moment, glancing back at Jiang Cheng. “Perhaps you can offer some perspective.”
Jiang Cheng knew all too well why Lan Xichen had hidden himself away. He couldn't have done it himself, but he understood. To trust and care for someone who ruined your life and then abruptly left it? He knew that one well. His story had turned out better than Lan Xichen's though.
"I'm glad," he deadpanned. "He would've been insufferable if you said no." He pushed back his sleeves, feeling the heat of the warm sun above them as he kept walking. It startled him to hear Lan Wangji had a delicate question for him; Jiang Cheng was not a delicate person. "Ask, Hanguang-Jun. I will answer truthfully to the best of my ability." He smirked just a little. "Whether that will give you the perspective you seek is another matter entirely."
What Jiang Cheng didn’t know was that the question revolved around a person that he was most delicate around: “I would not wish to remind Lady Jiang of what she has lost,” Lan Wangji said simply, his words like a pebble skipping over the depth of hurt and pain that was Lady Jiang’s future life. Her wedding had merely been aborted as she arrived in Vallo, but she must know by now at least some of the extent of what had happened to Jin Zixhuan. “But she will want to help us prepare for our wedding. How do you feel that we involve her and bring her joy, without treading on places of grief?”
The last thing Lan Wangji wanted to do was rub the happiness of his nuptials in Lady Jiang’s face, but he also wanted a gigantic beautiful wedding. Despite his introversion, he believed that a wedding should be a large, structured event that was as meaningful for its attendants as its to-be-weds.
"Ah." Jiang Cheng had considered this but only just recently, as he watched Wei Wuxian float around with happiness painted on his face. It wasn't that he didn't think of his sister's happiness, of course. It was only that it had been sixteen years and her doomed marriage was all lumped in together with her doomed life. He glanced off towards the part of the village he had seen his sister last.
"I don't think there is a way to avoid her grief. But I think her joy for Wei Wuxian will outweigh it on its own. She will enjoy assisting you, I'm sure of that. And likely has many ideas already waiting to offer. I don't…" Being delicate with anyone's emotions was not Jiang Cheng's speciality, but he would always try harder for his sister. He grimaced. "I don't know if it will help but I can keep an eye on her and help her step away when I think she needs a moment. Wei Wuxian is usually good at distracting her in such moments too."
Lan Wangji listened to Jiang Cheng’s suppositions, his steps even, posture perfect. He had not interacted with Jiang Yanli as much as the others - she had always been well-spoken and honorable, but had died before he had gotten to know her. He trusted Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng in their perception of how much wedding involvement she would want to handle, and so at Jiang Cheng’s suggestion, he gave a single, decisive nod.
“Thank you. That would relieve my concerns,” he said, “and I have not spoken of this yet with Wei Ying, but I will, so that you are both working in tandem.” He took a few more steps, silent, serene, and then added lowly: “...as much as you two are able.”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, which for him was often more of an affectionate gesture than he even realized. The ghost of a smirk on his lips helped soften the action further. "I will not disrespect your wedding. Even if my brother gets even more annoying than he is right now." It was as solemn a promise as he could give, considering the lighthearted subject matter. He believed in respecting marriage, oddly enough. His feelings on whether it was right for him may have changed over the years and the tragedy of his life, but not his feelings about the act itself.
He grew quiet for a moment and stared out over the lake. Jiang Yanli would likely want to be involved in any further steps to welcome Lan Wangji to the family.
"The situation may not be ideal," he murmured, "but it is better than it could have been." He spotted Wei Wuxian in the distance, waving a hand overdramatically. He sighed and gestured across the village. "There is your ridiculous other half now. If there is nothing else you need from me…?"
Lan Wangji stared over the water at the disturbance in red and black; despite himself, the corners of his mouth moved into a tiny pleased smile at the sight. Wei Ying. His future husband.
Hastily, he jerked himself upright and glanced out of the corner of his eye, hoping that the immense sap on his face hadn’t registered with Jiang Cheng. “I thank you for the company,” he said, getting his shit back together in a pristine bow toward the other man. “I hope to bring honor to the Jiang clan, just as I know the Jiang clan will bring honor to the Lan clan.”
With another nod, he started toward Wei Ying, his heart a little lighter.
Jiang Cheng snorted at Lan Wangji's face. Who would've guessed this result, when they'd all met as stupid and stubborn young men. He bowed to Lan Wangji even as the man was already readying to chase after his future husband.
"Likewise...A-Wangi."
He swiveled on a heel and fled. It was one thing to welcome Hanguang-Jun to the family. It was another to watch him and Wei Wuxian be sappy with each other.