Work Text:
Lan Wangji lay in bed, with his husband curled up in his arms, and watched the light coming in the window shift across the ceiling.
Wei Ying would never wake at maoshi1, unless it was absolutely necessary, even with his golden core growing stronger every day. And while at the beginning of their relationship, Lan Wangji had still gotten up at maoshi and merely accomplished his morning tasks while waiting for Wei Ying to wake up, he had recently begun staying in bed for longer, just holding Wei Ying.
It was something that Wen Qionglin had mentioned to him, about a month ago, when Lan Wangji had had to bite down a surge of jealousy as Wei Ying had draped himself over Nie Huaisang when they’d been visiting Qinghe on business. Wen Qionglin had read his expression – he was very observant, Lan Wangji had learned, a legacy of the life he’d had to live before the war – and had pointed out that Wei Ying needed touch.
And certainly, Lan Wangji had never hesitated to touch Wei Ying, not after his resurrection, and especially not after they had confessed to each other, but he rarely did more than wrap his arm around Wei Ying’s waist when they were in public. And most of his touching was... more intimate than appropriate for the public, though he had little care for that. Still, he mostly confined other touches for when they were in private, or had only their family around them.
But according to Wen Qionglin, Wei Ying had been starved of friendly touch for far too long, and it was something that he needed, for his own health. Apparently Wen Qing had seen a noticeable improvement in his health and attitude after A-Yuan had begun spending time with him, in the Burial Mounds.
And even as a teenager in Cloud Recesses, Wei Ying had constantly reached out for people, constantly tried touching people and wrapping himself around them. At the time, it had made Lan Wangji quite uncomfortable; he didn’t need as much touch as Wei Ying appeared to, and he’d rarely accepted touch from anyone except his direct family, and even that had been rare since the death of his mother.
So, based on Wen Qionglin’s advice, Lan Wangji had begun spending more time touching Wei Ying. Even doing things like this, staying in bed while Wei Ying slept in the morning and just holding him, seemed to result in a somewhat improved mood and emotional health. But Lan Wangji did more than that, also touching Wei Ying – and letting Wei Ying touch him – throughout the day. Less intimate than their private touches, more just brushing against each other, or letting Wei Ying hold onto his hand or arm, but still present.
Wei Ying had, of course, caught on very quickly when Lan Wangji had begun changing that. He had been more than a bit embarrassed when Lan Wangji had explained why he was touching him more frequently, but he hadn’t objected.
And honestly, having an excuse to touch Wei Ying more frequently was pleasant for Lan Wangji as well. It let him indulge himself, including his more jealous side, without a problem. (He really didn’t like Wei Ying touching other people, unless they were the juniors and his students, so touching Wei Ying more frequently himself was all to the good, as far as he was concerned. Lan Wangji just hadn’t realized that he would be allowed, or that it was something that Wei Ying needed that much.)
“Mmm,” his husband murmured, starting to rouse.
“No need to wake up yet, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said quietly, letting his left hand stroke Wei Ying’s hair. It wasn’t yet the beginning of chenshi2, and there was nothing that they had to do today, aside from grade the papers that the junior classes had handed in yesterday, so Wei Ying could sleep for as long as he wanted.
“Mn?”
“It’s a quiet day today.”
He felt Wei Ying take a deep breath in and slowly let it out, and then those gorgeous grey eyes opened, one of the things that Wei Ying had kept in his new body. “’M awake,” his husband muttered, blinking a few times. And then a smile crossed his face, making his eyes squint a bit. “Cuddling again, Lan Zhan?”
“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed, tone firm.
Wei Ying snuggled a little bit closer to him, and closed his eyes, evidently agreeing that more sleep was a good idea. Either that, or just enjoying being in Lan Wangji’s arms, which was also possible.
“Wen Ning really has the best ideas,” Wei Ying said a moment later, as he snuggled a bit more, until Lan Wangji didn’t think his husband could get any closer to him. Not that he objected, of course... while he didn’t need it as much as Wei Ying, he enjoyed having Wei Ying cuddling him. It was all he’d wanted but hadn’t understood when he’d been a teenager.
“Mn,” he agreed, pressing a quick kiss to his husband’s hair, before he resumed petting it. It wouldn’t take much for Wei Ying to fall asleep again.