[Open RP Post]

[afterthemoment]

If you'd like to thread with Wei Wuxian outside of any games or memes, here's a place to do it! If there's a prompt or idea you have in mind, feel free to toss it at me. If a thread's going to be NSFW or contain triggering subjects, please mark it in the subject line. Other than that, go wild! Texts, emails, and other formats besides prose or action tags are welcome!

ETA: NSFW threads within, some not explicitly marked.

Comments

[afterthemoment]

And just like that, the pleasant mood coming from potentially making an unexpected friend out of an awkward situation dissipates, the tentatively cheerful smile on his face fading.

"I thought you wanted me to handle him," he replies quietly, tone carefully even to mask the sting of hurt. How can he not feel just a little bit offended when the first thing his husband does is pick up the phone he'd passed off to him.

"Isn't that why you handed me the phone in the first place? Or did you just not trust me to take care of it?"

As for the matter of meeting for drinks, that's something he'll deal with in a moment.

[abstains]

Wangji glances at him, fingers smoothing through his hair. "I do trust you, Wei Ying." But he doesn't trust Jin Guangyao. Not with his brother and definitely not with the man beside him.

"I don't trust him."

[afterthemoment]

The touch does soothe him somewhat, at least, enough for him to say what's actually bothering him about his. He's learned some lessons throughout his lives, at least.

"I don't feel trusted when you immediately look over my shoulder after asking me to do something for you."

He glances back toward the phone, frowning.

"Whether or not he can be trusted is another matter entirely."

He pauses before adding, his tone firm and unusually cool in a way it hasn't been for a very long time, indeed.

"I can make my own decisions in who I choose to speak or share drinks with. You don't have to like them but you have no right to undermine me in that way. And you made a liar out of me asking me what I intended at all. You crossed a line, Lan Zhan."

[abstains]

"I don't like texting that much." And he'd assumed Wei Ying would cut the conversation off immediately, given it was Jin Guangyao and not someone they were actually on good terms with.

"And I was checking what he said, not what you did." Although he'd only sent Xichen the relevant of Jin Guangyao hitting on him by mistake. A warning to make sure his ...charge didn't get that drunk in the future.

"He tried to kill you more than once." There's an edge to his voice there, his hand dropping from Wei Ying's hair before he shifts, moving to sit up.

[afterthemoment]

Wei Ying does the same, retreating a bit more to the other side of the bed. His expression's unusually dark and tense, in a way it hasn't been in over thirteen years. He doesn't like being angry, especially not when he still remembers more of the terrible extremes his rage had driven him to their younger years. Resentful energy corrupting his mind and body had only been a part of his problems back then.

"Both your brother and your uncle wanted me dead once, too."

It's cruel to bring it up, even in calm, neutral tone and he regrets it immediately. But he's just so frustrated with his situation. Wei Ying's not a child or a total idiot. Nor is he the same person he'd been at the Cloud Recesses, or at Lotus Pier, or the person who'd laid waste to so many cultivatiors during his time as the Yiling Patriarch.

"I've survived worse threats than sharing a few drinks with Jin Guangyao," he continues, trying to soften his tone into something a little more reassuring. "And there's still plenty of people out there who would gladly see me dead. Ones with far more resources and reach than he has anymore."

[abstains]

"...There's is a world of difference between my uncle and brother wanting the person they thought you were dead thirteen years ago and the way Jin Guangyao wrapped a wire around your neck in front of my eyes and was quite content to kill not just you, but also his own nephew to save his own life, Wei Ying. There is no comparison." His voice is even, controlled, his back stiff.

"I will not have you risk your life to make that man feel better. I have lost you once, Wei Ying. I will not live through that again and you cannot ask me to be agreeable to you putting yourself in his hands."

And then he moves to stand, pulling on clothing before he leaves the room.

[afterthemoment]

Wei Ying listens to his words and he understands what Lan Zhan is saying. And he's not wrong. He, himself, hasn't forgiven the man for threatening Jin Ling's life that way, But his perspective isn't the same as Lan Zhan's, not any more than it had been the same as Jiang Cheng's. His experiences aren't the same as Jin Guangyao's, not exactly, but it's not hard to look at the similarities between their circumstances and wonder a little. To question. To sympathize, even, to some degree.

He'd been mistrusted, hated, believed to be a lost cause, too. His own crimes will never fully be forgiven or forgotten, nor does he believe they should be. He's reaped what he's sown. He's fortunate beyond words just to have a loving husband, a son and pupils he can be proud of. But Wei Ying's greedy. He can't help but wish he had someone to talk to that isn't his spouse Even he's wrong in his suspicions about Jin Guangyao, his conscience, already laden with so many heavy burdens, will be clear.

So instead of speaking or following him, Wei Ying remains silent and simply watches him go. Maybe they'll discuss this matter more in depth later but for now, they both need to cool off. So once Lan Zhan's gone, he fetches a jar of Emperor's Smile from his husband's secret stash and begins to drink it, not enough to get drunk but just enough to soothe his nerves a little before his husband returns.