XiChen knew something was...different about WangJi.

Definitely not visible to anyone else because his baby brother was becoming excellent at hiding how he was feeling, but then XiChen had brought him up; he could tell from just minute changes in WangJi's expressions exactly what he was thinking.

Hence his confusion, because whatever WangJi was going through now, was a first.

It had happened around the time the new students had arrived from the other sects, and in particular, the Jiang Sect from Yunmeng. He hadn't noticed it at first, but when Shifu had mentioned it, he began paying more attention to his younger brother.

WangJi seemed to stiffen, to walk a little straighter, hold his head up as if encyclopedias were stacked on his crown, and he held Bichen in a tighter clench. All of this would happen when the famously purple clad members would walk past, and one of them, Wei WuXian, wearing black and red when not studying, would catch his brother's eye.

WangJi was surreptitious about it too, which led XiChen to want to make sure before he did anything.

Wei WuXian was persistent, XiChen had to give him points for that at the very least. Most people, young and old, tended to keep out of Wangji's way, cautiously not wanting to invite trouble...but Wei WuXian was one half of a magnet, drawn to his other half even against his will.

And WangJi was having a hard time coming to terms with both how the boy kept vying for his attention, and his own blossoming feelings.

To XiChen, it looked like WangJi was infatuated with Wei WuXian.

And, while he didn't have a problem with it himself, he knew the time was rapidly approaching when he would have to have a certain talk with his baby brother.

Things came to a head when XiChen learned that Young Master Wei WuXian was punished to write out the rules of their clan three hundred times...and WangJi had to supervise.

WangJi looked happy about it too.

So one morning, XiChen walked to the Jingshi and knocked on the door. As expected,  WangJi, impeccably dressed and ready for the day, opened the door promptly. After bowing their greetings, they sat at the little table and WangJi poured tea for both of them.

XiChen glanced next to their cups, there were sheets of paper with a terrible scrawl of handwriting, which when he looked up to ask WangJi about, they were removed within a blink of an eye. And someone's ears were hot....

XiChen smiled, because it was cute...and now the reason he had come seemed correct and even more urgent.

But...how to start?

He couldn't just jump in and ask his normally ever so private brother if he liked anyone? Could he? It could go two ways, that approach. Either WangJi would shut him out, to embarrassed to listen to anything more, which would be detrimental to what XiChen wanted to do, or his baby brother might just open up and talk to him. It really was fifty-fifty.

WangJi looked to be in a pleasant mood, so that was something to be glad for.

There were times when, in the past, XiChen had happened to look up and see a flicker of his eyes, and WangJi would take a deep breath as if he was contemplating blasting the papers in his hands with spiritual energy to obliterate their existence. He had learned that this was a result of a particularly slow student's homework.

So XiChen knew it would be wise to take precautions.

"Did Xiongzhang want something?" WangJi asked, glancing at him and then staring at his own teacup.

"Yes...I wanted to talk with you." XiChen took a sip of the pleasantly fragranced tea. "I was wondering..." Oh God...did he have to do this? The answer was yes, absolutely. It was his responsibility to make sure WangJi did not make any mistakes, and would take heed of their rules which were meant to protect both parties.

But more than that, he did not wish for WangJi to be hurt. This was after all, his first crush.

"Mn?"

Damn, he had spent too long thinking...

"Sometimes we can...like someone...." Oh dear...that was so lame! Even to XiChen's ears.

Which were red too.

This was not going well.

"What I mean is...it's okay to like someone. Like that. You know...not as friends. Maybe something more than that." Alright, the crux of the matter was out there. This was great! He was doing so well, suddenly.

"Does Xiongzhang like someone?"

"Ye-what? No...that's not what I..." XiChen resisted the urge to cover his now blazing ears. For starters, he hadn't been talking about himself...and oh dear, had WangJi noticed? That was mortifying...

WangJi raised a brow, pointedly staring at his ears, the traitors.

There were times XiChen hated the fact that he and his brother could have entire conversations without speaking a word.

"This is not about me." He clarified, trying to take back control of this...whatever he was trying to do.

WangJi remained silent.

He was going to make this difficult, then.

"So...what I mean is...it's okay for you to like someone. You should probably get to know them a bit better, before you ...." er...what? XiChen could not imagine WangJi wanting to do anything with anyone...

His own education in this particular area was a result of accidentally finding a spring book...it wasn't as if Shifu had sat down with him to have that talk...

He sighed.

WangJi gave him a curious look.

He was messing this up.

"What I'm trying to say....is that you can be happy if you like someone. That's the first stage of a romance. The second stage is getting to know them. You know, what they like, don't like, their favourite food, drink...all that kind of thing. A good partner would look after their ... the subject of their affections properly."

"Mn."

"And then comes stage three..." His ears were brighter than a ladybird.

WangJi looked interested.

"If you like someone a lot, I mean very much, more than as a friend, you might...want to...er...kiss them. Which is also okay." Was it possible to die of embarrassment? It should be a thing, he thought as he plodded along.

"It would be a good idea if it was something you both wanted..."

Although the idea of his brother doing that and other things was not something he wanted to see. However, he did want to see WangJi happy.

WangJi was contemplating his words.

XiChen was glad, because he didn't think he could discuss this further, especially not right now. And the thoughts of coming back to this conversation was enough to bring him out in hives.

They sat in silence for a while.

XiChen felt a little relieved. Alright, this wasn't that talk, but it was close. And he thought he had done quite well, given that this was his first ever time, and okay, he had avoided the biological connotations of what he was suggesting, but perhaps it wouldn't matter.

After all, WangJi was shy. Maybe he wouldn't do anything at all.

They finished their tea and stood up. It was time for classes anyway. As they went to the door, WangJi paused.

"Does WangJi have Xiongzhang's blessings?" He looked excited.

That was something new....

"Yes, of course!" XiChen happily agreed. "I only want you to be happy."

They left the Jingshi and if there was a spring in WangJi's step, XiChen made a point of saying nothing, smiling to himself.

It turned out they were late.

And so was certain other person.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei WuXian waved enthusiastically, and ran towards them.

"Wei Ying, Xiongzhang says I can kiss you." WangJi pulled him closer and proceeded to do just that.

XiChen was about to intervene, because this was not what he had meant at all!

But then, Wei WuXian moaned and melted into him, and all of a sudden, XiChen wanted to be anywhere else but here....

The End

A/N

I know it's short, but I was giggling all throughout, even when I thought about this...