"Come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned." Peter Pan

The first thing Wei Ying noticed was a lack of sound, which was a bit strange because  firstly, A-Yuan was supposed to be here somewhere...and A-Yuan was never silent...and there was a frostiness in the air...

XiChen beamed at both the young men as they entered, holding hands. A-Yuan's face lit up when he saw Wei Ying but he only mouthed, "Baba!" But he did not actually shout it out like normal. Then he looked at the stranger sitting at the front of the table, before mouthing out, "Beautiful Gege!"

"A-Yuan! My beautiful little Radish! What have you been up to!?" Wei Ying went up to him, to give him a hug and a kiss on his delightfully squishy cheeks...only to be stopped by A-Yuan himself.

Wei Ying stared mystified at his little boy.

A-Yuan's face was completely serious as he lifted one pudgy finger to his lips and said, "Shhhh!"

"Why?" Wei Ying asked him.

A-Yuan looked over to the stranger.

Wei Ying understood.

Lan Zhan came over to lead him back to their places on the long table, so that they were opposite Lan XiChen and A-Yuan, who was sitting on a huge pile of cushions so his eyes were above the level of the table.

"We do not speak at mealtimes." Lan Zhan explained in a low voice, and he refrained from saying anything else after that.

There was a cook and two staff members who brought over two trays as they were the only ones left to be served.

Wei Ying tried not to think too much about it, but he wasn't in favour of such a rule. Children were meant to talk and make noise, and this was how they were supposed to learn...and to stop A-Yuan from speaking was a bit strange. The fact that he was so good at it was amazing though, and Wei Ying was incredibly proud of him.

XiChen had been telling the truth it seemed, because there was a bowl in front of his boy, with the remnants of a vanilla cake sitting in it, minus the multi coloured sprinkles.

Lan Zhan reached under the table and put his hand on Wei Ying's knee, whether it was to offer support, or silently ask him not to say anything just yet, Wei Ying wasn't sure, but he covered his hand with his own.

Lan Zhan turned his hand over and entwined their fingers together.

The meal itself was tasteless and bland and Wei Ying was trying his best to continue eating and not actually gagging. He only got past a few mouthfuls before he had to push his bowl away, afraid that if he looked at it more, it was going to come back out fighting...

He could feel Lan Zhan looking at his face, but Wei Ying wasn't sure what to do in this unfamiliar environment so he kept looking ahead. And then Lan Zhan let go of his hand, and Wei Ying could feel his bottom lip tremble, because that was absolutely the worst thing...until he felt Lan Zhan's finger trace characters in the centre of his palm. It was both sensual, and the anticipation of what he was writing took Wei Ying's mind off the actual meal.

"I love Wei Ying. Please bear for a short while."

Wei Ying stared straight ahead, but he had a smile on his face. He caught Lan Zhan's finger and turning his palm up, began to trace his own characters on his skin. He wanted to crow at the shiver Lan Zhan barely managed to suppress. See? It wasn't easy to maintain a stoic expression, was it?

"I love you too, and I will endure anything for you."

Wei Ying heard his breath stuttered at that. So he asked another question, in the same way.

"How long is lunchtime, usually?"

"Until Uncle Qiren finishes eating. Then we can go."

"Does he have his own teeth?"

Lan Zhan choked on the water he was trying to drink.

"Sorry."

Wei Ying patted his back, as the stranger on the end of the table cleared his throat noisily, with disapproval.

"Why does Wei Ying wish to know? And yes. Own teeth."

"Well, because then this will be over much faster. How old is he?"

"Older than time."

Wei Ying bit his lip at Lan Zhan's dry humour.

"Do you like your uncle?"

"Family is loved unconditionally."

"And he's healthy? Everything okay with him?"

"There's nothing wrong with his mouth."

Meaning it still worked and, much better than other parts of his body. Wei Ying had to hide his laughter in a cough.

"Tell me what you thought of the last book, the Alchemist?"

"Was there a hidden message? It seemed deeper than just the written story."

"Omg...I want you to know, I'd kiss you right now for saying that."

Lan Zhan grabbed his finger and clutched it hard, fighting for control.

Luckily, Uncle Qiren stood up.

The meal was over.

Uncle Qiren had barely left, before Lan Zhan pulled Wei Ying to the floor to kiss him thoroughly, unable to wait another second.

"Genius!" Wei Ying exclaimed when he was able to talk again. He sat on his chair again and looked apologetically at his son, who began chortling cautiously after looking at XiChen for approval.

"Come. Wei Ying can see house later." Lan Zhan said enigmatically, and stood up, reaching for Wei Ying.

He went to the other side of the table and picked up A-Yuan, who was already reaching for him.

"Beautiful Gege, where are we going?" A-Yuan whispered.

"Upstairs and then ice cream."

Wei Ying beamed as A-Yuan hugged Lan Zhan's neck.

"You'll never get him off now." He said, chuckling.

"I love A-Yuan."

Lan Zhan had stopped to say that, after clearly taking the time to think about it.

When Wei Ying heard that, his eyes filled with tears.

"Xiongzhang, am moving in with A-Yuan and Wei Ying." Lan Zhan turned to his brother to announce it.

"You are?" XiChen sounded a little teary too as he came up to them and hugged both A-Yuan and his Didi.

"Beautiful Gege?" A-Yuan let his chubby fingers touch Lan Zhan's face so he would look at him.

"Radish?"

"I wove Beautiful Gege too." A-Yuan told him seriously.

"You two are killing me!" Wei Ying clutched his heart. "And A-Yuan...I think you better change what you're calling Beautiful Gege...to something more appropriate." He blushed furiously as Lan Zhan wrapped his free arm around his waist and brought him into their own circle.

"No Beautiful Gege?" A-Yuan asked.

"No...because like I am your Baba, Beautiful Gege is also your Baba...but I guess that's too confusing..." Wei Ying was thinking hard, while Lan Zhan was blinking back tears.

XiChen wiped under his eyes, smiling softly at him.

"A-Die." He supplied, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Xiongzhang..."

"A-Die...is just right." Wei Ying reached up to kiss Lan Zhan's cheek and then A-Yuan's cheeks.

A-Yuan was practicing already.

***********

While they were all trying to recover from the emotional onslaught, Lan Zhan ran ... walked fast to his room and hastily threw clothes into a suitcase. He stashed it in his car and then went back to get Wei Ying and A-Yuan.

"No, my little Radish, you cannot call him Beautiful Gege number two..." Wei Ying was trying not to crack up again. "Bo Fu."

"Bo Fu. Bo Fu?" A-Yuan turned his huge burgundy eyes upon XiChen. "Wike?"

"Yes, I like very much." XiChen told him with a broad smile.

"Am ready." Lan Zhan announced, anxiously staring at Wei Ying.

"So are we." Wei Ying handed A-Yuan over to Lan Zhan and hugged XiChen. "Thank you...for everything. You have great advice."

"No need for thanks, you are also like my younger brother. What would you like me to call you?" XiChen patted his back and let him go.

"My Shijie, she calls me A-Xian...I would love it if you also called me that." Wei Ying smiled shyly.

"Very well...A-Xian...I am going to miss my brother very much." XiChen smiled carefully now, maintaining eye contact purposefully.

"Don't worry, we're going to look after Lan Zhan the best." Wei Ying quickly told him,  recognising it for the hidden threat it held.

"Xiongzhang!" Lan Zhan scowled subtly.

"Oh, don't mind me..." XiChen replied amicably. "I'm just thinking about myself...and mealtimes with uncle."

Wei Ying snickered, as he followed the other two out. They sat A-Yuan on his seat and Wei Ying got inside the passenger seat, when XiChen next spoke, with a hand on Lan Zhan’s arm.

"Didi...?"

"Mn. Am sure. No doubt."

XiChen hugged him then, and Lan Zhan thought how lucky he was to have such a loving brother.

They waved bye as Lan Zhan drove them out of the estate.

"Beautiful Gege?" Wei Ying said, ever so softly, so that only Lan Zhan could hear him. His hand reached out like before, his finger stroking Lan Zhan's knuckles.

Lan Zhan had already rolled his sleeves up, and Wei Ying felt his mouth go dry as his muscles bunched whenever he turned the wheel.

"Mn?"

"I'm pretty sure someone promised extra kisses after lunch..." Wei Ying bit his lip, trying not to smile when he saw Lan Zhan’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"Wei Ying hasn't had lunch yet." He was told.

"Well, I am hungry..." Wei Ying leaned forward and said that, right inside Lan Zhan's ear. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Luckily they were pulling up at the carpark of their local IHOP.

Wei Ying smiled at the familiar place.

There was a surprise waiting for them inside.

"Shijie? What are you doing here?" Wei Ying ran up to their table then, his smile faltering as his gaze landed on the Peacock first, and then Jiang Cheng, before lighting up once more when A-Ling beamed up at him.

"Well, actually we wanted to surprise you, but there was no answer at your home. So we came here. Why don't you join us?" His Shijie's smile was warm and heartfelt.

"Shall we?" Wei Ying asked both A-Yuan and Lan Zhan, preferring to stay, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it if either said no.

"Mn. Can meet Wei Ying's sister for real." Lan Zhan agreed.

A-Yuan's squeal said it all.

Shijie and everyone had been there for quite some time already, and they were onto their desserts by now, when Wei Ying ordered his food. Lan Zhan and A-Yuan shared a bowl of strawberry ice cream.

Wei Ying ate quickly, catching up with his sister and her news, while Lan Zhan was content to just listen to them.

"A-Ling was missing A-Yuan and we wanted to know if you guys were up for a sleepover?" His Shijie said, watching both the kiddies grinning at each other. "Fairy misses him too." She added.

Wei Ying shifted closer to Lan Zhan.

"Their dog." Wei Ying explained, when Lan Zhan raised a brow.

There must have been something on his face, of how he felt about dogs in general because Lan Zhan discreetly pulled him closer and left his arm around Wei Ying's waist.

"Just for tonight?" Shijie said again.

"I suppose it's alright if A-Yuan wants to stay over, it's Sunday tomorrow." Wei Ying replied.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we're back in time tomorrow. Both the kids have school on Monday." His Shijie smiled gratefully at him.

Jiang Cheng was scowling at the table, and had been since they had sat down.

"We have some news to share with you guys tomorrow." Wei Ying bit his lip shyly again, looking at Lan Zhan. "But I think we want to celebrate by ourselves tonight, and then with you all, tomorrow." He noted a scarlet pair of ears and wanted to giggle inappropriately suddenly.

It was clear what Lan Zhan was thinking about.

But even his Shijie looked embarrassed and the Peacock choked, which earned Wei Ying a small smile from Jiang Cheng.

Why was everyone's mind in the gutter tonight?

"There are lots of ways to have fun." Wei Ying defended himself.

"Can we talk about something else?" Jiang Cheng bit out, trying not to look at anyone.

Shijie saw the empty bowls in front of everyone and smiled indulgently.

"That's okay, I think we can make a move now."

A-Yuan gave both Wei Ying and his A-Die strawberry flavoured kisses and Wei Ying tried not to tear up when they left, waving.

He tried to get up, but Lan Zhan had put his hot hand on Wei Ying's knee and so he looked up into golden eyes, not sure of what to expect.

"Wei Ying cannot get up. No dessert yet."

Too late, Lan Zhan saw the fast calculation of something terribly naughty being thought, and he swooped in, kissing Wei Ying so he wouldn't speak and get him all hot and bothered. Wei Ying clung to him instead, savouring the tang of strawberries and cream, kissing him back passionately.

A polite clearing of someone's throat had them drifting apart, a dreamy look in Wei Ying's eyes. Even Lan Zhan had to blink a few times.

Their waitress was standing next to a serious-looking man.

"Our establishment is a family based one." The man glared at both of them.

"We are family." Lan Zhan politely told him, in an icy tone.

Meanwhile Wei Ying was grinning at their waitress who was discreetly wiping wake sweat from her forehead as if she found that kiss really hot, and then she gave him two thumbs up, though everything vanished and she wore a mask of indifference when her manager glanced back at her. And when he turned back to them, she winked at Wei Ying.

"Regardless. Is there anything else? Or would you like the check?" He sounded too hopeful.

"Yes!" Wei Ying said, at the same time as Lan Zhan replied, "no. We would like your dessert menu."

Wei Ying wanted to sigh. He had only known Lan Zhan for just over a week, but even he knew that Lan Zhan’s speciality was being stubborn, and he didn't take kindly to bullying, however passive it appeared.

"Lan Zhan...I can't eat any more. Please, can we go?" Wei Ying whispered under his breath, reaching for Lan Zhan's hand.

"No." Lan Zhan took his hand and kissed the back of it, deliberately. "Wei Ying is too thin. Pick something or I will pick it for you."

Wei Ying shivered at his commanding tone and gave up, because honestly, what else was he supposed to do?

"Surprise me." He replied, in a sultry tone.

He hadn't meant to make it that, but Lan Zhan was inspiring all sorts of shameless behaviour today.

"Chocolate cake. Please." Lan Zhan turned and held out the menu to their waitress.

"Good choice." She snapped her gum and was led away by the manager with words like, "hurry up" and "eat quickly" and "leave" echoing behind them.

"There was no need for that." Wei Ying lightly admonished.

"Is need. He was rude to Wei Ying." Lan Zhan insisted. "Wei Ying will take his time. Must digest properly."

Wei Ying snickered at the last bit and kissed the back of Lan Zhan’s hand.

The dessert arrived in record time, and Wei Ying had to swallow hard at the size of it, because he hadn't been lying when he said he was full.

"I'll only eat it if you help me." He decided.

"Very well." Lan Zhan picked up the fork and took a piece of cake, lifting it to Wei Ying's mouth, watching him with the intensity of a hawk. Wei Ying opened his mouth obediently, unable to look away.

After a few mouthfuls, he realised that his words had been misunderstood and he gently took the fork from Lan Zhan's hand, feeding him instead.

And he found a new way to torture himself.

Every time Lan Zhan opened his glistening pink lips to receive the sweet and decadent chocolate treat, his eyes would darken at the rapturous expression on Wei Ying's face, fully absorbed by this new task of feeding his boyfriend, and in turn, as he imagined those lips elsewhere, his own eyes matched the colours of granite as his desire grew.

By the end, both of them wanted to leave as fast as possible, and Lan Zhan stood up. The waitress was smiling at both of them, check in hand, and Wei Ying reached for his wallet, to find Lan Zhan glaring at his hand. So he whispered, "we should tip her extra for the fast service."

His expression immediately cleared and Lan Zhan put a few hundred extra bucks on the table and started walking out, pulling a shocked Wei Ying after himself. He looked back at the very happy waitress now and knew it was the right thing to do.

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying said, when they reached Lan Zhan's car.

"Mn?" Lan Zhan caged him in, crowding him with his car bracing both of them.

"I just wanted to say, that was very kind of you." Wei Ying lifted his fingers up to rest upon those rippling forearms on either side of him, feeling Lan Zhan’s shiver at his touch.

Kindness had nothing to do with it, and Lan Zhan knew this.

"Wanted to do this. Hurried for Wei Ying." He grabbed Wei Ying’s chin and kissed him hard, swallowing every moan of ecstacy from him, as Wei Ying melted against his body, his knees weakened. He would have sunk to the ground but Lan Zhan was the only thing holding him up as he ravished his mouth, stealing every breath.

Wei Ying kissed him back with everything he was worth, thrilled with every shudder he managed to make Lan Zhan feel, and it was like a wildfire out of control, as each fed on higher and higher states of arousal.

"You better drive fast." Wei Ying panted, getting in the car as quickly as he could.

Lan Zhan listened.

They were at Wei Ying's home within minutes and out of the car. The moment Wei Ying had his front door open, Lan Zhan pounced.

Clothes were discarded everywhere and they didn't even make it upstairs to Wei Ying's bedroom.

"I'm never gonna look at these steps the same way." Wei Ying moaned, unable to move now.

Lan Zhan grunted, his condition much the same.

A long while later, and after they had showered, they were sitting on the couch in the living room.

Actually, Lan Zhan was sitting while Wei Ying lay languidly across his lap, both of them still blissed out.

"We should go out to celebrate." Wei Ying suddenly said. "I mean, well, I guess I miss drinking."

"Wei Ying is thirsty?" Lan Zhan would have gotten up to get him a glass of water, and  Wei Ying was giggling too much at the thought.

"Not for water." He explained. "I don't usually drink alcohol because of A-Yuan...but he's not here right now." Wei Ying sat up and kissed Lan Zhan deeply, before standing up and pulling him up too. "There's a bar down the road from the Institute, it's not far. Let's go for a quick drink and come back, my love?"

"Mn."

It was now early evening, just after six when they walked down the road.

"I didn't know there was work going on." Wei Ying commented, as they passed workmen repainting the road.

"That work is better at night. Less disturbance of traffic."

They held hands together, with Wei Ying making casual observations and the occasional "mn" from Lan Zhan and less than five minutes later, they were walking through the doors of Yi City, a trendy bar restaurant.

Two swords hung high out of reach above the bar, which was split into two sides: FuXue and ShuangHua. One side was cocktails and the other, hard liquor.

"This is so cool!" Wei Ying exclaimed, perching on a bar stool.

Lan Zhan sat next to him in a princely manner.

"You need to loosen up, my love." Wei Ying eyed his stiff posture.

"Lans do not drink." Lan Zhan told a gaping Wei Ying.

"What? No way?"

"Hello. My name is Xue Yang, and I'll be your server today." Said one of three bartenders.

This one had a wild look about him.

"Hello Xue Yang, we'll have ..." Wei Ying thought about it. "Actually, surprise us. We're going to be here just for a little while, so make sure it packs a punch."

"You got it!" Xue Yang gave them both finger gun salutes and went to make their drinks.

"Cannot drink." Lan Zhan said again, looking at Wei Ying.

"Relax, my love. I won't let anything happen to you." Wei Ying kissed his cheek enthusiastically. "I miss coming to places like this...the night life. Not that I would ever give up the life I have right now...I'm just saying." He turned on his seat so his back was to the bar.

Wei Ying looked around the room. It had different coloured lighting in parts, and darker in other parts, with only the bar as the most illuminated. Maybe it was to give people privacy, or maybe their clientèle didn't want to expose their habits, either way, it looked as if this was the place to come.

"Excuse me." Another voice behind them said.

Wei Ying turned around.

"The gentleman over there, wishes to buy this drink for you."

Wei Ying looked at his name tag: Song Lan. Then he looked behind them where a solitary man was sitting at a table, his features obscured because of the lack of light. The stranger raised his glass in their direction.

"Can you please tell him no, and I'm not interested?" Wei Ying told the bartender. He glanced at Lan Zhan who was glaring at the mahogany bar top.

If looks could set fire to things....

"My love...it's only you." Wei Ying whispered, kissing their joined hands.

"Sorry to disturb you." Yet another voice said to them, a little sheepishly. "My name is  Xiao XingChen and the guest over there," He jerked his head behind himself now, "wishes to buy you both a drink."

Lan Zhan's scowl deepened.

Wei Ying scooted his stool closer and repeated his message to the bartender.

Xue Yang returned with their order.

"To us." Wei Ying said, wanting to toast.

But he had barely picked his up before Lan Zhan had taken a hold of his glass and chugged the whole thing down.

"I forgot to tell you, he didn't want to drink anything today." Wei Ying mused, but he looked panicky when Lan Zhan slumped against the bar top.

"Coulda fooled me..." Xue Yang grinned and disappeared into the shadows.

Wei Ying was able to have three more sips of his surprisingly tasty drink, before Lan Zhan resurfaced. He looked dazed, but otherwise normal.

Wei Ying eyed him over the rim of his glass.

"How you feeling, big guy?" He asked.

Lan Zhan gave him a sloppy kiss.

"Love Wei Ying." He said, having difficulties with the pronunciation.

"I love you too...um...Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying put his drink down and waved a hand over his face.

Lan Zhan slowly blinked at him silently, as if even that small gesture took effort.

And then Lan Zhan stood up so fast, his stool would have crashed to the floor if Wei Ying hadn't caught it in time. He headed towards the door.

"Damn..." Wei Ying found himself swaying too, and he hadn't even finished his drink! It was only one, too! "What did you put in there?" He asked Xue Yang, who had reappeared.

"Hey, you said to make it good, and that drink is my own cocktail. I like to call it, "Amnesia"." He chuckled to himself.

Wei Ying was pulling out his wallet when Xue Yang stopped him.

"No need. Enough people have paid for the both of you." He showed Wei Ying a wad of cash which he tucked into his trousers.

Wei Ying decided he was never coming back here.

He turned around to Lan Zhan, but he had already disappeared.

************

Wei Ying ran outside unsteadily, looking for Lan Zhan. He had to blink several times before his vision cleared and he spotted his fiance standing by a garden.

"My love?" He asked, tentatively, standing right next to him.

Lan Zhan whirled around so fast, Wei Ying stumbled but he was caught up in an iron grip and kissed thoroughly.

Even drunk, Lan Zhan could kiss!

Hungrily, Wei Ying kissed him back as they drunkenly fought for dominance. Minutes went by and Lan Zhan was showing no signs of stopping. If anything, his hands were beginning to wander, and Wei Ying had to bite his lips from squealing out loud because Lan Zhan had squeezed a soft part of himself.

"I wove peaches." He was told, as he tried to catch his breath back.

"Lan Zhan, my love, let's go home?" Wei Ying coaxed, trying to lead him along, and batting away his super frisky hands.

"No." Lan Zhan said, swaying on his feet. "Don't wanna." He bent and picked something up.

Wei Ying lead him towards his home, and for a second, it seemed as if Lan Zhan had changed his mind. But then, at the last second, he broke away and headed in the direction of the Institute.

"Where are you going now?" He yelled and realised that in the emptiness of the night, when everything was so quiet, his voice could travel.

He chased after a Lan Zhan who was even in this inebriated state, was speed-walking to the Institute. Out of breath and left behind, Wei Ying finally caught up with him, but something addictive was smelling....in the air. He looked up from his bent position and saw that they were standing outside the board that had to be passed before anyone could enter...the board with the rules on it.

The board that used to be black and white.

Only.

And the funny smell was coming from the yellow road marking paint as Lan Zhan sprayed a massive yellow heart all over the board from the bottom to the top. And if that wasn't bad enough, he started writing in its centre:

Lan Zhan loves Wei Ying 4ever

Wei Ying looked at the yellow mess in front of him and then at a super proud and smugly smiling Lan Zhan, and wondered how they were going to get out of this one.

*********

A/N

As you've probably guessed, there's a couple more chapters to go in this series...

It was supposed to be one!!!

The clue's in the name, for goodness sake,  one-shot means one....

*sighs deeply into a bowl of chocolate...

Have a great day everyone. I promise to all of you awaiting the next chapter in book 7 of the WangXian Forever series, I will spew out chapters like there's no tomorrow as soon as these two leave me alone...