"Hello, pals!" Wei Wuxian slung his arm around their necks.

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian smiled at him. "Good to see you."

"Where's Mister Glacier?" Xie Lian looked around.

"He's off in his Library–"

"A-Ying."

"Ey, A-Zhan? Darling came!"

"Mn," Lan Wangji showed Xie Lian and Hua Cheng to the seats around their Jingshi's table and they all sat down.

"What made you drop your work and come here? Still suspect I won't give it?" Wei Wuxian laughed. "I will, I will, I'm ditching the stupid thing." He turned to the others. "Hua Cheng, you said there's some place in your realm to dump my Carmine Catastrophe?"

"Yes, Black Water Lake."

"Then would you be kind enough to do so if I give the damned thing to you today before you leave?"

"Give it now," Lan Zhan cut in.

"Sheesh, alright! Hua Cheng?"

"Sure," Hua Cheng nodded.

Wei Wuxian flourished his hand and a tall spectacular staff appeared beside the table, floating mind-air, standing upright. "Don't touch the ruby on top, just handle the pole."

Hua Cheng nodded again and gripped the pole, placing the sceptre on the ground beside him, as far away from his husband as he could reach. Xie Lian's safety always came first.

"If it's so useful in dealing with dark stuff and absorbs all evils, isn't it good to keep it with you?" Xie Lian asked, smiling and clasping Hua Cheng's hand tighter when he saw the latter holding the sceptre away from him.

Lan Wangji furiously shook his head. "Harms his temperament. Doubles the resentment energy."

"Oh, so he might go on a rampage?" Xie Lian shuddered. "Dangerous. Good, then. Good that you don't keep it. So? How are the grandfathers-to-be doing?" He grinned.

"Very merry," Wei Wuxian grinned back. "Hey, did you know? Babies kick!"

"Duh, they've got legs?" Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"No! I mean they can kick when they're still in the womb! Foetuses! Foetuses can kick!"

"Woah, seriously?" Hua Cheng gawked.

Xie Lian sighed. "Really? You three've never been normal mortals?"

All three shrugged.

"Gege's known this?" Hua Cheng wondered.

"Yes, through relatives, while I was Xianle's Crown Prince."

"Ah," Hua Cheng nodded.

"I see," Wei Wuxian nodded. "But come on! Kicking! And that too, this Yiyi's one kicks all the time!"

"Must be a naughty little boy coming out in February," Xie Lian chuckled.

"Any news from your realms?" Lan Wangji looked at them, handing them cups of tea.

"Not from mine, just Qi Rong playing pranks on everyone again," Hua Cheng sighed and flipped his hair with exasperation.

"Heavenly Realm, yes. Ever heard of the Qiong Qi?"

"Qiongqi..." Lan Wangji gulped.

Wei Wuxian quickly hugged him tight, wrapping him up in all the reassuring love he could pour into their core-bond, soothing him.

"Ah?" Xie Lian looked at Hua Cheng. "Wh– What's... going on...?"

"Oh, nothing..." Wei Wuxian shook his head, fingering and caressing his husband's back. "There's a place in this realm called Qiongqi Path. Not really the best place to remember... Terrible memories."

"Ah, apologies for igniting a dreadful past in your mind, Lan Wangji," Xie Lian sighed and patted his shoulder. "But... why dread the past all over again? The only purpose of bad memories isn't to distress you."

"Then?" Lan Wangji muttered into Wei Wuxian's shoulder.

"They're there to motivate you. To motivate you to make sure that those memories shall not repeat themselves again. To encourage you to hold on to what you almost lost once, to never let go again. They're there for you to learn from the past. Learn to proceed better," Xie Lian explained, smiling, gripping Hua Cheng's hand tighter under the table.

Hua Cheng looked down at the grip on his hand, squeezed the palm back and beamed at them all, nodding firmly.

Lan Wangji absorbed the words for a good, long while before tapping Wei Ying's back twice. Wei Wuxian grinned and pulled back, holding his shoulders. "That made you feel better?"

"Mn," Lan Zhan nodded.

"Thank you, Xie Lian," Wei Wuxian smiled. "When it's Qiongqi path, both darling and I have bad memories that torment us. But while mine is all regret, A-Zhan's is all pain. Thanks."

Xie Lian bobbed his head.

"Don't relive the pain. But don't forget it either. Turn the pain into a lesson and a lesson that won't produce more pain, but will only produce pleasure, get me?" Hua Cheng tilted his head.

"Mn," Lan Wangji nodded. Suddenly, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were starting to feel like older brothers to him.

Wei Wuxian kissed his cheek and that calmed him down fully. Chuckling, Wei Ying turned to face the other two again. "So? What about the Qiong Qi? Isn't it one of the Four Evils? Like the Xuanwu? Also called the Winged Tiger, right?"

"Precisely," Xie Lian agreed. "Regarded as a fierce beast that enjoys eating humans. Supporter of the evil side in a battle. You know, like it flies overhead during battles and swoops down to gobble up he who is just and right, while also near-killing those who are loyal to the righteous man. But unleashes beasts to fight on the wrong man's side. Known for encouraging the wrong and bad guy to commit worse deeds, more and more. The Heavenly Realm has tried hunting it down to kill it because it's too much of a hindrance. Not just to your Mortal Realm but to the Heavens too. But the beast's too strong. Keeps disappearing. The Heavens have started to believe it can transform into a human figure, hence escapes when on the verge of captivity. Too smart, quite an intelligent beast. So the Realm's focussed on catching him these days. Because he'd been kept locked up in the realm above but somehow, he's escaped. Who knows what chaos he'll bring next.........."

"Ah, don't you worry," Wei Wuxian smiled smugly. "Guess who killed the other one of the Four Evils? The great and mighty Xuanwu?" He laughed, swathing his arm around his husband's shoulders. "This amazing Immortal right here!"

"Both of us did."

"Fine, fine, both it is then. If we killed one of them, why not the other? Oh, and might I add, my Terrific Ten students killed the Nine-Headed Phoenix, hmph! Let the Heavenly Emperor lie down and have his chamomile tea, lazy fellow, leave the beast to us. If it ever brings chaos on our realm, we'll deal with it. Your friends, the useless Heavenly Officials, don't need to worry," he harrumphed, quaffing down his tea and slamming the cup down on the table. 

**********

Lan Wangji was reading. Wei Wuxian was painting. Some surprise for his husband, apparently. And he had his back turned to Lan Zhan, lying with his chest flat on the floor, legs bent and dancing in the air, while his brush swished back and forth over the paper, humming their song to himself, an unfading smile ever-present on his face.

Lan Zhan looked up from his book. No, he's still blocking it. Sighing, because he was excited to see what his husband had in store for him, he went back to his book.

"No peeking!" Wei Ying laughed.

Lan Zhan smirked and went on reading.

Another ten minutes passed with Lan Zhan actually fidgeting in his seat with the suspense. He never was the one to be this excited about anything.

Well...

Anything but Wei Ying!

The ways Wei Ying had changed him... were uncountable.

"Da-da-da-doooone!" Wei Ying grinned and hopped up onto his feet.

Lan Zhan was a tad frustrated that it had taken so long, and even more irritated that Wei Ying could actually make him this restless about something so trivial as a surprise painting — so he pretended to not care for the gift and kept his eyes glued to his book.

Wei Wuxian didn't mind. "You're pretending to be like your fifteen-year-old self recently, saying 'Boring' and reading books ignoring me, so I decided to go back to my fifteen-year-old self, too!" He chuckled and knelt beside his husband, on the edge of the table. Changing his mind, he quickly sat on the table.

Lan Zhan looked to his right and glared at Wei Ying's butt seated casually on the edge of his table.

Laughing nervously, Wei Ying slid off and sat beside him.

Something in this scene was slowly sparking up a memory in Lan Zhan's head. So he decided to play along and returned to his book.

"Ji-xiong..." Wei Ying grinned.

Ji-xiong? Right, he did say fifteen-year-old self... Lan Zhan bit back the grin and read on.

Wei Wuxian liked this game. He leant on the table, one elbow propped up on it, bent down to the book's level and looked up at his 'fifteen-year-old' husband. "Second Young Master Lan? Ji-xiong? Lan Wangji?"

No response. Albeit a slight twinkle in those wonderful golden eyes.

"Lan ZHAN!"

"What?" Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow, still looking at the letters in his book that were a mere blur in his vision now. It's like he was being hypnotised by the memory of such a sweet time in his head.

"I've a gift for you," Wei Wuxian held out the paper.

Lan Zhan went into complete Young Lan Wangji mode along with Wei Ying. He slapped his book shut and slammed it on the table, exasperatedly sighing and flipping a strand of hair away from his face, looking straight at a window near their bed. "What is it?"

"Have a look!"

He snatched the paper and looked down at it, feigning disinterest.

But how could he? When his silly and darling husband had painted him in his best robes, elegant hair ornament sitting atop smooth cascading hair, with a big peony flower sitting on the crook atop Lan Zhan's ear.

Lan Zhan gulped, his jaw slightly dropping at the beautiful portrait.

"Well, last time, back at the Library, I drew you in your best Lan robes, with this same hair ornament and flower in your hair. This time, I drew you the same way. Any good? Have my skills improved?"

"Improved?" Lan Zhan muttered.

"Yeah? Because you didn't appreciate it back then... I thought maybe it wasn't good enough..."

Lan Zhan shook his head. Still staring at the painting, he half-consciously mumbled "Second shelf to the right."

Wei Wuxian blinked twice and looked to the said bookshelf. "What about it?"

"Have you seen the books there?"

"Sure i have! It's my house, of course, I know–"

"Have you seen behind the shelf?"

Wei Wuxian gawked at his words and quickly hurried over to push the shelf away. Only to find that fantastic portrait from long ago carefully pasted onto the wall. "Woah... I thought you... Threw it away... It's... Always been here?"

"Mn."

"You... I know you fell in love back then itself but this?" Wei Ying's eyes welled up. "A-Zhan, you... dumbhead! You could've told me! At least after we got together? RECENTLY?"

"Was... too embarrassed..."

"Hahahaha," Wei Wuxian cackled as he walked back to the seat. "The great Hanguang-Jun was shy to prove his idiotic teenage love?"

"Mn."

"At least you admit it! Well, see the difference with that and this?"

Lan Zhan looked up at him. "What difference?"

"Compare and see."

Lan Zhan held the paper in his hands up and on level with the paper pasted onto the wall far away. The older sheet's black ink painting had crisp plain robes, while this one... had beautiful dragon patterns and Lan insignia...

"Wedding robes?"

"Exactly!"

"Why wedding robes?"

"I told you. That," he pointed to the wall. "Was back then. Back then, all I knew of your best outfit was your Lan school uniform. But now I know. You look best in red," Wei Ying smiled.

Lan Zhan smiled. "Curious..."

"What is?"

"I look best in red. A-Ying looks best in my Lan white."

"Oh?" Wei Ying grinned. "Makes sense. You in me, me in you!"

Cotton white ears turned a deep shade of red as Lan Zhan pursed his lips in a grin and placed the paper aside, carefully securing it onto his study table with a brush that smeared spots of some glue onto the wooden table. "There," he smiled.

"It's called self-obsession," Wei Ying pinned. "Pinning your own portraits all around."

"It's called treasuring whatever your husband has to give to you," Lan Zhan stoically retaliated.

"Why don't you paint me? And pin a bit of me around? Pin me onto your wall and table or whatever?"

All of a sudden, he felt himself being thrust down onto the ground and found the culprit bestriding him. "See? I always do pin you down."

"Why you!" Wei Ying laughed and thrashed his fists on Lan Zhan's chest, blushing furiously.

"Ahem, ahem!"

Wei Ying sighed. "A-CHENG! Does it ALWAYS HAVE to be YOU?"

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and leant on the side of the door. "Get off the floor, I came to see you. Lan Wangji, A-Huan told me you were busy 'reading'. Reading what, I wonder," he smirked. 

"I've let you read my brother enough, I deserve to read yours," Lan Zhan harrumphed and plopped back down on his seat.

Wei Ying stared at him. "Woah, A-Zhan's becoming... sassy..."

"Isn't he?" A gentler voice called. "My innocent didi's changing because of his," the man rapped his knuckles on Jiang Cheng's head. "Brazen brother-in-law."

"Why brazen!" Jiang Cheng crossed his arms.

"Wanyin," the cool and gentle man, obviously Lan Xichen, sighed. "I've told you to knock before entering."

"I'm trying to learn it and I have, okay! I do knock when it's anyone else's."

"But who knocks when it's your brother's home, eh?" Wei Wuxian grinned and hugged him. "A-Cheng, it's fine. You can barge in whenever you want. You're the one who'll be ashamed, not us!"

"Oh, shut up."

"You know I can't do that if my life depended on it," Wei Wuxian laughed and stepped back, welcoming his brothers in and leaving the door open for some air. "Well? What brought the two of you here at this time of day?"

"A-Huan came here yesterday, but I wanted to come along today to thank you for the mooncakes you sent on the Mid-Autumn Festival night."

"Gratitude accepted," Wei Wuxian smiled and poured out tea.

"Thanks," Lan Xichen nodded and took the teacup. "But there's also something else..."

"No need to say," Lan Wangji cut in. "Gege and Jiang Wanyin are core-bound?"

"Ha, you saw too," Wei Wuxian punched Lan Zhan's arm and grinned. "We already noticed. Beautiful blend of blue and purple shining all around you two! That core-bond is beautiful," Wei Wuxian smiled warmly. "Somehow, you guys look like an amethyst and a sapphire, haha," he chuckled and sipped on his tea, admiring the beauty of the faintly visible thread connecting his brothers' chests.

Since they'd already seen, Lan Xichen nodded to Jiang Cheng and dismissed the image of the core-bond. With the glow of the thread gone, they picked up their teacups and smiled over the jasmine fragrance.

"Now all that's left is immortality!" Wei Wuxian clapped happily.

"That's... too hard..." Jiang Cheng stared at his tea, almost horrified by the idea of having to cultivate all the way to that. Or maybe it was the 'living forever' part that was frightening him. But then again...

If it's living forever with A-Huan, fine. I'll do it.

"Looks like I'll have to double my training," Jiang Cheng mumbled under his breath.

"You're doing great already," Lan Xichen squeezed his shoulder.

"Actually, A-Cheng, I wanted to tell you. Little Lien told me about your training routine. All day and all evening. Not good. You've got to rest. Gege, please see to that. Little Lien follows his way. Does every single thing he does. So she's practising just as much, it might be too much on her because she's doing demonic cultivation too. And for A-Cheng, it's just too much! A-Cheng, you've got to live your life merrily, not brandishing a sword all day!"

"I do rest at night," Jiang Cheng muttered.

"Night's all you get. And that too," Wei Wuxian grinned. "Not much of a rest. All day, cultivation. All night, dual cultivation. Not good. Hereafter, take a stroll in town or the woods in the evening with gege and Little Lien, yeah? You've got to. Shixiong's orders."

Jiang Cheng moped.

"What now?"

"Nothing, just... Hmph," Jiang Cheng tossed his hair angrily, not looking at the twinkling silver eyes, grumpily slurping on his tea. "I thought you were shixiong only to the rest of them."

Wei Wuxian processed the words for a while before smiling happily. "Oh, alright then. Gege's orders. Sounds better?"

Jiang Cheng failed to hide the smile that grew on his face. Lan Xichen winked at Wei Wuxian. Finally, they're accepting themselves as real brothers. Not just martial brothers. Great, Lan Xichen sighed with relief. Lan Wangji nodded to him, smiling faintly.