the intrinsic intimacy of staring at your opponent through the net and wanting her to absolutely rail you
wlw Wangxian, E-Rated, Modern AU - Volleyball Rivals, cisswap
Read on AO3
“I think Lan Zhan could rip the ball in half, if she wanted to.”
“Mhmmrmmm mhhnannm,” Jiang Cheng groaned into his pillow. Wei Ying knew he was disagreeing with her but chose to ignore it.
“If she’s really angry… she could… just grab it and…” Wei Ying shuddered and pressed her hands against her flushed cheeks. The Yiling Demons were playing against the Gusu Clouds the next day and she was unreasonably nervous. It certainly would not be the first time they’d play against each other, nor would it be the last. No reason to be nervous, right? “Just absolutely destroy it.”
Jiang Cheng groaned again, then sat up in his bed and glared at her, hair sticking out in all directions. “Why? It’s in the middle of the fucking night! Go to bed and leave me alone!”
Wei Ying ignored him, just stared at him from where she was sitting cross-legged on the bed next to him, gnawing her thumb. “She could rip me in half. Have you seen how mad she was last game? I bet she wanted to…” Wei Ying swallowed thickly as she remembered the furious look Lan Zhan had sent her way through the net. Not just a look. Looks. Plural. The entire game. “Annihilate me.”
“And why is this a problem now, at 2 a.m.? She always looks at you that way.” Jiang Cheng threw his pillow at her, but Wei Ying caught it easily, then threw it back at him, hitting him in the face.
“Cute that you thought you could catch me, star volleyball player Wei Ying of the Yiling Demons, by surprise,” Wei Ying cackled while Jiang Cheng cursed under his breath and slammed the pillow down next to him.
“Exactly,” he grumbled. “Then why are you so worried you have to disturb my hard-earned sleep?”
“It’s just… an important game. That’s all.” Wei Ying was gnawing on her thumb again.
“Stop that, do you want it to bleed again?” Jiang Cheng slapped her hand away. “And it’s a friendly match for charity. Just go the fuck to sleep.”
“I need to play well so we raise a lot of money! I don’t want to be responsible for the library not being able to expand! Can you imagine the shame? Lan Zhan really would rip me in half then, she loves books.”
“How do you even know that? ... Don’t tell me. I know you’re obsessed with her.” Jiang Cheng snorted, adjusted his pillow and lied back down. “Now fuck off. Go to bed. You’ll play well tomorrow, you always do.”
“I’m not obsessed with Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying yelled indignantly, but Jiang Cheng only pulled his blanket over his head. Wei Ying stared at his back for a few seconds, outraged. Then, when he made no sign of saying anything else, she huffed and went back to her room, grumbling under her breath.
She wasn’t obsessed! She had a normal amount of interest in Lan Zhan! They had an intense athletic rivalry, and because Lan Zhan was the most dangerous player, she had to be aware of what she was doing at all times! Also, it was physically impossible to ignore Lan Zhan, she was so tall and imposing! Nobody could take their eyes off her and her strong arms and thighs and… Nobody! Nothing wrong with admiring the female form in peak physical perfection. Obsessed? Jiang Cheng didn’t know what he was talking about.
In bed, Wei Ying kept turning and tossing, so annoyed was she with her brother. Annoyed with him for talking nonsense. Annoyed that he didn’t help distract her from her thoughts. Because she had reason to be anxious, didn’t she? Because something happened last game… Well, nothing happened, but… After the game, Lan Zhan had been waiting for her in front of the locker room. Wen Qing had only rolled her eyes and left, leaving Wei Ying cruelly behind. Alone and defenceless in front of Lan Zhan, who wanted to rip her in half! Lan Zhan had stared at her, fiercely, while Wei Ying clutched the strap of her bag, face growing hot. Then Lan Zhan had said: “I’d like to talk to you.”
She’d said it so politely, almost shyly. Usually, Wei Ying would be thrilled to be the sole focus of Lan Zhan’s attention, but…
Wei Ying had fled. Had mumbled something about having to help Wen Qing with A Thing and had literally run away.
What had Lan Zhan wanted to talk about? Lan Zhan didn’t just talk to people… Would she try again after tomorrow’s game? Or had Wei Ying messed it up and now Lan Zhan will never talk to her again. Maybe she won’t even allow Wei Ying chatting at her during parties anymore, won’t endure her tipsy ramblings, won’t let her crowd into her personal space anymore.
Wei Ying couldn’t decide what’d be worse – Lan Zhan waiting for her tomorrow after the game or Lan Zhan never looking at her again.
No. She knew.
She wanted Lan Zhan to keep looking at her.
When she finally fell asleep, her sleep was restless, and she woke up with quickly dissipating memories of dreams of Lan Zhan’s piercing gaze.
As soon as Wei Ying entered the gym, she saw Lan Zhan, warming up on court. As though she could sense her presence, Lan Zhan turned her head and stared directly at Wei Ying. And frowned.
Okay, so she was still looking at her. Good. Good, good. The frowning… well, a lot of people frowned at her daily, nothing to worry about. In fact, Jiang Cheng was frowning at her right now.
“This is that ref again, isn’t it?” Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked across the court where the ref was chatting with Lan Yi, the trainer of the Gusu Clouds. Wei Ying really didn’t have time for his bullshit right now.
“If you embarrass me again, you’re banned from watching my games for a whole season,” Wei Ying hissed at him, eyes searching out Lan Zhan again, who was doing lunges now. Her legs were looking especially powerful today.
“How is demanding a fair ref embarrassing you? She clearly had it out against the Demons, your fingers did not touch that ball!”
“You were yelling at the ref and they probably would’ve thrown you out if Jiejie hadn’t charmed them with her presence and promised she’d keep you in check.”
Before Jiang Cheng could open his mouth to counter with even more bullshit, Wen Qing joined them, putting her arms around both their shoulders, effectively shutting Jiang Cheng up.
“Ready? I’m in the mood to crush some skulls today. Let’s go warm up.”
“Yeah, be right there!”
Wen Qing nodded, then gave them both a slap on their butts. Jiang Cheng turned bright red and decidedly did not watch Wen Qing walk away.
“You’re so fucking embarrassing,” Wei Ying murmured at him under her breath, dragging her eyes forcefully away from Lan Zhan and her glutes, and turning towards the locker rooms. “You know she has a girlfriend, right?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Jiang Cheng elbowed her, but very half-heartedly. Probably, because it was game day, and he didn’t want to risk actually hurting her. Ugh, he was such a sap. “Go get changed.”
“I will! You should go outside and wait for Jiejie, I’m sure she brought way too many snacks again.”
“Fine, I will!” Jiang Cheng turned around and stomped off, but not before yelling: “Warm up properly!”
Ah, her sweet little baby brother. This was why she couldn’t be mad at him for long, even if he said nonsensical things like Wei Ying being obsessed with Lan Zhan.
The game was… intense, for a charity game. Well, maybe it wasn’t. Her teammates seemed to be having fun. But Wei Ying wasn’t having fun. She couldn’t focus on the game, couldn’t stop thinking about whether Lan Zhan would want to talk again. And what it was she wanted to talk about. She couldn’t… it wouldn’t…
It probably didn’t have anything to do with how Wei Ying had gotten drunk at the last party they both had attended and had… said things. She couldn’t really remember what she had said, but she remembered clinging to Lan Zhan’s strong arm and looking up at her, at her lips, feeling hot all over. And maybe this had been the party after the game where Wei Ying had realised she wanted Lan Zhan to press her against a flat surface and make out with her.
So. Lan Zhan probably just wanted to let her down gently, right? Because she was actually a nice person, even if she’d gained the reputation of being an Ice Queen. Wei Ying didn’t want to hear it though; she already knew Lan Zhan would never want to do those things to her. Even though she could, Wei Ying would let her do anything.
She shook her head and tried to focus on the game. Gusu Clouds were 2:1 in the lead and currently two points ahead of them in this set, so they really had to get their shit together. With newfound determination, Wei Ying managed to land a spike right in front of Lan Zhan. As her team huddled together to cheer, Wei Ying couldn’t help herself. She looked at Lan Zhan, who was already looking back at her, and grinned. Lan Zhan… smiled? Was that really a smile? What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fucking fuck? Fuck.
Was this some kind of evil tactic from Lan Zhan? Because there was no way Wei Ying could focus now. She just stared at Lan Zhan through the net, across the field. Lan Zhan was actually concentrating on the ball now and not looking back. Well, good for her.
Wei Ying tried to focus, she really did. But then Lan Zhan jumped in the air to hit the ball and her shirt rode up a little, showing a hint of her abs. She was so strong and graceful, she –
The ball hit Wei Ying in the face with the full force of Lan Zhan’s infamous spike. She blinked and when she opened her eyes again, she was lying on the ground. She blinked again - now her teammates were crowded around her, yelling. At her?
“I’m fine,” she said, but no one seemed to hear her. Her face hurt, of course, but a numb kind of pain, not a ‘broke my nose’ kind of pain. And Wei Ying knew what that felt like!
Somebody helped her up and off the field, and five minutes later she was sitting there with a giant ice pack pressed to her face. It had taken one minute to convince the paramedic she was fine and four minutes to convince Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli that they could go back to the stands.
She was fine, but she wasn’t allowed back on the field, so she could spend the rest of the match being eaten up by embarrassment. She’d just stood there and let the ball hit her, because… because she was too horny for Lan Zhan! What the fuck was wrong with her?
Wei Ying had to watch her team lose the set and the game and knew it was her fault. She needed to get over this… whatever this was. She should allow Lan Zhan to say her piece, tell her ‘Wei Ying, I’m really not interested in you like that or at all’ and then maybe Wei Ying could get over… whatever this was… and be able to focus again when they were playing the Clouds.
Either that, or she’d have to stop playing volleyball and also maybe move to a different country. Which she didn’t have any money for.
She was the last one in the locker room, everyone eager to shower and change quickly to go stuff their faces at the picnic slash barbecue the teams organized in the little park next to the gym to hopefully collect a lot of donations. Everyone had been so nice to her, making sure she really was okay, getting her a new ice pack, when all she wanted was just to crawl in a hole and die.
But she couldn’t. She couldn’t even just keep lying here on the bench, ice pack on her face, hair drying slowly, until it got dark and everyone had left, because Jiang Cheng had already sent her five worried messages. Lan Zhan was probably at the picnic too, right? It was for a good cause, even she wouldn’t skip a social gathering that was for a good cause.
Okay, Wei Ying was going. She was.
Right now.
Okay.
Five more minutes. The ice pack was still a little cold; she needed to use it a bit longer if she wanted to ensure a minimum amount of swelling. There would be a bruise, maybe even a full black eye, but so far there was no swelling.
Suddenly, the door opened. Maybe it was Wen Qing coming to get her and/or to yell at her because Jiang Cheng was yelling.
She turned her head with a weary sigh, then sucked all the air back in, because… Lan Zhan. Was here. Walking over to her. Crouching down next to the bench Wei Ying was lying on. And… and… carefully lifting the ice pack from Wei Ying’s face and looking at her.
“Does it hurt?” Lan Zhan stroked her thumb over Wei Ying’s cheek, just under her bruise. She’d never…
“Uh… n-no?” Wei Ying stuttered, because she was a mess and Lan Zhan was touching her face very gently.
“You’re not sure?” Lan Zhan sounded amused, her thumb still stroking Wei Ying’s cheek.
“It doesn’t hurt badly. Just a little.” Wei Ying hoped that her voice sounded normal, but it was hard to tell because she currently couldn’t remember what her voice usually sounded like. It was always this high, right?
“Good.” Lan Zhan nodded her approval. Then, she moved her hand, so it rested on Wei Ying’s neck, thumb stroking her jaw now. Wei Ying swallowed hard, which Lan Zhan would be able to feel. “Why didn’t you move?”
Lan Zhan’s gaze was hot on her face and oh… she knew. Whatever Wei Ying had told her… She knew and this was her way of…
“Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying pleaded. She already knew, why did she want Wei Ying to confess to her horny obsession?
Lan Zhan watched the flush spread out on Wei Ying’s face, travel down her neck and chest. But the look in her eyes told Wei Ying that she wouldn’t back down. “Tell me.”
Wei Ying let out a shaky breath, then stared at the ceiling. “I had trouble… focusing.”
“Why?” Lan Zhan’s thumb was now resting right underneath her lower lip, which was horribly unfair.
“Lan Zhannnn, please. You know why.” Wei Ying squeezed her eyes shut, which she immediately regretted because the bruised side of her face hurt, so she opened them again, accidentally meeting Lan Zhan’s eyes. Lan Zhan was smiling at her. She looked… still intense, but her features were much softer than what Wei Ying’s heart could handle.
“Tell me.” She was still smiling; the same secret smile Wei Ying had seen on the court earlier. Was it just for her?
“Because… I… You’re… really hot.” Wei Ying had never been this in embarrassed in her life, and when she was embarrassed, she started babbling. That’s why she said, while staring straight at Lan Zhan’s amused face: “I could see your abs when you jumped.”
“Mhm. Is that all?”
“Huh?” What else did Lan Zhan want her to say? Wasn’t this enough???
“You weren’t thinking of kneeling between my strong thighs or how my long fingers would feel inside of you?” Lan Zhan said with an almost completely straight face. Her ears were a little red, her mouth twitching a little, but otherwise… how could she just…
“What… why… oh fuck is that what I…” Wei Ying tried to hide her mortified face behind her hands, but Lan Zhan didn’t let her, pulling her hands back down with just one – just one! – of her large hands. Fuck. “I was really drunk. Lan Zhan, you can’t hold me accountable for my drunk ramblings.”
“So, you don’t want that?” Suddenly, Lan Zhan’s hand was resting on Wei Ying’s stomach, not very far from her boobs. Rather close to them, actually. Wei Ying was only wearing a ratty old tank top over her sports bra. A really thin top. Lan Zhan’s hand was very warm.
“Uhm… “ It seemed like if Wei Ying were to say yes, then these things would actually come true. She didn’t know why she was so scared to admit it, this was what she wanted. “I… Please.”
Lan Zhan put her hand right across Wei Ying’s heart. And her boob, as a side-effect. Or was it the other way round? Her left eyebrow twitched a miniscule amount, another question. Wei Ying bit her lip and nodded and hope it was enough, that Lan Zhan would finally –
Lan Zhan kissed her.
This kiss wasn’t a quick peck or a shy first meeting of lips. Lan Zhan wasn’t asking anymore; she had heard Wei Ying’s pleas, and this was her answer.
Wei Ying tried to be an enthusiastic participant of the kiss, but it was very difficult, because she also had to figure out where to put her hands: Desperately clinging to the bench? Buried in Lan Zhan’s hair? Gripping her strong shoulders? Additionally, there were loud moans seeking to escape her throat and she really tried to hold them back. However, Wei Ying quickly found out that she was incapable of holding back moans when Lan Zhan was squeezing her tit. And Lan Zhan seemed to like it, because whenever Wei Ying moaned, Lan Zhan squeezed harder – a vicious, delicious cycle.
The only problem was that Lan Zhan’s touch was so good that all the parts of Wei Ying that weren’t being touched were complaining about it. She tried to tell Lan Zhan this but trying to talk around a tongue in her mouth just sounded like more moaning, meaning more squeezing, meaning more actual moaning. Since Wei Ying wasn’t willing to break the kiss just yet, she tried to shimmy so Lan Zhan’s hand would move lower, or at least under her shirt.
Lan Zhan’s hand did move. To her stomach, pressing down to stop her squirming. Oh. Yeah, okay. That was. Mhm.
Lan Zhan also stopped kissing her, which was not okay at all, and Wei Ying wasn’t too proud to pout and try to pull her back down. But Lan Zhan didn’t budge, because she was very tall and ridiculously strong.
“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan looked down at her with a frown. Why was she frowning again? Wei Ying had already stopped squirming!
“Why aren’t you kissing meeeee?” Wei Ying whined, but with a lot of dignity. She wasn’t desperate or anything.
“Your phone.” Lan Zhan’s eyes flicked towards Wei Ying’s phone she’d at some point dropped into one of her trainers.
The phone was ringing. Oh!
Wei Ying scrambled into a sitting position and fished her phone out of her shoe. Lan Zhan didn’t move at all during this, so Wei Ying had to spread her legs to accommodate her. Lan Zhan’s hand was now resting high, very high, on her thigh instead of her stomach.
She answered the phone without looking at the screen, because she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of Lan Zhan crouching between her legs, looking up at her with dark eyes and well-kissed lips. Fuck.
“Yes?”, Wei Ying barked into the phone.
“Where the fuck are you?” Ugh, of course it was Jiang Cheng. Of fucking course! “Jiejie is worried you fainted in the locker room! I texted you like three times! Do you need to go to the fucking hospital or something?”
“Aw, you care so much! That’s so sweet, A-Cheng.” Wei Ying had to look away from Lan Zhan’s face after all, because it was just… a lot to handle, while trying to annoy her brother.
“Don’t be gross! Anyway, you’re okay? Because I’m taking A-Jie home, the heat is getting to her.”
“Is she okay? Do you need help?” No matter how horny Wei Ying was, she would walk away from Lan Zhan’s everything right now, if her sister needed her. She’d probably cry about it later, but she would do it.
“She’s fine, just a little dizzy. Anyway, are you coming, too? I’m not gonna drive back later to pick you up, okay, no matter how many crying emojis you send me.”
This was a lie and they both knew it; Jiang Cheng would totally come pick her up. But Wei Ying had, uh, different plans. “No, I’ll stay here and… “ A hand squeezed her thigh. “Uhm, I’ll see you tonight.”
“You’re really okay? No nausea or anything? Because I can-”
Jiang Cheng’s worry was sweet and all, but Wei Ying really needed this phone call to end ASAP. Luckily, she knew how to accomplish that. “Ooooh, my sweet little A-Cheng is so worried, because he loves me soooo much, how touching! I want to squish your cheeks and-“
Jiang Cheng hung up. Wei Ying dropped the phone back in her shoe, and finally dared to look at Lan Zhan again.
Lan Zhan still looked so put together in her shorts and sleeveless blouse, her hair in a braid, only slightly ruffled by Wei Ying’s searching hands. Didn’t look even half as sweaty and flushed as Wei Ying felt. Wei Ying wanted to change that.
Lan Zhan wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t have done all that if she didn’t want this. If she didn’t want Wei Ying. So…
Wei Ying took off her top under Lan Zhan’s intense gaze and dropped it on top of her phone. Lan Zhan only quirked one eyebrow, slid one finger under the waistband of Wei Ying’s sweatpants. She didn’t tug on it, but the command was clear: Off.
Wei Ying took those off as well, so she was sitting in front of Lan Zhan in only her sports bra and her yellow panties with little cartoon ghosts saying ‘BOO’ on them.
Lan Zhan looked up at her and smirked. “Boo.”
Fuck, why was Lan Zhan so cute? Wei Ying had no choice but to take her face between her hands and drag her up, so she could kiss her. Lan Zhan let herself be dragged, half kneeling on the bench between Wei Ying’s thighs. Because she was so tall, Wei Ying now had to tilt her head back to be able to still kiss her. It was a very awkward and uncomfortable position, but they were kissing again, so Wei Ying counted it as a win.
Lan Zhan had always been extremely competitive, so of course she wouldn’t content herself with staying like this. A few seconds and some manhandling later, Wei Ying found herself sitting on Lan Zhan’s lap, back to Lan Zhan’s chest.
Wei Ying started squirming again, trying to turn around so she could look at Lan Zhan’s beautiful face and to receive more kisses. But Lan Zhan had other things in mind. Namely, pulling Wei Ying’s bra up and her panties down, so she could grab Wei Ying’s left tit with one hand and her pussy with the other.
“Lan Zhan, you…” Wei Ying said. Well, moaned.
“Mhm,” Lan Zhan murmured against Wei Ying’s neck.
Wei Ying didn’t actually know how she’d wanted to finish that sentence, and then Lan Zhan started pinching and rubbing, so she finished it with: “Fuck.”
“Mn,” Lan Zhan agreed and bit her shoulder.
Wei Ying’s whole existence melted down to three things: her shoulder, her throbbing clit, and her nipple. Lan Zhan was the only thing keeping her together, while she was thoroughly taking her apart. It didn’t make any sense, but Wei Ying had never paid much attention to ‘sense’ anyway.
“Lan Zhan… ah… Can’t I… Can’t I look at you?” Wei Ying tried to turn around again, but her body didn’t listen, too busy undulating and chasing Lan Zhan’s touch.
“Yes. After you’ve come.” Lan Zhan said and dipped one, no, two fingers into Wei Ying’s hole, then went back to rubbing her clit, the slide much smoother now because Wei Ying was so fucking wet.
“I… So mean… Lan… Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying came while moaning Lan Zhan’s name, her orgasm rolling over her so quickly and so strongly, she was afraid she’d fall off Lan Zhan’s lap. She put her hands over Lan Zhan’s to make sure she didn’t let her go while Wei Ying’s body was still twitching with aftershocks.
Lan Zhan held her, kept holding her, kept pressing kisses to her shoulder and her neck, murmuring her name, until Wei Ying finally felt like she had control over her body again.
This time, when she tried to turn around, Lan Zhan let her and even helped her pull up her panties, so she could comfortably sit on Lan Zhan’s thighs, Lan Zhan’s arms securely around her waist.
“Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying began, but then had to kiss her first, before she could continue. “You’re really pretty.”
“Wei Ying is pretty.” A smile tugged at the corner of Lan Zhan’s mouth and Wei Ying had to kiss the smile. And Lan Zhan’s cheek, because that was an important part of smiling. And her forehead, because Lan Zhan’s brain was behind there, and it had to work for the smile to happen. And her nose, simply because it was a good nose. And her other cheek, she didn’t want it to feel left out.
After her work was done, Wei Ying leaned back to look at Lan Zhan’s face again. She should do this again while wearing lipstick. If Lan Zhan would allow it. If she even wanted this again… Oh wait, were they even done yet?! Because… “Lan Zhan, you haven’t come yet!”
Wei Ying moved her hand down to Lan Zhan’s waistband but was once again stopped by one of Lan Zhan’s strong hands.
“Later.”
“What do you mean ‘later’?” Wei Ying pouted, trying to hide her anxiety. What if there was no later? She wanted to give Lan Zhan the best orgasm now, so she would not be able to forget this ever happened. Because Wei Ying certainly wouldn’t be able to. “When will that be? Don’t you want to come now? I’ll eat you out, Lan Zhan, please, you know how good I am with my mouth.”
Lan Zhan’s grip tightened, Wei Ying’s words clearly affecting her in some way. But still she said: “Later.”
Wei Ying whined, but Lan Zhan smiled so beautifully, it shut her up again.
“Later will be in about 15 minutes, if you walk fast.” Lan Zhan let her gaze drag over Wei Ying’s flushed face, her still exposed tits, down to her soaked panties and back up to her face. She smirked. “Let’s say twenty minutes, because I don’t think you’ll be able to.”
“Wow, okay, I’ll have you know I’m a superstar athlete! I can walk very fast, under any circumstances!” Wei Ying didn’t really want to leave Lan Zhan’s lap, but proving her point was more important. Though her legs did prove to be a little wobbly still. She put her hand on Lan Zhan’s shoulder to steady herself, ignoring Lan Zhan’s smug expression. Well, not ignore it completely. It was kinda hot actually.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Or do you need some time to recover? I understand, I’m a very good kisser and-“
Lan Zhan, it turned out, did not need to recover, but Wei Ying did, after Lan Zhan pressed her against the wall and kissed her until she was dizzy.
“Well… You proved your… Anyway… As I was saying… In conclusion, I was right,” Wei Ying panted against Lan Zhan’s smiling mouth. She really was smiling a lot today. It did dangerous things to Wei Ying’s heart.
“Thirty minutes,” Lan Zhan said, because she was a menace.
“Fuck you,” Wei Ying sighed weakly, pulled down her bra and began collecting her clothes.
“Mhm, later.”
Wei Ying chose to ignore that comment, because getting dressed required all her attention, since Lan Zhan’s hands were still holding her hips and refusing to let go.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, Wei Ying was finally ready to leave the locker room, not bothering to look in the mirror, because her face was a mess anyway, no need to confirm that.
She turned to Lan Zhan and held out her hand, smiling. They were going to have sex and it was going to be so amazing, Lan Zhan would want to do it again! And again. And-
“Wei Ying… before we…” Lan Zhan suddenly hesitated and avoided her eyes. Which… ever since Wei Ying had finally annoyed Lan Zhan enough to look at her, she’d never stopped doing that.
“What’s wrong? Did you change your mind? Do you want to go to the fundraiser instead? I understand, it’s more important than me, haha.”
At that, Lan Zhan looked back at her, frowning, took her hand and pulled her close. “Nothing is more important than Wei Ying.”
“Uh…” Wei Ying swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.
“Nothing.” Lan Zhan pressed a kiss to the back of Wei Ying’s hand and Wei Ying was going to combust or melt into a puddle or just plain explode.
“Uh… then… what did you want to say?”
“When you were drunk…”
“Oh no, what else did I… listen, if I said… like kinky shit you’re not comfortable with, or…” There were so many things she wanted Lan Zhan to do to her, if she talked even just about a fraction of those…
“You said, you wanted to watch me while I made breakfast for you,” Lan Zhan said quietly, eyes now locked with Wei Ying’s. “That you want to hold my hand while we’re sitting on your couch, watching a movie.”
“Oh. Lan Zhan, I can explain!” Wei Ying said, then squeezed her eyes shut and wished to disappear, because she actually couldn’t explain. This sounded as though she wasn’t just horny, this sounded as though she was in love with Lan Zhan or something. Which… was true. Fuck. Of course, she was in love with Lan Zhan! Well, who could blame her???
She slowly opened one eye, risking a glance. Lan Zahn was still there, looking at her. Waiting. Wei Ying closed her eye again, so she could think.
“Wei Ying.”
“Just a second!”
“I also want that.”
“What?” Wei Ying’s eyes flew open, so she could confirm with her eyes that her ears hadn’t heard that wrong.
The tips of Lan Zhan’s ears were flushed, but her eyes and the set of her jaw were determined. “I also want that, Wei Ying. With you.”
“Oh… So like… you’d want to be… I don’t know… “ Wei Ying swallowed hard, then looked at Lan Zhan’s cheekbone instead of her eyes. She wanted to kiss that cheekbone. “Like girlfriends? Gal Pals? Les-bee-anz? Gaaaaaaayyyyy-“
Lan Zhan had mercy on her and shut her up with a kiss.
It took them 45 minutes to get to Lan Zhan’s apartment. Wei Ying didn’t leave until noon the next day, 10 angry messages from Jiang Cheng, and many orgasms later.
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New chapter for Outlaw: Guardian of Yiling! (wlw Wangxian; Robin Hood verse)
Princess Lan Wangji knelt behind a table by the open door to the balcony, playing her guqin. She was alone, in a large room on the second floor of the inn just outside Yiling Forest.
Lan Wangji’s long braid fell over her shoulder, the ends of her forehead ribbon trailing onto her lap. Her fingers moved effortlessly across the strings, the rich tones joining the soothing sounds of cicadas floating in from the balcony on the cool night air.
Still playing the guqin with one hand, her other moved to her sword, Bichen, on the floor beside her. A moment later, a dark figure flipped down from the roof and swung through the open doorway.
Before the intruder could fully regain their balance, Lan Wangji was standing with sword unsheathed, attacking. The intruder leapt back away from her, pulling a sword and blocking her attack.
The intruder danced back out to the balcony, followed closely by Lan Wangji. They leapt up to the roof, and Lan Wangji pursued, the two swords clashing as she attacked. The intruder smoothly parried every blow. The two figures flew across the rooftop, never losing balance, never coming close to stumbling; the battle raged with incredible finesse, first one and then the other gaining the advantage. The intruder’s steps were well trained, but the sword forms were strange. The intruder’s features were hidden by a mask and the shadows of the new moon.
“Who are you?” Lan Wangji demanded in a low, dangerous voice as she attacked again.
“No one of consequence.” The intruder parried her blow, their breath coming fast.
“I must know.” Lan Wangji pressed forward.
“Get used to disappointment,” the intruder replied, spinning away from her.
On it went, swords flashing, the intruder’s feet moving with the grace and speed of a great improvisational dancer – and Lan Wangji never giving them an inch.
Lan Wangji moved like lightning, and she thrust forward, slashed, darted back, all in almost a single movement. Her opponent dodged, blocked, and thrust forward again, faster even than before, and again slashed, nearly nicking her side. But they had used the same move earlier, and this time she saw it coming. She blocked the slash, slashed out herself with Bichen. With her split second of advantage, she disarmed them, sending their sword clattering to the edge of the roof behind them.
Lan Wangji held the tip of her sword to the intruder’s throat, who now raised their hands in surrender. Lan Wangji was displeased to feel a drop of sweat drip down her temple. How had this hooligan given her so much difficulty? She thought she knew everyone in the kingdom who could match her skill – a list she could count on one hand.
The intruder smiled brightly, appearing inexplicably pleased, despite the sword at their throat. “You were ready for me. It’s not often I’m found out.” A woman’s voice, Lan Wangji realized now, intentionally pitched low. Her tall, lithe figure was covered in men’s dark clothes, a hooded cloak, and a mask over the top half of her face. Her chest still heaved lightly, recovering her breath from the fight.
Lan Wangji replied calmly, “It is not often thieves are bold enough to ask me personally for death.”
“Woah, now,” the intruder said, raising her hands a bit higher and backing up a step. “I admit it was rude of me to interrupt such beautiful music, but I must say I’m offended at your assumptions.”
“You claim not to be a thief?”
“Well. Coincidentally I am, but I’m not here to steal from you . And while death by your lovely hand would no doubt be my preferred way to go, let’s take a raincheck on that for now. I have quite a few things left to do before giving up the ghost.”
“What do you want?”
“Emperor’s Smile, ideally. It’s really the best thing to ever come out of Gusu.”
Lan Wangji was unamused. “You are a poor thief, if you expect to gain any from attacking me.”
“Princess, be fair – you attacked me .” The thief’s smile was mischievous. When Lan Wangji didn’t respond, the thief continued thoughtfully. “Although you’re right about me being a poor thief tonight. Not only was I caught, but I intend to leave with lighter pockets than I came. Here.” She pulled an object from her sleeve and tossed it toward Lan Wangji, who caught it easily with her left hand, right hand never lowering her sword.
Keeping an eye on the intruder, Lan Wangji held up the object to inspect, instantly recognizing her bracelet, the clasp broken.
“Where did you get this?” She asked sharply, attention focused acutely on the dark figure before her.
“I came across it in the forest.”
“‘Came across it’,” Lan Wangji repeated flatly, stone face betraying nothing.
“Yep.” The intruder took a step back. Lan Wangji let her.
Lan Wangji’s gaze burned into the thief, trying to read her motives. Why would a thief risk so much to return a valuable piece of jewelry?
“What do you want?” Lan Wangji asked again.
While taking another careful step backward, the intruder grinned and replied, “Well since you don’t have any Emperor’s Smile, I guess there’s not much you can offer me.”
“Ridiculous. How did you know it was mine?”
The intruder smirked while taking one last small step back, her foot now on the edge of the roof, next to her sword. “It’s got your name on it, doesn’t it?” And with that she grabbed her sword and in one fluid movement, launched into a backflip off the roof.
Lan Wangji let her go.
Lan Wangji walked serenely to the edge of the roof; as she expected, her opponent had already vanished into the night.
She looked down at the bracelet in her hand, running her fingers over the familiar jade settings. She turned it, and felt the engraving on the inside she knew from touch as much as sight: “Happy Birthday, A-Zhan, my dragon daughter.”
It indeed had her name on it. Her birth name. A name no one outside her immediate family knew.
As Lan Wangji stood gazing out into the dark trees of the forest, her guards emerged from the front door of the inn, and looked up at her in alarm.
“Your highness? Were you attacked?”
“I’m fine. Go back inside.”
They went. She stood a while longer on the roof, the wind lifting the sleeves and hem of her extravagant robes, and catching the loose strands of hair around her face that escaped her braid during the fight. She stared at the dark forest, willing it to unveil the mystery of this masked woman who returned her mother’s bracelet, of irreplaceable value, and asked for nothing in return.
She felt something small and fragile stir in her chest, in the form of a question she did not dare to ask. She pushed it down, cursing her own foolishness. It was impossible.
And yet. The question she refused to ask echoed with the too-loud beating of her heart:
Wei Ying…could it be you?
The forest offered her no answers, but the chirping of cicadas and the forlorn hoot of an owl.
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