Thread by @FriedJingyi

so...#SituationjiSeason, huh? 👀

here's a mild Situation: modern cultivator LWJ drops off some paperwork for WWX. He sees a red rope bracelet on the floor and, thinking it fell off WWX's messy desk, reaches down to pick it up.

"Wait, no -!" he hears WWX say, but it's too late.

oops! turns out the bracelet was actually WWX's latest experiment with his (new, still a bit buggy) Binding talisman. suddenly, LWJ finds himself on the floor at WWX's feet, bound in super-strong spiritually-enhanced rope. luckily for LWJ, WWX jumps right into action.

unluckily for LWJ, WWX does not actually know what those actions should be. he checks LWJ for injuries, bluescreens a bit bc of LWJ's, uh, assets, and then tells LWJ that he doesn't have a counterspell yet for this prototype of Binding. so LWJ is stuck for the foreseeable future.

(they're mutually pining dumbass best friends/work partners in this btw!)

WWX squirrels LWJ away to a private room and hurries to go find their supervisor, WQ, so he can tell her abt the Situation. WQ tells WWX and LWJ to go home and sort things out, and now they face the challenge of getting LWJ into WWX's car without any of their colleagues seeing.

WWX just ends up throwing LWJ over his shoulder and making a run for it while everyone else is on their lunch break. LWJ does not feel some kind of way about this.

(there were definitely easier, cultivation-related ways to do it. WWX's brain is not working at full capacity rn.)

so now LWJ's gone from being tied up at work to being tied up in WWX's apartment! major upgrade. WWX helps him drink some water, hand-feeds him some fruit (LWJ's hands are tied, after all!) and sets LWJ up on a nice chair so WWX can examine the full scope of the talisman.

and, well, LWJ's dress shirt is being pulled so tight. it's reallyy starting to get constricting in some places. can't be good for his circulation. better if WWX just helps him unbutton it so he can have a bit more breathing room. and he'll have to help LWJ take off his tie, ofc.

WWX, doing a slow walk around LWJ while absently wrapping and unwrapping LWJ's tie around his hand, muttering to himself as he brainstorms:

LWJ, sitting on a chair, quite literally tied up and ~disheveled~ and actively discovering that he has a competency kink:

WWX eventually figures out a counterspell, but it's late and LWJ is up past his bedtime. obviously, LWJ should just stay the night. he's done it before! they're best friends!

also, he can't sleep on a chair, and the couch is too small, so clearly LWJ will have to take the bed.

WWX: i'll be on the couch, so just shout if you need anything

LWJ: but. what if. i fall

WWX: what if you fall?

LWJ: off the bed. in my condition, that would be dangerous.

WWX: ...yes, it would

LWJ:

WWX:

WWX: i guess the only solution is for me to sleep here with you!

yes, WWX wakes up in the morning next to a tied-up LWJ and thinks he's dreaming and says some really embarrassing things to LWJ before realising this is Not-A-Dream

anyway, they get down to the counterspell. it's a quick fix, not an ideal solution, mostly because it involves drawing an array directly on LWJ's skin. cue WWX having to slide his hands under the ropes to draw the array. cue lots of unnecessary tiddy-touching (initiated by both).

LWJ, "subtly" pushing his chest out: you missed a spot. the line here is broken

WWX, knowing full well the line is not broken: oh of course! my lan zhan is so observant 🥰

atp they're both going 👀👀 at each other and being incredibly obvious about it. WWX is fully straddling LWJ's lap. LWJ is baring his entire chest. then WWX breaks the Binding talisman and looks so sexy and competent that the first thing a newly-untied LWJ does is kiss him

ta-da!! they get together and are insanely obnoxious about it and WQ considers moving departments. WWX plays around with the talisman until he 1) has a proper counterspell and 2) can disguise it as entirely innocuous things, like a stray thread or a ribbon.

sometimes, just to keep LWJ on his toes, he'll wait for a weekend where they don't have anything on and drop the talisman somewhere in their apartment in the form of, like, a hairtie. LWJ goes to braid his hair and BAM! Situation'ed.

ofc WWX walks in on him like GASP!! who is this beautiful man all tied up on my bedroom floor!! and LWJ plays along. (he knows the counterspell and could free himself if he wanted to. but he doesn't want to 🥰)

yeah this can totally be my bday present for WWX. look WWX u have a present!! it's even all tied up for u!!!