Thread by @cerbykerby

dragonji starts flying (or more accurately, floating upwards) at age three.

so lqr has to tie a rope around his waist and lead him around like a balloon, because otherwise he will float up into the sky and disappear😭

lxc went through this phase too, but he quickly learned how to control his flight.

little lwj, however, sees no downside to floating up. quite the contrary; he rather likes that he can just ✨leave✨ whenever he feels like it.

the whole reason the cloud recesses has a spiritual net over the entire compound is because their little second jade keeps trying to float away every time someone tells him, "No."

the lan dragons are very fortunate that lwj has not yet learned how to fly in a given direction, so all they have to do is fly up and pluck him down from the net as his little chubby blue dragon legs kick about in protest

one day, the jiang snake clan visit. they bring with them a little fox. foxxian has the softest black ears and his tiny fluffy tail is always wagging. he has never seen dragons before, so he is excited.

dragonji, likewise, has never seen a fox before. he doesn't know how to act.

lqr: hello clan leader jiang. these are my two nephews: lan xichen and lan wangji

jfm: two?

lqr: yes. two. there should be tw— *turns around*

lqr:

lqr: *looks up*

lqr:

lqr: please excuse me for just a moment

the jiangs spend a few days in the cloud recesses, and it's more than enough time for foxxian to start terrorizing dragonji. foxxian is very intrigued by this strange creature who floats like a bubble! and dragonji just Does Not Know How to Feel about foxxian so he just leaves.

dragonji follows foxxian around like the smitten toddler he is, but the moment foxxian notices him or tries to approach, then it's bye-bye solid ground, hello sky and endless blue oblivion.

lqr is exasperated. jfm finds it endearing.

all goes well until foxxian manages to catch dragonji before he starts to float off. a very fox-like pounce, and dragonji is in his grasp.

which. was not part of dragonji's plan. not in the least. he didn't even plan for this to happen. he was not aware of the possibility.

anyways, eventually someone looks up and sees their second jade floating up into the sky—again—but this time with a giggling and shrieking fox spirit attached to him.

there's a bit of panic. foxxian is the ward of a guest, and he would not survive a fall from such a height.

when the lan clan fish both of them down, dragonji gets a stern talking-to from his uncle, which he very much disagrees with.

/foxxian/ grabbed him. he just flew up. clearly this is an action of self-defense. it is foxxian's fault he didn't let go earlier.

dragonji does not know what it is like to fall. he does not fall. he pouts through his uncle's explanation of what falling is and how it can hurt.

meanwhile foxxian has the zoomies because wow!! he went up so high!! he could see the mountains and caiyi town and everything!!

so yes, while dragonji is being lectured, foxxian is just a grey, excitedly panting blur in the background.

dragonji's floating habit abruptly stops with his mother's death. he turns inward. quiet. he learns how to fly, but doesn't do so often, preferring to cultivate in his human form.

lqr will never admit to being sad that his lil nephew no longer acts like an untethered balloon.

meeting foxxian again is a shock. dragonji doesn't remember much about him, but he does remember that this little fox is capable of nothing but trouble.

after their rooftop clash, dragonji shifts into his dragon form and angrily broods in the upper corner of his room.

lxc laughs at him when he goes into the jingshi and has to search a bit for his brother.

dragonji does not appreciate the laughter. he is having a CRISIS, and all his brother can do is talk about how dragonji has always had this habit?! unacceptable. rude. betrayal.

the floating habit doesn't resurface again until 20 years later, after a cup of wine in an inn with someone he thought he'd lost forever.

mxy's body is human. it will take some time before foxxian's spirit can alter it to allow for ears and tails to form. but he is still wwx.

dragonji is—happy. he is happy. overjoyed. in disbelief. he does not know how to contain these emotions, and he cannot school his face to express them.

he reverts into dragon form involuntarily, and… starts to float up into the sky.

there is a problem, though. dragonji is now large—like large-enough-to-anaconda-squeeze-a-mountain-into-smithereens large. his eyeball alone is as wide as the length of foxxian's forearm.

as he starts to float up, his massive body blocks out the moon and stars.

foxxian, watching the absolutely gigantic and WASTED dragonji slooooooowly ascend towards the sky: 👁️👄👁️

foxxian quickly scales a building and jumps onto dragonji before he can float out of range.

"Lan Zhan," he sputters, clinging onto the dragon's snout. "Lan Zhan, are you alright? You're acting so funny!"

alright? dragonji is more than alright. he has foxxian back.

foxxian pleads with him to bring them both down. dragonji lazily lets his body twist and turn whichever way. he does slow barrel rolls while holding foxxian safely in his claws. they ascend higher.

meanwhile the juniors on the ground are just STARING at their hgj floating away.

out of all of them, only lan jingyi has the flight ability and strength to even have a /chance/ of bringing dragonji back down to earth, except jingyi is currently a PLASTERED lan noodle on the floor.

it's quite the mess.

eventually, foxxian coaxes dragonji to fly them both down to earth—mostly with the promise to give dragonji lots of scritches and kisses around his face and mane.

dragonji demands payment the *instant* they land. then he passes out on top of foxxian.

foxxian manages to wriggle out, but it doesn't feel right to go sleep on the inn's bed and just leave dragonji outside, so he makes himself comfortable in dragonji's mane.

he wakes up the next morning in the inn's bed, though.

after they get together, foxxian finally learns the whole story behind dragonji's floating habit. he laughs about it for MONTHS. just anytime he's randomly laughing, it's probably from him imagining smol dragonji spitefully floating off into space.

foxxian thinks it's adorable. so cute. his husband is amazing, and he should be allowed to float away from his problems.

dragonji now no longer floats away during moments of high emotions (unless he's drunk), but he sometimes hovers just to hear foxxian laugh.

---end---

BONUS: // implied mpreg

wangxian's kids probably inherit dragonji's floating quirk. dragonji and foxxian must walk around the cloud recesses with all of their kids attached by strings and it looks like a really strange balloon parade—a chirping balloon parade with baby dragons.