Thread by @sweetlolixo

#darklanzhan #day2 prompt: do not flirt with others

sirenji returns to the piers everyday at sunset, hoping to catch another glimpse of the prince he once knew and (still) loves. however, his efforts are in vain. the prince has long forgotten him.

wei ying has forgotten him.

they were friends, once. they met when they were seven—when wei ying was still an overexcited child, running around the docks like it was his favourite place in the world. his kingdom was anchored by the sea, with a thriving sea port. wei ying is the only heir, but his parents...

...always championed independence and freedom. he was often left to his own devices.

wei ying especially loved the sea. so much so that sirenji took notice of him from afar, and began watching the little boy with the toothy grin. he wanted so badly to be able to reach him.

sirenji was a prince, too. he thought wei ying and him had a lot in common. they would make good companions. however, sirenji feared. he feared the surface. he feared rejection. he feared wei ying leaving the pier and never returning again.

so, he was content watching from afar.

that is, until one day when wei ying got too close to the waters and—in a flurry of excitement, when he thought he saw the sparkling tail of a fish, ended up stumbling over his tiny feet and falling headfirst into the waters.

wei ying had not been taught how to swim, yet.

he was still too young.

sirenji, as usual, had been watching from afar, hiding behind a big rock. upon seeing that wei ying had fallen and was on the verge of drowning, sirenji rushed to his side, and caught him in his arms.

it was the first time he made contact with wy's skin.

wy felt baby soft. human skin was much too tender, much softer than the way sirens were manufactured. sirens were predators of the ocean. humans were not. wei ying was so fragile, so innocent in his arms.

sirenji tossed wei ying back up onto the docks, where no one was looking.

wei ying gasped for breath, but he hadn't yet been knocked unconscious. sirenji had caught him in time.

"you saved me," wei ying excitedly told him, chubby fists cupping his face. "you saved me!"

sirenji... suddenly realises he had unintentionally revealed himself to wei ying,

in the process of trying to save his life. there's no turning back now. there is no running away from this.

sirenji wanted to open his mouth and answer, but he was afraid if he did so, wei ying would catch sight of all the razor sharp teeth in his mouth. that he would be afraid.

so lwj simply hummed a quiet "mn" and nodded his head.

he was shocked to see wei ying reaching for him and engulfing him into a tight, big hug, shrieking in delight.

"you saved me! you're my guardian angel!"

completely ignoring lwj's shiny tail, flipping happily in the waters.

wei ying didn't care. he liked sirenji so very much. it never bothered him that sirenji was so obviously not mortal, like he was.

they ended up becoming fast friends, and wei ying made sirenji promise to return to the docks everyday at this time so that they could meet.

wei ying promised sirenji he'd bring human food with him next time, so sirenji could have a taste. sirenji nodded eagerly, trying hard to dampen the enthusiasm in his eyes. but he knew it showed. he knew it showed so fucking hard, because wei ying was his first and only friend.

he loved wei ying so very much.

they grew up together, keeping their friendship very much secret. after wei ying's lessons concluded for the day, he would run straight to find sirenji, bringing with him whatever his teachers had gave him. he talked and talked, painting vivid...

...tales of the human world to sirenji, wishing so badly to be able to take sirenji on land with him and give him a tour of his home. sirenji similarly wanted to take wei ying home to the gusu lan kingdom down below, so wei ying could meet his brother and his uncle.

sirenji was positively sure his family already knew of his obsession with a young human prince up above. he had skipped out on too many family meals and disappeared for far too long periods at a time just to see wei ying. still, it was worth it. wei ying was always worth it.

"one day, we'll find a way," wei ying promised him, flashing him that toothy grin of his that lwj so loved. lwj never dared to speak, afraid he'd horrify wei ying with his teeth, his otherworldly voice. wei ying had assumed all sirens were mute. lwj never bothered to correct him.

"one day, you'll be a part of my world. and I'll be a part of yours. how about that?"

lwj nodded his head vigorously, wishing so badly for such a thing. he loved wei ying so very much. and he hoped wei ying loved him back.

(he had to, right? wei ying made him so many promises.)

overtime, the visits grew less and less. wei ying was growing up into a rather handsome and fine prince. he had his duties to attend to, people to meet, and a kingdom to take over.

until one day wei ying completely stopped coming at all.

he stopped meeting sirenji at the pier.

he forgot every single one of his promises.

sirenji was distraught. he kept coming back, but month after month passed and wei ying still never returned.

sirenji had so many things to tell him, to share with him. but it was all for naught.

wei ying did not love him anymore.

(if he even loved him at all.)

perhaps he had just been a plaything. a little obsession for the young prince—that he'd eventually outgrown.

but to lan wangji, oh, wei ying had been his entire world.

his heart, it felt as if it'd been ripped out from his chest and into pieces.

to add salt to the wound, one fine day, he finally manages to catch a glimpse of wei ying from a distance.

this time with a beautiful princess hanging off his arm.

the smile on wei ying's face told sirenji everything he needed to know.

wei ying is of age, and he needs a queen.

it completely tore sirenji apart. he'd never felt rage wash over him like that before.

wei ying spends days with the princess, giving her a tour of the grounds.

and when her visit is concluded, and she boards her ship to return home—

—sirenji is waiting for her, in the dark.

cw murder// no one on that ship lives.

they drown.

the gusu lan kingdom feasts that night. oh, sorry—did you forget?

sirens feast on human meat.

and as for the princess herself, well; sirenji made sure her death was as excruciating as possible.

making good use of his teeth.

wei ying's kingdom is upset to hear of the news, but they chalk it up to bad weather and unfortunate timing. and they mourn the kingdom that was lost.

but they don't seem to get the message, for two months later, another princess arrives—hoping to court the prince into marriage.

apparently sirenji's message wasn't clear enough.

he will make sure to send another.

he takes the gusu lan sirens with him, leads them to where the ship is. lets them have fresh pickings.

he will ensure this princess and wei ying never even get to meet.

the death of a princess can be chalked up to coincidence. the death of TWO princesses? it seems the Heavens are punishing wei ying for something. rumours begin to spread around, and no more princesses dare arrive to court for the prince's hand.

wei ying's kingdom is on the...

...verge of falling into decline. it cannot remain prosperous with such nasty rumours circulating around them. other kingdoms slowly stop trading with them.

the desperation to find a princess to marry heightens even more, to keep his people alive and fed.

lan zhan comes prepared.

he'd gone to see his uncle and brother earlier, and pleaded his case. they already knew about his obsession with wei ying; already knew how the recent gusu lan feasts came about.

"take this potion, it will give you legs," lxc had told him.

"you will help me, brother?" lwj asked.

"you will find a way, with or without my help. I'd rather you do it with mine. does this mean you plan to leave the sea, forever?"

"I..."

"it depends on what he wants, doesn't it?"

it does. whatever wei ying asks of him, he will follow.

"but if he hurts you again," his uncle intervened. "we want you back."

"wei ying will not hurt me."

"wangji..."

"he simply forgot. I just need to make him remember," lwj insists.

wei ying is a human. humans do not have good memory. unlike sirens, who remember too damn much...

wei ying finds a beautiful, golden-eyed man passed out on the side of the roads, on his way to the castle.

"waah! hey, are you alright?!"

said man is completely naked, and looks as though he can't walk.

(lwj can. it is simply that every step feels like he's walking on nails.)

"I...I..." the pain is unbearable. lwj almost wants to pass out, but wei ying's voice brings him right back to this earth. wei ying helps him up, and every ounce of that pain disappears.

lwj cups wei ying's face, holds him close. he's so much more beautiful now that he is grown.

"hey, you..." wei ying gazes at him, stunned. those golden eyes—he'd recognise him anywhere— "have we met before?"

lwj's eyes widen, and he desperately answers, "yes... yes... wei ying..."

he does not dare move his mouth much. he's not used to speaking in front of wei ying.

"oh, oh, it's you! you're the boy I grew up with, the boy from the waters! oh, I haven't seen you in so long, I thought it was a dream. aah, and you can speak now, too? what's your name?"

"lan zhan..." lwj whispers.

"lan zhaan?"

lwj's heart squeezes. wei ying is so precious.

now that he has legs, wei ying can bring him around his kingdom, and show him all of the sights he always promised to lwj he would show before.

the human world is beautiful, sure. but nothing beats being with wei ying every second of the day, like he always wanted.

when wei ying shows lan zhan to his room, offering him a place to sleep in the palace, lan zhan stubbornly shakes his head and follows wei ying back to his own bedroom.

"whaa, are you afraid of being alone, lan zhaan?"

"mn," lwj says, like a child. "I am afraid of the dark."

wei ying has no choice but to accept lan zhan into his bed.

or his arms. lwj embraces wei ying tightly as he sleeps, refusing to even let him out of his sight for a second.

afraid that if he does so, he will lose wei ying to another princess.

wei ying simply thinks it's cute.

they spend weeks together... and then months. they revive an old friendship. lwj courts wei ying, just like how all the other princesses before him did.

it is not long before lwj makes a proposal of his own—complete with chests of gold.

(the gusu lan kingdom is insanely rich.)

“marry me,” lwj proposes, making wei ying an offer he cannot refuse. “make me the happiest man I know. if the gold is not enough, I can always retrieve more.”

“oh, lan zhan,” wei ying says, never having cared about the gold. “you know I always wanted to marry for true love.”

they get married on a ship, out on the sea where they first met.

but just as the wedding officiant pronounces them both husbands, a young maiden comes running up onto the ship, pointing her finger right at lan zhan and screeching out, “MURDERER!“

wei ying jumps back, startled.

“murderer?”

lwj has a sinking feeling in his chest.

“I WATCHED YOU AS YOU TORE MY MISTRESS APART,” the maiden screams. “I GOT TO ESCAPE, BUT SHE DIDN’T. YOU CHEWED HER RIGHT UP, TORE HER OPEN FROM LIMB TO LIMB. YOU’RE A MONSTER!”

there is no time left to second-guess things.

wei ying may know he is a siren, but he has never been exposed to the dangers of lwj’s race.

wei ying… loves him as a human.

but wei ying may change his mind just as soon once he realises just how dangerous lan zhan is.

lan zhan cannot take that risk.

he loves him too much.

he whips his head around to the young maiden, and lets out the nastiest, most feral, most animalistic sound. he bares his long razor sharp teeth, advertising the fact that he is a predator, warning others not to advance.

the rest of the people on the ship back away, intimidated.

lan zhan doesn’t give wei ying time to react. he grabs wei ying, wei ying who is rightfully his, wei ying who is his only love, and dives straight into the waters, dragging wy with him.

wei ying’s people immediately rush up, hoping to save their prince.

but he’s already gone.

wei ying crashes deep into the ocean, falling unconscious into sirenji’s arms—whose legs have already returned back into the old form of his glorious siren tail.

it seems being part of wei ying’s world was not to meant be. no matter, wei ying can be part of 𝘩𝘪𝘴 world instead.

lan zhan rushes to take him back to the gusu lan kingdom, before wei ying breathes his last breath. he finds his brother.

“make him like us,” lwj pleads. “it’s the only way, now.”

“I see,” lxc says. “the human world was not kind.”

“wei ying will be safe here,” lwj insists.

lxc hands to lwj a shimmering pearl, one that lwj hurries to slip in between the crevice of wei ying’s lips.

the change is almost instantaneous. wei ying’s legs quickly take effect, bubbling up and creating ripples in the waters.

soon, a beautiful red mer-tail is in its place.

by the time wei ying wakes, he’s already subconsciously breathing through the pretty gills on his neck.

“lan zhan…?”

lwj embraces him, kissing the prince he so loves.

“wei ying, this is your home now.”

wei ying opens his eyes to meet a kingdom of sirens—that he now commands.

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