The present

                                    

                                          
Later that day, Lan XiChen returned to his mother's house. Xie XiYue had gone to prepare their evening meal, promising to be back soon. Despite further efforts on their walk to the rabbit cove, Lan WangJi had refused to stay at their mother's house with Wei WuXian, and finally Lan XiChen had to concede. If he was honest, it was what he wanted. The idea of Xie XiYue coming to his rooms in the main living area made him nervous. He wasn't sure he was ready for questions. He didn't even know what they were, yet.
                          
He walked into the bedroom and found a small bundle on his bed, with "Lan XiChen" written on it neatly with his bother's handwriting. Curious, Lan XiChen opened it. It had a small jar of something and a small book. He turned the little jar in his hand and read the label. "For external and internal use. Edible."
                          
Lan XiChen frowned and put it aside. Of course it was edible, how else would it be for internal use? He picked up the book next and opened it. He gasped and almost threw it out of his hands. The book had opened on a page with two men entwined around each other, clearly in the throws of passion. 
                          
Lan XiChen's heart hammered in his chest. He poked at the book with his finger as if expecting it to bite him. When it didn't, he hesitantly picked it up again and opened it on the first page. It was titled "Erotic confessions of a courtier." Lan XiChen stared at it in disbelief, a red flush crept up his neck. What had made his brother think that he wanted to read it? 
                          
Suddenly he remembered the look on Lan WangJi's face when Xie XiYue had brought him their meal, and the way Lan WangJi had disappeared after they found Xie XiYue in the rabbit cove earlier that day. Lan XiChen sat abruptly on the bed, the strength gone from his knees. Is this what his brother thought Lan XiChen was?? That this what he and Xie XiYue were together?
                          
Shaken as he was, Lan XiChen couldn't stop himself reaching for the book again. He wasn't a total innocent when it came to sex, he had a basic understanding of what it required, but he had never allowed himself to think what that might mean for two men. Now, though... It wouldn't hurt to read just one page, surely. An hour later, he was still engrossed in the book and uncomfortably aroused, when there was a soft knock on the door. 
                          
Xie XiYue! Lan XiChen slammed the book shut and shoved it under his covers, then bade Xie XiYue enter. His gaze fell on the small jar, and his face flamed again when he suddenly realised what it was for, and he snatched it and hid it in his bed as well. Internal use... Images from the book raced through his mind, providing clear illustration of just what such a product would be needed for. Hadn't the memoirs mentioned the need for something to 'ease the entry'? A detail from one of the images rose to his mind and he groaned.
                          
By the time Xie XiYue entered the room, Lan XiChen was just taking his seat at his table, trying to regain his composure.
                          
"Lan Huan, are you alright?" Xie XiYue asked in concern, setting down the bowls and the pot on the table in front of Lan XiChen.
                          
"Yes, why?" Lan XiChen said, the intimate address making his pulse speed up again.  
                          
"Your face is flushed. Do you have a fever?" Xie XiYue asked, kneeled beside Lan XiChen, and then his hand was on Lan XiChen's forehead, making his heart try to hammer itself out of his chest.
                          
Lan XiChen grasped Xie XiYue's hand in his, and pulled it away. "No, I am well."
                          
Xie XiYue's face fell, and Lan XiChen took a deep breath. He turned Xie XiYue's hand over and kissed the palm and held it against his face. "Really, I am well."
                          
Images from the book flashed in his mind and instead of the hand drawn images, he saw Xie XiYue's face, his body opening for Lan XiChen's entry. That word! Color rose to his cheeks again. After what he had read, and their encounter at the rabbit cove, Lan XiChen could no longer deny that Xie XiYue affected him in a way no one, not even Jin GuangYao had ever had. Could they have what his brother and Wei WuXian had?