once more i am thinking abt wei ying introducing himself to lan zhan as a sub(stitute teacher) at a formal gathering, & lan zhan, surprised that this cute guy he kinda recognizes from the community center would just introduce himself as a sub(missive) like that at a public event!

wei ying does mostly long-term middle school subbing tho obv he’ll take the jobs he can, right now he’s the maternity leave sub for a science teacher and loving it. (he also does tutoring and youth school break camps at the community center.) lan zhan works in immigration law and

volunteers at the center primarily (but not exclusively) to help people with their n400s. anyway all this to say it’s both inappropriate and arousing for wei ying to come up to lan zhan at a fundraising event all “lan zhan, right? i’ve seen you around! i’m wei ying, i’m a sub”

lan zhan isn’t KNOWN at the community center for domming, and through mutual silent understanding, does not acknowledge the tiny sliver of people at the center of the “chinese community center” and “people i encounter at munches” venn diagram (i.e. jiang yanli, dom & nhs, switch)

still, it’s not out of the QUESTION that someone might let it slip (cue lan zhan’s horrified rolodex of memories of wei ying laughing and holding the door to the center open for nie huaisang, or carrying the box of jiang yanli’s homemade lotus seed buns up from her car for her)

anyway so lan zhan is there, frozen, bc wei ying IS gorgeous but also, why? how? can he come out and just SAY that?

meanwhile wei ying just wants to (1) get to know the community center volunteers (2) brag about the student who finally started to get mass & volume in class today

lwj DOESN’T ask “rope bunny or brat?” 60% bc he at least has a sense of propriety in this professionalish setting, 40% bc he can’t just ASSUME that a cute guy who intros himself as a submissive out of the blue is doing so bc he knows lwj is a brat tamer w some rigging experience

eventually, after TOO LONG a pause, he says "yes, i am lan zhan," and wei ying grins at him and says something about how he also tutors here; he's heard from some of the kids that lan zhan is helping their parents with their green cards & naturalization paperwork, that's so great

they manage to have a whole-ass conversation about wei ying using water displacement to help a 7th grader grok mass/volume, and the time mianmian (powerhouse that she is) roped lan zhan into leading the calligraphy class on a day su she didn't show up, their respective forays

into windowsill gardening & traditional music, how hard it is to date in this city btwn work/community center/the covert racism of the terrible dating pool/etc (turns out they've both had a bad experience with 'jacked Ryan'- lwj interprets this as further proof that wwx is a sub)

(jacked ryan, though hot, was a godawful lay, so even though lan zhan is trying to Ignore the Implications of wei ying coming right up to him to introduce himself as a sub first thing - unless wei ying brings it up again himself and clarifies his purpose in doing so - he worries.

that said, it would... make sense, perhaps, if wei ying were trying to find a good dom, for lan zhan's acquaintances in the scene to point him in lan zhan's direction. ESPECIALLY if their needs are compatible. again, he's tempted to ask 'brat or rope bunny'?)

It doesn't come up, though! they wrap up their conversation, wei ying goes off to talk to someone else, lan zhan goes to see if chatting with mianmian will let him stop thinking about domming wei ying - even just doing something as simple and platonic as digging his thumb into

the pressure point of wei ying's wrist at a coffee shop and telling him to keep a straight face as he orders, and wait until lan zhan decides to take the first sip of his tea before wei ying gets to drink any of his own order. even just that.

(lan zhan does NOT want to imagine anything beyond these simple little things at an event like this. talking to mianmian doesn't really help.)

the event ends, and wei ying doesn't come back to follow up on the discussion he's initiated. lan zhan, a little bereft, goes home.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: now when they're both in the community center, wei ying will come up and say hey, and they'll catch up. he's cute AND funny AND gets lan zhan's sense of humor, which is: huge. sometimes, emboldened, lan zhan will ask "so how is the subbing going?"

wei ying will laugh a little and scratch his head and say something like 'oh, great! i'm doing it for someone totally new to me lately, she's a real hardass about schedules, always leaves me pages of instructions for what to do when she's gone'

or he'll say 'fine, but today was a bit of a mess, the guy was super disorganized. felt more like treading water than getting anywhere with the materials.' (lan zhan, internally: what materials? did he not know how to handle a flogger/single-column tie/etc?) lan zhan: despairs

wei ying, fwiw, thinks it's GREAT that he's got a new friend (a super drop-dead gorgeous friend!!! what the fuck!!) who gets this little twisty almost-smile look on his face when wei ying is sharing another hilarious anecdote about jiang cheng/the kids he works with/etc

and who ACTUALLY ASKS about wei ying's day?? his friends are all great but they're not necessarily usually the sort to get into the nitty-gritty of his substitute teaching without making it sound like they're a little surprised he's still doing it/not trying to teach 'for real'

lan zhan is, at this point, convinced wei ying just wants a friend in the scene? not necessarily a dom? even though lan zhan is pretty sure he could do it better than the people wei ying has now. (from additional context he's gathering wei ying is more of a brat than anything)

lan zhan is ALSO at this point very, VERY confused about what kind of job wei ying has where he can just… go sub/do a scene in the middle of the day multiple times a week. (he does not judge wei ying for seeming to have a new dom every time they run into each other)

lan zhan actually probes jiang yanli about this (gently, and not in a revealing way) at their favorite regular munch (for doms, and due to its location the majority of attendees are also AAPI; it's pretty ideal) - just a 'wei ying seems busy lately' sorta thing

jiang yanli, who does NOT know anything about the basis of this misunderstanding but who DOES know about her brother's huge obvious crush on lwj, just says, "yeah, it can be overwhelming for him this time of year!" with a wicked grin, & "he could probably use some stress-relief"

(obviously, she means that there tends to be a lot of flu call-outs this time of year, but lan zhan walks away VERY CONCERNED about wei ying, possible professional sub? given all the other evidence? not receiving ANY measure of adequate aftercare)

the next time lan zhan knows that he's going to run into wei ying at the community center, he brings wei ying's favorite boba order and cha siu bao + a pineapple bun with custard from the bakery* between lan zhan's office and the center

*he really does go to that bakery because it's the most convenient, not because wei ying mentioned it being his favorite last week when they were roped into helping mianmian set up for one of her outreach festivals. really. it's only a mile or two out of the way. convenient!

anyway, wei ying has been looking really run-down lately! huge circles under his eyes, yawns that make lan zhan's jaw crack in sympathy, the whole shebang. lan zhan is furious at every other dom in the city on wei ying's behalf.

he is TEMPTED to offer to give wei ying what he clearly so desperately needs (a firm hand, possibly some subspace as a treat?, and oodles of aftercare) but that seems maybe like it's crossing a line, given how their friendship has evolved? but bao and boba, that lan zhan can do

wei ying is DELIGHTED by the treats - he's been subbing at a school a little further away for the past few weeks, and since he prefers public transit whenever possible, it means getting up a full hour and a half earlier than usual to make it to work on time.

he's beat by the time he gets to the community center, but this is just the pick-me-up he needs! "lan zhan, ah, you take such good care of me," he says, and grins at the earnest, sincere look he gets in response, the firm little nod, the poorly-hidden smile.

they text each other sometimes? sometimes wei ying will send 'the prep today is INSANE ' and lan zhan will ignore his sudden boner and reply 'slow and steady, you can do it wei ying.' if lan zhan has a great success at work, he'll share it & wei ying will reply with ''

(not central to the story, but lan zhan works PRIMARILY with chinese immigrants - he's fluent in mandarin & cantonese - but he's also conversant in spanish and he's working on learning vietnamese and tagalog so he can work w more ppl. wei ying secretly finds this all very sexy.)

(absolutely central to the story: wei ying actually IS also a sub(missive) and aware of this in that he's had dom partners in the past and responded well to them/had a great time, but he's not particularly involved in the broader scene and does NOT realize what lan zhan thinks)

(for example, wei ying would be shocked if he found out that jiang yanli is a poly bi dom who goes to munches several times a month and doms the FUCK out of husband jin zixuan and their mutual girlfriend mianmian regularly)

anyway, it transpires that after lan zhan watches the way wei ying just… /relaxes/ after getting the treats, he starts texting wei ying more frequently. if wei ying's partners aren't going to provide adequate aftercare, SOMEONE should do it! wei ying can always tell him to stop.

(lan zhan really hopes wei ying doesn't tell him to stop. he hopes -- maybe -- wei ying will instead ask him to Do More. to dom him, specifically. it doesn't have to be sexual; 23% of lan zhan's fantasies are platonic domming!)

wei ying, the first time lan zhan replies to a 'today was particularly grueling lol' text with 'why don't you treat yourself to a nice warm bath with some soft music in the background?', followed up with 'didn't you mention buying some nice lotion last week?':

but the bath feels great, & the music is soothing (lan zhan sent a spotify playlist!) (called 'for an overworked sub' because he's the best!!) & the lotion is so nice after a long soak, & later lan zhan texts 'treat yourself to that spicy chocolate you bought downtown last week'

wei ying passes out two hours earlier than usual that night and wakes up feeling GREAT. 'lan zhan ur a miracle worker' he texts, and snaps a bathroom mirror selfie (he's still shirtless, but whatever, they're both dudes, they're pals, it's fine) (it's also kind of a thirst trap)

(kind of/definitely.) he sends the selfie and follows it up with 'LOOK LAN ZHAN NO CIRCLES' (as in. under his eyes.) even though realistically if he wanted to show off how rested he looks, he'd have sent a photo that focused on his face.

lan zhan, internally: oh… we're doing this now?

lan zhan, also internally: OVERWHELMED™ by this photo of wei ying's chest… his dark little nipples with the sparse dark wiry hair growing around them… his scoop-neck tan line… the way wei ying is biting the corner of his lip…

look, if wei ying doesn't want lan zhan like that lan zhan will respect it! wei ying clearly has enough choices when it comes to doms already! even if they're NOT doing right by him! he values their friendship! still lan zhan texts, 'don't forget to drink water today, wei ying.'

‘fine,’ wei ying texts back. he fills his nalgene, teaches a bunch of middle schoolers pre-algebra, and hydrates intermittently. two hours later, texts: ‘shit i forgot to pack lunch today ’

lan zhan, internally: oh, we’re doing THIS now?

lan zhan: ‘are you able to buy some?’

anyway long story short, this job's school’s cafeteria is terrible even by public school cafeteria standards, but faculty/staff not on lunch duty are able to leave campus to get lunch elsewhere. ‘ya but idk if there’s anything good nearby, whats even IN [part of city]?’

lan zhan knows a good place there. ethiopian. owned by a former client. he and wei ying haven’t discussed… anything, yet, so he doesn’t tell wei ying where to go and what to order like he wants to, just texts the name of the place and says ‘i like the kik alicha wot’

another hour later wei ying texts him a picture of the kik alicha wot, with seven thumbs-up emojis. lan zhan can’t help but reply ‘good boy.’

this is when SOMETHING pings at the back of wei ying's mind.

three somethings, actually:
(1) he wants lan zhan to call him a good boy again, but
(2) he wants to deserve it……… and he
(3) thinks he kind of wants lan zhan to mean it in a dom/sub context? not just the way lan zhan probably means it - i.e., like a friend being supportive?

SO wei ying starts texting lan zhan EVEN MORE! demanding his attention, you know. trying not to be annoying, but still: teasing him, huffing about the absurd instructions one of the teachers he's subbing for left behind (he feels for the guy's students, he really does), et cetera

essentially trying to get lan zhan to a place where he'll tell wei ying what to do, what will happen if wei ying DOESN'T do it, & call him a good boy again if he DOES. then, wei ying thinks, he can see if lan zhan likes that kind of interaction… and possibly propose More of it.

lan zhan, meanwhile, is going quietly, absolutely, utterly feral. he is a good, responsible dom. he knows that at this stage, the only thing to do (however scary!!) is to actually initiate a conversation: about limits, about what they're doing, about what they want to be

lan zhan (unlike jiang yanli) is NOT a poly dom, but he's had enough time with the knowledge that wei ying is a professional(?) sub that he's okay with wei ying having multiple partners, in the fervently-hoped-for off-chance that wei ying wants a sexual dom and not a platonic one

(if wei ying does NOT want a sexual dom it's FINE, lan zhan has platonically dommed friends before and he'll do it again! he'll even - sadly, but with conviction - delete the folder of thirst trap photo(s, at this point) wei ying has texted him that he's saved on his phone!)

lan zhan tells himself that the next time they go out for a late dinner after long, post-work hours at the community center tutoring kids (wei ying) and helping the kids' parents with their n400s (lan zhan) - and avoiding mianmian roping them into Even More Volunteering, ofc -

he'll broach the subject with wei ying. he's not going to dom wei ying over text without having a conversation… he'll give wei ying choices instead of orders; he'll praise wei ying's successes without establishing and maintaining consequences for going out of line

he'll think about digging his thumb into the dip of wei ying's collarbone, hard enough that wei ying gasps with it, the way wei ying's easy flush will spread past lan zhan's touch. he'll think about wei ying's mouth, wet and open in that moment; wei ying's eyes, wide and glassy

he'll think about it but he will NOT act upon it! not as a punishment, not as a funishment, not as a reward. he's not sure what side of the line painplay (if that's something wei ying wants) will fall on, because they haven't established ANYTHING. yet.

he's not going to even DRAW any lines until they talk about it.

wwx: lan zhaaaan r u there
wwx: am i annoying u :(
wwx: u can tell me if i am. u can even yell at me about it.
lan zhan, wanting SO badly in this moment to punish/funish wei ying: you are not annoying me.

wei ying, home for the evening, pouring a glass of wine and calling nie huaisang to complain that lan zhan won't even punish him a LITTLE for being super annoying over text, nie-xiong, can you even believe? what an injustice this is?

nie huaisang (rmr, lan zhan knows him as the switch from one of the munches he goes to): first of all, hate to say but as a bottom & sometimes-sub, you are not being oppressed. i know it feels like it but. second of all, hate to say EVEN MORE, but… you should maybe talk to him?

(wei ying is calling nhs because jiang cheng is NOT answering wei ying's calls right now… jiang cheng, like their lesbian friend wen qing, is waiting till wei ying finds a new conversational topic that ISN'T lan zhan's broad shoulders and commanding presence)

fine. FINE! wwx knows nhs is right, that the responsible thing to do is to go through the mortifying ordeal of being honest about what he wants for 5 minutes instead of tricking lan zhan into giving it to him without talking so that bada bing bada boom there's no need to talk

wei ying HAS subbed before, on multiple occasions with various partners, and it's always been better when they've gone exhaustively (rather than just cursory-ly) over wants/needs/limits first, he KNOWS this. he does like it better when doms drag the conversation out of him,

but lan zhan has to KNOW wei ying wants him to dom him to be able to do that.

...oh god, wei ying thinks. what if lan zhan has never dommed before. what if he doesn't know to drag this conversation out of me.

(wei ying does NOT consider the possibility that lan zhan will refuse, completely, to dom him. he also doesn't consider anything but sexual domming. he knows that he, himself, is cute, and he knows that lan zhan is gay… he's fairly confident he can be convincing enough)

(at LEAST enough that lan zhan will be willing to try something out with him, maybe.) so. wei ying decides to confront lan zhan. maybe the next time they go out to dinner? would that be too awkward? possibly, but wei ying is getting desperate here! urgency trumps awkwardness!

SO THE STAGE IS SET, 3000+ words into this twitfic: lan zhan is Going to Have The Limits Talk with known professional submissive wei ying, provided wei ying is willing to sub for him, too. even if it's just platonic, even if lan zhan is forced to do his best to swallow his crush

MEANWHILE, substitute teacher wei ying who also happens, incidentally, to like being submissive in sexual situations, plans on confronting lan zhan abt the fact that he wants to be dommed. but short of that, being kissed first & dommed later (w a lil more convincing) is okay, too

they don't have dinner plans scheduled, but there IS another outreach event at the community center this weekend. center director mianmian has roped all of her friends into helping out - her girlfriend jiang yanli is providing snacks; lan zhan is demo-ing calligraphy

wei ying and nie huaisang are doing arts & crafts with visiting kids, etc. etc. it's a hectic day and wei ying and lan zhan still haven't solidified dinner plans by the time everything kicks off. (there is an unspoken agreement, but 'unspoken' feels a little tenuous right now!)

eventually wei ying takes a break and goes to help jiang yanli out with prepping more snacks in the community center kitchen. lan zhan is also there — su she showed up finally and is doing a stint with the calligraphy; lan zhan is hunting down some tea to steel his nerves.

jyl: a-xian, you still subbing at that middle school over in [part of city]?
lwj, spitting tea out: subbing…school?…does not compute…WHAT?
wwx: yep! math, but the guy i'm subbing for is awful. no direction, no prepped materials, the kids are SUPER far behind in the lesson plan

suddenly, devastatingly, about three thousand things click for lan zhan in this moment. across several terrible instants, he revisits EVERY SINGLE ONE of his and wei ying's conversations and sees them in an appalling new light. he drops his cup.

wei ying whirls. "lan ZHAN, are you okay??" he asks. lan zhan is not, thank you very much for asking, wei ying. "mn." (highly responsible superdom jiang yanli, unnoticed by either of them, picks up a tray of grass jelly and makes her exit.) then, several more things happen:

-wei ying grabs a dishcloth and drops FAST to his knees to clean the spill.

-lan zhan learns, looking at the top of wei ying's head, that whoops, he was wrong, he only wants to dom wei ying sexually

-they both abruptly realize Precisely the tableau they're in

lan zhan, embarrassed, helps wei ying up. "so substitute teaching is going… okay?" he asks. testing.

"oh yeah, yeah," wei ying says. "i mean, you know how it is, lan zhan, i've told you all about it."

"ah," says lan zhan. "yes. i suppose you have."

lan zhan pauses, then says "and when you introduced yourself as a sub seven months ago, you meant your job as a substitute teacher. not as a professional submissive"

wei ying laughs, a little incredulous. "of course not, lan zhan, where would you get an idea like that from? i'm an amateur submissive at best."

there's a beat. then:

wei ying: wait WAIT lan zhan, you mean you thought i was subbing, uh— the other way? that whole time?

in the same moment: lan zhan: oh thank goodness, you ARE a submissive though?

another beat. wei ying: lan zhan i've been trying to get you to dominate me for WEEKS now.

lan zhan, allowing himself to remember all those pictures and texts: ...i noticed

they don't make it to dinner, but they DO risk the wrath of mianmian and leave immediately. lan zhan's apartment is pretty close by, actually, and they have some limits to set!

as it turns out, unlike the tiny overlap of lan zhan's "people from munches" and "people from the community center" venn diagram, the venn diagram of what he wants from wei ying and what wei ying wants from him is practically a circle.

lwj is relieved to discover that he doesn't have to track down & re-educate every single dom in the city about the necessity of appropriate aftercare, administered for a decent length of time. he's EVEN MORE happy to find that he is uniquely responsible for wei ying's aftercare

lan zhan likes to wait a day or two after discussing the shape of a scene before actually engaging in play. he tells wei ying this after they discuss limits. wei ying raises an eyebrow and asks, "is that so?"
lan zhan: yes. it is so.
wei ying, confidently: i'll talk you around.

-- anyway i said this was going to be M for Mature discussion of kink but not Explicit, so just know that wei ying tries and fails to talk lan zhan around and they both get hard about it, also lan zhan lets wei ying blow him and pulls his hair a little (lot), as a treat

then he eats wei ying out. (something something safe sex, clean tests, despite lan zhan's misconceptions it's been months for both of them; use protection irl folks). they show up at wei ying's family dim sum brunch the next day holdinghands, love-bites showing, and:

jiang cheng, rolling their eyes: ugh fucking FINALLY
jiang yanli, smiling into her xiao long bao: i take it you had a much-needed conversation that went well?
jiang yanli and her sub/husband jin zixuan's switch girlfriend mianmian: i can't BELIEVE you guys bailed on me yesterday

OK THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!! THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG, i am truly humbled by the overWHELMING onslaught of notifications this got while i was writing/posting it. sorry it took so long from start to finish in between chores/work/etc.

behooves me to say that i've had conversations w people ( @astronichter, @phnelt, & @wideningskies particularly come to mind) about wangxian d/s that probably - directly or indirectly - contributed to the shape this took

also sry abt the fade to black but im . NIGHT, & THX

(oh also idk that it’s super relevant but in this au wei ying was 1.5 gen (adopted by US-dwelling jiangs from china at age 3 when his parents/jfm’s cousins passed); jyl/jc/lwj are all 2nd gen; mianmian & nhs are 3rd, & jzx is 1st. city is flexible but i was envisioning bay area)

losing my ABSOLUTE SHIT bc twitter/ao3 user @opalsong has turned this thread into a podfic!!!!!!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/25493947