Work Text:
Lan Qiren was patrolling the grounds near curfew to make sure everyone was heading to their dormitories for the night. Everything was calm, quiet and peaceful, as the Cloud Recesses ought to always be. Save for their recent addition to the main family, everyone usually followed protocol.
That had been one of Lan Qiren’s worries, enough to take him out of home in his animal form to make sure no mischief was ongoing. Today, his nephew wasn’t home. He’d gone with some younger disciples on a night hunt and was expected to return a few days from now. Lan Qiren half expected explosions and chaos to consume the Cloud Recesses as soon as his nephew’s husband found himself unsupervised, but luckily that was not the case.
Wei Wuxian had kept to himself all day and retreated to the Jingshi early, probably to work away in the study that Wangji had commissioned for him. His nephew insisted on spoiling his husband with all kinds of extravagant gestures, but as the study kept his menace of a husband away from everyone else, Lan Qiren didn’t comment on the subject. There would be peace, as long as the man behaved.
As everything was in order, he decided to return home for the night.
However, when he tried to turn back into his human form to open the door to his quarters, he found himself unable to. He usually turned without even thinking about it, so he tried again and again with more conscious intent, to the same result.
It was uncommon, but not unheard of. Admittedly, he hadn’t turned into his feline form in a while, resisting the urge because there was no reason to use it. He supposed that the long time without turning and the extra stress that his nephew’s husband brought to his life could account for this turn of events, which was as unpleasant as inconvenient.
He liked his animal form well enough. It brought him a different kind of awareness and movement, but he disliked the pesky instincts it awoke in him, which made him lose focus easily. He tried to keep his transformations to the bare minimum and only shared the knowledge of it with close family and the clan doctor. This meant he’d have to go to Xichen and interrupt his seclusion for this.
Mmph.
He jumped on a tree nearby, intent on reaching the rooftops for a faster route, but the branch he landed on was more fragile than expected and he tumbled down. As a cat, it would not be that big an obstacle, but the branch managed to scratch his paw and draw blood. He hissed.
As he limped towards the Hashi, he found a couple disciples rushing towards their dormitories but none of them stopped to help him and he was not inclined to make undue noise to catch their attention. They obviously followed the precepts regarding hurting any form of life and keeping pets, so nobody tried to scare him away but also nobody picked him up. Thus, nobody noticed he was hurt.
Curfew came and silence fell on the grounds. As much as he’d previously appreciated the silence, suddenly it turned irritating. How could it be that someone in the sect was in trouble and nobody noticed it?
Then, he heard footsteps. It was past curfew now, so that could only be one person.
A moment later, Wei Wuxian appeared on the path, walking fast but not enough to be called running. Always skirting the edges of what could be called misbehaving, just barely enough to smile smugly if anyone tried to accuse him of breaking a rule. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to where he was going and Lan Qiren almost breathed out in relief, but a moment later the man jumped towards him and he was caught before he realized, feline reflexes notwithstanding. Wei Wuxian covered him with his outer robe so he couldn't move and ignored Lan Qiren's dissatisfied hissing.
He was promptly taken to the Jingshi, with Wei Wuxian nonsensically narrating inconsequential things all the way. There, he was carefully placed on a bunch of pillows and inspected carefully. Wei Wuxian tsked at his paw and proceeded to clean it up, murmuring soothingly.
Lan Qiren figured that as long as nobody knew about this, he could allow it. This way, he wouldn’t have to bother Xichen.
Whatever it was that made him walk outside after curfew didn't seem to be a pressing matter, for Wei Wuxian didn’t engage in any questionable activities and just prepared for bed. So Lan Qiren stayed put while Wei Wuxian fluttered here and there, talking to himself while he went to sleep, leaving little messes everywhere.
Surely tomorrow Lan Qiren would turn back to his human form and forget all about this evening. Decidedly not thinking about the careful way he had been deposited on a makeshift bed made out of a basket and warm bedding, he slept.
Next morning, Lan Qiren didn't wake at the usual time. When he opened his eyes, the sun was already high in the sky, and he was still small and covered in fur. He couldn’t exactly sigh, not in the way that humans did, but he exhaled in frustration. One of the reasons why he disliked spending time in his feline form was the extra sleeping time this body needed.
He stretched, but didn’t have the range he would have liked. His paw hurt, still.
He was hungry and he supposed that he would have to search for sustenance in this state. However, before he could even jump from his warm basket, Wei Wuxian appeared by his side, smiling amicably.
“Oh, our little friend is awake! How are you feeling, Bàozào?”
His enthusiastic chatter was irritating enough, but the way he playfully pulled on Lan Qiren’s whiskers was the most annoying. However, he also offered a small dish with rice and fish that tasted far better than it looked like. (Where did he get fish in the Cloud Recesses? Mmph.)
As his leg still hurt and his belly was full, Lan Qiren tried to nap on his little warm nest until he felt better, but Wei Wuxian’s unpredictable activities were too distracting. He came and went, always murmuring nonsense or telling himself silly jokes and then laughing at them, carrying random objects to and from his study.
Eventually the curiosity got the better of Lan Qiren and he followed to that mysterious space. Only to make sure there was nothing illicit or dangerous going on in there, obviously.
But despite the chaos, there was nothing particularly ominous in there. Wei Wuxian seemed busy with different things at the same time, apparently unable to focus on just one project, but everything that was in plain sight was innocuous enough. Right then, he was apparently working on a talisman. Lan Qiren himself was no expert but he was a scholar, so he could grasp the gist of it. It was some sort of protection, apparently for water ghouls?
As the man kept working, Lan Qiren had to admit his talent for this was remarkable. The talisman had powerful elements mixed together in just the right way. It was the kind of thing that ended up looking simple, like things were always meant to be that way, but seeing all the failed attempts crumpled around his nephew’s husband made him realize that most likely all the different talismans the man had given to the sect in recent months were the product of similar efforts. It was so easy to think that the Yiling Patriarch just created talismans out of thin air on a whim, but of course he was just a man.
He remembered, suddenly, that a new batch of apprentices had trouble with water ghouls on their first night hunt. Wei Wuxian had talked to them afterwards, boasting of his own successful experiences with that kind of ghoul and asking them about all the mistakes they made. But this afternoon's findings made Lan Qiren wonder if maybe he was not just bragging or trying to shame them.
Just then, a servant called from the path leading to the study. Wei Wuxian went to the door to answer from there, just as was agreed upon when the study was built. No one ever goes near the den of the Yiling Patriarch, even if now Lan Qiren knew that there was nothing particularly dangerous lying around. If there was anything more powerful in here, it was well hidden and protected.
The servant respected the agreed distance but didn’t seem afraid of Wei Wuxian. He explained that he went to the Jingshi to leave food as instructed by Hanguang-jun, but found the plates from earlier still untouched. He asked if Master Wei wanted something else, perhaps.
The man just smiled and said he lost track of the time and he would go eat soon, dismissing the servant with warm thanks. Then he went back inside and wrapped up his talisman work for the evening. “Ah, Lan Zhan, my love, you never forget to take care of me, even when you’re away”, he murmured with such fondness that Lan Qiren felt rude for listening. He was aware that Wangji and his husband had a somewhat intense relationship. His nephew was absolutely enamored and very obvious about it and when that was mixed with Wei Wuxian’s shamelessness, it made for very awkward situations for the rest of the sect members. But he assumed that Wei Wuxian just found a convenient way to survive the world after his resurrection, no doubt getting fond of Wangji in the process, but surely no one could match Hanguang-jun’s level of devotion. Maybe he was fonder of his nephew that Lan Qiren suspected.
Wei Wuxian took the finished talisman with him to the Jingshi, where he ate his food. He heated some of the untouched leftovers from earlier and put them in what seemed to be Lan Qiren’s designated bowl, which made him wonder why the man searched for fish for him earlier and yet he didn’t eat his own food.
After they both ate, Wei Wuxian made sure the little nest he prepared for Lan Qiren was fine, checked his wound, playfully pulled at his whiskers again (Mmph!) and when that almost got him scratched, went to the table to make several copies of his talisman. He also wrote what looked like accompanying instructions and packed it all up in a small parcel to Sizhui, writing a note to the young man instructing him to come to the Jingshi later in the week for a more in-depth discussion of the new creation and warning him to only study the design for now and not to try activating it on his own. Surprisingly sensible.
All this took long enough that they were way past the Lan curfew when the man was done, which was not a surprise and it didn’t really affect Lan Qiren in his cat body with its nocturnal habits, but still he napped while Wei Wuxian finally readied himself for bed and barely listened to his noisy routine. He was distantly aware the man seemed to be taking his time to go to bed, apparently distracted by any silly thing instead of just blowing out the lights, but eventually the man did go to bed.
Lan Qiren’s cat body required constant naps, but also wanted movement during the night. He couldn’t go out to patrol with his injured paw, but he did walk around the Jingshi once Wei Wuxian fell asleep, not sure how to feel about all the evidence of this man in his nephew’s life all there in plain sight. It did make for a rather unkempt house, definitely.
He was contemplating resting again when he heard Wei Wuxian complaining in his sleep. He was not a stranger to nightmares, having experienced his fair share at some point or another after living through several wars and also seeing comrades suffering the same.
But Wei Wuxian’s nightmare kept going and going. It was no wonder, as he probably had seen far worse horrors even if he was much younger. Lan Qiren hesitated in approaching, but upon closer inspection he noticed that the man was clutching a familiar white robe. As much as he did not want to think about it, it was obvious that when his nephew was home, they would share the bed. Most likely, he was there to soothe his husband when he was distressed. And the man did seem very distressed right then.
There was not much that Lan Qiren could do in his cat form, but he went next to the man and tried to wake him by pawing at his face, with his claws hidden. It was not enough to, so after a while he headbutted him with some strength and that was what woke up the man. He was disoriented for a long moment, unspeakable horrors reflected in his eyes, until he finally realized he was awake.
He looked at Lan Qiren and laughed softly. “Oh, little friend, thanks for worrying about me”, he said just as he scratched Lan Qiren behind the ears. He had a good technique, surprisingly. Slowly, both of them started getting drowsy. When the man next spoke, it was very low, which was so unlike him that Lan Qiren listened carefully. “I’m sorry I’m not good company right now. I miss my husband, you see. He's the best person in the world, and I definitely don't deserve him, but he still wants me and if he were here he'd hug me so tight I wouldn't dream at all".
He talked about Wangji with such tenderness it almost made Lan Qiren squirm, and called him zhiji , saying he was fortunate he met someone who knew him. "He'll come home soon. You'll like him; he'll probably spoil you, because he has a soft, caring heart. You'll know it's him because he's the most beautiful man in the world".
And then, he hummed a song that Lan Qiren recognized, the one that Wangji used to play in those years, that he only played when he thought he was alone and no one would hear his heart bleeding through his fingers on the chords of his qin.
Lan Qiren fell asleep without realizing and when he woke up next Wei Wuxian was still asleep, so he walked outside, feeling his paw in much better shape right then. He could probably go home then and try to change back, but he was wary of leaving the man alone. He was used to thinking of Wei Wuxian as a nuisance who left small disasters in his wake and took advantage of Lan Wangji's devotion for him, but these days painted a different picture. Now Lan Qiren was burdened with the knowledge that Wei Wuxian was as human as everyone else, who had his ghosts, and cared very much for the disciples. He often did things for others without expecting repayment, just because he wanted to help. He loved Wangji with all his heart. And his cheer and playfulness, while real, hid the scars of two lifetimes.
When a servant brought Wei Wuxian’s breakfast, the man didn't wake up either. So Lan Qiren decided to leave, knowing that Wangji left instructions for his care, to make sure he’d be alright. But he did take some rice from the man’s bowl, leaving it messy, as a goodbye. He thought the man would appreciate the cheek.
Back at the Hashi, he finally turned. It was a relief being back in his human body, despite it feeling somewhat less free than his animal form. He was more contained this way and could process all these new thoughts and feelings better.
Wangji returned the next day with the disciples all in one piece, as expected. Lan Qiren often looked the other way when his nephew interacted with his husband, but this time he intentionally turned to them when they reunited near the gates. Wei Wuxian was effusive and noisy, but he also made a point to say hello to all the little disciples and ask them about their adventure. He waited until their excitement died down a bit before he threw himself in his husband’s arms and loudly proclaimed how much he had missed him. Lan Qiren used to think it was all for the sake of spectacle, before seeing with his own eyes how subdued and lonely the man had been without Wangji, even if only for a handful of days.
Wangji, in turn, became soft and his eyes smiled tenderly while he cradled his husband in his arms, like he was the greatest treasure. It was not as overt, but anyone could see how much he cared. He was glad, suddenly, that his nephew got to have this. If they weren’t so shameless about their more intimate moments, he would even approve.
Lan Qiren didn’t know what to do with his newfound understanding of the man before him and his relationship with his nephew, but he supposed he could think about it on his own with none the wiser. The disciples went on their own way and the couple was left to a moment of privacy, so Lan Qiren planned to disappear and not have to think about them for a while. However, Wei Wuxian ruined it by complaining to Wangji that "his cat" disappeared.
Wangji raised his eyebrow at that, very subtly. As far as he knew, his husband didn’t have a cat when he left a couple days ago, so Wei Wuxian then explained about the cat he supposedly adopted.
"Lan Zhan, he was a really pretty cat, as huge as I've ever seen, and he had this grumpy adorable face but was actually a tender little thing”, he said before making an exaggerated disgruntled face, before turning a bit worried “He was hurt, what if something happens to him?"
"It's good you took care of it while it was hurt, Wei Ying, but likely he went back home”, answered Wangji soothingly. Which was good, as the Cloud Recesses were no place for pets, even if they were actually people. But then he looked right into Lan Qiren's eyes when he said “Maybe one day he'll visit you again. Cats remember".
After that comment, Lan Qiren felt obligated to appear as a cat every few weeks so Wei Wuxian could see he was alright, but he made sure to only appear when Wangji was not around, else he would look smugly at him and try to pet his head.
He didn’t get trapped in his animal form again, as he turned semi frequently from then on. He got to use the little basket nest that Wei Wuxian had placed in a spot that received a perfect little bean of light at midday. When he appeared, Wei Wuxian always made sure to fill his bowl and, somehow, he procured fish for him often. He got to see other inventions the man created before anyone else, hearing his surprisingly sound reasoning behind each step. He got the good scritches behind his ear on the regular, but the man didn’t stop playing with his whiskers, unfortunately.
If Lan Qiren played with the flute's tassel sometimes, it was just because of the cat's instincts.
