Work Text:
Hua Cheng finds a raccoon on his way back to work. For a moment, time stills, and it's like everyone around him has disappeared.
The animal is curled in the corner of a dark alley, whining and aching; clearly in pain, judging by the cuts and its ill-bent arm.
Hua Cheng is not a very selfless person. He serves his interest, and he has no wish to waste his time on lost causes. If it were a person, ironically, Hua Cheng would have rather called someone, or ignored the situation, figuring somebody else would have helped, maybe. Animals, though, are another story entirely.
"You okay, little guy?" He gets close, mumbling to himself. The animal barely reacts, flinching to the sound of the man's voice. Hua Cheng lowers himself on one knee, and he waits for one second; then, two. When the animal still doesn't move to run away, he tries picking it up from below its little arms, cradling it against his chest. Its gray fur is soft, but dry and sticky on some spots. There was a wooden hat next to it on the ground that Hua Cheng wouldn't have bothered with, if not for the animal’s reluctance at leaving it there. The raccoon had reached towards it, whining loudly with weak sounds coming from the back of its throat, thrashing heatedly in his hold until Hua Cheng had picked it up.
Placing it on the animal’s belly, Hua Cheng feels mildly confused, but decides to shrug the whole thing off as the raccoon dozes off, clearly tired and out of energy. Hua Cheng has more important matters to attend to, regarding the animal’s safety.
Once at home, he gets everything ready on the table to tend to the raccoon. He disinfects its cuts, cleans the other wounds on its frail body, and he's happy to see the moment the animal opens its eyes, looking startled but remaining still in Hua Cheng's hold. The animal’s gaze is clear and weirdly expressive, eyes brownish instead of its species’ usual black.
"It's fine, little guy. I've got you." Hua Cheng reassures.
The raccoon doesn't move, instead blinking slowly, and Hua Cheng chuckles, amused by the whole situation.
When he was a child, he used to get thrown out from his house a lot. His mother had died when he was just a newborn, and his father had been a hopeless drunkard, spending his already scarce money on alcohol and women, never caring for his own son. Hua Cheng used to spend most of his time on the streets, begging for scraps, and the only friends he'd managed to make were the animals roaming freely around the city. Dogs, cats— even raccoons sometimes, even if they weren't the most friendly. The thing with animals is that their love is unconditional— they don't care about riches nor looks, and because of that, Hua Cheng had managed to survive on his own, supported as he was by their endless affection.
He'd received a lot from the animals on the street, and almost nothing from humans, having to resort to shady businesses and conglomerates to get to his current position of CEO of the most influential agency of the country. But even after having acquired those riches, he refuses to let go of his roots; he figures, instead, that some of the love he's received in the past just has to be returned somehow. He won't just stand by as an animal is at risk of losing its life, or needs his help at all.
The raccoon blinks lazily as Hua Cheng tends to its wounds, all brown splendor and curiosity, and as he bandages its little arm, cast keeping it in place, Hua Cheng smiles at it. "You hungry? I can get you something."
The raccoon just looks at him silently, sniffing the air. Hua Cheng takes that as a yes. He leaves the raccoon where it was sitting on the table, and takes out a slice of fresh salmon from the fridge. As he focuses on the cooking, setting the right temperatures in the oven, he hears some shuffling behind his back, and he turns to find the animal rummaging through his trash.
“Hey— stop!” he raises his voice, and he regrets it immediately when the raccoon freezes in fear. “It’s alright, you don’t need to do that. I’ll take care of you.” he reassures it, getting closer; at that, the animal visibly relaxes, allowing Hua Cheng to pick it back up. Hua Cheng resumes his cooking with the animal hugged to his side, dark tail swaying curiously, and when he’s done, he serves the meal to the animal on the table without keeping any for himself. The raccoon cocks his head to the side before the dish, confused.
"It's okay, don't worry. I'll get something else for myself."
Incredibly, as if understanding his words, it starts eating right after— rabid and ferocious like it’d been starving for a while. The raccoon must have been weak and tired; the food will give it energy, surely. The morning after, Hua Cheng will take it to a professional of the field, someone that knows something more than Hua Cheng's basic first aid. He Xuan probably knows more about this kind of thing, even if his specialty lies somewhere else.
The raccoon fills its cheeks with food, and Hua Cheng huffs a laugh, standing up to grab his own dinner. They eat together in silence, only the raccoon's chewing sounds echoing in the empty house as Hua Cheng looks at him with interest. The animal doesn't seem to be fazed by its broken arm nor by the change in environment. It looks comfortable, at ease. That is reassuring, as well as extremely strange.
"And what about this?" Hua Cheng reaches out for the hat. The raccoon looks at him in despair, interrupting its meal to start jumping in an attempt to grab the hat from Hua Cheng’s hands.
Hua Cheng blinks, raising an eyebrow, and he returns the hat to the little guy. The raccoon holds it close to its chest happily, putting it on top of its head next.
Hua Cheng laughs at the scene, propping his chin on the palm of his hand. "Cute. I wonder where you come from, exactly. Who are you, mmh?"
The raccoon doesn't answer - because of course it doesn’t - instead returning to its feast, and Hua Cheng sighs, leaning back on the chair.
Once they're done with the food, Hua Cheng cleans its fur as best as he can with a warm, wet cloth - the raccoon keeping still and being overall extremely condescending, relaxing in his care - and they get into bed next. Hua Cheng's bed is large and can easily fit two people. Today, it will host Hua Cheng and this very special raccoon, and Hua Cheng doesn't mind it in the slightest. He settles under the silken covers, and he lets the raccoon climb on top of him, placing its little head on Hua Cheng's pecs, laying on its belly and almost trying to hug him with its short arms.
Hua Cheng brings one hand to caress its back, relishing in the feeling of soft fur on his skin, and he smiles. "Tomorrow we'll get you seen properly. They'll take care of you better than I can."
The raccoon makes a whining sound, as if objecting to that claim, and Hua Cheng laughs - sound low and rumbling, making the animal on his chest startle slightly.
Hua Cheng falls asleep in a matter of minutes, and so does his little guest.
The next day, he will get in contact with a vet, then a shelter, and everything will be dealt with.
After a few minutes of getting used to the presence on his chest, Hua Cheng finally sleeps.
That is, until, maybe two or three hours later, he’s woken up by an increase of weight on his front. Hua Cheng opens his eyes groggily, dizzy and still half dozing off, and what he finds is beyond imagination.
The raccoon is gone. In its stead, laying on Hua Cheng's chest, is a man with an angelic face staring right back at him; torso bare and brown hair long and smooth on his back.
He's beautiful .
Hua Cheng's breath catches.
"Hi! Uhm, sorry for intruding." The man whispers embarrassedly, smiling apologetically; and if they were in a better position, Hua Cheng figures he would have fidgeted, bashful. "Thank you for your help. I'm— I’m forever indebted to you. You were really kind to me."
"No need...?" Hua Cheng tries, his brain still malfunctioning. This must be a dream. A weird one, definitely.
"No, really, You saved my life after all. I have to repay you, somehow. Even though I don’t own much…" the man trails off, hands on Hua Cheng's chest to push himself up slightly. "My name is Xie Lian, by the way! Nice to meet you..."
He's beautiful .
"Hua Cheng." he says, mesmerized. "My name is Hua Cheng. You can call me San Lang."
The guy smiles, fuzzy gray tail still in place and moving sinuously, and Hua Cheng can't help but think— Oh. Oh, no.
Xie Lian smiles at him, bright and genuine. “Well then. Nice to meet you, San Lang.” he says, without a care in the world.
He's not developing feelings for some sort of shape-shifter, is he? What is this situation?
Xie Lian lays back with his head on Hua Cheng's pecs, uncaring of Hua Cheng’s inner turmoil; fingers trailing on the bigger man’s pale skin.
The sight sends a rush of heat to Hua Cheng's face, heart beating out of his chest.
Xie Lian falls back asleep in a matter of minutes. Hua Cheng can’t move.
He’s so beautiful.
Hua Cheng is so, so fucked.