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Whenever Shen Wei comes over to Yunlan’s apartment, Da Qing is usually never in sight. Yunlan doesn’t question this—it’s not that he doesn’t trust Da Qing with the information about Dixing that Shen Wei shares with him, it’s just that…well. He hadn’t noticed that the cat was always absent until the other is noticeably in the room, like now.
Da Qing is dozing on the swing Yunlan had set up at the corner of his apartment for the cat (Da Qing’s bed, really), who’s curled up in his cat form. Shen Wei’s gaze flickers to the cat for a momentary second mid-speech when they enter Yunlan’s apartment, but otherwise gives no indication that he’s bothered with the other’s presence.
Neither of them gives any more thought to the sleeping cat as they settle in.
About half an hour later deep in discussion about Ye Zun’s next move while Yunlan is sprawled out one corner of the couch and Shen Wei sitting courteously on the other end, there is a soft meow and bell jingle that interrupt their conversation. Yunlan knows exactly what those sounds mean but given that it’s Shen Wei’s first time having Da Qing hopping up unceremoniously onto his lap, the professor is fooled into completely diverting his attention off Yunlan to focus on the fat black cat.
“…Are you okay?” Shen Wei asks when Da Qing continues to meow in his cat form.
“Deadass cat,” Yunlan mutters, not even bothering to move. “He’s just hungry,” he explains, tossing a glare over. “I don’t have anymore food! Just go out and buy your own!”
“I bought some groceries to put in your refrigerator yesterday,” Shen Wei replies, frowning a bit. “I can cook something.”
It startles Yunlan when Shen Wei actually stands up, swiftly scooping Da Qing into a cradle on one arm to pad over to his kitchen.
“Shen Wei—” Yunlan starts, but the other is already setting the cat on top of the kitchen counter before reaching for the refrigerator.
Da Qing is looking directly at Yunlan when he meows happily, and it sounds suspiciously victorious. Yunlan purses his lips—he could do with a bit of food now too, he reasons, which is the only reason why he’s letting Shen Wei roll up his sleeves before picking a knife for the chopping board, exposing his pale pretty skin.
As they eat later, with Da Qing practically stepping into his bowl of meat as he eats it without looking up once, Yunlan chews and stews with annoyance at the way Shen Wei gives the cat an amused smile from time to time throughout the entire dinner. There’s entirely no reason why Da Qing stays on in his cat form especially given that Shen Wei had dished everything out in proper human eating bowls.
Yunlan smells a conspiracy; the deadass cat.
Yunlan accidentally bites through his lollipop with a loud crack the next time Da Qing settles into Shen Wei’s lap.
It was remarkably normal—tossing ideas about the latest Dixing criminal that was causing them trouble while lounging on Yunlan’s couch late at night—until the black cat crept over Yunlan’s feet to rub himself against Shen Wei’s ankles.
“He’s not going to feed you every time you do that,” Yunlan drawls, raising his hands behind his head casually.
It’s a sentence he declares way too soon, because Shen Wei adjusts in his seat to pull out a small plastic packet from his pocket. The smell of dried fish is unmistakable when Shen Wei opens it, tearing a strip and placing it in the middle of his palm. Yunlan thinks his eyebrows must’ve been raised so high that they disappear under his bangs as he watches Da Qing eat the offered fish with gusto.
“Why…do you have that,” Yunlan comments blankly.
“I thought he might get hungry,” Shen Wei answers, looking completely serious. “You mentioned you don’t have food for him.”
Yunlan makes a kind of exasperated noise. He pulls his lollipop out of his mouth to rebut.
“He eats enough. He eats all day in the SID!”
“You have terrible eating habits, you are not qualified to remark on his,” Shen Wei says, and Yunlan swears he sees the stupid cat smirk.
“…Fine, whatever,” Yunlan shrugs after an in-breath. “Feed him till he explodes then—it won’t be long from how fat he already is.”
Shen Wei merely ignores the comment, absentmindedly tearing the fish strips while he continues outlining his theory about why they haven’t been able to sense dark energy from their Dixing criminal. Yunlan nods as he listens, but his gaze lingers on Da Qing. The cat is certainly enjoying the dried fish—and also very much enjoying little gentle pats from Shen Wei after eating his fill. Shen Wei doesn’t seem to notice that he ends up caressing circles on the underside of Da Qing’s jaw, which brings out a soft purr into the professor’s hip.
Yunlan swallows, finding his lollipop souring on his tongue. Shen Wei continues on, oblivious to the glare Yunlan’s been narrowing at Da Qing, and even flickers his gaze down for a split second with a small quirk of the lips when the cat rolls over to expose his belly for rubs.
“—Zhao Yunlan,” Shen Wei says, “—…Zhao Yunlan!”
“—W-wha…t?” Yunlan jolts, tearing his line of sight up to meet the other’s eyes.
“Is everything alright?” Shen Wei asks, eyebrows knitting in concern. “You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?”
“What, no, of course I was listening,” Yunlan plasters on an easy-going grin. “You were saying something about…about the, uh…Merit Brush?”
“That was five minutes ago,” Shen Wei looks at him pointedly. “…You’re tired,” he acquiesces. “I should go.”
Yunlan rolls his eyes and put his foot up on the table just before Shen Wei attempts to leave.
“Okay, I may have drifted off a little bit,” he admits. “But I’m fine. Just—just continue on from there.”
Shen Wei looks slightly unconvinced, but nevertheless stays put. He adjusts his glasses—fucking useless glasses, Yunlan thinks when he remembers all the times Shen Wei takes them off—and backtracks the conversation like Yunlan had requested. Shen Wei’s hand drifts back down to rest unto Da Qing’s belly, gently stroking the black fur, and then at one warm purr, the other glances down with a full-fledged smile.
It’s only for a second, but it’s that smile.
That smile that curves Shen Wei’s eyes into crescents and creases the skin at the edges of his eyes. That smile that makes Shen Wei flutter his ridiculously long lashes like a blushing fair maiden. That smile that curls the corners of Shen Wei’s mouth to reveal a hint of his white teeth, only to be hidden with a quick, shy purse of the lips.
That smile that Shen Wei only ever gives him, Zhao Yunlan.
Yunlan’s lollipop snaps clean in half so suddenly that the hard candy nearly cuts his tongue.
The next time Shen Wei accompanies him back to his apartment, Yunlan is prepared.
As expected, Da Qing is lying on the swing set in half slumber, perking up when he hears them both enter. Shen Wei sets his briefcase on the low table of the living area and sits gingerly on the couch while Yunlan lets himself flop on the other end. It had been a tiring day—they’d finally caught that Dixing criminal after one entire week, only to have the other choose to take his own life than to go with Shen Wei in the end.
Da Qing hops off the swing, making an immediate line for Shen Wei. It somehow makes Yunlan remarkably irritated to see Shen Wei lean over without any prompting to carry the black cat up to place him on his lap. Da Qing meows pitifully, sitting on his fluffy ass and looking up with those round pleading eyes—Yunlan knows every trick of the deadass cat to make himself look cute and appealing.
Shen Wei, the gullible fool, falls for it. “You’re...hungry? I…I guess I can make some fo—”
“Did you say food?” Yunlan says loudly over Shen Wei’s sentence, pushing himself off the couch with added cheer and vigor to head to the kitchen. “Thankfully I went to get some takeaways this morning,” he continues, checking the refrigerator close with his hip after grabbing a couple of boxes. “One for you,” he thrusts one into Shen Wei’s hands, “One for the fat cat,” he drops one onto the swing, “And one for me,” he settles back into the couch with a flop.
“Salad?” Shen Wei blinks when he looks past the plastic cover.
“A problem?” Yunlan raises an eyebrow.
“No, just…unexpected,” Shen Wei says. “Can Da Qing eat that?”
Yunlan is not partial to salad, but he’d suffer it because he knows Da Qing hates it even more than he does.
“You can eat everything, can’t you?” Yunlan grins—it’s almost more like a smirk—when he looks over to the cat. “Anyway, there’s like, chicken strips in it. He can definitely eat that. Go on,” he cocks his head to the swing. “Eat up.”
Da Qing meows—it sounds sour—but does trot back to the swing, where he attempts to bite off the plastic cover. Shen Wei abruptly stands up, and Yunlan grabs his arm in reflex.
“Where are you going?”
“To open the box for Da Qing,” Shen Wei raises his eyebrows. “Why?”
“He has hands!” Yunlan says, rolling his line of sight to the cat.
Nonetheless Shen Wei makes his way over and opens the box, one hand absentmindedly giving Da Qing a stroke along the back before coming back to the couch to eat his own portion. Yunlan stuffs the lettuce leaves into his mouth without tasting it, shifting himself to sit close to Shen Wei when the other relaxes into his seat. Their thighs touch, and Yunlan notices Shen Wei’s ears going a bit pink, but otherwise neither of them say anything out of the ordinary.
Once dinner is done, the conversation flows easily into reminiscing their past cases and fleshing out more possible theories of Ye Zun’s endgame. Da Qing crawls his way back into Shen Wei’s lap again at some point—Yunlan only gets to grab the cat’s tail end for a second before the other slips out of his grasp because he had been too busy focusing on Shen Wei—…Shen Wei’s line of thought, that is.
Shen Wei rests his palm on Da Qing without even once pausing, fingers idly running through the soft black fur. It drives Yunlan insane that he can’t help but be distracted by the motion, so much that he notices the exact moment that those long pale fingers still.
“Zhao Yunlan?” Shen Wei tilts his head, frown appearing again. “Is there something wrong?” he asks, looking down to his lap where Yunlan had been staring.
Yunlan coughs, forcing himself to chuckle. “…I was just wondering,” he starts, floundering for the first excuse that comes to mind. “About…your…your hand.”
“…What about it?”
Yunlan grabs the hand—he feels Shen Wei startle in shock, even though the professor’s demeanor never gives anything way.
“The first time,” Yunlan is going to just run with whatever nonsense that flows out of his mouth, “You shook my hand. I thought your hand felt rather cold, even though it was sweltering hot that day.”
Shen Wei’s fingers jerk in his palm, and Yunlan knows the other is subtly trying to edge his hand away, but Yunlan won’t let him. The pale hand feels cool again to the touch; Yunlan adjusts his hold to rest his thumb on the back of Shen Wei’s palm, gently starting to draw soothing circles.
“Are Dixing people cold blooded?” he asks.
“…N-not precisely,” Shen Wei answers, gaze calmly flicking up. “Although our physiology is, after a fashion, similar to poikilotherms, our metabolism is also suited for sustained high-energy activities, otherwise we won’t be able to use our abilities for more than short bursts—”
“Mm,” Yunlan makes a considering noise, even though most of the jargon flies over his head. “Is this why you didn’t bring a jacket the time we went to the mountains?”
Yunlan gently turns Shen Wei’s hand palm-up to expose his delicate wrist, and runs his thumb down to where the other’s pulse beats. Shen Wei parts his lips and audibly swallows at the caress. The pink at the tips of Shen Wei’s ears have gone to bright red by now—it’s such a stark contrast to his otherwise pale complexion.
“…I’m immune to the cold,” Shen Wei says finally with a slight breathy tone.
“Don’t you think you should’ve brought a jacket,” Yunlan continues, his own voice going lower. “To blend in with us humans?”
“I…I…” Shen Wei starts and stops, and Yunlan doesn’t even realise how close he’s leaning forward until he realizes he can see the black pupils in Shen Wei’s eyes dilate over the ring of brown. “It’s—…never been an issue.”
“Is that so,” Yunlan murmurs. “How many jackets have been given to you?”
It’s meant to be a joke, but it comes out more like a whisper between them, especially with the way Yunlan finds his own breath getting short. Shen Wei’s cheeks are now sporting pink tints, gaze flicking to Yunlan’s mouth every other second, and Yunlan counters it with a lip bite of his own; just a bit closer, a bit closer and…
Neither of them move.
It’s ridiculous that they’re close enough that Yunlan can almost taste Shen Wei’s breath—and it’s warm, in contrast to how cool Shen Wei’s elbow feels under his fingertips.
“Yunlan…” Shen Wei breaks the silence in an uncharacteristically soft breathless whisper. “What are you doing?”
Yunlan should break the eye contact and laugh it off like he always does when things get a bit too close for comfort, but instead the reflex swagger turns into a curl at the corner of his lips.
“Professor Shen,” he murmurs in return. “You know what I’m doing.”
It’s enough of a statement to make Shen Wei swallow again, Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion. Shen Wei’s hand curves around Yunlan’s arm, the same way Yunlan inches his fingers underneath the edge of Shen Wei’s rolled up cuffs. Yunlan licks his lips, but he doesn’t close the distance.
He wants, of course he wants, but he wants Shen Wei to make the final move.
However, it also seems like Shen Wei wants that of him too—those pink parted lips, Yunlan is losing his stance very rapidly as seconds tick by with Shen Wei mouth inviting him in.
“OW—FUCK!”
Yunlan yells in a curse when a sharp pain blooms on his hand, and he jerks back to feel the yank of Da Qing’s teeth releasing from his skin. Shen Wei also startles at the shout, hastily shifting himself backwards even though there’s isn’t any more space given how close Yunlan is sitting next to him.
“Why the hell did you bite me, you fucking deadass cat?!” Yunlan growls after the cat who jumps conveniently out of his reach to scuttle elsewhere in the apartment. “Come back here, you—”
He falters when Shen Wei grabs his hand, bringing it up close to inspect it.
“You’re not bleeding,” Shen Wei notes after adjusting his glasses. “But we should disinfect—”
Yunlan doesn’t let him finish the sentence. He slides his other hand round Shen Wei’s nape to pull the other close enough to make their mouths meet.
Shen Wei is obviously surprised at the action, but Yunlan ignores it in favour of molding their lips just right, giving Shen Wei’s bottom lip a gentle suckle before sliding his tongue in. Shen Wei gives no resistance—when Yunlan cracks his eyes slightly open he sees that Shen Wei has his eyelids fluttered shut, hands coming to a rest on Yunlan’s biceps.
Shen Wei’s mouth is warm, and even more so when he kisses back. Yunlan is never one to kiss with that much finesse, but this time he finds that Shen Wei’s tongue is more aggressive than his own, like the other had been holding back plenty. When they break apart it’s because Yunlan’s head is woozy from the lack of air, and both their lips are shiny with saliva. Yunlan flickers his gaze all over the other, and sees that Shen Wei’s glasses are slightly fogged up and that he’s messed up the back of Shen Wei’s hair in that kiss.
He most definitely wants to wreck it more.
And then, Shen Wei bursts into a short bout of chuckles, hand coming up to cover his mouth to hide his laugh.
Yunlan blinks—it’s undeniably adorable, but also kind of weird to see the stoic professor laugh.
“Da Qing thought you would hold out a week longer,” Shen Wei says when he settles down, the skin of his eyes crinkling with that beautiful, beautiful smile. “But I know you better.”