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When Lan Huan steps off the elevator, he hears stomping and growling and A-Yuan giggling wildly. That had better not be his brother's boyfriend making a ruckus in Lan Zhan's very expensive apartment building, thinks Lan Huan. Not that it matters, since they own the building, but it was the principle of the thing.
Then he sees a tall, slender young man dressed in purple marching down the hall. He has a cross expression on his face -- not like he's mad right now, but like he's usually in a bad mood -- and is carrying A-Yuan under one arm and a cartoon bunny backpack slung over his other shoulder.
"Lan Xichen," the man says.
"Jiang Wanyin," says Lan Huan. He's not very familiar with Lan Zhan's boyfriend's foster brother, but they've seen each other at professional things enough to greet each other.
A-Yuan twists around. "Hello, Mr Lan!" he chirps. "Hi! Guess what! Uncle Cheng is taking me to see Auntie Yanli! And the baby!!"
"Oh?" says Lan Huan. He can't help smiling at A-Yuan. "Are you going to help your aunt?"
"We're going to make dinner!" A-Yuan makes another twist around, like an otter pup swimming. "You tell him, Uncle Cheng!"
Jiang Wanyin sighs deeply. He drops the backpack so he has both arms free to swing A-Yuan up into his chest to begin what is clearly a ritual. "First," he says, with a fake growl, "Jiejie will squeeeeze you nice and tender!" He hugs A-Yuan tightly, rocking him back and forth. "Then she's gonna seeeeason you with kisses!" He gives A-Yuan several awkward, smacking kisses all over his face. A-Yuan squeals with delight. "And finally -- she'll! EAT! YOU! UP!!!" His words are punctuated with play bites and growls.
Then he swings the ecstatic A-Yuan down to under one arm again, picks up the backpack, and gives Lan Huan a curt nod before walking away.
"Bye-bye, Mr Lan!" calls A-Yuan, twisting so he can wave at Lan Huan. "Have fun with Daddy and Papa!"
"Goodbye!" says Lan Huan, keeping his smile bright until the two of them disappear into the elevator. Then he lets it drop.
He would have never imagined his brother's boyfriend being a good father ten years ago, but here was the proof. A-Yuan was so sweet and well-behaved, clearly loved and cared for. He worshipped his father and Lan Zhan almost as much as he did his father.
Lan Huan sighs. Well, it's good if Lan Zhan has a family. Their uncle is going to be even more persistent about Lan Huan starting one of this own, though.
When he walks into Lan Zhan's apartment, Lan Zhan is almost completely ready -- and more, surprisingly, so is his boyfriend. He's dressed in a wine red shirt and black vest and pants, and has chosen to be relatively discreet with his make up, just a smudge of eyeliner and a slick of something red and glossy over his mouth.
"Brother," says Lan Zhan, looking up for a second from the elaborate fishtail braid he's forming in his boyfriend's long hair. The braid shows the undercut he keeps half of his hair in, and Lan Huan wonders again how he gets away with that sort of hair at the library.
"Hello, Lan Zhan," says Lan Huan warmly. He flicks a look at his brother's boyfriend and gives him a cool nod.
Lan Zhan's boyfriend doesn't seem to notice or care about Lan Huan's coldness. "Hey dude," he says. "Isn't Lan Zhan good at this?"
Lan Huan hates to agree with him, but -- "It looks very nice, Lan Zhan," he says.
Lan Zhan says, "Thank you." He finishes the braid and wraps an elastic around it, and then another wrap of small, red crystal beads. "Done."
"Thanks, babe!" says his boyfriend. He gets up and plants a kiss on Lan Zhan's mouth. Lan Huan looks away, but he knows that only his presence is stopping Lan Zhan from capturing his boyfriend to take several more kisses. As long as Lan Zhan is happy, he reminds himself. He won't interfere again.
Lan Zhan pulls on his own jacket, and then picks up his boyfriend's, holding it out for him to slip into. He steals another kiss from behind his boyfriend's ear, and Lan Huan looks away again.
"Time to go," he says, keeping his voice even with an effort.
The party was a big one, a corporate affair for Gusu Lan Group and their partner companies, fancy even by Lan standards, one that Lan Zhan would usually try to avoid. Today, though, he seems like he's almost looking forward to it.
Lan Huan just hopes that Lan Zhan's boyfriend won't embarrass him at the party. He's so free with his affection -- hugs and kisses and clinging demands for Lan Zhan's attention, that Lan Huan has nightmare visions of him being completely inappropriate the whole night. He'll probably spend the entire evening with his hand down Lan Zhan's back pocket -- nice enough for Lan Zhan, Lan Huan thinks, but guaranteed to give their uncle a stroke.
And then it turns out that Lan Zhan's boyfriend is not the problem. He's behaving perfectly -- standing close to Lan Zhan, to be sure, but talking and laughing and encouraging Lan Zhan to enter conversations with him. People are looking at him with approval.
Lan Zhan, on the other hand, is being an embarrassment and a half. He's stopped short of putting his hand in his boyfriend's back pocket (barely), but he refuses to move more than a few inches away from his boyfriend. He stands with two fingers hooked through his boyfriend's fingers, or puts his hand lightly on the small of his back if his boyfriend is using his hands to talk with. Lan Zhan even gives people coming up to talk to his boyfriend chilly looks, as if any high powered executive is going to be interested in a single father who is a children's librarian -- let alone one with five earrings in one ear and seven in the other.
Lan Huan sees several people who had been subtly inquiring about the younger, brilliant, Lan brother's interest in matchmaking come toward him and then go off, disappointed. Add one more to the grudges their uncle has against Lan Zhan's boyfriend.
Lan Zhan's boyfriend says something to him. Lan Zhan tilts his head to listen, his face serious, and then nods before finally letting go of his boyfriend and walking to the buffet.
He lingers there, looking through all the dishes and picking some out based on some obscure standard, before returning to his boyfriend and standing beside him again. He waits for him to finish speaking and then feeds him a bite.
Lan Huan hears someone grinding their teeth. For a second, he's afraid it might be him, but then he looks over and realize it's their uncle.
"Shameless," hisses their uncle.
Lan Huan can't help but agree -- but what can they do? Lan Zhan looks so happy, his mouth curved in the slightest, pleased curve.
"I heard Madame Jin tell you that you must be so pleased to have another librarian in the family," says Lan Huan. It's a little mean to take this mood out on their uncle, but it's not like he can be anything but gracious in front of their guests.
Their uncle makes a sound like an angry cat. Lan Zhan's boyfriend's master's degree in information technology and education is a continual sore point.
"Especially since both are in education," says Lan Huan, even more meanly. Their uncle has post doctorate degrees in archival science and several cowering PhD candidates that live in utter terror of him. Lan Zhan's boyfriend teaches hugely popular Your Library and You classes and tells stories to three year olds while wearing funny costumes. In his heart of hearts, Lan Huan suspects their uncle is absolutely ready to die from envy.
Their uncle hisses and stamps off. Lan Huan smiles slightly.
Lan Zhan's unhappiness hadn't just been his boyfriend's fault. He had some blame, and so did their uncle, and Lan Huan will never forgive anybody for making his brother unhappy.