Archive of Our Own

“Baba.”

“Hmmm?”

“…Baba…”

“What is it, Radish?”

“…there’s a cat in my room, Baba.”

Wei Wuxian looks up from his tablet. They do not have a cat. He briefly wonders if A-Yuan, who has been peacefully playing with his toys until now, has imagined the cat, but his little voice seems a bit too alarmed for it all to be imagination only. 

Wei Wuxian sets his tablet aside and asks: “What do you mean, there’s a cat in your room?”

A-Yuan sits on the living room carpet, surrounded by blocks and board books and stuffed animals, and just points wordlessly towards his open bedroom door.

Curiosity piqued, Wei Wuxian gets up from the couch to look at what the kid is pointing at.

“There really is a cat in your room, Radish. Wow.”

A pair of golden eyes stare back at him, paired with surprisingly elegant features. The cat sitting on A-Yuan’s rug has fluffy white fur, giving its slender body the appearance of a cloud, with long legs and a bushy tail that looks incredibly soft. Wei Wuxian has to actively fight the urge to run over and pet it. He doesn’t know where this cat comes from, who it belongs to—it looks so well-groomed and nourished that it can’t possibly be a stray—or whether it has any illnesses, so it might be best to approach it with caution.

“Told you, Baba,” A-Yuan says, and looks back at the cat. “It’s pretty!”

A-Yuan is right; the cat is really pretty. It sits primly on the floor in front of A-Yuan’s bed, unmoving, unblinking, as if it were a statue.

Wei Wuxian slowly approaches A-Yuan’s bedroom door—he doesn’t want to startle the cat or get scratched up if it decides to attack—and crouches down in front of it.

“Hey there,” he calls, keeping his voice low. The cat’s attention instantly switches from A-Yuan to Wei Wuxian, and it fixes him with a solemn look that makes the hair on Wei Wuxian’s neck stand up.

“Are you thirsty?” he calls again. “You must be, it’s hot out. How long have you been here? How did you get in? Ah, but you’re a pretty one! Let’s get you some water.”

Wei Wuxian knows he’s rambling, but he’s slightly nervous. He doesn’t know why; it’s a cat, not some kind of eldritch abomination—and talking occupies his brain. If he doesn’t talk, he might do something stupid instead, like try to catch the cat and get all scratched up in the process.  

Wei Wuxian slowly rises and goes to fetch a bowl of water from the kitchen. He carefully places it down right in front of A-Yuan’s door, takes a few steps back, and sits down next to A-Yuan on the carpet.

“What are we going to do now, Baba?” A-Yuan asks.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure,” Wei Wuxian says. “I’m going to see what a cat needs. Like, what food, toys. A litterbox! A bed? And then…then I’ll take a picture of it and write flyers and post online.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m sure someone is missing the cat,” Wei Wuxian explains. “Look how beautiful it is. Someone’s obviously taking care of it. If I post online, its owners might be able to find it, and take it back home again.”

That’s not the only call he has to make. He probably should call his landlord too. He’s not sure if pets are even allowed in the lease, and he wants to explain the situation and clarify that this arrangement is, in fact, a temporary one, but he thinks the landlord needs to know, in case they decide to stop by unannounced.

A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian both look at the cat. It seemingly has not moved, but its attention is now focused on the bowl. It gets up with a surprising amount of grace, steps over to the bowl, looks at the water, and sticks its paw into it, barely touching the liquid's surface. It sits down again and licks the droplets off its paw, then finally decides to take a careful few sips.

Wei Wuxian relocates back to the couch, grabs his tablet, and begins his research. There are a ton of cat blogs out there, and it takes him about twenty minutes to compile a list of the most basic things a cat would need. None of them seem too complicated to obtain. He orders most of them online; he can probably get the rest at the store two streets away.

He also should call Lan Wangji. He’s good with animals, and he volunteers at the local animal shelter. He would know what else a cat would need to be happy and healthy, how short its stay might turn out to be in the end.

“Radish, what would you say if Mianmian-jiejie came over for a second, and I ran to the store to get the essentials?” Wei Wuxian asks once he finishes his shopping list.

“Mianmian-jiejie!” A-Yuan yells and throws his little arms up in delight.

Wei Wuxian prays that Mianmian actually has time to stop by. He calls her. She seems alarmed at first and asks if everything is alright with A-Yuan, but Wei Wuxian manages to calm her down by explaining the situation, and she agrees to come over to impromptu babysit her favourite honorary nephew.

The trip to the store is rather uneventful. Wei Wuxian manages to acquire everything he needs and heads home. Once there, he apologises to Mianmian for the sudden change of plans.

“It’s fine,” she says, “you’ve called me at far weirder times for far weirder things.”

“That is true,” Wei Wuxian replies, then grimaces when he remembers a few of these weirder instances. Thankfully, Mianmian refrains from retelling any of these events in front of A-Yuan’s innocent ears.

They have been through so much, Mianmian and him. They met at summer camp one year and became pen-pals, then were able to reunite when they found out they were both moving to the same city for study or job reasons.

Mianmian is one of the few people who have been a constant support to him. Back when the Jiangs threw him out, she was there to help him get back on his feet again. She encouraged him to try and mend the relationship with his siblings—a work in progress, at least with his brother— and, most importantly, she was by his side when he adopted A-Yuan and almost everyone else called him crazy for it.

Mianmian saw from the beginning how attached Wei Wuxian had become to that tiny and slightly frail but inquisitive child. How devastated he had been when he found out about the kid’s parents dying in a car accident. How he had wept with Wen Qing and Wen Ning, A-Yuan’s next of kin, upon realising that their living situation would never allow for a child, not in that particular moment in time, with Wen Qing in med school and Wen Ning just finishing high school. 

Wei Wuxian is an orphan himself. He’s been in the system. There was no way he was going to let that happen to A-Yuan, not if he could prevent it. Mianmian had been by his side when he decided to visit A-Yuan in hospital after the accident, to read to him and play him the flute. She had seen what a good parent Wei Wuxian could be, and had helped him find a stable job that permitted him to work from home, helped him find a place that was big enough for him and a kid but was still affordable.

He was so grateful that he had kissed her at one point. She had laughed, and then they had gone to dinner with the Wen siblings and Mianmian's best friend, Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian had actually forgotten how to breathe when he saw Lan Wangji for the first time, with his hair in a long heavy braid, a blue ribbon woven through it, clothes all soft materials and pastel colours. They had bonded over their shared passion for music. They also needed a bit of time to learn how to read each other, butting heads on two or three occasions, but they became best friends too, very quickly.

If Wei Wuxian is honest, Lan Wangji might just be his favourite person ever, right up there with his sister and A-Yuan. If he’s just a bit in love with Lan Wangji—well, that’s his problem, and only his.

It was Lan Wangji’s idea to get Lan Xichen involved in A-Yuan’s adoption, a young aspiring family lawyer with a seemingly infinite string of connections. Lan Xichen was able to help much with A-Yuan’s adoption process. Whenever he could not help, he knew exactly who to ask. It was all kinds of amazing. Wei Wuxian, to this day, does not know how to repay the Lan siblings for their help.

Lan Xichen says it’s enough for him to know that A-Yuan is in good hands. 

Lan Wangji says it’s enough for him to see A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian happy. Additionally, he requests dinner with both of them once or twice a week.

Both Mianmian and Lan Wangji are super important to Wei Wuxian, so it’s only natural that he turns to them whenever a crisis makes itself known. Even if said crisis is white and fluffy and currently perched on Wei Wuxian’s favourite sofa cushion, calmly observing him while he hauls his purchases into the apartment.

“You should probably get the cat to a vet,” Mianmian suggests without looking up from the page she’s colouring with A-Yuan. “Maybe it has a chip or a tattoo, and you’ll be able to find out the owner that way. Also just to see if it’s got any health issues.”

Wei Wuxian muses that she’s probably right, but it’s Friday evening already, and most vets are closed for the weekend, and... since this isn’t an emergency, it will have to wait until Monday. He sits down on the couch and decides to call Lan Wangji, just to ask him if he knows any vets who may take in clients without an appointment.

Lan Wangji doesn’t pick up; the call is being redirected to voicemail.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t think much of it. Lan Wangji is a busy person. He’s either preparing for another music competition or teaching children how to play the guqin.

“Hey Lan Zhan, it’s me!” Wei Wuxian says after the beep. “Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but uh... a cat wandered into my apartment today. We’re already looking for the owner, but Mianmian suggested a vet visit on Monday to scan for a chip. I thought you might know someone from your volunteer work at the shelter? If you do, please call me back, okay? Oh, and are you thinking dinner tomorrow or on Sunday? Miss you!”

He hangs up and looks over to the cat, who observes him with an unreadable look. Carefully, Wei Wuxian extends his hand. 

The cat, still perched on the cushion, stretches its neck to sniff on Wei Wuxian’s fingers before affectionately rubbing its cheek against them.

Wei Wuxian coos. “Awww, you’re a sweet one! Look at you. You like that, hm?” he asks while scritching the cat’s cheek.

The cat looks at Wei Wuxian and slowly blinks at him. Then it gets up, wanders over to Wei Wuxian, and tentatively places a paw onto his thigh.

Wei Wuxian silently gasps but stays quiet as the cat climbs into his lap, proceeds to shape itself into a loaf, and starts to purr.

“Oh my god,” he whispers.

At that, A-Yuan perks up. “Mianmian-jiejie, look! Baba made a friend!”

He gets up and approaches his father and the cat, who turns its head to look at A-Yuan. He clearly wants to pet it, but he’s unsure, and so he looks at Wei Wuxian, eyes all big and hesitant.

“You can, darling, but first extend your hand slowly and carefully so it can sniff you,” Wei Wuxian advises. “That way you will say ‘hello’, and the cat will know that you don’t mean any harm.”

A-Yuan nods and extends a chubby arm towards the cat. It sniffs on A-Yuan’s fingers, then boops them with its pink nose. A-Yuan giggles.

“Can I pet it, Baba?” he asks. “Can you show me how?”

Wei Wuxian nods, takes A-Yuan’s hand, and teaches him how to give kitty-appropriate pets. The cat purrs louder, slowly blinks at A-Yuan, then closes its eyes.

“I’ve read that slow blinking is cat speech for smiling,” Mianmian pipes up. She puts all the crayons back in their container and rearranges the colouring books. “Lan Wangji does it sometimes when he feels at ease. I like to tease him with my random cat knowledge.” 

She gets up to get herself a glass of water and inspects the litterbox in the hallway.

“Oooh, you got a fancy one with a lid?”

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian says, still observing A-Yuan while they pet the cat together. “I wanted to give our little friend here some privacy. What do you think, hmmm? Do you like that?” he asks the cat.

The cat, seemingly content, purrs even louder.

--------

Mianmian leaves after a while, and Wei Wuxian busies himself with making dinner. A-Yuan insists on helping, and Wei Wuxian lets him, giving him tasks that he can easily achieve, like washing the vegetables or stirring together some ingredients. They chat about anything that comes to mind. Wei Wuxian loves these moments that allow him to bond effortlessly with his son.

His son . He sometimes still can’t believe it. 

The first time A-Yuan had shyly asked him if it was okay to call him “Baba”, Wei Wuxian had burst into tears. He’s always been good with kids—they usually love him, and he loves them. The kind of love he feels for A-Yuan is special, though. He can’t really explain it; he just felt that sense of “I love this child. I want to be there for him whenever he needs me, and provide for him, and raise him.” It came naturally, a seamless progression from acquaintances to friends to family.

His sister adores A-Yuan. Jiang Yanli visits him sometimes and brings her own son along. A-Ling is younger than A-Yuan, and Wei Wuxian observes with pride how careful his son is with his cousin.

Jiang Cheng has met A-Yuan once. Whenever they talk on the phone, he inquires about him. To an outsider, it would seem like a mere act of politeness, but Wei Wuxian knows that Jiang Cheng at least likes A-Yuan. It’s a start. He suspects that Jiang Cheng just isn’t really that good with smaller children, so maybe they’ll get on better once A-Yuan is nine or ten.

Wei Wuxian wonders if his adoptive parents even know about A-Yuan. He himself has not talked to them since back when Madam Yu snapped and kicked him out. It’s possible that his siblings have told them, but he doesn’t even care that much. As long as he and A-Yuan are happy and together, nothing bad could ever happen to them.

The cat has very politely picked the one spot next to the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter that they never use to prepare food to perch on. It observes the adult human and the mini-human with interest. Wei Wuxian wonders whether it’s more interested in them, or in the food that is being laid out in front of them. He takes a look at the food bowl and notices that the kibble is still untouched.

“Aren’t you hungry?” he asks the cat. “Maybe you aren’t used to dry food? I have some canned wet food here, let’s see if you’ll want some of that.”

Wei Wuxian sets his chopping knife aside, out of reach of A-Yuan’s ever-curious hands, and takes two of the newly acquired cans of wet food out of the cupboard.

“Let’s see, what do we have here... rabbit and pork, or chicken and turkey?”

Wei Wuxian places both cans in front of the cat, who promptly flings the rabbit and pork one off the counter with a swipe of its paw.

“No shredded bunny, then,” Wei Wuxian comments with a raised eyebrow. “Lan Zhan would adore you. Poultry it is!”

He gets out another shallow bowl and empties half of the contents of the can onto it. The cat hops off the counter and walks over to the repurposed placemat on which Wei Wuxian has placed the water bowl, and now sets down the wet food as well.

“Bon appétit,” Wei Wuxian says with a theatrical flourish.

The cat gives him a look, but then sits down in front of the plate, sniffs on the food, and proceeds to eat. Daintily and politely .

“Look at it,” Wei Wuxian tells A-Yuan, “it eats more politely than Yanli-gugu does!”

“Baba, why are we saying ‘it’, and not ‘he’ or ‘she’?” A-Yuan asks.

“Because we don’t know if it’s a cat-gongzi, or a cat-guniang, Radish,” Wei Wuxian explains playfully, ruffling A-Yuan’s hair. “And I’m not sure if the cat would like it if we looked. It’s not exactly polite, and I don’t want to assume. The vet can tell us on Monday. They’re animal doctors, they can tell us for sure.”

“But we can’t always call it ‘cat’,” A-Yuan muses. “Doesn’t it have a name?”

Wei Wuxian tilts his head in thought. On one hand, A-Yuan is right; it would be impractical to always just say ‘the cat’. On the other hand, since the cat presumably is owned by someone else, and he still doesn’t know whether his lease even allows pets, he doesn’t want A-Yuan to get too attached.

“It probably has one,” Wei Wuxian thinks aloud, “but I don’t know it. Maybe if it’s chipped, we can find out its name.”

The cat, who has finished its dinner, cleans its paws, then walks up to A-Yuan and rubs along his legs affectionately. A-Yuan giggles and crouches down to give the cat an equally loving but careful hug. 

“Look at that, it really likes you!” Wei Wuxian exclaims. As realistic as he’s trying to be about the situation, he cannot fight the fond feeling that grabs hold of his heart while seeing his child being so soft around an animal.

Wei Wuxian takes out his phone and snaps a picture. It’s already the fifth picture of A-Yuan with the cat. He has six other pictures of the cat by itself, two of which he selected for the online post he composed right before Mianmian left. He plans on resharing it at least once a day so that as many people as possible can see it, and can help bring his feline guest back home. 

While his dinner is simmering, Wei Wuxian composes an email to his landlord to explain the situation and inquire about the lease. He includes a screenshot of his social media post for good measure.

They eat dinner together at the kitchen table. It’s as lively as always, but Wei Wuxian is surprised that the cat doesn’t beg for scraps. This is a really well-behaved cat , he thinks. Whoever owns it must have taken a lot of care and patience to train it .

After dinner, A-Yuan gets to play with the cat for a bit. At the store, Wei Wuxian picked up one of those toys that look like a fishing rod with a toy attached to it instead of a hook. A-Yuan dangles it in front of the cat and lets out a delighted shriek whenever it swats at the toy with its paw, or leaps into the air to catch it. After a short while, both of them grow tired of playing, and Wei Wuxian collects his son to give him his bath.

Surprisingly, the cat follows them into the bathroom. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know much about cats, but he knows that they’re supposed to be not too fond of water. The cat doesn’t approach the tub and stays out of the general splashing zone, but still, it stays and observes them with an unreadable look. 

Wei Wuxian wonders what might be going through its little head. Does its household have children? Is it used to see how they are given a bath? It seems friendly enough with A-Yuan, so if the cat isn’t familiar with children, at least it doesn’t mind them.

Once A-Yuan is dried off and has his pyjamas on and teeth brushed, it’s time for bed. The cat follows them into A-Yuan’s bedroom and seems to listen as Wei Wuxian reads the mandatory bedtime story, inventing voices for each of the characters and creating sound effects. As soon as A-Yuan begins to drift off, Wei Wuxian puts the book away and begins to hum a gentle tune. He caresses A-Yuan’s hair, and when he’s sure that the boy is fast asleep, he presses a goodnight kiss to his brow.

“Goodnight, my little radish,” he whispers. “Your baba loves you so much.”

He gets up, careful to not wake his son, and tucks the rabbit plush A-Yuan loves so much under the blankets next to him. It was a birthday gift from Lan Wangji, and it quickly became A-Yuan’s favourite out of his army of stuffed toys. Wei Wuxian turns on A-Yuan’s nightlight and switches off the main light, then leaves the door ajar while leaving.

The cat is still by his side when Wei Wuxian pours himself a glass of red wine and sits down on the couch. He switches the TV on, but there’s nothing interesting for him to watch today, so he does a bit of channel hopping just to pass the time.

Just as he contemplates switching off the TV, the cat on the cushion next to him perks up, eyes fixed onto the television. There’s a documentary about some kind of space phenomenon, and the cat seems completely enraptured by the colours and the shapes flickering before its eyes.

Wei Wuxian can’t help but laugh. “You like space, huh? Alright, I’ll humour you.”

While the cat watches TV, Wei Wuxian checks his social media one more time. Mianmian and Wen Qing have shared his post, it’s got a few likes, but so far nothing has turned up. He sees that he has an email notification–his landlord clarifies that no, pets aren’t allowed in the lease, but they’re kind enough to give Wei Wuxian two weeks to either find the cat’s owners or, as they put it, “otherwise get rid of it”.

Wei Wuxian looks up from his phone. The cat still seems utterly captivated by whatever’s happening in that documentary, and he feels a sudden pang of fondness. While he doesn’t intend to keep it, he could never give it to a shelter. He considers his options, but it’s turning his mood morose, so he decides that it’s a problem for future Wei Wuxian.

What concerns him even more is the fact that Lan Wangji has not responded yet to his voicemail. It’s almost nine in the evening, and Wei Wuxian knows that Lan Wangji goes to bed early. Usually, he would have replied in some way by now, but nope. No missed calls, no new text message, no voicemail, no email. Nothing.

It’s as if Lan Wangji had not received his message in the first place. He wonders if that’s the case, and decides to call again.

The call is, after several beeps, once again redirected to voicemail.

“Hey Lan Zhan, it’s me again… I hope you’re not already in bed, sorry if you are. Listen, uh… if you can’t make it for dinner tomorrow, I can arrange something for Sunday, no biggie! Just let me know before noon so that I can prepare everything. A—and if you can’t make it at all this weekend, that’s cool too! Just let me know. You don’t even need to call if you’re busy, just shoot me a text message, and I’ll be fine. Sleep well. Miss you!”

Wei Wuxian hangs up and stares at his phone. He has the sinking feeling that something is not right, but he can’t pinpoint what exactly is upsetting him. He sighs, sets down his phone, and notices that the cat is staring directly at him again.

Wei Wuxian blinks.

The cat blinks back.

Wei Wuxian huffs a laugh at that, downs the rest of his wine, and gets off the couch to turn on the dishwasher for the night before getting ready for bed himself. It’s way before his usual bedtime, but he feels tired, so he might as well curl up under the covers and read until he falls asleep.

The cat follows him into the bedroom. Wei Wuxian gives it an apologetic look.

“I’ve ordered a bed for you, but it won’t be here until tomorrow. Sorry about that. You can sleep on my spare pillow if you like?”

He takes the pillow and lays it next to his feet.

The cat seems to contemplate the pillow, then climbs onto it and lays down.

Wei Wuxian reaches out to pet it, and it headbutts his hand as it purrs, seemingly happy.

After a good stretch, Wei Wuxian focuses again on his book. At some point—he doesn’t even know how late it is—he can feel his eyes starting to close, so he puts his book and his reading glasses away, sets his alarm for the next day, and turns off his bedside lamp.

The last thing he registers before falling asleep is the soft ruffling of bedsheets, and a small firm warmth curling up against his chest.

--------

Wei Wuxian wakes up to two pairs of eyes looking at him. One belongs to A-Yuan. They’ve made a ritual out of snuggling together in bed on weekends until they’re both awake enough to have breakfast, sometimes even longer. Now that the summer break has begun and A-Yuan doesn’t have to go to playschool, they’re getting to enjoy this every morning. In the beginning, Wei Wuxian was the one to go and pick A-Yuan up and take him to his own bed for father-son cuddling time, but these days A-Yuan often gets up on his own, waddles over, and climbs into Wei Wuxian’s bed to snuggle up to his still asleep Baba.

Wei Wuxian smiles at A-Yuan, eyes still half-closed, and runs his hand through A-Yuan’s adorably dishevelled bed hair.

“Morning, Radish,” he mumbles.

“Morning, Baba,” A-Yuan mumbles back and cuddles close to Wei Wuxian’s chest.

The second pair of eyes watching him belongs to the cat.

“Morning, cat,” Wei Wuxian says dumbly before his brain catches up.

Oh, right. The cat .

“Wait here, Radish, I’m just going to give our friend some food and fresh water,” Wei Wuxian says while he peels the covers back. It’s not exactly cold in his bedroom, but his bed is warm, and he misses the loss of warmth instantly and shivers.

A-Yuan makes a noise in protest but is still too sleepy to say anything more.

Wei Wuxian walks over to the kitchen, empties both bowls, and puts them away in the dishwasher before taking out new ones and filling them up with wet food and water. 

The cat already sits by his feet, awaiting breakfast. Wei Wuxian runs his fingers through its soft fur once before the cat sits down to have a bite. In the hallway, Wei Wuxian makes sure to check the litterbox and scoop out anything that needs to be removed. He enters the bathroom, uses the toilet, and decides to brush his teeth while he’s there. He doesn’t think that his son or the cat will mind his morning breath, but there’s still a very faint taste of stale red wine on his tongue from the previous night, and he hates it.

Once he’s done he pads back to his bedroom, wanting nothing more than to slide back under the covers and curl up with his son. Except his place in bed has apparently already been claimed.

The cat must have finished its breakfast while Wei Wuxian was busy in the bathroom. Now he finds it lying right next to A-Yuan, purring its little heart out, while the boy has thrown an arm over the cat and has his small chubby fingers buried in its soft fur.

Wei Wuxian just stands there and stares at them. He knows he should shoo the cat away. They can’t keep it, he should make sure A-Yuan doesn’t get too attached.

But really, who’s he kidding? The cat has been with them less than twenty-four hours, and he’s already attached himself. He can probably deal with it once they hand the feline over to its owners, but he doesn’t want to make A-Yuan more sad than necessary.

They look so peaceful together, the child and his animal friend. Wei Wuxian doesn’t have the heart to disturb them. He takes his phone from his nightstand and snaps a quick picture before sliding into bed and curling up around both of them.

The cat, still purring, raises its head, looks at Wei Wuxian, and slowly blinks at him.

“You like him a lot, hmm?” he asks the cat, who blinks once more, and stretches to headbutt Wei Wuxian’s hand.

“You’re so sweet. You must miss your family,” Wei Wuxian whispers. “I promise I will get you back home.”

He lies back onto the pillow, and, lulled by the cat’s purring, it doesn’t take five minutes for him to fall back asleep.

Later in the day, they have breakfast, and Wei Wuxian checks his social media. He reshares his post about the missing cat; nothing new has turned up so far. He doesn’t worry too much about it, he knows these kinds of posts often need a few days to gain traction.

What worries him far more is that there’s still no reply from Lan Wangji. Not a single text message or missed call. He checks his voicemail—nothing. Email? Nope.

This is so uncharacteristic that Wei Wuxian can’t help but wonder what might have happened to him. Is he sick and lying unconscious in his apartment? Did he have an accident and is now in hospital, with no means of contacting anyone? Has someone kidnapped him?

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. He’s probably overreacting. Still, he decides that if he doesn’t hear back from Lan Wangji, he’ll go over to his apartment, just to check up on him. He might also shoot a message to Lan Xichen; he should know what’s up with his brother.

Lunch arrives; still no news. The more time passes, the more anxious Wei Wuxian grows. At two in the afternoon, he rings the neighbour’s doorbell. Luckily for him, the old lady next door is always happy to watch A-Yuan on a whim, and she coos when she sees the cat but assures him she has no idea who it belongs to.

Lan Wangji doesn’t live too far away, but it does still take a while to reach the wealthier part of town by foot. Wei Wuxian has no patience to deal with either public transportation or traffic on a Saturday, so he ignores his car and swings onto his old red bicycle and rides over.

He has been Lan Wangji’s guest countless times by now, with and without A-Yuan. He knows the code for the building door by heart. The elevator ride up to Lan Wangji’s apartment floor seems to stretch endlessly. Wei Wuxian fidgets with the strings of his hoodie and bites his lip.

Finally, the elevator stops. He gets out, rings the doorbell, and waits.

No one comes to open the door.

Wei Wuxian knocks. “Lan Zhan?” he calls. No response.

He knocks again. “Lan Zhan? Are you okay? Listen, if you don’t wanna talk that’s alright, just send me a message to let me know, and I’ll be out of your hair. I’m just worried.”

Still no reaction.

Wei Wuxian takes a step back, stares at the door, and exhales loudly, at a loss about what to do next. On a whim, he rings the doorbell of the apartment next to Lan Wangji’s. Perhaps his neighbour knows something.

A middle-aged man in a suit answers the door. He doesn’t know where Lan Wangji is, he tells Wei Wuxian, but Lan Wangji’s mail has been piling up for about three days, so he took it in to keep safe until he returns. The man explains that he does that each time Lan Wangji is travelling to visit his extended family, that’s why he has the key to his letterbox, but figured that Lan Wangji had just forgotten to notify him this time around.

Wei Wuxian thanks him. He doesn’t clarify that Lan Wangji would never disappear without notifying anyone unless he had no choice.

His mouth tastes like cotton, and he feels like he might get sick. He enters the elevator again and calls Lan Xichen. The call is redirected to voicemail, but this time Wei Wuxian expects it, since Lan Wangji’s brother is still overseas at some kind of conference.

“Hey Lan Xichen, it’s Wei Wuxian,“ he says and winces at how loud his own voice sounds. “Listen, um—I am calling because of Lan Zhan. We were supposed to have dinner together, but he hasn’t replied to any of my messages or gotten back to me. I’ve just been to his place, and he doesn’t seem to be home, so I’ve just— I’m—“

Wei Wuxian takes a deep breath. “I’m worried, Xichen-ge. It’s not my business if Lan Zhan decides to lay low for a while…I just wanna know if he’s okay. Please call me when you hear this, no matter what time it might be. Please, and…thank you.”

Wei Wuxian hangs up, his heart heavy, and rides back home.

His phone rings shortly before 3 am on Sunday morning. It does take him a moment to register where that sound comes from, but once he sees the caller ID, Wei Wuxian is wide awake.

“Xichen-ge!” he cries. The cat next to him wakes up, opens its eyes, yawns, then looks at him.

“Wei Wuxian,” Lan Xichen replies. “I’m sorry that it took me so long to get back to you. Now, tell me what happened.”

So Wei Wuxian recalls the events of the last two days, and how Lan Wangji seems to have vanished from the surface of the earth.

“That is indeed unlike him,” Lan Xichen worries. “He would have notified me if he needed some time away, and I’m sure he would have told you if he didn’t feel up to having dinner with you.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Wei Wuxian asks. “Would you like me to call the hospitals around here or something?”

Lan Xichen is silent, but Wei Wuxian can practically hear him shaking his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I am one of his emergency contacts. Hospital personnel would have notified me if he’d been admitted. I’ll message his workplace and see if they know anything.”

“What about the police?” Wei Wuxian suggests.

“No, let’s—let’s wait until Monday. I will get back to you, and if he doesn’t reappear before then, I will notify the authorities.”

“Yeah… yeah, let’s do that,” Wei Wuxian says, without much conviction in his voice. “Oh, listen, um—I have a kind of weird question, but since Lan Zhan volunteers at the shelter, maybe he mentioned someone to you? I’m looking for a vet who takes walk-ins.”

“Oh?” Lan Xichen sounds curious. “Did you acquire a pet?”

Wei Wuxian chuckles. “More like the pet acquired us . A cat suddenly appeared in our apartment, seemingly out of nowhere. We can’t keep it, but I want to take it to a vet to see if it’s chipped.”

Lan Xichen is silent for so long that Wei Wuxian begins to wonder if the call has disconnected.

“A cat? How curious. Describe it to me, please, maybe I know the owner?”

“Oh, oh yeah.” Lan Xichen knows a lot of people; the idea that he might know someone whose cat went missing is not that far-fetched. “Um—white and fluffy, but not too fluffy. Golden eyes. Has weirdly good table manners, and an affinity for space documentaries.”

Lan Xichen makes a noise that sounds like a mixture between a huff and a laugh. “Sorry about that, the air is so dry here,” he explains. “That sounds like a lovely cat. I do indeed know someone. I might even have their card with me; I will text you the address, number, and office hours.”

“Thank you, Xichen-ge,” Wei Wuxian replies. At least they’ll be able to take the next step in the search for the cat’s owners. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

“It’s alright,” Lan Xichen says. “Thank you for calling me. I am sure all will be well, in the end, both with Wangji and the cat. And, Wei Wuxian, if I may… cats are very intelligent. Keep a good eye on yours; it might be able to tell you who it belongs to.”

Wei Wuxian has no idea what that means, but then again, it is the middle of the night, and his brain isn’t fully functioning. He thanks Lan Xichen, hangs up and gets up to get some water.

When he returns to bed, he sits down and rests his back against the headboard. He lets out a sigh and wipes at his eyes; his fingers come away wet. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know whether it’s because he’s sleepy, or because he’s far more worried for Lan Wangji than he’d like to admit.

The cat now sits on the bed, gingerly climbs onto Wei Wuxian’s lap, and stretches up until its front paws rest on Wei Wuxian’s chest. It rubs its head on Wei Wuxian’s chin and purrs.

Wei Wuxian chuckles wetly. “Are you trying to cheer me up?”

The cat blinks at him. Wei Wuxian pets its back.

“Yeah, I know… I’m probably overreacting. I should sleep, huh?”

The cat continues to rub its head against Wei Wuxian’s chin, and he slides down the headboard until he’s lying down properly. The cat doesn’t make any move to leave its spot on his chest, but simply curls up on it.

“Okay buddy, if you wanna snuggle? Let’s snuggle,” Wei Wuxian says, and starts to pet the cat again. He falls asleep with his hand still in its fur.

--------

The three of them cuddle in the morning. They have breakfast, and A-Yuan plays a bit more with the cat while Wei Wuxian checks his social media and emails. Still no news, not from the cat’s owner, nor from Lan Wangji, nor from Lan Xichen. Wei Wuxian can feel his mood drop, yet he tries to play it down for his son and even engages in a tickle fight with him just before lunch. After that, it’s either the park or board games inside, depending on the weather.

It’s a sunny afternoon, and A-Yuan can’t wait to get to the playground. It’s warm enough that they don’t need any coats, but Wei Wuxian packs a light jacket just in case A-Yuan feels cold, along with his water bottle, a few juice boxes, some snacks, a few toys, and a book in case A-Yuan gets tired of the playground and wants some Quality Outdoor Baba Time.

It’s the first time they’re leaving the cat alone in the apartment. Wei Wuxian briefly debates taking it with them, but he doesn't have a collar, harness, leash, or carrier. Besides, he has no idea if the cat’s owners ever took their pet for walks, so taking it to the park might be more stressful for the cat than anything else.

Wei Wuxian wonders whether to ask his trusted old lady neighbour to check up on it while they’re gone, but decides against it. Cats fare far better alone at home than dogs, Mianmian has told him. She has proven to be a treasure trove of random cat knowledge, and it’s helping him out immensely. Each time he has a question, he just shoots her a text message, and she replies with everything he needs to know. He could research online, but he trusts Mianmian far more than any search engine.

“A-Yuan and I are going to the park,” Wei Wuxian tells the cat while crouching down in front of it. “We’re not abandoning you. I promise. We’ll be back in a few hours, and if you’ve been a nice kitty and haven’t destroyed anything, we’ll reward you with extra cuddles. Deal?”

The cat chirps.

Wei Wuxian startles. He doesn’t even know why he startles. Cats meow. It’s their thing.

Until he realises that this is literally the first time he’s heard this cat meow.

It wasn’t even a real meow, more like a high-pitched squeal. Wei Wuxian supposes it could still count as some type of meow; in any case, it’s more adorable than he can possibly handle.

“My, what a pretty voice you have!” he coos. The cat starts purring.

Wei Wuxian gets up, checks the water and food bowls as well as the litterbox, and helps A-Yuan with his shoes. Then they’re off to the park.

A-Yuan is ecstatic and begs Wei Wuxian to push him on the swing, then he switches over to the slide until his best friend from playschool arrives with his mother.

Lan Jingyi’s parents are distant relatives of Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen, and Jingyi and A-Yuan have been friends from the first day that they met. Both are insanely happy to see each other, their laughter resounding through the whole playground as they play together in the sandbox with their toys. It’s a joy to watch them interact. Their playschool teacher told Wei Wuxian that Jingyi helps A-Yuan come out of his shell a bit and that in turn, A-Yuan seems to have a good influence on Jingyi, toning down his very un-Lan mischievous streak. Both boys are overjoyed that they're able to see each other during summer break, too.

Wei Wuxian sits down on one of the benches and chats a bit with Jingyi’s mum. He asks her if she’s had any news of Lan Wangji, but she just shakes her head, telling him that as far as she knows, Lan Wangji has always been a busy man; maybe he’s just swamped with work.

Wei Wuxian just nods. They talk for a bit until they run out of topics and she takes out a ball of yarn and a crochet hook. Wei Wuxian tries to read, but he can’t focus. His thoughts keep travelling back to Lan Wangji, his worry growing stronger with every passing minute.

A-Yuan and Jingyi come running up to them at one point for snacks, drinks, and cuddles, and end up talking the two adults into allowing them to have a sleepover, once playschool classes start again. They both hoot in delight when the OK is given, and Wei Wuxian smiles. His son is happy and healthy; as long as that’s the case, the world can’t be that bad.

Or can it…?

Lan Wangji has been his constant companion throughout the last few years. Granted, Wei Wuxian annoyed the hell out of him when they first met, simply to get under his skin and provoke a reaction. But Lan Wangji had slowly but surely become his favourite person, his steadfast rock in the stormy sea, the one he can always rely on.

Without him, Wei Wuxian feels lost to the storm. Anchorless. It terrifies him.

Right now, to top it all off, he feels utterly helpless, which isn’t exactly helping with his mood.

Thankfully, A-Yuan is there to distract him enough for his mind not to slip into dark territory—he’s had enough of that in the past already, thank you very much. Playtime at the park is over far too soon for A-Yuan, but he only complains for a bit while he empties the rest of his second juice box.

“Baba, do you think Zhan-gege is going to like the cat?” A-Yuan asks between sips.

“Hm? Lan Zhan likes animals, I don’t see why he shouldn’t like the cat,” Wei Wuxian explains. “Why do you ask?”

“We have a girl in our playschool who always cries and sneezes when a cat is around,” A-Yuan tells him. “I don’t want Zhan-gege to feel bad when he comes for dinner tonight.”

Oh no . Wei Wuxian has completely forgotten to tell A-Yuan that there won’t be any dinnertime with Zhan-gege in the foreseeable future. He realises far too late that there’s no easy way to break the news to the kid. He lifts A-Yuan up and sits him down on his lap.

“Radish,” he says, his voice quiet, “Zhan-gege isn’t coming to dinner tonight.”

“Oh,” A-Yuan says. “Will he come on Monday? Or next week?”

“I don’t think he will come on Monday, love,” Wei Wuxian continues, carding his fingers through A-Yuan’s hair. “And I also don’t know about next week. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ask him, Baba?”

“I can’t,” Wei Wuxian says, sadness creeping into his voice. “He didn’t reply when I messaged him. When I went to see him, he wasn’t at home.”

A-Yuan’s look grows pensive. He’s quiet for the longest time before he speaks again, voice wobbly.

“Baba, do you think Zhan-gege doesn’t want to come because A-Yuan was bad…?”

Wei Wuxian’s heart breaks. He takes his son into his arms.

“Nooo no no no, Radish, you did nothing wrong! You haven’t been bad, it’s not your fault,” he tries to soothe.

A-Yuan sniffles. Wei Wuxian can feel dampness on his shoulder.

“B-but what if Zhan-gege doesn’t like us anymore, and doesn’t want to come see us?” he hiccups.

“I don’t believe that, baby,” Wei Wuxian says, although that’s not entirely the truth. “Lan Zhan loves you very much, and even if he didn’t like us anymore, he would still be nice enough to tell us so we could say goodbye. I’m sure he’s just busy, and he’s going to call any day now!“

He wipes at the tears on A-Yuan’s cheeks, but they keep flowing. “And when he does call, we’ll ask him to go to the park with us, or to the zoo. You like the zoo, right? You would like that, seeing all the animals with Lan Zhan?”

Wei Wuxian is grasping at straws. He doesn’t know how to console his weeping child when he feels like crying himself. A-Yuan can’t possibly know that he just played right into one of Wei Wuxian’s biggest fears: that Lan Wangji eventually will grow tired of them, of their seemingly boundless energy, and choose to leave them behind.

The combination of Lan Wangji and observing animals seems promising enough for A-Yuan to calm down a bit. Wei Wuxian packs up all of their things. They say goodbye to Jingyi and Wei Wuxian carries his son home.

When they enter their apartment, they discover that A-Yuan’s bedroom looks like a warzone. Some of the stuffed animals and books have been knocked off the shelves, and his toy chest is half empty, its contents strewn about the whole room.

Wei Wuxian knows for a fact that this room was tidy before he left since he and A-Yuan cleaned it up together before leaving.

The culprit is still digging through the toy chest, seemingly looking for something.

“What are you doing ?” Wei Wuxian calls, and the cat startles and looks at him.

“Baba…?” A-Yuan asks, coming into frame in the doorway. He takes one look at his room and goes “Uh-oh. You’re in trouble. Baba is the only one who’s allowed to be messy here!”

The cat climbs out of the toy chest and meows at Wei Wuxian.

“Don’t you meow at me now,” he chastises, “now we have to tidy up all over again! What were you thinking ?”

The cat paws at his trouser leg. Wei Wuxian bends down to pick it up; the cat squirms in his arms and tries to get out of his grasp.

“Oh no, my son’s room is now forbidden territory for you when we’re not around to supervise you, and until it’s bedtime for A-Yuan!”

The cat meows again, more insistent this time, and doesn’t stop. If Wei Wuxian didn’t know better, he’d think its cries sound desperate, almost pleading.

He drops the cat off in the living room and shoots a look at A-Yuan, who closes his bedroom door before the cat can slip in again.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head and helps A-Yuan out of his shoes.

“Baba, why did the cat do this?” A-Yuan asks.

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “I have no idea. Maybe it was bored?”

“But we have so many toys here for it,” A-Yuan muses. “Do you think it was lonely and wanted to dig itself out to look for us?”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head, but he does feel a pang of guilt nonetheless. Once A-Yuan is settled in the living room with his crayons and a colouring book, Wei Wuxian goes looking for the cat. He finds it sitting in front of A-Yuan’s bedroom door. The meow it emits this time sounds sad, almost subdued.

Wei Wuxian crouches down and reaches out tentatively. When he’s not being met by a set of claws or teeth, he starts caressing the back of the cat’s head.

“I’m sorry, my little friend, I didn’t mean to yell at you,” he says. “I’m… a bit stressed lately. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. You were probably just lonely.”

The cat headbutts Wei Wuxian’s hand and rubs its cheek along his fingers.

“Let me see your paws for a second, alright?”

A-Yuan’s toy chest, while it has no lid, is made of solid wood, and Wei Wuxian gently checks for injuries or broken claws. The cat doesn’t seem to appreciate the procedure very much. Still, it lets him pick up its front paws one by one and look at them without making too much of a fuss. There’s no scratch or broken claw to be detected. Wei Wuxian makes a mental note to ask the vet to check them once more when they visit.

He goes over to the living room, plops down on the couch, and texts Mianmian. He learns that cats like to dig around in boxes sometimes, and even might empty them to play with its contents, no matter how many toys they already have. Wei Wuxian lets out a small sigh of relief upon reading that this all was, apparently, normal cat behaviour.

He prepares a pasta bake for dinner and goes to clean up A-Yuan’s room while the food is in the oven. Their evening routine is the same as the previous day. The cat watches again while A-Yuan bathes and follows them into the bedroom when it’s time for a bedtime story. This time, the cat joins A-Yuan in bed and snuggles up next to him, purring.

“What is that?” Wei Wuxian mock-cries. “Forsaking me for my own son? Treason! But who can blame you when A-Yuan is just too cute for his own good, hmm?”

A-Yuan giggles and buries his cheek in the cat’s fur. Together they listen to Wei Wuxian’s bedtime story, the cat seemingly as enchanted by the story as A-Yuan himself.

Not soon after, A-Yuan’s eyes begin to close, and he snuggles even closer to the cat.

“Baba,” he mumbles sleepily. “Can we keep it?”

Wei Wuxian sighs. “No, Radish, we can’t. We’re not allowed.”

“But I love it…” A-Yuan protests, too tired already to put real heat behind his words.

“I know, love, and I’m sure the cat loves you too. But look, I’m sure it already has a family who loves it too, and who misses it very much. It would be unfair to keep it. Maybe we can get a pet when you’re a bit older, what do you say?”

A-Yuan whimpers, already half asleep.

Wei Wuxian feels very tired, all of a sudden, and decides to call it an early night. He loads the dishwasher, showers, brushes his teeth, and goes straight to bed. He doesn’t feel like reading, so he just closes his eyes, totally convinced that he’ll lie awake for quite some time still.

He doesn’t even register it when the cat jumps onto the bed and curls up to his chest again.

--------

Getting the cat to the vet in the morning goes surprisingly smoothly. Wei Wuxian doesn’t have a carrier, so the cat ends up sitting in the back seat right next to A-Yuan’s car seat. Wei Wuxian prays that they’re not going to get stopped by police, and that the cat won’t throw a tantrum.

The cat turns out to be the most well-behaved passenger Wei Wuxian ever had in his car. It lies down on the seat and doesn’t move until they arrive, doesn’t meow or whine, and doesn’t protest when Wei Wuxian carries it into the vet’s office.

They’ve arrived at the right time; there are only two other patients before them. One has a rabbit in a small carrier, the other one has the smallest dog that Wei Wuxian has ever seen.

He flinches. The dog resembles a large rat more than a dog, really, and it is sitting in a carrier, but it still barks at them, and Wei Wuxian has to muster up all of his courage to stay in the waiting room after they’ve signed in.

The small dog stares at the cat in Wei Wuxian’s arms and begins to bark loudly at it.

The cat levels a glacial stare at it.

The dog whimpers and grows quiet.

Wei Wuxian raises an eyebrow at that but says nothing. Cats can be intimidating, he knows that much, and maybe even a meow from A-Yuan could be intimidating to a dog this microscopic. He’s still glad the small creature decided to shut up.

A-Yuan is far more interested in the rabbit on the woman’s lap. He keeps on trying to peek into the carrier. The woman makes eye contact with Wei Wuxian, and he nods, allowing A-Yuan to get closer to look at the fluffy animal. A-Yuan asks for the rabbit’s name. The woman proceeds to answer all of the boy’s questions about rabbits and their care.

The vet turns out to be a rotund middle-aged woman with grey streaks in her dark curls and crow’s feet around her eyes. She listens intently as Wei Wuxian lifts the cat onto the examining table and tells her how it appeared in their apartment seemingly out of nowhere. She checks for injuries and takes a look at the cat’s gums and teeth, which earns her a bit of protest from the feline. Then she takes out the scanner and looks for a chip.

“It’s a male cat,” she informs both Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan, “and he seems to be in perfect health. I couldn’t find a tattoo or a chip, so there’s nothing standing in the way of you two keeping him if you’d like to.”

“We can’t,” Wei Wuxian hurries to explain before A-Yuan gets his hopes up again. “Our lease doesn’t allow pets in the apartment. We’re still looking for the owners though, but if we can’t find them…”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t finish his sentence. The thought of giving this sweet cat to a shelter doesn’t sit well with him at all, but he’s running out of options. If no one comes to claim the cat as their own, then it might be the only thing he can do.

The vet seems to sense his discomfort. “If you wish to, you could email me one or two flyers for me to hang up in the waiting room,” she suggests. “There are always lovely people coming in who would be willing to adopt a new pet, especially such a beautiful and well-behaved little fellow like this one.”

The cat seems to preen.

“That seems like a good idea,” Wei Wuxian says, “I’ll get to it as soon as I’m home. Thank you!”

A-Yuan gets a lollipop from the receptionist on their way out. Both he and Wei Wuxian are uncharacteristically quiet on their drive home. The reality that both father and son would like to keep their furry friend as a permanent companion but aren’t allowed to, looms over them like a stormcloud about to unleash torrential rain. The cat seems to sense this; he repeatedly tries to snuggle up to A-Yuan, who’s still strapped into his car seat. From the way the cat looks over to the driver’s seat, he looks as if he would like to snuggle up to Wei Wuxian too, but decides against it, as if he knew that doing so while Wei Wuxian is driving could be dangerous.

But once they’re at home, the cat is all over Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan, climbing onto their laps, headbutting them, and purring as loudly as he can. He even lets them pet his belly and chirps a few times, which makes A-Yuan giggle.

Even so, the child can't seem to lighten up to his usual bright self. Wei Wuxian can’t stand it. He takes his son into his arms and holds him close.

“I’m so sorry, A-Yuan,” he says. This time he’s the one who’s unable to hold back a sniffle. “I’ve promised to always make you happy, to give you everything you wish for…and now I can’t even make it so that you get to keep your friend.”

A-Yuan levels him with a look that is far too serious for a five-year-old.

“Baba,” he tells Wei Wuxian. “Yanli-gugu says that friends are like the ocean. Some come and go, like the waves on the beach, some stay forever, like the water in the ocean, but there are always enough for a whole lifetime.”

Wei Wuxian chuckles. “Isn’t that a bit too philosophical for a wee little radish like you?” He playfully boops A-Yuan’s nose. “Did you even understand what she was trying to tell you?”

A-Yuan nods. “It means sometimes friends stay, and sometimes they leave, but there are so many people out there who can be our friends that there will always be someone. I think it’s the same with pets.”

“Wow, would you look at that?” Wei Wuxian exclaims, truly impressed. “My son is wise! Teach me your ways, laoshi!”

“Baba, I’m five, not stupid.”

At that, Wei Wuxian bursts out laughing.

“I will be sad when the cat is gone,” A-Yuan adds quietly. “I love him very much. But maybe I can find a cat friend again when I’m older?”

“Maybe. In the meantime, our little friend here can stay your friend as long as it lasts,” Wei Wuxian replies, kissing A-Yuan on the cheek. The cat walks up to them and rubs his cheek on A-Yuan’s other cheek.

“Okay, I’ll prepare lunch, and then Baba has to work for a bit,” Wei Wuxian tells A-Yuan as he sets him down from his lap onto the couch.

Wei Wuxian greatly enjoys his work as an illustrator. He’s lucky enough that he can work from home for the most part and only has to show up for meetings and discussions with authors, publishers, and printing agencies. Many of those meetings are being held online these days too—it’s way easier to coordinate time zones and work schedules that way.

His current project involves a few illustrations for pamphlets and posters explaining environmental awareness to young children. He’s still in the planning stages, so his whole afternoon and evening before dinner is filled with doodling and sketching, coming up with first concepts and mock-ups and sending them off to the client, as well as writing emails with follow-up questions.

He doesn’t have the heart to create the flyers he promised the vet. He convinces himself to take care of them the following day.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen that evening, so vegetable stir fry is on the menu that night since it’s easy and quick enough to prepare. A-Yuan loves that dish, and it’s healthy and comforting at the same time. They joke and laugh as they eat, the heaviness of the day finally falling off their shoulders.

Wei Wuxian loads the dishwasher, then lets A-Yuan pick a movie for them to watch together. He settles on “Lilo and Stitch”, his favourite one to watch lately. They plop down on the couch together, and soon after the cat stretches on both of their laps, cuddling up with them.

All that’s missing now is Lan Zhan , Wei Wuxian thinks and regrets it instantly. He hasn’t heard back from Lan Xichen yet, but he knows there are still a few more hours to go until he’ll be able to call or notify him. Right now, he painfully realises just what kind of a deep hole Lan Wangji’s absence leaves in his life.

Wei Wuxian misses Lan Wangji’s voice, deep and rich, always able to calm him down. He misses the way Lan Wangji looks at him, sometimes exasperated, sometimes with an unreadable glint in his eyes, but always fond. He misses Lan Wangji’s hand on the small of his back when they’re out and about, gently guiding him and steadying him.

He misses the way Lan Wangji interacts with A-Yuan. From the very first day on, Lan Wangji had taken the child seriously, handling him with care and affection. Wei Wuxian sometimes jokes that Lan Wangji spoils A-Yuan more than he himself does.

Wei Wuxian wishes he could joke with Lan Wangji now.

He swallows down his sadness for later and finishes watching the movie with A-Yuan, who’s fast asleep by the end of it. Wei Wuxian does wake him up to get him changed into his pyjamas and brush his teeth, but he knows the kid is far too tired for a bath. He carries his son to bed, tucks him in, and sits by his side for a while, observing his breathing.

Wei Wuxian used to do that a lot when he first adopted A-Yuan, afraid of messing up, afraid that this was just too good to be true, that A-Yuan would be taken from him at any moment. He used to wake up multiple times at night and go check if his son was still breathing—an irrational fear, he knows now, but the mere idea of holding a lifeless A-Yuan in his arms terrified him to no end.

Lan Wangji had been his anchor back then too. Wei Wuxian would call him up at the most random times of the night, panicked, not knowing what to do or how to calm down on his own. Not a single time had Lan Wangji complained about it. He would listen to Wei Wuxian, talk to him. Sometimes, when things were particularly bad, he would even sing to Wei Wuxian. He desperately wishes he had a recording of Lan Wangji’s singing voice.

Wei Wuxian is exhausted but decides to stay awake nonetheless, in case Lan Xichen calls or messages him. He sits on his bed with his book, staring at the pages, unable to read a single sentence. He plays games on his phone. At one point, he can hear the cat rummaging around in A-Yuan’s bedroom, but before he can get up to check what all the fuss is about, it quiets down again. Soon after, the cat walks in, jumps up on the bed, and lies down next to Wei Wuxian, purring.

“Why did I even buy you a cat bed?” he asks the cat while scratching him behind his ear. “You keep on sleeping on my bed anyways.”

The cat just slowly blinks at him.

Wei Wuxian puts his phone aside and picks his book back up. He must have dozed off at some point because when the notification tone on his phone resounds through his bedroom, he startles. He looks at the clock; it’s 1:36 AM.

Lan Xichen’s email is short. He says that no one at work has heard from Lan Wangji. He still advises Wei Wuxian to keep the authorities out of it, as the Lan family would like to keep this matter to themselves, if possible. He also tells Wei Wuxian not to worry, as he is convinced that the whole thing will be resolved in only a matter of a few days.

Wei Wuxian throws his phone down onto the bed. The cat, who had been sleeping too, startles.

“Who is he to tell me not to worry?” he grits out, clearly angry, but trying to keep his voice down so as to not wake his son. “Why does he sound so cheerful? His brother is missing , for crying out loud! His baby brother , whom he claims he loves so much ! If he really does, why isn’t he doing anything?”

Wei Wuxian knows he’s being unfair. He knows that the Lan siblings share a strong bond, that Lan Xichen would do anything to keep his younger brother safe. Lan Xichen is probably doing a lot more to locate Lan Wangji than he lets on. Still, Wei Wuxian can’t help but to feel angry, and scared, and helpless. There are tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.

Wei Wuxian misses Lan Wangji. He misses him so so much. He’s desperate for anything that reminds him of Lan Wangji, anything that would give him the feeling of Lan Wangji being here with him. A photograph, a piece of clothing, a recording of a piece of music he played.

Wei Wuxian picks his phone back up, rests his back against the headboard, and pulls his legs up to his chest. He opens his voicemail, selects a particular date, puts the phone on speaker, and hits play.

“ Wei Ying, ” Lan Wangji’s voice floods his bedroom, just quiet enough not to disturb anyone. “I do apologise, but I think I will be late for dinner today. There’s some construction work going on that I was not aware of, and I’m stuck in traffic. I did however pick up the ice cream you and A-Yuan like so much. I will try and reach you as quickly as possible. I cannot wait to see you both .”

Wei Wuxian breaks.

The first sob comes louder than he had expected but after that, there’s no end to his tears. He weeps, his arms crossed over his knees, his forehead resting against his arms.

He replays the message again, and again, and again until he loses track of how often he’s already played it. He’s trying to keep the illusion alive that Lan Wangji is here with him, talking to him, but he knows it’s just a month-old message he never deleted because it was the first one in which Lan Wangji openly stated that he missed them. The sound of his own sobs breaks the illusion even further.

Afraid and heartbroken, Wei Wuxian lets his body fall over to his side, curls up in the foetal position, and cries some more.

The cat gets up from his sleeping spot on the bed, walks over to him, and softly meows at him. He raises his paw and boops Wei Wuxian’s shoulder with it, takes another step, then rubs his head up against Wei Wuxian’s wet cheek. Wei Wuxian reaches out to stroke the cat’s fur.

“I just miss him so much,” he hiccups. “Lan Zhan is my—my best friend, and now he’s gone . I don’t know where he went. I don’t know if there was an—an accident, or if someone took him. I don’t know what to do to help find him. Or if he even wants me to find him.”

The cat meows again, as if in question. Wei Wuxian shifts his position so he can have a better look at the animal. He’s still crying, and he whispers to keep his voice as steady as possible.

“Lan Zhan is the nicest person I know,” he tells the cat. “He’s on the same level as my jiejie and A-Yuan, which means a lot. He’s brave, and warm, and kind. He’s so good , you don’t understand.”

Wei Wuxian takes a break to wipe at his face and blow his nose. “Lan Zhan likes calm things, and calm people. I’m not calm, and A-Yuan isn’t calm either. I like to tease Lan Zhan and joke around with him, because I don’t know how else to show him that I like him, to get him to react to me. A-and sometimes I fear we might be…too much, you know?”

He looks at the cat as if all the answers to his questions were hidden in his white fur and golden eyes.

“Do you think that’s what happened? That Lan Zhan finally had enough of us and went his merry way? To be happy somewhere else? That he didn’t tell us because he thought it would be more kind to spare us and just leave?”

The cat meows, headbutting Wei Wuxian’s shoulder again.

“You’re right, Lan Zhan is too good. Even if he had enough of me, he would never leave his brother behind like that. He’d also never break A-Yuan’s heart like that.”

The cat begins to purr at the mention of A-Yuan. Wei Wuxian lets out a wet chuckle.

“You really like my son, huh? A-Yuan adores Lan Zhan. You know, one day he came home from playschool, and he was sad because all of the other kids in his class have two parents, and yeah, well, it’s just the two of us. So he asked me if we could ask his Zhan-gege if he wanted to be his second baba.”

His voice breaks on the last few words, and he starts crying again, even more sorrowful than before.

The cat is eerily still, staring at him.

“A-and, you know, the thing is, I—if I had to choose someone for A-Yuan to be his second dad, it would be Lan Zhan,” he rambles on through the tears. “He clearly loves A-Yuan, and he’s so good with him. He’s patient and kind and calm, and always there for him. I can’t think of anyone else, it has to be him. But I can’t ask him. I don’t know if he even wants kids of his own.”

Even quieter, he adds: “And I don’t think he’d want me.”

The cat still stares at him, his eyes fixed on Wei Wuxian’s face, ears pricked, clearly listening. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know why he suddenly feels like pouring his heart out to a random cat that doesn’t even belong to him, but he does nonetheless.

“I’ve been in love with Lan Zhan for years,” he explains, all hushed tones and whispers. “I was too stupid to realise it at first, and then I was too much of a coward to tell him.”

With the back of his hand, he wipes at his eyes. “Because Lan Zhan is so good, a-and I’m a mess, and he—he deserves someone good, you know. Someone who can truly make him happy. I don’t know if I could do that. I mean I’d love to try if he’d let me, but I don’t think he even likes me that way. We’re friends, but… I don’t think he loves me the way I love him. And I was too afraid that I would ruin what we have by telling him.”

Wei Wuxian curls up tighter around himself. “A-and now he’s gone, and I have no idea where he is, or when he’ll be back, or if he even will be back. He might not want to. He might not be able to. For all I know, he could be—he could be—”

He can’t even bring himself to say it. The thought of Lan Wangji being torn from this life, either by accident or by a stranger’s cruel hand, makes bile rise up in his throat. He scrambles off the bed, runs to the bathroom, and dry heaves into the toilet. When he’s finished, he slumps down next to it on the cold tiled floor.

The cat appears in the bathroom, emitting a tiny worried chirp. Wei Wuxian looks at him.

“If I can give you one piece of advice,” he tells the animal, “if you ever meet a nice lady cat— or even another cat gentleman, let’s not be homophobic, and you fall in love with them? Tell them. Let them know before it’s too late.”

The cat exits the bathroom. Wei Wuxian watches how he paws at A-Yuan’s bedroom door until it’s open wide enough for him to squeeze through. He emerges again, dragging a long powder blue ribbon in his mouth. He stops in front of Wei Wuxian and places it in front of his feet, then meows.

Wei Wuxian picks up the ribbon and looks at it more closely.

“That… that looks like Lan Zhan’s ribbon,” he says, dumbfounded. Lan Wangji always carries it with him. He either has it on his wrist or in his hair, sometimes even around his neck. It’s always touching him. His brother has a similar one. Wei Wuxian always thought it might be some kind of Lan family fashion statement.

Reverently, he traces the length of the ribbon with his fingers. “But this can’t be Lan Zhan’s ribbon. Why would A-Yuan have it? I don’t understand. Was it on one of his stuffed animals?”

The cat meows and moves forward, sticking his head under the ribbon, as if trying to wear it as a collar. Wei Wuxian observes him for a while, not knowing what to make of this behaviour, until the cat does it again and meows at him, louder this time, and more insistently.

“Oh, do you want me to tie it around your neck? With a bow? Are you trying to cheer me up by looking cute?”

The cat meows again.

“Alright alright, I’ll indulge you,” he laughs wetly, tying the ribbon around the cat’s neck, making sure it’s not too tight and ending with a neat little bow.

The sight of it reminds him of the way Lan Wangji ties off his own ribbon with a bow when wearing it in his braid, and his heart hurts. He buries his face in his hands and starts to weep again.

The cat headbutts him. Wei Wuxian takes him into his arms, burying his face in his soft white fur. The cat licks his cheek once as if to kiss his tears away. The sandpaper tongue tickles Wei Wuxian’s cheek, and he lets out the tiniest of wet chuckles. Still, he can’t seem to stop crying. He snuggles closer to the cat, closes his eyes, and lets his tears fall freely.

--------

When he wakes up, Wei Wuxian notices three things:

1. It’s light outside.
2. A-Yuan is cuddling close to him.
3. He’s in his bed.

Which would look like a normal morning in the Wei household, if Wei Wuxian wasn’t so sure that he passed out in the bathroom the night before.

A-Yuan is awake, looking at him with big, inquisitive eyes.

“Good morning, Baba,” he says. “Your eyes are red.”

Wei Wuxian blinks in confusion.

“Morning, Radish,” he replies. “Baba was sad last night and cried a little bit, that’s why my eyes are red. It’s alright now.”

“Why were you sad?” A-Yuan asks.

Wei Wuxian averts his eyes. “…because I miss Lan Zhan.”

“Oh,” A-Yuan says. Then— “Baba, A-Yuan was bad.

“Radish, you didn’t do anything wrong, why do you keep saying—”

“Wait here,” A-Yuan instructs as he climbs out of bed.

Wei Wuxian closes his eyes. He’s confused and his head hurts, probably from crying so much the previous night. He can hear footsteps entering the bedroom and the mattress shifting under a body’s weight next to him—probably A-Yuan climbing back into bed. A hand runs gently through his hair.

A hand that’s way too big to belong to A-Yuan.

Wei Wuxian opens his eyes and turns his head. He’s met with a pair of warm eyes, golden specks swimming in the irises; a smile, more rare and more precious to him than the most expensive of gemstones, all framed by a waterfall of silky black hair.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says, his voice heavy with warmth and affection.

Wei Wuxian stares at him in shock. Slowly, he sits up. The hand in his hair travels to his cheek, cupping it as if it was the most exquisite piece of fine china.

Wei Wuxian vaguely registers A-Yuan climbing back onto the bed and sitting down next to him, but he’s way too distracted by this person who claims to be Lan Wangji.

“Lan— no no no, you can’t be Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian splutters. His eyes are watering. “Lan Zhan is missing.”

The man who looks like Lan Zhan says nothing but pulls him in, envelops him in a cloud of white cashmere and sandalwood and soap.

He smells like Lan Zhan , Wei Wuxian thinks. His heartbeat feels like Lan Zhan’s .

They haven’t hugged often, but Wei Wuxian would recognise Lan Wangji’s heartbeat anytime, anywhere.

Wei Wuxian looks at him then, really looks, and finally, the reality that his Lan Zhan is here, alive, unharmed, with him!!! hits him, and he throws himself back into Lan Wangji’s arms, sobbing almost uncontrollably.

Lan Wangji holds him close and rubs soothing circles between his shoulder blades. He places a kiss on Wei Wuxian’s temple.

“Where have you been? ” Wei Wuxian cries into Lan Wangji’s chest, fisting into his expensive cashmere jumper. “Why didn’t you call? I was so worried , Lan Zhan, oh my god. Never do that to me again, promise me! Never! ”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, and Wei Wuxian’s heart constricts with pure joy and relief. “I’ve been here the whole time, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian unsticks himself from Lan Wangji. “What do you mean you’ve been here the whole time? Your brother is looking for you, too!”

“Brother knew where I was,” Lan Wangji replies calmly. “You told him yourself.”

Wei Wuxian feels like he doesn’t understand a single word. “Lan Zhan… if this is some kind of cruel joke, I’ll never forgive you. I thought you were injured, or- or dead! ”

“Show him, Zhan-gege,” A-Yuan pipes up.

“Show me what?” Wei Wuxian asks.

Lan Wangji lets go of Wei Wuxian, gets up, and— flickers ? Wei Wuxian can’t really describe what he is seeing, but Lan Wangji’s body blurs and shrinks , and whatever he’s turning into lands on the bed and takes the shape of a cat.

A snow-white, soft-furred cat.

With golden eyes and a blue ribbon around its neck, tied into a bow.

“Holy shit,” Wei Wuxian says with a great deal of enthusiasm.

“BABA!” A-Yuan exclaims and clasps his hands in front of his mouth

Wei Wuxian just stares at him, mouth hanging wide open. He’s seen some outlandish stuff in his life, but this has to be the craziest thing that has ever happened to him.

The cat jumps back off the bed, flickers again. Wei Wuxian is sure he’ll never get used to seeing this. He blinks, and one second later, Lan Wangji is standing in front of him again, fully human.

“You… you shapeshift, Lan Zhan,” he says.

“Mn,” Lan Wangji replies.

“Into… a cat,” Wei Wuxian goes on.

Lan Wangji nods.

“Only a cat, or…?”

“Yes. We only have one other form we can shift to,” Lan Wangji explains. “My whole family is like this, it’s passed on through the male line. No one knows exactly why, or how it works. We only know that the ribbon helps us control the shifts.”

“Wait,” Wei Wuxian says, tapping his nose, “when you say the male line, does that mean your father was a shapeshifter too? And your uncle and Xichen-ge, too?”

Lan Wangji nods again. “Yes. If Brother and I had a sister, she would not have inherited it. We are all some sort of felines.”

“And the ribbon helps you control the shifts… so you sometimes shift involuntarily?” Wei Wuxian inquires. His curiosity is absolutely piqued, he wants to know everything.

Lan Wangji sits down on the bed again. “That can happen when one is in emotional or physical distress, yes. Adults can usually control it better than children. We are given these ribbons to help us not suddenly shift when it would be most unwelcome. They are made out of lotus silk and enchanted with some kind of spells. I do not even know all of them. We usually learn them when we have children of our own, so we can craft ribbons for them.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes fall onto the ribbon that’s still tied in a bow around Lan Wangji’s neck. “Oh, so it really is your ribbon! I thought it was just a similar one… but why did A-Yuan have it?”

Lan Wangji looks at A-Yuan, who sits on the bed, picking at some invisible lint on the cover.

“Baba, do you remember last week, when we went to visit Zhan-gege?” he begins. “A-and we had to leave earlier because Mianmian-jiejie said she would come to see us, and you almost forgot? And then Zhan-gege said he wanted to go shower anyway, and you said ‘it’s okay’, so he went?”

“Yeah, Radish, I do,” Wei Wuxian says. “But what does this have to do with Lan Zhan and his ribbon?”

A-Yuan looks absolutely miserable. “You were putting your shoes on and I went back to the living room because I had forgotten my backpack, and there was the ribbon on the floor. I thought it was pretty, and I wanted one like Zhan-gege has one… and because it was on the floor, I thought he didn’t want it anymore. So I took it.”

“I assume that it fell from the counter where I had put it as I got ready for the shower,” Lan Wangji clarifies. “It might have slipped under the door. The gap is large enough for it to fit through.”

Wei Wuxian turns to his son. He’s not exactly mad, but still a bit disappointed. “A-Yuan, we’ve talked about this. You know you can’t simply take things you like to keep, even if you believe they’re abandoned. You have to ask first!”

“I’m sorry”, A-Yuan mumbles. There’s a fat tear rolling down his cheek. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble. Baba, Zhan-gege, please don’t hate me.”

Lan Wangji gets up, rounds the bed, and takes A-Yuan into his arms. The child clings to him like a limpet.

“We could never hate you, A-Yuan, ssssh, don’t cry,” he soothes. “I am not angry. I know you didn’t mean any harm. Please ask next time though. My ribbon is special; only my family, my partner or spouse, and my children are allowed to touch it.”

Wei Wuxian leans over and rubs A-Yuan’s back. “If you like Lan Zhan’s ribbon so much, maybe we could get you one in a similar colour, or a colour that you like, next time we go shopping? So you could match. Would that be okay, Lan Zhan?”

He looks up at Lan Wangji, who nods.

“So, A-Yuan took your ribbon,” Wei Wuxian continues. “What happened then?”

“As I got dressed, I could not find the ribbon. I looked for it everywhere. At one point, I was convinced I had lost it outside. I panicked and stress-shifted, and couldn’t shift back. Brother and I do have an emergency system set up for such cases, but with him being abroad, it was of no use, and… I really did not want to drag Shufu into all of this. So I decided to come to you.”

“To me?” Wei Wuxian points at himself.

“Yes,” Lan Wangji confirms. “You are clever and imaginative. I figured if anyone could find out what was going on and get help, it would be you. That, and—”

Lan Wangji looks at A-Yuan, who has cuddled into his arms and is playing with a strand of Lan Wangji’s long hair. “I figured after a while that either of you may have found the ribbon. I looked in A-Yuan’s room first and did indeed find it at the bottom of the toy chest.”

“Would you have looked in Baba’s room too if you had not found it?” A-Yuan asks.

Lan Wangji looks at Wei Wuxian. “I would have, yes. I know what an invasion of privacy that is, for both of you. I apologise.”

Wei Wuxian waves his hand at that. “Pffffft, Lan Zhan, please. Invasion of privacy? I made you poop in a plastic bin full of sand that smells like baby powder. I don’t know what’s worse.”

“Wei Ying is very good at taking care of a cat,” Lan Wangji agrees. His tone has a certain smugness to it.

“We can’t have a cat, Zhan-gege,” A-Yuan explains. “Our countrylord doesn’t want us to.”

“ Landlord , my Radish,” Wei Wuxian corrects and laughs.

Lan Wangji smiles at both of them. He places a kiss onto A-Yuan’s forehead.

“Breakfast is almost ready,” he tells the child. “I know you can reach the bowls, A-Yuan, would you be so nice as to set the table for us? I would like to speak alone with your father for just a minute.”

A-Yuan nods and wiggles out of Lan Wangji’s embrace, eager to help with the tasks usually reserved for the grown-ups.

Wei Wuxian suddenly feels warm. He knows his cheeks and eyes must be red from crying, but he also feels very embarrassed.

“Lan Zhan… you should probably notify your brother”, he says, just to say something.

“I already did,” Lan Wangji informs him.

“Oh. So… when were you able to shift back?” Wei Wuxian asks.

“Last night, after you fell asleep on the bathroom floor,” Lan Wangji replies. “I woke A-Yuan this morning and explained everything. I did not want to startle him.”

“So, last night… you carried me to bed?”, Wei Wuxian goes on.

“Yes.”

Wei Wuxian clears his throat. “So, um- about… about yesterday… do you… do you remember the things I said? After I got the email from your brother?”

Lan Wangji nods.

Wei Wuxian feels like he’s about to pass out. “Um, so about that—I was panicking, and I clearly wasn’t very coherent, but what else is new? Hahaha… so I may have rambled a bit. Just—just forget what I said, it’s not imp—”

“Wei Ying.”

Lan Wangji shifts closer to Wei Wuxian, takes one of his hands into his own and kisses Wei Wuxian’s knuckles—once, twice, three times. He then lets go of Wei Wuxian’s hand to cup his face again, his thumb caressing gently across Wei Wuxian’s cheek.

“I do,” he says.

Wei Wuxian looks at him quizzically.

“I do love you, just as much as you do love me,” Lan Wangji tells him. “I have been in love with you since we first got to know each other, so… if Wei Ying will have me, I would also love to be the one he holds dearest in his heart. Because you are the one dearest to my heart, and so is A-Yuan. You both light up my darkest days brighter than the sun ever could.”

Wei Wuxian’s vision goes blurry again, but instead of a sob, he can feel laughter bubbling up in his throat. So he laughs, and leans forward again, almost falling into Lan Wangji’s waiting arms.

“You mean it?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

“With all of my heart,” Lan Wangji affirms. “I would like to be by your side at all times, as… as your beloved. Maybe even as your husband, one day, if that is something Wei Ying would like.”

Wei Wuxian sobs then but nods enthusiastically. He isn’t used to Lan Wangji talking so much, but it’s been a few weird days for all of them, so he doesn’t mind at all.

Lan Wangji swallows. “And I’d also love to be A-Yuan’s second baba… if he’d still want me to.”

Wei Wuxian meets Lan Wangji’s eyes. He registers that Lan Wangji’s ears are red, but his gaze is so full of warmth and affection that Wei Wuxian can’t do anything else other than  kiss him about it.

It’s a bit salty and wet from the tears, but it’s also warm and tender and so full of love. It’s all Wei Wuxian has ever wanted. It feels like finally, finally coming home. Wei Wuxian wants to drown in it.

They pull apart after a while and rest their foreheads together, just to breathe in each others’ presence.

Lan Wangji runs his hand to Wei Wuxian’s hair and gives him a quick peck. “You had a rough night, you need to hydrate and to eat something. Come have breakfast with us, I’ll prepare some tea.”

Wei Wuxian only nods. He’s loath to let go of his boyfriend – boyfriend!!! – but he knows that Lan Wangji is right, so he first takes a detour to the bathroom to relieve himself and to freshen up before joining him in the kitchen.

“Baba, Zhan-gege is making us pancakes!” A-Yuan exclaims happily, sliding from his chair to run to his father. Wei Wuxian scoops him up and rests him on his hip. A-Yuan is getting heavy, he’s almost too old to be carried like this. Wei Wuxian decides that he will carry his son as long as they both want to, no matter how long that might last.

“Is he, now?” he asks, carrying A-Yuan over to where Lan Wangji is standing in front of the stove.

“He is,” Lan Wangji replies.

“Lan Zhan, what a rebel you are!” Wei Wuxian exclaims in fake shock. “What happened to healthy breakfast?”

“We will have fruit with the pancakes,” Lan Wangji informs him, looking over to a whole plate of cut-up and neatly arranged fruit. Wei Wuxian supposes Lan Wangji must have prepared all of this while he was still sleeping. “Today is a special day, so pancakes are allowed.”

“A special day? What special day?” A-Yuan wants to know.

Lan Wangji smiles, a smile so sweet and soft that it takes Wei Wuxian’s breath away. Lan Wangji looks at both Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan as if they’d hung the moon and the stars.

“Today, I was gifted a family,” he says.

He bends down to place one kiss onto A-Yuan’s cheek, and one onto Wei Wuxian’s lips. Wei Wuxian beams back at him. A-Yuan chuckles and grabs hold of Lan Wangji’s sleeve.

“Baba,” A-Yuan says quietly, keeping his pleading eyes fixed on Lan Wangji while talking to his father. “Since we can’t have a cat… what about Zhan-gege? Can we keep him?”

Wei Wuxian laughs. “Radish, that is not for us to decide. Even if we want Lan Zhan to stay with us, it depends on what he wants.”

A-Yuan turns again to Lan Wangji, his face the absolute embodiment of the pleading eye emoji. “Zhan-gege?”

Lan Wangji ruffles A-Yuan’s hair. “I would gladly like to stay”, he tells them, “as long as I don’t have to use the litterbox again.”

The pancakes are an absolute hit. They clear the table together, then reunite in Wei Wuxian’s bed, where the three of them spend the rest of the morning cuddling and laughing. It becomes a ritual for them too, after Wei Wuxian’s lease is up a few months later, and he and A-Yuan move in with Lan Wangji. His bed is a bit bigger, and the small family takes full advantage of it and cuddles every morning on weekends, and whenever A-Yuan doesn’t have to go to school.

On A-Yuan’s sixth birthday, they visit a friend of Lan Wangji’s whose cat just had a litter of kittens. A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian are both allowed to pick one to join their family as soon as they’re old enough to be safely separated from their mother. Until then, Lan Wangji sometimes voluntarily shifts into his cat form to help Wei Wuxian teach A-Yuan how to take care of a cat.

Playing with the kittens becomes one of their favourite family activities once they arrive. The two fluffballs are extremely curious, meow at everyone and everything, and like to cuddle a lot. Wei Wuxian is happy that they’re still too small to climb onto the bed. The only people allowed in there are his beloved Lan Wangji, and, if he feels like joining them for cuddles, their son.