Chapter Text
Wei Ying put the bunny travelling cage next to the slightly bigger cage. Yīnyǐng and Little Yún were snuggled up against each other in the corner.
The man who’d come to pick them up had said he’d be here around eleven, so he’d probably arrive in a few minutes. Wei Ying hadn’t really expected to get attached to the small bunnies. He knew his apartment was too small for them and though he’d hoped to move into a bigger place and give them more space, it didn’t seem like that would happen anytime soon. Honestly, his apartment and lifestyle were both pretty shitty and the bunnies deserved better. It was on him for taking animals in just because someone had asked, thinking that it would help. His sister had told him that, despite it being a good and kind personality trait, he had to think these things through a bit more. His brother had called him a fucking idiot but he’d meant the exact same thing their sister had; that he was going to get in trouble for trying to help. That it wasn’t always better. That sometimes he didn’t have what it takes. A house with a nice garden, in this case.
He’d put Yīnyǐng and Little Yún on the internet with the cutest picture he could find and had said that they were free for adoption, as long as he’d be able to meet the people taking them in. He knew damn well that there were people out there feeding bunnies to their snakes and though snakes need to live too– he wasn’t about to let Yīnyǐng and Little Yún die as a snake snack.
The man who’d replied had just said he wanted rabbits for his son and then he’d sent a picture of the most beautiful garden Wei Ying had ever laid his eyes on. Would this be a proper environment?, the man had asked. He’d then realised that the family coming to get them was probably richer than he’d ever be and that was fine– his cute bunnies deserves that. It made him a little ashamed of his own hellhole of an apartment, though.
He was completely lost in thinking of excuses for his one room apartment when the bell rang. He rushed towards the intercom, took the phone and said: “For the bunnies? I’ll buzz you up. It’s the third level, number five.” He’d already emailed them exactly that. While buzzing them up he glanced at Yīnyǐng and Little Yún again. “This is it! You’re going to live that good life from now on.”
He waited near the door and saw the two of them walking up to his apartment looking– perfect. The man was tall and he was smiling just lightly at his son, an excited preschooler who was holding onto the man’s hand. Lan Wangji, he’d introduced himself as. Wei Ying had done a proper amount of internet stalking and had found out little except from the fact that this man worked at the local university and that he was around his age. His age with a child and a beautiful garden and a calm and collected air around him.
Wei Ying waved at them. The kid, when they finally came closer, hid behind Lan Wangji’s leg a little bit. Wei Ying leaned down and held out his hand. “Hello! You must be the amazing bunny caretaker I heard so much about!”
The kid laughed a little, took his hand. “Hello.”
“Are you sure that the zoo doesn’t want to hire you as their bunny caretaker?”
He shook his head, and came out from behind his dad’s leg. He looked like a kind boy, though Wei Ying had always had a soft spot for kids.
“I’m Wei Ying. Are you ready to meet Yīnyǐng and Little Yún?” He looked up at Lan Wangji “You guys are Chinese right? Those were already their names but I’m not too attached to them. Feel free to think of something new.”
“No.” Lan Wangji said. Then he seemed to think about his answer and added: “It would be rude to change their names, they already have them.”
The kid nodded happily. “Can I meet them?”
Oh god, this kid was cute. All bunnies deserved a cute preschooler and an incredibly handsome man taking care of them. He wouldn’t say he was jealous of his own bunnies, but he wouldn’t mind having a family like that. “Of course! Come in, come in!”
He’d cleaned his apartment and still the two stood out. The both of them didn’t seem too bothered by it though. The child looked at the bunnies, wide eyed, and then at Wei Ying for permission. “Go ahead.” Wei Ying said. Within seconds the kid was glued to the cage. Wei Ying glanced at Lan Wangji, smiled. “He's a sweet boy. I’m sure Yīnyǐng and Little Yún will be happy with you guys.”
Lan Wangji nodded. “A-Yuan is alway kind.” He himself was also looking at the bunnies like he’d fallen in love too. Hard and fast. He sounded proud, a lot softer than he had seemed in his emails.
Yīnyǐng and Little Yún were cuddling in the corner of their cage still. It seemed like Little Yún had fallen asleep, while Yīnyǐng was doing all the snuggling. Wei Ying kneeled down beside, apparently, Lan Yuan and unlocked the cage. “The black one is Yīnyǐng and the white one is Little Yún. Do you know what that means?” Lan Yuan shook his head, still wide eyed. “Well, the black one looks like a shadow because he’s so dark and the white one looks like a small cloud”
The kid grinned brightly. “That’s why!”
“Exactly!” Wei Ying grinned proudly at Lan Yuan, then glanced at Lan Wangji. He seemed just fine with Wei Ying teaching his kid these things. “He just started Chinese lessons,” he said.
“Ahh that’s really great! A bunny caretaker and a Chinese professor in my house! I’m honoured.”
While Lan Yuan laughed, Wei Ying woke Little Yún and picked her up from the cage. She was definitely the easier one of the two. She always sat nice and still when picked up. “Lan Yuan, can see how I’m holding her?” The boy nodded. “Do you want to try it too?” Another nod. Lan Yuan held out his hands eagerly. Wei Ying put Little Yún in his small hands. “One hand underneath her bum– right like this– and hold her close to your chest– perfect!”
The white rabbit curiously sniffled on Lan Yuan’s clothes, sitting completely still. Lan Wangji stared at them– it was obvious that he was as in love with the bunnies as his son was. It was also obvious, even more than that, that he loved his son more than anything. “May I take a photo of them?” He asked carefully.
“Of course! Should I move out of the frame?” Wei Ying was still holding his hands close to the bunny, just in case she would try to sneak out of Lan Yuan’s small hands.
“It’s fine like this.” Lan Wangji snapped a photo and put his phone into his pocket again. Wei Ying definitely felt things that he couldn’t quite explain about this family having such an important photo with him on it. He wondered what Lan Wangji would think seeing him in such a photo. Nothing– probably. Nothing, nothing. He was thinking too much. Not every handsome man would think about him. Especially not rich handsome men with cute families and big gardens.
“Alright! Should we put them in their travelling cage?” He’d gotten a lot of random stuff when he got these bunnies from his friend. He was glad to hand all of it over again. It took up a lot of space he didn’t even have. Wei Ying got Yīnyǐng from her cage as well and put her into the travelling cage. “Can you put Little Yún in there, Lan Yuan?”
Lan Yuan nodded and with a little (a lot) of help from Wei Ying he safely put Little Yún in the travelling cage as well. He carefully closed it again and then looked at Lan Wangji. “Do you want to carry them?”
Lan Wangji nodded carefully and took the travelling cage. “I’ll walk with you to carry their other cage. Lan Yuan, do you want to carry this bag with their food?” It was cheap supermarket food and these Lan’s probably had nice organic food waiting for them at their home already, but it was something at least.
The three of them walked downstairs. Lan Wangji slowly and carefully, glancing at the bunnies and then at his son and at the bunnies again. Wei Ying looked at Lan Wangji, who’d seemed a little cold and now so so soft. He felt weird about this being the last time he’d see these two. He felt weird about this being the last time was going to see his temporary bunnies. He felt weird about them all leaving together as one happy family and– well– being left all alone again.
They stopped in front of Lan Wangji’s simple but nice car. Wei Ying put the cage and the food in their trunk while Lan Wangji put Lan Yuan in his kid’s seat and handed him the bunnies with some careful instructions. Then turned to Wei Ying.
Wei Ying smiled. “Ah– so this is it.” It wasn’t often that he didn’t really know what to say. “Thank you so much for taking them. I’m really glad to see that they’re going to get a loving and beautiful home! Ah, so yeah thank you. You can– hm text me if anything is wrong with them or if you have questions. Hm, yeah, though you probably know better than I do how to take care of them.” Wei Ying laughed a little. “Though I’ll miss them a lot, thanks again!”
Lan Wangji frowned a little. “You may still see them.”
“Ah, I don’t want to impose! They’re yours now!”
“Yes, they are. You can still see them when they’re used to our home. You would not impose.”
Wei Ying stared at this beautiful man, looking all serious, inviting him to come see his bunnies in their new home. “Ah– hm– maybe I’d like that.”
“Good. We’ll make an appointment. Thank you for all your help.”
We’ll make an appointment. Since when was that sexy to him? Are things like that sexier when said by men that have a cute kid and a soft spot for bunnies? “No problem! We’ll– eh– yeah we’ll see each other!”
Lan Wangji nodded, then turned to his car. Fucking hell– maybe Wei Ying was a bit jealous of his own bunnies.
🐇
Lan Huan walked in with A-Yuan in his arms. Lan Zhan held out his arms and took the sleepy Yuan from him. “He played with the neighbour’s son. I think it tired him out.”
Lan Zhan nodded gratefully. He was glad that Yuan was better at making friends than he was. He was grateful for the loudmouthed distant Lan who had decided to become best friends with Yuan too.
“Jingyi is a good kid though.”
“Hm, it’s fine.”
His brother looked around the house and then raised his eyebrows. “Do you have a visitor coming?”
Lan Zhan didn’t know how to answer that and he didn’t want to know how his brother could tell. He pulled Yuan closer to him and walked towards the couch. There he laid Yuan down carefully and covered him with a blanket.
“Someone I know?”
Lan Zhan sighed. “The old owner of Yīnyǐng and Yún.”
“Ah, Right–” Lan Huan smiled at him cheekily and then nodded “Have fun then, Wangji.”
He didn’t say that he didn’t know how to do that. He’d been worrying all morning about the fact that he didn’t know how to hold a conversation. Now that he cared, he realised he didn’t really like caring all that much.
Yuan was a blessing, he often distracted people while Lan Zhan just kept an eye on him. Maybe Yīnyǐng and Little Yún would do the same; be a distraction. Wei Wuxian– or Wei Ying, as he’d introduced himself when they’d first met, was coming for his bunnies.
Still, Lan Zhan was worrying like Wei Ying was coming for him and not for his adorable bunnies.
“Wangji?”
“Hm– will do.”
Lan Huan nodded some type of ‘glad we had this talk’ nod and then walked back to his car. Lan Zhan was not glad they had this talk. He was glad his brother was leaving before Wei Ying could come. He watched Lan Yuan sleeping and straightened up. He could do this. It would be fine.
When Wei Ying rang the bell Yuan was still sleeping. As soon as Lan Zhan opened the door he was struck by Wei Ying’s bright smile once again. He had to admit that arriving at Wei Ying’s apartment when picking up the bunnies had made him think that– well, Wei Ying could have been a shady figure. He recognized that as his own fault and upbringing, his own prejudice for dark and messy apartment buildings. He hoped he wouldn’t give Lan Yuan the same type of prejudice– he would work on thinking differently himself. Wei Ying had surprised him in more ways than one. His beautiful smile was a first. Then he’d also been great with Yuan, right away. Lan Zhan had only been able to look, his heart in his throat, at how good this beautiful man was with his son.
“Lan Wangji! Hi!”
“Hello, Wei Ying.”
The man grinned brightly. Then held something up. “I brought–” he looked at the package in his hand “Sunny's bunny cookies? They had it at the grocery store. Look, they have smileys on them.”
He felt glad that Wei Ying was chatting away. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he’d expected it to be. It could be that he’d finally found someone who could compensate for his silence.
“I wanted to get something for Lan Yuan, but I don’t know what kind of snacks you prefer him eating so I thought the bunnies were a safer option.” Wei Ying chuckled, beautifully. “Anyway, Lan Yuan can feed these to Yīnyǐng and Little Yún and then it’s for the both of them. Right?”
“Hm– thank you.”
He opened the door for Wei Ying to come in, walked through their hallway and into their open living and cooking space. Wei Ying stopped in his tracks and looked around for a bit. Their space was a lot different from what Wei Ying’s had looked like. It was completely open. They had a light wooden floor and one wall almost completely made out of open windows looking out on their garden. The garden was still a work in progress; too empty for Lan Zhan’s liking. There was a big area for the bunnies now though. Nie Mingue had had the biggest part in building it, on Lan Huan’s request. Inside of their living room stood the cage Wei Ying had once used– so that the bunnies could come inside on cold days.
He didn’t know what to say. Wei Ying was so quiet about it.
“I want to plant more in the garden, when I have time.” Lan Zhan said carefully. That was something. That wasn’t a weird thing to say.
Wei Ying looked at him and grinned. “That’s the dream! Oh I wish I’ll one day have a garden this big so I can grow my own vegetables. You know– I once helped out on a farm and I really loved it. You should grow some of your own.”
Lan Zhan doubted he’d be able to do it, but he nodded anyway. He imagined himself digging through his garden and planting his own herbs– the bunnies somehow getting to them and then having to redo it all again. It didn’t seem like a bad future.
“If you have a hard time I could help you! I’m really good at it.”
“Hm–” He’d like that. He’d like that a lot. Lan Zhan unlocked the door to the garden, thinking of Wei Ying in dirty jeans with tomatoes in his hands. That seemed like an even better future. He didn’t dare to think about it, though.
It was a cold but sunny day. Spring was taking over from winter and he’d never been more excited for it. Spring meant Yuan being able to play with their bunnies in the garden. Spring meant sitting outside and watching them. “Yīnyǐng and Little Yún are inside of their hutch.”
“Ah, we should lure them out. That little house is so cute by the way, Lan Wangji. Did you pick it or Lan Yuan?”
“Together.” He watched as Wei Ying grinned excitedly and then tried to lure the bunnies out by making soft noises and moving his hand as if he had a snack. He couldn’t do anything but stare. He’d never been so amazed by another person like he was now. He wondered what was happening to him– was it because he had Yuan now? Did he think Wei Ying was so attractive because he was nice to his son? Because he could see this man playing around in the grass with him? Because this man seemed like he’d love a beautiful home with a vegetable garden?
Was that why he felt different about Wei Ying than he’d done for anyone else?
“Baba?” Yuan’s little voice came from the door opening. He was rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Can I see the bunnies?”
“Hm, go get your shoes.” Dutiful, Lan Yuan walked back inside, into the hallway and got his shoes. He excitedly walked back to the garden door and sat down on the ground to put his shoes on. “Do you need help?”
“No, thank you.”
A-Yuan walked outside, staring at Wei Ying. “You’re the bunny man!” His sleep seemed to be replaced with excitement effortlessly.
Wei Ying laughed. “Ah, so you remember me! I’m very honoured.”
“Yes. Can we see the bunnies together?”
Happily, Wei Ying got the rabbit snacks from his bag. “I got these so they will come greet us extra fast!” He ripped the bag open. “Do you want to give the green one or the orange one?”
Lan Yuan let go of Lan Zhan and walked over to Wei Ying. “Orange!”
Wei Ying laughed and handed the cookie to Yuan. Together they leaned over the enclosement, holding out the cookies and making soft noises to lure them. “Maybe we should make bunny sounds?” Wei Ying started sniffing, scrunching his nose dramatically. “Am I a good bunny?”
Yuan laughed loudly, then mimicked Wei Ying. “Baba, we’re bunnies!”
Oh, Lan Zhan had it bad. He was not going to survive any more of this. He would fall in love fast and hard if Wei Ying kept making his son this happy. “You are.”
Wei Ying looked at him, smiled shyly and then scrunched his nose again. “Do we make good bunnies, Lan Wangji?” One more second. One more second of this and he was going to develop feelings he couldn’t even find words for. Feelings that would probably never leave again.
“Hm– very good.”
Wei Ying’s ears turned pink, then he turned back to the bunny’s. Yīnyǐng came out of their wooden hutch first. She was definitely the daredevil of the two. Lan Zhan watched how Wei Ying pulled his cookie away to make more space for Yuan’s.
“Oh! She’s going for your cookie A-Yuan!”
“She likes carrots. That’s why. She likes you too.”
Wei Ying laughed sweetly. “Thank you, Yuan. You’re really sweet, making this old man feel better.”
Yuan was barely paying attention to Wei Ying anymore. He watched with wide eyes how Yīnyǐng ate his cookie, and then how Little Yún joined to eat Wei Ying’s cookie. He reached out with his other hand and petted Yīnyǐng softly, who was too busy eating to mind.
Lan Zhan could imagine this lasting forever– having a family like this, spending afternoons feeding the bunnies together.
🐇
Wei Ying had it bad. By now he was pretty sure that it was just Lan Wangji and A-Yuan– that their perfect little family didn’t have another member (well, except from Yīnyǐng and Little Yún) and still– he knew he didn’t stand a chance. Wei Ying was out of excuses. He could tell Lan Wangji how much he missed his bunnies, but he didn’t want them to feel like they were still his. The thing was– Wei Ying only missed his bunnies because he was lonely and he just really wanted to see A-Yuan get excited about how soft they were. He just, once more, wanted to chat with Lan Wangji over the expensive coffee they had (even though Lan Wangji mentioned not drinking any himself).
After standing in the middle of his shitty apartment for what seemed like hours, looking at nothing in particular, he decided to do the only logical thing. He got out his phone and video-called his sister.
“ A-Xian? How are you?” She was standing in the kitchen cutting some vegetables, looking beautiful. She was wearing a cute purple flowered apron her jerk-husband had given her for Christmas.
“Shiji! I have a problem.”
His sister made an understanding sound, probably unsurprised. He had a lot of problems. He often called her to share them. “ Probably nothing we can’t fix. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“It’s– I’m dying, shiji. This is the worst.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I might have fallen in love,” he mumbled.
“ Oh. That doesn’t sound like a problem, A-Xian. Why is it a problem?”
“I’ll never see them again and I– maybe I’m also a little unworthy.”
“You’re always good enough. Why would you think that?”
“It’s the little family who adopted Yīnyǐng and Little Yún. Shiji, you should have seen them. They’re so cute. They built the biggest rabbit enclosure and they have this beautiful house and they’re really kind. I– I showed them my shitty small apartment. They might think I’m weird.”
“You nor your apartment are weird, A-Xian. Though you should maybe look into moving somewhere else, they sound very sweet and probably don’t mind. Is he married? Is that why you’re worried?”
“ Ah– yeah– so I’m pretty sure he’s not. He’s just very perfect. It’s–” He let out a big sigh, walking toward his couch and falling down on it dramatically “Does this always feel like you’re dying?”
“For me it did, yes.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to know how you felt about your asshole husband.”
His sister rolled her eyes, smiling at him softly. “Well, it felt like he was too perfect for me and like I was dying.”
Wei Ying, jokingly, made a sound as if he was puking. “That’s disgusting. Thank you.”
“Well, it’s true. Also, I think you should go for it.”
He pushed his face into the couch. “I don’t know if I can, shiji…”, he mumbled. “I’m not a family ma–” his phone buzzed in his hand. There was an incoming message at the top of his screen. Lan Wangji, it said. His heart jumped from his chest. He was really going to die. “Oh god, he texted me.”
His sister laughed. “See? Open it!”
Lan Wangji (bunnies)
Hello. Would you be available to go to a nursery with me? To help with the garden.
Lan Wangji wanted to go plant shopping with him? Would he be able to help with the garden too? Fuck– That wasn’t even the point. He wanted to see him again. That was the most important part. “A-Xian? What did he say?”
Wei Ying clicked the message away and opened the call with his sister again. His sister was looking at him curiously, excited. “Ah– well–” He was suddenly feeling shy about the whole thing. “He asked if I wanted to go plant shopping with him. For his beautiful big garden.”
“That’s great! You’re really good at things like that. You were a great help with our garden as well. Even A-Zixuan said so. You’ll say yes, right?”
“Ah, yeah. I’ll say yes.”
“Tell him that his son is welcome to stay with us! You two can make it a real date then. He can play with Jin Ling.”
Wei Ying laughed. He loved his sister so much. “Yeah now you’re moving too fast.”
His shiji laughed softly. “Alright, alright.”
🐇
Lan Zhan nervously stared at his phone. He was bad at interpreting whether the things Wei Ying proposed were genuine or not. Somewhere he knew that he shouldn’t look at his phone waiting for Wei Ying to answer, but he’d opened the message already and was taking ages doing so. Regret slowly sneaked up on Lan Zhan. Had he overstepped? He should have explained the situation to Lan Huan first, and asked for his opinion. Now he’d be stuck with rejection and an empty garden and– his phone buzzed in his hand.
Wei Wuxian
Hey!! Yeah I would love that! I’m free on saturday next week! What about you? Did you have a nursery in mind? It’s a great time to plant strawberries btw just saying! (((: