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Lan Wangji rested his chin on the table edge as he watched his Uncle make their lunch boxes. They had visited someone that Baba had known, and they had rice; it had something in it that tasted good, and even if it was harder for Lan Wangji to try new things, he loved it.
He watched as his Baba put some soft steamed rice into a bowl, added a little butter, and then tossed in something yellow, then started to mix it, tasting and adding the seasoning as he did so.
“Baba, what’s is that?”
“Chicken Bullion,” Mixing the rice, he was glad to add another thing for his youngest to eat. “Do you want to taste it to see if it needs more?”
“Yes, please,” Lan Wangji put his little hands on the table standing on his toes, opening his mouth. He closed it a little as his Baba blew on the small bite, the steam leaving so it was cool enough to eat. He opened his mouth wider as he was given the bite, and he chewed it slowly. Eyes lightening it up, he nodded. “It’s good,”
“Good,” Scoop up the rice, he placed the bowl, then moved to add the vegetables and meat onto it. The cooked sliced egg was next, along with a little character sample fork he stuck into one of the meats. He moved it, tying it up. “Now, let’s put this away for tomorrow.”
Looking at the box being put away, the rest of the lunchboxes got made, and he helped a little bit. He got to eat some little leftovers as he watched. Once all the food was made and put away he moved around as his Baba went to wash the dishes.
Climbing onto his step stool,, he started to help rinse the cups and plates. Although he wasn’t allowed to touch knives or heavy objects, he happily played with the water while rinsing them.
“Baba!” Wen Chao came in and looked like he was stressed. “This stupid math is…. Stupid!”
“Don’t yell, I’m right here,” Lan Qiren looked over at him. “I’ll help you in a moment.”
After putting the book down, the Alpha walked over, watched for a second, and then crossed his arms. Waiting was hard for him, but when his little brother offered him a towel, he started helping out while talking about how stupid the math book was.
After they were done, Lan Wangji hugged them before wandering off while his brother and Baba sat down to review the math. Walking around, he tried to think of what to do, his little mind torn between coloring or playing with his toys. Looking around, he picked up Wen Xu’s scent and followed it.
The oldest was on the house phone talking to his friends, laughing and speaking about their plans for a school festival that was going to happen. He stood near him, close enough to get noticed, and closed his eyes when a hand rubbed his head.
“Play with me?”
“Not right now, Didi, I’m on the phone,” He patted his head. “Go, I’ll play with you later,”
Pouting Lan Wangji left. Looking around, he was tempted to play with his toys; the chest in the living room was filled with things he liked to play with. Walking over, he put his hands on it, blinking, then looked around to see if he could spot anyone else, but one brother was on the other, and the other sounded like he was having a breakdown over whatever math was.
After leaving, he wandered upstairs looking for Lan Xichen. When he found him, his brother was painting something for school. He was at his desk, carefully brushing out the strokes on the shoe box and other things.
“Play with me,”
“Wangji,” Looking at his brother, he smiled. “I’m a little busy right now, and I can play with you later,”
Frowning, he stayed a few minutes longer watching and started looking for the last person in the house. He looked for his A-Die until he found him in the home office.
When he approached, he saw the Alpha frowning out the window. Lifting his arms, Lan Wangji watched as the Alpha looked at him, having picked up his scent. Soon, he was lifted up.
Hugging his A-Die, who patted his back, he happily scented it with him for a minute.
“Play with me,”
“You want to play?”
Nodding Lan Wangji looked upset. “No one wants to play,”
“No one?” He hummed, walking out of the office, and after seeing what everyone was doing, Lan Xichen was painting his project with music playing, his teenager on the phone, and Wen Chao looking like he was between sobbing and ready to burn the math book. “I think it’s because everyone has something to do,”
“…” Confused, Lan Wangji rubbed his hands together, curling into his A-Die, confused. “I want to play?”
“What do you want to play?”
“…” Another pout as Lan Wangji didn’t know. He just wanted to play something with someone. “I don’t know…?”
“You don’t know?” Chuckling, Wen Ruohan nuzzled the boy. “Coloring? Toys? Your building blocks?”
Each thing was met with a shake of the head; soon, they were running out of things, so he had an idea that they’d read a book while they figured it out.
They sat on the floor as Wen Ruohan read a book. Some parts had the small Alpha laughing, even though it was very soft. This was big for him, as he was usually silent, so getting small laughs out of Lan Wangji was a win.
At a hilarious part, Wen Ruohan decided to tickle the little boy, who let out a shockingly loud half-shriek and yelp—but it was a laugh. Before Wen Ruohan could continue, a wild and angry scent flared up.
In the kitchen moments before, Wen Chao had been rubbing his temples, cursing whoever invented math, but all that anger at the Math Demon was thrown out when he heard Lan Wangji scream.
Whatever instincts took over, Wen Chao had no idea; he just knew he heard his brother scream; he bolted out of the chair so fast it toppled on the floor with a loud bang before charging at what caused, in his mind, his brother’s fear.
Wen Xu, who had been on the phone, dropped it, rushing towards the sound. In seconds, he realized what it was and tackled Wen Chao, who was less than a second from lunging at their A-Die.
Growling and snarling, they fought, maybe for a minute, until they were pulled apart suddenly, hands on the back of their necks. A-Die let out a warning for them to calm down.
“Hey, I was helping!” Wen Xu got out frowning, and he was let go. “Thank you!”
Fighting the hold for a moment, Wen Chao, teeth-gritting, was able to come back to himself after a few harsh, deep breaths. He blinked, confused about what the hell had happened.
Yet, when he saw Lan Wangji's eyes full of tears threatening to fall, he almost kicked his own ass! Gasping, he held his hands up to his face, shaking his head quickly.
“No, it’s okay, Wangji!” He was horrified; the last few months had been hard gaining control of his Alpha insects thanks to hitting puberty. With pangs of guilt, he tried to move. “I’m sorry!”
Wen Ruohan let his son go, and he dashed to comfort the youngest Alpha, panicking over the fact he had scared him and was now trying to wipe away the tears.
They had been worried about this. Though very angry, Wen Chao had some anger issues, shouting more than talking, and was protective of the younger two.
Lan Wangji was his weakness, though. He wanted to protect him, and even when they started school, he had been worried about him getting lost or kidnapped.
Having rushed over to the commotion, Lan Qiren watched. He was going to move forward when he was stopped. Looking at his mate, they paused. They had to let Wen Chao work out his emotions, his talking out what he did was helping both him and Lan Wangji understand.
“Thank you for stepping in,” Wen Ruohan said, putting his hand on Wen Xu’s shoulder. “I appreciate it,”
“Yeah, no. Remember when I tried to attack my teacher?” Wen Xu had to reign in his instincts when he hit puberty. “But, um, should we rescue, Wangji?”
Now it looked like Wen Chao was just holding the boy in his arms while crying about doing better, and the more he rocked and got out his stories, the more Lan Wangji looked like he was falling asleep to the rocking motions.
Lan Qiren didn’t want to say anything, but the boy went through more rapid whiplash than most Betas and Omegas did. Walking forward, he sat back on his heels to rub the Alpha’s back, who turned around to cry into his arms.
“Is everything okay?”
Looking up, Wen Xu paused, seeing a worried-looking Xichen who was pale and looked worried. “Yeah, When Chao just sucks at math!”
“How dare you!” Wen Chao snapped. “That demonic subject was created by a psycho!”
The worry Lan Xichen had vanished as he laughed, holding his hand up to his mouth. The quick reaction was averted the worry about a rage outburst.
“Come now, homework, then bed,”
“Baba, please just let me rest. It’s killing me!” Wen Chao nearly sobbed. “Pure evil, I’m telling you!”
Lan Xichen came down as Lan Wangji moved back, watching Wen Chao walking like a deadman, their Baba holding his hand, walking casually, even if their brother’s shoulders were slumped and his head hung low.
Wen Xu returned to his phone conversation, and Wen Ruohan took the youngest boys into his arms and read them another story. This time, he did not tickle Lan Wangji, but he was impressed.
Wen Chao, while, yes, being new, having his hormones in chaos, had heard a scream from their family. The first instinct and thought was to protect. Even if he was their Father, for even trying to go after him was tossing his own regard away.
He was impressed that Wen Xu had adapted so fast. He was proud, and knowing he’d soon have to talk with Lan Qiren about how to handle the boy’s changing body and behavior, he had a feeling that with a loving mate and family, they’d be just fine.
Later in the middle of the night, when they had stayed up getting Lan Xichen’s project done, in his sudden worry about what was going on, he hadn’t noticed that when he ran to see what happened, he knocked over the project.
The three of them worked hard to fix it, and by midnight, Lan Xichen was asleep, tucked safely into bed, while they set up a fan to dry the shoebox painting thingy for tomorrow.
They checked on the kids, and they found Lan Wangji with his stuffed rabbit curled up to Wen Chao. He kept like he never knew how to be still, spread out like a starfish, sideways, somehow always missing one sock and snoring.
They worked together to get them appropriately tucked into bed, and the second they were, Wen Chao became an octopus, holding Lan Wangji like the boy was the stuffed rabbit.
“…I bet you a hundred dollars Wen Chao kidnapped him tomorrow at school.”
“That’s not funny.” Lan Qiren frowned and then paused. “It’ll happen before lunch,”
Later the next day, when they met for lunch, Wen Ruohan gave his mate a hundred dollars, informing him that Wen Chao had indeed kidnapped Lan Wangji from mid-morning recess.