"A book is a dream you hold in your hands." Neil Gaiman

Wei Ying looked under their table while his breath was coming out in short, sharp gasps. Maybe his son had slipped off the chair...but no, there was nobody there.

His blood was getting thicker and colder, his mind rushing into shock.

Where was A-Yuan?

Could he have woken up and wandered off?

Or worse, was he taken?

Just that thought alone had Wei WuXian running past the shelves shouting, "A-Yuan! Where are you? A-Yuan!??"

Tears fell from his eyes, even after his attempts to wipe his face.

"Young man! What seems to be the trouble?" A kind old lady said, stopping him in his tracks.

"Granny, I'm looking for my son...did you see a little boy go past you?" He asked her, trying to calm himself down. "He's only three...I have to find him!" He choked back a sob.

"I come here all the time." She pointed to one of the CCTV cameras. "You should go ask security. They'll know what happened to your boy."

"Good idea, Granny. Thank you so much! What's your name?"

"Granny Wen. And it's no trouble. You'll find him soon enough." She patted his shoulder and disappeared behind a shelf.

Wei Ying ran down the artistic glass staircase, not caring that he had probably broken every single rule on that stupid board outside. He had to find his baby...now.

*********

Lan WangJi had returned to the fiction area. He couldn't help himself, there were books there, demanding his attention, and he knew if he left it until tomorrow, he would not be able to sleep.

So warily, he sneaked back into that section, internally chanting that he was not going to look around, and he was not going to go looking for trouble, especially when it had silver starlight eyes and a fabulous mega watt smile.

He had books to return to their places, and that was far more important.

So he put ear buds in his ears, and put some soothing classical music on, loud, and took up the organising of the books from whence he'd left off.

But when he tried to move, his leg was stuck. He looked down to find a tearful child clinging onto his thigh with an amazing grip...and oh no! This was that kid!

The one that had been laughing so hard when Lan WangJi had seen him and his father. The beautiful man.

The kid was saying something.

Lan WangJi resisted the urge to shake it off.

The kid was crying more...and Lan WangJi remembered he was wearing headphones, but the moment he removed them, the noise level was utterly unacceptable. His ears hurt.

So he picked it up.

It was so surprised, it squeaked.

But at least, it was quiet now. Still sniffling and snuffling...it reminded him of his rabbits. He had two of them, a black one and a white one, at home. It was twitching it's nose just like Wu and Ji.

"Where is your father?" Lan WangJi asked it.

That was apparently the totally wrong thing to say, because more tears fell from it's eyes and the noises got louder.

"Wait...wait..." Wait? For what? He had no idea, but it understood him.

"Beautiful Gege, find my Baba." The kid latched on, holding onto his neck.

Lan WangJi was mildly disgusted.

He had never held a child before, and this one had cold, wet tears on it's face, and all that snot was probably ruining his clothes...but Lan WangJi couldn't put it down.

It's weight was rather comforting actually...and it was nice and warm. And soft...like his rabbits.

He wasn't sure where the father was, but maybe Lan WangJi could leave the child with the security people...did they have a lost and found department? Lan WangJi wasn't too sure...but if they didn't have one, he was going to make sure they did by tomorrow at the latest.

His big hand rested on the back of the child and he found himself patting it's back. The child was slowly relaxing; Lan WangJi could feel it melting into his body. He guessed that it must have fallen asleep and that's why it's father had perhaps gone away from it? Maybe it had woken up and panicked?

As they walked down the stairs, Lan WangJi tried to be careful, not wanting to jostle the kid in case it woke up and started to cry again, so he went as slowly as he could.

His sharp ears heard a commotion as they came closer.

"Please! I need you to check for me, I'm not even saying that I should be the one, but you have to see where he went! What if someone took him? Every second you're wasting arguing with me, we could be looking for him! He must be so scared! My baby..." This was followed by more crying noises.

Lan WangJi felt a pain in his chest. He didn't know why, either.

There was a problem in the security room.

The beautiful man was weeping uncontrollably and his staff...why were they standing back and not helping him? Why did they look so passive?

Lan WangJi didn't understand anything.

"What is going on?" He heard himself say.

Many pairs of eyes looked up at him, but he was most disconcerted with the silver ones that showed a myriad of so many emotions, primarily relief.

"A-Yuan! My baby!"

It was all Lan WangJi heard before being enveloped in the warmest hug he had ever felt. He felt a passing disassociation, a feeling of having an out of body experience, and all the while, the seductive scent of lotus flowers floated up into his nostrils. That wild, silky hair was just as soft next to his cheek as it had looked on the blue carpet floor of their fiction department.

Since his one hand was holding onto the child, and the second one was patting it's back, Lan Wangji had no hands left to hold this beautiful man...but he wanted to.

Hold him close forever...

Where had that thought come from?

Lan WangJi was trying to process too many emotions in too small a time frame and the one he ended up picking was...panic.

Nobody was perfect...after all.

He stepped back from the man who was...still weeping? But why? Hadn't he found his kid? Why wasn't he taking his son back? This was all very strange...

"Here." Lan WangJi handed over the sleeping kid and not a moment too soon, for it woke up.

"Baba!" It yelled and threw it's arms around it's father.

Great...now two people were heartily crying...

So Lan WangJi ended up glaring (rather unfairly but at this point, he didn't care) at the security guy.

"Why were you not helping?" He frowned at the muscular man.

"It's a breach of security, sir." The idiot replied back.

Lan WangJi was going to have a word with HR about that one. He decided it wasn't worth his time talking to the one who's mental capacity resembled a brick wall, and now since both the beautiful man and his child had found each other, Lan WangJi could go and find a quiet place to fall apart.

Right now, some calm and soothing guqin music was sorely needed...

He turned around and would have left, but a soft voice stopped him.

"Please...I need to thank you." The beautiful man was saying.

He held out his hand towards Lan WangJi.

"I'm Wei WuXian, but please, call me Wei Ying. This is my son, A-Yuan."

Lan WangJi watched as his own hand came up automatically, as if he had no control over whatever it decided to do. The warm hand currently wrapped around his was smooth and ever so soft. Lan WangJi wanted to pull him closer...that hug had been so nice...

But those silver eyes were staring at him and Lan WangJi could've sworn there were actual stars in those wonderful orbs, shining and shimmering, staring at him with such wonder.

"Baba! Beautiful Gege saved me! Can I give him a kiss?"

Before Lan WangJi could understand what was going on, he was holding the kid again, and then it kissed his cheek!

Ew! It was vile but so sweet and soft and now Lan WangJi could smell talcum powder and lotus flowers all over again. It was kind of nice too...

"Beautiful Gege, I made you a pwesent." It was saying.

Lan WangJi was too busy staring into it's chocolate eyes, seeing nothing nothing but sincerity and honest acceptance.

It was kind of humbling...

After the noise of a bag being unzipped, a piece of paper was thrust into his face. There were three people drawn in different coloured crayons, as artfully as a three year old could do. Their names, all three of theirs, were scribbled underneath.

Beautiful Gege it said, under a tall figure wearing what Lan WangJi was wearing. A pale blue shirt and beige trousers crudely coloured in.

"For you." The kid was blushing, the sweetest pink tinge shading it's chubby cheeks. "Baba helped me to write." It pointed at the obvious writing, if it could be called that.

Lan WangJi had thought it was some kind of code, it was so illegible. Either that or the culprit was perched on his hip, certainly such bad writing could not be written by an adult? It looked like he wasn't even trying.

"Tell him it's nice...or that you like it..." The silver-eyed beauty was prompting him.

Lan WangJi was feeling...overwhelmed. It was easier to repeat what he was told, but then he wasn't prepared for the kid to hug him so tightly.

"Thank you, Beautiful Gege. And we're sorry for making a noise." It was saying next to his ear.

"It's fine." Lan WangJi bit out.

"WangJi...what's going on?" A friendly voice said.

Wei WuXian had just about gotten control over himself, and thankfully his eyes remained a bit drier after he wiped them for the umpteenth time. Now he was staring at two beautiful men, and he blushed.

The second one who had just arrived was looking between Wei WuXian and the one currently carrying his son, and Wei WuXian could see invisible cogs turning. But there was obvious distress on the one still holding his hand. And the new one was biting back a smile at their joined hands.

Wei WuXian snatched back his hand in a panic.

The two in front of him could have been twins...except the one who had arrived later was definitely a little bit older, and definitely more friendly...but Wei WuXian was fascinated by the younger one. He wanted to know more about him...and he still hadn't said his name...

The older brother was staring at Wei WuXian now and he resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze.

"Report?" The older one was looking at their security guy.

"His child went missing and he came here to check the CCTV." The security guy answered, red-faced.

"Xiongzhang, he didn't help." Lan WangJi spoke then.

"Didn't help?"

"Mn. Made him cry." Lan WangJi was confident that his brother would help now that he was here.

Wei WuXian blushed again. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so emotional, but then to be fair, he hadn't ever thought he could lose a child. He would never take his eyes off his kid ever again.

While his brother demanded an explanation from the security guy and calmly ripping him a new one on the benefits of helping people, especially when it involved children, Lan WangJi was watching the beautiful man with his ever so expressive face.

He could tell that the man was embarrassed by his own display of his feelings, and Lan WangJi wanted to tell him that it was alright...

"Beautiful Gege?" XiChen asked.

Oh no...Lan WangJi glared because now he was embarrassed. His Xiongzhang was smiling at the picture and then at him, before turning to the other beautiful man.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Lan XiChen, Lan Huan, and this is Lan WangJi-"

"Lan Zhan!" Lan WangJi quickly said, ignoring the knowing smile on his brother's face.

Wei WuXian held out his hand to his brother now.

"Please call me Wei Ying. Nice to meet you too. I better get going...my little Radish is tired and we've had too much excitement today." He held his arms open for his son, who was melting again.

Lan WangJi didn't want to let the kid go now. Wei Ying didn't notice...but his Xiongzhang did.

From the moment the weight left his hands, Lan WangJi missed it. And now, the beautiful man was hauling his backpack over his shoulder and walking away...

Lan WangJi stared after him...wishing he would stay.

**********

Wei WuXian took A-Yuan home, picking up a takeaway enroute. He was so relieved to have the boy back, he couldn't seem to let go.

They ate, Wei WuXian gave him a bath and tonight, didn't tell his little Radish off for splashing too much, and then read "Where the Wild Things are" to him as he fell asleep.

Tonight, Wei Ying couldn't bear to have A-Yuan sleep far from him, so they were both snuggled under his blanket on his bed. Wei Ying traced his soft features with his forefinger, memorising the way his son looked, ever so grateful he was safe and sound, right next to him as he slept.

There was a sweet smile on his lips and Wei WuXian hoped he was dreaming of happy things. For himself, sleep was hard to come by. He kept waking up and then sleep was evasive tonight.

Instead, his thoughts kept travelling back to the young man with serious, intense golden eyes, and flawless skin that for some reason reminded him of white jade. Lan Zhan was too beautiful to look at, in the way that such things made his heart hurt.

Wei WuXian wanted to get to know him better...this need was almost a physical thing, a thrumming in his veins. How was it possible that he felt more alive when those golden orbs were resting upon him? It was past midnight now and he was wondering what Lan Zhan was doing...

Was he already asleep? And was he a night owl or a lark? And since he worked in the library, what books did he like? What genre? Wei Ying began to imagine scenarios where Lan Zhan's preferences would come to light...

He was terribly serious, and that made Wei Ying think he might be into crime, which would help his personal agenda so much, since his newest book would feature the underbelly of the Mafia...and perhaps it could be how they started their next conversation. Wei Ying was certain of this, because he was going to make sure they met again, and very soon...

***********

Lan Zhan had a routine for his evening too.

Routines were good because then he never forgot what he had to do. But tonight, he was feeling quite distracted and he didn't know quite what to do with this feeling.

He tried to eat and the silver spoons reminded him of a certain pair of silver eyes, his incense burner was also silver and again he was entranced by that beautiful man. The red roses that their housekeeper had set out in a black vase, no less, reminded him of what Wei Ying had been wearing and suddenly his clothes became extra tight.

He stood at the tiny table in the middle of their foyer and touched the petals. The scarlet vibrancy of the colour and the texture, was so soft like Wei Ying's hair next to his cheek, like the richness of velvet between his fingertips. 

Lan WangJi wondered if he was single...but then Wei Ying had a kid...so it was highly unlikely...

"Didi? Are you alright?"

The smooth and knowing tone had Lan WangJi doing internal face palms. His elder brother was incredibly perceptive and there was no way an interrogation wasn't imminent.

He kept his face free of any emotion, even realising that it would do no good, and turned to face him.

"Why is Xiongzhang asking?"

"It's just that you seemed distracted at dinner...I was wondering if there was anything...or anyone on your mind?" He beamed at Lan WangJi, who had to glare back.

"No." But that was a lie.

And his Xiongzhang knew...

"Are you sure? I think that young man was quite interesting, actually?" XiChen patted his shoulder.

"Who?" Lan WangJi was going to be obstinate tonight.

He did not appreciate being quizzed when he was not sure of what he was feeling yet, and he still had to process everything that had happened that day. Weirdly, he thought of his first cup of green tea and knew he was correct to have been superstitious about it.

His entire day had been hijacked by a little kid and his gorgeous dad...

"Oh, you know, Wei WuXian-"

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan snapped, correcting him.

"So you are thinking about him..." XiChen looked too pleased with himself.

Oh no...Lan WangJi had fallen straight into his trap...

He turned and walked away.

"It's okay to like someone, Didi..." XiChen was saying. "That's the first stage of being friends, and I think he would be good for you..."

Lan Zhan tried not slam his door.

Not very hard.

But alone in his room, Lan Wangji lay down on his pristine white sheets and tried to probe within his mind.

Why had he had such an intense reaction to the stranger? And his kid?

Maybe it would be better to separate the two for now.

So Wei Ying...

Lan WangJi got up and grabbed the notebook on his bedside table. He often was inspired at the oddest of times, and needed to write down his ideas for compositions.  He loved to create new melodies and one was playing inside his head right now.

He jotted down the basic elements and the sway of the music; it could be refined later...but right now, he was going to make a list.

On one side of the page he wrote pros and on the other, cons. Then he wrote the title: Being friends with Wei Ying. Then he crossed out friends...and paused, finally adding a question mark. He didn't want to define what he was feeling right now.

It seemed too forward and he was only just getting used to it, this feeling of excitement that was a rush inside his mind. He knew his heart beat faster whenever Wei Ying was close by, or whenever Lan WangJi thought about him...so he wrote that in the middle of his page.

And labelled that as symptoms.

And then, underneath that first entry, he wrote tingling in stomach...area. He had to be honest here, or it wouldn't work.

On the side of the cons, his pen hovered. He wanted to write that since Wei Ying was a chaotic person, being whatever with him meant an end to his peaceful times.

Was that a bad thing actually?

Lan WangJi thought about his life.

Ever since he could remember, rules had dominated his existence. Their family had rules about everything, from sitting down, eating, meeting people right the way to how he showered every morning.

For a long time, he had found it comforting, especially when his parents had passed away, one after the other.

Routine kept him alive, numbed the pain that being an orphan brought to him, the necessity of performing tasks lessening the time he had to grieve...and somehow that made it easier to cope with.

He still missed his parents but the pain was less now, and he had the rules to thank for that.

He suddenly felt so tired, he changed into his night clothes...a light blue colour with little white rabbits, an indulgence he had allowed himself, and lay on the bed. His body clock was extremely punctual and he knew it must be close to nine o'clock.

However, even though he was exhausted, sleep would not come easily.

His mind kept wandering to a pair of silver starlight eyes and a gorgeous smile, and Lan WangJi lay awake instead.

*********

Saturday morning was lazing about.

That should be a rule, Wei Ying thought as a boisterous child who evidently had had waaay too much sleep, was now jumping up and down on the bed.

Right next to him.

He opened one silver eye and closed it immediately because A-Yuan was right there, staring at his face.

Wei Ying had been pretending to be asleep...but now sadly, the cat was out of the bag.

"Baba!" His little Radish crowed and pushed the covers out of the way, sitting on his stomach.

"I'm asleep." Wei WuXian tried to convince him.

"No you're not!" A-Yuan giggled. "Come on, Baba! It's time for bweakfast and then we can go!"

Wei WuXian groaned and covered his eyes with his arm.

Why was it so early?

"Baba!"

Wei WuXian suddenly grabbed the child and began mercilessly tickling him. A-Yuan was just too cute in his bunny onesie, with the fluffy ears and fluffier tail. He wrinkled his nose like a real bunny and chortled, gasping for breath as he laughed and laughed.

Wei WuXian looked down on his son and once again, thanked his lucky stars that A-Yuan was here and safe.

It wasn't just about yesterday when he had gone missing, though that was part of it. It was just that Wei WuXian had gone through so much in the process of adopting him, and the fight had taken a lot out of him. He had to prove to the courts that he would and could be a good parent, and what did it matter that he was single?

He and A-Yuan had been living together for almost a year now, and he was still trying his best to make sure that his child's days were filled with laughter and not tears.

There were some nights still when his own dreams were haunted by the crunch of glass shattering on tarmac and A-Yuan's cries piercing the night...but thankfully, those were fewer now.

"Is Baba sad?"

Wei WuXian was shaken out of his thoughts by a worried looking A-Yuan.

"No...I'm grateful." He clarified.

"Gwateful...?" A-Yuan tested out the new word.

"Yeah...it means...Happy and relieved...and-"

"Weweaved?"

Oh...Well...

"Baba is happy." Wei WuXian lifted him up, deciding it was too early to go into lengthy explanations of words which probably were too hard for the little one to comprehend yet. "I bet you're hungry, right?"

"Ahuh. Let's eat!" A-Yuan climbed off him and ran into the kitchen. "Let's wace! Beat ya!"

Wei WuXian laughed and followed him.

Breakfast was cereal with added vitamins. Some would say Wei WuXian was being paranoid as a new parent, but he couldn't care; he was going to take no chances when it came to his son and his welfare.

While they ate, Wei WuXian recalled all the books he had read upon finding out that he was successful and A-Yuan would be coming to live with him.

He had a super eidetic memory, and for everything scholarly, it was a priceless gift. For everything else however, not so much...

According to the books, anything A-Yuan was exposed to in his formative years would have a lasting impact upon the rest of his life. So Wei WuXian was set upon providing as much stimuli as possible.

It must be working because his teachers at kindergarten and at the daycare place were full of glowing reports, not just about how well A-Yuan was taking to education, but how well he was making friends and playing well in social situations. But Wei WuXian had a long way to go before he could say he had done a good job.

He was lucky that writing came naturally to him and as such, he spent the minimum effort with his job, and somehow the critics were still raving. If he felt slightly disconnected from his stories at the moment, that was to be expected. But for himself, A-Yuan would always come first now.

Writing was at first, a hobby, a way to pass the time, but when he became serious about it, it was a way to make much needed money. Sure, it satisfied that craving inside him to create, to make something that was his alone...but it was a means to an end right now, and would probably stay that way for a long time yet.

"Baba...finished!" A-Yuan said in a sing-song voice.

Wei WuXian looked up at his son's face, smeared with chocolatey goodness and bits of cereal.

He smiled as he cleaned him up, wondering how much exactly had gone inside his tiny body.

They got dressed and stood by the door.

"Alright, checklist?" Wei WuXian said to him, as he tied A-Yuan's shoelaces for him.

These would only last maybe a few more weeks and then they'd have to go buy bigger ones. His little Radish was growing so fast...

It kind of made him sad and happy at the same time. And even more determined to make every second count.

A-Yuan recited their list dutifully, holding his pudgy fingers up, closing them with his other hand when they refused to stay down, giggling all the while.

Wei WuXian checked his temperature discreetly, wanting to make sure he had recovered completely from whatever he had  yesterday.

"Now, remember, you have to look after me, okay? So what are we going to do?"

"Hold Baba's hand. Pinky pwomise." He held out his tiny little finger.

"Who taught you that?" Wei WuXian asked him in wonder, holding up his little finger so A-Yuan could finish the little ritual.

"JingYi. He's my bestest fwend." A-Yuan replied proudly, showing off his baby dimples.

"JingYi? In Kindergarten?"

"Ahuh. We gonna be fwends foweva."

"I bet you are!"

They stepped out of the house and began walking to the bus stop.

"How wong does it take to get to LanLing? A-Yuan asked, swinging their arms.

"About an hour by bus?" Wei WuXian replied, watching the happy toddler.

"How wong we gonna stay?"

"As long as you like." Wei WuXian wondered why he was asking that, since A-Yuan always liked visiting his cousin, Jin Ling. "Why?"

"But after, can we go see Beautiful Gege?" A-Yuan asked casually as if it didn't matter to Wei Ying.

"Why do you want to go see him?" He asked, swinging A-Yuan up into his arms so he didn't have to bend to hear him.

"Wanna say thank you. For looking after me." A-Yuan beamed then. "Manners, Baba said."

Wei Ying kissed his soft squishy cheek.

"You are a lovely little radish! I could just eat you up, you're so cute." He blew raspberries on his cheeks as they waited for the bus.

A-Yuan giggling and struggling to try and get away from him, but his hold was too tight, and they ended up making a spectacle of themselves, the other passengers waiting for the same bus also smiling at them.

Soon enough, they were sat side by side as the bus trundled off towards LanLing.

The steady motion of the bus as it moved was like a rocking sensation and A-Yuan fell asleep rather quickly.

Wei Ying had been making notes of all the topics he needed to research come Monday, because he didn't think the Institute opened on a Sunday...but now that A-Yuan wanted to go this afternoon, he had to be prepared.

And then he thought they should definitely take a gift for the Beautiful Gege...

Time passed quickly and he didn't bother waking up his son when the bus pulled up outside their stop. He picked up A-Yuan gently and let him sleep on his shoulder.

His Shijie and the Peacock lived quite close so he didn't have to walk too far.

He rang the doorbell and heard excited barking, and he froze.

Shijie always made sure Fairy wasn't around when they had their playdates, so what was going on today?

Wei WuXian couldn't move. He clutched his baby boy like a lifeline, while his heart rate flew off the charts. Sweat broke out across his face and he could feel it dripping down his back. He closed his eyes tight.

"A-Xian! A-Xian! It's okay Sweetie! I'm so sorry! Fairy has been put outside now."

It was his Shijie, and slowly her voice broke through the haze of panic and fear clouding his mind.

Shijie had brought him inside the house and now A-Yuan had woken up and was staring at him, worried.

"Fairy is a bad dog." He said with such conviction, that Wei WuXian felt bad.

It was nobody's fault that he had a paralysing fear of dogs.

Shijie took A-Yuan from him and pushed a mug of hot sweet tea into his hands and he had to hold it with both hands to stop himself from shaking.

Jin Ling came running in then.

"Sorry Uncle Wei, we all forgot about Fairy. Are you okay now?"

His nephew climbed up and sat next to him on the couch.

Wei WuXian felt a little bit embarrassed now, with all their fussing over him.

Shijie gave him a bar of chocolate.

"Sugar helps for shock." She murmured.

Just her soft soothing voice was already giving him some relief.

He ate two pieces of the rich chocolate pieces and found she was right; he immediately felt so much better than before.

"GuguJi, do you know, we can't stay long today." A-Yuan was saying to her.

Too late, Wei WuXian realized where this conversation was going. But before he could interrupt or direct it elsewhere, A-Yuan spilled the tea.

"We have to go and see Beautiful Gege."

Wei WuXian couldn't look at her.

"Beautiful Gege? Who's that?" She asked.

"Beautiful Gege lives in the library. We went yesterday. Beautiful Gege saved A-Yuan." He told her proudly.

"Well, you know what, my delicious little Radish? If you haven't got a lot of time, you have to make every second count. Isn't that right, A-Yuan's Baba?"

She was making shrewd eyes at him.

When it came to gossip, Shijie was worse than a bloodhound, sniffing out every morsel of news...and suddenly, Wei WuXian didn't want to be alone with her now.

"Come on, let's play with Fairy." Jin Ling shot him a quick concerned look before grabbing A-Yuan's hand and taking him outside.

There was silence now.

Wei WuXian was checking out the weave on his jeans and discovered that not only was there a warp thread and a weft thread, but also a third thread woven in a diagonal pattern...on this very pair of ordinary jeans. Who would have thought?

"Beautiful Gege, huh?" She finally cracked and broke out into peals of laughter. "You should've seen your face!! A-Xian! How could you not tell me yourself?" She half-heartedly accused him.

"There's nothing to tell!" He protested. "We had a bit of drama yesterday, that's all. I left to go put a book back and A-Yuan must have woken up, he started looking for me and found Lan Zhan, and we must have missed each other by seconds, I tell you." He shook his head, remembering his panic.

"I think you like him...tell me the truth, A-Xian...?" She prodded.

And when she put it like that, how could he not?

"Alright...I like him. He's yummy." Wei WuXian nodded to her squealing. "But I don't know how to approach this...or us...if there even is an us..."

"Why? I'm sure dating hasn't changed all that much since I got married. All you have to do is go up to him and say, I like you, can we please go out? See? Simple!" She snapped off a piece of his chocolate and popped it into her mouth.

Wei WuXian shuddered.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I have to think of A-Yuan now. We come as a package deal...and I'm not interested if he doesn't want anything to do with my kid. It doesn't matter how good looking he is..." He sighed.

"I think...while that's commendable..." She began.

Wei WuXian was nodding along...

"You're just being a chicken. You're using him as an excuse..."

"I am not!" He protested.

"Think about it." She continued. "You finally meet someone you're interested in but you don't even want to ask him out on a date because you're "scared"." She even did the speech mark thing with her fingers.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to ask him..." Wei WuXian hedged uncomfortably.

"So you are!" She pounced on him.

"Maybe...we'll see. I'm going to take things slow."

"Very wise...!" She agreed, but her amethyst eyes were sparkling with amusement.

"Shijieeeeee!" Wei WuXian hid his face in his hands. He could already feel how hot it was.

"I have an idea...if you want to try something." She ate another piece of chocolate and this time, Wei WuXian took the packet back, eating a piece himself.

He didn't put it back between them and she grinned at him; he raised a brow in defiance.

"I could make something sweet that you could present him with this afternoon when you go." She suggested.

"I don't know if he likes sweet things." Wei WuXian thought about it. "He's very serious...but kind of intense? If you know what I mean? He has a brother, older than him, definitely more friendly."

"And you don't like him instead?" She asked, surprised.

"Well...I'm sure he's really nice...but I saw Lan Zhan first."

"You know what that means, right?"

"What?" He asked her warily.

"That, my dear baby brother, is love at first sight."

Wei WuXian threw his cushion at her.

***********

Shijie ended up making a huge batch of her famous mochi with a chocolate centre, and Wei WuXian had already "tasted" many, just to make sure she was consistent in their production, because he couldn't just give second-rate desserts, could he?

And suddenly both Jin Ling and A-Yuan were experts in mochi and by the time they packed a box, decorating it with a red ribbon tied in a pretty bow, less than half were left.

At least Wei WuXian managed to convince A-Yuan that his present was safer in their backpack than out of it, and thus he was able to secure it away from the eager child.

By two in the afternoon, they left LanLing and were sitting in a bus bound for Gusu.

The bus stop where they would get off was closer to the Institute than their home, so they decided to go straight there. And then, Wei WuXian had a thought:

"A-Yuan...what if he's not there? He might not work on Saturdays."

A-Yuan thought very hard, his little brow furrowed in concentration.

"We could give it to someone. To give to him." He sighed.

Wei WuXian thought he sounded way too grown up all of a sudden.

"But I should like to give it to him." He added.

Wei WuXian agreed...silently.

*************

Lan WangJi was having a strange morning.

After tossing and turning most of the night, he managed to grab a couple of hours of rest, and coupled with his two hours of meditation, he was feeling a little bit better, not so restless.

He was even able to drink his green tea in the morning without disturbance which was another miracle. It being the weekend, the institute was full of people and children alike.

So until around eleven o'clock, Lan Wangji had enjoyed a quiet morning.

But then, a group of rowdy teenagers arrived.

The problem with these kids was, they were too old to tell off and too young to stick in jail...and Lan WangJi had to hang around because were he to move away, or let them out of his sight, he was worried what kind of mischief they would get up to.

He had already sorted through most of the shelves, but one book remained in his hand as his mind drifted back to yesterday. He didn't want to admit it, but that kid was cute. There was something so honest about it...and Lan WangJi liked that.

The sweet innocence that it exuded was...precious and Lan WangJi wondered why he was feeling protective towards it.

Maybe because it had cried all over him and of course, Lan WangJi had just wanted to stop the noise. But it seemed to like being patted on the back. It was very expressive...just like its father.

Lan WangJi swallowed hard. Its father was so beautiful...Lan WangJi felt better already, in the way that something beautiful in nature made him feel grateful for being alive, that same feeling was present when he thought about Wei Ying. Like feeling as if everything was going to be alright because this person existed in the world.

"Hey, man, where can we find stuff on volcanoes?" A scruffy kid drawled in front of him.

Lan WangJi was going to jump down his throat, but he paused. There was something in the eyes of this person that had been mirrored in the little kid from yesterday...only this one had learned to mask it, or cover it up. This one had that same innocence but under layers of wanting to be "cool" and not need anyone...and then he thought how it must have taken real courage for him to come and ask Lan WangJi anything.

So, silently, Lan WangJi took him to the right shelf and pulled out a few books. The smile on that small adult's face was worth it, and Lan WangJi was relieved he had not gone with his first response.

Somehow word spread and soon, more and more children were asking him to find books...the day was becoming quite interesting too. And Lan WangJi realised, that even if it was simple to go to the right section for whatever they wanted to know, the kids (and some adults) did not know how to look.

He was astounded by this.

And then he was even more shocked at his next thought: if they originally didn't know how to look for whichever book they needed, they surely wouldn't know where to put it back. So all these years, when he had been thinking that books put in the wrong places and on the wrong shelves, because all that was needed was a basic grasp of the alphabet, was done out of malicious intent, was....actually not.

Whether because these people simply did not know where they got the books they took out were from, or if they ran out of time and couldn't, Lan WangJi felt infinitely better and somehow happier that the world, his world wasn't full of obnoxious, snotty kids who didn't give a damn about anyone but themselves.

"You're so popular today, Gege." A too familiar voice said, very close to him.

Lan WangJi turned around before he could prepare himself and was once again floored by the beautiful man, just casually standing in front of him.

His silver eyes were crinkling in the corners and he looked...Happy? To see him? No, there must be another reason...right?

Today, Wei Ying's hair was tied in a high bun with a red ribbon, but a few strands had already escaped and he was trying to blow them away from his face by pouting and blowing at the same time. The reason for this was because his hands were both occupied by a child, that kid, and a box with a matching ribbon like the one on his head.

Unconsciously, Lan WangJi saw his own hand rise up and tuck the errant hairs behind a now very red ear. Wei Ying looked even more beautiful when he blushed.

"Beautiful Gege...this is for you!" The kid was smiling so hard, a toothy grin with all those tiny teeth, and a dimple in his chin, and Lan WangJi was feeling warm all over.

It was a nice feeling.

Oh.

Could this day get any stranger?

He saw his own hand lift up and take the box the child was giving him, and by doing that, he had unwittingly turned up the wattage on that kid's smile.

"Eat one, Beautiful Gege! Eat one now! GuguJi made them and they're dewicious!" The kid chortled.

Lan WangJi could feel something breaking in his chest and he quickly locked it away for examination later. He still had yesterday's thinking to do, both about the child and its father, and now this!

His homework was piling up against his will but he knew he had to finish it.

And soon.

"A-Yuan...he's working. He can eat it later, alright?" Wei Ying was telling him.

The kid pouted.

Lan WangJi opened the box and put one in his mouth.

There was shock on all three faces.

The taste was...incredible.

Lan WangJi savoured it like opening a new book for the first time, the way the newness had a smell like no other, coupled with the excitement of anticipation at what was going to be discovered imminently. The smooth and sticky sweet was delicious and then as he bit into it, the chocolate sweetness exploded onto his tongue and Lan WangJi had another out of body experience.

There was noise and action all around him but Lan WangJi was in another place, taken back in time to when his mother was still alive and made something similar to this, but instead of chocolate, she had filled the inside with a sweet jam...no less incredible to eat.

He came back to himself when soft fingers were wiping under his eyes.

Why was he crying?

Both the kid and its father were looking at him worriedly.

"Beautiful Gege is upset. We made him cry." A-Yuan's bottom lip trembled.

"No." Lan WangJi managed to say, his heart bursting with many emotions...too many.

"No...? You're not upset?" Wei Ying was asking him.

Lan WangJi could only shake his head.

There was marginal relief on his face, but the kid was still upset.

"Happy tears." He murmured, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping his own face. "Thank you...it was very thoughtful of you."

"Baba said we can kiss when we're really happy. Would you like to kiss my cheek?" A-Yuan asked, ever so innocently.

"A-Yuan! He might not want to-" Wei Ying was saying.

But both the kid and Lan WangJi were ignoring him, lost in whatever weird connection they suddenly had, and A-Yuan was reaching for Lan WangJi...and Lan WangJi...was suddenly holding the kid out of his own free will. And then his lips landed on those soft, doughy cheeks and both looked so happy...

Wei WuXian could not believe what he was seeing.

"Thank you Beautiful Gege, for finding me when I was lost." Sweet A-Yuan was saying to him.

Lan WangJi had lost his words long ago.

He had no idea what this kid was doing to his insides but he felt mushy and warm like melting marshmallows.

Another teenager came to ask him for some book and Lan WangJi had to step out of this happy bubble and go out into real life, albeit reluctantly.

Wei Ying smiled apologetically to him as he and the kid walked slowly away, and the kid turned around a little bit to wave at him.

Lan WangJi had to wave back...it would have been a crime not to.

He sighed and went to find another book on gases.

***********

Wei WuXian and A-Yuan wandered past the many people that were in the Institute today, marvelling at how different it looked with the injection of more human beings.

The cafe they had discovered before was relatively quiet and they had a wide range of flavours in ice cream. Wei WuXian remembered his days as a kid himself in Yunmeng and as a result, he and A-Yuan got a bowl to share. A-Yuan's favourite was strawberry and it just so happened that Wei WuXian had been having a love affair with it for ages, so they both had happy spoonfuls.

On a sugar high, they drifted to the children's fiction area.

"Please Baba, can I have a storwy?" A-Yuan yawned.

"Of course you can, my delicious little Radish! Let's pick one out. Are you in the mood for dragons? Or wizards? Or tigers?" Wei WuXian poked his soft cheek as A-Yuan pretended to think about it.

"Dinosaurs!" They both said at the same time.

Wei WuXian knew him too well. They picked out a wonderful book with many pictures that had A-Yuan's eyes shining with curiosity and joy, and Wei WuXian was slightly envious of that feeling.

The first time he was given a book all of his own was when Uncle Fengmian had handed him a copy of  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Immediately plunged into a new world of magic and muggles and mayhem, Wei WuXian did not lived in the real world for days and weeks after. That first book created a thirst to write, to have his own characters after he finished creating different scenarios in his head about the ones in that book.

And even though he could remember word for word, that entire book from cover to cover, he read it again and again. But the initial magic couldn't be recreated.

That was the sad thing about any great story. Those first emotions were so powerful, the highs of happy times when those characters did something good or funny and then the lows when something bad happened to them. The mirroring of the same emotions was always watered down later on repeated consumption and he wished there was some way to erase the book or the story from his own mind, just so he could experience the same intensity of those feelings like the first time.

Right now, A-Yuan was looking up at him with such grand expectations in those chocolate eyes, that Wei WuXian felt humbled that he was going to share this with his child. They found an empty corner and he began reading softly.

Feeling the soft, steady weight of his child sitting in his lap, leaning against his chest was the best feeling in the world.

***********

Lan WangJi was feeling tired now. He had been running around after one child and then another, finding whatever they needed and he felt good...useful. It was close to closing time and the non-fiction department was nearly empty.

He slipped into his nook to have one more of those delicious mochi treats, and then humming the new tune in his head, he walked over to fiction area.

Even before he reached its confines, he was hearing the raucous laughter of many children and adults.

That was puzzling indeed, but then there were gasps of surprise, and then cheering and even some booing.

What was going on?

He hurried towards the sounds anxiously, wanting to know what it was and not, at the same time.

But nothing could prepare him for what he saw:

Wei WuXian and A-Yuan were sitting in the furthest corner reading a book...Well, Wei Ying was reading.

A-Yuan was staring up at him with a face of adoration and rapt attention, the latter on all their faces...because they weren't alone.

Nearly ten adults and twice as many children were listening as Wei Ying read out loud.

But he wasn't just reading either, he was animating the story for them. Using different voices for the different characters, assorted tones to convey different emotions, Wei Ying was making the story come alive.

His listeners were feeling everything that the characters in the book were feeling, every step of the way.

They were involved in that adventure together...and to see this happen right in front of his eyes...it was magical.

A cheer erupted from his crowd of listeners when he finished the last page and closed that book.

"The end," He announced, beaming at everyone. "And that's the last one, I'm afraid."

The children wailed in disappointment.

"I'm sorry but I have to get my little Radish home. But this has been fun." He stood up.

"Will you be here on Monday? After school?" An excited parent asked him.

Wei Ying's face was priceless.

Beetroot red.

"Er...um...I don't think so."

There were general murmurs of disapproval and disappointment reverberating through the crowd as they got up from the carpeted floor. From the way the adults winced, it seemed like they had been sitting there for a while.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying beamed at him and came over.

But the moment he saw his face, the smile vanished.

"I'm sorry! Were we making too much noise? I didn't realise-"

"No." Lan WangJi cut him off.

He didn't know what he was feeling...but it certainly wasn't annoyance. And now he hated that Wei Ying wasn't smiling anymore.

Wei WuXian was worried about the drastic change on Lan Zhan's face. For one second, when he had realised that they had an audience and part of that audience was Lan frickin Zhan...alright, maybe he had embellished the story a teenie tiny bit, but nobody was complaining.

In fact, so far, he had read four stories and still they wanted more.

But Lan Zhan had gone from happy to zero in a fast car kind of way, and now Wei WuXian thought he was the reason.

There was a deep silence as Lan Zhan stared at him, and he stared back into those wonderful golden eyes, puzzled at what he was thinking.

"Not good." Lan WangJi managed to say...and then he was horrified at those words. "At saying what I think." He amended.

Wei Ying's expressive face had dropped in disappointment before soaring higher than the clouds in the next minute.

"Okay..." He replied tentatively.

"Baba...is Beautiful Gege sad?" A-Yuan whispered, but it wasn't as quiet as he would have thought.

Lan WangJi could feel his ears getting hotter.

"Not sad." He insisted.

"Then?"

Two confused faces stared up at him, and it was almost comical how similar they were, one with wide chocolate eyes, just as big as the silver ones.

Lan WangJi decided he liked them both. He tried to smile but he was pretty sure nothing changed on his face...yet those two smiled back and in an instance, the tension was gone.

"Okay, my little Radish, we really have to go now." Wei Ying was saying to the little one.

It pouted but didn't say anything other than, "K."

Lan WangJi was disappointed. But he was tall enough to see lights switching off in other parts of the library.

It was time for all of them to go home.

"Bye, Beautiful Gege!" A-Yuan smiled again at him.

Lan WangJi was surprised how much he liked that.

A-Yuan waved and so did Wei Ying as they walked away from him.

Lan WangJi watched and watched, until he could no longer see their shapes as they left the institute. He wondered if Wei Ying had a car, or if they had travelled by public transport, maybe a bus.

Should he have offered to take them home? He had seen how Wei Ying had hoisted his backpack upon his shoulder, after picking his son up...would he be carrying him all the way home?

Didn't he get tired?

Lan WangJi performed his nightly routine, checking through both the sections past the shelves, making sure no one was left, lost in a book to the extent of not noticing the darkness. It had happened once before and he wasn't looking forward to repeating the experience.

Still, mistakes were made for the sole purpose of learning, and Lan WangJi had learned his lesson well.

As he walked through the now empty library, he couldn't help but compare it to his own life. Was his life empty? Was the way he lived wrong? He didn't think so...but then why was the thought of going home, and then the consequent dinner and going to bed as usual, sparking unhappiness...not even that...he tried to think of the name it was called.

He drove home in two minds, one concentrating on the task at hand and the other sullenly contemplating the name which he couldn't figure out.

Traffic was bad but he didn't mind, instead he let his mind go and it inevitably went towards a little boy with chocolate brown eyes. They had shared a strange but not unwelcome bond.

In those precious few minutes, trust had been established between them...and Lan WangJi was a hundred percent sure that his would not be misplaced. He was pretty sure now, that after just two days of seeing little A-Yuan...his own view of children in general had changed.

He thought back to his own reactions of wanting to help that first teenager with the book on volcanoes. Had he actually said what his first thoughts were, the outcome of their encounter would have differed vastly, and in a bad way, not one that was conducive to growth.

But by changing his response to something else, a change brought on by the little kid, because he was nothing if not honest with himself, to the point of being brutal.

So in conclusion, A-Yuan had significantly changed him, by depending on him to find his father. In the same way, all those other children had depended upon him this afternoon, to magically find the books they needed. And in return, Lan WangJi felt fulfilled.

This led to him feeling much happier about his job.

Lan WangJi loved books. They were on a par with his bunnies.

But up until now, he realised his relationship with them had become stagnant, unchanging, boring.

When was the last time he had read a book that wasn't factual, or for learning purposes?

Why had he become so involved in the story Wei Ying was reading, to such an extent that to him, only A-Yuan and Wei Ying had existed with him, in a tiny bubble. The book had been about a tiger who came for tea...not something Lan WangJi would have found interesting to begin with.

Yet listening to Wei Ying tell the story, with all those different tones and voices had made the story come alive for him.

And not just for himself; for the other people listening to him too.

This was such an eye-opening moment for him.

It was more than just the excitement he felt when thinking about A-Yuan or Wei Ying...it was the beginnings of a really good idea.

He parked his car in their underground garage and walked into their home, hearing the echoes of his own footsteps.

The flowers in the vase on the table had been changed to yellow daffodils, and for some reason, Lan WangJi missed the ones from yesterday. These were cheerful enough...but still...

He went through the motions of washing his hands, and then settling down to eat with his uncle. XiChen wasn't there tonight, and Lan WangJi briefly wondered where he was.

As usual, they ate in silence.

But tonight, the silence was almost claustrophobic, a weight on his senses.

This never bothered Lan WangJi in the past, yet now, every sound felt amplified. The clatter of a spoon as it was put down, the screech of a fork against the ceramic plate, the setting down of a glass...all of it. Lan WangJi could hear himself breathing.

It seemed loud, even to him.

He escaped as soon as it was polite to do so, the moment his uncle rose from his seat.

Lan WangJi picked up his notebook from the day before.

He stared at the words he had written down and unbidden, the word he had been looking for all this time, the one that wasn't unhappiness, came to him.

Lan WangJi was lonely.

****************

Wei WuXian put on a children's show he had found on his phone, hoping A-Yuan would be entertained enough to let him make dinner.

It was at times like this, that he would wonder what having a partner could be like. He imagined a scenario where he could play with A-Yuan, actually devote all of his concentration upon him while someone else made dinner. Or the reverse of that, where he still had to cook, which he didn't mind at all, while someone else played with his son.

These fantasies had been vague before, just a blurry presence in the place of the one he imagined would be his partner.

But now...there was a clearer image, one of a person with golden eyes...and Wei WuXian hoped.

Was it bad of him to want company? Not that he minded A-Yuan at all, just that it would have been nice to share a joke or two, to talk about his day with someone other than the walls, who must be close to crying out of boredom by now.

And he hated leaving A-Yuan with any form of electric entertainment. Sure, sometimes it was a necessity, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

His imagination was so vivid, he could actually see Lan WangJi living with him in this space. He could imagine waking up next to him, spending every day together. But when it came to A-Yuan...Wei WuXian backed off immediately.

He could not risk starting something only to have it fizzle out.

And that was his biggest fear.

He could cope with ending a relationship...he was pretty sure he could, anyway. He didn't actually have any experience in this department because, the road to university had been fraught with so much tension and hardship that he dared not waste any time on frivolous relationships that were doomed to fail.

Everyone around him was into experimenting and Wei WuXian had not seen the point in that. He had instead, thrown himself into his work, and it had paid off in leaps and bounds.

And then, in his final year...he had to take custody of A-Yuan and at the same time, his book was number one on the New York Times Best seller list...and then he had to drop out.

There was no time for romance, not when guilt was eating him up alive. Not when he had such a good, sweet soul looking to him for everything it needed.

A-Yuan's interests were far more important to him now, more than his own, and he knew he would not chase after his own happiness at the cost of the possibility that his son would get hurt.

The little boy had suffered too much already for Wei WuXian to take bringing him up lightly.

The smell of burning cheese hit his nose and he discovered that while he had been lost in his daydreaming, he had managed to burn the grilled cheese sandwiches he was making for their dinner.

He sighed staring at the charcoal resembling bread and tossed it, and started again.

This time, he concentrated on what he had to do fully, so when he withdrew the tray from the oven, their meal was glistening with brown patches in the way only melted, toasted cheese could do.

He went to find A-Yuan after serving up two plates.

It was going to be another lonely meal for the both of them, but that was okay. He had A-Yuan, and A-Yuan had Wei WuXian, and together, they were their own family.

***********

A/N

So I can't believe it, this one is also over 10K...

Itookthebluepill I actually listened...

When it's this long, I worry it's just a rambling of my own thoughts, and if that's the case, I hope it's not boring.

Have a great Saturday everyone! With lots of chocolate 🍫

Would you believe it, I only ate one piece in writing all of this...