Thursday 7 days for the Full Moon Festival

Wei Ying was going to make a concentrated effort now, he promised himself as he stared at his work.

The problem was, he wasn't sure if Lan Zhan would like it and of course, the simplest solution would be to paint over it.

But ... but he knew it would hurt.

So he turned around and called his sister.

Not the scary one, he called his Shijie.

"Hello A-Xian!" She always sounded so delighted that he called her.

"Shijie..." sometimes it was enough only to be able to hear her voice and imagine the look on her face when she used particular tones.

Wei Ying stepped out of the living room and smiled at his thoughts...it was going to be hard to think of it as their place, he was still referring to the living room as Lan Zhan’s living room...but at the same time, it was becoming easier and easier to imagine himself living here.

With their family.

Jiang YanLi was telling him all about her day as Wei Ying passed Lan Zhan, who seemed to be on his way out?

"Where are you going?" Wei Ying whispered, covering up the mouthpiece of his phone.

"Escaped bunny." Lan Zhan whispered back, taking a moment to kiss his beautiful lips before running off.

Wei Ying watched him go and then he turned to enter into what was going to be A-Yuan's room.

They had painted it white initially and then everyone had started working on their individual projects all over the house. No one had realised that A-Yuan had opened up the paint pots and done cute little handprints all over the walls, delighting in the mess.

When the three of them had found him after panicked searching, they discovered the baby asleep in a puddle of multicoloured paint, completely fine.

Wei Ying had looked around the walls, now covered with red and green, purple and blue hands as A-Yuan experimented with the colours.

Lan Zhan had poured out paint into a tray and then added his own...quickly copied by a giggling A-Yu...and then they had both looked at him as if to say, why aren't you joining us?

So of course, Wei Ying’s hands had joined the artwork on the walls and it was, he had to admit, a novel way to decorate a room.

Lan Zhan had invested in a professional make up table for A-Yu, ready with a lightbulb rim and three mirrors. Mo XuanYu had cried when he saw it, making his new parents teary-eyed too, and then he and Lan Zhan had assembled it together.

"So...I get the feeling you'll let me talk forever if I don't shut up....why did you call me, A-Xian?" Her gentle voice soothed away the trauma of not hearing her for so many years. There was a warmth growing in his belly that had everything to do with getting his sister back.

"I have some news...I could never hide anything from you, Shijie...but I really just wanted to listen to you. I haven't heard your voice as much as I would have wanted these past few years." He admitted.

"Oh...A-Xian..."

But Wei Ying doesn't want to make her feel sad, so he moved on.

"I have really good news," He said. "Lan Zhan and I are engaged."

The scream on the other end of the phone is so loud, Wei Ying had to hold the phone a distance away until the noise died down.

"And I know this is short notice but we're inviting you to a housewarming slash engagement party on Sunday. Can you come? Obviously the whole family..." He quickly added, rolling his eyes at himself.

"I'll bring some food...how about some of my special moon cakes?" Shijie was thinking quickly and then she reeled off a list of ideas that was making Wei Ying’s head spin and when he next got the chance to speak in between her pauses, he did.

"Actually XiChen-Ge is in charge of the party and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind some help." Wei Ying suggested, just because her enthusiasm was showing and there was no way Wei Ying would be able to remember everything she came up with.

Plus wasn't it easier if they just talked to each other themselves? Wei Ying certainly thought so and said as much.

"Great, then can you please do me a favour?" Shijie was saying.

There was the sound of papers being ruffled and then she spoke again.

"I need his number and if you could please drop him a line that I will be contacting him soon, that would be great." She added. "I hate getting calls from unknown numbers and I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that."

"Yes, okay, I'll do that right now..." Wei Ying complied.

"And what about your wedding? Any plans for the actual event?" She asked.

"Lan Zhan wants to do the whole thing by himself." Wei Ying blushed, just thinking about it. "He's already rejected XiChen-Ge's help and said he's planning to surprise me."

"Give me his number too and tell him I'm going to call him as soon as I get off the phone with his brother. And A-Xian?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you worry about a single thing, okay?" She made kissy noises on the other end  and hung up.

Wei Ying was left staring at his phone and wondering about the tornado that his sister had suddenly become....

He went back down to the surprise and was pleased to see that it looked much better now.

But there was always room for improvements...

***********

Wei Ying lost all track of time as inspiration hit him with a double whammy and it was past six when he looked at his phone.

He took his brushes to the sink, singing along with the song on the radio, stretching out the kinks in his shoulders and back.

Let's stay together
I, I'm I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me

'Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you
Let me say that since, baby, since we've been together
Ooh, loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me, be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Oh baby
Let's, let's stay together ('gether)
Lovin' you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad
Why, somebody, why people break up?

Oh, then turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me (would you, baby?)
Just being around you is all I see
Here's what I want us do

Let's, we oughta stay together ('gether)
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Come on
Let's, woo (let's stay together) let's stay together
Loving you whether, whether times are good or bad

He was humming the same tune even after it had finished, and that's when he wondered where Lan Zhan was.

Was he still chasing after that bunny? That meant he was at home then...right?

Wei Ying washed up and dried the sink, admiring Lan Zhan’s choices yet again on such a marvelous kitchen, but now a part of him was worried and he thought it would be best if he too, returned home.

That was another revelation, and he wondered when he had started thinking of it as such?

As he went around the house closing the lights and checking the doors, he was thinking back to the first time he had entered Lan Zhan’s home and felt overwhelmed at the unhidden luxury, how everything seemed to be a priceless artifact from the past...but now, he hardly even noticed it.

Wei Ying yawned and was just walking towards the front door when it opened and a wild looking Lan Zhan entered.

He saw Wei Ying and aimed for him, enveloping him in a hug.

They both relaxed, the comfort of being in each other's arms outweighing everything else.

"My love...are you alright? You don't look like you are..." Wei Ying asked after a while, when Lan Zhan showed no signs of letting him go yet.

"Mn...I'm alright now." Lan Zhan sounded much calmer and that was good.

"So...did you catch the bunny?" Wei Ying wanted to know.

Lan Zhan’s expression turned naughty.

"I caught this bunny!" And he lifted Wei Ying into his arms, making him squeal at the suddenness of his action. "Were you going home?"

Wei Ying had thrown his arms around Lan Zhan’s neck and he brought their faces together for a quick smooch, nodding enthusiastically.

"Then let's go." Lan Zhan carried him out, smiling when Wei Ying hid his face because Dan was outside waiting for them with JingYi.

"But Lan Zhan...did you catch the other bunny? The one that escaped?" Wei Ying asked after his seat belt was fastened.

"Mn."

There was no chance to talk then because JingYi was singing loudly about sledgehammers and bumper cars and it was catchy enough that Wei Ying joined in too.

Lan Zhan was reminded of a clip from Modern Family where someone had preferred the sound of crunching metal in the waste disposal as opposed to their wife's karaoke singing...he could empathise fully with that poor man now...

When they got home, there was just enough time to tell Lan Zhan about what his Shijie had said, and then they were in the dining room.

Uncle Qiren nodded at them and the children smiled. XiChen evidently wanted to talk about something but he was too aware of the rules to break them, so they would have to wait.

Just as they finished dinner and were about to go into the library to play cards with the children, XiChen stopped Wei Ying and he looked a little scared.

"So...Jiang YanLi contacted me." He started saying, and Wei Ying grinned at him.

"That's so cool, XiChen-Ge! I'll bet both of you are going to make the day so special! I can't wait for Sunday!" And Wei Ying grabbed Lan Zhan’s hand and they disappeared behind a door which they closed in his face.

XiChen wasn't born yesterday...he knew exactly what that meant: he was on his own when it came to dealing with the "nice" sister.

He wasn't sure what he preferred: scared to death of the Demon Doctor or terrified of Steamrollering Jiang YanLi...

And neither of these two was any help...

********

A/N

Dear Beautiful Readers,

Another short update...lots of things to write but I'm taking full advantage of my time off. Now to rest my eyes for a bit...

Good night and sweet dreams all of you for whenever you get to sleep.

Charlie.