Over his head, up and above in the clear firmament, the white clouds danced across the blue sky, slow but determined, their shapes changing with the wind. He craned his neck up and looked at them in the silence of the morning. One of the largest ones looked like a duck swimming in the water if he squinted.
Looking for shapes relaxed him and made him forget about the weight of his body, about the old suppressed resentment that slept within him, about how dull this life was sometimes without pain or fear or hunger. But clouds, clouds were good. They made him remember of the soft texture of cotton gauzes.
"Hey! Uncle Ning!" A voice rang from the distance. The person he was expecting had arrived. The highlight of a day that otherwise would have been ordinary. A smile bloomed inside of Wen Ning's heart.
"Good morning, A-Yuan," he looked back to the Earth and nodded. The excited grin he couldn't put on his lips was nonetheless plastered in Lan Sizhui's.
"Good morning," the boy hugged him briefly and rubbed Wen Ning's upper back. "Sorry I'm late! I had to do extra chores. Jingyi got punished today so, he can't come."
"Oh no!" Wen Ning's head dropped.
He didn't mind that his little cousin had taken his time. It's not like he had much planned that day. He had hoped the other loud yet kind boy would come and visit as well. He was doomed to be rather fond of loud kind people. After Sizhui, he was the friendliest of the young boys towards him.
"It's okay, it's just an extra reading and not lines this time. He says he's definitely coming with us next time."
"I-I'm looking forward to it."
Sizhui giggled with his hand covering his mouth. The sound was music to Wen Ning's ears.
"Right, let me show you this cool trick we were taught in class today. Hold on a second."
The teenager took out a Qiankun pouch from his long white sleeve. As he opened it to get a stack of talisman paper, Wen Ning noticed that Sizhui's sleeve started to move on its own.
Sizhui froze and stared at his robes with confusion in his eyes. He bent his arm and shook the sleeve until something white and fluffy landed on the grass.
One long ear rose forward and a nose twitched in the air.
How did a bunny get inside of A-Yuan's clothes?
"Aw!" the boy lamented. "It must have sneaked inside while I was feeding the rabbits!"
"Feeding the rabbits?" Wen Ning repeated. This was the first time he had heard the Lan Sect raised animals of any kind in the Cloud Recesses. Then again, he had never stepped inside and only knew the things he caught from the boys or Wei Wuxian's stories. And hadn't A-Yuan mentioned that Lan Wangji had buried him with rabbits when he was younger? Suddenly that odd story made perfect sense.
Meanwhile, the creature was running in circles and jumping in the air. Wen Ning wondered if that was its way of playing. Sizhui didn't seem alarmed by the hops, so that couldn't be a bad thing. Despite that, the man's shoulders stiffened further.
"W-What should we do? Do we catch...?"
"It's okay, Uncle, I don't think it'll leave too far if it hasn't already. Besides, it's happy!"
"Is it?" Wen Ning tilted his head.
"When they jump like that, they're saying they're content and glad to be there. It's like a little dance."
"Oh..."
The bunny skipped a few more times before stopping to explore the area. And that meant it looked around, approached the stranger carefully, and then stood up on its hind legs to lean on Wen Ning's calf with its front legs. He looked down and glanced, and their eyes met. The bunny's right ear was naturally crooked, as if folded. The nose was still twitching. The cuteness was so strong that an impulse invaded the dead man's mind.
After a moment of hesitation, Wen Ning crouched and reached so the rabbit was then cupped within his two hands. It made no attempt to escape; instead, it just moved its head around. His heart felt a tender tug that had nothing to do with any wounds in his chest. With utmost caution, he shifted the weight in only one hand, and with the other he caressed the bunny's back with his fingertips.
It was not spooked, as he had feared. The fur was so soft and fuzzy. The rabbit's teeth started to make clicking sounds that made him recall a cat's purr after petting for a while.
"Whoa!" Lan Sizhui said with a gasp.
"I-Is it comfortable...?"
"Yes! It's actually really happy!" the boy beamed.
While he was physically unable to shed tears, Wen Ning strongly felt like crying.
He kept running his fingers through the bunny's back. Once he was more confident, he moved on to its head and later scratched behind its ears. The animal was delighted and tilted its bended ear closer to the ashen hand. High-pitched muffled noises came out of the man's throat, a stark contrast with the deafening deep roars of a fierce corpse.
"Are you by chance good with animals, Uncle?"
"Um... We had a couple of kittens when I was little, but other than that... I don't know. Ever since I became like this, I try not to get close and scare any animals." After all, they usually can tell he's unnatural and dangerous. "This is the first one I’ve touched this much."
"Aww, Uncle Ning..."
"Ah... Sorry..." A realization, a sadness that was visible in his frozen expression regardless. "Here, you have to take it back."
As he grabbed the rabbit under its front legs to give to Sizhui, it started to struggle. It couldn't escape the inhuman iron-like grasp, but it still let them know it disagreed with this decision. When Wen Ning turned it again to face him, it stopped the thrashing.
"..."
"Huh, it doesn't want to go back yet." Sizhui tapped his chin, lost in thought. "Let's do something, okay? I'll talk to Hanguang-jun."
"What for?"
"Well, the rabbits are his. But we have so many, so maybe he can let you have it. I mean, if you want it as a pet?"
Wen Ning couldn't blink, but his voice was but a whisper loaded with surprise. "A pet? Can I?" The idea of taking care of a small, fragile living being like that seemed wild to him.
"You don't lose control anymore so as long as you go on night-hunts together and such, I don't see why not?" Sizhui glanced at the makeshift shack that Wen Ning had made by the foot of the mountain to protect himself from the elements, as if evaluating whether a bunny could remain indoors or not without dying.
Wen Ning was holding the rabbit under its butt, in a way where the pads of its paws were visible. In that position, they could tell she was a girl. Also, she was too adorable. He didn't want to get his hopes up, and to be honest the idea was giving him some anxiety. Yet he really longed to have her company.
"I know a lot about bunny care, don't worry about the details. Let me fly back and ask!" Sizhui smiled. "Even if you're not allowed, at least I can buy you an afternoon to play with her."
"I-Isn't that too much trouble for you?" Wen Ning fretted.
"Of course not. I'll be back before curfew! Have fun!"
"W-Wait! A-Yuan?"
Sizhui didn't reply and instead unsheathed his sword.
Such a good boy, he thought as he saw his cousin get closer to the clouds above.
*
Sizhui went through the words he wanted to say one last time in his head, when he reached the Jingshi's door. Carefully, he placed his ear on the wooden surface and listened. No noises, no voices, no heavy breathing or alarming sounds. These days, it was essential to take a few seconds to make sure you didn't interrupt the happy couple during their time together. For your mental health, mostly.
Confident, the boy knocked and waited a few seconds. It was possible they hadn't returned yet and the house was empty, but a familiar voice rang from inside.
"Come in."
Sizhui opened the door carefully and greeted with a bright smile. "Good afternoon, Hanguang-jun. Welcome back!"
Lan Wangji was sitting at his desk. He nodded and put down the book he was reading. He seemed as solemn as usual but Sizhui knew better. There was an almost invisible yet tender spark in his eyes inside the stern complexion.
"Am I interrupting? I can come back later," the boy asked as he sat in front of the desk. He could smell the comforting scent of sandalwood from the incense burner, and he could see his father's guqin resting on a bamboo stand in a corner.
"No need, you are more important." Sizhui felt warm and loved at the words. "Are you just visiting or is there anything you wished to talk about?"
"Ah, yes. Um... It's about one of the rabbits. When I was feeding them this morning, one of the girls jumped inside my sleeve and well..." Sizhui sighed. "I went outside the Cloud Recesses and she managed to stow away." He made a pause to see if there was any reaction in Lan Wangji's face. His face was unchanging, which was even more intimidating. "She got away from me but don't worry, someone caught her."
"I see. Be more careful next time." Lan Wangji's voice was quite neutral at least, not giving it much importance.
"I will, but that's not the problem. I—"
They were interrupted by the faraway noise of an object breaking, two thuds, a clang, a donkey's outraged bray, and another familiar voice yelling something about either something black, a hound or a skull. That could be either of these things, considering this was Senior Wei in question. Neither of the two Lans decided to dwell on it.
"Anyway," Sizhui shook his head. "I wasn't the one who retrieved her. A... another person was nearby and he caught her. The thing is, the bunny really likes him. We already have so many, so I was wondering if we could allow him to keep her as his pet? Please? I feel bad breaking them up."
He bit his lower lip while his father figure was lost in thoughts. What if this was a mistake and he had given his uncle a false hope?
"As long as this person has no intentions of eating her," Lan Wangji finally said, "I have no objections."
"Hahaha, no!" Sizhui chuckled. "He doesn't eat." Realizing the mistake of ending the phrase there, he quickly added more to it. "Meat, I mean. He doesn't eat meat. No rabbit meat in his diet. Ahahaha..."
The pause was too long and awkward! Nonetheless, Hanguang-jun's face remained the same.
"Mmn. Make sure to tell him about proper care," he said. Sizhui let out the breath he was holding. "If he's a cultivator or you think he could partake in dangerous business, you may add a general version of our protocol on how to handle and keep small living beings safe during night hunts. In case that might be useful."
The boy wondered if that last part meant his father figure suspected this stranger's real identity. But since Sizhui didn't know Lan Wangji's actual opinion on Wen Ning or if he'd let one of his bunnies in the hands of a fierce corpse, he preferred to leave it at that.
"Thank you so much," Sizhui bowed, his ponytail bouncing up and down, and then stood up. "I'll leave you to your reading, okay?"
"Stop," Lan Wangji said after he had turned on his heels. "I need to discuss something with you as well, so please take a seat."
That didn't bode well, but Sizhui complied and hoped it didn't involve copying lines while doing a handstand again.
"Uncle has given me a series of complaints about you. He wants me to put sense into your head."
"Oh..." Indeed, this could end up in punishment. "About the night hunts?"
"About the night hunts. He's upset about you inviting Wen Qiongli, about you staying past the curfew, about you dragging the other disciples your age and about you being a bad influence to your juniors. This is a level of indiscipline improper of you."
Sizhui opened his mouth, but he immediately closed it before defending himself. He had no idea how to do that, how to explain how he felt about spending time with his Uncle Ning, how warm and fuzzy it was that Jingyi and the others were nice to him as if he wasn't the Ghost General. Yet he understood their teacher's worries, even if he thought they were unfair.
"I will appreciate it if in the future you act with prudence..."
"Hanguang-jun..."
"...and come back to the Cloud Recesses long before nine, if possible."
Sizhui blinked and waited for the rest, but Lan Wangji was already picking up his book from the desk.
"You're only concerned about the curfew?" he dared asking.
"I politely disagree with Uncle. Wei Ying and I don't think Wen Qiongli is a danger to any of you. "
Lan Sizhui let out a sigh. He straightened his back and returned to a serious expression that didn't match his relief.
"Understood. I'll do my best to follow the rules, and make the others follow them too."
"Mmn."
As he was about to leave the room, he heard Lan Wangji's voice behind him.
"I respect that he's your family, just like we are."
Sizhui's eyes started to prickle with hot tears, but the door opened and he saw a surprised smirk in front of him.
"Oh, it's Sizhui! Hey!" Wei Wuxian's hand pet the boy's head and ruffled his hairstyle. "Talk to you later, there's an emergency and I have to redraw suppressing talismans on a skull. Okay?"
"Y-yeah, please do so, Senior Wei. And welcome home!"
With quick steps, the fastest he could without running -as it was against the rules after all- the young man left the Jingshi with no questions for his other father figure about whatever mess he was solving or creating.
*
"Uncle Ning? Are you home?"
The voice and knock came from beyond the makeshift door. Without making sudden moves, the owner of the miserable but sturdy hut answered. "Yes."
The vision that awaited Lan Sizhui was quite amazing. Wen Ning lay on his back, on the body-long mat he used as a seating space or for a guest's bed. Over the length of his torso, the bunny flopped on her belly. Front paws under her head, back legs stretched out, ears laid back at an angle. She didn't mind the vein-marked hand that was scratching her in a lazy manner. No matter how you looked at it, the rabbit had come to trust this strange gray giant to the point of being able to completely relax on him.
Wen Ning couldn't see his relative's face until he sat next to him. Sizhui had a cute expression of delight that to him matched not only the animal but the state of his own heart.
After he regained some composure and stopped suppressing silly sounds —a struggle his uncle had understood too well for the entire afternoon— Sizhui coughed into his own fist and attempted to sound solemn.
"I have news. I spoke to Hanguang-jun, and he says he doesn't mind."
Wen Ning's eyes opened wide. He sat up in a jolt, not before placing a firm hand over the rabbit's body. She escaped his grasp in protest and jumped off, away from his arms. The man was too busy staring at the boy's honest grin in disbelief.
"I-Is it true? Really?"
"Really, really! She's yours!"
He had been bracing himself for a negative answer for the last hour. He had resigned himself to just enjoying a short time with the rabbit before returning her. As sad as it was, he had been used to things never going the way he hoped -even when he was alive his luck had always been beyond terrible. Despite this unusual positive response, he couldn't believe his ears.
Was it childish to be this happy for being allowed to keep a pet? It was as if the adult had been Sizhui instead of him, and that gave him a bit of shame. And yet... and yet... he felt so blessed he knew he would weep if his eyes could. His heart was swelling with joy.
"Thank you." His whisper left his lips in a broken voice. "Give Young Master Lan my thanks."
"Hahaha, he says there's no need."
"Did you hear, A-Ju?" He turned to the rabbit. "You're staying with me."
The bunny flopped again on the mat, this time on her left side and with her front legs folded near her chest.
"She keeps doing that," Wen Ning explained. "It's cute."
"It's a good thing," Sizhui assured him. "So her name is Ju?"
Wen Ning nodded. He would have blushed if he could. Despite his pessimism, he had still decided on a full name for her. He had thought for a long time.
"Written which what character?"
"Like chrysanthemum," Wen Ning drew 菊 in the air with a finger.
"Ah, that's pretty! I thought it was from bent." He drew 局 and pointed at the bunny's quirky ear.
"Ah, that too. She, uh... Her full name is Ju Juju."
"And the other Ju?" Sizhui leaned closer with sparks in his eyes.
Wen Ning picked up A-Ju and grasped her with his two hands as an answer. "Ju." His cousin drew the right character in the air, 匊, before cracking up.
"Pfffft, Uncle!" Sizhui snickered.
"I know, it's kind of silly..."
"I like that wordplay, though." The boy tickled the belly of the now named Ju Juju. "I do think it's clever!"
A-Yuan was one of the few people Wen Ning knew who genuinely found his jokes and puns funny. He had stopped saying them during his childhood when he only received exasperated groans, and it was wonderful when he accidentally discovered that they had a similar sense of humor.
"Ju as the flower for short," Wen Ning added, ruffling Sizhui's hair very softly.
"Yep, it's the most name-like. And her tail is fluffy like that flower so it suits her."
"Yes." Wen Ning forced a smile on his lips. Sizhui looked around and saw the small bowls of fruit and water on the ground, and a couple of sticks and stones that his uncle had offered as prospects for temporary toys.
"Okay, should I tell you how to take care of her?"
"Please do."
He was going to love to take care of her.
*
Epilogue
"Hey! Wen Ning!" Wei Wuxian's voice rang out, this time not enticing with orders but just appealing with the cordiality of an old friend. It was not a summon but a call. Behind him, Lan Wangji was holding Li’l Apple's reins and two boys trotted next to their seniors.
"...Young Master Wei." A tall, meek figure came out of the bamboo forest.
Wei Ying grinned as the Lan clan members exchanged greetings. Was it his imagination, or did Wen Ning's chest look a bit more buff? Couldn't be, and yet he looked slightly bulkier.
"Coming with us to a night hunt?" Wei Wuxian said.
"Y-Yes, I'd love to... Just give me two minutes." Wen Ning's well-worn boots were twitching, as if he wanted to run away.
"What's wrong?" Lan Wangji asked.
"Uh? N-Nothing, I need to... drop something at the hut..."
That's when Wen Ning's pectorals started to rustle and jingle. Before anyone could say anything, a white head emerged from his shirt. It was a rabbit.
Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi shared the same guilty look on their faces which meant that, unlike Wei Wuxian, they understood what was going on.
"Why is there's a bunny here?" Had it been anyone else, Wei Wuxian would have also asked Wen Ning a question about the possibility of catching it to roast it, but he knew the his friend wouldn’t appreciate that. Besides, for some reason there were two ribbons, one white and one red, forming a little bow around its neck so it was probably a pet. Tied to the ribbons, there was a little round silver bell which explained the noise.
A white blur slowly passed by everyone until he stood in front of Wen Ning, who started to shake. Lan Zhan just glanced at the animal. After some seconds of indecision, Wen Ning took it out of his shirt and raised it towards his old master's husband with reluctance. The boys seemed as nervous as the fierce corpse.
Lan Wangji didn't grab the bunny, though. He moved his hand to place it over the fuzzy ears. Just like that, he started to pet it. It closed its eyes and leaned closer to the elegant fingers of jade. Neither his or Wen Ning's face had made any change in their expression, just them staring at the fluffy white thing, one holding it and the other one caressing it.
Wei Wuxian couldn't take it. They were too much. His stomach was hurting from the strain of suppressing the laughter.
"Oh, I can't with this!" he guffawed. Lan Wangji stopped and turned around. Wen Ning quickly let the bunny climb to his shoulder, where it licked its owner's cheek. "You two..." Wei Ying giggled, unable to restrain himself. "Adult men shouldn't be this cute!"
"Right?!" Jingyi nodded furiously.
"Senior Wei can be cute as well sometimes," Sizhui helped.
"Well, I guess that's—" Wei Wuxian pouted, unable to feel fully complimented or insulted. He crossed his arms. "Wait, why only sometimes?"
"Let me take A-Ju back inside," Wen Ning said. "She has a big corral."
"Mnn," Lan Wangji said, ignoring the return of his beloved's loud laugh. "As in the flower?"
"Yes, Young Master Lan."
"Good name."
Wen Ning couldn't beam at Lan Zhan's comment but he sure looked the happiest they had seen in a while. After a string of thankful sounds, the undead man ran to his hut with the bunny on his shoulder. The bell rang with every step.
Lan Wangji didn't smile either but Wei Wuxian glanced at the tenderness in his eyes. The latter wasn't sure if it was the rabbit or warming up to Wen Ning over a common interest that wasn't protecting Wei Wuxian or the juniors' asses for once. Still, he was mesmerized by the soft expression on that beautiful face until Jingyi's voice broke the spell.
"But Senior Wei has a point," he said. "I don't think anyone would believe us if we told them that we witnessed Hanguang-jun and the Ghost General, two of the strongest and scariest men of the cultivation world, basically coo over a bunbun together."
"Hahaha, yes!" Sizhui agreed.
"That's part of their secret charm!" Wei Wuxian grinned and clasped around his husband's arm. Wen Ning returned with a little hop into his steps. Wei Ying in turn was also content to see this man, whom he had cursed with such a miserable afterlife, so full of love.
In fact he decided it was better than any teasing or cooking joke he could make. Adult men like those two could and should be this cute, especially around him and the kids.
Name: Kiri/Tao Tumblr: taotrooper Twitter: taotrooper AO3: taotrooper
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