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They must make for a strange sight, he muses. A tall, lithe man running around the open market, weaving his way in and out of the crowd, bothering vendors at their stalls, constantly followed by a quiet, still young teenager dressed all in white. Both of them obviously cultivators from the swords hanging at their hips and strange attire, they draw civilian and cultivation-born attention alike.
Wei Ying is running around, energetically gawking at every new smell and sight, trying to beg food off merchants and try countless delicacies: he will probably get a stomachache tonight. Though his stomach is extraordinarily resistant to spice, it did not develop the same ability when it came to withstanding over-eating. After all, he had spent his childhood begging food off the streets. His belly was used to eating even the most rotten of scraps, but eating too much had not been something he had had to contend with.
Lan Wangji follows behind the energetic Sect Leader as best as he can. He still hasn't grown as tall as he will in the future, and his present height doesn't allow him to tower over the crowd like he will be able to once he reaches adulthood. He struggles through women holding huge woven baskets filled to the brim with their purchases, children running around waving the new toys their parents bought them - and doesn't that tug at his heartstrings, and make him remember another little boy that he once knew - men lugging huge carts around across the streets...
Wei Ying probably didn't take Law Wangji's small size into account – or, more likely, simply forgot about it, as he doesn't wait for him. Still, Wangji is simply content to try and follow along while listening to the commotion aroused by his husband's antics: here a merchant screaming about someone running by too fast, scaring the chickens he's trying to sell; there, a lady sat on the ground grumbling about him almost trampling the garden-fresh produce she picked this morning – Lan Wangji slips her a few copper coins when he passes by and disappears before she yells at him that she's not begging, she's an honest worker; back around the corner, children laughing while pointing at his husband stuffing his face with sticky, honey-covered treats, smearing them all over his face, getting some on his nose...
Lan Wangji feels his ears burning.
It doesn't take long for the seller to demand his money, which Wangji takes as his cue to get closer. Wei Ying is frantically looking around, waving his arms wildly to try and explain to the irate man that he will, without a doubt, receive the money owed for the objects provided. The man's facial expression looks more and more dubious the longer Wei Ying tries to explain, finally reaching peak annoyance just as Wangji squeezes out of the crowd and comes to stand in front of the stall, reaching over the counter to give the merchant just the right amount of shattered copper to pay for the treat.
His actions are rewarded by his husband's sticky, spoiled grin and the puzzlement of everyone that stopped to watch the ongoing scene. A young teenager paying for a grown man's meal out of his own pocket is not a common sight after all.
But Caiyi will get used to the sight with time.
Sadly, Wei Wuxian had not expected that they would be attacked on their way back to the Cloud Recesses. The monster stands in front of them, a few steps ahead. The wind blows around them, sending falling leaves billowing into the air and making strands of hair wave around, hindering their vision.
He stands in front of Lan Zhan, trying to cover him with his body. All of the muscles are tense: Wei Wuxian doesn't think that he will be able to win this fight. Also, the way he is shaking like a leaf is another indication that they are well and truly done for.
A dog stands before them, wagging its tail in all its ferocious glory.
Wei Wuxian wants to tell Lan Zhan that they should run away, but what leaves his throat is no more than a whisper. It has been a while since he has been faced with one of those: owning them has been outlawed in Yiling Wei since the moment of its creation and he had always taken care to have his retainers shoo them away before he was able to catch sight of them when he left his Sect.
Sadly, he had ordered his retainers not to follow him this time, wanting to be able to talk with Lan Zhan without holding back and his subordinates thinking him crazy. But he has not taken dogs into account. That was his greatest failing, but he knows he has never been a great strategist.
Then, like the hero Lan Zhan grows into more each day, his husband steps forward and just stares at the dog. Being stared at so intensely, the animal slowly stops moving. Eventually, a low growl comes from within its reddish maw. Wei Wuxian feels a sob building in his throat, but Lan Zhan acts before it is even released.
Lan Zhan takes a meat-filled bun Wei Wuxian had bought in Caiyi and throws it as far as he can down the steps. The dog bounds after it, passing by them as Wei Wuxian recoils, feet slipping on the stone, and Lan Zhan catches him before he falls.
Wei Wuxian can do nothing but slip down to his knees, despondent, as Lan Zhan holds on to the older man and starts to hum their song to him. It takes the immortal a few minutes to get himself together. When he does, Lan Zhan is looking at him with wide, worried eyes.
"You're so good to me, husband..." Wei Wuxian smiles, "You're still too small to make them flee at your very sight, so keep eating your vegetables, okay? Please, for your Wei Ying, grow big and strong and protect him from dogs..."
"Mn, I will," Wangji answers, "Will never leave Wei Ying once I am grown."
"That's good, husband, that's good," Wei Wuxian says without trying to get up. He feels really warm, nestled in his husband's arms like this. If he ignores their size, he can almost think he is back in their own time.
"Mn. Otherwise, Wei Ying would starve before even seeing a dog," Wangji says, very seriously, while nodding.
"Lan Zhan! So mean!"