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Wei Wuxian, having drawn the crowd of disciples come to study at the Cloud Recesses, changed into his sable form and ran around the garden to show off his beautiful sleek coat and general cuteness. Few people could resist him in his animal form, because he was cute and endearing. Few people could resist him in his human form, because he was handsome and charismatic.
He took all the accolades and exclamations of adoration that he deserved, and came to a halt next to a pair of pure, white boots.
His natural urge was to tease, and he actually moved to sit on one of those boots, hoping to leave some dark coloured fur behind to taint their pristine white.
There was a soft sound like that of muffled shock, and the boot jerked forward to throw him off.
“Be careful, you can’t just kick people!” the strident voice was his martial brother, Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian the sable was scooped up defensively in the other’s arms.
Always ready to tease anyone, not least his shidi, he changed back to human form, laughing uproariously when Jiang Cheng almost dropped him at suddenly having his arms full of Wei Wuxian in human form.
“Wei Wuxian!” He grated, but he actually did make sure Wei Wuxian was placed down on his feet rather than dumped unceremoniously. Jiang Cheng talked very tough, with a venomous tongue, but he did have a soft heart buried under that vitriol.
He really hoped that one day someone actually managed to see beneath the harsh exterior, it wouldn’t be easy because Jiang Cheng did a very good job at disguising all this softer feelings.
“You! You realise you should be careful with small animals, right? If you had accidentally kicked him you could have crushed his ribcage, or anything!” Jiang Cheng the small animal rights activist, started to tell off the boy clad in white.
Suddenly the other disciples around them found things elsewhere immensely interesting and vanished.
The owner of the boots was a perfect image in the pale mourning clothes of the Lan Sect, pristine, unblemished and surrounded by an air of coldness.
With pale amber eyes and a strikingly perfect profile, this must be one of the famed Jades of Lan.
Another, shorter boy gravitated over to them. He wore elegantly detailed robes and carried a sumptuously painted hand fan. “Wei-xiong, Jiang-xiong, let’s all be friends, I’m sure you merely startled Lan er-gongzi. We have to be understanding, its sometimes difficult for our herbivorous brothers when suddenly faced with predators like that.”
Instead of making any response the other merely gave them a disapproving stare, and walked away.
Jiang Cheng’s mutters made it obvious what he thought of the Second Jades manners, but Wei Wuxian shrugged it off, they were probably all as guilty as each other when it came to getting off on the wrong foot, and he was sure he could turn it around with the right application of his charm.
Instead he turned his attention to the other boy, “Nie Huaisang of Qinghe Nie,” he guessed, and Nie Huaisang smiled, it was fox-like in his delicately featured face.
“I’m overcome that Wei-xiong knows of this lowly disciple,” he said from behind his fan, “If Wei-xiong and Jiang-xiong will take some advice, if you upset anyone at Cloud Recesses, let it not be Lan er-gongzi”
“We thank you for your advice, Nie-xiong.” Wei Wuxian threw an arm across his slender shoulders, always ready to circumvent the usual process of building a friendship and barrel right into one. “How would you like to join us for Emperor’s Smile and gambling?” he suggested.
“That would be breaking so many of the Lan clans rules.”
“I know, you’re only in trouble if you get caught though,” he tapped his nose in the signal for secrecy and Nie Huaisang grinned.
“Wei-xiong, you’re incorrigible.”
***
The three of them soon became fast friends, and developed a reputation for trouble causing in the Cloud Recesses. They very often sneaked Emperor’s Smile for evenings spent drinking, shared Nie Huaisang’s extensive pornography collection, and generally got into the kinds of scrapes and scuffs told of in boy’s adventure books.
Wei Wuxian was frequently sent to the Library Pavilion to undertake repeated punishments of copying the Lan Sect rules. He, out of the three of them, was least able to hold his tongue in class when he disagreed, or became bored, or generally wished for attention.
He sat at the desk in that book-filled room today with the brush in his hands, flicking ink at the paper in his discontent.
He chafed at the rules, the boredom, and he was beginning to get more irritable at the fact Jiang Cheng had begun sneaking away to spend his evenings with Lan Xichen, the elder Lan brother, in his cat form.
It wasn’t fair. Jiang Cheng’s cat form was for Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli only usually, and not only had he started being comfortable enough recently to nap in Nie Huaisang’s lap, he was now giving all his attention to the dull Lans.
He flopped against the table where he copied the rules in his latest punishment, blowing his hair out of his face in annoyance. This was all so aggravating.
“Sit properly.” The cool instruction came from his ever-present jailer, Lan Wangji, the Second Jade of the Gusu Lan sect and official stick in the mud.
“I won’t!” He was feeling childish enough to rail at his fate.
“Then copy the rules one more time.” The ice-cold Lan Wangji added to his punishment.
He should have his fun with the Second Jade, if the other was going to treat him like a naughty child, he could certainly act like one.
He quickly slipped into his sable’s form and dashed across the library, scrambling onto the table Lan Wangji worked at.
Nie Huaisang had informed them that Lan Wangji was a rabbit shifter, and he hoped he could give him a little shock.
It worked; there was a moment where his impassive mask slipped a little, and Wei Wuxian saw something in those pale eyes like a flash of discomfort. His nose twitched ever so slightly. What an adorably cute bunny-like response.
There was anger in the Second Jade’s eyes, and he was picked up around his long torso. Lan Wangji probably intended to eject him from the library for his troubles.
Wishing to cause even more discomfort he used one of his favourite tricks; changing back to his human form while Lan Wangji held onto him.
His sudden increase in weight overbalanced Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian clattered down on top of the other.
It was, of course, more than he could ever have hoped to achieve with his scheme, and he laughed and laughed.
“Oh Lan Wangji. Lan Zhan. Lan er-gongzi. You should see your face. It’s normally so expressionless!” he was pushed to the side harshly, rolling away and into a sitting position.
“Do not touch me,” Lan Wangji said coldly, and Wei Wuxian grinned.
“I didn’t, Lan Zhan, you touched me. You were overcome at the cuteness of my sable, I know I’m completely irresistible, even to a sweet flopsy bunji.”
“Ridiculous.” His voice became several degrees cooler.
“In all things. Now, Lan Zhan, I’ve shown you my sweet little sable form, it’s only fair for you to show me your bunny. I’ll bring you cabbage if you do.”
“My animal form is not a toy to play with.” There was the sharp tone in his voice, and the unspoken suggestion than Wei Wuxian misused his animal.
But it was his form, and his to choose what to do with, not Lan Wangji’s.
“Such a fuddy-duddy,” he muttered, and, seeing he had taken all he could from their exchange, he moved back to his desk to slouch again, “No wonder you don’t have any friends, and everyone is scared of you,” he added, resting his head on his folded arms.
***
He began to turn up to the library pavilion with fresh vegetables every day then, in a tease to Lan Wangji, and maybe a subtle hope to get him to let his rigid facade down enough to change into a rabbit for Wei Wuxian. He wanted to see what kind of bunny the Second Jade of Lan was before he went back to Lotus Pier.
Not only did he bring vegetables, which was utterly ridiculous, according to Lan Wangji, but he kept up a constant stream of conversation with the younger Lan sibling.
Well, it was more accurate to say he talked at Lan er-gongzi quite a lot, for he never received a response, and almost never received acknowledgement, for either the words he spoke or the vegetables he brought.
But he persevered. And the vegetables were always gone the next day; probably sent to the kitchens to not be wasted.
***
It eventually happened that Jiang Cheng left the Cloud Recesses, under a cloud, ironically, and Wei Wuxian was enraged into defending him to the elder Jade, who had been particularly hard and unfair on his shidi.
It made him unhappy, and somewhat listless; the two of them were used to being together all the time, it was a rare thing for one to be without the other despite their animals both being more naturally solitary. And he knew Jiang Cheng would be in serious trouble with Madam Yu for what had happened.
He was unusually quiet in the library pavilion that day, and the next, and didn’t take his usual offerings.
It seemed to unnerve his jailer enough that he felt the need to talk to him. Even though, in a fit of childishness, Wei Wuxian didn’t want to engage, as he was the brother of the wicked Lan Xichen.
“Wei Ying…” it was tentative.
“No, no vegetables for either of the Jades of Lan today, Lans do not deserve lush greens. Leave me alone, Lan Zhan.”
“Wei Ying, Xiongzhang has written to Jiang-gongzi with his apology.”
“He should, too. Acting without thinking like that; Jiang Cheng will probably never dare to do anything out of kindness again. Your righteous brother has likely put him in serious trouble. Forget it, I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to go home to Lotus Pier, and my Shijie and Shidi.”
***
The next morning, as he arrived at the library pavilion, he was surprised to find no sign of his esteemed guardian.
He moved over to his usual place across from Lan Wangji’s table, and sat down. He should be able to finish up copying the rules today, then he would have freedom to return to the last of the classes with Nie Huaisang. If he could last a little longer it would all be over and he would be back in Yunmeng.
He picked up the brush and was just about to dip it in the ink when he noted a soft cloud of white move across the floor of the library, and over to where Wei Wuxian knelt.
He genuinely had to swallow the squeal of delight.
It was a pure white rabbit, with one black ear, and it hopped over to him. It came to a halt in front of him, it’s tiny nose waffling as it scented the air.
“Oh Lan Zhan!” He immediately forgot his annoyance at the Lans in general and this one in particular, and reached down to scoop him up into his arms. “I’ve never seen a cuter bunny, this is terrible, I think my sable might not be the cutest anymore, I’m distraught. Your little nose, your black ear, I just can’t deal with how much cute exists in this one tiny, fluffy body.” He was suffered to gush such equivalent silliness, and allowed to pet Lan Zhan’s bunny, which he did softly and gently so as not to startle or hurt him. He was used to dealing with domestic shifters with Jiang Cheng’s cat, but Lan Zhan’s rabbit seemed to have a gentle fragility whereas Jiang Cheng’s cat was delicate litheness.
“I can’t possibly be mad at you, ever, when you look like this,” he promised.
***
He didn’t manage to finish up copying the rules that day, but the next day he would definitely achieve his freedom. As Wei Wuxian arrived at the pavilion that morning Lan Wangji was sat in his usual place, and Wei Wuxian went to pass over the vegetable offering he had relented on and brought for the young Lan.
“I’ll be finished today,” he said conversationally as he took his place at the desk. He noticed Lan Wangji’s nose twitch ever so slightly. “You can still talk to me, when I’m free.”
Lan Wangji didn’t comment, except to say, “Shufu’s teaching conference is almost over.”
He didn’t express any sentiment, but Wei Wuxian thought he understood.
“You can still write to me at Lotus Pier, Lan Zhan, I’ll write back. You can come to visit too.” There was an infinitesimal softening around the other’s eyes, and a slight movement of his mouth, that showed he might actually be pleased to hear Wei Wuxian’s words. “After all, we’re good friends now!”