Work Text:
Lan Zhan got Wei Ying's text message at precisely 3:30 pm.
-Can u pick me up from work 2nite?
It was followed by a separate text that consisted only of the hatching chick emoji. Lan Zhan frowned and unlocked his phone. That emoji was their signal that Wei Ying would need special attention tonight. They had several signals like that for several situations. The bunny emoji meant that Wei Ying was horny and wanted to fuck as soon as he came home; the unicorn meant he had a surprise for Lan Zhan; the whale spurting water out of its blowhole meant he wanted to shower together, so Lan Zhan shouldn't shower before he came home.
The hatching chick emoji meant that Wei Ying had a hard day and that he wanted to be Little tonight.
-I need to go shopping first. Are you done by 5?
Wei Ying answered him immediately with a thumbs up emoji.
They both had flexible work schedules, so they could choose when exactly to start and to stop working as long as they put in their hours. This mostly meant that Lan Zhan usually left their apartment at seven and got to work at seven thirty so that he could be at the office before the noise of the day filled it. He loved working before 9 am. He also loved that being done by 4 pm gave him plenty of time to do chores before Wei Ying got home around five thirty, so that they could spend the evening without worrying about dishes or laundry or any of those trivial things that might intrude on their precious time together.
He also loved the look on Wei Ying's face when he came through the door, smelled whatever Lan Zhan was cooking and came into the kitchen to hug him from behind and say something like 'You're such a great housewife, Lan Zhan' or 'You spoil me so much, Lan Zhan'. He loved how much Wei Ying appreciated his cooking and how his adventurous palate made Lan Zhan want to try all kinds of different recipes to find new things he might like.
He had planned to cook a vegan green curry tonight, so he had to rearrange his plans. When Wei Ying was Little, he didn't like spicy food or even green food. So he'd have to go to the grocery store first. He was also pretty sure that they were out of chocolate. Or maybe he would like ice cream for dessert?
Lan Zhan finished his work at precisely 4 pm. He went to the store, bought everything he needed and then drove home to vacuum the floor and let some fresh air into the apartment. By 4:55, he was waiting in his car at the spot where he usually picked Wei Ying up from work.
Wei Ying appeared around the corner at 5:01, which was an impressive feat given that his sense of time wasn't the best even when he was feeling well.
He opened the back door and plopped into the seat. "Hi gege," he said, already in his Little voice. He sounded exhausted.
Lan Zhan turned around in the driver's seat so that he could look at Wei Ying. The circles under his eyes were even darker than usual, his ponytail was a bit of a mess and his eyes seemed a little unfocused.
"Hey A-Xian," he said gently and reached back to rub his knuckle over Wei Ying's cheek. "Ready to go home?"
"Yes please," came the quiet answer and Lan Zhan gave Wei Ying's hand a little squeeze before he turned back to the steering wheel and drove them home.
In the parking garage Lan Zhan left the car first so he could help Wei Ying with opening his seat belt. Since he was already leaning over him, he gave him a quick hug before he took his hand and helped him out of the car. "We'll have a quick bath before dinner and then you can play until bedtime, alright?"
Wei Ying nodded as he followed his lead to the elevator and inside, his eyes still downcast. He usually needed a little while to go from work frustration to being Little and it often happened in spurts rather than nice and gradually but Lan Zhan had learned to deal with him when he was in this sort of mood.
"You will feel a lot better when you are all nice and clean, A-Xian." He said, leaning over to give Wei Ying a little kiss on the head just before the elevator doors dinged open.
Wei Ying looked up to him and a little smile appeared on his face. "Okay."
It was only a shadow of his usual bright smile, but it was a start.
Once they were inside their apartment, Wei Ying sat down on the little bench they had next to their door and Lan Zhan knelt down in front of him to undo the laces of his shoes.
"Can you take off and hang up your jacket by yourself, A-Xian?" he asked as he put his shoes away and stood up again. "Gege is going to start the bath."
Wei Ying nodded and hopped off the bench. Lan Zhan left him to it and went into the bathroom to do as he had said. For a moment he wondered whether he should put bubble bath in the water or if Wei Ying would like to watch a bath bomb dissolve, but finally he decided to go with the rose-scented bubble bath. Once the water was running and the bubbles were growing, he went back to the living room where Wei Ying was sitting on their fluffy rug, legs crossed, patiently waiting for him.
"Come on, A-Xian," he said and reached one hand down so he could help him up. Wei Ying accepted the help and then held onto his hand as they went back into the bathroom.
"Arms up," he said. Wei Ying immediately lifted his arms so that Lan Zhan could pull his sweater over his head, then his undershirt, which both landed in the hamper. Then he knelt down, undid Wei Ying's belt, opened his pants button and zipper and pulled his jeans down to his feet. "Step out," he directed him. Once Wei Ying had done what Lan Zhan had asked, he looked up at him with a smile. "Good boy, A-Xian." He was immediately rewarded by a shy little smile on his face.
They got rid of his underpants and his socks, and then Lan Zhan stood up to carefully undo his pony tail.
Wei Ying immediately began to whimper when a strand of his hair got tangled in the hair tie.
"Sssh, A-Xian, it's okay. It'll just twinge a tiny bit." He did his best to untangle his hair without pulling too much, but there were still a few more whimpers before the hair tie was finally off.
Lan Zhan ran his hands through Wei Ying's hair for a moment, rubbing his scalp with his fingertips and making soothing noises until he could see his shoulders relax a little bit.
"There we go," he murmured, gently rubbing his arms before he let go of him so he could see if the water was the right temperature. "Let's get into the tub now before A-Xian gets all cold, okay?"
"Okay," Wei Ying said softly. It was odd how he became nearly non-vocal when he was in Little Space. Usually Lan Zhan had to stuff his mouth with food or his cock to get him to shut up for a few minutes. But he guessed he might just need this, sometimes - to be allowed to not say anything, to just trust that Lan Zhan knew what he was thinking and feeling without having to spell any of it out. It was a precious gift, this trust Wei Ying put into him.
He held his arm as Wei Ying stepped into the warm water. When he heard a little hiss coming from Wei Ying, he frowned and put one of his hands into the water again. "Too hot?"
But Wei Ying just shook his head and slowly sat down in the bubble-filled tub. "No, is nice, gege. I like it when it's hot."
Lan Zhan smiled and leaned down to press another kiss to the top of his head. "Do you want your shark or your boat?"
"Boat please, gege." Wei Ying took some of the bubbles on his hands and began to tilt the little cloud this way and that, fascinated by the way the bubbles glittered in the light. Lan Zhan was pretty sure that at least part of the relaxing effect this kind of role-play had on Wei Ying came from the mindfulness aspect of it all. When Wei Ying was Little, he could take all the time he wanted looking at things or touching things or playing with things. It was far harder for grown up Wei Ying to get to a point where he felt calm enough to do that.
Lan Zhan took the little plastic boat out of the cupboard and handed it to Wei Ying, who let go of his little cloud carefully so that it didn't break but just settled back onto the rest of the bubbles before he took the boat with both hands and immediately dunked it underwater. The tub was full enough now, so Lan Zhan turned off the tap.
"Gege will put the food in the oven quickly and then we will wash A-Xian's hair, alright?"
Wei Ying nodded, too absorbed in watching the water run down his re-emerged boat to look up.
Lan Zhan took a last quick look at him, then he went into the kitchen to take the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets out of the freezer and put them on two separate baking trays. He put them in the oven and set two egg timers to the different cooking times of the two kinds of food, then he took those timers with him back to the bathroom. He set them down next to the sink so he wouldn't have to worry about burning their food, then he went back to the cupboard and got out the special shampoo and conditioner that they used when Wei Ying was in Little Space. The shampoo smelled like strawberries and was labelled 'no tears', and the rose-scented conditioner would hopefully make brushing out his long hair a lot less painful later.
Wei Ying watched him as he put the bottles down on the little plastic side table next to the tub. When he was just about to roll up his sleeves so he wouldn't get them wet, a big pout appeared on Wei Ying's face that he knew Lan Zhan found adorable and he said: "Gege should come in too."
Lan Zhan ran his hand over Wei Ying's head. "But if gege and A-Xian are in the tub it's going to be all cramped."
Wei Ying shook his head. "Don't care," he said. "Want gege."
Of course he knew that Lan Zhan would never say no to him when he was looking at him like that. So he just sighed and pulled his shirt over his head, then he got rid of the rest of his clothes and put them into the hamper as well. Wei Ying watched him attentively, then he scooched so that he was sitting in the middle of the tub, with enough space behind him for Lan Zhan.
Lan Zhan grabbed a hair clip and put his hair up; it would take too much time for him to wash his hair too, with the food already in the oven. Carefully he stepped into the tub and sat down behind Wei Ying, then he pulled him close and just held him for a moment, his nose in his hair, smelling the slightly sour smell of the day's sweat on his skin.
Wei Ying's giggle made his body vibrate in Lan Zhan's arms. "Gege, tickles," he said, but he put his own hands on Lan Zhan's where they were holding on to his chest.
Lan Zhan pushed a gentle kiss to the nape of his neck, then he reached for the loofah sponge that was hanging by the tap. He used some of the bubble bath to wash Wei Ying's body, both the parts above and the parts below water, while Wei Ying kept playing with his boat. He ran the sponge over his body with the same reverie with which an ancient warrior would have polished his sword, slowly, methodically, taking his time to appreciate the way the water pearled off him, the soft noise of the loofah, the contrast between Wei Ying's golden skin and the white bubbles. They didn't bathe together nearly as often as they should. Most of the time Wei Ying would take a quick shower right after he came home, while Lan Zhan put dinner on the table. Sometimes they fucked in the shower. On weekends Lan Zhan would sometimes take long soaks in the morning while Wei Ying was sleeping in, just to return to their bed afterwards all soft and fragrant and warm and cuddle up to his boyfriend until he would finally wake up.
Lan Zhan loved having Wei Ying in his arms like this. It was a completely non-sexual affair, because they never did anything but cuddle when Wei Ying was in Little Space, but there was something so incredibly satisfying about it, something that calmed his heart and filled him with a deep, serene happiness.
But he couldn't take all evening washing and holding him. The egg timers were ticking.
So he finally put the loofah away and positioned Wei Ying in such a way that he could properly wash his hair. He took the shower head and turned it on halfway so that the water pressure wasn't too strong, then he ran the water over Wei Ying's head, one hand shielding his eyes. Wei Ying was fidgeting a little; when he was Little, he didn't like the feeling of his hair getting wet. It would become better once he'd start to shampoo it, though.
"Good boy, A-Xian," Lan Zhan murmured as he put the shower head away again. "So good for gege..."
With Wei Ying's head bent backward, Lan Zhan could see the smile on his face. 'Good boy' was something he always liked to be called, whether Little or not, and even Lan Zhan's excessive use of it didn't seem to diminish his joy.
He really was so, so good. Lan Zhan wondered, not for the first time, how he had ever gotten so lucky.
He put some of the shampoo on his hand, then he started to carefully spread it in Wei Ying's hair. Wei Ying closed his eyes and relaxed into his touches as he gently massaged his scalp, making sure to give special attention to the base of his skull where he always carried a lot of stress. Finally he shampooed the length of his hair, then he took the shower head again and carefully, carefully rinsed out the shampoo.
"Everything good, A-Xian?" he asked as he wrung out his dripping hair.
"Uh-huh," Wei Ying said, then he leaned back against Lan Zhan's chest, his head on his shoulders. "More cuddles?"
Lan Zhan smiled and kissed his cheek. "Later, baby. If we don't get your hair done, dinner is going to burn."
"Oh," Wei Ying said in a small, disappointed voice that nearly made Lan Zhan tear up. He gave him another kiss on the cheek, then he pushed him up again so he could quickly put the conditioner in his hair. Once he had rinsed it out and wrung his hair out again, he got out of the bath and grabbed one big towel for himself and one for Wei Ying. He dried himself off first, then he helped Wei Ying out of the bath and wrapped him in his favorite fluffy red towel. He dried his hair as well as he could, then he told him to go into the bedroom while he went and took out the smiley fries - the egg timer he had set for them had gone off with a tiny little ring.
He was back in the bedroom within a minute to find Wei Ying sitting on the bed, dangling his naked legs.
"Does A-Xian want the footie pajamas with the bunnies or the one with the dinos?" he asked as he opened their closet and pulled out underpants, a shirt and sweat pants for himself.
"Bunnies," Wei Ying said. Lan Zhan took out the bunny pjs and a soft set of boxer briefs. He put those down next to Wei Ying on the bed, then he quickly slipped into his own clothes while Wei Ying kept watching him. When he had pulled the shirt over his head, Wei Ying suddenly said: "Gege is so pretty with his hair up!"
He smiled down at Wei Ying. "Yes?"
Wei Ying nodded, a very serious expression on his face. "But Zhan-gege is always very pretty. Prettiest gege."
Lan Zhan felt as if his heart would flow over any moment now.
"A-Xian is also very pretty," he said, coming over to kiss his forehead. "The prettiest, sweetest little boy Zhan-gege could wish for."
Wei Ying beamed up at him, then he got up and put the towel on the bed. "PJs now?"
"Yes, PJs now," Lan Zhan answered. He took the bunny pajamas and undid the zipper at the front, then he rolled up the legs and knelt down in front of Wei Ying so he could step into the pajama's footies. Then he pulled the onesie up to his hips and helped him to get his arms into the sleeves before he zipped the whole thing up.
"So, now A-Xian is nice and warm," he said, just as the second egg timer, which he had of course brought with him, went off. "Can you go sit on the chair by the vanity? I'm going to turn off the chicken nuggies."
"Okay," Wei Ying said, watching his own feet as he walked over to the vanity, kicking them up as if he was trying to look at the bunny faces at the toe.
Lan Zhan quickly went into the kitchen and turned off the oven. He didn't take the chicken nuggets out, though--it was alright if they were a bit crispy, Wei Ying liked that--but instead put the baking sheet with the smiley fries back in so that they would stay warm. Then he fetched the blow dryer from the bathroom and returned to their bedroom where Wei Ying was now sitting on the stool in front of the little table with the illuminated mirror they had gotten when they had started to explore make-up together. It was also extremely useful for any kind of mutual hair styling.
Lan Zhan ran his hand over Wei Ying's still damp hair, then he reached for the grey detangle brush. "If it hurts, you tell me immediately, okay, A-Xian? Gege doesn't want to hurt you."
"Yes, I know," Wei Ying piped up. He was kicking his legs again, unable to sit still as always, no matter if he was Little or not.
Lan Zhan began by carefully combing his fingers through Wei Ying's hair, getting rid of the most obvious tangles right away. He stopped halfway through to take a little bottle with anti tangle spray from the vanity and sprayed some of that into Wei Ying's lengths, gently rubbing it in before he once again let his fingers run through his hair. He could feel the exact moment when Wei Ying relaxed into his gentle touches. His shoulders sank, he let out a sighing breath, and his eyes fell shut. Lan Zhan smiled a little as he finally began to run the brush over his head. He was careful only to work on portions of his hair at first, and only when he was sure that there wouldn't be any hidden tangles did he start to brush him thoroughly from his roots to his tips.
Once his hair was nice and smooth, Lan Zhan put the brush down on the vanity again and plugged in the blow dryer. He adjusted the settings to medium heat, then he switched it on and started to dry Wei Ying's hair. If he had actually been styling his hair, he would have parted it and put some parts up with a clip so he could work from the bottom layer to the top, but the way he was doing it now meant that he could run his fingers through Wei Ying's hair again.
At one point, Wei Ying stirred under his hands and reached back to tug on his sweatshirt. Lan Zhan stopped the blow dryer since this usually meant that Wei Ying wanted to tell him something.
Wei Ying tilted his head back to look at him with his big, grey eyes. "Hotter please?" he asked.
Lan Zhan hummed lowly. "Alright, but only for a moment." Using the hair dryer on the hottest setting wasn't good for Wei Ying's hair, but he was also nearly done drying it, so there shouldn't be any issue indulging him for a minute or so.
He could see how Wei Ying let out another one of those shoulder-dropping sighs as he started the blow dryer again. He worked his way methodically from the front to the back and then to the front again, taking special care to make sure the hair at the nape of his neck, where it was the thickest, was dry before he turned off the hair dryer again. He ran his fingers through Wei Ying's hair until it became cool enough to tell whether or not it was dry, then he took the hair dryer again and worked on the last few damp strands.
"So," he said as he finally put away the blow dryer for good and pulled the plug out of the outlet, "now A-Xian is all dry."
Wei Ying looked up at him with his usual bright smile. "Thank you, gege."
Lan Zhan gave his forehead another gentle kiss; he just couldn't get enough of the feeling of his soft, warm skin. "I'm just going to brush your hair one last time, then we go have dinner, yes?"
Wei Ying nodded. "Hungry," he said as he turned around to the mirror again so Lan Zhan could finish up his hair.
"I know, Xianxian. Just a moment." He took the detangle brush again and carefully ran it through Wei Ying's hair, then he took Wei Ying's boar bristle brush and brushed his hair until it was smooth and shiny.
"Now," he said as he put all of their implements back into their place. "Let's go to the kitchen."
He took Wei Ying's hand and led him out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. He waited until he had sat down, then he gave his head a gentle pat and took the pot holder so he could take the baking sheets out of the oven.
"What do you want to drink, A-Xian?"
Wei Ying put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. "Can I have a cola, gege?"
Lan Zhan carefully took the parchment from the baking sheet and transferred the smiley fries into a big ceramic bowl.
"You know that you can't sleep if you drink cola in the evening, A-Xian," he said as he did the same thing to the nuggets. He opened the fridge to take a quick look at their current supplies. "We still have some of your peach juice though, do you want that?"
Wei Ying made a face and for a moment Lan Zhan was sure that he'd try to argue back, but then he slumped and just nodded. He really had to be exhausted.
Lan Zhan took out a glass filled it with juice, then he kissed Wei Ying's head. "There you go, didi."
"Thank you," Wei Ying said, like the good boy he was. Lan Zhan smiled down at him, then he took out two of the Disney plates they had bought when they had gone to Disney world for Wei Ying's 27th birthday. He put some of the dinosaur nuggets and smiley fries on one plate, then he took some red bell pepper, tomatoes and a piece of cucumber out of the fridge. He cut up the cucumber and the tomatoes into slices and the bell pepper into stripes.
"Do you want some cucumber? Ketchup?" he asked as he arranged the vegetables on his own plate and added some hummus for dipping. He also took two of the smiley fries for himself.
"Yes cucumber, no ketchup."
He came over to the table with both of their plates and sat down before he gave Wei Ying one of the napkins that were sitting in a neat stack at the corner of the table. Wei Ying waited until Lan Zhan had folded his own napkin, then he started in on the nuggets.
They ate quietly, Lan Zhan watching as Wei Ying bit the heads and tails off his dinosaur nuggies and the lower jaw of his smiley fries before he ate the rest of them. At least he ate the cucumber slices in a non-homicidal way, though he broke them in half and only ate the inner parts, leaving the skin on his plate.
By the time Wei Ying had eaten most of his food, Lan Zhan was noticing that his eyelids were already drooping and he was chewing longer and longer with every bite.
"I guess we should go to bed early today, A-Xian," he said, reaching over to rub his thumb over his cheek where a few crumbs were sticking to his skin.
Wei Ying made a face at that. "Don't wanna though... I want to play with gege..."
"But you're so tired already, baby," he murmured. "We can play on the weekend, okay? And I will go to bed early too, so A-Xian can have a cuddle before sleep time."
Wei Ying looked at him with a contemplative pout on his lips for a few moments, then he sighed and nodded. "Okay..."
"Good boy," Lan Zhan said. "Are you full?"
Wei Ying looked down at his nearly empty plate, then he took the last two smiley fries and stuffed them into his mouth before Lan Zhan could stop him.
"Yesh," Wei Ying said around his mouthful of potato, grinning.
Lan Zhan shook his head fondly. "At least chew properly, now. I don't want you to choke."
Wei Ying wanted to talk back to him, but Lan Zhan just needed to give him a strict look for him to close his mouth, pout and chew.
Lan Zhan finished his own dinner, then he took their plates and threw away the leftover cucumber skin. Wei Ying was yawning openly now.
"Can we watch one episode of Mia before bed?" he asked when Lan Zhan was done washing the dishes.
"We can, but please go and brush your teeth first, A-Xian," Lan Zhan answered, drying his own hands on a dishcloth.
Wei Ying immediately jumped off the chair and ran out of the kitchen.
"Go right into the bedroom after," Lan Zhan called after him. There was very little use in telling him not to run.
He finished up everything in the kitchen, wiped down the counter and the table, then he took a quick tour around the apartment to make sure all lights were off and all windows closed. When he finally came into the bedroom, Wei Ying had already pushed the bedcover down and shoved his feet under the blanket. Lan Zhan's iPad was lying on his pillow.
Lan Zhan took the time to properly pull the cover down, then he fluffed up the blankets and their pillows a little before he also climbed into bed. He pushed his own pillow up so he could sit upright, then he held his arm out for Wei Ying to come and cuddle against his chest.
Wei Ying pulled the blanket with him as he snuggled up to Lan Zhan, his head resting over his heart, Lan Zhan's arm wrapped around his shoulder, gently pulling him just a little closer. Wei Ying shifted his legs so he throw one of them over Lan Zhan's. He was clinging to him like a barnacle to a ship by the time Lan Zhan used his free hand to unlock his iPad and open Netflix.
As was to be expected, Wei Ying was fast asleep ten minutes into the show.
Lan Zhan put his iPad away, then he rearranged his own pillow, which was a bit of a chore since he was trying not to jostle Wei Ying. Once he had managed to maneuver the both of them into a lying position, he switched off the light. There was a low noise from Wei Ying, and he scooched just a little closer, his arm wrapping around Lan Zhan's chest. Lan Zhan kissed the top of his head again, which was conveniently right under his chin.
He gently ran his fingers through Wei Ying's soft hair, listening to his calm, deep breathing, until he, too, fell asleep.