Work Text:
An Zhe was sitting on a stool, leaning forward to look at the little golden thing circling around the glass bowl.
The goldfish's bright orange scales shimmered as it lazily swam, and it seemed to notice the person's gaze.
Lu Feng didn't look up from his desk as he was busy studying a file, but the corner of his lips tugged up a little as he asked, "Do you think it's cute?"
An Zhe looked up after a few seconds, beaming: "It's adorable. Don't you think so too?"
Lu Feng replied with an "En." and didn't say anything after that.
An Zhe was silent for a moment, and he then asked, "Is it cuter than my spore?"
Lu Feng finally looked up, and An Zhe strangely felt that he was being laughed at again.
Lu Feng seemed to be thinking about it. An Zhe pouted. Was there anything to the think about?
Was his child not as cute as the goldfish?
The more he thought about it, the more he found it hard to accept. His child was obviously cuter.
While he silently complained about it in his mind, someone knocked on the door. Lu Feng was still looking at An Zhe when he let out a "Get in."
A man walked in, briefly smiling at An Zhe in greeting before straightening.
"Colonel Lu, take a look at these." They were just some work related files, so Lu Feng nodded, and placed them on top of a stack of other sheets. "Dr Ji wants to speak to you."
Lu Feng didn't say anything and got up to leave. Before heading for the door, he walked back to An Zhe, who was still a little dazed. Ruffling his hair, he coaxed him: "Don't think too much, I'll be back in a while. Go have dinner."
An Zhe nodded distractedly, and after a while he returned to his room to cook fish.
***
It was quite late, and Lu Feng still hadn't returned. An Zhe was already used to it, but he was a little bored.
He quietly got up, wrapped himself up in Lu Feng's coat which was a little too loose on him and walked out.
He went back to Lu Feng's workplace, which was not very far from where he lived, and stared at the fish in condemnation.
"My spore is very adorable." He mumbled to himself, and the fish ignored him, drowsily flapping it's fin.
He was feeling a little sleepy too. Soon, he curled up on the sofa, and was sleeping silently.
In his dream, An Zhe dreamt that he had turned into a goldfish. He couldn't talk, and could only aimlessly swim around in the tiny cramped space. It felt strange.
He didn't like being a fish.
***
Lu Feng tapped at the glass, looking quite amused.
An Zhe had somehow managed to turn himself into a fish. Just like the spore, the fish stuck close to the glass, trying to get close to Lu Feng's finger.
Dr. Ji's eyes glinted, and he looked like he wanted to use An Zhe for one of his experiments.
The fish, noticing that gaze, shrunk away from him, tiny bubbles shooting out of its mouth in the water, then slowly swam back to Lu Feng, flapping its fin.
"Don't act coy." Lu Feng spoke to the fish.
The fish: glub glub?
Dr. Ji: ?????
The Colonel finally turned, and asked the doctor: "What should he eat?"
Dr. Ji shrugged, "Probably fish food. We could give it a try. He'll probably turn back to his original form very soon anyways."
Lu Feng hummed, and opened the pack of fish food, looking at it a little doubtfully, and poured a little in the bowl.
"Why would he try turning into a goldfish of all things?" Dr Ji wondered. Lu Feng smirked, but didn't reply, his eyes following the fish.
Lu Feng felt that the fish was cute, but An Zhe was cuter.
After a while, he left the lab, carrying the fish bowl in his hands casually, attracting quite a few stares on his way back.
He went back to the place where he and An Zhe lived, placed the bowl on a table next to him, and continued working.
***
It was early in the morning, and when An Zhe woke up, he realised he had finally changed back to his human form.
He was now lying next to Lu Feng, who didn't seem to be sleeping either. He opened his eyes, the beautiful green sparkling as he blinked at An Zhe calmly.
An Zhe remembered what happened yesterday and frowned. The fish food tasted really bad, and Lu Feng liked to bully him even when he was a fish.
Lu Feng silently wrapped his arms around An Zhe and pulled him close.
"What's the matter?"
An Zhe glared, unwilling to speak to the bully, and tried pushing him away. Unfortunately, Lu Feng was a little too strong, and only he ended up moving closer, his face pressing close to his chest.
His face went red, and he felt wronged. He slowly looked up, staring at Lu Feng's long eyelashes for a moment.
After a while, he slowly blinked, realising that he was supposed to be angry.
"My spore is cuter than the goldfish."
Lu Feng laughed, "En, it is."
An Zhe finally stopped struggling in Lu Feng's arms, and after a few seconds, Lu Feng added:
"But I think you're the cutest."
He kissed his forehead softly, and An Zhe soon calmed down and went back to sleep, sticking close to him.