Work Text:
“Brother, may I ask you something?” Lan Zhan asked.
“Of course, you can ask me anything Lan Zhan,” his brother cheerfully responded.
“Have you ever…”
Lan Huan held his phone tightly to his ear, eager to hear every word. Surely this was going to be the first time his brother was going to finally ask about dating a boy or kissing a boy or…
“Have you ever suspected a miniature man was living in your apartment wall?”
Lan Huan blinked. “Pardon?”
“I believe a miniature man is living in my wall. I do not believe he is dangerous and his presence costs me little more than the odd scrap of fabric and crumb of food, but…I would like to make his acquaintance and I am not sure how.”
Lan Huan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lan Zhan, perhaps you have been working too hard…”
“You don’t believe me.” Lan Huan could hear the pout in his brother's voice.
“I didn’t say that. I believe that you believe this is true but could a simpler explanation not be the most likely? For instance could this little visitor perhaps be a mouse?”
“I found a tiny red ribbon.”
“I’m sorry?”
“On the floor by the hole in the wall. A small crack that could almost be overlooked by most, by that crack which I believe was deliberately made larger, I found a small red ribbon. I believe it is a red hair ribbon.”
“Lan Zhan, perhaps a vacation…”
“Brother, you are always asking me to open up to you. I am opening up to you now. Can you offer some advice?” Lan Zhan pressed.
Lan Huan sighed. “Perhaps…perhaps an olive branch?”
“An olive branch?”
“You extend a peaceful hand and see what the response is.”
“Yes, that is best. Thank you brother, I think I will try that.”
“Lan Zhan, I’m going to visit you soon, okay?”
“Okay brother, perhaps you can meet my tiny lodger if I manage to make contact.”
“Indeed. Goodbye Lan Zhan.”
“Goodbye brother.”
Lan Zhan hung up the phone and paced around his kitchen. He looked over to the crack in the wall. Then he put on his jacket and left. He headed to the supermarket. He walked down the aisles carefully inspecting the merchandise on offer. Nothing seemed quite right until…
Lan Zhan picked up a punnet of ripe strawberries. The same colour as the ribbon. “The olive branch,” he murmured and placed the carton in his basket.
**********
Wei Ying woke up and stretched then winced. His matchbox bed was a little hard on his back. The cotton wool ball he managed to steal had helped a bit but really he was hoping to get his hands on some pillow stuffing or a thick sock, that would really help make a thicker mattress. Unfortunately he had chosen to live with a neat freak so finding loot was rather difficult. Wei Ying got out of bed and began to gather up his hair but…he couldn’t find his ribbon. He closed his eyes and sighed. He must have lost it somewhere. Perhaps he could locate it once Lan Zhan left for the day. Wei Ying inched closer to the crack in the wall and peaked out. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing things? In front of him, just outside of the crack, was a strawberry carefully cut into thin slices and placed on top of a carefully folded paper napkin. Next to the napkin was his red hair ribbon.
Wei Ying moved away from the crack and pressed himself against the wall. His heart hammered in his chest. He had been seen. That wasn’t the plan. It made him very nervous. But then Lan Zhan had always seemed…nice. He peaked out of the crack again then slid a slice of strawberry towards him. He bit into it. It was delicious. He caught the corner of the napkin and pulled it through the crack and then grabbed his ribbon and pulled it through too.
He sat crosslegged while he ate his strawberry slices humming to himself. When he was full, he tied his hair up with his ribbon and wondered. Clearly Lan Zhan was saying hello. Should he say hello back? It was risky. Maybe even dangerous…but from what he knew of Lan Zhan from overhearing his conversations, he believed he was a good man.
That was why he had chosen Lan Zhan in the first place after all. After spotting him in the park helping a ladybird onto a branch. Wei Ying had been living in a hole in a tree but once he saw Lan Zhan’s good deed, he impulsively jumped into his hood and hitched a ride back to his apartment.
Once he found the crack in the wall and made it a bit bigger so he could fit inside, he set about trying to find items to set up his new home. Luckily, the large matchbox he used for a bed was easy to obtain from near the fireplace. The cotton wool had required a trip to the bathroom but had also been worth the trip. Getting food was tricky at first as Lan Zhan never made a mess but once Wei Ying figured out how to reach the fruit bowl and the cookie jar, things got a little easier.
Wei Ying made a decision to introduce himself to Lan Zhan, hopefully, they could learn to live together and maybe things would even get easier for Wei Ying. Life was pretty hard for him recently. Being so small was very scary and often dangerous. It was much easier living indoors but still difficult to get food and water everyday without scaling the kitchen cupboards.
Wei Ying had made his peace with the fact that he was probably never going to be full sized again. The curse that had infected him seemed to have no cure and with his golden core now tiny, there was no way his current form could burn off the curse. If only he hadn’t gone on that solo night hunt…but Wei Ying knew if he had the choice again he would go. Whenever people were in trouble, Wei Ying would help if he could.
Wei Ying started to think of ways he could introduce himself to Lan Zhan. He was too small for Lan Zhan to hear his voice but maybe he could just jump out and wave? He was still deciding what to do when a hand appeared in front of the crack.
“If you climb onto my palm, I promise you will not be harmed. I wish for us to meet each other properly.”
Wei Ying bit his lip and then shrugged and climbed out onto Lan Zhan’s hand. Lan Zhan lifted him up onto the kitchen bench and then they looked at each other. Wei Ying waved nervously. Lan Zhan smiled. Wei Ying blushed. Lan Zhan was rather beautiful when he smiled. Wei Ying had studied the photos around his apartment but had not seen it in real life until now.
“I am Lan Zhan,” Lan Zhan said with a bow, how formal!
Wei Ying couldn’t figure out how to say his name until Lan Zhan handed him a small pencil and paper.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan read once Wei Ying was finished. “It is nice to meet you.”
Wei Ying blushed again. What was wrong with him? It had been a while since he had talked to someone other than an animal or an insect but he used to charm everyone from children to elderly Aunties! He should be able to charm Lan Zhan and instead somehow Lan Zhan was charming him.
“What can I do?” Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying cocked his head to the side.
“To help you? What can I do to help you?” Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying felt close to tears. Lan Zhan had only just met him. He knew he was living in his wall. He knew he was stealing from him and yet his first thought was to help. Wei Ying had known he was a good man. He felt a warm feeling in his chest.
Wei Ying wrote down a small list:
Bedding
Clothes
Food
Lan Zhan read the list and nodded. “I need to go shopping, shall I return you to your home or would you like to join me?”
Wei Ying excitedly wrote down “Join you.”
Lan Zhan nodded. He put on his jacket and carefully placed Wei Ying inside the jacket pocket over his heart. Wei Ying peeked his head out so he could see and breathe.
Wei Ying enjoyed the walk to the supermarket. It was nice to be able to just take in the views and not worry about being eaten or trampled on.
At the supermarket, Lan Zhan picked out small food items, raisins, grapes, and small packets of sweets. It was very cute and completely unnecessary because Wei Ying could just eat tiny versions of Lan Zhan’s food but he appreciated the thought.
Then they moved to the bedding area and Lan Zhan worked out very quickly everything was too big for Wei Ying.
They bought their food items and headed instead to the toy shop. Brilliant. Lan Zhan was a genius. Lan Zhan found the dolls house section and picked out a bed, a mattress, tiny pillows and a blanket. Then they bought some dolls and Wei Ying was confused at first…was Lan Zhan thinking Wei Ying wanted some company? It wasn’t like they could talk back! It wasn’t until they got home and Wei Ying started undressing the dolls that Wei Ying understood. Lan Zhan had bought him a wardrobe! PJs, jeans, t-shirts and even a tuxedo which made him laugh. Lan Zhan pilled up the clothes and Wei Ying excitedly pulled his grubby tank top fashioned out of a lost mitten over his head. By the time he reached for his handkerchief trousers he realised Lan Zhan had turned around and was facing the wall. Oops! It was nice of Lan Zhan to protect Wei Ying’s miniature honour.
Wei Ying jumped up and down when he was dressed. Lan Zhan heard the sound and turned. Wei Ying did a tiny spin and Lan Zhan clapped in approval. Wei Ying found himself blushing again. Jeez! Why was he turning into such an innocent little school girl?
After Wel Ying was dressed, Lan Zhan made soup and filled a thimble for Wei Ying. As soon as it was cool enough, Wei Ying drank it all then reached out his hands for a refill. After three thimbles full of soup and a couple of raisins Wei Ying happily patted his full stomach. Lan Zhan used another thimble (apparently his mother had a whole collection which is great for Wei Ying) to provide Wei Ying with a warm cup of tea. By then Wei Ying was feeling rather sleepy. Lan Zhan set up his bed on the bedside table next to his own bed. Wei Ying changed into the pjs and snuggled down into his new bed with a mattress and pillows and everything. Wei Ying smiled as Lan Zhan bid him goodnight. Maybe being tiny wouldn’t be so bad with someone like Lan Zhan looking after him.
In the morning, Lan Zhan had to work, but he had an office in the apartment and he simply carried Wei Ying there with him after breakfast. Lan Zhan wrote children’s books and Wei Ying was delighted to learn this as he had MANY ideas for crazy stories. He wrote things down at first until Lan Zhan offered his phone and then Wei Ying typed his ideas directly into google docs.
Lan Zhan said that Wei Ying was an excellent partner and Wei Ying found himself blushing again. At lunchtime, Lan Zhan made sandwiches and created a tiny version of his own lunch for Wei Ying. They drank tea again together and then Lan Zhan had an issue with his printer, which Wei Ying managed to fix but in order to fix it he had to climb inside and when he came back out he was rather black from the ink.
“You need a bath,” Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying blinked. A bath? How he would love a bath! It had been so long!
Lan Zhan filled a cereal bowl with warm water, added a small amount of bubble bath and brought a thick handkerchief to use as a towel. He set up a couple of books for privacy and left Wei Ying near the fire in the living room to clean himself. Wei Ying wasted no time getting into the water. It felt amazing. He washed and swam about a bit, bobbing under the water and back up again. He dried himself and when he came out from behind the books wrapped in the handkerchief he found Lan Zhan had left him some clean clothes. He put them on and then wondered how he could signal to Lan Zhan that he was finished…he finally settled on hitting the side of the bowl with a pen. Lan Zhan came running into the room looking so concerned, Wei Ying found it truly adorable. He tidied up after Wei Ying’s bath, then Wei Ying made grabby hands and Lan Zhan picked him up and they went back to work.
After two days of this nice domesticity, Lan Zhan said his brother was coming to visit.
“You do not have to meet him if you are afraid, but I assure you, he is very nice.”
Wei Ying scrunched up his nose while he thought but eventually nodded. If Lan Zhan said his brother could be trusted, it had to be true.
When Lan Zhan’s brother arrived he was shocked to see Wei Ying sitting on the dining room table atop a rubix cube.
“The miniature man is real…” he said with wonder.
“This is Wei Ying. Wei Ying, this is Lan Huan, my brother,” Lan Zhan introduced.
Wei Ying waved and Lan Huan smiled. “My goodness! How did this happen?”
“I am actually not sure…” Lan Zhan confessed.
“Lan Zhan! You didn’t ask your guest how he came to be small! Wei Ying, I assume you were once fully grown, yes?”
Wei Ying nodded.
Lan Zhan looked distraught. “Wei Ying, I am sorry…I was enjoying your company so much…I did not think to ask…”
Wei Ying waved a hand through the air to show he was not concerned. He had enjoyed spending time with Lan Zhan too.
Lan Huan looked thoughtful. “Wei Ying, are you by any chance…a cultivator?”
Wei Ying nodded enthusiastically.
“Oh my goodness, we must phone Nie Huaisang!” Lan Huan exclaimed.
Huaisang?! Wei Ying knew him! He waved his arms around in the air.
“Wei Ying, you know Huaisang?” Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying nodded.
Lan Huan was already calling Lan Zhan’s old school friend and Lan Huan’s boyfriend's younger brother. “Huaisang, do you know someone called Wei Ying? Disappeared you say…well we’ve found him! He is…in a spot of bother, can you come to Lan Zhan’s?”
Within half an hour Huaisang had arrived. “Oh…My…God,” he said when his eyes settled on Wei Ying. “Jiang Cheng is gonna kill you.”
“Who is Jiang Cheng?” Lan Zhan asked.
“Your tiny man’s brother,” Huaisang said. “He also has a sister who will be thrilled to know you are okay.”
Wei Ying looked guilty. Of course he had wanted to let his family know he was okay, but how! It wasn’t like he could just call! He probably should have told Lan Zhan though but it had been so nice in their little bubble…
Huaisang clapped his hands together. “Okay, so this is a curse right?”
Wei Ying nodded.
“And you got it on a night hunt?”
“Give him your phone so he can write down the details,” Lan Zhan urged.
Huaisang handed over his phone and Wei Ying wrote down everything he could remember about the night hunt. Huaisang sent the details to Lan Zhan and Lan Huan for them to also read.
“Okay, I’m gonna make some enquiries and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible, unless you want to come with me, Wei Ying?” Huaisang asked.
Wei Ying shook his head just as Lan Zhan said “He can stay with me.”
Wei Ying blushed again. Dear god…was this constant blushing something to do with the stupid curse?
Huaisang and Lan Huan left and Wei Ying and Lan Zhan got ready for bed.
“Wei Ying, I am sorry I did not ask you more questions about your predicament. The truth is, I do not have many friends and I was just delighted to have your company.”
Wei Ying couldn’t reply so he just put a tiny hand over his heart and nodded and hoped Lan Zhan knew that meant “me too.”
**********
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan’s gentle life together continued. Lan Zhan knitted Wei Ying a tiny jumper, Wei Ying made teeny bunny pictures for Lan Zhan which delighted him. Wei Ying continued to help Lan Zhan with his work, they watched tv together, ate dinner together, Lan Zhan read stories to Wei Ying and Wei Ying would help him fix things and made Lan Zhan smile as much as he could.
They didn’t hear anything from Huaisang for a while. He did offer to get in touch with Wei Ying’s family, but Wei Ying asked that they wait until they knew if they could fix the curse first. He couldn’t take his brother's anger and his sister’s heartache while he was the size of a collectable plate.
Plus…he knew he was putting off telling them in case they forced him to leave with them. He was sort of…falling in love with Lan Zhan and he wanted to stay with him as long as you could. It was nice. The first time he had felt truly comfortable with another person. Lan Zhan felt like…home.
Weeks passed and Wei Ying assumed that he would always be small and then one day…Huaisang called.
“He is coming over,” Lan Zhan told Wei Ying. “He seems to have news.”
Wei Ying bit his lip. As much as he wanted to be his normal size again, he would miss living with Lan Zhan. What if Lan Zhan didn’t like full sized Wei Ying? A lot of people had told him he was a lot. Maybe Lan Zhan would also find him too much when he was no longer pocket sized.
Huaisang arrived in a flurry of faux fur and silk.
“We think we have the answer,” he announced. “What is interesting about this curse is that it needed someone very specific to help break it, someone just like Lan Zhan.”
Lan Zhan blinked. “I can break Wei Ying’s curse?”
Huaisang nodded. “I think so, yeah. Needs to be someone truly pure of heart. I checked around about you and you are squeaky clean, definitely the man we need.”
“What do I need to do?” Lan Zhan asked.
“If my theory is correct, you just need to touch him. Your pure energy should mix with his and give him the boost he needs to break the curse.”
Lan Zhan frowned. “I have touched Wei Ying, I have carried him many times.”
Huaisang frowned back. “Okay…I was not expecting that. It should have worked.”
Wei Ying waved his arms around.
“Oh! The little guy has something to say,” Huaisang cried. Wei Ying wrote down the word “transfer.”
“Oh!” Huaisang shouted. “Yes, that was stupid of me. Try it again, this time, Wei Ying will focus on the transfer of energy and it should work!”
Wei Ying came to sit on the edge of the kitchen table. Lan Zhan walked towards him and pointed a finger at Wei Ying. Wei Ying held the finger with two hands and closed his eyes. He imagined transferring his energy to Lan Zhan and then imagined drawing Lan Zhan’s energy into him. He tried and tried and tried but…
“It’s not working!”
“Wei Ying…”
“Shhh Lan Zhan, I’m trying to figure out why it’s not working…”
“Wei Ying…”
“Lan Zhan, I need to think!”
“Wei Ying, you are fully sized and naked on my kitchen table.”
Wei Ying opened his eyes and saw that Huaisang was facing the wall and Lan Zhan was still in front of him with his eyes tightly closed. Wei Ying yelped and ran into Lan Zhan’s room. He returned having stolen some clothes from Lan Zhan’s wardrobe.
“You can both look now!” he cried.
Lan Zhan opened his eyes and Huaisang turned around.
“Well it is good to see you, old friend,” Huaisang said.
Wei Ying looked at his hands and his feet and his legs and spun around. “I’m back!” he sang.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said warmly with a smile. “It is good to hear your voice.”
Wei Ying laughed. “Oh yeah! This is the first time you’ve heard me!”
“It is a lovely voice,” Lan Zhan said warmly.
Wei Ying blushed.
Huaisang looked at them both. “Well I hate to break up whatever this is but I think it’s time we told your family you’re okay, Wei Ying.”
“Ahhhh yes, let’s go see them. Lan Zhan, I can come back later right?”
Lan Zhan nodded.
Wei Ying grinned. “Okay! Let’s go see my brother and sister!”
**********
It was a very emotional reunion. Jiang Cheng threatened to murder him ten times whilst also refusing to stop hugging him and his sister cried until her tears ran dry. He apologised over and over and eventually it didn’t matter what had happened, he was back and he promised to never do something so stupid as to go night hunting alone ever again. After many hours, he told them there was someone he had to see and Huaisang dropped him off at Lan Zhan’s place.
Wei Ying knocked on the door and Lan Zhan opened it immediately.
“Hi!” Wei Ying said brightly.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said with a sad look in his eye. “You saw your family?”
“I did! It was so nice to hug them. It’s just so nice to be seen, you know.”
“I assume you will want to be with them.”
“Huh?” Wei Ying asked.
“Your family, I assume you will want to go home to your family now.” Lan Zhan explained.
“Oh! Erm…yeah or…”
“Yes?” Lan Zhan asked, looking hopeful.
“Or maybe if you don’t mind having an unemployed ex-action figure living with you, I could stay here?”
“Yes,” Lan Zhan replied with a smile.
Wei Ying grinned and then looked concerned. “I can still leave though, if I get too much. Some people find me…overwhelming.”
“I will not find Wei Ying overwhelming,” Lan Zhan said stubbornly.
Wei Ying laughed.
“It is good to hear your laugh,” Lan Zhan replied.
Wei Ying blushed. “Argh! Why do I always blush around you! It wasn’t so bad when I was tiny and you couldn’t tell!”
“I could tell,” Lan Zhan said softly.
“Argh! Lan Zhan! Don’t tell me that! How embarrassing!"
“Wei Ying is lovely when he blushes,” Lan Zhan confessed.
Wei Ying held his hands to his glowing cheeks. “Lan Zhan, what would you say if I told you that I maybe, sorta want us to go on a date?”
“I would say that we have already been on many dates, Wei Ying, but now that we are able to discuss it properly, I would like to call you my boyfriend.”
Wei Ying ran towards him and threw his arms around his neck. “Lan Zhan…I love our little life.”
“Mn. Me too,” Lan Zhan replied, hugging him back.
“Lan Zhan now that I’m the right size…there is something I’ve been dying to do…”
Lan Zhan’s eyes widened. “What is it, Wei Ying?”
“I want to buy spicy food Lan Zhan! Spicy sauce! Spicy noodles! Spicy snacks! I want everything spicy!”
Lan Zhan huffed out a laugh. “We can go shopping tomorrow.”
“There’s one other thing I want…” Wei Ying said.
“Something else that’s spicy?” Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying grinned. “It can sometimes be spicy but I think this time, it’s gonna be oh so sweet.”
And when they kissed, Wei Ying was pleased to discover he was one hundred percent correct, it was very sweet.