Wild Creatures

Chapter 24

He pulls the door with such strength that it groans on its hinges.

A-Yuan is standing there obediently, a smile on his face and backpack in his fingers.

"Welcome home." Lan Zhan says, mortified that he'd actually closed the door on this beautiful child.

"A-Yuan…sorry, Zhan Gege got a bit carried away." Wei Ying, on the other hand, is embarrassed. His face resembles a tomato left outside in the sun.

They're both apologetic and Wei Ying picks his son up, kissing him all over his face.

A-Yuan just smiles, going into his room.

"Oh. My. God! I can't believe we just did that!" Wei Ying hisses, half in disbelief and half in embarrassment. He gently smacks Lan Zhan’s arm. "This is your fault!"

"Mn." Lan Zhan has the good grace to look contrite.

"I can't believe we left him outside! Wait till A-Qing finds out about this! She's gonna have my guts for garters…" Wei Ying says with certainty.

"No one has to know." A-Yuan says, suddenly pushing a Lego brochure into Lan Zhan’s hands.

Both adults turn to look at the most innocent smile on the six year old.

"Doesn't this one look good?" He actually even points to a specific model.

"Oh…my…God…my baby has turned into a little conman!!!" Wei Ying cannot believe this!

"What about this one as well?" Lan Zhan offers, knowing full well that he's bribing a kid, and not feeling the least bit guilty about it.

Wei Ying throws his hands in the air and stomps off into the kitchen.

***********

Later, the three of them are sitting around the little table in the kitchen.

A-Yuan is doing his homework and occasionally asking them for help, while Lan Zhan is searching up symbols on his laptop. Wei Ying divides his attention between the two of them, and munching on the fruit and carrot sticks that Lan Zhan has prepared.

And then he has a brainwave.

"Um…may I?" He asks Lan Zhan, who is more than a little bit frustrated at nothing of importance turning up with his research.

"Mn." Lan Zhan pushes his computer towards Wei Ying.

He watches those lovely fingers glide over the keys impossibly fast and accurately.

Lan Zhan has to sit on his hands, because it's such a turn on and there's a child present, otherwise this searching for clues was going to go very differently…

"Symbols didn't do anything…what about signs…" Wei Ying bites his bottom lip and Lan Zhan has to look away.

How is this fair?

Is this attraction normal? Or is it accentuated by his baser instincts? Would it have been any different…before? Before, when he was a human being?

Lan Zhan gets the feeling that he would have been attracted to Wei Ying no matter what. But the question here is, what would the strength of it have been?

There are very few times Lan Zhan feels out of control.

And he's still learning about himself.

It's also highly frustrating that he doesn't know what to expect. There's no one to explain things to him, to tell him what's likely to happen to him. There's no one to guide him, to show him the ropes.