Thread by @lanzhanqilai

modern au where lwj grows a quaint little garden of vegetables & fruits in his backyard & he's in a war with a black fox who keeps coming to his house at night & EATING HIS GARDEN.

he's very particular about his plant children, so he's built a strong fence, bought them each a specific type of fertilizer, & inspects them every day even if they don't need watering so one morning when he walks out & sees one of his tomato plants missing a tomato he Knows

lwj is half-perturbed, half-impressed bc his fence looks perfectly untouched how did this cryptid tomato-eater GET IN? and what night creature eats only one tomato? no digging up the plant beds, not even the little signs have been tilted to make way for paws!

lwj isn't sure what to do at first, since there's no fence to reinforce & no soil to replace, so he puts some more bricks around them & looks up what could be in his garden. raccoons seem the most likely, so he orders some netting & calls it a day.

while he's waiting for it, every morning he comes out to inspect his garden, *smth* is freshly eaten, but the only reason he knows is bc he watches his plants so carefully. a leaf missing from a cabbage, the smallest cucumber from the patch, & only the smallest. hm.

he's *confused* bc his cryptid is *very polite* yet also very rude for stealing! for stealing with almost no trace! & he's never heard of an animal that samples quite literally a tiny bit from everything, especially without wrecking his plants.

as an experiment, he buys a young hot pepper plant & gives it a plot in the garden even tho he doesn't eat peppers. he'll give them to huaisang after. he & his brother likes them maybe. but he just wants to see what happens. the peppers, shockingly, are gone in the first evening.

fascinated, he buys habaneros. thai peppers. jalapenos. some as seeds, some as young plants that he can immediately plant & feed his strange guest. he even finds that by the time the netting comes in he doesn't want to put it up, not when he must know what this weird creature is!

he decides one night, after weeks of mornings finding a pristine garden, not a pawprint or smell registered, w singular fruits or veggies missing, he's going to stay up & catch this animal. not scare it or shoo it!!! he just wants to see. & then decide what to do.

(i mean at this point he's pretty much decided he can sustainably feed it for the rest of its life since there only seems to be one & it takes sensible portions; he's not going to admit tht to lxc when he asks tho. & he likes finding out what new pepper it's tried each morning)

the only people who really know what's going on are lxc & nhs, lxc bc they're brothers & lwj could never keep anything from him, especially smth he's excited abt, & nhs bc of the peppers that lwj gifted then rescinded after finding out his guest liked them, & nhs is nosy

lxc has enough respect for lwj not to ask after how it's going the night lwj sets up in his living room to wait in the dark, but LUCKILY, nhs does NOT so the only thing keeping lwj from drifting off is nhs texting him every 5m to ask "is it here yet? what does it look like?"

he patiently responds to every message with "no" & a reply to the cryptid memes he's sending which get more unhinged as the night wears on & suddenly he's not reading a threatening neon meme abt mothman at 2am he's completely passed out & he stops registering his buzzing phone

when he awakens again, his phone is buzzing frantically, almost one single hum, & he's sprawled across his couch. he jolts, disoriented, & gropes around for his phone to answer it, which he regrets immediately when nhs screams "ARE YOU DEAD DID IT ATTACK YOU WANGJI"

"hurgh," he manages, while trying to figure out why he's on his couch, why nhs is calling, *what* would attack him- oh wait yes- & nhs is babbling a mile a minute saying "omg if you fell asleep you should've just said so i almost called the police if da-ge didn't stop me-"

lwj lets him rattle on bc he knows there's no stopping nhs once he starts so he rubs his eyes & glances at the window to check for his creature. & freezes. there is a shadow moving in his garden.

his breath catches a little & nhs instantly hushes & whispers "it's there isn't it? is it there? oh my god it's happening". distractedly, lwj says "i'll call you back, huaisang" "you better, do NOT die" nhs hisses.

lwj hangs up & picks up the scotch bonnet he had ready on the table (carefully, by the stem) as an offering then slowly slides the door open, stopping when he sees the shadow still, tension in dark, raised hackles, & instead of stepping out, lwj gently tosses the pepper near it

he can't make it out at all, it's just a looming shadow behind a stalk of his papaya plant, he thinks. strangely compelled, he murmurs softly, "...here. a new one."

for a single moment, lwj thinks it'll bolt, disappear into thin air (explaining how it got in ha) or maybe it'll barrel into him & attack him. he realizes, viscerally, how fucking stupid this is. he could be offering a scotch bonnet to mothman right now. he could die right now.

after a minute, the shadow shifts, almost shrinks, and emerges cautiously, revealing itself to be a small, soot-colored fox, eyes wide & incredibly round, catching what moonlight glows over them. "oh," lwj says, blinking at it as it sniffs the pepper. "hello."

he almost doesn't catch it in his bleariness, but to his surprise, the fox swishes its tail once at his greeting, like a wag, then snags the entire pepper. "wait- ah." & it wolfs down the entire thing, smacking & gobbling in a very satisfied way.

descriptions of starvation, hunger, physical emaciation // he realizes then, eyes running over its form, that it isn't eager solely bc it seems to enjoy peppers, but also bc it must be *starving*, its limbs bony & angles sharp.

but if it's been starving this whole time, why would it only insist on taking a bit each time? it was strange.
it flicks its eyes over at him, a strange intelligence shining in them, & swishes its tail once more, like it's sated for the evening on one painfully hot pepper.

when lwj looks over at it, the fox dips its head, like some kind of thanks & turns away, slipping back into the shadows. lwj jerks after it, almost pulled to stop it when his words aren't fast enough, & he regrets it when his foot slaps noisily on the porch wood & startles it.

"i- wait," he manages. "you can- please, take more. if you ne- if you want. i don't mind."
he's mad.
it's 3am & he just gave a fox a hot pepper & he's talking to it & he's gone mad.

lwj isn't even sure if the fox is still there while he stands there losing his mind a little, but it makes a strange chittering sound foxes don't usually make which he only knows bc ang just researched it <3 & emerges again, head tilted, like it's intrigued. like a human.

since it seems like it understands, he repeats what he said, staying where he is half inside the house so he doesn't spook it & it creeps back, first slowly, then it leaps over, whole body wiggling with excitement & looking just barely like it's kept itself from jumping on lwj.

it's being very cute, jumping from foot to foot & being silly bc it's not even paying attention to the vegetables even when lwj gestures to them, so lwj very deliberately & slowly steps outside, letting it circle him with barely contained amusement,

& picks some little tomatoes, carefully breaks off a few leaves of lettuce, & turns around to place them at the fox's feet, offering them to it, & watching with a weird sort of joy as it eagerly eats it all, tail wagging like nobody's business

lwj can hear his phone buzzing from inside his house, but he doesn't bother w it, doesn't bother w the fact tht he has work in 4 hrs, doesn't bother w anything except picking more little vegetables & feeding them to his garden creature for the rest of the night. (cont @ 10pm est)

they fall into a sort of. rhythm with it. lwj wakes up an extra hour (or two) early, & finds the fox waiting for him in the garden or just arriving, never quite catching how it gets over the fence. nhs spams him w messages & asks him for pictures. a rhythm.

though the fox (a he, lwj finds out quickly) doesn't seem to mind how skinny he is, lwj does, so he. does a little research. he buys some raw meat & some peanuts & some cheese & some fruits, in an effort to bulk him up & to take the weight off his little garden for a bit.

surprisingly, though most of fox diets, he found, are made up of raw meat, the fox turns his nose up to it, but at least is content with the new goodies to eat with his peppers, which lwj has also had to go out of his way to buy more of since his plants can't keep up

when he tells lxc all of this, his brother laughs & says "i wonder, wangji, if you are encouraging him too much. foxes are not pets, you know. you'll tell me you want to adopt him next." & you know what, xichen, maybe he was going to.

he wasn't going to adopt the fox, not really. there is something too independent about it, aside from being a wild animal. he wiggles in excitement at lwj, greets him & pushes against his hands for food, he never stays, though lwj is safe, & his garden is safe,

though both must be safer than wherever this little fox was coming from, if the way his coat hung on his bony frame was any indication, if the curious scars on his chest said anything. but he supposes lwj was looking too much into the nature of a street animal's life.

the companionship is. nice. he's been living alone for a while, and he has cloud, his bunny, inside, but there's a curiosity in the fox's eyes, like a new question every time they meet, that makes lwj want to answer, to talk abt himself & what he likes & how he loves his garden.

"don't fuck the fox," nhs blurts out when lwj shares this & lwj immediately closes his eyes & says back "i am going to hang up on you."

"i'm just saying!!!!" nhs defends when he calls him back a second later. "some people, like, really have it going for cryptids, you know. & this guy seems like a... fox cryptid." lwj blows out a breath. "i told you i enjoyed companionship & you--"

"THIS IS OBVIOUSLY," nhs steamrolls over him. "NOT a normal fox & you are NOT a normal lonely person." "thanks. thank you." lwj hesitates, irritation at his friend subsiding for a moment at... "what do you mean? you don't think it's a normal fox?"

who is he kidding. lwj himself doesn't think it's a normal fox.
"i think," huaisang says sagely. "it's not a normal fox. & i think you know that i know that you know that it's not a--" "huaisang." "okay! jeez. i just mean. you've never seen it come in or out, right?"

since their aforementioned, established rhythm lwj has noticed the fox likes to stay until lwj goes to work, even if it means an extra hour or two sitting pretty in the yard, watching through the window as lwj gets ready. it is... strange. that he doesn't leave in front of him.

nhs takes his pensive silence as a yes.
"i think that's the starting point. why don't you ever see him getting in or out of your weirdly secure yard? for weeks? that fox is hiding smth. AND you won't take pictures of him! added cryptid qualities in my mind."

"don't you want to know?" nhs asks, like scraping fingers against the itch in lwj's mind. "i think you should try to find out. catch him at it."
his desire to roars in the darker corners of his head, has now for a few weeks, since he saw the way the fox's ears pricked up when--

lwj told him his brother calls him "a-zhan", the way he avoided eating the cucumbers when lwj mentioned they were his favorite one day, the way he *asked questions* w just a little cock of his head & lwj wanted to answer.

"no," he says instead, quietly firm. "no. if... if he wants me to know...something, whatever, he'll tell me."

nhs groans. "ooohhh my ggoooddd you sap. you're gonna do it aren't you. you're gonna fuck the fox."
"huaisang... not a single word of what i just said means i'm going to fuck the fox."
"no," nhs says. "you're gonna."

for a while after, lwj tries not to really think abt it. his guest comes & goes & returns again. his brother teases him. nhs asks for pictures. his garden flourishes.

& fortunately, he's watching the fox grow healthier every day, surprisingly just on his little vegetables & odd snacks. his coat shines & there's more heft behind his jumps when he paws at lwj, or his insistent nuzzles.

"i wonder if i should call you something," lwj muses aloud one day, when the fox is chewing on the biggest pepper he's managed to grow this season. the fox swishes his tail, brushing it against lwj's foot. "perhaps i shouldn't just being calling you the fox in my head."

the fox makes the funny chitter sound, thoughtful. lwj laughs at himself a little. months ago he would've called nhs crazy for saying claiming he knew each pigeon in their local park by the way they flew over to them. now look at him.

"i wonder what you would like to be called," he murmurs. nhs springs up in the back of his head again, asking "don't you want to know?" but he lets out a little sigh. "i do wish i knew," he whispers. "if only that i wish i knew what i could call you."

the fox stops chewing & stares at him, thumping his tail a little anxiously, & lwj doesn't know what he's hoping for but he's hoping for...something. something he doesn't even want to put into words bc it would be too...strange, too much, too ...

that afternoon, after lwj drags through a day of work, he gets home to nhs on his couch & tupperware stacked on his kitchen table.
"hi i'm staying over," nhs says plainly. "you've been avoiding me since fox stuff happened & also da-ge made food for you."

lwj squints at him for a second, suspicious, but he's too tired to really question it too much. even if nhs is here to finally get a look at the fox, he won't turn down a free meal & some time to catch up & maybe relax with his, albeit annoying & nosy & weird, best friend.

it's not much of an evening, as lwj promptly crashes after dividing the food between him & nhs & tidying the spare room a little for him, & a shooing from nhs, grumbling "ok ok i know where everything is, grandma, good night" when lwj yawns at 7pm

he falls asleep, exhaustion easily letting him drift off, & wakes almost as easily, in the dark. swiftly, he swings out of bed & begins to get ready before he glances at his phone & realizes his alarm hadn't rung. he must've woken up early; it's 2:15 (ha).

outside his room, he hears nhs in a hushed argument, & thinks it must've been what woke him. if it's the bickering the nies usually do, lwj doubts he'll be able to fall back asleep, so he quietly exits his room for the bathroom.
& realizes nhs isn't on the phone. he's outside.

lwj stops in his tracks bc his sliding glass door is open & nhs is sitting just inside of it & he's arguing w someone outside saying "this is ridiculous, just show up at his door & tell him! this is messing w him! he doesn't even text me anymore & i know it's messing w him!"

a new voice chimes in, high & anxious & sounding exactly right in lwj's head.
"it's too late," he says. "i-- just feel like it's been too long & it'll make everything. weird. i mean i've been eating his food, spending his time, climbing in his lap for christ's sake--"

he cuts himself off & starts again, quieter. lwj walks closer to hear.
"he said something today. he said if there's just one thing he could know he'd want to know what my name was. sort of. i guess he doesn't know i have one."
"wei-xiong..." nhs sighs.

the speaker, the fox he knows it's the fox, is just out of view, hidden slightly by the wall, & lwj moves w/o thought, needing, suddenly, to see him for himself.
"huaisang," he breathes, eyes fixed on the hunched figure coming into view. "huaisang, what are you doing?"

they jump apart & stand when they hear him, but lwj doesn't care. nhs exclaims, launching into some sort of rambling, but lwj easily pushes him away & sees. sees him. it's the fox. hair dark, limbs lanky, eyes wide & incredibly round & catching what moonlight glows over them.

"oh," lwj says & this feels familiar, though it's for sharp cheekbones instead of a snout, for flesh & bone hands instead of paws. "hello."

(hey i'm so sorry i was gonna finish tn but i am 2 tired. pls stay tuned for the conclusion tomorrow. i love u thank u.)

"i can. explain," he says carefully, his entire body tense like the first time.
nhs mutters something snide behind them & the fox's-- his eyes-- he--
"what i mean to say is--"
"what do i call you?" lwj interrupts. "if...if only that." he echoes this morning without intending to.

the look in his eyes, the dawn of hope & anticipation & realization, is answer enough.
"wei ying," the fox says, like a secret. he lets out a laugh. "my name is wei ying & i've been eating your garden."

"oh," lwj says again, feeling like he's not sure what to say, yet wants to say everything. this...is all real & he doesn't know where to start. nhs shuffles a little behind him & lwj remembers very suddenly that he has had a part in this. he swings around to give him a look.

"i knew," nhs instantly confesses. "i knew the moment you told me what he looked like who it was, even though he--" nhs gives wei ying a look-- "disappeared off the face of the earth years ago--"
wei ying sighs like they've gone over this. "i had things to take care of--"

"we da-ge & i looked for you." nhs' voice is suddenly brittle. "we looked for you until we thought you were dead."
he huffs & shakes his head, dismissing it. "whatever, just...when you finish up here...it wasn't just us, he's also looking for you, you know? that's all."

nhs looks at lwj, gives him the grimmest smile he's ever seen him wear. "i'm going back home. i'll talk to you later." his smile drops & he jerks his head to glare at wei ying. "& you too."
he slides the door closed behind him & they are alone, lwj & wei ying.

wei ying clears his throat & lwj slowly looks back to him, the softest pre-dawn light on his face.
"this must be," wei ying starts, gesturing around him, at himself. "a lot. for you."
an understatement.
"i... suspected," lwj says instead. he feels pulled to walk closer.

"but..." he hesitates, unsure if he should say the next thing, what he wants from it exactly. he looks away, down, & catches sight of one of his pepper plants, serrano, where its peppers are beginning to bloom red. it assures him, strangely, & he bends down to carefully pick one.

"...but if you like, i have time to hear it all." he stands, offers the pepper, bursts of green & red & fresh as a new day, to wei ying, who smiles, who doesn't quite wag his tail, who takes it from him, fingers brushing, like it is the easiest decision in the world.

the end!! i was going to go deeper w the conflict w nhs & jc & the rest of the shifters but it's similar enough to canon tht i figured it didn't need explaining when this is jst a lil fluff piece! hope u enjoyed!
and yes, 📢 he does fuck the fox .📢 eventually.

pls donate to these asian american advocacy orgs, following last night & the vile racist attacks on our community in the past few months. atl is my home & i have been deeply shaken by all of this. i would ask tht you donate to ga/non-regionals below
docs.google.com/document/d/1CG…