Thread by @s_selene210

au where lqr is the one who finds baby foxxian in the streets of caiyi. he takes him back to gusu, introduces him to his nephews.

“Wangji. Xichen. This is Wei Ying, he will be your playmate from now.”

“Mine.” lwj honks. lqr blinks. wwx is confused

“wangji. we have spoken about this.”

the youngest Lan could be a very stubborn little dragon when he wanted to be.

with a scowl, he plodded right past his smiling brother and frowning uncle, grabbing a hold of wwxs hand in one chubby hand.

“mine.”

“Wangji. You cannot call dibs on a real person.”

sometimes, talking to lwj was like talking to sentient ballon that on occasion honked at people.

as it was, the youngest Lan, on hearing “no” decided to simply float away, carrying foxxian with him

and so the story ends.

just kidding ahah

this is lwj we’re talking about

one of the lans finds them, eventually, hidden under the bed in lwjs room.

when he tries to peak under the bed lwj honks at him so fiercely it makes the bed frame shudder.

“Leave!” he says fiercely. foxxian makes a small whimpering sound, curling in close to dragonji

“It is okay,” dragonji soothes, stroking foxxians ears oh so carefully, “I am here now. I promise I will protect you.”

foxxian hiccups, wiping his nose

“a-niang and diedie said that too, but then they had to go away. you won’t go away, will you? gege won’t leave me?”

the honk this time is a comforting one.

“I promise. I will never leave you.

wwx giggles, tails fluffing up behind him and filling the rest of the space

lwj stares, transfixed.

“fluffy” he whispers, almost subconsciously

he reaches out a hand to stroke them but foxxian flinches. lwj instantly freezes.

“don’t hurt them.” foxxian whispers, eyes big and scared looking in his face.

“I would never — “ lwj takes a shuddering breath, “I have a tail too. Like you.”

foxxians eyes go wide in wonder

he marvels at lwjs tail. it is so spiky! and blue!

he strokes the tail gently, and is surprised when it starts waggling so fast it nearly takes out a bedpost

(They are still under the bed at this point)

for fear of further property damage, they move out from under the bed.

(foxxian likes small, confined spaces)

Dragonji gets a little bit stuck at one point. He is still unused to his antlers, and so when he gets them lodged under the bed honks rapidly until foxxian frees him

lxc and lqr find them like this, a few hours later.

inky paw prints decorate lwjs face and robes.

the culprit is snoozing on the youngest lan’s lap, a tiny ball of quivering black fur that lets out an occasional sleepy burp.

lxc has barley opened his mouth when lwj looks at him sternly.

“shh. a-ying is sleeping.”

“A-Ying…” lxc echoes faintly, confused when this development occurred

“who is a-ying?”

“a-ying is mine.”

“no wangji I mean — uncle, help.”

“I see I may have underestimated Wangji.” lqr stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “It seems he has grown attached to the young fox.”

the pair watch as foxxian wakes up and immediately begins to smother dragonji’s face in licks.

steam starts to come of out dragonjis ears

from that day, dragonji and foxxian are inseparable.

literally.

they walk around with their tails intertwined.

it takes a few years, but eventually wwx lets lwj touch his tails.

he is the only one.

lwjs hands shake with nerves, and foxxian soothes him with a gentle smile.

“They are just tails, gege. No need to panic.”

“They are *your* tails. And that makes them precious.”

foxxian cries then. but for the first time in a very long time, it is of happiness.

but back to the babies.

Dragonji, notoriously introverted and constrained, could now be found at any given moment waddling down to caiyi town, purse clutched in two chubby fists

he spends his pocket money on trinkets he thinks foxxian will like, then carts them all back to the cr.

The Lan sleeves can hold a lot, dragonji discovers.

The other dragons look on and wonder at the strange young pair

dragons are known for collecting treasure. Not foxes