Lan Zhan is not crying, he doesn't want to cry (or not very much), but he huddles closer to Brother and tries to block out the shouting and arguing and anger and all the big people's noise that would have frightened him had he been younger, and is starting to frighten Wei Ying, who after all is a baby. Those big grey eyes are beginning to hear up, the little smiley lips are wobbling, and the faintest traces of black smoke - "re-senful cutti-vation", Uncle had called it - are just starting to show around him.
"B-brother," Lan Zhan whispers, he doesn't want the shouting, arguing, angry, noisy people to notice the smoke, he knows they will think it is bad, that Wei Ying is bad. He doesn't know what to do, Wei Ying is just a baby, and can't be bad, but some of the big people said... and no, Lan Zhan is not going to cry when he thinks about what they said. "B-brother, I-I... Wei Ying doesn't want to be here."
Brother's arms comes round him, round them both, picks them up and carries them away to somewhere quiet and safe, where Sizhui and Jingyi and not really cross, just pretending to be, Jin Ling will look after them while the adults finish being noisy.
Brother - and Uncle, and Sizhui, and Jingyi and Jin Ling - will protect Wei Ying from the "re-senful cutti-vation" and the angry people; Brother has promised.
(Please note I did 5 ficlets with a linked theme, this is one, the others are here, here, here, and here. I couldn't resist.)
The Untamed, Lan Zhan, Wei Ying and Lan Xichen
Lan Zhan is not crying, he doesn't want to cry (or not very much), but he huddles closer to Brother and tries to block out the shouting and arguing and anger and all the big people's noise that would have frightened him had he been younger, and is starting to frighten Wei Ying, who after all is a baby. Those big grey eyes are beginning to hear up, the little smiley lips are wobbling, and the faintest traces of black smoke - "re-senful cutti-vation", Uncle had called it - are just starting to show around him.
"B-brother," Lan Zhan whispers, he doesn't want the shouting, arguing, angry, noisy people to notice the smoke, he knows they will think it is bad, that Wei Ying is bad. He doesn't know what to do, Wei Ying is just a baby, and can't be bad, but some of the big people said... and no, Lan Zhan is not going to cry when he thinks about what they said. "B-brother, I-I... Wei Ying doesn't want to be here."
Brother's arms comes round him, round them both, picks them up and carries them away to somewhere quiet and safe, where Sizhui and Jingyi and not really cross, just pretending to be, Jin Ling will look after them while the adults finish being noisy.
Brother - and Uncle, and Sizhui, and Jingyi and Jin Ling - will protect Wei Ying from the "re-senful cutti-vation" and the angry people; Brother has promised.
(Please note I did 5 ficlets with a linked theme, this is one, the others are here, here, here, and here. I couldn't resist.)