Chapter Text
Wei Wuxian dodged to the left mere seconds before the Auntie Anne’s cup sailed through the air and flew right past his head.
He turned just in time to see the cup and its contents strike Jiang Cheng with a violent splash of lemonade and half-melted ice.
They both froze in turn; the only sound between them was the soft thud of the paper cup hitting the vinyl floor and then the slow, steady drip of liquid running down green polyester.
Jiang Cheng was the first to snap out of it, fists clenching at his sides.
“What...the...FUCK!”
The child before them burst into tears immediately at Jiang Cheng’s exclamation.
Wei Wuxian looked between the now-sobbing child and his enraged brother, whose face was rapidly turning redder than the nose of the giant Rudolph statue mere steps away, and made a mental plea for the fortitude to deal with them both.
Plastering one of his very best customer service smiles onto his face, Wei Wuxian bent down to be closer to eye level with the kid, across the fake snow-capped picket fence.
He didn’t have to bend far; this kid was no toddler, appearing closer to 7 or 8 years old.
And he sure had one hell of an aim.
Wei Wuxian had just opened his mouth to offer soothing apologies to the kid when his mother, who had been standing several feet behind him thoroughly distracted by her phone, apparently noticed her cue and launched into action.
“Sweetie??? What happened?!" she shouted, shrill and hysterical. "HEY! What did you say to him? How could you make my son cry?!”
The boy half-hid behind the obnoxiously large quasi-luxury bag hanging from his mother’s arm and peered around it at Wei Wuxian, managing a smirk through his still-falling tears.
Wei Wuxian, who normally loved children, silently reminded himself that they weren’t all winners.
He rose to his full height and flashed his patented smile at the mom, instead. “I’m so sorry ma’am, we had just let him know that the North Pole has closed to allow Santa a milk and cookie break! Your son was...ahem...a little upset to hear that, but Santa will be back at 1PM.”
She sneered at him. “Do you have a supervisor I can speak to?”
Wei Wuxian groaned inwardly. If he had a dollar for every frazzled parent hellbent on micro-dosing their kids with commercialized holiday cheer who asked this question, he could afford to buy the damn mall, then raze it to the ground and replace it with something better, like a park. Or a landfill. He widened his fake smile.
“He is not presently available, but he would certainly be willing to discuss the matter of the dry-cleaning fees resulting from your son’s drink. I could take down your informati-”
He was mid-sentence when the mother abruptly realized there would be no victory for her here and turned away at once, hauling her precious angel off in the direction of the mall exit. He finally let out a sigh; one battle done, now to just deal with-
“I swear to fucking GOD I am quitting this shit job!”
Wei Wuxian turned back to his brother and tried his hardest not to laugh at his appearance.
Tried.
“Jiang Cheng...keep your voice down! So you got a little wet, you’ll live! Things happen!”
Jiang Cheng’s face was already deeply red with rage, in an almost festive compliment to his now-sodden green costume. “This is the third fucking time I’ve wound up wearing some brat’s drink!”
Wei Wuxian could not help but smirk. “Perils of the job!”
“Right,” Jiang Cheng practically snarled, “then how come it’s never been YOU who gets soaked?”
Wei Wuxian waved a hand dismissively. “I have better reflexes, clearly. Also, you’re too harsh to the kids...we’ve talked about this! You need to be softer around them! Loosen up a little!”
“I’m serious, I’m quitting. I can’t DO this anymore. Tell Huaisang he can shove this job up his ass!”
Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, having heard this proclamation somewhere between three or four dozen times before. This was already their second year working as santa’s elves; after one wild night involving a series of unfortunate circumstances in which they lost a bet to their buddy Nie Huaisang in spectacular fashion, they committed to a three-year agreement. There may or may not have been alcohol involved in the initial outlining of terms, but as a matter of pride, they considered the verbal contract ironclad.
To be honest, Huaisang was not an entirely evil overlord. After he and Wei Wuxian graduated from the overpriced art school where they first met, Huaisang had toiled in editorial photography for a time, before gradually realizing he enjoyed money more than credibility. He purchased one commercial photography studio, then a second, and was almost certainly the only one of their class that could be called successful in some way. At least financially.
And this, Nie Huaisang had explained to Wei Wuxian, this little styrofoam and poly-resin faux Winter Wonderland, was his true bread and butter. He had confessed, with a gleam in his eyes, that he raked in more money through the Santa stand, through five weeks of harried parents eagerly forking over cash for insanely overpriced prints of their darling offspring’s holiday memories, than he did in an entire year at his regular studios combined...even after the mall got its cut.
So, to be fair, Huiasang also paid Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng a not-insubstantial hourly wage for what essentially amounted to typically - typically - minimally stressful work. For (1) struggling photographer and (1) struggling law student, any extra income was nothing they could afford to turn up their nose at.
Wei Wuxian loved kids! Wei Wuxian loved performing! Wei Wuxian loved taking photos! Wei Wuxian even loved his brother! On most days, at least. This was by no means a bad gig.
He strode forward to give Jiang Cheng’s shoulder a reassuring pat. “There’s forty minutes left in break now, so why don’t you go inside and try to relax, change into a dry costume?" he asked, them, trying to appease his brother as if talking to one of their child customers, added, "let’s just make it through the rest of this shift. We’ll grab tacos when we’re done here, how about that?”
Their North Pole set-up had a small gingerbread house that served as a break room, and, more importantly, their crammed locker room. It simply was not ideal to subject any nearby children to the sight of Santa Claus yanking off his beard and lighting a Marlboro on the post-shift walk out to his Honda Accord.
Because of the importance of staying in character, their Santa took frequent breaks inside the house whenever there were gaps in line. Currently Santa, otherwise known as Kevin, 48 years old and newly divorced for a second time, was inside on his lunch break, wolfing down Sbarro while swiping right on Tindr.
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, shaking his hand off, but Wei Wuxian could tell he was calming down somewhat. He allowed himself to be ushered through the plastic gumdrop door of the gingerbread house and Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief as he went.
Nearly an hour later, Wei Wuxian felt himself growing increasingly restless.
It had been an unusually slow shift for a Friday afternoon in December, but the early morning’s anticipated mild flurries had instead blanketed the town in a solid two inches of snow, causing a disproportionate amount of panic. The mall had been almost eerily quiet as a result.
Wei Wuxian did not necessarily mind a lapse in the chaos, given that they were a little over three weeks away from Christmas. From past experience, he knew as the holiday drew closer and crowds increased, the patience of their patrons would shrink and moods tended to sour; so they should enjoy this calm while it lasted.
But he also genuinely enjoyed most of the silly tasks the job came with, interacting with the adorable kids who would stare at Santa in wonder and ask him and Jiang Cheng all sorts of innocent questions about working with the Big Man.
Their last customer had been a full half hour before Lemonade Boy; since emerging freshly changed into a backup costume, Jiang Cheng had gradually slumped down halfway between Rudolph and Frosty, sullenly tapping away at his phone at the same inane puzzle game he’d been addicted to for weeks now.
Wei Wuxian was absentmindedly fiddling with the camera, staring at the fluorescent-lit expanse of storefronts with their garish signs boasting platitudes about family, contemplating a new photo series on the soul-sucking emptiness of commercialized togetherness, when a sudden small voice broke through his thoughts.
“Excuse me?”
Wei Wuxian jumped, nearly dropped the camera, but quickly slipped his game-face on as he turned to face the direction of the voice; there was a small boy, maybe four or five, standing under the candy-cane archway.
“Oh! Well hello there!! Sorry, you surprised me!” Wei Wuxian crouched down and gave the boy a warm smile, looking him up and down. The kid had clearly been well prepared for the storm; he was bundled up in a pale blue parka and matching boots, a pair of corded mittens dangling from under his sleeves. On his head was perched a thick white hat with the face of a bunny on it, two cotton ears dangling on either side.
How freaking cute! Wei Wuxian thought to himself. “Welcome to the North Pole!”
The little boy met his gaze with a tilt of his head, almost appearing to look him up and down before he solemnly replied “...this is the mall.”
Wei Wuxian had to stop himself from guffawing; occasionally they’d get this kind of all-knowing reaction, but it usually came from kids twice this one’s age.
He nodded in agreement; “Well, you’re right about that, technically! This is just a depot for the North Pole...since we are so far away, and the reindeer need to rest for the big day! Have you come to see Santa?”
The boy slid his eyes over toward the gingerbread house, and the glaringly empty red throne where Santa normally sat. Wei Wuxian stepped slightly to his right, hoping he was blocking Elf Jiang Cheng’s lazy sprawl on the ground from view.
The kid finally spoke up, big brown eyes looking ever-serious. “Papa said Santa is too busy to pose for photos in the mall.”
“Ahh. I see.” Wei Wuxian cringed a little but was somehow not surprised...until the mention of a father made him realize, with a jolt, that this kid was alone. He looked up and around briefly, hiding his panic; no one else was visible in the immediate area.
Dammit , he thought. Lost children were hardly an uncommon occurrence in the mall, but still it freaked him out a bit every time.
He leaned back down to the boy, keeping his concern carefully concealed. “May I ask your first name? And in return I will tell you mine! You can call me Elf Wei! Or Mr. Wei, if you prefer.”
A moment of hesitation, then the small voice answered “My name is Yuan.”
Wei Wuxian gave a quick salute, purposely causing the bell on the end of his elf hat to jangle cheerily with the movement. The boy’s serious expression finally melted away, corners of his mouth turning up as he broke into a giggle.
“It is very nice to meet you A-Yuan. If you would like, you can keep me company here in the North Pole Depot while we wait for your parents.”
Wei Wuxian popped open the gate of the snowy fence and extended his hand out to the boy, who stared at it momentarily before placing his tiny palm in Wei Wuxian’s. He led him inside and right over to Santa’s throne, gesturing to it with a flourish.
“As the guest of an elf, you get the privilege of sitting on Santa's throne when he’s not using it! Would you like to?”
A-Yuan looked at the giant chair with wide eyes and nodded. Wei Wuxian helped him up with ease and stepped back, using the child’s momentary distraction to take another glance around their immediate area; still not a single sign of any other shoppers, let alone frantic parents. He’d probably have to send Jiang Cheng over to the security booth for an overhead page while he kept the kid distracted.
Wei Wuxian dragged an oversized present prop closer to Santa’s throne and sat down on it. “Now A-Yuan, I am just curious...how old are you?”
“Five.” A-Yuan answered proudly.
Wei Wuxian patted the side of his nose, knowingly. “Five! I see, I see, so not at all a baby anymore, huh….so tell me, A-Yuan...what else did your Papa tell you about Santa?”
A-Yuan twirled one of the bunny ears of his hat in thought, answering slowly. “He told me your Santa works for the real one, because the North Pole is too far away, and Santa is so busy."
“I see...well your Papa is pretty smart to figure that out,” Wei Wuxian said with a wink, “...so, it sounds like you do believe in Santa, then?”
The child peeked up at him from underneath his hat, biting his lip as if thinking very hard on this serious topic. “I don’t know...I didn’t used to? But everyone at school says every Christmas they write down whatever they want and Santa brings it to them. They promised it’s true.”
Wei Wuxian felt a little rush of glee at this unusual reversal; generally, in his experience, kids were always hellbent on convincing each other Santa wasn't real, not the other way around. “Ahh, I see. And is there something A-Yuan wants?”
The boy nodded, his eyes widening. “I want to writ-”
“A-Yuan!!”
Startled, both Wei Wuxian and the child jumped at the sound of his name. Then Wei Wuxian watched in wonder as A-Yuan’s entire face brightened and he transformed from a somber little wiseman into a glowingly happy, normal child in an instant, calling out “Papa!”
Wei Wuxian felt a surge of relief as turned toward the voice, but tempered it, ready to give a most thoroughly disapproving look at this poor child’s absent-minded parent for having lost him in the mall, when his eyes landed on the man now bending slight outside the North Pole’s fence, seemingly trying to catch his breath.
Um, hellooooo daddy? Wei Wuxian thought to himself as his jaw dropped open, completely of its own volition.
The man looked to be around his age, 27 or 28, maybe slightly older. He was dressed for the weather, naturally, tall frame bundled in a cream peacoat topped with a light blue scarf, his dyed brown hair pulled back in a chic low ponytail, some wavy locks bursting free to fall flatteringly around his face, his apparent exertion giving him an almost windblown look. And his face; Wei Wuxian knew he was gaping but could not resist taking in the chiseled jaw, elegant nose, and absolutely ridiculously long lashes framing intense eyes-
Shit shit shit. HotDad was approaching the throne rapidly and Wei Wuxian rose to his feet, getting out of the way just as the man made it to the chair and sank down in front of it, facing the little boy.
“A-Yuan...I was so worried. I have been running around the entire mall trying to find you. You know you are not allowed to leave the store on your own, tell me what you were thinking-”
Wei Wuxian had to give credit to the man for his relatively mild-mannered admonishment; in this line of work, he’d unfortunately witnessed a fair share of screaming tirades and awkward bottom-spankings. But when HotDad appeared to lose his train of thought and just pulled A-Yuan in for a tight embrace, Wei Wuxian suddenly felt guilty, like he was intruding on a private family moment.
Wei Wuxian turned away and kept himself largely hidden behind an obnoxiously garish tower of fake presents, fiddling with the camera tripod while he secretly stole glances at HotDad’s reunion with A-Yuan.
The way the man crouched to be eye-level with his son made his fitted gray pants strain around the glaringly obvious muscles of his thighs in a way that should, Wei Wuxian was certain, be illegal. The stylishly loose low ponytail at the back of his neck bobbed slightly with every nod of his head as he seemingly walked A-Yuan through some sort of agreement with him, sharp jaw set firmly, but the lines of his mouth were gentle.
Suddenly, HotDad rose to his feet and turned in his direction; Wei Wuxian cursed under his breath when he realized he had been caught staring. As the man approached him, clutching his son’s hand and apparently intending to speak with him, Wei Wuxian felt panic rising in his throat.
For fuck’s sake, the most attractive person to ever walk through the doors of this second-tier county mall was going to perceive him while he was in his shitty red elf costume. It was a whole size too large! It was dotted with rows of ridiculously gaudy silver bells! It was polyester!
Grasping at straws, Wei Wuxian desperately thought of the red and white striped leggings he wore beneath the tunic - those weren’t half-bad, they were relatively normal in comparison to the rest of the outfit. They were made of cotton at least, and showed off his ass quite nicely, if he did say so himself. Only said ass was well hidden by the length of the damn tunic.
He was running through scenarios in his mind which involved him ‘accidentally’ tripping in front of HotDad and ‘happening’ to wind up falling face down, ass up before him in a way that looked completely natural, when the sound of a throat-clearing cough broke him out of his thoughts.
Shit. HotDad had stopped, standing mere feet away now, looking at him almost warily. A-Yuan at his side appeared completely nonplussed, as if in the five minutes he’d spent with Wei Wuxian alone, he’d come to expect this level of spaciness.
Wei Wuxian forced out an awkward laugh and smiled brightly at them both. “Ahh...I hope everything is alright now? A-Yuan gave you a bit of a scare, huh.”
A beat passed with no response, and Wei Wuxian’s smile wilted slightly under the weight of the other man’s gaze. He had the distinct feeling he was being appraised, and, for a split second, considered his ass-up tripping plan again.
“Yes, he certainly did.” HotDad’s voice was warm and rich like hot cocoa and Wei Wuxian absolutely wanted to drown in it. “I’m just relieved he was here, safe. I really must thank you...”
Wei Wuxian blinked, then realized there was a hand extended out to him. He grabbed it, deliriously trying to ignore the tingle down his spine when HotDad’s warm, stupidly large hand squeezed his own in a firm but gentle handshake.
“Oh, no, no need for that! I’m Wei Wuxian, by the way…” he trailed off, expectantly.
“Lan Wangji” the reply came, like velvet, and Wei Wuxian felt a small thrill over having a name to go with the rest of the...package.
He put on what he hoped was a totally normal expression that did not scream please tell me everything about you immediately and asked, “I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop but...you mentioned a store?”
“Ah, yes,” Lan Wangji answered smoothly, “I have a jewelry store...down C5.” He gestured slightly with his head toward the eastern wing.
Wei Wuxian did a mental note….he generally did not bother wandering the mall much, other than to grab the occasional sugar-laden latte, preferring to be in and out for his shift without wasting any time. But he knew the layout, and C5 was what he mentally referred to as the ‘respectable’ corner of the mall. The wing with the day spa, formal wear store, teavana, and that shop with the bamboo entrance that he always thought looked vaguely new-agey...
“OH!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, putting the obvious together. “Jades of Lan?”
Lan Wangji nodded, his warm brown eyes widening slightly as if in surprise.
Wei Wuxian mentally kicked himself for not being more exploratory in his place of employment. That someone who looked like this had been hiding out in this concrete nightmare the whole time, under his very nose, and he’d never fucking seen him before, was an absolute tragedy.
But now he knew where to find him…
Lan Wangji tilted his chin down toward A-Yuan. “School ended early due to the snow, so he has been at the shop all afternoon,” he said, sounding almost apologetic. “I suppose he became a bit restless, but he generally knows better than to wander.”
Wei Wuxian waved a hand in effort to be reassuring. “Ah, it happens so much here, trust me. Kids tend to zero in on Santa like a homing missile. A-Yuan seemed to be curious about our Santa representative as well…”
Lan Wangji seemed to catch his pointed message, one perfectly shaped brow arching up briefly before his thoughtful nod caused a strand of wavy hair to brush against his absurdly sharp jaw. Wei Wuxian suddenly, desperately wished he could touch that strand, wished that he could tuck it back behind his ear, without having mall security called on him.
“It’s getting late now, we must get home. A-Yuan?”
They both turned to look at the boy and Wei Wuxian nearly jumped as he realized Jiang Cheng had surfaced from the depths of his phone, and he and A-Yuan were silently appraising each other.
Wei Wuxian coughed. “It was nice to meet you, Lan Wangji. And you too, A-Yuan! Feel free to come by and visit again - next time I’ll make sure our Santa representative is waiting.” He had bent down to pat the boy on the head, and gave him a conspiratorial wink.
When he straightened up, Lan Wangji’s heated gaze was locked on him. Wei Wuxian felt a tremor down his spine.
Was he...angry? Maybe he really doesn’t want his kid buying into the whole Santa ploy…he thought, worried.
Lan Wangj’s seemed to snap out of it as A-Yuan reached up to take hold of his hand. “Well...thank you, again. Goodbye.”
Wei Wuxian watched the two turn and walk through the archway, a wistful sigh escaping as his eyes trailed Lan Wangji.
Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave...
“Wei Wuxian...Wei Wuxian!”
He was brought back down to earth by Jiang Cheng’s annoyed snapping of fingers in front of his face.
Jiang Cheng took one look at his expression and groaned. “You cannot be serious. That dude has a child .”
Wei Wuxian sighed even harder. “He does...and did you see how sweet he is with him?”
Jiang Cheng groaned. “No, idiot, he has a child, which means he probably has a wife...or partner, or some shit. You are barking up the wrong tree.”
He froze, his brother’s words hitting him like a bucket of ice water. He’d been so blindsided by the haze of lust that he hadn't stopped to consider that very reasonable conclusion. Fuck.
Wei Wuxian shrugged it off, trying not to reveal his disappointment. “Doesn’t mean I can’t look.”
That earned him an eyeroll; Jiang Cheng huffed and turned away. “Fine, creep away...but come on, it’s time to lock up and get out of this shithole.”
They did not have another shift at the mall for three days; Wei Wuxian had been tormented for the first night by the memory of those warm eyes and thick thighs, but his print projects and two other part-time jobs left him little time for mooning over anything but the vaguely familiar concept of sleep.
So he was caught completely off guard when, during a lull in an otherwise chaotically busy shift that was already testing his famed ability to smile endlessly, a tiny voice called out to him by name.
“Mr. Wei?”
Startled, Wei Wuxian whirled around to find little A-Yuan peering up at him from over the fence, a sweet, slightly hesitant grin on his little face.
He couldn’t help but smile instinctually in return, before his gaze traveled to the hand clasped around A-Yuan’s, then up the toned arm that hand belonged to, finally landing on that absurdly attractive face.
Wei Wuxian felt like the universe was rewarding him for all his toiling - he had certainly hoped to see HotDad again but didn’t expect it to be so soon!
He bounded over to them, ignoring the line of impatient kids and beleaguered children that had been snaking around the snow-capped fence for the better part of the afternoon. “A-Yuan! And...Lan Wangji, was it?” He asked coyly, as if he had to pull that name from memory, as if it hadn’t been running through his mind with in-between flashes of tight gray pants and burnished bronze eyes.
The other man nodded, seeming surprised, and Wei Wuxian mentally patted himself on the back for playing it cool. He took in the other’s appearance as quickly as he could without blatantly staring; today HotDad was in shades of taupe, a tweed blazer over slim-fit chinos, a white collarless shirt open at the neck, the whole look screaming sexy teacher.
Neither Lan Wangji nor A-Yuan had any winter gear on today, which made him realize that they were not on their way out or in, and must have actually wandered over this way...to see...him?
Wei Wuxian widened his smile, bending over the fence and letting his long ponytail fall over his shoulder in a way he hoped appeared cute and enticing, or at least as cute and enticing as one could be while still dressed head to toe in a tacky elf costume that would most likely catch fire if he lingered too long near the Yankee Candle store.
“What brings you two this way today? A-Yuan, did you decide you’re ready to visit Santa?” He cringed inwardly the moment the question left his lips, thinking of the lengthy line and wondering how bad the revolt among the commoners would be if he snuck A-Yuan to the front of the line.
The child in question stared up at him with wide eyes and shook his head. Suddenly shy, he looked up and to his father, who caught his gaze and gave an almost apologetic glance to Wei Wuxian.
“He prepared a letter that he would like your...Santa representative... to pass along.” Lan Wangji said with a quirk of his brow, his expression reading amused resignation.
Cute Wei Wuxian thought, not for the first time, then blinked. “A letter, huh! A-Yuan, how old are you again? Five, right? And you wrote Santa a whole letter? I’m impressed!”
A-Yuan’s face took on that sage expression of eerie adult weariness, again, as he replied, “Uncle helped me.”
Wei Wuxian blinked, feeling slightly foolish. “Ah, I see. How good of your uncle!” He shot a look at Lan Wangji, who picked up on his unspoken question and cast a thoughtful glance down at the small boy.
“A-Yuan...made it clear he prefers I not know the contents of his letter. So my brother stepped in.”
Well that’s interesting, Wei Wuxian thought to himself.
He felt a sudden dilemma; this was not a new request, as many children who came to visit Santa did not leave before dropping off their lengthy wishlists for hoverboards and playstations and whatever the hot toys of the moment were. There was even a comically oversized white mailbox marked “letters for Santa” in strokes of red glitter that he and Jiang Cheng had to make a show of slipping sealed envelopes into, all official North Pole business.
Well, he made a show of it, at least. Jiang Cheng usually just waited until he had three or four at once before cramming them into the slot and refusing to indulge in the fantasy by purposely not sticking the red flag up.
But for some reason Wei Wuxian felt slightly reserved about keeping up this pretense with A-Yuan; particularly since those letters didn’t go anywhere….and certainly were not answered, except by their own parents, in an unspoken acknowledgment of what must be done to perpetuate the ruse of jolly old Saint Nick.
He decided, then and there, to handle this on his own. In a way. Not a complete lie, just...a stretching of the truth.
Wei Wuxian held his hand out solemnly, all business. “A-Yuan. I would be more than happy to personally deliver your letter to our...Santa representative, and stress its matter of urgency. Okay?“
A-Yuan looked him up and down and, seemingly having decided he could be trusted, nodded, a shy smile once again forming across his adorable face. He slipped out of the backpack he wore, which Wei Wuxian noticed with some amusement was shaped like a bunny’s head - this kid really has a thing for rabbits, huh - and reached into its front pocket, pulling out a crisp white envelope with Dear Santa written across it in elegant script. His uncle had amazing handwriting.
Wei Wuxian took the letter held out to him and held it carefully, his expression shifting to one of utmost sincerity. “I will guard this letter with my life until it gets to the big man.”
He heard a small huff of air and flicked his eyes over to Lan Wangji in surprise, just in time to see the shadow of a slight grin fading from the man’s face.
Had he laughed at him, and he missed it? As he pouted momentarily, he took the opportunity to look at HotDad more closely, and was surprised to notice the piercings in each ear; three on each side, more than Wei Wuxian himself had, a casually cool array of tiny, delicate silver hoops and studs with smoothly polished stones.
Of course...as a jeweler, this should not be so surprising. But it ratcheted up the man’s hotness level beyond the already unfair benchmark he’d set at first sight.
Wei Wuxian was broken out of his perfectly respectful leering by a shout ringing out behind them. “AHEM….Elf Wei, Santa is waiting!”
Uh oh, Jiang Cheng sounded really annoyed. As in, more so than usual.
Lan Wangji squeezed his son’s hand and looked down at him expectantly. “A-Yuan, Mr. Wei must get back to his duties. What do you say to him?”
A-Yuan nodded again, shuffling his backpack into position. “Thank you Mr. Wei!” His tone was energetic and...hopeful, his smile once again blinding.
Wei Wuxian melted. “Anytime, kiddo! Feel free to come visit whenever you like, okay? Both of you.” He flashed another grin and marveled as the tips of HotDad’s ears seemed to redden ever so slightly.
Interesting.
He stood straight again and after what he could swear was a moment’s hesitation, Lan Wangji beckoned at A-Yuan and turned to leave, meeting Wei Wuxian’s eyes one last time before turning away.
Well, damn. Wei Wuxian generally had no qualms over knowing when he was being checked out, but this definitely took him by surprise. He could be imagining it. Or maybe HotDad had some sort of elf fetish? He wasn’t really above exploiting that…
“WEI WUXIAN!”
Uh oh - Jiang Cheng dropping the full name mid-shift meant he’d reached his limit and was ready to blow. Wei Wuxian turned back from the fence and winced, somewhat, as he took in the length of the line, which had seemingly doubled during his brief conversation.
He bounced back over to the tripod, grabbing one of the snowmen he used to draw kids’ attention toward the lens, and waved it in the air above his head.
The little girl on Santa’s lap promptly broke out into wailing sobs. Jiang Cheng shot him an absolutely murderous glance. Wei Wuxian sighed.
At the end of their shift, after the very last parent/child pair had been ushered through the candy cane archway and onto their merry way, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were sitting inside the gingerbread house, waiting for their ears to stop ringing. It was otherwise quiet between them, if not for the copious amounts of noise made by their costumes as Jiang Cheng disrobed, the bells attached to their boots, tunics, and hats jangling almost menacingly with each toss of a discarded garment toward the lockers.
Kevin had grumbled something about a date, shedding his Santa suit in record time before bolting.
Wei Wuxian normally was in a similar hurry to be free from his polyester hell, but tonight he sat fully costumed at the table, contemplating A-Yuan’s letter in his hands.
“What’s that?” Jiang Cheng asked, stooped over as he laced up his obnoxiously purple Air Jordans.
Wei Wuxian bit his lip. “It’s a letter for Santa…”
Jiang Cheng blinked. “And? Why do you have it? Put it in the box.”
Wei Wuxian bit his lip. “It’s from HotDad’s kid, A-Yuan...”
HIs words were met with a groan. “Oh NOT this again. So-fucking-what? Put it in the box and STOP mooning! He’s probably taken, like I said!”
Wei Wuxian brushed him off. “He doesn’t wear a ring! I checked! And besides, I kind of...like, promised I’d see this letter through to the real Santa. I think? So…”
“First of all, not having a ring doesn’t mean shit,” Jiang Cheng snapped. “It’s 2020, marriage is an outdated construct. Second, what the hell are you going to do? We don’t do responses, their parents are supposed to handle that shit.”
As Jiang Cheng was on his tirade, Wei Wuxian let his words flow right through one ear and out the other, delicately, carefully tearing the envelope and pulling out the letter inside.
“Wei Wuxian! Are you seriously - “ Jiang Cheng leaned in to look over his shoulder. “Okay no little kid wrote this, what the fuck? This is calligraphy.”
Dear Santa,
My name is Lan Yuan. I am five years old and in kindergarten. I have not written to you before, but some of my friends have, every year. And they say that you always get them whatever they ask for, because you have magic. I didn’t really believe them at first. My Papa always gets me anything I ask for and I don’t think he has magic, I think he’s just a really good dad.
“Oh my GOD this is too freaking cute…” Wei Wuxian squealed, reading paused so he could melt a bit.
But there’s something I can’t ask my Papa for, because I don’t think he knows how to get it, so I thought maybe, if you really do have magic, you could help me, and help Papa.
I think Papa is lonely. My friends at school, their Papas all have someone, and they told me that it’s not normal for my Papa to be alone. My Papa works lots and also spends lots and lots of time with me but I know the other grown-ups seem to have another grown-up with them all the time, and I think my Papa deserves that too. So if you are real, and if your magic is real, please help my Papa and get him a grown-up of his own.
Thank you, and I am sorry again that I did not write before, but this is important.
Lan Yuan
Both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng sat in mutual stunned silence for a moment. Jiang Cheng was first to finally speak up. “Well...I guess….that dude is single, huh?”
Wei Wuxian tossed the letter down to the table as if it suddenly burned him, and promptly put his face in his hands.
“Is this for real? Am I being punk'd? What kid that doesn’t even believe in Santa asks for such a thing?! This is just absurdly sweet, I can’t even- how do I handle this? How do I respond? Oh that poor KID! And Lan Wangji, why the HELL is someone who looks like THAT alone? There’s GOTTA be something wrong with him, right? A factory defect somewhere? Do you think he has bodies hidden in his basement? Maybe he’s a Republican? Maybe he loves the word moist?”
Jiang Cheng was wincing by the time he finished rambling, making a show of patting his ears as if to indicate lower the volume . “Well, I guess you’ll just have to offer yourself up to grant A-Yuan’s wish and find out, huh?”
The comment was made off-handedly, intended as a joke, but as a new gleam rose in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, Jiang Cheng groaned. “I wasn’t fucking serious but I’m gonna take a stab here and guess you do not fucking care…”
Wei Wuxian chewed his bottom lip. “I mean...I could write back, ask for more information about his daddy …”
“Or you could just go fucking talk to the guy, yourself, like a normal person?” Jiang Cheng reasoned. “I know that’s a stretch for you.”
Wei Wuxian practically beamed at him. “How about I do BOTH! Two birds, one stoner, all that jazz?”
Jiang Cheng threw his hands up in the air and slammed open the door of the gingerbread house, ducking out without a further word.
Unbothered, Wei Wuxian turned back to the precious gift from the universe that was the letter before him.
Time to initiate Operation DickLanWangjiDown Secret Santa!
