Letting go of self-restraint 6 - Can we keep him... pretty please?

Chapter 2

Lan Wangji was quickly returning back to the Jingshi. He knew he was running late but he could not have helped it, a student from his class stopped him and was asking questions. He did not want to disappoint the curious mind so he stayed longer and answered all of them. However, this led to the fact that he had missed his son's return after the first day of practice field trip.

He was sure that Wei Ying was already with A-Yuan, listening with delight to the child explaining the whole day for him. He did not want to miss it, he loved observing their little one and Wei Ying interact. It reminded him of his younger self when he was allowed to spend time with his mother and wanted to inform her about everything he had been doing. Only now, when his own child was doing the same thing, did Lan Wangji understand why his mother had been watching him with such fondness and sometimes had tears in her eyes while listening to his stories.

He was already almost in the Jingshi when he suddenly smelled his Omega's pheromones. He immediately started running, fearing the worst. For Wei Ying's pheromones were not of the happy or content type, Lan Wangji could tell that his husband was very distressed at the moment. And that could only mean one thing, A-Yuan must have been in danger. He had to hurry and protect his family.

When he finally arrived in front of their living quarters, he first noticed an extremely pale Wei Ying standing half outside the door and looking into the Jingshi. He took the last two steps and peeked inside, to see what have alarmed his husband so much. He vividly remembered the last time this happened and was now fearing the worst.

At first, he could not see anything wrong. Everything was in its place and A-Yuan was safely sitting in the middle of the room. Although Lan Wangji's fear did not dissipate fully, he was relieved that their child was safe and sound. So what had scared his husband so much? He could not even find any coherent thoughts aside for a raw and panicked fear when he tried to reach out to him through their shared mental bond.

And then he understood when he noticed a movement in A-Yuan's lap. He did not know how it was possible, but their son was holding a dog in his arms. On a second glance, he saw that the animal had a bandage on one of his front legs, it must have been injured, surely that was why A-Yuan had deemed necessary to break the rules and bring the creature inside the Cloud Recesses. Bless his child's good heart, Lan Wangji thought with fondness.

But then he reprimanded himself; he should not be day dreaming, his husband was still very much distressed, probably fearing for A-Yuan's life. The dog, a weak and injured puppy, was wagging his tail when A-Yuan started stroking him and Lan Wangji knew that their son was in no danger at all. The Second Jade, very much reassured by that knowledge, turned his eyes away from their child and turned towards his husband.

He put both his hands around Wei Ying's waist and gently kissed his nape where his claiming mark was still clear even after all those years, it never faded and he was secretly glad for it. He released his calming pheromones and made sure to send them his husband's way. The effect was almost immediate and he felt Wei Ying's previously strained muscles relax. He took it as a good sign and started reassuring the other using their mental bond:

"Wei Ying, it is alright. A-Yuan is in no danger at all. You know he is good with dogs. And it is just a small injured puppy; it looks very weak, it would not be able to do anything anyway..."

It seemed to him like the fog surrounding his husband's mind was very slowly fading away and he could finally feel him again. He continued with his reassurances, hoping to draw Wei Ying's attention away from the animal. Unfortunately, the other was still no good with the furry creatures, only being able to somewhat tolerate them but never actually getting anywhere close to them. Jiang Cheng did his best to let him get accustomed to the dog he had once rescued in the Caiyi Town, but there was still a very long way to go.

"Do you remember when Jiang Cheng had rescued that small injured puppy when he went on a trip to the Caiyi Town? I think that we are in the same situation right now. Look, the puppy is also injured. I am sure that A-Yuan had tried to treat it. And he is perfectly fine after that, the puppy likes him, I can tell. Nothing is going to happen to him..."

Wei Ying finally turned towards him, only slightly though since he was still keeping an eye on A-Yuan at all times. His voice was small and strangled when he asked: "You really think so, Lan Zhan?"

Lan Wangji also relaxed at once, he did not even know he was so tense until he was not anymore. "Mn," he confirmed immediately and added only to his husband, "I will go take care of it and you can check A-Yuan if you will feel more at ease by doing so."

At last, Wei Ying was calm when he took a deep breath and nodded, smiling at Lan Wangji thankfully. Then he turned back towards their son: "A-Yuan, can you please come over here? Let your father have a look at the puppy, alright?"

Their baby was apparently not willing to listen to them as he only continued sitting down and hugged the puppy even closer to his chest. Lan Wangji felt Wei Ying's breath hitch once more and could see all the horrible scenarios of the small animal hurting their child which were running through his husband's mind.

The Second Jade made sure to snatch him out of his imagination by gently squeezing his waist and kissing his nape again. He let go of him the next second and went to A-Yuan, kneeling next to him with a serious expression: "A-Yuan, go to daddy. He is worried about you. I will take care of the puppy in the meantime and check its injury."

Only after this reassurance, the child let Lan Wangji take the puppy out of his hands and got up, running towards Wei Ying who immediately scoped him into his arms and started checking for any injuries. The Second Jade did not have to look to know that his husband had not found any, the wave of relief which washed over him was enough to tell.

In the meantime, his hands were busy checking the small creature's injury. It seemed like it was not too bad, only a scratch really. The puppy held in place remarkably well for such a young animal and Lan Wangji quickly understood that it was underfed and weak. It was also quite dirty as he noticed only after his robes had become black in places. Once again, he was reminded of the time when Jiang Cheng had found an abandoned street puppy, much like this one.

After finishing the treatment and wrapping the animal's leg again, the puppy licked his hand, apparently in gratitude. Lan Wangji had to admire his son's work, the wound had already been taken care of before, he really did not have to do much.

He scoped the dog into his hands in order to reassure Wei Ying that it was not going anywhere near him or A-Yuan unless he agreed and stood back up. He did not try to get closer to his husband, leaving it up to him if he was ready to face the creature or not. For a good measure, he added: "The puppy is weak and really friendly, it will not hurt A-Yuan."

Wei Ying, visibly still nervous and worried, made no move to get closer. He however stood his ground, which was already a great progress from the first time Lan Wangji had seen him react to a dog being present in the same room as him. He knew what it cost him and was proud of him.

Just as he was proud of their son for doing such a good job with treating the puppy. He had broken the rules for a good cause and Lan Wangji wanted to praise him for making a good call.

Even though some of A-Yuan's teachers would probably disagree with his and Wei Ying's parenting methods, they were trying their very best to lead the child towards being righteous, but without being bound by the rules and not being able to decide for himself. Unfortunately, Lan Wangji was aware that some children were becoming too uptight because of the rules because they had taken them as the only law, not only as guidelines they had been intended as.