Chapter Text
“That should be about the last of it.” Wei Wuxian puffs to no one in particular, setting the last box on top of its companion’s in the living room. His meager possessions hadn’t been too much of a hassle for one person to take care of. With Wen Qing and Wen Ning both working overtime in a hospital and university respectfully he’d figured he would make himself useful and clear the apartment out on his own. Although the night before Wen Ning, of course, had been eager to help him gather his sparse belongings from the Wen siblings’ apartment and pack them despite Wei Wuxian protesting he could do it himself.
“It’s like you live to serve!” Wei Wuxian had chided him at the time. “It’s not enough that I’ve hijacked your couch for the better part of three weeks, now you won’t even let me pack my own things! A-Ning, do something for yourself every once in a while ah?”
Wen Ning just smiled beatifically, “It’s no trouble. I like helping.”
Wei Wuxian’s smile grew wider. “Eager to get rid of me then?” He laughed at the horrified expression that crossed Wen Ning’s face. “I’m just teasing you, don't be so serious!”
There was a small pause and Wen Ning sighed, “It was on my suggestion that you moved here, it’s only right that I help make sure you get settled into your new apartment.”
“Wen Ning, Wen Ning, am I not an adult that can make my own decisions? I decided to move here because I like the area and it helps to have friends so close by, that’s all!”
For a moment Wei Wuxian caught a small smile on Wen Ning’s face before his attention was torn by something freezing sliding into his shirt collar.
“What kind of adult is this?” Wen Qing scoffed from behind Wei Wuxian, holding an ice-cold beer over the neck of his shirt and allowing the condensation to drip onto his skin. “You’ve never made a decision by yourself the entire time I’ve known you.”
“Qing-Jie!” Wei Wuxian whined, dragging out the vowel and throwing himself down onto the floor to make a nuisance of himself. “You’re too cruel! What kind of bedside manner is this for a doctor to have?!” He then rolled himself onto the newly folded clothes Wen Ning had been carefully piling up. “And you! What a poor friend I have to not warn me about Wen Qing’s sneak attack! How uncharitable of you Wen Ning!”
However, there was no sympathy to be had from Wen Ning who just smiled cryptically above Wei Wuxian and quietly went back to tidying the piles squashed by a grown man’s tantrum. Wen Qing rolled her eyes at Wei Wuxians continued caviling but eventually sat to join in the joys of packing and that had been that.
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They’d agreed that it would probably be best to move everything to the new apartment the following evening once both siblings were free for the night but Wei Wuxian had woken up that morning with an itch under his skin. The kind that meant he’d vibrate out of his own body if he didn't do something, and hey, there was a whole pile of boxes just waiting to be hauled down the road and over the next cross street.
None of them are particularly heavy. He reasoned with himself, pulling on the ratty foreign band t-shirt Jiang Cheng had given him as a gift when he got into college- he didn't really know the band but it matched his aesthetic well enough that it was now soft in a way that meant it was well-loved. He threw on a pair of black skinny jeans- the kind that makes his ass look great in case there are any hot neighbors to impress- and his typical sneakers before topping the look with a red flannel. I’ll be done before they could even miss me, then we can spend the night on the town instead of lugging boxes!
Decided, Wei Wuxian whistles something jaunty and lilting before grabbing the first of five boxes and letting himself out of the apartment and down the hall into the lift.
It wouldn’t be so bad, living on his own for the first time. He’s already spent a couple of days in the new place between furniture deliveries, after trying and failing to build shelving from Ikea, and it was nice having his own space.
Although to be fair everything was fine until Wen Ning pointed out that what was supposed to be shelves looked more like an impromptu rabbit sculpture and they decided to bring Wen Qing in for backup. She took one look at their art project before calling a furniture store like an actual adult.
Wei Wuxian kept the rabbit shelves out of spite(affectionate).
Still, he was looking forward to his own place, his own privacy, both of which had been few and far between- what with growing up sharing a room with his younger brother and not having enough money throughout college to get one of those 1x1 apartments- Wei Wuxian had gotten used to private time being hard to come by.
And while living with the Wen siblings has been great it was really time to move on. There had been empty apartments in the same building but Wei Wuxian opted for a place just a handful cheaper a couple of streets away, close enough to not be an inconvenience but undeniably independent.
Thrilling and sickening in one major life decision, but he was anything if not optimistic! So with his newly furnished apartment decorated sparingly with a few posters, picture frames on the countertops, and drawers filled with wrinkled piles of freshly laundered clothes Wei Wuxian brushes his hands on jeans and surveys his progress. He’s done a lot in not a lot of time and although he isn’t quite finished- he still needs to find appropriate places for the rest of his things, not to mention he still needs to pick up a couple of pieces of furniture. But he’s done all he can for the moment.
Still. That niggling sensation in the back of his mind persists and Wei Wuxian can feel the ghost of something jostling him into unrest.
Maybe I just need some fresh air. He thinks. There's still a few hours before either of the Wen siblings will be home. He’ll go for a quick jaunt around the neighborhood, snoop around the streetside shops and then jump in the shower and change before heading back to Wen Qing’s apartment.
Decided he shrugs off his flannel and ties it loosely around his waist before brushing his sweat-slick hair off the back of his neck into some semblance of a ponytail and slipping back out the door and down the stairs.
Now, between frequent visits and living on someone’s couch for three weeks, it’s hard to be unfamiliar with the area. But poking in and out of shops as a disjointed tourist is much different than scoping out possible takeaways and useful landmarks as a new resident. So Wei Wuxian takes his time circling the next block or so, making sure to chat up the street vendors and sweet talk the old ladies running the bakeries and clothing stores.
He’s just finishing the circuit when something a bit, odd, catches his eye.
There’s a shop that he somehow has missed on all his other walks around the area, but that’s not surprising considering it’s at the back end of an alley. Y’know, the kind of place you go to get murdered. But there was something about the erratic flickering of the dim welcome sign and drawn curtains that made Wei Wuxian curious enough that possibly ending up a missing person seemed almost worth it to unravel the mystery surrounding the shadowed storefront.
There was a moment where a voice that sounded something like Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing berated him, Don’t you dare go in that store Wei Wuxian, but they both complain he never listens to them and he wouldn’t want to be a disappointment.
He crosses into the alley, away from the busy sunlit street toward the eerie awning of the shop, suddenly chilled within its shade.
Right before shouldering the door open, he catches sight of a messy sign behind a dirty and cracked window.
It reads; “Exotic animals and creatures.”
Huh.
Wei Wuxian pushes the door the rest of the way open and steps inside.
The store- if you can call it that- is no bigger than a generous utility closet, made even more claustrophobic by the stacks upon stacks that line every inch of the place. It’s miraculous there is even a path to navigate between anything. The stacks themselves vary from boxes to cages and carries to aquariums, each one stacked more precariously than the last. They’re dubious enough to give a world-class Jenga player anxiety. Illuminating the space is a single dangling light, dirty and old that gives the shop the kind of dim halo you’d see in a cheesy horror film.
Leave it to Wei Wuxian to not read the warning signs.
Then there’s a shuffling sound and Wei Wuxian is pulled from his ruminating as a figure he hadn’t noticed initially smiles at him from behind a counter on his right.
At least Wei Wuxian thinks he’s smiling. The man’s face is obscured by a clock and in the dim light it’s impossible to make out anything- but there’s a flash of something that might be teeth.
“Welcome.” The man says. The words are clumsy- like he’s speaking with someone else’s tongue- and the dialect he uses is unfamiliar and in a word; Slimy. He speaks with a likeness to an oil slick and Wei Wuxian suddenly feels unclean. “This is my exotic animal emporium. Please, peruse to your heart’s content.”
Wei Wuxian remains at the door for a fraction of a second before accepting his self-preservation isn’t very high and- after flashing the creepy shop owner what he hopes comes off as a genuine smile- wanders farther into the store.
Most of the cages and containers seem empty and Wei Wuxian is grateful. These are no conditions for animals and despite his overall weirdness Wei Wuxian still wouldn’t trust the shopkeeper as far as he can throw him.
Still, there truly isn’t much to see in the shop, there are a handful of occupied tanks- consisting of frogs, turtles, and lizards- but their setups are semi-decent and they all seem content enough. By the end of his lap, Wei Wuxian believes he has seen all there was to see.
But then he spots something.
In the back corner of the shop- almost too cluttered to see- sitting on a low and lopsided shelf is a small plastic container. There is a flickering lamp bowed over it that seems to be on its way out. On the bulb of the light is some kind of writing that’s foreign to Wei Wuxian and hard to make out when the lamp winks on.
Wei Wuxian crouches low to try and get a closer look at whatever is in the container and spots two intelligent golden eyes staring back at him.
The snake- it looks like- is absolutely terrified of him.
It’s as far back as it can get in the container, coiled so tightly around itself it's probably made three or four loops, and when Wei Wuxian presses closer to try and get a better look it recoils fast and hard. Still, even though it looks just a breath from lashing out there’s something about its poise that makes Wei Wuxian feel the animal is too dignified to hiss and spit at him.
But when Wei Wuxian tries to offer a reassuring smile the snake flinches back even farther, if that were possible. Wei Wuxian’s blood runs cold, then hot as a blazing rage sets him alight from the inside out. Intense under his skin in a way that makes him shake with it.
It doesn't take a genius to spot the signs of mistreatment, and when the shop owner miraculously appears on his arm the man only confirms what is already horrendously apparent.
“Oh, you have a good eye!” The man drawls. Wei Wuxian wants to punch him. “One of a kind, that one, a very special pedigree.” The cloak dips in what Wei Wuxian believes to be some kind of once over before the man continues; “Although if you can’t afford the whole thing I’m sure I can find something worth your while. Scales, fangs… etcetera .”
Red bleeds over into Wei Wuxian’s vision and he nearly does something- he wouldn’t regret but certainly wouldn’t be worth the trouble he would find himself in- before Jiang Yanli’s echoing voice brings him back to earth.
“A-Xian. You mustn't do anything rash. You can’t help others from jail.”
He glances back at the snake, it’s still curled tightly in the back of the container and if anything the arrival of the store owner seems to have caused it more distress. Wei Wuxians takes a moment, closing his eyes on an exhale before giving the shopkeeper a very tight smile. “I’ll take him.”
The hooded man seems taken aback, he tilts his head to the side; considering, birdlike. “Are you certain? I assure you the scales and fangs of such a creature can be just as practical-”
Wei Wuxian’s smile turns vicious. “I’m taking it.”
There’s another pause before the shop owner smiles with too many teeth and bobs his head in acknowledgment before materializing a pet carrier from god knows where.
Wei Wuxian, at his limit, stands to let the man do his thing and surreptitiously cases the rest of the tanks and cages to make sure he hasn’t missed any other mistreated animals, possibly in need of rescuing. The only things he spots are the turtles and frogs he’d seen earlier and they hadn’t had any reaction to him.
Discontent but mollified Wei Wuxian allows himself to be lead to the register.
The shop owner places the carrier none too gently on the counter and Wei Wuxian flinches in sympathy. If it wasn’t for the understanding that he’s to be exchanging money for goods and services he’d be trying to take the carrier away from the guy while he paid. Still, the sooner they finish this the better it will be for everyone involved.
The man does something on his ancient relic of a cash register and it groans to life, Wei Wuxian watches as the numbers appear one by one on the till and winces at the amount zero’s that will be draining from his bank account.
He isn’t destitute per se, but he certainly doesn’t have access to the Jiang’s level of old money- being cut off will do that to you- but he’s managed to build up a comfortable cushion for himself; with the hope, he wouldn’t have to go job hunting while apartment hunting.
But let’s just say that after this, costly, purchase Wei Wuxian will find himself in the market for a job a bit sooner than intended.
Still, as he steps back out into the alley cardboard carrier in hand he can’t bring himself to be angry about the decision. Leaving without the little guy would have kept him tossing and turning at night and he knows himself well enough to know that he’d have been back with cash in hand the following day.
Speaking of… Wei Wuxian sets the carrier on the crook of his arm and balances it on his hip as he peels back the lid to get a glimpse inside.
The snake is still curled tightly now in the corner of this box, and when the sunlight breaches the darkness of its holder it stares up at Wei Wuxian accusingly.
There’s something about the creatures’ micro-expressions that Wei Wuxian finds heart-melting.
“Don’t worry little guy.” He murmurs, hoping to soothe it. “I’m getting you outta there okay? Living with me won’t be too bad, especially compared to that place.” He smiles again for good measure and to his delight, the snake doesn’t cringe away from him.
He replaces the lid slowly, not wanting to spook his new companion, and walks back out onto the street.
It’s honeyed with the low light that signals the approach of dusk and Wei Wuxian marvels at how long he must have been in the shop before making his way back to his apartment. But not before making a note of the stores on either side of the alley to make a police report later.
He’s about three shops down when he realizes he doesn’t know anything about snakes.