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witch's familiar

Chapter 3: dead asleep

Notes:

What is Wen Kexings job? God, if I knew!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Cats were contradictory creatures. On the one hand, they want nothing to do with you and would have no hesitation in gnawing the flesh from bones should you ever perish in your own home. But on the other hand, they are so needy and pretend they will die at any moment if they don't get enough attention.
Zishu was no different.
He loved the attention he got from Wen Kexing and Gu Xiang, but he would never freely admit it.
Although he always tries to avoid Wen Kexing, he would still allow the man to touch him at least once a day. Most of the time he would lay down next to him or meow at him until Wen Kexing finally picked him up.
He liked the feel of Wen Kexing's surprisingly strong arms when holding him. The feel of his fingers slid comfortably through his fur. Even the many little kisses that A-Xu gets from him.

The days when Wen Kexing is not there are all the more unbearable. Often it's because he's overworking himself again and setting a new record of "How much overtime can I stack up this time" every day. The worst thing is that as soon as he gets home he collapses on the couch and stays there until the next morning without paying any attention to his A-Xu.
Sometimes Zishu would go several days without showing any affection, and that was reflected in his mood.

It was one of those days again, or rather one of those nights. Zishu hadn't heard from him all day and waited until late at night for his return. He told himself he was only doing this to make sure he got home safe and not because he craved Wen Kexing's touch.
He spent the time flipping through the various channels until he found something good, which is quite a challenge considering cats don't have fingers and Zishu is in no mood to switch forms. He just likes to make life difficult for himself.

It was just before midnight when Zishu heard the familiar opening of the door. What little pride was left in him prevented him from immediately jumping towards Wen Kexing and instead waited until the man himself came to the couch and lay down with his cat.
But it did not get to that. After the door closed again, you didn't hear footsteps, but a dull bang. As if something heavy fell to the ground.
Alarmed, Zhou Zishu jumped up and ran to the source of the noise.

Horrified and shocked, he saw Wen Kexing lying face down on the ground. His heart stopped and he immediately assumed the worst. Had he failed as a familiar? No, he had no bond with Wen Kexing so couldn't help even if he wanted to. Even so, a wave of guilt and self-loathing swept over him. He should have been better. He would have...
A soft snore pulled Zishu out of his thoughts and he looked up in surprise.
Wen Kexing lay motionless, but the gentle rise and fall of his torso as he breathed was still discernible. And the snoring could not be ignored now.
Both anger and relief drowned out the concern he had felt just seconds before.

But now Zishu faced another problem. He couldn't leave Wen Kexing here on the cold, dirty floor. Not only was it bad for the back, but Gu Xiang will definitely trip over him if she ever gets home.
But in his current form, Zishu couldn't do much. He had no choice but to switch.
It was always a rush to change form after a long time. Without the thick fur he immediately started to shiver and the sudden change in height as well as in anatomy forced him to pause for a moment and get used to his body. While his motor skills weren't quite up to par, he didn't have to perform any complicated surgery, instead, his mission was to carry his sleeping roommate to bed.

Zishu briefly thought about just throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carrying him to the bedroom like that, but he realized that Wen Kexing had been through enough today and he deserved at least some peace now. It should be bridal style.
From the outside, A-Xu must have looked like a complete pervert. So all naked with an unconscious man on his arm. He really hoped none of the neighbors were watching him.
In the bedroom, Zishu put the master of the house on the bed and wanted to disappear straight back into the living room, but the sight of Wen Kexing was a thorn in his side. He couldn't let him sleep in a full suit after all - at least Wen Kexing had managed to take off his shoes before falling into the apartment.
Zishu thanked the curtains for being closed, otherwise, he would definitely look like a pervert to an outsider.

The Familiar began cautiously to peel the man out of his jacket and shirt. He placed both carefully on the nearby chair before turning to the pants, which turned out to be a big challenge. Because for some reason the belt wouldn't open.
Zishu struggled with the belt for longer than he should, but he didn't want Wen Kexing to wake up and see him. With any luck, he could make him believe that he's being haunted by a perverted spirit, but he'd rather not have to make excuses at all and just continue living his life normally. At least his normal cat life.
Once both the belt and pants were off, Zishu covered the sleeping man up, but instead of leaving the room and letting the man sleep, he sat on the edge of the bed and watched Wen Kexing. Just to be sure again that he really was still there. still alive.
As if under someone else's control, Zishu leaned forward and placed a feathery kiss on Wen Kexing's forehead.

The next morning, Wen Kexing woke up with no memory of going to bed. All he knew was that A-Xu slept next to him like a loyal cat.

Notes:

I had two concepts in mind for this chapter:
1. WKX is too tired to get to bed and ZZS has to carry him (aka this chapter)
and
2. tired WKX comes home and finds a naked ZZS drinking wine while moon bathing

Maybe I use the second one for a future chapter or post is separately as non canon bonus chapter