Work Text:
They'd had a hurried dinner, after which Zhao Yunlan had shooed Shen Wei out of the kitchen with a firm "Get to work!". And though Shen Wei had felt a slight pang of unease about it, he'd headed off to the sofa and his piles of research.
Just over a month had passed since Shen Wei had taken up working on his book in earnest, and Zhao Yunlan had been nothing but supportive in every way: hot cups of tea appeared in front of Shen Wei during late-night work sessions, freshly-sharpened pencils were somehow at hand whenever he found that he needed them, and household chores were taken care of before he had a chance to lift a finger.
On most evenings, Zhao Yunlan would camp out on the opposite side of the sofa from him, looking over case files or just sitting quietly. Shen Wei relished the closeness; after all, they hadn't been able to spend as much time together as they had when Shen Wei was only teaching. But, on this particular evening, Zhao Yunlan is absent. When Shen Wei looks around to find him, Zhao Yunlan is over in their bedroom, rounding up the laundry.
"Zhao Yunlan," Shen Wei says, setting his notepad down.
"Hmmm...?" Zhao Yunlan says, focused on getting at a sock that Da Qing had batted behind the bedframe that morning.
Shen Wei waits until he has his full attention. "Come," he says gently, gesturing Zhao Yunlan over with a tilt of his head.
"Ohhh, that sounds serious," Zhao Yunlan teases, abandoning the sock and approaching the sofa. He takes a lollipop from the side table and leans in over Shen Wei's shoulder.
Shen Wei quickly plucks the candy out of Zhao Yunlan's hand and begins carefully unwinding its wrapper. "Zhao Yunlan," he begins again, "don't think I haven't noticed all you've been doing around here."
Zhao Yunlan lets out a small sigh. "I thought that might be what this was about," he says, wrapping his arms around Shen Wei's shoulders. "Shen Wei," he says in a low voice beside Shen Wei's ear. "We're partners, here. Together. I'm not doing anything that you wouldn't do—haven't done—for me."
Shen Wei ponders this. "That may be true," he says, stroking a hand along Zhao Yunlan's forearm. "But you must know that all of this isn't... I like doing those things for you." And now he can feel Zhao Yunlan smiling into his neck.
"I know you do," Zhao Yunlan says. "And don't you think that I might also like to do things for you? Will you let me? Just a little?"
Without turning his head, Shen Wei quietly offers up the unwrapped lollipop. Zhao Yunlan snags it with his mouth, making Shen Wei huff out a not-so-surprised laugh.
"Are we good?" Zhao Yunlan asks.
"We are good," Shen Wei says.
"Good." Zhao Yunlan places a quick kiss atop Shen Wei's head and straightens up. "Now, please return to..." he gestures skeptically at the tidy stacks of equation-covered papers laid out on the table.
"I'm always willing to tutor you in a bit of advanced mathematics, you know. It might even help you to calculate the angle you'll need to get at that sock." Shen Wei knows it's a terrible joke, but the choked laugh it pulls from Zhao Yunlan makes it worth it.
Zhao Yunlan gives him a look and shakes a finger at him, then heads back to his laundry. And Shen Wei, with a little smile playing about his lips, sets down the lollipop wrapper and returns to his work.