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Fang Rui stretched his hands above his head with a loud yawn as he stopped in front of the door to his room. It was only a little past midday but he only got somewhere close to 3 hours of sleep last night.
His mind had been running too quickly with all his new ideas for his newly found Qi Master style. He had only reluctantly turned off his lamp and slid under the covers when Mo Fan—his roommate—had turned over and stared at him with a murderous look in his eyes.
He pushed open the door and to his surprise, the first sound he heard was a loud (surprised?) meow coming from inside the room. He froze in the doorway because his mind had instantly gone to the thought that the sound was from Mo Fan , which he had immediately told himself that there was simply no way.
To his relief, it was not Mo Fan, but a scared and extremely fluffy tabby cat cradled in Mo Fan’s arms. Ok, it really wasn’t his fault that his first thought was that Mo Fan bloody meowed, who else would it have been in this room? And, how was he meant to know that there was an actual cat in the room, because as far as he was concerned, there were no actual cats in the room when he woke up this morning. Wait…There’s an actual cat in the room.
“Shh, shh, it’s ok. You’re alright, no need to be scared. You’re alright. There’s no threat, it’s ok.” Mo Fan muttered soothingly to the cat who had jumped up in his arms as soon as the door opened. One of his hands carding soothingly through the cat’s fur.
His eyes flickered up to meet Fang Rui’s. The particular look in the younger man’s eyes caused Fang Rui to immediately shut his mouth, stopping the questions that he had from pouring out. Instead, he nodded in understanding. He didn’t know what he understood, he just knew that he understood whatever that look in Mo Fan’s eyes meant.
He gently stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind himself with a barely audible click. Walking to his bed, he tried to appear as friendly and as non threatening as possible to the cat with his shoulder slumped and his eyes not meeting those of the cat’s.
It took a few minutes for the cat to relax enough to settle into Mo Fan’s lap, its head resting on his arms. It looked to be on the edge of sleep but was reluctant to fully close its eyes as its attention was still locked on Fang Rui.
Fang Rui watched as Mo Fan bent down slightly towards the cat to whisper, “It’s ok, you can sleep. He’s not a threat.” All the while, one of his hands is still petting up and down the cat’s back, scratching gently between its ears and just generally trying to soothe and calm the feline.
Fang Rui didn’t know if that sentence was meant to be a jab at him or just to reassure the cat or both, he never know when it came to Mo Fan. He doesn’t say anything though, afraid that if he spoke now, it would spook the cat. Eventually the tabby’s eyes closed fully, as if he understood what Mo Fan said.
A few minutes passed, and the room was completely quiet during the whole time, except for the low purring from the cat as it slept. It was actually strange that the room was quiet. Even though Mo Fan was someone who stayed silent almost all the time, Fang Rui was not. He would usually speak out into the room, no matter if Mo Fan was listening or not (he usually does even though he pretends not to, Fang Rui doesn’t need to know that though). Or he would be laughing at something on his phone, or reacting to the dramas he watches, recommendations from Chu Yunxiu. So the room was rarely quiet, not as quiet as this at least.
Finally, having deemed that it had been long enough for the cat to be in deep sleep, Fang Rui spoke up, though in a much quieter voice than usual, “So…smuggling animals into the house huh? Didn't think you had it in you.”
Mo Fan looked up at him with his usual deadpanned eyes and simply said, “She’s injured.” and then looked back down at the sleeping cat, as if that explained everything. Maybe it did. It was only then when Mo Fan shifted his arm slightly that Fan Rui saw the bandages around the feline’s back leg.
He was smart enough to piece together the fact that Mo Fan had probably found the injured cat on the streets and had brought her back to help her.
Huh. That’s surprisingly cute for someone who is usually so cold. He smiled teasingly. “Didn’t know that our cold ninja has a soft spot for animals.”
Mo Fan spared him a glance, before looking back down again. It wasn’t for another minute that he spoke up, Fang Rui would have missed it if it was any other day but with how quiet the room is today, he catches what was said, “You saw nothing here.”
Fang Rui couldn’t help but grin. It was a little surprising how cute Mo Fan could be despite his usual standoffish nature. “I saw nothing here.” He decides that he actually quite liked this different side.