Archive of Our Own ^beta

You couldn't just simply reply with, "I'm dizzy already, let's stop this." No! There were only four shots of rum consumed and you weren't just going to back out now! Besides, you were perfectly aware that feeling a bit dizzy is a normal thing to experience, but that didn't mean you were already tipsy.

His eyes narrow at you with curiosity, still waiting for your answer. If you weren't going to reply quickly, he's going to start thinking that you weren't alright, so you had to rack up your brain to say something.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Your voice was soft and convincing, as if all your troubles had slipped away the minute you finished your most recent shot. "What about you? You already look a bit red."

Having a one-on-one drinking session with Xingqiu wasn't exactly his idea to begin with. Of course, it couldn't have been his doing, he has too much dignity for that! You on the other hand... you honestly have no idea how you convinced him to do this.

It was a foolish thing to lose oneself in, really. Your friend brought you a whole jug of rum as a souvenir from his trip to Snezhnaya and you thought it was funny to go and ask your fiancé to drink with you—what you didn't expect though was that he'd agree excitedly, saying he's never tried Snezhnayan rum before and that he'd like to give it a try for educational purposes.

So now you were on your bedroom floor with Xingqiu, one shot glass that the two of you share, and one jug made out of glass full of rum; in his homeland, the land of contracts.

"I'm as fine as you." Xingqiu chuckles and you don't know if that meant whether he knew you were dizzy already or not.

"Okay, then let's pour another shot, shall we?" You smile as you move beside him from sitting across him just in case you feel like resting for a bit.

Xingqiu nods and pours a shot to you before drinking another one himself. He noticed that you were trying to get comfortable beside him, your skin sticking next to his as if you were ready to lay your head on the crook of his neck.

"Are you sure you can still keep going?" His hand finds its way to your shoulder to keep you steady. "We can leave it here for tonight. I'm quite satisfied with the drink already anyway."

"Let me have a few more shots." You reply in a slow manner, trying to sound as sober as possible.

He knew you were a lightweight, but at this moment, he decided to indulge in your desire to drink more than what he had in mind.

"I'm going to let you drink a few more, but I will have to refuse to drink any longer in case you get too inebriated." Xingqiu chuckles, and you start to see how his cheeks are now turning red.

"But that's no fun."

"It's alright. I've had my fun with the rum, so I'll let you have yours," He carefully prepares the next shot for you, careful not to move too much to avoid causing any discomfort for you since you were resting on his shoulder. "There you go. You'll get one more after that but that's it."

"No way," You reply before taking in the next shot of alcohol, almost looking like you straight-up inhaled it. "Give me two more."

Xingqiu shakes his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that. You don't look as sober as you try to sound right now."

"You're such a spoilsport," You frown when he hands you your last shot, but you drink it in one go anyway. "You don't look sober yourself."

The alcohol continued to burn in your throat while your fiancé let you lean on his shoulder once you were done complaining to him.

"Can you stand?" He asks gently as his fingers move your strands of hair aside to get a better look at you.

You shake your head slowly as a reply and rise from his shoulder before leaning closer to him to adjure, "Just one more shot, please."

"[Name]," He leans closer as well and starts to play with your hair just to reject your request. "You're tipsy already."

With his hand on your hair and his face close to yours, you couldn't just not press your lips against his.

Xingqiu was a bit surprised by your initiative although it was only for a second, but when you pulled away, it only made him come closer and continue what you started.

He kisses you back and you don't refuse, in fact, this made you laugh a bit, which amused him. He pulls away, "Is my response to your liking?"

"Mhm..." You mutter playfully before sealing him with your lips again and he doesn't go against it.

You convinced yourself that this was because of the alcohol that made him more alluring than usual and that he looked kind of cute when he's so red and bothered from the drinks he's had.

It was definitely the alcohol that made you want more of him.

He placed his hands on your waist to keep you steady while yours clung to his shoulders as the two of you continued to feel like this was only what you wanted.

Xingqiu lets out a sigh when you suddenly dig your teeth into his lower lip. "[Name]..."

"Shush," You whisper, your hands traveling back to his cheeks so that you can gain more control of his face, your kisses getting a lot more aggressive than what your fiancé had signed up for.

"[Name]," Your fiancé calls you again after breaking the kiss. He brushes your hair with his hand, still not forgetting about the state he and you were just in. "Come on, let's get you to bed. It's best if we sleep this off."

"I refuse," As a protest, you wrap your arms around his waist and start to plant the affection you were meaning to give him on his neck. "Please... let me keep kissing you."

Xingqiu looks away with a hand covering his mouth to avoid being seen with such a flustered expression. He expected anything but that to come out of your mouth, especially considering how you thought of him personally.

Once he finished recollecting himself from your reply, he gently lifted you up and let you sit on the bed.

"You're really stubborn." You frown but he gives you a sheepish smile.

"Please wait a moment," Xingqiu stands back up to start fixing the bottle, glass, and snacks that were left on the floor.

As you wait for him to finish tidying up, you let your back fall on the bed with your arms spreading and quickly dozed off before your fiancé could even turn his back to check up on you.

"[Name]," You hear him as he softly nudges you on the arm. "Drink this first. I also got you something to eat."

"Ugh..." You grumble while you slowly rise from the bed and take the cup of water he handed to you. "I think I'm drunk."

"You think?" He chuckles and gives you one piece of mora meat after you are finished drinking your water. "But yes, the word 'tipsy' isn't going to cut it for you anymore."

You munch on the food while your side is leaning next to him. "Did I throw up?"

"No, but do you want to? I can assist you to the bathroom and make sure you're feeling alright." His fingers find your hair, brushing it as he patiently waits for you to finish your food.

"I'm fine..." You answer silently as you try to keep your thoughts comprehensible, "Surprisingly."

As he takes the wrapper from the snack you finished to set it aside, he chuckles, and this doesn't annoy you as it now sounds like something from a wind chime you would hear when the door is pushed open.

This was bad—you didn't know what was happening to you—but all you wanted right now was to feel his warmth.

"Be careful," Your fiancé whispers once you shift your body much closer to him, turning yourself a bit so you can wrap your arms around his waist and planting your chin on his shoulder. "What are you thinking right now?" He inquires, curious to know what was running through your intoxicated mind.

"Shhh," You mutter. "Let's go to sleep."

Your fiancé was relieved to hear you say that, since you'll finally get the rest that you weren't aware that you needed.

He quickly tucks you in bed and turns off the lights before greeting you good night and attempting to leave the room—but you weren't taking any of this incompleted crap, so you ended up talking it out to persuade your morally aligned fiancé to sleep beside you.

It didn't take much, since he wasn't as sober as you already figured.

"Xingqiu, we're engaged. No one's going to question anyone about anything," You reassure him one last time as he sinks his body down the soft mattress.

You had the strong urge to move closer to him but you stopped yourself, and instead just kept your side facing him until your eyes started to feel droopy.

Xingqiu silently calls your name a few times until your eyes lock with his, just so he can apologize for something he regrets. "I'm sorry I kissed you earlier." He whispers. "It was completely inappropriate of me to—"

"You idiot," Before he could even finish his acknowledgment of the situation, you raise a hand to cover his mouth. "You were tipsy and you got carried away—but that's fine. You don't need to be rational all the time." Your words sounded like they came from a sober person's mouth, which made Xingqiu softly laugh.

"Is that so?" He smiles, and despite the dim environment, there you can still see the slight redness on his cheeks, a sign that he had done well in composing himself this entire time to attend to you.

"I don't like how you talk like it's your fault when I initiated it in the first place." Your forehead creases but he smiles in return for your expression, reaching out to cup your cheek which only leads you to lean in more to where his touch feels warmer.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

He chuckles again before noticing that you haven't said anything you were sorry for during the incident earlier, which might only mean one thing.

"[Name]," He calls you again with his hand still on your cheek and you look at him with something unspoken written in your eyes, but he knows.

So he leans in, and you close your eyes, accepting what you have been expecting this whole time just after his lips left yours earlier, longing to get your desire being fulfilled by him and him only.

And after pulling away, Xingqiu plants a kiss on your cheek to give you extra warmth, as if it wasn't enough already, and pulls you closer to him while the two of you remain facing each other, both of your sides resting on the bed, and slowly lulling yourselves to sleep with that specific and undeclared feeling still lingering in your minds.