Work Text:
Shen Wei did not like coffee.
But coffee was what a student had offered him, a token of thanks purchased on a budget stretched too thin.
Shen Wei had tried to decline, of course. Helping students was his job and extended office hours never left him weary in the way that his work as the Envoy did.
“Please, Professor Shen. I wouldn’t be passing without you.”
The student’s bleary eyes suggested she needed the coffee more than he did, but Shen Wei graciously accepted, cradling the paperboard cup in his hands as he left the building that housed the lab and began the journey back to his office.
Though a few weeks remained in autumn, winter might as well have set in, what with the deep chill in the air, and while Shen Wei could easily withstand it, he appreciated having something warm in his hands to ward off the cold.
And there had been so much cold in Shen Wei’s life.
In the early days after the asteroid, when the sky had been filled with clouds of dust and sediment, the sun never managed to warm Haixing as it had before. Eventually the debris settled, but Shen Wei continued to shiver through the nights as he traveled with Ye Zun, seeking… Shen Wei still wasn’t sure. Something undefined but definitely better than what they’d left.
Then there was no one to huddle with, not when Ye Zun disappeared, leaving Shen Wei to forge on by himself, eventually taking on a role that left him venerated but alone. Somehow that felt colder than the fiercest wind winter could throw at him.
There had been a moment of warmth, a balmy respite for Shen Wei’s heart, when Kunlun stepped into his life. But then Kunlun disappeared and the cold came back, swallowing Shen Wei in the ground where the damp and the chill made his bones ache even as he slept away the millennia.
And yes, Kunlun found Shen Wei again. Except now he had a different name and no memories of what they’d shared, and that somehow left Shen Wei feeling even more frozen than…
“I thought you hated coffee.”
Apparently Zhao Yunlan still possessed the ability to randomly appear in Shen Wei’s life even if he wasn’t Kunlun. (Wasn’t yet Kunlun, Shen Wei reminded himself.)
“How do you know it’s coffee?”
“The smell. The wind carries it pretty well.”
“Oh.”
Shen Wei stood staring at Zhao Yunlan. He knew he should keep talking, say something to move the conversation forward. But there were times he still found himself struck by the fact fate had managed to bring Zhao Yunlan back into his life and those times left him at a loss for words.
“So do you hate coffee?” Zhao Yunlan wanted to know, seemingly oblivious to the complex tangle of emotions threatening to overwhelm Shen Wei.
“It’s not my first choice.”
“Then why do you have it?”
“A student gave it to me.”
“And you wanted to be polite?”
Shen Wei gave a nod of agreement.
“Well at least it’s keeping your hands warm. You should be wearing gloves. It’s cold as balls out here.”
“You’re not wearing any,” Shen Wei said.
“Believe me, I know,” Zhao Yunlan said. “I lost mine on a case last week. It’s too bad, because I feel like my fingers are about to freeze off.”
Shen Wei made a mental note to track down a new pair of gloves for Zhao Yunlan before he went home that night.
“But I’ve got an idea,” Zhao Yunlan said. “Here. Give me this.”
Shen Wei thought he was reaching for the coffee, only to find Zhao Yunlan’s fingers entangling with his own as he pulled Shen Wei’s hand away from the cup.
“There. That’s better,” he beamed at Shen Wei.
“Much better.”
Heat flooded Shen Wei’s face as he caught several students stealing glances at them. Still, he refused to let go of Zhao Yunlan’s hand, letting himself be led across the campus, presumably in the direction of his office.
Right as it was time to climb the steps that would take them inside the building and out of the chilly air, Zhao Yunlan stopped abruptly.
“You know,” he said, leaning in, his tone lower than before, “there are some other parts of me that are cold, too. Maybe you could help me warm them up?”
“I have class.” The words fell out before Shen Wei fully processed what Zhao Yunlan was suggesting and he didn’t miss the way his hopeful smile fell. “But later…”
His breath caught as he realized what he was agreeing to.
“Later it is,” Zhao Yunlan grinned. His phone buzzed and he dug it out of his pocket with his free hand, scanning the screen before looking back up at Shen Wei. “Duty calls. I’ll let you get to class.”
Shen Wei could feel Zhao Yunlan’s fingers trying to withdraw from his grip and yet he held on, unable to will himself to let Zhao Yunlan go.
“Your lips,” he heard himself say, “look cold.”
Zhao Yunlan’s expression shifted into something Shen Wei hadn’t seen for ten thousand years. “They’re positively freezing.”
“Then let me help.”
And then, before his rational mind could catch up with him, Shen Wei brushed his lips against Zhao Yunlan’s.
The kiss only lasted a second and yet Shen Wei felt it was more than worth the centuries he’d waited for it.
“Much better,” Zhao Yunlan said. “Thank you. I‑”
Whatever he was about to say got cut off as his phone buzzed once, then twice, then three times.
“You have to go?”
“For now,” Zhao Yunlan said. “But later tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Then Zhao Yunlan was sprinting off, yelling something into his phone about harassing the boss via text and plans to cut bonuses.
And with that, Shen Wei tossed the coffee cup into the nearest bin before climbing the stairs that led to the building’s entrance. The coffee had gone cold, not that it mattered. Shen Wei was the warmest he’d felt in years.