The light blue haired boy casually walked along the busy streets of Liyue Harbor. It was a colder day outside. Days that Chongyun particularly enjoyed. Not just because he had a cryo vision, but because his temperature would stay regulated. The poor boy sometimes even overheats during fall. It was strange. So winter was when he shined in particular.
Chongyun was on his way to Wanwen Bookhouse to meet with one of his closest friends, Xingqiu. Xingqiu always urged Chongyun to come settle next to him so he could read one of the many stories he picked up to Chongyun. It was one of their favorite things to do in their free time. In fact, Chongyun never really knew when Xingqiu would be at the Bookhouse. It was more so his intuition telling him to go over. And almost every time, Xingqiu would be there.
Except there was this one time. Chongyun arrived and the boy wasn't there. Not wanting to make his trip for nothing, he started picking out a bunch of books with fancy titles and scanned through the pages. It wasn't like he didn't know how to read, it's just he didn't have a long attention span for the matter. He'd end up reading the same line two, three, four, seven times, and then space out and think of something else. Until before he knew it, ten minutes would go by and he never turned the page. Xingqiu walked in on him dozing off and sat right next to him. Taking the book from his hands, and reading the title. It was then that Chongyun snapped back to reality, flustered as ever. Xingqiu laughed at the boy, and then picked up from the line that Chongyun had been reading.
Chongyun walked up the stairs to the bookhouse, careful not to trip. It's happened before. Getting to the top and stretching his arms over his head. The boss Jifang waved to Chongyun and greeted him.
"Ah Chongyun. Good to see you again!" She wasn't always so cheerful with everyone. But with him it was difficult to not let her enthusiasm sink in.
"Miss Jifang, hello! How are you today?"
Jifang gave him a wave, "I'm pretty good, thank you. Hmm... I would take it, you're here to visit a certain someone?"
Chongyun momentarily forgot that he was pretty known to be around the hydro user. Any regular at the Bookhouse would probably assume he was really into books. Which wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't exactly true either. He just really enjoyed being read to. That way, it gave his mind some space to roam. He could visualize the story, without actually having to read anything. Worked out for both of them.
Jifang quietly pointed over to the nook with the bookcase. Beside him, Xingqiu had a stack of books which he most likely already skimmed through prior. His head was lowered, eyes trained on every word of whatever it was he had been reading already.
Chongyun thanked the woman and went to join where Xingqiu was seated. Carefully, Chongyun poked his head in front of him. Not wanting to frighten Xingqiu who hadn't noticed him before. "What're you reading?"
Xingqiu lifted his eyes from the page with a short hum. Immediately his face lit up, "Ah, Chongyun! You are just the person I wanted to see." He turned the book to the cover to show the title of what he was reading.
Chongyun got closer to the book so he could read the title. "Heart's Desire..." He read aloud. "Is it any good?"
Xingqiu stood up with the book in one hand. "I'm not sure yet, how about we find out?" He took Chongyun's hand and led him across the bridge connecting the upper parts of the buildings. Chongyun's breath got caught in his throat while he was being led away.
"Xingqiu you haven't paid for that book yet!" Jifang called out from behind them.
Xingqiu turned back for a split second and gave her a smile. "I'll do that later! Promise!" And he turned back around and continued pulling Chongyun behind him. Jifang sighed but didn't try to get his attention again. She watched the pair run off with her arms crossed muttering something under her breath about payment.
Chongyun was so focused on his hand actually being locked with Xingqiu that he didn't really pay attention to which way they were going. He had to keep apologizing to the citizens he accidentally nearly or actually did run into.
He hated himself for being able to get flustered so easily, especially around him. All Xingqiu had to do was look at him for longer than ten seconds and Chongyun felt like he was going to die of heatstroke. His 'little' liking towards Xingqiu was going to be the death of his heart one of these days.
Xingqiu suddenly stopped and Chongyun almost didn't in time. But he managed, somehow. "Since nobody's here right now, we should be able to read in peace. Take a seat 'Yun."
The nickname stuck with Chongyun and he's called him that so many times. He'll never get used to it. He looked at their surroundings and realized they were right across from the Northland Bank. That place always made him uneasy for whatever reason.
They sat next to each other and Xingqiu reopened the book. He was actually excited to read this one. Not like he wasn't always excited to read a book, today just felt different. He flipped open to the first page and started reading.
"Legend tells of a corner of the city that has been forgotten by the wind. To reach that place one must stand before the fountain and close their eyes, then wait for thirty-five heartbeats, then walk seven circles clockwise around the fountain followed by seven further circles anticlockwise. Upon opening one's eyes, one will find they have arrived at a little shop..."
Listening to Xingqiu read was like listening to an ethereal being bless his ears. He concentrated on his words and started making visuals inside of his head while the story went on.
""Excuse me, is... is anyone there?" Veiga asked timidly as she stepped through the door. As the door closed behind her, the bell that hung from it rang out, its crisp and clear sound filling the room and cutting through the dimly lit drudgery."
Chongyun glanced over to the boy and watched how his golden eyes easily and smoothly moved side to side. How they flowed like water in the Harbor. He rarely ever stuttered or skipped a word when he read. His punctuation and pronunciations were always damn near perfect.
"The dull glow of twilight seeped gently through the frosted glass of the display case windows. Stacks of curious objects filled every part of the room. Veiga made her way through the store cautiously, for fear of stepping on something and breaking it. There was no answer."
There really weren't any flaws with the hydro user in Chongyun's eyes. Well, he's not always fond of the pranks that get pulled on him. But they're never anything too serious. By now he should see most of them coming, but still he walks into most of them. Chongyun could melt right there thinking about him. It was insane. He wanted to bury his head into his arms and never come out.
"'Yun, are you alright?" Xingqiu questioned. Chongyun hadn't even noticed he stopped reading. He turned his head with his mouth opened slightly. Xingqiu's eyes widened slightly and he put his hand over Chongyun's forehead. "You're going red, are you feeling sick? Did you bring your popsicles?"
Chongyun waved his hands out in front of him. "O-oh no no! I'm fine. Just fine." And now he was starting to stutter. He really couldn't contain himself. "It's just warm, that's all."
Xingqiu tilted his head. "Warm? It's the middle of winter though. Are you–"
"--I'm okay! I promise. I guess it's just my energy acting up, nothing serious, this is normal!"
But Xingqiu didn't feel that answer was completely true. He's seen Chongyun when his yang energy was acting up and this didn't feel like one of those times. And Chongyun wasn't one to lie either. So this worried Xingqiu as well.
"Chongyun–"
"Xingqiu." Chongyun stopped him. He averted his eyes to the ground feeling embarrassed. How did he manage to mess this up? "It's just that I– No you– wait–" he couldn't even figure out what he was trying to say, he kept screwing up his words.
"Did I do something?"
"No! Not at all!" Chongyun exclaimed. Chongyun folded his arms on the table and laid his head down wanting to disappear. "I'm sorry."
"Chongyun, what are you apologizing for? You haven't done anything wrong. Let me help you..." He was deeply concerned for him. Chongyun never acted like this before. "...Please."
The cryo boy raised his head back up. "Xingqiu I..." He turned to look him in his eyes. "...Really can't keep myself composed around you. Especially not like this. You make me nervous, and then I stutter and start turning the same color as Jueyun Chilis. Once that happens I get all hot, and feel like my heart is going to burst. Usually I don't get so... so bad like this. But listening to your voice makes me so happy Xingqiu. And now I'm rambling on and on and just making a bigger fool of myself and–"
Xingqiu cut him off by trapping the poor boy in an embrace. Chongyun may naturally be a little colder in temperature, but Xingqiu could care less. He would've admitted to his own feelings sooner or later had Chongyun not done it first. Truth was he was hopeless when it came to his own feelings. But he almost always had everyone else's figured out.
"'Yun you had me terrified that something was actually wrong with you." Xingqiu told him. "You should've said something sooner! I was getting worried because I would've had no idea on how to confess to you."
Chongyun must've died and came back to life. "Y-you what?" He was feeling silly over practically nothing. "Oh god, and now I've just gone and blabbered to you about everything like a complete fool." He covered his face with his hands.
Xingqiu chuckled. "No, don't worry about it! Honestly, I think that was really nice to hear. Especially coming from you." Xingqiu removed his hands from his face. Chongyun was met with a bright and warm grin. He slipped a hand under Chongyuns chin and paused. "If I may?"
Chongyun's mouth fell open and his entire body heated back up again. In the end he ended up nodding his head in agreement. They both moved their heads closer into each other and shared a sweet and soft kiss. Despite his nervousness, Chongyun moved in like it wasn't there to begin with.
When they pulled back from each other, Xingqiu sat back down and held onto Chongyun's hand. Locking his fingers with his own. "Are you feeling better now?"
"A whole lot, yeah." Chongyun rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Would you want to... keep reading?"
Xingqiu nodded his head and reopened the book continuing off where he left off. Hand in hand with his old friend, and new lover.
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Ah jeez I wasn't even too invested in this ship but I can't help myself now. They're so comforting ngl