Chapter Text
“That’ll be six dollars, thank you!”
“You bought a whole box?!”
“Well… yeah, ice cream melts fast.”
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Xingqiu had followed Chongyun down the street, towards his house.
The sun had already set, streetlights illuminating the area. They had found a bench earlier, and had sat and eaten their respective snacks. Xingqiu had bought a pack of mint gum, while Chongyun had bought a box of six whole popsicles. The boy had somehow managed to make it all the way to the third one in the matter of minutes.
“How in Teyvat do you do that…” Xingqiu asked in disbelief, as Chongyun downed yet another popsicle.
The boy swallowed, a smile working its way onto his face. “Practice. You give me spicy stuff all the time, so…”
Ah, of course, Chongyun had learnt how to combat his… pranks for a long time now, even if said method was not always effective.
“So cocky, you are. I might as well slip a Jueyen Chilli into one of your beloved popsicles…” Xingqiu muttered, to which Chongyun flinched a cartoonishly funny amount.
“W-What?! You wouldn’t!” the boy stuttered, with such a convincing look of fear that made Xingqiu question if he was being serious or not.
“Oh yes I will! You really need to work on those sensitive tastebuds of yours, Yunyun~”
“...I give up. You’re a monster.”
“Proudly so.”
As Chongyun went back to unwrapping yet another ice cream, Xingqiu pulled out the library books he’d borrowed out of the satchel next to him. They were heavy, and ranged from action-packed manga to quiet, philosophical musings. At this point, he was willing to read anything that was slightly interesting, despite many of the books having a mediocre plot at best. All the good books had been borrowed by him already, or were signed out as of the moment.
He sighed, shoving them back into his bag and leaning it against the leg of the bench.
Xingqiu fiddled idly with the buttons on the watch that was wrapped around his wrist. It was expensive-looking, and apparently from a very good brand (according to his brother, at least). It had a bunch of fancy features that Xingqiu had yet to figure out, and an elegant golden casing around the screen that displayed the face of a clock. He tapped it with a finger, and it flickered on in an instant.
7:58.
“Hey, Qiu.” interrupted a voice next to him, nudging his shoulder. “You can have this.”
Chongyun held out a popsicle to him, a smile on his face.
“Oh, really? I’d have thought you’d eaten the box by now.” Xingqiu replied, with a laugh. “What’s with the sudden generosity?”
“You didn’t eat lunch today, you should prolly eat something, right?” Chongyun explained, inching the plastic-wrapped snack closer to Xingqiu’s hands. It was already freckled with drops of condensation in the warm night air, and was decorated with variously dressed snowmen.
Chongyun’s favourite brand of popsicles. Xingqiu had to buy them various times for the boy before, sometimes on a whim, other times to repay a favor.
“Ah… No thank you, Yunyun, I don’t really like cold stuff.” Xingqiu answered, pushing his hand away gently.
A brief look of concern flickered across Chongyun’s face, but he thankfully held his tongue. “...Okay then.”
A mix of guilt and relief stirred in Xingqiu’s empty stomach.
He glanced back down at his watch, before standing up and grabbing his satchel.
“It’s eight o’clock, I gotta start heading home.” he said, while Chongyun dusted crumbs off his sweatpants. “Would you be coming with me, or…?”
“Yeah, I have to head over to Xiangling’s to give her some coupons my mother found. I think it's for some type of restaurant…?” the boy responded, trailing behind Xingqiu as he walked in the direction of his house. “Either way, my mother doesn’t want them.”
“Oh, okay.”
Xingqiu tugged at one of the buttons on the pocket of his pants, undoing and redoing it with his fingers. “Come over this Sunday, because my parents won’t be home.”
“Hmm? Alright. You sure your brother won’t mind?” Chongyun asked.
The boy had already grown accustomed to the fact that Xingqiu’s parents didn’t like him bringing friends around, unless they were well known by the family.
Which Chongyun was not.
“Nah, I can convince him to keep his mouth shut.” Xingqiu reassured. “Its not like he doesn’t bring people over when mother and father are out.”
“Can I carry your satchel for you? It looks heavy.” Chongyun suddenly asked, taking the bag from the other’s hands.
Xingqiu raised an eyebrow, although not resisting the notion. “Oh? Where did this come from?”
“Just a kind gesture, I’m trying to keep up with the ‘ideal boyfriend’ character that's in those corny romances you read.”
If that didn’t make Xingqiu as flustered as he was, he would have kicked Chongyun in the shins.
“You’re too judgemental, Yunyun, they weren’t all that corny!”