Work Text:
"da bao?"
liuqi stares up at the ceiling through one tired eye. the other stays hidden beneath his forearm, hand resting in his loose hair.
"what is it," dai bo replies simply, no trace of a real question in his half-attentive tone as he works on bills at the table.
"do you think miss mei will like me less now that she knows who i used to be?"
from his lazy position on the couch, liuqi hears a sigh and the fluffing of feathers.
"i still don't know what you see in her," dai bo starts. "but if anything, there's a chance she could like you more."
liuqi sits up. "really?" tentative in his voice, and dai bo knows that genuine and vulnerable tone. there are times when he's reminded of a young child, when he looks at liuqi. something in the way his expression remains open, like he could be told anything and he'd believe it.
in a way, liuqi really is like a child. slate wiped clean at nineteen, he's now twenty-two, and still struggles with all he's lost. dai bo has never been able to wrap his head around liuqi's situation. he probably never will. but he will be supportive if it's the last thing he does.
and he has to be wary of what he tells him.
dai bo puts down his papers, takes off his reading glasses. he faces the young man on the couch, whose tired eyes sparkle with hope and worry all at the same time in the dreary unlit living room.
"meihua shisan..." dai bo says cautiously, either like he's unsure of the name, or he's not a fan of the taste of it on his tongue. "she's in a delicate situation right now. she's probably very confused, and probably feeling very vulnerable. if you two knew each other in the past, there's a chance she could be comforted by the idea of having known you."
he eyes liuqi's behaviour, who's settled to fidget with the hem of his hoodie and avoid dai bo's stare. nervous.
"how have you treated her in your life as wu liuqi?" dai bo tests.
"kindly! i-i mean i think," liuqi snaps his head up, then looks away again. "i think i've treated her well. i always try to be nice to her, and seem cool i guess."
dai bo nods. "well, if you keep treating her the same way despite your past being revealed, i think she'd see that you're serious about being genuine."
"but what if she didn't like the guy i used to be?" liuqi runs a hand through his hair. "what if when we met before, what if i was mean to her? or, or bad to her or something?"
dai bo's heart sinks at the anxiety in liuqi's voice. he's been so damn anxious lately. dai bo is relatively good at assuaging his fears, but liuqi can be quite stubborn on some topics. especially if they're about meihua shisan. it isn’t hard for him to slip.
"ah-qi," dai bo hops off of his chair and comes to sit next to liuqi on the couch. "if you did anything, it happened in the past. you just have to be your true self today, and hope that other people can see that you're a different person now."
the look liuqi gives him makes dai bo feel momentarily self-conscious. "what? did i say something wrong?"
liuqi chuckles quietly. "no, no you're fine. it's just... you've been much better at giving advice recently, da bao."
"is that a good thing?"
"yeah, it is."
dai bo plays with his tie. "we've really been forced to change, huh?"
"is that a good thing?"
it's dai bo's turn to chuckle. "i think so. change isn't so bad. you just have to get used to it."
a lull in the conversation as the two sit on the couch together, in comfortable silence. liuqi breaks the quiet with a sigh.
"part of me would have preferred if you responded to me the way you used to," he says, staring out the window as rain starts to drizzle against it.
"by what, yelling at you about how dangerous 'miss mei' is, only to have you storm off and lock yourself in your room like a moody teenager?"
liuqi smiles through a cringe. "something like that. it was just easier to respond in simple ways like that instead of talking it out, i guess."
dai bo suddenly grabs the young man and pulls him down to his level, only to ruffle and mess up his hair. "it mighta been easier, but it sure was annoying as hell!"
"h-hey stop it!" liuqi can't help but laugh, and in their tussle ends up halfway slid off the couch. he stares at the ceiling again, but this time with a small smile on his face.
"i prefer this new age of better communication," dai bo says, out of breath. "i've gained a new appreciation for the complexities of human life through you, ah-qi, and it's made me feel more able to communicate my own needs."
he crosses his arms. "the reason i don't jump to shisan's offense like i used to is because... well i'm sure she's changed, too. and she certainly doesn’t seem interested in killing you anymore. but more than that, i can see that she is struggling as well. she’s just as complex as the rest of us."
liuqi keeps on staring at the ceiling, finding the shapes in the wood that have become so familiar to him during the past three years.
"i think," says dai bo after a pause, his voice quiet. "i think a friend is what she really needs right now. i think she'd really appreciate that kind of help, no matter what your pasts together looked like."
"i... i think i can do that," liuqi's voice is barely above a whisper, and dai bo has to strain to hear it over the increasing rainfall. "i can do that for her."
another natural lull.
"i saw she cut her hair," says dai bo.
"yeah."
"she looked pretty. lighter."
a pause.
"yeah." this time, liuqi's voice is quiet enough to be called a whisper.