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1.
Su Mucheng has to all but drag Ye Xiu with her to attend the movie night that always happens on the final night of All Stars. The conference room that they had been using for practice has already been haphazardly rearranged by the time she arrives, so she deposits Ye Xiu in the corner that Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie are occupying and slips into the half-dark to look for Shiqin.
She eventually spots him sitting cross-legged on the floor at the front of the room and weaves her way around the clustered groups before she manages to manoeuvre herself to beside Shiqin.
“Hey,” she says, sitting down.
“Hey,” Shiqin responds, looking up at her, a smile growing on his face.
Dan Yanqi grins at her from Shiqin’s other side.
“You haven’t missed much, don’t worry,” Yanqi says. “Wukong hasn’t even shown up yet.”
Mucheng can’t help but laugh.
They turn their attention back to the movie - some Journey to the West live-action remake - and Mucheng tips over so her shoulder touches Shiqin’s and rests her head on his shoulder. He snakes an arm around her waist, tugging her closer as Huang Shaotian start yelling at the screen.
2.
“Three. Two. One. Start!”
Su Mucheng’s voice is tinny over the voice chat, but that doesn’t stop a smile breaking out on Shiqin's face. He hits the space bar in one smooth motion and the animation on his screen starts moving.
The now-familiar rock ballad opening song of Occult: A Glory Story plays through his headphones.
We fight, we fall, we lose it all
Come back in time for the next brawl
You still keep looking through me
With just pure animosity
Shiqin had been reviewing vods for days, trying and failing to strategise for the next match. Hearing Mucheng's voice, though, Shiqin lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"How was your week?" Shiqin asked, leaning back in his seat.
"Not terrible," Mucheng answers. "Nothing to write home about. Scrims, practice, the usual. You?"
"Just some long days."
"Do you want to do this another time?"
"No, no, keep going. I can stay up a bit longer."
"Ok," Mucheng says, then falls silent as the song draws to an end and the show starts up.
By the time the episode ends, Shiqin is yawning every other minute.
"Bedtime," Mucheng says, voice soft.
"Ok, ok. Good night."
3.
Mucheng finds Shiqin in the review room by himself after dinner. She leans against the doorway, watching Shiqin as he chews his lip, head tilted as he reviews the footage on the screen in front of him. The video on the screen is paused but his hands are in motion, intermittently taking notes between bouts of thinking, nimble fingers twirling his pen.
She feels herself properly smile. Excellent Era had been rough without people she trusted on the team, but now Shiqin was here, the tense atmosphere was beginning to dissolve, just a little.
He blinks out of his concentration as he reaches for the pause button and finally notices Mucheng.
“How long have you been there?” he asks.
“Just a few minutes,” she says, and walks to lean over the side of his chair. “How’s the study going, master tactician?”
He covers his eyes with his hand and shakes his head, but he’s smiling.
“It sure goes,” he says. “Would the number one launcher like to join me?”
Mucheng pulls a nearby chair over and lightly shoves Shiqin over so she can also read the title of the video on the screen.
“Of course,” she says, and hits play.
4.
Mucheng is the one to suggest that the two of them go to see one of Happy's Challenger League games. Shiqin easily acquiesces to the request.
He hides a smile as he watches Mucheng rile up Sun Xiang. His good mood doesn't last long, though, as he notices Everlasting's tricks, leaving when Happy's win becomes a foregone conclusion.
Mucheng joins him in the foyer after the game, as he's writing in his notebook.
"Everything ok?" she asks, sitting down on the stairs beside him.
"Yeah. Shame about Everlasting."
Mucheng hums from next to him.
He tucks his notes back into his pocket and leans back on his hands.
"Happy is playing better, though," he says. "Not many teams could pull off that comeback."
"Do you think we can beat them?"
"We can certainly try." He turns to her. "Do you think we can?"
Mucheng doesn't answer immediately. He watches silently as she thinks.
"I don't know," she finally says. "We've got the infrastructure, the experience, and your strategies. But they have Ye Xiu, and he can pull off miracles."
"Hm," Shiqin says. "Do you know much about the training camp?"
"I can do one better," she grins. "I'll take you."
5.
Su Mucheng doesn't sit with Team Happy at All Stars, though Chen Guo invites her to. Instead, she and Xiao Shiqin enter the stadium after the audience lights are already dimmed and sit right at the back in the crowd. They sit, sides pressed together, letting themselves be carried by the energy in the audience.
Without having to analyse her opponents and worry about her performance, Mucheng relaxes, whispering conspiratorily with Shiqin whenever something interesting happens.
Mucheng remembers only snatches of her first All Stars: smiling nervously at her fellow rookies, the pressure of the crowd, the dark player booth. But she also remembers wanting to prove herself, and well, if the rookie Spellblade challenging Jiang Botao is anything to go by, so are this newest batch of rookies.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Shiqin asks.
"Just thinking about how brave these kids are."
"Yeah, I was so nervous at my first match."
"These rookies, just casually challenging a God."
"Remember when all the rookies challenged Ye Xiu?"
"Yeah. But you would have too if you'd had the chance."
"Guilty as charged. Not all of us got to play with him every day." Mucheng sticks her tongue out, and Shiqin laughs.
6.
A pair of very similar letters arrive in the mail on the same day, one addressed to Xiao Shiqin and the other one to Su Mucheng.
It is not often that they get mail, so Shiqin eagerly tears open the envelope addressed to him, pulling out a letter and a rather fancy card, iridescent even in the low light.
Invitation to the celebration of 15 years of the Glory Professional Alliance , the card reads. Interesting. He shoves the papers in his hands into his bag and heads up the stairs to his apartment.
He leaves his coat and shoes at the door, pulling the letter out again as he drops his bag off, and immediately starts absently reading it as he puts the rest of his things away. The Glory Pro Alliance was organising a formal function, and he was invited as a past All Star player.
He turns on the TV, bringing up Mucheng’s stream. Her voice filtering through the speakers puts a smile on his face as he checks the fridge to work out what they’re having for dinner.
It would be fun to get together with everyone again, especially the people he didn't usually get to see.
...
Mucheng watches Shiqin's reflection in the mirror from the corner of her eye. He's holding her purse and jacket in his arms, watching her try on dresses, a slight smile on his face. She can't help but grin, her heart full.
"What do you think?" she asks, turning around to face him without the mirror between them.
"It's gorgeous," Shiqin says. "But I think you're always gorgeous."
"You are no help," she says, laughing. "Hm. I guess I'll try on this last one," she says, picking up a deep red dress with silver embroidery from the rack of dresses she's selected.
When she leaves the dressing room, she hears a soft gasp and her eyes snap up to meet Shiqin's. Mucheng drops her gaze quickly, smoothes out the front of the dress with her hands, then looks in the mirror.
The effect is exactly what she wanted - the embroidery is almost flame-like, reminiscent of the Team Happy logo. She couldn't have got a more perfect design if she tried.
When she meets Shiqin's eyes again, she knows that he's understood it as well.
"This is the one, then," she says, and he breathes out a soft "yeah" in response.
...
Shiqin puts on the tuxedo, then steps out of the bedroom to see Mucheng in the living area, makeup spread over the table. She grins at him when she spots him in her mirror and waves him over.
"Here," she says, handing him a box.
He lifts the lid. Inside is a red bow tie, a flame and leaf pattern in faint silver, matching Mucheng's dress. It's the other item that causes his breath to catch.
"This is..." he says, pulling out a silk pocket square in navy blue. It's adorned with tiny golden lightning bolts. For the same reasons that Mucheng had chosen a red dress, this is his declaration that he still remembers his team, too.
Mucheng makes grabby hands at him, and he hands over the pocket square wordlessly. She folds it for him on a clean corner of the table, and he leans over to let her tuck it into his pocket.
She puts the finishing touches on her makeup as he removes the plain black bow tie that came with the tux and puts on the new one.
He offers her an elbow, and she takes it, giggling as they head off to the event.