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In the middle of Liyue Harbour stands Wangshuu Cafe, a homey coffee and boba shop, and the frequent hang-out location of many within the college demographic. The affordable prices and quiet, peaceful atmosphere aid in students wanting to get assignments finished, study, or unwind after a long day at their respective university.
Two specific boys attend the local Liyue University, both in their own subcategories of the Arts Department. They, too, enjoy the atmosphere, so they sit at one of the wooden tables, waiting on their orders to arrive.
“Xingqiu,” Chongyun whines, “could you shut off the computer? I thought this was a date, but you’ve been working on your essay the entire time we’ve been here.”
The cerulean-haired boy looks up from the screen with tired eyes. “Apologies, my liege, but I need to finish this before tonight.”
Chongyun frowns, obviously not believing him one bit. “Mhm,” he hums half-sarcastically, “and when’s it due?”
A nervous laugh escapes the darker-headed teenager’s lisps. “Aha, well… it’s our English paper, so-”
“Next week,” Chongyun finishes for him.
“Well… yes.”
Chongyun places his hand against the top of the computer, pushing it so that it collapses on the keyboard part.
The color drains from Xingqiu’s face, and his eyes widen exponentially. “Ch-Chongyun, no! I was almost finished, I’ll have to write it all again!” He exclaims, voice drowned in panic.
“Relax, Xingqiu.” Chongyun assures, “You use Google Docs, it automatically saves. It realized your edit and copied it the moment you looked away.” He stares deep into Xinqiu’s eyes, gaze frosty, but humble. It always works to calm Xingqiu when his heart races out of control, and this time is no different.
“Right, of course,” he breathes, “I didn’t mean to freak out. I just really did not want to have to rewrite everything.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t.”
Xingqiu gives a comforted grin. Chongyun is the best, he tells himself for the millionth-and-first time, he really got lucky having such an amazing best friend, and soon after, his partner.
However, before he can thank the pale boy, a fiery girl comes between them… literally.
Beside them stands Xiangling, placing down a cup and beginning to read their order aloud.
“Right, one large coffee, triple-shot; one medium Mist Flower Milk Tea with crystal pearls, extra ice…” She places down another cup then, and Xingqiu can see small, translucent pearls littering the bottom of the plastic container.
“And a slice of carrot cake,” Xiangling finishes, and Chongyun’s expression turns to confusion. He can see Xingqiu cringe.
“Uhm, we didn’t order this,” Chongyun explains politely, trying to be nice about the mistake. Unfortunately, Xingqiu isn’t as subtle about the matter.
“Yeah, why would I order something like this ?” He scowls, pushing the plate away with a single finger as if it carries a disease.
“It’s on the house,” explains a waitress in a voice that’s soft and kind… too kind.
Xingqiu flicks his gaze up from the pastry to meet Xiangling’s eyes. She smirks at him, at an angle Chongyun can’t see her face in. “ That’s not the only surprise, ” she whispers at a level barely audible to Xingqiu, so he figures there’s no way Chongyun heard it.
The bluenette is confused out of his mind. What did she mean by the cake ‘not being the only surprise’?
“I guess we should eat it,” suggests Chongyun. “Xiangling did put in the effort to make this cake for us.”
“Right,” Xingqiu agrees disinterestedly, resting his chin against the back of his hand and settling his elbow on the table. “You should, I’m not touching it.”
Chongyun grabs a fork and sinks it into the cake batter, pulling out a small chunk of the desert. Xingqiu is about to claim victory when the other extends his arm, sending the utensil and its topping his way. He’s quick to press his back to his chair, eyes furrowing at the mere sight of such a monstrosity. “What are you doing?” He barks out, eyes crossing over the orange and white glob.
“Eat it,” Chongyun replies much too calmly, shoving the bite-sized portion in Xingqiu’s direction.
“Ew!” Xingqiu’s frown burrows deeper into his cheeks at such a ridiculous suggestion, “I wouldn’t be caught dead consuming that .”
“Then be caught alive.”
“Like the Abyss, I will!”
Chongyun pushes himself off his chair and onto his feet, shoving the fork closer to Xingqiu’s mouth than he could ever be comfortable with. “Eat it, Xingqiu,” he insists, “conquer your fears before a demon catches sight of them and uses them against you!”
Ah, yes. Chongyun has always had a fascination for the supernatural, it even turned out to be his major when he entered college. The poor guy wants to pursue exorcism as a profession. As for Xingqiu, he’ll stick with literary arts. He isn’t like his lover, willing to risk everything for some dream he can only keep ahold of because his boyfriend provides him with faux missions and quests to “conquer the undead” and such.
“Chongyun, you know I don’t… eat carrot-based foods. They disgust me. Much like you avoid riling activities and spicy cuisine, I avoid carrots. It’s just a mutual understanding we have, yes?”
Chongyun’s cheeks puff out childishly. “I know, but… I want to overcome my tribulations, and you should as well! We could do it together.”
Xingqiu sighs. Chongyun always knows how to compel him into doing what he wants. Yes, Xingqiu hates - no, despises carrots, but if it means he and Chongyun could spend more time together like this… Well, it couldn’t hurt to try, right?
“Fine,” he huffs, pressing his lips together gently and licking them. This is it, he’s going to eat a carrot cake. Carrot. The mere thought of such a word causes a silent nausea to settle in the pit of his stomach.
He sits there silently for what - for Xingqiu, at least - drags on into decades. He just stares anxiously at the morsel, never once able to make a move to eat it.
Eventually, he relaxes against his chair and shakes his head. “I can’t, Chongyun, I’m sorry. It’s just too disgusting.”
Chongyun frowns, but nods. “I understand.” He then drops the fork on the plate and pushes his chair out, rounding himself about the table until he’s hovering above Xingqiu, a small grin on his face. Xingqiu stands, knowing what comes next. His eyelids join together and he leans in toward his companion’s face, smiling as he feels the distance between his lips and Chongyun’s closing.
Chongyun takes Xingqiu’s chin into a gentle hold and tugs. Not forward, toward himself, but down, allowing the cyanette’s mouth to open.
The confused teenager reveals his amber eyes and pitch-black pupils just in time to see a metal object dolloped with white and orange fly at his face. Unfortunately, he was too late to stop it, and the appetite-dissolving cake is stuffed into his jaw. Chongyun removes the fork just as Xingqiu plops down onto his chair again, clasping his hands over his tightly-sealed lips and kicking his legs as he’s forced to gulp down the cake.
“Bleh!” Xingqiu’s eyes sting at the corners as his brain engraves the monstrous flavor into his memory. It’s chewing and gooey and, worst of all, carrotty , but only after he swallows does he realize it had a bit of a bite to it.
It was spicy.
Ah yes, that’s the other surprise. Chongyun is allergic to the chemicals that make foods spicy - but his reactions aren’t what most would endure. Instead of his airways clogging up or his insides flipping and removing themselves from their rightful positions inside his body, Chongyun becomes a bit different than normal. He becomes overstimulated, but instead of shutting down or becoming irritated, as most people would, the body of this exorcist-in-training’s natural reaction is to embrace the stimulations. Chongyun becomes less filtered in his words and actions, and sometimes even becomes a bit delusional. Xiangling and Xingqiu always find it quite entertaining, so they love to sneak peppers into his food any chance they get. Of course, they never take their little pranks too far, just enough to get in a good laugh.
Xingqiu almost can’t help but smirk. “Chongyun, that was… actually sort of good,” he lies through his teeth, picking up the fork. “You should have some!”
“Really?” Chongyun’s eyes glisten under the fluorescent lights of the cafe. He hates to lead him on this way, but oh well, he sort of does it at least once a week, anyway. So he nods, slicing off a bit more of their shared desert with the fork.
“Mhm, I know you’ll love it.” Xingqiu can see Xiangling smirking maliciously in his head; he does his best not to follow suit.
Chongyun nods and leans in close, opening his mouth willingly and awaiting the arrival of the special treat. Xingqiu dares not waste the opportunity and stuffs the portion in before slipping the fork out, grinning thinly and awaiting his lovely reaction.
The usually calmer boy’s eyes spark open with a jolt, and Xingqiu can tell he has half a mind to spit out the bite he’s taken. But he ends up gulping it, leaving quite a deep shade of red to spread over his cheeks and bridge his nose. “Xingqiu,” he speaks horsely, as if he’d just completed a marathon, but without all the panting. “What was in that?”
“Probably chili powder,” Xingqiu speaks honestly for once, “I’m not quite sure. Does it matter? It obviously wasn’t enough to do too much.”
“Really?” Chongyun leans in, bending his knees to bring himself closer to the other. “Because I suddenly feel much more inclined to kiss you.”
Xingqiu’s smile grows. He loves when ‘Pepper Chongyun’ gets flirty, it never fails to make things interesting. “Then do it, Mister Exorcist,” he replies calmly.
Chongyun’s cold lips are pressed firmly against Xingqiu’s, and he leans into the touch, reaching up to tangle his fingers in his lover’s nappy hair.
“Get a room, you two,” Xiangling teases from afar. The two’s lips break apart and they stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before bursting into harmonized laughter. Conquering his fears with Chongyun today was lots of fun, he hopes they can try it again someday.