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Mao’s was a small restaurant in a smaller suburb of Teyvat City that not many people frequented. Though Jiaoqiu didn’t really mind this all that much, it simply meant that he had more opportunity to get to know the various locals that entered every often. Whether there were people that didn’t enter the restaurant at all, he didn’t exactly know, he didn’t even really know all of his neighbours in the cul-de-sac he lived in, aside from who had been dubbed ‘How in the hell did they get together’. But either way, he didn’t exactly mind all that much.
Jiaoqiu looked up from the stove just as Thoma poked his head into the kitchen. “Table 14 has requested spaghetti bolognese,” he stated before immediately disappearing into the front before seemingly immediately poking his head back into the kitchen. “Don’t put anything weird in it please,” he murmured. “I don’t want to get yelled at.” Jiaoqiu smiled at this request and Thoma just sighed before disappearing once again into the dining area of the restaurant. Jiaoqiu wasn’t the only chef of the small restaurant, of course, but Thoma had seemingly decided that he was to be the one to make this particular dish. Jiaoqiu got out everything he would need for the dish and got to work.
Jiaoqiu hadn’t actually gone to school to be a chef. No, he was a trained doctor and had even spent time in a hospital, but one grave mistake and he felt he could no longer be doctor, so he’d decided to just quit all together and join the quiet life of a chef, though that didn’t mean he didn’t have some fun every now and then. He looked at the softening noodles and he got an idea. Judging by how Thoma hadn’t wanted to be yelled at, Jiaoqiu had a very good idea of who had ordered such a dish.
And, who was he if not a little evil?
Walking over to the seasoning cupboard, Jiaoqiu took out some Nilotpala Lotuses. This wouldn’t exactly give anyone diarrhea, the lotuses had no medical properties at all really, or taste related properties, but they would make the noodles sort of lemony and jelly-like. There’d been a point in time where Jiaoqiu had done a lot of research on the said lotuses, trying to find if they did have any medical properties. They didn’t, that much had been obvious, but something in him kept chasing a dead end. As he walked back to the pots on the stove, his tail wagged involuntarily. He put the petals into the pot with the sauce in it and he started stirring it together, a smile on his face.
Nilotpala Lotuses don’t have any medicinal properties, Jiaoqiu knew that as much, but they were pretty. They even matched his eyes, which was always a nice surprise. He watched the petals dissolve into the sauce and continued on making the sauce, sort of forgetting that the world existed for a second.
“Thoma, he’s eye-fucking the lotuses again,” said a voice, and Jiaoqiu stood up. He turned around to see that Thoma had returned and was talking to one of the other chefs. Thoma then glanced over at him. He didn’t say anything on the matter and simply walked over to him. The spaghetti was finished by this point and Thoma gazed at it.
“Hopefully you didn’t put Nilotpala lotuses in this,” he said, to which Jiaoqiu just smiled. At this Thoma sighed. “Baal give me strength,” he murmured, turning away to give the spaghetti to whoever it was. Jiaoqiu then went back to the seasoning cupboard and placed the unused lotuses back into it. By the time he’d returned back to the stove where he’d been previously, Thoma had returned, and put on an apron. “Jiaoqiu, your shift is over for the day, plus I have to take this order myself, as they wouldn’t want it any other way.” Jiaoqiu smiled his signature smile at Thoma who noticeably turned red. His ‘boss’, if Thoma could be called that, seeing as he’d taken it upon himself to be the head of the workers, when either Xiangling or her father couldn’t be there, was way too easy to tease.
“Don’t forget his Boba as well,” Jiaoqiu hummed, his ears twitching. “You know how much he loves that, even if we don’t usually do that here.” Without waiting to see Thoma’s reaction, Jiaoqiu left the restaurant, letting forth a chuckle that he hid behind a fan.
The restaurant wasn’t that far away from Jiaoqiu’s cul-de-sac, a fifteen minute walk at the very least, only really a nuisance on rainy days, as wet fur could stink out the house. It was also quite large, containing many houses and people. Boothill was playing seesaw with Clementine and Argenti was painting the rose bushes that framed their garden, Jiaoqiu tossed them a wave as he passed them and Clementine let out a little gasp, earning a chuckle from her father. “Foxy!” Jiaoqiu let out a small chuckle himself. Boothill looked over
“Navia says ye’re growin’ some o’ those lotuses,” he commented. “I’m wonderin’ why.” Jiaoqiu smiled.
“If I may add, they’re looking simply marvelous,” Argenti added from behind the easel. “The water looks to be in pristine condition as well. You’re treating those plants well. Truly a representation of Beauty.” He nodded. “Though I have to express the same, why?” Jiaoqiu’s ears twitched.
“It’s part of a project I’ve been continuing since college,” he said. “Trying to find out if the lotuses have any useful properties. So far I’ve found nothing, but I’m continuing to try. I’ve tried along the lines of constipation, general illness, stomach aches, kidney failure, anesthesia, a lot of things.”
“And, ya’ve lost me,” Boothill stated simply, while Argenti seemed intrigued.
“Do roses have any medicinal properties, my good fox? It seems interesting that plants, while beautiful, can have other properties.”
“As far as I know, no. They’re just used for scenting, which out of taste and medicinal properties, is probably the least interesting thing. But they are beautiful in the very least. Anyways, I should be on my way. I have lotus properties to test!” Jiaoqiu then left for his house. As for the neighbours closest to him, he didn’t really know who they were, but every so often in the house on his right, a young girl would leave or an older man would arrive and enter it. Jiaoqiu had never actually seen the actual homeowner before. Shaking it from his head, he walked off to his house
As he got there, he walked directly into someone, causing the both of them to topple onto the floor. Jiaoqiu straightened up immediately and reached out his hand for the other to take, which they did. Jiaoqiu helped them both to their feet and then he finally took a good look at them.
The surprise was evident on both their faces
“Jiaoqiu?”
“Tighnari?”
Tighnari’s ears twitched at Jiaoqiu’s statement and he smiled, causing Jiaoqiu to smile as while. “I haven’t seen you since the Akademiya,” Tighnari commented, “how have you been since then?” He glanced over at the pond in Jiaoqiu’s garden, sporting only lilypads with the confounding yellow flowers on them. “Nilotpala Lotuses, eh? Last time I checked, you were trying to find a use for them, when there isn’t any.” He smiled in a way that made Jiaoqiu’s stomach implode, but he ignored the emotion, merely smiling.
“You say that like you’re assuming that I’m still on that little project,” Jiaoqiu answered, with a teasing tone. “For all you know, I could’ve taken a liking to them, and merely decided to grow them in my garden, for no other reason than that.” Tighnari looked back at him, gesturing towards Jiaoqiu’s garden fence.
“May I?” Jiaoqiu nodded and let them in. Tighnari then walked over to the pond and crouched beside it. “They’re quite healthy too. Their petals are the correct shade of yellow, I see no droopiness. The pads themselves look quite healthy as well.” Tighnari’s tail wagged slightly, and Jiaoqiu felt his smile widen. “You’ve been taking good care of them. What, did you do your homework on them?” He joked.
“So what if I did?” Jiaoqiu hummed. “I mean, if they were my favourite flower, you’d expect I’d take care of them, right?” Tighnari stood again and looked over at him.
“I’d just expected that if you’d grow anything, it’d be Qingxins,” he commented. “I remember hearing rumours back at the Akademiya that you’d sneak Qingxins into anything. You even tried to hybridize them at one point. But, here you are growing Nilotpala Lotuses… my favourite flower.” Jiaoqiu felt an embarrassed shiver pass through him, but he didn’t let it show. Is that the reason he’d been so obsessed with the Lotuses the past few years? “Anyways, that’s beside the point.” He looked back at the lotuses. “What have you been up to since the Akademiya?”
“Well, I graduated as you can probably tell,” Jiaoqiu answered. “Got a job in a hospital, did a few things, suffered through a few deaths, the usual stuff.” Jiaoqiu shook away the just defeated look in the foxian’s eyes as she breathed her last, Hoolay claiming another.
The one he couldn’t save.
“A-anyways, I eventually quit and now work as a chef at Mao’s,” he added quickly, to a concerned and confused look from Tighnari. “I work under Thoma.” Tighnari twitched his ear.
“Oh, I’ve been at Mao’s with Collei and Cyno,” Tighnari commented, clearly sensing that Jiaoqiu wanted to change the subject. “Though I’ve never seen you there.” Jiaoqiu smiled at him.
“Oh that’s probably because I’m mainly in the kitchen, and almost never wait tables, that’s more Thoma, March, Yoimiya and Firefly’s job,” Jiaoqiu explained. “Also Cyno and Collei, huh? So you come for family date nights?” He asked curiously. He was assuming this at the very least, he knew of Cyno, the guy that had always hung out with Tighnari in the Akademiya and such, but he’d never heard of Collei. “Also you’ve been dating Cyno for how long at this point?” Tighnari blinked at him.
“Cyno and I… have never been a thing? We’ve never dated, we’ve just raised Collei together. Plus, Collei sees him as her uncle. Now, about her other uncles…” Tighnari deadpanned and Jiaoqiu felt immediately he knew who he was referring to.
“So they’re still..?”
“You remember? YES. They are. It’s just ridiculous at this point! He even bought Mourning Flowers for Buer’s sake!” Jiaoqiu deadpanned.
“Ah. Anyways, you were in the same classes as me, but I never saw you in my medical classes,” Jiaoqiu commented. “What did you do after the Akademiya?” Tighnari smiled and crouched beside the lotuses again.
“What you’re doing with the lotuses, just more in depth. Different plants, combining them, seeing what they can do. Just some normal botany. However,” his tone grew teasing, “I’m not intentionally trying to poison people. Unlike you, via The Incident, huh?” Jiaoqiu simply smiled and hid it behind his fan.
“That’s one large accusation ‘Nari,” he tutted. “I’m innocent, I swear!” Tighnari’s ear twitched and he deadpanned. Jiaoqiu let out a chuckle.
“You were the one obsessed with Qingxins, you were the one that discovered that Qingxins have that effect! And then all of a sudden the bathrooms go out of order? It has your name written all over it.” Tighnari’s expression just made Jiaoqiu chuckle more, feeling a warm sensation in his stomach. Tighnari’s ear twitched at this, and then he started laughing too. “Anyways, I didn’t expect to run into you again after all these years,” he said with a smile. “But it’s nice to see you again.” Jiaoqiu felt a buzz of electricity pass over him, and it almost seemed like just meeting Tighnari again had made his crush resurface all over again, as he recognized this feeling.
“I must say the same,” Jiaoqiu stated. “I really didn’t expect this, but, I’m not complaining. Plus, it’s nice to know you like my garden.” Tighnari chuckled a bit and glanced at the lotuses.
“They are my favourite flower, and it’s nice to see they’re being treated well. You’ve done a good job with them. They even match your eyes, so it makes perfect sense!” He laughed and Jiaoqiu just smiled, ignoring the green-haired girl watching them with a curious expression on her face. “Anyways, I should get going, Collei is probably home by now.” Jiaoqiu nodded.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” he said and Tighnari smiled.
“Goodbye, Jiaoqiu.”
“Goodbye, ‘Nari.”