Work Text:
“Lu Guang!
Lu Guang! Come look!”
Having to stop in the middle of the sentence he was reading, Lu Guang glances up from his murder-mystery novel with a rough exhale. The excitable (and distant) voice of his partner stretches far beyond the sunroom. Doesn’t even sound like he’s inside the shop at all.
He pinches the bridge of his nose.
‘Moron. Asking me to come outside in the dead of winter.’
But per usual fashion for Lu Guang—he caves. He always does for Cheng Xiaoshi, even when he swears up and down and to every listening God out there that he won’t.
Alright, this is the last time—when it’s not.
No, I will not help get you out of this—helping him out anyway.
I told you once—and he tells him again.
Tried and true, like a routine as ingrained as brushing his teeth every morning, he’s off to humor his partner once again. He shuffles across the sunroom’s small expanse, brushing the curtain out of the way with a hand, fingers trailing along the cloth as he steps past. Down the tiled hall with a slow and steady gait, a near meandering pace. Sure enough, through the open windows of the shop’s lobby, he sees Cheng Xiaoshi outside, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a plastic sack in hand.
The moment, the second, the instant, those brown eyes lock to his, even beyond the windowed distance, A beaming smile overtakes that excited face and the idiot even waves at him.
Why is he waving? He’s the one outside, right?
Lu Guang pops open the shop’s front door, immediately shivering at the winter chill that bites through the air. (He should’ve brought a coat out here.) He keeps a hand on the knob and pulls the door into a half-open position, narrowing the cold air’s reach to his chilled body.
“Why are you standing out there and waving at me like an idiot?” The cold of outside is ever present in Lu Guang’s flat-toned voice.
“What do you mean like an idiot? A wave is a perfectly acceptable greeting!” Cheng Xiaoshi points at him with his free hand.
“Why not just come inside? It’s not like you don’t live here.”
‘Seriously, it’s cold. Come inside so I can shut the door.’
“Well if I brought these in the shop you’d get mad at me!” He holds up the plastic sack in his other hand higher.
“I’m cold—I’m already mad at you.”
“Go grab a jacket then!”
“No. Come inside before I lock you out.”
“You can’t lock me out—this is my shop!”
Lu Guang’s eyes narrow as he begins to shut the front door.
“Wait-wait-wait-I’m just kidding! Lu Guang!!” Cheng Xiaoshi rushes to the door with a hurried voice, swiftly putting his hand on the knob before he closes it all the way.
Releasing his hold on the other knob, Lu Guang steps away from the door just in time for his partner to close the door in a half-circle motion. Their doorbell goes off with a mechanical greeting that’s mostly ignored. Cheng Xiaoshi sets the plastic sack onto the counter, then he’s given a pout.
“You’re extra grumpy today.”
“Your shouting interrupted my reading; It was getting good too.” Folding his arms over his chest.
“You can always pick it back up later. But these are limited time!” Patting the bag exuberantly like it’s an old dog that learned a new trick.
“And these are…?”
(He can see through photos, not plastic bags.)
A happy sound comes out of his partner’s mouth on a high-spirted exhale. He rummages through the noisy bag, the plastic shff shff shffing under the bloodhound-accurate searching of his hands. It doesn’t take him long to fish out the items contained in the sack, gathering them up and fanning them out like a deck of cards.
Looks like they’re small packages of sparklers: Some are plain, some are neon, and some change color based on the length of time they burn.
“…Sparklers.” Lu Guang deadpans.
“Yeah! Cool right? They had a deal going on for New Year’s and I couldn’t resist!”
“…Sparklers.” Repeating the word in the same dull tone; like a bell could feel exhaustion. “You’re this excited… over sparklers.” Further clarifying with another tired bell tone.
“I mean, yeah! Look—this one here changes color! How cool is that?” Cheng Xiaoshi’s eyes alone shine with the brightness of a firework grand finale.
Lu Guang huffs out a laugh that’s half-expected and half-resigned.
Ever excitable, even over the simplest things.
“…Pretty cool.” Humoring his partner for the second time today.
“Right? So go get your jacket on!”
He’d ask why he needs it, but he knows exactly why he needs it.
“It’s still relatively bright out, Xiaoshi. Why not save them for when it’s darker?” Attempting to stall, even if it’s technically dark enough for sparklers at this point.
“If I wait, then everyone else is gonna be lighting theirs! I wanna get ahead of the rush!”
“The rush.” He can’t help a second deadpanned tone from coming out of his mouth.
How is there a rush for a holiday?
“Yes! Seriously, Guang-Guang, is this your first time living on the upside of the rock?” Cheng Xiaoshi raps his knuckles against his temple playfully.
He is—of course—nudged away for that as an annoyed glower overtakes Lu Guang’s eyes. “Says who? The Resident Rock-Liver-Under?”
“Wha-? Me?” Cheng Xiaoshi incredulously blinks. “You don’t even know about the New Year’s rush! Who’s really living under the rock?” On a dime, flipping his blankness to an impish jest.
“Keep it up and I won’t join you for sparklers.” Lu Guang threatens (emptily).
A pitiful gasp immediately segwayed into a “I’m sorry, Guang-Guang- I didn’t mean it- please join me for sparklers~”
A constant game of caving to the other no matter the circumstance.
If it’s serious.
If it’s silly.
If it’s sad.
Always caving. Always giving in. Always.
“Fine—I’ll get my coat.” Lu Guang sighs in a resigned fashion; Acts as if it’s the world’s Greatest Inconvenience™ that he joins his partner for the holiday excitement.
As he steps away, his ears pick up on the sound of Cheng Xiaoshi making a bright, happy noise: A mix of a gasp and an inhale that makes his voice lightly squeak. Lu Guang can’t fight the smirk on his face from effortlessly blooming—free to without worry or a tease with his back facing his partner. Truly, he really is just as excitable as a little puppy.
Just as his sneakers hit the staircase—
“C’mon, Lu Guang, hurry! We don’t want our sparklers to be ruined by everyone else’s!”
“I’m going, alright? Quit rushing me.”
Tmp-
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Up
The
Stairs
He
Goes.
Down the hall where his sneakers still tmp tmp tmp against the second-floor landing. Into the room they share. Across that floor as well with the same rhythmic tmp tmp tmps. To a closet behind all the shelves. Where in that closet on a door-affixed hanger, his heavy coat rests.
Off the hook.
Over his shoulders.
The left arm through the sleeve,
Then the right.
A quick tug at the collar,
Then he’s ready.
Across the floor again.
To the second-floor landing,
where his steps go tmp tmp tmp,
as he hits the staircase.
Then,
once more,
he's back on ground floor.
“Took you long enough!” Cheng Xiaoshi calls the moment he touches down.
“I was only up there for two minutes, Xiaoshi—you’re just impatient.” Back in the lobby by the time he finishes his sentence.
“Not impatient! Excited!” He eagerly corrects, looking all proper with straight posture and his index finger pointing up.
“Sure.” A calm yet flippant agreement: The words agreeing, but the tone denying.
“Okay, c’mon, let’s go!” With a bounce, Cheng Xiaoshi’s already at the front door with his hand on the knob, ready to fling it open the moment Lu Guang gives his approval.
“Right.” It’s given.
That door is indeed flung open as Cheng Xiaoshi all but flies out of the doorway and onto the sidewalk. Lu Guang steps out with an arm up, keep the cold wind from chilling his face too terribly as he joins his antsy partner outside.
Dusk hangs heavy in the air like a deep purple cocktail. Only a stroke of sunset dusts the bottom of the horizon. (At least, what sunset is visible behind the buildings beyond their street and shop.) Dark enough for the earliest fireworks—and sparklers, in their case—yet bright enough that each exhale into the cold looks like a dragon blowing warning smoke.
“Okay! Let get these things burning!” Jubilant joy in his voice as he tears open the first pack, shoving the rest in his pocket.
“Do you even have a lighter?” Lu Guang mentions, warm breath puffing out smoke in the dusk.
Surprisingly a step ahead, Cheng Xiaoshi pulls out a blue-green lighter from his other pocket. “Bought one with the sparklers~” He winks with a pride-puffed chest.
Lu Guang opens his mouth to ask why he hasn’t lit his sparkler yet—
“Ah- wait!”
Another dime turn, the joy on his partner’s face snaps into sharp realization. A jittery hand quickly goes back into the sparkler-stuffed pocket and he pulls out another pack, holding it out towards him.
“You get one too~” The joy back where it belongs.
With another hot-breathed exhale that smokes the air, Lu Guang steps forward a few paces, close enough to feel Cheng Xiaoshi’s natural body heat radiating off him like a gentle summer’s day. He holds out a hand against the cold chill, and no time is wasted as a sparkler is all but thrust into his upturned palm.
A messy-mopped head tilts down, brushes against his own bangs of white as pure as fallen snow. “Saved the best one for you~” Cheng Xiaoshi hums brightly, the sound sifted through his hair.
It’s gentle, but it screams intimate—so much so Lu Guang’s face flushes a bright red, bypassing pink coyness all together.
“Light?” He says after a cough, attempting to distract himself from the heat of his cheeks and the closeness of his partner.
“Oh, you wanna go first now?” Cheng Xiaoshi laughs low by his ear as he brings the lighter up. “Then allow me to light you, your majesty~” Striking the wheel with a flick of his thumb, a spark, the flame fooms to life.
“Moron…” Lu Guang mutters, unable to cough away the shy affection in his voice this time.
Thankfully, the sparkler itself causes the distraction he needs. The sparks flicker out rapidly from the stick as a brilliant light blue; The very same blue his eyes light up in when he dissects a photo.
“Ooh~” Cheng Xiaoshi’s voice coos, transfixed by the rapid little sparks bursting from the stick, dying out as quickly as they come, but brightening that fleeting moment in the present.
Lu Guang watches the sparks just as fixed, watching each individual little burst of light fly away from the stick, warm against his hand without burning at all. Illuminates his pale skin in the dusk with a bright blue glow; a popping, flickering glow that dances in the chilly winter air.
Then, the glow warps.
The light blue transmutes into a brilliantly bright gold. Yellow sparks fly out with crackling enthusiasm, altering the hue of the dusk. A gold so striking they might as well be his partner’s eyes right before a dive.
“It’s us.” Cheng Xiaoshi softly speaks, near poetic in the waning evening.
Bright blue in the beginning
That quickly fades to gold
Before it dies out altogether.
Lu Guang flinches at the flash of violent red and cold memories that burns behind his retinas. His flinch twitches his hand just right to make him drop the sparkler; It clatters to the chilled sidewalk before it fizzles into ash.
“You dropped it—Lu Guang, are you okay?” Cheng Xiaoshi catches the shift in his mood faster than the speed of light.
Lu Guang blinks, shakes his head gently. “Sorry—cold child,” He perfectly lies. “You should light another one.”
(Why are you thinking like that? You saved him. It’s long past September—don’t ruin the moment.)
Cheng Xiaoshi sadly frowns at him. Looks like he wants to say something, but falls short.
Lu Guang forces himself to smile faintly. “I’m fine,” Eyes gesture to his pocket. “Let me see another one.”
“Okay…” Cheng Xiaoshi mumbles. “How about the rainbow one?” He tries to lift the mood a little, injecting some pep into his tone.
“Sounds good.”
So, Cheng Xiaoshi takes the package that holds rainbow sprinkler out of his pocket, tearing it open and sliding the stick out. The empty packaging gets shoved into his pocket to be tossed later. Brown eyes gaze at him again, still looking like a puppy caught in an unwanted bath. Lu Guang forces his smile to stretch wider—doing his best to persuade his partner that he’s fine without words.
The lighter flicks to life and the flame fooms once more, lighting the tip of the sparkler to start the chain reaction.
But—
Just before the flame fully catches and the sparks can fly, Cheng Xiaoshi steps up right behind Lu Guang, leaning into him as he swiftly puts the stick into his hand, then wraps his own hand around his.
“We’ll do this one together~” He smiles.
Red sparks burst to life just as the red flush on Lu Guang’s face comes back with reinforcements; bringing a wave of emotions flooding in with the force of a broken dam.
Together.
The sparks shift to orange.
We’ll do it together.
The sparks shift to yellow.
That’s right…
The sparks shift to green.
He doesn’t have to do this alone anymore.
The sparks shift to blue.
He’s got his partner—the most important person in his life—right here.
The sparks shift to purple.
He doesn’t have to be scared of the past.
The sparks shift to pink.
Not when he has the present he’s worked so hard for, right here.
The sparks circle back to red.
He’s fine. They both are.
Back to orange.
They’re fine and they’re together.
Back to yellow.
Nothing matters more than that.
Back to green.
Nothing matter more than this.
Back to blue.
A hand on his own.
Back to purple.
Together in every time and every way.
Back to pink.
As they watch the rainbow sparks fall.
Before the sparks finally fizzle out completely.
“That was pretty, huh?” Cheng Xiaoshi smiles, lips right by Lu Guang’s ear: Soft and bright.
Lu Guang has the feeling his partner wasn’t talking about the sparks themselves.
“Yeah,” He agrees. “Really pretty.”
And neither is he.
“Wanna light another one together?”
“…I’d like that very much.”