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Two years have passed since Gaming had met the Traveler and gotten to properly know everyone at Liyue harbour.
One year since Lan Yan visited herself and met the Yuheng of the Qixing, Keqing; Traveller and Paimon; and all of Gaming’s then acquainted friends.
Lantern Rite had arrived yet again, meaning he had to do a lot more transporting of goods than usual, it wasn’t so bad though. He gets double the salary and still gets the chance to be able to meet up with his friends to celebrate the new year.
Speaking of friends, after he was finished with the assortment of goods he needed to deliver, he left them at the dock’s warehouse. He then properly seated himself down at Wanmin Restaurant to have Dim Sum with his tight-knit group, perfect timing too because he was practically starving at that point! And he was definitely craving a plate of some honey char siu…
“Yoo-hoo!~ Ga-Ming! You’re salivating on your plate right now,” Hu Tao’s voice snapped him back to reality, fortunately Hu Tao was lying and he was in fact, not drooling THAT much.
Still, quite embarrassing in its own way, “Ahaha… Sorry, I had a long trek, burned off a lot of energy after those deliveries… I need to fill my plate up with some char siu fast,” his cheeks slightly reddened but they did dissipate the more he spoke.
Xingqiu nodded, “Wanmin’s always busy at this time of year, Xiangling must be putting herself through the wringer in the kitchen. Granted she’s definitely enjoying the crowd,” he carefully sipped on his tea, Chongyun glanced.
“Isn’t that still piping hot?”
Xingqiu flapped his tongue, “…Yes…” The dark blue-haired’s response led to the other laughing slightly. Chonyun was then (jokingly) threatened with spices in his food, which in turn, was counteracted with a barrage of carrots in retaliation.
Gaming spent this brief second simply listening to the other two close friends talk, letting himself take a breather before he was dragged back into a conversation again.
“Gaming, do you know if Lan Yan will be here for Lantern Rite this year?” Xingqiu posed this question, the pyro-wielder being briefly caught off guard at the sudden inclusion before quickly composing himself.
“She’ll be here yeah, she weaved a bunch of rattan furniture to sell since this is usually the perfect time for merchants to drum up business due to the large concentration of people. She was also called by the Yuheng to potentially make her own booth for the festival.”
“Oooh, she’ll have a lot on her plate then!” Hu Tao quipped in, sipping her tea quickly before placing it back onto the rounded table.
“Take it she can’t join us then?” Chongyun asked.
Gaming crossed his arms, “Possibly, I’m not sure, it seems she’s always busy nowadays…” he sighed, trying his best not to sound disappointed. He was talking with Hu Tao and Xingqiu after all, when those two notice something, they will tease you till the end of Teyvat about it.
Unfortunately for Gaming, they did notice.
Fortunately, they showed mercy. Oh wait, no they didn’t.
“Don’t be down, lion dancer, there’s always another time to hang out with her,” Hu Tao sing-sang in reassurance, however it was evident it was meant to carry a slight hint of mischief.
Xingqiu nodded along as if it was words of wisdom, “Exactly, there will always be time to go on long walks by the mountains of Chenyu Vale and admire the carps in the bountiful lakes of Qiaoying Village” reciting it as if it was poetry (It wasn’t, and that’s because the author can’t write poems (´･_･`) ).
“I’m sure we’ll be able to chat with her at some point during your stay at Liyue Harbour.” Chongyun assured the brunet with genuine care.
“It’s fine, thanks Chongyun, and you two I s’ppose…”
Suddenly, three figures approached it was more like two figures and one floating lavender melon shaped fairy (What even is Paimon). One he immediately identified as Xiangling and the other as-
“Traveler! Aiyayaya, Lovely to see you in Liyue Harbour again, Happy Lantern Rite!” Hu Tao greeted, handing the golden-haired boy a red envelope.
The Traveler smiled in appreciation, happily taking the envelope with gratitude, “Happy Lantern Rite Hu Tao,” He softly spoke before turning to the other three, “Happy Lantern Rite to you guys too.”
After greetings were done and Xiangling pulled up two more chairs to the table, food was finally served and everyone began to converse freely (Hey, Traveler’s mooching off of free food. It’s okay though, for this meal is sponsored by the Guhua Cla- I mean Xingqiu’s walle- I mean, by our lord and not-so saviour, Morax)
Xiangling spoke up this time amidst everyone being busy stuffing their mouths with savoury, delicious dishes, “What were you guys talking about before me, Traveler and Paimon came?” Gaming hoped neither Hu Tao or Xingqiu would bring up their last topic of discussion.
“Just mundane stuff that we did for this Lantern Rite,” Hu Tao responded as she stabbed through the pork and bit into it.
Gaming could’ve internally sighed in relief, though he wasn’t even sure why he didn’t want the others to know, it wasn’t embarrassing to be disappointed at Lan Yan of all people to not show up. Everyone at the table knew they’re friends.
As the blond-haired boy simply nodded, as if right on cue, Paimon looked around the group, noting one person absent, “Where’s Lan Yan? Is she busy?”
“She’s busy with her own rattan biz, I don’t know when she’ll have time to hang out with us unfortunately,” Gaming answered for them, though for some inexplicable reason, it became harder to say, his throat felt heavy. He was probably eating too quickly, placing his chopsticks on the bowl as if it’d magically help prevent him from stumbling on his words.
“Aww.. What a shame, Paimon’s sure you’ll be able to get a date at some point!”
…
“…What? OH- Paimon didn’t mean it like that! She meant-!”
“Paimon.. Save yourself some face please..” The Traveler smiled, advising Paimon to stop stumbling on her words. Gaming simply sat frozen in his seat.
A date? With Lan Yan? Like, romantically or what? Well, suppose it makes sense, they’ve known each other since they were both kids, are practically childhood friends and both know tons of things about the other but, really, this revelation was quite sudden to him.. Though, in a way, it did explain a lot of things..
“You seem to be deep in thought Gaming” The Traveler spoke, breaking Gaming out of the second trance he was in today (he needed to stop daydreaming).
“..it’s nothing, just a bit saddened at Lan Yan not being able to spend time with us that’s all..-”
“One thinks you feel more than ‘just a bit saddened’.”
“Ah!?- Xianyun?!? Can you warn us next time you want to creep up on us?!!” Paimon jumped back and shrieked, it'd be an overreaction from her if everyone else wasn’t as caught off guard by the sudden appearance. Paimon stopped her rant to ask, “What are you doing here anyway?”.
Xianyun pushed her glasses forward, “One was merely visiting her disciple to see how she was getting along in her work, one simply overheard you guys talking about what sounded like trouble in paradise.”
“Ah, so you were just checking on Shenhe… Wait, wait- love in paradise?” the floating fae-like white-head doubletaked, making sure she wasn’t mishearing anything.
“Hm? Is one not right in her assumption?”
“Well… Not really?”
Gaming spoke up again, his cheeks slightly reddened, “It’s not like that at all Aunty Xianyun.. I was just hoping to be able to talk to Lan Yan during the Lantern Rite..”
The red-glasses woman raised an eyebrow, “Do you two not live in the same village? You should have ample time to see each other, no?
The lion dancer sighed, “We.. Should in theory but nowadays she’s been too busy to even have small talk.. I’ve started to miss it, she’s been my childhood friend for as long as I can remember but I don't think I ever realised how much I appreciated our times together until it became more and more scarce…”, Gaming moped, though it was short lived when the cloud-motifed woman spoke again.
“Well, one thinks you shouldn’t celebrate this Lantern Rite lamenting, just say what she’s doing and one shall handle the situation at hand.”
Gaming waved his hands in front of him frantically, “No need Aunty Xianyun! You don’t need to get involved in small matters, it’s nothing really I-”
Traveler spoke again, Having already began to notice a slight detail in the other's pattern of speech, “You seem more upset than you’re trying to act right now, your tone gives it away.”
The brunet gave up any defence on that part, he knew Traveler was really perceptive, it was no use to try and fool him. “...You’re not wrong on that front, I don’t think it’s of major concern though-”
Xingqiu interrupted, “Will you keep playing the same card of downplaying your statement until we move on? Because if you’re not willing to admit it, I’m happy to do it for you,” he lightly teased, though his tone was mixed with a bit of seriousness.
“What d’you mean?”
“You like Lan Yan.”
…
“...I do?”
A collective groan was formed, immediately silenced by Gaming’s laugh.
“I’m just kidding, I know I do, I’m not oblivious.. Well, not anymore anyway, putting it into words helps to explain a lot of what I've been feeling around her nowadays..” For Gaming, admitting to these feelings was oddly quite easy, perhaps subconsciously he had already accepted it but his actual mind didn’t notice it until someone spelled it out for him.
Hu Tao’s eyes then sparkled, “Well then, since you know, wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to confess?”
“Don’t tell me you guys…”, a rhetorical statement, Gaming already knew the answer.
“We’ll be helping you with this!” Paimon exclaimed before shyly adding on, “Except probably Xiangling.. She already has a lot on her plate,” she glanced at where the chef was previously, having already ran back into the kitchen again to help out.
Hu Tao stood up, making wild hand gestures, “Think of it, once childhood friends, grew up together with secrets and promises, fated to be lovers till the afterlife, a slowburn classic!”
“...What?”
Xingqiu raised a pointed hand, “Slowburns are a literature genre referring to-” Paimon slapped both hands on the cyan-haired boy’s mouth to shut him up effectively.
“We’ll only get involved if you want us to, we won’t force you..” Chongyun politely commented, Gaming thought about it more. Suppose it wouldn’t hurt to confess, rather do it now rather than later mentality.
–
Traveler had found Lan Yan casually talking to Yun Jin before the anemo wielder spotted him, quickly ending her conversation to walk up to him.
The two spoke about nothing in particular, though the boy was curious as to what Lan Yan could have talked to Yun Jin about but aside from that, it was a nice conversation until…
“..You really carried all those rattan weaved items by yourself? You could’ve definitely used the Transport Agency, I’m sure Gaming would’ve loved to have helped.”
Lan Yan went quiet, Traveler worried,“...Did I say something wrong?”
“Lan Yan?”
“Sorry- I’m sure he would have but I didn’t want to burden him with the hefty workload he already has.” Lan Yan’s tone sounded slightly strained but she did her best to not sound agitated, which, if it wasn’t for information prior, the Traveler doubts he would’ve caught on.
It was hard to believe, so the adventurer pressed further. The Traveler deduced that skirting around the topic wasn’t going to cut it to pry something out of her.
“Lan Yan, are you hiding something?” blunt honest, straightforward questioning was what the gold-head settled on, he eyed the Liyuean carefully to see if she’d put up any defenses but to his surprise, she didn’t.
“Eh?- Was it that obvious? I should get better at acting…” Lan Yan sighed light-heartedly, “No use in trying, just, I have a question for you, Traveler.”
The Traveler awaited her response, she inhaled heavily as if it was a damning confession she was about to profess, “Do you know what goes best with swallows? I’m trying to decide between plum blossoms or two swallows..”
The adventurer pondered, “Based on the books I’ve read about Liyue culture, two swallows are often associated with symbols of loyalty and familial love while swallows with plum blossoms symbolise fidelity and endurance with love.. Both are fine if you’re planning to gift them to someone, though, for Lantern Rite, I think lions are more fitting, given they’re symbols of good fortune in this time of year, we can go look for some patterns if you’re planning on getting red envelopes.” His answer, while both helpful and is genuine advice, also had a smidge of nudge towards it, as if he was pushing her to a certain direction.
“No need, thanks though Traveler! I’ll have to get going now, I have a lot of free time to spare, have fun with Lantern Rite!” she waved as if she was as light as the wind, twirling to turn on her heel and then walked away.
The traveler smiled and waved goodbye back, standing in the same spot before realisation struck him like Inazuman lightning.
“Didn’t Gaming say she was busy..?”
–
“She can’t have lied to me? Unless my information just became outdated.. Which feels unlikely given she told me this yesterday before she left..”
“Maybe her business sold out fast?”
“I find that highly unlikely, Chonyun, unless she had attracted crowds en masse. I think the former is more likely.” Xingqiu responded though his tone conveyed no seriousness, only teasing.
“So.. She lied to you?” Paimon asked, slightly confused.
Gaming was in a similar boat as he paced back and forth, “It’s the most logical answer but.. Why would she lie to me? That’s the part I’m confused about, she wouldn’t lie to me without a serious reason”
“Does this call for an undercover investigation from detective Paimon?” The white-haired fae posed with fake glasses and moustache, that, frankly, seemingly popped out of thin air.
“Aiya-ya-ya, not too hasty Paimon, you’re forgetting one crucial detail.” Hu Tao butted in, peeling the flimsy disguise off of the much smaller girl, “Little Gaming here is a long time friend of our Rattan Weaver, isn’t he?”
“..Well, yeah-”
“So, why not just have him talk to Lan Yan about it, no need to go through all the trouble of investigating, the hard part would simply just be setting them up together if Lan yan is trying to nudge him away.” The brunette explained as Paimon shoved her fake disguise back into archons-knows where it originally came from, awkwardly floating about.
“Uhm… Well, you have a point… Now that Paimon thinks about it, direct confrontation does seem like the most logical route to take..” She spoke, palming the back of her head slightly.
“Yeah? Come on guys, huddle together! You too miss Adepti!” Hu Tao grabbed onto their sleeves to form a circle.
“This is weird.. What if someone walks in?” Chonyun murmured shyly.
“The Wangshen Funeral Parlour’s closed during Lantern Rite as a sign of respect and to give staff time to enjoy the festivities, no one shall walk i-”
“..Miss Hu Tao, I came to ask for your wallet again,” the door snapped open to reveal Zhongli, pausing to awkwardly stare at the seven who were standing in a circle, arms around shoulders and leaning down as if they were about to do a cult experiment. (Shockingly, only two were actually embarrassed, take a wild guess at who)
Hu Tao tutted but it lacked venom, “Aiya, Mister Zhongli, I’ll have to cut next month's salary if you want me to pay for something,” She paused before giggling, fooling nobody in particular, walking over to hand him a red envelope too, wished him a happy Lantern Rite then promptly shoved him out.
“Right, back to the initial plan…”
–
Xiangling always maintained her cheery demeanour no matter the scenario, however, nothing made her happier than cooking; the lovely aroma; the exciting process till the end; the faces of others who love your cooking- it’s all Xiangling could want!
So, Xiangling busied away in the kitchen with a giant grin on her face, serving one customer after another with the same enthusiasm, as if the business didn’t bother her. Seeing people excited for her food made her delighted, doubly so if it was her friends, those people she held dear deep down.
“Here you go! A box of rice buns for takeaway! Happy Lantern Rite!” She waved the previous customer goodbye, in the corner of her eye she noticed someone walking up to the counter, eagerly turning to serve her next customer.
However, her grin didn’t reach the same curve when she saw one particular person, not for the person itself but for the look she could see.
“Welcome to Wanmin Restaurant!- Oh, Lan Yan?” her enthusiastic movement put itself to a halt when she looked at the other.
The rattan weaver eyes remained soft but her expression hinted at a sense of upset, the most evident clue of that was the frown that was blatantly shown on her face.
“Lan Yan? Are you okay?” She tried her best to sound concerned but it was difficult to convey it with the general nature of her voice.
“Hey Xiangling,” she stumbled on her words slightly, masking her initial appearance, “I’m fine, just got a blister again from rattan weaving,” she showed her index finger as proof which, to her credit, did have a blister.
“I thought you were done with it for Lantern Rite?”
“Ah, I sometimes do rattan weaving to calm myself down,” Lan Yan explained though her face made it seem like it slipped out instead, like Xiangling wasn’t supposed to know about it. She shook her head, to dismiss it, so the pyro chef didn’t think about it too much.
Xiangling looked on for a bit before asking, “What would you like?”
“Just a box of rice buns please, for takeaway,” the black-head smiled, though the grin didn’t reach her eyes.
Xiangling walked to the back of the kitchen, drowning out the noise as she began prepping. She was intending on making small talk with Lan Yan during the process like she usually did, perhaps sharing any cooking techniques or ingredients with each other but she had stopped mid track when she saw that the other had begun talking to Hu Tao, walking off somewhere. Xiangling shrugged it off, people walk off to other places when waiting for their orders anyway, they usually either come back or she gives the food to Shenhe to deliver anyway, so Xiangling minded her own business again.
That was, until she heard a knock on the door frame, looking up to see Xingqiu.
“Xingqiu! What brings you here again!”
“Sorry to disrupt you during busy hours Xiangling, There’s a favour that only you can help with,” the dark-cyan head boy murmured quietly, seemingly with the intent of full secrecy.
"You're asking me for a favour?"
"It's more of a 'we' situation, but yes."
Xiangling nodded, she was more than happy to help a good friend after all, leaning forward to allow the bookworm to whisper the favour into her ear, she nodded along as he spoke.
“Got it!” She gave a thumbs up, as Xingqiu quickly scurried away as soon as possible.
Lan Yan walked back to the front of Wanmin a couple minutes later, just as Xiangling popped out of the massive countertop window.
“There you go Lan Yan! One box of rice buns!” the chef gleefully handed the other the disposable bag with her order.
Lan Yan quizzically peered into the bag, “What’s with the extra box..?” She questioned, looking up at the unwavering smile.
“Just some extra honey char siu I had spare, it would’ve gone cold otherwise so you can have them! Free of charge!”
“You don’t have to..”
“I insist!” Xiangling quickly replied, shutting down the argument instantly.
The blackhead chuckled, “Well.. If you say so, though, I would have assumed these would sell out fast, I thought they were quite popular among costumers..”
“Mm.. They’re popular, like everything on the menu, but not as hard hitting as the others! most customers here right now are having crystal shrimp or the jeuyun chicken!”
“..Ah, you’re right ..How come I thought of that then?”
“Maybe something reminded you of them?” the chef suggested lightheartedly, though, in Lan Yan’s head, every time she thought of char siu, one person always came to mind.
However long it has been since she began associating the dish with Gaming, she doesn’t know. Aside from the fact it was the food-lovers' all time favourite thing to eat, the honey of the char siu did make it sweet, just like him.
“Archons.. That was the most cliche thing ever?!”
Lan Yan began to fluster a bit, which was even more embarrassing as she was doing this in public, and in front of Xiangling too- quickly ducking her head down to try and make the thought in her head at the very least not bother her too much.
“That might be it- a-anyways.. Thanks for the extra Xiangling, happy Lantern Rite!” she quickly bounced away.
Lan Yan paced around the bustling streets of Liyue Harbour, mini stalls filled the place with festive exclusive items that filled the space with a sea of red and gold shimmers.
Her head tilted down to look at her food again, contemplating, char siu should not have given her that strong of a reaction as it did.
Gaming, her childhood friend, the one person she met when they were little. The one person she can’t imagine her entire life without, quite literally, they know so much about each other but these past couple weeks have been odd.
She already had a slight tightly-knotted feeling in her body long ago, but it was something she was able to ignore but recently, everything seemed to circle back to the lion dancer.
Traversing the carved mountains in Chenyu Vale were as strikingly bold as his personality; passing by the calm, serene rivers that flowed through Qiaoying village were as beautiful as he was; and even when spending all-nighters doing rattan weaving, the splinters, would remind her of Gaming’s worries when she was reckless with her health.
It became impossible to ignore, the attempts at distracting herself only seemed to intensify that sensation. She couldn’t stop herself from jumping every time he spoke, every time she saw him. It felt weird.
She was hesitant to tell him, truth be told. She just didn’t want to make him deal with her problems, which in her mind was initially supposed to just be a minor issue that would remedy itself but it’d been several weeks of trying to avoid him, making up excuses of being busy and trying to ignore how everything felt tighter around him.
And the worst part was how awful she felt. She hated lying, it felt worse when she was lying to her own childhood friend to purposefully ignore him, not tell him the truth that she couldn’t understand.
The uncomfortable feeling whenever he was around immediately washed over and replaced itself with how miserable she felt deep down, she liked his presence in her life, looked forward to it even. It had only been a couple weeks, but Lan Yan’s mind kept longing itself to just talk to the Lion dancer again.
How desperately she wanted to just spill everything out, however, there was an inexplicable sense of dread that coursed through her.
Lan Yan snapped back to reality as her eyes focused on someone in the distance, Yun Jin, Gaming had told her before how much the opera singer had inspired him when it came to lion dancing, and she understood that fully. Yun Jin was one of the most talented artists in Liyue Harbour.
She always pushed him to talk to her, gain some further ideas or inspiration, Gaming always refused though and it had always puzzled her.
The lion dancer speaks of praise for the renowned singer so much and it led to Lan Yan imagining the two as a couple multiple times, though, the first time she brought it up, he seemed uncomfortable, not a flustered uncomfortable just an awkward discomfort, she decided to never bring it up again, but the question lingered in her mind.
Now that she had thought about it, what kind of people were Gaming’s type? She’s tried to tease matchmaking to him before but he always seemed disinterested, in the most polite way possible, having had spent enough time contemplating, she began walking up to the stall Yun Jin stood in front of.
“Yun Jin! Nice to see you again!” Lan Yan peered over at what was being sold in the stall, kites, usually bought by children to play with before the fireworks went off.
The opera singer faced her with a gentle smile, “Hello Lan Yan, have you come to buy a kite?”
“Ah, not at all, I was just looking to see what you were up to, but.. Now that you asked,” trailing off to eye the kites, Lan Yan smiled wholly, “I might.”
Yun Jin chuckled, her hand reached down to grab a kite to present to her, “I have the perfect one for you..” a slight grin formed on her face, “Here, I know birds are more your style, but nothing can go wrong with trying a different thing.”
It was a lion, dotted with Lantern Rite colours of red and gold with subtle hints of a dark teal-green. Though Lan Yan had to question how this suspiciously looked like Gaming- she’s been getting a lot of reminders about him today, was this fate pulling her threads or were the others somehow doing this on purpose? It seemed ridiculous, it was just happenstance.
Still, Lan Yan happily accepted the kit, mere coincidences is what she deduced it to, red, gold and green were celebratory colours during Lantern Rite.
“Thanks, Yun Jin, it’s really nice..”
“Do you want to pick out a kite for me?”
Lan Yan hummed as she skimmed the various designs before landing on one, pointing at it, a teal coloured swallow, who saw that coming. Lan Yan felt herself smirking cheekily as Yun Jin laughed.
Both of them observed the sky to find a free spot, eventually securing one to release their kites. Lan Yan admired the design that seemed to shine in the sky before she opened her mouth.
“Say.. Do you know Gaming?”
“The Wushou dancer? I’d be living under a rock if I haven’t, I’ve known him since that performance he did in front of the whole of Liyue, it was a beautiful sight to witness firsthand..”
“He finds you really inspiring, you know?” Lan Yan muttered though she wasn’t sure if the quietness was just in case someone else overheard or if she just found it difficult to admit to her face.
“I’m very honoured to be such an inspiration for him..” the opera singer’s tone remained polite and soft-spoken, hands fixated on the string of the kite.
“...He spoke about you a handful of times in the past, when he said he wanted to be a Wushou dancer, I honestly wondered if he liked you,” Lan Yan heard what sounded like a repressed giggle, but she didn’t turn around to seek an answer.
Yun Jin responded back but in such a different way that it stood out sorely, “I can assure you with absolute confidence Miss Lan Yan, his heart has always belonged to one person and it’s not me.”
Lan Yan’s pupils darted like deer in headlights, “W-wait- you know who he likes? How come-?” Suddenly the wind picked up, strong, the string slipped out of her hands as it began quickly flying to a certain direction as if it had a destination to get to.
Surprisingly, Yun Jin’s hand still remained firmly on the handle as she spoke again.
“Chase after the lion, you’ll get all your answers there” was all she said, nudging the rattan weaver to chase after the blown away kite and so she did.
Rapidly skirting and dashing over the wooden floors that transitioned to concrete, head glued up high at the kite, it was fast, too fast. She tried to use her anemo vision to help speed her but the kite seemed to get impossibly faster- this couldn’t be the winds doing can it?
Unfortunately, the kit got out of her sight, landing somewhere not far from where she stood, heaving a little before regaining her breath, walking towards where the kite landed and-
–
“Are you sure about this?” Gamin spoke with some uncertainty.
“Of course, one's very much confident of the abilities one possess’,”Xianyun self-assuringly answered back, lifting up her glasses again.
“You got this big brother Gaming!” Shuyu cheered on, as everyone got into position.
All Gaming had to do at this point was stay still, admire the scenic view and try and calm down his breathing slightly, he always worked well under pressure but it wasn’t as if anxiety and worry never got to him before. He was always the outspoken “Rebellious kid” as Lan Yan would put it, between the two of them, that’s the whole reason he became a lion dancer.
Confessing wasn’t the hard part, no, the worry that panged loudly in his chest was how his childhood friend would react, if she didn’t feel the same, he was okay with but if she had distanced herself from him because he might’ve unknowingly made her uncomfortable, then this whole set up might drive her further away. That, in itself, wasn’t a nice feeling to him.
Suddenly, Gaming felt the wind pick up in intensity, his eyes pinned to the sky, as he saw a certain kite come into view, watching the wind slowly drop the tethered heavier-than-air item delicately in front of him. He crouched down to pick it up, standing up to observe it briefly before a voice ripped his attention away from it.
–
Lan Yan called out, “Sorry for interrupting! I lost control of my kite and I came to find-” she halted, her heart pounded, her mouth ran dry as she couldn’t take her eyes off him. It was odd how she actively tried to avoid him before yet, when confronted with the lion dancer right in front of her, he was absolutely alluring.
“Hey, Lan Yan,” just the way Gaming softly uttered her name. She couldn’t help but step closer.
Gaming turned his head to face the starry sky, various kite designs flew above the busy harbour, the stars in the back twinkled, a mesmerising scene, though, if you asked him, it wasn’t as beautiful as the view next to him. His hand rested on the wooden railguard, noticing how the rattan weaver next to him had undivided her attention on the view he initially observed before. It was then, Gaming decided, to simply let his heart speak instead of his head.
“..The moon’s very beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” His voice softened in a tone Lan Yan never heard before, retaining his local accent but everything around it alluded to a hidden message, it was then, she realised, recalling what Xingqiu had told them in an off handed comment when rambling about literature tropes.
Lan Yan’s heart raced rapidly, heat crept up from her neck to her cheek. This sudden revelation, it clicked with a satisfying snap in her head, why she was so unlike herself, why everything reminded her of him, and Yun Jin’s comment. Was she the reason Gaming never showed romantic interest to other people? And was he the same reason she didn’t either?
Gaming rubbed the back of his neck, his chuckle was slightly nervous, “Sorry, I.. Uh, meant that I.. Well, like you in a romantic manner.. I’ve been borrowing too many of Xingqiu’s books..”
Lan Yan her heartbeat ringing in her ears like jingling bells. How she felt, perhaps? This wasn’t a grand dream conjured up by her fantasy was it? No, no, this felt real. This was real, she just hadn’t let that reality soak into her head but it had also slowly begun melting her heart. Though the more silence that followed, the more increasingly agitated the boy got. What was the line Xingqiu said again?
Gaming had dreaded this, if Lan Yan didn’t respond soon, he wasn’t sure how he could cope with this memory permanently etched into his head, and not in a positive way either. More like if he was deceived into eating something that looked like chicken but actually tasted like fish sort of upset. Gaming closed his eyes, preparing for the worst to come before he felt an odd warmth on the hand that rested on the guardrail, his eyelids fluttered open and he was met with Lan Yan again, the wind blowing around her as if nature wanted to preserve her beauty too, no adeptal magic needed.
Lan Yan’s eyes sparkled, her lavender shaded eyes with the speck of light green that Gaming always found fascinating looked right at his own hazel eyes. Her smile was as gentle as ever. Caught so far into her stare he didn’t notice when she finally responded.
“..The wind is also as gentle as ever,” Gaming’s eyes widened as the girl slipped her hand around his, he non-verbally reciprocated the touch, however, he too preoccupied focusing on her words, “It means, ‘I love you too’, I’ve listened to Xingqiu’s rambling” she whispered softly, as if those words were for him and only him to hear.
Fireworks blasted off in the distance, shooting up and bursting the night sky with thousands of sparkling colours but the two from Chenyu Vale only had their eyes on each other.
“You.. Really mean it?” Gaming breathed out, though a smile was already on his face, coupled together with his blush.
The rattan weaver grinned, giggling at him, “Of course I do, do you want to hear it again?” She lightly teased as if they were still just “childhood friends”, as if even if they were something more or remained friends, they’d still happily stand by each other's side, through every life event; accomplishment; and any-and-all highs and lows they faced.
Gaming’s features soften further, his smile still radiating the usual energetic warmth he wore daily.
“No need, if you said it again I might have this memory stuck in my head forever,” he joked but tone conveyed sincerity, “Happy Lantern Rite, Lan Yan,” he muttered under his breath, his hand tightened slightly around the anemo girl, though mindful to still have the touch remain soft.
“..Happy Lantern Rite, Gaming,” Lan Yan answered back as clear as the rivers of Chenyu Vale, the silver jewelleries that she adorned rang like bells softly in a tranquil forest. The fireworks, now long gone, were replaced with the sight of lanterns being lifted and carried into the wind.
“Ah, they’re flying the Xiao lanterns now.. I forgot to buy one..” She muttered disappointingly. However this initial disposition was soon gone when Gaming showcased his.
“Lucky I have mine then, so, shall we set it off together?” he gestured the lantern in between the two of them, eagerly waiting for the other to accept, and he got his answer when her hands held the other side of the lantern, the light inside flickering slightly as they slowly lifted their arms together in sync, as the wind picked up the lantern itself to let it fly away.
The two of them managed to slip closer to each other, arms entwined and leaning towards each other as they continued to admire everything in front of them.
Lan yan then suddenly became aware that she still had the bag of food in her hand, “Ah, wait, I have some honey char siu from Xiangling, do you want them? They’re still hot,” she offered.
Gaming’s eyes sparkled in the type of shine he’d get when food was in the equation, “Absolutely! But, eating food’s better with other people, right?”
Lan Yan’s ears reddened slightly, as her hand reached for the box, smiling as the delicious savoury smell escaped from the tub, “Right,” she agreed.
–
In the not-so-far distance, atop a higher platform, the Liyue friend group cheered silently as they enjoyed the festivity themselves, as they also began lifting their lanterns to the air.
“Yes! They did it!” Xiangling clapped her hands together and jumped slightly in joyous celebration, watching as Xingqiu released his sky-lantern.
“One thinks we all did an excellent job,” Xianyun exclaimed in as neutral of a tone as she could, though, anyone could tell she was also happy.
“Hehe, told you my plan would work!” Hu Tao laughed
“Paimon still can’t believe you managed to rope Yun Jin into this!” The fae almost spoke with awe, “How did you know the events would play out like that anyway?” She began quizzing, hand on her chin.
Hu Tao then spoke in a hushed tone, “You want to know how?” She took a long silence before she answered, “I didn’t,” The funeral director smiled.
“Wh- so this was all luck and happenstance?! And you made Paimon think you were some kind of genius mastermind!” Paimon began ranting again, only being silenced by the Traveler’s promise of treating Paimon, and by extension everyone, to an afterparty meal at Xinyue Kiosk.
“I do feel happy though,” Chongyun admitted, “I feel accomplished having helped two of my friends get together, it makes this Lantern Rite more special than the other ones I had previously..”
“I agree!” Xiangling nodded, “Plus I got to cook more! When you asked me to do something that would remind Lan Yan of Gaming, Xingqiu, it was a walk in the park! Char siu has always been Gaming’s favourite food, he talks about it constantly and Lan Yan would know this about him very well!”
Xingqiu grinned, “A chef with passion can know a lot about their customer from food alone, you were the perfect person to start it off.”
“Speaking of food.. Why don't we do that afterparty now, we can get Lan Yan and Gaming, and applaud ourselves then!” Paimon exclaimed, everyone looked at her. “What? Okay, Paimon’s a little hungry but still, Paimon was promised an afterparty!”
“That’s my mora you’re spending talking about Paimon,” Traveler spoke, “But, we should get those two now, do you want to join us Xianyun?” He extended the offer to the bird adeptus.
“One will be spending the festivities with her disciples now though the offering is appreciated. May we meet each other again at the next Lantern Rite,” Xianyun responded, giving a subtle goodbye before walking away.
“Come on guys,” Hu tao called on, already making her way down the steps, “Let’s get those two new lovebirds!”