Everything You Do
...is beautiful
...is right
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 全职高手 | The King's Avatar (Cartoon), 全职高手 - 蝴蝶蓝 | Quánzhí Gāoshǒu - Húdié Lán
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Sūn Xiáng/Qiū Fēi
Characters: Qiū Fēi, Sūn Xiáng
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, set after canon, er xiang is er xiang, Oneshot, no beta we die like men
Series: Part 4 of 2018 QZGS Rarepair Collection
Notes:Prompt Fill for QZGS Rarepair Week 2018:
Day 4: cooking / thunderstorm / battlefield
What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Groaning, Sun Xiang stretched, trying to work out all the kinks that had burrowed into his back during the several hours of non-stop gaming he had just done. A glance outside showed that the heavy pattering of rain was not his imagination—a thunderstorm had rolled in sometime earlier, which made sense considering it was plum rain season. He rolled his neck, his light brown bangs flopping into his face with the motion, though a quick blow settled them back out of his way.
Where was he? Sun Xiang frowned. It was past seven, and a train ride from Hangzhou to Shanghai shouldn't take that long, an hour at most if he remembered correctly?
He looked outside again, worry filling his eyes. Was he caught in the thunderstorm? Wouldn't I have gotten a text if he had?
Sun Xiang blinked then. Now that he thought about it, where was his phone? He swept his gaze across the table, not spotting the sleek gold-accented black phone at all. Instead, there was the toy plush he got from when he was with Conquering Clouds, seated right beside his monitor; the tall mug of black tea that had probably cooled down hours ago; several protein bar wrappers, since it was summer and he couldn't be bothered to order food; yet not a black rectangular device in sight.
Brown eyes widened in horror. Did he call and I missed it? Is he out there waiting for me?
Sun Xiang sprung out of his chair and dashed into his bedroom, stumbling over a power cord or two on the way. He was like a colt on newborn legs, each step too powerful or too weak. Finally, he made it to his room, just down the hall, in one piece.
Laying there, on the bedside table, was his phone, innocently charging as it had been all morning—especially since Sun Xiang had woken up late because it died sometime during the night, causing the series of wake-up alarms he had set to not go off. He really should have plugged it in, even if he spent several hours texting instead of going to sleep like he had planned.
He didn't mean to! It was just that…
Sun Xiang shook his head, scattering those thoughts from his mind. He nearly yanked the phone cord in his haste for his phone, though he remembered to be careful since he didn't want to replace the cord for the third time that year alone.
A glance at the lit-up screen showed a handful of new messages, most of which he ignored completely for a set from one contact.
「 Just left Hangzhou, will be there soon. — 16:30」
「 Here, it seems like a nice day out, a bit cloudy and sunless; planning to walk from the station to your apartment. — 18:10 」
「 Senior Xiang, are you there? Huh, seems like you're busy playing Glory right now? You're not replying. Well, I won't bother you on QQ and break your focus. I'll be there in probably half an hour, give or take ten. — 18:17 」
Last message sent 44 minutes ago.
Sun Xiang tossed his phone onto the bed and went to grab a rain jacket from his closet, randomly pulling out the dark green one and slipping it on. Shoving his phone into his pocket as well as his keys, he sprinted toward the doorway, accidentally slamming his elbow into the frame as he passed by.
The slight pain radiating from his elbow told him that it would most likely bruise, but that wasn't important right now.
What was important was his lover currently out there, in a Shanghai thunderstorm, without any protection from the weather. The storm had rolled in out of nowhere, after all. He had invited the other over this weekend precisely because there were no storms forecasted, but it seemed like he inherited Zhang Jiale's luck all of a sudden. It was supposed to be stormless for the next week, yet the day he invited Qiu Fei over, a torrential rain poured down from the sky.
He jammed his feet into his shoes, inwardly cursing when he realized he had tied the laces tight and hadn't bothered loosening them when he had taken them off last time. Squeezing his feet inside, ignoring how the back of the running shoes were crushed beneath his heels, he slammed the front door open and close, grabbing the umbrella on the way out.
Taking the stairs two or three steps at a time, his calves burned from the exercise, the slight ding of the elevator ringing out from above and behind him. He didn't care; it would have taken too long to wait for the elevator, too long to reach the ground level.
The last four or so steps of the stairway, Sun Xiang leapt over, skidding to a stop on the ground before running toward the front doors. Whispers erupted behind him, but he paid it no mind. He slammed a palm against the door and pushed it open, sprinting out without even opening his umbrella.
Sun Xiang got drenched instantly the moment he stepped outside, but that didn't matter to him right now.
Right now, his lover was somewhere out on the streets, soaked to the bones, liable to get pneumonia with how bad the storm was. Qiu Fei was tiny in comparison, a good nine centimeters shorter. If Sun Xiang could catch a cold from a minor shower last week—which Qiu Fei had a good laugh about considering Sun Xiang had previously claimed that he didn't get sick—then how poorly would Qiu Fei's immune system fair when dealing with a thunderstorm—dealing with one completely unprepared?
Sun Xiang didn't want to even contemplate such an avenue, his steps quickening, slipping and sliding on the wet pavement. He took care to avoid the headlights, staying close to the buildings. It was too dangerous to be running in such weather, but Qiu Fei.
Which way is the fastest to the station? Wait, no, which way will Xiao Fei take?
A nice day out meant that he would choose the scenic path, wouldn't he? The one that meandered through the nearby park?
Sun Xiang felt water splash his jeans, sending chills through his body from how damn cold it was. He was already well on his way to looking like a drowned rat, but the adrenaline had been allowing him to ignore the wind chilling his skin a clammy white until that moment. Shivering, he forced himself to continue, relying on the created body heat to stave off the urge to curl up into a ball and blast the heater on high.
He took a sharp turn around the next corner, nearly sending himself headfirst into a storefront when his foot landed in a puddle instead of on slick pavement. He used his right hand to brace himself against the nearest brick wall, wincing when he felt his skin tear against the rough stone. That was not going to be fun treating later. Luckily, he healed quickly, so it should be all right by the time the upcoming season rolled around.
He was so going to get a lecture from Qiu Fei about taking care of himself after this. Sun Xiang grimaced and kept on running, his mind operating on instinct because he had taken this route so many times before. Blood began seeping down his fingers, the rain stinging the scrapes on his palm, but his legs never stopped moving. Pain was the last thing on his mind now.
Then, he heard his phone ring from inside his pocket. He skidded to a stop right in front of the stoplight, panting harshly for breath. He glanced around, looking for shelter, but then simply gave up and accepted the call right then and there, hoping the waterproof claim from the phone brand was true.
"Xiao Fei! Where are you!?" Sun Xiang nearly screamed into the phone, voice cracking and all.
"Uh...Senior Xiang, where are you? I'm in front of your apartment." Qiu Fei sounded confused, but he also sounded alive and well and not dead in a ditch like in the day nightmares Sun Xiang's mind had been conjuring up.
"S–stay...right...the–re…" Sun Xiang breathed out. "Stay on the line, I'll, I'll be right there…"
He was hunched over now, struggling to breathe and muster enough energy to run back, run back the kilometer and a half he just traveled, but the thought of Qiu Fei, unprepared for the thunderstorm Qiu Fei, standing in front of his apartment, water dripping off his body… Sun Xiang miraculously summoned up his reserves to begin sprinting—read taking long strides—back the way he came.
His lungs burned like a goddamn motherfucker, but Qiu Fei remained in the forefront of his mind; that was all it took for him to keep on moving, to not let the cold and rain and the very loud claps of thunder he could now hear impede him in his goal of making sure Qiu Fei was all right.
A kilometer and a half never seemed so long before, each passing second feeling like a year, his heart racing faster than it did when he first confessed to Qiu Fei.
His hands felt numb by this point, his legs slowly down against his wishes. Still, he kept on moving. His eyes were half-lidded, the rain blinding him and leaving him incapable of seeing more than ten—no, five, meters ahead.
He barely avoided the other pedestrians on the street, his jacket flapping behind him as he weaved and ducked through traffic. His umbrella was long gone, probably dropped back at the stoplight or somewhere along the way. Only his phone remained in his possession, the handheld device tightly gripped to the point where his clammy skin became a starker white at the knuckles. The rain was lighter now, the thunderstorm perhaps moving away, but there was still barely any light out that evening other than the dimly lit lamplights. His soggy shoes slapped against the pavement, each step ringing as loud as those thunderclaps earlier.
Finally, finally, he reached his apartment building and pushed open the door to the lobby. He drew gazes with his downtrodden appearance, but he paid them no mind. With weary eyes, Sun Xiang eyed the staircase he had taken earlier before slowly padding over toward the elevator, too tired, too drained, too exhausted to muster up the extra effort.
Ding—
He walked into the elevator and then slumped against the wall, trying to catch his breath for the first time in the last ten–fifteen minutes. With trembling fingers—either from the cold or the adrenaline leaving his body, he didn't know—Sun Xiang pressed the button for his floor and then settled back against the wall, his chest rising and falling slowly.
His eyes began closing unknowingly. When the elevator dinged a second time, signalling his arrival, Sun Xiang jerked back into awareness, shaking his head to wake himself up and thus sending water everywhere like a shaggy dog. Rolling his neck and blinking tiredly, he exited the elevator and began making his way down the hall and around the corner to his apartment.
When he got there, he blinked once, then twice.
"Xiao Fei, what is that?" He stepped closer to take a look, peering into the bundle within Qiu Fei's hand.
The younger teen glanced up and took in his boyfriend, staring when he realized that Sun Xiang had practically brought along enough water to fill up a small pond. "Let's get inside first," Qiu Fei suggested, worry seeping into his voice.
"Ah, right. Keys, uh.." Sun Xiang began rummaging through his jacket only to come up empty. A search through his soaked jeans, and after some hassle, resulted in an overturned pocket as well as a ring of keys. It took some finangling to open the door, but he managed. Hearing a stifled laugh come from Qiu Fei, Sun Xiang suppressed a smile and allowed the other to enter in first.
"Let me get you a towel," he said, shucking off his rain jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.
"Might want to get yourself a shower first," Qiu Fei remarked. "I'm not as wet as you are."
Qiu Fei was right. Compared to Sun Xiang, he looked as if he had simply walked through some sprinklers.
Sun Xiang opened his mouth to reply and then closed it, unable to find words to accurately summarize his thoughts at the moment. With a sigh, he headed toward the bathroom and then emerged with two towels, one for himself and one for Qiu Fei.
When he handed it over, however, Qiu Fei unbundled his precious cargo and revealed an unconscious bedraggled kitten, damp fur sticking up in every direction.
"I found him on the way back, seeking shelter beneath a cardboard box flap in an alleyway. I just couldn't leave him there," Qiu Fei explained softly as he carefully ran the towel over the kitten's fur, each press and stroke gradually making the kitten presentable and dry. Qiu Fei continued doing so for the next few minutes, while only silence came from Sun Xiang. Then, something dropped on his head, white fluffy cotton blocking his vision.
"Here," Sun Xiang grumbled, though there was no harsh feelings behind his words. He had quickly left to change out of his wet clothes and into a tee and sweats, grabbing a couple more towels while he was at it.
Qiu Fei pulled off the towel covering his head and blinked owlishly at Sun Xiang, silently asking him what he was doing, to which Sun Xiang only looked away, his ears slightly red. Examining the other quietly for a moment, Qiu Fei seemed to have reached a conclusion and went back to towel-drying the kitten. Moments passed before Sun Xiang sat down next to him on the couch and used another towel to help, his movements gentle.
A handful of minutes later, the kitten was left snoozing on a dry, fluffy towel. Sun Xiang stood up and went to pile the used towels into a bag to take to the laundry room downstairs. Qiu Fei remained behind on the couch, still a bit damp but content in watching the kitten sleep away his troubles.
Sun Xiang stopped at the doorway, unable to tear his eyes away from this scene, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of Qiu Fei cuddling a sleeping kitten, eyes tender and looking so much like home.
"Move in with me," he breathed out.
Silence.
"Wait, no, I mean, not immediately, but in the future? After...after I or you retire, or if you ever come to Shanghai, you know you have a place here, and, and…" Sun Xiang's lips became otherwise occupied, Qiu Fei having stood up and settled the kitten securely on the couch before tugging Sun Xiang down by the collar into a kiss.
When Qiu Fei finally released him from the kiss, a rare, impish smile adorned the slighter teen's face. "Convince me," was all Qiu Fei said before pulling Sun Xiang back down for another kiss.
(Qiu Fei did end up moving in with Sun Xiang in the future, staying for mainly the breaks before returning to Hangzhou, as he was still the captain of New Excellent Era. The new domestic side to the relationship did little to affect the inherent rivalry between all the professional teams, especially the one that sprouted between New Excellent Era and Samsara.)
(Sun Xiang did catch a cold, quite a harsh one, after his foray into the stormy night in search of his not-lost-at-all lover. Qiu Fei continued to hold it over his head forever, even as he tended to his bed-ridden boyfriend.
Later, after Sun Xiang had recovered—
"Why didn't you just call or text me?"
"...I forgot."
"You idiot." Qiu Fei drops a kiss onto Sun Xiang's brow and then goes to go warm up a baby bottle of milk for the kitten, as well as grabbing some Six Walnuts for his boyfriend.
"Your idiot," is all Sun Xiang murmurs as he sneaks up behind Qiu Fei and embraces him at the waist.
"Of course you're mine," Qiu Fei shamelessly confirms. He did study under Ye Xiu for many years, after all. What is his, he takes without a trace of hesitation.)
(They named the kitten Xiao Xing—little star. When Qiu Fei asked why, as Sun Xiang had decided on the name, Sun Xiang simply mumbled something about how the precocious kitten reminded him of Qiu Fei.
Qiu Fei would always be the brightest star in Sun Xiang's sky, ever since that fateful match during the Challenger's League. Qiu Fei was more than his shadow; he was Sun Xiang's other half, his better half.)
(It was Qiu Fei who proposed in the future.
Sun Xiang would like to state that he had been planning to propose sometime soon; however, he had also bought a ring several months ago only to be too chicken to pop the question.
Qiu Fei, getting impatient, did it himself.
On stage.
Live.
On national television.
After trouncing Sun Xiang and the rest of Samsara and claiming the championship with New Excellent Era.
Yes, he did propose with the Championship Ring—what better use was there for it? Decoration?)
All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you
【You and Me】 — Lifehouse
Crossposted on AO3 under MTKiseki