Camp Crush! (Modern!Xingqiu/Vampire!Chongyun) [COMPLETED]

Act 5: Day Boy

The sun pierced through the dorm's window, pulling Xingqiu out of his sleep. He tried to roll over but the noise stopped him from sinking back into dreamland. It seemed most of the others were already up, getting dressed and ready for a new day of camp. Xiangling hopped down from the top bunk and started shaking him.
"Xingqiu! Wakey wakey~"

The boy hid his head under his blankets.
"I'm not home right now, please leave a message after the beep. Beep."

Xiangling sighed dramatically.
"Alright, guess we'll have to wait and see what Childe comes up with when he sees you're still asleep."

"Okay, okay, i'll get up."
He raised his head to look at her with his tired eyes.
"See? I'm awake."

He drowsily got ready for the day, thoughts deep in last night's events. Breakfast rushed past him and before he knew it he found himself in front of a canvas.

He jumped when Albedo spoke from behind him.
"Xingqiu, why haven't you painted anything?"

He dropped his paintbrush in surprise and hurried to pick it up.
"S-sorry! I've just been distracted is all."

Albedo let out a calm sigh.
"You've been staring at a blank canvas for fifteen minutes. Why don't you try to paint your distraction? That way you can think about it productively."

Xingqiu nodded at the advice.
"That's a good idea, i should do that."

He picked his colors carefully. Black for the clothes, a light blue for the eyes and hair, and a single dot of white for the yin charm. About an hour later Albedo stood behind him again, observing his work. He spoke with an empty tone that didn't match his words at all. Xingqiu had realized that was just what he sounded like, and he meant nothing by it.
"Beautiful. You've captured his sadness perfectly. Did you base this on anyone, or did you make him up yourself?"

"Just someone i met once, i barely know him."

Albedo inspected the details.
"This necklace, does it symbolize something?"

"It's yin. It's negative energy, darkness. You'd wear it for balance. That's why i'm so intrigued, someone so sad would be wearing yang."

"Hm, an interesting conundrum."
Albedo seemed satisfied with Xingqiu's work. He did a quick look around before ending the painting session.

Xingqiu took the chance to walk around too. Xiangling painted food, Xinyan painted a violent explosion with many colors, Barbara had birds, Amber had Baron Bunny (her teddybear), and Sucrose had intricately painted every single petal within two meters of her sitting spot.

Albedo's work was the weirdest. He'd sketched a moose but only painted half of it. The detail in the painted part was impressively beautiful, but you could easily see where he lost interest. Xingqiu hadn't expected someone so calm to have such a short attention span.

Were there moose here? or was the plural of moose "meese". He grinned at his own joke, then wondered what animals Chongyun might've seen out there. He should ask him next time.

---

Night time was nerve wrecking. Xingqiu felt his heart pound in his chest as he snuck out of the dorms. He waited just outside the window of the abandoned boy's dorm once he heard Childe and Albedo had finished tonight's attempt at trying to fix it up.

"Hey."

"Eep!-"
Xingqiu hadn't seen or heard Chongyun approach. He couldn't help himself jump up in surprise.

Chongyun pounced back, ready to defend himself. Realizing his mistake, Xingqiu did his best to reassure him.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't know you were here already, you startled me.'

Chongyun tried to relax.
"...I apologize."

Silence was last thing Xingqiu wanted, he had to keep the conversation going.
"So... what do you do all day?"

"I sleep."

Okay, not much of a conversation starter.
"What do you do all night, then?"

Chongyun looked away.
"I... eat. i read sometimes, i take books when people aren't looking."

"Glad to see you have good taste!"
Xingqiu chuckled.
"I read a lot too, but i've been more into writing lately."

"What do you write?"

"Oh all sorts of stuff! I'm here on a talent camp to get some inspiration."
And he'd found it. One question lingered on his mind.
"How do you survive in the woods by yourself?"

"I'm strong."
He didn't sound very proud about it.

"What do you eat?"

When Chongyun looked away, the moonlight hit his face just right. Until now, Xingqiu hadn't realized how pretty he was. His skin was shiny and smooth, like a statue. He was almost unnaturally perfect. Xingqiu was pulled out of his thoughts when Chongyun gave him an answer he didn't expect.
"I hunt animals."

"Wait wait wait, you hunt? How?"

The strange boy shook his head.
"It's dangerous, i shouldn't even be here."

Xingqiu was losing his patience. Such a well of mystery, and he was being fed crumbs.
"Can you at least explain to me what you mean by that? You keep saying you're dangerous but i have no reason to believe that."

A sad glare.
"I doubt you'd believe me if i did explain."

"Try me."
If there's one thing Xingqiu was known for, it was his stubbornness.

Chongyun looked him dead in the eyes and spoke.
"I'm a vampire."

Xingqiu had to hold back an instinctual laugh. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't believe it one bit.
"Riiight. Can you prove it?"

Chongyun blinked at Xingqiu's neck before turning away and getting up.
"You don't want that."

It took the aspiring author a second to catch on.
"Not like that! i mean show your fangs or how fast you can move or whatever else vampires do."

"You're mocking me."
Chongyun crossed his arms.

"Well you have to admit it's a stretch. If vampires were real, wouldn't we have known by now? It would be kind of a big deal."

Chongyun squinted.
"What do you know about vampires?"

Xingqiu had to think for a moment. He'd read his fair amount of romance novels and knew quite a lot.
"They drink blood, burn in the sun, they turn into bats, they turn other people into vampires-"

Chongyun interupted him.
"Ridiculous. Only that first one is true. Who told you these lies?"

"... movies and books?"

"Well they're wrong. Vampires aren't made, they're born. And only if they're really unlucky."

Xingqiu tried to ignore how depressing that statement must be for a vampire to make.
"Then what are vampires?"

Chongyun sat down again, still a distance away.
"My family are exorcists. My mother was cursed by a powerful demon before she could destroy it. She was pregnant."

"Oh..."
How do you respond to that?

A couple minutes passed before Xingqiu yawned. Chongyun broke the silence.
"It's getting late. You should go sleep."

Xingqiu didn't like to admit it, but he was right.
"Will you be here tomorrow?"

The boy nodded, got up, and disappeared before his eyes.