Gege ai ni! {MDZS Chatfic}

30｜Offline

【Wednesday, April 11】

Lan Xichen found Jiang Cheng sitting on the laundry machine with his legs hanging over. It somehow reminded him of his uncle's cat, the one that likes to sit on Roomba vacuums. It was adorable. The dryer hummed beneath him and the boy looked deep in thought.

Their clothes were being tumbled dry- or rather Jiang Cheng's was. They were in Lan Xichen's apartment and the older went to change his drenched clothes and he also gave Jiang Cheng something to wear while his clothes were being dried. It was a grey sweater and maybe that was why it made Lan Xichen think of a cat. Jiang Cheng's shorts didn't really get wet and by the time they pulled up in front of Lan Xichen's apartment, it was dried so he was still wearing them. Their little escape to Lan Xichen's car went smoothly although Jiang Cheng swore that Meng Yao had noticed a disturbance in the rain-soaked air.

Lan Xichen cleared his throat, getting Jiang Cheng's attention. He walked over and handed him a glass of water. Leaning back against the wall, he didn't know what to say. Neither did Jiang Cheng, who quietly took a sip of water and then choked.

"*COUGH* *COUGH* ahem- *COFF*" Jiang Cheng wheezed, nearly spilling water all over himself. Letting out one extra rough cough and he felt like he had ruptured his lungs.

Shocked, Lan Xichen quickly moved to pat him on the back, he didn't know what to do- he can't tell the younger to 'have some water' if he was choking on it! Taking the glass from Jiang Cheng, he smoothed the younger's back, thinking he'd probably touched Jiang Cheng way more than he was supposed to in the past few hours. It wasn't his fault though, considering the circumstances.

Jiang Cheng's coughing eased and Lan Xichen asked gently, "Are you alright?" Jiang Cheng was reminding him of another one of his uncle's cats (he has three), the one that sometimes coughs out hairballs and you'll need to stroke them on the back afterward or else they'll pretend to have died from excessive coughing. Lan Xichen's eyebrows furrowed slightly, okay, maybe he should stop comparing Wanyin to his uncle's cats.

Jiang Cheng nodded, letting out a quieter cough, and took a deep breath and swallowed. He said thickly, wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, "Are... are you alright?"

Lan Xichen blinked, me? He seemed to be asking.

Jiang Cheng stared at him for a moment and then let out a hiccup.

"..."

"*hic*"

Lan Xichen handed him the glass of water. 

"Don't choke this time," Lan Xichen said worriedly.

"I won't." Jiang Cheng was embarrassed. He shut his eyes and drank the whole glass. Lan Xichen took it back when he finished and set it on the dryer, beside Jiang Cheng. They waited for a moment and Jiang Cheng seemed to be back in a normal state.

Jiang Cheng looked at Lan Xichen and asked again, this time without interference, "Um- Xichen-ge, are you alright?"

Lan Xichen smiled, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, your best friends are going abroad," Jiang Cheng said, fidgeting his hands on his lap.

"They are," Lan Xichen replied in a collective tone.