#fam I promise the spicy lemons are coming I promise ok?

[randomingoftherandomness]

Fic: worth it, only for you (Qiubing)

A/N: @xinyuehui @snicker-doodles

—

“I know you’re awake, so you can stop pretending.”

Li Bing had dismissed the servants he had hired just to care for the good General. Going as far as to tell Chen Shi that he should join the others for Mingjing Hall for the festivities in the city. The man had hesitated only long enough for the others to grab him by the neck, bowing only long enough for the wind to carry their hurried thanks while they hurry to the door.

It was amusing, to say the least. But more than letting them have a bit of time off to enjoy themselves, Li Bing just wanted a bit of privacy. For him.

Qiu Qingzhi huffs, shoulders shaking with his quiet sigh.

“Nothing escapes you, does it?”

Li Bing serenely crosses the room, quickly helping Qiu Qingzhi to sit upright with as little aggravation to his healing body as possible. When the man grunts and shifts away from him, Li Bing clucks his tongue. “Be good and let me help.”

The shock and horror on Qiu Qingzhi’s face is matched only by the incredulous parting of his lips that does not know whether to scoff in indignation or laugh outright. It is a physical battle to suppress the laughter in his chest, but Li Bing manages. Barely.

“I’m not your puppy to order around,” Qiu Qingzhi squeezes out, the tips of his ears a bright cherry red.

“You aren’t my puppy, you’re not anyone’s puppy,” Li Bing interjects before the usually stoic man can say anything else. “You’re your person. No one else’s.”

This seems to be the right thing to say, because the General settles back. A comfortable silence draws itself between them, and Li Bing watches on as the man tips his head, turning his face to the open windows by the bed.

“What time does the fireworks start?”

“In another shichen,” Li Bing answers. Rising up, he moves to the table to fix them both cups of tea. “Plenty of time for you to tell me what you’d like to eat and for me to head out to get it for you.”

Qiu Qingzhi contemplates on it, blinking slowly in thought.

“Do you still have any of those biscuits…?”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a wrapped handkerchief. Unfurling it, he reveals two familiar biscuits. Handing one to Qiu Qingzhi, Li Bing takes the other for himself with a smile.

“The old baker who used to make this had retired a couple of years back and gone back to his hometown. I had spent a bit of time hunting him down to get the recipe off him, but I would say it was worth it.”

Qiu Qingzhi laughs, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. Before he can, Li Bing reaches out and brushes off the crumbs from the corner of his lips.

“Yeah,” Li Bing murmurs, not a little mesmerised by the way the little puffs of air tickles the back of his hand. “I think it was.”

Qiu Qingzhi does not move away. Ever the military man, even now.

Li Bing feels his heart twists a little fondly. Pulling back, he carefully takes the cup from his unresisting hands.

“Do you ever wonder what we could’ve been to each other?”

“Sometimes,” Qiu Qingzhi answers after a beat. “When it’s just me and the dark of the night, I allow myself to wonder.”

Li Bing looks down at the half bitten biscuit in his hand and whispers, “Me too. I’d wonder where it’d all gone wrong. How I could have done better by you.”

“But here we are.”

“Here we are,” Li Bing says. Adoringly, he takes in a deep breath, casting his eyes over and out towards the twilight skies. “Do you know what was the one thing I wondered about the most?”

Qiu Qingzhi, seemingly content to entertain where this is heading, smiles back at him. Hooded gaze unflinching as he takes a slow bite of his biscuit. “Pray, do tell.”

“How your lips would taste on mine.”

The General hums, pink tongue darting out to lick up the crumbs. “Probably like tea and biscuits.”

“Probably. But if it’s alright with you, I’d like to taste it for myself. I’m a Vice Minister, after all.”

Qiu Qingzhi’s smile grows. Shaped a little less sharp and shaded sweet with fondness.

By the time the first flash of fireworks colour the night skies and the choir of the crowd carries through to them, there was no knowing where one began and where one ended.

And the task of mapping that out, was theirs to do.