[Genshin Impact] Water, Ice, and Everything Nice

Ad Astra Applesauce!

"The books say it's been centuries since fog from Dragonspine cleared up." Chongyun heard Xinqiu say. He noticed Xingqiu's fingers expertly twirling the noodles on their plate. "Are you sure about what you've heard?"

"Pretty much," shouted Xiangling from the kitchen, her figure mostly obscured by the copious amounts of smoke issuing out from the fire. The sight of her cooking and the heat emanating from the kitchen reminded Chongyun of unpleasant memories.

"And you're telling us this because?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Xiangling took out the heavy wok from the fire and expertly placed it on the wooden table beside her. Chongyun felt nothing but foreboding as the young chef came forward towards where they sat.

"You want this guy to get rid of his disease?" Xingqiu said, suddenly poking his chopsticks at Chongyun's cheek.

"No, silly!" Xiangling laughed as Chongyun swatted away at Xingqiu's chopsticks. "It's for ingredients! I feel excited just thinking about the kinds of new meat and spices that you guys can bring home for me! And with the place being cold and all, I'm confident our baby over here won't have a problem at all!"

Chongyun frowned. Who was Xiangling calling a baby now? It can't possibly be him. He was pretty much sure he grew a couple of inches just last month and his traditional exorcist trousers were now a bit too short for his stature. Chongyun gazed at the other boy sitting close beside him. Xingqiu's face was alive with a kind of malice that scared Chongyun up.

"That's not a bad idea at all," Xingqui said, slurping down the rest of the noodles with unmistakable enthusiasm.

Chongyun knew that the other boy was thinking of reference materials for a new novel. Unknown to most denizens of Liyue, his best friend is a best-selling author in many parts of Teyvat, especially in the neighboring region of Inazuma. Chongyun chanced upon his buddy's novel once during an exorcism for a particular client in Qingce Village, when a travelling merchant gave him a copy after he had helped fend off a dozen pyro slimes.

The merchant was raving about the book – singing it the highest of praises. Chongyun, however, could not bring himself to start reading it as it felt like he needed to respect the reason why Xingqiu decided not to publish in Liyue.

"Of course, I'd have father pay you handsomely for the rare finds you can get!" Xiangling announced.

"Forget rewards," Xingqiu answered her back. "A sumptuous dinner feast for Chongyun and I would be more than enough."

"Spoken like the true heir of the Feiyun Commerce Guild," Xiangling said, laughing heartily. "Mora has never been a problem for you, hasn't it?"

Chongyun saw Xingqiu's pale cheeks turn red.

"That's not what I meant," Xingqiu retorted.

"I know, I know," Xiangling replied, still laughing. "You better drop by the Adventurer's Guild. I heard they're organizing the expeditions."

Chongyun reluctantly followed the obviously excited Xingqiu towards the Adventurer's Guild output near the blacksmith's shop. He didn't the like the idea of exploring a barren, ice-cold mountain top without any of the adults to accompany them. Personally, he wasn't troubled by the rumored sub-zero temperatures there. In fact, he thought the place would be perfect to practice control over his congenital positivity issues. However, the same could not be said for others – Xingqiu for instance has never been exposed to climates other than the temperate one in Liyue.

And the monsters! There was simply no telling what kind of monsters lurked in the region given that it remained inaccessible to both Mondstat and Liyue for centuries now. Vision or no vision, there was no guarantee that they can handle whatever lurks in Dragonspine's shadows.

"Here we are," Xingqiu announced. "Hello, Ms. Katheryne!"

"Ad astra abysossque!" came the all too familiar greeting of Katheryne. Chongyun tried his best to stifle his laughter. He had always thought that such a greeting was too pretentious for his tastes.

"Ad astra applesauce!" replied Xingqiu, his jolly manner enough to mask the fact that he, too, was making fun of the greeting. "Miss Katheryne, we're here to sign up for an expedition to Dragonspine."

"Dragonspine, huh? You're supposed to travel in teams but there's really no one else from Liyue who has signed up."

"Nothing to worry about, sweet madam." Xingqiu replied. "My buddy and I should be more than enough to handle ourselves yonder."

Chongyun watched as Katheryne shook her head and pursed her lips. "I'm afraid that won't do. There are strict guidelines from our Monstadt branch. There has to be a pyro vision user in a team of at least three."

Xingqiu and Chongyun exchanged looks.

"That is to say, for adults. For younger adventurer's, Monstadt branch requires another party member, making it four."

"We can ask Xiangling to come," Xingqiu told Chongyun, completely ignoring Katheryne.

"Her father's away and she's manning Wanmin Restaurant until his return." Chongyun said, matter-of-factly. "And even if she does agree to join, we're still one party member short."

Xingqiu pouted and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. Chongyun wanted to tell the other boy that this would have been for the best, but Xingqiu's determined face stopped him.

"Can we team up with adventurer's from Mondstat, then?" Xingqiu asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is one adventurer there now on standby for a party. Lucky for you, he's registered as a pyro-user with some handy support capabilities."

Chongyun watched as Xingqiu's face broke into a wide smile.

"You still have to look for another party member, though." Katheryne added.

That, however, did not seem to dampen Xingqiu's spirits. "Count us in. Can you please send a message to Mondstat that we're partying with this... this pyro vision holder that you mentioned? We will find our last party member as soon as we arrive in Mondstat."

Chongyun couldn't really explain why the image of Xingqiu pulling his hand and dragging him towards the teleport waypoint was threatening to release all those carefully controlled positive energies inside him.

He had trained his body so much that his stamina was near monstrous and that running for several hours straight no longer made him sweat.

Yet, for some reason... since that day they hugged, Chongyun just didn't feel confident in his ability to control his congenital positivity anymore.

Each and every time Xingqiu touched him felt like he was being ignited. Consequently, he had to eat more and more ice cream to cool him down and he's practically broke now.

"You don't look like you want to come," Xingqiu said, finally stopping just a few feet shy from the waypoint. "Am I forcing you into this?"

Chongyun paused and pretended to catch his breath. He then shook his head.

"You sure? The color of your face doesn't look too good."

Chongyun tried to smile. "I'm good. The cold might be good for my congenital positivity. I want to give it a try."

Xingqiu's face broke into a grin. "That's what I was thinking, too! And besides, I wouldn't want to go exploring some new region if it's not with you."

There it was again. That scary thumping deep in his chest that threatened to heat him up until he catches fire.

"Let's go!" Chongyun said, deliberately ignoring the feeling. "Ad astra applesauce!"

The two lads guffawed uncontrollably as they touched the waypoint and teleported to Mondstat.