pov- imagines

PILLOW- SHANGQI

pairings: xu shangqi x reader, mentions of platonic!katy
warnings: a lot of fluff
about: : (PF18) person a making their pillow smell like person b when they're away + (DF1) "you sleep cute."
a/n: thank you so much for requesting!! i hope you like it!

"i'll miss you," you pout, arms around shangqi's neck. his grip tightens around your waist, eyes searching your features. "when will you be back again?" you ask.

"wong says two days," shangqi starts, and you begin to smile as one of his fingers tucks a stray tuft of hair behind your ear, "but apparently these sort of things can get a little crazy."

you hum disappointedly, nervously threading your fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck. "well, i'll wait for you here. just please come back okay? as soon as you can."

shangqi smiles, pecking your lips, "two days." he nudges his nose against yours once he notices you don't brighten, eyebrows still joined with nerves, "promise."

"you guys are cute and all, and you know i'm really, really, really happy you're finally together after listening to you two pine for years, but this is getting gross, and we gotta go," katy cuts in, effectively ruining the moment once she pops her head in through the doorway she'd been waiting in to give the both of you privacy. you can't help but laugh, dropping your forehead to lean against his.

"it's my fault. just trying to soak him up so i don't miss him too much," you peck shangqi's nose before pulling away, but still keep hold of his hand, squeezing once more before you embrace katie, wrapping her in a hug. "make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," you whisper in her ear, kissing her cheek as a goodbye after she nods, her grin present against your cheek.

shangqi's phone goes off, and he winces when he turns it on, "okay, we have to go. i'll be back soon, lao po," he tells you, pulling you closer so he can press his lips against your forehead for a moment longer than he needs to. you squeeze his hand and reassure yourself he'll be fine.

"okay. be safe! kick some... whatever-it-is-you're-fighting-that-you-can't-tell-me-about ass!" you cheer, watching them leave your apartment with nervous hands, fingers tugging at each other. "i love you!" you call to shangqi.

"i love you too!" he screams back, his words melting into katie's own confession of love, making you laugh when he tells her he meant you and she argues it was for the two of them. you gently shut the door, sighing softly when the sound echoes through your now-empty apartment, an instance not too common ever since you met katie and began going out with shangqi.

it's sad, you think, how lonely your apartment feels, and how lonely you feel even if your best friends were just here. you think it's the knowledge of the dangers that come to your boyfriend and best friend when they're avengers, so you allow yourself to sigh dramatically as you watch new girl and eat ramen alone.

-

your brows furrow when it's time to go to sleep, glaring down at the empty side of the bed that shangqi usually occupies. you realize how much of him is in your room when you look around, spotting his shirt draped over your chair and his cologne on your dresser. some of his other things are strewn around on counters.

the absence of shangqi's warm body next to you is too blatant when you're trying to sleep, your arm absentmindedly feeling around on his side until you remember he's gone. you squeeze your eyes shut in frustration, sure you won't get any rest and you'll be completely exhausted the next day at work.

"fuck," you huff, opening an eye that falls on shangqi's shirt on your chair, and then his cologne again.

looking down at the pillow next to you, you get an idea.

-

you wake up surprisingly well rested, sighing happily, and snuggling your face deeper into the soft material that smells exactly like your boyfriend. you pry your eyes open after hearing your alarm go off, smacking at your phone to get it to shut off. tiredly climbing out of your bed, you leave to get ready.

when you return, fully dressed and eating a bagel slathered with jelly, you turn to look back at the pillow you'd hugged the entire night, wrapped in the shirt shangqi had left at your room and sprayed with the cologne he'd forgotten. squinting at it, you shake your head at yourself, deciding to put it away when you get home and shove it deep inside your closet to learn how to sleep alone like you used to.

it's unbelievable how accustomed you got to sleeping next to shangqi. in the early beginnings of your relationship, you couldn't stand how warm he was, and missed having your bed all to yourself, but now here you were, unable to sleep without said boyfriend lying next to you.

-

you fell into your bed and onto the pillow the moment you'd gotten home from work, shutting your eyes and only opening them a few hours late to your stomach rumbling angrily at you. you groan at yourself for letting yourself fall asleep so easily with the modified pillow, grabbing it angrily and forcing it inside your closet, telling yourself you won't use it again.

without anyone to glare at you disapprovingly, or force you to cook anything else, you sit at your couch, turn on new girl and eat ramen for the second day in a row.

after too many episodes of too many different shows, you force yourself to bed, shutting your eyes and pushing yourself to enjoy the solitude of your bed, stretching your arms and legs out like a starfish to appreciate the full space of the bed.

then, you wrap yourself in your arms and turn to your side.

then you push a blanket off and flip to your other side.

then to the other, pulling all the blankets up again.

then you do that again. and again. and again. until finally, you frustratedly shove away all your covers and stomp over to your closet, peeking at your clock to see two hours of you aimlessly twisting and turning in your bed had passed by. indignantly snatching the wretchedly amazing pillow out of your closet, you hug it close to your chest before jumping back into your nest of fluffy blankets.

you take a deep inhale, immediately covered by the scent of shangqi, and you're finally lulled into sleep within a few minutes.

-

you wrinkle your nose at the feeling of something being repeatedly pressed against your cheek, nuzzling your face further into your pillow to avoid the light that is getting into your eyes. it's luckily a saturday, meaning you can sleep in and not zombie around at your office like you'd likely do after a sleepless night like the one before.

"hey," you hear, muffled and far away. "lao po..." the voice singsongs, and you feel a prod at your ribs. you blearily blink your eyes open to meet the dark ones that you know so well. "you sleep cute," he whispers, and it takes you a moment to realize that he's finally back.

you spring up in your bed, looping your arms around shangqi's neck like you'd done when he left. "you're back!" you squeal, pulling away to scan his face closely and run your hands over his arms for any indications that he's hurt. your finger traces over a blued bruise on his jaw, frowning.

"i'm fine, that's the worst of it," shangqi assures, "i would say you should see the other guy but it wasn't a guy. or even human. i don't think i should be telling you that– i'm fine."

the frown stays stuck on your face, but you press a kiss to his nose, promising him that you would properly kiss him once you'd showered and brushed your teeth. he pouts and whines but just urges you to hurry up.

when you come out, fully dressed and lips pouted at the ready to kiss him, your face drops when you notice him holding your pillow with a confused look on his face, pointing at it before looking back at you. "is that my shirt?" he questions, brows furrowed but signs of amusements clear on his features.