Strings of Fate || Mafia AU (hiatus)

Ch. 2

"Hello!"

A ten-year-old Lan Xichen trailed a look from his messily made sand castle in the sandbox under the shade of the slide in their neighborhood playground to the shoe who stopped just in front of him before looking up to whom he presumes the boy who greeted him. His head tilted confusedly at the look of an overly excited kid whose eyes glinting with excitement and lips stretched in a wide cheerful grin that he thinks the elderly likes to see the most in a kid.

Is he lost? Why is he talking to him suddenly? All those questions came to kid Xichen as he stares at the kid strangely.

"Hi?" He replied nonetheless, completely postponing what he was building to pay mind to the kid who looks younger than him.

The younger kid giggled in anticipation, doe eyes staring down at him, and pudgy fingers fiddling with each other as he hesitantly opens and closes his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

Little Xichen raised a brow at him, "What?" he asked, noticing the way the kid grew nervous every second. 

The kid averted his eyes from him, "I-Uhm..." he speaks softly, "Can I... Can I play with you?" he stutters and closes his eyes, which the older notices in a second, realizing, maybe the kid doesn't have friends to play with that's why he approached a loner(by choice). 

Either way, he finds the kid's bravery a charm. Maybe it's not too bad to have a companion at times. He shrugs, a small smile pasting his face that he will surely deny if someone sees them, "Okay, help me build a castle," he replied, hiding the excitement to play with the younger boy with his neutral tone just to prove to him that he's older.

The kid immediately whips his head up to look at him, enthusiasm seen in the younger's eyes, lips curved in such a way that it blinds him. He can replace the sun any minute. 

the kid giggly crouched down on the sand in front of him, grabbed the little pail, and started filling it with sand. He watches him for a second, a small smile cracking his lips, before going back to rebuilding his own masterpiece.

"I'm Wei Wuxian!" the kid suddenly introduced while busy filling the pail, catching him off-guard in a beat nut nods nonetheless, "I'm Xichen," he replies as plainly as possible.

"Nice to meet you, Chen Chen!" The kid, Wuxian, beams. 

Xichen hums, "Nice to meet you too, Xian," he answers, concentrating on his own work and feigning ignorance of the adorableness of the kid. For the first time, he felt a pinch on his chest area, his stomach grumbling but not feeling the hunger. 

Strange. But he ignored.

They played together for an hour. The whole time kid keeps blabbering about himself while Xichen was mostly silent and listening patiently to the other kid's enthusiasm whilst building their castle into a more beautiful one.

"Thank you," Xichen suddenly uttered, interrupting the younger kid's rambling, as he stood on his feet to admire their well-made castle. His chest puffed in pride, a glint of fulfillness written all over his face,

Wuxian beams, "Let's make another one tomorrow!" he declares enthusiastically eyes twinkling in excitement, doe eyes staring at the older kid.

"Sure," Xichen answers, a smile painted on his lips that he proudly showed the kid as his hand unconsciously reached to ruffle the younger kid's head.

The kid cackles, oh how much he loves hearing them.

.

They met the next day, and the next, and the next, until their meeting became a normal routine for the both of them. They go to school, and after dismissal, they'll go straight to the playground, and that became the cycle. They sometimes have other kids play with them, but was mostly them alone together. And the sandbox below the slide became their haven, became the space officially for them.