Ignite

(not as gay, but from the toilet)

⸻ Saturday, 11.11 am

"Bye chat. I'll be picking up my boyfriend from the hospital today, so I'll take my leave. Thanks for stopping by this morning," Xiao said with a smile, before turning off the camera and ending his stream. He checked the time on his phone before getting out of his seat and flinging his jacket over his shoulder. He had to drive 5wirl to the hospital too, and Venti always delayed them.

"Xiao give me 5 minutes, I'll be out in a bit!" hollered Venti from his room. He was probably changing his outfit for the seventh time. Kazuha had been waiting for the both of them in the living room, reading. 

"Scaramouche and Lumine will meet us at the hospital at 11.20" he informed Xiao, who nodded in acknowledgement. He knocked impatiently on Venti's door, then yelled for Heizou, who responded loudly from the toilet. He came out (not as gay, but from the toilet) a little later.

Venti emerged from his room in the most basic white t-shirt and baggy jeans ever, which made Xiao wonder how many outfits he went through exactly to end up with such a basic fit. 

The car felt empty with one empty seat, but they were glad that it would be filled soon. 

__

They arrived at the hospital just a little before 11.30, due to Xiao's super reckless but speedy driving. Aether was sitting up and fiddling with his thumbs when the rest of 5wirl entered. He looked up to see his friends at the door, breath heavy from sprinting to his room. He broke into a smile, melting the hearts of 5wirl. They gathered around him, pulling up chairs and hugging him tightly. It seemed like they hadn't seen him in years, when in fact, all of them except for Xiao who had seen him no more than 3 days ago. 

But they were glad that he could go out with him again, could practise with him again, could cheat on tests together again. 

5wirl was complete, and the family was whole. 

__

Lumine and Scaramouche joined later on. Lumine sat with her brother and went through the instructions the nurse had told her a few days ago. Checking in next month, no strenuous activities, blah blah blah. 

Aether sat through the whole thing, nodding, smiling, thumb-twiddling. To any other person, he would have seemed excited or happy. But Xiao was not any other person. He could tell that Aether's behaviour was a little strange. It seemed... too happy. Too energetic. Too... perfect. 

So when Aether said he needed to use the toilet, Xiao followed him while the rest of the group waited in the lobby. (Or wherever you wait for someone in a hospital, because lobby makes it sound like a hotel). 

"Xiao, are you worried I'll get beat up in the toilet again?" Aether asked jokingly while fiddling with the sleeve of his pink sweater. The thought had indeed crossed Xiao's mind, but it wasn't the main reason why he had followed Aether, so he denied it. 

They pissed, washed their hands and just as Ae was about to leave the bathroom, Xiao instinctively grabbed his arm and yanked him into a cubicle. 

"Xiao-"

"Aether." Said man was avoiding eye contact. Xiao clutched Aether's arm and used his other hand to close and lock the bathroom door. 

"What's wrong? Why're you so nervous?" Xiao's eyes crinkled in concern. Aether stared at his feet, bangs hanging over his teary eyes. What was wrong with him? He remained silent for so long Xiao had to take a step back, push down the cover of the toilet seat and sit down. 

He looked tiny, Aether noticed. But Xiao had always been the bigger person in the relationship -- giving in to Aether when he wanted a million plushies from the same store, letting him bombard him with messages and answering his calls even when he was in the middle of basketball practice.