Xingyun Oneshots

126 - Baby Steps

Spring isn't Chongyun's favorite season - it's nice, but if he had to place it in order of his favorite to least favorite, it ranks about third, right before summer in dead last.

It's generally pretty cool, but it's warming up before the main event of summer's hot, humid days and sticky tar-melting sun, so it's not quite as nice as fall.

Fortunately, today happened to stay at about a chilly-ish 40°, and he lays sprawled on the greening grass of Duhua Marsh next to Xingqiu, who lays on his stomach with his head resting in his arms and his eyes closed.

Xingqiu himself ranks spring as his second favorite season with summer as his favorite, actually despising the colder weather as much as Chongyun despises the hot (go figure). His arms are close together to keep himself a little warmer, legs half bent to dangle up in the air and gently swing back and forth.

"YunYun, how's your new year's resolution going?" He asks idly, the tassel on his garter brushing against his leg.

Chongyun looks over at him, flailed out like a starfish on his back with his arms and legs spread out, watching his best friend with his dark eyelashes shut over his slightly-tanned skin from running all over Liyue for months. "Was I supposed to make one of those?"

Xingqiu snorts, nuzzling a little into his silky, big sleeves and toying with a blade of grass between his thumb and index finger. "No, but you've made one every single year since we were kids. I would've thought you'd make one this year as well."

Chongyun's face flushed a little as he realizes, yes, he had neglected to renew his yearly promise, but even as he thinks of it now, he comes at a loss for what he'd even make of it. "Honestly, I've just been so busy lately I forgot, but now that you mention it, I can't think of anything."

Chongyun sighs, tipping his head back so it's flat against the grass, the breeze brushing over him and slightly cooling the heat over his skin. The sound of birds overhead chirping in the skies and leaves rustling fills the silence, and he only more feels like even nature's yearly renewal has better results than he does. "Even though I have a resolution every year, I always seem to hit a road block with it..."

"What have they been, anyways? You never really tell me." Xingqiu asks, turning his head slightly and finally opening his eyes, bright, oozing orange focused on the curls in Chongyun's hair. "You're pretty vague about it."

Chongyun murmurs a little indecisively, wondering if he really wants to admit it to Xingqiu considering he never really fulfills it. "...Usually to try and overcome the harsher affects of my Yang energy."

Xingqiu raises an eyebrow in shock, raising his head a little. "Wait, I thought you finally stopped trying to do that and were  focused on the whole finding-an-evil-spirit-immune-to-it thing. How many years have you been doing that?"

Chongyun goes quiet for a minute, even more embarrassed. He wants to sink into the grass and live with the worms and ladybugs instead of face his own mindless insecurities now. "Like, 2 or 3 years..."

Xingqiu stares at him, blinking wordlessly while he tries to come up with some kind of a response before he finally rolls onto his back, facing the sky like Chongyun is. "Well, that explains why your resolution never bears any fruit."

Chognyun frowns, gaze flickering back to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that that's way too general a prompt. That's like having a resolution like 'get super strong' or 'become a millionaire' - you need a more specific goal or at least a more attainable one, otherwise you're setting your expectations too high and then your drive to hit it diminishes." Xingqiu explains.