pulling at me like the stars do, you're like gravity, fei/jia, pg
xiao longbao means chinese dumplings in mandarin! my favourite food djksjdks you should all try it one day. written for the unniefic challenge.
pulling at me like the stars do, you're like gravity
fei/jia, pg, 694w
fei sacrifices her beauty sleep for something as trivial as another's troubled sleep.
She doesn't know what wakes her first - Min's absurdly loud snores or Jia's whimpers. Whimpers. It fits the sounds Jia is making precisely; small, devastating sounds that if Fei were to close her eyes sounded exactly like she was having a nightmare - oh.
Rubbing her eyes in a bid to clear her fuzzy vision, Fei rolls out of bed, slips her feet into the warm, furry teddy bear slippers on the floor and pads to Jia's side. "Jia," she says, voice low and hoarse. From all the snoring, she expects. Fei has it on good authority that when they sleep together as a group, their snores are loud and synchronous enough to make up a symphony of orchastral proportions. "Wake up. Wake up, Jia."
Shaking Jia's shoulders, Fei stifles a yawn. She wouldn't be as sleepy if Min hadn't insisted they all stay up to wait for Christmas to roll around, then spend more time awake unwrapping presents, and then spend even more time unfortunately awake clearing the wrappers away. Needless to say, by the time they went to bed the clock had already struck 12 thrice, and it most definitely wasn't afternoon.
Her train of thoughts derails for a moment when Jia whispers in their mother tongue, "Fei... back... go home." That's when they go clean off the tracks.
"Hey Jia," Fei whispers back, much more urgently this time round. "Wake up, come on." She gives Jia a good hard shake on the shoulders and Jia shoots up on the bed, inhaling so loudly Fei fears that her lungs might combust.
"Wha-?" Jia combs her fingers through her hair and looks, befuddled, at Fei. "Wha's gon' on?"
"Nothing," Fei says, calming down and patting Jia on the shoulder, where just before, her hand had clutched so tightly the fabric of Jia's pyjamas threatened to tear. "You were having a nightmare. Woke me up."
"Oh." Jia's sharp features settle into a familiar sheepish expression. "Sorry." A wistful look crosses her face, and Fei knows exactly what Jia is thinking of.
"You miss it, don't you?"
"China?" Jia turns to look at her, hands fisting the bed covers. "Yeah. I miss eating xiao longbao."
"Seoul has a few Chinese restaurants, we should try them out one day."
"I suppose." Jia shrugs. "'s'not the same, though."
Fei sighs. "I know."
Jia laughs softly, bitterly. Fei studies Jia's face, watches her eyes change from wild to sad to strangely cold all in a moment's time. On a whim, Fei covers Jia's hand with her own, manicured nails contrasting strongly against the pale background of Jia's skin. The silence, interrupted only by the occasional snore, seems to suck the air out of the room, and Fei finds difficulty breathing when Jia's gaze lifts to meet hers.
The moment is broken when Suzy gives a particularly loud snort, breath whistling as she exhales. Jia snorts. "Can I have my hand back, or would you like it as a souvenir?"
Fei drops her hand before her blush can reach explosive levels of brilliance. "I'll make us some hot cocoa then, shall I?" Fei stands up. The cool air against her palm is a sharp relief from the warmth of Jia's hand.
She leaves the room and enters the kitchen, bare hands slowly seizing up in the cold. Tips of her fingers growing numb, Fei fumbles around the kitchen making two cups of hot cocoa and finally, after a couple minutes that to Jia must probably feel like hours in the cold night air, Fei shuffles back into their room with two steaming mugs of cocoa in her hand.
To her surprise, Jia appears awake when she enters the room. Setting the mugs down on their bedside table, Fei settles down on the side of Jia's bed, only to realise that Jia had indeed fallen asleep sitting up, legs brought up to her chest and arms curled around her knees.
"Merry Christmas," she whispers softly and nudges Jia on her back, hot cocoa forgotten.
It's probably just her imagination, but she catches a strain of a Christmas carol in the cacophony of Min's and Suzy's snores just as she falls asleep.
pulling at me like the stars do, you're like gravity
fei/jia, pg, 694w
fei sacrifices her beauty sleep for something as trivial as another's troubled sleep.
She doesn't know what wakes her first - Min's absurdly loud snores or Jia's whimpers. Whimpers. It fits the sounds Jia is making precisely; small, devastating sounds that if Fei were to close her eyes sounded exactly like she was having a nightmare - oh.
Rubbing her eyes in a bid to clear her fuzzy vision, Fei rolls out of bed, slips her feet into the warm, furry teddy bear slippers on the floor and pads to Jia's side. "Jia," she says, voice low and hoarse. From all the snoring, she expects. Fei has it on good authority that when they sleep together as a group, their snores are loud and synchronous enough to make up a symphony of orchastral proportions. "Wake up. Wake up, Jia."
Shaking Jia's shoulders, Fei stifles a yawn. She wouldn't be as sleepy if Min hadn't insisted they all stay up to wait for Christmas to roll around, then spend more time awake unwrapping presents, and then spend even more time unfortunately awake clearing the wrappers away. Needless to say, by the time they went to bed the clock had already struck 12 thrice, and it most definitely wasn't afternoon.
Her train of thoughts derails for a moment when Jia whispers in their mother tongue, "Fei... back... go home." That's when they go clean off the tracks.
"Hey Jia," Fei whispers back, much more urgently this time round. "Wake up, come on." She gives Jia a good hard shake on the shoulders and Jia shoots up on the bed, inhaling so loudly Fei fears that her lungs might combust.
"Wha-?" Jia combs her fingers through her hair and looks, befuddled, at Fei. "Wha's gon' on?"
"Nothing," Fei says, calming down and patting Jia on the shoulder, where just before, her hand had clutched so tightly the fabric of Jia's pyjamas threatened to tear. "You were having a nightmare. Woke me up."
"Oh." Jia's sharp features settle into a familiar sheepish expression. "Sorry." A wistful look crosses her face, and Fei knows exactly what Jia is thinking of.
"You miss it, don't you?"
"China?" Jia turns to look at her, hands fisting the bed covers. "Yeah. I miss eating xiao longbao."
"Seoul has a few Chinese restaurants, we should try them out one day."
"I suppose." Jia shrugs. "'s'not the same, though."
Fei sighs. "I know."
Jia laughs softly, bitterly. Fei studies Jia's face, watches her eyes change from wild to sad to strangely cold all in a moment's time. On a whim, Fei covers Jia's hand with her own, manicured nails contrasting strongly against the pale background of Jia's skin. The silence, interrupted only by the occasional snore, seems to suck the air out of the room, and Fei finds difficulty breathing when Jia's gaze lifts to meet hers.
The moment is broken when Suzy gives a particularly loud snort, breath whistling as she exhales. Jia snorts. "Can I have my hand back, or would you like it as a souvenir?"
Fei drops her hand before her blush can reach explosive levels of brilliance. "I'll make us some hot cocoa then, shall I?" Fei stands up. The cool air against her palm is a sharp relief from the warmth of Jia's hand.
She leaves the room and enters the kitchen, bare hands slowly seizing up in the cold. Tips of her fingers growing numb, Fei fumbles around the kitchen making two cups of hot cocoa and finally, after a couple minutes that to Jia must probably feel like hours in the cold night air, Fei shuffles back into their room with two steaming mugs of cocoa in her hand.
To her surprise, Jia appears awake when she enters the room. Setting the mugs down on their bedside table, Fei settles down on the side of Jia's bed, only to realise that Jia had indeed fallen asleep sitting up, legs brought up to her chest and arms curled around her knees.
"Merry Christmas," she whispers softly and nudges Jia on her back, hot cocoa forgotten.
It's probably just her imagination, but she catches a strain of a Christmas carol in the cacophony of Min's and Suzy's snores just as she falls asleep.