[ this is part of why wenzhou doesn't bat an eye at his threats, except to roll them at most; fei du has every opportunity to act, every chance to show him what a monster he supposedly is, and he never does. they truly would be up shit creek if he ever decided to become a villain, because he'd easily be able to sweep even a beloved police captain's murder under the rug as something like a burglary or woeful happenstance. ]
Julienne. [ the answer is easy, as he... actually tops off the wine glass, without blood, and then finally puts the bottle away. positive reinforcement, maybe. or just a treat for good behavior. ] Or, close enough to it.
[ and, like that, he just. settles in next to him. making a meal in what feels a lot like their kitchen for a few minutes. scary but comfortable thoughts to have. ]
[ julienned. he's watched wenzhou do that before - it's not hard, like creating long matchsticks. fei du makes a noise, an affirmative, and turns his wrist deftly to start to cut the vegetables. it's easy, methodic work, and his cuts are true and precise.
his gaze falls on the wine glass for a moment, brows jumping up in surprise, before he looks up to wenzhou... and then back to the glass, quirking a smile. ]
While my hands are occupied? [ there's a playfulness to it, as if he's lamenting, while he cuts the veggies. ] That's a different kind of torture.
Maybe it's encouragement to do a good job so you can drink it after.
[ his tone is dry, but not very much so, as he works on slicing the sausage at an angle to add to his bone stock soup. while fei du looks at him, wenzhou's gaze remains down as if he needs to focus on what he's doing lest he slice off his fingers. (mostly, he's just feigning it - he's deft enough in the kitchen that he's not really ever worried about accidentally cutting himself.) ]
That all is for adding after the soup is done, so it can get set aside once you've cut all of the vegetables. [ even though his kitchen helper is, well, new to doing literally anything in the kitchen like this, there's no concern about him not doing it right. fei du has proven before he can be taught. ]
[ he makes a little noise of agreement as he sets aside a nicely sliced pile of veggies, peering over at wenzhou occasionally just to watch him work. he really is pretty good at this. it hearkens back to his usual complaint, that fei du doesn't know the value of a dollar, or the work that goes into the things he has, or whatever it is he's lecturing him about these days, but it is a little novel just to see someone create something with their own hands like this. he could sort of understand it.
companionable silence passes for a while, as he works through the veggies, as wenzhou cuts the sausage. its relatively peaceful. domestic, even, as strange as that is. once everything's all cut, he nudges it to the edge of the board and pushes the board across to wenzhou with his free hand, then sets the knife down and comes to peer over wenzhou's shoulder to see how things are going, picking up the wine glass and holding it like it might just get taken away. ]
[ once he's done with the sausage, it gets added to the soup with a sound scrape across the cutting board with his knife. the next thing to get prepped is the pork belly, cut into bite-sized pieces in quick order. the audience doesn't bother him, nor does the silence, and he settles into it comfortably, for as strange a concept that is.
... he likes it. wenzhou likes fei du's company, for all of their bickering and complaints and - nowadays less intense, less heated, less real - barbs thrown at each other. something he decided on a whim, in the face of the mausoleum that is the fei villa and its current (and sole) occupant being injured, is now something he prefers above all else. at this point it's hard to imagine anything different.
even if fei du's literal proximity now makes his skin prickle a little. ]
Maybe when I retire from being a cop I'll open up a vampire restaurant.
[ there's something a little funny about that - he laughs, a soft noise, and takes a little sip of his wine. ]
You'd be the first thing on the menu.
[ mr. "im so hot and sexy"
the comedy of the idea of a human running a vampire restaurant is enough to sustain fei du forever. it makes his laugh genuine, makes the cheer on his face obviously real, a flicker of a person that so often hides behind a mask, the beast in human skin who might not be a beast at all. ]
I'd invest in it, though, so you'd better not die on day one.
[ a part of him definitely preens at having the genuine laugh, and it's something he doesn't make much effort to hide as he dumps the meat into a pan to crisp up. ]
As if I'd let just anyone take a bite out of me. [ an elbow nudges at fei du, but not hard enough to get him out of his space. ] I'm a hunk, not a hunk of meat.
[ haha. wenzhou says it with a boyish, amused curl at the corner of his mouth, ignoring the fact that there's no real maybe to that. the only vampire he has any interest of cooking for is fei du, and he's already long since decided that. ]
[ he doesn't bother to dodge the elbow; as wenzhou continues, his peach blossom eyes turn up at the corners, as flirtatious as ever, and he clicks his tongue when he looks up at him. ]
Too bad. I am a carnivore.
[ that does not need to be nearly as insinuating as it is and yet, here we are. ]
[ a huff escapes him, half amused. ] Only for certain meat. But I don't think you've earned that yet.
[ the yet implies that it's possibly in fei du's future, but he's not caving to his attempts to flirt his way out of - well, everything. even if they both know it has an effect on wenzhou, and he is interested. that's really the problem with vampire senses.
but he's already decided that this is it. fei du is it. ]
If you keep stringing me along like this, I might really just bite you, you know.
[ fei du says this as lightly as can be, on the edge of a laugh - with that, he will dip out of wenzhou's closest proximity, the opposite of his words as he's the opposite of his meaning, and take a step back, turning to head out of the kitchen. time to run away from that particular insinuation! nope!!
he waves over his shoulder though as he does, easy. ] Let me know when dinner's ready, one way or another.
[ coward, he does not say, even though he wants to. ]
I feel like I'm the one getting the mixed signals here. [ his tone is lofty, but wenzhou is... learning. he's come to understand how fei du works, to a degree, and is continuing to pursue a better understanding on just how he works. with a glance over his shoulder to watch him go, he turns back to what he's doing. ]
he turns, leans on the edge of the doorway with one shoulder, dark eyes sweeping luo wenzhou up and down. fei du can't resist a challenge, no matter what it is. ]
Now, how is that so? I think I've been very clear about my interests, shixiong.
[ it's not like luo wenzhou, of all people, should be judging him for immediately turning his attention towards a challenge, no matter how legitimate it is or not. he rises to the bait constantly and has a hard time backing down from most anything. so the fact that this throwaway jab has him about facing shouldn't make him laugh - he'd do the same goddamn thing.
but it is a little funny. ]
Oh, you've certainly been obvious about certain interests. Wanting me for my body is absolutely valid, after all, with all the hard work I've put into it. [ he moves away from the stove to open a cabinet while he speaks. ] And yet it's things like that, that you "really might bite" me, that truly run hot and cold.
[ and nevermind him running away from actual discussions of feelings, or dancing around the concept. ]
I know it's been a while for you, Captain Luo, but sometimes, that's how people flirt with each other.
[ there's a mimic of wenzhou's earlier tone, here, like he's teaching a fussy child. maybe it's that form of sadism, a streak he's never fully been able to cover, or... really, that he doesn't ever seem to mind to cause himself pain. he could just leave this be, but he prods at it like poking into an open wound, anyway - it's so close to that feelings conversation.
must be the masochism, actually. ] But, I get the picture.
[ reaching for the bowls, wenzhou pauses with the jab at him, brow twitching slightly before he resumes and sets them down on the counter with a firm clack of the dishware against the surface. really, why does he even bother? this brat is so ungrateful, and so insincere - who's the actual masochist here? ]
Somehow, I feel like you don't. But that's fine. [ reaching for the ladle, he serves up the meal. portioning isn't hard when he knows that fei du actually eats like a bird for all that he's a bat. ] You can learn new tricks.
[ like being more honest. with a click of his tongue, he turns and brings him a piping hot bowl filled with protein and iron and disguised blood, the vegetables he cut earlier arranged neatly to show his work and proof of new tricks. ]
[ hmmm..... there's something about this that feels a little odd. fei du takes the bowl when it's given to him, wrapping his hands around the sides, but - he reaches out and puts his hands gently over wenzhou's when he takes it so they brush for a moment. ]
I'm sorry, shixiong.
[ because he has clearly done Something here and that seems like the right thing to do??? and or may help him not be mad? who knows. what does his normal human suit do
but he will take the bowl and set it down, and maybe the best thanks comes like this - he eats. without much pause or worry, he tucks right into his food, and it seems to fit his picky taste, enough that he's eating. like, actually, really eating. ]
although wenzhou has a moment to visibly frown, his fingers twitching a little beneath fei du's but not trying to retreat. he has to turn over how genuine this is - probably not very - but it's. something? it twinges in his chest and he isn't sure how to feel about that. ]
Sure. [ left with few words in response to that, he just. watches him. for a moment. sees him actually digging in and eating, with his long long list of things he won't eat for whatever reason, his aversion to blood...
his shoulders relax, and heh grabs his own bowl to move and sit with him. it seems that his ire has been somewhat abated to the normal levels this time. ]
this is a successful and normal human interaction. things relax into that weirdly domestic peace again, almost like lapsing into place, and fei du prods at a piece of tofu with his chopsticks, digging it into the sauce and enjoying the texture. it's good. good, in the way that very few foods that aren't really sugar are good, and he's content with it, letting the silence slowly melt into place. it's nice.
dinnertime is kind of nice. it's a novel, weird feeling - this is probably the only place that he's eaten dinner as a sit down meal with another person in a home in his entire life.
as he's absently prodding at another piece, fei du says, conversational, ] I don't really have any plans, this evening, so I'll stay.
things settle, even if they're peculiar - wenzhou is convinced fei du can pretend to be a normal person, but no one's seen him like he has, so he knows he's a weird fucking creature sometimes - they're. well, they're normal for them. yiguo is snoring softly where he's curled up, the two of them are peaceably eating a successful dinner. it's -
nice. part of his love language for people is providing them with food, whether it's fetching it for them or cooking it himself. (it's obvious which he prefers, with the work that is put into preparing your own meals and sharing them with others.) that fei du likes the food to eat it, even if he picks or prods sometimes, settles something in him, too. satisfaction? affection? he's cognizant and healthy enough to acknowledge both.
while duck blood tofu and pig blood sausage aren't norms for him, he still eats them right along with his (favorite, annoying) vampire. ] Alright. Good. I can't say I have any exciting plans except staying in and enjoying the fact that we're not working overtime on a case, for once, but that's a reward in and of itself.
[ no exciting plans, he says. fei du could easily make another wisecrack at that - of course you don't have any plans, i don't think you've had plans outside of work in a decade - or he could point out the difference, technically, in their schedules, even if fei du is more diurnal by necessity and stubbornness than a creature of the night. he could say a lot of things.
but in the weird peace of a domestic dinner, the only thing that he says is - ] Alright.
[ because that's... fine. a night in, spent with wenzhou, picking at dinner, having this cold war with his cat, is... fine. fei du hasn't had a simple night in in his entire life, really. even at home when he's alone, he's doing something, whether it's carefully spinning the metaphorical threads of the guanyao project's undoing, or finding the people impacted by it and supporting them, or alone in his dark basement with repetitive images of violence and enough electric shock to leave him gasping but never dead, he's always doing something.
and yet. he puts a piece of tofu in his mouth, and for some reason, it feels like it tastes even sweeter. ]
[ when no new jab comes, it's a little surprising - but also not. wenzhou doesn't question it, because then it would give fei du a reason to say something, and then wenzhou would have no choice but to snap back, and it would just spiral from there. but, instead, they sit in something strangely companionable with their knowledge of the facts.
it's not like he doesn't know that fei du cavorts around at night when fancy suits him, but also spends all of his time during the day with them on cases or doing whatever it is that he does as president fei. it didn't take him long to realize that, honestly, fei du doesn't fucking sleep. ever. their time together has been him trying to break him of bad habits with varying degrees of success. ]
Maybe I can make dessert. [ wenzhou says it before he takes another bite, half to continue the meal, half to silence himself after, an impromptu decision made. something like an offer. something sweet for good behavior, or just because he wants to give fei du that. it can be both.
just more time spent together in this arrangement that they've built for themselves. ]
the kick hurts a little because fei du is a giant baby and he pulls his leg back, but his eyes crinkle up at the corners, and the light in them makes it obvious that they're not as coal black as you might think, like a piece of stained glass.
he's smiling, and it's a real smile, deeply amused as he takes his wine glass and finishes it off, content with himself, and a laugh in his voice as he raises the empty glass in a toast. ]
[ something stirs in him that is both irritated and affectionate, and wenzhou hates it, seeing the way that his dark eyes light up in a spectrum of colors so rarely seen. it isn't a dark pool, the abyss, something unfeeling - it's the thing that has his heart lurching sometimes, when he gets to peel back another layer of fei du's masks.
shit. it really is getting bad. ]
And you've been spoilt today, so just eat your food and shut up.
[ in at least three weeks from now, he'll be telling him he's going to get a creampuff for dessert. ]
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Julienne. [ the answer is easy, as he... actually tops off the wine glass, without blood, and then finally puts the bottle away. positive reinforcement, maybe. or just a treat for good behavior. ] Or, close enough to it.
[ and, like that, he just. settles in next to him. making a meal in what feels a lot like their kitchen for a few minutes. scary but comfortable thoughts to have. ]
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his gaze falls on the wine glass for a moment, brows jumping up in surprise, before he looks up to wenzhou... and then back to the glass, quirking a smile. ]
While my hands are occupied? [ there's a playfulness to it, as if he's lamenting, while he cuts the veggies. ] That's a different kind of torture.
[ no heat to that at all; it's a joke. ]
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[ his tone is dry, but not very much so, as he works on slicing the sausage at an angle to add to his bone stock soup. while fei du looks at him, wenzhou's gaze remains down as if he needs to focus on what he's doing lest he slice off his fingers. (mostly, he's just feigning it - he's deft enough in the kitchen that he's not really ever worried about accidentally cutting himself.) ]
That all is for adding after the soup is done, so it can get set aside once you've cut all of the vegetables. [ even though his kitchen helper is, well, new to doing literally anything in the kitchen like this, there's no concern about him not doing it right. fei du has proven before he can be taught. ]
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companionable silence passes for a while, as he works through the veggies, as wenzhou cuts the sausage. its relatively peaceful. domestic, even, as strange as that is. once everything's all cut, he nudges it to the edge of the board and pushes the board across to wenzhou with his free hand, then sets the knife down and comes to peer over wenzhou's shoulder to see how things are going, picking up the wine glass and holding it like it might just get taken away. ]
Smells good.
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... he likes it. wenzhou likes fei du's company, for all of their bickering and complaints and - nowadays less intense, less heated, less real - barbs thrown at each other. something he decided on a whim, in the face of the mausoleum that is the fei villa and its current (and sole) occupant being injured, is now something he prefers above all else. at this point it's hard to imagine anything different.
even if fei du's literal proximity now makes his skin prickle a little. ]
Maybe when I retire from being a cop I'll open up a vampire restaurant.
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You'd be the first thing on the menu.
[ mr. "im so hot and sexy"
the comedy of the idea of a human running a vampire restaurant is enough to sustain fei du forever. it makes his laugh genuine, makes the cheer on his face obviously real, a flicker of a person that so often hides behind a mask, the beast in human skin who might not be a beast at all. ]
I'd invest in it, though, so you'd better not die on day one.
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As if I'd let just anyone take a bite out of me. [ an elbow nudges at fei du, but not hard enough to get him out of his space. ] I'm a hunk, not a hunk of meat.
[ haha. wenzhou says it with a boyish, amused curl at the corner of his mouth, ignoring the fact that there's no real maybe to that. the only vampire he has any interest of cooking for is fei du, and he's already long since decided that. ]
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Too bad. I am a carnivore.
[ that does not need to be nearly as insinuating as it is and yet, here we are. ]
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[ the yet implies that it's possibly in fei du's future, but he's not caving to his attempts to flirt his way out of - well, everything. even if they both know it has an effect on wenzhou, and he is interested. that's really the problem with vampire senses.
but he's already decided that this is it. fei du is it. ]
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[ fei du says this as lightly as can be, on the edge of a laugh - with that, he will dip out of wenzhou's closest proximity, the opposite of his words as he's the opposite of his meaning, and take a step back, turning to head out of the kitchen. time to run away from that particular insinuation! nope!!
he waves over his shoulder though as he does, easy. ] Let me know when dinner's ready, one way or another.
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I feel like I'm the one getting the mixed signals here. [ his tone is lofty, but wenzhou is... learning. he's come to understand how fei du works, to a degree, and is continuing to pursue a better understanding on just how he works. with a glance over his shoulder to watch him go, he turns back to what he's doing. ]
Soon enough. Go sit down and don't cause trouble.
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he turns, leans on the edge of the doorway with one shoulder, dark eyes sweeping luo wenzhou up and down. fei du can't resist a challenge, no matter what it is. ]
Now, how is that so? I think I've been very clear about my interests, shixiong.
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but it is a little funny. ]
Oh, you've certainly been obvious about certain interests. Wanting me for my body is absolutely valid, after all, with all the hard work I've put into it. [ he moves away from the stove to open a cabinet while he speaks. ] And yet it's things like that, that you "really might bite" me, that truly run hot and cold.
[ and nevermind him running away from actual discussions of feelings, or dancing around the concept. ]
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[ there's a mimic of wenzhou's earlier tone, here, like he's teaching a fussy child. maybe it's that form of sadism, a streak he's never fully been able to cover, or... really, that he doesn't ever seem to mind to cause himself pain. he could just leave this be, but he prods at it like poking into an open wound, anyway - it's so close to that feelings conversation.
must be the masochism, actually. ] But, I get the picture.
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Somehow, I feel like you don't. But that's fine. [ reaching for the ladle, he serves up the meal. portioning isn't hard when he knows that fei du actually eats like a bird for all that he's a bat. ] You can learn new tricks.
[ like being more honest. with a click of his tongue, he turns and brings him a piping hot bowl filled with protein and iron and disguised blood, the vegetables he cut earlier arranged neatly to show his work and proof of new tricks. ]
Shut up and eat.
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I'm sorry, shixiong.
[ because he has clearly done Something here and that seems like the right thing to do??? and or may help him not be mad? who knows. what does his normal human suit do
but he will take the bowl and set it down, and maybe the best thanks comes like this - he eats. without much pause or worry, he tucks right into his food, and it seems to fit his picky taste, enough that he's eating. like, actually, really eating. ]
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although wenzhou has a moment to visibly frown, his fingers twitching a little beneath fei du's but not trying to retreat. he has to turn over how genuine this is - probably not very - but it's. something? it twinges in his chest and he isn't sure how to feel about that. ]
Sure. [ left with few words in response to that, he just. watches him. for a moment. sees him actually digging in and eating, with his long long list of things he won't eat for whatever reason, his aversion to blood...
his shoulders relax, and heh grabs his own bowl to move and sit with him. it seems that his ire has been somewhat abated to the normal levels this time. ]
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this is a successful and normal human interaction. things relax into that weirdly domestic peace again, almost like lapsing into place, and fei du prods at a piece of tofu with his chopsticks, digging it into the sauce and enjoying the texture. it's good. good, in the way that very few foods that aren't really sugar are good, and he's content with it, letting the silence slowly melt into place. it's nice.
dinnertime is kind of nice. it's a novel, weird feeling - this is probably the only place that he's eaten dinner as a sit down meal with another person in a home in his entire life.
as he's absently prodding at another piece, fei du says, conversational, ] I don't really have any plans, this evening, so I'll stay.
[ here. ]
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things settle, even if they're peculiar - wenzhou is convinced fei du can pretend to be a normal person, but no one's seen him like he has, so he knows he's a weird fucking creature sometimes - they're. well, they're normal for them. yiguo is snoring softly where he's curled up, the two of them are peaceably eating a successful dinner. it's -
nice. part of his love language for people is providing them with food, whether it's fetching it for them or cooking it himself. (it's obvious which he prefers, with the work that is put into preparing your own meals and sharing them with others.) that fei du likes the food to eat it, even if he picks or prods sometimes, settles something in him, too. satisfaction? affection? he's cognizant and healthy enough to acknowledge both.
while duck blood tofu and pig blood sausage aren't norms for him, he still eats them right along with his (favorite, annoying) vampire. ] Alright. Good. I can't say I have any exciting plans except staying in and enjoying the fact that we're not working overtime on a case, for once, but that's a reward in and of itself.
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but in the weird peace of a domestic dinner, the only thing that he says is - ] Alright.
[ because that's... fine. a night in, spent with wenzhou, picking at dinner, having this cold war with his cat, is... fine. fei du hasn't had a simple night in in his entire life, really. even at home when he's alone, he's doing something, whether it's carefully spinning the metaphorical threads of the guanyao project's undoing, or finding the people impacted by it and supporting them, or alone in his dark basement with repetitive images of violence and enough electric shock to leave him gasping but never dead, he's always doing something.
and yet. he puts a piece of tofu in his mouth, and for some reason, it feels like it tastes even sweeter. ]
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it's not like he doesn't know that fei du cavorts around at night when fancy suits him, but also spends all of his time during the day with them on cases or doing whatever it is that he does as president fei. it didn't take him long to realize that, honestly, fei du doesn't fucking sleep. ever. their time together has been him trying to break him of bad habits with varying degrees of success. ]
Maybe I can make dessert. [ wenzhou says it before he takes another bite, half to continue the meal, half to silence himself after, an impromptu decision made. something like an offer. something sweet for good behavior, or just because he wants to give fei du that. it can be both.
just more time spent together in this arrangement that they've built for themselves. ]
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and he smiles, perching his chin on his hand, and says, with all the curl of a cheshire cat ]
What type of dessert?
[
ruins it ]
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wenzhou kicks him in the shin, although the effect is ruined by the fact he's wearing slippers and not his hardy shoes. ]
Nevermind.
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the kick hurts a little because fei du is a giant baby and he pulls his leg back, but his eyes crinkle up at the corners, and the light in them makes it obvious that they're not as coal black as you might think, like a piece of stained glass.
he's smiling, and it's a real smile, deeply amused as he takes his wine glass and finishes it off, content with himself, and a laugh in his voice as he raises the empty glass in a toast. ]
Spoilsport.
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shit. it really is getting bad. ]
And you've been spoilt today, so just eat your food and shut up.
[ in at least three weeks from now, he'll be telling him he's going to get a creampuff for dessert. ]
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