Sword & Spear - A Sushang Fanfic

2: Vermeil Teapot and Sweet Drinks - Reader's side

Chapter art by Rat: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/2438259

"Guess who?" A voice met my ears as I felt a cold sensation on the back of my neck. Jumping back from the sudden cold sensation, I turned to find Sushang holding two drinks. She smiled at me before looking at the drinks in her hands. "I've tried the Mung Bun soda back on the Yaoqing the taste is well..." she gave a nervous laugh. "Only remaining cold drink left in the vending machine was the Whole-Tide water. Hope you don't mind!"

I took one of the bottles off her hands, brushing off the few words Sushang had mispronounced. "So, anything interesting happened to you today?" Sushang cheerfully asked as she took a seat beside me. I shook my head. "So... another boring day for you too, huh?" Sushang sighed and she put a hand up to support her chin, displaying her boredom.

"Hey, cheer up. Peace is a good thing." I attempted to comfort her.

"I know... but it's soooooo boring... I just want to... help someone." She began to pout a little, perhaps throwing a tiny tantrum. 

I never noticed it before in the last two months since we became partners, but now that we were sitting in proximity to one another, were her eyes always more golden than brown?

"Well, both our shifts are over, so we're free for the rest of the day. You got anything you wanna do?" I asked, being somewhat bored myself. If this were a normal day and I were by myself, I probably would've headed to one of the other delves to do some sightseeing. After all with how many delves there are in the Luofu, one could probably explore it for a few hundred years and still find something new hidden away in a little corner. But this was a rare day where Sushang and my free time schedules lined up perfectly, along with one of the days where Sushang seemed to not be in the mood to relax, it was only right I asked for her opinion, not as a Cloud Knight transfer, but as a guest upon the Luofu. (In the day, Sushang enthusiasm at the chance to help someone meant she took extra shifts, and at night women and men stayed in different dormitories to deter indecent acts from happening within the compound, hence sometimes we rarely saw each other.)

Sushang pondered for a while, and then her face seemed to light up when an idea came to mind. "Well, we could head down to the Sleepless Earl and listen to some of Mr. Xiyan's stories. They're always entertaining to hear... Or so I've heard." I had been around that area in Central Starskiff area before, and I had indeed heard of Mr. Xiyan and his stories, but I had never really explored that area myself, partially because it was always full of tourists, be it from the other ships or short-lived species, and the crowds in the area seemed a little bit too much of a turn-off. But as Sushang's partner, it was partially the duty of us Luofu Cloud Knights to ensure our partners from the Yaoqing get proper relaxation here, and so off we were to Central Starskiff Haven.

It was lunchtime as we entered Central Starskiff Haven, and the first thing that greeted us was quite the crowd going about their day - some were engaged in deals for businesses, others casually talking over their lunch break, bursting out into laughter when a funny comment was made, students running through the streets, trying to beat the lunch crowd, and occasionally one could hear street food sellers yelling over the noise to appeal to the hungry crowd. In the background on top of all these, the sounds of Starskiffs entering and leaving the delve, carrying in them passengers or cargo.

Above the crowds one could spot Cycranes flying around, delivering packages around the delve - some of which were in cardboard boxes, some of them equipped with a carriage to store letters, and others flying around with food ordered by customers who were perhaps too busy or lazy to leave their homes. And high in the skies were Starskiffs headed to other delves, zooming across the blue canvas at incredible speeds.

"It sure is crowded," I commented stepping out of the Starskiff. I offered out a hand and helped Sushang out, who smiled and thanked me with a small bow. "You might want to continue holding onto me for a bit, the jetty gets pretty busy at this time and we don't want to get separated now, do we?" Sushang understood and held onto my hand more firmly than before as we made our way through the crowd.