Author: Omnicat v''v
Rating: K (unless you know Chinese or read the translations: then it?s K+)
Genre: Romance
Spoilers & Desirable Foreknowledge: The entire first season.
Warnings: Shameless abuse (and definitely misuse) of Chinese travelling guides.
Pairings: Amber x Hei
Disclaimer: Check.
Summary: Hei has nothing better to do than watch the stars. Amber has nothing better to do than show off her newfound linguistic skills.
Author?s Note: Translations are at the bottom. Enjoy!
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Wĕn wŏ ba
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She knew it was no use, but sneaking up on Hei was so much fun. He was currently the only one in this jungle who would play along just for the sake of pretence.
A pair of hands came down hard on Hei?s left shoulder.
?Boo,? Amber whispered in his ear.
?Fright,? he said, and turned his head to look at her. ?Hello to you too.?
?Watching the stars again??
Hei was leaning back against a crate, with his legs sprawled out towards the camp?s small ?bonfire?. Strictly speaking, the crate was not big enough to accommodate for two, but Amber sidled up to Hei?s side anyway, pretending not to notice.
He didn?t complain.
?Pai and Havoc are out tonight,? he murmured instead.
Unless her senses were playing tricks on her (which wouldn?t have surprised her, in all honesty), Amber thought she heard him sigh - almost imperceptibly - and felt him sag against her - just barely.
Amber wondered whether this was the part where she should feel guilty for enjoying how warm and firm he was against her side.
?Can you tell which stars are theirs??
?Yes.?
?Just like that??
?Yes.?
?Do you know mine too??
His arm went up.
Amber rested her head on his shoulder, to copy his line of vision. Mostly.
?Hm,? She tilted her head even further, until she could look at his face. ?Nĭde yănjing zhēn m?r?n.?
Hei?s expression made her smile.
?What??
?Nĭde yănjing zhēn m?r?n,? she repeated, slowly and clearly. ?In your mother tongue, that means ?you have such pretty eyes?.?
Hei raised an eyebrow. ?Your pronunciation is atrocious.?
?Okay, I?ll try something else. Nĭ yu?ny? p?iwo shu? yīwăn ma??
A dubious wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. Her pronunciation must be worse than she?d thought, because Amber was sure she?d gotten the words right.
?Stay with you tonight?? His head dropped back against the crate and his eyes trailed off towards the zenith. ?Nĭ yu?ny? p?iwo shu? yīwăn ma...? he murmured, his voice as distant as his gaze.
Hey, come back. I don?t know how to follow that trail, Hei.
?That?s what I said,? She poked him in the ribs, startling him. ?If you have nothing better to do tonight than stargazing, I might as well keep you company. Wŏ xiăng gēn nĭ sh?ngchu?ng.?
Still blinking in surprise, Hei allowed her to cup his cheek and stroke his jaw with her thumb.
?How did you learn such horrible Chinese?? he asked distractedly.
?A box full of Learn-It-Yourself language tapes. These are the first five minutes of the Social Relations cassette.?
Good thing I?m the only one crazy enough to do this to you, she thought, smiling impishly and shifting until she was facing him.
Her gaze flickering between his eyes and his lips as she leaned forward. ?Wŏ ?i nĭ, Hei.?
?Are you sure you don?t know more than five minutes of Chinese??
?Are you sure you want to know??
For a long moment, they only stared at each other. Even this close up, Amber could not read his expression. But even though she couldn?t put a finger on it, eventually something in his gaze seemed to change, like a switch being flipped.
?Wĕn wŏ ba.? she whispered.
He did.
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Additional Notes / Legend
?Nĭde yănjing zhēn m?r?n.? ? ?You have such pretty eyes.? in (Mandarin) Chinese
?Nĭ yu?ny? p?iwo shu? yīwăn ma?? ? ?Will you stay with me tonight?? in (Mandarin) Chinese
?Wŏ xiăng gēn nĭ sh?ngchu?ng.? ? ?I want to sleep with you.? in (Mandarin) Chinese
?Wŏ ?i nĭ.? ? ?I love you.? in (Mandarin) Chinese
?Wĕn wŏ ba.? ? ?Kiss me.? in (Mandarin) Chinese
All the Chinese used in this fic came from a cheap travelling guide I own, and the translations were originally in Dutch; I translated them again into English. Obviously, if the Chinese phrases and/or my translations-of-translations suck, I wouldn?t know, because I don?t speak Chinese. (Dutch, English, broken German, very poor and actively repressed French and fangirl Japanese, sure: Chinese, unfortunately not.) But I have been told they do, and that is great. That?s exactly what I was looking for. It gets the point of the fic across even better than flawless but supposedly mispronounced Chinese would have. Consider the translations to be what Amber thinks the phrases mean based on her not-quite-top-grade learning materials, and please don?t quote me on them.
