— jiaoqiu x gn reader
In which you discover Jiaoqiu can purr.
crossposted on AO3 ft. moze and feixiao briefly at the end fluff, ambiguous relationship, not necessarily romantic but there sure is Something notes: did you guys know that foxes can purr??? life changing information
You were seated across from Jiaoqiu, tucking into a freshly made meal; courtesy of yourself. (You may or may not have passed out the last time you ate one of his dishes. To be fair, you probably shouldn’t have stolen his food. Still, you didn’t want to try more of his cooking any time soon.) Jiaoqiu took slow bites of his own share in between talking about a new dish—no, medicine he was concocting.
To be honest, you weren’t really listening. Your focus was occupied with something much more important: Jiaoqiu’s ears. More specifically, one question: How soft are they? You were so focused on pondering this that you forgot to respond to—or even react to—Jiaoqiu's chatter. He trailed off, having noticed your own silence. After a few attempts to verbally get your attention, he sharply whistled, snapping you back to reality. You yelped, Jiaoqiu's mouth curling into a teasing grin at the sound. “What’s got you so quiet, huh?”
Flustering a bit at being caught, you opted to very smoothly avoid the topic. Shoving a bite of food in your mouth, you chattered, “Mmm! Wow, this food, huh? I think this might be my best dish yet!” You made an exaggerated hum of satisfaction. Jiaoqiu merely raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so?" he asked, his tail swishing with amusement. (Which may or may not have reignited your earlier thoughts, only redirected to his tail this time.) You gave a louder than necessary, "Yes! Definitely." Which only served to make his grin widen. He leaned in, resting his head on his intertwined hands. You fidgeted, the atmosphere suddenly growing ominous. He tilted his head, ears swaying tantalizingly. (You struggled to not stare at them again.) "I'm just quite interested as to the reason for your sudden silence earlier." His voice gained a threatening(?) edge, causing you to sweat at the pressure. "Considering your previous inclinations," he leaned in closer, "I would quite confidently wager you were staring quite intently at my ears earlier."
"I plead the fifth."
Jiaoqiu huffed a laugh, sitting back up. He tilted his head, bemused. "What does that even mean?" You were about to elaborate, but he shook his head. "Never mind. If it’s you, it’s ok."
You stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
"It’s ok if you’re the one staring," Jiaoqiu started, tail swaying. (Which you zeroed in on. You would've spaced out staring again if not for him continuing to speak.) "Would you like to feel them?" He offered. You short circuited, once again letting out an eloquent, "huh?" Jiaoqiu simply chuckled and repeated his question. After a beat of silence, you finally processed his words, practically jumping out of your seat in excitement. "Wait, you’d really let me touch? For real?" He simply inclined his head towards you.
"Jiaojiao, I could kiss you." He raised an eyebrow—soft pink blooming across his cheeks—but said nothing. You stood up. "Hold on, wait. I need to get in position." He merely hummed in response and rested his head on his hand. Waiting, he listened to your approaching steps and chuckled at your antics, a fond smile on his face. After relocating yourself, you raised your hands. "Ok. Can I just. Go for it?" He inclined his head to you once again. "Go ahead." You excitedly reached out, stars practically in your eyes. "Yay! Ok. Here I go."
You made contact with Jiaoqiu's ears and immediately gasped. "Aeons, your ears are so soft." You tenderly stroked his ears, marveling at how soft and fluffy they were to the touch. "So, so soft," you murmured. Jiaoqiu hummed, unconsciously leaning into your touch. 'I wonder what hair products he uses,' you idly wondered. You continued on in silence for a few blissful minutes, with you eventually starting to run your fingers through his hair as well, though you'd always return to petting his ears. He started leaning closer and closer, eventually faceplanting into your chest. His arms ended up loosely wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer. Not that you minded. (Or noticed. You were incredibly lost in the sauce.)
Eventually, a low rumble snapped you out of your softness-induced daze. Confused, you started looking around, trying to figure out where it came from. (Though, your hands were still fully occupied with Jiaoqiu's head.) It took a few seconds, but you finally realized that the source of the rumble was currently nuzzled in your arms. You gaped as realization fully hit you. "Jiaoqiu…" He shifted slightly, raising his head to face you. With an airy tone, he responded, "Hm?" You felt warm, unbelievably endeared. You stared for a moment. His hair was slightly tousled from the light breeze, the dappled lighting coming through the trees somehow making him look even softer, his tail slowly swishing, the way he raised his brow in confusion… Oh. You'd been staring for too long. Coming back to reality, you finally asked, "Are you purring?" You watched his face freeze, lips forming a thin line. "…No." (Lies. He was still purring as he said that.) At that very moment, you scratched behind one of his ears, which caused his purring to get louder. A warm grin spread across your face. "Uwaa~ You totally are!" He turned away. "Nope."
"You definitely are."
"Certainly not."
Suddenly, you noticed Jiaoqiu turning red. "Oh my goodness, are you blushing?" He flustered, briefly tensing up before attempting to hide his face in your chest. "No. No, I'm not." You grabbed his shoulders, backing up a little so you could see his face again. "Oh yes you are!!" Your smile grew, voice growing bubbly with glee, "Uwa~! Your face matches your hair!" At this point, Jiaoqiu fully pulled away from you, covering his face with his hands. "Ok, that's enough," he groaned, a barely noticeable tremor in his voice. "No more touching for you."
"Noooo~! Please!!! Don't deprive me of this joy!! Jiaojiao I beg!!!"
"Then beg."
"Aaaaah…"
"Jiaoqiuuu… I'm sorryyy," you cried, flopped over the table. "Pleaseeeee let me touch once more… I won't tease any more, I promiseee…"
Moze silently watched you from across the room, trying to figure out what he should do, if anything. You'd been sulking ever since you and Jiaoqiu came back from lunch. Moze asked Jiaoqiu about it at first, but he merely waved Moze off, telling him to let you be. For the next several hours, Moze watched you beg while Jiaoqiu continually rebuffed you with various non-answers. Feixiao even dropped by to check in, but ended up staying to watch the show. She also asked Jiaoqiu about your state, but he brushed it off with the same nonchalance he'd been treating you with this whole time.
Eventually, Jiaoqiu sighed. "You've been asking for hours now. Are you gonna stop if I say no?" You paused, frown deepening. "Yeah…" Moze thought you looked like you were about to cry. Jiaoqiu's expression softened, hearing your heavy voice. "Fine. Well, if you stop asking," —you deflated— "Then, I will maybe allow you to touch my ears again." You immediately perked up, gasping. (Moze heard a small "aww" from Feixiao's direction. He swore he saw stars in your eyes.) Jiaoqiu spoke under his breath, "And perhaps I'll let you touch my tail later." Despite how quickly and quietly he said it, you still heard it. You gasped, practically glowing from joy. "Really?! Jiaojiao, can I hug you? Please?" You clasped your hands together, eyes watery. Jiaoqiu sighed, but opened his arms.
"…Come here."
"Yay!!"
"Augh—"
Moze had to rush over to prevent you and Jiaoqiu from falling. (And scold you for being rough.)








