XXIX

As interesting as it would be to meet Ningguang, you were denied entry. It was rather embarrassing to have joined Aether only to be told ‘Actually, the power of being the main character doesn’t get you everywhere. Sucks huh?’. So, no Ninggaung.

Now you were back at Wangshu in, pouting, hoping to meet your favorite Yaksha once more. You laid across the railing, tilting precariously, as if you were an elementary schooler seeing how far you could tilt your chair back before you fell on your ass, except this time you’d be falling off a high balcony. How safe.

That safety was proven when you tilted too far and fell off. You weren’t too worried about falling, as Ariel had been next to you, but when you felt unfamiliar arms wrap around your form, you squeaked. “What the hell!?”

In just a second, you were surrounded by black and green mist, appearing back in the balcony, still in the strangers protective arms. You were quickly placed down, and you turned only to see the yaksha you had been hoping for. A wide grin took your face. “Xiao! Hey, what’s- ow! Fuck!”

A karate chop to the top of your head had you scowling. It didn’t hurt too much. Honestly, you were exaggerating simply because of how rude it was, but you crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes somewhat playfully copying Xiao’s own angry stance “The hell, man?”

“You are a foolish mortal.” Xiao’s voice was angry and gravely.

“I’ve been called worse.” You muttered, and Xiao narrowed his eyes further.

“What could have possibly encouraged you to do something so stupid?”

“I was kinda bored.” When Xiao’s scowl deepened, you realized it was time to stop messing around. “Okay okay okay. I’m sorry. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to, I was just laying on the railing.”

“That is also stupid.”

“In hindsight, yes.” I concede. “And I am sorry for worrying you.”

Xiao scoffed, looking away slightly. “I wasn’t worried. It is my job to help any foolish mortals who stumble into doing something so ridiculous.”

A smirk creeps up on my face. “Yeah, okay. Thanks again.”

“What?” Xiao’s voice is a tad more aggressive than it was probably intended, and a barely there blush was on his cheeks. “Why are you smirking like that?”

“No reason.” You brush off chuckling. “What’re you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be out there, fighting demons and all that?”

Xiao sighs, and his stance loosens slightly, shoulders lessening in tenseness and brows unfurrowing. “It has been a rather slow day. Not many demons are about.”

“Good thing, or bad thing?”

Xiao tilts his head. “Depends. But it will be nothing I can’t handle.”

“I believe it.” I smile and jump up to sit on the railing, completely ignoring Xiao’s sigh of exasperation. “And how’ve you been?”

“How have… I been?”

“That is what I said.” I smile at Xiao’s confusion. “Been taking care of yourself? Brushing your hair? Eating? Taking a break or anything?”

“Why would I do any of that?”

“It’s self-care, dude. It helps your stress.”

Xiao’s eyebrows furrow in further confusion. “But I do not have stress.”

"Okay." You say slowly. "You might not realize you have stress, but you got stress."

"How would you know?"

"Cus, I'm looking right at ya, and I can see it."

Xiao scoffs. "This is a ridiculous notion. A yaksha does not have stress. We merely perform our duties to the best of our abilities as often as possible."

"Dude- I- that-" You cut yourself off with a sigh. "You said today was a slow day, yes?"

"Yes. Why?" Xiao’s eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Sooooo, you got some free time?" A smile forms on your face.

"I don't like the look on your face."

"Why? It's just my face."

"You're scheming."

"You sound like Ariel."

"Who?"

"Never mind." You wave Xiao off easily. "You should take a bath."

"I'm clean." Xiao deadpanned.

You rake your eyes over his form before landing on his cheek. "You have dirt on your face."

Xiao scowled again, crossing his arms and huffing, almost petulantly. “Shut up.”

You laugh and relax, your stance, walking over to Xiao and smiling. “Seriously though. You need to relax every once in a while. If you overwork, your muscles can get high strung, and the stress will cause some mental health problems.”

“I don’t know who you think you are to suggest such things to me. I don’t have ‘mental health issues’ or ‘overworked muscles’.”

You click my tongue with narrowed eyes. “Yeah man, I’m sure.” You clap your hands together, a brighter smile on your face. “Anyway, just trust me. A nice, long bath will help you feel better. I’ll even make you some almond tofu for when you're done.”

Xiao sighed, probably realizing you weren’t going to leave him any time soon and conceded. “Fine. I will partake in this relaxation ritual.”

You chuckle. “Oh my god, dude, you make it sound so formal.” You hustle Xiao into the room on the balcony that’s reserved just for him and practically shoved him into the bathroom. “If I had some of my own products with me, I’d give them to you, but I don't, so just use hot water and a lot of soap. Soak, get clean, wash your hair, and it looks kinda stringy and relaxed, please. It isn’t a chore, okay?”

Xiao looks a little overwhelmed but eventually lets out a small chuckle that you are almost confused about for a scoff. “Okay.”

You smile brightly and give him a cheesy double thumbs up.. “Okay, great! While you do that, I’m going to go make some almond tofu.” You walk out of the room with a final call of ‘RELAX PLEASE!’ Before making your way down to the inn kitchen.

You take your sweet time making the almond tofu, not only to give Xiao as much time as possible to relax, but also so you could make it perfect for him. If you were going to bully him into relaxing, if only for a moment, you’d make sure he likes it at the very least.

You take great care in preparing the tofu in exactly the right way, adding the flavor and focusing on it consistently. You put it on the plate carefully and arrange it prettily, almost getting lost in the motions and excitement of preparing something for someone.

You take the plate back up to the balcony and noticed Ariel had gone, probably to take a fly once Xiao had shown up. You place the plate on the balcony table and sit in one of the two chairs, waiting for Xiao to emerge from the bathroom.

It takes a while, but you didn’t mind, for Xiao to finally come out of the bathroom, his uniform back on. His expression, however, is where the real change is. His features are softer now, his brows unfurrowed, his lips not pressed in a hard line, and the lines of his face have smoothed out. His shoulders are less tense, drooping slightly, and his stance is a lot more casual. He doesn’t look like a guard anymore. His hair drips into his eyes a little, but he doesn’t seem to care as he notices you, waiting for him with his favorite dessert.

A smile almost takes over Xiao’s face as he walks to the table, but you don’t restrict yourself and full-on grin at him. “How was it?”

“Relaxing.” Xiao says simply, lightly sliding the almond tofu over to his side and beginning to eat it.

“I’m glad.” You say softly. “You look good.”

“Thank you.”

You both sit in silence as Xiao finishes his dessert. It’s quiet and calming, and you can tell it has some effect on Xiao. You two steal occasional glances at each other, but for the most part, Xiao is eating, and you’re looking over the balcony at the late afternoon sun painting the landscape in its golden glow.

“Have your dreams continued to be disruptive?” Xiao’s voice breaks through the calming haze, and you turn back to him, an empty plate in front of him.

It takes you a moment to register his question, but then you shake your head. “I haven’t had another bad one, but there’s no telling if they’ll escalate or not.”

“Escalate in?”

You shrug, a little tired at the thought that it’s still so vague. “Escalation in frequency, gruesomeness… I don’t know.”

You see Xiao hesitate for a moment before mumbling something, something you couldn’t hear. You hum in confusion, and Xiao sighs with a pink tint to his cheeks. “If you experience another disruption, call my name, and I’ll be there to help.”

Your eyes widened and unknowing to you, a similar blush to Xiao’s appeared on your cheeks. “Oh, thanks. Yeah, I’ll… I’ll take you up on that sometime.” You pause, and you realize what you said. “No wait, I hope I don’t cus I really don’t want another nightmare, but you know what I mean, in that It’d be nice to see you again sometime, you know?”

You internally wince at your awkwardness (seriously, where did your game go?) but Xiao seemed to understand what you meant and nodded. “I hope the same. To see you again, but not because of a nightmare.”

“Yeah.” You sigh, relieved. “But, uh, I’m gonna be in Liyue a little while longer. So, we may run into each other again… soon.”

“Perhaps.”