XL

Sunlight hit your eyelids, rousing you from your uncomfortable sleep. Eyes fluttering open you were blinded by the light, snapping them shut as you groaned, suddenly aware of the aches in your body.

Slowly shifting to wakefulness, you noticed the bandages wrapped around your arms and legs, and you yourself changed into a pair of light brown pants that fell to the middle of your shins and a loose white tunic.

All at once you realized, you were not at home, in clothes that were not your own, with injuries patched up. So where the hell were you?

You shoot up from the bed with a gasp, a terrible idea as your world immediately tilts on its axis, sending you into an uncomfortable state of disorientation. You flopped back down, groaning, moving your hand to cup your head as it spun.

Shuffling from your left puts you on edge, especially since your eyes still hadn't set straight and the bed felt like it was moving under you.

A touch to your shoulder causes you to jerk, and in turn makes your head spin even more, to the point where tears crawl to the corner of your eyes purely from how uncomfortable you were.

"Stop moving." A voice from the left. Strict. Surely recognizable if you didn't feel so inebriated. Gloved hands held your shoulders and brought you to a better position on your back. "You hit your head really hard when you fell. You're probably suffering an intense amount of vertigo right now."

"Thanks Doc. I couldn't tell." You grumbled petulantly, but whined pathetically when their adjustments brought a sudden wave of nausea. "Oh fuck."

You heard the person behind you huff, whether with annoyance at your attitude or mirth at your situation, you couldn't tell. "Keep still. Vertigo often goes away on its own, but if it persists for longer than I expect it to, I'll give you some medication."

"I'm sure if you didn't, you'd be breaking some kind of medical code."

"Please be quiet." The person sounded exasperated already and you couldn't stop the twitch of your lips. "Try to sleep. You might wake up feeling better."

"Sure thing, Doc."

It took you far too long to float in an excruciating circle of tilting and spinning, feeling like the bed was simultaneously far away and too close, to get to sleep. Every time you moved a centimeter, it felt like your head had fallen out of place, being swirled around in an unending Gravitron.

Eventually, you did fall asleep, hands and eyes both clenched shut.

-

The second time you woke up, the dizziness was still present but manageable, having the same effect as a headache you wouldn't bother taking Tylenol for. Your eyes had cleared as well, no longer sensitive to the blinding sun or squeezed tightly shut in a desperate attempt the control the vertigo.

You noticed the shades of green, hanging from the ceiling in pretty cloths, embroidered with small gems and little stitched animals. The wood of the hut, you supposed, was smooth but still held a comforting, earth scent. Nothing too strong or flowery to upset a sensitive nose, but enough that it made the circular hut feel lived in.

The rest of the walls and furniture were covered in papers. You couldn't quite make out the details, but if the plant samples around the messy desk were anything to go by, this person was an academic. A botanist perhaps?

Wait. Green portal, trees, doctor, plant samples, academic... were you in Sumeru? With Tighnari??

Scrambling from the bed, saying a silent prayer when you didn't feel like keeling over, you rushed to the only window in the hut, peeking from behind the thick curtains that were most likely meant to keep the heavy sun out.

But there, out the window, you saw the rolling vegetation of the Avidiya Forest. Hills of lush greenery, high trees reaching to the clouds, the vibrant colors of beautiful plants speckled everywhere from the nooks and crannies of other huts to the waving tree branches. It was gorgeous.

"I see that you're up." A dry voice catches you off guard and you spin in place to see the very fox you had just been thinking about.

He stood in the threshold of his hut, arm crossed and the tips of his ears flicking occasionally. A displeased frown was on his face and you smiled sheepishly.

"Haha yeahhh." You stood there awkwardly while Tighnari stared at you, the two of you in a standstill. "Uh, can I get my clothes? I have-" realization hit you fast when you remembered the events of the previous day. "I have somewhere I gotta be. So if you could just give me my stuff back, that'd be real nice-"

"Your clothes were completely destroyed, so I threw them out." Tighnair said, ignoring your indignant outcry. "And you're not leaving without me checking your wounds, so sit back down."

"I really got to go, like time is of the essence here. I got people waiting for me so I can't-"

"Sit." Tighnari's glare had you right back on the bed feeling like a scolded child.

"Yeah, whatever you say Doc."

He rolls his eyes and brings over a stool so he could sit in front of you, grabbing some bandages from his disorganized desk along the way. He sits in front of you and motions for you to take off the same flowy shirt you had been dressed in when you first woke up.

You do so, slightly wincing when your wounds were pulled as you got the shirt over your head, and stayed as still as possible as Tighnari meticulously removed all of the stained bandages, wiping them down with antiseptic, another thing that had you hissing in pain, and diligently wrapping them up once more, pulling a little tighter on one around your stomach so you huffed a breath.

You raised your eyebrow at the fox, whose eyes which had previously been hardened, so focused on their tasks, were now softened with amusement.

"Was that necessary?"

"No." And he sounded far too pleased about that for your liking.

He moved to your legs, commenting about how you should be glad there was a lot less damage there with how much you wanted to bolt.

Once you were all patched up, you stood from the bed, eager to cross the border of Sumeru and Liyue to call for Xiao. "Alright, I'm good to go now, right?"

Tighnari pursed his lips slightly, but nodded. "Yes. Just be careful. Your shoulder muscles have an unusual amount of strain on them and make sure to take care of your wounds in order to keep away infections."

"Thanks Doc-"

"Tighnari." He interrupted.

"[Y/n]." You said back. "Anyway, thanks Doc," You smirked as his ear flicked in irritation but said nothing. "And I would give you money for your help but I, uh, don't have my money right now, so can I just pay ya back later?"

Tighnari sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

You frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Didn't you have somewhere to be? Time is of the essence and all that?"

Your eyes widened. "Right. Thanks again," you paused right in the threshold of the hut, turning back to Tighnari. "And you wouldn't happen to have a long, jeweled knife, would ya?"

Tighnari raised his eyebrow but walked over to his desk, pulling out your little spoil you had gotten for choking out that lector.

You gripped it tightly, and with a final nod of thanks and a cheerful call of 'we'll meet again soon', left the little hut.

-

You wasted no time in running to the boarding of Sumeru, screaming Xiao's name as soon as you crossed the line.

The next thing you knew, arms were wrapped around your waist, a head buried in the junction of your shoulder and neck, and bright, golden wings were surrounding you like a protective shield.

"I see Aether's purification worked." You commented, overcome by awe at just how beautiful Xiao's wings were, at how beautiful Xiao was. Even with his face hiding in your neck, when you looked down you could still see a slight glow to his skin, a softness that wasn't present before.

In trying to get a better look, you had unconsciously moved backwards, making the adeptus tighten his arms more.

You groaned when your wounds rubbed uncomfortably, but didn't tell the golden bird to stop. Instead, you threw your arms around his shoulders, bringing him closer to you, and nuzzling his windswept green hair.

You stood there for who knows how long before Xiao pulled back, an unknowing - to the adeptus - pout on his lips and a redness to his eyes.

Your instincts kicked in and your hands cupped his face, brushing away the troublesome tear that slid down his cheek, much to his chagrin. "Hey, hey. I'm okay. I'm here now. I'm alright."

"You left." Xiao's voice trembled and your heart melted.

"No." You said sternly. "I was taken. I would never just up and leave. I wouldn't do that to the people I care about.'

"But you were gone." The crack on that last word had you pulling Xiao in for another hug, combing your fingers through his feathery hair as he simply leaned his head on your shoulder.

"I know." You took a deep breath. "I won't let it happen again."

"Promise?"

Xiao's voice was dangerously fragile, like any word besides 'yes' would shatter him to a thousand pieces. It had you remembering the chasm and the adeptus left down there, lost to time as everyone, mortal and immortal alike deemed him missing, a lost cause. It wasn't a shock as much as it was upsetting when you realized how your kidnapping might have affected Xiao should you have never returned, should you have died down in those abyssal dungeons. It would've made two people Xiao cares about, lost without a trace to the abyss. He might've yearned, he might've broken, he might've-

No. Now wasn't the time to think about the what ifs. You had a dear friend in your arms, shaking because he was so overwhelmed with emotion he couldn't hold back his tears of joy? anger? relief?

"I promise." You heard yourself saying, a gentle kiss to Xiao's forehead like a stamp, a signature, that this promise, law, would never be broken.

You would never let yourself be so foolish again. You would never put yourself in such a position to be taken advantage of again. For Xiao and for those you would see soon. For your brother, for your angel, for your god, and captain, and vigilante, and anyone else you would meet along the way that you would grow to care about.

"Let's head back to Wangshu Inn, hm?" You whispered to Xiao. "I'll stay with you for the night before leaving for Mond."

Xiao only nodded and soon you felt arms around the backs of your knees and your back, shooting off into the sky in a shroud of gold rather than an oppressive cloud of black and green.

A/n - You can finally write something accurately without research because you actually experience it: ﾉ(･∀･ )ﾉ

It's vertigo: ( '〒︵〒')