#not intended to be xiaoven but i understand if that’s how you read it /gen

[m1d-45]

Hey I love your writing!!!!!! whenever I see it on my dash I always get ready to read another banger!!!! Btw idk if you have any opinions on Xiao but DID YOU SEE HIS RECENT TEASER??? THE ANGST THE SADNESS!!! SO GOOD any thoughts? Spare thoughts? 🥺

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT XIAO YOU HAVE NO IDEA

i haven’t seen the trailer but i watched it rn for this ask and oh my GOD

ranting under the readmore bc i am having EMOTIONS

(oh and thanks for the compliment!! lovely to know i’ve created something you enjoyed <33)

i have an ask i’m 100% gonna use as an excuse to do a character study on him because he’s… he’s so…. ough…

‘an instant of negligence, and it will turn me into one of the monsters i swore to purge’

aisdnekdfn i have NO IDEA what this trailer is abt bc i am not a xiao haver (started genshin mid his last banner, by the time i knew what i was doing it ended) but he…. ough…. he’s so afraid of himself just because he does his job i- ‘you became the very thing you swore to destroy’ type beat but this time it’s sad and tragic because he truly believes himself to be something dark and prone to shattering, cutting through the ones closest to him, not the typical ‘i’m better than i was then’ mentality that usually comes with this trope!! he treats himself like a live bomb and he’s so terrified that the weapon he uses to defend will turn on those he loves-

i can GUARANTEE he left bubu pharmacy because he didn’t want baizhu / qiqi to ‘waste’ medicine on him because he probably feels a sense of obligation about it, it’s his burden to bear and not one they should shoulder for him (it isn’t he deserves a moment of peace and a break from his never ending duties xiao pls be kind to yourself)

‘it’s good to take the mask off once in a while, even just for one night’

i have NO IDEA why venti’s here but he is so right. also related but venti and xiao need to be friends. i don’t know about their canon relationship bc i have neither of them but… ugh…

venti clearly has issues for a variety of reasons, notably being afraid of being a tyrant, and his near need to not be overbearing meshes so well with xiaos fear of poisoning those around him… they both cope in horrendous ways but like…. god… emotions in the club tonight…

like…. the two of them, sitting on the roof of the inn, watching the sun rise. venti has a bottle of dandelion wine and xiao has a lukewarm, untouched plate of almond tofu besides him—verr goldet brought it to him but he hasn’t brought himself to have it yet. he’d sat himself up there around midnight, venti joining him not an hour later, but only a few words have been exchanged. venti said hello, xiao asked why he was here. he had shrugged, popping the cork on his wine easily, settling down with a slightly exaggerated sigh, “same as you, i suppose. caught up in a memory that won’t leave.”

xiao winces, slightly, almost embarrassed he was seen through so easily, but venti doesn’t press it. he knows the feeling, the oppressive weight of failure weighing on him just as strongly as it does on him. he feels bad that somebody so (comparatively) young has to experience so much tragedy and loss, but…

he glances at his vision, the glass reflecting the moon.

the two sit for what most would consider far too long in silence, only the occasional slosh of wine passing between them. memories weigh heavy on nights like these, and neither is quite ready to address it yet.

venti starts, his voice far dimmer than usual. a long-forgotten name falls from his wine-soaked lips, wrapped gently in eons of affection. he’s repeated the story of the ‘nameless bard’ a thousand times, always on quiet nights like these ones, with only the stars as his witness, but… surely an audience of one doesn’t hurt.

besides, he thinks bitterly, the sweet wine not doing much to take the edge off his mood, it’s not as if anybody else remembers.

the silence once again stretches, but it’s only a few moments before xiao speaks up, his voice uncharacteristically soft. he does the same, repeating the names of the ones he’d lost, and the wind picks up slightly, as if carrying some of the weight for him. he glances at venti, but he’s looking at the roof tiles, allowing him the moment—the memory—to himself.

he feels odd, telling stories of bloodshed and broken bones after such a soft friendship, but whenever he pauses for a moment too long, a soft breeze brings him the smell of cecelias, and the words he was looking for are found.

he feels lighter, slightly, for having shared, a small chip of his self-imposed burden lifting. normally, he’d probably feel guilty for dumping this out in the open, but the night is warm and he doesn’t find himself minding the company all that much.

the night passes, spent in a comfortable, nostalgic quiet. xiao’s plate is clean, now, and though the texture of the dessert is off and his lip curls, it’s still as sweet as usual. venti’s bottle is similarly empty, hardly a drop left inside the stained glass. the cork is lost, having fallen somewhere, and even in the growing light of dawn, neither can see it. if they do, they don’t reach for it.

venti sighs, not one of contempt or regret, but of sorrow. sometimes he wishes there were more hours to the night.

xiao watches him stand, with little intention of following. he should probably get up as well, stretch so his arms aren’t too sore when he goes out later to clear out demons…

barbatos offers his hand. after a moment, the last yaksha takes it.

#m1d : [chats] #< line is REALLY blurring here #m1d : [secrets] #< anyway #not intended to be xiaoven but i understand if that’s how you read it /gen #xiao is my little babygirl i wanna give him a kiss on the forehead and a night well rested #also this explains all the stuff on my dash abt qiqi carrying xiao lmao #was confused as hell ngl #also BAIZHU CRUMBS?? pls mhy let my boy out of the basement #he needs to be a catalyst user and changsheng (his snake) needs to be the catalyst. poison damage #/hj but also not