The sleeping adeptus // Xiao x reader

Worries | 18

Talking with (y/n). That's all Xiao would think about, or rather speaking, it's all that the voices would tell him. It's like it knew he was thinking about her, filling his mind with thoughts like imagine what she thinks of you, you can't even understand her, and how mean you can't even start up a conversation. He'd be fine with those voices, but the fact that they kept talking about her, was aggravating. Nonetheless, it still didn't matter if it bothered him or not, he still went on with his day. Hiding pain was something Xiao was good at. He didn't have to cry in agony, or scream for help, he just needed his space and privacy. The last he would want is someone being in his business. "What are you doing?" A high pitched voice called out to him. Xiao slightly sighed in irrigation, look down at the child who just happened to come across him. "That's none of your concern. What do you need from me?" he asked, keeping the small talk to a minimum. The child pointed to an area with a smile on his face "I want you to get me those sweet flowers!" He exclaimed. Xiao raised a brow as he crossed his arms.

Why would this child want him, an adeptus, to retrieve flowers. "Why? Do you not have the ability to do it yourself?" Xiao stated his question to him, making the child look at the ground. "There's monsters surrounding them, it's hard to even get near..." he complained. Xiao sighed, looking at the child. "Fine then, I will defeat them. If I do this for you, do you promise to go away?" The child nodded excitedly. "Alright then, make sure you stay away, I don't want to hurt you." Xiao then disappeared, reappearing by the monsters. He got rid of them pretty easily, after all they were nothing but a few hilichurls. Xiao couldn't have denied the kid, cause he feared he would get too curious and get too close to the monsters. After Xiao was done, he crouched down, picking the flowers gently and walking back over to the child. "Are you alright?" He asked, the kid nodding in response. Xiao handed him the flowers, before turning to walk away. The boy then grabbed onto his sleeve, making Xiao look back at him. "Wait stay mister"

"You told me that you would leave." Xiao coldly replied. "Yes but I'm bored" he said, dragging his foot lightly in the dirt with a bored look. Xiao sighed "that doesn't matter, I'm taking my leave now" the child grabbed onto his sleeve harder, pouting as he stomped his foot on the ground. Xiao could obviously pull away, in fact it wouldn't even be a problem for him, but he didn't want to hurt the child. He groaned lightly, giving in. "Fine, what do you want to do." He asked, the child's eyes lighting up with joy. "I wanna get on your shoulders!" He exclaimed excitedly. Xiao looked at him confused "my shoulders? Why would you want that?" The child looked at his confusion and tilted his head. "For a piggyback ride of course. Do you not know what that is?" The child asked. Xiao simply shook his head no in response, crossing his arms. The child giggled "how could you not know what a piggyback is? Did you live under a rock as a child?" He laughed. Xiao just stayed silent as there was no real answer to his question.

"Now crouch down so I can get up" he told him excitedly. Xiao got down on one knee and patiently waited as the child climbed up on his shoulders. Eventually the child was successful in getting up. "Alright, now, you hold onto my hands" the child instructed, holding his hands out. Xiao lightly grabbed onto his hands, his grip almost a little too gentle. "Alright.. what next?" Xiao asked, clearly confused. The child thought for a moment. "Take me somewhere high!" He replied. Xiao narrowed his eyes. "It's dangerous to ask a stranger to take you somewhere high, not only that but it's also dangerous to ask someone to do... whatever this is." Xiao commented. The child pouted "but why?" Xiao sighed at his question. "Did your parents not teach you to be weary of strangers?" He asked. The child looked down with a saddened expression, pausing for a moment "I don't know my parents" he replied. Xiao froze with awkwardness. He felt bad, but he had no experience in how to handle this. He let out an exhale, trying to find the right words

"Well now you know to be careful. Do you have a home?" He asked. The child nodded "I live with my sister" Xiao helped the child down "you should go and hurry home, I can't imagine how worried she is about you." Xiao told him. The child pouted with disappointment but then waved bye sadly. "Bye bye mister" he exclaimed. Xiao exhaled in relief, finally he didn't have to worry about taking care of a child. He was never good at talking with mortals, or understanding their little games. Normally he disappears anytime someone's bothering him, but he felt like he pitied that child, and now that he thought about it, it made him feel weak. Pity? When did the conqueror of demons have pity. Never is the correct answer, Xiao refuses to allow any other type of answer anyways. Maybe (y/n)'s personality is wearing off on him.

When was this about (y/n)? We should move on from this topic. Xiao scratched at his head, hating the voices more than ever. This conversation wasn't even about her. Well was it about the child, or the pity? More or so the change in personality. Can you two stop, this isn't a big deal. Xiao exhaled, his ears ringing as all he could focus on was these voices. Maybe if he finally spoke to (y/n) he could be more at peace. Yea good luck with that, he has the social skills of a bunny. Did you just call a Yaksha a bunny? Yea I'm surprised you're allowed to even stay here. He didn't even understand why they were having a conversation, the voices are suppose to torture him, not chat. Xiao started to breathe more heavily, trying to think. Think, think, think. He was snapped out it by a high pitch voice, almost more annoying than whatever argument is in his head. He turned around, his composure calmed as if he wasn't just struggling to think. He saw paimon floating to him in a hurry, with a winded traveler trying to catch up. His brows furrowed, weren't they suppose to be with (y/n)? He crossed his arms

"Why are you two here? Speak" he asked shortly. Paimon sat there catching her breath despite not using any muscles to get here, the traveler also stopping to breathe. "It's.. it's.." paimon kept trying to say, not enough breath to speak yet. Xiao narrowed his eyes, keeping his patience. "It's (y/n), there's something wrong" aether finished