WITH LOVE / XIAOVEN

twenty one.

authors note: heyhey !! um also yes i am updating earlier than usual.. sowwy... i am just very excited 4 this fic :D

no idea how 2 describe this but oooo timeskip !! um this is not vital info this is just 4 my inspiration credits so um most of my inspiration for xiao came from yeetoldy(twt) and spkygoth (ig) for his outfit !! ^__^ xiao chuchu i luv him in my timeskip im sowwy <3

also i hope whoever wanted baal, got her!! my step sibling unfortunately lost the 50/50 but i hope u guys didnt !! <33 um also she is in this chapter! i finished the archon quest on wednesday and omfg... i think that was my fav archon quest so far... also the amount of spoilers i saw on twt the minute genshin was finished updating...omg pls tag yalls spoilers I SWEARRRR

unrelated but my irl saw khoi at a convention this past weekend... pain. jk but i would pay an insane amount of money to see that man LMAOO (also if u any of u went to that con, lmk how it went !! im not saying the name bc im not giving my location out !! even if its a big city idgaf !!)

um also since this fic is coming to an end soon... besides the spicy chapter would yall want anything else? like a q&a maybe bc i do get some questions about this story so if you would, just leave me sum questions ^__^ and i'll answer it when the story ends ooo~

ANYWAY ENJOY!!

___________________

two years.

it had been two years since venti had heard anything about xiao. the last thing he'd seen about xiao was only a few weeks after xiao had left the group officially and teyvat times had reported on it. many replies were of fans being rightfully upset however one reply stuck out the most to him.

teyvat times @teyvattimes

with love's xiao terminates contract with JADE entertainment, leaves group

[link]

venti scrolls past many, and he means many, upset and sad fans. however he pauses when he comes across one reply.

val @kittiexiao

reply to @teyvattimes

omfg thats why i saw him earlier this week w/o like any security or anything T__T it was so weird but yall... he is sososooso much prettier irl

venti scrolls down the replies, intrigued.

mai @ilovegorousan

reply to @teyvattimes, @kittiexiao

OMGGG FR???? bestie did u take pics or anything...... asking 4 a friend

val @kittiexiao

reply to @ilovegorousan

YES OFCCC <33 i think he saw me tho bc he was avoiding me after i took this vid + a few more pics but whatever hes so cute ^__^

[video]

venti clicked on the video and was at first met with the camera pointed at the girl's shoes before it quickly switched angles to zoom into xiao. xiao looks well, familiar but not the same. his hair is put into a small ponytail, tied with a pink hair tie.

whispers are heard from behind the camera, it's presumably the girl and her friend. the whispers that are heard are: "oh my god, is that xiao?" "he looks so different," and, "he's so cute."

xiao must hear them because he looks in the direction of the voices and only then does venti get a quick glance of his face. xiao's face has a neutral expression on his face but even with that, he looks better than before. his eyebags are not as deep as when he last saw him- it was nice that he was finally getting the sleep he deserved. as venti looks at his eyes, he can't not notice a completely new thing on his face- a piercing. the piercing lies on his nose bridge and venti can't help but admit that it does fit xiao. the video soon ends with an employee coming up to them and telling them that recording is not allowed in their store and it cuts off abruptly.

that was the last time there was any news of xiao. or at least until now, which is over two years later. venti only hears about xiao as he's waiting to go onstage as someone passes by him and says, "sorry about xiao."

venti looks up to the purple haired woman who the words came from, ei. venti smiles softly as he looks up at her, "um thanks, better late than never, i guess?"

she pauses in her steps, "uh, no. something came out about xiao and i know you probably haven't seen him since he left the group and holy shit he looks so different. thought i'd say something since you know, nobody has probably told you yet."

"when did this come out?"

she shrugs, "a few minutes ago."

venti sighs as he pulls out his phone, "thanks for telling me."

she nods, "no problem also, be warned venti," she leans in, whispering to the younger, "he's like super fucking hot now."

venti frowns, "aren't you gay or something?"

ei groans, "yes but that doesn't mean i can't acknowledge that xiao looks hot as fuck now! bye, see ya!"

she walks off as venti yells his goodbyes, beginning to scroll through twitter and the first thing he sees is news about xiao.

teyvat times @teyvattimes

ex-with love member, xiao, has been spotted for the first time in two years!

photos were linked to the post and wow, he really did change.

the photo was of xiao walking around liyue and venti has no idea how nobody ever spotted him until now- he stood out very obviously between everyone else there. whether it was because of his outfit, his presence, or just about everything- venti was awe struck by him. everything about him was different, in a genuinely good way. venti loved it.

xiao's hair was much longer than the last time venti had seen it. his hair only went down to his shoulders but now it was long and reached the middle of his back, the teal strands flowing in the wind. his hair was so, so pretty. he couldn't believe it.

xiao's face hadn't changed much, he still had his cute chubby cheeks that he loved to pinch and squish. however, what was on his face was certainly different. xiao, of course, still had the nose bridge piercing but he had also added a few more piercings to his collection. both of his ears were pierced to hell and back, small earrings decorating the lining of his ears. on his right eyebrow, it was also pierced. venti sighs, who knows what else he pierced?

venti looked away from his face- sure he was nice to look at but come on, he wanted to see what else changed! venti looked at his outfit and wow. honestly everything about xiao was wow at this point.

xiao was wearing a muscle shirt, showing off his one and only tattoo. that was surprising to venti because he had so many piercings now and yet he hadn't considered another tattoo? that was odd. ventis eyes trailed down xiaos arms to stop at his hands. every single finger had a ring or two on it except for his left ring finger. venti pauses, nobody would assume he's married within two years so there was really no point in not wearing a ring there. that is, unless he was saving it for someone-

"oh god," venti says aloud, "is he saving that for me?"

venti quickly gets rid of the thought, "of course not," he mumbles to himself, "he wouldn't do something like that."

venti continues staring at xiaos outfit- the muscle shirt blended into a long black skirt that he was wearing with a black pair of sneakers. venti wanted to fucking scream.

"you were right, ei," venti says to himself, miserable, "he really is fucking hot now."