✧.* 𝒀𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒊 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒀𝒂𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒂 ᵍᵉⁿˢʰⁱⁿ

iii. hands that craft build homes.

Your hands were steady as they moved, purposefully gripping the needle and pressing the thin string through the fabric. You sat on the table out on the balcony. You spent most of your time here, actually.

Xiao came and went rather often. He never stopped to speak to you unless it was something simple. Remember to eat, he'd say. It's late, so you should sleep. Things of that sort. So you spent most of your time alone, occasionally trying to make small talk with Verr Goldet and the other staff members.

But when you were on your own, you spent the time doing embroidery and things of the sort. It was a simple hobby you'd picked up in Inazuma, and it was inexpensive and not time consuming. So while you never relished being left to your own devices for so long, you were fine.

"What are you doing?"

Those four words broke your concentration, the needle going off-balance and pricking the tip of your finger. "Ah…" you mumbled, quickly setting down your project and standing up, wiping off the blood that'd drawn. Your eyes locked onto the face of the newcomer, Xiao. "Oh. You're back."

He hummed in acknowledgment, walking towards you and grabbing your hand to inspect it. His fingers wrapped around the one of yours that had been pricked. His hand was incredibly calloused, toughened by war and time. "The needle did this."

"Oh, don't worry about it," you said, taking your hand back. "You just frightened me with your sudden appearance, and I got distracted. That's all."

"It broke skin."

"As needles tend to do," you said, turning away to wipe away the newly leaked blood.

"So then why do you still use it?"

"It's a hobby. Once you know what you're doing, these things don't happen very often."

You sat back down, completely unbothered by the single prick. You couldn't fathom why the oh-so-cold adeptus was so concerned over a small cut. You picked up the embroidery you'd been doing, attempting to get back into that state of deep focus that was so hard to come by. You couldn't do that, though. Not with the watchful eyes of the Conquerer of Demons looking over you.

"Xiao…?"

"What?"

"Is there a reason you're so invested in my embroidery?" You raised an eyebrow as you questioned, your hands pressing your project against the table in mild frustration.

"I want to see you work."

"Why?"

"I want to see how it works."

A cheeky smile crossed your face, a mischievous glint in your eyes. "Is the war-forged adeptus interested in learning something as mundane as embroidery?"

"I do not like that tone."

You raised your eyebrows, challengingly. "What tone?"

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

༺♡༻

"So what're you going to do now?" Verr Goldet asked you. She had stepped away from the front counter to keep you company, to which you were grateful.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You said you came here to escape the oppression going on in Inazuma, right? Well, you're here now. So what are you going to do?"

You thought about it for a while. You were in an unfamiliar environment, and while Wangshu Inn was kind enough to house you for free, you didn't have any money to pay for anything else. Verr Goldet smiled. "Hey, can you heal with your vision there?"