xiaolumi lumixiao brainrot

writing is now my coping mechanism, i guess?

hi. for anyone who doesn't know, my favorite youtuber Technoblade died of cancer recently. funny how i've never met the guy but it still fucked me up.

anyways im recovering and i thought of writing more xiaolumi stuff. kinda more specifically xiao, cuz, he reminds me of techno a lot. both the youtuber and the dsmp character. sometimes i'd wonder who would win in a fight between xiao and dsmp technoblade (i've discovered the smart answer is that it depends on how long techno has to prepare). they're both formidable warriors who are super damn good at fighting, the type so powerful that if you encountered them on the battlefield, you'd want to forfeit right away. sometimes i'd joke in my thoughts that if xiao had a sense of humor, he'd straight up just become technoblade. even outside of the silly little block game, i've noticed similarities. when techno was fighting cancer, he was always so upbeat about it. he was on death's doorstep and he still joked about it, because he wanted his fans to smile. it reminds me of how xiao thinks of the traveler, or humanity in general. maybe he doesn't care about their feelings per se, but he still cares about their physical wellbeing. he hides how much he suffers while he fights for liyue, just like techno did with his audience. needless to say... i think i love xiao even more than i did previously, though i thought that wasn't possible ehe

also this has 2.7 spoilers bc it's set after

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Liyue is covered in gray tones. Normally the massive figure of Wangshu Inn was a bright sign of shelter and safety, visible from every corner of Dihua Marsh, a powerful, glorious sentinel watching over the land. But underneath a dark, grumpy stretch of clouds, covering the entire sky and spreading torrents of rain onto the roof, the entire building becomes more dull. Even the prominent gold of the ginkgo tree's leaves seems muted, and the few lanterns scattered about do nothing to pierce the layers of fog.

Xiao has never particularly cared about the weather. Clouds come and go, the winds whisper or yell, water moves in its perpetual cycle and brings snow or rain or hail or sun. The sky is always changing, as surely as day flows into night and back again, but Xiao seldom changes with it. He lived in his own little cycle of slaughter for years, persistent through storm and sunshine alike. His eyes have always been sharp, but today the mountains of Jueyun Karst and the grasses of Guili Plains and the cliffs of Wuwang Hill are only dark silhouettes in the fog. A different kind of melancholy swirls into a heart already heavy with emotion; it's as if he's completely alone in this silent, gray world. The usual bustle of the inn has diminished into just a rare voice or two. Even the cry of a bird is absent.

Xiao is no stranger to fog, or silence, or loneliness. He had been prepared to face the worst before setting foot in the Chasm, but that did not make the discovery that he was truly the last yaksha left hurt any less. He knew for five hundred years that Bosacius was probably gone, was prepared to accept that, but then he saw that damned illusion. A flicker, just the smallest sparkle of hope- crushed into pieces, when he'd realized it was all fake, and that Bosacius had passed away years ago.

Despite that disappointment, Xiao would not consider the trip to be in vain. Being trapped in that chaotic space would never be a good experience, but everything that happened there felt necessary. Even if Bosacius was gone, it was good to finally put the matter to rest- and everything that Yelan had said... She was right. Xiao had spent hours reflecting since then, and he'd come to realize that however long he had spent wishing his life would end, there was a part of him that was relieved to have made it out of the Chasm alive. Everything the traveler told him was true; regardless of his confusion at their actions, there were always people willing to stay by his side. The feelings of contentment that Lumine's presence brought him were proof that people like her and Zhongli meant well. So he figured... Maybe it was time to stop pushing them away.

The sound of footsteps and an aura like sunshine presses at the edge of the gloominess, pushing it away as the traveler herself walks onto the balcony. Xiao's eyes flick downwards to meet a gaze of sweet, comforting gold, her face lighting up with a smile the moment their stares meet. The yaksha feels his own lips curl upwards as the loneliness recedes. She climbs up next to him, sitting next to him just under the roof. They don't say a single word, don't need to when they can communicate everything just with their bodies. Lumine invites him into her arms, where he leans against her and makes himself comfortable. Together they watch as raindrops fall, a peaceful thrumming noise.

Though the world around him is gray, Xiao's heart is not.

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sorry that felt short n maybe possibly perchance low effort ew what this is under 1k words