TURBULENT / XIAOVEN

twenty two

authors notes: tbh im very shocked that ppl like this fic so much cries..... sorry im emotional also !! i started playing genshin again so if anyone wants to play w me, lmk and i'll put my uid in the comments !! there's sooo much ive missed in genshin but atm i'm finishing my chasm quests since i just got heizou and all my anemo are built so.. i cant forget him!

i don't have much to say uhm. but my beta reader lily is so funny so now i have no choice but to make my beta readers quote of the day since she comments the worst shit on the doc (everyone say thank you lily for putting up with me and the godawful plots i tell her about– if it weren't for her, zhongli would be dead and so would chongyun!)

lilys qotd: i just know venti be the type to eat a hot pocket with a fork and a knife like venti please just pick it up and gobble that thing

cws– mostly just mentions of death! short chapter sowwy

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venti works with xiao on working with his emotions for days– venti wishes he can say the other has made progress and that he's different from his usual apathetic self but unfortunately, he's not. venti is, well, to put it simply, terrified of the fact that xiao lacks empathy for others but at the same time, it makes sense, doesn't it? a man who got paid large sums of money to kill people can't possibly have that much empathy, right? 

venti thinks that of course, it makes so much sense but at the same time, he sees the way xiao comforts chongyun after he's had a meltdown or the way that he'll even play dolls with qiqi when xingqiu or chongyun don't want to. he's sweet, venti knows, but venti can't help but hesitate around him when xiao is suddenly sweet around people like chongyun and qiqi but with people like xinyan and even his own brother, zhongli, he'll be so strict almost to the point where it seems like he's being rude on purpose. of course, venti is the exception to this, it seems. 

venti's not shocked when he drops that attitude with him. 

kunikuzushi had spoken to them about going to the mall for a supply run in a few days and xiao had still refused, for no reason. venti was determined to find out. 

venti sits in front of xiao on his bed, holding his hands in between his own as he helps xiao works through his emotions, or his seemingly lack of ones. venti likes helping the other man, trust him, he really does but he just cannot figure out why xiao had kept refusing to go to the mall. 

as xiao focuses on their intertwined hands, venti speaks up, "so like, why don't you wanna go to the mall? and don't give me none of that no reason, i just don't wanna go because it's so obvious that there is a reason!" 

xiao looks up to venti before cautiously removing his hands from the others grip, "well, i just get overwhelmed so easily by malls– it always feels like everyone is staring at me."

"nobody will be at the mall, though," venti says as he watches xiao rest his chin on the palm of his hand, "what's the issue really, xiao?" 

xiao looks away from venti and venti can swear he can see the other man's eyes get glossy as he responds softly, "i got outed at that mall."

"i'm so sorry." 

xiao shakes his head before he wipes his eyes with the palm of his hands. xiao's hands rest in his lap as his avoids venti's gaze. 

"no, it's– it's stupid," xiao laughs softly as he shakes his head, "it's just a mall and other shit has happened in it so it's so stupid."

"hey, no it's not, xiao," venti says as he cups xiao's face in his hands, "that's an extremely traumatic thing to experience, okay? so don't just brush it off like that. i'm sorry for prying and you don't have to go if you don't want to."