"murder", he says | xiaoven x reader

chapter thirty six

venti and xiao depart home as soon as appropriate to slip away. the whole time, venti fussed over just how pretty you looked- how handsome your godly form was- even if your face was hidden behind the viel. he supposes he should write some ballads. to blend in, of course. no other reason.

they run up the stairs quickly, xiao following shortly after. you sit at the edge of the bed, anxious. you smile brightly and stand once you see them, opening your arms and embracing them both.

"did I do okay??? should I have said more? less?" you panic, venti shushes you.

"I think you did perfect! everyone else did, too. people are super happy with it. I think a few nuns fainted getting close to your gift." he chuckles. xiao nods in agreement. you smile softly.

"I'm glad." you say. xiao seems to have something on his mind. "what is it, xiao?"

"will you have to depart from your post at my side, now?" he asks, voice terribly feeble in comparison to how sure he usually sounded. you chuckle.

"of course not. I'm not relieved of my duties. I will still be at your sides, always. mondstadt will only need me if they're in danger and there are no threats in sight." you think of admitting that you'd brutally slaughter all the citizens of mondstadt before ever letting either of them experience pain, but maybe not. you lean down and softly peck xiaos lips. his eyes flicker as he searches your face that rest mere inches away from him. he clears his throat.

"you looked very beautiful upon your decent." he admits, crossing his arms and pouting ever so slightly. you smile.

"thank you, xiao."

a clattering comes from the kitchen and both you and xiao turn to venti who knelt on the counter, trying to reach the highest shelf of the unit you installed. you walk over, pulling out a small stepping stool. he huffs when your elevated form stares down at him. he points to the book they were trying to reach and you pass it down. he sits on the counter and flips through it. a recipe book. specifically one you passed to him a few months ago.

"looking through your menu that your cook it ought to prepare, noble sir?" you ask, sitting next to him on the counter, xiao peers over the book, hair falling infront of bentis sight. venti doesn't seem to mind, stroking xiaos hair out of the way.

"ah, yes! I shall have uh- is this a recipe for a grenade?"

"ignore that one."

"why is it with the desserts?"

"I got mixed up, carry on." you say, flipping through the page for him. "are you really planning on just having dessert this evening?"

xiaos ears flick at the mention of dessert, staring intently waiting for the holy grail of recipes to appear. his 'meow meow' of sorts, as you put it. xiao slams his hand on the page when he sees your neatly trained handwriting titling the page as "almond tofu" with a drawing of said dish beside it. he blinks at the red pen scrawled over the page.

"what's this? 'usually made with osmanthus flower syrup, but xiao likes it better with peach tea syrup.'" venti reads, your face blooms red and you slam the book shut.

"that's nothing!"

"youre taking notes on how he likes it best? always a romantic, love." venti teases, trying to take the book back. "xiao, isn't that cute?"

xiao holds the recipe book in his hands slipped from your arms subtly, nodding at the notes.

"yes. thank you for listening." he says, cheeks rosy and eyes gleaming. "are these more desserts with almond tofu?"

you sigh, nodding.

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice to add it into other things. it goes well with cream and fruit, but to find the sweet blueberries you like I have to wait till the market in liyue has them in season- and the osmanthus flower smiley xiao uses is dried and terribly bitter. so what if i used fresh peaches to make the syrup and combined it with that jasmine tea you like?" you go on, both you and xiao reviewing the book as if working on a big company project, xiao seems more focused than ever and your terribly passionate whilst talking about making your husband his 'super ultra mega extravaganza combo dreamy almond tofu delight'.  venti leans forward and pushes his head between you both.