"murder", he says | xiaoven x reader

chapter thirty seven

"here, brew the tea for me, venti?" you ask, and he nods, setting the kettle onto the stove and setting two scoops of tea leaves into a tea pot. xiao is busy cutting fruit after you had asked. Specific tasks for them each, actually- as xiao has, on multiple occasions, forgotten that metal is a conductive material and decided that no, he did not need a tea towel to pick up the kettle that had boiled on the stove for upto ten whole minutes. venti, as nimble as he was with his fingers, was terribly shaky with knives. that and he is admittedly, very clumsy. hence the bandages around his fingers and his still yet missing two front teeth. they had started to grow but still left a slight lisp in his words.

you prepare the other ingredients, having boiled the mixture and now setting it into a contain to cool. it's quite a simple dish, but you hope the little adjustments you do make it all the more enjoyable for xiao. venti brews the tea and xiao proudly shows you his colour coded presentation of his fruits in different bowls. you thank him, adding the peaches, tea and sugar into a pan, setting it to boil.

"that's a lot of sugar." venti comments, peeking into the saucepan.

"well it is syrup- i added less than usual given the natural sugars of the peach. does seeing the amount of sugar help you come to terms with your addiction, xiao?" you ask.

he crosses his arms, snubbing you. "I'd rather eat sugar than inhale whatever you roll into those little white papers of yours."

"tobacco."

"among other things, im sure." venti says off-handedly and you purse your lips. xiao doesn't catch on. clearing your throat, you mix the syrup and train it into a small jug, setting it aside.

"there. now we just let things cool."

"a drink whilst we wait?" venti suggests, pulling the bottle of wine out his shorts. really, how does he get everything in there? even when your hand is down his pants, it's getting increasingly hard to find his junk through all the other junk.

i mean, just last night! you spent a few minutes jacking off the neck of a bottle before he told you anything. you're unsure if that says something more about your or him (and his dick).

discarding the thought, following venti as he strolls to the couches, bottle and three above-average sized wine glasses and sits down. xiao decides to sit on the separate seat despite there being enough space for him on the couch that you and venti reside on, but you suppose he needed the space. you have no qualms- he can sit with you later if he so wishes.

venti tells you about the wine as he pours- and whilst neither xiao or yourself are paticulary interested, you both listen content none the less. mostly for the pleasure of hearing ventis voice than learning about wine.

xiao peers into the wine glass, tilting it up and dipping his tongue in to taste. his face has no reaction, good or bad so you can't really tell what he thinks. or if he tasted it at all based on how little he had.

you take a sip. tastes like all wine to you, you shrug, downing the rest of the glass in one go. venti looks at you as if you just slaughtered your bloodline.

"I was going to say savour it, or you could down it like a teenager who stole from their mother's liquor cabinet." he says, you look around, slowly spitting some of what was in your mouth back into the cup, as if 'putting it back' was an appropriate choice- swallowing the rest. venti is frozen in place at the disrespect.

"mm it's soo good- I can taste the uhh- aroma!" you say. you definitely think you sounded like those snobby wine tasters you overheard at dilucs tavern. ventis not convinced, it seems.

"it tastes as bareable as every other wine." xiao confirms, nodding and taking another 'sip' (its barely enough to call it a sip).

"any paticular reason you don't drink too much, xiao?" venti enquires sincerely.

"I only really drink it to keep appearances at formal meals, but liyuean culture doesn't hold me to that too often." xiao explains. "i just don't find it enjoyable- why would I drink something that doesn't taste good so I can feel sick and or dizzy? expensive, too"

"that's why you get it cheap and sweet. high alcohol, too- if you get drunk fast enough you skip the sad part!" you confirm, raising your glass and downing it. "wine has to be one of my least favourites, though."

"what alcohol is amongst your most and least favourites?"

"well, I hate dark rum especially. I can't drink most of what scheznaya has to offer unless it's very drowned out. My favourite would have to be whatever is closest akin to syrup. or drinking lower rate alcohols like schnapps straight." you explain, venti looks disgusted.

"at least xiaos answer was reasonable, that's just unruly."

"you know I like it quick and fast, venti."

"quick, fast and numerous times, maybe."

xiao looks between you both as you exchange your witty remarks. he puts his wine down then lodges himself between you both, ears twitching as he brings his knees to his chest. ventis hand absentmindedly reaches to play with the length of xiaos hair and you scoot closer, laying his legs across your own and gently resting your hand on his waist. xiao seems content with the adjustment, the happiness growing as venti reaches for a comb and starts running it through xiaos hair slowly.

you and venti continue your idol chatter as xiao sits contented between you both.

it was days like these that each of the immortal beings thought that, maybe, eternal suffering could be just a bit bareable when you are by eachothers sides.

okay phew I had some of this in drafts and wanted to get it to a somewhat reasonable length so I could post it since I've been gone for a while!-

I'll still be gone for a bit, I think. I'm relatively okay just caught up at school (I might get suspended bc I got in a situation where I had to admit I smoked weed 💀💀💀) but it's okay I'm so good at pulling things out my ass I think I'll get away with it

update I got expelled then joined another college and then left a month later so yeah everything's going great guys and I am definitely holding it together