modernity - xiaoven

18.

double update? double update.

also i hate the interaction between xiao and zhongli here it fucking sucks, bc i don't have parents like zhongli in this book.

----------------------

xiao rushed home, not even caring that he was in the neighborhood from his nightmares.

once he was safely in his room, did he stop and think. he'd finally realized at that moment, that why he'd been okay with venti's touch after the first 'hug', why he'd felt safe, and how venti managed to break him out of his thoughts. [something that took zhongli a few years.]

he'd fallen for the other.

and he was worried.

because what if ganyu and keqing were right?

what if he was actually too traumatized to be loved, or more importantly, to love?

shaking his head, he decided to block their numbers, again, and check his other notifications.

----

[parental guardian]

z: if you get home, i will not be home.

z: tartaglia will be there until he needs to head to work.

z: when you come home, message or call me please.

x: i'm home now.

x: no need to worry.

----

[barbie toes' mondstadt friends (+xiao)]

a: help. please.

l: what is it darling? you've just left.

a: kaeya's just sobbing now.

l: why? you two left together.

a: ... i think it's a happy cry?

a: i don't know what to do.

l: why would he be happy crying?

a: you know how we went to the courthouse and got married so i could legally adopt benny, right? well, he'd explained that we should have an actual wedding at some point, and back then i said that we'd have to be romantically together.

l: is he upset about that now?

a: no. i've just agreed to be his lover.

l: that's amazing! congratulations, dear, now how far away are you right now?

a: around five minutes away.

l: i'm coming to congraulate you, and forcing jean to come with.

a: please dont, we need to get home.

l: both of you better come in tomorrow then.

----

xiao sighed at their conversation, he didn't know them too well, so he didn't find it mattered.

----

[dad's probably boyfriend]

t/c/a: zhongli probably told you i may be staying until i had to leave, but i had to go after he left.

t/c/a: i'll likely be done before him, so would you like if i just went over there after?

x: i guess. go ahead.

----

turning his phone off, xiao sighed. he still had to check tumblr, but that could come later.

besides all he frequented on there was the 'humans are space orcs' tag and the writing-prompts account.

he doesn't even write, it's just the prompts sound cool. glancing around his room, he noticed the book he'd started reading before he'd met venti. the same book he hadn't touched since then.

picking it up from the place it lay, he flipped to the bookmark, and reread the page he'd previously read as a refresher. almost immediately after he started, he found it impossible to focus without some form of background noise.

deciding on a podcast -- murder in america -- on spotify, he listened intently to courtney and colin's introduction and the warning, before diving back into the book.

----

hours later, he was broken out of his concentration by a knock and his door opening to reveal zhongli.

"hey."

"hi..."

"did something happen?"

"i told venti about the bullying, i guess, and that he's dead... nothing more."

"i trust your judgement alright, other than that, how did it go?"

"i had fun." xiao shrugged, looking up at his father, "but, i'm just, worried...?"

"why?" zhongli asked, walking over and sitting next to him on his bed.

"how do i explain this-"

in reality, how was xiao going to try and explain that he had fallen for venti, and was believing ganyu and keqing.

"take your time."

"... i might've fallen for venti, and erm, fuck-"

"language, and?"

"i might believe something the tw-"

"what did they say."

"that i'm too traumatized to love..."

"xiao, look at me. i love you as much as a biological father would, and i want you to know that others love and care for you too."

"like wh-"

"tartaglia thinks of you as his son as well, hu tao sees you as a brother, yanfei said she wanted to take on a motherly role when i first took you in, yelan's stubborn but cares for you, and most importantly, lumine cares and she forgave you."

"lumine's been in inazuma since before then, she only came for the funeral, how does she know what happened?"

"i've kept in contact with her. now, cm'ere."

zhongli hugged xiao, and his son relaxed into him, slightly smiling.