try harder ! | xiaoven |

9

venti grumbled, staring at the piles of paper infront of him. the clock hit 4am. although it was late at night, the streets still bustled, full of activity. cars honked, noises of drunk people laughing loudly down alleyways.

god, did people know what sleep was?

not that venti could be complaining whatsoever though. after all, 4am and here he was handing in a week late essay to his english teacher. he really was going to have to sit through an hour of being lectured. not just by his english teacher, but by aether too.

venti groaned loudly. he took his phone out, eye brows visibly furrowed.

coming home soon, see you, venti.

02:31 am

venti stared at the message for a few seconds, he put his phone away without replying to xiao. his eyes felt heavy. xiao never specified when he was coming home, did he? maybe he was coming way later. maybe venti could squeeze in a couple hours worth of sleep.

venti rested his head on the desk, he closed his eyes. his mind drifted slowly to different things. a moments of sleep. that wasn't so common when it came to venti. well, atleast he was finally getting sl-

his desperately wanted sleep was paused by the loud banging on the door. guess he wasn't going to rest after all.

venti slid down the stairs, eyes half lidded. there was another loud knock, xiao was probably going to wake the gods up at this rate.

"hang on.." venti mumbled, he placed a hand in his hair, ruffling it back. he reached the door, his hand stopped on the handle. a wave of anxiety rushed over him.

venti hasn't even done anything right? why was he so nervous? there wasn't anything to be nervous about, yet he still was. great, wasn't it?

venti scoffed, mainly at himself and his annoying ass thoughts. the questions made his head spin. how long had he been here? did he make xiao wait too long? did xiao think he die-

there was a loud knock followed by a tired sounding voice, "venti..? you there? i'd really like it if you opened the door, it's a little cold out here.."

venti yelped, the inside of his brain, no. everything inside of him screaming. he opened the door. met with nearly closed, yet extremely concered yellow eyes.

"hello venti." xiao said, a slight smile creeping on his face.

"uh, hi.." venti forced out, his voice being way too high than preferred. shit, this was way too awkward.

the two were silent, and not in a good way, more of a 'should i talk or will he?' kind of way.

"did, did you wanna come in?"

"i'd like that."

_

xiao fell onto the coach, sighing in relief, "i missed this place so much.."

soft rustles could be heard from upstairs, guess qiqi heard xiao after all. she stumbled down the stairs. venti could literally hear her smile.

"xiaao !" she wrapped her arms around him tightly, laughing gently. her hair was messy, an obvious sign to show that she just woke up.

xiao's eyes softened, he returned the hug, crouching down to reach her. there was a slight smile on his face, not visible to anybody that wasn't looking for it. "why are you awake?

"that doesn't matter. i missed you so much," qiqi pouted slightly crossing her arms. "you've been gone for.. i dont know, ten years?"

"three weeks, actually." xiao corrected placing a hand on her back, "ten years or not, that's still not an excuse to wake up. you're young, you should be sleeping well."

qiqi rolled her eyes, xiao wondered if she got the attitude from aether, or maybe even lumine.

"i missed you too, though." xiao said quietly. "i brought some gifts, but i'll only give it to you once you sleep, so go to sleep."

"can you atleast tell me what the gift is?" qiqi insisted, curling her hands into fists.

xiao dumbfoundedly looked at her, placing his hands on his hips. "do you want the gift or not?"

"i do!" qiqi pouted, for what seemed like the tenth time this hour.

"then go to sleep!"

"fine." qiqi huffed, copying her brother by putting her hands on her hips.

"thank you." xiao ruffled her already messed up hair. "goodnight."

"night." she walked back to her room, slamming her door.

"she's a handful, isn't she?" venti said, "still a sweet kid though."

xiao scoffed, a sly smirk on his face, "handful is an understatement." he fell back down onto the couch, crossing his legs. he closed his eyes. "how was she?"

"she was alright."

xiao raised his eyebrows, "is that all?"

venti paused for a second, leaning on the wall. "sometimes, just sometimes a little bit.." venti pressed his lips together, trying to find a word.

"a dick?" xiao suggested, the sly smirk still plastered onto his face.

"yeah.. yeah thats the word." venti smiled tiredly, "she can be a little much, but she's still great."

"to be honest," xiao said truthfully, "i'm surprised that the house hasn't exploded."

a moments of silence creeped up on the both of them. it wasn't as bad as before, it was actually somewhat comforting. venti rested his head on the table, mind leading to multiple things. including a certain english essay he happened to forget to submit. wait.. huh?

"SHIT."

xiao's head snapped over towards venti, who panickedly grabbed his bags and stuffed his shoes on.

"you alright?" xiao asked in a soft tone, wearily.

"i have to get home and submit my essay on my laptop or else my ass is going to get kicked by my english teacher."

venti scuffled around the room, dropping and picking things up constantly. it hurt to watch really.

"do.. do you need help?" xiao had a sour look on his face, eyes squinted and eyebrows furrowed.

"no!" venti screamed, slapping a hand on his face after realising how loud he was. "no.. it alright. you can get ready to sleep, i can tell from here you're tired."

xiao nodded, standing up from the couch. "so.. i guess this is goodbye?"

"it's fine, we'll see eachother at school." venti reminded him, a warm grin placed on his face.

"alright.. see you." xiao walked up the stairs, but before he started walking up he turned around. "you know childe invited me to a christmas party. if you're free. maybe we can go together?"

venti turned around, eyes brightening. he replied quickly, nodding his head up and down. "sure!"

_

yayay new chapter! i've gotten this cough and i've had it since.. last week? and everyday it's been getting worse.. will i take it seriously? nope!

ai~