The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 50

"Xiao-"

She felt his body shift beside her, most likely having turned slightly to gaze over at her, but she couldn't find the will within herself to meet his eyes like this.

He'd no-doubt noticing the change in her tone, in her demeanor, and it probably worried him that she'd had a change of heart.

"You've told me a good deal of your past, but I haven't done the same for you." Vena began after letting out a shaky sigh, knowing there was no way in hell she could recount the stories if she'd been looking him in the eyes, the shame and guilt washing over her all over again as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"You don't have to tell me anything." Xiao softly spoke, comforting her without even really meaning to.

"Not unless you wish to. You don't owe me those things."

How was he so sweet and thoughtful? So understanding and compassionate, deep down. Zhongli had been right all along, Xiao was so gentle once you were able to see behind the walls he'd put up between himself and the world, and that realization squeezed at her heart, making her feel so very undeserving. He was far too good for her in her eyes.

Xiao had honestly assumed she'd meant ex's or something along those lines, and he wanted her to know those things were meaningless to him; All that mattered to him was now, the future. Their future together. Although he meant his words regardless of what she chose to say, he had to admit he was a tad surprised when she continued.

"My world," She began, struggling to keep her voice steady as she swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat, her mouth feeling dry as fear began to creep into her bones.

Xiao's interest quickly peaked at just those two words, but he chose to remain quiet and let her say whatever was on her chest, being sure to keep his gaze forward as he took notice of her nervous state, wanting to keep her as comfortable as he possible could.

He couldn't deny he'd been curious of her previous world, of her knowledge of medicine and the likes, of herbs and nature, even though it was purely innocent. There was no doubt he wanted to know whatever he could about her, and she'd done a good job of keeping herself an enigma to everyone around her besides maybe Aether. Xiao couldn't lie; He craved that level of closeness to her now- that intimacy. His curiosity had grown significantly, but he wouldn't be caught dead outright asking or putting her on the spot, but now that she was at least somewhat willing- he'd listen to her talk for hours.

Another exhale from the girl snagged his attention again since she'd previously fallen silently, probably trying to piece together what she wanted to say.

"I'm somewhere a little over a hundred years old." Vena cleared her throat softly, her voice seemingly steadying a bit, becoming ever so slightly more confident, yet still unsure.

"The world I'm originally from- it's completely different from Teyvat. There was no magic or elemental powers like Visions. People like Aether didn't exist either. Everyone was just- human- besides me, I guess... Everyone lived to be around sixty to eighty years old and then they died, either from old age, or illness, or some freak accident caused their death. My world was... bland- in a way, at least compared to Teyvat. There were no powerful beings like Archons or Adepti, just- ordinary humans."

Xiao tried his best to imagine the picture she'd begun painting in his head, unable to keep from thinking about how dreary and boring that world sounded but he remained intrigued regardless.

"Machines did a lot of the work for us, unlike Teyvat- at least from what I've seen. They made things for us, did jobs that you'd usually need people to actually do, like farm for food, or sell things like a merchant, or to even cook meals and clean. Back before I found out I wasn't exactly human- in a world full of what everyone assumed was only humans and that anything else was a myth or just a bedtime story our parents would tell us to help us fall asleep at night... I went to school. I studied medicine, the human body, illnesses and herbs, chemicals and all that jazz. I'd had such a undeniable fascination with it for as long as I could remember. That knowledge could be used to help people, to save lives and improve quality of life, and for a while, I did exactly that. We had huge buildings that were dedicated to housing the sick and they were filled with doctors to help them. I worked in one for most of the beginning of my human life, until obviously people starting realizing I wasn't aging and I had to start moving around, changing my appearance and trying to just survive while bringing as little attention to myself as I possibly could. Despite the death that I couldn't prevent, the sick that simply died of old age or natural accidents, I couldn't deny how wonderful it felt whenever I managed to prevent one of those deaths. When I actually made a difference in someone's else's story. It felt like I had a purpose, like my struggle hadn't all been for nothing. Death and loss hurt, always, but sometimes it was lessened whenever I was able to save someone instead."