★Twisted Wishes★ | Genshin x Twisted Wonderland

💚Xiao x Silver💚

Before Xiao could object, Silver scooped up Xiao in his arms as if he weighed nothing, careful not to agitate Xiao's wound. Xiao's cry of protest was muffled in the mortal boy's silver hair.

Breathing in the scent of lavender and snow, Xiao wondered why Silver wanted him to survive so badly. Why did it matter if he lived or not?

"Just... let me go," he whispered into Silver's ear, half-wishing the other boy would comply with his request. Here he was, burdening someone else again. Like always, useless, useless, useless to the end.

Silver's eyes were fixed firmly ahead. "Don't be ridiculous, Conquerer of Demons. We're getting you back to the campus."

"Why... do you care so much?"

Silver set Xiao down on the grass beneath a low-hanging tree and began casting protection charms in a circle around them. "Because that's... the right thing to do. Why wouldn't I save you?"

"You don't know me."

"That's hardly my fault. I've seen you around campus, yet you never talk to anyone."

Xiao huffed. "Karmic debt is harmful to mortals. They wouldn't want to talk to me."

"People admire you," Silver said. A pause. "Myself included. Malleus, too. You could have a lot of friends if you tried."

Friends. Heh. Five colorful masks flashed in Xiao's mind, each different yet strong in their own way. "I used to."

Silver blinked at him, confused. "What?"

"Have a lot of friends," Xiao said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper.

He expected Silver to mock him, but the other boy only sat down next to Xiao, cross-legged, and said, "I can believe that." Another pause. "So... do you want to tell me... what happened?"

In the darkness, Xiao's breath clouded the air around them. The blinding pain seemed to have spread from his broken leg into his eyes, chest, and mind. "They died."

"You... must miss them." When Xiao didn't answer, Silver said, "I know I would. Sometimes I miss my parents, though I never knew them."

His parents? Xiao had always assumed that Silver lived a sheltered life. "Your parents... died?"

"Not... quite. They abandoned me when I was a baby." Silver's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "In the forest. It's thanks to Malleus-sama and Fath—I mean, Lilia, that I survived at all." He took a deep breath. "I know I'm lucky to have lived, and I've mostly gotten over it now. Sometimes I still have nightmares about it—that's why I was out here tonight. I wanted to clear my mind."

"Oh." Xiao hated himself in that moment. He wanted to ease Silver's pain, but all he could do, all he'd ever done, was fight monsters, and these monsters existed in Silver's head. He couldn't just don the Yaksha's mask and drive them away.

Then Silver said something unexpected: "Thanks for being here today. And, you know, listening. Not a lot of my friends at school... want to do that."

Xiao had no idea what to say to that. His first thought was "I'm sorry," but that didn't sound right. Neither did "You're welcome." In the end, he settled on, "You should get new friends."

That actually got a chuckle out of Silver. His smile reminded Xiao of sunlight reflecting off of the snow in spring. "Maybe. But enough with the past. You need to rest, or your wounds won't heal, even if you're an adeptus."

"I can't. Unlike mortals, I don't sleep. I just can't fall asleep."

"I used to have that problem, believe it or not." Silver smiled. "Lilia taught me a few tricks that might work for you."

Xiao scoffed, almost amused by Silver's efforts. "Your mortal tricks won't work on me. I've lived and trained my alertness for thousands of years. Do not underestimate—"

Ignoring him, Silver laced his fingers with Xiao's and began to hum.

Xiao didn't know which surprised him more—the strange gesture or the fact that Silver's singing actually sounded sweet and soothing, not unlike the lullabies Guizhong used to sing to him when he was younger. Silly songs about Glaze Lilies blooming and clouds that looked like Qilin—things like that.

During a pause in the song, Silver reached out and brushed a stray lock of dark hair from Xiao's face. Xiao flinched and glanced sharply at Silver, yellow eyes flashing with mingled anger and confusion. "What was that for?" He didn't like being touched, not even by Morax, not by anyone, not after what happened when he was younger.

"It's called affection, Xiao." Silver paused. "If you didn't like it, I can stop."

"I didn't... ahem. I didn't say that." In truth, Xiao already missed the warmth of Silver's fingers against his skin.

"Good," Silver breathed. "Then sleep. Don't worry; I've cast enough spells to protect both of us. We can head back to school in the morning."

"Mmph." Xiao was too sleepy to even complain. The last thing he thought before his eyes drifted shut was that maybe this sleepy mortal boy wasn't so lazy and one-dimensional after all.

When Silver finished singing the lullaby, he glanced down at Xiao's fluffy-haired head nestled against his shoulder.

Sure enough, the Conquerer of Demons was already asleep. For once, his face wore a peaceful expression, as if he were dreaming of better times. Maybe his old friends. Silver sat there stiffly, not wanting to wake him, while Xiao's head listed to the left and finally came to rest on Silver's lap.

Smiling down at Xiao, Silver traced the adeptus's calloused fingers and leaned against the trunk of the tree, preparing to go to sleep himself. "Sweet dreams, Xiao."

Blossom: BLEH! School stinks. If you agree, please consider voting and commenting!