The Winds Bring with them Change (Volume 1)

33. To Come Home

Tighnari, as he had called himself in that smooth tone of his, turned out to be much help in their plight. Regardless of Xiao's apprehension towards him initially, it seemed he was simply uneasy with the pleasantries he was made to express. When he sat down to show them a way to the city, his demeanor changed a bit. He seemed knowledgeable, trustworthy even, as he showed them which areas to avoid with Kazuha's delicate senses. He also explained that though the poisons seemed to not affect Xiao, he should still be careful as they could trigger something worse. Though he began muttering to himself soon after, things about how it might be intriguing to experiment on a being such as the legendary Yaksha. Xiao left.

Ok, so he just stood outside the little building, listening half-mindedly at the careful words Kazuha offered in response to Tighnari's brash tone. It seemed to be only a moment later when the young samurai exited as well, followed by the fox-eared man. Kazuha bid him and the girl goodbye, and they were on their way once more. The map was detailed enough, and Tighnari had marked a few different paths that would get them to the city as fast as they could.

He had to admit, the samurai's company was pleasant for long trips, his voice akin to Venti's in that he sounded like the wind itself. However, the sheer amount of times he became too weak from the mushrooms flanking the paths was worrying. At some point Xiao had to lift his admittedly light form onto his back and carry him to the next small outpost to rest. He'd become too used to travel with Venti and Aether and had forgotten how fragile the mortals tended to be.

Now they were a half-days journey from the city, and Kazuha was ready to drop with exhaustion, so they stopped for the night. The white-haired samurai leaned heavily on Xiao as they entered the main room. There was a woman sitting at the front who eyed them up and down before smiling widely.

"My, my, come from Liyue have you?" Xiao simply nodded, ignoring her nearly flirty tone as he tried to remember how much mora they had altogether. It wasn't much. He spared a glance towards the man almost sleeping on his shoulder, and decided against using what would probably be the last of their mora on a sketchy room like this place.

He turned back out the door, leaving the woman to gape and try to get them to rent a space for, "At least a night, the Sumeru nights are dangerous." Yeah no kidding. Xiao only nodded, pushing past her and back into the night. Danger was no stranger to him, and no matter how worrisome the wildlife in the forest tended to be, he was worse.

It's not as if they were going to be staying out in the open anyways, as Xiao was able to take them to the teapot. It had been so long he had lived without need for mora, he had forgotten how exactly payment worked in the mortal realm. It was better in the teapot anyway.

After he had gotten far enough away from any footpaths, he pulled Kazuha closer and removed the sigil Aether had given him from where he kept it in his belt, lifting it to his forehead. He whispered under his breath, not exactly willing to utter the phrase aloud, even in what seemed to be an empty section of forest.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing before the teapot spirit, Kazuha definitely asleep against him now. Perhaps if he hadn't met Aether and Venti, Xiao would have never allowed this sort of closeness between him and a mortal, but things were different now. They had been for a while.

Though the thought was frightening, it was quickly wiped from his mind at the sight of dark hair streaking towards him from the door of the manor. Venti was on him in an instant, and now he was supporting two grown men, making his way to the door fairly slowly. His partner was fairly drunk, which was definitely to be blamed on the special wine Diluc made for him every so often, and he stank of alcohol. He was in the doorway when Venti finally let go, opting instead to find his place draped over his Lord, who simply sighed in response.

Xiao bowed deep, struggling to continue supporting Kazuha whilst showing his Master the proper level of respect. Zhongli only waved him off, a small smile forming on his lips that Xiao did not see. He was proud of how far the only remaining Yaksha had come, and though he knew Xiao would simply whisk himself away if he were to ever bring it up, he hoped that his happiness would not find its end as soon as it seemed to be coming.

Once Kazuha was settled in the room he had used during Aether's sickness, Xiao made his way back downstairs to where his partner was busy irritating his Master. He paused halfway down the stairs, awestruck as his Master laughed at something Venti said, gently raking his fingers through his hair. It was a sight he could have never imagined decades ago when his Master spoke of the Anemo Archon in his musings. He could still see his face, stoic as his element, as cold as stone.

"He is a fool, the Archon of Mondstadt. Barbatos did not heed my advice then, and now he..." Though he could hear his harsh words echoing through his head, it mattered not in the face of the scene before him. They acted like the oldest of friends, clearly comfortable in each other's presence, and it made Xiao's heart squeeze. For the longest time, all he'd wanted was for his Master to find his happiness, and though he wanted his own happiness now as well, that hadn't changed.

He was snapped from his reverie by Venti flinging himself over the back of the couch as he was prone to do, hurtling towards Xiao with all the speed of a drunk Archon. Thankfully, it was rather slow, but he basically dropped his full weight onto Xiao once he was in his arms. He was grateful that his Master remained seated throughout the whole thing, as it helped to reduce some of the embarrassment that rose in his cheeks.

They were back on the couch then, Venti lifting Xiao's face so he could examine it thoroughly. When he went to kiss his boyfriend, the ex-Archon held him still, scanning his face still, eyes hard as if he expected harm. His Master chuckled lightly from beside them, touching a hand to Xiao's head softly whilst he spoke.

"He was quite worried all day. Let him reassure himself." As he wasn't going to stop this in the first place, he merely leaned his shoulder up against his Lord's and allowed the examination to continue. This gave him a chance to examine his boyfriend as well, noticing the slight crease between his brows and eyebags beneath his eyes. Strangely enough, his appearance seemed different today, face thinner, body larger than Xiao's by more than usual. All thoughts were forgotten as Venti leant in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. And though he felt fairly at home like this, between his love and his Lord, Aether was still missing.

The teapot felt wrong when he wasn't there.

Hollow.

What on other occasions felt like an embrace from those most similar to him, now was suffocating. It knew he wasn't it's master, and was rejecting him as such.

Hostile.