brutal - gi x teen!reader (PLATONIC)

Follow the yellow brick road

TW - mild murder + blood

As you trudged wearily down the dirt path, you blew out a breath through your nose. Geez, who knew that the distance between these places was so far! I'm used to waypoints. You ran a hand along the wooden railing on the path, idly brushing over the cracked surface. It looked so much worse than it did in-game. It was as if it had actually taken damage from when people had fought here.

Footsteps behind you made the hairs on your neck stand on end. Speaking of fights...

"Who's there?" You asked, turning around to face the silhouette of Wangshu Inn in the distance. You were met with the sound of crickets chirping in your face. You wanted to turn around and keep going, but you were also afraid to take your eyes off of the path you had already taken. Narrowing your eyes at a suspicious-looking bush, you glared at it.

"What's a kid like you doing out here?" A voice asked mockingly. You turned around to see nothing, just a whisper of air. You gulped.

"Don't you know that children should stay inside, nice and safe, when nighttime comes?" You spun around again, but this time you were met by a man in an orange coat, the fluffy collar looking way warmer than you were right now. "So, where are yo-"

"Can I have your coat?" You interrupted him. You mentally cursed yourself out. Stupid, stupid, stupid [Name]! Why do you have no filter?! The Fatui agent stared at you, at a loss for words. "It looks really fluffy," you added, as if that would make your request better. The beady black eyes behind his mask bored into your soul, trying to find out if you were joking or not. Well, good luck with that. Even you didn't know.

The sound of someone teleporting behind the agent snapped both of you out of your daze. He whirled around, giving you the opportunity to take a few steps back and observe the situation. You cursed your rotten luck (you knew it was rotten, the last five star you had pulled was Qiqi's C3). Xiao was standing in front of him, amber eyes boring into the poor man's soul. Without a hint of warning, he stabbed his polearm through the agent's gut. He choked and spluttered, blood spilling out of his mouth like drool.

The yaksha locked eyes with you as he casually tossed the man off of his spear, as one would a fly. You back away even more, a jolt of fear making you tremble as you unexpectedly run into a tree. His eyes glowed as he approached you, muttering to himself in a daze.

"...must kill... demons" he said under his breath. As the tip of his spear got scarily close to you, you shouted at him (in hindsight, this was not the best idea).

"Wait! I'm not a demon!" He looked at you in confusion, the glow fading from his eyes as he looked at you blankly.

"Oh," he said, the dreaded spear disappearing in a burst of golden shards. "My... deepest apologies." You smiled briefly in response, and walked past him. As you approached the dead body of the fatui agent, you felt somber. You had never even known his name. Noticing a small detail embroidered on the inside of his coat, you flipped the collar open as you read the simple words.

I embroidered a violet grass on here, love. This way whenever you look at it, you think of me.
12/22

You bowed your head, wondering how people's perceptions of each other could be so different. Xiao had seen him as a demon, something to be wiped off of the face of the earth. But... what if he was wrong? The cool night breeze brushed against your skin, making you shiver. With Xiao still watching on, you gently removed the coat from the dead man and folded it under your arm. You would have to make a few adjustments, of course. After all, you didn't want people murdering you on sight like Xiao did to the agent. Still, you felt like wearing that coat was a way of honoring the (somewhat) innocent man.

"..." Xiao stared at you in confusion. "What are you doing?" He asked. You paused mid-stride, glancing behind you. After an awkward beat of silence, he tried a different question. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm [Name]," you answered. The moment your name slipped out of your mouth you mentally slapped yourself on the head. There you go, being stupid again. Honestly! You turned back around without another word, hoping against hope that he would forget your name. As you walked down the dirt road, the pebbles shined like bricks under the moonlight. You smiled at the nostalgia.

Meanwhile, in a small room in the back of the Northland Bank...

Childe sighed, running a hand through his hair. Zhongli sat accross from him, thinking about the exact same thing.

"How did that kid know who you were?" The ginger said, breaking the silence. The former god of geo stared off into the distance, silently shaking his head.

"I don't know," he admitted, looking Childe in the eyes. "I have never seen them in my life."

"Did you catch their name? I can check records about them, ask around." Childe offered.

"You talked to them more than I did," the god scoffed. "Although... I do know someone who can help."

The sound of someone teleporting echoed throughout the room. Xiao appeared in front of the two men, bowing his head.

"You called?"