(note- remember the weinlesefest special chap in the previous book? Yeah that never happened, alright?)
Xiao POV
*next day, 7pm, Liyue Harbor's gate*
He was still very much debating whether to actually show up or not, but had a gut feeling that if he did not go, Lumine would most certainly show up to drag him out. He really wished he could have seen her drag Childe by his collar. But it wouldn't be a good idea to make her angry. I mean, when is it ever a good idea to make her angry? If you do, you basically know that you signed your death sentence.
And so it was with grudging reluctance that he teleported himself to the decided area, only to find gingerhead leaning against the gate with Lumine nowhere to be seen. "Hey comradado~" Child said cheerfully. "You both are taking your sweet time, huh? Lumine must be coming soon, I assume." "You assume correct." Said a voice from behind them. Lumine smiled sweetly at them. "I thought I'd give you guys some time, you know, incase you were held up. I mean, I don't really want any more incidents of people getting manhandled going around, yeah?" Xiao shuddered. "So you weren't joking. The sheer gall and audacity, even suggesting the idea of dragging an adeptus around." "When do I ever joke around?" Lumine laughed.
"Almost all the time." It was honestly hilarious, the way Xiao and Childe both said that in perfect sync, both having been victims of a certain blonde's relentless teasing. They both turned to exchange looks then. "I see that you haven't been spared from her shenanigans." He spoke, and Childe replied with, "I could never hope to. I assume you've been the victim more often though, seeing as you've spent more time with her?" It was his turn to shiver as he still vividly remembered each and every time Lumine teased or embarrassed him or made the tips of his ears turn red. "Hmph, I've been the victim more times than a mortal could count."
"Excuse me?!?!" Lumine butted in, flabbergasted. "I cannot believe that you two have the nerve to discuss such stuff about me right in front of me!"
"Are we wrong though?" Once again Xiao and Childe matched up with their words, and they both gave each other weird looks again. "... No comment. I suppose I should be happy that my objective is working. See, you both seem to have such similar minds." 'That we sure do.' he thought as he was back to glaring at Childe. They could call a temporary truce when faced against Lumine's teasing, but after that, he'd go right back to despising gingerhead's guts.
"Aww comrade, don't give me that look! And I thought we had something special..." Childe said, disappointed. "In your dreams, man." He replied, crossing his arms and giving him a disgusted look.
She grabbed the arm of both boys and started dragging them inside. "You all can make your efforts to become friends later, right now I'm hungry. I've barely eaten anything all day because I wanted to be able to completely fill my stomach." At this point, Xiao had already given up. He just hoped no one in the city would recognize him. And he certainly hoped he wouldn't encounter Zhongli or Hu Tao. The latter would never keep quiet about what she saw.
He didn't see a certain Guhua geek chilling in the corner with a book and pen in his hands though, eyes fixated on them.
"How wonderful." Xingxiu whispered evilly. "I now have tons of inspiration for my next fanfic. Oh yes, jealousy, love triangles and whatnot." (a/n- I headcanon that xingxiu would be THE BEST FANFIC WRITER TEVYAT HAS EVER SEEN LIKE- HE'D WRITE ALL SORTS OF STUFF yes everything. thats why he'd be my no1 bff apart from hu tao fr)
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'WHY DID SHE HAVE TO LEAVE HIM ALL ALONE WITH THAT ANNOYING GINGER?!' Xiao was mentally screaming. He swore that he was at his limit. The annoying ginger was now asking him all sorts of annoying questions, no surprise there.
Childe POV
He was internally debating whether he should do it or not. Because if he did, then he'd be a third wheel with the two for life. And his own feelings would never be returned
'You know what, I'm just gonna do it, forget the consequences. I need to know.' he thought. "Hey comrade, I have a serious, genuine question to ask you." "I thought it wasn't physically possible for you to ask a serious, genuine question." Xiao shot back. Childe knew better than to take offence, he had understood by now that this was his normal behaviour. "Comrade, do you perhaps have feelings for Lumine?"
.
.
.
Xiao was frozen, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "I don't see how the heck does that relate to you." He managed. "Comrade, I'm serious." And yes, for once, that playful glint in Tartaglia's eyes was gone. Childe continued, "Because if you do like her, but don't shoot your shot soon, someone else is going to take her. There are dozens of people vying for her attention." "I could... care less." But he faltered when Childe said, "Isn't that why you hated me from the beginning? Because we were getting close, too close in your opinion?"
No response. Undeterred, Childe continued. "If you don't care, then why have you been getting irrationally angry and upset whenever Lumine and I spend time together? Surely you shouldn't be affected by that, right?"
"Is it that you are scared she won't return your feelings?" he provoked.He knew it was dangerous to do so, that he was playing a gamble with possible death at the hands of an enraged adeptus, but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. He had never been the type to idle around. "Is it that you're scared of your own feelings?"
"Are you afraid, Xiao?"
"Shut your mouth!" Xiao hissed. "Why do you want to know anyways?" "Because I can help you." He smiled, covering his emotions with his facade. "Hmph, help an adeptus. How amusing." "Respectfully, Mr. Adeptus, I would like to know whether you have had any experience in romance or romantic relationships." He received no response. "Thought so. That's why you could use my help. I mean, if you do have feelings for her, of course. If you don't then I'm sure others would be more than happy to get involved with her." 'Me included.' He thought sadly.
"Okay fine! I... I love her, okay?" Xiao said, in a tone of defeat he'd never heard him use before. And with that, he could feel his own heart shattering, but he kept himself under check, masking his swirling emotions and the sadness in his eyes. He gave Xiao a small smile. "So you finally came out clean. But let's get your feelings completely straight. What is it that you like, no, love about her?"
"Everything." he mumbled in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "The way her eyes light up when she talks, her laughs, her personality, the way she's always there for me, no matter what I do or how much I push her away. It's everything. I love every single thing about her, her strengths and flaws, everything. She accepted me the way I am, and I love her for that, so much that I too can accept her perfect person as it is." He averted his gaze away from him, embarrassed at all he had just said.
'Archons, I dont usually use this language, but this man is down bad for her.' Childe thought. It was almost funny, really, seeing the adeptus spill his heart to him. Now all he had to do was spill his heart to Lumine instead of Childe.
"You really do love her. In that case, do you want me to figure out whether Lumine loves you back? I mean, she totally does, but still, I want to be sure before doing anything else." "Yes please." Xiao replied quietly, still looking down. "But what do you mean before doing anything else?" Childe grinned, his true emotions still hidden. "I did say I'm well-versed in the field of romance, right? If it does turn out that you both do like each other, then I'm going to take the efforts of setting you both up. You'd just darn better take the opportunity, alright?" He nodded again.
"...Tartaglia, thank you." Xiao said quietly, looking up to meet his gaze. Emotions swirled in the eyes of both, and in that moment, they both understood each other. He knew that Xiao had seen past his outer demeanour. "It would seem that I did heavily misjudge you."Childe laughed. "Hearing you say that has boosted up my ego immensely, I tell you!"
"Oh wow, I go away for 10 minutes, and come back to find you both being chummy-chummy with each other? I should have done this a long time ago." Lumine appeared in front of them, hands full of food takeouts. He just laughed again as he gave Xiao a silent reassurance that he wouldn't mess up.
(1516 words
next chap for an an pls read haha i cant believe i missed it)
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Important in Another World- BOOK 2- A Genshin Impact Xiaolumi fanfic
Fanfiction*'Lumine.. You keep shocking me. Just when I think I know you well, you turn even more mysterious. I wonder if there is an end to your trove of secrets, or is it like a blackhole, that never lets matter inside it go out?' The teal-haired adeptus tho...
