promise me? @xiao

" first practice. " | twenty - five

" That would be great. How about you guys? " Xingqiu asked, while he leaned on a wall. I thought about it for a moment. " Okay. " Xiao's face remained blank, as he answered. The rest of us simply nodded.

" Then we'll all go there after practice.. for now, let's all just practice on our own. "

I looked at the first page of line, all of mines were highlighted. The paper started when I began speaking, which was probably why I had so much more papers stapled together.

" ... hm. " Xiao turned to me, pointing at his lines. " Oh! Seems like you and me talk to eachother quite a lot in this play.. here, let's try it together. " Xiao nodded, as he brought me to a empty corner.

Xiao cleared his throat, before looking up at me. I also cleared my throat, before I began. " X - Xiao..! " I called out. Xiao quickly got into character, and crossed his arms.

" You.. you came. "

" You called. "

We both stood in silence, while I smiled up at him. Like in the script, I softly grabbed his hand, caressing it with my thumb. " Xiao... I missed you, you know? " I sighed, continuing to hold his hand.

" I.. apologize for being unavailable for so long.. " His voice went quiet. " You were just doing your own things.. but still, I missed you.. " Finally, like in the script, I hugged him tightly. Sure, we were just following the script, I still felt my heart race. He just smiled.

He hugged me back, before we both pulled away. " Xiao.. earlier, I.. saw some sort of dragon in the sky, it.. came from the direction of Mondstadt.. " I looked up at him, while his eyes widened. Xiao, and I were both really good at acting such scenes for some reason.

" I shall tell Morax later, then... stay with me longer. " Xiao again grabbed my hand, while caressing my hand with his thumb this time. " I don't want you missing me so much anymore.. it can sometimes take a toll on your health. "

Finally, we stopped. " Wow, Xiao.. I cant believe you learned those lines so quickly.. you got me blushing too..! " I cupped my cheek in one hand, as he continued holding my other hand.

" It's.. gonna be fun rehearsing that.. scene with you. " Xiao replies in a quiet tone of voice, to ensure nobody would hear. I just felt my cheeks grow hotter, as he continued to hold my hand lovingly.

Xiao's face was now more gentle, while the corners of his lips curled up, he smiled yet again. Venti quickly took note of it, and quickly ran over.

" Seems like you two are practically in love now.. I can sense it in the wind! " Venti smiled, while resting his hands on his hips. Xiao just looked at him with a blank expression, as Lumine called him back.

As Xiao and I continued rehearsing this small bit over and over again, we noticed Venti and Lumine beginning to act with eachother. " Venti? What.. what are you doing here in Liyue? " Lumine asked, while a confused look on her face appeared. She continued to read from her script, so did Venti.

" Well.. I saw a huge dragon.. which was from Dragonspine go to Liyue.. I went here to investigate. " Venti giggled, as he continued. " I also wanted to see you, Traveler! Where's Paimon, by the way? "

" Paimon's just hiding behind my back.. I don't even know why, but perhaps she's just afraid of that dragon you mentioned. "

" Well, aside from that, how are you, Traveler? Did you find any clues of your missing brother yet? " Venti asked. Lumine just looked away, before shaking her head. " I.. already traveled to Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru.. I don't have much. I.. I even saw him.. "