𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 | Xiao x Reader

6

Your eyes were all but dry as you traversed the streets of Liyue, navigating toward the Northland Bank while also avoiding the more crowded areas. The last thing you needed right now was to cause a scene just by being seen, and your main goal right now was to just get back to the bank so you could regroup with Childe and rest.

You tried to ignore both the insistent grumbling of your stomach and the appetizing scent of food wafting from the various shops as you passed them by. Had you even eaten yet today?

Considering just the few hours that had already passed had felt like entire years, you couldn't even remember as far back as that morning.

But the enticing smell of food wasn't the only thing you had to ignore right now. You felt your body warm with anger as you once again noticed the feeling of Xiao's eyes on you. He'd followed you all the way to the city and still hadn't stopped, and it was beginning to get so irritating that if you figured out where he was hiding, he would be in for it.

He really didn't know when to quit, did he?

You picked up the pace, making your way down the side of the street to ensure you were more out of the way. Hopefully Childe had had more luck with the traveler than you'd had with any of today's events. The two of you didn't exactly have any way to contact one another, aside from sending some lower-ranked fatui members to deliver letters back and forth.

It wasn't the most efficient, but when staying outside of your home nation it was the best you had. Even then, you'd barely had the chance to even be around other fatui today, so that was pretty much useless.

"I took the liberty of setting up a business dinner, as per the Liyue custom." You paused, hearing the familiar voice of the eleventh harbinger.

Sure enough, he was standing in the middle of the street with the blonde traveler and the little floating child that always accompanied them. Sighing, you went over to the small group, trying to look as put together as you could in the moment.

"What's this about a business dinner?" You asked, crossing your arms as you came to stand next to Childe. He seemed surprised for a second, but then turned to give you a warm smile.

"Ah, Y/n. I was just wondering what you'd gotten up to."

"Y/n?" The floating girl repeated, tilting her head as she looked at you, "Are you fatui too? Paimon hasn't seen you before." Before you could reply, Childe quickly butted in.

"They sure are," he smiled brightly, "Y/n is my assistant. I asked them to run some errands earlier but hadn't seen them for a while. I hope that went well, by the way." He turned back to you at the last part, and you raised an eyebrow at him. Just what was he playing at, trying to pretend you were lower ranked than him?

It was offensive, frankly, but then again, you supposed this traveler didn't need to know the truth about you either. In fact, they had a reputation for being pretty strong, so it might be better for them to perceive you as less of a threat.

"It went fine." You replied simply, still a little bitter about how Childe was acting as if he were above you now. It didn't help that Xiao was most likely witnessing the exchange, which only made you more irritated at the fact that he would see you being treated this way. Not that you cared about what he thought of you.

"Well, would you like to join us for this business dinner?" the harbinger next to you asked, pulling you out of your thoughts as you once again raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you should join us!" The floating girl added eagerly, "Childe is going to introduce us to an ally of his!"

"Is that so...?" You turned to Childe suspiciously before glancing back at her, "I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I have other matters to attend to and I'm not hungry."