Zeile's POV
I hesitantly walk up the stairs 'will he even talk to me? Should I even do this? What if it just makes everything worse?" I think, questions running through my head with every step I take, when I get to the top I look onto the balcony and see Xiao standing there, I begin to walk over to him but as soon as I step onto the balcony he glares at me "wait! Before you go, I just... I just want to talk to you" I say.
Xiao is quiet for a few seconds before turning away from me "five minutes, you get five minutes" he says and I smile "okay, umm, when me and Micah got back yesterday I noticed you glaring at us, and I wanted to ask why, and I wanted to see how you were doing, with your karma and all" I shyly say and he glares at me for a second before sighing "the state of my karmic debt is nothing you need to worry about" he says, ignoring my first question.
I frown as I walk over to Xiao "I hate that you never tell me how you feel" I say and hug him causing him to freeze "I care about you and it worries me not knowing what's troubling you" I say and he shoves me off "go away! I don't need your stupid human pity!" he says angrily "but I-" I start but he glares at me "god! When will you learn that I don't want to talk to you! I tried being nice and letting you talk for 5 minutes but you took things way too far!" He says.
I smile softly, trying not to cry "okay," I say as I begin to walk away, this was the only time Xiao has made me upset and scared me, as I walk down the stairs my mom looks at me "are you okay, you look upset," she says and I nod "I'm fine, I'm just gonna go on a walk," I say and leave but as I'm walking out Micah comes and wraps his arms around my shoulder "can I join ya?" He asks and I look up at him and roll my eyes slightly "sure" I say with a smile.
We begin aimlessly walking "so you had a talk with your Adeptus, how'd it go?" Micah asks and I'm silent for a bit, unsure if I should tell him but in the end, I decide not to "it went good" I happily say and he looks at me unsure "alright" he says with a sigh as we continue to wander, when we were about to start walking back he looks at me "so... What was your conversation about?" Micah asks.
I look at him confused at why he randomly stopped "what do you mean" I ask and he laughs softly "y'know with your Adeptus boyfriend" he says and I cross my arms "1, Xiao is not my boyfriend, and 2, why does it matter to you, are you jealous~?" I hum while leaning closer to him but before he could respond I laugh "don't worry, we just had a normal conversation, you're still my best friend. Now come on let's get back inside" I say and begin slightly running back to the inn.
As I get to the building I see him much closer behind me than I thought he was, ending in me pinned to the wall "you all right" he asks with a slight laugh and I just nod, he's quiet for a few seconds before finally talking "jeez you really are short, how tall are you now?" He asks and I cross my arms "why is it any of your business" I say.
"No, come on how tall are you now," he says and I look away "5'0" I say but before he could respond I look at him "just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm weak though" I say before kicking him in the shin and escaping from between his arms, I stick my tongue out at him before skipping inside.
When I get into the inn my dad walks up to me "zeile, I have a favor to ask of you, I have a flower arrangement from floral whisper and last minute they said they didn't deliver so tomorrow can you go to mondstadt to pick it up" he asks and I smile "yeah of course" I say just as Micah comes in "I can come with" he says and I look at him "no need, I can go by myself, I'll be fine" I say.
Preview
I began heading to mondstadt, it surprisingly didn't take that long, except for a few times I had to change course to avoid hilichurls, but I was able to get what I need— I was shaking, this was the scariest moment of my life, my eyes went wide and started to water–his hands slightly moving off of me so I push the hand that was covering my mouth to the side "Xiao!!" I yelled.