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hetacakes · 2 years ago

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the smell of qingxin and almonds is home.

xiaolumi (xiao/alatus x lumine/ying)

in which adepti, illuminated beasts with an emphasis on beasts, aren't built the same as normal humans. namely, adepti have an instinct to protect and defend that extends far deeper than their duty to the land. the conqueror of demons is the best example of this, dutifully defending liyue and its people for millennia on end. of course this eternal protector would have protective written all across his personality chart, but what no one knew was that his base instincts don't just make him protective, but specifically, make him protective of what is his. he was able to ignore the feelings of finding something— no, someone— to call his for so long, until a certain traveler entered his life and suddenly, the thought of claiming her and scenting her until she reeks of qingxin and almonds becomes more and more compelling.

aka men are WOLVES and xiao is no exception, except wolves also mate for life and xiao really really really wants to hold lumine in his arms and scent her and mark her and never leave her side. unfortunately, it seems that everyone else, even pervases, the late yaksha, but lumine is able to pick up on this.

this would not have happened had mhy not put in so many references to scents and scent marking and just marking in general but guess what

they did and now i'm here to pay the price with 14,000+ words of xiao being sad and pining so hard people can literally hear it

idfk what pining sounds like but i can assure you everyone in liyue hears it at max volume when xiao comes around

(u know i put the Canon Xiaolumi Scene™ as the gif here i was legally required to do it)

warning for angst because it's xiao, mentions of murder because... it's xiao, like one cuss word, and mentions of suicide because it's xiao and he's dramatic and will kill anyone that hurts lumine even if it's himself

word count: 14,190

disclaimer: i'm a horrible writer and wrote this when 1.3 barely came out but barely finished it now, and most of it doesn't make sense by 2.7 logic, so i had to change the setting of this to be around v1.6, and as much as i wanted to include the perilous trails archon quest i knew it just wouldn't make sense/flow correctly ㅠㅠ tl,dr: timeline funky

Breathe in, breathe out.

Eyelids flutter shut as feet dig into the earth, grounded.

String drawn taut, and then…

"Dream Trawler… what a weird name," Lumine hummed to herself as an arrow sliced through the air, hitting her target straight on. It was reassuring to know that even though she was stuck as a sword user in this world, her skill with other weapons hadn't completely disappeared. After all, she didn't spend hundreds of years perfecting them just to forget it all in a year or so, which felt like a blink of an eye to celestial beings like her.

(Plus, being leagues better than a certain annoying ginger, who claimed to "have mastered all other weapons, but be least adept with a bow" at said forms of weaponry was much too satisfying for her to get rusty at her craft.)

Snapping back to reality, Lumine watched as the blue-tinted apparition of "Starsnatcher" appeared out of thin air. She had to admit, the view he was greeted with was definitely comedic out of context (and was probably one of the things that eventually made the wannabe adeptus realize she was trying to prank him): she stood directly in front of him with her sad attempt at an unwavering straight face as she put her hands on her hips, leaning forward in an attempt of intimidation; it could've passed as genuine seriousness, had her shoulders not have shaken every time there was a crack in her facade as she barely held back her excitement. To her left and slightly behind her was Xiao, who was the complete opposite to Lumine's sheer glee; he had no problems standing stoically still with his arms crossed and face relaxed into his naturally perfect poker face. Truly, it was the worst case of failed "good cop, bad cop" in history.

"Guess what? You're already dead," she said gravely as she fought back a smug smile at the look on his face, glancing back at Xiao for confirmation, covertly winking at him to play along. She pouted as he shook his head at her theatrics, missing the fond smile on his face as she turned back to the phantom in front of her, quaking in his boots.

Even if Xiao didn't back her up, she was still immensely satisfied to hear the adeptus poser repeat what she said in anguish as he fell for it hook, line, and sinker, the smirk finally succeeding in appearing on her face.

However, her face fell to a look of mild annoyance when Starsnatcher realized he wasn't actually dead, but was just dreaming.

Well, that's no fun.

Just as she was about to make up something to further convince him of his mortal demise, Starsnatcher suddenly raised his voice, an underlying threat clear in his words.

"Huh? What is the meaning of this?! Do you truly think that one will permit such insolence in one's own dreams?"

Startled, she took a step back, unconsciously hiding herself behind Xiao, who still stood steadfast, his posture not having changed in the slightest. Her actions registered to her only after a few moments had passed, and she faintly heard Paimon saying something about taking him down a peg as she wished to disappear. What in the world was that? She wasn't some helpless maiden; she was an otherworldly traveler— no, the otherworldly Traveler— that survived so many things far more dangerous than some rando flouncing around with a piece of magical paper. Still, she couldn't stop her instincts from making her shuffle closer to Xiao, immediately using him as a shield when the man had raised his voice at her, before she shook her head and adjusted her stance, drawing her sword.

Xiao stood back, true to his word about not spilling mortal blood, watching proudly as his Lumine was both able to protect herself and hold her own in battle as well as rely on him for protection and comfort.

Mh, what a perfect little mate he's managed to find for himself.

… Wait—

It wasn't often that Lumine was able to sit and relax on the roof of Wangshu Inn, free from responsibilities, and it was even less so that she was able to be sitting there spending that time with Xiao. But today was turning out to be a good day, and Lumine found herself doing just that, lightly swinging her legs as she recounted her meeting with Pervases after delivering the Sigil of Permission to the last Yaksha, the scent of sweet desserts and dewy flowers drifting in the breeze.

"Oh! And he said to 'send the Conqueror of Demons his regards'," Lumine piped up, eyes sparkling as she raised a finger in the air and did her best to deepen her voice and imitate the late adeptus, unaware of the implications a seemingly simple comment could hold.

"...?" Xiao silently prompted, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Yeah! He knew you sent me."

"And how did he know?" Xiao clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I have trouble recalling when exactly I told you to tell the whole world you were temporarily acting as my errand runner."

'Seriously, does this foolish girl mention me every chance she gets? How did he know she was coming straight to me? Did she say something misleading?' Xiao internally debated with himself, fighting the red tint threatening to creep up his ears even as his outward expression looked as neutral as always.

"N-No, he said something about being able to sense your aura on me or something? That, and also your karma…"

Lumine had trailed off at the end of that sentence, but it didn't matter, as Xiao had already been cursed with hearing the first part and the suggestion the late yaksha was implying there; knowing Pervases, he could already picture the way he would raise his eyebrows with an expression that clearly planned to cause a stir. He choked on his tea, almost dropping the cup and having to will it to disappear with a wave of his hand as his face flushed, the tips of his ears finally giving in and turning an embarrassed scarlet. 'Has having her so often in my presence really been making everything that obvious? No… no! Not obvious… been giving off the wrong idea? I swear I only marked her once or twice before entering that karma infested cave, so the corrupted monsters would stay away from my energy signatures on her…' he frantically thought to himself.

(He, in fact, did not just mark her once or twice, but rather a lot of times. His subconscious is his best wingman, it seems, and it loved making sure the pretty traveler was walking around thoroughly doused in the scent of freshly-picked mountain flowers and sweetened desserts, along with a few extra invisible wisps of dark green anemo, just to be sure.)

"Hm? Are you okay, Xiao?" Lumine, bless her heart of gold, asked him with heartwarming concern, hand reaching out to lightly touch his forehead.

He quickly swatted it away, ignoring how nice the warmth of her dainty hands felt on his skin while mumbling something about having no respect for adepti, invading his personal space whenever she felt like it. "I-I'm fine, just… what exactly did Pervases mean about 'my aura'?"

"I mean, he was super vague, and that didn't really make sense to me, so I honestly have no idea…"

"He probably meant someone's specific scent on her! You know you and the other adepti, always using fancy words like 'aura' instead of 'scent' or 'mark'," Paimon teased after deeming the dilemma Xiao was quickly finding himself in more interesting than her pocket dimension and appeared from literal thin air, winking and sticking out her tongue mischievously, sending a knowing look to the handsome and deceptively youthful-looking adeptus.

Lumine looked at her with a confused look, to which Paimon only explained with an, "Oh, don't worry about it, it's just an adepti thing!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Do you want me to explain?" Paimon offered gleefully, pointedly ignoring the searing glare and cutthroat motion Xiao was fervently sending her way.

"Yes, please," Lumine answered immediately, so politely and nicely, it made something in Xiao's heart swell that his mate was so elegant and obedient and— wait… what? No! Xiao furrowed his eyebrows as he shook his head like an Etch-A-Sketch, wondering why these intrusive and ridiculous thoughts seemed to plague him recently. Him, having a mate? Even further, having someone as wonderful as Lumine as his mate? The notion was beyond delusional, and anyways, adepti, illuminated beasts as they were, didn't need to have mates or partners to survive, like the rest of the lesser fauna; he had, has, and will do just fine without one for the rest of his life (though a treacherous voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously similar to Madame Ping reminded him that it would be a great idea to repopulate the yaksha race). He only knew of a handful of mated adepti pairs, with only two being an adeptus and human bond: the parents of Ganyu and Yanfei. Even then, he knew that a Yaksha like him could never even dream of having a mate, much less a mortal mate, if he wanted to keep them alive and sane.

'... Yes, exactly,' he reassured himself. In any case, someone like him didn't deserve someone to call his, didn't deserve a happy ending, not after the eons of bloodshed that was wrought directly from his tainted hands. And he especially didn't deserve to even consider someone as perfect and sweet and nice and beautiful as Lumine as a friend, let alone a lifelong partner.

"Hehehe! It's kind of like when Childe gives you his jacket with like ten times the normal amount of his cologne on it, like jeez he probably washed it in the stuff and threw it in the ocean, so everyone knows to back off because he already called di—"

"Ahem!" Xiao cut in with one of his characteristic growls, clearing his throat and sending a death glare to the incessantly chattering fairy, who was obviously trying to rile him up at the mention of the Fatui harbinger and whatever that child did in his pathetic attempts at courting Lumine. Even more infuriating, he found it to be working, awakening an irrational feeling of jealousy he had never ever felt before in all his long years of living — an irrational feeling that compelled him to talk first, think later in order to clear up the supposed misunderstanding (though Paimon's explanation was actually not that bad, but because she had mentioned Childe, he wasn't going to accept it). "As I've said before, adepti are not the same as most mortals, and have stronger constitutions that have adapted to accommodate such a vast amount of power…" he trailed off, wondering how to best put it to her without revealing too much — the consequence of opening his mouth without thinking, he supposed.

"So… am I listening to another 'humans are puny and inferior' rant?"

"If you'd let me finish—" he snapped, but watched as she was unfazed with her small but radiant smile still settled on her pretty pink lips, already used to his behaviors. He didn't know if that pissed him off even more or pleased him, knowing that his hostility still didn't deter her kindness, much like how a cat's owner is undeterred from the occasional swipes of their cat's claws and is always more than happy to accept the remorseful headbutts afterward. Not that she was his or he was hers or anything, but once he 'accidentally' made that connection in his mind he couldn't help but mentally facepalm as he found himself being a little too fond of the notion and decided to just forcefully forget about it. "Humans aren't granted power from Celestia the same way gods and adepti are. Even vision-bearers barely come close to the power of an adeptus who has had lifetimes to hone their power and wield it wisely, much less that same adeptus but with a vision."

"What about me?" Lumine asked with an infuriatingly genuine expression, meaning that she truly was just so innocent and curious about Teyvat. She pointed a finger at herself, and Xiao briefly wondered what part of this world or under which rock she came from, since she knew so little about who and where she was now.

"You are still human, so you are still very different from me." He continued with a mumble, "... but I admit, you are the most impressive human I've ever met."

"... Ehe, thank you," she smiled, face blushing a slight pink at having received such an honest compliment from someone who never gave them, and Xiao looked away, having a reputation to keep. If he had kept looking, he would've noticed the slightly embarrassed look Paimon and the Traveler shared between themselves at him calling her "human", but that was neither here nor there.

"Think nothing of it. In any case, simply put, adepti are of an ideal form in order to withstand their own strengths. Inevitably, someone with such concentrated elemental power would have it radiating from them, permeating the air and whoever they come into contact with, not unlike the traces made visible when using your Elemental Sight. Meaning that when you spend too much time with me, my presence rubs off on you intangibly in the form of my energy signatures and tangibly in the form of my… natural scent, you could say."

"Is that bad?" Lumine asked, tilting her head to the side like his— um, a cute— er, a completely normal stupid little baby kitten.

Archons, she was dangerous for his heart.

"For other adepti? Not at all. You can spend as much time with Ganyu or Cloud Retainer as you like, and you'd be fine." He glanced at her surprised face out of the corner of his eye. "Don't be so baffled. I know those two love inviting you over to Mt. Aocang to sit and gossip," he huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms.

"Are you, perhaps, watching me?" she asked him with a teasing smile, putting her weight on her hands as she leaned forward into his chest and stared back up at him with those big ol' eyes.

"Don't be absurd. When I said I'd act as your protector, I believed it to be clear that included watching over you," he scoffed, turning his face and looking irritatedly into the horizon. The view of her honey eyes peering up at him from underneath long lashes, with a look similar to that of a begging pet, her lips curled into a beguiling smirk, and with her chest dangerously close to his was too tempting — the epitome of the sweet innocence of gentle sin.

"Ew, do you watch her even when she bathes? Pervert," Paimon butted in again, crinkling her face in mock disgust before she switched back to her signature "I'm-up-to-no-good" face; the face of pure mischief, and a face he had wisely learned to dread.

"That's— that's absurd! I am only aware of your general location, and don't directly perceive you going about your little mundane life." He scoffed, immediately shooting down such a ridiculous idea. "In any case, the other adepti's presence should not have an ill effect on you, especially since they are either vision-less full adeptus or half mortal with a vision. I, on the other hand, have both full adepti blood and a vision along with great karmic debt, which is… survivable for me, but deadly to everything else. Thus, my aura is not only stronger than most, but deadlier as well. Those hilichurls that fake adeptus was struggling with are familiar occurrences when they stick around the inn for too long or attempt to fight me," Xiao explained monotonously, but both Lumine and Paimon caught his hesitation and the slightest hint of a sigh at the end of his sentence, a testament to just how long the Vigilant Yaksha, Conqueror of Demons has had to endure such pain and suffering. It broke her heart knowing of all he had to go through, and she was determined to do whatever it takes to ease his pain and share his burden (though taking care of him and sharing his struggles was and will never be a burden — not if it's his, never if it's him).

"Yeah, Pervases did mention that too… but Cloud Retainer says it's not that bad and not to worry about it. Why is that?"

"Why are you discussing such things with Cloud Retainer? Do you truly mention me at any chance you get?" Xiao asked, finally voicing his initial suspicion.

"H-Hey, you're making me sound creepy! Like Albert," she muttered and he couldn't help but wonder who the hell was Albert and if he was bothering her, queen, because he would gladly take care of it for her (he doesn't spill mortal blood but a sufficiently long bout of induced unconsciousness was really persuasive). "And no, I don't, it's actually Ganyu and Cloud Retainer that invite me over for tea or something just to start talking to me about you. It's always, 'you've been spending much time with the Conqueror of Demons' and 'oh, is that a scent mark I sense?' and 'did you know that carrying an adepti baby is very different from a human one?' and—"

"That's— that's enough," Xiao coughed, unable to continue hearing the unbelievably embarrassing gossip about him and his apparently blatantly obvious affections for Lumine; affections that definitely did not exist, thank you very much (which is a total lie; they very much did exist, but he was never ever going to admit that to anyone, not even himself). Paimon tumbled in the air and snickered, forever grateful she decided to accompany the Traveler to all of those chit chat sessions instead of staying behind with Xiangling at Wanmin Restaurant like she had desperately wanted to at the time. "I warned you not to stay around me, since all that would await you was regret, yet you insisted. For some reason, your mortal body—" A small cough from Lumine interrupted the middle of his sentence, but he ignored it. "—is as resilient as mine to such heavy karma, so the detection of my presence is still there, but not manifested with malignancy like it usually does on other living things. I warned you of this, and yet you decided to ignore my words of caution." Xiao shook his head, before continuing, "It's too late. The connection between us is too strong. Even if you wanted to, it's too late to sever it." He sighed, but the Traveler's look of contemplation and odd glance sent his way caught his attention. "... What?"

"Why would I want that? Why would I want to end this relationship between us?"

Xiao decided to ignore her phrasing of what he had settled, for his own sake, to be a normal friendship as a 'relationship' for now; he has enough time to agonize over it late at night when he couldn't will himself to sleep. "You've never thought to sever it?... This eternal dance of demon subjugation... my fight goes on, possibly for as long as I have left to live, possibly for forever. How curious and irredeemingly stupid of you to want to aid me in such a long and endless battle… but if you insist, then I will not stop you."

Then she smiled at him, luminously, with a glow that rivaled that of the stars in the sky at its clearest hundreds of centuries ago that still shone brightly in his memory, a shine that was still easily upstaged by Lumine's own brilliance by a landslide, and even he (in all his denial) could sense the soft notes of qingxin misted in morning dew rubbing off on her and staking his hidden claim on her, unwilling to let another dare to even dream of taking what's his.

"You," he said, pointing an accusatory finger at the one and a half adepti in front of him, "need to stop spouting nonsense to the Traveler about me."

Cloud Retainer scoffed. "And what does one mean, exactly, when one says 'nonsense', pray tell?" She craned her neck and straightened her posture, looking back at the last yaksha with a challenging look in her eye.

"... I think he means when we tried convincing Miss Lumine that the Conqueror of Demons had already started an adepti courting ritua—"

"That is exactly what I mean!" Xiao interrupted Ganyu, sending the both of them a glare. "Do you really have nothing better to do than to sit and gossip like adolescent schoolgirls?"

"One is not easily fooled, Conqueror of Demons. One has seen the way you have imprinted on her," Cloud Retainer noted haughtily. "Even a blind man can see it."

"Oh, yes! It's very much like when a baby duckling imprints onto whatever happens to be nearest. He would surely follow her to the ends of the worlds, and then some."

"One agrees."

"That is completely… baseless and absurd!" Xiao stalled. "I have not marked or imprinted on anyone. I am not beginning a courting ritual with anyone, and I am not taking a mate now, or ever, for that matter," Xiao said with finality, challenging the two in front of him to argue otherwise.

"Hmph. One thinks the Conqueror of Demons is in denial." Cloud Retainer slowly spread her wings and flapped away, decisively adding her last words on the matter before attending to other things — a total drama queen, as always.

Ganyu watched as her white figure slowly disappeared into the distance, and stood awkwardly, shuffling her feet from side to side. "I can't say I disagree with Cloud Retainer, Conqueror of Demons. You're lucky, Miss Lumine really is one of a kind," she said with a smile as light chimes began singing through the air, courtesy of her crystalline blue timepiece, telling her it was time to open her glider and make her way down the mountain and back to Yuehai Pavilion.

Xiao scoffed as he saw how both Cloud Retainer and Ganyu made such theatrical exits, leaving him no space to get his final say in. Still, he summoned his polearm and stabbed it into the ground, looking protectively out over the horizon as he had done hundreds of thousands of times before, watching as the sun barely peeked but a sliver of gold over the hazy line. Their words had sounded preposterous to him, but if he was being honest, being mated to Lumine was quite the dreamy fantasy…

Then, with such convenient timing that allowed him to yet again shove this matter to the corner of his brain to ignore and put it off as much as possible, he heard Lumine whisper his name from somewhere in Lingju Pass.

Except instead of allowing him to avoid the subject, it seemed to force him to meet it head on, because as soon as he arrived, he was met with the sight of Lumine stumbling to the ground with both an apologetic look and crimson streams smeared on her face before lying worryingly still as a Ruin Guard walked towards her targeted form, with Paimon clutching on her sleeves tight enough to rip them off and looking at him with furrowed brows and shiny tears.

He doesn't remember exactly what he said, but he knew that it was some sort of insult and that he shouted it angrily as he summoned his spear and donned his mask without hesitation, even as he knew she couldn't — or worse, wasn't able to — listen.

"Don't do this to me!" is what he would've yelled to Celestia above if he hadn't come in time— did he even come in time?

"Don't do this to me!" is what he would've said when he took a closer look at her heartbreakingly motionless body.

"Don't do this to me, please," is what he would've begged to the stars, her brethren, pleading with them not to take away what was most precious to him when he let his polearm clatter to the ground as he cradled her in his arms.

The few seconds in between movements stretched into an eternity, with no sound, just the dust settling from the enemy's fallen form and a ringing in his ears that threatened to pierce through his skull and corrupt his mind, a sign that his only saving grace from karma was on her last thread.

He fumbled as he felt for a pulse before giving up and pressing his ear directly to her chest, appearances be damned. For a few seconds, he could hear nothing, and the thought made him taste bile in the back of his throat.

Then, slowly but surely, he heard the smallest hints of a beat, unsteady and fragile, and easily missed had his focus not been solely on it.

Once he confirmed she was still alive, just unconscious, he felt a wave of relief crash over him. He couldn't help but hold her impossibly closer as he slumped over her, uncaring that Paimon had pressed herself between them and was currently sniffling into a gross wet patch of snot and tears on his shirt.

A simple heartbeat: what was usually an insignificant rhythm of the beating of a mortal heart had become his saving grace in a matter of seconds. However faint it was, it was still there, and that's all he could've asked for.

He made the trip back to the Wangshu Inn as he carried her in his arms — far, but he didn't want to risk teleporting and nauseating her — and laid her down on a bed, before he immediately appeared in Bubu Pharmacy, relaying the jeopardized health of the Traveler to Qiqi, who immediately got teary-eyed and demanded Xiao take her to see her immediately, quiet but melancholy whispers of "Lumine jiejie, please be okay" echoing in his ears as he rushed back to her. Opening the door and nodding his approval to Qiqi at his side, who was grasping tightly onto his hand, she immediately threw herself at the sleeping Traveler and hugged her with as much might and force a little zombie girl could muster before opening her kit and gathering her medicines, softly cleaning and wrapping the countless bruises and cuts marring the traveler's skin, smoothing ointments and creams whenever necessary (which was concerningly often).

Once Qiqi told him she would be fine after lots and lots of rest (and proceeded to surprisingly climb into the bed with her), he left them to sleep as he made his way to Jueyun Karst and gathered the other adepti. With a wave of his hand, he showed them the fragile state of the Traveler through the use of an adepti art.

"Who dared do this to the Savior of Liyue?" Moon Carver asked in an eerily static tone, but Xiao couldn't tear his eyes from the sight of her barely moving form on the bed, making sure her chest continued to rise and fall.

"It was none other than herself. It's clear to me that she had overexerted herself." How he wished it was the fault of someone else, was an attempt at the Traveler's life, so he would be assured she would be fine once they were eliminated.

"One fully believes a certain Fatui Harbinger played a part in encouraging her overexertion. Knowing the harbinger's tendencies for bloodlust and loyalty to his archon, one would believe it to be part of a prolonged attempt at her life. One is not adverse to permanently eliminating this threat—"

"Then what shall we do?"

Mountain Shaper asked, cutting off Cloud Retainer's blatant suggestion of literal murder, and Xiao turned to him to gauge his reaction, before looking at all three of them.

"Well, Madame Ping told me…"

"X-Xiao, you don't need to bring me here!" Lumine exclaimed, fully expecting to be taken to the Qixing to meet her legal demise. "I'll just stay in a room at Wangshu Inn sometime, or at the inn Mr. Zhu's running..."

"Don't listen to her, Xiao, she's lying! She said the same thing to Paimon two weeks ago, and she hadn't stepped foot into either of those places until you brought her there! And you saw how she fainted to the floor right in the middle of fighting that Ruin Guard!" Paimon yelled, throwing a tantrum in the air. To be fair, her outburst was very justified, since she must have been mentally and physically exhausted from worrying over the Traveler who didn't seem to listen to her, and probably felt guilty for only being able to watch helplessly as she ignored her own wellbeing, unable to do something, anything, because of her miniature size.

"Shut it! Just… follow me," was his curt response, but both Paimon and the Traveler knew that while it was full of anger, it held no malice towards them. It was obvious that the news Paimon just revealed to him, which explained the terrifying ordeal that happened a mere few days ago, greatly upset him, and Lumine had the decency to look away in shame when they both turns to glance at her as if she would escape their sights any moment now, a scathing look of chastisement in their eyes.

"W-Well, why are we going to Yuehai Pavilion? Don't you hate the crowds? Am I finally gonna be arrested?" Lumine asked nervously, wriggling in Xiao's hold. As dumb as it was, she had tried to escape when she realized he was taking her to Liyue Harbor, fearing the worst, aka the Wrath of either the Rock or the Qixing— an idea that, in hindsight, was a terrible one, but seemed like a good option at the time. As a result, he had pulled her into his side by wrapping a firm arm around her waist, and no matter how much she squirmed and tugged at his arm, his grip didn't let up. Effectively, she was stuck.

"All the charges had been dropped against you; you know this already. Yanfei herself even informed you of this, did she not?"

"Well, yes, but she mentioned it only because she was disappointed she didn't get to take my case. She seemed a little too excited at the thought of me being a criminal… what if she reopened it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Yanfei, as stubborn as she is, knows when to accept that things have settled. Regardless, we're here," he said, walking over to an adeptus they both knew well with Lumine in tow.

"Madame Ping, hi! How are you?" Paimon exclaimed, mirroring the excitement on Lumine's own face at seeing the lovely old woman. They did always have the most interesting chats over a cup of tea, after all.

"Me? I'm doing well, but Traveler, what about you? The others told me of the unfortunate event that happened a few days ago," Madame Ping lightly scolded her, waving a finger in her direction.

"'M sorry, that was a one time thing, I promise!" She couldn't help but hang her head in shame, twisting her toe in the ground as she directed her gaze downwards. So what if Lumine had a soft spot for kind and sweet old people and felt like crying when something bad happened to them? Even though she was fully aware of just how powerful Madame Ping actually was, she still couldn't help but want to cave in every time the "elder" of the two asked something of her.

"It better be, young lady."

"Is the teapot ready?" Xiao interrupted, wanting to get straight to the point so he could leave before the growing crowd among them became unbearable.

Sensing his discomfort, Madame Ping smiled. "Yes, here it is," she said, before pulling out a teapot, a teapot that was noticeably not Madame Ping's but was similar nonetheless, and placing it in Lumine's hands. "Traveler, here is your very own Serenitea Pot."

"Serenity Pot?..."

Before Lumine could ask who came up with such a punny name, Xiao covered one of her hands with his own, the domain within immediately responding to its owner's power. Soon enough, the world around Lumine began to warp, and suddenly she was glad she was plastered to his side as everything made her head spin and stomach churn.

When she mustered up the courage to peek one eye open, Lumine found herself in front of a huge Liyue-style mansion. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed that she was standing on one of many towering plateaus, each connected to the other by simple but sturdy wooden bridges. The landscape, she noticed, had a striking resemblance to Jueyun Karst, the home of the adepti.

"What is all this?" Lumine asked in amazement, looking around at the world within, not realizing she was still tucked into his side, as if loathe to let even air keep them apart.

"This is for you, since you apparently don't know how to keep yourself alive," Xiao mumbled, averting his eyes to avoid another blush rising across his face. It was nice, having her so close to him; it felt natural, almost too natural, as if this was their destined place in the universe: together. "Madame Ping had already made plans to make an adeptal realm similar to her own teapot, and after seeing how irresponsible you are, the rest of us decided to help. Madame Ping provided the physical teapot, while Cloud Retainer modified the mechanics to be a bit more advanced. For instance, you can change the landscape to another of your liking." He demonstrated this with a wave of his hand, and Lumine watched in amazement as the scene around them shimmered between lush green mountains and floating islands connected with golden bridges made of pure energy. "The materials to make this were sourced by Mountain Carver, Moon Shaper, and Yanfei, which included the Smaragdus Jadeite you both were looking for. Ganyu and the Qixing were in charge of constructing the house, and I created the domain, so only you and I may enter." Theoretically, Lumine could allow other people into the teapot as well by placing her energy signature on them, but since the domain only responded to its owner's adeptal power and thus considered her signature as a weaker extension of his, they would only be briefly allowed in the teapot with direct approval, whereas he and Lumine were free to come and go at every whim for as long as they so desired.

(Though the traitorous voice in the back of his head pointed out that by completing the Rite of Union and sharing his adepti powers with her, her signature would no longer be just a weaker extension, and the domain would begin to respond to their singular, shared signature).

He conveniently left out the fact that the reason the plan stalled in the beginning was because no adepti was willing to give up their domain. Obviously, for there to be a domain within the teapot, an adeptus had to be the creator and owner of said domain, sustaining it with their power. Unfortunately, most of the other adepti already had their own personal domains, and the secrets and treasures kept inside said domains were too important to be relocated to the physical world just yet. Thus, the plan was seemingly abandoned, until Xiao volunteered his own domain. He had already prepared his reasoning, which was that he rarely used his domain and that there were no important artifacts or weapons among its contents, but the other adepti had immediately accepted his offer, saying, "We should've asked the Conqueror of Demons in the first place! He is bound to share his domain with his mate!", which was again completely false, but if sacrificing his personal domain and dealing with the other adepti because of it meant she would be safe and he'd never have to witness another near-death experience, he would gladly do it all over again in a heartbeat.

"... Thank you, Xiao. Really," Lumine spoke after an emotional pause and smiled, genuinely, heartwarmingly, charmingly, beautifully, and every other positive adjective, yet all of them together still couldn't accurately describe the small yet sweet upward curve of her lips, a smile he believed he didn't and never would deserve but was blessed with anyway.

"I-It's nothing. Just— take care of yourself," he stammered, before disappearing into thin air, wisps of anemo and karmic energy dissipating in his wake.

"She seems to like your gift, Conqueror of Demons."

Xiao grumbled, with only the words "whatever" and "Lumine" being audible to the other adepti. ("It's whatever; it's not as deep to Lumine as it is to you," he had said.)

"You are very dedicated to this traveler, Vigilant Yaksha."

"You are… misunderstanding. You're the ones that welcomed her to Jueyun Karst in the first place. Had it been me to be the first to see her step foot upon this land, I would've turned her away immediately."

"That is true, one was and still is very fond of this traveler. Perhaps one should begin a courting ritual?"

"Don't even think about it," Xiao hissed, his tone telling others to back off of what was his.

"Conqueror of Demons is the fondest of the traveler out of all of us, Moon Carver. One thought that he had been courting her this whole time."

"That seems to be true, Cloud Retainer. It was unnecessary for her to need the sigil anymore anyway, as the Conqueror of Demons has adequately staked his claim and marked her."

"But of course. One sees that the Vigilant Yaksha was the first to lay claim, and one respects that."

"Is that why Miss Lumine always smells like the Conqueror of Demons? They have finally officiated their bond?"

"Precisely, Miss Ganyu—"

"Definitely not." Xiao interrupted Cloud Retainer, shooting her a glare. "She persists in insisting on accompanying me or vice versa, and that is what caused her to receive some of my scent and energy traces. That is all, just coincidental proximity, nothing more." Xiao huffed, even as his ears started to adopt a barely noticeable pink tint.

"One can't be fooled, yaksha. One knows that scent is transferred through closer contact than merely walking together, and one has seen a bed be shared many times between the two of you."

"Oh my, Cloud Retainer! Do you mean we're finally going to see a baby adept—"

"Absolutely not! She suffers from nightmares, and I took it upon myself to relieve her of them. It is her who insists that I must rest alongside her, and it is her who is fond of physical contact."

"The Conqueror of Demons says she is the only one to initiate, but he also does not refuse or reject. One thinks the Conqueror of Demons is as fond of physical contact as the traveler herself."

Xiao looked away, crossing his arms and yet again mumbling something under his breath, something that none of the other adepti, and half-adeptus, present could interpret. ("I'm only fond of it if it's with her," was his unheard admission.)

Cloud Retainer, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, cleared her throat and changed the subject. "Well, it seems that the traveler's date of birth is arriving soon. I'm sure the Conqueror of Demons has something special planned for her."

Xiao narrowed his eyes. "If, on the off chance I do give her a gift, it will be a simple one. At most, I'll give her an artifact to ward off evil, something useful. There is no difference between the day she was born and any other day."

The other adepti paused, before skeptically nodding their heads. They had no reason to believe Xiao to be lying, as what he said did seem very in character as something he would do, though they were hoping for a more romantic answer. Even Cloud Retainer seemed satisfied with his statement, as she accepted it without inquisition and probed no further.

"Should we also give her something? I think we could all give her a self-replenishing vial of our adeptal energy as a, y'know, quick boost of energy when the going gets tough. Maybe we can use the cor lapis on your island to put it in a bottle that can withstand the pressure from the power within, Mountain Shaper, and Cloud Retainer can craft it, since she's always tinkering with things in her domain anyway. The rest of us can…"

Xiao tuned out the rest of the conversation, watching as Ganyu pitched her idea to the others, who seemed to be in agreement with her plan. His focus, instead, was on the gingko leaves drifting in the wind, as green as jade.

"This mortal concept of commemorating the day of your birth… really is redundant," Xiao grumbled, arms crossed with a displeased look wrinkling his brow.

Lumine laughed. "Well, if the day of my birth hadn't happened, then I wouldn't have met you, no? Don't you think that's why it's worth celebrating?" Lumine asked, stifling another giggle at the way Xiao reluctantly muttered his agreement. "Unfortunately, mora doesn't make itself, and even on my birthday I have commissions to do. I'll be right ba—"

As she turned away, Xiao reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Wait. Have this. It's… a butterfly I made from leaves," he stammered, placing the gift in her hands. "Okay. Take it. It's an adepti amulet — it staves off… um… 'evil'."

Lumine examined the necklace carefully. True to his word, it was a butterfly made from "leaves", in that the wings seemed to be shaped in the form of gingko leaves. However, only a complete idiot would believe the hard, perfectly smooth texture of the pendant to be that of a real leaf.

"Xiao… I hate to be the one to tell this to you—" Xiao immediately froze, slightly panicking as he prepared himself for rejection because yes, it technically was his courting gift to her, but nobody but him needed to know that. "—but this is not made from leaves."

"You—!" Xiao sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders all in one breath. "I am aware. I meant that I made it from leaves; that is the truth."

Lumine looked once more at the butterfly, inspecting it a tad closer. Indeed, there were veins in the wing pieces, veins that were too delicate and too small to have been carved into a normal piece of jade, even if painstakingly done by hand.

"I've never seen a leaf this solid… you could've fooled me and said it was pure jade." Lumine winked with a laugh, knowing that Xiao used his powers to transform the gingko leaf into jade, like water to wine.

She ran her thumb over the completely smooth, unmarred surface, watching as the sun hit it just so, scattering perfect green refractions into the air. She shyly looked back up at Xiao from under her eyelashes, before looking away as her face flushed red. "Thank you Xiao. I… I love it," she whispered, almost too quiet for him to hear, but it sounded loud enough in his ears. "I'm honored that you took the time to make this for me. Here," she said, whirling around and dropping the necklace back into his hand. "Can you put it on me?"

And when she asked so nicely, looking over her shoulder with her sparkling round eyes and pleading look, how could he ever refuse her? Brushing her hair away, long enough to get in the way but too short for Lumine to hold away, Xiao noticed the way she shivered when his fingers grazed the nape of her neck. Biting the inside of his cheek and shaking away inappropriate thoughts that centered heavily around other ways he could make tremors wrack her petite body with just his touch, he looped the necklace around her neck before fiddling with the clasp, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding when it finally locked into place.

(And if she smelled a lot like a certain type of mountain flower and soft dessert dish, well, he was never one to pass up a perfect scenting opportunity.)

She turned back to him, looking down as she held the pendant in the palms of her cupped hands. "And this will ward off evil? How?" She looked back up at him, eyes shining with curiosity.

He coughed awkwardly, bringing up a hand to partially hide his embarrassed face. "It, uh… jade represents longevity and wisdom, and this piece of jade has a lot of yang energy, which repels ghosts and… evil spirits; this is why the people of Liyue like to call jade 'stones of luck and happiness', since it has such a deeper meaning to them." Technically, that was partially true: jade did indeed have deep meaning in the culture of Liyue, but he had lied in saying the yang energy of the stone would repel "evil spirits". Though he did imbue it with such energy just in case, it was actually the aforementioned "deeper meaning" that would repel the "evil spirits", with said "spirits" actually being those that approached her with romantic intentions. The butterfly on her neck would tell others that she was taken, and it being jade marked her as deeply committed and basically engaged, which he supposed was the most similar mortal concept to adepti mating. It was a perfect plan: he essentially subtly proposed and she accepted. Now other potential suitors will have no choice but to back off and he didn't have to face the embarrassment of directly confessing his feelings and being rejected— a win-win scenario, if you asked him.

"And why did you pick a butterfly? I don't usually receive butterfly-themed gifts, but I find that I actually am really fond of this one," Lumine murmured, eyes gazing at the sparkling pendant with a softness she had seemingly reserved only for him, when the only presences were their own, and the only disturbance in the air was their synced breaths, whispers of meandering conversation floating up to the stars.

"... No reason," he said, y'know, like a liar. "Do you… know what butterflies mean in Liyue?"

"I don't know about specifically Liyue, but I do know that butterflies are usually a sign of change because of that whole metamorphosis thing."

"Good," he sighed internally, grateful that she didn't understand the true meaning of him putting a jade butterfly on her.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Tell me what a butterfly means, please?"

Her wide, expectant eyes, exactly like a curious kitten, looked up at him, and he was 90% sure that she didn't know what her pleading expression did to him, didn't know that her begging eyes compelled his base instincts to answer and soothe his mate.

"In Liyue, a butterfly being gifted from one to another means… uh," he fumbled for the right words. He wasn't actually planning on answering, as that would expose him and his feelings, but Lumine just appealed to his desire to please his mate so well, so perfectly that he automatically responded to whatever she asked for.

The perfect opportunity presented itself to him. He could tell her how he felt, explain the story of the butterfly lovers, right here, right now. He could ask her if he could begin courting her, and then she'd laugh and say something funny to diffuse his nervousness, something like she thought he already was courting her, and then he would blush and ask if she was willing to be his mate, and she'd say yes, and for once in his goddamn life he would have something precious, someone worth fighting for, someone worth living for.

Or… she'd say no, reject him, and turn away, leaving him to bury himself in the deepest hole possible and die of humiliation. She'd say she already had her eyes on someone else, or that she was already taken, or, even worse, that she was single and didn't have anyone in mind but would rather die a thousand deaths than be with him. Because why would she want to be with him? Him, a cursed demon. Him, someone with so, so much blood on his hands. Him, someone who just corrupted everything around him. Him, who drives every mortal being near him to madness. Him, who was good for nothing but bloodshed and chaos and evil.

Him, who never had and never will deserve something precious, someone worth fighting for, someone to live for.

He blinked, and suddenly his millennium long internal conflict was over in mere seconds. He looked down, and she was still there, still staring up at him, still tugging at his heartstrings. Oh, how badly he wanted to tell her the truth, to tell her the story of the butterfly lovers and replace Liang Shanbo's name with his and Zhu Yingtai's with hers.

… Who was he kidding, thinking of confessing to her like that. He knew it was just going to be another fact he takes with him to his grave, if it even exists (but at this point he knew there was no denying it anymore: he was utterly and irrevocably in love with Lumine). He knew that he shouldn't— couldn't— tell her, because she was too good for him and deserved someone who wasn't a deadly threat, a ticking time bomb, a force that would just corrupt her if she stayed by his side for too long.

"... It means that the gifter is wishing the receiver good luck on their journeys. When saying 'butterfly' as '蝴蝶 (hú dié)', the first syllable, '蝴 (hú)', sounds very similar to that for 'good fortune', which is '福 (fú)'. Though it varies from person to person, some also associate it with prosperous journeys, since butterflies are well-known for migration." He traced the strokes of the script into her hand, partly to demonstrate to her what he was trying to explain but mostly just to feel her tiny hand in the palm of his own.

Technically he wasn't lying, what he said is in fact true. It just… wasn't the actual meaning he truly intended to convey.

Lumine nodded along, fascinated by the word's etymology. "Wow, the Liyuean script is so complicated…"

"... That is true. Many have said that it's truly very difficult for non-natives to learn."

"Aww, but I want to learn…"

His eyes flickered up to her, her own golden eyes avoiding his as she fiddled with her fingers, a nervous habit of hers he had long since picked up on.

Although, learning a language was hardly something to be nervous about, especially when she hadn't even started yet.

"Why would you go through all the effort for basically nothing? There is nothing for you to gain from learning, especially since you've been getting along just fine without it."

"It's not that… I just… wanted to learn it better, learn more than a few phrases… for you," she mumbled, finally turning her doe eyes up to meet his. For a moment, he was lost in the swirling gold, contemplating her words. She was always too kind, too selfless. Always so sweet and perfect.

Always this, always that, always everything good in the world.

Then he turned away and scoffed; she was also always ridiculous, it seemed.

"That is unnecessary. I've long since learned the common language of all Teyvat; there is no language barrier here."

"It's not that there's a language barrier here, but… you're always doing things for me to 'understand me better', and I… would like to do the same for you," she admitted, and his heart cooed at how adorable she was being. "I heard that saying things in your mother language makes it more meaningful, and I'd like to make our conversations more meaningful to you."

Well, she wasn't wrong. The nuances in other languages change the meaning of every phrase. In Fontaine, for example, one doesn't say "I miss you," one says, "Tu me manques." For someone who speaks both, the first just says, "Hey, I miss you; it's been a while since I've last seen you," the second says, "You are missing from me; I am experiencing a lack of you." The meaning and usage is the same, and most Fontainians don't see it as that deep. But for someone who grew up with Fontainian and began to speak it less and less over time, the two are different in a way that's more profound than just translation errors.

For saying "I love you" in everyday life to remind friends and family of how much you treasure them is thoughtful, but saying "我爱你 (wô ài nî)" is too personal, hits too close to home, as if admitting that would irrevocably sear it into his soul, into the very fabric of his being. Because his native language was home, it was with whom he was born and raised and lived and loved in his earliest years, before harm could take that away from him. By confessing that to her, he would be wearing his heart on his sleeve and letting her catch a glimpse at his former self, at the tiny yet untainted part of him that he kept locked away, lest the karma fully consume him, his feelings for her becoming an irreversible truth.

And that would make her rejection all the more unbearable, because he maybe could move on from an "I love you," but he could never hope to move on from a "我爱你".

So he settled with telling her, "That's not necessary. I… find our conversations to be meaningful enough as they are."

But then she pulled out the puppy dog eyes that begged him to reconsider, and his resolve crumbled like a sandcastle in water. He had his suspicions that she knew he could never say no to her, especially when she did that (and yes, she was aware of this fact).

"Fine; I will teach you some of the Liyuean language," he relented, and was sufficiently compensated for his troubles with the sparkle in her eye and smile on her pretty pink lips. "To say hello, which literally translates to 'you good', you say…"

It had been a week since he gifted Lumine his proposal gift— ahem, her butterfly necklace— and the results were already going exceedingly well. For example, less and less people started approaching her with love letters and flowers; most people that caught a sight of the jade pendant in between her collarbones took less than a second to look away, not wanting to risk pining over someone else's intended. Life was going great: nobody was trying to steal away his lovely little mate, and he could keep fooling himself into thinking he wasn't in love with her, but was only looking out for her safety, since he no longer has his bouts of jealousy to prove otherwise.

Men were wolves, after all.

Unfortunately, that all came crashing down when he was summoned to another meeting of the adepti: something he learned was never a good sign.

"Oh this is so exciting! It's been so long since the last official adepti courtship and Rite of Union," Ganyu gushed from where she stood next to Cloud Retainer.

"If there was ever anyone who could complete the Rite of Union and share the Conqueror of Demon's powers, it is indeed the Savior of Liyue," Mountain Shaper mused.

"We are surprised but gladdened that an adeptus like yourself is finally able to find happiness in the Traveler," Moon Shaper chuffed, clapping a hoof on his shoulder.

"Please stop, you are severely misinterpreting the situation."

"One thinks one interprets correctly; it is far too late to try to deny it now, Conqueror of Demons. The only thing missing is her bearing your physical mark and the birth of the fruition of your union."

He sucked in a breath at that, because while yes, adepti were also called illuminated beasts, beasts they still were, and his beastly instincts were currently busy imagining a Lumine covered in his marks and claims, with the most prominent and beautiful one being the bite mark destined for the junction where neck meets shoulder. Hearing the other adeptus' words only added a spark to the flame, and it took an embarrassing amount of willpower to stay rooted in place and not immediately stalk off to find his mate and bring his fantasies to life right then and there.

"Cloud Retainer is right, little yaksha. My, does this mean we have to start preparing for a new baby adeptus?"

"Oh, that's right, Madame Ping! Awe, I would love to babysit for you two," Ganyu squealed. "Your child will definitely be the cutest!"

He could already feel his face heating up (because yes, the children of him and his lovely Lumine would be his pride and joy). "I… don't know what you all are talking about."

"Now now, young one, we at the harbor all have seen the Traveler walking all around Liyue with both a jade butterfly necklace and your scent heavily on her," Madame Ping teased, reaching out and pulling at one of his cheeks. Maybe this was why she chose to take the form of an elderly woman; though Xiao enjoyed seniority among the adepti due to either age or experience or both, and thus didn't fit the "young one" moniker, it felt disrespectful to get angry at a little old woman, even if said woman's hands were starting pinch just a little tad bit too hard.

"And ones in the mountains saw the Traveler gathering flowers and herbs just this morning, among of which was more qingxin," Cloud Retainer continued.

"No need to hide it, Conqueror of Demons. Though shocking that it actually happened, nevermind so soon, one is more than rejoiced that you have finally found a lover."

"One thinks it's even more romantic that the Traveler will be both your first and last courtship."

"It's just a necklace…" he tried arguing back against Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper weakly, despite knowing it was in vain. Because yes, while most of the people of Liyue today didn't understand adepti mating rituals and courting gifts, he forgot that the other adepti did.

He also forgot that said other adepti were insufferable, and no amount of denying their claims could change their minds.

"Hey Celestia, it's me, Xiao, again. Can you please just strike me down right where I stand? Thanks."

"Hey Traveler, it's been a— shoot, it wasn't just a rumor?! I don't have a gift!"

"Hey Yanfei, and it's fine! Just because it's been some time— we've been busy, after all, doing commissions all around Liyue, not just the harbor— doesn't mean you need to get us a gift."

"Uh, speak for yourself! Paimon wants some of your My Way tofu! It's the best Crab Roe Tofu ever!"

"No, it's not that— oh thanks Paimon, I'll make sure to make you some— but it's not that! But they told me he was denying it… ugh, I'm so rusty on adepti things, and I don't even know where to start on what to give… I'll be right back! Congratulations on the engagement!"

"Wait, Yanfei— and she's off," Lumine deadpanned, hand outstretched uselessly in the air. "What engagement is she talking about?"

"Paimon doesn't know either. She said something about 'adepti rituals', so maybe one of the adepti got engaged?"

"But who? I didn't know that any of them were in relationships…"

"Paimon bets it's one of the adepti back in Jueyun Karst! We haven't had a commission there this week, and we don't know much about them personally, so it makes sense that we didn't know about something like an engagement."

"Oh… yeah, that makes sense. Kinda weird that she was talking to us so cryptically about it… maybe we're supposed to be involved somehow, since we've helped out during an adepti rite before?"

"Oh no, what if we are?! Paimon doesn't want to be disrespectful to the adepti, Paimon doesn't wanna get cursed!"

"Calm down, I'm sure it's not that bad—"

"Quick, we need to go to Jueyun Karst now! We need to find out who got engaged and what we need to do, and we need to make sure everything goes perfect-er than perfect! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"That's too far!" Lumine complained, shoulders sagging. "All our commissions are far from there. Let's just go ask Madame Ping; she's also an adepti and they're her friends, so she should know."

"Alright, hopefully she doesn't tell them that we didn't know we were supposed to do something about it…"

Though the walk to Yujing Terrace from the southern part of the harbor was at most half an hour, as Lumine and Paimon couldn't resist straying off course in favor of collecting items like Glaze Lilies and lotus heads, that seemed to have been ample enough time for Madame Ping to hear the news of the mystery engagement.

"Hi, Madame Ping! It's been a while!" Paimon waved enthusiastically as Lumine reached the top step, smoothing the front of her dress as a gust of wind flew by, mischievously tugging the ends upwards. She made a mental note to pinch Venti's cheeks for trying to pull that on her yet again, though she did wonder what business the anemo archon would have in Liyue.

(Somewhere in Mondstadt, Venti sneezed, grumbling that he felt like someone was blaming him for something one of the actual anemo vision holders did.)

"Well, hello, children. You're here to talk about that engagement announcement, I presume?"

"Hello, Madame Ping," Lumine greeted politely, while Paimon went straight to the point.

"Wow, Granny, you're spot on! How'd you know?"

"Yanfei just ran by in a complete hurry. Knowing her, I assumed she was just busy and overbooked with work as usual, but she came up to me and told me I needed to prepare an engagement gift, and so I did." She reached into her teapot and pulled out a golden box wrapped in a beautiful red silk ribbon. "I've been preparing to give this to you ever since I saw you walking around the harbor with the courting gift, but I never had the chance to confirm it for myself, especially since your intended is a stubborn boy who refused to say anything. Here, it's a golden tea set I've been saving for another adepti union. With the teapot, all tea made in it will be brewed to perfection, and with the tea cups, the tea inside will always stay at the perfect temperature."

"Are you sure there's a whole set in here? Paimon feels like there's only one cup at best…"

"Paimon, haven't you learned? We already established that with Madame Ping, there's always more than what meets the eye."

"Haha, very perceptive as always, Miss Lumine. Indeed, the whole set is in there, and I guarantee that it won't get lost or break unless you place it elsewhere."

"Wow, adepti magic is really something else…" Paimon gasped in amazement as Madame Ping just shook her head and chuckled fondly.

"Well, off you go! I know you must be headed to Jueyun Karst to see the other adepti, and I'm sure they will be very pleased now that your union has been confirmed. Congratulations, Traveler," the elderly woman smiled at her, gently pushing at her shoulders and ushered her off. She had already taken out her map and pressed the waypoint nearest Mt. Aocang when she realized:

"Wait, my intended?!"

"You have kept one waiting for far too long," Cloud Retainer's voice boomed at them the second they reached the edge of the lake at the top of the mountain.

"Ack! We're sorry, so sorry! We didn't mean to be late!"

"Be at ease, one was merely joking."

"Cloud Retainer! We're supposed to be congratulating the Traveler on her engagement, not scaring her half to death; her fiancé will kill us if he finds out how you're treating her, especially since he's being extra protective now…"

"Hmph, one would like to see him try, but one heeds your advice, Ganyu."

"So, about that engagement… who—"

"Hold on! Before we discuss the details about the Rite of Union ceremonials— and human wedding bridesmaids, if you want to do both— let us at least give you our gifts!" Ganyu frantically interjected, pulling out a small rectangular red box. "Here, I got you a gold chai with a butterfly made of the finest quality jade the Qixing could find."

Ganyu gently removed the lid to the box, and revealed a gorgeous two-pronged hairpin; it was smooth, solid twenty-four karat gold, and each leg was adorned near the top with lilies fashioned from a lighter karat gold, presumably ten. At the point where the two sides were joined was a large qingxin flower made of light green jade, the petals carved to perfection. A big, beautiful butterfly, perhaps a Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, was perched on the flower, its dark green jadeite contrasting the pale nephrite of the flora.

"I don't know how much you know about hairpins in our cultures, but this specific type, called a chai, is considered a token of love. When you guys are separated, you break the hairpin in half and keep one part each, and reunite the pieces when you meet again; I used some adepti magic to make it so that the pin can be broken cleanly in half as many times as you need, and when rejoined, it will reform as if it was never broken in the first place. So, since you're a traveler and he's stuck in Liyue and everything, I thought this would be a nice gift," Ganyu blushed. "Oh archons, I hope I don't sound too much like a hopeless romantic right now, but… do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, Ganyu! How could I accept something like this?" Lumine gushed, swatting Paimon's grabby hands away with a soft, "No, you can't sell it!"

"No, no, I insist; it's the least I could do to celebrate your engagement!"

"About that…"

"One will not let Ganyu upstage oneself! Here, accept this," Cloud Retainer interrupted, and with a flick of her beak, a parcel wrapped in white and pastel blue paper appeared, floating in the air. Another wave of her beak had the package delicately unwrapping itself, revealing a red velvet box. All of a sudden, the top and bottom drawers opened forward and backwards respectively, showcasing two identical golden mirrors resting on plush velvet.

"These mirrors are intended for you and your mate. When the bride peers into the mirror, she will be able to see the whereabouts of her groom. Similarly, when the groom peers into the mirror, he will be able to see his bride. Should both of you be looking into the mirror at the same time, a connection is formed, and both ends of the mirrors will be able to speak directly to each other. Make use of this on your travels."

"Aww, that's so sweet! Paimon thinks adepti give the best gifts!"

"But of course. Do not fret about breaking this mirror, for as long as your love remains strong, the mirror shall, too."

"Guys, these are all lovely gifts, but I'm still confused… why are you giving me such elaborate gifts? And why are you talking about it as if it's my engagement? Shouldn't you give this for the adepti's engagement?" Lumine asked, nervously rubbing circles with her thumb on the smooth surfaces of the gifts in her hands

"But we… are?" Ganyu replied, confusion evident on her face.

"Oh, I get it! Are you asking me to pass the messages and gifts on to the other adepti? I can do that, though you didn't have to worry about me keeping it verbatim and—"

"No! These gifts are for you, Traveler!"

"Yeah, Lumi, listen to Ganyu! Let's keep these gifts, they sound so cool!"

"But aren't these gifts kind of… romantic-type gifts?"

"But of course; one should receive gifts of the adequate type to celebrate such a momentous occasion."

"It's just as Cloud Retainer said: an engagement deserves to be celebrated with engagement-type gifts!"

"Well yeah, but… who's engagement are we celebrating?"

"Yours!" Ganyu and Cloud Retainer said in unison.

"Mine?! I'm not engaged!"

"Oh, perhaps the two of you were serious in wishing to keep the courtship a secret… hmph, he shouldn't have given you such an obvious courting gift, then," Cloud Retainer huffed amidst Lumine's panicking. "Everyone in Liyue knows the true meaning of butterflies: they are a sign of everlasting love. A gift of a jade butterfly from one to the other is tantamount to giving away one's heart to the keeper of one's affections. And though the people of Liyue have long since forgotten, we adepti are fully aware of the steps of an adepti courtship, and one knows a gift of intention when one sees one."

"True meaning of butterflies?"

"Oh no, was the engagement actually supposed to be low profile? I'm sorry, we just got so excited when we got the news that it was confirmed," Ganyu added solemnly, face full of remorse.

"Oh, please don't feel bad, I'm just… a little overwhelmed, is all," Lumine consoled Ganyu; even though she was still confused about everything, she hated feeling like she was the reason her friend felt so guilty.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for the, um, gifts," she said with a smile, watching in relief as both parties in front of her seemed to lighten up.

"It was our pleasure; now go, share these gifts with the Vigilant Yaksha."

"Yes, I… will? I mean— I will. Goodbye Cloud Retainer, goodbye Ganyu." She waved, not letting out the breath she didn't even know she was holding until they were long gone.

"Paimon, do you mind staying with Xiangling for a bit? I… I think I need to talk about this with a certain somebody…"

It had been barely a day and a half since the disaster gathering at Jueyun Karst, which was, unfortunately, not enough time for Xiao to fully recover from the events that transpired. It didn't help that he hadn't seen his Lumine recently, as he had increased the frequency of his patrols to try and forget the literal torture he had to endure at the hands of Cloud Retainer and Madame Ping.

Just as he finished eliminating the last samachurl from a hilichurl camp, he heard a familiar soft yet sweet voice whisper in the wind.

"Xiao?"

In a flash, he teleported to the source of the melodic voice, quietly observing with a wry smile as Lumine's head turned from side to side, scanning her surroundings on the top floor of Wangshu Inn.

"What do you need?" He stepped out of the shadows, crossing his arms as he watched her whirl around at the sound of his voice. His heart fell to his stomach at the sight of what she held in her hands.

Multiple bags were hanging from her dainty wrists, and he could see the corners and tops of more than a few boxes peeking out of the tissue paper. Knowing it was not her birthday, nor was it a big event, he could only assume the gifts were for one thing, and the signature red gift wrap, that cursed shade being one he only saw in weddings, confirmed his worst fears:

He was not the only one the adepti called to a meeting.

"Lumine, I—"

"Um, hi, Xiao," Lumine started, and he immediately shut his mouth in favor of listening to what she had to say first. He would always put her first.

"So, um… the adepti at Jueyun Karst gave me these to celebrate… 'our engagement'? And I was wondering if you happened to know anything about that…" she trailed off, shuffling her feet as her cheeks began to heat up with what he assumed to be embarrassment.

"D-Don't mind them, they're just— don't take what they say to heart," he stammered, cursing his past self for naively thinking he could get away with giving Lumine his heart disguised as a simple birthday gift. He wasn't sure if the giddy excitement and satisfaction of secretly claiming his mate as his was enough to outweigh the sheer mortification he had unfortunately set up for himself right now.

(As long as he could clear up the "misunderstanding" in the next ten minutes, then he would definitely consider it worth it.)

"Oh, um, really? Because, um, when Cloud Retainer gave me this gift, she said something about the 'true meaning of butterflies'." Her sentence became quieter and quieter as it went on, and by the last word, he was sure it was only due to his enhanced hearing that he was able to understand it. She took in a breath to steel her resolve as she continued, "She said that 'everyone in Liyue' knows they are a sign of everlasting love, or something like that, so, you know, I just thought that, maybe…"

This was it: this was the moment he really, truly wished to disappear off the face of Teyvat. Not when he became the last yaksha, not when he first became a slave to his master before Rex Lapis, not even when he was trapped and interrogated by the other adepti just yesterday; no, it was this exact moment where he fervently wished he could just disintegrate into thin air. Archons, he was way past the point of dying of embarrassment and shame; no amount of his torturous karma could ever amount to the sheer terror and dread that struck his very being at that moment. If his heart fell to his stomach earlier, it definitely fell out of his ass and was stomped on right now, because she knew now, she knew. She knew what his butterfly gift meant and she knew how he felt and she knew of his stupid plan and she knew, she knew, she knew.

He doesn't know when he turned away from her, but he's glad he did: he wouldn't be able to handle seeing as her eyes darkened with disgust and her lips curled back in a sneer. He would never be able to handle watching as the sparkle in her eyes dimmed just a little bit, and was replaced by the damning hellfire that only appeared when she faced off against her enemies, only this time, they weren't focused on a dancing samachurl or chanting abyss mage; no, they were focused on him. And he didn't know which was worse: knowing he had become one of her enemies, or that he was the only exception— the only other entity— she despised aside from hostiles.

He also didn't know when he clenched his fists, but he could feel his fingernails digging marks into his skin even through the tough leather of his gloves, and yet somehow that bit of pain was nothing compared to the way his heart wrenched in his chest. For the briefest of moments, he felt his veins burn with something red hot and searing, something that the lingering wrath of bygone gods latched onto and fed into. He was going to find Cloud Retainer, he was going to drag her out of her mountainous hiding place and he was going to positively eliminate her from existence, no, from the eyes of time itself.

But just as quickly as he was consumed by the scorching anger, it disappeared, doused and drowned in freezing water, leaving him but an empty shell of a being. Because yes, a Golden-Winged King of Illumination he was, even the proudest Vermilion Bird amongst the constellations was still a bird, and birds of a feather always flocked together for a reason: they would die otherwise. His kind was the type that loved once and loved hard, the type that could and would die from heartbreak.

It was already getting harder to breathe; although he probably wouldn't die from this, seeing as he had already become accustomed to loneliness, he would be but a laughable husk of a person: she was and forever will be the light in his life, even if she hated every atom of his being.

"... That's the first I've heard of it. Don't believe the fairytales they are feeding you; there is nothing past it being an object of protection," he finally replied, because maybe, just maybe, if he could undo everything the others told her and convince her that he didn't have feelings, even though he did, he wouldn't have to hear her explicitly say she didn't feel the same way, or she already had someone in mind, or anything of the sort. If he could dissuade her from the truth, then maybe she'll just laugh it off and things could go back to normal and he could continue protecting her from a distance.

"O-Oh, is that, is that so? Oh, okay, yeah, I mean— I should've known, that you're not that type of person." If he could get any more delusional, he would believe her tone of voice to be sad, melancholy even. "I just— I shouldn't have— I shouldn't have let them get my hopes up… of course it would be too good to be true, there's no way you'd like me back or anything…"

A soft crash of boxes and bags falling to the floor made him whirl around, and his heart stopped as he saw the state he put Lumine in.

She was wringing her fingers, as she always did when she was nervous, as she kept her gaze stubbornly downwards, her hair acting as a golden curtain that hid her face from him. The gifts were indeed on the floor by her side, and in between them he could see tiny droplets falling, darkening the wood at her feet.

She was… crying? Because… she thought he didn't feel the same?

Nothing could describe the waves of relief that rolled over him. If he was half-dead and despondent earlier, he was the exact opposite right now: his heart was beating faster than it ever had, skipping a beat every time he merely thought of her name. Never in a million years did he consider that she felt anything more than tolerance for him, never considered that his little fantasies had the chance of becoming reality. He felt like shaking his wings and taking to the sky in the hopes that soaring among the clouds could use up the adrenaline in his blood and calm his excitement. Never ever had he felt like this before, but right now he wanted nothing more than to sweep up his wonderful little mate in his arms and show her off to the world, bragging with the biggest smile to the rest of the world that she was his and he was hers; simply put, he had never felt more alive.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time, I'm sure you're busy keeping Liyue safe and all, so… I'm gonna— I'm gonna go now, I think. You should probably give all these gifts back, it would be… weird, if I did it, I think," she mumbled, and her words snapped him back to reality; this time, he didn't need to be the slightest bit disillusioned to hear the sob threatening to break her voice. "Your— your gift is still nice, though! I think I'm gonna stop wearing it, you know, so people don't get the wrong… impression."

He had never moved faster, stepping forward as she turned around and catching the wrist that snuck to the back of her neck, no doubt ready to unclasp the necklace and keep it elsewhere. Already he felt a displeased growl rise up at the notion of his courting gift being off her neck, but when he pulled and turned her around, all that was forgotten as he saw her face.

To him, her beautiful golden eyes, the ones he'd come to love so much, were shiny with the threat of tears, the ones she couldn't hold back having left slight streaks on her cheeks. Her eyebrows were bunched together, and he couldn't stop the hand that rose to smooth out the crease, chasing away the wrinkles. Her lower lip was trembling, and he wanted to throw himself off a cliff at her small sniffle, her nose scrunching and reddening at the action. He was going to stab himself in the side for being the cause of such anguish, and then he was going to kill himself again for being the worst mate ever for even allowing such hurt to come her way.

To her, he never looked more tragically beautiful: his whole face was flush with life, his cheeks a shade of jolly red. He was panting, as if he had run a mile, but he had barely taken a step; no, instead, he was panting simply from barely containing his excitement. And his eyes— oh, his eyes— they had never looked more mesmerizing. His golden eyes were wide and sparkling with something similar to adoration, and it took her breath away. Yes, she had seen that sparkle in other people, but it was both better and worse to see such raw passion and affection in those red-lined eyes: eyes that belonged to someone she loved so much but was still so unattainable.

"W-Wait, I— I lied," he said, stumbling over his words as he pulled her to his chest. Her eyes widened at both the barely contained happiness and meaning in his words.

"You… you lied? So, that means—"

"Yes, the story about butterflies is true," he soothed, the croon in his voice hoping to calm her down and quell her fears as his hands cupped her cheeks and wiped away her tears.

"So— so then the feelings—"

"— Are mutual, yes." Now that he had her, he couldn't stop himself from nuzzling her nose with his the same way two cockatiels nudge their beaks against the other's.

"Are you… are you sure? You… you like me back?" She tilted her head up to him, rubbing her cheek against his palm like a cat as she asked her question, hope evident in both her tone and eyes hidden under long lashes.

"Yes," he assured, yet the smallest hint of uncertainty remained, peskily dampening her luminosity, and that just wouldn't do. "I— I like you." And though he'd rather have said it more confidently, less embarrassedly, and without the stutter, watching as her face finally fully brightened with nothing holding her back was more than rewarding, and so he said it again in the hopes of getting another similar reward.

"I…" she started, but couldn't finish, instead burying her face into his neck, which provided him with the perfect opportunity to openly scent her as her official, actual mate, an opportunity he gladly accepted. He doesn't know when he started, but her giggle alerted him to his apparent cooing to dispel her embarrassment as he rubbed his cheek to the top of her head, his arms having pulled her impossibly closer and secured her in his embrace, his hands keeping her under his chin and running up and down her side.

She slightly pulled back, and though he was loath to part with her, her words made it worthwhile.

"I like you, Xiao," she said with her petal pink lips tilted up in a smile, her cheeks dusted with the most beautiful shade of hopelessly-in-love red, her eyes shining with a mixture of love and adoration and happiness and sheer joy at being at the right moment at the right time. He made sure to burn the image into his memory, knowing full well that a simple Kamera picture would do her an injustice.

He smoothed her hair away from her face, giving him enough real estate to press a kiss to every inch of her face he could reach. "I like you too, Lumine."

"I really, really like you, Xiao," she laughed at the ticklish feeling of him peppering kisses all over her face, and he swore he never heard anything more perfectly melodic than her laughter like light, chiming bells, making him feel as if he weighed even less than the air around them

"I really, really like you too, Lumine."

And as he sealed the deal by capturing her lips with his, relishing in the feeling of her soft and plush lips against his, he thought that maybe, just maybe, all that embarrassment and shame and awkwardness from earlier was more than worth it. And when he chased her lips again immediately after she broke away for air, he thought that even if he had known beforehand all the trouble he'd have to go through just to claim this wandering star as his, he would do it all again and again in a heartbeat.

(And maybe, just maybe, he would let Cloud Retainer live unscathed, and when she found an untagged box at the entrance of her domain filled with materials and parts for various machines, maybe, just maybe, it was from him.)

Bonus:

“Hey, Xiao?”

A noncommittal hum from the man currently holding her hostage in his arms prompted her to continue, still entirely too focused on rubbing his face across every square inch of the skin of her collarbones and shoulder blades. She huffed in fondness as he kept going back and kissing the bite mark at the junction where her neck sloped into her shoulders, courtesy of said man behind her. He had given it to her around a few days ago, saying something about mates and claiming and marking, or something. She was too busy crying and begging for him to stop teasing at the time to pay attention to what he said, but it was healing nicely, so she didn’t really mind.

“I know you said I didn’t have to learn your language, but when you taught me how to say ‘hello’ I figured out how to say something else, so... wo ai ni?”

Xiao froze, completely halting all movements as he stayed eerily silent. She began to worry that she somehow messed it up, and began spouting apologies.

“I’m sorry, I probably messed that up really bad, and I didn’t even try to match the accent; did I say something offensive? I’m sorry—”

He cut her off by abruptly standing and gathering her in his arms, carrying her in a bridal carry as he promptly turned and walked in the direction of their now shared bedroom, throwing her on the bed and wasting no time climbing over her.

“Xiao? What are you— ah!”

“我爱你,” was his only reply as he continued what he was doing.

“W-Wait, but we just— hahn!” She cut herself off with an embarrassingly loud whine, and he rewarded her with a soft coo of his own.

The bite on her neck was healing a bit too nicely, he thought to himself. Therefore, the only remedy was to redo it.

THIS IS SO LONG BUT I FINALLY FINISHED IT I LOVE XIAOLUMI MY BABIES <33333 i might crosspost this to ao3 so don’t worry if u see this there it’s probably me

#genshin impact #genshin impact lumine #genshin impact xiao #Lumine #xiao #xiaolumi #xiao x lumine #xiaolumi fic #genshin fanfic #xiaolumi my beloveds #finally finished this its so long wtf #timeline who? don't know her

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