“i'll be back!” “you don't have to.” you visibly deflated at xiao's stern rejection, your smile dropping by a tiny smidge

“i’ll be back!”

“you don’t have to.”

you visibly deflated at xiao’s stern rejection, your smile dropping by a tiny smidge before you forced your lips to curl upwards once more. his expression remained stoic, not allowing any form of emotion to seep through the crevices on his mask of indifference.

“you’re so mean, adeptus xiao,” you complained, bottom lip jutting out in a childish pout and you swore he rolled his eyes. “your precious companion is embarking on a dangerous journey, and you won’t even send me off with well wishes?”

“‘precious,’ you say?” he repeated, words laced with mockery. you quickly cut in before he could continue to sting you with his sarcasm.

“precious indeed!” you jovially confirmed and xiao crossed his arms, eyeing you tiredly. testing the waters, you cheekily took one step closer to his figure and pointed to your cheek, “hey, where’s my goodbye kiss?”

in that instant, he spun on his heel to turn back to wangshu inn.

“ah, i was just kidding, geez!”

well, it was worth a try. worst case scenario, your little flirty joke could’ve been taken as harassment and he summoned his spear to kill you right then and there.

“you’re so cold…” you murmured before slipping away, doubting xiao would even consider giving you a proper farewell. you started your walk to your destination without looking back, regardless of your souring mood.

what did i expect from someone like him? you sighed in disappointment, scolding yourself for having high hopes. maybe if i gave him a souvenir from my trip, he’d warm up more… but couldn’t he at least act like he cares before i left? hmph! you huffed and kicked a pebble on the road, pouring out your unpleasant emotions.

“wait.”

the familiar voice prompted you to halt in your tracks, the corner of your eye catching a flash of green from beside you.

and there xiao stood, in all of his grumpy glory.

“what is it?” you turned to face him, expecting a favor or something along those lines. though the adeptus wasn’t very fond of you, he knew you were a capable traveler and you’d be happy to run his errands. “do you need something?”

he opened his mouth, hesitant to speak. you stared at him expectantly.

then, fed up with his own reluctance, he quickly thrust a piece of cloth into your arms. you clumsily gather it with your hands, head swimming with endless questions. “xiao- ?”

“you’re going to dragonspine, aren’t you?”

you nodded in response, wondering how that was relevant before you finally recognized the piece of cloth to be a warm coat.

“then don’t be foolish to forget to take care of yourself.”

another flash of green and he was gone, leaving you with widened eyes and a racing heart.

oh.