Hello!! {Xiao watched Bennett taking Fischl by the waist as the first tunes of ‘pas de six’ started to play. The original number was over ten minutes long, cut into seven parts. Bennett and Fischl’s characters would dance to the introduction part named ‘Intrada’, while Barbara and Fischl would dance to the third part, ‘Andante con moto’. The parts were slow enough for them to keep up.} DANCE TIME!!
{Though there was still a stiffness to their dancing, it all felt pretty natural. Fischl had found her footing quite fast, and she was decent, but Bennett truly shone.}🥺🥺 BENNETT GOOD JOB!!
{Xiao didn’t like Venti’s grin as he had learnt to associate it with trouble. “You know you aren’t allowed to pick favourites.”} CUTE
{Says you whose favourite obviously is Fischl,” Xiao said, mirroring the playful shoulder-bump Venti tended to do when teasing. “But Xinyan is my favourite. Bennett just reminds me of myself.”} lovely🥺
{Not himself when he was young and thriving, but when he wrestling through college, wondering if there was ever anything else he would ever be good at. Wherein Yanfei and Hu Tao had found their calling, Xiao was still searching. It felt as if Bennett was experiencing something similar, in which Fischl and Razor had discovered their calling while Bennett was still searching.} so human so true so fantastic 💞💖
{“It’s okay.” Bennett let go of Fischl’s hand, and she let it drop to her side. Then, he strode over to where Barbara was standing. There would be extras filling up the space in the future, hiding Barbara almost from sight. But right now, it looked a little awkward. He took her hand and brought her to the centre, taking the sidelines.} THEIR PART!! THE SCENES!!! SO FANTASTIC!
{Maybe a little foolishly, Xiao had assumed Venti knew nothing about dancing. But he noticed the crinkling of his nose as he said it looked ‘fine’. “You know more than you let on,” Xiao said, a little hurt that Venti had kept it from him.} yes!!!
{“You’re doing great,” Venti said. “Like I said, I’m not a ballroom dancer, and you’re a great teacher.”}🥺🥺
{“So, now we’re done, I want to ask you something.” Venti stood with his hands on his hips, a determined look on his face. “Dance with me.”}!! DANCE!!
{The only people who he asked him to dance were Yanfei and Hu Tao at their own wedding. Partially because he had taught both of them privately, they could one-up on each other. That plan had failed miserably, but Xiao had gotten a good laugh out of it.}🥺🥺 WHAT CUTE THING
{“And can you?” Xiao said, knowing he was playing right into Venti’s hand.
Venti’s confidence wavered a little, his smile softening. “I don’t know. But I’ve picked up some things while you were teaching.”
It was that moment of doubt that made him agree.} Oh 🥺🥺🥺🥺
{As the fast part petered out, Xiao took the first step, guiding Venti along. Venti hadn’t lied when saying he had done this before. Not necessarily ballroom dancing, but he had a great sense of rhythm, and he was light on his feet.
“You’re really good at this,” Venti said after a bit, sounding out of breath.} CUTE
{As the music came to an end, Xiao forgot all manners. He let go of Venti and sat down, hating how shallow his breathing was. He took deep, slow breaths and slowly managed to get everything back under control. Venti also had plopped down on the ground, his head wedged between his knees. His breathing was painful to listen to, making Xiao wonder if he did any form of sports.
“That was torture,” Venti wheezed. “I’m getting so old.”} HAHAH LOVELY 💞💖💞
{“I stopped ballet when I was fourteen and never looked back. I hate physical activity.” Venti’s breathing had evened out a little, but his voice was still muffled from being directed to the floor} SAME VENTI
{“This was the last piece I played before… well, I was completely done. I did so many concerts, played so many pieces, and broke down one day. Soon after, I moved out, and I haven’t played since, well, recently. I thought it was fun to pick this piece, to reclaim it.”
“Physical torture?” Xiao asked, ignoring how easily the words could apply to him. Wherein his parents forced him to succeed in anything he did, he tried to be gentler with Chongyun. Not asking for perfection but hoping that Chongyun just tried his best. Praising that effort, making sure that Chongyun didn’t fall into the same hell he had. It was taking a thing that had scarred him and making it better. Reclaiming it, so to speak.} Oh yes YES SO GOOOD!!
{“Having fun,” Venti said. “And making my own choice. I chose to drag you to the dance floor, and I was allowed to be bad.”} YES YES!! SO GOOOD!! SO SO YES
{“You did take the difficult step to ask for help,” Xiao said, stealing the words right from a speech that Zhongli had given him many times before.
A curious expression crossed Venti’s face. It was almost an expression of guilt, though it didn’t make sense. It wasn’t as if the whole thing was scripted. “} OH OH!?!? {Xiao left, feeling like he was missing something. But he couldn’t wrap his head around it, and upon sitting down on the bus, he was too tired to even think about it. He was glad that Venti would have the weekend shift, so he could spend two days doing nothing but sleeping. Maybe that would clear things up.}✨🥺
{He had picked one of many plazas the market held, only having to follow the sound of Christmas music and loud chattering.} SO PRETTY THE CHRISTMAS MARKET !!
{One day, he would look young enough to not be mistaken for a student. “Do you have anything sweet?”} good luck Xiao 👍
VENTI!! {Realising they were taking up space at the stall, Xiao guided them to a little less crowded spot. Venti was, for once, dressed appropriately for the weather. He wore a brown woollen coat, jeans that actually covered his ankles, and his face was partially hidden by a green scarf and beanie.} CUTE CLOTHES🥰
{Though Venti knew the market well, they spent more time standing at the sweets stands than looking for trinkets. Venti’s lips were coated with sugar when Xiao had pried him away.} CUTEEE
{Xiao bought a hand-painted nutcracker and two ugly, very obnoxiously Christmas mugs. Not only were the mugs practical, but he could also imagine the reaction he would get. Yanfei’s attempt to not look disgusted and Hu Tao’s utter glee.} FANTASTIC!! Razor and Bennett🥰🥰🥰 {The unease faded. “It can be worse,” Xiao remembered Chongyun’s call about hiding hickey’s from his family—as if they didn’t know already he had a boyfriend. “Did you know they were dating?”}🤣
{You can be observant yet blind,” Venti teased, taking him by the elbow and heading in the other direction.
“It just takes time,” Xiao grumbled. “It took me three years to figure out that my pupil had a crush on his childhood friend, but at least I knew it sooner than he did.”} AHAHHAH🤣🤣
{Venti’s laugh was unrestrained and boisterous, and Xiao thought it was very charming.
Venti’s laugh died down, and Xiao’s gaze was met with a quizzical look. “What?” Xiao asked.
“Nothing,” Venti said. “Let’s continue exploring; there is much more to see.”} SO CUTE AND "NOTHING"!!!!
{We’ll miss you,” Xinyan said, making a sweeping gesture around the room. “You and Venti really have a fun dynamic. This is my first year here, but I heard from others that the theatre club never have been more popular.”} i am so soft for this theatre club 🥺
{After all, there was a reason work had put him in charge of the young ones, wherein his skill level didn’t have to be high. Just enough to teach the basics. But, he enjoyed teaching little kids and Chongyun, and now this. Though he was exhausted, he had loved his time in Mondstadt.}🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
{These thoughts were followed by a shiver of fear. He was turning into Zhongli. If Guizhong had been alive, she would have laughed the loudest when he told her that. When he was younger, he told her he thought that Zhongli was boring for becoming a professor. How the tables have turned. Here he was, ready to leave the remains of his career behind to work with students. Not necessarily becoming a professor, but something more fulfilling.} LOVELY 💞💖💖💖💖
{“This is Zhongli speaking,” Zhongli said, ever being stupidly formal. Of course, this was Zhongli because Xiao was calling his mobile number.} ZHONGLI IS SO CUTE
{“Figuring I’m not going to Snehznaya for New Year, I’ve all the time.” The second voice was obviously male and sounded somewhat young. Xiao was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected Zhongli to go for someone much younger than him.} OH OH
{“Ajax is twenty-eight,” Zhongli said. “We met recently; he’s a wedding planner.”} CHILDE IS A WEDDING PLANNNER!?!?! WOOOOOW!! he meet Zhongli HOW!?! help i am so curious!!!
{Xiao felt guilty for knowing Zhongli so well. Not wanting to talk about his own problems, he knew that all he had to do was redirect the conversation. Zhongli liked talking about things he loved, whether it was an opera, a bit of history or a memory.
Zhongli spends quite some time recapping his wedding-planning escapades. It sounded like he had a blast, and maybe, it was a good thing that his current partner was a bit younger. He would keep Zhongli on his toes and give him reasons to be excited and curious by the sound of it.}💖🥺🥺🥺 I am so soft for Zhongli 💖 {Xiao ended the call before he could say anything, worried that he would say something dumb like ‘I hope I won’t disappoint’. There wasn’t anything to be disappointed about. It was just a play, exactly what he told Venti. It should be fun, and there is no reason he should worry about what his old coach thought about it. Yet, he feared for the day that he would see Zhongli’s forced smile, telling him it was good.} DON'T WORRY XIAO!!
{The larger fireworks were shot in the air as the clock hit twelve. The sky lit up with bright colours and explosions, sparks gently falling back to the earth. There were cheers from downstairs, parents hugging their children and spouses. Others give each other gentle pats on the back, congratulating each other for making it another year.}wow🥺 {Venti’s texting style was obnoxious and loud, a large contrast to Zhongli and Chongyun’s typing style. Xiao figured it was a ‘happy new year’ message between the many emojis and unnecessary characters}💞💞
{Venti reacted fairly fast. It started with a ‘haha’, which Xiao figured wasn’t an actual laugh and was followed by ‘maybe i should visit liyue to see what all the hype is about’.}🥺🥺
{Xiao realised that Venti was asking him to spend time together in Liyue. Xiao swallowed nervously, wondering if he should agree or not. He didn’t mind the idea of keeping in touch with Venti, but bringing him to the Lantern Festival was a big step.
He could hear Yanfei scold him, telling him to ‘never say yes or no immediately’. It was perfectly alright to come back to it later. “Can I think about it?” Xiao settled on.} I am so soft for Xiao🥺🥺🥺
{The thing was, he often said no to people. Unless he knew them well, he had no desire to spend the entire day with them. But he figured that he knew Venti well enough by now to not feel uncomfortable spending time with him.}🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
{Xiao sighed. “Venti, you’re older than I’m. Not to mention, I think I need a lot of sleep to make a difference.”
Venti let out a strangled grunt. } OH XIAO💞💞🤣🥺 LOVELY CHAPTER 💖💖
HE IS! I did mention it in the previous story here (All Too Well), but his story hopefully will be explored in the future as this always has been a three-way story-collection. (Xiao, Kaeya and Ajax all participated in a house swap, so Xiao went to Kaeya's place, Kaeya stayed in Ajax's vacation home in Dragonspine, and Ajax is staying in Xiao's place in Liyue. There is where he meets Zhongli as he checks up on him).
I love writing Zhongli, so I feel you
HE WILL BE FINE!
New Year can be a wonderful celebration. I just sit inside and peer through the windows for the firework XD
I mean, I like Xiao before I even started this story, but I grew to love him much more since I spend so much time writing him.
Xiao is a little dense, unfortunately, but he will get there!
I love me some good dancing scenes. I couldn't help myself to add this to the story.
Everyone has their favourites. You're obviously a Hu Tao stan XD
Honestly, Bennett is basically the college experience. There are people who know what they want to do, but there are still many who don't and they keep on searching and searching.
AAAAH! Thank you! Like I said, I love some good ballroom scenes so I figured I at least could add a snipet.
Xiao is honestly a good friend but he just doesn't realises it.
These two are just adorable (but also messes, but adorable messes).
I mean, age does play a big role in stamina (my age is showing)
Same. Physical activity just sucks.
Venti slowly learning to leave the past behind and accepting being bad at things is fine.
Christmas markets are gorgous! (At least in pictures. One day)
Honestly, I just have so much fun writing Venti's clothes because Xiao is boring af with clothes.
Nothing screams awful gifts more than seasonal themed things that are just painful to look at.
Xiao is a little oblivious in that department.
I'm such a sucker for 'staring lovingly at your crush without realising'
That was the goal though! It's basically xiao being adopted by a bunch of students
I really like the idea that Xiao kinda follows in Zhongli's footsteps (assuming you enjoy the father-son dynamic).
Zhongli is just very caring and I really enjoy that
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