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To think that you asked Xiao to take care of Qiqi flabbergasted him. He didn’t anticipate that was the request you’ve wanted to ask him. He had second thoughts about it considering he’s not really good with children.
“It’s alright! Qiqi seems quite fond of you. She keeps talking about you every time she sees you.”
Even if you say things like that, it didn’t really help him that much to watch over the child. What was he supposed to do? What is she going to eat for lunch? And where is she going?!
Xiao swiftly ran in front of her to stop her from walking any further. His amber eyes narrowed and crossed his arms as his tall figure loomed over her own small form. “You’re not allowed to leave here unless I say so.”
The girl blankly stared at him and tilted her head. Her braided locks swayed and passed by him as if he was just a simple rock blocking her path. His brow twitched in annoyance and grabbed the hem of her dress, pulling her back to him.
“You’re… a troublesome one aren’t you?”
“…”
Her shoulder slumped in sadness and fidgeted her fingers, scared she was scolded by the Yaksha. His mouth opened but words couldn’t find their way out, so instead a long sigh came from his lips.
“Qiqi is sorry…” He remained quiet and let his gaze focused on hers. She was avoiding looking at him and bit her lip to constrain the small tears that are threatening to fall out.
This is bad… Really bad. He really doesn’t know how to handle this. She sniffled and washed the tears away with the sleeve of her robe. He really hopes you’ll come back now and finish whatever business you have in Guili Assembly.
While he was stuck in thinking about you and Qiqi, his mulling was cut off when he heard that annoying laughter.
Great. Another came.
Xiao groaned and carefully pushed Qiqi behind his back to protect her from one of the Four Yaksha’s that are under Morax’s command, Bosacius the vexatious.
“Oho~ what’s this I see?”
A strong wind then blew inside the room making the stacked papers and clothes fluttered and fell on the ground. Without a warning, a tall figure towered over Qiqi, making her yelp and hold closer to Xiao.
The other Yaksha cheekily grinned at them and hummed at the Anemo-user's sudden watchful stance. “What are you doing here?” The vanquisher asked with a sharp glare. Bosacius raised his hands defensively and smiled.
“Now now, a friend is just merely visiting you. It wouldn’t hurt to do that right?” He spoke in a whimsical manner. The little girl tried to take a peek at what’s happening but failed when Xiao prevented her.
“Now tell me, who’s this adorable little one?” He knelt down and smiled at Qiqi. She walked back and held tightly on Xiao’s pants in fear. He obscured Qiqi’s view by holding out his arm and concealed her small figure.
“You have the audacity to barge someone’s house, aren’t you?” Bosacius feigned shock at his words and clutched his chest as if he was hurt, comically crying. “Cold as ever…” He heaved a sigh and shrugged his shoulders cooly.
He took his time to look around and observed how well-kept the house is-- well except in this room because of the wind accompanying his entrance. Before he could take a step, he felt a sharp and metallic object that almost pierced right between his eyes if he didn’t take a step back.
“O-oi!!”
“Leave now. Or else I’ll force you to.” Xiao’s gaze fell like an act of violence, a glare that made him frozen in his place. This was different from the gaze he usually receives whenever he annoys the vanquisher.
This has more aura of menace instead of the irked ones. It piqued his interest at his odd behavior, but knowing he’ll suffer his wrath if he kept pushing the buttons, he decided to give in.
Heaving a defeated sigh, he ruffled his hair and looked at them one last time. “You shouldn’t have summoned your spear like that.” And with that, he suddenly disappeared into the thin air.
Xiao put down his polearm and a small particle of yellows made the weapon vanished before appearing again on his back. He looked down to check on the little girl, only to find out her face was painted with awe and admiration. He sweatdropped at the sight of her abrupt alternate of demeanor as she tugged on the cloth that hung on his trousers to get his attention.
“What is it?”
“Xiao gege.”
“Gege…?”
She hummed in affirmation and stretched out her arms to him. It was unexpected Qiqi started calling him brother. He didn’t know how to react to that especially by how she already clung to him like how she does with you.
“Qiqi wants gege to hunt Cocogoat.” For a moment, his mind went blank all of a sudden. What in the world is she talking about? He heard of this before and never grasped what this Cocogoat is.
He remembered you told him to just play along with her since you don’t want to shatter her pure dreams and imaginations. He internally groaned when he reminisced that fragment of memory. Just what are you and Qiqi talking about that he, in the slightest, not even understand?
“What’s this Cocogoat?” He questioned unsurely, uncertain if it’s the right thing to ask. “Cocogoat is an adeptibeast. [Name] tells Qiqi that gege is the one who always brings Cocogoat.”
Xiao’s head started to hurt with these bits of information. First of all, why did you tell this child he’s always bringing Cocogoat?! For months he had lived with you, he does not even have a single memory of hunting one.
And secondly, what is this legendary adeptibeast?! Once you come home, he will let you handle Qiqi and just eat your Almond Tofu as a stress reliever. This is just making him baffled with all this nonsense.
“Look, I don’t hunt Cocogoat. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pinched the bridge of his nose to ease the throbbing of his head. “Gege doesn’t know Cocogoat milk…?” Her hold onto his pants loosened and looked at the floor with a heartbroken countenance.
Not again…
His mouth gaped open as his mind and words can’t even devise a proper sentence. “Ah, Qiqi remembers now.” She raised her head and let her little legs lead to their room as Xiao followed behind her. She crouched down on the floor and peeked underneath the bed, grabbing something out of there.
His eyes watched her form as she shoved a notebook to him with her pink eyes sparkling in excitement. “[Name] told Qiqi to give this to you if Qiqi needs anything.” His brows raised in interest and accepted the item.
Carefully opening the cover, his golden orbs scanned the familiar handwriting printed on the flimsy paper.
Qiqi’s needs:
•Cocogoat milk (Coconut milk)
‣usually 2 glasses of it satisfy her
(the coconuts are placed inside the basket in the kitchen)
•Herb collection
‣it’s dangerous outside, so I mostly pick sweet flowers though Xiao sometimes bring back qingxin and violetgrasses when he comes back
(it’s almost like he can read my mind whenever I’m looking for those)
•New clothes
‣ need silk flowers, cotton, and wool
So Cocogoat milk is just coconut milk. He thought to himself and turned the next page. When he scanned the words, his usually stoic face was then painted with pink and choked seeing what was written on it.
Xiao’s needs:
• Almond Tofu
‣a must!
‣he usually eats 3 plates of it
‣he prefers if Almond Tofu is a bit sweeter
•Medicines and bandage
‣I notice he secretly covers his wounds with the beizu I gave him
(He’s been coming home with more scars lately and I’m worried about it…)
This doesn’t seem like Qiqi’s notes at all! Was this intentional you asked her to give this to him? A shaky sigh left him at the idea of just how inattentive you are that this is almost like letting him read your diary.
He slammed the book shut and raised his hand over his mouth to cover the blush on his cheeks from her.
“Ah, Qiqi gave the wrong notebook. This is Qiqi’s notebook.” She handed out a small journal with some scribbles and flowers stamped on the front. Xiao peered at her and let down the other memo book on a nearby object to place it.
Reading the contents inside made him ponder what’s the origin of this Cocogoat.
Qiqi remembered the time brother told me about a legendary adeptibeast. Rumors say that only the strongest can defeat it. So when brother brought this adeptibeast back home, Qiqi didn’t expect it would be Qiqi’s favorite.
Qiqi asked for brother to hunt more of it and he said yes. Qiqi is always excited to see brother coming home. Qiqi named this adeptibeast Cocogoat.
Cocogoat milk is so tasty. It tastes much better than normal goat milk. Qiqi didn’t know a legendary animal could make such tasty milk.
He continued reading and flipped the next page.
[Name] said to Qiqi that “Xiao” is the one who is hunting these delicious Cocogoat milk. Qiqi reminds him of brother. Once Qiqi talks to him, Qiqi wants to thank Xiao for hunting these adeptibeasts.
Everything makes sense now…
When the Yaksha only stood still and unresponsive, the little girl tugged on his sleeves catching his attention.
“Just play along with her, please?” Your words echoed inside his head, reminiscing the time where you nudged him as the three of you walked back home.
“Qiqi’s still young so I don’t want to break her little imaginations.”
“Gege?” The lavender-haired girl called out to him with her eyes expressed in worry. Xiao apologized and ruffled her hair before kneeling down to her height.
“You want me to hunt Cocogoat milk, am I correct?” Her pink optics glimmered and nodded in excitement, jerking his sleeve as she did so.
“Cocogoat! Cocogoat!”
“Right, Cocogoat.”
It didn’t take long enough for Xiao to find out that you have already prepared the drink when they trod to the kitchen. Qiqi started drooling at the sight of the beverage and opened her arms to reach the bottle.
“Gege caught the Cocogoat!” She exclaimed as the male handed over the bottle of milk. Her throat bobbed several times as she took a big gulp of it and letting out a satisfied sigh.
It was delicious as she remembers. The sweet taste of the coconut lingered on her tongue letting it leave a slight aftertaste. The temperature was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold.
She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and gave the bottle to him. “More! More!” She jumped up and down and it startled him when she tried to climb up on him as she begged.
Right, he almost forgot she wants two glasses of it. He heaved a sigh and searched inside the kitchen if you have prepared some more.
On the other sideline, three Yakshas were watching him from afar in the big tree in Dihua Marsh.
“Pfft— Co-Cocogoat?! AHAHAHAHA!!” Bosacius’s guffaws echoed throughout the land, causing the birds to fly in instinct. Indarias deadpanned as he watched the scene happened while Menogias squelched her laughs by covering her mouth.
“I-is this child talking about M-Miss Ganyu?” The former said in between his laughs as he crossed his arms over his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath.
The female Yaksha couldn’t hold it anymore and laughed hysterically, with tears running down her face. “Oi— d-don’t speak badly of Miss G-Ganyu…!”
Indarias didn’t know how to react to that. For a moment, he thought he had a second-hand embarrassment seeing how the coldest and apathetic Yaksha just went soft on a child.
We are Guardians of Yaksha after all. I suppose it is also his duty to protect the little ones.
He retorted to himself and breathed rather shakily, refraining himself from observing them any further without consent.
Xiao knew they were watching again. His keen sense was sharp and he can see right through them. He gritted his teeth and tightly gripped on the bottle that almost shattered if it were not for Qiqi’s voice catching him off-guard. She closed her eyes when he patted her head as he hoisted himself up.
“Stay here, I’ll be back shortly. I’ll go… hunt some Cocogoats.” Her smile widened in pure happiness and before he could march off, she grabbed on him and said.
“Qiqi is very thankful for gege. Please be careful when hunting Cocogoat milk.” He paused for a second before the corner of his lips curved.
“Thank you.”
Now time to get rid of those good-for-nothing adepti.
—
“Oh?” You hummed in amusement seeing the cute sight of Qiqi holding close to Xiao as she slept. Both of them were fast asleep on the mattress on the floor and it surprised you to see the adorable scene.
You just came back home from Guili Assembly after buying some necessities you all needed. And when you set foot on the floor of your house, it was surprisingly quiet but a pleasant one.
A smile was brought on your visage at the idea that both of them were finally able to bond together in such a short time. Your heart melted and squealed that Xiao had a soft spot for children.
You observed that Qiqi was more likely clinging to him, feeling safe just by being near him and Xiao had his eyes closed with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall to support his body.
You took a blanket from your room and draped it over their forms. You can hear their soft breathing as you carefully tucked them in and make sure they’re comfortable.
This wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Maybe one day, the three of you could spend time together inside this peaceful and cozy home of yours and make more memories.