Chapter Text
Liyue never rests, and neither does its very own Guardian Yaksha Xiao. At least, not often. Today’s one of those exceptions, a rare evening where Xiao allows himself to just sit on the balcony of Wangshu Inn, taking in the sights with a scalding hot plate of Smiley Yanxiao’s dreamy almond tofu. He’s still a little vigilant, but the moment the first bite of tofu touches his tongue, he smiles around his fork and the tension on his shoulders dissolve into thin air. He lets out a deep sigh, closing his eyes in unadulterated pleasure. For once, the restless yaksha is content. For now.
For nothing good can last forever, and the Golden-Winged King ends up getting rudely interrupted by a certain Chalk Prince.
“Excuse me, are you Xiao? The adeptus?” A gentle voice asks, shattering Xiao’s tofu-drunk haze and sending a full-body shudder down his back that nearly makes him shatter his plate along with it. Xiao snaps to attention, throwing his food on a table to summon his weapon and scan the area to find the source of the voice. The balcony is empty, save for someone about Xiao’s height standing in the doorway, seemingly unarmed with their hands folded politely before them and no vision in sight.
“I’m sorry to startle you,” The voice continues, apparently unfazed by the sight of the most dangerous creature in Liyue armed and in fighting position directly in front of him. “I was told I could find you here. I didn’t think they were telling the truth, but it’s a good thing I found you.”
This could not be a regular man. Xiao might be small, but he knows that his mere presence is enough to make any Liyuean tremble.
“Who are you?” Xiao barks out.
“My apologies. I am Albedo, Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius. You carry a much different aura than I was told of… If you don’t mind, I’d like to study you for a bit.”
In the blink of an eye, Xiao dashes to the man’s side and pins him against the wall next to the doorway with his spear. He has to look up a little to meet his eye, but he makes sure to give him the coldest look he can as he spits out, “What makes you think you have the right to waltz in here and ask to study me? Do you even know who I am, Albedo Chief Alchemist?”
“Just Albedo is fine,” he says, finally putting up his hands in a tangible display of surrender. “You must be Xiao, and by extension you must be one of the few adepti that protect this nation. I must ask for pardon if I’ve done anything to offend you; this is my first time in the area and I’m unaware of any social customs regarding your kind in particular.”
“Even in Mondstadt, it should be rude to sneak up on anyone.” After a few moments of Albedo choosing to stay uncomfortably silent, Xiao sighs in defeat. “Unless, of course, that old drunk is still making the rules. He never had much manners, either. You said you were told you could find me here. Who told you?”
“I have a good friend, a traveler named Aether who I met in Mondstadt. They told me this is where they met you. Surely you remember them, they and their little pixie friend are a hard pair to miss.”
Aether’s friend? Xiao’s iron grip on his polearm eases a bit, and Albedo lets out a heaving sigh of relief in response. It’s strange though, that even with their faces at this proximity Xiao doesn’t feel a puff of warm air escaping the boy’s mouth, rather a frigid gust of wind. Any thoughts of how startlingly cold his breath is gets replaced when Xiao mentally circles back to just how close their faces are to each other and takes a few steps back.
“What did they tell you about me, and why are you here?” Xiao crosses his arms and huffs frustratedly. “I don’t understand why you’d want to study me, or what that even entails. Though, if you’re Aether’s friend, I’m more inclined than usual to listen to your measly mortal wishes.”
“They told me you granted your power to them once, which must mean that your power does not just come from your vision. It’s a very interesting concept to me. I’d simply like to observe your behavior, if you have the time to show me. I’d like to see how your powers differ from the usual vision user’s.”
“And you came all the way over here from Mondstadt just to watch me wave my spear around?”
“No, no, I’m actually here to deliver something to someone in Liyue. I stopped here for a meal and thought it might be wise to check if you were here too. Killing two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.”
“And you are traveling alone, Chief Alchemist? First time in Liyue and you’re prancing around without a vision user to protect you?”
“Ah, well…” Albedo reaches down to fumble through his pockets, and Xiao holds out his spear defensively on pure instinct. Instead of whatever terrifyingly tiny weapon Xiao feared he’d bring out, the man produces a shimmering golden brooch and hums as he fastens it to his shirt, just below an oddly shaped birthmark of the same color. “I am a vision user myself. I didn’t want to come off as combative, so I hid it away on my travels. I hope this may convince you further?”
He says that like he hasn’t just pulled Rex Lapis’ personal seal of approval seemingly out of thin air and donned it like a mere accessory in front of the archon’s most loyal subject.
“Geo,” Xiao breathes out. There’s a heavy silence in the air as the cogs in Xiao’s head creak and swivel. It honestly seems like a waste of time to help this random and frankly baffling man with whatever strange data he wishes to extract from Xiao, but at the same time he’s a Geo user and one of Aether’s close friends. If the great savior of Liyue and Morax himself saw something in this Albedo guy, then there has to be something to him, something that Xiao can’t see yet but the most respected people in his life chose to protect. Something that Xiao inexplicably wants to learn about, too, even at the cost of a rare rest day.
After having made up his mind, he glances up at Albedo, who seems to have been staring blankly at Xiao the entire time he was pondering the situation. Albedo catches Xiao’s glance and makes direct eye contact with him, wide eyed yet dispassionate. It’s somewhat unsettling how much of Albedo resembles a stone statue: cold, hard, and unmoving, but his eyes are round and full of life, swimming with spirals of green and blue. He looks as if he’d crumble if Xiao were to give him the answer he didn’t want, and it makes Xiao all the more firm in his decision.
“Very well, I shall assist you in whatever you may need,” He agrees, watching Albedo’s saucer eyes open just that impossible bit wider. “As a yaksha, it is in my power to grant a boon to any mortal who I believe has earned the right to one. However, one can only receive a single boon in their lifetime. If you participate in this contract with me, you will likely not be able to receive any other boon from any other adeptus.”
“Is that so? So I can only study you out of all of the adepti?”
Xiao can’t help but let out a profound sigh at Albedo’s obsession. It’s reassuring to know Albedo doesn’t seem to care for the chance at asking an adepti for something like infinite wealth or power, but it’s a bit frustrating how obsessed he is with being able to conduct research. If he’s going to be this insistent throughout the process, it’s going to turn into an exhausting ordeal incredibly fast.
“I suppose that would be the case… if that’s the only thing you’re interested in.”
Albedo nods plainly. “Yes.”
It’s abrupt, but succinct. Xiao can’t help but appreciate his honesty.
“As you are traveling through Liyue alone, I shall guard you on your path down to the harbor, and you are free to record anything you see find interesting about my ‘behavior.’ If I must, I shall act as your guide as well. It is certainly a bit of a trek for a mortal to undertake, but I can guarantee that you will make it to the main city unscathed under my watch.”
Albedo’s cheeks look suspiciously pink under the warm light of the evening. Maybe the red sun cast a more saturated glow on to him because of his pale skin? It’s quite a charming color, a soft horsetail flush. The thought that Albedo must be popular back in Mondstadt briefly passes through Xiao’s head, but he snuffs it out before he can dwell too long on why it's even there.
“I can’t thank you enough for your cooperation! I’ll be sure to make the best of it.” This is the first instance so far in the small period of time Xiao has known Albedo that the man has put any bit of emotional inflection into his voice, but manages to just sound even more prim and regal than usual. “Give me a minute to get my bag; if you’re okay with it, we can set out right after.”
Xiao sticks out an arm to keep the alchemist from politely waddling out of sight. “But first, I require a payment.”
“How much?”
“What? Just one is fine.”
Albedo cants his head, confusion painting his delicate features. “Surely you deserve more than just-”
“One plate of almond tofu. This one’s gone cold. I’ll wait for you at the lower entrance.”
---
“I’m surprised such an old and experienced yaksha can enjoy modern food to such an extent,” Albedo murmurs, fiddling with his crossbody belt. It’s the first time he’s initiated a conversation with Xiao in the thirty-odd minutes they’ve traveled together, which throws off yaksha considerably.
“Ah, well,” He takes a moment to swallow another bite of tofu, then ties his to-go pouch shut. “I don’t need to eat food, but this tofu has always reminded me of my past.”
“I see.” The sound of Albedo’s voice is followed by the now familiar scritch-scratch of his pencil against the coarse paper of his notebook. “What exactly about it is so nostalgic? Was there a time where you had to eat to survive?” Xiao tries not to mind, but it’s still uncanny how the alchemist doesn’t even try to hide that he’s more interested in the information Xiao can give him than his company. It’s unusual, but it’s refreshing. Though it makes him feel like little more than a bird in a cage, it’s nice to meet someone who’s neither throwing themselves at his feet or taking pity on him and trying to change him.
“Before the archon war, before I met Rex Lapis, I used to be a wandering dream-eating spirit. This tofu has a similar texture to those dreams I used to devour… every time I take a bite of Yanxiao’s tofu I can almost imagine that I’m just as rash and innocent as I was back then. I really miss it.”
Albedo stills his pencil and then glances at Xiao. “...Oh.”
Xiao looks away, embarrassed by how much of his past he’d divulged so quickly to Albedo. In his defense, it might be useful data for Albedo’s research, right? He bites his lip, hoping he hadn’t made his traveling companion too uncomfortable. Xiao couldn’t bear to hurt a mortal, physically or emotionally.
“You’ve been working hard for a long time, haven’t you?” Albedo’s voice is soft as always, this time graced with a gentle smile lilting his words.
Xiao’s lips part around an aborted gasp for air. He couldn’t be more grateful that he wasn’t facing Albedo at that moment. Something about that audible smile, that voice that swam in the breeze like a thousand dust particles dancing in the air, conjured Guizhong’s face in Xiao’s mind. It’d be wrong to associate his goddess with a mere mortal he’d met just an hour ago. It’d be wrong to show that mortal the face of a yearning Yaksha.
“I suppose.”
Albedo doesn’t answer beyond a small ‘mn’, and Xiao only turns to see him fully after catching the sound of the man crouching down somewhere along the pathway. Albedo’s gently touching a stray sweet flower, looking at it like it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen in his life.
“Do you not have sweet flowers in Mondstadt?”
“Oh, of course we do, but I’ve never had the pleasure of comparing the ones in Mondstadt with the ones in Liyue. My subordinate’s main field of research is sweet flower enhancements; I’m sure she’d appreciate it if I brought home some foreign samples for her to experiment on.”
Albedo reaches out to touch the flower, gently thumbing at its petals. “It’s a beautiful specimen. Entirely pristine and unscatched despite being on the side of such a busy road. This one seems to have a particularly thick stem as well. It must have been an adaptation to living in such a harsh environment.” He reaches into his bag to pull out a sketchbook; different from the notebook he was using to record Xiao’s past, and begins to earnestly sketch a ghostly outline of the plant.
Xiao raises an eyebrow at his… well, questionable behavior. “It’s pristine because no one pays any mind to random sweet flowers when they’re traveling. It’s not worth your time.”
“If it’s not worth my time, then why am I drawing it?” Albedo asks, and though Xiao can only see his small, hunched back, there’s an obvious smirk dancing in his voice.
“Because you’re obviously not in any rush to go where we need to go,” Xiao huffs out. “If you want to draw it so bad, just pick it and draw it later.”
“Mm… but then it’d be dead. Its elegance and vitality would wilt and fade with its leaves. There’d be nothing left to admire.”
Xiao’s left absolutely speechless by Albedo’s response, not because he found it particularly moving but because it was now painfully clear to him that Albedo was just not someone worth arguing with. No matter what Xiao said, it wasn’t going to change the other man’s mind one bit. It was a foreign feeling for an adeptus who didn’t even need to drop his name to have Liyueans prostrated at his feet, so Xiao couldn’t exactly say he found it charming to have to repeat himself to a mortal.
“Whatever. I just hope you won’t make this a habit. We’ve barely gone twenty kilometers and we’re already taking a break,” Xiao grumbles, giving a pointed stare in the direction of the still looming Wangshu Inn behind them.
Albedo chuckles and rises back up to his feet, the sweet flower plucked and tucked delicately behind his ear. The green of the flower’s stem makes the green tones of Albedo’s eyes all the more deep and mysterious, and the bright yellow of its seeds makes his pale skin and hair look spectral, almost ethereal in comparison. He quickly pulls out a small pouch from his travel bag to put the flower in, and Xiao can’t help but think it’s a damn shame he didn’t leave that flower there a little bit longer.
“I can’t make any promises. The sights here are so beautiful,” he sighs, making direct eye contact with Xiao.
“Ah, um,” Xiao stutters and tries to cover it up by clearing his throat and then walking forward down the path. “I’m honored you think that of my home, but sweet flowers are trivial compared to what Liyue truly has to offer. If it’s sights you want to see, I’d be happy to take a detour up to Mount Tianheng so you can see the harbor in all it’s beauty.”
“It’s not trivial,” Albedo mutters as he jogs to catch up with Xiao. “I find it quite entrancing to think about how rare and traumatic the birth of new life can be, and how even the most delicate little things can thrive in any circumstances. And anyways, I had the intent to end this poor thing’s life with my own hands, so it was only right of me to properly admire its time and being before plucking it from its origin.”
Xiao nods, acting like he’s listening. He wishes he cared more about what Albedo was saying, and he certainly does hear each individual word, but Albedo’s voice is so soothing and his language is so monotonous that it nearly makes Xiao doze off mid-step.
Albedo doesn’t seem to mind or even notice, and just keeps going. “My master taught me that all primal life is borne from chalk, which comes from soil. To imagine how many thousands of different ways that lifeless dust could have coagulated, and to analyze just how and why it became this particular specimen… it leads one to find that the process of birth and life alone is magnificent enough to revere.”
Albedo pauses for a moment, and Xiao tries his best to hide the sigh of relief he subsequently lets out. He wasn’t very good with people in general, let alone someone who’d become as talkative as Albedo. Xiao had come to notice that Albedo was neither a particularly quiet nor talkative person; he was perfectly sociable, but only when he found it necessary to interact. Similar to a Glaze Lily, he bloomed only under the right circumstances and stayed elegantly closed-off otherwise. And right now, he was blooming a little too brightly for Xiao’s taste.
Xiao turns around to make sure Albedo’s okay and that the silence wasn’t caused by the man suddenly dropping dead due to heart failure, and almost feels like his heart is going to fail instead at the sight of Albedo once again crouched down on the side of the road.
He simply crosses his arms and stares daggers into Albedo’s back. Albedo seems to sense it, and turns his head slightly to smile back at Xiao.
“This mint is much shorter than the average at Mondstat. It’s either a defect, or it must have endured a lot to adapt this way. Either way, I just wanted a closer look.”
“You must not get anywhere with an attention span like that,” Xiao grumbles out.
“I got into the Knights of Favonius, didn’t I?”
Xiao doesn’t laugh.
Albedo does. It’s a sweet, airy chuckle and it feels just like a dream. “Alright, alright. I’ll try not to stray too far from the path. Forgive me for being so interested in the world we inhabit.”
“It’s just plants. There’s thousands of the same thing everywhere.”
“But every single one is different. Like I said, every single one is a miracle. Doesn’t it make you feel more appreciative of how amazing the world is, just thinking about how many questions there are out there to answer?”
“I don’t have time to think about trivial things like that.”
“Of course not. A big, strong warrior like you must be busy all the time helping protect his people,” Albedo acquiesced, and Xiao has to try very, very hard not to blush at the subtle praise. “But it must get tiring, right? You might feel like this piece of mint surrounded in a sea of grass. Camouflaged in with the background, completely trivial. But when you take the time to love and admire such things, it all starts to make sense.”
“Mm? What does?” For some reason, Xiao finds himself hanging onto Albedo’s every word. The taller man’s eyes are cloudy and wistful, staring east towards Mondstadt. His voice is slow and calm, and Xiao almost feels like he’s divulging his deepest secrets to him. It’s only respectful to care about what he’s saying.
“That life is worth living. The feeling of sun on your skin, being able to see beautiful things every day, it’s all part of being alive. And it could be taken from you in a heartbeat, just a few seconds, like plucking a sweet flower from its roots. It makes me think that sometimes, just existing is enough. And the more hardships you’ve faced the more beautiful that existence is. I can sense you’ve faced more hardships than anyone else i've ever met. And that alone is more than enough.” He sighs. “At least, that’s what my master told me when she -- when I was young. I forget the importance of her words easily, but it’s not hard to just go outside and sketch whatever I find pretty and remember it all again.”
Albedo’s eyes are so, so big, so the world he sees through them must be just as big too. Xiao can’t even begin to understand how it feels to value his own life. He gets the feeling Albedo doesn’t either from the way he sighs out every word, but he leaves it at that. All he needs to know is that Albedo implied that he values Xiao’s life, and it feels his stomach with a warm contentment.
“Your master… must be really important to you,” he opts to say instead.
“Of course. She’s my only kin.” Albedo breathes it out like a winter breeze, his steps frigid and his eyes shivering. Xiao doesn’t reply, just crosses his arms to shield him from the cold atmosphere that had descended upon them. They keep walking in time, one step after the next.