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The floorboard sounded ever so slightly. Like a whisper in the wind, a rustle in verdant forests.
Then…
“SURPRISE!” Like thunder rocking sleepy skies, a voice was heard. Warm hands gripped his tattoos covered shoulders. Hands of a young maiden with autumn colored eyes.
Standing on the familiar old balcony overlooking the marsh below, the Yaksha did not pay her any mind. “Five feet rule.” He said solemnly, unmoved.
“After all this time, yet you’re still so cold. Rather predictable of the Adeptus Xiao.” Hu Tao said while wrapping her arms around his neck. It seems Xiao’s words did not face her. “Would you please let go of me?” Xiao pleaded. But in vain it was, for Hu Tao wrapped her arms even tighter and leaned her weight on his back, all the while giggling. "If you beg." She said through untamed laughter.
“You’re insufferable.” He grunted. “You’re just too stiff, old man.” Hu Tao retorted, playfulness one can rarely find when talking to The Demon Conqueror laced her words.
“Why are you even here?” Xiao asked, perhaps too eager to end this interaction. “Why?” Hu Tao returned the question. “To see you, that’s why!” She answered with glee, her giggles filled the afternoon's air.
To that, Xiao only sighed. His shoulders had gone laxed, resembling defeat, or maybe it was because the pressure Hu Tao has put on him. “What? My presence isn't welcomed?” Smug was her tone, she knew regardless of the answer, she would stay. And Xiao, like so many other times, would do nothing to stop her. She only held on even tighter.
“No, it’s not like that…” Xiao exhaled. Silence followed, not a word uttered. Preserving the quiet, Hu Tao gently lifted herself up and stepped besides her frowning friend.
“Having work on your mind?” She asked, softer but never once glum. Xiao closed his eyes, breathing deep, taking in the scent of seawater and valley wind. Though no words were returned, it was clear to Hu Tao the answer is yes.
“Look, I don’t really know what to say about your “eternal suffering” thing…” Hu Tao found herself at a loss for words, she didn't know what she'll say when she started the sentence and it still holds true. “But it can’t hurt to take your mind off it for a moment!”
“Thank you miss detective, you’ve solved all my problems.” Xiao broke his streak of silence with sarcasm. “No! That’s not what I meant! Ah- How to say this?!” Hu Tao turned around, tipping her feet back and forth, swinging her head side to side yet nothing came to mind. The grunts she made resembled that of a frustrated child, well, right now you can call her as such.
Then, as if hit with an epiphany, Hu Tao’s eyes sparked up like fireworks and she abruptly spun towards the railing. “I know!” She proclaimed a notch louder than necessary. Without warning, Hu Tao climbed onto the rusty red fence, cherry wood tinted hair caught the wind and fleeting sunlight. Turning back to Xiao, she only said: “Then I’ll just have to show you!” before gliding down below. In the flutter of a butterfly's wings, she was gone.
“Wait!” Xiao wasn’t sure why he said that, even though he knew it was useless. Hu Tao’s spontaneous nature is inevitably going to cause him some, if not a lot of trouble. With no other option, Xiao followed suit, bearing more disappointment than surprise as he touched the breeze on his way down. “Of course she’d pull something like this.”
Descending through thinly spread clouds beneath Wangshu Inn, Xiao could barely make out the plunging figure of Hu Tao. Landing on white sand, he stood back near a large stone and watched as butterflies of flames burst from the nearby Hillichurls camp.
He wasn't sure what Hu Tao would gain from this. But admittedly, his curiosity was somewhat piqued.
As her feet hit the ground, the first thing she did was, oddly enough, forcefully throwing her spear outside the battlefield. It dropped down with a thump, Xiao's eyebrows rose.
With only bare hands, Hu Tao made a sharp line to the Samachurl, narrowly avoiding arrows in the process. She lifted her leg and with a sturdy kick, the small creature was helpless under her feet.
Even stranger, Hu Tao then stole its staff. Holding the Samachurl down, she finished it with its own weapon. As other monsters approached, their fate was the same. Each one taken down with the staff she'd claimed.
Dashing back and forth on the beach, Hu Tao has no focus or care. She charged in without stalling. Her attacks, brisk and animated. She was leisurely, akin to a carefree butterfly. At a point, she even started singing, voice ringing loud and clear. Hu Tao fought with unbridled joy and a smile that can never truly fade.
To his own surprise, Xiao caught himself staring and
Smiling.
For how long has his saffron eyes been fixated on her?
Maybe it was her irritable liveliness. Or her reckless yet humorous actions. Maybe it wasn't Hu Tao but the sheer absurdity of the situation. But then again, who other than Hu Tao would find themself fighting Hillichurls with their own weapons?
Whatever the answer, something about Hu Tao,
it brought laughter to Xiao's lips.
Hu Tao, having cleared an entire Hillichurls camp, trivially jogged towards Xiao, her movements bouncy and peart. "Unconventional choice of weapons." He commented, much more untroubled than he had been for many days.
"I see my little stunt worked!" Hu Tao beamed as she shifted closer to Xiao, sitting herself down in the boulder's shade. "Your hair's going to get dirty. Tie it up." Xiao took his own seat beside her, reaching for her cascading twintails and dusting them off.
"Silk flowers." He thought. The scent was inescapable, bright and sugary sweet; sweeter than even honey or molasses. Xiao can particularly taste it in his throat. And the taste lingered still when he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Ha! You think a bit of sand on my hair is the dirtiest I've been all day?" Hu Tao's voice snatched him back to reality, his hands still in her hair. "Even more than letting your hair drag on the ground?" Xiao reluctantly inquired, continuing to brush out the sand in Hu Tao's silk-like locks.
"Yup!" Smiling, Hu Tao proclaimed with pride. “And it was all worth it!” She stretched out her arms, raising them up to the sun like petals catching light, just to then let them fall in an abrupt downward stroke, pulling the rest of her body to the ground. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps it was exhaustion. “What did you do this time?” Xiao only sighed, disheartened that Hu Tao’s clothes were now covered entirely in sand.
“Well," Her voice curled up, filled to the brim with mischief. "There was an abandoned bird nest of the rooftop of the ministry of civil affairs…" Hu Tao explained, stopping for air and leaving her sentence hanging. "And?" Xiao filled in the gap, intertwining his fingers in her hair and resumed stroking once again.
"And I heard Xiangling was low on eggs but Second life had run out of stock, so…" She stopped for the briefest moment.
"You climbed up."
"I climbed up."
Xiao sternly shook his head then exhaled. "I can never grasp your reasonings. How much trouble did you get into?" Hu Tao gave out a long breath. "A lot. The Millelith were really mad. I admit it was a bit…" She paused, searching for the right word in her mind.
"Extreme. But no need to be so serious. Jeez, some people are just too dour." She grumbled. "They were right to intervene." Xiao's words were tender, just like his hands combing through Hu Tao's hair. "You could've fallen."
"Aww, is the mighty vigilante Yaksha worried about a mere mortal as myself? I'm flattered." She teased. "Don't use my words as leverage." Xiao carefully danced around the question, leaving it unaddressed.
Hu Tao laughed, her voice untroubled and blithe. Xiao was infatuated with that laugh; it sounds ethereal like the sound of Dihua flutes and melodious as the songs that brought him back from the brink of death. ,"In all honesty," She spoke, sincere as can be. "Thanks for hanging out with me, Xiao!"
Xiao didn't respond, only giving a small hum as acknowledgment. "Everyone in Liyue doesn't really want me around, so it's nice that you like me. You're a good listener." Unfiltered, her words were unfiltered; her feelings laid out for the world to see. To that, Xiao only clicked his tongue." I tolerate you at best."
Her flower-like crimson eyes looked at him, sparkling like flames. Those eyes, they shone brighter than Lantern Rite's night sky. Xiao had never seen anything like them. Something stirred within him and it was walking the line of contentment and confusion.
He didn’t like it.
"Ah, I'm so ever grateful! How will I ever repay you, o mighty Adeptus? Let me get on my knees and-"
"Enough." Xiao cut her short, finally releasing his fingers from Hu Tao's hair. Slowly, he raised them up and then… hesitated. "Eh? Xiao, what's wrong?" Before she could even get another world in, she'd already realized what was going on when Xiao's hand landed on top of her head. "Eh?!"
"Why?" Xiao feeds the confusion, asking a question that belonged to Hu Tao. "Why do I enjoy being in your presence? Why do you make me smile?" His eyes narrowed, his expression, pained. "I don't think I can answer that one." For her part, Hu Tao was speechless.
"Human's lives are so short, ephemeral. What are you but a fleeing memory in one, two hundred years?" Xiao stopped, waiting, hopping for a response, an answer for his blight. It never came. "What's the point of being near you? What's the point of smiling?" Frustrated, melancholic and lost, Xiao needed an explanation for the ache in his heart.
The silence dragged, neither of them making a sound; leaving the sea's churning wind and the shifting sand beneath to fill the space. Xiao sat and rethought his words, lamenting in the things he'd said; they were too harsh. To Xiao, he had clearly crossed a boundary-
"Well, the more happy you are, the less stress you're under and stress can stunt your physical growth. In other words, stress makes you short, so you shouldn't be stressed!" The statement came unashamed. Xiao was astonished. Did he somehow pat her head that hard? Surely not. How could someone even fathom such a claim?
But strange as it may be, for its valour, it loosened the shackles that binds him tight. This feeling of weightlessness, it's unfamiliar, though not unwelcomed. For decades, centuries on end, there was a moment of relief in Xiao's life. He couldn't help but chuckle. Small and light as it was, it was still brazen in his expression.
"You're a strange one." The air was fresher, a crisp summer gust whisked through Guli Plains as the lazy afternoon sun shone on the shoreline. It was warm and inviting, and most of all; to Xiao, it was freeing.
"I'm not scared of death, ya know." Hu Tao, having finally gathered her thoughts, answered. "So what if one day you forget me? We're all forgotten eventually. There's no point to our story, only what happens to us during the story."
She turned to him, her eyes, unrivaled in their deep scarlet red, were soothing and kind. "And I can't tell you why you feel the way you do. Just like how I can't tell you why I feel this way towards you. Sometimes we're sad, angry, frustrated just because. There's no explaining it, no stopping it. Sometimes it's better not to question things." Xiao looked at her, intrigued. This was the first time he'd had a conversation like this. With someone he'd only known for two short years, no less.
“So!” She perked up. “Will you join me? Enjoy this ephemerality with me. Hold this moment dear, for it is truly fleeting, never to be seen again. Enjoy the mundane with me, for in one, two hundred years, it won't be the same. Will you?” Her voice was exaggerated and even sing-song as typical when she comes up with a new poem. But nonetheless, it was honest.
With his heart and mind racing, Xiao stared at her with awe. Her hand stretched out to him, inviting him to hold it. Her palm looked soft, her skin a porcelain white juxtaposes to her black painted nails.
I could only muster up a shy smile and take her hand. Its warmth was something he'd never felt before. "I think I'd like that."
Just as his fingers interlaced with hers, Hu Tao, predictably, pulled him straight down. White sand scratched at his skin, but Xiao was only focused on Hu Tao's giggles.
"Honestly though, you really should be less stressed, it really does make you short, you know."
"Those are bold words for someone in stabbing rang."
"Not my fault you're short!"
In the warmth of Liyue's sun, they bantered away. For just a moment, eternity seemed in their grasp, as if they could stay in this moment until the last star took its final breath. A distraction from millenniums of bloodshed, an invitation to mundane life. But even so, they both know it’s only momentary bliss. And that’s why this moment is so precious.