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“Are you going to stay out there or are you going to come inside?”
Xiao, covered in dirt and speckles of grass from head to toe, stood squarely centered in the door frame with a glaring pout on his face. He said nothing; it didn’t even look like he was breathing. Just in an eternal state of anger.
Zhongli sighed as he watched for any sign of surrender in him. When that never happened, he got up from the table and took with him a white towelette off the counter behind him. Xiao didn’t even move as Zhongli leaned down and began wiping his face. “Did you get into a fight or something?”
“No,” he mumbled, but Zhongli registered this as a lie. “I see,” he replied.
Zhongli peeled back the cloth to reveal one of his eyes which stared right back up at him. He still had a lot of debris on him, including some pebbles in his unkempt hair. He pulled it back and took another good look at him overall. “I don’t see any blood.”
“There was blood.”
“Yours?”
Xiao didn’t answer.
“Will you let me clean it off you?”
Xiao still didn’t answer.
Having understood enough, Zhongli placed his hand on Xiao’s back and guided him to the table. “Sit.”
Xiao sat. He put his hands on the table. He kept his eyes down.
Zhongli pulled up his chair from before, sat down and adjusted himself and his tea. It had gotten cold so he refilled it, using up this short silence to think of what else to say to him.
“Are you thirsty?” Zhongli gestured vaguely towards his drink as he asked.
“What is it?”
“Oolong tea.
“I’ve never seen you drink that.”
“You notice everything I drink?”
Xiao hesitated. “Well, no.”
“Mm,” Zhongli takes a long sip of his tea then sets it down on this plate. “You haven’t answered me.”
“I’m… a little thirsty.”
Zhongli got up to get him a teacup of his own. With his back facing him, Zhongli listened for any muttering or shifting from Xiao. But he was mainly stationary with his head low and his hands flat on the table. He didn’t even kick in his chair like he normally did when they sat together to eat. The light tapping from the dishes disturbed the silence between them, then came the pouring. The soft stream of tea hitting the bottom of the cup sounded serene.
“You know I’ll have to ask you later about what happened.”
“Or you could forget about it,” Xiao’s attempt to be cheeky only made Zhongli look his way with a glare that shut him up. He turns around with his tea and sets it down right in front of Xiao. As he pulls away, he notices a more fatalistic look on his face. It’s sour, so full of worry that it made the mood of the room feel stifled and sad. To break the gloomy tension, Zhongli reaches down and pinches Xiao’s cheek playfully. He gives it a little wiggle that has Xiao baring his teeth a bit, which prompts him to exclaim in protest. “What was that for?” Xiao asked as Zhongli pulled away.
“You’re okay here, do you understand?”
Xiao said nothing, but he rubbed his cheek.
“Whatever happened, it happened. You can rest now.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Xiao grumbled.
Zhongli sighed in defeat. No matter what he said to him, it fell on deaf ears anyways. They sat together, but Zhongli wasn’t paying close attention to Xiao as he sipped his own tea. Xiao side eyes at him for a second then reaches down to scooped his tea cup with both hands before chugging the whole thing in one go. He drank it silently but he gradually tilted his head back against the chair, which would’ve been mildly amusing to watch if Zhongli was actually paying attention - he seemed too consumed with his thoughts currently. Then Xiao got out of his chair and quickly went behind Zhongli’s chair, to which he looked up with surprise and asked, “What are you doing?” When he turned his head to look over at the cup, Xiao placed his forehead against the back of his head and looked straight down. He continued to mumble, “I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything when I calm down. Thank you for being here. I… I appreciate it.”
Then he felt his absence immediately as Xiao rushed further into the house, presumably to go clean himself up. Zhongli looked into his direction and shook his head. He crossed his arms and leaned against his chair as he let out a troubled hum. The only thing that comes to mind is that whatever was happening must be serious if Xiao is able to even display that level of affection. It’s not much, but it’s a big deal to him. He probably won’t stay long enough to hear the whole thing if he doesn’t tell him soon. As Zhongli picks up Xiao’s cup to go clean it, he thinks to himself, ‘what am I going to do with him?’ Deep down, he hopes things will turn out all right. Even further down, he knows it will.