Archive of Our Own

For the past few weeks, Xiao had been using a dating app. This wasn’t something that he’d willingly admit to- or even something that he wanted to do if he was honest. His best friend, Yelan, had insisted that he should actually try putting himself out there if he wanted to start dating someone. And she was probably right- Xiao was almost incompetent when it came to dating. He hadn’t been with anyone since he was about thirteen, and incredibly shy. 

However, the troubles started with said dating app when Xiao realised that he was barely getting any matches. He had his preferences all set perfectly, and would press the ‘interested’ button for multiple women- and yet he’d almost never get one back. Not to mention that the few times that he did match with someone, it was an absolute nightmare. 

He had met up with this beautiful lady at a fairly nice restaurant that was about a thirty minute drive from where he lived. She seemed really lovely over the phone, told him he looked handsome in his pictures and that she apparently ‘loved’ awkward, shy boys like him. But the minute they both met up, she seemed disappointed. The whole meal was almost silent, save for a few questions from Xiao’s side. And when it got to the end of the meal, she told Xiao that she wasn’t interested anymore, claiming that she ‘got the wrong signals’ when she spoke to him online or something. And that confused Xiao slightly. He didn’t know what she meant by ‘The wrong signals’, he had given her every single indication that he was interested. 

Or there was another time when he had matched with someone, a woman who was roughly the same age as him. At the time, he had a picture of his pet rabbit as his main picture on his page- because he thought that she was very cute. And so did this lady, it seemed. They messaged for a few days- and it wasn’t anything besides basic small talk, but Xiao still enjoyed being able to talk with someone for a bit. However, on around day five of talking, she seemed to have finally checked out the rest of Xiao’s photos on his profile and sent him a message asking if he was even attracted to women at all. This caught him off guard slightly, because of course he was attracted to women- wasn’t he? He’s never been attracted to a man, anyway. 

But the thought still lingered in his brain slightly. He didn’t know for certain if he was attracted to men- but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right? After all, he hadn’t been having any luck with women anyway. And so Xiao made the decision to change the ‘attracted to’ options in his dating app, choosing to set it to both men and women. He also left a little note in his bio, stating that he didn’t know for certain if he was attracted to men or not- and that he just wanted to try something new out. That way, he wouldn’t be leading anyone on or anything if he wasn’t interested in men after all. 

And not long after that, he received quite a lot of matches. These matches would often be accompanied by messages which told him how ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ he was. Xiao wasn’t used to receiving so many compliments, especially not from other guys. There was one in particular who stood out to him though. His name was Venti, and he was the one who messaged Xiao first. He started an actual conversation, rather than just showering Xiao with praise and affection like the others had. They spoke for a few days, and Venti was nice. Almost suspiciously nice- like he’d always message Xiao when he woke up to say good morning, and he’d message Xiao after work to tell him about his day. No other person on this app had ever done that before. 

Eventually, Venti asked to meet up. He said it was just to ‘hang out’ and ‘get to know eachother better’, but it still made Xiao incredibly anxious. Because last time he met up with someone he thought he might be getting along with, she instantly seemed disappointed. What if Venti was the same? He seemed so incredibly nice over text- but what if that wasn’t the case in real life? Xiao had so, so many questions, and his brain was telling him not to go, to stay at home instead where he wouldn’t have to go anywhere or do anything. But for some reason, he agreed anyway. 

They decided to meet up at Venti’s house, because then it could just be a casual meet up type thing, and then Xiao wouldn’t feel too pressured to do anything out of his comfort zone. It calmed Xiao’s nerves slightly that Venti was actually considering how he might feel about this- it was all fairly new to him. 

A few days later, Xiao drove himself to Venti’s house. It was only a fifteen minute drive, thankfully. If it were any longer than Xiao might have been a nervous wreck by the time he got there, as he spent the majority of the drive worrying about what might happen. They had planned to meet up in the afternoon, so the roads were a little busy- but they weren’t anything too bad.

Once he got there, he knocked on the door twice and then slowly took a few steps back, to give the door some room to open in case it was one of those weird doors which opened outwards instead of inwards. Venti rushed to the door and opened it not long after Xiao had knocked. 

“Xiao, hi! Come on in!” Venti smiled, opening the door a little bit wider. Xiao noted that it wasn’t one of the weird doors that opened outwards, and was in fact a normal one that opened inwards- just in case he ever came back here.

Xiao mumbled out an awkward “Hey,” before following Venti inside. His house was nice- it was small, but homely. There were a variety of different pictures of who Xiao assumed were Venti’s friends and family. It was well decorated, too, with little ornaments and trinkets scattering different desks and ledges across the house. It definitely suited Venti. 

Xiao immediately took his shoes off and placed them near Venti’s shoe rack, not wanting to leave mud all over his house- that would be a nightmare. 

“Sooo, I was thinking we could watch something? Or play a game if you’d prefer?” Venti asked, still smiling. “I also bought some snacks if you’re hungry.”

“Uhm.. No, I’m fine- and we can do whatever you’d prefer. I don’t wanna intrude in your own home,” Xiao replied. It was a little bit overwhelming for him to be in a completely new place, with multiple different questions being thrown at him. He was relieved that Venti was still nice though, and that he didn’t really act any differently from how he did over text. 

“God no, you’re not intruding. Are you sure there isn’t something you’d prefer to do?” Venti asked, putting his hand out as if he was offering to take Xiao’s jacket to be hung up on the coat rack.

Xiao shook his head in response to Venti’s first question, but handed his jacket over in response to the second ‘question’.

“Okay- is it fine if we watch something then? I’ll put the subtitles on so that we can chat a bit too,” Venti suggested. Xiao thought that might be a good suggestion- especially as he usually puts the subtitles on when watching something anyway.

“That’s okay with me.” Xiao replied.

“Cool! Go take a seat, I’m just gonna grab some popcorn from the kitchen quickly,” Venti said, walking off quickly towards what Xiao assumed was the kitchen. The only problem now was that Xiao didn’t know where to sit. He knew that he should sit on one of the sofas, just- which one? There were three of them. 

Venti returned about five minutes later, and tilted his head out of confusion at Xiao- who was still standing in the middle of the room, fidgeting with his hands. “Is everything okay?” Venti asked, walking over to the middle sofa and putting his bowl of popcorn down on the table in front of them. 

“Yeah.. Uhm. I didn’t know which sofa you’d want me to sit on,” Xiao mumbled. He quickly followed Venti though and sat on the other side of the middle sofa. 

“Oh. You could’ve sat on any of them, Xiao.” Venti giggled, turning to stare at Xiao. 

“Right. Sorry,” Xiao apologised profusely. He now felt incredibly embarrassed.

“No need to apologise,” Venti stated. He continued to stare at Xiao for a few more seconds before Xiao broke eye contact and looked away. “The pictures on your profile really don’t do you justice, you know?” he asked, picking up the TV remote and pointing it at the television in front of them. 

“What does that mean?” Xiao questioned. He didn’t know if Venti was complimenting him or insulting his photo-taking abilities. And he was right that the pictures on Xiao’s profile weren’t anything special- but they were accurate to how he looked. That’s what he thought anyway.

“You look so much more gorgeous in real life.” Venti said nonchalantly, before suddenly realising that he might have come across as rude. “And that’s nothing against your photos- those are beautiful too. It’s just that- seeing you in front of me really doesn’t compare to seeing you on a phone screen.” 

Xiao continued to give Venti a confused look, expecting more of an answer from him. 

“What else do you want me to say? In a photo you’re unmoving, and you don’t get to see the way your eyes glisten in the light and stuff- it’s just not the same.” Venti continued to explain, hoping that what he was saying made some sort of sense to the man next to him

“Oh. Right,” Xiao answered. He still didn’t really get it, but he didn’t want to question any further in case he made Venti uncomfortable or something.

“Is there anything in particular that you want to watch?” Venti asked, scrolling through different categories of a streaming service that he had on his TV. 

“Not that I can think of- just put something on that you like.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be controlling everything here..” 

“Mhm.. That’s fine by me.”

Venti put on a cartoon- style show. He seemed to have started it from the first episode, probably so that Xiao could actually understand what was going on. However, Xiao found himself staring at Venti a lot more than he found himself actually watching the show. Because Venti was pretty, and he looked somewhat cute when he laughed at the jokes that weren’t actually all that funny. Sometimes Venti would look back towards Xiao, to see if he was enjoying it- and Xiao had to quickly spin his head back towards the television screen so that Venti didn’t realise he was staring. And this was strange to Xiao. He had never wanted to stare at anyone in the same way that he stared at Venti. Nobody else had been so encaptivating- not like Venti was, anyway. 

As time passed and it got darker outside, the weather seemed to get a lot colder. It didn’t help that Venti’s house was already chilly as it was, but Xiao was freezing cold as he sat there on the sofa. He didn’t want to mention it to Venti- because that might be an inconvenience. And if he was honest, he didn’t really want Venti to have to do anything more for him than he already had done. Especially if that meant he had to go somewhere. Xiao wanted Venti to stay right there, next to him. However, when Venti next turned his head to check on Xiao, he noticed him shivering. 

“Are you okay?” Venti asked, a look of concern growing on his face.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?” Xiao responded. He knew exactly why Venti was asking, but didn’t want to bother him and so he pretended like nothing was wrong.

“You’re shivering. Let me get you a blanket, I have some in that cupboard over there.” Venti knew what Xiao was doing. Ever since he had arrived early this afternoon, Xiao had done everything he could to not be a bother to Venti. And it was a shame- because Venti wouldn’t mind running around for him, and getting him whatever he needed.

“No need- I’m fine,” Xiao replied. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders, trying to get them to stop shaking so much. He wasn’t that cold for him to be shivering like he is right now.

“No you’re not. Just give me a second, I’ll grab you one.” Venti replied, getting up from his seat. He quickly walked over to the cupboard in the corner of the room and pulled out a sherpa blanket. He then walked back over and handed the blanket to Xiao. 

Xiao grimaced in response. He didn’t want to be rude- but he also hated sherpa. He hated the feeling, the texture of it. The way it was too warm and made him feel like he was overheating. 

“Is something wrong?” Venti asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Uhm.. I don’t like sherpa blankets.” Xiao blankly stated. 

“Oh. What’s wrong with them?” Venti furrowed his brows, taking the blanket back to the cupboard. 

“Everything. The texture, the feeling, the way they get every bit of dirt trapped in them,” Xiao responded. He tried his best not to sound insulting- but he wasn’t sure that had worked. 

Venti hummed a little in response. “That’s fair. Do you want me to grab your jacket then? You look like you’re about to freeze.”

“No. I’m fine- just sit back down,” Xiao mumbled. He seemed to be causing more and more trouble for Venti, even if it was unintentional.

“I can’t. Not when you’re shivering so much.” 

Xiao sighed a little bit, unsure of how to respond. 

“How about we go to my room or something? I have a thick duvet, that’ll warm you up.” Venti suggested. He stood near Xiao’s seat on the sofa, still refusing to sit down until he had found a way to get Xiao warmed up again. 

“Are you sure? You seemed to be enjoying the TV,” Xiao argued. If he was honest, he didn’t really know if he wanted to be in the same bed as Venti. That seemed too close, too intimate. 

“Mmm.. Yeah- but I also wanted to talk to you more today, get to know you better. I haven’t done that so far.” 

“Oh.”

“C’mon,” Venti gave Xiao a smile and grabbed his hand, pulling him up from the sofa. He dragged Xiao up the stairs and brought him into his room. Venti clambered into the left side of the bed, and stared at Xiao expectantly. Xiao anxiously bit his lip for a few seconds, before also getting into the bed. Venti was right- it was warm. Almost too warm actually, because Xiao could see himself almost falling asleep in this bed. 

“Is this any better?” 

“Yes. Definitely.”

Venti chuckled. “Give me your hands- they must be frozen cold,” 

Xiao furrowed his brows slightly before bringing his hands out from under the duvet covers. Venti grabbed them and proceeded to cover them with his own hands. He was so much warmer than the duvet cover was- and he was running his fingers down the roughness of Xiao’s hands, holding them gently as if Xiao was a fragile, breakable object. 

“Do you use hand cream?” Venti suddenly asked, looking up from Xiao’s hands to stare at his face instead.

“No. That stuff is expensive,” Xiao explained. He had a somewhat stable job that allowed him to pay for necessities like food, water and a home- but nothing extra like hand cream.

“That explains why your hands are so rough then. Do they not hurt?” Venti questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“A little bit. Usually only in winter, when it gets cold and they start to like- crack a bit. That’s usually the only time they’re painful.” Xiao replied. It was a bit of a minor inconvenience, yes, but it wasn’t anything for Venti to worry about. What Xiao chose to do with his life wasn’t really Venti’s business.

“Do you want to borrow some of my hand cream?”

“No. Like I said, it’s expensive- I don’t want to waste your money,”

Venti ignored him and picked up a small tube from his bedside table. “This one was a gift from a friend. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you used some.”

“It’s fine, Venti. My hands are fine.” 

“Please? Ever since you got here you’ve been avoiding being a ‘bother’. Just let me look after you,” Venti pleaded. He wanted to be a good host, and he wanted Xiao to stop seeing himself as such a burden on other people.

Xiao gave Venti an anxious look, before sighing. “Okay.” 

Venti smiled, and poured some of the hand cream onto the back of Xiao’s hands. He then gently massaged it into all of the various cracks and tears- from where his skin had gotten so rough that it started to break. “Good boy,” Venti teased, a smirk appearing on his face as he put the tube of hand cream back on his bedside table.

“What did you just call me?” Xiao asked, absolutely flabbergasted. 

“A good boy? Would you rather I didn’t?” Venti had to stop himself from giggling. 

Oh. Oh.  

Xiao liked that.

His cheeks started to turn slightly pink as he looked away from Venti, avoiding his teasing glare. “No. Uhm- That’s. You can.. say that. I think,” Xiao spluttered out, struggling to form an actual coherent response. 

“I’m just teasing- don’t worry,” Venti continued smirking. He had gotten the exact reaction that he expected from Xiao. “Unless you like being called a good boy?”

Xiao’s face went completely blank, save for the pink dusting his cheeks. He had been caught. And he had no idea how to respond- because if he agreed then he’d be subjected to endless teasing from the man in front of him, but if he disagreed then Venti might never call him that again. He didn’t want that. 

So instead, Xiao opted to turn around and bury his head in the pillow behind him, completely avoiding Venti’s question. Because what else was he supposed to do- when there were only two outcomes for a question, and both of them were equally as awful??

“Oh my god, did you actually like that?” Venti started to grin. Oh dear.

Xiao just buried his head further into the pillow and groaned. He mumbled a “Maybe,” into the pillow- but that just sounded like a load of gibberish to Venti, who was giggling at him. 

“You can take your head off of that pillow, you know? If you’re blushing I’d much rather see you than have you all hidden away like that,” Venti continued to tease- despite the fact that he said he would stop it earlier. 

Xiao sighed, moving his face away from the pillow. He turned to stare at Venti, biting his lip and fiddling with his fingers nervously. 

“That’s it, good boy.” Venti’s smirk changed into a genuine smile. And Xiao thought that might be worse.

“Oh my god, stop it!” Xiao groaned, wanting to bury his face as deep into his hands as possible- but he didn’t.

“But I think it’s cute to see you get all flustered over such a simple phrase.”

Xiao frowned, and not out of sadness or anything- he just didn’t know what else to do. Maybe if Venti felt bad enough he’d stop teasing so much. 

“Okay, Okay. Sorry- I’ll stop now.” Venti finally said.

“Thank you..” Xiao mumbled, his cheeks slowly turning less red. 

Venti laid down in his bed, getting himself relaxed. “You should lay down too- it’s comfier that way.” 

“Doesn’t it make you uncomfortable having a stranger in your bed?” Xiao asked. He laid down in the bed, but didn’t bother doing anything to make himself comfortable- just in case he took up too much of Venti’s space.

“You’re not a stranger. We’ve been speaking for weeks- and besides, it would never bother me to have a pretty boy like you in my bed.” Venti responded nonchalantly, giving Xiao a small smile.

Xiao furrowed his brows. Pretty? First he was good, and now he’s pretty? Nobody else had ever given him compliments like these before, most of the women that he had dated in the past had said he was ‘handsome’ or ‘strong’ but never anything like this. It’s not like he could necessarily lie to himself either, he very much preferred being called good and pretty than handsome and strong.

“That sounded a lot more sexual than I had intended it to. Ignore me,” Venti mumbled out once he had realised what he said.

“I hadn’t even thought of that.” Xiao chuckled a little bit. 

“Oh.” Venti stated, picking up his phone and checking the time. “It’s getting kinda late.”

“Oh- I’ll get going now then if that’s what you want.” Xiao started to move the duvet cover off of his side, almost getting out of bed before he was stopped by Venti’s hand reaching out to grab his arm.

“What? No , I was gonna offer to let you stay the night.” Venti told him. 

“Oh. Uhm- I need to check with my roommate first. I told her I’d be back tonight, and if I’m not, she might get worried.” Xiao replied. He grabbed his phone and opened his contacts app, scrolling to find Yelan. 

“It’s fine if you can’t- it was just an offer.” Venti wanted Xiao to stay- but if he couldn’t, then that didn’t bother him too much.

“No, uhm.. I want to stay. If that’s fine?” 

“Of course it is. I just offered.”

“Right. Let me call my roommate real quick.” Xiao stated, getting out of bed and heading out into Venti’s hallway. 

If Xiao was honest, he didn’t really have to check with his roommate. He knew that Yelan would be perfectly fine with that- as long as he was. Xiao just really needed a break for a few seconds. His head was swimming with thoughts, and he felt this weird heavy weight in his stomach. Typically, that only happened when he was incredibly anxious or nervous, to the point that he felt nauseous. But this time, it wasn’t anxiety. It felt a strange amount like desire . But Xiao had never felt desire for another man before, so why now? What changed in him that made him suddenly feel attracted to a man? Maybe there was something wrong with him- and maybe that’s why he became such a flustered mess over those same two words that Venti insisted on calling him. 

Regardless of the fact that Xiao knew Yelan wouldn’t care if he stayed over, he still sent her a few messages to say that he’d be staying the night. Because she would still be a bit worried if Xiao didn’t come home that night without telling her in advance. She replied to his message with a thumbs up- as she usually did. This often made Xiao chuckle a little, as the only other person he knew who replied to messages with a thumbs up was one of his old tutors from high school- Zhongli. 

Eventually, Xiao psyched himself up to go back into Venti’s bedroom. He still felt nervous, and somewhat confused, and the pit in the bottom of his stomach didn’t seem to go away- but he went in anyway. 

Once Xiao entered the room, Venti sat up. “I couldn’t hear you talking outside,”

“Yeah, Uhm.. She didn’t pick up.” Xiao made up an excuse on the spot. Venti didn’t need to know that he needed a few minutes to recompose himself. 

“Oh. Did you message her?”

“Yeah. She’s fine with me staying,” Xiao smiled lightly, putting his phone down on the table that was beside his half of the bed. 

Venti grinned. “Okay. That’s good,”

“Mhm..” 

“For tonight, if you don’t feel comfortable being in the same bed as me, you can always sleep in the other room down the hall? I used to have a roommate living with me, but he left to live with his partner.” Venti suggested. He knew that Xiao didn’t have much dating experience, especially not with other men- and so he wanted to make sure that he could be as comfortable as possible. 

“I don’t mind sharing a bed with you.”  

“Oh.” Venti mumbled, and Xiao swore he could see his cheeks turn slightly pink at that. “Right- um.”

Xiao tilted his head. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no. You haven’t done anything wrong- don’t worry,” Venti reassured him. “Do you need any pyjamas or comfier clothes?”

“My clothes are comfy enough as is.”

“You’re wearing jeans, Xiao.” Venti sighed. Xiao must be ridiculous if he thought that Venti would let him go to sleep in a pair of jeans. And they looked comfy- they had wide legs and seemed somewhat baggy, but that’s besides the point. They were still jeans.

Xiao shrugged. “Comfy jeans.”

“Let me get you a pair of pyjamas- you can’t go to sleep wearing jeans.” Venti got up out of bed and walked over to his set of drawers that was on the opposite side of the room. He picked up a pyjama set that had shorts and a shirt with short sleeves, and then held it up. “Does this work for you?”

“Uhm.. Do you have anything with, like, trousers rather than shorts?”

“I’m not sure.. I typically only wear shorts to bed- don’t like the feeling of trousers underneath the duvet.” Venti explained.

“Oh.” Xiao’s face immediately fell. 

“Is there something wrong with the shorts?”

“I have.. a lot of scars on my legs and thighs and stuff. I don’t really want anyone to see them.” Xiao mumbled. He started to pick at the skin on his hands, seemingly pulling at any scabs or skin around his nails. Venti had noted earlier that he seemed to frequently pick at the skin near his nails- there were marks left behind from when he’d pick at them so much that they’d bleed. 

“Right. Let me check what else I have,” Venti stated, stuffing that pair of pyjamas back into one of his drawers. He opened each separate drawer, looking through them all. “The only thing I have is a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, how does that sound to you?”

“That’s good. Sorry for being such a bother,” Xiao muttered. He walked over to Venti and took the clothes from him, mumbling a small ‘Thank you,’ as he did so.

“Don’t be. I’m more than happy to help,” Venti replied. “There’s a bathroom down the hall if you want to get changed, by the way.”

“Okay, thank you.” Xiao left the room and headed towards the bathroom, the clothes that Venti had given him wrapped tightly in his arms. Once he reached the bathroom, he noted a somewhat large mirror in the corner of the room. He turned around, facing away from it and got changed into Venti’s clothes. They were a little big on him- since Venti was a few inches taller, but they fit well enough. 

Xiao then swiftly returned back to Venti’s room. He knew that if he was left alone for long enough then his brain might actually start thinking again, like it did earlier. But he didn’t really want that. Because when he was with Venti, it felt like he was in some sort of haze or something. One where he didn’t have to worry about the way he spoke, or the tone of his voice. One where he could just- be himself. Without having to worry about Venti finding him weird or suddenly getting disgusted when Xiao didn’t even do anything wrong. And Xiao knew that tomorrow morning, everything will crash on him- and he will become incredibly aware of how vulnerable he has allowed himself to be while around Venti, but for now he’d just rather ignore it. He can deal with all of that tomorrow. 

Once he entered Venti’s room again, he noticed that Venti had also changed clothes. He was wearing a pair of pyjamas that were very similar to the ones that he had shown Xiao earlier- except the fabric had a leopard print pattern on them, rather than being plain black. Venti was still lounging around in his bed, but he turned to look at Xiao when he opened the door. 

His face lit up and he smiled, motioning for Xiao to come and lay down with him. Xiao complied, getting into the bed and letting himself properly relax. There weren’t many people who he could allow himself to be relaxed around- he almost always had his guard up.

“How would you feel about me touching you?” Venti asked once Xiao had made himself comfortable. Venti was one of those people who craved physical touch- he loved it. 

“Touching how?” Xiao asked. He didn’t really want to mess anything up, or get anything wrong.

“Probably like- small touches. Holding your hands, cupping your cheeks. That kind of stuff.” Venti explained.

“Oh. I’d be fine with that.” Xiao replied. “And I’d probably be fine with, uhm, other touches- as long as they’re not.. Y’know..”

“Sexual?”

“Yeah. As long as they’re not.. sexual. In any way.” Xiao’s face felt slightly hot. 

Venti chuckled. “You’re twenty-three years old and you can’t say the word ‘sex’ without getting flustered?”

“It’s ridiculous, I’m aware.” Xiao mumbled. Venti seemed to be incredibly good at embarrassing him. 

“Not ridiculous- just a little bit funny. I mean, surely you must have had sex before?” Venti asked. 

Xiao stared blankly, his cheeks turning an even deeper shade of red. 

“You haven’t?”

“No. Uhm.. I’ve never thought much about it before.” Xiao mumbled, fiddling with his hands as he often did when embarrassed or anxious.

“Oh. But surely you’ve wanted to?”

Xiao started to frown slightly. “Can we end this conversation here?”

Venti suddenly realised how invasive he was being. “Right- of course. Sorry- I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable..”

Xiao nodded, a frown still visible on his face. “It’s okay- I think.” 

There was now a very awkward air to the room, as both of them struggled to think what to say next. 

Eventually, however, Venti broke the silence. “So you’re okay with me touching you?”

“I am, yes.” Xiao replied, somewhat quickly.

“Would you be interested in a cuddle, then?”

“Yeah. I think I’d like that.”

“Okay, c’mere,” Venti patted the space next to him, motioning for Xiao to come closer. And Xiao did, although slightly hesitantly. 

Venti wrapped his arms around Xiao’s body, placing one hand around his waist and one hand on his hip. Xiao felt that weird, heavy weight in his stomach return. Except this time, it almost felt like it was burning a little.

“Where do I put my head?” Xiao asked, unsure of what to do. He was completely new to this kind of stuff. 

“Anywhere. You can put it on my shoulder- or on my chest. Literally anywhere that seems comfy to you.” Venti answered, smiling. He was often smiling- maybe there was just a lot to smile about in his life. And Xiao hoped there was. 

“Okay..” Xiao moved to put his head on Venti’s chest, nuzzling up against him a little. 

“You’re not used to this, are you?” Venti asked, noticing how rigid Xiao had seemed.

“Not used to what?”

“Everything. The touch, the affection, the compliments, the letting someone else do something for you for once. All of it.”

“Oh. I guess not.”

“It’s such a shame. You’re so pretty, and gentle. I think you deserve to be spoiled sometimes.” Venti muttered, moving one of his hands away from Xiao’s hip and picking up different strands of Xiao’s hair, playing with it in his hands. And Xiao was almost purring in response to this, instinctively leaning into Venti’s touch. He had never really been held like this before, but it felt nice. Maybe a little strange at first, but Xiao liked it. 

“And you’re such a good boy, too. It’s such a shame that nobody else realises it,” Venti whispered. They both knew what he was doing, being such a tease to see if he could get Xiao as flustered as possible. But Xiao was too tired to get all embarrassed like he had done earlier. His eyelids were flickering, desperately trying to stop himself from falling asleep in Venti’s grasp. 

“That’s it, sweetheart. Go to sleep,” Venti continued to whisper as Xiao slowly drifted to sleep, his head still on Venti’s chest. 

And Xiao didn’t think he’d ever manage to get another night of sleep that good again in his life.