Work Text:
Xiao woke up with a start.
For a second, the only sound he could hear was his too fast heartbeat, and the only picture he could see was his mistress’ smirk as she grabbed fistfuls of his feathers and pulled at them. His body seized as it remembered the pain, how his throat had been raw from yelling as he was torn apart for her pleasure, how every nerve had been so wracked with agony that he could only hope for death.
Death hadn’t come.
Then he smelled the Qingxin flowers that blossomed on the peaks of Morax’s Adeptus abode, and he remembered.
He wasn’t her slave anymore. He wasn’t a slave anymore.
He was the newly named Xiao, under contract with the lord of Geo, and his body was his own once more.
Xiao breathed deeply. The breeze of Morax’s domain was always warm, as was Xiao’s nest within the highest tree. And still, he felt as cold as the snow that he sometimes melted on his tongue.
Xiao wiped his silent tears as he untangled his limbs from the silk sheets and fluffy blankets that Morax had provided for him. He slid from the nest, Anemo surrounding him until he landed on the ground.
He could feel his body trembling as it failed to let go of the last threads of the dream. He listened to the songs of the birds that never stopped singing, forever safe from the cruelty of the world, waiting for the peace it usually brought to his heart.
It didn’t come.
Xiao gave up and walked barefoot into the regal house where he had resided, before Morax had realized that he preferred to be outside. He paid no mind to the beauty of the mosaic on the floor, nor to the frescos on the walls. He ignored the many rooms on his way, going down the hallway until he descended into the mountain itself. There Morax had carved caverns to store his many treasures, illuminated by crystals Xiao had never learned the name of.
Morax’s abode was a marvel on more levels than Xiao could fathom, and he didn’t care. He only wanted to–he only wished to–
Xiao entered the last and biggest cavern, and his skin prickled with the power thrumming inside. He felt part of his tension leave his body as he watched the sleeping dragon lying on his favorite pile of treasures.
Morax’s claws were reflexively opening and closing, rocks and gems sliding through them, while his tail was slowly shifting back and forth.
Xiao swallowed and dared to come closer, to bask in the golden warmth of Morax’s power. Here he didn’t feel like the dead goddess could reach him.
Here he felt safe.
Xiao sat down and rested his chin on his knees. He didn’t know what he would tell Morax if the god awakened and asked him what he was doing here. He only knew that he couldn’t bear to be alone with his thoughts and the darkness in his heart.
He watched his god, marveling at the way the crystals’ light played with the dragon's scales. Even after all these months, he didn’t understand why Morax had chosen to spare him. He certainly didn’t deserve his new life after all the harm he had done.
Xiao’s body was still trembling slightly, and he clenched his fists around the soft fabric of his trousers, willing it to still and not soil this cavern’s peace.
He failed. Xiao closed his eyes and buried his head in his knees, ashamed that he didn’t have better self-control.
Even though Morax never seemed to mind all the ways Xiao was weak.
Xiao breathed in and out, listening to Morax’s breathing and the rustling of the gems under him. The rocks around him seemed to pulsate to the rhythm of their lord’s heartbeat, and Xiao felt his own heart synchronize with it.
Once upon a time he had disliked being so deep underground, with so much weight between him and the sky, but not anymore.
Not anymore.
Morax’s tail shifted on the gems again. Xiao’s upper body jerked up when it softly curled around him and brought him closer to the dragon’s head.
Xiao’s heartbeat accelerated once more, his mind trying to come up with good enough excuses for his presence here and knowing that it was pointless. One look from Morax and he would tell the truth, except he didn’t even know what the truth was.
But Morax’s eyes didn’t open. Xiao was close enough that the breath coming out of the dragon’s nostrils tickled his skin, its warmth drying the tears Xiao hadn’t realized had started falling again.
Xiao waited with baited breath, but Morax only wrapped his tail around him a bit more before staying still. A low purr joined the Geo humming, and Xiao felt his body relax on its own.
Very slowly, he leaned his head against Morax’s cheek and closed his eyes.
He fell asleep to the ancient lullaby.