The sleeping adeptus // Xiao x reader

Without Xiao | 8

That night Venti got drunk and passed out at some point. It was up to (y/n) to find a place to stay. She didn't have any mora, and since Venti was suppose to be the one getting a place anyways, she just took it. She felt guilty about it, but it's not like she could just leave him on the streets. (y/n) was unsure if this was the right place he wanted to rent, but still it didn't matter. She went to sleep in a separate room, of course, after settling down and letting him rest.

She woke up the next morning with a slight headache, after all she also had a couple to drink, but she got up after hearing Venti groan from the other room. She opened the door slightly after knocking and checked up on him. He was laying on the bed like a lifeless body as he complained. "My head hurts so baadd..." Venti whined out. (y/n) laughed at his state. "I'll get some water for you." (y/n) said before closing the door gently. She huffed lightly as she rubbed the back of her neck. Where does one get water exactly? She shook her head as she tried to think of where to get it before she heard Venti's door open. She looked at him confused as he walked out with a smile on his face. "Good morning! Ah, man how many drinks did I have last night" Venti said with a happy tone. "Too many to count. And don't you have a hangover?" She asked him. "Well yes, but I'll be fine. I've had enough of these to be practically immune! And don't worry about the water, I doubt an old timer like you would know anything about where to find it." Old timer? (y/n) felt like beating the crap out of him, but shook it off. "Last time I checked, you're older" she said with a huff before sitting down in a chair.

"So I see you went ahead and rented a home?" He said. "Yea. There wasn't any hotels since Wanshu Inn is close, so I just got a cheap house for now." (y/n) replied, feeling bad. Venti laughed "you don't have to seem so down. I'm gonna be staying in Liyue for a bit anyways, so you did me a favor. It looks nice too" he stated to her, making her cheer up a bit. "Though, I really do gotta be going, a bard never stays in one play, yet rather makes a performance more than twice a day." He said with a smile before leaving the house. (y/n) just stared at the door with a deadpan expression. Does Barbatos really have that much on his schedule as a bard? She shook her head and sighed. She rested her head on her palms that were placed on a table. She looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Was she really that lost without Xiao?

An idea when popped into her head, well, technically it was more of a reminder. She was suppose to do training today, and she knew it would be idiotic to not do it just because of a little fight. She got up and stretched. Xiao's normal schedule for her was random exercises one day, the next he had set up some sort of activity to train, and so forth. Today would technically be an activity but she didn't know what to do for that, so exercises it is.

Xiao...

She shook her head as she closed her eyes. The last thing she needs to do right now is to miss Xiao. Why did she miss him in the first place? It wasn't a clingy feeling, nor a bored feeling, so why? She sighed, slamming her head on the wall. Idiot! She told herself. She then walked out of the house, closing the door behind her. She then left liyue harbor and left to a place where she could train.

For her, it was just about finding an empty spot to train, so she just came across a field and thought it was good enough. She smiled "see, we're doing good, who needs Xiao anyways?" She said, trying to encourage herself, but saying something like that about Xiao only made her frown. She sighed and shook her head. At this point, it felt like she had shaken off thoughts over a million times today. She started with a light jog, trying to get her body warmed up. She hummed lightly, hoping to get Xiao off her mind, after all it's not gonna solve anything. (y/n) didn't understand what to do, it's not like they could just fight each other to resolve it, but when she thought about what he said to her, that's all she wanted to do.

After a bit, she stopped so she could get back in a better mood. If Xiao saw her stopping like this she'd be in trouble. She facepalmed, stop thinking about him! She then heard yelling from down hill. A man dressed in normal wear was talking to one of those fatui people. Wait, no, not talking. (y/n) squinted her eyes at them trying to see what they were doing. (y/n)'s brows furrowed as she realized the fatui guy was threatening the man. (y/n) quietly slid down the hill and hid behind a tree to try and get a closer look.

The man had messy ginger hair, an outfit with rolled up sleeves and black boots. He had gloves, a single earring and a fatui mask laid on the side of his head. The ginger placed a hand on his hip and sighed with disappointment. "I really detest fighting people who are weaker than me, it has no use at all. But, a job is a job, and I'm not one to betray the Tsaritsa." He spoke. He lacked a light in his cold eyes, and you could see his violent intentions as he stared at the man. He pulled out his water blades. (y/n) fell in a panic, and before Childe slashed at the helpless man, (y/n) appeared in the middle of them two in a flash with the help of her vision.

The fatui man's eyes slightly grew wide at the sudden appearance, but followed through with his attack. (y/n) summoned a spear and blocked his attack. It seemed that it wouldn't take much to take out the man he was aiming for so he didn't put much strength into the attack. (y/n) didn't bother questioning him, as she knew from Zhongli that the fatui were bad people, no matter the reasoning. She grabbed onto the terrified man and attempted to run off. Before she could, the ginger grabbed onto the back of her shirt and threw her to a tree, while holding onto the man so he wouldn't go flying. (y/n) winced at the impact, but quickly got up. She wanted to just get that man away from him, and that's the only thing she plans to do. The ginger smiled at her, as his frightening eyes narrowed. "It seems someone wants to play hero today, though I don't think I've seen you around" he commented. (y/n) glared at him "I'm (y/n), an adeptus. You need to leave that man alone, he doesn't have the strength to fight you." She spoke with a stern voice. Being intimidating wasn't really her strong suit, and that was obvious enough.

He laughed. "That doesn't matter. If this man can't pay up his debt, he deserves whatever I do to him." He said to her, which only made her grit her teeth in anger. "I'm Childe, number eleven of the fatui harbingers." He introduced himself. He looked at the man before looking back at (y/n). "An adeptus... this fight is sure to be interesting." He said, in which (y/n) commented shortly after "I don't want to fight, nor do I need to. You're going to let that man go, end of discussion." Childe narrowed his eyes at her demand, almost as if he was pissed off. He then laughed before appearing in front of (y/n) with a charged attack "I don't remember me saying it was an option." He stated. (y/n) quickly moved from her position, reappearing behind him as she hit him with the back of her spear, pushing him to the tree, his face slamming into it. She didn't need to use strength on a mortal, plus she shouldn't be fighting in the first place. Childe chuckled "you bitch."

He turned around ready to attack, but there was no one there. He looked around to spot (y/n) running off with the man. Childe gritted his teeth 'why won't she fight me? Does she think I'm weak?' He thought. He got up and sprinted at them, and just as he was about to grab onto her, his hand phased through her, and they disappeared. Was that a illusion? Childe stared at the ground in disbelief. She had tricked him....

And played him like a fool.

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(y/n) set the man down after running off. She fell to her hands and knees afterward, huffing. "T-thank you so much, how can I e-ever repay you" the man spoke, still shaken up. (y/n) got back up slowly and smiled at him "it's okay, you don't have to do anything. Now get going, and be careful" she said. The man nodded quickly before leaving. (y/n) sat down and gripped her shirt. It felt like her body was being stabbed everywhere, and her head was pounding. The pain stayed there for awhile, and when it finally stopped, (y/n) sighed in relief. She stood back up, feeling dizzy. As she was about to leave, she felt something drip from her nose. She wiped it then looked at her hand, staring at the smeared blood that came from her nose.

"I.... think I should go back to Xiao.."

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Tysm for almost 8k reads!! It means a lot to me, and I hope you guys are liking the story so far. I have much more planned so thankfully I won't be abandoning the story anytime soon 💖