Tofu. [ Xiao ]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐓𝐨𝐟𝐮 𝐯𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨 𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞

Tofu had begun to play around in the field more often after that day, but only if Xiao was outside with them.

The fox jumped around through the grass and bushes, stalking a few birds but never hurting them—they flew off too quickly.

As they ran through the field once again today, their paw stepped on something squishy and slimy. Tofu jumped up, fur standing up and tails ruffled.

A dendro slime stuck out from the ground, wide eyed blinking rather loudly.

Xiao watched carefully, hand grasping the pole to his polearm. He was ready to attack the slime if it tried to duplicate or attack his fox.

Tofu growled/hissed, lunging forward to pounce on the dendro slime, however it vanished into the soil and moved away.

They saw its familiar flower poking out, and pounced again. Jumping up and pushing all its weight onto its front paws. Similar to how you would see a fox playing in snow.

The slime pounced out, hitting its body against Tofu's head. The fox whimpered, slumping down on the ground.

The slime hopped closer, tilting its face...or head? Whenever Xiao rushed over, the slime sunk back down into the soil and left as quickly as possible.

The adeptus scowled, lifting up his companion. A bump was forming on their head, it seemed really upset. Comical tears welled up in its almond colored eyes when Xiao gently rubbed the bump.

"Are you okay?" Xiao barely whispered, not used to saying such a thing. It felt foreign to him, to say such words. He struggled to pronounce them.

The fox yelped happily, pushing its head more into his palm. Xiao let out a short laugh, holding Tofu to his chest. "It's time for you to eat."

Tofu purred at the sound of food, but unlike other days, they didn't take off into Wangshu Inn. They wished to stay closer to their human a little longer, as it was a bit rare to be held by the adeptus.

Xiao thought he saw a glimpse of brown and gold hair, but when he double checked up on the balcony, nothing was in sight.

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BONUS:
Xiao was worried Tofu was going to get a concussion. So late at night, he snuck off into the city of Liyue to stop at a small vet they have. Baizhu had a lot of fun teasing him.

When he returned, Tofu laid down on his chest to make sure he wouldn't leave again. (Trying to give the medicine to tofu was a pain in the ass for xiao)