Dominator Stellae

25 | Karmic Debt and You (2)

The smell of freshly made meat drew me out of my thoughts. I set my book down on the bedside table and checked on Xiao to see if there were any signs of him waking up. Seeing none, I figured I'd go to the kitchen to check on Lei-li and Zhongli since my stomach seemed to be adamant about telling me that it was empty. A random song entered my mind and I hummed it absentmindedly, stepping into the kitchen.

Lei-li peered at a plate of almond tofu, a piece in her hands. She appeared to be trying to stack them perfectly. Zhongli stood off to the side, a knife in hand and a plate of tianshu meat in front of him. He swiftly cut it into fourths and set it aside, steam rising from the cuts. Hm, they seemed into their work so I'll leave them be for now. I turned and headed back into the room with Xiao.

The heaviness of his karma permeated the room again, the poor man sweating in his sleep with his teeth bared in pain. Wordlessly, I unscrewed the vial and gently tapped his cheek to see if he'd willingly open it. It didn't surprise me when his hand grabbed mine in an iron grip and his eyes flew open. Hazy, amber-yellow eyes glared at me.

I gently pried my hand out of his grasp. "I need you to take your medicine, Xiao," I told him, holding up the unscrewed vial. His eyes narrowed as he processed my question.

"'M not sum baby," he growled at me, speech slurred due to having just woken up. I chuckled at him, assuring him I didn't see him as a baby. He huffed and reached out to grab the vial. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if he was strong enough to hold it without dropping it but I gave it to him regardless. His grip is sorta shaky but strong enough to prevent him from dropping it.

I grabbed my book and settled back down in my chair. The bed creaking is what brought my attention back to the out of commission adeptus. "Xiao, get back in bed," I said, not even having to look up. He pretended not to hear me despite the fact his karma was still horrendously heavier than usual. "Xiao."

"'M fine, I don't need babying."

We froze when the door opened and Zhongli strode in with a plate of almond tofu in hand. His normally blank expression turned into a disapproving look upon seeing Xiao out of bed. "Xiao, you need to be in bed," He said. "Please, get back in."

"Who are you to order me around, Mortal?" Xiao said irritably.

Zhongli raised a single eyebrow at Xiao. I bit my lip and tried not to laugh at the irony of the brunet being called 'mortal'. Xiao frowned at me in confusion upon hearing my quiet snort. I probably shouldn't be laughing considering how close Xiao and Zhongli were and how Zhongli was pretty much about to shake his world by saying he was alive. I stood, taking my book.

"Where are you going?" Xiao asked, looking between me and Zhongli who'd yet to say anything else. "Who is this man?"

"You're about to find out. No, he's not dangerous, just listen to him, okay? I'll leave you two to talk."

The door closed behind me gently and I returned to the kitchen. Lei-li turned to me with a still steaming pie in hand. I raised an eyebrow at her when I realized just how much she and Zhongli had actually made. There was a bunch of tianshu meat, almond tofu and other desserts. Before she could even say anything, I'm already grabbing the spare, dirty dishes, running some dish water and placing the dishes in the pleasantly warm water.

She bashfully placed a few more dishes in the water. "You two managed to make this much food that fast?" I asked, incredulously. Lei-li shrugged and told me that Zhongli had mentioned he'd liked cooking. I'm guessing Marchosias had something to do with said newfound love of cooking. He used to be banned from cooking because he'd either eat the ingredients or mess something up.

"Is Xiao doing better?" She asked, coming to my side to rinse the dishes.

I hummed, unsure how exactly to explain his current condition."Well, he's either hiding that it's hurting him or he's actually fine. I'm gonna go with the former because it's worse than at Wangshu Inn."