Memories of Other Times [g.i One Shots]

Nightmares

Pairings - Xiao, Tighnari, Zhongli

Warnings - None

Xiao

Your eyes snapped open as you rolled over to face the window. Your breathing was heavy and your eyes were hazy from sleep. Absent-mindedly you realized that the spot beside you was cold. Xiao must not have come back yet.

You whimper as the cool breeze from the window caressed your uncovered arms and you shivered, shuffling into the slightly warmer sheets. The horrors of your dreams pounded at the back of your eyes. Every time you tried to fall back asleep, flashes of the dream came and you snapped your eyes back open.

Eventually you couldn't take it anymore, your muscles tense and sleep continuing to evade you. You never liked calling Xiao's name. You knew how seriously he took his contract to Liyue and loathed to take him away from that for something so ridiculous.

But you sighed and whispered 'Xiao', curling even tighter into the silk sheets. He flashed in, surrounded by black and green, his mask covering the pretty face you love. When he saw you were in no immediate danger he vanished his spear that he had been clutching tightly and strapped his mask to his belt where it hung on his thigh.

He sighed and sat next to you on the bed, running his hands through your hair without a word the way he knows you like it. You sat up after a moment and reached out to him, circling your arms around his neck and nuzzling your cheek against his own. He held you delicately, placing his hands on your waist and resting his cheek on your head.

He stayed like that with you for the rest of the night, cuddling you close until your breaths evened out and he laid you down gently, tucking himself behind you and giving you a small kiss to the back of your neck.

Tighnari

When you sat up gasping, you noticed your lover still scribbling away on what you were sure was what had been keeping him up all week. The bed had been cold without him but you made do with listening to the sound of his frustrations when he wrote something wrong and had to scratch it out, the swish of his tail having lulled you to sleep.

But tonight it was difficult to rest easy as you were plagued with nightmares. They shocked your system awake, shakes in your fingers making it difficult to clench the sheets. You look over to your guys' shared desk to, unsurprisingly, see Tighnari working away.

Slipping from the bed you unknowingly creeped up behind the unsuspecting fox, startling him when you wrapped your arms around his waist and pressed your cheek to his shoulder. He jerked under your hold, letting out a breath.

"Nari," you mumbled, pressing kisses to the crook of his neck. "Come to bed please."

He sighed. "[Y/n] I-"

"Please Nari?" You whimpered and squeezed him tighter.

He paused, his tail unconsciously wrapping around your waist to pull you even closer. "Is something the matter?"

"I just.. I... I had a nightmare. I want you with me right now, please?"

Tighnari turned around, placing his hands around your waist he brought you into his embrace, running a soothing hand up and down your back. "Alright. My work on Sumeru's decline in Rukkadevata mushrooms can wait until morning, let's go to bed."

Zhongli

You woke you with your chest heaving, tears sliding down your cheeks as you silently sobbed. You didn't want to wake your lover, who was behind you with an arm curled around your waist holding you protectively to his chest, but it seems that no matter how you try to keep quiet, your still too loud for his Adepti ears.

He stirred at the sound of your cries, immediately blinking awake, wasting no time to look over you to see if you were in any pain. When he deduced that you weren't, he settled back down beside you to lightly trace his fingers across your hips in easy shapes.

"Are you alright, love?" His voice was heavy with sleep, gruff and inquisitive.

You had calmed your breathing, focusing on the way his fingers traveled your skin. "Yeah." you croaked out. "I'm fine, just a bad dream."

You heard him hum and shuffle behind you and you realized he was leaving the bed. You frantically turned over to grab his wrist and stop him from leaving, but he merely smiled at you and cupped your face. He held you like you were china as he reassured you that was only going to leave to make a small cup of tea that would ease your mind.

He knew you wouldn't be able to fall back asleep but it was still late into the night and you had an early day tomorrow that you needed to be awake for.

You stayed up with Zhongli in the kitchen as he made the tea, filling the silence with mindless chatter that Zhongli indulged you in, understanding that this was your way to get your mind off whatever dream had plagued you.

You managed to fall asleep soon after, the tea doing wonders and Zhongli tucked behind you just like before with a hand around your waist and his face nuzzled into your hair.

Word Count - 878