Zhongli was excited. Well, as excited as any other old man who just made a steaming pot of tea. He had just finished a long day and didn’t want to do anything more than to sit in his home and enjoy his tea. But as luck would have it, he was interrupted as soon as he poured his first cup.

“Xiansheng.”

The former archon inwardly sighed as he calmly finished taking his sip from his cup and placed it back down on the table. Xiao has popped in unannounced enough times for Zhongli to not be startled by it anymore. Although, it still didn’t mean that he wasn’t surprised and somewhat disappointed that he wasn’t going to enjoy his tea party for one this afternoon. It was alright though. Xiao did look a little distressed.

“What is it, little one?” Zhongli asked, watching as the yaksha began pacing back and forth.

“I- just- the traveler! They are starting to get under my skin.” Xiao huffed out and Zhongli didn't think he'd ever seen him this physically distressed before. Xiao was really good at keeping his emotions under control so he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious to figure out what exactly the traveler was doing for Xiao to be acting this way.

“What about the traveler? Lumine? Did she do something wrong?”

“I don’t know. It’s like every time I see her, I start to feel… anxious? Like my hands feel really clammy and I don’t know why but my face suddenly feels hot and it’s not even that warm outside yet- and whenever I see her, I get the urge to go physically closer to her- and when she looks at me she’s like t-tickling my stomach but she’s not even touching me! Is she practicing sorcery? I didn’t know she could do magic-”

As Xiao rambled on, Zhongli began to put the pieces together and he couldn’t help the slow smile that was spreading across his face. Oh, he never thought he’d see this day.

“Xiao.” He called out, gently, before the panicked yaksha could send himself into a frenzy. “You’re in love.”

“What? I am not in love.” Though the very faint blush on his cheeks didn’t back up his claim.

“Everything you’ve just described, all of your feelings and anxiety… that’s what happens when you begin falling in love with someone.” Zhongli explained and he had to hold back a laugh at how mortified Xiao began to look. “And that feeling you’re getting in your stomach... She’s not tickling you with magic. You’re just getting butterflies in your stomach.”

“But… I don’t even eat butterflies.”

Now Zhongli had to chuckle at that. “No, I’m sure you don’t. But what I mean is that whenever you see her, you get nervous or anxious because you’re experiencing so many different feelings that it’s making your body have a physical reaction to see her. It’s a normal thing to happen.”

“I don’t admire her. I think she’s irritating.” Xiao huffed, standing in front of Zhongli and crossed his arms. “And I do not get butterflies, she’s doing something to me.”

“Xiao.” Zhongli reached forward and pulled the conqueror into his lap. “This is tickling you, does that feel the same as the butterflies?”

As soon as he pulled Xiao into his lap, Zhongli immediately brought his hands down to gently scribble against Xiao’s stomach and cause the smaller male to burst into laughter.

“Ahahaha! Zhonglihihi, wahahait!”

“You didn’t answer my question, Xiao.”

Zhongli smiled as he watched Xiao squeeze his eyes shut and throw his head back. He began pinching at the sides of his stomach, easily evading Xiao’s messy attempts at swatting his hands away. When Zhongli continued to tickle at the entirety of Xiao’s stomach, the yaksha started softly kicking his legs to help somewhat relieve the funny sensations spreading across his torso.

“I-it’s nohohot the sahahame! Ahaha, stoho- you’re j-juhuhust t-tihi- juhuhust ti-”

“I’m what? I’m not giving you any butterflies, right?” Zhongli didn’t mean to tease but this was a golden opportunity to be a bit playful with Xiao. He hadn’t done this in a long time and decided that this has been the most fun he ever had teaching a lesson to the younger male.

“N-nohoho, you’re nohohot! Ohoho, plehehease!”

“Does it feel the same here? Surely, you understand the difference between tickling and butterflies now? Do you feel butterflies on your ribs when you see Lumine?”

“Nohohoho! N-nohot thehere, I do- I dohohon’t feheheheel it thehehere!”

“So, see? She’s not tickling you. You’re just in love, little one.”

“I’m nohohohot! Dohohon’t cahall me that, plehehease.”

“Xiao.” Zhongli said, skittering his fingers between the grooves of Xiao’s ribs and causing the yaksha to squirm violently while pressing his arms to his sides. “You and I both know that you have a particularly fondness for the traveler. Why else would you let yourself be a little closer to her or go out of your way to help her with whatever she needs?”

“B-behehecause it’s my duhuty!”

“She is a perfectly capable individual and if I recall, you only help those who really need your help.”

“I- juhuhust- Zhonglihi, I’m nohohot-”

“Perhaps you need more of a push to understand your feelings.”

Zhongli crept his fingers up towards Xiao’s underarms. Xiao screeched and lurched his hips forward, falling more into Zhongli’s chest and making it easier for the former archon to dig his fingers into those sensitive hollows. It only took a few more seconds for Xiao to finally start pleading for mercy.

“Ahaha, nohoho! O-okahahay! I-I thihink I’m in lohohove!”

Zhongli slipped his fingers out from under Xiao’s arms once the half-confession was made. The exhausted boy slumped against him as he tried to catch his breath while his face continued to burn bright red. When his breathing regulated, he looked up at Zhongli from his position on his lap.

“Am I really in love?”

Zhongli chuckled and brushed Xiao’s hair out of his face. “I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you that you have at least some sort of deeper feeling for her.”

Xiao stayed quiet again before he barely whispered his next question. “What do I do?”

“Hm. It’s really all up to you, little one. But if anything, I think you should go to her.”

“Right now?”

“No, not right now.” Zhongli laughed. “I mean, if you truly want to see her more than how much you’re seeing her now and if you want to be with her, then you should tell her that. She obviously means a lot to you and she makes you happy.”

“But.. What if she doesn’t love me back?”

“Then it’s not the end of the world.” Zhongli reassured him. “But I’ve seen the two of you interact. I’m sure she has some feelings towards you as well.”

Xiao blushed again but said nothing more as he just nodded his head. Zhongli sighed.

“Ah, young love. I haven’t felt that in a long time. Enjoy this okay? Your first love is always going to stay with you so you should let yourself really feel it in the moment.”

“Okay.” Xiao nodded.

Zhongli sighed again as he placed his hand on Xiao’s forehead. “Now, I know there were a lot of lessons that we just went through just now but I have one more for you.”

Xiao looked up at Zhongli with curiosity. “What’s that?”

“If my tea is hot, let me enjoy it while it’s hot. Your stubbornness caused my tea to become cold and now you need to be punished.”

Xiao groaned when he got home, nearly failing to keep himself from crying on the spot. But what did it matter if he cried anyway? He was already failing at everything else today; he woke up late, missed his class, made a fool out of himself in his next class by answering an easy question wrong, and felt all his insecurities surface, from the way he looked to his very being, every time he saw himself in the mirror. And just an hour ago he found out he had failed his makeup exam by two points. As if it were some cruel cherry on top of his downy Monday sundae.

And as if the world was to rub it in his face, his boyfriend had come home in a good mood like always, yapping off about how great his day was. Xiao knew it was unfair of him to project his bad mood onto Venti but he couldn’t help it. It felt like he was bragging in his face even though Xiao knew that was far from the case. And he knew he was being unfair by snapping at Venti but it just happened. And now he had to deal with the guilt of making Venti feel bad for having a great day. He just can’t do anything right today, huh?

He didn’t even know why Venti came into the room anyway, especially after Xiao snapped at him. But he didn’t protest when the older boy gingerly climbed onto the bed to lay down beside him and wrap his arms around his sobbing frame. And he still didn’t react when Venti pulled him just a little closer and placed a gentle kiss on the back of his head. Xiao couldn’t help but wonder why Venti was doing all of this. He was a failure, he couldn’t even pass a stupid exam and, by default, he was probably failing at this relationship too.

He was actually kind of glad Venti didn’t say anything but it also gave Xiao a lot of room to dig himself further into this sad hole he was already stuck in and he spoke before he could even stop himself.

“Why a-are you e-even with me, Venti?” He whispered through his sniffles.

“Baby, it’s because I love you.”

Xiao didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his head into the pillow to hide the new set of tears that came to his eyes. How could he love him when he’s… this?

“Xiao, honey, is everything okay?” Venti whispered and Xiao shook his head.

“I d-don’t get how you c-can love any part of this.”

“Dumpling… what do you mean?”

Xiao let Venti turn him over onto his back and watched as Venti settled himself to lay comfortably on top of him while gently wiping the tears from Xiao’s eyes.

“I love every part of you.” Venti whispered. “I love that you’re not always an early riser because that means I can cuddle with you in the morning. I love your forehead because it’s the perfect canvas for my lips.”

Xiao felt Venti’s warm lips press against his forehead and suddenly felt his crying slow down.

“I love your little nose because it gets red when it’s cold and makes you look extremely cute.”

There was a warm kiss against his nose.

“I love your cheeks because they’re soft and squishy and I know I’m doing my boyfriend duties correctly when they turn pink- like right now.”

Venti cupped Xiao’s cheeks in his hand so he could turn his head and kiss his tear stained cheeks that were undoubtedly light pink by now. Xiao’s crying had come to a stop save for the occasional shuddering inhale.

“I love your neck because it’s always warm and soft and you always giggle whenever I kiss you here.”

To prove his point, Venti leaned down to press a soft and tickly kiss against the crook of Xiao’s neck, indeed causing the shorter hair male to giggle at the contact.

“I love your little tummy especially when you feed it almond tofu because that means you are eating and whenever you eat you’re happy which means you smile and laugh more.”

Venti leaned his head down to kiss at the patch of bare skin that peaked out from Xiao’s bunched up sweater. Except unlike the other places, Venti continued to kiss at the little spot on his stomach which caused him to giggle uncontrollably at the tickly sensations.

“Vehehenti, stohohop…”

“Stop?” Venti asked. “But your laugh is so cute. It’s one of the best parts of you; I want to hear more of it.”

Xiao burst into giggles again when Venti went back to kissing his tummy. His boyfriend had pulled up his sweater even more so he could have access to the rest of his middle. He lingered a bit in some areas that were extra sensitive, giving a longer kiss and therefore occasionally turning Xiao’s giggles into a brief burst of laughter whenever he did.

“V-Ventihihi!” Xiao pushed his hips up before crashing back down onto the bed, his hands pressing against Venti’s shoulders with no strength at all. He shrieked when he felt Venti blowing tiny raspberries all over his tummy. “Vehehenti, wahahait! It’s- it’s nohot cuhuhute!”

“Not cute?” Venti gasped, looking up at Xiao. “How could you say that?”

Xiao let out a few ghost giggles as he felt Venti sneak one arm under his back for security.

“You mean to tell me that this-” Venti used his other hand to poke at one side of Xiao’s tummy. “Isn’t cute?”

Xiao shook his head as Venti kept poking at different spots on his tummy, pointing out all the little things he apparently found cute.

“You mean this soft little tummy? And this soft spot right here? And this little mole right here? You’re telling me that none of this is cute?”

Xiao squealed and brought his hands up to cover his blushing face when Venti continued complimenting him while gently clawing his fingers right in the middle of his tummy. But as soon as he covered his face, he brought his hands back down to wrap around Venti’s wrist when he suddenly felt a finger dip into his belly button. Xiao squealed again and tried to curl in on himself but Venti was still on top of him and he felt a kiss on the bridge of his nose as Venti further prevented him from folding in half.

“And this cute little giggle button? This little button that I can stick my finger in and turn on your extra cute giggles? This isn’t cute?”

Xiao let out uncontrollable hiccupy giggles and threw his head back while he softly twisted his torso from side to side from the ticklish shocks coming from his tummy. He couldn’t even answer properly because Venti started wiggling his finger around while kissing his neck.

“Ahahaha! Vehehenti, plehehease! O-okahahay, it’s a lihihittle cuhute!”

“A little?” Venti pulled his finger out but began clawing at Xiao’s stomach again. “Try again, little bee.”

“Eeeeeek! O-okahahay! It’s a lohohot cuhute! I gehehet it, nohoho mohohore!”

Xiao continued giggling even as Venti stopped tickling him and kissed his eyelids. He felt warm and giddy and… much better than he did earlier. Somehow Venti was able to make him feel secure and whole again.

“And I love your pretty little head.” Venti whispered once Xiao calmed down a little. “You hold so much emotion and thoughts up there and I love watching you grow and experience everything life has to offer to you. And I love that you can express those emotions because it shows that you care and that you’re living and that you love me even when it’s not always sunshine and rainbows.”

Xiao looked into Venti’s eyes again and saw just how much he meant every single word. He giggled once more before Venti closed the gap between them and Xiao wrapped his arms around his neck.