KARMIC / DEMON

*   ——   TEMPORARY PINNED POST: THE BASIC.

xiao, but not xiao. he’s the reflective demon of xiao’s, manifesting according to his visage, adopting a vessel so similar to xiao in the human world, but essentially he isn’t xiao, just the karmic mirror of his. he doesn’t eat almond tofu... instead, he feeds on the dark energy of every being, an enabler of everything negative since that’s how he survives. he isn’t native to the human world, and was created ( unintentionally, conscience and sentience formed from the bad karmas harboured by the real xiao ) in the karmic world, so his venture in teyvat is nothing if not to simply survive. he exudes gentle dark aura upon taking off the mask of yaksha, and emits thrice as much as real xiao’s negative energy when he does... and therefore, thrice the damage. if anyone cannot differentiate the smokes, then he’s distinguished from the way he can actually wield twin spears, his singular one detachable into two. see exhibit childe when it comes to the versatility in combat, can make the dual spears into boomerangs also, that he tosses and retrieves once he teleports.

*   ——   an inquiry… ft. @spacewrought​ [ ID: QIQI ].

sometimes, xiao wonders if his foolishness has ascended past teyvat’s realm entirely. it seems that he’s surpassed any measures of stupidity, as proven by how he’s actually grown a soft spot for a zombie child whose death he’s caused. and to preserve the said spot, too. still, he cannot seem to shake it off, so he chooses to stay away from it, too. except, even when he’s gone as far as the qingce village to escape liyue harbour, and consecutively, bubu pharmacy, he still detects her presence from too many kilometres away. she’s near, her aura distinct for him, and he is very, very tempted to just leap off the cliff, transporting himself somewhere farther, but instead, the fool in him prevents him from doing so. instead, the fool in him fastens him to the spot, waiting for qiqi’s arrival. her energy emits positivity that in other occasions would make him gag, but he perseveres for qiqi.

*   ——   an inquiry... ft. @spacewrought​ [ ID: GUIZHONG ].

the prolonged acquaintanceship that he’s shared with guizhong has never eased their relationship, with his conflicting aperture to the lots of the adepti and the... well, one yaksha. he cannot say he’s entirely fond of the familial tree, their branches a puncture to everything that he has never had: demons do not generally flock together, their survival abilities measured by each dollop of cruelty. for that, xiao doesn’t think he’s ever in need of certain companies, but guizhong is never one to leave him alone, somehow. and that... he wonders, sometimes, if guizhong has any negative force that can be offered towards him, so that he can somehow feast on the deified energies. still, she’s too much of a tranquil presence, and that almost makes his skin crawl. he sees guizhong as an extension, nearly so. zhongli’s, and with the contradiction proffered by the way they interact, this demon with the adeptus, he believes that entertaining her is rather peculiar on his end. still, he listens.

“ Hello… Today is my birthday. I would like to invite you to a party… for my birthday. You don’t need to bring anything. I’m happy with just seeing you… ”

“ So, please come soon. I made… a lot of food for us. Everyone can come. I made enough. ” And as promised, there is a table with a large array of home-cooked foods, made entirely by the young girl himself. No gifts required, no cake needed.

... the clasp of hungered teeth often results in greed, his gluttony a pinnacle of his prolonged existence. typically, he would avoid crowded places at times like these, specifically when positive emotions are involved, birthdays another occasion that exudes too much joviality, but for once, xiao is willing to compromise. this might be a sense of amends that he’s trying to make, although he’d never, in this lifetime or the next, admit to it. sighing, he isn’t one to surround himself with people, so he comes to bubu pharmacy slightly later, when many souls are sound asleep. qiqi’s words invade, leaving him extremely, extremely vulnerable. the scent of human food pervades, leaving him wondering if anyone has already finished celebrating her birthday. they better gave her something, anything... he’s inclined to snarl at the thought, but when he sees her looking up at him—albeit slight, the entity whose visage he borrows isn’t entirely tall, after all—he has all the guilt creeping up on him. well, fuck, didn’t he... contribute in killing this girl...

✧ ー exhausted gaze sells his truth out; he hasn’t been able to get a moment of rest for who knows how long. entertaining others is the last thing that he wants to do, thus, his roughness makes itself known in the way he speaks, husky voice rings low in the other’s ears. ❝ whaddya’ want? ‘m busy. ❞ not really. one can easily tell that all he’s doing is lazing around, but still. he shifts from his sitting position, moving to lay on the torn up couch instead. ruby hues fall shut, pretending to go to sleep. ❝ .. ❞ a minute later and he’s suddenly sitting up, frustration building. ❝ damn it. ❞ he whacks the spot on the couch next to him with a balled up fist. suddenly, he looks at the demon. ❝ tell me of a way to sleep with little struggle. surely someone of your standing has an idea. ❞ he pauses. ❝ no death jokes. they’re not funny for someone who can’t actually die. ❞

the men of dead zone seem to falter in the face of daylight’s absence; their dark is incessant just like the cold is persistent. common insomnia almost bears no cure, but xiao is here to swallow all those forces, the fatigue often relenting to the anger that becomes insatiable. even after the time passed after his escape from the place of origin, rune hasn’t let go of his old ways, often riveting back to the tides of sleeplessness. at that, xiao is amused to no end. he knows someone who’s asleep, and someone who’s awake, the energies emitted distinguished for a being so predatory. however, he also lets rune amuse himself, the permeating silence a lapse that wedges itself between moments of sleep. busy... right. xiao shrugs, seemingly not inclined to entertain any banter. this battered premise seems to not vibe with the so-called lovers’ quarrel either.

*   ——   a thread... ft. @zuishi​ [ ID: NÓTT ].

even a demon demands affection. almost pathetic, inscribed that way, but xiao isn’t one to deny himself of such pleasures when he knows it tastes... good. gluttony is a sin committed, a sin indulged. he drinks in the sight of his lover from afar as nótt fends off the monster from the border, this dead zone a reminiscent thought away from the karmic hell. thinks of it this way: the further nótt is astray, the further xiao is askew. and with the aggregated components of his tilted more, he’s rendered full. this is how he consumes. love, by proxy, is a determinant for his survival instincts. after all, what’s there to not love about nótt’s persistence regardless of how close to the carnage he is? xiao adores that. this is the essence of a feast; so, he thrives on it.

still, as much as he’d like to savour the view presented, he also hungers for a fight. the itch around his fists needs a cure, and so, he plunges into the white-cloaked terrain, the snow a cold welcome to his presence. he smirks as he puts on the mask of yaksha, the aura around him darkening in folds. the double-edged jade spear spells out the primordial force that he wields, the sheer utterance of it colouring the battlefield with ferocity of his own. “missed me?” he asks as he ceases for a moment, glancing at nótt. he doesn’t wait for an answer, launching himself into a leap as he thrusts the jagged edges of his dual weapons into the cruxes of these beasts. the shrieks a hue of flavours as xiao inhales, the pained sounds emitted the overture of avarice as he executes the dance of the adeptus, his signature moves a demonic rendition to the rhythmic nostalgia. while mortals did not live to see the fleshed xiao’s fights back in the past, mortals could live to see this... rapture when this demon willed it to be done. after all, where’s the beauty when there’s no terror? it is the garnish to his food, after all, the trepidation that hangs in the atmosphere whenever the mortals linger to see the blood-stained battles.

tired eyes bored into MIRRORED gaze. he fought the urge      ( the instinct ) to curl back lips and flash his teeth, canines cruel and sharp —— as though poised to sink into an awaiting throat. it was pointless to engage with a creature sustained by NEGATIVITY. xiao knew that much, yet the compulsion would not leave him.      ( much like an itch, prodding incessantly at the corners of his consciousness. ) the yaksha exhaled harshly in lieu of a verbal response, scrubbing at his face with a hand. it came back slick with BLOOD —— no doubt a product of the battle that had CONCLUDED moments prior.      ( though who it belonged to, he couldn’t say. ) xiao wrinkled his nose in clear disgust.

he spun on his heel, footsteps padding across damp marshland. stepping over bodies, around the remnants of combat.      ( still refusing to acknowledge the QUESTION. ) a river close by flowed clear —— untainted by what had just transpired at its edge. kneeling, xiao grimaced at the sight of his own REFLECTION.

there was something deeply CATHARTIC about banishing it with a flick of the wrist.

he splashed water on his face and hands —— then repeated the gesture      ( over and over and over again ) until not a trace of gore remained. if only it were so simple to wash away the grime TAINTING his very soul.  ❛   i see no reason why i should answer that.   ❜  the yaksha finally spoke —— and his voice somehow managed to run even COLDER than the river before him.  ❛   you may be a vile manifestation, but surely you are not so lacking in sense.   ❜  xiao got to his feet, sparing a brief glance over his shoulder —— gaze sharp with what could only be described as unconcealed LOATHING.      ( though was it directed towards him or himself —— and was there even a difference between the two? )

❛   will that be all? i have no desire to drag out this CONVERSATION longer than necessary.   ❜

it is a rhetorical question. he simply basks in the sight, how xiao bites back his anger, the reflective measures a domino effect that is bound to crumble the more he pushes around the nerves. he doesn’t truly have any gauge of empathy that otherwise would have made him resemble this fleshed form. xiao is a cloaked figure with his heart worn on his figurative sleeve, but he’d deny that any day, and it amuses him to no end, since that’s what xiao is best at. weaknesses are so palpable, so... culpable. he prevents his own lips from forming that lopsided smile, a signature of his, since he’s keeping that to aggravate xiao further down the line. of course, he’d start by consuming the negative energy through the exuded lethargy that lacquers xiao’s being. ah, what bliss.

he shrugs. “rich coming from you, kind sir,” he replies, the calm almost a tease. doesn’t think it’s time to break his disguise as of yet, the impression relenting to the whole vulnerability, but he knows it fools no one who knows him as a demon enough. the yaksha before him knows him best, that’s for certain, since the demon has been latching onto the adeptus since the commencement of this existence. his genesis, after all, is a product of xiao’s vile karmas. he stands behind xiao, the magnified smokes that linger around his own frame slowly dissipates into the cold as xiao washes the blood. smells good. he inhales the stench of iron, the waft a seize of fragrance. he bites back his own growl at just how pleased he is.

*   ——   a thread... ft. @ventumusica​​ [ ID: VENTI ].

teyvat is another formative, normative day. he thinks in the aperture of feeding, gluttony another vice that he’s been indulging since the beginning of his conception. he believes that there are beasts plaguing the land of the living, ones which his fleshed counterpart has been slaying to protect. well, what a fool. xiao is not into the concepts of this... preservation means, his motives behind eliminating his fellow demons have always been a hybrid theory in the study of selfishness. a demon doesn’t learn to savour kindness, after all, delegated with the flasks filled to the necks with none other than greed. he imbibes it, this sin. still, teyvat houses in its stomach the most fulfilling feast ever, and for that, he doesn’t think that he wants to part ways with it... yet. not even when his kind adeptus origin wishes to eliminate him, pushing and locking him back into the depth of the karmic hell.

that xiao is a loser, after all. he scoffs at the thought as he moves nimbly amidst the groups of famished hilichurls... odd. they’re not devastated from the absence of food, but rather, their unbridled hunger has been sending them rampantly feral, leaving him in the trail of a renowned ( ? ) anemo archon. venti is a body of corruption, propelling those under his touch to wilt with the overflowing covet for something so insatiable. nice. xiao himself knows that he is also a victim to this visceral influence since he doubts that venti would not affect his own ‘beloved’, comprehending all too well that venti leaves nothing untouched. his darkness makes xiao shiver, sometimes, which is more than just satisfactory. the tremble for a lover hastens, now, and so, he rapidly launches his dual spears around, slaying the opponents as he downs their screeches. ah, quite full, now... but he has always reserved some space for the best entry of the night. venti’s eyes are locked on him from the height of the tallest tree on this mountain, leaving xiao feel euphoric. supposedly vulnerable, since he’s in the mercy of someone who stomaches so much dark within the marrows.