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Deku chuckled as he sat down in one of the lawn chairs across from Bakugou. “If you think it’s stupid you don’t have to do it you know.”

This was probably the 5th or 6th Bakugou had uttered that phrase but he’d still followed Deku out here. He’d still sat down in the chair, his gallon of milk in hand despite the deep frown on his face and the glare in his eyes.

“No, fuck you I wanna win,” Bakugou grumbled.

And Deku smiled slightly, there it was. Bakugou’s ever-present competitive streak, it wasn’t as if Deku didn’t have one either but he tended to hide his better than the latter.

Admittedly Deku wanted to win as well although he couldn’t help but be slightly intimidated now that the gallon of milk was right in front of him. Still, neither he nor Bakugou were strangers to eating a lot, especially if they had training to do so Deku shouldn’t have too much of a problem doing this if the same rules applied.

Reaching out to the nearby plastic table where he’d placed the timer, Deku sets it for an hour. The rules were incredibly simple, they each had to drink the full jug of milk within the time limit and keep it down, if one of them was unable to then that person was the loser.

“Okay, the timer’s set,” Deku muttered to himself. “Ready?” he asked Bakugou as he removed the top from his own jug of milk.

“Ready to beat your ass, hurry up and quit stalling,” Bakugou huffed as he practically ripped the top off of his jug of milk.

Without waiting for Deku to say anything else he brings it to his mouth and begins chugging it. Chuckling Deku quickly mimics his actions, the first thing he registers before the actual taste of the milk is cold, pure ice cold.

Which is no surprise considering it’d been in the back of the refrigerator for a little while, but the change in temperature is just intense enough to give him a brief pause that has him lowering the jug for his mouth coughing slightly before he resumes chugging it.

He can’t be sure at the moment but he’s pretty sure he sees a slight smile on Bakugou’s face.

~~~

They continue on like this for a little while simply chugging the milk as if they’re men dying of thirst in the desert.

That is until the uncomfortable weight of milk they’d drunk seems to hit them. It hits Deku first and he lowers the jug of milk with a low groan as the milk settles in his stomach like a giant ball of ice sending an ache spreading across his stomach.

The ache reminds Deku of a brain freeze, no doubt a consequence of drinking so quickly.

Bakugou gives a soft snort as he smirks at Deku, just barely forcing back his own grimace as a dull ache streaks across his stomach. The milk settles in his stomach and Bakugou muffles a soft hiccup into his hand when the milk seems to slosh slightly in his stomach.

Bakugou feels a bit full from all the milk, not aching or painful but definitely a noticeable tightness that’s wrapped rather snuggly around his abdomen. He glances down at his jug of milk before glancing over at Deku’s.

Deku has returned to drinking his and Bakugou quickly does the same in an effort to keep up, there’s still plenty of milk left in the jug he can do this he tells himself. He had to drink all of this.

Deku tells himself much of the same, he tries to think of it a lot like his usual training. Just another wall he needs to overcome and he definitely would. The amount of milk left in the jug is of course intimidating but Deku ignores that as he pushes on.

~~~

Both of their drinking had slowed significantly by this point, Deku was full, so, so full to the point that each breath sent a deep dull ache streaking across his stomach as cramps twisted at it practically punching him in the gut.

Panting he lowers his jug of milk to catch his breath as he swallows thickly, the rich taste of milk coats every inch of his mouth. It’s not only cold but sticky as well much like melted ice cream practically clinging to his throat with each swallow.

Not only that but he’s shaking by this point as well but whether he was trembling from the cold or the strong nausea that’d settle right beside the ache in his gut he doesn’t know.

Muffling a loud burp into his hand when his stomach sloshes like a water balloon being shaken, he slowly raises the jug of milk back to his lips, his hands shaking as he does. Shooting a glance over at Bakugou as he takes a sip Deku sees that the amount of milk sitting in Bakugou’s jug is the same as his.

Deku needs to keep going from what he can see Bakugou’s in the same condition as him, his hands trembling as they hold the jug to his lips, his skin as pale as the milk he was drinking. Even his stomach had started to bloat out beneath his shirt, loud almost wet gurgling noises coming from it as Bakugou continued to drink.

Deku knows Bakugou must be feeling the same as him as well because Bakugou is quiet, no taunting smirks or teasing glances as he puts all his focus into the singular task of drinking all of the milk.

This time when Deku drinks it is almost a struggle, pain streaking across his stomach as it gurgles loudly the milk sloshing almost violently inside of him, and he needs to pause for a moment as another loud burp slithers past his lips followed by a low groan before he brings the jug of milk back to his lips.

His determination and urge to win is still burning brightly as always, and so Deku pushes on.

~~~

Deku like any person his age has done a few stupid things in his life, and there are many decisions he regrets. But at the moment none of them seem to compare to what he’s feeling right now.

His stomach is in absolute agony, the organ stretched to the point where just breathing was a struggle his lungs felt as if they couldn’t expand all the way. There was a harsh tightness wrapped around his stomach similar to a rubber band around his waist.

He was full, completely, and utterly full, his stomach pushed to the near breaking point by all of the milk he’d forced into it loud tense almost wet gurgling and sloshing noises coming from it as his body struggled to even attempt to digest it all. He is also incredibly nauseous, each breath he takes threatens to make him gag as the sticky milk coating his mouth seems to make his throat cling together with each swallow he takes struggling to keep his stomach contents down.

Deku was still shivering as well, his entire body trembling from the sheer cold sensation of the milk and from the intense nausea he was experiencing.

Deku glances over at Bakugou slightly, a little relieved to see that Bakugou is in about the same condition he is. Bakugou’s skin is pale as a sheet, sweat coating his face as he trembles, his stomach is so bloated by this point that it’s beginning to peek out from beneath his shirt just like Deku’s loud gurgling noises coming from the overtaxed organ.

Bakugou stops drinking for a moment, shakily lowering his jug from his mouth as he screws his eyes closed, swallowing almost frantically when he can taste milk and bile trying to creep up his throat, sour, burning, and still slightly cold.

Deku brings his jug of milk to his lips once again, he doesn’t have much left in it but neither does Bakugou at this point so he needs to hurry up and finish this before Bakugou can. Deku pauses for a moment giving a shuddering breath and closing his eyes when his stomach hitches slightly threatening to send up all of its contents.

Deku manages one more large sip, but it is a struggle, and that large sip is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He is still in the middle of drinking, of trying to force down even a little bit more of that milk when his stomach hitches, heaving violently.

He gags a large splash of still cold regurgitated milk comes up almost instantly, tasting sour and vile as some of it sprays back into the jug. Deku’s fingers fumble, dropping it as he frantically leans forward towards the ground with a loud wet retch, a thick surge of watery, pale off-white vomit spraying from his mouth like a water hose.

It splatters loudly on the ground as it forms a rather sizable puddle sounding as if someone had spilled a tub of water on it, Bakugou cracks one eye open before quickly closing it, swallowing frantically as he tries to breathe around his own nausea. He does his best to ignore the disgusting sounds Deku is making for fear of setting his own stomach off.

Deku groans, getting the briefest of moments to breathe before a loud, gurgling, burp tears almost violently from his lips, and his bloated stomach heaves again practically convulsing as it sends up another enormous, thick surge of watery vomit. And oh god, does the milk taste horrific coming back up. It’d already been a struggle for Deku to force the stuff down in the first place, but as it comes back up it’s sour, absolutely rancid, and thick as if it’d been curdling and rotting in his stomach.

He retches violently the noise gurgling in his throat as one final enormous surge of vomit sprays from his mouth and nose, the constituency of it is a bit thicker, yet still watery almost like paint and the color is almost a murky grey rather than off white. It adds to the puddle at his feet causing it to rapidly grow as it cascades from his mouth and nose for a good solid few seconds giving him no chance to breathe.

“Fucking hell,” Bakugou mutters eyeing Deku wearily when he finally sits back coughing and spluttering.

Deku merely groans in response, rubbing his sore stomach with one hand as he blinks the tears from his eyes and sniffles. He won’t lie, he feels a lot better now that all the milk is out of him, although he absolutely hates the horrible rancid taste coating his mouth at the moment.

“Aww…it looks…like you win,” Deku said softly as he wiped at his mouth and nose with the back of his hand. He can’t help but feel slightly disappointed by the fact that he lost.

Bakugou gives a soft, almost strained snort. “You’re damn right I did,” he said, his tone completely and utterly smug. Not only is he glad he won, he’s just glad this is over before he embarrasses himself because he knows there’s no way he can force down any more of the milk, especially not after watching Deku puke all over the ground like that.

Deku chuckles, his voice slightly raspy from the strain of throwing up. “I’m gonna go get the hose and some water, I need to clean up and get this awful taste out of my mouth. Need anything,” he asked looking over at Bakugou as he carefully got to his feet.

Bakugou shakes his head silently, too busy focused on trying to swallow back the bile and milk now bubbling at the back of his throat. The sharp scent of bile and the rancid scent of regurgitated milk hanging in the air is doing his stomach absolutely no favors especially in his current condition.

Plus he really can’t put anything else in his stomach at the moment so drinking water, in an attempt to rid himself of the chalky, sticky taste of the milky coating his mouth is right out.

It is only when Deku goes inside of the house that Bakugou’s hand goes to his stomach, the skin is bloated and taut a warm heaviness pressing back against his hand as the milk sloshes sickeningly inside of him. He hiccups, shaking his head slightly as his nausea only rises, refusing to disappear and sticky saliva begins to rapidly pool in his mouth.

Cursing under his breath, Bakugou leans forward opening his mouth as he spits the drool onto the ground and allows it to drip from his mouth, but no matter how much falls to the ground more seems to flood his mouth. A loud burp leaves his mouth, practically echoing in the silence around him.

He feels like shit and just wants the nausea to disappear, he may have won but he is rapidly regretting the decision to do this at all.

“Stupid Deku,” he huffed as he spat more drool onto the ground. He grits his teeth, panting as he screws his eyes shut, the nausea leaving him breathless.

He cracks one eye open, glancing down at the ground, and sees Deku’s vomit sitting there, slimy and practically congealing before his eyes and he can’t fucking take it anymore.

A violent gurgling retch leaves his mouth causing him to lurch forward so much he nearly falls out of his chair as a surge of pale off-white vomit gurgles up his throat, spraying onto the ground as the sour, rancid taste of barely digested milk coats his mouth tasting completely spoiled. Which was a far cry from how it tasted going down.

“F-fuck,” he coughs out, his eyes wide and filled with tears. Threads of murky drool hanging from his mouth as he leans over the mess simply blinking for a moment, slightly dazed.

Although as another retch tears itself from his throat bringing another large wave of pale watery vomit with it, his daze is quickly broken.

“Oh,” Deku said, sounding slightly stunned as he returned to the backyard to see Bakugou violently emptying his stomach contents onto the ground.

He chuckles as he makes his way over to him and reaches outlaying a gentle hand on Bakugou’s back as he retches again rubbing soothing circles on it and cringing slightly at how violent Bakugou’s retching sounds. Although he can’t help the soft laugh that leaves his mouth.

Bakugou coughs as he manages to glare up at Deku briefly. “Why the fuck are you laughing,” he rasped only to lurch forward again with a wet, sick-sounding hiccup as another enormous surge of vomit sprays from his mouth adding to the already large puddle in front of him.

Bakugou honestly doubts that he’ll be able to drink milk ever again after this and Deku was laughing at him. Fucking laughing.

“I’m not laughing at you Kacchan, I’m just kind of relieved I wasn’t the only one who ended up throwing up,” Deku explains quickly.

Bakugou spits onto the ground trying desperately to get rid of the horrific taste coating every inch of his mouth. “You still lost you fucking weirdo,” he mumbles under his breath.

Deku nodded another soft laugh leaving his mouth. “Right, I guess you get to choose the place for our next date.”

While he did lose, Deku is admittedly happier than he should be, because at least it was fun although a little painful.

“Your damn right I do,” Bakugou huffed as he wiped the back of his mouth with his hand.

He was long used to the warm humid mornings and cold crisp nights that Inazuma carried, although that did little to help especially when he was forced to be exposed to the elements.

The soft, warm heat from his burning campfire doing very little to combat the crisp, icy chill brushing across his skin.

If Kazuha had a choice he probably wouldn’t be out here like this, he’d have either gotten a room at one of the many inns in Inazuma city or camped closer to town. But Kazuha didn’t have that luxury, at least not anymore sadly not when he was currently a wanted fugitive.

The vision hunt decree, handed down by the Raiden Shogunate and Electro Archon Baal, had effectively painted a target on his back. One that only got bigger the more Kazuha fought tooth and nail in an effort to keep his vision.

A vision was a favor granted by the Archons to those who displayed abnormally high drive and ambition, so some may argue that since the Archons had handed out the visions they also held the right to take them back. No one was a firmer believer of this than the Electro Archon, in her pursuit for a god’s everlasting eternity she had trampled her people’s ambitions.

And that was what Kazuha ultimately despised her for.

Sighing Kazuha shifted a bit closer to the fire, exhaustion weighing heavily on him as the cold air seemed to scrape across his skin leaving him trembling.

He hasn’t been sleeping much if at all these past few days, always waiting, always on edge as he listened for the familiar sound of footsteps made heavy by the armor that the soldiers of the Shogun wore. He usually smelt them before he saw them, the stench of blood and iron weighing heavily on their forms like a thick miasma.

It is no surprise that Kazuha is on the verge of dozing off, barely able to keep his eyes open as his body jolts with a soft sneeze.

He sniffles, shaking his head slightly as he leans back against a tree, his gaze going up to the sky once more.

He used to have a friend traveling with him, someone to keep him company, but that was a while ago and although the wound still feels fresh he has no choice but to make this journey alone if he didn’t wish to meet the same fate as his friend.

It was either run, fall in line, or be killed and Kazuha chose wholeheartedly to run.

Kazuha closes his eyes for a moment as his mind runs through his plans for the next day or so. He was close to Tatarasuna having made his way across from Amakane island after finding his way out of Inazuma city.

He had to pass through the frontlines on Nazuchi beach where the resistance and the shogunate forces frequently clashed, and make his way through Musoujin Gorge and Higi village to get to Fort Fujitou where the resistance’s main base was.

Where Gorou would be waiting for him. Once there he would be able to find a way to leave Inazuma and hopefully find someone who could help the resistance put a stop to Baal’s tyrannical actions.

He opens his eyes slightly giving a quick glance around, sensing no other presence besides his own Kazuha closes his eyes and tries to get as much sleep as he can.

~~~

When Kazuha wakes up it is early morning, the sky’s once dark hues fading slightly as night turned to day.

Despite the still cool crisp morning air Kazuha feels groggy and uncomfortably warm, which isn’t surprising to him considering his body is begging him to go back to sleep, not to mention he’d fallen asleep beside his campfire in an effort to stay warm.

He sits up slowly running a hand through his hair as he glances over at the still smoldering embers of his campfire before turning his gaze to the sky.

Considering he could still hear the soft chirping of cicadas in the distance it meant that he’d woken up somewhere between 1-3 in the morning.

There’s a dull ache forming at the base of his skull, probably another headache brought on by lack of sleep and stress of which Kazuha has been suffering from both.

He takes a sip of water from his flask, a soft sigh of relief leaving his mouth as it soothes the slight ache in his throat.

His chest feels a little tight, constricted almost but he chalks it up to the odd position he’d been sleeping in last night.

As he eats his small breakfast of dried salted fish and lavender melon he begins his usual morning ritual. He puts out the remains of his campfire before picking up the charred sticks and tossing them off to the side in some bushes.

Considering the Tengu warrior, Kujou Sara was no doubt doing her damnedest to track Kazuha down under Baal’s orders he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, so covering his tracks was a must.

Once his temporary camp had been dismantled Kazuha got to his feet, a soft sneeze leaving him as the cold morning air pricked at his skin.

He massages his chest with one hand as he turns and begins walking, hoping that the tightness he still felt there along with the grogginess would ease up as the day continued on.

By the time Kazuha makes it to Nazuchi beach, it is afternoon, the sun hanging at the highest point in the sky, cloaked by the ominous gray clouds.

Kazuha stops walking for a moment using one hand to steady himself on a nearby cliff face as he pants, his eyes on the ground.

The dull ache he’d felt at the base of his skull has only grown in a sharp throb that seemed to pound in time with Kazuha’s heartbeat. That grogginess and uncomfortable warmth is still there weighing down his limbs making his movements abnormally clumsy and sluggish.

His stomach is aching slightly as well, a slight tinge of nausea nagging at him. It’s annoying, yes, but not detrimental.

Besides, even if it was, there’s nothing Kazuha can really do about it on his own anyway.

He coughs, massaging his chest slightly as it seems to constrict with each breath he takes, the tightness there making breathing a bit more of a struggle.

Scowling Kazuha quickly takes a sip of water from his flask, or at least he intends it to be a sip but the water feels amazing on his dry aching throat.

Feeling slightly better and more alert, Kazuha pushes away from the rock wall, his gaze going to the sky as a familiar wet earthy scent enters his nose.

Rain, he can smell rain faintly in the distance. Along with that, however, he smells something else that has a cold jolt of panic and fear piercing through him, blood and iron.

The shogunate’s troops were close by, Kazuha needed to get moving and now .

~~~

Kazuha ran, stumbling frantically through the forest like a confused drunk as rain poured down heavily, pelting the ground and working with the darkness to obscure Kazuha’s vision.

His chest was burning, no, his whole body was burning, an uncomfortable, almost unbearable heat gripping him. The ice-cold rain drenching his clothes and body doing very little to soothe it.

If anything it made things worse, weighing down his aching body as his joints screamed at him a sharp ache shooting through them with each step he took.

But none of that matters, his pain doesn’t matter, not when he can hear a near horde of footsteps following after him.

The sound of trampled twigs and rustling bushes echoes in his ears as the scent of blood and iron fills his nose the rain doing little to drown it out.

It’s a constant reminder that his life is in danger and Kazuha needs it right now, especially as he pushes his exhausted body to keep going, doing his damnedest to ignore the pain nearly overloading his senses.

He stumbles, unable to catch himself as he crashes to the ground, pain blossoming in his chest and stomach in an instant as a cold visceral fear grips him. He feels a slight sting in multiple places on his skin and he knows he’s probably covered in cuts.

The footsteps are closer now and Kazuha shakily pulls himself to his feet coughing as he tries to drag in air. It feels as if he’s breathing through a straw as he violently coughs, his chest burning and his limbs screaming at him as he forces himself to keep running.

He’s moving quickly yes but also clumsily, as he tramples bushes and grass in his path. He’s leaving a trail right to him, it’s sloppy and Kazuha knows this, he can only hope that the rain is obscuring his purser’s vision as much as it is his own.

Kazuha stumbles to a stop, his head throbbing viciously as his heart pounds. Nausea swirls violently in his stomach, only made worse by the fear and panic currently gripping him.

He’s reached a dead-end in the forest with nothing but a cliff face in front of him and large bushes and trees to both his left and right side.

It takes him a precious moment or two to make a decision as he darts to the right, his movements a bit more careful as he half walks, half staggers a few feet away crouching down beneath the brush as the footsteps draw ever closer.

And Kazuha has never been more thankful for his small frame than now, he practically holds his breath to get himself to stop panting.

His chest is burning, that familiar tickle flaring to life at the back of his aching dry throat as his nausea hits him full force.

He clamps a hand over his mouth glancing back from his position as soldiers clad in familiar purple armor enter the area, with Kujou Sara very close behind.

And Kazuha tenses, forcing himself to remain perfectly still, his body trembling slightly against his will both with exertion and from the cold.

While Kazuha feels as though he’s burning inside out his skin is so cold from the onslaught of rain that it feels almost numb.

His stomach is in knots at the moment, swirling as it churns angrily and Kazuha gives a small wince glaring down at it when it gurgles rather loudly.

“Spread out and search for him, he couldn’t have gone far. Climb this cliff face if you have to,” Kujou Sara orders and Kazuha fights the urge not to curse as the soldiers fan out and begin their search. Leaving Kujou Sara behind to search this area.

Kazuha is pretty sure that he’s sick with something. He doesn’t know what but it is the only answer for his current symptoms, the headache, the exhaustion, the tightness in his chest, the stiffness in his joints and the near unbearable nausea currently consuming him.

His stomach sloshes, the water he’d so greedily drank earlier brushing against its walls leaving him feeling as though his stomach was a water balloon.

He clamps his lips shut just barely holding in the soft hiccup that bubbles up his throat.

He can hear Kujou Sara walking around, her footsteps careful and meticulous as she begins searching the area

A vicious throb stabs at Kazuha’s head leaving his brain feeling almost numb as he grits his teeth to hold back a whimper, his vision blurring and swaying sickeningly before his eyes. He swallows trying to clear some of the excess saliva from his mouth.

Kazuha’s other hand goes to the hilt of his sword as he tries his best to listen intently for the sound of Kujou Sara’s footsteps over the sound of the rain.

He can feel bile bubbling at the back of his throat and his eyes widen in horror as he swallows rapidly, Kazuha knows that he is fighting a losing battle against his body but he needs to hold out just a little more.

Considering his own Archon wants his head on a pike Kazuha should know that the universe isn’t that kind.

Kazuha’s stomach heaves, giving an ominous sickly sounding growl its contents gurgling up his throat, filling his mouth in an instant. Kazuha’s eyes widened as he just barely caught himself from lurching forward, his hand tightening slightly over his mouth.

He hears Kujou Sara’s footsteps pause and Kazuha freezes, small panicked rasping breaths leaving his nose.

He needed to hold it together, for now, he just had to, there was no other option because if she finds him then it’s all over.

His stomach however is making the task incredibly difficult as it gives a low gurgling noise, the angry, aching organ practically bubbling like a boiling pot of water as it heaves again forcing even more of its stomach contents up his throat.

The bitter, sour, slimy remnants of his breakfast filling his mouth, Kazuha’s cheeks bulging out with the effort of containing it all.

His already aching throat burns, feeling raw due to the acidic bile that coats it.

But Kazuha does not care as he squeezes his eyes shut, his body trembling almost violently as he forces himself to swallow. His stomach gives a loud gurgle, an ache streaking across as its contents are forced back inside of it, sitting there heavily like a rock.

He shudders slightly, shakily wiping the drool from the corners of his mouth with one hand. His stomach is killing him, clearly angry with him at having its rejected contents forced back inside but it was a lot better than the alternative.

Kazuha stiffens when he hears another set of footsteps enter the area.

“What have you found?” Kujou Sara demanded speaking to who Kazuha assumed was one of her soldiers.

“We found footprints leading away from the cliff face ma’am we believe he’s heading for Musoujin Gorge,” the soldier tells her.

And Kazuha hears Kujou Sara snort. “The boy must have a death wish to travel there during this storm. We shall wait till the storm passes, rally the troops, for now, we shall set up camp for tonight,” she orders her voice firm.

As her footsteps fade along with that of the soldier’s, Kazuha doesn’t bother muffling the soft sigh of relief that leaves his mouth.

Along with the relief though comes exhaustion and pain, nausea still swirling in his stomach like a whirlpool as he rubs at it still crouched down in the brush.

He is so, so tired, exhaustion weighing down his limbs as he violently trembles from the cold. Feeling a tickling at the back of his throat he coughs harshly, his chest constricting around every gasping, shuddering breath he drags in.

His breaths coming out more as ragged strained wheezing than actual panting.

He whimpers waves of nausea crashing over him as he turns to face the ground once more. He opens his mouth, drool dripping from his lips as he waits for his stomach to give in.

Kazuha feels horrible, so he figured it was just best to try and get it over with so he could cross it off the list of the many things bothering him at the moment.

His body jolts with soft hiccup then another, a series of them bubbling out of him as if he were drunk.  Kazuha gives a low groan as his stomach growls, the next hiccup he gives turns into a loud, gurgling, burp that has him bringing up a small watery wave of vomit.

The sour, bitter, slimy liquid splashes onto the ground tinging the puddle of rainwater in front of him a murky pink and brown.

Gasping he coughs,  ticky coppery tasting saliva hanging from his lips as his body lurches forward with a strained raspy retch, his throat burning as another larger wave of vomit gurgles up his throat.

It splashing into the puddle in front of him and he squeezes his eyes shut panting when he recognizes chunks of the lavender melon he’d eaten floating in the disgusting slurry.

A pained whimper leaves Kazuha’s mouth right before he gives a strangled retch the noise both sounding a feeling as though it’s clawing its way up from the pit of his stomach. His nose burns as another gush of watery vomit surges from his lips and nose with an almost violent force, his stomach wringing out the last of its contents.

Gasping and trembling Kazuha sits back slightly, queasy hiccups still leaving him as he wipes at his mouth with one shaky hand. His head is throbbing so violently it feels as if his brain is falling out of his ears, his vision blurring in and out of focus as he takes as many breaths as he can.

He needs to get out of the rain, out of these wet clothes that are only worsening his condition. But he doesn’t have that luxury, he needs to make it through Musoujin Gorge before the rain stops, before he’s being hunted once more.

Kazuha shakily climbs to his feet, leaning heavily against a nearby tree to steady himself as much as possible.

The motion is too quick for his still upset stomach and he gags emptily a small amount of drool dripping onto the ground. Coughing harshly and with his limbs trembling Kazuha begins his journey once more.

~~~

Musoujin Gorge was dangerous on its own but even more so in a storm, lightning striking the purple grass as buzzing static filled the air. It was as if the electro archon’s heart lay buried here, rivers of pure purple electro energy flowed as numerous amounts of Naku weeds sprawled across the land nearly choking the river banks and overwhelming the lush purple grass.

Kazuha stumbles to a stop panting before his stomach suddenly flipped and he lurched forward with a violent retch, stars bursting before his eyes as black spots dotted his vision.

The small amount of water he’d forced himself to drink splattering the ground at his feet. Gasping he wipes his mouth with a trembling hand blinking rapidly to clear his vision.

The resistance’s main base wasn’t too far now, Kazuha had pushed his body this far he could keep going. This would arguably be the toughest part of his journey, made even harder in his current condition and by the incredibly strong and dangerous monsters currently populating the gorge.

But Kazuha doesn’t intend to fight if he can help it, and considering how numb his fingers were he prayed he didn’t have to, because he was fairly certain he’d be unable to grip his sword right now.

Taking a deep shuddering breath to gather his bearings as much as possible Kazuha begins doing what he knows best. He runs.

The moment he enters the gorge electro stabs at his skin the sharp prickling managing to break through the numbness there as he darts forward.

A loud thunderous crack splits the air as if the very ground beneath his feet were splitting open as a bolt of lightning strikes the ground where he’d been only seconds later the air buzzing and humming with electricity.

Kazuha keeps running even as his chest burns, every breath he takes clawing at his lungs and throat. His still aching limbs scream at him as his joints throb.

He rushes past some monsters and leaps into the air, using a burst of Anemo to propel himself across the river of electro before the monsters even have a chance to truly realize what they’d seen.

He barely catches himself as he lands, not wasting a single second as he continues running another bolt of lightning striking the area he’d just been seconds before.

It’s extremely difficult and is only accomplished using a combination of his vision and sheer willpower but Kazuha eventually manages to make it out of the gorge and to Higi village.

And that is when his body, finally unable to take anymore, gives up on him. Kazuha crashes face-first to the ground in a heap, weak shuddering breaths leaving his mouth as he pants and coughs the harsh rain pelting his body.

He retches weakly spluttering as he coughs up a small trickle of cloudy bile onto the ground.

Kazuha wants to get up, to keep going. No, he has to, no matter what but no matter how much he tries to urge his body to move it won’t obey his commands.

His vision blurs in and out of focus and his body feels strangely numb, even the ache in his chest has seemingly disappeared despite his ragged breaths.

He thinks he hears a set of footsteps approaching him over the pitter-pattering of the rain. A figure clad in what he thinks is either purple or red armor appears in his vision.

And Kazuha can’t help the hot tears that gathered in his eyes, because he was so, so close to his destination. He was almost safe, almost free but just like before he’d been too weak, too slow .

As static fills his ears and his vision begins to fade, Kazuha thinks he feels a pair of hands on him, touching him and he can only hope that if he’s truly going to die like this. Weak, helpless and scared, he can only hope that it’s a quick merciful death.

~~~

Kazuha is slow to wake up, but the first thing he realizes is that he’s uncomfortably hot, although there’s something cold on his forehead which feels really nice.

Kazuha groans, his eyes fluttering open as an unfamiliar wooden ceiling comes into focus, a sharp panic gripping Kazuha even through the fever-fueled haze blanketing his mind.

His hand reaches out frantically yet blindly searching for his sword and he flinches, turning his head, eyes wide when a warm calloused hand grasps his own.

“Shhh, it’s okay Kazuha. It’s alright you’re safe, you’re with friends, ” Gorou told him softly as Kazuha’s dazed glassy eyes darted frantically around the room before settling on Gorou’s face.

His eyes narrow, a slight scowl on his face. “G-Gorou?” Kazuha whispered, able to make out the other boy’s face despite his vision blurring in and out.

Gorou nodded, giving Kazuha a small smile as he reached out cupping his cheek with one hand. And Kazuha leans into his touch with a soft sigh.

Kazuha’s fever is still just as high as when he’d first arrived at the resistance camp, carried on the back of the soldier who’d found him passed out in Higi village.

“Where…” Kazuha begins as his eyes slowly rove around the room as he struggles to sit up. The panic and fear that had been in those crimson eyes slowly vanishing. Kazuha coughs violently his small form curling in on himself as the noise rattles in his chest making Gorou grimace.

“You’re at Fort Fujitou, you’re safe, ” Gorou told him, patting Kazuha on the back as his coughing continues.

Taking a gasping breath Kazuha looks up at him, his body shivering despite the numerous blankets he was currently wrapped in.

“…I…made it?” Kazuha whispers a slight amount of shock in his voice as he slowly blinks.

Gorou nodded again as he carefully guided Kazuha to lay back down. “Yes, you’re safe now. So just rest, ” he told him softly as he continued holding Kazuha’s hand.

As if a tremendous weight had been lifted from him, Kazuha’s body relaxed in an instant, his eyes fluttering closed.

Thoma didn’t mind at all however he was always happy to help and he enjoyed keeping himself busy.

It is early when Thoma wakes up that day, the dark almost pitch-black sky had started to fade into a dark blue signaling the oncoming sunrise.

Groaning softly, Thoma shifts in his futon as he pushes the covers off of himself. It’s warm, a little too warm and the blankets are only making it feel worse by clinging to his skin.

Thoma isn’t surprised however, Inazuma often had very humid nights and mornings still he could’ve sworn he got used to it years ago when he began living here.

He yawns as he props himself up slightly on his elbows, brushing his hair out of his face as he blinks, still feeling groggy despite having gone to sleep rather early last night. Exhaustion tugging at the edges of his mind.

Thoma ignores it, however, stretching again as he sits up, giving a soft sigh as his joints creak, feeling more than a little stiff. But this isn’t surprising to him as it was something that happened from time to time, especially if his schedule was strenuous the day before.

His routine today promises to be equally as busy, he has quite a few tasks to do in Ritou, then he needs to accompany Ayaka to Inazuma city to pick up a few things, then he needs to come back and clean a few places in the Kamisato estate, and finally, he’d promised Ayaka he’d spar with her later on tonight.

Knowing he had a full day ahead of him, Thoma gets up to get dressed, pausing for a moment when a slight sensation of lightheadedness washes over him briefly. It leaves as quickly as it came however so he pays it no mind as he continues getting ready.

Once he’s dressed, he ties his hair back before leaving his bedroom, waving to a few of the housekeepers walking through the halls at the moment as he makes his way to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast.

~~~

Thoma sighs, a slight smile on his face as he makes his way into Ritou, it was incredibly humid today at least it felt that way to him, the heat leaving him feeling as though he was melting. It was the type of heat that seemed to almost drain a person’s energy, leaving them wanting to do nothing more than lay down inside all day.

Still, Thoma is not surprised Inazuma’s more humid days were rather fierce after all, but he can do nothing except hope that it eases up as the day continues. That however doesn’t stop the exhaustion from weighing down Thoma’s limbs, nagging at the edge of his mind leaving him feeling groggy and almost slightly dazed.

He grins as he waves to the familiar faces he passes on the street as he makes his way to the International Trade Association. Thoma is very well known around Inazuma and especially in Ritou, often doing what he could to help out its inhabitants.

“Hi, there inspector Yurika,” He said as he waved at the woman.

She gives him a small nod. “Good morning Mr. Thoma, busy as ever I see,” she greeted him, noting the slight sheen of sweat on his face.

“Yes, Mr.Kurisu requested my help with something. I just hope that the weather calms down, it’s way too warm today,” he chuckled.

At his words, the woman frowned slightly, looking a little confused as her eyes roved over the man in front of her again, this time noting that he looked slightly pale. Then she slowly nodded although the frown didn’t disappear. “Yes…I suppose it is rather warm today,” she said slowly.

Rather warm was a complete understatement in Thoma’s eyes at the moment, but he merely gives a smile and a nod before he continues on his way to the International Trade Association stretching as he does, in an attempt to ease the stiffness still in his limbs. There’s a slight ache beginning to settle in his joints as well, it’s not too bad barely noticeable in fact.

Thoma did find it odd that his body still felt stiff despite all the fighting and walking he’d done on his way to Ritou, clearing out the occasional group of hilichurls that may have been wandering too close to Konda village and Ritou that he’d stumbled across on his way here. He doesn’t get too long to dwell on it however when Kurisu greets him with a rather large grin when he sees Thoma approaching.

“Mr. Thoma, it’s nice to see you today. You’re doing well I hope,” Kurisu said. “How is Lady Ayaka?”

Thoma chuckled. “I’m fine, and Lady Ayaka is fairing well too.” He runs a hand over his face, wiping away some of the sweat there. “You said you needed my help with something?”

“Ah, right. Please come inside, I’ll explain everything,” he told Thoma.

Thoma doesn’t bother hiding his sigh of relief, thankful to get out of this heat as soon as possible. He felt as though he was baking under the sweltering heat, his clothes feeling as though they were clinging to his skin, smothering him.

Once inside Kurisu offers him something to eat and drink before he begins explaining his request to Thoma. While Thoma does take the cold water rather gratefully, he politely declines the food. Strangely enough, he has no appetite. In fact the rich scent of the food makes him feel a bit nauseous, his stomach beginning to churn ever so slightly.

He can’t help but give a soft sigh of relief as he drinks his water listening intently to Kurisu’s request, it feels absolutely amazing on his dry throat temporarily smothering some of the heat still enveloping his body. And Thoma can’t help but wonder why he’s still warm despite being inside, but no matter how much he racks his still exhausted mind he can’t think of an answer at the moment.

The problem that Kurisu needed Thoma’s help with is treasure hoarders, who’d stolen some pretty valuable supplies. And of course, with the Kanjou commission giving the International trade association such a hard time, it would be hard for Kurisu to recover the supplies himself not to mention the fact that Kurisu wouldn’t be able to fight off one treasure hoarder let alone a group.

“Alright, I’ll be sure to take care of it for you today. If the supplies are intact I’ll arrange for someone from the Yashiro commission to bring them here, it’d be fine if you received them tomorrow right?” Thoma asked as he stood up.

He blinks quickly, scowling when his vision seems to blur for the briefest moment and a wave of dizziness washes over him leaving him feeling slightly light-headed as a cold almost slimy nausea settled in his gut. He can’t help but glance away with a small almost embarrassed chuckle when his stomach makes a low growling noise. Perhaps he should’ve taken the food he’d been offered? But at the same time, he just isn’t hungry in fact the thought of eating anything right now has his stomach churning.

Kurisu winces slightly, a grimace on his face. “Truthfully I need the supplies as soon as possible. If you would be so kind as to get it delivered here today, I’ll be sure to compensate you more than enough for the extra trouble.”

Thoma resists the urge to sigh, instead allowing his usual smile to remain in place. “Sure, I’m happy to help. I’ll deal with the treasure hoarders and get the supplies back,” he said cheerfully, he was already dreading having to go back outside in the sweltering heat.

“Thank you so much, I’m glad we can always count not only you Thoma but the Yashiro commission to have Ritou’s best interest in heart,” Kurisu told him with a grin to which Thoma just chuckled sheepishly.

As Thoma leaves the International Trade Association Kurisu can’t help but frown slightly, was it just him or did the young man look a bit pale?

~~~

Thoma groans as he wipes the sweat from his face. He can feel a dull ache settling at the base of his skull signaling an oncoming headache.

He’s almost exhausted and doesn’t really feel too well. His stomach felt strangely heavy, almost full despite him not eating much of anything since breakfast. It’s churning as well a sickening, cold slimy nausea having settled in the pit of his stomach as it churned like a whirlpool, small soft gurgling noises coming from it.

Thoma is sweating, which isn’t surprising considering he’d been out fighting monsters and fulfilling the request of Ritou’s inhabitants. But he’s sweating so much that his clothes are soaked, now clinging to his skin leaving Thoma feeling smothered.

The ache and stiffness in his limbs has only grown, this ache is a lot different than soreness he got after a good fight or sparring session, this ache weighed down his limbs making his movements sluggish and clumsy.

The heat from the sun ever-present high in Inazuma’s sky feels like it’s cooking him from the inside out to the point that he can practically feel his stomach contents curdling inside of him.  

Thoma blinks a few times when his vision seems to swim slightly. Panting he sits down on a nearby rock, his polearm in one hand as he wipes the sweat from his face.

He was so, so tired but at the same time with the unbearable heat bearing down on him, sleep was the furthest thing from his mind right now. He rests his head on his hand for a moment or two, merely trying to collect his thoughts and catch his breath.

A wave of dizziness and nausea washes over him and as a loud burp bubbles up his throat he doesn’t bother to stop it, merely giving a soft huff as his stomach makes a soft gurgling noise.

This is when it begins to dawn on Thoma very slowly that it’s not humidity that’s making him feel like this, his thoughts moving as slow as molasses as he comes to the realization that he’s sick.

He doesn’t know where he picked it up or when it’d all begun but he does remember feeling slightly off the day before, not sick or tired, just a little strange.

“This isn’t good,” he sighed to himself.

While he’d just finished completing the requests for everyone in Ritou he still had a full day ahead of him. In fact, he should be getting ready to go into Inazuma city with Ayaka right now. He briefly considers telling her about his condition, while he had no doubt Ayaka would understand he also knows how excited she was for the trip and the thought of her disappointed face has him immediately disregarding that thought.

Thoma closes his eyes for a moment as he takes a few deep breaths then he opens his eyes and gets to his feet, only to quickly close them again when a dizzying, intense wave of nausea washes over him. The sensation leaves him feeling light-headed, a series of soft hiccups bubbling out of him as his stomach churned viscously. As his stomach seems to plummet to his feet.

He swallows thickly trying to clear away some of the excess saliva that seems to be suddenly building up in his mouth. Once he’s sure he won’t either faint or throw up Thoma begins his return trip to retrieve Ayaka from the Kamisato estate.

~~~

“Be careful Lady Ayaka,” Thoma called out as she ran ahead of him only to stumble slightly.

She catches herself with ease giving him a sheepish grin as she looks back at him. “Thank you, Thoma.”

Thoma merely gives a small smile back and hopes it doesn’t look too strained. He feels as though he’s dying, his body is burning from the inside out a fever-fueled haze blanketing his mind as his stomach churns and bubbles like a pot of boiling water.

He’s holding the many items Ayaka has chosen to buy during their trip and normally it wouldn’t be an issue but at the moment it only added to the ache in his limbs. He was trembling as well, almost shivering from both the fever and the cold nausea swirling in his gut, but he desperately hoped that Ayaka mistook it for him struggling to carry the numerous packages he held.

“Oh my,” Ayaka said, then she’s excitedly darting off towards one of the street vendor stalls.

Thoma can’t help but smile at the sight. While Ayaka leaving the Kamisato estate wasn’t rare, it was rare that she had someone to tag along with her on her trips into Inazuma city. Especially considering how busy Thoma, her, and her brother Ayato were.

“Here Thoma,” Ayaka chuckled, holding a dango out for him to take, while she held her own in her other hand.

Thoma couldn’t help but eye the food wearily, dango was one of his favorite snacks but at the moment the thought of eating anything had his stomach flipping inside of him as a wave of nausea washed over him. Him being sick wasn’t the only reason he was eyeing the food cautiously, both Ayaka and Ayato had a habit of coercing Thoma into eating all kinds of strange and horrible foods.

Shifting the packages in his arms around carefully, Thoma eventually reaches out and takes the food from her, hesitantly taking a bite. After all, it should be fine considering she’d gotten it from a street vendor.

Thoma takes a bite of his at the same time as Ayaka and instantly regrets it when a bitter taste like unripened fruit coats his tongue. He freezes for a moment his eyes going wide as his nausea seems to increase tenfold, a sudden cold sweat prickling at his skin.

It takes everything he has in him to force himself to swallow quickly, the piece of food seems to plummet down into his stomach like a rock. Thoma shudders, swallowing almost convulsively as he forces back the hiccups and burps threatening to come up and more than likely bring something else with them.

“Oh, mine’s sweet,” Ayaka said, giving a soft hum once she’d finished chewing.

“L-Lady Ayaka…why was it bitter?” He asked after a moment, eyeing the dango he held as if it were poison.

Ayaka giggles before gesturing to the small sign sitting on the merchant stall’s counter. “It’s a surprise dango, there are numerous flavors both good and bad. You pick a color and are given the mystery dango that corresponds to that color. The colors change as well as the dango options every day,” she explained enthusiastically.

Thoma merely chuckled sheepishly, glancing away when his stomach gives a low, growling noise. He really isn’t too surprised by her explanation.

“Ah, right it’s lunchtime as well. You must be hungry, shall we get something to eat?” Ayaka suggested with a grin.

Thoma opens his mouth to tell her he’s fine, cause in actuality he’s sure that he’ll get sick instantly if he forces himself to eat something, but the beaming grin on her face stops him. She’d clearly been really excited to spend time with him, especially since he was technically Ayaka’s best friend as well.

He can do this, he tells himself. He’d eat with Ayaka and finish their trip, then return to the estate to clean it, and finally, he’d spar with Ayaka as he’d promised before taking some medicine and getting some well-deserved rest.

Thoma nods, giving her a small smile. “I’d love to, shall we go to Komore Teahouse?”

Ayaka nods and Thoma allows her to lead the way, as he does his best to mentally and physically prepare himself for what he’s about to do.

~~~

Thoma has made quite a few bad decisions today, and he’s willing to admit that. But this one is probably the worst so far.

He’s at the Kamisato estate trying to wash the floor after already having swept it. He’s practically in a daze having been absentmindedly washing the same spot for a bit now, the haze in his mind making it incredibly difficult to focus on anything besides the sharp throb in his head, the ache settled heavily in his limbs.

He’s dizzy and his stomach feels awful, its contents sloshing violently like someone shaking a water balloon as loud, sickly gurgling noises come from it. Eating so much of that food at the Komore Teahouse had very clearly been a mistake, it currently sat in his stomach like a rock absolutely refusing to digest, leaving his stomach slightly bloated.

Thoma hiccups, swallowing thickly as he feels something warm more than likely drool trickling from the corner of his mouth. He shakily reaches up with one wiping the drool from his mouth only to groan softly as more takes its place.

He pauses in the middle of his cleaning as he simply stares down at the floor, the room swirling sickeningly around him, it feels as if the floor is shifting and tilting beneath him.

Thoma closes his eyes, swallowing thickly when he feels bile bubbling at the back of his throat slimy and disgustingly bitter, a low, tense gurgling noise coming from his stomach. The near river of saliva building up in his mouth takes on a coopery metallic taste and Thoma’s breathing hitches, in the very next moment, he’s lurching forward with a loud, wet, gurgling retch, a wave of thick lumpy pale and greenish vomit spraying from his mouth.

It splatters heavily on the floor sounding as if someone had just spilled a bucket of water on it. The mess is thick, the food he’d forced down coming up practically undigested as it congeals together in a pile.

Thoma gives a series of hiccups as he just sits there for a moment on his hands and knees, panting as his head throbs viciously. “Oh, uh oh,” Thoma whispered as he swallowed thickly, drool dripping from his lips into the puddle of vomit on the floor.

Shakily he turns picking up the rag he’s been using to clean the floor and begins attempting to clean up the mess he’d just made, his fingers clumsy and uncoordinated. He just needed to finish cleaning, then he could spar with Ayaka and go to sleep. He just had to get this done, he could do this it’d be fine.

Thoma really does try his best to clean up but the sensation of the sticky disgustingly hot vomit on his bare hands only turns his stomach further, especially when he feels chunks of food slipping between his fingers.

He gives a loud, wet, sick-sounding burp as his bloated stomach heaves again, practically convulsing as it sends up another thick, large, wave of vomit adding even more of his undigested lunch to the sickening pile in front of him. His face pinching in pain as he chokes up the mixture.

Stars burst in front of his vision as he retches up another wave of that sludge-like mixture, a wave of dizziness hitting him as he coughs and gasps for air.

“T-Thoma!”

At the familiar voice, Thoma shakily lifts his head, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to focus his vision and although he can’t he can just make out that familiar icy blue hair and eyes.

“L-Lady…Ayaka…” he whispers his words slurring together heavily. Drool runs down his chin as he retches again the noise raw and violent as if clawing its way up from the depths of his stomach bringing another smaller wave of vomit with it. This time the mixture is slightly watery and tan almost like a smoothie.

Thoma can’t feel his body for some strange reason, he’s so delirious and disoriented at this point that he barely notices it when he falls to the floor beside the puddle of vomit the sharp scent of bile filling his nose. There’s a loud buzzing filling his ears but he thinks he hears Ayaka calling out to him and shouting for help but he isn’t sure.

The world is nothing more but a smear of colors before his eyes practically swirling in time with his stomach, and he burps, retching weakly as he adds to the mess on the floor.

He can faintly feel Ayaka’s hands on him, gently brushing his hair away from his face and Thoma sighs, his eyes closing as he leans into her touch. Her hand is cold and feels so, so good against his feverish skin.

He gives a soft delirious giggle, no matter how much he breathes he feels as though he can’t drag in enough air. The colors swirling in his vision seem to melt away as the world vanishes into nothing and Thoma loses consciousness.

~~~

Hot, it was way too hot is the first thing Thoma registers as he slowly wakes up. He feels slightly more aware than he had been before, at least aware enough to recognize that he’s in his room at the Kamisato estate.

He tries to turn so that he isn’t laying on his back, but the moment he rolls over on his left side his stomach which had still been churning violently, sloshes sickeningly. The disparity between where he expects his body to go and where it currently is, has him gagging.

“Here,” a soft, gentle yet familiar voice tells him, a pale hand holding a medium-sized bowl beneath his mouth as he gags and drools.

He gives a sick-sounding hiccup that gets cut off by a loud burp that seems to echo in the room as a small wave of watery brown vomit gurgles up his throat splashing into the bowl.

Thoma groans, panting and swallowing as threads of drool drip from his lips. Blinking away the tears in his eyes he groggily looks up to see Ayaka sitting down beside his futon, concern, and pity clear in her eyes as she gives him a small sympathetic smile.

One of her hands leaves the bowl she’s still holding in front of his mouth to stroke his hair back tucking the now loose strands back beneath his ear. “There we are Thoma, just get it up,” she told him gently when he retched, bringing up another small wave of watery vomit that trickled into the bowl.

Thoma whimpers and Ayaka can’t help but grimace at the weak, almost pitiful sounding noise. Thoma gives one final violent, gurgling retch that sounds as if it’s raking across his throat, bringing an enormous surge of watery vomit into the bowl. It shoots out of him with such force that the disgusting slurry sloshes over the edge of the bowl, a few droplets splattering the floor and Ayaka’s hand slightly.

“There you go Thoma, you did well. I think you got everything up,” she told him softly as he panted and coughed, greedily gasping for air. She sets the nearly filled bowl aside noting with an almost morbid fascination that it felt warm in her hands.

Thoma groans as he blearily looks around the room, noting that his clothes had been changed into his usual sleeping robe, his hair free of its ponytail, and his metal headband nowhere to be found.

“Ayato helped me carry you here, he changed you as well since your clothes were covered in vomit,” Ayaka told him, noticing the look of confusion on his face.

“Oh,” Thoma mumbles softly as he begins to remember what had happened before he’d passed out.

Ayaka gives a soft huff as she opens her fan, a stern look on her face. “Don’t oh me, Thoma.”  Her eyes narrow as she closes her fan, her mouth twisted into a scowl. “Forgive me for what I am about to do.”

She doesn’t give Thoma the chance to respond before she begins hitting him with the folded fan on his arm, her strikes firm but not painful. “What. Were. You. Thinking!” She snapped each word followed by a brief smack.

It doesn’t hurt but that doesn’t stop Thoma from flailing slightly trying to get away. “Hey-hey, I’m sick!” he spluttered eyes wide.

Ayaka gives a soft huff as she draws back, her expression still stern. “Never, do this again. Do you realize how terrified I was when I saw you in that state? Ayato was scared as well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother that frightened in a while!”

Thoma winced, grimacing as his head throbbed viscously. This wasn’t good, not only had he worried Ayaka but he’d upset Ayato as well no doubt. “Where is Ayato?” he asked after a moment.

Ayaka sighed. “After sending for the doctor and staying at your side for a while he was called back to finish the important paperwork he had been doing.”

Thoma merely nodded, not surprised by that. Ayato rarely left his room; he was so busy with paperwork, Thoma would often come to check on him, bring him his meals, and sometimes just spend time with him which Ayato enjoyed since he was always too busy to go on what most would call a traditional date.

“I’m sorry, that I won’t be able to spar with you as I promised Lady Ayaka,” Thoma told her with a frown, knowing just how much she’d been looking forward to it.

Ayaka gives a soft huff, her eyes narrowing once more. “You are a fool if you think I am upset about that,” she muttered.

Thoma looks at her with wide eyes when her voice breaks on the last word.

There are tears gathering in her eyes, and a second later she reaches out wrapping Thoma in a tight hug. “You’re okay. I’m so thankful you’re okay,” she whispered.

Thoma freezes for a moment before he smiles slightly, gently returning the hug. “That’s right, I’m fine. I’ll be okay,” he told her reassuringly.

What he couldn’t handle is how useless he felt whenever he did get sick. Most people, his husband Bakugou, included would agree that Deku was his own worst enemy when sick due to the fact that he never seemed to want to rest, always saying that heroism never stops so why should he.

Which is probably how he wound up in this position in the first place, laying on the living room couch in his and Bakugo’s house violently retching into a trash can as his stomach tried to wring itself out, all the while Bakugou quietly rubbed his back.

“I told you to rest, dumbass, ” Bakugou muttered under his breath.

Deku nodded slowly, gasping for air. “I-I know, ” he managed to get out right before he lurched forward again with another strangled retch that brings up a large wave of pale slightly watery vomit.

“If you know that then rest stupid, ” Bakugou huffed. Underneath his harsh tone, Deku manages to detect a hint of worry, despite the feverish haze blanketing his thoughts at the moment.

He grimaces when Deku gives a loud wet burp that has more pale vomit cascading into the trash can.

Eventually, Deku leans back onto the sofa, his body practically sinking into it as he pants and closes his eyes just trying to get his bearings for a moment.

His head is throbbing, every tiny noise grating on his ears aggravating his already frayed nerves. Everything feels way too bright and hot despite Bakugou having turned the air conditioning on and dimmed the living room lights to the point where the only light comes from the tv.

Even the curtains are tightly closed allowing little, if any, or sunlight in.

Deku opens his eyes slightly, his breathing still ragged as he watches Bakugou get up from the couch taking the trash can into the kitchen to dump it.

He closes his eyes again trying to breathe around the nausea still assaulting him, curling into himself slightly, his arms wrapped around his stomach as he swallowed thickly forcing back the bile trying to creep up his throat.

He opens his eyes slightly, blinking up at Bakugou when he hears the sound of something being placed on the coffee table. It’s a small glass of water.

“Try to keep these down this time would you?” Bakugou grumbles, placing the fever reducers in Deku’s hand.

“It’s been three hours?” Deku asked softly, he was admittedly exhausted, barely able to keep his eyes open in fact.

Bakugou just crossed his arms, nodding as he glanced away from Deku. His husband looked like shit for lack of a better term, Deku’s skin was pale bordering on ashen a slight feverish blush on his face. His breathing was ragged coming out in shudder pants.

His usual dark green eyes which were usually bright and sharp, were glassy and glazed over giving him a dazed, half-conscious look.

Bakugou wasn’t worried however, okay he was very worried especially considering Deku couldn’t seem to keep anything down.

He scowled watching as Deku slowly brought the glass of water to his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut as his stomach hitched threatening to turn itself inside out once again.

“Don’t force yourself to drink it if it’s too much, dumbass. If you can’t handle it right now then you just can’t,” Bakugou huffed as he watched Deku struggle to take a sip of water.

Deku just gives him a small smile, both of them know this isn’t good. Closing his eyes again Deku takes a deep breath he tosses the fever reducers in his mouth before quickly gulping down the entire glass of water as Bakugo stares wide-eyed.

Deku keeps his eyes shut, his lips pressed into a thin line as he slowly takes deep breaths trying to breathe around the waves of nausea nearly overwhelming him. His hand goes to his stomach when it makes a low gurgling noise.

Bakugou moves, picking up the trash can and holding it out to him, but Deku cracks one eye open and shakes his head before closing his eyes once more.

“Fine, but if you end up puking everywhere I’m not cleaning it up, ” Bakugou huffed despite them both knowing that was a lie.

Deku doesn’t respond, putting all his remaining energy on swallowing back and attempting to keep down the medicine he just took. Eventually, he shudders his eyes opening as he takes a deep breath.

“Okay…I think it’ll stay down, ” he murmured, ignoring the ache in his stomach.

He could do this, he’d pushed his body to handle worse so this shouldn’t have been so hard.

Bakugou merely sighed as he carefully sat down on the couch making sure not to jostle Deku. “Come here, ” he said, patting his lap.

Deku frowned. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get sick too.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “I’ve already been next to you while you were puking your guts out. If I was gonna catch anything then I probably already have, dumbass, ” he pointed out.

Deku frowned but said nothing else as he moved. Shifting carefully to put his head in Bakugou’s lap. “Thank you, ” Deku muttered after a moment as Bakugou adjusted the blanket that was spread over him.

“Just don’t get used to it, ” he replied. And yet despite his harsh words, Deku smiled as Bakugou gently ran his fingers through his hair.

It was nice, soothing even and Deku couldn’t help but lean into Bagukou’s touch, a soft sigh leaving his mouth as he did.

Deku’s eyes slip closed and Bakugou can’t help but feel relieved when Deku’s breathing deepens, evening out.

Good, this was good, after all, considering Deku spent the whole night yesterday either throwing up or with a fever so high he couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep, he could definitely use the rest.

Bakugou turns his attention back to the tv, a yawn leaving his mouth as he continues carding his fingers through Deku’s hair.

Truthfully Bakugou is exhausted as well but more because he’d been taking care of Deku the whole time.

His hand leaves Deku’s hair as Bakugou feels his forehead. The fever was still there, going just as strong as before which isn’t surprising considering Deku barely managed to keep the fever reducers down at all.

Bakugou frowned as he briefly considered dozing off as well, but forgoes that idea knowing that if Deku woke up before him, he’ll try to get up to go to the kitchen and cook or something else stupid like he’d first done when he got sick.

Bakugou sighed pausing for a moment when he hears a soft gurgling noise more than likely coming from Deku’s stomach.

Reaching out Bakugou pulls the trash can a bit closer, just in case, having learned to be better safe than sorry the first time Deku had thrown up everywhere.  He turned back to Deku noting that his face was pinched in pain, his hand left Deku’s hair instead going down to his stomach.

Bakugou winced, feeling it churn angrily beneath his hand, with a scowl he began carefully rubbing Deku’s stomach. Despite the fact that he’s trying his hardest to be careful Bakugou is sure that he put pressure on a spot he shouldn’t have.

Especially when Deku’s eyes snap open and he begins gagging. Moving quickly Bakugou grabbed his shoulders practically shoving Deku so that he was facing the trash can on the floor.

Just in time too thankfully because the very next gag Deku gives turns wet and has a trickle of murky clear water and bile gurgling up his throat, cascading into the small plastic bag lining the trash can.

Gasping for air Deku retched again, threads of drool flowing from his mouth and into the trash can. He brings up nothing but more bile, a low groan leaving his mouth as the world seems to swirl just like his stomach.

Panting Deku blinks slowly and grimaces. “I just wish it would stop, ” he mumbled, wiping his mouth.

“It will, you just need to sleep it off, ” Bakugou told him.

Deku says nothing his eyes closed as Bakugou guides him back down to his lap.

“Feels nice, ” Deku muttered when Bakugou began to run his hand through his hair again.

Bakugou only gives a soft hum, a small smile crawling across his face when Deku’s body gradually relaxes underneath his touch.

Especially when it came to the Almond Tofu at Wangshu inn. There was just something about it that made Xiao almost nostalgic for days long past, it had an almost soothing effect on him.

Easing the pain and burden he carried if only for a few precious moments.

He looked up as the Innkeeper Verr Goldet approached the Inn’s balcony, the usual small blue plate in her hand.

She sets the plate down on the ledge with a smile as she looks around. She knows he’s here even if she can’t see him at the moment. “Here’s your lunch Xiao, I hope you have a fun time with your friend, ” she said, her smile ever-present.

Unable to see him she gave a small wave in his vague direction before returning inside.

Once she was gone Xiao gave a soft sigh allowing himself to appear as he reached out and picked up the plate.

As usual, it was almond tofu, the white almost gelatinous cubes of the desert arranged neatly on the plate, a sight that Xiao had seen for a while now, one that he was used to.

And yet that still didn’t stop the small amount of happiness that flared to life inside him as he picked up the spoon with his usual scowl on his face.

As he took a bite he gave a small hum of satisfaction as that warm wave of nostalgia washed over him. The dish was just as good as it had been the day before, although there was a slight hint of something buried beneath the rich bitterness, it was sour almost, not too overwhelming or noticeable however and it reminded Xiao faintly of lemongrass.

But it wasn’t ruining his meal so he didn’t care. A soft sigh left his mouth as he set the empty plate and spoon aside the warm feeling of nostalgia slowly fading.

Climbing to his feet Xiao leapt down off the balcony before picking up the empty plate once more, he vanished from the sight of humans as he made his way inside the inn and down to the kitchen.

Placing the plate silently on the table in the corner he returned upstairs to his spot on the balcony. He noted that the sun was almost at its highest point, meaning that it was almost afternoon.

Barbatos, or Venti as he preferred to be called nowadays, was supposed to meet Xiao at the inn around noon. Having known that Xiao preferred not to be away from Liyue for a long period of time.

Xiao did faintly wonder if the Anemo Archon had gotten lost somehow, while this was not his first time in Liyue much of the land had changed while he slept.

Xiao is wondering if he should perhaps go to Liyue’s border to briefly check when he hears a soft familiar giggle and the scent of Cecilia flowers, carried by the wind enveloped him.

Xiao senses Venti’s presence before he sees him, his senses as an Adepti easily catching the subtle change in elemental particles.

“I’m here,” Venti said cheerfully as he appeared beside Xiao in a tiny burst of Anemo.

His usual grin was on his face as Xiao turned to him, the sight bringing the smallest smile to Xiao’s face.

“So you are,” Xiao murmured as he climbed off of the balcony.

Giggling, Venti wrapped his arms around Xiao in a hug, his smile only growing when the Adepti’s face flushed pink and he froze, glancing away.

Xiao was never good with PDA even when no one but Venti was around to witness it.

“Please release me, before someone sees,” Xiao said almost shyly.

“Fine, fine,” Venti said, pouting slightly as he released Xiao from the hug. Instead, he reached out grabbing his hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Better?”

Xiao nodded slowly, his face still pink.

“Good, I missed you by the way,” Venti chuckled, reaching up with his other hand to cup Xiao’s cheek. He gives Xiao a brief kiss.

“I missed you as well,” Xiao said after a moment, his voice was soft as if he was afraid someone other than Venti would hear him.

“That’s good, I was starting to think you’d forgotten me,” he chuckled. “How is that old idiot by the way. The Traveler told me he decided to live as a human nowadays.”

“Rex Lapis is well, and he is happy, that is truly all I could ask for,” Xiao told him simply.

Venti nodded. “Of course, now are you gonna show me around Liyue? I haven’t been here in years.”

“Where would you prefer to go first?” Xiao asked.

Venti closed his eyes for a moment, giving a soft hum. “I passed a little village on my way here, that’s definitely new so let’s go there first.”

Xiao nodded knowing exactly where Venti meant, after all, Liyue was his home. “Qingce village it is then.”

~~~

Admittedly Xiao felt like he was having fun as he almost proudly showed Venti around Liyue answering many of the questions he had.

And Venti knew this as well if the brief small smiles he saw on Xiao’s face every now and then were anything to go by. Seeing Xiao smile at all was a rare sight, so Venti cherished the few he did get to see.

Although Xiao was dealing with another problem at the moment, growing a bit quieter than usual, and since he was already a man of few words, to begin with, that was saying something. He still spoke to Venti however so that was a plus.

The issue was a strong pain in his stomach that brought with it both nausea and sensitivity. The normally form-fitting clothing he wore felt uncomfortably tight against his abdomen, the cloth feeling as though it were digging into his skin.

He’d attempted to adjust it one of the times when Venti’s attention had been elsewhere and had found the skin on his stomach abnormally taunt and bloated beneath his finger.

And the mere touch had sent pain streaking across his stomach and made his nausea only grow so he’d given up rather quickly.

The nausea had started off as a light queasiness shortly after he and Venti had left for Qingce village, it was noticeable but not a hindrance to his condition so he ignored it as just like the pain in his stomach this was not an abnormal occurrence.

Perhaps it was just one of those days his body decided to dislike eating despite having been fine earlier.

But at the moment the nausea was reaching almost unbearable levels, enough that the world seemed to sway and spin before Xiao’s eyes despite the fact that he wasn’t moving. He could feel the almond tofu he’d eaten earlier still sitting in his stomach with a strange uncomfortable heaviness, refusing to digest which only added to the pain he felt in his stomach at the moment.

“I leave for a few hundred years and now I barely recognize the place anymore,” Venti said, eating an apple as they walked back to Wangshu inn.

The sun had begun to set on the horizon painting Liyue lands in familiar soft orange hues.

“How many of those do you have?” Xiao asked, eyeing the small cloth sack Venti was carrying in one hand.

He knew Venti loved apples but Xiao was just generally curious.

Venti gave a small hum as he opened the bag of apples. “About fifteen.”

Xiao opened his mouth to say something when his stomach made a low gurgle noise. Embarrassed, he quickly looked away, his face flushing pink as he stared at the ground.

Venti giggled as he smiled at Xiao. “Want one? You sound hungry.”

Xiao simply shook his head not meeting Venti’s eyes, although he did swallow hard the thought of putting anything in his churning stomach at the moment only made his nausea worse.

“Did you at least eat breakfast?” Venti asked despite already knowing what to expect.

Xiao slowly nodded, stopping when the motion made his stomach practically flip inside of him. “I had almond tofu before you arrived.”

Venti gave a soft hum as he nodded. “I won’t make you eat then, but if you do change your mind you can always have one of the apples, okay?”

Xiao just gives another nod, too embarrassed to look Venti in the eye when his stomach gives another low gurgling noise.

When Venti turns his attention away from Xiao, Xiao brings his hand up to his stomach, his fingers ghosting over the still taunt and bloated flesh there. His eyes widened slightly when he felt his stomach actively churning beneath his fingers.

He was used to nausea but this, this didn’t seem like the usual nausea he got from time to time. Typically it’d go away on its own eventually easing up as the day went on, this only seemed to get stronger.

He neither knew what was causing it or how he ended up like this but he doesn’t like it.

As he and Venti return to the inn Xiao crosses his arms, eyes closed as he tries to breathe around the pain and nausea enveloping him.

The elevator shifts and Xiao swallows thickly when it feels as though his stomach plummeted to the floor when the elevator begins moving.

Xiao is rapidly regretting not taking the now fixed staircase or at least just jumping up onto the balcony like he should’ve in the first place. It’s not as if anyone can see him and Venti at the moment, at least no humans can but Venti was apparently tired of walking, so elevator it was.

Xiao glares down at his stomach when it gives a soft gurgling noise. He doesn’t like it, it feels strange.

Still, he says nothing, enjoying how the cold crisp night air felt on his skin. Smelling Cecilia flowers in the wind he glanced over at Venti who was happily eating his third apple.

Meeting Xiao’s eyes he grinned. “You seemed a bit tense,” Venti explained simply.

A bit tense was an understatement at this point, Xiao was convinced his stomach was trying to kill him for some reason. It’s nothing he can’t deal with, however, or so he thinks.

“So this is your room,” Venti said, eyes wide as they entered the room that Verr Goldet had given Xiao years ago. “You don’t use it much do you.”

Despite the room being perfectly maintained it didn’t truly feel like Xiao’s room, but more of a random room at the inn.

“I do not require sleep, Verr was simply being considerate,” Xiao explained simply.

Venti gives a soft hum as he removes his cape and hat, setting both aside on the nearby dresser, he flopped onto the bed sighing loudly as he removed his shoes. “Well I plan to visit you a lot, definitely at least twice a week, so it can be our room. Sleeping can be pretty nice though when you get used to it,” he said giggling.

Xiao merely watches Venti as the other closes his eyes and yawns. Noticing Xiao staring at him, Venti grins, patting the space on the bed beside him, “Come on Xiao, lay down with me, you have to be as tired as I am.”

Xiao glances away, his cheeks flushing pink however he does set about removing certain parts of his clothing. Carefully laying the pieces neatly beside Venti’s hat and cape as he readies for bed.

Venti is simply watching him, humming to himself when Xiao turns back around. He meets Venti’s eyes for a moment before glancing away, his face still dusted pink.

Venti giggles again, opening his arms wide as Xiao joins him in bed resting his head on Venti’s chest. “See! Much more comfortable isn’t it,” Venti said, chuckling as he ran his fingers gently through Xiao’s hair.

Xiao merely nodded slightly, inhaling the Venti’s soft scent, an almost soothing warmth settling over him. His aching stomach is ruining his attempts at trying to actually relax, however.

That and the ever-increasing nausea that leaves him almost light-headed, he swallows thickly trying to clear away the amount of saliva overflowing in his mouth. It tastes salty and vaguely sour which Xiao dislikes.

As Venti speaks Xiao merely listens using his voice as a sort of anchor. It helps distract him every so slightly from the tantrum his stomach is throwing inside of him, Xiao feels awful and for some ungodly reason, it isn’t getting any better. He squeezes his eyes shut, his breathing slow as he tries to focus on anything besides the pain in his stomach and the way it’s churning.

He hears it give a low growl but he’s in too much pain at the moment to really feel embarrassed right now.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the fact that the Traveler doesn’t have a vision. They seem human as well, although a bit strange, but I truly can’t judge,” Venti said.

He’d been talking for some time now, switching through the many stories he remembered from days long past, as well as things in Mondstadt that had caught his eye. Xiao had been completely quiet but from his breathing, Venti knew he wasn’t asleep despite not being able to see his face. Xiao being quiet for long periods of time was just something Venti had gotten used to, Xiao just wasn’t a talkative person by nature.

Venti is about to continue talking when he feels something warm and slightly wet on his chest. Frowning he tilted his head to the side, trying to peer into Xiao’s face slightly.

“Xiao? Are you okay?” Venti asked worry and concern clear in his voice.

Xiao takes a shuddering breath before slowly raising his head to look at Venti. And Venti’s eyes widen in shock, his usual talkative nature nowhere to be found at the moment because Xiao was crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Venti asked softly cupping Xiao’s face gently in his hands. It’s then that Venti notices that Xiao looks incredibly pale.

Xiao grimaces then he shakes his head slightly. “My…stomach hurts. It won’t stop,” he whispered sounding almost ashamed to admit it.

“Have you been feeling bad the whole day?” Venti asked as his thumb gently brushes over Xiao’s cheek. He makes sure to keep his voice low as he speaks remembering that Xiao tended to be more sensitive to noise and touch when sick.

Xiao nodded slightly grimacing again when his stomach gives a loud gurgling noise. “I thought it would pass, but it won’t go away.”

Venti scowls his eyes glancing down at Xiao’s stomach, was it just him, or did it look a bit bloated. He reaches out carefully intending to touch it but instantly stops when Xiao practically flinches away.

He leans forward slight pressing his lips to Xiao’s forehead, giving a soft hum as he drew back the scowl still on his face. “You don’t have a fever,” Venti muttered although more to himself than Xiao. “You don’t think you ate anything strange did you,” he asked despite already knowing the answer.

Xiao was an extremely picky eater, and while there were a small handful of foods he did seem to find acceptable at least he always went back to almond tofu.

Xiao simply shakes his head again and Venti gives a soft sigh. “Do you want anything? If you need something just tell me.”

Xiao is quiet for a moment, swallowing a few times before he speaks. “The stories, I’d like to hear more of them. They help a bit.”

Venti nodded as Xiao rested his head back on Venti’s chest his stomach giving a low gurgling noise. In hindsight, Xiao’s quietness all throughout the day makes so much sense but Venti doesn’t focus on that his fingers carefully carding through Xiao’s hair as he begins telling another story.

Xiao is trying his damndest to focus on Venti’s voice, just hearing it soothes him slightly although he can’t focus on what he’s actually saying even slightly. His stomach will not shut up gurgling angrily as if yelling at him, but at the current moment, Xiao is too focused on just trying to breathe that he can’t find the energy to feel embarrassed.

He feels sour, disgustingly bitter-tasting bile bubbling at the back of his throat and he swallows hard trying to clear it and the excess saliva building up in his mouth.

Xiao raises his head again and Venti looks down at him. “I…I think I’m going to be sick,” Xiao whispered his eyes closed as he takes careful deep breaths.

“Okay, alright, let’s get you to the bathroom,” Venti said. He moves carefully as he lifts Xiao off of him a bit to climb out of bed.

Then he grabs Xiao’s free hand gently guiding him to his feet. Thankfully there is a bathroom in their room, so Xiao won’t have to walk too far or worry about anyone besides Venti seeing him.

Xiao is quiet as Venti leads him, a hand over his mouth and his eyes closed since the room spinning before his eyes definitely isn’t helping his condition.

He opens his eyes ever so slightly when they stop walking realizing that they’re in the bathroom. He silently kneels in front of the toilet his eyes closed, he just wants the pain to stop and hopefully, when he finally does throw up it will.

Venti bites his lip as he lays a gentle hand on Xiao’s back, his other hand coming up to brush his hair back from his face. “It’s okay, I’m right here. Once you get it up everything will be fine,” Venti tries to reassure them, incredibly worried especially considering that Xiao still has tears running down his face.

He winces when Xiao jolts slightly leaning forward as a loud gurgling burp leaves his mouth, Xiao’s face flushing pink with embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, it’s alright. It’s not like you can help it,” Venti told him as he carefully rubbed Xiao’s back.

Xiao opens his mouth again only for another loud burp to leave his mouth bringing nothing with it. Xiao glares down at the toilet putting as much malice as he can into it which isn’t much considering his current condition.

“Maybe it’s stuck, or it’s not ready to come up yet,” Venti said, scowling when another loud burp comes up resulting in Xiao bringing nothing up but air.

Xiao shakes his head his face pinched in pain as a near river of drool drips from his mouth, there is a horrible painful pressure and heaviness in his stomach, the nausea is still there as well overwhelming him leaving him light-headed and barely able to form a coherent thought as he helplessly continues drooling into the toilet.

Seeing no salvation anywhere in sight at the moment Xiao hesitantly allows Venti to lead him back to the bedroom. Xiao practically whimpers when Venti leaves the room for a brief moment eventually returning with a bucket which he hands to Xiao.

Xiao merely takes it saying nothing as he holds it up to his mouth panting, allowing much of the excess drool gathering in his mouth to fall into it.

Venti continues rubbing his back with one hand and running his fingers through Xiao’s hair with the other, at first he doesn’t even know if what he’s doing is helping but then he sees a small amount of tension in Xiao’s form ease up slightly.

It’s getting late into the night when Venti finally sighs the noise mixing with a yawn that leaves his mouth. “I don’t think it’s going to come up Xiao, at least not right now,” Venti told him gently. “Perhaps you should try sleeping, it may do you some good,” he suggested.

Xiao merely groans but nods slightly. Anything, he is willing to try anything at this point if it gets the misery to stop.

Adepti do not need sleep but if they wish to do so they can, even so, Xiao can count on one hand the times he willingly attempted to go to sleep.

But he’s willing to try if it’ll help him escape this hell, Venti lays down beside him holding one of Xiao’s hands beneath the blankets. He gave it a reassuring squeeze as he yawned his eyes slipping closed. “Goodnight,” Venti said softly.

It doesn’t take long for Venti’s breathing to even out, and Xiao isn’t surprised considering they’d had quite a long day and have been having an equally as long night so far.

Closing his eyes Xiao attempts to sleep as well but every time he thinks he’s on the edge of sleep the pain streaking across his stomach immediately drags him back to wakefulness.

His free hand goes to his bloated stomach as he gently begins to rub it, trying incredibly hard not to think about how he can feel it gurgling beneath his fingertips.

Honestly, he’d probably be handling things a bit better if he knew what exactly was causing his symptoms but he doesn’t which leaves his panicked and distraught mind jumping from one horrible scenario to the next.

A particularly sickly sounding gurgling noise comes from his stomach and Xiao swallows hard feeling bile burning at the back of his throat, bitter, slimy, and disgustingly sour.

When it doesn’t immediately happen again Xiao relaxes ever so slightly his own exhaustion quickly catching up with him despite the pain.

He glances over at Venti but closes his eyes once more when the room seems to sway in a blur of colors before his eyes. He groans softly giving an audible swallow as he attempts to clear the excess saliva from his mouth, faintly somewhere in his mind he feels as if he’s drooling and he is but with Venti asleep and misery still consuming him, he can’t bring himself to care too much.

He’s once again on the very edge of sleep when his stomach makes another sickly gurgling noise, which he ignores because by this point his stomach has been gurgling the entire time. Although he can’t help but faintly think that it sounds somehow different than the other gurgling noises it’s been making, almost…ominous.

That is all the warning Xiao’s body gives him, in the next second his stomach hitches, practically convulsing and Xiao’s eyes snap wide open as a sudden rush of vomit gurgles up his throat, filling his mouth.

Panicked and nearly choking Xiao rolls over away from Venti as the disgusting slimy mixture spills onto the blankets and sheets. Gasping, he coughs his hands coming up to cover his mouth as he hiccups then burps the noise loud and wet as his stomach heaves again, the slimy, slightly watery slurry coats his hands as it sprays through the cracks in his fingers as it splatters heavily onto the blankets.

Xiao can feel tears gathering in his eyes as he desperately presses his lips together and tries to swallow, trying to force back the wave of his own stomach contents currently flooding his mouth.

He whimpers the noise weak and desperate as his stomach heaves again forcing more of its contents into his mouth. It tastes disgustingly bitter and sour as it coats his mouth, and he can feel the mess on the blankets against his skin, it’s hot, almost searing the texture of the pale mush feeling like slime on his skin.

His face burns with shame when he feels Venti shifting beside him, but he’s too busy trying to keep himself from making an even bigger mess to really do anything else.

“Xiao…” Venti asked softly, his voice heavy with sleep.

He’s slow to wake up, he usually is but then he hears Xiao make a strange noise almost like a muffled hiccup, and seconds later there’s a loud guttural retch and a heavy splattering noise.

Venti sits up instantly, his eyes wide as he looks over at Xiao, and the sight breaks his heart.

Xiao is crying, practically sobbing his hands covering his mouth. His hands are coated in what looks like thick pale, slightly watery slime. The same mess is coating the blankets and sheets where Xiao is laying as well.

“Okay, okay, it’s alright,” Venti murmured, his hand going to Xiao’s back, rubbing it when his shoulders shake with a barely suppressed retch. “Just get it up.”

As Venti speaks he tucks Xiao’s hair back from his face noting with a grimace that some of the vomit got in a few of the longer strands.

“I-I….I’m sorry,” Xiao manages to gasp out before he gives a gurgling burp adding to the sickening slurry beside him.

“Shhh, it’s fine. It’s not your fault,” Venti told him softly.

When it seems like there’s a brief pause in Xiao’s retching Venti helps him sit up, and although he does it as carefully as possible Xiao gives a small weak groan as he begins gagging over his own lap.

Venti quickly places the bucket in Xiao’s lap and seconds later a wave of pale almost milky-colored bile gurgles up Xiao’s throat, splattering heavily into the bucket.

“W-what’s happening to me. I-“ Xiao begins only to get cut off by a strangled retch that has him lurching forward, another wave of pale bile and murky saliva splashing into the bucket.

Why was this happening to him? What in the name of Celestia was even wrong? Was the corruption he carried finally destroying him? The very thought of that made Xiao panic, fear digging its claws into him deep.

Fear not only for himself but for Venti as well.

“You… need to leave,” Xiao managed in between his panting.

Venti scowls as he climbs out of bed coming around the bed to Xiao’s side. “Xiao, hush, I’m not leaving you,” Venti told him.

He moved carefully, minding the small puddle of sick on the floor caused by the vomit dripping off of the edge of the bed and the blankets.

He reaches out to help Xiao out of bed but freezes when Xiao flinches away a strangled retch leaving his mouth as he brings up more bile and saliva into the bucket. “You…have to. If you don’t…the corruption will kill you, please,” Xiao begs practically pleading with Venti.

Venti sighed, shaking his head as he reaches out taking Xiao’s face in his hands once he finished retching. “Xiao, Alatus, I’m not going anywhere. It’s not corruption making you feel like this, I’m pretty sure you ate something bad,” Venti explained.

Xiao’s eyes widen almost comically and he looks away, his face is burning with embarrassment, and he just kind of wants to disappear.

“Did the almond tofu taste weird when you ate it?” Venti asked as he carefully guided Xiao out of the bed.

He needed a bath and Venti needed to clean up and change the sheets, which shouldn’t take him too long.

“Sour, it tasted slightly sour,” Xiao whispered, he shudders just the thought of food had him retching emptily over the bucket.

Venti merely nodded, giving a soft hum as he led Xiao into the bathroom. In hindsight, Xiao having food poisoning made too much sense and Venti can’t help but be upset at himself that he didn’t see the signs earlier.

He’s in the middle of filling up the tub when he hears Xiao retching again, he looks at him then reaches out a low hiss leaving his lips as he tucks Xiao’s hair back out of his face to avoid getting any more vomit in it.

Xiao eventually sits back after bringing up a trickle of bile, his hand wiping at his mouth.

His stomach is still aching although the god-awful pressure that had been there has eased up significantly. He still feels sick as well even after getting up most of the almond tofu that had been festering inside his stomach.

“I’m going to go change the sheets and clean up okay? I promise I’ll be back in a few moments,” Venti told Xiao, giving him a small smile.

Xiao merely nodded resting his head on his knees as he curled up in the bathtub, clutching at his stomach. His face is red with shame and embarrassment, he feels as though he couldn’t look Venti in the eye.

Plus since the sheets needed to be changed the innkeeper Verr would need to know why. This entire situation was just an embarrassment that Xiao felt as though he would never live down for the rest of his immortal life.

True to his promise Venti soon returns to the bathroom carrying a towel and a white nightgown in his arms. He’s changed clothes as well and is wearing a nightgown identical to the one he’s carrying.

“Verr gave me these, it’s a good thing we’re about the same size,” Venti muttered as he set the items aside.

Xiao merely nodded slowly, his gaze still on the water in the tub. Shame feels etched into his very being, there’s no way he’s going to be able to look Verr in the eye again.

“Don’t worry, I told her I was the one who got sick,” Venti told him, seemingly knowing what was on Xiao’s mind.

This gets Xiao to finally look up at him. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Venti gave a soft giggle as he sat down on the edge of the tub, rolling his sleeves up. “I’d do it again anytime for you, besides it wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened to me.”

As Venti speaks he begins carefully washing Xiao’s hair, a smile crawling across his face when Xiao leans into his touch with a soft sigh.

It’s soothing honestly, Venti’s gentle touch, and Xiao loves it. It always had a way of relaxing him, even in the past.

“Now let’s get you back to bed,” Venti said once Xiao had finished his bath and gotten dressed. He looks between himself and Xiao for a moment before giggling.

“We match,” Venti pointed out cheerfully as he guided Xiao to the now clean bed. A slight grin on his face.

Xiao says nothing, merely blinking, his stomach is still aching and he feels exhausted.

Still, as he rests his head on Venti’s chest before they go to sleep, he glances up.

Venti meets his eyes with a smile. “What is it?”

Venti is expecting Xiao to look away, considering the other man is shy.

Instead, Xiao looks him dead in the eyes and smiles warmly. “I love you.”

It feels as if Venti’s brain short circuits and for a few moments he could only sit there, eyes wide and face turning red his words failing him as Xiao closed his eyes and went to sleep.

This was one of those important times, as Mondstadt the city of freedom was having its yearly Windblume festival.

While Xiao had not attended the festival the previous years it had been held because he saw no need to. This time however he’d been invited by Barbatos, or rather Venti as he was known by now.

It had been a little while since the Anemo Archon had woken up from his years-long slumber and he’d been taking every chance he could to spend time with Xiao. This frequently meant Venti coming to Liyue rather than Xiao coming to Mondstadt since Venti knew that Xiao got antsy when he stayed away from Liyue for a certain amount of time.

So needless to say this would be a treat for both of them, especially since Xiao was never one who enjoyed being around crowds nor cities, even Liyue harbor was not exempted from this attitude. Still, although he had trouble admitting it would be nice to see how the land Venti called home had been fairing all these years.

Xiao glances up at the sun, briefly noting its height. The sky was a clear light blue, not a cloud in sight. It was time that Xiao left to meet Venti as well.

Xiao stands up from his spot on Wangshu inn’s roof and closes his eyes, vanishing as he teleports to the Liyue-Mondstadt border.

Opening his eyes briefly he takes a deep breath glancing back towards the land of contracts with a slight scowl, then he takes a hesitant step forward, a slight shudder running along his skin as he takes his first step into Mondstadt.

~~~

Venti is waiting for Xiao pacing in front of the statue of the seven sitting before the large tree at Windrise, figuring that it was best to have Xiao meet him here rather than Mondstadt’s city gates. It was quiet and familiar to Xiao and Venti knew that would help ease his nerves.

He is admittedly a bit nervous and while not a first for him, it was rather rare. He knew that Xiao did not like leaving Liyue so he wanted to do everything he could to make Xiao feel comfortable, the last time Xiao had come to Mondstadt was many years ago to visit Venti before he went to sleep.

He’d honestly been a bit shocked when Xiao agreed to come to Mondstadt to spend time with him during the Windblume festival. It’d been suggested as more of a joke by Venti, said to Xiao one night when they’d stayed up talking in Xiao’s room at Wangshuu inn, so he couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed when Xiao had agreed.

Venti senses Xiao’s presence before he actually sees him and he pauses his pacing, his body relaxing instantly as the familiar light, sweet scent of qingxin flowers fills his nose, a grin crawling across his face. “Xiao! You’re here!” He exclaimed as the adepti appeared in front of him.

Venti rushes over to him throwing his arms around Xiao in a hug, Xiao freezes for a moment a pink blush spreading over his face before his body slowly relaxes in Venti’s grip. He returns the hug slightly, his arms wrapping loosely around Venti. “I am,” he replied softly, a small faint smile crawling across his face at Venti’s enthusiasm as infectious as always.

As Venti continues hugging him Xiao reaches up and Venti looks up as Xiao tucks something in his hair. Reaching up he touched the spot, his eyes widening slightly when he realized what it was.

“Cecilia, you said that it was customary to pick a flower for the windblume festival and those are your favorite,” Xiao explained softly glancing away, the blush on his face growing.

Venti stares at him for a moment before giving him a warm smile. “Thank you, Alatus,” he said, cupping Xiao’s face with one hand. He gives Xiao a brief kiss, chuckling softly as he draws back seeing the flustered look on Xiao’s face.

“Now shall we be off? The festivities are in full swing, there are so many events we can do! But first, let me show you around the city so much has changed since the last time you were here,” Venti said excitedly as he grabbed Xiao’s hand.

Xiao nodded that faint smile appearing on his face once more, it was just something that happened almost unconsciously whenever he was around Venti.

As Venti leads him to Mondstadt, Xiao can’t help but feel slightly tense when he sees the large city walls, the gates draped in light blue banners and adorned with many of the flowers that called Mondstadt their home.

He could hear the soft music and chatter of people drifting out from the city and Xiao scowled slightly. A moment later though the soft soothing scent of apples and cecilias drifts through the air as Venti gives Xiao’s hand a gentle squeeze instantly noticing his sudden tension.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Venti reassures him. He stops walking for a moment, turning to Xiao. “If you want we can take a look at some of the events beforehand. They’re more out in the open.”

Xiao is quiet for a moment as he takes a few deep breaths closing his eyes, then he opens them and surprisingly shakes his head. “No, I’m okay. I want to see the city you call home first.”

His response has Venti giving him a warm smile. “Alright, if it gets too much though let me know. I don’t want you to force yourself for my sake.”

Again Xiao shakes his head. “As long as you’re here things are fine.”

Venti’s eyes widened before he glanced away, a slight blush painting his cheeks at Xiao’s surprisingly blunt response. “Y-you can’t just do that, it’s not fair” he huffs before a smile spreads across his face as Xiao tilts his head slightly, seemingly confused by Venti’s words.

Venti grins his eyes on Xiao’s face as they enter the city of freedom, watching as Xiao slowly looks around, his eyes shifting from the numerous decorations to the numerous colorful merchant stalls set up a look of awe and curiosity in his eyes as he takes it all in.

His eyes shift upward, widening slightly when he notices the statue of Venti standing tall at the higher section of the city. “Can we look at that first?”

Venti chuckles as he follows Xiao’s gaze. “Oh, that? Sure, I was surprised when I first saw it as well, although you have the real thing right here. I’m honestly surprised old Morax doesn’t have one as well. How is that old fool anyway? ”

“Rex Lapis is well, he has found a human companion,” Xiao said as they began walking.

Venti nodded. “I remember you telling me about that, honestly he doesn’t seem the type, then again I’m surprised he’s even attempting to live as a human. What is his human companion like?”

Venti giggles softly when Xiao’s face twisted into a strange expression at his question, as though he’d eaten an entire lemon whole. “That bad huh?”

Scowling, Xiao shakes his head and sighs. “It is not my place to question Rex Lapis, no matter how much I may disagree with his choice of a partner.”

“Okay, but now I’m really curious. What did he do to make you so mad?” Venti asked.

“He raised Oasial, tried to drown Liyue harbor, and then had the gall to believe he could take Rex Lapis’s gnosis by force. He holds no respect for his elders nor those above him, he is also a Fatui harbinger as well,” Xiao explained with a huff which only made Venti laugh again.

“Oh, so that was him who did that. I was wondering what was happening in Liyue that night, especially when that enormous flash lit up the sky. But if he’s that much of an idiot then he and Morax are made for each other,” Venti chuckled.

“You are not mad considering what that other Fatui harbinger did to you?” Xiao asked, scowling, his anger towards the Fatui had only increased when Venti had told him what had happened.

Venti gave a small snort. “Oh her, I hate her, it was annoying and painful. But I have not met Morax’s human lover so I will reserve judgment about him until we actually meet. But if the old idiot truly is happy then I’m happy for him. Although if his human lover does pick on you let me know and I’ll show you how to deal with him the same way I do Morax.”

“He called me small, I don’t understand him, ” Xiao mumbled as he looked at the ground with narrow eyes.

Venti bursts out laughing to which Xiao merely gave a soft huff. “Okay, I can help you with many things but that maybe isn’t one of them.”

Xiao looks away with a small huff, doing his best to resist the small smile threatening to crawl across his face. He always loved hearing Venti’s laughter, it was just as soothing as his touch and never failed to fill Xiao with a warm fondness.

~~~

“Let’s see, our last stop will be Angel’s share tavern before we leave to do some of the events. It’s one of my favorite places in the city, the wine, and food there is sooooo good. Cat’s tail isn’t bad either but Diona usually tends the bar today, ” Venti said, his tone almost thoughtful as he led Xiao to Angel’s share by hand.

They’d walked around most of the city with Venti showing off his favorite spots to Xiao. And Xiao thankfully seemed to be enjoying himself if the small smiles and wide-eyed looks of awe were anything to go by.

“I’m hungry, some dandelion wine would be nice too. I can’t wait for you to try some of Mondstadt’s food. I’m sure we can find something you’ll like, ” Venti said as he opened the door of Angel’s Share for Xiao.

Xiao scowled slightly as he hesitantly entered the tavern. The loud laughter and chatter of the many patrons filled the air and admittedly Xiao couldn’t help but feel slightly overwhelmed by it all.

It seemed as if Mondstadt was always alive with music and the sounds of drunk laughter. People cheerfully going about their day.

In contrast to Liyue harbor, Xiao couldn’t help but think that the atmosphere here felt a bit warmer, cozy almost. Even the soft lights of the tavern felt welcoming despite the place being alien to him.

“Hello there Master Diluc, ” Venti said, giving a small giggle and a wave as he and Xiao sat down at the bar counter.

Diluc sighed as he set the glass he’d been cleaning aside with a small frown. “Don’t cause any trouble today, ” he warned Venti.

Venti giggles but nods. “I won’t, I won’t. I was just showing Xiao around and figured we’d get something to eat and drink before going out. He has been in Mondstadt for a while and this is our first date here in a few years.”

Diluc’s eyes shift to Xiao who is looking around the tavern, noting the other man’s golden eyes and almost cat-like pupils.

“Xiao this is Master Diluc, he may seem grumpy but he’s okay,” Venti told him, gesturing to Diluc.

“Hello, ” Xiao said softly as he looked at Diluc. His eyes briefly roved over him before looking back to Venti. “Is he the human you told me about?”

Venti nodded a grin on his face. “Yes, he, along with the acting grandmaster Jean and the Traveler helped me quite a bit with Davalin.”

Xiao looks back at Diluc blinking slowly. “Thank you for looking out for him.”

Diluc shakes his head. “It was no trouble at all although he can be a nuisance. How long have you two been together?” Diluc asked. “The usual?” He asked Venti who in turn nodded.

“7…” Venti begins trailing off as his expression turns thoughtful.

“Months?” Diluc asked, having a hard time imagining Venti committing himself to anything besides drinking and playing music.

“Hundred years, right?” Venti said, looking over at Xiao.

Xiao nodded, slowly glancing away, a slight pink blush coloring his face, it definitely didn’t feel as though it’d been that long but then again time seemed to pass within the blink of an eye for the both of them.

Diluc paused for a moment, clearly surprised by Venti’s words. Then he nodded with a small chuckle. “That’s good then, would you like anything else?”

“Food would be good! Something light for Xiao though nothing too sweet, ” Venti told him cheerfully.

As Diluc began to work Venti turned to Xiao with a grin. “So what do you think of Mondstadt so far?”

Xiao was quiet for a few moments, a scowl on his face. “It’s noisy and a bit much at times but it’s peaceful, warm, ” Xiao told him softly.

Venti gave a small giggle. “That’s good, I was a bit worried it might’ve been too much. Especially since you looked ready to teleport away a few times.” He grabbed one of Xiao’s hands beneath the bar counter, lacing their fingers together. “I think you’ll like the food here a lot. The wine here has a lighter taste than a lot of Liyue’s wine.”

Xiao merely nodded as he listened to Venti talk, a small smile on his face at the way Venti’s eyes seemed to light up, practically glowing as he spoke. So much enthusiasm in his voice that Xiao couldn’t help but be entranced.

Diluc placed a glass of dandelion wine in front of Xiao and Venti before he turned and began working on their food.

Xiao couldn’t help but eye the glass of light-colored liquid a little wearily. Since the Archon war ended and Venti had gone to sleep Xiao hadn’t drank much alcohol. He was never one for drinking much in the first place due to his picky eating habit, often finding that most alcohol made by humans only turned his stomach much like their food did.

But he truly wanted to give the food and wine a fair try before he disregarded it for once, especially considering Venti had spoken so highly of it. He glanced over at Venti who was wholeheartedly drinking from his glass of wine before looking back down at his own.

He carefully picked it up and took a small hesitant sip. The taste surprised Xiao honestly, the drink was cold and crisp with a slight sweetness and tang to it without being overbearing. Giving a soft hum, he took another slight sip.

Beside him, Venti gave a soft sigh. “As good as always.” He looked up at Xiao with a small smile. “So, what do you think?”

Xiao placed his glass on the counter and nodded. “It tastes nice. I wouldn’t mind drinking more.”

His words made Venti give a loud sigh of relief. “That’s good! I was worried it’d be too much for your stomach honestly.”

“Is this what you drink all the time?” Xiao asked taking another sip of the wine. He could feel a soft humming warm flowing through his veins brought on by the alcohol but while it was strange it wasn’t unpleasant so Xiao continued to drink.

Venti nodded, “Yep, this or apple cider, both are really good. As long as the wine is good I’m not picky though.”

Eventually, Diluc returns and sets the food down in front of them with a small smile before he goes to serve some other customers that had just come in.

Xiao scowls slightly as he stares at the food for a few moments. It looked like some type of salad with steamed potatoes, apple slices, either lettuce or cabbage all topped with two hard-boiled eggs.

It smells alright, crisp yet slightly salty and sweet. Still, Xiao can’t help but tense slightly at the sight of it. He closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before picking up the fork sitting beside the plate.

He eats one of the pieces of cabbage first, figuring it’d be best to start with the lightest part of the meal. It doesn’t taste bad, refreshing, and crisp but the texture does feel a bit strange to Xiao. The problem comes when he swallows it, his stomach unused to the slight seasoning on the meal begins churning slightly a twinge of queasiness forming there.

“How is it?” Venti asked almost expectantly, pausing in the middle of eating to look at Xiao.

Xiao nodded, ignoring the slight churning of his stomach. “It tastes good,” he told him with a slight shrug.

Venti gives a small chuckle. “That’s good, here try this,” he said as he brought a bite of his food up to Xiao’s mouth.

Xiao froze eyes wide and a faint blush spreading across his face as he glanced away, his face beginning to burn with embarrassment. “Barbatos…” he said softly, not meeting Venti’s eyes. There were so many people in here and Xiao wasn’t really one for PDA, he was already a bit flustered that Venti was holding his hand.

“Please, just one bite?”

Xiao sighed, closing his eyes as he opened his mouth slightly. As Venti places the bite of food in his mouth Xiao has to resist the urge to gag that hits him, he doesn’t know what this human food is but it tastes and feels like slimy ash mixed with stale grease.

It’s salty too, almost disgustingly so and Xiao quickly forces himself to swallow before the taste of it triggers his gag reflex.

“Good right?” Venti asked with a grin as Xiao took a sip of his wine to try and wash that horrible taste out of his mouth.

The bite of food is heavy as well, a noticeable weight settling in Xiao’s stomach. He looks back at Venti who is looking at him excitedly waiting for his response.

“It’s good as well,” he said softly and he can’t help but feel slightly irritated that his body wouldn’t just settle down and cooperate. “Do you eat that often?” He asked, eyeing the meat on Venti’s plate he wished he knew what it was so he could remind himself never to eat it again. The slight queasiness in the pit of his stomach grows a bit as the wine manages to wash most of the horrible taste from his mouth.

Venti nodded as he held up another bite for Xiao to take and he did so begrudgingly. “It’s one of Dawn wineries specialty foods, sticky honey roast. The meat is always so tender and sweet.”

Xiao merely nods as he forces himself to swallow again, holding back a grimace when it only adds to the heaviness now settling in his stomach a dull ache streaking across it. He takes another drink of wine before returning to his meal despite his appetite being nowhere in sight. Venti had been so excited to show him all the city of freedom had to offer, Xiao knew just how much he loved Mondstadt and had wanted Xiao to see that love as well. He knew how much the windblume festival meant to Venti too considering he’d gone so far as to ask Xiao if he’d like to come, and Xiao refused to ruin that with his complaining.

And so, even though his stomach was beginning to churn rather violently, the slight queasiness gradually turning into full-blown nausea the more he ate and drank an ache spreading across his abdomen, Xiao forces himself to ignore the warnings his body was trying to give him and continues eating. As long as Venti was happy Xiao was as well.

~~~

Full, Xiao was way, way too full at least it felt like it.

Giving a soft hiccup, Xiao lays a hand on his stomach, a scowl on his face as Venti leads him to Starsnatch cliff.  A soft hiss leaves his mouth when he feels how taut and bloated his stomach was, small almost tense gurgles coming from it as it churned violently beneath his fingers.

Admittedly he had eaten a lot way more than he usually would on his own but Venti had wanted him to try many of Mondstadt numerous local specialties, although most of them had tasted utterly repulsive to Xiao but he’d forced it down anyway along with a lot of wine since he’d been using it to wash his mouth out.

And now drunk and his stomach in absolute agony as waves of pure, dizzying nausea washes over him Xiao can’t help but regret it slightly.

He swallows thickly a soft sigh leaving his mouth as he tries to clear some of the excess saliva gathering in his mouth. His stomach feels as though it was a water balloon someone was tossing around, its contents sloshing as it churned like a whirlpool.

“Here we are,” Venti giggles as they emerge from the forest the starsnatch cliff now wide open before them.

Xiao gave a soft hum, his hand falling away from his stomach as he looked ahead. Rubbing it was not helping in the slightest, if anything it was making his nausea worse so it was best he just stopped now.

“Careful,” he said softly, reaching out to steady Venti when he stumbled. Having drunk about eleven glasses of wine compared to Xiao’s three Venti was slightly tipsy, although Xiao didn’t understand why he felt so drunk. Could it be that because he didn’t drink often his body wasn’t used to it?

“I’m fine, I’m fine. What about you? Still having fun?” Venti asked with a warm smile as he looked up at Xiao.

Xiao nodded a small smile on his face despite the fact he could feel bile burning at the back of his throat. “It’s nice, peaceful. Although still a bit too loud, I am having fun though.”

Venti gives a soft sigh of relief. “Good, that’s good, you seemed a little tense in the tavern earlier so I was worried it was getting to be too much. But here we are.”

Venti left Xiao’s side for a moment as he walked over to the watchtower in front of them made of metal and wood. He stops in front of a wooden sign at the base of the tower and pats it.

“This is the first event, it’s also one of the easier ones as well, ” Venti told him with a grin.

Xiao frowned slightly as he tilted his head to the side, his eyes on the colorful piece of paper adorning the wooden sign which had almost childlike doodles drawn on it. “Bullseye…balloon?” He muttered.

His stomach made a low gurgling noise and he quickly glanced away, hoping Venti hadn’t heard that.

Thankfully it seemed as though he hadn’t because Venti nodded at his question. “Yep, you still remember how to use a bow and arrow right? I want to see if you can beat my score.”

While Xiao frequently used and favored fighting with a polearm it wasn’t as if he didn’t know how to use other weapons. Although it did take a bit of getting used to considering he fought using a polearm for many centuries.

Xiao nodded. “I’ll give it a try, what do I do?”

Giggling Venti walked around the tower stopping at its side as he knelt by a strange metal contraption. “There are balloons in here, and once you’re at the top of the tower I’ll release them. And you have three minutes to shoot all the balloons except the red ones,” Venti explained to Xiao.

Xiao nodded as he teleported up to the top of the tower, closing his eyes for a moment when the world seemed to sway nauseatingly before his eyes for a second or two. Xiao’s stomach feels as though it’s in knots at the moment, and he swallows hard as he picks up the bow and arrows at his feet.

The bile bubbling at the back of his throat tastes like sugar and ash. Some naive part of him hoped that it’ll just ease up as the day continued and his body would slowly digest everything, he’d just eaten and drank too much was all.

Surprisingly he is able to ignore his current agony as he puts his entire focus into popping the balloons, and when he’s finished Xiao gives a soft sigh, pride filling him as Venti gives him a kiss.

“And to think you don’t use a bow often, I should’ve known you’d beat my score. Almost makes me wish I would’ve tried a bit hard, ” Venti giggled as he grabbed Xiao’s hand.

“Almost?” Xiao said, a slight smile on his face as he looked at Venti. “You weren’t trying when you got that score?”

At his words, Venti gives a soft snort. “Oh hush, you know what I meant!”

Xiao merely chuckles softly as Venti draws back.

“Let’s see, next let’s do the Floral freefall, ” Venti said thinking for a moment. Although he looks back over at Xiao when the other gives a soft series of hiccups. “Still feel okay?”

Xiao quickly nodded his face flushing slightly as he glanced away. “I’m sorry, I think I drank too much, ” He whispered, not meeting Venti’s eyes as he continued hiccuping.

Venti giggled. “Probably, you’re just not used to drinking that much wine.”

Xiao desperately wished that was the case, especially when an intense wave of nausea washes over him as pain streaks across his stomach. The sensation leaves him swallowing quickly, his bloated stomach hitching slightly as a small amount of bile splashes into his mouth.

Xiao swallows it shuddering slightly at the disgustingly bitter and slimy aftertaste that coats his tongue. A dull ache shoots across his stomach, the irritated organ giving a low gurgling noise clearly upset with having its contents forced back inside of it.

And archons does it hurt, the horrible pressure and heaviness has Xiao gritting his teeth trying not to grimace as he does his best to breathe around the pain and nausea currently assaulting him. Although that task becomes increasingly difficult as each step he takes has pain shooting through his stomach.

He briefly considers just teleporting him and Venti to their destination but also doesn’t want to as he wants to spend every precious moment he can in Venti’s presence and if that means he’d have to deal with a bit more pain and discomfort so be it. He doesn’t want to let himself be sick, because he genuinely did not want Venti to know that the food he loved so much was absolutely repulsive to Xiao. He doesn’t want to be the cause of that disappointment, especially not today.

The Floral freefall is almost what breaks Xia, he’s normally fine with heights but at the moment he can’t help but close his eyes as the ground seems to tilt and sway beneath his feet. One hand going to his stomach as it gurgles softly.  

“Why would humans do this?” Xiao asked, opening his eyes slightly to look back at Venti. They stood upon a large wooden platform floating above a cliff near Windrise.

Venti grinned. “Because it’s fun,” he said, laying his hands on Xiao’s back. “You have to glide down the entire way okay? No teleporting.”

Xiao nodded as he forced himself to look down at the ground once more and a second later Venti pushed him off of the platform giggling the entire time.

The motion makes his stomach slosh like an overfilled glass leaving Xiao gagging as he opens the glider, jerking his body to a stop and slowing his descent. His stomach sloshes again, pain streaking across it making Xiao feel as though it’s trying to tear its way out of him.

It hurts and for a brief moment, the pain overwhelms Xiao senses a soft whimper leaving his mouth before he can stop it. He pants swallowing rapidly, his stomach hitching as threatens to send up its contents.

Gritting his teeth Xiao does his best to put his energy into trying to complete the event. But even though flying comes as naturally to Xiao as breathing, it takes him a few moments to figure out how to use the glider efficiently, which is no surprise after all considering having wings was entirely different from using a glider.

As he eventually lands Xiao groans softly, his hand going to his stomach churning beneath his hand, writhing like a ball of snakes. He closes his eyes for a moment taking deep breaths in through his nose as he wills his body to calm down, the food he’d forced down sitting in his stomach like a rock.

His hand drops from his stomach, his eyes opening as Venti lands beside Xiao giggling. “You almost beat my score, I wonder what yours would be like if you were used to using a glider.”

Venti stretches, yawning softly. “It’s almost night time and I’m exhausted and I’m sure you are too. Wanna head back, I have a room at one of the small inns in Mondstadt we can use.”

Holding back a sigh of relief Xiao smiles slightly, he definitely is exhausted but more so from trying to keep his stomach under control rather than any of the activities he’d been doing. He just wants to lay down and for once in his life go to sleep with the hope that this would pass.“I would like that.”

~~~

Agony, his stomach was in pure agony and now that they were in the comfort of Venti’s room and Venti had left Xiao alone to go take a shower, Xiao allowed himself to lay down on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his bloated aching stomach. Tense loud gurgles coming from it as the food sat in his stomach refusing to digest even slightly leaving Xiao’s stomach feeling as though it was a water balloon being violently flung around.

There is a horrible almost crushing pressure in his stomach practically taking his breath away as he tries to drag in air. It hurts so, so bad and Xiao squeezes his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as he carefully rubs at his stomach. He knows that it has a good chance of making his already intense nausea even worse but he is desperate for relief at this point.

His fingers are carefully just barely ghosting across the taut skin of his stomach, his hands are trembling in fact his whole body is as that cold almost slimy feeling of nausea swirls in the pit of his stomach, a cold sweat prickling at his skin.

His body jolts slightly, a loud burp leaving his lips and Xiao grimaces whimpering as he curls further in on himself, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Cracking his eyes open slightly, Xiao glances up at the ceiling, swallowing rapidly as he tries to clear the near river of saliva building up in his mouth.

Xiao squeezes his eyes shut again as a sharp ache suddenly stabs at his stomach, a low gurgling noise coming from it and Xiao grips his stomach a bit tighter practically curling into a ball on his side.

A second later though Xiao’s eyes snap open, clamping a hand over his mouth as his bloated stomach hitches, practically convulsing beneath his fingers and a surge of vomit fills his mouth in an instant.

Clamping his mouth shut Xiao takes a few panicked breaths in through his nose, as that horrifically disgusting bitter taste coats his mouth. He squeezes his eyes shut as he uses every bit of strength he has to force himself to swallow. His entire body trembling, Xiao shakily lowers his hand from his mouth panting, his eyes wide.

A shudder of disgust shakes him as he swallows trying to get rid of that disgustingly bitter and sour aftertaste coating his mouth.

Xiao gives a low hiss when his stomach hitches again and he feels bile burning at the back of his throat. Xiao slowly sits up propping himself up on shaky limbs as he carefully gets up, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. Xiao gives a soft groan hiccuping as the motion of standing up unsettles his already churning stomach even further.

Venti is just turning off the shower and about to climb out of it when the bathroom door suddenly slams open startling him. He jumps startled as he quickly peeks around the shower curtain to see Xiao kneeling in front of the toilet dry heaving, his skin pale as a sheet and tears in his eyes as one of his hands clumsily holds his own hair away from his face.

“Xiao?” Venti practically exclaims in shock.

Grabbing the towel from where he’d placed it, Venti quickly wraps it around himself before stepping out and crouching down at Xiao’s side, laying a gentle hand on his back. “H-Hey, what’s wrong,” Venti asked frantically, his eyes wide with concern.

Xiao had seemed fine when he left the room so it didn’t make sense for him to suddenly be so sick, and for what Venti could tell Xiao didn’t have a fever despite the fact he was trembling beneath Venti’s hand, his skin cold and clammy.

Xiao whimpers before he lurches forward with a loud, harsh retch that brings nothing up but leaves him panting drool dripping from his mouth.

“My…stomach hurts,” Xiao groaned, gritting his teeth, his face pinching in pain as a cramp stabbed at his stomach a wave of intense nausea rolling over him that leaves Xiao gagging emptily over the toilet.

“Your stomach?” Venti murmured with a scowl. He glances down at Xiao’s stomach before carefully reaching out, and when Xiao doesn’t flinch away from him he gently lays a hand on Xiao’s stomach.

A soft his leaves Venti’s mouth, his eyes widening in shock when he feels how taut Xiao’s stomach is as it churns violently almost writhe beneath his fingertips. “Oh, Xiao,” Venti said softly, his hand leaving Xiao’s stomach to rub his back as he continued to emptily gag and retch over the toilet.

Xiao whimpers again, curling further in on himself as his stomach twists with a horrible cramp. “It won’t stop,” he manages to say through gritted teeth.

Venti sighs, going quiet for a moment and that only makes Xiao panic further. Venti was usually never quiet so it had to be really serious right?

“Okay, I’m going to try and help you,” he told Xiao softly. “Just promise not to bite me okay?” Venti said as and Xiao nodded slowly.

He grimaced as a hiccup jolted his body, why was Venti concerned that Xiao may bite him? Xiao doesn’t understand but if it would stop his stomach from hurting he was willing to try.

A moment later Venti reaches out, one hand going to Xiao’s mouth as he sticks two fingers inside. His eyes widening as Venti’s fingers crawl across his tongue as he reaches to the very back of his throat. The moment Venti’s fingers brush the back of his throat Xiao tenses, a choked gasping noise leaving his mouth as he struggles slightly. He doesn’t like this feeling at all, he feels as if he’s choking, barely able to breathe around Venti’s hand in his mouth.

“Shhh, it’s okay Xiao. It’s alright, I know you don’t like it but this is the only way to help you,” Venti tries to assure him softly.

Xiao glances up at him, a choked, muffled whimper leaving his mouth as tears roll down his cheeks. He gags, his throat clenching around Venti’s fingers trying to push them out.

Scowling, Venti holds his fingers there before shifting them slightly, using one finger to carefully stroke the back of Xiao’s throat. That does it, Xiao’s body jolting with a loud gurgling burp as a thick wave of slightly watery tan and yellow vomit surges from his mouth, coating Venti’s hand before splattering into the toilet as Venti draws his hand free grimacing.

Gasping, Xiao coughs as he hiccups then burps, the noise loud and wet as his stomach heaves again, choking up another wave of that thick, lumpy slimy mixture into the toilet tears streaming down his face. He opens his eyes briefly only to squeeze them shut once more when he realizes he can clearly make out chucks the food he’d forced himself to eat floating in the sickening slurry which only has him retching again.

Xiao is barely able to get a breath in as he chokes up another thick wave of vomit. It’s so thick and sticky that it clumps together, practically congealing as it falls from Xiao’s lips and the taste is absolutely horrific. The food which had already tasted like dirt and poison to Xiao when he’d forced it down tastes even worse, somehow coming back up coating his mouth in a sour, bitter, sickeningly sweet after taste.

Venti cleans his hand quickly with some of the nearby tissue paper before turning his attention back to Xiao, cringing when Xiao gives a weak, almost desperate sounding whimper. And Venti can’t blame him, especially since Xiao looks like he’s in absolute agony. His face pale, almost ashen, tears running down his cheeks and drool hanging from his lips as his body trembles almost violently beneath Venti’s touch.

“It’s alright Alatus, I promise the pain will stop soon so just try to get it all up,” Venti murmured as he rubs gentle circles on Xiao’s back. His other hand reaches up replacing Xiao’s as he brushes his hair back from his face.

Venti can’t help but feel guilty for the pain Xiao is in because from the looks of it Xiao’s stomach just couldn’t handle the food Venti had given him, especially considering it seemed to be coming up almost completely undigested. Xiao had to have been in this state, in pain for quite some time and Venti is definitely upset with himself for not noticing.

“I’m so, so sorry, Alatus,” Venti murmurs, pressing a kiss to Xiao’s forehead.

Xiao merely groans as he retches up a smaller watery wave of vomit, probably more of the wine he’d drank if the light yellow tint is anything to go by.

Venti continues rubbing his back murmuring soft reassures as Xiao retching gradually tapers off into dry heaving. Xiao groans softly, slumping forward a bit over the toilet a bit as he coughs, restings his head on his arms for a few moments. Soft hiccups and hollow-sounding burps jolting his body every few seconds.

“Xiao? Honey? Do you think you’re done?” Venti asked hesitantly, tilting his head to the side.

Xiao gives a small nod but doesn’t lift his head, he can’t help but feel embarrassed and ashamed of the whole ordeal. He tried so, so hard to keep everything down so that Venti wouldn’t be upset or disappointed but he just couldn’t take it anymore.

Although the good news is that while his stomach is slightly sore, that unbearable ache and pressure that’d been there earlier is nowhere in sight and Xiao can’t help that large amount of relief that brings.

“I’m sorry,” Xiao rasped as he finally lifted his head, tears still in his eyes. “I tried to keep everything down, I really did, I’m sorry.”

Venti shakes his head though giving Xiao a sympathetic smile as he cups Xiao’s cheek with one hand. “No, I should apologize to you. Considering this is my fault, I was so excited for you to see what Mondstadt had to offer that I ignored the fact that your body may not be able to handle it. I hope that this hasn’t ruined your stay here.”

Xiao shakes his head slightly. “No, the salad and the wine really did taste good. I liked them.”

Venti chuckles softly. “So just everything else besides that didn’t taste good?”

Xiao merely nodded glancing away, feeling almost ashamed.

Venti gives him a warm smile. “Hey, listen, it’s perfectly alright. I’d rather you just enjoy yourself than forcing yourself to enjoy something for my sake.”

Venti carefully stands up and that’s when Xiao notices that Venti’s only wearing a towel, and he quickly glances away his face turning red. That’s right, Venti had been taking a shower before all this.

“Like what you see?” Venti said with a grin.

Xiao says nothing but he does nod slightly which makes Venti’s smile grow. “Okay, then let’s get ready for bed. We can always have fun later when you’re feeling better.”

To which Xiao only nods again.

Once they were both dressed for bed Xiao climbed into bed beside Venti, sighing softly as he rested his head on Venti’s chest. Venti gave a soft hum, his fingers gently running through Xiao’s hair, a warm smile crawling across his face as Xiao’s body gradually relaxed beneath his touch.

“Good night,” Xiao whispers, closing his eyes, and Venti’s hand stills for a moment as he looks down at him.

While he did rely on the other knights and his informants there were just some things he found easier to handle on his own. Or rather that he only trusted himself to do.

Which explained why he was doing his usual patrols around Mondstadt so late at night, despite the fact that his head was killing him, his stomach was churning and he felt as though he were burning from the inside out despite the normally cool and crisp night air.

He’d woken up feeling off a day or two ago, and while he had taken medicine, whenever his stomach didn’t attempt to immediately reject anything he tried to put in it, he had not been getting the rest his body so desperately wanted.

It was a few days after the end of the storm terror incident and Aether, the mysterious Traveler, having appeared in Mondstadt seemingly out of nowhere to save the day.

Kaeya of course was admittedly suspicious of the entire situation, but considering no one seemed to know where Aether had come from including the young man himself, there was little Kaeya could do except sit back and observe.

But that in combination with dealing with the remnants of the Abyss order still left in Mondstadt’s region left him little time to do anything else besides work.

In the past day or two, he’d gotten a total of five hours of sleep all together, and that in combination with his lack of appetite due to being sick left Kaeya feeling like absolute shit in every sense of the word.

He paused for a moment, reaching out to steady himself when he stumbled slightly, the ground seemingly swaying nauseatingly before his eye, and his stomach gives a low growl whether from the nausea or hunger he didn’t know at the moment. Either way, he doesn’t like it.

Running a hand through his hair Kaeya takes a deep breath, closing his eye. A minute, he just needed a minute or two to rest.

He opens his eyes glancing around for one of the many wooden benches Mondstadt had around town, glaring at the ground when he sees none.

That when he notices something, he’s close to Angel’s share. He hadn’t exactly planned on coming this way, in fact, he hadn’t been really paying attention at all as he walked around, the fever-induced haze blanketing his mind and the throbbing headache making it for him to focus his thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, Kaeya pushes away from the wall he’d been leaning on and begins making his way towards Angel share.

~~~

It’s late at night, and Diluc is in the middle of wiping down the bar counter with just a few more things to do before he could close down the bar for the night and head home.

“We’re closed for tonight, ” he said, not glancing up when he heard the front door of Angel’s share open.

Getting no answer though he looks up from his task, scowling when he notices a familiar blue and white uniform. “We’re closed, ” Diluc repeated again, giving a sigh.

Kaeya merely gives a soft hum as he sits down at the bar counter and Diluc looks at him, ready to tell him to just leave since he really was not in the mood to deal with him right now but pauses, simply staring at Kaeya with wide eyes.

Kaeya does not look good, he’s incredibly pale at the moment, his skin boarding almost on an ashen gray. The only color he does have in his face is the feverish blush on his cheeks. His eye is glazed over and glassy, any hint of the usual sharpness his blue eye held was currently nowhere in sight.

He was sweating heavily, his breathing ragged as if he’d run the entire way here instead of calmly walked in.

“Sorry, I need a moment, ” Kaeya told him softly, closing his eye.

And Diluc’s frowned deepened, there had been no hint of Kaeya’s usual teasing tone. If Diluc hadn’t been worried before he definitely was now.

Setting the rag he’d been cleaning with aside Diluc walks around the counter, but Kaeya doesn’t look up at him, merely sitting there quietly with his head in his hands.

“Kaeya?” He said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

But Kaeya doesn’t answer him, merely giving a soft barely audible groan, and Diluc can feel his body trembling slightly beneath his hand.

There’s something else Diluc feels as well, heat practically radiating off of Kaeya’s skin.

“You’re sick…” Diluc whispered, sounding shocked. It comes out sounding more like a question than a statement.

Kaeya slowly nodded, finally looking up slightly. “I took some medicine earlier this morning, ” he mumbled.

Diluc scowled, crossing his arms. “Did you rest, ” he asked despite already knowing the answer.

When Kaeya was sick he only tended to give in and just admit he was whenever the illness was bad and wouldn’t leave him alone. Kaeya volunteering any information about his condition instead of fighting Diluc tooth and nail like usual meant that he was feeling truly awful.

Kaeya frowned. “Five hours…three yesterday and two today, was busy taking care of some wandering Abyss Mages nearby, ” he told Diluc after a moment struggling to recall just what he’d been doing most of the day.

If Kaeya had the energy to at the moment he would’ve laughed, archons he was in worse shape than he’d thought.

Diluc is quiet for a moment merely watching Kaeya sway in place. “Did you eat anything today?”

Diluc knew that Kaeya had a tendency not to eat much if anything when he was sick. Sometimes it was because he just legitimately did not have an appetite and others it was because just the thought of food made him feel sick.

Kaeya closes his eye, resting a trembling hand on his stomach when it gave a soft gurgling noise and he swallowed thickly looking slightly green at the mention of food.

So the latter then, Diluc realized with a sigh.

“I did eat breakfast, some toasted bread, ” Kaeya said, resting his head in his hands again.

He just wanted to just sleep or pass out whichever one got him out of this hell the fastest. He’d quickly forgotten why he’d come into Angel’s share this late at night in the first place, although he couldn’t help but feel relieved that Diluc was here tonight.

Even if the normally comforting lights of the tavern felt far too bright for his aching eye and throbbing head.

“I’ll fix you something light to eat, ” Diluc sighed as he returned to his spot behind the bar counter. Normally Diluc would’ve given Kaeya a choice in the matter, but he also knew, since they’d been kids, that the best way to get Kaeya to eat when he felt sick was to just give him something and not give him a choice.

Kaeya groaned softly, swallowing hard when he felt bile burning at the back of his throat, his stomach practically flipping inside of him. “I’ll try…don’t know how much I can manage though…” he muttered.

“It’s radish veggie soup so it should be alright. Once you eat something you should feel a bit better, ” Diluc told him, giving him a brief glance.

Kaeya doesn’t answer though, his head is down, resting on his arms he has folded on the countertop seemingly having drifted off to sleep. Although his still ragged breathing tells Diluc otherwise.

Even though Kaeya felt way too hot at the moment, as though he was burning from the inside out, his stomach was churning like a whirlpool, his head was pounding and his joints were aching, closing his eye and just turning his brain off for a moment seemed to help improve his condition a bit.

Which is honestly no surprise considering he’s basically been running on sheer willpower all this time.

Truthfully if he didn’t feel so horrible Kaeya might’ve been able to drift off to sleep, but he does so he can’t.

His eye opens and he lifts his head when he eventually hears the soft thump of something being placed on the counter in front of him.

It’s the soup Diluc said he was making for him, it should be light enough for him to eat but simply looking at the food is enough to make him feel dizzyingly nauseous.

“At least try a little bit. Please?” Diluc sighed seeing the look on Kaeya’s face.

A small tired smile crawls across Kaeya’s face as he absentmindedly rubs his churning stomach with one hand.  “Archons…how horrible do I look if you’re actually using the word please, ” he muttered, blinking slowly.

Diluc closes his eyes for a moment, sighing. If Kaeya was teasing him, then the man must be feeling a little bit better but Diluc was still worried. “I’m not going to answer that. Eat. You need it, ” he told him, holding out the spoon for Kaeya to take.

With a soft sigh Kaeya takes the spoon from him, he knew Diluc was technically right as much as he didn’t want to admit it. Kaeya stares down at the soup, taking a deep breath as he steels himself bringing a spoonful of it up to his mouth.

He pauses for a moment, his eye closed as he does his best to force back his nausea, his stomach hitching slightly.

Diluc bites his lip as he watches Kaeya. He really hoped that he could manage to eat the food cause if not then Diluc may just have to go get Barbara or Sucrose.

When Kaeya practically shoves the spoon in his mouth Diluc doesn’t bother holding back a sigh of relief when Kaeya’s stomach doesn’t immediately reject it, despite the soft gurgling noise it makes.

“When did you start feeling sick?” Diluc asked after a moment or two.

Kaeya pauses briefly, a frown appearing on his face. “A day or two ago, ” he sighed softly.

He glances down at the food, scowling when the scent of the lightly salted broth makes his stomach churn, the small amount of soup he’d managed to eat sloshing in his stomach.

He wants to stop honestly but the look Diluc gives him, makes him keep going.

Kaeya manages to finish the food and sets the spoon aside as he just sits there for a moment, a scowl on his face. It seems it was a lie that he’d feel a lot better when he’d eaten something, if anything he felt worse his stomach was now killing him and his nausea had skyrocketed.

“Feel better?”  Diluc asked, staring at Kaeya.

While the other man had a bit more clarity in his eyes he still appeared dazed, Kaeya doesn’t answer Diluc though merely staring at the countertop, his eye narrow as he absentmindedly rubs at his stomach.

“I….” Kaeya begins, but stops, falling quiet once more, his lips pressed into a thin line.

He can feel his stomach churning beneath his hand, a sharp pain stabbing him in the stomach as the soup he’d forced down sloshed inside. Kaeya closes his eye, his face in his hands giving a soft groan as he swallows hard trying to force down the wave of bile burning at the back of his throat.

Great, this is just great, he thinks, now having to deal with an aching stomach on top of everything else. He swallows again trying to clear away the salvia now steadily filling his mouth, he opens his eye but doesn’t lift his head, pretty sure that any movement at the moment was just a bad idea.

He needed to keep it down, one because he was exhausted and just wanted a moment without his body trying to kill him, and two because he’s pretty sure that if he can’t Diluc will drag him off to the cathedral to have Barbara look at him.

“Kaeya?” Diluc said when the man didn’t answer him. He felt a sharp spike of concern when Kaeya groaned again and slowly raised his head.

Kaeya looks absolutely sick and miserable, his skin strongly tinged with green. Kaeya closes his eye swallowing hard.

“Fuck,” he whispered, his voice breaking on the word, his breath hitching.

Diluc grimaces before reaching out, intending to try and comfort him but in the next moment, he jumps, startled when Kaeya’s body jolts with a loud burp, and in the next second he retches bringing up a watery wave of vomit.

The barely digested soup splashes right back into the bowl Kaeya still has in front of him, the broth now tinged a murky orange from the bile it’d been mixed with looking just about the same as it had when Kaeya had eaten it.

Slightly stunned Diluc merely stands there watching for a moment, although he’s moving quickly practically running around the counter when Kaeya lurches forward with another retch that has another, smaller wave of bile and soup splashing into the bowl, the sickening slurry sloshing as it grows.

“Okay, okay, shit just try to get it up,” Diluc said as he gathered Kaeya’s hair up with one hand, his other going to his back, rubbing in small circles as Kaeya burps and retches up another wave.

Admittedly, Diluc can’t help but feel guilty considering he did make Kaeya eat, but had legitimately thought Kaeya would be able to handle it. Obviously, he’d been wrong.

Kaeya groaned, panting as he swallows, threads of drool hanging from his mouth and tears in his eyes. He takes a deep shuddering breath, soft hiccups still leaving his mouth.

“Oh, oh archons,” he whispered. “That…was awful.”

Diluc grimaces biting his lip, Kaeya still looks miserable although seemingly more drained and exhausted. And despite his lucidity, Kaeya’s fever is still present.

“Would you like some water?” Diluc eventually manages to ask.

Kaeya shook his head as he gagged, bringing up a trickle of bile that adds to the slurry in the bowl in front of him. “No…” Kaeya sighed softly. “I need to go home, try to sleep this off,” he mumbled, not thrilled by that idea.

His head felt like it was being split open, the nagging pain that’d been there early only intensified by his vomiting episode. His stomach is sore and still churning despite having wrung out all its contents.

Without waiting for Diluc to say anything Kaeya gets to his feet, closing his eye when the world seemed to sway and he stumbled, feeling Diluc grab his arm to keep him upright.

Diluc gives a soft hiss as he wraps an arm around Kaeya’s waist just in case his legs gave out beneath him. And considering Kaeya had nearly collapsed to the floor seconds ago, Diluc was right to be worried.

“You need to rest, ” Diluc muttered with a scowl.

Kaeya takes a deep breath as he opens his eye. “I know, that’s why I’m going home.”

Diluc sighed. “You can barely stand up, how do you expect to get there.”

Kaeya shrugged. “Walking I guess, not that far anyway, ” he mumbled. Truthfully the thought of moving anywhere let alone walking made the ache in his joints grow.

Kaeya tries to walk, or rather stagger, towards the door but Diluc doesn’t release him merely holding him gently in place. “Kaeya, I’m not letting you walk home in this state. You can sleep upstairs. There’s a spare bed in the attic, ” Diluc told him.

Diluc had it placed up there in the first place whenever he was too tired to return to the Winery, he also frequently used it to sleep in after doing his usual nightly patrol around Mondstadt.

Kaeya frowned, blinking slowly. “Oh right, there is a bed up there, ” he muttered more to himself than Diluc.

If Kaeya had been feeling fine, instead of the miserable mess he currently was, Diluc might’ve asked him how he’d already known about the bed beforehand. Instead, he makes a mental note to ask him later as he carefully begins leading Kaeya upstairs.

Kaeya leans heavily on him, his ragged shuddering breaths fanning across Diluc’s neck.

Diluc would put Kaeya in bed then go get either Barbara or Sucrose, he’d get Albedo if he knew where on Dragonspine the alchemist had gone off to but he didn’t.

Kaeya practically collapses face-first on the bed, a loud sigh of relief leaving him. He rolls over slightly, fingers fumbling as he removes his boots after they’re off Kaeya sets about removing some of the more constricting and uncomfortable pieces of his uniform.

Diluc stands to the side occasionally helping Kaeya when it seems like he’s having a bit of trouble with the numerous clasps and buckles.

“How did you even manage to get all this on in your condition,” Diluc asked genuinely curious, knowing firsthand how complicated it could be to put on the knight Captain uniform.

“Muscle memory and determination,” Kaeya mumbled, his voice muffled due to the fact he had his face buried in one of the pillows.

“I’m going to go see if I can get Barbara for you and if she’s not available then Sucrose,” Diluc told him, getting ready to go back downstairs.

“Wait,” Kaeya said, raising his head to look at Diluc. He’d removed his eyepatch but his right eye remained closed.

“What is it?” Diluc asked, pausing at the stairs as he looked back at Kaeya.

Kaeya sighs, closing his eye as he goes quiet for a moment. Then he opens it looking slightly embarrassed. “Do…would you mind staying with me for a little bit?”

Diluc frowns merely blinking for a moment or two. It’s not an odd request considering Kaeya used to ask that of him whenever he got sick when they were kids, but it is one Diluc hasn’t heard for a while even nowadays so it’s admittedly a bit surprising.

He smiles slightly and Kaeya gives a soft huff. “You know what forget I said anything, ” he muttered looking even more embarrassed. He rolls over in bed so that he’s facing the wall, his face feeling like it’s burning and not just from the fever.

“I’ll stay, at least until you fall asleep, ” Diluc told him softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Typically Childe somehow always woke up later than Zhongli. There would be times where Childe would wake up at 3 am to train and find Zhongli downstairs cooking breakfast.

So, when he wakes up one early morning and finds Zhongli still sleeping beside him curled up in bed, Childe can’t help but feel slightly smug. Especially as he just sits there for a moment or two staring at Zhongli’s peacefully sleeping face, it was a rare sight, one that Childe would definitely remember for a while.

He gives Zhongli a kiss on the cheek before he carefully climbs out of bed to get the day started. After training, however, he is slightly surprised when he comes into the kitchen that Zhongli isn’t there.

Since he woke up before Childe, Zhongli would usually make breakfast or if they woke up at roughly the same time they’d make breakfast together. While Childe typically made dinner, it wasn’t like Childe couldn’t cook but he definitely found it odd that Zhongli wasn’t up yet.

Frowning, he returns to the bedroom to check on him.

Zhongli feels…strange. Although he’s not sure why, everything feels too warm, uncomfortably hot even as though flames are licking at his skin. He tries to move the blankets but his limbs feel heavy, weighed down, exhaustion tugging at him as his body pleads with him to go back to sleep.

He’s dazed, a low groan leaving his lips as he shifts slightly, he can feel something running gently along his skin as his human appearance begins to slip a bit, but he’s too tired to care right now, to be honest. Instead, he curls further under the blanket, ducking his head down as he tries to escape the sunlight streaming in through the windows and making his head throb.

There’s a haze-like fog blanketing his mind, making it hard for him to form any thoughts. The only thing that does manage to pierce through the fog with horrible clarity is the vicious throbbing pain in his head, the weight of his antler-like horns making things worse.

Zhongli scowls, his eyes opening slightly when he hears familiar footsteps, even in his tired mind he faintly recognizes them as Childe’s.

“Zhongli?” Childe said as he stopped at the edge of the bed. His eyes are wide when he notices the long lizard-like tail peeking out from beneath the blanket Zhongli is practically balled up under, and the glowing cor lapis colored horns poking out from beneath the top of the blanket.

The consultant doesn’t answer him though, still curled up beneath the blanket. Now slightly worried, Childe sits down on the edge of the bed and reaches out, finding what he thinks is Zhongli’s shoulder and grabbing it.

“Zhongli, are you alright? It’s time to get up,” Childe told him, giving his shoulder a gentle shake.

Shaking, the world is shaking, and Zhongli doesn’t like it one bit, groaning; he slowly sits up blearily blinking as he sways in place.

Everything is bright and hot, the world a swirling mess of colors in front of his eyes. It makes him dizzy, and Zhongli gives a soft hiccup that breaks off into a low groan as his stomach flips inside of him.

Childe can only stare in awe, he’s seen Zhongli’s dragon form before during the rite of Descension and during his fight with the Traveler at the golden house. But that had been an empty shell, and while Zhongli was not fully in his dragon form at the moment, it was nothing compared to the real thing.

Glowing golden antlers the color of cor lapis sprawled out from beneath his dark hair. Rich brown scales the color of earth, covered his arms and the back of his hands not to mention the long tail.

“Zhongli? Are you okay?” Childe asked softly, trying to peer into his face, his hand still on Zhongli’s shoulder. But the other man didn’t seem to hear him, half-lidded glassy, glazed over, glowing eyes focused downward at the blanket.

Frowning Childe gives Zhongli another slight shake trying to get his attention, freezing when Zhongli’s low groan breaks off into a wet-sounding hiccup that has him gagging over his own lap, a small wave of vomit splattering against the blanket.

Childe sits there frozen and wide-eyed as Zhongli retches, threads of drool hanging from his lips as he brings up another wave of bile and last night’s dinner. The liquid is slightly thick, the disgusting lumpy slurry pooling on the blanket covering Zhongli’s lap.

Zhongli whimpers softly, a weak whining noise that snaps Childe out of his stunned daze. Cursing under his breath, he reaches out, holding Zhongli’s hair as he brushes his bangs out of his face, when Childe’s fingers brush across his forehead though Childe scowls.

“A-Ajax, I don’t feel well,” Zhongli manages to get out in between his retching.

“I know, I can see that, in fact, it feels like you have a fever,” Childe muttered as he felt Zhongli’s forehead. Heat is practically rolling off his skin, which isn’t exactly good.

Childe couldn’t help but even wonder how this kind of thing could happen. How could an Adepti or an Archon for that matter get sick, was it poison? Some kind of unnatural effect of no longer having his gnosis?

Childe didn’t know and that was what concerned him. He was used to caring for people when they got sick, he had a big family and a few younger siblings so it came with the territory. But his siblings were human, so he knew what to expect.

He looks back at Zhongli when he groans again, soft hiccups still leaving his mouth as he leans into Childe’s touch.

Childe sighed, biting his lip. First thing first, he needed to get Zhongli out of bed and clean up, then hopefully try to get him to eat something light and give him some medicine.

There was another issue as well, Childe had to leave home soon for work. To not only oversee some new recruits but also the inspection of one of the factories manufacturing ruin guards in Liyue, meaning that he couldn’t stay here with Zhongli the whole day like he wanted.

The Tsaritsa’s word was law and disobeying it wouldn’t end well, it didn’t matter if he was a harbinger or not.

He didn’t truly know who he could ask either, with the Traveler having left for Mondstadt yesterday evening and the fact that he had few friends in Liyue harbor even fewer after the Osial incident.

Besides meeting Ganyu a few times when he first arrived as a diplomatic envoy he didn’t know of any other Adepti in Liyue harbor. And while Zhongli had told him a bit about the Adeptus staying at Wangshu inn, Childe was pretty sure he’d be killed on sight if he attempted to talk to Xiao.

This wasn’t something he could just pass off to his subordinates either, because while he could trust them to do certain things this definitely wasn’t one of them. Childe has an of idea what he can do however, his body will hate him for it later but it’s worth it in this case.

“Do you think you’re done for now, ” Childe asked Zhongli softly. He needs to get Zhongli to the bathroom but doesn’t want to risk being responsible for immediately setting off his stomach again.

Zhongli has his arms wrapped around his stomach as he leans into Childe’s grip. His face is pale, almost ashen as if all the color had been drained from it.

But he slowly nods at Childe’s question, his grip on his stomach tightening a bit when it makes a low gurgling noise and practically sloshes inside of him. He can feel his stomach contents soaking into the blankets on his lap and that combined with the sharp bitter scent of bile does nothing to help his nausea.

Honestly though, throwing up only made his headache worse, the constant throb disrupting any attempt he makes at trying to concentrate and he can practically feel it in his horns.

Childe’s hands are cool, soothing Zhongli slightly as he runs them through his hair.

He opens his eyes a bit when he feels Childe shift, his tail reaching up and out to coil around Childe’s waist slightly, in an attempt to keep him close as Childe carefully rolls the blankets back

“Okay, let’s get you into the tub, ” Childe murmured as he carefully lifted Zhongli into his arms.

Zhongli sighs softly, practically nuzzling his face into Childe’s neck. The familiar scent calmed his frayed nerves slightly.

He opens his eyes slightly when Childe’s arms disappear as he is sat down on the edge of the bathtub for a moment, Childe steadying him when he sways making sure he doesn’t fall in or anything.

“I have to do some work today so I can’t stay home with you, but I’ll go get the Traveler to look after you while I’m out and I’ll come home to check on you the moment I can,” he told Zhongli as he filled up the bathtub.

Zhongli slowly blinks then nods slightly. “Alright,” he said after a moment, Childe’s words just barely registering in his mind.

If he had been able to focus at the moment he would’ve had the forethought to ask exactly how Childe was going to get to Mondstadt in the span of a day or less.

Once Zhongli was settled in the tub Childe set about cleaning up and changing the sheets.

The water was warm, cozy almost and it made Zhongli want to go back to sleep. But along with that it managed to bring some clarity, and ease the heavy ache settled in his limbs.

Zhongli frowned, noticing his tail and scales, he debates if he should attempt to return to his human appearance but knows that it requires energy to do so. Energy that he doesn’t have at the moment.

He has enough clarity to at least semi-understand what was wrong with him, although he’s never experienced being ill like this until now.

There have been attempts to poison him in the past but they rarely succeeded.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Barbatos had ever had to deal with something like this, especially now that his gnosis was also gone.

Zhongli gives a soft huff, his tail flicking out. Well, there wasn’t much he could do about it now, it was just best to just wait for it to pass.

He carefully climbs out of the bathtub, drying off and grabbing the clothes Childe had left out for him.

His head is still aching, and his stomach is still churning but at least he has some of his clarity back. Still, a bit under steady on his feet he makes his way back to the bedroom.

Childe looks up at him with a slight smile, still in the middle of making up the bed.

“There we go. Feel a bit better,” Childe asked, coming over to Zhongli. He steadies the man when he sways on his feet a bit.

Zhongli nodded a soft sigh leaving his mouth as he leaned into Childe’s grip slightly. “Yes, I do feel slightly better than before,” he muttered.

Childe chuckled, smiling as he ran a hand through Zhongli’s hair, minding his horns. “Think you can manage something light for breakfast?” He asked, peering into Zhongli’s face.

The other man looks a bit better, he’s still pale but he’s not practically grey anymore at least. Although his stomach is still growling softly and he’s rubbing it almost absentmindedly with one hand.

Zhongli is quiet for a moment then he slowly nods.

“I already told you this but in case you don’t remember, I have some important work today so I can’t stay home with you. But someone will be here with you and I’ll come home to check on you through the day when I have time,” Childe reminded him, looking up from his own breakfast.

Zhongli glanced up from the broth he was eating and nodded. “I recall you saying something to that effect,” he said softly. He’s exhausted and just wants to crawl back into bed to sleep.

He doesn’t ask who, because if Childe trusts them enough to look after Zhongli in this state then he must know them well.

Childe smiled when he saw Zhongli’s tail flick out slightly despite the neutral expression on his face. “Do you still know you’re like that?” Childe asked, gesturing to his tail and horns.

“It requires energy to maintain my fully human appearance, that energy is difficult to find at the moment,” Zhongli sighed, setting his spoon off to the side. His appetite had disappeared and it probably wasn’t a good idea to force himself to eat, if the churning of his stomach was anything to go by.

Zhongli ran a hand over his face giving a low groan, his head was still throbbing making it hard to gather his thoughts. Not to mention he could feel that haze enveloping his mind once again blanketing it and smothering his thoughts. He didn’t understand how humans dealt with this happening so frequently. How did they tolerate it?

Zhongli looks up when he feels Childe lay a hand on his shoulder. A slight smile crosses his face as Childe presses his forehead to Zhongli’s, one hand cupping the consultant’s face.

“Your fever’s still there,” Childe muttered with a scowl. “Come on, I’ll give you some medicine so you can go back to sleep.”

Once Zhongli was finally back in bed, Childe gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. “I’ll be back soon okay. Just wait for me and don’t leave the house, love you.”

Zhongli nodded as he looked up at Childe with half-lidded eyes, sleep and exhaustion tugging heavily at the edges of his mind.

With Childe’s soothing presence by his side, he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take him.

Once Zhongli is asleep, Childe gives him another kiss on the cheek. He makes sure the blankets are tucked around Zhongli before he moves.

Then Childe leaves the house biting his lip as he glances up and down the near-empty streets of Liyue harbor.

And so with his worry still eating away at him and with little to no one around, Childe closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and lets the power of the abyss take him.

~~~

“You really scared us when you showed up in your Foul Legacy transformation,” the Traveler sighed as Childe set them down. “Are you gonna be okay?” They ask as Childe’s transformation leaves him.

The abyssal armor crumbling away in a small burst of shadows. Childe stumbles, his muscles screaming at him in agony. “Y-yeah, just need a minute,” he mumbled, running a hand over his face.

His stomach feels like it’s trying to crawl out of his mouth and his head feels like it’s being stabbed. So business as usual right after using the Foul legacy transformation basically.

It was one thing his body could never get used to, he used to pass out right after using it but with a lot of training, it became as manageable as it was now. But Childe didn’t care how much it hurt, all that mattered was that Zhongli wouldn’t be left alone while he was basically sick and helpless.

“How did he even get sick anyway?” Paimon asked as they followed Childe into the house.

“I don’t know, I didn’t even know he even could until today,” Childe sighed, running a hand through his hair.

The Traveler gave a low hum and nodded. “He’s sleeping right?”

“Yeah, upstairs in our bed. I put up some soup for whenever he wakes up. If he can keep that down, then give him the medicine again if enough time has passed,” Childe told them.

The Traveler just nodded as they looked around the house in awe, it was cozy and warm, filled with a lot more life than they had expected. Although considering the way they’d seen Childe act during Teucer’s visit, it made more sense than they’d like to admit.

“Got it,” the Traveler muttered.

Childe just nodded before leaving the house once more, his first stop was the factory for the inspection. And that was a good ways out away from Liyue harbor so he better get moving while he still had time.

~~~

Zhongli doesn’t know what time it is when he wakes up again, all he does know is that it’s still too bright and hot.

His head feels like it’s splitting in two, so he burrows further beneath the blankets, his stomach churning like a whirlpool.

Strangely enough though even when he hides beneath the blankets he doesn’t feel the slightest bit soothed as he had before.

As he sits up slightly he can’t help but sense someone else’s presence in the house. It’s familiar to him but definitely isn’t Childe’s.

He shifts, moving very carefully until he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. He stops moving for a moment, his hand clamped over his mouth as the broth he’d eaten practically sloshes against the wall of his stomach.

Zhongli’s eyes widened as he gags behind his hand, his stomach flipping inside of him as coppery-tasting saliva fills his mouth.

A bag. He needs a bag or some type of container now. His eyes darted frantically around the room for a moment before landing on a trash can that Childe had more than likely placed there for him.

He grabs it just as the bile bubbling and burning the back of his throat fills his mouth, his cheeks puffing out as he leans over the trash can in his lap.

His hand drops away from his mouth as he opens it, allowing the watery wave of vomit to splatter into the trash can. He groans, panting for a moment threads of drool hanging from his mouth, although he looks up as he hears footsteps quickly approaching.

Seconds later the Traveler and Paimon appeared in the doorway. “Zhongli?” The Traveler said, their eyes wide.

Zhongli attempts to open his mouth to greet them but before he can he retches bringing up a watery wave of vomit. It Is sour, bitter, and incredibly salty as it coats his tongue, and Zhongli can’t help but shudder with disgust as Paimon shrieks.

The noise practically stabbing him in the skull.

Zhongli nearly sees stars bursting behind his eyes as he lurches forward dry heaving as his stomach still tries to wring itself out.

He feels a gentle hand on his back and he flinches away, the touch, unlike Childe’s, aggravating his frayed nerves.

The Traveler looks at him anxiously biting their lip. “Do you need anything?” They asked softly when Zhongli had stopped dry heaving.

Glowing amber eyes glance up at them. “Childe, but he is not here. So I will just rest,” he murmurs, setting the trashcan on the floor once more before crawling back into bed.

As he closes his eyes again he hears the Traveler and Paimon moving carefully around the room before leaving him alone once more.

Zhongli just wants the pain to stop, even Childe’s presence would help slightly. That’s when Zhongli thinks of something, Childe may not be here but something else is.

Zhongli moves even more carefully this time as he shakily climbs out of bed and makes his way to the closet.

~~~

The first time Childe finds a break in the middle of work to come home and check on Zhongli, it is late afternoon. As he opens the door and walks inside he finds the Traveler sitting at the kitchen table eating with Paimon, reading one of Zhongli’s many books he had around the house.

“You look awful,” Paimon said in shock, bringing her food with her as she appeared in front of Childe.

Childe gives a huff, he is exhausted and he feels a headache coming on but that isn’t important right now, waving away Paimon he turns to the Traveler. “How is he?” He asked them.

“He threw up again and tried to leave the bed but decided to go back to sleep when he found out you weren’t here. I didn’t try giving him the medicine since he’d just got sick,” the Traveler told them.

Childe nodded before going to the bedroom to check on Zhongli.

He frowns, stopping in the doorway when he sees the closet door open and clothes hangers placed haphazardly on the floor. Had the Traveler done this or maybe Paimon?

Zhongli definitely wouldn’t considering how meticulous he was about keeping everything clean and in order around the house.

It’s not just the hangers either; most of his shirts and some of the spare blankets were gone.

Later, he reminds himself. He should check on Zhongli first before dealing with the Traveler or Paimon.

“Zhongli?” Childe said softly as he approached the bed, he could see the tip of Zhongli’s tail poking out from beneath the blanket.

Still, he’s not exactly prepared for what he finds when he rolls the blanket back a bit. Zhongli is curled up, still partially out of his human form, in a near cocoon or nest, he’s made using a bunch of Childe’s shirts and the spare blankets.

He’s clutching one of the shirts from the pile tightly to his chest, a relatively peaceful look on his face despite the soft shuddering breaths leaving his mouth and the feverish blush on his face.

Giving him a warm smile Childe bends down a bit, giving him a kiss on the cheek before tucking the blankets back over him.

Zhongli’s fever feels about the same so he tells the Traveler to give him some medicine the next time he wakes up, before leaving the house once more, a grin on his face.

~~~

It is dark when Childe returns home for the day having completed his necessary work. He bids the Traveler farewell thanking them for their help, telling them that if they ever need his help to tell him and he’ll do his best to help.

Zhongli is still asleep when Childe makes his way into the bedroom, still curled up in the nest of blankets and shirts. Although this time when Childe gives him a kiss on the cheek Zhongli’s eyes flutter opening slightly.

The man yawns as he turns a bit to look at Childe, he still seems dazed but his fever is a bit lower than the last time Childe checked.

Zhongli smiles and reaches out, grabbing Childe and dragging him into the bed practically latching onto him as his tail coils around Childe’s waist.

Zhongli sighed softly nearly nuzzling Childe’s neck, the ache that’d been viscously throbbing in his head seems to ease up ever so slightly. He still feels too hot and his skin is sensitive but feeling Childe’s cool hands on him does wonders for his frayed nerves.

Childe shifts slightly in Zhongli’s grip but it doesn’t loosen, which isn’t surprising, making Childe give a soft chuckle. “I was gonna ask if you missed me but considering you stole all my shirts I think I have my answer.”

Zhongli gives a soft hum then draws back a bit to give Childe a sleepy grin full of fondness and warmth. “Ajax, you’re back,” he said softly.

Childe’s brain nearly short circuits at the look Zhongli gives him, before he finally manages to speak any of his teasing air from earlier thrown completely out the window as he pulls him closer, resting his forehead on Zhongli’s. “That’s right, I am,” he reassured him, a slight blush on his face. “And I promise, I’m not going anywhere.” As Childe spoke he ran his fingers through Zhongli’s hair.

They persevered and pushed on no matter the trials and tribulations they faced.

A true testament to their strength and stubbornness, Zhongli found it absolutely amazing and from time to time he enjoyed watching them test their limits.

So it was no surprise to anyone really that he ended up dating Childe of all people.

A young man who was stubborn and intent on not only pushing his limits but surpassing them. And that was one of the things Zhongli loved most about him.

“Why do they only have chopsticks, ” Childe huffed with a scowl, as he struggled to pick up one of the dumplings in front of him.

Zhongli merely smiled as he used his own pair of chopsticks to pick up one of the dumplings. “Here you are, ” he muttered, bringing the piece of food to Childe’s mouth.

The other man gave a huff as he took the food, being no stranger to Zhongli feeding him off of his chopsticks like he usually did when they had dinner together.

Grumbling under his breath Childe glanced up when he realized Zhongli was just staring at him. “Enjoying yourself?” He asked once he’d swallowed the piece of food.

He’d caught Zhongli staring at him more than a few times, especially when he was eating. It was as if any other thought the consultant had seemed to vanish.

Zhongli nodded, a smile on his face. “Quite a bit, yes.”

“That’s good, ” Childe said with a grin.

He’s aware of Zhongli’s eyes on him as he struggles to pick up another dumpling.

Why in the world was this so difficult? Childe needed to remember to bring a fork and spoon with him next time they ate out somewhere.

He looks up again when he sees Zhongli holding out another piece of food for him to eat.

There’s a strange yet familiar glint in Zhongli’s eyes as he watches Childe eat.

And Childe smirks once he’s eaten the piece of food. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you like watching me eat, ” he chuckled. It’s stated less like a joke and more like a fact.

One that they both know is true, it’s not surprising to Childe either considering they’ve done kink stuff before and Childe knows that Zhongli wouldn’t do it if he didn’t enjoy it as well.

Zhongli gives a soft hum. “Perhaps I do, ” he said after a moment. As he speaks he grabs another piece of food, bringing it to Childe’s mouth.

Childe gave a small snort. “Perhaps he says.”

Zhongli merely shrugged, although his eyes zero in on Childe’s mouth as he watches him chew. “The answer is yes then, may I ask why you are bringing it up at the moment?”

Zhongli knew that Childe typically only brought it up when he was in the mood. And he couldn’t help but feel excitement buzzing in his veins just below the surface. His attention was completely captured by Childe.

Childe gives a soft hum, crossing his arms. “Why am I asking, ” he said almost thoughtfully, his usual teasing tone lacing his words.

Zhongli sighed knowing he’d have to ask outright when Childe got like this. He glanced around the restaurant, more out of reflex than anything, knowing that it was already empty due to Childe having reserved it entirely for him and Zhongli.

“May…I ask why you are bringing up our bedroom activities now?” Zhongli asked after a moment, his eyes glancing back down to the plate of food in front of him.

Childe smirked when he saw the slight red blush on Zhongli’s face. Seeing him flustered even slightly was always a treat. Childe gave a soft hum. “I was just wondering if you want to have some fun later?” Childe asked, leaning forward a bit to peer into Zhongli’s face.

“I would need time to prepare, as usual,” Zhongli told him, his tone almost thoughtful. Although he looks slightly confused when Childe gives a soft laugh.

“What I mean is, would you like to take the reins this time?” Childe asked him. “It would be a nice departure from what we usually do.”

For a moment Zhongli is quiet merely thinking about what Childe had just said, then it clicked and Childe laughed when Zhongli looked at him, amber eyes practically glowing.

“Childe, Ajax…do you truly mean that?” Zhongli asked him, his full attention on Childe. Excitement hummed in his veins, leaving him feeling as though he had too much energy at the moment.

Childe grinned, he couldn’t help the sense of pride that flowed through him. “Yes, we just need a date and place to do it though. I’ll let you choose since it’ll be your special day.”

Zhongli merely nodded the gears in his turning, he knew exactly what he wanted. It was something he’d thought about often but was unsure of how to bring it up as well as worried that Childe wouldn’t enjoy the idea, from the almost beaming grin Childe gave him though Zhongli realized he’d been completely wrong.

“Just tell me what you want to do so I can prepare ahead of time, I don’t mind surprises but it’d probably be best,” Childe said as he tapped a finger almost absentmindedly on the table.

He smirks when Zhongli’s eyes glance down at the food in front of him before glancing back up his eyes on Childe’s lips. “I…would like to test your limits,” he said softly, seemingly choosing his words carefully.

Childe chuckled. “If you want to spar with me all you have to do was say the word.”

He laughs when Zhongli gives an almost exasperated-sounding sigh. “Childe…”

“I know, I know, you wanna feed me until I can’t take it anymore huh?” Childe said his tone was light and teasing, a smirk on his face as he took one of Zhongli’s hands in his own.

Zhongli sighed again, his gaze on the food in front of him, a slight red blush on his face. “Please do not phrase it like that but yes,” he admits softly.

“There we go, now we just need a date and location. Both our apartments could work,” Childe said, giving a soft hum as he closed his eyes lost in thought.

“There…is a location that would be suitable for what we intend to do. I have also been meaning to take you there at one point,” Zhongli told him after a moment.

“Good now we need time, you’ll need time to cook and I need time to prepare…” Childe murmured. He reached out, grabbing his glass of wine and taking a sip.

“I will retrieve you when the preparations have been made,” he said, clearing his throat. He felt as if he couldn’t calm down, and if the almost mischievous glint in Childe’s eyes was anything to go by it was the same for him as well.

~~~

Childe was admittedly a bit antsy and riled up but he couldn’t help it. He was practically bursting with excitement waiting for Zhongli to come get him so that they could finally have fun.

Battle did help quell the urge slightly and kept his hands busy, but his mind still wandered which left him feeling warm, almost feverish, all of his senses on edge. Hell, he could barely focus on the paperwork in front of him.

“Sir, perhaps you should find Mr. Zhongli,” Ekaterina suggested at one point, as she watched Childe reread a piece of paperwork in his hand for the third time.

“I’m fine, besides he’s supposed to come get me when things are ready,” Childe sighed, setting the paperwork aside to look at her.

It’d been half a week since he’d last spoken to Zhongli, and he had no idea where the man had gone considering Childe had not seen him around Liyue harbor lately as well. Wangsheng funeral parlor was the first place Childe had looked but Hu Tao had told him that Zhongli was busy, she didn’t say with what, but Childe knew.

That hadn’t succeeded in calming him down, however, even slightly. If anything his anticipation grew, as his imagination fueled it which now led to his current predicament.

“Right, of course, sir,” Ekaterina sighed, sounding completely unconvinced and she had every right to be considering Childe looked about five seconds away from pacing his office like a caged animal.

Childe took a deep breath trying to calm himself down a bit, when it didn’t work he got to his feet. “I’ll be back soon, need to take a walk,” he muttered, grabbing his bow as he headed for the door.

“Liyue won’t need any protectors if you continue slaughtering every beast within a 20-mile radius.” He hears Ekaterina mumble under her breath.

Childe ignores her as he makes his way outside. By the time he makes it a good ways outside Liyue, a different kind of excitement replaces the arousal that had been nearly consuming him. His thoughts are clear and focused.

He’s just finished slaughtering a group of hilichurls when a large shadow fell over him, he glances up briefly only to do a double-take when a large serpent-like creature lands in front of him.

For a second all he can do is stare, taking in the rich brown scales the color of earth, the glowing amber antlers the color of Cor Lapis, the fluffy mane of fur around the creature’s neck. It shakes itself slightly before glowing cor lapis colored eyes gaze down at Childe. If the beast was actually a threat to Childe he’d be dead by now considering how long he’d been simply staring in awe.

But it’s not, it is known as the Exuvia, although Childe knows it as something or rather someone else

“Z-Zhongli…” Childe manages to get out as he stares with a mix of wide-eyed awe and shock.

Zhongli gives a soft huff and Childe thinks he grins, at least it seems like he does.

Moments later an amber glow cloaks his form and when it disappears Zhongli is standing there in his human form blinking slowly.

Childe rushes over to him practically leaping into his arms as he slung his arms around Zhongli’s neck. “Finally, do you know how long I was waiting for you?”

Zhongli merely smiled, his hands on Childe’s waist. “I apologize, I needed time to prepare everything. However as promised I have come to retrieve you, shall we be off?”

The excitement of battle leaves him, and Childe nods almost frantically.

~~~

“So this is your domain…I figured you have one,” Childe muttered as he looked around the area. Childe had a feeling that Zhongli would take him to Jueyun Karst although he hadn’t known where exactly.

Zhongli merely gives a hum, not acknowledging Childe as he continued to lead him down the twisting hallways. And Childe grinned licking his lips.

This was going to be a lot of fun, and a little painful but it wasn’t anything Childe hadn’t asked for or didn’t want. He welcomed it in fact, eager to see just how Zhongli would go about this.

“Here we are,” Zhongli murmured as he opened one of the large doors in front of him.

Childe’s eyes widen and a low whistle leaves his mouth when he sees what’s inside the room. A large dining table piled with a near buffet of food, he could recognize a lot of it as Liyuean cuisine but a few others seemed to be recipes from Mondstadt, Inuzuma, and even Sneznahya.

“Oh wow, no wonder it took you half a week to come get me, did you prepare all of this by yourself,” Childe asked, slightly surprised. Although he honestly shouldn’t have been considering how much he knew about Zhongli.

“Yes, that is correct. I wanted this moment to be special, most of the dishes were created using recipes by memory,” Zhongli explained.

Childe merely hummed nodding, Zhongli always did seem to have a near-perfect memory so he’s not surprised that he knows all these recipes practically by heart.

Zhongli turns to him and takes a deep breath. “Are you still sure that you want this Childe? I will not be upset if you have changed your mind.”

Childe gives a soft snort. “Do you know how excited I’ve been for this? I could barely think straight let alone get any work done,” he muttered.

Zhongli smiled. “Yes, I am aware of the lack of monsters near Liyue harbor.” He gives a soft hum, “Which word shall we use in case you’ve had enough.”

Childe smirked. “Can’t believe you’re giving up on me already. I thought you knew me better than that,” Childe teased, then he smiles, that genuine smile full of warmth that Zhongli loves so much. “Let’s use your name this time, your real name.”

Zhongli nodded, closing his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them his eyes were glowing. He looked at Childe, his expression blank, almost as if a switch had been flipped. “Have a seat,” he told him, gesturing to one of the chairs, his gaze on Childe the entire time.

It is not a question, nor is Zhongli requesting that Childe take a seat, it is an order plain and simple. That combined with the inhuman almost ethereal appearance of Zhongli’s eyes has a shiver of pleasure running along Childe’s spine.

Taking a deep breath Childe walks forward, it feels like stepping into a different world entirely once Childe crosses that doorway.

He stops in front of one of the chairs feeling Zhongli’s eyes all the while, that all-knowing gaze practically boring into him.

He takes his time sitting down in the chair, a frown appearing on his face when he notices no utensils in front of him, only an empty wine glass and plate.

“Where are…” he begins looking up as Zhongli walks over to the chair right beside Childe.

“Since you use chopsticks with the same efficiency that you do a bow, I can not trust you to not eat like an uncivilized beast.,” Zhongli explained, his tone cold, almost detached, and clinical.

And yet Childe can’t help but feel like he’s talking down to him, there is an almost condensing layer beneath Zhongli’s words.

Childe gives a snort rolling his eyes. “Do you really think not having chopsticks is gonna stop me,” Childe chuckled as he leaned forward.

He reaches across the table to grab one of the dumplings off of one of the nearby plates with his bare hands, he knows it’s bad manners but he doesn’t care. If Zhongli was going to talk down to him like he was some unruly brat then he was gonna act like one.

Childe jumps slightly, eyes wide with surprise when Zhongli’s hand shoots out wrapping around Childe’s wrists. His grip is tight, just enough to send a slight pleasurable sting across Childe’s skin but not enough to break the limb and Childe knows he’s going to have bruises there later.

Zhongli digs his thumb into Childe’s wrist with enough force that his hand opens, dropping the food back on the plate. “And what is it that you think you are doing,” Zhongli asked calmly, his eyes staring Childe down.

Childe took a deep breath, shuddering breath, licking his lips not bothering to hide his smirk when he saw Zhongli staring at them. “I was getting something to eat, what does it look like. Not everyone can have the patience of an old-” Childe’s eyes go wide as Zhongli cuts him off by using his chopsticks to shove a dumpling into Childe’s mouth.

Zhongli gives a soft huff, ignoring Childe’s stunned gaze as he grabs the plate in front of him and begins putting food on it.

“Be quiet, you talk too much,” Zhongli said, not sparing Childe another glance. His tone makes it sound like an inconvenience or an annoyance.

Childe simply blinks slowly as he chews, the food definitely tastes amazing. Before he can say anything though Zhongli brings a piece of food up to Childe lips for him to take, his head tilting to the side as he merely watches Childe eat, those glowing amber eyes feeling as though they’re pinning Childe in place.

“Now, I would like you to behave yourself and enjoy this meal with me,” Zhongli told him in that same detached tone.

Childe smirks finally getting his bearings once more, his heart feeling like it’s racing a mile a minute. “And if I don’t behave myself? What are you going to do about it huh?”

Zhongli’s eyes snap up to his, as the other man looks at him, his gaze empty as if he’s looking at nothing. “Then your punishment will increase, I do hope that you are not thinking you can go against me, Tartaglia .”

Childe gives a small chuckle a shiver of pleasure running up his spine. “What do you think? I doubt you can break me.”

Zhongli does not show it at the moment, but he absolutely loves that spark of defiance in Childe’s eyes as he stares Zhongli down. Challenging a literal God, many would call Childe stupid or foolish for this, but seeing Childe fight him tooth and nail, resisting at every turn made him happy, proud almost.

“We shall see,” Zhongli muttered a slight smile on his face.

~~~

The food is delicious, absolutely amazing and every time Childe takes a bite Zhongli watches him with an almost intense focus. Childe takes a deep breath leaning away unconsciously when Zhongli brought another piece of food to his mouth.

Zhongli had been feeding him for a while now and Childe couldn’t help but feel a bit full, his stomach felt as though it were slightly stretched. It wasn’t painful or aching but definitely becoming more noticeable.

“I did not say you could stop Tartaglia,” Zhongli said as he slowly blinked. “Giving up so easily? You disappoint me.”

Childe gave a small snort, his eyes narrowing. “I didn’t say I was giving up now did I, you overgrown lizard. I just need a minute.”

Childe is prepared for a lot of things, the smug almost condescending smile Zhongli gives him is not one of them,  he can’t but look wide-eyed and stunned as Zhongli reaches out and grabs his face tightly with one hand, using the other to bring the chopsticks to Childe’s lip he practically shoved the food into the man’s mouth.

“No,” Zhongli told him simply as he watched Childe slowly chew. It’s a single word but it said with such absolute authority that a shiver of pleasure runs along Childe’s spine.

He hadn’t even known that Zhongli could make a face like that but it is doing all the right things for him.

Zhongli can’t help the slight smile that crosses his face when Childe stares at him, that flame of defiance clear in his eyes, like a raging wildfire.

When Childe swallows the food in his mouth he winces, his stomach giving a soft gurgling noise as it begins to ache a bit.

Zhongli chuckles as he glances down at it, then he’s reaching out giving the area a slight pinch, his fingers sinking into the slightly bloated flesh there. Childe jolts slightly at the unexpected action eyes wide for a moment as if he’s startled.

“Your stomach is as noisy and talkative as you,” Zhongli muttered as he began filling another plate with food.

Childe’s eyes narrow as he ignores the slightly angry-sounding growling noises his stomach is making, instead choosing to look at the literal buffet of food in front of him. He could do this, it wouldn’t be the first time Childe pushed himself, it was just like training or a sparring session he could do this and he would, simple as that.

His eyes snapped up to Zhongli when the other man brought another piece of food to his mouth. A smirk crawling across his face. “Disappointing you huh? I’ll show you, let’s do this. I can take it.”

Zhongli grinned as Childe took the piece of food with a huff. He reached out with one hand cupping Childe’s cheek, his thumb gently brushing across it as Childe practically glares at him, eyes full of defiance.

“You are doing well, darling, ” he told him gently as he brought another piece of food to his lips.

As Childe took it Zhongli didn’t miss the way Childe winced nor the way his hand brushes across his stomach as it gives a low gurgling noise.

The sight had a rush of excitement running through Zhongli’s veins, humming just beneath his skin.

~~~

Full, oh Archons was Childe way, way too full. His stomach felt tight and bloated, nearly stretched to the breaking point by the mass of food Zhongli had been feeding him.

The mass of food in question sits heavily in his gurgling stomach, as if he’d swallowed a rock. Every little movement sent a dull ache shooting across his stomach, that had Childe’s bloated abdomen hitching slightly.

He had gone quiet a few moments ago, his eyes squeezed shut, as he tried his best to focus and breathe around the overwhelming waves of nausea crashing over him and the painful tightness in his stomach.

It had him swallowing hard when he felt and tasted bile bubbling at the back of his throat. His stomach is gurgling and sloshing so loudly that the noise almost seems to fill the room, he has no doubt that Zhongli can hear it.

Zhongli is merely watching him, his gaze so focused on Childe that it feels as if the world around them fades away. He admires Childe’s pale, almost ashen skin.

The slight glassy, almost dazed look in those dark blue eyes Zhongli loved so much, the small almost hush panting breaths Childe takes as he swallows thickly, trying his hardest to keep his stomach contents in place.

Zhongli absolutely adores all of it. He reaches out running a gentle hand through Childe’s hair, a warm smile on his face when Childe leans almost unconsciously into Zhongli’s touch. “You look gorgeous, Ajax, ” his tone is gentle, almost soothing.

Childe swallows hard as he glared at Zhongli although he lacks the strength to put any actual malice behind it. “D-don’t patronize me, asshole, ” Childe manages to grow in between his panting.

Zhongli merely stares at him for a moment. Then he smirks his hand leaving Childe’s hair and going to his bloated stomach instead, he lays a hand on it taking a moment to admire the way he could feel it gurgling beneath his hand.

His fingers sinking into the bloated flesh, and Childe gives a soft hiss, his eyes squeezing shut as pain streaked across the area Zhongli was touching.

Zhongli gave a soft hum of what sounded like fascination and curiosity as his hand moves across Childe’s stomach, gently rubbing it almost.

It feels nice honestly, Childe can’t help relax into the touch chasing some form of relief from the ache in his gut and the nausea nagging at him.

Then his eyes snap open in surprise and he jolts when Zhongli suddenly taps on his stomach with a single finger, almost methodically. “Humans are incredibly fascinating, ” he muttered, sounding as if he’s talking more to himself than Childe.

Childe groans low in his throat, his body jolting again, a loud wet burp leaving his mouth when Zhongli touches an incredibly sensitive spot. Childe’s stomach hitches along with his breathing, as a dizzying wave of nausea washes over him that leaves him drooling and swallowing rapidly, his eyes widening when a small amount of bile splashes into his mouth.

Zhongli’s hand swiftly covers his mouth, his eyes narrowing. “ Swallow it , ” he ordered. “Your punishment shall worsen if you fail to heed my words.”

Childe closes his eyes, trying to breathe around the enormous mass of food in his stomach and focus. Bile coats the inside of his mouth, along with the barely digested remnants of his lunch and he can feel Zhongli’s eyes boring into him as he forces himself to swallow hard, forcing back the contents of his stomach.

He shuddered, giving a small groan as the mass of food and bile seemed to plummet into his stomach and sit like a rock causing the irritated organ to cramp and emit an audible gurgling noise.

He’s panting and drooling when Zhongli removes his hand from his mouth, the bitter aftertaste only making his nausea worse and it takes everything he has not to gag on every breath he takes.

Zhongli smiles at the tears of exertion in Childe’s eyes and the way he’s trembling with nausea. His skin coated in a light sheen of sweat.

“You’re doing incredibly well, Ajax, ”  Zhongli assured him.

Childe slowly opens his eyes, shooting Zhongli a glare. “Fuck you, ” he hissed.

Zhongli said nothing, merely blinking slowly for a moment as if he can’t believe Childe spoke to him like that. Then he reaches out, tapping Childe’s bloated stomach twice, looking incredibly pleased when panic flares to life in Childe’s eyes and he swallows rapidly, what little color he has left in his face seems to drain away.

“Would you stop that, you fucking overgrown lizard, ” Childe snapped his eyes wide.

Zhongli smirked at his words as he picked up the chopsticks once more. “If you continue to behave like an unruly brat then I shall treat you as such, ” he told Child as he picked up another piece of food. “We shall see how long that stubbornness lasts.”

Childe gives a small exhausted-sounding chuckle. “Yeah…we’ll see.”

Smiling, Zhongli brought the chopsticks up to Childe’s mouth, a jolt of excitement running through him as Childe took the food, still glaring at him the entire time the defiance clear in his eyes.

~~~

Childe gave a low whimper as he rested his head in his hands, his stomach was absolute agony and way, way too full.

He felt as though he could barely breathe around the enormous mass of food in his stomach and he had to keep swallowing back the bile burning at the back of his throat, it’s incredibly hard to do so since he’s struggling not to gag on every breath he takes.

Zhongli merely watches him for a moment, a smile on his face as he takes in Childe’s appearance. His eyes were glassy and glazed over with tears making his usual sharp blue eyes appear dazed. His face streaked with sweat and he was panting softly, a slight amount of drool trickling from the corner of his lips.

Zhongli reached out, gently carding his fingers through Childe’s hair. “You’re doing so well for me, Ajax.”

Childe merely gives a loud groan, swallowing thickly when a soft hiccup threatens to bring something else with it. The nausea has left him dizzy and weak, his body trembling with the effort of holding everything in this long. His stomach will not shut up, practically screaming at him as it gurgles loudly.

While Zhongli loves Childe’s more defiant side, he absolutely adores his softer, more quiet side as well. It was a nice change of pace, from what Childe normally shows him. So he can’t help but merely admire Childe at the moment, after all, Childe was his.

He reaches out and gently rubs a hand over Childe’s bloated stomach being extremely careful. He can feel the organ hitching beneath his fingers, as Childe struggles to keep himself from throwing up everywhere.

He brings another piece of food up to Childe’s mouth and Childe takes it almost reflexively at this point. Zhongli continues rubbing Childe’s stomach as he picked up another piece of food.

And that piece of food is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, Zhongli leans away as Childe’s stomach hitches practically convulsing as he suddenly retched.

His body giving no other warning that as a thick wave of partially digested food leaves his mouth, it splashed into Childe’s cupped hands the thick, lumpy sludge overfilling them almost immediately, the excess splashing on the half-filled plate in front of him.

Zhongli watches him through half-lidded eyes, an almost morbid look of fascination on his face.

Childe gasped, shaking his head slightly then he’s lurching forward with a loud wet burp, the noise getting choked off as another thick wave of vomit splatters onto the table and his lap.

It’s warm, sticky, and strangely heavy, Childe can feel it soaking into his clothes, the sharp sour scent of bile filling his nose, as the bitter taste of bile mixed with the salty rancid taste of the foods he’d been eating coat his mouth.

He feels Zhongli place a hand on his stomach, he isn’t applying any pressure to it, in fact, his fingers are barely ghosting over the sensitive skin there. What he is doing though is marveling at how he can literally feel Childe’s bloated stomach steadily deflating beneath his hand, as Childe retches up wave after wave of vomit.

It is getting everywhere, on Childe’s clothes, the table, the floor but that doesn’t matter and it’ll be only a minor inconvenience to clean for Zhongli.

He stands up, approaching Childe once the other man eventually sits back with a soft groan, soft hiccups still leaving his mouth as he rubs his stomach.

Childe’s stomach is sore, his throat feels raw and he’s covered in his own vomit but he feels amazing. Refreshed even, he’s panting trying to catch his breath when he feels Zhongli cup his face in his hands and Childe smiles up at him.

Zhongli is quiet as he gently strokes Childe’s lips with one thumb.

While Childe would absolutely love to go another round, he can feel exhaustion crashing down on him heavily now that his body had gotten rid of everything in his stomach, the only thing keeping him from falling asleep right now is the excitement buzzing in his veins.

“Hello there Morax , ” Childe said giving Zhongli a grin.

Zhongli closes his eyes for a moment and his entire body seems to shudder. When he opens them the glow is gone, warmth in his eyes as he looks at Childe, a small smile on his face. “You did incredibly well Ajax. How are you feeling, do you need anything, ” Zhongli asked softly.

“Some water would be nice, ” Childe said, clearing his throat. He chuckles as he looks down at the mess. “Wow, it really got everywhere didn’t it? Maybe we should’ve put an old blanket on the floor or something.”

Zhongli merely gives a soft hum as he leaves to get Childe the water he asked for when he returns with that and a wet washcloth, Childe is in the middle of removing his gloves and jacket, which had gotten most of the mess.

“Thank you, sorry I called you an overgrown lizard,” Childe chuckled smiling slightly as he took the glass of water. It feels amazing on his sore throat.

Zhongli merely shakes his head, a smile on his face as he began to clean Childe’s face. “You called me an old man, as well but I know that you did not mean it,” he reminded Childe.

“You’re six thousand, that is beyond old by human standards,” Childe said but his tone is light and teasing.

Zhongli chuckles. “Hush, you talk too much.”

Childe gives a small snort at his words. “It must really be a lot if I’m hearing that from you of all people.”

For a moment or two a comfortable silence falls between them, Childe merely sipping the glass of water as Zhongli continues his task. “By the way, did you enjoy yourself this time,” Childe asked after a moment. He yawned, stretching doing his best to keep his eyes open despite the soft almost dream-like haze slowly enveloping his thoughts.

“Yes, this was quite nice. And you, I imagine that it was not an easy task,” Zhongli said, speaking from experience.

Childe yawns again. “I did too, it’s fun and not too bad, pretty exciting. I definitely wouldn’t mind doing it again. But right now I just wanna take a bath with you and go to sleep.”

They sat in their usual spot in the center of Liyue harbor, directly across from Wamin Restaurant sharing drinks and dinner as they listened to one of Liyue’s many storytellers.

The particular tale that the storyteller spoke of involved Rex Lapis, in this case how he sealed Osial beneath the ocean depths using enormous pillars of stone.

Zhongli chuckled as he took a sip of his wine. “Admittedly it is to a degree. Rex Lapis could not have defeated Osial on his own.”

Childe gave a soft snort. “Somehow I don’t believe you.” He takes a sip of his wine as Zhongli merely smiles at his words.

They’d been drinking for a while at this point so Childe was more than a little tipsy, that familiar warm hum filling him as the alcohol settled in his veins.

Admittedly Liyue’s wine while strong was incredibly different from the heavy liquors Childe often drank back home. Which meant that Childe could drink a lot more of it, although definitely not as much as Zhongli.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the slight pink blush on Zhongli’s cheeks Childe would be convinced that the alcohol had no effect on him at all.

Admittedly the more competitive side of Childe was a bit upset at that fact.

“If I was an Adepti what do you think I’d be?” Childe asked with a soft hum. He took another sip of his wine.

Zhongli frowned for a moment, giving a soft hum. “May I ask the reasoning behind such a question?”

Childe shrugged before giving him a grin. “I got curious while watching you drink.”

Zhongli closed his eyes for a moment thinking. “A fox perhaps, a dragon would be suitable as well.”

“Are you just saying dragon so that we match, ” Childe chuckled with a teasing smile, although he knew Zhongli did not say something like that so lightly.

Zhongli shakes his head, opening his eyes as he gives Childe a small smile. “You have the ferocity, strength,  and ambition to match. However, you are also incredibly cunning and prone to creating mischief. It is a truly difficult choice.”

Childe reached out grabbing one of Zhongli’s hands and lacing their fingers together. “Ever the smooth talker I see,” Childe said with a warm smile. “For now I don’t mind staying human.”

Childe looked back at the storyteller with a scowl.

“Rex Lapis tore one of Osial’s many heads from his body, casting it aside, ” the storyteller said.

Childe looked back at Zhongli with a soft snort. “Is that part exaggerated too?”

Zhongli glanced away, seemingly slightly embarrassed. “It was an attempt to keep Osial from decimating the harbor with his beams of elemental energy.”

Giving a small laugh Childe grinned. “It worked well then, ” He said, taking a sip of his wine.

~~~

It is late into the night when Zhongli and Childe finish their food and drinks.

A calm silence had fallen on the almost empty streets of Liyue harbor, the majority of the people that often walked its streets having returned home and gone to bed for the night.

“Careful now, ” Zhongli said, reaching out to steady Childe when he stumbled.

Childe gives a small drunken giggle. “I got it, I got it, ” he told him cheerfully, his words slurring slightly.

Between the two of them, Zhongli was the more sober one, although admittedly even he felt a bit tipsy at the moment. A nice, comfortable warmth settling in his body from the alcohol he’d drank.

Childe was completely drunk, however, his body swaying and stumbling his usual careful way of moving having abandoned him.

Although Childe was beginning to think he may have overdone it a bit with the alcohol if the cold nausea settling alongside the warmth from the alcohol was anything to go by.

He yawned, stretching. He didn’t know if it was from sitting down most of the night but his joints felt oddly stiff.

The cold crisp night air was helping him sober up slightly, a small smile on his face as he absentmindedly listened to Zhongli speak.

He scowled, adjusting his scarf slightly, feeling a little too warm despite the cold air.

“Thank you, ” Childe muttered when Zhongli grabbed his arm when he stumbled again.

He gave a soft huff, that cold nausea was spreading churning in the pit of his stomach as it drove away the comfortable warmth that the wine had given him.

Childe stopped walking for a moment, his hand going to his stomach when it felt as though it practically flipped inside of him. Hiccuping softly, his gaze as an intense wave of nausea washed over him. Metallic-tasting saliva suddenly floods his mouth.

“Childe?” Zhongli said turning to look back at him when he realized Childe was no longer walking with him.

Childe was standing one or two feet behind him swaying in place, his face pale, his eyes closed and a hand placed on his stomach.

Childe opens his eyes halfway, swallowing rapidly. “Oh, ” he whispered, his voice wavering and drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Then a moment later he lurched forward with a loud, wet retch sending a large watery wave of regurgitated wine and water splashing onto the ground at his and Zhongli’s feet.

“S-shit, ” Childe whispered, panting as drool dripped from his lips onto the mess on the ground.

Zhongli reached out, grabbing Childe’s shoulders to steady him when Childe lurched forward again a loud, wet burp sending another large wave of watery vomit gurgling up his throat.

Childe overdoing it a bit on the alcohol was nothing new to him or Zhongli, that didn’t make the situation any more pleasant. Especially not when he retched up another wave of vomit adding to the large puddle at their feet.

“It’s alright, I’m right here Ajax, ” Zhongli murmured as he gently rubbed circles on Childe’s back. “Come here, ” Zhongli told him gently as he carefully guided him to one of the nearby railways.

He could feel Childe trembling beneath his hands. And considering he’d already been unsteady on his feet before he started throwing up, Zhongli didn’t want to take the risk of Childe collapsing.

Childe gave a soft groan, panting as he swallowed trying to clear his mouth of that disgustingly bitter aftertaste from his mouth. He lurched forward with a strangled retch that brought up nothing leaving him dry heaving over the ground.

“Okay…I-I might have…overdone it a bit, ” Childe managed to mumble in between the hiccups leaving his mouth.

Zhongli nodded. “Perhaps, ” he sighed as Childe gagged emptily over the ground, tears in his eyes.

He continued to rub Childe’s back as Childe gagged and retched, bringing up nothing.

“Ugh, ” Childe whispered as he shakily wiped his mouth with one hand. “I still feel sick.” Childe sighed, rubbing at his churning stomach with one hand, it was strange, usually, he felt better after throwing up when he’d drank too much.

He had no clue why he still felt nauseous but he doesn’t like it.

“Shall we go home then? You may need to sleep it off, ” Zhongli suggested.

Childe nodded slowly, exhaustion settling in his body.

“Hey, Zhongli?” Childe asked after a moment, as Zhongli led him home by hand.

He’d been rather quiet as they walked both because he still didn’t feel well and because he couldn’t help but be embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

“Yes? Do you feel sick again?” Zhongli asked him as they stopped walking for a moment.

“Well yeah…but, can you ramble like you always do? I need something to help distract me, ” Childe asked softly, grimacing when an intense wave of nausea washed over him.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment swallowing the excess saliva in his mouth, trying not to gag as he took slow deep breaths. Childe cracked one eye open when Zhongli chuckled softly.

“I do not ramble but sure, if it will help ease your pain I shall tell you a few stories, ” he said giving Childe a small smile.

Childe says nothing as he merely closes his eyes and puts all his attention into listening to Zhongli’s soothing voice as they continue to walk.

~~~

The walk back to Zhongli’s apartment is a little slower than usual as Childe does his best to ignore his violently churning stomach.

He doesn’t bother hiding his sigh of relief as he practically tosses himself onto the sofa in the living room, exhaustion weighing down his limbs.

Childe tugs at his scarf slightly attempting to take it off since he felt uncomfortably warm but gives up when his fingers repeatedly fumble with the clasp attaching it to his uniform. Instead, his hand goes to his stomach as he rubs it in an attempt to ease some of the nausea there and gives a soft hiss when he feels it churning beneath his hand.

“Do you need anything? Some water perhaps?” Zhongli asked him gently as he looked at Childe, noting that his face was more than a little pale.

Childe opens one eye slightly to look at him, before silently shaking his head and closing his eye once more, trying to focus on breathing around the dizzying nausea currently assaulting him.

He is exhausted in every sense of the word, and the fact that he feels like he’s going to start gagging with each breath he takes doesn’t help things.

Zhongli nodded as he continued to stare at Childe for a moment or two. Childe was often very talkative, always teasing or just engaging in small talk so to see him so subdued and quiet is admittedly a bit eerie and concerning to Zhongli at least.

Zhongli sighed. “Alright then, I shall go take a shower. I will be back momentarily.”

Childe gives a small nod but doesn’t say anything, one hand still carefully rubbing at his stomach.

Zhongli leaves the door unlocked as he takes his shower, surprisingly though when he finishes up and walks back into the living room Childe is no longer on the sofa.

With a scowl on his face, Zhongli checks the bedroom giving a soft sigh when he sees Childe curled up on the bed, still fully dressed, his eyes closed, and his arms wrapped around his stomach.

Remembering how much he’d struggled to remove his scarf Zhongli reaches out carefully removing Childe’s shoes before setting them aside.

“Ajax, would you like help getting ready for bed?” Zhongli asked him as he gently carded his fingers through Childe’s hair.

Childe gives a soft groan as he opens his eyes, swallowing rapidly to try and clear the near river of drool building up in his mouth. His stomach is in knots as it churns violently and the uncomfortable warmth he’s currently feeling only makes him feel worse.

Maybe changing into something more comfortable would make him feel a bit better but he honestly doesn’t have the strength to do that right now. A small part of him can’t help but wonder how just a few glasses of wine made him feel like this but he’s too miserable right now to care.

Childe moves carefully propping himself up on shaky limbs as he sits up. He closes his eyes for a moment taking slow deep breaths when the movement makes his stomach slosh sickeningly. “I still feel sick,” he whispered, shaking his head.

Zhongli frowned, his concern growing. “Perhaps you will feel better if you get whatever is bothering you up,” he suggested after a moment.

Childe looked absolutely miserable, his skin pale, his body trembling, the tense expression on his face all of it made Zhongli feel strangely helpless at the moment and he didn’t like it one bit.

Childe ran a hand over his face with a soft sigh. “Fine, I’m willing to try anything at this point,” he huffed, this whole entire situation was starting to irritate him.

Zhongli helps Childe to his feet before guiding him to the bathroom by hand. Taking a deep breath Childe kneels in front of the toilet, sticking his tongue out as he allows the excess drool building up in his mouth to drip into the water as he pants and waits for his stomach to give in.

Zhongli watches him with a frown and concern in his eyes, his hand gently rubbing Childe’s back. It was incredibly rare for Childe to get this sick from alcohol alone and Zhongli couldn’t help but wonder if something else was wrong.

Realizing that, that wasn’t working, Childe brought two of his fingers to his mouth, opening it wide as he carefully reached to the back of his throat. He uses the two fingers to carefully stroke the back of his throat, holding his fingers there as he begins gagging at the intrusion, his throat clenching around his fingers as if trying to push them out.

“Ajax?” Zhongli said, concerned when Childe began making small choked gasping noises as if he couldn’t breathe around his hand in his mouth.

Childe removed his hand from his mouth, coughing and gasping as he shook his head, drool coating his hand. “It’s not working,” he mumbled, clearly frustrated.

Zhongli bit his lip as Childe placed his fingers in his mouth once more. “Please be careful, Ajax,” Zhongli told him gently, concerned that Childe may actually end up hurting himself, considering how violent his gagging was getting.

Childe removes his fingers from his mouth groaning, tears in his eyes. “Why won’t it work,” he practically whimpered.

Childe groaned, closing his eyes as he rested his head in his hands, he swallowed thickly, clearing some of the excess drool building up in his mouth.

Childe felt awful, his stomach was in knots,  he was absolutely exhausted, it was uncomfortably warm, and he just wanted to throw up and make all this stop but he couldn’t even have that apparently.

He feels Zhongli’s hand still in the process of rubbing his back and Childe whimpered softly at the loss of comforting contact.

“Ajax, look at me for a moment,” Zhongli told him softly as he laid a hand on Childe’s shoulder.

“Huh?” Childe groaned, raising his head from his hands to look at Zhongli.

When he does Zhongli reaches out cupping Childe’s face with his hands before leaning forward a bit to press Childe’s forehead to his own. Childe gives a soft sigh, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment, it feels nice, soothing even plus Zhongli’s skin feels slightly colder than his.

“You have a fever,” Zhongli said softly, drawing back a bit with a scowl. It helped ease his worry ever so slightly now that he had something that could explain Childe’s current condition.

“Oh,” Childe whispers, looking slightly dazed and Zhongli sighed.

“Come with me, you may feel better if you lay down in bed,” Zhongli suggested, getting to his feet, fatigue beginning to nag at him as well.

Childe shakes his head, however. “I don’t wanna move right now. I’ll come to bed soon,” he sighed as he looked up at Zhongli.

Zhongli merely stared at Childe for a moment, biting his lip. While he could just pick Childe up and bring him to bed he was very sure that Childe wouldn’t appreciate that one bit.

Noticing his hesitation Childe gave him a small but tired smile. “Go,” he insisted softly. “You have to be tired too. I’ll come to bed soon, I just need a few minutes alone.”

After a few moments Zhongli eventually nodded, he gave Childe one final glance before he left the room.

~~~

It is an hour or two later when Zhongli wakes up.

“Ajax,” he said softly, reaching over to the other side of the bed. Unsurprisingly he finds it empty, the blankets and pillow still cold.

Sighing he slowly climbs out of the bed and makes his way into the bathroom, he pauses in the doorway when he sees Childe slumped over the toilet, his head resting on his arms.

He seemed to be sleeping although it was anything but peaceful, his expression tense as he groaned and whimpered softly in his sleep as low tense sounding gurgles came from his stomach.

Zhongli reaches out, grabbing Childe’s shoulder and giving him a gentle shake. “Ajax? Can you hear me?” He called softly.

Childe groaned, his eyes fluttering open as he slowly raised his head to look at Zhongli. “Huh…”

“Come with me, let’s get you in bed Ajax,” he told Childe gently.

For a moment or two Childe just stared at him seemingly dazed, then he slowly nodded, taking the hand Zhongli offered him, allowing Zhongli to carefully pull him to his feet.

“There we are, careful now,” Zhongli murmured, steadying Childe when he swayed in place.

Childe is worryingly quiet and Zhongli doesn’t know if it’s from the fever, nausea, or the exhaustion he’s no doubt feeling.

Once back in the bedroom Childe seemingly has enough awareness to go to his side of the bed, blinking slowly as he begins to climb on it. Although he pauses his glassy eyes on Zhongli as Zhongli goes to the bathroom returning with the small trash can in there.

Placing the trashcan down on his side of the bed, Zhongli looked at Childe once more. “Come here Ajax,” Zhongli said after he’d climbed in bed on his side. He held his arms out beckoning to Childe with one hand.

A small warm smile forms on his face as Childe crawls into his lap without hesitation resting his back against Zhongli’s chest with a soft sigh, his body instantly relaxing in Zhongli’s grip.

Although he tenses up, a grimace on his face when his stomach gives a low growl.

“Here,” Zhongli said, his hand slipping underneath Childe’s shirt to lay a gentle hand on his stomach, a soft hiss leaving his mouth when he felt it churning violently, practically writhing beneath his hand. It was no surprise that Childe seemed so miserable. “Please tell me if I am hurting you,” he murmured as he carefully began rubbing circles on Childe’s stomach hoping to provide even some comfort if possible.

Surprisingly Childe shakes his head slightly, finally speaking, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “Feels nice,” he mumbled, shifting slightly to rest his head on Zhongli’s shoulder, his face buried in his neck.

His body slowly relaxed as Zhongli rubbed his stomach.

“Ajax?” Zhongli said, his hand stilling for a moment when Childe suddenly tensed up, a loud gurgling noise coming from his stomach.

Childe shakes his head, his eyes closed. “I’m fine, please keep going, ” he mumbled softly.

He swallowed hard as when a particularly nasty wave of nausea hit him, so intense it left him feeling slightly dizzy.

Zhongli glances down at Childe when he tensed up again. Almost unconsciously.

Childe takes a deep shuddering breath, resisting the urge to groan when another intense wave of nausea rolls over him. Metallic-tasting saliva rapidly filled his mouth no matter how much he tried to swallow it back.

Zhongli looks at Childe when his body goes unnaturally still, his entire form tensing up in Zhongli’s grip.

A second later Zhongli feels Childe’s stomach violently heave beneath his fingers, and Childe lurches forward his hand quickly clamping over his mouth as his shoulders shake with a barely suppressed retch.

“Okay, alright, alright, ” Zhongli said as he grabbed Childe’s shoulders. He guided Childe to lean over the edge of the bed where he’d placed the trash can.

Childe’s hand immediately falls away from his mouth as his stomach heaves again, a gurgling wet burp leaves his mouth along with a large wave of watery vomit.

Zhongli places one hand on Childe’s back, his other resting on Childe’s stomach, holding him in place so that he wouldn’t fall off of the bed as his body lurched forward with a violent sounding retch, his stomach practically convulsing beneath Zhongli’s hand. “There you are, get it up Ajax, ” Zhongli murmured softly, rubbing Childe’s back as he brought up another large wave of watery vomit.

Childe brings up one final enormous wave of watery vomit before he coughs, gasping as he shakily wiped at his mouth, severing the threads of drool hanging from his lips.

“How do you feel?” Zhongli asked softly as he slowly guided Childe to lean against him once more.

Childe nodded slightly. “A little bit better, still feel like shit though, ” he mumbles, blinking slowly. He doesn’t bother wiping away the tears running down his face.

“In the morning I will retrieve Qiqi or Dr. Baizhu from the pharmacy for you, ” Zhongli told him, unable to help the small amount of relief he felt.

Childe gives a soft hum, nodding slightly, his eyes closed.

“Ajax?” Zhongli asked, looking down at him when Childe grabbed one of his hands and guided it to his stomach.

“Can…you keep rubbing my stomach…at least until I go to sleep? It helps a lot, ” Childe asked, almost hesitantly sounding slightly embarrassed.

A warm smile crawls across Zhongli’s face. “Of course, I am happy to help.”

Deku chuckled as he sat down in one of the lawn chairs across from Bakugou. “If you think it’s stupid you don’t have to do it you know.”

This was probably the 5th or 6th Bakugou had uttered that phrase but he’d still followed Deku out here. He’d still sat down in the chair, his gallon of milk in hand despite the deep frown on his face and the glare in his eyes.

“No, fuck you I wanna win,” Bakugou grumbled.

And Deku smiled slightly, there it was. Bakugou’s ever-present competitive streak, it wasn’t as if Deku didn’t have one either but he tended to hide his better than the latter.

Admittedly Deku wanted to win as well although he couldn’t help but be slightly intimidated now that the gallon of milk was right in front of him. Still, neither he nor Bakugou were strangers to eating a lot, especially if they had training to do so Deku shouldn’t have too much of a problem doing this if the same rules applied.

Reaching out to the nearby plastic table where he’d placed the timer, Deku sets it for an hour. The rules were incredibly simple, they each had to drink the full jug of milk within the time limit and keep it down, if one of them was unable to then that person was the loser.

“Okay, the timer’s set,” Deku muttered to himself. “Ready?” he asked Bakugou as he removed the top from his own jug of milk.

“Ready to beat your ass, hurry up and quit stalling,” Bakugou huffed as he practically ripped the top off of his jug of milk.

Without waiting for Deku to say anything else he brings it to his mouth and begins chugging it. Chuckling Deku quickly mimics his actions, the first thing he registers before the actual taste of the milk is cold, pure ice cold.

Which is no surprise considering it’d been in the back of the refrigerator for a little while, but the change in temperature is just intense enough to give him a brief pause that has him lowering the jug for his mouth coughing slightly before he resumes chugging it.

He can’t be sure at the moment but he’s pretty sure he sees a slight smile on Bakugou’s face.

~~~

They continue on like this for a little while simply chugging the milk as if they’re men dying of thirst in the desert.

That is until the uncomfortable weight of milk they’d drunk seems to hit them. It hits Deku first and he lowers the jug of milk with a low groan as the milk settles in his stomach like a giant ball of ice sending an ache spreading across his stomach.

The ache reminds Deku of a brain freeze, no doubt a consequence of drinking so quickly.

Bakugou gives a soft snort as he smirks at Deku, just barely forcing back his own grimace as a dull ache streaks across his stomach. The milk settles in his stomach and Bakugou muffles a soft hiccup into his hand when the milk seems to slosh slightly in his stomach.

Bakugou feels a bit full from all the milk, not aching or painful but definitely a noticeable tightness that’s wrapped rather snuggly around his abdomen. He glances down at his jug of milk before glancing over at Deku’s.

Deku has returned to drinking his and Bakugou quickly does the same in an effort to keep up, there’s still plenty of milk left in the jug he can do this he tells himself. He had to drink all of this.

Deku tells himself much of the same, he tries to think of it a lot like his usual training. Just another wall he needs to overcome and he definitely would. The amount of milk left in the jug is of course intimidating but Deku ignores that as he pushes on.

~~~

Both of their drinking had slowed significantly by this point, Deku was full, so, so full to the point that each breath sent a deep dull ache streaking across his stomach as cramps twisted at it practically punching him in the gut.

Panting he lowers his jug of milk to catch his breath as he swallows thickly, the rich taste of milk coats every inch of his mouth. It’s not only cold but sticky as well much like melted ice cream practically clinging to his throat with each swallow.

Not only that but he’s shaking by this point as well but whether he was trembling from the cold or the strong nausea that’d settle right beside the ache in his gut he doesn’t know.

Muffling a loud burp into his hand when his stomach sloshes like a water balloon being shaken, he slowly raises the jug of milk back to his lips, his hands shaking as he does. Shooting a glance over at Bakugou as he takes a sip Deku sees that the amount of milk sitting in Bakugou’s jug is the same as his.

Deku needs to keep going from what he can see Bakugou’s in the same condition as him, his hands trembling as they hold the jug to his lips, his skin as pale as the milk he was drinking. Even his stomach had started to bloat out beneath his shirt, loud almost wet gurgling noises coming from it as Bakugou continued to drink.

Deku knows Bakugou must be feeling the same as him as well because Bakugou is quiet, no taunting smirks or teasing glances as he puts all his focus into the singular task of drinking all of the milk.

This time when Deku drinks it is almost a struggle, pain streaking across his stomach as it gurgles loudly the milk sloshing almost violently inside of him, and he needs to pause for a moment as another loud burp slithers past his lips followed by a low groan before he brings the jug of milk back to his lips.

His determination and urge to win is still burning brightly as always, and so Deku pushes on.

~~~

Deku like any person his age has done a few stupid things in his life, and there are many decisions he regrets. But at the moment none of them seem to compare to what he’s feeling right now.

His stomach is in absolute agony, the organ stretched to the point where just breathing was a struggle his lungs felt as if they couldn’t expand all the way. There was a harsh tightness wrapped around his stomach similar to a rubber band around his waist.

He was full, completely, and utterly full, his stomach pushed to the near breaking point by all of the milk he’d forced into it loud tense almost wet gurgling and sloshing noises coming from it as his body struggled to even attempt to digest it all. He is also incredibly nauseous, each breath he takes threatens to make him gag as the sticky milk coating his mouth seems to make his throat cling together with each swallow he takes struggling to keep his stomach contents down.

Deku was still shivering as well, his entire body trembling from the sheer cold sensation of the milk and from the intense nausea he was experiencing.

Deku glances over at Bakugou slightly, a little relieved to see that Bakugou is in about the same condition he is. Bakugou’s skin is pale as a sheet, sweat coating his face as he trembles, his stomach is so bloated by this point that it’s beginning to peek out from beneath his shirt just like Deku’s loud gurgling noises coming from the overtaxed organ.

Bakugou stops drinking for a moment, shakily lowering his jug from his mouth as he screws his eyes closed, swallowing almost frantically when he can taste milk and bile trying to creep up his throat, sour, burning, and still slightly cold.

Deku brings his jug of milk to his lips once again, he doesn’t have much left in it but neither does Bakugou at this point so he needs to hurry up and finish this before Bakugou can. Deku pauses for a moment giving a shuddering breath and closing his eyes when his stomach hitches slightly threatening to send up all of its contents.

Deku manages one more large sip, but it is a struggle, and that large sip is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He is still in the middle of drinking, of trying to force down even a little bit more of that milk when his stomach hitches, heaving violently.

He gags a large splash of still cold regurgitated milk comes up almost instantly, tasting sour and vile as some of it sprays back into the jug. Deku’s fingers fumble, dropping it as he frantically leans forward towards the ground with a loud wet retch, a thick surge of watery, pale off-white vomit spraying from his mouth like a water hose.

It splatters loudly on the ground as it forms a rather sizable puddle sounding as if someone had spilled a tub of water on it, Bakugou cracks one eye open before quickly closing it, swallowing frantically as he tries to breathe around his own nausea. He does his best to ignore the disgusting sounds Deku is making for fear of setting his own stomach off.

Deku groans, getting the briefest of moments to breathe before a loud, gurgling, burp tears almost violently from his lips, and his bloated stomach heaves again practically convulsing as it sends up another enormous, thick surge of watery vomit. And oh god, does the milk taste horrific coming back up. It’d already been a struggle for Deku to force the stuff down in the first place, but as it comes back up it’s sour, absolutely rancid, and thick as if it’d been curdling and rotting in his stomach.

He retches violently the noise gurgling in his throat as one final enormous surge of vomit sprays from his mouth and nose, the constituency of it is a bit thicker, yet still watery almost like paint and the color is almost a murky grey rather than off white. It adds to the puddle at his feet causing it to rapidly grow as it cascades from his mouth and nose for a good solid few seconds giving him no chance to breathe.

“Fucking hell,” Bakugou mutters eyeing Deku wearily when he finally sits back coughing and spluttering.

Deku merely groans in response, rubbing his sore stomach with one hand as he blinks the tears from his eyes and sniffles. He won’t lie, he feels a lot better now that all the milk is out of him, although he absolutely hates the horrible rancid taste coating his mouth at the moment.

“Aww…it looks…like you win,” Deku said softly as he wiped at his mouth and nose with the back of his hand. He can’t help but feel slightly disappointed by the fact that he lost.

Bakugou gives a soft, almost strained snort. “You’re damn right I did,” he said, his tone completely and utterly smug. Not only is he glad he won, he’s just glad this is over before he embarrasses himself because he knows there’s no way he can force down any more of the milk, especially not after watching Deku puke all over the ground like that.

Deku chuckles, his voice slightly raspy from the strain of throwing up. “I’m gonna go get the hose and some water, I need to clean up and get this awful taste out of my mouth. Need anything,” he asked looking over at Bakugou as he carefully got to his feet.

Bakugou shakes his head silently, too busy focused on trying to swallow back the bile and milk now bubbling at the back of his throat. The sharp scent of bile and the rancid scent of regurgitated milk hanging in the air is doing his stomach absolutely no favors especially in his current condition.

Plus he really can’t put anything else in his stomach at the moment so drinking water, in an attempt to rid himself of the chalky, sticky taste of the milky coating his mouth is right out.

It is only when Deku goes inside of the house that Bakugou’s hand goes to his stomach, the skin is bloated and taut a warm heaviness pressing back against his hand as the milk sloshes sickeningly inside of him. He hiccups, shaking his head slightly as his nausea only rises, refusing to disappear and sticky saliva begins to rapidly pool in his mouth.

Cursing under his breath, Bakugou leans forward opening his mouth as he spits the drool onto the ground and allows it to drip from his mouth, but no matter how much falls to the ground more seems to flood his mouth. A loud burp leaves his mouth, practically echoing in the silence around him.

He feels like shit and just wants the nausea to disappear, he may have won but he is rapidly regretting the decision to do this at all.

“Stupid Deku,” he huffed as he spat more drool onto the ground. He grits his teeth, panting as he screws his eyes shut, the nausea leaving him breathless.

He cracks one eye open, glancing down at the ground, and sees Deku’s vomit sitting there, slimy and practically congealing before his eyes and he can’t fucking take it anymore.

A violent gurgling retch leaves his mouth causing him to lurch forward so much he nearly falls out of his chair as a surge of pale off-white vomit gurgles up his throat, spraying onto the ground as the sour, rancid taste of barely digested milk coats his mouth tasting completely spoiled. Which was a far cry from how it tasted going down.

“F-fuck,” he coughs out, his eyes wide and filled with tears. Threads of murky drool hanging from his mouth as he leans over the mess simply blinking for a moment, slightly dazed.

Although as another retch tears itself from his throat bringing another large wave of pale watery vomit with it, his daze is quickly broken.

“Oh,” Deku said, sounding slightly stunned as he returned to the backyard to see Bakugou violently emptying his stomach contents onto the ground.

He chuckles as he makes his way over to him and reaches outlaying a gentle hand on Bakugou’s back as he retches again rubbing soothing circles on it and cringing slightly at how violent Bakugou’s retching sounds. Although he can’t help the soft laugh that leaves his mouth.

Bakugou coughs as he manages to glare up at Deku briefly. “Why the fuck are you laughing,” he rasped only to lurch forward again with a wet, sick-sounding hiccup as another enormous surge of vomit sprays from his mouth adding to the already large puddle in front of him.

Bakugou honestly doubts that he’ll be able to drink milk ever again after this and Deku was laughing at him. Fucking laughing.

“I’m not laughing at you Kacchan, I’m just kind of relieved I wasn’t the only one who ended up throwing up,” Deku explains quickly.

Bakugou spits onto the ground trying desperately to get rid of the horrific taste coating every inch of his mouth. “You still lost you fucking weirdo,” he mumbles under his breath.

Deku nodded another soft laugh leaving his mouth. “Right, I guess you get to choose the place for our next date.”

While he did lose, Deku is admittedly happier than he should be, because at least it was fun although a little painful.

“Your damn right I do,” Bakugou huffed as he wiped the back of his mouth with his hand.

He sat across from Rex Lapis, or Zhongli as he called himself now that he’d officially chosen to live life as a human. They sat on top of one of the many large cliffs overlooking Liyue, a stone chair beneath each of them and a stone table dividing them.

Two familiar teacups and a teapot rested on the table, one before Xiao and the other before Zhongli. While Zhongli had occasionally taken sips of his tea, Xiao’s remained untouched.

The tea was not one enjoyed by humans, in fact, Xiao could frequently recall drinking it a few times in the past with Barbatos, but despite that, he found himself unable to pick up the teacup.

A strange almost jittery unease and nervousness had fallen over him ever since Zhongli had called him here. A small stupidly naive part of him had long hoped that when the Traveler had delivered the news of Rex Lapis’s death to him that it had been some type of joke or test, because despite seeing many a god fall over the years Xiao found it deeply unpleasant to believe such a fate would befall his master.

While this is not what he expected when he answered the call of his name from Rex Lapis’s lips it does help lift the weight that had been resting on his shoulders ever so slightly. Relief. Pure absolute relief is what Xiao manages to identify the feeling as.

Even so, that still does not stop the unease and anxiety that had burrowed its way into his chest.

Zhongli nodded. “I did consider Cloud Retainer or Mountain Shaper at first. However, this upcoming conversation with the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, Lady Ningguang, is merely a formality as the decision of how Liyue Harbor will be protected was decided when Osial rose once more,” he explained. “So while this will be brought up during the meeting this will primarily be focused on the Fatui’s continuing operations in Liyue.”

Xiao simply nodded and Zhongli continued speaking.

“As the only Snezhnayan diplomat in Liyue at the moment, Childe will be in attendance. Lady Ningguang also requested the Traveler to invite Barbatos as the Anemo archon and Mondstadt representative as the Fatui caused quite the stir in Mondstadt. And any large decisions regarding Liyue should be made aware to them as well considering their close proximity. And finally, the Traveler will be there as an impartial party,” he told Xiao.

“Barbatos will be there?” Xiao asked softly that one piece of information standing out to him more than any other.

Xiao had been aware that the Anemo Archon had finally awoken from his slumber, feeling the familiar elemental energy drift over from Mondstadt. However strangely enough and to Xiao’s begrudging disappointment, they had yet to meet up considering that Xiao had been quite busy these past few weeks.

There was a faint thought at the corner of his mind that perhaps Barbatos did not wish to see him after all these years but he forces himself to ignore it. After all, to both of them, years passed in the blink of an eye, what was one more day or two.

Despite doing his best to hide the excitement, Zhongli can’t help but notice how Xiao’s eyes almost light up slightly at the mention of Barbatos. “The Traveler says that he goes by Venti while he walks among humans. Hopefully, he is not as much of a drunkard and a nuisance as he was years ago,” Zhongli told him with a small smile.

Xiao glances away, forcing his expression to remain neutral despite the slight pink flush that coats his face. “I…see,” he said softly. “Venti,” he whispers to himself with a small nod.

The name feels familiar to Xiao despite only just now learning it. Warm and strangely comforting.

“I will be there as well but more as an overseer, although my relationship with Childe has been called into question by Lady Ningguang,” he informed Xiao.

The Adeptus merely nodded his expression, remaining neutral. Xiao didn’t care for Childe in the slightest, given the man’s numerous transgressions towards not only Liyue but also Rex Lapis. However, his master seemed to enjoy the human’s company enough to choose him as a mate and so Xiao would do his best to keep a tight clamp on his personal feelings on the matter.

“The meeting will be held this weekend shortly after sunrise,” he told Xiao.

“Yes sir,” Xiao said instantly. “If that is all, may I be dismissed?”

Zhongli chuckles, giving Xiao a small smile. “You may, although I would enjoy some company, I will not force you to remain.”

Xiao hesitates, a scowl on his face, then he takes a deep breath and nods. “Thank you for your hospitality,” Xiao murmurs as he finally picks his own teacup up and brings it to his lips.

Zhongli merely watches him with a warm smile as the two of them fall into a peaceful silence and enjoy the view of Liyue Harbor.

~~~

Xiao is admittedly not looking forward to the upcoming meeting this weekend, he’s never done well around other people, especially not humans. He didn’t understand them in the slightest and their behavior tended to leave him baffled most days.

Although a small part of him, well more than a small part, can’t help but feel almost excited to see Barbatos after all these years. A strange restlessness settling in his body disrupting his thoughts. It was annoying and Xiao didn’t understand why he felt like this but all he can do is hope it goes away soon.

It doesn’t however if anything the feeling seems to only grow, settling in his chest like a rock. To help distract himself Xiao throws himself into his work and at first, it seems to help, but the moment the battle ends and peace settles over Liyue once more the feeling only returns.

By the time the day of the meeting arrives Xiao is exhausted, which he finds odd considering Adepti do not need sleep.

A dull ache has settled at the base of his skull and he sighs as he eats his almond tofu, a deep scowl on his face. Usually, whenever he ate the almond tofu made by Wangshuu inn it gave him a feeling of peace and warm nostalgia but for some reason today it only causes a slight queasiness to form in his stomach, which only adds to Xiao’s growing irritation.

It wasn’t rare for him to get slightly nauseous whenever he ate. Sometimes his body just didn’t want food at all, even if it was a food that normally gave him no issues whenever he ate it.

Choosing to ignore it Xiao finishes his meal, takes a deep breath to prepare himself before making his way to Liyue harbor.

~~~

“Are you sure you are feeling well, Childe?” Zhongli asked as he looked over at him.

They stood outside Liyue harbor waiting for Xiao, the Traveler, and Venti.

Childe nodded yawning. “Yeah, just had to stay up all night going through a mountain of paperwork that was delivered to me at the last minute. Knowing Lady Ningguang it was done on purpose,” he mumbled, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

Childe had not gotten any sleep last night, as right after he returned to Northland bank Ekaterina had informed him of a large amount of paperwork that he needed to take a look at. Childe had admittedly not been pleased as paperwork was one of his least favorite aspects of being a harbinger, his irritation had only grown when he saw who exactly the paperwork was specifically for.

To put it lightly Childe was not feeling his best, there was a dull ache forming in his head signaling an oncoming migraine and he was exhausted. Wanting nothing more than to return home and go to sleep, preferably while in Zhongli’s arms but it didn’t really matter.

“If you like, the meeting can be delayed momentarily,” Zhongli suggested. He really didn’t like how pale Childe looked at the moment, not to mention the slightly dazed look visible in Childe’s usually sharp eyes.

Childe gives a small snort as he shakes his head. “No, I’m fine. Might as well get this over with.” He sighs, running a hand over his face. “I’m gonna go on ahead, wouldn’t wanna keep Lady Ningguang waiting. See you soon, okay?”

Zhongli nodded. “I will be there once Xiao arrives, as well as the Traveler and Venti.”

Childe merely nodded, giving Zhongli a small yet warm smile before he turned and began making his way into Liyue harbor. Zhongli can’t help but watch him walk away, a slight sense of unease growing in his chest. Something didn’t feel right and was it just him or did Childe seem slightly unsteady on his feet. Childe had looked pale but he didn’t look like he had a fever and Zhongli hadn’t felt one when Childe greeted him with the usual hug and kiss.

Shaking his head slightly Zhongli closes his eyes for a moment as he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind. Perhaps he was just nervous about the upcoming meeting, while it was more of a formality than anything that didn’t make it any less important.

Zhongli opens his eyes sensing Xiao before he actually sees him, he turns looking in the direction he’d felt the adept energy come from and a second later Xiao appeared.

“Good morning Xiao, I hope you are well,” Zhongli told him with a slight smile.

Xiao nodded. “Yes sir, I’m ready.” Xiao does not mention the strange restlessness in his chest nor the queasiness that’s settled in his stomach, because it’s not important. His master wanted him to do a job as such his personal feeling didn’t matter, he’d do his best to complete it.

“Good,” Zhongli said with a small nod. “Ah, it would seem as if the Traveler and Barbatos have arrived,” he muttered, staring at the approaching pair over Xiao’s shoulder.

Xiao’s eyes widened slightly, that strange restlessness that’d been weighing down his chest lifting slightly as he turned around following Zhongli’s gaze.

There’s a strange warmth replacing the restlessness that’d Xiao had felt as he lays eyes on Venti talking to the Traveler, a carefree smile on the Anemo Archon’s face.

A slight smile crawls across Xiao’s face at the sight, although it disappears as he looks away turning back around, his expression turning neutral once more.

Venti was happy and safe, at least from what Xiao could see and that was honestly the only thing he needed.

Venti’s eyes widened and he paused in the middle of speaking to the Traveler when he noticed Xiao standing beside Zhongli.  A grin spreads across his face as he leaves the Traveler’s side and darts forward practically leaping onto Xiao as he wraps the Adeptus in a hug giggling.

“You’re really here!” Venti said cheerfully. “How did you get him to come?” He asked, looking over at Zhongli, knowing first hand just how hard it was to get Xiao to agree to go somewhere with a lot of people, much less a lot of humans.

Xiao can only stare wide-eyed and frozen as a red blush slowly spreads over his face.

Venti giggles again looking back at Xiao. “Nice to see you again after all this time,” he told Xiao, his voice full of nothing but warmth.

It takes Xiao a moment or two to speak, seemingly searching for his words. “It’s nice seeing you as well,” he muttered, glancing away.

He shifts slightly trying to break out of Venti’s grasp, because not only is it embarrassing but also because the way Venti is clinging to him is placing an uncomfortable pressure on his stomach.

That slight queasiness he’d been feeling earlier only growing stronger and with it came a strange heaviness, a dull ache settling inside his gut as his stomach began churning.

Thankfully Venti eventually releases Xiao, choosing instead to grab Xiao’s hand.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. I wanna try some of Liyue’s wine when this is done,” Venti said excitedly.

Zhongli simply sighed in response, perhaps he’d made a mistake when he’d agreed to Barbatos’s presence at this meeting. But he says nothing as they begin making their way into Liyue harbor.

~~~

Xiao doesn’t know what is happening, or why this is happening but something is clearly wrong with him.

He sits in the meeting room, with Zhongli to his left and Venti to his right.

Ningguang is speaking to Childe about something but Xiao finds himself unable to follow along.

He didn’t know if that was because his head was throbbing so viscously that he could actively feel his brain turning numb or if it was the strange ache that seemed to be determined to twist his stomach inside out.

The nausea hasn’t faded either, if anything it’s gotten worse and Xiao can’t help the sense of unease settling in his chest because this nausea somehow feels very different from the type he gets when his body just doesn’t agree with food.

Usually, when that happened the nausea would eventually fade as the day wore on but this time it just seems to be getting worse and worse, leaving Xiao feeling almost light-headed as he stares down at the table in front of him.

Scowling, he discreetly places a hand on his stomach that feeling of unease only growing when he feels it churning violently, the organ practically bubbling and writhing beneath his fingertips. The skin there is taut, almost bloated his normally form-fitting clothes feeling as though they’re digging into his abdomen.

Xiao didn’t think he was injured, in fact, he knew he wasn’t so he had no clue what could be making him feel like this.

Xiao’s eyes widen slightly when his stomach makes a small gurgling noise, and while he can only pray that neither Zhongli nor Venti hadn’t heard that, the brief glance Zhongli gives him says otherwise. While Zhongli does not say anything about it Xiao can’t help but glance away, his gaze falling back to the table as his face flushes slightly with embarrassment and shame.

He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him but he needs it to stop, he has a job to do. One that Rex Lapis had so graciously bestowed upon him and Xiao didn’t want to fail him.

Xiao takes a deep breath to try and focus, to calm himself down when an intense wave of nausea and a deep ache practically sucker punches him in the stomach and he tenses gritting his teeth as he struggles to take a single breath.

It hurts. Oh, Archons it hurts like nothing Xiao has ever experienced before. He was used to the pain of broken bones or his flesh being torn open but this, it felt as though something had a vice grip around his stomach, squeezing the organ inside of him.

The pain slowly begins to ease up allowing Xiao to drag in small hushed breaths, the pain doesn’t leave completely settling into a deep ache across the entirety of his stomach. It feels as though it’s in knots, the nausea reaching almost unbearable levels as his stomach churns violently writhing like a ball of upset snakes beneath his fingertips.

His stomach makes another soft gurgling noise although this time it sounds almost tense, ominous and Xiao swallows thickly trying to clear the near river of drool suddenly building up in his mouth. Another horrible cramp twists at his stomach and Xiao tenses again, gritting his teeth against the pain once more.

For some reason, it feels strangely almost disgustingly warm. While Liyue has many humid days this heat is entirely different, leaving Xiao feeling as if he’s burning from the inside out. It does nothing to help his nausea in fact it feels as though he can actively feel the contents of his stomach curdling inside of him.

He closes his eyes for a moment when a vicious ache shoots across his head, the bright lights of the meeting room practically stabbing him in the eye.

Ningguang suddenly sighed. “Perhaps it would be best to take a temporary break. To calm ourselves,” she suggested with a small smile. While she is speaking to everyone in the room she is clearly talking about Childe who is looking at her, his expression neutral but frustration clear in his eyes.

Xiao opened his eyes, scowling as he resisted the urge to give a sigh of relief. His hand falling away from his stomach as he carefully gets to his feet, despite him being careful; however, just the motion of standing up has his stomach sloshing like someone violently shaking a water balloon.

Xiao swallows almost frantically when he feels something burning at the back of his throat, slimy and disgustingly bitter and sour. It takes everything Xiao has not to dart out of the room, because he needs to get somewhere quiet and secluded where he won’t be bothered. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, but he has a sinking feeling that if he stays here something awful is going to happen to him.

He makes his way into the hall, his eyes darting around as he keeps swallowing back that disgusting vile tasting liquid trying to climb up his throat. He keeps walking until he eventually comes upon a door, a little ways down the hall, he sees no one coming in or out of it so he quickly makes his way inside.

It’s a bathroom he notices as he stumbles inside the door closing behind him. There are a few stalls and across from them are one or two sinks on the wall. Xiao’s stomach gives a low tense growl right before a cramp twists it, pain stabbing at his stomach as it suddenly heaves.  A splash of bile fills his mouth, the liquid burning, slimy and bitter, Xiao frantically clamps a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide as he takes in small panicked breaths in through his nose.

Swallowing rapidly in an attempt to force the bile back, Xiao stumbles his way into one of the stalls, his entire body trembling. He leans over the toilet, one hand on the stall wall to support himself considering how badly his legs were shaking beneath him.

Xiao’s stomach heaves again pain shooting across it as it forces more of its contents into his mouth, the force of it has some of the vomit spurting through his tightly sealed lips and through his fingers. It trickles down his fingers, the pale, murky off white bile dripping down onto the toilet seat.

His stomach is in absolute agony, his body trembling almost violently from the exertion of trying to hold everything in, it’s unbearably hot and he can feel sweat trickling across his skin.

Xiao squeezes his eyes shut as he takes shuddering breaths in through his nose. The sharp bitter and sour taste of the vomit sitting in his mouth is nearly overpowering making his nausea even worse, his stomach continuing to let out low gurgling noises as if threatening to send up more of its contents. Xiao hates this and he tries to focus on anything else as he forces himself to swallow hard a few times, tears gathering in his eyes as he forces the contents of his stomach back inside of it.

A shudder of revulsion shakes him, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he hiccups and pants that ache that’d already been present in his stomach only growing worse along with the heaviness as his stomach continues to churn and writhe its contents practically bubbling inside of him.

Xiao knows he should go back to the meeting room before one of the others gets suspicious of his whereabouts but Xiao can’t move, not right now, not only because of how his legs are shaking beneath him but because he still feels awful. He has no doubt that he looks as bad as he feels and just the thought of returning to the room in this state has his face burning with shame.

He keeps his hand clamped over his mouth, as hiccups continue to leave his mouth jolting his body and sending pain streaking across his stomach. It’s a struggle for him not to gag around every breath he takes at this point, his nausea making him feel dizzy, almost delirious as he swallows struggling to clear the saliva still rapidly gathering in his mouth.

Then Xiao hears something, a familiar voice that makes his blood run cold, an almost visceral sense of panic and fear gripping him. Xiao desperately wants to vanish but he barely has the energy to stand let alone use his powers, so all he can do is wait as he hears footsteps approaching.

Childe sighed, muttering soft curses in Snezhnayan under his breath as he entered the bathroom, his head feeling as if it were on the verge of splitting open and his stomach churning as if it were throwing a tantrum inside of him. He’s exhausted which is no surprise considering he hasn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, but between that the migraine he currently has and talking to Ningguang about the Fatui, and by extension Northland Bank’s, continuing operations in Liyue he feels absolutely drained.

He yawns, grimacing a sharp pain stabs at his stomach the low lights of the bathroom feeling as though they were drilling into his eyes. Childe takes a deep breath, he just needed to splash some cold water on his face, calm down a bit then he could return to the meeting feeling more awake and aware.

Childe pauses in the process of approaching one of the nearby sinks, when he hears a soft, muffled hiccuping noise along with a strange, loud gurgling noise coming from the direction of one of the stalls just ahead.

Curious, Childe walks forward a bit more then he stops his eyes going wide in surprise at what he sees. Xiao is standing there, his back to the doorway of the stall. He had one hand stretched out placed on the wall of the stall, seemingly in an attempt to hold himself up if the way his entire body was trembling was anything to go by.

Xiao’s body suddenly jolts as he makes a strange noise that’s somewhere between a muffled hiccup and wet burp, his entire body tensing up as he makes a strangling gasping noise.

Confused and slightly stunned Childe watches as a small amount of pale, watery vomit trickles from the cracks in Xiao’s fingers some of it splattering onto the toilet seat while the rest drips into the tiny puddle of slimy, pale vomit at Xiao’s feet.

Childe sighed loudly, running a hand down his face as he closed his eyes for a moment feeling his own nausea growing, as his stomach continued to churn. He really, really didn’t have the energy or patience for this, not today.

Grimacing when another vicious throb shoots across his head Childe steps forward laying a gentle hand on Xiao’s back. He’s trembling beneath Childe’s touch, heat rolling off of his body and sweat soaks his clothing. “Hey-” Childe begins with a sigh.

“D-don’t…touch me,” Xiao manages to force out as he swallows rapidly trying to force back the bile threatening to climb up his throat. His face is burning, shame and embarrassment feeling etched into his very being. There are a lot of people Xiao didn’t want to see him like this, Childe of all people is at the very, very top of that list.

While Childe may have been the person Rex Lapis chose as a mate that did not mean that Xiao could trust him, it just meant he had to keep his personal feelings about the man to himself.

Childe sighs again, rubbing a hand over his eyes when his vision seems to blur before his eyes for a moment. “Look, please don’t do this. Not now,” Childe muttered. “Do you want me to get Zhongli or something to help you,” he asked Xiao, no teasing, no jokes he is throwing Xiao a lifeline he so desperately seems to need at the moment.

Xiao goes quiet in shock, his body still trembling beneath Childe’s touch as his stomach continues gurgling loudly, hiccups bubbling out of him filling the silence between them for a few moments. He doesn’t sense any malice in Childe’s words or tone if anything the man sounds almost tired and irritated.

It takes Xiao a moment or two but eventually, he gives a slow almost stilted nod. Xiao listens to Childe’s retreating footsteps, still slightly shocked that the man had offered to help him, although some part of Xiao can’t help but still believe that Childe is going to leave him here to suffer.

Childe leaves the bathroom making his way back to the doors of the meeting room where Zhongli stands waiting, he’s alone right now thankfully because Childe doubted that Xiao wanted anyone else knowing about his current predicament.

“Childe? Are you alright?” Zhongli asked, looking up when Childe approached him. Childe still seems a bit unsteady on his feet and his skin is incredibly pale.

“Yeah, just tired and a migraine. I’ll be fine,” he said quickly, waving away Zhongli’s concern. “Look, I think Xiao’s sick and he asked me to get you,” Childe told him, keeping his voice low. He wasn’t even sure if Adepti could get sick and at the moment with how badly his head hurt he didn’t have the energy to bother wondering.

Zhongli scowls looking slightly confused as if he hadn’t heard Childe correctly. “Xiao?”

Childe nods but stops that when it sends pain shooting across his head. Blinking to clear his blurring vision, Childe speaks, “Yeah, he’s in the bathroom right now,” Childe said, pointing over his shoulder.

Zhongli closes his eyes for a moment, nodding before he sighs. “I shall go tend to him then.”

Childe begins walking past Zhongli to return to the meeting room but stops when Zhongli calls out to him.

“Ajax, take some time to rest as well,” He told Childe biting his lip for a moment.

Childe gives a small snort, a slight smile on his face. “I will if Lady Ningguang can stop being so relentless.”

Zhongli says nothing more, taking his words as a no.  He begins walking, making his way to the bathroom where Childe said that Xiao was. At first, he doesn’t see him, then he here’s soft muffled hiccuping coming from the direction of one of the stalls.

“Xiao?”

Xiao freezes, his eyes wide, or at least he tries to with his entire body trembling, it’s kind of hard to do. He swallows a few times forcing back the bile climbing up his throat, his body tensing up. His stomach is in absolute agony gurgling loudly as if screaming at him to just let himself throw up already as pain stabs at it. He can feel his clothes soaked with sweat clinging to his skin, making him feel as though he’s being smothered.

Xiao squeezed his eyes shut, tears gathering in them as his stomach heaves and it’s contents flood his mouth. He clamps his mouth shut curling in on himself slightly as he desperately forces himself to swallow, it hurts and only makes the heaviness in his stomach grow worse. A deep ache settling across his entire abdomen, his clothes feeling as though they’re constricting around his stomach.

“Xiao?” Zhongli said, laying a gentle hand on his back, a low hiss leaving his mouth when he feels the heat rolling off of Xiao’s skin. He glances down noticing the small puddle of pale vomit at Xiao’s feet and splattering the seat of the toilet as well the vomit coating the hand Xiao has clamped over his mouth.

“S-sir…I-I’m sorry. I can’t do it,” Xiao manages to whisper, his voice shaking as hiccups continue jolting his small frame. A soft whimper leaves his mouth before he can stop it as pain practically punches him in the stomach leaving him gasping for air as he struggles to breathe for a few seconds.

He can’t help but feel ashamed that he’s failed Rex Lapis, especially after the man had already done so much for him as it is. In his eyes, there was no bigger disgrace.

Zhongli sighed as he rubbed small circles gently along Xiao’s back. “Xiao, I would like you to listen to me if you can. You have not failed me, you are sick, it is something you can not help, and even so, I would not be mad at you for this. Is that understood?”

Xiao nods slowly, another whimper leaving his mouth in between his hiccups. His vision swims for a moment and he doesn’t know if it’s the dizzying nausea or the horrible headache he has, but he feels light-headed everything is too hot and bright.

He wincing when a loud, wet burp suddenly leaves his mouth and his stomach feels as though it flips inside of him. Its contents sloshing inside of him like an overfilled glass. “S-sorry, sir,” Xiao said, his voice wavering as he swallowed rapidly.

He can feel something warm leaking from the corners of his mouth and he can’t tell if it’s the near river of drool overflowing in his mouth or the rancid bile still trying to climb up his throat.

Zhongli shakes his head. “It is fine. Also please, Rex Lapis is no more, call me Zhongli.”

~~~

For once in his life, Childe can’t help but wish that La Signora had stuck around a little bit longer, if only because he wouldn’t be the highest-ranking Snezhnayan diplomat in Liyue at the moment. Then he wouldn’t have to be suffering through this long arduous meeting where Ningguang relentlessly questions him and him alone, while he tries to use what little remaining energy he does have to dance around the questions he can’t give the answers to.

The vicious pounding of his head is making that more difficult than it needs to be, making it a struggle for him to form a coherent thought. He takes a sip of his tea to calm his frayed nerves but it only makes his nausea worse, tasting like nothing but pure sickly sweet sugar as he drinks it.

He instantly regrets drinking it, swallowing thickly when it feels as though its clinging to his throat. Childe scowls when Ningguang says something, the words sounding as if they’re going in one ear and out the other. This is frustrating and Childe doesn’t know how much more he could take, if he didn’t think it’d be detrimental to the Fatui’s continuing operations in Liyue he might’ve walked out to get himself some fresh air.

Childe feels like absolute shit and he folds his hands on top of one another on the table when he notices they’ve started trembling. This wasn’t good, not for Childe but especially not for the Fatui. A harbinger was a pillar of strength and power, showing weakness was not an option.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his head, he swallows hard as salvia begins to rapidly gather in his mouth, his nausea only growing with each passing second. The meeting hasn’t resumed yet so Childe can leave temporarily if he wishes, but he doesn’t because he can feel Ningguang’s eyes on him as she makes small talk with the Traveler.

She’s looking for a weakness, a crack in his armor like a shark circling blood-infested waters, and Childe really doesn’t want to give her an opening. No, he refuses to.

Blinking rapidly when his vision blurs for a moment, Childe glances over at Zhongli’s still empty chair. He hadn’t returned and neither had Xiao, which wasn’t surprising considering how sick Xiao had looked when Childe left the bathroom but he can’t help but long for Zhongli’s soothing touch.

Childe’s stomach makes a low tense growling noise and he freezes doing his best to keep his expression neutral. His nausea is reaching almost unbearable levels, adding to the lightheadedness he was already feeling from the lack of sleep and his migraine. He swallows rapidly, feeling bile burning at the back of his throat as his vision wavers again, a cold sweat prickling at his skin.

A sense of panic opens wide in Childe’s chest as he realizes his body isn’t giving him a choice, he needs to leave now before something truly embarrassing happens.

“Please excuse me,” Childe said as he got to his feet, ignoring the way everyone looked at him. While Ningguang merely smiles at him, Childe thinks he sees something close to pity or worry in both Venti and the Traveler’s eyes.

He says nothing more as he leaves the room doing his best to take slow deep breaths as the world blurs and swims before his eyes, only visible as a smear of color, lights, and sound.

Childe got migraines often, he was pretty sure it came with the job and while they could get pretty bad he typically did his best to power through it. There’s a sinking feeling in his chest that settles alongside the panic still gripping him as he slowly realizes that, that may not work this time.

He tries to push that feeling away as he starts making his way to the bathroom, he just needed to splash some water on his face to wake himself up. He hadn’t had the chance to because he found Xiao sick and had to get Zhongli for him, but Childe convinces himself that if he can just do that this time, he’d feel well enough to return to the meeting and continue speaking with Ningguang. Then when this meeting was over he could go to Zhongli’s apartment and sleep for the rest of the day.

Childe pauses in the middle of the hallway reaching out to lay a hand on the wall to steady himself as he just stands there for a moment, his gaze on the floor. There are black spots appearing in his vision and no matter how much he blinks they only return not even a second later. He swallows, a soft hiccup leaving his mouth as his stomach makes a low gurgling noise churning like a whirlpool inside of him.

Childe can feel drool dripping from his mouth, but he finds it very hard to care about that when he feels as though no matter how many breaths he takes, none of the air makes it into his lungs. His limbs feel strangely numb all of a sudden and as the dark spots in his vision grow Childe suddenly feels a rush of heat run along his skin only to be replaced seconds later by a deep chill.

Childe is unconscious before he even hits the floor.

“Xiao perhaps we should go to one of the rooms Ningguang has given us, so that you may rest,” Zhongli suggested as he continued rubbing Xiao’s back.

Xiao had been nearly hyperventilating as he dry heaved and gagged emptily over the toilet for quite a few moments now. Tears in his eyes as hiccups and loud burps jolted his body. His trembling had gotten so bad that Zhongli was beginning to worry that his legs may collapse beneath him, which is why he was standing behind Xiao, his arm wrapped loosely around his waist and his other hand still rubbing Xiao’s back.

Xiao’s stomach hitched slightly beneath Zhongli’s fingertips causing Xiao to begin gagging again bringing nothing up. His head was throbbing, his brain feeling like it was falling out of his ears. It was hot, so disgustingly hot that Xiao felt like he could feel the contents of his stomach curdling inside of him as it continued to churn violently with no sign of relief in sight.

He hated this, Zhongli had said that Xiao was sick but with what? Xiao didn’t think he could catch human illnesses, at least it had never happened before but then again Xiao didn’t exactly interact with too many humans directly. For once he disliked how little he understood in regards to humans, because had no answer for this and if he was being honest that did scare him quite a bit.

Xiao groans weakly, dripping from his lips and into the toilet, the current pain he was feeling winning out just slightly over the humiliation and embarrassment. He didn’t know what he had to do but he just wanted this to end.

“Please…make it stop,” he whispered practically begging for relief at this point.

Zhongli can’t help but grimace when he feels Xiao’s stomach writhe violently beneath his fingers it’s no wonder he feels so awful. “You are going to lay down and rest perhaps once you awaken the pain shall ease up,” he told him, it’s not a promise but more of a reassurance. One that Xiao desperately needs right now.

Xiao is quiet for a few moments, the soft hiccups leaving his mouth and loud gurgling of his stomach filling the silence between them. Then he gives a small stilted nod which Zhongli takes as the cue to begin leading him out of the bathroom.

It takes Xiao a few dedicated tries to be able to stand on his own two feet and even he’s still trembling and shivering so badly that Zhongli needs to reach out to steady him a few times. Xiao says nothing as he begins walking his arms wrapped around his stomach every step leaving him feeling as though the floor is swaying beneath his feet as dizzying waves of nausea continue to crash over him. And Xiao has to take small careful breaths, each one threatening to make him gag.

As they make their way out of the bathroom however and begin walking down the hall Zhongli suddenly pauses, slowly blinking a deep scowl on his face as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing at the moment. Xiao pauses as well, confused as to why Zhongli had stopped, until he follows his gaze, his eyes widening slightly.

Childe is laying on the floor in a heap, clearly unconscious. His body limp and his breathing ragged.

Xiao glances up at Zhongli seeing concern and worry flare to life in the man’s eyes in an instant. Zhongli sighs, closing his eyes for a moment as he takes a deep breath before leaving Xiao’s side to go to Childe. He kneels beside him, his hands moving over him for a moment as he checks Childe’s temperature, while Childe does not have a fever thankfully Zhongli is very worried about how pale he was at the moment.

He grabs Childe, carefully lifting him up from the floor and moving his body to lean against the nearby wall before he turns to Xiao. “Please remain here with him, I will go retrieve Barbatos,” he told him quickly.

He does not wait for Xiao to answer before he’s getting to his feet once more and making his way to the meeting room.

As Xiao stares down at Childe he can’t help the strange sinking feeling that opens up in his chest that his current condition might be Xiao’s fault. No matter how much of a bastard Childe was, he was still a human meaning the corruption Xiao carried could latch on to Childe.

His mind briefly flashes back to the moment Childe found Xiao in the bathroom, he remembers Childe touching his back.

Xiao grits his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as that deep ache flares to life in his stomach, stealing his breath away for a few seconds. No, if the corruption had latched on to Childe and affected him somehow then Zhongli surely would’ve said something when he examined the man.

Xiao knows this, a part of him knows that Childe was probably just sick with something. Humans are fragile after all but that doesn’t stop Xiao’s mind from running through the worst-case scenarios one after another, because after all, humans are fragile.

~~~

“You didn’t eat anything strange did you Xiao?” Venti asked him softly as he rubbed Xiao’s back.

They were in one of the bedrooms that Ningguang had allowed them to stay in for the duration of the meeting. The meeting which was postponed until further notice considering Xiao and Childe’s current conditions.

Xiao shakes his head slightly, only to raise the trash can he was holding to his mouth as his stomach sloshes and he gags emptily, drool dripping from his mouth.

Venti sighed gently brushing Xiao’s hair from his face, Xiao was still shivering despite the fact that he had a blanket wrapped around him although his fever still remains strong. Venti glances over to the bed where Childe is laying, his head in Zhongli’s lap as he sits on the edge of the bed biting his lip as he gently cards his fingers through Childe’s hair.

Childe had not stirred since Zhongli had carried him here, remaining completely dead to the world. Zhongli knew Childe needed rest which is why he’d resisted the urge to try waking him up despite the worry he was feeling.

“Maybe you caught something from one of the people at the inn,” Venti muttered more to himself than anyone else as he stared at Xiao. He’s worried of course but knows that if he shows it that’ll only make Xiao’s panicking worse.

“I-I’m not human,” Xiao reminded him, his voice wavering. He groans curling in on himself slightly, drool dripping from his lips into the trash can as his stomach makes a loud gurgling noise, pain streaking across it as if someone were squeezing it.

If Xiao had the energy to do so he might’ve glared at it since his stomach has not shut up, gurgling loudly since this whole ordeal started. But he doesn’t so all he can do is sit there, tears gathering in his eyes as he muffles the hiccups jolting his body and making the ache in his stomach worse. Each time he breathes his stomach hitches threatening to make him gag and bile tries to climb up his throat.

“You may not be human but you have a human form. So you can get sick like one,” Venti informed him gently.

He wasn’t surprised Xiao didn’t know this especially considering he didn’t understand humans. And Zhongli while he understood them a bit more, he’d only chosen to live as one recently, so Venti isn’t surprised in the slightest that Xiao didn’t know something like this could happen.

Childe groans softly and Zhongli’s hand stills in his hair as both Xiao and Venti look over at him.

Childe grimaces, his eyes fluttering open slightly. The first thing he registers is pain, his head feeling as though it’s being squeezed in a vice grip and an intense wave of nausea coming with it and Childe groans again. His head hurts, he feels sick and he doesn’t know where he is or what’s happening around him but he can hear noise and see a bright light filling his vision.

All of it is way, way too much sudden stimuli for Childe’s already frayed and overwhelmed nerves.

Zhongli reaches down quickly grabbing the trash can he’d placed beside the bed when the color seems to drain from Childe’s face and he begins gagging. Zhongli brings the trashcan to Childe’s mouth as he chokes up a surge of watery tan vomit.

Childe groans coughing and spluttering as he struggles to sit up seemingly more aware than before.

“There you are Ajax, get it up,” Zhongli said softly as Childe retched another thick wave of watery vomit into the trash can, the force of it causing it to spray from his nose as well.

Venti sighed as he quickly looked back at Xiao, who is staring at Childe looking absolutely horrified, and as his breathing hitches and his eyes begin darting around in panic, hiccups still bubbling out of him Venti realizes that he needs to calm Xiao down before he has a full-on breakdown.

“Hey, Alatus, look at me. It’s fine, you’re going to be fine,” Venti said, taking Xiao’s face in his hands, forcing Xiao to look at him.

“I-is that my fault?” Xiao asked his eyes darting back to Childe who’s retching up another wave into the trash can.

Childe coughs, blinking the tears from his eyes as his head continues throbbing star bursting in his vision. “R-remind me…to assassinate La Signora…in the streets when I return home,” Childe mumbles when he gets the brief chance to breathe, his gaze briefly shifting up to Zhongli.

Childe spits into the trash can, the sickening sweetness of the tea combining with the sharp bitter and sour taste of bile reminding Childe of poison as he retches again, stars bursting before his eyes as another smaller wave of watery vomit gurgles up his throat cascading into the trash can.

He can feel Zhongli’s hand on his back, and he can’t be sure right now but he’s pretty sure that hand is trembling.

While Zhongli is speaking to him murmuring soft words of assurances Childe can also make out another voice speaking, it’s lighter and softer than Zhongli’s. It takes a moment or two for Childe to recognize it as Venti’s.

“Hey, no, this isn’t your fault, okay?  I promise,” Venti said as he continued trying to calm Xiao down.

Xiao’s hiccuping is getting more violent as he practically hyperventilates, tears in his eyes. It hurts, his stomach hurts so bad and he can barely breathe, drool freely leaking from his mouth. It’s hot and he wants to take this blanket wrapped around him off because it’s only making things worse.

“I should’ve just listened and postponed the meeting…I should’ve never gone into the bathroom in the first place,” Childe mumbles in between his panting once he can finally speak.

Both he and Zhongli look up when Xiao whimpers loudly. Childe merely blinks, looking slightly stunned when he sees the tears rolling down Xiao’s face.

Childe has seen quite a few expressions from Xiao in the brief time he’s known him, disgust, anger, irritation, apathy but this is entirely different he can see fear and panic clear in Xiao’s wide glassy amber eyes.

Xiao’s breath catches as one of his hiccups turns into a loud, wet gurgling burp that has him bringing up a wave of thick, lumpy, off-white vomit that resembles spoiled milk.

“Oh, Alatus,” Venti whispered nothing but sympathy and concern in his voice. “Okay, it’s alright I’m right here,” he told him gently as he brushed Xiao’s hair away from his face, tucking the longer strands behind his ears.

Zhongli sighed grimacing when Xiao gave a violent sounding retch, the noise practically clawing its way up from his torture stomach bringing another large wave of pale vomit with it.

He looks at Venti. “Perhaps it would be best if I took Ajax home. Will you tend to Xiao for me?” He asked him despite already knowing the answer.

Venti merely nodded, not even looking at Zhongli as he continued trying to comfort Xiao.

“It’s alright, I’m right here,” Venti murmured, pressing a brief kiss to Xiao’s forehead once they were alone.

“M-my stomach hurts,” Xiao sobbed, his nerves completely shot by this point. He whimpers, the noise getting cut off as another large wave of vomit surges up his throat, practically choking him as it catches him off guard. It overshoots the trash can slightly, splattering on the edge of it and onto the floor before Xiao quickly bows his head burying it in the trash can.

The vomit is thick, practically congealing as it falls from Xiao’s lips.

“I know, have you been feeling bad this whole time?” Venti asked him when he thinks Xiao could speak. Xiao clearly had a bad fever, bad enough where he was shivering and his skin soaked with sweat, Venti knew from experience that it couldn’t have gotten this bad out of nowhere.

Xiao nodded quickly as he retched up another large wave, a loud gurgling burp coming with it.

His stomach is still churning violently there’s also a strange gurgling sensation lower in his gut along with an odd pressure. It’s uncomfortable and his gagging and retching feels as though it’s making it worse.

“B-bathroom, please,” he manages to choke out urgently, hoping, no,  praying that Venti understands him or Xiao’s day is going to get a whole lot worse.

Thankfully Venti does his eyes growing slightly wide before he quickly begins helping Xiao to his feet.

~~~

This day is possibly one of the worst, most embarrassing days of Xiao’s life, he can’t even look Venti in the eye right now hoping that he mistakes the red blush on Xiao’s face as being caused by the fever rather than the sheer amount of shame he’s feeling.

“So probably the stomach flu,” Venti muttered to himself

Currently, he and Xiao were in bed, Xiao curled up in his lap still clutching the trash can in a death grip. Venti gave a soft hiss as he carefully rubbed Xiao’s stomach, the skin was bloated and taut beneath his fingertips the organ writhing and bubbling as tense gurgles continued to come from it.

Xiao groans, his body tensing up in Venti’s grasp, then a second later he burps lurching forward slightly as he frantically brings the trash can to his lips bringing up a small wave of pale bile.

He says nothing as he coughs shakily lifting his head, drools dripping from his mouth as he slowly blinks looking heavily dazed, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, his voice breaking on the word sorry.

“Shhh, hey, it’s okay. Please don’t cry,” Venti said softly as he wrapped Xiao in a hug as he began sobbing.

Venti can tell that Xiao is clearly frustrated and exhausted, he’s struggling to even keep holding the trash can at this point.

Venti begins humming softly, as he runs his fingers through Xiao’s hair. Trying to help him in any way he can, Venti doesn’t even know if this’ll help calm Xiao down but he’s willing to try anything at this point.

So even Venti is surprised when Xiao’s sobbing gradually begins quieting down, his body slowly relaxing in Venti’s grip.

As his breathing evens out and he falls asleep Venti gives a soft sigh of relief. He shifts slightly, doing his best not to wake Xiao as he gets more comfortable in bed. He knows it’s gonna be a long night and an equally long day tomorrow so he might as well get some sleep while he can.