Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a windy summer night when she met him. The countryside of Liyue was cooling down after a day's worth of enduring the sun's blistering heat.

Deep, deep, in the heart of the Harbor, the young director of the Wangsheng funeral parlor was finishing up her work for the day. She’d been working for so long she didn’t notice the sun’s absence. When her attention was diverted, she had one thing on her mind.

‘Why must the days grow so long in the summer?’

She led herself to the main lobby. A man sat there, still as a mountain, his expression unchanging. He looked up from the book that was consuming his attention and turned his head towards his superior.

“Director Hu, You’re still here I see.” The consultant said, with his usual eloquence.

She let out a sigh. She seemed to be uncharacteristically exhausted this particular night. Throughout the months of working with Hu Tao, Zhongli had seen the side of her that was more low-energy. Frankly, though, he had never seen her get so dull.

The past few days had taken a month's worth of battery life out of the girl.

They had grown to trust each other more as friends rather than just mere colleagues.

Zhongli even trusted her with his dearest secret.

Well, it was more like she found out on her own. Either way, they had grown a bond after everything, and he began to notice when she was pushing herself as director.

Though she was skillful as well as confident, her passion did reach the point of fault. She wasn't usually a workaholic, per se, she just didn't quite know her limits yet.

“Have you been out here the entire time? I didn't hear you come in,” she asked.

“I'd assume that’d be the least of your worries right now, child. It would be best for you to head home and get some rest. I can finish whatever you have started in there.”

He placed the book on the table in front of him, stood up, and started towards her office.

“Mr. Zhongli.” Hu Tao said gravely, causing the man to stop in his tracks.

“Yes?” He responded, turning to the girl who was now staring intently at him.

“As Rex Lapis, do you... Welcome death?” she asked.

Zhongli’s face twisted from indifference to slight shock. He then gave a brief chuckle.

“Well,” he breathed.

“That question is quite irrelevant. That isn't who I am anymore. But if you must know, I-”

“Nevermind. It was a stupid question.” Hu Tao interrupted him abruptly.

The silence between the two rang for a moment. Zhongli’s shock was brought back by her sudden abrasiveness. She was acting stranger than normal.

Hu Tao quickly turned around and retrieved her coat and hat from the coat rack by the door. She sighed and a familiar smile returned to her lips.

“Well then, I'll be off. I'm probably going to take a nice refreshing walk. Alas, if only I could've finished my work on my own. I trust you will take care of my affairs as if they were your own, right?”

And with that closing statement, the girl disappeared, like a butterfly into the night, leaving Zhongli with emotional whiplash.

-

Through the streets, the hills, and eventually the fields. Hu Tao wandered for a couple of hours into the night. The moonlight kissed even the areas of the countryside that had been shrouded in darkness.

With every step she took further from the harbor, her thoughts began to eat at her more, and more. You wouldn't be able to tell from the somewhat, still cheerful expression on her face but she was bothered by something. Or, maybe it was nothing? Nobody knew, except Hu Tao herself, and even she wouldn't admit it out loud.

As she walked she noticed a potential sanctuary out of the corner of her eye.

A place to think.

A tree.

A tall, sturdy ginkgo tree, possibly old as the ground it was growing in.

A sigh of defeat escaped her. Her feigned expression fell as she tiredly sulked over to the base of the tree. She sat against the tree, before taking off her shoes. Then her hat. Then her socks.

Her hand gripped the grass that she was beginning to sink into. Her hands then traveled up her shins, hugging her knees to her chest.

The top of her head rested on the trunk of the tree, and she gazed at the gaps in the leaves that let in starlight.

The splendor drew her worried thoughts out into the night, where they belonged.

“Death. No being can escape it. The dread adds a strange beauty to this thing we call, ‘life’. The urge to make our days last as much as possible...”

She paused in thought for another moment before continuing.

“...but having someone I treasure abandon me for eternity... What am I supposed to make of that?” She said with pain in her breath.

“I can't keep pretending that I'm indifferent, when...”

“...when it's the one thing I fear most...”

At that moment she felt everything. As if it would make her mind cave in on itself, her nails dug into the sides of her legs subconsciously.

Ever since that day, her worst fear was having someone walk out the door again, only to never return. She joked around to the point people thought that the shield of denial she used was her true thoughts.

It could happen to anyone. No matter how strong the spirit, or the blade. Every tower can fall. Every star can burn out.

Every day we stand in the face of oblivion, and no matter how careful you are, it can and will find you one day.

That was Hu Tao’s curse. Choosing to accept the doom of every being in this world was both her most foolish and most cunning decision, but on that night it seemed more like the former.

The silence left her alone with her thoughts under that mammoth tree. The winds, and the fields they caressed had fallen silent.

She wished for something, anything to break the silence.

She wished.

And prayed.

And begged the silence, like a cast away sinking in the ocean’s depths.

-

She hardly even noticed that she had dozed off against the tree. Nonetheless, she had.

She was awoken, unexpectedly by the sound of clashing metal.

‘A… fight?’ She thought.

Rushing to her feet and whipping towards to source of the commotion, the sleep in her eyes impeded her vision. The only thing she could make out was a mess of hues, dancing together.

“The hell?” She spoke under her breath whilst rubbing her eyes.

The scene came into focus more and before she knew it she was rushing barefoot to the fight.

A boy, who was about her height, was fending off a group of foreign soldiers. Fatui.

Her spear appeared in her hand in a burst of yellow light. As she neared the brawl, flames flowered on the crest of her red blade. A soldier noticed her approach and readied his weapon. He was unprepared for the amount of heat and strength he would be hit with, with one strike from the girl.

The two delivered countless blows to the perpetrators until they were the only ones left standing in that field.

Both were left exhausted, due to their powers set back of absorbing their energy.

“Human.” An irate voice rang.

“Have you no self-preservation?”

Hu Tao turned to the boy.

“Hm? And…. who are you, exactly?” She asked.

She saw a pair of amber eyes piercing through the night. The wind had returned, and the previous woe had been forgotten amid this curious situation.

His eyes widened with slight shock. He almost seemed hurt at the question.

Did this girl, this human, not understand what he was? It was a rare occurrence, but not impossible considering the form he had taken.

He sighed.

“I am an Adeptus. My name is Xiao.” He said with his arms crossed.

“Oh… Oh! I apologize deeply! My name is Hu Tao, 77th director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.”

Her expression of cheeky joy didn’t match the situation in the slightest. Yet it didn't quite phase Xiao. He had his fair share of encounters with some of the more eccentric personalities the world had to offer, as much as he tried to avoid them.

“So, Xiao, what brings you out from the mountains tonight? I hear that is where you wise, old beings reside.” Hu Tao asked.

“I don't have time for your trivial questions. Return to civilization if you know what’s good for you.” Xiao said flatly as he turned away.

Another set of grassy footsteps trailed his own.

“Wait! You're a guy who does a lot of fighting, correct? In my trade, people- or beings like you are considered valued customers. Who knows? You could be eligible for-” She stopped mid-tangent, realizing he had disappeared.

“Huh...” she said slowing down

She came to a stop, and let out a sigh of disappointment.

“How rude.” She breathed into the silence.

She was still for a moment. Then she headed back to the tree to retrieve her things.

On her way back she found herself looking back up at the speckled sky. And once again getting lost in its endlessness.

From a cliff, a pair of amber eyes followed her. He watched as she made her way back to the harbor, carrying a small bounce with every step.

It was his duty to watch over humans. That’s all it was.

All it would ever be.

All it was ever supposed to be.

He couldn’t get close to her. He couldn’t get close to anyone.

‘Whatever. Even if I could, someone like that would be the last human I’d like to befriend.’

He would think.

But at the same time, his eyes would pursue her until she made it home.

‘It’s my duty. I must.’

Meeting her was like a seed being planted in his mind, and the same can go for her.

They couldn’t deny they found each other interesting. They wondered about each other for the rest of the night not knowing how similarly they felt.

Wondering how a human could act like that so shamelessly.

Wondering why she even got to cross paths with an Adeptus.

Wondering when they’d see each other again.

Chapter Text

Down.

Down,

down,

down,

down.

She found herself plummeting down an endless pit. Its walls were painted with faces she didn’t recognize. Faces she couldn’t place but faces that filled her with unbearable sorrow and guilt. Her mouth was warm and sour with the taste of blood. Her throat was torn to ribbons. Screaming, howling, and crying had rendered her voice useless.

The faces twisted and contorted. They were hardly even human. Screams echoed around the void. Nothing but pain and death filled this space.

From these screams a blazing pain bursted in her chest like. It felt like she was a tree struck by lightning, burning from the inside.

It was all too much to bare. It was all too much.

The screams were like a knife through her brain. Stuck and unmoving. Nothing else could compare to this.

She knew it was a nightmare. She could tell that much, but she couldn’t wake up. She couldn’t control the dream despite being lucid. She couldn’t move her body either. It was almost as if this wasn’t her dream at all.

Then, it all stopped.

She was stopped by a white-hot piercing feeling through her stomach.

The faces were gone.

The screams were gone.

She turned her eyes down.

The last thing she saw was a spear, identical to her own, going clean through her.

-

Her eyes shot open. She was gripping her sheets tightly and gasping for air.

It took a moment for the relief to set in, in her stunned state. Her tense body lay sweating on the bed. She began to relax, listening to the bird’s song and the morning wind outside.

‘Finally…’ she thought, as she sat up.

The sun had risen as it always did. As it always would do. Summer days would always come to drive back the short-lived damp darkness of summer nights.

Still, it would be nice if she could’ve caught a break. The world had been dealing with her bad hands for a while now and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

Stress, jumbled thoughts, long days, nightmares, one right after another.

She was due for a day off. She hadn't gotten one of those since winter.

Despite her need for a break, she was consumed by a growing curiosity. She felt that her nightmare was connected to her encounter the prior night. Strange things come about when mortals interfere with the divine, after all.

She pondered as she put herself together, and prepared for the day ahead.

Before she left she looked back at the bedroom.

As one would assume, her room was less than tidy. Novels, clothes, dishes, papers, and a vast myriad of odds and ends littered the wood floors. Her bed desperately needed to be made as well.

She shrugged it off, saying she’d clean the next day.

She wouldn't.

-

Life was picking up its pace again as the sun continued to rise in the sky and the morning progressed. These Summer days were always extraordinarily lively for the harbor.

“Mr. Zhongli!” Sang Hu Tao into the man's office.

He was engrossed in a stack of paperwork, analyzing them carefully. Zhongli peeked up from the papers to see the girl standing in the door frame. He was relieved to see she had regained her usual cheeriness but to be honest a little concerned as well.

It would be a lot easier to deal with her if he had the time to mentally prepare for the two’s interactions. When he first started living as a mortal and took this job, all her eccentric behavior rubbed him the wrong way. Over time he became more and more avoidant of her. One day, by some miracle, Hu Tao managed to annoy Zhongli into revealing his true identity to her. After that, the two began to tolerate each other more and formed a strong bond. The way a grandfather would bond with his granddaughter. Although they were a lot more like friends than anything.

“Hello, Director.” Zhongli smiled as he put down his reading glasses.

“Ahem! I don't want to beat around the bush, so I shan't!” she boomed.

Zhongli sighed, already exhausted by her overzealous demeanor.

“I'm listening...”

“Last night, I encountered a being of great divinity! An Adeptus. He was short, well, short for a being as powerful as himself, but that's beside the point...”

She was rambling now. Her fast and enthusiastic recap of the prior night was a lot longer, and a lot more detailed than was favorable.

“... After that somewhat rude interaction, I went home and went to bed and had an awful dream. I don't know why, but I feel like it had something with that Adeptus.” she finished letting out a huff.

Zhongli looked at her curiously. This was a lot stranger than her typical tangents, but also very interesting.

“Well, What did you dream about?” Zhongli asked.

Hu Tao shuddered slightly at the question, something very unusual for her to do. This said everything that needed to be said

“It-“ Hu Tao began before she was cut off

“I think I know what's going on…” the man hummed.

“Huh?”

“I think you need to seek out this Adeptus yourself. He's very... Elusive... But he will listen if you say you are acquainted with me. I promise you that.”

Stood up from his desk and handed her the paperwork he was doing.

“Uhm... What does this have to do with anything?” she asked studying the documents.

“A client we have has requested an assortment of wildflowers for his mother’s funeral. Many of these can be found in the mountains and the countryside.”

Hu Tao looked askance at the man.

“You’re not suggesting I go all that way to find some flowers, besides we have a florist.” She huffed.

“I'm saying we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Her gaze turned curious.

“How so...?”

-

A breeze swam against Xiao’s figure. It was serene.

He liked Wangshu Inn, especially the balcony on the top floor. It was secluded but not too far from humans. This place would be easy to protect if need be. The air smelled of good cooking. The only cooking he could stomach.

He sensed someone's approach up the stairs towards the balcony. Only when he turned to face the aforementioned human did he regret not leaving as soon as he felt their presence.

“You...” he growled, seeing Hu Tao carrying an empty woven basket.

“What are you doing here? What is it that you could want from me?” his eyes were like daggers.

Hu Tao was unfazed. She stood tall, with an irritating amount of audacity.

“I was sent here by my subordinate. He advised me to seek you out for a favor.” She declared.

Most people become a bundle of nerves around a being so powerful, and dangerous. Not her though. She addressed him so casually as if the two had known each other for millennia. It rubbed him the wrong way.

Xiao scoffed.

“What value does the word of this subordinate of yours have?” He asked.

“A lot, actually. Especially considering his former title. His name is Zhongli. I believe you two know each other.” Hu Tao answered triumphantly.

Although they were the same height, Hu Tao seemed to tower over him at that moment. Xiao’s eyes widened in horror.

‘How- How does someone like that end up as his superior!? What world are we living in!?’ he thought.

“You’re joking... You have to be....” his words faltered.

Hu Tao giggled smugly, but it was apparent she was dead serious. That action said everything that needed to be said.

Xiao let out a sigh.

“What is it.”

Hu Tao promptly handed him the list of flowers and the woven basket, all with that cheeky grin plastered on her face. He looked at the girl confused.

“Collect all of these flowers. Put them in this basket. Oh, and make sure to be gentle with them! I’ll accept this as an apology for your behavior last time.” She said.

He bit his tongue.

‘This girl...’ he thought.

“What even is this for!? What's the need for flowers, from what I know you humans can't eat many of these and only a small variety can be used medicinally.”

Hu Tao waved her hand dismissively, before turning away.

“I'll tell you once I have my flowers, and after you've answered a couple of my questions. Find me once you're done, I'm sure you'll be done very soon.”

She spoke walking off.

She glanced back at the bewildered boy.

“Until then, Xiao.” she chimed

-

It was tedious.

So, so tedious.

Gently severing the stems to the perfect length. Placing them in the basket, ever so gently. Finding the perfect flowers in the patch. Running around Liyue to find the correct flowers.

Xiao could’ve just dismissed the vixen who had sought him out so earnestly. Unfortunately, she wasn't lying. If she were how could she ever guess he and Zhongli were even familiar in the first place? And this was an order from Rex Lapis himself in Xiao’s eyes. And unfortunately, again, he couldn't shoot the messenger.

No matter how vexing she was.

He felt the basket growing heavy in his arms.

“Why in the world do they need so many flowers...?” he whispered under his breath looking down at the basket full of fragrant hues.

He stood on the edge of a cliff after he completed collecting the final few qingxin. He enjoyed the cool, mid-day wind once more.

The soft white clouds hung high in the azure sky. The sun shone so brightly, saturating everything that surrounded him. It was so colorful it could blind him.

“Let's just get this over with…” he breathed.

He disappeared once more in a burst of smokey green and black light.

-

It wasn’t hard to track the girl down once more. His instincts guided him, leading him to a grass patch near the snowy mountain of Dragonspine. There were several smaller white flowers in the lush clearing. The breeze followed him, bringing the salting aroma of the ocean along with it. The bountiful landscape brought back memories and emotions. The secluded peace filled Xiao with recollections.

Had scanned the space for the girl's presence.

He saw her. Laying on her stomach, feet swinging in the air like a child. He was lazily fidgeting with the blades of grass.

Her eyes look cloudy.

Something about it was fragile and soft. Xiao realized how close he was standing to Hu Tao, retracting afterwards. He found himself biting his tongue again. Her attention seemed to be diverted. She was off in space.

Xiao cleared his throat.

“I’m done.” He said

Hu Tao brought herself back to earth. His voice had dragged her out of her heat-induced daze.

“Hm...? I see. I thought... I thought you were supposed to be quick. What took you so long?”

her words were still like blades, but her drowsy tone had made them dull and coated them with sugar.

Xiao set down the basket.

“Uhm... I...” he said, his words also losing their sharp edge.

“Heh... Don't worry about it. I just teasing...” she replied.

The gentleness of her words threw Xiao even more off-tempo.

“Right, apologies.” he softened.

Hu Tao stretched a bit, turning to sit on her knees. She rotated her neck letting out a soft groan.

“I was going to watch the clouds while I was waiting, but the sun was so bright,” she said a bit more clearly than prior.

“Sit with me?” she asked.

Xiao felt a warmth in his chest. It crawled up his neck and layered after landing on his cheeks.

‘Did she seriously just ask me that?!’ He screamed in his head.

“Helloooooo….. earth to Xiaooo….” Hu Tao called.

He looked away, arms crossed across his chest.

“But why-“

An hand reached up, tethering around his forearm and dragging him down. Usually, he wouldn’t be caught off guard like that but, he was a lot more spacey today.

I wonder why…

“Hey! What the hell!? Are you-“ Xiao was cut off.

“Oh shush. You need a break, I heard from your boss you often don’t sleep enough. How bout a nap?” Her voice still soft.

Xiao was unable to respond right away. It was like there was a jam in his gears, and Hu Tao could see this.

“Hm? Hm. Even if you don’t, I will.” She hummed before laying down in the grass. She yawned and looked up at the soft clouds.

“W-wait! Didn’t you mention you had questions? What about the flowers?” He asked frantically.

“Those can wait…” she really was dozing off.

Xiao decided not to say anything else. Every part of his brain was telling him to leave. Telling him she’d be fine on her own. That there were no monsters or treasure hoarders nearby.

His heart and body knew all of this but, didn’t care. He sat there. Not moving. Barely even breathing.

It was just those two.

Noon turned to afternoon and afternoon turned to evening. It was a while until Hu Tao finally began to stir.

Her sudden awakening pulled Xiao out of his slow, sweet, abstract thoughts.

Hu Tao opened her eyes, once again in a sleepy stupor, but this time feeling more well-rested.

He had left.

The sun was setting.

The basket was still there.

He wasn't though, all that was left in his place was a patch of flattened grass from where he was sitting.