Chapter Text
Barbatos regained self just in time to watch Xiao plummet to the ground- terrifying, sinking, the thought of his death suddenly so close- and yet he could only stare in horror at the wounds he had inflicted.
“Xiao!” As hard as he could, he tugged in time with Zhongli, pulling him up by the strength of the wind and of a true name. The yaksha’s eyes were shut, blue leaking from his neck and covering his skin, staining his clothes in ichor. He cradled the adeptus in his arms, rocking him and whispering reassurances as his hands scrabbled to stem the bleeding. “Please, please, please. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I love you, mein Liebling, stay with me...“
“Venti, we need to get him to a healer. Can you take him to anywhere that has one?” Zhongli was barely hiding his desperation beneath a veneer so thin a stray gust of wind could shatter it.
“Y-yes. I- In Mondstadt City, the Cathedral, it’s-”
“What are you waiting for? Take him there!”
Venti licked his dry lips, gulped, and- still holding Xiao- called on the wind to transport them to Mondstadt Cathedral.
“Barbara! Please, help him.”
“Venti? What? Oh, no! Here, pass him to me.” The blonde girl carried Xiao to a place out of his sight with an unexpected strength. “You shouldn't be back here, patient privacy is important. I'm sorry, he's clearly important to you, but I'm going to need you to leave for now.” Then, in an uncharacteristic show of force, “These doors will not open even for Lord Barbatos himself unless the patient says it so.”
“His... guardian... told me to watch him, I can't leave him like that!”
“Venti, your presence won't hel-”
“Yes it will! I can force air into his lungs or something. Please.”
“If you're sure he will be okay with it... Fine. Do you have his name, date of birth, address?”
“Uh... Xiao, he lives at Wangshu Inn, and... he was born in... B.F.A. 1214 on April 17th.”
“B.F.A. 1214? You're... Sure you're not drunk, right?”
“Yes! He's an adeptus from Liyue. The Vigilant Yaksha, the Conqueror of Demons, General Alatus... That ring a bell?”
“I... see. So that's not just an overly ornate and realistic glider, then. Come here, make sure he keeps breathing while I work with the wounds.”
Barbara wisely didn't comment on how exactly Venti knew the yaksha, choosing instead to keep up a companionable silence as she bustled back and forth sending waves of healing Hydro and Venti focused on his adeptus despite the coppery smell invading his nostrils. Force it in, bring it out... In... Out...
“V-Venti?” he heard Xiao rasp quietly, then a sharp intake of breath. “You are... normal again.”
“Shh, shh, mein Schatz. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but for now you have to rest, okay?”
“Mmph-” Xiao mumbled, sitting up. Venti gently pushed him back down.
“Rest, Xiao.” The yaksha in question grunted in dissent but eventually lay back down.
“It hurts...”
“I know, and I'm sorry.”
“Why? What do you have to be sorry for?” Venti frowned at that, silent for a while.
“Everything. Hurting you.” Gently, his hand trailed to a broken wing, barely stopping himself from crying as the yaksha flinched minutely. “I'm sorry.” Apologies can't make up for it.
“...It’s fine. It's... Not you...” He noticed Xiao clenching his fists. “It was... Her...”
“I... I'm sorry, still. I hurt you, that can't be forgiven.”
“Truly?” Xiao dared to ask, gazing lovingly into Venti's eyes. “Because I forgive you.”
The god couldn't hold back his tears as he slumped, burying his head by Xiao’s side in the bedding as he wept. Barbara had very wisely exited the room when Xiao had awoken, choosing to stay out of the personal matter.
He felt a warm hand, gently wiping his tears away and stroking his hair. ”You were not yourself. When they were corrupted, Menogias and Bonanus killed each other, Indarias killed herself... I should be happy I’m not dead right now. How could I blame you for something not of your will?”
“Y-You blame yourself for what you did under h-her.” Venti pointed out tearfully.
Xiao paused, stiffening, before resuming his gentle ministrations. “That is different. It was my folly that led to her even having that power,” He sat up slowly, wincing quietly. “besides, you only hurt me. You didn’t... Never mind. Just sit down.” He patted the corner of the bed expectantly.
“This really should be the- the other way around, you know? You’re the injured one, not me.” Venti grumbled, making his way to the place.
“I am used to the pain by now.” the other replied so matter-of-factly that Venti did a double take.
“What?!”
“What?”
“WHAT?!”
“...I fight every day, did you truly believe I would not be injured?”
“That you would get hurt, yeah, not that you’d get hurt enough to be used to it!”
“Some of it is from her. Otherwise, most earthly agonies pale in comparison to karmic debt.”
Venti narrowed his eyes, standing up. “Hmph. I’ll let you off... for now. Don’t think I don’t know how self-destructive your fighting style is... Now lie down.”
Xiao sighed a long-suffering sigh, acquiescing to Venti’s request. “Lord Barbatos, you know that is a side-effect of the karmic debt. But Venti...”
“But Venti?”
“So do you.” he delivered, a sharp blow reducing the god to a sputtering mess.
“Wha- I- Xiao!”
The person in question raised an eyebrow. “Can you help me get on my front, please? My wings are being squished and it is really very uncomfortable. I could do it myself, but it does hurt quite a bit.”
“R-Right!” Venti snapped to attention, wincing in sympathy at the broken bones. “Sorry.” he murmured as he jostled the tender, raw skin, Xiao flinching slightly with each touch. Finally, he was on his front, golden wings bent at unnatural angles.
“Can you... snap them back properly? From then my body can heal on its own...” Xiao said awkwardly.
“I don’t want to hurt you more, mein Liebling.”
“It’s fine.” he asserted, and- full of trepidation- Venti laid his hands on one of the breaks and- as quickly and cleanly as possible- snapped it back properly. He heard a sharp intake of breath, but Xiao nodded for him to continue. The next one was slower- shards of bone cutting through skin and tissue but eventually snapping back into place, causing a muffled cry of pain.
The other wing was worse by far. There was a small, shoe-shaped area of shattered, hollow bone and bleeding, the beginnings of infection setting in. Next to it were the actual breaks, one of them still reasonably clean and the other splintered and fragmented- though still able to be snapped back into place. Venti snapped both of them back, nausea swimming in the back of his throat.
“If you need the bathroom, just go.”
Venti didn’t think he’d ever been happier to go to a bathroom as the contents of his stomach re-emerged into a marble toilet basin. The breaks had been so cruel, so unnecessarily sadistic, purely there to inflict pain. The area where he’d stomped on had been blue with ichor and littered with shattered shards of fractured, hollow bone, pus beginning to form beneath the skin and oozing in the corners. Just thinking of it made him want to be sick again- not that there was anything left in his stomach after how much he’d already thrown up. “Are you alright?” He heard a voice call.
“Y-Yes, I'm fine.”
Wiping the corners of his mouth, he exited the bathroom. Xiao stared at him, his gaze mildly concerned but filled with love. “Are you sure? You don’t look so good...”
“Sure.”
“How did you handle that? How did you not want to die?” he wanted to say. “Is it better now?” left his lips instead.
Xiao's soft gaze roamed over his body, warm and understanding. “It's okay. Come on.” He patted the bed next to him, and Venti hopped up.
“When do you want to go back to Liyue?”
“Maybe I'll stay here awhile, if it's alright.”
“Of course! I'll take you around Mond once you get a bit better.”
“Mm. That would be... Agreeable. I should be fine in a day or two.”
“Okay. Rest, mein Liebling. I'll be here when you wake up.”
“Not in the morning?”
“It's three a. m. right now, Xiao. I doubt you'll sleep an entire 27 hours and I'm not letting you sleep for any less than twelve.”
“Oh...” Xiao frowned. “I hope I didn't bother the healer...”
“Nothing of the sort! I'm not bothered in the least!” Barbara called in. “Xiao, right? Unless you prefer being called something else?”
“No, Xiao is fine.”
“You should be able to heal on your own for the most part with rest and food since the worst injuries have already been healed. I think Venti already set the wings? Yes, he did... I’ll go get some food, is there anything you can't eat?”
“He can't stomach most mortal foods other than almond tofu-”
“I'm not hungry, it's fine.”
Both Venti and Barbara glared at him. “You need to eat, it's important for healing-”
“You're not going to eat it if it's anything else and you need to eat, so-”
Make that two unstoppable forces and one very movable but stubborn object.
“Thank you.”
“No problem, eat up and rest well!”
“This is... Unnecessary...”
“Oh? Xiao? You couldn't possibly be saying something so mean to our dear Deaconess, could you?”
“That's right, I would be ever so hurt if I thought you didn't need this, Mister Xiao, that all my hard work was for nothing~”
They were ganging up on him, weren't they.
“So eat up, Xiao~”
It was... Good enough. He wanted to leave already, the cold, utilitarian marble was making him uncomfortable- “Mister Xiao, if you feel uncomfortable here I'll let you go out with Venti on the condition that you don't strain yourself overmuch.”
And they were outside. Bright marble replaced with vivid verdure, stained glass swapped for open air, but it didn't make him feel any better.
Venti hugged him gently. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I know.” A quick brush of soft lips on his cheek.
“Eh?” Xiao’s face heated.
“I love you.” The other said, starting to fidget. “If it’s okay, is it?”
“Yes.” And he meant it.
It was all...
Okay.