“ You Left Me No Choice But To Stay Here Forever. ”

"in the next life, i will love you first."

most to least likely to say this: kazuha, aether, albedo, xiao

xiao being last on the list for obvious reasons — it took him so long to acknowledge that he was in love with you. he hadn't experienced love in millenia and he certainly had never experienced it in the way he did with you, so for him to swear that he will be the one gto love you first in another life is enough to bring tears to your eyes. he'll brush them away with calloused, uncovered fingers, and rest his forehead against yours silently.

xiao is a being of few words (for the most part). it's not often that he says he loves you -- it's a feeling, mostly. his love comes through in the way he treats you, the way he handles you like you're made of the most precious material, the way he'll kiss your forehead when you're dozing off each night. he doesn't feel the need to say those words when you know full well just how much he loves you.

so he says nothing when you lean forward and rest your head on his shoulder, pressing your body closer to his. "i love you," you whisper. "i always will."

when the next life comes, xiao will be embarrassed to admit that for the first time in a long time, he finds himself doubting your words. it wasn't more than two months ago that he regained his memories; he awoke with a start in the dead of night, every cell in his body screaming with the agony he used to suffer in daily. almost two thousand years worth of memories unlocked in the span of a few hours, leaving him a shuddering mess on his bed.

his first instinct was to call you, his best friend, to come over and just stay with him for the night -- it wouldn't have been abnormal since he'd been doing that for years now -- but you were in those memories that he'd recovered.

you, who visited him on the roof of the wangshu inn every night despite his attempts to intimidate you into stopping; you, who left him plates of almond tofu in apology whenever you had to embark on a new journey with no estimate as to when you would return; you, who quietly confessed your love for him while patching him up after one of his more intense battles; you, who always waited until the world was quiet to declare your love for him, your voice never above a whisper.

xiao remembered it all, and with it came the realization that he stuck true to his words. he did fall in love with you first this time.

but he couldn't help but doubt you. up until this point, you've shown no signs that you harbor romantic feelings for him. you're as transparent as they come in this life; if you loved him, he would know. so for the rest of the night, xiao stayed awake as he battled with himself over the thought of not being able to love you the way he used to.

so he takes a page from your book -- your old, old book -- and decides to do for you as you once did for him. until you come around, or even better, until you remember him fully, he will be patient with you and water the love you once nurtured together. one of xiao's lesser known traits was that he had the patience of a saint -- being alive for thousands of years will do that to anybody.

so he has no trouble meeting up with you the next day despite the shadows under his eyes. you'll comment on them and fret over him like you always do, but xiao will not jump at the opportunity. he will be receptive -- maybe a little more so than he usually would be -- and accept your concerns. this is all he can do until you come around.

"you're being weirdly personable this morning," you'll grumble around your coffee. "did you have a good dream or something?"

and xiao will blink at you once before his eyes will soften. something foreign to you will flicker through them, but it'll be gone too soon for you to comment on it.

"not really." xiao will murmur in response. "i just woke up early."

[ID in ALT]

terrible, terrible self-preservation instincts

★ XIAO AKA: ALATUS | THE ANEMO ADEPTUS ★

GENSHIN IMPACT WEEK: DAY 1 → *:･ﾟ✧ ♥ Favorite Character ♥ ✧ ･ﾟ:*.

Pov : he's comforting you🩵

…👀

OKAY WHAT

HOW HAVE I

I JUST CLICKED EVERYWHERE I SAW

FIRST TIME I'VE WON SOMETHING AND ITS GENSHIN

OMG

Now I have to enter the game everyday, and it's quite hard with my job :D

Oh God, it was so unrealistic: first, I won 50/50 for Zhong Li, then I got Cyno for another 50/50 and last I GOT THE WELKIN MOON

What a wonderful end of the week 💔

“𝙜𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬…” 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙢𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙨

explicit warning: don't read on if you're under 18 or uncomfortable with anything nsfw/smut related

have fun with these ;) | tag me if you use any | if yall want more prompts like this, jus drop an ask

“I’ve never done this before.”

“I’ll go slow.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Tell me what to do.”

“I’ll talk you through it, okay?”

“This is my first time…”

“I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Be gentle, please…”

“Am I going too fast?”

“Can you show me how?”

“Does this feel good?”

“Should I slow down?”

“I wanted you to be my first…”

“I want to make this perfect for you.”

“Tell me what feels good.”

“Show me how you like it.”

“We can stop whenever you like.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You’re doing so well…”

“We can keep going, if you want.”

“Relax, I’ve got you.”

“No need to rush—we have all night.”

“Let me help you.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous.”

“Is this okay?”

“Do that again…”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Let’s find out what you like together, alright?”

pov : you switched out childe with thoma

the bites cut deep

a megumi x reader one-shot inspired by this smau // masterlist

cw // mentions of injury (dog bite), blood (minor), dead body (used as a simile). mentions of hospital/clinic, medical care. angst, no comfort, cussing. 1.2k words.

the bites cut deep in more ways than one.

megumi stands awkwardly before you now in a small room within shoko’s office. its familiar to him, but not to you. the room is uneasier than usual. the fluorescent lights make the white of the gauze around your leg glow and the red of your blood even harsher. they buzz too loudly in the silence between you. he wishes he could turn them off, he wishes they didn’t glare across your face so brightly.

“i didn’t tell them to attack you,” megumi finally says, stepping closer to you, just inches away. his words are cold though, unattached. his arms hang limply at his sides, he doesn’t quite meet your eyes. you don’t quite meet his, either.

“so why did they?” you respond, soft and confused. you can’t help but shift in your seat, the paper beneath you on the exam table crinkling through the tension. megumi swallows hard, his gaze flickering away to the linoleum ground beneath his shoes. his hands flex and release, wanting to reach out to you but unable to bring himself to do so through the lie that's about to boil over.

“i don’t know.”

“you don’t know?” this time you look right into his unreadable face. “it’s… that’s not good enough for me.”

megumi clenches his jaw, the tension coiling like a tight spring. “it’s not about you.”

“what are you talking about?” your voice is still quiet, dismayed. “your dogs bit me. how is this not about me?”

“you’re taking this too personally,” you can see his eyes spark with anger, just for a moment.

your heart starts to pound in your chest, the fresh bite marks throbbing in sync with the rhythm. “how am i supposed to take it, then? you told me that your divine dogs respond only to you, to your thoughts and feelings. do you expect me not to feel anything with puncture wounds in my leg?”

“it’s not like i meant for it to happen,” megumi snaps, expression hardening as he finally meets your eyes. “you just don’t understand.”

“then tell me.”

“i don’t know how,” his voice starts to rise. “i don’t know how to explain how dangerous this all is! i don’t know how to make you understand that it’s not safe for you to be around here. or me.”

“i’m not asking for safety, i’m asking for the truth!” your voice cracks with your frustration finally spilling over. “just tell me.”

megumi’s breath hitches. just for a moment, something painful, raw, and unguarded comes across his face. but it's gone after a split second, replaced by the cold, stoic mask he always wears. “you don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“i think i already know, so just tell me,” your voice trembles. for what seems like an eternity, the two of you just stare at each other. to megumi, you're staring into his soul; picking apart and analyzing every possible atom that creates him. to you, megumi's eyes are simply sharp and angry; deep-blue eyes swirling with hurricanes of regret and resentment.

megumi opens his mouth to speak, then hesitates with a small gasp. the words begin to fall, tight and strained, like you were wrenching them out of his throat by force.

"i don't know how to love you."

you don't respond. your heart twists violently, sending a surge of rushing blood and fear through your bones. it's exponentially more powerful than the adrenaline that ripped through you after the dogs' jaws clamped into your leg.

"i tell myself i don't love you. it's easier than admitting that i'm the one who makes... us... difficult."

"you tell yourself you don't love me?" you whisper, hot tears brimming in your eyes. "since when?"

megumi looks away. "since the beginning."

"the beginning?" the rushing blood in your veins turns hot, your anger growing uncontrollably. "so, what? y-you don't love me? never have? you've just been pretending- no, lying to me all this time?

"no!" he shoots back, voice piercing and defensive. "i wasn't pretending! i just-"

"-you just what?" it's another staring match again. you and the boy you've loved for so long now, bitterly daring the other to speak first.

"it's not that simple."

you don't say anything at first, blinking blankly, attempting to process the muddling emotions in your head. "then explain it. because from what i understand, you've been stringing me along this entire relationship. you've been telling yourself that you don't give a fuck about me while manipulating me to believe you did."

"i care," megumi's voice cracks.

"how?"

"i-that's the problem! i care too much. can't you see that?" he's flipped a switch, almost desperate through the anger to make you understand now. "if i keep loving you, i'm just going to hurt us. i'll just hurt you."

"like you just did?" with wild eyes, you gesture towards the gauze around your leg, still pulsing with pain.

"yeah..." megumi swallows. "...like i just did."

"...i don't get it, megumi," the tears are slipping down your cheeks now. "you just... convinced yourself i wasn't real? and the dogs came after me because of that? i don't get it."

"i don't know," his chest heaves. "i let myself feel what i want when i'm with you. and when i leave, i just... tell myself how fucking stupid i am for letting myself do that. it's better than hurting you."

"you've already hurt me, megumi!" you sob. "and you've been doing it this entire time we've been together, it's just that neither of us even knew it!"

his face completely falls now, eyes wide with disbelief. he doesn't even feel the pain of his fisted nails digging into his palms, knuckles bright white. "i thought it was better this way," he whispers hoarsely.

"maybe for you," you wipe at your tears, the aching in your chest growing stronger with each heartbeat. "i never wanted you to protect me from whatever feelings you were hiding. i just wanted you."

"i-i don't know how to do that," he stammers. "i'm sorry. i... don't know how to give myself to you."

"i just don't think you want to."

silence falls like a dead body between you. megumi is forlorn, grasping desperately for words, the right words, to say to you. he wants to tell you 'i do! i do want to! that's what i've wanted all along!' but it doesn't come. he tries to tell you 'i love you, please... i always have. please, teach me how to let me love you?' but he's frozen with a compulsing heart.

megumi watches your wet, wounded eyes rise from the floor and directly into his own. he watches you search hopelessly for something, anything, in his face. something to save you, something to save him. but it just isn't there.

in that exact moment, megumi realizes that he cares too much. he loves you too much. and no matter the extent his care for you goes, he will never be able to truly let you in.

"leave, megumi."

and without another word, he finds his body moving against his thoughts. megumi doesn't look back. the door latches loudly behind him, leaving you completely alone. the buzzing of the sickening flourescent lights returns in full force, making bile rise in your throat.

the bites cut deep in more ways than one.

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They all arrive to Irodori Festival. Xiangling is the instigator, the glue of this group, the one who will organize picnics and international trips. Xingqiu knew who to blame for all this.