FOOLISH LOVE
pairings: xiao x f!reader
plot: y/n is a simp for xiao and loves him with her whole heart but will never let him know because she is convinced he is never going to return those feelings so she continues to stab herself in the heart by hanging out with him and falling more and more in love, full of happiness and sadness that he isn’t hers. spoiler: he is hers.
genre: angst, but also fluff
A/N: oh my god this is a repost of the first fic i ever wrote... um yea this is an interesting writing style.. but i kinda like the innocence so i'm just going to keep it!! we'll see how it goes.
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- “hey, i got this for you,” you were a little out of breath from the climb to the highest floor of the wangshu inn. you’d think days after days of trudging up and down the stairs would have you used to the burn in your calves but here you were sighing heavily as you place the warm bowl of almond tofu in xiao’s hands.
- he shoots you a look halfway between concern and disdain, “you’re late.”
- you scoff, plopping down on the rock beside the railing where xiao was settled, “you’re welcome.”
- this was a routine for the two of you — every wednesday evening (because according to xiao “wednesday is when the sun is the wArMeST”) you would usurp smiley’s place in his kitchen and whip up almond tofu for a certain ungrateful adeptus and while he ate the dish (with a small smile that he always denied when you brought it up), you would narrate the happenings in your life as an employee of the wangsheng funeral parlour.
- “the boy had this entire ‘good riddance’ attitude the whole time he was making negotiations but zhongli and i just knew he was trying to act strong,” you pause for half-giggle, “and guess what? as soon as he thought he was alone in hu tao’s office, he basically broke down.”
- “that sounds revolting,” xiao places the now empty wooden bowl between the two of you, “why bother putting up such elaborate facades of strength if they’re so fragile?”
- silently, you run your fingers through your hair, wondering if xiao was hearing what he was saying. it sounded too much like he was trying to provoke you.
- you look away, choosing to ignore whatever the strangely pointed look on his face meant, and offer an unearnest hum.
- “well, how about you?” you fiddle with xiao’s chopsticks, a little restless, “what adepti business have you been upto?”
- a beat passes as xiao shifts, throwing his legs over the edge and swinging them. the uncharacteristically childish movement made you smile; you find that the more time you spend around xiao, the more you realise just how young he was.
- “nothing of interest,” you roll your eyes at his curt reply.
- “alright, i know you hate talking about your very confidential duties,” you’ve tried for weeks to get him to say something about what he does while you’re away and the best you ever received was an unsatisfying tale about a little girl interrupting xiao’s solitude in the mountains. and yes, you are aware that xiao just isn’t built to share things easily, or at all, but it doesn’t help the slight sting you feel everytime he declines.
- well, at this point, it must be apparent: you are helplessly in love with the man with the softest teal undertones and the hardest walls to break, the adeptus who refuses to meddle with human world and thus, refuses all of your love. you know he does not think of you any more than a mortal and yet, every wednesday you ignore the warning in hu tao’s farewell and find yourself mesmerized by the enigmatic diamond on his forehead and the red around his eyes.
- simply put, you are an idiot.
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