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yuaoxi · 9 days ago

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𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 || Xiao x F!Reader

Chapter 7 - Failed Date, Foggy Haze

Tired of his father living vicariously through him, Xiao decides to start the band he’s always dreamed about. Fame and wealth never mattered to him, he’d just want to feel part and contribute to a community that’d accept a broken man like him.

Starting a band in his friend’s garage, Xiao runs into a problem: there’s no drummer. Thus, auditions are held to be apart of the band. Our dear bassist has little to no experience with women, so how could he deal with one joining the band? Why did she bring so much of her ‘girl drama’ to rehearsals, and why is his ex trying to get back into his life?

Word Count: 7.4k

CW: implied/referenced abuse, drug use (xiao is a stoner)

It’s been a few days since rehearsals started. It’s also been a few days of Yunjin acting weird. The day you told her you’ve been accepted into the band, she ghosted you until the next day.

‘srry i didnt mean to not respond ><’ dad had me working’ was all she sent to you.

Of course you accepted, she’s a new friend and already getting along well with Ayaka and Hutao. But it seemed as if she was only interested in meeting with them. Anytime you’d bring up Venti, she’d just give off some excuse for not being able to hang out. Studying, working with her dad, she has an appointment, etc. So you ultimately gave up on trying to plan a friend date with your best friend.

She's been more active but recently all her texts seem to be about the band, she’d ask about how you feel about them. Venti? Best friends since high school, obviously you love him to shreds. Aether? You met him and his twin once before joining the band, he’s a little quiet and lost in his mind often, but still very friendly and can hold a conversation well. A natural leader to the band. Xiao? Also quiet, you knew of him as he’s been friends with Venti since they were children, your dad also worked with his dad as mechanics at some luxury car company. But you just can't seem to break down a wall he holds up. Not even a peephole.

It’s pretty irritating.

During rehearsals you catch him watching you and you can almost feel his eyes burning into you. You're not sure if it’s because of the drink you spilled on him a month back, you haven't apologized for that (yet). Maybe he’s just uneasy with new people? That's probably why team synergy was an important factor for them in terms of judging.

Whatever it was, you decided to get over your thoughts as you focused back onto the old notebook on your lap.

You're back in Itto��s garage for a band rehearsal, your class was canceled so you showed up early. The garage door was opened to allow the cool breeze inside, some shelves full of tools on one side of the garage, paint buckets in another, mini fridge in a corner stocked with beers and capri suns (that you bought for yourself but had to buy more as Venti likes to drink them all), a massive beanbag that Shinobu made Itto throw out (he didn't), and an old, stained couch from 30 years ago. So, for now it was you, the drum set Itto borrowed from a friend in jail, a few amps, microphones, speakers. And Xiao. The two of you on the couch, opposite sides.

He’s in a hoodie and jeans, hair messy as always but it frames his face so well, eyes tired but still sharp. He’s scrolling through his phone, occasionally biting and playing with his lip ring. Not talking to you, other than lifting his hand up at you when he saw you enter the garage; his way of greeting. It was so awkward even sitting near him as you feel like he’d hate you just for breathing wrong.

How can you write in this atmosphere?

Fuck it. You leaned over to your bag that sat beside you on the floor, searching for your headphones. You connected them to your phone, enabling bluetooth, and placed them over your head. One ear covered and the other exposed. In case Xiao decides he wants to talk. Ha.

You opened your music to something that will help cloud your mind with more noise.

‘Dim (Nostalgic Edit)’ by Yves.

The beat trying to stabilize itself, the echoes in the background sounding like sirens going down a tunnel, the distorted synths that replicated the thoughts in your mind. It's just noise, but it's as if it forces you to organize it and make sense of stuff.

You aren't sure if he watched you move, keeping your eye on Xiao using your peripheral vision. But you couldn't just stare into space with him beside you. What if he thinks you're going crazy?

You took a deep breath, changing your position on the couch to cross your legs together and adjusting the notebook on your lap once again.

On the pages are written some notes from the last rehearsal, adjustments to lyrics. You’ve been debating on trying out a collision overlapping between two bars, or if they should just scrap whatever it was they were trying to fit.

Your pencil tapped in annoyance against the paper, using it to tap the beat again and refresh your mind on the song, composing it in your head. Your pencil being what helped test out the melody.

“Is that the song we're working on?”

A raspy voice caught your attention from beside you. Your head turned over to the only other person in the room with you, Xiao.

His golden orbs met yours, his position never moved just his head facing you now. He looked at you then down to the notebook on your lap, then back at you.

He’s pointing using his eyes.

“Uh, yeah. It is. I don't like how the lyrics are coming out.”

“Which part?”

Xiao's making conversation? I mean, it's just about the music they're making, that doesn't count. Right?

“You know, uh, the chorus,” you pointed at some words on your notebook, moving the book closer for him to see, “I feel as if we're moving on too quickly from this stanza. I don't know if I should chop it out or find a different filler. Heh, yeah…”

You already feel yourself shutting down. Why is it so hard to even translate your thoughts to him? So embarrassing!

His expression remained unreadable, but you could tell he was reading your notes and the lyrics. He stayed still for a minute, before readjusting his position on the couch. Now his back is against the armrest of the couch, one leg crossed in front of him while the other still hung over to the floor. Porcelain fingers reached out to grab your notebook, although he didn't touch you, his cold silver ring grazed against your skin. Xiao read through your notes, head bobbing at the lyrics and seeing him organize what you were trying to fix up.

“Let’s sing til the end of the song. Beginning of the song already has 16 seconds of instrumentals before vocals come in. How about cutting the stanza up and exaggerating ‘you’?”

“How so?” you ask, intrigued as Xiao flipped your notebook to where the two of you could see.

“Here,” he pointed at exactly where your troubles were, “How about we cut up ‘Its’s you / I’m just saying it's you’. We can cut those up and have ‘you’ exaggerated to emphasize the song. This song isn’t calling for fast vocals, so we can slow down.”

“Can you… try it? I need to hear it.” Fuck!

“I’ll start at the pre-chorus. Just keep the beat.” he nodded, eyes still on the lyrics on your notebook as you counted him in.

Although you clapped along and kept your eyes still onto your notebook, you were so taken back by Xiao’s vocals. He’s proven himself to be a great vocalist alongside the other band members, but hearing him sing along and howl out the ‘you’ in the lyric. It kinda made you shy.

You really thought this mf hated you.

Whatever, step one is somewhat completed I guess.

“That… was good. Thank you.”

Xiao looked back up to you and nodded before turning his position back to when you first entered the garage.

You scribbled on some more notes.

‘Exaggerate vowel, keep breathy’

From there you started humming to yourself what Xiao suggested, and it fit.

Only a couple minutes passed by as you hear two doors slam shut in a car, Venti and Aether. Arriving just in time for rehearsal to start with iced coffees. Thank fuck.

Aether offered a wave at the two of you, iced drink halfway done, before heading over to where his guitar laid onto its stand. Venti arrived with the rest of the drinks.

“Vanilla oat milk cold brew for you,” the sparkling boy giggled as he handed Xiao his drink, “and a toasted coconut shaken espresso for you.”

Your eyes sparkled so much it could rival Venti’s. So sweet but so smooth, not overpowering. You took a sip and it was as if your taste buds danced after the first rain of a brutal summer. “Thank you so much!”

Venti giggled, still standing over you and looked down at your notebook. Not the one you were given by him to write the band's lyrics and notes, but your personal notebook.

His quick hands snatched it out your lap, pacing around the room with it.

“Venti-” you called in embarrassment, the headphones on your head that you had forgotten all about slipped down to your shoulders as you stood up from the couch.

“Now, now. What is my dear drummer looking to change? Oh!” Venti’s surprised reaction caught the attention of Aether, heading to peek over his shoulder as Venti plopped down in the empty space between you and Xiao.

“You finished the song?” Aether asked, eyes still reading the rest of the song the band never got to. “It sounds good. You did this all yourself?”

Now it was your turn to talk, “Uh, no. Not entirely. Xiao… helped with the chorus. Didn't know how to cut it up so he suggested we extend ‘you’.”

As you said Xiao’s name, his eyes darted from the notebook he once held just to lock his eyes in with yours momentarily, before they went back to the notebook, reading the new notes you put in after his suggestion.

“Y/N… this is good! Much better than what I was thinking. Xiao, good job too, I guess.” Venti stood back up, throwing the notebook over at Aether who caught it. Venti went to the back of the mic, just his little body as his guitar was still propped up on a stand. “Shall we get to work now?”

Aether read the notes once again, really taking them in before he nodded and headed back towards his mic. “These are really good. Great job, drummer girl.” He handed the notebook back down to you as you stood up. Before leaving back to his position he gave you a pat on the back.

Feeling a stare on you, you turned your head to see Xiao was staring back at you once again. He gave a curt nod before standing up to head to his guitar.

Venti decided to grab his guitar again, hyping himself up.

Still something was missing.

A recording of your rehearsals.

“Is it cool if I set up my phone to record us? We can review the playback footage and see what we should work on.”

Aether, finishing up with his tuning gave you a nod at the suggestion. “Go ahead, it’d be embarrassing sounding out of tune.”

You pulled your phone back out your pockets, opening the camera app and finding a place to prop up your phone. A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked on a pile worked. You tilted the phone as much as needed until everyone was in frame. That's when you realized your headphones were still around your shoulders. Before pressing the red circle to record, you threw your headphones onto the couch where you were sitting. Then gave the camera a peace sign before running back to your drums.

“Take 1 of ‘You (Show Me Where My Days Went)’,” Aether started, before looking at you to count the others in, “Ready?” Truly Pulse’s natural leader.

You nodded, a big smile on your face as you tapped your sticks together to give the others the tempo. It wasn't a loud song, so your guitarists had to start slow before easing into the first verse.

Aether started the song, Venti took over the second verse, then Xiao took over the chorus. You? Adlibs and backup vocals. Although you can sing, you’d prefer to focus more on drums rather than vocals.

Finally the song ended with Aether’s final lines and your drums. The group cheered, minus Xiao who just sat down on an amp and started tuning his bass again.

Hopping out of your seat, you ran over to the camera that was still recording and pressed the little red square to stop. Venti hopped right onto your back, seeing the recording on your phone. His chest was pressed entirely onto your back and his arms wrapped around your waist, head onto your shoulder.

You skimmed through the song as Venti practically invaded your personal space. “Did you bring your laptop?” You asked him

“Yeah but no cords.”

You snorted out a laugh, “That's fine, I got cords to plug it into. Just forgot my laptop on my bed.”

Venti hopped off of you as he fetched his laptop from his backpack, then went through your bag to grab the cords and a piece of gum.

Of course a gentleman can't go through a lady's bag. But this is Venti and Y/N. Venti’s taken care of Y/N as she’s thrown up drunk on her clothes. Y/N one time had to bathe Venti as he was piss drunk. What else is there for them to hide from each other?

The other two surrounded you and Venti as you plugged in your phone to his laptop. He clicked around using the mousepad and found the video you just took of the band performing.

It started with you throwing a peace sign and the guys behind you giving a chuckle (save for Xiao who just stared at you). You turned to run in the video and felt a little embarrassed, “Do I actually run like that?” hands covering your face from your body running to your drum set.

“The floor is covered in cables, anyone would awkwardly run like that.” Aether reassured you, placing a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

Aether’s voice started, his body turning to face yours as he gave you your sign for the counts.

The actual performance was pretty good, with only few minor flaws and some changes to be made.

“It’s good,” Venti started, “but it’s missing something.”

“Aether, can you change the chords around the last 15 seconds of the song?” Xiao suggested, eyes closed and playing the song in the back of his mind. “Y/N, let’s have your drums be the absolute last sound in the song.”

Venti gave Xiao a pat on the back, at him suddenly speaking up to make suggestions. “Look at you speaking up!”

Xiao just threw a scowl over at Venti before leaning back onto the couch, spreading his arms out. Aether called for a small break while he figures out what kind of chord he’d wanna try out, Venti lent him his laptop so he can see what to test out.

After Venti left from between the two of you, it was back to you and the dark-haired boy on the couch. Xiao hopped back on his phone, one hand tapping the beat of the song onto the couch.

Since he’s back on his phone and some time has passed, you opened your phone to see you got a message from a ‘Haruki’ on… Tinder.

He just asked you what's up, called you pretty. Seems normal so you’d probably respond back the same way. ‘Oh just in a band meeting’, you thought to yourself as a response already. You clicked the message where the screen loaded in white same for a pinky fire going into the frame in the center of your screen. You clicked on his pictures just to remind yourself of how he looked.

Obviously from Inazuma, goes to the same uni as you but you’ve never seen him before, he’s got auburn hair, obviously a bowl cut but he styles it back. Normal pictures except you stumbled across a pic of him shirtless at the gym. That really assured something in your mind.

You probably swiped on him when you were horny and lonely.

You scrolled slightly to the bio.

“i go jim. something casual with someone open-minded :)”

Then back to his message to you, “link?”

Gross.

You unmatched so quickly, throwing your head back onto the couch, just for something to catch sight in your peripheral vision. Xiao took a peek at your phone, looked back at you, and smirked?? It must've been a trick of the light as he turned around to pay attention back onto his phone. But he smirked? There's no way you got laughed at already.

“Okay, how does this sound?” Aether asked, playing a new chord progression for the last bit of the song.

You felt it fit perfectly in, so did the other two. So back to recording take two of your song.

The rest of the rehearsal consisted of recording, playbacks, critiques, a lyric change or two, and so on. By the end of it all, your clothes began to stick to you slightly from the amount of takes. But finally the band felt satisfied, it was starting to get dark and the air became cooler inside the garage.

As you were sipping water, you picked up a conversation with Aether. Asked how his sister was as the last time you saw her was before the band formed, at karaoke with Venti and the others.

“She's fine, swamped with homework. Her boyfriend's pretty cool, too. Little weird but cool.”

“Weird? Is it worrying?”

“Yeah, kinda. He gets a little aggressive sometimes but never to her. Guess he’s just overprotective. Not too worried, my sister knows how to fight. She still kicks my ass if I leave the toilet seat up.”

You chuckled at that. No way Aether is house trained.

“What about you? Any siblings?”

Your face lit up, but before you could get a word out, Venti called your name from behind you.

He and Xiao were sitting down on an amp, Venti obviously carried the conversation as Xiao only seemed to respond in grunts when he wanted to.

“Y/N~ So I heard you were on tinder? Any hot dates yet?” Venti sang out, Aether giggled at the other's question.

How embarrassing! Xiao, you will pay for this.

You looked over at the quiet boy beside your best friend, who just raised an eyebrow over at you before turning back down to play around with his bass. Asshole.

Taking a deep breath, you crossed your arms and answered Venti’s question. “I have a date tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll watch my location at some point.”

“Is that why you asked for no rehearsal on Tuesday?”

“I’m not the one who asked, it was your little friend over there.”

Now Xiao got his attention back onto you. Venti looked between the two of you, having a stare off, “Wait! Don't tell me you guys are going on a date tomorrow?”

You scoffed, walking over to grab your belongings and slinging your bag over your shoulder.

“Don’t be stupid, of course not. Since rehearsal is over now, I’m heading home. I’m all sweaty.”

Besides, it's way too early in the story for a date.

“Where is it at?” Venti called out as you were exiting the garage. You turned around to face him again, “Don't worry about it. You have my location anyways.”

You threw a wink out at him before grabbing your keys out of your pocket and unlocking the car door. It was so cold out, you turned up the seat warmers and waited for your car to heat up some more before driving off. As you waited, Aether and Venti saw you still in your car and waved you goodbye. Xiao was still in the garage, watching the other two pack up in Aethers car before driving away.

He looked back at your car momentarily, before turning around to shut the garage door. Then the lights went out, signaling he’s out of there too

Weirdo.

At least you won't see him for another few days.

You placed in the directions to your home, then took off.

Hopefully he won't be too weird anymore, or stay as intense as he’s been.

–

Finally in your house, you gathered some clothes before hopping in your shower.

You took your time inside, feeling all the sticky sweat fall off of you and feeling rejuvenated. You grabbed your pj pants and tank top, slipping them off. Attempted to dry your hair as best as you could and added on extra moisturizer.

You see how your phone buzzed on your bed as you reentered your room, plopping onto the bed to see who would've texted you.

Venti.

V: srry for the teasing

V: hehe

V: not rlly

V: but i heard xiao spoke to you other than his usual groans and making stupid faces !!

Y/N: yeahhh idk im still scared of him 😞

Y/N: he aura farmed for too long

Y/N: he's like lvl 100 mafia boss and im lvl 1 thug

Venti laughed at that last message.

V: nuh uh !! bet you dont realize that hes also shy asf !!

Y/N: i lowk dont believe u but oki

V: its true !! just keep talking abt the music and he’ll come around. he’s kinda like a cat !!

V: just not his cat, shes rlly friendly

Y/N: xiao has a cat?

V: hehe yup !! you’ll meet her someday just gotta earn his trust first. thats his daughter he wouldnt want a bad influence like you around her

Y/N: me? bad influence? girl look at you !!

V: man wtv !! imma go to bed hehe. just keep doing what you were doing

V: promise he’s not scary just shy

You just liked his message, then you scrolled between other messages.

Yunjin, she's a little weird. Talks about the band a lot, won't tell you who her ex is but it's either Aether or Xiao. So far you're getting to know Aether, there's no way it was Xiao, he’s so difficult to get to.

The band group chat. Just the four of you. It was mainly Venti sending memes, Aether would reply to them or send demos, Xiao is somewhat active as he only likes messages and asked the other day to have Tuesday off, and you? You haven't texted anything in the groupchat yet.

Maybe that’ll change.

Some guy named Henry asked you on a date to get boba and go hit up some shops nearby, rather far drive across town. Although he offered to pick you up, you prefer driving yourself in case anything weird happens.

You smile at the pictures of him. Cute guy, pale skin, glasses, short, light hair, pretty toned. He was rather cute but totally not what you'd usually go for, still you don't like keeping yourself in a box. You weren't really excited but at least you got to get out of the house more, not that your dad bothers you, you just don’t like to be holed up.

You sighed, flipping through your phone looking for a video to ‘watch’ as you tried to fall asleep. You’ve gotten used to noise to calm you down, your parents jamming out would provoke you with sleepiness, or just your dad watching tv loudly from the living room would be enough too.

Finally, you found something worth your interest and clicked it. You placed your phone on the nightstand beside you then wrapped yourself up in the warm comforters, freshly dried and so warm.

–

It’s well into the date with Henry, a guy from Mondstadt and he’s been really nice. A little weird. Not creepy, he’s just a big crypto guy. Whatever that means.

At the moment you're going between getting your father an antique ashtray or watch, staring at both eagerly as if they’d come alive and convincing you which one to buy. The ashtray is ceramic, painted and glazed over beautifully, it has a pond in the corner with some swans and a cherry blossom tree. The edges are decorated in gold. But the watch is definitely something your grandfather would have worn. And you know how much your dad misses his dad and regrets not keeping the watch he was buried with all those years ago.

“That for you?”

Familiar. Raspy. Kind of grumpy.

You turned to see Xiao standing beside you, hoodie on him and hands stuffed into his pocket sleeves. His face looked unamused, as always, he locked eyes with you for a second before turning to look back at what you were looking at. The watch or the ashtray.

He really did catch you off guard as you jolted at the sound of his unexpected voice.

“You stalking me or something?” you let out a chuckle, steadying your breath.

Seriously, you’re very well across town but still run into Xiao on the same Tuesday he asked for. Maybe God was punishing you.

“No. My cousins dragged me out here.” His eyes looked over to two girls going through clothes and holding up against each other, giggling between themselves. Ganyu and a girl with pink hair. “Where's your date?” his eyes locked back with yours, eyebrow raising.

You really didn't know where he was, you kind of just wandered off without him noticing. So you shrugged. “Dunno. These are for my dad though,” you motioned back to the two antiques in front of you, “guess I’ll get them both.”

Xiao just grunted in response. Seriously, this guy is so dry.

Before thinking of something else to say, Henry popped back up empty handed. “Yo, you ready to dip?” How embarrassing.

His eyes lingered around the store before looking back at you, talking to Xiao. Great.

“You know him, babe?”

You didn't even want to bother turning around to see Xiao’s reaction, so you just sighed and nodded.

“He’s in the band I’m in. He plays bass.”

“Oh, you were serious about being in a band?”

Now your eyebrow raised, “Yeah?”

Henry just hummed, looking over at Xiao, tongue pushing against his cheek before he spoke up again. “So, uh, you interested in crypto? I make five figures a year, pretty alpha of me. Since you know my girl, I’ll be sure to invite you out for drinks sometime.”

You really couldn't hold back your annoyed sigh, looking back at the trinkets in your hands you just headed towards the cash register. Henry turned to follow you. Xiao also decided to move on back to accompany his cousins still looking at clothes.

As you were checking out, Henry spoke to you but you just tuned him out. Something about Xiao being a chump and again, crypto, like that was something important. Whatever, none of your business.

As you both headed out you turned back to him. “Hey, uh, I gotta get home. My dad needs his meds.”

Henry looked at you looking surprised at the thought of his dates dad being sick, “Oh, uh, is he alright? I can walk you to your car-”

“No need. I parked far. Uh, text you later.”

You purposely cut him off, walking in the opposite of where your car was left.

Just when he was out of your sight, you hid behind other cars to attempt sneaking back to where you left your car. As if you were going to let him see what kind of car you drive around. So fucking embarrassing.

As you headed back towards your car, safe and sound, you opened up messages between you and Xiao. Obviously nothing was there. But you were tempted to tell him not to say anything.

FUCK THAT’S SO EMBARRASSING.

Whatever. Maybe he won't say anything.

Right?

When you were back in rehearsals the next day Venti asked you how your date went. Your eyes flickered to Xiao to see him reading some notes Aether jotted down for him to read and apply to his part. Eyes back onto Venti, he was now beginning to lean more onto you face as curious as ever.

“Alright, back up. I can feel your breath on my upper lip.”

“Oh, but Y/N! You said he was a cutie! How was it?”

Your fingers pinched the bridge of your nose, as if it was trying to hold back a headache, “It was pretty cringe. Total loser. Alpha male, kept talking about crypto and making five figures a year. Probably only makes 15k like what's that gonna do for me, y’know?”

Venti’s curious smile started to twitch before he erupted in laughter. “Total loser, for sure! That’s so embarrassing, how’d it end?”

“Saw Y/N run away from him outside.” Xiao added, looking over at the two of you behind your drum kit before going back to his bass and plucking the strings towards Aether, who was crouched in front of him with intense concentration on how Xiao's new notes would sound.

Venti’s mouth dropped before he began jumping around in laughter, “Xiao was there? Dude, I don't know how you're still here, I would've quit the band!”

“Thanks for the comfort… Maybe I should just delete this hellhole of an app.” You sighed, pulling out your phone, but before you could unlock it, Venti slapped his hand onto it.

“No, you shouldn't. I have a friend who knows a friend that found their second husband on there, maybe you’ll find your match.”

“You’re not really the best at comforting.”

“Never said I was.”

You sighed, spinning in your chair to see Aether giving Xiao a look of satisfaction. “That's enough, Venti, let's go over this run again. Y/N, start us off please?”

Venti groaned as he headed back to pick up his guitar, which was leaning against the wall behind you, then a half-ass jog back to his position. Aether looked over at you with a sympathetic smile before heading back to his spot.

You took a deep breath before counting the boys in with the taps of your sticks.

Band rehearsal continued as usual: set up the phone, do a take, stop the recording, start up again, and repeat to watch later.

As the hours passed by, the band grew tired and ended early. You waited for Venti to finish packing as you were his ride home that night, so you opened your texts up to send your dad a quick message letting him know you were gonna be late for dinner.

Which ultimately left Xiao alone in the garage, watching Venti tell you about a classmate that accidentally grabbed their professor's ass. The garage door closes for the final time that night behind you. Lights went out as the upstairs lights turned on only a few moments later.

–

Upstairs, lights and fan turned on, Xiao laid in bed. His eyes were closed and only the sound of the fan and Mila’s purrs filled the room. She always knew what to do, as soft paws walked across Xiao’s chest and sat down, round, green eyes looked down at him as if telling him that he can rest now.

Pale, long fingers reached over to pet the white, orange, and black fur of her neck which she leaned into giving out a tiny meow of contentment. A smirk crawled onto Xiao’s face as Mila obviously missed him, despite him being downstairs for only a couple of hours.

Xiao picked up his phone that lied across the bedding as a vibration caught his eye. Ganyu.

Shit.

Although he promised to keep an eye on Y/N, he really didn't want to. He formed this band to keep himself busy, even if it was on a whim, but it's really starting to feel as if it's an obligation.

G: how was rehearsal?

X: how do you know when it ends?

G: your spotify gets active again.

G: clementine by elliott smith tonight. sounds melancholic.

X: yeah

X: rehearsal was ok. same old.

X: just so you know, Y/N was on a date with someone yesterday

X: you and yanfei were trying on clothes, so i went to go say hi and her date was rather

X: lame

X: seems shes over that little boyfriend of yours

G: and if she's still plotting with yunjin?

G: figured that out yet?

X: dunno, she doesn't talk to me. venti usually gets her whole attention.

X: not too worried but im still watching out

G: i can help find out more

X: rather not. i’ll deal with her.

G: xiao.. :(

He closed his phone at that last text message, slamming the phone face down back onto the bed. Fingers combing through his hair, feeling rather wet. He’s been sweating and starting to stink, so I guess it's time for a shower.

Although he didn't really want to get up, he refused to go to bed stinky and dirty. He’s always found hygiene important. Constantly cleaning dirt from his fingers, moisturizing his face when the weather is cold, brushing his teeth twice a day. Somehow, it felt like that was the only control he had over himself, even stretching it to Mila as he makes sure to trim her claws every two weeks and brush her teeth daily. She really hated it in the beginning but soon got used to it, even sitting on the bathroom counter as if it was routine for her now.

As he turned on the knobs and stripped in the bathroom connected to his room, the water seemed to take a minute to head up. So while waiting he looked over at his stripped body, flexing his arms to check himself out then turning his back to check himself out again. He’s not pretentious, he just likes to check his progress, or lack of, he’s been neglecting the gym recently which made him lose some muscle mass. Not that he minds, really, despite his short stature he could still take on someone twice his size. But he knows he can't allow himself to slack off, so he’ll probably ask Itto if it’s cool to use some of the gym equipment he keeps in another room.

It was in the garage, but when Xiao brought up starting a band to Itto, they just decided to move some items to a different room downstairs.

Didn't think he’d actually support his decision, but he really was thankful to have someone like him in his life. It was a little overwhelming at times, though. Just not used to kind acts.

As the mirror started to fog up, Xiao took that as his cue to turn on the cold water some more before jumping into the shower.

The once boiling water hitting his skin soon turned into a warm sensation. It’s not too hot but it wasn't cold either. Just right.

He cupped some water into hands, splashing water onto his face. A small ritual for Xiao, water brings life, to bathe in its embrace is like a new day promised. Or something like that. A fresh return.

His bathing ritual continued, covering every single crevice in his body with soap and watching the water carry it away down the drain just beneath him.

Clean skin, fresh new start.

Xiao twisted the knobs to end his shower, he leaves his shower thoughts outside the enclosed, slippery room. His dad always blamed the water bill being so high on him, so he’d rather Itto not worry about his water bill either. No time for shower thoughts.

The coldness of the bathroom compared to the warmth of the water brought goosebumps onto his skin, so he grabbed the towel that he'd brought in and instantly started to dry his body and hair as much as he could.

Wrapping that same towel around his waist, Xiao opened the door to his bedroom, allowing the trapped stream to finally escape the cold bathroom air. His clothes were piled onto his bed, just some sweatpants, black shirt, and a pair of underwear. Although he may have to go to bed without a shirt as Mila seems to have fallen into a deep sleep on top of it. Her soft, white belly with black spots were face up, her body stretched into a ‘C’ shape and one of her paws extended way past her little head, so much so that her trimmed claws were poking out.

The sight of her relaxed body in a state of unconsciousness brought a smile onto Xiao’s face, sharp eyes now softening as slow, deep snores escaped his small companion's open mouth.

Carefully, Xiao picked up his underwear and sweats and slipped them on, the towel that wrapped around his waist thrown into the laundry basket near the bedroom door.

The sudden sleepiness went away after his shower, so his thoughts began to fill up with his anxieties again.

Damn Yunjin.

Whatever. This isn’t a night to dwell on such feelings. And how else could he get over them than to smoke?

It’s been a few days since he last felt the high this beautiful green flower gave him. However, he can't recall exactly when he got into weed.

Maybe it was because of the football team in his high school inviting him to smoke with them behind the bleachers - surprisingly - or maybe it was in middle school when his first girlfriend snuck the two of them into an abandoned house in her neighborhood and they tested out the joint her mom's boyfriend secretly rolled for them. Maybe it was when he first got kicked out of his father's house at 16 and Venti introduced him to a bong he received from a cousin, even if Venti decided that weed wasn't for him. Whatever the case was, tonight was a kind of night where weed came back to comfort him.

He rose from his bed once again to crack open the window slightly, Mila wouldn't escape but you can't ever be too careful. The blue and white bong sat on his desk, it was recently cleaned and the thought of dirtying it again kind of hurts, but his need for a fill is too much to deny. So he grabbed the half empty water bottle nearby and dumped the necessary amount in. His drawers by the desk housed his bud, two different strands in two clear containers.

One container housed a beautiful purple flower, the color was what caught his attention when Itto introduced him to his supplier. Perfect for his anxiety and would help him sleep, it also tasted like artificial grapes which Xiao didn't seem to mind. Purple Kush, an indica. Supposedly makes you hungry as well but the golden-eyed boy is used to smoking so much he doesn't want to overeat whenever the munchies hit. He’s got water in his jug to help him with the cottonmouth as well.

The other container housed a blue-violet flower that Itto’s supplier gifted for him to try out. Tastes sweet, he said. Although it's a hybrid, it's more of an indica feel. He really needs more of a sativa strain instead, but he wasn't gonna complain to a new… friend about it. He searched more of the strain on the ride home with Itto, how it can be a little bit of an aphrodisiac. So maybe he’ll save that when he’s home alone and brings a girl over.

As if that’d happen any time soon.

Purple Kush it is.

Slender fingers twist open the cap and take a bud out, not too much since his bowl isn't really big. He places the singular bud on a tray, picking off the stems carefully as the container with the rest of the flower stays nearby.

His drawer is still open as his eyes scan over for a little silver metal round container hiding somewhere. It was quite easy to find anyways as the light reflected off of it. He pulled out the container and popped open the top, exposing some crushed leaves inside of it. His reliable grinder. He always thought of the leftover pieces as extra 'seasoning’.

He placed the bud he broke apart into the container and stuck the top back on, magnets helping the container close down smoother as he twisted the top around. Maybe after three twists everything fell into the bottom compartment. That little bud he had actually filled more than enough so last him two bowls.

Usually he could zip through four bowls in a sitting but tonight just wouldn't be that kind of night. Two bowls it’ll be then.

He twisted the bottom compartment off and emptied it out onto his tray where the single bud once laid.

It was nearly like a power, just more like clumps. The smell wasn't pungent either, just smelled like the artificial grapes it’ll taste like.

Xiao took the small bowl that sat on his bong, then slowly filled it up using the edge of the tray, packing it in with a wooden stick. Not too hard or else the smoke wouldn't be able to steep through, but not light enough to have the shredded flower fly around onto the carpet and his clothes.

He sat the bowl back into his bong, setting it onto his lap and finding the lighter that works.

First one didn't. Neither did the second one. Third times the charm right? It wasn't.

He really didn't want to bother Itto, especially this late at night.

For a loud guy he knows how to stay quiet especially with Shinobu. Didn't want to interrupt something intimate between them.

He checked another drawer near his desk to see two more lighters.

He’d nearly forgotten he bought a pair just a while back. And sure enough, they sparked.

He brought the ring of the bong up to his mouth, igniting the lighter close to the bowl which quickly brought smoke into the glass container.

Once it was ignited enough and Xiao counted to three in his head, he lifted the bowl from the bong once again and kept going for a few more seconds.

He took his mouth off the top of the bong and inhaled as much as he could, before releasing the smoke that clogged his lungs.

Such a smooth hit. It was a huge hit he took but it didn't make him want to gag or cough. He did, however, feel the burning sensation in the back of his throat. So he took the water jug that sat on the floor beside him and took a few sips to ease that feeling.

Taking a deep breath, he looked over back to the bowl and calculated that he could probably take another hit or two before packing the next one.

And so he did.

The first hit didn't really do anything to him, the third hit got him buzzed, but the last hit brought him up to a high that had him staring at his ceiling and the anxious thoughts floated away.

It genuinely was relieving how soft he felt in that moment on his old leather chair - it’s actually Itto’s but details don't matter. But not long after his sleepiness came crawling back.

So, he placed his bong back onto his desk, then gave himself an internal pep talk to not be lazy and go lay down in bed. Which he did. He closed his window, turned on the ceiling fan and turned off the light, then waddled over to the bed in the corner of the room and threw himself on top. Careful enough to not land on Mila of course.

The sudden weight bouncing beside her caused her to switch from her relaxed position to her rolling over and crawling on top of Xiao’s bare chest. Her soft purrs filled his ears as she leaned her head closer to his face, smelling the weed he just ingested on his mouth and chirped at him. She always did that after he smoked, Xiao assumed she would scold him in her own way, but she’d never be upset for too long as she curled around his chest.

I guess tonight he’ll just sleep shirtless. But at least his pretty girl would accompany him during his slumber.

And so, Xiao drifted off to sleep with his cat purring contently into his ear, and her drool falling on his chest. Gross. But at least she's happy.

im out of school and FREE !! went through a lot lately. uncle passed away this weekend, kitten i was helping take care of also passed a few days ago, finals week.

im a lil exhausted but at least im guaranteed kinich. and the other kitties are cool too, theyre starting to get playful and started playing w my maine coon despite the size/age difference.

song that the band is 'writing' is You (Show Me Where My Days Went) by Wallows, my bf lowk put me on

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