Tags and trigger warnings: Emetophilia, vomiting, fluff, Hurt/comfort

Summary: Xiao hardly ever leaves Liyue although when Venti asks him to attend the Windblume festival with him he decides to give it a chance.

Posted to Ao3: August 3rd 2021

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Xiao rarely left Liyue, under the contract established by Rex Lapis he was sworn to protect the land. That did not mean that he couldn't briefly leave if he wished but it did mean that it took something rather important to get him to leave.

This was one of those important times, as Mondstadt the city of freedom was having its yearly Windblume festival.

While Xiao had not attended the festival the previous years it had been held because he saw no need to. This time however he'd been invited by Barbatos, or rather Venti as he was known by now.

It had been a little while since the Anemo Archon had woken up from his years-long slumber and he'd been taking every chance he could to spend time with Xiao. This frequently meant Venti coming to Liyue rather than Xiao coming to Mondstadt since Venti knew that Xiao got antsy when he stayed away from Liyue for a certain amount of time.

So needless to say this would be a treat for both of them, especially since Xiao was never one who enjoyed being around crowds nor cities, even Liyue harbor was not exempted from this attitude. Still, although he had trouble admitting it would be nice to see how the land Venti called home had been fairing all these years.

Xiao glances up at the sun, briefly noting its height. The sky was a clear light blue, not a cloud in sight. It was time that Xiao left to meet Venti as well.

Xiao stands up from his spot on Wangshu inn's roof and closes his eyes, vanishing as he teleports to the Liyue-Mondstadt border.

Opening his eyes briefly he takes a deep breath glancing back towards the land of contracts with a slight scowl, then he takes a hesitant step forward, a slight shudder running along his skin as he takes his first step into Mondstadt.

~~~

Venti is waiting for Xiao pacing in front of the statue of the seven sitting before the large tree at Windrise, figuring that it was best to have Xiao meet him here rather than Mondstadt's city gates. It was quiet and familiar to Xiao and Venti knew that would help ease his nerves.

He is admittedly a bit nervous and while not a first for him, it was rather rare. He knew that Xiao did not like leaving Liyue so he wanted to do everything he could to make Xiao feel comfortable, the last time Xiao had come to Mondstadt was many years ago to visit Venti before he went to sleep.

He'd honestly been a bit shocked when Xiao agreed to come to Mondstadt to spend time with him during the Windblume festival. It'd been suggested as more of a joke by Venti, said to Xiao one night when they'd stayed up talking in Xiao's room at Wangshuu inn, so he couldn't help but stare wide-eyed when Xiao had agreed.

Venti senses Xiao's presence before he actually sees him and he pauses his pacing, his body relaxing instantly as the familiar light, sweet scent of qingxin flowers fills his nose, a grin crawling across his face. "Xiao! You're here!" He exclaimed as the adepti appeared in front of him.

Venti rushes over to him throwing his arms around Xiao in a hug, Xiao freezes for a moment a pink blush spreading over his face before his body slowly relaxes in Venti's grip. He returns the hug slightly, his arms wrapping loosely around Venti. "I am," he replied softly, a small faint smile crawling across his face at Venti's enthusiasm as infectious as always.

As Venti continues hugging him Xiao reaches up and Venti looks up as Xiao tucks something in his hair. Reaching up he touched the spot, his eyes widening slightly when he realized what it was.

"Cecilia, you said that it was customary to pick a flower for the windblume festival and those are your favorite," Xiao explained softly glancing away, the blush on his face growing.

Venti stares at him for a moment before giving him a warm smile. "Thank you, Alatus," he said, cupping Xiao's face with one hand. He gives Xiao a brief kiss, chuckling softly as he draws back seeing the flustered look on Xiao's face.

"Now shall we be off? The festivities are in full swing, there are so many events we can do! But first, let me show you around the city so much has changed since the last time you were here," Venti said excitedly as he grabbed Xiao's hand.

Xiao nodded that faint smile appearing on his face once more, it was just something that happened almost unconsciously whenever he was around Venti.

As Venti leads him to Mondstadt, Xiao can't help but feel slightly tense when he sees the large city walls, the gates draped in light blue banners and adorned with many of the flowers that called Mondstadt their home.

He could hear the soft music and chatter of people drifting out from the city and Xiao scowled slightly. A moment later though the soft soothing scent of apples and cecilias drifts through the air as Venti gives Xiao's hand a gentle squeeze instantly noticing his sudden tension.

"It's okay, I'm here," Venti reassures him. He stops walking for a moment, turning to Xiao. "If you want we can take a look at some of the events beforehand. They're more out in the open."

Xiao is quiet for a moment as he takes a few deep breaths closing his eyes, then he opens them and surprisingly shakes his head. "No, I'm okay. I want to see the city you call home first."

His response has Venti giving him a warm smile. "Alright, if it gets too much though let me know. I don't want you to force yourself for my sake."

Again Xiao shakes his head. "As long as you're here things are fine."

Venti's eyes widened before he glanced away, a slight blush painting his cheeks at Xiao's surprisingly blunt response. "Y-you can't just do that, it's not fair" he huffs before a smile spreads across his face as Xiao tilts his head slightly, seemingly confused by Venti's words.

Venti grins his eyes on Xiao's face as they enter the city of freedom, watching as Xiao slowly looks around, his eyes shifting from the numerous decorations to the numerous colorful merchant stalls set up a look of awe and curiosity in his eyes as he takes it all in.

His eyes shift upward, widening slightly when he notices the statue of Venti standing tall at the higher section of the city. "Can we look at that first?"

Venti chuckles as he follows Xiao's gaze. "Oh, that? Sure, I was surprised when I first saw it as well, although you have the real thing right here. I'm honestly surprised old Morax doesn't have one as well. How is that old fool anyway? "

"Rex Lapis is well, he has found a human companion," Xiao said as they began walking.

Venti nodded. "I remember you telling me about that, honestly he doesn't seem the type, then again I'm surprised he's even attempting to live as a human. What is his human companion like?"

Venti giggles softly when Xiao's face twisted into a strange expression at his question, as though he'd eaten an entire lemon whole. "That bad huh?"

Scowling, Xiao shakes his head and sighs. "It is not my place to question Rex Lapis, no matter how much I may disagree with his choice of a partner."

"Okay, but now I'm really curious. What did he do to make you so mad?" Venti asked.

"He raised Oasial, tried to drown Liyue harbor, and then had the gall to believe he could take Rex Lapis's gnosis by force. He holds no respect for his elders nor those above him, he is also a Fatui harbinger as well," Xiao explained with a huff which only made Venti laugh again.

"Oh, so that was him who did that. I was wondering what was happening in Liyue that night, especially when that enormous flash lit up the sky. But if he's that much of an idiot then he and Morax are made for each other," Venti chuckled.

"You are not mad considering what that other Fatui harbinger did to you?" Xiao asked, scowling, his anger towards the Fatui had only increased when Venti had told him what had happened.

Venti gave a small snort. "Oh her, I hate her, it was annoying and painful. But I have not met Morax's human lover so I will reserve judgment about him until we actually meet. But if the old idiot truly is happy then I'm happy for him. Although if his human lover does pick on you let me know and I'll show you how to deal with him the same way I do Morax."

"He called me small, I don't understand him, " Xiao mumbled as he looked at the ground with narrow eyes.

Venti bursts out laughing to which Xiao merely gave a soft huff. "Okay, I can help you with many things but that maybe isn't one of them."

Xiao looks away with a small huff, doing his best to resist the small smile threatening to crawl across his face. He always loved hearing Venti's laughter, it was just as soothing as his touch and never failed to fill Xiao with a warm fondness.

~~~

"Let's see, our last stop will be Angel's share tavern before we leave to do some of the events. It's one of my favorite places in the city, the wine, and food there is sooooo good. Cat's tail isn't bad either but Diona usually tends the bar today, " Venti said, his tone almost thoughtful as he led Xiao to Angel's share by hand.

They'd walked around most of the city with Venti showing off his favorite spots to Xiao. And Xiao thankfully seemed to be enjoying himself if the small smiles and wide-eyed looks of awe were anything to go by.

"I'm hungry, some dandelion wine would be nice too. I can't wait for you to try some of Mondstadt's food. I'm sure we can find something you'll like, " Venti said as he opened the door of Angel's Share for Xiao.

Xiao scowled slightly as he hesitantly entered the tavern. The loud laughter and chatter of the many patrons filled the air and admittedly Xiao couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed by it all.

It seemed as if Mondstadt was always alive with music and the sounds of drunk laughter. People cheerfully going about their day.

In contrast to Liyue harbor, Xiao couldn't help but think that the atmosphere here felt a bit warmer, cozy almost. Even the soft lights of the tavern felt welcoming despite the place being alien to him.

"Hello there Master Diluc, " Venti said, giving a small giggle and a wave as he and Xiao sat down at the bar counter.

Diluc sighed as he set the glass he'd been cleaning aside with a small frown. "Don't cause any trouble today, " he warned Venti.

Venti giggles but nods. "I won't, I won't. I was just showing Xiao around and figured we'd get something to eat and drink before going out. He has been in Mondstadt for a while and this is our first date here in a few years."

Diluc's eyes shift to Xiao who is looking around the tavern, noting the other man's golden eyes and almost cat-like pupils.

"Xiao this is Master Diluc, he may seem grumpy but he's okay," Venti told him, gesturing to Diluc.

"Hello, " Xiao said softly as he looked at Diluc. His eyes briefly roved over him before looking back to Venti. "Is he the human you told me about?"

Venti nodded a grin on his face. "Yes, he, along with the acting grandmaster Jean and the Traveler helped me quite a bit with Davalin."

Xiao looks back at Diluc blinking slowly. "Thank you for looking out for him."

Diluc shakes his head. "It was no trouble at all although he can be a nuisance. How long have you two been together?" Diluc asked. "The usual?" He asked Venti who in turn nodded.

"7..." Venti begins trailing off as his expression turns thoughtful.

"Months?" Diluc asked, having a hard time imagining Venti committing himself to anything besides drinking and playing music.

"Hundred years, right?" Venti said, looking over at Xiao.

Xiao nodded, slowly glancing away, a slight pink blush coloring his face, it definitely didn't feel as though it'd been that long but then again time seemed to pass within the blink of an eye for the both of them.

Diluc paused for a moment, clearly surprised by Venti's words. Then he nodded with a small chuckle. "That's good then, would you like anything else?"

"Food would be good! Something light for Xiao though nothing too sweet, " Venti told him cheerfully.

As Diluc began to work Venti turned to Xiao with a grin. "So what do you think of Mondstadt so far?"

Xiao was quiet for a few moments, a scowl on his face. "It's noisy and a bit much at times but it's peaceful, warm, " Xiao told him softly.

Venti gave a small giggle. "That's good, I was a bit worried it might've been too much. Especially since you looked ready to teleport away a few times." He grabbed one of Xiao's hands beneath the bar counter, lacing their fingers together. "I think you'll like the food here a lot. The wine here has a lighter taste than a lot of Liyue's wine."

Xiao merely nodded as he listened to Venti talk, a small smile on his face at the way Venti's eyes seemed to light up, practically glowing as he spoke. So much enthusiasm in his voice that Xiao couldn't help but be entranced.

Diluc placed a glass of dandelion wine in front of Xiao and Venti before he turned and began working on their food.

Xiao couldn't help but eye the glass of light-colored liquid a little wearily. Since the Archon war ended and Venti had gone to sleep Xiao hadn't drank much alcohol. He was never one for drinking much in the first place due to his picky eating habit, often finding that most alcohol made by humans only turned his stomach much like their food did.

But he truly wanted to give the food and wine a fair try before he disregarded it for once, especially considering Venti had spoken so highly of it. He glanced over at Venti who was wholeheartedly drinking from his glass of wine before looking back down at his own.

He carefully picked it up and took a small hesitant sip. The taste surprised Xiao honestly, the drink was cold and crisp with a slight sweetness and tang to it without being overbearing. Giving a soft hum, he took another slight sip.

Beside him, Venti gave a soft sigh. "As good as always." He looked up at Xiao with a small smile. "So, what do you think?"

Xiao placed his glass on the counter and nodded. "It tastes nice. I wouldn't mind drinking more."

His words made Venti give a loud sigh of relief. "That's good! I was worried it'd be too much for your stomach honestly."

"Is this what you drink all the time?" Xiao asked taking another sip of the wine. He could feel a soft humming warm flowing through his veins brought on by the alcohol but while it was strange it wasn't unpleasant so Xiao continued to drink.

Venti nodded, "Yep, this or apple cider, both are really good. As long as the wine is good I'm not picky though."

Eventually, Diluc returns and sets the food down in front of them with a small smile before he goes to serve some other customers that had just come in.

Xiao scowls slightly as he stares at the food for a few moments. It looked like some type of salad with steamed potatoes, apple slices, either lettuce or cabbage all topped with two hard-boiled eggs.

It smells alright, crisp yet slightly salty and sweet. Still, Xiao can't help but tense slightly at the sight of it. He closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before picking up the fork sitting beside the plate.

He eats one of the pieces of cabbage first, figuring it'd be best to start with the lightest part of the meal. It doesn't taste bad, refreshing, and crisp but the texture does feel a bit strange to Xiao. The problem comes when he swallows it, his stomach unused to the slight seasoning on the meal begins churning slightly a twinge of queasiness forming there.

"How is it?" Venti asked almost expectantly, pausing in the middle of eating to look at Xiao.

Xiao nodded, ignoring the slight churning of his stomach. "It tastes good," he told him with a slight shrug.

Venti gives a small chuckle. "That's good, here try this," he said as he brought a bite of his food up to Xiao's mouth.

Xiao froze eyes wide and a faint blush spreading across his face as he glanced away, his face beginning to burn with embarrassment. "Barbatos..." he said softly, not meeting Venti's eyes. There were so many people in here and Xiao wasn't really one for PDA, he was already a bit flustered that Venti was holding his hand.

"Please, just one bite?"

Xiao sighed, closing his eyes as he opened his mouth slightly. As Venti places the bite of food in his mouth Xiao has to resist the urge to gag that hits him, he doesn't know what this human food is but it tastes and feels like slimy ash mixed with stale grease.

It's salty too, almost disgustingly so and Xiao quickly forces himself to swallow before the taste of it triggers his gag reflex.

"Good right?" Venti asked with a grin as Xiao took a sip of his wine to try and wash that horrible taste out of his mouth.

The bite of food is heavy as well, a noticeable weight settling in Xiao's stomach. He looks back at Venti who is looking at him excitedly waiting for his response.

"It's good as well," he said softly and he can't help but feel slightly irritated that his body wouldn't just settle down and cooperate. "Do you eat that often?" He asked, eyeing the meat on Venti's plate he wished he knew what it was so he could remind himself never to eat it again. The slight queasiness in the pit of his stomach grows a bit as the wine manages to wash most of the horrible taste from his mouth.

Venti nodded as he held up another bite for Xiao to take and he did so begrudgingly. "It's one of Dawn wineries specialty foods, sticky honey roast. The meat is always so tender and sweet."

Xiao merely nods as he forces himself to swallow again, holding back a grimace when it only adds to the heaviness now settling in his stomach a dull ache streaking across it. He takes another drink of wine before returning to his meal despite his appetite being nowhere in sight. Venti had been so excited to show him all the city of freedom had to offer, Xiao knew just how much he loved Mondstadt and had wanted Xiao to see that love as well. He knew how much the windblume festival meant to Venti too considering he'd gone so far as to ask Xiao if he'd like to come, and Xiao refused to ruin that with his complaining.

And so, even though his stomach was beginning to churn rather violently, the slight queasiness gradually turning into full-blown nausea the more he ate and drank an ache spreading across his abdomen, Xiao forces himself to ignore the warnings his body was trying to give him and continues eating. As long as Venti was happy Xiao was as well.

~~~

Full, Xiao was way, way too full at least it felt like it.

Giving a soft hiccup, Xiao lays a hand on his stomach, a scowl on his face as Venti leads him to Starsnatch cliff. A soft hiss leaves his mouth when he feels how taut and bloated his stomach was, small almost tense gurgles coming from it as it churned violently beneath his fingers.

Admittedly he had eaten a lot way more than he usually would on his own but Venti had wanted him to try many of Mondstadt numerous local specialties, although most of them had tasted utterly repulsive to Xiao but he'd forced it down anyway along with a lot of wine since he'd been using it to wash his mouth out.

And now drunk and his stomach in absolute agony as waves of pure, dizzying nausea washes over him Xiao can't help but regret it slightly.

He swallows thickly a soft sigh leaving his mouth as he tries to clear some of the excess saliva gathering in his mouth. His stomach feels as though it was a water balloon someone was tossing around, its contents sloshing as it churned like a whirlpool.

"Here we are," Venti giggles as they emerge from the forest the starsnatch cliff now wide open before them.

Xiao gave a soft hum, his hand falling away from his stomach as he looked ahead. Rubbing it was not helping in the slightest, if anything it was making his nausea worse so it was best he just stopped now.

"Careful," he said softly, reaching out to steady Venti when he stumbled. Having drunk about eleven glasses of wine compared to Xiao's three Venti was slightly tipsy, although Xiao didn't understand why he felt so drunk. Could it be that because he didn't drink often his body wasn't used to it?

"I'm fine, I'm fine. What about you? Still having fun?" Venti asked with a warm smile as he looked up at Xiao.

Xiao nodded a small smile on his face despite the fact he could feel bile burning at the back of his throat. "It's nice, peaceful. Although still a bit too loud, I am having fun though."

Venti gives a soft sigh of relief. "Good, that's good, you seemed a little tense in the tavern earlier so I was worried it was getting to be too much. But here we are."

Venti left Xiao's side for a moment as he walked over to the watchtower in front of them made of metal and wood. He stops in front of a wooden sign at the base of the tower and pats it.

"This is the first event, it's also one of the easier ones as well, " Venti told him with a grin.

Xiao frowned slightly as he tilted his head to the side, his eyes on the colorful piece of paper adorning the wooden sign which had almost childlike doodles drawn on it. "Bullseye...balloon?" He muttered.

His stomach made a low gurgling noise and he quickly glanced away, hoping Venti hadn't heard that.

Thankfully it seemed as though he hadn't because Venti nodded at his question. "Yep, you still remember how to use a bow and arrow right? I want to see if you can beat my score."

While Xiao frequently used and favored fighting with a polearm it wasn't as if he didn't know how to use other weapons. Although it did take a bit of getting used to considering he fought using a polearm for many centuries.

Xiao nodded. "I'll give it a try, what do I do?"

Giggling Venti walked around the tower stopping at its side as he knelt by a strange metal contraption. "There are balloons in here, and once you're at the top of the tower I'll release them. And you have three minutes to shoot all the balloons except the red ones," Venti explained to Xiao.

Xiao nodded as he teleported up to the top of the tower, closing his eyes for a moment when the world seemed to sway nauseatingly before his eyes for a second or two. Xiao's stomach feels as though it's in knots at the moment, and he swallows hard as he picks up the bow and arrows at his feet.

The bile bubbling at the back of his throat tastes like sugar and ash. Some naive part of him hoped that it'll just ease up as the day continued and his body would slowly digest everything, he'd just eaten and drank too much was all.

Surprisingly he is able to ignore his current agony as he puts his entire focus into popping the balloons, and when he's finished Xiao gives a soft sigh, pride filling him as Venti gives him a kiss.

"And to think you don't use a bow often, I should've known you'd beat my score. Almost makes me wish I would've tried a bit hard, " Venti giggled as he grabbed Xiao's hand.

"Almost?" Xiao said, a slight smile on his face as he looked at Venti. "You weren't trying when you got that score?"

At his words, Venti gives a soft snort. "Oh hush, you know what I meant!"

Xiao merely chuckles softly as Venti draws back.

"Let's see, next let's do the Floral freefall, " Venti said thinking for a moment. Although he looks back over at Xiao when the other gives a soft series of hiccups. "Still feel okay?"

Xiao quickly nodded his face flushing slightly as he glanced away. "I'm sorry, I think I drank too much, " He whispered, not meeting Venti's eyes as he continued hiccuping.

Venti giggled. "Probably, you're just not used to drinking that much wine."

Xiao desperately wished that was the case, especially when an intense wave of nausea washes over him as pain streaks across his stomach. The sensation leaves him swallowing quickly, his bloated stomach hitching slightly as a small amount of bile splashes into his mouth.

Xiao swallows it shuddering slightly at the disgustingly bitter and slimy aftertaste that coats his tongue. A dull ache shoots across his stomach, the irritated organ giving a low gurgling noise clearly upset with having its contents forced back inside of it.

And archons does it hurt, the horrible pressure and heaviness has Xiao gritting his teeth trying not to grimace as he does his best to breathe around the pain and nausea currently assaulting him. Although that task becomes increasingly difficult as each step he takes has pain shooting through his stomach.

He briefly considers just teleporting him and Venti to their destination but also doesn't want to as he wants to spend every precious moment he can in Venti's presence and if that means he'd have to deal with a bit more pain and discomfort so be it. He doesn't want to let himself be sick, because he genuinely did not want Venti to know that the food he loved so much was absolutely repulsive to Xiao. He doesn't want to be the cause of that disappointment, especially not today.

The Floral freefall is almost what breaks Xia, he's normally fine with heights but at the moment he can't help but close his eyes as the ground seems to tilt and sway beneath his feet. One hand going to his stomach as it gurgles softly.

"Why would humans do this?" Xiao asked, opening his eyes slightly to look back at Venti. They stood upon a large wooden platform floating above a cliff near Windrise.

Venti grinned. "Because it's fun," he said, laying his hands on Xiao's back. "You have to glide down the entire way okay? No teleporting."

Xiao nodded as he forced himself to look down at the ground once more and a second later Venti pushed him off of the platform giggling the entire time.

The motion makes his stomach slosh like an overfilled glass leaving Xiao gagging as he opens the glider, jerking his body to a stop and slowing his descent. His stomach sloshes again, pain streaking across it making Xiao feel as though it's trying to tear its way out of him.

It hurts and for a brief moment, the pain overwhelms Xiao senses a soft whimper leaving his mouth before he can stop it. He pants swallowing rapidly, his stomach hitching as threatens to send up its contents.

Gritting his teeth Xiao does his best to put his energy into trying to complete the event. But even though flying comes as naturally to Xiao as breathing, it takes him a few moments to figure out how to use the glider efficiently, which is no surprise after all considering having wings was entirely different from using a glider.

As he eventually lands Xiao groans softly, his hand going to his stomach churning beneath his hand, writhing like a ball of snakes. He closes his eyes for a moment taking deep breaths in through his nose as he wills his body to calm down, the food he'd forced down sitting in his stomach like a rock.

His hand drops from his stomach, his eyes opening as Venti lands beside Xiao giggling. "You almost beat my score, I wonder what yours would be like if you were used to using a glider."

Venti stretches, yawning softly. "It's almost night time and I'm exhausted and I'm sure you are too. Wanna head back, I have a room at one of the small inns in Mondstadt we can use."

Holding back a sigh of relief Xiao smiles slightly, he definitely is exhausted but more so from trying to keep his stomach under control rather than any of the activities he'd been doing. He just wants to lay down and for once in his life go to sleep with the hope that this would pass."I would like that."

~~~

Agony, his stomach was in pure agony and now that they were in the comfort of Venti's room and Venti had left Xiao alone to go take a shower, Xiao allowed himself to lay down on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his bloated aching stomach. Tense loud gurgles coming from it as the food sat in his stomach refusing to digest even slightly leaving Xiao's stomach feeling as though it was a water balloon being violently flung around.

There is a horrible almost crushing pressure in his stomach practically taking his breath away as he tries to drag in air. It hurts so, so bad and Xiao squeezes his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as he carefully rubs at his stomach. He knows that it has a good chance of making his already intense nausea even worse but he is desperate for relief at this point.

His fingers are carefully just barely ghosting across the taut skin of his stomach, his hands are trembling in fact his whole body is as that cold almost slimy feeling of nausea swirls in the pit of his stomach, a cold sweat prickling at his skin.

His body jolts slightly, a loud burp leaving his lips and Xiao grimaces whimpering as he curls further in on himself, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Cracking his eyes open slightly, Xiao glances up at the ceiling, swallowing rapidly as he tries to clear the near river of saliva building up in his mouth.

Xiao squeezes his eyes shut again as a sharp ache suddenly stabs at his stomach, a low gurgling noise coming from it and Xiao grips his stomach a bit tighter practically curling into a ball on his side.

A second later though Xiao's eyes snap open, clamping a hand over his mouth as his bloated stomach hitches, practically convulsing beneath his fingers and a surge of vomit fills his mouth in an instant.

Clamping his mouth shut Xiao takes a few panicked breaths in through his nose, as that horrifically disgusting bitter taste coats his mouth. He squeezes his eyes shut as he uses every bit of strength he has to force himself to swallow. His entire body trembling, Xiao shakily lowers his hand from his mouth panting, his eyes wide.

A shudder of disgust shakes him as he swallows trying to get rid of that disgustingly bitter and sour aftertaste coating his mouth.

Xiao gives a low hiss when his stomach hitches again and he feels bile burning at the back of his throat. Xiao slowly sits up propping himself up on shaky limbs as he carefully gets up, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. Xiao gives a soft groan hiccuping as the motion of standing up unsettles his already churning stomach even further.

Venti is just turning off the shower and about to climb out of it when the bathroom door suddenly slams open startling him. He jumps startled as he quickly peeks around the shower curtain to see Xiao kneeling in front of the toilet dry heaving, his skin pale as a sheet and tears in his eyes as one of his hands clumsily holds his own hair away from his face.

"Xiao?" Venti practically exclaims in shock.

Grabbing the towel from where he'd placed it, Venti quickly wraps it around himself before stepping out and crouching down at Xiao's side, laying a gentle hand on his back. "H-Hey, what's wrong," Venti asked frantically, his eyes wide with concern.

Xiao had seemed fine when he left the room so it didn't make sense for him to suddenly be so sick, and for what Venti could tell Xiao didn't have a fever despite the fact he was trembling beneath Venti's hand, his skin cold and clammy.

Xiao whimpers before he lurches forward with a loud, harsh retch that brings nothing up but leaves him panting drool dripping from his mouth.

"My...stomach hurts," Xiao groaned, gritting his teeth, his face pinching in pain as a cramp stabbed at his stomach a wave of intense nausea rolling over him that leaves Xiao gagging emptily over the toilet.

"Your stomach?" Venti murmured with a scowl. He glances down at Xiao's stomach before carefully reaching out, and when Xiao doesn't flinch away from him he gently lays a hand on Xiao's stomach.

A soft his leaves Venti's mouth, his eyes widening in shock when he feels how taut Xiao's stomach is as it churns violently almost writhe beneath his fingertips. "Oh, Xiao," Venti said softly, his hand leaving Xiao's stomach to rub his back as he continued to emptily gag and retch over the toilet.

Xiao whimpers again, curling further in on himself as his stomach twists with a horrible cramp. "It won't stop," he manages to say through gritted teeth.

Venti sighs, going quiet for a moment and that only makes Xiao panic further. Venti was usually never quiet so it had to be really serious right?

"Okay, I'm going to try and help you," he told Xiao softly. "Just promise not to bite me okay?" Venti said as and Xiao nodded slowly.

He grimaced as a hiccup jolted his body, why was Venti concerned that Xiao may bite him? Xiao doesn't understand but if it would stop his stomach from hurting he was willing to try.

A moment later Venti reaches out, one hand going to Xiao's mouth as he sticks two fingers inside. His eyes widening as Venti's fingers crawl across his tongue as he reaches to the very back of his throat. The moment Venti's fingers brush the back of his throat Xiao tenses, a choked gasping noise leaving his mouth as he struggles slightly. He doesn't like this feeling at all, he feels as if he's choking, barely able to breathe around Venti's hand in his mouth.

"Shhh, it's okay Xiao. It's alright, I know you don't like it but this is the only way to help you," Venti tries to assure him softly.

Xiao glances up at him, a choked, muffled whimper leaving his mouth as tears roll down his cheeks. He gags, his throat clenching around Venti's fingers trying to push them out.

Scowling, Venti holds his fingers there before shifting them slightly, using one finger to carefully stroke the back of Xiao's throat. That does it, Xiao's body jolting with a loud gurgling burp as a thick wave of slightly watery tan and yellow vomit surges from his mouth, coating Venti's hand before splattering into the toilet as Venti draws his hand free grimacing.

Gasping, Xiao coughs as he hiccups then burps, the noise loud and wet as his stomach heaves again, choking up another wave of that thick, lumpy slimy mixture into the toilet tears streaming down his face. He opens his eyes briefly only to squeeze them shut once more when he realizes he can clearly make out chucks the food he'd forced himself to eat floating in the sickening slurry which only has him retching again.

Xiao is barely able to get a breath in as he chokes up another thick wave of vomit. It's so thick and sticky that it clumps together, practically congealing as it falls from Xiao's lips and the taste is absolutely horrific. The food which had already tasted like dirt and poison to Xiao when he'd forced it down tastes even worse, somehow coming back up coating his mouth in a sour, bitter, sickeningly sweet after taste.

Venti cleans his hand quickly with some of the nearby tissue paper before turning his attention back to Xiao, cringing when Xiao gives a weak, almost desperate sounding whimper. And Venti can't blame him, especially since Xiao looks like he's in absolute agony. His face pale, almost ashen, tears running down his cheeks and drool hanging from his lips as his body trembles almost violently beneath Venti's touch.

"It's alright Alatus, I promise the pain will stop soon so just try to get it all up," Venti murmured as he rubs gentle circles on Xiao's back. His other hand reaches up replacing Xiao's as he brushes his hair back from his face.

Venti can't help but feel guilty for the pain Xiao is in because from the looks of it Xiao's stomach just couldn't handle the food Venti had given him, especially considering it seemed to be coming up almost completely undigested. Xiao had to have been in this state, in pain for quite some time and Venti is definitely upset with himself for not noticing.

"I'm so, so sorry, Alatus," Venti murmurs, pressing a kiss to Xiao's forehead.

Xiao merely groans as he retches up a smaller watery wave of vomit, probably more of the wine he'd drank if the light yellow tint is anything to go by.

Venti continues rubbing his back murmuring soft reassures as Xiao retching gradually tapers off into dry heaving. Xiao groans softly, slumping forward a bit over the toilet a bit as he coughs, restings his head on his arms for a few moments. Soft hiccups and hollow-sounding burps jolting his body every few seconds.

"Xiao? Honey? Do you think you're done?" Venti asked hesitantly, tilting his head to the side.

Xiao gives a small nod but doesn't lift his head, he can't help but feel embarrassed and ashamed of the whole ordeal. He tried so, so hard to keep everything down so that Venti wouldn't be upset or disappointed but he just couldn't take it anymore.

Although the good news is that while his stomach is slightly sore, that unbearable ache and pressure that'd been there earlier is nowhere in sight and Xiao can't help that large amount of relief that brings.

"I'm sorry," Xiao rasped as he finally lifted his head, tears still in his eyes. "I tried to keep everything down, I really did, I'm sorry."

Venti shakes his head though giving Xiao a sympathetic smile as he cups Xiao's cheek with one hand. "No, I should apologize to you. Considering this is my fault, I was so excited for you to see what Mondstadt had to offer that I ignored the fact that your body may not be able to handle it. I hope that this hasn't ruined your stay here."

Xiao shakes his head slightly. "No, the salad and the wine really did taste good. I liked them."

Venti chuckles softly. "So just everything else besides that didn't taste good?"

Xiao merely nodded glancing away, feeling almost ashamed.

Venti gives him a warm smile. "Hey, listen, it's perfectly alright. I'd rather you just enjoy yourself than forcing yourself to enjoy something for my sake."

Venti carefully stands up and that's when Xiao notices that Venti's only wearing a towel, and he quickly glances away his face turning red. That's right, Venti had been taking a shower before all this.

"Like what you see?" Venti said with a grin.

Xiao says nothing but he does nod slightly which makes Venti's smile grow. "Okay, then let's get ready for bed. We can always have fun later when you're feeling better."

To which Xiao only nods again.

Once they were both dressed for bed Xiao climbed into bed beside Venti, sighing softly as he rested his head on Venti's chest. Venti gave a soft hum, his fingers gently running through Xiao's hair, a warm smile crawling across his face as Xiao's body gradually relaxed beneath his touch.

"Good night," Xiao whispers, closing his eyes, and Venti's hand stills for a moment as he looks down at him.

"Goodnight to you too, Xiao."