Hello, could i request some xiao fluff? But mother and father thing. Where reader and xiao are parents. Have a lovely day/night.
" SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE "
━━ ☆ PAIRING: xiao/reader
━━ ☆ GENRE: fluff
━━ ☆ SUMMARY: xiao never dared to hope that something exists past bloodshed and pain but as the cool waves pushed back and forth against his feet, he finds that the seashells not only carry the longing calls of the sea but also the hopeful wishes he has for his child.
━━ ☆ WARNINGS: fem!baby mention, established relationship
xiao hadn't been by the sea for a long time.
the sea unfolded in a blanket of cobalt blue that swished and churned with the pulling waves. as they marched to the sanded shore, foam tickled the exposed skin of his hand — its touch lingering just a little bit longer through the soothing cool of the early morning waters.
it was almost theatrical; how the edges of the sea blurred with the deep navy of the skies and how the sea song resonated across old bones and storied rocks alike. he never liked the sea, much preferring the high treetops of the mountains but this didn't seem half-bad. particularly not when the high-pitched giggles of his child got him dreaming while the teasing lilt in your voice reminded him that this, despite being eerily similar to his past fantasies, was real.
"pa!"
"well, you heard her." you met his gaze that has since left the sea. "come over here."
a part of him was perfectly content with watching from the distance like a tourist feeling out of place in a museum but another sought you two out like a man in desperate need of relief. most of the time, it was the latter that won and he found that the power those amber eyes had over him was almost unfair.
"ah! hurry up! your little princess is getting impatient!"
the small quirk of his lips was almost unnoticeable but it was there as he watched the little girl in your lap thrash around as she held her outstretched hands to him. with a faux sigh, he picked her up eliciting a delighted giggle from her and an amused huff from you.
"are we going to pretend that you hate having her in your arms as if you don't 'secretly' swoon every time she wants you to carry her?"
"shut up."
raising your hands in defense, you met his half-hearted glare with an innocent smile, falling back into a fit of laughter when he muttered something about 'the adepti being incapable of swooning.'
"sure... whatever helps you sleep at night."
xiao clicked his tongue before turning his back on you, the tips of his ears flushed with a rosette hue that marked his embarrassment. swooning was definitely not the word he'd use to describe the intense tug at his heart every time she peeked at him through her lashes, lips stretched so wide that it almost hurt to look at. he was merely being... reasonable. yes, reasonable was a good word. not a single sane man would be able to resist the alluring charm of this unknowing girl.
"gah!"
he heard your amused snort from behind as he turned to look at the direction a short, stubby finger was pointing at. "that's a seashell."
"tea..."
"sea-shell," he repeated but slower, eyebrows raising as he watched the little girl slowly attempt to copy him and fail. "try it again?"
"i'd be more surprised if she actually managed to say it properly." as if on cue, your daughter erupted in a fit of giddy chuckles as she kept mumbling about 'tea tells.'
"at what age do babies start pronouncing things correctly?"
"oh my," you hid your mischievous smile behind your hand. "is the great adeptus xiao's weakness a mere pronunciation mistake?"
xiao gave you an unimpressed stare, "i couldn't care less about that—"
"tea tells!"
"it's seashell."
rolling his eyes at the obnoxious grin you had on your face, he walked back to the shore with you in tow, "you were saying?"
"whatever."
"you know, you kind of remind me of those grandmothers in qingce village. always nagging about etiquette and wording conventions."
"you—" a gasp escaped your lips as your head hit his back from the sudden pause in his steps, "you are insufferable."
"now, don't be like that! you love me!"
your cheeky grin widened when xiao didn't make any move to deny it, choosing to begin his walk once again. with a jog, you fell into his steps, hand tangling with his free one and giggling when you felt him squeeze it tighter.
"should we go shell-picking, little dove?" the child in question squealed though you were sure she didn't even understand half of the words you said. with a shake of your head, you tugged the two forwards, unaware of the fond gaze xiao had for you.
"careful," you hummed at xiao's warning. "the waves are pushing in."
"what's a little water going to do— ack!"
xiao felt the trembles first before he heard the booming laughter that came from his daughter who flailed her arms as she watched you tumble down from the force of the waves.
"you were saying?" he repeated your words from earlier with just the subtlest hint of smugness to which you rolled your eyes as you accepted the hand he offered to help you up.
"very funny. who knew you'd be so well versed in the art of comedy?"
he clicked his tongue, lips twitching as he flicked your forehead away from his face much to the further entertainment of the child who has yet to calm. "she did."
"oh really now?" with an almost sinister grin, you stole your daughter from him just to tickle her into oblivion, "don't go thinking you can side with your father without due punishment!"
xiao only shook his head as you two tumbled back down, incoherent noises coming from your daughter as she tried to stop you in her blissful daze. it was strange how your rumpled clothes and sand-prickled skins still looked beautiful in his eyes and it was stranger that he didn't feel as irate as he should've been when you flicked the seawater to his form.
"oops," you picked your daughter up, rolling on your heels as you prepared to run, "our hands slipped."
"such disrespect would never have gone unpunished in the past."
"it's a good thing that the times have changed then. wait... xiao!" the shrill squeal was almost immediate as you felt a sudden splash of chill soaking your clothes and the perpetrator? none other than xiao who took your daughter back to wipe her cheeks.
"did you just—"
"i prefer tradition."
before you could bark back another hefty remark, your daughter excitedly screamed causing both of you to jump in surprise. "tea tells!"
"right... the seashells... almost forgot about that..." you muttered under your breath as you crouched down to pick up the coral-colored seashell by your feet, "here you go, darling."
the child immediately began fiddling with it, tracing over the patterns and knocking on it, humming in delight when the tune lingered in the air for a little longer than most of the things she played with. unable to stop yourself, you reached up to tenderly brush some of her hair away, eyes catching xiao who was watching the small interaction with softened features.
"don't. it's dirty." he suddenly whispered as he gently held her hand in his, stopping the young child from attempting to put the shell in her mouth.
"do you mind if you take her for a while? i should start making breakfast."
"go ahead."
"i'll be back soon. behave for papa, alright? don't make him even more grumpy!" you giggled when that infamous frown of his made a reappearance. leaving them both with a final kiss on their cheeks, you set off to the kitchen and xiao felt immediate regret over his decision.
"what am i supposed to do now?"
clearing his throat, he reluctantly poked the child's cheeks much to her youthful amusement. it felt wrong to hold such... pristine being in his hands when he barely has any idea on how to nurture such souls. it wasn't as if he had a bright childhood in the first place. if anything, all he knew was that he couldn't let his little girl experience what he did, not even over his corpse.
"pa!" the sharp whine snapped him out of his dreary thoughts and he's once again reminded of his duties; duties that he's more inclined to fulfill without a grunt of resignation.
"i suppose... we could take a walk."
xiao shifted the baby's weight awkwardly and at one point in time, he found himself holding the baby by their foot until he realized that maybe it wasn't right to do so. deciding that letting them walk was better than accidentally dropping them, xiao tried to untangle the tight grip on his clothes only to sigh in exasperation when his daughter stubbornly shook her head.
"i'm not going anywhere. i just need you to stand on your own."
she only huffed, turning her face away with a pout to show that she was not losing this battle and who was he to deny her that? such a spoiled, needy child but then again, it might've been his fault. with one last sigh, xiao picked the girl up once more, a stern warning leaving his lips, "don't let go."
the walk was mostly undisturbed save for the few times he stopped to pick up the vibrant seashells washed to the shore. somewhere along the lines, the overpowering scent of salt was covered by the sizzle and aroma from the grill and he had to wipe the drool that dripped from the child's mouth.
"are you hungry?"
she replied with a soft 'humph' and xiao had half the mind to walk back and attempt to find some fruit to nibble at. still — his eyes moved to where you were busying yourself in the portable stove you had him set up — he supposed that it would be quite rude to be impatient.
"food would be ready soon." he settled on replying as he handed yet another shellfish, this time, in the striking tone of red. "what are you even going to do with this?"
xiao wasn't expecting a reply but he more or less received one when the child began lining the shells on her wrist only for them to tumble down back to the sand much to her frustration.
"let me do it," setting her on his lap as he sat on a rock, xiao picked up a cord that was conveniently also washed to the beach. with a quick knot and another, he began stringing the shells together, placing them alternately in an attempt to make it more appealing than it actually was.
"this is not something i would usually concern myself with. unlike the other adepti who guided the mortals to continue to flourish, i dealt with death; massacring souls, and grievances as a weapon of war." twisting the string, xiao scoffed. "it's absurd to think that i'd be anywhere else."
but as he tied the bracelet on her wrist, his face held an unmistakable fondness, "but... of all the burdens i had to carry in my lifetime, you are not one of them. if i were to dare say it myself, i... would say that you are my salvation. my fight against the darkness would never cease even if the time comes that i will be darkness himself but whenever i'm with you, i tend to forget about their voices even if it is but for a fleeting moment."
moving his gaze back to the sea, his smile — a gesture he found to come far more often nowadays — made a reappearance. it was hard to deny the peace that washed over him like sea foam and it was even harder to admit that if the world were to burn all around him, he wouldn't dare to move in fear of ruining this moment. just him and his daughter who was busying herself with her new bracelet. was it selfish of him to seek a moment's respite?
"perhaps it would be better for everyone if it wasn't me who's here... those who have come to be my acquaintance have only known trouble ever since. for regret to come eventually, that much is understandable. however... is it too greedy of me to hope that it would never come? hmph. forget it."
shaking his head, amber met amber; his daughter's attention long focused solely on her father whose eyes flickered back and forth between gold to lonely twilights. hesitantly, she lifted her hand — the same one that was wrapped with a string of colored shells — to cup his cheek. how empathetic for such a young age... xiao allowed himself a small chuckle as he reached up to hold her hand in place.
"live a happy life free from the worries of the world. i will be watching over you from the shadows," he whispered, lips momentarily brushing over her hand as he turned his face, "and when trouble comes after you, speak my name and i'll be there to protect you."
━━ ☆ NOTES: i have no idea why this was so hard to write lmao. in any case, thanks for requesting i hope you liked it!
━━ ☆ SIMILAR WORKS: dad!au masterlist
