Hehehehe lucky for you I have SO many thoughts about Xiao. He is on my mind all day every day. I also decided to do softer headcanons for this one since I’ve been hurting him a lot on here recently lol
These headcanons are a mix of sagau and non sagau, so enjoy!!
Warnings: sagau, mentions of past abuse, overall it’s very soft tho
Headcanons under the cut!
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Xiao is actually a fairly merciful being. Yes, he murders people, but that doesn’t mean he feels good about it. He would rather avoid it if possible, and after he clears out an area, he usually makes sure to light some incense and say a prayer for those who were slain. If he can’t do it then, he always makes sure to come back and do it afterward.
He has a personal rule about never killing those who don’t deserve it, and that includes the monsters of Teyvat. He only does so if he’s left with no other choice. That doesn’t mean collateral damage doesn’t happen though. It’s canon that Xiao’s so strong that no living mortal has ever seen him fight, because if you’re that close, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll die just from how much power he emits. Which is why the rituals and prayers that he does afterward are so important to him.
Y'know how Rex Lapis has like, a human body and a not human body?? I believe that all of the adepti do, and that includes Xiao! I haven’t decided exactly what I think his alternate form looks like yet, but he has wings! He hasn’t flown in forever, but he does take good care of his wings to keep them looking somewhat nice after his feathers grew back. In his human form, he can summon his wings, and if you ask, he will take you flying somewhere! Sure, he’ll get flustered, but he’ll do it :)
During his youth, Xiao traveled a lot, so he didn’t really have a dedicated shrine or altar for you. Now, though, he has one of those adeptal realms in a teapot, and he has a small altar dedicated to you. It’s nothing big or fancy like many of the other people of Teyvat have, and definitely not anything one would expect of an adeptus, but it’s what Xiao prefers. He knows that when it comes to worshipping you, it’s the thought that counts, so his altar consists of only a small statue of you and a pretty incense burner. The other things on the altar are offerings that he’s brought and felt like you’d like enough, so they stay.
His offerings typically include almond tofu, qingxin flowers, crystal cores, pretty shiny rocks/crystals, or drawings of you.
OKAY SO! This one isn’t that sagau related, but he is a bird!!! He likes shiny rocks!! He’ll never admit it, of course, and no one really knows. But if you know him well enough to tell apart his different cues, even though his facial expression doesn’t change, there’s no denying the way his eyes light up when he sees a particularly shiny rock. Sometimes he'll pick one up and bring it back to you.
Aside from Morax, Xiao is the strongest of the adepti in Liyue. He can summon winds strong enough to form hurricanes if he’s mad, and his more extreme battles typically end up leveling whatever was around him at the time, whether it be villages, hills, or even mountains.
Okay, so I know this is completely wild and out of nowhere, but I headcanon that Xiao is an artist. Both sagau and not sagau, he was tortured by Osial and wasn’t free from his abuse until the end of the Archon War. During that time, he wanted to get to work ridding Liyue of demons, but Morax wouldn’t let him. He basically demanded that Xiao take time to heal. His wounds were extensive, and he had not only fresh ones from the war, but many, many, many untreated injuries from his time before. This causes him to need rest for a while. Xiao hates that he can’t do anything, and it makes him feel like he’s trapped again, so some of the other yakshas will bring him things to maybe keep him occupied. It works, but only for so long. He refuses to read if he finds something boring, and he reads fast anyway, so the books they bring him don’t do much, and he doesn’t care much for mortal games or puzzles. However, one of them brings him a journal and suggests that he write in it because it might help keep his mind occupied. He ended up doodling in there instead and found that he had zoned out during that point. So, bedridden and bored, he began to learn how to draw.
And even now, after all these years, it’s still something that he does often. Whenever he gets a break from fighting demons and doesn’t have any other business, he retreats into his adeptal realm, where he has some art supplies stored away and lets himself get lost in the art process. Most of his works are landscapes with pretty lighting and colors that the human eye can’t perceive. In Sagau, though, half of his works consist of his god enjoying their creation. Relaxing beneath the shade of a tree or under the stars. Some are just doodles, though. However, no one knows he’s an artist, and he intends to keep it that way. The only person he’d even consider showing his art to is you, and that's only if you ask about it first.
However, if he’s feeling really soft, he might come up to you, scowl on his flushed face, and hand you a folded up piece of paper. Unfold it and you’ll find a picture of you, drawn in exquisite detail, looking as lovely as ever. He won’t look at you, afraid of your reaction, because what if you don’t like it? But looking from his slightly red cheeks to the way he glances at you only to quickly look away, it’s pretty easy to piece two and two together.
