lol, I haven't posted in so long. have a soft fluffy genshin fic y'all

i challenge myself to write a fic in one day with zero preparations/notes/anything else, just armed with my phone, prompt and insomnia and this is what happens expect inconsistencies and weird stuff

title is taken from 'Tightrope' from The Greatest Showman since I suck at thinking them up

[modern au, sickfic]

~xxxxxx~

"Xiao."

Leave me alone.

"Xiao…"

I'm tired. Can't you let me sleep already?

"Wake up."

He blinks slowly, vision adjusting to the sunlight pouring in from the wide-open windows. Somehow the light's even brighter than he remembers, than what he's used to. A shadow looms over him, and he squints, trying to see who it is.

"Xiao, it's time for school."

Oh.

It's just his dad, clad in a loose-fitting robe (Xiao still has no idea why he insists on wearing too-traditional clothing of that sort when there exists the article of clothing known as pajamas) with his long hair falling over his back in a black-to-copper river. Orbs of molten gold gaze down at him, one hand resting on the curtains where he'd pulled them open.

"Nngh…" Xiao mumbles, pulling the blankets back over his head with a low groan. "Let me sleep."

"No." Zhongli says firmly, yanking them right off again. "You have school."

Xiao feels unusually tired, and his body aches. (Maybe he stayed up a bit too late playing video games the night before.) Meanwhile, Zhongli bustles about the room, gathering up Xiao's various school things and putting them tidily into his bag.

"Come on," he wheedles when Xiao hasn't moved. "I'm sure you miss Venti and the others, right?"

Yes, the thought of seeing his friends after the long, boring weekend is very tempting, but Xiao just can't find it in him to get up. A chill passes through his body just then and he burrows under his blankets, tangling them around himself. A nice, long nap sounds quite inviting right now…

Now, if only his head would stop throbbing.

Unwillingly, a soft cough comes from him and Zhongli immediately raises an eyebrow. "Xiao, are you unwell?"

"What? No, I'm alright-"

Another cough. Zhongli's brows furrow.

No.

He'd better not be sick.

Never. Anything but that.

Otherwise…

"You've got a fever." Zhongli observes, putting a hand on Xiao's forehead.

Oh, shiiiii-

~xxxxxx~

"Sounds like a bad case of the flu," Baizhu says over the phone. "I would advise that you have him stay at home, no school at least until the fever has gone down for twenty four hours. And of course, plenty of bed rest. If you need medicine, you know the pharmacy is open."

"Of course, Dr. Baizhu." Zhongli agrees. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The line goes dead. Zhongli turns to Xiao, who's currently buried under a pile of cushions and pillows, cold towel on his head and a cup of ice water next to him. Zhongli's changed out of his robe into his day clothes, today consisting of a dark grey turtleneck and brown pants. Xiao's bag is lying forgotten on a nearby chair.

Xiao only hopes Zhongli won't stay home to take care of him. As the boss of GEO (the company Zhongli founded with Xiao's mother), Zhongli has a huge daily workload and spends most of his day at the office, leaving him as the eldest to look after his two younger siblings. He always comes back worked to the bone and utterly exhausted, barely managing a 'hello' before slanting off to the bathroom for a quick shower and sleep. Xiao doesn't remember the last time he saw Zhongli eat a proper meal on weekdays, or weekends for that matter. Most meals consisted of their barely having a few minutes of eating together before Zhongli had to leave the table for an urgent business call or something else work-related. The rest of the night would see the three siblings sitting quietly and picking at their food, knowing their father probably wouldn't be back to eat with them.

(It's honestly a miracle Zhongli hasn't collapsed from overwork yet.)

The last thing he needs is for his dad to be hovering over him and worrying continuously for the whole time he's sick when he's been working so hard already.

"I'll stay at home today." Zhongli chooses that moment to announce, to which Xiao jumps up in horror. "No, you don't have to-"

"Too late." Zhongli says, walking out the room with an air of finality.

Xiao sinks back under the blankets, groaning.

~xxxxxx~

"Stop babying me, dad." Xiao moans. "I'm fifteen, I can take care of myself."

"And who's the one doing the washing, cooking and cleaning for you all, amongst other things?" Zhongli questions from the kitchen, plates clinking.

I suppose that's fair, Xiao thinks, considering all he knows how to cook (for now, anyway) is almond tofu (can it even be considered cooking? he's unsure). But well…

"Come on, you can't even keep Qiqi in line half the time."

As he says this, his father staggers past balancing Xiao's lunch on a tray, a tottering pile of documents, his phone and eight-year-old Qiqi in his arms. The young girl wriggles and Zhongli nearly drops her but just manages to hold on. He hoists Qiqi back up with a stern "Stay still, Qiqi" ("Let me go, dad! Qiqi wants to catch a Cocogoat!") and comes in. The documents wobble precariously, threatening to fall over as he sets the tray onto Xiao's bedside table. "Here's your lunch."

"Thanks." Xiao takes it and starts to eat. Zhongli hums in reply, gently tugging Qiqi back when she tries to climb into bed with Xiao. The food isn't bad, but not particularly good either. (Zhongli never really learnt how to cook. He watches online tutorials, attempts, and hopes for the best. But the food's edible, and probably won't poison Xiao, so it should be fine.) It's not like he's about to complain, though.

(It's been years since she died, and his dad's still struggling to come to terms with that, let alone taking care of himself, three kids, his job and the general burden of being a single father. So Xiao knows he shouldn't.)

~xxxxxx~

"Dad? You're home?"

The front door opens, and Xiao can hear his other sibling entering the house. Zhongli is at the table, the soft clicks of his computer keyboard audible even from Xiao's room.

"Yes, I am. Welcome back."

A light pattering of feet, and Xiao assumes it's Qiqi running to greet her sister. The typing continues, over which Zhongli explains the reason for his staying at home today. Then his door opens and he doesn't have to open his eyes to know who it is.

"Xiao?"

"Hey." He can't really muster anything past that, with his throat as sore as it is. And it must be coming anytime soon…

"Why didn't you tell me you felt unwell?!" Ganyu yells, to which he cracks open an eyelid just to see her in all her furious glory, still in her uniform and protective mother hen energy in full force (he's her older brother, seriously-). "I would have stayed with you, I-"

"You shouldn't." Tired as he is, he fixes her with his usual glare. "You should go to school as usual, your education's more important than me. I'll get better, anyway."

"…" She huffs, ready to retort but when she realises he won't be saying anything else pouts angrily and leaves the room, throwing a "but you better tell me if you're sick again!" over her shoulder. Xiao can't help but think back to the days when their mom had just passed away, Zhongli drowning in work so he had to look after both Ganyu and Qiqi virtually on his own. Whenever Ganyu got sick and hid it from him, he'd tell her the exact same thing. It's strange to hear her saying it to him instead.

"She just cares for her older brother, you know."

Zhongli's leaning against the doorframe, laptop in hand and still tapping away. He shoots Xiao a small grin, coming over to replace the cold cloth.

"Tell me immediately if you feel worse, alright?"

"Yeah. Okay."

~xxxxxx~

It gets worse before it gets better.

Xiao can feel the fever raging higher and higher as time passes, and he's stuck in a semi-conscious state, drifting somewhere along the border between dreams and reality. Sometimes gentle hands coax some soup past his lips and he swallows dutifully, coughs ravaging his body so he barely has any energy left, too worn out to even open his eyes or speak, let alone sit up and eat.

He sees his mother, memories of her when he was younger and she was still alive, happier days when Zhongli used to take them out on outings to the beach and to the park, his mom pressing small gifts into his hands, running her hands through his hair, smoothing down the teal strands and laughing when it fluffs straight back up again. He misses her so much.

(In one dream, she smiles at him, eyes crinkling the way they always did, talking to him.

"Take care of your sisters, okay? And look after your dad, too."

The last words she ever said to him.)

And in others, he hears his dad's voice, shaking and trembling, penetrated by light sobs and the feeling of warm tears, always, always the same sentence, the same question…

"What would she do?"

(He stretches out a hand to the vision of Zhongli, attempting to hold him, to help him in his time of need the way he's always done for Xiao, for all those years, it's so strange to imagine his dad in this state, because bàba is, has always been so strong, so reliable, steady as stone, never wavering or crumbling, and he would never be like this but Xiao feels so helpless, he can't do anything-)

The next time he feels moderately closer to waking, he feels a hand on his forehead, stroking back his long bangs which are soaked through with sweat, a slight indentation in the bed signaling someone's sitting beside him.

It's definitely not Qiqi, the hand is too large. And it's not Ganyu either, hers is smoother, more delicate. Then it must be…

"Ganyu, would you mind bringing in some more water?"

A low baritone of a voice, light footsteps and the splashing of water in a tub. His eyes stay closed, and he's barely half awake so all he can do is strain to listen. The cool pressure on his brow is taken away, more splashing and it's replaced again, relieving the intense heat radiating from his skin. He nearly sighs out with the temporary alleviation of his discomfort.

"Hey, dad? The meeting… tonight's the deadline, right?"

Even in his feverish haze, Xiao hears the next words clear as day.

"That can wait."

~xxxxxx~

"Xiao? Is there anything you still need?"

His father holds the door open by a fraction, already in his sleepwear with Qiqi peeking around his legs. Still, there's his phone in the other hand, no doubt he still has piles of work to do. But nonetheless, he comes to check in on Xiao despite the workload.

"I'm alright." Xiao answers, to which Zhongli nods and turns to leave, Qiqi trotting after him. As the door's closing and Zhongli's hand about to let go of it, a thought flashes through his mind.

"Wait…!"

The hand stops.

"Hm? What is it?"

"…goodnight, dad."

"Thank you. Goodnight."

(And Xiao swears he can see the trace of a smile.)

~xxxxxx~

"Fever's gone." Zhongli says with relief, sitting down on the side of the bed. "If it stays like that for another day, you can go back to school."

"Oh, great." Xiao pushes the blanket off himself. "I was getting tired of your constant fussing."

"Really, now?" Zhongli chides disapprovingly, gently knocking him on the head. "I thought I raised you to be more respectful to your elders."

"I know, I know." Xiao replies. "It was just a joke."

"Good. I don't know what your mother would say if you grew up to become a…"

"A what, exactly?"

"…never mind."

They sit there in silence for a while, until Xiao decides to speak.

"Hey, dad?"

"Hm?"

"You know… when I had that fever, I dreamed of mom."

"You did?"

"And I dreamed of what she last said to me. She said to take care of Ganyu and Qiqi… and of you."

"She must have known, then."

"Yeah."

Xiao rests his head on his father's shoulder, closing his eyes in contentment.

"Love you, dad."

"Likewise."

~xxxxxx~

A soft sneeze rings throughout the house.

"Looks like… I caught it from you, Xiao."

Xiao stares down at Zhongli who's lying in bed, soaked cloth on his temple and covered in blankets. Outside, Ganyu is holding his laptop hostage and Qiqi blocks the door to prevent him from going out. He sighs lowly as Zhongli sneezes again, expression deadpan.

"Is this what mom meant when she said what she did?"

~xxxxxx~

thanks for reading! leave a review if you enjoyed!

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