Thoma coughed a little, still on all fours, then turned his head slowly toward you. You said nothing at all.

Thoma

"..."

You

"..."

You noticed a small stream of blood fall from his nose as soon as you were able to get a glimpse of his face.

For the first time in a long time...

.

.

.

You felt ashamed.

Guilty. 

 Thoma

"I was only trying to help..."

His voice truly sounded like it was about to break.

You were still covered in blood, staring at him in shock. He stood up and began to walk, shakily wrapping his arms around him along the way.

You followed.

.

.

.

-A FEW HOURS LATER, LIYUE-

The tension between you two just got worse. There were bloodstains all over the Liyue grass, coming from you two.

Thoma

"... Over there."

He pointed.

You

"Hm?"

Thoma

"A cave."

"It's getting dark. Should we set up camp there?"

You nodded your head. 

You both approached the cave carefully, stumbling a little from your mutual tiredness.

You both ate some fruits in silence while complete silence prevailed. There was a campfire separating the two of you and your sleeping bags, which were on different sides of one another.

.

.

.

You

"Thoma?"

Thoma

"... Yeah?"

You

"I..."

.

.

.

"Watch out!"

Before you could even spit out your apology, a boulder within the cave crashed into your campsite. You leaped through the fireplace and shoved Thoma aside.

With a few nasty burns on your legs, you were able to move Thoma aside just in time. 

.

.

.

Thoma

"Y/N?..."

Thoma found you entangled beneath the toppled boulder as the dust and debris began to disperse.

Thoma

"Hey! Y/N!"

.

.

.

No answer.

All that was visible was your upper torso wedged beneath the boulder, surrounded by a growing puddle of blood.

Thoma

"No, no, no..." 

His arms ached endlessly from lifting the massive fragment of stone, but he did everything he could.

Thoma

"Fuck!"

The entire cavern began to collapse. Seeing he had no other option, Thoma pulled out his polearm and sent an immense wave of pyro energy crashing through the boulder. As the heat caused the boulder that was crushing you to burst into rubble, aggravating your burns, he took cover. 

He lifted you up and left the cave, ignoring the belongings that were left inside.

He broke free of the debris by sprinting as quickly as he could, causing the cave to collapse. He lost you as he stumbled over the rocks. You fell along the grass.

Thoma

*Pant* *Cough* "Y/N!"

Your body lay on the grass, and Thoma lifted himself off the ground and crawled over to you.

 Thoma

"Hey!"

He touched your face with both hands, examining it. He pressed his ear to your chest anxiously, listening to your heartbeat. Even if it was feeble, the fact that it was still beating gave him relief. With your head resting in his lap, Thoma paused to catch his breath.

Thoma

"You're going to be okay..."

.

.

.

-THREE DAYS LATER, JUST OUTSIDE OF WANGSHUU INN-

Thoma

"Please..."

.

.

.

Xiao

"No."

Thoma

"I have no food, Xiao. If you'd just convince the inn to-"

Xiao

"They're not letting that monster in there. And neither am I."

"Everybody's confused and irritated, it's been three endless nights."

"If anything were to happen strangely to Teyvat, it's always them who takes the blame."

When Xiao emphasized the time of day, he meant that it had only been night for the previous three days, ever since the boulder had fallen on you. The sun hadn't shown up once. Everyone found it quite strange, even if it had occurred a few times previously.

He eyed your unconscious body that Thoma held in his arms, ever so close to him. 

Thoma

"Huh?... What does that mean?"

.

.

"Whatever-"

"They're hurt! Do you not see these burns? Wounds?"

Xiao

"I could give less of a shit."

Thoma

"Did Y/N ever care for your wounds during the Archon War? Hm?"

Xiao

"Why are we talking about this?"

Thoma

"Just answer the damn question."

Xiao

"They did."

Thoma

"Did you ever return the favour?"

Xiao

"Sure. A few times."

Thoma

*Sigh* "It's been three days; they haven't woken up. Please, I'll do anything."

"Has this ever happened before?..."

Xiao

"..."

.

.

.

-FLASHBACK-

Xiao

"Stop it. You're going to hurt yourself, Y/N."

You

"I'll be fine... Look! What could go wrong?"

"It's like... Magical!"

You said as you balanced on the very top of a tree with no leaves, as you were in the depths of Dragonspine. Xiao stood under the tree, just looking up at you. 

Not only were you balancing on a tree, but a tree branch. 

A thin one at that.

You

"Come up here, Xiao! It's a nice view! And a nice breeze!"

Xiao

"It's cold, there's a 'nice breeze' everywhere. I'd rather not."

"Now, get down. She's not going to be happy if she finds out you were goofing off like that."

You

"What'd you say?!"

You yelled, at the top of your lungs, unable to hear a word that Xiao uttered.

Xiao

"I said-"

CRACK!

The tree branch cracked and fell, and so did you. Fortunately, you didn't fall face down onto the freezing ground but rather face down onto yet another branch.

Xiao

*Sigh*

Xiao sighed in relief, feeling frightened for just a second.  

Xiao

"Jeez Y/N. Come on, we should probably get moving."

.

.

.

Xiao

"Y/N?"

Drops of blood splattered upon Xiao's face. When he looked above him, the left side of your face had been completely demolished — all done by a flimsy tree branch.

Xiao

Holy shit...

"Y/N?..."

.

.

.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Xiao

"Sure. Something similar may have happened a few thousand years ago."

Thoma

"Good! What am I supposed to do? How did they wake up?!"

Xiao

"... Good?..."

Thoma

"No, good but bad, y'know?"

Xiao

"No. I don't know."

Thoma

"That's not the point; how did you get them to wake up? And how long did it take them to wake up?"

Xiao

"They woke up on their own."

"As I recall, it took about..."

.

.

.

"Maybe a week or two for them to wake up."

Thoma

"... You're joking."

Xiao shook his head. 

Thoma

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?!"

Xiao shrugged his shoulders.

Thoma

"Yeah. Real big help, Xiao."

Xiao

"Of course."

Thoma sighed and walked away, still carrying you in his arms.

THWACK!

A bag struck the back of Thoma's head.

Thoma

"What the fuck dude?!"

Xiao

"Take it." 

Thoma opened the sack and found a few articles of food inside.

Xiao stayed silent and looked away.

Thoma

"Thanks?..."

Xiao

"Expect it to be dark for a while."

Thoma

"What does that mean?"

Xiao

"..."

Thoma

"Hey! What does-"

And he was gone in a split second. 

Thoma sensed that Xiao knew something about you that he didn't.

Thoma

*Sigh* "This is gonna be one hell of a week for us, Y/N."