Work Text:
Die Bischöfin ist zu nah am Wasser gebaut
Barbara was in a hurry. There had been too many people in need of healing today. Too many complicated cases. It had taken all afternoon and now she was completely behind on the preparations for the concert, not to mention cleaning duty. She truly had to rush to get to Flora before she went home for the night, otherwise she would have to offload cleaning to someone else tomorrow.
She threw open the cathedral door-
...and saw Xiao stumble backwards.
“Oh no! Are you okay? Are you hurting?”, she asked him.
He seemed utterly confused, blinking at her. “Well... yes”, he brought out.
Barbara panicked, giving him a once-over to find where the door had hit him. “Where is the pain, can you tell me?”, she took his hand, feeling stupid for having gotten so careless.
“Uh”, he frowned at her, “everywhere...?”
Her eyes widened. How could she have done so much damage losing her head to stress? This was not how a deaconess should behave!
Sister Rosaria stepped up to them, a smirk on her face. “She's asking if she hit you with the door, kid”, her tone was very amused.
Xiao's face lit up with comprehension. “I am fine”, he smiled at her, “I came here to thank you for your help that time.”
Barbara's face fell, her heart calmed down. Then she remembered her time constraints. “Oh no! You'll have to thank me on the way!”, she yelped, taking off in a run. Only moments later did she realise it was a little silly to assume he would follow her.
Except he did. He matched her speed, easily running next to her. “Deaconess Barbara, I never thanked you properly for helping me when Lumine went missing, I was rather brash that day”, he truly did sound remorseful... and oddly not a little out of breath.
“Oh really. Don't think. About it... Hah... I could tell. You were... upset”, she brought out between breaths.
He did not answer, following her nonetheless.
Thankfully Flora was still there.
“Ah! Flora! Hah. Good evening”, she sturdied herself with a hand on her knee, catching her breath, “Here I've got the order of flowers for the concert.” She held out a list to her.
“Thanks, Barbara, I'll have it done on time”, she promised, purposely ignoring her gasps for air.
“Y- you don't need me to get anything?”, the deaconess stared at her in disbelief.
“I am not one to offload my work to the deaconess. I'll have the Honorary Knight help me tomorrow”, the flower-saleswoman laughed and Xiao's mouth became a thin line.
Barbara turned to him. “This is great news, it means I have time for you”, she smiled.
His expression was puzzled. “For me?”, he cocked his head.
“To heal you. You said you were in pain”, she cringed.
His eyes grew soft. “I do not think it will help”, he said quietly.
“I would still like to try”, she insisted.
“No, you should go home. You have gigantic bags under your eyes. You need rest”, Flora rolled her eyes.
Barbara gritted her teeth at that snarky truth
"Why not both?”, Xiao asked and the blond woman blushed.
“What?!”, she squeaked, embarrassed to have lost control of her voice.
The flower-saleswoman started laughing. “Good idea. Anything to get you off the streets”, she chuckled, though it was hard to tell if she was joking or not.
The Liyuan looked at her, his eyes nothing but open and innocent.
If she were to reject him now she might not get another chance to try her hand on him. Oh no! That had sounded wrong even in her head!
She was pretty sure her face was still chili-red, though he did not seem to notice. “Sure, uh, c- come with me”, she smiled at him.
He nodded a little and when she started walking he simply followed wordlessly.
“So, uh, Xiao... the housekeeper might say weird things... just ignore it, okay?”, she tried to prepare him.
“I will”, he nodded. When they reached the Gunnhildr residence his eyes narrowed and his back stiffened.
However she could not worry about that for now, pushing down the handle.
Immediately Gertrud rushed over to greet her. “Oh how good! Young lady, you're home so early! And what a handsome guest you've brought”, she clasped her hands together in delight.
Barbara's cheeks renewed their colour. “W- we'll be in my room. There are some... private matters we must attend to”, she tried to make it sound innocuous, but somehow that had only made it sound worse.
“Oh surely surely. I'll leave you two right alone”, the older woman giggled, shuffling away.
Barbara sighed uncomfortably, taking off her shoes to put them on the little shelf.
The man took off his boots as well, however he had been partially barefoot in them, barely any fabric on them.
“Let me give you some house shoes”, she smiled, hopping off into the little side room to get him a pair of felt slippers.
His expression was very serious, but he slid them on nonetheless, following her up the stairs wordlessly. What was wrong with him all of a sudden? Had it been Gertrud?
“Sorry about her. It's just that it's the first time I've brought home... well... a man”, she squeezed out, immediately regretting her choice of words.
“You are a noble”, he said, his voice so stiff, it almost sounded cold.
She froze. “Yes. Me and my older sister belong to the Gunnhildr family”, she nodded, worrying what he might think of her now.
“You do not act like it”, he noted, his tone a little softer now.
She resumed the way to her room. “And how is that?”, she wondered, worried about the answer.
“Like arrogant fools who think themselves above others. Prancing around, wasting my time, thinking their whims are more important than people's lives”, he seemed to speak from bitter experience.
She pushed open the door to her room. “I hope you never think of Jean or me that way”, she said quietly.
“So far neither of you have given me any reason to”, he smiled again.
She now felt insecure about the opulent room that splayed out behind the doorway. The gold-woven silk wallpaper seemed like arrogant extravagance now, the thick decorated wooden furniture not splendour but an indulgent waste of work hours.
Out of habit she sat down on her bed, realising too late that she should instead have used the chair, lest he think the wrong things.
He stood there, looking at her. “Do you want me to undress?”, he asked casually as though this meant nothing to him.
Her cheeks burned in surprise. “N- no, just sit down”, she patted the bed next to her.
He did as instructed, his posture effortlessly perfect. He had said it hurt everywhere so she supposed starting on his chest could hardly be wrong.
She set both her hands on his pectoral muscles. As she let her healing magic flow her palms became wet, quickly soaking his delicate white shirt. “Is it working?”, she asked and with a solemn expression he shook his head. Not willing to give up just yet she grabbed his face. Maybe direct skin contact was necessary, maybe the pain was simply not in his chest.
Water dripped down his jaw, drenching his clothes even more. Flustered she realised the thin silk had become completely transparent, clinging to his skin even more, showing his dark pink nipples in all their appealing details.
No, she shouldn't be staring! This was unprofessional!
However something about this being her bedroom made her unable to summon her work persona. “Is it doing anything?”, she asked to distract herself.
With a faint pop his lips parted and for a moment she felt the urge to place her own on them. “No”, he answered, breaking the spell. However before she could let go of him he placed his hands over hers. “Thank you anyway... for trying”, he smiled encouragingly.
Her face fell. “It did nothing though”, she frowned.
“I gave up on healers hundreds of years ago. I knew it would do nothing. But to reject your hope so outright... I fear it would have been worse than your disappointment now. But worry not, Lumine is healing me”, he slid his fingers between her palms and his cheeks, pulling her hands off his face, “You have a truly kind heart. It is a light that shines brightly like a beacon, calling to it all those lost in the darkness.”
His words echoed in her mind, rendering her unable to formulate a response. She assumed the hundreds of years were meant as a metaphor. So there they sat for a moment, holding hands, that handsome intense man simply gazing at her patiently while she regained her thoughts. “I'm glad. Though I believe you should go now”, she cocked her head and grinned.
He nodded, releasing her. Xiao stood up, sorting out the wrinkles in his trousers. Something made him pause, then grin. “Usually I would simply leave through the window, however I believe that would only lead to unwanted rumours”, he chuckled.
Barbara giggled. “Indeed”, she agreed.
“Good night”, he waved at her as he went, closing the door behind him.
With a sigh she let herself fall backwards onto the bed.
“Oh, Grandmaster Jean”, she heard his surprised greeting.
“Adeptus Xiao”, she replied and Barbara wondered what an adeptus was, “Didn't expect to run into you here.”
“I was here at Miss Barbara's request”, he explained.
Jean's tone suddenly had a hard and sharp tone to it. “And what exactly were you doing with my little sister?”, she asked, the question a thinly-veiled threat.
“I slipped up about my pain and she sought to heal me”, he answered without fear.
“Oh”, her big sister chuckled and the deaconess stood up to move closer to the door, “yes, that is very much like her.”
Then neither of them said anything and for a moment she wondered if they had simply left without a word.
However then she heard a grunt from Xiao.
“Why don't you stay the night?”, Jean asked and Barbara's world broke into pieces.
How could her sister simply ask such a thing out of the blue?!
“This time it will be pleasant, I promise”, her tone was pleading, remorseful.
This time? So there had been a previous time?!
Her head swam from the implications.
“I would love to. However I need to tell Lumine where I am. And if I do not collect my shoes people will believe I stayed the night at the behest of Miss Barbara”, he laid out.
This seemed to amuse her sister to no end. “We couldn't have that, now could we?”, she giggled, before calming down.
Again the two were silent until the man made a surprised noise.
“Oh, that see-through shirt of yours is so distracting”, she cooed. What exactly had she done?!
Barbara's heart beat faster and her face flushed red, though a part of her was relieved that she was not the only one affected by it.
“I should go”, he pressed out and though she heard nothing she suspected he had gotten moving.
“I'll keep my window open!”, Jean called after him.
She listened for the sound of her sister's footsteps, but instead there was a knock on the door.
Startled, she opened it.
There she stood, a sheepish crooked grin on her face. “I'm sorry I made you hear that”, she sighed, “I got carried away.” Something about her remorseful expression dispelled the awkwardness.
“I have a pretty good idea what caused that, big sister”, she giggled
Jean joined in. “Maybe it's time I stopped treating you like a child”, she said, however momentarily her expression turned serious, “though really, he is too old for you.
Barbara threw her an arch smile. “Don't worry, Jean, I'm not in a hurry with any of this”, she assured her.
Instead of answering, the tall woman simply drew her into her arms, staying like that for quite a while. “When did you get so big?”, she mumbled against her hair.