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Most things in Teyvat followed some sort of cycle. This wasn't new or unknown information to anyone who lived there, even the most uneducated person was at the very least aware of things like seasons or the phases of the moon, even if they didn't know everything about how they work. These many cycles were simply just a part of everyday life, woven so deeply into the fabric of the world that it would be hard to imagine a world that didn't contain at least some of those cycles. Not all of those cycles were universally seen as good things, though.
One cycle that Xiao had a rather personal dislike of would be the reproductive cycle. His own, to be more specific.
On first impression, one wouldn't assume that would be the case for him. But on first impression, one would most likely assume his body to match the way he presents himself. It wasn't something he found shame in, mind you, he simply chose not to freely volunteer the information because he didn't think it was anyone else's business what he looked like or how he had been perceived when he was far younger than he is now.
It wasn't something that he thought about often. It never had been something he thought about much, honestly. Though it was the lack of thought he put into it that often lead to him forgetting where he was in that cycle and getting blindsided by painful cramps each month. One would think that being thousands of years old, he would have learned his lesson by now and at least made an attempt at tracking such things, if only so he would stop being caught off-guard every month.
In Xiao's defense, he had more important things to focus on, even in just his day-to-day life. His duty to protect Liyue took up most of his time, and it wasn't often that he got a reprieve, no matter how brief, from the effects of his karmic debt. It simply fell by the wayside when it came to his priorities.
Just like every month, Xiao was once again paying the price for this casual neglect of himself.
The one thing he could count himself lucky on would be the fact that his cramps weren't at the worst level of pain he'd had them at in the past. A win was a win, even if that "win" was just that he wasn't vomiting from the pain this time like he had multiple times in the past. He dealt with it alone, much like he did with most things these days, but there were many times when his thoughts would wander back to a time when he didn't have to. He hadn't been the only yaksha who had to deal with the monthly cramping and bleeding, Indarias and Bonanus sharing in the misery with him. The other two also had many a complaint about the sheer magnitude of the pain, something he vaguely recalled one of them having theorized could have been connected to their karmic debt. Admittedly, he wasn't sure if the two things were connected, but he had noticed his karmic debt feeling worse whenever he was already dealing with cramps. That could just be life kicking him while he was down, though.
Normally he would just take whatever painkillers worked and occasionally down some raspberry tea, but he had unfortunately run out of both of those without noticing. He'd have to remember to get more at some point, though for the time being he was just going to lay on the floor in the room in Wangshu Inn that he stayed in. It would've made more sense (and been more comfortable) to crawl into his bed, underneath his pile of blankets, but that would be too much effort, and the cool floor was really doing something for him.
He hadn't been laying there all day, of course. Most of his day had actually been spent out and about, wandering about Dihua Marsh and dealing with any monsters he found. Once he had done that, he had done the same in a few other areas in Bishui Plain until the night had fallen and he decided he wanted to lay down for at least a moment. He'd long since learned that it wasn't a great idea for him to be hanging around people during this time of the month, being far quicker to annoyance and anger than normal, so it was a normal occurrence for him to stay away from the inn as much as he could until it was over. Even in the now distant past, when he could lean on the other yaksha for help or comfort, he had a habit of isolating himself until he felt like he could carry a conversation without quickly snapping at everyone and anyone. He had never been particularly fond of the way he felt during this time, aware of his fast and irrational anger but unable to do much about it.
He had been away from the inn all day because the noise was just too much for him, but now that it was nighttime it was significantly quieter. It would almost be peaceful and calm if it weren't for the pain centering around Xiao's lower stomach... and hips... and his lower back. Actually, most of his body hurt to some degree, but he was pretty sure most of it was unrelated to his uterus loudly declaring its hatred of him once again. Laying on the floor probably wasn't helping, now that he thought about it. Not that he was going to get up and move somewhere more comfortable, he was just aware of his poor choice of place to curl up in agony now.
A gentle knocking rang out from the door to his room, and he groaned at the interruption to his busy task of wallowing in misery on the floor.
The door quickly cracked opened after that; a worried face framed with golden hair making an appearance when Xiao looked over to the uninvited visitor. He had initially assumed it would've been Verr Goldet checking in on him, something she tended to do more often than usual during this time of the month. He wasn't sure if she was aware of the exact reason of his monthly suffering, or if she simply believed it to be related to his karmic debt, but based on the knowing looks she sometimes gave him, he suspected the former. Either way, he assumed she had been the one to direct the Traveler to his room, a place they had never visited before.
Honey colored eyes flickered around the room before widening when they landed on Xiao's place on the floor. The Traveler let out a small gasp and opened the door wider so they could enter, a covered plate of something in one hand that they quickly sat on the closest surface before they rushed over to his side, immediately starting to fuss over his health. Considering their knowledge of his karmic debt, and what little they knew about what happened to the other yakshas, he had to admit that the Traveler seeing him curled up in pain on the floor was probably not the most comforting sight. He couldn't exactly blame them for reacting like something was seriously wrong.
He didn't fight back when they helped him off the floor, something they did easily enough that he had to wonder for a moment just how heavy he felt to them, nor when they led him over to his bed while murmuring to him in a concerned voice. He did, however, interrupt them a few times to clarify that no, he was not dying and that he was fine, this is just something that happens on a pretty regular basis. Unfortunately, his assurances did not soothe the increasingly worried outlander, who flittered around the room, closing the door when they went to grab the covered plate that they had set down earlier. Xiao got himself comfortable in his veritable mountain of blankets as he watched them sit the covered plate down on his nightstand, then bring over a glass of water that they practically shoved into his hands.
They rambled on for a little while after that, digging through their seemingly endless pockets for something, claiming that they had been told to deliver something from Zhongli to him and that Verr Goldet had told them that he was "a little under the weather" when they had asked if he was around, directing him to the room that was considered his. He sipped at the water they handed him as they continued to rummage through their pockets while talking. He wasn't even going to question how their pockets worked, there had once been a time when he saw them get badly injured in a fight, pull several Sweet Madames out of their pockets, eat all of them in a concerningly short amount of time (which somehow healed all their wounds) and then go back to the fight. At this point, he had already accepted that nothing about them made any logical sense.
Just as they had shoved the glass of water into his hands, they thrusted a bottle at him, which he carefully took. It wasn't a very large bottle, easily being held in one hand, and when moved it rattled loudly, so he assumed it was full of pills of some sort even before the Traveler told him they were painkillers. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned or not that Rex Lapis Zhongli sent him painkillers right when he was out of them. Considering that he sent them through the Traveler, he'd guess that the retired Archon wanted him to interact with a friend again. Instead of thinking on that further, he took a dose of the painkillers, chugged the rest of the water and then bundled himself up further in his blankets. That was something for future Xiao to worry about, current Xiao just wanted to rest for a little while before getting back to work again. He calmly swatted away the hand that tried to reach for his forehead to check his temperature.
It had been a long time since someone had tried to care for him like this, and even longer since Xiao had let them. It felt... nice. It wasn't the same as it had been with Indarias and Bonanus, he didn't think there was anyone left anymore who could relate to him about the specifics as much as those two could, but he'd had plenty of time to get used to how nothing would be the same as when the other yakshas were still around.
The almond tofu that was revealed to be under the lid of the covered plate was also nice, in his opinion.