Chapter Text
Xiao felt unease in his chest as he followed Aether toward Sumeru.
Why did he even agree to this, anyway? It’s not like he didn’t have a choice. He could have easily refused Aether’s request to join him for, in Aether’s own words, “a fun-filled adventure”.
When Aether approached him that morning, if the teasing lilt in his voice didn’t give away his intentions, his mischievous smile would have. He knew then that whatever was about to happen would have consequences, the identity of such still unknown.
So why, even though he knew the cons of agreeing to this mysterious request from the blonde traveler, did he go through with it anyway?
Probably because he liked-
Whatever. Hopefully, it’ll only take a day, and then Xiao can return to the peace and quiet of Wangshu Inn. He just hopes the odds granted by the gods were in his favor, or by the grace of all that was holy, he’d be able to survive the day without going through at least one mental breakdown.
He could hope for that much, right?
Aether dragged Xiao’s hand toward a clearing in the woods, an excited grin on his face and a glimmer in his eyes that Xiao never wanted to fade.
“We’re here! Look over there!”
Following Aether’s pointed hand, he watched as brightly colored Fungi floated and bounced around, oblivious to the two watching them in the distance. Xiao’s chest tightened, to have so many threats lurking in an open area was a dangerous hazard to those in the area. Subconsciously, he reached for his spear, gripping it so tight that one could see the tension in his arm. Before he could dive in and clear the area of the threat though, he felt a gloved hand shoot out to stop him and paused when Aether gripped his shoulder, a panicked expression clearly written on his face.
“Hey, don’t do that! You’ll scare them off!” His voice lowered to a whisper. “We’re not here to kill them, we want to catch them. You’ll just alert them and then they’ll run away.”
Xiao’s confusion must have been evident on his face because Aether settled down and explained to him the purpose of their abrupt visit to the Land of Wisdom.
“So there’s this competition where we get to catch Fungi and train them to become…” Xiao promptly tuned out whatever Aether was saying, the little bit of information enough to baffle him.
Why would humans even want to take in something that was so clearly a threat, and raise it to become something they could get close to? Fungi, though cute, were dangerous creatures that could hardly be understood, much like slimes and the ‘Specters’ that Aether had told him about. The whole thing didn’t even make any sense, so why were people even participating in this ‘competition’, anyway? Ugh, humans these days…
He glanced sideways at Aether, the sunlight somehow knowing exactly when to shine down on him and portray him in such a beautiful light, the light surrounding his head like a halo. A reminder of what Aether was.
“...Xiao? Are you even listening to me?” Aether put his hands on his hips, slight annoyance settling on his face.
Xiao nodded silently.
“... Okay then. Now c’mon, we’ve got Fungi to catch!”
Xiao stared at the wide-eyed Floating Dendro Fungus that gazed up at him innocently, still unable to comprehend the ability of the device Aether had used to ‘tame’ the creatures.
DIstantly, he heard Aether call for him, and he looked up at the traveler running towards him, a Floating Hydro Fungus cradled in his hands and a bright smile beaming across his face, a light laugh echoing around the clearing.
Xiao couldn’t tear his eyes away from Aether’s heavenly frame.
“Xiao, look! He makes a little bubble!” Aether called as he coaxed the fungus in his arms to blow out a little bubble, to which the shroom happily obliged, jumping up and down in Aether’s embrace in glee. It almost reminded Xiao of a small child, held in the arms of a proud parent.
Xiao looked at the creature in Aether’s hands, before looking back down at the one he held, its wide eyes blinking curiously as if trying to figure out his intentions. Apparently finding no problem with its handler, it bounced up and down in the air, twirling gracefully with closed eyes.
In a way, it was almost… cute.
Aether’s laugh echoed through the air, his voice a sweet sound to Xiao’s ears. He sat down beside Xiao, staring at the Hydro fungus happily, not unlike a small child receiving their favorite gift, with the way he held the shroom in both hands and stared at it with a sunny smile on his face. Xiao wanted to hear that laugh every day if he could.
Eventually, he gave up on trying to understand the Dendro fungus, opting to instead watch Aether as he played with the Hydro and Dendro fungi in his hands.
The rest of the day was spent with Aether finding other fungi to tame and play with, his laughs music to Xiao’s ears, while the yaksha stared at the golden-haired traveler with multiple emotions stirring in his chest, and a small smile slipping out from his passive mask.