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Kaeya did not know what had awoken him.
One minute, he was sleeping on the grass in the little camp that their team had set up for the night, and the next he was sitting up, alert, guard up, ready to attack the thing that had surely woken him up. He looked around. Paimon, Amber, and Barbara were all fast asleep (Amber had warned him that she was a heavy sleeper, but he wasn’t sure about Barbara), the night chilly but calm. Calm, except he couldn’t find Aether anywhere.
That… probably wasn’t something to worry about? The short-attention-spanned traveler that he was, he probably wandered off somewhere, and could call on Paimon to get him back if he ever got lost…
Even so, something didn’t feel right. Something about the situation felt… off. And so, Kaeya quickly and quietly got up, careful not to wake anyone, and went to check the area surrounding their camp.
They had camped very close to Starsnatch Cliff. It was right by the water if they wanted to catch some seafood in the morning, but they really hadn’t planned that far. They ended up there more because that was where they had tired out, not any other reason. After walking for close to ten minutes and seeing nothing but grass swaying in the cool breeze, Kaeya saw movement out of the corner of his eye. His body quickly flipped around, his hand positioning over the hilt of his sword, before he saw a glimpse of Aether’s familiar blonde braid.
Closing his eyes for a second and exhaling a sigh of relief, Kaeya took a long breath. Keeping his voice moderately soft, not to risk waking the others, he opened his eyes and started, “Aether-”
Aether was running. Kaeya was surprised enough to stop what he was saying before briskly walking to try to catch up to the traveler. Starting to think it was just a silly game, but still slightly confused, Kaeya smiled a little. “Aether- are you okay?” Kaeya had meant it to sound like a joke but it came out in a concerned tone. Guess he couldn’t help it.
The traveler wasn’t quite running away from Kaeya, more just sprinting in an opposite direction. Kaeya could hear that he was out of breath, but the guy just kept on going, stamina be damned. “Hey, what’s gotten into you? You said you were exhausted earlier!” With no answer yet again, Kaeya assumed Aether was ignoring him.
A quick swoosh of clothing and a thump on the ground in front of him brought Kaeya to sudden attention as Aether had just tripped over a tree stump and laid sprawled on the ground, visibly shaking. Thinking he’d won their little game of tag, Kaeya casually walked up to Aether, who was already trying to get up, though his body was exhausted and forbade him.
Kaeya tilted his head to one side, looking down on the man with a smirk and a, “Do I win, then?”, only to have the smile immediately disappear as Aether turned toward him.
Kaeya had never seen Aether cry. Aether usually showed little to no emotion most of the time. And though he could get very excited and smile that adorable smile of his, get angry and scare his enemies away with the look of fiery determination in his eyes, or cast a downward expression from time to time, Kaeya had never seen him fully cry. He didn’t think Aether would want Kaeya to see him cry, and on any other day, the traveler would probably get teased about letting the waterworks loose. But teasing was not on Kaeya’s mind at all.
Aether was still heaving from sprinting so far, his arms shaking as he strained to hoist himself up, most likely to run away again. His eyes were bloodshot, with slight tear stains down his face. His eyes were glazed over, and while his face was turned toward Kaeya, his eyes were looking at a spot above him. It was then that it dawned on Kaeya: Aether was not awake. Even so, the blonde’s expression was full of pain. Fear. “N-no! Please.. stay away..!” Aether whimpered something in a language Kaeya couldn’t understand; it could have just been gibberish, he didn’t know.
Kaeya could never have expected the agony in Aether’s expression. Never in a million years would he think the traveler could make such a face. It hurt him to see Aether like that. He approached Aether slowly, hands out in front of him, almost as if asking for permission for an embrace. “Hey, it’s okay. Aether, it’s Kaeya,” he murmured softly, as if talking to a wounded animal. He could feel the turmoil in the air as if Aether was projecting it.
Still shaking, the blonde showed no signs of waking up. Kaeya felt so terrible. What could possibly cause Aether so much pain? What was he running from? Though he had some ideas, Kaeya didn’t know. Aether scrambled below him, bolting out from the area of Kaeya’s grasp again, getting on his feet and sprinting again. Kaeya’s attempt at catching his arm failed; he was too quick. He didn’t want to have to freeze Aether; he would get injured, and he already knew he did not want to explain to Barbara why he had to freeze their poor traveler friend.
It was only then did Kaeya realize the direction they were running, the way the wind was picking up, and how he was out of breath quicker than before. “Aether!” he yelled, desperate now. “Wake up!” The edge of Starsnatch cliff was growing ever nearer in front of them. Ever grateful for his longer legs, Kaeya took long strides to catch up to the traveler, grabbing his arm in an iron grip three feet from the edge, whirling him around and pinning him on the ground by both of his arms.
Aether stilled, though his shoulders still shook, his tears spilling down his face and onto the ground. “K-kaeya…”
“Aether, it’s okay, you’re okay, it was just a bad dream,” Kaeya repeated over and over like a mantra, wiping the tears from Aether’s face until his eyes were no longer frantic, and the pace of his breathing slowed to soft hyperventilation. Aether’s bottom lip trembled as looked at the man above him, Kaeya’s long navy blue hair spilling down onto Aether’s chest, Kaeya’s eyes looking down on him with such worry, such concern, his grip on Aether’s arms loosening so that he wasn’t hurting him. Aether used the last of his waning strength to hoist himself up and wrap himself around Kaeya, his body practically crashing into Kaeya's in exhaustion and relief that he is actually safe; the peril from the dream slowly washing away as he buried his face into the fuzzy cape on Kaeya's shoulder.
And Kaeya held him tightly. Not wanting to pry for information about the nightmare, he instead continued to whisper affirmations to Aether, who occasionally let out a soft whimper or trembled. One of Kaeya's hands softly rubbed Aether's back and they stayed like that until Aether drifted off to sleep, Kaeya carrying him back to the camp. Kaeya settled down on the grass himself, Aether still fitting securely in his arms. Listening to the calm wind, the soft swaying of the grass, and the gentle breathing of the man on his lap, Kaeya's eyelids slowly drooped until he was asleep as well.