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Making his way back to the Wangshu Inn that afternoon made Aether realize that he had been visiting this place a lot these last months. The daily commissions brought him here half of the time and the other half was due to the fact that Xiao lived here and he couldn’t help but come to visit him sometimes. When the Adeptus was receptive of being visited, of course.
He still didn’t find a way to leave for Inazuma, so staying in Liyue and visiting Mondstadt sometimes it was! Aether liked to help people even when it didn’t have to do with the Adventurer’s Guild missions, as the people of Liyue always treated him well.
Huai’an had asked Aether to help carry some materials to fix the little ‘elevator’ and he was just making his way up to the stairs, next to the waypoint, when he met Xiao. Meeting him on a day he didn’t expect to was such a great thing, though... It was one less excuse he had to find to be able to come see him, after all.
Xiao moved very quietly, almost always, and Aether had gotten scared by him, almost always too, before being used to this trait of his personality. Aether just looked at his direction and nodded a greeting, acknowledging his arrival, since his hands were occupied and he couldn’t wave at him like he usually did.
“Xiao! It’s nice to see you!” Aether said excitedly.
“Hello,” Xiao replied, then he stared at the wood planks on his hand. “Do you need help?”
“Oh, no, don’t worry, I’m just going to put them there!” Aether moved his head in the direction of the waypoint. He carried the planks to their destination, putting them on the ground, then looked at Xiao, “my arms are very strong,” he stated proudly.
Xiao let out a small sound at that (was that a snort? it was a snort, Aether was sure of it, did Xiao really snort at him?) and simply waited for the other’s job to be done.
“Hey, are you laughing at me?” He furrowed his brows, “I’ll let you know that I have a lot of strength and anyone at Mondstadt would confirm it. Even people from Liyue could tell you this from the amount of times I’ve helped them…”
“Oh?” Xiao looked at him, funnily. “I never said you were not strong enough… Why did you get so defensive?” He crossed his arms. Maybe Aether was getting crazy because this couldn’t possibly be a smirk on his face, right?
When did things get so familiar between them that they could joke around like this with each other? Aether didn’t know, but he was happy that this was how things were between them now.
Aether crossed his own arms as well. “Do you want to test it? What about a friendly fight to see if I can hold up?”
(Why did he sound so much like Childe just now? Has Aether become a battle lust like him? How did their conversation get to this point too?)
“Alright. I see you are still not timid about such matters,” Xiao agreed, uncrossing his arms. “We should schedule a day for it, when you are free to do so without the obligations of the Adventurer’s Guild, then.”
“Awesome,” Aether grinned, feeling excited about the prospect of fighting with the Adeptus. “I’ll look forward to it, then, to prove you wrong about my abilities.”
“Alright,” Xiao offered. “We can also see how long your body will last against my blows,” he completed.
He was smirking. Aether was sure this small tilt of his lips was a smirk.
He felt himself flush after hearing the other’s sentence, and after croaking a small “right, we’ll see,” he decided to go to Huai’an to get some compensation he promised for the work. Xiao followed after him, in silence, and it was a small mercy for the traveler’s heart since he wouldn’t be able to deal with another of Xiao’s statements so soon.
When entering the reception, Aether tried to escape Verr Goldet’s knowing look - that appeared whenever she saw him with Xiao. She always stared at them - especially at Aether - like she knew something they didn’t, and he liked to run away from it whenever he could.
What if he was in love with An Adeptus? Why would she keep trying to make him flustered about it?
“Are you going to the Harbor now?” Xiao asked after the two left the Inn.
“Yes, I still need to accept the daily commissions, the missions for the Lantern Rite too, and possibly fight some monsters and everything… Do you want to come with me?” Aether tried to put on his most innocent façade. “Who knows what dangers I might encounter in today’s adventures, as it’s only me today and Paimon is not here with me,” he fake sighed.
“I can go with you, then. If you are truly okay with it,” Xiao glanced at him, possibly not falling for his excuse, since he was bragging of being strong not even five minutes earlier, but still not calling him out on it.
“Ah, yes, I am, thank you.” Aether let out a big grin, “It’ll be easier to deal with everything if I’m not alone…”
“I still have got to see more displays of your strength as well, don’t I?” The question was made with an amused tone of voice.
“Xiao…” Aether groaned in a sort of warning for the other to stop. He would not reply to the other’s teasing. He truly couldn’t believe that they were at a point in which Xiao acted like this with him… Who would’ve thought that the Oh so powerful Guardian Yaksha liked to tease poor Travelers?
Xiao was going to be the death of him.
Aether quickly talked with Katheryne and Lan about the missions for the day (Xiao had stayed near the bridge outside the Harbor, waiting for him) and tried to note down in his map the places where he had to go.
Why did he feel like this would be a long day…
🌼🌼🌼
The life of an Adeptus could never be described as something ordinary or uneventful. There were always things to do, monsters to fight or people to save, even more when you were not only an Adeptus but also a Guardian Yaksha.
However, this kind of commotion was not usual for Xiao, since he spent most of his time on his own, away from big crowds. The commotion being the fact that he and Aether found two kids fighting a Stonehide Lawachurl on the way to Dihua Marsh, without a shield in sight.
“Mister Traveler!” A short white haired person approached Aether, after having just thrown a pyro attack against the Lawachurl.
The other, with wild grey hair flying along with the way he moved, didn’t seem to have noticed either Xiao or Aether, being busy attacking the monster directly, with some kind of purple shadow over him in the shape of a… wolf?
Aether did not greet them at first, preferring instead to enter the scene by using his ‘palm vortex’ to increase the pyro and electro damage, helping the kids to finally defeat the enemy. Xiao could only keep watching, since his powers were not needed at that moment.
“Razor! Bennett! What are you boys doing here?” Aether approached them, patting their arms as if he was checking for injuries.
Xiao thought it was kind of amusing the way Aether fussed over them..
“Ah, we were just helping some villagers!” The white haired one answered happily. “Well, Razor and I wanted to check the Lantern Rite too, and this is why we’re in Liyue, if that’s what you mean!”
“I’m curious,” Razor started, “to see pretty lights…” He looked at Bennett, who nodded at him.
Aether cooed over them. Xiao remembered that the Rite always seemed like a nice reason for people to visit Liyue, and the city always got full of visitors this time around.
“Ah, I see, I see,” Aether nodded at them as well, “are you guys following this path to Liyue now? Xiao and I were just coming from the Harbor and everything looked okay. You guys just have to be careful around Guili Plains because of Ruin Hunters and Abyss Mages… Oh! There’s also a waypoint at Wangshu Inn, if you want to get there faster…” He suggested.
On the outside, Xiao kept watching the other three’s conversation expressionless. On the inside, Xiao felt like he really was what the humans called ‘weak’ for the way Aether seemed to care about his (supposedly) friends. It was a good thing that he had been far away from them to the point the boys hadn’t even noticed that he was accompanying Aether, so no one could pay attention to his reactions.
(Xiao could not help but notice that one of them (Razor?) had the front of his hair covered by a hood, and the rest of it was hanging wildly at the back. It reminded him of Rex Lapis, and Xiao thought that maybe Dijun would be happy if he saw something like this happening among the young people.)
Razor seemed to agree with Aether’s advice but Bennett simply stared at him for a while before looking like he had had an idea.
“Mister Aether, what if we follow you today? Are you busy? Do you need help with your commissions? Together we could finish everything way faster!” The boy suggested, a glint in his eyes. “Razor, we could do that, right?”
“We could,” Razor nodded. “You let us…?” He asked.
Aether put his hand under his chin for a while, looking thoughtful.
“Wait a minute,” he said to Bennet and Razor.
He then sprinted a bit and approached Xiao, who was surprised to be included in the conversation again after some minutes of being only a bystander.
“Xiao… What do you say? I am thinking of letting them come with me since they like a bit of adventure, but I know you don’t feel very comfortable with large crowds, so… If you want me to send them away or maybe if you want to leave us alone, it’s your call, I’ll understand!” Aether grabbed his hand in a weak hold, nodding reassuringly at him.
Xiao was sure that he showed some of the surprise on his face with the other’s consideration, but he did not regret it too much. Why should he hide his feelings, since he and Aether had already lived through some things (and emotions) together and understood each other?
He pondered on it. He could leave them be, as he was really not used to being accompanied by this many (lively) people, and it would still be okay since he could meet with Aether any other time. He could also ask Aether for the boys to leave, and be alone with him now, but all of them looked like they were happy to have met each other, and he would not want to ruin this…
Reaching for Aether’s hand, the one who held his, he nodded at the other, saying a small “We can all go together. It will be alright.”
The way Aether smiled at him after that, with a smile that made his eyes crinkle, made it all even more worth it. (Even if Xiao would have to hide for two days after this because of the amount of social interactions from today.)
Aether released his hand, and so did Xiao release his, and went after the two boys to tell them what he decided. He waited for Xiao to catch up with him, to maybe introduce him to the kids. It was not a surprise that they were staring at Xiao’s direction now, possibly noticing that another person was near and that he had never said a word to them until now…
“We’re all going together!” Aether announced, watching happily the way the two boys became excited about the news. “Well, I guess I should really introduce you all to each other now,” he scratched the back of his neck.
Perhaps, he could have done that earlier… He had become so distracted with being worried about these two alone in Liyue that it seemed like he didn’t even think of saying who Xiao was…
“Bennett, Razor, this is Xiao! He’s… my friend of Liyue,” he started.
He did not mention anything about the Adeptus or Yaksha part, and for that Xiao was grateful. It would have been a long story to explain the story of his importance to Liyue, and Xiao did not want to do that right now.
“Xiao, these are Bennett and Razor,” he pointed at each of them while speaking their names, “they are my friends from Mondstadt and they help me with missions from the Guild whenever I’m there…”
The three of them greeted each other in very different ways:
“Hello, Traveler’s friend,” Razor put his hand over his heart.
“Hi! I’m so glad you’re going to be with us in our adventure team today!” Bennet waved happily.
“...” Xiao acknowledged their greetings, nodding at them. He thought that maybe he would need to be a bit more vocal near the kids, as he heard that they liked talking a lot, so he tried again with a “Hm… Hello.” Then he gave an awkward wave.
It seemed enough for them as a greeting, and it seemed okay for Aether as well, since he let out a snort while staring at Xiao and smiled again.
It was not nice to be laughed at, but Xiao would forgive it for now since Aether’s smile and laugh were a nice thing overall, even when they appeared at his expense.
🍃🍃🍃
The first mission they were given was dealing with a slime balloon near the temple in Wuwang Hill. It would be an easy feat even if it was only one person trying to destroy it, so it was a general agreement that only one of them would try to hit it, while the others dealt with the Hilichurls protecting the balloon.
Razor stepped forward to do the job, since his claymore would possibly deal damage a lot quicker than the swords or polearm. No one even broke a sweat with the first mission, and it was always nice to end things quickly.
Aether and Bennet showed their element compatibility when it was time to fight with the Treasure Hoarders that were disturbing Qingce Village, and Xiao simply helped whenever one of them wanted to catch someone off guard.
The third mission was the simplest one, as they only needed to look for Chang, the Ninth, and it was closer to where they fought with the Treasure Hoarders and four people could find someone a lot quicker than if Aether was alone.
The hardest adventure was the last one from the daily commissions, as they had to fight with a Ruin Hunter and it would be difficult to take it down without having an archer in the team.
Xiao huffed a bit when one of the kids whined about this, and simply waited for the moment where the Ruin Hunter would launch its attacks to take it down. He used his ‘lemniscatic wind’ to attack its weak point and it didn’t take long for the machine to fall down.
He attacked with his polearm and his anemo energy, while the others also used their powers to create elemental reactions to destroy it faster. It was great teamwork, and Bennett liked to repeat so, even after they had already started walking to start the missions from the Lantern Rite event.
And there was also…
“Mister Traveler, your friend is so powerful…” Bennett whispered after some time. The whisper was not as low as he would like to think, since Xiao was able to listen to their conversation even walking some steps ahead of them for a bit, but he appreciated the effort…
“He is, isn’t he?” Aether said, with what sounded like a proud tone of voice. “I will tell you guys a secret… He’s got even better super powers, a cool mask and everything… But he can’t use them a lot so as to not get hurt. He only does it when he needs to protect Liyue and its people…” He mumbled, not really trying to make it seem like he was whispering a secret, but rather that he was humoring the boys in the attempt of being secretive.
Bennet let out a “Ooh,” very surprised and awed. “Like the Darknight Hero?” He asked excitedly.
Aether cackled, thinking that it was a great comparison. If only someone knew how funny it was for him for someone to be comparing Xiao with Diluc. Personality wise… They could’ve well just been very similar at the start, with their tendencies of saying one thing and acting the opposite when it had to do with feelings.
“Yes, just like him…” He answered after recovering from his small laughing fit. “He once also saved me from falling from the sky!”
“Woah, he seems so cool!” Bennet exclaimed, possibly adding Xiao to the list of adventurers he looked up to. He did not even try to keep his voice down this time.
Razor only glanced quietly at Xiao, and then at Aether, as if he was realizing everything from that one sentence.
“Like Lupical… We save family,” he said with a smile.
Family… That was such a complicated word and concept for Aether, especially taking into account the reasons why he was still in Teyvat, searching for the remaining part of his family. However, he could admit that he felt affection for all these people he had met until now, especially the ones who were still with him even after he left their nations, and sometimes they made the gap between the concept and the word ‘family’ feel smaller.
Aether gave a small smile after some time, nodding and patting Razor and Bennett’s heads. He didn’t have the courage to look at Xiao after what Razor said, afraid that he would freak out a bit if he were to think right now about how much Xiao meant to him already, and simply stared at the two boys.
If he had glanced at the Adeptus, though, he would have noticed that Xiao tripped in a small branch on the ground, after having paid attention to the conversation between the three. So much for being a powerful being for hundreds of years, and still being caught off guard by words said by young humans…
Family… What a curious mortal word… Looking at Aether now, though, Xiao was sure that this word could not be enough to represent what the human already meant to him in such a small period of time.
✨🔥🐾
It took them the whole afternoon to finish all the quests for the day, since they spent most of the time walking from one place to the other, instead of using the waypoints. When they arrived back at the Inn, Aether decided to invite Razor and Bennett to spend the night at Wangshu Inn, as it was already dark and the Liyue Harbor was a bit far if they decided to keep walking.
Aether promised them that there would be lanterns to see even if they waited a day, and that the most important one, Mingxiao Lantern, would be released only in a few days and they wouldn’t miss it.
(It also served as a reminder for him to get a grip and prepare himself to invite Xiao to see it with him… He really wanted the other to enjoy it too.)
Paimon was still weirdly absent for the whole day, and Aether would have been more worried about it if Verr Goldet hadn’t showed him a note from her, saying that she apparently went to Mondstadt?? To go after Kaeya??
She could have at least waited for him… He missed having to talk with the other man, if he was being honest, even if Kaeya was a bit insufferable sometimes.
Everyone then tried to freshen up a bit after a long day of fighting and then they arranged to meet at the reception of the inn again in some time.
After accepting the rooms that Aether had booked for them, Razor and Bennett decided to thank him and Xiao in their own ways. Bennett tried to dress any wounds they all had with the bandages he had in his bag, while Razor asked for Smiley Yanxiao’s help so that he could make his specialty: Mondstadt Hash Brown.
It became a bit of a mess, even if they were two adults ‘against’ two young boys and the situation could be controlled, and Aether was afraid that all this commotion could maybe make Xiao leave. He would really like it if the other stayed with them for a while more, especially because Razor and Bennett seemed to like Xiao as well - and possibly wanted to impress him too.
They compromised: Bennett fixed up the bruises on Aether and Razor’s arms, while Aether himself said he would help Xiao, since they were more familiar with each other. He looked at Xiao in an apologetic way, knowing that the Adeptus didn’t really like being fussed over most of the time and maybe wouldn’t even need to receive medical treatment.
Even if the injuries on his arm were almost nothing, Xiao accepted the care from Aether, as it would never be a bad thing to have the other tending to him too. Has he already said that he likes it when he can see how much Aether cares for the people he likes? And also, being touched so tenderly was something very new to him yet, and he would not deny this simple pleasure to himself.
After finishing up the bandages, Aether asked Xiao to go to his usual place of stay, as he would help Bennett and Razor finish dinner, so that they could all eat together sooner.
Xiao went up to the roof after taking one final look at Aether, and kept looking over the Marsh ahead, watching the sky and also the landscapes of Liyue. It was nothing new to him, being used to these same views for centuries, but at this moment, staring at it alone but while waiting for someone to come meet him, the feeling was surely very different.
When Aether, Razor and Bennett came up to the roof, they weren’t bringing only the dishes for their dinner, but also some Xiao Lanterns as well. Aether laughed a bit when he noticed the confused gaze on Xiao’s face. Well. He wasn’t expecting to release lanterns with Xiao today - he was waiting for the day of the Mingxiao Lantern - but it wasn’t a bad outcome to do it now, too.
“Xiao, come help!” Aether called, holding out the dishes to him, while the boys put the lanterns to the side. He ran back inside the Inn once more, bringing with him a low dining table that would be perfect for putting their food on.
There were a diverse choice of dishes but Razor’s dish, that was in the shape of paws, grabbed the most attention since it looked very special. Razor seemed very proud of it and Bennett was the one who praised him the most, admiring his friend’s ability with food.
The four of them ate mostly in a quiet atmosphere, save when Bennett or Razor would comment something about the Inn’s cuisine and how different it tasted from the ones in the city of Mondstadt. Aether was a bit more accustomed to using chopsticks (take that, Childe), but there were also spoons, knives and forks for the other kinds of dishes, so they all could eat with whatever cutlery they desired.
When it was time to release the Lanterns, Aether told Bennett and Razor to write wishes on theirs, so that it would fly up in the sky and someone would listen to it to make it true. He would also write one for himself, and he looked at Xiao to see if the other would participate too.
“I do not think I can make a wish for myself,” Xiao held one of the lanterns in his hand. “I can release one of them, and promise you that I will hear all the wishes carried by them…” He explained calmly. “Yours as well.”
“Okay,” Aether smiled softly at him.
As Xiao was already going to discover Aether’s wishes, he would see that the most important thing for him now would be to find Lumine. These were the words he wrote on his lantern, and the ones he carried in his heart ever since waking up all alone in that sandbank back then. I wish to find my best self, too, would be the wish he didn’t write down, that Xiao would not be able to hear, the one Aether also wished for while watching his lantern go up.
Although when he looked at Bennett, Razor, Xiao and thought about the other friends he’s made during all his time in Teyvat, he thought that maybe this wish was on the way, already. Everyone in Teyvat was already teaching him many things about their world and helping him in discovering things about himself.
Xiao stared at Aether for a while, and to the lanterns the other three were releasing, and thought to himself: ah, humans really appreciate their kin don’t they? Granted, his Adeptus powers were great but not the biggest in the world and maybe he would not be able to protect Razor's Lupical or all of the Adventurers in Mondstadt for Bennett, but he could try to send them a blessing. Barbatos, as much as he was not their Archon anymore, was possibly still blessing his people the way he could right now.
As for Aether’s wish, maybe… If it comes a time where Aether has to leave far far away to look for his sister, perhaps Xiao could help him in his search by being right there next to him in his journey.
There were a lot more than only four lanterns in their possession, and so Bennett and Razor decided that they would share the others with whoever had stayed at the Inn that night. Aether and Xiao leaned against the railings of the highest floor, looking below the Inn where they could see small shapes of two boys running around with lanterns in their hands.
It was a funny sight, and Aether truly hoped that it would not cause the boys trouble, with being so excited at this time of the night. At least, he hoped the guests would understand that they were just sharing something good with them and weren’t doing anything bad.
Watching the lanterns rise up almost from the ground was an interesting experience, since Aether mostly had to look up to see them from afar. Xiao was not expecting to watch the Lantern Rite this year - he never did, for he had very conflicting feelings about partaking in the ritual with the mortals - but he did not mind doing so in the presence of Aether and his younger friends.
“Thanks for humoring them,” Aether mumbled, glancing at Xiao warmly. “I know you prefer the quiet, so it means a lot that you’ve spent your time with us when you could have left to be by yourself…” he smiled. “I’m sure it made them happy and it meant a lot to me to have spent the day with you…all.”
“It was no problem,” Xiao replied quietly. He discovered that he did not mind the voices and the loud company if it was time spent with Aether. “I enjoyed the day, as well.”
He really would need some time for a cool down, though, at least some time away from anyone else that was not Aether or even Rex Lapis. But it was not worth mentioning it to anyone but himself.
“I’m glad then,” Aether grinned, feeling his heartbeat increase a bit when Xiao answered with a small smile back.
(Those were so rare! But Aether appreciated them even more than the smirks that the other was more used to sharing lately.)
It was really good being like this, simply enjoying the presence of one another, without any worry about what to say or what to do to make things comfortable. At this point, the two of them felt aware that their connection was very strong, and it would not be so easily severed. There was no rush, though, to change things between them, as their easy companionship was proof enough of their deep feelings for each other.
(Well. Maybe Aether would rush things a little when he asked Xiao out on the Mingxiao Lantern Festival since he might or might not confess his love--)
Not long after, Razor and Bennet appeared again on the roof. The tiredness seemed to have caught up with them, as they simply sat down on the floor to keep watching the lanterns. Both Aether and Xiao had just sat down as well, on the same mat used before when they were dining, so the young boys approached them to rest too.
Razor seemed to be the most tired of all - which was a curious situation, as Aether would have thought he’d be used to running around for hours - and he simply leaned against Aether while closing his eyes.
“Protect… Lupical…” He mumbled, before his head fell a bit more heavily on Aether’s legs.
He stared confusedly at the boy, before letting out a huff. He would never say it out loud, but it was cute the way Razor seemed to cuddle up to him like a puppy, possibly being used to doing this with his wolf family. It also made him feel very important, since Razor was trusting him while in this vulnerable state of sleepiness.
Xiao looked at them curiously, and Aether just murmured something like “I’ll tell you later,” to which Xiao replied with a nod.
Bennett was maybe a bit more shy than Razor and he did not try to lean on Xiao, as they had just met for the first time today - and honestly, Aether didn’t know what it would happen if he had tried to sleep on an Adeptus - but he did try to lie down close to Aether too. He supported himself more on Razor, in a way so that Aether’s legs wouldn’t get deadened because of the two overgrown boys on his lap.
“Do you want me to help with something?” Xiao asked after some time, seeing how Aether seemed to become very still with the two boys hugging him.
“Ah, no, don’t worry, Xiao,” he looked at him. “I’ll just leave them be for now. We’ll have to wake them up to go to their beds, though. I don’t want them to sleep here and then wake up with pain on their backs....” He explained, while patting one of said backs.
Razor grunted a bit.
Aether laughed at that silently, thinking that he was witnessing something very special like this.
“Let me just…” Xiao mumbled a bit. After staring at the three people in front of him with some consideration, he approached Aether and sat even closer to him, their sides almost touching. “Here. Do you think it will hurt your neck if you lean on my shoulder? You should also think of your back…”
Aether gulped. Oh. Xiao was really really close right now, wasn’t he? And, honestly, even if it worsened the condition of his body, he would never lose an opportunity to lean against Xiao’s body. The pain would be for tomorrow’s Aether to worry. Today’s Aether was all about the bliss of being near Xiao.
Xiao was sitting behind Aether a bit, but it was enough for Aether to be able to lean on him a little, disturbing Razor only a little when he moved. He was enveloped in a warm embrace, as Xiao also leaned towards him a bit, and his face also felt very warm at that moment, as he had never been this close to Xiao again ever since being saved by him from the fall of the Jade Chamber.
Aether would not fall asleep now, as he had the responsibility of taking Razor and Bennett to their rooms, but this didn’t mean he wouldn’t get a nice rest too, in this position now. He stared at the moon high up on the sky and felt like the whole day was indeed long, but it was also one of the best days of his life.
While sleeping, Razor ended up reaching towards Xiao’s leg, while cuddling up to Aether. He grabbed some part of his pants, like he was adding him to their (sort of) puppy pile.
Aether and Xiao would really have to find a way to carry the boys back to their room later, but for now Aether thought that it wouldn’t be so bad to spend more of the night here, feeling warm and not lonely like he so rarely felt while in Teyvat, in the absence of his sister.
Xiao kept listening to Aether’s quick pulse, thinking that it was funny how such a simple day had become so important to him. Perhaps Rex Lapis was right, and the beauty of mortal life was in the small things: in his Dijun’s case, it was in the flowers, the antiques and the birds of Liyue; for him, it was in these short moments of peace, of such small pieces of happiness that meant a lot when it came to making him feel less lonely and more deserving of nice things.