Archive of Our Own

He's not used, per say, to Aether getting whacked upside the head with a hilichurl club, then walking it off like he'd only tripped over a rock, but it does happen fairly often.

So when Aether gets whacked to the ground, and doesn't get up, that's when Xiao panics. 

Paimon is shrieking, fluttering back and forth in the air as Xiao hoists the boy up into a sitting position, checking for wounds. A few minutes pass before Aether opens his eyes.

"Oh my Archons-" Paimon zips right up into his face. "Are you okay? You got whacked really hard right there."

"I'm sorry," He laughs shakily. "Do I know you?"

"It's all right." Aether laughs slightly. He turns his gaze to Venti. "Um. I take it I know you then?"

"Eh," Venti shrugs, crossing his legs. "More or less." He leans forward and squints at Aether, then looks back up at Xiao. "So, Bubu pharmacy or the church?"

"Uh. The pharmacy?"

"The pharmacy's closer." Xiao pinches the bridge of his nose. "Come on." He grabs Aethers shoulder and teleports away.

---

"You know," Baizhu smiles thinly. "This place is meant for mortals. Not for a god, an adeptus, and- whatever that is-" he motions at Paimon. "To barge in whenever they feel like it."

"Aether's mortal." Venti pipes up.

Baizhu's smile thins out even more. "I'm highly starting to doubt that, especially after that time Qiqi dragged him in because some mitachurl cut through his skull with an axe, and he turned out completely fine."

"Well-" Venti scrunches up his nose again. "Okay. But- you're still better than nothing?" He tries.

Baizhu sighs from his nose, then turns to face Aether. "So. What's wrong this time?"

Aether blinks at him. "Uh. Concussion I think?" He squints. "I don't know I don't have a medical degree- whatever causes amnesia? Magic? Standard head trauma? Wait-" He whips back around to face Xiao. "Does magic even exist here?"

"I don't know." Xiao replies dryly. "Does magic exist?" He nods towards Paimon.

"Oh. Right. Flying fairy thing."

"Please stop talking like I'm not right here."

Baizhu sighs again. "Quiet. All of you. And Aether, what happened? Please. Just answer so I don't have to deal with all this."

---

No more adventuring, and get standard rest for a week. If the memories don't come back in a month, come back, because then it's a magic problem and not a brain bruise problem.

Not exactly Baizhu's words, but they summed up the matter pretty accurately. Venti had heard the diagnosis, then nodded calmly, before saying something about 'knowing a good remedy for this', then disappearing in a gust of wind.

So now Aether sits awkwardly in Wanmin Restaurant, Xiao practically glued to his side, smiling at the chef who stands in front of him.

"Uh." He shuffles awkwardly in his seat. "I'll have-"

"Golden shrimp balls." He hums, nodding. "The usual for you, too, Paimon?"

Paimon nods eagerly, floating over Aether's shoulder.

"And-" He blinks at Xiao. "Wait aren't you that adeptus-" He goes on to stare at Aether. "You know I should probably stop being so surprised about you bringing adepti and the like into my restaurant, but please don't encourage Xiangling any further and set the place on fire again." He sighs tiredly. "I know the damages were covered but, even then."

Aether blinks. "Uh. Yeah. Sure. Right."

Silence.

"I'm fine." Xiao replies stiffly.

The chef nods. "All right. Food will be out in a bit."

He walks into the kitchen, leaving the three sitting at the table.

"So, I take it we come here regularly then?" Aether turns to Paimon, who nods.

"Usually it's Xiangling who serves us- she's Chef Mao's daughter, also the one who set the kitchen on fire the last time we brought Venti here- but it looks like she's out foraging today." Paimon shudders. "That's good because this time she won't try to cook me. Bad because next time we come here there'll probably be, I don't know, lizard tails, or something in our food."

Aether squints at her. "Lizard tails aren't that bad. I think there was the world I visited once where lizards were a staple part of the cuisine."

"It's less lizard is bad more lizard plus Archons knows what is bad."

Xiao narrows his eyes. "And you come here regularly?"

Paimon stares at him, then sighs. "Archons, don't worry about it. Xiangling experiments a lot but it's not like she's trying to give us food poisoning. And her normal food is very good too."

"Food poisoning is still food poisoning."

"And I'm also fairly certain Aether physically can't get food poisoning."

"I can't?"

Paimon whips around to stare at Aether. "I literally watched you eat the suspicious steak Adelinde gave you, then walk it off like it was nothing."

"Oh." Aether blinks. "Huh. I guess that ability carries over through worlds then."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not." Aether shrugs. "Anyway, what are we going to do today? Hell, what do we even normally do?"

"Uh." She turns to Xiao, then back to Aether, wincing. "Fight? A lot?"

Xiao stares unmovingly at the fairy.

Paimon squeaks, then floats off to hide behind Aether. "Normally we do commissions, or treasure hunt and clear out camps by ourselves. Sometimes Xiao or someone else will tag along?"

Xiao's glare only intensifies.

Paimon ducks down behind Aether, whimpering. "Okay. Okay. You're worried. But please stop staring at me like you're going to skewer me on a stick!"

Aether laughs, then grabs Paimon by the collar and gently pulls her out from behind him. "Okay, okay. He's not going to stab you, it's fine."

"You don't know that!"

Aether smiles slightly at Xiao, and the Yaksha grumbles, averting his gaze.

"See? It's fine." He drops Paimon in the air beside the table. "Also, our food's here."

---

And wow. Okay. Not fighting anything for a week is actually kind of boring.

Much of Aether's life, even in other worlds, had consisted of beat this up, destroy that thing, then maybe put this mechanism together. All in all, the majority of the time, if he's not sleeping or eating, then he's probably fighting something.

A part of him is considering completely ignoring Baizhu's words and running off to fight something again (even though he still has a mild headache), but he'd mentioned it once, under his breath, and Xiao had met him with a glare that could cut through metal.

So now Aether sits across the table from Zhongli (Rex Lapis, god of Geo of this land, apparently. He's also retired, but judging by everyone's expressions, thats a can of worms Aether isn't going to so much as look at), bored out of his mind, listening to the latter ramble on about the technicalities of head trauma, as well as other possible forms of memory loss.

Zhongli's a nice guy, Aether notes, but the lectures have started to get a tad boring, not that he's going to say that to the god's face. Paimon has already drifted off; the fairy lays face down on the table, snoring away, and somehow, Xiao is the only one who seems to actually be listening intently.

"-for most humans, memory loss as a result of concussions will usually return over time, especially if healed magically in time. If the memory loss persists for more than a few months, however, it is more likely to be a magical issue." Zhongli wraps up. "However, based on what Baizhu had told me, I figure it's far more likely the issue is physical. Give it time."

"To be frank." Aether grumbles. "I think I'm just bored. Can't go out and fight things, can't go and find a book, 'cause that'll give me a headache."

"If it is an adventure you wish for," Zhongli sets down his tea cup. "You may do so. Baizhu only specified that you can't fight, not that you can't travel."

"Paimon's kind of useless outside of pausing time, and that's only for me to reach into my inventory and grab food."

"Hey!"

"I'm not wrong."

"I'm sure if you asked, someone would be willing to accompany you."

Aether doesn't miss the look Zhongli shoots at Xiao.

---

Paimon brings a hand up to her chin. "I'm kind of amazed you agreed to this."

Xiao doesn't so much as look at her and stabs another hilichurl into the ground, while Aether kneels in the shade nearby, rummaging through the camp's chest.

"You know," Aether laughs slightly. "If you don't want to be here you don't have to be. Just because Zhongli made the offer doesn't mean you have to agree."

"No." Xiao responds gruffly. "It is part of my contract."

"Still. I'm perfectly fine with staying in the harbor."

"You were getting stir-crazy."

"Eh. Okay fair. That still doesn't mean you had to go out of your way to-"

"It's fine." Xiao looks up. "I wanted to."

Aether pauses, blinks, then breaks out into a blush. "Oh. Okay." 

---

They stop by Wangshu Inn for a meal on their way back to the harbor. Xiao refuses to eat anything again, Aether simply orders a Come and Get It, while Paimon inhales probably half of the kitchen's food. While the fairy is passed out in what is probably a food coma, Xiao speaks up.

"Don't you find it strange, not being able to remember any of us?"

Aether pauses, then looks up at Xiao. "It's complicated, I think." He sets down his chopsticks. "For me at least. We travel so much that leaving behind friends and making new ones feels like almost nothing at this point. There's been more than five cases that I can count, when we were children, where we just sort of accidentally slipped through worlds without warning. We'd just dust ourselves off, mentally say goodbye to our old friends, and keep on moving. This isn't all that different. Though," His gaze travels over the balcony. "It's the first world I woke up to without Lumine.

"Honestly, I think if Paimon just told me what I've done up until this point, I can probably just function like normal. Keep on traveling. Keep on looking for Lumine. And from what I can tell," He huffs. "I don't think I have that many close friends here. Sure there's people I talk to and fight with, but otherwise." He shrugs. "You know, I probably shouldn't be saying this, but we're kind of similar." He hums, laying his cheek down on the wooden table. "Lonely."

Xiao doesn't respond.

---

A week passes. Nothing changes. Paimon finally dumps a summary of what happened in Mondstadt on Aether, then has Xiao summarize the Osial incident, and the traveler goes back to burning down hilichurl camps like nothing has changed.

And in a way, a lot of things haven't changed. Of course, he can't remember a lot of small facts about people, and Xiao has taken to sticking by his side, even more so now that Zhongli has formally broken off their contract.

They sit on the edge of a cliff in Guyun, staring off over the horizon. It's sunset, and Aether can see a group of hilichurls mill about below.

"Hey," He doesn't look up at Xiao. "What were we before?"

"... what do you mean?"

"Paimon says we were sort of acquaintances, Zhongli seems to believe we were friends." Aether thins his lips out into a line. "You seem to think something else entirely, but I don't know what. So what are we? What were we?"

"Before." Xiao looks down at Aether. "Acquaintances. Allies, perhaps. Now? I don't know. Both, perhaps, but also neither. What do you think?"

Aether hums, then leans forward to prop his chin on the back of his hand. "Friends."

"Friends." The word feels foreign on his tongue. "I do not think that would-"

"If you're worried about your karma, it'll be fine. I've seen worse outside. And I can handle myself."

"Not entirely, seeing as we're currently in this situation."

Aether laughs. "Yeah. Perhaps." 

He falls silent again.

A hilichurl's battle cry, of all things, is what breaks the moment. Xiao whips around to glare at the offending creature, while Aether sighs and materializes his sword.

Before the traveler can even stand up, however, the hilichurl has been pummeled into the ground, the Yaksha planting his spear down right next to his head.

Aether laughs, giggly and soft. "Alright, alright. Let's go clear out the camp below us then."

It is the first time in perhaps centuries that Xiao feels warm.

---

"How have you been?

Xiao blinks, then glances over his shoulder. Rex Lapis- Zhongli- stands on the balcony in all his glory, gloved hands folded formally in front of him.

"Fine." Xiao replies, then spins around to drop off of the balcony railing. "It's only been a week."

"I am sure you of all people know how much can change within a single week."

Xiao doesn't answer.

Zhongli hums. "How is Aether?"

"No change. The same as usual."

Zhongli stares at Xiao, who stands stiffly in front of the former archon. "I'm glad."

Xiao blinks.

"You seem to have relaxed around him. I wouldn't say soften but." Zhongli smiles, small and wistful. "I'm glad. You deserve a break after all of this as well. If you love him the way I think you do, look after him." He turns around to walk back into the Inn.

Xiao flushes, a hand reaching out. "I don't-"

But Zhongli is already gone.

---

Zhongli's words spin circles around in Xiao's head.

He lays on his back under the curtain of the night sky. Aether lays next to him, laughing to himself as he recounts stories of his sister in a faraway world. He's beautiful, like that, silver moonlight reflecting off his hair, soft smile on his face.

He listens to the boy talk, and wonders when he will leave this world (and him as well) behind.

Maybe Aether senses his shift in mood, but he falls silent, then turns his head away from the stars to smile at Xiao.

Xiao doesn't know what comes over him. But one minute, Aether is staring at him, smiling sleepily, all warm and fuzzy, and the next, Xiao is pressed on top of him. He presses his lips against Aether's. Gentle, soft, with all the care the other boy deserves, at first, then harsher, rougher, as Aether reciprocates.

It's only when the traveler lets out a sharp moan does Xiao break out of his trance.

Xiao jolts back immediately, paling. "I'm sorry-" He manages to stutter out. "You don't- I- sorry. I'll go now."

Before Aether can so much as reach out a hand, the Yaksha disappears with a  gust of wind.

---

Zhongli finds him moodily stabby a geo slime with his polearm. They are in the Guili Ruins, and the ex-geo archon calmly sits on the edge of a crumbling wall.

Xiao, for once, doesn't look up, only backing off slightly when the slime explodes in a spray of mud and stone.

"I ran into the traveler on the way here." Zhongli calmly speaks up.

Xiao freezes.

Zhongli hums, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You have deserved a rest long overdue."

Xiao huffs slightly, stabbing his spear into the dirt. "I don't think-" He swallows, grip tightening around the shaft of his polearm. "I messed up."

"Did you though? He trusts you. You trust him. You walk alongside each other and share stories and fight to protect each other." Zhongli hums, and Xiao finally turns around. The ex-archon smiles sadly at Xiao, wistfully, even.

"I do hope," He pushes himself off of the crumbling stone wall. "That you don't follow the same path I did. Now," He brushes himself off, "Cloud Retainer requested that I tell you to head over to..."

The words pass by Xiao as he stares at his (former, now) god. 

He wonders.

---

"Hey."

Xiao freezes, then turns around to glance at Aether. The traveler stands at the inn doorway, two plates of almond tofu in his hands.

"Is Paimon with you?" Surely that's a safe conversation topic at least, right?

"It's for you." Aether pauses, expression blanking over for a second. "Wait- holy shit- you do like it right?"

Xiao nods. "Verr told-"

Aether laughs, shaking his head. "No. No she didn't. Paimon didn't mention it either." He scoots the first plate closer to Xiao. 

Xiao swallows. "You remembered."

Aether is still grinning. "It's a small thing. I know. But it's progress."

Xiao stares at Aether. The traveler stares back, then sighs, and balances his own plate on the balcony railing.

"You know," He hums. "You didn't have to-"

"Sorry." Xiao cuts in. He stabs his almond tofu with his spoon. "I don't know what overcame me. I apologize if I have-"

"God." Aether bumps their shoulders together. "Shush. Listen. You're overthinking again." He huffs, then turns to stare at Xiao. "Anyway, you didn't have to run off, you know."

Xiao blinks, and he stares at Aether. The traveler flushes lightly, looking away, and raises a hand to cover the lower half of his face.

"It wasn't- I didn't-" He blushes even harder, tips of his ears turning a bright shade of pink. "I kind of liked it."

The words are whispered, so soft, that had Xiao not been an Adeptus, he thinks he would've missed them. 

"Oh." He stares dumbly at Aether.

The traveler only blushes even harder. Xiao doesn't think he's ever seen anyone, humanoid, at least, turn that red.

"Gods this is embarrassing," He laughs strangeledly, running a hand over his face. "Um. If it was just-"

Aether doesn't manage to finish the sentence. Xiao surges in and kisses him, rough, but soft enough not to cause pain.

Aether makes a muffled squeak, but reciprocates just as smoothly.

They lose track of time. When they part, Aether's face is flushed pink, and his lips slightly swollen.

Xiao smiles, small and slight, then leans forward again.

"Like you. Love you. Thank you."