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“Aether, we should really start heading back soon! And by soon, Paimon means now! ”
His trusty traveling companion was right. They should have started walking back to the Wangshu Inn ages ago when the sun was barely setting. But Aether had gotten so caught up in head, he’d hardly realized it’d gotten so dark.
Peering into his inventory and clicking his tongue in semi-satisfaction at the day's findings, Aether decided that heading back to the Inn would be the best call for the both of them. The soles of his feet were starting to ache, and Paimon would start bemoaning about how hungry she was sooner or later, and he really didn’t have any food left to spare for her.
“You’re right, sorry. I didn’t realize the time.” He said, aiming a sheepish smile towards his friend who merely tutted at him.
“Xiao won’t be happy that we’re so late, you know. He’s super scary when you worry him!” Paimon pouted, circling lazily around his head as they walked down the familiar dirt road leading directly towards the Inn.
Aether shook his head, the only sign of his embarrassment was the blood rushing straight to his face.
“ Everyone worries about me, Paimon. For no good reason! It’s not like I put myself in danger on purpose.” He argued, frowning when the fairy only squinted at him in reply.
Their idle chatter continued on as they walked to their set destination. Halfway into their journey Paimon predictably began whining about how hungry she was and how Aether never kept her well fed. Being forced to use his emergency food, Aether begrudgingly stopped in the middle of the road and reached into his inventory for anything that would satisfy the fairy until they reached the Inn.
“Oh, what’s this?”
Aether’s bag was ripped from his hands so violently he stumbled forward right into an armored chest. A gasp rooted itself in his throat, his head whipping up accusingly, and was suddenly met with three different pairs of eyes.
Fatui agents. With weapons.
“What do you have in here, Angel?” One of the men spoke smugly, jostling Aether’s bag teasingly.
Aether frowned, determined to put up a fight if he had to. “Give that back!” He snapped, swiping for the bag only to have it pulled away from his grasp.
All three fatui men laughed. “You’re cute.” The same man spoke, suddenly dumping all of his belongings onto the dirt ground.
“H-Hey, stop!” Aether cried, attempting to conceal the admittedly expensive gifts and treasures he’s collected since awakening in Teyvet.
“Hold him back, boys.” The fatui scoffed dismissively, sorting through Aether’s things while his other two men towered over him, somehow managing to painfully pin his arms behind his back even as he struggled profusely.
“Let go of him!” Paimon yelled, suddenly reappearing out of nowhere. She kicked and punched at one of the fatui’s arms, only to get a painful slap to the face, throwing her small body against a tree.
Aether raged . “St-Stop! Let me go! Why d-did you do that?!” He growled, his thrashing growing more profound with his anger.
“Shut up!” One of the fatui snapped, driving a fist right into his stomach, knocking the air straight out of his lungs. “Be any louder and someone’ll see us.”
“And we don’t want that, don’t we, Angel?” The man looking through his things finally spoke, smirking widely as he took in his state. “Found some pretty expensive things in your bag. Hope you don’t mind if I take them.”
Aether looked on with blurry vision, trying to blink the man back into focus. When his eyes finally do come around, he wishes they hadn’t.
“These will be pretty useful back at camp, won’t they, boys?” The man said, holding out a bag full of— crystalflies.
“N-No! Not those!” Aether cried, sounding more desperate than ever, which he absolutely was. He’d give up anything in his bag for those crystalflies.
Another punch to the gut rendered him speechless. He felt nausea coming along.
“I wasn’t asking you, Angel.” The man chuckled, pocketing the crystalflies much to his dismay. “Make sure he forgets our faces.”
That— had to be code for something.
Aether’s eyes fluttered open, his cheek pressed against the ground. Slowly, he began regaining his senses. His entire body hurt. Shifting onto his knees, he gratefully realized nothing was broken, but he definitely had bruises everywhere. His face must’ve gotten the worst of it, blood was leaking from both of his nostrils, and he could taste metallic against his tongue.
“Aether…?”
The boy moved his pensive stare away from the grass and towards the pain edged voice, his eyes widening at the remembrance of his friend.
“Paimon!” He whispered, biting back a yelp of pain when he stood up and ran towards the girl, scooping her up in his arms and holding her close. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t protect you. A-Are you okay?” He mumbled, feeling tears of regret well up at the corner of his eyes.
“Aether, don’t apologize!” The fairy tutted, floating out of his grasp and hovering directly in front of his face. “Paimon shouldn’t have tried to intervene, those fatui men were too big and scary! Paimon isn’t even hurt, you are!” She pouted, wiping away some of his tears with her little hands.
That’s right, he remembered now. The fatui men, his bag— Aether gasped, suddenly turning over his shoulder and looking directly at his disregarded bag, all of his things still strewn all over the place.
He ran over and began frantically searching for the one thing he didn’t want them to take. The one thing he kept close to his heart. The one thing that made him feel home on his loneliest nights.
“ No, no, no. ” He whispered unbelievably, his hands forming trembling fists.
“What’s wrong?” Paimon asked, having floated over to him at one point.
Aether glanced up at her, his eyes leaking tears at a rapid pace. “The crystalflies. The ones Xiao gave to me… They’re gone .” He warbled, his chest hiccuping.
Paimon wrapped herself around his neck and offered words of comfort, but words could only do so much. No amount of physical pain could feel as bad as this. Crystalflies weren’t exactly rare or extremely extravagant— but that specific bag he kept were the ones Xiao had gifted him. The same ones he put in Aether’s hair while smiling fondly atop of the Inn’s roof.
They held so much sentimental value— and now they were gone. He’d lost them so easily .
A sob wracked his body. If only he hadn’t been so weak.
‘ Xiao, I’m so sorry. ’
“Aether…?”
The boy stumbled back in surprise at the voice standing above him. Shiny, black boots that could only belong to one person come into view, and his heart just about stopped.
“Xiao! Thank goodness you’re here!” Paimon cried, floating up to the adeptus and hugging his neck just like she did with Aether.
The adeptus patted her back, frowning in confusion when Aether refused to meet his eyes.
“What happened here?” He spoke, crouching down to Aether’s level.
“Fatui men attacked us! They hurt Paimon and Aether!”
Xiao’s spear manifested in his fist in an instant. “Which way did they go?”
“It doesn’t matter!” Aether cried, looking up and making the fatal mistake of looking into Xiao’s eyes. Tears tumbled down his cheeks, only serving to enhance his embarrassment. He ducked his head back down, pointedly facing away from the adeptus.
“Aether—? Why are you crying? What happened?” Xiao asked, sounding more demanding now.
All he could do was sniffle pathetically.
“Paimon… will give you two some space.” Her timing could not be any worse.
“Aether, why won’t you look at me? Is it because you’re hurt?” Xiao spoke once again after a moment's silence.
“No!” He immediately argued, wiping half of his tears away with his shoulder. “Well, not e-exactly—“
“Then look at me.” Gloved fingers lifted his chin from the ground, and up towards a pair of sharp golden eyes. Xiao caressed a stray tear away with a thumb. “Tell me what happened.”
Aether’s throat felt too tight. His mouth parted to attempt a coherent sentence, but all that came out was a painful hiccup, and even more tears.
Xiao held him close, getting on his knees and holding Aether to his chest, cradling his head as he continued to quietly sob into his shirt.
“I l-lost them.” He finally managed to choke out.
Xiao was quiet for a moment. “What did you lose?”
Aether swallowed down another sob. “The— the crystalflies. The ones you gave me.”
Xiao was quiet for yet another moment. Aether took it as an opportunity to continue talking.
“I’m sorry.” He sniffled, hiding his face in the palms of his hands. “Of all the things they could have taken, I didn’t think they’d take them. I should’ve kept them more safe, I’m so sorry, Xiao.”
“Aether…” He braced himself for the worst. Xiao had every right to be upset with him. “Why are you apologizing?”
Aether dropped his hands from his face, and looked up without meaning to. “What?”
The adeptus wore a confused frown. “I don’t understand why you’re apologizing. Why are you worrying about the crystalflies when you are badly injured?”
Aether sniffled pathetically, now feeling more like an idiot. “Because they were a gift from you. They were important to me.”
“I see.” Xiao hummed, wiping the remnants of Aether’s tears away from his face. “In that case, I could find some more for you. There are plenty lingering around the Inn late at night.”
Aether shook his head in slight confusion. “You aren’t upset that I lost them?”
“I’m more upset that you didn’t call my name when you needed my help. I can tell you’re hurt.” He frowned, his fist clenched by his side. “I’d have killed those fatui before you could finish blinking.”
Aether cracked a weak, though he knew Xiao wasn’t joking. “I’m still sorry. For losing them so easily.”
Xiao sighed. “When will you realize,” Cold lips pressed against his in a slow kiss. Aether could only melt against them. “You matter more to me than anything else ever will. Don’t worry yourself over this.”
Aether buried his face into Xiao’s neck, his cheeks aflame. Xiao was in a similar state, grateful that Aether still grew shy of his affections so that he couldn’t see.
“Thank you, Xiao. For coming.” Aether whispered closely to his ear.
A kiss was placed at the crown of his head, and he absolutely melted into his lover’s chest, his arms loosely wrapping around his neck.
“Always,” Xiao promised.
And Aether’s heart soared into the night sky, the fatui long forgotten. They walked back to the Inn, Aether receiving a piggyback ride from Xiao since according to the adeptus he was too injured to walk on his own.
Aether figured he just didn’t want to let go of him. And neither did he. Not now, not ever.